Page 657 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 March 2014
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MS BURCH: No; we have a signed agreement with the Commonwealth of Australia for six years for the benefit of all students, regardless of where they are going to school. Mr Doszpot said at one point—I will just quickly find this—that money matters not and that it was about teacher quality and money is almost an irrelevant contributor. Should two outyears be pulled out of this agreement, the non-government schools—the Catholic schools and the independent schools—alone will lose $32 million dollars over two years. Your quote yesterday, Mr Doszpot, was:
I think discussion around quality teaching and quality learning is far more significant … than how much money is thrown at a school.
So you are prepared to take $32 million dollars out of the Catholic and independent schools.
Mr Doszpot: That is a total verbal.
MS BURCH: No, that is word for word out of Hansard, Mr Doszpot.
I agree with the matter of public importance—it is important our families have choice in education because it is important for parents. I am glad the Canberra Liberals understand that, but they really should stand up for the independent and Catholic students in this city, because they will be disadvantaged.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (4.04): The ACT has a high number of students in non-government schools. This is a fact that is often used when discussing education and is sometimes used as a line in the sand to argue one point or another. I am disappointed this is the case, but I acknowledge that, when the national reforms that were designed to be a logical, consistent and publicly transparent approach to school funding are under threat, strong opinions arise in the discussion. The fact that the ACT has a high number of students in non-government schools is also used in a simplistic manner for and against sector arguments. The comments yesterday from those opposite were oppositional in that sense. Minister Burch has just recalled some of that debate yesterday. It feels sometimes that it is, “Either your side or mine. You’re with us or against us.” Then the funding debates are dusted off and rolled out as evidence that one political party is more of a friend to one sector or another.
From a Greens’ perspective, I would like to see a much more nuanced approach to things, and that is certainly the way we intend to deal with it—one based on evidence, genuine community consultation and a slightly more sophisticated world view. When I hear that we have a range of philosophical, religious and pedagogical approaches to educating the territory’s children, I see this as a positive. This range of perspectives exists in both government and non-government sectors and varies from school to school and region to region across the territory. This is indicative of the diverse and multicultural society we are lucky to live in today. It is a testament to the progressive, engaged community that we call our own.
Parents and carers desire to support the best education they can for their kids, and I can only applaud that desire. The ACT Greens believe that everyone—and that means
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