Lowy Institute

Latest Episodes:

In conversation: Hal Varian on the economics of data Oct 17, 2018

Show notes

In an age of ubiquitous data, the “scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it”. Google’s Chief Economist, Hal R Varian, and Lowy Institute’s International Economy Director Roland Rajah had a discussion on the economics of data, how data can drive innovation and improve our wellbeing, and the debate over its effects on competition and the appropriate role of government.
Dr Varian is an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in three departments: business, economics, and information management. He has also taught at MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Michigan and other universities around the world. Professor Varian has published numerous papers in economic theory, industrial organisation, financial economics, econometrics, and information economics. He is the co-author of a bestselling book on business strategy, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, and wrote a monthly column for The New York Times from 2000 to 2007.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Panel Discussion: The republic and Australia’s place in the world Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

On the eve of the visit to Australia by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Lowy Institute held an event on the issue of the republic and Australia’s place in the world.
Constitutional monarchist Julian Leeser MP, Federal Member for Berowra, and Michael Cooney, National Director of the Australian Republic Movement, joined Alex Oliver, Lowy Institute Director of Research, for a panel discussion on whether Australia’s status as a constitutional monarchy affects the way the world see us – and how we see ourselves.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2018 Indonesia Update Keynote Address and Panel Discussion on the Place of Minorities in Indonesia Sep 17, 2018

Show notes

Professor Robert Cribb of the Australia National University (ANU) delivered a keynote address (30 minutes) on the place of minorities in Indonesia, as part of the 2018 Indonesia Update, presented in cooperation with the ANU. This was followed by a panel discussion (35 minutes) featuring Professor Cribb; Dr Sandra Hamid, the Asia Foundation’s country representative in Indonesia; and Associate Professor Charlotte Setijadi, Singapore Management University. Tim Johnston moderated.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2018 Indonesia Political Update Lecture and Panel Discussion Sep 17, 2018

Show notes

Tom Power of the Australia National University (ANU) Indonesia Project delivered the 2018 political update (approximately 35 minutes), followed by a panel discussion on Indonesia’s upcoming April 2019 elections (approximately 40 minutes) featuring Power, ANU; Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis in Jakarta; and Aaron Connelly, the director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute. Ulla Fionna moderated.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Panel Discussion: Can middle powers save the international order? Views from Germany Sep 05, 2018

Show notes

The international order is under strain. Rising powers want to rewrite the rules, Western leaders are turning inwards, and technology is breaking down barriers. What can middle powers do in response?
Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove moderated a discussion with Ralf Beste, Head of Policy Planning at the German Federal Foreign Office, Volker Perthes, Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, and Gudrun Wacker, Senior Fellow in the Asia Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quick Comment: Emmanuel Tjibaou on New Caledonia's independence referendum Sep 03, 2018

Show notes

In November, New Caledonia will face an independence referendum. This will bring to an end the Matignon and Noumea Accords, which delivered 30 years of peace after a bloody civil war. France is overseeing preparations.
Australia's position continues to be simple support for the full implementation of the 1998 Noumea Accord, including a genuine referendum process. The Accord planned a scheduled handover and sharing of some responsibilities by France, and economic re-balancing between the mainly European and mainly Kanak areas. It stipulates that the final vote would decide three things: New Caledonia's future international status; whether France retains responsibility for defence, foreign affairs, currency, law and order, and justice; and citizenship, or employment/voting rights, for longstanding residents.
On August 15, CarriageWorks presented the world premiere of new work by resident company Marrugeku, with an inter-cultural and trans-Indigenous production, featuring Australian and New Caledonia dancers of First Nations, immigrant and settler descent. Presented as New Caledonia moves towards the referendum on independence from France, Le Dernier Appel (The Last Cry) asks questions of cultural, political and personal decolonisation in both Australia and New Caledonia.
Alexandre Dayant, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, interviewed Emmanuel Tjibaou, the Director of the Tjibaou Cultural Centre (which co-commissioned Le Dernier Appel). Mr. Tjibaou has been involved in the development of Le Dernier Appel with Marrugeku (Australia's leading Indigenous intercultural dance theatre company), from a Kanak perspective.
Emmanuel Tjibaou is the son of the assassinated Kanak independence leader Jean Marie Tjibaou who signed the accord for the peace treaty with France and the conditions of the referendum which takes place this November.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tuilaepa Malielegaoi on a Pacific perspective of the new geostrategic landscape Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

The Lowy Institute hosted an address by the Hon Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Samoa.
The Pacific is back in international headlines. New partners in the region are contributing to a fast-changing geostrategic landscape, and old partners are ‘stepping up’ in response. But how new are these current dynamics? How do Pacific Islanders view the movements and machinations of large powers in the Pacific and how have they responded to such developments? How are Pacific Island countries shaping the engagement of partners in the region, and how will they continue to shape them in the future? We delved into these issues and more with Samoa’s Prime Minister.
The Hon Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi is the leader of the Human Rights Protection Party, which currently retains 47 of the 50 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1981 and has previously served as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In 1998 he became the sixth Prime Minister of Samoa, and has led his party to four general election victories. Before entering politics, he served in the Department of Treasury.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Panel Discussion: A Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Prospects for and responses to US policy in Asia Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

Whether in terms of denuclearisation talks with North Korea, an escalating trade war with China, or the promotion of a concept and strategy for a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, the pace of US statecraft in Asia has been frenetic in recent months.
Has the United States reclaimed the initiative in great power competition in the region? Are bold but often contradictory US initiatives unpicking or strengthening America’s position in Asia? Will a ‘new era in US economic commitment’ to the region prove more meaningful than the last, which ended with US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership? And how do regional partners and adversaries interpret recent developments?
Alex Oliver, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute, chaired a panel discussion with Gordon Flake, CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre, together with Lowy Institute Senior Fellows Dr Euan Graham and Richard McGregor.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Panel Discussion: Australian foreign policy in a time of political crisis Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

Australia now has its fifth prime minister in five years. What does this mean for Australia’s place in the world? Does our reputation as the ‘coup capital of the democratic world’ damage Australia’s international standing? How does it affect our ability to run a coherent foreign policy? And what might we expect from the Morrison government?
Four Lowy Institute experts discussed the global implications of Australia’s political crisis. Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove chaired a discussion with Director of Research Alex Oliver, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor, and Director of the International Security Program Sam Roggeveen.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Kaldas on Middle East Peace to chemical weapons in Syria Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

The future of the Middle East peace process under US President Donald Trump, the use of chemical weapons in Syrian conflict, the implications for the United Nations’ role and its duties – these topics are politically, culturally, and ethically complex and are not easily navigated.
The Lowy Institute hosted Mr Nick Kaldas APM, former Director of Internal Oversight Services in the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), to hear his views on these issues, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Mr Kaldas was a former deputy commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force. He has recently returned from two years with the UNRWA based in Jordan, during which time he was seconded as Chief Investigator into the use of chemical weapons in Syria by the UN/OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.