Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 06 June
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
In 2017, Europe is in a period of heightened uncertainty: the rise of populist politics, the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, the prospect of a weakened European Union and an increasingly assertive Russia on its doorstep.
French voters recently rejected both major parties to elect an unknown quantity in Emmanuel Macron, who has never before held elected office. The UK’s new Prime Minister Theresa May has made a virtue of being an ‘unclubbable’ Conservative, and she’s riding high in the lead-up to the June election on a manifesto of 'country and community'. What will happen when Germany goes to the polls in September? Angela Merkel's popularity has been waning since 2015, but 21st-century Europe has become hard to imagine without her steady, predictable presence.
Gone are the days of politics as usual. To discuss the state of play in the UK and Europe, Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by Mary Gearin and Georgina Downer.
Featuring
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 ...
Mary Gearin
Mary Gearin is the ABC’s National Sport Correspondent.
A former Europe Correspondent, based in the London bureau, Mary led the ABC's coverage of major breaking world news events, such as the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, the Germanwings disaster, Greece's 2015 elections and financial crisis, and the birth of Prince George. Mary also covered the Ukraine crisis, the 2013 papal elections and the Cyprus financial crisis. Her versatility and love of sport came to the fore as the face of the ABC's coverage of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Mary contributes across all ABC platforms, and to programmes including the ABC's flagship current affairs programme, 7.30, and Lateline. Mary began her career as an ABC cadet in Canberra and has occupied varied roles across the network, including presenting ABC News Breakfast and covering the Athens Olympics.
She also worked at Channel Nine, as a sports feature journalist and a presenter at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Georgina Downer
Georgina Downer is an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs. Georgina has extensive experience in foreign policy, most recently as the Director of Asialink Diplomacy at the University of Melbourne. Previously, she was a diplomat at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, and occupied various positions at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra.
Georgina has also worked as a corporate lawyer at Minter Ellison Lawyers in Melbourne, and as a researcher for US Senator Chuck Hagel and the Baroness Howe of Idlicote in the House of Lords, UK. Georgina regularly appears on television, radio and in print as a commentator on Australian politics and foreign policy. She is a member of the Victorian Liberal Party’s Administrative Committee and a director of the Indigenous arts project, The Torch. Georgina has degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of Melbourne. She was awarded a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chevening Scholarship and holds a Masters in Public International Law from the London School of Economics. She speaks Japanese and French.