Father Frank Brennan ao

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The Centre for Ethics 

Newsletter

Volume 79 - Term 4, 2015

Father Frank Brennan AO

Father Frank Brennan has been 

described by Paul Keating as “the 

meddling priest,” by the National Trust 

as a National Living Treasure and by 

Phillip Adams as “my favourite Jesuit”. 

He regularly appears on Adams’ Radio 

National program: Late Night Live. He 

also contributes to other ABC radio 

and television current affairs programs 

including Q&A, the 7.30 Report and 

Lateline. His articles can be found in a 

wide variety of publications including 

the Age, The Australian and Eureka 

Street.

A life in the law and in pursuit of 

social justice

Father Brennan is a professor of law 

in the Public Policy Institute at the 

Australian Catholic University, Adjunct 

Professor at the Australian National 

University College of Law, a visiting 

professorial fellow at the University 

of New South Wales and was the 

founding director of the Uniya Jesuit 

Social Justice Centre in Sydney from 

2001 to 2007. He is renowned for his 

long standing advocacy in the areas of 

law, social justice, refugee protection 

and Aboriginal reconciliation. In 1995, 

he was appointed as an Officer of 

the Order of Australia. In 1996, Frank 

Brennan and Patrick Dodson were joint 

winners of the inaugural Australian 

Council for Overseas Aid Human Rights 

Award. In 2002, Frank was awarded the 

Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal 

for his work as Director of the Jesuit 

Refugee Service in East Timor. He has 

received, honoris causa, a Doctor of 

the University from the Queensland 

University of Technology and a Doctor 

of Laws from the University of New 

South Wales.

Influences

Frank Brennan’s family has a 

long association with the law. His 

grandfather was a Justice of the 

Supreme Court of Queensland and his 

father, Sir Gerard Brennan was Chief 

Justice of the High Court of Australia 

from 1995 until 1998. In 1975, Frank 

worked in the inner Sydney parish 

of Redfern with the legendary and 

controversial priest activist Father Ted 

Kennedy. It was here that he came 

into contact with Mum Shirl Smith. In 

the 1960s, Father Kennedy and Mum 

Shirl were leading members of a group 

promoting significant legal, health and 

political initiatives to achieve greater 

social justice for Aboriginal people. 

Reconciliation and Human Rights

In 1997, Father Brennan was 

Rapporteur at the Australian 

Reconciliation Convention and the 

following year was appointed an 

Ambassador for Reconciliation by the 

Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. 

In 2008 he became chairperson 

of the Australian Government’s 

National Human Rights Consultation 

Committee. This committee consulted 

with the Australian community 

about the protection and promotion 

of human rights and reported its 

recommendations to the Federal 

Attorney General in 2009.

Robust Debate

In the hurly burly of political debate, 

Frank Brennan has never been afraid 

to speak his mind. During 2011, he was 

critical of the refugee policies of the 

government saying that the Australian 

Labor Party had been led into moral 

decline and that the Malaysia Solution 

was morally derelict and tantamount 

to “offshore dumping”. Over the 

years, he has faced criticism of his 

own. In June, prominent indigenous 

academic Marcia Langton denounced 

his proposal for the recognition of 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 

people in the constitution as merely 

symbolic reform, that it set the bar 

“too low” and predicted it would be 

opposed by Indigenous Australians. 

No Small Change

Frank Brennan has written fourteen 

books. His most recent is No Small 

Change: The Road to Recognition for 

Indigenous Australia. His first book was 

Too Much Order With Too Little Law. He 

has also written Legislating Liberty: a 

bill of rights for Australia? A provocative 

and timely proposal to balance the 

public good with individual freedom. 

There is also Tampering with Asylum:  

a universal humanitarian problem.

When speaking in the Chapel, Frank 

Brennan will address the topic 

Australia’s National Interest and the 

Decent Treatment of Asylum Seekers.

Frank Sheehan

School Chaplain

Director of the Centre for Ethics

The Centre for Ethics newsletter is a quarterly publication informing 

the community of forthcoming speakers and events.

---

Matt Norman

Matt Norman is a young writer and 

educator, consumed with the power of 

stories. His work has been published in 

Voiceworks, The Disappearing app (part of 

the Sydney Writers Festival), on a giant 

poster by Trove Journal, and various 

other locations. Matt is the founder 

and director of the Said Poets Society; a 

small team of young people who run 

workshops to engage and empower 

high school students through poetry. He 

thinks stories can change the world, and 

he is trying to prove it one tale at a time.

Kerry O’Brien will speak to  

the community on  

Wednesday 28 October.

Kerry O’Brien

Kerry O’Brien is an Australian journalist 

who has been reporting and 

commenting on Australian politics for 

50 years. He was the founding presenter 

of Lateline, the former editor and long 

time host of the ABC’s 7.30 Report and 

he currently hosts Four Corners. O’Brien 

has had roles as a general reporter, 

feature writer, political and foreign 

correspondent, interviewer and compere.

Kerry O’Brien is one of Australia’s most 

respected journalists, with six Walkley 

awards including the Gold Walkley 

and the Walkley for Outstanding 

Leadership in journalism.

In his book Keating, O’Brien and 

Keating wrestle with history to 

produce a ‘tour de force’ of political 

wisdom and personal insight that 

weaves through the Keating years in a 

unique and compelling way.

Building on the transcripts of the 

much-watched television event of 

2013, Keating: The Interviews, O’Brien 

gathered an enormous bank of new 

material, gleaned during many hours 

of further conversation with Keating, 

to create a book that is more forensic 

and all encompassing than the 

successful TV series.

O’Brien captures the hallmarks of 

the man - the nimble mind, the wit, 

the sweep of vision, the ruthlessness 

and the stubborn drive for power - as 

Keating explains the historic events, 

back room stoushes and moments of 

drama and pathos that the political 

world inevitably holds.

Matt Norman will speak to students 

on Tuesday 13 October.

Paul Keating became Australia’s 

24th Prime Minister in 1991, after 

successfully challenging Bob Hawke 

for the Labor leadership. He won 

the so-called “unwinnable” election 

just over a year later. During 

office, he introduced compulsory 

superannuation, deregulated the 

financial sector and floated the 

Australian dollar. He was defeated at 

the 1996 election by his long-time 

nemesis John Howard; however, he 

remains an enthusiastic contributor 

to the Australian economic and 

political arenas. 

---

Julie Baker’s 32-year career in travel 

and tourism has spanned a broad 

spectrum of roles, from travel 

agent to Managing Director of 

Genesis Travel, Genesis Dive Travel 

and Epicurean Tours. Passionately 

involved in yoga, meditation and 

spirituality, her personal journey 

has guided her on a quest for a 

more balanced and meaningful life. 

Aware that certain locations have 

a heightened spiritual energy, Julie 

has become more and more aware 

that ancient, indigenous wisdoms 

are linked to healing, joy and vitality.  

Julie began Journeys of the Spirit as a 

way of allowing other people to be in 

touch with their own depths, as they 

travel to new locations. Her vision in 

the creation of these very personal 

experiences is that they may touch 

the hearts of people in empowering 

and lasting ways. 

Julie Baker

Julie Baker will speak 

to students on  

Monday 2 November.

Dr Barry Green

Dr Barry Green has a Bachelor of 

Science from Victoria University 

of Wellington, New Zealand, and 

obtained his PhD in Theoretical 

Physics from the University of Sydney 

in 1967. He spent the next 40 years 

outside Australia and was involved 

in the research and development of 

fusion energy.

He has worked at the Princeton 

Plasma Physics Laboratory in 

the United States; the Max-

Planck Institute of Plasma Physics 

in Germany and the JET Joint 

Undertaking in the United Kingdom, 

where he was engineer in charge of 

the operation of the JET device when 

it produced the first significant man 

made fusion power (2 MW) in 1991.

Subsequently he worked at the 

Naka Joint Work Site in Japan for the 

design phase of the International 

Fusion Energy Project (ITER), now 

under construction in the south 

of France. He then worked for 

the Directorate of Energy of the 

Directorate General for Research in 

Brussels, where he co-ordinated the 

fusion research and development of 

the 12 most recent member states of 

the European Union; before retiring 

to Perth where he now works part-

time in the School of Physics at the 

University of Western Australia.

Barry Green will speak to students 

on Thursday 29 October.

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Dr Hoenig is a lecturer and tutor in 

journalism at The University of South 

Australia. He recently completed 

a PhD in Journalism and Cultural 

Studies with his thesis entitled 

Reading alien lips: Australian press 

depiction of lip sewing by asylum 

seekers and the construction of national 

identity. Dr Hoenig has written several 

papers examining the treatment 

by Australian print media of recent 

asylum seekers. His work brings 

together his passions about writing, 

multiculturalism and the ethics of 

depiction of cultural Others.

Dr Hoenig is the Deputy Chair of the 

Australian Council of Christians and 

Jews and the Jewish Co-Chair of the 

Council of Christians and Jews (SA), 

President of Beit Shalom Synagogue 

and a member of the reference 

group of the Abraham Institute. In 

2011 he was nominated for a lifetime 

achievement award for his activities in 

promoting multiculturalism in South 

Australia.

Lib is a South African-Australian 

who derives purpose in life through 

empowering others. As president of 

The SOAR Project, LEAP Leadership 

Coach, youth advisory councillor, 

participant in Methodist Ladies’ 

College’s Walton Leadership Institute 

and advocate for the White Ribbon 

campaign, she works to make the 

world a better place.

Lib has spoken in various parts of 

the world from Los Angeles to Perth 

on a range of topics from Charity to 

Leadership. She is a proud advocate 

for the White Ribbon Campaign, 

an organisation that works for the 

abolition of male violence against 

women. 

White Ribbon is Australia’s only 

national, male led campaign to end 

men’s violence against women. Its 

vision is that all women live in safety, 

free from all forms of men’s violence 

and it seeks to make women’s safety 

an issue for men. White Ribbon 

began in Australia in 2003 as part of 

UNIFEM (now UN Women).

Dr Ron Hoenig

Lib Matthews

Dr Hoenig will speak to  

the community on  

Monday 9 November.

Lib Matthews will speak to the 

students on 18 November.

COUNCIL OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA INC. 

 

 

COMMEMORATION of KRISTALLNACHT 

“The Night of Broken Glass”

 

 

 

 

in the presence of Her Excellency  

the Honourable Kerry Sanderson AO 

Governor of Western Australia 

 

Occasional address by  

Dr Ron Hoenig  

Deputy Chair, Australian CCJ; Jewish Co-Chair CCJ (SA) 

 

7:30pm, Monday 9 November 2015 

 

Christ Church Grammar School Chapel 

Queenslea Drive, Claremont 

 

All welcome 

 

Enquiries: 

[e-mail]

 

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We are always delighted to welcome back speakers whose talks have been so interesting and helpful.  

For more information on any of our speakers please contact Teresa Scott at [e-mail]

Frank Brennan is an Australian 

Jesuit priest, Professor of Law at the 

Australian Catholic University and 

Adjunct Professor at the Australian 

Centre for Christianity and Culture, 

the Australian National University 

College of Law and the National 

Centre for Indigenous Studies.

In 1995, Frank was appointed an 

Officer of the Order of Australia 

(AO) in recognition of service to 

Aboriginal Australians, particularly as 

an advocate in the areas of law, social 

justice and reconciliation.

When launching Frank’s book Acting 

on conscience: how can we responsibly 

mix law, religion and politics? Kevin 

Rudd described Frank as ‘an ethical 

burr in the nation’s saddle’. In 1998, 

during The Wik debate, Paul Keating 

labelled him ‘the meddling priest’. 

This followed with the National Trust 

classifying Frank as a National Living 

Treasure.

In 2009, Frank chaired the Australian 

National Human Rights Consultation 

Committee. His research interests 

include conscience and faith, human 

rights and the rule of law, and the 

rights of Indigenous peoples and 

asylum seekers. In 2013, he was the 

recipient of the Migration Institute of 

Australia’s Distinguished Service to 

Immigration Award.

In May 2015, Frank returned to 

Australia, having spent a year as 

the Gasson Professor at the Boston 

College Law School. His latest books 

are No Small Change: The Road to 

Recognition for Indigenous Australia 

and Amplifying That Still, Small Voice.

Frank Brennan AO

Frank Brennan will speak to  

the community on  

Sunday 22 November.

---

Thursday 24 December 

10.00am School Chapel

If your children are interested in taking part in  

this year’s Nativity play please contact  

Mr Jerome Griffin [e-mail]

---

Wednesday 2 December 7.30pm School Chapel

Thursday 24 December 8.00pm School Chapel

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Please contact Teresa Scott on 9442 1705 beforehand, in case there is a change to the program.  

A map of Christ Church Grammar School is available on our website www.ccgs.wa.edu.au/about-us/our-location/campus-map

The Centre For Ethics 

Calendar

Date

Event and topic

Speaker

Time

Location

Every Thursday

Christ Church Credo

Matt Smith

1.00pm

Q1

Every 4th Tuesday

Embracing Fatherhood

Facilitator: Miles Protter

7.30pm

RSVP 

fsheehan@ccgs.

wa.edu.au

Tuesday 13 October

Voiceworks 

Matt Norman

Day

Classroom

Monday 26 October

Life is fun

Jon Doust

Day

Classroom

Wednesday 28 October

WA Book Event: Keating

Kerry O’Brien

7.30pm

Tickets Lane 

Bookshop

9384 4423

Thursday 29 October

Fusion – A sustainable 

source for the future

Dr Barry Green

Day

Classroom

Monday 2 November

Journeys of the Spirit

Julie Baker

Day

Classroom

Monday  

9 November

Commemoration of 

Kristallnacht

Dr Ron Hoenig will speak. 

Her Excellency the  

Honourable Kerry 

Sanderson AO will be in 

attendance

7.30pm

Chapel

Wednesday

11 November

Leadership

Greg Mitchell

Day

Classroom

Wednesday

18 November

White Ribbon Day

Lib Matthews

Day

Classroom

Sunday  

22 November

Australia’s National Interest 

and the Decent Treatment 

of Asylum Seekers

Frank Brennan

3.00pm to 

6.00pm

Chapel

Wednesday

25 November

Ethics Book Club

Frank Sheehan

Q1

RSVP

9442 1705

Wednesday  

2 December

Advent Service

7.30pm

Chapel

Thursday  

24 December

Nativity Play

10.00am

Chapel

Thursday  

24 December

Xmas Eve Service

8.00pm

Chapel