School funding cartoon by John Frith, May 1963

One farmer complains to other farmer (Prime Minister Robert Menzies), gesturing at mounds amongst furrows on his land. The mounds are labelled: ‘Over-crowded school’, ‘Lack of teachers’ and ‘Lack of money’.

The cartoon was created amid political debates about whether the Australian Government should fund non-government schools. In 1964, the Menzies government passed an Act that brought in federal funding for independent and religious schools.