Julian Burnside's Sydney Peace Prize speech

Media Release
Monday 3 November 2014

Our inhumanity to refugees and our Kafkaesque security laws

Julian Burnside AO QC to give 2014 City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture.

Our inhumanity to refugees and our Kafkaesque security laws are the major thrusts of the 2014 City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture to be given by the 2014 winner of the Sydney Peace Prize, Julian Burnside AO QC.

He will be presented with the 2014 Sydney Peace Prize on Wednesday 5 November at Sydney Town Hall and deliver the City of Sydney Peace Lecture, 6pm for 6.30pm start.

In the lecture he says “….most refugees are fleeing the same extremists we fear….the same extremists we are fighting in the Middle-East.”

He deplores Australia’s inhumanity: “Just as a person’s character is judged by their conduct, so a country’s character is judge by its conduct. Australia is now judged overseas by its behaviour as cruel and selfish…..

“(At) the 2013 Federal election, both major parties courted political favour by promising cruelty to boat people.”

Of the impact of our security laws: it is “the stuff of a Kafka nightmare,” Burnside declares.

“It is a chilling thought that, in Australia in 2014, a person who is legally entitled to remain in the country can be jailed forever, without being allowed to know why, and with no means of legal challenge. Let’s make no mistake about this: people are being jailed without charge and without trial, and they face the prospect of a much longer time in jail than if they had actually broken the law and had been convicted.”

The Sydney Peace Prize is Australia’s only international prize for peace. It is highly valued and recognised globally for its international scope and the extraordinary work of its awardees. Past recipients include Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Hans Blix, Desmond Tutu, William Deane and Patrick Dodson.

The Sydney Peace Foundation’s Patron, The Hon. Professor Dame Marie Bashir will present Julian Burnside with the Prize, a beautifully crafted glass trophy and a cheque for $50,000.

Tickets are $30 adult / $15 concession.

The Lecture and Award Ceremony will finish at 7.45pm, and be followed by the Sydney Peace Prize Gala Reception (tickets are $180 adult / $150 concession) – which helps to raise funds for the Prize. Ringmaster will be Charles Firth (The Chaser) and Q and A with Julian Burnside, moderated by distinguished journalist Richard Ackland.

Tickets for both events via www.sydneypeacefoundation.org.au

ENDS

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