Ambassador rounds off a year of public lectures
About 300 people came to hear Australia’s Ambassador to China and La Trobe Distinguished Alumni Award winner, Dr Geoff Raby, deliver the University’s inaugural Alumni Lecture at the Melbourne Town Hall in October. The lecture, titled Is the China Bubble about to Burst?, followed the launch of the University’s revitalised Alumni association at the National Gallery of Victoria earlier in the year.
Dr Raby said the Olympic Games were an enormous success. They boosted China’s international standing and helped its engagement with the rest of the word. Despite the economic downturn, he predicted China would still achieve good growth. It had a high savings rate and, despite its deep integration with the international economy, domestic demand was still China’s main source of growth. In twenty years, he said, China may well have an economy four times as big as it is today.
The ‘tough issue’, however, was environmental: forecasts predict China then will still depend on coal for sixty per cent of base energy – down from 68 per cent now. ‘With an economy four times bigger than it is today, that is a very big issue for everyone.’ Thanking Dr Raby for launching the Alumni Lectures, Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said La Trobe had some 125,000 alumni throughout Australia and in more than 100 countries around the world.
‘It is a source of great pride to the University that its graduates go out into the world and turn their talents to the advancement of society through research, business, community work and other forms of contribution. Alumni relations connect past and present students through a mentoring program and work with current students to help them achieve their best in the transition from study to the workplace.’
Alumni Association manager, Chintan Bharwada said La Trobe’s alumni population has almost doubled in the last decade. ‘The response to Dr Raby’s lecture showed how enthusiastic our alumni are to keep in touch with the University, other graduates and friends.’
For more about the Alumni Lecture and forthcoming events for graduates, see the La Trobe Alumni website.