Overview

Australia's national anthem assumes a fairness in the nation, a sense of equality, an invitation to share the richness and beauty of the land. By its very title, Making Australia Fair suggests that fairness is not yet a reality and challenges many of the social foundations that frustrate fairness and encourage inequality. The author gladly acknowledges the advantages of being Australian but argues that the country is not as fair as it needs to be and could be if only we would make a couple of challenging but essential, radical, ethical changes. He calls for changes to those central factors that determine our policies of capital-controlled economics, politics, systems of government, public finance, land ownership and social organisation. He challenges our current social identities, largely inherited from British institutions and based on privilege, wealth and power. And he contrasts this with traditional Aboriginal models, with their focus not on the individual but the community. He invites us - in the spirit of the Christian Gospel - to look beyond our narrow self-interest, to consider our connections to one another, our sense of belonging to the land and the planet; and offers alternative ways of being together, of learning from our Aboriginal guides and establishing a different kind of society that will truly make Australia fair.

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9780648861294

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Reviews

John White has written an engaging book in a colloquial style. Reflecting on COVID 19 as a 'circuit breaker', he urges us to rethink accepted systems of government, public finance and land ownership. The reader will be invited to consider alternatives to political and economic systems which White correctly identifies as having failed. He urges spiritual transformation as a path to reform and restoration of human relationships with each other and the Creation. The ideas are thought provoking and worthy of further investigation. Right Reverend Kate Wilmot Assistant Bishop of Perth, WA Real change is possible even for us humans. John and I have been privileged to see this capacity played out among the most devastated of our fellow citizens - victims and offenders of horrific crimes meeting together to seek out a way forward. John is right - we are capable of making our precious planet habitable again. Will we heed the call? Some will, but how many? It remains to be seen. There is however a larger story of which we are just a part and the unfolding of that story awaits each one of us. Michael Cockram AM Barrister and Solicitor (Retired) This book presents the reader with a collection of ideas and eloquent solutions to the future of being fair, exposing the many myths around current economic theory and the power of the very few over the many. It sets out a good argument for the common good and a redirection of economic policy making. Dr. Brian Steels Behaviourist & Criminologist

John White has written an engaging book in a colloquial style. Reflecting on COVID 19 as a 'circuit breaker', he urges us to rethink accepted systems of government, public finance and land ownership. The reader will be invited to consider alternatives to political and economic systems which White correctly identifies as having failed. He urges spiritual transformation as a path to reform and restoration of human relationships with each other and the Creation. The ideas are thought provoking and worthy of further investigation. Right Reverend Kate Wilmot Assistant Bishop of Perth, WA Real change is possible even for us humans. John and I have been privileged to see this capacity played out among the most devastated of our fellow citizens - victims and offenders of horrific crimes meeting together to seek out a way forward. John is right - we are capable of making our precious planet habitable again. Will we heed the call? Some will, but how many? It remains to be seen. There is however a larger story of which we are just a part and the unfolding of that story awaits each one of us. Michael Cockram AM Barrister and Solicitor (Retired) This book presents the reader with a collection of ideas and eloquent solutions to the future of being fair, exposing the many myths around current economic theory and the power of the very few over the many. It sets out a good argument for the common good and a redirection of economic policy making. Dr. Brian Steels Behaviourist & Criminologist

Author Information

John White was raised in Mount Barker, Western Australia, in a traditional working family, and attended the local state school. He worked as a farmer, singer and radio broadcaster before training and working as a secondary school teacher. Later John retrained, and has worked and taught for the past thirty years in psychotherapy, counselling, group dynamics, restorative justice, spiritual direction and clinical supervision. John is married to Jennifer. They have two adult children and three grandchildren. John and Jennifer live in Toodyay, W.A.

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