Petro Georgiou to speak at University

Tuesday, 3 October 2006

Liberal MP Petro Georgiou, who crossed the floor in August to vote against the Federal Government's contentious Migration Amendment Bill, will deliver a lecture at the University of Adelaide this Wednesday.

Mr Georgiou, the Member for Kooyong, will give the inaugural lecture for the Murray Hill Society, established in 2005 in memory of the late SA Liberal politician and father of former Senator Robert Hill, who encouraged "liberal thought".

A passionate advocator of human rights and a staunch defender of minorities, Mr Georgiou joined fellow Liberals Russell Broadbent and Senator Judi Moylan to vote against the Federal Government Bill on 11 August, designed to force all asylum seekers to be processed offshore.

Mr Georgiou will speak on "The Liberal Tradition" at this Wednesday's lecture, organised in association with the University of Adelaide's Discipline of Politics.

The Hon. Christopher Pyne MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health, will introduce Mr Georgiou. Other guests will include federal parliamentarians the Hon. Judi Moylan, the Member for Pearce, and Senator Judith Troeth.

The lecture is being co-hosted by the University's Issues in Australian Politics Course. "It's important to remember that the Australian Liberal tradition includes both moderate and socially conservative positions on social issues," course co-ordinator Dr Carol Johnson said.

"Murray Hill was a major advocate of the small 'l' Liberal tradition. He introduced a Private Member's Bill in 1972, which defended homosexual sex between consenting adults in private - a national first and an important precursor to full decriminalisation. His tradition is being carried on today by moderate SA Liberal MLC Michelle Lensink, who is also pressurising SA's Labor Government for same-sex law reform."

Dr Johnson said Petro Georgiou had been a strong defender of minorities since the Fraser years and played a major role in the development of Australian multiculturalism. "His support for asylum seekers is firmly within a moderate Liberal tradition," she said.

What: The inaugural Murray Hill Society Lecture
Where: Napier Building LG29, North Terrace Campus, University of Adelaide
When: Wednesday 4 October, 1.10pm-2pm

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