Review 22.3
1 March - 21 March, 1997

CLASS CLOWN: Senator Lyn Allison is the Australian Democrats spokesperson on education. Late last year she weighed into the debate about funding arrangements for Australian government and non- government schools.

Allison argued that the funding arrangements as spelt out in the States Grants Primary and Secondary Education Assistance Bill would place government schools at a disadvantage, and that non government schools should not be funded at the expense of mainstream public schooling. Allison got up in arms about the bill, which, she argued "seeks to destroy the public education system." All rather absurd when you consider the Bill provides an extra $2.3 billion additional funding for schools. But Senator Allison is entitled to her view -which is how she got into this mess.

During the course of the Bill's debate last November, Ms Allison rose in the Senate to attack the Government and its supporters. According to the Senator these include: The Coordinating Committee of Jewish Day Schools, the Australian Association of Christian Schools, the Anglican Schools Commission, the Christian parents controlled schools, and the Lutheran schools.

As Senator Allison concluded her speech she declared: If you want to go down in history as being part of a Government which places the interests of small, fundamentalist and extreme schools at the expense of Australia's public schooling system, then by all means vote for this bill.

With that sentence, the Senator appears to have triggered quite a storm - and not without reason. Jewish, Anglican, Christian and Lutheran schools were flabbergasted that in Federal Parliament they were being depicted as fundamentalist and extreme. Senator Abetz (Lib) agreed. The following day he rose in the Senate to take Senator Allison to task:

The fact is that hundreds and thousands of families around this country are making a significant sacrifice for their children ... I suppose they are all weirdos, extremists, fundamentalists and, according to Senator Allison, they might be Jewish on top of that, which really nails it down that they are somehow extreme or somehow fundamentalist. In other words we had some very divisive - nearly spiteful language towards, and stereotyping and vilifying of, the Jewish day schools, Christian parent-controlled schools and Lutheran schools.

As I went for my walk this morning I could not help but think how would the parents react as they were dropping their children off at school, and how would the children themselves feel being dropped off at these thousands of schools around the country - knowing there are people in this place willing to describe Jewish day schools and Christian parent schools as extreme and fundamentalist? Of course we were never told what was meant by the term "extreme". It was just a throw away line, a put down of those types of schools.

Senator Allison returned to the Senate to claim that her comments had been misrepresented: It is very clear that, without any restrictions, a number of new schools which seek to start operation will be small. They will be much smaller than those state schools in Victoria, for example, which are being forced to close down. It is quite clear that a number of them will come from fundamentalist religious backgrounds.

Now, even in her explanation, Allison had reiterated the same offensive attacks. But when the Review contacted the office of Cheryl Kernot, leader of the Democrats, the response was indignant. "While there are organisations (and schools) which I might consider to be fundamentalist and extreme', at no stage has Senator Allison or myself or the Democrats categorised Jewish organisations or Jewish day schools as 'fundamentalist and extreme' ".

You don't have to be all that bright to realise that all of this doesn't add up. First we have Senator Allison standing up in Parliament only referring to Christian, Jewish, Lutheran, and Anglican schools, how they all support the government's bill and how this bill is the end of the education system as we know it. Then we have this avalanche in the same speech about "placing the interests of small fundamentalist and extreme schools at the expense of Australia's public schooling system".

Now, Allison and Kernot claim they were not referring to Jewish day schools. Okay. Well, who are they talking about then? Allison only mentioned four denominations. Perhaps it's the Christians, the Lutherans or maybe even the Anglicans? You can't just tarnish several hundred thousand students and refuse to say who you're talking about or respond indignantly that it doesn't apply to your religion when questioned about it.

Senators Kernot and Allison are on record describing non-government schools as "fundamentalist and extreme". If it's not the schools already cited by Allison then who is it? And if it's not the Anglicans, Lutherans or Christians why don't the Australian Democrats come out and say so? Then, maybe, we would know exactly who Senator Allison was talking about, or not. Instead, Senator Kernot's office faxed us this note: "Having provided such a detailed response, we will be monitoring your report to ensure that it does not include such a misrepresentation of the Democrats' position". Hey guys, monitor away. And then perhaps you can let us all know when you decide what your position is.