AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT

SCHOOLS - D.O.G.S.

PRESS RELEASE 187#.

 18  JANUARY 2007

OFFICIAL FEDERAL COALITION/CHURCH SCHOOL

HISTORY OF STATE AID:

THIRD INSTALLMENT

 

Mr Bill Burmester, Deputy Secretary,  Department of Education, Science and Training

Dear Sir,

REQUEST FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON HISTORY OF STATE AID TO NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS PROJECT

Further to our correspondence dated 25 January 2006 and 8 March 2006, and your letters dated 20 February 2006 and 4 April 2006, we now request further information:

            1.         Has the final draft of the above project been produced?

            2.         When will it be available for public perusal?

            3.         In relation to the above questions, you informed us in your letter dated 20   February 2006 that the answer to 1 was “due by the end of 

                        May  2006". The answer to 2 above was the “latter half of 2006”.

We note that we have still not received any information in relation to Professor Selleck and any connection in various ways he may have had with the private school interest.

Why is everybody so coy about this and other matters? Members of DOGS are not coy about their affiliation with the public school interest. We still do not know how this project arose; on whose initial initiative it was suggested and got off the ground. As taxpayers having to part with $ 184, 250.00 for this project, we should at least know the answers to the above questions.

We trust that the generators of what DOGS consider an official Liberal/National Party/Church School history of State Aid acknowledge that DOGS refused to take part in this one sided charade.

We look forward to reception of a copy of the final product.

 

The Hon. Julie Bishop, M.P.

Minister for Education, Science and Training.

18 January 2007

Dear Madam,

                        WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF STATE AID TO NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS PROJECT?

We refer to our correspondence on the above matter dated 25 January 2006, 8 March 2006, and 11 October 2006 and letters dated 20 February 2006 and 4 April 2006.

Request for Information:

·        Has the project been abandoned, stalled, delayed or pigeon holed?

·        What has happened to our last letter dated 11 October 2006 to Mr. Bill Burmester? If he replied we have not received that correspondence.

·        We note that the publication is now overdue according to the timetable provided in February 2006 .If it is to be completed, when will it be publicly available?

·        In our correspondence above, we requested information regarding Professor Selleck and any connection in various ways he may have or have had with  private school interests. What is the problem about revealing this information?  

We attach our letter dated 11 October 2006 in case this has been mislaid.

We look forward to your reply .