Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

On Thursday last week, instead of being in the classroom, doing what they love and do best, Tasmanian public school teachers and thousands of other public sector workers rallied outside Parliament House in Hobart after the Tasmanian education union rejected the state government's most recent pay offer. Indeed, the union has slammed the offer as outrageous on the basis that it falls well short in key areas of pay and workload relief. As a result, all public schools were closed for the day.

It's a fact that Tasmanian teachers are amongst the lowest paid in the country, partly because the state government is so out of touch with the day-to-day challenges experienced by teachers—or should I say uncaring, because it's no secret that the education system is strained and that teachers face mounting difficulties like the increase in violence and disruption in the classroom, as well as the steep increase in after-hours work.

It's also no secret that the state government is the architect of the ballooning budget debt crisis, but the government's mistakes should not be the public sector workforce's problem. So I call on the government to award our teachers and other public sector workers the pay and conditions they so clearly deserve and to find more sensible and respectful cost savings elsewhere. That is how we say thank you and recognise important jobs well done.

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