In Tasmania, union urges politicians not to visit schools — ABC News Australia

Tasmania's education union in Australia has called on politicians and their representatives not to visit public schools until the end of the school year, until state Premier Jeremy Rockliff apologizes. The reason was his Facebook post about one school's preparations for an end-of-year event, ABC News Australia reports.

Dispute over school celebration

Rockliff said he had learned of attempts to remove all mentions of Christmas from end-of-school-year events and asked the education department to intervene. He did not name the school, but the institution in northern Tasmania was quickly identified on social media, after which it faced a wave of online criticism.

The school had planned to rename its Christmas on the Hill event the End of Year Extravaganza. At the same time, several Christmas-themed events remained on its calendar.

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The Tasmanian branch of the Australian Education Union held an emergency meeting to discuss the distress and harm caused by the situation. Branch president David Genford said that parents and educators in the state were outraged by the premier's refusal to apologize and by the fact that he had, in his words, continued to defend his position.

Response from authorities and opposition

Rockliff rejected the union's bullying claims and said he had the right to express his opinion and that his comments had been measured. Earlier, he also condemned any attacks on individuals or schools.

Tasmania's Treasurer Eric Abetz supported the premier and said that parliamentarians would still attend end-of-year school events. Labor leader Josh Willie, by contrast, expressed full support for the union members' position and called on the premier to apologize, visit the school, and support its staff and students.