Balliol members are invited to a lecture on ‘Democracy beyond politics’ by His Excellency the Honourable Jay Weatherill AO, Australian High Commissioner to the UK. The lecture will consider the meaning and practice of democracy amid contemporary challenges, and there will be an opportunity for questions. Refreshments will follow.
External guests are welcome. Please RSVP by 19 May to Professor Tim Soutphommasane at tim.soutphommasane@balliol.ox.ac.uk.
About the speaker:
His Excellency the Honourable Jay Weatherill AO is an Australian political and civic leader with extensive experience in public policy, democratic engagement, and governance. He served as the 45th Premier of South Australia from 2011 to 2018 and was the state’s longest‑serving Labour Minister, holding portfolios across Treasury, State Development, Education, Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Families and Communities, Housing, Ageing, Disability, Urban Development and Planning, and Environment and Conservation. He was a Member of the South Australian Parliament from 2002 to 2018.
Following his parliamentary career, he was an Executive Director at the Minderoo Foundation and led the Foundation’s ‘Thrive by Five’ initiative supporting early childhood reform. He was also the Executive Director of Democracy and Engagement at the McKinnon Foundation