Enterprise Bargaining

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:08): My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline and give the council details of any progress in negotiations with the new enterprise agreement for teachers?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:08): As the minister responsible for enterprise bargaining in the public sector, I can indicate that there has been a long series of meetings over many months now—I think somewhere between 15 and 20 meetings—with representatives of the government in relation to the enterprise bargaining arrangement.

As minister, on behalf of the government I respect the right of any union—in this case the AEU—to oppose aspects of any particular enterprise agreement as long as they do it lawfully and appropriately in terms of that opposition to the enterprise bargaining. It is their lawful industrial right to do so, as I said, as long as they do it lawfully and appropriately.

I also at the outset accept that the overwhelming majority of teachers in expressing their particular views do so appropriately and in a lawful way. As we saw with the attitude of some of the union bosses in relation to the prisons' dispute, where we saw abusive and intimidating behaviour to other senior officers who were just doing their job during their particular dispute, sometimes union bosses completely misread, I think, the public and community view in relation to an appropriate role for unions in pursuing their industrial causes. That clearly, in that particular case, provoked outrage and alarm in the community in relation to the approach that the union bosses adopted to one of their fellow colleagues.

My attention in recent times has been drawn to what I believe to be grossly inappropriate behaviour by a union delegate in relation to the AEU enterprise bargaining arrangement. My attention has been drawn to some posts on the Australian Education Union (SA Branch) Facebook page, in particular on the day when there was a mass teachers' protest, Friday 26 October. A teacher, or an AEU delegate for the western urban area of the AEU at Woodville High School—at this stage I will not publicly reveal her name—posted the following comments:

I am going to try to ensure that the next generation of voters in my classroom don't vote Liberal—

I will repeat that, Mr President:

I am going to try to ensure that the next generation of voters in my classroom don't vote Liberal, without being political of course, as I won't tell my students what to think but I teach them how to be critical thinkers who question those in power and especially those who seek to keep the status quo for the rich upper classes and refuse to acknowledge the rest of us. Try and take away my rights as a teacher but you can't take away my voice. Increase my class size and it will just increase my chance to help more students become critical thinkers and help to get rid of those who treat them and me as worker bees there to support their greed and corporate power.

There were similar further posts from this particular union branch delegate from the western urban area of the AEU. Those statements by that particular union delegate, in my view, are outrageous and unacceptable. They are clearly an indication of a deliberate decision to introduce partisan political politics into that particular teacher's classroom with an intention to, as that teacher indicated, 'try to ensure that the next generation of voters in my classroom don't vote Liberal'.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I cannot hear the minister. Go on.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: In my view, it is a clear breach of the publicly enunciated values of the education department. The values of the education department under the Education and Child Development Government Framework state, under 'Values':

All employees understand their responsibilities as public sector employees and commit to following the standards of professional conduct set out in the Code of Ethics for the South Australian public sector.

In my view, it is also a clear breach of the public sector Code of Ethics because in that section which refers to the Values of the Education Department, it says under 'Impartiality', and I quote:

Public sector employees must be detached from political influence and the influence of partisan interests within the community. Instead, public sector employees must rely on evidence to provide objective advice to Government and implement directions promptly and thoroughly.

In my view, it is, as I said, a clear breach of the Code of Ethics, a clear breach of the education department. Tomorrow afternoon, I will be having a meeting with my very good friends, my comrades from the Australian Education Union, Mr Howard Spreadbury and friends, to talk about enterprise bargaining issues.

I will be raising with the AEU union bosses how completely inappropriate, in my view, this behaviour of one of their union delegates was, and I will be seeking their response and an assurance that they would try to ensure that their union delegates don't do as this particular teacher has clearly indicated she intends to do; that is, to introduce partisan politics into the classroom to try to influence her students in the interests of supporting the industrial pursuits of her union bosses.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!