Sigrid seeks change in funding

Actors Sigrid Thornton and William McInnes from the popular TV show SeaChange, food writers Stephanie Alexander and Gabriel Gate and Olympic gold medallist Natalie Cook are just a few of the 120 people who signed an open letter to Federal Senators protesting at the Federal Government's education funding proposals.

The letter was published in The Australian on November 8.

The letter rejected the Government's plan to introduce the new socio economic status funding policy as "inaccurate and inequitable", called for abolition of the Enrolment Benchmark Adjustment and called for an increase in public education expenditure to at least 5.1 per cent of GDP.

Such an increase would move Australia to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development mean for education expenditure. Australia is currently ranked 24th out of the 28 OECD countries.

Signatories included writers Steve Biddulph, Robert Dessaix, Helen Garner and Linda Jaivin, academic Verity Burgmann, ACTU President Sharan Burrow, former Victorian Premiers John Cain and Joan Kirner, musician Paul Kelly, social commentator Eva Cox, comedians Rod Quantock, Denise Scott and Matthew Quartermaine, AEU President Denis Fitzgerald, journalist Ramona Koval, ACTU Secretary Greg Combet, actor Alice Garner, artist Bernhard Sachs and barrister Jocelynne Scutt.

For further information

November 2000 contents