SA Labor accused of flip-flopping on public school religious activities

Labor has been accused of ‘flip-flopping’ over a move to require students at SA public schools to opt in to religious activities.

South Australian Deputy Opposition Leader Susan Close. Picture: AAP

Labor has been accused of “flip-flopping” over a move to require students at South Australian public schools to opt in to religious ­activities, including Christmas events, rather than opt out.

TheEducation and Children’s Services Bill 2018 before state parliament includes a specific clause that, “schools, preschools and children’s services centres are free to celebrate events that are of significance to their communities (including, for example, by singing Christmas carols)”.

A section of the legislation dealing with “religious and cultural activities” allows for a principal to “set aside time for the conduct of religious or cultural activities”. The principal must ­notify parents, who can in writing ask for their child to be exempted from participation on “conscientious grounds”.

But upper house crossbenchers have been briefed by Deputy Opposition Leader Susan Close, a Left-aligned former education minister, on a draft amendment by Labor that would instead ­require all parents to “opt in” to such activities.

Dr Close’s amendment states “a child may only participate in such a religious or cultural ­activity if a person responsible for the student gives written consent”.

SA-Best MP Frank Pangallo said he feared the Labor amendment to create an “opt in” policy would allow some “left-wing” schools and parents to prevent Christmas activities in schools.

This comes amid a furore over a national review into religious freedoms, led by former Liberal minister Philip Ruddock, that urges the federal government to amend the Racial Discrimination Act or create a new religious discrimination act to protect people of faith from discrimination.

Darryl Cross, a prominent adolescent psychologist, said he was told this week by an Adelaide primary school teacher that the school they worked in did not allow the singing of Christmas carols or other Christmas-related activities “because there were certain children in classes who were not of the Christian faith”. Dr Cross declined to name the school out of consideration for the teacher.

“We seem to be giving away the very nature of our culture, the very root of our society by not celebrating our traditional roots in this way. I think that’s a blight on our society,” Dr Cross said.

Mr Pangallo said he was briefed on Labor’s proposed amendment by Dr Close on September 5. “What Labor is proposing is an ‘opt-in’ scheme which says that the parent can object and it will act as an ‘opt-in’ scheme if they want to take part in it,” Mr Pangallo said.

“That tells me that there could be a movement, if you get enough parents and others, to try to prevent these activities being conducted in schools. It is ridiculous and part of all that left-wing stuff they (Labor) were trying to impose on our education system.”

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas told The Australian that Labor’s amendments “have nothing to do with Christmas”.

“The amendments relate to religious instruction in school. For instance, if a school wishes to bring in an imam to teach the Koran or a priest to teach the Bible, we believe parents should be made aware and have a say on whether their children participate,” he said. “The bill before parliament specifically states schools are free to celebrate Christmas and this has Labor’s support.”

But Mr Pangallo criticised Labor for seemingly “flip-flopping on what its position is”.

“The briefing and amendment I was shown a month ago by Dr Close is at odds with what the ­Opposition Leader says,” Mr Pangallo said. “My concern is that as it stood, it could have been interpreted any which way.

“There are grinches in the community that just want to kill off any mention of religion in government schools, even if it is innocuous. I am not against discussing different religions and cultures as long as it is in an educational and learning sense and parents and students have no ­objection to it.”

Mr Pangallo said he welcomed “any commitment to ­ensure schools are able to celebrate or even recognise religious and cultural events without them hijacked by the politically correct and ideologues from the Left”.

Education Minister John Gardner said the Labor amendment was unnecessary and unworkable. He said if a school deemed a Christmas event to be “religious or cultural activity” parents would be caught up in ridiculous red-tape.