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On the topic of climate change and an increasingly volatile and unprecedented future, the way we think about and structure finance has a key role to play and I have two very special guests - Emeritus Professor Bruce Chapman and Chris Andrew.

Starting with Chris, well, I don't know if I can do justice in describing this extraordinary man. I first met Chris nearly a year ago and I instantly connected to his vision of restorative justice for the role banks have played in financing colonisation in Australia and the massacres, dispossession and marginalisation that First Nations people in this country faced, and the work he was doing on Indigenous designed finance. Chris is a remarkable person. A capital markets guy who recently described himself at his Sydney Ted talk as a reformed banker, has led a truly interesting life. A merchant banker of the 80s, 90s and 2000s, before a series of events from the 911 attacks and a New York resident at the time to a hike on Mt Kosciuszko to now years of being invited into First Nations and Pacifica communities, Chris combines his deep financial knowledge to that of sophisticated First Nations land management and cultural practices in a way that could and probably should play a significant impact in how Australia thinks about Country, agriculture and finance moving forward.

Bruce Chapman is one of Australia's most esteemed economists. His work across externalities, risk management frames for equitable outcomes and contingent lending is immense, and his legacy is recognised by his Emeritus Professor title - the highest honour someone can receive in the academic world here in Australia. Bruce is not just an academic though - his work in the late 1980s in pioneering HECS - Higher Education Contribution Scheme - created a path for hundreds of thousands of Australians to access the benefits of tertiary education when prior to that it was far more likely they wouldn't because of their socioeconomic status. Bruce's work revolutionised higher education in Australia - which has been tampered with and watered down by several conservative governments since the 1990s. We get into The elegance of contingent lending in this episode, so I won't describe it here.

Together these two men represent a powerful allyship to First Nations Australians - but beyond shallow words and often fruitless reconciliation action plans their work has an incredible potential to transform the lives of First Nation Australians and also re-frame how finance in this country is designed and distributed to deal with an increasingly volatile climate system.

Bruce and Chris' work is essential in the pursuit of reconciliation here in Australia and self determination for First Nations people to become a reality. The theme of the October newsletter is help, and this quote reflects the work of Chris and Bruce, and something every non First Nations person in Australia ideally would deeply understand and be working towards just like they are; “allyship is not just about intent. It requires proactive action.”

Until next time, thanks for listening.

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