Senate debates
Monday, 13 August 2007
Questions without Notice
Australian Literature
2:55 pm
Russell Trood (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to my distinguished colleague from Queensland Senator Brandis, in his capacity as the Minister representing the Minister for Education, Science and Training. Will the minister advise the Senate of the importance the Howard government attaches to the promotion of the study of Australian literature in Australian schools and universities? What initiatives is the government taking to promote the study?
George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I thank Senator Trood for his question and acknowledge the serious interest that he has displayed in this important issue for as long as he has been a member of the Senate and indeed before. Like Senator Trood, I am the parent of secondary school age children and like most Australian parents, I think, we share a concern at the evident decline in emphasis on literary studies in general and the study of Australian literature in particular in Australian schools. Too often, I am sorry to say, that decline has been driven by ideologically obsessed teachers unions and state education departments enslaved by postmodernism and corrupted by cultural relativism, which sneer at the notion that our greatest literature is a priceless heritage. The editorial writer of the Australian newspaper last Thursday I thought captured the problem very well—
Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
What a genius!
George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
when he said this:
According to postmodern dogma, all “texts” are equal and equally worthy of study whether they are plays by Patrick White, an SMS text message or a return ticket to Flinders Street Station. Texts are no longer studied to reveal their moral or aesthetic value, they are “unpacked” or “decoded” to expose perceived racism, sexism and the exploitation of “victims” by the hegemonic classes. This ideological approach means that even if students do study anything from the canon of great literature it is through the jaundiced eye of left-wing politics, turning a deaf ear to the musicality of language or the aesthetics of beauty. It is extraordinary that at a time when young people feel more freedom to express open pride in their Australian identity they are not being exposed to what our greatest writers and poets have to say about being Australian.
In order to address that concern evident to all Australian parents of school age children, the Australian government has taken a series of initiatives. Last week the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Ms Bishop, and I attended the Australian Literature in Education Roundtable, convened by the Literature Board of the Australia Council at the National Library here in Canberra. The roundtable was convened under the chairmanship of Mr Imre Salusinszky, the Chair of the Literature Board—
Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Another one! Another freethinker!
George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
the incomparable Mr Imre Salusinszky. On that occasion, Minister Bishop announced that the Australian government would donate $1.5 million to the endowment of a new chair in Australian literature at an Australian university to be chosen. The roundtable made a number of recommendations, which the government is looking at very closely. Those recommendations included:
The study of literature should form a core element of English courses in schools, introduced in the primary years and developed at secondary level;
Nationally consistent curricula and core standards, which are currently being developed by education ministers, should include a component on Australian literature;
This component should be included in any external assessment;
There should be a comparative investigation of international models of literary education;
Literacy and Numeracy Week should have a greater emphasis on Australian literature;
The recently announced summer schools for teachers—along with other aspects of the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme—should include an emphasis on Australian literature;
The Australian government should initiate a program of support—
Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! Minister, your time has expired, and so has mine. Oh, there is a supplementary question.
Russell Trood (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. This is a matter of profound importance to the nation. I am grateful for the minister’s illuminating answer to my question. I wonder whether he might expand further on the initiatives that the Australian government is taking.
George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The recommendations include:
Education ministers should consider establishing a scheme to assist publishers in keeping Australian classics in print;
A group of distinguished writers, teachers and scholars should be convened to establish a list of Australian literary works that form part of the intellectual inheritance of all Australians;
The Howard government will stand on the side of Australian parents in defending the right of every child to be taught our nation’s rich literary heritage, unobstructed by left-wing prejudices, ideological obsessions and postmodernist fads.
Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr President, I thank you for presiding so wisely and capably over question time for these last five years. I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.