COALITION HIDING THEIR PLANS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

As voting ramps up for the 2025 Federal Election, Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton has made clear that he wants to tell teachers how to teach and what to teach and that funding will be withheld unless they comply but is hiding their plans for the Australian Curriculum.

Despite millions of Australians already voting, the Coalition has still not released their planned changes for the Australian Curriculum. This is despite Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson promising that “we'll have more to say about that during the campaign" earlier this month.

The Coalition’s plan to tie school funding to changes in the curriculum highlights the danger to public education of electing Peter Dutton as Prime Minister.

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said that education has been a priority issue for voters this election and the continued silence from the Coalition on their plans is unacceptable.

“Peter Dutton and the Coalition have attacked teachers throughout this campaign, with Trump-style fake claims of indoctrination and woke agendas. And they have threatened to tie school funding to their reform agenda. But with only days to go and millions of Australians having already voted, they have failed to outline the actual changes they will make to the Australian curriculum, if elected to government,” Ms Haythorpe said.

“With plans for school funding to be tied to a curriculum based on Mr Dutton’s ideology, the Australian people must immediately be told what the Coalition’s plans for the curriculum would look like before they vote, as promised.”

“Australia’s teachers have campaigned for increased public school funding and they deserve to be backed fully by governments with the resources needed in schools to deliver a high quality education for every child. They also deserve to be respected and trusted to do their jobs without political interference.”

“The Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton must come clean on his plans for public education before Saturday’s election.”

Free TAFE

This comes as figures out today show that TAFE students in the 10 most popular courses will pay more than $4000 per person under a Coalition Government’s plans to cut Free TAFE.

“Free TAFE is providing cost of living relief to hundreds of thousands of Australians who are undertaking vocational education and gaining skills for the jobs Australia needs,” Ms Haythorpe said.

“With 600,000 enrolments, Free TAFE has changed lives, providing opportunity to so many Australians who otherwise would not have been able to access vocational education. This is now at risk under a Dutton Government.”

“The previous Coalition government gutted TAFE, with campus and course closures, job losses, and escalating debts for students, and that is set to be replicated if the Coalition wins the election.”

“TAFE is the most cost-effective way for governments to deliver vocational skills, and in the middle of a skills crisis, abolishing Free TAFE wouldn’t just deny opportunity to hundreds of thousands of Australians, it would be a direct threat to Australia’s economic future.”

“Australia needs political leaders who will back public education, not cut it to the bone,” Ms Haythorpe said.

ENDS

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