CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr CLARE (Blaxland—Minister for Education) (09:54): In this place we hear lots of speeches, but some of the best speeches aren't delivered here in parliament. They're sometimes delivered in a school hall, and one of those was by a seven-year-old girl named Georgie a few weeks ago. In her speech, Georgie said: Did you know that with a good education you can do anything?

The things we learn at school can help us when we're older, help us to choose different jobs and follow our dreams. That is why today I'm going to convince you to love school. I know this is a rare choice for a speech, but hear me out.

School is amazing because we learn, we play and we have fun. Every day at school we learn something new. My favourite subject is maths, because I love learning algorithms and my times tables.

School helps us find the subjects we love and teaches us to work hard at the things that don't come easily. When we practice and don't give up, we can improve and learn skills. School is also about having fun and trying new things.

I love the athletics carnival, water fun day, cross country, dance group, choir and assemblies. There are so many more activities too, but I don't want my speech to become longer than a school day! School helps me and my family feel like we belong.

We have made friends with other families. We even go camping with some of them. Now, imagine a world without school.

Day 1 I would watch TV, paint and play Nintendo Switch with my brothers. But after that, I think I'd get pretty bored of my brothers! I would miss my friends, the activities we do and learning from our amazing and clever teachers.

So, if you ask me, school is literally the best. It helps us learn, have fun, make friends and be part of the community. At our school, every face has a place, and that's definitely something worth loving!

Georgie tells us about the power of education better than I ever could. I want all kids to love school and to think that school is the best, just like Georgie does. That's why we'll continue our work to make our schools and our whole education system better and fairer for Georgie and all Australian kids just like her.