Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the superb work that has been done and continues to be done by my colleagues in the coalition government in fostering an opportunity society through education supports, even during this pandemic. As a woman who immigrated to this country and raised two children—both of whom are diving headfirst into successful careers and family lives—largely by herself, I know how vital education is to the health of our society as well as to the future economic prosperity upon which a healthy society depends. How we educate our children says a lot about who we want to be as a society. It says a lot about our aspirations—not only how much money is spent but whether that money is spent in a targeted, precise and efficient manner that will set Australia up well for the future.

Representing a multicultural electorate in Chisholm, I know that educational supports are imperative to helping integrate new arrivals into the Australian way of life. Childcare supports help kids to get that early cultural education and socialisation that sets them up for an emotionally secure future, while allowing mum and dad to keep working hard to put food on the table as well as be the best parents that they can be.

There can be no doubt that this year has thrown up unprecedented challenges and this coalition government has responded with tailored, targeted, specific measures to face up to this challenge. Let me tell you how this coalition government is levelling up educational opportunities for all Australians. We are providing record funding for child care: $9.2 billion in 2020-21 and growing to over $10 billion over the coming years. Our new Child Care Package represents the most significant reforms to the early education and care system in 40 years. We are providing a record $314 billion investment in schools over 2018 to 2029, representing an increase of 60 per cent per student over the same period from a 2017 base. This means record funding for all Australian schools, including government schools, Catholic schools and independent schools.

In my electorate of Chisholm I'm happy to say that schools have benefited greatly under the coalition government. A school that is quite close to my electoral office, Essex Heights Primary School, has received a substantial boost close to close to 25 per cent in government funding from 2014 to 2018 and that funding is expected to climb to just under 50 per cent by 2021. The Morrison government continues to deliver for all schools across Chisholm and Australia.

We are now continuing to boost our universities with record funding of $18 billion in 2020, which will grow to over $20 billion by 2024. As part of this, our new job-ready graduates program will create 100,000 new university places by 2030. Our Job-ready Graduates Package will gear our economy towards the future by increasing the number of graduates in areas of projected employment growth and demand that include teaching, nursing, health, agriculture, and, of course, the high-tech areas of STEM and IT—where we must work to turn our knowledge society into a dynamic, forward-looking 21st century economy.

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