Bob McMullen – Water, Africa and Playing to our Strengths

Welcome to Episode 58 of Good Will Hunters, with Bob McMullen!

Bob was recommended to me by another one of our former guests, Rosie When, the CEO of WaterAid. Rosie and Bob have worked together, including through Bob’s role as the Chair of the Australian Water Partnership Advisory Committee. Bob was elected national secretary of the Australian Labour Party in 1981 and directed the ALPs 3 successful election campaigns in the 1980s. Between 1996 and 2007 Bob held a number of Shadow Ministerial positions including Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Finance and Small Business and Shadow Minister for Federal and State Relations, and after the election of the Rudd Government in November 2007, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance.

Bob is now a member of the high-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, which was mobilized during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Crawford School of the Australian National University. I interviewed Bob when I was in Canberra a few weeks back.

In this episode, you’ll hear us discuss aid to Africa and the Middle East and why Australia is uniquely placed to support sustainable development in African countries in the areas of agriculture, water management and even mining. We also discuss Australia’s relationship with the multilateral development banks, including the World Bank which regular listeners will know I always like discussing, and we also talk about disability and why it constitutes Bob’s proudest achievement from his time in public life.

Enjoy,
Rachel and the GWH Team