Page 798 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 6 April 2022
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I heard the president of the union yesterday on Radio 2CC, and she described the situation as “horrific”. We know that the union has been pleading with this government to take action, and this government has failed. The WorkSafe prohibition notice is that failure. How can you say that this minister has done what she needed to do, and did her job, when the union has been pleading with her for nine months, you end up with the school being closed for half of the kids and there are those incidents of violence?
Let us go to the ABC Canberra Facebook page. Have a look at what it said this morning. Look at the media title: “The Australian Education Union’s ACT branch says government action has been insufficient after on-campus violence by students at Calwell High School.” That is the union saying this. Mr Gentleman said that the union loves Ms Berry—the unions all love Ms Berry. If the union are saying this then their desperation must be at such a point that they are saying that this minister was warned, this minister was told this was going to happen, and this has happened through her neglect and the neglect of her directorate to take substantive action, and teachers and students have been put at risk.
Those opposite do not think that that merits action in this place. Mr Rattenbury from the Greens is running interference, as we would expect. Mr Gentleman from the Labor Party left faction is running interference, as we would expect.
Let us hear what teachers are saying, and the difference between what Mr Gentleman, Mr Rattenbury and Ms Berry say in this place and what teachers are saying on the ground. These are the words of the Australian Education Union, representing their frustrated teachers:
The action taken by the ACT’s work safety regulator is a damning indictment on the ACT Education Directorate and starkly highlights their failure to provide a safe workplace for our members.
With respect to the directorate—and she is the minister—the union are saying that they have failed to provide a safe workplace. Imagine, Mr Acting Speaker, if this mob were in the building sector, a builder, and WorkSafe came in and said, “They have failed to provide a safe workplace.” There would be strikes. There would be action on the ground. There would be condemnation from this mob opposite. And what do we see? The union are saying that they have failed to be kept safe, and members opposite run interference for this minister and tell us that she is doing her job. She is not keeping your staff safe. They are not safe. How is that acceptable? I will continue to quote the AEU:
Since the AEU first raised safety concerns around the dire circumstances confronting staff and students at the Calwell site in 2021, the Education Directorate has continually failed to recognise and act effectively to address serious, ongoing staff shortages, oversized classes and instances of occupational violence.
The union is saying that the directorate has failed. Who is the minister? Is it the directorate’s fault? Is the union lying? Are you saying that the union is lying? Are the staff lying? Are they wrong when they say that you have failed? Let me continue:
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