Tony Abbott – the political joke that keeps on giving. This week he’s done gone fucked up and accidentally ridiculed his own party’s policy during Question Time.
Labor leader Bill Shorten asked the PM if he would support a program to teach every primary and secondary school student how to code (which we wrote about here).
To which Abbott replied: “Let’s just understand exactly what the Leader of the Opposition has asked. He said that he wants primary school kids to be taught coding so they can get the jobs of the future. Does he want to send them all out to work at the age of 11? Is that what he wants to do? Seriously?”
??????????????
I don’t think coding means what you think it means, Tony. Do you think we’re going to hand kids the equivalent of an SQL pickaxe and pack them off to the Silicon Valley mines? Seriously?
And here is where it gets awkward: the Abbott government has already invested $350 million into a coding curriculum, seeking advice from the technological big dogs like Google and Telstra.
Malcolm Turnbull has publicly advocated for an education overhaul that teaches students as young as five or six to create technology, not just be passive users of it. Frankly, it’s one of the better decisions made by the Abbott government. Bravo.
Realising his gaffe, Abbott furiously backpedalled, hastily ensuring that they WERE already doing it, and that “if the leader of the opposition ever did his homework as opposed to going out there with stunt after stunt, political ploy after political ploy, he would have known that.”
Irony, thy name is Abbott.
This latest from the walking human disaster has angered the technologically literate community (you, me, anyone reading this tbh), who mostly hang out on the internet with their opinions for other internet-types to read / agree / disagree / comment on.
Abbott mocking the idea of teaching kids to code says more how dangerous he is than the litany of dumb shit he’s already done.
— G N Delaine (@GABELORD) May 29, 2015
I am still stunned by Tony Abbott’s comments about children being taught to code. Being able to program computers gave me everything I have.
— Gerard McDermott (@McDermie) May 28, 2015
Abbott doesn’t get why schoolkids should code. The ALP doesn’t get that there are already ample opportunities online for them to learn.
— David Jackmanson (@djackmanson) May 28, 2015
i wrote tony a message in code @abbott #insiders #thedrum #auspol #nope #tampontony pic.twitter.com/vRrq4nX5F7
— John Graham (@JohnGrahamart) May 28, 2015
Tony Abbott is actually a bit of a code hacker. He has found a backdoor out of his code of ethics. #auspol
— Climate Wisdom (@ClimateQuotes) May 28, 2015
code abbott #tampontony #nope #abbott #insiders #auspol follow me for toonfoolery pic.twitter.com/nUEIFuw9Ux
— John Graham (@JohnGrahamart) May 28, 2015
Shorter Abbott: “Teach kids to code? I’m awake to you sciencey types! We all know what code did to Julian Assange. Nope, nope, nope! #auspol
— Marcellus Wallace (@bdrinkwater) May 28, 2015
And then there’s this old chestnut:
Old School Abbott thinks Coding is a Joke. Retweet if you think he is out of touch pic.twitter.com/UmbBvEgk8J
— Jason Clare MP (@JasonClareMP) May 27, 2015
Abbott, mate, do your homework, learn what coding actually is, then come join the rest of us in this century.
via Canberra Times
Image: Stefan Postles via Getty Images
