Julian Leeser MP
Shadow Minister for Education
Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians
Federal Member for Berowra
MEDIA STATEMENT
I am honoured to join Angus Taylor's front bench, continuing as the Shadow Minister for Education and taking on responsibilities as the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians.
Education is nation-building. The choices we make today determine the Australia of tomorrow.
Under Anthony Albanese and Labor, Australia has spent record amounts on schools only to see our academic performance go backwards, with one in three children now failing to meet basic literacy and numeracy standards. The cost of educating a child continues to climb, all while there is a growing and uneasy sense that the system isn't setting our children up for the future.
In the universities and higher education space, our institutions are dealing with the fallout of leadership failures and a growing bureaucratic quagmire. The failures to deal with antisemitism have now cascaded into other forms division and discord on campus, while cheating appears to be flourishing on an industrial scale.
Money has been taken out of research and academic excellence seems to have taken a back seat, while the number of regulators grows and providers struggle to comply with literally hundreds of pieces of legislation and regulation. None of this helps drive innovation and foster the productivity growth we need if we want to restore our standard of living.
It is also a tremendous honour to return to the Indigenous Australians portfolio, an area of long interest. I look forward to working hard, and bringing a clear focus on economic empowerment, practical measures to improve outcomes, and deep respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.