The vision splendid? A24 and its grassroots push for a new Australia
What would the Australia of your dreams look like? That was the question civil society groups, unions, welfare groups and Indigenous representatives asked themselves nearly three years ago.
Faced with competing world views of the US president, Donald Trump, One Nation, the Business Council of Australia, alongside the pragmatic visions of Australia’s major parties, the group – known as A24 – began asking themselves: why do we do what we do? What’s our common vision of society that underpins our daily activism?
In 2017, the group began consultations with members and with groups who usually wouldn’t be asked about their vision for Australia – single mothers, migrant communities and community groups in the suburbs.
“What we found in this process is there is so much support for the vision whether it was in an Indigenous group, or a single mothers’ group, or a social enterprise,” Greenpeace’s chief executive, David Ritter, said. “What emerged was a fundamentally different and better Australia.”
On Thursday A24, which included Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Council of Social Service, Indigenous representatives and unions, launched “Australia Remade: creating the best version of us”.
The slim document, which sets out nine pillars for a better society, sounds a little like the manifesto of a left-leaning Scandinavian nation.
According to its authors it’s a vision for Australia that prioritises inclusiveness, fairness, strong communities, respect for human and workers’ rights, protecting the environment and a strong participatory democracy.
But it also includes some more whimsical elements: creating a society that gives people more leisure time and puts artists and storytelling at the centre of community life.
The group says that the vision is both “idealistic and ordinary, utopian and common sense”.
“The intention is not to dictate a wish list of new demands or policies but to inject a breath of fresh air, ” the document says.
At the launch in Redfern, emotions were running high. Several speakers broke down in tears as they presented the nine pillars that make up the vision.
Top of the list is putting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures at the very heart of what it means to be Australian. As she read out out the plan – which includes recognition of the impact of colonisation, self-determination and a voice in decision making – Acoss’s Cassandra Goldie was moved to tears.
So was Viv Nguyen, from Victoria’s
Vietnamese community, as she talked about how she had a vision for an inclusive society where her son wasn’t bullied walking down the street and where good education was available to all.
The group now plans to take the vision into the community and to Canberra to “ignite a conversation about a new and dazzling course for this country, a future we will be excited to create”.
Kelly O’Shanassy, the chief executive of Australian Conservation Foundation, borrowed from Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
The groups plan to use the document to sell politicians on a different vision of society that will compete with the ideologies that underpin the lobbying of business and political groups.
“We stand here with a different kind of spirit than selfishness,” Ritter said. “It does not have to go in that direction. The future is ours to be written together. It’s our conviction that we can do better and it’s that conviction that is bringing us to tears.”