❓ The Premier defends WA's education system against federal criticism, highlighting improvements and accusing the federal government of unwarranted interference and hypocrisy. The Premier also digresses to attack the Leader of the Opposition.
AnsweredQoN 382Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Can the Premier outline his response to the latest unwarranted attacks by the federal government on our first-class education system? Dr G.I. GALLOP
AnswerView source ↗
The federal Minister for Education has been at it again trying to score cheap political points at the expense of our education system. I am sure that the Western Australian public has had enough of his undermining of our education system. First, I point out the hypocrisy of his comments, given that the commonwealth and the states have agreed upon a nationally consistent curriculum based on outcomes. Secondly, and more importantly, he is ignoring what is happening in our education system in Western Australia. Over the past four years we have implemented a number of measures to improve our education system: more resources, more teachers, new schools and new programs, but, most importantly, we have focused on and we are lifting standards in our schools. That is the primary objective of my government for education. I endorse the remarks of the member for Cottesloe and former Minister for Education that the comments being made by the federal minister are destructive and divisive. Like him, those of us in Western Australia who are proud of our achievements in this state are sick and tired of a federal minister who does not run any schools at all but who makes these rather exaggerated rhetorical statements based upon his own political positioning rather than the facts of the matter in Western Australia. I agree with what the member for Cottesloe said on radio - I particularly take exception to the approach that is being taken of threatening Commonwealth funding for schools. The one thing we shouldn’t be threatening is schools and children and their education. The federal government is interfering in many areas of state responsibility. The interference is unwarranted, not based on any evidence and is all about power and arrogance. It is the last thing that Australia currently needs. I have regular breakfast meetings organised with my backbenchers. Representative groups attend my office between 7.00 and 8.30 am when we chat about issues. I am very pleased that we had such a meeting this week with the member for Kingsley. Two or three of the groups present represented parents and citizens associations. One of the parents wanted to talk to me about reports that are now provided for children. She showed me a report that was provided to her for her son at school. I thought it was a good indication of how our education system is getting up to date with what we need in our modern community. There was a category called “work habits”. Students are assessed according to their work habits, under a number of different headings. One of the interesting headings was “willing to tackle difficulties”. The government of Western Australia was very happy to front this morning and to tell the people of Western Australia where it stood on the question of the privatisation of Telstra. I outlined my argument and the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and various members of Parliament outlined their argument, but where was the Leader of the Opposition? He was not here. This is yet another example of fool’s gold from Kalgoorlie - all glitter and no value.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: The federal Minister for Education has been at it again trying to score cheap political points at the expense of our education system. I am sure that the Western Australian public has had enough of his undermining of our education system. First, I point out the hypocrisy of his comments, given that the commonwealth and the states have agreed upon a nationally consistent curriculum based on outcomes. Secondly, and more importantly, he is ignoring what is happening in our education system in Western Australia. Over the past four years we have implemented a number of measures to improve our education system: more resources, more teachers, new schools and new programs, but, most importantly, we have focused on and we are lifting standards in our schools. That is the primary objective of my government for education. I endorse the remarks of the member for Cottesloe and former Minister for Education that the comments being made by the federal minister are destructive and divisive. Like him, those of us in Western Australia who are proud of our achievements in this state are sick and tired of a federal minister who does not run any schools at all but who makes these rather exaggerated rhetorical statements based upon his own political positioning rather than the facts of the matter in Western Australia. I agree with what the member for Cottesloe said on radio - I particularly take exception to the approach that is being taken of threatening Commonwealth funding for schools. The one thing we shouldn’t be threatening is schools and children and their education. The federal government is interfering in many areas of state responsibility. The interference is unwarranted, not based on any evidence and is all about power and arrogance. It is the last thing that Australia currently needs. I have regular breakfast meetings organised with my backbenchers. Representative groups attend my office between 7.00 and 8.30 am when we chat about issues. I am very pleased that we had such a meeting this week with the member for Kingsley. Two or three of the groups present represented parents and citizens associations. One of the parents wanted to talk to me about reports that are now provided for children. She showed me a report that was provided to her for her son at school. I thought it was a good indication of how our education system is getting up to date with what we need in our modern community. There was a category called “work habits”. Students are assessed according to their work habits, under a number of different headings. One of the interesting headings was “willing to tackle difficulties”. The government of Western Australia was very happy to front this morning and to tell the people of Western Australia where it stood on the question of the privatisation of Telstra. I outlined my argument and the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and various members of Parliament outlined their argument, but where was the Leader of the Opposition? He was not here. This is yet another example of fool’s gold from Kalgoorlie - all glitter and no value.
The federal Minister for Education has been at it again trying to score cheap political points at the expense of our education system. I am sure that the Western Australian public has had enough of his undermining of our education system. First, I point out the hypocrisy of his comments, given that the commonwealth and the states have agreed upon a nationally consistent curriculum based on outcomes. Secondly, and more importantly, he is ignoring what is happening in our education system in Western Australia. Over the past four years we have implemented a number of measures to improve our education system: more resources, more teachers, new schools and new programs, but, most importantly, we have focused on and we are lifting standards in our schools. That is the primary objective of my government for education. I endorse the remarks of the member for Cottesloe and former Minister for Education that the comments being made by the federal minister are destructive and divisive. Like him, those of us in Western Australia who are proud of our achievements in this state are sick and tired of a federal minister who does not run any schools at all but who makes these rather exaggerated rhetorical statements based upon his own political positioning rather than the facts of the matter in Western Australia. I agree with what the member for Cottesloe said on radio - I particularly take exception to the approach that is being taken of threatening Commonwealth funding for schools. The one thing we shouldn’t be threatening is schools and children and their education. The federal government is interfering in many areas of state responsibility. The interference is unwarranted, not based on any evidence and is all about power and arrogance. It is the last thing that Australia currently needs. I have regular breakfast meetings organised with my backbenchers. Representative groups attend my office between 7.00 and 8.30 am when we chat about issues. I am very pleased that we had such a meeting this week with the member for Kingsley. Two or three of the groups present represented parents and citizens associations. One of the parents wanted to talk to me about reports that are now provided for children. She showed me a report that was provided to her for her son at school. I thought it was a good indication of how our education system is getting up to date with what we need in our modern community. There was a category called “work habits”. Students are assessed according to their work habits, under a number of different headings. One of the interesting headings was “willing to tackle difficulties”. The government of Western Australia was very happy to front this morning and to tell the people of Western Australia where it stood on the question of the privatisation of Telstra. I outlined my argument and the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and various members of Parliament outlined their argument, but where was the Leader of the Opposition? He was not here. This is yet another example of fool’s gold from Kalgoorlie - all glitter and no value.
The government of Western Australia was very happy to front this morning and to tell the people of Western Australia where it stood on the question of the privatisation of Telstra. I outlined my argument and the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and various members of Parliament outlined their argument, but where was the Leader of the Opposition? He was not here. This is yet another example of fool’s gold from Kalgoorlie - all glitter and no value.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: The federal Minister for Education has been at it again trying to score cheap political points at the expense of our education system. I am sure that the Western Australian public has had enough of his undermining of our education system. First, I point out the hypocrisy of his comments, given that the commonwealth and the states have agreed upon a nationally consistent curriculum based on outcomes. Secondly, and more importantly, he is ignoring what is happening in our education system in Western Australia. Over the past four years we have implemented a number of measures to improve our education system: more resources, more teachers, new schools and new programs, but, most importantly, we have focused on and we are lifting standards in our schools. That is the primary objective of my government for education. I endorse the remarks of the member for Cottesloe and former Minister for Education that the comments being made by the federal minister are destructive and divisive. Like him, those of us in Western Australia who are proud of our achievements in this state are sick and tired of a federal minister who does not run any schools at all but who makes these rather exaggerated rhetorical statements based upon his own political positioning rather than the facts of the matter in Western Australia. I agree with what the member for Cottesloe said on radio - I particularly take exception to the approach that is being taken of threatening Commonwealth funding for schools. The one thing we shouldn’t be threatening is schools and children and their education. The federal government is interfering in many areas of state responsibility. The interference is unwarranted, not based on any evidence and is all about power and arrogance. It is the last thing that Australia currently needs. I have regular breakfast meetings organised with my backbenchers. Representative groups attend my office between 7.00 and 8.30 am when we chat about issues. I am very pleased that we had such a meeting this week with the member for Kingsley. Two or three of the groups present represented parents and citizens associations. One of the parents wanted to talk to me about reports that are now provided for children. She showed me a report that was provided to her for her son at school. I thought it was a good indication of how our education system is getting up to date with what we need in our modern community. There was a category called “work habits”. Students are assessed according to their work habits, under a number of different headings. One of the interesting headings was “willing to tackle difficulties”. The government of Western Australia was very happy to front this morning and to tell the people of Western Australia where it stood on the question of the privatisation of Telstra. I outlined my argument and the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and various members of Parliament outlined their argument, but where was the Leader of the Opposition? He was not here. This is yet another example of fool’s gold from Kalgoorlie - all glitter and no value.
The federal Minister for Education has been at it again trying to score cheap political points at the expense of our education system. I am sure that the Western Australian public has had enough of his undermining of our education system. First, I point out the hypocrisy of his comments, given that the commonwealth and the states have agreed upon a nationally consistent curriculum based on outcomes. Secondly, and more importantly, he is ignoring what is happening in our education system in Western Australia. Over the past four years we have implemented a number of measures to improve our education system: more resources, more teachers, new schools and new programs, but, most importantly, we have focused on and we are lifting standards in our schools. That is the primary objective of my government for education. I endorse the remarks of the member for Cottesloe and former Minister for Education that the comments being made by the federal minister are destructive and divisive. Like him, those of us in Western Australia who are proud of our achievements in this state are sick and tired of a federal minister who does not run any schools at all but who makes these rather exaggerated rhetorical statements based upon his own political positioning rather than the facts of the matter in Western Australia. I agree with what the member for Cottesloe said on radio - I particularly take exception to the approach that is being taken of threatening Commonwealth funding for schools. The one thing we shouldn’t be threatening is schools and children and their education. The federal government is interfering in many areas of state responsibility. The interference is unwarranted, not based on any evidence and is all about power and arrogance. It is the last thing that Australia currently needs. I have regular breakfast meetings organised with my backbenchers. Representative groups attend my office between 7.00 and 8.30 am when we chat about issues. I am very pleased that we had such a meeting this week with the member for Kingsley. Two or three of the groups present represented parents and citizens associations. One of the parents wanted to talk to me about reports that are now provided for children. She showed me a report that was provided to her for her son at school. I thought it was a good indication of how our education system is getting up to date with what we need in our modern community. There was a category called “work habits”. Students are assessed according to their work habits, under a number of different headings. One of the interesting headings was “willing to tackle difficulties”. The government of Western Australia was very happy to front this morning and to tell the people of Western Australia where it stood on the question of the privatisation of Telstra. I outlined my argument and the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and various members of Parliament outlined their argument, but where was the Leader of the Opposition? He was not here. This is yet another example of fool’s gold from Kalgoorlie - all glitter and no value.
The government of Western Australia was very happy to front this morning and to tell the people of Western Australia where it stood on the question of the privatisation of Telstra. I outlined my argument and the Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and various members of Parliament outlined their argument, but where was the Leader of the Opposition? He was not here. This is yet another example of fool’s gold from Kalgoorlie - all glitter and no value.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.