Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Saturday 30 September
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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 the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne, this discussion will examine the present and future of the nation. Join podcast producer Eliza Berlage, journalist Casey Briggs, arts editor Zana Kobayashi and writer and critic Alexandra Neill 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 National Young Writers’ Festival.
Featuring
Casey Briggs
Casey Briggs is a journalist with ABC News, covering far north Queensland for television, radio and online. He was an editor of the University of Adelaide’s student paper On Dit and the training coordinator at community station Radio Adelaide. He has a Master degree in mathematics that he doesn’t use nearly enough, and a Twitter account he uses probably too much.
Eliza Berlage
Eliza Berlage is a research assistant and podcast producer for Michelle Grattan at the Conversation. She has worked for the Walkley Foundation, 2SER and 2GB. She thinks a lot about writing her own things, but mostly gets distracted by dogs.
Zana Kobayashi
Zana Kobayashi is a freelance creative manager in Newcastle. Her work encompasses event production, marketing and project management. From local grassroots organisations through to the state government level, Zana works with local institutions to produce and curate cultural content in the city.
The desire to be a part of the changing cultural landscape of her hometown has been a driving force in the development of Zana's career. Her commitment to facilitating creative spaces within the city has been fuelled watching by the dramatic effect of the creative industries upon Newcastle. She hopes to continue contributing to the shifting the identity of the city in a way that ensures creativity is valued and diversity is celebrated.
Sophie Black
Sophie Black is a writer, journalist and Crikey’s editor-in-chief. She has worked in senior management across cultural and media organisations, and has written for outlets such as The Guardian and The Monthly. As the Wheeler ...
Alexandra Neill
Alexandra Neill is a writer and critic. Her work has been published in various places including Kill Your Darlings, The Lifted Brow and Junkee. She is also a producer for Heywire – a platform for young regional Australians to share their stories with the ABC. She blogs at alexandraneill.