Director's Newsletter
Director's Newsletter
8 July, 2026
Dear Supporters,
In this newsletter I wanted to bring to your attention several important matters.
2026 Colloquium
First, a final reminder about the 2026 Colloquium to be held at the end of the week, July 10 and July 11, on the theme ‘Can we arrest the decline of Western Civilisation and, if so how?
As you will already hopefully be aware Senator Babet will give the keynote speech, titled ‘Politics needs Christ’, on Friday 10 July at 7:00pm at St Peter’s Parish Centre, 581Toorak Road, Toorak. There are still some places left but please book asap through https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/christopher-dawson-centre-colloquium-keynote-address-senator-ralph-babet-tickets-1986801464664?aff=oddtdtcreator
On Saturday 11 July from 9:00am we will have the presentation of papers. The program for the day is as follows:
9:00am - Lucas McLennan – Senior History Teacher, Secondary Education - ‘The Lyons Forum: A Case Study in Social Conservative Responses to Change in Australia’
9:35 am - Dr Mark Hobart - Medical Practitioner and defender of rights of conscience - 'The attack on the integrity of medical care in Western Civilisation’.
10:10 - Catherine Sheehan - Editor of the Catholic Standard, Archdiocese of Tasmania - 'The importance of femininity in the battle against evil'.
Morning Tea – 10:45
11:00- Anna Krohn - Executive Director of the Thomas More Centre - ‘How Christianity can renew Western Civilisation'.
11:35 - Peter August - Executive Director of Divine Mercy Australia - ‘How deep is your love: A Catholic Journey into understanding love, thoughts, the Will and Spiritual Transformation’.
12:10 - Daniel Skinner – Architectural designer, M.J. Suttie Architects - 'Dehumanised Spaces: The Anti-Christian Philosophical Principles of Modern Architecture'.
Lunch 12:45pm
1:15pm - Dr Kevin Donnelly - Social commentator and education expert - ‘Education and Western Civilisation: The way forward’.
1:50pm - Dr David Daintree - Emeritus Director of the Christopher Dawson Centre - ‘Two Classes of Men'.
2:25pm - Leigh Fetter - Catholic Convert, lawyer and academic – ‘Liberalism: a pyrrhic victory, or war, by other means? '.
3:00pm Afternoon tea
3:15pm John Roskam - Incoming President of Campion College - 'The Liberal Arts and civilisational transformation’.
3:50pm John Smyth – Leader of the Founding Team, Chesterton Academy of Melbourne - ‘First Things First, Recovering the Purpose of Education.
4:25pm Fr Francis Denton - Parish Priest of St Francis of Assisi Parish, Mill Park - 'The Great Iconoclasm and the Revival of Christian Art’.
As I am sure you will agree this is an outstanding line-up of speakers all with an important contribution to make to the current debate over the fate of western civilisation. Again, there are still some places available, but you need to book asap, through Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/can-we-arrest-the-decline-of-western-civilisation-dawson-colloquium-2026-tickets-1990270073366?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
Giggle v Tickle
Second, I wanted to alert you to a new article I have published on the Dawson website on the recent Supreme Court appeal in the case of Giggle v Tickle. This is the case of businesswoman Sall Grover who had sought to restrict access to her women’s only app, Giggle, to biological women. The critical issue with the recent court decision is that it officially confirmed that in Australian law ‘sex’ should be understood as being non-binary and changeable and therefore separated from objective reality. I argue in this piece that the separation of law from reality is a very dangerous development for our society. In fact, Thomas Aquinas argues that when law departs from the objective truth, such legislation ceases to be law properly understood. https://www.dawsoncentre.org/giggle-v-tickle
Monoculture v Multiculturalism
Third, I wanted to share some thoughts on the recent attention being given to the issue of multiculturalism, which will form the basis of my next article. There has been much consternation directed to Pauline Hansons’ argument made at her recent National Press Club address, that in Australia we should promote a ‘monocultural’ society, not a ‘multicultural’ society. The ensuing debate has revealed a significant lack of understanding about the concept of culture itself which needs to be addressed.
At the heart of the concept of ‘culture’ is a set of fundamental beliefs about the nature and purpose of human existence. It is this understanding that animates the explicit customs and practices which tend to be most clearly seen as representing cultural difference. But we need to recognise that ‘culture’ itself is actually the embodiment of a much deeper and more foundational understanding of the human person.
This means that ‘culture’ is not neutral. There will be cultures that align with the truth and promote human flourishing, and cultures which conflict with the truth and undermine human flourishing. Pope John Paul II talked about this idea in terms of a ‘culture of life’ in the former case and in the latter case, a ‘culture of death.
In the most basic terms Australia needs to strive for a shared culture that aligns with a ‘cultural of life’ and avoids becoming a ‘culture of death’. Australia was founded on a Christian culture, of the British variety, which provided the intellectual framework, context and understanding upon which our social and political institutions and customs were developed. And it is the enduring stability, peace and opportunity provided by these institutions which has attracted and continues to attract immigrants to Australia.
We therefore need to find a better way to articulate our understanding of culture in Australia. One that captures the need to acknowledge, respect and promote the cultural heritage on which Australia was founded, recognising that it continues to provide the basis for our social and political institutions, while also recognising that we are a nation built by those who have come from great variety of countries and ethnicities, with their own important traditions and customs. I will further elaborate on this thinking in the upcoming article.
Mindless
Finally, I want to commend to you Bella d’Abrera’s new book ‘Mindless: How the Education System is Indoctrinating Children and Destroying Our Civilisation’. It is an important contribution to the current debate over the state of education in the west, which helpfully for us, focuses in particular on Australia. I hope to shortly offer a more in depth review of this important work. It is currently available through all good booksellers.
Wishing you all the best,
Alexander Sidhu
Director of the Christopher Dawson Centre for Cultural Studies
