London: Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie has made a strong call to reinforce conservative values in Australian life, starting with policies to “dismantle” universities that instill “white guilt” and “climate change” among students.
McKenzie told a major Conservative conference in London that restoring western values should be done by changing the funding model for universities, including how they collect income from international students.
The Victorian senator and Coalition frontbencher also called for a tougher approach to border policies so that migrants are selected on their values - and that believing in Islamic Sharia law meant Australia was not theirs.
“The left has sought, through our universities, and I’m sure it’s the same for liberal democracies around the world, to prepare intellectuals for a certain worldview,” he told the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship event in London.
“But they are also focused on educating educators, so that more children can be taught.”
McKenzie blamed universities for instilling an ideology in teachers that was passed on to young students.
“If a student teacher spends four years locked in white guilt, injustice, climate change or even hatred, that is what is passed behind the closed doors of the classroom,” he said.
“But Australia’s literacy and numeracy scores have been falling for years, and the education industry is responding by questioning whether the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has got its approach right.”
McKenzie mentioned a recent controversy, over the reports teachers were not sure how to teach about the Holocaust to children from Muslim familiesaccusing universities of allowing anti-Semitism to continue unchecked.
“Higher education in Australia is our fourth largest sector. Do not underestimate the potential of this sector,” he told a gathering of about 4,000 people in the conference hall and online.
“We have to ask the hard questions here today. Is it worth preserving institutions that can no longer be reformed?
“My firm belief now is the only way to reform higher education in Australia is to break it – break it by ending their funding model through international students.”
His call received a standing ovation from the audience when he noted that fee-paying international students now made up a growing proportion of Australia’s population and that the number needed to be curbed.
McKenzie was given a valuable opportunity on the first day of the event to give a presentation in her own way, following speakers including author Ayaan Hirsi Ali. and ARC co-founder Paul Marshallas well as several panel sessions.
A former maths teacher, McKenzie was a university lecturer before entering the Senate in 2010, later rising to become a cabinet minister in the governments of Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison.
He has also been hit by sports scandals, when he managed the financing of sports projects towards the 2019 general election, and its use of taxpayer-funded aircraft.
His speech to the London conference also called for stricter immigration controls so that social factors – including adherence to Australian values - determine whether someone comes to the country.
He argued that Australia was “used to” consuming immigration but that this carried a social cost if it did not deliver fair outcomes for families.
McKenzie said rising GDP made prime ministers and big businessmen happy, but it was not a measure of community health if GDP per household was not growing.
“Houses are now unaffordable for young people who have reached the age of 30, thus putting pressure on them to delay having children,” he said.
“If you love your country, and respect your past, you should not apologize for discriminating against those who come to live in it. Not by race, but by morals.
“If you believe that Sharia law is better than the laws we have inherited from England, I’m afraid Australia is not for you.”
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David Crowe is the Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect through X or email address.
