Parliamentary Friends of Primary Education Group

On Wednesday morning last week, members of the APPA NEC had a breakfast meeting in Parliament House to welcome meet the 28 politicians who have so far joined our Parliamentary Friends of Primary Education Group.

The photo shows Leonie Trimper, APPA President, with Mike Symon MP, Chair of the group (on the left of the photo), and Senator Russell Trood, the Deputy Chair. Click on the photo to view a larger version.

We will be inviting more politicians to join the group in the near future. The group will be similar to the parents' group in some ways. It will bring together politicians from all sides of parliament to raise the profile of issues related to primary education in Australia at the national level.

It will also mean that we will have some "champions" in parliament talking up the important role primary education plays in Australian society. We know that the quality of primary education is a key criterion for a good society, and we need to ensure that parliament knows it as well.

We are looking forward to expanding our group and forming a close partnership with all our parliamentary friends.

Here are the current members of the group:

• Mr Mike Symon MP ‐ Chair: Member for Deakin, Victoria 
• Senator Russell Trood – Deputy Chair: Senator for Queensland

• Senator Chris Back: Senator for Western Australia 
• The Hon Fran Bailey MP: Member for McEwen, Victoria  
• Arch Bevis: Member for Brisbane 
• Senator Catryna Bilyk: Senator for Tasmania  
• Sharon Bird MP: Federal Member for Cunningham, New South Wales 
• Senator Sue Boyce: Senator for Queensland  
• Senator Carol Brown: Senator for Tasmania  
• Senator Trish Crossin: Senator for Northern Territory 
• Yvette D’Ath MP: Member for Petrie, Queensland 
• Senator Mitch Fifield: Senator for Victoria  
• Senator Sarah Hanson‐Young: Senator for South Australia  
• Senator Gary Humphries: Senator for ACT 
• Steve Irons MP: Member for Swan, Western Australia
• Sharryn Jackson MP: Member for Hasluck, Western Australia
• Dr Dennis Jensen MP: Member for Tangney, WA 
• Andrew Laming MP: Member for Bowman, Queensland  
• Peter Lindsay MP: Member for Herbert, Queensland 
• Nola Marino MP: Member for Forrest, WA
• The Hon Maxine McKew MP: Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Local Government; Member for Bennelong, NSW  
• Graham Perrett MP: Member for Moreton, Queensland 
• Senator Louise Pratt : Senator for Western Australia 
• Dr Andrew Southcott MP: Member for Boothby, South Australia  
• Jim Turnour MP: Member for Leichhardt, Queensland  
• Maria Vamvakinou MP: Member for Calwell, Victoria 
• Senator Dana Wortley: Senator for South Australia  
• Tony Zappia MP: Member for Makin, SA 

Click here to download a list of the members of parliament of both houses who attended the first meeting of the group.