For Immediate Release April 2010

ALP - Talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk

At present there is no open entry state secondary school within 3.5km of the Sydney
Road / Bell Street intersection – the infamous Coburg Black Hole of secondary
education.

It could be thought that the ALP doesn’t have the policies in place to remedy this
problem but a quick read of the major party documents at national, state and local
levels shows otherwise – excerpts below.

“it seems incredible that the ALP has let this continue for so long when all levels of the
ALP are aware of the situation and have policies in place that mean they should be
acting to correct it,” said Cate Hall, co-founder of the High School for Coburg
community action group.

“Minister Pike is fond of saying it takes a village to raise a child, we say give us our
school so we can raise them!’ she continued.

A telling example of the lack of consideration for Coburg is Albert Park. The old
school is closed in 2006 due to falling enrolments with plans already in place for a
new college to reopen in 2009 after community consultation.

The $16 million school will now open in 2011 having been delayed due to
contamination in soil. Students from the old school were mentored and given free
public transport to other public schools.

Here in Coburg Moreland City College was closed in 2004 due to falling enrolments
and was replaced with a selective senior high with no community consultation.

Why does Coburg get a dud deal in the north?

The motion to look at the issue of secondary education in the Coburg area passed at
the ALP Vic State Conference in June 2009 (excerpt below) and which has resulted in
no action only emphasises how the ALP is choosing to ignore the situation without any
reason.

“HSC is stonewalled, ignored and the Minister of Education refuses to meet with us,”
said Hall. “We have been waiting four months for the announcement of a task force
she has said she agrees to.”

As Albert Einstein said, “The road to perdition has ever been accompanied by lip
service to an ideal”.

- ends -

To interview Cate Hall or Morena Milani, founding members of HSC or for additional
population statistics, photo opportunities or more information, please contact:
Darren Saffin
0411 089 209
darren@djscommunications.com.au
Excerpt from:

Australian Labor National Platform and Constitution 2009

Chapter 5: An Education Revolution for Australia's future
Labor's principles: equity and access to a quality education

11 Labor believes that:

• Every Australian in every community should be able to access a free, secular, high quality
government schooling and government policies should recognise this. Adequate public
funding significantly contributes to the quality of public education and training.
• Greater equity in educational outcomes is important for strengthening social inclusion and
promoting opportunity. The achievement of this requires a socially representative public
school of the highest quality in every community which offers every child an excellent
education.

Excerpt from:

Education and Youth Affairs Policy Committee Report

ALP Victorian State Conference June 2009

1.2 All schools within the Victorian public education system will operate within a policy
framework based on the beliefs that:

Comprehensive, neighbourhood schools provide the best educational setting for all children
because they are an integral part of the communities they serve

2.3 Use educational and social need and a human scale as the primary criteria for establishing
and maintaining schools in communities. Smaller schools in local communities, particularly for
primary education, will be preferred where these can be efficiently provided.

2.4 Provide schools as close as possible to children’s homes whilst maintaining the breadth of
opportunities and resources.

Excerpt from:

Labor in Moreland 2008 – 2012, Building Community in Moreland

Labor believes education is the key to our children’s future and our continuing prosperity. Labor
wants to give every student in every school, every chance to reach their full potential. To help
ensure local schools are schools of choice Labor in Moreland will:

- support a junior high school in Coburg

- advocate to the State Government for an increase in education investment and standards in
Moreland;
- Support local children attending local schools

Motion moved at:

ALP Victorian State Conference June 2009

This ALP State Conference resolves to call on the State Government to conduct an urgent
review of the current and future provision of secondary schools in the Northern Region of
Melbourne and to make specific provision from both a planning and financial perspective for
the establishment of open entry public secondary schools with particular reference to Coburg
and its surrounding suburbs.

For more information please visit www.highschoolforcoburg.org.