replaced by comprehensive high schools, which enrolled all students within a given area, no matter their test scores.

Selective high schools were disparaged as old fashioned and elitist. It was also argued that selection at the age of 11 or 12 was too young to set children on a certain path.

The revival

The revival of selective schooling from the late 1980s accompanied a new commitment by the NSW state government to the education of the “talented” child.

Academically gifted children, it was argued, were neglected in the one-size-fits-all classroom.

During the same period many white, middle-class families moved to private secondary schooling, responding to policies of “school choice”.

Both these developments coincided with increased middle class migration from east and South East Asia.

Coded racism in media commentary

By the late 1990s, Australian print mediaTV Ratings Struggle: How ABC Became the New NBC

ABC's dramas are down double digits, its lone fall hit slipping, "Modern Family" with no friends -- so why is the Peacock's punching-bag status not threatened?

This story first appeared in the Dec. 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

For all of NBC's triumphs this season, the network is haunted by the ghost of Thursdays past. Even as it enjoys its second fall atop the Big Four ratings race (thanks to The Voice, The Blacklist and even The Sound of Music Live!), the beleaguered block that once was "Must-See TV" has prompted weekly "Sad New Low" headlines as the network and its entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt get raked over the coals for milestones like finishing seventh in primetime on the night