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https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/2025_laurie_carmichael_lecture_the_hon_doug_cameron
Join The Hon. Doug Cameron for the 2025 Laurie Carmichael Lecture.
About The Hon. Doug Cameron
The Hon. Doug Cameron is a retired trade unionist who served as Senator for New South Wales from 2007-2019, representing the Australian Labor Party.
Born in Scotland, Cameron left school at age 15 to take up an apprenticeship. Emigrating to Australia at age 22, Cameron worked as a maintenance fitter before being elected Hunter Valley and New England regional organizer of the Amalgamated Metal Workers and Shipwrights Union (AMWSU). Cameron went on to serve as NSW Assistant State Secretary, NSW State Secretary, and finally National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) from 1996 to 2007. Cameron also served as Vice President of the ACTU from 1999 to 2007.
In 2007, Cameron was elected to the Australian Senate, in which he was a fierce advocate against neoliberalism and for working people. After serving as Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Homelessness in the Second Rudd Government, Cameron was an opposition Shadow Minister across the portfolios of Human Services, Skills, TAFE and Apprenticeships, and Housing and Homelessness.
Since retiring in 2019, Cameron has stayed active in Australian public life, championing progressive causes including housing policy reform and the need for foreign policy independence.
Cameron will deliver the 2025 Laurie Carmichael Lecture on the subject ‘Australian Sovereignty and the Path to Peace’.
About the Laurie Carmichael Lecture
The Laurie Carmichael Lecture is an annual keynote lecture hosted by the Carmichael Centre, an initiative of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, in partnership with RMIT University’s Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT). It is supported by the ACTU, the AMWU, the AEU, and the Australia Institute.
The lecture is named in honour of Laurie Carmichael, the legendary manufacturing trade union leader who passed away in 2018 at the age of 93. Previous Laurie Carmichael Lectures have featured Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stieglitz, international trade union leader Sharan Burrow, and former ACCC Chair Allan Fels.
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