Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] My question is to the Minister for Education and Youth. With many students in my electorate returning to school this week, why is it so important to have a national curriculum that lifts standards and ensures that kids are taught about the origins of our strong liberal democracy? What has been the response from parents and teachers to the Morrison government's calls for such a curriculum?

Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chisholm for her question. She, like me, is a very proud Melburnian and is so pleased to see kids returning to the classrooms in Melbourne this week and then further next week as well, meaning that kids right across our great country will be returning, in line with our national plan.

Mr Speaker, the member for Chisholm, as you know, is a great Australian, and she's like so many of the millions of migrants who came to this country over the past few decades because of the freedom, the opportunity and the democracy which this country offers. And she wants to ensure, like us on this side of the House, that the next generation also are educated about the origins of our liberal democracy and have high standards in our classroom, which is why we are working so hard to ensure that that national curriculum does those things.

This view is shared right across Australia by everyday mums and dads and by teachers. For example, in the member for Chisholm's own electorate, Mei Li says, 'Thank you for standing up for the future of our next generation.' We've got, in the member for Cowan's electorate, Marlene from Warwick, who says, 'I also agree that a truthful history of our nation must be taught. Thank you for your concern and for voicing it strongly.' In the member for Moreton's electorate, Philip and Sue from Acacia Ridge write in: 'Thank you for looking for an A-plus education curriculum for future generations.' Even in the member for Corangamite's electorate, Peter and Rosita from Winchelsea write: 'We firmly believe that we have a duty to teach the next generation about our true heritage.' Those types of views have been shared by mums and dads, by teachers and by grandparents right across our vast continent, because they, like us, want to ensure that standards are high and that the origins of our liberal democracy are taught fully in the classroom so that the next generation will defend our democracy in a similar manner to previous generations.

It seems that the only people who don't share this view of wanting to have a positive view of Australia, wanting kids to have high standards, wanting kids to understand the origins of our liberal democracy, are those opposite, who suggest that that concept is weird. We don't think this concept is weird. Mums and dads don't think it's weird to want high standards. Mums and dads don't think it's weird to want to learn the origins of our liberal democracy and have pride in this great country—because we live in one of the greatest countries in the world, and kids should go through schooling understanding the origins of it and being absolutely proud of this great nation.