Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of Senator McKim, I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today the Australian Greens propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The Labor Government's failure to fully fund public schools while pouring record money into over-funded private schools, condemning another generation of kids to an underfunded education."

I rise to speak in favour of the motion because it is indeed a matter of urgency. When I was elected in 2022, I walked straight out of a classroom into the Senate, so I know first-hand what it means for public schools to have experienced over a decade of systematic underfunding. Underfunding looks like teachers having to be social workers, psychologists, nurses and IT departments as well as being responsible for teaching. Underfunding means being a teacher for maths class—