Just want to start off by saying
Hello to Barry
Barry and I both come from the
same country town from Kellerberrin
and Barry's uncle,
Uncle John is my brother.
We were best friends all through
primary school
and still keep in touch so -
2 little Kellerberrin kids out here in the dais today is pretty good going.
and also just Thanks to Professor Biggs
for that wonderful introduction.
I think
I wasn't sure if I'm well qualified
to give it good advice to the graduands
but I think
one line from your introduction
resonated with me.
I think I've had 3 careers
maybe 3 and a half careers
in my working time
and about 18 different jobs.
So I'm even ahead of my time
Pro Chancellor Professor Biggs,
University staff,
Distinguished Guests
Graduands
Families and Friends
I certainly am very honored to be here today.
At my university
after 40 years
to give this graduation address
and to congratulate
and offer a few words of advice
to today's graduands.
You're lucky
You are lucky
this is a great University
I remember being here in total or of the place
and the opportunities that beheld me when
I first arrived here in first year in 1973
I was from the bush,
it was the 70s,
it was the endless summer of
summer of simmering something
there was always something going on and I remember
I went to every protest march,
every great court soapbox session,
every concert, every movie,
every guild function, every guild non function.
I got straight C's.
[ Laughter ]
That was a bit of a shock
I was meant to be here on a scholarship
my parents were not impressed so I worked harder
in second year,
less concerts, less movies
but still had a lot of fun
and I got straight B's.
So it's still not very good in third year.
I worked harder
but around about 6 weeks before I graduated, I dropped out.
It was the 70's and it was a long story.
So I went off and got a job
and within a couple of years of course
reality bit back
of being in "the workforce"
you know earning a living
and so I came back to Uni to finish my degree.
I took a double major
and I've got straight A's.
So there may be a message in there
for some of you
maybe there's not.
My message about messages
and tips and advice
is simply that you shouldn't take advice
because it's given to you.
You should seek advice from everyday life
from everyday people
there are messages everywhere
you just have to be inquisitive
and to be open to hearing them.
I love this quote
it's been doing the rounds lately
especially in this era of fake news
you're talking to two people with
opposing views
one says it's sunny
the other says it's raining
it's probably best
not to just accept
one side of this argument
just go outside and see it for yourself
and I think it's a real challenge for us making
head or tail of what we
learn and what we hear
and the important thing is that
you form your own own opinion on that.
I've never given a graduation speech before
but I understand how good
or bad it can be
for those of you in the audience
in my preparation I've watched a few
outstanding graduation speeches on YouTube
and I can recommend
that you all have a look at the one given
by the comedian Tim Minchin
in this very Hall a couple of years ago
Tim gave lots of really good tips
but I've been to functions,
conferences and events all over the world
with keynote speeches given by the likes
of Bill Clinton,
Al Gore,
Charles Court
and Greg Hunt
and many other celebrities and politicians
but I can't remember much
about what any of them said
one speech I do remember was given
by an Aboriginal elder
speaking at a conference
a science conference that I attended
many many years ago.
He told the story about
an old man and his grandson
who were walking along
a deserted beach in a
remote part of the Northern Territory
The grandson was dragging a bit of
driftwood behind him
and making a long squiggly mark
in the sand behind them.
The grandfather looked around at one stage
saw all the marks on the sand
and said stop that
and the grandson said
why it's nothing
and the grandfather said
nothing is nothing
everything is something
nothing is nothing
everything is something
and those words and that story
has stuck with me ever since
and they form a big part of
influencing the way in which
I look at things and look at people
I gave a dinner speech at a science
conference in Adelaide earlier this year
and I drew up on that story
I entitled my talk.
Nobody is nobody,
Everybody is somebody
and that's another message
that I'd like to leave with you today.
That nobody is nobody,
everybody is somebody.
You are somebody,
everyone can make a difference,
you can make a difference
and coming from the conservation sector
that's all I would ever ask of anybody
is make a difference
and you will make a difference.
It's really up to the choices
and sometimes the sacrifices
that you're prepared to make
I do like the way that in some
of the graduation speeches
that I googled
they include a bit of poetry
or philosophy.
So we decided to include
some in my address today
actually it's a bit of
poetry and philosophy
as it was described at the time
as psychologically deeper
than anything the poet had written before
and extraordinary for its time.
So I'll have a go at doing justice to it.
It was written by a poet of my generation
see if you can recognize who it was
she's got a ticket to ride
but she don't care
it was written by
John Lennon of course
Barry's Uncle John and I used
to play the Beatles
in primary school with elastic
bands when I rulers
and we loved ticket to ride.
The graduands
I just want to say congratulations to you all
on achieving your ticket to ride
I hope you care.
I can guarantee you that my
degree from here from UWA
has been a ticket to ride
and a huge contributing factor
to my exciting,
enjoyable
and rewarding career.
The same applies to family and friends
they were also a huge factor as well
and I'd like to acknowledge
and say thanks to all the family and friends
who are here today
and those who haven't been able
to join us for one reason or another
I'm very lucky not to have had
worked for most of my life
sure I've had a job in every single year
of all the years since I graduated
but but not too many of them have felt like work
and the secret of that has been
finding organisations or companies
or places to work
that have the same values as I do
I recommend that sometime
in the not too distant future
you sit down and write down your personal
values a little bit of a homework if you like
don't worry about bucket lists
or life goals
or new year resolutions
write down your values.
Write down the things that you want to be
and the things that you want to seen to be.
Things like being passionate,
or honest,
or hard working,
respectful,
accountable,
positive,
generous
these kinds of values
and then find a company
or an enterprise that has the same values.
If you can't find it on their website
then I think it's a question you should ask
at every job interview you ever go for.
What does it Enterprise really stand for
what are the values underpin
the behavior of this company or enterprise.
When I left University I wanted to work for WWF.
The World Wildlife Fund
I liked its mission
I liked his guiding principles its values
I liked his global perspective
it was a very easy fit for me.
But there were no jobs at WWF at the time
so I went off and did a heap of other things.
It took me about 2 decades
to finally get a job with WWF,
as a field ecologist.
Working on threatened ecosystems
in southwest Australia.
I thereafter enjoyed the best part of 2 decades
working with them
all over the world.
It was everything that I had dreamt about
and wanted it to be
and more in fact.
It took me to the forests of Peru,
the rivers of Cambodia,
the halls of Washington,
the oceans of the Arctic,
the mountains of the Himalaya
and included 7 or 8 years working in
the global headquarters in Switzerland.
My tip here then
is that if you don't get your dream job
when you first graduate.
Then keep working towards it
just remember you've got a ticket to ride.
You may have to be patient,
and passionate,
and persevering,
you may have many jobs,
you may have ups and downs,
just stick with your values.
I've quote written on my office wall
which I look at
every time I'm about to recruit a new employee
and it says
excellence is an attitude not a skill.
It's not a qualification,
excellence it's an attitude
and you must have that attitude.
It will carry you a long way.
I was lucky enough to work in Cambodia for a while
working with WWF on amongst other things
establishing a huge predicted area
up in the northeast of the country on the border
of Vietnam and Laos.
I worked alongside some amazing, tireless
Cambodian government staff
from ministries of Forestry
and ministries of environment.
Most of whom were earning a mere
fraction of what I was earning at the time
most were on about $20 a month.
Cambodia is not an easy place
to do conservation you get shot at.
I got shot at.
Conservationists get killed there
or they died of cerebral malaria
or some other affliction
and yet these scientists work there remotely
for months on end in the jungle
for $20 a month.
Some of which is siphoned off
to pay their corrupt managers
to ensure they keep their jobs.
In that sort of context
you can't look up for inspiration
you have to look at who's really doing the work.
I came back inspired by the poorest paid,
the volunteers
and the unrecognized.
I also came away thinking how lucky I am,
how lucky we are.
I came away thinking
if we can't do conservation
or science
or anything really
in Australia.
We can't do it anywhere in the world.
In some ways I think I learned more
by working in Cambodia for a year,
than we learnt in a decade in Australia.
I'd encourage you all at some stage
if you can
to work overseas
especially in a developing country
and to volunteer.
While I was at WWF
I also had the honor of being the editor-in-chief
of WWF biennial premier publication
the Living Planet Report.
In preparation for the 2012 edition,
we were holding our first
team planning meeting
in Charles Darwin's office
at the Zoological Society of London no less
and I said to my team
you know one day
I'd love to launch
the Living Planet Report from space
looking down on earth.
The 2008 edition of the LPR
had a picture of
the earth rise over the moon from
the Apollo Expedition
and I really wanted to be able
to get that same image.
we're all laughs of course
one of my team
a woman
from our office in the Netherlands said
you know I think we might be able to do it
Monique went on to say that there was a
Dutch astronaut could Andre kuipers
who had previously been up in the
International Space Station
and who upon his return
had immediately walked into WWF offices
in Amsterdam
and said
I want to help you guys get the message across
about the fragility
in the smallness of this one planet
and he became a WWF ambassador
there's almost no astronaut
who's ever been into space who hasn't
come back as a conservationist.
So we got in contact with Andre
he was still in in the Netherlands
and he immediately said yes
he'll work on that
work with us on that
so we then spent months and months
working with the European Space Agency
and NASA
and eventually launched the 2012 report
from the International Space Station.
I think it's still the only book
ever launched from space.
I encourage you all to have a
look at that video
on YouTube from that 2012 launch.
It's quite inspiring
Andrei's words
from the space station
still stick in my mind
especially this sentence.
All life on Earth
takes place
in 10 kilometers of air
and 10 kilometers of water.
Reality is that takes
place in much less than that.
Most life on Earth takes place in about
less than a kilometer of air
and a kilometer of water.
It's not a very big place
and you can make a difference
we can all make a difference.
So in conclusion then these are my parting words
to you especially to the graduands
Congratulations on your graduation
it's an amazing achievement
it's just the start
of an amazing adventure.
You're lucky,
you've got a ticket to ride,
you should care about that
because you have so much opportunity ahead
and you've got values
put all of those things together.
May the rest of your luck,
may your good luck go with you
for the rest of your life.
Make good choices,
be passionate,
go outside and see for yourself,
think big,
act local,
volunteer
and make a difference.
I'm sure you all have fantastic
and fun-filled futures
and Thank you for listening to me today.
[ Applause ]