The whirlwind Canberra pre-departure briefing!

Timeline: April 9 – July 23

When I found out I was going to be part of the Y20 I was surprised and super stoked! There was a bit of time to celebrate, before Global Voices sent through a big document outlining what the jam packed agenda for the next 3 months would entail (including free Qantas frequent flyer membership – the perks!). It was hectic! Multiple research pieces to submit, Canberra briefings in less than a month, interviews with local papers and radio - I’ve got to admit I was a bit intimidated because of all the stuff I already had on but was still very excited at the same time! I categorise the events of the next 3 months into three areas: a) pre-departure briefings in Canberra, b) Research Fellowship and c) preparing for the Y20.
This blog post is all about part a):

Pre-departure briefings in Canberra: May 9 – Wednesday May 11

In the lead-up to Canberra, I was trying to do my best to fit in time to learn about Australian public policy strategy. Coming from a civil engineering background, this is not an area that I have learnt about through my uni degree and I didn’t want to be behind the eight ball. Canberra itself came so quickly – I finished an assignment at 1am and then eight hours later I was on a Qantaslink (thanks Qantas!) flight to the nation capital. This was very exciting for me as someone who’d never been to Canberra (I missed the classic year 6 trip everyone does :( ).

In total there were fourteen delegates (plus the Global Voices staff!) in attendance from across Australia studying a wide range of degrees from fashion through to electrical engineering, aviation and paramedics. Each of us was attending one of four conferences: ECOSOC, OECD, Y20 or NATO. Over three days we had the opportunity to meet with Australian Government experts in economics, trade and foreign policy. We also participated in question and answer sessions with relevant think-tanks and strategic policy institutes. Normally delegates get to meet with more politicians but given our visit coincided with the timing of the double dissolution election all the politicians were out of town. This meant that we got to spend more time with the people who likely have the most influence on Australia’s policies – the public servants themselves.

On Monday, I jumped straight off the flight and into a taxi and immediately into a tasty welcome lunch with the entire Global Voices team, including the Board of Directors and other delegates (right). Chris Pearce, the Chair of Global Voices gave an inspiring speech that outlined what we had in store for ourselves over the next three days. From there, we went into a meeting with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. ASPI is one of the most authoritative contributors to strategic policy and defence issues in Australia. A lot was covered in the one hour meeting but the most interesting takeaways for me were related to the discussion on the economic benefits of the European refugee crisis. From there, we had a bit of free time so a few of us delegates made the 15 minute walk from the apartment over to Parliament House to take photos at sunset. The entire group reconvened for a debrief session with the Global Voices staff (where we got our own GV business cards) before a nice relaxed dinner at a local restaurant. This was a great time to start to get to know the other Y20 delegates – Rachel from Central Queensland Uni, Samuel from Charles Darwin Uni and Jerome from Uni of South Australia. We all stuck together closely over the three days.

Y20 team hard at work

Tuesday morning started in the best possible way – with a terrific all you can eat buffet breakfast (<3) followed by splitting into separate delegations and drafting each other’s research reports.

Our first meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade focused on insights from DFAT staff on what the Y20 and OECD forums were likely to be like and some tips on how to get the most out of the experience. 

This was followed by another DFAT meeting with the public servants who played a major part in the formation of Australia’s emission reduction targets. They shared information about the behind the scenes domestic and international diplomatic forces that shaped the targets, both in the lead up to and during the 2015 Paris conference. From here, we were lucky enough to have a meeting at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet with Australia’s Head G20 Sherpa (the top person who shapes Australia’s position on the G20 agenda) David Gruen. He gave us privileged access to Australia’s priority outcomes from the G20, and the process that the G20 strategy team goes through in preparing for the G20.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get better, in the afternoon we were treated to a private access all areas tour of Parliament House with Chris Pearce. Tuesday was capped off with a networking dinner with Global Voices alumni and a very impressive address from the Acting Vice Chief of the Defence Force. Amongst a wide variety of discussion points, he gave us insights into advanced future military technology, Australia’s position on tensions in the South China Sea, and making changes to workplace culture towards women in the Defence Force. My mind was blown by the privileged access to high profile people that the Global Voices team have. Here I was just having a casual beer with the Acting Vice Chief of the Defence Force!?

Global Voices Semester 1 delegations with
the Governor General and Lady Cosgrove

Our final day Wednesday started with a morning tea at Government House with their Excellencies the Governor General and Lady Cosgrove. Their Excellencies were very down to earth to talk with and Government House is like something out of another age!

From Government House, we headed over the US embassy for a question and answer session with Matt Murray. We discussed a broad range of Australian – United States diplomatic issues. Our final session for the incredible three days we’d had was a media training and Q&A with Global Voices staffer Amelia Rhodes to prepare us all to be able to pitch our research to journals and news outlets in the lead up to our delegations. Then homeward bound! The Canberra experience was incredible, a completely different world for me.