The Treasurer, Peter Costello, has attacked anti-American sentiment by teachers and criticised the teaching of history in Australian schools.
In an address to the Australian American Leadership Dialogue Forum’s Gala Dinner in Sydney, Costello defended the alliance with the United States and sought to examine the origins of what he termed ‘anti-Americanism’. He claimed that anti-Americanism is “prevalent” in Europe and “viruluent” in the Arab world.
In Australia, Costello argued, anti-American sentiment is dressed up as “anti-globalisation”. He said: “Opponents of globalisation locate evil in the same place that their ideological soulmates from the days of the Cold War did. Left wing politics and its more recent variant – anti-globalisation – operates in a fever of anti-Americanism.”