Page 802 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 6 April 2022
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schools working with the community. As Minister Rattenbury has outlined, this is absolutely what is occurring at Calwell High School.
Another key finding is that the Positive Behaviour for Learning framework is “an appropriate approach on which to build a positive environment for all students”. This is something that Minister Berry has been absolutely driving. The expert committee noted that culture change of any kind takes time, including the implementation of positive behaviour for learning. They urge the Education Directorate to stay the course in relation to the implementation of positive behaviour for learning as an appropriate framework.
Of course, this is not the only answer, and ministers Berry and Rattenbury have outlined a range of detailed actions that are occurring at Calwell High School, in particular, and right across the system. But it is Minister Berry who has driven the implementation of the Positive Behaviour for Learning framework. It is Minister Berry who has sought expert advice and acted on it. Minister Berry takes these issues very seriously, and that is clear to anyone who has been paying attention over recent years. There is absolutely no basis for the opposition’s claims or to support their motion today.
MS LEE (Kurrajong—Leader of the Opposition) (11.05), in reply: This minister must go. Every school in Canberra is a great school. That is the one line on which I will agree with this minister; yet it is this minister that is letting down our school system, and none more so than Calwell. It is not good enough to have her Labor and Greens colleagues come into this place and run interference when they are all, every single one of them, in complete denial about the reality, about the horrific situation, that we are seeing unfold under her very nose.
In light of the devastating, horrific and desperate circumstances that have been outlined in the WorkSafe prohibition notice, and from parents who have reached out to us, and from the Education Union begging for support, the minister cannot even deviate robotically from her talking points. The response that the minister provided was literally a robotic response of words and statistics—no heart, no empathy and no understanding. In fact, the only time that she actually got a bit personal and showed a little bit of heart was when she was talking about herself, right at the end. “Look at me; I’m committed to doing this. Look at me; I’m committed to doing that.” She has had five years, and what have we seen? Failure, after failure, after failure.
Adding insult to injury, literally, there is no acknowledgement of how serious, how devastating and how horrific these issues at Calwell high are. There was a completely disrespectful response to the teachers who are crying out for support, the teachers who are pleading for what we would assume would be a given—a workplace that is safe, a workplace where they will not be assaulted, injured, abused or humiliated every single day.
Once again, every single member in this place from Labor and the Greens showed just how out of touch they are with reality. There was complete denial of the reality of what is happening right under their nose. Her response to this motion highlights and confirms exactly why this minister must go. It is absolutely clear from her response
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