QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr CLARE (Blaxland—Minister for Education) (14:24): I thank my friend the mighty member for Macarthur for his question. Our education system is the most powerful cause for good in this country, and our schools are at the core of that. We've been talking about fixing the funding of our schools since I was a kid, and now that is finally happening because of this government and because of this Prime Minister.

It means an extra $20 billion invested into our public schools over the next decade. It's not a blank cheque; this funding is tied to reform. It's things like phonics.

The reading wars are over. We know what works. Phonics works.

The UK has been doing this for decades. Now it's finally rolling out here. To give you an example of how it works, have a look at Briar Road Public School in the member for MacArthur's electorate.

Three years ago, the kids there in year 1 did a phonics check, and 22 per cent of the kids were found to be on track with their reading. They did it again last year, and that number was 84 per cent. That shows that phonics works.

We're also working on the curriculum, starting with maths. When education ministers meet next, we'll consider the changes that we need to make to the curriculum, starting with primary school maths. It's the sort of stuff that should have happened a decade ago, but it's happening now.

It doesn't end there. Mr speaker, you'll know this. Most of us will know this.

When we were at school, there was a computer lab or a computer room in the school. Mr Thompson: What year was this, Jason? Mr CLARE: A long time ago!

Nowadays, they're everywhere. There's a laptop or a device on every desk in every classroom. The evidence tells us that kids who spend more time on a screen than others get lower results than other kids at school.

Not just that—the evidence coming in suggests that you learn and you retain information better if you write it down with a pen than if you're typing it. I'm not making an argument against the use of technology, but I am arguing that we need to dial it back a bit. I'm not the only one saying this.

Teachers are saying it too. So are parents. Parents are also worried about what their kids are seeing on their phones after school, the sorts of putrid stuff that the Tate brothers send their way, which I spoke about in parliament yesterday: teaching boys to hate girls, to demean girls.

All of that is being force-fed to them by algorithms. That's why the digital duty of care that the Prime Minister announced today and the Minister for Communications released today is so important. This is not a debate about freedom of speech.

This is about protecting our kids from this sort of filth, and it's about helping mums and dads who are grappling with all of this at the moment.