Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir

In his book, ‘Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir’, Professor Evans looks back over the highs and lows of his public life as a student activist, civil libertarian, law reformer, industry minister, international policymaker, educator and politician. He explains why it is that, despite multiple disappointments, he continues to believe that a safer, saner and more decent world is achievable, and why, for all its frustrations, politics remains an indispensable profession not only for megalomaniacs but idealists.

About the speaker
Professor the Hon Gareth Evans, now Chancellor of The Australian National University, was a member of the Australian Parliament for 21 years, and a cabinet minister throughout the Hawke-Keating era.

From 1988 to 1996 he served as Foreign Minister. He led the Brussels-based International Crisis Group from 2000 to 2009 and has won many prizes and awards for his contributions to international policymaking.

He has written or edited, solely or jointly, twelve other books, including Australia’s Constitution: Time for Change (1983), Australia’s Foreign Relations (1995), The Responsibility to Protect (2008) and Inside the Hawke-Keating Government: A Cabinet Diary (2014).