21 October 2016
Murdoch University’s premier public lecture was inaugurated in 1974 to mark the centenary of the birth of the University’s namesake, Sir Walter Murdoch. A respected academic, Walter Murdoch successfully bridged the gap between academia and the wider community – thereby establishing a tradition for the University which was named in his honour just days before his death in 1970.
Through his teaching career as Foundation Professor of English at the University of Western Australia from 1913 – 1939, he influenced generations of young Western Australian scholars. But it was his journalism career, which lasted until he was in his 90s, which enabled Walter Murdoch to reach and influence a much wider audience.
In his regular, syndicated newspaper columns he avoided insincere talk, preferring to convey his observations on all manner of issues with an economic eloquence; frequently with healthy scepticism, and often with sharp wit aimed, quite deliberately, at deflating pomposity.
Murdoch University annually invites a person of national or international standing to deliver the Sir Walter Murdoch Lecture on a topic of their choice.
Murdoch lectures must be thought provoking, topical and of significant interest. Previous lectures held in Perth, Western Australia have included many remarkable speakers including Ms Lois O’Donaghue, the then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission chairperson; the late Hon John Tonkin; the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG; Mr William Hutton, editor of The Observer; Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Bolton, AO, CitWA, historian and Ex Chancellor of Murdoch University; the Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, AC CH; Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, AC, FAA, FRS; Baroness Professor Susan Greenfield CBE; Catherine Livingstone AO; Rachael Robertson, Leader of the 58th Australian Antarctic Expedition; Todd Sampson, Leo Burnett CEO, Earth Hour co-creator and Gruen Transfer television star; Professor Kim Richard Nossal, the Sir Edward Peacock Professor and Director of the Centre of International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Dr Toby Miller, Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Professor Lyn Beazley AO FTSE, Sir Walter Murdoch Distinguished Professor of Science and Dr Mark Schipp, Australian Chief Veterinary Officer.
Murdoch University is pleased to welcome His Excellency Mr Philip Green OAM to deliver the 2016 Sir Walter Murdoch Lecture in Singapore and continue this proud tradition of thought-provoking and topical lectures of significant interest.
Rising Asia 2.0 – What it means for Australia and Singapore
Presented by His Excellency Mr Philip Green OAM, the Australian High Commissioner to Singapore