Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to grieve for the people of New South Wales and, in particular, the residents I represent in Greenway who are the victims of the New South Wales Liberal government's attacks on crucial services, including cuts to the New South Wales education system and cuts to the New South Wales health system. I would also like to highlight the threat that exists from the New South Wales Liberal government's passionate advocacy for a GST broadening and hike on families in my electorate.

In Greenway there are over 50 schools—independent, Catholic and government. I have visited all of them and they do a fantastic job of educating the young people of the west and north-west of Sydney. I have probably mentioned in this place nearly every BER opening that has occurred. It has been widely welcomed as a project across the entire electorate. I am yet to meet a principal, educator, parent or student who has not welcomed the enormous investments made in these capital upgrades. For some schools these are the first capital upgrades in 50 years. For some it is the first time an upgrade has occurred in their entire history.

My electorate is one of the youngest in the entire country. I often refer to it as Australia's nursery, with the zero to 14 age group one of the fastest growing. One of the most crucial issues, if not the biggest issue, is that of education and educational opportunities for all. Education in western Sydney is everything. It is the greatest enabler. It is the most powerful tool we have. When you speak to the multitude of people in my electorate who have come from migrant backgrounds, in particular those from the subcontinent and the Philippines, you note that education rates the highest of their policy concerns, because they know, as I know and as we on this side of the House know, that education means actually having a future in the first place.

Last week the O'Farrell Liberal government in New South Wales declared war on education in my home state, with $1.7 billion in unprecedented funding and staffing cuts to public schools, Catholic schools, independent schools and TAFE institutions. Ever since the New South Wales government's admission that it would cut $1.7 billion from New South Wales education, sack some 1,800 teachers, increase TAFE fees by 9.5 per cent and stop subsidising some TAFE courses, my office has received hundreds of calls or emails from my constituents who will be directly affected by these savage cuts. These are real stories from parents, from schools and from P&Cs, and this is what Tory governments do. The contrast could not be clearer: we on this side of the House choose to lift up education, to put forward some of the greatest policies to ensure that everyone has equality of opportunity in the new century.

These cuts, as I have said, will affect every school and every student, with larger class sizes, fewer teachers and increased fees. This is at a time when federal Labor is investing more in our schools. It is simply inexcusable. Let us not delude ourselves: these cuts are a curtain raiser to Australia under the Tories. They have already said that they planned to cut $2.8 billion from schools if they manage to get the reins after the next election. The Leader of the Opposition himself has basically said public schools are overfunded because the 'injustice in funding is the other way'. I again contrast that with the role of this government and the actions that we have taken to build up education, to act on the recommendations of the Gonski review and to ensure equality of opportunity for all.

I have in my possession a standard response dated 17 September that the New South Wales Premier has been sending around to people who have contacted his office in protest against these cuts. I would like to highlight just a couple of comments. One of the comments that is made is about the cuts and about what will be cut. There is a sentence stating that only nurses, schoolteachers and police were 'quarantined'—that is, quarantined from an announcement of cuts. What does that mean? That means everything else in New South Wales is up for grabs.

I also want to highlight a one-liner that has been given to vocational education and training. The words read as follows: 'In addition, changes are also being implemented across TAFE New South Wales.' That one-liner is totally inadequate to explain the situation to the people of western Sydney, who in many cases rely on vocational education and training to get an apprenticeship, to get a skill and to get a meaningful job. The trend of state Liberal governments cutting TAFE funding is simply being replicated in New South Wales.

In New South Wales, TAFE students will pay an extra $44 for certificate I and II courses and an extra $150 for advanced diplomas, at the very time we need to grow our skills base. How many times in this place have we talked about growing our skills base? The New South Wales Liberal state government is implementing policies to see a reduction in training opportunities. In contrast, our government is putting approximately $2.3 billion into the New South Wales training system, and TAFE in New South Wales has already received some $158 million in capital funding from this federal government.

I also want to highlight some of the cuts that are occurring in the area of health. When something good happens in health, be it by the state government or federal government, I welcome it, and I welcomed the announcement, after the Liberals came into government in New South Wales, that they were going to proceed with a long overdue upgrade of Blacktown Hospital. I welcomed it. I did not condemn it at all, because I think it is the responsibility of all of us in this place to work together to make a better health system. But I am very disappointed, because I am reliably informed that at Blacktown Hospital, ever since this announcement, there has actually been no movement in these works. People voted in Liberal MPs—for the first time in many cases—across western Sydney, and they have sorely let western Sydney down. It is plain for everyone to see that they are not standing up for western Sydney.

Again, the contrast could not be clearer. In Greenway, the federal government have come good on our election commitment to fund a $15 million GP superclinic in Blacktown. We have ensured investment in Primary Care Infrastructure Grants so that people can have access to a GP when they need it, including after hours. Most recently, I was pleased to announce half a million dollars in Primary Care Infrastructure Grants for the Bridgeview medical centre in Toongabbie. There is a clear contrast between ensuring health investment is made where it is needed most and the cutting of the health budget by the New South Wales government.

The latest reports—and I am referring to the Telegraphare that Mr O'Farrell is going to slash $3 billion from health. That is on top of the $1.7 billion cuts to education. When the Minister for Health was asked about where the money would go, she claimed that as much as two-thirds of the money would be redirected to so-called front-line services but could not actually say what those front-line services would be. This is clearly simply cost-cutting from health that is going to result in people who need our assistance the most getting slugged.

As the Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales, John Robertson, has noted, the health minister, Jillian Skinner, has also confirmed that patients could be sent home early from New South Wales hospitals. That is going to save a lot of money! 'Let's send patients home early so that we can cut $3 billion.' When asked about how the cuts would be made, the minister said: 'Through, for example, not keeping patients in hospital as long as they should be.' As the shadow health minister, Dr Andrew McDonald, pointed out, the only people who should be deciding when a patient is discharged from hospital are the doctors and nurses treating them. Slashing $3 billion from New South Wales hospitals will mean—not might mean; will mean—fewer beds, longer waiting times and compromised health care.

On top of that, I want to point to more recent announcements. Again, I refer to reports in the Daily Telegraph, but also in other places. Premier Barry O'Farrell has raised the spectre of the GST being increased to cover food. That could add another $20 a week to the average Sydney family's grocery bill. I will put my money on it that the first thing Premier O'Farrell will seek to do is to broaden the base of the GST and slug us with increased taxes on our grocery bills. Let us not forget that it was the shadow Treasurer in this place who said earlier this year that, if there is going to be a discussion about increasing the GST, it is going to need to be led by the states. We know that there are people on the other side of the House who call themselves 'modest members'. They are the most immodest people that you have seen, running around advocating these policies. They actually want this. This is true to form. This is straight from the tory playbook. It is letting Western Sydney down, it is letting New South Wales down and I grieve for the victims of Western Sydney in this. (Time expired)