“High profile indigenous leader and former Director General of the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Linda Burney was appointed the Minister for Fair Trading in 2007, in Australia's largest state, NSW, and was promoted to Minister for Community Services in 2008. Linda Burney became the first Aboriginal person elected to the NSW Parliament in 2003, and only the fourth Aboriginal woman elected anywhere in Australia. She is a member of the Wiradjuri nation and has been a member of the National Council for Reconciliation and the Board of SBS Television and Radio.”

“Arnold Zable is a dynamic and highly acclaimed storyteller. His books include the award winning Jewels and Ashes (1992), The Fig Tree (2002) and the novels Café Scheherazade (2001) and Scraps of Heaven (2004). His most recent novel, 'Sea of Many Returns', was published in June this year.

He is president of the International PEN, Melbourne. Zable speaks with passion about memory and history, displacement and community, the experience of the Jewish diaspora, aboriginal issues and indigenous education, and the multiplicity of cultures within Australia.

He has run workshops for migrants and refugees, and has recently spent considerable time with refugees held in Australian detention centres. Arnold Zable lives in Melbourne with his wife and son and was recently awarded a doctorate by the school of creative arts, Melbourne university.