Sometimes you see a politician sell out their principles in order to meet some political purpose, and occasionally you see a politician stick to their principles even though they make for political disadvantage. But it is almost unknown for a politician to jettison principles for political disadvantage, and Julia Gillard has achieved an almost unique combination with her recent decision to keep pouring massive amounts of money into rich private schools, this time as part of the infastructure stimulus package.

I have previously offered to be Kevin Rudd's secular adviser when it turned out he had a spiritual adviser, but I clearly need to expand the offer and become the Deputy Prime Minister's adviser on progressive politics as well. So here is the first lesson, Julia, free of charge because I am a nice fellow, and, um, I care about this stuff.

Progressive, social democrat parties (and, for the sake of argument I am including the Australian Labor Party under this heading, although, these days …) believe in equality of opportunity. They believe that the daughter of the richest person in Australia, and the son of the poorest, should each have an equal chance of a happy, productive, and moderately comfortable life. For that to happen they must both get an equivalent education in quality and quantity. And therefore, progressive parties believe, the state must provide a good quality public education system available to all no matter where they live, country or town, rich suburb poor suburb. And schools in which, no matter the economic and cultural and religious background of the parents, or the sex or ethnicity of the children, those children would mix freely and learn from each other

The Howard government believed nothing of the sort, they would have liked to dismantle the public school system and have any children whose parents could afford it educated in either a private and/or a religious school, and the devil take the hindmost. Poor children, just as in the nineteenth century should get a trade, get a job, as soon as possible. Religious differences should be accentuated by faith-based schools, social and economic differences maintained by private schools. For eleven long years therefore, they underfunded the public system and poured money into rich private schools and promoted the establishment of many sectarian, indeed fundamentalist, religion-based schools.

Your job, Julia, should you choose to accept the role of Education Minister in a nominally social democrat government, will be to reverse, and gradually undo these regressive policies and return to an egalitarian, secular, high quality, public school system for all. Do you think you have made a good start? And how do you think the $2 million plus dollars you dished out to each of a number of wealthy private schools in Sydney for new gymnasiums and swimming pools would be received by the public schools of Yass, and Gundaroo, and Gunning, and …?

All David Horton's earlier writing is here.