Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question. As she can tell, we are having some difficulties locating the formal brief on this matter, so I will make sure that the Minister for Education, whom I am representing, has an opportunity to view the question and see whether or not there are other matters she wants to raise. In that context I will say that this is a government that is committed to ensuring that there is genuine equality of opportunity in our education system. This is a government that has set itself very stiff targets to meet and that understands the importance of education, particularly for Indigenous people. This is a government that has acknowledged its obligation to make not only an apology for the past wrongs that have been committed against Indigenous people but also a commitment to ensure that it bridges the gap in terms of educational opportunities that exist in this country.

This is a government, unlike our predecessor, that is actually serious about changing life’s opportunities for Indigenous people in this country. What this government has also done is to make sure that these targets are realistic and will be met. I note that in all the reports over the last five or six years in terms of educational attainment we saw a decline in the key indicators in socioeconomic equity and Indigenous education. The members of the previous government ought to hang their heads in shame at what happened to equality of opportunity in this country across the full range of socioeconomic indicators of educational attainment.