Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Saturday 29 April
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
The Wheeler Centre and Sorrento Writers Festival bring three of Australia's most respected political commentators together to dissect the challenges currently facing our Federal parliamentarians.
On the eve of the Albanese Government's first anniversary, the Wheeler Centre’s long-running Fifth Estate series heads to the inaugural Sorrento Writers Festival to dissect the challenges currently facing Federal parliament. Hosted by broadcaster Sally Warhaft, three of the sharpest minds in Australian politics – Kerry O'Brien, Niki Savva and Chris Wallace – will explore the role of the Opposition, the Greens and the Independents in holding the government accountable in a year of international turmoil, a Voice to Parliament referendum, the AUKUS pact, economic hardship and increasingly urgent environmental concerns. Prominent Australian journalist Kerry O'Brien's prolific career in national current affairs and investigative reporting has seen him interview some of the world's most powerful leaders. Author, journalist and political advisor Niki Savva's extensive experience as a political correspondent and press secretary has provided her intimate insight into the inner workings of government. Professor at the University of Canberra’s faculty of business, government and law, Chris Wallace is the author of How to Win an Election, setting guidelines on the dos and don’ts of a successful political campaign. Don't miss a thought-provoking and entertaining discussion as our panelists debate the key issues facing our country and share their thoughts on the future of Australian politics.
Presented with Sorrento Writers Festival
The Fifth Estate
For in-depth insider analysis of current affairs, it doesn’t get any better than The Fifth Estate. This long-running series, hosted by Sally Warhaft, is a mainstay of the Wheeler Centre’s programme, and of public conversation in Melbourne.
Featuring
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 ...
Niki Savva
Niki Savva is one of the most senior correspondents in the Canberra Press Gallery. She was twice political correspondent for The Australian, and headed up the Canberra bureaus of both The Herald Sun and The Age. When family tragedy forced a career change, she became Peter Costello’s press secretary for six years and was then on John Howard’s staff for three. Her work has brought her into intimate contact with Australia’s major political players for more than 40 years. She is a regular columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and often appears on ABC TV’s Insiders.
Her first book, So Greek, a memoir, provided rare insights into the relationship between Howard and Costello, and the workings of their government. The Road to Ruin, the first volume in what became her trilogy about Australia’s Coalition governments that ruled from 2013 to 2022, was a bestseller, and won the 2016 General Nonfiction Book of the Year Award at the Australian Book Industry Awards. The second volume, Plots and Prayers, which dealt with the government led by Malcolm Turnbull and the ascension of Scott Morrison, was also a bestseller. In March 2017, the Melbourne Press Club presented Niki with a lifetime achievement award for ‘outstanding coverage of Australian politics as a reporter, columnist and author’.
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Chris Wallace
Professor Chris Wallace is in the School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra, and is a Visiting Fellow at the ANU School of History. She works in modern and contemporary political history with special reference to leadership, gender, transnational lives, and transformational change and the information strategies underlying it.
Wallace's latest book is Political Lives: Australian prime ministers and their biographers (University of NSW Press, 2023). Her book historicising Australian Labor's shock 2019 federal election loss, How To Win An Election, was published by NewSouth Books, the trade publishing arm of the University of NSW Press, in 2020. Previous books include a biography of maverick Australian feminist Germaine Greer, Greer, Untamed Shrew (Pan Macmillan, 1997; Faber & Faber, 1999); a biography of the then crusading neoliberal policy exponent John Hewson during his Opposition leadership in the early 1990s, Hewson: A Portrait (Pan Macmillan, 1993); and an exploration of the intense 30 year-long relationship between cricketer Don Bradman and his confidante, journalist Rohan Rivett, The Private Don (Allen & Unwin, 2004). She was the National Archives of Australia Cabinet Historian in 2020 and 2021 for the release of the 2000 and 2001 Cabinet papers.
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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 ...