Wednesday, 11 September 2024

 Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Education, Minister for Medical Research) (14:54): Education is the most important public investment we can make in our future – lifelong learning, beginning in early childhood, right through a person’s career. All the statistics show that every year of education post year 12 adds 6 to 12 per cent on your income. That is why we are the Education State, with our world-leading Best Start, Best Life initiative focusing on the first 2000 days of a child’s life, all the way through primary, all the way through secondary; our vocational reform; our free TAFE; and our tertiary studies. On this side of the chamber we are the Education State. We have the best attendance rates in the country, the best student-to-teacher ratios in the country and the best NAPLAN results in the country. We have built more schools in our state than any other state. Fifty per cent of schools built around Australia were built right here in Victoria.

We know our young people are our most important investment. That is why the Premier’s announcement with the Prime Minister yesterday on social media is critically important. Our young people are our most important future resource. Whether it is tackling climate change or whether it is combating and curing cancer, our young people are what matters most. That is why we are putting important reforms inside the classroom next year with 25 minutes of mandatory synthetic phonics teaching, making sure everyone knows how to read, because we know that if you want a good lawyer you want a good lawyer that knows how to read. We also know that every child that learns by the phonics method is two years ahead. So you say ‘court-room’ or ‘de-mean’ – no, not Deeming, ‘de-mean-ing’.