Miro Sandev
Miro Sandev is a high school teacher and anti-war activist. He is a member of Teachers and School Staff for Palestine NSW, Solidarity and the Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition. He lives on unceded Wangal land.
Roland Naufal
Roland has built (and at times threatened) his career by being outspoken about things that matter. He has over three decades of experience – from aged care CEO and Age Friendly Cities expert to the founder of DSC, Australia’s best known NDIS educators. Roland co-founded Invox with Paul Sadler.
Clive Edwards
Clive Edwards is a retired academic. An economist. Phd from ANU 1966. I mainly worked in Universities (ANU, University of Queensland). In the late 70s I spent a year as academic in residence with DFA where one of my roles was to provide advice to the then Foreign Minister, Andrew Peacock, on economic developments in Asia and the implications for Australia. This area has been my principal focus and I have had quite extensive experience in East Asia, particularly in the countries of South East Asia together with Taiwan and South Korea. I live in Brisbane.
Peter Montague
Peter Montague, Ph.D., is a widely published journalist and historian, a fellow with the Science & Environmental Health Network (Ames, IA), and a member of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981, AFL-CIO).
Rayana Ajam
Rayana is a human rights advocate driven by an unwavering commitment to social justice. Currently serving as Media Associate at Amnesty International Australia, she brings four years of experience across casework, crisis response, and strategic advocacy. Rayana has championed the rights of individuals at risk, particularly those from Indigenous, refugee, and asylum seeker backgrounds. Her work has contributed to the successful resettlement of individuals and submissions to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, and Amnesty’s campaigns. She has represented UN Youth Australia on its Middle East Delegation and contributed to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Anti-Racism Framework. Recognised as a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs in 2024, she is currently completing her Juris Doctor at the University of New South Wales, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, International Relations and Sociology from the University of Sydney. Rayana is travelling to the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee through the Global Voices Policy Fellowship.
Romana Rubeo
Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in foreign languages and literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
LEE Youngah
LEE, Youngah (Activist, Center for Peace and Disarmament of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD))
Peter Maywald
Peter Maywald worked in senior commonwealth and state administrative positions (Ombudsman and human rights) for over 15 years and was Secretary to the Government of Norfolk Island for 7 years.
Daz Chandler
Daz Chandler is a documentary filmmaker and interdisciplinary storyteller with a background in media and human rights advocacy. Their work explores the intersections of philosophy, ethics, history, technology and parallel worlding frameworks.
Jim Anthony
Jim Anthony earned his PhD at ANU (Pacific History and Politics, 1971) He has traveled widely in the Pacific (Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, New Caledonia, PNG. New Zealand). He has worked as a consultant in Japan, Malaysia, the then Soviet Union, in Holland, Malta, Canada and the United States.
Gregory Foster
Gregory D. Foster is a professor at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security & Resource Strategy, part of the National Defense University, where he previously has served as J. Carlton Ward Distinguished Professor and Director of Research, as well as the George C. Marshall Professor; head of the Strategic Human Capital Industry Study, the Environment Industry Study, and the China Regional Security Study. He is also chair of the NDU Faculty Advisory Council. A West Point graduate, Foster was an infantry company commander in the Vietnam War. He publishes regularly on a variety of national security-related subjects.
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. Sanders ran to become the Democratic Party presidential nominee in both 2016 and 2020 and remains the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history. Elected Mayor of Burlington, Vermont in 1981, he served four terms. Before his 1990 election as Vermont’s at-large member in Congress, Sanders lectured at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Hamilton College in upstate New York.
Bryan Horrigan
Professor Bryan Horrigan holds a doctorate in law from Oxford University under a Rhodes Scholarship. He is an academic, published author, legal and governmental adviser, and public speaker. He has academic expertise, practical experience and an international reputation in public and corporate law and governance. His book Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century was published internationally in 2010.
Michael Read
Foreign affairs and defence correspondent
Michael Read is the foreign affairs and defence correspondent, reporting from Parliament House, Canberra. He was formerly economics correspondent. He joined the Financial Review in 2021 from the Reserve Bank of Australia. Reach Michael securely @michaelread.14 on Signal. Email Michael at michael.read@afr.com
David Sanger
David E. Sanger is an American journalist who is the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, writing since 1982, covering foreign policy, Globalisation, Nuclear Proliferation, and the Presidency
Ronny Tong
The author is a former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, a member of the Executive Council, and convener of the Path of Democracy.
Kevin Young
Kevin Young teaches history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His most recent book is Abolishing Fossil Fuels: Lessons from Movements That Won.
Kelvin Quartermaine
Kelvin Quartermaine is a Wardandi man, living on Wardandi Boodja. Kelvin has lived experience of many of his family members across the generations being caught up in the criminal justice system. His life’s mission is to overcome its tragic suicidal impacts.
Kate Crowley
Adjunct Associate Professor Kate Crowley researches environmental and climate change policy, public policy, green politics and minority government. She has worked as a secondary school teacher, a policy officer, an industrial relations consultant and a cross-country ski instructor. She is widely published in public policy and political science, and has edited ‘Australian Environmental Policy: Studies in Decline and Devolution’ [with Ken Walker], ‘Environmental Policy Failure: The Australian Story’ [with Ken Walker], ‘Minority Government: The Liberal Green Experience in Tasmania’ and ‘Policy Analysis in Australia: the State of the Art’ [with Brian Head]. Her most recent book is ‘Public Policy Reconsidered: Complexity, Governance and the State’ (2020 Policy Press Bristol) written with colleagues Jenny Stewart, Brian Head, and Adrian Kay. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Tasmania, and recently published a new book ‘Regional climate leadership in the East Asia Pacific’ [Routledge 2025] with Aki Nakamura.
Peter Morgan
Peter Morgan In over 40 years working in education, Peter has been a school leader for more than 25 years, including as principal in four very different schools. He has led in remote, rural, regional, metropolitan, and international schools and taught from kindergarten to university. Peter has worked as a school innovation consultant, leadership coach and trainer. He is a life member of NSW Secondary Principals’ Council.
Mahir Ali
Mahir Ali has worked as a journalist in Pakistan, the UAE and Australia across four decades.
Robert Smith
Robert Smith is an international development adviser, specialising in financial sector and private sector development. He is a graduate of Oxford University, born and raised in the UK and currently living in Oxford. He lived in Suva, Fiji between 2022 and 2024. He has written two books on Fiji under the series title “Fiji; Under Assault”.
Marie McInerney
Marie McInerney is an editor at Croakey and reports for the Croakey Conference News Service. She also contributes to various projects, including #JustJustice and #CripCroakey. She is a freelance journalist for a range of publications, including Croakey, BBC Australia, Thomson Reuters, the British Medical Journal, the Saturday Paper and Text Pacific publications, including the HCF member magazine. She is a member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and a former Board Member of ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) Australia. She has previously worked as a tutor on writing and journalism at RMIT.
Pearls and Irritations guest Zeyi Yang
Zeyi Yang is a journalist and podcaster based in New York City. Currently, Zeyi works as a China-focused reporter for MIT Technology Review.
He’s always keeping an eye out for stories on technology, LGBTIQ issues, immigration, and everything related to China. In his spare time, Zeyi co-founded a Mandarin podcast 无所不JI that tells LGBTIQ stories in China. One of the episodes has been viewed over 300,000 times on Weibo.
Myles McGregor-Lowndes
Emeritus Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes OAM is the former Director of The Australian Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) at the Queensland University of Technology. He has written extensively about nonprofit tax and regulation, nonprofit legal entities, government grants and standard charts of accounts as a means of reducing the compliance burden. He is a practising lawyer in Queensland.
Amelie Szczecinski
Amelie is in her fourth year of a double degree in Law and Arts (International Relations). She credits her studies and experiences with shaping her passion for the intersection between global governance, international cooperation, and the legal space. Such experiences have included volunteering at the WA Justice Association where she researched and published a report on criminal law reform, interning at the Perth US Consulate, and studying European Union Law at Ghent University in Belgium. She is particularly interested in addressing online radicalisation and extremism both globally and within Australia, with a focus on how internet algorithms facilitate this through filter bubbles and echo chambers, especially as it affects marginalised individuals. She is excited to attend the UN General Assembly Legal to engage with global experts and deepen her understanding of the nuances of global issues and international law, with the aim of making a difference in this space.Amelie is attending the United Nations General Assembly’s Sixth Committee as part of the Global Voices Policy Fellowship. Her Fellowship is made possible by Global Voices’ partner, Curtin University.
Amy Haywood
Amy Haywood is the Deputy Program Director of Grattan Institute’s Education Program. A former secondary English teacher, she brings classroom experience to her education policy research. Prior to Grattan, Amy managed schooling projects at Deloitte Access Economics, focusing on system design, workforce reform, and teaching practice. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Teaching from the University of Melbourne and is a registered teacher.
David McKewan
David McEwen is a Director at Adaptive Capability, providing climate risk and net-zero strategy, program and project management. He works with businesses, community leaders, policy makers, designers and engineers to deliver impactful change. His book, Navigating the Adaptive Economy, was released in 2016.
Thomas Pepinsky
Thomas Pepinsky is Walter F LaFeber Professor of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University and Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution.
Christian Downie
Christian Downie is a Professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University, where he is the Director of the Governing Energy Transition (GET) Lab. Christian has worked as an advisor to several Australian Government agencies, most recently as a Principal Advisor on secondment in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, and before that in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Christian holds a PhD in international relations and political science from the Australian National University, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in economics.
Jaron Sutton
Jaron Sutton is an Arabic language scholar and writer with an interest in Australian politics and media, climate change, the Arab world, and history. He recently returned to Australia from Egypt where he was an Arabic language fellow at the American University in Cairo. He has worked for much of his career in the higher education sector in Victoria. He holds a Master of International Relations from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics from La Trobe University. He has lived in both Syria and Egypt.