 While Bishop of Port Augusta , O 'Reily showed an interest in education policy . He authored a pastoral letter on the matter in March 1889 , and the next year gave a speech criticising the lack of government funding for Catholic schools . According to O 'Reily , it was unfair and unjust that Catholics paid taxes to support state schools but received no government support for their own . O 'Reily 's views on education were frequently cited when the Free Education Bill ( which aimed to make state schools free ) came before the South Australian Parliament in 1890 , but the cost of the scheme meant that the bill was not passed . Although there was some discussion of funding for religious schools when the bill was reintroduced the next year , these proposals failed to gain significant parliamentary support , and in 1891 , the bill was passed without assistance for religious schools . 
