Bill Muehlenberg has been involved in family research and lobbying for nearly 15 years. A frequent media commentator on family issues, with articles and comment in many of Australia's newspapers and journals, he has over the years appeared on most major television and radio current affairs shows. He has served as the National Research Coordinator at Focus on the Family Australia and the National Vice President of the Australian Family Association. He was editor of the quarterly journal, The Australian Family, and the bi-monthly newsletter, The Family Update. Currently completing a PhD at Deakin University, Bill also lectures part time in philosophy and ethics in several Melbourne theological colleges. He is the author or co-author of several books, has written hundreds of published articles on family policy and is the secretary of the Victorian Family Council, which he helped to launch in 1993. Originally from America, he now resides in Melbourne and is married with three sons.

Dr Chris de Freitas is a climate scientist in the School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Science at the University of Auckland, where he has been Head of Science and Technology at the Tamaki campus and Pro Vice Chancellor. He has Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Toronto and a PhD from the University of Queensland as a Commonwealth Scholar. For 10 years he was as an editor of the international journal "Climate Research". He is author or co-author of over 200 articles, two books and several chapters of books on environmental themes. He is an advocate of open and well informed reporting on scientific issues. In recognition of this, he has three times been the recipient of the New Zealand Association of Scientists, Science Communicator Award.

Dr Paul Monk grew up in Melbourne. He took 1st Class Honours in History, the University of Melbourne, in 1981. His PhD (International Relations, ANU, 1989) dissertation was Civilization and the Typhoon: America, Land Reform and 'Irrational Revolution' in the Philippines, Vietnam and El Salvador, 1950-1984. He joined the Department of Defence in 1989 and, in 1990, the Defence Intelligence Organization, where he worked on East Asia, finally becoming head of China analysis and chair of the inter-agency analysts' working group on China. After leaving government service, he worked in academia, including a lectureship on Chinese politics at La Trobe University, in 1999. In 2000, he co-founded Austhink Consulting Pty Ltd, a critical thinking skills firm. He is the author of Thunder From the Silent Zone: Rethinking China (2005), which was short-listed for both the Gleebooks Prize and The Age Book of the Year, in 2006. Also in 2006, his first book of poetry, Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty: A Homage to the Western Canon, was published. He is a frequent essayist in major media, most notably The Australian Financial Review.

Peter Westmore, formerly Personal Assistant to Mr. B.A. Santamaria, is President of the National Civic Council and publisher of the Australian News Weekly and AD2000. He matriculated from Victoria with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), and Master of Engineering Science, Sydney University. Formerly Education officer, National Civic Council, New South Wales, and Editor, VMUG News (the monthly magazine of the Victorian Macintosh User Group) he served as both secretary and treasurer to this group, before becoming editor of VMUG News, its monthly magazine, from 1992-98). Peter is an occasional contributor to AD2000, National Observer and other publications. He is married to Carmel Westmore, and has two children - Kate, B.A., LL.B. (Hons), and Trish, B.A.

Dr Greg Newbold is an associate professor in the School of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Canterbury. With seven books and more than 50 scholarly articles to his credit, Professor Newbold is one of New Zealand's leading criminologists and is a frequent advisor to government departments in matters of criminal justice policy. His most recent book, The Problem of Prisons, based on more than 30 years of research into, and experience of, the prison system, is the first comprehensive analysis of the history and current state of corrections in New Zealand. His paper at the conference will be based on some of the conclusions drawn from this new book.

Marc Alexander, with an MA in Politics & Philosophy, has navigated through a succession of careers, first as a Parisiantrained Chef with international experience, which he put to good use as restaurateur first in the US., then Australia, and finally in Christchurch. He was initially roped into being a radio talkback host, before being sufficiently concerned about the criminal justice system and the lack of victims' rights to become an MP. He has since left to reflect on lessons learned, authoring two books, editing one and currently writing another. Marc is regarded as the voice of much needed sanity in his daily political analysis on Coromandel FM and in his occasional print media commentary. He continues to advocate for victims; is the crime prevention spokesperson for the Sensible Sentencing Trust; is in wide demand as a speaker and advocate - and is now even more troubled about the course the country is taking.

Joseph Poprzeczny visited 30 odd northern hemisphere archives, including in Israel, Poland and the UK, while researching his recent book Odilo Globocnik, Hitler's Man in the East, described as "A remarkable piece of scholarship"... "impeccably researched... both scholarly and compellingly readable." Born in Trier, West German, in 1945, he migrated with his parents to Western Australia in 1950. He majored in Economics with a BA (Hons) specializing in Australian and Chinese history. Formerly a part-time tutor in politics, University of WA, and a Teaching Fellow, Monash University, Melbourne - Economic History - he subsequently became a research assistant to three Australian federal parliamentarians, Senator Sir Magnus Cormack (Victoria); Mr Marshall Baillieu (MHR, Latrobe, Victoria); and Senator Allan Rocher (Western Australia). Joseph has been a columnist and political and education writer for The Australian (Perth bureau),Western Australian Business News, The Sunday Times (Perth). At present he is the Perth correspondent for News Weekly.

David Flint read law and economics at Universities of Sydney, London and Paris. An Emeritus Professor of Law, he was Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, and Associate Member Australian Competition and Consumer Commission from 1997-2004. He is also the President, English Speaking Union, National Convenor of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, and National President and Second International Vice-President of the World Jurist Association. Chairman of the Australian Press Council 1987 - 1997, he was in the same years Dean of Law of the University of Technology Sydney, during which term significant changes to Australian legal education were made. David has published books and articles on topics such as the media, international economic law, Australia's constitution and Australia's 1999 constitutional referendum - including The Cane Toad Republic, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, 1999. He contributes frequently to the press, and to the ACM website, www.norepublic.com. au. His recent books include The Twilight of the Elites, 2003, and Malice in Media Land. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1995, was recognised with the award of World Outstanding Legal Scholar, World Jurists Association, Barcelona, in October 1991, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1995.

Master of Ceremonies Jim Hopkins
Jim Hopkins. Back again in the absence of anyone competent, Mr Jim Hopkins, alias George Clooney, will be serving as Master of Ceremonies or Uberwürdenfüehrer again this year, assuming, of course, that he hasn't been summarily detained by the ever-vigilant Ms Sue Bradford for unlawfully smacking his children or any of his several partners or a naked policeman whilst engaging in group sex.

Mistress of Ceremonies Kerre Woodham
Kerre Woodham is a veteran broadcaster, with more than 20 years experience in radio, television and print. Her youthful appearance, however, belies this fact. Currently she is the night time host on NewsTalk ZB as well as the host of NewsTalk ZB's Sunday morning show, Kerre's Café. She also has a weekly column in the Herald on Sunday and is a rent a guest on most television shows that require them. She is frequently called upon to MC functions or perform the role of after dinner speaker. She has completed a BA, majoring in history and political studies, has a first class honours degree in history and appears to be faltering at the final Masters fence. Last year in an attempt to avert a midlife crisis she ran the Auckland Marathon and is now training for the New York Marathon. She has just become the book reviewer for the Paper Plus franchise as they are developing their book market. She lives in domestic bliss in the People's Republic of Grey Lynn, with her Irishman, her gorgeous teenage daughter and Toby the border collie.