Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, we started to see something that is quite unusual in this place. We saw a couple of those opposite express the fact that they actually care what happens in our classrooms and about the challenges that are facing our schools. Unfortunately, those opposite failed to identify the biggest challenges facing the Australian school system—that is, this government and this government's policies. If those opposite really cared about the education that Australian children are receiving, we would hear them speak up about the fact that their own government intends to rip $30 billion out of the Australian education system.

We know that these cuts will be detrimental and have a huge impact on every school's ability to improve literacy and numeracy in the classroom and we know that these cuts will disadvantage our children and limit the opportunities and possibilities that a quality education can provide.

The Prime Minister likes to talk about how important innovation is for Australia's future, but the simple reality is that we cannot be an innovative nation without investing in a world-class school education system. If we take a close look at Mr Turnbull's actions when it comes to innovation, they all have a negative impact on Australia's ability to be the innovative nation we want for the future.

This is a Prime Minister who promised ideas but has delivered an education bust, a Prime Minister who says that he supports innovation but who is still committed to $100,000 degrees and is sacking hundreds of world-class researchers at the CSIRO. That says it all about the commitment that this government and this Prime Minister have to education in this country. This Prime Minister can talk as much as he likes—and we all know how much he likes to talk—but he is a Prime Minister who will ultimately be judged on his actions, and his actions undermine education and innovation in Australia in every single way.

In my home state of Tasmania we know that the Liberal government has ripped $154 million from school funding in the electorate of Bass, where I live. That is $154 million gutted out of education. We know that every school in Bass will be worse off because of Mr Malcolm Turnbull and his government's cuts to education. The Liberal government's $30 billion cuts over the next decade will see an average of $3.2 million cut from every school, which is the equivalent of losing one in seven teachers. The current member for Bass, Mr Nikolic, has failed to stand up for his electorate to deliver funding for education—not just for the private sector but also for the public sector. The government's actions say it all when it comes to their priorities. We know that the $30 billion cuts to our schools will lock Australian students into inequality and will mean that students who need the most help will be pushed further behind.

We cannot afford to stick with the Turnbull government's school education policies, because we will fall too far behind. Whilst the Liberal Party have no vision for the future of our education system, we have a comprehensive plan to invest in our children's future. We recognise that our nation's performance is slipping and that we must invest in our schools and in our children's future. We on this side of the chamber understand that the need to address inequality and improve outcomes in our schools is more urgent than ever. That is why, with the education policy that we have announced—Your child. Your future—we are investing in a positive plan. We are prepared to invest in every single child in this country to ensure that they reach their potential, and they deserve nothing less.