Ms WALKER - 2015-12-02
Since the CLP came to government there has been a reduction of 117 Indigenous, mostly female, staff from the Department of Education. Indigenous staff numbers have dropped from 656 in June 2012 to 539 in June this year, according to your annual report. Your cuts to Education are not only affecting results, but also Indigenous employment. Why are you not fulfilling your government’s commitment of increasing Indigenous employment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. It goes to the nub of the issue with the Labor Party. They cannot get away from the facts. When we inherited the Department of Education we knew it was an inefficient model which was not delivering good results across the Northern Territory. We have turned it on its head and we are heading in the right direction. We have a far more efficient education system today than ever.
There is no department in the public sector with more Indigenous people than the Department of Education, and we are proud of that. We have many Indigenous staff members across the Northern Territory and many more will come. We see the wonderful work at Batchelor Institute and the locally grown teachers there, who are teaching in all parts of the Northern Territory.
The rhetoric pushed forward from the other side is trying to continually undermine and trash public education. Now they are peddling the line that all of a sudden they are in love with the private sector.
Ms Walker interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, cease interjecting. I want to hear the answer.
Mr CHANDLER: They do not like it. After three years of complaining, saying I did not support the public sector enough and had put my weight behind the private sector, they are now trying to jump into bed with the private sector for the first time, ruffle some feathers and see if they can upset the market since I said, ‘We’re coming to get you’.
I will do all I can to improve the public education system. Do you know what happens when you push the education system and provide policies that lift the bar in the public sector? The private sector also reacts and will lift the bar even further. What are the results? Higher education output in the Northern Territory and improved results, and I will continue to push both sectors. I have never said I was minister for public education or for private education. Yesterday, in a bill, the Labor Party wanted to exclude the private sector from an education board. They wanted to have public sector parents involved and exclude the private sector.
We should remind the non-government sector, the private sector …
Ms MANISON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110:
The question was about why you are not fulfilling your government’s commitment to increasing Indigenous employment, especially in education, when you have cut over 100 jobs.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you get to the point, please?
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister has set us harder targets than the Labor Party had, which we are committed to achieving because we want a strong Indigenous workforce.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. It goes to the nub of the issue with the Labor Party. They cannot get away from the facts. When we inherited the Department of Education we knew it was an inefficient model which was not delivering good results across the Northern Territory. We have turned it on its head and we are heading in the right direction. We have a far more efficient education system today than ever.
There is no department in the public sector with more Indigenous people than the Department of Education, and we are proud of that. We have many Indigenous staff members across the Northern Territory and many more will come. We see the wonderful work at Batchelor Institute and the locally grown teachers there, who are teaching in all parts of the Northern Territory.
The rhetoric pushed forward from the other side is trying to continually undermine and trash public education. Now they are peddling the line that all of a sudden they are in love with the private sector.
Ms Walker interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, cease interjecting. I want to hear the answer.
Mr CHANDLER: They do not like it. After three years of complaining, saying I did not support the public sector enough and had put my weight behind the private sector, they are now trying to jump into bed with the private sector for the first time, ruffle some feathers and see if they can upset the market since I said, ‘We’re coming to get you’.
I will do all I can to improve the public education system. Do you know what happens when you push the education system and provide policies that lift the bar in the public sector? The private sector also reacts and will lift the bar even further. What are the results? Higher education output in the Northern Territory and improved results, and I will continue to push both sectors. I have never said I was minister for public education or for private education. Yesterday, in a bill, the Labor Party wanted to exclude the private sector from an education board. They wanted to have public sector parents involved and exclude the private sector.
We should remind the non-government sector, the private sector …
Ms MANISON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110:
- Answers will be concise and directly relevant to the question asked.
The question was about why you are not fulfilling your government’s commitment to increasing Indigenous employment, especially in education, when you have cut over 100 jobs.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you get to the point, please?
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister has set us harder targets than the Labor Party had, which we are committed to achieving because we want a strong Indigenous workforce.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016