Louise Markus (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 3) 2012, which the Attorney-General has presented as an urgent response by the government to the High Court's decision in Williams v Commonwealth that was handed down last week. That decision found that funding for the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare program was beyond the executive power of the Commonwealth as it was not supported by legislation and, therefore, was viewed as not a valid exercise of the executive power of the Commonwealth under section 61 of the Constitution.

Can I say at the outset that the coalition strongly supports the chaplaincy program and—as has been mentioned by the member for Flinders—the member for Flinders, the member for Bowman, the then member for Wakefield and I approached the Prime Minister, John Howard, in 2006 on this. This was an initiative and an idea that was supported by the coalition, and we met with the then education minister Julie Bishop. And of course we have seen over the last five or six years the growth in this program.

At the time it was initiated, there was a need—a gap in the ability of schools to respond, particularly to the broader pastoral care needs of school communities—and we have seen over past decades the increasing demand on school communities, on principals, on teachers and on school counsellors to respond to the complex needs that young people, their families and their broader communities face. As has already been mentioned by the member for Flinders, this program has indeed had an impact on young people. It has, in some instances, saved lives. And, while some of the results and the outcomes of the chaplaincy program and the work of the chaplains in school communities are not necessarily quantifiable, it is important that we recognise that today our young people face unique challenges.

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