Because Australian languages aren’t disappearing quickly enough.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough says it should be compulsory for Aboriginal children to learn English.

Mr Brough says children will not be able to get jobs if they cannot speak English and do not have a basic education, and he is considering a plan to quarantine welfare payments to ensure parents send their children to school.

Have you ever wondered why English proponents even exist, seeing as English is already pretty popular around here? So have I. Maybe it’s one of these things where you train a dog by telling it to do stuff that it’s already doing. At last, a language policy that could actually achieve its stated goals.

And it’s nice that they’re concerned about indigenous kids getting jobs. I wonder if there’s any other legislation being considered that would help them get jobs. Some kind of Affirmative Action thing. Nope, teaching them English should be enough. Problem solved.

Here’s someone who understands the problem.

New South Wales’ first Indigenous MP, Linda Burney, says Mr Brough seems to lack a fundamental understanding of Aboriginality.

“I think that he needs to understand that culture and country is incredibly important to Aboriginal people and they will be protected at all costs,” he said.

“Aboriginal kids do need to be bilingual but it’s a bit rich coming from a person who actually is part of a Government that took away funding for bilingual programs in the Northern Territory.”

Ms Burney says one of the biggest tragedies is losing traditional Aboriginal languages, a problem that is not being addressed.

She says Mr Brough’s proposal could lead to “cultural death”.

“Now, it is important to be bilingual – there’s no two ways about it – but it can’t be at the expense of your mother tongue.”

This is exactly right. Support English lessons for anyone who wants them. But don’t hasten language death by tying welfare payments to forced English lessons.