Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

But despite all this, we should not be downhearted. All these phenomena-on the one hand, the waste, the greed, the over-governance, the slackness, the uncertainties; on the other hand, the pioneers' hard work, the compassion, the inventiveness, the creativity, the striving for excellence--the good and bad alike, simply represent the cyclical growing pains of a young and potentially great country. We can be a great country if we so choose, if we ask not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country; if we cease to regard hard labour as more appropriate to a prison sentence than to everyday life; if we obey the law in the spirit as well as in the letter; if we respect the different cultures of which this country is now composed so that we may continually absorb them and, in so doing, nurture a new and broader Australian culture; if we make Australia a bridge of understanding with the countries of Asia; in short, if we are prepared to make Australia take its proper place in the world where our influence will depend not on our power to coerce by force, but on our ability to persuade by example. We can make Australia not only a great country in which to believe but also a good country in which to live, less concerned about the materialistic values implied in the phrase 'the standard of living', and more about the spiritual values associated with the phrase 'the quality of life'. There are, of course, many practical obstacles to be overcome. We must improve industrial relations, we must see that governments facilitate profitability in private enterprise and reduce their own expenditure as well as the duplication that now exists between different levels of government. We must look hard at the difference between a genuine need for welfare and feather bedding. We must invest in wealth– providing industries and remove the obstacles to such investment. We must improve our educational standards and we must give greater incentive to the employment of young Australians. We must stop trying to re-write history. We must throw away the guilt complexes; we must solve our own problems; and we must have confidence in our ability to do so. We must once again become Australians determined, in Tennyson's words, 'to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield'. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I turn the clock once again back to the beginning of the century. Another author who used a pseudonym was Tom Collins, alias Joseph Furphy. In his novel Such is Life he wrote: I laid my hand on the boundary rider's shoulder: 'Look here, Sir', said I impressively, 'you are an Englishman and you are proud of your country; but I tell you we are going to have a race of people in these provinces such as the world has never seen before'. With God's grace, and the help of all of us, I am confident Joseph Furphy will be proven right and that his vision will come to pass. 158