The Victorian Legislative Council legislation Committee met on 21 April 2006 and spent just under three hours in discussing a Bill that is over 400 pages in length. As with the discussion in Legislative Assembly and the Legislation Council, it was a sick joke. The performance of the Parliamentarians and their media mates in relation to this most historic Bill was and is abysmal. If any citizen was expecting their Parliamentary representatives to rise to a higher level in this newly established legislation committee they would be gravely disappointed.

The committee proceedings were largely dominated by the home schooling issue. However, in the last thirty minutes of the committee proceedings,  Ms Kosky was finally questioned on matters dealing with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority by the Hon. W.A. Lovell . She asked the Minister to ensure that there are appointments from the Catholic and Independent Schools to the VRQA.  In reply, to this question and other interjections and questions, Ms Kosky said:

" Absolutely; what we are not doing is having representatives. I'm not having any of the different organizations voting and nominating their own people. I will absolutely make sure that there is expertise from the different sectors, but it is not a representative body..... There will be expertise, but they will be Ministerial appointments but not representatives... if you note that in most of my statutory authorities, apart from the VIT which was set up under different legislation, I find it better not to appoint representatives but to actually appoint people with expertise. ...I will be having discussions with the Catholic Education Office and the AISV... the discussions that I have had with the AISV would be that they would set up a separate body, because we need to make sure the issues of independence are addressed given that the AISV is a membership body whereas the Catholic Education office is a system.

Before the Second Reading Speech of the Bill, in Press Release 131, www.adogs.info/pr131.htm DOGS anticipated what Ms Kosky has just said is going to happen . She is going to choose, as Kim Beazley did for the Schools Commission in 1973, people who will, without instruction from her, carry out the underlying plan that will lead to the destruction and privatisation of public education.

DOGS notes that Kosky has learnt from her VIT ( Victorian Institute of Teaching) experience where the teachers voted on  representatives who are prepared to expose a few public school realities in relation to the VIT . In the VIT case, Ms Kosky  later used her powers to appoint one of the defeated union anointed candidates to the VIT.  (See Press Release 129 www.adogs.info/pr129.htm) DOGS are very interested indeed in Ms Kosky's views on "expertise" and exactly what kind of "expertise" she is looking for.

DOGS predict that strong supporters of public education will be absent from the Kosky appointments to the VRQA. Under the Labor party only Uncle Toms need apply as those with "expertise" from the government school sector.

For further discussion on these matters, listen to 3CR, 855 on the am dial

at

12.30 p.m. next Saturday.