I believe most Australians today are living at a fortunate moment in our nation’s history—a time when many, though certainly not all, enjoy a level of material wellbeing, social equity, peace, and political freedom that has rarely existed in human history. This good fortune sits alongside a more complex history—one that has brought loss and injustice for Indigenous Australians, and whose effects are still felt today.
This quality of life did not arise by chance. It is, in large part, the result of the efforts and sacrifices of those who came before us.
I refer not only to Australians who served in uniform, but to the countless ordinary people whose quiet work shaped this country: teachers and farmers, miners and scientists, postal workers and labourers.
I think of early settlers who used hand-held axes to cut Australia’s hard, knotty timber into fence posts; who dug post holes in unforgiving ground under the heat of summer, knowing that the fences they built could be lost to fire at any time. Their lives were defined not by comfort, but by endurance.
I also think of the many who, over the past two centuries, have given their time freely—serving on committees, contributing to communities, and working through the often mundane realities of civic life—because they believed they could help build a better country.
Today, many of us live with a degree of ease and comfort that would have been unimaginable to those earlier generations. Yet I am not sure their efforts and sacrifices are fully recognised or remembered.
With Frogwood Arboretum, I hope to create something enduring and beautiful—a living expression of respect and gratitude for those Australians who came before us, and for the legacy they have left in our care.
James Maund - Creator of Frogwood arboretum