Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Everyone in this chamber has lived the power of education. We see firsthand, in the states that we love and represent, education's capacity to transform lives. Education is not a privilege for a few; it's a right for all. It transforms not only the individuals who encounter and receive a wonderful education; it transforms the capacity of our entire country and, indeed, our economy.

Labor values have driven every education reform that we've undertaken. We've made TAFE free, we've introduced paid prac, we've made child care more affordable and more accessible, and we've made it safer, and we'll continue to attempt to do that work in the parliament—and I hope that we will be able to pass that legislation over the course of the coming days.

We have reached historic agreements with our states and territories to fully fund every single school in every state. These are reforms that were long overdue, after a decade of neglect from those opposite. Indeed, I refer to the speech of the Governor-General, who, in short—one small paragraph—said:

Fourteen years since the Gonski review identified the schooling resource standard, the Commonwealth now has an agreement with all states and territories to make that standard a reality.

The law captures Australians into schools by compulsory attendance for 13 years of education. We are talking about an entire generation who have been ill served by the games played around education in this chamber.

There are critical pieces of education legislation before us this very day—passed by the House and endorsed by the Australian people in a resounding Labor majority. Stop getting in the way of advancing the education, the health, the wellbeing and the prosperity of our nation. Pass Labor's education legislation. Let's get on with the job.