Talk:Australia

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Australian public schools and (lack of) secularism

"BUILDING OUR NATION THROUGH PUBLIC EDUCATION":

Like the concept of public schools being free, however, the idea of secular public schools was more honoured in the breach than in the observance. Thus religious clergy were permitted and even encouraged to visit public schools on a regular basis to provide religious instruction; aspects of the official curriculum and some of the textbooks contained strong religious messages; and students were encouraged to live according to Christian moral values.

Such a state of affairs has continued to the present day. As a result, it is fair to say that public schools have been less secular in practice than they have been in rhetoric, even though in most States secular education is enshrined in law. Indeed, there is a growing concern among many public educators about the extent to which religion is permeating a number of aspects of public schools. I will give three examples:

• In all States and Territories, special religious instruction (SRI) is offered by ministers of religion. Although parents can generally make the decision about whether or not their child can attend, this is an ‘opt-out’ rather than an ‘opt-in’ provision. Concerns have been raised about the content of some of the instruction, as well as about the fact that the SRI is largely conducted by unqualified volunteers;

• In 2006, former prime minister, John Howard, announced the National Schools Chaplaincy Program (NSCP) as a three-year program costing $165 million. Although the Rudd Labor government expanded the scheme to include funding for secular welfare workers in 2011, three years later the Coalition government abandoned that option in its first budget, and gave $250 million to continue a chaplains-only scheme. Concerns have been raised about the fact that chaplains are used as counsellors despite many being untrained for that role; and the danger that some chaplains will use the position to proselytise a particular faith;

• Questions about religious teaching being part of the official curriculum periodically arise, with the most frequent being attempts to teach creationism. Most recently, the two government appointed reviewers of the national curriculum have argued the case for religious instruction to be part of the official school curriculum, and conflated the important distinction between religious instruction and religion education (Wiltshire, 2015; Donnelly, 2015).

Herr FuzzyKatzenPotato (talk/stalk) 18:08, 2 January 2016 (UTC)

New stuff to write about

Australia's government becoming more crazy/unbridled

They censored/denied and forced the UN to cover up the report on the Great Barrier Reef, the Coalition.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2016/may/30/australias-censorship-of-unesco-climate-report-is-like-a-shakespearean-tragedy

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-29/modern-day-mutiny-as-norfolk-islanders-fight-australian-takeover/7369434^{— Unsigned, by: 104.131.14.167 / talk / contribs}

How did

the original inhabitants reach the island? Aliens flying them over the sea? --Scherben (talk) 23:47, 12 August 2018 (UTC)

Most likely , they walked when they could, and crossed the ocean barriers that existed at the time (such as the Lombok Strait) in rafts or other watercraft when they couldn't. --FluffyGhostKitten (talk) 17:03, 13 August 2018 (UTC)

Gradual island hopping was the order of the day then? --Scherben (talk) 19:57, 13 August 2018 (UTC)

john barilaro

i feel like his nonsense should be documented somewhere on here but i am not a great writer 75.28.142.235 (talk)

Wildlife section

If someone wants to rewrite it so it's not reliant on a listicle, then go on ahead. But I oppose removing the section entirely, as Australian wildlife is relevant to the missional topic of evolution and is also the subject of a lot of urban legends. Plutocow (talk) 22:15, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

Maybe we could make a separate article detailing Australian wildlife instead. The plants list isn't really good, it's just two plants. Rational Dude (talk) 22:18, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

So what's the consensus? Rational Dude (talk) 01:04, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

I think the section should be rewritten into an overview focusing on Australia's ecological diversity and how it's threatened by climate change. That would be better and more missional than a list of animals. Chef Moosolini’s Ristorante Italiano^{Make a Reservation} 01:07, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

I agree.

If I may, I'd like to move the current list to a sandbox or a fun article or essay. Rational Dude (talk) 01:47, 22 July 2023 (UTC)