A place for ideas.
Manning Clark House hosts public addresses, debates, forums, art exhibitions, book launches, poetry readings, choir and other gatherings in the former home of Manning and Dymphna Clark in Forrest, Canberra.
The venue can also be hired for planning days and meetings. We also offer Residencies for scholars and Creatives.
Scroll down to see upcoming events.
Food Sovereignty in Havana: Local Results and Global Challenges Professor Adrian H. Hearn
MANNING CLARK HOUSE in conjunction with the Australia Cuba Friendship Society (ACFS)
presents
Food Sovereignty in Havana: Local Results and Global Challenges
Professor Adrian H. Hearn
This presentation examines experiences of food sovereignty through an Australian project in Havana with the Antonio Nuñez Jiménez foundation and the Ifá Iranlowo Afro-Cuban community. The project’s coordinator, Adrian Hearn, will explain the challenges of cooperating with Cuba in the context of the U.S. embargo and the island’s deepening ties to China. Adrian will also describe how collaborating with community farmers in Havana has inspired a similar project in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Adrian Hearn is an anthropologist who researches the cultural challenges and opportunities arising from international relations. He is a Professor of Latin American Studies at the University of Melbourne and was the 2024 faculty-in-residence at Havana’s Casa de las Américas and Consortium of Advanced Studies Abroad (CASA).
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15: Non-members $20
Manning Clark House – 11 Tasmania Cir, Forrest, ACT
Book here: https://www.trybooking.com/DFTCL
The Transformational Economics of Renewable Energy & Electrification - David Glynne Jones
The Transformational Economics of Renewable Energy & Electrification
David Glynne Jones
Saturday 1 November at 3.00pm
Manning Clark House, Tasmania Circle, Forrest
In the sixth presentation of the Energy Transition 2025 series, David Glynne Jones will address three key aspects of the transition from the fossil energy economy to the future economy based on renewable energy and electrification:
· efficiency – a comparison of energy and economic efficiencies
· sustainability – a comparison between the unsustainable fossil energy economy and the emerging resource-balanced circular economy
· substitution – the emergence of new low-emission export products to replace diminishing exports of fossil energy resources
David Glynne Jones is an independent advocate for the adoption of renewable energy and electrification across all sectors of the Australian economy. He is currently assessing the implications of emerging advanced battery technology for electrification of the Australian transport sector and, together with his colleague Derek Woolner, publishing articles on the strategic implications of emerging energy technologies.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Dr Lesley Fitzpatrick opens her art exhibition: Is this Australia staggering towards a better future?
Is this Australia: Staggering towards a better future? - Dr Lesley Fitzpatrick
In honour of the 50th Anniversary of the Whitlam Dismissal.
A selection of painted works in acrylics on (often upcycled) canvas
The works explore human, cultural and societal interactions in Australia provoking questions about the nature of our country, its people, and its social and economic fabric.
The images reflect social, economic and ethical contradictions, and challenge the viewer to reflect on the integrity of our, values, behaviours and relationships. They reflect on social conundrums and their impacts and the exploitation of the vulnerable by the powerful. Some works present real-life scenarios, others combine concepts related to changing values, ways of life, cultural myth and a yearning for times past.
The works are silent on the artist’s view of the meanings they offer, inviting the observer to consider their complexities and contradictions; to reflect upon the innate promise of our county; to consider its past and its future; and, the complex issues it faces.
Refreshments will be served
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DGSRU
$15 for MCH Members and Concession, $20 for non-members
MCH Weekend of Ideas - Maintaining the rage and enthusiasm - 50 years since the Whitlam Dismissal
MCH Weekend of Ideas - Maintaining the rage and enthusiasm - 50 years since the Whitlam dismissal
This November, Manning Clark House invites you to a weekend of ideas, conversation, reflection, and celebration — marking 50 years since the Whitlam Dismissal, one of the most defining moments in Australia’s democratic story.
Over two days under the marquée in the gardens of Manning Clark House, historians, artists, writers, and citizens will come together to ask: How do we continue to maintain the rage and enthusiasm in 2025?
This event is supported by the Whitlam Institute.
Andrew Clark is an Australian journalist and commentator with a career spanning more than five decades. The son of historian Manning Clark, he began as a cadet at The Age in 1966 and went on to report and edit for outlets including The Sun-Herald, Australian Business, and The Australian Financial Review. A former foreign correspondent and co-author of Kerr’s King Hit (1976), Clark is known for his incisive political and business analysis and contributions to Australia’s public debate.
Professor John Juriansz is the Director of the Whitlam Institute and the Parramatta South Campus Provost for Western Sydney University. John previously served as Deputy Dean of the School of Law at Western Sydney University where he lectured in equity and trusts, legal technology, and remedies. John is admitted as a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and of the High Court of Australia. John has held a range of legal positions including as a senior lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers, King and Wood Mallesons, MLC Limited, the Australian Law Reform Commission, and as a Member of the Litigation, Law and Practice Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales.
Elizabeth Reid: Elizabeth Reid is a pioneering Australian feminist, academic, and policy adviser known for her groundbreaking work in advancing gender equity. In 1973, she made history as the world's first adviser on women's affairs to a head of government when she was appointed by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. This role positioned her at the forefront of policy development, advocating for matters relating to the welfare of women and children in employment, education, and reproductive health.
Throughout her career, Reid has worked extensively in international development, focusing on gender equity, HIV/AIDS policy, and social justice. Her contributions have had a lasting impact both in Australia and globally, making her a key figure in the ongoing struggle for women's rights.
Dr Elizabeth Cham has been an academic, and worked in federal and state parliament and in philanthropy, including ten years as CEO, Philanthropy Australia. After fifteen years Elizabeth has just stepped down as a board member of the progressive think tank, The Australia Institute (TAI). Dr Cham is also Chair of ANZTSR (Australia New Zealand Third Sector Research Inc) a regional network of scholars whose research focus is the not-for-profit sector, charities and philanthropy.
Biff Ward is an is an Australian author, feminist, and activist known for her memoirs and for writing one of the first books on child sexual abuse. She was active in the women's liberation movement in the 1960s and '70s and remains a passionate advocate for social justice.
Meredith Edwards AM, is Emeritus Professor at the University of Canberra. She is an economist who has been a lecturer, researcher, policy analyst and administrator. From 1983 to 1997, she worked in the APS advising on some major social and labour market policies and was Deputy Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (1993 to 1997). Meredith was Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra between 1997 to 2002 and founding Director of the National Institute for Governance (1999-2005). She was a member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration from 2010 to 2017. She is Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and a Fellow of ANZSOG. Her publications include Social Policy, Public Policy: from problem to practice. In the Whitlam era Meredith was an active member of the Women’s Electoral Lobby and wrote about and lobbied for childcare and related policy reforms.
Professor Frank Bongiorno AM is Professor of History at the Australian National University and Distinguished Fellow of the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University. His books include The Eighties: The Decade that Transformed Australia (2015) and Dreamers and Schemers: A Political History of Australia (2022). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and the Australian Academy of Humanities; President of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; and Immediate Past President of the Australian Historical Association.
Dr James Watson is a historian at the Australian National University in Canberra. His writing on Australian political and economic history can be found in History Australia and Labor History, and he is the author of a forthcoming history of asbestos in Australia from Monash University Publishing. He is currently writing a biography of the palaeontologist and Australian Museum director Robert Etheridge Jr.
Professor Julian Knowles is an Australian composer, media artist and academic whose work sits at the intersection of technology, sound and creative practice. He is currently the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra, having previously held senior academic leadership roles at Macquarie University (where he served as Professor of Media and Music) and at other institutions including Queensland University of Technology and the University of Wollongong.
Professor Nicholas Brown is a distinguished Australian historian specialising in twentieth-century social, political, environmental and biographical history. He holds a Professorship in the School of History at The Australian National University (ANU) and heads that unit within the College of Arts and Social Sciences.
Associate Professor Will Brehm's research interrogates how comparative and international education intersects with international relations and the political economy of development. In his research, he has explored issues of educational privatisation, regional identity making, community-based education, and the politics of knowledge production.
Professor Nicole Anderson is a Professor at Macquarie University, Sydney; Affiliate (Adjunct) Faculty at Arizona State University; and Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra. An internationally recognised scholar of French philosopher Jacques Derrida, she has published over fifty works on animals, ethics, culture, democracy, and philosophy. She is the author of Derrida: Ethics Under Erasure and is currently completing a second book, Derrida and Animals (forthcoming 2026). Anderson is the founding editor of Derrida Today (Edinburgh University Press) and Executive Director of the associated international conference series, which has been held across the UK, USA, Europe, and Australia. With Julian Knowles, she co-produced the acclaimed PBS podcast Futures of Democracy, ranked among Arizona’s top political podcasts from 2022 to 2025. She has also received an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with John Potts, through which she co-curated a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on philanthropist John Kaldor’s art collection.
Dr Julie Gough is an artist, writer and curator of First People’s Art and Culture, at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG). Gough’s multi-media art works often reveal and re-present conflicting and subsumed histories, legacies and impacts of colonisation, sometimes referring to her family’s experiences as Tasmanian Aboriginal people. Her Briggs-Johnson-Gower family have lived in the Latrobe region of Lutruwita (Tasmania) since the 1840s, with Tebrikunna in north east Lutruwita their traditional, Trawlwoolway, country. Gough has exhibited in more than 200 exhibitions in Australia since 1994, including Show Spirit (2023), Biennale of Sydney (2022, 2006), Tarnanthi (2021, 2017), Adelaide Biennial (2018, 1998), Eucalyptusdom, Tense Past, Defying Empire, The National, With Secrecy and Despatch, Undisclosed, Clemenger Award, Liverpool Biennial, UK (2001), Perspecta (AGNSW, 1995). During November-December 2025 Gough is undertaking a Creative Fellowship at the National Library of Australia focussing on colonial maps, art and manuscripts from Van Diemen’s Land.
Tom Brennan SC is a leading Sydney barrister practising in commercial, equity, administrative, and regulatory law. He is particularly recognised for his expertise in aviation and trade law. Before being called to the Bar in 2006, he was a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and held senior advisory roles within the federal government, including as Principal Advisor to a Deputy Prime Minister. Brennan has appeared in significant cases before federal and state courts, including the High Court of Australia.
Notably, he represented historian Professor Jenny Hocking in The Palace Papers case, which successfully led to the release of the secret correspondence between Governor-General Sir John Kerr and Buckingham Palace concerning the 1975 dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
Professor Joseph Anthony Camilleri OAM is Professor Emeritus at La Trobe University, Melbourne, where he held the Chair in International Relations (1994-2012), and was founding Director of the Centre for Dialogue (2006-2012). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.
He has authored or edited some thirty-five books and written over 120 book chapters and journal articles, covering such areas as peace and security, geopolitics, governance, the role of culture and religion, intercultural dialogue and conflict resolution.
He has convened several international dialogues and conferences, including From the Middle East to the Asia Pacific: Arc of Conflict or Dialogue of Cultures and Religions? (2008); the Australia-Malaysia and Australia-Indonesia dialogues (2010-2013); Towards a Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace (2019), and Night Falls in the Evening Lands: the Assange Epic (2024).
He serves on the board of various organisations, and is the recipient of numerous Australian and international awards.
Patricia Amphlett OAM (Little Pattie), shot to fame at just 14 after winning a local talent quest that led to a recording contract with EMI. Her debut hits, He’s My Blonde-Headed Stompie Wompie Real Gone Surfer Boy and Stompin’ at Maroubra, made her a national sensation and earned her the affectionate nickname “Little Pattie.” She went on to become one of Australia’s most beloved entertainers, winning the TV Logie for Most Popular Female Performer and later being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. At only 17, she became the youngest Australian performer to entertain troops in Vietnam, where she and Col Joye were evacuated during the Battle of Long Tan, an experience that inspired her lifelong dedication to supporting veterans and earned her a Humanitarian Award.
Beyond music, Patricia made her mark in public life as a passionate advocate and community leader. A committed supporter of Gough Whitlam and the Labor Party, she actively campaigned during the 1972 “It’s Time” election, lending her voice and influence to a defining moment in Australian political history. Honoured with the Order of Australia for her contributions to the performing arts and charity, she has served as Federal President of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and on the Council of the Australian War Memorial. Today, as Patron of Forces Entertainment alongside General Peter Cosgrove, Little Pattie continues to inspire through her music, advocacy, and service—a legacy immortalised with her own Australia Post stamp.
Shane Howard is an Australian singer-songwriter who rose to prominence as the driving force behind the folk-rock band Goanna. With hit songs like Solid Rock (1982) and Let the Franklin Flow (1983), Howard helped bring social and Indigenous issues into mainstream music.
His relationship with renowned historian Manning Clark is reflected in that Clark contributed the liner notes to Goanna’s debut album Spirit of Place (1982), echoing the concept of Australia’s “spirit of place” that Howard adopted as a guiding theme in his work.
Jack Waterford AM is a distinguished Australian journalist and commentator based in Canberra, best known for his long service at The Canberra Times (joining as a cadet in 1972) and his pioneering use of freedom of information legislation to hold government and bureaucracy to account. A law graduate of Australian National University, he rose through the ranks to become Editor-in-Chief and later Editor-at-Large, while also writing extensively on Indigenous health, public administration and accountability. In 2007 he was honoured with the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to journalism and Indigenous affairs, and the same year was named Canberra Citizen of the Year.
E A Gleeson (Anne) has published four collections of poetry, the most recent, The Deepest Thing, a poetic memoir was launched this year. In The Deepest Thing, Anne writes of how her sister’s life has been affected by disability but also tackles some of the social and political issues surrounding disability care in this country.
Readers have described The Deepest Thing as a powerful and moving memoir. In her previous three collections, Anne has included the stories of those whose voices are often discounted. In this book, she depicts the reality of her sister’s and father’s experiences of disability, a sustained poetic voice in speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Dr Lesley Fitzpatrick’s Exhibition from 8 November to 8 December will be featured during the Weekend of Ideas.
Is this Australia: Staggering towards a better future? A selection of painted works in acrylics on (often upcycled) canvas. The works explore human, cultural and societal interactions in Australia provoking questions about the nature of our country, its people, and its social and economic fabric.
The images reflect social, economic and ethical contradictions, and challenge the viewer to reflect on the integrity of our, values, behaviours and relationships. They reflect on social conundrums and their impacts and the exploitation of the vulnerable by the powerful. Some works present real-life scenarios, others combine concepts related to changing values, ways of life, cultural myth and a yearning for times past.
The works are silent on the artist’s view of the meanings they offer, inviting the observer to consider their complexities and contradictions; to reflect upon the innate promise of our county; to consider its past and its future; and, the complex issues it faces.
Shane Howard Solo - Maintain the rage fundraiser concert for MCH
Shane Howard Solo - Maintain the rage fundraiser concert for MCH
When Goanna were about to release their iconic Spirit of Place album in 1982, they approached Emeritus Professor, Manning Clark, to write the liner notes for the album. It was an unusual choice for a rock band but after listening to an advance cassette of the new record, Manning agreed, to everyone’s surprise.
It began an unlikely friendship between the Emeritus Professor of Australian History and a young Goanna Band frontman, Shane Howard. Shane became a regular visitor to Manning and Dymphna’s home in Tasmania Circle, Canberra. They were always warm and welcoming.
To mark the 50th Anniversary of the Whitlam Dismissal and to maintain the rage, Shane Howard will be returning to Canberra with an intimate solo concert at the Wesley Music Hall.
For over 40 years, Shane Howard has established himself as one of Australia's most influential songmakers, writers and singers and created a uniquely Australian voice. He has continued to honour the challenge that Manning Clark laid down, in his 1976 Boyer Lecture, A Discovery of Australia, travelling deeper into the heart of Australia to explore and write of it's Spirit of Place From the red heart, where Howard penned his enduring song ‘Solid Rock, Sacred Ground’, to the wilds of Tasmania that gave birth to ‘Let the Franklin Flow’, his songs challenge existing social paradigms and dig down into what it means to be a modern Australian. They also reach across the globe and champion the cause of the common people, our human condition, the environment and the injustices of colonisation.
A senior statesman, musician and poet, he has played for Prime Ministers, Aboriginal Elders and Environmental campaigners, from concert halls to protest sites and remote campfires.
Details are as follows:
Title: Maintain the Rage - Shane Howard - Solo
When: 8pm, Saturday 15 November, 2025
Where: Wesley Music Hall, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Ticket Price: $40 online and $45 at the door (if there are any left)
Ticket Link: https://www.trybooking.com/DGRQW
Refreshments will be served at intermission.
Barely Legal: rules for a meaningful life.
Barely Legal: rules for a meaningful life’ (Mark Swivel in conversation with Nicole Anderson)
Date: 6 pm, 28 November 2025
Manning Clak House - 11 Tasmania Circle, Forrest, ACT
Nicole Anderson engages in conversation with Mark Swivel who runs Barefoot Law - a disruptive firm whose aim is to provide effective affordable advice to clients and to minimise the suffering caused by the legal system and its processes. Barefoot Law is based on the Northern Rivers, with offices in Byron Bay and Lismore but has cases in court from Cairns to Melbourne. The firm began at Mullum Neighbourhood Centre in 2018 and is a ‘side hustle’ that got well out of hand. Barefoot Law has won key reported cases in the Federal Court, Fair Work Commission and NCAT, and helped save the ‘Feros’ aged care village in Byron Bay and successfully sued Bluesfest for not refunding stallholder fees during the Pandemic. Mark is a director at Spaghetti Circus and was once chair of Legs on the Wall. Also a creative Mark had his play Water Falling Down produced by QTC and B Street (US) and was MC of genuine faux Russian choir Dustyesky. Philip Adams once gave Mark a Koala Stamp on Late Night Live after their chat about ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’ probably the only comedy festival show on Microfinance in Bangladesh.
Professor Nicole Anderson
Nicole Anderson is Professor at Macquarie University, Sydney; affiliate (adjunct) faculty at Arizona State University; and Honorary Professor at the University of Canberra. She has published over 50 articles and books on animals, ethics, culture, democracy, and philosophy, all of which have been informed by her scholarship on French Philosopher Jacques Derrida. In regards to the latter she has published Derrida: Ethics Under Erasure, and is currently writing a second book on Derrida and animals (forthcoming 2026). She is the founding editor of the Derrida Today Journal (based on the work of Jacques Derrida), published by Edinburgh University Press, and which has been running since 2007. Aligned with the journal is the Derrida Today International Conferences (Home ), of which Nicole is the founding Executive Director. The conferences have been held in Britain, UK, USA, Europe and Australia, and provides a forum for academics from around the world to discuss and apply the thinking of Derrida to contemporary world events and issues.
Nicole has also co-produced with Julian Knowles a podcast series with PBS called the ‘Futures of Democracy’ (A podcast series ), which has been ranked number 5 out of 10 for 3 years in a row 2022 – 2025 for best Political Podcasts in Arizona, USA by Feedspot: 10 Best Arizona Political Podcasts You Must Follow in 2025. She has won a prestigious Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with John Potts, and as part of the grant co-curated a six month exhibition at the NSW Art Gallery, Sydney, on the philanthropist John Kaldor’s extensive art collection.
Light Refreshments will be provided.
The Meaning of Life and Other Inconveniences - Mark Swivel
Where to Find Life Once the Meaning of It Has Been Called into Question (in conversation with Nicole Anderson)
Brand new speakers program: The Meaning of Life and Other Inconveniences - Philosophy in every day life. In conversations with Professor Nicole Anderson.
Nicole Anderson engages in conversation with a number of leading international and national philosophical thinkers and intellectuals on the meaning of life. Covering topics as diverse as technology, music, religion, animals, psychology, life and death, the series explores fundamental questions about what it means to be alive, and what gives us meaning.
The series will kick off in October 2025 with an inaugural discussion with Professor David Wills around questions of what constitutes the meanings of life and death. This will be followed by a conversation with Mark Swivel in November 2025 on the rules that might provide foundations to build meaning and purpose, and in December we will explore with Michael McCann the consequences of climate change and the technologies that might contribute to mitigating it.
Series Host:
Professor Nicole Anderson
Nicole Anderson is Professor at Macquarie University, Sydney; affiliate (adjunct) faculty at Arizona State University; and Honorary Professor at the University of Canberra. She has published over 50 articles and books on animals, ethics, culture, democracy, and philosophy, all of which have been informed by her scholarship on French Philosopher Jacques Derrida. In regards to the latter she has published Derrida: Ethics Under Erasure, and is currently writing a second book on Derrida and animals (forthcoming 2026). She is the founding editor of the Derrida Today Journal (based on the work of Jacques Derrida), published by Edinburgh University Press, and which has been running since 2007. Aligned with the journal is the Derrida Today International Conferences (http://derridatoday.com ), of which Nicole is the founding Executive Director. The conferences have been held in Britain, UK, USA, Europe and Australia, and provides a forum for academics from around the world to discuss and apply the thinking of Derrida to contemporary world events and issues.
Nicole has also co-produced with Julian Knowles a podcast series with PBS called the ‘Futures of Democracy’ (https://futuresofdemocracy.com/ ), which has been ranked number 5 out of 10 for 3 years in a row 2022 – 2025 for best Political Podcasts in Arizona, USA by Feedspot: 10 Best Arizona Political Podcasts You Must Follow in 2025. She has won a prestigious Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with John Potts, and as part of the grant co-curated a six month exhibition at the NSW Art Gallery, Sydney, on the philanthropist John Kaldor’s extensive art collection.
See below to register into the first event: Where to find life once the meaning of it has been called into question with Professor David Wills at Brown University.
Where to Find Life Once the Meaning of It Has Been Called into Question (in conversation with Nicole Anderson)
Date: 24th October 2025
David Wills is Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Brown University in the USA. He received his Doctorate from the Universite Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle. He is author of books on the originary technicity of the human (Prosthesis, Dorsality, Inanimation, Killing Times), as well as writings on painting and film. He has written extensively on, and is well-known for being a major translator and interpreter of, the work of French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Wills is a member of the Editorial Board of the Bibliothèque Derrida at Éditions du Seuil, and is a founding member of the Derrida Seminars Translation Project. He has published some 80 book chapters and journal articles.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15: Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15: Non-members $20
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DFTDC
Geoff Page - Poetry Reading and in conversation with Luciana Todd
Geoff Page - Poetry Reading and in conversation with Luciana Todd
Manning Clark House presents Canberra’s highly revered poet, Geoff Page who will read some of his favourite poetry and be in conversation with Luciana Todd, CEO of Manning Clark House.
Geoff Page, OAM, is based in Canberra and has published twenty-five collections of poetry as
well as two novels and five verse novels. His recent books include In medias res (2019), 101
Poems: 2011-2021 (2022) and Penultima (2024), all from Pitt Street Poetry.
Geoff has also read his poetry and talked on Australian poetry throughout Western Europe as well
as in the US, Canada, Korea, Japan, India, China, Singapore and New Zealand. Selections from
work have been translated into Greek, Macedonian, German, Serbian, Mandarin and Spanish,
He has also reviewed Australian poetry extensively and has run monthly poetry readings and jazz
concerts in Canberra for many years.
Refreshments will be served in the break.
Thursday 25 September 2025 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (UTC+10)
Manning Clark House
11 Tasmania Circle, Forrest act 2603
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DDGLC
Taxing Times Talks - What do tax cuts really mean? - In conversation
Taxing Times Talks - What do tax cuts really mean? Melinda Cooper in conversation with Will Brehm.
This talk broadly explores wealth and taxation, focusing on the idea of tax expenditures in the Australian context. It dives into the intellectual history of supply-side economics and contemporary formations of when tax cuts aren’t really tax cuts. It highlights the regressive outcomes of some tax policies, especially those related to housing.
Melinda Cooper is a social and political theorist whose work focuses on the recent history of capitalism and its intersections with the politics of class, gender and race.
Her most recent work Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance (Zone Books/Princeton University Press, 2024) explores, amongst other things, the history of tax preferences that led to the rise of Donald Trump as real estate entrepreneur.
Dr. Will Brehm's research interrogates how comparative and international education intersects with international relations and the political economy of development.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DEWSF
The Australian State in the 21st Century - Greg Smith
The Australian State in the 21st Century- Greg Smith
Thursday, 18 September at 6.00pm
Manning Clark House
In the first event of a new Manning Clark House series – “Australia in the 21st Century” – Greg Smith will speak to his paper “The Australian State in the 21st Century”, in which he discusses the role of the Australian state as the most powerful institution within both the political and economic orders within Australia, and concludes that it is not “match fit” to meet the likely challenges of the 21st century while sustaining a viable and healthy liberal democracy.
Greg will present the case for strengthening the will and capacity of the Australian state, both in its capacity to exert countervailing force and in its support for liberal democratic institutions and values, through a future reform task that would include:
· expanding and strengthening the executive mind of the core state, matching its capacity to address complexity with that of its 21st century environment
· transforming information conditions across society and within the state itself
· rebuilding dilapidated Westminster relationships in political governance
· comprehensively reforming the institutions and relationships of the federation.
Greg Smith has significant experience at the senior levels of Australian public policymaking over many decades, including tax and superannuation policy adviser to the Federal Treasurer (1983-86), head of Treasury Taxation Policy and Financial Institutions divisions (1980s and 1990s), Secretary to the Australian Financial System (“Wallis”) Inquiry (1996-97), head of the Treasury Budget and Revenue Groups (1998-2004) and panel member of the Future Tax System (“Henry”) Review (2008-09). He was a member and then Chairperson of the Commonwealth Grants Commission (2006-2020). He also engaged as a policy consultant in both public and private sectors, lecturer (economics, taxation policy and policy advising) and in unpaid roles with the Centre for Policy Development, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute (ANU) and CEDA Council on Economic Policy.
A copy of Greg’s paper can be downloaded here.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Tickets at: https://www.trybooking.com/DEUBY
Taxing Times Talks - Who contributes to the tax system - Elise Klein in conversation with Will Brehm
Elise Klein in conversation with Will Brehm.
This talk explores issues of taxation as redistribution and unpacks who actually contributes to the tax system. It looks at how some tax policies induce further marginalisation of certain groups while other policies reinforce settler colonial logics. Notions of care and unpaid labour are foregrounded to unsettle common understandings of contribution.
Dr Elise Klein (OAM) is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Crawford School, ANU. Her research is situated in the intersections (and cracks) of development, social policy, de(coloniality) and care.
Dr. Will Brehm's research interrogates how comparative and international education intersects with international relations and the political economy of development. In his research, he has explored issues of educational privatization, regional identity making, community-based education, and the politics of knowledge production.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DEWRX
Book launch of 'The Naming of Clouds - 50 ghazals', by Ross Donlon
Ross Donlon presents ‘The Naming of Clouds - 50 ghazals.’
‘The Naming of Clouds - 50 ghazals’ is Ross Donlon’s seventh book of poetry. Of it, Joel Deane writes, ‘Temporal, spiritual, elemental: this book is Blakean. It reads like Ross Donlon’s combination of ‘Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience…Deeply felt and deeply moving.’
Winner of two international poetry prizes and other awards, he has read at festivals in Australia , the UK, Ireland, and elsewhere in Europe. A sequence from his book, ‘The Blue Dressing Gown’ was a program on Radio
Refreshments will be served
Tickets: MCH members and concession $15, Non-members $20
Tickets - Book Launch - Ross Donlon
Taxing Times - Exhibition Opening & In Conversation. Why Arts? Why Tax? Talk
Taxing Times Talk- Exhibition Opening & In Conversation. Why Arts? Why Tax?
Claire Manning in conversation with Will Brehm
With the generous support of Manning Clark House, Claire has found a committed venue that aligns strongly with the Taxing Times Project values. The House’s history, rooted in the intellectual and cultural legacy of Manning and Dymphna Clark, provides a powerful context for engaging with ideas around civic responsibility, public discourse, and Australian identity. Claire will share with Will her beliefs in how the art and culture has always had the power to disrupt, to heal, to inspire change. By placing tax within an artistic and civic frame, we make space for a deeper, more human understanding of the essential role taxation plays in all our lives. It is time to imagine and build a future where paying tax is recognised not just as a duty, but as a privilege and a meaningful contribution to the world we want to create together.
This event is free of charge. Donations gratefully accepted.
Refreshments will be served.
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DDKWO
Jane Caro - 2025 Dymphna Clark Lecture
Jane Caro to Deliver 2025 Dymphna Clark Lecture
7pm Tuesday 26 August, 2025 at the University of Canberra - Building 9, A1 Lecture Theatre -Kirinari St, Bruce
Manning Clark House is proud to announce that acclaimed author, feminist, and social commentator Jane Caro AM will present the 19th Dymphna Clark Lecture in Canberra this September. Renowned for her incisive commentary on public education, feminism, and secularism, Caro brings a wealth of experience as a Walkley Award-winning columnist, novelist, and former advertising executive.
Caro’s lecture will explore the intersections of education, civic responsibility, gender equity, and the role of public discourse in shaping Australia's future.
The Dymphna Clark Lecture series honours the legacy of linguist and educator Dymphna Clark, celebrating voices that contribute meaningfully to Australia's intellectual and cultural life. Jane Caro's participation continues this tradition, offering insights that resonate with contemporary societal challenges.
Taxing Times - Free flower making workshop
Taxing Times - Flower Making Workshop
You are invited to join the Taxing Time Team at Manning Clark House to make paper flowers together. Creative artists Dr Claire Manning and Dr Amy Bauder will facilitate a workshop where participants will learn how to make flowers from pages in discarded books. The flowers produced will to be an important part of our Taxing Times Exhibition in September at Manning Clark House.
The paper flowers will be created using recycled pages from books that make reference to tax and taxation purchased from Lifeline Book Fair and the pages have been gathered from business books and other resources that discuss and educate people about taxation.
The idea of flowers in vases has been designed to fit with the location of this project.
Manning Clark House is the home of Manning and Dymphna Clark. A place where flowers would have been gathered from the garden or received as gifts to be displayed and celebrated. Flowers are often shared as a token of appreciation and therefore this approach is designed to start people thinking about the positive aspects of paying tax.
Bookings are essential: https://www.trybooking.com/DDKWG
MCH Fundraiser - KA Nelson and Kim Mahood - Travels to Walmajarri Country
FUNDRAISER - MANNING CLARK HOUSE
Travels to Walmajarri Country (with unique maps) – Thursday 21 August 2025 6pm
Local poet K A Nelson and local artist/author Kim Mahood will give a presentation on a recent trip to Walmajarri Country (Mulan and Balgo WA) and the exhibition of maps made by Kim Mahood with Walmajarri People over a period of 20 years. There will be commentary, some new bush fly haikus and poems with time for questions and conversations.
Refreshments provided. $10 (concession/members) or $15 (general public)
Electric vehicle ownership in the ACT - Warwick Cathro
Electric vehicle ownership in the ACT
Warwick Cathro
Saturday 26 July at 3.00pm
Hughes Baptist Church Hall, Groom Street, Hughes
In the fifth presentation of the Energy Transition 2025 series, Warwick Cathro will provide practical information to assist people living in the ACT who are considering the purchase of an electric vehicle in the near-medium future.
Following Warwick’s presentation and Q&A session, AEVA-ACT members will be providing demonstration rides in a representative selection of electric vehicles available in the Australian market.
Dr Warwick Cathro is National Secretary of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) and a member of the AEVA-ACT branch committee. Warwick is an early EV adopter and a keen EV advocate.
The Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) is a volunteer-run not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the cause of switching Australia’s transport networks to electric drive as quickly as possible. AEVA represents all EV users and enthusiasts, both current and prospective.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Book Launch - Kevin Brophy - 'An Inventory of Longing."
Kevin Brophy’s latest book is An Inventory of Longing (Whitmore Press 2025).
Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne, Kevin is a past winner of the Calibre Prize for an outstanding essay and the Wesley Michel Wright Prize for poetry. Patron of the Melbourne Poets union since 2004, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to creative writing in 2021.
Refreshments will be served.
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DDDKM
Kevin Brophy Book Launch - with Jen Webb
Kevin Brophy’s latest book is An Inventory of Longing (Whitmore Press 2025).
Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne, Kevin is a past winner of the Calibre Prize for an outstanding essay and the Wesley Michel Wright Prize for poetry. Patron of the Melbourne Poets union since 2004, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to creative writing in 2021.
Jen Webb is Distinguished Professor of Creative Practice at the University of Canberra, and Dean, Graduate Researh Office. She was the inaugural director of the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research, and remains a core member of that Centre.
Refreshments will be served.
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DDDKM
Understanding China - A new era of risk - David Morris
Understanding China
A New Era of Risk
David Morris
Wednesday 16 July at 6.00pm
Manning Clark House, Tasmania Circle, Forrest
In the first presentation of a new Manning Clark House series – “Understanding China” – David Morris will speak about his recently published book “A New Era of Risk: Why We Need a New, Sustainable Internationalism to Manage the Rise of China”, in which he argues that binary geopolitical and geoeconomic thinking is catastrophising risks and
simultaneously failing to develop adequate responses to the complexity of the emerging disruptions.
“In a disorderly and fractured world, David Morris’s review of China’s international connections offers sensible and measured advice. It deserves to be read by all who are concerned about the future of the global trading system, climate change and the prevention of nuclear war”.
David Morris has had an international career as diplomat, adviser to governments, businesses and the United Nations, and is a senior executive of the Australia China Business Council. He represented the Pacific Islands Forum in China at a time of escalating tension between Australia and China, and recently completed a PhD on China risks and managing interdependence. David is a Senior Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, and a Senior Research Fellow, Beijing Foreign Studies University.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DDDNU
ET 2025: Sustainable energy-efficient housing for Canberra
Sustainable energy-efficient housing for Canberra
Tom Henderson
Sunday 29 June at 3.30pm
Manning Clark House, Tasmania Circle, Forrest
In the fourth presentation of the Energy Transition 2025 series, Tom Henderson will describe the key principles and processes for designing and building affordable and sustainable energy-efficient houses for the Canberra region.
Tom will describe the “Optimised Standard Construction” approach, which aims to find the balance of cost and performance between standard construction methods and high-cost high-performance construction methods for both new-build and renovated houses.
Tom Henderson is the Managing Director of 35 Degrees, a Canberra-based building company founded on the idea of creating affordable and sustainable high-quality, energy-efficient homes designed specifically for the ACT region.
Tom trained as a carpenter in Denmark. Drawn to the strong traditions of Northern Europe’s construction trades, he developed a keen appreciation for quality design and construction, and the importance of creating homes suited to their climate.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DCQOP
MCH Poetry - E A Gleeson and Carmel Summers
Carmel Summers is a Canberra poet. Her poetry has been published in journals in Australia and overseas as well as in anthologies and The Canberra Times. She has been short-listed in poetry prizes, including the Blake, ACU, June Shenfield, Glen Phillips, Magic Oxygen and Grieve. Her work includes a range of genres, including Japanese forms, formal and unstructured poetry and she is currently exploring new ways of opening up history through poetry.
Her experimental tanka book, The last day before snow, written in response with eight other Australian poets, including Kathy Kituai won the ACT Publishers Award for Poetry in 2017. Her collection, Lost in the Pleiades, inspired by the Pleiades or Seven Sisters constellation was published in 2023. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Macquarie University and is currently writing a poetic biography of Elizabeth Cook as part of her PhD at the University of Canberra.
EA Gleeson
E A Gleeson has finally achieved the status of being a writer in that she spends more time writing than engaging in any of her other occupations, Education, Coaching, Pastoral Care and Funeral Care.
She has published four collections of poetry, the most recent, The Deepest Thing, a poetic memoir was launched six weeks ago. In The Deepest Thing, Anne writes of how her sister’s life has been affected by disability but also tackles some of the social and political issues surrounding disability care in this country.
Readers have described The Deepest Thing as a powerful and moving memoir. In her previous three collections, Anne has included the stories of those whose voices are often discounted. In this book, she depicts the reality of her sister and father’s experience of disability, a sustained poetic voice in speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DCQZE
Book Launch - 'Cracks in the Path' by Brenda Goggs
Brenda Goggs stands with a foot in two worlds as a practising Visual Artist and a former teacher of English, Visual Art, History and Ideas. After beginning her university studies in Japanese, to which she attributes a sensitivity to aesthetics of nuance, it was as a Visual Artist that she was challenged to focus on what was ‘in front of her eyes’.
Exhibiting woven tapestry over the past 25 years, she has focused on Australian identity and the landscape as an ‘object’ in an imperial cabinet of curiosities and during this time has witnessed a national shift towards a search for understanding of our colonial past and our culpability in a quest for ownership. Brenda has also interrogated literature and has interpreted work by Gerald Murnane, Patrick White and David Malouf, as well as collaborated with Geoff Page and Alan Gould. She enjoys a skirmish with ekphrastic poetry and has attempted to sublimate her garden rage in a series focused on possums. Splashing about at the ‘limit of maps’ she continues to investigate boundaries in much of her work.
As a secondary school educator her passion was to lead students into places where words and images jostle and collide as they explore each other’s territory, challenging prejudices and splitting open the world like a fruit, to find seeds of change within. Now with the school timetable set aside, these same issues remain the inspiration for Cracks in the Path, her first published poetry collection.
When she first came to Canberra in the 70s to go to ANU she heard it described as ‘like living inside an artist’s impression’, presumably two dimensional and waiting to be lifted off the page. However, we all know that what you see is what you get and the metaphor makes it worth getting out of bed in the morning.
Tickets: $15 - Concession and MCH Members, $20 Non-members
There will be a Q & A session following Brenda’s readings and refreshments will be served.
Dr Marie Kawaja on how Australia acquired its Antarctic Territory and helped to shape the 1959 Antarctic Treaty to ensure the non-militiarisation of the Antarctic
Dr Marie Kawaja is a historian specialising in Australian diplomatic history, previously affiliated with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian National University. Her research focuses on the early political and diplomatic history of the Australian Antarctic. She has published in various journals, participated in seminars and conferences, and served as the consulting historian for the National Archives of Australia's 2012 traveling exhibition‘Traversing Antarctica: the Australian Experience’. Kawaja has completed a history of theAustralian Antarctic Territory, which is to be published.
This talk will reveal how Australia acquired the Australian Antarctic Territory, which makes up 42% of Antarctica, and its role in shaping the 1959 Antarctic Treaty to prevent militarisation of the region. Since the movement to Federation, the colonies united in an ambitious scheme to control their southern approach. After numerous attempts to convince the British imperial authorities to participate in the venture, Australia finally won British Government assistance. Navigating in unchartered waters over two summers (1929-1931) the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition, commanded by Douglas Mawson, with a Commission from the King, claimed an area stretching from below the African continent to the south of Australia. The new territory would be incorporated into the Empire under Australian administration. By 1936 Australia formalised its control over the region and called it the Australian Antarctic Territory.
At the height of the Cold War, the governance of the Antarctic occupied the United States. President Eisenhower invited the eleven nations that had participated in the Antarctic Programme of the International Geophysical Year (1957-198) to negotiate a new Antarctic regime. Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union recognise the Australian Antarctic Territory and both chose to establish scientific stations there. Australia proposed a binding agreement for the non-militarisation of Antarctica to avoid it becoming another theatre of the Cold War. Despite initial refusal by the United States to have its hands tied in the southern region, it eventually agreed that the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, would enforce non-militarisation. From Federation until the signing of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, Antarctic events unfolded and evolved in unforeseen ways. Throughout these eventful times, Australia sought to balance loyalty to its powerful allies with its own national goals.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
EoFY Fundraising Campaign
KEEP THE LIGHT SHINING ON MANNING CLARK HOUSE
Inspire the Future. Protect the Legacy.
This House Belongs to Ideas — Help Us Keep It Alive
Manning Clark House is more than the former home of Manning and Dymphna Clark and a wonderful Robin Boyd designed mid century modern home. It is a sanctuary for courageous conversations, cultural memory, and democratic imagination.
In 2024/2025, we have delivered a dynamic range of programs — from Triumph Over Adversity to Energy Transition 2025, The Speakers Corner series and MCH Poetry. We participated in the 2025 ACT Heritage Festival and the Viva Italia in Canberra 2025.
In addition to our ongoing programs we will be delivering three major events for the rest of this year. They are:
The 2025 Dymphna Clark Lecture
The 2025 Manning Clark Lecture and
The 2025 Manning Clark House Weekend of Ideas
We will also be holding a major art and event program called Taxing Times and other programs including Palestine – past, present and future and Australia in the 21st century. These events bring vital dialogue to the heart of Canberra and offer a rare space for truth-telling, resistance, and renewal.
But we can't do it without you.
Your donation this June will:
Keep the house open for events, speakers, and community gatherings
Fund heritage maintenance and garden care
Support free and low-cost access to all our programs
Help us to pay guest speaker costs and modest honoraria
Whether you give $25, $50, or $500, you are part of a growing community that refuses to let critical thinking, cultural inquiry, and public integrity disappear from the national conversation.
All donations over $2 are tax-deductible.
Donate securely online:
https://www.trybooking.com/au/donate/mcheofy
Electrifying Canberra with Sarah Reid
Energy Transition 2025: Electrifying Canberra
Sarah Reid
Sunday 25 May at 3.00pm
Manning Clark House, Tasmania Circle, Forrest
In the third presentation of the Energy Transition 2025 series, Sarah Reid will describe Electrify Canberra’s strategies and programs for informing and assisting Canberrans to electrify their households and reduce household energy consumption and emissions.
Electrify Canberra is a Community Partner of Rewiring Australia, and is exploring and campaigning for electrification pilots that could include apartments and challenging buildings, low income households and social housing, homeowners and renters, and streets, suburbs and communities.
Sarah Reid is a Coordinator for Electrify Canberra, a Canberra-based community group established in 2023, inspired by Rewiring Australia’s vision for the rapid electrification of Australian households. Electrify Canberra hosts community events that help to connect the Canberra community with the information they need to electrify their households, and has successfully campaigned for a Federally-funded electrification pilot in the ACT.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DAMXH
Stanhope and Ahmed on Canberra Issues
Jon Stanhope, former Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Khalid Ahmed, former ACT Treasury Executive, will deliver a powerful address and conversation on the future of the ACT, reflecting on critical areas such as health, housing, and the state of the ACT economy.
JON STANHOPE is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011.[1] He is the only ACT Chief Minister to have governed with a majority in the ACT Assembly.[2] From 2012 to 2014 Stanhope was Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories, which consists of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.[3]
KHALID AHMED served in the ACT Public Service for 19 years, with around 10 years as Executive Director of the Policy Coordination and Development Division in Treasury. Over that period, he had been involved with the analysis of medium to long term fiscal policy issues, and development and implementation of major policy initiatives in the Territory. He had been involved with the preparation of the Territory’s budget in a senior capacity for over a decade. He has also led expenditure reviews and the review of the ACT’s taxation system including the development of the Taxation Reform Plan.
Khalid was on the Affordable Housing Taskforce established by the ACT Government, and had the oversight and responsibility for the implementation of a range of initiatives of the Government to improve housing affordability.
He now works in the private sector as an economic advisor and is involved in public policy and public sector reform.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DBDPF
Dymphna Clark: Women in the Making of Canberra
Dymphna Clark: Women in the Making of Canberra
Saturday, 3 May: 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Manning Clark House
11 Tasmania Circle, Forrest
With some irony and ambivalence, Dymphna Clark would refer to returning to her home in Canberra as ‘creeping back into my cocoon’. Her circumstances, as the wife of one of Australia’s most recognised public intellectuals, the historian Manning Clark, had some particular personal dimensions. But she was far from alone among the wives of the often more recognised men associated with the development and national status of Canberra in having to find some kind of balance between the distinctive character of private, community and public life in the city.
This workshop will explore some aspects of women’s experience, contribution and significance in Canberra’s history, especially from the 1930s to the 1970s. It will be led by women who will reflect on their own sense of those times – how the period might be remembered? – and also by those involved in collecting, curating, interpreting and enhancing our appreciation of the active, creative and engaged work of those generations: how might their history be presented? These perspectives are certain to stimulate discussion among all who attend. What can we learn from these stories? What heritage needs to be unearthed? What history is too easily forgotten?
The workshop will be held in the Clarks’ heritage-listed award-winning home at 11 Tasmania Circle – which itself, like so many houses, has its own role in the story. Designed, at Dymphna’s suggestion, by Robin Boyd, and lived in by the Clark family from 1953, the house was far from a cocoon. It was the base from which Dymphna consolidated her own friendships and networks, pursuing causes which were part of both the city’s and the nation’s evolving culture of aspiration and debate. In much of this, she was far from alone.
Workshop leaders
Roslyn Russell (Heritage Consultant, Chair)
First Person Reflections
Anne Buttsworth
Louise Moran
Historical Rediscovery
Antoinette Buchanan (ACT Heritage Library)
Virginia Rigney (Senior Curator, Visual Arts, CMAG)
Nicole Sutherland (Acting Senior Curator, Social History, CMAG)
Susan Mary Withycombe (Historian)
Summary
Nicholas Brown (Historian; Manning Clark House Inc)
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/CYHBZ
Electrifying Canberra
Energy Transition 2025:
Electrifying Canberra
Sarah Reid
Sunday 27 April at 3.00pm
Manning Clark House, Tasmania Circle, Forrest
In the third presentation of the Energy Transition 2025 series, Sarah Reid will describe Electrify Canberra’s strategies and programs for informing and assisting Canberrans to electrify their households and reduce household energy consumption and emissions.
Electrify Canberra is a Community Partner of Rewiring Australia, and is exploring and campaigning for electrification pilots that could include apartments and challenging buildings, low income households and social housing, homeowners and renters, and streets, suburbs and communities.
Sarah Reid is a Coordinator for Electrify Canberra, a Canberra-based community group established in 2023, inspired by Rewiring Australia’s vision for the rapid electrification of Australian households. Electrify Canberra hosts community events that help to connect the Canberra community with the information they need to electrify their households, and has successfully campaigned for a Federally-funded electrification pilot in the ACT.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DAMXH
MCH Poetry - Kit Kelen
Kit Kelen
Published widely since the seventies, Christopher (Kit) Kelen has more than a dozen full length collections in English as well as translated books of poetry in a dozen languages other than English. Kit’s latest volume of poetry in English is Book of Mother, published by Puncher & Wattmann in 2022.
Refreshments will be served.
Tickets available at: https://www.trybooking.com/DAHSK
Energy Transition 2025 A low-emission express passenger rail service for the Federal Capital
Energy Transition 2025
A low-emission express passenger
rail service for the Federal Capital
David Glynne Jones
Thursday 10 April at 6.00pm
Manning Clark House, Tasmania Circle, Forrest
In the second presentation of the Energy Transition 2025 series, David Glynne Jones will present a concept proposal for implementation of an express passenger rail service between Canberra and Sydney, based on repowering of existing XPT diesel-electric trainsets with bi-mode battery-electric traction systems.
The proposal describes how a low-emission Canberra-Sydney rail transit time of 3 hours 15 minutes could be achieved before 2030, using the existing rail route.
David Glynne Jones is an independent advocate for the adoption of renewable energy and electrification across all sectors of the Australian economy. He is currently assessing the implications of emerging advanced battery technology for electrification of the Australian transport sector and, together with his colleague Derek Woolner, publishing articles on the strategic implications of emerging energy technologies.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then light refreshments.
MCH members $15; Concession (Gov’t support and full-time students) $15; Non-members $20
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DAAAE
Luke Whitington Launches - "Italy Unveiled: A Journey in Poetry."
In Italy Unveiled - A Journey in Poetry, celebrated Australian poet Luke Whitington brings us his latest collection of poems - a tribute to Italy and twenty years of life he spent there.
Through his indelible longing, expressed in his extraordinary poetry, he takes us on a unique and intimate journey through Italy. His poetry is a bridge between cultures.
Hosted by Manning Clark House, Italy Unveiled will be launched in conversation with distinguished Australian poet, environmentalist, and Canberra treasure Mark O'Connor OAM, together with poetry readings in original English by Luke Whitington and in Italian by translator and writer Michael Curtotti.
This event is part of Viva Italia in Canberra - see here for festival events
Italy Unveiled - A Journey in Poetry is published by Aldila Press. If you would like to purchase this book, please go to https://aldilapress.com/book/luke-whitington-italy-unveiled-a-poets-journey/
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/CZVXP
Enrico Mercuri discusses his translation of "Dante's Inferno"
Please join us as Enrico Mercuri presents on his translation of Dante’s Inferno. Enrico is the Australian born son of Italian migrants who has had significant exposure to Italian culture here and in travel to Italy. Amongst other roles (Taxation Law practitioner, Level E academic), Enrico is passionate about Italian literature and culture. He has expressed jis passion by translating the following:
English judge, Lord Denning MR’s autobiography (into Italian): LA STORIA DELLA FAMIGLIA DENNING (The History of the Denning Family) by Enrico Mercuri :: SSRN. I am still considering how to publish this in hardcover
Dante’s Inferno: Dante's Inferno - Wakefield Press
Refreshments will be served.
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DALUA
9.30am 5 April
Manning Clark House
11 Tasmania Circle, Forrest, ACT
Triumph over adversity: The Journey of Shobha Varkey
Triumph Over Adversity: The Journey of Shobha Varkey
Shobha Varkey’s life has been a testament to resilience, determination, and an unwavering commitment to helping others. Having faced profound personal losses and challenges, she has emerged stronger, using her experiences to uplift those around her. Her journey is one of perseverance—where every setback has been met with courage, and every hardship has only strengthened her resolve.
Since 1980, Shobha has called Canberra home, but in 2019, she embraced a new chapter by moving to Yass, NSW, where she and her husband manage a bed and breakfast. Passionate about human rights and social justice, she embodies her Quaker values in all aspects of life, from her work with a church and counselling clients to volunteering as a chaplain at the Australian National University.
A highly qualified professional, Shobha brings a wealth of experience in spiritual and pastoral care, counselling, disability support, employment consultancy, and project management. She is known for her leadership, her ability to guide teams through complex challenges, and her deep commitment to the well-being of those she serves. Whether through training, mentoring, or advocacy, she ensures that adversity does not define a person’s future but rather strengthens their purpose.
Through her story, Shobha Varkey will share how resilience, adaptability, and a heart for service can turn life’s challenges into opportunities for growth and transformation.
https://www.trybooking.com/CZYJW
Malta - A Childhood Under Siege by Linda Peek
“Air raid warning, air raid warning. Shut your doors and windows.”
The Rediffusion blared out in English and then in Maltese, at 6:55am on the morning of 11 June 1940.
This was the first of many times we would hear that warning. The day our lives changed.
Margaret Staples was nine years old at the beginning of 1939 when her father was posted to the British colony of Malta with the Royal Engineers. Swimming every day, with blue skies and balmy weather; Margaret and her siblings thought they were in paradise.
Everything changed when the Second World War broke out. Hitler wanted to take control of Malta for its strategic position, right in the middle of the Mediterranean. To this end, the Axis powers dropped more bombs on this tiny island than anywhere else on the planet. When that didn’t work, they decided to sink all the supply ships going to the island and force capitulation through starvation.
This is Margaret’s story of survival, told by her daughter Linda.
Gripping, endearing, moving, enlightening, this is a story that should be read by anyone with an interest in Malta, or indeed in the pieces of the mosaic of the Second World War.
— Noah Charney, Best-Selling Author and Pulitzer Finalist
Take this lovely, haunting story of war and family as a nudge to preserve the story of your own family, before it disappears into the ether.
— Remar Sutton, Former Washington Post syndicated columnist and author
I have just finished reading your book Malta A Childhood Under Siege. Loved every minute and what a story. I was born in Malta and emigrated to Australia with my family when I was 14 years old, arriving in Sydney in 1964. I remember my grandparents and parents telling stories about the hardships the Maltese population suffered during WWII. The one about the convoy arriving on the Holy Day of 15th of August 1942 was my favourite as a young boy and you wrote about in the book. Thank for telling the world what that little rock and its people endured because of one single madman.
— Reno G.
I have just finished reading Linda Peek's extraordinary book. I couldn't put it down. Not only is it written in an immensely readable way, but she had such a story to tell. And it all meant so much more to me, since every single place in Malta she mentioned is vividly familiar and dear. That, together with my own parents' stories and the historical events which I already knew, made 'A Childhood Under Siege' as fascinating as watching an old black and white film slowly being transformed into full colour.
— Anna Maria Weldon
Linda Peek has written a touching story, drawn from her mother’s memories of life on the George Cross island during the Second War. She brings a largely vanished world to life. It’s a vivid compelling read about a young girl, reacting to the terror of the times and to her growing awareness of what womanhood means. Beautifully observed and crafted. I strongly recommend it.
— Miriam Margolyes
This new book is a beautifully written, humorous and elegiac family memoir, set during the Malta siege. It would provide a perfect script for a new film or television series to engage modern audiences with this timeless story of stoicism under fire. It is a story of civilian and military courage that deserves to be told and screened. Its relevance to contemporary events is very evident.
— Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods OAM RAN retired
Bookings at https://www.trybooking.com/CZEXY