Speakers at Palm Sunday 2002

Co-MC Julie McCrossin

Tom Uren

Tom Uren was born in Balmain, Sydney in 1921 and was educated at Manly High School. His career as a professional boxer was interupted by wartime service. He was a prisoner of the Japanese from 1942 to 1945, during which time he worked on the Burma-Siam Railway.

From 1958 to 1990 he was the ALP member for the House of Representatives seat of Reid, located in western Sydney. From 1973-75 he was the Minister for Urban and Regional Development, and from 1976 to 1977 he was Deputy Leader of the Opposition. In 1983 he became Minister for Territories and Local Governement, and from 1984 to 1987 he was Minister for Local Government and Administrative Services.

Throughout his Parliamentary career Tom Uren was an active member of the left wing of the ALP, maintaining opposition to the Vietnam War, conscription and nuclear testing. His chief political interests are urban affairs, the environment, veterans' affairs and security and intelligence.

Dr. John Yu

Dr Yu was Chief Executive of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Sydney from 1978 to 1997 (now New Children's Hospital).

In 1999 he was elected Chancellor of the University of New South Wales and was a Deputy Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney from 1997 to 1999.

He is the inaugural Chair of the Specialist Advisory Committee of the NSW Commission for Children and Young People. He joined the Australia-China Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1996 and was appointed Chair of the Council in 2000.

Dr Yu is a graduate in Medicine of the University of Sydney and holds honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney.

He has served on the Council of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, was a member of the Executive of the Paediatric Research Society and was Honorary Treasurer of the Australian Paediatric Association. He served on the National Council of the Australian Healthcare Association and received the Association's Sidney Sax Medal in 1996. He is Patron of: the Australian Association of Paediatric Teaching Centres, the Australian Association for the Welfare of Child Health, Childsafe, and the Seasons of Growth Program of the Sisters of St Joseph. He was formerly a member of the Regional Board of St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust and the Myer Grace Bros Community Fund.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and is an Honorary Associate of the Powerhouse Museum and from 1992 to 1996 served on the Museum's Board of Trustees. He is Chairman of VisAsia, an organisation promoting interaction and exchange in the visual arts of Asia. He has served on the National Boards of Musica Viva and the Starlight Foundation and on the Committee of the Penrith Regional Gallery.

He was appointed to the National Australia Day Council in 1996.

He has published extensively on Paediatrics, Management Issues and the Decorative Arts.

Dr Yu was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 and was named Australian of the Year in 1996. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2001.

Sister Susan Connelly

Susan Connelly is a Sister of St Joseph, a religious Congregation founded by Mary MacKillop.

Susan's experience has been mainly in the educational and musical fields and she became involved with the East Timorese people in 1994. Her work is within the Mary MacKillop Institute of East Timorese Studies, which is devoted to educational and cultural partnership with the people of Timor Loro Sa'e. Much of the Institute's work conducted in Australia has been in association with the Timorese asylum seekers.

Susan organised a local Sydney Timorese choir for three years and then brought the Choir Anin Murak from East Timor in 2000 for a five-week tour of NSW. She now coordinates further educational opportunities for the members of this choir.

Jo Vallentine

Jo Vallentine was elected the Senate in 1984 as a representative of the Nuclear Disarmament Party and re-elected in 1987, she became a Senator for The Greens (WA) following the merger of several enviromental Parties in WA.

Lydia Miller

Lydia Miller, a Guguelandji woman, originally qualified and practised as a nurse before moving into the area of Indigenous arts, first as an administrator and then as a performer, producer and director. She produced the play, Cherry Pickers, and organised the Nambundah Festival of Indigenous Arts, and SOCOG's Festival of the Dreaming and most recently the third National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Playwrights' conference.

Her performance as an actor is recognised widely and acknowledged by receiving from the Asian Pacific Film Festival the best supporting actor award for her role in Deadly. The Commonwealth Government has appointed her as a member of the Cultural Network of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO. Lydia is also a Council member of the Australian Film and Television School. Lydia Miller remains an active learner, and is completing her studies in Arts/Law at The University of Sydney

John Robertson

John Robertson is the Secretary of the Labor Council of NSW. John was elected Secretary in July 2001 and has been a vocal advocate of Refugee Rights, he has also been pushing for reform of the ALP's policy on Refugees and Mandatory Detention.

John started his working life as an Electrician in 1979, in 1987 he was appointed as an Organiser with the Electrical Trades Union (ETU). After several years organising in the Construction Industry with the ETU John took up the position of Industrial Officer with the Labor Council in 1991.

In February 1998 John was elected as an Executive Officer of Labor Council and shortly afterwards in June 1998 he was elected Assistant Secretary of the Labor Council, a position he held until his election as Secretary.

MC's

Lex Marinos (Belmore Park)

Julie McCrossin (Victoria Park)