Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 17 June
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
The late Di Gribble was a force in Australian cultural and intellectual life. Publisher, editor, businesswoman: her impact on the world of books, writing and ideas cannot be overstated.
She was tireless in her contributions; founder of McPhee Gribble, Text Media, Text Publishing and Private Media, with stints as the deputy chair of the ABC, and board member for Lonely Planet, CARE Australia, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Major Events Company and Circus Oz.
The Di Gribble Argument is a new annual occasion to remember Di and her legacy and – in her name – to put a bit of stick about. Over dinner in the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria, we’re inviting you to take part in a good old-fashioned argument; with a provocative proposition, considered responses and a good-natured free-for-all.
Our inaugural arguer is outspoken venture capitalist Mark Carnegie, reminding us all of our civic responsibilities, or current lack thereof. A distinguished, possibly irate, group of guests will respond to Mark’s address, before our postprandial audience joins the throng with arguments of their own.
This is a golden opportunity to share in dinner, drinks and hearty conversation, and to remember the contribution of an extraordinary powerhouse of Australian public life. The inaugural Argument promises to be an indelible addition to the national debate: pushing buttons, rattling cages and getting up noses somewhere between the entrée and main course.
On Friday 11 July, Mark Carnegie will present his argument in a free event at the Wheeler Centre.
Featuring
Jim Minifie
Dr Jim Minifie is a leading economist and writer, with a strong grasp of the Australian policy landscape.
A graduate in applied economics from Stanford University, he worked closely with Australian corporate leaders during his seven years as Chief Economist of the Boston Consulting Group.
Marian Rakosi
Marian Rakosi is a young, passionate early childhood educator and proud unionist from Sydney.
She is an activist in the Big Steps Campaign for quality reforms in the early childhood education and care sector. Why? Because early education shapes our nation. Oh, and she lives on twitter @MarianRakosi.
Mark Carnegie
Mark Carnegie is Principal of M.H. Carnegie & Co. He was previously Head of LCW Private Equity, Lazard’s Australian private equity business. He has had a near twenty five year career as an investor and corporate adviser in New York, London, and Sydney.
Mark co-founded Carnegie, Wylie & Company, one of Australia’s leading independent corporate advisory and investment firms. Carnegie, Wylie & Company was acquired by Lazard on 31 July 2007.
Mark is a Director of Lazard, Macquarie Radio Network Ltd and a large number of investee companies. He is a former Director of Lonely Planet Publications, Chairman of STW Communications Group Pty Ltd (formerly Singleton Group Ltd and Australia’s most profitable advertising and marketing group) from 1993-2005 and President Commissioner of PT London Sumatra (one of Indonesia’s premier plantation companies) from 2004-2007.
Amongst other investments Mark has been a participant in groups that have acquired major stakes in the Courage Pub Estate, John Fairfax Holdings, Hoyts Cinemas, Formula One Holdings, SCTV, Macquarie Radio Network, and Lonely Planet Publications.
Mark holds a BA from Oxford University and a BSc (Hons) from Melbourne University. He is a former Treasurer of the Oxford University Union.
Van Badham
Van Badham is a Melbourne-based writer, theatremaker, critic, activist, occasional broadcaster and one of Australia’s most controversial public intellectuals. She is currently employed as a political columnist and culture critic for Guardian Australia, while as a theatremaker she’s had more than 100 international productions of her work.
In 2014, her theatre projects include Notoriously Yours - a live-action spy movie about the surveillance - at the Adelaide Fringe, The Trollhunter - a Melbourne Comedy Festival show with Catherine Deveny, and Big Baby: Boss of the World - a collaboration with Terrapin, the national puppet company.
In 2014, she’s won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for her play Muff, the Adelaide Critics' Circle Award for Notoriously Yours and shared the Green Room award for Best Production with her adaptation of The Bloody Chamber.
Internationally, her works for stage and musical theatre have appeared at the Edinburgh Festival, Adelaide Festival, New York Summer Play Festival, in Australia for Malthouse Theatre and Griffin Theatre, in London at the Royal Court Theatre, the Bush (for Paines Plough), the Finborough and Theatre503, and toured extensively in the UK, across her native Australia and to the US, Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The BBC World Service, Radio 4 and Radio 3 have produced her radio dramas. Her first novel, Burnt Snow, released in Australia in 2010, is the first in a three-book series for Pan Macmillan. She trained in writing for television on attachment to BBC serial Holby City and her award-winning short film, Octopus, screened in the Dungog, Tropfest Australia, Munich International, Berlin International and LA Shorts festivals.