On 15 May, Kate Jones, Queensland's new Education Minister, made a speech to QTU State Council. Here are some of the highlights.

Enterprise bargaining

“The Palaszczuk government is pursuing significant amendments to the Industrial Relations Act, to implement our election commitment to restore fairness to government workers.”

“I’m fully aware that your agreement nominally expires on 31 August and negotiations with your union for a replacement are intended to commence after the Teachers’ Award is modernised and the required legislative changes to allow enterprise bargaining are made. I’m talking to the teachers’ union actively about how we’re going to roll over that agreement for an agreed period with a wage increase in line with the proposed wages policy.”

Professional pay

“What we want to do through 'Letting Teachers Teach' is to deliver career pathways and remuneration for teachers attaining high accomplishment and lead status as defined in the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.”

“We need to work very closely with the Union to ensure that the way we are classifying positions and growth as you progress down your career path is one that’s holistic and not piecemeal.”

Australian Curriculum

“Getting the timing right for the roll out of the Australian Curriculum is essential for Queensland teachers, and I recognise that. I will be writing to all principals to advise that for the remainder of 2015, teachers can focus their energies solely on consolidating the implementation of the Australian Curriculum phase one subjects. And to be clear, there is no requirement for schools to implement new learning areas in 2015.”

Great Results Guarantee

“Queensland did not enter an agreement with the Australian Government in regards to implementing these fundings, and they have not been delivered in line with the Gonski recommendations.”

“The QTU is having ongoing discussions with the state schools resourcing team and has raised issues regarding the allocation, and obviously we will be working to see how we can get this right”

Federal Budget

“I don’t know of any leader, particularly of a country of our size, that thinks you’re going to grow the economy and build a better and secure future for your people, without investing in your people. And that’s what education is.”

IPS

“There have been some things that have worked well, but there are, as all of us know, key challenges in rolling out IPS further.”

“I’m actioning an evaluation of this initiative and I want to get the results of this evaluation to see what has been the true difference on the ground before we roll out the next 60.”

Capital funding

“We basically have inherited a position over the next three to four years where there is no capital funding to build a school in growth areas outside of South East Queensland, basically because they [the former LNP government] have entered into a PPP arrangement which only delivers 10 schools in south east Queensland.”

“The benefit of doing a PPP is so you can roll out the capital costs over 30 years, which frees up more money in your capital spend to build the halls that everybody is lobbying me for, and all the capital works you need to grow your school. The problem we’ve got is they [the LNP] have frontloaded, and next year, the 2015 -16 financial year, is the worst. I have to pay $108 million out of the normal $300million capital works budget straight on PPP payments. So at the moment I’m obviously fighting to retain as much money for capital spend as I can.”

Conclusion

“I want to be honest with you and say I won’t be able to necessarily always deliver everything we need to in the timeframes and with the constraints that I’ve articulated. But believe me, I will be a strong advocate for state schools everywhere I go, I will not talk down state education, I will not talk down teachers, I will not attack teachers, I want to work with you. We have the biggest job in Queensland, and that is looking after our young people. I take that seriously, and I want to do it in partnership with you.”