Catholic schools body begs parents to not vote for Greens or teal independent candidates in federal election

The Catholic schools sector has explicitly warned parents against voting for Greens or teal candidates in the election, citing concern over ‘secretive’ education policies as one reason.

The Catholic school sector has taken its most explicit foray yet into the 2025 federal election campaign, urging parents against voting for Greens and ‘teal’ independents.

Catholic Schools NSW has based its latest position statement on analysis of candidates’ policy positions undertaken by the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC).

The representative body’s CEO Dallas McInerney cautioned families against aligning their vote with the Greens over their “long hostility toward non-government education” or the Teals, due to their “secretive” education policies, and warning they pose “an unacceptable risk to school communities”.

Instead he advised families that “only the major parties … are committed to supporting parental school choice”.

“Greens … education policies threaten the affordability and existence of Catholic schools, potentially leading to significant increases in school fees,” Mr McInerney said.

“Many Teal candidates have been unclear, secretive, or have not taken the time to fully explain their positions on education, which is a serious concern.

“Some appear dismissive of non-government education despite it constituting 50% or more of the schools in their electorate.”

The National Catholic Education Commission's 'Federal Election Scorecard' for Catholic school parents.

The National Catholic Education Commission's 'Federal Election Scorecard' for Catholic school parents.

In NSW, Catholic schools enrol 21.7 per cent of all students with enrolments numbering more than 271,000. Nationally, the figure is approximately 820,000 or just under 20 per cent.

The NCEC’s federal election “scorecard” published last fortnight marked the Greens with a red cross against five priorities which include “funding certainty for Catholic schools”, “sector-neutrality” and “fair access to early childhood education initiatives”.

Climate 200-backed independents received a question mark for their rating across the board, while the Coalition received a three-quarters mark on early childhood education.

Bradfield candidate independent Nicolette Boele was the sole ‘Teal’ to respond to the state and territory Catholic education bodies’ requests for position statements, confirming she “broadly agrees with the intent” of the Catholic sector’s priorities.

NCEC executive director Jacinta Collins at the time slammed the Greens’ proposal to provide free school lunches to public school students, at a cost of $11.6 billion over three years.

“They’ve failed to acknowledge Catholic school families in their cost-of-living proposals — assuming only public school families are doing it tough, which is untrue and unfair,” she wrote.

It is not the first time Catholic schools have waded into the election debate, having launched their ‘Keep School Funding Fair’ website and advertising campaign in February.

In early 2023 Mr McInerney was speculated to have been a frontrunner among the Liberal party’s conservative faction to replace the late Senator Jim Molan, however the seat was instead filled by former NSW Liberal party president Maria Kovacic.
Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Catholic schools body begs parents to not vote for Greens or teal independent candidates in federal election