Page 841 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 20 April 2021
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be staying within central Canberra can also experience as part of a day of tourism activities outside the parliamentary triangle.
It is clear, though, that the major drivers for interstate tourism into the ACT—that is, leisure based and not visiting friends and relatives nor business associated—focus around central Canberra. But we are producing through VisitCanberra a bunch of regional guides and opportunities to highlight some of the other tourist attractions that are within the Australian Capital Territory, including in the electorate of Brindabella.
MR BRADDOCK: Chief Minister, how can members of the community provide feedback on Floriade in the suburbs to ensure that it aligns with their expectations?
MR BARR: There was considerable engagement with the community in the lead-up to the 2020 event when it became clear that we would need to re-imagine it. We have a wide variety of communication channels to the ACT government, one being directly to Events ACT and VisitCanberra. Members in this place can forward any particular requests they receive from community organisations. We have the database of all of the organisations who were involved in the 2020 events, and we will be in contact with them. There is the YourSay website, social media, emails directly to the government and Chief Minister’s Talkback, where the issue comes up quite a bit. I can say that there are at least a dozen different communication channels, and there are 25 of us here whose job it is to represent our local communities. If you have any particular issues, Mr Braddock, on behalf of your constituents, please forward them to my office.
Education—teachers
MR PETTERSSON: My question is to the minister for education: how is the government ensuring new teachers are ready to teach in ACT schools?
MS BERRY: I thank Mr Pettersson for his question. Teachers are at the frontline of reducing inequality in our city. Other than socioeconomic factors, teachers are the single biggest influence on education outcomes. That is why the ACT government has recognised this and made sure that ACT public school teachers are the highest paid in the country, because we know what a difference they make to giving every child the best chance at a great education. It is why it is so important that beginning teachers are as prepared as possible when they start their first jobs in schools.
The ACT government has a nation-leading partnership with the University of Canberra through the Affiliated Schools Program. The Affiliated Schools Program is a relationship that is across 25 ACT public schools with the University of Canberra. It is about giving beginning teachers more opportunities to practise and learn their craft in real classrooms in ACT public schools. This includes professional experience placements for pre-service teachers across all subject areas and stages of schooling, to get that important hands-on experience.
The program also includes pre-service teacher education clinics which are delivered by the University of Canberra’s academics in ACT public schools. These clinics give pre-service teachers a chance to deliver lessons and activities and see how the theory
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