Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Thursday 28 April
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
The Federal Court action against columnist Andrew Bolt has sparked a heated debate between those who believe that his comments contravene the Racial Discrimination Act and those who argue that the legal action is an assault on freedom of speech and democracy.
Whether you agree or disagree with Bolt, the debate has created compelling dichotomies, pitting freedom of speech against censorship, racial discrimination against political correctness. Objective opinions are muddied by subjective reactions to the personalities involved - divisive personalities like Bolt and Geoff Clark. Bolt’s writings are deliberately provocative - but does that mean he should be silenced?
Featuring
Leslie Cannold
Dr Leslie Cannold’s expertise is gender and inspirational leadership. Her public contributions in these areas have earned her awards for Australian Humanist of the Year and multiple notices as one of Australia’s most influential public intellectuals and women.
Leslie is a nonfiction and fiction writer. Her latest book is the historical novel, The Book of Rachael.
Jonathan Green
Jonathan Green has been an editor, writer, commentator and broadcaster in a 40-year career as a journalist, beginning with a cadetship at The Canberra Times and taking in various Australian dailies: the Melbourne Herald ...
Bernard Keane
Bernard has been Crikey’s correspondent in Canberra since 2008; he writes on politics, media and economics.
He was educated at the University of Sydney, where he studied history. Before joining Crikey he was a public servant, and worked in transport policy and as a speechwriter before moving into communications policy. He is the author of War on the Internet.
Bernard says, ‘WikiLeaks is the most globally famous example of the connectedness that is rewiring our societies and ourselves. The war on WikiLeaks by governments and corporations is a war on an emerging, more democratic, more connected and more informed society by those with the greatest interest in a status quo they control. It’s therefore a war all of us have a stake in.’