Thursday, 24 September 2026

 Gabrielle WILLIAMS (Dandenong – Minister for Education, Minister for Skills and Training, Minister for First Peoples, Minister for Women and Gender Equality) (14:23): Victoria is the Education State for students of all abilities, not just the ones at the top of the class. Victoria has the best students in the country taught by the best teachers in the country. We have topped the NAPLAN results two years in a row, and we have backed in our teachers with the best pay and conditions in the nation. Getting the best out of every student does not happen by accident. It happens not only through a commitment to evidence-based pedagogy and curriculum – phonics and explicit instruction, for example – but also through investing in the things that ensure that kids are ready to learn. It is free breakfast clubs. It is free glasses for kids and affordable school uniforms. It is ensuring that every child has the opportunity to attend a school camp or an excursion. It is mental health support in schools. Labor built 121 brand new schools, and we have completed over 2300 school upgrades. Those opposite want to close six schools.

Understanding the transformational power of education is in Labor’s DNA. We understand that education can disrupt intergenerational disadvantage, that it can create new pathways and that it can unlock potential in every child. Those opposite see it differently. They might say ‘no child left behind’, but what they really mean is ‘no child left behind, provided that they are already ahead’. The Education State is a statement about equity, about opportunity and about inclusion for all Victorian students, irrespective of postcode, of background or of readiness. The Education State is a Labor state because under the Liberals the vast majority of students will be on their own.