Drew Pavlou

Pavlou's family, who are Greek Cypriots from the Larnaca District of Cyprus, migrated to Australia in the 1960s to open a number of hospitality and retail shops on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

At two years old, Pavlou's family moved to Brisbane, where he would then go on to complete high school at Villanova College.

Growing up, Pavlou was bullied in school for his heritage, being called slurs such as wog.

He was then admitted to the University of Queensland where he was studying for a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Philosophy before his suspension.

His grandmother's brother was a fighter with Greek nationalist guerrilla organisation EOKA, and was killed during the Cyprus Emergency.

Drew Pavlou (born 4 June 1999) is an Australian political activist best known for his criticism of the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party.

Pavlou was born on 4 June 1999.

Pavlou is also known for organising protests on-campus in support of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.

In July 2019, during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, Pavlou organised a protest at the University of Queensland in support of the Hong Kong democracy movement.

He has alleged that he was assaulted twice during clashes with counter-protestors who were supporting the Chinese Government.

The counter-protesters were in the hundreds and had shouted pro-Beijing slogans and played China's national anthem over loudspeakers.

Covering the incident, the LA Times wrote: "Things quickly turned violent. A man in the crowd rushed at Pavlou, snatching his megaphone. A second man shoved him. In the ensuing scuffles, one student from Hong Kong was tackled and grabbed by the throat; another had her shirt ripped open."

Brisbane-based Chinese Consular-General and adjunct professor at UQ, Xu Jie, responded to the protests by condoning counter-protestors for "self-motivated patriotic behaviour" and condemning the protest as "anti-China separatist activities".

Pavlou responded by alleging Xu Jie was inciting violence and issuing a death threat, a claim which was rejected by the Chinese embassy in Canberra.

The Magistrates Court rejected the application for a case before it was heard at trial, citing international diplomatic immunity laws.

In May 2020, he was suspended for two years from the University of Queensland (UQ), which alleged 11 instances of misconduct.

The action drew national attention in Australia, including from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

An appeal of his case by the UQ Senate Disciplinary Appeals Committee upheld two of the initial charges and reduced his suspension to one semester.

Pavlou returned to UQ in early 2021.

In December 2021, Pavlou launched the Drew Pavlou Democratic Alliance federal political party.

He ran for the Australian Senate in the 2022 Australian federal election, alongside five other candidates, but was unsuccessful.

The party was voluntarily deregistered in November 2023.

In July 2022, Pavlou was arrested in London for an alleged bomb threat against the Chinese Embassy; an allegation he denied.

Pavlou has alleged that the bomb threat was part of a campaign to have him falsely charged and arrested.

No charges were issued; Pavlou alleged the Metropolitan Police denied him consular services.

Throughout April and May 2020, Pavlou was summoned to the University of Queensland disciplinary board after a 186-page report suggested he violated university student discipline policies 11 times, and was suspended for 2 years.

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd criticised Chancellor Peter Varghese's handling of the suspension, claiming the university was overly conciliatory to Beijing.

Allegations by the university included bullying, discrimination, and harassment of students and staff, both online and on-campus.

ABC News has reported that complaints raised to the board include Pavlou improperly claiming to make statements on behalf of the university and a Facebook post of Pavlou posing in front of the UQ Confucius Institute in a biohazard suit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pavlou admitted to directing profanity at students on Facebook and another university forum after UQ claimed complaints were raised by a number of students.

On 5 May, Pavlou walked out of a disciplinary board hearing, labelling the hearing as a "Stalinist show trial".

Pavlou's legal team claimed that they were denied access to confidential university documents that may demonstrate UQ collusion with the Chinese government.

A spokesperson for the university stated that the matter did not concern political freedom of speech but misbehaviour, that university policy is developed independently of politics, and that the university was unable to comment directly on the matters of the hearing.

On 29 May, the board handed down its decision to suspend Pavlou for two years, the remainder of Pavlou's tenure as UQ senator.

UQ Chancellor Peter Varghese expressed concern on the UQ News website about "the findings and the severity of the penalty", convening an out-of-session meeting of the UQ Senate to discuss the matter.

On 2 June, Pavlou sought a review from the UQ Senate Disciplinary Appeals Committee (SDAC), the appellate body for disciplinary matters formed from the UQ Senate, and student and staff representatives.

On 13 July, SDAC issued its findings, concluding that two counts of serious misconduct were justified, however dismissing other charges.

As a result, SDAC reduced the suspension from two years to one semester (roughly six months).

In a statement released by the Committee and Chancellor Varghese, they explained that "neither of the findings of serious misconduct concerned Mr Pavlou's personal or political views about China or Hong Kong", and that Pavlou is now ineligible to return as a UQ senator, under the University of Queensland Act.

In September 2020, the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission declined a request by Pavlou to investigate Chancellor Peter Varghese and former Vice-Chancellor Peter Høj, citing "insufficient evidence to suggest anyone who was subject of the complaint had engaged in corrupt conduct".