Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education. I remind the minister that Ashgrove State School and Kenmore State High School in my electorate of Ryan transitioned to become independent public schools in 2013. This year, a further nine public schools in my electorate will benefit from this program. Minister, what is the government doing to deliver world-class education for Australian students?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the question from the member for Ryan, who I know is an enthusiastic advocate for independent public schools and one of the new ambassadors for independent public schools. On Monday last week, I announced an initiative for independent public schools of $70 million to encourage the states and territories to work with the Commonwealth so that 1,500 more public schools can become independent public schools by 2017.

Our policies are unashamedly about putting students first in education, about standards and about quality. All the domestic and international research into education indicates that the more autonomy a school enjoys, the better the outcomes for the students. That is why we are pursuing independent public schools—so that students get better quality education and better results. This is virtually a bipartisan policy or it has been in the past. The member for McMahon wrote in Hearts & Minds:

Western Australia, with the support of the federal Labor government, has taken some tentative steps towards more independence for its public schools.

In fact Julia Gillard, when she was the Minister for Education, said:

… Today in Western Australia, as a result of our resources and reforms, more than 30 state schools are now called independent public schools, …

Another Labor figure said:

A report released today on the Labor Government’s Empowering Local Schools initiative shows positive progress in engaging parents in school decision-making and improving learning opportunities …

…   …   …

More than 900 schools across Australia are working to increase their authority through an initiative to give school principals more power to make local decisions.

He went on:

… schools that enjoy greater local school authority in relation to resource allocation tend to show better student performance than those with less autonomy.

Guess who said that, Madam Speaker? You are so smart, I do not even need to ask you to guess. I know that you would know it is the current Leader of the Opposition when he was the Minister for Education in July 2013. Somewhere along the line he had a Damascene conversion, a phrase that he would remember, and he decided to oppose independent public schools. He said they would create a two-tiered system. Do you know who else opposes independent public schools and calls them a two-tiered system? Again, Madam Speaker, I do not need to ask you to guess. It is the Australian Education Union.

So, unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition demonstrates time and time again that he is simply a union official speaking for union officials. He cannot rise above his background. He is running a protection racket for a protection racket, only in this case he is hurting students' outcomes. He should get behind our independent public schools model because, if he did, he would be putting students first.