Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in the House today to acknowledge the member for Durack's motion, which I wholeheartedly support. The coalition is committed to education in regional, rural and remote Australia, including in my electorate of Canning. Some 15.1 per cent of people aged between 17 and 22 years in Canning attend higher education. However, this figure is growing.

This government, and this party, supports education from a deeply held philosophical position. I believe that there is an unwritten contract between the dead, the living and unborn. This contract is realised through the passing down of knowledge through education. Education provides answers to enduring questions. We cannot have an informed body politic without education, whether it be a primary, secondary or tertiary. Education progresses society as we see advances in science, medicine and technology. Most importantly, in Canning and in other rural and regional areas, education provides the opportunity for social mobility. Anyone who works hard can rise above their present situation in a country like Australia. The member for Dunkley—and we are mourning the fact that he will be departing from this parliament come the next election—said:

I represent that your postcode does not determine your potential. We all have the capacity to learn, to grow and to gain insight and wisdom to succeed in this country.

I support those words very much and I am glad to see that our government is encouraging higher education in rural and remote areas.

Under the Australian Education Act 2013, additional funding is provided to schools in rural and remote locations. That is why the government is providing $22 million over four years to Good to Great Schools Australia to rollout the Flexible Literacy for Remote Primary Schools program. This will support 37 remote schools in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Without adequate literacy rates the whole community suffers. Communication is at the heart of our political and economic system. Canning, as I mentioned, is a diverse electorate. We have agriculture, construction, manufacturing and light industry. My electorate of Canning has many tradesmen. In fact, it has the second highest number of tradesmen in the country. Within Canning itself, particularly in Mundijong and Byford, we enjoy a high rate of year 12 completion. Each of these areas reports that between 32 and 45 per cent of students complete their secondary studies. It has been very encouraging that Byford Secondary College, which was established as recently as 2014 under the coalition government, has had its first intake of 180 new year 8 students who are eager to learn. Education is progressing well under this government in Canning.

I should also note that, in 2015, Waroona District High School had an average attendance rate of 89.2 per cent—and this is in an area where, compared to city areas such as the electorates of Perth and Curtin to our north, high school students traditionally do not go on to complete year 12. Of course, there is always room for improvement. In Mandurah, only 19 to 25 per cent of all students who begin their secondary education will complete year 12. The average weekly household income around the Mandurah region ranges from $699 to $942.

Along with 20 per cent youth unemployment, all of this contributes to the reasons why education is of vital importance to our future in Canning. The government is aware that students from remote and regional areas face various barriers to higher education. That is why I applaud the opportunities that this government is giving through existing initiatives such as the regional Student Start-up Scholarships for eligible regional students in higher education. These important scholarships assist with difficult moves away from homes in Canning, Durack, and beyond, for those students wishing to attend university. Canning is an electorate brimming with potential. Education is a key way to tap into that and to take us further into the 21st century. The results that we are seeing in our secondary and higher education in Canning are a fine example of how the coalition government cares deeply about regional education.

See this speech in context