Politics in the Pub: Education – The Way Forward

(download BM Union News June 2013)

The Blue Mountains Unions Council’s Politics in the Pub series returns June 1 with a forum on education and its funding, topics that are expected to be hotly debated all the way up to the September Federal election.

Kenneth Davidson, the experienced and independent thinking senior economics columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age, will be the forum’s keynote speaker.  He is a past winner of the Walkley Award for excellence in Australian journalism.

Mr Davidson is a “Keynesian” economist with a passionate belief in a strong public sector that supports its citizens in reaching their fullest potential in a secure healthy environment.   He follows his passion by co-editing with his partner, Lesley Vick, the Dissent Magazine (www. dissent.com.au).

In a recent article in the SMH he took umbrage with the way the Gillard government has adopted the recommendations of the Gonski review of school funding.  He thought funding, albeit increased, was still being spread too widely and a more targeted approach would provide more to those school children in real need.

Jude Pearce is the event’s second speaker and she will tell an inspirational story on the intrinsic life transforming value of education.  An indigenous woman in her 50s, she was doing it tough, including being a cancer survivor, when she embarked on a Tertiary Preparation Certificate at Wentworth Falls TAFE.  She not only passed, but her mark of 94.7 topped the state in legal studies.

Rounding off the speakers and giving a higher education perspective is Genevieve Kelly, the Secretary of the NSW division of the National Tertiary education Union, who will speak on the contentious issue of university funding.

Kerry Cooke, Blue Mountains Unions Council President, felt this forum "would help inform Blue Mountains voters on one of the key issues of the 2013 Federal Election".

The forum, Education – The Way Forward , will be held at Katoomba’s Blackburns Family Hotel on Saturday 1 June 2013 at 2.30 pm. Admission is free. Macquarie Candidates for the Liberals, Labor and Greens will be invited to attend.  Kenneth Davidson has generously agreed to stay back for a period afterwards for personal conversations.