Julianne Schultz - The Idea of Australia: A search for the soul of the nation

Praise for The Idea of Australia

A penetrating analysis, and a valuable contribution to the debate over what Australia is, once was, and might yet become. Melissa Lucashenko, Miles Franklin Awardwinning author of Too Much Lip

Inevitably, The Idea of Australia will draw comparisons with The Lucky Countrya similarly timely, urgent and skilful reading of an Australian moment. Julianne Schultz brings a lifetime as scholar, editor, academic and arts leader to her analysis. The result is subtle, powerful and compellinga book which demands attention, and rewards with a singular vision of the people we have become. Professor Glyn Davis AC, author of On Lifes Lottery

As Australia lurches into a deeply uncertain and ill-defined future retarded by leaders whove forgotten how to lead, Julianne Schultz reflects on how we might shake off our fears, our mediocrity and our moral torpor, and rediscover the country we once promised to be. Kerry OBrien, author of Keating

An unflinching look at the contradictory myths and realities that make up the idea of this country. Schultz has written a book that is timely, bracing, and ultimately hopeful. Yassmin Abdel-Magied, author of Yassmins Story

The Idea of Australia is a triumph of art, politics, literature, history, and the deepest scholarship. Grand themes of dispossession, exclusion, equality, fairness, culture, media and the incurable flaw at the heart of our nation, interspersed with vignettes of personal reflection spring-boarding through a formidable sweep of history.

This is a book that sparkles with curiosity, self-reflection, and sophistication, a riveting journey through the uncertain terrain of the idea of a nation.

Julianne Schultz takes us into the darkest corners of a history we would rather forget and a history we thought we knew, always with hope for the better place we can become. History as a way of imagining the future. A towering achievement. Professor Jenny Hocking, author of The Palace Letters

Disruptive, bold and brilliant, The Idea of Australia is a work of masterful synthesis, intimate reflection and stunning vision. Schultz sees not what she wants to see, but what was there all along: a nation full of promise and heartache, ambition and self-defeat. The germ of truth and reason is there, if only we can find the courage to grow it. Professor Clare Wright OAM, Stella Prizewinning author of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka

A cerebral Who Do You Think You Are? for a nation, inviting reflection and inciting action. A contemporary classic in the making. Associate Professor Christine Wallace, author of How to Win an Election

This vast and generous book shows the full beauty and possibility of the practice of paying attentionacross all levels of life from the personal to the political. Its the result of asking how and why, of exploration and navigation, of connecting dots, and of insisting that the place thats now called Australia canand mustbe more than it has yet become.

The magnificent achievement of a magnificent and curious mind, this is a callmade with warmth, urgency and sparkling eruditionfor what Julianne herself describes as a response richer with courage and imagination than we have become accustomed to.

Its a demonstration of the best kind of imaginative leadership, the broadest understanding of this nations mental, emotional and mythological ecosystemsand their extraordinary potentialand the mighty scope of critical thinking available to someone whos stood at the centre of national conversations and thought-leadership throughout a unique and impressive career.

Julianne both thinks and cares about this country: shes passionate about justice, equality, democracy, creativity, integrity and change; the ways that these things intersect; the ways they can be transformative and transformed. She is one of this countrys most nuanced thinkers, not only dealing in but demanding complexity, lateral thinking, and always with an eye to the biggest of big pictures. The depth and breadth of her knowledge and inquiry has always felt two steps ahead of almost anyone elses as she has tackledand livedthe ongoing work of understanding how and why we have the Australia we have now; its betrayals, its blindsides, its opportunities.

Above all, this is a personal and passionate account that does its readers the courtesy of trusting their intelligence and curiosity through the richness of both on the page. Dr Ashley Hay, author of A Hundred Small Lessons

Schultz, using the metaphor of the COVID X-ray, distils many occasions in our history from opaque to light revealing the good, bad and ugly of who we are as a nation. As we struggle through a global pandemic, we have choices and decisions to make to ensure a healthier, more equitable and peaceful world. The Idea of Australia is both inspirational and aspirational, guiding a light on a path of a journey we need to travelthat of truth-telling and reconciliation. Professor Patricia Davidson, Vice Chancellor and President, University of Wollongong

A wonderfully enthralling read. Julianne Schultz writes a powerful book which weaves together her personal stories and therefore lived experience with the great ideas that could and should enliven the notion and nation of Australia.

She starts from the deep truth embedded in Australia that it is unique as it is the home the oldest living cultures in the world. The silence that remains at the heart of our national debate means that we have failed to embrace the strength and beauty and shame at the heart of our nation. However she sees many signs for optimism: the exclusion that defined us a nation has been and is being broken down by examples such as the generosity of First Nations people found in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the strength and courage of the four women who were the Australians of the Year in 2021.

Julianne Schultzs professional career taught her the value of listeningdeep and respectful listening. If we listen carefully enough then we might just know our past well enough to be able to foster, if not utopia, then at least an enduring open, innovative and generous society.

Julianne Schultzs deep knowledge of and genuine love of Australia and Australians with all our virtues and faults has animated spirited insights in the idea of Australia that we turn away from at our peril. The Honourable Roslyn Atkinson AO

In pandemic times, Julianne Schultz takes the pulse of the nation. The result is an exhilarating personal journey through the landscape of ideas that shape Australia, written with a fierce belief in the power of culture, creativity and the arts to reinvent our politics. At once anecdotal and analytical, conversational and critical, Schultzs book is a response to the degradation of Australian public culture in the twenty-first century. It is a discerning distillation of a lifetime of earwigging the Australian people and a heartfelt cry of both frustration and hope. A brilliant successor to Donald Hornes The Lucky Country. Professor Tom Griffiths AO, Ernest Scott Prizewinning author of The Art of Time Travel

The Idea of Australia seamlessly joins memoir, history, commentary and vision in an invigorating meditation on a somewhere, Australia, whose stories have been Julianne Schultzs life work. It will be essential reading for anyone interested what is abiding about this countryboth the good and the badas well as what it might become if we have the courage, will and imagination to renew it. Professor Frank Bongiorno AM, author of