Mr RUDD (9:52 AM) —I rise in the spirit of bipartisanship. There is an important vision for the future of this nation which has to do with the creation of a new generation of Asia-literate Australians. We cannot underestimate the continued importance of East Asia to Australia's future economic wellbeing. Despite the recent economic downturn, the major economies of East Asia, North Asia and South-East Asia will be of continued significance to our future jobs. The recovery in those economies is under way. It will not be long before once again they resume a dominant position in this nation's future economic wellbeing.

That underlines the importance of creating in this nation, through our education system, a new generation of Asia-literate Australians, a generation of Australians who are comfortable in the languages and cultures of our principal economic partners, from China through Korea through South-East Asia. We do not want just language specialists; we want a generation of Australians who are competent in their own professions and their disciplines, as lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, as people who are specialists in their mainstream occupations and professions, but who, in addition to that, have a set of skills in the languages and cultures of our principal economic partners.

Because of this, in 1994 the Council of Australian Governments—comprised of all governments, Commonwealth, state and territory, Labor and Liberal—agreed on a national program called the National Asian Languages and Studies Strategy for Australian Schools, NALSSAS. Its vision was a long-term one. It was to provide over a 10-year period sufficient funding, on the basis of a 50 per cent, 50 per cent tied grant arrangement between the Commonwealth and the states, enough resources to enable the schools of this nation to offer foreign language education for children between year 3 and year 10 in the school system and for 50 per cent of the languages on offer to be the principal economic languages of East Asia.

I am pleased to be able to report to the committee that this strategy, which was agreed to in 1994 under the Keating government, has been sustained under the Howard government. I would like to use this opportunity to place on record my appreciation for the interest and support displayed in this program by the current Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Dr Kemp. It is one of those programs which we see in this parliament from time to time and which is of genuine long-term benefit to the nation. It is one whose benefits will not be shown in terms of the children emerging from it and benefiting from its content until 2005-2010, when these children emerge from the school system, the universities and the training institutes to take their place in the work force of the nation. It is one of those rare programs where we as politicians in the short term will not see the benefit till the long term. Hence its bipartisan support has been essential. (Time expired)