Queensland appoints conservative figures to school curriculum board as union leaders ousted | Queensland

Queensland’s Liberal-National government has removed two union-linked board members from the state’s curriculum body and will replace them with conservative figures, including the founding chairman of right-wing lobby group Advance.

Queensland Teachers Union president Cresta Richardson and Australian Independent Education Association branch secretary Terry Burke will be removed from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority board, education minister John-Paul Langbroek’s office confirmed on Thursday.

They will be replaced by Leesa Jeffcoat, the long-serving former diocesan director of Catholic Education, and James Power, a nephew of Queensland businessman, hotelier and Power Brewing founder Bernie Power.

Jeffcoat worked for the diocese of Rockhampton in senior roles in the Queensland Catholic education system for more than two decades.

Power also has strong ties to the Catholic community. and has recently attempted to establish his own school, St John Henry Newman College. described It will be opened in 2026 as “classical, in line with the western tradition”.

He was also the inaugural chairman and Founding supporter in 2018 Member of the right-wing lobby group Advance. At the time of its launch he was personally advocating against Tattersall’s Club in Brisbane. accepting women as members.

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Advance has since led an expanded campaign for 2050 net-zero emissions targets and has recently backed strict anti-immigration campaigns.

The Crisafulli government also appointed former director of the education department and regional director Mark Campling to the post of QCAA president. Sudden resignation in June He was replaced by previous chair Carol Nicoll after serving on the board for 11 years.

Richardson and Burke learned of their dismissals and replacements from media reports on Thursday morning.

“I was a bit surprised when I found out I had been removed through Australia,” Burke told Guardian Australia. “I always try to show kindness to the people I deal with, and I’d like to think I could receive similar kindness in return.”

Richardson said: “Queenslanders expect those appointed to key positions on the board to have experience, understanding and strong relationships within the education sector. I will leave that decision to the community to determine the qualifications of the new appointees and the way the process is handled.”

The changes come at a time when enterprise bargaining negotiations between Queensland public school teachers and the Crisafulli government have broken down; Teachers voted overwhelmingly in October to reject the government’s final offer of an 8% pay rise over three years.

Enterprise bargaining talks, which started in February, are going to arbitration at the Fair Work Commission. Union members have already gone on strike this year and new strikes are expected.

The QCAA board election also follows a high-profile bungling in which 140 students in nine schools spent the final weeks of Grade 12 preparing for the wrong Caesar’s final exam.

Education minister Langbroek described the changes to the QCAA as a “new beginning”.

“The QCAA board needs a range of skills that include educational leadership, governance and strong communication skills, and our changes will deliver that. This is about ensuring all Queensland students have access to a world-class education, no matter where they live,” he told The Australian newspaper.

Burke said he was “disappointed” at the suggestion that these were not the qualities he brought to the role. “This is honestly what I do every day,” he said.

Burke said he sees this role as a service to the education sector and “does the best I can in terms of expertise in government, communications and operational structures in schools.”

He rejected the suggestion that the confusion in the Caesar exam reflected poorly on QCAA processes.

“They’re very, very particular about the way they approach anything. I think it’s a matter of research on what’s happening at the school level,” Burke said.