Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Hansard source

The Howard government believes in supporting parental choice. We do not believe in punishing parents who choose to send their children to a Catholic or independent school.

The member for Bonner has asked if there are any threats to this fair support that we provide for parents. I have to tell the member for Bonner: yes, there is a threat, in the form of Labor in lock-step with the Australian education unions. Labor and the unions are ideologically opposed to funding Catholic and independent schools. When they were in government, they had a ‘no new schools’ policy, which was designed to prevent new Catholic and independent schools from being established. In opposition they had a hit list which was designed to rip money out of particular Catholic and independent schools.

After decades of bias against Catholic and independent schools, all of a sudden the Leader of the Opposition pops up and says, ‘You must believe that Labor has suddenly changed. It has suddenly changed its spots.’ It has not. The unions’ unrelenting attacks on Catholic and independent schools—

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