Very Public Affairs Pod

In this episode of Very Public Affairs  Cameron Chu, Analyst at the Centre, interviews Centre Director Wayne Burns on the big stories and reputational crises that defined the corporate landscape this year. 

In this episode of the Centre’s Very Public Affairs Podcast, Analyst Cameron Chu interviews John Short, Leader, Communications & Corporate Responsibility at LIXIL, and Andrew Wheatley, Vice President Communications & Public Affairs, Asia Pacific at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Together, they discuss the latest in the state of corporate public affairs in Ja...

In this episode of Very Public Affairs, Luke Botting, Research Assistant at the Centre, interviews Professor Bruce Baer Arnold, who teaches privacy, health, intellectual property, and consumer protection law at the University of Canberra. They discuss how organisations can improve their cybersecurity, the state of cyber legislation in Australia, and ethical issues surrounding data retention, consu...

In this episode of the Centre’s Very Public Affairs Podcast ,  Analyst Cameron Chu interviews Dr Michael Green, CEO of the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre and a former adviser at the US National Security Council, who discusses his analysis of the state of geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific, and offers practical insights for corporate public affairs practitioners.

Government relations teams are often to the fore in corporations when there is a change of government. In this episode Centre Executive Director Wayne Burns talks with George Karagiannakis who spent 18 years as the Executive Manager of government relations at IAG and Daniel Parsons the current Director of public affairs at Bupa on their approach to engaging a new government. 

 In this episode of Very Public Affairs, Centre Executive Director Wayne Burns talks with Tom Rogers, Australia's Electoral Commissioner. They discuss the AEC’s strategic operation to tackle 'misinformation' and 'disinformation' in the lead-up to the May 2022 Federal Election, applauded globally as best practice.

In this episode of Very Public Affairs, The Centre’s Executive Director Wayne Burns talks with the Centre’s Senior Associate and reputation brand doctor, Melanie McMillan about stewarding the corporate brand in an era where this is so much focus on ESG, and how this manifests itself in corporate strategy. 

In this episode of the Very Public Affairs Podcast, Antonia Sanda,  Director, Communications APAC at Deel, and Guy Matthews, Managing Director, Head of Corporate Public Affairs at Citi, are in conversation with the Centre's Executive Director Wayne Burns to discuss the challenges within the corporate public affairs function of international companies in a regional or national market, dealing...

In this episode of the Very Public Affairs podcast, Analyst Cameron Chu is joined by Geoffrey Watson SC, Director at the Centre for Public Integrity. Geoffrey discusses issues pertaining to public integrity and transparency in Australia, as well as the reasons and public support for a National Integrity Commission.

In the first episode of Very Public Affairs for 2022, Executive Director Wayne Burns discusses the Centre's top five predictions for the year ahead in the corporate public affairs function, including conversation around the function being an important source of geopolitical analysis as well as how artificial intelligence will impact the function. Click to listen.

In this episode of the Very Public Affairs podcast, Centre Executive Director Wayne Burns is joined by Alistair Marshall, Head of Internal Communications at Coles. Alistair discusses the elements of effective internal and leadership communications. 

In this final episode of In Conversation for 2021, Executive Director of the Centre, Wayne Burns is joined by Julia Quinn, Group Executive at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and Margaret Stuart, Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Nestle Oceania. They discuss the key trends that have developed in corporate communications over the two years into the pandemic: the height...

The Centre's Analyst Cameron Chu is joined by the Centre's Executive Director Wayne Burns to discuss what defines a Woke Corporation, how it relates to the "business of business", and its connection to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards. Listen now.

On this episode of In Conversation , Executive Director of the Centre, Wayne Burns is joined by Clare Hesketh, Acting Manager of Media Relations at SA Water, and Darren Pearce, Chief Communications Officer at Tennis Australia. They  discuss corporate communications and strategies around the hybrid model of work, the rise of "woke" corporations, businesses providing incentives for their e...

This edition of Very Public Affairs Podcast focuses on the impact that technology is having on businesses across the world, particularly the role of disruptive technologies, hybrid work models, blockchain, AI, and cybersecurity. The podcast also investigates  how these are affecting the practice of corporate public affairs. The Centre's Georgio Platias is joined by Mark Pesce, a futurist, tec...

This episode of Very Public Affairs interrogates the challenges of managing corporate public affairs teams, issues, and crises remotely. Executive Director Wayne Burns is joined by Tony Cudmore, Group Sustainability & Public Policy Officer at BHP, and John Short, Leader, Communications & Corporate Responsibility at LIXL who in their current roles have always led and managed their teams acr...

On this episode of In Conversation , Llew Gartrell, Senior Manager Government Relations at Stockland, and Melanie McMillan, Senior Associate at the Centre for Corporate Affairs, join the Centre's Executive Director Wayne Burns to discuss the top news stories from March and April 2021.  Listen to this episode as Llew, Melanie, and Wayne discuss the corporate response to Georiga's new voti...

In this episode of the Very Public Affairs Podcast , academic, journalist, and commentator, Peter van Onselen, sits down with the Centre's research assistant, Georgio Platias, to talk about the big challenges and opportunities facing Australia in the next year. Peter also analyses what 'good' leadership is, as well as what is missing from our current Parliament, and the big issues p...

In this episode of In Conversation , Executive Director of the Centre, Wayne Burns is joined by Alison Melville, Associate Director, Corporate Affairs Australia-New Zealand at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Alison discusses corporate communication during a pandemic, the role of ‘good’ science communications, curating effective messaging on social media, and what working during lockdowns was like.  Listen t...

On this episode of In Conversation , Lachlan Rees, Manager Government, Industry & Public Policy Group Corporate Affairs, Suncorp joins the Centre's Executive Director Wayne Burns to discuss the top news stories and developments in early 2021.  Listen to this episode as Lachlan and Wayne discuss how government relations has adapted due to COVID, the effects social media is having on democr...

In this episode, Centre Analyst Tristan Aliferis interviews the Centre's Executive Director Wayne Burns, on the five predictions he has made for the corporate public affairs function in 2021, along with a review on his 2020 predictions. 

In the last episode of Very Public Affairs for 2020, Centre Analyst Tristan Aliferis interviews Executive Director Wayne Burns to discuss how corporations have fared this year, how the public's level of trust has changed, how will corporate leadership continue to change in 2021, and what should be on our radar for next year. 

On In Conversation , we discuss the recent moves in the United States to regulate big tech, the importance of science communications and what lessons can be learned, and how can the corporate public affairs function adapt to working from home.  Joining us for this episode are two experienced practitioners: Bronwyn Perry, External Affairs Manager, Corporate Affairs at Medibank, and Kee Li, Engageme...

In the Centre's first episode of In Conversation , Executive Director Wayne Burns is joined by Cathy Bolt, Media and External Affairs Manager Corporate Affairs at Wesfarmers and Peter Habib, Executive Manager, Enterprise Services Communciations Marketing & Corporate Affairs at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Peter and Cathy discuss and analyse the current state of Milton Friedman's d...

In this episode of Very Public Affairs, the Centre's Executive Director Wayne Burns is joined by Professor Nicole Gillesipe, KPMG Chair in Organizational Trust and Professor of Management at the University of Queensland Business School to discuss how organisational design affects trust, and how organisations can preserve trust during times of disruption.