Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Thursday 12 May
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
In Australia and around the world, there remain many laws worthy of ridicule – some because they’re outdated and no longer apply to contemporary life, others because they’re unfair and discriminatory.
So: what are the laws that we should be challenging … and just how hard is it to change them?
Join Charlie Pickering, Julian Burnside and host Lorin Clarke as they discuss the sometimes unintended impacts of laws that criminalise begging, dig into what happens to asylum seekers after being granted temporary protection and reveal why victims of family violence are racking up massive housing debts.
Presented by the Wheeler Centre and Justice Connect.
Featuring
Charlie Pickering
Charlie Pickering spent ten years travelling the world as an award-winning stand-up comedian, before settling into the closest thing he had to a day job since he left his legal studies behind. As host of The Project for five years, Charlie was at the centre of one of Australian television's most daring experiments – redefining the way that hundreds of thousands of Australians see the news.
Charlie chose to wrap up with The Project at the start of 2014 so that he could focus on his stand up and some other exciting projects, and in 2015 he returned to Australia's TV screens as host of his own hotly-anticipated show for the ABC, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering – which returned for a second series in early 2016.
Julian Burnside
Julian Burnside is a Melbourne barrister. He joined the Bar in 1976 and took silk in 1989. He specialises in commercial litigation, and has acted in many very contentious cases - the MUA Waterfront dispute; the Cash-for-Comment enquiry; cases for Alan Bond and Rose Porteous - but has become known for his human rights work and has acted pro bono in many refugee cases.
He is an outspoken opponent of the mistreatment of people who come to Australia seeking protection from persecution. His latest book is Watching Out: Reflections on Justice and Injustice (Scribe).
Lorin Clarke
Lorin Clarke is a writer, director and broadcaster. She has written for stage, television, print and radio and is the television columnist for the Big Issue. Lorin co-presents the daily Stupidly Small podcast with Stew Farrell.
Her play For We Are Young And Free was nominated for the Golden Gibbo Award at the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Lorin has an arts/law degree.