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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 8 Hansard (19 August) . . Page.. 2851 ..

MS DUNDAS (continuing):

another-teachers who are the guardians and caretakers of our future; teachers who have critical roles in shaping the views and opinions of our young people; teachers who receive at least four years tertiary education; teachers who have to face the threat of physical violence that occasionally comes with dealing with children with behavioural problems; and teachers who hear the confides of students facing abuse, suicide and other dire situations.

Instead of supporting and respecting this profession, governments around the country allow the professional teachers to be smeared, for their wages to be held low and to allow quite severe teacher shortages. The low graduate demand and the comparatively higher wages overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom and Canada, have led to graduates with teaching degrees not entering the profession and leaving only after a few years if they do.

This has also had the flow-on effect of a loss of experienced teachers who are retiring early to enjoy their super and not put up with the stresses of being a modern-day teacher. The normal theory of labour economics is that, in the event of a shortage in the supply of labour, wages are increased to a level which fills the shortfall. But we have seen governments around the country refusing to do this, and over the past number of years the ACT has been no exception.

Many will have to wonder what possesses people to become a teacher, because it is certainly not the rates of pay and conditions. And currently in the ACT teachers are paid less than teachers in every other state, except Queensland and Western Australia. The recent pay offer put forward offers little more than a catch-up on these other states, but it is to be reasonably expected that the salaries of teachers in other states will be further increased following the rounds of negotiations currently under way across the country. And we cannot leave our teachers to continually be at the bottom of our pay scales.

We need a complete re-assessment of how we value different professions in our community. This is not something that the government can do alone when we are looking at the entire market, but they do have a responsibility to lead. And if we start valuing our teachers and start valuing some other professions like nurses, respecting the work they do and recognising just how hard is the job they have to do, then we should make sure that they are being paid at the right levels.

I would just like to correct something that Mr Pratt was yelling out whilst the minister was speaking. He said that there were no strikes in the years of the Carnell government. One of the great things about being a young member of this place is that I was at school when the Carnell government was in power. I had to work in my school when the teachers didn't stop teaching but stopped participating in extracurricular activities. Our sporting team stopped functioning; school theatre stopped functioning; the Rock Eisteddfod nearly shut down altogether; and the whole community of what it means to be in the ACT educational system was cut off at the knees.

Our extracurricular activities were not allowed to be conducted because the teachers were making the right choice in saying they deserved to be paid not only for the work they do but the extracurricular work they do. I supported my teachers when they did

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