Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 01 August
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
Immigration has long been among the most contentious, and highly politicised, areas of Australian public policy. The past 20 years have seen a drastic increase in Australia's intake of migrants, as well as an increasingly punitive approach to managing asylum seeker arrivals; an approach that has attracted censure from human rights groups.
Does the recent outcome of the class action between Manus Island detainees and the Commonwealth represent a turning point? And what impact will new changes to 457 visas and the Australian citizenship test have on the fabric of our communities?
For this Fifth Estate event, Sally Warhaft meets human rights activist, former refugee and orthopaedic surgeon, Munjed Al Muderis and GetUp!’s human rights campaign director, Shen Narayanasamy. Join them for a discussion of the Australian immigration experience and its broader implications.
Featuring
Sally Warhaft
Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. She is the host of The Fifth Estate, the Wheeler Centre’s live series focusing on journalism, politics, media, and international relations, and The Leap Year ...
Munjed Al Muderis
Munjed Al Muderis is an Australian trained orthopaedic surgeon, and a Squadron Leader in the Australian Air Force Reserve. He is also an ambassador for the Australian Red Cross, a human rights activist and a refugee. Munjed came to Australia by boat.
Apart from his academic and clinical roles, Munjed is heavily involved in humanitarian work volunteering his time as a surgeon and as a human rights advocate. He has affiliations with Amnesty International, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and represents the Australian Red Cross.
Born in Baghdad, at the age of 27, Munjed had to flee Iraq as a young doctor, having refused the orders of Saddam Hussein to mutilate army deserters’ ears.
Munjed endured a life-threatening journey to Australia. After spending 10 months in Curtin Detention Centre, upon his release, he embarked
on a mission to become an orthopaedic surgeon.
He is now one of three surgeons world wide pioneering a revolutionary technology known as 'osseointegration'. As a leading surgeon in this complex reconstructive and robotic surgery, Munjed has helped more than 270 amputees from around the world to improve mobility, reduce pain and overall enhance their quality of life.
Munjed’s day-to-day work as an orthopaedic surgeon involves hip and knee arthroplasty and major reconstructive surgery. He teaches at Notre Dame and Macquarie Universities, trains local and international surgeons, registrars and medical students.
Shen Narayanasamy
Shen Narayanasamy is GetUp!'s Human Rights Campaign Director. She founded the No Business in Abuse project, targeting corporate involvement in offshore detention of asylum seekers, and led #LetThemStay, which prevented the deportation of hundreds of asylum seekers to Nauru.
Recently, she led GetUp's response to the Federal Government's attempts to change the Racial Discrimination Act, and ongoing attempts to change citizenship requirements. Shen's background is as a human rights lawyer and advocate, working in Australia and across the Asia Pacific on issues of economic justice and land rights.