The ?yay Australia!? brigade turn our messy history into a political football - Sydney Morning Herald

Listening to Alan Tudge’s criticisms of the draft school history curriculum brought home the reality that Australia’s traditionally moronic federal election season can’t be too far away. As we’ve been made painfully aware, the federal Education Minister wants a national curriculum that presents a positive view of Australian history.

And you can also consult the ACTU website for more on Australia’s proud legacy as the land of the fair go, and the obsessive attempts of successive Liberal leaders, schooled in the gentle philosophy of unmitigated union hatred, to wind back the gains. But such partisan digs can’t smother my unease about how contested everything that’s taught in the classroom has become. Even maths; the learning of times tables is a political issue, apparently. Let’s not even mention phonics - oops, too late.

In fact, the main vibe I’m picking up from Tudge is nervousness.