RSNSW Online Presentation 2023-2

“What we need to know about
the Voice — before we vote”

Panel comprising:

Peter Baume AC DistFRSN,
Megan Davis FRSN FASSA,
Christopher Puplick AM, and
Dean Ashenden

Date: Wednesday, 5 July 2023, 6.30 pm AEST 
Venue: Zoom webinar
Video presentation: YouTube video
All are welcome

Summary: Peter Baume AC, who served as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the Fraser Government is convening this panel on the Voice to help people better understand the intent of 'the Voice' and what they should know before casting a vote at the referendum. He has invited Professor Megan Davis, a human rights lawyer of indigenous descent from UNSW, who has been at the forefront of the case in favour of the Voice. Chris Puplick, a former Liberal MP, will also be participating in the discussion. Dean Ashenden, an academic and author of the book 'Telling Tennant's Story,' which won the 2022 Australian Political Book of the Year, will bring his own re-evaluation of race relations in Tennant Creek based on his childhood experiences.

Emeritus Professor Peter Baume AC DistFRSN is a retired Australian doctor and politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1974 to 1991, representing the Liberal Party. He served as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (1980–1982) and Minister for Education (1982–1983) in the Fraser Government.

Professor Megan Davis FRSN FASSA is an Aboriginal Australian activist and international human rights lawyer. She was the first Indigenous Australian to sit on a United Nations body and was Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Davis is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous, and holds the Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of New South Wales. She is especially known for her work on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Christopher Puplick AM is a former British-Australian politician, public servant, and public intellectual. He served as a Senator for NSW during the 1980s, after which he was appointed as President of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board and the NSW Privacy Commissioner. 

Dean Ashenden has worked as an academic and a political adviser, and in journalism. He has contributed to many print outlets, and was presenter of Radio National's "Education Issues" program. His "Telling Tennant's Story: The strange career of the great Australian silence" (Black Inc 2022) was the inaugural winner of the Australian Political Book of the Year award.