Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science) Share this | Hansard source

If I may make some brief remarks to begin with. Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. On behalf of my colleague, the minister Senator Simon Birmingham, I want to make some brief remarks to being this particular appropriation in the education and training portfolio. It is a pleasure to do so in the company of the assistant minister.

Firstly, the whole concept which we are pursuing as a government is that a better educated workforce and population is fundamental to Australia's successful participation in the global economy. It is also fundamental to the realisation of each individual's capacity to aspire to be their best selves, so it serves the individual. It serves the community and it serves the society. It is not just a mercantilist perspective; it is a deep, profound human responsibility. In that respect, the 2016-17 budget within the portfolio is focused on improving student outcomes in literacy, in numeracy and in what is known as the STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM is a term that is sometimes used by insiders and it can alienate others, so, wherever possible, I prefer to talk about it as science, technology, engineering and maths, or as the individual components.

It is also about teacher quality reforms—again, something of fundamental importance to the performance of our education system and our capacity to participate and achieve on a global scale to the highest levels. It is about delivering more support for students with disability, allowing those with the greatest need to have additional opportunities which will allow them to aspire to be the best participants they can be within our community. It is about improving our attractiveness as an education destination for international students and assuring the quality, reputation and affordability of our higher education system. In particular, we know that schools will receive more funding from 2018, due to the schools funding measure, which involves indexing school funding with an education specific index rate of 3.56 per cent.

As a government, there is no doubt we inherited education funding arrangements across the board that were not only unsustainable but which also, sadly, entrenched inequality. For that reason, we will push for school funding reforms to remove the inequities of the previous government's approach during the period of the Rudd and Gillard prime ministerships and to provide for a system that is genuinely needs based and affordable. Those are the two indispensable elements which we wish to pursue. In particular, under the schools funding measure, states and territories will receive additional funding to provide students with disability better access to learning. This new funding is in addition to the current students with disability loading provided through the Australian Education Act and will target funding where it is needed most: to support quality education programs and initiatives for students with disability. It will help schools to meet their obligations under the Disability Standards for Education 2005.

I also want to note that in 2017 the Early Learning Languages Australia program trial will be extended nationally to all preschools. This is really a tremendous step forward and something that should be acknowledged. The ELLA program is a series of language-learning interactive applications. It helps children, at the earliest years, to engage in learning languages. We know from around the world that young children are sponges for the study of languages across the spectrum, but it is about speaking to them in the right way. Research shows that learning a language develops children's overall literacy—it does not just assist with the second language, it also helps with the primary language. It strengthens literacy related capabilities, and these are transferable across all learning areas. Language is the building block. It also provides children with a head start towards language study at school. This program will enable children to become more comfortable with different languages early in life so that they stay engaged during their later years. I am happy to deal with other elements of what is a $1.333 billion budget during the course of this consideration in detail.

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