Page 1754 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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from 32 Catholic schools and colleges will be taking part in these celebrations. It is an opportunity for these schools to showcase what is good about their respective schools and to invite the community to see firsthand these schools’ contributions to the learning and development of our children. As such, if you have the opportunity to take part in some of these events, I would encourage all members of the Assembly to see for themselves how these schools punch above their weight in delivering a quality education to their students.
As many would already know, Catholic schools have a proud tradition of educating students from wide socioeconomic backgrounds. I think it is worth reflecting on that and pointing it out. That was my experience and that is still the experience of Catholic schools—that they are not some bastion of the rich. They are not there for the elites. They are there for anyone who shares their ethos, whether they be Catholic or whether they simply want to receive some of the values that are imparted at a Catholic school. I think many parents have embraced that, from all backgrounds, and I think that we see that.
When I go to MacKillop Catholic college, as I did recently for their opening mass, I see what diversity there is in that very large school community. In that very vibrant school community we see just how much diversity there is both in people’s religious backgrounds and in their socioeconomic backgrounds. I think the Catholic sector have always been very proud of the fact that they cater to anyone who wants to come and share in what Catholic schools believe, whatever their background. They do not exclude people because they are not Catholic. They do not exclude people because they come from particular areas. They are certainly not a bastion of the rich. That is at the heart of much of this debate.
What we are seeing with this amendment, which is going to be supported by the Greens and the Labor Party today, is a selling out of the Catholic sector. It is saying to the Catholic schools, “Well, you’re on your own.” It is very rare that you would have a situation where the ACT government would be prepared not to in any way try and influence the federal government in a decision which would affect large numbers here in the ACT.
Roughly 40 per cent of kids are educated in non-government schools and around a quarter of all kids in Canberra are educated in Catholic schools. Surely we should all be standing together. If you were fair dinkum about supporting the Catholic sector and the non-government sector and choice in education you would be saying to the commonwealth that they should not be taking money away. But we know that is on the cards. It is a long Labor tradition. We know the Greens’ position. The Greens’ position is utterly hostile to the non-government sector. It is utterly hostile to the values that they have and to their ability to exist and to the funding that they receive. We have seen that time and time again.
The Labor Party have been amazingly conflicted on this, but we have seen the true colours emerge from time to time. Most recently in federal politics we saw it with Mark Latham’s hit list. We have seen that debate within the Labor Party for years. For years they would not even support any government funding for non-government schools. They were completely anti the Catholic school sector. They only, I think,
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