News location:

Canberra Today 13°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Opinion / What I learnt from Sir Bob Geldof

SIR Bob Geldof visited Canberra last week and spoke at a breakfast event hosted by Business Chicks.

BobGeldof2014
Bob Geldof… “I don’t feel that the 21st century has begun.”
You may remember him from The Boomtown Rats, he co-founded the charity group Band Aid and later Live Aid and the Live 8 concerts. He raised more than $150 million for on-the-ground relief work in Africa, he also received a knighthood and is the recipient of the Man of Peace award.

He walked to the Canberra stage with a real rockstar entrance, he was the coolest of cats – stylish, relaxed and present in the moment. But his message was far from relaxed. He was there to challenge everyone who was ready to listen. I took out my little notebook and began furiously scribbling notes as he spoke.

Sir Bob spoke of this century, the last century, a little about the century before that and what sense to make of the NOW.

He said: “I don’t want great grandchildren coming to me and saying: ‘Were you aware in 2015? How could you not have been aware, given what was happening, given the tensions of the world, given the great equalities in the world…How could you not have seen that something was going to kick off?’.”

World War II

IT has been 100 years since World War I. He asked his Aunt Fifi before she passed away at the beginning of this year at the remarkable age of 106 what she remembered at the age of five when World War 1 began. But she could not really recall. It was like she grew up in a lacuna where there were no generations of children in front of her. Her generation was really looked after because there was so much devastation before her of young adults in the war, and there was not really any young ones around.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

SIR Bob recalls the Cuban Missile Crisis. His father was at home and he has a clear memory of his father’s ear being glued closely to the wireless. His father was blinking a lot and his head was down. Sometimes his father would turn his face to the radio when some sharp news came on.

The young Bob Geldof asked his father: “What’s up?”

His father replied: “There might be a war”.

“When?”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“What will happen?”.

“That will be it.”

The existential threat of the bomb was in the front of his mind when he young. But he says, “We still live with that threat, but we don’t really consider it as much now.”

The 21st century

AND what are to make of this century?

He says: “I don’t feel that the 21st century has begun” and posed the question: “Has this century really started yet?”

Sir Bob looked to the past to see what could be applied to make sense of what was going on in the world now – in Paris, in Beirut and elsewhere.

Sir Bob considers that the internet has been the central invention of our lifetime. It had been integral in pulling China out of poverty through trade, it has seen the collapse of countries and high unemployment such as the young men of Spain.

But also: “The internet has given voice to the previously mute. We have only just begun to scratch the surface of this relatively new

internet phenomenon and we can see how much the world has changed already in only the past 25 years because of it.”

Action

SIR Bob referred to the German poet, Goethe: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” He challenged everyone: “Well, ladies and gentleman, genuinely in my life, I have never felt such a need for genius, certainly power, but above all, we desperately need some magic at the moment.”

Even though Sir Bob is still trying to make sense of the world, where the future is taking us, he seems to have adopted this philosophy in his own life. Where he has dared to dream and taken bold action, he has produced powerful, and somewhat genius and magical results.

Of the work that Sir Bob has undertaken, the one that stands out to me, because of my interest in family law, has been as the single father. Daring to do what he can, dream what he can and to begin it.

Geldof custody battle

SIR Bob and his family endured a custody battle in the 1990s. He was not successful in obtaining his desired outcome of a 50/50 shared arrangement. Not having his three daughters in his daily life would have been life-changing.

Looking at his past, being raised by his father, Sir Bob would have thought that he was more than capable of caring for and raising his children.

His own parents had not separated, but his mother passed away when he was about six years of age and his father became a sole parent. His life entails a sad history of sole parents.

Even now, tragically, his grandchildren, the children of Peaches Geldof, his second daughter, will live without their mother as she passed away in 2014 when her two children were under the age of two.

A family court battle is not a fate that should be wished on your worst enemy. And no matter the outcome, there are no real winners.

Even though it a horrible experience for him, he has used this opportunity to talk of the experience of separation. When he spoke of his experience on “Parkinson” in 2001, he said he never received so much mail. People had known him for more than 30 years through his work as a musician and through his enduring work for charity and peace. Now

that the world knew about his struggles as a parent, he received what amounted to about 70 plastic bins full of letters.

Even though he lost the court battle, he used the opportunity to help others by drawing the attention to what was happening and the effect on families on a day-to-day basis.

There was a ripple effect across the world. There were even changes in the Australian family law legislation which were brought about in 2006 and included a requirement of courts to consider equal time or substantial and significant time where there was equal shared parental responsibility of the parents.

What to do?

AS history unfolded, Sir Bob’s later became the primary carer to his three daughters, and then also to the daughter of his then late former wife and the late Michael Hutchence.

The late Peaches Geldof recalls her father’s mentality was to “keep calm and carry on”. It would seem that his message stays strong today and applies to broadened circumstances.

He told the Canberra audience, “You sit. You are quiet. You are non-violent…”

I was fortunate to speak briefly with Sir Bob after his speech. My own family has a history of single parents due to early parental death and separation. The hurt and anger is enough to become vengeful at the world. But that helps no one, especially those that are left and those you care deeply about. I am passionate about helping families who experience loss or reduction of time with family members for whatever reason.

Sir Bob told me: “Keep going with your work for parents and children. There is much help needed.”

Whatever unfolds in your life – the good times and the trials and tribulations – they are all part of your experience and can be used to help another.

As Sir Bob said in the words of Goethe: “I have never felt such a need for genius, certainly power, but above all, we desperately need some magic at the moment.”

What genius, power and magic can you add to the world?

claire naiduClaire Naidu is an Accredited Family Law Specialist and Mediator with Claire Naidu & Co Lawyers.

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Opinion

No mystery in Gaza, we all know whodunnit

"All too often lately I’ve been left staring into the darkness and worrying about the real murders taking place in the Ukraine and the Gaza Strip," writes The Gadfly columnist ROBERT MACKLIN. 

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews