The Labor-Greens alliance signed today raises significant concerns for non-government schools generally and Christian Schools in particular.

Equitable funding and the efficacy of religious school choice must both now be considered at greater risk.

The education policy of the Labor party under both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard was for a non-divisive and non-sectarian approach to school funding, which we warmly welcomed.

The Greens on the other hand have a very clear policy that would return the funding debate to the pre-Rudd days. Their policy would affect the affordability of every non-government school, by isolating, and then cutting, the pool of funds available to support students in this sector. This would drive up fees and reduce school choice – including religious choice – to all but well off families.

The alliance also raises concerns about effective school choice from another perspective.

In order to maintain their special character, religious schools depend legal protections that allow the ability to choose staff on the basis of their faith. The policy of the Greens is to remove these protections.

The Greens policy would prevent schools established by a religious faith community, such as a church, from being able to requiring that staff are adherents of the religion concerned. The Greens policy would secularise religious schools. This would deliberately frustrate the will of parents who desire to choose faith-based schooling for their children. It is undemocratic and anti-religious.

During the election campaign we raised this issue with both the Coalition and the ALP, seeking their commitment not to see these principles eroded.

While the Coalition gave a clear commitment to uphold the current protections the answer from the ALP did not.

Labor’s response in fact confirmed that there will be an attempt to ‘harmonise’ state and federal law in this area. While ‘recognising’ long-standing exemptions for religious schools, the letter from Simon Crean did not provide the commitment asked for, to continue the exemptions that protect the special character of faith-based schools.

The Labor – Greens alliance raises the stakes on this issue very significantly.

Citizens have a legitimate right to ask what might be traded off by the parties that would form government in the horse-trading over support in the House of Representatives.

It would be a grave situation indeed if today’s Alliance meant, during the coming Parliament, that the would ALP trade off its previous support for equitable school funding, and the principles of freedom of religion and freedom of effective school choice by people of faith.

Comment by Stephen O'Doherty