In conversation with Andrew Leigh

Listen to this ANU/Canberra Times Meet the Author conversation on Experience ANU SoundCloud channel

Andrew Leigh will be in conversation with Tim Gavel on Andrew's new essay Fair Game. Lessons from Sport for a Fairer Society & a Stronger Economy.

Every year, Australians break sporting world records through a combination of ingenuity, grit and teamwork. Sport is a source of personal and national pride for millions. In this book, economist, politician and triathlete, Andrew Leigh, argues that, over the past generation, the Australian economy hasn't matched the performances of our top sportspeople. The nation that brought home a glittering haul of medals from the Tokyo Olympics, and the urn from the last three Ashes series, has an economy that's unfit for the challenges of the future. Productivity is in the doldrums, and student test scores are falling. The business start-up rate has dropped, and markets aren't as competitive as they should be.

Andrew Leigh argues that we don't have a shared national story about the kind of economy we want to build, or the kind of society we want to live in, and that this is where sport can provide the necessary inspiration. Sport isn't just about winning-it's about how we play the game. Sport provides the most powerful rebuttal to the myth that we have to choose between fairness and excellence. Sport demonstrates that innovation and equality can go together.

Dr Andrew Leigh MP is the Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the ANU. He holds a Harvard PhD and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. Andrew is the author or co-author of ten prior books, on topics including innovation, inequality, community, globalisation and existential risk. On the sporting front, Andrew is a keen triathlete and ultramarathoner.

Tim Gavel OAM currently works on media and strategy for Sport Integrity Australia and hosts On Side, the official podcast of Sport Integrity Australia. Tim commentated for over 30 years on a variety of sports on ABC Grandstand, including seven Olympic Games and seven Commonwealth Games. He has been three-time ABC Sports Broadcaster of the Year and was named the ACT Local Hero in 2008 for services to broadcasting and charity in Canberra.

This event is in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop. Books will be available for purchase on the evening in the Cultural Centre foyer. Pre-event book signings will be available from 5.30pm, and available again after the event.

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Apodcast will be made available after the event.