Sunday, October 2, 2011

Whiteman’s Dream

October 2011 Dinner - The Australian Adam Smith Club

Prof Gary Johns
on
Aboriginal Self-Determination:
The Whiteman’s Dream


The Adam Smith Club will host a dinner meeting on Wednesday the 5th of October 2011, at the Curry Club, 396 Bridge Rd, Richmond 3141.

The Hon Dr Gary Johns is Associate Professor in Public Policy in the PPI. He served in the House of Representatives from 1987-1996 and was Special Minister of State and Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations from 1993-1996 and as an Associate Commissioner of the Commonwealth Productivity Commission 2002-2004. He was for 10 years, Senior Fellow Institute of Public Affairs, Australia, and a senior consultant with ACIL Tasman economic consultants from 2006-2009. He is a member of the editorial board of Agenda (ANU) and President of the Bennelong Society.

Gary Johns will outline the thesis of his book, Aboriginal Self-Determination: the Whiteman’s Dream. Land rights, welfare and culture have locked aborigines out of the good life. Land has become a burden, welfare has become disabling, and bad behaviour is mistaken for culture. There is a way out. Aborigines must abide by the same rules as every other Australian -- seek out opportunities, study hard, and free themselves from a culture of bad behaviour. This is in contrast to the white man’s dream of Aboriginal self-determination. This grand experiment has failed. Aborigines, especially those in remote Australia, need an exit strategy from the dream. The exit strategy outlined in this book destroys the rallying cry for culture. Instead, it shows that the way to self-determination is through individual dignity.

Attendance is open to both members and non-members. Those desiring to attend should complete the pdf (link below) and return it to the Club no later than Tuesday the 4th of October 2011. Tickets will not be sent. Those attending should arrive at 6:30pm for dinner at 7:00pm. The cost is $40.00 per head for members and $45.00 per head for non-members

download the invitation and newsletter at
www.adamsmithclub.org/LF100.pdf
(the file is ~200k acrobat file)

2 comments:

  1. Sounds interesting. I would love to come, but I will have to see how I am going - teaching starts back this week, and I may be exhausted - do not want to risk getting pneumonia *again*!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Be lovely to have you there, but your health comes first!

    ReplyDelete