Ms GAMBARO (1:34 PM) — From the outset, I have to endorse Mr Emerson's belief in equality of opportunity for all young people, particularly in education, because this is one of the key philosophies of the Liberal Party and its ideology. I joined the Liberal Party and represent the people of Petrie because I believe that the Liberal Party, being part of the coalition government, actions its belief through policy. Every Australian child should have access to quality education that promotes and encourages a child's success, and they are the fundamental principles behind the government's education legislation. Because that legislation reflects the socioeconomic composition of school communities, schools in disadvantaged communities have access to funds to provide quality education and promote equality of opportunity. To penalise a community because the only school is a non-government school is detrimental to Mr Emerson's philosophy of providing a high quality education for all as a precursor for achieving equality of opportunity. But that is exactly what the Labor Party wants to do. Only last week Simon Crean said on radio that his government—

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Nehl)— The Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

Ms GAMBARO —The Deputy Leader of the Opposition; excuse me, Mr Deputy Speaker—should they be elected, would put more money into public education. But at what detriment and to whose detriment? The very people that his Labor colleague is targeting in this motion here today.

I support the government's education legislation because it delivers to many young people in disadvantaged communities—and that is what we are talking about here today. Over three-quarters of federal funding for non-government schools goes to schools serving needy communities, such as Catholic parish schools, low fee Christian schools, Lutheran schools and independent indigenous schools. The Labor Party wants to reverse that funding. Young people in disadvantaged communities who attend government schools are at the mercy of their state government's ability to channel federal funding where needed most. Under the government's education legislation, schools are given more power to decide what students have the greatest need for support and how to address the specific needs of students through the funding received.

I only hope that in Queensland those students in disadvantaged communities actually get to see those funds. However, we may never know because the state minister for education in Queensland, Anna Bligh, has refused to provide details of how the funding was spent last year and how $440 million will be spent in the 2001-02 financial year. All state and territory education ministers agreed to a national literacy and numeracy plan, and they recognised the need for early intervention and remedial strategies. But this program seeks to ensure that all students attain at least the essential literacy and numeracy skills that they require to make progress in their schooling.

However, again in July this year, Ms Bligh voted with the other Labor state education ministers to reject the Commonwealth's proposal to tell each of the parents the literacy and numeracy achievement of their children against national benchmarks. They reported on the aggregated data but they failed to be held accountable on the twin issues of quality of education and equality of opportunity. It is all very well and good for the member for Rankin to come in here today and to call for funding and strategies that achieve educational equality, but it is a very different thing when his state Labor colleagues do exactly the opposite and will not be held accountable for their reporting procedures and will not increase state funding.

The federal government supports the achievement of educational excellence for all students, and the Queensland state government has failed to match this support. At the time of the Queensland budget, Ms Bligh and Mr Beattie took pride in announcing $10 million for centres of excellence across Queensland. But they forgot to mention that those centres—one of which, the Redcliffe State High School, is in my electorate—are all federally funded. Educational excellence is achieved through increased funding for students, resources and teachers, and the coalition government spends over $660 million more each year on education than was the case in 1996—an increase of 52 per cent in Queensland since 1996—and we have committed $80 million to quality education.

I want to highlight another factor, as OECD countries were mentioned today: the spending from all sources on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education at 3.8 per cent of GDP is above the OECD country mean of 3.7 per cent. While the federal government commits record levels of funding to education, it is limited by the contribution by the state governments that hinder that average, and they are doing nothing to improve the quality of education for this country.