General Cosgrove said, "I am honoured to be asked to deliver this year's Boyer Lectures and look forward to engaging in a very Australian conversation around themes and issues that are affecting our nation now and into the future." Each year the ABC invites a prominent Australian to present the result of his or her work and thinking on major social, scientific or cultural issues in a series of radio talks known as the Boyer Lectures.This annual lecture began in 1959 and is named after the late Sir Richard Boyer, a former Chairman of the ABC. Over the years featured speakers have come from a very broad range of disciplines and interests. Previous Boyer Lecturers include: former Reserve Bank Governor Ian Macfarlane, Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen, international affairs expert Owen Harries, historian Professor Geoffrey Blainey, author David Malouf, former Prime Minister (then head of the ACTU) Bob Hawke, Aboriginal leader and lawyer Noel Pearson and Professor Graeme Clark AC.