Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Prime Minister Turnbull's $30 billion cuts to education are a clear broken promise to Australian students, parents, teachers and the broader community. Pathetically, as Senator Dastyari mentioned, he was hoping that by breaking this promise during the Christmas and New Year period, when Australians were enjoying their holidays and time with their families, no-one would notice. Can I tell those opposite: people have noticed. Australian people have noticed and they are not happy. The cuts to our classrooms are the equivalent of ripping out one out of every seven teachers. That is not good enough. I did not actually disagree with what Senator Bernardi said about the curriculum, but what is the point in having any sort of curriculum if you have not got the teachers and the funding there to be able to implement the curriculum? On average the government has ripped $3.2 million out of every school in every state and every territory, and the impact of that is enormous.

Let's look at what that actually means. It will mean fewer subject choices and less support for students with disability, literacy and numeracy programs being cut. We just heard from Senator Bernardi about how important literacy and numeracy are, and I absolutely agree with him. What is the point of cutting them? They have to be there, because to get Australia back working in the way it should be we need to have people who are properly educated and employable. Learning supports will be cut, and we know that there will end up being less support and training for teachers. The deep uncertainty about the future of schools funding is already limiting the ability of school systems and principals to start programs and to plan to improve education.

It is quite clear that only the Labor Party is really taking the challenge of improving Australian education seriously. I say to senators opposite that your plan to cut education will most certainly result in worse education outcomes. Before the last federal election Minister Pyne trumpeted his unity ticket on Gonski. As we heard yesterday, there were posters and all sorts of claims, such as 'You can vote Liberal or Labor and you'll get exactly the same amount of funding for your schools.' Well, that is clearly not true. It was a complete con, because those opposite knew that Gonski was the best outcome, and they wanted to ride on the Labor Party coat-tails of Gonski to make sure that they could get elected.

It is absolutely typical of this government that the cuts will hurt those who are least well off. The students who have suffered the most are those who are in remote schools, in disadvantaged schools and, of course, Indigenous children. In contrast, every child in every school in every state and territory in Australia will benefit from Labor's plan. The 'Your Child. Our Future' plan will mean better trained teachers, more resources for our schools and support students with special learning needs. We will fund the Gonski school reform in full, because there is nothing more important that a government can do than invest in education and invest in our schools.

It is a complete farce that Mr Turnbull talks about innovation all the time, but at the same time he is cutting funding to every school across the nation. If you are deadly serious about education policy, then you have to be able to fund that policy and make sure that those on the ground are able to deliver that policy properly. And that is what Labor plans to do. As I said, we hear a lot of talk about innovation from the other side but, without education, all that is is just more talk.

We need real investment in the programs that make a difference to increasing Australia's educational levels. Labor's policy, 'Your Child. Our Future', is fully costed and it guarantees long-term education for all Australian children. Just this week schools are going back in Tasmania. I strongly believe, as does the Labor Party, that every child should have the same chance of succeeding at school, no matter what their background, no matter where they live and no matter what type of school they go to. It is a Labor government—(Time expired)