Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macquarie for his question, and I note his deep interest in developing education policy for this nation. Earlier this month the Australian government put on the agenda of the next education ministers’ meeting in April a proposal for greater national consistency in curriculum. We are seeking higher standards of education in our schools through national consistency in curriculum. We want to set benchmarks for assessments across the country and, specifically for year 12 certificates, we want a consistent national approach for assessment and reporting.

We see this is as a national priority. Wherever a student lives they should have access to high-quality education and high-quality curriculum. We want it to represent world’s best practice and have Australia’s national curriculum benchmarked internationally. And we do not want students, or indeed teachers, to be disadvantaged as they move between states.

I am asked about any alternative policies or views. Labor do have some policies on education, and every single one has been a failure. Here is the totality. Members will remember the ALP education policy of the century. Remember Knowledge Nation? Remember that that was the policy to beat all policies that was instantly dismissed as a joke. ‘Noodle nation’ was then shot down in flames—not only by their own side but across the board. I do recall that the member for Brand took the fall for the discredited ‘noodle nation’ policy. They made the member for Brand take the fall for that. Members will be interested to know who the other authors of ‘noodle nation’ were. Hands up! The other authors of ‘noodle nation’—

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