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2318 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 31 Oct 2012 The electorate of Albert is positioned in the heart of the northern Gold Coast growth corridor and southern Logan City. Recently, I was privy to the forecast expected growth of this region by the Gold Coast City Council. Those figures suggest that the population is expected to triple between now and 2030. To cater for this growth, we need to start preparing now. The Minister for Education has highlighted the importance of building our future and this government has shown its commitment through the Building Our Future Schools Fund. This fund will allocate $115 million over the next four years, with $328 million being allocated for school infrastructure in 2012-13. This commitment is verifiable through the future construction of additional permanent classrooms at the Norfolk Village State School, which is located in the seat of Albert. I draw the attention of the parliament to the minister’s comments in regard to the establishment of the Schools Planning Commission and how it will work. At the hearing, the minister said— The first is an analysis of future population trends and school capacity and their potential impact on capital funding needs of the school sectors to produce a Queensland schools infrastructure demand map—something that has not been done before. Finally, we have a government that is planning for the future. Vocational education and training is making a real difference for our youth. Building education pathways to meet demand is crucial for potential employment. Every parent wants the best for their children and the knowledge that our children are obtaining certifications in viable career paths gives us a lot of comfort. As I said, we all want the best for our kids. Vocational education and training in schools is about getting the right apprenticeship, traineeship or course of study that will lead to further education at TAFE or university. I am very pleased to hear that this issue is being actively pursued by the minister and the director-general for better outcomes for Queensland students. This is making a real difference for schools such as Upper Coomera State College, which is creating real pathways to university. Building strong foundations for education is crucial. However, ensuring business has the ability to provide opportunities for our future leaders is also important. To this end, I am pleased to hear our government is addressing the need to reduce red tape for businesses in Queensland. Our commitment is evident in the increase in the payroll tax threshold. This threshold will increase from $1 million to $1.6 million over six years, which has the potential to help 20,000 businesses and support thousands of new jobs. As Albert is the home of the tradie, an initiative such as this has the potential to help builders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other small to medium operators, once again showing the Newman government’s commitment to Albert families. Another issue of concern expressed to me by residents of Albert is the future of our agricultural production. The question I hear most is, where will our future food come from? The Minister for Science and Information Technology recognises this resource and has highlighted the government’s commitment through the agricultural land audit, which will identify land important to current and future agricultural production needs. This audit will be presented in state-wide and regional formats by March 2013. Agriculture was a key election platform promise at the last election and I am pleased that the Newman government continues to plan for the future of our four-pillar economy. Again I thank the minister and my fellow committee members for a very informative day. Mr LATTER (Waterford—LNP) (9.25 pm): I start by thanking the Minister for Education, Training and Employment, Minister Langbroek, the Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Minister Bates, their respective directors-general and, indeed, all parties who made themselves available to the estimates committee process. I also thank and acknowledge the other members of the Education and Innovation Committee, the honourable members for Albert, Burdekin, Burnett, Inala, Logan, Lytton and Mackay. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to commend our support team, Bernice Watson, Emily Booth and Carolyn Heffernan, for their contributions and ongoing support. It is with absolute pleasure—and I consider it a tremendous honour—that I sit on this particular committee. I do not take lightly the responsibilities of the committee. This system of governance allows us, as members of parliament and representatives of the community at large, to hold to account the fiscal allocation and policy direction of the portfolios by the cabinet and that should never be taken lightly. The availability of funding is a significant concern and fiscal management is a priority of this government. However, despite that, I am delighted to say that each of the ministers was able to and no doubt will continue to demonstrate a clear direction in terms of delivering efficiencies in their respective portfolios to maintain service provision and meet public expectation. I make no secret of the fact that I am fairly passionate about my schools and education in general. It was a particular delight to hear that this government will be investing in the provision of technology for special needs education. This consideration will be welcomed by schools like Marsden State High School and Waterford Primary, which invest a great deal of time and money to provide education outcomes for special needs children, among other great programs that they deliver in their curriculum. In terms of the utilisation of technology in the advancement of education, I look forward to the rollout of e- kindy. It is my great hope that the provision of online services will help those disadvantaged by distance to enjoy the benefits afforded to children through pre-prep learning opportunities. Indeed, the
31 Oct 2012 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 2319 government’s provision of $200 million in order to address the inherent maintenance issues across Queensland schools is a very welcome addition to the government’s plan for driving progress across this great state. This is the time of year when schools celebrate the successes of their students. Recently I have been privileged to attend awards nights for some of my schools, including Trinity College and Marsden State High School. I have been able to attend showcase awards evenings and art fairs, such as that held by St Joseph’s Tobruk. I also note that the Beenleigh and Loganlea high schools run award-winning agricultural programs. What a pleasure it was to see the students of Loganlea State High School and their prized livestock at the Holmview Central Shopping Centre a couple of weeks ago—although not as burgers, I might add. I wish to stress how impressed I am with the calibre of the art, the calibre of students and the calibre of programs being run by the schools in my electorate and, no doubt, in schools across Queensland. I have engaged with teachers, administrators, union reps from the Queensland Teachers Union, members of my local parents and citizens and parents and friends committees, and even regional officers of the Department of Education, Training and Employment, all of whom have demonstrated a passion for this field and a desire to continue to be innovative in the pursuit of excellence. While it goes without saying that our schools play a huge part in the future of our youth, I will say that it is often the case that our schools play a central and pivotal role in our communities. It is for all the aforementioned that I particularly enjoy my participation on this committee and take very seriously the responsibilities of that role. It is for the very clear and committed direction that Minister Langbroek and Director-General Ms Julie Grantham bring to their portfolio and/or department that I commend them. I thank the government for remaining committed to education. Mr MULHERIN (Mackay—ALP) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (9.30 pm): I would like to congratulate the chair on the way she conducted the estimates process. I would also like to thank the estimates committee secretariat for the hard work and effort they put into making sure that the scrutiny of the budget was carried out in a way that enabled members of this chamber an opportunity to question the executive. I would like to comment now on the estimates hearing. When the minister was asked what employment programs were still being run other than a phone line for retrenched public servants, the minister was not able to outline any. This follows cuts to employment programs, including Skilling Queenslanders for Work, of $287.7 million over four years. The minister could only point to the LNP’s four per cent unemployment target which is not included as a budget target anywhere in the minister’s Service Delivery Statements. When asked about why there was no four per cent unemployment target set out in the budget papers, the minister went on a tirade against the previous government without providing an answer. In response to questions from the opposition leader, the director-general of education advised that the Deloitte Access Economics report on the evaluation of Skilling Queenslanders for Work was received one week after making a decision to cut the program. The director-general confirmed that there was knowledge of the report being prepared prior to the decision to axe the program. This is symptomatic of a rushed policy process under the LNP government which is based on ideology rather than evidence. The minister in an answer to non-government question on notice No. 1 even highlighted the achievements of the program, including having assisted 116,836 disadvantaged job seekers into employment from July 2007 to 30 June 2012. The minister further stated that no-one questions the worthiness of the programs. The minister’s only justification provided for cutting employment programs was that he believed the Commonwealth to be responsible for employment while maintaining it in his ministerial title. The minister repeatedly told the committee that the participation rate in the workforce had increased. This is despite the participation rate in September being the lowest since April 2006 as set out on the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Queensland Treasury websites. When asked about this, the minister pointed out he was referring to the national participation rate and not Queensland’s despite his previous comments being in the context of Queensland. The minister was then asked what Treasury’s projected employment growth is for this financial year and the projected unemployment rate in four years. Both these figures are clearly set out on page 34 of Budget Paper No. 2. Despite the public availability of these figures and how crucial they are to understanding employment and the LNP’s four per cent unemployment target, the minister was unable to answer either of these questions or even direct to where the figures are located in the budget papers. The minister was asked to provide advice on how many jobs would need to be created within the final two years of the LNP’s four per cent unemployment target for it to be met. Treasury currently project an unemployment rate in four years time of 5¼ per cent. The minister responded by refusing to take the question on notice and then referring to a report by the Commonwealth Department of
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