Colleen Harkin on Breakfast with Millsy & Karl 6PR – 28 April 2026

Steve Mills:

So Karl was talking earlier about Roald Dahl and the Twits, the book The Twits, and they were saying we shouldn’t be using this anymore, even though it’s sold 16 million copies have been translated in over 40 languages. But the Southern Christ University says it displays an anti-beard bias towards men with facial hair, Karl. Dr. Meli Green is recommending the book get pulled from the school curriculum also quoting, “Hairy face men who don’t wash their faces is unfair on hairy face men.” Mrs. Twit being called ugly by her husband, upside down monkeys held captive in a circus, and Mr. Twit saying, “He’ll eat a pie made out of young boys.”

Karl Langdon:

Let’s not got any movies or any shows.

Steve Mills:

Dr. Green says the book is about “abuse, coercive power, and fear framed as humour. This normalises cruelty and engages in derogatory stereotyping.” Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up. Now, Colleen Harkin is the Director of Education Programmes and Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs. Far better qualified to comment on this than we are because this is what she deals with. Please tell me that it’s crap. Good morning, Colleen.

Colleen Harkin:

Good morning. Yes, it is crap. Look, with all respect to the doctor who’s made those comments, I think it’s a misunderstanding of Dahl’s work and it also undermines the intelligence of a young reader. The notion that kids are sitting there passively accepting cruelty, it’s not the case. Kids are actively involved in Dahl’s work. He’s absolute amplified exaggerated, matter of fact egregiousness, and absurdity. Kids see it for what it is. They know that it’s putting right and wrong into stark relief, and that’s the whole point of his work. The children are not just reading. They’re actually critically engaging and making decisions as they work through it.

Steve Mills:

What about a child who takes it literally and then calls their mother ugly?

Colleen Harkin:

Well, the mother can deal with that.

Steve Mills:

That’s an education. I’d only say it once to my mother. I’ll give her the tip.

Colleen Harkin:

That’s right. But look, I mean, that is the point. Children know. I mean, years ago when I was a teacher, I used his work all the time. Children love it. They literally roll around on the floor in hysterics and shocked at the absurdity and the idea that somebody would use that language. They know that it’s not okay. And that’s part of the lesson in it, that you would not do that. And it’s a great opportunity for amazing educational conversations with children. They don’t just passively take it on board as something that they should be doing.

Steve Mills:

It’s a bit like the movie that I saw not that long ago, Wicked. I mean, the main character’s green and is outcast, and then the story as it unfolds. At the end of the day, where does it end here, Colleen though? We’re seeing far too much of this, in my opinion.

Colleen Harkin:

Well, exactly. I mean, I guess for once men are being stood up for, particularly men with beards in her comments, but it is. It’s a case of, in my view, we ought not to be trying to micromanage and curate every moment of a child’s life. Anything that he’s said about anyone seems to be a problem now. Children are very capable of making intelligent decisions about the world around them, and their world is imperfect so we ought not to be trying to make it perfect for them. If we remove these books from the bookshelves, there’s a lot of things that go with it. For example, at the moment, about 30% of the child’s time is spent on screens.

Now, Dahl’s work is known for engaging reluctant readers. So we’re losing a lot of the opportunity for kids to enjoy reading, to engage with a process that we more than ever need them to. Our literacy is at an all-time low. So all of these opportunities with the books that we know work. We should celebrate them. We should not be culture cancelling them.

Steve Mills:

I think the best thing I ever did as a parent was to read to my kids, either myself or my wife, every night of their life, which created imagination, and their ability to actually make things up from a point of view of creativity was huge.

Colleen Harkin:

Enormous. Reading to a child is a fabulous thing to do. And it’s not just a children of reading age. Give or take by the time a child reaches school, it would be great if a parent has read to them 1,000 books. That’s a bit of a benchmark. And so from the time they’re, give or take, about two to five, read to them every night and you get 2,000 books.

Steve Mills:

Yeah.

Colleen Harkin:

It’s really valuable for children.

Steve Mills:

Absolutely.

Colleen Harkin:

Really valuable.

Steve Mills:

And a visit to the library also pretty cool as well. Just one final question from me. I’m a grandfather. Should I get approval from the parents before I read books to the grandkids or just pick the ones that I like?

Colleen Harkin:

Oh, that’s a tricky one. My personal view is if you’re [foreign language 00:05:39], whatever they call that Latin term is, if you’re in charge of the child and that’s your responsibility at the time, but I’m not buying into your family’s issues.

Steve Mills:

Because I’m currently reading to one of my granddaughters, Winnie Moore by Don Scott.

Karl Langdon:

Yeah.

Steve Mills:

It’s a great book. Great book that goes into the intricacies of trifecta betting and lots of other things. Coleen, I’m only kidding. Have a good day.

Colleen Harkin:

Great. Thanks very much. You too.

Steve Mills:

Colleen Harkin there, Director of Education Programmes and Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs. With respect to Dr. Melanie Green, what do you normally do, Karl? You normally?

Karl Langdon:

Yeah, ditch it in there. But some people might think it’s a thing. If you do, give us your opinion because everyone’s entitled to their own, 133882. Just because we have one, doesn’t mean you have to agree. And you’re more than welcome to chime in. We’ve got plenty of room and we’ve got that fantastic Talk Back Caller of the Day prize. And just let me plug it one more time, Millsy, because we have…

This transcript of Colleen Harkin on Breakfast with Millsy & Karl 6PR 28 April 2026 been edited for clarity.