An event not to be missed if you love Australia enough to want to make it a better place for us all.

Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and bestselling author of 19 books, including The Good Life, The Art of Belonging and his latest: Australia Reimagined.

'When it comes to our future, misplaced optimism is as dangerous as blind faith. What is needed is the courage to face the way things are, and the wisdom and imagination to work out how to make things better.' Hugh MacKay

Join Ngara Institute and Hugh MacKay as we delve into the social and cultural changes reshaping Australia and our local community.

Off the back of the elections our loss of faith in democratic institutions has escalated, our corroded democracy is under real threat, we endure increased competitiveness, entrenched inequality, the collapse of social infrastructure and within our less than cohesive civil society we are facing high levels of anxiety and discontent.

The values underpinning today’s Australia are uncertain, fluid, lacking direction. They’re generally antithetical to ideas of sharing and cooperation and work against collectivism and common purpose.

Consumerism, competitiveness and other manifestations of individualism, fostered in large part by neoliberalism, have reduced our capacity to live together in supportive and nurturing ways. Kindness and compassion are less present than they once were.

In Australia Reimagined Mackay suggests ways in which we can rethink how we live, the values that inform our relationships - in fact, everything we think and do. He argues that we are at our best when we cooperate, care for and support each other, when we do things for others rather than ourselves, when we privilege the social over the economic.

For an evening of genuine connection, acknowledgement, hope and insight join Ngara Institute at the Civic Memorial Hall, July 20.
Come early. Event begins 7pm sharp - 8:30pm.

MORE ABOUT THE EVENT
From 5:30pm
Heart warming eats by Barrio Baron Bay
Hot drinks and sweet treats by Pure Melt
Beer, wine and soft drink are available at the bar.

6pm – 7pm
Doors open for soulful tunes by Elena B Williams

7pm - 8:30pm
Guest Speaker: Hugh MacKay
Thanks to Enova Community Energy Ngara Institute will award the ACTIVIST OF THE YEAR 2019 to The Climate Council’s Will Steffen and Lesley Hughes.

MORE ABOUT HUGH MACKAY, AO
Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and bestselling author of 19 books, including The Good Life, The Art of Belonging and his latest: Australia Reimagined.

He has had a 60-year career in social research, and was also a weekly newspaper columnist for over 25 years. Among many honorary appointments, he has been deputy chairman of the Australia Council for the Arts, chairman of trustees of Sydney Grammar School, the inaugural chairman of the ACT government’s Community Inclusion Board and an honorary professor at Macquarie, Wollongong and Charles Sturt universities. He is currently a patron of the Asylum Seekers Centre

In recognition of his pioneering work in social research, Hugh has been elected a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and awarded honorary doctorates by Charles Sturt, Macquarie, NSW, Western Sydney and Wollongong universities. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015.