Sharing emerging stories and ideas from Australia and Latin America
El Emergente
In 2020, we launched the El Emergente video series to dig deep into the emerging stories, histories and ideas between Australia and Latin America.
In El Emergente, high-level speakers provide a personal insight into Australia-Latam cooperation, policymaking and challenges. The series highlights and uncovers the lesser known but extraordinary connections that exist between the regions.
¡Que lo disfrutes!
En 2020, lanzamos la serie de videos El Emergente para profundizar en las historias, historias e ideas emergentes entre Australia y América Latina.
En El Emergente, oradores de alto nivel brindan una visión personal de la cooperación Australia-Latam, la formulación de políticas y los desafíos. Esta serie destaca y descubre las conexiones menos conocidas pero extraordinarias que existen entre nuestras regiones.
We hope you enjoy!
Exploring the shared values of Australia and Costa Rica - Gonzalo Quesada
In this episode of the El Emergente series, Carmela Magnocavallo interviews Gonzalo Quesada, Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Australia.
Gonzalo shares his journey to into diplomacy and explores the common values that connect our two nations.
Matching professional women skills with Australian job market - Fabiola Campbell
In this episode of El Emergente, Mariana Marcano interviews Fabiola Campbell, the founder of Professional Migrant Women, an organisation that aims to reduce the gap between migration and professional employment for women in Australia.
Fabiola shares her personal journey and the inspiration behind starting the organisation. She also discusses the challenges migrant women face in the Australian job market and how her organisation helps bridge the knowledge gap.
A strong voice working towards empowering women globally - Yolanda Vega
Former CEO of the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, journalist, policy advisor, and current PhD candidate, Yolanda Vega, talks about her career path and challenges faced as a small business owner and advocate for women's rights.
Latin success in MasterChef Australia - Keyma Vazquez Montero
Latin American and Caribbean cuisine is diverse, rich, and flavourful. Keyma Vazquez Montero made history by coming in fourth place on season 14 of MasterChef Australia by showcasing her passion for Latin American and Caribbean cooking. Food from Central and South America is little known in Australia. We speak to Keyma about her journey from Venezuela to the Australian MasterChef kitchen and what Latin and Caribbean flavours she believes Australians can have more of in their lives.
How a Cuban dancer found success in Australia - Yanela Piñera
Australian ballet companies are increasingly recruiting dancers from Latin America into their ranks. We speak to Yanela Piñera, Principal Artist from Queensland Ballet, about her journey from Cuba to Australia and how dance can contribute to forging stronger relations between Australia and Latin America.
Opportunities between Australia and Panamá - Itzel Patiño de Villarreal
The current Ambassador of Panama in Australia, Her Excellency Itzel Patiño De Villarreal, spoke with us about opportunities for Latin America and Australia, the potential that Panama has due to its strategic geographical location, and the fantastic coffee that is valued all over the world.
The impact of decent housing on urban development - Soledad Nuñez
In this new episode of El Emergente, we speak with Soledad Nuñez, former Minister of the National Secretariat of Housing and Habitat in Paraguay, about the impact of decent housing on urban development.
Australia-Central America relationship and opportunities ahead - Jairo Hernández-Milian
Jairo Hernandez-Milian is the former Ambassador of Costa Rica in Australia 2013-2019, current Asia Pacific International Business Strategist, Consultant, Researcher, Academic Scholar and Chairman Of The Board Of Directors Centre of Promotion of Trade and Investment Asia Pacific-Latin America. We talked with him about his experience in Australia, as well as the potential for partnership between Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, and Cuba's role in promoting such a partnership.
Technology, gender equality, and women's empowerment - Carla Cassanello
Carla Cassanello is a technologist and entrepreneur who has used her decades of experience in Paraguay’s technology sector to advocate for greater gender equality, inclusivity, and women’s participation in emerging industries across the Americas. She is the current President of SheWorks!, a social impact company whose technology platforms connect women with opportunities for economic growth. We talked to her about her pioneering experience in Paraguay’s growing technology sector, and the barriers she faced and hopes to knock down for the next generation of female entrepreneurs working to make an impact in Latin America.
Chair of Spanish and Latam Studies Department at USYD, Dr Fernanda Peñaloza
Dr Fernanda Peñaloza is a Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies and Chair of the Spanish and Latin American Studies Department at the University of Sydney. She coordinates SURCLA (Sydney University Research Community for Latin America). She has a background in critical theory, and has expertise in the field of Latin American Cultural Studies. Her work seeks to understand interactions and influences that are neither limited by national boundaries nor restricted to the North-South axis, which is still the predominant paradigm in the field. In this interview, Dr Peñaloza chats with Tallulah Bur and Ariel Castro-Martinez about her current works, including her recent publication, Mapping South-South Connections. She discusses how Australia and Latin America can constitute a form of ‘south-south’ relations, in contrast to ‘north-north’ or ‘north-south’ regional relations. She has worked with writers Kelsey Munro and on the Australian television show 'Bump!'
Ambassador to Argentina, Paraguay & Uruguay, His Excellency Mr Brett Hackett
Mr Hackett is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He is currently the Ambassador to Argentina and was most recently Acting First Assistant Secretary, Americas Division, DFAT. He has previously served overseas as Head of Mission, Australian Embassy, Brasilia; Head of Mission, Australian Embassy, Kabul; Deputy Head of Mission, Australian High Commission, Islamabad; and First Secretary, Australian High Commission, Ottawa. In this interview with Erin Watson-Lynn and Rosario Rutilo, Mr Hackett discusses the top three things he has learnt about Argentina and the next set of challenges that the Latin America region faces, in particular southern cone countries. He also expands on the keys areas of cooperation between Australia and Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, and how COVID-19 has impacted upon cooperation between these countries. He also emphasises the importance of empowering the next generation of young Australians and Argentinians to continue the Australian-Latin America regional dialogue.
Argentinian Congresswoman, Gisela Scaglia
Gisela Scaglia is a National Congresswoman for the province of Santa Fe and for almost 20 years has been working to improve the social, environmental, and educational reality of Argentina. Since 2010, she also coordinates the Social Area of Fundación Pensar in her province. In this interview with Ximena Michemberg and Rosario Rutilo, Gisela expands on COVID-19, Argentina’s health system and the response methods of governments and international organizations; environmental education and the current wetlands situation in Argentina; and "the great debate of our time: the access to information", among many other topics of great interest and current affairs.
Argentinian Congresswoman, Camila Crescimbeni
Camila Crescimbeni was elected in 2019 as a Diputada de la Nación in Argentina's National Congress at 29 years of age. A delegate at the inaugural Australia Latam Emerging Leaders Dialogue, Camila is the example of a new generation of politicians who are committed to addressing domestic and global challenges including climate change, women's empowerment, and strong governance. A soon to be mother, Camila talks to Erin Watson-Lynn about her road to politics and being a what it means to be a woman in political leadership in 2020.
Professor and researcher at the Agronomy Faculty at University of Buenos Aires, Gustavo Schrauf
Gustavo Schrauf is a professor and researcher at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Buenos Aires, where more than 20 years ago a collaborative research work on forage species has been developed in conjunction with the Trobe University of Melbourne. In this conversation, Gustavo delves into the projects they carried out and still carry out with the AgriBio institute, one of the best in the southern hemisphere. Through this interview, conducted by Ximena Michemberg, we discovered the importance of collaborative work between our regions that leads to high-quality and high-impact scientific results.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency Director, Libby Lyons
Libby Lyons is one of the world's leading authorities on gender in the workplace. Australia's WGEA collects data frommore than 10,000 employers, covering more than 4 million employees, to report on and improve gender equality in the workplace. While Libby oversees this statutory process, she has also travelled the world including Singapore, Chile, Argentina, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan to speak with government and private enterprises on the business case for gender equality. In this episode, Libby takes us through the work of WGEA and how Australia and Argentina can work together on improving gender equality in the workplace. Argentina is particularly close to Libby's heart, having met her husband in Buenos Aires.
Dos Dingos Founder, Mati Cavanna
Cheers, mate! Imagine sitting on your balcony in Buenos Aires sipping an Australian style beer? Thanks to Mati and Nico, the two dingoes, you can. Mati lived in Australia for a decade and worked for one of the world's most famous breweries. After learning their trade and moving their families to the other side of the Southern Hemisphere, Cerveza Dos Dingos was, er, brewed. In this episode, Mati discusses how Dos Dingos not only brews Australian style beers, but incorporates Australia into their branding and mission of their work. Whether sharing Indigenous Australian art or raising funds for koalas during the bush fires, Dos Dingos is the perfect mix of Australia and Argentina. For the Australian viewers, you will get a little insight into the Argentine drinking culture, when the interviewer gets her first experience of Fernet at 8am.
Qantas Pilot, Nick Thorne
Qantas Pilot Nick Thorne made history as part of the flight crew responsible for repatriating Australian and New Zealanders in Argentina due to the COVID19 pandemic. Flying from Buenos Aires to Melbourne, a route not normally flown by any Australian airline, it was a complex diplomatic and technical operation. The flight set a world record for this aircraft and will set the standard for future flights between Australia and South America. As the flight took place on Anzac Day, it was a poignant reminder of Australian spirit, something synonymous with the Qantas brand, 'the spirit of Australia'. Nick said this flight will be his career highlight, as his grandfather was a gunner on a merchant ship in Argentina during World War II. Watch Nick's incredibly story as he shares the experience of flying from Argentina to Australia, while revealing a little known history shared between the two countries. Expertly interviewed by Ximena Michemberg.