Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027

Mr BIRRELL (Nicholls) (17:30): I rise to speak on the government's 2026-27 budget and what it means for education, which is the foundation of productivity, opportunity and long-term prosperity in this country. For all the slogans about fairness and opportunity, what this budget delivers is not real reform but restraint on aspiration. That's clear in many aspects of the budget, but it's clear in education as well.

The government has framed this budget as one that builds a better, fairer and more equitable education system. But when you look beyond the rhetoric you see a patchwork of modest initiatives, increased regulation and missed opportunities for real reform. It's not transformational; it's a holding pattern.

Let me start with schools. There are some targeted investments—in STEM programs, student wellbeing and support for disadvantaged students in particular—but alongside that we see a strong emphasis on compliance and integrity measures that ensure funding is monitored and enforced more tightly. Accountability matters, and every dollar should be spent well, but schools across regional Australia are telling us something different.

They don't need more bureaucracy; they need more support. Principals and teachers are already under enormous pressure, and this budget risks adding to that burden without addressing the core issues of workforce shortages, classroom disruption and declining student outcomes. Also, where is the finalised agreement between the federal government and the Victorian government that delivers full funding?

What's the roadblock? The federal government might have a better government to deal with earlier next year. On early childhood, the government continues its push towards a more universal system, with additional inclusion, funding and workforce measures, and that direction is important.

We support access and participation, but we also support parental choice, and again this budget lacks a defining reform. It continues some of the trends that are underway, but rather than delivering a clear step change in affordability, workforce and sustainability it delivers more of the same, and in too many areas in regional Australia there is still no child care available.

But it's in higher education where the government's lack of ambition is most evident. Stakeholders across the sector expected real reform, in particular, following the universities accord. Instead what we got was continuity, and the sector is telling us that funding and policy settings are simply not keeping pace with expectations or economic need.

Universities are being asked to do more with tighter margins under growing regulatory pressure. At the same time we're seeing increasing oversight, more powers for regulators, new levies to fund oversight bodies and growing compliance requirements on institution. There are more rules and more scrutiny, but there's not enough support.

I ask this question, and the member for Berowra mentioned it in his contribution: are our universities going forward or backward? In skills, productivity and economy, the government tells us that productivity is a defining challenge for the Australian economy, and they are right. But productivity starts with skills, and it starts with education.

While this budget includes measures to support skills recognition and workforce participation, it stops short of making the level of investment needed to drive long-term economic growth. The sector itself has made this clear. If we want a more productive economy we should invest more, not less, in the institutions that build it, and those institutions need to be better.

We need quality, not just free quantity. What ties this together is a simple point. At a time when classrooms are under pressure, teachers are leaving the profession, universities are struggling with funding certainty and regional students face persistent barriers, the government chose to manage the system rather than fix it.

Education should be at the centre of any serious plan for Australia's future. It should be focused on long-term outcomes, not short-term savings. If we are serious about fairness and if we are serious about opportunity not just for the young people in this country but for the country's economic future itself and if we are serious about productivity then we cannot afford to underinvest in education.