Shane Fitzsimmons currently leads Resilience NSW - the peak disaster management and recovery agency in NSW - as its inaugural Commissioner, following a long and distinguished career with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). Shane came to national prominence in Australia through his role as Commissioner of the NSW RFS during the 2019-2020 bushfires, where he led NSW’s response to the fires which raged across South Australia, Queensland, Victoria, and most severely in NSW and the ACT. These fires tragically caused the loss of 33 lives, destroyed over 3000 homes and damaged thousands more, burnt 30 million hectares of land, and caused over a billion animals to perish. Shane’s leadership throughout the bushfires received universal acclaim for his empathy, calmness, trust, care, and clarity of communications as the nation endured unprecedented natural disasters. In this podcast, Nick and Shane discuss: Shane’s early life in Sydney’s northern beaches, and how he found his way to volunteer firefighting His 35 year career with the NSW RFS, the modernisation of the emergency management sector, and the remarkable spirit and humanity of volunteers and staff working in disaster management Shane’s experience of the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season: its devastating scale and impacts, and the remarkable stories of hope, spirit, and community resilience that emerged through shared hardship Leadership qualities, including authenticity, humility, care, and communication The creation and work of Resilience NSW, and how communities are faring amidst the compound disasters of drought, fires, floods, storms, and mouse plagues How government agencies can ensure that recovery is community-led How to ensure community groups who are disproportionately impacted by disasters, such as women, First Nations peoples, the elderly, and migrants, are able to participate in resilience and recovery activities The outlook for the 2021-22 bushfire season, and how organisations can look after their fatigued and exhausted workforces after years of continuous responses to disasters 

Bloom

Shane Fitzsimmons on the 2019-20 Australian Bushfires, Leadership, and Natural Disaster Resilience

Tu Le is a young lawyer, community worker, and political advocate. Tu recently came to national and international prominence, with articles recently published in The New York Times, in the wake of the Australian Labor Party’s decision to nominate the former Premier of NSW and current federal Senator Kristina Keneally for preselection in the Western Sydney electorate of Fowler, ahead of Tu as the locally preferred candidate. The backroom political decision sparked a national conversation about cultural diversity within our representative institutions, multiculturalism in Australia, the disconnect of the political class from everyday people, and cultural and socio-economic barriers to participation in civic and economic life. In this podcast, Nick and Tu discuss: Tu’s family journey as refugees from Vietnam to Australia in the wake of the Vietnam War, her early life in Adelaide and Western Sydney, and the importance of her Buddhist faith and community Tu’s current work as a lawyer and coordinator at the Marrickville Legal Centre, working across migration, employment, and criminal law Tu’s experience nominating for Labor Party preselection in the electorate of Fowler, and the controversy that emerged after Labor’s national executive parachuted Senator Kristina Keneally into the seat The importance of cultural diversity in our representative institutions, where a quarter of the population is non-white and minority groups constitute six percent of the federal parliament “The Bamboo ceiling” in the Australian workforce and across society more generally Australian identity, what it means to be an “Aussie”, and how we can adopt more inclusive understandings of national identity and history The electorate of Fowler and Western Sydney more broadly, and what these communities represent and reflect about modern Australia Some of the political issues Tu would prioritise in Parliament, including a constitutionally-entrenched “voice to Parliament” for First Nations Peoples, climate action, and reforming Australian immigration policy 

Tu Le on Cultural Diversity, Social Justice, Politics, Identity, and Australia

Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonklyricpoetry   In this podcast, Nick and Paul discuss: Poetry’s Touch by Professor William Waters and its influence on Paul’s approach to lyric poetry The ‘addressable you’ in poetry Reflections on communicative intimacy and the idea of authentic understanding between people in romantic or other relationships A number of Paul’s poems from his published works Lyrical Epigrams, All The Bad Things, and Delphic Deixis Paul’s relationship with Claudia Alvarez Artwork in the Chauvet Caves, and human civilization and beings across time Paul’s experience of being catfished, and the creative inspiration that this generated New infatuations, muses and poems Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.  Follow Paul on Twitter

Dr. Paul Monk on the 'Addressable You' in Lyric Poetry

Dr. Paul Monk on Overcoming Cancer

Dr. Paul Monk on Mortality and Meaning

Dr. Paul Monk on the rise of Xi's China

Father Frank Brennan is a Jesuit priest and the current Rector of Newman College within the University of Melbourne. He is a man of many talents and interests, having worked variously as a Jesuit priest within the Catholic Church, a human rights lawyer, a professor of law at Australian Catholic University, and CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia. He is a National Living Treasure, and widely known to the Australian public through his long career of leadership and advocacy on a range of human rights and social justice issues relating to asylum seekers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged both in Australia and abroad. In this interview, Nick and Frank discuss: Frank’s early life and education in Queensland, and the influences of his mother and father on his life Frank’s ordination within the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) The impact of Jesuit Pope Francis on the Catholic Church, particularly with regard to environmental issues The future of the Catholic Church globally Frank’s early work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Redfern, Sydney, and the influence of Father Ted Kennedy on Frank’s formation The development of Australian land law, with reference to the Australian High Court’s Mabo and Wik Peoples decisions Practical policy steps towards Reconciliation, the Australian Constitution, and First Nations Peoples Frank’s work with refugees and asylum seekers, and his experiences in East Timor and with the 2001 Tampa case Migration policy changes for a more humane and ethical Australia Frank’s understanding of Jesus Christ, and how this has informed his work with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities The daily work of a priest, and death and dying in the COVID-19 pandemic Frank’s views on education in the 21st century, and his hopes and vision for Newman College Follow Fr Frank Brennan on Facebook and Twitter

Father Frank Brennan SJ AO on Faith, Law, Social Justice, and Australia

Benson Saulo on Identity, Faith, Family, Social Impact and Living Courageously

Elly Symons on Greece, Identity, the Parthenon Marbles, and the Life and Legacy of Samuel Symons

Gareth Evans on Life, Politics, Australia, and the Responsibility to Protect

Gray Connolly on COVID-19, Geopolitics and Australia, and Reflections on Faith, Love, and Grief

Dr. Hugo Slim on Life, Humanitarianism, Conflict, and COVID-19

In this interview, Nick and Professor Doherty discuss: Peter's life and career in science and advice for young research scientists today The work of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in tackling the global burden of COVID-19 The different public health responses to COVID-19 around the world Globalisation, pandemics and the 21st century President Donald Trump and the American response to COVID-19 The state of scientific literacy and education in Australia and the world The proliferation of conspiracies about COVID-19, including 5G and Bill Gates How our societies could change as we recover from the pandemic Professor Peter Doherty shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel, for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells. He was Australian of the Year in 1997, and has since been commuting between St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity is named in his honour, and the institute is leading a lot of the research into COVID-19 in Australia.

Professor Peter Doherty on COVID-19, Life, Science, and The Road Less Travelled

 Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.  

Paul Monk on China, Coronavirus and Conspiracies

 Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Paul Monk on Religion and Society in the 21st Century

Bloom is a podcast about anything and everything, featuring conversations with people who have led meaningful, interesting, and flourishing lives, in order to better understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us.

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