2026 Whitlam Oration
Whitlam's Magnificent Obsession: Why International Law Still Matters
The Whitlam Institute invites you to the 2026 Whitlam Oration, Whitlam’s Magnificent Obsession: Why International Law Still Matters, to be delivered by Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC KC.
Professor Evans will argue that, at a time when the world’s great powers are too often treating with contempt long-established global rules, norms and institutions, it has never been more important to reassert the indispensability of the international law system that Gough Whitlam so relentlessly championed.
Professor Evans served as a Cabinet Minister throughout the Hawke and Keating Governments as Attorney-General (1983-84), Minister for Resources and Energy (1984-87), Minister for Transport and Communications (1987-88), and Foreign Minister (1988-96) and as Leader of the Government in the Senate (1993-96). After leaving politics, he led the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (2000-09) and served as Chancellor of the Australian National University (2010-19), where he is now Distinguished Honorary Professor.
Photo: Gareth Evans with Gough Whitlam and Lionel Murphy at Admiralty House, 1983.
Copyright: Ray Strange/Newspix.
Event Details
DATE
28 October 2026
PROGRAM
6:00 PM - Registration
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM - Whitlam Oration
8:00 - 9:00 PM Post event drinks and canapés
LOCATION
Theatrette, NSW Parliament, 6 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
ACCESSIBILITY
This venue is wheelchair accessible, with an internal lift allowing access to both levels.
Accessible bathrooms are available on both levels.
Advance registration is essential, as venue capacity is strictly limited.
About the Speaker
Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC KC FASSA FAIIA
Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC KC FASSA FAIIA is Distinguished Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, where he was Chancellor from 2010-19. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments from 1983-96, in the posts of Attorney General, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Transport and Communications and - from 1988-96 - Foreign Minister. During his 21 years in Australian politics he was Leader of the Government in the Senate (1993-96) and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives (1996-98). From 2000 to 2009 he was President and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the independent global conflict prevention and resolution organisation. He has co-chaired two major International Commissions, on Intervention and State Sovereignty (2000-01), and Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (2008-10), and has been a member of a number of others. He currently Co-Chairs the International Advisory Board of the New-York based Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, a member of the ANU Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership Advisory Board where he was the founding Chair, and is founding Convenor and Board Member of the Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN). Gareth Evans was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2012 for his "eminent service to international relations, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, as an adviser to governments on global policy matters, to conflict prevention and resolution, and to arms control and disarmament", and in the same year was elected an honorary Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia (FASSA). In 2016 he was awarded by the Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop Asialink Medal "for long-term commitment to improving Australia-Asia relations". In December 2015 he was made a Companion of the Order of O.R. Tambo by South African for his contributions to the anti-apartheid movement. Foreign Policy magazine cited him as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers for 2011 "for making 'the responsibility to protect' more than academic". In 2010 he was awarded the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute Four Freedoms Award for Freedom from Fear, for his pioneering work on the Responsibility to Protect concept and his contributions to conflict prevention and resolution, arms control and disarmament. In May 2023 he was given the rich ROK Jeju 4.3 Peace Award for his significant contribution over three decades to promoting peace, reconciliation and human rights as foreign minister, NGO head, international commission member, writer and advocate.
Whitlam and the World
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