It is an honour to be invited to speak at the Northholm Speech day.

Northholm has a rich story.

Since 1983, you have been a beacon for our community.

From the beginning, Northholm set out to be a dynamic, family-centred school where every student is known, valued and encouraged to achieve their best. 

Here students are educated, as I was, in the Anglican tradition where education is not only about curriculum but is about character formation.

Learning, caring, living a faithful life and contributing to community have become the values for which Northholm is known.

I’m proud to not only be here tonight as your Federal Member of Parliament, but also as the new Shadow Minister for Education.

Education is the portfolio I have always wanted.

The education portfolio provides the chance to lay the foundations for the future of Australia.

Acknowledging parents and the choices they make

Whenever I visit schools, I’m always conscious that behind every student there are parents doing a lot of unseen work.

I want to acknowledge those parents tonight.

The lunches made late at night or early in the morning, the homework you help with at the dining table, the sport drop-offs and school runs, the juggling of work and family so your children don’t miss out.

As a parent of school-aged children myself, I know you don’t think about education as an esoteric policy debate in Canberra or Macquarie Street – you experience it as the hopes you have for your children.

Tonight is as much a celebration of your efforts as it is of theirs.

In my new role I want to support parents in the choices you make about how you will raise your children.

You know what is best for your children.

It is not my job to tell parents how to raise your children.

But it is my job to make sure that parents have the right to choose to educate their children at the school that is right for them.

And that you are supported in that choice.

And that whatever choice parents make: Government, Catholic or Independent, Schools like Northholm, that the available choices are good ones as they are here in the Berowra electorate.

In the Berowra electorate we have a higher proportion of students in non-government schools than the national average.

Nationally, 36% attend non-government schools.

In our community, it’s 44%.

The Independent sector is also growing the fastest in our area, with enrolments increasing by 22.4% between 2019 and 2024.

Our education system needs to allow every child to excel, no matter what educational pathway a student takes.

But sometimes there is a stigma that non-government schools are places only for the elite.

As Shadow Education Minister, I want to help change that perception.

Schools like Northholm are a perfect example of why that portrayal is wrong.

Families here – like families right across Australia – work hard, pay their taxes and often go without new cars, renovations, holidays or other extras so they can give their children the best education they can.

That does not diminish the importance or standards of our public education system.

But it also means that those who choose non-government schools should not be treated as if they are somehow less deserving of their school receiving government support.

Parents who choose independent or Catholic schools are, in effect, subsidising the system.

You pay taxes like everyone else and then pay school fees on top, which allows more public funding to flow to government schools.

That should be recognised.

It’s part of what makes Australia’s education system strong.

Instead of certain interests demonising non-government schools, we should shift the conversation.

For years now, public funding has increased across all sectors, yet educational standards have been slipping on almost every measure.

That is the discussion we need to have – because clearly, simply spending more money is not delivering better results.

We should be spending less time entertaining false narratives about non-government schools that only hurts hard-working families trying to do the best for their children – and more time looking at the policy levers that will lift standards in every classroom, in every sector, right across the country.

Great Teaching and learning

Alongside families, one of the strongest influences on a child’s learning is the quality of the teacher at the front of the classroom.

I’m constantly impressed by the dedication of teachers – including here at Northholm – who encourage students to do their best inside and outside the classroom.

But I also hear about workload pressures and the challenge of keeping great people in the profession.

I am focussed on devising policies that attract and retain outstanding teachers, respects their expertise, cuts unnecessary red tape, to put their focus where they want it to be – with students teaching in the classroom and supporting them in their extracurricular activities which develop their character.

Teaching is a calling, but what keeps teaching in the profession?

I often talk about the teachers as addicts. 

What do I mean by this? 

I mean that teachers are addicted to the lightbulb moment. 

That point when they can see you discover, understand and master a new concept for the first time. 

It’s a feeling that never gets old.

Teachers love seeing their students’ master things.

But we live in an age which discourages mastery.

In an age of instant gratification mastery is often absent because it requires hard work.  

We all know when we have fluked something, when we have got a reward for something we did not deserve, when we have had that Stephen Bradbury moment and won a gold medal only because everyone else got disqualified.

It leaves us with an empty feeling. 

By contrast we also know the joy of mastering something challenging.

I want an education system where teachers are empowered to encourage their students to get into the habit of mastering things which are difficult.

I want to support our teachers in doing that.

Students

When I speak to students at the moment, the question I’m asked more than any other is about the upcoming social media ban.

I know many students in this room are thinking about it too.

What I say to those students – and what I want to say to you tonight – is that I support the ban. I do so for two reasons.

The first is safety.

Social media has become a tool for bullying and for things that are far more sinister.

Too many young people are being harmed by what appears on a screen in the palm of their hand.

When I was a schoolboy you could escape the bully when you left the school premises.

But now, they follow you home.

A place of refuge; into your personal space.

That creates all sorts of mental health challenges for young people that we never had to deal with.

The second reason I support the ban is concentration.

Many of you talk about “brain rot” content.

The constant doom scrolling and the endless urge to check your phone. You may not have noticed it, but it has shortened attention spans for so many young Australians and even older Australians too.

We need to see that improve.

You are the generation that will face some very significant– like geopolitical conflict, environmental sustainability and the fate of the Australian rugby team.

We need your brains to be at their best and strongest to be able to address those challenges and that will require people with a large concentration span.

That can only happen with renewed focus and an increase in concentration levels and that’s why I support the social media ban.

But I don’t want you to do it alone.

Tonight, I want to let you know that I am going to join you in going cold turkey.

From Christmas Day to Australia Day, I am going to put away my smart phone.

I’ll just use a burner phone – one that can make calls and send text messages but nothing else.

No Facebook, No Instagram no Snapchat or TikTok.

My staff will still operate my accounts, but I won’t be doom scrolling.

I did it for a month last year.

My family said I was more present and fun to be around, and my staff said I concentrated better in meetings.

If it’s good enough for you its good enough for me.

One of the other problems we need you as the next generation to help address is the lack of knowledge and faith in our democracy, its institutions and their importance.

Civics education

As someone who believes freedom and our democracy are precious, and who knows, as some of your families know, that most people at most times and in most places are not free so we must defend that freedoms we have.

It saddens me when I look at the low levels of support for democracy among younger Australians.

For several years the Lowy Institute Poll has found a considerable gap between those aged 18-29 and older Australians in their support for democracy over any other form of government.

32%, almost one in three young people, do not believe that democracy is preferable to any other kind of government.

Perhaps this is reflected in knowledge about how our democracy works being so low among young people.

The McKinnon Institute’s Index released last month found only 24% of 18–24-year-olds understood how Australia’s democracy works – across all other age groups this number was much higher at 40%.

The McKinnon Institute’s noted the need for a focus on civics in the education system, noting that it could counter a number of trends including:

• support for authoritarian forms of government amongst many age groups,
• decreases in support for democracy amongst younger Australians,
• modest levels of voter understanding of government and information about current political issues
• a rise in misinformation, with more than a quarter of Australians using social media, which contains large volumes of fake news, as their main source of news.

I think the McKinnon Institute is right.

We need a renewed focus on civics education.

What we teach young Australians about our democracy, our institutions and our responsibilities as citizens matters.

Our schools have a responsibility to form the next generation of citizens who understand the country they live in, and who feel a responsibility, and desire to contribute to it. And I know you are doing this at Northholm

In a democracy like Australia with compulsory voting we need an informed citizenry able to make what the High Court almost 30 years ago described as:

“a true choice with an opportunity to gain an appreciation of the available alternatives”.

Therefore, it is important that our future voters understand more about our institutions and our democracy.

A vote is only meaningful if it is informed – if citizens understand:

• why parliament matters
• how Parliament works,
• how laws are made,
• what the Constitution does,
• why courts and the rule of law matter, and
• what the limits of government’s powers are.
• How the federation works
• And how you exercise your rights as a citizen

And they should also know about Australia’s history as a democratic laboratory.

The American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said:

“A well-informed citizenry is the best defence against tyranny.”

Civics is not just a dry subject about levels of government.

It’s also about learning how to listen to people you don’t agree with.

How to weigh ideas, and how to participate respectfully in public debate – whether that’s at the dinner table, in the classroom, or one day in your workplace and community.

That is why I believe civics education needs to have a renewed focus in our national curriculum.

We have done this well before.

Under the Howard Government, the Discovering Democracy program invested in proper civics resources for teachers, giving them high-quality materials to teach students about Parliament, the Constitution and the key ideas that sit behind our systems of government.
It recognised that civics is not an optional extra but a core part of schooling in a democratic country.

We need to recapture the spirit of that program.

To once again take civics seriously, to equip teachers, and to make sure every young Australian has the chance to really understand the democracy they inherit.

When I visit schools like Northholm, I see civics in action: students raising money for causes, volunteering, leading their peers, thinking about what kind of community they want to build.

You help create the rising tide that lifts all boats.

That is exactly what we need more of across the country.

Every young Australian should leave school with the knowledge, skills and character to participate confidently in our democracy – and to use their education in the service of others, not just themselves.

That is what civics is all about.

Conclusion

Tonight, though, is first and foremost about you, the students.

To all the young people in the room this evening, you have reached the end of another school year.

For some of you, this has been your very first year at Northholm.

For others, you’re entering your final year of high school and on the cusp of stepping out into the wider world as graduates of this school.

Wherever you are on that journey, I want to say congratulations.

Whether on the sports field, on the stage, or in the classroom well done.

To all the teachers thank you for your dedication to your students and for always going the extra mile because their learning matters to you and because the future of our country matters to you.

To all the parents here this evening, thank you for the sacrifices you have made for your children to attend Northholm.

As your local member, I am always here to support you and this wonderful school.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas.