In this episode, listen to insightful and often candid reflections of Gough Whitlam's impact on the Arts in Australia, delivered by a number of speakers on the opening night of Dedicated to the Dedicated: Whitlam, the Arts and Democracy.

The exhibition features the first public display of a collection of artworks that was gifted to Gough and Margaret Whitlam in 1979 in recognition of their landmark support for the Arts in Australia. The ‘Whitlams’ Folio’ includes works by John Olsen, Brett Whiteley, Lloyd Rees, John Coburn, Arthur Boyd and more, and is inscribed with a message of thanks to Gough and Margaret Whitlam for ‘the marks they have made on the Australian canvas’.

Opened on 6 June 2019, at the Margaret Whitlam Galleries, Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University.

This episode was recorded at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square Melbourne on Wednesday 17 April 2019, following a screening of the film The Scribe. It features a panel discussion on speech-writing, with director and producer Ruth Cullen, long-serving politician the Hon. Barry Jones AO, speechwriter to Kevin Rudd James Button, Whitlam historian Professor Jenny Hocking and Whitlam Institute Director Leanne Smith.

Who do you trust to make decisions about your rights, a human or a machine?

On Wednesday 20 March 2019, the Whitlam Institute hosted a Community Consultation on Human Rights and Technology, as part of a major review by the Australian Human Rights Commission. Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow and Whitlam Institute Director Leanne Smith discussed the implications of emerging technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Human Rights, and the large audience was also invited to share their thoughts and questions.

On Friday 8th March we opened the exhibition Spy: Espionage in Australia to a sold-out audience. Hear the remarkable eminent speakers who joined us on the night:

Stephen FitzGerald AO, Whitlam Institute Distinguished Fellow, former diplomat and Prime Ministerial Advisor to Gough Whitlam

Sara Dowse, acclaimed author and artist, inaugural head of the first women's unit in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Whitlam and Fraser, and biographer for Amirah Inglis, one of the individuals profiled in the exhibition

David Fricker, Director General of the National Archives of Australia, former CIO and Deputy Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)

This episode of the Whitlam Institute's podcast features our event Women, Peace & Security: In conversation with NATO’s special representative. This episode was recorded at The Museum of Australian Democracy in Old Parliament house on the 13th of February, 2019.