As a father of four and a senior school teacher at Beaconhills College, federal Labor candidate for the seat of La Trobe Simon Curtis is very passionate about the quality of education for the younger generation.

Simon has been a local of Berwick for all of his life and has watched the population in the seat of La Trobe grow rapidly.

For four years, Simon served as a local councillor for the City of Casey.

In 2015, he was president of the Berwick Football Club.

He says that having a strong sense of community has been “instilled” in him from a very young age.

“My parents were always very actively involved in the community through church and also in the Berwick sporting community,” he said.

As an active member in the community, he believes that a sense of belonging is important in a community, and that it can be achieved with strong community organisations.

As a parent and a teacher, Simon feels that education is important to every child in the community.

“I’m really fortunate that I teach in the school that is pretty well resourced – Beaconhills College is an independent school,” he said.

“I see the effects of the 14.8 billion dollars that the government has taken out of public education.”

He says the resources that teachers and educators need “right across the board just aren’t there.”

“I think we need to make sure that every child has opportunity to thrive – different students will learn at a different pace and have a different style on learning,” he said.

“It’s important that we can foster every child in a classroom, to meet their learning needs. That’s not possible without a really serious investment of funds.”

Simon says he prioritises the welfare of children through education, and upbringing.

Along with federal Labor leader Bill Shorten and the shadow health spokeswoman Catherine King, he announced a 2.5 million investment to establish an early intervention parenting centre in Pakenham.

“This is really important – across human existence, we have multiple generations of families and extended families helping out with raising children,” he said.

“There are a lot of families in our area who are vulnerable because they don’t have that same support.”

He stresses the importance of early childhood education and pledged investment into three-year-old kindergartens.

“This will be the first time ever that a federal government will in invest in funding for three-year-old kinders – 15 hours a week for every child,” he said.

“That is an enormous difference that makes to the child and their family”

Another issue that he is passionate about is mental health among local youth.

“There is no more important local issue facing the young people in our community than mental health,” he said.

“We need to do something about this and do it quick and smart.”

In order to improve mental health services in the area, if elected Simon plans to set up a 22.4 million dollar mental health ward in Casey Hospital, with the endorsement of Bill Shorten and Catherine King.

He will also campaign on infrastructure.

“People tell me every day when I’m out door-knocking that the level crossing removals are really what we need to have done quickly in this community,” he said.

He pointed to the Andrews state Labor government’s development of Victorian infrastructure.

“Seven or eight cents in every dollar of federal infrastructure money has comes to Victoria,” he said.

“We know that the Andrews government will get on with it and deliver it; we need to have a member of parliament here in this local area who’s here to fight the good fight to get that infrastructure as well.”

Climate change is also a concern for Simon, who says Labor has a plan to increase renewables as a part of our energy base.

Right now, he says, it is difficult for adults to better the environment like it once was, or “to leave the world as you found it.”

“We need to take decisive action now,” he said.