A Working Future for the Seventh State
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A Working Future for the Seventh State A compilation of key note speeches and presentations recorded during Statehood: A Dialogue Lecture Series 2011 auspiced by The Northern Institute A Working Future for the Seventh State A compilation of key note speeches and presentations recorded during Statehood: A Dialogue Lecture Series 2011 auspiced by The Northern Institute FRONT PAGE PHOTO CREDIT Title: Celebrating the transfer of the Territory Photographer: Barnes, W. J. Date taken: 1911. Place: Darwin City. Collection: Phyllis Moyle Collection. Description: Celebrating the transfer of the Territory, 1911 in the grounds of Government House. Copyright owner: Northern Territory Library. An electronic copy of this publication can be found a www.cdu.edu.au/thenortherninstitute. © Charles Darwin University This Publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study,research or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publishers. Published in 2011 by The Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia 0909 This publication was prepared by Professor Daniela Stehlik and Ms Katrina Britnell of The Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University. Acknowledgements The Northern Institute wishes to thank all who participated and supported the Statehood: A Dialogue lecture series. Special thanks goes to the keynote speakers and presenters that have agreed that their work be published, these include: . The Honourable Fred Chaney AO . Professor George Williams AO . Dr Gary Johns . Professor Elizabeth Povinelli . Chief Minister Paul Henderson . Chief Justice Robert French . Michael Tatham . Professor Dean Carson . Ken Parish . Kathy De La Rue . Judy Boland Our grateful thanks to Brien Reid, Chairman of the Historical Society of the Northern Territory who collated presentations and in some cases, recorded and transcribed these. A special mention to the dedicated staff at NT Library especially Melissa Royle and Diana Richards for allowing us to use their beautiful venue at Parliament House. Thanks also goes to Lucy Lindberg-Ostling from Minister Malarndirri McCarthy’s office for her negotiations around the successful keynote speeches. In conclusion, a heartfelt thank you to the hardworking and committed administration staff of The Northern Institute, whose support made the lecture series so successful and enabled this subsequent publication to come to fruition. 3 4 Contents THE NORTHERN INSTITUTE ..................................................................................... 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 9 THE KEY NOTE SPEECHES ........................................................................................... 11 The Honourable Dr Fred Chaney AO ............................................................................ 11 Professor George Williams AO ...................................................................................... 19 THE NORTHERN INSTITUTE - PUBLIC POLICY LECTURE SERIES ............................ 28 The Honourable Dr Gary Johns ..................................................................................... 28 Professor Elizabeth A. Povinelli ..................................................................................... 35 FURTHER STATEHOOD RELATED PRESENTATIONS ................................................. 44 The Honourable Paul Henderson MLA .......................................................................... 44 Chief Justice Robert French AC .................................................................................... 50 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY - LECTURE SERIES 2011 . 65 Michael Tatham ............................................................................................................. 65 Professor Dean Carson ................................................................................................. 76 Ken Parish ..................................................................................................................... 84 Kathy De La Rue ..........................................................................................................105 Judy Boland .................................................................................................................112 5 THE NORTHERN INSTITUTE The Northern Institute (pictured next page) is a flagship research institute at Charles Darwin University. It was launched in October 2010 by the Chief Minister The Honourable Paul Henderson, and has national and international expertise in the social sciences, humanities, business, law and education, with a particular focus on social and public policy, and industry and community development. Three critical components drive the Institute’s activities - People, Policy and Place. PEOPLE Northern Australia is home to nearly one million people. It is largely a young, dynamic demographic, with one in seven residents being Indigenous Australians. The sparseness of settlements has and continues to define and shape us socially, economically and demographically. That the region has developed despite this speaks not only to the character and courage of those who have settled here from elsewhere but also to the resilience and determination of those who were here first. As Australia’s ‘gateway to Asia’, Northern Australia has a strategic advantage in terms of trade and tourism with a 500 hundred year history of trading with its near neighbours. Access to education (including online and distance education), health services and improved wellbeing remain critical and significant aspirations for the populations of Northern Australia. Economic development for the north is centred on the pastoral, mining and service sectors, which includes education, health, justice as well as hospitality and tourism. Increasingly, the northern ports (which ship more than 50 percent of national export tonnage) are seen as critical to the economic sustainability of the region. POLICY Forecasting and understanding the size, structure, and spatial distribution of the region is critical in designing policy and planning for the future. The gathering of evidence through focused research provides the foundations essential for future policy formulation as well as enabling evaluation and review of existing policy frameworks. The development of public and social policy for the Region offers important opportunities for the exchange of knowledge, research and dialogue for the improvement of the wellbeing, education and livelihoods of the communities of Northern Australia and its near Asian neighbours. These opportunities highlight not just the causes and consequences of population flows to/from and within but also the impacts on those populations (and their communities) who choose to remain. While such demographic dynamism does make populations a challenge to model, useful approaches can include developing alternate models not reliant on large, closed and primarily urban populations. PLACE The future will necessitate a re-thinking and re-shaping of the traditional boundaries of knowledge production and policy making in relation to the challenges of the region. Northern Australia is a vast, diverse and highly varied landscape, where place making (which is determined historically, culturally and socially) remains both locally focussed and 6 highly valued. Northern Australia consists of some three million hectares across both desert and tropical environments; a landscape steeped in deep history, where human beings have lived for more than 40,000 years. While there are a number of regional cities in the north, many of which experience high growth and diverse economies, people in Northern Australia still continue to live ‘remotely’ – which by definition – means that their capacity to access goods and services remains restricted by distance. The region’s future challenges include the successful integration of new communication technologies, innovation in e-commerce and e-health and the role of transport in maintaining networks and connections. The Northern Institute’s theme for 2011 was ‘Securing Futures’ and in this context the statehood lecture series provided an important public demonstration of the relevance of this theme for the Territory. Pictured Above: The Northern Institute at Charles Darwin University, Casuarina Campus. 7 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This year (2011) recognises the centenary of the Northern Territory separating from South Australia and becoming the responsibility of the Commonwealth Government. It therefore offers an historical ‘marker’ on the journey to statehood, and an opportunity to maintain the dialogue within the Territory as undertaken by the Information Roadshow Program delivered by the Northern Territory Statehood Steering Committee during 2010. This Information Roadshow Program travelled to 50 Public Forums and conducted a number of local meetings and information sessions throughout the Northern Territory in 2010. The Pathway to Statehood was a visioning of the future for the Northern Territory, and in her commissioning of the lecture series, the Minister for Statehood provided the following vision: ‘We want our remote towns to become vibrant, thriving towns, to become towns where