Amanda Stoker didn’t start out her career as a lawyer with the view to become a Member of the Australian Parliament. Yet, it was with a growing concern for her country that brought Amanda to make the decision that sees her representing Queensland in the Australian Senate today.
Prior to her role in the Senate, Amanda spent many years serving as a lawyer in varying capacities, including serving as a Commonwealth prosecutor and as a judge’s associate in the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Amanda is married to Adam and together they have three daughters.
Sound-bites from this episode:
Freedom of speech matters because if we restrict the things we can speak about we are only a generation away from restricting our ability to think.
Freedom of speech is absolutely core to future-proofing our country.
Of course there are limits [to free speech]. The question for our time is where we draw that line.
Universities are supposed to be places where all ideas are in bounds and we can be the most creative with our thinking, and yet these are now places where some speakers are no longer welcome because their views challenge the post-modernist identity politics orthodoxy. They are supposed to be the protectors of intellectual freedom and freedom of speech and [yet] they are abandoning the cause of standing up for people whose ideas may be a little different. This process takes away the resilience of current students … they become [our future leaders].
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The Lydia Project: Conversations with Christian Women is a podcast co-hosted by Tori Walker and Taryn Hayes on The Gospel Coalition, Australia website. It features informal chats with Christian women around faith, life, ministry and the ways in which God is shaping their thinking and their lives. The views of our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the hosts or TGC, Australia.
