Schools flag plan attacked

QUEENSLAND schools will be splashed with propaganda for the militant CFMEU in a plan being slammed as an attempt to “indoctrinate children as militant unionists” as they approach voting age.

In a move criticised as politicising schools, Queensland Teachers Union general secretary Graham Moloney pledged the union would “make sure there are Eureka Stockade flags in every school in Queensland” in solidarity with the militant construction union.

It is in retaliation from the federal construction watchdog, the Australian Building Construction Commission, in January banning union logos including the flag from Commonwealth construction sites.

QTU president Kevin Bates defended the move, saying it was “absolutely appropriate” to have those conversations with students, many of whom are approaching voting age.

He said there were no issues with the union associating itself with the CFMEU, which last year faced allegations that some its members had threatened to rape the children of non-striking workers.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham slammed the action.

“I am sure many teachers are embarrassed that their union is more interested in political stunts than children learning to read,” he said. “Students should be learning about things like Pluto and Pythagoras not how to run picket lines.”

The union announced the plan at a conference on Friday, where it distributed Eureka Stockade stickers.

Mr Bates said it was only stickers, not flags, and that it would be up to teachers’ judgment where they were used around schools.