At the Sofitel hotel in Sydney this week some of Australia's best-known conservatives gathered to talk about political correctness.

Specifically, how they felt it was destroying Australia.

Broadcaster Alan Jones described it as a crisis. Former prime minister Tony Abbott said people should not be cowed into silence by the "outrage industry".

And both agreed that there was a "march of the left through our institutions".

Sorry, this video has expired Alan Jones, Tony Abbott launch Dr Donnelly's new book

The gathering was for the official launch of a new book by education expert and commentator Kevin Donnelly, titled: How Political Correctness Is Destroying Australia — Enemies Within and Without.

The book explores what Dr Donnelly calls the rise in political correctness, and it examines same-sex marriage, what it means to be Australian, and the way universities and schools are being influenced by left-leaning thinkers.

"You're talking about political correctness destroying Australia — not just in the classroom, but it begins in the classroom," Mr Jones told the crowd.

Mr Abbott said he had learnt that those in positions of authority didn't always have the power they might hope for, adding:

"All too often centre-right governments are in office but not in power because of the cultural shifts that have taken place in our polity over the last 20-30 years."

For Dr Donnelly — a senior research fellow at the Australian Catholic University — it is political correctness that is destroying Australia's cultural heritage and he said it can be seen most acutely in our educational institutions.

So what is 'political correctness'?

Dr Donnelly describes it like this:

It's a term that's become acceptable now to talk about the cultural left, or The Left if you like, where they censor or change the way language is employed or impose group-think in terms of what's politically correct. Areas like feminism, gender, the environment, even history, Western civilisation, literature. When I use the expression … it's [to describe] a form of censorship as I said and imposing group-think.

Dr Donnelly is a former high school English teacher who has held positions on numerous state and national curriculum bodies.

He has written extensively on education matters and co-chaired the federal government's National Curriculum Review in 2014.

He said he saw a politically correct philosophy dominating the education sector.

"Most of the universities I've looked at … have been very much influenced by what some of us call the long march of the left through the institutions," he said.

Dr Donnelly cited the sacking of academic Peter Ridd from James Cook University, saying it was because of his views on climate change — although the university denies this.

He also pointed to Sydney University's gender and ethnic guidelines for its debate teams, saying they were no longer taking people on merit.

And he pointed to literature that had either been changed or removed from schools because they were deemed offensive.

"Little Black Sambo, another story we read to our children, has been taken out of libraries," he said.

"It's just a story about a little Indian boy running around a tree chased by a tiger.

"We have to be very careful here we don't overstep the mark in terms of censorship."

Mr Donnelly's book is a collection of more than 60 talking points, with titles including:

Thought police screening schoolbooks

Thought police screening schoolbooks Culture wars: the left's university loonies

Culture wars: the left's university loonies How the PC left is rewriting history

How the PC left is rewriting history We must never forget the good work of Christianity

We must never forget the good work of Christianity We need to teach our kids that West is best

We need to teach our kids that West is best Criticising safe schools does not make you homophobic

Criticising safe schools does not make you homophobic All sides deserve a voice in same-sex marriage debate

All sides deserve a voice in same-sex marriage debate The glaring problems with same-sex marriage

The glaring problems with same-sex marriage Nothing safe in ignoring basics in education

Dr Donnelly denied the book was simply a collection of things he didn't like.

And when it came to the "culture wars", he didn't believe there were zealots on both the left and right and that there was a balance of views being put forth.

"I don't believe they do cancel each other out," he said.

"If you look at history, literature, music, art, the curriculum from primary into year 10 secondary, there are literally hundreds of references to Indigenous, Torres Strait Islander culture," he said.

Sorry, this audio has expired Political correctness destroying Australia's cultural heritage: Donnelly

"And that's fine, but I could only find — and I reviewed the curriculum — three references to Judaeo-Christianity and originally things like Magna Carta, common law.

"Those Western liberal values and institutions that protect our freedom were not mentioned and if they were, it was very episodic and fragmented."

At the book launch this week, Mr Abbott described Dr Donnelly as a warrior for good causes, "especially unfashionable ones", and said he hoped many Australians would heed the message in his book.