This episode I had the great pleasure of talking with historian, teacher, and public policy writer, Professor Peter Botsman. He’s an Honorary Fellow at Melbourne University and was a founder and head of the Whitlam Institute, and led think tanks, the Evatt Foundation and the Brisbane Institute.

Peter wrote, ‘The Great Constitution Swindle: A Citizen’s View of the Australian Constitution’ in 1999, which sparked debate about who actually wrote the first draft of our constitution with him pointing to Tasmania’s Andrew Inglis Clark as its ‘unsung’ author.

He studied at Cornell and Yale universities and advised the U.S. government on healthcare, after completing his PhD at the University of New South Wales in 1987. Such is his respect in America, he was invited to President Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.

In Peter’s push for Australia to become a republic he’s developed a model, the ‘Australian Executive Council’, which he believes will best achieve this aim.

He’s a passionate advocate of Indigenous rights and frequently travels to the Outback and Arnhem Land to teach in First Nations communities.

In Peter’s ‘spare time’, (I mean does he ever have any?) he runs a Scottish Highland cattle property in NSW’s stunning Kangaroo Valley.

So grab yourself a hot or cold beverage, and sit back for a fascinating and deeply insightful discussion on Whitlam, the constitution and becoming a republic with Professor Peter Botsman.