AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS - D.O.G.S.

PRESS RELEASE 139#.

MINISTER FOR EDUCATION KOSKY OR

SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION DIXON:

CHOICE BETWEEN THE FRYING PAN AND THE FIRE:

 

2 March 2006

 On 22 February 2006, Martin Dixon (Liberal) was appointed Shadow Minister for Education, This appointment followed the decision of Victor Perton to not contest the 2006 State Election in November.

Who is Martin Dixon?

His web site indicates that he attended Marcellin College and one of the photographs on this website shows him holding "Our Lady Of Fatima" school Sign.

The WHO's WHO in Australia 2004, p. 615 indicates his education background and interests as follows:

DIXON: Martin Francis has been in Parliament since 1996. Before that time he obtained his Diploma of Teaching  at the Australian Catholic University) and Bachelor of Education La Trobe University.....Deputy Chair, Catholic Education Office, Primary 1995-96, Principal, St. Jude's Primary School 1991-94, Principal at Our lady of Fatima Primary School 1984-1990, Principal at St. Aloysius Primary School, 1980-1983, and teacher at St. Joseph's Primary School 1977-79 and St. Matthews Primary School 1976.

Imagine Mr. Martin Dixon's background joined the private school and economic rationalist advisers and bureaucrats presently dominating the Victorian Education bureaucracy.

Ms Kosky informed us at a Trades Hall meeting on 20 July 2005 ( See Press Release 115) that she took advice from the Catholic Education Office.

With Mr Dixon we will have an ex-Catholic Education Office bureaucrat!

With Ms Kosky we have a Minister determined to lump public schools in with church schools under a Statutory authority with power to de-register state schools which "fail" an academic , pupil enrolment,  business plan, or  "too expensive" maintenance test.

If Bracks and Kosky  push the Education and Training Reform Bill through the Victorian Parliament and Dixon inherits her job after November, ........

The mind boggles.

The appointment of Dixon as the Shadow Minister of Education indicates one more reason why the Education and Training Reform Bill should be scrapped.

If not, it should be put to the electorate in the November 2006 election to see if the Bracks Government gets a mandate to destroy public education in Victoria.

At the moment they do not have this mandate and public education is on the chopping block through ALP deceit, dissembling and manipulation of pressure groups

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