News archive 2007

Post Australian election debate

30 Nov 2007, PR 194/07

The Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King's, in partnership with the London Chapter of Advance Global Australian Professionals, hosted a post Australian election seminar at the Strand Campus last night.

Professor Carl Bridge, Head of the Centre, chaired a panel of speakers – an academic, former politician and journalist - as they addressed different aspects of the federal election, its outcomes and its implications for the future of Australia.

The seminar follows Labor leader Kevin Rudd's sweeping general election victory over Prime Minister John Howard earlier this month. John Howard had led the conservative Liberal-National party coalition to four election wins since 1996.

Brian Costar, Professor of Political Science at the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University, Melbourne, broke down the ‘myths' surrounding the election and discussed the media coverage, the main campaign issues and what can be learnt from the exit polls.

Cheryl Kernot, who teaches at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurs at the Said Business School, Oxford University, examined Kevin Rudd's campaign and the his focus on ‘working families'. A former Senator and Leader of the Australian Democrats, she highlighted the competent role played by several female Labour politicians.

The future for Australia both domestically and its role on the international stage was addressed by the European Correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Geoff Kitney. A former deputy editor at the Sydney Morning Herald, he has spent most of his career reporting on Australian national politics.

The discussion was followed by questions on a possible Republic referendum, Australia's relationship with China and the United States, and climate change.

Deanne Raseta, the Chair of Advance's Public and Charitable Network in London, delivered a vote of thanks.





Notes to editors

The Menzies Centre for Australian Studies
The Menzies Centre for Australian Studies was established in the University of London in 1982. Initially part of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, the Centre moved to King's College London in 1999. The Menzies Centre's object is to promote Australian studies in British and European universities. In its broadest manifestation, the Centre is an Australian cultural base in London, providing a highly regarded forum for the discussion of Australian issues. The Centre's public lectures, conferences, seminars, briefings and literary readings attract a diverse audience and help to produce a more comprehensive, detailed and balanced perception of Australian politics, economics, life and culture than is popularly available.

The Centre administers a range of studentship, scholarship and fellowship schemes which help cement intellectual links between Australia and Britain. The Centre offers undergraduate courses in Australian history, film and literature, an MA degree in Australian Studies (history, politics, film and literature) and supervises MPhil and PhD research.

Advance
Advance - Global Australian Professionals is for all Australians working overseas. Advance recognises the importance of maintaining connection with the one million Australians in our diaspora making their mark in boardrooms, science laboratories, arts institutions, classrooms and communities worldwide.

King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 6,200 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £114 million, and has an annual income of more than £400 million.





Further information
Public Relations Department
Email: alex.bevis@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 3073

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