Redeemer Baptist School

Friday 11th April 2008

The Rev Fred Nile, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has defended the Redeemer Baptist School in State Parliament.

“I inform the House of the outstanding academic record of the Redeemer Baptist School. As members know, Dr John Kaye of the Greens continues to make unsubstantiated allegations against the Redeemer Baptist School and its community under the protection of parliamentary privilege, as he did on 3 April 2008. The Redeemer Baptist School has most strenuously denied all the allegations that the member has made in his most recent misleading statement in this Parliament. The school has undergone extensive investigations from a number of government bodies as a direct result of the false allegations made by various people, including Dr John Kaye. None of those independent investigations have resulted in any negative findings whatsoever concerning the Redeemer Baptist School, its leadership or its community members”, said Rev Fred Nile MLC.

“One of the more serious allegations raised by Dr John Kaye is that of a supposed sexual assault. In 2005 that allegation was independently investigated, under the supervision of the Ombudsman. The independent investigators concluded that the allegation could not be sustained. Why did Dr John Kaye not mention that fact in his speech? Perhaps Dr John Kaye needs to be reminded that his colleague Ms Lee Rhiannon had already raised the allegations made to the Board of Studies in a question to the Minister representing the Minister for Education and Training in the Legislative Council on 9 March 2006. Dr John Kaye should be reminded of the Minister's answer to his colleague's questions in this House two years ago: The Minister said:

The Board of Studies found, based on the evidence available, that the complaints were not substantiated.

Fairfax newspapers also share some of the blame in this sorry saga. Fairfax published unsubstantiated, defamatory allegations about the school in a number of local newspapers in 2004 and 2005. It is time for this vendetta to stop. It is true that there have been a number of disputes and litigation between Redeemer Baptist School and Mr Glossop. That litigation involving the school and Mr Glossop has now been settled. I understand that Redeemer Baptist School has sent to Dr John Kaye a copy of a letter written by Mr Glossop to the school that indicates that Mr Glossop is very happy about the conclusion of that litigation, and in which states that he "wishes the school all the best now and into the future". Dr John Kaye should read that letter to the House, as this is the true position of the relationship between Mr Glossop and the Redeemer Baptist School, not the one Dr John Kaye so falsely postulated in his speech last week.

The prospects of a lasting resolution of the disputes between the Redeemer Baptist School and Mr Glossop are not advanced by the inaccurate and inflammatory comments of Dr John Kaye in his most recent statement to this House. This matter has been resolved between the parties and in the Supreme Court. That is where it should be left. As members know, the Redeemer Baptist School has achieved amazing academic achievements. In the recent BHP Billiton Science Awards, students from the Redeemer Baptist School have once again proven that they are leaders in innovation, creativity, discovery, commitment and research.

In the 2008 BHP Billiton Science Awards, Alexandra Garth, a year 4 student of Redeemer Baptist School, was one of four primary student winners in New South Wales. Her project was entitled, "How Bright is the Moon During a Lunar Eclipse". Alexandra was the only primary student winner from New South Wales. Another eight Redeemer students were also Primary Encouragement Award winners. The judges awarded 17 per cent of the National Awards for Primary Science —that is, 9 out of a total of 53 awards—to Redeemer Baptist School students. With regards to the awards for secondary school students, Timothy Bailey and Matthew Bolton, both in year 11 at Redeemer Baptist School, were two of 14 national finalists. Their project was entitled "Prescribing Safe Handling Times for Marine Animals". Timothy and Matthew investigated the rate of oxygen uptake of marine animals—starfish, worms, jellyfish, hermit crabs and gastropods—so that they could predict how long such animals could be safely kept without aeration. In addition to the two secondary finalists, a further six Redeemer Baptist School students were named as semi-finalists. No other school in New South Wales came close to matching this outstanding recognition of achievement in scientific research.