Dr Rebecca Huntley

Director of Research, Ipsos Mackay Australia
BA(Hons), LLB (UNSW), PhD (USyd)

Dr Rebecca Huntley addressed graduates from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the Great Hall, City campus, University of Technology, Sydney on Thursday, 24 September 2009, 10.30am.

About the speaker

Dr Rebecca Huntley is the Director of Research at Ipsos Australia, a leading international research company. She is a researcher, author and social commentator with a background in publishing, academia and politics. She holds degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in Gender Studies.

Rebecca has authored 'The World According to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation' and she also contributes to numerous essay collections, newspapers, magazines, online publications and is a regular feature writer for 'Australian Vogue'.

Her latest book, 'Eating Between the Lines: food and equality in Australia', was published by Black Inc in September 2008.

Speech

I first want to say congratulations on finishing your studies and getting yourselves organised to order your gown and make the time to actually attend your graduation ceremony.

We don't tend to make that big a fuss about graduations ceremonies in this country but I believe we should. After years of study and cramming and writing papers and bad beer you deserve some closure.

I attended just one of my graduation ceremonies — for my law degree. I had a pixie cut at the time which was a good thing as one of those hats would never have fitted on my head with the kind of hair I have now.

I remember the day pretty clearly. I was thrilled that my mother's mother — I called her my nonna because she was Italian — that she lived to see me graduate. She was required to leave school at before she even turned thirteen to become the cook on her father's sugar cane farm in Northern Queensland.

In her late 80s she got to see her granddaughter awarded two university degrees. I think we can call that progress of some kind.

I guess as your speaker today I am supposed to come up with some wise and witty words that will stand you in good stead as you finish your studies and head off into the working world.

Except we know it doesn't work that way.

Firstly, I hope this is just one phase in your life-long love of learning. You might return to UTS or another lesser institution for more study or to teach or to be more involved with the University as alumni.

And I bet most of you have had to work in the so called 'real world' before and during your time studying as well.

And I struggle with the idea that in 8 minutes I could say something profound that might move you deeply and cause you to continuously reflect on my insights as you progress through your careers.

But I will give it a go.

You have come of age at a moment of great consequence for our nation and the world — a rare inflection point in history where the size and scope of the challenges before us require that we remake our world to renew its promise; that we align our deepest values and commitments to the demands of a new age. It is a privilege and a responsibility afforded to few generations — and a task that you are now called to fulfil.

That wasn't really me, sorry. I googled 'Barak Obama' and 'graduation speech' and go a video of him talking to the Notre Dame graduating class.

But the dude has a point.

You are finishing study at a time of an economic slowdown, where employers may not be as eager to have to as they were maybe two years ago.

Your education — and your continued commitment to improving your skills and expanding your knowledge of the world — will ensure that when the economy improves, so too will your fortunes.

But the Global Financial Crisis, as serious as it is, is nothing in the face of the larger crisis that faces us, which is what we are going to do about our environment, here in Australia and globally.

What's going to happen with our rivers, our increasingly salty and drought stricken land, our water supply?

What's going to happen with energy in the future?

Once the quarries start to empty, once we can no longer rely on mining for jobs and boosting our GDP, what home-grown industries will fuel Australian prosperity?

Do we need to have more or less children? Close the door in migrants or pay them to come here?

I used to think it was the scientists and the economists — you know, the geeks — that would solve these problems for us.

Even if you did your honours thesis on 'A post-structural reading of Lindsay Lohan's hotpants', these are your problems too and I entreat you to apply your finely tuned academic skills, honed here at UTS, to be part of the solution.

But not today. Today is a day of wine and roses and being very very pleased you never have to write another undergraduate essay about Lindsay Lohan's hotpants ever again.

Congratulations and best of luck for the future.