25 October 1996
E & O E……………..
To Chancellor Dame Leonie Kramer, Vice Chancellor, other members of the academic staff of Sydney University, ladies and gentlemen. Can I first say how privileged I am to have been invited to deliver this occasional address. I want to start in joining the Chancellor in congratulating all of those who have graduated. I want to join her also in acknowledging the great contribution of the parents and other family members and friends in the success that all of you who graduated today have endured.
I also think it appropriate to acknowledge the contribution that has been made to your education over the years by your teachers, both at your schools and at this university. Teaching is a hard job, an infinitely harder job I believe now than what it was 30 or years ago. The demands that are placed upon teachers in schools and also in universities go now beyond the level of academic and educational instruction and I think it is important on an occasion such as this to acknowledge the debt that is owed to those who in different ways over the years have made that contribution.
Can I also say to all of you as I sat and watched the degrees being conferred, I reflected upon that day more than 35 years ago when I walked up and received my degree in this very great hall. I have to say that my arrival on that occasion went a little unremarked. There were quite a number of other differences. 35 years ago the world was a different place and Australia was a different place. Sir Robert Menzies was still Prime Minister of Australia. John Fitzgerald Kennedy had only just been inaugurated as President of the United States and the Nikita Khruschev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and for those who are sports inclined, St George was half way through its world record breaking eleven premierships. So the world has changed an enormous amount and yet there is a delightful continuity in the ceremony that we have participated in today.
There is a delightful reminder that life is a combination of the past and an anticipation of the future and it's a reminder that although certain things change constantly, other things remain the same and the role of government, the role of a political leader is very much in that mould. It's about trying to get the right balance in our community and in our society between preserving the best that we have inherited from our tradition, our history and our past but recognising that in other areas, if we are to progress further and to build a happier, more tolerant society we have to change in the future.
The role of government in modern society is very different from the role of government or 40 years ago. We have to grapple with globalisation in a way that the governments of the 1960s didn't. We have to grapple with a communications revolution which offers incredible benefits and incredible hope and incredible prospects for current generations. We also have to grapple with the media which is properly in a free society more intrusive, more demanding, on occasions irritatingly trivial, but nonetheless a proper and real part of our society. And therefore there is an obligation on all of those in authority, be they in governments or in universities or in the education department or in business, to recognise the constant need for change and reform.
We hear these days references to the fact that the Australian community is suffering a degree of reform fatigue and it is true that our lives have changed so much over the last or 30 years. They've changed socially, the roles of men and women have changed dramatically, they've changed economically. The structure and responsibilities of families have changed significantly and people feel a greater sense, therefore, of insecurity and doubt than they may have felt 30 years ago. But in the midst of all of that we have to remember that it is the role and the responsibility of those in leadership positions to continue to advocate the need for sensible change and reform. The object of practical reform in our society is always there and it's one of the great ongoing responsibilities of governments and of other institutions in society. I take an optimistic view of Australian society. I take a more optimistic view of our past than some do. I take a more optimistic view of our present and I certainly take a more optimistic view of our future. That optimism is based on my belief that one of the great qualities that Australian people always had is a capacity to adapt to change and to new circumstances. We have a marvellous, protective scepticism about a certain thing but we also have a great fascination with change and sensible and intelligent reform. We are amongst the world's most voracious devourers of new technology in whatever form that new technology may take. We have also over the last 20 years witnessed, I think, a fairly smooth adaptation to a great deal of change and there'll be more change in our lives in the future.
Those graduates who come back in 35 years time will reflect upon the massive changes that have occurred in society between now and then. I believe in that sense of optimism about Australia's capacity to change, I think, provided governments and other institutions do two things that is firstly they communicate the national benefit in change and reforms and communicate clearly and unambiguously, and secondly; if they can persuade the public that the change and the reform impacts fairly on different sections of the community, then I believe most Australians will go along in time with that change and embrace those practical reforms.
Australians do have an innate sense of the national interest despite our preoccupation on occasions with particular concern for provincial attitudes, we do at the end of the day have an innate sense of the national good and we also have an innate sense of what is fair and proper with different sections of the Australian community. So the burden of change and practical reform will always be with governments in Australia. There is never a time in which any government can say, well the job is done, the task is complete, everything now works properly and we can just let things go along in a rudderless fashion. There will always be a challenge to political and other leaderships to guide the nation towards practical change and reform. And being the optimist that I am I believe that provided those two principles are observed, then indeed, the change would be embraced and accepted.
May I again say to all of you that you have my very best good wishes. I hope that the dreams and the hopes that you have in future...( tape break)... business in the professions, in academia or elsewhere in the service of people in different ways, I hope that the years that you have spent at Sydney University will be as valuable and as buttressing as the years that I spent in this institution have been to me. Good luck to all of you and thank you again for having me as your guest.
ends