----- Forwarded message from Gil May <gilmay97@gmail.com> ----- From: Gil May <gilmay97@gmail.com> Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2019 08:10:23 +1000 Subject: Words ahead of his time very applicable in today's world of political correctness and generalized stupidity *A TRIBUTE TO THE WISDOM OF MY LATE FATHER* An edited extract from his final speech to the Victorian Legislative Council A TRIBUTE TO THE WISDOM OF MY LATE FATHER An edited extract from his final speech to the Victorian Legislative Council By the Hon Robert (Bert) William May, Member for Gippsland. 14 July 1973 The great challenge of our time is the challenge to believe in the future without bias or prejudices. If a citizen demands wise government, then they must recognize that they have a responsibility, because wise government only comes from those people who take an intelligent interest in the performance of governments at all levels. Unfortunately, and I say this with sincere regret, many people must wait for events to overtake them. They lack the sensitive imagination and powers of analysis to enable them to anticipate and discount events. To put it another way, they never know that a policy is bad until it has worked havoc in their life and the lives of their time. Conversely they never know that a policy is good until it has dropped the ripe fruits of its goodness at their feet. Many people go through life victimized by the tragic results of bad policies that wiser people would have foreseen and endeavoured to forestall, or robbed of the benefits of good policies which could have been brought into being had they only possessed the power of discernment. Many people look only at the short-term benefit rather than the long term effect which so often defeats its original intention. Today one is appalled with the lack of tolerance and lack of desire, the lack of ability to put personal opinions and animosities to one side for the betterment of the community and the people as a whole. Many civilisations in the past have fallen through lack of foresight and tolerance, which began with the condemnation of other points of view—is this the path we are now taking? The great challenge of our time is the challenge to believe in the future. Today one is appalled with the lack of tolerance and lack of desire, to be guided by the mistakes of history. ----- End forwarded message -----