REAL PET FOOD COMP WINNERS!
IT’S IN THE PAGE 17 BLOOD
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Wellington murder arrest By JOHN RYAN POLICE arrested a 31-year-old man in Wellington yesterday morning (Wednesday, October 27) and were anticipating he’d be charged with the 2020 shooting murder of local man Frank Smith. The arrest comes after more than a year of extensive investigations by police, including ongoing appeals for more information from the general public. On April 27 last year, police were called to Wellington Hospital after a man presented with a gunshot wound to his abdomen – despite the efforts of hospital staff, the man was unable to be revived. The victim was formally identified as 48-year-old Wellington resident Frank Smith and detectives from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad took carriage of the investigation under Strike Force Libani. Earlier this year, investigators recovered a firearm linked to the murder of Mr Smith which subsequently underwent forensic and ballistic examination and, following extensive inquiries and public appeals for information, detectives arrested a 31-year-old man in Wellington just before 11am yesterday. As at press time, police were preparing to reveal more information to the media.
The DO’S and DON’TS of
PETS AND PROPERTIES In the past, finding a rental property as a pet owner has been a bit of a minefield. This week, Dubbo Photo News speaks to local real estate experts for advice on what you can and can’t do. Our cover photo this week features property officer and dog owner Jen McGrath, left, with renter Rachel Slade and her staff y Sage outside the Southlakes Townhouses. PHOTO: DUBBO PHOTO NEWS/STEVE COWLEY
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LESSONS NOT LEARNT
Internal doc says ‘NSW will run out of teachers in the next five years’ COMMENT By JOHN RYAN
A WAR of words and data has erupted between the NSW Education Department and the NSW Teachers Federation after a Dubbo Photo News article published in last week’s newspaper. A spokesperson for education minister Sarah Mitchell had sent some ‘answers’ back to this newspaper in a response to a series of questions we’d put to the minister’s office – he claimed our questions were not “correct in their premise”. It’s a concept popularised by
prime minister Scott Morrison which has caused political opponents and media commentators to assert that it’s political double-speak for ‘I don’t want to answer your question’. The department sent me a list of comments aimed at disputing the Dubbo Photo News articles which pointed to a disastrous looming teacher shortage. Regarding current teacher shortages, an Education Department spokesperson said: “More than 3400 teachers have already been recruited as part of the NSW Government’s 2019 commitment
to add 4600 teachers to the workforce. The Teacher Supply Strategy will add about another 3700 teachers to the public education system in NSW.” NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos responded: “NSW is at risk of running out of teachers within five years due to chronic shortages, plummeting graduate numbers, rising (school student) enrolments and an ageing workforce, according to confidential government documents.” Unfortunately for the Education Department, Dubbo Photo
News has obtained an internal departmental document which refutes the claim that there’s no crisis. Indeed the document is titled “NSW will run out of teachers in the next 5 years”. On the question of teacher supply, the department said the 2020/21 budget committed $124.8 million over four years for initiatives including growing the overall supply of teachers, encouraging more teachers to upskill and provide targeted support in areas of need. The departmental spokesper-
son said the first part of the strategy is to bring more people into teaching, including through recruitment and new opportunities for more people to become teachers without compromising quality. “The second part will deepen expertise and increase the number of teachers in specialist roles through scholarships and retraining opportunities for existing staff. “The third part will ensure there are great teachers in the right places, where students most Continued page 4
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