‘Modern-day bullying’: Minister asks striking teachers to consider premier’s feelings

3 months ago 20

Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has asked striking teachers to consider the impact of personal call-outs to politicians on the placards they carried at Wednesday’s rally.

Some 50,000 members of the Queensland Teachers’ Union stopped work for the first time in 16 years this week, with thousands rallying on Parliament House in Brisbane, demanding better pay and conditions from the state government.

In budget estimates on Thursday morning, Opposition education spokeswoman Di Farmer presented a stack of placards used during the strike that had been inspired by the classic children’s book series No, David! by American author David Shannon.

A placard tabled in Queensland parliament after state school teachers went on strike.

“The first page says ‘working nights, weekends, and holidays, that’s not funny’, and they say ‘David’, but obviously referring to the premier,” Farmer explained.

Farmer asked Langbroek to hand the placards to Premier David Crisafulli.

The cover of That’s Not Funny, David, by American author David Shannon.

Langbroek agreed the signs should be tabled, but said he doubted it was an “appropriate” way to deliver the concerns to his leader.

“People should be looking at the things that [the teachers] write ... in my view this can be seen as modern-day bullying,” Langbroek said.

He added that politicians were “all happy to cop cartoons” but some messages had crossed lines.

“I just think that it’s important for us – when we look at what we call modern-day bullying – that we are assessing … whether that had any effect on the person to whom they are referring,” Langbroek said.

Farmer said she was prepared to deliver the messages if needed, adding: “The premier lives in my electorate so I’ll pass that on to him myself.”

Queensland teachers march through Brisbane on their way to Parliament House.

When asked to clarify, Langbroek said he was not implying the premier was being bullied by state school teachers.

The exchange in budget estimates came as the Education Department and teachers union returned to the bargaining table in a conciliation hearing overseen by the Industrial Relations Commission.

“That’s appropriate, that we’re going to sit down with this independent umpire to continue our offer – to enhance the offer that we have made,” Langbroek told reporters earlier.

About 90 per cent of teachers in state schools took strike action on Wednesday, with the remaining teachers supervising the 70,000-odd students in attendance along with principals and teachers aides.

Langbroek said the state had been “dealing with” issues faced by teachers, particularly violence in classrooms and school yards, with initiatives to tackle bullying and cut red tape.

“We’re continuing to address issues that many teachers have expressed concern about … making sure with all of those things together, that we can improve those conditions,” Langbroek said.

He said the state was prepared to sweeten its offer, but would not be drawn on what conditions might be added, or whether the government would increase its pay offer.

On Thursday he also released a report into a $441 million maintenance backlog at public schools, which found roofs, ceilings, walls and gutters in “poor” or “very poor” condition, pointing the finger at the former Labor government for failing to keep up the maintenance work.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.