House debates

Tuesday, 27 March 2018

Matters of Public Importance

Schools

3:46 pm

Photo of Emma McBrideEmma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let's be clear, the Turnbull government will cut $17 billion from schools in Australia in the next 10 years. Most of this will come from public schools. Today I have heard from parents, teachers and principals brought here by the AEU, the Australian Education Union. They are here because they know that funding matters. They are here today because they want to see fair and equitable funding for public education.

In the next two years alone, public schools in my electorate of Dobell, on the Central Coast of New South Wales, are expected to lose $19.1 million. That's not sector blind. Public schools in the neighbouring electorate of Robertson, also on the Central Coast, are expected to lose $18.6 million. How is that fair to students in regional Australia? That is nearly $37.7 million from public schools in the Central Coast, a region where schools need all the support that they can get.

Needs based funding makes a difference to every child in every school across Australia. It has already made a difference to schools in my electorate on the Central Coast. At The Entrance Public School extra funding has provided a teacher for their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander program and a dedicated classroom for coding and robotics. At Wyong Creek Public School extra funding has led to the employment of extra teachers aides. At Valley View Public School an instructional leadership program is developing and mentoring teachers. At Wadalba Community School, a K to 12 school, they now have a speech therapist. And at Kanwal Public School they have an additional six student learning support officers.

Funding matters. It makes a difference. It's making a difference in regional Australia. Incredibly, these are the schools that will lose most under this government's cuts, because, perversely, the schools most in need are the schools losing out. How can this government talk about needs based funding when it's turning its back on students in regional Australia? Needs based funding is making a difference in these schools. It means the principals and schools are leading changes, not just in their school but in our communities.

Sadly, this government is not invested in our schools, nor is it invested in universities. It is cutting $2.2 billion from universities and raising student debt. This government is not invested in TAFE or vocational education. It has cut $3 billion from TAFE and vocational education and training. Cuts to schools, cuts universities, cuts to TAFE: this government has a sorry record on education and an even sorrier outlook.

Education is making a difference in the Central Coast. We have no choice about where we are born and very little choice about the level of education we receive. Needs based funding matters. Schools on the coast are set to lose nearly $38 million in the next two years. The Central Coast campus of The University of Newcastle is going to be part of the government's estimated $69 million cut to that university alone. That's a campus that has produced more Aboriginal graduates than any campus in Australia. Our TAFE has been decimated. Last week, we lost our outreach program for Wyong TAFE campus. This is the second chance at education that has helped 1,000 students a year for 40 years—students who our education system has failed and is continuing to fail.

On the Central Coast of New South Wales, only half of students have the opportunity to finish high school and nearly half—45 per cent—of the working-age population have no post-school qualification. Access to education, to quality schools, to quality vocational training and to quality higher education is making a difference. It's vital that the door that has been opened isn't slammed shut in people's faces. At the Central Coast campus of the University of Newcastle, this year 55 per cent of new students are the first in their family to go university. This number grows each year. We must resource them adequately and according to need.

I was troubled to learn this week that the Central Coast ranks eighth in the report mapping youth unemployment hotspots Australia-wide. One in five young people in my community are looking for a job. We have the eighth-highest youth unemployment rate in Australia—18.6 per cent—and it's growing. Australia-wide, if you're under 24 you're three times less likely to have a job. It's staggering and it's not fair. What's the government's answer? Slashing school funding, increasing student debt and tax cuts to the big end of town. It's not fair.

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