Wednesday, 25 May 2022

Western Metropolitan Region

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (12:44): (1793) My question is to the Minister for Education in the other place, and it is from a resident, Vera. Can the minister advise how many teachers have since the start of the pandemic, one, resigned; two, had their contract expire; and three, been stood down? Last month I asked the minister a question regarding mandates for teachers, and I thank him for his prompt response. In his response he stated that:

… 99.6 per cent of government school teachers have been triple vaccinated. Given this, there have not been any staff shortages due to the vaccination mandate.

Vera contacted my office regarding this response. She advised me that she is part of a group of teachers numbering over 1000 who are not fully vaccinated and are working as cleaners, picking and packing fruit and doing deliveries for restaurants. Minister, could you please answer this question about the amount of teachers that have been lost since the start of the pandemic?

The PRESIDENT: Again, the constituency question should be related to your electorate. I do not think this is. I have to look at it, Dr Cumming.