❓ WA Education Minister seeks federal assistance with HECS debt relief to attract teachers to rural areas, criticising the federal minister's response and proposed teacher payment strategy.
AnsweredQoN 23Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HIGHER EDUCATION CONTRIBUTION SCHEME - HOLIDAY PLAN
Will the minister please inform the house about the response received from the federal government on the higher education contribution scheme holiday plan? Mr M. McGOWAN
Will the minister please inform the house about the response received from the federal government on the higher education contribution scheme holiday plan? Mr M. McGOWAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. I inform the house that at the moment we have an issue attracting teachers to country Western Australia, and we are doing a lot to attempt to address this problem. One of the things that we have done is approach the commonwealth government to ask if it will assist us in attracting young, new teachers to country Western Australia by providing some alleviation of their annual higher education contribution scheme debt when they go to a country location. The average teacher graduates from university with about a $25 000 HECS bill, on top of all of his or her other expenses, which he or she pays off at a rate of about $4 000 or $5 000 a year. We have suggested to the commonwealth that if the commonwealth wants to help us get teachers to the country, it might assist by providing a holiday from that HECS debt for each year those teachers are in the country. I have heard from the federal minister, the member for Cottesloe’s friend Hon Julie Bishop, and she has told us that the pay of teachers is a matter for the state government and it is up to us to deal with it. I was surprised that two days later she launched a strategy that would set the policies for paying teachers. She would decide how teachers would be paid and she would take that strategy to the meeting of education ministers and tell us how teachers would be paid. On the one hand, she says that teachers’ pay is a matter for the state governments. However, two days later, she said that she would make a decision on the matter. She put forward a proposal about how teachers’ pay should be decided. She suggested that we should survey the students on how their teachers should be paid. My son is heading for school next year. He knows a lot about Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and Cuddles the Cow. However, the prospect of asking him what his teacher should be paid shows me that the federal minister has absolutely no idea about these issues. If the federal government wants to help on these issues, it should help us with HECS and help us attract teachers to the country and not come up with any more hare-brained ideas.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. I inform the house that at the moment we have an issue attracting teachers to country Western Australia, and we are doing a lot to attempt to address this problem. One of the things that we have done is approach the commonwealth government to ask if it will assist us in attracting young, new teachers to country Western Australia by providing some alleviation of their annual higher education contribution scheme debt when they go to a country location. The average teacher graduates from university with about a $25 000 HECS bill, on top of all of his or her other expenses, which he or she pays off at a rate of about $4 000 or $5 000 a year. We have suggested to the commonwealth that if the commonwealth wants to help us get teachers to the country, it might assist by providing a holiday from that HECS debt for each year those teachers are in the country. I have heard from the federal minister, the member for Cottesloe’s friend Hon Julie Bishop, and she has told us that the pay of teachers is a matter for the state government and it is up to us to deal with it. I was surprised that two days later she launched a strategy that would set the policies for paying teachers. She would decide how teachers would be paid and she would take that strategy to the meeting of education ministers and tell us how teachers would be paid. On the one hand, she says that teachers’ pay is a matter for the state governments. However, two days later, she said that she would make a decision on the matter. She put forward a proposal about how teachers’ pay should be decided. She suggested that we should survey the students on how their teachers should be paid. My son is heading for school next year. He knows a lot about Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and Cuddles the Cow. However, the prospect of asking him what his teacher should be paid shows me that the federal minister has absolutely no idea about these issues. If the federal government wants to help on these issues, it should help us with HECS and help us attract teachers to the country and not come up with any more hare-brained ideas.
I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. I inform the house that at the moment we have an issue attracting teachers to country Western Australia, and we are doing a lot to attempt to address this problem. One of the things that we have done is approach the commonwealth government to ask if it will assist us in attracting young, new teachers to country Western Australia by providing some alleviation of their annual higher education contribution scheme debt when they go to a country location. The average teacher graduates from university with about a $25 000 HECS bill, on top of all of his or her other expenses, which he or she pays off at a rate of about $4 000 or $5 000 a year. We have suggested to the commonwealth that if the commonwealth wants to help us get teachers to the country, it might assist by providing a holiday from that HECS debt for each year those teachers are in the country. I have heard from the federal minister, the member for Cottesloe’s friend Hon Julie Bishop, and she has told us that the pay of teachers is a matter for the state government and it is up to us to deal with it. I was surprised that two days later she launched a strategy that would set the policies for paying teachers. She would decide how teachers would be paid and she would take that strategy to the meeting of education ministers and tell us how teachers would be paid. On the one hand, she says that teachers’ pay is a matter for the state governments. However, two days later, she said that she would make a decision on the matter. She put forward a proposal about how teachers’ pay should be decided. She suggested that we should survey the students on how their teachers should be paid. My son is heading for school next year. He knows a lot about Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and Cuddles the Cow. However, the prospect of asking him what his teacher should be paid shows me that the federal minister has absolutely no idea about these issues. If the federal government wants to help on these issues, it should help us with HECS and help us attract teachers to the country and not come up with any more hare-brained ideas.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. I inform the house that at the moment we have an issue attracting teachers to country Western Australia, and we are doing a lot to attempt to address this problem. One of the things that we have done is approach the commonwealth government to ask if it will assist us in attracting young, new teachers to country Western Australia by providing some alleviation of their annual higher education contribution scheme debt when they go to a country location. The average teacher graduates from university with about a $25 000 HECS bill, on top of all of his or her other expenses, which he or she pays off at a rate of about $4 000 or $5 000 a year. We have suggested to the commonwealth that if the commonwealth wants to help us get teachers to the country, it might assist by providing a holiday from that HECS debt for each year those teachers are in the country. I have heard from the federal minister, the member for Cottesloe’s friend Hon Julie Bishop, and she has told us that the pay of teachers is a matter for the state government and it is up to us to deal with it. I was surprised that two days later she launched a strategy that would set the policies for paying teachers. She would decide how teachers would be paid and she would take that strategy to the meeting of education ministers and tell us how teachers would be paid. On the one hand, she says that teachers’ pay is a matter for the state governments. However, two days later, she said that she would make a decision on the matter. She put forward a proposal about how teachers’ pay should be decided. She suggested that we should survey the students on how their teachers should be paid. My son is heading for school next year. He knows a lot about Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and Cuddles the Cow. However, the prospect of asking him what his teacher should be paid shows me that the federal minister has absolutely no idea about these issues. If the federal government wants to help on these issues, it should help us with HECS and help us attract teachers to the country and not come up with any more hare-brained ideas.
I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. I inform the house that at the moment we have an issue attracting teachers to country Western Australia, and we are doing a lot to attempt to address this problem. One of the things that we have done is approach the commonwealth government to ask if it will assist us in attracting young, new teachers to country Western Australia by providing some alleviation of their annual higher education contribution scheme debt when they go to a country location. The average teacher graduates from university with about a $25 000 HECS bill, on top of all of his or her other expenses, which he or she pays off at a rate of about $4 000 or $5 000 a year. We have suggested to the commonwealth that if the commonwealth wants to help us get teachers to the country, it might assist by providing a holiday from that HECS debt for each year those teachers are in the country. I have heard from the federal minister, the member for Cottesloe’s friend Hon Julie Bishop, and she has told us that the pay of teachers is a matter for the state government and it is up to us to deal with it. I was surprised that two days later she launched a strategy that would set the policies for paying teachers. She would decide how teachers would be paid and she would take that strategy to the meeting of education ministers and tell us how teachers would be paid. On the one hand, she says that teachers’ pay is a matter for the state governments. However, two days later, she said that she would make a decision on the matter. She put forward a proposal about how teachers’ pay should be decided. She suggested that we should survey the students on how their teachers should be paid. My son is heading for school next year. He knows a lot about Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and Cuddles the Cow. However, the prospect of asking him what his teacher should be paid shows me that the federal minister has absolutely no idea about these issues. If the federal government wants to help on these issues, it should help us with HECS and help us attract teachers to the country and not come up with any more hare-brained ideas.
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