In this Conversation, John is joined by Mark Sneddon and Sarah Irving-Stonebraker for a unique deep dive into the issue of religious freedom in Australia. Both highly regarded in their respective fields, Mark and Sarah unpack the vexed issue currently front of mind for politicians, activists, religious believers and Australians concerned about civil liberties. They discuss the necessity of protections for religious freedom, the many worrying recent anti-religious legal and political developments and the fundamental importance of religious tolerance in Australian history. Dr. Sarah Irving-Stonebraker is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History, and teaches in the History and Political Thought major at Western Sydney University. She was awarded her PhD in History from Cambridge University and her first book was awarded The Royal Society of Literature and Jerwood Foundation Award for Non-fiction. Recently her research has revolved around the history of religious liberty in the West, and also in Australia. Mark Sneddon is a lawyer and academic with experience in commercial, not-for-profit and government sectors. Mark was formerly Associate Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne Law School, and a senior lecturer at Monash University Law School in constitutional law, banking and financial services, e-business, and communications law. He was a partner at the law firm Clayton Utz for nearly 12 years, and served as Crown Counsel to the Victorian Attorney-General and Office of the Premier for four and half years. These days Mark practices in Melbourne and is the Executive Director of a leading think tank, the Institute for Civil Society. #DanAndrews #Religion #Discrimination -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnYSEGViOnb7k8ezUaWUww?sub_confirmation=1 And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnAndersonAC Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnandersonac/ Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.stonebraker.com.au/ http://www.i4cs.com.au/