With an e-petition calling on Christian schools to be protected closing with one of the largest number of signatures over the last two decades, it is clear that Queenslanders support Christian schools.
The petition, Protect the Rights of Christian Schools, attracted more than 17,000 verified signatures and called on the Queensland Government to ‘allow all religious schools in Queensland to continue employing staff who share the beliefs of the school’.
Andrew Illes, who launched the petition, indicated to the media earlier this year that ‘As a parent, who is also a Christian, it is my firm belief that what makes a Christian school so unique and positively influential, is the authentic personal faith of the staff’.[1]
‘The hundreds of thousands of parents across Australia choosing a Christian school deserve a school that lives up to that name’, said Mark Spencer, Director of Public Policy for Christian Schools Australia, ‘and an authentic Christian school needs staff who have an authentic personal faith’.
‘The results of this e-petition serve to confirm our polling undertaken across Queensland last year’, he said.
The polling, undertaken in October 2022,[2] showed that more than 8 out 10 Queenslanders support the right of a religious school to employ teachers and other staff who support the clearly stated values and beliefs of the school. This support is strong among voters across the political spectrum.
Some 83% of Queenslanders support the right of parents to choose a school that reflects their strongly held values and beliefs.
‘The Queensland Attorney-General needs to take notice of these results’, Mr Spencer said, ‘she cannot dismiss them as she did with an earlier, much smaller, e-petition’.
‘Queensland school parents deserve to know if they will be able to choose a school that reflects their values and beliefs’.
ENDS
[1] Bundaberg Christian’s petition against Queensland Human Rights Commission, NewsMail, 4 December 2022
[2] Poll on Attitudes to Christian Schools completed by Compass Polling from a representative sample of over 500 Queenslanders.
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