Canberra conversations, with Gareth Evans

This is Episode Three of Canberra Conversations, an occasional podcast series on The Interpreter where I talk with some of the big names from the foreign policy and national security worlds in Australia's capital.

In episode one I talked with Mike Pezzullo, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and now the incoming head of the new Home Affairs Ministry. Episode two was with the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Frances Adamson.

In this edition, I talk with one of Australia’s most prominent and distinguished foreign policy practitioners and thinkers, Gareth Evans. Evans was Australian foreign minister from 1988 to 1996, from 2000 to 2009 he was President and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, and since 2010 he has been Chancellor of the Australian National University.

Evans has plenty of stories to relate. He talks about meeting Nelson Mandela, and his conversation with the Queen about South African tribal leader and politician Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Listen also for a fairly unsparing assessment of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Evans’ new book, Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir, is available in bookshops and online.

Sam Roggeveen