2024 Dinner, Canberra
On 20 November 2024, the Annual Dinner was held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. We were graced by the presence of the Governor-General, Her Excellency Ms Sam Mostyn AC, who delivered the Oration, which may be viewed here.
10th Anniversary of the Dedication of the War Correspondents Memorial, September 2025
The CEW Bean Foundation, in conjunction with the Australian War Memorial, commemorated the 10th anniversary of the dedication of the War Correspondents Memorial in Canberra in 2025. CEW Bean Foundation chair, Rodney Cavalier AO, gave the address which can be read here.
2018 Dinner, Melbourne
Paul Kelly’s address about correspondent Chester Wilmot is available to read here.
2016 Dinner, Sydney
His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC CVO DSC (Retd) gave the address at the C.E.W Bean Foundation dinner on 18 November 2016 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The address can be read here.
From our friends in the NSW Supreme Court – the Forgotten C.E.W. Bean
His Honour Justice Geoffrey Lindsay delivered a Remembrance Day address in the Banco Court on the theme of the Legal Profession and World War 1, on 10 November 2016. The address can be read here.
2014 Dinner, Canberra
In April 2014, the C.E.W. Bean Foundation held a dinner at the Australian War Memorial. The Guest of Honour and Guest Speaker was Hon Tony Abbott MP, the then Prime Minister of Australia. Prime Minister Abbott’s speech can be found here.
From our friends at the Frances Forbes Society, C.E.W. Bean by Geoff Lindsay SC
A research paper and entertaining address on assessing the legacy of C.E.W. Bean. Painstakingly researched over 3 years, available here.
2010 Dinner, Canberra
In 2010, Defence Minister John Faulkner addressed the Bean dinner (held over from 2009) at the National Press Club on the subject of the responsibilities of the Defence Forces to provide reasonable disclosure to media involved in reporting their activities. Author Graham Freudenberg spoke at a pre-dinner event on his new book “Churchill and Australia’’. The Freudenberg conversation was moderated by Bean Foundation chair, Rodney Cavalier.
2008 Dinner, Canberra
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave the annual Bean oration – the third by a serving Prime Minister (if Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is included) – in the ANZAC Hall at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Mr Rudd argued that Australia’s presence in Afghanistan reflected its commitment to “doing our fair share to tackle international security challenges as an engaged middle power and as a real partner in our alliance with the United States.’’ The speech can be read here.
2006 Dinner, Canberra
The Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Paul O’Sullivan, gave the annual Bean dinner address. He spoke at the National Press Club on the subject of security threats following the terrorist attacks on the United States in September, 2001. A pre-dinner seminar addressed challenges facing journalists in dealing with the global war on terror.
2005 Dinner, Canberra
The 2005 dinner was held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and addressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The pre-dinner symposium was addressed by the Attorney General of Australia, the Hon. Phillp Ruddock MP, Mr Warren Beeby of News Ltd and author and journalist Mr Fred Brenchley. The topic was sedition and censorship in relation to the War on Terror.
2004 Dinner, Sydney
The 2004 dinner was held in Sydney with NSW Premier Bob Carr as the dinner speaker. The pre-dinner symposium was addressed by Alisdair McGregor, the biographer of WWI photographer Frank Hurley; Neil McDonald the biographer of WWII broadcaster and author Chester Wilmott and Phillip Knightley, journalist and author of The First Casualty.
2003 Dinner, Melbourne
The historian Geoffrey Blainey gave the annual Bean dinner address.
2002 Dinner, Canberra
The Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill delivered the annual Bean dinner address at the Hyatt Hotel Canberra. The title of his speech was “Asia Pacific Security After September 11 – Continuity and Change”. Senator Hill spoke about the “arc of militant Islamic influence” which stretched across South-East Asia, and the organisation Jemaah Islamiyah which was central to this threat. The speech can be read here.
2001 Dinner, Canberra
The Prime Minister Hon John Howard MP gave the inaugural Bean dinner address. Senator the Hon John Faulkner also delivered a speech to the Senate.
John Faulkner has since joined the Board of the C.E.W. Bean Foundation. His speech can be found in Hansard here.
