FAIR GO?

Australia refers to itself as the lucky country built on ‘fair go’ and ‘mateship’.

However, is the luck shared around equally?

Is everyone, irrespective of their circumstances, given a ‘fair go’? Do the disadvantaged, the disabled, the mentally ill, the asylum seekers get a ‘fair go’?  Do the indigenous population – the ‘first people’ of this lucky country – get a ‘fair go’?

What is a ‘fair go’?  Who decides what a ‘fair go’ is?  Compared to what?  Do we have to compare it to the down-trodden, the poor, and the disadvantaged to ensure that we get it right?  Who are our ‘role models’ for the ‘fair go’ in business? I can only think of one: Andrew Forrest, the mining magnate, who owns Fortescue Mining, has a target of 50,000 jobs for the indigenous population of WA.

That’s how we should coach our future leaders, our managers, – in fact every employee – that equality, fairness and justice are an integral part of our culture (or should be) and that all people have a right to learn those values irrespective of their age, gender, or ethnicity.

Let’s set the standards high and be the ones who teach what a ‘fair go’ is!