Howard and Beazley unite to launch Ramsay Centre

John Howard and Kim Beazley united in Sydney last night to launch the Paul Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation.

John Howard and Kim Beazley in Sydney last night to launch the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation. Picture: Britta Campion

Former prime minister John ­Howard and former Labor leader Kim Beazley sat across the political divide for years, but last night united in their passion for Western civilisation.

At the launch of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, an apolitical body funded through a bequest by the late entrepreneur Paul Ramsay, Mr Beazley praised Mr Howard as “the most effective conservative leader there has been in the history of this country”.

“One of the reasons why he was is that he had a broad intellectual grasp of thinking outside the ­rather shallow priorities that you actually need, to simplify the ­message to your people,” he told the crowd, which included NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, ­former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and former union official Joe de Bruyn.

Mr Howard praised Mr Beazley as someone with a “deep and ­analytical understanding”. “We have sparred a lot, but have always respected the integrity of each other’s position,” he said.

The centre will promote the teaching of arts and humanities in higher education institutions, and will soon announce a partnership with two universities to create a new university degree — a bachelor of arts (Western civilisation) — to be taught at several Australian ­universities.