Tolley Anne: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Tolley Anne: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:665;Page:12769] 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chairman. I am proud to stand in this Chamber as the Minister of Education in a National-led Government that has an unrelenting focus on lifting student achievement. I am very proud to be part of this Government. I am very proud to be part of a National-led Government that added $1.4 billion to the education budget over the next 4 years. It means that an extra $417 million will go into the into the education budget this year and I am very proud as the Minister of Education to be a part of that. 
I am also very proud to be part of a National-led Government that delivered to schools a 4 percent increase in their operations grant which was well above the rate of inflation and well above anything that was expected. It means that an extra $156 million is going into front-line services in our schools over the next 4 years. 
Dr Cam Calder 
: How much? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: It means an extra $156 million is going into schools. 
I am very proud to be in a National-led Government that has put an extra $350 million into property development—on top of the $500 million we put in last year—for school property. Part of that funding of course is for new schools and upgrading existing schools but I am really proud that this Government has faced up to the fact that we have leaky schools. As part of Budget 2010 $82 million is being spent fixing leaky schools during this financial year but we have to spend another $22 million over the next 2 years to find out how many leaky schools there are. 
I do not know what the previous Labour Government did over the last 9 years when we all knew there were leaky buildings but it did nothing about leaky schools and we did not even have the information. I am proud to part of a Government that has faced up to the fact that we have that problem and has put some money in to start addressing it. Out in our communities there are some unsightly school buildings that have been abandoned or closed down and they drive communities crazy because of graffiti and vandalism. I am proud that we have put some money into the Budget to take care of those problems. 
I am proud to be part of a National-led Government that has put an extra $15 million into the Positive Behaviour for Learning plan which will make training available for an additional 3000 families and an extra 2000 teachers. This programme was developed by the education sector and is being rolled out across the country. It is assisting both teachers and parents to deal with unruly students and I am proud that we have found an extra $15 million this year to support that. 
I am very proud to be part of a Government that has put over $48 million into ultra-fast broadband support for schools. That increases the School Network Upgrade Project and connects nearly 500 schools to the National Education Network trial. I am very proud to be part of a Government that is putting that sort of money into making sure that our children have a modern learning environment. 
I am also proud to be part of a National Government that has put $48 million into the Youth Guarantee to give another 500 young people the opportunity for fees-free level one to three education in a tertiary environment. We have already got 2000 students this year. There will be another 2000 students next year plus 500. I think that is fantastic. It means that 2500 young people who were on the streets who were not in education work or training will have an opportunity at a tertiary institution next year. 
I am also proud to be a part of a National-led Government that has more students in tertiary institutions than ever before. We are funding more students in tertiary education regardless of the half-truths that are told out in the community by the Opposition. We are funding more students than ever before. I am proud to be part of a National Government that has put an extra $107 million into early childhood education bringing our total expenditure on early childhood education to $1.3 million and $91.8 million of that is focused on lifting participation.