Experience Anu

Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt, Professor Bruce Chapman and Dr Ken Henry reflect on their experiences of how power, politics and personality have influenced the ability to introduce innovative policy both here in Australia and in the UK. Using examples such as the policy response to the Global Financial Crisis, the Higher Education Contribution Scheme and the UK’s Congestion Charge, they explore what did and didn’t work in these contexts, the personalities involved and what lessons can be drawn for introducing future complex policies.

There is a widespread view among analysts and policy makers in the Middle East region and beyond that President Barack Obama’s handling of the oil-rich but volatile Middle East has not been deft. His policy actions or lack of them have contributed to regional instability, and disillusioned some of America’s traditional Arab allies, most importantly Saudi Arabia. President Obama has been criticized for not containing the influence of Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and therefore the current American administration has been accused of playing into the hands of Tehran, whether in Iraq or Syria or Yemen. The position of the United States has also suffered in other parts of the region. The Arab Spring has come and largely gone, leaving the United States in lower standing in Egypt. The US-led peace talks between Israel and Palestine have failed, despite Secretary Kerry’s energetic efforts. How does Obama’s policy in the Middle East compare to that of the two leading presiden

The Vote: 2016 Federal Election Series, presented in partnership with Policy Forum.net, is an opportunity to engage with ANU public policy experts during the 2016 Federal Election. In this podcast, three ANU public policy experts offer a no holds barred overview of the election, looking at the policy, politics and predictions ahead of us for the next eight weeks. Panellists include: - Quentin Grafton, Professor of Economics, ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, and Editor-in-Chief of PolicyForum.net - Sue Regan, researcher and policy analyst, ANU Crawford School of Public Policy - Bob Cotton, Visiting Fellow, ANU Crawford School of Public Policy Moderated by Catherine McGrath, Chief Political Correspondent for SBS TV.

Iconic Australian, Ken Done talks about his new book, A Life Coloured In, an exuberant memoir by one of Australia's best-loved artists. Ken Done has an extraordinary place in the hearts of Australians - many of whom have worn or decorated homes with his artwork. Taylor Swift was given a specially commissioned Ken Done artwork to commemorate her December 2015 Australian tour. Done donated his fee to UNICEF Australia, for which he is a Goodwill Ambassador. Done's vivid, optimistic images are part of our collective consciousness and have helped define Australia to the world. But what do we know about the man behind the brush and the 'Ken Done' commercial art phenomenon? The sudden loss of his investments from a lifetime's hard work and a resultant stressful court case was closely followed by a shock cancer diagnosis. It was a dark time, but the powerful paintings that subsequently emerged have brought him long-overdue artistic acclaim. Ken Done was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in 1992 and was named Aus

This presentation looks at the unique characteristics of Generations Y and Z, and the implications of these characteristics for society and organisational security. The presentation also looks at the role of these two generations in terrorist groups. Professor Clive Williams MG is an Honorary Professor at the ANU Centre for Military Security and Law, and a Visiting Fellow at the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. He has a career background in intelligence and security.

The second in the Conversations Across the Creek series was a lively discussion of the abstract beauty of mathematics, the crisis of too much data, the possibilities of a universal language, and the potentials of machine learning within the constraints of making something which doesn't not work. Also mentioned: hammers, certainty, ethics, and Proust. This session’s speakers were: Professor Anna Wierzbicka (Linguistics, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics), Dr Glenn Roe (Digital Humanities, Centre for Digital Humanities Research), Professor Bob Williamson (Machine Learning, Research School of Computer Science), and Dr Vanessa Robins (Computational Topology, Research School of Physics & Engineering). Hosted by Director of the Humanities Research Centre Professor Will Christie. The Conversations Across the Creek series is an initiative of the Humanities Research Centre and the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science. ‘Conversations’ seeks to highlight the commonalities and interesting intersect

Australians came to the ABC's 2015 TV series The Killing Season in their droves, their fascination with the Rudd-Gillard struggle as unfinished as the saga itself. 'The Killing Season: Uncut' takes readers behind the scenes with new on-the-record material and telling insights into the key players of this dramatic period in Australian politics. Sarah Ferguson says "The making of The Killing Season matched the drama on screen and that's a story we wanted to tell. And now we have a place for the episodes of rich material we could have put into a 5-part series." In this conversation Sarah is joined by Lenore Taylor, political editor for the Guardian Australia.

This talk was recorded at the launch of Dr Andrew Glikson's and Professor Colin Groves' latest book 'Climate, Fire and Human Evolution: The Deep Time Dimensions of the Anthropocene'. Dr Glikson and Professor Groves were also joined by Professor Will Steffen and Professor Stephen Eggins to explore future climate trends and debate the philosophy of science. 'Climate, Fire and Human Evolution' uses Earth System science to explain pre-historic human evolution, give insight into the origins of the mastery of fire and broaden our understanding of climate change. It outlines principal milestones in the evolution of the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere during the last 4 million years in relation with the evolution of primates to the genus Homo - which uniquely mastered the ignition and transfer of fire.

Stan Grant discusses his new book, Talking To My Country, a powerful and personal meditation on race, culture and national identity. Talking To My Country is not just about race, or about Indigenous people but all of us, our shared identity. This is his very personal meditation on what it means to be Australian, what it means to be Indigenous, and what racism really means in this country. Stan Grant, a Wiradjuri man, is one of Australia's leading journalists, having worked in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa for the ABC, SBS, and the Seven Network. From 2001 to 2012 he was a CNN anchor in Hong Kong before relocating to Beijing as a correspondent. Since 2013, he has been the International Editor for SKY News. He is also Managing Editor of National Indigenous Television, and the Indigenous Affairs Editor at The Guardian. In 2015, he won a Walkley award for his coverage of Indigenous affairs.

Kerry O'Brien joined Lenore Taylor in conversation on 30 October 2015 to discuss his long awaited book, Keating. As there will never be an autobiography nor a memoir from Paul Keating, this book is as good as it gets: funny, sweeping, angry, imaginative, mischievous, with arrogance, a glimmer of humility and more than a touch of creative madness.

This talk looks at Syria’s history since the First World War, the events leading up to the Arab Spring uprising in Syria, the nature of the Syrian conflict since 2011, and the reasons for the current refugee crisis. Clive Williams is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Military and Security Law at the ANU. He has worked extensively in conflict zones and was last in the Middle East in August 2015.

Despite the recent rhetoric about transferring responsibilities back to the States and ensuring each jurisdiction has sovereignty in its own sphere of responsibilities including to raise the revenues needed to meet its spending commitments, reform of the Australian Federation will hopefully take a more pragmatic form, building on the growing demand for national policies - and growing range of international requirements - to guide public services, improving the way in which shared responsibilities are managed, while allowing service delivery to respond to local and regional needs and preferences. Such a pragmatic approach requires a degree of bipartisanship and political leadership at both Commonwealth and State levels; it also entails engaging with the Australian public, promoting steady reform in the national interest and avoiding short-term or ideologically-driven political fixes. About the speaker Professor Andrew Podger AO is an Hon. Professor of Public Policy at ANU. He has been at the University since

Australia has offered an emissions reduction target for the Paris talks that is significantly below that of the European Union and which even falls short of the United States target. Australia needs to re-engage with the rest of the world, which is increasingly aware of the impact of dangerous climate change. It is simply too urgent to opt out - we need action now. The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben, is a former UK Secretary of State for the Environment and is currently the Chairman of the UK’s Climate Change Committee and Special Advisor to the United Nations on Carbon Pricing. His sixteen years of top-level ministerial experience also included Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minster for London, Employment Minister and Paymaster General in HM Treasury.

Malcolm Walter, Professor of Astrobiology (retired) at the University of NSW and Founding Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, presents the 2015 The David Cooper Memorial Lecture. In this talk he examines where the best place to look for life on Mars would be and why discovering life on the Red Planet is so important.

David Marr joins Laura Tingle in conversation to discuss his new quarterly essay on Bill Shorten – Faction Man Bill Shorten's Path to Power. David Marr is the nation's leading writer of political biography. His Quarterly Essay profiles of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott were national bestsellers. This controversial and brilliant new essay looks at the making of Shorten. It also addresses a key question: how does the union movement for good or ill continue to shape the Labor Party? May contain some brief coarse language.

Ten years after his internationally bestselling The Weather Makers, acclaimed scientist and author Tim Flannery argues that Earth's climate system is approaching a crisis. Catastrophe is not inevitable, but time is fast running out. In the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Summit to be held in Paris in December, Atmosphere of Hope provides both a snapshot of the trouble we are in and an up-to-the-minute analysis of some of the new possibilities for mitigating climate change that are emerging now.

In The Luck of Politics, The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP weaves together numbers and stories to show the many ways luck can change the course of political events.This is a book full of fascinating facts and intriguing findings. Why is politics more like poker than chess? Does the length of your surname affect your political prospects? What about your gender? The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Federal Member for Fraser in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at The Australian National University.

When Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson was on campus last month he sat down for a conversation with Nobel laureate Professor Brian Schmidt to discuss the importance of science, the democratisation of space and the possibility of alien life.

Chris Bowen speaks about his latest book 'The Money Men' an in-depth look at the twelve most notable and interesting men to have held the office of Treasurer of Australia. This talk brings a unique insider perspective to the lessons learned from the successes and failures of those who went before him. The Hon Chris Bowen was appointed Treasurer by Kevin Rudd in 2013 and is the current Shadow Treasurer.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report is the world's most comprehensive evaluation of climate change, its potential impacts and the choices we have for responding to it. The report provides leaders with a scientific basis for developing strategies to address climate change. Most importantly, it will be the leading scientific document to inform negotiations at the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 21) in December 2015, at which negotiators will try to reach a global climate agreement. Whilst the report finds that human influence on the climate system is clear, we do have the means to limit climate change and build a more prosperous, sustainable future. Speakers: Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, IPCC Vice-Chair: Overview of the Fifth Assessment Report Dr Youba Sokona, IPCC Co Chair Working Group III: Mitigation of Climate Change Dr Andy Reisinger, IPCC Lead Author: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability: focus on Australia Dr Debra Rob