Tasmanian premier under fire over Christmas event comments

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 23 Oct, 03:32 · Archive

Tasmanian Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff has faced calls to apologise after posting about a school's decision to rename a Christmas event.

Tasmanian Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff posted on 14 October accusing a school of removing Christmas references from end-of-year celebrations. He called on the education department to step in and has since defended traditional Christmas values. In fact, the school in question had renamed one of its many Christmas events to End of Year Extravaganza to be more inclusive, rather than cancelling Christmas celebrations entirely.

The Australian Education Union and opposition politicians have called for Mr Rockliff to apologise, saying his comments have caused distress to the school community. Union branch president David Genford said parents and educators were "aghast" at the "public bullying" and "grubby politics". He accused Mr Rockliff of being ill-informed and of leaking details about the school and its principal to media. Mr Rockliff says the details came to the media outlet from a constituent.

The union has passed a motion calling for a ban on politicians attending public schools in term four unless Mr Rockliff apologises. However, Treasurer Eric Abetz indicated that parliamentary members would continue to attend schools for end-of-year functions.

How it is being reported

• Call for politician ban after 'grubby' Christmas postA premier's social media comments accusing a school of cancelling Christmas have sparked a heated debate, calls for an apology and for politicians to stay away.Perth Now · 23 Oct, 02:56
• Call for politician ban after 'grubby' Christmas postA premier's social media comments accusing a school of cancelling Christmas have sparked a heated debate, calls for an apology and for politicians to stay away.The West Australian · 23 Oct, 02:55

In this story: Jeremy Rockliff · Australian Education Union · David Genford · Eric Abetz · Tasmania

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