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Peace and Optimism: Good Things Will Happen
A Peaceful Morning Tea at Australia's Parliament
A Commentary by Victor Perton, the Optimism Man
On 17 September, I joined A Peaceful Morning Tea in the Speaker’s Courtyard at Parliament House, Canberra. Hosted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, on Parliament’s last sitting day before the United Nations International Day of Peace on 21 September, it brought together participants in our Peacebuilding Roundtables and those who had led reflections and meditations during the 100 Days of Peace.
We gathered as a multifaith, intergenerational and multicultural community of peacemakers, with people travelling from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle to join colleagues in Canberra. Making that journey took time and commitment, and I was grateful for the care each person brought.
Among those joining us were the ambassadors of Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, representatives of the United States Embassy, Senator Richard Colbeck, and Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. Students and professors from the Australian National University, RMIT and other universities brought their experiences, questions and ideas into the conversation.
Among the courtyard’s spring blossoms, we shared music, silence and conversation in the heart of our democracy. Optimism is a belief that good things will happen and that things will work out in the end. Our gathering strengthened that belief in me, through the friendships we are building, the possibilities we can see and the work we can do together.
At our preparatory gathering on Wednesday evening, Bishop Philip Huggins and Charlie Hogg spoke of an intuition that something good would come from this work. We could not yet say what form it would take, but there was a tangible sense of something wonderful to come. I carried that feeling into the courtyard and our conversations afterwards: an invitation to remain alert to opportunities, recognise them as they emerge and be ready to act.
We were willing to try new things and discover what we could achieve together. Returning home to Melbourne and learning that the new treaty with Fiji carries the name “Ocean of Peace,” Alliance added to that sense of opportunity and optimism.
Our peacebuilding community brings together people connected with Calm in the City, the Anglican Church, the Brahma Kumaris, the Focolare Movement, the Centre for Optimism, the United Nations Association of Australia, the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture and the West Papua Women’s Office. Their friendships and shared work give these gatherings their warmth and purpose.
The breadth of faith and spiritual life represented was heartening: Anglican and Catholic Christians, Christian Scientists, Quakers, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Baha’i communities, Buddhist practitioners and Sukyo Mahikari. Those joining us included people from the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Australia, the Namdhari Sikh Society of Australia, the Hindu Council of Australia, the Australian Baha’i Community and the Tibet Information Office, alongside Religions for Peace Australia, the Canberra Interfaith Forum, the Women’s Interfaith Network and The Interfaith Centre of Melbourne.
Behind these organisations are people who give their time, listen to difficult stories and keep offering friendship when progress is hard to see. Some have found refuge in Australia after violence in their homelands. Many have spent years patiently bringing people together. I value their generosity and the experience they bring to our shared work.
Bishop Philip Huggins, Professor Kalvinder Shields and our roundtable colleagues embody optimistic leadership. They bring people together, inspire bold ideas and turn a shared belief in peace into action. Their infectious optimism gives others the confidence to step forward, the courage to experiment and the conviction that together we can achieve something wonderful.
The 100 Days of Peace gave that spirit a simple, welcoming form: an evening reflection followed by ten minutes of shared silence, with people joining from their homes across Australia and beyond.
Philip spoke of how silence shapes the conversation that follows. We may listen more carefully, speak more gently and become more receptive to someone else’s experience. Music helped us enter that stillness in the courtyard. Messages read on behalf of the Dalai Lama and the UN Secretary-General encouraged compassion, shared humanity and action for peace.
Our joint host, Nicolette Boele MP, was unable to attend because of illness, and her parliamentary colleague, Zali Steggall OAM MP, graciously conveyed her message. As Philip noted in his reflection on the gathering, what struck people was Nicolette’s suggestion that, alongside a Ministry of Defence and a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia needs a distinct Ministry of Peace. The idea prompted an enthusiastic response and further conversation at our roundtable.
When I thanked Senator Richard Colbeck for coming, he replied, “Why wouldn’t I have come?” I appreciated his support for peace and for our multifaith community. To me, his response expressed a generous liberal instinct: respect for each person’s dignity, freedom of belief and the willingness to come together for the common good.
The roundtable after the morning tea turned to practical possibilities. We discussed bringing young people together through music, poetry and art, and helping people have difficult conversations with respect. People spoke from their own lives and responsibilities, with room for painful experiences as well as promising ideas.
One proposal, A Time for Stillness, would offer parliamentarians, staff and guests fifteen minutes of music and silence at the beginning of the February, May and August sitting periods. It remains a proposal, and I welcome its invitation to pause together before undertaking the demanding work of democracy.
I value the group’s readiness to experiment: offer an idea, give it a go and learn from what happens. If it does not work, try something else. Each of us can contribute our talents and take a practical next step.
Our submissions and Bishop Philip Huggins’ evidence to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion carried a strong thread of optimism: Australia has the capacity to strengthen what is good, repair what has been damaged and become more fully a nation “One and Free”. Antisemitism and the safety of Jewish Australians demand direct attention, accountability and action. Our peacebuilding contribution is to help turn that belief in a better future into practical work that builds trust, friendship and belonging, continuing beyond the Commission’s final report.
Philip captured our shared aspiration beautifully:
"We are truly on a journey to be a Nation ‘One and Free’! Our shared intuition is that there is scope for Australia to model, with optimism, how the whole human family can be at peace with each other and all creation."
Peacemakers need to be optimists, and optimists make the best peacemakers. I see that belief expressed in the care, persistence and imagination of our roundtable colleagues.
I returned to Melbourne grateful for their friendship, believing that good things will happen and ready to help make them happen.
What makes you optimistic about our capacity to build peace?
Read More: 100 Days of Peace and A Peaceful Morning Tea at Parliament House Canberra
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