My thanks to Cameron and Annika for the opportunity to speak with you as we mark the beginning of the new academic year.
Like any milestone, this is an opportunity to reflect and consider activities which I hope are ingrained into your academic experience, but which are too rare in todays busy, hyper-connected world.
I understand past speakers have included Andrew Denton and Chris Taylor of the Chaser.
I trust this does not mean I am required to be funny, which has never been my strength.
So instead of trying unsuccessfully to metamorphose to the comedic, I want to share some of my reflections on what might be described as everyday ethics.
This certainly wont be as heavy as it sounds.
We make ethical judgements and choices, not only in our professional and academic pursuits, but also in our personal conduct on campus, on the sporting field, in the workplace and even on Twitter.
Too often, the ethical content of our decisions, choices and behaviour is unspoken or opaque.
In this I am not only speaking of decisions by politicians, but of the choices we all make each and every day.
Choices like how we interact with one another; how we respond to disrespect; whether we stay silent in the face of anothers predicaments. And many more.
An ethical path in life is largely the sum of these choices.
Not only the big decisions, but the smaller ones. The everyday ones.
In my discussion tonight I want to give you three examples: a Parliamentary speech, a public campaign and an on-line message.
They are disparate events, but linked in my mind by the principle of personal responsibility.
This phrase, personal responsibility, has most commonly been used by conservative politicians to advocate cuts to social services, or to argue against a role for government in overcoming disadvantage.
Its a notion which conservatives also use to mask the structural causes of discrimination and disadvantage in society.
Progressives might instead prefer to speak of the personal being the political, as feminists first emphasised decades ago.
Or perhaps we would speak of upholding progressive values values like fairness, justice and equality of opportunity in all aspects of our lives.
Just this month, I sat in the Senate and listened as Senator Nova Peris spoke about the Closing the Gap report on indigenous disadvantage.
She said: My grandfather told me, 'Don't just talk about it; be about it.' The Senator added To be about it, a child needs an education.
Don't just talk about it; be about it.
What do you hear in these words?
An exhortation to act?
A reminder that change always demands personal action?
This is my starting point for todays discussion.
ANU is one of our finest universities.
All of you come to this place with great aptitude and abilities; you will leave in a few years with even greater skills and knowledge.
Senator Peris grandfather never had such an opportunity.
But his words should remind us all that personal action is a prerequisite to shared responsibility.
That injustice and inequity must be challenged individually as well as collectively.
When asked why I went into politics, my reference point is always my arrival in Australia in the mid-1970s from Malaysia.
The experience of marginalization was formative.
Some of the racism I experienced was overt; some of it was casual or unintentional.
Dealing with it was difficult, but it did build resilience.
However, looking back, there were times when I wish I had less need to fall back on resilience.
But those occasions when someone else stood up for me, or stood by me, were precious.
This is the personal backdrop to my support for the Racism. It Stops With Me campaign which is my second example this evening.
This is a campaign which invites all Australians to reflect on what they can do to counter racism, wherever it happens.
Racism seeks to diminish the person targeted, belittling the individual and imposing a second or third class of citizenship.
It undermines mutual respect, damages social cohesion and ultimately weakens our society.
It is anathema to the multiculturalism that Australia now celebrates.
I've been confronted by abusive people who were frightening.
I have also been abused while others stood or sat silently.
I understand that standing up against racism can be hard.
None of us want to get in harms way.
But those occasions where someone showed solidarity, said or did something to show support, were not only affirming but lessened the effect the abuse had on me.
So I can never understand how people cannot see that being silent in the face of another's prejudice is a choice.
It is not a value free decision. At its heart it is actually a choice to collude.
The silence of the good people is often more hurtful than the raging of the bigots.
A genuinely decent community is not fostered by silence, by ignoring prejudice; it is founded on values which are acted upon daily. Values given life by all of us.
Not only by those in public life, who have a special responsibility given our words are amplified. But by all of us.
So have the conversation with the team mate, go and sit next to the kid on the bus. Do something.
If we want a nation which lives up to its values of equality and inclusion, we have to exercise personal responsibility in the face of prejudice.
And this takes me to my final example.
Last year, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, AO, issued a Message to the Australian Army following the announcement of civilian police and Defence investigations into allegations of unacceptable behaviour by Army members.
This online video message from the Armys most senior commander is extraordinary and compelling to watch.
Lieutenant General Morrison speaks about the responsibility of each member of the Army to uphold the organisations standards.
He says: The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
I watched this video message one night after Parliament had finished late.
His words have stayed with me.
The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
So simple and so powerful, especially given the context of this message a man speaking primarily to men.
Silence is collusion. Take responsibility for your actions. Take responsibility for your silence.
When it comes to gender discrimination and misogyny, it should not just be up to women to fight for fair treatment.
Men also have a responsibility to take action, to reject unacceptable behavior, and to create the space for women to participate as equals.
I reject the idea that personal responsibility is solely the domain of the conservative side of politics.
I believe personal responsibility is fundamental to progressive values and to achieving progressive change in society.
Recognising the importance of personal responsibility does not mean we should ignore the structural forces behind discrimination and unfairness.
Personal responsibility by itself is not enough to overcome the injustice that persists in respect of our first Australians.
Institutional disadvantage and systemic discrimination need collective responses.
However, in some areas where politics has hindered collective responses, individuals have taken their own action to tackle important problems.
Millions of Australians concerned about climate change, for instance, have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint:
- more than one million households have installed solar panels on their roofs;
- 845,000 have installed solar water heaters or heat pumps;
- and 813,000 households have signed up for GreenPower.
I look to the next generation of activists and see that in many ways personal action has already become a primary way of engaging on issues.
Generation Y is less likely to join a political party, less likely to participate in formal organisational structures, than their parents.
But the digital revolution has given this generation an unprecedented capacity to connect with like-minded people and create communities of interest.
It is a dramatically different paradigm for collective action from joining the Labor or Liberal Club on campus.
And in this world, personal responsibility is both the motivator and the delimiter.
It drives action but it should also encourage decent behaviour.
Ultimately, an honourable life, like a loving relationship, is not created by lofty ambitions or grand declarations.
It is created by the sum of the choices we make every day.
Let me conclude by repeating the words of Senator Nova Periss grandfather: Dont just talk about it; be about it.
Thank you.
