Working Papers
The working papers collection comprises historical papers as well as current ideas and works in progress on some of the major issues and topics of our times.
Anyone who met or saw Jimmy Little sing was struck by his quiet, loving dignity, his unforgettable voice and stage presence. He represented something more - an invincible spirit - a famous trait of his mother's Yorta Yorta culture.
Though only a handful of us were gathered at Milingimbi on ANZAC Day, the full reality hits home: more than 30 million soldiers and civilians were killed in the Pacific theater during WWII, compared with 15 million to 20 million killed in Europe.
Changing the Australian constitution and deepening democracy
AUKUS almost certainly means that Australia will sign and ratify the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It is long overdue.
Reflections on the must-read book of 2023
There is nothing like the black of a perfect blackberry. So black it’s a void of black, purple, blue. Stare into it and you might get lost. It seems too much for the eyes. Is there anything else we eat that is so black, so beneficial, so immediately satisfying and delicious? Christ’s crown of thorns was made from blackberry runners, the black juice his blood. Blackberries symbolize spiritual neglect. In neglected areas of land in Australia they will run forever and will quickly take over acres, if you let them.
Are we optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Pessimism rules! But there are reminders, all around of us, of place, and how lucky we have it.
First thoughts on the 2023 Referendum to create a National Voice for Indigenous Australians, enshrined in the Constitution, that will work with and inform the Federal Parliament.
When the earth was corrupt and filled with violence it rained for forty days and forty nights. The flood engulfed the earth, mountains were covered and valleys filled. Noah was 600 years old, his instructions were to build an ark that was 300 metres long and 126 metres wide with three stories. He filled it up with his family and two of “everything of all flesh”. The water rose six metres. After 150 days the waters subsided. Noah’s ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat and the earth made a new start. It rained for more than forty days and nights in Kangaroo Valley in 2022, and in many parts of Australia and the world. At Fitzroy Crossing in early 2023 the water rose 16 metres across a wide flood plain, a record even for the Monsoon period. At Echuca the mighty Dungala rose 80 metres above sea level. Not a record, but high enough to flood the town and the region. What does it all mean?
Follow the vibration.. across the land to Goulburn Island and back and now to the world...
