Senator questions healthcare, education priorities

An independent senator has raised concerns about whether healthcare and education are receiving sufficient prioritisation and resources from the government, despite being vital sectors.

In the Senate debate on the Child Protection Bill, Senator Andrew Mallalieu suggested there was a decline in healthcare and education with high levels of charitable donations to the healthcare system, and private schools becoming the main choice of students seeking secondary education.

But Senator Lisa Cummins, the leader of government business in the Senate, pushed back on the real estate executive’s charges, saying healthcare and education have been public policy priorities since independence in 1966.

Senator Mallalieu referenced key points from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is cited in the child protection legislation that was passed last week in the lower House of Assembly.

“Point 24 of the convention states children have the right to the best possible healthcare,” he said. “Point 28 says every child has a right to education, with primary education being free…. Point 29 notes children’s education should help them fully develop their personalities, talents and abilities.”

While acknowledging the convention sets minimum children’s rights standards which countries can exceed, Senator Mallalieu questioned the Mottley administration’s priorities.

“Having understood that, I worry greatly about what our priorities have been,” he declared.

On healthcare, the senator said: “We hear of difficulties in getting care at hospitals, polyclinics, wherever it might be. I worry when I see the amount of private charity money that has to go into our healthcare system to keep it running.”

Regarding education, the businessman lamented a perceived decline: “My recollection of the 11-Plus is we all aspired to go to a public school, that’s where the best secondary education was available…. Today, that’s completely reversed. The first choice is not to go into the public school system, because it’s a difficult place. If you’re not a top child and you can’t teach yourself, you will possibly not get a good education there.”

Senator Mallalieu stressed the importance of better working conditions and higher pay for teachers and healthcare workers: “If it’s going to be your top priority, I would think the people who work in those areas would be our smartest people who are paid the most and work in the best conditions, and I am fearful today that that is not true.

“In our school system, it is not the best facilities. Our teachers are not paid the highest salaries. Our doctors, nurses, healthcare providers are not working in the best conditions,” he lamented.

But defending the administration’s record, Senator Cummins said education and healthcare have been the two largest areas of public spending for successive governments since Independence.

It was “misleading to attempt to say that those have not been government priorities”, she said.

Acknowledging historical investment in health and education, Senator Mallalieu called for even greater emphasis: “Perhaps I would like to see even more prioritisation.”

He noted recent positive steps such as the government’s acquisition of the defunct Ursuline Convent private school, and partnerships with Ivy League universities in the US, including a memorandum of understanding with Columbia University’s teaching college.

Reiterating his support for the Bill and the need for an ongoing focus on the UN children’s rights convention, the independent senator said: “I do hope that we will focus on these as we have done and will continue to do, so that our children can have the best education and can look after the [Senate] president and I in our old age.”