Goulburn School Strike
The protests arose in a background of heated political debate about "state aid" to Catholic schools and accusations of sectarianism.
The action and the political aftermath saw both major parties in Australia commit to providing support to Catholic and other religious schools on a "needs" basis, a step away from the earlier philosophy of "free, secular and compulsory".
[1][2] By the 1850s there was strong pressure from the community in each of the Australian colonies for education to be placed on "free, secular and compulsory" basis.
[4] After the Second World War, an increase in student numbers and a decline in religious brothers and sisters saw many Catholic schools in crisis.
[6] Inspectors from the New South Wales Department of Education determined that in order to continue to operate, the school needed to install three additional toilets, to cater for the number of children enrolled.
[7] The school and the families of the children enrolled claimed to be unable to afford the cost of the additional toilets and with the support of the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn John Cullinane decided to take a stand on the matter.
The local Catholics were refused a meeting with Ernest Wetherell, the New South Wales Minister for Education, to discuss the matter.
[5][8] The enrolment process itself was smooth with both Catholic families and government schools acting in a spirit of mutual courtesy.
Jack Plews, an English teacher at Goulburn High School stated "I said I wanted them to enjoy their stay with us no matter how long it was, and we'd do our best to meet their needs in education.
Before the strike one parent stated, "she would march on Parliament House rather than sacrifice her children - put them in the firing line, so to speak.
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) Premier of New South Wales, Bob Heffron, was loath to be seen to be forced into a decision but announced he was willing to listen to the concerns of the Church.
Church leaders sought state aid for items such as scholarships, teacher training and salaries and capital funding for modern facilities such as science laboratories.
[5] Seeking to exploit this split, in 1963, the Liberal Party of Australia Prime Minister Robert Menzies (a Protestant) announced a new policy committing to federal funding of science laboratories for all schools, government and non-government, and called an early election on this platform.
While some in the ALP bitterly opposed the concept, the pragmatic Gough Whitlam managed to lead his party to a compromise position where aid would be provided to schools on the basis of need.
