As a casual and temporary teacher for over 25 years who was never offered a permanent position because of my circumstances, I feel proud to stand here as part of the Minns Labor Government and talk about its record of achievement and the runs it already has on the board. I am proud to speak to this fantastic motion moved by the member for Gosford, and to be here amongst a number of teachers. For the first time in recent history, teacher resignations are outstripping retirements in New South Wales. That is one of the starkest indications that anyone could find of a system in crisis—and it is on the former Government. Over the past decade more teachers than ever before have thrown in the towel. That is after acquiring their degrees and HECS debts, attaining teacher accreditation and having committed years to the idea that they could improve the lives of young people. Just for the record, under the Liberals-Nationals Government we had a teacher shortage crisis. Everyone spoke about that, but no-one spoke more about it than teachers themselves.

The statistics show clearly that teacher resignations are at record highs; they quadrupled over the term of the previous Government. The resignation rate of early career teachers is at 19 per cent and there are record teacher vacancies of almost 2,000 positions. That is double the rates when the Liberals and The Nationals came to government. I remind the House of a statement I made last year after speaking to a number of my former teaching colleagues. One of them said that under years of a neglectful government, which preferred to over-fund private schools rather than invest in public education that is accessible to all, the trends have magnified exponentially. Teachers have said to me that they are exhausted. They are fed up. They feel devalued and undermined. Good teachers have been lost and there is a failure to attract new ones to the profession. They go to school each day and it is heart-wrenching. One teacher wrote to me saying, "Public schools are on the verge of genuine crisis. It is not just a headline inThe Sydney Morning Herald. Morale is the worst I have seen it. There are daily disruptions to teaching. Our schools are falling apart. I am drowning in compliance paperwork."

Recently, I spoke to that teacher. He is overjoyed and feels a sense of hope for the first time in many years. He feels that hope has been restored with the election of the Minns Labor Government. Teachers will not find the kind of heartless ambivalence or inaction from this Government that the teacher and his colleagues had to experience over the past decade. We have committed to delivering on a number of initiatives that are designed to address the teacher workforce shortage, including retention and the recruitment of additional teachers. That is what we are talking about. This Government values the work of teachers. We are committed to ensuring that we restore pride in the profession. We will abolish the wages cap. We are converting 16,000 temporary teachers and support staff to permanent positions. We are reducing the excessive workload that broke our teachers under the previous Government. I extend my deep gratitude to all the teachers I have spoken to in the past few years who have told me about their despair. I acknowledge the Independent Education Union, the Teachers Federation and the TAFE Teachers Association, and I commend this excellent motion to the House.