Eric Johnston Lecture
The Eric Johnston Lecture was a flagship event hosted by Library & Archives NT. The lecture provided a platform for a significant Territorian to reflect on the Territory’s past, present and future.
First delivered in 1986, the Eric Johnston Lecture was held annually and invited a prominent Territorian to share their reflections and insights. Based around a theme, each lecture provided an intimate commentary on the Northern Territory’s people, social history and development.
The lecture was named in honour of the inaugural speaker, Commodore Eric Johnston AO, OBE. An Australian naval officer, Johnston rose to prominence because of his energetic and effective performance as chief naval officer during and after Cyclone Tracy. Johnston eventually became the longest-serving Administrator of the Northern Territory, serving from 1981 to 1989. He travelled extensively in the role - no station or Aboriginal community was too remote to escape a visit. He died in 1997.
Presented, recorded or transcribed each year that it was held, this collection of past lectures provides a unique opportunity to view the Northern Territory through the eyes of those who have committed their lives and careers to its betterment.
| Year | Speaker |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Thomas Mayor, wharfie and union official for the Maritime Union of Australia. Signatory of the Uluru Statement from the Heart When the Dreaming becomes us. |
| 2019 | Linda Payi Ford, Principal Research Fellow at Charles Darwin University’s Northern Institute. Aminila bit tjan kin-ning wurrkama gu? Are we all working together with a united voice for treaty & truth? |
| 2018 | Kevin Kadirgamar, immigration lawyer, advocate and 2018 NT Young Australian of the Year Multiculturalism and forty years of Self-Government: Why cities need cultural diversity to thrive |
| 2017 | Sister Anne Gardiner, educator and 2017 Senior Australian of Year Under the Banyan Tree |
| 2015 | Andy Bruyn AM, television executive Growing pains - The Territory's Teenage Years |
| 2014 | Professor Andrew Campbell, natural resource management academic Myths, Dreams and Stories: Alternative Tracks for Northern Australian Development |
| 2013 | Bob Beadman, Indigenous policy expert Poor Fellow My Country: Indigenous Policy - 50 Years of Progress? |
| 2012 | Dr Mickey Dewar, historian and author Finding a Past We Can Live With - Some of the Challenges of Writing Public History in the Remembering Territory Families Exhibition |
| 2011 | Tom Pauling AO QC, former Administrator of the Northern Territory Now I'm Free to Speak |
| 2010 | Banduk Marika, artist Land Management and Cultural Responsibility |
| 2009 | Clare Martin, former Northern Territory Chief Minister Reflections on being in Government |
| 2008 | Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice and Race Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission A Human Rights Agenda for the Northern Territory |
| 2007 | The Honourable Austin Asche AC QC, former Administrator of the Northern Territory When We Were South Australian |
| 2006 | Judy Nunn, author and actress Territory |
| 2005 | Marilynne Paspaley, actress and businesswoman Finding the Spirit of Darwin |
| 2004 | Bill Bunbury, author Cyclone Tracy - an ILL Wind? |
| 2003 | Associate Professor Martin W B Jarvis, former Artistic Director/Conductor of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra Under the Stars in Tropical Vienna |
| 2001 | Terry Underwood, author, photographer and cattle producer Nowhere to Somewhere |
| 2000 | John Anictomatis OAM, former Administrator of the Northern Territory A Home Away from Home - the Aegean to Australia |
| 1999 | Bob Collins, former member of the Australian Senate, Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, and Leader of the Territory Opposition Learning Lessons - Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory |
| 1998 | Ted Egan, former Administrator of the Northern Territory, singer/songwriter and author Makarrta - Caledon Bay and Woodah Island Killings of 1932 to 1933 |
| 1997 | Goff Letts, politician and former member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Great Banteng Muster: The Cobourg Expeditions 1960 to 1963 |
| 1996 | Mandawuy Yunupingu, musician, educator and leader New Love Song for an Old Land |
| 1995 | Roslyn Poignant, anthropologist, author and photographer Lost Conversations, Recovered Archives |
| 1994 | Miriam-Rose Baumann, school principal Aboriginal Education |
| 1993 | Professor D J Mulvaney, archaeologist and academic The Search for Collet Barker of Raffles Bay |
| 1992 | Dr John Hargrave, doctor and leprosy specialist The Best of Both Worlds: Aboriginal Health, Then and Now |
| 1991 | Sir Paul Hasluck, former Governor-General of Australia, historian, poet Pioneers of Post War Recovery |
| 1990 | R G (Dick) Kimber Bill Bunbury, historian and author The End of the Bad Old Days: European Settlement in Central Australia, 1871 to 1894 |
| 1989 | Sir Edward Woodward, jurist Three Wigs and Five Hats |
| 1988 | Dr Ella Stack, former Darwin City Council Lord Mayor Aboriginal Pharmacopoeia |
| 1987 | Professor Charles Manning Clark, historian and author Writing a History of Australia |
| 1986 | Commodore Eric Johnston, former Administrator of the Northern Territory Operation Navy Help: Disaster Operations by the Royal Australian Navy, Post-Cyclone Tracy |