Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Sunday 20 August
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Location
Charles Darwin University Theatre, Casuarina campus
Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina
Get directions
What are the most important questions facing Australians – today and in the future?
The Wheeler Centre is roaming Australia, collecting the nation’s most urgent questions and thrashing them out with some of the sharpest thinkers we know. We’re doing it in panel discussions at Brisbane Writers Festival, Perth’s Disrupted Festival of Ideas, Darwin Festival and National Young Writers Festival in Newcastle.
At these sessions, we'll scan the horizons, break deadlocked debates and dust off the issues rotting for too long at the bottom of the nation’s too-hard basket. What are the faultlines and tensions in Australian society, and where do we turn for fresh ideas for the future? Who do we want to be, and how are we going to get there?
In partnership with Darwin Festival, social researcher Rebecca Huntley hosts a discussion on the present and future of the nation. Join academic Curtis Roman, MP Ngaree Ah Kit and artists Cris Derksen, Ian Michael and Patricia Cornelius for their take on the most important question facing Australia today, before the microphone turns to you: what questions should Australia be asking?
Presented in partnership with Darwin Festival.
Featuring
Rebecca Huntley
Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia's most respected researchers on social and consumer trends, and head of research at Essential Media. She is the author of Still Lucky: Why You Should Feel Optimistic About Australia and Its People.
Ngaree Ah Kit
Ngaree Ah Kit is the current Member for Karama in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and the Assistant Minister for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health, Disability, Youth and Seniors.
She is 36-year-old Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman who was born and bred in the Territory, and spent 16 years working in both Territory and Federal Government agencies, whilst spending her spare time volunteering and advocating for improvement in the areas of youth leadership, Indigenous affairs, and suicide prevention.
In her capacity as Member for Karama she is concentrating on working as part of a team to develop partnerships to deliver quality and sustainable outcomes for Territorians. Her aim is to encourage and empower others to be part of the solutions that they would like to see delivered in the community and to work closely with a range of stakeholders to improve outcomes for all Territorians.
Patricia Cornelius
Patricia Cornelius is a founding member of Melbourne Workers Theatre. She’s a playwright, novelist and film writer. She’s the recipient of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize and the 2019 Green Room award for Life Achievement. She’s been awarded the Victorian, NSW and Queensland Premiers' Prizes, the Patrick White Fellowship and the Mona Brand Award for playwriting, as well as numerous AWGIE awards.
She has written over 35 plays, including Runt, Shit, Big Heart, Savages, Do not go gentle…, Slut, Love and The Call.
Patricia’s novel, My Sister Jill (Random House) was published in 2002.
She’s currently developing a feature film, Stolen, with director and co-writer, Catriona McKenzie.
View ProfileCurtis Roman
Curtis Roman is a Larrakia man born and raised on Larrakia land. He is the head of the School of Indigenous Knowledges and Public Policy at Charles Darwin University.
Curtis is the first Larrakia person to graduate with a PhD from Charles Darwin University and the first Indigenous man to graduate with a PhD from CDU.