Canberra Whirlwind

The next few weeks were a complete whirlwind and I'm still amazed by the crazy efficiency of the Global Voices and Co-op teams.

A couple of days after submitting my answers, I received a call from Global Voices for a short phone interview. This was fairly standard, and went over my application answers as well as a bit more detail on my research proposal. It also gave me an opportunity to ask a few questions about the process ahead.

In less than a week, on a Friday afternoon I received the incredibly exciting call that I had been selected! By the middle of the following week, I had been introduced via email to the other successful delegates and been sent my plane tickets and itinerary for the Canberra pre-departure briefing which was to take place the next week.

The schedule for Canberra was jam-packed and incredible but even that couldn't have prepared us all for the few days ahead. We started with a welcome greeting from The Hon. Peter Lindsay, Chair of the Global Voices Board of Directors and former Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, and were each given a box of personalized Global Voices Business cards for future networking. I got to know the other Y20 representatives, as well as Global Voices delegates heading to the OECD in Paris, the UN ECOSOC forum in New York, the Defence delegates and the Global Voices team over a welcome dinner and drinks.

The next two days were spent having meetings at Parliament House with diplomats including Shadow Treasurer, The Hon. Chris Bowen MP, Shadow Minister for Finance, The Hon. Tony Burke MP and an exclusive lunch in the Members & Guests Dining Hall with Mr Angus Taylor MP and Mr Ed Husic, MP. During this time we discussed Australia’s strategic goals for both Domestic and International Policy as well as our own research topics. We were also given a short ‘meet & greet’ question time with Prime Minister, The Hon. Tony Abbott MP and a behind-the-scenes tour of Parliament House by The Hon. Peter Lindsay. Our second evening was spent attending an inspiring UN dinner at the National Press Club with Minister for Foreign Affairs The Hon. Julie Bishop MP as the keynote speaker.

The Pre-Departure briefings gave all delegates more confidence for discussing Australia’s position on key issues on a global stage as well as a deepened sense of focus and some new angles for our research fellowships. It was truly an unbelievable couple of days and we all left completely exhausted but incredibly excited for the journey ahead.