“It’s official – we’ve stopped Peter Dutton becoming Prime Minister,” Federation President Henry Rajendra said today (Monday).
“The weekend’s election result is a massive win for public education. Dutton’s Coalition, which promised to wage culture wars against public schools instead of funding them properly, was dealt an historic defeat,” he said.
“Hundreds of Federation members turned out to make public education a major election issue. Our For Every Child and Rebuild With TAFE campaigns were visible at polling booths all across the state, making sure that voters knew the choice between those that value public education and a Liberal-National Coalition that wants to tear it down. Together, we made sure public education was on people’s minds when they went to the ballot box.
“Instead of promising to fully fund public education, Peter Dutton spent the election campaign trying to stoke Trump-style culture wars against public school teachers. This result shows how badly he and the Coalition misjudged the public mood. This result proves beyond doubt that Australians are proud of our public education system, we value it and we want it to be strong, equal, and fair.
“Federation and the Australian Education Union (AEU) have secured some major promises from the Albanese Labor Government, including:
- a clear commitment to fully funding public schools with guaranteed funding rolling out for all schools to achieve 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS)
- rebuilding TAFE, with a permanent 100,000 Free TAFE places annually, and increased funding that improves job security for TAFE teachers and more VET options for students
- the introduction of the Closing Loophole No 2 and Secure Jobs Better Pay laws that were further catalysts for increased job security for long-term casual and temporary TAFE Teachers
- student debt relief, which applies to HELP, VET Student Loan and Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans.
“There’s still lots of work to be done. Our public schools are still facing a teacher shortage and need investment to give every student access to the quality education they deserve,” Mr Rajendra said.
“That’s why we look forward to working with the Albanese Government and everyone in the new parliament on ensuring a high quality public education system for the country.
“We have an enormous opportunity to rebuild the institution of public education — to make sure that every student, no matter where they live or how much money their parents make, gets the quality public education they deserve.
“Let’s get to work.”
