The impact of speeches on foreign policy

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of one of Australia’s best-remembered foreign policy speeches – Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell’s 1965 parliamentary statement of opposition to Australia’s participation in the Vietnam war.
In honour of this anniversary the Lowy Institute for International Policy hosted Graham Freudenberg AM, the principal author of Calwell's speech, for a discussion on the role of foreign policy speeches, and how that role has changed in the last half-century. Mr Freudenberg is the dean of Australian speechwriters, having worked for no fewer than six Labor leaders and written many of Australia’s most celebrated political speeches. He has also authored a number of books including Churchill and Australia (2008) and his memoir, A Figure of Speech (2005).

Joining Mr Freudenberg on the panel was Michael Cooney, speechwriter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and author of The Gillard Project (2015).

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