Advance Australia Where?
Participating Chair: Allan Behm • Clinton Fernandes and Emma Shortis
What is Australia’s place in the world? Should we be a defender of the status quo, or a force for radical change? Australians often think of ourselves as at the mercy of global events. But we have the sixth largest landmass, and the 12th largest economy. We have global clout. How can we make the most of it?
Presented in conjunction with The Australia Institute
Artist
CLINTON FERNANDES is Professor of International and Political Studies at the University of New South Wales. He has published on the relationship between science, diplomacy and international law, intelligence operations in foreign policy, the political and regulatory implications of new technology and Australia's external relations more generally. His research in the Future Operations Research Group at UNSW analyses the operational environment, and the threats, risks and opportunities that military forces will face, in the 2030-50 timeframe.
Artist
EMMA SHORTIS is a historian, writer and commentator focused on the history and politics of the United States. Her first book, Our Exceptional Friend: Australia's Fatal Alliance with the United States, was published in 2021. Emma is a Lecturer in the Social and Global Studies Centre at RMIT University. Before that, she was a Fox-Zucker International Fellow at Yale University.
PARTICIPATING CHAIR
ALLAN BEHM specialises in political and security risk evaluation, policy analysis and development, and negotiating the policy/politics interface. Following a career spanning nearly thirty years in the Australian Public Service, he was Chief of Staff to Greg Combet, from 2019 to 2013. And from March 2017 until February 2019 he was senior advisor to the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong. He has a significant publishing record in academic and professional journals, and is a respected commentator in both the electronic and print media. His book No, Minister – an insider’s account of the what actually goes on in Parliament House – was published by Melbourne University Publishing in 2015.