Page 803 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 6 April 2022
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that this minister has no ability, no will and no heart to do anything to change the horrific situation at Calwell and, indeed, the risks that it imposes for our teachers and our students at every school across Canberra, for as long as this minister is in charge of the education portfolio.
The chivalrous Mr Gentleman, once again, continues his great work of fiction. Mr Acting Speaker, he did not even once touch on what is happening at a school in his very electorate, and the horrific circumstances there. Do you know why? It is because he cannot defend the indefensible. There was a lot of fluff about everything else, but there was nothing to show that he understands or acknowledges what is happening in his own electorate. There were just more made-up stories about a fantasy world that he believes he lives in and that he governs for.
The Leader of the Greens spoke about the improvements. He went to great lengths to speak about the improvements at Calwell since 2020. Let us recap. This is the improved Calwell High School, Mr Assistant Speaker. I give you a quote from the AEU:
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 and a safe school for their students.
That is the new and improved Calwell that Mr Rattenbury talks about, where teachers are abused and assaulted every day, where students are banned from their own school because it is deemed unsafe. That is the new and improved Calwell, apparently—all the improvements that were made by this government and by this minister.
How long will it take? What will it take? What will it take for the Greens to stand up to their Labor colleagues and stand with the community? The most vulnerable people are being abused and assaulted every day. He said, “It takes a long time to improve,” conveniently ignoring the issues that were raised in 2013 and conveniently ignoring the systemic occupational violence that I brought to the attention of this chamber that was happening in our public schools in 2018. How long will it take and what will it take for the Greens to stand up for our community?
Mr Acting Speaker, do not even get me started on what Ms Stephen-Smith said. She cannot even get her own house in order. We see constant reports about junior doctors being bullied in the workplace. Only yesterday, the Nursing and Midwifery Federation of the ACT were absolutely scathing about what is happening, when they likened going to work to being sent to the killing fields. This is happening right here in our capital. Minister Stephen-Smith, instead of trying to defend the indefensible with this education minister, should get her house in order and protect our nurses.
This is a moment that will go down in history. Let the history pages reflect this moment when every single member of Labor and the Greens has stood in this place and said that they accept systemic violence in our schools, that they accept teachers being abused and assaulted each and every day when they go to school, and that they accept students being banned from school because it is not safe. That is the reality and the norm under their watch. This is the day that history will remember and the
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