A Common Wealth For All
The key principle behind Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People speech, delivered in this day in 1942, remains unchanged: people who work together prosper together. By Paul Ritchie.
They were called forgotten so that they would be remembered.
The advancement of Australia has not been the result of force, might, or even luck, as some suggest, it has been the result of the sweat, thrift, virtue and enterprise of Australia’s middle class.
To Australia, the middle class are the lifesaver’s zinc, the firefighter’s hose, the digger’s slouch hat, and the shopkeeper’s keys. There is no Australia without their sacrifice and efforts.
They pay their taxes – and the taxes of others as well; they turn up at school tuckshops when others are seemingly too busy; they pack hampers in churches; and raise kids, who in time, will become as good and as decent as the parents who fret over them.
Embodying family, community, love of country and others over self, they are the quiet ones so easily forgotten in a world that seeks attention and cries out for more and more. They demand no benefit, they only ask that their efforts and sacrifices not be penalised or mocked.
Click above for Robert Menzies’ original Forgotten People broadcast re-enacted by actor Peter Cousens.
Through self-sacrifice, frugality and saving they put off until tomorrow the pleasure of life, because they understand that tomorrow’s opportunities are always purchased through effort today.
The best people, said Menzies, “are not those who leave it to the other fellow”, but those who through thrift and self-sacrifice establish homes and bring up families and add to the national pool of skills and savings, and who simply aspire to sit “under their own vine and fig-tree owing nothing to anyone”.
In a world of short-cuts, they are surely tempted to take an easier path and become takers rather than givers, leaners rather than lifters, complainers rather than problem solvers.
Others might think they can ride freely on the efforts and income of the forgotten people, but these free-riders who rob others eventually rob themselves of their own self-respect, purpose and capacity to strive.
This essay is from The Forgotten People Updated: Liberal Essays on Modern Australia, published by the MRC. Click here to buy a copy.
While at times the forgotten people might look with envy at their freeloading brethren, it is their own efforts that make them a strong, self-sustaining and self-mobilising force capable of adapting to change. It is why they are foundational to the country we share.
The forgotten people are not just foundational to Australia, but to the political party that Menzies established. Because Menzies’ party embodies the forgotten people, it remains their best hope, and in turn, the nation’s. They deserve “the full measure of security”, because they are our security and the sure foundation of our country.
To the forgotten people, life is an invitation to accept responsibility and with this responsibility comes wisdom, strength, resilience and confidence.
Three great forces conspire against the advancement of the forgotten people and in turn, Australia in this 21st century. They are the same forces they conspired against it during the last century: a lack of respect for the enterprise of others; the manipulation of false class conflicts that weaken the nation; and the triumph of the game of politics over the purpose of politics.
A nation of contributors
Australia was called a “common-wealth” because our fortunes might rise, our fortunes might fall, but our strength and progress lies with each other.
No matter our race, gender, creed, sexuality, political or economic background, we share the same land, same heritage, and same future. We are gifted by God to be the only nation with a continent to itself.
“What is the state but us?” asked Menzies three-quarters of a century ago. He understood that when we all seek to take, and to be a beneficiary rather than a benefactor, we take from ourselves. If the “common-wealth” is just built on withdrawals than deposits, then poverty and its fruits await us all.
A nation of contributors advances us all. Those who claim we can all be beneficiaries defy belief. They speak of a world of dividends without effort, food without planting, interest without saving and reaping without sowing. This is a world without pride, a people without gratitude, and a soul that has never discovered the dignity and self-respect that comes from work and our own efforts.
They forget that every action and payment by government is the result of the enterprise, the risk taking and sweat of another. Every payment is the result of the efforts of hard working men and women who are advancing the shared hopes of the nation at the expense of their own.
Yes, the character of our country will always lend a hand and support those who carry more than their share of the vicissitudes of life. But our support must be a lift-up rather than a hand down. A lift-up must never be polluted by the stigma of shame, but equally, it must not take from either the giver or the recipient the incentive to make their own way in life.
Our world now ascribes virtue to those who receive a benefit rather than those who provide it. We must again give due honour to those who contribute.
The sweep of our lives and the sum of our lived experiences show that most of us are contributors as well as beneficiaries at some point in our lives. For all of us, there are times of fierce independence and other times, when help is needed and welcome, not just from government, but from our family, friends and neighbours as well.
As contributors, we recognise our blessings and opportunities. As beneficiaries, we must lean into a gratitude that frees the soul, rather than cultivate a sense of entitlement that is only satisfied by grumbling for more.
A stronger nation is the result of our combined efforts and contributions and it relies on a people who work.
Work is love made visible, it has dignity and it should strengthen the soul. Of course, there is struggle in work, and for some more struggle than others, but for most, the struggle should strengthen us and result in a healthy independence.
Work and family are at the heart of national life. Families provide us with love; and the efforts of our work provide us with self-respect and dignity.
The sweat of our labour and pride in our own efforts, provide self-respect and dignity. This dignity is not the result of our social status or our income, but is the result of our honest and unceasing efforts.
When we deprive people of what they have earned through excessive taxation, or deprive them of an income because of a lack of a job, we destroy their dignity and this corrodes our families.
For governments to unduly burden those who work, is to take the reward from those who earned it. It is to mock effort, stymie initiative and incentive, and this in turn, slows the virtuous cycle that propels the progress of nations.
National life must not mock those who do the right thing. It must not despise them for making more in their life. How do we collectively excel, if we handicap those among us who thrive and succeed? Don’t they by their efforts, create more opportunity and lift us as well? What happens if we quench the spirit which has propelled us for so long?
Our focus again must shift from meaningless debates about how we redistribute our existing national and personal income, to one that seeks to create wealth.
All too often, governments believe they know better than individuals and that they can manipulate and motivate individuals by using carrots and sticks.
Neither the dull hammer of disincentive nor the removal of weights that hold us back, can propel a nation or create a fierce independent spirit. Neither carrots nor sticks can spark enthusiasm, inspire new thinking, or improve our daily lot: only people can.
We either see individuals as incapable of making their own decisions or we see them as instruments for good in our world. When individuals are given responsibility and freed to lift their vision, they can and do create a more humane, and just world.
New laws do not change behaviours, unless they use the harshest measures. If governments could change the human condition then we would be rid of alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction, domestic violence and obesity. Along the way, we would also be rid of creativity, spontaneity, and humour, and we would ultimately reflect the “drab uniformity” that afflicts the totalitarian world.
Government might know more but it does not know better, it does not wake in the middle of the night for a crying baby, nor does it wait for elderly parents as they face their latest doctor’s appointment. For all their virtues, governments have no soul, no life force, other than the very citizens they are meant to serve. The lesson of our times is to know that it is the virtue and spirit of the citizens and their willingness to stand by each other that sustains nations.
We must shift our focus from trust in government, and from the advancement of one group over another, to a trust in the values that have always undergirded progress: responsibility, honesty, thrift, faith and an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.
While there is truth in the words of William Ernest Henley, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”, we are also knit to other. It is the knitting of people that creates families, communities and ultimately, nations.
An individual who does not belong, is an individual alone against the world, and a community that does not prize the individual is one where the light of individuality is snuffed out. Our national life must encourage government to do the essential things well, and have the confidence that individuals and ‘little platoons’ can manage the desirable things as well.
Economists have long warned of economic ‘crowding out’ where the resources and finances of government crowds out the opportunities of the private sector to grow and thrive, but we see in our modern world a new crowding out. This new crowding out is a mentality that robs people of the ability to make choices for their own lives. By taking more choices off the individual, we deny them the chance to become stronger, more aware and to make the best choices in their lives. Instead of success, they quietly brood about the failure that surrounds them and the inability for government to fix their problems.
We live in a time of unbridled want. Our leaders have created an expectation that every want will be met. Yet our wants are no vision for shared greatness. Our wants are demands that are withdrawals from the nation’s stock of resources. Yes, many of our demands fulfil useful and valid purposes, many make our lives more secure, and our cities and suburbs more liveable and productive. Nevertheless, the culture of demand is eating us away.
We must look again to each other, rather than to government, because the best things are driven by individuals and communities and spring up from the bottom rather than be imposed from the top. Mostly, a better world is not the result of more government interventions and programs, rather it stems from the enterprise, self-motivation and drive of individuals that propels free societies and modern economies.
It is this ever-increasing demand and expectation for government that is not just crowding-out the enterprise of the individual, it is also destroying our faith in government.
A generation ago, interest in politics was low but trust in our leaders and institutions was high. Today, interest in politics is higher than ever and trust has never been as low. The pleasure that is often displayed by citizens when politicians are torn down is a reflection of the broken compact between the people and government. With each election, we expect more and inevitably we become disillusioned and disappointed.
This is the contradiction of modern life: we rage against politicians, impugn their motives, question their competency, at the same time as we ask them to do more and more. We seek government solutions to every human issue, and in so doing, demand standards they cannot meet and rob ourselves of the agency and urgency to improve our own lives.
Our future lies in a self-giving liberalism, where individuals can excel to the best of their ability, and where a civic unselfishness extends a helping hand to those that need it. These are not ‘either or’ options because together they reflect the true spirit of Australia.
The false wars
Great nations are founded on big, shared ideas. The American idea is “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. The British idea is of representative Parliamentary democracy, which is part of a body of institutions that give all individuals rights and a say. The French idea, revolutionary in its time is “liberty, equality and fraternity”.
Australia has its own big idea. It is found in the Preamble of our Constitution “Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth”. The big idea is that “the people have agreed to unite”.
The idea that underpins our country is that we chose to become one people and as a “common-wealth” to share one indissoluble future. Our national idea is that we will stick by each other and with each other.
The “common-wealth” is not a bank balance to deplete but an invitation to create and build a better future together.
That is why Menzies said the class war is so dangerous to Australia. The class war declares that we answer the question ‘whose side are you on?’ for almost every issue. It either seeks to strip those who have earned money of it, or it ignores the drumbeat of the poor for services and opportunity.
Menzies’ question “what is the state but us?” is the defining question of our age.
The dividing of Australia for every debate into two camps weakens Australia. It turns our focus away from asking “what can we contribute” to “what we can get”.
In more recent times, this class war and its ugly twin “the culture war”, has been fuelled by interest groups, who are using the media tools of our age to weaponise anger. They have turned politics into sport and have accelerated the tribal view of supporting my party “right or wrong”.
The end result of these professional lobbyist groups and the parties they represent is the professionalisation of division. Their robocalls, social media memes and videos seek to split Australian from Australian while at the same time they ask for another donation to help. In time, this leads to a ferocious escalation of division where ill-gotten attacks are answered by anger, a lack of civility and the absence of common courtesy.
These are false wars created by shadowy groups that take a “win at all costs” view of national life. In these wars, there are no casualties except an injured national spirit where “all of us” are made weaker.
Menzies, using the words of St Paul, believed that we are “members of each other”. He argued that we are part of a national body and we belong to each other.
The false wars that divide us every day, erode away the bonds between us. We are members of each other, be it as members of families, communities, and the nation. Tied to each other, we have a responsibility to each other.
We cannot care for each other, support each other and stand with each other, if most days we are at war with each other.
Though the unnecessary divisions and conflicts of our modern life lessen us all, it is the forgotten people who lose the most. By forcing the question ‘whose side are you on’, it is the forgotten people who straddle and tie the rich and poor together who suffer first, because it is the forgotten people who are working hard to make their way, but still aspiring for something better.
Critical to renewing our compact with each other is understanding that not everything in our national life is political. Decisions, mostly, are not made with bad intent or an absence of integrity.
Clickbait media and social media warriors seek to make everything political. This desperate attempt to turn everything into a contest and make every decision an opportunity to advance or hinder an opposing worldview is putting a strain on the social fabric.
Our national life is more than politics. It is rotary and surf lifesaving; it is the faith of the churches and the dreaming of our Indigenous brethren; it is sculpture, architecture and arts; it the wonder of our ocean sunrise and the mystery of Uluru, and it is the countess, small kindnesses that we show to each other every day. This is the glory of our national life.
Modern Australia was not built on opinion, nor tweets or status updates, but on sacrifice, creativity and a grace to each other that reflects the original hope of Federation – of one people sharing one commonwealth.
In a world where tribalism is fracturing us into smaller and smaller groups, we must remind ourselves that true strength lies not in attacking others, but in showing to each other a generosity of spirit that allows us to walk in each other’s shows. We remember the words of a saint: in the essential things unity, in the important things diversity, in all things generosity.
The people who agreed to unite almost 120 years ago must rediscover a vision of our nation that sees unity in our diversity and strength in our differences – and we must work at it by giving each other the benefit of the doubt. As Menzies said: “there are many aspects in the world which appear superficially to be rough and tough, in which victory goes to the strongest, and the most enduring. No man was ever less strong, no man was ever less tough by treating with courtesy what others think or say, or do.”
In this modern ecosystem which thrives on tribalism and division, leaders must fight for anyone who needs them, not just the subset or base who support them. True, the demand of modern politics requires that we defend ‘the base’, but our values demand that we fight for all who need us, not just those vocal few who are always in our corner. This is the way to advance liberalism rather than a narrow tribalism.
Our focus on enterprise should not be at the expense of understanding and seeking the advancement of those who are yet to prosper in our national life. Their slights and isolation are real. From the priority lines at airports to similar lines in our amusement parks and movie theatres, we are creating new silent divides that separate rich from those who are not. The forgotten people wait while others are ushered through. Little wonder the quiet resentments are building and Australians doubt if the professional and political class understand their daily struggles and slights.
While some focus on our different identities – be they race, creed, class, gender or sexual, and other focus on the political identities such of liberal, conservative, green, or that new term ‘progressive’, our focus must be on our shared identity as Australians and the ties that bind us.
We must continually ask ourselves: Are we freer? Are we stronger? Do we trust each other more? And are we focusing on the challenge of tomorrow instead of the enmities of today?
The politics of purpose.
The forgotten people yearn for a return of national politics to the politics of purpose over the politics of the game.
Instead of being servants of the nation, our political class have become slaves to the game. As Menzies put it “how many hundreds of thousands of us are slaves to greed, to fear, to newspapers, to public opinion – represented by the accumulated views of our neighbours?”
To shift our focus from today to the future, requires us to forsake the modern shibboleth of polling. Polls tell us where we are, but they do not tell us what to do or where to go, because only leaders can do that.
Newspolls have made and undone more than one Australian prime minister in recent years and they have done their fair share of damage to the major parties. As Menzies said, “can you really believe that you can strike down the leader of a party, and do no injury to a party?”
It is worth asking the question: which Australian leader has lost more Newspolls than any other? The answer is not who you expect: it is our 25th Prime Minister, John Howard. From 1998 when Newspoll introduced the two-party preferred vote, until his eventual loss in 2007, John Howard lost 119 Newspolls or about 13 every year.
It reminds us that focus, patience, and perseverance are the best virtues for long-term political success. Polls can provide snapshots of the sentiment towards a government or leader but adherence to polls and the sugar hit of announcements, must not be a substitute for action based on the sure values of liberalism.
By focusing on the immediate, on daily announcements meant to keep the news-cycle and Newspolls, we allow ourselves to be drawn into a game where every day governments must solve new problems, make new announcements, and drive the political divide without ceasing.
All of this results in a political process that puts self over country, immediacy over the long-term, themeatics over nuance, and prioritises the game of politics over the great purpose of politics. It is to play the game of false wars and artificial divides that Menzies warned about so often.
As we reflect on the 75th anniversary of the Forgotten People, it is worth recalling just one of Bob Menzies forgotten people: Katherine Russell.
Katherine Russell was born in the later part of the 19th century and was the mother of nine children – seven sons and two daughters. She lost her husband to influenza in the 1920s and during the Great Depression she raised nine children single-handedly.
Katherine had a tough life but she was, by all accounts, one tough old battle-axe. In this politically correct world, I can write that because Katherine Russell was my great-grandmother.
After Mr Menzies declared war in 1939, Katherine Russell was given a badge – it was a silver badge with seven stars. The seven stars represented the seven sons she sent to fight for Australia. She wore that badge every day throughout that war.
Near war’s end, Katherine Russell was given another silver badge. This badge had two stars.
She wore this badge every day for the rest of her life. The two stars were for her sons, Andy and Charlie. With victory in sight, Andy and Charlie were struck down. They were lost to the battle to defend freedom and human civilisation as we knew it.
That badge with two stars for her two sons, had two words: For Australia.
For Australia.
If there is a lesson for our times, it is that we must recapture the selfless values of those times.
We must find again a politics that puts country over self, long-term purpose over immediacy, that seeks to lead for all and not for some, unites rather than divides, and has at its heart the abiding values that defined Menzies’ life and the party he bequeathed us.