STATEMENT ON VICTORIAN TEACHING WORKFORCE

Before the last election, I rose in this place to make a 90-second statement to urge the people of Victoria to vote for an Albanese Labor government so that we could have a Labor federal government and a Labor state government working together for the people that I represent here. Today I stand proudly to say that the Labor government of which I'm a member introduced 20,000 new Commonwealth supported places in the education system as of this year, 4,000 of which were in teaching.

Today in Point Cook at Saltwater P-9 College, Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister Hutchins announced that in Victoria, in 2024 and 2025, if you enrol to do secondary teaching training, you will have your HECS paid for by the Victorian government for a two-year commitment to a state school in Victoria. I understand the teacher shortage. I understand that it's very critical in my electorate. I'm so pleased to have a federal Labor government and a state Labor government working on the solutions created by a former federal government who couldn't see beyond their own noses. This shortage was predictable. It was coming. I'm glad to see that the state Labor government and the federal Labor government are getting on with doing something about it. To anyone who thinks about becoming a secondary teacher, it's a fabulous career. I had 25 years of the best days of my life in secondary classes in the west of Melbourne.