DIGGORY HOWITT (CGS 1985)
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & PRESIDENT COCHLEAR LIMITED ENDURING PURPOSE FOR INDIVIDUALS & CORPORATIONS
THU 18 NOV 2021 | 4:00PM LIVE STREAMED FROM THE TIM MURRAY THEATRE
PROGRAMME Thank you for joining this event, live streamed during the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic from the Tim Murray Theatre at Canberra Grammar School.
Acknowledgement of Country
Taleah Greene
Welcome
Thomas Gazard, School Captain
Musical Item
Gymnopedie by Satie – arranged and performed by James Monro
Introduction
Thomas Gazard, School Captain
CGS Gough Whitlam Address
Diggory Howitt: Enduring Purpose for Individuals and Corporations
Reply
Genevieve Lane, School Captain
Primary School Voice
Ethan Joyce, Eva Maitless, Ananya Rai, Scherwan Prasanna Thiru
Closing Remarks
Dr Justin Garrick, Head of School
THE CGS GOUGH WHITLAM ADDRESS The annual CGS Gough Whitlam Address is named in memory of one of Canberra Grammar School’s most prominent and influential former students, Australia’s 21st Prime Minister, the late Edward Gough Whitlam AC (CGS 1934). The only Australian Prime Minister to have been educated in the national capital, Gough Whitlam is also the only student to have been Dux of Canberra Grammar School three times. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War before entering the Commonwealth Parliament and ultimately leading the Government from 1972 to 1975. His brief time as Prime Minister was a period of extraordinary transformation in Australian history. His legacy includes the recognition of Indigenous land rights, championship of the rights of women to equal pay and access to work, the embrace of multiculturalism, diverse immigration and antidiscrimination legislation. He also established the foundations of Australia’s modern relations with its Asian neighbours. For young people, he ended compulsory conscription, reduced the voting age to 18, increased funding for childcare and schools, and abolished university fees, fuelling an age of unprecedented social mobility through education for generations of Australians. The Whitlam Government introduced Australia’s first national health insurance scheme and oversaw major programmes for flood prevention, sanitation, urban renewal and transport between Australia’s capitals. In law reform, Whitlam abolished the death penalty, enhanced legal aid and established the Family Court. He also founded the Order of Australia, the Australia Council for the Arts, the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian Film Commission. He prevented drilling for oil on the Great Barrier Reef and created the National Parks and Wildlife Service for the protection of the Australian environment. Despite the controversies of the era and the eventual dismissal of his Government, from the perspective of history, Gough Whitlam’s time in office changed Australia forever. In drawing on the themes of that legacy, the annual CGS Gough Whitlam Address will celebrate contemporary agents of change and will stand as a reminder to the students of Canberra Grammar School of what role they may play in shaping their world.
DIGGORY HOWITT (CGS 1985) Following his education at Canberra Grammar School, where he was an outstanding scholar, Captain of Hockey, Vice-Captain of Cricket and Captain of Garnsey House in 1985, Diggory Howitt graduated with Honours from The University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering. He subsequently worked for the Boston Consulting Group in Sydney before returning to full time study, this time overseas at Stanford University where he received a Masters of Business Administration in 1996. Upon his return to Australia, Diggory worked in general management positions, firstly for Boral Australia in Sydney before moving to Brisbane in 1998 to take up the position of General Manager of Sunstate Cement. Diggory joined Cochlear International in 2000 and since that time has accumulated a wealth of experience across the company in various roles including Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice-President, and Manufacturing and Logistics and President, Asia Pacific. He was appointed as President of Cochlear in July 2017 and became Chief Executive Officer and President in January 2018. Diggory is also a member of the Champions of Change Coalition STEM Group, established in 2016 with support from the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. Since its inception, the STEM group has achieved a significant and sustainable increase in the representation of women in leadership positions in STEM. Canberra Grammar School is honoured that Diggory Howitt (Class of 85), will present the 2021 CGS Gough Whitlam Address. His speech, entitled ‘Enduring Purpose for Individuals and Corporations’, will draw upon his own personal and professional journey to outline how he learnt to embrace the contours of life. His message will challenge and inspire reflection of what it means to be on a quest for authentic existence, discussing how we all can focus on specific, ongoing strategies and practices that can help to cultivate, sustain, and adapt our sense of personal meaning and social purpose over time and in the different and changing contexts and situations of life. For Graeme Clark, pioneer of the multi-channel cochlear implant, it was to restore hearing with electrical stimulation. For Cochlear, who currently provides a lifetime support to over 600,000 people with hearing loss in 180 countries, it is to transform the way society understands and treats hearing loss. For Dig personally, it is to develop Cochlear into a company that can fulfill its enduring purpose. The School Captains for 2022, Genevieve Lane and Thomas Gazard, will respond from the perspective of Australia’s current generation of emerging young leaders.
The CGS Centre for Global Citizenship is an initiative launched in 2020 to enhance Canberra Grammar School’s core aspiration to educate young Australians who are curious, creative, confident and compassionate global citizens. Its work will include presentation of the annual CGS Gough Whitlam Address, the School’s regular CGS Insight speaker series, and a range of student-led symposia and activities designed to promote engagement with the major issues and challenges of our time: social justice, climate change, globalisation, technology, public health, and more. We welcome you to this and future events.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ms Kerri Rock Ms Karen Gregory Ms Lisa Baum Mr Nicolas Cossart Mr Ryan Hall Mr Antony Hately Ms Twee Phan Ms Sarah Dunn
Angus Davie Jack Bashford Henry Gotzinger Alexander Phillips Callum Bennett
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional custodians of the land on which Canberra Grammar School stands, and we extend gratitude and respect to elders past, present and emerging.