I could saunter many delightful miles in the time it takes me to find the right word and many more again before I can construct a decent sentence. Writing is hard labour.
Don Watson, 2021
Latest 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.
Each historical era throws up its heroes and villains. Certainly Alexander Berry is a fallen angel moving from hero and rescuer of the survivors of the Boyd, innovative pioneer and trader to ruthless patriarch to Australian Frankenstein/grave robber and vicious environmental vandal.
Jeffrey Sachs and I were in Moscow in 1990. Sachs recent full blown speech to the European Parliament caused me to reflect on that time, the opportunities lost and the lingering tragedy and unprincipled opportunism that often underlies foreign policy.
The etymology of "Jerry Bailey"/Shoalhaven Heads and the Tragedy of Thom Davidson
All things being equal it takes a long time, perhaps one hundred years to sustain a half decent farm. Money won’t buy it. Technology will not create it. You need three generations with a disciplined, unbroken vision. Every step of the way is fragile and the whole enterprise may come tumbling down at any point. Without enlightenment it can be an impossible, soul destroying enterprise.
Age, time and scholarship bring the ability to appreciate and comprehend strange confluences.
Old people will often say that, beyond their aches and pains, they still feel the same as they were when they were young. Time is a trickster.
Many Aboriginal people have names beginning with the root "kia", names such as Kiami, Kiama, Kiara or Kiana. The name is derived from an auspicious Aboriginal word referring to the heavens, mountains and the spirit of Biame on the South Coast of NSW and beyond.
The lost South Coast forests..
In a world of misinformation, when everybody seems to be lying, “realness” is the most precious commodity.
