Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight in the Main Committee I would like to grieve for the fate of the community of the Chancellor State College on the Sunshine Coast. The principal, John Lockhart, who has guided the school since 2003, under Education Queensland processes was required to reapply for his job as principal. Chancellor State College for many years was in my electorate before it was excised and given, sadly, to the electorate of Fairfax. John Lockhart, as principal and leader of this community, has helped to build the school from having some 980 students to being a three-campus college with 1,920 students enrolled.

Education Queensland required him to reapply for his job. I do not know whether John is the sort of person who does not suffer fools lightly, but the result was that someone else was appointed principal. It is not as though John is a bad principal, because the education department in Queensland immediately offered to appoint him principal of another very large secondary school on the Sunshine Coast and, on the evening when a protest meeting was taking place in the area, John was in Brisbane receiving an award for excellence in teaching education.

Sadly, under the Education Queensland arrangements there do not appear to be any appeal provisions. The Labor Party claims that it is the party of the worker and the party of fair play, yet in Queensland this has sadly been shown not to be the case. John Lockhart, an absolutely inspirational person who has built what was a small school into one of the most successful colleges in the state, has been treated with contempt by the Queensland state education department. Hundreds of people have contacted the state education department and local media in support of John Lockhart. I have to say how impressed I am with the way the community has been galvanised behind this person.

It would be one thing if they decided he ought not to be principal from the beginning of next year. Having guided students who are now approaching the crucial end-of-year examinations and testings of year 12, he has effectively been ejected from the school. He has been told he has to vacate the position of principal by Friday of next week. Karen Shelley, who is the Vice-President of the Parents and Citizens Association of Chancellor State College, wrote the following letter to the Premier of Queensland, the Minister for Education, Training and the Arts and the Director-General of the Department of Education, Training and the Arts:

Dear Ms Bligh, Mr Welford and Ms Hunter,

…            …            …

I am writing to you to express my extreme disappointment and outrage at the way in which the Chancellor State College Community, through our Parents and Citizens Association, have been treated with respect to the dismissal of our Executive Principal, Mr John Lockhart.

Firstly, a letter was sent to the Minister outlining our belief that the decision to replace John Lockhart was erroneous and proceeded without due regard to community input or consultation. The Minister has thus far failed to issue a written response to our concerns as raised in that letter. Whilst I understand it may be normal procedure for you to not respond to correspondence for 4 weeks, I would think matters that are time critical would be given appropriate attention. Under the circumstances this time wasting appears to be a diversionary tactic. Frankly, we deserve more respect from our elected representatives. Time is critical, with John Lockhart due to end his term at Chancellor next Friday 5 September.

The school has actually performed incredibly well—so much so that many people who would otherwise select independent education have chosen to send their children to Chancellor State College. It is one of those situations which I find absolutely appalling. Senior students have been coming up to the principal crying because he will not be allowed to be there at their graduation events. If Mr Lockhart had done something wrong, if he had not been an outstanding leader in education, if he had not performed satisfactorily to the requirements of Education Queensland, then absolutely no-one would object if Education Queensland were to replace him with someone else. But for him to be forced to finish his tenure at Chancellor State College after five successful years on 5 September, at a time when students are about to finish their final year, I find quite unethical, very unacceptable and personally unsatisfactory.

A lot of people complain about the quality of government education. It is my view one has good government schools and good non-government schools. The great thing about Australia is that we have diversity of education and we have choice. You are a parent, Madam Deputy Speaker Burke, and I am a parent and we have the opportunity of choosing the schools that are right for our children. What John Lockhart has done at Chancellor State College is to make many people feel that government education is the right opportunity for their children. It is a highly motivated school community, incredibly supported by the community at large. He is a person who has been recognised by his peers as someone who is excellent at educational leadership. He has built the school up to this incredible number, and maybe he is being treated by Education Queensland as a victim of his own success. Perhaps they are now saying that the school is too big for someone who may not be that level of principal. But in education one needs flexibility, and here we have someone who has the support of his teaching colleagues, the support of the parents and the support of the students. He seems to have the support of everyone other than a few educational thugs in the administration area of Education Queensland. I think it is completely unacceptable that we see this sort of high-handed, autocratic, unreasonable, inequitable action being taken with respect to an achiever who is a paragon of educational virtue.

I cannot recall when I have actually stood up in the House itself or in this chamber to support someone who has lost a job as a result of an application process. There has to be an ability to appeal. Education Queensland has ridden roughshod over the wishes of the community on the Sunshine Coast but, more particularly, over the wishes of parents and the school community at Chancellor State College. John Lockhart is immensely respected at the school. He has helped to build a wonderful school. He helped to build it almost from its inception. He is a school leader who cares for his students, who cares for their families, who cares for the school and who cares for the community.

He has been able to be entirely bipartisan politically. He has never taken a political stand, to my knowledge. Frankly, I would have no idea as to how John Lockhart voted. All I know is he engages with elected representatives at all levels and he has been incredibly successful in obtaining an amazing amount of money from all levels of government. When we were in government we were able to give Chancellor State College quite a lot of money and we were able to achieve much. Education Queensland was so impressed with John Lockhart and Chancellor State College that it also put a lot of money into that particular school. But we have a school that is grieving. We have an educational community that is exceptionally upset. We have someone who has been treated with a complete lack of fairness. He is someone who I believe ought to be put up as an icon of education virtue, and yet we find the Queensland state government is treating him with absolute contempt.

I have nothing against the person who has been appointed to Chancellor State College, but I just think it is totally inequitable that someone who has the complete support of his entire school community, someone who has achieved and is continuing to achieve incredible educational outcomes, is forced to reapply for his own job and, all of a sudden, is sent to the scrapheap by the Queensland state Labor government. Is it any wonder that principals are voting with their feet, leaving the government system and moving to the non-government system? It is an enormous tragedy that John Lockhart will not be at Chancellor State College to see the graduation of his senior students this year. It is an even greater tragedy to know that he will not be there to continue to lead this flagship government school into the future. I salute John Lockhart and his wife. I salute the parent body. I salute the community of Chancellor Park and I congratulate them on what they are seeking to achieve. (Time expired)