Ms FYLES - 2013-11-27
You seem to be in deep denial about job losses. How can you ignore the fact that 450 teachers are facing an uncertain future because they no longer have a job in the school where they have been working with their students? They have been labelled as ‘displaced’. They do not know where their next job will be. The Australian Education Union has a dispute with your government in the Fair Work Commission to truly identify the extent of displacement and what fair work processes will occur to ensure reasonable placement of these teachers into jobs.
It is not okay to tell a senior specialist teacher to go into a primary school, an early childhood classroom. That is it not their expertise and it does a disservice to teachers, students and Territorians. Exactly how many teachers are displaced and what will you do to ensure they have a job that makes sure students benefit from their expertise?
Applause from the gallery
Madam SPEAKER: Visitors in the gallery, there is no clapping in this Chamber. It is not a football field, it is a parliament.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, at least on this side of the House we have a vision for education, unlike you in the time you were in government. You just saw the Attorney-General hold up a chart showing the amount of money that has been spent on education in the last few years without real benefits to our students.
What we expect from our students and our teachers, in particular, is an amazing journey. In our classrooms they have to deal with some of the social impacts that are, basically, forced upon them because of social problems. That is where government should be focusing, on some of the social impacts that have a cause and an effect in our classrooms today.
Look at our administrative processes in the Northern Territory, from classrooms to principals, back to the department and then, of course, on to …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I asked a very direct question about displaced teachers and how the minister will ensure they have jobs that benefit our students.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call, if you could get to the point.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, this is all about employment in the Northern Territory and working with our teachers to ensure we can provide the outcomes we desperately need. There are some fantastic results, but the further you go across the Territory the more evident it is that the results drop significantly. The reality is that it is the bolt-ons that have gone on in education for too long – the bolt-ons that are not adding anything but further cost to the Department of Education and to education in general.
For the record, around $15 700 is spent in the Northern Territory on each child. Conversely, across the other states it is about $9700. Already, we are spending a third more than any other government in the country on education. The other side of the Chamber invested $200m-odd in the last five years in education. When our student numbers went up by 178 we employed 790 employees – many of them on short-term contracts, on partnerships with the federal government that are coming to an end. What do you do with these people?
I will go back to what I said before. When we inherited this government, 30% of our teachers were on contracts ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister has not addressed the issue of displaced teachers. There are 450 who do not know where their job will be next year.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please be seated. Minister, you have the call.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I am trying to unpack this very clearly for the Opposition Leader. When we inherited this government, one of the things the unions and the teachers were telling us was that over 30% of the workforce was on contracts. That is reduced today to 14%. That is over 320 more teachers who had contracts this time last year that today have permanent employment ...
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Answer the question. What is happening to displaced teachers? People in the gallery want to know if displaced teachers in my electorate, who are desperately worried …
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Nhulunbuy.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, at this time of year, every year, no matter which government is in place, two things happen. One is the teacher ratios are put out to the principals, the second tranche is where all the support staff allocations are given to the schools ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
It is not okay to tell a senior specialist teacher to go into a primary school, an early childhood classroom. That is it not their expertise and it does a disservice to teachers, students and Territorians. Exactly how many teachers are displaced and what will you do to ensure they have a job that makes sure students benefit from their expertise?
Applause from the gallery
Madam SPEAKER: Visitors in the gallery, there is no clapping in this Chamber. It is not a football field, it is a parliament.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, at least on this side of the House we have a vision for education, unlike you in the time you were in government. You just saw the Attorney-General hold up a chart showing the amount of money that has been spent on education in the last few years without real benefits to our students.
What we expect from our students and our teachers, in particular, is an amazing journey. In our classrooms they have to deal with some of the social impacts that are, basically, forced upon them because of social problems. That is where government should be focusing, on some of the social impacts that have a cause and an effect in our classrooms today.
Look at our administrative processes in the Northern Territory, from classrooms to principals, back to the department and then, of course, on to …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I asked a very direct question about displaced teachers and how the minister will ensure they have jobs that benefit our students.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call, if you could get to the point.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, this is all about employment in the Northern Territory and working with our teachers to ensure we can provide the outcomes we desperately need. There are some fantastic results, but the further you go across the Territory the more evident it is that the results drop significantly. The reality is that it is the bolt-ons that have gone on in education for too long – the bolt-ons that are not adding anything but further cost to the Department of Education and to education in general.
For the record, around $15 700 is spent in the Northern Territory on each child. Conversely, across the other states it is about $9700. Already, we are spending a third more than any other government in the country on education. The other side of the Chamber invested $200m-odd in the last five years in education. When our student numbers went up by 178 we employed 790 employees – many of them on short-term contracts, on partnerships with the federal government that are coming to an end. What do you do with these people?
I will go back to what I said before. When we inherited this government, 30% of our teachers were on contracts ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister has not addressed the issue of displaced teachers. There are 450 who do not know where their job will be next year.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please be seated. Minister, you have the call.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I am trying to unpack this very clearly for the Opposition Leader. When we inherited this government, one of the things the unions and the teachers were telling us was that over 30% of the workforce was on contracts. That is reduced today to 14%. That is over 320 more teachers who had contracts this time last year that today have permanent employment ...
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Answer the question. What is happening to displaced teachers? People in the gallery want to know if displaced teachers in my electorate, who are desperately worried …
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Nhulunbuy.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, at this time of year, every year, no matter which government is in place, two things happen. One is the teacher ratios are put out to the principals, the second tranche is where all the support staff allocations are given to the schools ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016