Launch of the Australian Peace and Security Forum

‘The conversation we must have’

6 – 7pm AEST,  Tuesday24 September 2024

Register here

Climate and pandemics will feature at the launch of the new Australian Peace and Security Forum to be launched by Andrew Wilkie MP, at 6pm AEST tonight

The Webinar will promote the need for a new broader approach to Australia’s peace and security in an increasingly uncertain era.  

“Earth’s climate is part of the onboard life support system on this beautiful planetary space ship we are all riding.  Ejecting greenhouse gas pollutants into its air ducts,so to speak, is a huge security risk that is not being taken as seriously as it should,” said former Australian Chief Scientist, Prof Penny D Sackett, a speaker at the webinar.

Another speaker, pandemics expert, Prof Raina Macintyre, comments, “like climate change, biological technology is an existential threat, but awareness of climate change in the community is much greater. Synthetic biology and genetic engineering of pathogens enables an infinite array of potentially lethal human-made pathogens, but humanity is asleep at the wheel. The Australian Peace and Security Forum is an important platform to increase awareness and drive change.”

The webinar will be facilitated by APSF co-President Matilda Byrne, and other speakers will be Major General Mike Smith AO (Retd) and Professor Anne Poelina of the University of Notre Dame.

This will be the first of the APSF’s free webinars on critical issues of peace and national security. To register for the webinar on 24 September and to stay informed of future webinars, go to the APSF website at https://austpeaceandsecurityforum.org.au.

Contacts:   Prof Anne Poelina, Deputy President, APSF  0408 922 155       

Russell Rollason AM, Treasurer,  APSF  0436 378 377

Website: https://austpeaceandsecurityforum.org.au.

Email:Info@austpeaceandsecurityforum.org.au    

Speaker Bios

Andrew Wilkie MP

Andrew was elected to the House of Representatives for Denison, Tasmania in 2010, re-elected 2013 and 2016, and elected to the House of Representatives for Clark, Tasmania, in 2019 following electoral redistribution, and re-elected in 2022. He is an Independent Member of Parliament. Before entering politics Andrew served with the Australian Army from 1980 to 2004. An officer with the Royal Australian Infantry Corps who had earlier commanded a company of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. At the time of his entry to public life, Wilkie was posted to Australia’s Office of National Assessments as an intelligence analyst. In 2003, in the lead-up to the Iraq War, he resigned from his position at ONA because he feared the humanitarian consequences of invasion. He opposed Australia’s contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq under the Howard government.Among other issues, Andrew campaigned for the release of Julian Assange from prison in the UK, and continues to campaign for gambling reform.

Matilda Byrne

Matilda is the National Coordinator of the Australia Stop Killer Robots campaign, based at SafeGround, an Australian NFP that seeks to reduce the impacts of legacy and emerging weapons. She is currently completing her PhD on ‘the application of the Responsibility to Protect’ at RMIT, where she is also a sessional lecturer in international relations. Matilda focuses on disarmament and global governance responses to international and human security issues.

Major General Michael G Smith AO (Retd)

Mike served for 34 years in the Australian Army, including overseas service in Papua New Guinea, Cambodia and Timor-Leste.  In 1999 he was Director-General East Timor, before being appointed as the inaugural Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor 2000-2001. Mike is the Chair of the Development Advisory Committee of the Calleo Indigenous Community Fund, Chair of the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund, a Non-executive Director of the Institute for Economics and Peace and the Australian Respiratory Council, and a founding member of the Australian Peace and Security Forum. He is a former CEO of Austcare (now Action Aid Australia) and the founding Executive Director of the Australian Civil-Military Centre. He has served in the United Nations in both military and civilian appointments and is a past National President of the United Nations Association of Australia. Mike holds a BA (Mil) from UNSW and Master of International Relations from ANU. He is a graduate of the Cranlana Leadership Program and Company Directors Course.

Professor Anne Poelina

Anne is Chair of Indigenous Knowledges and Senior Research Fellow Nulungu Institute, University of Notre Dame Australia. She is a Kimberley, Nyikina Warrwa Indigenous woman; Chair, Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council, an active community leader, human and earth rights advocate, and filmmaker. Anne holds membership to national and global Think Tanks. A Peter Cullen Fellow, Professor, College Indigenous Education Futures, Arts & Society, Charles Darwin University with Visiting Fellowships at the Australian National University, Canberra, Charles Darwin University and the Institute for Post-Colonial Studies, Melbourne. Anne was the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) inaugural First Nations appointment to its independent Advisory Committee on Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (2022). Awarded Kailisa Budevi Earth and Environment Award, International Women’s Day (2022) recognition of her global standing. In 2017 as non-IPCC Scientist gave the Plenary address to UNESCO to speak to the growing uncertainty of Climate Change. Awarded a Laureate from the Women’s World Summit Foundation (Geneva, 2017). Collaboration with His Holiness, Pope Francis’s encyclical entitled Laudato Si: On Care of Our Common Home, with eminent scientific scholars in the Vatican and through the Nulungu Institute, Kimberley Transition’. Anne continues to collaborate with Indigenous scholars in New Zealand, the USA and Canada and the International Global Aboriginal Research Network GARN.

Professor Raina Macintyre

Raina is Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW. She leads a research program in control and prevention of infectious diseases, spanning vaccinology, pandemics, bioterrorism and emerging infections. She has led the development of EPIWATCH, an AI-driven epidemic observatory that has proven capability in early detection of serious outbreaks. Raina has received many awards and is currently a member of the WHO SAGE working group on smallpox and Mpox. Her first book, Dark Winter – and insider’s guide to pandemics and biosecurity was published in 2022.

Professor Penny D Sackett

As Chief Scientist for Australia (2008-2011), Professor Sackett provided independent advice to the Australian government on matters of science and innovation, and was a vocal champion of evidenced-based decision making. She spearheaded the effort to introduce long-term, cross-portfolio and cross-disciplinary foresight into the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, and opened new channels of communication to the Australian public on matters of science, particularly those related to sustainability such as energy, water, climate change, food security, global epidemics, and life-long learning.

Penny is a Distinguished Honorary Professor at the ANU’s Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions. She was Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (a part of ANU) for five years. In her role as Director, she was responsible for the management of Mount Stromlo Observatory, ACT (during the rebuilding period after the 2003 fires) and Siding Spring Observatory in Coonabarabran, NSW. She is often called as an expert witness in climate change court cases.