A new series of free public conversations exploring the influence of the arts in broader culture – The Don Dunstan Lectures – will be presented by Adelaide Festival Centre as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations this year.
Dunstan, the socially progressive Premier of South Australia, served in the role from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979.
Under his leadership, the death penalty was abolished in South Australia, homosexuality was decriminalised (following the 1972 murder of gay academic Dr George Ian Ogilvie Duncan) and plans for the Adelaide Festival Centre evolved from a single concert hall to an interconnected set of venues on the banks of the River Torrens/Karrawirraparri.
