Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated that democracy is highly delicate and needs to be nurtured, much like Australia and the United States’ partnership, in a speech on Wednesday at the University of Virginia.
Turnbull stated that one must inundate the area with facts to restore the balance in politics in this era of social media.
An illustration would be the uprising at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He said it’s crucial to refute the false narratives that radicalize people, saying, “January 6 could not have occurred if millions of people did not firmly believe that election had been stolen.”
From 2015 to 2020, Lucy Turnbull, the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney and the first chief commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, remarked that democracy had embraced newer groups and must do so going forward.
Jim Ryan, the president of UVA, welcomed the Turnbulls to campus.
Ryan remarked, “We can learn a lot from the Turnbulls’ example of leadership in Australia. “While serving as Sydney’s Lord Mayor and Australia’s prime minister, they both pushed for inclusivity and fairness for everyone. They promoted sensible industrial and trade policy, environmental sustainability, and human rights at the same time.
The Turnbulls discussed diversity, immigration, free trade, indigenous rights, and democratic leadership in a populist era. When talking about running a city as varied as Sydney and developing a new plan, Lucy Turnbull mentioned that one of her goals was to boost the number of women in the workforce, a notion built around women’s safety.
However, she added, “That notion is not exclusive because to have a place safe for women, it also needs to be safe for children and feel safe to minorities.” Therefore, it is the complete opposite of exclusive.
Malcolm Turnbull also addressed the recent Dominion Voting Systems case, noting that despite evidence indicating that prominent Fox News individuals did not have election-related conspiracies, they continued to spread false information. He declared, “People are free to have opinions, but not facts. “If we don’t fight against lies, we’ll find ourselves in a situation where the fabrication of false narratives will endanger democracy.”
Additionally, he emphasized how important it is for institutions like UVA, the Miller Center, and the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation, or CAPRI, to stand out for the truth. You can’t rely on mainstream and social media to get the fact out there. Therefore, he said you need honest brokers, whether they are from colleges or think tanks.
Kyle Touse, a UVA alumnus who worked on the Trans-Pacific Partnership as the policy director for the House Rules Committee on Capitol Hill in 2014 and 2015, questioned the former prime minister on why the trade agreement didn’t benefit the United States. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to Turnbull, was not just about commerce but also about strategy and national security. The United Kingdom, Taiwan, and China have all submitted new applications to join the 12-nation alliance, from which the United States withdrew after Trump’s victory.
Malcolm Turnbull stated, “You shouldn’t consider it work squandered.
25 Australian students are enrolled in various programs on Grounds this fall, from engineering to public policy. Over 100 UVA students have visited Australia this academic year, another critical study abroad partner.
“The visit of Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull to Grounds is just the latest evidence of the special relationship between UVA and Australia going back many years,” said Stephen Mull, UVA’s vice provost for global affairs moderated the discussion with the Turnbulls.
He pointed out that occasions like Wednesday’s discussion, which Mull’s office organized in collaboration with the Miller Center, the Karsh Institute of Democracy, and CAPRI, allow students and staff the chance to participate in international discussions on Grounds.
