Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA (Liverpool) (18:37):

 I also contribute to this very important debate, one that is very close to the hearts of members on side this of the House, if not of those opposite. I start by paying tribute to the 743 teachers who work in the Liverpool electorate and the further 511 teachers who call Liverpool home. Since I was elected to this place five months ago I have made it my priority to visit the local schools in my community to express my appreciation for the incredibly valuable work they do and understand the breadth and depth of the issues that they face on the front line of educating our children.

I will never forget the teacher I met who was in tears. She told me that she had watched the education Minister, and Deputy Premier, give her address to all teachers across the State and had felt hope for the first time in many years. This week that trust and faith in the Minister and the Minns Labor Government was borne out as New South Wales teachers went from being amongst the worst paid to the best paid in this country. That represents the biggest pay increase in a generation and reverses the past 12 years of disrespect and devaluation of teachers by the previous Government.

It is not just wages and conditions that the Minister and those on this side of the House are addressing as soon as possible. After 12 years of the Liberal‑Nationals Government teacher vacancies in Liverpool have increased by 168 per cent, from 12 vacancies in 2011 to a whopping 32 in 2023. I have spoken with teachers, parents and local health professionals who have expressed concerns about the impact of teacher shortages on our children and their educational outcomes. In my previous life I worked with many teachers and school counsellors as they navigated the impacts of COVID. Teachers were working all hours of the day and night to make things work for their students. They dealt with the wellbeing and behavioural impacts of the disruptions of COVID on young people for a long time after restrictions had eased. This is on top of the behavioural policy that actively placed teachers at risk of physical and emotional harm. The administrative burden of unnecessary busy work imposed on those teachers by the previous Government further exacerbated the burnout and disillusionment of our teaching workforce that previous members have outlined so well.

This is why it beggars belief that the response of those opposite was to demand that our already overworked and distressed teachers work longer and harder under the guise of a productivity increase. While those on the other side of the House might be tone deaf and out of touch, our community is not. This is why the More Than Thanks campaign resonated so widely and deeply. But this arrogance towards teachers is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the extent to which the former Government dropped the ball on educating and nurturing our most precious resource, our children.

Earlier this year just after the Government was elected I received an email from a local school principal highlighting the lack of air conditioning at the school, despite multiple applications and entreaties to the former Government. The principal told me that during the winter months students are forced to wear extra layers of clothing in the classroom. I draw the attention of the House to what the principal said to me in the email—keeping in mind that is from April this year. He said, "This is at a time when conditions in New South Wales schooling are at their worse and include significant teacher shortages, resulting in our hardworking staff suffering further effects on their already insurmountable workload."

I am proud of the work of the indefatigable Deputy Premier, and Minister for Education and Early Learning and this Government not only to name and acknowledge the problems facing education in the State but also to do something about it. Growing up, like many people out there, I was told that education is the most precious and valuable thing, because nobody can take it away from you. It is the great equaliser and it is the great social changer that many generations of people have come to rely on. I want to make sure that future generations of children in the State can rely on their Government to back in their teachers, their schools, their parents and them when it comes to fulfilling their potential. I commend the Minister for her commitment in this space and I commend the Government.