Serving the People

Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper explains his admiration for Tony Abbott’s conservative values and egalitarian political style.

The following is the Introduction to Abbott: The Defining Speeches (2019), published by the MRC.

As a head of government, you connect with some global leaders and not with others. That should not be too surprising. It can reflect different personalities, different politics, or different perspectives. Sometimes though, you find another leader with whom you just click. Tony Abbott and I clicked.​

I did not share his well-known enthusiasm for surfing, but we had other commonalities that caused us to see the world similarly and to work well together on behalf of our two countries. We both saw former Australian Prime Minister John Howard as a political mentor whose career exemplified a model of effective conservative leadership. We both understood that governing requires real-world trade-offs rather than a slavish adherence to intellectual abstractions. And we were both conservatives who sought to apply conservative insights and principles to the opportunities and challenges facing regular citizens.

Tony Abbott, Stephen Harper and John Howards at the MRC’s Howard Lecture 2018.

These shared perspectives were reflected in similar policy priorities during our respective terms in office. We both consistently lowered taxes on families and low- and middle-income earners. We both reformed regulations and cut red tape to unleash resource development and promote entrepreneurialism. We both signed free trade agreements to expand market access for businesses and workers in our countries. And we both opposed carbon taxes as economically damaging, environmentally ineffective, and harmful to the interests of regular working citizens.

It is no surprise, then, that we got along so well. It was an honour to serve with Tony. And this compilation of speeches underscores the reasons I feel that way.

Readers are able to see Tony’s depth of knowledge, commitment to principle, senses of humour and decency, and, of course, his concern for Australia and its people. These admirable traits and more have been present throughout his impressive record of public service chronicled here. And I do not just say that because he praises my own record in the speech, ‘Together as comrades’!

READ THE BOOK: Click here to buy Abbott: The Defining Speeches

There is a good distillation of Tony’s ambitious record, including his ‘We’ve laid a solid foundation’ speech of February 2015. There is an expression of his emphasis on long-term growth and dynamism, including major infrastructure investments, reflected in his ‘We’re now readier to take the long view’ in November 2014. And, of course, there is his sense of history and its foundational role for our societies, from ‘We wonder at their selflessness’ back in April 2015.

But what strikes me most is how rooted his political vision is in the interests of regular Australians, and his unfailing optimism in them and their future. Even in his solemn remarks about the end of Holden manufacturing in 2013, one can still discern this sense of confidence.

I believe his perspective comes from a recognition of the extraordinary contributions made by ordinary Australians over the years. His speech, ‘Ordinary men did extraordinary things’, to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landing, was therefore more than just an eloquent commemoration. It points to the heart of Tony’s politics. As he concluded: “They were as good as they could be in their time; now, let us be as good as we can be in ours.”

Such an outlook ought to animate policymakers and regular citizens alike. Yes, we face real challenges – the threat of terrorism, bouts of economic disruption, and so on – but we have, as he rightly observed, “won the lottery of life.” We live in free, dynamic, and wealthy countries, during the best era ever to be alive. Our people are hard-working, ingenious, and good. We have the means to tackle the challenges we will invariably confront. Our future can be bright.

The enclosed speeches can serve as a roadmap for navigating that future, that is, by drawing on the lessons of the past and applying them forward. It is no accident that the 2015 speech at Gallipoli channeled Edmund Burke’s insight that healthy societies are compacts between the “dead, the living and the yet-to-be-born.” Ronald Reagan’s famous observation: “I do not want to go back to the past; I want to  go back to the past way of facing the future,” reflects the same fundamentally conservative perspective that Tony shares.

The one constant along this spectrum of past, present, and future is Tony’s faith and trust in democratic citizenry. He summed it up in his speech to the World Economic Forum in 2014. He reminded the attendees that government is ultimately about people – whom he called “our masters.” It was a prescient warning of the growing elite disconnection that has since precipitated the populist uprising across the western world.

It is this loyalty to the interests, aspirations, and challenges of everyday citizens that distinguished Tony’s prime ministership and ought to guide future policymakers. It is a reminder that public officials can neither serve their own interests nor the interests of ideology. Good governance is ultimately about serving the people. Tony understands this very well, as this brilliant compilation powerfully displays. I was grateful to serve with him and am even more grateful to call him a friend.

Stephen J. Harper was the 22nd prime minister of Canada, from 2006 to 2015.