Chief Minister's Governance Lecture 2026

The 11th Chief Minister's Governance Lecture "Memory, Risk and Resilience: Preparing communities for more frequent disasters" will be delivered by Tim Heffernan, Lecturer in Anthropology and Development Studies at ANU. The Chief Minister's Governance Lecture highlights the rich resources that can be found in ACT Government archives, and their links with the debates in our city today. The hailstorm of December 2005 caused extensive damage, power outages, and treefall impacts, including one loss of life. It was to become one of many severe hail and other storm events in Canberra that damaged infrastructure, significant sites, and commercial and personal property. The records of the 2005 event demonstrate the speed with which the disaster hit and the breadth of response required. The lecture will touch on the differing impacts of disasters on diverse communities, and the need to understand community priorities both for preparedness and recovery. In a city like Canberra, the issues represented in our publicly available archives continue to have relevance and resonance today. The archives are not merely quaint relics of some long-forgotten past. They are vital resources, capable of informing our current debates while also accounting for our previous actions. This annual lecture event provides the opportunity for a researcher of some standing to explore a topic relevant to the history of the administration of the ACT through the use of newly released archival records. The aim of the lecture is to encourage substantial use of the Territory's archives and to share the results of that research with the broader community.