Teachers Dispute

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:14): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer update the council with regard to the long-running teachers' pay dispute?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am pleased to advise that sometime late yesterday afternoon or early evening the Australian Education Union executive unanimously, so we are advised, endorsed a proposal to put the government's revised enterprise bargaining offer to its members for a ballot. That ballot will be conducted, as I understand it, over the next week to eight days—there's only 1½ school weeks left in the school year—of AEU members.

I am also very pleased that the Australian Education Union, together with the government representatives, have agreed to discontinue the conciliation proceedings before the South Australian Employment Tribunal. I think, again, that's a wholly positive response. As minister responsible for the enterprise bargaining negotiations, I am hopeful that AEU members will take the opportunity over the next week to support the revised offer. It is obviously a decision for them to take. Should they do so, given that the AEU doesn't represent all teachers and staff within schools, there would then be a requirement in the first week, or maybe two weeks, of school term next year to conduct a ballot of all teachers and staff within government schools in relation to the enterprise bargaining agreement.

The reality is that long history indicates that if the AEU membership endorse a particular enterprise offer from the employer it is highly likely then that the majority of the remaining membership will also so endorse it. Obviously, they are decisions that have to be taken, firstly, in this instance, over the next week. If that was to be successful, then there will be a ballot in the first week, or maybe two weeks, of term one next year.

As I have indicated on a number of occasions, the taxpayers were not in a position to be able to afford any more generous a salary increase than the 2.35 per cent that the government on behalf of taxpayers had offered and 3.35 per cent for principals and preschool directors. We did say that on the issue that the union indicated was of greater significance to them and their members, which was extra support for teachers in the classroom, the government was prepared to further negotiate. In the interest of compromise, we have increased the offer from $12 million a year to $15 million a year in terms of what is referred to as the 'complexity allowance'. In simple terms, that's additional assistance which is available to teachers in classrooms to support students who require additional assistance.

It can mean, I am advised, up to an extra $158,000 for a school, where a decision will be taken at the local level as to whether that means the employment of additional SSO support or whatever other support the school may so determine to provide that assistance to teachers in the classroom. The nature of the revised offer also means that the additional assistance, the complexity allowance, will be made available to all schools, obviously in varying elements depending on a formula which has been offered.

There are a number of other assistance parts of the package which provide additional assistance for country incentives in terms of encouraging teachers to both move to and to be retained in harder to staff country schools. I won't relay all of the details of the revised offer that has gone to, firstly, the AEU executive and now is to be balloted upon by AEU members.

Suffice to say that if it is successful then I think—on behalf of the taxpayers of South Australia but, just as importantly, on behalf of the students, the hardworking teachers and the staff—it will be an entirely reasonable and sensible resolution to what has been a long-running and ongoing dispute between the union and the government.