The Bennelong Society was a conservative

think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental org ...

dedicated to

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

affairs. The society was named after the

Eora The Eora (''Yura'') are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Eora is the name given by the earliest European settlers to a group of Aboriginal people belonging to the clans along the coastal area of what is now known as the Sy ...

man

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong serv ...

, who served as an interlocutor between the

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

cultures, both in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

almost from the start of British settlement of Australia in

1788 Events January–March * January 1 – The first edition of ''The Times'', previously ''The Daily Universal Register'', is published in London. * January 2 – Georgia ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the fourth U.S ...

. It was affiliated with conservative commentators in debates on Indigenous affairs. The society was established to: * promote debate and analysis of

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

policy in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, both contemporary and historical; * inquire into the causes of the present appalling plight of many contemporary Aboriginal people; * seek to influence public opinion so that the prospects for amelioration of the condition of these people are improved; * encourage research into the history of the interaction between Australia's Indigenous people and the Europeans and others who settled in Australia from

onwards, and of the ideas through which this interaction was interpreted by both Europeans and Aborigines; * make available to the Australian community, particularly through the Internet, the results of these activities. The Bennelong Society website was officially launched by Senator the Hon. John Herron with a speech at Parliament House, Canberra on 15 May 2001. It was one of a number of groups, including the

H. R. Nicholls Society The HR Nicholls Society is an Australian think tank that focuses on industrial relations. It advocates full workplace deregulation, contains some Liberal MPs as members and is seen to be of the New Right. It was created in March 1986 after John ...

Samuel Griffith Society The Samuel Griffith Society was founded in 1992 by a group led by former Chief Justice of Australia Sir Harry Gibbs, former Senator John Stone, businessman Hugh Morgan and legal academic Greg Craven. Named after Sir Samuel Griffith, one of th ...

and

Lavoisier Group The Lavoisier Group is an Australian organisation formed by politicians and dominated by retired industrial businesspeople and engineers.Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and song-writing duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films. Evans wrote the lyrics and Living ...

. The president was

Gary Johns Gary Thomas Johns (born 29 August 1952) is an Australian writer and former politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1996, holding the Queensland seat of Petrie for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He served as ...

. The Society was wound up in 2011 but its work was partly continued by a "Bennelong papers" section of the ''Quadrant'' magazine website.

Bennelong Medal

The Society held an annual conference and awarded the Bennelong Medal from 2002. Recipients of the medal have been: *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: Professor

Boni Robertson Boni may refer to: Places * Bone state, a vassal state of the government of Celebes, Dutch East Indies * Boni MRT Station, a train station in Manila, Philippines * Boni, Benin, an arrondissement in the Collines department of Benin state * Boni (d ...

, who had chaired the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Task Force on Violence. Citation: "''awarded for her leadership in the difficult area of family violence and her courage in pursuing actions by both State and Federal governments to ameliorate this grave problem.''" *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

: Dulcie and Dorothy Wilson, members of the

Ngarrindjeri The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term ''Ngarrindjeri'' means "belo ...

community of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and significant dissidents in the

Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy The Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy was a 1990s Australian legal and political controversy that involved the clash of local Aboriginal Australian sacred culture and property rights. A proposed bridge to Hindmarsh Island, near Goolwa, South ...

. Citation: ''"Hindmarsh Island is in the end a story of heroism. It is about the courage of the dissident women who saw their culture being abused and decided to do something about it."'' *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

: Pastor

Paul Albrecht Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

AM, Director of the Finke River (Hermannsburg) Mission from 1970 to 1998. Citation: ''"He was awarded the Bennelong Medal in recognition of his long and dedicated service as missionary and translator to the Aboriginal people of Central Australia, and as wise councillor to all Australians on Aboriginal Affairs."'' *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Warren Mundine Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian Aboriginal leader and politician. He was the National President of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but quit the party in 2012. Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition (Australia), Coali ...

, vice-president of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

. Citation: ''"Warren has been a brave advocate for change. His proposal to change the way community owned land is controlled was aimed quite squarely at improving the wealth and well-being of his people."'' *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

: Dr

Sue Gordon Sue Gordon is an Aboriginal retired magistrate from Western Australia who has been locally and nationally honoured for her work with Aboriginal people and in community affairs. She is known for being chair of the Gordon Inquiry (the Inquiry in ...

, AM, Chair of the

National Indigenous Council The National Indigenous Council (NIC) was an appointed advisory body to the Australian Government through the Minister's for Indigenous Affairs' Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs (MTIA) established in November 2004 (not to be confused with the ea ...

and a Western Australian magistrate. Citation: ''for her devotion and commitment to the well-being of Aboriginal Australians'' *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Louis Nowra Mark Doyle, better known by his stage name Louis Nowra, (born 12 December 1950) is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist. He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights. His works have been performed by all o ...

, a respected and established Australian playwright. Citation: ''31 August 2007 by John Reeves QC, a member of the NT Emergency Response Task Force, ''for his courage in writing about Aboriginal men's violence towards Aboriginal women'' in his book, Bad Dreaming *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: Hon.

Mal Brough Malcolm Thomas Brough ( ; born 29 December 1961) is a former Australian politician. He represented the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives (1996–2007, 2013–2016) and held ministerial office in the Howard and Turnbull Governments. ...

who was the Minister for Indigenous Affairs in the

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

Government that initiated the

Northern Territory National Emergency Response The Northern Territory National Emergency Response, also known as "The Intervention" or the Northern Territory Intervention, and sometimes the abbreviation "NTER" (for Northern Territory Emergency Response) was a package of measures enforced by ...

. Citation: for bringing hope to the women and children living in remote Aboriginal communities, for a future free from violence and appalling abuse'' *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Bess Price Bess Nungarrayi Price (born 22 October 1960) is an Aboriginal Australian activist and politician. She was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2016, representing the electorate of Stuart, an ...

, indigenous

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

activist who has criticised indigenous violence. Citation: '' 'for her forthright defence of the

and her challenge to "white students and cranky Kooris and Murris from down south who know nothing about Aboriginal people and who hate whitefellas"' ''.{{cite web , url=http://www.bennelong.com.au/medallists.php , title=Recipients of the Bennelong Medal , date=2012-03-03 , publisher=Bennelong Society , access-date=2023-01-23 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303040909/http://www.bennelong.com.au/medallists.php, archive-date=2012-03-03

References

External links

Bennelong Society
(archived 2012) Defunct organisations serving Indigenous Australians Think tanks based in Australia 2001 establishments in Australia 2011 disestablishments in Australia