Tehan withdraws attack on Victorian Premier over school stance - Sydney Morning Herald

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has withdrawn his attack on Daniel Andrews and admitted his frustrations led him to “overstep the mark”, after he accused the Victorian Premier of demonstrating a “failure of leadership” for not reopening schools.

Mr Tehan's attack on the ABC's Insiders program on Sunday morning threatened to collapse national cabinet unity, as a clash erupted between the Commonwealth and Victorian governments on schools.

Education Minister Dan Tehan wants schools to reopen to students within weeks.Credit:AAP

In a statement released on Sunday afternoon, Mr Tehan said he was thinking of the poorer educational outcomes for up to half of Australian primary and secondary students if remote learning continued in the long term when he made the attack on Mr Andrews.

“It was those examples I was thinking of this morning during my interview on Insiders when I expressed my personal frustration that more schools weren’t starting more in-class learning in my home state,” Mr Tehan said.

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“It was this frustration that led me to overstep the mark in questioning Premier Andrew’s leadership on this matter, and I withdraw.

“As Education Minister it is my job to take a national view of education and do everything possible to ensure our children are getting the best possible opportunities. I will continue working constructively with my state counterparts as they run their state school systems to support them with the best medical and education expert advice the federal government can offer.”

Mr Tehan said the Victorian Chief Health Officer had provided more cautious advice to Mr Andrews than that of the Australian Health Principles Protection Committee.

“Like many of my colleagues – state and federal, no matter their political party – I have heard countless stories of families struggling to cope with juggling remote learning and remote working, as well as children in vulnerable circumstances suffering because of the situation the COVID pandemic has created,” he said.

Mr Tehan had earlier said the Victorian Premier's reluctance to reopen schools was a clear "failure of leadership" and that he should be called out for his lack of a plan on returning children to classrooms.

Ms Mikakos said schools would remain closed for a vast majority of students and teachers and that her government was following the advice of Professor Sutton.

"I think Victorians understand who's been leading the effort in Victoria, how to keep them safe, to suppress the number of cases that we're seeing in Victoria, and that's certainly not been Dan Tehan," Ms Mikakos said.

"We look forward to the Prime Minister coming out today and explaining whether Dan Tehan's comments reflect the position of his government. I refer you to the comments the Prime Minister himself made recently where he encouraged Victorian parents to take the advice of the Victorian Premier."

Mr Tehan's attack on Mr Andrews came an hour before Ms Mikakos revealed a teacher at Meadowglen Primary School in Epping had tested positive to COVID-19, and that the school would be closed until Wednesday.

"I'm sure Dan Tehan would like to have that knowledge ... before making those remarks earlier today," Ms Mikakos said.

"Everybody wants to see kids back in the classroom as quickly as possible … what we don't want is the mixed messages about whether it is safe."

Mr Tehan said Professor Sutton was a part of the national expert panel that had advised it was safe for children to return to school with the correct protocols.

"This is a question for Dan Andrews," Mr Tehan told the ABC's Insiders program.

"Our national medical advice has been consistent right throughout this: it's safe for schools to open and it's safe for teachers to be in the classroom when the right protocols are in place.

"That same chief health officer is on the national medical expert panel, and that national medical expert panel says that it's safe for children to be at school and it's safe for teachers to be at school with the right protocols."

Mr Tehan said other state and territory leaders – including South Australian Premier Steven Marshall, West Australian Premier Mark McGowan and Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner – had taken a sledgehammer to COVID-19 without doing the same to the schools system, like Mr Andrews.

He said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also had plans to reopen their schools in the coming weeks.

"We have one premier in particular who is jeopardising the national consensus on this," Mr Tehan said.

"What has Gladys done? She now has a plan to open her schools and she has started opening her schools. Yet here in Victoria, we don't have one. We have nothing. And it is the children ultimately in the end, and those most disadvantaged, who are suffering.

"And I think it's time that we seriously call Dan Andrews out on this.

"What we've seen is outstanding leadership from Michael Gunner, from Steven Marshall and Mark McGowan. They're two Labor and one Liberal – this isn't political. What they should do is listen to the medical experts, and then the premiers should listen to the medical experts."

Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien said Mr Andrews should explain why the state was not following in the footsteps of the rest of the country in easing strict stay-at-home restrictions, or explaining when restrictions could be wound back.

"Daniel Andrews might try to make a virtue of having a very tough position when it comes to restrictions, and I don't know that he knows how to walk back from that even when the circumstances permit," Mr O'Brien said.

"The national cabinet decision has been brought forward to Friday and Daniel Andrews is still saying, I don't care what's decided there, I'm not going to be making decisions until Monday. That's stubbornness, that's pigheadedness."

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese called for the Morrison government to leave the responsibility of when to reopen schools to the states and territories.

"My concern here is the Prime Minister one day is saying it's up to the states and territories, and the next day offering advice and making suggestions that are contrary to the advice of the states and territories," the Labor leader told Sky News on Sunday morning.

"I think what parents want, and what they tell me, is they want clarity. They want clear advice about when schools will go back so they can plan their own lives.

"I think we should listen to the medical advice, I don’t think what we should do is have political leaders giving different advice different days.

"I think what that does is create confusion; it makes it impossible for parents to plan in terms of their own work patterns."

The federal opposition's education spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, said parents should follow the medical advice, but "we don't need the federal education minister trying to bully and harass state education ministers and state governments".

"States and territories have been working so well with the Commonwealth government," she said.

"Everybody wants to see kids back in the classroom as quickly as possible ... what we don't want is the mixed messages about whether it is safe."

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2020-05-03 05:01:49Z
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