Eric Johnston Lectures

L-R: Mrs Joan Johnston, the Hon Austin Asche AC QC, Mrs Marilyn Hawthorne

The 21st Eric Johnston Lecture was held at the Northern Territory Library, Parliament House, Darwin on Monday 29 October 2007. The 2007 Lecture titled “When We Were South Australian” was delivered by the Honourable Austin Asche AC QC.

The evening was attended by special guest Mrs Joan Johnston, the wife of the late Commodore Eric Johnston, after whom the evening is named.

The Eric Johnston Lecture series was established to fill a serious gap in Darwin's cultural calendar, since the city had no lecture series dealing in depth with the Territory's culture and history in all its diverse ramifications.

The series was named after the Territory's then Administrator Commodore Eric Johnston. Commodore Johnston himself delivered the first lecture in 1986, and, up until his death in 1997, he always made a point of being present at the lectures, and delivered the vote of thanks.

The Eric Johnston Lectures are delivered annually, in general alternating between a prominent Territorian and a reputable interstate/overseas personality. The topics of the lectures can cover any subject providing the central theme relates to the Northern Territory. The lectures are made available to the public by the Northern Territory Library (successor to the State Library of the Northern Territory) through its Occasional Papers series - up to 1996 in the traditional printed form, and thereafter on the Internet.

The Eric Johnston Lectures have already established themselves as a prestigious and scholarly annual event in Darwin and have made a real and lasting contribution to the spread of knowledge on Territory history and culture throughout Australia.