Catholic education chiefs in Melbourne face the prospect of multiple investigations over their controversial intervention in last month’s Batman byelection on behalf of the ALP.
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The Australian Greens party has confirmed it will lodge complaints with both the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Australian Electoral Commission over robocalls and letters to Batman voters endorsing Labor’s education policies.
Well-placed sources also say an inquiry by the charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission is likely given that, as a tax-exempt charity, Catholic Education Melbourne is not supposed to encourage voters to support one political party or candidate over another.
Catholic campaigning helped Labor retain its one-time safe seat in Melbourne’s inner north although electoral pundits doubt that the support was pivotal. The Liberals did not contest the byelection.
A letter sent home with students from Catholic schools and signed by Stephen Elder, the executive director of Catholic Education Melbourne, concluded that of the parties contesting the election the ALP's policy was the only one to recognise and respect the church's teachings and to support Catholic schools remaining affordable.
The Catholic campaigning in Batman was reminiscent of a similar intervention in the 2016 election when tens of thousands of Victorian Catholic school students were sent home with letters from Mr Elder warning against Greens education policies.
At the time, the charities regulator issued a "please explain" notice and warned that Catholic Education was at risk of losing its charitable status. However it took no further action. The Charities Act 2013 states that charities are not to promote or oppose a political party or candidate for political office.
Fairfax Media understands that among its complaints the Greens party will query whether the robocalls were properly authorised and the possibility that electoral rolls were accessed for the calls.
Catholic Education’s intervention in Batman – the 30,000+ robocalls would have cost around $10,000, the letters a few hundred or thousands dollars – was made all the more contentious because it coincided with Labor leader Bill Shorten’s promise of an extra $250 million to Catholic schools.
In a letter ahead of the Batman poll, Mr Shorten told Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart that Labor stood "shoulder-to-shoulder with the church" on school funding, and that he would give Catholic schools the additional $250 million in the first two years of a Labor government, and billions more over the decade.
A furious Education Minister Simon Birmingham slammed the Catholic education bosses, likening them to Judas and suggesting they had been bought by Labor for "a few pieces of silver".
Mr Elder’s intervention in Batman was made especially annoying to some in the Coalition given he is a former Liberal MP in Victoria.
Mr Birmingham also accused Labor of trying to "see how many votes they can buy" by pledging more money to Catholic schools.
Labor's special promise to Catholic education also sparked anger in Labor's traditional public school constituency.
Labor has argued that its promise to Catholic schools is nothing new because it simply represents the Catholics' share of its promise to restore the "full Gonski" funding ripped out by the Turnbull government in its so-called Gonski 2.0 model.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference is the organisation bishops use to act together at a national level on "issues of national significance".
Catholic schools claim they are being shortchanged $1.1 billion under Gonski 2.0 because they are transitioning to the new funding formula in six years rather than the 10 afforded to independent schools.
The Age has sought comment from Catholic Education Melbourne.
