The Hon Kevin Rudd to speak at Trinity College, the University of Melbourne

Trinity is hosting a gathering of international board members from the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion (CUAC).

For this year’s Dr Rowan Williams CUAC Lecture, CUAC has confirmed that the Hon Kevin Rudd will speak on Tuesday 10 November on ‘Otherness: Reflections on Church, State and Learning Communities’.

The topic is fitting for a leader who has often been vocal about his faith.

Although raised a Roman Catholic, Mr Rudd was actively involved in the Evangelical Union while studying Asian Studies at the Australian National University in the early 1980s. 

During his political career, Mr Rudd was vocal about his Christianity and gave a number of prominent interviews to the Australian religious press on the topic. He also defended church representatives engaging with policy debates, particularly with respect to industrial relations, climate change, global poverty, therapeutic cloning and asylum seekers.

In his political career, Mr Rudd held a number of key posts. He was Member for Griffith, 1998–2013; Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Security and Trade, 2001–2006; Leader of the Australian Labor Party, 2006–2010; Foreign Minister, 2010–2012; and Prime Minister, 2007–2010 and 2013.

Says Trinity College Chaplain, the Revd Samuel Dow, ‘Trinity is honoured to welcome Mr Rudd as a speaker at the College’.

‘His lecture is sure to offer some unique insights into the junction between faith, government and education.’