Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 14 October
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
The prime minister’s chief of staff has a unique role in Australian political culture. With immeasurable influence – some much more than others – as confidantes, mediators, gatekeepers and advisors, the chief of staff steers the prime minister through the challenges and landmines of leadership, fine tuning and coordinating the things that matter to help win the support of cabinet, caucus and country.
What makes a great chief of staff? What are the challenges, pressures and principles that occupy their time? And what matters most in this powerful behind-the-scenes role? Prime Minister Tony Abbott calls his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, ‘the boss’. Kevin Rudd’s chief of staff, Alister Jordan, was referred to as ‘the wunderkind’, not always kindly.
Join Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft with Anne Tiernan, associate professor at the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at Griffith University, and David Epstein, the first chief of staff to Prime Minister Rudd, to discuss the chiefs, past and present, and this singular job in the national capital.
Featuring
David Epstein
David Epstein is vice-president, corporate affairs and regulatory affairs for Singtel Optus. Educated at The ANU and Wharton (UPenn), David is an experienced corporate affairs executive with a background in regulatory and public affairs, both internationally and in Australia.
His career spans public and private sectors, including BHP Billiton, Qantas, chief of staff to the leader of the federal Opposition and as a senior ministerial adviser to three prime ministers, culminating as chief of staff to the prime minister.
He is a member the board of Opera Australia, the European Australian Business Council and the Australian Advisory Board of The Asia Society, as well as a councillor of Creative Partnerships Australia.
Anne Tiernan
Anne Tiernan is an associate professor in the Centre of Governance and Public Policy and School of Government at Griffith University. She is director of postgraduate and executive programs in policy analysis and public administration in Griffith’s School of Government and International Relations. The Gatekeepers: Lessons from Prime Ministers' Chiefs of Staff (written with R.A.W Rhodes) was published by MUP August 2014.
Her research interests include: policy advice, executive advisory systems, policy capacity, federalism and intergovernmental coordination. She is author of several books, including Learning to be a Minister: Heroic Expectations, Practical Realities (with Patrick Weller, Melbourne University Press, 2010) and Power Without Responsibility: Ministerial Staffers in Australian Governments from Whitlam to Howard (UNSW Press, 2007).
Tiernan is a member of the Member of the Public Records Review Committee of the Queensland State Archives and serves on the board of directors of St Rita’s College Ltd. Between 2008 and 2012, she was a member of the board of commissioners of the Queensland Public Service Commission.
She consults regularly to Australian governments at all levels.
Sally Warhaft
Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. She is the host of The Fifth Estate, the Wheeler Centre’s live series focusing on journalism, politics, media, and international relations, and The Leap Year ...