Teachers upset over Malaysia child plan

Martin Wheatley and other teachers from St Johns Park Public protested outside Chris Bowen's office recently.

ST Johns Park teachers protested outside Immigration Minister Chris Bowen’s Fairfield office last week over a proposal to send unaccompanied children to Malaysia under the federal government’s refugee swap deal.

St Johns Park Public School teachers, whose students are mainly from non-English speaking backgrounds, were furious the government would send unaccompanied children to a country with such a poor record on human rights.

St Johns Park pre-school teacher Carol Trethewey said the only reason she was there was because she loved the kids.

“The kids are my life,” she said.

Fairfield Teachers Federation organiser and St Johns Park Public School teacher Mark Wheatley said he had collected a petition to present to Mr Bowen to kick off the campaign.

“We are appalled to hear that the federal government will send unaccompanied children to a country that doesn’t have a policy on human rights.”

He said the response to the campaign was positive with parents keen to get involved.

“Given there’s a direct relationship between our students and the issues we think it’s relevant,” he said.

“This is our first protest but I am sure there will be a more concerted effort across Fairfield.”