Among many other reforms, Australians pioneered the secret ballot and universal suffrage. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
Under Malcolm Fraser’s Liberal governments in the 1970s, large numbers of refugees fleeing Vietnam in wretched boats were taken in without any great fuss. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
For much of the latter part of the 20th century, Australia seemed to be opening up to something large and good. It believed itself a generous country, the land of the ‘fair go.’ Richard Flanagan Read Quote
In 1995, the Paul Keating Labor government commissioned an inquiry into the forcible removal of Aboriginal children. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
John Howard, willing to apologise to home owners for rising interest rates, would not say sorry to Aborigines. He refused to condone what he referred to as ‘a black armband version’ of history, preferring a jingoistic nationalism. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
I was born too late and missed the dream of empire. Its shadow, the Commonwealth, coincides with my life but rarely connected with it. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
What supposedly bound that Commonwealth together was a mysterious shared identity – Britishness. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
Through my youth, there was imposed on us a culture relentlessly English. English books were all you could buy; English television filled our screens, and in consequence, England seemed to matter in a way that our world didn’t. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
The only accusation of Gillian Triggs with the ring of truth is that she has lost the confidence of the government – but then, so too has Tony Abbott. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
There’s always been something deeply disturbing about the Abbott government’s attitude to women. Richard Flanagan Read Quote
