Milking the system
FEBRUARY 2009
By Anne Tannock
The mention of the 'free milk scheme' often prompts vivid images to flood back for thousands of former Queensland primary school students.
School children enjoy milk under the 'free milk
scheme'
They have mixed memories of the British experiment in 'improving nutrition and behaviour' that found its way to Queensland in the 1950s.
As an infants' student at Brisbane's Norman Park State School in 1953, Patricia Coulter was one of the first students to drink the free milk.
'It was great and some students even added flavouring from wax covered straws to enhance the flavour,' Ms Coulter said.
Claire Munro has different recollections from her Blackall State School days when the milk crates were regularly placed in the hot Western Queensland sun.
The warm, curdled milk went down okay but didn't always stay there. 
Sunnybank State High School teacher Arthur Haralampou remembers as a Grade 3 student at Brisbane's West End State School drinking from the tetrapak containers introduced in the mid 60s.
'Afterwards, two boys would take the "empties" to the incinerator for disposal,' Mr Haralampou said.
'Sometimes they would put them down the vertical chimney pipe and eventually the pressure would build up and cause an explosion.'
Queensland's primary school population 'enjoyed' the free milk for 20 years from 1953 until 1973 when it could not be justified on nutritional grounds.
Free milk was reintroduced in 1978 for pre-school children but this too was discontinued in 1987. There are no plans to regurgitate the free milk scheme.
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