PRESENTERS

John Paul Langbroek MP  

John-Paul was elected Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the LNP on April 2, 2009.

Married with three children, John-Paul Langbroek, or ‘JP’ as he is widely known, is a former dentist who entered Parliament in 2004 initially to serve his Surfers Paradise electorate - to work for his local community, families and small business owners.

Since being elected John-Paul has focused on reforming drug and alcohol laws to combat underage binge-drinking and ban dangerous drug implements. He was instrumental in bringing in laws banning smoking in cars with children and as a dentist, he was passionate about water fluoridation to reduce Queensland’s high rate of tooth decay.

Now, nearly a year and a half into the job as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal National Party, John-Paul is taking a broader overview of what’s needed to get Queensland back on track – to restore our AAA credit-rating, to cut waste and red tape, to lift health and languishing education standards, to restore government services and plan properly for Queensland’s infrastructure needs. 

Nora Amath
Chairperson, AMARAH

Nora Amath is the co-founder and chairperson of AMARAH which stands for Australian Muslim Advocates for the Rights of All Humanity. She is highly active in human rights advocacy and community work, including interfaith work and currently chairs an interfaith group called Believing Women for a Culture of Peace. Nora has received award for Australian Muslim Woman of the Year in 2006 and the Moreton Community Australia Day Award in 2007.She is currently doing her PhD at Griffith University, looking at the intersection of faith and community development

Professor Kevin Dunn
Professor Human Geography and Urban Studies, University of Western Sydney

Professor Kevin Dunn BA (W’gong); PhD (Newcastle); (FNGS), is Professor of Human Geography and Urban Studies, School of Social Sciences, at The University of Western Sydney. For the past ten years he has headed the multi-institutional and inter-disciplinary Challenging Racism Project. His areas of research include the geographies of racism, immigration and settlement, Islam in Australia, and local government and multiculturalism. Recent books include Landscapes: Ways of Imagining the World,  Society and Space, Ethnicities, The Australian Geographer, Studia Islamika, Urban Studies and the Australian Journal of Social Issues. He is a Fellow of the New South Wales Geographical Society and President.

Professor Andrew Jakubowicz
Professor of Sociology, University of Technology, Sydney

Professor Jakubowicz has taught at universities in the USA, Europe and Asia, and was the foundation director of the Centre for Multicultural Studies at the University of Wollongong. He is Co-director of the UTS Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Key Research Strength (Research Centre) and has published widely on ethnic diversity issues, disability studies and media studies. He is author of the report for the AHRC "Australia's Migration Policies: African Dimensions", (July 2010)

Dr Stepan Kerkyasharian
Chairman, Community Relations Commission

Dr Kerkyasharian is the Chairman of the Community Relations Commission NSW and is also President of the Anti Discrimination Board. He established the Armenian radio program on Radio 2EA in 1976 was Head of SBS Radio and member of the management team which established SBS Television.  Stepan Kerkyasharian was then appointed Chairman of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales which became the Community Relations Commission in 2001.  He is a Member of the Order of Australia and Fellow of The University of Technology Sydney where he received his degree of doctor of Letters (honoris causa)

Clarissa Mulas
Director – SWAHS / Deputy Director- Diversity Health Institute

Clarissa is the Director of Sydney West Area Health Service Multicultural Health Network and Deputy Director of the Diversity Institute. She oversees regional, state wide, national and international diversity health services that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Clarissa has 20 years experience in government and non-government health sectors in NSW. She is currently focussed on the development of system wide strategies aimed at building the capacity of public sector health services to deliver appropriate, accessible and safe health care for Australia’s increasingly diverse population.

Heather Stewart
Journalist/Teaching and Learning Academic
Project Leader Indigenous Voice, University of Queensland
Heather Stewart is a journalism academic at the University of Queensland School of Journalism and Communication. She is an award-winning journalist, principally within ABC news and current affairs and most recently as a contributor with ABC Radio National. She is the joint project leader of the UQ SJC Indigenous Voice project with Michael Williams from the UQ ATSI Unit which is a UQ-funded higher education equity support project. The project is the 2010 UQ Equity Award winner and mid-year hosted a three-day Indigenous Voice Closing the Gap and Putting Communication for Social Change Forum during the UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day.