NSW Education Secretary Murat Dizdar’s neck on the line if Coalition government elected

NSW Coalition leader Mark Speakman has vowed to sack the current head of the Education Department if he wins the next state election. Read the latest.

NSW Coalition leader Mark Speakman has vowed to sack the current head of the Education Department if he wins the next state election, with the top bureaucrat under increasing pressure for making controversial comments about private education.

Mr Speakman said firing Education Secretary Murat Dizdar is “the logical conclusion” after the department head drew the ire of Catholic and independent school families for suggesting their future “needs to be debated and discussed”.

“Those comments are clearly unacceptable,” the Coalition leader said, slamming the “extraordinarily radical proposition” to abolish private schools and accusing Mr Dizdar of “soften(ing) people up for change”.

“We’re all in favour of the very best public school system we can have on offer, but it’s been part of the New South Wales education system for over a century that there is choice,” Mr Speakman said.

“His position is untenable – it’s one thing to have an education secretary who might have different, alternative views on particular pedagogy or curriculum elements, but this goes to the core of our education system.”

New South Wales opposition leader Mark Speakman says he would sack Mr Dizdar if elected in 2027. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

Mr Dizdar was appointed to the top job when Labor formed government under Chris Minns at the 2023 election, promoted from his previous position as Deputy Secretary for School Operations and Performance and ousting previous secretary Georgina Harrisson in the process.

His tenure had been largely uncontroversial until on Monday the ABC published several remarks attributed to Mr Dizdar that didn’t make the final cut of its Australian Story episode on the former teacher.

Secretary of the NSW Department of Education Murat Dizdar speaks at Budget estimates in February 2024. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

The public broadcaster quoted Mr Dizdar as saying “countries across the world … have been very successful on their educational path with one provision, and that’s been a public provision”, prompting an outcry from Catholic Schools NSW CEO Dallas McInerney who described the comments as “outrageously bad”.

Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday said he would be “a giant hypocrite” if he attempted to put an end to private education, having chosen to send his own sons to a Catholic school, and stressed that Mr Dizdar’s personal view is not the one held by the government.

“He’s entitled to his view, NSW is not a dictatorship and people are entitled to have their say on different policy issues,” Mr Minns said.

“I want to make it completely clear that we support choice for parents in NSW. It does provide parents in our state the opportunity to enrol their kids in religious education, Catholic education, independent education and that’s a good thing.

“We’re certainly not going to stop it or change policies in relation to it.”

Originally published as NSW Education Secretary Murat Dizdar’s neck on the line if Coalition government elected