- 6 months ago
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns announces plan to address teacher recruitment in public schools. He also comments on the weekend’s pro-Palestine march in Sydney
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00:00It's great to be here with you Murat as well as Jerome and Ben and Tess who are the student
00:07leaders here at this high school. It was great to hear and speak to a physics teacher as
00:12well as Year 11 and Year 9 kids who are really at the tail end of the academic year for 2025.
00:20For all those students who are in the middle of trial HSC exams we wish you the very best
00:25and the day of the trial HSC exams is a good day for us to announce real progress when
00:31it comes to recruiting permanent teachers for our public education system. As the Acting
00:37Minister for Education said, teacher vacancies have dropped 61% in an incredibly short period
00:43of time and we've gone from 2,460 vacancies for Term 3 2022 to 962 vacancies today. As Courtney
00:54said the job's not done. We need to focus and double down on what we know is working. Firstly,
01:00the removal of the wages cap in New South Wales, attracting more people to the profession, filling
01:05more holes when it comes to public school places. Secondly, and I think an underreported part
01:11of the government reform plans is offering permanent positions to temporary teachers across the
01:16public school network. We were in an incredibly, I think, stupid situation where teachers had
01:23temporary positions in public schools in some instances for over a decade before they were
01:28offered a permanent position. And at a point when the government's desperate for people
01:32to take on these jobs, to take on this profession, it seemed increasingly stupid not to offer teachers
01:40permanent positions. Well, we've done that and the teaching fraternity has rewarded public
01:45education by staying in the system for longer. We're not doing a lap of honour. We want to make
01:50a big, open offer to those who are sitting at HSC this year to consider a career as a public
01:56school teacher or a teacher anywhere in the education system in New South Wales. There's
02:01not many jobs that leave a profound impact on the next generation. If you take on this job,
02:07it means that you'll be influencing people's lives long after you stop teaching them and
02:11it's an incredibly honourable, rewarding career. We want to plug that hole, those 962 positions,
02:19see more teachers in the teaching profession. I've said this a few times but when I was in
02:24high school or I was in primary school and the teacher was absent, a substitute teacher
02:29would come in. But for the 10 years of the coalition government, we couldn't even get substitute
02:35teachers. The classes were cancelled or merged. Kids were playing on the bottom field, playing
02:40sport with their friends rather than learning physics and maths and Shakespeare and history
02:45English. We're getting back on track when it comes to public education and not a moment
02:49too soon. Murat.
02:51Thank you, Premier. I'm delighted to be able to join the Premier, our Minister and our
02:55local federal member to launch Public Education Week. As a former teacher and principal in
03:00the system, it's a really apt theme. Ignite your potential. 95,000 classroom teachers across
03:06this state believe in the learners in front of them. Take them to horizons that they don't
03:11even consider possible and I do want to tip my hat off to those 95,000 teachers who are
03:17the real pivot that makes the real difference inside schools.
03:21As secretary and as someone who's worked in public education for 29 years, these are
03:26delightful figures, it's the lowest I've seen in my career and I really commend the
03:31government for lifting teacher salaries that took us from 7th in the country when I started
03:37as secretary for beginning teachers and 4th in the country for expert teachers and as
03:43the largest jurisdiction, the largest provider was simply untenable and we had resignation
03:49and retirement rates that were spiralling out that have been reined in and these are record
03:55low figures.
03:56But as a teacher I also know that just one vacancy is one too many, while the Premier and the
04:02Minister have acknowledged good work, there's more to do here and I do commend the Premier
04:07for telling our students in Year 12 that teaching is the only career, the only career to pursue.
04:13We want more and more of those coming through the pipeline and it's not just salaries, it
04:17also goes to workload and we're really serious about cordoning off the classroom and allowing
04:22them to weave their magic, that's what they sign up for as teachers and I look forward to
04:27off the back of these good figures further lifting the outcomes for public education students and
04:33closing those gaps.
04:34Because a qualified teacher, a qualified teacher provides consistency and predictability for
04:40every learner in this state.
04:42Thanks Meera and all of us are happy to take questions.
04:49Yeah I mean I think that these initiatives have shown steady progress and we want to see
05:04more of it.
05:05I think in the years ahead our hope is that those numbers continue to go down.
05:09There's two ways to do it.
05:11The first one is to recruit people to the profession.
05:13Secondly, and we're having a lot of success with this too, is for the first time as I understand
05:20it in the history of public education resignations beat retirements as the leading cause of exit
05:25from the profession and we want to make headway in that.
05:28Experienced teachers who put decades into the classroom, we want to keep them in our classroom
05:33for longer and I think that's where we'll see even more headway when it comes to these
05:37vacancy numbers.
05:38Yesterday's protest, it was a huge logistical challenge, yes it was disruptive but it was
05:44also I guess a huge demonstration, peaceful demonstration on an issue that many people
05:49feel passionate about.
05:50So I guess with that in mind, do you think you misread the mood of Siniciders and would
05:57it have been better to work with protest organisers?
06:00Look I mean I did say from the beginning that I expected, firstly it was a massive crowd,
06:08over 100,000 people and if the weather wasn't appalling I think it would have even been bigger
06:14than that, maybe even double the size.
06:16So there's no doubt there was a massive community demonstration, huge from the perspective of
06:23Sydney.
06:24A lot of people were concerned about the situation in Gaza and had incredible empathy and concern
06:30about Palestinian children in particular but the entire situation.
06:34So I'm not, I accept that there's a huge ground swell in relation to that, that people
06:39came and were concerned about it.
06:41Many people that had never been to a demonstration before turned up on Sunday.
06:45It's a difficult one for the government.
06:48We have to balance public safety, the public's right to protest and be seen to be protesting,
06:54alongside running a big city like Sydney and there's no easy answers here.
06:59Ultimately my job is to be on the side of public safety and ensuring that people can
07:04live and work and protest and enjoy a city as big as Sydney.
07:08It's not an easy thing to get right but I made the point repeatedly last week, we were prepared
07:15to facilitate a demonstration, we appreciated that people were going to that demonstration
07:19for legitimate purposes and that they had a genuine desire to protest in those circumstances
07:25and we were trying to find a way through.
07:27We also accept the court's decision, they made the call on Saturday morning and police got on with it.
07:32Do you regret being so vocal about not having the protest on the bridge?
07:37No I don't, I mean again it's a tricky one for the government or anyone who's running New South Wales to be
07:42and I think, I mean I accept the decision of the court, that's the first thing.
07:47I also accept that people came to the protest and acted peacefully.
07:51They demonstrated, they followed police advice.
07:54The organisers of the protest work with police in difficult circumstances and I think that needs to be acknowledged as well.
08:01But even those that were on the bridge, many of the people that were part of the protest would recognise
08:07we can't shut down the bridge every weekend and it's a difficult one for us to get right.
08:12So ultimately that's my responsibility, I don't want to take away from the protest.
08:17I understand that they wanted to have their voice heard and they certainly did that.
08:21Do you think this sets a precedent then that you will see more protest groups want to use the bridge more regularly because it's such a powerful image?
08:30Well I mean that's the big question we have to look at.
08:33We're examining the judgement to determine whether this is a precedent or there's circumstances in relation to the judgement
08:39that specifically make it applicable to just that Form 1 application.
08:43No one should believe that it's open season on the bridge however.
08:46Police still have to make a judgement about public safety and logistics associated with it.
08:52My understanding is there's no Form 1 on the bridge currently which means that we can look at the circumstances.
09:00But I'll just repeat, even those many people that were at the march on Sunday and feel incredibly passionately about this issue would accept that we can't knock out the bridge every weekend.
09:13There can be a demonstration every weekend and I just want to point out that in the last two years New South Wales Police have facilitated a hundred protests with the Palestinian Action Group as well as scores of other demonstrations.
09:26So I need to look at that, I need to weigh up public order, community safety with the public's right to protest and no one should assume it's open season on the bridge.
09:38We're not going to have a situation where the anti-vaxxer group has it one Saturday and then the weekend after that critical mass takes over and then the weekend after that we have an environmental cause and then the weekend after that because of an industrial dispute.
09:50I mean I think you'd accept that that's a situation that a big city like Sydney couldn't cope with.
09:55Premier, yesterday there was some last minute changes to the bridge, police were sending out text messages, some people were getting them, some people said they were a bit confused and they didn't find nowhere to go.
10:06Do you think that police added to that confusion yesterday?
10:10Look I really don't.
10:12Just as I'm not going to criticise the protest organisers, they went to court, they won their action, they cooperated with police.
10:19Police had to deal with a very difficult logistical situation where you had tens of thousands of people in a confined space and for many people who wanted to get on the bridge they had to be turned away.
10:30Now that's regrettable because they obviously wanted to be part of the demonstration and I think they would feel that they were part of it.
10:36But public safety still has to be the concern of police and they had to manage a tricky situation.
10:45Now I don't want anyone to misread my words.
10:47I'm not putting that blame on demonstrators.
10:49This was a lawful march.
10:51It had been agreed to by the courts.
10:53I'm just making the point that it was a confined space and there was a massive number of people.
10:57And that was a challenge police had to deal with.
10:59Is there any indication, Premier, of how much the protest cost?
11:04It cost taxpayers millions, certainly in overtime and more on top of that, but I don't have a final figure.
11:13Premier, has it made you reconsider this issue seeing such powerful images over and wild around the world from being vehemently pro-Israeli writing a letter to Israel on the 15th of May, getting a letter of recommendation from Israeli President Isaac Hurst.
11:34Has it made you reconsider seeing such strong community sentiment about what's happening in Gaza?
11:40Not just recently calling out in the last two weeks because the federal government has, but has it made you really consider,
11:47oh, I think there is genuine community anger about what's happening?
11:53And maybe you could be on the right side of history with that?
11:56Well, I mean, look, there's a few things.
12:00I mean, I think that's a fair enough question.
12:03I want to make it clear, though, that I've said repeatedly that the circumstances relating to civilians, particularly children in Palestine,
12:13is hugely a massive, massive concern for me as much as anybody else.
12:20We're two years effectively or close to two years from October the 7th, 2023.
12:26The war continues.
12:27It shows no sign of stopping.
12:29The intervention from the Israeli government in relation to humanitarian aid and care has been, you know, disastrous for the population in Palestine.
12:39But like I have to say, like many people, I think a lot of people that were at the bridge as well, it's not complicated views.
12:47You can hold many views.
12:48You can hold many views at the same time.
12:49You can be appalled by Hamas.
12:51You can be terrified and shocked by the hostage taking.
12:55You can see the situation where innocent people were slaughtered in southern Israel.
12:59And at the same time hold the view that the IDF's action in bombing hospitals or stopping humanitarian aid is a massive concern as a human being.
13:09And like most people I suspect in the world, I've got both of those views.
13:14And the only people that have 100% view one way or the other where they don't acknowledge atrocities committed against Israelis or they don't acknowledge atrocities and starvation for Palestinians would be the people that have parked their humanity at the door in favour of one side or the other.
13:32I suspect like millions of people, I've got mixed views on it.
13:52Look, I'm not going to announce something like that this morning.
13:56There's a few reasons for that.
13:58Firstly, we want to look specifically at the judgement.
14:02If it doesn't provide a precedent, then the police will still make assessments on Form 1s regardless of who puts in an application, whether it's an anti-vax group or a critical mass or whatever the demonstration is.
14:18I'll have to look at that very closely.
14:20The second element and the reason we wouldn't just rush to put in legislation is all aspects of public communication, the implied right to freedom of speech in the Constitution, will be challenged in the High Court.
14:32And rushing through a piece of legislation, I mean, we thought we were on firm ground with the police rejection of the Form 1 last Saturday, but the Supreme Court knocked it over.
14:42So I don't want to make the same mistake twice, other than to say, I have to examine all of this, I'm not ruling anything out.
14:48And I think most reasonable people would expect that, yes, you do have from time to time massive demonstrations, even if it's on the bridge, but knocking it out every week is just, it's not something that we can consider forever.
15:00I mean, no-one would argue that the protest yesterday was peaceful, there were no injuries, there were no arrests, but police still came out last night after the protest and used words like it was a potentially perilous event.
15:13Do you think the police are catastrophizing?
15:15No, I think it'd be a real hard marketer to knock the police here.
15:19At the same time as they made a decision in relation to the application in the Supreme Court, they also had to work up logistical Plan B, if you like, in the event that the ruling went the wrong way.
15:32They called in hundreds and hundreds of police on over time.
15:36They did work with organisers, I mean, you know, the organisers did work with New South Wales Police to get public communication out.
15:42You'd appreciate, and this isn't a knock on the demonstrators because I don't want it to be misconstrued, people were peaceful, they went there with the right intentions and they were able to, they did follow police directions, there were no arrests.
15:56It's just that it's a logistically difficult thing to navigate because you've got a confined space and an overwhelming number of people.
16:03And when that happens at the football stadium or home bush, it's pretty straightforward, it happens every week.
16:09When police have got a couple of days to organise it on the Harbour Bridge, usually a seven lane highway, it's tough, it's difficult.
16:16Premier Bob Carr said yesterday that had he been in power, he would have allowed the protest to go ahead.
16:22How do you reflect on his advice?
16:25Look, I haven't heard that, so I'm not sure.
16:27But I've got to make decisions.
16:29I'm in power.
16:30I'm the Premier.
16:31The Government's got to make decisions as it's presented to us.
16:35And I think everybody would appreciate this is pretty unprecedented.
16:40And we have to balance the public's right to use the city alongside the public's right to demonstrate.
16:46I accept people are going to criticise the Government's decisions here, but I've never criticised the protesters' right to have their voice heard.
16:56It's just a difficult situation for us to navigate.
16:58But you haven't criticised the protesters over the last few years consistently by shifting resources from taxpayers to police.
17:08Just last week you were talking about emergency crews wouldn't be able to go through, but workaround solutions were sorted out on the day and pretty swiftly.
17:19So do you reflect now maybe a little bit and maybe you'd want to meet with the Palestine Action Group or other Palestinian groups to understand their concerns and why they've been going out for two years in a row?
17:33Look, a couple of things.
17:34You have to understand that I've met representatives of the Palestinian groups many times.
17:40In Sydney, people from Sydney, people from Melbourne, we've had long discussions.
17:46They've presented their credentials, their concerns, their understanding of the Government's position.
17:50I do hope people appreciate that.
17:52And I don't want to run through the litany of challenges that we've had over the last two years.
17:56And I certainly don't want it to reflect on the protesters from yesterday.
18:00But I think a fair-minded person would say, please, the Government have had to deal with all kinds of protests, some of whom have been really peaceful and a demonstration of public will.
18:10Others have gotten out of control and have reflected poorly on Sydney.
18:15I really don't want that to be my reflection on what happened yesterday or the people who turned out.
18:20I don't believe that's the case.
18:21I'm just making the point that it's been two years and we've had to deal with a whole range of different police events associated with the events in the Middle East, not just the events of yesterday.
18:34Do you think that you're part of the Labor Party machine and the Labor Party have been pretty stringent on what they believe should play out?
18:45But with such a turnout yesterday, do you think that from the Prime Minister down, they should review how they're handling the situation with Israel and Gaza?
18:54Well, if you look at, if you look, I mean, Federal Government issue, obviously it's foreign policy, but you've asked a direct question.
19:01So, I mean, if you look at the Federal Government's approach to the two-state solution, the events in the Middle East, it has been iterative and it has been in response to what's happening in the ground as a result of the war.
19:13I mean, even the biggest critics of the Commonwealth Government would suggest that their position has moved alongside the dynamic situation in the Middle East.
19:22I mean, can I ask you about the hunting legislation?
19:24Yes.
19:25Have you responded to the letter Walter McHack wrote you around his concern?
19:28I haven't, but I will.
19:30And I don't dismiss that letter lightly at all.
19:33I mean, he's a distinguished person who's got a passionate view in relation to it and, of course, I'm happy to meet him.
19:39I just want to make the point that we will not be voting to water down gun laws in New South Wales.
19:46That's very important that they stay consistent following the horror of the Port Arthur massacre.
19:53We've got a hung parliament.
19:55Individuals, parties are entitled to put their legislation and we'll review it, but we're not going to, we are not going to water down gun laws in the state.
20:01Other parts of that bill that don't deal with the proof of weapons part of the Act, you know, the hunting authority.
20:08I mean, these are other concerns that he has around the establishment of potentially a powerful gun lobby.
20:14Yep.
20:15I mean, that's not a direct impact on the gun laws per se, but is it concerning? How would you respond to that?
20:20Yeah, look, I accept that the establishment or the concern about establishing a powerful gun lobby would be a major issue for him.
20:27I have to assess that alongside the legislation.
20:30But ballistic vests, night vision goggles, silencers on weapons, I mean, we don't need that in New South Wales.
20:36I wouldn't support it. And the police don't either.
20:38Just the point you said about your government had to make a decision. In the light of that, were you comfortable with at least one, potentially two, members of your cabinet attending yesterday?
20:49Do you want me to wait?
20:51Yeah.
20:52Just between...
20:54That's calling time on your question. No.
20:58I am. I've thought about it on the weekend. I had discussions with my colleagues who told me that they wanted to go to the protest.
21:06You know, I did form the view that once it had been...
21:10Once it was a legal march and the court made the decision, they had every right to go.
21:15And they feel very passionately about it.
21:19Many of them were marching with their family.
21:21And I'm not going to criticise them for it. I understand the reasons that they went.
21:25If you weren't Premier, would you open it?
21:27Look, I mean, that's a fair question. I don't... I don't know. I'm not sure.
21:37I've gone to protests on the Harbour Bridge before, but I'm not sure.
21:42I mean, going back to your earlier question, it's a complex situation.
21:46And I think, like most people, you can have two views in your head.
21:49You can be, of course, concerned about what happened two years ago
21:53and think that the bombing in Gaza and the death of innocent civilians
21:59is not something that can ever be sanctioned.
22:01I wanted to ask you about the protests that were heading towards the US Consulate.
22:05There was confusion, as my colleagues said,
22:08and in the middle of the protest, half went back to the city.
22:11Some families were allowed to cross to North Sydney and so on.
22:16Were there any concerns from the US Consular staff relayed to your government?
22:22Were you in constant communication with them at all?
22:26I don't believe that there was, and I'm hopeful that people accept
22:31that the decision in relation to turning around the protest
22:34was genuinely made in relation to public safety.
22:37I haven't heard the organisers of the protest suggest otherwise,
22:41but that was genuinely the case.
22:44I mean, it was a confined space. It was a tricky situation.
22:48Police had to make the call.
22:50Second point here is it's no-one's fault,
22:52but the Metro was out for servicing that weekend.
22:55And that did limit transport options for protesters
22:59to get from the north of Sydney to other parts of the network.
23:03Just talking about fish markets, if I can,
23:05the retailers finally agreeing to move in.
23:08Are they being dropped on installation costs, though?
23:11Look, I don't believe they are.
23:13Obviously, we're working with the committee
23:17that organises the fish markets, but I don't believe they are.
23:22All right.
23:23And just one more question.
23:24Sure.
23:25Sorry.
23:26You keep on saying it's complex.
23:28It's a complex situation.
23:30And I think we've passed that now at this point.
23:33Do you think, even Trump is safe off the cuff on an airplane somewhere?
23:40Do you think, maybe, that it's not complex,
23:43but it's pretty clear cut what's happening in terms of breaches of international law
23:47without losing empathy for hostages or other victims?
23:52Well, I guess that's the point I'm making.
23:54I mean, you can have those two views in your head at the same time.
23:57And anyone that has 100% view one way or 100% view the other way,
24:02at some point you have to park some of your humanity at the door
24:05because you'd be advocating for the worst actions of one of the parties.
24:09I don't – I just want to make this clear – I don't profess to be an expert on the Middle East
24:16and I don't have a solution to a perennial and long, long conflict.
24:23But I am responsible for Sydney and I am responsible for balancing
24:27the public's right to protest along with community safety.
24:30I'm not saying it's straightforward and I know we'll be criticised from time to time,
24:34but that's got to be my number one and, at times, sole responsibility.
24:39And that's the reason the government acted the way it did over the last week.
24:42Thanks, everybody.
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