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Listen to a panel of experts discuss an array of discussion topics stemming from this year’s festival films. We will hear a range of divergent topics from time travel, to gender inequality, to political campaigning – who knows where the conversation will lead?
Speakers' Corner is moderated by Rhys Graham, with speakers including Lawrence Leung, Dr. Katie Mack, Ben Hubbard, Briohny Doyle and Kim Henderson.
Lawrence Leung is an actor, comedian, screenwriter and geek. He co-wrote the Australian feature film Sucker that premieres at MIFF 2015. Sucker is an adaptation of Lawrence's award-winning one-man stage show that has played festivals in Australia, Edinburgh, Dublin and a sold-out season at the Sydney Opera House. On the small screen, Lawrence created the AFI-nominated TV comedy series Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure and Lawrence Leung’s Unbelievable (ABC1). Recently, Lawrence co-wrote and starred in Australia’s first kung-fu comedy series, Maximum Choppage (ABC2) and somehow did not injure himself.
Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist. Her work focuses on finding new ways to learn about the early universe and fundamental physics using astronomical observations, probing the building blocks of nature by examining the cosmos on the largest scales. Throughout her career as a researcher at Caltech, Princeton, Cambridge, and now Melbourne University, she has studied dark matter, black holes, cosmic strings, and the formation of the first galaxies in the Universe. Katie is also an active science communicator and is passionate about science outreach. As a science writer, she has been published by Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time.com, and other popular publications, and is a regular columnist for Cosmos Magazine.
Ben Hubbard is the General Manager of Public Policy and Strategy at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, based in Melbourne. He has a wealth of experience in politics and public administration, which includes being Chief of Staff to Australia's 27th Prime Minister, the Honourable Julia Gillard MP, between 2011-13. Before this, Ben was Chief Executive Officer of the Victoria Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority. He has also served in a number of other high profile political roles, including as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Principal Adviser to the Premier of Victoria. Ben has been listed in numerous national ‘power lists’ including the Australian Financial Review’s Power Edition, The Australian’s Political Influencers, and the Australian Who’s Who.
Kim Henderson has close to 20 years experience in international development with extensive experience working on gender justice and women’s rights with government, Multilateral and civil society organisations. Prior to joining Oxfam as Gender Justice Lead, Kim was Gender Team Leader for UNDP Asia-Pacific. This followed on from her time as Global Gender and Crisis Prevention and Recovery Adviser for UNDP. Kim came to the UN system from the Australian Agency for International Development, where she held a number of positions including being posted to Indonesia, where she managed the Australian Government’s Gender and Governance programmes and seconded to the Australian Parliament as an adviser on Development Cooperation.
