5 April 2005

Orauta School Must Stand Firm

“Orauta School must stand firm and remain in open defiance of this Government and the Ministry of Education,” says Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education, in response to Ministry of Mis-Education orders to close.

“The Labour Government ordered Orauta School to close down. Now that the school has chosen to remain open using its own trust funding, the Ministry of Education have started prosecution proceedings against parents of attending pupils. This is a classic case of the state acting against its own citizens - something this Nanny Government has shown itself rather partial to.”

“It must be noted that the Ministry of Mis-Education is targeting the parents, who are in breach of the Education Act. A common ploy of tyrannies through the ages is to attack the group who are least united in the hope that once one buckles, the rest will follow. To threaten these people in such a way is a disgrace and is a most cowardly act.”

He wonders, “How much freedom are New Zealanders prepared to relinquish to the state before they realise they’ve been conned. We have a group of people with the courage to openly stand up and defend themselves against a government that shows scant regard for freedom. If ever there were a group of people in dire need of support for their cause, we have one here. And if ever there was a time for other schools to stand up and reject the self-serving edicts of the state, we have one now.”

He asks, “So what if the school isn’t registered as a private school? This is a mutual agreement between parents and school and is therefore none of the state's business. It is the parents' approval that makes the school's actions a moral one - the Ministry's disapproval is immaterial, and under Libertarianz would be illegal.”

“The Ministry whines that it 'can’t guarantee the quality of education provided'," notes Osborne, who points out that these parents are not asking the state to guarantee anything; they are making their own choice themselves. "And as we've seen with the forced retraining programme for Early Childhood teachers, choice is precisely what the Ministry is opposed to. Anyway," concludes Osborne, "given its own woeful track record, quite what the Ministry would know about 'quality' I expect most of New Zealand would be at a loss to say."

Libertarianz challenge all schools who are struggling to maintain their independence from intrusive bureaucrats to throw their united weight behind these people. It is easy to sit and do nothing but to find out what this government is truly capable of could be something that we may all regret for some time.

ENDS

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