The Voice Referendum

 Why I will be voting for an Indigenous Voice in Parliament:

1. This was a key part of the Uluru Statement. At that time a majority of the country seemed to back Indigenous opinion and rights. I guess the change now has come from a negative, anti-Indigenous misinformation campaign. 

2. Constitutional representation of First Nations Peoples is an enshrined right in the UN Charter. We can't cherry pick the rights we like and blank those we don't like  

3. First Nations people are in the best position to say whether a constitutional Voice would be a good thing, and they seem to be saying it would. I don't want to impose my white background on a decision which doesn't affect me. 

4. I lived in Melbourne for about 15 years where I was fed the lie of the city's great cultural diversity. In fact, like the rest of Australia, it seemed to me to be predominantly White with huge discriminatory problems affecting Indigenous, Asian, African etc groups. And Melbourne probably is more liberal than other cities! So I will support the Indigenous identity in the Voice Referendum and stand with under represented, or minority groups, who have faced discrimination and are still being subjected to discrimination now. 

Hopefully, the Voice will be a step towards Australia's Indigenous peoples having a better life.

Where were you when.....

 You often hear people saying that they clearly remember what they were doing when 9/11 struck, when Princess Diana died, or when JFK was shot, those historic newsworthy moments. I can only remember the first two of these as I am too young to remember Kennedy's murder. I was in Florence/Firenze, Italy, when I heard about 9/11 and in Stratford-upon-Avon in England the morning after Diana's death when I heard the news.

The same will be said for Trump in the future. Even now, people are reminiscing about what they were doing on January 6th 2021, but any indictments that stick will be massive news. There have been some highly prominent trials in the fairly recent past, with Saddam Hussein and OJ Simpson coming prominently to mind. But these will be nothing compared to what we can expect from the upcoming Trump trials.

Currently there are 4 major cases in Florida (secret documents), New York (Stormy Daniels hush money), Washington (January 6th), Georgia (election interference). There's also the civil case brought by E Jean Carroll and possible future indictments about retaining documents in his Bedminster home. There's a good case tracker in the Guardian.

Of all of these, the January 6th case seems the most important after the dramatic scenes of the US Capitol being stormed. It may not be the one that eventually brings Trump down, but it is certainly an epic trial, hinting at insurrection and treason. Living in Australia, we often hear American news the next day because of time zone differences. But the news of this indictment came to me in real time as I was climbing the Nut in Stanley to try to see a sunrise. The Nut is a large headland overlooking the historic town of Stanley and the surrounding coastline of North West Tasmania. The walk around the Nut gives great panoramic views and is listed as one of Tasmania's 60 Great Short Walks.

Unfortunately, I was not to see a sunrise because of cloudy weather, but I did see a lot of beautiful scenery, lots of gorse showing and wattle beginning to flower, and a load of pademelons, small marsupials that look like little wallabies.

Gorse grows abundantly in Tasmania although considered an invasive species

Wattle flowers beginning to show on this Coastal Wattle

Pademelons are small Marsupials

I hate the term "Bucket List"

I'm currently following the news about Iceland with thousands of earthquakes leading to volcanic activity that has been kicking off near Reykjavik today. I'm fascinated by Iceland, its amazing scenery, including volcanoes, and the great chess culture there. I have to admit, that it the number 1 destination for me in the World at the moment.

I've never been to Iceland, and living in Tasmania, I couldn't be much further away. But I've dreamt of going to Iceland, combining my love for chess with my love for wildlife. The Reykjavik Chess Open is one of the great annual open tournaments and has a history going back to the 1960's. It is usually held around March/April, and would be a great event to attend. After the chess a roadtrip around the Island Ring Road would be amazing, perhaps spending a week to 10 days just basking in the glory of the wonders of Iceland's scenery.

Will I get to Iceland before I kick the bucket? Hopefully! Do I consider it part of my bucket list? No!! This term has not long started working its way through to my circle of friends and I really can't stand it. I don't make a list of "must-do's" or "wouldn't-that-be-greats" and then pressure myself to make them happen, or get cut up about them not happening. Yes, I'd like to go to Iceland. Yes, I'll try to make it happen. But No, it's not something I HAVE TO DO before I die.