![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0914ande-John-Anderson-at-the-Melbourne-Catholic-Lawyers-Association-annual-dinner-MelbourneCatholic.jpeg\")
John Anderson at the Melbourne Catholic Lawyers Association dinner (Melbourne Catholic)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
John Anderson at the Melbourne Catholic Lawyers Association dinner (Melbourne Catholic)<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s future depends on rebuilding social trust, understanding our history and finding causes worth fighting for, according to former deputy prime minister John Anderson. Source: Melbourne Catholic.<\/p>\n
Mr Anderson, who is now a podcaster, made the comments at the Melbourne Catholic Lawyers Association annual dinner last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a wide-ranging talk on Western values, and drawing on liberal thinkers such as Os Guinness, Arnold Toynbee and Thomas Sowell, Mr Anderson told about 180 lawyers and law students that civilisations flourish when they share common values and decline when social cohesion is lost.<\/p>\n
Referencing Toynbee\u2019s study of civilisations, he said that when they inevitably fail, it is because of \u201cinternal decay\u201d. That was happening in Western societies, he suggested, because they increasingly despised their history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe no longer believe in it,\u201d Mr Anderson said. \u201cWe have come to demonise all that has been good in giving us the things that we have taken for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The loss of the \u201cstory\u201d of Western civilisation arose from what Mr Anderson called a revolution of values, citing American research showing the number of people for whom family and faith were of paramount importance had halved from about 80 per cent in 2005. This was a move away from concepts of cooperation, loving your neighbour and being part of the community, he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Anderson spoke with optimism to the young people in the room, many of whom were sponsored to attend the dinner. He said the \u201cbest\u201d of Generation Z were \u201cthe most remarkable Australians I\u2019ve ever met\u201d, while acknowledging the particular issues that affect them more than earlier generations. He also appealed to older people, asking them to be role models.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need your encouragement, and they need your mentoring, and they\u2019re eager to learn at your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Anderson said Australia is a \u201cgood country that has lost its way\u201d, at least in part, because the decline of faith had left people less able to acknowledge their limitations, seek forgiveness or draw on a moral framework.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are, in the end, spiritual beings. We have souls that need to be given meaning and purpose and direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said churches had traditionally confronted people with the need for confession \u2013 the recognition that \u201cwe haven\u2019t got it all right\u201d \u2013 whereas modern culture increasingly encouraged people to see themselves as the final authority over their own lives.<\/p>\n
FULL STORY<\/p>\n