Tom Greenwell is co-author with Chris Bonnor of Waiting for Gonski: How Australia Failed Its Schools and Lessons from Canada: An Equal School System is Possible. He is a member of the Australian Education Union.
Jason Clare has not fixed public school funding. In the best-case scenario, he has devised a plan for whichever party forms government in two elections time to start delivering a partial solution. The greater likelihood is that the Government’s delay and inaction has further entrenched the dysfunction and inequality that bedevils Australian schooling.
There is nothing democratic about the public realm being used to pressure us towards behaviours that are socially and environmentally destructive. Like reining in the corporate capture of politicians, breaking the big polluters’ grip on the public sphere is a prerequisite for the collective action needed to avert the worst of the climate crisis.
Last year, the South Australian Government banned ads for sugar-sweetened drinks, confectionery, snacks, desserts, ice creams and fast-food restaurants on the interior and exterior of state-owned buses, trains and trams. The question, twelve months on, is why haven’t other Australian governments followed South Australia's lead?
ACT public schools will close on Friday morning as educators across the Territory escalate their dispute with the ACT Government over a new deal on pay and conditions. The action follows a ballot in which nine out of ten teachers and principals responded, and no less than 95 percent voted to strike.
