Press conference - Darwin

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: G’day, everyone. It’s great to be here with you, Eva and Mark, two people who have dedicated their life to education – former principals and teachers before they entered parliament. You get the game-changing nature of education, that this is the most powerful cause for good. And it’s terrific to be here with you today to sign this agreement, to ink the deal that we announced with the Prime Minister a couple of months ago.

This is a fantastic day for the Northern Territory. It’s just a brilliant day for public education in the Northern Territory. What this means is that the most underfunded public schools in the country are now going to become the best funded public schools in the country. And it brings forward the day that public schools in the Northern Territory are fully funded from 2050 to 2029 – more than 20 years. It’s a game changer for kids that aren’t even at school yet, and for kids who aren’t even born yet. And I want to thank you for the partnership that we have struck today because of the difference that it’s going to make to those kids.

Can I also recognise Karen Weston, who’s here as well, the head of the department, the terrific work that you do working with my team to make this day possible.

The Northern Territory today also becomes the first state or territory in the country to sign this, which is a 10-year plan for education across the country, a 10-year Better and Fairer Schools Agreement. I talked about a billion dollars of extra investment in schools in the Northern Territory. I’ve put $16 billion of extra funding on the table for states and territories across the country. We’re still negotiating on those funding details, but this agreement sets out what that funding will be invested in.

I’ve said from day one that this funding needs to be tied to reforms, the sort of things that are going to help kids who fall behind to catch up and to keep up and to finish school. And that’s what this agreement that I’m releasing today and that the Northern Territory has signed today is all about.

Because the truth is, we’ve got a good education system in Australia, but it can be a lot better, and it can be a lot fairer. Have a look at NAPLAN results, you’ll see that one in 10 kids today are below the minimum standard we’ve set. And for kids from poor families and from the bush, for Indigenous kids, it’s one in three, and only one in five of those kids today will catch up by the time they’re in Year 9.

Seven years ago, 85 per cent of kids finished high school; today it’s 79 per cent. And that’s happening at a time when we need more kids to finish school. We’ve got to turn this around. And that’s what this agreement is all about. It’s about investing these extra billions of dollars in the sort of things that will identify kids who need help early who are falling behind early and providing them with that extra support.

The sort of reforms that are set out in this agreement that I’ve just signed and that Eva has just signed are about a Year 1 phonics check, identifying early when kids are in their first year or two at school whether they’re behind in literacy; and extending that to an early years numeracy check, making sure that they’ve got the numeracy skills to succeed. Because we know if they fall behind early it’s much, much harder to catch up. So, you’ve got to do that before the Year 3 NAPLAN test. You’ve got to get that information early and respond early, and that’s why the reforms will also fund things like catch-up tutoring. We’ve got to identify the kids who need more help and provide them with that help. Catch-up tutoring, in basic terms, means if kids are falling behind, get them out of the classroom, 40 minutes a day, four or five days a week, and provide them with intensive support – one teacher, two or three kids. And if you do it right, we know that it can help kids to learn as much in six months as they’ve learnt in 12 months. Help them to catch up and then keep up. And help more kids to finish school.

But it’s not just that. What this plan involves is investing more money to have more counsellors and mental health workers as well, because we know there’s a real link between health and education. That if you’ve got problems with your physical health or your mental health, you’re less likely to turn up to school, more days absent, the more likely you are to be behind. The research tells us that kids that are experiencing real mental health challenges can end up a year and a half or two and a half years behind their fellow friends, kids in the classroom, by Year 9. So investing in counsellors and mental health workers and providing those wellbeing supports is critical to helping more kids finish school.

And then the plan also involves investing more money to pay experienced teachers more to work in the schools that need it the most. Schools like this one right here. Because an experienced teacher makes the world of difference. In this plan also includes targets, real targets, to lift attendance rates, to turn around that decline in the number of kids finishing high school, to get more kids into the highest levels of NAPLAN and fewer kids in that lower band of NAPLAN as well, as well as real transparency.

So, I talked about $16 billion. I talked about the reforms. We also want the states and territories to tell us how much of the money we’re providing them with is allocated to those key reforms, publishing that on a dashboard, and then me as Education Minister reporting to the Australian Parliament on how this money is being invested in. This is not a blank cheque. This is about making sure that we tie funding to the sort of things that are going to make a real difference for kids who need our help the most.

I'm the first person in my family to finish high school. I’m the first person in my family to finish Year 10. I know the difference education can make. I’m only here in front of this microphone today because of it. And I want to make sure that more kids get the life-changing benefit of education. And that’s what the agreement that we’ve signed today and the agreement that I want to sign with states and territories right across the country over the next few months is all about.

MARK MONAGHAN, NORTHERN TERRITORY MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Wow. What an historic day for education in the Northern Territory. Game changing day. Not only have we backed in our kids and we’ve backed in their learning and we’ve backed in the fact that they can grow and become whatever they want to choose, but we’ve also backed in their teachers. This is an extraordinary day for education. I, as well as the Chief, have been involved in education a long, long time. And this sort of funding, right back at a school level in some of the most disadvantaged schools in the Territory – we know that basing our enrolment on effective enrolment didn’t work. That’s why this funding will enable us to change that model next year in 2025 and base our enrolment on enrolment and base the funding on enrolment.

And what that does to a principal, to teachers, to schools that are a long way from Darwin sitting out at Milingimbi or sitting down on Groote Eylandt, it enables them to plan better for kids’ learning. They plan with certainty. They should know what that funding looks like. We’re hoping for them to know about October this year.

I know as a principal when I worked in those schools or as a teacher when I worked in those schools I used to go, “this is what I need to put in place for these kids, but I’m not even sure if I’m going to be teaching here next term,” because of funding models that were brought in. And we know that Labor Governments do this. This is only signed because of the collaboration and need, the congenial way that the Federal Government, the Federal Minister and their office and our Minister, past Minister in the Chief who’s standing behind me, have driven this. And I’m lucky enough here to be standing talking about it.

That is not missed on me. That it is an extraordinary day – an extraordinary day – that our kids will have the potential, as the Federal Minister said, to catch up and to keep up. And give them the opportunity for them to take a pathway that they wish to take, whether it’s in their community or wherever it is, ensuring that they go into a job and they become an effective and contributing member of society. That’s a great day for the Territory.

JOURNALIST: Minister, you said that there’s $16 billion on the table for the states and territories, is that the limit that you’re proposing to put out there or could that amount increase if the states and territories are doing what they’re doing right now and holding out for potentially a better deal with the Commonwealth?

CLARE: Well, what I’ve said to the states and territories is that the Commonwealth Government needs to chip in, and they need to chip in as well. You see an example of that here today – the Commonwealth chipping in but the Territory chipping in as well. And if the Northern Territory can chip in extra money to public education, then I think so can every other state government and territory across the country.

This is not just about money though. What today is about is what we invest that money in. We’ve got to fix the funding of our public schools right across the country. But we’ve also got to make sure that we invest that money in the sort of things that are going to make a real difference to the kids who need our help the most, who need the power of education the most. So we’ve got to fix that funding gap – and that involves both state and the Federal Government working together to do that. But we’ve got to fix that education gap that exists in our country as well. The fact that one in three kids from poor families and one in three kids from the bush, one in three Indigenous kids are in that lowest level of NAPLAN should tell us something. And I want to make sure that we’re investing that money in them, to help them to catch up and to keep up.

JOURNALIST: Just on another issue, New South Wales is introducing lessons for high school students on online safety. Do you think that’s something that should be rolled out nationwide? Are you in favour of what’s been proposed there?

CLARE: I haven’t seen the details of that, but I know every state and territory in different ways are doing things like that. And in the world we live in today where you have to worry about our kids’ safety not just on the road, on the street, out in the suburbs, but online, it’s the sort of common sense thing that I think schools and state and territory governments across the country are looking at.

JOURNALIST: Just a question for Minister Monaghan. We’ve just heard that this funding will have an impact on kids’ mental health and mental health staff within the Education Department. We’ve currently only got about 30 school counsellor positions available. Do you see those numbers rising out of this funding?

MONAGHAN: How I see it rising is that schools that have that particular need for that service for their cohort of kids, well, they’ll be able to budget for it and recruit to it. But they also might want to recruit to the wellbeing officers that we said we were going to increase. And that might be a youth worker, that might be another Stars program, or something that way that brings kids into the school, brings their attendance into the school, and ensures that they see that this place is a place for learning and a place for fun. And they are prepared to walk that path with their school community and decide what’s best for them and their kids to ensure they get those results.

JOURNALIST: I have a question on the cost of living. You’ve announced a lot of, you know, home builder and incentives for first home buyers during this election, but there’s been very little else in terms of the cost of living for people who are struggling to pay rent or buy their groceries. Is there anything more that Territory Labor is proposing to do to help people with the cost of living in this election?

EVA LAWLER, CHIEF MINISTER FOR THE NORTHERN TERRTORY: We’ve got a month, so you can watch that space. But we did a lot of work during Budget 2024 as well. So, Budget 2024 we increased the Community Service Obligation to keep our power prices down; substantial money, about $160 million, to subsidise Territorians’ power. We also invested in drivers’ licences, and I think it was overall about one per cent only the cost of drivers licences will go up. But a lot of the levers that – there’s not a lot of levers that we can pull. Most of those levers are Federal Government, and we saw that – around $300 extra for people’s power bills, $350 for small businesses.

But one of the really good announcements we’ve made as a Government is – that I think is cost of living, as well as one around education – is 30 hours of preschool for four-year-olds. So, four-year olds being able to have a full day of preschool. So, that’s a saving of about $5,000 for the average family, and, let’s face it, it’s usually the mums, so the mum can go back to work that year earlier because her child is now in full-time care. That’s part of the reason, making sure we continue to have that workforce. But also research shows us that will make a substantial difference into the future of education in Australia.

We have – we call it a long tail. There’s a lot of kids that are doing poorly and Jason Clare has just talked about that – kids with English as a second language, Aboriginal kids, kids in our remote schools. So being able to have that full-time preschool will be a big step in that direction. So, as a government we’ve committed to that. That is an election commitment.

But around cost of living, we also gave that $15 additional for parents with Back to School. We’ve given the senior Territorians an extra $50. So, I did see that interest rates rose – not what I would have like to have seen but, you know, all the predictions were that interest rates would rise, and we’ve seen that inflation has risen to 3.8. I know Jason – sorry, I know Jim Chalmers is very keen to push that down. So, we’ll continue to support where we are around cost of living, because besides crime, that’s the second thing that people talk to me about.

JOURNALIST: Will this money go towards funding those [indistinct] of four-year-old preschool, and also EBA for the teachers?

LAWLER: Yeah, there will be some of that. So, the Education has a budget, so the Northern Territory Government is putting in, I think it’s about $370 million. So, some of that money will be used for teachers’ wages, some of that money will be used for 4-year-old preschool, some of it will be used around middle years – so, that was another announcement we made earlier this year. Changes around middle school, getting rid of those middle years classrooms and schools.

So, yeah, all of that is in the bucket, and that’s me as a Minister – as Chief Minister and Mark as Minister. We’ve done the work. We’ve worked with the Federal Government. Now it’s up to the CE, it’s up to Education to, with their strategic directions, to, you know, to show, as Jason Clare says, how they’re going to keep more kids to Year 12? How are they going to raise those NAPLAN results? How are we going to improve attendance? They’re the targets that are in the agreement. We have to do that by 2030. It will be up to the experts in education now to plan and work with their schools around how they’re going to achieve that.

JOURNALIST: Do you know where that $350 million is potentially being redirected to or [indistinct] bottom line [indistinct] Northern Territory [indistinct]?

LAWLER: No, this is new money for education. So, our debt increases by that amount – so 300 – I think it’s $370 million till 2029. So, this increases our debt. But I don’t see it like that. Being the Treasurer in the Northern Territory, I see this as a substantial investment into the Territory. We know we need to turn around the lives, particularly in our remote communities, of young people who do not have jobs. We need to have them going to school every single day and we need them on a pathway to employment. We need them to be working. So, to me, that will change lives.

The issue around DV, we’ve talked about it, and that’s another election commitment of ours – putting more money into domestic violence. And to me education is a key to that. You need to work with young kids at four years old, five years old, to resolve conflict without using their fists. That’s a big step as well around what we need to do in the Territory.

So all of these things are part of the puzzle, and as I said, I debated with Lia today. We had a debate at the Property Council. And all I heard were simplistic solutions from the Leader of the Opposition. “Bring in truancy officers.” That is the only education policy we’ve heard from Lia – bring in truancy officers. Anybody who’s worked in education for 35 years like me knows that is not going to make a kid go to school, having a truancy officer. It absolutely has been tried before and will not make an ounce of difference. But that’s what you get with the CLP – these simplistic solutions to what are complicated, hard-slog work that’s needed to be done by a leader.

JOURNALIST: For Minister Monaghan. You just said that effective enrolment won’t be in place next year but on some answers to parliamentary questions in writing last week on the website it did say that they were going ahead. Can you just clarify that?

MONAGHAN: Yeah, I can clarify that. I saw that today, became aware today there was an error in that response and I’ve corrected it. I’ve spoken to Member for Guyula and absolutely clarified, as I’ve done in many public forums this year, that from 2025 it will be enrolment-based funding.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. Minister Clare, with these sort of standards and parameters you’re setting for this money, how will you monitor that and what will happen if they’re not met?

CLARE: What we’re asking states and territories to do is annually to report to us on how they allocate this money to those set reforms. That will get published on an online dashboard and I’ll report to the Parliament on that.

There has been some debate, though – it’s worth me making this point again –what we were trying to do here is to say, “if the targets weren’t met, the money will be taken away.” That’s not going to happen. Now, I went to a school that we used to call disadvantaged schools. And the idea of taking money away from schools if targets weren’t met is absolutely the wrong thing that we need to do. What I’m trying to do here is invest money where it’s needed and invest it in the right things. And if that means in a couple of years’ time we say, “hang on, let’s invest it a little bit differently. Let’s change it and do something different that we think is going to have a bigger impact,” then that’s great. But what we’re signing today is inking this deal and making sure that this money is here for the Northern Territory for the long term.

The idea of taking money away is absolutely the wrong thing to do. And to do this, apart from signing the agreement that I’ve signed today, I’ve got to pass legislation through the Parliament to do this. At the moment I’m prohibited from giving the Territory or any state or territory more than 20 per cent of their funding for public schools. Soon I’ll introduce legislation into the Parliament to rip away that cap and make sure that we can provide this extra funding to the Territory and hopefully to the states and territories as well if they sign up.

Because it’s fixing the funding of our public schools and linking that funding to practical reforms, like catch-up tutoring that we’ve announced today, that are going to make a world of difference, that will be a game changer here for kids in the territory and across the country.