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I ignore the minority of obviously cultured or cleanly and sensitive, or healthily masculine or feminine, or even physically attractive persons. They are all small minorities and in a small minority when added together against the gross, thoughtless, animal, careless and shiftless crowd - (God help them - their lives are often hard - many, perhaps most, are victims of inheritance or surroundings - I belong to them myself tho destiny has been so much kinder - I have wasted golden opportunities by the score - A pharisee myself but not in intention I sum up fairly and broadly those others who are brothers and sisters of mine and tho they may not care to recognise my relationship I felt theirs to me) - this crowd is 'Australia' - Deakin musing on his walks through the streets of Melbourne, 1910In the final session of the Alfred Deakin Lectures we present three different experiences of being Australian. Professor Marcia Langton speaks from an indigenous perspective about the difficult road ahead if we are to negotiate an honourable place for indigenous Australians in this land that has been taken from them. Robert Manne depicts a nation that became a new home for the European refugees who fled persecution under the nazis, including his own family. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser is also a grazier. In the spirit of Alfred Deakin, who imagined the young federation into being, Malcolm Fraser imagines what Australia might be like in the year 2050. The closing remarks in the Alfred Deakin lectures come from a Labor man, historian and speechwriter Don Watson. Alfred Deakin is not simply the Father of the modern Liberal Party. As a strong supporter of trade unions, founder of the Arbitration and Conciliation Commission, and author of several pieces of pioneering social legislation, in a very real way he also stands comfortably in the same social democratic tradition as the Australian Labor Party. In other words, the Alfred Deakin legacy is available to both of Australia's major political traditions. Speakers:
Professor Robert Manne: The Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser:
If you'd like to discuss ideas of 'country' and 'belonging', join our online forum. You can also comment on other issues raised by the Deakin lectures and the centenary of Federation celebrations. Begins December 31st. The Alfred Deakin Lectures were part of the 2001 Melbourne International Arts Festival. This lecture was first broadcast on May 21st 2001, as part of the celebrations commemorating the first sitting of federal parliament. Back
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