Open Letter To Ricky Muir RE: University Reforms

So, I'm on Day 2 of quitting smoking and am doing anything I can to distract myself. Today I wrote to the Motoring Enthusiast Party Senator Ricky Muir and got an auto-reply. Non-nicotine me wants to know I was heard. This is my story. *Dun-dun* (Law and Order music)

Previously Povo Pupil Pressures Pollie. Likes Alliteration.

afr.com / Via afr.com

Hello Senator Muir,

Thank you in advance for your time.

My name is Frankie and I am writing to you in regards to the current government's proposed changes to university legislation.

I ask that you consider opposing these changes for a number of reasons, many of which you may have heard before (so i'll try and hit you with some new ones...), but most importantly for the future of our nation... (Big call, but seriously...)

Deregulating fees, will no doubt render the ability of future generations to access tertiary education (something I consider to be a right and not a privilege) almost impossible for some.

"For some" are the key words here Senator Muir; these proposed changes will ensure that all those who already hold a tenuous grip on a university education will no longer be able to reach a dream that should be an option for all.

How do I know this?

Because if these changes occurred when I originally set out to complete tertiary studies, I would be one of those whose reach would fall short of the lofty goal of further education.

Further education I have used not only to enrich my own life, but to improve the lives of others.

I was brought up in the country town of Shepparton in Victoria, a safe Liberal seat on a federal level and a very safe National/Country party seat up until the most recent Victorian state election, in which an independent, (essentially) just like yourself, proved that when you have the best interests of the community at heart, the support you can receive is limitless. A fact I hope you remember when voting on these changes.

I went to what was known as the 'povo' school, a label I can laugh at now (and I hope you can too), but in reality Senator Muir, poverty is not a joke when you are experiencing it. And I did experience it, largely because my parents had limited access to education...

You see, both my parents came from large families; large enough to make family reunions one hell of a party, but also large enough that it was often difficult to 'make ends meet' (Or 'hen's meat' according to my little sister).

For my father (along with some authority issues - stories of his boyhood suggest that he was not-so-much an apple-polisher, but more of a "see-me-after-class" kinda kid) this meant dropping out of school in year eight to begin a life of physical labour; hay carting, general farm work, brick-laying, demolition (before explosives were the norm) - you get the picture, my ol' man, is/has been a man who has made his living through his physicality.

This fact alone is not my reason against the proposed legislation changes; physical work is no less rewarding than any university-educated profession on a philosophical level... on most levels in fact, and it's true, for most of his life (if not all) my old man has reveled in his work, and the added benefits that it has afforded him - I can't recall one time in my whole 27 years alive that my Dad hasn't had a tan that housewives in posh suburbs would pay a salon a lot of money for.

But, and this is a big 'but' (and I can not lie...), physical, 'unskilled' (not terminology I like particularly) labour generally doesn't pay the big bucks.

Especially given the toll it has on the body. As I'm sure you know, given your years in the sawmill.

My Dad is still fighting fit, but 40-plus years of 'hard labour' means, that on some days, it is indeed, a fight.

His back goes every now and then, and I can tell you, without a doubt, that as a daughter, seeing your old man in so much pain that he can't even get into the garden he loves more than having a beer and watching Carlton beat Collingwood (which is a lot...), well, it's beyond words.

And it's here where I will say that education shouldn't be about money, it should be about choice... Something that would be taken away from many young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds if they were likely to be lumped with a debt that would seem insurmountable from their perspective. My old man didn't really have much of a choice, it was go to work or... go to work.

This isn't so bad for someone like my Dad, I definitely can't see him sipping macchiatos and discussing Kaftka in some overly-manicured courtyard before rushing off to Professor Snape's 'Potions 101'.

But allowing this legislation to go through, essentially means those who want to study, but don't necessarily have the means to, will, by and large, have this choice taken away from them.

Crippling debt is not an incentive to further one's knowledge.

Crippling debt is not an incentive to use your strengths for the betterment of society.

Crippling debt will not get us better teachers; more nurses; or world class scientists.

But what about these scholarships Chris Pyne keeps banging on about?

The supposed means to keep kids who grew up like me: 'povo' kids; kids from the country; kids who were the first one in generations to finish high school; but also the same kids who want to go to University more than they want Carlton to win another Grand Final.... (Like father, like daughter....) in the running for the increasingly competitive world of higher education.

Well, that's where I call bulls#*t.

Why?

Because again, we're making it about the money you need to get that piece of paper rather than the idea that individuals, families, communities and our nation as a whole benefits when education is valued and seen as important. Without that inherent value: the value that this new legislation, and this (I deliberately do not use 'ours' or 'my') government, more generally, seems to directly oppose (I mean, we don't even have a specific Minister for Science anymore for Pete's sake!), scholarships will be nothing but lip-service to the truly disadvantaged.

How can I be so sure?

Well, here's where you meet Mumma-Frankie, Ricky, (I feel like if you're still reading I might as well call you Ricky because you're a bloody champion!)...

Anyway, my Mum's story is a little different; when an unfortunate car accident left my Nanna unable to work/care for her other five kids on her own, my Mum, her eldest daughter, had to drop out of school in form two (I don't actually know what that means but apparently in the 70s it was a thing....), to 'pick up the slack' - this is despite being awarded a full scholarship until the end of high school due to what she likes to call her "...pretty grouse English marks..." (Don't worry the irony is not lost on me either...).

You read that right, despite being awarded a scholarship, economic circumstances still prevented my Mum from the education she wanted AND deserved.

And this is what you're opening to door to if you vote with this government on this legislation.

It's unfair.

And it'll keep the wheels of poverty turning.

Don't get me wrong, I think I turned out alright, but perhaps if my parents were able to access education free of economic worries, I would never have had to have Weet-bix for tea; or worry about how I was going to pay for textbooks; or cry every night for the first two weeks when we had to move into emergency housing.

Or maybe not, I don't know.

But what I do know is, that with my background, I don't take education for granted... so please don't either.

I don't know if this is a quid-pro-quo, purely politics thing, but I write to ask you to not compromise on this one Ricky.

Get back to me hey, bud?

Sincerely,

Frankie