Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (17:31): I am delighted to make a brief contribution to this public interest debate. I, too, begin by acknowledging all the teachers, the P&Cs and the mums and dads whose kids started kindergarten this year. I also acknowledge the amazing achievements of our students last year. We saw their results come out. They were absolutely fantastic.
Ms Felicity Wilson: Go North Sydney Boys!
Mr GREG WARREN: I acknowledge the member for North Sydney and I commend her for beginning by acknowledging the most important people in our system: the staff, volunteers, teachers and all the people who make it happen. Outside of that, and excluding the member for Sydney, if any of those opposite told me it was raining outside I do not even think I would take my umbrella. They are so confused that I think they are confusing themselves. It is time to put some facts into this story. I have a very interesting press release dated Tuesday 21 June 2022. It states:
Treasurer Matt Kean said the program would run from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023.
That is the press release of those opposite. They must have missed that bit.
TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr David Layzell): Order! Members will come to order.
Mr GREG WARREN: It was also confirmed on 21 June 2022 that $193 million was for a one-off $150 back to school subsidy for every child undertaking primary and secondary school in 2023. It is one thing for those on the Opposition side of the Chamber to now be talking about the virtuous nature and importance of supporting public education, but during the 12 years that they were in government they did nothing. Where did they leave it? Let's go through it. There was a record-high shortage of 3,200 teachers. There were 3,000 merged or cancelled classes across New South Wales. Only 60 per cent of teachers were permanent. The number of demountable classrooms increased by 35 per cent. That is before we look at wages and the wage cap that those opposite put on teachers, which saw the system bleed teachers. We saw university students not even finishing their degree. Why? Why would they? Those opposite oversaw the system. They were the architects and the destructors of the New South Wales public education system. They are the ones that brought it to its knees. If they were fair dinkum about this voucher, why was it not in the forward estimates? Why was it not a commitment during the campaign?
Mr Dugald Saunders: It was!
Mr GREG WARREN: It was not. It was a one-off.
Mr Dugald Saunders: It was enacted during the campaign, you galoot—from 1 January to 30 June.
Mr GREG WARREN: It was not.
Mr Dugald Saunders: Of course it was.
Mr GREG WARREN: I note the member for Dubbo. It was not a commitment by those opposite and it still is not. I refer to the Leader of the Opposition and member for Cronulla, who was recently interviewed on that wonderful station 2GB. Ben Fordham said, "So the vouchers are back if you're in power?" Mr Speakman said, "Well, the vouchers will be back. At the moment, three years down the track, I don't know what the budget is going to look like." I can answer that for him: It is going to be a damn lot better under us than it was after the 12 years of rage that those opposite imposed.
TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr David Layzell): Order! Members will come to order.
Mr GREG WARREN: Ben Fordham then said to Mr Speakman, "So you're not even promising to return them?" Mr Speakman said, "Well, I'm not going to promise three years out what the Labor budget will look like." Opposition members have absolutely nothing. They bring this public interest debate. If they were half sensible, if they were half fair dinkum about having a public interest debate on education, they would have followed the smart and sensible people, like the member for North Sydney, who congratulate our teachers, acknowledge our students and know who makes our system work. We on this side of the House know that what we hear coming from those opposite is unprecedented. The budget situation showed record-high deficits into the billions under their watch. Such reckless lack of planning just adds definition and reasoning as to why they are in their rightful place on the opposition benches, where they will remain.
