Kym Richardson (Kingston, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I continue the speech that I started before question time. We expect students to learn and teachers to teach in classrooms that, in some cases, could be considered occupationally unsafe and against occupational health, safety and welfare standards. This is due simply to the fact that state Labor governments have not continued or maintained their responsibility to our schools, children, teachers and hardworking parents who have paid their taxes and school fees. Whilst the state Labor governments are flush with GST funds, they are not keeping up their responsibilities.

We ask our teachers to give their all to provide a quality education to young people, some of whom come from struggling home environments, some of whom suffer from learning difficulties and some of whom simply do not want to be there. Yet the state government cannot provide an environment in which it is comfortable for them to do that. Even worse, how can we expect kids on a 40-degree day in Adelaide to sit let alone learn in those conditions? How can we possibly bring out the best in our children if we do not provide them with an environment which makes it possible for them to bring out the best in themselves?

Flaxmill School are not alone in their story. I have had a number of schools seek air conditioning and heating under this program. Just as bad are the stories of schools with threadbare carpets who have to rely on this program for replacements because the state Labor government has ignored their plight for years. Even worse are the stories of local schools without access to adequately shaded play areas or any play areas at all. Not only do we require our children to swelter in the heat of the classroom but, in their play times, the state Labor government would have them exercising and playing in the damaging and glaring heat of the mid-afternoon sun. We have spent countless years and countless amounts of money trying to push the anti skin cancer message to generations of Australians, but the Rann Labor government in South Australia could not even provide adequate shade so that children were protected from the dangerous rays of the sun.

I recently visited Christie Downs Primary School in my local area. The principal and parent governing body had put a great deal of time and effort into their application for funding. When I saw the outcome of that funding from the federal government, I was overwhelmed by what they had achieved. They had received funding for the construction of a specialised learning area. This is an exceptionally disadvantaged area in my electorate. Those who work tirelessly at the school, and the volunteers, tell stories of children who still suffer the after-effects of foetal alcohol syndrome—some of whom come to school unfed and unwashed and whose home lives are beyond anything a child should have to endure. But when I visited this school, I saw a pride and an enthusiasm in the eyes of the children, teachers and parents alike. Students were excited about going to school because of these exceptional facilities, and having facilities of such a high quality in an area so often ignored and forgotten has prompted parents to actually take an interest in their child’s education. This program is no longer just about providing facilities to our educational institutions; it is about putting a sense of pride back into our schools and local communities and it is about bringing the best out in our children.

I have also been surprised by the number of schools that have sought funding under the Investing in Our Schools Program for IT and computer equipment. In this day and age, when young people who graduate from our high schools are expected to be computer literate, I find it astounding that the state Labor governments have not even provided the most basic of computer equipment in some schools. We heard the Leader of the Opposition this morning talking about his grand broadband plan. I might take this opportunity to suggest to the Leader of the Opposition that the best way he can move this nation forward in terms of its access to and use of computer technology is to wander up to his Labor Premier mates and suggest they start pulling their weight and put computers in our schools.

There are very few gifts in life that we can give our children which are more precious and more vital than a good quality education. For a young person from a disadvantaged background, an education has the capacity to raise them up, inspire them to greater things and ultimately break the cycles of poverty, welfare dependence and domestic violence. We owe each and every Australian student the best education in the best possible facilities we can provide, and this bill seeks to take another step towards achieving that aim.

While I am on the subject of schools which achieve great things for their students, I would like to take the opportunity to commend Seaford 6-12 School in my electorate, which today received the best national achievement award under the Australian government’s National Awards for Quality Schooling, as well as the inaugural medal of distinction. There is no greater example of what a school can achieve for its students through hard work and genuine dedication than what Seaford 6-12 has managed to achieve in the last five years, and I commend them on that achievement.

What the Seaford 6-12 example shows us is the momentum a little inspiration can create, and the Investing in Our Schools Program has been a catalyst for many schools to do exactly that—for teachers, parents and students to take that extra step, to create momentum and to create pride both in their school and in their own education. This program brings parents into the schools and makes them involved in their children’s education by seeking their input and approval of the project for which funding is sought. Who better to judge what learning minds need at their school than their parents and teachers together?

This program and this bill seek to provide funding to both government and non-government schools because we on this side of the House believe that when parents make choices in relation to their children’s education they should not be disadvantaged by a government which refuses to spend their taxpayers’ dollars on their child’s education. But then we on this side of the House are not beholden to unions that pay for our election campaigns. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and praise both the current and former ministers for education for creating and administering a program which actually works and provides on-the-ground outcomes for local schools and their students. This is a sensational example of what can be achieved with strong and disciplined economic management and the guidance of ministers who have a vision and belief in Australian education.

In closing, I have raised my two boys and lived my life guided by the ideal that we owe our children a standard of life and a standard of education better than we received, and this government seeks to uphold that principle with programs like Investing in Our Schools. That is why I am proud to sit on this side of the House and I am proud of this bill. And that is why I commend this bill to the House.

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