Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is Public Education Day. I want to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to all the wonderful public education teachers across my electorate, across my region and across the country. They do such important work in ensuring that our schools are providing real and wonderful opportunities to position our young people for the future. As we know, this is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to navigate. So education is critically important.

I think people across the chamber would agree with me that our public education system has been one of the foundational aspects of our great story in this country. It has not only led to productivity and economic growth; it works to ensure that all people, regardless of where they were born, who their parents are and how much money they have, are able to get opportunity within that growth and economic development. It has also been, I would argue, one of the foundation reasons why we have such a peaceful, diverse society in this country. Children from families across their suburb, regardless of their ethnic background, religious belief or socio-economic status, come together on an equal footing in our public schools to learn, to share and to have some fun together. That builds a really strong foundation for peaceful communities that grow together and respect each other. And so I think it is really important to acknowledge on Public Education Day the significant role that our public schools have played in that story.

I also want to acknowledge the very important role that our public education unions have played as part of that story. On Friday night I attended a dinner in my electorate with my colleague the member for Whitlam, my state colleague Paul Scully, who is the member for Wollongong, and many others to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New South Wales Teachers Federation. The dinner was coordinated by the Illawarra Teachers Association. It was wonderful. I got a lot of personal pleasure out of it because I caught up with a lot of old friends. As you would know, Deputy Speaker, I was a high school and TAFE teacher. So I retained lots of friendships, and it was lovely to catch up with people.

The story that we heard of 100 years of effort and campaigning by the New South Wales Teachers Federation is exactly that story I have just talked about with public schools: their campaigns revolve not only around the pay and conditions of the teachers they represented but also the wellbeing and advancement of the students they were teaching. A lot of campaigns revolved, from the very earliest days, around pay equity and equal rights for women, the advancement and participation of Indigenous people on an equal footing and ensuring that we work as a society in a peaceful and cooperative way respectful of each other. The story of those campaigns was a really telling want to look through.

I have personal memories as a student at Warilla high of the Warilla High School strikers. It was the longest strike by teachers in the history of the nation. I must admit that my best friend, Melinda Little, and I spent most of our time on our bikes riding down to the old Windang bridge to go fishing. But even as very young people we were very aware that the teachers were fighting for staffing for our school, particularly as we had a high level of disadvantage.

Congratulations to Di Ridley, the Illawarra Teachers Association treasurer, who did most of the organising for the night; Elizabeth Scott, the Illawarra Teachers Association president; my old friend John Dixon, the general secretary of the New South Wales Teachers Federation; my very dear friend Maurie Mulheron, the president of the New South Wales Teachers Federation; and guest speaker Wendy Harmer, who entertained us very well on the night. I also want to give a little shout-out to some of those long-time friends of mine: Gerry Watt, Cathy Block, Dave Beswick, Jo Kowalczyk and Rob Long, all of whom I've worked with not only in teaching but in advancing the issues that the union was campaigning on. I also give a shout-out to, from more recent times, two newer friends but just as solid comrades: Nicole Calnan and John Black. Happy 100th anniversary!