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Grand Ambition:
James Curran and Geoff Raby AO in Conversation
Was Paul Keating arguably the last Prime Minister with a compelling long-term vision for Australia?
In his latest book, Grand Ambition, international affairs expert and historian James Curran draws on previously unseen documents and extensive interviews from Paul Keating's personal archive to reveal the former Prime Minister's dynamic, compelling and often contested vision for Australia's place in the world.
Photo credit: Timothy Collins
In this thought-provoking conversation, Curran is joined by Geoff Raby AO and together they will reflect on the bold politics of the Keating era and explore enduring questions of independence, security and national identity amid today's increasingly turbulent and unpredictable global landscape.
As Australia stands on the edge of the greatest reappraisal of its strategic circumstances, what is the relevance of Paul Keating’s vision for Australia in the world today?
At the moment of his political defeat in 1996, Paul Keating stood defiant, still arguing for a vision of Australia that reached far beyond the limits of electoral politics. Three decades on, this book revisits that vision: bold, contested and somewhat unravelled by subsequent Coalition governments.
Drawing on newly revealed documents and extensive interviews, it traces how Keating sought to reshape Australia’s foreign policy at the end of the Cold War: anchoring the country in Asia, embedding China within a regional order, deepening ties with Indonesia and challenging long-held assumptions about dependence on great powers. For Keating, economic reform, national identity and international strategy were inseparable: part of a single, sweeping project to remake Australia.
Ambitious and provocative, this is both a portrait of a singular political mind and a reappraisal of a pivotal era. It argues that the questions Keating grappled with – about independence, security and identity – remain unresolved, and more urgent than ever in a world defined by rising tensions between the United States, China and the rest of the world.
Including exclusive photographs from Paul Keating's private collection.
Join us for a fascinating discussion examining Australia's national identity—politically, historically and socially—and its place in a rapidly changing world.
Event partner Asialink
WEDNEsday SEPTEMBER 9, 2026
7 00PM - 8 30 PM
Theatrette - State Library of Victoria
179 La Trobe St, Melbourne VIC 3000
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TICKETS
$35 and $80
(LATTER INCLUDES BOOK WITH 10% DISCOUNT)
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