Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne is being accused of reigniting a culture war with a review of the national schools curriculum to ensure students "celebrate Australia".
Labor, the Greens and teachers have condemned a review of the curriculum Julia Gillard introduced in 2010, saying the coalition government is trying to impose its political ideology on children.
But the review has the backing of business, which says young people lack appropriate skills for work.
Announcing the review on Friday, Mr Pyne said the curriculum was too rigid and prescriptive.
He wants a more orthodox system and one free of what he calls "partisan bias".
The curriculum should not try to be "all things to all people", he said.
There should also be a greater focus on the influence of western civilisation on Australia, which he said was not being talked about in schools.
"I ... want the curriculum to celebrate Australia and for students, when they've finished school, to know where we've come from as a nation," Mr Pyne said.
Mr Pyne said he hoped that the review would report back by June, with a view to working with states and territories to improve the curriculum for 2015.
He played down concerns that the review was an attack on a perceived left-wing bias in schools, despite appointing two Labor critics to head the investigation.
Former teacher and Liberal staffer Kevin Donnelly and business professor Ken Wiltshire have been critical of the Gonski school funding reforms and what they see as a leftist cultural agenda in schools.
Mr Pyne defended the appointments, saying both men had a long history in the education sector.
"It's not possible to appoint anybody to review the national curriculum who doesn't have a view on education," he said. He said he was confident that the findings would be objective and fair.
But Mr Shorten told Prime Minister Tony Abbott to "stop trying to put your version of politics into the school books".
"Please keep your hands off the school books of Australian children," he said. He said their education should be above politics.
Mr Shorten said the review was nothing but a distraction from the government's backflips on schools funding, in reference to last year's failed attempt to walk away from Labor's deals with the states.
The Greens accused Mr Pyne of wanting to take Australian schools "back to the 1950s".
"The response from Christopher Pyne is pure ideology," acting leader Richard Di Natale said.
Australian Education Union president Angelo Gavrielatos said Mr Pyne had appointed "an ex-Liberal staffer and conservative ideologue" to head the review.
"Mr Pyne is clearly determined to play politics with the education of Australian children," he said.
But the business lobby is backing the review, with AiGroup saying it was important that school graduates had the right skills in maths, science and English.
"Employers have regularly raised concerns about low standards in these areas, which makes young people ill-equipped when they join the workforce," AiGroup chief Innes Willox said.
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