|
That great Irish statesman, Edmund Burke, once described society as a partnership. He said that it is a partnership between those who are alive today, those who have gone before us, and those yet to come. What does that mean? It means that what we have, and what we are, are not so much the result of our own efforts. We owe much, if not most, to our predecessors. We ourselves are the product of the society that made us. And we clearly have a duty to those yet to come. The way in which a society is organised – for example that it is a long established liberal democracy, as Australia is, will have a significant impact on its international relations. This is particularly so today when we live in a world which is smaller because of technology, but where, notwithstanding the end of the Cold War, the nation states are divided, and where even once close allies have fallen out in the most public way imaginable. GOOD GOVERNANCE Burke's dictum has particular relevance to our nation and its role and place in the world. Now it is difficult to think of a nation more fortunate than ours. This happy state did not come to us by chance. We are fortunate indeed that we are a part and parcel of a family of nations-call it what you will, the “Anglosphere” perhaps- which has inherited the principles and values of good governance, a form of governance more likely to assure the happiness and prosperity of our people than almost any other. Because we have had it so long, we take it for granted. That we belong to this family in no way inhibits any of us from forming rich relationships with others, eg the UK in the EU, the US in NAFTA, and ourselves in our region. Good governance is the special gift of the society in which we live and which we have inherited. A well-governed society requires the application, not perfectly but to a reasonable degree, of certain well-established principles: • that the rule of law must not only prevail but that it must be an undisputed and fundamental value of the nation, • that government should be limited to certain core functions, • that individuals should remain responsible for their own acts, • that private property must be respected, • that speech should be reasonably free, • in brief, that there should be room to move, • and above all, that the political structure not only represent the people, but that government should be both stable and so surrounded by checks and balances that the bane of so many societies, the charismatic leader with a grand vision, should never be able to enslave the people.
Approximate Word count = 1478
Approximate Pages = 5.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
