MEDIA RELEASE – APPOINTMENT AS SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND EARLY LEARNING

28 May 2025

It is an honour to be appointed by Sussan Ley as the Shadow Minister for Education and Early Learning, and to continue my roles as both a member of Shadow Cabinet and the leadership team of the Federal Opposition.

I want to strive for Australia to again be a world leader in education and for our early learning system to be high-quality and sustainable for both current and future generations of Australians.

A quality education is one of the most powerful gifts we can give. Every student, from regional and remote Australia to our capital cities, deserves the opportunity to reach their potential. Indeed, educational institutions across our system must be fairly funded but must also strive for the highest possible standards. As well, teachers, academics and other staff members deserve to feel supported and empowered.

Under Labor, our once-high standards have fallen – this decline must end. Tackling this challenge will be one of my top priorities.

While holding the Government to account for failures and shortcomings, I will also seek to work collaboratively with the Government on matters of policy that are in the best interests of our kids and our nation.

I want to congratulate Senator Sarah Henderson and Angie Bell for their work in these portfolios. Both Sarah and Angie have done an outstanding job in the development of policy and in alerting Australians to Labor’s failings.

Likewise, I want to thank all stakeholders and members of the public who have engaged with me within the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry portfolios. Highlighting many of Labor’s most egregious failures, including ensuring Labor’s disastrous Nature Positive agenda did not see the light of day and that its bureaucratic EPA was not legislated, were very important successes for our country. I now want to wish Angie Bell and Senator Ross Cadell the best in these challenging portfolios.

Representing my state of Tasmania is the privilege of my life. Along with my wonderful Tasmanian Federal Liberal colleagues, Senators Chandler, Askew and Colbeck, I will always advocate hard to ensure that our interests are front and centre in decisions made in Canberra.

Labor’s record of seeking to shut down industries, and neglecting critical funding in areas like infrastructure, is damaging to our state’s future, and we will continue to highlight their failings. Indeed, it is now more important than ever to hold the Albanese Government to account, as they will inevitably continue to overreach and make bad decisions that will continue to needlessly impact Australians doing it tough.

There is a lot of work to do, and I cannot wait to get stuck into it.