Wednesday, 12 August 2026

 Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (09:49): Victoria is the Education State, and that is confirmed by the latest NAPLAN results that show Victorian students have led the way on 16 out of 20 NAPLAN measures – a fantastic effort by students and their teachers. It means Victorian students are top of the class for the second year running, after the state’s best ever NAPLAN results in 2025. I am absolutely delighted for all of the hardworking students across Victoria who have achieved these excellent results, particularly in numeracy and writing, in which students topped the mean rankings across the states in seven out of eight of the metrics. But these results do not happen without the teachers, who have worked so hard to make it happen. Our teachers in Victoria are second to none, and they are making a difference to our kids’ lives every single day. We thank them for it, and we want to make them the best paid teachers in the country.

I am proud of this government’s record on education. We have introduced best practice explicit teaching, including phonics, into our schools. We have improved school infrastructure. We have given kids a meal at the start of the day with our breakfast club programs. We have opened more than 120 new schools, with thousands of upgrades to existing schools by this Labor government. Labor always prioritises education.