Ramsay Lectures
How politics and books shaped a life
An exclusive lecture by Professor the Hon Bob Carr
Bob Carr
In the fifth Ramsay Lecture for 2022, former NSW Premier and Foreign Minister, and one of Australia’s most well-read public figures, and an author himself, Professor the Hon Bob Carr delivers a cogent and illuminating lecture on how politics and books have influenced and shaped his life.
In this wide-ranging address, Professor Carr, who is also the longest continuously serving Premier in NSW history, reveals his literary influences and outlines the case for ‘cultural literacy’. He discusses his favourite biographies, with special reference to US Presidents, as well as former NSW Premier William Arthur Holman and Australia’s 16th Prime Minister Ben Chifley. Professor Carr contemplates the Western canon and its relation to what is studied in schools and universities today and reflects on how we should approach figures from our past, ultimately confirming his steadfast belief that history is the most serious and urgent of the humanities.
Please join us for this insightful lecture and discussion between Professor the Hon Bob Carr and Ramsay Centre CEO Professor Simon Haines.
Bob Carr
Professor Carr is a former Australian Labor Party politician. He served as NSW Minister for Planning and Environment from 1984 to 1988, and as Leader of the NSW Opposition from 1988, until his election as Premier in March 1995. He was re-elected in 1999 and 2003, securing an historic third four-year term. He retired from state politics in 2005.
In March 2012 he was designated by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as Australia’s Foreign Minister, elected to the Australian Senate to fill a casual Senate vacancy, and sworn into the Senate and Cabinet on March 13, 2012.
Following his resignation from the Senate in 2013, in 2014 he was appointed the Director of the newly established Australia China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, the first think tank devoted to Australia-China relations, serving there for five years. Between 2019 and 2022, he served as Professor of Industry in Climate and Business at the University of Technology Sydney helping to shape debate on climate and energy.
Professor Carr has received the Fulbright Distinguished Fellow Award Scholarship. He has served as Honorary Scholar of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue. He is the author of Thoughtlines (2002), What Australia Means to Me (2003), My Reading Life (2008), Diary of a Foreign Minister (2014) and Run for Your Life (2018).