“I would not have been able to go to uni without him,” – or words to that effect – have been repeated by so many people.

The former ALP prime minister will be remembered for many things – many larger than life, many of them sometimes bigger than the budget could stand.

But the single act of making university education free also freed up a whole generation of children from working and rural families to be productive in ways their parents could not have imagined.

In the Whitlam era, my older sisters were the first, on either side of my family, to attend university.

Their grandfathers were a Sydney brick layer and a Queensland timbercutter and their father was an electrician.

One sister stuck it out and powered into her career.

The other decided university was not for her – and powered into an alternative career.

Either way, they were given the chance and both benefited.

Australian teens still have far more choices than others around the world, but today university is not something every student of aptitude can afford.

For a society which prides itself on an egalitarian ethos, that it is a step backward.

A clever country is a productive country, and drawing from as wide a pool as possible makes sense in a globally competitive environment.

Education gives us such things as skilled health workers, who also add to our collective productivity.

It gives us great scientists.

Investing in the future of all who wish to learn, not just those from a narrow stream, is a clever decision.

Gough – it was a good investment – and, as a canny businessman on the other side of the political divide shares on page 5 – so was Blue Poles!

Khemlani aside, check out the current price tag on Jackson Pollock’s stunning canvas!