Mrs ELSON (2:59 PM) —My question is to the Minister for Education, Science and Training. Would the minister advise the House of the Howard government's initiative to reinforce values such as tolerance, respect and courage in Australian schools?

Dr NELSON (Minister for Education, Science and Training) —I thank the member for Forde for her question and her commitment to building character in young people. We recently visited Emmaus Primary School and the Flagstone State School where $700,000 of Commonwealth money went into some very important capital works projects. The parents of the 3.27 million children who attend Australian schools are increasingly looking for a number of things for the education of their children which relate to the aspirations that they have for them. They are concerned about who is teaching their children, what they are being taught and whether they can read, write, count and communicate when they leave the school. Whilst parents do not always express it in these terms, they are talking about standards; they are interested not only in uniforms and in discipline in schools but also in the kinds of values that underwrite the framework in which the education is being delivered.

This government in particular believes that parents should be able to make choices in terms of the schools to which they will send their children, and in making those choices we are equally determined that schools be encouraged to provide a values based education to Australian children. There are many changes in our society today that we do not always understand nor want. It is important that we recognise that the guiding story for education is about building character in young adults as much as it is about transferring skills, knowledge and information. In fact, Benjamin Franklin said, `Freedom and a free society depend very much on character.'

It does not matter how many laws we pass in this parliament. Unless we have individuals who are prepared to abide by those laws, we will not be a civil society. The member for Werriwa recently, in expounding on a political doctrine based on hatred, justified that doctrine in part by the observation that the Australian way apparently is for parents to criticise and get into referees at football games, for example—games in which children are participating. That has never been the Australian way, nor indeed should it be.

Mr Latham —Why wouldn't you, if you care about your kids?

Mr Hockey —What about that South African thug?

The SPEAKER —The member for Werriwa! The Minister for Small Business and Tourism!

Mr Latham —At least he sees his kids!

The SPEAKER —The member for Werriwa! The minister has the call.

The SPEAKER —I warn the member for Werriwa!

Dr NELSON —This government is making a first instalment. I have put aside $580,000 from my portfolio to specifically conduct some pilot work. The Australian Curriculum Corporation is to do some detailed work about what values are currently taught in both government and non-government Australian schools, how those values were developed and how that compares with the way values are inculcated in education in other countries. In addition I will be inviting, in the first instance, 60 schools to demonstrate to us the kind of values that they teach in their schools, how they developed them, the kinds of relationships that exist between teachers, parents, local communities and indeed the governments that support those schools. We want to see that schools are, for example, teaching children to be trustworthy, to treat people with respect, to be courteous, to be responsible, to be accountable and to do their best. Surely we want children to leave school being fair and reasonable. We want them to be caring, to be good citizens and volunteers and to protect our environment, amongst many other things.

As far as this government is concerned, the principal of the Salisbury High School put it very well. In the Adelaide Advertiser recently she said that students at her school are `groomed to become well-adjusted adults, whether or not they are academic achievers' and that the school `surveyed students and parents to establish which values should be upheld by the school's structuring and teaching'. She said:

Our ambition for education as a nation should be not only to prepare young people for the future but also, importantly, to give them the skills, the confidence and the character to create the kind of future that they want.