Liberals


 * Liberal/National Candidate Responses**

**Dear Georgia,**

I am writing on behalf of the Liberal/Nation Coalition in response to your email regarding teacher librarians.

As a former primary principal and being married to a teacher librarian I can attest to the importance of the role.

Due to the parlous state of Victoria’s finances in which funding would not be available for the millions of dollars a year this would cost and also, due to the fact that our policy is written and costed, we will be unable to announce any new policy in this area before the election.

If however, we are elected, I would be very happy to sit down with your association to discuss this issue and how best to use the skills of our teacher librarians and enhance children’s literacy and research skills in Victoria’s Government schools.

Best wishes.

Yours sincerely

MARTIN DIXON MP State Member for Nepean Shadow Minister for Education

Response from a Vic TL

It appears, yet again, that Teacher Librarians in government schools are completely off the radar as a priority in the education policies of all parties. If the Liberal Party was serious about funding for government schools, they would have a serious and costed policy concerning Teacher Librarians, given the focus that the BER has placed on school libraries. Offering to sit down AFTER the election, to have a nice little committment-free chat is patronising, to say the least. If there are no costings for provision of Teacher Librarians in all government schools in the coming parliamentary cycle, it would be another three years before anything MIGHT happen, given the predilection of governments to hold "Inquiries" (the findings of which are generally ignored) before they make any decisions these days. Oh please and thank you!!! I'll believe it when I see it. By the way, apart from some of the smaller non-government schools, I have not noted any decline in the provision of Teacher Librarians in the private school system in Victoria. Do they know something which our politicans don't?

Thank you for your letter to the Leader of the Opposition, Ted Baillieu.

As you will likely be aware, writs have now been issued for the state election to be held on 27 November. After 11 years of Labor Government failures, Victorians now have a choice.

Broken promises, increased cost of living pressures, waste and mismanagement and failing basic services are putting unnecessary pressures on Victorians.

We hope you will get behind Ted and the Coalition in the weeks ahead as we seek to take real action to fix the problems and build the future for Victoria.

Unfortunately, from Opposition, we have limited resources and may not be able to respond to your letter in detail during the campaign period, but your comments will be brought to Ted’s attention and that of the Coalition team.

If you would like to see more detailed policy information please go to [|www.tedbaillieu.com.au] or [|www.vic.liberal.org.au]

Thank you for taking the time to contact Ted.

Kind regards Chantalle Abou-Haila

Office of Ted Baillieu Member for Hawthorn Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party Leader of the Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Leader of the Opposition

T (03) 9882 4088 I F (03) 9882 4051 I E Chantalle.Abou-Haila@parliament.vic.gov.au

Response from parent:

I acknowledge the general response to my earlier email but given that it did not even touch on the points that I raised, I again ask:-
 * Do you support the campaign for a qualified Teacher Librarian (T.L.) in every school?
 * How do plan to support strong school library programs that are adequately funded and staffed with trained T.L.s in order to achieve the national goals for literacy and information literacy?
 * What will you do to provide equitable funding levels across all schools for resource purchase and T.L. staffing?

With the ongoing discussions about libraries, particularly in the wake of the B.E.R. and the Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians, your answers to the questions posed are relevant to the public as we monitor exactly how our State and Federal governments plan to develop our education facilities. I shall be posting your response for the general public to view, together with my original letter. Kind regards,