Men and Women of Australia!: Our Greatest Modern Speeches

by Michael Fullilove

Even in our digital age, speeches remain the principal currency of public life. There is no better way to argue a case or sway an audience.

In Men and Women of Australia!, speechmaker and former prime ministerial adviser Michael Fullilove has gathered the finest Australian speeches delivered since Federation – speeches that have inspired us and defined us as a nation. Each one is a time capsule, a window onto a debate or controversy from our history.

Fully revised and updated, with perceptive introductions to each speech and a foreword by Graham Freudenberg, this edition includes Kevin Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generations and Julia Gillard's Misogyny speech – two speeches that captured the country's imagination. Among others are Noel Pearson's Hope Vale speech, Les Carlyon on Fromelles, Geoffrey Rush on acting the goat, Tim Winton on our oceans, Tony Abbott's speech on closing the gap, and Malcolm Turnbull's tribute to Robert Hughes. Also included are speeches by notable visitors to Australia – leading figures of the twentieth century such as Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Drawn from politics, history, sport and culture, Men and Women of Australia! is the definitive collection of Australian speeches.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Michael Fullilove is the executive director of the Lowy Institute in Sydney, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. A Rhodes scholar and a former prime ministerial adviser, he writes widely on global issues for publications such as The New York Times, Financial Times, The Daily Beast and Foreign Affairs.

Reviews

[Bree T · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw this book, there was pretty much one reason that I wanted to read it and that was that it contained Julia Gillard’s speech on misogyny that went viral merely minutes after she delivered it in Parliament. I’ve seen it more than a few times but there’s also something about reading powerful words, seeing them on the page and having them resonate inside your head. The more I looked at the names, the more I wanted to read, given most of these speeches occurred either before I was born or when I was in primary school. It could probably be argued that there’s a certain leaning, in the speeches that make up this volume, and the collator Michael Fullilove seems to readily acknowledge it. But they are his choices and he’s picked some pretty good ones.

I have to be honest – I didn’t read every single speech in this book. Some I skimmed, others I skipped completely. The book is broken down into sections with speeches loosely linked by a common theme, such as ‘A Continent Of Dreams’, ‘In The Arena’, ‘The Vision Splendid’, ‘The Familiar Faded-Green Uniform’, etc. There are many people that appear more than once – Paul Keating, Robert Menzies and Gough Whitlam seem to appear almost on every other page, so high in number are their memorable speeches. Keating in particular, well known for his expertly crafted words provided much in the way of both entertainment and education in his volume. The speech where he compares members of the Opposition to fire crackers is particularly clever and amusing and his famous Redfern speech of 1992 incredibly stirring. Likewise is Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation, something that was a long time coming. Say what you like about Rudd’s reputed instability and volatile temper, the speech he delivered that day was one of compassion and wonderful to read. Even Tony Abbott’s included speech was inspiring, perhaps because I couldn’t actually hear him delivering it.

There are some artists included, such as the wonderful Tim Winton with an ode to our beaches, William Deane not on politics but on “having a flutter”, Russell Crowe, Geoffrey Rush, and Andrew Denton waxing lyrical on Allan Border. But mostly it belongs to the political, with sections devoted to federation, indigenous issues, feminism and international relations. There are also a few snippets included from two American presidents with the ‘gift of the gab’, Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama. General Douglas Macarthur makes an appearance as well and there are speeches by Pope John Paul II and Nelson Mandela.

I think what surprised me most about this (in a very good way) was how much I learned through reading, or how much reading some of these speeches jogged my memory about things I’d long forgotten. I did Australian history in school but we’re talking 20 years or so ago now and most of the knowledge had faded away, other than the basic facts and things you come across quite often. Though most of the speeches are quite short, they have to get their point across and there can be a lot of information packed into them. There’s quite a comprehensive modern (must stress that bit) Australian history contained within, from Federation in 1901 right up until the last couple of years. There is a speech from the first woman in parliament, on choosing a new national anthem, on indigenous issues and inroads into reconciliation, changing immigration policies and patterns, shifting from the European to the Asian, African and Middle Eastern, a speech to outlaw the Communism Party. It’s like a timeline of history (not always in order) encompassing military, health, education and diversity. The development of a fledgling nation.

It always takes me much longer to read non-fiction books – this one took me over a week. I’d read 100 or so pages and then put it down and not go back to it for a day or two. I have two pretty hefty political autobiographies to read soon and I know they’re going to take me forever because I’ll take breaks to read a lot of fiction in between but I have to admit, I feel much more accomplished when I finish a non-fiction book than when I finish a fiction book! The format of this book makes it really easy to pick up and put down, reading snippets here and there or skimming through to find the speech you want to read. I read it in order (it was on my kindle, so not as easy to flick through as a paperback) but there were several speeches I did go back and re-read more than once. Fullilove credits Barrack Obama with a resurgence in good speeches and there’s something powerful about a person who can deliver words that inspire you and make you feel. I enjoyed this a lot and although it probably helps to have at least a passing interest in politics, it’s not so detailed that the reader gets bogged down. The fact that they’re kept short and sweet means that if the one you’re on isn’t for you, you can just turn the page and find a new one.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men and Women of Australia! is certainly a type of book I have never stumbled into before. A collection of Australian speeches, all of them deemed important enough to be included. Certainly I felt like the politics were a little one sided (but I will say no more on that topic), but there are some beauties in this volume. An excellent resource for the student of Australian history, those interested in our political history or people who love a well formed speech - Men and Women of Australia! is one moment uplifting, the next hilarious, and then capable of bring down the mood of the reader. The best aspect of this collection of speeches is certainly the snapshot that each speech provides of Australia at the time the words were spoken.

I found some of the additions of speeches from people of other countries to be more infuriating than adding to the overall picture - I was reading this book to hear what Australians thought of Australia, not to hear other people's opinions.

Some of the choices didn't do much for me, but many of them where excellently picked. Generally anything Menzies would make me appreciate speech writing as an art form directed solely at engaging and convincing the listener. Some of my favourite speeches would have to have been the humorous ones, such as Barry Humpheries' `Through the thin end of an asparagus roll', Andrew Denton's `I worship the very protector he sweats in,' and James Killen's amazing `My honourable friend is beyond insult,' which today is something my best friends and I say to each other (usually during a wine soaked toast). Any time Tim Winton talks about the sea makes me happy!

Some of the speeches spoke to my feminist views - especially Jessie Street's `Surely we don't mean liberty and democracy for men only?' and Julia Gillard's very memorable torrent of awesomeness at Tony Abbott - `the Misogyny speech.' While talking of social equality, there are some gems in the chapter headed "The Equal Right of All", notable speakers being Alfred Deakin, Germaine Greer, John Paul II, Paul Keating (you can't leave out the Redfern Park speech, it's a favourite of mine), K. Rudd (whose first name shall always be abbreviated), and our present fearless leader, Abbott.

The section that stood out to me was "The Familiar Faded-Green Uniform", not because of the quality of the speeches, some of which are great, some of which are average, but because Australian armed forces have been given the nod, and so often they are neglected in this kind of compilation. My favourite Australian speech of all time - which went a little bit viral on the internet, is David Morrison's `There is no place for you amongst this band of brothers and sisters', which I remember watching for the first time and being overcome with emotion, and I am glad it made it into this book.

Overall, I certainly would encourage all who are interested in Australian history to pick up this book and peruse the speeches - even those who know little of Australian history could easily benefit from this collection.

[Beth_Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Featuring a nice variety of speakers and topics, there is a speech for every one in Men and Women of Australia.
Some don't translate quite as well to the written word, for some of these speeches the power and awe remain with the orator and the delivery, but for the most part, the selection here is highly readable.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good way to summarise parts of Australia's history. I especially appreciated the introduction to each speech which described both the speaker and the context.