THE events of July 16, 1962 loom large in Mick Lowe’s memory.
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On the day the Catholic Schools closed down in protest over lack of state funding, the young Our Lady of Sorrows student turned up at Goulburn West Public School for enrolment.
His mother, Mary, a self confessed ‘militant’ in the debate, was also at the gate, championing the cause. With three of her children in Catholic Schools, overcrowded classrooms and inadequate facilities she was incensed the system wasn’t receiving a fairer share of tax revenue.
It was only natural then, that when asked the reason for the protest, she gave the enquirer ‘an earful.’
“Do you know who you were just speaking to?” a parent asked her.
“No idea!” Mrs Lowe had replied.
“It was BA Santamaria (from the Democratic Labor Party),” Mrs Lowe laughingly told an audience on Thursday night.
The irony was not lost on the 150 people who converged on Trinity Catholic College to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Catholic School strike; Santamaria was a powerful advocate of state aid.
Mrs Lowe and her son, Mick, now a Canberra Primary School principal, participated in a panel discussion about the historic events, hosted by ABC 666 Canberra radio presenter, Genevieve Jacobs.
Mr Lowe, one of eight children, humorously recalled his mother “educating the kids underneath the tank stand” during that week and a fair bit of playtime too.
Other panel members were congregational leader of St Joseph’s Convent, Goulburn, Catholic Education Office staff member Sr Frances Fitzpatrick, Mary Queen of Apostles Parish Priest, Fr Dermid McDermott, former Catholic Education Commission chair, Ray Storrier and Trinity Catholic College captain, Nicholas Campton-Smith.
Memories of July 1962 came flooding back at Thursday’s celebration attended by politicians, prominent players in the debate and their descendants, former federal education minister Wal Fife, Catholic Education staff, teachers, Sisters of St Joseph and Sisters of Mercy, clergy and student ‘strikers’ of the time.
Fr Frank Keogh, who played a quiet but leading role in the issue, made a special trip from Harden for the dinner.
Mr Storrier, a member of a Wagga Wagga parents group who supported the Goulburn action, was also a welcome guest.
They all remembered shining lights like Brian Keating, JB Mullen and Arthur Rolfe and Jack Plews who have since passed away.
Catholic Education Office (CEO) director Moira Najdecki said the state aid issue had many sides but the Goulburn event was central in shaping today’s education system.
“The CEO is delighted to host this event because we probably wouldn’t be here without you ensuring education could flourish,” she said.
But ‘why Goulburn’ and ‘why 1962?’ executive director of the NSW Catholic Education Commission and Macquarie University history professor, Dr Brian Croke asked.
In an incisive address, Dr Croke exploded some of the myths surrounding the Goulburn strike, saying it was the boiling point of simmering anger elsewhere and earlier.
He put it down to Goulburn being “a very Catholic town” (36 per cent), with 30pc of its population at school and having strong Labor roots; the notion of a strike was not foreign.
“Perhaps a more telling reason, whether you like it or not, is that you Goulburn people and your bishops have always been a stroppy lot,” Dr Croke said.
He quoted Dr Keating years later confessing his group had no solutions to offer.
“Was it no more than a ‘spontaneous explosion,’ as Brian Keating himself later called it?” Dr Croke asked.
But ultimately it made politicians and commentators realise that only the Commonwealth could provide meaningful assistance.
“The legacy of Goulburn is to remind us not to lose sight of the underpinning principles of fairness, justice and parental rights,” Dr Croke said.
Mr Storrier, who in 1961 had helped rally a 1200- strong public meeting in Wagga Wagga over the same issue, endorsed his view.
He described Goulburn’s action as the “watershed” that broke down sectarian and political barriers.
“What happened 50 years ago has been forgotten by so many,” Mr Storrier said.
“My appeal to teachers is to reflect on where we’ve got to and the events of the 1960s that initiated it.”
![MEMORIES: Mick Lowe, now a Canberra Catholic Primary School principal, and his mother, Mary from Batemans Bay, exchanged humorous banter on the Q&A panel at the 50th anniversary dinner on Thursday night. MEMORIES: Mick Lowe, now a Canberra Catholic Primary School principal, and his mother, Mary from Batemans Bay, exchanged humorous banter on the Q&A panel at the 50th anniversary dinner on Thursday night.](/images/transform/v1/resize/frm/storypad-GaYa9c7QuNtLLX2kQCbPqP/8bbe77e1-ebbe-4638-964d-bb357ef49d56.jpg/w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)