SE4PARKES003 Meaningful Monday March 10 "The policy is a bit out there, isn't it Sal?"

“The policy is a bit out there, isn’t it Sal?" is a question I am often asked - and I suppose it is, looking at it from where we sit today; locked into an ever-growing government, with a seemingly endless thirst for public servants and public service. The trouble is, each public servant, each Government Department costs money, and taxpayer money at that and not all of them are effective, efficient or even needed. To me, as a Candidate for the Federal Parliament of Australia, and with commitments of honesty, transparency and accountability, I want to make sure that we are getting genuine value for money from every expenditure, and that the outcomes are meeting and exceeding the needs of the communities that utilise them.

The first policy area I want to touch on is Education. Access to quality education and life-long learning, not only for school age students, but for anyone, is important to me - so it seems somewhat counter-intuitive to consider abolishing the Federal Department of Education, doesn’t it? Let me explain.

We have got to where we are today, by thinking within the box that we have come to accept as “normal” in Australia. The State Government typically manages the service delivery of Education to our towns for the purpose of delivering educational outcomes for all of our kids. The Federal Government provides substantial funding mechanisms to both the State Government and Local Government for a raft of services and provisions, including Education.

Education is a major expenditure of the Federal Government, yet from where I sit as a parent and community member, the power has gradually been taken away from teachers, principals and their schools. Teachers are spending more time fulfilling reporting requirements (paperwork!) than they would like to, they got into teaching to educate kids and positively influence their learning and therefore their future – they did not get into teaching for a never-ending pile of reporting and administration requirements.

Passionate teachers, who care, are worth their weight in gold – but how many are we losing because they don’t feel like they are educating the way they would really like to, the way they were tertiary trained to or because they are simply burnt-out? How many are smothered by programming and reporting requirements that dims the light inside them? Or the ever increasing burden – of all the “extra” responsibilities? These teachers sacrifice so much already and then on top of the cost to the teacher and their family, who pays the ultimate price – the kids of course. How can the educational outcomes possibly be as rich when a passionate teacher has the time, energy and capacity to powerfully educate taken away from them?

As a potential cross-bench MP in a minority government, I would advocate and work towards Educational Policy reform. I would transparently review all wastage and potential duplication of money and resources -what if the costs of running the Federal Department could go direct to schools and to decreasing the red-tape that inhibits Principals, their team of staff and their schools? Yes, I would consider abolishing the Federal Department of Education and proposing reform that empowers schools and teachers alike. We don’t need to stay stuck in our way of thinking; I have absolutely no doubt that there would be many teachers with valuable suggestions on cutting back red-tape and changes and solutions for delivering valuable educational outcomes for schools, and not every school would be forced to do it the same way – imagine a world where schools were empowered to uniquely cater to the needs of the children, teachers and the needs of the community. There are phenomenal examples of Educational systems around the country and around the world that we could consider and utilise. One thing is for sure, I want to keep good teachers teaching, I want kids to love learning, and I want the money spent by the Federal Government to be effective, transparent and accountable at the same time.

So while a one-line headline, may simply say ‘Abolish the Department of Education’ – know and trust that these policies are never as easy as that and that I would always dig in to the detail first and transparently show the people of Parkes what that actually looks like.

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