The Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, has sparked an intriguing debate with a speech in Melbourne this week in which he called for a return to the “spirit of the volunteer”.

Delivering the inaugural Sir Henry Bolte lecture in tribute to the former Liberal Premier of Victoria between 1955-72, Costello outlined traditional elements of Liberal Party thinking, derided faith in the capacity of government to “solve any kind of problem”, and called for people to undertake more voluntary work in the community.

Costello spoke of the globalised Australian economy and economic progress since the middle of the last century: “Our living standards are higher than they have ever been, our standard of housing, our cars, our domestic appliances, our health services are better than they have been in previous decades, and our economic abundance has increased.” [Read more…]