On 26 February the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations hosted the third Wang Gungwu Lecture in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) at Parliament House.
The lecture is named after the pre-eminent scholar on overseas Chinese communities, Professor Wang Gungwu AO CBE, and celebrates the substantial and longstanding contributions of Australia’s diverse Chinese communities to Australian life.
Previous lectures were delivered by paediatrician Dr John Yu AC and 2022-2023 Children’s Laureate Gabrielle Wang.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney delivered the welcome address, highlighting that modern Australia is home to people from all the cultures of the world and “Our multicultural identity is a source of national pride”.
This year’s lecture was delivered by respected business leader and Chair of Diversity Council Australia Ming Long AM. Ming Long became the first woman of Chinese heritage to lead an ASX200 company and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 in recognition of her cultural and corporate leadership. She was also awarded the inaugural Asian-Australian Leadership Lifetime Achievement award in 2023.
Having migrated from Malaysia to the NSW country town of Lithgow at a young age, the self-confessed ‘black sheep’ of her family, Ming chose to study economics and law rather than follow her siblings into medicine. Since then, she become one of Australia’s most influential and respected business leaders, holding board positions with Telstra, IFM Investors, QBE Insurance (Auspac) and Committee for Economic Development Australia. Ming is dedicated to advocating for a more inclusive Australia, including achieving gender equality by advancing more and diverse women in leadership.
“We bring different lessons by ensuring our workforce and leadership represent the community and we allow them to bring these experiences to our industries we serve. We all have the privilege and fantastic opportunity to deliver a future that is more equitable and fairer for Australia,” said Ming.
The event was hosted by writer Michelle Law.
The 2024 Wang Gungwu Lecture is available now on ABC Asia and ABC iview . Ming Long's speech is available to download here. The lecture series with the Chinese language subtitles are available here.
