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“We are just running on empty.” The most powerful pictures from the teachers strike.

Updated 8:03am 30 Jun 2022

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8:03am 30 Jun, 2022

“We are just running on empty.” The most powerful pictures from the teachers strike.

By Isabella Ross

As reported earlier today, thousands of striking NSW public and Catholic school teachers were set to march to NSW Parliament today demanding better wages and working conditions.

And that's exactly what happened.

Dressed in red shirts emblazoned with the text “More than Thanks”, teachers called on the government to offer them more than a three per cent pay rise. The NSW Teachers Federation is asking for a pay rise of between five and seven per cent to keep up with the cost of living.

The union says more than 20,000 of its members showed up in Sydney’s CBD on Thursday. One of them was Peter Kitonga, 50, a legal studies teacher at Sir Joseph Banks High School in Revesby in western Sydney.

“I have been working as a public school teacher for 13 years and our salaries have not kept up with inflation,” he told AAP. “It’s the duty of the government to ensure that students have a qualified teacher in front of them. You can bring teachers on board by giving them better pay.”

Most schools have some minimal supervision, but some have closed for the day. Protesters held up satirical placards poking fun at inflation, such as “Thanks won’t buy lettuce”, to illustrate soaring living costs. 


It is the third teachers’ strike in six months, and the first time in 25 years the NSW Teachers Federation and the Independent Education Union NSW/ACT representing Catholic school staff have joined forces. The unions represent some 85,000 teachers across the state. The strike impacted about a million families across NSW, a day before a two-week school break.

The Federation’s head Angelo Gavrielatos said Premier Dominic Perrottet’s unwillingness to negotiate with the union was “failing teachers and ... students”. He described the chronic shortage of teachers on Thursday as “a classroom crisis”.

“Thousands of classes are uncovered across the state because of a lack of teachers. The premier’s three per cent salary cap is a ‘take it or leave it’ proposition that is far below inflation. He is ignoring the evidence that current salary levels are turning people off teaching and a significant increase is urgently required.”

Debbie Jones, a Catholic primary school teacher from North Sydney with more than 40 years of teaching experience, said she was worried for the future of her profession.

“Teachers are just running on empty. We’re all exhausted,” she told AAP. “There’s just not going to be any teachers left. Pay teachers what they’re worth and they will come.”

But Education Minister Sarah Mitchell was disappointed by the decision to strike and said it was politically motivated. Ms Mitchell defended the government’s public sector wages policy, calling it the most generous in the country.

Here are some of the most powerful pictures and messages from the strike.

With AAP.

Feature Image: Getty.

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7:59am 30 Jun, 2022

Why everyone really hates Chris Pratt.

By The Spill

Musician R Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking women and girls. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was also convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year. 

Plus, the first trailer for Julia Roberts and George Clooney's new rom-com Ticket To Paradise has been released, and we have a lot to say about it. The trailer arrived at the same time news broke that another famous rom-com leading lady is coming out of retirement after nearly a decade away from the scene. So what’s driving this new wave of rom-coms?

And Chris Pratt has given a new interview to Men’s Health addressing the growing hatred against him for the first time. In the interview, he talks about the backlash regarding his religion, family, and body but when it comes to the growing dislike of Chris Pratt, the story goes further than this.

Listen to The Spill below:


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8:32pm 29 Jun, 2022

R. Kelly sentenced, and all the news you need to know this morning.

By Brielle Burns

Morning, 

The US migrant truck tragedy has sadly been making headlines this week. 

You can read everything we know about one of the deadliest human trafficking tragedies in the US, here. 

These are the top news stories you need to know today, Thursday June 30. 

Warning: This post deals with sexual abuse and may be triggering for some readers. 

1. R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking women and girls.

R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B fame to subject young fans to systematic sexual abuse.

The 55-year-old Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted nine months ago on nine criminal charges including one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution.

US District Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn federal court said the evidence reflected Kelly's "indifference to human suffering" and "sheer brutality" toward his victims.

"This case is not about sex. It's about violence and cruelty and control," Donnelly told Kelly. "You left in your wake a trail of broken lives."

Kelly did not speak during Wednesday's hearing but has repeatedly denied sexual abuse accusations.

The sentencing came after several accusers, some of whom were tearful, told the judge about how Kelly promised to mentor them and help them attain stardom, only to subject them to degrading sexual treatment and physical harm.

"As a teenager, I didn't know how to say no to R. Kelly when he asked me to perform oral sex on him," said a woman identified as Jane Doe No. 2.

She then paused, looked at Kelly, and asked, "Do you remember that?".

Kelly has been in jail since July 2019. He will likely be transported soon to a jail in Chicago, where he faces an August trial in federal court on child pornography and obstruction charges. He also faces various state charges in Illinois and Minnesota.

2. Hannah Clarke killed by 'master of manipulation', inquest finds. 

A coroner investigating the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children recognised the mother's "astounding" bravery, saying it was unlikely anyone could have stopped Rowan Baxter's murderous plans.

Jane Bentley's voice broke as she finished delivering her findings in a Southport court yesterday following a hearing in March.

The coroner said Baxter was not mentally ill, but a "master of manipulation".

"I find it unlikely that any further actions taken by police officers, service providers, friends or family members could have stopped Baxter from ultimately executing his murderous plans," she added.

Bentley said police training required "immediate attention" to prevent similar deaths occurring and called for a multi-disciplinary specialist domestic violence police station to be trialled for a year. 

Other recommendations included a five-day face-to-face training program for specialist domestic violence police officers "as a matter of urgency", a mandatory face-to-face domestic violence module for all officers and state government funding provided urgently for men's behaviour change programs in prisons and communities. 

Sue Clarke fought back tears, responding to the coroner saying her daughter's "bravery was astounding".

"Yes, I think he (Baxter) underestimated how much a mother will fight and how strong a mother is," she told reporters.

3. US migrant truck driver 'posed as victim'.

The alleged driver of a truck carrying dozens of migrants who died in the suffocating heat in Texas this week initially tried to pass himself off as a victim to escape authorities before he was arrested, US and Mexican officials say.

The death toll in the incident rose to 53 as some migrants who had been trapped in the sweltering tractor-trailer, which was left in a desolated area near a highway in San Antonio, died in the hospital, local officials said.

More people - including minors - remain hospitalised in the worst human smuggling incident in recent US history, officials said.

Dozens of Mexican families this week have waited anxiously for news of missing loved ones who they fear may be among the dead.

Mexican immigration officials identified the driver of the truck only as "Homero N" and published a photograph of him driving the truck through a security checkpoint in Laredo, Texas, at 2.50pm on Monday.

US authorities detained two Mexican men in addition to the driver who were arrested leaving a house in San Antonio. The two men were charged with possessing firearms while residing in the United States illegally.

4. Thousands of teachers to strike in NSW today. 

NSW schools will be closed today as teachers from public and Catholic schools take to the streets demanding higher salaries.

Thousands of teachers are expected to descend on Sydney's CBD for a 24 hour strike, after the NSW budget offered no more than a 3.5 per cent pay rise.

It's the first time teachers from public and Catholic schools have joined forced to strike together in more than 25 years.

"We have a crisis in the form of a teacher shortage, a crisis that is the government's own making," NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters yesterday. 

"The government has known for years the causes of this crisis: uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads.... Students have been denied not only their learning opportunities but are also being denied their futures."

Meanwhile, the rail union says industrial action will continue this week despite a verbal commitment from Transport Minister David Elliott to spend $264 million on safety modifications of a Korean-made fleet.

5. Australia about to be hit with eight-day rain event.

A 2800km stretch of the country from Bateman's Bay NSW, to Cooktown Queensland, is about to be hit by an eight-day rain event. 

Weatherzone says flooding is "likely" and powerful winds and surf are expected to batter the coast. 

Isolated falls of above 300mm are expected in some areas. 

Affected areas are being told to expect the wild weather to start on Friday, and intensify over the weekend. 

You're all up to speed. We'll be back to bring you more of the top news stories throughout the day. 

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men’s Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au.www.ntv.org.au.

- With AAP.

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8:02pm 29 Jun, 2022

Masks, RATs and fuel: What you can and can't claim on tax.

By The Quicky

It's that time of year again when we have to dig out all of our old receipts and start crunching the numbers as we prepare our tax return, or if we're lucky, pass all that info on to our accountant to do it for us.

But the past 12 months have been like no other, as many of us grappled with disaster relief payments, Job Keeper, Job Seeker, and all manner of unusual purchases like RATs, face masks, etc. So what exactly can and can't you claim as a legitimate deduction?

The Quicky speaks to a finance expert to find out what the ATO will be cracking down on this time round, and what you need to watch out for when it comes to making claims about working from home.

READ: 

Feature Image: Getty.

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