Teachers

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (14:42): Supplementary: why is the Malinauskas Labor government lagging so far behind New South Wales and Victoria when it comes to paying our state's essential workers what they are worth?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:43): I thank the honourable member for his question. That is certainly not how I would characterise how we treat our public sector workers. Pay is one part of what is offered. There were other, in terms of the teachers, very important elements as part of that negotiation—the right to disconnect, but also a reduction in face-to-face teaching time to allow teachers to do all that other important work was part of what we did in South Australia as well.