John Howard’s call to defund schools over sex ed has been dismissed
Image: Image: Channel 9 / 60 Minutes.
Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull has dismissed John Howard’s suggestion that schools with mandatory education on sexuality and gender should be defunded.
In a submission to the federal government’s review into ‘religious freedom’, Howard said that parents should have the right to keep their children out of sex education that “they might regard as incompatible with their values”, The Guardian has reported.
Religious organisations including the Anglican Church of Sydney and lobby group Freedom for Faith have similarly called for the “freedom of parents to ensure that their child’s religious and moral education is in accordance with their convictions”.
Howard suggested that the federal government should “make it a condition of funding for both government and non-government schools that parental rights of this kind be respected”.
Turnbull rejected Howard’s suggestion, saying in a radio interview yesterday that he was unaware of any schools that did not already permit parents to opt their children out of sex education.
“I think the universal practice around the country is to give parents that right, as they should have that right,” said Turnbull.
Howard also called for religious schools to be able to discriminate in hiring and firing staff, suggesting the same “common sense view” that allows political parties to discriminate in hiring based on political beliefs should override anti-discrimination laws.
Poll results released earlier this week show that four in five Australians are against religious schools being able to fire staff or expel students for being LGBTI.
The religious freedom review has received thousands of submissions from individuals and groups.
A group of Anglican deans, including dean of Brisbane Peter Catt, said there is “insufficient evidence to make the case that religious freedom is under serious threat” in Australia.
The review, led by Philip Ruddock, is due to report back to government this Friday.
Well John Howard would know all about who is a terrorist wouldn’t he? After all he sided and did exactly what the World’s Biggest Terror Organisation: The Government of the United States of America under the control of the Bush Presidencies and now Trump’s when they ordered him (Howard) to agree to joining the USA in it’s Illegal Invasion of Iraq. He was energetically joined by Alexander Downer and both created their own mantra of “Iraq HAS Weapons of Mass destruction” (WMD). Both knew the Bush Administration was LYING, both persisted in telling their lies long after it was proven Iraq had No WMD.
Howard had his time as PM. The Voters not only threw his government out of office they threw Howard himself out of his seat. You would have thought he would have gotten the message, wouldn’t you?
But, no, he has to keep sticking his lying nose into what is now none of his business.
So far as Sex Ed in schools is concerned I do think parents should have the right, unintelligent and stupid as it may be, to arrange for their children not to have to attend and thereby possibly grow up to know nothing about having sex, gender diversity or sexuality. These self-styled “Christians” would rather their children grow up ignorant and full of stupid ideas about the relationships between men & women, men & men or women & women. The Bible still teaches them that Women are simply chattels of men. Their fathers own them until they marry and then their husbands own them, they are regarded as just property like cows, dogs, sheep, pots and pans and that their owners can do and say as they wish with and to them. The Bible encourages Domestic Violence.
Married men can screw around as much as they like with as many women as they like. They get no punishment.
Let a married woman do the same and the man has the Right to have her stoned to death. The Ultimate Domestic Violence and that, according to the Bible (which these clowns love to quote and tell us it is the Living Word of God) is totally acceptable.
John Howard once called Nelson Mandela a terrorist. He is the ultimate example of a culture warrior who’s twenty years too late to every single battle.
Keep it up Johnny, the comedy is amazing. No one does a better caricature of John Howard then the actual John Howard. Just in case you didn’t realise how irrelevant his view are, he wants to keep proving it to you.