Australian Asia Capability Education Inquiry: Free Language Attainment Accreditation
By Dr Gideon Polya
The Australian Federal Parliament House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education has set up an Inquiry concerned with how to increase Australia’s Asia capability (notably language skills) through the education system. I have made a detailed Submission proposing that the multilingual skills of Australia’s circa 5 million Asian citizens should be very usefully formally credited for tertiary qualifications by free AI-informed Attainment Accreditation.
Submission by Dr Gideon Polya to the Australian Federal House of Representatives “Inquiry into Building Asia Capability in Australia through the education system and beyond”.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education Inquiry is concerned with how to increase Australia’s Asia capability through the education system and beyond [1]. Committee Chair, Hon Tim Watts MP, has critically warned that “On many measures Australia’s Asia capability has been going backwards in our schools and universities for decades. Between 2004 and 2022, there was a 75 per cent decline in enrolments in Southeast Asian languages at Australian universities” [1].
A biochemist, I was involved in academic teaching and research at La Trobe University over 4 decades, and that involved both undergraduate and postgraduate Asian students. Lord Kelvin famously opined that arguments should ideally have a quantitative basis: “I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind” [3]. My Submission is concerned with the Cost of improving Australia’s Asia capability in our schools and universities and by free Attainment Accreditation.
Based on my personal experience with universities over 6 decades as a student, researcher and academic I strongly believe that education from pre-school to life-long learning should be free for everyone. Indeed Australia led the world in compulsory, free and secular education, and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam abolished university fees (although they were re-instated under Prime Minister Bob Hawke). I have argued for the largely cost-free Option of off-campus education that I variously described as Accredited Remote Learning (ARL) and Reading Only Tertiary Education (ROTE) [4-14].
Put simply, anyone for any course could download course material including a detailed syllabus and exhaustively specified reading material (books, articles, notes), immerse themselves in Deep Learning (ideally informed by succinct written advice on such Learning), and then submit themselves to old-fashioned, written Accrediting Examination at trivial cost to the State. Such systems already exist overseas [7, 8]. Indeed in many areas (notably Science, Engineering and Medicine), graduate practitioners are involved in such lifelong learning (accredited or otherwise) to upgrade their professional skills.
A reductio ad absurdum example relates to Massive Open Online Courses) (MOOCs ) involving top universities delivering learning content free online to any person who wants to take a course, with no limit on attendance [15]. The State could simply provide free Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Accrediting Examinations for such top quality MOOCs [9].
Of course such systems do not have the same inter-personal richness of the standard (and very expensive) on-campus tertiary education system involving lecturers, tutors, lectures, tutorials, practical classes, and student-student interactions that provide the rich fabric of on-campus university education. AI provides a ready and indeed superior substitute for such interactions (except for practical classes). Indeed if Cost is the exclusionary problem then Accredited Remote Learning (ARL) wins hands-down for remote, disabled, disadvantaged, Indigenous and refugee student aspirants.
The Gaza Genocide has been associated with 875,000 Gazan deaths from violence, 175,000, and deprivation, 700,000, after 2 years, with this including the deaths of 325,000 children, 207,000 women and 342,000 men [15-18]. Before the Gaza Genocide began on 7 October 2023, blockaded and egregiously deprived Gazans represented the best educated population in the Arab world but now all their 14 universities have been destroyed [17, 18]. However AI-enhanced ARL enables that 4,000 year tradition of Palestinian Learning to continue [19, 20], just as mobile phones enabled heroic Gaza journalists to report the Gaza Massacre, Gaza Genocide and Gaza Holocaust from the rubble, albeit at the shocking cost of their lives [21-23].
Unfortunately the culture of Australian universities has changed since the re-introduction of university fees and the remorseless corporatizing of Australian universities [11, 12, 24-34]. Tertiary education is now seen not as an obligation on the State but as a money-making exercise at the expense of the poor, young and disadvantaged, with corporate academic managers on about one million dollars per annum salaries (“refuges from scholarship” according to my father Dr John Polya), and an Education Export Industry worth $40 billion each year [12]. Codes of Conduct and other constraints are now limiting freedom of speech in Australian universities [11, 12, 30-34].
On a bipartisan basis, US lackey Australia is second only to the US as a fervent supporter of Apartheid Israel, noting that those supporting Apartheid Israel and hence the vile crime of Apartheid are unfit for public life and public office in a one-person-one-vote democracy like Australia. Australia’s Mainstream media, Labor Government and Coalition Opposition are Zionist-perverted and are responsible for shocking Australian inaction during the Gaza Genocide. Indeed Australia sought to hide the Gaza Genocide through “antisemitism hysteria” and “terrorism hysteria” that has led to Zionist threats to free speech by a Zionist McCarthyism directed at academics, students and human rights activists [35-41].
In particular this has happened because Australia belongs to the racist International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) that is anti-Jewish anti-Semitic and anti-Arab anti-Semitic (by falsely defaming anti-racist Jews, Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims as assertedly antisemitic for criticizing the crimes of Apartheid Israel), holocaust-denying (by ignoring all WW2 holocausts other than the WW2 Jewish Holocaust), and which has been condemned by over 40 anti-racist Jewish organizations [42-45]. The Labor Government has taken no concrete action over the US-backed Gaza Genocide [46]. Labor and the Coalition have made Australia complicit in the Gaza Genocide in 20 ways [47] and lie for Apartheid Israel in 35 ways [48, 49].
Finally, in support of ARL and Attainment Accreditation in general, every country needs a large complement of scientific and scholarly experts for obvious, educational, scholarly, security, health, economic, and national prestige reasons that principally benefit the elderly and rich - but why should impoverished teenagers and other young people have to pay for it?
Truth telling: A short history of Australian-Asian relations, 1788-2025.
Australians often say “I am not racist, but…” However look under the rock of Australian public life and you will find entrenched racism that could be more nicely described as Politically Correct racism (PC racism). Modern Australians would be outraged over the Federal Australian Labor Party platform (1900): “Total exclusion of coloured and other undesirable races”, our first Australian Prime Minster Edmund Barton stating (1901): “The doctrine of the equality of man was never intended to apply to the equality of an Englishman and the Chinaman” and Labor politician Arthur Calwell opining (1947): “There are many Wongs in the Chinese community, but I have to say – and I am sure that the honourable member for Balaclava [T.W. White, Liberal] will not mind me for doing so – that “two Wongs do not make a White” and “We will not let the yellow hordes contaminate our golden shores”. Ironically, Calwell had learned Mandarin and was interested in Chinese culture [50].
Asian students studying at Australian schools and universities (from the 1950s and 1960s onwards), the abandonment of the White Australia policy (1901-1973) and the anti-racism Racial Discrimination Act (1975) by the anti-racist Whitlam Labor Government (1972-1975), the welcoming of Vietnamese refugees by the Fraser Government in the 1970s , and the 1967 Referendum ( that overwhelmingly recognized Indigenous Australians as citizens) all changed these racist attitudes [50]. However old habits die hard. Thus while the White Australia Policy was abolished in 1973, Australia maintained a race-based discriminatory New White Australian Policy towards visa applicants, and has treated boat-borne refugees appallingly for 22 years.
Further, war is the penultimate in racism and genocide the ultimate. Australia was involved in all 1950s onwards US Asian wars, atrocities associated with 40 million Asian “deaths from violence and deprivation” (Google this phrase and be utterly shocked). The Coalition supported all these wars and Labor supported all but the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. Indeed variously as a lackey of the UK or the US, over 237 years Australians have invaded 85 countries with 30 of these invasions being genocidal [51]. White Australia has a 237-year history of genocidal racism from the commencement of the Aboriginal Genocide in 1788 to the landslide victory of the Gaza Genocide-complicit Labor Government in 2025.
Conversely, current egregious, US-fomented Sinophobia feeds off vile historical anti-Asian prejudice, and is only moderated by residual public decency, electoral considerations and fear of previously exercised trade sanctions from our biggest trading partner, China [53]. The current catch cry is “aggressive Chinese military expansion” but mathematically on a per capita basis Apartheid Israeli and Australian militarization in many areas vastly exceeds that of China [54]. Border spats aside China has only invaded 2 entities in the last 8 centuries (incorporating Tibet in the 13th century CE and Xinjiang in the 18th century CE) whereas Australians have variously violated all Indo-Pacific countries militarily or through climate criminality. Indeed Australians have been involved in 8 US-backed coups, namely in Laos (1960), Indonesia (1965), Cambodia (1970), Chile (1973), Australia (1975), Fiji (1987), Fiji (2000) and Australia (2010), with Apartheid Israel involved in the last 3 [55, 56].
In 2018 the seminal Australian report “Leading for change” documented that while non-European and European Australians were 24% and 76% of the Australian population, respectively, non-Europeans were only 5% of executives ( ASX company executives, university managers, and MPs) whereas the Europeans had 95% of these executive positions [57]. Come 2025 and women and men are roughly equal in numbers in the Australian population and in the new Labor Government Ministry but Europeans, non-Europeans and Asians who represent 74.7%, 25.3% and 17.4% of the Australian population, respectively, are 90.5%, 9.5% and 2.4%, respectively, of the new Labor Government Ministry [58].
Nevertheless my observation is that migrants to Australia are very happy living in a country that is rich, peaceful, democratic and accommodating at the personal level. The nearly 5 million Asian Australians (variously from West Asia, South Asia, East Asia and South East Asia) have mostly adopted the look-the-other-way Australian culture that permits “social cohesion” by resolutely ignoring the above history.
Attainment Accreditation for the Asian linguistic and related skills of about 5 million Asian Australians.
There are 27.5 million Australians and 17.5% (4.8 million) are Asians, and one could assume that perhaps half or 2.4 million would be fluent speakers of their original language and be familiar with the literature and culture of their native land. .
Assuming (a) that a traditional-style 9-subject Bachelor of Arts degree based around the language, literature and culture of an Asian country would cost A$30,000, (b) and that only 50% or 2.4 million of 4.8 million Asian Australians speak an Asian language, the cost-saving via free ARL-based accreditation of such a course would be 2.4 million x A$30,000 per person = A$72 billion, nearly 2 times the annual value of Australia’s Education Export Industry (A$40 billion) [12].
Similarly, there are presently 1.4 million Chinese Australians (5.5% of the population) and perhaps 50% or 700,000 speak Mandarin or Cantonese [59]. Translate this to all-important Money and a free ARL-based Attainment Accreditation involving 700,000 “Chinese”–speaking Australians would mean a value of 0.7 million x $30,000 = A$21 billion.
Indeed this proposal could apply to all multiple language Australians, including Indigenous Australians .
It probably won’t happen of course because of the neoliberal Establishment that runs Corporatocracy Australia.
However there is a general principle here that should not be ignored. Australians should have all their significant Attainments formally recognized by Accrediting Assessments, including AI-informed assessments.
Implicit in the terms of reference of the Inquiry is that Australia critically needs to have a much larger number of people certifiably fluent in an Asian language and familiar with the history, politics, geography and culture associated with that language.
My simple proposition based on 60 years associated with tertiary education is that such fluency should be formally recognized by free AI-informed Accrediting Assessments that would amount to formal Tertiary Education credits for degrees, diplomas, certificates and certifications.
Indeed such freely accessible Credit (Attainment Accreditation) would greatly encourage both non-Asian and Asian student participation in school and university studies of Asian language and culture
References.
[3]. “Lord Kelvin quotes”: https://www.azquotes.com/author/7873-Lord_Kelvin .
[13]. Gideon Polya, “Free University Education Via Accredited Remote Learning – All Education Should Be Free For All”, Countercurrents, 31 January, 2015: https://countercurrents.org/polya310116.htm .
[14]. Gideon Polya, “50 Reasons For Free University Education As We Bequeath The Young A Dying Planet”, Countercurrents, 19 March 2017: https://countercurrents.org/2017/03/50-reasons-for-free-university-education-as-we-bequeath-the-young-a-dying-planet/ .
[17]. Gideon Polya, “Jewish Israeli Gaza Urbicide Erasing The Physical Record Of 4,000 Year Gaza History”, Countercurrents, 8 January 2025: https://countercurrents.org/2025/01/jewish-israeli-gaza-urbicide-erasing-the-physical-record-of-4000-year-gaza-history/ .
[19]. Nur Masalha, “Palestine. A Four Thousand Year History”, I.B Taurus.
[20]. William Dalrymple, “The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World”, Bloomsbury 2024.
[21]. “Journalists killed in Gaza by Israel ‘more than double’ annual global average: Press union”, Anadolu Agency, 2 November 2024: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/journalists-killed-in-gaza-by-israel-more-than-double-anual-global-average-press-union/3382593 .
[22]. Gideon Polya, “Remember Shireen Abu Akleh: Apartheid Israel Leads The World For Killing Journalists”, Countercurrents, 6 June 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/06/remember-shireen-abu-akleh-apartheid-israel-leads-the-world-for-killing-journalists/ .
[23]. Gideon Polya, “Anas Al-Sharif Died Reporting Gaza Holocaust: Israel Leads World In Killing Journalists”, Countercurrents, 18 August 2025: https://countercurrents.org/2025/08/anas-al-sharif-died-reporting-gaza-holocaust-israel-leads-world-in-killing-journalists/ .
[24]. Richard Hil, “Whackademia. An insider’s account of the troubled university”, NewSouth, 2012.
[25]. Gideon Polya, “Book Review: “Whackademia” Reveals Parlous State of Australia ‘s Censored, Under-funded & Dumbing-down Universities”, Countercurrents, 14 December, 2012: https://countercurrents.org/polya141212.htm
[26]. Richard Hil, “Selling Students Short”, Allen & Unwin, 2015.
[27]. Gideon Polya, “Book Review: “Selling Students Short” By Richard Hil – Neoliberal Corruption Of Corporatised Australian Universities”, Countercurrents, 29 May, 2015: https://countercurrents.org/polya290515.htm .
[28]. Donald Meyers, “Australian universities. A Portrait of Decline” (AUPOD, 2012): http://www.australianuniversities.id.au/Australian_Universities-A_Portrait_of_Decline.pdf .
[29]. Gideon Polya, “Book Review: “Australian Universities. A Portrait Of Decline” By Donald Meyers”, Countercurrents, 4 February, 2013: https://countercurrents.org/polya040213.htm .
[30]. Gideon Polya, “Current academic censorship and self-censorship in Australian universities”, Public University Journal, volume 1, Conference Supplement, “Transforming the Australia University”, Melbourne, 9-10 December 2001: https://sites.google.com/site/freeuniversityeducation/academic-censorship .
[31]. Gideon Polya, “Censorship by Australian taxpayer-funded ABC and university-backed The Conversation ” , Countercurrents, 30 April 2012: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya300412.htm .
[32]. “Impact of the Defence Trade Controls Bill on academic freedom”, NTEU, 10 October 2012: http://www.nteu.org.au/article/Impact-of-the-Defence-Trade-Controls-Bill-on-academic-freedom-13461 .
[33]. Gideon Polya, “ Universities Complicit With Pro-Zionist Censorship And Genocidal Israeli Militarism”, Countercurrents, 24 May2012: https://countercurrents.org/polya240512.htm .
[34]. Vacy Vlazna, “Israeli Hawkademia in Australian Universities”, Palestinian Chronicle, 05-02-2012: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19268 .
[36]. Gideon Polya, “Australia’s Universities Embrace Lying & Censorship For Genocidal & Neo-Nazi Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 2 March 2025: https://countercurrents.org/2025/03/australias-universities-embrace-lying-censorship-for-genocidal-neo-nazi-apartheid-israel/ .
[37]. Conor Duffy, “Australian universities agree to antisemitism definition that bans calling for Israel’s elimination”, ABC News, 26 February 2025: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/universities-to-enforce-joint-antisemitism-position-on-campuses/104980836 .
[38]. Jewish Council of Australia, “Jewish Council of Australia slams universities’ adoption of dangerous, politicised and unworkable antisemitism definition”, 26 February 2025: https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/media/jewish-council-of-australia-slams-universities-adoption-of-dangerous-politicised-and-unworkable-antisemitism-definition .
[39]. The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), “McCarthyism reborn: Australian universities capitulate to Israel lobby, suppress criticism of Israel”, 26 February 2025: https://apan.org.au/media_release/mccarthyism-reborn-australian-universities-capitulate-to-israel-lobby-suppress-criticism-of-israel/ .
[40]. Sawsan Madina (former Head of SBS Television), “What can one now say about Israel without being smeared as an antisemite?”, Pearls & Irritations, 28 February 2025: https://johnmenadue.com/what-can-one-now-say-about-israel-without-being-smeared-as-an-antisemite/ .
[41]. Gideon Polya, “Zionist-subverted, US lackey Australia Hides Gaza Genocide By False, Weaponized Antisemitism Hysteria”, Countercurrents, 5 February 2025: https://countercurrents.org/2025/02/zionist-subverted-us-lackey-australia-hides-gaza-genocide-by-false-weaponized-antisemitism-hysteria/ .
[42]. Gideon Polya, “Melbourne University Adopts Anti-Semitic & Holocaust-Ignoring IHRA Definition Of Anti-Semitism”, Countercurrents, 5 February 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2023/02/melbourne-university-adopts-anti-semitic-holocaust-ignoring-ihra-definition-of-anti-semitism/ .
[43]. Gideon Polya, “UK racist Zionists falsely defame UK Labour Party in support of democracy-by-genocide Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 10 August 2018: https://countercurrents.org/2018/08/uk-racist-zionists-falsely-defame-uk-labour-party-in-support-of-democracy-by-genocide-apartheid-israel/ .
[44]. Gideon Polya, “US-backed IHRA Definition Of Antisemitism Is Anti-Arab Anti-Semitic & Anti-Jewish Anti-Semitic”, Boycott Apartheid Israel, 9 March 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/boycottapartheidisrael/2021-03-09 .
[45]. Jewish Voices for Peace, “First ever: 40+ Jewish groups worldwide oppose equating antisemitism with criticism of Israel”, 17 July 2018: https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/first-ever-40-jewish-groups-worldwide-oppose-equating-antisemitism-with-criticism-of-israel/#english .
[46]. Gideon Polya, “Why Cowardly & Racist Australian Labor Government Won’t Apply Sanctions To Genocidal Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 27 May 2025: https://countercurrents.org/2025/05/why-cowardly-racist-australian-labor-government-wont-apply-sanctions-to-genocidal-apartheid-israel/ .
[47]. Gideon Polya, “20 Ways Anti-Semitic Australian Labor Government Complicit In Jewish Israeli Gaza Genocide”, Countercurrents, 5 March 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/03/20-ways-anti-semitic-australian-labor-government-complicit-in-jewish-israeli-gaza-genocide/ .
[48]. Gideon Polya, “35 Zionist Media Lies, the Killing of Children, Neo-Nazi Apartheid Israel”, Global Research, 24 November 2023: https://www.globalresearch.ca/35-zionist-lies-child-killing-neo-nazi-apartheid-israel/5841145 .
[49]. Gideon Polya, “Gaza Massacre: 35 Ways Zionist-perverted US, Australia & West Lie For Child-killing, Neo-Nazi Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 23 November 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2023/11/gaza-massacre-35-ways-zionist-perverted-us-australia-west-lie-for-child-killing-neo-nazi-apartheid-israel/ .
[50]. Gideon Polya, “Antipodean epilogue – the moral dimension of the Lucky Country and the world”, Chapter 17 in “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History”: http://janeaustenand.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/jane-austen-and-black-hole-chapter-17.html .
[51]. “Stop state terrorism”: https://sites.google.com/site/stopstateterrorism/ .
[52]. Gideon Polya, “As UK Lackeys Or US Lackeys Australians Have Invaded 85 Countries (British 193, French 80, US 70)”, Countercurrents, 9 February, 2015: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya090215.htm ;
[55]. Gideon Polya, “AUKUS & Quad In Context: Australia Violates All Indo-Pacific countries”, Countercurrents, 9 December 2021: https://countercurrents.org/2021/12/aukus-quad-in-context-australia-violates-all-indo-pacific-countries/ .
[56]. Gideon Polya, “Australia violates all Indo-Pacific countries”, Stop state terrorism, 9 December 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/stopstateterrorism/2021-12-09-australia-violates-all-indo-pacific-countries .
[57]. Tim Soutphomassane, Greg Whitwell, Kate Jordan and Philipp Ivanov, “Leading for Change. A blueprint for cultural diversity and inclusive leadership revisited”, 2018, and Gideon Polya, “Review: “Leading For Change” – Corporate Cultural Diversity Deficiency & Australian Financial Scandals”, 3 May 2018: https://countercurrents.org/2018/05/review-leading-for-change-corporate-cultural-diversity-deficiency-australian-financial-scandals/ ),
[58]. Gideon Polya, “Anti-Asian Racism Entrenched In Newly-elected Gaza Genocide-Complicit Australian Labor Government”, Countercurrents, 21 May 2025: https://countercurrents.org/2025/05/anti-asian-racism-entrenched-in-newly-elected-gaza-genocide-complicit-australian-labor-government/ .
[59]. “Chinese Australians”, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Australians .
This Submission was written in the public interest.
Dr Gideon Polya, Melbourne.
Dr Gideon Polya taught science students at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia over 4 decades. He published some 130 works in a 5 decade scientific career, notably a huge pharmacological reference text “Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds” (2003). He has also published “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950” (2007, 2021), “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History” (1998, 2008, 2022), “US-imposed Post-9-11 Muslim Holocaust & Muslim Genocide” (2020), “Climate Crisis, Climate Genocide & Solutions” (2020), “Free Palestine. End Apartheid Israel, Human Rights Denial, Gaza Massacre, Child Killing, Occupation and Palestinian Genocide” (2024), and contributed to Soren Korsgaard (editor) “The Most Dangerous Book Ever Published – Dangerous Deception Exposed!” (2020). For images of Gideon Polya’s huge paintings for the Planet, Peace, Mother and Child see: http://sites.google.com/site/artforpeaceplanetmotherchild/ .