2UE

SUBJECTS: Multiculturalism in the National Curriculum; 1996 Parliament House Riot

E&OE…

David Oldfield: Christopher Pyne is the Shadow Education Minister; he’s been very kind to join us this morning.  Hello Christopher, how are you today?

Christopher Pyne: Good morning David.  I’m well, thanks.  How are you? 

Oldfield: I’m well to.  Pleased to hear it.  I also want to talk to you about your excellent opinion piece that was published in the paper this morning on that very interesting anniversary that we have here this morning.  I’ll come to that in just a moment. 

Look, the diverse range of cultural backgrounds in classrooms; if we’re going to be teaching kids respect, shouldn’t it be all ways?  And I pose it to you along this line.  It seems to me when it comes to multiculturalism, the social policy which I’m totally and utterly opposed to, but when it comes to multiculturalism it seems the teaching of these things is that those who are seen to be a minority group, which is seen to be non white, non Christian, non Anglo, non Celtic, whatever you might like to describe; we in that other group are always taught to be accepting of them, but it doesn’t seem to be a two way street. 

Pyne: Well, David, there’s two things I’d say on these stories this morning about multiculturalism being embedded in the national curriculum.  The first point is that my experience being at schools, and I have four children from three to 11, is that teachers are very, very aware of the need to not just talk about multiculturalism, but just teach general respect between all human beings.  As you point out whether you are Muslim, Christian, Greek Orthodox, whatever, your views should be respected and you should be treated in a kind way.  And that’s from primary school right through.  My experience is teachers do that as a matter of course.  Certainly much more so than when I was a student or probably when you were a student; I think we’re probably about the same age. 

The second thing I’d say though is I’m concerned about the cluttering up of the curriculum.  There seems to be a view that because we have a captive audience of 3.6 million students at school everyday in Australia we can therefore run all our social engineering programs through schools.  But that just means teachers spend a great deal more time working on things that aren’t literacy and numeracy and English and maths and history and geography and so on.  Instead they’re running programs.  Now, schools should not be places where Government programs are rolled out.  Schools should be places where people learn the basics to give them the knowledge they need to be able to do the jobs they want. 

Oldfield: I mean, look, we certainly see a situation now where the Government is planning on not only bringing in more skilled workers, but even unskilled workers being brought into Australia you wonder what jobs are going to be left for Australian kids, but an education that seems to be based on getting along with one another based on culture, there’s a lot being left out of the curriculum that should be there to make them job ready. 

Pyne: I’m surprised to hear that the Government believes there is an issue in schools where multiculturalism needs to be embedded in the curriculum.  If there’s racism in schools, if there’s bullying in schools, then bullying needs to be addressed.  Whatever form that it takes.  I have real problems with using schools to run out Government programs because the view seems to be that that’s the easiest place to do it because there’s teachers there and there are students there.  Principals should be given the authority and the autonomy to act on all kinds of bullying, whether it’s cyber bullying, racism or any other kind of bullying. 

Oldfield: This professor Kevin Dunn from UWS is citied this morning quoted as saying, “its good the policy has been reconfirmed, particularly given that internationally we have had some western governments making statements against multiculturalism.”  I gather he’s talking about those countries that are saying it hasn’t worked like Germany and Britain.  But some western governments making statements against multiculturalism, do these people ever look at what is said about the west by so many nations around the world?

Pyne: We’re very fortunate in Australia.  We have a very successful society and culture.  And one of the reasons for that is because we don’t make a big thing about multiculturalism.  We simply accept that other people have come here from around the world and we’re all migrants in this country essentially. 

Oldfield: No one in this country, except for the Aboriginal people, actually grew here up out of the ground.  Every single person is either related to (an immigrant) or came here themselves at some stage. 

Pyne: Indeed, and we all respect that people can hang onto their own cultures as long as they accept the basic values of our western democracy, and by and large they clearly do. 

Oldfield: I mean this particular school that’s being used in this story this morning.  85 per cent of the kids in the school, of course many of them would have been born in Australia, but they are from parents who are from another culture.  Their parents are from a largely non-English speaking background, and I just wonder that the school the minority are actually the English speaking kids.  Maybe in that school the cultural conflicts are perhaps the other way around and those kids should be taught about getting along with those from the west?

Pyne: As long as the principals have got the authority to act on racism and bullying then I don’t believe that Government programs that fill up the curriculum with everything other than literacy and numeracy are going to be necessary.  The problem is there’s far too much parenting in schools.  Teachers are being expected to do what we should be learning at home and quite frankly you should learn tolerance and respect for other cultures and other peoples from the earliest age.  You shouldn’t need a program to teach you that. 

Oldfield: Yes, much appreciated.  Also this thing that grabbed my attention this morning where you were concerned was this article you’ve written for the Daily Telegraph.  You point out that in recent times there’s been huge levels of carry on about signs that have been held up by people at protests; largely this relates to people who’ve been protesting the carbon tax where they’ve held up some unfortunately worded signs and there’s been a little bit of argy bargy, but there’s been no there’s been no, as far as I’ve seen, no burning of effigies or any such thing.  And you highlight the 15 anniversary of what was really the only true assault on our Parliament.  Could you tell us about that? 

Pyne: Well David, I have been, I wouldn’t say amused, I’ve been more annoyed about the great palaver that goes on about a few posters and signs and unhappy Australians citizens who attend demonstrations and obviously all demonstrations should be as respectful as possible.  But the very people who are claiming who unprecedented, how outlandish and how crazy these demonstrations are, are the very same people who supported 15 years ago one of the most grotesque assaults on the Parliament when a union rally went quite awry and they attacked the Parliament; smashing the doors, attacking attendants.  They were a completely uncontrollable mob, carrying pictures of John Howard with an axe over him saying the kindest cut of all, burning effigies of Amanda Vanstone and John Howard, a drunken fueled riot at our Parliament in Canberra and I just think sometimes it’s useful to get some perspective when the shoe is on the other foot. 

When peaceful people go to Canberra and demonstrate, they might have a few posters that are perhaps a little bit out there, but they’re certainly not of a piece with the extraordinary performance that occurred 15 years ago and I don’t see the Press Gallery in Canberra making the same connections and they seem to have forgotten the way the unions behaved 15 years ago in Canberra when Kim Beazley addressed that rally. 

Oldfield: Indeed they didn’t and like you I was there in Parliament House on that day and I remember it very well it was almost like the Parliament was under assault.  In fact members of Coalition staff raced down into the foyer and at one stage not only were parliamentary security, but members of Parliament staff were actually holding the doors against unionists who were trying to batter them down and ultimately smashed those windows.  Ran amuck inside the foyer, smashed up the gift shop and stole…

Pyne: Ransacked it. 

Oldfield: Ransacked the gift shop.  This was akin to an armed attack and remember many of these people came to that protest actually armed with bats and what have you to do this sort of damage and as you point out as time marches on people forget that and then they get a bit worried about a few signs. 

Pyne: Well, people were actually hospitalised out of that riot. 

Oldfield: There were several people who were injured and hospitalised.  Exactly. 

Pyne:  And I find it remarkable how the Press Gallery can get such umbrage about protestors who want this Government to go when they seem to have fallen silent about what was a real riot 15 years ago.  I’ve been around long enough to remember it, David, so I thought I might write a column about it. 

Oldfield: Like all history that needs to be understood, Christopher, sadly there are no longer those who were there to be able to relate it and it gets forgotten and the context goes with it.  Glad to see that this morning and thank you for your time. 

Pyne:  Pleasure, thank you. 

ENDS