Current Research Projects ​
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Democracy and Development Under Extraction: The New Politics of Critical Mineral Frontiers in Asia  (PI, supported by a 2025 Westpac Fellowship)
Green energy transitions are reorienting developmental pathways around the world. In countries with large stocks of critical minerals that feed low-carbon technologies—like nickel and lithium—new extractive projects and industrial hubs are emerging, some at an astonishing speed. This project examines the evolving role of critical minerals in the economies of mining centres around Asia and Australia, tracing and comparing the pathways to mineral-led industrial growth. It homes in on and compares the places that have become - or are set to become - new hubs for mineral processing. This project explores how global urgency to control, exploit and process these minerals alters resource governance, democratic politics, and development outcomes at the local level.

Reimagining Circularity: Critical Mineral Governance and Just Transitions in Indonesia (ARC UI project, advisory role)
This research critically examines Indonesia’s circular economy policies concerning critical mineral through the lenses of political ecology and Science and Technology Studies (STS). We interrogate how circularity is governed, whose interests it serves, and what alternative pathways might exist for a more just and inclusive mineral economy.
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A State of Capture: Businesspeople as Politicians in Indonesia (PI, supported by an ANU Futures Award)
Political institutions around the world are increasingly populated by people from the business world. Why do these businesspeople run for public office, how do they govern, and what does the direct political involvement of private sector actors mean for welfare outcomes and democratic institutions? A wide-ranging political economy literature, dating back decades, examines the influence economic elites wield over public policy from outside the political system (through lobbying activities, campaign donations, and corruption). In comparison, less research examines the causes and consequences of businesspersons entering office directly. In a range of countries, however, a growing number of private sector actors are moving into politics with potentially significant consequences for the quality of political representation and economic inequality. Indonesia is one such country. From legislators to district heads, politicians with a business background have become commonplace. This project examines what motivates businesspeople to enter politics in Indonesia, and what their growing presence in governments means for democracy and development. 

Political Representation in Indonesia: Comparing Elites and Masses (Co-PI with Edward Aspinall, Diego Fossati, Burhanuddin Muhtadi and Sally White; supported by an ARC Discovery Grant)
This project is about the quality of political representation outside established democracies. Focusing on Indonesia, the project examines elected politicians and how well they represent voter preferences and attributes at different government tiers. The outcome will be the first in-depth analysis of political representation in an illiberal democracy in the Asia-Pacific (existing research in this area focuses on Western democracies). The project looks at key areas of governance and examines how closely elites are representing the preferences of their constituents: democracy, social welfare, class, religion and gender. This project gives government and development practitioners new knowledge on political power-holders in our region, and provides them with innovative analytical tools to assess the fragility and strength of representative institutions in illiberal democratic settings.