Premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition Leaders Christ Minns will both address two town hall meetings hosted by NSW faith communities and Better Balanced Futures later this month.
Premier Perrottet will address and answer questions from the audience on Wednesday, 22 February while Chris Minns and his senior leadership will also address and take part in a Q&A on Monday 27 February.
Murray Norman, Better Balanced Futures CEO, said the organisation was delighted to be working in partnership with faith communities and interfaith partners to be able to host the Premier and the alternative Premier at the two exclusive town hall-style meetings to hear from them about issues that matter to people of faith, including religious education.
The meetings will be held in Parramatta. The events are free, but registration is essential (details below) and places are limited. The broadcast partner for the event is Sky News.
Focused on Special Religious Education (SRE), the advocacy group Better Balanced Futures seeks to engaging with and educate families, parents, communities and carers about the provision and access to SRE in public schools across NSW for all faith groups.
Religious freedom in general and religious education in schools founded on the basis of denomination or faith has achieved an increasing profile and importance in public life, debate and politics in Australia in recent years, often in relation to debate around gender or sexual identification.
The right for faiths to teach beliefs they regard as core and essential to their identity has increasingly come under attack from activists seeking to enshrine various gender ideologies as being authoritative in law and of decisive importance in all debates, especially in employment and school curricula.