Media Release

Phillip Adams: 'Repairing Australia'

Broadcaster, social commentator and satirist Phillip Adams will address contemporary issues facing Australia, such as terrorism, racism and social change in a public lecture at the State Library of Victoria next week.

In the 2004 Stephen Murray-Smith Memorial Lecture, entitled Repairing Australia: How to Undo the Damage Phillip Adams will examine how our leaders are dealing with the difficulties and conflicts facing Australian society and outline how to ‘repair the damage’.

Adams says, ‘Reconciliation and the Republic are in ruins – and the refugees remain in mandatory detention. Since Mabo, Wik and Hansonism, bigotry has found its voice again. Since Tampa and the Towers, fear has been a driving force in Australian politics. How should Australia’s progressives respond? What is to be done?’

For almost 40 years Phillip Adams’ columns in major newspapers and magazines have provoked discussion and outrage. He is in constant demand as a speaker, chairman and moderator in public and private sectors, and is the author of more than 20 books which have sold over a million copies.

Adams has played a key role in the establishment and growth of many of Australia’s major cultural and artistic institutions – most notably within the film industry.

This annual lecture commemorates Stephen Murray-Smith’s contribution to Australian intellectual life and promotes research and debate in the broad areas of his interest and influence. The academic and founding editor of Overland magazine, Stephen Murray-Smith was one of Australia’s greatest intellectuals, and his impact on Australian political, cultural and literary thought has been significant.

The 2004 Stephen Murray-Smith Memorial Lecture takes places on Wednesday 20 October 2004 commencing at 6.30pm, State Library of Victoria, Village Roadshow Theatrette, Entry 3, La Trobe Street, Melbourne.