Exclusive: Number undermines Eric Abetz’s claim that ‘mums and dads all around Australia’ do not want anti-bullying program in children’s schools

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Only one school has pulled out of the Safe Schools program as a result of pressure from concerned parents, the program’s organisers say, despite comments from conservatives who say parents do not want the anti-bullying initiative.

On Tuesday, the federal education minister, Simon Birmingham, announced that an independent review of the program would be undertaken.

About 495 schools take part in the voluntary program, which aims to stamp out homophobia and transphobia in students.

The Safe Schools Coalition says that parents and the school community are consulted before a school decides to take part in the program.

“Only one school in Australia that had registered with Safe Schools has reported deregistration from the program as a result of parental concerns,” a spokeswoman said.

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The former frontbencher Eric Abetz said on Tuesday night he was voicing the concerns of the “mums and dads all around Australia” who do not want the program in their children’s schools.

“I trust that it [the review] comes to a landing which will listen to the views and aspirations of the mums and dads of Australia who, when they get the opportunity, vote with their feet and don’t want their schools participating,” Abetz told ABC TV.

Under questioning in the Senate, Birmingham implied that the review would bolster the program rather than find deficiencies.

“I would hope that, at the end of what will be a fairly quick process, we can have confidence that this program is meeting its objectives, we can all have confidence that the content of the resources that are produced under this program is age appropriate, is in accordance with the national curriculum and, most importantly, that parents and school communities have confidence, that they’re aware of the resources that are being used,” Birmingham said.

The managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Lyle Shelton, thinks the opposite.

“I would be surprised if, once it’s reviewed, the program remains in our schools,” Shelton told Guardian Australia. “I hope it’s a fair and independent review.”

Shelton and other opponents of the initiative say it promotes “dangerous” and “radical gender ideology”.

Cory Bernardi, the Liberal senator who first raised objections about the program in the party room on Tuesday, has called for the program to immediately be defunded.

“It would beggar belief that anyone would say that there’s nothing wrong with this program,” he told Guardian Australia.

Bernardi had the support of at least six other Coalition members in the party room and some stood in Parliament on Wednesday to criticise the program.

“This is state-sanctioned, state-funded social engineering at its absolute worst,” the Liberal backbencher Brett Whiteley told the House of Representatives. “This is not [done] to stamp out bullying, or stamp out gender inequality. It’s done to stamp out gender entirely, to create confusion and doubt in children’s mind.”

The Nationals senator Barry O’Sullivan went one step further, saying the range of gender identities and non-heterosexual options in the material allows children to choose an identity like choosing a meal from a takeaway menu.

“Here we have a program with young people in this very vulnerable state, being educated that here are your options,” he told the Senate. “You can go and shop down like a Chinese menu – you can pick any one of the following that you like, it’s OK, it’s all perfectly normal.”

Many opponents have expressed concern with the suggestion that transgender children should be able to wear uniforms or use the bathroom ascribed to the gender that they were not assigned to at birth.

“We’ve been trying for a very long time to raise concerns about this program,” Shelton said. “Because the material is so extreme, people didn’t believe us.”

Shelton said the program had “flown under the radar” as both parents and teachers were unaware of the extent of its content.

The Safe School Coalition provides a range of resource materials for educators to choose from. Principals and teachers can choose to adopt or ignore aspects of the material if they deem it inappropriate for their schools.

Labor broadly supports the program, which it initiated before the last federal election.

The tension on the issue led to a terse exchange between Bernardi and the leader of the opposition, Bill Shorten.

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Shorten was speaking to the media on Wednesday morning, criticising the right wing of the Liberal party, when Bernardi walked past.

“At least I’m honest, Bill. You’re a fraud,” Bernardi shot back.

“At least I’m not a homophobe either, mate,” Shorten replied.

Labor went out on the front foot with the offensive against Bernardi and Coalition conservatives.

“What planet is someone living on that they say it’s a bad thing to educate other students to make sure that they are accepting and not bullying those kids?” the opposition spokeswoman on foreign affairs, Tanya Plibersek, told ABC TV. “What planet is Cory Bernardi living on that he says kids shouldn’t be safe in our schools?

“The idea that you can make kids gay if you talk to them about homosexuality; what a ridiculous proposition.”

The Greens senator Janet Rice labelled Bernardi a “backwards honcho” who was undertaking a “hateful campaign” against vulnerable children.

The review, which was ordered by the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, will report back in less than three weeks. The terms of reference and the make up of the independent committee leading the review are yet to finalised.