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October 11, 2007
Having failed to impress the electorate with everything else he's tried, Howard has returned to that perennial favourite, the history wars. He's going ahead with the plan for compulsory, uniform history as a stand alone subject in years 9 and 10. State education funding will be linked to their adoption of the history plan as envisaged.
The states aren't showing too much enthusiasm so far which is pretty much what you'd expect. No reports yet on what year 9 and 10 kids think, and it's probably best not to hold our breath waiting for them to be consulted.
Howard's on much safer ground with this than with health. Maybe.
He knows his lines, he's got backup from a reliable stock of talking heads - some with plausible claims to authority, the committees have sat, the reports are in, the costing's been done and the corporate speak package is ready to go.
Education is Labor territory but history is Howard's. He's experienced at talking about the future through the lens of the past, which gives him an opportunity to get genuinely misty eyed about current issues from a safely historical perspective. He can do nationalism with a straight face.
Julie Bishop's not the best salesperson you could hope for, but Howard can do this one by himself blindfolded with his hands tied behind is back. People don't seem to be terribly bothered when state funding is tied in with various schemes, so what could possibly go wrong?
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Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald makes some observations on a history of the present:
Why so? He an image problem as he is seen by many voters as stale, out of ideas, lacking a purpose yesterday's man. Secondly, much of the country no longer seems to listen when Howard talks. This second problem does not allow him to address the first.
Hartcher observes that Howard tolerated with equanimity Aboriginal activists turning their backs on him, but now it seems the broader electorate is turning its back, Howard is seeking an urgent reconciliation.