Speakers

Keynote speakers

Cardinal George Pell

Cardinal George Pell was ordained a priest in 1966 and was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996. Pope John Paul II appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Sydney in 2001 and elevated him to the Sacred College of Cardinals in 2003.

Cardinal Pell holds a Licentiate in Theology from Urban University, Rome (1967), a Masters Degree in Education from Monash University, Melbourne (1982), a Doctorate of Philosophy in Church History from the University of Oxford (1971) and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Education. He was Visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, Oxford University, in 1979 and at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge University, in 1983, and was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund’s in 2003.

From 1988-97 he was a member of the National Catholic Education Commission and from 1994-97 he was Secretary to the Bishops’ Committee for Education. Since 2000, he is again a member of the Bishops’ Committee for Education, becoming Chairman in 2003. In 1989 Cardinal Pell was appointed Chairman of the committee charged with setting up the new Australian Catholic University, and from 1991-95 he served as the University’s Foundation Pro-Chancellor. In 1999-2000 he assisted in the establishment of the new city campus of the University in Melbourne. Cardinal Pell has been President of the University’s board of owners since 1996.

Cardinal Pell was Chairman of Caritas Australia from 1988-97. He was a member of the Bishops’ Committee for Justice, Development and Peace from 1987-97 and is now Chairman of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Doctrine and Morals.
Cardinal Pell also holds a number of Vatican appointments. He has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 1990-95 and again from 2002 and from 1990-2000 he was a member of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Having served as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Family for many years, Cardinal Pell was appointed to the Presidential Committee of the Council in 2002.

In November 1998, Cardinal Pell attended the Synod for Oceania in Rome. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II to represent the Bishops of Australia and Oceania at the Special Synod for European Bishops in Rome in 1999, and at the Synod of Bishops held in October 2001. Following the 2001 Synod, he was elected to the council charged with preparing the final post-synodal document for the Holy Father. In April 2002, John Paul II named him President of the Vox Clara Committee to advise the Congregation for Divine Worship on English translations of liturgical texts.

Cardinal Pell’s publications include Issues of Faith and Morals, (Oxford University Press, 1996), The Sisters of St Joseph in Swan Hill 1922-72 (1972), Catholicism in Australia (1988), Rerum Novarum – One Hundred Years Later (1992) and Catholicism and the Architecture of Freedom (1999). Since 2001, he has been a weekly columnist for Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph.

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The Hon Tony Abbott MP

Tony Abbott was educated at St Ignatius College, Riverview then studied Economics/Law at Sydney University where he was also President of the SRC. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University where he attained an MA in Politics and Philosophy. Mr Abbott spent two years at St. Patrick’s Seminary, Manly before embarking on a career in journalism, where he wrote as a feature writer for The Bulletin and The Australian.

From 1990-93 he was press secretary and political advisor to the Leader of the Opposition, Dr John Hewson. Mr Abbott was Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy from 1993-94 and then elected Member for Warringah at a by-election in March 1994.

On the election of the Howard Government in 1996 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. In this role, he was responsible for the establishment of the successful Green Corps program for young people.

Following the 1998 election he was appointed to the new portfolio of Minister for Employment Services. As Minister, he oversaw the development of the Job Network and a major expansion of Work for the Dole.

In January 2001, Mr Abbott was promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. Following the 2001 election he was appointed Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Leader of the House and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service. Mr Abbott was appointed Minister for Health and Ageing in 2003.

He has written two books in defence of the existing constitutional system, The Minimal Monarchy and How to Win the Constitutional War. He lives in Forestville with wife Margaret and three daughters.

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