Vale Barry Minter
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No number 4, 3 June 2022, page no. 6
At 11.15 am on 22 November 1974, Barry Minter was appointed by State Council to the position of Itinerant Industrial Officer, Brisbane. At this time, Barry was 35 years of age and married with a young family.
Barry, who once said that he had been interested in teaching and education as far back as he could remember, was a junior scholarship holder who entered Kelvin Grove Teachers College on a two-year teacher trainee primary course. He taught at West End State School, Chermside State School, Devereaux Creek State School, Bunya State School, and Mitchelton State School.
Barry had strong feelings about the need to improve the staffroom and classroom conditions of teachers and the professional recognition of teachers. This, of course, led him through his years of teaching to become a strong radical unionist. He was very active in Union affairs and held several positions, including on Executive, as Chairman of the Primary Education Committee, and President of the Northwest Metropolitan Branch. He was also a Council Representative.
Barry resigned from his QTU Officer role in 1985 and returned to teaching. He worked at the Brisbane School of Distance Education until he retired in 2008.
I first met Barry when I was teaching at Lowood SHS and was elected to the board of TUH. Barry was a member director on TUH from 1985 until the 2000s. He was an active member of the membership services committee.
I remember Barry as a strong, determined voice. I can’t say I always agreed with his points of view, but at the end of the day Barry built strong relationships, which meant that despite these differing views, we often agreed to disagree and had a healthy respect for each other. Regardless of the outcome, we would always work together another day.
We continue to fight for our profession and for improvements in working conditions, something that I am confident that Barry would be proudly championing if he was still with us.