Page 1749 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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forward a sensible and appropriate set of words that recognises the importance of collaboration, cooperation and, particularly, fairness. Fairness is something that we all acknowledge, and I believe we have progressed in our debate around education past the public and private divide, as mentioned by the minister.
Our children and their educators deserve a funding arrangement that has certainty and is based on the foundations of a high-quality and accessible education system for every student, whether they live in Weetangera or Wilcannia. The Greens will keep these principles central to our education response, something we have done for many years now. I look forward to the outcomes of the Gonski review and contining dialogue over the critical issue of education funding.
I would like to congratulate all Catholic schools here in the territory. I know that they will be having a great week celebrating Catholic Schools Week, and they are playing an important part in education delivery here in the territory.
But to go back to the amendment, it is important as far as that federal review of education funding is concerned. I would be expecting the ACT government to be championing it, to be advocating it on behalf of all sectors—the public sector, the independent schools sector, the Catholic systemic sector, which all make up, I guess, the mosaic of education choice here in the territory. We do need to see how that all pans out.
We do know, as Minister Barr has mentioned, that most of those children who are students with disability and most of those children who are coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, are being educated in our public education system, along with many thousands of other children from a variety of backgrounds. So it also plays an important part as a major provider of education here in the ACT.
I have had the privilege of going out to visit some Catholic schools and have also enjoyed going along to Marist on a couple of occasions and running some short workshops on democracy, the Assembly and what we do here, usually to about 50 or 60 year 4 or year 5, quite young, boys, which has always been a lot of fun. I have always found that they had some incredibly insightful and interesting questions to put to me around what happens here in the ACT as far governance is concerned, how this place works and so forth. And so I do look forward to going out and being part of those workshops.
Again, congratulations to those Catholic schools which continue to support their communities, which continue to support the families and the students, which produce students who educationally are doing very well and, as Mr Doszpot mentioned, which are also doing well in other areas such as football codes. St Eddie’s has got a long tradition and is well known for its rugby. A couple of my cousins attended St Eddie’s and were very much part of starting the dance culture there that culminated in St Edmund’s participating in the dance extravaganza types of events. That provided another way for young men to be able to participate in something that was not necessarily on the rugby field, and I think it did add to that school. They certainly enjoyed their time at St Edmund’s.
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