Mr Howard said it was good the subject would become compulsory to Year 10 and that it would place more emphasis on indigenous and Asian history. “Beyond those praiseworthy features there is much about the curriculum that I find unbalanced, lacking in priorities and in some cases quite bizarre,” he said. 

“In the process it further marginalises the historic influence of the Judaeo Christian ethic in shaping Australian society and virtually purges British history from any meaningful role.

“Magna Carta, parliamentary democracy, the language we speak – which need I remind you is now the lingua franca of Asia – much of the literature we imbibe, a free and irreverent media, our relatively civil system of political discourse, the rule of law and trial by jury.” “Indeed, some of the sports we play, these are all owed in one form or another to the British.”