Upper House bargaining deal means Rockliff must now listen
Valid concerns of staff at coal face can no longer be ignored
Ill-conceived plan always destined for serious questions
Government should learn from its past failure and take important views on board
The Hodgman Liberal Government should seize on an opportunity brokered in the Upper House to go back to the drawing board on its misguided attempt to lower Tasmania’s school starting age and now actually listen to the concerns of frontline early education workers and other experts.
Shadow Education Minister Michelle O’Byrne said now that the government had provided a further amendment to the Education Bill to undertake further consultation around sending children to school aged four-and-a-half based on genuine concerns raised in the Upper House, thorough, wide-ranging and proper discussion must now be guaranteed.
“Above all Mr Rockliff needs to guarantee that he will do what he has so far fundamentally failed to do – actually listen and actually take the advice of experts and professionals on board,” Ms O’Byrne said
“The government and Jeremy Rockliff’s version of consultation around this critical issue has been to appear to listen but refuse to take advice and do the opposite to what experts are telling them.
“Mr Rockliff has given an undertaking that he will now listen over a significant time frame and that those important opinions will be taken on board, so now he needs to be true to his word.
“Listen to the Child and Family Centre workers, listen to teachers and child care centre staff, listen to parents and listen to the local and international early education specialists who have importantly chimed in on this critical issue but have been ignored.
“They can be ignored no longer.
“Tasmanians have been loudly and decisively opposed to the lower school starting age from the get go and they want now to be genuinely heard.”
Michelle O’Byrne MP Shadow Education Minister
