There is only one history that matters. It is the history of the common man.

What was the culture at the time which led my father to have different values and perspective to my own? What was the culture at the time which led his father to have different values and perspective to what my father had?

I wonder if Howard's History includes this man.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/awaye/stories/2007/2049732.htm

It is the tying of funding to a prescripted version of our past which bemuses me.

I AGREE!...History is not boring either! There is humour in it sometimes. Great sadness too.But I AM GOING TO ENJOY THIS ELECTION! MOST NURSERY RHYMES have their origins in HISTORICAL EVENTS AND PEOPLE.John Howard is such an excellent subject for new ones.And a
lot of VOTERS this time are closer to PLAY SCHOOL than OLD JOHNNIE! FOR EXAMPLE: EENEY MEENEY MINEY MO,POOR OLD JOHNNIE HAD TO GO, TELLING FIBS AND THROWING MUD MADE US VOTERS GO FOR RUDD!

"A comprehensive history of Australia mustn’t be taught as a single entity, but as settler colony of an empire, part of the decolonised world, of the English-speaking world, of the Asia-pacific, of the globe, and so on."

It is simply not possible to understand the history of Australia without some knowledge of not only Australia's British heritage, but also our nation's place as an outpost of the Occident. The enduring legacy of Western civilisation should thus be taught as an integral part of a comprehensive history of Australia, alongside the other above-mentioned strands. Sadly though, the systematic study of Western civilisation in both Australian high schools and universities is sorely lacking.

I wonder if Bonsai Howard's alleged history of this continent will include:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Portuguese_discovery_of_Australia

Or will we continue the canonisation of James Cook and Banks? Banks who had a copy of the Portuguese map on board the Endevour!

This nation's military history must also be seen as a joke too. The Australian War Memorial has a "mob" of ex Generals and politicians called the War Memorial council.

http://www.awm.gov.au/corporate/council.asp

Over the decades since WWI they have overseen the "official" version of the pain and suffering of our armed forces from the top of the pyramid. The "baggy arsed" bottom has had little input to the story. For example, the story of Jimmy Riddle and the 2nd D&E Platoon in Vietnam as a special strike force has officially been whitewashed from the books. Even to the extent of confining (exiling) of Jim riddle in the UK for 36 years so that he was unable to tell his story of deceit and valour.

http://www.albyschultz.com.au/news/default.asp?action=article&ID=509

This is not to mention the Victoria Cross citation to WO2 Kevin Conway at the Battle of Nam Dong which has never reached fruition, but swindlers and cheats have been awarded the "Order of Australia." Which by the by, is made in Singapore.

Forgive the cynicism, but history is such a massaged and mismanaged subject in Australia that good scholarship is yet to bubble to the top of the scum.