❓ A parliamentary question on notice regarding a teachers' strike, the government's response, and the Minister's handling of the situation. The Minister defends the government's actions and blames the teachers' union for the disruption.
AnsweredQoN 23Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TEACHERS’ STRIKE
I refer to today’s industrial action by teachers and the subsequent uncertainty, confusion and inconvenience experienced by parents and students, and ask — (1) Will the minister confirm that since the weekend, the government’s advice to parents in the event of this strike action has changed from sending children to school as normal to keeping children at home to leaving it up to parents to contact individual principals? (2) As the minister responsible will the minister apologise to parents and students for his abysmal management of this strike action? (3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN
I refer to today’s industrial action by teachers and the subsequent uncertainty, confusion and inconvenience experienced by parents and students, and ask — (1) Will the minister confirm that since the weekend, the government’s advice to parents in the event of this strike action has changed from sending children to school as normal to keeping children at home to leaving it up to parents to contact individual principals? (2) As the minister responsible will the minister apologise to parents and students for his abysmal management of this strike action? (3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(1) Will the minister confirm that since the weekend, the government’s advice to parents in the event of this strike action has changed from sending children to school as normal to keeping children at home to leaving it up to parents to contact individual principals? (2) As the minister responsible will the minister apologise to parents and students for his abysmal management of this strike action? (3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(2) As the minister responsible will the minister apologise to parents and students for his abysmal management of this strike action? (3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(1) Will the minister confirm that since the weekend, the government’s advice to parents in the event of this strike action has changed from sending children to school as normal to keeping children at home to leaving it up to parents to contact individual principals? (2) As the minister responsible will the minister apologise to parents and students for his abysmal management of this strike action? (3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(2) As the minister responsible will the minister apologise to parents and students for his abysmal management of this strike action? (3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(3) Will the minister explain to parents why he did not do the proper planning to ensure that this situation could be averted? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
(1)-(3) The advice I have received is that 70 per cent of teachers attended schools today around Western Australia. Seven thousand teachers, or 30 per cent, did not attend public schools. I am also advised that 46 schools actually closed around Western Australia today. We have 770 public schools in Western Australia, so roughly six per cent of those schools were closed. The remaining 94 per cent of schools were open for students to attend. Naturally, due to the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union of WA ignoring the order of the Industrial Relations Commission by going on strike, there would have been a high degree of uncertainty among a number of parents, particularly when the leaders of the State School Teachers’ Union used the media to encourage children to not go to school today. If anyone is responsible for today’s events, it is the executive of the State School Teachers’ Union. Its behaviour was grossly irresponsible. The State School Teachers’ Union did not advise us until yesterday afternoon whether it would comply with the order of the Industrial Relations Commission, so final advice was difficult to provide. Any reasonable person would have to understand that. I am amazed that the member does not seem to understand that. The day before yesterday we gave school principals the authority to decide what would happen at their schools because they were best placed to make that decision. If I had issued a blanket order that no students would go to school today when 94 per cent of schools have actually opened, it would have been ridiculous. Six per cent of schools were closed. If I had issued an order that no students go to school today when 94 per cent of schools were open, it would have been silly, so I left that decision in the hands of principals. They made appropriate decisions. The State School Teachers’ Union needs to start negotiating. All it has succeeded in doing is to disrupt schools around Western Australia for no good reason. I have enormous respect for members of the teaching workforce. We want to pay teachers well. We wanted to try to achieve that with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. Unfortunately, the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union has made it very difficult for us to get to that point. I will reiterate what the Premier outlined earlier. Members need to understand what was offered to teachers at the end of last year. The salary that was offered for a senior teacher 2, a level that is obtained after nine years in the workforce—in effect, a teacher of this classification could be 31 years of age—was $84 357. That was for an ordinary classroom teacher in a Perth school. In what might be referred to as a tougher school in country Western Australia, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $98 867. In a tougher metropolitan school, a senior teacher 2 would receive $87 357. For remote schools, of which there are 46 around the state, a senior teacher 2 would be paid $106 612 as well as receiving additional conditions. That was the offer that was put on the table for teachers. It would have made them the best-paid teachers in the country. That is what we offered. It is very hard to get that message out without all the noise, obfuscation and misleading conduct of the leadership of the State School Teachers’ Union. I urge the head of the State School Teachers’ Union to start negotiating again.
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