Not good enough, Australia, we must do better

It's possible the red pen was scribbling out the names of the guilty - or perhaps it was deployed as the colour of shame. In short, McKeon, social entrepreneur, believes we are simply ''not good enough'' and must do better.

''Overall,'' he told his audience at Cranlana mansion, home of the Myer family, ''I would rate Australia in 2011 as a student who is sustaining a borderline pass.''

A former executive chairman of Macquarie Bank and currently chairman of the CSIRO, an active and much-admired philanthropist since 1994, and a doggedly upbeat sufferer of multiple sclerosis, McKeon describes himself as a ''glass half full kind of person''. As such, he spoke of a prosperous Australia with the potential and ability to be the best of societies, and was particularly hopeful that the younger generation was more dedicated to this end than ''the current crop''.

He noted that he regularly met Australians who were empathetic and compassionate. However, he described the national moral landscape as one marred by ''barren plains of self-interest, a ridiculous focus on the short term and a general level of intolerance I find perplexing and dispiriting''.

A different crowd might have answered, ''Well, give us the medal back, mate'', but the 70 people gathered were in the main a home side. In fact, an informal poll of guests during the after-speech drinks found that many of them wished McKeon had ''gone harder'' or been ''less diplomatic''.

At first glance, the audience was populated in good part by the kind of hard-boiled suits not readily given to moral and ethical introspection. Indeed, McKeon noted in his speech the presence of a number of company chief executives of his acquaintance. Nearly all present were alumni of the Cranlana Program, a relatively low-key venture in which leaders from all sectors of society, according to its website, are invited to ''participate in a unique program of seminars directed at enhancing their understanding of the philosophical, ethical and social issues central to creating a just, prosperous and sustainable society''.

McKeon's speech was the first in a series of six from the most recent Australians of the Year, who will each focus their own critical eye, as filtered through their areas of expertise, on the country's moral performance. The series will later be broadcast on Radio National's Big Ideas program.

McKeon is the first to admit that of the six speakers he is perhaps closer to being ''an ordinary Australian''. Unlike Mick Dodson, Ian Frazer, Patrick McGorry and Fiona Wood, he isn't a professor, and unlike Sir Gustav Nossal, he isn't a knight - and he is relatively new to stirring up controversy. But he's been giving it a red hot go. Since being named Australian of the Year in January, McKeon has been notably scathing of very rich Australians who fail to invest their wealth in opportunities for the struggling and desperate souls of the world.

He told the Cranlana crowd he was ''bewildered and ashamed that … the collective of the very wealthy are sadly relatively miserly''. He pointed to the movement in the US led by billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who contribute substantial portions of their immense wealth to community-building programs ''and are effecting enormous change''.

Without this sort of leadership and example, he said, ''some might argue that on any measure we cannot be a good society''.

He also bemoaned the lack of moral leadership from the federal government, a situation in which news media play a compromising role. ''Aided and abetted by an ever-powerful fourth estate, so much of a society's attitudes and values can be conditioned by political leadership. But I am disappointed as to where our contemporary political system seems to be taking us. It is as if the 24 hour news cycle and associated hysteria by shock jocks makes political life akin to a game of AFL.''

Political discourse, he said, amounts to ''a spectacular mark, a gladiatorial tackle … as a crowd bellows out its response to a mere moment of play. So few political leaders at this time have the confidence and composure to think beyond the next handball.''

He nominated foreign aid as an area of government policy that indicated how good a society we are - or are not. ''We often convince ourselves that we are among the most generous in supporting the world's poor. The facts suggest otherwise. We currently rank 15 out of the 23 eligible OECD nations.''

He said it was disappointing that cutting foreign aid was singled out as a way of paying for the damage resulting from the Queensland floods. ''Other OECD countries have stronger grounds for contemplating cutting their foreign aid, which fortunately they are resisting.''

He also took a shot at the national self-interest that colours much of the debate on climate change. ''We often hear we are a relatively small polluter and why should we take a leadership role? If that is our mentality, at a time when we can be a leader, we simply become a free rider. It behoves all countries that have the ability - economic giants or small prosperous states - to do something more than look after themselves. I would hate to be benchmarked against countries struggling to make ends meet.''

Taking questions from the floor, McKeon was asked how to fix the short-termism he'd decried. ''I don't know, but I do know it's wrong.'' He pointed to the business world, where companies that planned long-term did better than those looking for the big hit.

Whether they are a company chairman or a government minister, he believes our leaders ''need to say to voters or shareholders, 'This is going to take time, for these reasons. It can't be done better any other way.' Too often we take the easy way out … and we pay a big price.''