Premier John Brumby's launch speech — 30.04.2009
I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand – the Wurrundjeri people – and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.
Victoria is proud to be the home of the John Button Prize.
After all, we are the centre of literature and creativity in Australia.
Almost one-in-three Australian authors and book and script editors live in Victoria.
We have the largest number of small presses and independent publishers in the country.
And Melbourne has more bookshops per capita than any other Australian city.
That’s why Melbourne was designated a City of Literature by UNESCO late last year – only the second city of literature in the world after Edinburgh.
But we need to build on that love of books and ideas.
That’s why our Government is working to make Melbourne one of the world’s creative capitals through initiatives such as
Fostering a love of reading through the Premier’s Reading Challenge,
Providing a new focus for literature by opening Australia’s first Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas later this year,
Standing up for our literary culture by arguing against the wholesale lifting of parallel import restrictions on books in our submission to the Productivity Commission,
And supporting the John Button Prize.
Why the John Button Prize?
Let me explain by quoting John Button:
“Few writers about politics have defined Australian social democracy. A vision emerges in dribs and drabs. In articles, in journals and occasionally in speeches, ideas are advanced that seem to hint at a conceptual framework.”
In other words: the greater the understanding, the stronger the democracy.
John wrote that critique in his 2002 Quarterly Essay about the future of the Labor movement.
That essay, Beyond Belief, went on to win the Alfred Deakin Prize as part of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards – which are being held for the 25th time this year.
I suspect John’s harsh opinion – stated with typical clarity and candour – was influenced by the writing of one of his first political heroes, George Orwell.
In his memoir, As It Happened, John quotes an Orwell line that some would say Button embodied …
… “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
John goes on to say this of Orwell: “He wrote with an economy of style and fearless intent, but he was more than just a talented scribe. He was also a man of action.”
Again, much the same could be said of John Button.
As I said, Victoria is proud to be the home of the John Button Prize.
The John Button Prize is all about rewarding those writers writing about politics with economy of style and fearless intent, and encouraging the production of work that defines our social democracy.
The establishment of this Prize – coming on top of so many other literary prizes for essays and journalism, such as the Alfred Deakin Prize, the John Curtin Prize, the Melbourne Prize, the Quills, and the Walkleys – begs the question:
Do we need another literary prize?
Of course we do.
Communities are built on ideas about democracy and culture and dissent – and those ideas need to be in constant contest.
Without that contest of ideas, there is no democracy – there is no change – there is no creativity.
Nothing is ventured. Nothing is gained. And, right now, in the face of unprecedented global challenges, we need to be bold.
We need to reach for new ideas and be creative – as John Button did. And we need to be men and women of action – as John Button was.
In conclusion, let me leave you with another John Button quote:
“I wanted to be a writer. Other things happened. My life went in different directions.”
Other things did happen, but John Button achieved his ambition.
He was a great writer, as well as a great politician – and that’s why the John Button Prize as a prize for political writers is so appropriate.