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Devpolicy Talks

Devpolicy Talks

Development Policy Centre, ANU 350 Episodes Jul 4, 2026

Devpolicy Talks features interviews, event recordings, and documentary episodes on topics researched by the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University. The podcast covers Australian aid, development in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, and global development issues. It is associated with the Devpolicy Blog and public events like the PNG Update and Pacific Update.

Episodes

Humanitarianism and public health: an interview with Rick Brennan Jul 4, 2026 00:50:49 Rick Brennan, an Australian emergency physician appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2025, recounts the pivotal early decision that shaped his professional life — choosing public health and humanitarian work over clinical medicine after being offered a full-time role with the US Centers for Disease Control. He describes the emotional weight of that moment, knowing it meant the end of hi
2026 aid budget breakfast May 15, 2026 00:58:42 Recorded the morning after the 2026–27 federal budget, this first episode of the 2026 season brings you the Development Policy Centre's fourteenth annual aid budget breakfast, hosted by Devpolicy Blog editor Amita Monterola with analysis from Cameron Hill and Robin Davies. The session was held live from the Pacific Security College studio at the Crawford School, with questions from an online audie
Navigating China and the Global South: a conversation with Eric Olander Dec 15, 2025 01:34:58 Eric Olander, Editor-in-Chief of the China Global South Project, offers a nuanced perspective on China’s engagement with developing countries across Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Pacific. Drawing on 40 years of experience as a journalist covering China, including stints at the BBC, Associated Press and CNN, Olander challenges dominant Western narratives about Chinese development fi
Pacific democracy: global indices and lived realities Dec 6, 2025 01:18:40 This episode explores the state of democracy in the Pacific, focusing on a joint report by International IDEA and the Australia National University's Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA). The report, released in mid-2025, assesses data from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It then looks at all Pacific nations, covering the six themes of grassroots democracy, scale, localised pol
Global public goods and the architecture of cooperation: a conversation with Inge Kaul Nov 14, 2025 02:12:03 Inge Kaul, pioneering development economist and architect of the global public goods framework, discusses her groundbreaking work on international cooperation and development financing in this 2015 interview recorded at her flat in Berlin. Economists define public goods — like street lighting — as things everyone benefits from that nobody can be excluded from using. The problem is that individuals
Water, climate and adaptation: a conversation with Dr Aditi Mukherji Nov 1, 2025 00:35:40 Dr Aditi Mukherji, Principal Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute and coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's water chapter, discusses her career spanning groundwater management, climate adaptation and the urgent challenge of the 1.5-degree threshold. From her groundbreaking work challenging conventional wisdom about groundwater in eastern
Youth uprisings: understanding the protests in Indonesia and Nepal Oct 17, 2025 00:46:43 In August and September 2024, thousands of young people took to the streets across Southeast and South Asia in unprecedented displays of protest. This episode examines the youth-led demonstrations that erupted in Indonesia on 25 August and Nepal on 8 September, exploring the deeper frustrations driving Generation Z activism beyond the headlines of violence and regime change. Host Amita Monterola s
From Vanuatu's challenges to Melanesian cooperation: a conversation with Gregoire Nimbtik Oct 10, 2025 00:35:49 The conversation begins with Nimbtik's background as head of Vanuatu's Prime Minister's Department and Deputy Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat. He provides context for understanding Vanuatu's current challenges by tracing the country's history from its unique condominium colonial system — where British and French administrations operated in parallel — through independ
From serendipity to global impact: a conversation with Glenn Denning Sep 2, 2025 01:06:06 Glenn Denning, Professor of Practice at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and founding Director of the Master of Public Administration in Development Practice program, reflects on his remarkable 40-year career in international agricultural development. From his serendipitous start, Denning has become one of the world’s leading experts in food security and sustainable
The Pacific Engagement Visa: what you need to know about the 2025 ballot Aug 13, 2025 00:29:28 The Pacific Engagement Visa offers a life-changing opportunity for up to 3,000 Pacific Islanders and Timorese citizens annually to gain permanent residency in Australia. In this episode, Development Policy Centre Research Officer Natasha Turia discusses the newly opened 2025-2026 ballot, sharing insights from her research tracking the program's rollout and surveying PEV winners from Papua New Guin
US-Pacific relations under Trump: a conversation with Judith Cefkin Jul 26, 2025 01:00:39 Former US Ambassador Judith Cefkin provides a sobering assessment of how the Trump administration's foreign policy shifts are reshaping American engagement with Pacific Island nations. Drawing on her 35-year diplomatic career and experience as US Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu from 2015-2018, Cefkin warns that the administration's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, dismant
Managing labour mobility for Solomon Islands: a conversation with Christina Marau Jul 11, 2025 00:57:14 Christina Marau, Director for Labour Mobility at the Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, provides an insider's perspective on how Pacific labour mobility schemes operate in practice. Drawing on her experience managing a system that handles thousands of applications and maintains a database of 6,500 work-ready candidates, Marau explains how Solomon Islands has become one

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