'What is the 'idea of Australia'? What defines the soul of our nation? Are we an egalitarian, generous, outward-looking country? Or is Australia a place that has retreated into silence and denial about the past and become selfish, greedy and insular?
'A lifetime of watching Australia as a journalist, editor, academic and writer has given Julianne Schultz a unique platform from which to ask and answer these critical questions. The global pandemic gave her time to study the X-ray of our country and the opportunity for perspective and analysis. Schultz came to realise that the idea of Australia is a contest between those who are imaginative, hopeful, altruistic and ambitious, and those who are defensive and inward-looking. She became convinced we need to acknowledge and better understand our past to make sense of our present and build a positive and inclusive future. She suggests what Australia could be: smart, compassionate, engaged, fair and informed.
'This important, searing and compelling book explains us to ourselves and suggests ways Australia can realise her true potential. Urgent, inspiring and optimistic, The Idea of Australia presents the vision we need to fully appreciate our great strengths and crucial challenges.' (Publication summary)
'Reviewing a book that opens with a full six pages of endorsements from a veritable who’s who of Australia’s knowledge classes is an intimidating task, but here we are. Among others whose opinions I have no standing, or desire, to contradict, Melissa Lucashenko welcomes Julianne Schultz’s The Idea of Australia as a “valuable contribution to the debate over what Australia is, once was, and might yet become”. Here, I offer my critical engagement with the book in the context of this debate, which continues, interminably, to this day.' (Introduction)
'Reviewing a book that opens with a full six pages of endorsements from a veritable who’s who of Australia’s knowledge classes is an intimidating task, but here we are. Among others whose opinions I have no standing, or desire, to contradict, Melissa Lucashenko welcomes Julianne Schultz’s The Idea of Australia as a “valuable contribution to the debate over what Australia is, once was, and might yet become”. Here, I offer my critical engagement with the book in the context of this debate, which continues, interminably, to this day.' (Introduction)
