Public Schools

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:33): I rise to address recent comments by the federal Minister for Education regarding his duty to public schools. To use an adjective favoured by the shadow minister for education in this state, Christopher Pyne's comments were nothing short of astonishing. While speaking at a Christian Schools Association dinner, the federal minister said:

Having talked to the Prime Minister about this matter many times, it is his view that we have a particular responsibility for non-government schooling that we don't have for government schooling.

The minister also said:

The emotional commitment within the federal government is to continue to have a direct relationship with the non-government schools sector. I think the states and territories would prefer that as well.

Astonishing indeed! This must rank as the greatest abdication of responsibility since King James II was overthrown in the glorious revolution and Westminster started telling the monarchy what to do. Christopher Pyne is, indeed, a zealot at large. He has erroneously taken the Abbott government's election victory as an impetus from the Australian public to dismantle our primary, secondary and tertiary education systems.

It is like a scene from Smokey and the Bandit. Christopher Pyne, of course, is the bandit hauling a truckload of ideology across the countryside, lobbing it out the window like a hand grenade, desperately trying to dispose of the cargo before Smokey and the common-sense police stop the carnage. A few of these grenades have gone off in his hand. In fact, most of them have. Without putting too fine a point on it, if the member for Sturt were an octopus, he still could not rub two hands or, indeed, tentacles together gleefully.

Here is the highlight reel from May: allowing universities to set their own fees; increasing Higher Education Loan Program interest rates above inflation; seeking to recoup HECS debts from deceased estates; and reneging on his commitment to fully fund Gonski. To add insult to injury, Christopher Pyne, a man known for his colourful dislike of anything he interprets to be even vaguely left wing, is pontificating about 'emotional commitments'.

What is the explanation for this sudden softening in the member for Sturt's vernacular? Has his chakra just aligned? Was he moved when he heard Judith Durham sing Kumbaya? Or perhaps Mr Pyne has simply sought guidance, courtesy of the $245 million he just took out of public schools and pledged for chaplains in all schools.

The simple question is this: how does the government's Minister for Education feel an 'emotional commitment' to non-government schools but not to government schools? This ludicrous statement is from the man who wants to rewrite the national curriculum. I just hope that Kevin Donnelly does not let the member for Sturt near the typewriter. It would be like Dr Seuss having a go at the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The whole premise of the Gonski reforms was to finally close the funding gap between government and non-government students, but what we have seen instead is the Abbott government throw those reforms on the ideological bonfire and sit around with marshmallows on sticks toasting their success whilst Aboriginal kids, kids from low-income households and kids from regional areas are left out in the cold.

In Reynell, the cuts to our Gonski agreement will mean an indicative loss of around $5.5 million in federal funding, resources and support for our government schools. This is the equivalent of an additional 49 teachers or 64 SSOs the children of Reynell will no longer have. Schools in my community that need more support not less, such as Christies Beach High School, will be hit hardest, with $1.4 million less thanks to Christopher Pyne.

Last week, we saw our own Minister for Education announce that the state government will deliver on its commitment to the Gonski school funding agreement, despite the Abbott government trashing that historical deal. I know that this news has been welcomed by both the government and non-government schools.

I have spent the last few weeks thinking hard about just what it is that drives Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne to make cuts like this. We know that, in part, it is due to spite, to a strongly held desire to tear down all that the Gillard government stood for. But I truly believe that these cuts are motivated by Abbott's and Pyne's deep-seated belief that success and achievement are automatically within the grasp of every child if only they just put in the effort. That is a nice thought! It reminds me of some of the motivational coaching jargon I hear about 'self-empowerment to win' and 'choosing to succeed'.

But the kid whose dad knocks him or her around after one too many drinks is not failing to thrive at school because he or she has made some kind of personal choice that success is not for him or her. The kid who has a learning disability is not lazy or without ambition; the kid who comes to school without breakfast or lunch or a proper school uniform is not a 'conscientious objector' to achievement. These are kids whose inability to achieve is not within their control. I may have been mistaken these past 17 years, but isn't that where government steps in?

Time expired.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: Madam Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed: