Paul Keating once said Asia was there to fly over on the way to Europe, yet later claimed to be an “Asian expert”. Julia Gillard seems to have had her Damascus moment. On the 7.30 Report, 5 October 2010, she said
Oh, look, Kerry, I’m obviously working my way through. Kerry, I’m just going to be really upfront about this: foreign policy is not my passion. It’s not what I’ve spent my life doing. You know, I came into politics predominantly to make a difference to opportunity questions, particularly make a difference in education. So, yes, if I had a choice I’d probably more be in a school watching kids learn to read in Australia than here in Brussels at international meetings. That’s what took me into politics, that kind of education work. But obviously in this role I will serve as Prime Minister doing the full job, and the full job includes coming to places like Brussels to be a feisty advocate for Australia’s national interest. And that’s what I will do. It’s what I’m doing here.
Perhaps her lack of interest in foreign policy explains why she thinks learning a foreign language is the most important part of Australia increasing its engagement in the “Asian Century” – in an interview with Jon Faine (29 October), the very first example of a policy initiative from her White Paper:
Things like making sure kids have got access to things like studying an Asian language.
Personally I wish she did have a stronger interest in foreign policy, she would be less likely to damage our children with her vision of a national curriculum.
She is just creating a non- domestic distraction.
Mike of Marion
30 Oct 12 at 6:58 am
I can’t find the quote. Does anyone have the source?
Gavin R Putland
30 Oct 12 at 7:12 am
The whole thing is a bodgied up smokescreen of feelgood, meaningless cliches. They know damn well they’re going to lose. They have all sorts of stuff they desperately don’t want discussed at the moment. So they have come up with something else for us to talk about.
Our response should be “Oh Asian century! Now about that slush fund..”
Ooh Honey Honey
30 Oct 12 at 7:27 am
Yes, it is in Paul Keating’s Book of Insults, Bookman Press, 1992
Samuel J
30 Oct 12 at 7:28 am
She could do with more study of the English language, for starters.
duncan
30 Oct 12 at 7:40 am
oh.. and things.
duncan
30 Oct 12 at 7:41 am
If she’d sooner be in school watching kids read, she could have become a teacher. The evidence is that she came into politics to assert leftist notions and to win power by whatever means, retain it by whatever it takes, and there we are, right now.
Our system is discoloured by the alignment of forces – the combined effects of media, academe, stacked branches, stacked judiciaries, union sway over a major political party, and the willingness of all to soft pedal against the weakening of our country by the disease that is politcal correctness. The recent attacks on Abbott should never have had traction but for the white anting of a once predominantly decent country.
It is now a cesspit of deception, and in a spiral downwards in many ways, not least of all our indebtedness.
Blogstrop
30 Oct 12 at 7:42 am
Strategy setting a clear vision and then sticking to it over a long time. Of course the luvvie class have no time for that crap and rather continue their scattergun approach to Asian languages.
After the first language thought bubble we were told chidren had to learn Japanese and Korean so they can read Manga and listen to Korean pop.
Next thought bubble had Indonesian in it so they could talk to the Balinese in the a dialect from Java.
Then Mandarin so we could say thankyou while walking the Great Wall.
New thought bubble, teach kids a couple of words of Hindi so they get 1 word in 40 in the latest Bollywood musical.
Seriously, these idiots should be ignored. I said it yesterday, languages should be the focus of adult education when people can allign the language with the role/task they are doing.
Token
30 Oct 12 at 8:15 am
I wish she’d just take the op-poor-chew-nuddy to do the write thing and save herself from the slaw-der staring her in the face at the next eh-leck-shone.
amcoz
30 Oct 12 at 8:20 am
Paul Keating had a Biden-level intelligence.
Look, all Labor leaders discover Asia at some point. The funniest of their cliches is that “Australia is part of Asia” – which is like saying Antarctica is part of South America.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 10:29 am
To be fair to Paul Keating,I don’t think he said that-his comment was about Darwin “best seen at 35,000 feet on the way to Paris’
sabena
30 Oct 12 at 10:34 am
People learn languages and culture faster when the barriers to trade are removed
Dan
30 Oct 12 at 10:42 am
Pleeese forgive my search for validation, but I had a go at addressing this question C.L. many years ago.
Ooh Honey Honey
30 Oct 12 at 10:44 am
And the real joke is that ENGLISH is the language of business and communication throughout the entire world.
NoFixedAddress
30 Oct 12 at 10:52 am
Great speech honey
Dan
30 Oct 12 at 10:53 am
@Ooh Honey Honey 10:44
Still has relevance.
NoFixedAddress
30 Oct 12 at 10:57 am
I see you speak fluent Gillard, amcoz. Well done!
kae
30 Oct 12 at 10:58 am
And yet the ALP is in retreat everywhere. Imagine what it would have been like if the chattering classes didn’t ‘support’ the ALP.
I think you will find that the Taranto Effect has long ago taken hold and the thje leftist media has lost its power to do anything but to drive voters to the right. Leftist sympathies in the broad culture are a mile wide and an inch deep. I was at an arts function the other night, and as soon as someone mentioned the Federal Government the groans were loud and clear. People often listen with a politely glazed look when some poor sod spouts the usual PC talking points, but more and more people I talk to are rebelling against the PC pseudo morality pushed by the ignoramuses of the left.
Rococo Liberal
30 Oct 12 at 11:02 am
Things! Labor things!
ar
30 Oct 12 at 12:31 pm
Thanks, Honey. Not validation seeking at all. I was interested in the paper. It’s very good.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 12:36 pm
OHH, this should be a Liberty Quote:
Token
30 Oct 12 at 12:55 pm
Alexander Downer reviews this half-arsed policy and notes how naive it is when you consider:
* Australia is a high tax country with a large welfare burden that invests relatively little investment in infrastructure
trying to compete with
* Asian countries which are low tax/low wage neighbours which are investing the lion share of their tax into infrastructure.
Why don’t we have more politicians like this?
PS: He addresses the asian language discussion in a way that would be familiar to Cats
Token
30 Oct 12 at 1:29 pm
Why don’t we have more politicians like this?
Voters snowed by media. See last two elections, 2007, 2010.
blogstrop
30 Oct 12 at 4:34 pm
The Asian century to look forward to?
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/passengers-take-jetstar-crew-hostage-after-delay-20121030-28hbo.html
Siltstone
30 Oct 12 at 11:45 pm