BEECROFT FORUM DINNERS

One of the activities of MIAT in Sydney, is to hold dinners with guest speakers covering a diverse and challenging range of topics.

The list of guest speakers has been:

2001	January	Donald McDonald AO Chairman of the ABC Board
	May	Hon. Philip Ruddock MP Local Federal Member, Minister for Immigration
	August	Dick Smith AO Entrepreneur and Adventurer
	November	Jeff McMullen ABC Journalist and Author
2002	February	John Coutis Motivational Speaker (severely handicapped)
	May	Robin Morrow Children’s Literature authority
		Haruo Goto Suzuki Method Violin Teacher
	October	Jack Mundey AO Environmentalist & Green Bans instigator
	November	Chris Johnson NSW Government Architect & Town Planner
2003	May	Graham Blewitt Deputy Prosecutor for the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague
	September	Dr. Ian Paterson Headmaster, Uniting Church, Jewish & Muslim Schools
2004	February	Ali Kazak Head of the Palestinian Delegation to Australia
	June	Rev.Tim Costello CEO World Vision, Australia
	November	Margot Kingston Journalist and Author
2005	February	Russell Thirgood President, Amnesty International Australia
	May	Rev. Dr. John Bell Member of the Iona Community, Glasgow, composer, activist
	September	Senator Kerry Nettle NSW Greens Senator
2006	May	Professor Barry Leal Ecotheologist
		Professor Steven Leeder Professor of Public Health & Community Medicine
	July	Dr. Bernard Sabella Fatah Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
	September	Dr. John de Gruchy South African,Truth and Reconciliation Commission Think Tank, expert on Dietrich Bonhoeffer
	November	Professor John Hirst Australian Historian
2007	April	His Grace Rev Dr Peter Jensen Anglican Archbishop of Sydney
	July	The Hon John Dowd QC AO President of Australian Section, International Commission of Jurists, Chancellor, Southern Cross University,
	November	His Eminence Cardinal George Pell Catholic Archbishop of Sydney
2008	April	Professor Ian Harper Chairman, Fair Pay Commission
	August	Phillip Adams Journalist, Broadcaster, Controversialist!
		Steve Killelea Founder, Global Peace Index
	November	Hon. Philip Ruddock Federal Member for Berowra
2009	April	Mark Scott Managing Director of the ABC
	May	The Hon. Michael Kirby Retired High Court Judge
	August	Randa Abdel-Fattah Australian Muslim Author, Lawyer, Human Rights Activist
2009	November	PANEL DISCUSSION: “War and Christianity” Panellists: Senior Naval Chaplain Barrie Yesberg, Reverend Siôn Gough Hughes Minister of the Welsh Presbyterian Church in Melbourne (who, before entering the ministry was a professional soldier seeing active service with the SAS in the Middle East) Reverend Moriah Hurst, a Mennonite minister and leader of a peacemaking community in Canberra Camilla Schippa, Senior Vice President, Global Peace Index
2010	March	Aneurin Hughes Former EU Ambassador to Australia, Diplomat & Raconteur
	May	Mark O’Connor Australian Poet, Environmentalist & Author of “Overloading Australia”
	July	Constantine Dabbagh, Executive Secretary the Middle East Council of Churches in Gaza
	November	Professor Louise Baur AM Sydney University “Obesity — the Millenium Disease”
2011	March	Nicholas Cowdery AM QC, NSW Director of Public Prosecutions — “Human Rights in Criminal Justice and Politics”
	May	Robert Newton, former Australian Ambassador to Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and Sudan — “Understanding the Middle East: A Personal Reflection”
	August	Professor Jake Lynch, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney
2012	February	Allan Asher, Former NSW Ombudsman and Consumer Affairs Advocate
	May	Prof. Larissa Behrendt, Professor of Law and Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House, University of Technology, Sydney
	September	Professor Tim Flannery, Adventurer, Explorer, Scientist, Author, Global Warming Advocate
	November	Steve Biddulph, Author, activist and psychologist
2013	February	Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, Retired RC bishop, author, activist and reformer especially the issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church
	April	Tim Fischer AC, Former politician, businessman, advocate and author
	August	Jessie Taylor, Lawyer, Refugee and Human Rights Advocate “Asylum Seekers, Refugees and the Election”
	November	Prof Tim McCormack, Professor of Law at Melbourne Law School, Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
2014	February	Dr Meredith Burgmann, Political activist, lecturer, long-term Parliamentarian, ex-President of the Legislative Council. “The Importance of Community”
	May	Prof Gillian Triggs, President, Australian Human Rights Commission “Australia’s Human Rights Record, Past Present and Future?
	August	Bob Carr, Former Premier of NSW and Australian Foreign Minister
	November	Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO Australian Council of Social Service
2015	March	ZIKA ABZUK from Israel, MANAL ZRAIQ from Palestine "The Role of Women in Business”
	July	Latika Bourke National Political Correspondent for Fairfax Media and Author
	September	Matt Tinkler Director of Policy and Public Affairs, “Save the Children” Fund
	November	The Hon Ian Coleman SC Retired Judge of the Appeals Division of the Family Court of Australia
2016	March	Dr Jackie Huggins AM Co-Chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, published author. “Reconciliation in Australia”
	May	Dr Stuart Edser Principal Psychologist at Newcastle Psychology and Health “Gay Sexuality, the Christian Faith and Marriage Equality in Australia”
	August	Professor the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO Former Governor of NSW, Professor of Psychiatry “A Journey of Love”
	November	Professor Father Frank Brennan, ACU Canberra “My Journey for Justice: Amplifying that Still, Small Voice”

CURRENT PROJECTS

Concepts of the Hereafter

The 30 second grab - What is Christianity?

The financial immorality of present Australian generations

Sunday - Relationship Day

Aid - Australia's first line of defence