Laura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That paragraph 1 of the motion be amended to read as follows:

(1) opposes the Victorian Liberal Government’s scrapping of the ‘School Start Bonus’ and ‘School-based Education Maintenance Allowance’ payments and calls for them to be immediately reinstated.

The effects of the amendment are that this House will reaffirm its opposition to the Victorian Liberal government's scrapping of the school start bonus and education maintenance allowance. The balance of the motion remains the same and reflects the longstanding view of many members in this place that cuts to education in Victoria are causing significant impacts at a primary, secondary and TAFE level, have significant impacts for pathways for education and ultimately for pathways to employment opportunities for students in Victoria and for the families who will ultimately come to rely on jobs that are available to those people who are appropriately skilled and have significant and long-term impacts for members of the Victorian community.

The scrapping of the school based education maintenance allowance and the school start bonus in Victoria has had the effect in some schools of meaning that principals have had to search for an extra $40,000 in the school budget. That is an extraordinary amount for principals to have to find. It is an extraordinary amount for principals and schools in school communities which have backgrounds of low-income families. It is particularly difficult for those schools to find the funds to be able to fill those gaps in their budgets. We know that this will impact disproportionately on people who are of low income. It will mean that their children are unable to get things like textbooks and uniforms and pay for things like stationery and excursions.

This is simply another indication of what a Liberal government means to education, to families and to family budgets. It comes on the back of very significant cuts to the TAFE sector which have meant that one TAFE in my electorate is facing 220 job cuts this year alone and the closure of Swinburne's Lilydale campus. These are yet more indications of precisely what it means to have a Liberal government in office. I commend the amendment. It reflects the concern of many members not only from Victoria but from other states which are facing similar cuts to education. It reflects the concern and the sentiment of very many people in Victoria who are troubled by the impact of the Baillieu government on their primary schools, secondary schools and TAFE sector.

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