Comet Wonder Women

Georgina Downer: Director of Asialink Diplomacy

Part One

If you’re looking to be inspired look no further than Georgina Downer. Cool, calm and collected, Georgina has accomplished a great deal and yet she still has a great deal more to give. She is so incredibly passionate that for a second I completely forgot my own career ambitions and thought: “I should go into politics!”

Her words of wisdom are taken from her life experiences and her persistence to continue learning. I spoke to Georgina about how and why she got to where she is today…

1. Due to your family’s history in politics, did you always want a political career? What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I’ve always been interested in politics and passionate about making a contribution to public life. I grew up in an atmosphere steeped in politics and the battle of ideas. Debates at the kitchen table were rigorous and made me appreciate the value of advocacy and forensic argument. As Dad always says (and probably because of some bitter experiences), “you must be forensic”!

Depending on my age, however, I have wanted to be a lolly shop keeper (aged 5), a barrister (aged about 10), and then, through my teens, a diplomat. I’ve been both a lawyer and a diplomat, so perhaps lollies are the next big challenge? My 3-year-old son would definitely agree!

2. What did you study and why?

I was lucky enough to receive a National Scholarship to study Law and Commerce at the University of Melbourne. I chose Law because I believed (and still do) that knowledge of law and law-making is important to understand how society works and why decisions are made. I studied Commerce because I was interested in the economy, how it works and how economic theory and policy decisions can affect our way of life.

After I became a lawyer, I won a British Government Chevening Scholarship to study a Masters in Public International Law at the London School of Economics. I chose this degree as I wanted to pursue a career in diplomacy while maintaining my interest in the law.

3. What affects has being the daughter of a former minister for foreign affairs had on your life?

I often get asked whether being the daughter of a high profile person has made life harder. But this was the life I was born into (Dad became an MP when I was 4) and so it’s never been a binary thing for me. Life is full of ups and downs, whether you have famous parents or not. It’s how you cope with these challenges that matters. And I think I’ve coped pretty well.

4. You’ve travelled and worked overseas, do you believe having a worldview has aided your career? What benefits did you gain from working overseas?

There’s a difference between being ‘worldly’ and having a worldview. Living overseas helps one become worldly, if you let it. Living and working in Asia, North America and Europe has opened my eyes to different ways of life, value systems, even conceptions of right and wrong. It can help build tolerance and understanding and, to that extent, makes one more ‘worldly’.

Forming a world view is harder but, I believe, essential if you are interested in a career in public life. But it does take time. My worldview is influenced partly by my experiences growing up in a country as free and blessed as Australia, and partly because by my experiences of different ways of life overseas. I do believe there are clear instances of right or wrong whatever the culture, that democracy, to steal a phrase from a former prime minister of Britain, “is the worst form of government, except for all the others”, and that individual liberties are to be cherished and protected in whatever society.

Stay tuned for part two where I ask Georgina about her current endeavours and her views on young women in the workforce today!