Safe Schools position statement

Shadow Minister for Education, Nick Wakeling

Our schools should have a zero tolerance approach to bullying of anyone over things like race, gender, religion, sexuality or appearance.

It is important that our schools foster respect and tolerance in our children.

Despite its name, Daniel Andrews and Roz Ward’s Safe Schools program is not at all about making schools safer for students. Safe Schools is not a broad anti-bullying program that encourages our children to respect others no matter what their circumstances.

Daniel Andrews and Roz Ward’s program is all about pushing one person’s radical-Marxist ideology onto other people’s children.

Victorian schools should provide genuine anti-bullying programs for students, which promote respect for all others irrespective of their circumstances. These programs should not be a Trojan horse for politicising the Victorian education system.

This is why a Liberal Nationals Government will remove Daniel Andrews and Roz Ward’s politicised program and replace it with an initiative that sends a strong message of mutual respect and anti-bullying.

We are dedicated to ensuring that our children are educated in a safe, inclusive and age-appropriate environment for learning.

A Liberal Nationals Government will put the safety of all Victorian children first with genuine anti-bullying procedures that provide healthy learning environments for our kids.

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Education, Nick Wakeling:

‘The Safe Schools name is so damaged in the Victorian community that parents no longer have any faith in the program and that’s why it needs to be scrapped. ‘

‘We need to start all over again but this time without a fringe ideological agenda and a focus on a broader anti-bullying program that teaches kids to respect everyone and where parents are engaged.’

Media Contact:  Jemma Townson  0438 534 111  jemma.townson@opposition.vic.gov.au