Lowy Institute

On 31 October, the Lowy Institute hosted an election debate between the Trade Minister, the Hon. Warren Truss, and the Shadow Trade Minister, the Hon. Simon Crean. Both speakers reaffirmed their belief that the WTO Doha Round could still deliver a global deal and presented their parties' different views on bilateral trade deals, including the ongoing negotiations with Japan and the potential for an Australia-South Korea deal in the future. The Trade Minister also used the debate to outline the Coalition's new trade policy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute was pleased to present a lecture by the Federal Labor Leader, Kevin Rudd MP, on Thursday 5 July 2007, as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series. The title of Mr Rudd's lecture was 'Fresh ideas for future challenges in foreign policy', downloadable here. In this important lecture, Mr Rudd outlined Labor's approach to Australian foreign policy. He also took questions from the floor. Mr Rudd was elected Federal Labor Leader in 2006. He has extensive foreign, trade and international policy experience as a diplomat, senior bureaucrat, corporate consultant and federal parliamentarian. In 2001 he was appointed Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (with additional responsibility for International Security in 2003 and for Trade in 2005).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Honourable Gordon J. O’Connor, PC, MP, Canada's Minister of National Defence, spoke at the Lowy Institute on 8 September as part of the Institute's Distinguished Speaker Series. Canada and Australia are two nations which enjoy a shared heritage, common interests and a long history of external military commitments. Like Australia, Canada is undergoing a major restructuring and re-equipping of its armed forces, and has major military resources committed beyond its borders. Both nations have committed troops to Afghanistan, with over 2200 Canadian troops already in Afghanistan and an additional 400 Australian troops poised for deployment. Minister O’Connor spoke on these and other issues which affect our mutual engagement with the global environment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Hans-Henrik Holm addressed the Thursday Lunch at Lowy on the topic of the Danish cartoon media controversy, which occurred when the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons of the prophet Muhammad on September 30 2005. Hans-Henrik Holm is Professor of International Relations at the Danish School of Journalism and Aarhus University. He has held several senior academic appointments in journalism throughout Europe and the United States, including a professorial appointment at Berkeley and sits on numerous international boards dedicated to media issues. He is visiting Australia as head of delegation to a senior visiting team from the Danish School for Journalism, Scandinavia’s pre-eminent journalism school.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the economic downturn following the global financial crisis, the United States remains Australia’s most significant commercial partner, taking into account the value and diversity of our two-way investment and trade flows. On Tuesday 18 May at a panel discussion on the prospects and trends in the commercial relationship between Australia and the United States, The Honourable Anthony Byrne MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister for Trade, gave the keynote address.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Wednesday Lowy Lunch this week was on Tuesday and it launched the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Outlook Paper #13, 'Standing Together, In Single File', by the Lowy Institute’s Program Director East Asia, Dr Malcolm Cook. Malcolm was joined by Dr Brendan Taylor to discuss the paper. Brendan is a lecturer at the School of International, Political and Strategic Studies at ANU. Dr Andrew Butcher, the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Director Policy and Research, moderated the launch.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mekong River basins are one of the most important and dynamic areas in the world for the battle between economic development’s demands for energy and environmental and social sustainability. As world attention shifts to the pending global climate change negotiations in far-off Copenhagen, the ongoing damming of the Mekong River and plans by the riparian states to build new dams threaten the livelihoods of millions or people in Southeast Asia who rely on the river. Milton Osborne’s latest publication for the Lowy Institute on the Mekong River focuses on these plans by the Lao PDR and Cambodia to build dams on the Mekong and evaluates their potential social and environmental ramifications especially for Cambodia’s Great Lake and for the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One if the biggest questions facing Asia, and Australia, is how is the global financial crisis affecting China and will the Chinese government's policy responses be effective. The front and opinion pages of Australia's broadsheets have been full of stories and editorials on this topic. At the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 25 March 2009, Professor Leong Liew looked beyond these headlines and discussed the challenges from the global financial crisis facing the Chinese economy in a key period of transition and how domestic political factors are shaping China's policy responses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute was pleased to host the second ‘headland’ speech by the Hon. Tony Abbott MHR, Leader of the Opposition, on Friday 23 April. The speech covered Coalition views on foreign affairs and defence.Tony Abbott was elected Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party on 1 December 2009. He was previously Leader of the House and a senior Cabinet Minister in the Howard Government, serving in roles including Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Health and Ageing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the occasion of the publication of his political memoirs, the Lowy Institute was pleased to welcome former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser for a conversation on Australian foreign policy. From the Vietnam War to the Afghanistan War, from international law to the treatment of refugees, Mr Fraser discussed the meaning of liberalism in the global context. He was joined on stage by Michael Wesley, the Institute’s Executive Director.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.