First 100 days

Enjoy a glass of wine and antipasto at the National Press Club with former SBS TV Bureau Chief and Chief Political Correspondent Catherine McGrath in this Q&A-style event as she moderates a panel of ANU experts who will share their expert views and opinions on the Federal Election 2019.

In a 24-hour news cycle, the first 100 days of government has remarkable influence on the perceived success or failure of the incoming Ministry. In a policy sense, there are no shortage of suggestions of tweaks, wholesale changes and shelving of initiatives. What do our experts see as the crucial changes the incoming government needs to make in its first 100 days?

ANU Panellists:        
Professor Russell Gruen, ANU College of Health and Medicine
Professor John Hewson, Tax & Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy
Professor Anna Moore, Director InSpace, & Director Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre
Professor Helen Sullivan, Crawford School of Public Policy
Professor Michael Wesley, ANU College of Asia & the Pacific

Moderated by: Catherine McGrath, one of Australia’s most respected political journalists.

Professor Russell Gruen is the Dean of the ANU College of Health and Medicine. A surgeon, he is an expert in the care of critically injured people, and the development of high performing regional trauma systems. He has led research, education and policy development programs with the World Health Organization, the Australian and Indian Governments, and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He was formerly Director of Australia’s National Trauma Research Institute, Professor of Surgery and Public Health at Monash, and a trauma surgeon at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, after which he spent 4 years in Singapore building an Institute for Health Technologies at Nanyang Technological University, and helping to establish the new Lee Kong Chiang School of Medicine in partnership with Imperial College London. Professor Gruen is committed to improving access to high quality health services for disadvantaged populations throughout the world. He completed a PhD on specialist medical services for remote Aboriginal communities, and has been a leader in advancing access to safe surgery and anaesthesia throughout the region. His clinical and health services expertise has been bolstered by post-doctorate qualifications in health policy, medical ethics and business management.

Professor John Hewson is Chair of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute. He is an economic and financial expert with careers in academia, business, government, media and the financial system. He has been a “Climate activist” for some 30 years, including as the Chair of the Asset Owners Disclosure Project that analysed how superannuation and sovereign wealth funds managed the risk of climate change. He has worked as an economist for the Australian Treasury, the Reserve Bank, the IMF and as an Advisor to two successive Federal Treasurers and the Prime Minister. John’s political career included Shadow Finance Minister, Shadow Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Industry and Commerce, then Leader of the Opposition for four years. John has also served as Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Professor Anna Moore is Director of the ANU Institute for Space, and Director of the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre at Mount Stromlo Observatories in Canberra. Professor Moore was a member of the Australian government’s Space Expert Reference Group that led to the formation of the Australian Space Agency in July 2018. She is a Professor of Astronomy and is an expert in space and ground based instrumentation. Professor Anna Moore has previously built major instruments for the Australian Astronomical Observatory, the Japanese National Large Telescope (known as Subaru), Mount Palomar’s Observatory in California, and Hawaii’s W.M. Keck Observatory (currently the world’s largest telescopes). She has worked extensively in the field of infrared spectrographs, which are part of the next generation of tools scientists are using to map the sky and to help search for astronomical events including hidden novae, supernovae, and now gravitational wave events. Professor Moore joined ANU from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Professor Helen Sullivan is the Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy. Helen is a public policy scholar whose work has shaped understanding of the changing nature of state-society relationships and its implications for public governance, policy and practice. Helen’s work examines boundaries in public policy and the ways these are constructed, contested and crossed in contemporary contexts. Helen is the author or editor of six books and numerous academic articles and policy reports. Helen’s career is shaped by a commitment to connecting academia and practice. In 2013 she founded the Melbourne School of Government, a cross-university, multi-disciplinary, externally orientated institution focused on impact. In 2015 she led the Pathways to Politics Program for Women, a groundbreaking partnership between the University of Melbourne and the Trawalla Foundation to increase the representation of women in politics. In 2017 Helen was made a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia in recognition of her contribution to public policy and administration.

Professor Michael Wesley is Professor of International Affairs and Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. He has previously worked at the University of New South Wales and Griffith University; was Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments; and Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy. He is a Board Member of the Australia-China Council, the CEDA State Advisory Council for NSW/ACT; and the Australian Federal Police Commissioner’s Advisory Board. His book, There Goes the Neighbourhood: Australia and the Rise of Asia won the 2011 John Button Prize for the best writing on Australian politics and public policy. His most recent book is Restless Continent: Wealth, Rivalry and Asia’s New Geopolitics.

This will be an interactive, live event and questions from the audience are encouraged. Please submit your question when you register for this event on Eventbrite.

Antipasto platters and a glass of wine will be provided from 6pm. The event will start at 6.30pm.