Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macquarie for his interest in this matter. The Howard government is determined to ensure that all students across Australia receive quality schooling and nationally consistent standards. That is why we are focusing on literacy and numeracy testing across Australia on statements of learning in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and a certificate of education for year 12. That is why we have invested a record $33 billion in schooling—a $12 billion increase over the last funding period.

I am asked about alternative policies. Just when you thought that Labor could not get any lazier on policy development, I can announce to the House that, after a five-year absence, Knowledge Nation is back. Remember the noodle nation? In reannouncing this policy over the weekend, the Leader of the Opposition said:

I see no good reason why the best bits of my Knowledge Nation can’t have new life breathed into them.

While the Leader of the Opposition is reheating his instant noodles, we on this side of the House want to know which bits are the best bits. Which bits is he going to leave out? Is he going to leave out schools, the environment or tourism? While members opposite cringe at the memory of Knowledge Nation—the noodle nation—they were not so polite when it was first introduced. I recall the member for Hotham—always very polite—in the understatement of the year, saying,  ‘I think we need to simplify it.’ The member for Grayndler, in a confessional mode, said, ‘I know some of you were really disappointed with the Knowledge Nation package.’ Disappointed? The member for Melbourne said, ‘The Knowledge Nation policy taken to the 2001 election was a prime example of what not to do next time.’ But we had to hand it to Alan Ramsey from the Sydney Morning Herald to tell it as it is. He said:

In one mad moment, with his incomprehensible bird’s nest sketch of 23 circles and 40 train lines, Barry Jones made Kim Beazley’s Knowledge Nation an instant national joke …

Why would Labor bring back a discredited policy? Because, unlike the Howard government, they refuse to do the hard yards in policy development. They do not come up with any new ideas to take Australia forward, and that is why they have brought back from the ashes a failed and discredited policy.

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