Gillard backhands Rudd over Chaplains

Julia Gillard and Peter Garrett have again shown they cannot be trusted as they have moved to dilute the Howard Government’s chaplaincy programme, breaking Labor’s 2010 election promise.

“This move is also an attack on Kevin Rudd who was a champion of the chaplaincy programme as Prime Minister, describing chaplains as the ‘glue’ that holds school communities together,” said Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education today.

“The secularists who are taking the Chaplains to the High Court will chalk this up as a first victory in the campaign to dismantle the Chaplaincy programme.”

“The Coalition warned at the election that Julia Gillard has had the Chaplains in her cross-hairs since 2008 when as Education Minister she refused to commit to its continuation.

“Ultimately Ms Gillard was overruled by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who announced the programme would continue in 2009.

“At the 2010 Federal election, after pressure from chaplaincy providers and the Coalition, Julia Gillard promised Australians an expanded chaplaincy programme and gave assurances that the programme would not be secularised.

“While the funding mentioned in Peter Garrett’s press release is just a re-announcement of the Government’s election commitment, the changes allowing the hiring of a secular “Student Welfare Worker” means the Government has been caught out lying again.  

“The Coalition reaffirms it’s commitment at the 2010 election that the chaplaincy programme will continue in its current form,” Mr Pyne said.  

“Non-government schools should also realise from this that Labor are not to be trusted. Despite supposed assurances to schools that they won’t lose a dollar after the school funding review concludes, this broken promise to chaplains proves again that they cannot keep their word.

September 7, 2011

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