Benedict Xu-Holland

Benedict Xu-Holland

Asian Exchange 2026
The University of Melbourne
Victoria

Focus are

Australia in Asia

About me

I've always had a passion for understanding people and their context. It is this curiosity that first led me to study politics, economics, and languages and to be open to taking as many different opportunities as possible. During my career, I've been enormously privileged to work on trade, fiscal, and industrial policy within the Australian Government, teach political economy at the University of Melbourne, and conduct research on climate policy at Peking University on a DFAT-funded New Colombo Scholarship. Beyond this, I have worked on a grant-funded project on trade policy at the University of Melbourne and written for peer-reviewed publications, such as the East Asia Forum. My career now focuses on building partnerships to meet Australia's future challenges within the Australian Government.
I strongly believe that Australia will need to learn from its neighbours and build partnerships within our region in order to build an inclusive economy and address climate change. The opportunities provided by Westpac Scholars Trust through the Australia-Asia Fellowship are critical to this journey and I am very grateful to be part of this community.

My passions

  • Political economy
  • Trade policy
  • Political science
  • Chinese (Mandarin)
  • Climate