Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Often we hear about how our schools are underfunded, how the full funding of the Gonski report is the only way if we are to improve the educational outcomes of our schools. Until now, I found this difficult to understand. I distinctly remember during the election being accosted by a special education teacher at one of my schools telling me how functional illiteracy had increased under the Gonski package and all the extra money that had been provided. It just did not make sense to me. But I had no idea how bad things had got. I did not understand the scourge of underfunding until now. Recently it became known to me that one public school in my area has become so desperate for funds that it has been forced to hire out its staffroom. Since 2014 the Labor Party has publicly advertised and held 16 branch meetings in one public school staffroom in my electorate. We all know that the staffroom at a school is what the tabernacle is to a church. It is the holiest of sites at any public school. As a student, I never knew what went on behind those doors, but I knew that it was serious and, in some cases, very serious. So, when I learnt that this staffroom may have been hired out to the local Labor Party, I knew things had gotten really bad for public school funding.

I have written to the New South Wales Minister for Education and asked him to investigate how serious this situation has become. Are any other schools having to hock out their holy sites to political parties for some extra cash? What are the rules surrounding these room hires? Is the Labor Party making school staffrooms as lawless as their CFMEU mates' worksites? Or maybe the Labor Party has the answer to school funding. Maybe, if the Labor Party paid fair room hire rates, it could use some of that $3 million it receives from its union mates each year to help out our schools.

Teaching is a noble profession. In my travels around my electorate, I have met many passionate, committed and inspiring teachers. We cannot let the actions of the few teachers who misuse public property impugn the character of the many amazing teachers in Mackellar. However, the few must be called to account.

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