Australian Letter Special Education Taxation Proposed

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29220, 2 June 1960, Page 12

Australian Letter Special Education Taxation Proposed

(Australian Correspondant

(Rec. 8 p.m.) SYDNEY, May 30.

Two education authorities have proposed to State Governments that they should increase taxation to improve the Australian education system. They are Dr. R. Madgwick, Vice-Chancellor of New England University, and Professor J. P. Baxter, Vice-Chan-cellor of the University of New South Wales.

Dr. Madgwick, who was guest speaker at a national education conference in Sydney, told 3000 teachers and parents that Australians should be prepared to pay higher taxes to solve the national education' problem. “To Say we cannot afford to train scientists and technologists is fantastic nonsense. The logic of the world situation provides no alternative,” he said.

“We cannot be people with a sense of values so degenerated that we watch horse races and drink beer while civilisation burns itself out, not unlike Nero.”

Declaring that Australia does not spend on education a fraction of what it should, Dr. Madgwick added: “I believe in advocating increased taxation to raise more money for education.” The delegates to the conference decided to ask the Federal Government to make an emergency grant to the States for education purposes. They also sought the setting-up of a national committee bf inquiry to investigate the needs of primary, secondary and technical education throughout the. Commonwealth. The Federal Government has already rejected these proposals in advance. Speaking in the House of Representatives earlier, the Minister of Education made it clear on the Government’s behalf that no large-scale assistance could be expected. The idea of a national committee of inquiry was rejected by the Prime Minister (Mr Menzies) a year ago. Pt-ofessor Baxter, speaking on a television programme, urged the State Governments to levy a special tax for education purposes. He said the tax, with the approval of the Federal Government, could be levied at the rate of £1 a week from each taxpayer. Pensioners and widows would be exempt from the scheme. Professor Baxter said Australia was facing an education crisis. The States needed twice as much money for education. He would not hear of the idea of a grant from the Federal Government, because “if you have Federal money you are going to have Federal control, and that would be the end of liberal education in Australia.”

The “Sydney Morning Herald,” in a critical analysis of Professor Baxter’s tax proposal, said no Government would consider such a proposition.

The Federal Parliamentary Labour Party has urged a fullscale drive by the Commonwealth and State Government to prevent the decay of New South Wales coal towns. It said minewprkers faced a growing threat of unemployment and coal towns were stagnating. Chief recommendations in the report were:—

(1) That coal gasworks be established with co-operation from governments and private enterprise.

(2) That the gas be piped to surrounding areas and to Sydney.

(3) That research into the most suitable methods of developing a coal-based liquid fuel and chemical industry be greatly accelerated.

(4) That inspectors be appointed to ensure that all suitable coal is extracted from each mine before it is closed.

The report claims that the northern and western coalfields of "New South Wales face a crisis. There whs unemployment, lack of employment in alternative industries, and slowly stagnating towns and industries. The report said: “If the forecasts made by the Joint Coal Board are correct, the number of persons employed in the coalmining industry will fall still further. In the absence of other positive action, coal towns will be depressed areas facing grave economic and social problems.”

Transport authorities in New South Wales and Victoria have been threatening td take action against. youthful passengers who played their transistor radios “offensively” on trains, trams and buses. Now the Railway Departments in both States have brought the first cases to Court.

In Melbourne, a 21-year-old man was fined £5 for playing a transsistor radio in a railway carriage. He was charged with having wilfully interfered with the comfort of other passengers.

The Magistrate was told how a compartment of 15 passengers had to suffer blaring rock *n* roll music and race descriptions for a 20-minute journey. When asked if be realised the broadcast was an annoyance to people in the compartment, the man charged said: "I don’t think of anyone else.” In Sydney, the Railways Department preferred a charge against a youth for “offensive use” of a transistor radio in a suburban train. This case will be heard in the Children’s Court next month.

The New South Wales Commissioner for Railways, Mr N. McCusker, has issued another warning that his department will prosecute passengers who play transistors in trains and cause too much noise. He added that he did not wish to be a “spoilsport” and ban transistors completely from trains, and owners of these radios should “do the right thing” and keep the volume low. * * « The former chairman of the New South Wales Egg Marketing Board, Mr P. B. Ryan, resigned this week and described the board as "a farce.” Mr Ryan added that practically every egg producer knew the board was by no means happy. He urged that Egg Boards be elected by poultry farmer*— men who knew the game—and not by “rubber stamp Government officials who probably have never seen a hen lay an egg.” Mr Ryan said there was too much overlapping, costly to the poultry farmer and the public. He said the New South Wales Egg Board paid the Australian board £35,000 in levies oh overseas egg sales, but the Australian board had done scarcely anything for local farmers to promote sales. ♦ ♦ * Perth detectives believe they have only five days to stop another young girl being run down by the city’s “hit-and-run maniac. They fear the driver will claim another victim at the weekend. Already the man has run down five girls in three hit-and-run attempts during the last month. All three attempts have been made late on Friday night or early on Saturday morning. Young girls have been the victims in each attempt—always made in a deserted street with no witnesses. In one attack the driver drove into three girls crossing a street The car dragged one, aged 19, 100 yards along the roadway, but she suffered only a broken leg and fecial injuries. All the victims have told the police that the car swerved directly into them. On each occasion a stolen car was used and abandoned soon after the attack. .-■uh The provision in the new Victorian Social Welfare Act for no tMt wiua • nuxM reception in New South Walek, but opinion seem* to favour it The SydM? “Sun” said that the release of prisoners on the honour system to take outside work during daylight hours might be seen in New South Wales at no distant date. Britain, Holland, Denmark, and certain American States already operate this system, and in every case it seems to work fairly successfully. The “Sydney Morning Herald” commented: “There is an obvious danger that the deterrent aspect of imprisonment will be too little regarded. This danger can, however, be countered by a careful selection of the prisoners to be made eligible for privileges. With this proviso, there seems no good reason why the new Victorian system, perhaps even in an extended form, should not be adopted here.”