A far-flung Catholic School became the centre of inner city ire this week when news broke that a child had been denied enrolment because her parents are a same-sex couple.

Within minutes of the story being aired by the ABC, Greens schools spokesman John Kaye was on the airwaves lambasting non-government schools in general because they weren’t subject to anti-discrimination laws. He demanded that they be made to abide by these regulations if they wanted to continue receiving 85 per cent government funding.

Leaving aside the right or wrongs of the actions of the Sacred Heart School, Broken Hill, and indeed the veracity of the claims being made against it, let’s consider for a moment who is righteous enough to cast stones in this situation.

If the well-being of the child is the real issue, as the various detractors most self-righteously proclaim, then the action of the parents in taking the matter directly to the media is highly questionable. There would have been several other options, if their concerns were in fact sincere, such as appealing to the appropriate Bishop who would have quickly offered the child a place, judging by his reaction since the story broke.

Anyone who knows small towns realises that everyone in Broken Hill now knows exactly which family is at the centre of this row, surely not an ideal situation.

Then there is the hypocrisy of John Kaye who immediately politicised the case and uses it as an excuse to push the Green agenda which is to force faith-based schools to relinquish their deeply held, ancient beliefs that are at the centre of their life and community. What he would really like is to see private schools removed altogether, or at very least, all funding for them removed.Read More »