Alby Jones Awards

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Can the minister inform the house about her recent attendance at the Alby Jones awards dinner 2016?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills) (14:59): I am delighted to answer this question. It's the second time I have attended this dinner. One of the privileges of being able to stay in a portfolio for more than 12 months is that you start to meet people again and have a sense of some depth of relationship and continuity.

The Alby Jones awards are run by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders South Australian Branch. They acknowledge the excellence of educational leadership in all three sectors within education—state, independent and Catholic—and also recognise work undertaken within the higher education sector on school education and in the media. It is an incredibly inspiring night where we have the opportunity not only to celebrate and acknowledge the excellence of the people to whom awards are given but also to listen to the speeches they gave.

There were some exceptional speeches about the importance of education to the future of this country and also about the quality of education—that an education consists of not just what we commonly understand to be the skills of literacy and numeracy and content knowledge around subject matters but also educating the whole student so that they are prepared for the challenges of the 21^st century and are able to be ongoing learners. I will just run through some of the award recipients. The Alby Jones award—

Mr KNOLL: Point of order, Mr Speaker: if you would care to check your inbox, the list of winners she is about to go through are all publicly available information.

The SPEAKER: Alas, I am not using an electronic device just at the moment. Minister.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Sorry, Mr Speaker, did you give me permission to continue? I couldn't quite hear.

The SPEAKER: I said that I am just not using an electronic device and that the minister is invited by me to continue.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Thank you, sir. I was not aware that the list was already publicly available, so I will not belabour the individuals. It was not made publicly available by me. Not only will I put these names on the record but, in the time I have left, I would like to talk a little bit about what each of them have done.

Dr John Halsey was the Alby Jones Award recipient for 2016. He is a lecturer in the School of Education at Flinders University. He and I have had many discussions recently, and will continue to do so, about the importance of education for rural-based students and the importance of making sure that the quality in our regional and rural schools is high. He has shown extraordinary dedication to that field of knowledge during his entire career, including as a teacher and a principal and, now, as an academic.

We also witnessed the recognition of the distinguished contribution to research in higher education leadership of Associate Professor Rob Hattam, who is at the University of South Australia. He discussed, very usefully and importantly, the importance of education around reconciliation and refugees and also the importance of continuous reform in education. We then recognised current leaders in our school system:

Marilyn Clark, who, many people will know, is the President of the Preschool Directors Association and also the director of Ballara Park Kindergarten and has shown extraordinary leadership in early childhood education, which we have all come to understand is so crucial for kids;

David Edwards, who is the Acting Principal at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish School, the primary school. It was good to see his recognition;

Christine Hatzi, who is an education director now in the DECD but who has been a principal in a number of schools;

Wendy Johnson, who, as the principal of Glenunga High School, brought with her two of her current students from year 12 who were an extraordinary example of the quality of our young people today. They charmed the interstate visitors, who were incredibly impressed with the quality of their understanding of what their future might hold and the kind of quality of education they have received; and

Panayoula Parha—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: I'm allowed to say that name? She has just recently finished being principal of Norwood Morialta High School and is, as anyone who knows her would know, a very dedicated and influential leader.