Page 5292 - Week 12 - Thursday, 28 October 2010
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MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mrs Dunne.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, in the events tomorrow, will you again repeat the comments that you made yesterday in the Assembly that teachers were somewhat Stalinist and only just turned up?
MR BARR: I did not make such comments. Mrs Dunne has deliberately misconstrued what I said yesterday. I made the point that the current career structure and remuneration for teachers are such that it does not matter how well you teach or how much you devote to your job, your pay is exactly the same as that of another teacher who entered into the system at the same time. So it is a time-based reward, not a reward based on quality or on contribution. There is no serious way of advancing through the system quickly. It is all about promotion by exhaustion; advancement by exhaustion. And we have got to free up the labour market here. We have got to have some fundamental reform in this area.
I imagine that there will be some who will oppose this; I have no doubt that there will be some who will oppose this. But I also know, from the publications that the ACT principals association, amongst others, have made, and from the national research, that there is very strong support for reform in this area to give principals and teachers the opportunity to have—
Mr Coe: That’s how Joy became a minister.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Coe.
MR BARR: great and rewarding careers and to have the opportunity to advance more quickly through the professional ranks of the teaching profession.
Health—respecting patient choices program
MS BRESNAN: My question is to the Minister for Health and it relates to the respecting patient choices program which provides for advance care planning. Minister, can you please advise the Assembly what the size of this program is and if there are plans to decrease the program in the future?
MS GALLAGHER: Size in terms of the number of people who have used—
Ms Bresnan: Size in terms of employment.
MS GALLAGHER: advance care directives?
Ms Bresnan: Just for clarification: size in terms of the number of people employed as part of the program.
MS GALLAGHER: I will have to come back to the Assembly with that. I do not have that detail. In terms of whether there are any plans to stop the program—I think that was the second part—no, not to my knowledge; no, there are not.
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