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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-30 Daily Xml
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COOBER PEDY AREA SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:54): My question is to the Premier. Now that the school parent who defamed former Coober Pedy school principal Sue Burtenshaw has agreed to formally apologise, will the Premier also now apologise to Ms Burtenshaw on behalf of the government for the removal of this principal from the school, which was found to be 'unjust and unreasonable'? The Teachers Appeal Board found in relation to this matter, which occurred when the Premier was education minister:

We would not regard the views of these families as particularly relevant to the decision to transfer Ms Burtenshaw. Indeed, in our view, the CE and the minister's office should have been more supportive of Ms Burtenshaw's action in dealing with these rather difficult parents. This leads us to conclude that, as of 2 July 2010, the CE should not have resolved to permanently transfer Ms Burtenshaw, and that decision to prematurely transfer her was, when it was made, unjust and unreasonable.

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley needs to remember that an explanation should not involve a long speech. There was far too much in that explanation. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:56): Of course, matters about the disposition of public servants are, as a matter of law, governed by chief executives and not by ministers.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I had the meeting partly, on a number of occasions, at the request of the present Speaker, who is the local member and who is well aware that there was massive community consternation at this school.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I never made a judgement.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I never made a judgement about who was right and who was wrong in this situation. It was not my—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley will be quiet or leave the chamber.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I never made a judgement about the fault or otherwise of this situation, but it did seem to be a sensible conclusion that was reached by the chief executive that the situation in relation to this community was untenable. Whoever's fault it was, the situation that had arisen in relation to this community was untenable. We had a principal and we had a school community that was up in arms about that principal. I make no comment about the rights or wrongs of that matter, except to say—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Unley, leave the chamber for the rest of question time.

The honourable member for Unley having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: My only interest was in fact the education of the children and making sure that that was what we were able to focus on, and the sooner we got back to that the better. Obviously, the relevant teacher has taken access to her industrial rights and she has achieved a certain outcome. I hope that she is now supported in that role, but I have never bought into the local community debate, which has involved the accusations on one part or another, and including obviously some very serious accusations that have been made by members of the community—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —about this teacher. Indeed, some of the supporters of the teacher have made some very serious accusations back to members of the governing council. So, there was a very nasty local dispute here. As I understand it, the relevant chief executive at the time, who is not the present chief executive, attempted to resolve that in the best way possible having regard to what he thought was in the best interests of the students. Now there is a new principal at Coober Pedy high school. I understand—Madam Speaker, you probably know this better than most—that the school is now recovering and I think the present school leadership is proving to be quite successful.

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