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Disability Rights

2015 International Day of People with Disability

Good afternoon. To begin, I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are meeting, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, and the Elders from other communities who may be here today. I make particular mention of Indigenous Peoples...

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Tony Blackshield Lecture

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE OVERREACH OF EXECUTIVE DISCRETION: CITIZENSHIP, ASYLUM SEEKERS AND WHISTLEBLOWERS It is a special pleasure for me to speak in honour of Professor Blackshield, who is a long time colleague of mine in the law. He is a constitutional law scholar of the highest order and one of the...

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Universal Periodic Review Reception Address 9 November 2015

Thank you Ambassador Quinn for your warm welcome and thank you for generously hosting us here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging all Ambassadors and Excellencies with us this evening. I acknowledge the grandfather of our Parliament, the Hon Mr Philip Ruddock MP, Special Envoy for...

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Charles Perkins Oration 2015

Acknowledgements Thank you Stephen for your sincere welcome and can I also thank Uncle Chicka for your generous Welcome to Country. I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we sit this evening, the Gadigal Peoples of the Eora Nation. I honour your Elders that have come...

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Austin Asche Oration in Law and Governance

Austin Asche Oration in Law and Governance Thursday 3 September 2015 I am honoured to have been invited to speak tonight at this, the 5 th Austin Asche Oration in Law and Governance. As I had not met or known the Hon. Austin Asche. As any researcher would do, I ‘googled’ him to learn about his...

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

NSW Council for Civil Liberties

I was pleased to have been invited to speak to the NSW Council for Civil Liberties at this your annual fund raising dinner for you are, above all, best placed to understand the phenomenon of the last few years that is of concern to the Australian Human Rights Commission; that is, the encroachment of...

Category, Speech
Race Discrimination

Building social cohesion

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Darug people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past and present. I also acknowledge the fine work of the University of Western Sydney, particularly Dr Sev Ozdowski, in putting together this conference. It’s most...

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

What are the proper limits on the power of Parliament?

Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues - thank you for your welcome to this Law Institute of Victoria seminar. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I will always have a soft spot for the Law Institute of Victoria. I was admitted...

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

What are the proper limits on the power of Parliament?

Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues - thank you for your welcome to this Law Institute of Victoria seminar. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I will always have a soft spot for the Law Institute of Victoria. I was admitted...

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Religious Freedom in a Secular Society

Freedom of religion is a close ally and friend of the absolute freedoms of thought and conscience. Government cannot regulate it, and nor should they. Equally, it is closely allied to freedom of expression.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

White paper has the potential to improve indigenous lives

The Northern Australia white paper has the potential to be transformative in improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples if it increases the respect and value of their property rights and their right to development. The white paper, released just over a week ago, focuses on...

Category, Opinion
Rights and Freedoms

Freedom, Parliament and the Courts. Speech to the Human Rights Dinner

Please check against delivery Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues- thank you for your welcome tonight. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay respect to their elders past and present. I am honoured to be a patron of Justice Connect...

Category, Speech
LGBTIQ+

I want to hold your hand: LGBTI people have some surprisingly modest aspirations

Visibility remains one of the greatest challenges in tackling the legacy of state-sanctioned discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status. In the past 30 years we’ve made great strides in ensuring people are treated equally before the law...

Category, Opinion

Pagination

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