As Australian citizens and taxpayers go forward into the economic and social mess created by the political and religious elite in the last forty years, they may wish to remember the warnings of those who could use a sense of reality to foresee the future. The following is a letter from Constance E. Little written to the Age in 1964 . Here is it.

Where will State Aid end?

Sir,

The Methodist church is being widely admired - and rightly so - for firmly refusing to accept State aid for its church schools.

Several churches that advocate accepting such financial assistance are embarrassing their adherents: and causing serious disunity within their own walls.

No doubt the Government has opened a "Pandora's Box"by starting State Aid?

This backward step will do great harm to the country. Where will it all end?

What is to stop the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Exclusive Brethren from claiming such aid?

As  Presbyterian, I strongly protest against State aid to any church schools - my own church included.

The Federal Government should put this serious matter to an immediate referendum.

Where is it at in  less than half a century?

Constance Little might be interested to know that in less than fifty years, the Methodist Church as well as all the other non-Roman Catholic churches got on the State Aid gravy train. By 1980 they had joined with the Commonwealth, States and the Roman Catholic to defend their State AId nest eggs.  That nest egg, in 2009-2012 amounts to at least 28 billion dollars.

And now, the Prime Minister of Australia is prepared to place the budget further into deficit so that wealthy private schools can receive further capital grants.

In 1964, readers of Constance Little's warning would have been shocked to discover that the Seventh Days Adventist who were chief amongst those behind the insertion of Section 116 into the Australian Constitution, were, within a short time, rushing for thier ride on the State Aid gravy train. So much for their belief in the separation of Church and State.

In less than 50 years, the Methodist church so widely admired by Constance Little had become the Uniting Church and had a motion before their Conference to eliminate the concept of free secular compulsory education from the Education Act.

Constance Little referred to the possibility of separate schools for Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Exclusive Brethren. The Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons have not yet surfaced but by 1999 the following had been established : Ananda Marga ( 4 schools); Assembly of God(  25 schools); Catholic other (4 schools); Christadelphian (2 schools); Christian schools (101 schools) ; Christian Scientist (1 schools); Interdenominational (26 schools); non-denominational (134 schools); Hare Krishna ( 1 schools); Montessori (27 schools); Moslem ( 21 schools); Greek Orthodox ( 7 schools); Other Orthodox (4 schools); other religions (6 schools); Pentecostal (22 schools); Scientology(4 schools); Steiner (40 schools); Quaker (1 school).

The strongest point made by Constance Little was the great harm State Aid would do to the country.

Her readers in 1964 could not have contemplated the  cancer in the body politic created by the funding of sectarian institutions. They would be shocked to see the corruption of the three arms of government: the legislature; executive; judiciary not to mention the fourth estate, namely the media. Other valuable institutions in society have also been corrupted: the universities and pressure groups such as those fighting for civil liberties and human rights.

If the Australian community does not begin to fight for public education; if they are not prepared to confront the untrammelled greed of the church school interest they will need to ask: Where will it end?

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