I never imagined that I would be given this award
but it is one of my proudest moment.
So I'm coming from part of the world
where art was clashing with religious faith there.
Artists are meant to make the invisible visible.
I was always thinking that I'm not in right place,
in right geography and right part of the world.
I was not expecting that I would get this visa
but whoever that person was
who assessed that application,
I want to share it with him or her.
Thank you so much to provide me this opportunity
and of course, I want to acknowledge
the owner of this land,
allow me to be a free man on this land.
Well, I'm absolutely so honored
and I feel really,
I was a bit shocked actually when I got the phone call.
I loved the excuse to connect back with the university
and so I was absolutely thrilled.
Life's gonna dish you up things you just don't see coming.
And there are gonna be moments
when you think this is the worst place I could ever be.
And how will I ever get beyond where I am right now?
But you do.
That's what I've come to learn.
Doing a PhD is a long haul and I'm a night person
and so I'd often be at UNSW coming in at night
and then I'd work through two early hours in the morning.
Sometimes, four o'clock in the morning.
I used to sneak my little puppy dog in, Yogi
and so I should thank Yogi as well,
he got me through too.
I wanna be challenged,
I wanna be stimulated,
I wanna do things that are interesting
and I don't wanna sit around
and just pass the time.
I wanna use the time I have.
My proudest achievement is training others,
you know, seeing people you've trained
progress in their careers and become professors themselves.
That's probably the proudest sort of moments
I can think of during my career.
Because the training of others
is really part of what we must do.
And it's an extension of the kind of work
that one does one's self.
Being recognized by your university,
where you went to medical school,
is the highest honor I can think of.
It's really humbling to win this award.
I just do what I find important and what I enjoy doing.
I think the most important thing
that I've learned along the way is to be honest with myself.
Be a bit brave, know when you're not coping with something
and speak out, get assistance and get help.
I'd like to think over time
that women will be accepted
for all of our strengths and all of our positives.
To those, all of the teachers,
I wasn't always the best student
but I think I did learn something along the way.
It feels really flattering.
It's nice to be recognized for the things that I've done.
I remember as a kid reading, "Looking for Alibrandi"
and that is a story about a young Italian
and I'm not Italian, but like even that,
her story as a migrant, you know,
really resonated with me.
It's so important that people see themselves
in whatever sort of entertainment they consume
because it kind of just like helps you see the importance
of your own existence in the world.
I used to be someone who was like frantically fishing
for advice from older people,
'cause I thought if I knew, if I took their words of wisdom
I would avoid the sort of mistakes that they've made.
But I realized actually that the things
that have changed me the most
were mistakes that I've made on my own terms.
It was nothing that someone else could have saved me from.
I'm incredibly honoured to win it
but I'm also slightly embarrassed.
Because there are so many fantastic graduates of UNSW
doing really tremendous things for the world.
And I feel like, all I do is turn up to work each day
and I'm supported by a fantastic group of people
at the Reserve Bank.
I started here in 1980
and went to university at night-time for two years,
so three nights a week, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
And I'd go and work at the Reserve Bank during the day.
And I was fortunate enough to do well enough
over those two years, the Reserve Bank gave me a scholarship
to finish my degree here.
The best environment for generation of ideas is
where you've got people from different perspectives.
So not just all men from one background,
not women from all background
but just a diversity of people.
For me, dealing with challenge is about keeping calm,
going back to first principles and talking to people.
Well, I think it's a massive privilege
to even be considered into this group of alumni
that we've seen, that have won these awards.
We met in the quad.
[Will] No.
(indistinct crosstalk)
No, It would have been Mathews Theater.
Mathews Theatre.
Mathews Theatre, back of the lecture hall.
My name is Rob, his name is Will.
(laughing)
And we were the two jigsaw puzzle pieces
that didn't quite fit.
So we tended to sit at the back of the lecture theater.
We've stuffed up heaps of times.
Ah, heaps.
We've said the wrong thing to people,
we've hired the wrong people,
we've fired the wrong people,
we've made the wrong investments,
we've made the right investments.
Yes, it's kind of looking at those things in hindsight.
At the time you think you're making the biggest mistakes
but then we learned from that mistake, and well okay,
how can we avoid that happening again?
And it's really just having that tenacity every day to
just stretch beyond what you're doing.
(peaceful uplifting music)