Devpolicy Talks
by Development Policy Centre, ANU
Devpolicy Talks brings you interviews, event recordings and in-depth documentary features relating to the topics we research at the Development Policy Centre. The Centre, part of the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy, works on Australian aid, development in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, and regional and global development issues. It is host to the Devpolicy Blog (devpolicy.org) and a range of public events including the annual PNG Update, the Pacific Update and the Australasian Aid and International Development Conference.
Episodes
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Murder in the Pacific: Matt Francis on aid and agency in Vanuatu
In this episode, Gordon Peake speaks with the pseudonymous crime writer Matt Francis about the Murder in the Pacific series, four novels set across the provinces of Vanuatu and featuring Sergeant George Long, a Ni-Vanuatu police officer of mixed Chinese and Ni-Vanuatu heritage, and his partner...
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The Memorandum of Understanding podcast archive is now in this feed, filed under 2021
Gordon Peake's Memorandum of Understanding documentary podcast series, while produced by the Development Policy Centre, was formerly separate from Devpolicy Talks. Its back catalogue has now been added to this feed as a set of bonus episodes to ensure its continued availability. Devpolicy Talks…
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Humanitarianism and public health: an interview with Rick Brennan
Rick Brennan, an Australian emergency physician appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2025, recounts the pivotal early decision that shaped his professional life — choosing public health and humanitarian work over clinical medicine after being offered a full-time role with the US…
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2026 aid budget breakfast
Recorded the morning after the 2026–27 federal budget, this first episode of the 2026 season brings you the Development Policy Centre's fourteenth annual aid budget breakfast, hosted by Devpolicy Blog editor Amita Monterola with analysis from Cameron Hill and Robin Davies. The session was held…
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Navigating China and the Global South: a conversation with Eric Olander
Eric Olander, Editor-in-Chief of the China Global South Project, offers a nuanced perspective on China’s engagement with developing countries across Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Pacific. Drawing on 40 years of experience as a journalist covering China, including stints at the…
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Pacific democracy: global indices and lived realities
This episode explores the state of democracy in the Pacific, focusing on a joint report by International IDEA and the Australia National University's Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA). The report, released in mid-2025, assesses data from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It...
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Global public goods and the architecture of cooperation: a conversation with Inge Kaul
Inge Kaul, pioneering development economist and architect of the global public goods framework, discusses her groundbreaking work on international cooperation and development financing in this 2015 interview recorded at her flat in Berlin. Economists define public goods — like street lighting —…
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Water, climate and adaptation: a conversation with Dr Aditi Mukherji
Dr Aditi Mukherji, Principal Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute and coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's water chapter, discusses her career spanning groundwater management, climate adaptation and the urgent challenge of the…
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Youth uprisings: understanding the protests in Indonesia and Nepal
In August and September 2024, thousands of young people took to the streets across Southeast and South Asia in unprecedented displays of protest. This episode examines the youth-led demonstrations that erupted in Indonesia on 25 August and Nepal on 8 September, exploring the deeper frustrations...
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From Vanuatu's challenges to Melanesian cooperation: a conversation with Gregoire Nimbtik
The conversation begins with Nimbtik's background as head of Vanuatu's Prime Minister's Department and Deputy Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat. He provides context for understanding Vanuatu's current challenges by tracing the country's history from its unique...
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From serendipity to global impact: a conversation with Glenn Denning
Glenn Denning, Professor of Practice at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and founding Director of the Master of Public Administration in Development Practice program, reflects on his remarkable 40-year career in international agricultural development. From his...
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The Pacific Engagement Visa: what you need to know about the 2025 ballot
The Pacific Engagement Visa offers a life-changing opportunity for up to 3,000 Pacific Islanders and Timorese citizens annually to gain permanent residency in Australia. In this episode, Development Policy Centre Research Officer Natasha Turia discusses the newly opened 2025-2026 ballot, sharing...
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US-Pacific relations under Trump: a conversation with Judith Cefkin
Former US Ambassador Judith Cefkin provides a sobering assessment of how the Trump administration's foreign policy shifts are reshaping American engagement with Pacific Island nations. Drawing on her 35-year diplomatic career and experience as US Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and...
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Managing labour mobility for Solomon Islands: a conversation with Christina Marau
Christina Marau, Director for Labour Mobility at the Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, provides an insider's perspective on how Pacific labour mobility schemes operate in practice. Drawing on her experience managing a system that handles thousands of applications and...
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Uncovering Kiribati: Rimon Rimon on press freedom in the Pacific
In this episode, we delve into the life and work of Rimon Rimon, a dynamic i-Kiribati citizen who has shaped both the public narrative in his own country and the evolution of independent journalism in the Pacific. Rimon’s career began in education and government service, but it was his…
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Fiji's economic future: a conversation with Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad
The episode opens with Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad reflecting on his transition from academia to politics. Born in Dreketi, Vanua Levu, in a rice farming area that benefited from Australian aid programs in the 1970s, Prasad rose through the academic ranks to become Professor of Economics…
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Fighting for Every Breath: a conversation with Leith Greenslade
The episode opens with Leith Greensalde recounting her journey from rural Queensland to international global health work. After starting her career as a political adviser to senior Labor politicians including Brian Howe, she moved to the United States for graduate study at the Harvard Kennedy...
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Solving wicked humanitarian problems: a conversation with Dr Helen Durham AO
The episode opens with Helen describing her unexpected route into humanitarian law, beginning as a labour lawyer before being drawn into international work through her involvement with women from the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Her early efforts to help establish rape as a war crime led her…
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Intelligence for good: Jelle Postma on unveiling anti-rights actors
The interview opens with Postma reflecting on his career trajectory, from senior roles at the United Nations and the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security to founding Justice for Prosperity. He explains how the organisation operates at the intersection of intelligence and advocacy, using…
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2025 federal election special
This special episode is a joint production of the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre, the Australian Council for International Development, the International Development Contractors Community and the Safer World for All Campaign. The episode opens with Minister Pat Conroy...
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Safeguarding crop diversity: a conversation with Stefan Schmitz
In this episode of Devpolicy Talks, Robin Davies interviews Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. The conversation begins with a discussion of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. Often called the "Doomsday Vault", it actually serves as a safety backup for…
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Stability amidst uncertainty: 2025 Australian aid budget analysis
In this episode of Devpolicy Talks, Amita Monterola speaks with Dr Cameron Hill and Honorary Professor Robin Davies about Australia's 2025-26 aid budget. The conversation reveals two competing narratives within the budget: Australia's repositioning in an uncertain global environment alongside its...
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Asif Saleh on BRAC as an innovative social conglomerate
In this episode of Devpolicy Talks, Robin Davies interviews Asif Saleh, the Executive Director of BRAC, one of the world’s largest and most influential non-governmental organisations. Asif reflects on BRAC’s remarkable evolution from a post-war relief organisation in Bangladesh to a global leader...
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Global health in crisis: a conversation with Nina Schwalbe
In this episode of Devpolicy Talks, Robin Davies interviews Nina Schwalbe about the dramatic shifts in US global health policy under the Trump administration and their far-reaching consequences. As founder of Spark Street Advisors and a global health expert with extensive experience in…
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Australasian AID Conference: looking forward to AAC2025
The Australasian AID Conference (AAC), held annually in partnership with The Asia Foundation, has become an integral part of the Australian and regional aid calendar. We are pleased to announce ACC2025 will be held from Wednesday 3 to Friday 5 December at the Australian National University in...
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Agnes Kalibata on transforming African agriculture
Robin Davies speaks with Dr Agnes Kalibata, who has led the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa for the past decade and previously served as Rwanda's Minister of Agriculture, in which role she helped achieve remarkable reductions in poverty and malnutrition. In this discussion, Kalibata...
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Masood Ahmed on development cooperation in a contested world
Robin Davies speaks with Sir Masood Ahmed, the distinguished international economist whose career spans over 35 years at the forefront of international development. Up to July 2024, Ahmed served as President of the US-based Center for Global Development for seven years, following influential…
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Vaccinating the next billion: Gavi’s CEO Dr Sania Nishtar
Gavi is a unique global health partnership that has revolutionised access to vaccines in lower-income countries since 2000. Working with governments, UN agencies, private sector partners and civil society, Gavi has helped immunise more than one billion children, averted 18 million deaths and...
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Climate justice and the World Court: Cynthia Houniuhi
It’s the eve of COP29, the global climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. In this episode, with thanks to the Australian Museum, we rebroadcast the 2024 Talbot Oration, delivered by Cynthia Houniuhi. You'll hear how a small group of committed Pacific law students transformed their…
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Cultivating resilience, part 3: ICARDA’s vision for dryland agriculture
In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Aly Abousabaa, the Director General of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). This is the final in a three-part series on the CGIAR network of agricultural research centres. You can hear Robin’s interview with the...
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Cultivating resilience - Part 2: CIMMYT's mission to transform global food systems
In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Bram Govaerts, the Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This is the second in a three-part series on the CGIAR network of agricultural research centres. You can hear Robin’s interview with the Executive...
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Cultivating resilience - Part 1: CGIAR’s vision for global food security
In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Ismahane Elouafi, the Executive Managing Director of CGIAR. CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organisations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR's...
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Pacific gender equality: a regional perspective
In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Fiona Hukula, the Gender Specialist at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Dr Hukula is a social anthropologist with a Doctorate from the University of St Andrews. Over more than 20 years, she has dedicated her career to policy and social research,...
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What would an independent New Caledonia mean for Australia? A discussion with Nic Maclellan
In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with the distinguished Australian journalist and researcher Nic Maclellan. Over the years, Nic has extensively covered the political and social dynamics of New Caledonia, providing unique insights into its complex relationship with France and the ongoing...
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The first ten years: Femili PNG’s work with survivors of family and sexual violence since 2014
Robin Davies speaks with Daisy Plana, CEO of Femili PNG, together with in-house lawyer Delwyn Dau and caseworker Elly Toimbo, on the occasion of the organisation’s tenth anniversary. Femili PNG is a pioneering organisation dedicated to supporting survivors of family and sexual violence in Papua…
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Better than cash: Ruth Goodwin-Groen on how digital payments promote safety, transparency and inclusiveness
Robin Davies speaks with Dr Ruth Goodwin-Groen, an Australian financial inclusion specialist who recently stepped down from her position as founding Managing Director of the Better than Cash Alliance, a position in which she served for over a decade. Ruth has devoted much of her working life to...
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The gains and pains of working away from home
Development Policy Centre Deputy Director Ryan Edwards and Dung Doan, an Economist in the World Bank's Social Protection and Jobs team, discuss the Pacific Labour Mobility Survey, which was conducted between 2020 and 2023. Edwards and Doan explain how the joint research project between the...
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Helder Lopes on governing Timor-Leste’s financial sector
Helder Lopes, Governor of Timor-Leste’s Central Bank, spoke with Robin Davies when he visited Australia in May 2024 under the Special Visits Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Central Bank of Timor-Leste is a young institution, established in 2011. It combines some of the...
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MSF’s Dr Christos Christou on the shrinking of the humanitarian space
Dr Christos Christou, International President of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), spoke with Robin Davies when he visited Canberra to meet senior government figures and speak at both the National Press Club and the Development Policy Centre. Christos was appointed to his current role in mid-2019.…
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2024 aid budget analysis
On 14 May 2024, the Australian government delivered its first budget since the release of the 2023 international development policy and DFAT’s review of development finance. Professor Stephen Howes and Dr Cameron Hill expand on Devpol's 2024 budget breakfast to give an update on recent…
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IFAD and smallholder agriculture in the Asia-Pacific
Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, together with his colleague Ron Hartman, spoke with Robin Davies when they visited Australia in March 2024 to encourage the Australian Government to rejoin the Fund. Lario explains IFAD’s distinctive role in…
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Can the world’s governments agree on a better framework for pandemic response?
Helen Clark sat down with Robin Davies on her March 2024 visit to the Australian National University to talk about whether governments and global institutions are ready to change the way they respond to pandemics. Clark has had a long career in public service as New Zealand’s Prime Minister,...
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Memorandum of Understanding – Steak-holders speak
The Memorandum of Understanding podcast documentary series was formerly separate from Devpolicy Talks. Its back catalogue has now been merged into Devpolicy Talks Season 10. How does the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) challenge the conception of what aid is, who works on it, and who benefits from…
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2021 aid budget breakfast
On the eve of the 2021–22 Federal Budget, Stephen Howes set out three tests for Australia’s aid budget: Will there be any further increases in aid next year? Will the government sustain any aid increases beyond this year and next? Will the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provide an…
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Memorandum of Understanding - Migrant labour by no means cut and dried
The Memorandum of Understanding podcast documentary series was formerly separate from Devpolicy Talks. Its back catalogue has now been merged into Devpolicy Talks Season 10. Foreign aid has traditionally occurred “over there”, so what happens when international development is delivered within our...
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Memorandum of Understanding – Carbon: Money grows on trees
The Memorandum of Understanding podcast documentary series was formerly separate from Devpolicy Talks. Its back catalogue has now been merged into Devpolicy Talks Season 10. The forest is a resource traditionally deemed more valuable dead, chopped down or transported away in trucks and boats. For...
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Memorandum of Understanding – Somaliland: State-ing the obvious
The Memorandum of Understanding podcast documentary series was formerly separate from Devpolicy Talks. Its back catalogue has now been merged into Devpolicy Talks Season 10. The international aid set-up struggles to know how to work in countries that do not exist. Sometimes resources are poured...
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Worsening employment outcomes for Pacific technical graduate job-seekers, and one possible solution
The Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) is a major Australian government foreign aid initiative that commenced in 2008, that has spent over $350 million, and that has turned out over 15,000 graduates with Australian qualifications. In a recent Devpolicy Discussion Paper, Richard Curtain…
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Memorandum of Understanding – Resilience: A climate for change
The Memorandum of Understanding podcast documentary series was formerly separate from Devpolicy Talks. Its back catalogue has now been merged into Devpolicy Talks Season 10. Across the Pacific, communities are labelled as vulnerable because of the threats posed by climate change. And what do...
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Change and continuity in Australian aid: what the aid flows show
Australian foreign aid has changed considerably in the last 20 years. Dr Terence Wood discusses the findings of a recently published report that examines the changing nature of Australian government aid through the lens of publicly available data on aid flows, which provide evidence of change and...
About this show
Devpolicy Talks brings you interviews, event recordings and in-depth documentary features relating to the topics we research at the Development Policy Centre. The Centre, part of the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy, works on Australian aid, development in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, and regional and global development issues. It is host to the Devpolicy Blog (devpolicy.org) and a range of public events including the annual PNG Update, the Pacific Update and the Australasian Aid and International Development Conference.
Hosted by
Development Policy Centre, ANU