Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has called for Australians to "rise up" to defend Christmas against what he labelled "political correctness gone mad".
Angered by a talkback radio caller whose grandchild's school eschewed traditional carols for a secular celebration, Mr Dutton said the "vast majority of Australian people want to hear Christmas carols" as we are "a Christian society".
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It makes my blood boil: Dutton
One of Christmas' biggest fans is Peter Dutton and he says not singing carols at end of year school concerts is "political correctness gone mad." Courtesy 2GB.
"You make my blood boil with these stories," the Christmas enthusiast told 2GB radio's Ray Hadley. "It is political correctness gone mad and I think people have just had enough of it."
Jim, a constituent of Mr Dutton's Dickson electorate in Queensland, told the station he attended a ceremony at Kedron State School where there was "not one Christmas carol" and the final song replaced the lyrics of We Wish You A Merry Christmas with "we wish you a happy holiday".
Hadley blamed "left-wing teachers" and the school's principal. "It's insulting, it's demeaning and it's a farce," he said.
Mr Dutton linked the issue to the "Teachers for Refugees" campaign in which many teachers in NSW and Victoria wore t-shirts protesting Australia's offshore detention camps for asylum seekers.
"If they want to conduct these sort of campaigns, do it online or do it in your spare time. Don't bring these sort of views into the minds of young kids," Mr Dutton told 2GB.
"Many of the people, regardless of their religious belief, would be there happy to sing Christmas carols, happy to enjoy the fact that we celebrate Christmas as a Christian society. It's beyond my comprehension but it has gone too far."
Mr Dutton said the climate of political correctness reminded him of when people were "walking on eggshells" in the 1990s under Labor prime minister Paul Keating, who elevated social issues such as Indigenous affairs, multiculturalism and inclusiveness.
"People had a gutful of it and I think we're back to the same stage now, and I think we need to rise up against it. People need to speak against it as they are," he said.
"Because the vast majority of Australian people want to hear Christmas carols. They want their kids to be brought up in a normal environment and they don't want to be lectured to by do-gooders who frankly don't practise what they preach in any case."
Hadley targeted the principal of Kedron State School, Susie Randel-Kneipp, and said: "What she's got to get through her skull: by doing it, she causes division, because the kids who want to hear the Christmas carols ... suddenly target those minority groups."
It came days after the radio announcer complained to Treasurer Scott Morrison about political correctness regarding Christmas, which Mr Morrison also opposed.
"Have a great Christmas and enjoy the birth of our Lord," the Treasurer enthused.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the school involved as Kedron State High School, rather than Kedron State School, and subsequently claimed Ray Hadley had incorrectly assumed the school's principal to be a woman. Fairfax Media regrets the error.
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