Page 1889 - Week 05 - Thursday, 16 May 2019
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recognise the disbelief that our community would and should feel at having their generation labelled as dumb by our education minister.
We just had the lame excuse, and I quote again: “I used a poor form of words.” Madam Speaker it was an appallingly poor form of words. This minister has paid little more than lip-service to the hurt and anguish, the disappointment and anxiety, the smashed self-esteem that these students and their families have suffered because of this minister’s unthinking behaviour.
I remind you, Madam Speaker, that the unthinking behaviour of this minister is in direct conflict with and in direct contrast to the government’s policy of building confidence in students in our education system in Canberra. Sadly, this is not the first time that this minister has sought to distance herself from her own actions or inactions. I instance the dozens of parents who wrote to her and the education directorate over many months outlining their concerns over the relentless bullying and violence their children had been facing in our schools.
What about the constant denials and claims about a safe and respectful pathway to deal with bullying and violence? It all sounds very familiar. Just ask the teachers who have faced unacceptable levels of occupational violence in our schools. What about this minister gloating that she was the only education minister—that is her quote—taking the issue of occupational violence seriously?
What about her bragging that the ACT had, and I quote again, “a nation-leading policy to deal with protecting our teachers”? I do not think the teachers had noticed that. What about the Work Safety Commissioner, who took the extraordinary step of issuing her directorate with an enforceable undertaking to get their act together? There was no recognition, no apology and no responsibility.
Madam Speaker, this education minister is a senior member of this Labor-Greens government. She is the Deputy Chief Minister and, in the absence of the Chief Minister, she is the acting Chief Minister. This minister supposedly is a leader in our community. Therefore, she should and must know better. A good leader will recognise their shortcomings and take full responsibility for their actions. This minister is supposed to be a leader.
She now must lead and take responsibility for her offensive words and the impact of those offensive words on the community instead of resorting to the lame, defensive response that she has demonstrated in the media and here in the chamber today. What the minister immediately did was to say, “I want to clarify my apology; I am sort of sorry, but it is really the fault of NAPLAN.” Supposedly, this minister is the leader of our education system, an advocate for schools, a role model for our students. She must give an unreserved apology for her offensive words.
The Chief Minister too needs to consider seriously when enough is enough. We have the litany of failures of this education minister, from escalating bullying and violence amongst our students, the unacceptable levels of occupational violence faced by our teachers, our continuing decline in academic standards, the reports of vandalism, and the issues of asbestos left unaddressed in our government schools. But, even worse
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