I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
It is such a pleasure to be here tonight for the launch of Three Shocks - Who We Are Becoming in the 21st Century.
In this age of shrinking attention spans, George Megalogenis stands out as a rarity.
With his eye for detail and his capacity for joining the dots, George makes a valuable contribution to the national discourse every time he hits the keyboard.
Three Shocks - the third in a trilogy that began with The Australian Moment - is no exception.
George has once again delivered a masterclass in how to paint by numbers, Megalogenis style - guided by statistics to deliver the full, compelling sweep of the bigger picture.
The result is a portrait of Australia as an exciting work in progress, a nation that is changing within while our place in the world shifts beneath our feet.
A nation that George presents as a tree anchored by the most ancient of roots - representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the oldest continuous culture on earth.
A tree given added heft by its trunk - representing what George calls Old Australia, or Australians who've been here at least three generations.
A tree from whose trunk spread the branches - representing New Australia, or Australians who have at least one parent born overseas.
With one community after another adding to the breadth of who are, and lifting us through their love of this country that unites us, Australia's immigrant story has been many generations in the making, contrary to those who squint at the rear-vision mirror and imagine they can see a monoculture.
It's a story that's very much at the heart of who we are.
The way it has changed our country - sometimes in waves, sometimes in tectonic increments - is something political parties haven't always kept pace with.
Likewise our shift from a nation that long viewed itself through an overtly masculine lens - down to and including election campaign ads starring fake tradies.
In 2015, blue collar tradies were overtaken in number in our workforce by women with tertiary degrees working as professionals across the care and creative economies.
It's a change that, in one those coincidences that feels almost like preordained poetry, happened as Tony Abbott came to the end of his prime ministership.
The third shock George presents is a world that has become far less predictable and less reliable.
Our relationships with the United States and China remain fundamental. And we are energised by our deepening relationships in our region.
Nevertheless, we are losing the anchor of so many long-held assumptions - and the order that was shaped after World War II is no longer fit for purpose.
Challenges abound - but crucially, so do opportunities.
As George painstakingly maps out, none of these stories is entirely straightforward.
But then, we have always been a proudly non-straightforward continent - as the first Europeans who saw a platypus could attest.
It's also worth noting the evolution of the role of the media.
And bear in mind that George reminds me of a time when The Australian had more news than opinion.
George is right to say there never was any golden age of objectivity. Nevertheless, he writes:
"… the reform era that I was raised in, when print was dominant, was mediated by policy-based journalism. The contest between the major parties began with a shared understanding of the problem to be solved.
… Some [journalists] might have struggled to conceal their biases, but overt barracking wasn't part of the norm."
The megaphones of the right-wing media might target my side of politics - but are a graver danger to the side they think they're helping.
The changes in the media landscape - and the explosion of the deeply mixed bag that is social media - have added to the challenges of governing, which call for a fleetfooted ability to anticipate and adapt.
Likewise the three changes that are at the heart of George's book.
However, the responsibility of Government is - at heart - unaltered.
And that is to be worthy of the trust the Australian people put in every government.
Yet as Australia changes, along with the world around us, there are problems that cannot be denied.
The declining support for the major parties is not a blip, neither are the growing numbers who are looking to other parties out of frustration.
Those Australians do not owe the major parties automatic loyalty - we owe it to them to persuade them we are worthy of their vote.
We owe it to Australians to make life easier in the present, while giving real reasons to look to the future positively.
And we owe everyone our energy and determination to bring Australians together.
What catches up with any party is when they are too slow to adapt to the new realities of Australia.
And what is punished with particular ferocity is a party unwilling to learn from the mistakes of the past.
It's sobering and baffling in equal measure to be reminded that many of the findings of the Liberal Party's report into its 2022 election defeat could be applied unchanged to its 2025 result.
But let's face it - none of us can afford to be complacent.
The energy of engagement is vanishing. As George points out, there are plenty of Australians ready to put up their hand and make a difference by volunteering to help get an independent elected.
But they won't join a political party.
What becomes clear is that we have never been served by culture wars.
Pitting different groups against each other and setting the nation on a polarisation loop - all for the sake of power or ratings - is not only reprehensible, it causes long-term harm.
As do the flow-on effects of everything from distorting the housing market, to treating climate change as just another football on the political paddock.
What also doesn't serve anyone is to panic and abandon principles and leaders, as the major parties have done with great, misguided energy over the past 16 years.
We don't always get it right, but we keep striving.
From the floating of the dollar to marriage equality, our national story has been shaped in no small part by the policies that have made the journey, in George's words:
"from partisan fight to truce; from politically contested to a statement of shared Australian values".
The key breakthroughs come when governments respect the electorate, a respect that is built on understanding the electorate as it is.
When we explain ourselves and invite the Australian people on the journey.
When we are true to our principles and deliver on them.
When we form governments that better reflect the modern face of Australia.
Governments that recognise that Australia can never achieve its full potential until we have gender equality.
I am proud to lead the first Australian government with a majority of women - turns out quotas do work; who knew?
A government that has driven the gender pay gap to a record low.
A government that gives a better sense of Australia's diversity.
If you just do the letter A on our caucus roll call, you'll get Abdo, Albanese, Aly, Ambihaipahar, Ananda-Rajah - and Ayres.
And I am proud to lead a government that engages with the world - maturely, in good faith and in our national interest.
So we are working, we are adapting.
But as George makes clear, we have a lot of work ahead of us.
I now look forward to him writing a book on AI. I urge him to work quickly.
I am proud to have been part of this book, along with my predecessors, who have made some deeply thoughtful contributions.
Don't come expecting to agree with everything. Be a thrill-seeker, ready to brave the world outside of echo chambers and social media silos.
When you open a George Megalogenis book, you are embarking on a story in which the main character is Australia.
A story told with eloquence and powered by curiosity, clarity and perception.
By a willingness to question everything.
A total inability to succumb to cynicism.
And no agenda greater than the truth.
It gives me great pleasure to declare Three Shocks officially launched.
