Back by popular demand, The Ethics Centre in association with the Parliament of NSW goes beyond the stoush with The Bare Pit: In Victory and Defeat.

You are invited to sit in the chamber alongside a panel of current MPs and ex-parliamentarians from all sides, as they lay bare their perspectives, cracking open the human dimension of politics, exploring the pertinent topic “In Victory and Defeat”.

Hear rare personal insights into how it feels to slog hard and fall short; succeed and remain gracious; endure personal sacrifices; and remain ethical when the idea that ‘the ends justify the means’ can be so enticing – all while being in the public eye.  

Your host, The Ethics Centre’s Dr Simon Longstaff AO, will encourage the speakers to be candid as he leads them through a range of scenarios where these dynamics play out: at election time, in the party room, in cabinet and more.  

Guests include Greens Member of the NSW Legislative Council, Cate Faehrmann MLC; the Minister for Finance and Natural Resources, The Hon. Courtney Houssos MLC; Shadow Minister for Health, Matt Kean MP; former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, The Hon. Jonathan O’Dea; and NSW State Political Reporter, Ashleigh Raper.

The name of this event, The Bare Pit is a pun on ‘bear pit’, a well-known colloquial term for the Legislative Assembly chamber, in the past often synonymous with bravado and a combative style of debate. In this take, panellists from all sides of politics appear together to unpack preconceptions of Parliamentary behaviour, as they lay ‘bare’ their own experiences. 

The Bare Pit  is a unique collaboration between The Ethics Centre and the Parliament of NSW, giving audiences unfiltered access to the workings of Parliament in this free event, offered both in person and livestreamed.