The Bennelong Society

Quadrant Online: The Bennelong Papers is Quadrant’s new online blog dealing with Aboriginal policy. Thanks to Gary Johns and the Bennelong Society we will begin by reprinting and hosting some of the society’s essays and texts which so decisively influenced public debate since the formation of the society in 2001.

Gary Johns:

The Bennelong Society is grateful to Quadrant for agreeing to host the principal documents of the society.

Quadrant will continue to publish works on Aboriginal policy, maintaining the interest that it showed in the 1999-2000 Quadrant conferences.

The Bennelong Society would like to partner with Quadrant from time to time on issues of importance to Aboriginal policy.

The next major issue will be Aboriginal recognition in the Australian Constitution. The Gillard Government has established a pro-recognition committee to recommend forms of change leading to recommendations for a referendum at the next election.

The Bennelong Society views such recognition as fraught with difficulty and would be interested in a seminar to debate the issues and prepare for the referendum.

Artwork by Aboriginal Art Noongali.

Read the first two reprints from the Bennelong Society:

Geoffrey Partington, "The Origins of the Bennelong Society", with Foreword by Geoffrey Blainey, (pdf) here…

Bess Nungarrayi Price, Inaugural Peter Howson Lecture, with a postscript by Dave Price, (pdf) here…