BAILLIEU'S CUTS TO EDUCATION MUST STOP AS NEW YEAR STARTS IN ELTHAM SCHOOLS
As schools resume for 2013, the State Opposition is ramping up the pressure on the Baillieu Government over its cuts to education in Victoria.
Parents sending their children back to school are feeling the impact of two years of savage cuts to education in Victoria. Not only have local schools been starved of capital improvements under the Baillieu Government's $555 million cuts to education, but parents of students have been denied much-needed resources.
As the Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Skills and the Teaching Profession, I know that families in Eltham and around the state are struggling with the cuts and with the Baillieu Government's two-year refusal to negotiate in good faith with teachers.
Eltham students starting school in Prep this year will be graduating from Year 12 in 2025, fully one-quarter of the way through the 21st century. They will face momentous challenges in a changing world, and they don't need to start off their school life by battling against the Baillieu Government's massive cuts to education.
Parents across the state are missing out on assistance with uniforms, purchasing text books, transport costs or even school excursions because of the State Government's cuts.
These are fundamental necessities that every child needs to give them the best opportunity to learn and to participate fully in their schooling.
Instead, the message from Spring Street is ‘you are on your own'.
So Labor Members of Parliament are asking parents to sign a state-wide petition to make it clear that these cuts are not okay.
Whether it's cuts to school-based training and skills programs such as VCAL and VET in Schools, or to the Education Maintenance Allowance, the School Start Bonus, Fresh Fruit Friday or the Youth Focused School Service, Mr Baillieu is targeting the most vulnerable students.
For more information about the ‘Ted Baillieu is not working on Education' campaign, and to access the petition, please visit www.BaillieusNotWorking.com.au
Steve Herbert MP
State Member for Eltham
Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Skills
Shadow Minister for the Teaching Profession
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Join the fight against the Baillieu Government's TAFE Cuts
Ted Baillieu has slashed $290 million of funding to TAFEs across Victoria.
These cuts mean:
- An estimated 2,000 TAFE staff will lose their jobs
- Hundreds of TAFE courses will be cancelled, including a diploma in sign language
- Many students will face soaring TAFE fees.
Tell Ted Baillieu Victorian students can’t afford his cuts to TAFE funding.
To add your voice, sign the petition here.
The National Tertiary Education Union has been holding rallies across Victoria to protest against the cuts. For more information click here.
Steve Herbert MP
State Member for Eltham
Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Skills
Shadow Minister for the Teaching Profession
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Victorian Labor's Plan for Jobs and Growth
Victorian Labor's Plan for Jobs and Growth will return Victoria to an economic powerhouse by creating jobs for Victorian families, investing in skills and training and providing an infrastructure pipeline. The plan provides 67 practical and affordable initiatives that will secure Victoria's economic future and undo the damage of the Baillieu Government's failure to act.
On Ted Baillieu's watch thousands of Victorian workers have lost their jobs, businesses have closed-up shop and confidence has collapsed. Instead of taking immediate action to kickstart the local economy Ted Baillieu has been asleep for two years and any plans he has offered are decades away from making a real difference here and now.
In the absence of a policy from the Coalition, Victorian Labor has developed a plan in consultation with industry, business and community leaders to boost the Victorian economy and get it back on a sustainable footing.
Victoria Labor's plan has been developed through extensive forums and consultations throughout Victoria. We have heard the same thing time and time again - when will the Coalition get serious about creating an environment for jobs and investment?
A future Victorian Labor Government will:
- Fund TAFEs and crack down on unscrupulous training providers
- Establish Infrastructure Victoria to plan the State's infrastructure priorities
- Establish Projects Victoria to deliver critical major projects
- Determine the viability of Bay West as the location for Victoria's future container port
- Protect WorkCover from government plunder
- Establish robust regulatory burden reduction measures
- Support Victorian businesses seeking to tap into the resources boom
- Protect Melbourne Airport's curfew-free status from inappropriate development
- Support Victorian regional councils seeking to develop crucial infrastructure; and
- Ensure the Victorian Government's procurement processes support local jobs and businesses.
To download a copy of the report, click here.
Steve Herbert MP
State Member for Eltham
Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Skills
Shadow Minister for the Teaching Profession
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Supporting Democracy in Universities and TAFEs
The Baillieu Government has introduced legislation to centralise and increase power with the Minister for Higher Education and Skills over university councils and TAFE boards, and to scrap university student and staff representation on university councils. Read my speech on the Education Legislation Amendment (Governance) Bill 2012, to see why Labor opposes these change.
Steve Herbert MP
State Member for Eltham
Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Skills
Shadow Minister for the Teaching Profession
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