It's Time Again!
It's Time Again!
Joseph Lycett's Female Orphan School, c1825,
Future home of the Whitlam Institute c2002
The Whitlam Institute is a new development for Australian intellectual life. It will practice independence as a core ideal and pursue ideas where-ever they may lead. In commemorating E.G. Whitlam's life the Whitlam Institute will attempt to do what Whitlam did as Member for Werriwa, pursue social, cultural and economic opportunities for the people of greater Western Sydney, and like regions, by setting ambitious agendas for the future.
Many of the ideas that Whitlam stood for: education for all, universal health care access, multiculturalism, regional development, indigenous land rights and economic independence, human rights, and development of arts and culture have been achieved in their original form and are no longer controversial or partisan issues. They have become Australian expectations.
The Whitlam Institute will deepen and strengthen these expectations. It will extend and develop the original concepts and policies that the Whitlam government espoused. It will go beyond the partisan quality of the original policies and ideas and create new arenas and audiences.
Above all be prepared for the unexpected. The Land recently covered my speech on regional development. In the paper, delivered to the University of Sydney's 150th birthday conference on regional development at Orange, I argued that small rural communities that had lost foundation industries and recovered their economic momentum had diversified their economic bases by investing in the arts, education, cultural development and community development. (The Land, Dec 13, 2001, p. 3) It was a Whitlamesque message with a new audience and a new acceptability.
The other great legacy of Whitlam is the extent to which he invested in research, ideas and policy. This was the hallmark of E.G. Whitlam's pathway to the Lodge and the solidity of the policies he adopted when in government. Hard policy work and high quality research is an elixir for our times. Too often politics is measured in media grabs, sound bites and publicity stunts. The Whitlam Institute will extend the Whitlam legacy by developing a strong partnership with intellectuals, policy makers and people with ideas so that lasting policies and governments of substance will develop in the future.
Ideas must also move with the community. Probably to his detriment, Whitlam shunned the media and believed that his primary service was to the community. At the age of 85 Mr Whitlam still attends Labor Party Branch meetings. Though he has had to limit the number of public engagements, he still keeps up a pace that would leave most public figures in his wake.
The idea of serving communities and making an effort to keep in touch with communities is also something that the Whitlam Institute will hold dear. But this will not simply be a token gesture or acknowledgement, Whitlam wanted to bring the best quality ideas to the service of the most needy. So it will again be a matter of creating partnerships between ideas people and communities.
We hope that you will watch the activities of the Whitlam Institute with a critical and constructive eye and let us know through the Its Time E-Magazine of things that we should be considering, ideas we should be pursuing. Please feel free to submit comments for Its Time to info@whitlam.org
Peter Botsman
