Short weight.(Book review)

Weighing Up Australian Values, by Brian Howe; UNSW Press, 2007, $29.95.

PRIME MINISTER John Howard and his senior ministers have spoken frequently of the need for refugees and immigrants to be tested on their understanding of "Australian values" before they are granted residency and citizenship. The confidence with which politicians speak about these values implies they can be clearly articulated and are well known and universally acknowledged. But when asked for details, these pronouncements are often limited to vague assertions about the importance of mateship, giving someone a "fair go", and respecting the rule of law. Does this triumvirate exhaust the list of Australian values? And are they free from controversy in any event?

Brian Howe, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Uniting Church minister, has turned his considerable experience of social policy development to consider what matters to Australians during difficult and demanding periods of life. Weighing Up Australian Values is a product of an ARC-funded research project on labour market transitions and future public and private responses to different patterns of work. Howe's aim is to "set out an approach to framing a values-driven social policy that responds to the fundamental changes both in our economy and our society". He argues that Australia needs to "rethink the foundations of social policy" in the wake of deregulating financial systems, privatising public utilities and enterprises, and liberalising attitudes towards many aspects of everyday life. The new challenge is "to work with people to anticipate and manage change more effectively". This has implications for income security, educational opportunity and labour relations.

Howe argues for greater investment in people because "they are our society's human capital and their unrealised potential can contribute to the community". He believes that "the objective of new social policies should be to encourage people to realise their potential by supporting and managing risk". Whereas this was previously deemed the responsibility of individuals, there is growing acceptance that the state has a crucial part to play in the flexible delivery of training and in the distribution of work. He is especially concerned about balancing life and work, contending that "the way we live our lives is not driven by some invisible hand or providence; it is driven by the choices people make. It is socially constructed, not an inevitable consequence of changes in work patterns."

I must confess to being disappointed with this book. Although the prose is hard-going in places, this is not my main complaint. The title implies that the origin and expression of values would be discerned and discussed. The actual focus of the book, however, is on changing employment patterns and technical solutions to challenges and conflicts created by labour market transition. Howe does not attempt to explain the origin of specific values and how they can be preserved in social policy within a pluralistic society. Who decides what constitutes a "value" that ought to be promoted, especially when governments are involved? It was somewhat surprising given Howe's background as a minister of religion (still in good standing) to find that religious perspectives were not credited with having any role in either what Australia was or what it might become.

There is no mention in his book of theological insights or religious convictions, the spiritual well-being of Australians, moral or ethical considerations in public policy, or a discussion of those things ...