U3A Batemans Bay is pleased to invite interested members of the community to attend our
next Saturday Talk whenAllan Behm, Director of the International and Security Policy
program at the Australia Institute in Canberra, will be speaking to U3A on these subjects at
10.00 am on Saturday 3 June in the Auditorium of the Soldiers Club at Batemans Bay.
A polished public speaker, Allan is one of Australia’s leading commentators on strategic
policy issues in both the electronic and print media. He has represented Australia overseas
in the diplomatic service, worked in senior positions in the Department of Defence and the
Attorney-General’s Department, and after leaving the Public Service became Chief of Staff
to the Minister for Industry and Climate Change, later serving as Senior Adviser to Senator
Penny Wong.
Building on a career spent mainly in the defence and national security domain, Allan has a
significant publishing record in academic and professional journals and is the author of two
highly regarded books. The first of these, titled No, Minister is an insider’s account of what
goes on in the corridors of Parliament House and was published in 2015. The second, titled
No Enemies, No Friends, was published in 2022 and shortlisted for the Political Book of the
Year Award.
Allan’s talk will outline the main practical, operational and strategic issues involved for
Australia in what the Government has declared to be the largest and most significant
development ever made in Australia’s defence policy and planning. By addressing such
controversial matters, his talk is guaranteed to be informative, illuminating and challenging.
U3A Batemans Bay has been providing educational programs for seniors for the last 25
years. More information about the organisation can be found on our website
If you wish to attend this talk please contact Ross Thomas on rossthomas083@gmail.com
Allan Behm
