❓ Shadow Minister for Education, Sue Ellery, questions the Minister for Education regarding the rollout of the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program in WA schools, following comments made by another MP. The Minister declines to roll out the program, favouring a generic anti-bullying approach.
AnsweredQoN 194Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
SAFE
SCHOOL PROGRAM
194. Hon SUE ELLERY to the Minister for Education:
I refer to the public comments by the member for Southern
River that the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program, which provides
resources to schools to assist them to ensure their schools are safe and
inclusive for students of all sexual identities, is an attempt by ''the
militant gay lesbian lobby trying to get this into our schools to normalise
what they consider the LGBTI agenda''.
(1) Does the minister share Mr Abetz's views?
(2) Will the
minister ensure that the program will start to be rolled out in WA schools from
July 2015?
SCHOOL PROGRAM
194. Hon SUE ELLERY to the Minister for Education:
I refer to the public comments by the member for Southern
River that the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program, which provides
resources to schools to assist them to ensure their schools are safe and
inclusive for students of all sexual identities, is an attempt by ''the
militant gay lesbian lobby trying to get this into our schools to normalise
what they consider the LGBTI agenda''.
(1) Does the minister share Mr Abetz's views?
(2) Will the
minister ensure that the program will start to be rolled out in WA schools from
July 2015?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for the question.
(1)–(2)
The safe schools program, which has been in operation in other states for a
number of months now, has been rolled out by the Foundation for Young
Australians. I will say the same about this program as I say about any bullying
program; that is, bullying in a very generic sense can be manifested in a raft
of different ways. It may be against students of same-sex inclination, against
someone for their physical appearance or against someone because of their
ethnicity or Aboriginality. It manifests itself in a raft of ways. We cannot
have a different program for each of these individual victims of bullying; it
just does not work that way. Bullying is an insidious component of our
community. When it is inflicted on students in our schools, it has massive
negative repercussions for the students. Tens of thousands of students in our
schools suffer in silence at the hands of bullies. As an education system, we
have to ensure that we have a safe, nurturing, productive and supportive
environment in all schools for all students, not specific elements. We have an
extraordinarily comprehensive support mechanism within our schools, including
programs and resources that assist students to, firstly, rethink their
mannerisms as a perpetrator of the bullying, and significant support mechanisms
for victims of bullying.
My role as Minister for Education
is to ensure that all students feel significant, not one individual particular
component of the student body. That is why I am at pains to emphasise what I
have said consistently since I have been education minister and as a former
educator. It would be foolhardy to support or isolate one particular group and
say they need special attention. If anything, that draws attention to that
particular group more so than would necessarily be evident. From my
perspective, we have very comprehensive strategies. As far as the education
system is concerned, I think those resources are more than adequate.
Hon Sue Ellery : Are you rolling out the program or
not?
Hon Peter Collier : No.
Hon Nick Goiran : It is not his responsibility; don't
you understand that?
Hon Sue Ellery : To answer the interjection, they
have an agreement with the Department of Education.
The PRESIDENT : Order! I will not permit anybody to
interject or answer an interjection. This is question time.
(1)–(2)
The safe schools program, which has been in operation in other states for a
number of months now, has been rolled out by the Foundation for Young
Australians. I will say the same about this program as I say about any bullying
program; that is, bullying in a very generic sense can be manifested in a raft
of different ways. It may be against students of same-sex inclination, against
someone for their physical appearance or against someone because of their
ethnicity or Aboriginality. It manifests itself in a raft of ways. We cannot
have a different program for each of these individual victims of bullying; it
just does not work that way. Bullying is an insidious component of our
community. When it is inflicted on students in our schools, it has massive
negative repercussions for the students. Tens of thousands of students in our
schools suffer in silence at the hands of bullies. As an education system, we
have to ensure that we have a safe, nurturing, productive and supportive
environment in all schools for all students, not specific elements. We have an
extraordinarily comprehensive support mechanism within our schools, including
programs and resources that assist students to, firstly, rethink their
mannerisms as a perpetrator of the bullying, and significant support mechanisms
for victims of bullying.
My role as Minister for Education
is to ensure that all students feel significant, not one individual particular
component of the student body. That is why I am at pains to emphasise what I
have said consistently since I have been education minister and as a former
educator. It would be foolhardy to support or isolate one particular group and
say they need special attention. If anything, that draws attention to that
particular group more so than would necessarily be evident. From my
perspective, we have very comprehensive strategies. As far as the education
system is concerned, I think those resources are more than adequate.
Hon Sue Ellery : Are you rolling out the program or
not?
Hon Peter Collier : No.
Hon Nick Goiran : It is not his responsibility; don't
you understand that?
Hon Sue Ellery : To answer the interjection, they
have an agreement with the Department of Education.
The PRESIDENT : Order! I will not permit anybody to
interject or answer an interjection. This is question time.
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