AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
Press Release 1042
JASON CLARE WELCOMED BACK TO FEDERAL EDUCATION PORTFOLIO
Tanya Plibersek, who had hoped to secure the education portfolio, was named as Environment Minister.
Minister Jason Clare, Minister Andrew Giles and Jess Walsh keep their respective portfolios of Education, Skills and Training, and Early Childhood Education and Care.
Welcoming Minister Clare’s reappointment as Federal Education Minister, Australian Education Union federal president Correna Haythorpe said that the next term of government has much to achieve for public education to ensure that a high quality preschool, school and TAFE education is accessible to all.
“With Minister Jason Clare and Minister Andrew Giles keeping their respective Education and Skills and Training portfolios, the AEU is reassured that stability and strong leadership will allow the sectors to build on the foundational work already delivered by the Albanese Government,” Haythorpe said.
“Across early education, schools and TAFE, the AEU looks forward to continuing to work with the Albanese Government in delivering a high-quality public education system for all Australians.”
But The Albanese Government and its Education Minister have no intention of rocking the State Aid inequality boat. Quite the opposite.
\
The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) executive director Jacinta Collins has also welcomed Minister Clare’s reappointment and acknowledged the Government’s commitment to maintaining existing funding arrangements for non-government schools.
“These commitments are vital for the 820,000 students and their families in our 1,751 Catholic schools across the country who choose a Catholic education for their children,” she said.
“The NCEC also welcomes the Government’s support for sector-neutral policy development and its inclusion of Catholic education in key initiatives such as the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, the Building the Early Education Fund, and student wellbeing programs.”
Even The Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Carol Matthews congratulated Education Minister Jason Clare; new Early Childhood Education and Youth Minister Jess Walsh; and new Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth on their appointments. But the wealthy private sector not only want to retain their outrageous fleecing of the public treasury for their wealthy schools. They want their right to discriminate against children parents and teachers on the basis of creed, colour , class and sexual orientation enshrined in law! They write:
“We also call on the federal government to protect all education employees from discrimination by removing special exemptions that allow faith-based schools to discriminate.”
Jason Clare, unlike Tanya Plibyseck and previous federal education Ministers is a product of and firm believer in public education. Perhaps that is why he has managed, - just before the election – to increase the funding of public schools to the Gonski Resource Standard. DOGS believe that the State school vote has certainly contribute to his re-election as Minister for Education.
Clare’s website proudly states:
Jason is the Minister for Education and has represented the Blaxland electorate of Western Sydney since 2007.
He has previously served as a Minister in the Rudd and Gillard Labor Governments, where he was Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Justice, Minister for Defence Materiel and Cabinet Secretary.
Before entering Parliament, Jason was the Manager of Corporate Relations at Transurban and a Senior Adviser to the Premier of NSW, the Hon. Bob Carr. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW.
He attended Cabramatta Public School and Canley Vale High School. Jason’s most important job is being Louise’s husband and Atticus and Jack’s dad.
"The power of education"
I was the first in my family to finish high school and the first to go to university. The Australia that existed before Gough Whitlam did not give my parents the same opportunity. They never even dreamt of attending.
In fact, they grew up at a time when most working-class kids in Western Sydney didn’t even finish school. It was the Labor Party that changed that.
At school, I was surrounded by kids who told me stories about boats and pirates and rough seas.
They weren’t figments of their imaginations. They were refugees. For many of them, English wasn’t their first language. But they persevered, worked hard, and made their own success.
I’m still friends with a lot of those kids. And I can tell you today they are partners in law firms, they are pharmacists, multi-million dollar start-up business owners, and lots more.
That’s the power of education.
DOGS hopes that Jason Clare continues to value the opportunities offered him by his public education and continues to fight for the many disadvantaged children in that system. They also hope he has the intestinal fortitude to resist the overwhelming selfish demands of the private religious sector.
LISTEN TO THE DOGS PROGRAM
855 ON THE AM DIAL: 12.00 NOON SATURDAYS http://www.3cr.org.au/dogs
