Advance Australia Fair - Building Sustainability, Justice and Peace
Opening plenary - Challenging the neo-liberal danger
Saturday 30th July 2005

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Pat Byrne

Federal President, Australia Education Union

I’m going to try and speak to you today wearing two hats - the trade unionist and also the teacher in the public system. These are both groups that are under serious attack from the current Federal Government. It’s also ironic that the context of the debates that we are having is in a society that has been fundamentally shaped by the trade union movement and the public education system. Trade unionism has profoundly influenced the way we as Australians see ourselves, the sense of fair play, egalitarianism, the way we support the underdog, our idea that everyone is entitled to a decent standard of living and an income that will provide that.

Those values are now under threat from the broad conservative environment in which we find ourselves. It is an environment increasingly unfettered by government regulation or a strong independent media, either nationally or internationally. In Australia we now have this conservative influence supported by a conservative senate majority, which places at real risk our notions of fair play and equity. We’re seeing that at the moment. The first target in this push is the union movement who has campaigned so hard for fairness in the workplace. The coalition has signaled that it will introduce legislation, which will provide exemption from the unfair dismissal laws for companies with up to 100 employees. This will deny thousands of workers with an expeditious and affordable process of appeal when they feel they have been unfairly dismissed. In fact it will mean that 90% of workplaces and four million workers fall under this provision leaving them with considerably less job security and expensive legal options to pursue.

In addition its clear that award entitlements which exceed the new minimum provisions will be stripped back. So if your award provides currently 10 days of sick leave a year it will be reduced to 8, the new minimum entitlement. Australian workplace agreements will only need to contain 5 minimum employment standards. A minimum rate of pay, annual leave, unpaid personal leave, unpaid parental leave and maximum ordinary hours.

The Federal Government argues that workers are free to bargain for more. We saw Peter Costello on the TV the other night saying ‘Christmas Day’. A point which completely disregards the fact that award workers, which are about 20%, are typically on awards because they have little bargaining power. I know also that 60% of award workers are also women. This award stripping combined with the removal of the skill classification structures, which allow for higher rates of pay according to different skills, and changes to the no disadvantage test will eliminate much of the wage gains that have been achieved for women over the last 30 years. It’s worth noting that in the US, which the other speakers have noted we are very keen on emulating in every way possible, has never had the wage fixing processes. The minimum rate of pay is 36% of average weekly earnings in the US. In Australia it is currently 65%.

The proposed changes will also make it easier for employers to force employees onto individual contracts, effectively ‘no contract, no job’, and make it harder for unions to enforce proper workplace standards and conditions.

In relation to public education I think my message is almost identical to the message that David Taft gave us in terms of the higher education sector. We are certainly in no doubt as to what this government thinks. Public provision should be of the safety net variety, a residual system for those who cannot access private schools. That is quite clearly their intention. They’re using a two-fold strategy to achieve this.

The first one is funding. The second is standards, calling into question the quality of what is happening in schools. Looking at funding first. Under the mantra of ‘choice’ the coalition government has unashamedly transferred massive amounts of public funding to private schools irrespective of their accumulated wealth or the fees they charge. In addition it has actively encouraged and funded the establishment of hundreds of new non-government schools. At the moment, 70% of federal funding goes to the one third of students that attend private schools. This reinforces the user-pays philosophy. It begins at pre-school and, as we have heard, goes right through to tertiary education, which for my generation was free, and now because of major structural and funding changes are increasingly the province of the rich.

We are already seeing the consequences of this across the university and schools sector. ABS Census data shows that the wealthier the family the more likely that children will attend private schools. Two and a half times more likely in secondary schools and twice as likely in primary schools. Enrolment statistics are also showing that the socio-economic background of Australian university students are already changing. In education the two-tiered system is fast becoming a reality across the board, from pre-school on.

The establishment of Australian Technical Colleges is another example. While this is ostensibly to counter a shortage in trade skills, will further undermine existing public provision in regional areas. Its no coincidence that in the recent tendering process to run these colleges, tenders from public providers where almost completely overlooked in favour of private sector consortia. Debates about the quality of education and teachers need also to be seen in the context of this privatisation agenda.

We have much to learn from the experiences in the US. The American educator Al Ficone says we should be acutely aware of the risks inherent in the mantle of ‘school reform’ being appropriated by those who oppose the whole idea of quality public education. He reminds us that the most vocal proponents of narrowly defined top-down standards and coercive pressure type of accountability have no interests in helping struggling schools to meet requirements. For those people public education is not something, which should be made better, it is something from which we should be made free. That is the message being reinforced by our current Prime Minister who with regular monotony conveys the impression that people who send their children to public schools care less about their children than those who make ‘sacrifices’ to get a private school education.

It’s also the message behind the provision of vouchers for children who fail to meet academic benchmarks. As well as removing much needed funding from the schools in which those children are enrolled, it says to the community that those schools are not to be trusted and that government money is better spent going into the pockets of private individuals and companies who are not accountable for the outcomes.

The Federal Minister continues to down play success stories such as Australia’s performance in international assessment programs. Instead he actively fosters the view that Australia’s schools and teachers are somehow failing. He has generated a range of inquiries, investigations and reviews, which have the effect of creating and reinforcing an image of a profession in disarray. Capitalising on the fact that all eight state and territory governments are Labour, he has placed most of the blame on Sate Governments and Teacher Unions. By implication it is government schools which are causing concern.

The moves towards standardisation, regulation and micro-management in education cut across innovation, diversity and quality relationships. They are the absolute antithesis of what is needed. They actually work to reduce the quality of what happens in schools. For those schools who are struggling, in order for them to continue to get their funding, they will have to focus more and more in basic skills. It means that subjects such as music, art and literature will become the province of those who are already privileged. In addition they divert attention away from the real issues of equity and fairness.

The trade union movement, through the ACTU, as you are aware is engaged in a major campaign about the IR changes. This campaign is founded on the notions of fair play and decent living standards which workers helped to establish. The results of that campaign show that it is an argument that can and is being won. We are getting a very positive response.

In relation to education it is the policy area of most vulnerability for the coalition government. Supporters of public schools campaigned very strongly in the lead up to the last federal election for a commitment to a fair funding model, based on need. This was and still is supported by a majority of Australians who understand that quality public education is a basic human right. It is not a privilege to be reserved for those who can’t pay.

We are at a critical point in the debate around both of these issues. The success of both campaigns is precisely because they are embedded in values that are critical to our sense of who we are. The debates are by no means won, but most importantly, neither are they lost. We don’t always remember that. Guy Rundle is right when he talks about the way values are changing, there’s no doubt about that. It’s up to us though to redefine those values in ways that are meaningful to Australians generally. Our message to John Howard is that we won’t go away. We are here to stay. Our ideas, our influence, have to be underpinned by effective community campaigning which provides an alternative to the Howard agenda.

Australian Education Union http://www.aeufederal.org.au/

Australian Council of Trade Unions www.actu.asn.au

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