AEU Federal Conference 2019
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 124 No 2, 15 March 2019, page no. 25
February’s AEU Federal Conference addressed a range of issues, including Fair Funding Now!, emerging trends in education nationally and internationally, and Change the Rules.
In her President’s Report, Correna Haythorpe attacked the federal government’s disgraceful funding model and said that the AEU would not participate in any review of the Melbourne Declaration while the critical issue of fair funding for our schools remained unresolved.
Though invited and in Melbourne at the time, Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan chose not to attend. However, Labor leader Bill Shorten and Greens leader Richard Di Natale confirmed that, if elected, they would restore the funding cut from education and work toward rebuilding TAFE.
Other speakers included Jill Gallagher, Commissioner, Victorian Treaty Advancement, who prepared conference for the 2019 NAIDOC message of Voice, Treaty, Truth. Jill told conference that the treaty will mean a fundamental change in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Professor John Buchanan explored TAFE as an anchor for social and economic renewal. He highlighted the challenges of reforming TAFE and moving from focusing on the competencies derived from current jobs to capabilities to adapt to an uncertain future. The General Secretary of Education International, David Edwards, updated conference on the global union’s work.
The Arthur Hamilton Award was presented to Briar Road Public School for its approach to Indigenous education and integration across all aspects of school life. The concurrent sessions covered campaigning as an organising tool, climate change and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Member Engagement Plan.
The conference ended with the passing of the conference statement, which is an embodiment of the AEU's work for the next 12 months. It included commitment to embracing diversity, achieving gains in industrial campaigns, winning Fair Funding Now! and restoring TAFE as the provider of quality VET education.
Kate Ruttiman
Deputy General Secretary (Member Services)
Members of the Queensland delegation to the AEU Federal Conference select their highlights.
Kelly Creedon
The AEU Secretary Susan Hopgood showed the comparison of membership trends across the country, with most states losing members while Queensland data continues to show growth. She suggested that we all need to be working together so that we can learn from each other and focus on this area to ensure the Union federally continues to grow. The AEU is investing in training so that every organiser in the country has been in engaged in one of the three levels of training.
Lauren Quinn
Education International Global Response Project Director Angelo Gavrielatos highlighted that, by 2020, global education will be worth approximately $6.3 trillion dollars. Education is the last frontier for privatisation and commercialisation. There is no global response to this without national campaigns. Thinking globally while acting locally will continue to build our capacity, unity and solidarity.
Chris D Smith
Sally McManus stated that the invisible hand of the market is a phrase that gets used all the time by Liberals and economists – “It is out of our control. We have no agency”. This is a lie! The Change the Rules campaign is about questioning of the underlining system, fighting insecure work and “trickle-down economics”. Thousands of conversations by Union Reps are helping to change the language used in this debate.
Gillian Armit
Listening to the international panel, I was reminded that teachers are leaving our profession across the globe in the same way that they’re leaving here in Queensland. The experiences of New Zealand in particular point to a worrying future if we don’t dig our heels in and say enough is enough.
Kim Roy
My highlight from conference was hearing about the US Red for Ed movement. People thought that the US Supreme Court’s Janus decision, which undermined trade unions and had the potential to decimate union membership, had “dug our grave and buried us. They didn’t know that we were seeds and instead we have grown”. Their numbers are up by 15,000 this year.
Lisa Broadhurst
I found it highly valuable to meet with other advocates working on the Fair Funding Now! campaign as I was able to bring back some new ideas to implement in Queensland.