Upcoming Speakers
Insiders, Live at the Canberra Writers Festival
Katharine Murphy, Niki Savva, Peter van Onselen and Mike Bowers, hosted by Fran Kelly.Thursday 22 August 2019
7.00PM – 8.00PM
Join us for this special Canberra Writers Festival ‘live’ episode of the ABC’s much-loved Insiders, with host Fran Kelly and a panel of political pundits. For those who like their politics up close and personal, join Peter van Onselen, Katharine Murphy and Niki Savva as they rake over the aftermath of the ‘miracle’ federal election. The National Press Club will rock as Insiders present some of the video highlights of what passes for politics – and some of the best gaffes of this big election year. Photographer Mike Bowers will present his much-loved ‘Talking Pictures’ segment with a surprise guest.
Life after Politics
Kevin Rudd The PM Years in conversation with David SpeersFriday, 23 August 2019
11.30AM – 1.30PM
Includes Lunch
Kevin Rudd is a former Australian diplomat, foreign minister and Australia’s 26th prime minister. As President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, chair of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism, chair of the Sanitation and Water for All global partnership and active media commentator in Australia and abroad, what does life after politics mean for Kevin Rudd? Where does he think the Labor Party is headed? Join Kevin Rudd to discuss this, and more, with Sky News political editor David Speers.
The Hon Dan Tehan MP will Address the National Press Club of Australia for the first time as Minister for Education.
Dan Tehan is the Member for Wannon in Victoria. He is Minister for Education and was sworn in on 28 August 2018.
Mr Tehan served as Minister for Social Services from 20 December 2017. Prior to this, he was the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Minister for Defence Personnel, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of Anzac.
Mr Tehan was elected to Federal Parliament in 2010 and has held positions as the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security; Chair of the Victorian Consultative Panel for the Black Spot Programme; Chair of the Coalition Policy Committee on Economics and Finance; Co-Chair of the Parliamentarians Supporting Cancer Causes; Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Youth Mental Health, and; Chair of the Coalition Friends of Tourism.
Prior to entering Parliament, Mr Tehan worked in agriculture in Australia and overseas. He has worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade where he held various roles, including as a diplomat at the Australian Embassy in Mexico. Mr Tehan worked at senior levels of the Australian Government, including as a Senior Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff to the Minister for Small Business and Tourism. He also worked as the Director of Trade Policy and International Affairs at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and as Deputy State Director for the Victorian Liberal Party.
Mr Tehan has Masters Degrees in International Relations and Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Mr Tehan is married and lives in Hamilton. He is a passionate supporter of the Richmond Football Club and enjoys spending time outdoors with his family.
In Australia, there is a creeping erosion of human rights and freedoms.
A steady procession of national security and other laws threaten our basic rights and there is an urgent need for greater scrutiny of legislation passed by Parliament.
Law Council of Australia President, Arthur Moses SC, and defamation law specialist, Dr Matt Collins AM QC, will address the National Press Club about these threats, sharing their insights and concerns.
Mr Moses SC will discuss the vital role of the National Press Gallery and its duty to scrutinise all legislation that impinges civil liberties. He will consider key national security laws which pose a threat to press freedom and personal liberties, reinforcing the pivotal role the press plays in upholding our democracy.
Dr Collins AM QC will address the ways in which Australia’s current defamation laws fail plaintiffs, publishers and the community; critique the current process for reform of those laws; and propose some solutions that would both better protect plaintiffs and reduce the chilling effect of defamation laws on investigative and public interest journalism.
Arthur Moses SC
Arthur Moses SC, President of the Law Council of Australia, has practised at the NSW Bar for more than 25 years and, in 2008, was appointed Senior Counsel in the state of NSW. He is the immediate past President of the NSW Bar Association and has been a Director of Law Council since July 2014.A fierce defender and vocal advocate of the rule of law, access to justice and civil liberties, Mr Moses SC practises in a wide range of areas including administrative law, coronial inquests, corruption inquiries, proceeds of crime litigation, military law, work health and safety prosecutions, employment and industrial law, discrimination, restraints of trade, commercial, equity and appeals in all jurisdictions.
Mr Moses SC regularly appears before the Supreme Court of NSW, the NSW Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia as well as appellate Courts in other states and territories.
Dr Matt Collins AM QC
Dr Collins AM QC, is President of the Victorian Bar and one world’s foremost defamation and media law experts. He represented actor Rebel Wilson in her landmark defamation case against Bauer Media and is currently acting for the journalists and media organisations facing contempt charges as a result of the George Pell trial, as well and the ABC and its journalists involved in the Afghan Files media raid.Dr Collins AM QC holds a PhD in law from Melbourne University and is the author of Collins on Defamation (Oxford University Press, 2014) and all three editions of The Law of Defamation and the Internet (Oxford University Press, 2001, 2005, 2010), the standard international text on the application of principles of defamation law to online publications.
Mark was elected to Parliament in 2007 as the Member for Isaacs. He studied Arts and Law at the University of Melbourne. He practised law as a solicitor and from 1987 as a barrister. In 1999 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel.
A former Director of the Law Council of Australia. Mark also served on the Victorian Bar Council and the Victorian Bar Ethics Committee.
Mark served as Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Minister for Climate Change in the Gillard Government, and later as Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Management, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity and as Special Minister of State in the Gillard and second Rudd Governments.
In July 2013 Mark led Australia’s winning case against Japan’s whaling regime at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Since September 2013 Mark has served as Shadow Attorney-General in the Federal Labor Opposition.
Mark and his wife Deborah have three children.
Mark is the son of a composer and a teacher. His father came to Australia as a refugee from Germany at the age of eleven having fled from the Nazi regime.
Mark is a passionate but long-suffering member of the St Kilda Football club and enjoys cycling, swimming and spending time with his family.
On Saturday 18 May, regional Australia changed the nation when the quiet voices of the many were heard above the noise of the few.
For the past two years, the Business Council of Australia has been travelling around the nation from Ayr to Geelong and Cairns to Busselton listening to what regional Australia needs to get moving.
The country is much more than a collection of capital cities and marginal electorates. Australians living in the regions want, and deserve, the same opportunities as everyone else to get ahead.
To unlock the potential of regional Australia and join the dots with our major cities, we need to start playing to our strengths. It’s critical we make the most of our people, our places and our capabilities, wherever they fall on a map.
The Business Council will put forward a detailed set of practical actions to recast the nation’s approach to regional development that seeks to identify and maximise where our real competitive strengths lie.
By targeting investment to the people, places and capabilities we are good at, Australia can drive growth and jobs across the whole country. This will deliver strength through prosperity and fairness through opportunity for all Australians, no matter where they live.
The Business Council of Australia is the nation’s premier business organisation, advocating for a stronger and fairer society through a more prosperous Australia.
Jennifer Westacott AO has served as Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia since 2011, bringing a unique combination of extensive policy experience in both the public and private sectors.
Under her leadership, the Business Council tirelessly champions meaningful policies that strengthen the ability of businesses to grow the economy for the benefit of all Australians.
Jennifer built her career in the public sector, working in senior leadership positions in the NSW and Victorian governments.
She has served as the Director General of the NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources; the Secretary of the Victorian Department of Education and Training; and the Director of Housing in Victoria.
She was also the Deputy Director General of the NSW Department of Community Services, and the Deputy Director General of the NSW Department of Housing.
As a senior partner at KPMG, Jennifer advised major corporations on climate change and sustainability and advised governments across Australia on significant reform priorities.
Jennifer has an unrivalled understanding of how the public and private sectors intersect and can work together to achieve the best outcomes in the national interest.
Since 2013, Jennifer has served as a Non-Executive Director of Wesfarmers Limited.
She is the Chair of the Western City & Aerotropolis Authority, which is overseeing the design and delivery of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis. The global employment centre and investment hub will surround the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport at Badgerys Creek.
Jennifer is an Adjunct Professor at the City Futures Research Centre of the University of NSW.
She is the inaugural Chair of the Board of Studio Schools of Australia, and a patron of Mental Health Australia.
Jennifer also serves as the Australian Co-chair of the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum Organising Committee, the Co-Patron of Pride in Diversity, and as a patron of the Pinnacle Foundation.
In 2018, Jennifer was made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia.
Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of New South Wales and in 2017 received an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from her alma mater. She was a Chevening Scholar at the London School of Economics.
Sarah Wilson is a New York Times and Amazon #1 bestselling author, entrepreneur and philanthropist. She’s the founder of IQuitSugar.com, whose 8-Week Program has been completed by 1.5 million people in 133 countries. A former news journalist and editor of Cosmopolitan, she was the host of the first series of MasterChef Australia and is the author of the international bestsellers first, we make the beast beautiful, I Quit Sugar: Simplicious, I Quit Sugar and I Quit Sugar For Life. She is ranked as one of the top 200 most influential authors in the world.
Sarah’s latest book is I Quit Sugar: Simplicious Flow, which encourages us to adopt ‘zero-waste’ cooking as the path to good health, creativity and an altogether more elegant life.
Sarah blogs in an intimate fashion – on philosophy, anxiety, minimalism and anti-consumerism – at sarahwilson.com, lives in Sydney, Australia, rides a bike everywhere, is a compulsive hiker and is eternally curious.
Alexander Downer AC, Australia’s longest serving Foreign Minister and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, is to speak to the National Press Club in the wake of the final Brexit deadline.
Mr Downer has warned that Britain faces a future of “weakness and irrelevancy” if it remains in the European customs union. And he has called for the EU to show “common sense and flexibility” but if it doesn’t, “its pig-headed recalcitrance will be held entirely responsible for any damage done to the global economy by a no-deal Brexit.” (AFR July 2019)
Mr Downer is currently Executive Chair, International School for Government, Kings College London and will be visiting Canberra in the days following the 31 October EU Brexit deadline.
From 1984–2008 Mr Downer was a member of the House of Representatives for the division of Mayo in South Australia.
He was Shadow treasurer from 1993–1994 and Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 1994–1995
In 1996 he was appointed Foreign minister of Australia, a position he held for almost 12 years.
After politics Mr Downer has held a number of senior appointments, including Professor of Politics and International Trade, University and Adelaide (part time) from 2008-14; and Special advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations with responsibility for the Cyprus peace talks from 2008–2014.
From 2014–2018 Mr Downer was Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Alexander Downer AC
Born: 9 September 1951
Education:
Geelong Grammar School;
Radley College;
Newcastle University BA (politics and economics); DCL (honorary).
Honorary doctorates University of Adelaide; University of South Australia; Bar Ilan UniversityEmployment history:
1975-76 Economist, Westpac bank
19 76–82, diplomat, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Canberra 1977–80, diplomat, Australian mission to the European Union, Brussels.
1982–83. Political adviser to the Prime Minister of Australia, the Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser.
1983–84 Executive director Australian Chamber of Commerce.1984–2008 member of the House of Representatives for the division on Mayo (South Australia)
1993–1994 Shadow treasurer
1994–1995 Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
1996–2007. Foreign minister of Australia2008-14 Professor of Politics and International Trade, University and Adelaide (part time)
2008–2014 Special advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations with responsibility for the Cyprus peace talks.
2014–2018. Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
2018 – Executive Chair, International School for Government, Kings College London.
Board appointments:
2008–2014. Founder and Partner, Bespoke Approach.
2010–2014. Non-executive director, Huawei Australia
2010–2014 Chairman , Common Ground 2008–2014 Director, advisory board, Hakluyt (UK)
2010–2014 Non-executive director, LakesOil
2018 –19. Non-executive director, CQS
2018 – Non-executive director, Yellowcake plc
2018 – Chairman, Policy Exchange
2018 –Trustee, International Crisis Group
2019 – Chairman, Royal Overseas LeagueHonours:
2001 Australian Centenary Medal
2013 Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)The 2019 Sydney Peace Prize is proudly supported by the Australia Institute, the United States Studies Centre and the University of Sydney Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
The 2019 Sydney Peace Prize Jury chose the Me Too movement from over 200 nominations from the community. The Me Too movement has changed the way we understand and talk about sexual harassment and violence, by highlighting the breadth and impact of sexual harassment and violence around the world, in homes, public spaces, and workplaces.
Tarana Burke began building the movement in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly black women and girls, connect to resources for healing, and to build a survivor-led community of advocates against sexual violence. Her grassroots work has now expanded to reach a global community of survivors from all walks of life.
“We owe future generations nothing less than a world free of sexual violence. I believe we can build that world.” – Tarana Burke
Tracey Spicer AM is a journalist, author and broadcaster who has spearheaded the Me Too Movement in Australia. She has produced award-winning investigations into sexual harassment in media workplaces, and created NOW Australia in 2018 to support those who have been sexually harassed in their workplace and to advocate for safe workplaces.
To propose a speaker please contact ceo@npc.org.au with a brief bio and photo of the speaker, speech title and brief outline of the speech, along with a proposed date. Your speaker proposal will be presented to the board at the next board meeting for their decision. Please allow up to 8 weeks for notification.