Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member the Chifley for his question. The fact is that Labor has consistently invested in schools around Australia. That is what Labor does. We have consistently done it in New South Wales—half a billion dollars for the low socioeconomic schools national partnership and $100 million on literacy and numeracy and on teacher quality. I could go on. Federally, we have almost doubled what the Howard government spent on education.

We know we have to do more to lift our education performance, focusing on teacher quality, looking at giving more power to principals in schools and giving schools the support they need to lift their results. That is why the Prime Minister has been clear that if there is agreement to a national plan for school improvement then we would be willing to invest more. In fact, we saw OECD head Andreas Schleicher endorse our approach just today on that. On this side of the chamber we know that Labor in government will always invest in schools. It is what we do. It reflects a profound view that we need to do the best we as a nation can on education so that every child has a chance, so that as a country we continue to grow and so that as a country we continue to be prosperous.

But when Liberal governments come to power they put schools and teachers straight up onto the chopping block. I can understand why schools across New South Wales, including in the member for Chifley's electorate and my electorate, are worried about these proposed cuts to education.

Before an election the coalition will say things that they want to say and they think people want to hear, and let me tell you what they are: that 'teachers will be the best paid in the country', that 'we will invest in schools', that 'fees will not rise'. But after the election it is a different story. When the Liberal Party and the Liberal government in New South Wales wanted to make a saving it was education that was bowled up first—$1.7 billion worth.

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