Bernieboy

I still have mine

Pollyana

Any chance of a Red Cross package?! - There's a Twiglet shortage here too

Pollyana

Next in the Newman firing line...I know we have some Brisbane parents on here with musical kids, hope this doesn't impact on them


EDUCATION Minister John-Paul Langbroek has identified $22.8 million in cuts for his department and confirmed the axing of the Fanfare school bands festival.

As The Courier-Mail reported today, the $88,000 biennial festival and the $86,000 MOST (Musically Outstanding Students) program have been scrapped by the Newman Government.

About 19,000 school children participate in Fanfare, which will have its final festival in Brisbane at the end of the month.

Kim67

He's really started war with this one, the petitions are up everywhere.

Pollyana

I'm not surprised, what a programme to attack

GarryP

$22.8 million in cuts
$88,000 biennial festival
$86,000 MOST

He resists until close to the time of the vote/implementation; then relents. Result, a bunch of parents think they've won a victory, but in the meantime he's bought relatively easy passage for $22.6 in education cuts (that parents would usually give him hell over) with a spend of $170k - which he probably wasn't fussed about in the first place.

Kim67

Yep, a***hole, his children are protected in their own little world of private school, but for those of us that have chosen to take our kids out of private schooling and into the public system to take advantage of schools with excellence programs (one of the big one's music) this is a real kick in the pants. I dropped middle child to school for band this morning at 7.30am and eldest has cello this afternoon so am hoping that the music teachers send home some type of petition for us all to sign too.

Pollyana

Your family was one of those that came to mind when I saw the article as I know your kids are very into music and the Arts.
If it was sport being cut there would be a huge outcry, but these subjects seem to be first for cuts every time, really unfair.

Kim67

Thanks, let's hope the Ballet Program doesn't suffer the same fate.

DadAgain

I'll be interests to see what the ramifications are on daughters' school. They do an enormous amount of extra curricular music and the school are particularly proud of there competition winning choirs and string ensembles... (for some reason the wind band are rubbish).....
The principal seems really keen to promote music whenever he's speaking to parents.... Particularly interesting since Newman is our local member!!

(FYi - no I didn't vote for him, either directly or indirectly)

Pollyana

I thought I remembered you talking about music at school. Brought up in a very musical family myself, and my nephew is now studying Music and Professional Performance at university - we always had plenty of music of all kinds around us at home, but so many kids are totally reliant on schools for music and singing; I feel really sorry for those who will now lose out

rajj

Maybe there in lies the problem....you cant keep politics out of politics. Victoria is going through something similar but on a much smaller scale as the libs here dont have a thumping majority. I guess people get what they voted for :-(

chris955

The problem is that a person, a company, a State or a Country cannot live beyond it's means forever.

rajj

So what exactly are you saying - that the public servants SHOULD be fired because we cannot afford them?

old.sparkles

But cutting too many jobs has a serious negative impact, not only on the individuals concerned - but the whole economy.

Rising unemployment leads to increases in benefit payments so government costs go up, at a time when revenues are falling because of lost taxes and peoples response to rising unemployment is often to spend less and save for rainy days. So you end up fairly quickly in a downward spiral which is hard to get out of.

By the way - whats the story with politicians hiring family on temp contracts when all others have been laid off - thats got to be a sticky issue