For the first time the Australian Institute of Architects’ annual Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture will be presented at the National Press Club in Canberra.
On Wednesday 16 July, Clover Moore, Mayor of the City of Sydney will deliver the 47th Griffin Lecture, addressing the theme, Should cities rule the world?
‘There is a global trend of recognising and supporting the importance of cities as crucibles of innovation, creativity and economic powerhouses,’ Ms Moore says of the issue.
‘Urbanisation is also important because we can’t keep developing our food basin and we shouldn’t sentence young people to a life in the outskirts of suburbia, cut off from effective transport and services. The facts that Australia has one of the biggest ecological footprints and highest rates of obesity in the OECD should be of concern to government leaders.’
‘The Abbott government is yet to articulate a cities’ policy and instead is funding roads that cripple city life by congestion, rather than investing in public transport.’
As Lord Mayor, Clover has led the development and implementation of the City of Sydney’s internationally renowned long-term plan, Sustainable Sydney 2030. The plan includes ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse emissions.
Under her leadership, the City of Sydney has developed a global reputation for delivering award winning facilities, protecting open space, promoting design excellence, delivering new transport options, championing sustainability and initiating progressive solutions to complex city social problems.
Throughout her public life, Clover has championed progressive policies. Small bars, Freedom of Information laws, whistle-blower protection, disclosure of government contracts, boarding house protection, tenants’ rights, strata title reform, making it illegal to incite hatred against members of the GLBT community and making same sex adoption legal are among her achievements.
When she held the balance of power alongside other Independents in NSW she delivered a Charter of Reform, called the most radical state political reform agenda of any Westminster Parliament in the 20th Century.
Currently serving her third term, Ms Moore is the first popularly elected woman to lead the City of Sydney and previously served on the City and South Sydney councils. From March 1988 Clover was continuously elected to represent the Bligh/Sydney electorate as an Independent MP in the NSW Parliament. She was forced to resign on 21 September 2012 after a state law made it illegal for her to continue in both roles.
Established in memory of Walter Burley Griffin, the lecture focuses on the big issues in design and architecture, with regard to the future of the city of Canberra and looking beyond to examine national matters of interest to everyone in an urban environment in Australia.
This is the first time this highly acclaimed event will be held at the National Press Club and televised nationally, heralding a new era for the Griffin Lecture. The National Press Club series will feature a stellar line up of high profile guest speakers, tackling the most urgent and thorny issues facing our profession and the community.
