❓ Opposition asks the Minister for Education about the impact of budget cuts on public schools, citing protests. The Minister defends the government's resourcing of schools and criticizes the teachers' strike as unlawful and politically motivated, questioning the validity of the union's survey.
AnsweredQoN 296Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION — BUDGET
296. Hon SUE ELLERY to the
Minister for Education:
I refer to rallies across the state today by school staff and
parents in protest at funding cuts that the minister made to public schools.
Will the minister now concede that the cuts are too deep and it is time to fix
the damage he has caused?
OF EDUCATION — BUDGET
296. Hon SUE ELLERY to the
Minister for Education:
I refer to rallies across the state today by school staff and
parents in protest at funding cuts that the minister made to public schools.
Will the minister now concede that the cuts are too deep and it is time to fix
the damage he has caused?
AnswerView source ↗
I will make some comments about the strike today. I do not
support the strike. To start with, the strike is unlawful. I thought it was
unnecessary and unwarranted. As I have said over and over again, we well
resource our schools in Western Australia. They are the best resourced of any
state in the nation. The State School Teachers' Union of WA, along with
two other unions and the Save Our Schools organisation, decided to strike. They
in fact were very intent on ensuring that they would make as much disruption as
they possibly could to the half-senate election, which is what occurred today. That is exactly what occurred.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order, members!
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Sorry!
The PRESIDENT : In this case it
was not Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich I was referring to; it was actually to a couple
of other members wandering around the chamber.
Hon PETER COLLIER : I have a pretty good working relationship
with the union, I have to say. I work with members of the union quite
cooperatively but in this instance they have got it wrong. They should not
strike on an issue like this, particularly prior to a federal election. It is
exactly what happened in September when all the Labor luminaries were out there
on the steps of Parliament House, including Bill Shorten. I wonder whether Bill
rocked up today.
Several members interjected.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Did he? Right; Bill Shorten rocked up
today.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order, members! The question has been
asked and the answer is being given. Members may not like the answer but it is
the answer of the minister. Members have to give the minister the opportunity
to provide the answer.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Thank you very much, Mr President.
To get to the point
at hand, the union decided quite legitimately to survey the teachers, the
principals and the parents of Western Australia about their thoughts on
education in Western Australia. The union then intended to work on its response
once it got the results of the survey. The survey was due to be returned to the
union on 28 March. Interestingly enough, the union called the strike three
weeks ago before the results of the survey. I am not surprised that the union
did that because the survey is quite enlightening. It refers to surveying
schools, principals, teachers and parents.
Several members
interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order, members!
Standing order 106 says that answers to questions must be concise and relevant,
but I also have to take into consideration the opportunity that a minister
answering a question has to actually answer the question. It has already been
about three minutes by my reckoning, but only about one and a half minutes of
those would be classified as effective time.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Precisely, Mr President. I would like to
finish my comments, and I will very shortly, to give members an opportunity for
further questions. The question was asked and this is the response I am giving.
The survey asked teachers, principals and the public what they thought
about education budget cuts, both generally and specifically, in relation to
class sizes. I will quote directly from the survey. The survey sent to teachers
elicited a response from 636 participants—that is, from all teachers
across the state; the principals' survey elicited a response from 23
participants; and the parent–carer survey —
Hon Sue Ellery : What about the 400 who signed the letter?
Hon PETER COLLIER : Do you mind? Did the Leader of the
Opposition hear the President?
The PRESIDENT : Order! Leader of
the Opposition, let the minister provide the answer to your question.
Hon PETER COLLIER : The parent–carer survey had
25 participants. All up, that is 636 teacher participants out of a workforce of
21 000; 23 principal participants out of a total of 800; and 25 parent
participants out of a total of what—600 000 parents? My point in
identifying those issues in the survey is that perhaps there were other motives
for the strike. If they really did take heed of the minuscule responses to the
survey, they might have had second thoughts. I have said consistently that I
appreciate that schools have had to tighten their belts this term. Having said
that, we are talking about a 1.5 per cent on average cash resource reduction
for each school. Our schools remain the highest resourced of any schools of any
state in the nation and our teachers remain the highest paid teachers of any state
in the nation.
support the strike. To start with, the strike is unlawful. I thought it was
unnecessary and unwarranted. As I have said over and over again, we well
resource our schools in Western Australia. They are the best resourced of any
state in the nation. The State School Teachers' Union of WA, along with
two other unions and the Save Our Schools organisation, decided to strike. They
in fact were very intent on ensuring that they would make as much disruption as
they possibly could to the half-senate election, which is what occurred today. That is exactly what occurred.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order, members!
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Sorry!
The PRESIDENT : In this case it
was not Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich I was referring to; it was actually to a couple
of other members wandering around the chamber.
Hon PETER COLLIER : I have a pretty good working relationship
with the union, I have to say. I work with members of the union quite
cooperatively but in this instance they have got it wrong. They should not
strike on an issue like this, particularly prior to a federal election. It is
exactly what happened in September when all the Labor luminaries were out there
on the steps of Parliament House, including Bill Shorten. I wonder whether Bill
rocked up today.
Several members interjected.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Did he? Right; Bill Shorten rocked up
today.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order, members! The question has been
asked and the answer is being given. Members may not like the answer but it is
the answer of the minister. Members have to give the minister the opportunity
to provide the answer.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Thank you very much, Mr President.
To get to the point
at hand, the union decided quite legitimately to survey the teachers, the
principals and the parents of Western Australia about their thoughts on
education in Western Australia. The union then intended to work on its response
once it got the results of the survey. The survey was due to be returned to the
union on 28 March. Interestingly enough, the union called the strike three
weeks ago before the results of the survey. I am not surprised that the union
did that because the survey is quite enlightening. It refers to surveying
schools, principals, teachers and parents.
Several members
interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order, members!
Standing order 106 says that answers to questions must be concise and relevant,
but I also have to take into consideration the opportunity that a minister
answering a question has to actually answer the question. It has already been
about three minutes by my reckoning, but only about one and a half minutes of
those would be classified as effective time.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Precisely, Mr President. I would like to
finish my comments, and I will very shortly, to give members an opportunity for
further questions. The question was asked and this is the response I am giving.
The survey asked teachers, principals and the public what they thought
about education budget cuts, both generally and specifically, in relation to
class sizes. I will quote directly from the survey. The survey sent to teachers
elicited a response from 636 participants—that is, from all teachers
across the state; the principals' survey elicited a response from 23
participants; and the parent–carer survey —
Hon Sue Ellery : What about the 400 who signed the letter?
Hon PETER COLLIER : Do you mind? Did the Leader of the
Opposition hear the President?
The PRESIDENT : Order! Leader of
the Opposition, let the minister provide the answer to your question.
Hon PETER COLLIER : The parent–carer survey had
25 participants. All up, that is 636 teacher participants out of a workforce of
21 000; 23 principal participants out of a total of 800; and 25 parent
participants out of a total of what—600 000 parents? My point in
identifying those issues in the survey is that perhaps there were other motives
for the strike. If they really did take heed of the minuscule responses to the
survey, they might have had second thoughts. I have said consistently that I
appreciate that schools have had to tighten their belts this term. Having said
that, we are talking about a 1.5 per cent on average cash resource reduction
for each school. Our schools remain the highest resourced of any schools of any
state in the nation and our teachers remain the highest paid teachers of any state
in the nation.
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