Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Saturday 13 August
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Lord John Acton’s famous remark is among the most oft-quoted in politics: ‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. But did Acton take the cynicism too far when he later wrote that ‘great men are almost always bad men’?
At this special Fifth Estate event, presented in partnership with Bendigo Writers Festival, host Sally Warhaft will be joined by three guests whose careers have brought them into close proximity to power for many years. Journalists Dennis Glover, Kerry O’Brien and Margaret Simons will share their thoughts and observations on the nature of power in Australia today.
What kind of people seek power? Are our politicians overstating their capacity to influence economic events that are largely out of their control? Is the nature of power changing in the 21st century? How much influence is wielded by people the public didn’t elect? And why is power so difficult to relinquish?
Hunger for power has been at the heart of the last tumultuous decade in Australian politics. Join us for a conversation about this irresistible force; its allure and its pitfalls.
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 ...
Kerry O’Brien
Kerry O’Brien is one of Australia’s most distinguished and respected journalists with six Walkley Awards for excellence in journalism including the Gold Walkley, and the Walkley for Outstanding Leadership. Other industry awards ...
Margaret Simons
Margaret Simons is Associate Professor in the School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University. In 2015, she won the Walkley Award for Social Equity Journalism. Her recent books include Six Square Metres, Self-Made Man: The Kerry Stokes Story, What's Next in Journalism?, Journalism at the Crossroads and Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs, co-written with former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser. The latter won both the Book of the Year and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2011.
In addition to her academic work, Margaret regularly writes for the Saturday Paper, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Griffith Review, the Monthly and other publications.
Dennis Glover
Dennis Glover was educated at Monash and Cambridge universities, and he has made a career as one of Australia's leading speechwriters and political commentators. His first novel, The Last Man in Europe, was published around ...