Hello and welcome to my new blog.
I'm not going to restrict my comments to only 'green' things - I'm going to share my thoughts on a range of social topics as well which is why my first post (prior to this welcome note) is about solo sailor Jessica Watson and Australia's Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS).
I worked with Jess last year - staged her first media conference and did her first media training (as a favour to Don and Margie McIntrye) before introducing her and her family to the 5 Oceans Media crowd. They've done a terrific job with her sponsorship - all of which would have been redundant if she hadn't succeeded - so all cudos to you Jessica. Congratulations!!
Last Friday night I attended the Sydney Writers' Festival and heard Tim Flannery, Bill McKibben, Clive Hamilton and Ross Garnaut talk about Australia's biggest issue - inaction on climate change. Over 2000 people at Sydney Town Hall were overwhelmingly in support of action now to put a price on carbon and help reduce our emissions. We need a 25% reduction by 2020 and a 90% reduction by 2050 in CO2 emissions if we are to try and mitigate the effects of global warming.
It was a bit depressing to be honest - I tend to subscribe to the view that despite all the best efforts of over one million environmental NGOs in the world, and those responsible corporate and government leaders who want to change things....not much will change until there's a major catastrophe which forces governments to act. Let's hope I'm long gone before that happens.....
Clive Hamilton remarked at the lecture "Kevin Rudd has shown himself to be a manager...not a leader" or words to that effect with reference to the Labor Government's abandonment of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. I think Australian's respond well to true leadership - they want their leaders to be strong and have real vision. Why aren't we the biggest solar energy producer in the world? Beats me. I wonder if there was a website dedicated to 'Australia's Climate Criminals' if there would be more action. Most of those Climate Criminals are probably grandfather's afterall and I'm sure their grand kids would be so proud of them!
So leadership is needed - strong and committed leadership. That's why I'm off to Canberra this week to attend the National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development at Parliament House. Over 200 business leaders will gather to talk to the pollies about the need to put a price on carbon and to create clarity about the way forward for business. Tony Abbott will be there, so will Penny Wong, Peter Garrett and Tony Bourke.
Let's hope we'll see some action!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Jessica & the TPS
There are days when I feel proud to be Australian and then others when I cringe at the culture of the tall poppy syndrome in full flight. Whether it’s due to our convict roots (and I have them too), or just part of our sceptical Anglo heritage, the TPS has been on full display in recent weeks.
Solo sailor Jessica Watson’s triumphant return last Saturday brought the tall poppy naysayers out of the hidden success closet. A young male I know in his mid-twenties proclaimed “I hate Jessica Watson”. I asked if he knew her (he does not) and for a list of his recent achievements as I was looking forward to reading the book of his inspiring life. Another much older man, an experienced weekend sailor, told me “she must have been very lucky”.
Luck, of course, is always a contributing factor in any endeavour, but maybe it was also good planning, skill and experience, good equipment, shore side professional support, calmness under pressure, tenacity and a love for what she was doing. But she is only a girl, and it’s so easy to make judgements from the cheap seats, isn’t it?
So here is Australia’s latest hero (although she had the gumption to tell the Prime Minister that she’s no hero, just a girl with a dream) and many in the media and the public were ready to cut her down to size. They might as well have said: “don’t get too big for your boots young lady,” as I remember being told.
Sitting next to me on the steps of the Opera House last Saturday patiently awaiting Jessica’s arrival was an Aboriginal woman from Mount Druitt. She had travelled to the city by bus with her five grandchildren, all dressed in pink, to welcome Jessica home. The woman, whose eyes revealed her life stories, was one of the stolen generation. Taken from her mother at age two, she was not possessed by bitterness but by hope for the future – for her grandchildren’s future. The kids, all lively and excited young teenagers said they thought what Jessica had done was incredible and they wanted to be part of her welcome. She told me all this from those free, cheap seats.
Sitting behind me were three Muslim women along with their children celebrating Jessica’s triumph as were thousands of others inspired by her achievement. The new face of Australia was all around me and there was not a knocker in sight.
In the late 1960s as a child living in London, I was inspired by Sir Francis Chichester’s solo circumnavigation. I kept a scrap book of newspaper cuttings of his voyage and made my father take me to see him knighted and then to Greenwich when Gypsy Moth IV was put into dry dock .
His remarkable voyage and courage have stayed with me and inspired me as have many solo sailors and adventurers since – and I’ve been fortunate to know and work with many of them.
I was a simply a spectator last weekend at the climax of a real ‘reality’ show which celebrated pure human endeavour and where a young woman received accolades for having achieved something – as opposed to looking good in a short skirt (move over Paris).
Good on you Jessica. You are an inspiration and you’ve reminded this mid-life woman to continue to strive for my goals and stand tall. We should all celebrate success and achievement and encourage greatness – Australia will be a better country for it.
Solo sailor Jessica Watson’s triumphant return last Saturday brought the tall poppy naysayers out of the hidden success closet. A young male I know in his mid-twenties proclaimed “I hate Jessica Watson”. I asked if he knew her (he does not) and for a list of his recent achievements as I was looking forward to reading the book of his inspiring life. Another much older man, an experienced weekend sailor, told me “she must have been very lucky”.
Luck, of course, is always a contributing factor in any endeavour, but maybe it was also good planning, skill and experience, good equipment, shore side professional support, calmness under pressure, tenacity and a love for what she was doing. But she is only a girl, and it’s so easy to make judgements from the cheap seats, isn’t it?
So here is Australia’s latest hero (although she had the gumption to tell the Prime Minister that she’s no hero, just a girl with a dream) and many in the media and the public were ready to cut her down to size. They might as well have said: “don’t get too big for your boots young lady,” as I remember being told.
Sitting next to me on the steps of the Opera House last Saturday patiently awaiting Jessica’s arrival was an Aboriginal woman from Mount Druitt. She had travelled to the city by bus with her five grandchildren, all dressed in pink, to welcome Jessica home. The woman, whose eyes revealed her life stories, was one of the stolen generation. Taken from her mother at age two, she was not possessed by bitterness but by hope for the future – for her grandchildren’s future. The kids, all lively and excited young teenagers said they thought what Jessica had done was incredible and they wanted to be part of her welcome. She told me all this from those free, cheap seats.
Sitting behind me were three Muslim women along with their children celebrating Jessica’s triumph as were thousands of others inspired by her achievement. The new face of Australia was all around me and there was not a knocker in sight.
In the late 1960s as a child living in London, I was inspired by Sir Francis Chichester’s solo circumnavigation. I kept a scrap book of newspaper cuttings of his voyage and made my father take me to see him knighted and then to Greenwich when Gypsy Moth IV was put into dry dock .
His remarkable voyage and courage have stayed with me and inspired me as have many solo sailors and adventurers since – and I’ve been fortunate to know and work with many of them.
I was a simply a spectator last weekend at the climax of a real ‘reality’ show which celebrated pure human endeavour and where a young woman received accolades for having achieved something – as opposed to looking good in a short skirt (move over Paris).
Good on you Jessica. You are an inspiration and you’ve reminded this mid-life woman to continue to strive for my goals and stand tall. We should all celebrate success and achievement and encourage greatness – Australia will be a better country for it.
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