John Rawnsley

Recently I had the privilege of meeting the US President Barack Obama.  This made me reflect on a previous post from 2008 which I've copied below... Post of 15 May 2008: Noel Pearson’s essay in the Monthly offers an intriguing analysis of Steele’s insight into contemporary race relations in America. There are several compelling paragraphs that refer to responsibility, opportunity, and how uplift occurs in dominant-minority populations. After reading the essay I was disappointed at what I saw as deficiencies in Pearson’s core argument. Pearson argues that Obama has not pursued strongly enough the radical centre that integrates core notions (or a contemporary understanding) of responsibility. Pearson contends that Obama should ‘radically revise’ his account of such issues at the Democratic National Convention in August. Obama is being misrepresented. My observations are that he has pursued the radical centre by offering a style of politics that is untested a...

The Centralian Advocate printed this letter to the editor: If the Australian constitution is to acknowledge Aboriginal people as the first Australians then this will likely be a symbolic gesture. Symbols and acknowledgements can be important; it can lift peoples’ hopes. Going beyond symbolism will be very difficult because changing the Australian constitution requires broad bi-partisan support from across political parties. This support exists now, and only to the point of acknowledging the ‘first Australians’, but there is still a long way to go. Putting the Australian constitution aside, what is more important to us is Statehood because we have the opportunity to design a completely new constitution. We start with a blank canvass. A planned convention in late 2011 intends to involve delegates from across the Territory to do exactly this. What a number of us on Town Council have said, and what we are calling for others to support, is for the new constitution to actively prote...

The post over the fold offers my views of the politics of a youth curfew for Alice Springs.  These views start before the debate resurfaced and positioned itself as one of the most controversial for the town in 2011.  That my observations were predictions of actual events which occurred is not surprising but adds to my disenchantment with the nature of politics and the media cycle (which is a debate in itself).

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 ...