The Education Minister should end her silence and tell Territorians what she intends to do
to counter theft and rorting at remote schools as identified in the latest ICAC report.
Shadow Minister for Education, Jo Hersey, said the Independent Commissioner Against
Corruption’s findings against the Principal at the remote Milingimbi School demanded a
response and measures to ensure there is no repeat at other Territory schools.
“Hopefully Milingimbi is the exception and the practices identified there are not replicated
in other Territory schools,” Mrs Hersey said.
“However, the ICAC report raises serious questions about the quality of governance at
schools in very remote communities.
“The Minister needs to detail what she knows about governance failings at this and other
remote schools and what she intends to do about them.
“It is alarming that approximately half-a-million dollars of public funding to educate some of
the Territory’s most disadvantaged children could be misappropriated undetected and with
such apparent ease to ultimately increase the public funding available to be rorted.
“Also troubling was the ease with which systems were manipulated.
“Worse, we now know the Education Union reported issues with Milingimbi’s principal to
the Education Department two years before
“The report was released earlier this week and I am yet to hear a response by the Minister
to ICAC’s findings and 16 recommendations to the Department of Education.
“Education Minister Lauren Moss needs to immediately end her silence and provide
guarantees that what happened at Milingimbi will not be repeated elsewhere.”