Sunday Mail Column - passing a bill for schools

About the passage of the schools assistance bill 2008 through parliament.

There's an old saying in political circles that there are two things which you should never watch being made: laws and sausages. This is a story about the passage of the Schools Assistance Bill 2008 through Federal Parliament. The Schools Assistance Bill is the piece of legislation that gives funding to non-government schools. With more than 30 per cent of all students in Australia at a non-government school, this money, distributed on a needs basis (according to the Socio-Economic Status – or SES – of the children at a school), allows parents the widest possible range of choice and diversity in education, while maintaining fairness and equity. Meanwhile it also takes the pressure off the public school system by making non-government schools more affordable for more parents.When a new piece of legislation is announced – a Bill – the usual practice is that the Opposition consults various stakeholders to see what they think about it, and consider how it will affect them. The Shadow Minister examines the Bill in detail, considering its merits, and takes on board the arguments made by the Government, as well as the expert advice of those bodies which are actually affected by the Bill. The Shadow Minister puts his advice to the Shadow Cabinet who add their two bits, and it is then discussed at a meeting of the entire Opposition Party room, which makes a decision about what stance the Party will take.This process ensures that any person in Australia who has an interest in a piece of legislation can get in touch with their local Liberal MP (or Senator if they live in a Labor seat), and have input into the direction the Opposition will take. In relation to the Schools Assistance Bill, Independent Schools groups, principals, governing council members, and parents from all across Australia raised similar issues about this Bill. One of the key issues was in relation the national curriculum. The Schools Assistance Bill required that in order to receive funding from the Government, a school would have to agree to apply the National Curriculum – in 2012. The problem is that it hasn't been written yet – indeed the board of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, who will sign off the final curriculum, hasn't even been appointed yet!The Independent Schools Council of Australia, many of the state independent school representative bodies, Parents' Councils, the Steiner Schools association, and many others all identified a concern amongst their membership that the definition of the national curriculum in the Bill was potentially too restrictive.The Coalition supports a national curriculum: in fact we introduced the idea when we were in Government. The Labor Party adopted the idea before the last election. But we have always been aware that if the national curriculum was too restrictive it could potentially have impact on choice and diversity in our education system. Steiner, Montessori, IB and various other specialised models currently provide valuable choice for many families and students. Not all children are the same, and many thrive in these alternative schools where they struggled in mainstream classes.

The Liberal Party has always said that in developing a national curriculum, there would always have to be room for these other schools to continue doing what they do so well. The problem with the Schools Assistance Bill is that it inflexibly mandated acceptance of the National Curriculum in schools, while providing no detail about how that Curriculum would be applied, and while providing no assurance that these specialist schools would be able to continue.Whenever (part time) Education Minister Julia Gillard was asked about this, she always provided the same response: she'd ask the (yet to be appointed) Curriculum Authority for advice.So the Coalition took the position that we'd oppose this aspect of the Schools Assistance Bill, and attempt to amend the Bill it to ensure flexibility. The Coalition had a concern, and sought to improve a Bill that we otherwise supported, on the National Curriculum and three other matters. Currently the numbers of the Senate are such that if Coalition, plus two other Senators (Greens, Family First or Independent) vote together, then we're able to amend sections of legislation. The Senate passed four amendments that we had sought – two areas that the Government backed down on, and two with the support of the Greens and/or independents.Those amendments went back to the House of Representatives, and the Government backed down on a third issue, leaving only the matter of the national curriculum unresolved. Meanwhile the Government was threatening to withhold all funding to private schools unless we accepted their version of the legislation on this matter.I listened to the Minister representing the Government in the Senate, Senator Carr, deliver his speech during which he defined coherently for the first time on the Hansard record, the precise nature of the national curriculum. A statement, delivered by a Minister in Parliament, is a legal document that is used by judges to interpret the intent of legislation. So in fact, while not wanting to put our amendment into the Bill the Rudd Government had provided the guarantees we need to ensure choice and diversity in our education system. We withdrew our amendment and supported the Bill. The non-government schools will receive their funding on January 1st. The Rudd Government has committed itself to a flexible national curriculum and the Coalition has succeeded in addressing the concerns we had with the Bill. Of course the development of the national curriculum is ongoing, and we will closely watch this progress and work to ensure it lives up to the Government's promises. Making laws can be an ugly process, but at the end just about everyone has got what they want, and without a drop of blood shed.