We need less political correctness and more real vision of what we want Australia to be
When I was a small child I lived with my parents and brothers in the United States. After World War II my father, who had been a war correspondent for an Australian newspaper group, joined the Commonwealth government's news and information bureau. We all went with him and were there six years.
By the time we left to -return home, Dad was working for an Australian media company in New York and although he had an offer of a good job in London, he and my mother decided to come back here as they wanted us kids to grow up in Australia. They never regretted their decision. 
Fast-forward 20 years to when I was living in London with my husband and our first child, who was born there. We loved England. There were plenty of career opportunities for us but we decided to come home because we wanted our daughter to grow up in Australia.
We thought the opportunities available here - the good schools, the lifestyle, the weather, the plentiful fruit and vegetables plus meat that we could afford to buy - offered us and our daughter a better life. We never regretted our decision.
We returned home at the beginning of the 1970s, a -decade of sweeping change. It was an incredible era - -exciting, full of promise. We all worked hard, but unlike today's time-strapped 24/7 world we had time to play, to enjoy life and friendships.
Women's liberation was in full swing; Gough Whitlam came to power one month after the launch of Cleo, the magazine I created for Australian Consolidated Press (ACP), then run by Sir Frank Packer and later his son, Kerry. (I was sad when Bauer Media, the German publishing group, which bought ACP in 2012, announced its -demise this week.) Cleo introduced Sir Frank to the "new progressive woman". As he got to understand her by reading the magazine, there was no time for that stifling political correctness that strangles so much debate today. We had a robust discussion about whether kissing a man's armpits turned him on. "It doesn't," Sir Frank insisted, "and I know more about these things than you do!" What managing director of a major company would dare talk about such things with a senior woman executive these days?
Political correctness is -stifling discussion in Australia. Captains of industry, people in leadership roles, politicians are hesitant to say what they think about issues that concern us and affect Australia's future because of a possible media frenzy.
Social media has contributed to this hesitation. No one wants to be trending on Twitter!
Australians used to pride themselves on speaking their mind and, at the same time, being fair-minded. Public debate used to be a way of life but the debate is becoming increasingly muffled. We should never let the fear of political correctness stop us from exercising that right. We cannot afford to be wimps. It is not in Australia's best interests.
So what does it mean to be Australian in 2016?
For some it's community -spirit and mateship, our rich blend of cultures, our natural friendliness, our magnificent and diverse landscape, our climate, our flora and fauna, our ability to produce champion sportspeople.
We have much to be grateful for. Many people from other countries have prospered through the -opportunities Australia has given them. They have successfully -embraced the Australian way of life and brought to our -island continent their cultures, knowledge and skills all of which have been to our -nation's gain.
Our Aborigines are one of the world's oldest peoples and with all the many other people who make up our population, we are a fascinating, complex society; a unique mixture of old and new.
Other nations look at the way we get on with each other and marvel at how we've done it. But we have. We are an excellent model for other nations to follow.
Yes, we have pockets of resistance. We are all aware that some racism exists. We are not perfect but, when all is said and done, Australia is one of the best integrated multicultural societies in the world. I am also proud and very happy to live in a country that has one of the longest life expectancies in the world. We now live almost 25 years longer than Australians who lived 100 years ago.
The question we need to ask ourselves is: how do we want to spend those extra years of life? What is our -vision for Australia as our population ages? As an older Australian I sometimes feel like an endangered species. There is a common assumption that anyone over 65 is past their use-by date, a view I vehemently dispute.
I want to live in an Australia that is inclusive and values the strengths and contributions of all members of our society regardless of their age, disease or disability.
I want an Australia that values choice over institutionalisation and promotes wellness and social inclusion over -isolation.
As we progress into the 21st century I want to see our national debate concentrate less about what programs and services need to be cut to achieve a balanced budget and more on the Australia we want to live in and the society we should aim to be.
Ita Buttrose AO OBE is an Australian icon, the founder of Cleo Magazine, the 2013 Australian of the Year and co-host of the Network Ten morning show Studio 10.