Link to the article in TheGuardian is below:

http://gu.com/p/4598y/sbl

With great sadness, I have learned that Australia’s most distinguished demographer, Graeme Hugo, has passed away after a short illness.

I have been privileged to work with Graeme over the years and especially while developing the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia. Graeme has made exceptional contributions to our understanding of international migration and the effects of migration policy, and he was well-known for his deep caring about the well-being of migrants, particularly of the most vulnerable.  He will be deeply missed as a friend and colleague, and celebrated for the remarkable legacy he leaves.

Graeme Hugo was an ARC Australian Professorial Fellow, Professor of Geography and Director of the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre at the University of Adelaide. He has brought enormous contributions and progressive thinking to the field of international migration as the author of over three hundred books, articles in scholarly journals and chapters in books, as well as a large number of conference papers and reports. He was Chair of the Advisory Committee on Demography and Liveability of the Commonwealth Department of Sustainable Environment, Water, Population and Communities and was appointed to the National Housing Supply Council in 2011.  In 2012 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to population research, particularly the study of international migration, population geography and mobility, and through leadership roles with national and international organizations.

See attached:

Opinion Piece About Multiculturalism

Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM, President of the Australian Council for Human Rights Education, has been appointed Chair of the Australian Multicultural Council by the Australian Government.  The announcement was recently made by the Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews, andParliamentary Secretary, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.

The Council’s role is to advise the Government on multicultural affairs.

Minister Andrews said the Government’s support for the Council confirmed its commitment to a multicultural Australia and to building a stronger Australian community. “The Council will advise the Government on ways to sustain and support socially cohesive communities, to ensure all Australians have the opportunity to participate, engage and contribute to Australian life,” said Minister Andrews.For Minister Andrews media release about the appointment see the attachment.

Professor Barney Glover, UWS Vice-Chancellor of the university where Dr Ozdowski works, congratulated Sev on behalf of the University community. “This is a very fitting appointment given Dr Ozdowski’s long and distinguished career in multicultural affairs in Australia, and his significant international reputation in human rights education,” said Professor Glover.

Dr Ozdowski congratulated the five members who were also appointed to the Council, and says he looks forward to working with them on multicultural issues. “It will be a great pleasure to advise the Australian government on how to strengthen and implement Australia’s multicultural policies and programs to serve us all well.  Celebrating diversity and the ‘fair go’ is what modern Australia is about. Our multicultural success makes Australia the envy of the world,” says Dr Ozdowski.

Media Release by The Hon Kevin Andrews Minister

I am pleased to report that the 5^th International Human Rights Education Conference (IHREC) held at the American University, in Washington DC, USA on 4-6 December 2014 has just finished. The conference was convened by Professor Claudio Grossman, Dean, American University Washington College of Law and Chairperson of the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) and endorsed by the Australian government – see the message from the Prime Minister.

The theme of the 5^th IHREC is ‘Advancing UNiversal Human Rights Culture’ – see: http://www.wcl.american.edu/events/ichredu/. The conference was a great success – it attracted 278 registrations and over 100 speakers form some 40 countries and advanced HRE world-wide.

For conference program the attachment.

As a background, I have initiated this series of human rights education conferences in 2010. The first conference was organised jointly by the Australian Council of Human Rights Education (http://humanrightseducationaustralia.com/about.php) jointly with the University of Western Sydney.  For information about the 2010 inaugural conference “Educating for Human Rights, Peace and Intercultural Dialogue” that was held in Sydney see: http://www.uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/708792/HREC_2010_Report_Web_Version.pdf

At the moment I am concluding negotiations with a possible host of the 6^th IHRE Conference. I hope that it will be held in Santiago, Chile in November 2015. After the conference would have been to all the continents with the human rights education message, it would be time to return it to Sydney in 2016.

Message from Tony Abbott PM

FINAL PROGRAM OF 5th IHRE CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON DC – 4-6 DECEMBER 2014

The launch of Patryk Pleskot’s book ‘Polska-Australia-“Solidarnosc”.Biografia mowiona Seweryna Ozdowskiego’, was organized by Marek and Dana Weiss, publishers of Express Wieczorny, Australia’s Polish newspaper. It was hosted by  the Hon. Robert Borsak MLC and held in the Parliament House in Sydney. A number of other Members of Parliament, including Mr Robert Brown, MLC and Mr Geoff Lee MP were also in attendance.

The evening was also addressed by HE Regina Jurkowska, Consul General of the Republic of Poland and attended by members of Sev’s family wife Hanna, children Agatha and Alexander and Witold Chylewski Snr and Ela Chylewska as well as many of his  friends including: Mr Eugeniusz Bajkowski, Journalist, Mr Marek Burda, President, Australian Institute of Polish Affairs (NSW Branch), Prof. Martin Krygier, Ms Isabel Lukas, 1st Ethnic Reporter for SMH and her sister Krystyna Zdrojkowska, Ms Marianna Lacek, Head, Polish Education Committee and her husband Bronek, Mr Jurek Maciejak, Ms Anna Sadurska, Head, Polish Program, SBS Radio Mr Pawel Otrebski and his wife Grazyna and others.

A copy of The Hon. Robert Borsak’s address is available below.

The Hon Robert Borsak’s speech

Few photos from the launch are provided below by courtesy of Express Wieczorny.

My best congratulations to Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi who have jointly won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for their struggle against the oppression of children and their right to education.
The 2014 winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children’s rights advocate, is well deserved, totally non-
controversial and represents a huge boost to the cause of children’s rights around the world.

It is also hoped that the 2014 Price will contribute to the bettering of relationships between India and Pakistan.

Let’s celebrate together the winners of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize and the rights of children world’s wide.

Yesterday Parliament’s Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and Senate President Stephen Parry announced new rules to separate people with facial coverings from other members of the public by forcing them to watch parliament from behind glass. Thus, Muslim women who wear the burqa into Federal Parliament will be banned from watching proceedings from regular public galleries and will be forced to sit in glass enclosures instead. This ruling is part of extra security measures introduced on advice of security officials’ advice.

This appears to be a form of segregation, or even apartheid, based on religious or cultural belief. Many would claim that this edict is an assault on religious freedom. In my view, it certainly offends freedom of expression. There are also the practical implications of this edict. Just imagine a spouse of a Saudi Kingdom official wearing a burqa while visiting Parliament; or simply consider our Santa Claus with a false beard covering his face. Should we also exclude them? Or think about traditional Catholic nuns wearing the chador style uniforms.

Many of us feel challenged by women wearing burkas. It challenges our attitudes about living in a secular society and about the emancipation of women. But it is certainly not a security issue at parliament house. In fact there are in existence many much better ways for protecting security at parliament – including identity checks or body scans at the entrance gates.

Historically speaking the use of state power had never worked when used to change religious or cultural believes. Remember the outcomes of fight by the Roman or more recently the Soviet empires against Christians! Let’s try to be a bit more of tolerant towards those of us who are different. Let’s us replace exclusion with education. This will keep the dialog open. Security measures are most welcomed to target effectively the real treats posed by Islamic fanatics; they however should not be used to contain enjoyment of freedoms of cultural and religious expression in Australia.

John Zubrzycki has published an interesting article entitled

21 September marks the International Day of Peace or “Peace Day.” It was officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001 even though it had been celebrated since 1982. The theme of this year’s International Day of Peace is the “Right of People to Peace”.

What is peace?

Peace can mean many things to different people. In terms of global peace, it can be referred to as a non-violent way of life across the earth. It is an ideal for a world without war where respect, justice and goodwill will prevail amongst the nations of the world. In terms of family life, it can be referred to as family living together calmly where conflict is resolved through open communication and respect for each other’s views.

The main objective of Peace Day is to provide an opportunity for individuals and organisations to promote peace across the world. Already thousands of individuals and corporations have committed themselves to promote the ideal of peace at different levels. In Australia, for example, Think Peace Net is committed to the promotion of peace through the education of young children in primary schools and young adults in high schools. A link to their website can be found below.

Whatever your ideal of peace is, UWS encourages you to join the celebration. Take some time to yourself to reflect upon the contribution you can make to achieve a peaceful world.

Resources:

http://www.thinkpeace.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace

http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/