Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

Whenever a government, any government, wants to avoid expert advice, they commission their own inquiry. That's exactly what the Tasmanian Liberal government did when there were calls for a rigorous independent inquiry based on the work of independent economist Saul Eslake and Tasmanian workforce demographer Dr Lisa Denny.

Tasmanian kids aren't smarter or stupider than other kids around the nation, but we are the nation's high school dropout capital. That's what we are in Tasmania. We are also the bottom of the class when it comes to reading and numeracy skills. This is even more shocking when you find out the Tasmanian government spends more per student than any other state, yet we are failing our kids miserably in Tasmania. Just over half of all students get their year 12 equivalent, which is the lowest figure of any state in this nation. It is absolutely shameful. Tassie is also the poorest state. According to independent experts, including Dr Lisa Denny and Saul Eslake, if we fixed our education system, we wouldn't be as broke as we are today.

The experts are clear, especially where literacy is concerned. Tasmanian teachers still teach whole learning. Basically, the idea is to show a child the whole word and move quickly to the meaning. Seriously! You might want to get the word under control to start with. The problem is that most experts say we should be teaching kids phonics—that is, learning the letter sounds. Let's go back to the good old days. The government is trying to change this, but, unfortunately, the education union doesn't like it. God knows why, because the older teachers have been doing it that way for their whole careers, and this way is failing us. We need to go to the phonics. We need to try something different. We can't keep going over the same stuff in Tasmania year in, year out—it keeps failing and every year it gets worse for our kids—and not change the system. This is nuts.

Dr Denny and Mr Eslake also point to the college system we have in Tasmania. Oh my goodness, I could sit here and spend hours on this, the absolute cluster which has been rolled out by the Tasmanian Liberal government. What a mess! This may work well in the ACT where, let's face it, people have more money. If you are one of those Tassie kids who lives outside an urban centre and who wants to finish year 11 and 12, you often must travel some distance to a college. The Tasmanian government also tried to fix this, but they went only halfway. What's new? As usual, instead of making tough decisions, they tried to keep everyone happy. They didn't want to lose any votes. You actually gain votes when you do 100 per cent instead of 50 per cent.

The Liberal government has extended more high schools to year 12 but has stopped short of abolishing colleges. Dr Denny said that the extension process has been incredibly poorly implemented and compromised by colleges striking deals with high schools to provide some year 11 and 12 students. In an attempt to head off a sweeping parliamentary inquiry into educational failings, the Liberal minority state government recently announced its own review. That's it—they're going to review their own failure. So the Liberal Party that failed in the first place is now going to reveal its own failings. This keeps getting better! They've got a whole new police on the beat in state parliament.

No doubt, that review will say the government has the situation in hand. That's how it works. But these are our kids. They are our Tasmanian kids. Besides having a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, their education matters more than anything. If we want to have a thriving economy—as Saul Eslake has reportedly said not just in his most recent report but for years—we need to get our education system working properly for all of our kids. We need to have kids that are ready for jobs—jobs that they need now and that we need in the future. That is what all Tasmanians deserve.

I don't even have time to go into our TAFEs. Oh my goodness, what a joke! I saw TAFE Australia the other day and TAFE are still in a mess. They are telling me that, even under this government, they are worse. What was worrying was when I asked them which TAFEs were working well and which TAFEs needed to have their facilities fixed up, they didn't have the answers. So if those TAFEs around Australia don't know what each one of their TAFEs is doing, what they are educating and what needs to be done construction-wise there, how can the government possibly say that they have this under control? They are just rolling out extra positions and saying they're doing something with our TAFEs. Rubbish!