Ethics classes to get legal protection

Updated

The New South Wales Government will today introduce legislation to protect ethics classes after the State Opposition announced it would scrap the courses, if it is elected in March.

Earlier this week, the State Government approved ethics classes as an alternative to special religious education.

But the Coalition vowed to scrap the lessons because, it argued, they would compete with scripture classes.

In response, the Education Minister Verity Firth says she is introducing laws to protect the classes.

She says the response has been overwhelmingly in support of them.

"With any new government, of course, they can always change legislation, but it's more difficult," she said.

"If the right is enshrined in the Education Act, in legislation, it will make it more difficult for them to take this option away from parents."

Greens MP John Kaye says it is a sensible move.

"This is a problem that transcends one term of government, this is a problem for the majority of children who don't want special religious education," he said.

"Creating a solution now should be a lasting solution, just as the 120 years we've had in the past was a lasting solution for the religions."

The Opposition's education spokesman Adrian Piccoli is suspicious about the Government's motive.

"To introduce ethics classes doesn't require legislation," he said.

"This is simply a stunt by the Labor Government to bolster Verity Firth's position in the seat of Balmain against the Greens.

"She's doing exactly what the Greens have asked the Labor Government to do.

"This has got nothing to do with ethics or teaching kids."

The New South Wales Council of Churches has accused the Government of unethical behaviour.

The President of the Council of Churches, the Reverend Richard Quadrio, has called on the Government to reverse its decision.

"We view this as an unnecessary and rather unethical approach," he said.

"The Government has had sixteen years in power to do something about this issue and now in the last 10 sitting days of the parliament they decide to rush this through."

Topics: state-parliament, community-and-society, education, schools, government-and-politics, parliament, sydney-2000, australia, nsw

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