Our guest speaker will be Professor Jane McAdam, the founding Director of the Andrew and Renata Kaldor centre for International Law. Professor McAdam has published widely and her most recent book is “Refugees- Why Seeking Asylum is Legal and Australia’s Policies are Not.”

Professor McAdam’s book was launched by Admiral Chris Barrie who was Chief of Defence at the time of the Children Overboard affair of 2001. Admiral Barrie criticised Operation Sovereign Borders and the processing of asylum seekers as ”outrageously expensive for a country that was built on immigration” and called for better leadership on the issue.

Scientia Professor McAdam said she wrote the book to debunk some of the myths and misunderstandings about refugees and asylum seekers which have been used by all recent federal governments to exploit public anxieties about border control.

“International law provides a universal framework against which to assess Australia’s policies towards asylum seekers and refugees. Right now in the international community, there is both dismay and bewilderment at Australia’s treatment of refugees, said Professor McAdam , who was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2013.

If you want to find out the facts about our treatment of asylum seekers please come along to this meeting as you will not find a more lucid speaker on this issue than Professor McAdam.

Contact: Forbes Gordon e-mail forbesgordon1@bigpond.com; ph 0248421821