Page 1942 - Week 07 - Thursday, 31 May 1990
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MRS GRASSBY: I have a supplementary question. Will the Minister give an undertaking that he will require the Fire Commissioner to justify the expenditure on give-away ties against the Fire Brigade's requirement that the firefighters are issued with firefighting boots which do not conform to Australian standards on safety footwear and which would not be allowed on any ACT building site?
MR DUBY: I do not regard the provision of ties and give-aways - if you want to call them that - or mementos, as being of a spurious nature. I think they perform a very useful service in the brigade in raising morale, et cetera. In relation to the equipment which is supposedly under standard and which is supposedly supplied to the firemen, it is my understanding that that equipment was originally provided as a result of a working party which was led, I believe, by the FFU. If there is a difficulty there, by all means I shall investigate it, but I think at this stage there is no need for concern.
Teachers' Remuneration
MR STEFANIAK: My question is to the Minister for Education. In the context of the tight budgetary situation being faced by the ACT, can the Minister inform the Assembly what impact that is having on teachers' remuneration?
MR HUMPHRIES: I think the very unfortunate result of the debate over the school consolidation proposals is the failure to recognise the contribution that teachers make to educational quality. The Alliance Government does not accept that the greatest determinant of educational quality is the location of a school in the community or even the number of empty places in the classroom, rather it is the quality of the teaching staff in those schools. In all areas of Government the ACT is finding that quality costs money. We must ensure that we maintain a remuneration package which ensures that the ACT continues to enjoy the services of a dedicated, professional teaching staff.
As the Government has come to rationalise the education budget, we have deliberately turned to the capital fixed costs of the system rather than squeezing teacher remuneration. The Teachers Federation lodged an application in the Industrial Relations Commission for a further 3 per cent increase in salaries in line with the wage fixation guidelines. At a hearing on 19 April this year, the Government and the federation presented a joint submission encompassing efficiencies to enhance public education, and I am pleased to say that the commissioner has agreed to the increase which is effective from 26 April. I find it ironic that as the Government strives to protect the teaching service from the - - -
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