Whitehouse Institute of Design under fire again over Frances Abbott scholarship with vandalism and protests

THE college that gave the PM’s daughter a $60,000 scholarship is vandalised as the only other student who attended the college for free is revealed.

The fallout continues from the awarding of a $60,000 scholarship to Tony Abbott’s daughter Frances. Picture: Gary Ramage

THE Whitehouse Institute of Design was hit by vandals overnight — and the prestigious college’s woes have continued this afternoon.

The design school was caught up in a storm of controversy last week when it was revealed that it awarded a $60,000 scholarship to Tony Abbott’s daughter Frances.

And then last night, unknown people vandalised the college’s Surry Hills headquarters plastering the front windows with stickers that said “BULLS**T”.

News_Module: Whitehouse vandalised

A nearby resident said the stickers were “stuck all over the glass doors and on the models’ mouths” on photos in the windows.

Surry Hills police visited the college this morning to investigate the vandalism, which has since been removed.

The heat continues to be directed towards the college this afternoon, with left-wing activist group the Socialist Alternative protesting outside the institute’s Melbourne campus, where Frances now works.

About 100 people gathered outside the college in Bourke St at 3pm to protest the awarding of the so-called Chairman’s Scholarship and the government’s plan to deregulate university fees.

Members of the group attempted to force their way inside — but police blocked the doors.

Protestors now sitting at the intersection of Spencer and Bourke Streets @theheraldsun #auspol pic.twitter.com/BsPGSrp3nl

— josh hanrahan (@jhanra11) May 28, 2014

Police guard the door to the Whitehouse Institute pic.twitter.com/4J3XHpohFd

— Michelle Ainsworth (@mlainsworth) May 28, 2014

Protester Jessica Lenehan, 24, described the demonstration as successful and “very peaceful”.

The Prime Minister’s office said last week that his daughter won the scholarship “based on her application and art portfolio” and Mr Abbott later said politicians’ families should be “off limits from politics” — but Ms Lenehan disagreed that Frances was an innocent party in the affair.

“She accepted the free ride and in accepting that she has to accept the flak too,” she said.

Fellow protester Elliot Downes, 18, said the scholarship “represents everything that is wrong with the system — where the Prime Minister’s daughter went to an elite institution for virtually nothing while working class kids are going to pay through the roof because of her father’s actions”.

“Protests like the one today are the only way we have a hope of beating back the Abbott Government’s attacks on education, and everything else included in their horror budget,” Ms Downes said.

News_Image_File: Frances Abbott on the campaign trail with her father Tony Abbott before last year’s election. Picture: Gary Ramage

RELATED: Classmates express fury over Tony Abbott’s daughter Frances being awarded $60,000 scholarship to Whitehouse Institute of Design

Whitehouse chief executive officer Ian Tudor told news.com.au that the protest targeting its campus was misdirected.

“We support the right of people to protest peacefully against government policies they are opposed to but there is simply no justification for singling out and disrupting our students and staff or vandalising our campus,” Mr Tudor said.

The institute also refuted reports that the only other student to have been awarded the Chairman’s Scholarship was the daughter of the college’s founder and owner, Leanne Whitehouse.

“The Chairman’s Scholarship (formerly the Managing Director’s Scholarship) has been awarded from time to time, at my discretion,” Leanne Whitehouse said.

“My daughter, Billie, studied at Whitehouse. She was not awarded a scholarship but studied here free of charge. Many private tertiary providers have similar arrangements for their children and the children of their senior staff and teachers. The school is wholly owned by myself and it is not unusual nor surprising that, when my daughter showed a strong interest in a career in design, she pursued this interest at Whitehouse.”

The Socialist Alternative has been behind a number of protests in recent weeks, including hijacking ABC1’s panel show Q&A.

Protester Jessica Lenehan said this would not be the organisation’s last demonstration.

“I hope the protests continue to get bigger and better,” she said.

The Socialist Alternative is particularly angry about plans to deregulate university fees, which are likely to push up the cost of courses.

Ms Downes, a student from St Kilda, said the Social Alternative was not involved in the Surry Hills vandalism but she said the act showed there was a “general feeling of outrage amongst students in this country that is broader than groups such as ours”.

News_Image_File: March in May protesters gather at Belmore Park in Sydney. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Shock jock Neil Mitchell savaged the protesters for what he called a “ridiculous and offensive” attack on his radio show this morning.

“It is not fair game to go after a politician’s family like this. It is gutter politics — even for the demonstrators,” Mitchell said.

“The family is not elected. The family is not responsible for the decisions Tony Abbott makes.”