Why the McIlwraith Lecture is important

Dear ,

It’s been said that history is written by the victors, but I think it would be better to say “If you don’t write your history you will be vanquished”.

Thrift, sturdy self-reliance, a sense of community, sacrifice, leaving the world a better place than you found it – these aren’t lofty philosophical ideas, but they are the practical application of the classical liberal world view, and the underpinning of what it used to mean to be an Australian.

Today that consensus is on the verge of being destroyed with governments and oppositions pandering to the politics of envy; rights without responsibilities; offence without tolerance; and spending without restraint.

If we don’t tell the stories that exemplify our side of the argument, then we will leave the world a worse place than we found it.

The McIlwraith Lecture (to book click here) celebrates an early premier of Queensland, Sir Thomas McIlwraith, who stood for, and fostered, the entrepreneurial spirit in 19^th Century Queensland, building railways and ports and attracting immigration.

He had the misfortune to die broke and in London just before federation, while his political foes attacked his reputation. His arch-rival Sir Samuel Griffith is remembered, but McIlwraith has been all but forgotten.

Yet when you look around Queensland it is McIlwraith’s practical liberalism that has done more to build a state worth living in and leaving to our children.

And a good way to recognise McIlwraith’s contribution is to honour someone who is making a practical, entrepreneurial contribution to Queensland today and ask them to share their experience and philosophy with us and the country.

This year our lecturer is Jamie Pherous, who follows on from John Wagner and Bevan Slattery, our 2015 and 2016 lecturers respectively.

Jamie ought to be a household name in Queensland, yet many people haven’t heard of him.

Originally a chartered accountant, his business has grown from a three person travel agency in 1994 into a $2.5bn publicly listed company today.

And he is a serial entrepreneur with interests in two Queensland start-ups, one in tourism and the other in graphite and electric batteries (click here to read today’s AFR story about him).

This is what the lecture is about. Telling the story of the people who are making Queensland into a success story, and celebrating those successes. If you don’t write it, you will lose it.

The dinner is 7:00 for 7:30 pm, July 19 at Tattersall’s Club, and costs $165 to friends and supporters. You’ll have a good time, meet like-minded people, and you will be contributing to publicising a great Queenslander, as well as building our coffers to keep pushing the stories and policies that will keep Queensland and Australia the best place to live. (To book click here).

Look forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards,

Bob Tucker
Chairman