It is also a duty owed to the boys and girls who shared their lives with them in the classrooms open to every child of this nation. I hope the response to the public perception of any defects in public education will include proper funding to remedy those defects. By all means let us support private and church schools. They also cater for the Australian citizens of tomorrow. I believe most Australians think this way.
Surveys confirm it.
It is in the interests of all of us to strengthen public education and not to knock it. To make sure that public schools and their pupils get a more generous share of the education budget. And to give our top priority to reversing the high and disproportionate drop-out rate that falls most heavily on children in Australia's public schools. This is an edited version of High Court Justice Michael Kirby's speech yesterday at the Adelaide Festival Theatre, where he received an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia. The Age Company Ltd 2001.