The ACT Greens will today move to censure the Minister for Education and Housing, Yvette Berry, following a series of damning independent findings exposing deep, systemic failures across two of the Territory's most critical public services.
ACT Greens Leader, Jo Clay MLA, said the independent ACT Public School System Resourcing Review confirms what teachers, principals, students and families have been saying for years - the system is broken and it's failing both students and teachers.
"This review paints a deeply concerning picture of our public school system - one plagued by confusion, inconsistency and poor communication, with teachers buried under administration instead of being supported in classrooms," said Ms Clay.
"While schools struggle, the central bureaucracy keeps growing. Some schools can offer enrichment opportunities, while others are struggling just to staff basic classes. And all the while, public school workers are raising serious concerns about safety and workload.
"For years, this Minister dismissed those warnings and said everything was fine. Our teachers and LSAs were right and the Government has been too slow to listen."
ACT Greens Education Spokesperson, Laura Nuttall MLA, said that today's strike action and resulting school closures were ultimately because of a failure of the Minister to substantively engage with these workers on conditions.
"After 11 months of negotiations public school workers have been left with no option but to go on strike for a second time because the Government failed to genuinely engage on their demands," said Miss Nuttall.
"While the Minister has made vague platitudes with sympathy for the workers and their right to go on strike, these words won't pay teachers' bills.
"In this cost-of-living crisis, the absolute bare minimum to expect from this Minister is to engage in good faith negotiations to ensure that workers can negotiate better conditions and a pay rise that at least keeps up with inflation," said Ms Nuttall.
Ms Clay said the failures are not limited to education, with a pattern of serious issues also emerging from Housing ACT.
"Report after report from the Ombudsman and the Auditor-General and even findings from the Supreme Court have all found that Housing ACT is failing vulnerable Canberrans - from not properly supporting tenants, to failing basic maintenance and safety obligations, to breaching tenants' human rights," she said.
"These are not minor oversights. They are systemic failures in a program worth hundreds of millions of dollars, affecting people who rely on government support the most.
ACT Greens Spokesperson for Housing, Rebecca Vassarotti, expressed ongoing concern with the Minister's management of the portfolio.
"Housing ACT has many good people working hard to support tenants and embody a model landlord, but the policy and resource constraints led by the Minister make this an impossible task," said Ms Vassarotti.
"This has led to systemic failures that the Minister must take responsibility for.
"As the incoming Greens Spokesperson for Housing, my advocacy for structural increases in public housing, and in the quality of public housing will be unapologetic.
"Now more than ever we need active steps to reduce the waiting list and ensure the territory becomes an active, major player in the housing market.
"We must deliver security both for our most vulnerable community members and for other hard-working families who are now finding themselves priced out of a stable place to call home," said Ms Vassarotti.
Ms Clay said the censure motion reflects the Assembly's role in holding Ministers accountable when they fail to meet the expectations of their office.
"Ministerial responsibility is not optional. When there is a consistent pattern of warnings ignored, problems denied, and harm caused, the Assembly has a duty to act," she said.
"This censure is about accountability - but more importantly, it's about standing with the community, with teachers and with public housing tenants who have been raising the alarm for too long.
"Canberrans deserve a government that listens, that acts early, and that takes responsibility when things go wrong. Right now, they are not getting that," said Ms Clay.
