John Rawnsley

Recently the Alice Springs Desert Leadership Group had the privilige of so many experiences as part of a Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne east coast retreat. One powerful experience was hearing directly from the US Ambassador as to his thoughts and insights of leadership. A picture of our group (Official U.S. Embassy photo by Travis Longmore) :

An issue I feel passionate about is  Statehood  and the possibility of designing a modern constitution for a new State. Constitutional law was an interest during law school. The potential we have during this important time in history is, in my view, often overlooked, and to our detriment. With such a complex issue many Territorians are asking questions. In one sense there is simply too much information – many questions cannot be answered because we aren’t in a point of time in our history to provide an answer. What can follow is uncertainty masked as confusion. Whilst this happens there is the chance for leadership and for those showing leadership to coalesce around some core principles that define us. Dave Richards from Alice Online kindly posted  this piece  about Statehood and regionalisation – a speech I recently delivered to the  LGANT  general meeting. The Alice Springs News printed  a modified version . The  NT News  (online copy un...

Recently I read The River of Doubt about President Theodore Roosevelt’s journey on an unmapped river in South America, also called the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition . A friend lent me the book. It is a fascinating account and coming from the desert the detailed explanations of the river, the amazon environment and its adaptive nature was intriguing given the stark contrast to my own environment. My friend who lent it to me said that Marechal Rondon , the Brazilian Military Officer who led the journey with Roosevelt, was a remarkable figure so prominent in the history of South America. In that region his name is recognised extensively. The book gives account after account of Rondon’s philosophy and approach towards the indigenous peoples; how he refused to support confrontation despite being in the face of danger and hostility; how his practice was to leave food and goods as gifts; how his discipline and honour and strong sense of nationalism was highly regarded. My frie...

A letter in today’s Centralian Advocate: It has been about 6 months since I quit alcohol. As a young adult my main reason was to send the right message to others in my generation. I can confidently say that my challenge has been well worth it. I never drank regularly, a weekend wind-down was always on the cards, but as more than 4 standard drinks on any single occasion is considered a health risk I was in the camp of many in the odd occasion of over-consumption. Quitting alcohol meant that I could talk about it more and its place in our community. If alcohol is consumed responsibly then this can be a good thing, it can be a good way to wind down and socialise. Alcohol becomes a problem when relationships are harmed; when the amount of money spent dips too much into disposable income; when violence or abuse no matter how benign is dished out; when it is seen as an out to whatever personal or social problems persist. For some people the response to any of these experiences is to have ...

My first printed opinion piece was published in the NT News as a follow up to my commitment to quit alcohol for one year. I was grateful for the opportunity. The piece suggests three policy ideas concerning alcohol in Alice Springs. ********************** As the first from the Generation Y (those born 1980-1995) to be elected to a municipal Council in the Territory I was honoured in March this year to be elected Deputy Mayor of Alice Springs. My generation lives within a specific set of circumstances and I am obliged to advocate reform with this in mind. In my new role my first decision was to quit alcohol for one year. My main motivation is to set an example. If the National Health and Medical Research Council recommends no more than 4 standard drinks on any single occasion then excessive alcohol consumption in the Territory is commonplace. Too often we leave the task of finding solutions to policy makers without realising that it is also us who can build a social and cultural i...

At the Full Council meeting on 28th October the following motion was passed unanimously: That Council prepare a discussion paper for Statehood. That the discussion paper examine, amongst other possibilities, recognition of Local Government including its powers and responsibilities and an equitable formula for the distribution of funds to be embedded in the constitution that evokes Statehood. That this paper, if necessary, utilise funding allocated in this years budget for further analysis of population figures and mobility with a view of ascertaining an accurate formula. That this paper consider the unique position of regions within the Territory. That Council give impetus to the Mayor to consult with Local Government across the Territory, particularly the regions, with a view of seeking support for the principles embodied in the paper. Moved: John Rawnsley Seconded: Jane Clark This motion calls on Council to actively contribute to the direction of Statehood by promoting th...

Wikipedia outlines philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002) attempts to solve the problems of distributive justice by utilising a variant of the social contract. He does this by two core principles of justice: liberty principle and difference principle, and calls it ‘Justice as Fairness’. Writing in A Theory of Justice (1971) Rawls outlines a simple definition of the ‘first principle’: Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. Contemporary equal opportunity policies generally conflict with this principle. In attempting to solve class injustice contemporary policies recognise exclusiveness based on certain categories: race, gender, disability. Information and data that pertain to these categories establish a scale where socio-economic outcomes can be readily defined. Where this principle finds conflict with components of contemporary policy is with the ‘compatibility’ requirement ...