Big Ideas

The decisions being made right now, in parliament, in budget lock-ups, in policy debates, will shape the lives of your kids and their kids. Think: Climate. Housing. Aged care. AI., But in many cases, those decisions are being deferred. There's a name for it: policrastination. The habit of delaying what we know needs doing because the short-term political incentives reward inaction, even when the long-term costs are clear. What would it actually take to govern for the long term?
This conversation is anchored in the new book Future Generations Policy, Governance and Leadership: Ending Policrastination, co-authored by our speakers.
Presented at the bookshop Hill of Content, Melbourne. 
Speakers
Taylor Dee HawkinsManaging Director of Foundations for Tomorrow, a non-profit dedicated to advancing the protection of future generations in Australia
Professor Susan Harris Rimmer Research academic focusing on international human rights law in the Griffith Law School
Dr Elise Stephenson Deputy Director of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership, Australian National University
Caitlin Reiger (host)CEO Human Rights Law Centre

Meet the tenacious Papua New Guineans who won't give up on holding Australian mining giants to account, despite the enormous personal toll of doing so. Emmanuel Peni is fighting to protect the world's "second Amazon"- the pristine Sepik River. Theonila Roka Matbob won the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for campaigning against the toxic legacy of Rio Tinto's Panguna copper-gold mine.
This event was hosted at the Extracting Justice: Mining, Accountability, Community Power in the Pacific Conference at the University of Sydney.
Speakers:
Theonila Roka MatbobFormer politician in Papua New Guinean parliamentWinner of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize
Dr Luke FletcherExecutive Director of Jubilee Australia, a not-for-profit research and advocacy centre focused on economic justice in the Asia-Pacific
Emmanuel (Manu) PeniCo-producer, Sukundimi Walks Before Me documentaryExecutive Director of Project Sepik
Ben Doherty (chair)Walkley award winning journalist, Guardian AustraliaFormer foreign correspondent covering south-east Asia

From the Frontier Wars, to foreign wars experienced by migrant Australians, to the threat of Australia's involvement in future conflict, war means many different things to different people. So as Australian society evolves, should our culture of war commemoration change too? 
The 2026 Wilks Oration was recorded at the Effective Living Centre, at Christ Church Uniting in Wayville, Adelaide.
Speakers:
Professor Peter StanleyAuthor of more than 50 books including Beyond The Broken Years, Australian military history in 1000 books, Bad Characters (joint winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History in 2011) and moreFormer Research Professor at UNSW CanberraInaugural head of the Research Centre at the National Museum of AustraliaFormer principal historian at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra (1980-2007)Founding member and President of Defending Country

Pacific communities have long led the global climate fight — not from the margins, but from the front. Australia's hopes of co-hosting COP31 alongside Pacific Island nations have been dashed. So, what does genuine partnership now look like and what does it demands of Australia? 
This live conversation was recorded at the 2026 WOMADelaide festival, produced and presented as part of their Planet Talks program, held on the traditional lands of the Guarna people.
Listen to Big Ideas — Changing minds on climate change
Speakers
Moemoana Safaʻatoʻa SchwenkeSamoan climate activist, cultural ambassador, former Miss Samoa and Miss Pacific Islands
Salā Dr. George CarterHead of the Pacific Institute and Deputy Head of the Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National University
'Alopi LatukefuDirector Edmund Rice Centre for Justice & Community Education
Tukini Tavui (host)CEO of the Pacific Islands Council of South Australia

He was there at the birth of a movement. He's been a champion for the rights of gay people both in Australia and abroad ever since. The son of Jewish refugees, he's also been forced to reckon with other parts of his identity, especially since 7 October 2023. Dennis Altman looks back at 50 years of activism, writing, and social change.
This event was recorded at the Williamstown Literary Festival on 13 June 2026.
Speakers:
Professor Dennis AltmanAuthor, Righting My World: Essays from the past half century, and many moreVice Chancellors Fellow at LaTrobe UniversityFormer President of the AIDS Society of Asia and the PacificPatron of the Australian Queer ArchivesPatron, the Pride Foundation
Sam Elkin (host)Author, Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal SagaHost, Queer View Mirror Triple R community radio stationFormer lawyer