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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ004109S
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00:26 The Australian Parliament House is the center of Australian 00:29 politics. It's situated on Capitol Hill in Canberra and 00:34 much of the building is built into the hill. It took 30 years 00:38 to construct, involved 10,000 people, contains 4,500 rooms and 00:44 2,700 clocks. It was the world's most expensive building when it 00:49 was built. Since opening in 1998 over 30 million people have been 00:55 through its doors. Perhaps the most identifiable symbol of 01:00 Parliament House is the distinctive flag mast and flag 01:04 above the building. The flag mast is a whapping 81 meters 01:09 high and weighs a mighty 220 tons making it one of the 01:14 largest stainless steel structures in the world. And the 01:17 flag is about the size of the side of a double decker bus. 01:22 Parliament House is surrounded by dozens of federal buildings 01:27 set in park land around lovely Lake Burley Griffin. And in a 01:32 sense all of this is largely due to one man Alfred Deakin 01:38 Australia's second prime minister who chose Canberra as 01:42 the nation's capital. Alfred Deakin was a remarkable man. 01:47 He was the architect of Federation that made Australia 01:51 a nation. He was the first attorney general of the 01:54 commonwealth and the founder of the High Court of Australia in 01:59 1901. He served as prime minister for three terms. He 02:04 founded the Arbitration Court, the Australian Navy and laid the 02:08 plans for a railway across Australia. He was the driving 02:13 force behind the Murray irrigation scheme and he 02:16 produced old age pension. He was one man who truly made a 02:21 difference. But what motivated him? And who inspired him? The 02:27 answer may surprise you. Stay with us to find out because it 02:32 could inspire and motivate you as well and help you make a 02:36 difference too. Join us as we take a look at the life and 02:41 legacy of one of Australia's political giants. 02:45 ♪ ♪ 03:07 Australia in the mid to late 19th century was basking in the 03:11 glow of a golden era. The six Australian colonies were well 03:16 established and enjoying the fruits of what is known as the 03:20 long boom. Five of those colonies had introduced the 03:24 constitution and Australians were on the cutting edge of 03:29 world leading initiatives. The secret ballot and the eight hour 03:33 work day were both tried in the country during this time. 03:37 Literature was thriving and books were freely available. 03:42 The arts were being patronized like never before. Technological 03:47 advances such as the Adelaide to Port Darwin overland 03:51 telegraph line was completed. Australia beat England in what 03:56 is generally regarded as the first Cricket test match and the 04:00 University of Melbourne became the first university to admit 04:04 women. It was an amazing era to live through and it was at the 04:11 very cusp of all this excitement that Alfred Deakin was born. 04:15 His parents were originally from England and left Plymouth in 04:20 1849. It was a time of great economic depression and 04:25 starvation in England and many British subjects were leaving in 04:29 search of better economic opportunities in faraway lands. 04:35 When Sarah and William Deakin arrived in Australia they could 04:39 hardly have imagined the kind of impact one of their children 04:43 would have on their new home. Alfred Deakin's story is glowing 04:49 and enigmatic by turns but at its very center is a firmly held 04:54 belief in God and his providential leading that 04:58 anchored much of what Deakin accomplished. Alfred Deakin was 05:06 born in August 1856 in Fitzroy a suburb of Melbourne. He had an 05:11 older sister Catherine and his parents, William and Sarah, were 05:15 financially stable middle class folks. At the age of four Deakin 05:20 was sent to school in Canton where he learned to read almost 05:24 immediately. After his time in Canton Deakin's parents sent him 05:29 to the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School where he 05:32 was often teased and bullied by his peers. He turned to books as 05:37 a companion and spent countless hours reading. The hours Deakin 05:43 spent reading opened his mind to a vast array of ideas that 05:49 helped him to think differently He had an amazing memory and 05:53 could recall chunks of poetry and prose to writers he admired 05:58 the most. His almost photographic memory would prove 06:02 to be an invaluable asset when he entered politics years later. 06:07 As a teenager Deakin would regularly pack himself a lunch 06:12 and spend the entire day holed up in either the Melbourne or 06:17 Caron Public Library. He read anything he could get his hands 06:22 on. He also read a great deal of religious books. One book that 06:27 made a significant impact on him in his teens was John Bunyan's 06:31 timeless classic The Pilgrim's Progress. After completing his 06:38 secondary studies Deakin studied law at the University of 06:42 Melbourne. He was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1878 to 06:47 practice law as a barrister. Interestingly during this time 06:52 of his life, Deakin was a vegetarian and an advocate for 06:57 temperance which was a social movement of the 19th century 07:01 that championed abstinence from alcohol in all its forms. Deakin 07:07 was also searching for the answers to life's great 07:10 questions of origin, meaning, morality and destiny. In his 07:16 late teens and early 20s he began to look for these answers 07:20 in various different places, the Bible being one of them. In May 07:30 of 1878 Deakin joined the staff of the Age Newspaper as a 07:35 journalist. Despite his initial reluctance Deakin soon proved 07:39 himself to be a very good journalist and churned out 07:43 pieces of writing on various different topics and genres. 07:47 While at the Age, Deakin hit it off with the owner of the 07:52 newspaper David Cy. Their relationship proved to be a 07:57 fruitful friendship and mentorship in Deakin's life. 08:00 Cy influenced Deakin with a lot of his ideas including his 08:05 political ideology. Cy proved to be the driving force behind 08:10 Deakin's political career urging the young lawyer turned 08:13 journalist to contend for the seat of Wes Burke in the 08:18 Victorian parliamentary election of 1879. Deakin was elected to 08:24 seat of Wes Burke in the 1879 election but chose to give up 08:29 his seat. Speaking before the Victorian Parliament he resigned 08:34 his seat stating that there had been a discrepancy in the vote 08:39 counting. The move which surprised the Parliament was a 08:42 testament to Deakin's impeccable sense of integrity. He was 08:48 finally elected to office in July 1880. Deakin had an eye for 08:55 detail and the capacity to work hard. He was also liked by his 08:59 peers which made him easy to work with. During his first 09:04 decade in politics Deakin worked in the areas of immigration, 09:10 workers' rights and represented Victoria at the 1887 colonial 09:15 conference in London. In 1882 Deakin married Elizabeth Anne 09:23 Browne. They had three daughters Ivy, Stella and Vera. Between 09:28 1890 and 1900 Deakin threw himself into the cause of 09:34 helping Australia become a nation. The issue of federation 09:38 was the hot topic in the late 1800s. Australia was coming of 09:42 age as a nation and a vast majority of the adult population 09:46 were Australian born. Culturally this restlessness manifested 09:52 itself in the songs and literature of the day but most 09:57 states were wary of idea of a federal government fearing that 10:01 their own powers of government would be restricted. Sir Henry 10:05 Parkes the premier of New South Wales was instrumental in 10:10 pushing for the idea of a federation and in the early 10:15 1890s a number of conventions were held to develop a 10:20 constitution. Later Deakin was part of a five man Australian 10:26 delegation sent to England to facilitate the passage of the 10:31 bill that would unite the colonies under a single federal 10:35 government thus giving birth to the Commonwealth of Australia. 10:39 After weeks of negotiation the bill was passed with only a 10:44 single minor modification. On the first of January 1901 10:53 Australia became a federation and the first governor general 10:58 of Australia, Lord Hopetown, was sworn in. They chose Edmund 11:02 Barton as the first prime minister of the newly formed 11:06 nation. Deakin was appointed the first attorney general of the 11:11 Commonwealth of Australia. Deakin certainly believed that 11:17 God had called him to public office. His faith in God and his 11:21 desire to serve him faithfully during his time in office is 11:26 seen in many of his letters and papers. He was a man of prayer 11:30 and faith and he encouraged these qualities in the lives of 11:33 his three children as well. Shortly after federation the 11:39 first Commonwealth Parliament was opened at the Royal 11:43 Exhibition Building in Melbourne on the ninth of May 1901. In the 11:48 busy days surrounding the opening of the Parliament Deakin 11:52 managed to get all the members of Edmund Barton's first federal 11:55 Parliament to sign his Bible along with the Duke of Cornwall 11:59 and the Duke of York, later King George VI. On the 12th of July 12:06 2016, when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took his oath 12:10 of office he chose to place his hand on Alfred Deakin's Bible 12:14 during the ceremony. The Commonwealth Parliament 12:23 remained in Melbourne at the Victorian Parliament House till 12:28 1937. In 1914 a competition was announced inviting architects 12:33 and designers to submit their proposals for a new provisional 12:38 Parliament building to be erected in Canberra. 12:42 Construction on the building commenced in August 1923 and was 12:47 completed in 1927 employing tradesmen from all across 12:52 Australia. The new building was opened by the Duke and Duchess 12:56 of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen 13:01 mother. The building was known as the provisional Parliament 13:06 and was built to be used for a maximum of 50 years. It was the 13:11 seat of the Commonwealth Parliament from 1927 to 1988 13:17 when the new parliament building was erected on Capitol Hill. 13:20 In May 2009 the building was renamed the Museum of Australian 13:28 Democracy at Old Parliament House. On either side of the 13:32 building are the Parliamentary Gardens which fell into 13:35 disrepair after Parliament was moved to Capitol Hill. However, 13:40 gardens were restored, renamed the National Rose Garden and 13:44 opened to the public in 2004. In 1981 construction began on 13:55 the new Parliament House, the meeting place of the Parliament 13:59 of Australia today. The design of the building is based on the 14:04 shape of two boomerangs and was officially opened by Queen 14:07 Elizabeth II on the 9th of May 1988. Immediately after the 14:15 federation of Australia Alfred Deakin reached the pinnacle of 14:19 his career. He was instrumental in instituting some of the 14:23 country's most enduring institutions and policies. 14:27 For example, he established the High Court of Australia, and 14:31 introduced Old Age Pensions. The broad reach of Deakin's policies 14:36 soon garnered international attention, especially in the 14:40 area of social welfare. Social scientists from across the globe 14:45 traveled to Australia to observe some of the most progressive 14:49 welfare legislation introduced and applied throughout 14:53 Australian society. Alfred Deakin was a multifaceted man 15:02 but perhaps one of the most intriguing things about his life 15:05 was his incessant search for truth. During his lifetime he 15:11 kept up a constant stream of personal reflections in the form 15:15 of journals. A constant theme in these writings is his quest for 15:20 spiritual understanding. On this journey he dabbled in a 15:25 multitude of different ideas and forms but he was always drawn 15:30 back to the Bible. Deakin didn't embrace organized religion but 15:36 he had a high regard for the Bible and its teachings. In a 15:40 letter to his children in 1890 he wrote: 15:44 The whole civilization 15:46 is saturated with Christian feeling and governed 15:49 extensively by its principles. The best features it possesses 15:52 are largely to 15:54 be credited to Christian effort and teaching and the 15:57 indebtedness should be frankly acknowledged. 15:58 Reminiscing about her father during an ABC radio interview in 16:03 1960, Deakin's daughter Vera talked about how their father 16:09 had often read to them from the Bible. She also shared how her 16:13 father was always deeply conscious of God's hands in his 16:16 life and always acknowledged that he was an instrument in 16:20 God's hand. Many historians offer that Deakin is one of 16:26 Australia's greatest prime ministers. He was part of the 16:30 difficult and toilsome birthing process of the nation and was 16:34 present when it was finally born He helped to shape it in its 16:38 childhood and in many ways Australia would not be the 16:42 nation that it is today were it not for the sacrificial 16:45 contribution of Alfred Deakin. In 1919 Alfred Deakin died of 16:53 meningoencephalitis, a viral infection of the brain. He was 16:58 given a state funeral and buried at St. Kilda Cemetery in 17:01 Melbourne. His funeral was attended by many of his 17:05 colleagues in government including Sir Edmund Barton 17:08 the first prime minister of Australia. Looking at the life 17:14 of Alfred Deakin one of the most striking things that stands out 17:18 is his relentless search for truth and it wasn't just facts 17:23 he was looking for. Deakin understood that truth was to be 17:27 found in a person. In an entry made in his personal diaries 17:32 Deakin wrote this: 17:33 The life of Christ, that is the one thing made forward, the 17:37 only revelation required is there. We have but to live it. 17:43 What was it about the life of Christ that drew Deakin like a 17:48 magnet. And not Deakin alone. Millions of people over the last 17:52 2000 years or more have been drawn to the person of Jesus 17:57 Christ. Even his greatest critics are compelled to 18:00 acknowledge that he was no ordinary man. What was it about 18:04 Jesus' life that made him so extraordinary? Come with me if 18:11 you will on a journey through three short snapshots, three 18:15 images that come from the life of Jesus that highlight perhaps 18:20 what was most powerful and compelling about him. The first 18:25 is an image of a woman cast at his feet in the pale light of 18:30 dawn. Jesus is teaching at the temple and a mob roars through 18:35 the sacred courts and fling the woman at his feet. Loudly they 18:41 accuse her of adultery, of having caught her in the very act. They 18:46 demand that Jesus preside as judge over her case. What must 18:51 they do? Well they tell him what Moses says in the law, that such 18:56 a sinner should be stoned. But what, they ask, would he 19:01 recommend? Jesus is quiet for a long time. The crowd grows 19:08 restless. Solemnly he stoops down and begins to write in the 19:13 dust with his finger. The woman is terrified. Her eyes squeeze 19:18 shut awaiting the first painful blow. But no one hurls a stone 19:24 at her. Instead she hears Jesus straightening up and answering a 19:30 few simple words: Let him who is without sin among you cast the 19:36 first stone. Conviction dawns on the faces dawns on the faces of 19:41 that group of rabid accusers. One by one they drop their 19:46 stones and slink off. Jesus then addresses the woman. Where are 19:52 your accusers? he asks her. Does no man accuse you? Finally she 19:59 brings herself to look up at Jesus. His face is not what she 20:03 was expecting. It's not condemning or cruel. It's kind. 20:09 No man accuses me Lord, she tells him and Jesus nods. Then 20:16 he added a few short words that give her a passport to a 20:20 new life. Neither do I condemn you, he says. Go and sin no more 20:27 One of the most compelling things about the life of Jesus 20:31 was his desire to forgive and restore. His ability to neither 20:37 accuse or excuse but to gently and lovingly bring healing and 20:42 hope where neither existed before. The life of Jesus draws 20:48 us because it offers us the healing and restoration we so 20:52 desperately long for. The second snap shot I would like to draw 20:59 your attention to is Jesus kneeling alone in the Garden of 21:04 Gethsemane. His disciples are asleep nearby. The night is dark 21:10 and his soul is burdened with the shadows of the sacrifice 21:14 that lies before him. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to 21:19 sacrifice his life on behalf of men and women who may never 21:23 appreciate his sacrifice. Alone and friendless he wrestles with 21:29 the choice before him. He can choose to walk away, but should 21:34 he? Finally in terrible agony he cries out Father if it be 21:41 your will, let this cup pass from me yet not my will but 21:46 thine be done. The wrestling continues long into the night 21:52 until finally exhausted and bloodied by the struggle he 21:57 collapses in surrender. Even though this is a trial his 22:02 humanity shrinks from it. He chooses to accept it, to endure 22:06 it because he loves God and he loves you and me. 22:11 Hebrews chapter 12 and verse two says: 22:26 Jesus endured the cross because the joy that was before him was 22:31 greater than the humiliation of a painful and public death. What 22:36 was that joy that was before him and drove him on? The joy of an 22:42 eternity spent with you and me. As the old saying goes, when he 22:48 was on the cross you were on his mind. The life of Jesus is so 22:54 compelling because the love he carried in his heart for every 22:58 single human being is a love that each of us long for 23:02 and search 23:03 for yet seldom find. Jesus loved us enough to sacrifice his life 23:09 for us. That love is what draws so many millions to him. That 23:15 love is what makes his life more than ordinary. Finally the most 23:24 enduring image of Jesus is of him hanging on the cross. The 23:29 Romans were especially adept at torture. Watching criminals die 23:33 was a blood sport that people paid good money for. Jesus' 23:38 death was cruel, slow and humiliating. Yet he faced it 23:43 with courage and dignity. As human beings we all grapple with 23:49 fear especially the terror of public humiliation, physical 23:54 suffering and death. We shrink from it instinctively. None of 23:59 us would willingly run towards it and yet Jesus faced each of 24:03 these scenarios with courage. Jesus was dauntless. He grappled 24:09 with fear just like you and I do and yet he was able to stare it 24:13 straight in the eyes and surmount it. We're all drawn to 24:18 stories about heroes who have accomplished marvelous feats of 24:22 mental and physical endurance. The story of Jesus on the cross 24:27 is just that, a true story of a man who stared fear in the face 24:32 and overcame it with dignity. The life of Jesus is compelling 24:38 because he showed us how to be brave even when it seems 24:43 impossible. Alfred Deakin looms large over Australia's 24:49 historical narrative. He was a giant of a man. His work shaped 24:54 Australia in so many different ways. Tellingly one of Deakin's 25:00 heroes was Jesus and rightly so. He saw in him a man whose 25:05 ability to bring healing and hope, whose ability to embrace 25:09 sacrifice and whose ability to face fear with courage was 25:14 worthy of his admiration. In life we always look for role 25:22 models, the kind that inspire us and challenge us to be the best 25:27 version of ourselves. Alfred Deakin has been a role model for 25:32 many Australians over the last 120 years. But I would also 25:37 encourage you to look at the life of Jesus as a role model. 25:41 He is perhaps the most worthy role model, you can ever turn 25:45 your eyes to. If you'd like to learn more about Jesus, if you'd 25:50 like to experience true inner peace and happiness in your life 25:53 then I'd like to recommend a free gift we have for all our 25:58 Incredible Journey viewers today It's the Bible reading guide 26:02 God's Plan for My Life. This popular reading guide is our 26:08 gift to you and is absolutely free. I guarantee there are no 26:13 costs or obligations whatsoever. This Bible reading guide has 26:18 brought me hope, peace and happiness. It's been a great 26:22 benefit to me and I'd like to share it with you. So make sure 26:27 to take this wonderful opportunity to receive the free 26:30 gift we have for you today. 26:34 Phone or text us at 0436-333-555 in Australia or 020-422-2042 in 26:44 New Zealand or visit our website TiJ.tv to request today's free 26:50 offer and we'll send it to you totally free of charge and with 26:54 no obligation. Write to us at: 27:09 Don't delay. Call or text us now 27:13 If you've enjoyed today's journey to Canberra following 27:19 the footsteps of Alfred Deakin and our reflections on Jesus as 27:23 our role model, then I'd like to invite you to join us again next 27:27 week when we will share another of life's journeys together. 27:31 Until then let's ask the blessing of the God that Alfred 27:35 Deakin so often prayed to. 27:38 Dear heavenly Father, we are grateful for the life and legacy 27:42 of Alfred Deakin and for the freedom and democracy we enjoy 27:47 today. We are also grateful for Jesus our Lord and Savior, for 27:51 the peace and happiness he brings to our lives and for 27:55 being our perfect role model. We commit our lives to you and 27:59 ask you to care for us and keep us through this coming week. 28:03 And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. 28:07 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-07-12