In the past four election or byelection contests, support for the Greens has declined.
That dip could be explained by increased numbers of climate-friendly independents, or perhaps by something deeper: a lack of substance, authenticity, and inclusiveness in their policy positions.
While the Greens have built their platform on protest and progressive values, their policies often falter under greater scrutiny.
Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne’s words on Catholic education election priorities are a case in point.
I was initially buoyed by her statement, “the Greens are taking a suite of policies to this election designed to ensure that every child in Australia has access to a free, fullyfunded world-class education”.
Further reading quickly deflated my sails as I realised “every child” meant every child in a public school.
To be fair, the Greens gave a polite nod to supporting current funding arrangements for non-government schools, though they emphasised this funding would transition down.
But the bulk of the Greens’ proposals amounted to a shopping list of public-school-only benefits:
bringing forward federal funding increases under the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, an $800 cost-ofliving payment to public school families, elimination of voluntary parent contributions, and $1.25bn in new capital grants in year one, with $350m annually thereafter.
And now the Greens want to provide free lunch for public school kids, costing $11.6bn over three years.
This shows their ongoing failure to recognise the character of Australia’s school education system. The recent Disrupting Disadvantage report confirms disadvantage across all sectors: government, Catholic and independent. Yes, public schools enrol a greater proportion of disadvantaged students, but this is partly due to the funding model that expects non-government school parents to contribute, skewing enrolment patterns. Because while wealthier public school families are asked for a voluntary contribution, Catholic school families – regardless of income – are expected to shoulder a significant share of costs.
Also, Catholic communities fund nearly 90 per cent of new school buildings and upgrades themselves. Public schools, by contrast, receive 91 per cent of capital funding from state governments and another 8 per cent from the Commonwealth.
It’s a stark contrast.
The Greens’ education policies would further entrench inequity and would leave disadvantaged Catholic school students worse off in real terms.
The Catholic education sector wholeheartedly supports the full funding of public schools as negotiated in the Labor Government’s Better and Fairer Schools Agreement. But we oppose policies that ignore the principles of funding being needs-based and sector-neutral. These were the founding pillars of the Gonski review.
On our scorecard we make it clear that the Greens get a big red cross because they ignore this fundamental approach. It’s worth approaching Greens policies with caution.
Voters need to look beyond the protests and the posturing to assess whether the party’s proposals truly serve all Australians – or only those who fit a particular ideological mould.
By Jacinta Collins -as appeared in the Daily Telegraph, 29 April 2025
Photo: Students from St Therese’s School, Bentley Park, Qld.