City is great for civil exchange, former governor-general says

SIR Peter Cosgrove believed Ballarat was an excellent place to develop an initiative promoting the civil exchange of ideas within communities.

The former governor-general and Australian army general helped launch the Ballarat Civility Exchange on Wednesday 18 February.

A program between the Reimagining Civility Initiative led by the Menzies Leadership Foundation, and delivered locally by the Ballarat Foundation, the exchange was a participatory gathering to explore the concept of civility and how it could be supported during social change.

The initiative recognised communities played a role from the ground up creating trust, relationships and shared purpose. It would further bring participants together to share insight and test small practical ideas.

Community leaders from across the city attended the event at The Grand on Dana Street to share reflections and knowledge from experience.

Sir Peter said he was thrilled to be in town.

“When I was told that Ballarat had agreed to being a place for the unfolding of this initiative, I thought how great,” he said. “And now today we’re going to canvass the outcomes and to talk about the further unfolding of this program.”

Sir Peter said the exchange’s organisations had the chance to develop the program by engaging community representatives.

He believed the practice of civil debate was critical in current society.

“Now what it means is civility is not just somebody preaching from over the top of the lectern,” Sir Peter said.

“It’s actually through the integration of people’s debate and voicing their concerns, and the modality of bringing it to people’s attention that there is another way of discourse which allows debate, disagreement, development of ideas and all of that in a palatable framework without abuse.”

He said the exchange had the potential to support public discourse.

Ballarat Foundation chief executive officer Andrew Eales said the exchange built on the city’s long history of civic engagement.

“Ballarat has always been a place where people care deeply about fairness, representation and having a voice. The civility exchange is about continuing that legacy by creating space for respectful dialogue and collective problem solving, even when issues are complex or contested,” he said.