I rise to speak in the debate on the Gene Technology Amendment Bill 2007. The prominence of gene technology and genetically modified products is increasing in our community at a steady pace. For a quarter of a century people in Australia and all over the world with type 1 diabetes have used insulin produced by genetically modified bacteria. This is an example of a product derived from a genetically modified organism that is injected into the body fat and tissue of people without harmful effect. » more

I rise this evening to add my support to the Education Legislation Amendment Bill 2007. This bill will amend the Education (Queensland Studies Authority) Act 2002 to enable the QSA to develop and administer common national tests in literacy and numeracy and will also amend the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 to replace the term ‘professional learning’ with the term ‘professional development’. I am quite excited about the national testing of literacy and numeracy. I am not so much excited about the thought of the extra tests-and I am sure lots of students would agree with me there-but what I am excited about is the outcomes that will occur once the results of the tests are available. It means that individual students will be aware of their performance, as will their parents, and schools can then actively target individuals and groups of students with additional assistance and that means improved educational outcomes for all of our students. » more