Published in The Australian, 22 May 2017 We read and reread great speeches not just for what they say about other times, but for what they say about ours. Great speeches don’t just speak to their own day, but to all days. Even if not all their facts are relevant, their values most certainly are….
The advantage of being on the backbench is that you have the time to reflect, and the freedom to speak. The advantage of being a former frontbencher, party leader and prime minister on the backbench is that your reflections are informed, perhaps uniquely informed, by the good and the bad of a long public life. …