Page 989 - Week 03 - Thursday, 21 March 2019
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change in where people smoked—not just outside because of restrictions but away from children—because that became socially unacceptable.
Another obvious and very positive change is that it is now the exception rather than the norm for people to hit children. This used to be the norm. Behaviour is now managed in different ways, and I think as a society we are better for it. In each of these examples, there has been positive leadership to effect the change. Such leadership can come from individuals, can arise in group settings or come from leaders, including, hopefully, from our political class. That is what I would like to focus on, given that I am speaking in the Assembly.
There have been some wonderful examples of political leadership, not the least of which was demonstrated by Jacinda Ardern over this past week. Her calm, considered, empathetic yet decisive actions are an exemplar of the modern leadership that we require if we want to live in a society that values us all, regardless of our cultural background, religious beliefs, level of ability or gender.
Here in Australia one of the best examples that I am aware of was the campaign to halt the spread of HIV. In a Lowy Institute paper on the matter, William Bowtell noted:
Australia’s relatively successful response to HIV/AIDS came about because the Australian people, civil society organisations, clinicians, researchers and provincial and national governments fashioned timely, practical and imaginative responses to the complex political, social, economic and public health challenges posed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Australia built its response to HIV/AIDS from the grassroots up, not from the top down.
Crucially, Australia’s response was non-partisan. Among other things, it resulted in massive education campaigns and the establishment of needle and syringe programs for injecting drug users. It undoubtedly saved many lives, not to mention the enormous expense of providing medical care for people living with HIV. Overwhelmingly, those affected by HIV at the time were homosexual men and this was happening against the backdrop of a call for tolerance and acceptance.
Political leadership can and does result in social change. Sometimes that kind of transformational leadership risks votes, and unfortunately this is often the tension in politics.
With regard to promoting and enabling a truly inclusive society, we must be prepared to stand up and speak out for what is right. We must stand up and speak out for those who are voiceless, such as the refugees who are mandatorily detained on Manus and Nauru and those refugees who are interned in Australian immigration detention centres who have not broken laws, who are not a danger to our society but who simply sought a better life, free from the fear of persecution. We must not subscribe to the demonising discourse that paints them as wicked or threatening to our society. There has been too much of that, and the massacres in the mosques of New Zealand are an example of what can happen if we promote and peddle bigotry.
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