* WHAT A LABOR ELECTION WIN MEANS FOR OUR CAMPAIGN * A new government and a new Education Minister is good for FIRIS. It is very bad for ACCESS Ministries and their partners, the Australian Christian Lobby. The first reason it is bad is ... money. The Napthine government promised to spend $3.2 million on the SRI program, with the lions share of $2 million going to ACCESS. But this money would only flow if they were re-elected and is now off the table. There was never a pledge to match that from Labor, and there has been no announcement by Labor in regards to future funding for SRI. What does that mean for ACCESS? It means their plans to reinvent themselves is now in serious doubt. They wanted our money to overhaul their bad image. Without our money, this may not be possible. The key influencers, who were instrumental to the MD141 rollback and desperate attempts to resurrect the broken SRI program, now have no-one who will listen to them. Evangelical MP Andrew Ronalds (who has lost his seat to the Shooters & Fishers candidate) was one such influencer, who is directly involved in religious lunchtime groups operating in schools. This close-knit, self interested web has been destroyed. And what of James Merlino? When we met him back in September, he strongly assured us that Labor would not tolerate proselytising, in any shape or form, and was alarmed to learn that the DEECD is now openly admitting that proselytising is occurring. Labor also reiterated their commitment to no proselytising in writing to the Aust Christian Lobby, which we have seen. Labor in government would be vigilant in overseeing that all SRI delivered in schools complies with the Act and relevant policies, including that instructors do not induce or attempt to induce the conversion of students to a particular religion, or encourage any student to attend religious events held outside of school. We hope to meet with him before Christmas to discuss the way forward, as he expressed his willingness to work with FIRIS. Martin Dixon leaves his department under a huge cloud. There has been extensive tension, and even open hostility between him and his DEECD staff over the issue of SRI. In August, during his apology to religious leaders for the MD141 (organised by Andrew Ronalds), he referred to the unpopularity of his decisions. We hope the new Minister will listen to his education experts whose job it is to deliver the best education for our kids - not self interested religious groups. FIRIS strongly believes that we can achieve the removal of SRI in our schools during this 4 year term under Labor. We pledge to continue to work hard to this end, until it is a reality. There is a lot of work to be done, but now perhaps not in such a hostile environment. One of our first tasks will be to encourage Mr Merlino to restore the MD141 to its original form, which was as the DEECD intended it to be, before it was savaged by the Christian lobby. And for the government to formally define the definition of proselytising, which Liberal refused to do. We promise that we will never give up and never go away ... until SRI goes away. Here is a happy snap from our FIRIS year-end gathering today, where Lara Wood presented the courageous Joe Kelly with his very own Higinbotham Award. A wonderful day was enjoyed by all. See if you can spot Dawn the Dinosaur - named affectionately after the new CEO of ACCESS Ministries, Dawn Penney.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 13:37:40 +0000
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