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  • Rick Morton in conversation

    Rick Morton in conversation
    2024/11/12
    I'm going out on a limb here. I think Rick Morton’s Mean Streak is an important book. Its description of the creation, implementation and eventual dismantling of Robodebt reveals a long slow-motion train wreck – one mendacious cruel scheming carriage after another inevitably, inexorably, piling into the one before it. But it’s also necessary. If we want to live in a society which works (and after the events of this week who doesn’t?) we need to have strong, transparent institutions at its centre. Rick Morton has done something essential for all of us: drilled down into how something as individually damaging and nationally disgraceful as Robodebt could exist in a place like this. Morton is the senior reporter at The Saturday Paper. He has won two Walkley Awards for his coverage of the Royal Commission into Robodebt. He's also the author of the wonderful One Hundred Years of Dirt. He asks you to consider what it might be like to live in a country whose government callously, but deliberately, condemns its poorest citizens to a Kafkaesque nightmare. As some sort of idealogical crusade. To raise funds. That same government who, when it was revealed what they had done, was obliged to pay it all back. Nobody, as you will be well aware, has been punished for what happened. Just in the last fortnight it was announced that the NACC had been forced to reverse its decision not to investigate Robodebt because Commissioner Paul Brereton had not adequately removed himself from the process. Rick grew up on a remote cattle station in far-west Queensland. His childhood gave him an insight into the nature of class in Australia and he writes very lucidly on the subject. When I was growing up, he says, ‘I didn’t know there was a hierarchy because I couldn’t see the rest of the ladder from where I was.’ Rick is a remarkable writer and a great speaker, don't miss this event! Rick is in conversation with Steven Lang.
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  • Siang Lu in conversation

    Siang Lu in conversation
    2024/11/12
    Siang Lu is the author of two novels, The Whitewash and Ghost Cities. The latter, which we'll be discussing, was inspired by the existence of several vacant uninhabited megacities of China. It follows multiple narratives, including one in which a young man named Xiang is fired from his job as a translator at Sydney's Chinese Consulate after it is discovered he doesn't speak a word of Chinese and has been relying entirely on Google Translate for his work. His first novel, The Whitewash, won the ABIA Audiobook of the Year in 2023 and the Glendower Award for an emerging writer in the Qld Literary Awards. Of Siang Lu, Chris Flynn wrote: 'A literary star is born in Siang Lu, although he'll probably be replaced by a white guy called Jeff at some point, so get in while you can.' Siang is in conversation with Steven Lang
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  • Gina Chick in conversation

    Gina Chick in conversation
    2024/10/24
    Gina Chick has written a memoir. It’s titled we are the stars, and it follows her life from when she was almost seven years old, all the way through until she’s fifty, and there’s hardly a page you might choose to describe as conventional. Gina – with all that literary royalty in her blood – made her own way, a path which took her on a dance through the hidden world of 90s Sydney nightlife (right into the arms of a conman) and from there into the wilderness where she began a wondrous love affair with some of the deepest lessons life (and death) can offer. Literary royalty? Yes, because although Gina is most famous for having survived alone in the Tasmanian wilderness for 67 days, becoming the inaugural winner of the Alone Australia competition (and endearing herself to some five and a half million viewers), she is, also, the daughter of Suzanne Chick, author of Searching for Charmian. Suzanne, it turned out, was Charmian Clift’s daughter, given up for adoption at birth. Charmian was, of course, one of Australia’s great writers ( Peel Me a Lotus, Mermaid Singing), also famous for living on the island of Hydra with her partner of George Johnston, the author of My Brother Jack These days Gina describes herself as a rewilding facilitator, a writer and a speaker. She’s on the tele right now with Julia Zamero, doing great Australian walks. Gina is, in fact, a force unto herself. Her book is released at the beginning of October and we’re incredibly lucky to have her come to Maleny. Gina is in conversation with Steven Lang
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  • Andrew Stafford in conversation

    Andrew Stafford in conversation
    2024/10/24
    Andrew Stafford’s book Pig City,about Brisbane music from the 70s through to the millennium, has been re-released for its twentieth anniversary. It is, in itself, a major Brisbane icon. Bernard Fanning wrote of it: ‘Twenty years on, Pig City reminds us of how deeply the political undercurrents (Joe Bjelke Peterson’s government) impacted the cultural output of Brisbane’s artists, and how the pioneers of the scene (unknowingly) laid the platform for the bands to come.' Paul Grabowsky: ‘I read Pig City in 2005, as part of my induction into the musical history of Brisbane. I couldn’t put it down. Any city lucky enough to be honoured with such a chronicle is a very lucky place.’ Andrew is in conversation with Steven Lang
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  • Marko Newman in conversation

    Marko Newman in conversation
    2024/08/20
    Mark Newman was born and raised in South Africa. As a young man he completed a post-graduate philosophy degree at Johannesburg University (University of the Witwatersrand). This was during the time of Apartheid in South Africa, a regime that had a profound affect on him. As soon as he could he arranged to leave, being awarded a scholarship from the French Government to study film-making at the French National Film School. Over the next thirty or forty years Mark has produced and directed films in Africa, the UK and Australia. For the last decade or so – until very recently - he and his partner Robyn Hofmyer were very involved with the Baramba/Cherbourg Aboriginal Community, and the Ration Shed in particular. In recent years, however, Mark has followed a long-held dream to write novels. Dronikus, the novel we’re discussing tonight, is the first to see the light of day. Launched late last year it was short-listed for the Aurealis Award for the best Science-Fiction novel of the year.
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  • Dr Norman Swan in conversation

    Dr Norman Swan in conversation
    2024/08/20
    Dr Norman Swan was born and raised in Glasgow, but he did his medical training at Aberdeen University, eventually going on to specialise in pediatrics. After he emigrated to Australia in the early 80s, however, he made the move into radio and television broadcasting, mainly with the ABC, and in this role, through a series of programs, including Life Matters, The 7.30 Report, Catalyst, Quantum, Four Corners, and, of course, The Health Report - which he has produced and presented since its inception in 1985, he has been given the label of Australia’s most trusted doctor. And that was before Coronacast. (Interestingly enough for all those in our audience who are lovers of Radio National, Norman is not simply a broadcaster, he was the station’s general manager for three years from 1990, during which time it saw a major revitalisation, bringing on board such luminaries as Philip Adams and Geraldine Doogue, amongst others. We have a lot to thank him for). More recently his focus – when not getting married on the island of Hydra – and many congratulations on that! - he has been the writing of a series of books about health, books which he describes not as giving advice, but presenting evidence. He’s here tonight to speak about So You Want to Know What’s Good for Your Kids?
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  • Simon Cleary in conversation

    Simon Cleary in conversation
    2024/06/14
    In the autumn of 2023 Simon undertook to follow the course of the Brisbane River from its source to the sea, in the hope that, by walking its length he might better understand the power and impact of this immense waterway on the environment and communities who rely on it. In Everything is Water, Cleary takes us along on his journey, made both alone and with companions, and explores the way rivers connect landscapes, ecologies, histories, communities and myth. Over four eventful weeks and a serious weather event we are witness to the river in all its beauty and fury. Beautifully told, Everything is Water considers our complex relationship with nature through flood, drought, time and place.
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  • Hugh Mackay in conversation - The Way We Are

    Hugh Mackay in conversation - The Way We Are
    2024/06/14
    Hugh Mackay has long been recognised as Australia’s leading social psychologist. In The Way We Are, his self-described ‘final book’, he presents a compelling portrait of the country as it stands today. Hugh argues that we have entered a critical period in our social evolution. He identifies several major issues: the unfinished march towards gender equality combined with the concurrent persistence of misogyny; the anti-social consequences of social media and the impacts of information overload; and the decline in religious faith and the things we look towards as a substitute. Some of his observations might not make easy reading, but his analysis goes further, to share his own perspective on the steps we need to take to contribute to the healing of our wounded society. Hugh has written more than twenty books, including Advance Australia… where?, The Art of Belonging, and Beyond Belief. He appears regularly on television, radio and newspapers as a commentator. The Way We Are demonstrates his deep affection for our country and is a marvellous book-end to his illustrious career.
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