Exclusive Brethren fleece the public purse

The Sydney Morning Herald (11/2/2008) reports that a secret review by the federal Education Department reveals how the Exclusive Brethren and other organisations that have been identified as receiving an already too-generous share of government funding are exploiting a loophole to claim even more money from taxpayers - simply by building more campuses.

The report shows the Exclusive Brethren to be the "biggest winner" in this rort by establishing 16 campuses around NSW.

The MET School at Meadowbank, run by the Brethren, is an example of what the Education Department sees as schools getting an unfair advantage. The MET School is the parent school for the other 15 campuses. Only one of these, at Kellyville, is within 50 kilometres of the parent school. One, Lavington, is 600 kilometres away in Albury. If they were called new schools, they would not qualify for the same generous funding. But as "campuses", they keep it.

The department is critical of the "inequities" being entrenched because these schools, under a deal struck with the Howard government, have had their funding maintained at the same level as before the SES system was introduced in 2001.

The overfunding has cost taxpayers more than $2 billion over four years and, according to the review, will cost $2.7 billion over the next four-year funding cycle, starting next year.

Despite having previously criticised the Funding Maintained system as unfair, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, locked Labor into keeping it before the federal election.

The Department of Education's internal review of the funding for private schools was commissioned by the Howard government and completed last year.

The Rudd Government refused to release it to the Herald under a freedom of information request. The leaked report recommends dealing with the extra funding by gradually taking money away from many schools until they receive their correct entitlement.

When John Howard was Prime Minister he had meetings with senior members of the Brethren. Why? Perhaps the sect, which does not allow its followers to vote, but has been linked to funding and advertising campaigns supporting the Liberal Party was getting a few tips on the rort directly from the horse's mouth.

Read the Herald's report at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/loophole-keeps-schools-in-clover/2008/02/10/1202578600919.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1