Page 1629 - Week 05 - Thursday, 8 May 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
also increasing at 4.6 per cent per year. This means that there will be no real increase in funding for government schools. We need more than maintenance of the status quo; we need to improve retention of our teaching staff. We need to do more to close the gap between students from high and low income families. We need to focus further on students at risk. More broadly, we need a clearer commitment to strengthening our public education system, improving outcomes for all students and pointing that education at the future.
I welcome the investment in a college system that meets the needs of all our students. In the context of a continuing drift to the non-government system, which risks our public schools becoming a residual education system, I would like to see similar creative and outward-looking investments in our high schools. I also note last year’s allocation for arts and language education. That is an inadequate, though undoubtedly welcome, investment.
If Canberra is to provide an education system that gives students an international perspective and capacity, all our students need enough time with high-quality language teachers from primary through to high school. If the arts are really going to be a key element of the curriculum framework at all levels of schooling, we urgently need a significant investment in arts teaching and support, for primary schools in particular.
The very welcome investment in community facilities right across Canberra comes at the expense of a number of schools. This puts those particular school communities in an invidious position, as they undoubtedly prefer the kind of focused community activity that these plans suggest over the demolition of buildings and their replacement with housing development. Some of the schools might still have a viable strategy and the energy to get up and running again after the next election.
I note that the Save our Schools coalition is calling for the ACT government to put a hold on actioning the plan until after October. I hope the government and community sector partners do not rush the process of taking over and refurbishing those buildings in order to forestall any decision to reopen them. If the government is re-elected and is a minority government, the Greens will be pushing very hard to have that whole 2020 strategy looked at—in a pragmatic and practical way but with true consultation and expert advice.
The seed funding that the government is providing to begin the process of portable long service leave for the community sector is welcome. It has been a long time coming. As ACTCOSS noted, it was a key recommendation of the 2005 community sector task force report. This, along with the other capacity-building initiatives for the community sector, is promising. But, as with much of this budget, our steps are barely enough to maintain the status quo and will do little to increase and enhance the valuable work of the ACT community sector.
When it comes to housing I am very disappointed with the budget. I acknowledge that a government budget cannot do everything, but for housing to miss out on funding to such a large degree is unforgiveable. Affordable housing has been a continuing problem for low and middle-income earners in Canberra for several years now. But it
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .