Resolution, 20 July 2024: Branch Conference - Educating for Peace
That the AEU stands with the Australian union movement, as a movement of peace for all people and who oppose war, racism, and oppression.
The AEU Branch Conference notes the response of the AEU and as an affiliate of Education International, the ACTU, and the VTHC, all of whom have repeatedly called for a permanent ceasefire and an urgent peaceful solu:on to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
We stand with the Australian union movement’s call for “all community, civil society organisations and faith groups in Australia to build unity, oppose racism and promote cultural harmony and tolerance throughout their memberships”.
The AEU has always advocated for the rights of children and young people to be educated, live and learn in environments which are safe and healthy, and free from oppression including war. All wars impact significantly on women and children, and with the destruction of schools, deaths of thousands of children, and many teachers in Gaza, this is starkly evident. AEU Branch Conference condemns the deaths of more than 38,900 civilians since October 7, including 1200 Israelis and over 37,000 Palestinians. Millions of people in Gaza face food shortages, starvation, and little capacity to conduct a life with the freedom and resources we take for granted.
AEU Branch Conference supports and reiterates the April statement from the ACTU calling on the Australian government to increase funding for humanitarian assistance, to use all available measures to achieve a permanent ceasefire, to end all military trade with Israel, and to enact targeted sanctions on Israeli officials, and military and civil servants, who deny the provision of aid and humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the West Bank. To this end, and in the context of ongoing military ac:on by the Israeli government, the AEU Victorian Branch commits to continue to work with the Federal AEU and the broader union movement through the VTHC and the ACTU to consider further actions for the Federal government to enact that apply greater pressure on the Israeli government to agree to a permanent ceasefire. This could include further appropriate sanctions and other economic measures.
Branch Conference demands an end to the occupation of Palestine and a just and sustainable peace in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. Ending the occupation must include the removal of illegal settlements, the withdrawal of Israel from all Palestinian lands along with the dismantling of the separation wall.
Therefore, branch conference commits itself to organising and promoting an AEU contingent at the Free Palestine rallies in Melbourne. That we aim to organise and grow this contingent on a monthly basis, for example the first Sunday of every month.
The AEU supports the ACTU’s call, in line with their commitment to a two-state solution, “on all countries to recognise, without delay, Palestine as a sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital. This will confirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in a free and independent Palestine.”
Educating for peace
Branch Conference recognises the AEU’s (and its predecessor unions) longstanding commitment to peace, which has been realised, in part, through strong advocacy for children and young people and in peace education programs and learning materials. This work seeks to empower students through teaching them about the importance of building, maintaining, and promoting cultures of peace and eliminating all forms of violence.
Effective peace education relies on teachers having the professional agency to develop and provide teaching and learning experiences which call out the violence and injustice which is at the heart of war and conflict. The agency of teachers and their professional judgement, based on their knowledge, skills, and experience, must be exercised in a way which enables teachers to make decisions and act in the context in which they work. It must be done without AEU members being confined by kneejerk political reactions or limitations on their professional rights.
The conflict in the Middle East shows the critical importance of peace education and the role of educators to help students develop critical thinking skills and media literacy to counter the spread of disinformation, and to achieve communities free from conflict, with peaceful relations at the centre.
The AEU again calls on the Allan government and the Department of Education to ensure that:
- AEU members have the resources, guidance and support they need to educate for peace and to engage in respectful discussions with students and colleagues, without fear of hate and discrimination.
- AEU members have a right to engage appropriately and respectfully with their colleagues about community issues, including the current conflict in the Middle East, and
- teachers and other educators and all those who are enrolled in Victorian kindergartens, public schools, and TAFEs and who are impacted by the conflict are provided with the support they need.
Militarisation of schools
AEU Branch Conference reaffirms the union’s commitment to continue to work with the anti-war, peace, and broader union movement to expose and oppose the threat inherent in the rise in militarism and growing nuclear proliferation, as well as a focus on peace education and the role of unions in this movement over many years.
The AEU is deeply committed to peace, opposes militarism, and asserts that war should never be used to resolve international conflict. There have been too many :mes in history when warmongering and armaments build-up have led to international conflict, death, and destruction.
Branch Conference notes the decision by AEU Federal Executive in March 2023 to oppose the AUKUS security pact. There is no place for a politicised pro-AUKUS curriculum in our schools, alongside other private industries who attempt to use schools as a vehicle for promo:on of their own products and profits hidden behind spurious educational benefits for students.
Branch Conference calls on the Allan government to ensure that the Department of Education adheres to its sponsorship policy, with reference to the militarisation of schools. The Department’s policy requires schools to determine if sponsorship is appropriate, including ensuring probity. It specifically states, “Schools must not engage in sponsorship that is inappropriate, either through association or activity. The following activities or organisations must not be considered for sponsorship: political parties, tobacco companies, gaming venues, companies involved in the sale or promo:on of alcohol, or involved in the sale or promotion of firearms.”
Branch Conference endorses the efforts of the AEU to support the actions of AEU members to implement the Department’s sponsorship policy so to prevent, in any way, the engagement of weapons manufacturers in our schools. While governments are ever ready to commit huge amounts of public money on military expenditure there remains a serious underfunding of public pre-schools, public schools, TAFE and higher education, and other areas of the public sector. This has been no more evident in April 2024, when in the midst of negotiations for a new national school funding agreement, the Federal Albanese government committed a further $50 billion towards defence spending, at the same time as refusing to commit to increasing the Federal government’s contribution to the schooling resource standard (SRS) by any more than 2.5%, which will leave public schools in Victoria at least 5% behind what is required to meet the government’s own minimum finding requirement.