Noel Pearson to deliver ABC Boyer Lectures

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson will deliver his second Boyer Lecture series in less than three decades in a historic first.

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson.

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson will deliver his second Boyer Lecture series in less than three decades in a historic first for the national broadcaster and the distinguished public intellectual.

On Tuesday, the ABC ­announced the lawyer, academic and land rights activist would ­deliver the 2022 Boyer Lecture series. It follows his lecture in 1993 in the wake of the Mabo ­decision a year earlier.

ABC chair Ita Buttrose said it was a significant moment for an Indigenous leader of Mr Pearson’s standing to accept the invitation given the national discussion about the referendum for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

The Boyer Lecture series, named after former ABC chairman Sir Richard Boyer, is a series of radio lectures from a prominent Australian invited to express their thoughts on major social, cultural, scientific or political issues.

“Noel has been an extraordinary force in representing our First Nations people and leading the conversation on issues that are relevant to all Australians,” Ms Buttrose said.

“He will deliver a thought-provoking lecture series that will challenge and encourage ideas about who we all are and how we see ourselves as a nation, now and into the future.”

The national broadcaster said Mr Pearson’s four lectures, which will be broadcast across all ABC platforms, would provide insights into the voice to parliament and the treatment of Indigenous people across the country.

Mr Pearson, who comes from the Guugu Yimidhirr community on the Cape York Peninsula, is the founder of the Cape York Partnership, a non-profit organisation that works to empower Indigenous families and communities.

He has served as a member of the expert panel on constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.