Premier and Minister for Reconstruction
The Honourable Anna Bligh

Attorney-General, Minister for Local Government and Special Minister of State
The Honourable Paul Lucas
17/02/2012

Queensland schools and hospitals will be able to build new modern facilities quicker under changes to planning regulations announced by the Bligh Government today.

Premier Anna Bligh said the State Government has amended the Sustainable Planning Regulation to slash red tape by removing the need for existing schools and hospitals to seek council approvals for extensions to buildings or additional structures.

Ms Bligh said there were more than 1800 state schools and 450 private schools in Queensland and it made little sense for schools looking to improve their facilities to be subjected to lengthy council planning process which could take several months.

“For schools, this regulation change is essentially an extension of the rules put in place for the Federal Government’s Building the Education Revolution construction fund,” Ms Bligh said.

“This meant that Queensland greatly outstripped other states in our ability to deliver the program quickly because of the streamlined planning provisions.

“What it means is less red tape when schools are being expanded on existing sites.

“If schools go off their existing sites into new areas, then the approvals process that has always applied will continue to apply for them

All new non state schools they will have the same access to the designation process that is currently available to non state schools.

“For the most part, schools in local communities have always been schools and always will be schools.

“If they want to build a new hall or add class rooms without moving on to new land, I can see no reason why such actions should be tied up in red tape.

“The same goes for hospitals looking to expand the number of beds.

“These are buildings that should be able to go ahead quickly.

“They benefit the community and support jobs.”

Ms Bligh said schools and hospitals built 60 years ago need to be able to adapt to modern technology.

“I don’t want school children missing out on a world class education in a state of the art classroom or patients waiting for hospital beds because councils have tied up a development application in red tape,” she said.

“Queensland teachers and doctors should be focussed on educating our children or taking care of patients, not getting stuck completing paperwork so modern facilities can be built.

“These are sensible amendments which mean schools and hospitals can get on with the jobs they are meant to.”

Local Government Minister Paul Lucas said schools and hospitals needed large amounts of land to build facilities such as gymnasiums or medical wards.

Mr Lucas said with Queensland population expected to grow from 4 million people now to 6 million by 2031 on medium term forecasts, public facilities like schools and hospitals were vitally important.

“If we can make it easier for schools and hospitals to develop on existing land, that can only be a good thing,” Mr Lucas said.

“We have seen in the past where schools have not been able to do what they want because of unnecessary red tape.

“This policy will remove that hurdle.”

The new regulation will require the support of whoever wins the election to take effect.

MEDIA CONTACT: Attorney-General Office – 07 3224 4600

Education and Industrial Relations
The Honourable Cameron Dick
17/02/2012

The contributions of Queensland’s selfless volunteers will be once again in the limelight as Education Queensland prepares to celebrate the second anniversary of its highly successful Ready Readers program.

While taking time out today to read books to the Prep students at Holland Park State School, Education Minister Cameron Dick praised the 2300 community volunteers who had taken part in the program in the past two years.

“Since the program began on 24 February 2010, more than 500 state and non-state primary schools across Queensland have welcomed Ready Reader volunteers into their classrooms,” Mr Dick said.

“Thousands of trained volunteers have since been placed in Queensland schools and are helping Prep to Year 3 students develop a love of reading.

“The work of Queensland Ready Readers is highly valued by students, parents, schools and the community.

“They make a big difference to the lives and learning of young Queenslanders by deve loping their confidence and enjoyment of reading from an early age.”

Mr Dick said the program had been so successful that it was expanded in 2011 to a similar program for parents.

“The Parent Ready Readers program provides training for parents and carers so they can support their child’s reading in the home environment,” he said.

“While Parent Ready Readers are not involved in the classroom, parents and carers who are interested can continue their training to become a fully-fledged Queensland Ready Reader.”

Mr Dick said the Ready Readers initiative was one of the Bligh Government’s Flying Start initiatives.

“It acknowledges worldwide research showing that well-trained community volunteers can support children’s learning and literacy development, as well as improve communication and understanding across the generations.”

To register your interest in becoming a Queensland Ready Reader, visit the Volunteering Queensland website at http://www.volunteeringqld.org.au or phone (07) 3002 7600.

Media contact: Minister for Education and Industrial Relations 07 3237 1000

The State Library of Queensland is joining forces with libraries across the country with today’s launch of the National Year of Reading.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said Australian’s were uniting during the National Year of Reading to reinforce that reading can change peoples’ lives.

“This collaborative initiative organised by all State and Territory Libraries, public library associations, and the Australian Library and Information Association, is an opportunity to celebrate the joy of reading.

“We want people to discover, or possibly rediscover the magic of books and encourage a reading culture in every home.

“Literacy is the key to our future and is vitally important to accessing education and employment and participating productively in society.

“That’s why, here in Queensland, we are committed to giving Queensland children a flying start in life and providing them with the foundations to build strong literacy and numeracy skills,” Ms Bligh said.

“A strong foundation in education means our children will be able to grab every opportunity with both hands, locking in a bright future for them and our State.

“That’s why we are reforming education by through our “Flying Start” program, by introducing Prep, moving Year 7 into high school and undertaking major school rebuilding program.

“The National Year of Reading builds on all of these initiatives to put literacy and numeracy in the spotlight,” the Premier said.

Arts Minister Rachel Nolan said the State Library has a number of initiatives planned for National Year of Reading to drive this agenda.

“For instance, the Dads Read initiative follows recent research highlighting the importance of dads reading to their children during their early developmental years and is based on the premise that reading 10 minutes a day to your children is easy and essential to do.

“The United Kingdom’s version of the National year of Reading, which ran in 2008, resulted in 23,000 more boys taking part in their Summer Reading Challenge and also achieved 2.3 million new public library members.”

The State Library will also participate in Australia-wide National Year of Reading programs including:

* The Reading Hour on 25 August 2012 – a central call to action encouraging reading
* Public library membership drive from May to August
* National Year of Reading in the workplace program will see writers-in-residence in organisations around Australia
* One Country Reading – favourite books for adults, teens, and children

“We know that reading is crucial to boosting literacy rates, unlike Campbell Newman who ripped $928,000 from Brisbane’s budget for library books when he was Lord Mayor,” Ms Nolan said.

For more information about National Year of Reading events: www.love2read.org.au.

State Library of Queensland’s literacy framework can be found at:

www.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/202043/Literacy_Framework_web.pdf

MEDIA CONTACT: Premier’s Office on 07 3224 4500

www.thepremier.qld.gov.au

Every Queenslander can have a say on the State Government’s proposed multi-billion dollar Queensland Education Trust (QET) and how it should operate.

Education Minister Cameron Dick said six community forums would be held across the state from Wednesday, 1 February, to provide an opportunity for Queenslanders to talk about the mining royalties-funded QET.

“Ministers, including myself, will visit locations in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Brisbane and the Gold Coast to talk to community members about the QET,” Mr Dick said.

“The State Government wants to ensure all Queenslanders have an opportunity to share their views on how we use the boom in our resources sector to transform the opportunities available to children.

“The QET would be established by taking a 50 per cent share of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) royalties.

“This money could then be invested for the future education and training of Queenslanders.

“Over the long term , the QET would control billions of dollars to support education and training initiatives, giving Queensland’s young people a flying start into education and the workforce.”

Mr Dick said two different operational models for the QET were proposed:

• Individual Trust Accounts for Education – an individual endowment that would mean every child born on or after 1 July 2012 would have a nest egg valued between $7800 and $9500 when they turn 18; or
• Dedicated Education Fund – an investment fund where the proceeds are reinvested by government in education and training initiatives beyond the basics throughout the schooling years and potentially beyond.

“We want people’s feedback about the QET and how it should operate,” Mr Dick said.

“For example, if individual endowment accounts are established, what eligibility criteria should apply?

“This is just one example of the questions we are asking Queenslanders,” Mr Dick said.
< br>“I look forward to meeting local community members at the forums and hearing what they think.

“We want as many people as possible to benefit from Queensland’s resources boom.”

Details for the six community forums are:
• Wednesday, 1 February – Cairns – Cairns State High School
• Tuesday, 7 February – Townsville – Townsville State High School
• Wednesday, 8 February – Brisbane South – Mount Gravatt State High School
• Wednesday, 8 February – Gold Coast – Varsity College
• Thursday, 9 February – Brisbane North – Rainworth State School
• Thursday, 9 February – Rockhampton – Rockhampton State High School.

All forums run from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

To learn more and RSVP for a community forum visit the Queensland Government website at www.qld.gov.au/educationtrust

Responses to the QET proposal paper can also be made online via the Get Involved website at www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/gi /consultation/205/view.html; by emailing Education.Trust@premiers.qld.gov.au or by writing to: Education Trust, PO Box 15185, Brisbane 4002.

Consultation on the QET closes on Friday, 17 February.

Media contact: Minister for Education and Industrial Relations 07 3237 1000
24 January 2012

Education and Industrial Relations
The Honourable Cameron Dick

Monday, January 23, 2012

Final NAPLAN report confirms Queensland’s improvement

Queensland improved its national NAPLAN ranking in 2011 from sixth to fifth overall, proving the Bligh Government’s education reforms are delivering results, Education Minister Cameron Dick said today.

Mr Dick said the final report on the national NAPLAN results for 2011 confirmed Queensland’s continuing improvement in the literacy and numeracy tests, with the march being led by Year 3 students.

“The Australian Government’s NAPLAN 2011 National Report, released today (January 23), shows we are on the right track and provides further encouragement for Queensland schools,” he said.

“This report confirms what we already know: that Queensland is continuing to improve in the NAPLAN tests and that we’re narrowing the gap with the leading states.

“We have improved from sixth to fifth our ranking for the percentage of children who achieved at or above the national minimum standard, showing that we are heading in the right direction.

“Our Year 3 students were the standout performers of 2011, improving in all five test areas and posting the state’s best result for any year level in numeracy.

“This result shows our investment in the Prep year is starting to generate real gains in student performance.

“Overall since 2008, Queensland has shown improvement in 19 of the 20 tests areas against the national standards.”

Mr Dick said the results were a positive sign for Queensland’s overall education improvement agenda.

“They also show just how hard our principals, teachers and students have worked over the past few years so my congratulations go out to them,” he said.

Mr Dick said the NAPLAN 2011 National Report provided a breakdown of results by gender, geographic location, parental education and occupation, Indigenous and language background, and cohort gain.

“Our non-Indigenous Year 7 students posted the country’s highest scores, on average, in writing,” he said.

“Similarly Queensland’s Indigenous students in Year 7, along with Victoria, had the highest proportion performing at or above the national standard in writing.

“Queensland has improved its ranking from sixth to fifth in four test areas: Year 3 spelling, Year 5 grammar and punctuation, Year 7 reading and Year 7 grammar and punctuation. We’ve seen some improvements in the performance of Year 3 Indigenous students this year, with an increase in the number of these students performing at or above the national standard.

“And the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students is smaller in Queensland than in Australia overall.  These results show Queensland’s continued rise in relative rankings since 2008.”

Mr Dick said the differences in performance between boys and girls, both in Queensland and nationally, remained similar to previous years.

“On average, our girls have out-performed the boys in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation,” he said.

“And our boys performed, on average, better than the girls in numeracy.”

Mr Dick said the State Government had made significant investments in early childhood education, recognising Prep as the first year of schooling and rolling out universal access to kindergarten.

“And we’re moving Year 7 to secondary school from 2015 to make the most of our investment in the Prep year and give our Year 7 students access to the benefits of a Junior Secondary learning environment,” he said.

“Most importantly we know that every day in our schools our principals and teachers are working hard to improve the literacy and numeracy skills and educational outcomes for Queensland students.”

Media contact: Minister for Education and Industrial Relations 3237 1000