 It's been a really wonderful day today, the first day of our major conference on women and national security and so I want to welcome you to the National Gallery of Australia for what I hope will be a different tempo, a different tempo of conversation but a conversation that's no less fascinating and no less serious. I think a few lessons as head of the National Security College that I and my colleagues have drawn from the proceedings today. I think one lesson which we shared a little earlier today is the importance of listening and the importance of really listening to the flow of discussion in the presentations today. We've taken a few views away that we'll certainly be applying next time we hold an event like this. One is that as I think to reflect on what the secretary of attorney generals noted this afternoon he began to realise how it felt to be a woman at some conferences that he's attended. We will encourage more men to be in the group of participants for a conference like this in future because I think there are so many powerful messages that we'd like to share more broadly. Secondly, the appetite, the demand really for more awareness and education in this space and of course as an educational and training institution the National Security College sees it as its core mission really to increase the networks, increase the awareness on the whole range of critical national security issues. I'm really pleased to say that we'll be introducing an executive development course on women and national security drawing very much on the conversations, the themes, the outcomes of the conference today and we will also in our academic program be looking quite seriously at the prospect of introducing a course on women and national security into our master's degree. An immediate I guess lesson learned, thank you. I'd also just emphasise I think as Francis Adamson drew out this afternoon that an event like this really is very much a team effort and not only my colleague Marina Tservas who's seconded from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet but others as well Sharon Deane seconded from the Office of National Assessments, our events and policy officer Chris Farnham, Chris wherever you're hiding and a whole range of other colleagues from the conference from the College I'm sorry have really done all the work behind the scenes that have made this event what it is. So I'd like to ask you to also join me in acknowledging the team if you like. And so in a moment I'll be inviting our guests from the ACT Government to really commence proceedings tonight and later I'll be inviting the Acting Vice Chancellor to invite Penny Wong up to the stage, the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. But in the meantime before dinner before our mains are served I would like to welcome Minister Megan Fitzharris from the ACT Government to the stage. We had a great conversation this afternoon Minister on themes that would be very familiar to your experience so if I may I'm just going to share a little of that with the group the importance of women as practitioners not only policymakers but practitioners in the national security community and the perspectives that they bring and of course Minister Fitzharris as many of you may know but perhaps not all of you know has background and experience in the space that we're discussing today as a practitioner in national security. Before she entered the ACT Legislative Assembly she worked for the New South Wales Police during the Sydney Olympics and as a Senior Policy Manager for the Australian Federal Police and for the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department. Now of course and I note as someone speaking from a university Megan it's fantastic that you're the Minister for Higher Education but also the ACT Minister for Transport and City Services, Training and Research and Assistant Health Minister. We're really honoured to have you here with us tonight. Please join me in welcoming Minister Negan Fitzharris. Many thanks Rory and thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you this evening and welcome you to Canberra on behalf of the ACT Government. I'd like to start by acknowledging that we meet on the land of the Ngunnawal people and pay my respects to their elders past and present and particularly acknowledge any Aboriginal people joining us this evening. It is a real pleasure for the ACT Government to play a role in sponsoring this. At one level I was surprised to think that it was really the first Women in National Security Conference that had been held and it's so great to see so many women who are practitioners, who are policy makers, who are decision makers in this space because we know that national security really matters to women both here but particularly matters to so many women around the world who face insecure lives, who face lives of conflict and for whom national security, security, defence and law enforcement makes a very big difference in their lives. Women play a role in this space both at the grassroots level and being peacemakers in local communities right up through decision making in both the public sector, the private sector and the community sector in our NGO organisations so really great today to see so many of you who are at the table, who are having conversations, bringing skills, bringing your knowledge and expertise but you will bring a woman's perspective into this really important policy area and for that I think we will get better outcomes and people will be more secure. So the ACT government, you may see us popping up more and more in this space, we're really pleased because we are very proud of the institutions we have here in Canberra, we have of course major government agencies, Department of Defence, Foreign Affairs, National Security and Intelligence agencies, we have terrific higher education institutions and of course notably thank very much the ANU for putting on the conference that you are attending today and tomorrow but we also have of course major defence industry here, just a loan Department of Defence contributes $3 billion to the ACT economy, we really appreciate the role that the defence industries also play in Canberra, for our part the ACT government has identified this as a real opportunity for the ACT community and the ACT economy to grow, we have recently appointed former Senator ACT Kate Lundy as our Defence Industry Advocate and if you are in this space you will know that Kate is a very effective advocate for not only defence industries but for what the ACT has to offer as well and on that front just a couple of weeks ago we appointed our first Defence Industry Advisory Board to advise the ACT government of the opportunities that we can take to collaborate and to connect people working in this space with one another to really make the most of the incredible skill base we have here in the ACT in our national institutions, in our Commonwealth departments, in our universities and part of that is also growing the skills base here and one of the challenges that this industry has is a skilled workforce coming up and one of the reasons that we have some gaps in the skills is because we don't have enough women participating in this industry so that's why an event like this conference is really important, one that we're really happy to be involved in and to help sponsor, I would have loved to have come along to some of these but I did get a promotion last year and now I'm also the Minister for Health so we have the real pleasure in the ACT of having a whole range of different portfolios that intersect with one another but the higher education one is also one that's that's vital to the ACT so again thank you very much to the ANU and I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening and I very much look forward to hearing from Senator Wong and notably mention that so many senior positions both at the federal government level and in opposition are held now, foreign affairs, defence, I don't know if Gay Brotman is here but I know that she is also one of the shadow ministers in this space, there are so many women contributing, we hope to see more of them and we hope to see a second Women in National Security Conference, thank you. Minister thank you, thank you for those remarks and I think for the emphasis on education and learning which of course is as I reminded, core business for the Australian National University, I just would just add I guess one or two thoughts on that from the perspective of the college, National Security College and ANU more broadly and of course we have the Acting Vice Chancellor here who may say a little bit more later on but the mission of the National Security College is very consistent with the theme and the direction that we've heard so resoundingly today at this conference and that is really about improving the quality of policy and practice right across national security in Australia both at a Commonwealth level but also in engagement with state government, with local government and indeed with industry and on that note I just would also acknowledge the support we've had from industry for the conference today from Taylor's, from KPMG and also from partners, Department of Defence, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the US Embassy, it's been really, really wide and resounding support and the ACT Government so thank you. Time for dinner, we will be inviting the Senator Wong to speak a bit later on but in the meantime please carry on the conversation and we look forward to more of those ideas, thank you. I'd also like to acknowledge first of all the traditional owners on whose lands we meet this evening, the Nanoa people and Pema respect to their elders past and present. I'm here this evening representing Professor Brian Schmidt, the Vice-Chancellor of ANU and I know he would be extremely, he is extremely disappointed to not be here to join with you at this conference and indeed celebrate the dinner this evening. He is overseas and unfortunately otherwise engaged at present for those of you who are star gazes and astronomers of course I expect he will be back in town at the 11th hour for the ABC BBC coverage and stargazing that will be held at Mount Stromlo and has been earlier this week at Siding Springs. We are delighted as the ANU to be hosting this event, I'd like to acknowledge also and thank the sponsors very warmly and our industry colleagues here following on from Professor Rory Medcalf's opening remarks but tonight our guest of honour is the Senator the Honourable Penny Wong, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. Senator Wong was appointed Shadow Minister in July 2016 and this appointment followed a varied parliamentary career but one that has included responsibilities for trade, finance, climate change and water. Senator Wong has also served on many committees including related to intelligence and security. She was the first woman to serve in the positions of Leader of the Government and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Please join me in welcoming Senator the Honourable Penny Wong. Thank you very much to Margaret for that introduction and thank you for hosting me. Can I first acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay my respects to Elders past and present? Can I acknowledge my parliamentary colleague Megan who spoke earlier and my former parliamentary colleague Kate Lundy who's here. Nice to see you Kate. There are a few ambassadors and heads of mission here. It's good to see you. Thank you very much for your attendance tonight and your involvement in this conference. Thank you to Rory and the team for putting this conference together. It really is a wonderful opportunity to speak here at this inaugural Women in National Security Conference. It's obviously a pleasure to be here but it's even more gratifying to see a conference of this calibre focused on such an important issue. To those of you who are still eating please go ahead. If you've ever been to a Chinese New Year dinner you know what I'm used to dealing with. So she's right. Can I start by saying this I have always believed that our institution should seek to reflect the diversity of our community. So you may well be expecting me to bemoan the fact that there are still too few women inhabiting the secret coasters of the national intelligence and security community particularly in senior positions and you might expect me to issue yet another appeal for a concerted attack on the glass ceiling. You might also be expecting me to offer you all further encouragement in tackling the somewhat clubby character of the intelligence and security community which remains predominantly a male preserve. Let me say this. There is no doubt we need more women in the security business. Equally we need more women in leadership positions so can I say this to you tonight more strength to your arm collectively and individually in your pursuit of equality. But what I want to focus on tonight is why. Why women are so important in enabling our national intelligence and security community to meet the challenges that uncertain times bring with them. I want to consider equality with a focus on the why not just the what. At one level the rationale for more equal representation in the national security space is similar to that offered in the political and management spheres. As the 2014 UN Women's Australian National Committee's Conference on Gender Equality noted a more inclusive leadership cohort can improve performance bringing a diversity of experience and perspective to both problem identification and decision making. More generally there is a grown recognition of the relationship between gender equality and community well-being. Professor Valerie Hudson who is with us here tonight and whom you heard earlier today is perhaps the leading authority on this topic. As Professor Hudson wrote in her 2012 book Sex and World Peace the very best predictor of a state's peacefulness is not its level of wealth its level of democracy nor its ethno-religious identity it is how well its women are treated. There is intrinsic merit in greater engagement by women in our national security institutions and a stronger focus on women when identifying the collective problems we face and the solutions we help generate. My emphasis tonight however is that the time and circumstances we face make that cultural shift in both personnel and in perspective even more vital. I've previously made the point that we live in more than interesting times. I've suggested that the circumstances we confront go beyond uncertainty or even discontinuity and that this period is best characterised as one of disruption. Whatever nomenclature one uses I suspect we might find broad agreement around this central proposition that we are unlikely to successfully deal with today's problems by simply replaying our past responses. There is a need for careful reconsideration of what security is fundamentally about and whether our national responses to security issues are the most appropriate for these times. The paradigm change that may be necessary in our approach to security questions is only possible if the security community itself undergoes rejuvenation and transformation. One of the best ways to ensure fresh thinking and innovation in any business is to ensure that gender equality and ethnic diversity are put to work to drive change. Much of our public discourse and visible signs of our national security efforts focus on hard responses, CCTVs, bollards, static barriers and armed guards. Now there's no doubt these responses are necessary. The question is whether they are sufficient. As important as these may be, are we thinking sufficiently broadly both about security risks and the way in which we respond to them? Should we elevate our discussion of the values we are seeking to preserve as an open and inclusive society? Equality, cooperation, tolerance and compassion. Do we need to remind ourselves more persistently that we will not succeed nor become safer by closing ourselves off from each other or from the world? Security challenges are best met working with others rather than turning inwards. And history reminds us of the risks that inward-looking, disengaged societies pose. Risks of misunderstanding, of tension and of conflict. Senator Hanson's recent foray is a reminder of the risks we face. Her call to ban Muslim immigration was rightly condemned by Prime Minister Turnbull as doing exactly what the terrorists want. Now I don't claim expertise in all these issues and you're all in a much better position than I to evaluate the various security measures that governments have mandated. And you're no doubt in a better position than I to assess whether the language we use to talk about security issues deals with them accurately and intelligently. And I want to return to that issue in a moment. But I can say this. The concept of security for most Australians would also encompass economic and financial security, affordable health care, job and income security, quality childcare and the promise of a dignified retirement. In other words, security has a much broader connotation than the more threat based protective and response concepts with which a lot of public policy concentrates upon. This of course in no way diminishes the work that you do. But what it does suggest, what it might suggest, is that a broader understanding of what security means for the general populace and where it impacts on people's lives may in turn expand the range of tools at your disposal and the effectiveness for the programs you design and implement. The philologists amongst you would already know that the word security and sinecure derive from the same linguistic origin. Siner meaning without and cura meaning care. So far from having connotations of sanction and punishment, the word originally brought with it the sense of being without care or worry. Disrupted times however bring with them a raft of care and worries. The French economist Thomas Spichetti has identified economic inequality as a principal cause of the political instability currently infecting Europe. The Brexit vote and its currently unforeseeable consequences, the rise of radical parties on both the left and the right, the resurgence of nationalism in countries like Austria, Hungary and Poland and the politics of exclusion on religious and racial grounds. Into this mix come historical grievances driven in more or less equal parts by colonialism on the one hand and its collapse on the other. And the picture becomes even more bleak when we see political leaders who reject the operating rules by which the international system has worked for the past 70 years by the emergence of new international players that want to impose new operating rules and all of this rendered even more toxic by the emergence of nihilist ideologies that advocate death rather than tolerance. You would be familiar with the impact that discontinuity can have on complex systems, but complex systems generally have sufficient resilience to manage discontinuities to bounce back relatively quickly. Indeed many of the security features inbuilt into complex systems are specifically designed to deal with discontinuity. But as I've said the uncertain times into which we are currently heading are less characterised by discontinuity than they are by a much more destructive phenomenon, disruption. And you know this, disruptive changes can generate existential threats. Disruptive technologies have allowed Amazon and Kindle to challenge the very existence of the book trade as it was. Disruptive business models like Uber and Airbnb threaten current practices and structures in the taxi and hotel industries with real implications for working conditions and income streams for those who work in those industries. And disruption is at the centre of the malaise we see globally. Political and economic disruption are the main drivers of strategic disruption. It is that form of disruption that is undermining the confidence of people everywhere, generating care, worry and more alarmingly fear. And fear is always particularly dangerous because it prompts irrational and dangerous actions. It is a curious fact however that disruption can generate a critically important reaction and that is innovation. More than a decade ago the American political theorist Philip Bobbet published The Shield of Achilles. He dealt deals with that most disruptive of all human activities, war. And his thesis is essentially that war generates substantial constitutional changes people recoil from the destruction and horror that war inevitably brings. Now his analysis of the relationship between war and constitutionality may be contested. But what is pretty incontestable is that disruption is best addressed by innovation. And that is the challenge I think that faces all of us in the security domain. No doubt you are aware of the call by many international commentators for governments to deal with the root causes of the various forms of politically motivated violence presently affecting the global community. Of course few of those commentators actually identify what those root causes are. What we do know is that the so-called root causes lie at the intersection of the economic, social, cultural, ethnic and ideological forces that lend movement and colour to human collective activity. And the agent who acts at the intersection of these forces is always an individual. In a thoughtful opinion piece published in the UK Guardian a couple of weeks ago, the novelist and former security specialist Nicholas Searle cautioned against rhetoric as a component of security policy. Sweeping terms like radical Islamic terrorism cannot alone explain the breakdown of law and order across the Middle East, nor radical groups that have spread their tentacles into Europe, North America, South and Southeast Asia, Africa and even Australia. And it is interesting to note that the incoming national security advisor in the Trump administration, General McMaster, has also counseled against the use of terms such as Islamic terrorism. Politically motivated violence is a form of criminal activity and it needs to be dealt with as such. And as an international phenomenon, politically motivated violence will best be contained and eliminated when nations, some of which are Muslim, work collaboratively to address the broad security needs of the communities in which the perpetrators live. And that kind of collaboration depends for its success on the ability to address the human security needs, that conditioned fear and violence. That kind of collaboration will also serve to identify, detain and prosecute those who undertake politically motivated violence. As Bill Shorten said recently, we have a solemn responsibility to counter that argument of the extremists, of the extreme right and the extremists in the Middle East, who say that being a Muslim citizen of this democracy is incompatible with their faith. We need to counter that argument and not amplify it. It is our job, our duty to foster a more inclusive, a more respectful, a more egalitarian Australia. We don't just tolerate diversity, we embrace it. We don't just acknowledge multiculturalism, we embrace it as a bipartisan achievement and as a shared priority. Recognition that language has consequences was also at the heart of the success of the Northern Ireland peace deal. And Sirle, Nicola Sirle commented on the highly deliberate and painstaking efforts that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement that ended violence, political violence in Northern Ireland. Careful timing, nuanced language and emotional gearing on all sides enabled the moment to be won. And this is what should inspire all of us and all of you in your professional efforts in the national security domain. Rejuvenation and regeneration should always be front of mind for those who lead high performing organisations. Subtlety and nuance in both policy and operations are most likely to be effective when organisations are representative of the communities they serve. Let's remember, open communities have the strength of inclusion. Closed communities have the spectre of fear. So conferences such as this and people like all of you in this audience tonight provide the critical aware with all that keeps our national security community ahead of the serious problems it is designed to address. So I wish all of you well in the work that you do including for gender equality and be confident in asserting the importance of women in enabling the national intelligence and security community to meet the challenges of these disrupted times. Thank you very much. Please don't go away Senator that was a I would say a subtle and powerful and very wide ranging speech and I'm sure that our students will be paying close attention to it very soon. I think you've intuitively captured what the college is all about because you've defined national security in a context that is much broader than the narrow definitions of security that some would see and I think you've identified those themes of disruption of society, a rhetoric of technology that are really making many of us so uncomfortable but also so focused on finding policies solutions at the moment. So I really thank you for that. I'm going to ask if you would take a few questions from the audience because I think you've got a really a really important and interesting and diverse group in the room tonight that will have some very interesting questions to put to you. So we can take a couple of questions for Senator Wong if you please raise your raise your hand and a microphone will come to you and please identify yourself we are on on record and we only have a few moments so I'm looking for hands somewhere around the room. I will begin with our colleague from Pakistan. Thank you. Thank you so much. I am Boldova and I am impressed and I'm a citizen of the world. I came from Pakistan but I have lived everywhere and what you have said today is what we need to do but how do we educate the media? I can tell you this that I as a citizen of the world not as a Pakistani Muslim which I am also I am quite irritated by the media as it fuels terrorism. I work with children who are militants who were militants who I have deradicalized them and they quote these statements. So what do we do? How do we educate the media? Thank you very much for that question. A politician being asked about you know the media being irritating. Well jokes aside I mean this is on issues of inclusion on issues of equality tolerance and compassion whether the the divide is gender or religious or other really the only answer I think to your question is for leaders whether they are political leaders or academic leaders or community leaders to continue to say what we believe to be right. It is always easier to frighten people than to give people hope. Human history has shown us that it's always easier well in many ways it is easier to divide than to unite but you know we have a task all of us collectively and the media are a medium and they will write what they will write sometimes we will agree with it sometimes they don't but I think you know in life there are things you can control and things you can't what we can control is what we say and how we construe problems and well when we need to stand up against what others are saying which is not a which are things which are not only false but are damaging then we ought to do so. Thank you can take a few more I know my colleague Maria I should talk for longer than I want to get more questions. We have to get from Marina because we went to law school together. Absolutely please. I think she studied a lot harder I have a horrible feeling about everything. We're just going to do a plug for Adelaide you know I just would like you to know Marina's from Adelaide I'm from Adelaide Julie Bishop originally from Adelaide and Francis Adamson so we've got it covered and that's the real hidden network there. Senator I actually just I loved a lot of the words that you used values in the context of Australian foreign and defence policy talking about a values driven rules based global order and disruption I actually wondered what sort of disruption do we need in this space on gender equality to embrace it in terms of moving forward. What sort of disruption do we need I was making a slightly different point I was making the point that I think hopefully we all agree that institutions do better if they broadly reflect the community from which they come or which they're part of that the times we are in I've described as being disrupted times because it just seems to me that uncertainty and wasn't quite cutting it and if we believe as I do that simply replaying past solutions is not going to be sufficient to address these times then we have to be serious about thinking innovatively in terms of our policy response and the point I'm making that is that the rejuvenation and regeneration of the intelligence security community has to be part of that and I see gender as being part of that there is the you know the data that Professor Valerie and others have spoken about I think which is a sort of different layer on it I guess I was making a point about leadership and about decision-making and about problem identification and that at a time like this you actually really want to make sure that those making decisions are thinking outside the square and I do believe gender is part of ensuring that occurs. Take one from Dr Sarabi from Afghanistan. Dr. Good evening senator and good evening to all of you. I am Habiba Sarabi from Afghanistan. I'm from Afghanistan the conflicted area but not I am not from citizen of the world because yeah this is something that I have to the people should recognize me that I am from Afghanistan and suffering from the war and conflict more than three decades it's almost four decades. My question first of all I impressed a lot by your speaking and so I congratulate you and I congratulate all the women here and around the world because if we have strong women like you and confidence to have enough confidence of course we can bring some change. My question is that what will be the policy of the Australia Australian government it's political question that if you could take the power what would be the policy of your country toward the peace for Afghanistan because the Afghanistan problem is not only Afghanistan problem it is the regional problem it becomes the international problem what will be the policy of Australian government because some countries are playing a role but Australia is a place or a country a little bit far away from the region so I think you can play a big role for the bringing peace to Afghanistan thank you. So thank you very much well first can I thank you for being here and for sharing with us your experience I I'm sure that has been a great use but also very important to the people who are part of the conference in terms of Afghanistan and the region obviously it is a it is an area of the world which has endured conflict for a very long time and you know we certainly will over this coming period in between now and the next election be thinking and talking to our partners and allies about what are the next steps for that region and what what Australia can constructively do bearing in mind we're obviously not a major player in terms of of regional stability so I suppose my answer would be we should talk again in a year or so I try not to think I try to prepare for the possibility of government without actually counting on it that's that's democracy I guess we'll take one it's also superstitious please at the back of the room there thank you yes you know usually I have to do an affirmative action thing where I say after three men there's a woman I haven't had to do that tonight thanks very much senator amy big sprinch my question is about yourself as a senator and your parliamentary colleagues as members elected from their electorate or from their state you obviously have people in your communities that aren't receptive to both discrimination for whatever against racial against women against ethnic city groups how what language do you use how do you bring them on board what what's your tactic meaning they aren't receptive to the proposition that discrimination on those bases is a bad thing is that what your question is that as well but but but bringing them on board getting them on the bus yeah yeah no no no I understand um I'd make a couple of points I came to Australia from Malaysia as a kid in a long time ago I'm getting quite old now in the 1970s and it was the first time I had being conscious of a personal experience of racism and I learned a lot through that time and one of the things I learned is that for most people not all but for most people prejudice doesn't survive personal connection and that part of what we have to do to confront discrimination and prejudice whether it's gender or racially based is to try and diminish the capacity of people to see the other as some distant other like we have to try and in gender as far as we can a personal connection with the other as individual rather than as some externalised personality and how we talk about it I think is important what we do in our communities is important so you know events which encourage events and program which programs that we're talking about race for the moment which encourage cross-cultural engagement I think are really important how we talk about it is important so my disagreement with the government over the recent racial discrimination act changes was not simply a legal argument about what their proposition was I and I've explained my view about that on in the parliament my argument my concern is also what message is sent because what message you send to the community as a parliament as a political leader is important and the perspective that was not given sufficient play at that time not given sufficient attention at the time by too many people in power was the perspective of the victim of racial abuse what is it like for the kid on the bus or the Muslim woman in the street and that if you talk to people in those terms about the human experience are right behind these principles if you talk it's not when I talk about gender equality I talk about and it's a trite in many ways it's trite but I say do we really want to live in a society where we explicitly say we want our daughters to have fewer opportunities than our sons is that really what we want and I think to make sure we say to people talk to people in ways that make it personal not as a rhetorical device but to try and actually tap into our shared humanity I think is is the only way I've ever thought we could we could win these arguments thank you very much for your time it falls upon me to thank the senator thank penny for what was an insightful motivating and reinforcing speech I know that a lot of the messages around rejuvenation and regeneration will have resonated with our industry colleagues and others in the national security community 20 years have not dimmed your intellect or eloquence penny I have to say and it's also a demonstration of the importance of leadership having someone like you here tonight to reinforce these messages and share your time and your thoughts reinforces the importance of leadership and the importance of these messages so on behalf of the ANU on behalf of the national security college myself and all of those gathered here I'd like to thank you again for your time