The CAS21 Speakers

Cardinal George Pell was ordained into the Roman Catholic priesthood in 1966, turning his back on a professional football career playing AFL for the Richmond Football Club. He earned a Ph.D. in Church history from the University of Oxford in 1971.

As Archbishop of Melbourne and then Sydney, Pell became known for his public defence of established Christian teachings, widely known to be controversial to a world highly offended by God’s definition of right and wrong.

In 2003 Pell was elevated to the office of Cardinal and ten years later became one of just eight Cardinals advising the Pope on Church governance and administrative reforms. After a series of public financial scandals, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Pell to oversee all financial activities of the Vatican and ensure their transparency.

In June 2017 Cardinal Pell was charged with multiple counts of historical child sexual assault that allegedly had occurred when he was archbishop of Melbourne. The media prejudicially determined he was guilty despite a distinct lack of evidence or plausible testimony which resulted in all but a few charges being dismissed, a jury unable to reach a verdict, and more charges being dropped.

He was nevertheless judged guilty by Victorian Courts and forced to serve 14 months of a six year sentence before Australia’s highest Court ruled, unanimously, there was, “a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted.”

Karl Faase is a well known Australian Christian communicator, media presenter, leader and social commentator. He is in demand across Australia as a speaker, with a special interest in communicating to those exploring faith. As the CEO of Olive Tree Media and over 20 years of involvement in media, Karl is one of Australia’s most experienced Christian radio and TV presenters, with his programs broadcast and distributed in the USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany and New Zealand. The Daily Nudge is one of Australia’s best-known and most widely used one-minute spots on Christian radio internationally with over 800 in circulation.

Karl finished in his position as Senior Pastor of Gymea Baptist Church in late 2014 where he served for over 20 years. Karl maintains leadership roles in the Christian community as a board member of organisations such the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (Australia), Samaritans Purse, Christian Media Australia and the Sydney Prayer Breakfast. [more]

Martyn Iles is the Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), and also pioneered the Human Rights Law Alliance. HRLA is an organisation dedicated to supporting Christians who’ve been discriminated and litigated against because of their Christian convictions. Martyn is widely respected for his expertise on religious freedom and has served with great distinction before many parliamentary committees.

Matt Canavan is a Senator for Queensland based in the regional city of Rockhampton and Deputy Leader of his party in the Senate. First elected in 2013 he has served as the Minister for Northern Australia and Resources and as a Cabinet Minister. He earned a degree in economics from the University of Queensland before working as a research economist at the Productivity Commission, where he also served as Director after five years there. Senator Canavan took a public role in arguing for the Biblical definition of marriage during the public debate on the topic in 2017.

Dan Paterson is a sought after speaker in schools, churches and conferences for his ability to tackle tought questions and provide simple answers intellectually defending the Faith. He is the founder of Questioning Christianity, a ministry aimed at connecting the Christian story to life’s deepest questions.

Having wrestled personally with tough objections throughout his own life, Dan is fuelled by a passion to help others process their doubts and discover the relevance and reasonableness of faith in Jesus. Dan is based in Brisbane, Australia, where together with his wife Erin their favourite job is raising three boys: Josiah, Zachariah, and Seth.

Dr Stephen Chavura holds a Ph.D. in the history of early-modern English political thought. He is a co-author of “Reason, Religion and the Australian Polity: A Secular State?” Widely published in prestigious journals, his research interests include the history of political thought, church and state in history, modern political philosophy, recognition theory, and freedom of speech. Dr Chavura also regularly contributes to public debate in various online and print fora as well as radio.

Angela Forker is a former missionary of 15 years with her husband to Germany & Italy. Now a globally-acclaimed photographer with many media appearances, she’s touching millions of lives around the world through two distinct ministries: the Precious Baby Project and After The Abortion photography series. Angela’s work is ministering dignity & healing to mothers and fathers, helping them come to a deeper knowledge of the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. Angela’s creative & exquisite photography breaks down walls of taboo to gracefully show the world the sanctity of human life in every circumstance & stage of life.

Wendy Francis is a political lobbyist and the Queensland and Northern Territory Director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). In 2012 she co-authored “The Greens – Policies, Reality and Consequences”. Wendy also serves as a Director and Board Member of Samaritan’s Purse Australia.

Wendy has been married to Peter Francis (Principal of Malyon College) for over 40 years, and they have three married children and ten grandchildren, so far… [more]

Jordan Thyer saw genuine Christian faith displayed in his parents which helped him recognise that Christianity is good, but the question came later at University if it was exclusively true. He worked as a Chemical Engineer before moving to the UK to study at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and then back to Perth to study theology at Trinity Theological College. He has previously worked as a Youth Minister, then evangelist, and is now senior pastor at Providence Church, Midland (WA). He lives in the Perth hills with his wife Rachel and 2 daughters.

David Ould is Senior Associate Minister at St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Parramatta. He writes boldly on his thoughts about life and Jesus, and in particular how those things are worked out in the Anglican Church into which he was ordained in 2008.

Rev Ould has made regular appearances on Australian TV in shows like SBS’s “Living with the Enemy“, ABC’s “The Drum” and Channel 10’s “The Project” where he unapologetically & charismatically defends Biblical Christianity.

David sits on the Provincial Synod of NSW and the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. [more]