Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

School is back. Right across Australia and throughout my community in Griffith, the contact has been patiently placed on the books, the lunch boxes have been lovingly packed and oversized backpacks have been heaved onto small shoulders. While our little ones are on track for the new school year, our public schools are on track for full funding.

This is the biggest new investment in public schools by the Australian government ever. It's worth $16.5 billion over the next 10 years. It's not a blank cheque; it is tied to real, practical reforms to reduce the number of students who need additional support for literacy and numeracy, and help students who fall behind to catch up, keep up and to finish school. What this means in practice is more teachers in classrooms, early support for kids who fall behind, better access to wellbeing services, and properly resourced public schools that are not forced to do more with less, no matter what your postcode. When we properly fund education, we give every child a fair start and we strengthen our whole community.

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