Chief Minister Natasha Fyles visits Canberra to discuss education, health

The Chief Minister will fly to Canberra to discuss education, health, and needs-based funding with a range of ministers, hoping to secure the Territory’s ‘slice of the pie’.

The Chief Minister will fly to Canberra to advocate for the NT less than a week after Territory educators called for increased school funding and better educational standards.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles will meet with the East Coast’s politicians to ensure Territorians are “getting our fair slice of the pie”.

“We know delivering services here in the Territory is much more expensive than other jurisdictions,” she said.

“Funding a school in Peppimenarti is more expensive than Parramatta, running a clinic in Ngukurr is more expensive than a North Shore Clinic; and they should not be treated the same.”

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has flown to Canberra to advocate for the NT’s ‘slice of the pie’. Picture: Sierra Haigh

It comes six days after the Australian Education Union delivered thousands of postcards to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, calling for increased funding for public schools across the country.

AEU NT branch president Michelle Ayres previously told this publication it was true NT schools were more expensive to run than schools in other states, but the funding needed to “plug” the Schooling Resource Standard gap was “a drop in the federal bucket”.

“For the amount of money this costs, we should be setting the standard for Closing The Gap in the Territory,” she said.

“At the moment, what we seem to be doing is setting the standard for widening the gap, because the majority of this disadvantage is actually felt by our bush schools.”

An AEU report found NT public schools were currently funded at 77 per cent of the SRS set out by the federal, state and territory governments, with each student underfunded by almost $8000.

Australian Education Union NT president Michelle Ayres said every NT school needed to be funded based on enrolment, not attendance.

As well as discussing education, Ms Fyles will join the national cabinet in discussing health outcomes and workforces.

The Territory’s 2023-24 budget revealed the NT government would spend about $2bn on health in the coming financial year.

Part of that spending included a new 32-bed ward at Royal Darwin Hospital.

But a survey of health sector employees found almost 50 per cent felt burned out and 86 per cent said they contributed to their workplace beyond their job description.

The Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals have been forced to call at least seven Code Yellows this year, as staff struggle to deal with a surge in demand.

Originally published as Chief Minister Natasha Fyles visits Canberra to discuss education, health