MUM_2008

April Edition 2008
Indigenous PhD graduate says
Australia’s apology well overdue:
page 04
Special Report: ‘Our Future’,
Melbourne hosts Rudd’s first major
policy conference: page 06
Literary Review:
Alumni in print: page 08
Alumni in Focus: The Personal
Discoveries of Unpolished Gem
author Alice Pung: page 015
From America’s
Deep South –
Melbourne Law alumnus Richard
Bourke on the challenges of
defending death row prisoners
MelbourneUniversity Magazine for Alumni

The year ahead
The Melbourne Model – the focus of our
attention over the past two years – has
seen a smooth introduction in 2008, with
more than 3000 high-achieving students
now studying in New Generation degrees
across the University.
The strong demand for the New
Generation degrees – in Arts,
Biomedicine, Commerce, Environments,
Music and Science – confirmed our
belief that they offer a curriculum attuned
to the aspirations of future-focused
young Australians.
This year our attention turns to the
‘year of research’; the year in which the
University will make some big decisions;
in which it will make large investments in
research to fund the research future we
want.
It is the next step to fully realising
the benefits of the University’s
Growing Esteem strategy. It involves a
consideration of the ethos we would
like to guide the University, and ways to
reflect the kind of society that we would
like to help build.
And we need to be outward-looking.
While 2007 was our best-ever year for
research, that success rested heavily
on winning Australian competitive grant
income. We need to give more attention
to our international standing and to
raising industry funding as a proportion
of total research income.
Intellectual honesty requires that we take
an unvarnished view of how the world
sees us, and that we compare ourselves
against the world’s leading public
universities – and not just those on these
shores.
The year ahead will be busy. We will
see major decisions about research
funding priorities and infrastructure;
we will deliver on our commitments in
learning and teaching and knowledge
transfer; we will agree on a 10-year
strategy for our libraries and information
management; and we need to resolve
competing ideas about how we govern
and manage ourselves.
So with the excitement of teaching new
curricula, greater attention will be on our
research which produces moments of
intense personal satisfaction, defines our
character, underpins our teaching, and
guides our contribution to our society.
Glyn Davis
Vice-Chancellor
Apology to all Indigenous Australians
February was an historic month for Australia with the Prime Minister
of Australia apologising to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples in the
House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra.
The Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd moved
“That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest
continuing cultures in human history. We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen
Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by
righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments
that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow-Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their
descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry…
…There comes a time in the history of nations when their peoples must become
fully reconciled to their past if they are to go forward with confidence to embrace
their future. Our nation, Australia, has reached such a time. And that is why the
parliament is today here assembled: to deal with this unfinished business of
the nation, to remove a great stain from the nation’s soul and, in a true spirit of
reconciliation, to open a new chapter in the history of this great land, Australia.”
The full apology is available at: www.pm.gov.au/media/speech/2008/speech_0073.cfm
The University of
Melbourne issued
its own apology
to Australia’s
Indigenous people
The University of Melbourne,
established on the traditional land of
the Kulin nation, is a community that
aspires to participate in the creation
of a diverse and harmonious nation.
Our aim is to bring greater benefits
to the Indigenous people of Australia
through education and research,
and to do so by involving Indigenous
people in those endeavours.
On behalf of the University of
Melbourne, I acknowledge,
• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people as the original
inhabitants of the continent;
• Recognise their loss of land,
children, health and kin, and
the erosion of their languages,
culture and lore and the manifold
impacts of colonisation; and
• Australia will become a mature
nation only when the past is
acknowledged, so that the present
can be understood and the future
confidently based on the mutual
recognition of aspirations and rights.
The University records its deep
regrets for the injustices suffered by
the Indigenous people of Australia
as a result of European settlement.
On behalf of the University of
Melbourne, I join with other Australians,
led by the Prime Minister of Australia,
the Hon. Kevin Rudd, to say a heartfelt
‘sorry’ to the Stolen Generations and
their families and to all Indigenous
Australians who have suffered the
hurt and harm caused by the forced
removal of children and families and
its effect on the human dignity and
spirit of Indigenous Australians.
The University also acknowledges
and sincerely regrets any past
wrongs carried out in the name of
the University which have caused
distress to Indigenous Australians.
The University is committed to using
the expertise and resources of its
teaching and learning, research and
knowledge transfer activities to make
a sustained contribution to lifting the
health, education and living standards
of Indigenous Australians. As an
institution we aim to produce the
highest quality outcomes in all aspects
of our academic endeavour – from the
recruitment and retention of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students
to building our cohort of Indigenous
academic and professional staff.
To this end we hope to contribute
to realising Indigenous aspirations
and safeguarding the ancient
and rich Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander cultural heritage.
The University joins with all
Australians who see in Parliament’s
recognition and apology a decisive
moment in our nation’s progress.
In justice is the hope of
reconciliation, in acknowledging
the past the hope of the future.
Glyn Davis
Vice-Chancellor
Melbourne University Magazine
2008, April Edition
Melbourne University Magazine is
a publication for alumni and friends
of the University of Melbourne. All
correspondence relating to the
editorial content of the magazine
should be addressed to:
The Editor: Silvia Dropulich
Melbourne University Magazine
Marketing and Communications
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Phone: +61 3 8344 7999
Fax: +61 3 8344 4921
Email: silviad@unimelb.edu.au
Cover: Cover image, courtesy of Reprieve
Australia: www.reprieve.org.au
Change of address:
If you would like to be added to the
Melbourne University Magazine mailing
list, or report a change of address,
please direct your enquiries to:
Phone: +61 3 8344 1751
Fax: +61 3 9348 0013
Email: alumni-office@unimelb.edu.au
Web: www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni
Editorial Board
Silvia Dropulich – Writer Editor,
Marketing and Communications, (Chair)
Leonie Boxtel – Alumni Relations
Manager, Advancement
Professor James Angus – Dean, Medicine,
Dentistry and Health Sciences
Dr Philip Batterham – Associate
Professor and Reader, Bio21 Institute of
Molecular Science and Biotechnology
Ben Coffey – Campaign Manager,
Marketing and Communications
Lisa Montague – Communications Manager,
Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts
Suzanne Dixon – Director Advancement,
Faculty of Economics and Commerce
Yee Fui Ng – International Law
Views expressed by contributors are not
necessarily endorsed by the University
ISSN: 1442–1349
The University’s Alumni
Relations Team welcomes
your views on the new MUM
format and content.
Email us at alumni-office@unimelb.
edu.au or call +61 3 8344 1751
www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni

News In Brief
03
Leading role for former
Veterinary Science
PhD student
By Andrea Jones
Professor Brendan Crabb, a former
Veterinary Science PhD Student and
senior lecturer in the Department
of Microbiology and Immunology
at the University of Melbourne, has
been appointed as the Director
of one of Australia’s leading
medical research and public health
institutes – the Burnet Institute.
Professor Crabb was appointed to the
prestigious position at the beginning
of March 2008, after successfully
heading up the laboratory team at the
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical
Research based in Melbourne.
Professor Crabb commenced his
Doctor of Philosophy in 1989 with the
Faculty of Veterinary Science. Entitled
Proteins of Equine Herpes Viruses 4
and 1 and Asinine Herpes Virus 3, his
research focuses on the virology field.
The findings from his research resulted
in a diagnostic test that could distinguish
horses previously infected (and hence
carriers) with the potentially lethal Equine
Herpes Virus-1 (EHV-1) from those
infected with the more common, yet
benign Equine Herpes Virus-4 (EHV-4).
He was awarded his PhD in 1992.
The newly-appointed Director is
an outstanding and internationally
recognised medical researcher
with significant leadership in
infectious diseases, especially the
area of malaria and viruses.
He is also a National Health and Medical
Research Council Senior Principal
Research Fellow and an International
Research Scholar of the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute (USA).
“I’m very excited to be moving to
such a dynamic and internationally
recognised organisation, and am
committed to growing the Burnet
Institute’s reputation as a globally
competitive, infectious diseases centre
of excellence,” Professor Crabb said.
Ross Garnaut to be Vice-
Chancellor’s Fellow at the
University of Melbourne
By Christina Buckridge
Professor Ross Garnaut has been
appointed a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow
at the University of Melbourne, and a
Professorial Fellow in the University’s
Faculty of Economics and Commerce.
Professor Garnaut has had a
distinguished academic career since
his first appointment at the Australian
National University in 1972. He was
Professor of Economics in the Research
School of Pacific and Asian Studies
at the Australian National University
from 1989 until the end of 2007. He has
also had a distinguished career as a
government policy adviser, diplomat,
and businessman.
In 2007, he was commissioned by the
Australian States and Territories, and
now the Commonwealth Government, to
undertake a review examining the impact
of climate change on the Australian
economy and potential medium to long-
term policies to ameliorate these. He is
due to report on 30 September 2008.
Professor Garnaut will take up the part-
time appointment at Melbourne after
completion of the Garnaut Climate
Change Review. He will be attached to
the Department of Economics and the
Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic
and Social Research in the Faculty of
Economics and Commerce.
An ANU graduate with an Arts degree
and PhD, he has also served at ANU
as Convener of the Economics Division
and Head of the Economics Department
at the Research School of Pacific and
Asian Studies between 1989 to 1998
before becoming Foundation Director
of the Asia Pacific School of Economics
and Management (APSEM) from 1998
to 2000.
Professor Garnaut is currently on
the Boards of Directors of a number
of international research and
policy organisations, including the
International Food Policy Research
Institute (Washington), of which he is
Chairman, including the Lowy Institute
for International Policy (Sydney), and
Asialink (Melbourne). He chairs the
Board of Directors of Lihir Gold Limited.
He is a former Australian Ambassador to
China and served as Senior Economic
Adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
In 1989 he reported to the Australian
Government on Australia and the
Northeast Asian Ascendancy. He is also
author of numerous books, monographs
and articles in scholarly journals on
international economics, public finance
and economic development, particularly
in relation to East Asia and the Southwest
Pacific.
His research interests lie in
China’s economic reforms and
internationalisation, Asia-Pacific
economies’ development and
international economic relations,
Australia’s economic relations with
the Asia-Pacific region and economic
adjustment to Asia-Pacific economic
development. His main role at the
University of Melbourne will be to
write from his lifetime of thought and
experience on these matters.
In 1991, Professor Garnaut was made
an Officer of the Order of Australia for
services to education and to international
relations. He is a Fellow of the Australian
Academy of Social Sciences (1991) and
an Honorary Professor of the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (1996).
Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn
Davis welcomes Professor Garnaut’s
appointment as a Vice-Chancellor’s
Fellow. “Ross Garnaut brings to
Melbourne a wealth of experience as an
academic and practising economist. As
a Fellow ‘in residence’ at Melbourne, he
will make an outstanding contribution
as a public intellectual to the wider
community and to the life of the
University.”
Australia’s first university-
educated woman
veterinarian honoured
Margaret Keats MBE, BVSc, Australia’s
first-ever woman to officially graduate with
a Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree
from the University of Melbourne in 1923,
has been honoured by the Victorian
community by having her name added
to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
The Victorian Honour Roll of Women
recognises and celebrates the
achievements of women from all walks
of life. It honours Victorian women who
have made a significant contribution
in a particular field, or a lasting
contribution that benefits the lives of
other women and/or their communities
in Victoria, Australia and internationally.
The announcement was made by the
Victorian Minister for Women’s Affairs,
Maxine Morand, at a lunch held in March
to mark International Women’s Day.
Ms Keats was nominated for the
award due to her dedication,
leadership and inspiring achievements
in the veterinary arena.
Indonesian Alumni win
Australian Alumni Awards
Two prominent University of
Melbourne alumni have won Australian
Alumni Awards in Indonesia.
The Australian Alumni Awards are
an initiative of Australian Education
International (AEI) at the Australian
Embassy in Indonesia.
Mr Budiman Holan Hendropurnomo
(BArch (Hons) 1982) was awarded the
Australian Alumni Award for Creativity
and Design. Mr Hendropurnomo heads
the Indonesian Office of Denton Corker
Marshall (called PT Duta Cermat Mandiri
in Indonesia). Denton Corker Marshall is
one of the most successful Australian-
owned international design practices,
currently working on projects in Europe,
the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
Mr Hendropurnomo was awarded a
prize for best architecture technique by
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
in 2006 at the celebration of Indonesian
Construction and Public Works Day.
Mr James Riady (BCom 1978) was
awarded the Australian Alumni Award
for Entrepreneurship. Mr Riady is the
Deputy Chairman of the Lippo Group,
a major Indonesian conglomerate,
involved in commercial banking,
corporate finance, property development
and investment, financial services,
insurance, manufacturing, infrastructure
development and investment, fund
management and trust services,
and venture capital investments. The
group has operations all across the
Pacific Rim, particularly Indonesia,
Hong Kong and mainland China.
The University of Melbourne has
approximately 1900 alumni living
in Indonesia, including an active
Alumni Association. See:
www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni/indonesia
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
MelbUni-Alumni-Indonesia
Distinguished
architect visits the
Melbourne School
of Design
By Michelle Burder
Hijjas Kasturi, distinguished alumnus
of the Faculty of Architecture, Building
and Planning, launched an exhibition
Concrete, Glass, Steel which showed
highlights of his practice Hijjas Kasturi
Associates (HKAS) in the Atrium of
the Architecture building on Monday
17 March. He also gave a public
lecture titled In Search of Identity
in Architecture outlining significant
buildings designed by HKAS. He
categorised the development of the
buildings by HKAS spanning Concrete
– characterised by the initial buildings
completed in Malaysia, followed by
the steel-influenced designs of prize
winning buildings in Riyadh, then the
more recent Glass constructions.
Mr Kasturi’s work is recognised
internationally. In 1998 he received
the Tokyo Creation Award and in 2001
the Malaysian Architect’s Institute
Gold Medal. He was also awarded
an Honorary Doctorate from the
University of Malaya in 2005.
Mr Kasturi studied at the University
of Adelaide and the University of
Melbourne (Bachelor of Architecture
1965, Graduate Diploma of Town
and Regional Planning 1966).
“Those were the golden years
of Australian architecture to
me,” Mr Kasturi said.
“The times of Robin Boyd, of Roy
Grounds and Peter Muller – it was the
time when the Olympic Swimming Pool
had just been completed – magnificent
vanguard buildings, breakthroughs in
architecture such as the beginnings
of Sydney Opera House, when the
whole world was looking at it.
“It was a really fantastic time to be a
student.”
Mr Kasturi returned to Singapore in
1966, then moved to Malaysia in 1967,
where he founded the School of Art
and Architecture at MARA Institute of
Technology. He went into partnership in
1969, and then formed HKAS in 1997.
Characterised by the major concerns
of architecture, town planning and
building, plus the arts-oriented
influences of industrial design, graphic
and textile design, and fine arts, the
practice of HKAS has a unique vision.
Mr Kasturi will also be the keynote
speaker at the University of Melbourne,
Malaysia Alumni reception on Saturday,
24 May 2008 (see Alumni Events, p16).
Photo Les O’Rourke

Feature photo Misty Jenkins and her PhD
supervisor Nobel Laureate Professor
Peter Doherty. Photo Fairfaxphotos
Bottom photo Misty at Cambridge.
Photo supplied by Misty Jenkins
04 Feature
Dr Misty Jenkins
BSc (Hons) 2001, PhD (2007)
By Silvia Dropulich
Dr Misty Jenkins is a Gunditjmara
woman who was born in Ballarat
and is now a research associate
at the University of Cambridge.
She watched Australia’s apology
to its Indigenous people on the
internet. “The apology was covered
by the UK media, though not in
great detail,” Dr Jenkins said.
“Through the internet I was able to watch
the coverage of Kevin Rudd’s speech,
with tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Recognition of the atrocities
caused by Australian government
policies was well overdue.”
Dr Jenkins completed her PhD at the
University of Melbourne under the
supervision of Nobel Laureate Peter
Doherty and Dr Stephen Turner. She
studied how T cells (white blood
cells) fight infection. Her research
focuses on the mechanisms of T
cell Cytotoxicity – which means
understanding how killer T cells kill their
targets. She plans to return to Australia
in two years and is keen to integrate
Aboriginal health with her research.
Dr Jenkins grew up in Ballarat where
her mother moved around a lot as a
child, due to her nomadic Aboriginal
father. Her weekends were spent
with her dad teaching her how to
fish – and they spent a lot of time on
the Murray River and in the bush.
“After colonisation Aboriginal people
were thrown into poverty and unable
to pursue their traditional practices
of hunting and gathering food and
medicine,” Dr Jenkins said.
“The poor health among Indigenous
people is caused primarily by
sociological factors, such as
poverty and education, related to
colonisation and dispossession.
“More than a third of Indigenous
households live below the poverty
line, and this means that access
to health care is more difficult.
“The health status of Aboriginal
people is among the poorest,
and is reflected in the shocking
statistics of poor life expectancy.”
Dr Jenkins sees the Rudd Government’s
formal apology as a very significant
day in Australia’s history.
“Thousands of Aboriginal people
were forcibly removed from their
families,” Dr Jenkins said.
“Nothing can ever repair the damage
and suffering caused, but recognition is
a good first step to healing our country’s
shameful past.
“Now we need to see a real commitment
from the Government to undertake a
national strategy to improve education
and health for Indigenous people.”
No-one in Dr Jenkins’ family knew
anyone who had been to University.
When she announced that she’d like to
give it a shot, they were supportive but
unsure of her new beginning. She had to
move to Melbourne and worked in bars
and retail as her family could not afford
to support her. The Centre for Indigenous
Education (CIE) provided vital support
in helping her to complete her studies.
“It has a wonderful sense of community
and was a great place to study by day
and sing with guitars in the evening,” Dr
Jenkins said. “I had to leave my family
home in Ballarat to attend university,
and I couldn’t afford to buy a computer.
“As an undergraduate I would use CIE
as a place to have access to a computer
and meet with other students and study.”
She has similarly fond memories of
Peter Doherty and her experience in
the laboratory and the Department
of Microbiology and Immunology.
“Peter is a very inspirational
person to work with, but also very
approachable, friendly and down-
to-earth,” Dr Jenkins said.
“He taught me to think outside the box
and to accept nothing at face value.”
Dr Jenkins completed a Bachelor of
Science with first class honours in 2001,
and graduated with a PhD in 2007.
Indigenous PhD graduate wants
to improve Aboriginal health
Dr Jenkins sees the Rudd
Government’s formal apology as a very
significant day in Australia’s history.
“Recognition of the atrocities caused by Australian
Government policies was well overdue.”– Dr Misty Jenkins,
a Gunditjmara woman who was born in Ballarat.
Photo Fairfaxphotos

05Feature
Richard Bourke
BA (Hons), LLB (Hons)1995
By Silvia Dropulich and David Scott
When Richard Bourke tells people
what he does for a living, some think
it is great, others cannot understand
why he does it, some are angry that
he does it – and others change the
subject as quickly as they can.
Richard is an Australian lawyer who
represents defendants at trial facing
possible death sentences, as well
as death row prisoners seeking
to overturn their convictions and
sentences. He practises in three
southern American states where there
is little or no funding for such cases:
Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
“People have very different
reactions when they hear about
my job,” Richard said.
“I am always happy to talk to people
about my work and in my experience
even those who disagree with me about
the death penalty and about whether
everyone deserves a defence will
respect my choices when they learn that
I am genuine in what I do and that I am
doing it because it is what I believe in.
“One of the reasons I was first attracted
to death penalty work was because I was
so offended that the law and the legal
system were being used to kill people.”
Life for the people Richard defends
has usually been extremely hard
before they are charged with the
crime that brings Richard to them.
They are always poor, frequently suffer
intellectual or mental disabilities, are
regularly victims of violence and other
abuse as children and as they grow up.
Once charged with a capital crime,
they become pariahs – hated and
feared by their community and
marked for death even before trial.
“The conditions in local jails vary
from bad to bearable but what
stays the same is living under the
weight of the state setting itself to
execute you,” Richard said.
“For those who are on death row,
the conditions vary from state to
state but all are kept in individual
cells and locked down for 23 hours
a day or more in these cells.
“The prisons are miles from anywhere
and some inmates receive family visits
as rarely as once every few years or even
never.
“Isolation, idleness, and the burden of
a death sentence create a tremendous
risk of despair and hopelessness.”
Despite these harsh conditions Richard
is optimistic about the power of the
human spirit and the human will to live.
While the prisoners on death row face
despair, they also hang on to life and
hope. For some it is family that gets them
through their dark hours, for some it is
hope in the legal process, for some it is
the support of their fellow-prisoners and
for some it is even the visits of Australian
volunteers sent over by Reprieve
Australia that helps them through.
Richard has not had a client whose
trial he handled get sentenced to
death but he has assisted local public
defenders in trials where the client was
sentenced to death and had clients
he represented on appeal executed.
“When a death sentence is announced
or carried out I don’t see it as law
failing humanity, I see it as humanity
failing humanity,” Richard said.
Almost none of his clients trust him
when they first meet, but almost all
of them trust him after they have
been working together for a while.
“My clients need me to be their lawyer,
not their friend, but they need a lawyer
who values their humanity and is able
to demonstrate that by behaving like a
human being, not a robot,” Richard said.
“One of the reasons my clients trust
me is because I don’t pretend to
fully understand what is happening
to them, or to have lived it.”
Richard was a criminal lawyer in Australia
before moving out to New Orleans. He
had a varied practice doing trial and
appellate work, minor cases and very
serious cases. The cases he found
most challenging and rewarding were
Children’s Court cases. He worked with
homeless kids and kids in trouble before
becoming a lawyer and then did a lot
of work with that group as a lawyer.
“I had a keen understanding of the
negative impact of the wrong outcome
in court for a child,” Richard said.
“It is very important to get the
right outcome when a child’s
future is in the balance.
“Death penalty work is also results
driven – it may seem an obvious thing
to say but it is really important that you
stop your client from being killed.
“I am not comforted by the idea of my
client’s grave being marked with a stone
saying, ‘his lawyer tried his best’.
“Essentially my job is one where
I try and convince people of the
inherent value in human life, that it
is something worth preserving.”
According to Richard, there are notable
differences between how law is practised
throughout America. There is the main
legal system in the United States and
then there is the way law is practised
in the South. He describes it as pretty
wild in the South and very different.
“The main difference is how political
the legal system is – the judges
and prosecutors are elected by
the residents,” Richard said.
“There’s soft and hard corruption,
there’s a lot of nepotism but also
a lot of straight out bribes.
“There is a bit of this in the Australian
system too, of course, but we
have a lot to be proud of.
“We have set a very high standard for
our legal system and try to maintain that.
“Very often the South is not like that.”
Richard left New Orleans during
the mandatory evacuation period
when Hurricane Katrina struck.
He describes New Orleans as terrific,
but as somewhere that has always
had social problems. The hurricane
exposed those problems to the
United States and the world.
There has been a lot of rebuilding.
Richard believes that the rebuilding that
has occurred is even more impressive
when one considers that some of the
suburbs were completely devastated.
“The police system was always
hopeless, and is now running
worse than ever,” Richard said.
“We have a shockingly high murder
rate, but it’s mostly poor murdering
poor; young, disaffected and heavily
traumatised people whose homes have
been uprooted because of the disaster.
“The murder rate has rocketed
up since Katrina.
“There is no doubt – and I see it every
day at work – of the huge impact
of the hurricane and the trauma
of that experience for people.
“There are a lot of young people running
around whose families haven’t returned,
with no grounding or supervision.
“Geographically, large areas remain
derelict and are thus breeding
grounds for crime because
there is no community.”
Richard completed a BA (Hons)
(Criminology) and LLB (Hons) at the
University of Melbourne in 1993. He
did not plan then to work overseas
representing people on death row
however, he did gain an interest in
social justice during his studies.
He worries there is so much pressure on
law students to get articles, and that they
can frequently get articles only at the big
firms. Law students are often put on a
very narrow path at a very early age, then
there is the debt in higher education.
“You are forced into career paths to
service that debt,” Richard said.
“‘Poor people law’ doesn’t pay well
and thus drives people away.
“We owe society more than just
doing law for the money.
“Not to be unkind to my commercial
colleagues, but who cares if you’re
good at mergers and acquisitions?”
He is enormously supportive of
moving law to a postgraduate degree,
describing the Juris Doctor as a great
move that should have come sooner.
“People should be given the opportunity
to study for the sake of learning and
in turn broaden their approach to law.
They should go into a law degree as
mature adults, knowing that this is
what they want to do, and not just be
driven by marks.” This would help law
students to understand why they were
studying law and would provide them
with more breadth in their approach.
In addition to his current work in the
United States, Richard and three
other Melbourne law alumni also set
up Reprieve Australia – a non-profit
organisation established to recruit
Australian volunteers to serve in
death penalty defence offices in the
United States. (For more information
see: www.reprieveaustralia.org.au)
For more information about the
Melbourne JD visit
www.jd.law.unimelb.edu.au
Defending the human spirit
“Essentially my job is one where I try
and convince people of the inherent
value in human life, that it is something
worth preserving.”
Photo supplied by Richard Bourke

06 Special Report
‘Our Future’
Our Future
Climate change
mitigation will not make
us richer
By Silvia Dropulich
We as a global community have come to
climate change mitigation too late, according to
Professor Ross Garnaut, who was commissioned
by the Australian States and Territories and
the Commonwealth Government to undertake
a review examining the impact of climate
change on the Australian economy.
“The issue of adaptation has been
too little discussed in Australia so
far,” Professor Garnaut said.
“It will be a major focus of the Review
in the months ahead, and of Australian
policy for a long time to come.”
Professor Garnaut made the comments at
a gala dinner, which was part of the New
Agenda for Prosperity Conference.
In his February Interim Report of the Garnaut
Climate Change Review he noted that a
continuation of the beneficial processes of
economic growth would require a fundamental
change in the relationship between economic
growth and greenhouse gas emissions.
He is due to report on 30 September 2008.
Professor Garnaut said the warming that had
already occurred, together with that which
would flow inevitability from emissions already
in the atmosphere, and from the current
momentum in emissions growth, meant that,
in the best of circumstances, Australia would
have to live with substantial climate change.
Australia was perhaps the most vulnerable
of developed countries, both because of
direct impacts, and because it would be
affected more than other developed countries
by stress in neighbouring countries.
Professor Garnaut said his final report would
ask and start to answer the hard questions
about the indirect but potentially powerful
effects on Australia, of the impacts of climate
change on its Asian and Pacific neighbours.
Prudent risk management required Australia
to do what it could to secure an effective and
early global mitigation effort. And an effective
global mitigation effort required all developed
countries, Australia among them, to take steps
now to secure large reductions in emissions.
Professor Garnaut warned that how Australia went
about securing those emissions reductions would
have large effects on its prosperity. The prudent
Melbourne hosts
Prime Minister’s
first major policy
conference
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd (center) with
Stephen Sedwick, Director, Melbourne Institute (right)
Photography Les O’Rourke
The University of Melbourne
hosted the Rudd Government’s
first significant conference on
the policy approach of the new
government.
More than 70 of Australia’s most
influential economic and social
policy-makers, many of them
University of Melbourne alumni,
from the Federal Government
as well as from industry and the
business media, presented their
views on how to develop and
implement a new agenda for
prosperity.
The election of the Rudd Labor Government
offers the prospect of a reinvigorated economic
reform program targeted at promoting
prosperity and opportunity for all Australians.
Presented by the Melbourne Institute for Applied
Economic and Social Research and The Australian
newspaper, the two-day New Agenda for Prosperity
conference included contributions from the
Government’s leading ministers: Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd, Treasurer Wayne Swan, Finance
Minister Lindsay Tanner (LLB 1982, BA 1982, MA
1985), Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin
(BCom 1976), Infrastructure Minister Anthony
Albanese, Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy;
Health Minister Nicola Roxon and Innovation and
Research Minister Kim Carr. The Leader of the
Opposition Brendan Nelson and the Shadow
Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull also participated.
Key plenary sessions focused on the
macroeconomic challenges of the China boom
and the new inflation pressures; whether the
benefits of the boom have bypassed significant
parts of Australia; the challenge of tackling
Indigenous disadvantage after the apology;
the regulation of the infrastructure catch-up;
and the environmental constraint on growth.
Concurrent sessions covered issues including
education, hospitals, welfare, labour supply,
broadband, tax, innovation and research
and the regulatory burden. Conference
presentations, papers and other information can
be found at: www.melbourneinstitute.com

07
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presumption was that unabated climate change
could seriously disrupt modern economic growth.
“Climate change mitigation will not make us richer,”
Professor Garnaut said.
“It is designed to avoid longer term threats to our
prosperity.”
How we responded to the challenge of adaptation
to climate change would be as important to our
continued prosperity as the effectiveness of
our contribution to global mitigation efforts.
Conference Snapshot
By Marcia Lewis
Is Australia Advancing Fairly?
Australia has never been richer. But has the boom
bypassed substantial areas of society? How
should policy better promote opportunity on the
disadvantage edges of widespread prosperity?
The session ‘Is Australian Advancing Fairly?’ centred
on a debate around the costs of employment
programs for those at the bottom end of the
socio‑economic ladder. Brotherhood of St Laurence
Executive Director Tony Nicholson argued that what
is required are programs based on collaborative
approaches between employers, training providers
and Centrelink to enable workforce participation
matched to aspirations and building on existing
skills. Professor Peter Saunders, Social Research
Director of the Centre for Independent Studies,
countered with an economic argument about
cost inefficiencies in continuing to support such
programs while welfare dependency keeps rising
in spite of increased growth and affluence.
Modern Federalism and
our National Future
The Treasurer, the Hon. Wayne Swan, spoke about
‘Modern Federalism’ and the idea that co‑operative
approaches were required to replace the command
and control systems currently in place, with a
focus clearly on outcomes, not input controls.
Citing the findings of the Productivity Commission,
where ‘enhancement of workforce participation
and productivity through focused efforts on
emphasising human capital reform across
health, education and workforce participation’
could drive economic growth, the Treasurer
was countered by Tony Nicholson who
responded strongly that a human capital agenda
required a parallel social capital agenda.
The Education Revolution
This discussion examined the issues of the
quality of teaching outcomes in relation to existing
recruitment intakes. Issues included proposals
to recruit high achieving students into teaching
courses (as opposed to the current practice of
universities recruiting students from the lowest
performing ranks), increased pay incentives and
fast-track ways of gaining teaching qualifications.
Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council for
Educational Research, Professor Geoff Masters,
highlighted research findings which show that
literacy is the attribute with the highest correlation
with good teaching practice. The Hon. Tony Smith,
Shadow Minister for Education, told a sorry tale
of a retired schoolteacher employed to correct
teachers’ student reports before they were sent
home. Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash
University, Professor Richard Larkins (MBBS 1966,
MD 1975, LLD 2004) addressed research funding
shortfalls and the Higher Education Endowment
Fund requiring an additional boost to $20 billion.
Making Hospitals Work
When the Dean of Medicine, Dentistry and
Health Sciences, Professor James Angus,
introduced the Federal Minister for Health,
the Hon. Nicola Roxon (BA, LLB 1991), as an
alumnus of the University of Melbourne she
replied: “It’s always a certainty when you speak at
Melbourne Uni that they will claim their alumni.”
Ms Roxon outlined some of the achievements
in making a start in reforming health policy
under the umbrella of co‑operative federalism.
The thorny issue of driving reform in a sector
which had long proved resistant to structural
change was debated by her and Professor
Stephen Duckett, Executive Director, Reform and
Development Division, Queensland Health, Ms
Mary O’Loughlin, Director The Allen Consulting
Group and the Melbourne Institute’s resident expert
on health economics, Professor Anthony Scott.
When asked why this was the case in contrast
with other industries, Ms Roxon replied that the
possibility of change was “fundamentally affected
by whether the professions want to be part of the
reform of the system or not” but that “the signs
are positive that the professions do want to drive
change, especially in rural and regional areas”.
Innovation and Research
On the global front Australia lags behind in relation
to spending on research and innovation – a
fact which the Minister for Innovation, Industry,
Science and Research Senator the Hon. Kim Carr
(BA 1978, GDipEd 1979, MA 1985) pointed out
competitor nations understood only too well.
Senator Carr drew attention to the fact that
countries such as Brazil, China, India and Russia
all recognised the need for co‑operative initiatives
to support public/private research collaboration
and knowledge transfer. Future directions for
government policy would embrace greater
emphasis on inter-disciplinary research.
Professor Alan Robson (BAgSci 1966), Vice-
Chancellor University of Western Australia,
pointed out that universities tended to be
‘single-discipline’ – focused in their approach to
research. He also argued that commercialisation
of research was unlikely ever to become a
significant source of revenue for universities, and
promoted the notion of collaborative research
outcomes as ‘public good programs’.
Professor Alan Robson
Hon. Kim CarrHon. Nicola RoxonHon. Wayne Swan
Professor Richard Larkins

08 Alumni in Print
Unwelcome voices – like former senior
defence, intelligence and foreign
policy experts, or those who worked
in scientific institutes, universities and
non-government organisations – had
been, by one means or another,
marginalised or silenced.
For Professor Manne, the election of
the new government and the end of
barren Howard years meant that there
would now be would an opportunity for
conversation between the government
and the nation’s public intellectuals and
independent policy experts to begin
again.
That belief prompted the creation
of Dear Mr Rudd, Ideas for a Better
Australia released coincidentally ahead
of the Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit.
“The idea [for the book] was mine,
when the book was conceived there
was no knowledge that there would be
a 2020 Summit – the coincidence is
serendipitous,” Professor Manne said.
“During the Howard years I had
developed an admiration for a
number of commentators – for their
policy grasp or independence or
originality and in some cases also
for their courage in standing against
the predominant neo-liberal, neo-
conservative tide,” he said.
So one day in early August he got
on the phone and within a few hours,
three quarters of this book had been
successfully commissioned.
During this process, only one aspect of
the book changed.
“Because of the almost comical
concentration of media ownership
in Australia, a process that was
accelerated once the Howard
government took control of the Senate,
I had initially intended to have a chapter
on possible changes to media law,”
Professor Manne said.
“I invited the person I regarded as the
most cogent critic of this aspect of the
Australian media to contribute – he
declined.
“Since the passage of the Howard
government’s new media laws, he
argued, the trend to ever greater media
concentration could not be reversed.
“Not only would the dominant media
corporations savagely attack any
government which sought to change
the law, if new laws were passed,
the major media players would be
able to claim massive compensation
payments in the courts.
“Despite the fact that I regard media
concentration as one of Australia’s
greatest anti-democratic curses,
the idea of a chapter on what your
government might do about the
problem was dropped.”
In putting the book together, Professor
Manne considered 20 big questions
facing the future of Australia and
then thought about who had written
about these areas with greatest
perceptiveness or courage during the
Howard years. Contributors to the book
include: Mark McKenna, Pat Dodson,
Simon Marginson, Hugh White, Geoff
Gallop and Marcia Langton on subjects
ranging from reconciliation and the
public service to water, climate change,
and the arts.
Apart from Professor Manne’s
introduction, the letters in the book are
not actually letters but chapters written
with an address to the Prime Minister in
mind. He asked his contributors: if you
had the Prime Minister’s attention, what
would you most like to point out to him?
Dear Mr Rudd is published by Blackinc.
Dear Mr Rudd… what about the
question of media ownership?
Dear Mr Rudd: Ideas For
A Better Australia
by Robert Manne
ISBN:0977594912
$29.95 published by Blackinc.
By Silvia Dropulich
During the period of the Howard
government, the nation’s critical
intelligentsia had been treated by
government ministers, Coalition
backbenchers and right-wing
commentators as un-Australian
traitors, according to Melbourne
alumnus, Professor Robert Manne.

09
Alumni in Print features a selection of the latest offerings covering
a fascinating array of topics from our talented graduates. If you are
an alumnus in print please let us know so you too can have your
publication featured here.
Send your information to: alumni-office@unimelb.edu.au
Fiction
Game as Ned
Ned is a teenager with
an encyclopaedic
knowledge of Australian
bushrangers. He is
also autistic. Erin is
a sixteen-year-old
trouble-magnet trying
to make a fresh start in a new town.
Ned never speaks. Erin rarely stops –
and when she stands up to a bully the
consequences are catastrophic. Now
Ned’s on the run, branded ‘disturbed and
dangerous’ by police. To set things right,
he’ll need to be as game as Ned Kelly.
Tim Pegler is a journalist and author.
During a decade at newspapers
including The Age, Herald Sun, The
Weekly Times and The Australian,
he received media prizes from the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission and the United
Nations Association of Australia.
Game as Ned is his first novel.
Tim Pegler (BA 1989)
HarperCollins, September 2007
The Zookeeper’s
War
It is 1943 and each
night in a bomb shelter
beneath the Berlin Zoo
an Australian woman,
Vera, shelters with her
German husband,
Axel, the zoo’s director. Together, they
struggle to look after the animals through
the air raids and food shortages of war.
When the zoo’s staff is drafted into the
army, forced labourers are sent in as
replacements. At first Vera finds the idea
abhorrent, but gradually she realises that
the new workers are the zoo’s only hope
and forms an unexpected bond with
one of them. In 2007, The Zookeeper’s
War ranked number seven on the
Melbourne Writer’s Festival bestseller list.
Steven Conte (PhD Arts 2005)
HarperCollins, August 2007
Dead Lovely
Childhood friends
Krissie Donald and
Sarah Morgan are like
chalk and cheese.
Krissie is a free-spirited
man eater while Sarah
has snagged an eligible
doctor and is desperate to start a family.
Things go from bad to worse during
a holiday in the Scottish Highlands
with Sarah’s husband, Kyle. What was
meant to be a much-needed break
turns into a nightmarish combination of
sexual tension, betrayal and murder.
Helen FitzGerald (BA (Hons) 1990)
Allen and Unwin, August 2007
The Great
Gatsby:
A Graphic
Adaptation
Nicki Greenberg’s
graphic adaptation of
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic Jazz Age
novel The Great Gatsby took more than
six years to complete. Her throng of
fantastical creatures play out the drama,
the wry humour and the tragedy of the
original faithful to Fitzgerald’s plot, mood
and characterisation. The Great Gatsby:
A Graphic Adaptation has been included
in the prestigious International Youth
Library’s White Ravens list for 2008.
Nicki Greenberg (BA/LLB (Hons) 1998)
Allen and Unwin, September 2007
Personal
Taxidermy
Widmo, a boy
attempting to
navigate his way to
his forgotten past,
discovers a twilight
world in inner-city
Melbourne. Personal Taxidermy is
a fable and a meditation on reality,
identity, love and redemption.
Stuart Forsyth (BA 2001,
GDipArts(CrWrtg) 2003)
Vanark Press, October 2007
Science and Medicine
Save Your Life
and the Lives of
Those You Love
What are your health
risks? What early
symptoms or signs
should you really
worry about? Are you
concerned about a family member’s
health and how to motivate them to
seek help? Save Your Life is a plan for
staying healthy longer that contains
all the latest scientific information on
prevention and early detection of the
nine most common serious illnesses.
Michael Kidd is Professor and
Head of the Department of General
Practice at the University of Sydney
and works as a general practitioner
in an inner city suburb.
Leanne Rowe is a rural general
practitioner and an honorary Senior
Fellow in the Department of General
Practice at the University of Melbourne.
Michael Kidd (MB BS 1983)
and Leanne Rowe
Allen and Unwin, July 2007
Thomas Peel
Dunhill: Pioneer
Thyroid Surgeon
at St Vincent’s
Melbourne
At St Vincent’s Hospital
in 1907, Dr Thomas
Peel Dunhill performed the first operation
for thyrotoxicosis. The operation made
him a pioneer in thyroid surgery and
launched his international career. He
went on to become surgeon to four
English monarchs and Winston Churchill.
Dr Ivo Vellar, OAM is a former
Professor of Surgery in the University
of Melbourne Department of
Surgery, St Vincent’s Hospital.
Ivo Vellar (MB BS 1957, MD
1997, MSurg 1998)
Publishing Solutions, August 2007
The Galactic
Supermassive
Black Hole
This book provides
an overview of the
many ideas and
discoveries pertaining
to the supermassive black hole
at the galactic centre known as
Sagittarius A*. The closest galactic
nucleus in the universe, Sagittarius
A* may provide the opportunity to
test one of general relativity’s most
enigmatic predictions – the existence
of closed pockets of space-time
hidden behind an event horizon.
Fulvio Melia is Professor of Physics
and Astronomy at the University
of Arizona and Associate Editor
of the Astrophysical Journal.
Fulvio Melia (BSc (Hons) 1978, MSc 1980)
Princeton University Press, 2007
Slatter’s
Fundamentals of
Veterinary
Opthalmology
Extensively revised
and updated by
a team of internationally respected
contributors, this edition provides a
comprehensive, yet practically oriented,
diagnostic guide to ophthalmic disease,
covering structure and function, ocular
development, pathology, examination
and diagnosis, pharmacology, and
emergency management for a wide
variety of small and large animal species.
David J. Maggs is an Associate Professor
in the School of Veterinary Medicine
at the University of California, Davis.
David J. Maggs (BVSc (Hons) 1988),
Paul E. Miller and Ron Ofri
Elsevier Australia, October 2007
Literary
A Dictionary of
Sea Quotations
This unique collection
of quotations has
been gathered
over many years of
reading, research and
travel. Voices from
religious texts, memoirs, novels, poetry
and songs show the extraordinary
diversity of the human experience of
the sea, the passions that it awakens
and the hold it has had over our
imaginations for nearly four millennia.
Dr Edward Duyker is an
independent historian.
Edward Duyker (PhD Arts 1981)
Melbourne University Press, August 2007
Reading W.G. Sebald:
Adventure and Disobedience
How are we to read the writing of
W.G. Sebald? This book argues
that the four works of prose fiction
written by the Professor of European
Literature at the University of East
Anglia before his premature death
in 2001 elicit an adventurous and
disobedient reader and revitalise
fictional writing for the new millennium.
Dr Deane Blackler is Director of
Professional Learning Curriculum
at Trinity Grammar School, Kew.
Dr Deane Blackler (BA 1973, GDipEd
1974, MA 1982, MEd 1991)
Camden House, August 2007
Religion
Steeped in the
Holy: Preaching
as Spiritual
Practice
Preaching is a central
task in the lives of
clergy, yet sometimes
seems to contribute to the busyness
that squeezes out time for spiritual
practices. Steeped in the Holy seeks
to reclaim the spiritual foundations
for preaching as an opportunity to
engage with God and to develop
practices that deepen our relation
with God and feed our preaching.
The Rev Dr Raewynne J. Whiteley
is rector of St James’ Episcopal
Church in St James, New York.
Raewynne J. Whiteley
(BA (Hons) 1989, MA 1992)
Cowley Publications, November 2007
Client State:
Japan in the
American
Embrace
In Client State,
Gavan McCormack
examines the current
transformation of Japan into the ‘Great
Britain of the Far East.’ He contends that
the USA has steadily applied pressure
to bring Japan in line with neoliberal
principles, resulting in institutional reform,
a revamp of Japan/USA security and
defence relationships, and pursuit of
the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Gavan McCormack is Emeritus
Professor in the Research School
of Pacific and Asian Studies,
Australian National University.
Gavan McCormack (BA/LLB 1960)
Palgrave Macmillan, July 2007
Bills of Rights and
Decolonization
Bills of Rights and
Decolonization
analyses the British
Government’s radical
change in policy
during the late 1950s
on the use of bills of rights in colonial
territories nearing independence.
More broadly, it explores the political
dimensions of securing the protection
of human rights at independence
and the peaceful transfer of power
through constitutional means.
Dr Charles Parkinson is a Visiting
Scholar in the Melbourne Law
School, University of Melbourne.
Charles Parkinson (BA (Hons)/
LLB (Hons) 2003), MA 2004
Oxford University Press, November 2007
United Nations
Sanctions and
the Rule of Law
United Nations
Sanctions and the Rule
of Law is a source of
reference for diplomats,
policymakers, scholars
and advocates. It traces the evolution
of the Security Council’s sanctions
powers and charts the contours of the
UN sanctions system. It also evaluates
the extent to which the Security Council’s
increasing commitment to strengthening
the rule of law extends to its sanctions
practice.
Jeremy Farrall is a Research Fellow in the
Centre for International Governance and
Justice, Australian National University.
Jeremy Farrall (BA (Hons)/LLB (Hons) 1996)
Cambridge University Press,
December 2007

010 Class notes
Activism the right fit
Renata Singer (BA (Hons) 1968, GDipDisRes
1995) is one of the founders of Fitted for Work,
a volunteer-based organisation providing
practical help to women seeking work.
“Since my undergraduate years I’ve veered in
unpredictable cycles from the desire for a life
of analysis and reflection – thinking, writing,
discussing – and the compulsion to activism –
getting things done. Now and again I’ve even
managed to combine these two impulses.
“At the moment I’m heavily into an activism phase.”
In 2005, together with Marion Webster, Renata
founded Fitted for Work, an organisation
committed to assisting disadvantaged and
unemployed women to get jobs and achieve self-
sufficiency.
The concept is simple: women and clothing
companies donate clothes; trained volunteers
work with clients to select the best possible top-
to-toe outfit as well as providing presentation and
interview advice, and clients leave Fitted for Work
well dressed and with their confidence boosted.
“An almost magical moment occurs as a
woman looks in the mirror and sees herself
transformed into a potential employee.
“As one client said, ‘I look a million dollars
and I feel like a million dollars’.”
Fitted for Work has grown. Renata’s team
have seen 1700 clients, have over 100
volunteers, plus a branch on the Mornington
Peninsula. More Fitted for Works are planned
for interstate and other regional areas.
Renata’s reflective side is still active. She belongs
to a Classics Book Club, where nearly all members
are Melbourne graduates. The Club catches up
on great books – currently Dante’s Inferno.
To find out more about Fitted for Work
visit www.fittedforwork.com
Instinct for business
John Tsang (BCom, DipML (Japanese) 1999)
has used a passion for technology to lead his
family’s Hong Kong-based packaging business
into the global information age. In 2007 John
was named one of the top 10 e-businessmen by
the world’s biggest B2B website, alibaba.com.
As soon as he had graduated he had to
return to Hong Kong, (his place of birth), to
help out a struggling family business.
“We weren’t taught entrepreneurship at uni so every
step I took was a trial-and-error experiment backed
by some intuition and human instincts,” John said.
“In my personal experiences, following your
instincts is one of the most important tools
you can rely on in building a business.
Anyone can follow a formula, a method
or a set of rules to complete a task, but
when you are venturing into an area where
there are no signs and instructions, then
you can only rely on your instincts.”
Melbourne University gave John the freedom
and opportunities for self-exploration.
He met new people every day and going
to ‘school’ was actually cool. He was voted
President of the Hong Kong Student Association
in 1997 and was the founder of the Cantonese
play in the Chinese Theatre Group in 1998.
Both these experiences taught him vital social
and organisational skills, which he says were
extremely beneficial for his current business.
Bag Pack Supplies Group is the transformed
family business he has led since graduation. The
company turnover multiplied in the first few years
and has been growing at a steady pace since
then. From a traditional trading business, the
company now operates a bag factory in China,
employing around 100 people, with sales, design
and RD staffs in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
“Although I am running a bag factory, this is not my
passion,” John said.
“From the day I connected an internal LAN
in my office back in 2000, my interest in IT
was revived. I have designed every single IT
infrastructure for the company, and I enjoy fixing
every computer bug which I have encountered.”
1970s
Professor Jennifer McKay (BA (Hons 1979,
PhD Arts 1984) is Professor of Business Law at
the University of South Australia, specialising
in community and business responses to
water law reforms. She will be at the Centre
for Sociolegal Studies at University of Oxford
until June 2008 and will then go to University
of California, Berkeley as a Fulbright Senior
Scholar to work on judicial interpretation of
ecologically sustainable development.
Ed Robinson (BSc 1970, GDipEd 1972) has
lived in London since 1974 and is the principal
of Kensington College. He previously ran a
tutorial college teaching A-level mathematics
and physics, but the arrival of the PC allowed
him to pursue his interest in computing.
Helen Stagg (née
Smith) (BA 1975) has
renewed her interest
in academic pursuits,
fuelled by her eldest
son graduating from
medicine in 2006, her
daughter being in the
third year of a double degree at Melbourne
and her youngest son studying Year 12 this
year. She is undertaking a Master of Arts
specialising in history, and would like to work
in the area of public history.
1980s
Helen Bradley (née
Brelaz) (LLB 1980)
lives in the wine
country of northern
California and is an
international artist,
photographer and
lifestyle writer. Her
work appears in publications all over the world.
She still remembers with fondness hanging out
in the Law Library in the heady days of 1973.
Zoe Hogg (GDipEd 1985) is still teaching
but is now coaching young rowers. Zoe also
runs the St Kilda Penguin Research Team.
Dr Chris Riley (BSc 1983, BVSc 1988,
PGCertInnovMgt 2007) is leading a
multinational veterinary team into the North
Central Plateau region of Haiti to conduct a
dog spay-neuter and rabies clinic, animal
health services for poor villagers, and training
for local animal health agents. This self-funded
trip is follow-up to a team visit in 2005.
Perry Zamek (BSc
1981) is a member of
the Israel Translators
Association executive
committee. His
translation from
Hebrew to English of
Moses: Envoy of God,
Envoy of His People by Rabbi Mosheh
Lichtenstein was recently published in the
United States.
1990s
Warren Brooks (BSc
1998) completed a
Bachelor of Laws last
year. He took up a
position as a regional
marketing director for
Bristol-Myers Squibb
in Singapore when it
came up in 2007. After 12 months in the job he
hopes to stay at least another two years in Asia.
Dr Luke Chen (MB BS 1999) finished his
training in internal medicine and infectious
diseases in Melbourne in 2006. He is
undertaking a research fellowship in Infection
Control and Healthcare Epidemiology at
Duke University Medical Center, North
Carolina, USA. He is also a matriculating
Master of Public Health student at the
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Dr Julie Clarke
(PGDipArts
(ArtHistCinSt) 1994,
MA 1998, PhD Arts
2005) works as a
freelance writer and is
an Honorary Fellow in
Screen Studies at the
University of Melbourne. Her articles on
eugenics, body modification and
commodification, the human/not human
divide, prosthetics and medical technologies
have been published by MIT Press, University
of Toronto Press and Tate Publications in the
United Kingdom.
Andrea Ebsworth (GDipEd 1991, MArtsMgt
2007) is the inaugural Cultural Planner with the
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. Her role
includes refocusing and rewriting the Arts and
Culture Strategy, re-establishing Peninsula
networks in arts and culture and working on
arts-based community development plans.
Miffy Farquharson (née Hughes) (BEd
1992) is working in Bendigo as Head of
Library for Girton Grammar School and
as Teacher-Librarian in the Junior School.
Miffy is the Children’s Book Council
of Australia ‘Book of the Year’ Judge
representing Victoria during 2008-2009.
George Ivanoff (BA
(Hons) 1990) spent
several years working
in higher education
administration and
then in web
development before
embarking on a
career as an author. He recently had his 26th
children’s book published. His new series,
Corey Jansen - Teen Spy, is due for publication
later this year.
Dr Anuradha Jayathillake (MB BS 1996)
is undertaking a fellowship in urological
oncology in Miami, Florida after completing
advanced urology training in New Zealand.
Dr Ian McCracken
(BSc 1995) moved to
Newcastle to study
medicine in 1997. In
1999 and 2001 he had
the great privilege of
working in Lesotho in
southern Africa. He
has married, been blessed with a daughter and
walked the Kokoda Track and is now working
towards becoming qualified in psychiatry.
Natalie Mitchell
(BPD 1998, PGDipPD
1999) has been
working, and
occasionally dodging
bullets, with UN
HABITAT in Kosovo as
a Municipal Spatial
Planning Adviser in the ethnically divided
northern town of Mitrovica. This follows a year
working in tropical Samoa as a Senior
Strategic Planner with the Planning and Urban
Management Agency (as part of an AusAID
funded program).
Dr Christina
Thompson (PhD Arts
1990) is the author of
Come On Shore And
We Will Kill You All, a
combined memoir
and history of contact
in New Zealand, which
will be published in the US by Bloomsbury in
July with English, German and Australian
editions to follow.
Susan Warner (BEd 1997) works in
London as a Technical Manager for a
construction company. She previously
taught visual arts before returning to study.
2000 –
Annick Cable
(BA (Hons) 2007,
DipML(German)
2007) Since
graduating Annick has
worked with a global
company providing
environmental
solutions to airports, performed voluntary work
at the Australian Institute of International
Affairs, and added Spanish and Dutch to her
growing list of languages. She plans to do her
Masters in Belgium and work in journalism or
consulting within the European Union.
Mark Cicchiello
(MB BS 2007) is an
orthopaedics intern at
the Western Hospital
in Footscray and is
about to become
involved in a study of
deep vein thrombosis
prevention in post-surgical patients.
Warwick Dean (MEdPolicy(Int) 2006)
is still chasing the dream of sailing in the
Whitsundays and skiing Aspen (or Japan)
without having to pay for it. He has accepted
an appointment as Headmaster of The
Hutchins School in Sandy Bay, Tasmania.
Daniel Dorall (BArch 2005) is a sculptor
currently represented by Dianne Tanzer
Gallery, Fitzroy. He is preparing for a major
solo exhibition in September, and an
international exhibition in Christchurch, New
Zealand in May 2008. Daniel has recently been
accepted into the Master of Fine Arts degree
at Monash University majoring in sculpture.
Venansia Ekawati (BSc 2002,
DipML(Japanese) 2002) is currently working in
Los Angeles, USA after two years in Shanghai,
China. She helps individuals and companies
with comprehensive financial planning and
works as a financial adviser at Waddell
Reed, Inc. She recently became engaged.
Sally Eshuys (GCertUniMgt 2007) has
moved to Canada and is looking to get work
at the University of Victoria, British Columbia.
Emily Kennedy (BComm/BPPM 2002) has
moved on from the Australian Embassy in
Washington DC. She is now on a 12-month
assignment with a Chinese NGO in Beijing as
part of AusAID’s Youth Ambassabors program.
Ben Keogh (BAppSc
(NatResMgt) 2001)
runs his own
consultancy
specialising in trading
and creating
greenhouse gas
emission offset
projects. He designed the Landcare
CarbonSMART carbon pool and now
undertakes project management for carbon
sequestration projects across Australia. In a
previous role with the Port Phillip and
Westernport Catchment Management
Authority, he co‑ordinated the Commonwealth
Games tree planting project to offset the
carbon dioxide emissions from the Games.
Stefanus Lawuyan
(MPH 2000) is Chief
Operating Officer of
the Husada Utama
private hospital in
Surabaya, Indonesia.
He previously served
for four years as
Executive Secretary of the Surabaya City
Planning Bureau and for three years as
Director of Tambakrejo Hospital.

011
Indigenous disadvantage
deeply entrenched
By Silvia Dropulich
Developing institutions and opportunities
for Aboriginal citizens will require
more policy innovation in land titles,
permit systems, and Aboriginal non-
government organisations, according
to Professor Marcia Langton, Chair
of Australian Indigenous Studies
at the University of Melbourne.
“If substantial improvements are to
be made in overcoming Indigenous
disadvantage, a fast pace of policy
innovation will be necessary,”
Professor Langton said.
“The Federal Government’s fiscal
powers may be the most important.”
Professor Langton was giving an
address to the New Agenda for
Prosperity Conference entitled Poverty
in the Midst of Plenty: Using the New
Federal Approach to Overcome
Indigenous Disadvantage in Australia.
She told the conference that the
indications were that economic growth
in the Aboriginal domain was declining
relative to the Aboriginal population.
“The outcome of many years of
such exclusion is the health status of
Aboriginal people, with life expectancy
estimates at 52 and 55 for males and 60
and 63 years for females in the East and
West Pilbara,” Professor Langton said.
Professor Langton highlighted
the dependence of the Western
Australian government and economy
on mining incomes, observing
that it was a particular feature in
the Australian economy, taking
24.4 per cent of Australia’s royalty
collection. The Commonwealth’s
share was 47.7 per cent.
Yet historically, local Aboriginal
people were largely excluded from
employment in the mining industry.
“Indigenous disadvantage is deeply
entrenched,” Professor Langton said.
“The levels of funding allocated to
overcoming disadvantage in the
last decade have fallen sharply
and there is no commitment to
the necessary increases.”
These developments came as no
surprise. What was surprising was
the lack of emphasis on policy
aimed at increasing Indigenous
economic participation. Pre-election
commitments had promised more of
the latter, and without them, efforts
to reduce welfare dependency would
result in frustration and resistance
among Australia’s poorest people,”
Professor Langton warned.
A full copy of Professor’s Langton’s
paper is available at:
www.melbourneisntitute.com
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Stay connected
Special Report
‘Our Future’
Dr Petra Nolan (PhD
Arts 2004) works as a
Research Manager in
the School of Letters,
Art and Media at the
University of Sydney.
Since her
appointment to this
role in 2004, she has overseen a range of
research proposals and projects in English,
llinguistics, art history, film, performance
studies, media and communications.
Andrea Nour (née Burgess) (BA/LLB 2000)
is Deputy Legal Counsel at the International
Energy Agency in Paris, France. Prior to this
she worked with the American Red Cross,
where she was awarded a Certificate of
Recognition from the Californian Senate
for her contribution to the community
in the recruitment of volunteers. This
extremely enriching experience was a
sharp change from her work as a lawyer
with Shearman Sterling in New York.
Caitlin O’Brien (BA(MediaComm)
2006) works in public relations for
multinational consultancy Burson-Marsteller
in the health care. Since commencing
Caitlin has worked on a range of health
care issues via government lobbying,
media liaison, and event creation.
Melissa O’Brien (BA 2004) has returned
to Melbourne to work at the Australian
Communications and Media Authority.
Melissa spent the past three years in
Canberra, completing a graduate program
at the Department of Immigration and
Citizenship and then taking on a position
in the Transnational Education area of the
Department of Education, Employment
and Workplace Relations. Melissa is
enjoying being home and begins a
Master of International Studies in 2008.
Paul O’Loughlin
(GDipEd 2006)
teaches accounting
and commerce in a
high school in
Nanjing, China. The
school has a
relationship with a
Melbourne private school and is administering
a VCE program offshore.
Katrina Slater (GDipEd 2006) successfully
completed a year of teaching English
and VCE Literature at Nhill College before
joining the teaching team at Roxburgh
College (English and Literacy) where she
reunited with other 2006 DipEd graduates.
Anastasia Spathis (GDipMtlHlthSc 2007)
has just returned to Melbourne from Alice
Springs where she worked with the Stolen
Generations and their families, using her
training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Tom Stonier (MIS
2007) is currently
living in Hong Kong
where he works for
Ariba International as
an Engagement
Manager.
Debby Tanamal
(MTD 2001) is a
lecturer at Bina
Nusantara University
in Indonesia and
manages the Lecturer
Resource Center. She
develops professional
development programs for lecturers and is
also in charge of lecturer recruitment and
promotion. In 2007 she visited the University of
Melbourne as an Endeavour Executive Award
recipient.
Dan Dan Tang (MAppComm 2007)
lives in Shanghai, China, and is working
for a joint venture company.
Mariel Wong (BA 2005) lives in Singapore
and is the Deputy Editor of tech-lifestyle
magazine T3 Singapore. She sings in a
symphonic goth band and actively participates
in the local Asian scene after her stint in the
Australian ABC sitcom We Can Be Heroes.
Send in your classnote to:
alumni-office@unimelb.edu.au
You can also find fellow
alumni through the Alumni
Web Community. Visit: https://
alumni.unimelb.edu.au/
registrationpage/ for more details.
Photo Les O’Rourke

Arts Review
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012
Pilgrim’s Revival
By Silvia Dropulich
By day, he’s a mild‑mannered art historian
at the University of Melbourne, but in his
other life, Dr Christopher Marshall is the
frontman of a loud, alternative rock band
that has been described as a cross between
the original punk spirit of the Stooges
and the Velvet Underground with the raw
emotion of the blues and sixties soul.
Dr Marshall believes there is
definitely a connection between his
role as a lecturer and fronting the
independent band Harem Scarem.
“I don’t drop to my knees and holler
out my lectures,” Dr Marshall said.
“But singing to paying audiences in
nightclubs has certainly taught me a few
hard lessons about how to communicate
effectively in large group contexts,” he said.
“In both situations you have to learn what
works and what doesn’t work and you have to
be able to focus your message down so that it
reaches people loud and clear, and hopefully
engagingly, all the way back to the last row.
“Singing taught me the imperative of getting
through to people immediately and cogently.”
Dr Marshall teaches and supervises graduate
and undergraduate students in the areas of
Renaissance, Baroque and contemporary
art; art curatorship, collecting and the art
market; and the history and philosophy of
museums at the University of Melbourne.
Twenty-two years after it was originally
recorded, Dr Marshall’s band Harem Scarem
has reformed to promote the re-issue of
Pilgrim’s Progress. The liner notes in the re-
released Pilgrim’s Progress are written by
Clinton Walker, David Nichols, Christopher
Marshall and (manager) Michael Lynch.
There are six bonus tracks (two previously
unreleased) and many rare photos.
“Harem Scarem is my creative outlet,”
Dr Marshall said.
“Being in a band taught me very early on
not to set up artificial distinctions between
different avenues of creative expression.”
“To my way of thinking, there is no
fundamental difference in significance
between the depth and drama of a
Baroque altarpiece by an artist like
Caravaggio, for example, and the drums
and vocals on Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life.”
“Both of them spoke to me on a deep
level when I was growing up and looking
for something that could stand as an
artistic model – they both contributed
equally to informing who I am today.”
Harem Scarem’s album Pilgrim’s Progress
has been described by music critics
as a ‘strong contender’ for the greatest
Australian rock ‘n’ roll albums. The band
recently performed at the Corner Hotel in
Melbourne to promote the re-release of
Pilgrim’s Progress, which is out on Aztec
Music. The lineup included: Christopher
Marshall and his brother and co-founder of
the band Charlie Marshall, together with Barry
Palmer, Mark Ferrie and Mark Dawson.
Christopher Marshall completed his
University of Melbourne PhD dissertation
on the Neapolitan Baroque painter
Domenico Gargiulo in 1994 before
taking up a lectureship at Melbourne
University in the following year.
Top prize for VCA graduate
Michelle Lehman at recent
Sony Tropfest awards
Thousands gathered in Sydney’s Domain on Sunday 17 February
for the screening of the festival’s 16 finalists, won by 34-year-
old then expectant mother and director, VCA Film Television
graduate Michelle Lehman. Lehman’s entry, Marry Me, took the
top prize at the 16th annual Sony Tropfest, billed as the world’s
largest short film festival. (Michelle completed her Bachelor
of Film TV at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2002).
“Oh my God, I hope this doesn’t send me into labour,” a delighted
Lehman said as she accepted her award. The film, described
as a little love story, was inspired by Lehman’s childhood
and her memory of chasing a boy around a schoolyard.
“I used to chase Jason Mahooney around school in my mum’s
nightie, which I used as a wedding dress,” Lehman told AAP.
“He never wanted to marry me… I’m glad about that now.”
Lehman, who was eight months pregnant with her first
child when she accepted the award, said she had been
in the festival audience for years but this was the first
time she had submitted an entry. About 15 people were
involved with the production of Marry Me, but there were
five “main players”, said Lehman of her $5000 short.
The Sony Tropfest first prize, presented by Australian screen
legend Geoffrey Rush, includes a film scholarship trip to the US,
with a program of meetings with industry agents and executives.
“Baby or no baby, it won’t stop me from going to the US,” Lehman
said. “I’ve got a very supportive husband who is also a filmmaker.”
Geoffrey Rush, Michelle Lehman and John Polson
Photo Courtesy of Sony Tropfest 2008
Charlie Marshall (left) and
Dr Christopher Marshall (right)
Photo Jane Page

013Alumni
Volunteering
Alumni
Preferences
Survey 2008
Alumni Preferences Survey 2008
What are the alumni benefits, services and
opportunities most important to YOU?
Register now to participate in our survey at
www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni/preferences
Architects for Peace
By Michelle Burder
Beatriz C. Maturana was born in
Santiago, Chile, and she left for
Australia in the mid-eighties due to the
political situation in her country. Beatriz
completed her architecture degree at
RMIT in 1992 and a Master of Urban
Design at the University of Melbourne
where she is currently a PhD candidate
focusing on architecture education.
She has been a guest lecturer at RMIT
University (Public Art) and The University
of Melbourne where she tutors.
Beatriz has worked with the Overseas
Project Corporation of Victoria,
Australian Volunteers International
(AVI), the Ministry of Housing (Victoria)
and the City of Darebin. Between 1994
and 1996, she worked in Nicaragua
lecturing in architecture at the National
University of Engineering and assisting
Habitat for Humanity. In 2001, as
part of a multi-disciplinary team, she
visited Baucau, Timor Leste, to support
in the establishment of a planning
framework. Her architectural work
includes childcare centres, maternal
and child health, sport pavilions,
residential and urban design projects.
In February 2003, in the weeks
preceding the bombing of Iraq, Beatriz
founded Architects for Peace (arch-
peace) a humanitarian, not‑for‑profit
organisation aiming to provide an
alternative discussion forum on issues
concerning the built environment.
Beatriz is the initiator of the intentCITY
street forum (2004), Under-Construction
Workshop (2005), Transported (2007),
words@bld50 (monthly seminars), arch-
peace’s editorial, and most recently the
pro-bono architectural service. The pro-
bono service acts as a bridge between
community groups, non‑profit agencies
and charitable organisations that need
architectural services but cannot afford
them. Current pro-bono work is being
undertaken in Timor Leste and Sudan
and there are three projects under way
in Melbourne. An important feature of
the pro‑bono approach is that it works
in collaboration with local professionals
and communities. Architects for
Peace now has approximately 320
members from across the world.
The organisation’s focus is on providing
a network for architects, planners and
engineers sharing similar concerns
about global development, ecology,
social and urban equity. Beatriz
believes that a focus on professional
ethics and social responsibility is
paramount to tackling social problems
and climate change. She also believes
architects are in a position to widen their
knowledge so as to help to challenge
prevailing perceptions of progress in
developing countries – there is much
to learn from the rest of the world.
Locally, Beatriz has focused on a
critical issue for Melbourne – public
transport. As she expressed recently
in her presentation to the Sustainable
Living Festival, “public transport
is not a traffic issue it is an urban
issue, one with far-reaching social
and environmental implications”.
The Value of Mentoring
By Erin Stapleton
Chloe Thomson graduated with
Honours from a Bachelor of Agricultural
Science in 2004. While in her final of year
of study, she discovered the mentoring
program, run by the University of
Melbourne, and originally got involved
as a student being mentored.
Now, Chloe is a Communications
Manager for Certified Organics Limited,
a small company which produces
plant‑derived herbicide, which is certified
organic, and distributed to food growers
Australia-wide. She is responsible for all
written communications the company
produces, including newsletters,
product information booklets and
website maintenance. This position
provides her with an opportunity to
utilise the skills she gained from her
Agricultural Science degree, drawing
on her knowledge of sustainability
and crop maintenance, while working
with the growers themselves.
Previously, Chloe worked at the
Victorian Strawberry Industry group as a
Development Officer, where she was also
able to promote change and the industry
by working directly with the growers.
As a graduate, Chloe sees the value
of the mentoring program as an
invaluable experience for the students
involved, as well as for the mentors
themselves. She notes that contacts
and industry knowledge are both vital
in the Agricultural industry, and the
mentoring program assists students
to develop both these aspects.
Chloe became a mentor because she
wanted to show Agricultural Science
students the wide ranging opportunities
available to them when they graduate
and expects to see some of the students
she has mentored in an industry
context over the coming years.
As a mentor, Chloe has found that the
program assists her to stay in contact
with the university, and updates her on
how the Agricultural Sciences course
has changed since she was a student.
For more information about the
mentoring program at the University
of Melbourne, and registering as a
mentor, please contact the Career
Mentoring Connection on the University
website www.services.unimelb.edu.
au/careers/student/mentoring
For more information on volunteering
opportunities at the University of
Melbourne visit www.unimelb.
edu.au/alumni/volunteering
You will notice that the format of our Melbourne
University Magazine has changed for this issue,
following some of your helpful feedback. These
changes are part of our determined efforts to
continually refine the way we engage with you.
As you know, the University is working to enhance our
alumni programs and the way we communicate with
you. We will be conducting an ‘Alumni Preferences
Survey 08’ in the months ahead. This survey will enable
you to tell us how we can address your particular
preferences. In turn we will report back to you on
findings. We will then strive to deliver those benefits,
services and opportunities that mean the most to
you. There are also some great prizes to be won.
You can register your interest in participating
in the survey at www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni/
preferences or by calling +61 3 8344 1155.
I do hope you will take a few minutes to register. We
look forward to bringing you a more developed and
relevant range of benefits, services and opportunities
through a better understanding of your preferences.
Sincerely,
Professor Warren Bebbington
Pro Vice-Chancellor
(University Relations)
Photo Fred Kroh
Photo supplied by Chloe Thomson

014 Alumni and Friends
Supporting Melbourne
If you would like to know more about supporting the University we invite you to contact
us at +61 3 8344 1751 or visit www.unimelb.edu.au/alumni/giving
After the overwhelming success
of the recent world congress in
Melbourne on art history, Professor
Jaynie Anderson paid tribute to the
enthusiasm and supportiveness of
Melbourne’s philanthropic community.
“I would like to thank the discerning,
collaborative generosity of
Melbourne philanthropy. It is
unique in the world,” she said.
Professor Anderson holds the University
of Melbourne’s Herald Chair of Fine
Art that was funded by an endowment
from Sir Keith Murdoch. She enlisted the
support of 37 sponsors to raise $500,000
plus major in-kind donations to hold the
Congress of the International Committee
of the History of Art (CIHA) in Melbourne
in January 2008. It was the first time this
four-yearly event had been held out of
the northern hemisphere and its theme,
‘Crossing Cultures: Conflict, Migration,
Convergence’, held universal appeal,
judging by the crowds it attracted.
There were more than 700 registrations
from 50 countries, with 450 attendees
coming from overseas. Thousands
more visited the congress’s website.
Professor Anderson said the congress
had been made possible by the
generosity of donors, the partnerships,
particularly with the National Gallery
of Victoria, and the support of a
hard‑working committee chaired by
Mr Fred Grimwade. The goodwill
demonstrated in the collaborative
relationships between the various
foundations involved had made the
congress an enjoyable experience.
“It was really good to work with them
because of the ways they help one
another. I feel it is an ongoing system of
relationships that is particularly good in
Melbourne.” Many events were backed
by substantial in-kind support, she said,
including from the City of Melbourne,
the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at
Federation Square, and Heide Gallery.
The opportunity to showcase
Melbourne’s collections, curatorship,
scholarship and tourism appeal had
been enormously beneficial and
these benefits would continue into
the future, she said. “As a result of the
congress, people love Melbourne and
they want to come back,” she said.
“Many people want to have visiting
fellowships at the University of
Melbourne because they thought it
was such a good environment.”
Opportunities to curate future exhibitions,
advise on significant acquisitions and
initiate comparative research were
among the international, professional
possibilities the congress had opened.
The University of Melbourne’s Professor
Marcia Langton delivered a keynote
address on ‘The Art of Being Aboriginal’
and the congress included many
papers on indigeneity, integrating
Aboriginal art within international art
history, and showcasing the excellence
of Australian art and curatorship,
Professor Anderson said. “We are
getting thank you letters saying how
extraordinary Indigenous art is and
calling for Indigenous art to be written
into the syllabus of art history elsewhere
– that’s a brilliant response,” she said.
Professor Anderson hopes to build
on the support generated by the
congress to raise the possibility of
creating an art history institute in
Melbourne. “It is a shared ambition
between many museums and
universities in Australia and it would
lift the profile of the profession.”
The conference proceedings will be
published under the Miegunyah imprint
of Melbourne University Publishing, in
January 2009, on the anniversary of the
congress.
Donors support
international art
congress
By Kay Ansell
Photo Peter Casamento
Bequest helps support
indigenous medical
student’s studies
By Erin Stapleton
Shirley Godwin sees the recent
change in Australian government, and
subsequent symbolic reconciliation, as
a positive commitment to reconciliation
and healing, as well as a good indication
that the wider Australian population
is ready for such a commitment.
She hopes that it will be followed
through with increased dialogue with
Indigenous people and a stronger
commitment by governments to work
with communities to address the many
ongoing health problems they face.
Shirley completed a Bachelor of Applied
Science in Medical Laboratory Science in
1989, and a Bachelor of Applied Science
in Indigenous Community Health in
2003. She wanted to become more
directly involved in improving Indigenous
health, and enrolled in a graduate degree
in Medicine. She says her second
qualification gave her the opportunity
to study alongside Indigenous people
from across the country. It also provided
her with an opportunity to develop
a deeper understanding of health
from an Indigenous perspective.
Shirley has an extensive background
in the health sector. She was involved
in biomedical experimental research
in a laboratory of the Baker Medical
Research Institute, and following
completion of her second degree,
worked as a National Research
Program Manager with the Co‑operative
Research Centre for Aboriginal Health.
Shirley, an Aboriginal woman originally
from Western Australia, is now the
recipient of the Edward J Darbyshire
scholarship and is currently undertaking
third-year graduate Medicine at
the University of Melbourne. The
scholarship is the result of a bequest,
and is specifically for Indigenous
students to assist with living costs and
tuition fees associated with studying
full time. She plans to specialise in
General Practice upon completion
of her training and is keen to treat
patients holistically, within the context
of their families and communities.
She wants to be actively involved in
the promotion of wellbeing through
a focus on preventative medicine.
“I believe providing opportunities and
the resources to empower Indigenous
people and communities to address
their own issues is the key to improved
health outcomes,” Shirley said.
While planning to work specifically
in Indigenous health, Shirley will not
necessarily be based in a rural or remote
community, and while she acknowledges
that there are communities in real crisis
urban Indigenous communities also
need to be supported to achieve better
health outcomes.
Shirley was inspired by her fellow
students in her Indigenous Community
Health course and by the many
dedicated people she worked with
during her time with the CRC for
Aboriginal Health, who have been
working with their communities for years,
and have a firm grasp of what is needed
and what works at a community level.
Classics post to be
funded by Spencer/
Pappas Trust
The full funding of a highly productive
lectureship and curatorship is one
of the many ways the Centre for
Classics and Archaeology will benefit
from a bequest that established
the Spencer/Pappas Trust.
The Centre will in 2008 enjoy its
second year of funding from this
generous bequest, left by Dr Gertrude
Spencer (MA 1992), a psychiatrist
who was deeply engaged with
ancient Near Eastern studies.
From 2009 the Spencer/Pappas Trust will
assume the full funding of a lectureship-
curatorship, shared between the Centre
and the Ian Potter Museum of Art. The
position, currently funded by the R E
Ross Trust and Miegunyah Fund, is
held by Dr Andrew Jamieson, who has
revitalised interest in the University’s
Classics and Archaeology Collection
and mounted exhibitions at IPOMA
that have been very well attended.
In 2007, the Centre’s bequest-related
activities included the teaching
of ancient languages (Syriac and
Akkadian), and the funding of overseas
research travel by its postgraduates.
In 2008 the Centre will continue these
activities and in addition will host
the first Spencer/Pappas Fellow, the
internationally recognised expert in the
archaeology, history and culture of the
Near East, Professor Norman Yoffee,
from the University of Michigan.
To find out more about the University’s
Centre of Classics Archaeology visit
http://www.cca.unimelb.edu.au/ or email
cca-info@unimelb.edu.au
The University Fund
Appeal 2008
Alumni support through the University
Fund is continuing to have a large
impact on the lives of our students
– particularly our highest priority of
developing endowed scholarships
to support the best and brightest
to study at Melbourne, irrespective
of their financial circumstances.
For Ryen Diggle, a current Bachelor
of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery /
Bachelor of Medical Science Melbourne
Access Scholar, the impact of a
scholarship has been life-changing. ‘I’ve
wanted to study medicine since year 10
in high school, but there are no medical
schools in Darwin. The prospect of
studying at the University of Melbourne
was very exciting but also daunting.
Without my scholarship, I wouldn’t have
been able to accept the offer of a place
at Melbourne, and certainly wouldn’t
have experienced all the academic
and social aspects of university life.’
Building on the foundations laid in
2007, University Fund Appeal 2008
aims to exceed last year’s participation
level which saw the University’s overall
results increase a further 15 per cent.
If you would like to support this
year’s appeal please contact Lucy
Moore +61 3 8344 1756 or email
l.moore@unimelb.edu.au
Photo Joe Vittorio
Post-Colonial threorist Hami Bhabha
presents CIHA keynote lecture

015Alumni in Focus
Updated Alumni
Resource Guide now
available
The Alumni Resource
Guide is a publication from
the University packed with
information about the range
of programs and services
available to all our alumni.
It contains information
about alumni networks,
sports and cultural
programs, services and
resources available along
with key contacts in the
faculties and throughout
the University to assist
alumni engagement.
The guide is provided
to all new graduates at
graduation ceremonies.
If you are a new graduate
and missed your copy,
or if you are a past
graduate and would
like a copy sent to you,
please email alumni-
office@unimelb.edu.au.
Alumni Preferences
Survey 2008
What are the alumni
benefits, services and
opportunities most
important to YOU?
Register now to
participate in our survey
at www.unimelb.edu.au/
alumni/preferences
By Silvia Dropulich
One of the most startling
discoveries that author
and lawyer Alice Pung
made while writing the
award-winning Unpolished
Gem, was the ironic
revelation that writing was
not really that important.
“When I wrote the chapters about
my mother, I came to realise that
she won’t ever be able to read my
book, because she can’t read or
even speak English,” Alice said.
“I realised that reading isn’t so
important to her living a decent,
honourable life, and this put things
into perspective for me,” she said.
“Too much time these days is spent
on cultivating the intellect, when
what really matters is the heart
of things, the emotional truth.
“Often the intellect can also be a
barrier to reaching some sort of
honest self-reflection. And sometimes,
there are just too many words.”
In 2007 Unpolished Gem won the
Newcomer of the Year Award in the
Australian Book Industry Awards,
and was shortlisted for a number of
awards including, NSW Premier’s
Literary Awards, the Victorian
Premier’s Literary Awards and The
Age Book of the Year Awards.
Unpolished Gem is a migrant story
that does not begin on a boat. Nor
does it contain any wild swans or
falling leaves. It is the story of a child
of migrants moving between two
cultures. In a wonderland called
Footscray, a girl named Alice and her
Chinese-Cambodian family pursue
the Australian dream – Asian‑style.
“I decided very early on in the
writing, that I would not tell a migrant
narrative of success,” Alice said.
“Although I did not initially know
what stories I would tell in the
book, this was one thing on which
I was very clear and resolute.
“There are too many books about
migrant success already – so I
decided I would write one about
failure, and make it funny.
“The focus is on the small ordinary
incidents and observations that
make you realise the extraordinary
things about other people.”
Aside from writing, Alice, a Melbourne
Arts/Law graduate, works as a lawyer,
which she says she enjoys because
it gives her life perspective.
When Alice started writing Unpolished
Gem, she had not planned to write
a memoir. It was intended as a story
about growing up, and her family.
Asked to comment on the experiences
that have shaped her world, Alice
pinpoints being taught by Dr
Jacqueline Siapno and her husband,
Fernando De Araujo, who is now the
acting President of East Timor.
“In our first political science class, Dr
Siapno told us that most of the world
was poor and could not read or write
– so politics for these people was not
based on words on paper,” Alice said.
“That moment smashed the holy
grail of the text-based study of
political science for me.
“Finally, someone who put into words
the weirdness of academic disjuncture.
“I had been going to university and
listening to lectures about exploitation
of third world women and then
coming home to my mum outworking,
and the only time this strange sort
of life was recognised was when
Socialist Alternative wanted me to
talk about outworking as a victim.
“But it is a terrible thing to be seen as
a victim, as it robs a person of their
independence, resilience and humour.”
Since then Alice has been tutoring in
political science. If her students are
learning about terrorism, she brings in
her father to talk about his experiences
surviving the Cambodian holocaust. If
they are learning about globalisation, she
shows them how many separate pieces
make a McDonald’s happy meal toy.
“The written word is not everything,
and sometimes, it is even a barrier
against clear-sightedness and
lived experience,” Alice said.
When she was 23, Alice moved out of
home and became a residential tutor
at Janet Clarke Hall, a college at the
University of Melbourne, which she
describes as having changed her life
and opening up her world. It was then
that she realised not only that life was
larger than a world based in the Western
suburbs, but also that there was nothing
that inspired her more than teaching.
Dr Damien Powell, the Principal
of Janet Clarke Hall, became an
invaluable mentor during those four
years when Alice worked as a tutor.
“Every year, he would take the time
to have one conversation about the
things that were most important in the
larger scheme of my life,” Alice said.
“Dr Powell never asked me about
success, or career (when I became
a lawyer), or material things – he
knew that these things would sort
themselves out when someone knew
why they did what they did, and what
things were important to them in life.
“This was such an enlightened
and wise approach to take.
“When I became a pastoral care
adviser during those years, it was Dr
Powell’s patience and perseverance in
understanding others that really helped
me learn to listen to my students.”
Unpolished Gem touches on the dark
subject of depression, something that
Alice has had first-hand experience with.
“When I was depressed, I was definitely
aware I was depressed,” Alice said.
She describes it as a very intense,
agitated state of mind and likens the
experience to a computer running
too many programs at once.
“There is such a stigma attached to
mental illness, running concurrent with
a youth culture that glorifies intense
internal suffering,” Alice said.
“It is difficult to be objective and
accepting of depression – society
teaches young people that they
should either sweep such feelings
under the carpet and slap on a
customer-service smile, or turn the
feelings into some sort of sub-cultural
protest against the establishment.”
Alice, 27, was the inaugural speaker
at the ‘Conversations at Masani’ – a
sell-out series which gives alumni and
their guests an opportunity to join in
thoughtful and open conversation with
eminent and intriguing graduates of
the University from around the world at
Carlton’s elegant Masani Restaurant.
Writer discovers there
is power beyond words
Unpolished Gem
by Alice Pung
ISBN:186395158X
$24.95 published by Blackinc.
Photo Courtesy of Blackinc

MUM_2008

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