Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (17:15): I am sad to say I grieve for the state of Victoria, were a Liberal–Nationals–One Nation combination to be elected. You might ask why. What is really driving this grief? I will give credit to the Leader of the Opposition. She has not been shy about saying they would commit 25 per cent of school infrastructure funding to the regions. The only problem with this, and it is a big problem, is that this would be a cut from the more than 30 per cent Labor is delivering right now. What does that translate to? It is literally putting at risk 1100 upgrades that Labor has delivered for regional communities. If you put that in round terms, that is a real impact.

I am going to unpack that further in the broader picture of the $40 billion worth of cuts which would see one in seven workers losing their job. What does that actually mean? We know that the biggest cost-of-living elements and help for families are public health care and education. These are the first two pillars that would definitely cop it. We know by contrast, for instance, that our Allan Labor government has invested $4.9 billion into education in the 2026–27 budget. That is testament to our values and to the commitment that we continue to make when it comes to education. Education is a pillar of our community, something that all generations, from one generation to the next, rely on and something that as a Labor government we put the utmost priority on.

You might wonder if we are really sure they would do it, even though they have not been backward in coming forward – that is, the opposition leader – in terms of spelling out those cuts. Last time they had the chance the coalition slashed more than $1 billion from education, so we know they have form. On the one hand we have the evidence of the past, but also they have been very up-front – and I will pay homage to that; I will pay them some credit for the fact that they have been up-front – about what they are proposing to do.

When we are looking at the real consequences for Victorian students, for instance, we know from the most recent NAPLAN data that Victorian students not only are the top performing in the country but also are performing better than at any other time on record. We know that when the coalition was last in government our best result was less than half that – only four measures. When the coalition were in government Victoria slipped down the national NAPLAN rankings. When we are looking at the impact these cuts would have we can see from the past but also from the most recent announcements about what they propose that what they call ‘savings’ are we would say are ‘cuts’. We know that Victorian students achieved the highest or second-highest mean scores in 18 out of 20 NAPLAN measures, and that is because of the investment.

I really want to pay respect to our teachers, because they are leading the way, and they certainly are supporting our students to drive these fantastic outcomes. We know that Victorian students continue to excel, with more kids in the strong or exceeding bands – the two highest levels in NAPLAN – than any other state. By contrast, the last time the coalition were in government they cut the maths and science coaching program which supported struggling schools with STEM. What we can attribute our fantastic NAPLAN results to – and again I do want to pay credit to the teachers who are leading the way in Victoria on these outcomes – are 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.

We know that the Victorian Labor government have handed down a budget that invests a further $1.6 billion in education infrastructure. If we look cumulatively, that is a total of $20.1 billion investment in building, upgrading and modernising schools since coming into government. By contrast, 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 a mere $200 million a year, and I should say, furthermore, what did that look like? Not one new school opened in 2016 following their failure to plan for the future. When Labor came into government the school infrastructure we inherited was a disaster, with only 14.1 per cent of school capital works projects being delivered on time. Since the 2017–18 financial year, each financial year has seen an average of 91.8 per cent of projects delivered on time by the Allan Labor government.

I can reflect on my electorate alone, and it is really fantastic. We have got South Melbourne Park Primary School, delivered by the Allan Labor government; and the South Melbourne Primary School, delivered by the Allan Labor government, and actually just announced is a further $23 million expansion to that school, such is, one, the popularity of the school but also the growth of people moving into the area and the demand for that school. We have Port Melbourne Secondary College, also delivered by the Allan Labor government. This year, I should say, we have opened a record 19 new schools, delivering on our commitment to build 100 new schools by 2026. One of those is actually Narrarrang Primary School, which is in Fishermans Bend, and it is looking absolutely fantastic. I should say, it also has a kindergarten onsite, so it saves that kind of double drop-off – really, really convenient. It is a fantastic looking school, but more importantly, it has the facilities that the kids need and also wonderful teachers who are leading the way. Certainly the literacy reforms are absolutely fantastic. Having witnessed them myself, I know of the extraordinary difference they do make and of the ability with these reforms to be able to intervene fast before kids fall through the gaps. That is what it is really about.

We are also on track to complete six new tech schools by 2026 thanks to our $116 million investment. These schools will deliver free hands-on STEM education for 62,000 Victorian students. That is absolutely impactful in terms of, one, meeting the skills demand now and into the future because we know there is demand in that space for well-qualified young Victorians to be able to build that pathway into the future for themselves. And I just want to do a little shout-out to Port Melbourne Secondary College – really, oh my goodness, seeing some of the robotics and other things going on there. These students, I mean, they blow your mind. But you know, they just expect it. I say that in the best sense – again, it is a credit to their teachers. But the 3D printing and so forth is absolutely brilliant, and it is really setting them up for great jobs and giving them so many opportunities. That is right in my area of Albert Park, but these tech schools are around the state. This is not specifically a tech school, but I am just saying that there is an emphasis on STEM and backing it in. By contrast, the Liberals were not really across that one – really, I do not know what was on their mind at the time – but anyway, we are backing it in, and that is what matters and this is what is at stake. This is the difference it can make between getting a job and not getting a job or getting the skills you need to get that right outcome.

This is certainly something that is in the DNA of Labor. This is something we value because we know that education is absolutely essential in building a whole human being, from the whole perspective. On the one hand there is the academic element, but also making sure that students have a choice in terms of whether they want to go on to university, but on the other hand there is the vocational pathway, and it has really seen a significant uptake, making sure that they can really tap into their particular skills and build the pathway that they are best suited to and that is actually going to make them happy.

I should say that under Labor, schools are being built eight months faster on average.

In fact roughly 50 per cent of the schools that have been built across the whole of Australia since 2018 have been built right here in Victoria by our government. That is no mean feat, and I do not want to take it for granted. For all the tradies that have helped deliver those fantastic schools, a credit and a shout-out to them. I know they work extremely hard. Certainly when I have visited some of the school sites locally I see the pride that they take in what they deliver, because they know that they are playing a role in the future of Victorian students, and that is something to be extraordinarily proud of, and the jobs that flow from that as well.

Labor is also making sure that the school facilities support everyone by unlocking them for after-hours community use. In Melbourne’s west our investment in expanded community use for school facilities has seen 35 new community groups now using school facilities after hours, and we can see again this helps parents in juggling work and also making sure they are being there for their kids when they need them. Obviously there are many cost-of-living challenges that many families in Victoria are facing, but rest assured we have backed them in all the way in a number of different ways, such as the expanded school breakfast clubs to every government school that wants to be involved, helping the program to hit the milestone of more than 65 million free meals delivered since it began. Labor’s free school breakfast clubs can save families $256 per child each year, and when you add up all the expenses that families have to handle, it really does matter.

Also, we expanded the Glasses for Kids program into an additional 330 schools, meaning it will reach 1100 schools. What are the absolute metrics of who has been impacted positively in terms of Victorian students? This program has delivered 13,000 pairs of free glasses, and as someone who has had to use glasses since grade 3 in school, let me tell you it is the difference between being able to read and not being able to read, in many cases, subject to the extent of the challenges you might have with your eyes. I am speaking in layman’s terms; I am not an optometrist – that is very evident. However, I can say from personal experience I was lucky enough to be able to have glasses, but I would hate to think about if I had not had that availed to me, and I certainly have compassion for Victorian students who might not have. I do not know how they would have battled through school without glasses. So this is a really terrific program, and it is something that parents can absolutely measure in terms of the cost savings but also making sure that their child does not fall through the gaps simply because they cannot read the book that is in front of them.

We increased the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund to $400, which supports more than 190,000 students to take part in incursions, excursions, school sporting events, camps and more. School camps, I say on a personal level, stay in your memory. You remember forever. They have a fantastic impact. On the one hand you are learning to gain that bit of independence. You get to try new things, to challenge yourself, and it is awful to think that anyone would miss out because their parents could not afford to send them on a camp. So this is making sure that Victorian kids get to take part in these important growth activities that help them really to build resilience and have fun at the same time. I should say by contrast, when they had the opportunity the coalition cut cost-of-living support for students and families like Free Fruit Friday and the young readers program. They also cut the $182 million School Start bonus, which provided a $300 one-off payment to help families cover the costs of starting school, and they cut the education maintenance allowance for disadvantaged students. This meant that the parents of disadvantaged primary school students lost more than $300 a year in cost-of-living support. We know there is no embellishment here. We can simply look at the facts as they stood and as they stand now in terms of what the Labor government is backing in, and they are really pragmatic supports that Victorians can actually see and that certainly make a real difference to households in Victoria.

We have also extended free travel to all families using the regional and rural school bus program and made uniforms cheaper by making unbranded shorts, pants, skirts and socks in Victorian government schools the standard to reduce uniform costs. Having done consultation on behalf of the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, I know, having spoken to parents, that they are having to add up all these little costs that accumulatively can make a real difference in terms of how their child is able to present at school. These kinds of adjustments were led through direct consultation to get that honest feedback from parents, so it is very much informed by the community. It is just one of many measures that are backing in Victorian kids.