Dangerous Dinner – Foreign Influence and Interference in Australia

Dangerous Dinners is a members’ only, member led In-house event; exploring an issue in depth through members sharing ideas, experiences and expertise.

How should we view the Impact of Foreign Influence and Interference in Australia today?

Foreign influence and interference from other countries comes often through the cultural, social, religious, political and family ties that connect people to the land of their birth. Since colonization this influence has come largely from UK, Europe and US.

In the future foreign influence and interference will increasingly come from Asia, reflecting our position in the Asian region.

Today, Melbourne is already crossing the threshold from Anglo-European to Eurasian.

Indian and Chinese are now first and second in our immigration intake, and Asian students represent a high proportion of those attending our universities and higher education institutions.

This event will explore how well our society is responding to this transition and how can we adapt to the shift in foreign influence and interference in our future, through examples of changes in our society today and some questions to consider might be:

What do we mean by foreign influence and interference?

What are the differences between Anglo-centric and future Asian-centric influence and interference?

What will be the impact of this change in foreign influence and interference when our institutions, and the people in power, reflect the previous influence; and Australian born, educated, middle class Indian and Chinese are still not represented proportionally (bamboo ceiling), in our political, economic and social institutions.

As our Pacific region becomes increasingly affected by the trade and geopolitical positions of China emerging as a global power, the rise of India and the role of US, what impact will the changing nature of our population have on our views to our future identity and alliances?

Start the Conversation:

This event will draw on members examples, experiences and thoughts; so, add your comments prior to the event:

Click the Menu for Members Forum, open the topic Foreign Influence and Interference in Australia, subscribe (top right hand of posts) and add your comments, links or ideas.

What are In-House events?

Dangerous Dinners is part of the In-House Series; events that draw on the diverse expertise of our members sharing their ideas and experiences on contemporary, complex or controversial topics.

Developed and moderated by members, under the Chatham -house Rule. Instead of a guest speaker we learn from each other, challenge assumptions, spark new ideas or point the way for potential actions.

We continue to learn and share on the Members Forum, the online chat room on the website. This provides access to pre-event and post-event reading and discussions and where members (irrespective of attending the dinner) can share insights and comments on a range of subjects.

Melbourne Forum – Feeding minds and stimulating valuable contributions to Melbourne life.