Andrew Leigh

My Chronicle column this week is about migration.

Celebrating the Australian Way of Diversity, The Chronicle, 2 April 2013

If you’ve ever seen a Bollywood movie, you probably know about the Indian festival of Holi, in which people shower one another with colourful powder. Indian society is typically quite respectful of social boundaries, but on Holi, it’s alright for anyone to throw powder at anyone else.

This year, I celebrated Holi at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre in Florey. My hosts had told me there would only be a bit of powder gently smeared on my cheeks, but by the time I left I was a rainbow from head to toe. Amidst the delicious food and exuberant dancing, I thought about how appropriate it was to hold such a messy celebration in the suburb named after Howard Florey. After all, Florey and Fleming discovered penicillin after a stack of dirty plates in the corner of a lab started to grow mould. Sometimes, a bit of chaos makes the world a better place.

Canberra’s vibrant Hindu community is just one of the many multicultural communities that give strength to our city. Recently, Minister for Multicultural Affairs Kate Lundy hosted Harmony Day celebrations at Parliament House. There, I got chatting with young philosopher Tim Soutphommasane, whose book Don’t Go Back to Where You Came From argues that multiculturalism has been part of building the Australian nation. The child of Chinese and Laotian parents, Soutphommasane argues that multiculturalism draws on both egalitarianism and liberalism – recognising that everyone should enjoy equal rights, but also that different cultures are valued.

The genius of multiculturalism is evident in the way suburban Australians have welcomed successive waves of migrants into our community. Past decades have seen significant waves of migrants from Greece and Italy, Vietnam and China. In each case, initial disquiet has turned into acceptance. When James Savoulidis brought pizza to Canberra in the 1960s, it was an unusual delicacy. Now, the diversity of our culture is represented in the quality of Australian cuisine. ‘Modern Australian’ isn’t just a menu choice – it’s a way of life. Half of us were either born overseas, or have an overseas-born parent.

Many Canberrans already help welcome new migrants into our city. Bodies such as Canberra Refugee Support and the Multicultural Youth Centre provide links into the local community and social support in the early months. Companion House in Cook provides medical services for new migrants, while the Big Bang Ballers in Belconnen offer Saturday night basketball. As local member, I’m often struck by the quiet generosity Canberrans display in working to build a stronger community.

Another quiet movement to celebrate diversity is Welcome to Australia, which will be holding its second walk on 22 June, starting at lunchtime from Commonwealth Park. As a Welcome to Australia Ambassador, I’m proud of the work this organisation does to tell the great story of Australian generosity – reminding us of the skills and ideas that migration brings to our nation.

Few other countries have succeeded in multiculturalism like Australia. But we haven’t done it by being lucky – it’s by constantly working hard to bridge the barriers of difference, to embrace openness rather than being a closed society, and to share our stories with one another.

Andrew Leigh is the federal member for Fraser, and his website is www.andrewleigh.com.

I launched Ian Warden's new book on Canberra tonight. Here's my speech, complete with a newly-uncovered 1977 ACT Anthem by Philip Grundy.

Launching Ian Warden, A Serious House on Serious Earth
Electric Shadows Bookshop, Canberra
4 April 2013

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose lands we meet.

It is a pleasure to be here today to launch the book of a great Canberra icon, Ian Warden (also known as the Beige Bombshell).

If you travel today to Dalgety, a town of 75 people and one pub, it strikes you that there might exists a parallel universe to our own in which Australia’s capital is on the banks of the Snowy River, and Canberra is a sleepy town of 1700 people (as it was in 1911).

In that parallel universe, we would likely be standing in a paddock filled with cow dung. From that paddock, we would be able to see across to St John’s Church, built in 1841-1878. It is around this building that Warden tells the tale of Canberra.

His title, ‘A Serious House on Serious Earth’ comes from Philip Larkin, but it undersells the quirkiness of the Canberra story.[1]

Let’s start with the possible sites for Canberra. Warden notes that the search for a federal capital site in the early-C20th was focused on ‘bracing places’: locations such as Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Bombala, Lake George, Lyndhurst, Orange, Tumut and Dalgety. Believing that cold air was good for one’s health, coastal cities were excluded.

And so the search began.

Senior NSW public servant Alexander Oliver noted in each case ‘the unswerving loyalty of the witnesses to their local climate. No matter what the day temperature might be, the nights were always cool… Where such enclosures as cemeteries existed I was assured that nine tenths of the occupants had been ‘undesirables’… An immense pumpkin… chased me around several sites’.

Canberra-boosters made assurances that the district could readily supply the stone required for building, and all the food the city would need to consume. But the prize for boosterism must go to Mr A Evans, who proposed that the capital be built atop Lake George, saying ‘Here we may create a new Venice, only a perfect one.’

What Ian Warden calls ‘the Battle of the Sites’ also saw plenty of trash-talking. Billy Hughes told Parliament of his visit to Dalgety: ‘When I observed [to the local sergeant] that it was fearfully cold… he informed me ‘This is the warmest winter we’ve had for 17 years. … only one man and myself ventured into the Snowy River and personally, I have never been the same man since, while the other gentleman has retired from parliament’. Fortunately, such negativity would never be tolerated in today’s parliament.

Meanwhile, Warden describes how the Bulletin magazine crusaded against Canberra, describing Dalgety as ‘a paradise of waters’, and Canberra as ‘a dry, waterless, rabbit-ravaged, howling inhospitable wilderness’. Again, we are lucky that strong editorial views do not shape the objective reporting of today’s news outlets.

Ian Warden’s book reminds us how unfair is the naming of Canberra’s suburbs. Victorian Senator James McColl, who switched his vote in the Senate to break a deadlock in favour of choosing Canberra, has no suburb named after him (even McColl street in Ainslie was named after his father). John Gorton, the only Prime Minister to live here in his retirement, has no suburb named after him.

Meanwhile, we have Canberra suburbs named after Western Australian John Forrest (who preferred Dalgety because he thought Canberra too flat) and West Australian Senator George Pearce, who harangued his colleagues in favour of Dalgety, and – Warden argues – fabricated reasons as to why Canberra was unsuitable.

And yet the name of the city itself is fitting – especially alongside alternatives such as Cooeeoomoo, Eros, Federata, Malleyvista, Piscatoria and Shakespeare. Ours is the only Australian capital city named in the language of its traditional owners rather than after a European dignitary.

In his Foreword, Warden thanks ‘that ectoplasmic companion, the amiable ghost who was usually my only company down underneath the Library in its Controlled Access Collection area where I spent so much time researching and writing’.

In the same spirit, I decided to conduct a little dusty research of my own. At a function last year, someone came up to tell me about a competition that Warden had run back in 1977, to coincide with the plebiscite that would choose our national anthem (you know, the one where the rest of Australia chose Advance Australia Fair, and Canberra chose Waltzing Matilda).

The competition asked Canberra Times readers to come up with an ACT anthem. Armed with only the information that ‘it was sometime in 1977’, the blessed researchers at the Parliamentary Library began digging. Eventually, they hit gold. The joint winners had been the great ANU economic historian Noel Butlin, and Fisher resident Philip Grundy (both now sadly deceased). Despite my love of Butlin’s historical economic data, I confess that I preferred Grundy’s anthem.

So here it is. From the archives of Ian Warden’s 1977 Gang Gang column in the Canberra Times, I present to you, ‘Hymn to Canberra, Queen of the Plains and Hills’.

Hymn to Canberra, Queen of the Plains and Hills
Philip Grundy
Published in the Canberra Times on 7 April 1977 (26yrs ago this Sunday)

When God beneath the South Cross created land and sea
The choicest spot His Finger touched was called the ACT.
Our hills bedecked with eucalyptus, our Lake is girt by land.
Within our City’s noble streets imposing buildings stand.
Here mighty statesmen labour for our country’s common weal
And public servants work to show the loyalty they feel.



Chorus:
Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne and Perth
Hobart and Adelaide – what are they worth?
Villages all of them! Greet them with mirth!
We’ll fight for Canberra, land of our birth.

In glorious homes our people dwell, both humble and aloof.
Their sturdy walls of brick veneer, of solid tiles their roof.
Each suburb here with quiet pride our heroes’ fame proclaims,
While bosky streets preserve for aye the mem’ry of their names.
For where God’s handiwork reveals the beauty of his Plan
The NCDC daily adds the handiwork of man.

Chorus:
Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne and Perth
Hobart and Adelaide – what are they worth?
Villages all of them! Greet them with mirth!
We’ll fight for Canberra, land of our birth.



Who would our land’s armorial pride in Tidbinbilla view
May there the stalwart emus see, the sturdy kangaroo.
Whilst midst the melaleuca of our native habitat
One may behold the possum and the lissom feral cat.
Nor lacks our Lake the finny tribe that swims there without fuss,
And in our streams float monotremes, the loyal platypus.

Chorus:
Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne and Perth
Hobart and Adelaide – what are they worth?
Villages all of them! Greet them with mirth!
We’ll fight for Canberra, land of our birth.

O Canberra! O Canberra! Where mighty mountains roll,
Our planners made thee beautiful, Our City with a Soul
Yea Canberra! Thy people are a great and happy band
Of citizens rejoicing that thou hast been fully planned!
Let lesser breeds within the States in envy scoff and sneer;
We know that if they had the chance they would be living here!

Chorus:
Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne and Perth
Hobart and Adelaide – what are they worth?
Villages all of them! Greet them with mirth!
We’ll fight for Canberra, land of our birth.

---

[1] It also makes me wonder: will Warden’s next book will follow in the same vein, perhaps drawing on the opening line of Larkin’s famous poem ‘This Be the Verse’?

Having recently been appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, I'm looking to hire three staff members to work in my Parliament House office. I'm particularly looking for:

• an understanding of government legislation processes (ideally gleaned through time working in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet); and/or


• economic nous (experience working on a budget in the Commonwealth Treasury would be ideal)

Dry wit, a modicum of wisdom, a yen for hard work, and and an ability to pen sparkling prose to a tight deadline are all desirable qualities.

If you're interested, please send a CV and covering email to andrew.leigh.mp asperand aph.gov.au. I'll be moving fairly quickly - so the earlier, the better.

Update: I've now concluded the selection process. Thanks to the more than 50 people who took the trouble to apply - I'm sorry there were only a limited number of opportunities.

For anyone who hasn't fled Canberra for the long weekend, I'll be holding two of my regular street stalls on Sat 30 March:

• 10am - Hibberson St, Gungahlin (Outside Big W)


• 11.15am- Dickson (outside Woolworths)

Thanks also to everyone who came up to say g'day at yesterday's street stall in Civic.

On ABC702 yesterday, I enjoyed a conversation with host Richard Glover and guests Dick Smith and Malcolm Turnbull, ranging from carbon pricing to urban congestion, parliamentary roles to economic growth, helicopter travel to books that make you cry. Here's a podcast.

MEDIA RELEASE

Andrew Leigh Honoured to be Appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

Member for Fraser, Andrew Leigh, today said he was honoured to be appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.

“I am humbled at the chance to contribute further to the Australian Government’s reform agenda,” Dr Leigh said.

"I come from a family that believes a life of community service is a life well-lived. It’s a privilege to serve in the federal parliament, and to work every day for a better, fairer, more prosperous and more just future.

“At street stalls and community events, I am constantly reminded of how important a Labor Government is to improving the lives of my constituents.

“Whether it’s the person with a disability who will finally get the care they deserve, or the child in a disadvantaged neighbourhood whose school has received the investment they need, our Labor Government has helped change lives for the better.

“Over the next six months, I will be fighting alongside the Prime Minister and the Labor team to make sure these achievements endure.”

Andrew Leigh will be sworn in at a ceremony at Government House today, at 3.30pm

On ABC RN Drive yesterday, I spoke with Waleed Aly about the Labor leadership, and the importance of now focusing on Labor's many reforms. Here's a podcast.

I spoke in parliament today about some terrific Canberrans who've spent their time volunteering in developing countries.

International Volunteering, 21 March 2013

On 19 February I held a morning tea for volunteers in my electorate who have worked with various international development programs. They shared their experiences and stories of the rewards, frustrations and challenges of volunteering in a developing country.

Roger Butler worked with the National Narcotics Board in Indonesia and was involved with the health and drug therapeutic community division. An important aspect of the division was to support those undergoing drug rehabilitation programs, including many in and recently released from Indonesian gaols. He worked to reduce the prevalence of HIV and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis with this population.

Tracie Ennis worked as a data manager with Women's Empowerment, an NGO based in Jakarta, in Indonesia.

Tom Tanhchareun was based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He worked with a United Nations agency in tackling human trafficking.

Lisa Brown worked with an organisation that supported children who survived by having to scavenge from the city dump in Phnom Penh, in Cambodia. She told the group stories about the extreme deprivation of those children and how, upon her return to Australia, no smell can any longer assail her nostrils.

Edward Boydell was based in Hanoi in Vietnam. He worked on empowering Vietnamese youth on environmental issues and climate change through an NGO called Live and Learn. The aim of Live and Learn is to help create a space for Vietnamese youth to be vocal in public debate. They support movements created by young people to apply for funding with various NGOs. Edward also helped organise a youth forum discussing environmental issues.

Although each of the volunteers expressed moments that they described as 'wanting to pull your hair out', they all recommended volunteering as a positive experience, making a difference to overseas communities and in their own lives. They spoke about how their experience had broadened their world view and helped to put their own nation into a global context. They felt that the strong commitment of volunteering overseas helped them to better evaluate the views and opinions of others and to develop strong negotiation and problem-solving skills.

Over the last 45 years the Australian government has supported more than 15,000 Australians as volunteers. People intending to volunteer can now go to a single access point through the AVID program—www.ausaid.gov.au/volunteer. The smiles and laughter around the table at my volunteering morning tea were testament to the positive experiences of volunteering and I would encourage any Australian of any age who is thinking about volunteering to seize the opportunity.

To mark 'World Happiness Day', Sky News invited me to talk about the economic evidence on happiness with presenter Stan Grant. We discussed how you measure happiness, where it can be a useful tool, and why new evidence shows that the "Easterlin Paradox" doesn't hold up.http://www.youtube.com/v/FJehDJzIJuE?hl=en_GB&version=3

On ABC666 yesterday, I spoke with host Adam Shirley about the government's investment in early childhood, and why good policy is good politics too. Here's a podcast.