Published : Adelaide Advertiser Friday, 21 Sept 2004 Extract

Mark Latham’s education policy penalises parents that work hard to send their children to a school of choice.

The facilities our children enjoy at an independent school came from donations and parent fund raisings, not as Mr Latham suggests, from government subsidy. The small contribution from the Commonwealth towards our 3 children’s education certainly helped us.

Under Mr Latham, thousands of parents, unable to pay fee increases flowing from Labor's hit list claw back will be forced to change schools.

Mr Latham’s savings, taken from independent school parents, will convert to an additional taxpayer cost of $8000 per child in the state system. As children dislocated from the environment they love, move to a state school, taxes will rise to pay for the flood of refugees out of the private system.

Fair go Mr Latham; the chip on your shoulder does not benefit Australia. It is a morally expensive way to con votes from the majority. Money taken from a minority of schools for ideological and politics of envy reasons has already unleashed irreparable hidden costs to society.