7 September 2010

 

Acknowledgements:

• Rev Raymond Heslehurst

• Indigenous owners


• Members of the Richard Johnson College community


• Distinguished guests

The College Motto :  “faith pursuing reason”  – is an interesting starting position isn’t it, when so many who would contemplate the topic of this evening’s lecture would come from the reverse position ‘reason pursuing faith’

It is a great honour to follow Peter Kell, one of the founders of the Richard Johnson College and CEO of Anglicare Sydney, who gave the 2009 lecture. Peter’s organisation’s recent report about the depth and diversity of social exclusion in Australia continues the arguments he articulated in his lecture.

When Raymond asked me earlier this year to give the 2010 Richard Johnson Memorial Lecture and to provide some perspectives about how my faith informs my politics, I certainly had no idea how quickly the topic of faith and politics would suddenly escalate to a national conversation.

I chose the title well before the election – and yet, I think it is particularly relevant to the state in which the nation and the national government is hovering.  Australia is a wonderful country in so many ways. It is a Christian country in the sense that most people identify as Christian, and a religious country in the sense that most say they believe in God and pray from time to time. Faiths have made a major contribution through schools, hospitals, welfare agencies, parishes and public life.

Whether we realise it or not, much of our ‘social capital’, our values and virtues, our sense of a fair go, our desire that all have opportunities, are part of our Judeo-Christian inheritance. That said, the National Survey of Churches indicates that we are a multicultural and multi-faith nation as well.

However, Australia is a secular democracy. Unlike the House of Lords there are no Bishops sitting in the Senate, other than Senator Mark Bishop from WA, and as we know there are not one but two Bishops and one Abbott in the House of Representatives!

Although no-one is elected purely on the basis of their faith, there are several members of the Federal Parliament who have been pastors in their churches, and famously, Michael Tate who became a Catholic pries after he left politics.

Politics, religion and money – the three things we’re told shouldn’t be discussed at a civilised dinner table – yet here we are this evening, and  all have dominated the media coverage, the water cooler conversations and the national interest in recent months.

So, why my focus on the moral compass? – frankly because it intrigues me that we have so much unhappiness, mental illness, violence and abuse being reported in Australia that is a privileged, educated, prosperous, stable, enlightened democracy.

Is there something missing?

What’s really going on here ?– what’s the responsibility and role of politicians and people of faith?

 and could Jesus help?

I must begin by telling you that I am an Irish Catholic –so my faith has been formed through my family, an education with the Mercy nuns, learning the ten commandments, attending Mass and the becoming an active member of my church.  I’m blessed to have a loving family with four children and my husband Bob who is with me this evening.

So this evening I would like to reflect on some of the challenges of contemporary Australian life and the extent to which we need to nourish the souls and minds of the nation, how this relates to good public policy and the role of politicians. Then I would like to draw some conclusions about the responsibilities of members of parliament to demonstrate and nurture their own strong moral compass to do a good job in leading the country.

The moral compass

Everyone here, I’m sure, can remember the old fashioned compass – that relatively simple instrument used for centuries by soldiers, sailors, explorers and boy scout adventurers. Its north- facing magnetic needle provides a consistent and true indicator of physical direction. These days, for many of us, heading north can be an issue unless we have our GPS!

If we put the word “moral” in front of compass, we create a clear picture of mental processes that point a person in a particular direction in life.  These processes are consistent and true indicators upon which personal belief and action can be based. We’d usually call this our conscience.

The concept of morality is also relatively simple at its absolute core. It denotes conduct or duties based on what is right and wrong. Morality is considered to be the basis of character and is wrapped around ethics. And, if morality is the answer to the question of ‘how should we live our lives?’, then politics can be seen as addressing the same question at the social level.

There’s been plenty of research about the relationship between attitudes in morality and politics. One study found that people who identified as ‘left leaning’ tended to value care and fairness higher than loyalty, respect and purity.  Self- identified conservative voters valued care and fairness less and the remaining values more. Both groups gave care the highest overall weighting, but the conservative voters valued fairness the lowest, whilst the ‘left-leaning’ voters valued purity the lowest.

This was very interesting research and when we apply it to the messages of the recent election campaign, and the work that the independents have been doing in striving for more respectful and democratic parliamentary processes, it’s fair to say these values have underpinned their efforts – fairness, care, loyalty, respect.

So, while both the concept of a moral compass and the definition of morality are simple and clear, the concept of what constitutes morality is not. One person’s moral compass may not point in the same direction as another’s and this is certainly the case in Australian society!

 Just a few weeks ago Hugh Mackay wrote an article in which he made some fascinating observations about Gen Y, but which has really had me thinking about policy complexity.

 – He wrote:

If we want to understand Gen Y – those now aged between late teens and early 30s – we have only to look at the kind of society they’ve been born into and the example they’ve been given by the rest of us. When we do that, we might be driven to the conclusion that, given the way we’ve raised them, today’s young adults are turning out just as you’d expect.

He goes on to question the notion that ‘youth is wasted on the young’, suggesting that:

‘For at least 3000 years the rising generation of young adults in a society has been a favourite target for criticism by their elders, but the level of abuse heaped on the so-called Generation Y has set new records for the intensity of inter-generational hostility”.

How often we bemoan that society is generally going in the opposite direction of acceptable moral and ethical standards!

Not a week goes by but  we read about the poor behaviour of notable public figures—celebrities, who operate outside and above law with assumed impunity, sports superstars who see themselves as immune to prosecution, and politicians and religious leaders whose actions raise serious questions about right and wrong.

But when it comes to the point of drawing solid conclusions, where is the evidence?

Mackay points out that there has always been immorality and what we see today is no different than any other time in human history perhaps our informationoverloaded lives lead to perceived increase in immoral behaviour.

“ Some things never change: older people still envy the fact that young people are bursting with potential, seem able to take social change in their stride, and – their worst offence – appear unimpressed by the conventions and mores of their parents’ generation.

I wonder is it possible to construct a moral compass that can give the same north reading for us all, given our diversity of ages, circumstances, experiences and values? 

Well, some people have attempted to identify the essence of morality – using the bible and other sacred texts, using the disciplines of psychology, applied ethics and theology.

 I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that there is a website called www.moralcompass.com which describes a useful way to think about your “moral compass” – true North represents Integrity, South – Forgiveness, East -Compassion, and West – Responsibility.- all strong values that should underpin our lives as good citizens and good Christians if we are to follow the teachings of Jesus.

You can even assess your own moral compass online, in the privacy of your own home! What’s more, you can even assess your organisation for its moral intelligence. Try it, it’s free and quite thought provoking.

Another website, run by the Centre for Defined Ethics, suggests these principles to guide our moral compass:

• Do no harm.


• Accept responsibility for personal actions and the consequences of those actions.


• Practice a duty of care.


• Affirm the individual’s right to self-determination.


• Put the truth first.


• Never use a person as merely an unconsenting means to an end, even if the end benefits others.


• Be honest.


• Honour agreements.


• Treat others as you want to be treated yourself.


• Leave a positive legacy to future generations.

Most people know that their actions should be guided by their conscience – their moral compass. And in the parliaments of this country, we are allowed conscience votes on some issues deemed to be of great ethical or moral decisions.  And in those circumstances we’re encouraged to follow our hearts and our consciences and do the right thing!

If as politicians, everyone is following their heart, doing what they think is right, or at least what seems right to themselves (or as the bible puts it in the book of Judges 21-25 “Everyone did what he thought best”) aren’t we following our moral compass. Isn’t this going to bring us to the right conclusions in the interest of the nation?   Well maybe or maybe not!

What this presumes is that we have all a strong sense of orientation, that we have invested in formation and continue to reflect and invest in maintaining that orientation.

But, if the conscience isn’t properly formed then it won’t point you in the right direction.  Taking the compass analogy – if the compass isn’t pointing to true north, it doesn’t matter how closely it is being followed, you’re still going to go the wrong way, and the longer you continue in that wrong path – the more wrong you will be.

It’s a case of close enough isn’t good enough.

My point here is the importance of moral guidance!

If we aren’t  grounded in those values that underpin the formation processes of conscience, such as Integrity, Forgiveness, Compassion, and Responsibility and love,  we are very open to external manipulation. We know what’s right and what’s wrong, but we fail to act on what we know because of our passions and emotions – and conscience formation is really about self-discipline and cultivating emotions to go along with what we know is right.

For politicians, we need the time to think issues through, to argue more than the logic and processes, to the consequences of our decision making, because despite what some may say, there is no such thing as value – free policy.

However, there is a fine line between using one’s Christian values to inform ones views and using one’s beliefs to justify them.

President Obama recently made the following observation in an interview about his faith:

“I think there is an enormous danger on the part of public figures to rationalize or justify their actions by claiming God’s mandate. I don’t think it’s healthy for public figures to wear religion on their sleeve as a means to insulate themselves from criticism, or dialogue with people who disagree with them.”

How did this issue play out in Australia in the election campaign?

It was interesting to see how the Australian Christian Lobby positioned itself early for the election campaign with a televised national debate, broadcast to a claimed audience of 100,000 people.

The debate took place a week before Kevin Rudd was replaced by Julia Gillard. The questions asked of Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd were similar – their position on the School Chaplaincy funding, gay marriage, a concern about the Xenophon Public Benefits Bill, the treatment of asylum seekers, the importance of environmental stewardship, funding for faith based schools and differential funding for children with disabilities in government and non-government schools. There was a general question about how faith informs their lives.

Just a week or so later, when Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister and admitted she was an atheist, the media had a field day. There was a national radio program that broadcast a discussion about how Christians could vote for a non-Christian prime minister.  Ministers preached that to vote for Julia Gillard was a sin, that an atheist could not be trusted in the position of leader of a Christian country, that this was the thin edge of the wedge.

No matter how many times Julia was interviewed, the issue of her lack of faith kept being raised – she told often how she had been raised in the Baptist tradition, could recite the scriptures and the Catechism by rote, and had won prizes for doing so, but in her adult life she had no interest or belief in religion.

And those questions were followed by questions about her dress sense, her earlobes, her de-facto partner Tim, her morals, her choice not to have children, her responsibility as a national leader to provide a good moral example to young Australian women…. And she took it all in good humour.

Tim Costello wrote at the time:

… as Christians I think there is a terrible danger in putting ‘professing’ over and above the ‘character’ of polices that our leaders put forward. When you go to your bank manager you are rightly more concerned about his honesty then his faith, likewise if you are having an operation you are more likely to question the surgeons skills and competency rather than his religion.

 

Likewise, we must examine the policies not just the professions of faith of our leaders. We must ensure their policies aim to benefit all people, but especially the poor; are ‘for life’ not just for acquiring things; and are merciful and compassionate. We should support those who seek to halt the destruction of God’s creation for greed not need.

Just a few weeks into the campaign, at a major fundraiser to help meet the costs of the Canonisation of Mary McKillop Australia’s first saint, Julia committed $1.5m to the Sisters of St Joseph for a number of projects.

She was then accused of trying to woo the Catholic vote, regardless of the fact that at the same function, Joe Hockey made the same commitment, a sign that the agreement had been worked out between both leaders’ offices, in recognition that this significant event celebrates the remarkable achievements of a great Australian.

And again, when she announced the expansion of the School Chaplaincy program it was cynically reported as wooing the Christian vote.

 Let’s not forget that Julia was the architect of the government’s Social inclusion agenda based on fairness, compassion and opportunity. She did not invoke the Beatitudes – but she could have.

Instead she talked about the moral imperative of taking a different tack – of focusing on reconciliation, closing the gap, addressing complex disadvantage and lack of opportunity.  She has a strong moral compass – and a great sense of herself and what she aspires to achieve on behalf of the nation.

Last week I addressed the members of the Global Network of Public Theology – scholars and theologians from around the world. We discussed the election results and the influence of the churches in the outcome. One question I was asked was about the former Prime Minister’s Kevin Rudd’s interest in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings questioning the value of ethical reasoning in moral philosophy.

As you would know, in this school of thought, ethics, with its focus on distinguishing right from wrong, tends to produce behaviour that is simply not wrong, whereas the Christian life should instead be marked by the highest form of right.

Bonhoeffer stressed the importance of meditation on and relationship with God.

Kevin Rudd, when asked about his faith said he reads the Bible, though not as regularly as he’d like, but he does find time to pray.

“It’s not formal, me getting on my knees,” he says “The biggest challenge, I think, is always maintaining your moral compass.”

Obama made the observation that the difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and proselytize.  He said:

“There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that if people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal saviour, they’re going to hell.”

I’m sure that you know we have already had the experience of Prime Ministers who are atheists. Bob Hawke was a self-professed atheist but we need only look at his government’s legacy, to know that while admitting to his personal failings, he did well by this country.

And another Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, also a non-believer is known to have made inquiries of the costs of being buried in the crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral. When told it would be cost about $250,000 he said:

“What, for three days – that’s an outrage – even for the Catholic church!

So throughout our political history we’ve had leaders and politicians who’ve held a wide variety of attitudes to Christianity and the church. For some, their faith has inspired their political actions, and for others it has been moral and ethical imperatives grounded in a different source.

For those of us who do hold Christian beliefs, however, politics should be and is hard work. We need to constantly reflect on our relationship with God, to mirror the best of ourselves in others; we have an obligation to be informed, to be thoughtful, to be truthful, to replenish our spiritual strength, to guard against complacency and rationality.

Regardless of political persuasion, you will not be surprised to know that there is a great camaraderie among Christian politicians across the Parliament, expressed through the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship – where politics is left by the door, where we meet in prayer and seek God’s support for our work, where we take the time to care for each other, and encourage each other when the times are tough and the challenges are tougher.

It’s in these kinds of groups and in these kinds of discussions that we have the best chance of keeping our individual moral compasses facing true north, ensuring that we are not “flying blind” as we tackle the important decisions that will shape our nation, but instead are guided by a strong sense of orientation steering us safely towards a sound future for our country.

Speech to the official government reception.

Sunday 29 august 2010, 6.30pm-8.00pm
Melbourne convention and exhibition centre

I acknowledge Australia’s first peoples, their wisdom, traditions and cultures and pay my respect to their elders.

On behalf of the Australian Government, I am pleased to welcome you on the eve of the 63^rd United Nations Department of Public Information – Non Government Organisations Conference on Global Health and the Millennium Development Goals.

I would like to extend a special welcome to Mr Kiyo Akasaka, UN Under Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information and Mr Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

Mr Akasaka and his team have worked tirelessly with NGO colleagues to bring this conference together.

I would like to welcome their Excellencies, the Permanent Representatives to the UN from Jamaica, Liberia, Sierra Leone and South Africa.

I would like to acknowledge the presence here tonight of Senator Helen Kroger who is representing the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament.

To all of our distinguished guests from the UN, international non-government organisations and the Australian NGO and tertiary sectors – it is a pleasure to have you here.

I know that the hundreds of delegates who have travelled from 79 countries to be here for the conference will find the event stimulating and productive, and have the chance to participate in the many health-related public activities that have been organised across the city of Melbourne over the coming days.

Conference Theme

The theme of this conference, Advance Global Health, Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, is both important and timely.

We are just three weeks away from the UN MDG Leaders Summit in New York – a Summit that will review and reinvigorate progress on the MDGs.

The MDGs are at the core of Australia’s aid program.

Eradicating poverty, promoting equitable growth, and ensuring widespread and high quality health and education services, is an essential but difficult task.

We need to take a long-term and comprehensive approach.

As a donor, and one with an expanding aid budget Australia is looking to build on the lessons of development approaches that have worked well in the region and internationally.

But we are also looking for new ideas and approaches for the delivery of good development outcomes, particularly those that can make a greater impact on maternal and child health where strong progress has not yet been realised.

This means balancing support for major initiatives on global health financing and sustainable health system reform, for instance, with programs that focus on immediate health needs at the community level.

Pakistan Floods

The havoc wreaked by the recent floods in Pakistan and the unfolding impact of this disaster on people’s lives and livelihoods is devastating.

The outbreak of cholera and the risk of dehydration and water-borne diseases are testing the strength of international health efforts every day.  The impact on the country’s health facilities, supplies and of course, the health workers is dire and long-term.

Australia has been quick with a response to Pakistan – it has heeded the calls of the Pakistan Government, the UN and the NGOs on behalf of those affected.

We have deployed a medical team to establish a health facility in Kot Addu, which will deliver primary health services and maternal and child health care.

The contribution from Australia’s official aid program to the humanitarian effort now totals $35 million.

This disaster serves as a stark reminder, if we needed one, of the imperative for us to work together and to continue to improve the effectiveness of our aid partnership and cooperation arrangements.

Australian Aid: Priorities

As I mentioned earlier, Australia is increasing its overseas aid program.  It will reach 0.5 per cent of GNI by 2015-16.

Health priorities for the aid program have included reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and addressing the rapid rise of non-communicable diseases – particularly in the Pacific.

However, we know that aid alone will not support the achievement of the MDGs.  A broad set of tools is needed to accelerate progress across all the Goals.  This is why Australia adopts a multi-agency and multi-sector development approach.

Australia’s concern for global development and growth that is equitable, that provides social protection for the poor, including through the provision of access to financial services and greater global food security, has informed Australia’s aid program and its engagement on development issues in a range of regional and multilateral fora.

With Australia’s increasing aid budget, the proportion of aid delivered through key partners is also increasing.

We recognise the need for experienced development partners through which we can provide funding. This is efficient and reduces the burden on partner countries. This approach promotes the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action.

Australians and Civil Society

Civil society organisations bring unique skills, strong community linkages and established support networks within and across countries.

In Australia we rely upon the important work of charities, philanthropists and volunteers to support service delivery and research activities.

Australians apply this same ‘hands on’ approach to aid work in developing countries.  In 2008, nearly 1.7 million Australians donated over $800 million to Australian aid and development NGOs.  Between 2001 and 2008, private donations increased by an average of 10 per cent per year in real terms.  This is a testimony to the important contribution NGOs make in reducing poverty, alleviating suffering and promoting people’s empowerment and development.

This is also recognised through Australia’s official aid program.

Aid funding to Australian and international NGOs, and local civil society organisations, has increased to eight per cent of the aid program.

There are currently 682 Australian volunteers in 28 developing countries, funded from the Australian aid program.

AusAID is currently implementing multi-year development partnership arrangements with five major Australian NGOs working in areas such as child and maternal health, education and combating climate change in developing countries.

Our engagement with the Australian business sector has also increased, reflecting the important and expanding role of the private sector in initiating and supporting international development.

Australia and the UN

Australia now has formal partnerships with nine UN development and humanitarian organisations.

These frameworks include multi-year funding for shared priorities and include commitments to the Millennium Development Goals, to deliver development and humanitarian assistance more effectively, and to support UN reforms.

Of course, the scale and complexity of the work of the UN and its implementing partners requires strong communication and information capabilities.  I’d therefore like to acknowledge the valuable work of the UN Department of Public Information, and the various UN Information Centres.

I understand 62 NGOs have become formally associated with UN DPI in the lead up to this 2010 Conference. This brings the total number of NGOs that work with the Department in the area of communications and information to 1,588.

Progress and Challenges

Let me return to the issue of the MDGs and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Global progress towards the MDGs has been good.  We should recognise that over the last decade we have seen some of the greatest improvements with hundreds of millions of people lifted out of poverty, more children going to school, increased life expectancy and a stronger focus on how to make development efforts more effective.

In 2008, across the world, the total annual number of deaths in children under five years of age fell to 8.8 million, down by 30 per cent from 12.4 million in 1990.

Some countries have recorded a decline in the number of deaths of women during pregnancy or childbirth.  However, the rate of decline is less than the 5.5 per cent annual decline needed to meet the MDG target by 2015.

HIV infection rates and deaths from AIDS are in decline worldwide. Good progress has been made to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases.

We should acknowledge and celebrate these successes but recognise that progress has not been sufficient and there is a need for all of us to do better.  We need to resolve to do more to address development challenges.

I have noted Australia’s expanding aid program.  With this expansion, of course, comes greater scrutiny by media and the taxpayers who quite rightly call for demonstrated impact from the aid dollar.

In the year 2010, with five years to reach the MDGs, we need to ask ourselves: ‘Why is it that, despite the increasing investment of aid and international attention, some health indicators are still at unacceptable levels in many regions’?

Why is it that more than 600 million people in sub Saharan Africa, South and South East Asia, and the Pacific, do not have daily access to clean drinking water?

How do we balance support to improve national-level health services and ensure remote communities are able to access the health services they need now?

How do we collectively promote greater local ownership and leadership over the MDGs in developing countries?

How do we work effectively with, and through, partner systems to ensure our development support is aligned with national development objectives and promote important state-civil society partnerships?

Together we muast work towards finding innovative solutions to these and other problems that we continue to face.

Concluding Remarks

Dialogue through events such as the annual UN DPI NGO Conference has a critical role in bringing researchers, practitioners and policy-makers together to help address priority development concerns.

We are confident that over the next three days ideas and realistic actions will be identified.

I congratulate Mr Akasaka and his team from UN DPI and the UN Information Centre for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific; the Australian NGO Convenor Professor Philip Batterham; and
Mr Marc Purcell and his team from the Australian Council for International Development, and the many NGO committee members and organisers of the Conference, for their hard work in pulling this together.  It is no easy feat.

The Australian Government welcomes you and looks forward to hearing of the outcomes from this important dialogue on global health and the MDGs.

SYDNEY

3 AUGUST 2010

 

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

 

I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today – the Gadigal people – and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.

Thank you for welcoming me here today to speak about the Australian Government’s volunteering agenda and next year’s exciting 10 year celebration of the United Nation’s International Year of Volunteering.

I’d like to especially thank Chain Reaction for organising today’s event.

I think it’s not too much to say that Margaret is a national treasure. She has dedicated her life to bringing people together, to healing wounds and putting people back on the path to a meaningful and fulfilling life. She’s one of the most persuasive advocates for a strong civil society that I know and one of the most passionate speakers about what she likes to call the volunteering “movement.”

So it’s no surprise that her foundation – Chain Reaction – is doing such good work. The Mt Druitt Learning Ground is one stand-out example. Perhaps one of the most unique things about this program is that it doesn’t just focus on the troubled young person. Instead it acknowledges the crucial role that family plays in a child’s development and invites an adult from the family to also come along to the learning ground.

All clients are supported on a one on one basis to help them overcome the particular combination of challenges they face in their lives. And to learn to support each other.

I’d just like to share with you one of their stories.

One young man originally came to Learning Ground from a very violent household two years ago. After a severe bashing and period in hospital he was placed in a youth refuge. Working together with him and his carers has transformed this young man from a sullen passive aggressive, unmotivated boy into a school achiever who is preparing himself for a productive adulthood.

He has moved on from being a participant at Learning Ground to working one day a week there as a ‘mentor’ in the Primary school programme. He plans to become a youth worker.

I find this a wonderful story of the journey from exclusion to inclusion – a heart-warming example of transforming from the recipient of help to the provider of it to others.

Perhaps the most profound form of this kind of giving is volunteering – giving of one’s time, talent and energy without expectation of any kind of financial reward.

I often say that volunteering is “passion transformed into action.” And this passion takes so many forms – whether it be a passion to preserve our beautiful country’s fragile environment, to help others in need or to brighten our lived experience through support to the arts, heritage or sports.

In all these ways, volunteers shape our nation.

Their contribution is enormous. We know from the Productivity Commission report into the not-for-profit sector earlier this year that, in economic terms, our 5 million volunteers contribute almost $15 billion to our economy each year. But it’s their contribution to the social cohesion of our nation that is even more valuable and is, in fact, priceless.

That’s why when we came into government almost three years ago, I pledged to begin work on a National Volunteering Strategy.

Never before has there been a national focus on volunteering. Did you know that before October last year, there had never even been a meeting of volunteering ministers from across the state, territories and Commonwealth?

Over the 12 years of the previous Government, the Coalition just wasn’t interested in supporting one of our nation’s most important assets. There was no acknowledgement of the reality that volunteering is changing and evolving, and that government support to volunteering needs to transform to be relevant and helpful. In short, there was no understanding of volunteers or a long term vision for volunteering.

So it’s no wonder that volunteering policies sprung up in isolation from each other and that there was no coherent national approach to supporting our volunteers.

This inevitably led to inconsistencies between state and territory regulation and policies around volunteering that have made life difficult for volunteers.

For example, the lack of portability of working with children checks and police checks across state and territory borders can cause real difficulties for volunteers who volunteer interstate – whether this be to bolster firefighters in another state or to support a youth sporting team playing an interstate match.

It’s obstacles such as these that can dampen peoples’ enthusiasm for volunteering. And these are the obstacles that the Gillard Labor Government is determined to address.

In fact, on coming into government we immediately increased the Australian Government’s Volunteer Grants program by $5 million per year so that volunteer organisations could reimburse their volunteers for fuel costs incurred in their volunteer work. We understood that increasing fuel prices were becoming an obstacle to some of our volunteers, and it was important that government do something about it.

Our vision is of an Australia where all Australians are supported and encouraged to get involved in volunteering, and where the benefits to both the community and the volunteer themselves are well understood.

We understand that volunteering isn’t just about ‘giving back to the community,’ We understand that it is a two-way experience where both giver and receiver of volunteer effort enjoy an increase in well-being.

So the idea of a National Volunteering Strategy was to highlight the benefits of volunteering, tackle some of the regulatory disincentives to volunteering, find better ways to support and acknowledge volunteers, and encourage more people to get involved.

And there seemed no better time to do this than on the eve of the ten year anniversary of the United Nation’s International Year of Volunteering next year.

A lot has been going on behind the scenes for the last 18 months. We’ve ended the malaise in volunteering policy and for the first time, we’ve brought together volunteering policy officials from all the states and territories who now meet regularly to identify policy areas for harmonisation, and share ideas on how governments can work together to better support and recognise volunteers.

In October last year, I convened a special group of people, including Margaret here, to become the Volunteering Advisory Group. This purpose of the group was to provide ideas to government on content for the National Volunteering Strategy and also on celebrating the International Year of Volunteering plus 10.

This group came up with some fabulous suggestions and some innovative thinking around the future of volunteering in Australia, which is captured in a “think-piece” that will be released in the next month or so. It makes for great reading so I highly recommend downloading a copy when it becomes available.

The Australian Emergency Management Volunteers Forum and Australian Youth Forum have also provided input into the strategy.

Drawing on the views expressed through all these formal channels, we drafted a discussion paper, which we took out for consultation with volunteers and community groups. I’m sure that many of you in this room would have come across the consultation paper so I’m not going to go into detail on this today.

However, I thought you might be interested in some of the early results from the consultation paper and on-line survey.

To date, we’ve received 151 written responses to the consultation paper and 569 responses to the on-line survey. Around one-third of respondents to the online survey indentified as individual volunteers, with the remainder coming from non profit organisations and a handful from state and local government bodies.

The responses have come from across the great diversity of Australia’s volunteering community, including the community/welfare sector, emergency services, health, arts and heritage, sport and recreation, education, and law and justice sectors.

Despite this great diversity, their contributions have coalesced around some key themes:

• Encouraging more people to get involved in volunteering, especially young people and those from non-English speaking backgrounds.


• Amplifying public recognition of volunteers’ efforts.


• Addressing a range of risk management issues including insurance, occupational health and safety, and background checks.


• Developing effective national standards for volunteer organisations that would provide guidance on the kinds of risk management issues just mentioned, and help reduce the inconsistency between organisations.


• Recognising the out-of-pocket expenses of volunteering, such as transport and fuel costs; and


• Reducing government red tape for volunteer-based organisations.

 

Having met with hundreds of volunteer-based organisations and thousands of volunteers of the last few years, these key themes are not surprising and confirm the early work we’ve been doing on the strategy.

The feedback from this public consultation is currently being analysed and will feed into the final draft of the strategy.

I’ve been driving the development of this strategy as a much needed vision and roadmap for how government can best support and nurture Australia’s distinctive spirit of volunteering.

So it’s been very disappointing to see absolutely no interest in the strategy from the Coalition. With this lack of support from the other side, it’s quite clear that the strategy wouldn’t survive a change in government.

This would be a huge loss to Australian civil society and a great insult to all the volunteers, volunteer-based organisations and officials from across government who have put so much effort into its development.

With your support, however, a re-elected Gillard Government would be empowered to launch Australia’s first ever National Volunteering Strategy in a wonderful celebration to coincide with the International Year of Volunteering plus ten next year. This would be part of our broader program of events to mark this important occasion.

And this is where I turn to you and ask you to join us in celebrating volunteering next year.

The beauty of volunteering is that it’s not “owned” by any one sector. All sectors contribute to and benefit from volunteers, and this brings with it a concomitant responsibility for all sectors to support and celebrate our volunteers in this important year.

Looking around the room today, I can see that we have the perfect makings of a business/community working group for planning IYV+10 celebrations.

Perhaps in true chain reaction tradition, today can be the starting point for a chain reaction of meetings that work to develop up individual projects for recognising and celebrating your volunteers next year.

I’d also suggest that you link in with the online discussions taking place on the independent social networking site for volunteering at volunteering2021.ning.com.

Australia has long been a leader in volunteering innovation and we are well known for the vibrancy of our volunteering community.  

My vision is for our national celebration of IYV+10 to be as vital, innovative and colourful as our volunteering community.

I invite you to join me in working towards realising this vision

Address to the Homestart Co-ordinators Conference

 

Wednesday 28^th July 2010, Goulburn

Acknowledgements:

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

I would also like to acknowledge the Mayor, Carol James, and Director, Homestart National, Marilyn Barnes.

Thank you very much for inviting me here today. It’s a lovely change to have an event of this kind in my backyard, and so, along with the Mayor, I’d like to welcome you to our beautiful part of the country. I hope you’ll enjoy your time in our historic city.

And you are here, of course, to learn and share ideas about how you can do your work of supporting Australia’s children even better.

So let’s begin with a snapshot of Australia’s young children:

• ­       There are currently around 1.4 million children aged under five in Australia.


• ­       An increasing numbers of these children live in one-parent families.


• ­       About half of them are in childcare, with 570 000 children aged between 0-5 in government approved childcare services.


• ­       And they have diverse cultural heritage: around 68,000 young children are Indigenous and many children have parents or grandparents that were born overseas.

Homestart’s mission to support these parents and young children at an early stage in life is a vitally important one.

The evidence has been mounting over the past decades and is now incontrovertible that the early years of childhood are of vital significance to a child’s development.

To quote the National Early Childhood Development Strategy,

All parents and early childhood experts know that the development that takes place in the first few years of life, including before birth, is critically important and is strongly influenced by a child’s experience within the family and community in which he or she grows. After this time patterns of thinking and behaving become more fixed and are difficult to change later in life.

This influence of a child’s social setting on their development was made starkly apparent to me at this year’s Social Inclusion Conference in the presentation by the Director of the UK’s Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children’s and Young Peoples Services, Christine Davies.

Part of Ms Davies’ presentation included a graph showing development levels from birth of children from lower and higher socio-economic backgrounds. The graph showed their starting point, that is, how they had rated on basic skills assessments at birth and then how they progressed in the following months.

The results were extremely disturbing. Children who had rated highly on the skills assessment at birth and came from low socio-economic backgrounds, over time, scored lower than those children who had rated low on skills assessment at birth but came from higher socio-economic backgrounds.

That is, by the end of the observed period, the low scoring advantaged babies were at the top of the chart, whilst the high scoring disadvantaged babies were now at the bottom.

In short, they had changed places. Children who would have considered “high achievers” at birth were now below the norm.

What is most disturbing is thinking about the missed potential of these children who started out with such a bright future. This is not only a personal tragedy for the children involved, but it is also a great loss for our community as a whole, which is poorer from the lack of the contribution they might otherwise have made.

This is why children in low socio-economic environments is one of the key focuses of the Australian Government’s Social Inclusion Agenda, which we outlined in the Social Inclusion Statement that Julia Gillard launched at the conference this year, entitled A Stronger, Fairer Australia.

This statement identifies three major challenges for the government to address in this area of children at risk:

1. ­       To act in the early years of a child’s life to maximise the positive influences on early childhood development and encourage all of those around a child to make their contribution.


2. ­       To encourage parenting and family relationships that strengthen the resilience of children as they grow up; and


3. ­       To improve education, health and support services for families and communities where disadvantage is concentrated and where risks are greatest.

 

In the past three years, we’ve put in place an ambitious plan of action to take on these challenges.

Working with the states and territories, we developed the first ever National Early Childhood Development Strategy. The objective of the strategy is to outline how we can work in partnership with the states and territories to build an early childhood system in Australia that is one of the best in the world.

As part of this strategy, we committed $4.4 billion over the next five years towards new initiatives to directly improve the life opportunities of children.

This has included $970 million to ensure that by 2013 every child has access to 15 hours a week of quality play-based early childhood education for 40 weeks in the year before full-time schooling.

The strategy also includes a work-plan to develop a single set of national quality standards for early childhood education that will incorporate an Early Years Learning Framework.

We’ve also been looking at how the Australian Government can better provide services to families and their children. And so we’ve created a new Family Support Program that brings together a number of existing family, children and parenting services, and enables services to better focus on the needs of families and children, especially those at risk.

But perhaps most excitingly of all, we’ve passed legislation to establish Australia’s first ever Paid Parental Leave scheme that will commence on January 1 next year. This will enable more parents to make the decision to stay at home with their new born during the first most crucial months – and is sure to translate into a little more work for you!

As you would know more than most, supporting Australia’s parents and young children is a big job, and the government can’t do it alone. We need community organisations such as Homestart, and your precious volunteers, to ensure we reach more families and children who are in need of a little extra help, moral support or advice.

The work that you do across NSW and now in Victoria too is simply invaluable. The birth of a first child or having several under the age of five can sometimes be a lonely and challenging experience. As a mother of four I remember this only too well!

Your volunteers must sometimes seem like angels to the people they visit – non-judgemental, non-official friendly people who are simply there to help out of the goodness of their own hearts. These are the kinds of roles that only volunteers can fulfil.

Knowing, as a young mother, that the person who is visiting you is there only because they want to help, and not because they need to ensure compliance in some way or another, builds the kind of trust that enables advice to be given and openly received.

This is the real gift of your volunteers – being a “real” person, so to speak, whose personal experience enables not sympathy, but empathy, and the practical knowhow to offer solutions to the many challenges of early childhood.

As co-ordinators of the program in each of your regions, I have no doubt that you highly value your volunteers. I notice that you offer your volunteers a comprehensive training program and ongoing training and fellowship through your volunteers’ conference.

So I’d like to use this opportunity of speaking to you today to bring to your attention a wonderful opportunity next year to honour and celebrate your volunteers.

Next year is the 10^th anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer, originally celebrated in 2001. The Australian Government is planning a program of events to celebrate the year, including the launch of the first ever National Volunteering Strategy, and you’ll be hearing more about the other events we have planned on International Volunteers Day this year.

However, it’s important that the community as a whole come together to mark this important occasion and celebrate the enormous contribution our volunteers make to our nation. In the great diversity of ways they make that contribution, from environmental protection to family visits, they – as I like to say – shape our nation.

So I’d like to encourage you, as the coordinators of volunteer-based organisations, to think about what you might do next year to celebrate the contribution of your volunteers. It might be through a special volunteer morning tea during National Volunteers Week in May, or through organising a commemorative book or other token of appreciation to give to your volunteers.

You can discuss how to celebrate 2011 with other volunteers and volunteer managers on the social networking site www.volunteering2021.ning.com. And you could even start the discussion among yourselves here over morning tea today.

I look forward to hearing your ideas. I’m a regular visitor to the volunteering2021 website, so would love to be a part of your conversation.

I wish you all the best as you embark on the rest of your conference today and tomorrow. You’ve certainly got a diverse program. And I hope you will leave refreshed and full of new ideas to take back to your regional Homestart and share with your volunteers.

27 July 2010

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Kulin people – the traditional owners of the land on which we meet – and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

I’d also like to acknowledge John Peacock, General Manager, Associations Forum.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you bright and early on your first day.

You have a very full program ahead of you and so I appreciate the chance to set the scene, so to speak, by bringing you up to date on the government and regulatory developments that are shaping the environment in which you work.

Yours is a sector that’s vital to the health of our nation. This diverse sector of over 600 000 organisations, large and small, that contribute to our community in so many ways – from helping others in need, to protecting the environment, to advocating on behalf of members interests as many of you here today do.

The government is keenly aware of the enormous value the sector brings to our nation’s prosperity and social cohesion.

And that’s why since coming to government almost three years ago we’ve placed a high priority on improving the environment in which you work, and, importantly, on improving the relationship between us.

One of our first acts as government was to remove all of the anti-advocacy clauses in every government contract with the sector that had been put in place by the previous Coalition government.

These so called “gag clauses” prevented not-for-profit organisations from speaking out on behalf of others in need and from advocating for change.

These clauses were evidence of the lack of trust between the former government and sector. And even before coming into government, we had resolved to address the breakdown in the relationship through the development of a National Compact between government and the Third Sector.

The Compact was an election commitment that I’m proud to say we fulfilled in March this year following almost two years of consulting and drafting in partnership with the sector.

It is a partnership agreement setting out how we want to work together to achieve our shared vision of an inclusive, prosperous and fairer Australia, and it sets out the framework for building a stronger, more productive relationship.

The Compact was launched at an official signing ceremony held at Parliament House in March and was a real watershed moment, crystallising the change in our relationship from one of distrust to one of partnership.

Today, almost 300 organisations – including some of the associations in this room – have signed to become Compact partners with us.

The Compact is not just about the principles with which we want to engage in this partnership. It’s also about action – action to address some of the long-standing obstacles to the sector’s effectiveness.

One theme that came through very clearly in the consultation phase of the compact, was the degree to which the sector’s regulation was not fit-for-purpose – a labyrinthine maze of overlapping regulatory requirements, duplicated reporting systems and inconsistency between commonwealth, state and territory jurisdictions.

Tackling this complexity has been one of my main priorities as Parliamentary Secretary for the Voluntary Sector, and I’d like to update you on some of the work we’ve been doing to improve the environment in which you work.

First of all, we put the not-for-profit sector on the agenda of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) for the first time in our nation’s history.

Through this cross-government mechanism, we’ve been building greater consistency in the financial reporting that sector organisations must submit to funding agencies and departments across all states and territories and the commonwealth.

This has seen the introduction this month of a simplified National Standard Chart of Accounts that all governments will use in their reporting requirements for the sector.

All Australian governments have now approved the adoption of the Standard Chart of Accounts for government funding and reporting from not-for-profits.

This is available now as an option for sector organisations wishing to reduce their administrative burden and will considerably reduce the confusion for those organisations that seek grants from both their state or territory and federal governments.

COAG has also been working on harmonising fundraising legislation so that organisations wishing to run fundraising drives across the country can do so with one application rather than eight.

And with the passage of the Corporations Amendment Act, those not-for-profits operating under the Corporations Act will benefit from tiered reporting and auditing requirements that are proportional to their organisation’s size.

Further, Standard Business Reporting is now being rolled out to reduce the reporting burden for business and consideration is being given to extending this to the Third Sector.

However, as important as these developments are, they are just a prelude to our broader Third Sector reform agenda.

As many of you would know, the government last year commissioned the Productivity Commission to undertake a study into the contribution of the not-for-profit sector.

Aware of the many regulatory and governance issues facing the sector, we wanted to know in more detail about the complexity of the problems and how government could act to address some of these obstacles to productivity.

The Commission handed down its report in January this year. It’s a dense read.

Making 39 detailed recommendations and providing a detailed portrait of the sector and its characteristics, the report has given government and the sector plenty to think about.

The Productivity Report was handed down at about the same time as the government received the Henry Review of Australia’s taxation.

Interestingly, both the Commission and Henry recommended the establishment of a national registrar or regulator of not-for-profit organisations, as have several other previous reviews into the not-for-profit sector.

The idea of a registrar is to provide fit-for-purpose sector regulation that minimises duplication, while also building trust within the community that not-for-profit organisations are well-governed and managing public donations responsibly.

I know there is interest in the sector for the idea of a national registrar or regulator, and we will continue to discuss these ideas with you as we are considering all of the recommendations put forward as part of the Productivity Commission’s Report and the Henry Review.

And I’d like to take this opportunity to pass on the Treasurer’s assurance, which he gave at the time the report was handed down, that we will not make any changes to the tax system that will harm the Sector.

This includes removing the benefit of tax concessions, raising the gift deductibility threshold or changing income tax arrangements for clubs.

I should also stress that moving forward with reforms to the sector would be done in consultation with the sector, in accordance with the compact’s commitment to authentic consultation and genuine collaboration between the sector and government.

In fact, I convened a discussion about the Productivity Commission Report a few weeks ago to seek advice from the sector about how best to sequence the reforms.

If you have read the Productivity Commission report closely, as I have, then you would acknowledge the concerns expressed about the capacity of the sector to absorb and manage the range of reforms – for us, and for you, it is imperative that we get a new regulatory framework right.

So these are very exciting times in the sector – times of change and transformation.

But I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without mentioning another exciting upcoming occasion for the not-for-profit sector.

Next year is the tenth anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer and the UN has asked member nations to use the anniversary as an opportunity to celebrate the enormous contributions of volunteers.

For those of you who work in organisations that benefit from volunteers, next year is an important time for acknowledging their contributions to your organisation.

The Australian Government will be celebrating this occasion in a number of ways, including the release of the first ever National Volunteering Strategy.

This will be a truly national statement on volunteering, developed in collaboration with state and territory governments, and will outline a framework for government’s support for volunteering into the future. We are also developing a program of events for celebrating the year.

However, it’s important that all sectors – government, business, not-for-profit sector and the broader community in general find ways to celebrate and recognise the over 5 billion volunteers who help shape our nation.

Whether it be an extra special event for your volunteers during National Volunteer Week in May or producing a memorial tribute of some kind, there are so many ways that we can find to acknowledge and support our volunteers and encourage more people to get involved.

And perhaps International Year of Volunteering plus 10 might be your invitation to get involved in volunteering yourself, if you haven’t already discovered the joys of doing so.

Thank you again for the opportunity to update you this morning on the strategic developments in the sector.

For those of you who have further questions about the Productivity Commission Report and the Henry Review, I invite you to come along to this afternoon’s panel session where I’ll be happy to answer further questions and hear your views.

I wish you a productive and enjoyable conference, and look forward to talking further with some of you this afternoon.

Address to the Community Council of Australia

Monday 19^th July 2010, Sydney

Acknowledgements:

The Gadigal people and their elders, past and present.

Members of the Community Council for Australia and other friends of Australia’s third sector (not for profit sector).

Thank you for inviting me to speak about the Gillard Government’s progress in transforming Australia’s third sector.

 

I know that many of you are familiar with and have been so supportive of the work that I have been doing as Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, in advancing social inclusion and in our third sector reform agenda.

I have benefitted from your wisdom, knowledge  and advice and it has been a privilege to work with the myriad of sector organisations, academia and business sector on this agenda.

Together, we have come a long way in delivering a range of initiatives to unlock the potential of the third sector, including of course our work in developing the National Compact: working together as the strategic framework for how we can advance this transformational change.

I was very pleased that the Community Council for Australia became a compact partner on March 17th, recognising the potential for the compact, which the Prime Minister said marked a new threshold in the ways in which governments and communities would work together for the future of our country.

Moving forward together

Federal Labor made the commitment in 2007 to a social inclusion agenda, a first for the nation. 

We said all Australians must be given the chance and choice to engage, work, learn and have their voice heard.
We have delivered major social policy reforms to create these opportunities: by breaking the cycle of homelessness, the largest ever single investment in social and affordable housing, building financial security for vulnerable people and reforms to protect the best interests of children and significant investments in education and training.

In January this year, the Government set out our vision and strategy for social inclusion both now and into the future. The National Social Inclusion Statement – A Stronger, Fairer Australia – builds on the many reforms and investments of the past two years. 

I have spoken with thousands of people about the agenda, and no one has disagreed with the vision. It is fair to say social inclusion is a shared vision for Australia and its people.

Importantly, the social inclusion agenda brought about a new dialogue within our society about where we are and where we want to be.

We also said that we have to work in new and different ways to achieve our vision of social inclusion, drawing on all the strengths of our government, business, community, academia and business sectors, all working in collaboration.

There was no place in this new framework for a fragmented and top-down relationship between government and sector.

There was no place for trained and tamed organisations, which were forced by the Liberal government to hold their tongue or risk losing their funding.

We took a very different view that the sector must be strong and independent, and that an Australia where debate was stifled would not lead to good public policy.

We recognised we had to find better ways to work together, with trust and mutual respect, not suspicion and derision.

It’s why we acted quickly on coming to office to remove the Liberals so-called ‘gag’ clauses from Australian Government funding agreements.

It’s why we worked so hard to seek agreement on the ten underpinning principles of the National Compact – so that no matter where you are in the spectrum of not for profit organisations in this country, the key principles and the aspirations for reform are relevant to you.

• Reducing red tape, improving decision making, supporting volunteers, strengthening advocacy, supporting capability and knowledge development, sharing data and evaluation lessons, investing in our workforce, tackling regulatory reform, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, improving procurement and tendering processes – all these issues are just as important for Meals on Wheels and migrant resource centres as they are for NRM organisations or community arts projects.

 

That’s why I am so proud of the National Compact and what it will deliver for the Sector.  On behalf of the Government Kevin Rudd, Jenny Macklin and I committed all agencies of the Commonwealth to take this work forward – and we will all be the beneficiaries of it.

The Compact wasn’t developed in isolation – we worked constantly with state and territory governments to ensure that the principles and aspirations aligned with other existing agreements and supported commitments that have already been made at that level especially to human services agencies.

The Government provided $12.5 million to establish the Centre for Social Impact UNSW. Its mandate is to work with the business, government, philanthropic and third sectors, in a collaborative effort to build community capacity and generate social innovation.

I see the Centre’s influence and reach growing exponentially under the leadership of Professor Peter Shergold. It is generating the thought leadership and focus on the sector that has been so desperately needed for so long.

Just last week I was here in Sydney announcing $20 million in government support for social enterprises through the Social Enterprise and Development and Investment Fund (SEDIF). The Fund’s potential is enormous and will build new partnerships between the finance, social and corporate sectors and will create an independent financing mechanism for the start up and expansion of social enterprises.

I also announced the Professional Partnership Project. ‘The Big Four’: Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. These businesses are all providing pro bono business expertise and support to up to 30 social enterprises funded under Round One of the Australian Government’s $650 million Jobs Fund.

And last week the tenders closed for the first Social Innovation Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) as part of the 2010 CRC Round to target research on areas of major social challenge.

I mention these initiatives because they represent the new era we are all working in to transform communities and support our most vulnerable communities

It’s an approach centred on understanding the fundamental underpinnings of partnership and draws on the best of our organisations to foster innovation and nimbleness in our policy responses.

Lifting the gag was integral to building our new working partnership, as was our commitment to developing a strategic framework of how we can best work together through the National Compact.

This agreement was achieved through extensive consultation and dialogue between government and sector.

 

Three hundred organisations have signed up as National compact partners. Some of you are here today – so thank you!

In addition to the Compact, some of our government’s key achievements include:

• Putting non-profit issues on the Council of Australian Governments agenda for the first time;

 

• Introducing a Standard Chart of Accounts to improve consistency in financial reporting by organisations to funding agencies and departments;

 

• Harmonizing fundraising legislation across states and territories by November 2010.

 

• Amending the Corporate Reporting Reform Bill.  The Corporations Amendment (Corporate Reporting Reform) Act 2010 received royal assent on 28 June 2010 which will reduce red-tape on business and improve Australia’s corporate reporting framework.

 

• Proposing to include the not for profit sector in the roll out of Standard Business Reporting, which will reduce reporting burdens for business, as part of the whole of government Service Delivery Strategy.

 

• Acknowledging and celebrating the contribution of our volunteers through working on the first National Volunteering Strategy to coincide with the United Nations 10 year anniversary of the International Year of the Volunteer in 2011. This has included collaborating with state and territory ministers on volunteering and setting up our first ever advisory group on volunteering.

 

• Supporting the GoodStart syndicate – an innovative partnership between government, business and the not for profit sector – with a $15 million loan to enable the transfer of 570 ABC childcare centres to not for profit ownership and management.

 

Other measures aimed at improving access to capital and support for social innovation by the Sector is being delivered through a $7.5 million Community Development Financial Institution Pilot.

• We are currently seeking applications from suitable community finance organisations for the pilot. 

 

• The pilot project will seek to test the potential of the community finance model to build the capacity and resilience of disadvantaged Australians who have difficulty accessing mainstream financial services and products.

 

But there is still more work to do to improve the regulatory environment in which third sector organisations operate.

This will involve a wide ranging and long-term policy agenda which must be delivered in an integrated way working across federal government agencies, state and local governments and with the sector itself.

It is a truly whole of government reform agenda, being led by central agencies, but impacting especially on the portfolios of Families and Communities, Indigenous Affairs and Housing, Employment and Education, Environment, Arts, Immigration, International Development, Health & Ageing and  Attorney Generals.

 

Conclusion

 

I know that you are keen to hear how the Gillard Government will respond to the Productivity Commission Report in to the Contribution of the Not for Profit Sector.  

Robert Fitzgerald set us a complicated task because the recommendations are wide ranging.  We all know the five key themes and while some are framed around a new regulatory framework, others are not.

I convened another discussion about the PC Report a few weeks ago to seek advice from the sector about how best to sequence the reforms. If you have read the Productivity Commission report closely, as I have, then you would acknowledge the concerns expressed about the capacity of the sector to absorb and manage the range of reforms – for us, and for you, it is imperative that we get a new regulatory framework right.

Some of you were at that meeting, and your advice is helping us to frame our response, which must be tabled in Parliament, and which will require some champions for change – both within Government and within the sector.

I noted the CCA’s criticism of the Government’s response to the Henry Review. I would have been very interested to read a more comprehensive piece on what the Council perceived was a better way forward than our announcement not to implement changes to the tax system at any stage that would harm the Sector, including removing the benefit of tax concessions, raising the gift deductibility threshold or changing income tax arrangements for clubs?

The tax review started a mature tax debate.

The recommendations will be the subject of much discussion in the coming years, including improving the governance and transparency of the tax system. This would represent a full second term agenda.

 

Government will continue to work on these priorities as key to the social inclusion agenda.

We have already developed a range of mechanisms to work across government. These include inter-departmental committees on social inclusion and third sector reform, a Social Policy Committee of Cabinet and working groups on specific policy agendas.

As you know I have long advocated that the sector must also develop its own mechanisms to prioritise issues, collect evidence, consult within its own and make recommendations on issues of shared concern across the sector.
It has been through the efforts of the sector, from all types of organisations, and with key leadership that the Community Council for Australia has emerged to enable a coherent voice for the not for profit community.

I congratulate you on this achievement. We recognise it is a challenge to represent Australia’s most diverse sector comprising some 600,000 organisations of varying sizes and missions, but there is also much common ground within the sector.

I do ask for your patience as we form the way forward on the third sector reform agenda. I also ask for your commitment to keep talking with us about how we can move forward to remove the obstacles facing the sector.

We must get the models for regulation right and we must target the right priorities.

It is important that Government and the sector can continue to engage concisely and productively not only on the third sector agenda, but major shifts in government policy on significant economic, environmental and social issues.

Again I’d like to acknowledge the work of the Community Council for Australia and its role for facilitating collaborative relationships within the Sector, and between the Sector and Government.

We need to keep moving forward in the spirit of the National Compact, to harness this new era of cooperation and goodwill and achieve the positive outcomes I know are possible, and to strive for our shared and precious vision for an inclusive Australia.

Thank you.

TRANSCRIPT

14 July 2010

Sky News Business – Social Business – Interview with Senator the Hon. Ursula Stephens
Aired 13 July 2010

Brooke Corte: Hello and welcome to Social Business, I’m Brooke Corte.

Peter Shergold: And I’m Peter Shergold from the Centre for Social Impact.

Brooke Corte: We’ve got a lot of news for Peter to update us on this program. News out of the sector in the past month, but coming up, also on Social Business, details on how one organisation is helping young children appreciate growing, harvesting and sharing fresh seasonal produce, plus, a new not-for-profit uses innovative ways to help young indigenous people achieve their dreams. But first, the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, Senator Ursula Stephens has today announced a new government initiative called the Social Enterprise Development and Investment Fund. Senator Stephens claims it heralds a new era of social enterprise development, innovation and strengthened relationships between government, business and the community. We are pleased to say Senator Stephens joins myself and Peter Shergold in the studio today. Senator Stephens, welcome and this has been a big announcement from you today, just tell us why it’s such a radical approach?

Ursula Stephens: Thanks, Brooke. It is a very exciting announcement. This morning I announced a $20 million social development and investment fund for social enterprises. The first time that a government, a national government has been determined to invest in this part of the sector in Australia so $20 million that can be invested in new and innovative social ventures and enterprises.

Peter Shergold: And in a way that’s just the half of it, as I understand, because what you’ve got is $20 million that the Commonwealth government’s going to provide to financial institutions, and they have to match that funding so it actually makes $40 million available for loans, is that right?

Ursula Stephens: Absolutely, and $40 million minimum, because there is an opportunity here for government and businesses and intermediary organisations to work with social enterprises to actually leverage off each other.

Peter Shergold: So this could be a social intermedial organisation or it could be a private sector bank who engages?

Ursula Stephens: Yes, it could, absolutely. What we want to do is to find the ways that we can put the foundation there for social enterprises to actually build capacity and to grow.

Brooke Corte: And this is a step, really away from just the traditional government grant, this is something you think we’ll see much of in the future?

Ursula Stephens: Absolutely because it’s an investment in the businesses and that’s a much more sustainable approach. There are expectations on all sides, there are risks to be shared between government and the enterprise and the investment partners, and this is the way of the future, it’s a very new way to go.

Peter Shergold: So presumably not-for-profit organisations will continue to get philanthropy. They’ll continue apply for government grants, but as we’ve seen on this program so many of them now turn into social businesses, they become commercial. For the first time they’ll really be able to get zero interest or low interest loans which they will actually repay from their revenue.

Ursula Stephens: Yes, indeed. It’s a funding stream that hasn’t been available to social enterprises because they are very edgy and innovative. They are very small in many respects. They have a great vision. They don’t have a track record, so how do we actually provide the funds that enable them to invest in their own capacity?

Peter Shergold: Now, I’ve got to ask you, is there going to be a consultation process on how this is going to work?

Ursula Stephens: Well, there definitely is because I think that there’s some important questions to be sorted out. Things like the interest rate, things like the way in which—who’s going to carry the risk in, you know, how the risk is going to be shared? Which institutions may be able to, kind of, move quickly to be partners in this process? How philanthropic funds can also get engaged? These are important questions that need to be resolved.

Peter Shergold: So what do you see as the timeframe for this?

Ursula Stephens: The timeframe is very fixed. We are preparing to consult from the beginning of next month to have it all resolved and exciting, new, signature event to happen launching this product in 2011.

Brooke Corte: Is this happening overseas somewhere? I mean, where’s this example come from? Or where did we get the idea from?

Ursula Stephens: We have taken the best of good practice around the world to find something that fits in the Australian context, so this is a demonstration project about how the government wants to relate very differently to social enterprises, and to craft these new relationships between community, business and government to support this, so, definitely there have been funds in Canada, in the UK, in Ireland, in Scotland. Mostly they are social enterprise incubator funds, and that’s really part of what this’ll be.

Peter Shergold: Yeah, this is like a demonstration fund, isn’t it?

Ursula Stephens: Absolutely.

Peter Shergold: Do you reckon there will be a good intake—uptake. Do you think there will be organisations who will want to access low interest loans?

Ursula Stephens: Absolutely. I think—where do we begin? You know, the great innovations that we’ve seen in terms of green jobs, you know, climate change and its capacity for generating new opportunities is really grown exponentially in the last little while. We have all of the work that’s happening in indigenous spaces, and indigenous enterprises that are part of self-determination and a voice in their own future, so yes, I know the take-up will be far more than the funds that we can generate, so …

Peter Shergold: But wait, Senator, there’s more, as I understand. From today, you also announced a professional partnership project which is also interesting because it’s government in partnership with the private sector. Tell us about this one.

Ursula Stephens: Well, this is an extraordinary commitment of $1 million in pro bono services from the big four. From PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte …

Peter Shergold: KPMG.

Ursula Stephens: KPMG, and …

Peter Shergold: One whose name we’ve forgotten, Ernst & Young.

Ursula Stephens: Ernst & Young. So—don’t do that to me. So—but really, what we have is the expertise that comes from those very professional firms being invested in social enterprises.

Peter Shergold: So those four key firms have offered up pro bono professional services to help social enterprises.

Ursula Stephens: Yes, and this is really a contribution that came out the GFC and the extent to which we could see that many not-for-profit organisations were struggling under the circumstances that they found themselves in, so this is about building their capacity for strategic development, for better governance, for improved decision making, much more effective business processes, a very important part of this partnership today, so …

Peter Shergold: Those are great announcements, but Senator, last two years you spent a lot of your time …

Ursula Stephens: I have.

Peter Shergold: … consulting, and consulting very well with the sector on a National Compact to frame the relationship between and not-for-profit organisations. It’s really great principles. The key is obviously how you are going to implement this, so how do you see that going forward? How would you want to make sure that the statement of principles, which is the National Compact, actually occurs?

Ursula Stephens: Well, we see the National Compact provides the framework for the way in which government, business and community organisations can work together, so from our ten key principles that underpin the Compact. We have been working very diligently to address the key issues around regulation red tape, around skilling up the workforce, improve processes of consultation and engagement, all of these things, they all starting to happen.

Peter Shergold: So it’s going to be collaboration and partnership rather than just the not-for-profit organisation as providers.

Ursula Stephens: Absolutely, I think that that’s the key difference. This is what’s happened in Australia. The boundaries have all been blurred. We are not contracting out to community organisations. We’re working with community organisations to provide services to communities. That’s a big shift.

Brooke Corte: And can I ask one final question on something a bit different as well, the Productivity Commission report on the not-for-profit sector, there’s talk about a charities commission coming out of that. Do you have a view on whether we should have something like that and follow the lead of the UK and other countries?

Ursula Stephens: Well, I think that the whole notion of the—a some kind of regulator for the sector is something that has been agreed by previous governments and this government, and the sector itself so what we are doing now is widely consulting with lawyers, accountants and everyone in between about what that regulator should do and could do, how it can best serve the sector and government, so we are working, watch that space.

Brooke Corte: Senator Ursula Stephens, lovely to have you in, thanks very much for your time today.

Ursula Stephens: Thanks so much.

ENDS

Thank you Alastair for your introduction.

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

It’s great to be here with the Attorney General, Robert McClelland, to present the 2010 Emergency Management Volunteers Photographic Competition awards.

I also acknowledge all the state and territory emergency service representatives today. It’s a testament to the great value of the work of emergency volunteers that we have so many of you here with us this afternoon.

Emergency management volunteers are a very special sub-section of our wonderfully diverse Australian volunteer movement.

I know that the Attorney General will be speaking to you specifically as emergency management volunteers, so I just wanted to say a few words to you as volunteers more broadly.

As many of you may know, today marks the start of National Volunteer Week.

This is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing contributions of the 5 million strong Australian volunteers, of which you are a vital part.

Volunteering in Australia is infused by our distinctly Australian ethos of a “fair go” and the spirit of mateship and helping out.

This year’s theme for National Volunteer Week is “Now, more than ever.” This is a theme with many threads, but for me it points to the increasing diversity of the ways in which Australians can now volunteer.

Because volunteering is now no longer only about regularly turning up to help out at not-for-profit organisations.

From this beginning, volunteering has grown in diversity over the past decade or so. And we’ve now moved into a world where virtual volunteering is possible, where you can volunteer from your desktop, and even “micro-volunteering” that allows the time poor to volunteer in 10 or 20 minute commitments.

These changes bring with them opportunities as well as challenges, and the Australian Government is keen to ensure that we as a country are ready to make the most of them so that we can continue to see volunteering flourish into the future.

To this end, I have been leading the development of a National Volunteering Vision and Strategy, to outline a vision for volunteering in Australia and a framework for achieving that vision.

We have been working with the Attorney-General’s Department and other departments across the Commonwealth Public Services, as well as with state and territory governments, and the state volunteering peaks.

This work is timed to coincide with next year’s grand celebration of volunteering – the ten year anniversary of the United Nations Year of the Volunteer. The United Nations has asked all governments to celebrate volunteering and how it has changed in the decade since the International Year of the Volunteer in 2001.

Today’s photographic competition is one fabulous example of what we can achieve when business, government and the community come together to recognise how volunteering shapes our nation.

I congratulate the winners of the 2010 National Emergency Management Volunteers Photographic Competition, and thank everyone who entered.

You have given us an outstanding record of a group of people whose volunteering is beyond praise.

Thank you.

25 March 2010

Warrnambool, Victoria

Acknowledgments

• Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the Gunditjamara people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet.  


• Let me extend a warm welcome to The Hon David Hawker, Federal Member for Wannon, who is with us in the audience today.


• I’d also like to thank the Community Southwest for giving me the opportunity to talk to you today.

Introduction

Collaboration – Doing it Better 2020. Congratulations on such a succinct appraisal of the work ahead.

Collaboration underpins the Government’s strategy to tackle disadvantage. ‘Collaborative approaches’ to overcoming disadvantage is at the heart of our social inclusion agenda.

I’m very pleased that experts working at the coal face in this corner of Victoria share this view.

This conference brings together community groups and not-for-profit agencies, giving you the opportunity explore how working together collaboratively helps not just individuals, and families in need, but the entire community.

Playing your part in building a community that is inclusive— where people feel good about themselves, hold down a job, have good health and enough social contact—is fundamental to the health of our nation.

And collaborative partnerships—where people work together across all levels of Governments, the community and the business sector—is the only way to make a dent in entrenched disadvantage.

It’s the only way any of us can make a difference. The problems are just too complex for government alone to resolve, too multifaceted for business to manage and too complex for your particular organisation to fix.

But collectively we can make inroads. Together we can make a difference.

For the first time an Australian Government is establishing an integrated framework that will see new, more effective ways to reduce disadvantage.

We know that the way forward to an inclusive and socially sustainable country is for us to learn from each other, and work together—and agree—on strategies that work.

Social Inclusion Agenda

The Australian Government’s Social Inclusion Agenda is about giving everyone a chance to participate fully in Australian society.

It’s about people getting the opportunities, capabilities and resources they need to contribute to, and to share in, the benefits of Australia’s success as a nation.

The Australian notion of a ‘fair go’ means that we have to make it possible for all Australians to create rewarding and fulfilling lives for themselves.

Entrenched disadvantage, or chronic poverty trickling through generations of families, doesn’t just blight the lives of individuals, it holds us back as a nation.

We all pay for rising health care costs, we pay through the welfare and justice system; through higher crime rates and lower workforce participation and productivity.

When the third intergenerational report was released the Prime Minister said we must help as many Australians as possible to participate in secure and fulfilling work.

He said this would help us to manage our ageing population and maintain our prosperity.

The shortage of skilled workers and the diminishing opportunities for unskilled workers are other reasons we have for removing the blocks that stop individuals overcoming disadvantage and reaching their potential.  

Social Inclusion Statement

As you may already know, the Government recently launched the National Statement on Social Inclusion – A Stronger, Fairer Australia.

It sets out the Government’s vision and strategy for social inclusion and builds on the many reforms and investments of the past two years.

Reforms like fairer workplace relations, employment, pension reform, housing and homelessness, early childhood education and schools. It also builds on the existing strengths of individuals, families and communities.

The statement recognises the impact that disadvantage has on the lives of many Australians, and their capacity to participate and contribute to their communities.

It acknowledges that disadvantage is often perpetuated across generations by a complex interplay of factors such as poverty, mental illness, locational disadvantage and a lack of educational opportunities.

The Social Inclusion Statement will guide governments, business and not-for-profit sectors. It suggests ways to work with disadvantaged Australians—and with each other—to reduce disadvantage and build stronger and more resilient communities.

Our Social Inclusion Agenda is built on five pillars.

Five Pillars of Social Inclusion

Firstly, economic growth. This is about maintaining a strong, sustainable and internationally competitive economy to secure jobs for the future. This is a crucial backdrop for ensuring every Australian has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Secondly, equitable social policy.  This is about creating the opportunities and resources that every Australian needs to participate in the economy and community life through education, skills training, employment strategies, incentives for entering the workforce, and providing adequate income support when people need it.

Thirdly, quality services. We need world-class services that meet the needs in crucial areas like education and training, health, housing and social support. And we must have the flexibility to target these resources where there’s extra need, such as in disadvantaged Indigenous communities.

Fourthly, strong families and communities. We need to support families and develop strong and cohesive communities. We do this through better family services. We build capabilities and improve community infrastructure.

And finally, partnership for change. We know the Government, by itself, cannot overcome long-term disadvantage. That’s why we’re building new and innovative partnerships between government, businesses and not-for-profit organisations. 

New Ways of Working

We all know that entrenched disadvantage is not a new problem. And unfortunately we haven’t always had decisive leadership in this area. Just the other day, for example, Tony Abbott portrayed homelessness as a lifestyle some people choose.

That is not how we as a government think. We realise that for a multitude of reasons, some people simply start out life three steps behind and need some assistance to simply get to the same starting point.

We realise that the old ways of tackling entrenched disadvantage haven’t worked. And we are determined to make a difference. So we’re introducing new ways of thinking and new ways of acting.  

We have a new approach to developing policies and programs that create lasting change in communities.

We’re building on individual and community strengths. We’re building partnerships with key players in the field.

We want tailored, or ‘wrap around’, services that address the specific needs of individuals, families and particular communities.

Services need to work together in new and flexible ways – building ‘joined-up’ services and solutions that prioritise early interventions.

The days of a siloed approach to an issue are over. I am sure you all know from experience in your working lives that it just doesn’t work when different agencies, different organisations look at one aspect of a person’s situation in isolation.

That most wonderful thing called a human being has physical, mental and spiritual dimensions. You know better than me, you can’t treat one and ignore the others. 

So if we can develop the structures and develop agencies’ capacity to work together and tailor their offerings we stand a much better chance of addressing the needs of individuals. And when we do that we go along way towards helping their families and their communities.

Location-based Approach

The evidence also demonstrates that lower incomes, poorer health, lower education attainment, higher unemployment and higher crime rates tend to concentrate in particular locations.

And the sad reality is that these pockets of disadvantage persist over time, condemning people’s lives to be determined by their postcode.

The Government’s Social Inclusion Agenda is about the need to break this cycle of entrenched disadvantage:

And we recognise that this requires locally-based solutions to local issues.

Since the needs of every community are different, communities themselves must rise to the challenge of finding solutions. And we are inviting local leaders to step forward and share their experience and knowledge.

Not-for-profit and community organisations work closely with people in need. You listen, genuinely consult and build strong connections and trust with disadvantaged people and people at risk.

You understand their needs. And I’ve no doubt you’ve got great ideas on how we can better target policy interventions. We want and need that in-depth knowledge of local communities.

Effective Partnerships

So the government recognises that we need to partner with you if we’re going to make an impact on disadvantage.

And you need to partner with each other to create a culture of innovation and flexibility – which is why it’s so wonderful to see you all here together today.

Key players in the area, including governments, must cultivate strong relationships with each other. By reducing fragmented and cross-purpose service delivery you increase the potential to get enduring results.

Effective collaboration has many benefits—wider geographical reach, a co-ordinated approach to need, better use of resources, sharing the risk of untested projects—to name just a few.

Partnerships that work are based on mutual respect and a commitment to sharing information. They flourish when there is a willingness to consult each other and listen to the needs and views of partners serving various sectors.

Cross-sector Partnerships

Effective partnerships span across sectors, extending from government to community organisations to the business sectors.

We are examining new ways to partner with the business sector. Businesses have particular strengths and expertise they can bring to the task.

Now I don’t want to steal Robert Fitzgerald’s thunder but I will say that I welcome the Productivity Commission’s recent report on the not-for-profit sector.

The Report found Corporate Australia has moved away from cash donations to getting involved, literally.

We’re seeing joint ventures, participation on the boards of not-for-profits, long–term secondments, and pro-bono work.

They bring with them the rules of business: continual evaluation and measurement, good governance and transparency. And this is a good thing.

Corporations report that working with their third sector partners helps to develop their staff skills. And, not-for-profit organisations in turn say that they benefit from not only the dollars invested, but also the skills and knowledge of the business people who get involved.

For all these reasons, partnerships are at the heart of our social inclusion approach – and a particularly important one of these is the partnership between the not-for-profit sector and the government.

Compact With Third Sector

In recognition of this, I have been leading the development of a partnership agreement – a National Compact – between the sector and the Australian Government.

You can imagine my joy last week when the Prime Minister – on behalf of the government – and Tim Costello – on behalf of the sector – signed the National Compact at a special launch celebration in Parliament House.

The National Compact is a commitment to change; a vehicle for promoting not only social inclusion in Australian communities but a framework that exemplifies this new era in government.

The National Compact spells out a strengthened government-third sector relationship, based on mutual respect and understanding. It gives community organisations, large and small, real input into Government policy and program delivery. It enables true collaboration on key social, economic and environmental challenges facing our communities.

It contains a vision, shared principles for guiding our relationship and priorities for action.

Organisations from the many different parts of the third sector have been vital contributors in creating the compact. And this has been matched by broad participation across the Australian public service.

But our task does not end here.

Active leadership and engagement by both the Commonwealth and the Sector will be required to promote and effectively implement the Compact. To help us with this I have established a Sector Advisory Group to begin work on this task.

I would like to invite you to also be a part of this exciting activity. There are many ways you can get involved. Check out the national compact website and then join the national conversation on the sector’s own compact website – Compact Voice Australia.

I know that there is a lot of interest here about signing a local compact, and so at the invitation of Community Southwest, I plan to come back to work with you on developing a local compact with the Commonwealth.

Conclusion

As an alliance of a broad variety of not-for-profit organisations in your region, you are already a fantastic example of the power of partnerships.

And this conference is about reinforcing and reinvigorating these partnerships.

I’ve been known to find inspiration in unusual places, but I think this quote from Henry Ford perfectly captures the essence of your conference.

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

I think we all can learn from that as we work in partnership towards our shared goal of a fairer, inclusive Australia.

And on that note, I now officially declare the Community Southwest “Collaboration – Doing it Better 20” conference open.

ENDS

Acknowledgements:

• Don Hamblin, Chairman, Wool Producers Australia


• Greg Weller, Executive Director, Wool Producers Australia


• Richard Price, Managing Director of Kondinin Group


• Wal Merriman, Chairman of Australian Wool Innovation


• Ladies and gentlemen and


• Boys and Girls from the Binalong School

It’s my pleasure to be here in Old Parliament House to launch the 2010 edition of ‘The Story of Wool’.

Minister Burke sends his apologies and congratulations to all involved.

This book is another example of the Australian Government working with the wool industry to promote the innovation and skill of our wool producers.

And what better place to start than with the next generation of consumers and, hopefully, the next generation of wool producers.

Wool is one of Australia’s major export commodities.

In the last financial year, we exported more than 312,000 tonnes of wool, valued at over $1.7 billion.

Key markets already include China, India, the Czech Republic and Italy.

And we’re seeing important new export markets emerge, including Taiwan and Thailand.

At home, wool goes into everything from carpets and upholstery to bedding.

And where did we see wool come to the fore? In the uniforms of our Olympians and paralympians in Vancouver Canada. Australian wool creates fabrics for a huge range of garments, from coats, jumpers, socks and scarves through to luxury suits and even designer evening gowns.

This is a great industry.

And you would all have seen for yourselves that Australia’s wool growers are world leaders in producing the finest quality merino wool.

I live not far from the Big Merino in Goulburn and see every day how in wool growing and producing makes such a contribution.

We have many superfine wool growers in our district, but we haven’t been able to match the 11.4 micron bale that sold recently.

The fleece was shorn from 200 prize sheep during late December and early January.

I want to assure you that the Rudd Government will continue to support our wool industry. We will keep investing in research and development and support valuable export markets.

We want to help growers to boost productivity no matter what challenges lie ahead.

In 2008-09 we provided more than $11 million to Australian Wool Innovation to undertake research and development.

This funding supported initiatives such as the release of Australian Standard Breeding Values for sheep – MerinoSelect – which will ensure woolgrowers have access to the latest innovations to improve their fleece quality.

At the same time, the national flock have declined largely due to drought – and falling global demand and prices are the result of the global economic crisis.

But the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics is forecasting an upturn in demand and prices as the world economy recovers.

As Greg has said, a key to the industry’s long-term success will be educating the next generation about the great Australian wool industry.

I would like to congratulate all the partners involved with the Australian Government in today’s book launch – including WoolProducers Australia, Australian Wool Innovation, the Australian Wool Education Trust, Animal Health Australia and the Kondinin Group.

It will help to ensure our young people are aware of how and where wool is grown and processed and how wool growers work with the environment to grow the highest quality product.

Hopefully it will inspire tomorrow’s adult Australians to produce and wear our locally grown wool.

I now declare the 2010 edition of the Workboot Series book, The Story of Wool, officially launched.