Sarah Mitchell versus Prue Car: would-be education ministers go head-to-head in heated debate

A civil debate between prospective education ministers turned heated after Labor’s Prue Car was unable to say how much her party would want to pay teachers after scrapping the wage cap.

The incumbent education minister and her opposition counterpart have traded fiery barbs over Labor’s uncosted plan to scrap the wage cap for public sector workers, including teachers.

At a pre-election debate in front of a crowd of school leaders, system heads and representatives of the state’s peak education bodies, the shadow minister and deputy leader of the opposition Prue Car pitched increased wages for teachers as a key part of her party’s solution to the workforce shortage, accusing the minister Sarah Mitchell of ignoring the crisis and needing “a reality check”.

“Why can’t the government say ‘actually, yes, there is a shortage’,” she asked.

“The denial of this as an issue is just mind boggling, and it’s straight out offensive to parents and teachers … where there are merged and cancelled classes every day.

“We are removing the wages cap so that teachers, nurses, paramedics, police officers, can argue for a pay increase in a fair industrial relations system as opposed to an arbitrary cap that politicians put on them based on legislation.”

NSW Shadow Minister for Education and deputy Labor leader Prue Car at a media conference in Sydney. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard.

Ms Mitchell hit back by pointing out Labor’s plan to scrap the public sector wage cap hasn’t been costed.

“What worries me about that is they haven’t put a figure on it, they haven’t talked about how much they will pay,” Ms Mitchell said.

“At one point, Chris means we’re saying obviously, it will match inflation. Now he’s saying no, of course, it won’t match inflation. There is no clarity for anyone in New South Wales as to how much that will cost.”

When challenged to put a price tag on how much a Labor government would put on the table for teachers specifically, Ms Car could not name a figure.

“What we would put in place is actually a fair industrial relations bargaining system again, where teachers and nurses and paramedics and public service workers … can actually argue for a pay increase and better pay and conditions,” she replied.

“With all respect Prue, that’s not an answer,” Ms Mitchell fired back.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell with Wendy Lindsay, Member for East Hill, and students of De La Salle College in Revesby Heights. Picture: POOL/ NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“You have to go through a process, through cabinet, through (the Expenditure Review Committee) to say this is the range, this is what we’re prepared to negotiate within.

“But you can’t go into an industrial relations process as a government with no idea what your parameters are going to be. You have to have an answer to that.”

Ms Mitchell pointed out that salaries are by far the biggest expense of the state’s education budget, and challenged her opposition over what would be cut from elsewhere in order to increase wages.

“These aren’t trick questions, they’re serious questions. If you want to be the minister in two weeks’ time, you have to know how to answer that.”

Ms Car said the taxpayers of NSW will have their answer when the parliamentary budget office’s independent costing of both Labor and the Coalition’s election policies are released on Monday.

“We’re not in a position to put a limit on that now and the minister well knows that,” the shadow minister said.

“This is a government attempting to explain their policy of underpaying public service workers away. They can do that every day for the next 11 days, as far as I’m concerned.”