Wednesday, 12 August 2026

 Gabrielle WILLIAMS (Dandenong – Minister for Education, Minister for Skills and Training, Minister for First Peoples, Minister for Women and Gender Equality) (14:15): Victoria is the Education State, and that is because on this side of the house we are investing in more teachers, better infrastructure and nation-leading reforms to strengthen learning in classrooms across Victoria. We know that investing in education is an investment in our state’s future, which is why we have grown expenditure in government schools by 31 per cent, more than any other state or territory. We have opened 121 new schools across the state, and we have upgraded more than 2400 schools across this state. By putting explicit teaching in every classroom and by teaching phonics in the early years, we have made best practice common practice. Last week, with Victoria topping the nation in NAPLAN test results yet again, we saw the impact that these investments are having on our students’ futures.

But the Carroll Labor government’s commitment to education does not just stop in the school classroom. We are continuing to build a strong TAFE network after those opposite tried to tear it down in their four years. We have upgraded 45 TAFE campuses across the state, and we are building two more. Earlier this year we enshrined the free TAFE guarantee into legislation. More than 245,000 ‍students have already benefited from Labor’s free TAFE program, saving them more than $816 million in tuition fees. Let us not forget the Liberals sacked thousands of teachers, including more than 2000 TAFE teachers. They shut hundreds of schools and 22 TAFE campuses, and they ripped a billion dollars from TAFEs across this state. And with a promise of $40 billion in cuts, they plan to do it all again. Only Labor invests in education. Only Labor invests in Victoria’s future.