Wednesday, 18 February 2026

 The SPEAKER (16:01): I have accepted a statement from the member for Albert Park proposing the following matter of public importance for discussion:

That this house commends the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief to set Victorian students up for the future and enhance state productivity.

 Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (16:01): I am very pleased to rise to speak on the matter of public importance commending our Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief to set Victorians up for the future and enhance state productivity. As the chamber may well know and should know, our vision for the Education State is to deliver excellence in every classroom for every student across the state. It might be synchronicity, actually, because earlier this week I was representing the Minister for Education at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. It was a great pleasure to address 350 teachers from every corner of our state, from metropolitan, rural and regional locations. They have been selected to take part in the prestigious teaching excellence program, or TEP, as it is called. This comprises teachers from government, Catholic and independent schools. These schools include primary, secondary, P–12 and specialist schools.

When we come to that premise of making sure that we have excellence in every classroom for every student across Victoria, part of making that implementation a reality is nurturing the talent of our great teachers and making sure that they have the support that they need, particularly early on in their careers. I know as a former teacher myself that I must say that while I certainly was able to manage the class, I tell you what, there was very little behavioural instruction. It was like, ‘Get in there, and good luck.’ I am pleased to say that we have come a long way, but it has taken a lot of hard work, and it is our Allan Labor government that is truly implementing the changes needed to really back in our teachers and help them with such matters as managing behaviour in classrooms.

We are committed to investing in programs that support teachers at every stage of their career, from scholarships and preservice placements to graduate programs and initiatives like Career Start that help new teachers thrive in their first year. We can see the stark contrast from where it was, dare I say, 25 years ago. We have come a long way. This is absolutely what is needed to really honour and really salute the wonderful, diverse and very capable teaching workforce that we have in this state. I can also say that our efforts to support our teaching workforce are making a difference. I am proud to say we currently have 14,000 more registered teachers in Victoria than we did in 2020, but this has taken time and hard work. It has taken deliberate, ongoing investment in employment-based teaching degrees, graduate teacher programs and targeted incentives for teachers to work in rural and regional areas. It is a testament to our ongoing focus on professional learning and leadership development for those teachers that we are keen to deepen their knowledge and practice, building a highly fulfilling and stellar career, as they deserve to do.

I should say just a further point on the academy. The academy has brought world-class experts, current research and high-quality professional learning to teachers in every corner of our state.

Teachers in rural and remote parts of Victoria who have teaching and leadership ambitions are no longer disadvantaged by the tyranny of distance. With seven regional academy centres spread across our state, the academy ensures regional and rural teachers receive the same professional opportunities as their counterparts in the city. I am raising that point because often those opposite will allege somehow that we have forgotten regional and rural areas – not so, and you can absolutely see that in the way that we are backing in our teacher profession right across the state. The TEP is one of the academy’s most renowned professional learning programs and – get this – is the only course of its kind in Australia. This is a testament to the investment of our Allan Labor government in our teachers, because we believe in them and we know they are the secret to the success of our children as well.

Coming to our children, I must say according to the most recent NAPLAN data, Victorian students are not only the top performing in the country but also performing better than at any other time on record.

Members interjecting.

Nina TAYLOR: Yes, Victorian students achieved the highest or second-highest mean scores in 18 of 20 NAPLAN measures. Victorian students continue to excel, with more kids in the ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ bands, the two highest levels of NAPLAN, than any other state. I do want to credit the incredible work of our teachers to facilitate those outcomes. It is not by chance, but obviously by deliberate investment, both in teaching and learning.

These results show the benefits of the Allan Labor government’s investments in best practice teaching and learning, including mandated phonics for 25 minutes each day and support to build kids’ confidence in maths. I am sure my colleagues in the chamber will have also observed this. I have been to all of the schools in my area. I regularly visit them, and I am able to see this mandated literacy reform. It is a very vital reform when we are talking about true equity in terms of all students being able to have the best possible education, but also in terms of being able to tap into vulnerabilities early on so that they are able to be intercepted and they are able to get the support they need to really get the best educational outcomes throughout their school experiences.

What about school infrastructure? That is part of the MPI. I have to go there. The Allan Labor government has handed down a budget that invests a further $1.5 billion in education infrastructure. I might just note while we are here that when they last had the chance, the Coalition scrapped the Victorian schools plan and failed to plan for the future of Victoria’s education system. School infrastructure funding was cut to, I am sad to say, a mere $200 million a year.

Juliana Addison: Shame!

Nina TAYLOR: Shame! Not one new school opened in 2016 following their failure to plan for the future. Thankfully, though, under our government we have had a cumulative total of $18.5 billion in investment – billion. You can see the contrast there. That is $18.5 billion, and we are looking back at a mere $200 million a year. Our investment is backing Victorian families, with 121 new schools funded to open between 2017 and 2027. Now, what about this year? Okay, this year we have opened a record 19 new schools.

Members interjecting.

Nina TAYLOR: That is right, delivering on our commitment to build 100 new schools between 2019 and 2026. When Labor came into government, the school infrastructure we inherited was a disaster, with only 14.1 per cent of school capital works programs being delivered on time – whoopsadaisy. Since the 2017–18 financial year, each financial year has seen an average of 91.8 per cent of projects delivered on time. So you see the contrast there: 14.1 per cent to 91.8 – in anyone’s language, we can see there is a stark difference in terms of delivery. This means a real difference for both the teachers in their workplace but also the experience of the children as well.

I am very happy to say, as part of those 100 new schools, one of them was actually in my electorate: Narrarrang Primary School, a beautiful new primary school. I will salute the principal Tim Sawalaga. It was just such a joy to be able to go literally a couple of weeks ago to that beautiful new school. There is so much passion from those teachers. They are so excited. They are investing in the kids. The parents are excited too – everyone, a real collaborative approach. And do you know what is also really great about that school? It is also going to have a kinder in 2027.

A member interjected.

Nina TAYLOR: Yes, exactly, one drop-off. It is saving parents a lot of time and hassle and also allows for continuity in the educational experience. On top of that – and this is where we think holistically with regard to our investments in community, and education is an investment in community in reality – is also that we will have other community spaces on that site as well so that everybody can take part and make use of this precious space, because we know that, particularly in the inner urban environments, space is at a premium. Making sure that we have truly inclusive schools and ones that are actually able to be multipurpose is beneficial to everyone as well.

And there is more: we are also on track to complete six new tech schools by 2026 thanks to a $116 million investment. These schools will deliver free hands-on STEM education for – get this – 62,000 Victorian students. Again we can say that we are making a significant impact but also investing in their future when we know how many jobs are going to be following in those STEM categories and why it is vital that we give all Victorian students the opportunity that they deserve where they live to do their best and have access to this high-quality teaching that is actually linked to and following a pathway to real careers.

This is another thing: when we are talking about delivering – and that is what a Labor government is always focused on – under Labor, schools are being built eight months faster on average. That makes a real difference in terms of delivery, particularly when you have got growth corridors. In any case, when you have got building and infrastructure you want to be able to deliver it efficiently. Roughly 50 per cent of the schools that have been built across the whole of Australia since 2018 have been built right in Victoria by our government. I just want to contrast: Jeff Kennett’s government closed more than 350 schools, including many in regional Victoria. I know my seat of Albert Park also suffered a lot there. Of course it is a Labor government that has had to rebuild. I think the inference was ‘Well, probably a lot of them will go to private schools. We don’t not need a public education system. We don’t need accessibility to all these public schools in the area.’ Well, let me tell you they were wrong. You only have to go to Albert Park College. Oh my God, that is a massive school that keeps growing and growing. It has so much opportunity for the students in the creative arts, you name it. Also there is Port Melbourne Secondary – let me not leave them out of this equation. Robotics there is second to none. What those kids are doing there is absolutely phenomenal. This is about investing in the future of our kids, and we are doing it. Clearly we have form – but in a good way, of course.

Also we are implementing the biggest improvement in schools disability support Victoria has ever seen with the nearly $1.9 billion disability inclusion package. I should say only 14 special schools were upgraded under the former coalition government. They also cut funding for student support officers from $33 million to just $4 million over four years, cutting access to speech pathologists, psychologists – you get the picture; not very pretty. In 2020 we announced a further 36 special schools were receiving funding and upgrades. This means every government specialist school in Victoria has been upgraded by our government. I know this has also happened in my electorate. I know that the Port Phillip Specialist School, for instance, provides incredible support for kids. They come from far and wide to go to that school. Having been there a number of times, I know the patience and the work that those teachers provide, but actually you see the joy in the students themselves. They are really getting a holistic experience, which they richly deserve.

In addition to our investments in disability inclusion, Labor is also implementing the $203 million fighting for students with disability and their families package. This includes more high-intensity outside-school-hours care. Oh my goodness, that announcement – I have to say I had parents reach out to me. They were so relieved, because it can be a lot to juggle for parents making sure that their kids are supported all hours of the day – except for when they are sleeping of course, if I am going to bring it down to that level of detail. In any case, rest assured it certainly had a terrific impact.

I could see the relief on parents’ faces, and that is also about investing in them, investing in families, and making sure that they are able to get their kids the education they need but also keep the balance that every family deserves. More support to help families navigate the NDIS is part of that reform as well.

I think we are almost at the end there, but – a good problem to have – there is so much more to talk about in terms of the Allan Labor government’s investment in our schools’ infrastructure, in our teachers and in our students. Luckily, there are plenty more members in the chamber who can share on this. As I said, I could not possibly get through the extent of the investments that we have made, and I am proud to say that I could not, because that means there is so much more to talk about, and I certainly wish my colleagues well on that front. As you can see, with our Allan Labor government, we deliver; the coalition cut, cut, cut. Victorians have choices here. Do they want solutions? Do they want cuts? As you can see, we have positive form in this space, and we will continue to deliver for our Victorian teachers and students.

 Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (16:16): I also rise to address the government’s matter of public importance today submitted by the member for Albert Park, who has just addressed the matter that this house condemns the Allan Labor – sorry, I misspoke:

That this house commends the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief to set Victorian students up for the future and enhance state productivity.

Where has the member for Albert Park gone? She has gone. I was hoping that she would stick around for this, as I was courteously here listening to her contribution. That said, if you listened to the member for Albert Park and those on the government benches who are contributing to this matter of public importance today – and by the way, I agree that education is a matter of public importance – you would think it is just rosy, it is tickety-boo, it is hunky-dory: ‘Nothing to see here – no issues whatsoever.’ The member for Albert Park was on her feet talking about the great success of this government, who have been in power for 11, almost 12, years. She was talking about teacher attraction and how they have had great success in attracting teachers, yet as of today, as of now, I am sure you will be interested to learn that there are 826 teaching positions in Victorian state schools that are in need of being filled. Let us just unpack that slightly. I do not want to spend too much time on this, because there are a lot of other things to talk about as well. If those 826 are class teachers, what happens to those kids? I was speaking to a parent just the other day who is familiar with these matters. At the school that his kids are in within metropolitan Melbourne, this year they have introduced a series of composite classes, which the parents do not think is ideal but a lot have come to accept. The reason given for that was because they did not have the ability to attract sufficient teachers because of funding cuts to the school. I will use a $2.4 billion figure – Labor’s $2.4 billion cut to education. That is not my figure, that is the Australian Education Union’s figure. That is the union movement here in this state recognising that although their mates are in charge and have been for 11, almost 12, years, they are not doing the best things by kids, by families and by schools and are cutting public funding to education.

In terms of workforce, in 2023 38 per cent of registered teachers working in Victorian schools indicated that they intended to leave the profession before retirement – 38 per cent. That is an increase of more than 16 per cent from when that question was asked just three years prior. At the same time, the proportion of teachers who plan to remain in teaching until retirement has fallen from 41.6 per cent in 2020 to 27.1 per cent. That is a 14.5 per cent collapse in workforce confidence amongst teachers. Again, if you listen to the member for Albert Park and if you listen to members of the government today, they will have you believe that it is all right, all hunky-dory, all tickety-boo. But the reality is something quite different. This is what happens to a government who has been there for almost 12 years. They lose touch with the reality of the community that they say they seek to serve, and they do not – that is the reality of it. That is the reality. This government has got a problem with attracting teachers and with retaining teachers, and they can try and spin their way out of that as much as they like, but the reality is quite different.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: I would ask members to cease interjecting.

Brad ROWSWELL: Thank you for your protection, Speaker. The member for Albert Park went on further in her contribution. She was crowing about the infrastructure successes and triumphs – her phraseology, not mine – of this government in relation to schools. So why then did the member for Kew, the Leader of the Opposition, go through a two-year legal battle in VCAT for the Department of Education to release the school condition report, which is a number between zero and five allocated to every Victorian government school? Why did she have to? Why did the Department of Education – why did the government – seek to hide this data from Victorians? If the government has had such great success in the infrastructure space in schools, why did they hide this information from public consumption?

Now, for full transparency, that information has been released. The information commissioner thought that the Department of Education should have released it much earlier. The Department of Education chose not to release that information. The member for Kew exercised her right to pursue that matter at VCAT, and she won – VCAT ordered the Department of Education to release that information. As a matter of transparency, I have now submitted a further freedom-of-information request to the Department of Education. It is identical to the one that the member for Kew submitted more than two years ago, the only difference being that in my request for information I have actually referenced the case law established by VCAT in requiring the Department of Education to release that information.

As interesting as that might be, what is more interesting is what that condition report actually said: 199 schools have a poor condition rating – that is a rating of less than 3.25 on a scale of zero to five. That is approximately one in five of all schools ranked on this list in Victoria that are considered to be in poor condition. 677 schools have a condition score below the statewide average, which is 3.48. That is, at this point in time there are about 1575 state schools in Victoria and 677 of those had a condition score below the statewide average. Sixteen of the 21 lowest ranked schools are located outside the metropolitan area, and I am sure that my colleagues the member for Euroa, the member for Eildon and the member for Mildura will be addressing the inequity in education funding in their communities.

It gets worse though. Attendance at schools, as highlighted by the Productivity Commission just last week, is at a rate which is completely and utterly unacceptable. That Productivity Commission report found the Victorian school attendance rates have gone backwards, dropping 3.7 percentage points since 2019 – from 91.5 per cent to just 87.8 per cent. I can talk percentages all day, but numbers actually have a meaning, so let me articulate in very simple terms what that meaning is. That means that if you are a student at a Victorian government school, you are not present in the classroom for, on average, four weeks a year.

Jade Benham: Four weeks.

Brad ROWSWELL: Four weeks a year, member for Mildura, at a critical time, at a stage of your life, a stage of your development, when you should be in the classroom. You should have every opportunity to learn, to grow and to be amongst your friends. I say to this government, through you, Speaker: why does the data from the Productivity Commission released last week say that if you attend a Victorian government school, you are absent from the classroom for, on average, four weeks of the year? That is completely and utterly unacceptable.

Again, if you listen to the government, it is all fine. They have drunk their own Kool Aid. They have sipped their own bathwater. Let us set aside the fact that that probably does not taste as nice as they would imagine it to be. But the reality is this: it is not. There is more work to be done. This is what happens when you have got a government of the same colour in power for as long as this mob have been in charge. I say to the government that they have an opportunity. They have an opportunity to do better. It is not too late. They have got an opportunity to transform funding for schools from the country’s lowest to something much better than that. That is the opportunity.

Victoria is currently the only state without a long-term agreement to fully fund the Gonski model, instead relying on a one-year stopgap arrangement that has left funding levels unchanged since 2023. Consider the school resource standard, otherwise referred to as the SRS – those chalkies in the chamber I am sure will be familiar with that. Dial in now. Western Australia – their state government provides 77.5 per cent of the SRS; the feds – 22.5; Tasmania – 77.5; ACT – 77.5; Victoria – wait for it – 70.4. So in at least two states of the nation and one territory – in Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory – students are funded to 100 per cent of the student resource standard. That means they are getting the funding that they require to give them every opportunity to learn and to grow and to contribute.

In Victoria the state government, who do not need much encouragement at all to pour a bucket of you know what over people like me on this side of the chamber – without cause, I might add – provide 70.4 per cent. That is what this Labor government contribute towards the student resource standard in Victoria, with only a 20 per cent contribution from the feds, representing funding of only 90.4 per cent of 100 per cent. Our kids are being underfunded. This is limiting their opportunity. It is limiting their chance to be the best that they can be – to grow, to develop, to learn and to contribute to our Victorian community – and this is happening on Labor’s watch. And they have the cheek to put on their number plates ‘The Education State’.

On just some of the points that I have raised today I would argue until the cows come home. I can see them just in the distance over there. I would argue that we are no longer the Education State – we may once have been – and I think that we should be. I think that our best years are ahead of us in this state, but not under this government. It will take a change of government for our potential to be realised.

It will take a change of government to establish the conditions for people to do their very best, to contribute everything that they have, to come together as a community and not be divided.

Speaking of division, this government say they are all about bringing people together and caring for marginalised people, and yet they choose to tax education. It was this government that introduced their schools tax just a couple of years ago, making the cost of education in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis more expensive than it had been. In response the government said, ‘But we’re just bringing the independent school sector, the Catholic school sector, in line with the government school sector.’ Of course they will not admit the truth of the matter, that effectively payroll tax in government schools is an internal accounting treatment. It does not actually have a real-life impact on the ability of schools within their budgets to provide for their schools. We will scrap that tax. We have made that commitment; it is ironclad. We will scrap that tax. It is a precipice that Labor crossed and we are not prepared to. We do not think that education should be taxed. We think that education should be supported. With 10 seconds left, I say to the Minister for Education: do better. Work with teachers, confirm the EBA, and do not put teachers, students and families in the circumstance they are currently in.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Frankston, can I acknowledge in the gallery former minister and former member for Bayswater Heidi Victoria.

 Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (16:31): Well, we can see that the opposition is unburdened by the complications of common sense or knowledge about the education sector. I was very entertained by that performance.

Wayne Farnham: You should be.

Paul EDBROOKE: And I was, member for Narracan. I was entertained. But unfortunately, the fundamental difference between those on this side of the house and those on that side of the house is their catastrophic failures in the education sector and what we are doing now, which is building the Education State. It is so important that this house commends the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief to set Victorian students up for the future and enhance state productivity, because productivity does not start in the boardroom, it starts in prep. Education is the single most important investment any government can make, whether that is socially or economically – it just is – and that is across the board internationally.

What we have heard from those opposite today is a real tiptoe through the tulips of picking obscure data and trying to map out an angle with it. I think every speaker on this matter of public importance on this side of the house is a teacher or was a teacher, and I think that we will have some people who have something to say about their experiences in schools. My experience in school takes me back to 2001. I remember changing children in special developmental schools (SDS) on the floor; there were no lifts. I have taught in classrooms where the roof leaked. I have taught in classrooms with asbestos everywhere. I have taught kids who were bright as anything, the brightest kids, who would be the future of Victoria, but they struggled because things at home were hard. They went to school without breakfast; they went to school without lunch. I have seen the difference between a supported child and a child who feels forgotten.

When we hear those opposite talk about supporting education, it makes me shiver to the core, because in 2001 we were still dealing with the cuts of the Kennett era. Jeffrey Gibb Kennett – I know a few people on that side of the house are fanboys of Jeff, and that is okay; we can deal with that. 1992 to 1999 I think was when Jeff was around. I was in the Latrobe Valley, and unbelievably, my community died overnight, the community that I lived in. But then I became a teacher, and I realised that Jeff Kennett and the Liberals –

Members interjecting.

Paul EDBROOKE: We can hear the interjections from opposite, but past performance is the best predictor. We know that saying, and it is true here. 350 schools were closed.

We just heard the member for Sandringham talk about a lack of teachers and also some facts and figures. What happens to these children when you take 350 schools away? How many teaching jobs is that? Well, we know it was 7000 to 8000 Department of Education jobs down the drain. What happens to the collective intellect of a state when you do something like that? What happens to the collective childhoods when you do that? A lot of these children rely on school as, sometimes, fundamentally the only sure thing in their life, the only supported thing in their life.

On this side of the house we do not suffer from, let us call it, the Dunning-Kruger complex, where people get up on the other side of the house and talk about their record in education, what they think should be done, without realising that historically the Liberal Party is utterly incompetent in this space. The Dunning-Kruger complex, where incompetence cannot recognise its own incompetence – we teach kids that today in school, in psychology. But when they destroyed 350 schools and sacked 7000 teachers, how gutsy must they be to stand up in this house and say that this government is not good enough in the education sector and that we should not have numberplates with ‘the Education State’ on them. Thank you for helping me. It is just like working it out myself, only harder. We heard a little bit about the egalitarian nature of the theories across the line, but their history tells us everything we need to know. The self-confidence is very, very, very high, but the self-awareness is very low, the knowledge of history is very, very low, and our education system suffered because of it. Make no mistake, if the Liberals get back in, if the coalition get back in, if One Nation – the coalition of cuts – get into government, we will have that again: schools being closed down, teachers sacked. We will hear none of this, that they care for children, they care about education.

Since coming to government the Labor government has delivered $38.6 billion to the Victorian education sector, and that is delivery, that is not just slogans. The results show it as well. According to the most recent NAPLAN data, not only are Victorian students top performers in the country, they are performing better than any other time on record. Yet across the aisle what we are hearing today is talking our students down, talking our teachers down. On that can I just pivot to thank the teachers in this chamber, to thank the teachers out in the community. Whether it is in SDS, private schools, state schools, secondary or primary, they do an amazing job. We know that it is not just what some people might imagine – the whiteboard or the chalkboard. There is a hell of a lot of care that goes into teaching these days and making sure we steer children and youth into the right areas where they can make a better future for themselves. We on this side will not steer clear of the hard questions, and that is why those NAPLAN results are so good, essentially.

This government committed an extra $1.5 billion in infrastructure this budget. That is $18.5 billion into infrastructure since we came to office. That is 100 schools – we reached 100 schools built this year. That is absolutely amazing. When has that ever been done in history – 100 schools built in Victoria. So when I hear someone across the aisle talk about there being a shortage of teachers – we have just built 100 schools; of course there is going to be pressure on the system. But the pressure on the system is because in some ways we are still catching up from those Kennett years. We have also invested $1.9 billion in disability inclusion. I was a teacher for a period in the SDS system. As I said, the ramifications of the Kennett era were that we did not have lifts. We saw teachers changing kids, teachers going above and beyond, because they did not have what they needed to teach children, to give them that pastoral care. And some of the things we have done are not just nice extras; I would actually consider them the foundations of learning, like mental health supports in schools, banning mobile phones – leading the nation in banning mobile phones – in schools.

I do not think you can disagree with that and stand on a foundation of evidence.

As far as the debate from the other side, I do not think it is that complicated. When they had their chance, did they invest? No, they did not invest. They had the four years between 2010 and 2014, and the Kennett years, and they cut the whole time. Every time they have been in power, they have cut. They cut more than $1 billion from education. They cut Free Fruit Friday. They cut the young readers program. Bloody hell – who cuts literacy? Excuse my language. Excuse my literacy. Who cuts literacy in a school? They cut the school staff bonus. They cut the education maintenance allowance. 350 schools closed – we cannot afford to go through that again.

We know that those opposite are, as we have seen today in question time, the Harvey Norman of politics – three years with no interest. And that is what is happening now. No-one is interested in what they are bringing to the table, because their history is clear for everyone to see. To say they are egalitarian and they support everyone in the education system is one thing, but to actually do it is a totally different animal. You need to step up to do that. That is what this government has done.

Brad Rowswell: On a point of order, Speaker: relevance.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Paul EDBROOKE: Relevance? We are talking about the education system, for God’s sake.

The SPEAKER: I remind the member for Frankston about disorderly behaviour and the use of unparliamentary language in the house. I call the member for Mildura, who is very lucky to be still in the house.

 Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (16:42): I all of a sudden have been transported back to the mid-1990s and feel like I have just been reprimanded by my teachers.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do hope that you are not reflecting on the Chair.

Jade BENHAM: Absolutely not, Speaker. I would never.

The SPEAKER: I would ask you to speak to the MPI.

Jade BENHAM: The MPI that is before the house today is that this house commends the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief to set Victorian students up for the future and enhance state productivity.

I beg your finest pardon – if this house is being asked to commend the Allan Labor government’s so-called nation-leading investment in school infrastructure, safety and learning supports, then we need to ask a very simple question: nation-leading compared to which nation? We heard the member for Sandringham point out some very alarming facts and figures earlier, some of which we will get to. But in the interests of representing my community, I have a few home truths to tell. The member for Frankston was very quick to illustrate that a hundred new schools in the city have been built. Well, the member for Narracan tells me that he has not had a new school built in 50 years. The electorate of Mildura would be around the same. In fact the report about the condition of government schools in Victoria illustrated that Chaffey College was one of the worst, with a mark below three.

There is a very real distinction between education in the city and education in the regions, and it bears absolutely zero resemblance to the MPI that has been put before the house today. Across regional Victoria, government schools are operating in facilities that are decades – sometimes five decades – past their prime, and I want to tell you a few stories about some of these schools. I have spoken many times in this place about Mildura West Primary School. This is a government school. It is a baccalaureate school, in fact, a very good little primary school in the middle of Mildura which has had two master plans over the past 12 years – two. How much progress do we think that has had in building and completing either of those master plans? Zero. In fact one of their learning buildings is still being held together by chipboard because termites have eaten it out, so that fails the facilities test.

Meanwhile, the government did build them a new $400,000 toilet block they did not need – so again, priorities.

We have Koorlong Primary School, a beautiful little school just outside of Irymple, which borders a bushfire zone. They were instructed by the department to pull out all of their trees. In particular there was a beautiful big old cottonwood tree in the middle courtyard, which offered shade not only to the kids playing but also to the surrounding buildings – ‘No, no, you have to take that out.’ Okay, then the school applied for grants for shade structures. Four times they have been knocked back for shade. I went to that school on a day when it was, guess how hot, being in the north-west of Victoria.

Danny O’Brien: Forty-eight.

Jade BENHAM: Forty-nine degrees. You were close, Leader of the Nationals. No shade. The Lake Primary School, which is again another lovely small school in Mildura – this is an interesting story – has what is called the Lakers court – a basketball court, a multipurpose court. At the moment it has been deemed unsafe because of cracks, uneven surfaces, all that kind of thing. The school council themselves went and got a quote to resurface the Lakers court; it is affectionately known as the Lakers court. The school went and got the quote. It was $70,000 to repair it, or if you wanted to fully renovate it and resurface it, $100,000. The government came back and said, ‘No, no, you can’t do that, because it will cost us $400,000’ – four times what an independent quote sourced from the school said it would cost.

Danny O’Brien interjected.

Jade BENHAM: It must be a union job, honestly, because that is unbelievable. We have Swan Hill College. I was discussing Swan Hill College, which is where I went to school, and the toilet block there. I am shocked to learn that that toilet block – which holds a few memories of my misled adolescence, perhaps – is still standing and needs urgent, urgent replacement. It was set up in a way that wayward teenagers could tell if teachers were walking in, but we are not going to go there. I have not got the time; I have more important stories to tell. But that toilet block, I swear, was there when my mum went to that school. In those days it was Swan Hill High School.

I will touch as well on some points that the member for Frankston made about the Kennett era being so terrible. You know what, I was at school during the Kennett era. I was at Swan Hill High School. My sister was at Woorinen Primary School.

A member interjected.

Jade BENHAM: Yes, Kennet shut it down, and I would still rather be on this side of the house than be with a socialist government that has no idea about budgets or spending or an adequate education system in the regions. So yes, that did affect my values, and you know what, I respected it because my parents explained to me that the state had been run into the ground completely. Our Premier at the time, Mr Kennett, had to then consolidate, so we did consolidate the secondary college. It was a consolidation of the tech school and the high school. Now we have the flexible learning options campus on the site of the old tech school, and it took years for that to occur. That is a great school, led by Gabe Mudge I think, who is still doing that.

So I am a product of the public school system, and the more stories I hear about the state of things, it just continues to alarm me. That brings me to enrolments. I know that it is tough to get into good schools, both private and government schools, in Mildura. Irymple Secondary College is one that is quite sought after, but if you are not in the zone, you have got little hope. Chaffey Secondary College is another one. Mildura Senior College is extraordinary; St Joe’s as well. I was on the phone today to a mother, who was talking about her son Connor, and this actually brought me to tears when Connor sent me a text message. They have moved from Horsham up to Mildura. They have bought a business.   A member interjected.

Jade BENHAM: Yes, the member for Lowan would know exactly who I mean. Connor just completed grade 6 last year at Gol Gol. This is another example of cross-border communities, which usually work well, but because people are voting with their feet and filling up all of those independent schools now, Connor, who has autism spectrum disorder and ADHD level 3 – he has a diagnosis – cannot get a place in a government school. He cannot be supported at all in any school they have approached to start year 7.

Connor is now four weeks into the school year and ready to start year 7, and he cannot get a place. Let me read you –

A member interjected.

Jade BENHAM: You would think there would be a moral obligation to take him. He is a beautiful kid. Let me read you the text message that Connor sent me earlier. Connor said:

This is absolutely unbelievable that I haven’t been able to start high school with everyone else. I’m new here and because of my diagnosis I already have trouble making friends. Now everyone has been together for 4 weeks they will have formed their friend groups I am so worried I will be behind in work and have no friends. As each day goes on and I haven’t started high school I feel more and more defeated. It’s getting me down, every school that says no makes me more and more down. Mum is trying so hard and not getting anywhere. It’s so unfair, I should be able to start high school but I can’t, this is crazy

In fact there is a school bus for the Mildura schools that stops right outside of their front door, and Connor’s mother called me in despair today, explaining that if she cannot get him enrolled in school, then they are going to have to leave Mildura – they are going to have to leave the region. So when this MPI came up today and I read it, I honestly did say, ‘I beg your finest pardon.’ What a crock.

Paul Edbrooke: On a point of order, Speaker, I find that a very emotional story, and I think people in this house would like to help.

The SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

Paul Edbrooke: My question would be: is that child in your zone, and can we help?

The SPEAKER: What is your point of order, member for Frankston?

Paul Edbrooke: Can we help?

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.

 Daniela DE MARTINO (Monbulk) (16:52): I am very pleased to speak on the MPI today, which commends the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments – and the member for Mildura did ask before which nation; this nation – in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief. Teaching is the noblest of professions. That was said to me once, and I have read it also by a former teacher who I admired greatly, Peter Anderson. He wrote a book about his experience as he was actually battling motor neurone disease. He did state that teaching is the noblest of professions, and I have to wholeheartedly agree. I would like to commence my contribution by thanking teachers, past, present and those still to come – the ones who are training, who have decided to seek to enrich and educate our future. It is a fine thing to do. Teachers do not do it for the glory. They do not do it to posture. They do not do it for any reason other than that they feel a deep vocational calling to help, to enrich others and to foster a love of learning in our young people – and hear, hear to them.

There are many reasons why teachers sometimes do leave the profession – I mention that because the member for Sandringham touched on that before – and there are lots of personal reasons. I was a teacher, as many people already know, and then it got a little bit hard with my work–life balance at one stage, because back 20-odd years ago – and that is giving my age away somewhat – it was not as family-friendly as it is now. We are so much better at making sure that teachers can job-share and that part-time work is respected and encouraged, but it certainly was very, very difficult to achieve that a few decades ago, before our government came in. We acknowledged that and we have worked on it, and the department has worked on it too, to ensure that teachers get a bit more work–life balance and can have the flexibility they need if they are raising families as well. For me, that was my situation. It was never a conscious decision to leave a profession I absolutely adored; it was that life happened that way. I have to say we have done so much in this space. I recall teaching. I did my dip. ed. in 2001, so I ended up having my first official class on my own in 2002. The spectre of the Kennett years was still looming very large back then. I know that those opposite sometimes mock the fact that we refer to the Kennett years, even though they were several years ago now. But there is a reason why we refer to them.

It is because the damage that was inflicted on this state means the scars are still here, and we as a government have had to work so hard and with such determination to undo the damage and then build upon it and heal and improve things going forward. Then there was that record from 2010 to 2014, the Twilight Zone years, where nothing happened. It was like Victoria then existed in some kind of parallel universe where barely any investment was made. We actually saw cuts to education during that time. Things went backwards through stagnancy. Things just did not happen. Ask anyone out there on the street what they recall of the Baillieu–Napthine years, and most people go, ‘Not much,’ because there was not much that actually occurred. And so once again, we had a period of stagnation. We then had to come in and lift things again. We had to invest. To be able to say that we have now opened a hundred schools since we came into government at the end of 2014 is an extraordinary achievement when absolutely nothing happened in the four preceding years to that point in time.

I remember as a teacher – and maybe some of my former teacher colleagues in the chamber may also recall this – we used to feed students who came to school hungry. I had a student once and the only food – it was not even food – this young man had was a bottle of Coke that he brought to school with him. That was his breakfast and that was his lunch. We would go out – this is not for me to talk about myself – and the teachers as a cohort would buy a sandwich from the tuckshop for him. And he was not the only one; there were several others. We would bring in fruit. We would do things. We would make sure that he had some food in his belly because we knew then, as educators, you cannot learn on an empty stomach. Well, we know that as a government too. That is why the school breakfast program is one of the greatest things we have introduced. I have spoken about it before. I will speak about it till the cows come home with their udders full of milk to fill these kids up as well – if they are not vegan. But my point is that we understood that there are some basics you have to get right for kids to be able to learn and thrive.

How about glasses? If they cannot see the whiteboard, free glasses for kids are a start. How about addressing dental concerns? Tooth pain is incredibly distracting. It is not good for your health either. Oral health issues lead to systemic health problems, so we have addressed that with free dental vans as well. And we have filled hungry bellies. It is not just kids who would go hungry who are enjoying the program; so many others do. It is social awareness. I have visited our breakfast club programs, and can I tell you the conversations that happen around them are just so good to hear. I am going to use the word ‘wholesome’. It is wholesome to see these kids sitting there having their brekkie and chatting about things, and then the ones who need that extra support often get packs of food to bring home, because the people at home also need food in their bellies. We understand that you have got to get the basics right.

We have also made sure that the buildings are thriving. We have invested incredible sums of money to ensure that we have built those new schools, but we have also upgraded and modernised so many. I have got three purely secondary schools in my area. Two of them have been upgraded and another one is on its way. Upwey High and Monbulk secondary college have been absolutely revolutionised and transformed in our time, and Emerald Secondary College is next on the list. It has already had some upgrades. It has got a bit more to go, and that will be happening this year, I am very pleased to say. We have actually invested $18.5 billion in building, upgrading and modernising schools in our last 11 years alone. That is amazing. Not one school opened in 2016 following their – not 2016; sorry, I have got the year wrong. Do you know what, I was talking about glasses –

A member interjected.

Daniela DE MARTINO: Thank you – 2014. That is why glasses are important for children. They did not plan anything for the future when they last held government. As I said before, we talk about Kennett because of the scars inflicted on this state that have lingered long. We have had to work so hard. Do you know how many schools Jeff Kennett’s government closed? Here is a figure to stagger everyone: more than 350. And tech schools disappeared off the face.

We lost tech schools out our way, and I tell you what, again, that was something that lingered long. Students who needed to go to a tech school, for whom learning Shakespeare in English was not going to be relevant or pertinent to their future careers and productivity – where did they go? They were lost.

We have actually addressed that with our vocational major. Our One VCE program is revolutionary – the fact that students can go to any secondary school and do VCE, whether it be a more academic pathway or actually address more technical areas and vocational roles. We have allowed the flexibility in our education system, because we understand that strengths lie differently and the aims of students are different as well. Not everyone wants to go to university anymore – actually I do not know if everyone wanted to in the first place. They certainly did not. We acknowledge that. That is why our system now has the dexterity to be able to address that and to really allow young people to enrich themselves and see a great future for themselves through education, because we all know that education is the key; it is the doorway. People who migrate over know that their children get a great opportunity in this country because of our education system.

When it comes to the state of Victoria – I know it has been mentioned before; it bears repeating – our students have achieved the highest or second-highest mean scores in 18 out of 20 NAPLAN measures. It is our best ever result. Why? Because we have invested, because we have supported our teachers, because we have invested in the classrooms and facilities where kids can get a world-class education and because we have filled their tummies full of food. And boy, let us all remember what happened to Free Fruit Friday. How tight can you get if that is what you are going to cut when you come in and take over as a government? How utterly mean and awful.

I do commend our government on our nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief. I have only just scratched the surface. Do you know what I was going to commence my contribution with? ‘Where do I begin?’ The list was so long it was actually overwhelming to think, ‘How am I going to frame my contribution? I don’t even know where to start. There is so much to speak about.’ What a great problem to have in this MPI contribution. I commend the motion to the house.

 John PESUTTO (Hawthorn) (17:02): The last thing we are going to do in this house today is congratulate the Allan Labor government for its management of our education system. At this time when we have a budget that is out of control and debt spiralling out, which has an impact directly on services like those that we rely on in the education sector, it is an insult to the Victorian people that this government wants an elephant stamp. When I run through the things I am about to address, you will see what a catalogue of failure characterises the last 12 years of the Allan Labor government. When you look across the capital program and recurrent expenditure you will see that more and more Victorian students in government schools in particular are having to learn in environments that are not conducive to their education and that their own families are having to dip into their own pockets for an education system that should be free.

Let us start with the capital program – the buildings and the facilities that we see in schools. This government at the last election promised that it would renovate and refurbish 89 schools. It was an $850 million commitment – a shiny, big commitment. We have been prosecuting the case for the last four years about the litany of broken promises around that commitment. We have pointed out, and the media, thankfully, has also echoed, the work that we have done – the member at the table and before him the member for Kew and now Leader of the Opposition. There are dozens of Victorian government schools that will not have their renovations and refurbs completed by 2026. That was the commitment: $850 million, 89 schools delivered – not promised – by November 2026.

What is worse is that not only do we see that there are dozens of schools that will not actually see any of the funding at all, but when you go through budget paper 4 and you compare the two columns – total estimated investment and the amount remaining to be spent – you will find on nearly all occasions that the government has put a little bit of money in and then bumped off into the never-never between two-thirds and three-quarters of the funding that is required to deliver the projects that the government promised in the lead-up to the 2022 election.

What a lie. What a farce. The government comes in here wanting an elephant stamp, and there are thousands of Victorian families and, more to the point, students who are going to miss out because this government lied – yes, it lied – to the people of Victoria.

Let me turn to the condition assessment reports, which I acknowledge are work that has been done by the shadow minister. We see nearly 200 schools, probably more – 200 schools that we know of – that are in a poor state, not fit for purpose, yet this government says the system is going along swimmingly. And that is just the schools in the worst condition. There are hundreds of other schools that are not fit for purpose in terms of their construction and deserve capital spending to improve the learning environments of our young students. It is the government’s own condition assessment report, and it is thanks to the work of the shadow minister and his predecessor, who had to fight to elicit that information from this government.

On top of that, Infrastructure Victoria pointed out a number of things in its recent reports. One is that Victoria will need, because of population growth and in particular the growth in those corridors around metropolitan Melbourne, which are growing at much faster rates than the rest of the state, 60 more government schools. You have to ask, given the magnitude of the financial mismanagement of this government, how it is going to deliver the schools we need to accommodate a growing population. But as Infrastructure Victoria also pointed out in its report, the current state of government schools is affecting learning outcomes and will continue to have an effect on learning outcomes. They are just some of the problems besetting the capital program when it comes to schools. What does the government get on the capital side – school buildings and facilities? It gets a big F.

When you go to the recurrent side of the school budget, the story is no better. If you look at the report on government services, this state is being so badly run that we spend the least per FTE student in a government school of any jurisdiction in the country. That is not a prize I think Victorians want to see this state claim. We actually spend the second-lowest per FTE student in non-government schools. On either measure we are at the bottom or at the second-lowest level of the rung. That is not a happy story to report.

Then you look at the Gonski debacle – and I say ‘debacle’ because this government is trying to get away with shirking its responsibilities under that agreement. We have been pointing out for many months now that the government has been punting off its so-called commitment to reaching 75 per cent of the SRS, the schooling resource standard, by 2028 to as early as 2031 but possibly even later. I suspect this government, if it were ever to be re-elected – and heaven knows we are going to try to stop that – would push it off to 2034. Not only that, it is already nickel-and-diming its commitment. It is claiming around 5 per cent of its Gonski commitment to date on compliance and depreciation. It is not actually a funding commitment that reaches students and teachers. On the Gonski side of things the government deserves no credit and no lollies for its failure to deliver on what is a very serious commitment, because it affects the welfare and future potential of our students.

Another aspect I want to touch on – and it is really galling to listen to some of the self-congratulatory addresses from the opposite side, with all due respect – is when we see in government school after government school that parents who are already doing it tough have to find hundreds of dollars every year to fund things like nurses, casual relief teachers, facilities maintenance, other urgent school upgrades and repairs to toilets and sanitation in their own schools. That is a disgrace.

And that is happening all over the state; it is not just in metropolitan Melbourne. All over the state of Victoria our schools are being so starved that the government is trying to pretend that the system of voluntary payments is just that and that there is no need for school communities to raise important funds for basic things.

We live in a state that I thought, and still maintain, is proud of its history of a commitment to free public education. But it ain’t free anymore under this government, and it is what you do not get if you cannot afford to make the contributions, which we call voluntary but we know that every parent feels, for all good reasons, the urge to want to contribute because they want their kid, after all, to be learning in a positive environment. So what else are they going to do? Of course they are going to fund whatever they can afford to contribute to these school funds. Kids will continue to miss out, and that is just not fair. These are basic things. I do not mind if schools in our government school sector want to raise funds for voluntary things, but these are the necessities of a good education system.

Is it any wonder – and this brings me to my final point – it is so hard to recruit and retain teachers in this state? We see a drop-off among graduates of between 30 and 40 per cent after two years of study. That means in the future we are looking at, I would estimate, on what I have read, over 2000 teachers in our government school sector that we will be short of by around 2028 if we are not careful as a state. We have to make it more attractive for our teachers, and we have to reward them for the good work they do. We should not congratulate a government that is letting our government school system be run down to the point where it jeopardises learning outcomes, and we should not congratulate a government that is so starving our government schools that hardworking Victorian parents have to dip into their own pockets, after all of the cost-of-living increases under this government, to fund a public education system that they deserve without having to do that.

 John LISTER (Werribee) (17:12): It is my honour to rise on this matter of public importance to speak about our nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, and learning supports and how those are setting Victorian students up for the future and enhancing state productivity. There are a few things I want to touch on here, particularly as I know a lot of my colleagues have touched a lot on the concrete and steel that goes into building our schools – that school infrastructure. I note the member just previously went into great depth about our school infrastructure build, and I know there was reference to our growing outer suburbs. I have 16 pages that I have been flicking through of both maintenance and investment in infrastructure and brand new schools that we have in the Werribee electorate alone. I think probably we have doubled the amount of public schools in my electorate, and that is something that we are not necessarily going to hear a lot about from those opposite.

As a teacher, I did just want to pick up on a few of the metaphors used by the previous member, the member for Hawthorn, of the government giving itself elephant stamps or the grade of F. This leads me into what I want to talk about, which are the learning supports that we have put in as this government in our schools. He uses those well-worn metaphors of handing out a stamp to a student, but anyone who is in a modern classroom would understand that we do not necessarily use the old elephant stamp anymore, although they do make a little bit of a feature. Modern schools are encouraged to use positive schoolwide behaviour principles, including looking at other tools such as points for a whole classroom and encouraging a more collective role in improvement, but also feedback. Feedback is one of the most important mechanisms. So they are again showing how old-fashioned they are. They have not set foot in a classroom for a while, but as someone who still has someone working in a classroom at the moment –

Brad Rowswell interjected.

John LISTER: And the member for Sandringham always has that faux outrage whenever I talk. But let us talk about the idea of the F grade, Modern schools, particularly our public schools, avoid using F grades. We now use developmental rubrics focused on learning progression, which is particularly important in helping students to understand their zone of proximal development in order to move them through that skills continuum that we have in our curriculum.

I think it is particularly important when we look at the learning supports that have been implemented by this government. It is more than just concrete and steel that we have invested in our schools. It is things like the Victorian teaching and learning model 2.0 revised, which is based on evidence around cognitive acquisition and memory. It is also based around social learning and how to implement that consistently across the classroom. This is also based on our multitiered system of supports. I am going to demonstrate one of the positive classroom management strategies now: as I talk, I am going to use a quieter tone of voice in order to maintain the room at a quieter volume – and you have seen the difference. However, if I start to raise my voice, you start to hear a lot more talk. Consistent, positive classroom management strategies are things that we have implemented throughout our schools – again, something that you are not necessarily going to hear from those opposite because they have some very strange views about curriculum and what should be taught in our schools, based not on evidence but on ideology.

I mentioned our school-wide positive behaviour program, but recently, as of November, we worked with parents and with students and with our teaching staff around an expectations framework – shared expectations to support student behaviour. That is all about working in this trio that we have in any student’s life – the student, the parent and the teacher – around the expected behaviours we have in a school. Those are being respectful and engaged. For parents, they need to be respectful, safe and engaged, and also schools and staff need to be respectful, safe and engaged. If only those opposite followed these same principles that we are teaching in our public schools when it came to their former colleague, the member for Nepean. It is unfortunate that they do not follow what we are teaching even amongst our youngest of students at public schools, these positive, shared expectations in our schools. I note that my colleague mentioned the vocational major, which is another one of those great reforms that this government has done with an eye towards productivity and getting more people engaged in the workforce. As someone who has taught vocational major – and I have spoken about this in this place at length – it is one of the best programs. It means kids get engaged not only in literacy and numeracy but also in skills and learning for life. It is really important.

We talk a lot about concrete and steel; we talk a lot about cost and money and things like that, but it is these changes that this government has led because we have not been afraid to listen to the experts and to use that research to be able to implement these programs in our schools, and we know that these work. Quite often I used to joke in professional development about how much we spoke about Professor John Hattie and the work that he has done around the effect size of different things in our schools. One of the biggest effect sizes that he found in his view of all the research was an effect size of 1.57 when it came to collective teacher efficacy. Our Victorian teaching and learning model, which we have implemented over these last couple of years, is all about having that consistent teacher practice. It is the best practice, and John Hattie’s research tells us so. Classroom management, yes, has a small effect size – very significant, it is still in the positives. We also see things like teacher clarity and feedback as some of those biggest effect sizes; they are really important things. Again this is all based on the science of learning.

The Victorian teaching and learning model comes out of a report that was done by the Australian Education Research Organisation, and they looked at some of those different ideas around cognition and memory acquisition and incorporated that into the four elements of learning. All state schools are going through the process of rolling out the VTLM and the shared lesson plans now. But those four elements of learning that will feature in every lesson are: attention, focus and regulation, which is sometimes a bit difficult for some of us in here; knowledge and memory – unfortunately those opposite have a bit of a short memory; retention and recall – we have a very long memory here, especially around the 350 schools that were closed by Jeff Kennett, and that is the second time I have name-dropped him today; and mastery and application, which is something that we want to ultimately lead to as we bring in these reforms. The VTLM also goes towards having those lesson plans, helping reduce the workload on teachers by having a consistent model that every program will run throughout the Victorian curriculum, from foundation to year 10, and then reflecting it into VCE and vocational major.

This is really important, because we know teacher workload is one of the biggest factors in burnout. As the member for Hawthorn was referencing, and as someone who has been burnt out teaching, I know full well what that is like. We have supported our teacher workforce not only through recruitment of more teachers and graduate support programs that we have brought in but also through the previous enterprise agreement. I do not want to float into the current one because that would be inappropriate and we wish everyone to continue to negotiate in good faith, but in the previous enterprise agreement there was a strong call for a reduction in contact hours. We are now down to 18.5 hours per week for teachers’ contact face to face with their classes. This has meant some changes to the model and the way that we deliver our different timetables, but it means ultimately that there is more time for lesson planning, for meeting with parents and for doing all the other things that teachers need to do to be able to provide that instruction in the classroom. Time is particularly important. We are one of the few states that actually clarify in our enterprise agreement that we will have 18.5 hours of face-to-face contact time. There is a lot of reference to New South Wales by those outside of this chamber, including comrades in the Australian Education Union, but in New South Wales only 2 hours are protected, and there are lot of issues with the amount of contact hours that they are required to do. Is there more that needs to be done? Absolutely. I think this side of the house has been pretty clear when it comes to our teacher workforce that we do support good pay and conditions for our teachers. I look forward to seeing everyone work in good faith as we get along with this.

As I conclude I do want to say that it is important, while we discuss these issues, that we not only look at that concrete and steel but that we also look at those changes happening in the classroom that have been pioneered by this government working with the department and experts in their fields to be able to roll out some of the best teaching and learning practice. I did not even talk about the academy, which is one of my favourite programs. As a graduate of the academy, I find it one of the best programs we have rolled out as a government. Just in conclusion, I want everyone to remember that this is about more than just concrete and steel, it is about students, learning and teaching.

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (17:22): I rise to speak on the matter of public importance (MPI) around education. Whilst the Labor Party talk up a big game here, they fail in a lot of areas, and there are a number of those failures that I certainly want to highlight. I listened with interest when they talked about them opening schools and us closing schools. I can give you a list of all of the schools, which I obtained through questions on notice, which have been closed under the Labor Party. I think that they like to not know that truth. They like to have some untruths here. Schools in my electorate have continued to close. I understand that they are doing an investigation into perhaps doing a whole bunch of closures in my area by consolidation. That research is underway in the department as we speak. I think that the government need to open their eyes a little bit and also to understand that when you have population growth in certain areas of course you have to build new schools. Everyone would be building schools in those areas.

I want to concentrate, firstly, on a couple of things in my electorate where we seem to have failure after failure from the government. I am going to start with Wesburn Primary School, which is a gorgeous little primary school on the Warburton Highway. The school is located on the bend of a road just at the base of Mount Donna Buang, and the weather gets pretty dicey. There is a lot of traffic, and it zooms past too often. We have been wanting to have installed in that area 40-kilometre flashing electronic signs to slow the traffic down, and time after time the government ignores these requests, r really putting the safety of the school crossing supervisor and the students at risk. It bothers me greatly, because the government say to me that there is a problem with the traffic, the volumes and things like that. I do note that the former Minister for Education, the retired member for Monbulk, managed to pluck something out of the air for schools that were located in back areas in his electorate, which had hardly any of the traffic and issues that I have with Wesburn Primary School – he managed to get these electronic 40-k signs installed very easily.

I was particularly concerned about that.

Another school in my electorate that I have had quite a bit to do with over the years is in Panton Hill. Panton Hill Primary School has had trouble for years with their outdated fire sprinkler system, and it kept springing leaks. It is almost like one of those cartoons where you put a tape around and block one hole and it pops up in another. In the end so many have popped up, and it has taken years and years for it to finally be addressed. That is happening as we speak, but it has taken so long. Panton Hill is an area on the fringe of Melbourne. It is fairly bushy and is in a high fire-risk area, and I would have thought that the fire sprinkler system was something that was of particular importance for that school and that community. Not only that, but Panton Hill have been very keen to have an outdoor shaded area for the kids. I go to many other schools that do have these shaded courts where the kids can sit. This is where they have their school assemblies. They have to sit on the asphalt outside – this is the best that they have got – and hope to goodness that it does not rain or that it is not too hot and they all get sunstroke first thing in the day or at the end of the day. It would allow them to have an area to play in sunshine where they have got some shade, or in winter, if it is raining, it would give them a covered area. There are many, many schools in my electorate that have this, and I would like to see that happen at Panton Hill. With that, of course, comes the extension of the court, because they do not have a full-size netball or basketball court. So there is a bit of work to be done. But now that the fire system is finally being addressed, I would like to see something happen there.

We have also had a bit of an issue with failures in bushfire areas from government departments. I was disappointed that when the member for Monbulk spoke she mentioned Emerald Secondary College but did not talk about the issues that they are having at the moment. I was quite disappointed to see the selective processes going on there. We have had a change in our fire rating system. In the last few years it has gone from six particular points down to four, and it is now ‘moderate’, ‘high’, ‘extreme’ and ‘catastrophic’. It does not take much to get into the ‘high’. And for kids at Chum Creek, this has caused particular problems, because every time there is a high fire danger rating they are required to relocate the entire school to Healesville Primary School. This has happened on seven out of 11 days at the start of the term. The ‘Shelter in place’ direction was fine, but the department determined it needed some work. In October they were advised about this. They had a number of meetings, and they were expecting that this work would be done over the summer. But for whatever reason, the government dropped the ball on it, and this was not done over summer. So when the temperature is 24 degrees – and the other day in the Yarra Valley it was a beautiful day; you could not describe it any other way but as a beautiful day – the entire school has to pack up their bags and relocate to Healesville. What this means is the school could not do playgroup and out-of-school-hours care, with parents having to drop kids off and take them somewhere else. It was a real problem. But it seems to me that there are other schools – and I mentioned Emerald secondary school, which is a little bit different. Those kids work from home – or school from home. For three days in the first week the kids were working from home. In Diamond Creek there were similar problems. So the government can talk all they like, but we have got kids in bushfire-impacted areas whose safety is being put at risk.

We have had to, with great difficulty, obtain the condition report under FOI, and we challenged the FOI, because the government just did not want to let us know about the conditions of a number of schools. On that list of 199 with a condition score of less than 3.25, there are many, many schools in coalition- and Labor-held seats. I look at Killara Primary School in Sunbury, which was number four on the list. I do not recall the member for Sunbury at any point coming into this place asking for investment. I could not find any media release or anything on his Facebook page to say that he had actually been fighting to get things at that school improved.

He did have some messages there saying he had been out to the school and what a great school it was – ‘a terrific school’, I think were his words from March last year. But he did not say whether or not the principal got in his ear to say, ‘Listen, mate, we need some upgrades here fairly quickly’.

The same goes for Macarthur Street Primary School at Soldiers Hill in Ballarat – I have not seen the member for Wendouree raise this as an issue. These schools are being neglected. And the poor member for Ripon – goodness me. In the top 15 there are four schools, and I had a look to see what the member for Ripon has been advocating in the last few years in this area and could find very little. On 6 November 2024 she did make some announcements. They were not the same schools – there was Ararat Primary School – but they got just a fraction of what is needed. We had the Great Western Primary School, Amphitheatre Primary School –

Martha Haylett interjected.

Cindy McLEISH: I have clearly hit a nerve with the member for Ripon, who is absolutely embarrassed by her performance in this area and the fact that there are so many of her schools on this list.

Maroona Primary School and Ararat Primary School are in the top 15, and I felt kind of sorry for the member for Ripon because I thought the government might try and prop her up a little bit more and support her, but I could not find much evidence of these schools in the Labor-held seats being mentioned in budget replies, whether they had got budget for it or whether they had been advocating on their Facebook or Instagram posts. I had a good look and I could not see that they had been advocating strongly, so that was particularly disappointing.

I want to mention also the gap in the outcomes for rural and regional students, and this was an issue a number of years ago – an issue to the point that the minister at the time had an expert panel convened to come up with some recommendations about how to close this gap for kids going to school in those rural and regional areas, and there has been nothing reported since 2019. So it is very difficult to know whether or not the kids in our country areas are still being neglected by this government. We can see their schools are in poor condition. (Time expired)

 Alison MARCHANT (Bellarine) (17:32): It is a pleasure to rise to speak on this matter of public importance submitted by the member for Albert Park:

That this house commends the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief to set Victorian students up for the future and enhance our state’s productivity.

At the heart of all of this is kids, and when this MPI came up I was really pleased, as a former teacher, to speak on this, and there is a lot to try and get through in the short amount of time that we have.

[NAMES AWAITING VERIFICATION]

In putting some notes together for this my first instinct was to think about the kids that I have taught. I think about Max, who always had a ball in his hand, had a wicked sense of humour and now is the coach at our Barwon Heads Football Netball Club. I think about Eliza, who had a real spark about her and is now a teacher and influencing in a positive way, being a great teacher for her students. Andy, who was sharp as a tack, who secretly loved maths but did not let anyone know, is now a doctor. Megan was creative and artistic and hated maths but found out she could do fractions when I gave her an art project to put together to design a dog park, and she showed me that she could do fractions.

These are the things that really matter to teachers, their kids – kids in the room that they think about. They go home, they think about them and they write reports, and they hope that in the year that they have them, they can have a positive change and give them the skills and the tools they need at the time to keep advancing, keep learning and have a love of learning. I just want to mention one other, though: Jack Henry, who plays for Geelong Cats. I also taught him, and I hope that I taught him everything he knows about football. He is a great player for the Geelong footy club. But every kid is different and every kid needs something a little bit different, and I just want to acknowledge the incredible work our teachers do every day to make sure every child in their classroom is getting the support and the learning that they need.

I think that teachers have that in mind. They want the best for their students. That is what parents have in mind: they want the best for their children as well. So do we as a government. The investment and the absolute commitment we have to education on this side of the house is our commitment to proudly stand with our families, proudly stand with our schools and proudly stand with our teachers that will deliver the Education State that we talk about and that we have talked about today. It is not just about curriculum. It is about that connection and making sure that families have trust in the system as well.

Across the Bellarine we have incredible schools that are embracing the things that we are reforming in this state, and I would like to talk a little bit more about the really important work that we have done in the space of phonics. It was a few years ago that I was teaching, but I was actually a Reading Recovery trained teacher. Reading Recovery has had its iterations, and I really believed in that program. I had kids who progressed well and had that extra support in the early years, and they were able to get back with their peers and where they should be for their age. But I had some students who did not progress the way they should have. It left me with this niggling feeling that I had failed them. It leaves you with a niggling feeling of: what could we have done better?

When I had my own children and I had a son who loved books, was good at speaking and had good language skills from a very early age, it was not until we really got to grade 4 or 5 that we realised he was struggling a little bit and not keeping up with his peers. I was doing Reading Recovery at home, so I thought I knew what was best in terms of education and reading. I later found out, after my own research and the school’s support, that my son actually has dyslexia. He has given permission for me to share this, and I have shared this before. But he had dyslexia, and I found out, after doing research and finding a wonderful community of parents who have children with dyslexia, that Reading Recovery is not the answer. We have moved on from that. The science of reading tells us that systematic and explicit phonics instruction is a benefit not just for kids with dyslexia but for all kids. All kids get the foundation of how reading, letters, sounds and words work, and it sets them up for success. My son still struggles. He missed out on that. He had a whole-language-type education when he started primary school. We have done the best we can to try and catch him up, and he is doing a great job.

But I am so proud that we had a government and a minister who bravely then said, ‘We’ve got the evidence, we’re going to do something a bit different in our schools and it’s going to actually change the way that we’ll see the next little bit of our students coming through.’ We already know our NAPLAN results are leading the nation, but I cannot wait to see what happens when we can see the difference from when we introduced structured phonics and what that will do to our results as well. It supports our teachers to actually have testing and assessment for our students in the younger years so they can see the students who need extra help; they can identify those early and then they can give them the right support.

I also want to talk a little bit about the pathways now that we have introduced in the VCE, in those later years. We know that not every student’s pathway is going to look the same. We have strengthened our VCE. We have now our VCE vocational major – VM, as it is known – and parents are telling me that it is an incredible opportunity for students to see a pathway after school. They have been able to experience real-life careers, maybe at a TAFE taster. Bellarine Secondary College in my electorate has a great partnership with the local TAFE, the Gordon, and students in year 9 get to go and have a taster.

They try plumbing, they try hairdressing and they try carpentry. I am not sure if they let them on to real hair in year 9, but they have an experience, and it actually opens the world. They can then choose subjects that they think they may give them a bit of purpose and direction. It has been an incredible program and one that has been really successful.

The other one that is really successful is at Bellarine Secondary College. They have a program called Farm My School. They have turned an old soccer pitch into a working farm. They have animals – they have chooks and ducks – and grow vegetables. They create vegetable boxes to provide to families but also to restaurants and to the canteen to create meals. This is an incredible program, where students have another opportunity to learn horticulture and agriculture with real-life experience. It also addresses some food security issues in our communities. These are the things that really make a difference.

We know too that having a school at the heart of your community actually means that you get to go to a great school but you also feel part of your community. We have supported families through cost-of-living kinds of measures within our schools because they are part of our community. Having a dental van come to your school so you can access that and not have to worry about appointments and traipsing kids around – it is there at your school – is absolutely incredible. To have someone come and test kids for glasses and vision and sight and to identify those who may need glasses that may never have been picked up actually changes the dynamics of our school communities. They are hubs where families can get that support.

I am really pleased to be able to speak to this matter today. I have seen the opposition do nothing but talk down our schools and our Education State. I think that we have had some incredible initiatives and reforms more recently, and I am really proud to be part of this government. Saying that we are the Education State is not just a slogan; it is not just a logo. This is a promise. This is a promise to families – a promise to students that every child, no matter where they have come from or their background, is going to have a chance to learn, to thrive and to have a great career after school as well. I commend this matter to the house.

 Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (17:42): I had to read this matter of public importance a few times just to get it right. I can understand that –

Members interjecting.

Annabelle CLEELAND: Deputy Speaker, can I just confirm whether that member is in their seat before they start to disrespect people on this side?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member to continue, in silence, please.

Annabelle CLEELAND: Let me just check:

… the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading investments in school infrastructure, safety, learning supports and cost-of-living relief to set Victorian students up for the future and enhance state productivity.

I can see why the member for Albert Park scurried out as soon as that little misleading bombshell was dropped, because we might just set some things straight on this side of the house around some facts behind it. I want to localise it because it actually does have enormous consequences on students’ futures across the state but in particular in regional Victoria. For such a small investment and how far that can go for our communities, one thing that a lot of Nationals MPs are grappling with right now is cuts to complexity funding. $100,000 is being cut from most of our P–12 schools in regional Victoria, which is having consequences for our students that will change their future trajectories. One of my school principals – I have spoken to all of them – who also said he cannot be named because of this because of potential consequences to his school said:

[QUOTE AWAITING VERIFICATION]

We’re limiting VCE subjects. We’re limiting mentoring. We are limiting those supports for students that need some extra help.

One hundred thousand dollars is being cut from our P–12s in regional Victoria because this government cannot manage money. We hear all these reports about the $15 billion blown on Big Build sites in corruption, yet we are losing $100,000. I hope everyone is silent, because we are furious about what we are missing out on in regional Victoria because of the mismanagement of these projects in Melbourne.

[The Legislative Assembly report is being published progressively.]