Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on the government’s transparency agenda for schools?

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the opposition for making it clear by its reaction that it has the same position as the New South Wales leader of the—

Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Simpkins interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cowan is warned because he is interjecting from out of his place. It took me an hour to work it out but I finally worked it out and he is warned.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was thanking members of the Liberal Party in the parliament for making it very clear by their reaction to this question that they support the Barry O’Farrell position on school transparency and they do not believe that parents should have more information about what is happening in local schools. They are guffawing at transparency despite the fact that parents around the country want it. Perhaps their guffawing is to hide the fact that when they were in government they talked a lot about school transparency—and the member for Bradfield nods that, yes, as minister he talked a lot about it. The current Deputy Leader of the Opposition also talked a lot about it. But when they were ministers for education for the Liberal Party they got absolutely nothing done—not one thing achieved.

In contrast to that I am pleased to be able to inform the House that this Friday, with education ministers from around the country, I will release the 2009 summary report of the national testing on literacy and numeracy. That will be followed on Monday the 14th with school education authorities starting to supply to parents reports on their individual students’ performance.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Julie Bishop interjecting

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is interjecting: ‘That’s a coalition program.’ Well, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition might want to listen to this, a reform she could never achieve and could never have dreamed of achieving as minister for education: at the end of this year, through our new reporting requirements, we will assemble, school by school, transparency measures, including the results of the 2008 and 2009 national tests, and from early next year parents and community members around the country who care about education will be able to go online. They will be able to look at test results and other indicators for their local school, including school population, school resources and numbers of teachers, and compare them with schools in their local area and, importantly, they will be able to compare achievements with like schools around the country.

I note that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has fallen into silence because, of course, she knows that, despite talking about transparency for over 12 years, this was a reform that would not be achieved by the Liberal—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance. The minister was starting to reflect on the point of view of the former minister for education while neglecting the fact that her co-minister is in fact—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar will resume her seat. That is not a point of order.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is an important reform which will be available to parents and to those who care about education from the start of next year. These transparency measures will relate to our national partnerships for disadvantaged schools, schools that are underachieving; to our national partnerships on teacher quality, programs to bring the best teachers to the schools that need them the most and to pay them more for being in those schools; and to our program to ensure literacy and numeracy efforts are focused where they are needed the most.

Unfortunately, the federal Liberal Party as a matter of policy is silent on all of these things and says absolutely nothing about them—not one policy, not one plan. The only stated view of the Liberal Party about these matters is Barry O’Farrell’s view in New South Wales, and he has legislated to prevent parents in New South Wales getting access to this information through their daily newspapers. So, courtesy of the Liberal Party and Barry O’Farrell, this information, which is transparently available online, will not be available to New South Wales parents or citizens in the pages of their daily newspapers. I think that is a disgrace, and what is more disgraceful than that is that the federal Liberal Party is absolutely silent about it.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar!

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar is warned!