Education Minister Alan Tudge slams draft history curriculum’s negative take on Australia

The federal education minister has delivered his strongest criticism yet of the proposed curriculum and its criticism of Australia’s history.

A proposed new national curriculum has copped a broadside from federal Education Minister Alan Tudge, who said that while we need to “reconcile” ourselves with dark chapters in our history, “when you read the full 84 pages of the draft history curriculum there’s not many great things said about our country at all.”

The comments were the strongest criticism yet heard from the federal government of the draft curriculum, which has been roundly attacked by critics who accuse it of dumbing down English and maths education, injecting Indigenous subject matter where it is not appropriate, and downplaying modern Australia’s British and Judaeo-Christian roots, and even eliminating explorer James Cook.

“Even Anzac Day itself is presented as a contested idea. If you read through the full 1700 pages of the draft curriculum you wouldn’t necessarily come out with a deep understanding of why we are this fantastic, liberal democracy that we are today,” Mr Tudge said.

Alan Tudge. Picture: Sam Mooy

Pointing to the decline in education in Australia, Mr Tudge said that “a 15 year old is 12 months behind where a 15 year old was 20 years ago … there’s been some positive

improvements overall in the draft national curriculum but we have to do better.”

“The national curriculum, it goes to the heart of what children are taught. Not just the content but the values which are embedded in that and also the standards which come about from this as well,” Mr Tudge said.

“We absolutely have had tough times in the past which we need to reconcile ourselves with. And students should learn about that. But fundamentally students should come out school with a love of this nation and what we have achieved together. They should understand our deep Indigenous history.

“They should understand our deep British foundations which set the scene for our great democracy, built on Judaeo Christian values and they should understand our fantastic multi-cultural character which has come about in previous decades because of waves of immigration arriving here,” he said.

Originally published as Education Minister Alan Tudge slams draft history curriculum’s negative take on Australia