AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
Press Release 974
All the NSW Minns Government Ministers are
Public School Graduates – Except the Minister for Education
The election of the Minns Labor Government in NSW and indeed the return of Labor Governments throughout Australia is, in part, a reaction to the deliberate neglect and denial which has left public schools and TAFE grossly underfunded in comparison with private schools. Angelo Gavrielatos, the President of the NSW Teachers Federation in his 26 March Press Release, said:
“Federation is ready to work with the incoming Minns Government to urgently address the unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries of teachers that are responsible for the teacher shortage crisis and begin the implementation of NSW Labor’s commitments of greater support and funding for public schools and TAFE.”
But perhaps the most interesting thing about the new Minnds Government Ministry is that all of its members went to public schools – with one notable exception – the Minister for Education, Prue Carr. She went to a Catholic girls school.
In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, of March 26 2023 entitled Meet the People set to make up the next NSW Government, Christopher Harris listed their CVs as follows:
Prue Car
Born and raised in western Sydney, deputy premier-elect and soon-to-be education minister Prue Car has been the member for Londonderry since she won the seat from the Liberals in 2015. She was educated at a Catholic girls school. Before joining parliament she worked as the national communications manager for Multiple Sclerosis Australia and was also an adviser to former premier Bob Carr. Last year she was diagnosed with a kidney tumour before undergoing treatment. She has one son, Max, who is in primary school and last October became engaged to her partner Brad.
John Graham
John Graham is expected to be Minister for Roads as well as the Arts when the Minns ministry is sworn in. He has been a member of the NSW upper house since 2016. Graham grew up in government housing in Albury, moved to Newcastle and graduated from Newcastle High before completing a bachelor of economics at the University of Sydney. Before joining parliament, he worked in the higher education sector, was assistant general secretary for the NSW Labor Party and was deputy chief of staff to former NSW premier Nathan Rees. He was a vocal critic of the previous government’s lockout laws. He is married with two children.
Daniel Mookhey
Daniel Mookhey is set to be the next treasurer of NSW. His parliamentary career goes back to 2015 when he was elected to the upper house. The son of migrants from the state of Punjab in northern India, he was born in Blacktown and was raised in Merrylands. He attended Model Farms High School in Baulkham Hills and then Girraween High School and embarked on a career in the union movement. He worked as a lawyer for the Transport Workers Union before joining parliament. His Labor colleagues credit him as playing a key role in uncovering numerous Coalition party scandals including the Barilaro trade saga. He is married with two children. Around NSW Parliament House, he is known for his strong sense of individual style and is often seen wearing different swathes of colourful dots, stripes paired with bold coloured glasses.
Jo Haylen
Jo Haylen is expected to be the state’s next Transport Minister. Haylen grew up in Sydney, attended Artarmon Public and Willoughby Girls High School. At the age of 15 after hearing Pauline Hanson’s maiden speech to parliament in 1996, she organised for her classmates to attend a rally in the CBD against the notion that Australia should return to the days of the White Australia Policy. She completed an arts degree at the University of Sydney and later worked for future prime ministers Anthony Albanese and Julia Gillard in her 20s before being elected the member for Summer Hill in the 2015 election.
Penny Sharpe
Penny Sharpe has been in the NSW upper house since 2005 and is expected to be the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. She grew up in Canberra, went to public schools before studying at the University of NSW. She was president of the National Union of Students and has worked as policy advisers for former state ministers. Sharpe has a broad range of experience in parliament, having previously been the shadow minister for transport, family and community services. She has three children and was the first openly gay woman to take a seat in the NSW Parliament.
Ryan Park
Ryan Park is expected to be the minister for health and mental health. He was raised in Dapto in the Illawarra then attended Dapto High, where he became school captain. Park studied teaching at the University of Wollongong. He majored in health and physical education and won the university medal in that faculty. He went on to become a PE teacher at Illawarra High. Since then, he has worked as a curriculum adviser at the Department of Education, chief of staff to former Labor MP and transport minister David Campbell and deputy director general for Transport NSW. His time in Parliament has included a stint as shadow treasurer. His hobbies include running, bushwalking and reading.
Paul Scully
Paul Scully has been the member for Wollongong since 2016 and is set to be the state’s next Planning and Police Minister. Scully was raised in the village of Mount Kembla on the outskirts of Wollongong, attended Mount Kembla Public School and Figtree High School and was the first in his family to graduate from university. He has a background in economics and was the chief operating officer at the University of Wollongong’s Australian Institute for Innovative Materials.
Paul Scully has been the member for Wollongong since 2016 and is set to be the state’s next planning and police minister.
DOGS congratulate the NSW Labor Party on their win in NSW and look forward to the Labor Party in Victoria and the rest of Australia recognising the importance of a public education in this country.
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