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Peter Varghese: Chancellor of UQ, Fmr DFAT Secretary & Australia’s High Commissioner to India
Episode description
Published 26th November, 2025.
Welcome to the fifth episode in our special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations, spotlighting the growing Australia–India relationship across technology, business, media, culture and sport. Previous guests include Brendan Dowling, Sweta Mehra, Bharat Sundaresan, Lisa Stahlalekar and Sanjeev Gandhi, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leadership at the most senior levels.
Episode #233 features Peter Varghese — widely regarded as one of Australia’s most influential architects of foreign policy. He currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Queensland and previously held two of the Australian Government’s most senior diplomatic roles: Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia’s High Commissioner to India.
Born in Kenya and arriving in Australia in the 1960's under the White Australia Policy, Peter rose from “accidental public servant” to one of the nation’s most influential foreign policy leaders — advising Prime Ministers, running Australia’s peak intelligence agency, shaping DFAT, crafting the India strategy, and now driving UQ’s global and Australia–India partnerships.
In this conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Peter reflects on his identity, diplomacy, the craft of clear thinking, Australia-India relations and the lessons from a career defined by courage, conviction and national impact.
It’s time to explore your curiosity — please enjoy.
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Hosted by Vidit Agarwal, Founder of Curiosity Center and The High Flyers Podcast.
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The High Flyers Podcast is a "meticulously researched biography" that uncovers the untold stories of remarkable people and companies—redefining what it means to be a high flyer. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past two years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200 episodes released. A flagship product of the Curiosity Center, it has been featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW, offering raw, relatable insights from childhood to career, helping listeners become 1% better every day.
Some of the notable guests on the show include: Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (VP, Product for Google Chrome, Photos and Drive), Andy Penn (CEO, Telstra), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Jillian Broadbent (Board Member, Macquarie Capital), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, Tennis Australia), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Jason Collins (Head of Australasia, BlackRock), Peter Varghese (Chief, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Andrey Kushid (CEO, Miro) and more.
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