Utilities and utilitarianism

Abstract

Utilities: in this paper, we decided to take the theme ‘Ute Culture’ very literally. The first ute that came to our minds was the white 4-wheel-drive ute, complete with custom-made canvas canopy, that Joanne Lees had described to investigators following the disappearance of her boyfriend Peter Falconio off the Stuart Highway on 14 July 2001. Not only did the ute strike us as such a quintessentially Australian vehicle for which the police were searching, but so too was the ‘mystery’ man sought in connection with the case. He was reported to be tall and stocky, to have shoulder length hair and a droopy moustache, to be wearing a flannel shirt, and to have a kelpie dog in the back of the ute. As people joked at the time, half the men travelling around the Northern Territory fit that description!