Culture wars brought to book

Tony Abbott has called for Christian prayers to be said at the same time traditional indigenous landowners are acknowledged.

Kevin Donnelly, left, with former prime minister Tony Abbott and broadcaster Alan Jones at the Sydney launch.

Tony Abbott has called for Christian prayers to be said at the same time traditional indigenous landowners are acknowledged in public ceremonies as he railed against political correctness at the launch of a book that warns that the ­culture wars are threatening children’s education.

The former prime minister and broadcaster Alan Jones launched education commentator Kevin Donnelly’s new book, How Political Correctness is Destroying Education and Your Child’s Future, and told anecdotes to illustrate the inroads political correctness was making into free society and teaching at schools.

Mr Abbott said every one of six speakers at the recent opening of a new northern beaches hospital ­acknowledged traditional landowners before speaking. “Every single speaker, and there was about six of them, acknowledged country, fair enough, but there was not a single prayer,” he said. “Our society is unimaginable without the influence of Christianity.”

Jones, Mr Abbott and Dr Donnelly lashed out at how much money was being spent on education, and how standards across the country were still falling short.

Dr Donnelly’s book explores how education has become the battleground for the culture wars and yesterday he reminisced on when he was growing up when “no one had heard of identity politics”.

“Political correctness is a strategy used by the political Left to enforce its agenda,” Dr Donnelly said, and compared the way political correctness manipulated language with tactics of totalitarian regimes.