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The 2016 Australian of the Year, former Lieutenant-General David Morrison AO (Retd.) gave the Sir Wallace Kyle Oration to 280 attendees last week at an event sponsored by the McCusker Centre for Citizenship and the Rotary Club of Perth.

The Sir Wallace Kyle Oration is given by a distinguished speaker of international standing and outstanding leadership and the theme this year was ‘Service above Self’. Lieutenant-General Morrison asked the question ‘are we the best we can be?’ and told stories from his own experience, spoke about culture and equality and said we can all make a difference if we pay attention.

He talked passionately about the challenging times we are living in and why being more inclusive is an absolute requirement if we are to make the most of Australia’s talent and solve the challenges that will be left for future generations.

“This is a great country, but a hallmark of Australia’s greatness is that we know we can be better.”

“Changing the stories and defining ourselves as an inclusive country, welcoming, girt by sea and not by beach is something we can all be charged to do.”

You can listen to the full Oration here .

The ambition of the McCusker Centre for Citizenship established in October last year is to create and foster future generations of critical thinkers around some of the complex social and community issues we face in Western Australia, Australia and globally.