Premier Jeremy Rockliff has stood by a social media post about Christmas celebrations in Tasmanian schools, despite Labor’s calls for an apology after the acting principal of the school involved reportedly took stress leave.
Speaking to media today, Rockliff said his post was “measured and considered” and did not name any school or individual.
“I stand by my comments because I’m a premier and a leader that expresses and articulates my views on a range of matters,” he said.
The post followed a Pulse story on Trevallyn Primary School’s decision to rename its end-of-year event from “Christmas on the Hill” to “Holiday on the Hill”.
At the time, parents said the school had also moved away from traditional Christmas carols towards contemporary pop songs and renamed its Secret Santa as “Holiday Gifting”.
The school’s acting principal said in a response to one parent that the change was made to ensure “every child can participate fully”.
She said some students from a range of cultural and religious backgrounds were “unable to take part in performances or rehearsals that are centred purely around Christmas themes”.
Speaking to Pulse at the time, a spokesperson for the education department said the event would still include Christmas carols and a visit from Santa Claus, but the change was prompted by feedback after the previous year’s event.
Rockliff today said he first heard about the change when a parent wrote to him, before writing to the Secretary of the Department for Education, Children and Young People on Tuesday setting out his expectation that Christmas be celebrated at school.
In the letter to department secretary Ginna Webster, which Pulse reported on Wednesday, he wrote he does “not support schools removing reference to Christmas in end of year celebrations or removing carols.”
Questioned on the letter today, Rockliff said he had received a response but had not spoken to the principal or the school association chair.
“I’ve always supported inclusivity,” he said.
“But we cannot exclude either and that’s why I’ve made it very clear that Christmas will be celebrated in our schools. It’s the Australian culture of the way we do things and it must continue.”
The premier said he condemned any attacks on individuals and that the comments on his post had been continually moderated.
“I cannot control what people say, I can control the fact that I have an opinion and that has been my opinion,” he said.
The school is reportedly hiring security to attend the school upon the return from school holidays tomorrow, while the acting principal is understood to not be at work.
Labor MLC Sarah Lovell said the Premier had been “so hypocritical”.
“Instead of asking questions about what was going on, he threw that school community under the bus,” she said.
Lovell said Rockliff, as premier, was ultimately the acting principal’s employer.
“It is an absolute disgrace and he owes that person and that entire school community a public apology,” she said.
“He is the premier of the state.”
“He has a greater responsibility than anyone to use his very extensive social media platform responsibly and he’s done exactly the opposite of that now.”
“He should be ashamed of himself and he owes that person a public apology.”
