Introduction
Thank you Scott.
Rector Dan McMahon, Fr Frank Brennan, President Mark Pigram, College Council Members, and fellow Leonian Alumni.
When preparing for a speech like this, convention dictates one turns to the great books, consults the classics, perhaps even borrows a line or two of Latin to lend the occasion a little gravitas.
But in the spirit of collegiality, I sought advice from three former Leonians I happened to bump into over the last week, asking each of them what I should speak about today.
The first, reassuringly told me not to worry because, he said: "No one at our table will be listening to you anyway."
The second kindly reminded me I would be speaking to a room of Leonians and thus his advice was “mate, keep it short.”
And the third helpfully suggested I tell really inappropriate college stories in the hope it might make the Liberal Party look more interesting and provide a much needed bump in the polls.
In declining that kind advice, I thought it wiser to dutifully deliver a speech on that topic the organisers requested: the increasingly complex global environment and Australia’s place in it.
Before I go any further though, I want to acknowledge and thank those whose vision and hard work established the St Leo's College Alumni Association. They have given us more than an organisation—they have given us a way to preserve and strengthen the lifelong bond we share with this remarkable College, and with the generations of Leonians who have had the privilege of calling St Leo's home.
It is an honour to be invited to deliver the keynote address at the Association’s inaugural business lunch, and I thank you for it.
We have entered a new age
Australia is amidst the greatest global economic and strategic realignment since World War Two.
We have entered a new age.
It is an age of entrenched competition – between the two largest powers, the United States and China; an age of rapid convergence - between economic and security domains. And this is occurring in an age of great technological change.
These defining features of our strategic environment are intertwined, unfolding simultaneously, often without warning – adhering to no discernable pattern.
The sheer complexity of this age is unchartered territory for Australia. And as a middle power, we don’t have the might to determine the outcome of the strategic shifts underway, but that doesn’t mean we lack agency.
Australia is still responsible for its own destiny, and it’s up to us to chart our own way forward.
On one hand we need to build on existing arrangements, and on the other we need to pioneer new models of statecraft.
To build on existing arrangements, we must be careful to not fall into the trap of viewing our foreign policy as a binary choice between China and the United States.
We should seek to maintain the US as our primary ally while deepening security relationships with others – including Japan, India, South Korea, South-East Asian nations and through a new formal regional security agreement with Pacific Island nations.
We should also seek to maintain China as our key trading parter while diversifying the markets to which we sell and what we sell to them.
Secondly, we need to pioneer new models of statecraft.
Instead of traditional Free Trade Agreements which are broad in scale – covering nearly every sector possible – yet shallow in scope – dealing mainly with tariffs – the new age calls for a series of new deals that are narrow in scale – focused on sectors of strategic importance such as energy, critical minerals, digital infrastructure, AI, cyber security, defence and space – and deep in scope - encompassing joint investment, technology partnerships, integrated supply chains, research collaboration, and shared development of sovereign industrial capability.
We can discuss what these potential deals might look like in the Q&A session if it’s of interest, but the point I’m making here is this: despite Australia not controlling the levers that will determine much of the geostrategic environment in which we operate, we must nevertheless take control of our own destiny, and do so with confidence and ambition, for that’s when we will see not just threats in this new age but also opportunities.
And thus, we will again start building the future rather than managing a decline.
The starting point, however, isn’t internationally.
It’s here at home.
Foreign affairs starts at home
If a nation’s foundations at home are fragile, its ability to uphold its values and pursue its interests abroad are jeopardized.
Last month I spoke at the National Press Club on the topic “foreign affairs starts at home”.
Today, I want to build on a theme I mentioned only in passing in that speech - namely, the importance of national unity.
This is something we Australians don’t talk about anywhere near enough.
Some dismiss national unity as little more than a warm sentiment - a nice idea, but one with little bearing on the hard realities of geopolitics. But they are mistaken.
Firstly, confidence abroad begins with confidence at home.
Australian governments can only sustain difficult decisions - whether increasing defence spending, standing up to coercion, imposing sanctions, or supporting allies - if they carry the confidence of the people.
It’s national unity that gives governments the strength to act in the national interest, rather than in their own political interest.
Secondly, a nation divided is a nation open to coercion.
A divided nation struggles to withstand external threats - whether military or economic coercion, cyber attacks or disinformation.
Australians will better manage these threats if we trust one another and trust our institutions, and if we’re willing to make sacrifices for the common good.
Thirdly, unity is not just a social virtue but a strategic asset.
The more diverse Australia becomes, the more we are at risk of being picked off, one tribe at a time. In an era of foreign interference and information warfare, we risk our competitors seeking to exploit social divisions and weaken democratic cohesion.
A strong sense of Australian identity will make it harder for adversaries to divide us, and easier for us to advance our interests.
For these reasons, national unity cannot be left to chance.
The question is - in a nation as diverse as ours – where 32% of our population is born outside Australia – what is it that can unite us?
Clearly, it is not from where we come – it’s not our ethnicity, it’s not our heritage, it’s not our religion, it’s not the colour of our skin nor the food we eat or the way we talk.
There is only one thing that has the capacity to unite all Australians and that is a common set of values – Australian values: values of freedom, equality and a fair go.
A belief in democracy and rule of law, a belief that with effort comes reward, and with rights come responsibilities.
These values have the capacity to unite Australians regardless of where they were born, the God to whom they pray or their surname being Smith or Song or Singh.
Our values are a function of history
It is important to not forget that these values – our Australian values - are a function of history.
Modern Australia was born a Christian nation at a critical juncture of Western civilisation. When Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay, it was only five years after the American Revolution and just one year before the French Revolution, two culminating events of the Enlightenment.
But, unlike elsewhere in the world, the Enlightenment in Australia, with its ideals of reason, science and progress, didn’t cut against long-standing orthodoxies of culture, church or tradition because we lacked the baggage of an “old world”.
In Australia, like nowhere else, Enlightenment and Christianity learned to co-exist - both supporting the notion of individual dignity and morality and the potential for self-improvement through discipline and endeavour.
These ideals still manifest in the values that define us today, even though, over time, they have deepened and broadened: enriched by indigenous Australians, British institutions, and successive waves of migrants from every corner of the globe.
Our values are under attack
I fear, however, that our values are under threat and, by extension, so too is our national unity … under threat from both domestic and foreign forces.
Domestically, the political left continues to erode our national pride and confidence.
There is no greater example of the drastic breakdown in social cohesion over recent years than the scourge of antisemitism.
And nowhere has there been such a vacuum in moral leadership than the limp response from the Albanese Government.
The ugly rise of antisemitism in recent years is symptomatic of a broader fraying of Australia’s social cohesion.
I don’t recall a time, at least in my lifetime, when Australia has been as divided as it is today.
And yet the political left continue to erode pride in Australia’s traditions and achievements.
Even this week, the Australian Labor Party is considering motions to change the Australian flag by removing the Union Jack and removing colonial-era statues and symbols.
How’s that for unifying leadership?
Sadly, the political left is not confined to Parliament, however.
Over many years, they have made a slow, steady march through many of our institutions, including our universities.
I am proud to be a graduate of the University of Queensland, but it’s not immune from the march of the political left.
I had my own experiences – multiple experiences in fact in the early 1990s – of intolerance on the part of lecturers and tutors, towards my own views which did not conform to theirs.
My sanctuary at the time was Saint Leo’s College.
This wasn’t because my Leonian mates held the same political views as me – far from it. Some of the most robust political arguments I had at UQ were not within the classical sandstone walls of the Forgan Smith building but within the red brick walls of Saint Leo’s College.
Universities should be places of intellectual inquiry, not ideological conformity. Yet I fear many Australian universities have been steadily pulled towards ideological orthodoxy by the political left, diminishing the culture of free inquiry that should define them.
Ideological conformity is not unity. It is the antithesis of the liberal tradition upon which our universities were founded - a tradition that values reason, debate and the freedom to challenge accepted wisdom.
My hope is that Australian universities will again become places where, like Saint Leo’s, disagreement is not feared but embraced — where friendships can flourish across differences, and where the next generation of Australians learn that a united society is not built on everyone thinking the same, but on our ability to think freely together.
As I mentioned earlier, our values are under threat - not just from domestic forces, but also from foreign forces.
Let me give you an example.
This month, a new law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress came into effect in the People’s Republic of China, following its adoption by the National People's Congress.
One of the more controversial clauses in this law suggests people and groups beyond the borders of China can be held legally accountable for undermining "ethnic unity and progress or inciting ethnic separatism".
This implies Beijing may target people beyond their borders whom they deem ethnically Chinese.
What does this mean for Australians whose families trace their heritage to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia?
And what does it mean for Chinese-Australians who embrace our way of life and subscribe to our democratic values?
Countries are typically reluctant to declare red lines in international affairs, but on this matter a line must be drawn as a matter of principle.
Australia should reject any attempt on the part of the People’s Republic of China to expand the notion of sovereignty beyond territoriality and nationality to include claims based on ethnicity or ancestry.
To do anything less would compromise our values – in particular, the value of freedom – freedom of speech … of religion … of conscience … of association … freedom to pursue whatever one wants to pursue in their life.
All Australians - especially those new to our country who have not come from the Western tradition or lived in other liberal democracies - need to understand that our values are the foundation of our way of life and our national unity, and that these values also represent individual rights gifted to every Australian equally.
What’s more, in light of Beijing’s new law, Chinese-Australians in particular need to know their fellow Australians are on their side, and their government and its agencies will protect them.
To this end, I repeat my call for the Australian Government to urgently determine the implications of the new Ethnic Unity law for members of the Chinese diaspora who might be included in the definition of President Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Nation”.
And I urge the Albanese Labor Government to provide assurances that concerned members of the Chinese diaspora will be protected.
And this is a message, Chinese-Australians need to hear directly from our national leaders.
A challenge, however, is a lack of English proficiency in parts of Chinese diaspora communities.
In absolute numbers, there is no larger cohort which struggles more with English than Australians who speak Chinese Mandarin. Around 750,000 Australians speak Mandarin at home, and approximately one in four of them report speaking English "not well" or "not at all". That’s a lot of people.
English is of course our national language and all Australians, regardless of background, must become proficient.
But, for the sake of Mandarin speaking Chinese-Australians who may be concerned about Beijing’s new ethnicity laws, we can’t wait around for people’s English proficiency to improve before we actively engage them on the importance of our values and to assure them that they will be protected if the long arm of Beijing stretches into Australia to target them.
It is for this reason that next week, I plan to launch the first in a series of short videos in Mandarin that explain and celebrate the liberal democratic values that define our nation - with the first video to focus on the greatest value of all: freedom.
I have decided to record these videos myself despite my Mandarin being lousy nowadays. But, I’m doing so because I want to send a message to Mandarin speaking Chinese-Australians … not just about the importance of our values, but to assure them that their fellow Australians stand with them.
Conclusion
When I was at Saint Leo’s, the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church was Pope John Paul II – to my mind, one of the greatest leaders of the second half of the 20th century.
Pope John Paul II was a fighter for freedom in the tradition of Western liberalism, and so let me conclude with a quote from his encyclical - Veritatis Splendor (“The Splendor of Truth”) – released in 1993, when I was in second year at college.
"It is only in freedom that man can turn to what is good."
