Council of Churches urges ethics rethink

Posted on July 27, 2011 
Filed under News

From the NSW Council of Churches –

“MEDIA RELEASE 27 July 2011
Time for O’Farrell government to reconsider Labor’s so-called ethics.

The NSW Council of Churches has joined the call to urge the NSW Government to repeal the laws that led to the establishment of so-called ethics classes in state schools.

The history of these classes is worth remembering. 

The classes were introduced, trialed, supposedly reviewed, permanently introduced and then legislated for, all in the dying days of a government bent on appeasing a minority of inner city voters in a desperate attempt to get re-elected. The Education Minster, Verity Firth, saw this as a personal crusade.

“The then opposition opposed introduction of the classes and voted against the legislation to enshrine these classes in law,” said the Reverend Richard Quadrio, President of the NSW Council of Churches.

“The then opposition initially promised that if they were elected they would remove these classes being held at the same time as SRE,” said Rev Quadrio.

Later the then opposition reversed their policy on the grounds that they would not control the Upper House so it was pointless promising something they could not deliver.

Mr O’Farrell made it crystal clear at a gathering of church leaders before the 2011 state election that the only reason they had changed their policy was that they would not control the upper house after the election.

“Now it’s time for the new O’Farrell government to live up to its original commitment to reverse Labor’s failed so-called ethics in schools program,” said Rev Quadrio.”

– from the NSW Council of Churches.