RECIPE FOR A DIVIDED NATION

In a recent  article in The Australian (13 October 2003) entitled "Schools a Public Calamity" in Australia. He noted that  federal funding for private schools is growing at a faster pace than that for public schools - 24.1 per cent over the next four years for private schools versus 17 per cent for public schools. He also noted that the Howard Government provides more assistance to private schools than it does to  its direct responsibility for higher education.

He concludes that

    "This is a recipe for a divided nation. The larger the numbers enrolling in private schools the wider will be the gaps between the education haves and have- nots - the one in six children who grow up in a jobless family, or those with low-paid or underemployed parents."

He also bemoans the lack of political will in the Labor Party to do anything about it, noting that the Labor Opposition under Simon Crean is a rabble split over personality, not principle.

Well, - the DOGS have been predicting this situation for the last forty years and note that the Greens have some grasp of the issues. But at the end of the day very few if any politicians are prepared to admit to or even mention the real crux of the problem - CHURCH STATE SEPARATION.

It was with some relief that the DOGS noted a letter from Ian Welch, Mawson ACT which understood the real historical reasons behind the current crisis for Public Education. We refer our readers to it and reproduce it below:

"George Megalogenis's article (13/10) refers to an emerging "calamity" for Australian secondary education as the undeniable decline of public education rolls on.

For decades, federal ALP policies have pursued short-term electoral objectives, pushing "reforms" without any thought for long-term consequences and, in particular, without foreseeing what the Coalition, and the eccentrics of the Senate, might do.

It was the Whitlam government that opened the door for the Howard Government to bring about the school circumstances described by Megalogenis. It was the Keating government that opened the door for the Nelson "reforms" to higher education and the decline in the effectiveness of a comprehensive national health scheme.

It is painful for those who believe in the separation of church and state to realise that the churches receive in excess of $115 billion each year from government, possibly more if the statistics were readily accessible. We are at risk of surrendering our educational objectives to zealots if the growth in fundamentalist religious schools goes unchecked.

To make such observations is not anti-Christian or anti-religious, although it clearly envisions a different kind of Christian participation in society. Nor is it to despair of the ALP or the people of conscience in the Coalition. Nor is it an argument for pervasive "socialist" domination of society or an argument for unfettered private ownership.

It is rather a call for Australians in general to re-examine their ideology and practices. Australians have, largely by focusing on the short term, allowed our society to drift into models of government that do not truly reflect the deeper values and aspirations of the majority of Australians. If you question that, watch what happend to the notional surplus announced by the Howard Government.

Ian Welch"

DOGS NOTE THAT THE DRIFT INTO THE   CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE AND AN UNEQUAL SOCIETY WAS NO ACCIDENT

IT WAS THE RESULT OF A WELL PLANNED POLITICAL, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL STRATEGY WORKED OUT BY CHURCHMEN LIKE ARCHBISHOP MANNIX AS EARLY AS the 1920s.

A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN WAS LAUNCHED BY THE DLP WHICH NOW PRODUCES THE TRUE BELIEVERS IN THE ALP (  LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE LIKE LIONEL MURPHY  WHO OFFENDS THEM! )

THE CHURCH'S LEGAL INFLUENCE CAME TO FRUITION   WITH THE DOGS CASE IN 1981 - AND  LOOK HOW ALL THE JUDGES EXCEPT MURPHY TURNED THE INTENTION OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS UPSIDE DOWN ON THAT ONE.

FOR THE STORY OF BEHIND THE SCENES MACHINATIONS OF CHURCHMEN READ THE HIGH COURT STORY ON THIS WEB PAGE

THE SOCIAL STRATEGY   IS THE RESULT OF EXTENSIVE PUBLIC FUNDING OF PRIVATE SECTOR INSTITUTIONS WHICH PROMISE A FIRST CLASS TICKET TO HEAVEN - AND OF COURSE THE GOOD JOB. and THE DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST.

IT IS JUST TOO BAD, IF THE DEVIL AND UNEMPLOYMENT TAKE THE HINDMOST. JUST SO LONG AS THE CHURCH (ES) HAVE ACCESS TO THE PUBLIC TREASURY AND POLITICIANS WHO DANCE TO THEIR TUNE.

The above analysis is not a lament. The DOGS present it to readers as a challenge. For this generation owes it to their children and grandchildren to fight for and recover that most precious part of ours and their inheritance :

1.    separation of church and state and

2.    a public education system which is public in  purpose, benefit, access , ownership, control and accountability,  and sole recipient of  public funding.

IN SHORT, NO STATE AID!