Hon Bob
Carr

Speaker Profile

One of Australia's most popular and respected political leaders, Bob Carr made his political reputation through public speaking.

'There is no doubt Carr is a master orator,' according to Simon Benson, political correspondent of The Daily Telegraph.

'Carr is a smart speaker, a colourful orator with a carefully trained voice,' wrote Gerard Noonan of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Dominating the floor of the rough house New South Wales Parliament – known as the 'bear pit' – or giving a highly acclaimed speech of welcome to Margaret Thatcher in 1988, Bob Carr has spoken about far more than the narrow political agenda. His annual addresses at Australia Day lunches or at Anzac commemorations were widely appreciated.

Some of the other subjects he has spoken on include...

- Lessons from Leadership: an Australian looks at the careers of Lincoln and FDR;
- The Australia of 1942 and the fall of Singapore;
- The 10 Decisions Australia got Right;
- The Case for Medical Research;
- The Roman Empire and its Lessons for Us; and
- Imagining Catastrophe: greenhouse, terrorism and proliferation.

In 2005 he retired from politics after 10 years as Premier of the State of New South Wales, Australia's wealthiest and most populous state, before resuming his political career in 2012, when on March 2, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that Bob is to become a Senator for New South Wales and the Australian Foreign Minister.

Entering politics in 1983, Bob became leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales in 1988 and led it to electoral victory in 1995. He led the party to two further landslide victories in 1999 and 2003, and retired undefeated in August 2005. 'Only Carr has made that rare triumphant farewell to politics,' said The Bulletin, '– From the top and at his choosing.'

Bob's interests and priorities ranged over conservation, literacy, tort law reform, medical research, the arts and economic development.

His biggest achievements in office include hosting the most successful Olympic Games ever, achieving highest-ever levels of literacy among school students, declaring 350 new national parks and enacting tough new greenhouse benchmarks.

Bob received the World Conservation Union International Parks Merit Award in 1998. He received a Fulbright Distinguished Fellow Award in 1999 for a significant contribution to Australian-American relations. In 2004 he served as a member of Tony Blair's International Climate Change Taskforce.

Bob Carr is the author of three books, Thoughtlines: Reflections of a Public Man (2002), What Australia Means To Me (2003) and most recently My Reading Life (2008). He is also the subject of two biographies.

In recent years, Bob Carr has forged a reputation as a leading speaker in the corporate sector. With his wealth of experience and considerable knowledge, he communicates insights that are invaluable to any organisation, particularly given the hugely competitive nature of today’s business climate.

So to those who wonder where the hope lies amid all the current economic gloom, Bob makes a presentation that offers grounds for optimism. Specifically, he canvasses the growth of China and India in respect to further urbanization. And he identifies some of the new growth sectors of the economy – life sciences and green investment in particular. He also talks about entrepreneurship and what it offers the modern economy.

Travels from Australia