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Australia: The big picture
Derek McDougall, Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne
Address to Year 12 VASST Teachers' Conference, Parliament House, Melbourne, 26 November, 2004.
At the beginning may I express my thanks to the organizers for giving me the opportunity to address you on the topic of 'Australia - The Big Picture'. While I do not pretend to be an Alexis de Tocqueville or a Keith Hancock or even a Peter Conrad (if we think of the current Boyer Lectures), it is a good opportunity to reflect on where Australia has come from and where it might be going.
As a topic, 'Australia - The Big Picture' provides plenty of scope. I will focus on contemporary Australia as it might appear to the rest of the world. What are the most salient features of its society and polity? How does Australia relate to its international context?
In presenting on this topic the setting for the conference provides an excellent starting point. We might recall that this is where the Commonwealth parliament sat between 1901 and 1927. This is where the founding policies of the Commonwealth were debated and passed into law. We can imagine the debates involving people such as Alfred Deakin, Andrew Fisher and Billy Hughes occurring in this very chamber.
Given this setting I thought it might be appropriate to reflect initially on our themes as they might have appeared in the Australia of 100 years ago. What were the most salient features of Australia's society and polity back then? What was Australia's international context? This historical background will help to highlight some of the distinctive features of the present.
I want to argue that while in many respects Australia has been transformed over the past century, there are still important continuities in terms of how we view ourselves and the world. One of those continuities is the focus on self interest. I want to argue for the development of a more morally sensitive approach. This is an end to be sought as good in itself, while also likely to win Australia esteem in the eyes of the outside world.
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