Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, Senator Kim Carr. Following the mass rally on the weekend in support of Australian schools, can the minister advise what the government is doing to ensure a sustainable boost in funding?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Cameron for his question. I am aware that there was a rally on Sunday at Darling Harbour, which was attended by some 3,000 parents and teachers. I wish to reassure those who attended the rally that in Canberra the Labor government are genuinely committed to the future of our schools. That is why we are moving to a needs based funding system. Labor take the view that your life chances should not be determined by your postcode or by who your parents are. What we do know is that education is the key that unlocks the doors of inequality. We take the view that there has to be genuine equality of opportunity in our school system, and of course there is an investment that the government has to make that is important for the future of this society as a whole and for individuals within it.

Ultimately, it is about allowing this country to fulfil its full potential and that is why education is the No. 1 priority for this Labor government and it has been a core value of the Labor Party for generations. We know that new investment in education actually makes a difference and we see that confirmed by successive NAPLAN scores. Labor's funding has improved literacy, numeracy and attendance for the disadvantaged, for Indigenous students, for the disabled, for children in regional schools and for low-income families. These are the children who have most to gain by substantial investment, and of course we know they have the most to gain when schools are able to drop class sizes, when we see that resources are able to grow. We want to achieve more through a needs based funding system and it is about making sure that funding for every school and for every student is able to be advanced— (Time expired)

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the government point to any real-world examples of the link between funding and student performance?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cameron, I hear all too often the claim made that there is no link between funding and education attainment. I would have thought the link was in fact self-evident. I am particularly concerned about those opposite who take this view because it is quite clearly a substantive attack upon those who spend very large sums of money at the private schools across the country—think about it. In some schools in this country, we are seeing fees being charged in excess of $30,000 per child per year. Yet it is asserted that people who pay that sort of money clearly are wasting their funds, that they are being dudded. That seems to be the argument: that there is no link between funding and attainment. Tell the people at Geelong Grammar that. We know that this proposition is ludicrous. We have to look at the facts on this matter and the facts are that funding for disadvantaged groups has meant that there has been better attainment in this country for people who are otherwise disadvantaged. (Time expired)

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Is the government confident it can meet its commitments to the children of New South Wales in light of the massive funding cuts that the O'Farrell government will make?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cameron, the government holds the gravest fears for children in New South Wales as a result of the cuts that have been experienced and have been brought about by the New South Wales government. We have seen $1.7 billion reduced from the amounts of support available to children in New South Wales. You ought to get the impression that the New South Wales government is clearly hostile to education.

We have also seen the suggestion that they have lost the odd billion dollars and found it again, and now the budget suddenly is in surplus. I would like to see the families of this country who can suddenly discover a billion dollars down the side of the lounge and ask them whether this is the proper way to run a budget of any family. Of course we know the facts of this matter, that the schools in New South Wales—

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I remind honourable senators that it is completely disorderly to have this going on across the chamber at this stage. The minister has 11 seconds remaining.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It seems that in New South Wales a billion dollars is just loose change. You should ask the question: what is the impact of these cuts on regional offices, on school cleaning, on availability of teachers— (Time expired)