Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO KStJ

For his work in abolishing the death penalty in Victoria.

Sir Zelman was a member of Victoria's Anti-Hanging Committee which campaigned against the execution of Ronald Ryan and for the abolition of the death penalty. Sir Zelman is one of Australia's most distinguished jurists. Born in St Kilda in 1919, Sir Zelman studied law at Oxford University after serving in World War II. From 1951, he was Professor of Public Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Melbourne University. Knighted in 1976, he was appointed Governor-General of Australia the following year. He became Provost of Oriel College Oxford in 1982 and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Oxford in 1988. He also served as Chairman of the UK Press Council between 1983 and 1988.

The Hon Dr Barry Jones AO

For his work in abolishing the death penalty in Victoria.

Barry Jones was the Secretary of Victoria's Anti-Hanging Committee and was heavily involved in the 1967 campaign to save Ronald Ryan from execution.  Born in Geelong in 1932, Dr Jones attended Melbourne High School before completing an Arts/Law degree at the University of Melbourne.  He was a teacher and (famously) a TV quiz champion before becoming a member of the House of Representatives from 1977 until 1998, and National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1992 until 2000 and again from 2005 until 2006.  Amongst his many roles, Dr Jones has been a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO, Vice-President of the World Heritage Council on Monuments and Sites, and Deputy Chair of the Constitutional Convention. Also a writer, Dr Jones edited The Penalty is Death: Capital Punishment in the Twentieth Century in 1968 and recently released his autobiography, A Thinking Reed.  He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Melbourne in 2002 and is currently a Professorial Fellow there. In 1998, the National Trust named Dr Jones a Living National Treasure.

The Hon Brian Dixon

For his work in abolishing the death penalty in Victoria.

Barry Jones credits Brian Dixon as a key supporter of the work of the Anti-Hanging Committee and a key figure in the abolition of the death penalty in Victoria. Born in 1936, Brian played 252 games for Melbourne Football Club, including in five premiership teams. He won Melbourne's Best and Fairest  medal in 1960.  In 2000 he was named in Melbourne's "Team of the Century".  While his football career was still going strong, Brian entered politics in 1964, as the Liberal member for St Kilda.  He was a strong supporter of the Anti-Hanging Committee and clashed with his leader (and then Premier) Henry Bolte over Ronald Ryan's execution.  He was appointed to the ministry in 1972, after Rupert Hamer replaced Bolte as Premier. It was under Rupert Hamer's premiership that Victoria abolished the death penalty once and for all.  Brian went on to introduce  the famous "Life. Be in it" program while  Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation.  Since 1982, Brian has worked in sports administration and has embarked on a world tour in recent times to promote Australian Rules in countries such as India, China, Argentina, the Philippines and Cuba.  He is also president of AFL South Africa and much of his work relates to the "Sports for All" concept.

Dr Mike Richards

For his work in abolishing the death penalty in Victoria.

After having first become involved in the case of Ronald Ryan as Acting Secretary of the Students' Anti-Hanging Campaign in 1967, organising protests against the execution, Mike Richards went on to write The Hanged Man: The Life and Death of Ronald Ryan.  The biography won the Ned Kelly Prize in 2002, and was runner-up in the National Biography Award in 2003.  Dr Richards has worked as a journalist and senior media executive as well as a political advisor to the former Premier of Victoria, John Cain and as chief of staff to former Federal opposition leaders, Simon Crean and Mark Latham.  He has a Ph.D. in political science from The University of Melbourne, and from 1997 to 1999 was assistant publisher and deputy CEO of The Age newspaper.  He is now the chief executive officer of the ANZ College of Anaesthetists.

Brian Morley

For his on-going efforts to educate the community about the death penalty.

As News Editor of 3AW in 1967, Brian Morley was one of the official witnesses to the execution of Ronald Ryan. In recent times, Brian has spoken and written in compelling terms of the horror he experienced on that day, and he has been committed to campaigning against the death penalty ever since. Brian worked in daily journalism for more than 17 years, with the Age newspaper, radio 3AW Melbourne, Radio 2GB Sydney and Channel 0 (now Ten) Melbourne.  In 1973, Brian moved into public relations, where he worked for a range of private and public organisations, including Alcoa, the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, the Melbourne Citylink Authority and the Royal Melbourne Show.

The Hon Justice Lex Lasry

For his advocacy on behalf of those facing the death penalty.

As a senior member of the Victorian Bar, Lex Lasry (with Julian McMahon) defended Nguyen Tuong, an Australian who was convicted and executed for the importation of heroin into Singapore. He went on to lobby then Prime Minister Howard and then Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd to encourage Singapore to repeal its mandatory death penalty laws. Again with Julian McMahon, he also acted pro bono for George Forbes, an Australian engineer who faced capital murder charges in Southern Sudan in 2007.

In a career spanning more than 30 years, he was involved in many significant legal proceedings, notably as the Law Council of Australia's official observer at the preliminary military hearings of David Hick's case and in representing the high profile terrorism defendant Jack Thomas. In 1983-4 he was junior counsel assisting the Costigan Royal Commission into the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union.  In 1988 he was junior counsel assisting the inquiry by the National Companies and Securities Commission into the collapse of the Rothwells Merchant Bank.

Appointed Queens Counsel in 1990, His Honour was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2007.

Julian McMahon

For his advocacy on behalf of those facing the death penalty.

Together with his leader, the then Lex Lasry QC, Julian McMahon has worked tirelessly for Australians facing the death penalty. Admitted to practice in 1992, Julian worked as a solicitor in private practice and for the Office of Public Prosecutions. Joining the Victorian Bar in 1998, Julian has gone on to work in some of the state's most complex criminal matters.

Richard Bourke

For his advocacy on behalf of those facing the death penalty and his role as a member of the founding committee of Reprieve Australia.

Educated at Melbourne University and a member of the Victorian Bar, Richard Bourke was a founding member of Reprieve Australia. Together with Nick Harrington, he had visited Clive Stafford Smith in New Orleans in 2001 and saw first hand the work being done by the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center to advocate on behalf of (mainly) poor African American defendants facing the death penalty. Eventually returning to Louisiana permanently, Richard is now the Director of the LCAC. He is a member of the Texas and Federal Bars and practices pro hac vice in Mississippi and Lousiana. He is also a founding member of Reprieve US.

Nick Harrington

For his contribution as founding President of ReprieveAustralia.

With a Law degree from the University of Melbourne, Nick is a member of the Victorian Bar.  He did his first pro-bono paralegal stint at the LCAC in New Orleans in 1998, working with Clive Stafford Smith.  After returning to New Orleans in 2001, Nick established an Australian chapter of Reprieve, subsequently becoming founding President in the period 2001 to 2007. In 2001, while in New Orleans, Nick was given a document recording the life story of Howard Neal, who had then been on death row in Mississippi for 21 years. Through his theatre company, Theatre Tarquin, Nick worked with Tom Wright (Sydney Theatre Company) to write and direct This is a True Story – a theatrical monologue performed by Wright, based on Neal's life story. True Story premiered in Melbourne to coincide with the launch of ReprieveAustralia.  A subsequent tour to London was critically acclaimed. It was later translated into French and enjoyed two professional seasons in Belgium.  It will be produced by the BBC as a radio play in 2008.  Following True Story, Nick collaborated with Wright on Lorilei – a meditation on loss. This theatrical monologue was based on the true story of Lorilei Guillory, whose son was murdered by paedophile Ricky Langley. The production played in Melbourne, London, the Edinburgh Festival and Sydney. In 2007 it became a BBC radio play.  It has won three prestigious UK radio awards including the 2007 Sony Radio Academy Award for Drama. Both plays have been instrumental in educating the wider public in the human side of the death penalty.

Pia Di Mattina

For her contribution to the founding committee of ReprieveAustralia.

With an Arts/Law degree from the University of Melbourne, Pia Di Mattina was admitted to practice in 1994.  She visited the LCAC in 1998 and 2001 with Nick Harrington and Richard Bourke, developing a close association with Clive Stafford Smith, and spending time with clients on death row at Angola Prison.  For 5 years Pia was on the Reprieve Executive, writing and editing the quarterly newsletter, Reprieve Notes, as well as providing regular administrative and strategic support to the growing organisation.  Pia is also a founding member of Theatre Tarquin, and publicised and helped produce the Melbourne seasons of True Story and Lorilei.

Susan Brennan

For her contribution to the founding committee of ReprieveAustralia.

A graduate of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship Ethics in Leadership programme, Susan was the founding Secretary of Reprieve Australia. Graduating with a combined Arts/Law degree from the University of Melbourne in 1992, she practised as a solicitor in Melbourne and Sydney before joining the Victorian Bar in 1998 where she quickly developed a reputation as a leading planning lawyer. She was appointed to the Heritage Council of Victoria in 2003. Susan is passionate about human rights and has sat on the executive committees of various community organisations. Susan was elected Joint President of the YWCA of Australia in 1997 and in 2007 was elected Worldwide President.

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