Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Maybe there is a backflip; there is often a backflip or nothing—no follow-up, no substantial policy development, no implementation of initiatives that might make a difference. It is a shameful performance from a minister who has responsibility for such a crucial area of public policy. How dare she play politics with the education of our children and the future of this country while there are such serious issues to be dealt with in her portfolio area.

There has been a great deal of attention given to the minister’s ridiculous accusation last week that school curricula in the states have been hijacked by Maoists—those crazy Maoists—like the New South Wales board of education that we heard about today. The minister’s suggestion of a national uniform curriculum has been soundly rejected by the states and many other bodies with actual experience of and expertise in education. One of my favourite quotes was in the Weekend Australian from the Australian Secondary Principals Association president, Andrew Blair, who said:

... Ms Bishop was taking a populist position and rejected the idea that left-wing ideologues were controlling curricula. ‘It is a ... cheap political shot,’ he said.

While Mr Blair welcomed a debate on the need for a national curriculum and the association supported a national framework, he said imposing uniformity was not the answer. ‘We must not just adhere to this back-to-basics claptrap that is going on,’ he said.

Hear, hear! The state governments have rejected the proposal and indicated a much more mature way of working though issues with curricula and standards across Australia. Our Queensland minister for education, Ron Welford, who is the chairman of MCEETYA, pointed out to the minister that the states and territories are already working together to improve consistency across their different curricula. Mr Welford called on the federal government to show its concern for what students learned by increasing its funding and cooperation with the states. Other state ministers have said similar things—talking about cooperation with the states—not just this cheap shot at grabbing political power by the Commonwealth. So in contrast to these people who take education and their responsibilities seriously, the minister has been exposed as having no substance. She floats the thought bubbles, grabs the headlines but does not come up with any real solutions.

Another example of the minister failing to do the work after a press conference is over came to light on the Insight program on SBS on 26 September. This was a very interesting program because the minister was sharing the forum with people who actually know and care about education and who were prepared to challenge the minister to come up with more than glib statements and political spin. In one part of the program the minister was asked to explain the government’s new requirement imposed on the states for A-E report cards. The presenter asks:

So what does an A mean and what does a B mean and what does a C mean?

The minister says:

... we’ve asked for the regulations to set out 5-point scale —A to E or equivalent—in plain English ...

The presenter:

Now, does that mean a C means you’re performing to standard and anything above a C is extra, is better than the basic standard? How does it work?

The minister:

Everybody understands what A to E means.

The presenter:

I don’t know that they do. What does an A mean, and what does a C mean? Does a C mean that you’re underperforming or does it mean you’re performing to a particular level?

The minister says:

Average.

The presenter:

C means you’re average.

Then Judith Wheeldon, who is the former principal of a Sydney girls’ school, comes in and says:

Is it in the school or is it statewide or is it national?

The questions keep coming and the minister is asked for her response. She says:

C means the standard expected and B means higher than that standard and A means excellent.

JUDITH WHEELDON: Expected in the school or in the State?

JULIE BISHOP: Across that year.

And so it goes on.

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