Parliamentary record : Part I debates (02 October 1990)
Debates for 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990
1990-10-02
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220324
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/699493
DEBATES - Tuesda~ 2 October 1990 for a whole semester. The purpose was to dri ve that person out of the system because he did not subscribe to the views of the lefties at the college. That is of great concern to me. It should be of great concern to the members opposite, but I know it is not because they subscribe to the same view: 'If they do not agree with me, get rid of them'. That is the view of Labor pol itics everywhere. Forget about equal opportunities and forget about freedom of information with Labor Party politics because no such things exist. Mr Ede: You want to get rid of the lefties. Mr McCARTHY: No. I want to ensure that the 1 eft i es do not grab control of the agenda. I recognise that there is a reason and a need for a balanced view in education, and I recognise that the people of the left have every right to put forward their view, but it cannot be and is not the only view. Unfortunately, it is being put across as the only legitima~e view that is suitable for Aboriginal people, and I know the Aboriginal people are not prepared to wear that, nor should they be prepared to wear it. The member for Stuart talked about this review as being something which has no depth or value. I bel ieve it has enormous depth and value. For the first time, it puts down in words the problems that exist across the wide spectrum of Aboriginal education in the Northern Territory. For the first time, it high 1 i ghts what the government is doi ng and has done in the past. It offers some real suggestions about what we ought to do in the future to ensure that Aboriginal education in the Northern Territory remains where it has be'en - at the top in this country - and that it is not hijacked by the left. It is not a self-indulgent report. It is the report ofa man who has shown his~Gommitment to education over a long period, and not only during his time as minister. The Minister for Education has been strongly committed to education for as long as I can recall. Deirdre Jordan produced a report on Batchelor College a couple of years ago. I know that her report was very difficult to obtain but, obviously, the Minister for Education was able to obtain it because it has been used in his review. One of her fears was that the standard of education in Aboriginal communities would suffer because of the standards which Batchelor College was accepting from outgoing students. It is quite clear that we cannot have teachers leaving Batchelor College without being able to utilise the English language effectively and, in some cases, without being able to understand fairly simple mathematical problems. I am aware that there are people who have gone through the system at Batchelor College and who have had ass i stance in wri t i ng thei r reports and in a range of other areas simply to enable them to get out into the community and start teaching. I am not prepared, and I am sure that this government will never be prepared, to accept that we must get Aboriginal people through teacher training at any cost. They have to receive genuine qualifications, and that is what they themselves want. It degrades Aboriginal people to allow them to proceed through a system in that way and gain a qualification to which they have no right. There is no reason at all why Aboriginal people cannot fit into a system that is equal to the entire system throughout this country. Aboriginal people have the capacity and the desire to become teachers in their communities. I have never had the slightest doubt that they have the capacity to do that and will do it. However, they will never achieve that goal while we have left-wing idealism overriding practical common sense. I am not prepared to allow the left wing to gain control of Aboriginal affairs in the Northern Territory. I have no doubt at all that 'people like the 10 678