Jeremy Rockliff has come under fire for a social media post he made about changes to a school's end-of-year event. ( ABC News )
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff made a social media post saying he was aware of "efforts made to remove all references to Christmas" in a primary school's celebrations the same day the Education Department wrote to his office to say Christmas remained an important part of the event.
The premier told the ABC he did not see the letter until the following day, and it confirmed changes were being made to Christmas events.
The premier has refused to apologise for his social media post or the distress caused to the school.
The ABC understands a complaint prominent Tasmanian businessman made the original complaint about the renaming of Christmas celebrations at a northern Tasmanian primary school, which ultimately led to a controversial social media post by the state’s premier.
Meredith and Nathan Thurlow – who is the general manager of private fuel distributor Tas Petroleum – are understood to have emailed Trevallyn Primary School leadership and Education Minister Jo Palmer with concerns Christmas celebrations were to be minimised.
Pulse Tasmania, which is understood to have been sent a copy of the Thurlows' email, previously quoted an unnamed parent as having written to the school saying they supported inclusion but were worried "in an effort to be increasingly inclusive, the school may actually be moving towards removing or minimising aspects of our own cultural heritage".
"We worry that this approach risks alienating families who value these longstanding traditions and who want their children to feel connected to the cultural practices that have been part of Australian community life for generations," the parent's email reportedly stated, noting it was "important to recognise that families can hold different belief systems while still participating respectfully in one another's celebrations".
Nathan Thurlow (right) with Premier Jeremy Rockliff (second from right) and Liberal MP Rob Fairs (left). ( Supplied: Facebook/Tas Petroleum )
The school was planning to change the name of its end-of-year event from "Christmas on the Hill" to "End of Year Extravaganza".
Mr Thurlow is yet to respond to questions from the ABC.
Two-and-a-half weeks later, Premier Jeremy Rockliff posted on social media that he had been told "there had been efforts made to remove all references to Christmas in end-of-year school celebrations".
While the premier did not name the school in his post, and the social media comments were moderated, the name of the school he was referring to – Trevallyn Primary School — was soon revealed.
But a letter tabled in the Tasmanian Parliament yesterday shows that the same day Mr Rockliff made the post, his office was given advice from Education Department secretary Ginna Webster that "Christmas remains an important part of the proposed celebration".
“The school has advised that Christmas carols remain part of the event, with some classes choosing to perform Christmas-themed items, and Santa Claus will be attending,” Ms Webster told him.
Jeremy Rockliff says he was travelling on the day his office received Ms Webster's letter. ( ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke )
Mr Rockliff told the ABC he was travelling on the day the advice was received and he was given a copy the following day.
He said it was clear from the correspondence between the school and family that changes were being made to the Christmas event.
After the premier's post went up, the school was the subject of a social media pile-on and the education union said the school and staff had suffered "distress and harm".
The ABC has now constructed a timeline, revealing how the saga unfolded.
On October 2, 2026, Trevallyn Primary School published its fortnightly newsletter, making a brief reference to the upcoming event.
“We will also be ramping up the planning for our fundraising December Raffle and the 'End of Year Extravaganza!' (formerly known as Christmas on the Hill),” it said.
The same day, the ABC understands the Thurlows emailed a complaint to the school leadership and copied in Tasmanian Education Minister Jo Palmer with their concerns.
Two days later, on October 4, the school is understood to have responded to the Thurlows, with Ms Palmer and school leadership again copied in.
Mr Rockliff was recently asked if the Thurlow family were the only ones to raise concerns about the event, to which he responded: “I don’t mention any constituents publicly."
Trevallyn Primary School was planning to change the name of its end-of-year event. ( ABC News: Georgia Hogge )
The ABC understands that on October 12, Mr Thurlow forwarded this email chain, including his original complaint and the school’s response, to reporters from media outlets Channel 7 and Pulse.
The same day, the premier was on King Island with those reporters, and other journalists.
Two days later, on October 14, Pulse published a story, citing passages from the forwarded email chain.
But it also published an October 13 letter from Mr Rockliff to Department of Education, Children and Young People secretary Ginna Webster, asking her to speak with the school to make sure its practices “align with expectations of the broader school community”.
It is not clear how the media outlet obtained this letter, with the education minister this week telling parliament it had not come from her, her office or the secretary of the education department.
Jeremy Rockliff has not apologised for his post. ( ABC News: Kelsey Reid )
Also in parliament yesterday, the premier tabled the response he received from the department secretary on October 14.
In this letter, Ms Webster said she was satisfied “Christmas remains an important part of the proposed celebration”.
“Rather than remove Christmas, the school is seeking to balance longstanding traditions with an inclusive approach that enables all students and families to participate in a way that is respectful of their individual beliefs and circumstances,” she said.
"I am also advised that a senior executive from School and Early Years will be meeting with the school at the beginning of term four to work through the matter."
She said the school still planned on having Christmas carols, some classes were performing Christmas-themed items and Santa Claus would be attending.
Trevallyn Primary School still plans to incorporate Christmas celebrations in its end-of-year event. ( ABC News: Georgia Hogge )
The premier posted on his Facebook page at 8:47pm that night – 14 minutes after the Pulse story was published – that there had been “efforts made to remove all references to Christmas” at an unnamed school’s end-of-year celebrations.
The premier has since told the ABC he did not see Ms Webster's letter until the following day and that it confirmed changes to Christmas were being made.
Over the next five days, other senior ministers, including Felix Ellis, Michael Ferguson, Guy Barnett and Eric Abetz also posted about the alleged “cancellation” of Christmas, a few of which were illustrated with AI-generated images.
On October 21, the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Education Union held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the distress and harm caused by the fallout.
It then called on politicians not to take part in public school visits for the rest of the year, unless Mr Rockliff apologised.
On October 22, the premier was again asked if he would apologise.
He said he had the right to voice his opinion, and that his "public commentary has been very measured in these circumstances, and will always be very measured".
By October 27, one of the state’s largest public schools — Launceston College — had rescinded invitations to all politicians to upcoming celebrations, due to the "distress and harm" caused by the incident.
Both the education minister and the premier were asked about the incident in parliament this week.
After the premier tabled Ms Webster’s letter, Greens Member for Bass Cecily Rosol said it showed he knew Christmas events were still going ahead before making the post.
“He absolutely knew that Christmas was not being removed from the school, that Christmas carols weren't being ditched and he still went ahead and made that post, and threw that school under a bus,” Ms Rosol said in parliament.
Cecily Rosol says the premier "threw that school under a bus". ( ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke )
She went on to allege Mr Rockliff made the post to "shore up his own standing amongst his conservative voters".
"The school has been used as collateral in the premier's own attempts to make himself have a better standing among certain members of the community," she said, before addressing the premier directly.
"Premier, what you have done is unacceptable, it's hurtful and you need to apologise to the school. I call on you to apologise to Trevallyn Primary School."
The ABC has texted questions to and attempted to call Mr Thurlow for comment.
It also sent written questions to the premier and education minister.
