Festival Highlight - In Conversation Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd AC and 26th Prime Minister of Australia with Clancy Overell, Editor, Betoota Advocate

The festival is delighted to provide this highlight event!

Former Ambassador to the USA and 26th Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd will discuss what’s ahead with Betoota Advocate Editor Clancy Overell. Kevin grew up in Eumundi and knows us well. Clancy will open another side of Kevin's local and global story in true Betoota Advocate style focussing on what matters.

The Honorable Dr. Kevin Rudd AC is a leading international authority on China. He currently serves as Global President and CEO of Asia Society. Asia Society was established in New York in 1956 and now operates across 15 centers with more than 300 staff around the world. Dr. Rudd is also Founding President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, a “think-and-do tank” focused on U.S.-Asia relations, and the Founding Chair of its Center for China Analysis. Dr. Rudd returned to lead Asia Society in March 2026 following three years as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States under the Trump and Biden Administrations. He previously served as Australia's 26th Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 and as Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2012, before returning as Prime Minister in 2013. He has published two books on U.S.-China relations, On Xi Jinping (2024) and The Avoidable War (2022), which have been translated into more than seven languages. Dr. Rudd is professionally proficient in Mandarin Chinese. In 2022 he was awarded his DPhil from Oxford University for his dissertation on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ideological worldview. Over the years, he has been extensively cited on China relations, appearing frequently on U.S. network television, in print media including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and the Financial Times, and across the major outlets in India, Japan and across Europe. 

Clancy Overell is a much loved satirical Outback journalist who claims to have over forty years experience in rural newspapers. He is always based out of Betoota in Queensland's Channel Country. Between his many different desks at The Betoota Advocate, he also claims to have worked as a ringer, tent boxer, roo-shooter and fencer - before becoming the editor of Australia’s famed The Betoota Advocate.

Discover more about the Eumundi Writers Festival here: https://eumundiwritersfestival.com.au/