‘Very good advice’: At 50, Ross Garnaut received a game-changing tip from his GP

Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we’re told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they’re given. This week, he talks to Ross Garnaut. The 78-year-old is a professorial fellow in economics at the University of Melbourne. He’s an author, a former ambassador and renowned for his 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review for the federal government.

Ross Garnaut: “My GP gave me very good advice on my 50th birthday. He said, ‘I want you to give up jogging...’ ”Credit: Peter Tarasiuk

DEATH

Your latest book is titled Let’s Tax Carbon and Other Ideas for a Better Australia. Some people might see that and think, “Haven’t we tried this before? Isn’t this a dead conversation?” What do you say? What I say is, “Yes, it’s impossible, but not as impossible as all the alternatives.” We won’t make Australia a superpower of the zero-carbon world economy without taxing carbon, as we did from 2012 to 2014. Look at the opinion polling at the time: there was [some] community support and the economy had its last good years. The economy went bad when Tony Abbott got rid of carbon pricing. Since 2013, we’ve had the dog days.

Do you grieve those nine years from 2013 of Coalition-government inaction over climate change? No, I don’t see much value in grief. At my age, too much of your life is spent dealing with the loss of close friends. The saddest thing about these years is that people you’ve worked with in your life are dying; you grieve the fact that you can’t help that. I don’t feel that way about policy.

Does anything help with that loss? There’s a big gap when you share important things other people don’t know about. That leaves a hole and there’s nothing you can do about that awful reality. In my book, I quote Manning Clark, the historian, who says that every individual’s life is a failure, but humanity succeeds. We can reflect on the fact that while we never achieved everything we could have achieved, or everything we would’ve liked to have achieved, we nevertheless have contributed some things that can last. We, as individuals, have a finite life and a rather short one. But humanity continues.

Are you thinking more about mortality and your own death lately? There’s no more of a concern now when the fateful day is closer than it’s ever been. I just see it as part of the reality of human existence. Humanity continues, so it’s worth making what contributions you can, right up until the end, so the good things can continue.

BODIES

How’s your body and your health? Ridiculously good, actually. I’ve always been pretty fit. I used to play footy and cricket as a young bloke. I just feel very unsettled if I’m not getting a bit of exercise.

At 78, what’s your exercise regimen? My GP gave me very good advice on my 50th birthday. He said, “I want you to give up jogging because, sooner or later, you’ll ruin your ankle, knee or hip. And if that’s the only exercise you get, you’ll stop because of your ankle, knee or hip. And then I’ll be treating you for a cardiac problem.”

So what do you do now? He said, “Move on to something that you can keep doing into old age: fast walking, but really fast.”

That’s what you do now? Or swimming or riding a bike. I’d average 30 kilometres a day on a bike around Melbourne.

Cycling, swimming, fast walking: you’re describing a triathlon here. Well, I don’t bust a gut. All the 20-year-olds whiz past me on my bike!

What do you dislike about ageing? The worst thing about ageing – for me and my wife, Jayne – has been our friends dying. And you do have some health issues, even if you’re pretty fit. Sometimes, at our age, it feels as if you’re on a medical assembly line.

What do you like about it? Marriage into old age – we’ve been together for 53 years – has a special quality to it. You’ve shared so much so there’s a new dimension to things. And getting to know your children into their own middle age as your grandchildren start to experience the excitements and challenges of life gives great enjoyment.

SEX

Who had it better when it comes to sexual attitudes and practices? Your generation or Millennials like me? Well, I was a teenager in the 1960s; that was a time of transition and, therefore, a fairly confusing time, in some ways. Generally, attitudes are quite a lot better today. But along with that there has been a big downside: less stability in families, which has created a more difficult environment for children in many situations. And we know there’s a very big problem around distorted information about sex on the internet that younger people are exposed to. That’s one of the big downsides of the last decade or two, especially. We’ve got some learning to do about how to preserve the best of the past while getting rid of the things that were damaging and dysfunctional.

How have you seen sexual politics between women and men change – and have they changed enough? The change has been fundamental. Last year, it was the 60th anniversary of my high-school graduation and I was asked to give a speech. I’d broken my leg a week before, so I couldn’t travel to Perth, but I sent my speech. One of the points I made was how much has changed in gender equity. In those days, once a woman married, she was required to resign from a public-service job. Obviously, it hasn’t changed enough, but it has changed to an extraordinary extent. It’s made Australia a better society.

Why is being an economist a sexy job? I want to hear your pitch. I wouldn’t call it sexy, but I do find it absorbing!

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