CORRECTION

Disney Comes to Parliament

Tuesday, 15th June 2010

The Rev Fred Nile MLC, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, gave the following address in the NSW Parliament

"The subject of my adjournment speech is Walt Disney comes to Parliament. Tonight I address an issue of fact, perception and parliamentary privilege. I believe it is an abuse of parliamentary privilege to deliberately propagate fiction as fact, particularly if doing so for pernicious purposes. As elected representatives of the community, we have a duty of care to ensure that we do not capitulate to conditional integrity but rather tell the truth regardless of political opportunity.

Unfortunately others believe otherwise. As Walt Disney once stated, "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story". This was never more evident than a speech to this House on Tuesday 8 June 2010. The speech in question, titled "Kids have the Write to Read", was given by the Family First representative Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes. In his speech Dr Moyes highlighted the suffering endured by those afflicted with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. He empathised with that suffering as he was previously afflicted with similar learning difficulties. I wholeheartedly support his passion for the subject, and I highly commend him for helping to raise awareness and for his recent fundraising work, but I feel compelled to set the record straight with regard to some of the claims he has made.

A few minutes into the speech we are provided a portrayal of Dr Moyes, alone, rectifying the problem. He alone was the one who seized the initiative to suggest legislation and "move it on". Through the sheer power of his own personage, he convinced the Coalition, Greens, Shooters and Government, in that order, to support the passage of legislation through the Upper House. He convinced the Premier and the ‘Minister for Education' to support "the Bill" in the Lower House. He then convinced the Treasurer to provide funding and spend "$10.9 million" to employ "286 additional trained special needs...teachers", all of which he said he achieved whilst I, Fred Nile, languished for a year in inaction and apparent apathy.

With all due respect to Dr Moyes, his account is mere fiction, The achievements claimed by Dr Moyes actually came about as a result of a collaborative effort by dozens of concerned individuals investing hundreds of hours of personal time, over many years. I myself only became directly involve after my office was contacted on Monday 18th December 2006 by a distressed young mother from rural New South Wales who had just pulled her seven-year-old son out of their dam. The boy had tried to drown himself, convinced that he was severely mentally retarded. As it turned out, he was actually extremely bright, but suffered from severe dyslexia and had come to his false belief through his treatment by people in the education system. It was at that juncture that I gave a personal undertaking that I would try to remedy the situation.

In January 2007 my office began work on what was to become the Educational Support for Dyslexic Children Bill 2007. I consulted widely, particularly with Jim Bond who also suffered from dyslexia. I also worked closely in drafting the legislation with Dr Max Coltheart, then head of cognitive science at Macquarie University, Dr Pye Twadell and Dr Paul Whiting from the Specific Learning Difficulties Association of New South Wales, as well as international experts from the United Kingdom, the United States of America and New Zealand.

Notice was given in the upper House on Wednesday 30 May 2007 and the bill was introduced on Thursday 7 June 2007. We spent the next several months circulating dozens of letters of support, trying to convince the Government to support the legislation, but sadly to no avail. Constant liaison with the office of the then Minister for Education and Training, John Della Bosca, led to a period from 13 November 2007 when several amendments were offered and rejected by both the Government and the New South Wales Greens.

Finally, on Wednesday 2 July 2008, my office began work on a completely new bill that would better address Government concerns. On 5 September 2008 a new Premier, Mr Nathan Rees, was sworn into office, and a new Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth, was sworn in on 8 September 2008. The new Minister provided fresh impetus and on Thursday 30 October 2008 consensus was reached. Two weeks later, at 12.00 p.m. on 11 November 2008, the New South Wales Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, introduced a mini budget in which the Government provided an additional $9 Million to employ "80 new special needs teachers".

On Tuesday, December 2nd 2008, I gave notice of the new ‘Education Amendment (Educational Support for Children with Significant Learning Difficulties) Bill 2008' and then had unanimous support in the Upper House, after being joined by the NSW Greens, to introduce and pass the Bill at 4:41pm on Wednesday December 3rd 2008. The Bill passed unanimously in the Lower House the following day. Dr Moyes was not involved at any stage of the process and my initial Bill, the one Dr Moyes claimed he had worked so tirelessly to pass (‘Educational Support for Dyslexic Children Bill 2007'), still sits on the notice paper awaiting support.

Whilst I do not doubt Dr Moyes sincerely believes his account to be fact, the facts say otherwise. Therefore, I urge him to check the facts and the details, and to be accurate. Either way, I urge him to avoid expending so much energy in trying to malign my person and my office and instead work with me in Christian fellowship for the good of all in New South Wales", Rev Nile stated