OPINION: Kindess is catching on in the Victorian city of Ballarat

Three weeks ago, staff at Ballarat council gathered for a round-table chat to discuss the social and emotional impact of the coronavirus health crisis on its citizens.

Led by Mayor Ben Taylor, the group decided it needed to push a message of kindness, generosity of spirit, patience and tolerance. After a few hours later Be Kind Ballarat, a new and exciting civic movement, was born. 

“We have seen what is happening in cities throughout Australia during these tough and unprecedented times,” Cr Taylor explained recently.

“Anxious times can bring out the worst in people but also the best. And Ballarat, as a compassionate city, of course wants to focus on the best. 

“We want to encourage our city and our community to band together and show kindness to one another.”

The tragedy of the coronavirus has brought with it outstanding displays of human compassion and kindness.

In my own suburb, a Neighborhood Watch group has added “keep an eye on our elderly neighbours” to their mission. A school mums’ gang of friends have started a roster to ensure their cancer-recovering friend need not leave her house for shopping supplies, pharmacy needs, treats for the kids, or books.

Just as the City of Ballarat has taken a leadership role with Be Kind Ballarat, many individuals and organisations around Australia are also thinking creatively about what THEY can do to promote compassion. 

What is also refreshing: no one’s waiting for government feed-in or an OK from authorities. Their view is we have no time to waste, so let’s get cracking.

Australians have become accustomed to relying on federal government responses during times of national crisis. A drought, a recession, September 11 – we always felt comfortable in the steady hands of Canberra parliamentarians. But just as summer’s bushfire tragedy revealed a new eagerness for local solutions to local problems, the current health crisis is emboldening people to navigate their own paths. 

A new book by former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has just arrived in the bookshop – a timely addition to our growing collection of books about the importance of community, grassroots politics, local activism, and the power of individuals to make a difference. 

Prior to becoming mayor in 2011, Emanuel served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. His many years working inside government have given him a clear idea of how to get things done. 

The Nation City: Why Mayors Are Now Running The World hits the shelves at this scary but interesting time in world history. As he explains in his final chapter, “Change is our new constant. It comes swiftly, unannounced. And the hardest thing to figure out is how to make change a friend and not a foe.”

The US political structure is different to Australia’s, and their city mayors have more comprehensive powers than our city or shire councillors. But thinking about Ballarat council’s new Be Kind Ballarat initiative while digesting Emanuel’s message that local governments have huge potential to remain nimble, specific and immediate, left me wondering: perhaps the neighbourhood is where change begins?

“All of our world’s challenges – the perils – are found in cities,” writes Emanuel. “But so are all of the ideas, energy, willpower, and resources – the promise – needed to confront those challenges. 

“National governments are not keeping up with the times. Those come now from a local level, where citizens have the ability to play a real role in governance. In cities they have a voice, and it is heard.”

Be Kind Ballarat puts forward many clever suggestions. One example, says Cr Taylor, is “if everyone in Ballarat simply knocked on their neighbour’s door or called over the fence to say hello to their neighbour, it would mean every household maintains some much needed social contact while maintaining personal distance’’.

Local Ballarat businesses are also getting behind the movement, Cr Taylor says. “It has been so amazing to see local businesses responding to the changing demand so quickly. In Ballarat, we’ve seen businesses offering delivery, contactless pick-up, managers offering staff their own shifts and increased hygiene. 

“Be Kind Ballarat really encourages everyone in our community to shop local and support each other.’’

He adds: “Right now there are many people in our community who are doing it tough and what they need is friendship and support.’’  Hear, hear!

Corrie Perkin is an award-winning journalist and former managing editor of The Age, and the owner of My Bookshop in Hawksburn.

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