Welcome
Welcome
It's a great pleasure to be writing to you in this new edition of the Whitlam Institute's It's Time e-mag. While it may have been some while since you've received news from us, I'm delighted to say that the news is all good.
So let me begin by briefly introducing myself.
I took up my position here as Director of the Whitlam Institute on 18 June. I'm coming to the Institute after a good number of years' involvement in public policy development and related advocacy.
For more than a decade, I've enjoyed a close association with a small number of our best non-government organisations; particularly the Dusseldorp Skills Forum, and the Australian Red Cross in recent years. At various times, among my assorted roles and activities, I've been the Executive Director of the Human Rights Council of Australia (1992-1995), Communications Director for Amnesty International (1987-1992) and the last National Secretary of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (1985-1987). This fortunate life has offered me experience across a broad range of policy fields including human rights; Indigenous land rights and education; humanitarian law and conflict; employment and welfare issues; and development.
It's been a hectic start at the helm of the Whitlam Institute. As we plot our course for the next three to five years, there have been a number of immediate activities to keep us busy. You can read about several of these in the newsletter items that follow. Don't miss the news on Gough Whitlam's 91st birthday. It was a fittingly grand occasion; due, in no small part, to the generosity and graciousness of Mrs Jeanne Pratt AC and Mr Richard Pratt AC who hosted the lunch at their home, Raheen.
We are entering very exciting times in the life of the nation and it's my belief that the Whitlam Institute has a particularly valuable contribution to make to public dialogue and debate. The inspiration and breadth of Gough Whitlam's vision, the depth of the thinking and research within UWS itself, and the growing demand for new ideas for these complex times promise to be a pretty potent mix. There's nowhere I'd rather be right now.
I'm very much looking forward to working, with your support, to engaging with the ideas and challenges that are shaping our times.
But for now, do read on…
Eric Sidoti
Director
