❓ Question on Notice regarding the teachers' pay dispute and its impact on students, with the Minister responding defensively and accusing the opposition of prioritizing private schools.
AnsweredQoN 1275Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer the minister to the ongoing teachers’ pay dispute and the comments of Australian Education Union Federal President Pat Byrne this week that taking the dispute to arbitration indicates an unwillingness on the Government’s part to do the hard work that is necessary for these negotiations. (1) Is the minister aware that his combative and confrontationist attitude, and his failure to conclude the enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations, is adversely impacting on children at our schools, who are now missing out on excursions and proper graduation celebrations? (2) Will the minister now take positive steps to resolve this dispute rather than criticise teachers and misrepresent the situation? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
(1) Is the minister aware that his combative and confrontationist attitude, and his failure to conclude the enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations, is adversely impacting on children at our schools, who are now missing out on excursions and proper graduation celebrations? (2) Will the minister now take positive steps to resolve this dispute rather than criticise teachers and misrepresent the situation? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
(2) Will the minister now take positive steps to resolve this dispute rather than criticise teachers and misrepresent the situation? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
(1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
(1) Is the minister aware that his combative and confrontationist attitude, and his failure to conclude the enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations, is adversely impacting on children at our schools, who are now missing out on excursions and proper graduation celebrations? (2) Will the minister now take positive steps to resolve this dispute rather than criticise teachers and misrepresent the situation? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
(2) Will the minister now take positive steps to resolve this dispute rather than criticise teachers and misrepresent the situation? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
(1)-(2) I thank the member for Darling Range for the question, and I recognise the member’s commitment to education. Having said that, however, I find it a bit difficult to believe that the member is serious in the way he has worded his question. Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr J.H.D. Day: The minister should speak to some of the parents in the community. They are very concerned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I remind the member for Darling Range that I am a parent of children at a government school. Is the member? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I think I have made my point. I will be happy to raise this particular element of the equation every day between now and the next election, when I will point out that the member for Darling Range, who has crafted himself in the role of the opposition spokesperson for rich, private schools, is longing for the day when he can raise the funding for those rich, private schools again at the expense of ordinary government schools. However, to get back to the wording of the question, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could consider that Pat Byrne’s remarks are an accurate reflection of the situation and that the Government is being provocative by going to the umpire on a dispute in which we have been unable to bring the union to the table with a serious negotiating position. I believe that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I also find it difficult to take seriously the remarks from members of the Opposition, and also from people in the senior ranks of the State School Teachers Union of Western Australia, harking back to what they seem to portray as the glory days of 1995, when the dispute was allowed to run for a year and a half and they could go and bash each other almost to death. That year marked the turning point in public education in Western Australia. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the year I became minister! You are right! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In that year there was the biggest exodus from public education to private education in history! That is something to be proud of! We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
We have taken the dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as I told the union I would if we could not negotiate a settlement quickly on this matter. That is the right and sensible thing to do. It is a way to avoid the disruptive activities of 1995, when the education of the children of Western Australia suffered dramatically because an ugly dispute was allowed to run unresolved for over a year. I am not about to let that happen on this occasion.
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