‘How do you open your mind to other points of view?’

THE Kerferd Oration committee this week released the second of eight questions being asked of Indigo citizens and communities to stimulate thinking about ethics in the lead-up to this year’s oration in Beechworth on July 19.

Beechworth Secondary College school captain Jamie O’Callaghan (pictured) rose to the challenge when the oration’s sandwich board was placed outside Beechworth Post Office on Monday.

“How do you open your mind to other points of view?” – that’s the question.

The VCE student – who hopes to study at the Australian Defence Force Academy and join the Royal Australian Air Force – answered, saying “you’d have to put aside any prejudices that you may have about that other person and their point of view”.

“You’d then have to make sure you listen and understand what it is that they’re trying to get across, or what they’re going through, and do your research – know what you’re talking about before you talk about it and make any comments,” Jamie said.

Oration committee chair Michael Evans said that the eight questions have been designed to encourage people to question how they think.

The first question was: ‘How do you decide when to help people in need?’

The oration is named in recognition of the community service of George Kerferd, a nineteenth century Beechworth municipal chairman and later a solicitor and colonial government minister who became Victorian premier.

The oration – now in its 12th year – is a free community event and will be held at George Kerferd Hotel from 10.15am.

This post is reprinted from the ‘Ovens and Murray Advertiser’, which is supporting the oration by publishing each question of the week.