Mr Marshall Under Attack On Sex Lessons Issue (Press, 9 July 1985)

On 9 July 1985, former Minister of Education Mr Merv Wellington expressed strong opposition to the introduction of sex education at the intermediate school level, arguing that the current Minister, Mr Marshall, lacked a mandate for such changes. Wellington made these remarks during a public meeting aimed at rallying resistance against the proposed changes to the health education syllabus and the Education Amendment Bill, which would allow Form 1 and 2 students to learn about pubertal changes and effectively end a 40-year ban on sex education in New Zealand's primary schools. Wellington pointed to a 1979 analysis of public submissions which indicated that the majority of respondents opposed sex education for intermediate pupils. He noted that the Cabinet had only taken five minutes in 1980 to decide against introducing sex education after reviewing an independent consultant's report summarising public opinions. This sentiment was echoed by various pro-family and pro-life groups, such as the Concerned Parents Association and Protect The Family, who organised the meeting amid heated discussions from an audience of over 200 people. During his address, Wellington emphasised the importance of education being a collaboration between home, school, church, and community. He warned that parental perspectives were at risk of being overlooked in public discourse regarding educational resources and curricula. He lamented that traditional values distinguishing right from wrong had been under siege in education since the early 1970s, attributing this to what he referred to as “social engineering” and a struggle for control over the education system. Wellington cautioned that such control could influence the thoughts, attitudes, and values of over three-quarters of a million young New Zealanders. He called on parents and community members to actively oppose the implementation of sex education, urging them to prevent what he deemed experimentation on their children by social engineers. Wellington recalled that voluntary sex education classes had been organised by schools for parents and students outside school hours and argued that such approaches should persist while schools focused on teaching fundamental academic subjects. Additionally, Wellington voiced his criticism of the introduction of trade union education and peace studies, characterising them as biased methods aimed at indoctrinating students. He cited a newspaper editorial that described resources for trade union education as presenting a one-sided view portraying employers as "rapacious." Furthermore, he labelled peace studies as a mere front for propagating left-wing ideologies, asserting that classrooms should not become platforms for political propaganda.

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