AID TALKS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Professor of International and Political
Clinton Fernandes is Professor of International and Political Studies. He has published on the relationship between science, diplomacy and international law, intelligence operations in foreign policy, the political and regulatory implications of new technology and Australia's external relations more generally. He is the author of several publications including Island off the Coast of Asia: Instruments of Statecraft in Australian Foreign Policy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018).
Job Titles:
- Certified Practising Accountant
- Treasurer
David is a Certified Practising Accountant and lawyer. He has been an active member of various environmental and social justice groups including Friends of the Earth and the Community and Public Sector Union.
Jemma has twenty years experience in the community and government sectors as a lawyer, policy advisor and advocate for social justice. She has worked in legal and policy roles with Mallesons King Wood, the National Children's and Youth Law Centre and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. Jemma coordinated the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, was Chair of Aid/Watch, consulted to Oxfam and has worked in community development in Peru and Burma. Most recently, she worked as a senior strategist and communications advisor for an Australian Senator, playing a lead role in the aid and development portfolio. Jemma has an economics and law degree with First Class Honors from Sydney University.
Lee Rhiannon was a Greens NSW state MP and Senator for nearly 18 years. She resigned from federal parliament in 2018. She continues to be involved with a range of political campaigns and the Greens. She works closely with various communities struggling for self-determination, peace and justice in their home country.
Lee is a statistician and a social researcher with decades of health, environmental and social justice campaigning experiences, ranging from grassroot activism to policy advocacy at the multilateral institutional level. She worked as the Asia-Pacific Campaign Coordinator for the Australian Conservation Foundation and has forged and established extensive links with Indigenous communities, local organisations and national organisations in the Region. Lee leads the Aid/Watch campaign Stop Lynas.
Liz Downes is a campaigner, researcher, writer and currently a Director of the Rainforest Information Centre and member of the Melbourne Rainforest Action Group (MRAG). With a background in community health, community development, environmental conservation, and working for non-government and nonprofit organisations in Australia and Latin America, Liz has spent the past several years working with local communities in Ecuador who are resisting Australian mining extractive interests. Liz is leading Aid/Watch research to map Australia's ‘green' extractivism footprint domestically and internationally.
Natalie has over 20 years working as a grassroots activist, organiser, lobbyist and networker in a range of justice issues with a strong focus on the rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples resisting development aggressions. Natalie has held campaigner and communications positions with Friends of the Earth International, Mineral Policy Institute, Conservation Council of Western Australia and Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA.