Mark Butler has defended Australian teachers against claims that schools are promoting an “anti-boy” ideology, insisting that teaching young men to respect women is “not woke” as a growing political row over classroom content intensifies.
The Health Minister said parents and teachers were battling harmful material being pushed towards children online, arguing that social media platforms and their algorithms posed a greater threat than respectful relationships education in schools.
“Teaching respect for girls is not woke. It’s not weak. It’s not socialist, frankly. It’s just decency,” Mr Butler said on Sunrise.
He praised teachers for confronting the influence of online personalities and said their work had become more difficult as children were exposed to increasingly toxic material through their screens.
“I’m in constant awe of the work that teachers do,” Mr Butler said. “All of us are fighting this rearguard action against Big Tech and the monsters, frankly, who surf the algorithms to push this toxic mess into the screens, particularly of our young boys.”
His intervention came after Liberal leader Angus Taylor backed concerns raised by Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who has accused schools of pushing political agendas and argued that some relationship programs could be driving boys towards the online “manosphere”.
Senator Canavan has described the curriculum as “anti-boy” and claimed respectful relationships lessons could become “a recruitment ground for Andrew Tate”. He has also called for more male teachers and male role models in schools.
Mr Taylor said consent education was important but claimed some teachers were pursuing political agendas in the classroom and called for greater balance. Neither he nor Senator Canavan has provided specific examples of the alleged activism, while the national framework does not refer to “male privilege” and includes an objective for boys and young men to explore masculinity in healthy ways. ([abc.net.au](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-03/coalition-claims-teachers-push-political-agenda/107113438))
The Australian Government’s National Respectful Relationships Education Framework was released on March 13, 2026. It is intended to support age-appropriate teaching about consent, gender equality, non-violence and respectful relationships across primary and secondary schools. ([education.gov.au](https://www.education.gov.au/schooling/announcements/national-respectful-relationships-education-framework?utm_source=openai))
Mr Butler accused Mr Taylor of allowing One Nation to set the terms of the debate, saying: “Unfortunately, this is another example of One Nation telling the Liberal Party to jump and Angus Taylor saying how high?”
Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume defended parents’ right to question what their children were being taught, saying pupils should learn “how to think, not what to think”. But when asked whether she believed political activism was actually entering classrooms, she replied: “No, but Matt does, and it was his child’s experience.”
Senator Hume said respectful relationships and consent education remained important and should be taught both at school and at home.
The Australian Education Union rejected the Coalition’s claims, describing them as a fundamentally incorrect portrayal of the education system and accusing critics of displaying “complete ignorance” of how teachers work.
The dispute has broadened into a wider argument over how best to protect young Australian boys from misogynistic online content, with Labor directing blame towards Big Tech while the Coalition focuses on the influence of classroom teaching.
