Speech for Public Education Day

Penrith, Sydney

Thanks for the invite - it is excellent to be here.

Public education is a passion for me - it is a passion because I love politics and we can't ever talk about far reaching social change that our society needs without fighting for the very best in public education, and that means slashing and slashing deep funding to the private school system.

It is also a passion for me because of what public education has delivered for my family and me. I was the first member of my family to go to university. Public education has served my children and many generations of family very well.

Tonight I would like to speak in the main about the NSW Labor government and public education The major parties are not and have not for decades done the right thing by public eduction.

Although on many issues we are appalled at Labor's policy and process, we hold, and rightly so, to the belief that Labor is fundamentally different from the coalition on many key issues. But I think we have to ask - is public education one of them. I'll leave that question hanging - it is certainly a topic I think isworth chewing over.

But we do know that Labor - - Is unwilling to break with the private school funding formulas - Has closed schools on a scale not even entertained by Liberals when in office - and are now engaged in a major con job with their PPP - public, private partnerships plans.

Labor policies are clearly not taking public education where it has to go. Could it be that much worse under Liberals? Again I want to emphasise that I do not see the major parties as tweedle dee, tweedle dum - there are still key differences. A Coalition government would be bad news for NSW.

But for the success of our campaign to strengthen public education - and that has to go hand in hand with drastic changes to the funding arrangements for private schools - we have to be realistic about our problems with Labor.

Let's take the new Minister for Education Mr Watkins. People say to me well things must be a bit better - Watkins is of the left, Aquilina is gone, the new minister is a good listener, consultation with the public education community is back on the agenda.

Yes - all this is correct. But what is also correct is that Bob Carr is still the Premier and Michael Egan is still the Treasurer and the ALP right still rule in NSW, and let there be no doubt about it, they rule with an iron fist.

To turn Labor around on public education - we need an injection of money, and politicians with the political will to take on the private school lobby. Now Egan is not going to change the funding arrangements for the privates and give the injection of funds to the public schools that are so badly needed. And Bob Carr has no intention of building a new golden era for public education. When it comes to Labor the commitment and the vision are not there.

The recent Grimshaw inquiry carry-on showed that so clearly - the Grimshaw Inquiry started with the Labor government deciding to look at private school funding. Yes they were responding to pressure from all of us and that's good. But what an outcome. You feel like saying why did you bother as they, the ALP, have come out of this looking weak and pathetic.

When it came down to making decisions on funding the Carr government squibbed big time with the Grimshaw report. The funding part of report has been buried until after the 2003 election and then it will more than likely sink into irrelevancy.

So as people with a passion for public education what do we do. The Greens believe it is important to drop any expectations Labor in the short term can deliver on public education. So I am not misunderstood - I'm not saying we reject working with Labor. Not at all - in fact if anything we should engage with Labor members as well as the hierarchy even more. It is just that we should not see this as the end game.

So yes we continue to engage but by dropping expectations we are free to put our energy in the area that will drive change, that one day will turn the Labor party around and is the only hope to ensure public education does not become the backwater that I believe many in the major parties desire.

Where we all need to direct our efforts is nurturing the support for public education in the community and actively supporting vibrant campaigns that promote the values of public education, and in particular campaigns that challenge public funding of the private schools.

We are coming off a strong base if this is the way we choose to go. From my experience community support for public education is stronger than ever, and what is very exciting is that it is a political commitment. More and more people understand that funding the privates has to be cut.

What am I basing this on? I spend much of my time moving around NSW doing meetings - it's the life of a politician - and as I am very proud of the Greens position on public education I include our stance in most speeches I give and that opens up this topic. And the response is inspiring - people understand the public-private debate with regard to education and clearly recognise that they are being robbed because of the huge injection of funds that go to the privates. I have found that there is wide understanding on this point, to a much greater degree than I had expected.

And the other reason I argue we are coming off a good base is because of the strong campaigns against school closures. This is another one of those delightful examples of how in adversity there is advantage. Teachers and the federation obviously played a fantastic role in this campaign - I am sure you don't mind me saying that is a given. But in terms of where the public education campaign is going our focus needs to be on the students and their parents, who have been so politicised by the real estate mentality of the Labor government.

For months thousands of students were involved in actions to save their school - and that's one lesson they wont forget. That's the base we now have to build on. We need to see the actions to stop school closures in this context.

The key is to build public support. With time, the politicians will be forced to turn their fine rhetoric into cash and commitment.

The Greens also believe our support for public education needs to be seen in the context of the desire by increasing numbers of Australians for compassion to be shown to asylum seekers who seek refuge in this country.

The link here was made very movingly by an ex-student from Dulwich Hill High who spoke at one of the rallies against school closures. Chrisanthi Giotis said "only at a public school like Dulwich High are you able to develop as a human being with compassion and the Australian ideals of egalitarianism and multiculturalism." Her whole speech was inspiring.

Although Australia has been deeply divided by the ugly racist tactics Prime Minister Howard used to win the last election growing numbers of people are looking for ways to build an inclusive humanitarian society.

And we have to tactfully raise the public education profile in this campaign - it is our public schools that provide the means to move beyond a narrow view of the world, which comes from an adherence to a particular ethnic, religious or societal position.

Our society has been divided and scarred by the Prime Minister's lies and I have to say the NSW Premier's reference to ethnic gangs. A strong well funded public education system is and always will be central to achieve what Chrisanthi named as the "ideals of egalitarianism and multiculturalism".

We also need to put our concerns for public education in the context of the growing campaign against privatisation of public assets. After years of insufficient funding, and more recently school closures our public education system is now being buffeted by the cold wind of privatisation. Not that the P word is ever mentioned by our political Labor leaders.

When Carr and Egan lost out on their attempt to privatise the electricity industry in 1997 they did not heed the warning that Labor's support base is adamantly opposed to privatisation. The lesson they took on board is business as usual but never meant the P word. And so we have the public private partnerships as part of the latest spin to lull the public into thinking the government is harnessing the best of both worlds.

Well it isn't harnessing the best of both worlds and it can't. Business is business, the bottom line is always profits and corporations have no place in our playgrounds, in our classrooms or in our schools.

The Greens oppose privatisation of our public assets in any guise - and plan to make this a major aspect of our 2003 election strategy.

And specifically on the coming State election you can be assured that the Greens candidates across the state will be hammering the issue of a fair deal for public education.

We are currently finalising the details of our election package, which will give strong support to a reduction in class sizes. We will again call for a complete end of all funding to wealthy private schools and a substantial increase in the public education budget so the state no longer exploits the good will of teachers in order to deliver a quality service.

This work will build on the Greens campaign in the recent federal election where we brought forward a package of measures including - · an end to all funding of the wealthiest private schools, · a freeze on the funding of all other private schools at their year 2000 level, · and a variety of other funding measures which if implemented would have immediately restored public education to 50% of the federal schools budget. If adopted that would deliver an additional $750 per year to each public school student.

Now clearly we did not achieve these demands but the Greens do believe that our strong campaign on public education did embarrass Labor into raising the issue of private school funding for the first time in any election held over the past 20 yrs.

So how does the balance sheet on public education look - starting with the major parties we've got to admit it is not good. I have outlined Labor's sorry record and then we have the federal coalition Government's year 2000 Funding Act that introduced the most aggressive funding increase for private schools ever seen in Australia.

But if we move away from major parties and out into the public sector and stand with the communities across Australia the future for public education looks healthy. There are increasing numbers who are committed, vocal and determined that their money will not be stolen by the privates.

The Greens party are proud to stand with all those who fight for public education. Together public education has a great future.

Public education is a passion for me - it is a passion because I love politics and we can't ever talk about far reaching social change that our society needs without fighting for the very best in public education, and that means slashing and slashing deep funding to the private school system.

It is also a passion for me because of what public education has delivered for my family and me. I was the first member of my family to go to university. Public education has served my children and many generations of family very well.

Tonight I would like to speak in the main about the NSW Labor government and public education The major parties are not and have not for decades done the right thing by public eduction.

Although on many issues we are appalled at Labor's policy and process, we hold, and rightly so, to the belief that Labor is fundamentally different from the coalition on many key issues. But I think we have to ask - is public education one of them. I'll leave that question hanging - it is certainly a topic I think isworth chewing over.

But we do know that Labor - - Is unwilling to break with the private school funding formulas - Has closed schools on a scale not even entertained by Liberals when in office - and are now engaged in a major con job with their PPP - public, private partnerships plans.

Labor policies are clearly not taking public education where it has to go. Could it be that much worse under Liberals? Again I want to emphasise that I do not see the major parties as tweedle dee, tweedle dum - there are still key differences. A Coalition government would be bad news for NSW.

But for the success of our campaign to strengthen public education - and that has to go hand in hand with drastic changes to the funding arrangements for private schools - we have to be realistic about our problems with Labor.

Let's take the new Minister for Education Mr Watkins. People say to me well things must be a bit better - Watkins is of the left, Aquilina is gone, the new minister is a good listener, consultation with the public education community is back on the agenda.

Yes - all this is correct. But what is also correct is that Bob Carr is still the Premier and Michael Egan is still the Treasurer and the ALP right still rule in NSW, and let there be no doubt about it, they rule with an iron fist.

To turn Labor around on public education - we need an injection of money, and politicians with the political will to take on the private school lobby. Now Egan is not going to change the funding arrangements for the privates and give the injection of funds to the public schools that are so badly needed. And Bob Carr has no intention of building a new golden era for public education. When it comes to Labor the commitment and the vision are not there.

The recent Grimshaw inquiry carry-on showed that so clearly - the Grimshaw Inquiry started with the Labor government deciding to look at private school funding. Yes they were responding to pressure from all of us and that's good. But what an outcome. You feel like saying why did you bother as they, the ALP, have come out of this looking weak and pathetic.

When it came down to making decisions on funding the Carr government squibbed big time with the Grimshaw report. The funding part of report has been buried until after the 2003 election and then it will more than likely sink into irrelevancy.

So as people with a passion for public education what do we do. The Greens believe it is important to drop any expectations Labor in the short term can deliver on public education. So I am not misunderstood - I'm not saying we reject working with Labor. Not at all - in fact if anything we should engage with Labor members as well as the hierarchy even more. It is just that we should not see this as the end game.

So yes we continue to engage but by dropping expectations we are free to put our energy in the area that will drive change, that one day will turn the Labor party around and is the only hope to ensure public education does not become the backwater that I believe many in the major parties desire.

Where we all need to direct our efforts is nurturing the support for public education in the community and actively supporting vibrant campaigns that promote the values of public education, and in particular campaigns that challenge public funding of the private schools.

We are coming off a strong base if this is the way we choose to go. From my experience community support for public education is stronger than ever, and what is very exciting is that it is a political commitment. More and more people understand that funding the privates has to be cut.

What am I basing this on? I spend much of my time moving around NSW doing meetings - it's the life of a politician - and as I am very proud of the Greens position on public education I include our stance in most speeches I give and that opens up this topic. And the response is inspiring - people understand the public-private debate with regard to education and clearly recognise that they are being robbed because of the huge injection of funds that go to the privates. I have found that there is wide understanding on this point, to a much greater degree than I had expected.

And the other reason I argue we are coming off a good base is because of the strong campaigns against school closures. This is another one of those delightful examples of how in adversity there is advantage. Teachers and the federation obviously played a fantastic role in this campaign - I am sure you don't mind me saying that is a given. But in terms of where the public education campaign is going our focus needs to be on the students and their parents, who have been so politicised by the real estate mentality of the Labor government.

For months thousands of students were involved in actions to save their school - and that's one lesson they wont forget. That's the base we now have to build on. We need to see the actions to stop school closures in this context.

The key is to build public support. With time, the politicians will be forced to turn their fine rhetoric into cash and commitment.

The Greens also believe our support for public education needs to be seen in the context of the desire by increasing numbers of Australians for compassion to be shown to asylum seekers who seek refuge in this country.

The link here was made very movingly by an ex-student from Dulwich Hill High who spoke at one of the rallies against school closures. Chrisanthi Giotis said "only at a public school like Dulwich High are you able to develop as a human being with compassion and the Australian ideals of egalitarianism and multiculturalism." Her whole speech was inspiring.

Although Australia has been deeply divided by the ugly racist tactics Prime Minister Howard used to win the last election growing numbers of people are looking for ways to build an inclusive humanitarian society.

And we have to tactfully raise the public education profile in this campaign - it is our public schools that provide the means to move beyond a narrow view of the world, which comes from an adherence to a particular ethnic, religious or societal position.

Our society has been divided and scarred by the Prime Minister's lies and I have to say the NSW Premier's reference to ethnic gangs. A strong well funded public education system is and always will be central to achieve what Chrisanthi named as the "ideals of egalitarianism and multiculturalism".

We also need to put our concerns for public education in the context of the growing campaign against privatisation of public assets. After years of insufficient funding, and more recently school closures our public education system is now being buffeted by the cold wind of privatisation. Not that the P word is ever mentioned by our political Labor leaders.

When Carr and Egan lost out on their attempt to privatise the electricity industry in 1997 they did not heed the warning that Labor's support base is adamantly opposed to privatisation. The lesson they took on board is business as usual but never meant the P word. And so we have the public private partnerships as part of the latest spin to lull the public into thinking the government is harnessing the best of both worlds.

Well it isn't harnessing the best of both worlds and it can't. Business is business, the bottom line is always profits and corporations have no place in our playgrounds, in our classrooms or in our schools.

The Greens oppose privatisation of our public assets in any guise - and plan to make this a major aspect of our 2003 election strategy.

And specifically on the coming State election you can be assured that the Greens candidates across the state will be hammering the issue of a fair deal for public education.

We are currently finalising the details of our election package, which will give strong support to a reduction in class sizes. We will again call for a complete end of all funding to wealthy private schools and a substantial increase in the public education budget so the state no longer exploits the good will of teachers in order to deliver a quality service.

This work will build on the Greens campaign in the recent federal election where we brought forward a package of measures including - · an end to all funding of the wealthiest private schools, · a freeze on the funding of all other private schools at their year 2000 level, · and a variety of other funding measures which if implemented would have immediately restored public education to 50% of the federal schools budget. If adopted that would deliver an additional $750 per year to each public school student.

Now clearly we did not achieve these demands but the Greens do believe that our strong campaign on public education did embarrass Labor into raising the issue of private school funding for the first time in any election held over the past 20 yrs.

So how does the balance sheet on public education look - starting with the major parties we've got to admit it is not good. I have outlined Labor's sorry record and then we have the federal coalition Government's year 2000 Funding Act that introduced the most aggressive funding increase for private schools ever seen in Australia.

But if we move away from major parties and out into the public sector and stand with the communities across Australia the future for public education looks healthy. There are increasing numbers who are committed, vocal and determined that their money will not be stolen by the privates.

The Greens party are proud to stand with all those who fight for public education. Together public education has a great future.