Pyne to Garrett: I told you so
29 Jun 2011
Media release The Government has finally attempted to fix a problem with the national curriculum start date after Schools Minister, Peter Garrett, has for months denied a problem existed, Shadow Education Minister, Christopher Pyne said today.
In the current legislation non-government schools are required to implement the national curriculum by January 31, 2012.
"Due to the well documented bungling of the national curriculum, the final version hasn't been approved and most states won't begin implantation until 2013, so the original legislation needed changing,"" Mr Pyne said.
"The Coalition sought to amend this discrepancy in March, but at the time the Minister didn't seem to be aware that this might be a problem and didn't support the Coalition's amendment,"" he said.
"This morning Mr Garrett gambolled into the Parliament to move an amendment to remove the 31 January 2012 start date for the national curriculum from the legislation, as if it was his idea all along.
"When it comes to being a Minister, Mr Garrett makes a great rock star.
"While the Coalition supports the date change as an obvious necessity, we will examine carefully whether any further changes are necessary," Mr Pyne said.
June 22, 2011
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