Big Ideas

Jennifer Hewett, national affairs columnist at the Australian Financial Review, Troy Bramston, political biographer of Australian prime ministers, and Paul Strangio, historian and author on leadership, discuss political leadership traits. They compare rhetorical flourish and managerial skill. They probe ego, humility, narcissism, maternal influences, leader-centred power, and how leaders learn and adapt.

Mark Clifford, author and president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, outlines Jimmy Lai's rise from factory worker to outspoken media owner. Evan Osnos, New Yorker staff writer, steers questions about press freedom. They explore Lai's founding of Apple Daily, his political funding, why Beijing saw him as a threat, and how Hong Kong’s freedoms unraveled.

Rita Arrigo, AI consultant who helps companies use generative tools responsibly. Dr Mathew Marques, psychologist studying trust and misinformation. Ian Dunt, political columnist focused on conspiracies and media. They discuss AI’s role in news, how algorithms shape what you see, the economics pushing automation, deepfakes and wartime fakes, platform defences, media literacy and ways to reclaim a healthier information diet.

Gary Stevenson, former Citibank trader turned author and YouTuber, now campaigns on wealth inequality. He recounts his East London rise, trading through the GFC, and how asset ownership and AI concentrate gains. He warns about housing loss, political fallout, and argues for public campaigns and wealth taxes to rebalance society.

Paul Kelly, veteran political journalist and author, and Amy Remeikis, political analyst and commentator, discuss whether Albanese has used his mandate to pursue bold reform. They debate cautious governance versus risk, the political fallout from the Voice referendum, NDIS and tax reform talk, big tech and media fragmentation, and practical policy ideas like university and gas tax changes.

Martin Luther King III knows what the long fight for equity looks like. His father was the late great Martin Luther King Jr who led the modern American civil rights movement and won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. And he's got something important to say about corporate Australia. Why is it missing out on Indigenous talent? More than social or equitable good, this is also crucial for Australia's future economic growth. Join Martin Luther III with Australian cultural and corporate leaders at this Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) and CareerTrackers event.SpeakersMartin Luther King IIICivil Rights Leader and Global HumanitarianLinda BurneyFormer Minister for Indigenous AustraliansMelinda CilentoChief Executive CEDARenee Wootton TomlinFounder and CEO New Era EnergyBen WyattFormer WA Treasurer and Non Executive Director of serval companiesAdam Davids (host)CEO and Managing Director CareerTrackers

They're Australia's highest form of inquiry on matters of public importance. But they've also become the go-to solution when corruption, misconduct or systems failures are exposed. So are they just a lawyer's picnic? Or a necessary reckoning?The conversation How do Royal Commissions work? And How Do We Assess Their Impact? was recorded at the Sorrento Writers Festival on Friday 24 April 2026.SpeakersBetty King QCFormer Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria (2005 - 2015), former County Court judge, former state prosecutor, former criminal barristerChairperson of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review BoardJack Rush KC Barrister, counsel assisting the Victorian Royal Commission into the 2009 Black Saturday BushfiresJon Faine (host)Former longtime presenter Mornings, ABC Radio MelbourneFormer lawyerVice Chancellors Fellow, University of MelbourneAuthor, Apollo & Thelma

Dr Scott Prasser, former senior adviser and academic, and Troy Bramston, political biographer and journalist, debate Malcolm Fraser's tangled legacy. They probe his rise after 1975, his mixed record on immigration, multiculturalism and environment, his leadership style and party estrangement, and whether his government was pragmatic reform or conservative continuity.

October 7 has become synonymous with the Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023, in which more than 1200 Jewish people were murdered. What has followed — the hostage crisis, the war in Gaza, and the global response — has reverberated in communities far beyond the Middle East, including here in Australia. For Jewish Australians, it has turned their lives, their careers, their relationships and their identities upside-down. Four Jewish Australian women share their personal experiences of the profound rift they've felt in the wake of that day, and their hopes and attempts to mend it.This conversation was recorded at Manly Writers' Festival on 22 March 2026.SpeakersJoanne FedlerAuthor of The Whale's Last Song and more, writing teacher, former lawyerDr Kylie Moore-Gilbert Research Fellow in Security Studies, Macquarie UniversityAuthor, The Uncaged SkyFormer political prisoner in IranElana Benjamin Author of Indian-Jewish Food, Recipes and Stories from the Back Streets of Bondi, and moreLee KofmanAuthor of The Writer Laid Bare: Mastering Emotional Honesty in a Writer's Art, Craft and Life and more, writing coach and co-editor, Ruptured: Jewish Women in Australia Reflect on Life Post-October 7Suellen Dainty (host) Journalist and author, An Invisible Tattoo and more

Through the stories of five women across three generations of his family, the influential Greek economist, author, politician and public intellectual Yanis Varoufakis tells the tumultuous tale of Greece's modern history, and reflects on its parallels with the once again global rising tides of fascism, authoritarianism, and the actions of those who resist.This conversation was recorded on 6 March 2026 at the Sydney Greek Festival.SpeakersYanis VaroufakisEconomist, former Greek Finance Minister (2015), founder and General Secretary MeRA25Author, Raise your soul: A Personal History of Resistance, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism? and moreDr Helen Vatsikopoulos (host)Journalist, Doctor of Creative Arts University of Technology Sydney