MEMBER for New England Barnaby Joyce has come under fire, after he was unable to meet with local education advocates in Canberra this week.
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Delegates from the education industry claim the Deputy Prime Minister denied them a meeting following a planned trip to Parliament House on Thursday to celebrate Public Education Week.
Regional P&C Federation president Rachael Sowden, Hillvue Public School principal Chris Shaw and Armidale Teachers’ Association representative Michael Sciffer flew to Canberra to meet with the Deputy PM.
However, a spokesperson for Mr Joyce’s office said it issued correspondence late last week to the Australian Education Union that Mr Joyce was unable to come to the table.
Ms Sowden said she was disappointed the MP was not able to speak to representatives from his own electorate about issues related to funding, children with a disability and indigenous education.
“I left my 14-year-old disabled son at home so I could come and speak to him about kids with a disability. We travelled all the way to Canberra and he is refusing to meet with us,” she said.
“There are delegations from across Australia here. We are very frustrated he wouldn’t take the time and effort. We had to leave our normal lives to come to him and he is too busy to meet with us.”
Ms Sowden claimed Mr Joyce’s office had been aware of the meeting for “some time” and the trip had been planned for weeks.
The group instead met with opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek.
A spokesperson for the Deputy Prime Minister’s office said Mr Joyce had a “heavy schedule.”
“On 19 May, the union representative was informed by the Deputy Prime Minister’s office that due to his heavily committed schedule during a busy Parliamentary sitting week, he was unable to schedule any further appointments for the requested time,” the spokesperson said.
“The Deputy Prime Minister’s office also suggested that the union representatives contact the Minister for Education’s office to organise a meeting to discuss education issues.
“The DPM’s office understands that the union had an appointment with the Minister for Education, but it was later cancelled by the union. Mr Joyce is always happy to discuss issues of local and national importance with his constituents.”
