University funding

March 23, 2026

Governments encourage students to participate in higher education. The rationale is expressed in terms which highlight the benefits to the economy and employers. More simply put all of us benefit from a well educated and well qualified workforce. Given that we all benefit does it not follow that we should all contribute to the cost? Furthermore those who benefit most are the corporations or more crudely put those who hold 1 per cent of the wealth. It follows therefore that they should contribute the most. In an ideal world all education is 100 per cent free from cradle to grave. We could do worse than revist Whitlam’s trial of community education centres – at the time we were not ready for that model but reworked it could drive our long term prosperity