Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am surprised and delighted to be able to speak on this matter of public importance. I am surprised because the opposition has actually come up with an MPI that has the word ‘future’ in it. I am surprised because I have been overwhelmed since arriving in this place by the backward-looking whinging of the leaders of the opposition. Their focus on negativity, on wrecking and on fear-mongering is like a disease that they are trying to spread throughout the entire place.

For every word those opposite speak on any policy matter that relates to a positive future for Australia we could just get rid of all the clanging, booming backward-looking words we hear over and over in the disguise of different language and replace them with this: ‘We was robbed. We should’ve won; we could’ve won. We were the best. We still can’t believe that the Australian people didn’t give us the job.’ They are the party looking to the past, longing for the past and realising only now the opportunities that they squandered in those 12 long years when they failed to invest in critical reform and infrastructure.

The reality that they just did not get it at the time of the election and they still do not get it now, as the parliamentary year 2010 draws to a close, shows just how out of touch those opposite are. The Gillard government won because our agenda was clearly offered to the Australian public before they voted us in. It was fully costed, it was fully funded and it was clearly articulated. We are getting on with delivering that future here in this parliament. No matter how much those opposite obstruct, we are bringing a better future to this great nation.

I said that I was surprised and delighted. Now it is my pleasure to turn to the matters that delight me. I daresay that what I am about to delight in is also delighted in by the people of Robertson and any other Australian who has a sense of vision for the future of this great nation. The people of Robertson totally understand that it is only a Gillard Labor government that has an agenda that looks to our future, and I want to talk about three key areas: education, health and infrastructure.

On school reform, the Gillard Labor government’s vision is absolutely crystal clear. It is to make every school a great school, because in the 21st century a great school and a great education are the keys to unlocking an individual’s potential and our nation’s future. It is only with a world-class school system that we can build a high-productivity, high-participation economy that gives all Australians the opportunity to engage in rewarding and satisfying work. We are going to continue to push forward and deliver these ambitious reforms, achieving more for our schools in less than three years than the coalition delivered in almost 12.

The government is making major investments to reverse the underfunding that has held our schools back for too long. We are looking to the future, doubling the funding for Australian schools, because we know that no other investment will generate the enduring, long-term results and returns like our investment in human capital, our investment in young Australians, our investment in Australians who want to retrain, our investment in Australians who, unlike those opposite, believe that our best days are still ahead of us.

Quality of schooling matters, and we need to invest in making schools great places in which communities can gather. That is why the government have invested in modernising infrastructure with the Building the Education Revolution program and trades training centres, together with our investments in improving teacher quality and the learning outcomes for young people.

What a future we have for the people of Robertson. The Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth today indicated that there are 23,738 projects underway around Australia, and there are pages and pages of those programs just in Robertson.

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