On Wednesday 26 February we were privileged to have Professor the Honourable Gareth Evans present his keynote address, opening our two day workshop, “Shaping International Law in Times of Global Transformation: Australian Contributions”.
Professor Evans spoke to Australia’s willingness to engage seriously with international law, highlighting key developments in Australian history leading up to his own time as Australian Foreign Minister. He spoke to the audience about his conceptualisation of Australia as a “good international citizen”, highlighting its continued value in contemporary times.
Quote from Professor Evans: “My argument was designed to appeal not just to moralists but hard-headed realists, making the point that behaving, and being seen to behave decently and not just self-interestedly, worked greatly to a country’s advantage reputationally and in other ways when it came to advancing traditional security and economic interests”
We were very fortunate to have Professor Evans join us the following morning for our Practitioners Panel with Dr Leanne Smith (Chief Executive of Australian Human Rights Commission), Hon Prof Richard Rowe (ANU) and Hon Prof Matthew Neuhaus (ANU). The three panel members illuminated the “behind the scenes” work of influencing international law and the importance of building strong diplomatic relationships.
After this thought-provoking opening, we enjoyed panel presentations by Professor Alison Duxbury and Associate Professor Narelle Morris on individual Australian contributions to international law, which offered valuable comparisons with Dr Sara Dehm and Adrienne Ringin’s panel on Australia’s relationship with international legal bodies. Our day was rounded out by Associate Professor Stacey Henderson presentation on Australia’s shaping of non-proliferation of chemical and biological weapons.
We warmly thank all those who attended, presented and chaired sessions at our workshop – we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Planning is underway for publication of the workshop proceedings and we will update this blog when details are confirmed.
Global Transformations 