With the prevalence of social media platforms ever increasing, old photos often need to be unearthed to provide a snapshot of humour or to add significance to a post.
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There are two hard drives with far more capacity than required that hang from my computer set-up: an octopus of chords.
Unfortunately, detachable memory is not like our old family photo albums or slide reels which remain highly organised by necessity, rather they are all a jumble with portrayals of adventures past.
Each time a search is required I tell myself, "you should organise those folders", but it never happens.
This year has been tumultuous with bushfires and a global health pandemic, and protests and riots gripping a super-power with similar discussions finding a home locally when reflecting on our own history.
For somebody who enjoys routine and structure and symmetry, 2020 has proved very challenging.
Yet, and even with the tests we face, I find myself searching for order in a chaotic world.
And although it may seem contradictory to my hard drive woes, finding order is important because it creates rhythm.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Fortunately, through conversations and a social media tag, order and understanding found its way to me during the last two weeks.
"What a time to be alive," I have heard people say.
On Friday 29 May 2020, the High Court reached a decision that a series of correspondence known as the "palace letters" could be made public.
Historian Jenny Hocking had pursued the release of the letters, which detail conversations between then Governor-General, Sir John Kerr and Elizabeth II and her private secretary during the months prior to the Constitutional Crisis and dismissal of the Whitlam Government in 1975.
Some 200 pieces of correspondence had remained locked away under the Archives Act.
Gough Whitlam remains a giant of the Australian Labor Party who, although leading a chaotic government not unfamiliar with controversy, is remembered for Medicare and free university tuition that resulted in a generation achieving higher education when it wasn't the norm.
Whitlam is also revered for his relationship with Gurindji man, Vincent Lingiari, the leader of the Wave Hill walk-off, symbolised by the pouring of red dirt through Vincent's hands on August 16,1975 to signify the transfer of Wave Hill Station, surrendered by Vestey Brothers in 1973, back to traditional owners.
"Let us live happily together as mates, let us not make it hard for each other ... We want to live in a better way together, Aboriginals and white men, let us not fight over anything, let us be mates," Lingiari said.
That sentiment seems even more poignant nearly 45 years later.
Coincidentally, last week was National Reconciliation Week with the theme #InThisTogether offering an astute and timely reminder.
During the week Eddie Mabo Day, every June 3, is celebrated to recognise the courage and tenacity of Meriam man Mr Mabo who died in January 1992.
It was shortly before the Chief Justice and Justice McHugh released a joint statement in June of the same year declaring that the people of the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait were "entitled to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment", of their homelands.
The photo I searched for was of former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Sir Anthony Mason AC KBE QC taken in 2011 when he visited Tasmania for an annual legal conference.
Sir Anthony and I spoke about the High Court's Mabo decision of 1992 and the significance of ending the doctrine of terra nullius (land belonging to no-one), recognising that the original inhabitants of Australia were present long before the British arrived.
As Chief Justice, Sir Anthony was a key member of the High Court that ruled 6-1 in favour of the claim of native title by Eddie Mabo and in doing so, delivered an historic and landmark judgment.
The photo could no longer be found on my social media profile because I found it difficult to reconcile Mason's role in the dismissal of Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister in 1975.
As a Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW, he provided advice to Sir John Kerr regarding the Constitutional right of a Governor-General to dismiss a democratically elected Prime Minister and government.
Chief Justice Mason, an elderly gentleman who rarely speaks on the record, wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald about the events leading up to the November 1975 dismissal soon after I met him. In 2012 he stated:
"I played no part at all in the preparation of Sir John's statement of decision, nor was I asked to do so, though I prepared, at his request a draft letter terminating Mr Whitlam's commission [which Sir John did not adopt]."
We can catalogue photos and delete hard drives, but we can't rewrite history.
What we can do is acknowledge wrongdoings and learn from the past to ensure our future is fairer and more just.
We can also hold those responsible to account, try to forgive, and recognise that history is written by those "in the arena".
- Brian Wightman is a former Tasmanian Attorney-General and school principal.
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