Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Evans. I refer to the Australia in the Asian century white paper, which includes as a key priority ensuring every student has continuous access to high-quality Asian language education. Minister, can you confirm that the government ended the funding for the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program in the 2011 budget and has made no further significant ongoing funding commitment for Asian languages and studies in Australian schools since then? Isn't the government hypocritical in suggesting that it has a commitment to Asian languages, and don't actions speak louder than words?