Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise proudly to speak about the national plan for school improvements. I have had to endure five minutes from the member for Higgins. I would like her to list, at the first opportunity, the 39 schools in her electorate that wished their school halls would be torn down. I would like her to list the 39 schools in her electorate that do not appreciate the computers that have been given to them or, if she has any National Partnership Schools, to list the schools that have found that scheme to be not worthwhile. I look forward to her informing the House at a later date.

I have listened to two speeches here today and the hollow words coming from those opposite about what they believe in on schools. Everyone loves kids. I was a schoolteacher for 11 years. I am yet to meet a parent or anyone in the community who says we should not put more money into schools. Those are easy and simple words. I am sure we will hear more from the member for Forde once he gets up. Btu the reality is that it is not what people say they should do for schools; it is what they do for schools.

We are in the third iteration of school funding models. For most of my time as a teacher I had the earlier scheme and then the SES scheme under John Howard and now we are moving towards this Gonski model. Let us look at what these do. Everyone knows the SES model was a flawed model right from the very start. That is the reality. The funding maintained a number of schools. I taught at one of those funding-maintained schools. I taught in a Catholic school. I taught for three years in state schools and eight years in the Catholic system, so I understand the compromise that was made. I particularly understand the problems associated with getting the model right in terms of not taking a dollar away from anyone—which is the commitment the Labor government has given, I remind readers and listeners.

The reality is, we have to look at what people do. I will stack up our 3,000 libraries against their 3,000 flagpoles any day. When I am sitting back in my rocking chair and saying, 'What did we do as a government, especially when the financial crisis hit?' I will know that we poured money into education facilities. I see, time after time, these people who are lions in parliament and mice in their electorates standing in their school halls and saying, 'This is a fantastic educational institution.' These things contribute to the curriculum; that is the reality. Interactive whiteboards, the NBN and all of these things will give high schools a path for the future. That is what Labor has invested in. It is not just simply saying, 'We love kids.' We all love kids; everybody does. That is what society is geared to do—invest in the future—but it is how you do it. With the National Partnership scheme we are making sure that those who need the most support get it. That is the trial that has worked so well.

Then there are those other difficult things. I saw the Leader of the Opposition today talking about the fact that 50 per cent of the Labor caucus come from union backgrounds. I am one of those people. For five years I worked in the Independent Education Union. I am one of those union thugs, I guess. I see the great work that goes on in our schools, not just private schools like The Murri School in my electorate, which is run by the Indigenous community. My electorate has well-to-do schools, Catholic schools—poor Catholic schools and Catholic schools that are doing a little better—and everything in between. I know what wages are like in these areas. I know how difficult it can be for parents to make sure that their schools are well resourced.

Do not judge the Labor Party by what it says or the Liberal and National parties on what they say. Judge them on what they do. I can proudly say that, since we were elected in 2007, the education budget has doubled. We have invested money, at every possible opportunity, to improve the lot of schoolchildren. That is what the Gonski report is all about: working with states. They keep saying, 'Where is the money?' The reality is, we are a federation. We have this thing called the Constitution. It means we must talk to state education ministers. We do not run many schools—it is a bit hard to change the Constitution. We need to work in collaboration with the state governments. It is hard to believe, but they are not necessarily willing and able to be led. They tend to be their own people.

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