Events

Seminars and presentations

In November and December 2019 the NSW Chapter of the Australasian Study of Parliament Group (ASPG) will be hosting a number of special events.

The first event will see a former speaker of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox talk about the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and its implications for the Union and its members. The talk will also consider what the EU will look like after Brexit and future EU-Australia relations.

This will be followed by a talk delivered by Professor Rodney Smith, current President of the Australian Political Studies Association. Professor Smith’s talk will address the current state of democratic engagement in Australia and elsewhere and discuss how people with a stake in parliamentary democracy might respond.

The focus then turns to the issue of civility in politics. The Hon Ron Dyer and the Hon Kevin Rozzoli, two former long-serving members of the NSW Parliament, will deliver a session that reflects on the current state of political discourse, what is meant by civility in politics, and how the rules and frameworks of Parliament can be used to ensure civil discourse.

To conclude a screening of the film Peterloo will be shown in the Theatrette. The film is an account of the Peterloo massacre which saw a number of pro-democracy activists killed at a protest in Manchester in 1819. The film will be introduced by Professor Kirsten McKenzie FAHA, Department of History, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney, who will examine the consequences of Peterloo in the British colonies, including Australia.

Event times and details are as follows:

• Former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, on Brexit and future EU-Australia relations – 1 pm to 2 pm, Tuesday 12 November, Macquarie Room
• Democracy and Citizen Engagement in Uncertain Times – 1 pm to 2 pm, Thursday 14 November, Macquarie Room
• Civility in Politics – 1 pm to 2 pm, Friday 22 November, McKell Room
• Screening of Peterloo – from 5 pm, Tuesday 3 December, Parliamentary Theatrette.