Buderim Bulketin

Thought I’d try and do a summary of the week but there are no guarantees about future regularity.

This week began with a welcome visit from Dirk and Jan from Bungendore on their way home from Yeppoon where they had visited the first grandson. Great to see them and have a relaxing day around Mooloolaba enjoying the beach and the fabulous seafood.
Tennis was good on Tuesday in between showers. We have had stormy weather this week. They have big squeegees at the courts that we can sweep the water off and keep playing! (Very Queensland)
Italian lessons resumed after a break for school holidays. I go on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and I also went to the Wednesday morning ‘Travellers’ class where I know some of the people. I love learning Italian and constantly fantasise about going to Umbria or Tuscany for an extended stay where I could practise my Italian. I’m probably the longest serving student in these classes having been going since beginning of 2005. Most people come and learn a bit before heading for Italy. I’m quite good friends with Gianni, one of the teachers! Everyone always asks ‘When are you going?’ and I always reply: ‘Prossimo anno, forse’. (Next year, maybe)
Wendy and Karissa are pretty well recovered from their fortnight in New York. We keep looking at the photos on the TV and they relive the many highlights including champagne on the 65th floor Rainbow Room of the Rockafeller Centre; the naked cowboy in Times Square; seeing the art and Jane Fonda at the MOMA; Central Park; and just experiencing and discovering at an easy pace.
I still reflect on my ‘road trip’. After dropping W&K at the airport I headed south. Highlights were the Girraween NP on the NSW border and climbing the scary granite Pyramid; Manilla (Redmond/Veness family history); calling on an old Wolaroi mate, Warren Sneesby; visiting Michael and Beth on their cattle property at Coonamble; Lightning Ridge and other fabulous Aussie towns like Warwick; Hebel; Dalby; and Toowoomba
Buzzy continues to recover from the spinal operation to reverse the paralysis of his hind legs that happened when Wendy and Karissa were away. The vet is very happy with his progress and we are hopeful he will be walking normally in a couple of weeks.
Spent all day Thursday helping friends (Pete and Joy) move from Yandina to their new home in Mapleton. Mapleton is a stunning place up on the Blackall range (near Montville and Maleny). Between loads we had lunch at the Mapleton pub and the views from the deck East toward the sea were world class.
Friday evening I did long walk along Mooloolaba beach and it was just fantastic. Great sunset and about 24 degrees. The beach is slowly recovering after the extraordinary September rains (350mm).
Tennis again this Sunday morning. Wow! Some of these oldies sure can play tennis (and I mean substantially older than me!)
Looking forward to visits soon from Luke and niece Emma
Howard finally called the election today. His cynicism this week has been breathtaking. $2billion on Tuesday for the Pacific Highway and then this was trumped with Thursday’s ‘new reconciliation’ and the proposed constitutional referendum. Why wasn’t this done in 2000 when there was mass support as shown by the bridge walks? Or in May this year on the 40th anniversary of the watershed 1967 referendum? And this from the man who dismantled the 1994 Native Title Act and Wik.

Rain and APEC and Howard's End

Such a long time between drinks and I apologise to my 2 readers!
As I write it buckets down rain, about 120mm in past three days and this only two weeks after we had 320mm in 4 days. Of course it was much heavier at Noosa and caused flooding. So sad to see most of it flow into the Pacific when some vision 10 years ago could have seen the harvesting now of at least some of the stormwater run off. Still most politicians are door closers after the event and the current crop are no exception.
WOW!! ONLY TWO MORE MONTHS OF HOWARD AND THEN HE AND HIS SMUG CRONIES, DOWNER, ABBOT, COSTELLO AND NELSON, WILL BE GONE.
What about APEC? 5km fence in Sydney's CBD; helicopter borne snipers sighting pedestrians on the Harbour Bridge; watercannon; police going over the top; the portrayal of all demonstrators as violent, etc etc. Can you believe this is Australia?
And George Bush coming here with his 4 plane circus. The leader of the free world being anything but free as he is closeted away from ordinary Aussies in bizarre motorcades and boatacades and tells us that his mission to bring freedom to Iraq is working. Irony on irony!!
Lots of reading lately - Coetzee, Winton, Mistry, Clive Hamilton. More soon.

Memories of my Father 1: Ovine CPR

I have just finished reading Romulus, My Father by Raimond Gaita. What a captivating story! I thoroughly enjoyed this book: the way it captured the extraordinary experience of migrating to Australia and making a success of your new life; the way Raimond recalled his early childhood and the detailed descriptions of large and small events that shaped his life. I look forward to the movie which has been highly acclaimed.
Raimond is only one year older than me so some of his 1950s experiences resonated strongly. Of course I never had it near as hard as he did but there was some common ground including living in the country (rabbiting, swimming in dams etc) and experiencing Elvis Presley and Bill Haley music.
I have written a few of my memories of my own father and here is one:

I remember the day Dad brought a lot of sheep back to life. We had let a large mob of sheep out of the yards and they were to go into the sixty acre paddock opposite the house. As was the usual practice a couple of us kids ran ahead of the mob and positioned ourselves so as to prevent the sheep going down the track or over into the house yard. Uncle Vic was herding the sheep from behind and Dad remained behind in the yards or the woolshed for some reason I can’t recall. We successfully headed the mob and they began funnelling through the gate, jumping high in the air as they cleared the congestion of the gateway and saw the wide open paddock ahead. Perhaps we moved too close but for whatever reason the sheep started to bunch as they crowded towards the gate. You could hardly see the opening for dust and sheep but it became clear that sheep were falling down and others were jumping on and over them in their panic to get through. As the last of the mob struggled through we could see over twenty sheep lying in the dust. Some were not moving and others were writhing, unable to get up. Uncle Vic raced onto the scene and was very distressed at what looked like a massive and unfortunate loss. At this point Dad was racing down the hill calling out and swearing at us for being so stupid as to push the sheep too hard into the gateway. As he came across the scene of smothered and dying sheep he paused and then launched into action. While the rest of us watched helplessly, he picked a motionless sheep up and held it in a standing position vigorously rubbing its chest and sides. After about a minute, perhaps less, the sheep spluttered, took a few faltering steps, then trotted unsteadily away. Dad quickly grabbed another and repeated the process. He continued on, racing from one sheep to another in a frenzy. After a while, Uncle Vic followed his lead and us kids just looked on in awe. After fifteen or twenty minutes Dad and Uncle Vic had revived about twenty sheep. There were three or four that were beyond help. Dad was more displeased that some had been lost than with his extraordinary effort of saving so many. But apart from a salutary lesson in how sheep must never be rushed too much, the incident showed how clever Dad was and how cool he could be in a crisis.

Weapons of Mass Distraction

I am so disillusioned by the Howard government's cynicism that I cannot detail my disgust. Suffice it to say: Dr Haneef - what a bloody fiasco by those who are supposed to be running the country. What does it take for people like Andrews and Keelty to resign. You'd think embarrassment would get 'em even if incompetence doesn't. Saving a Tassie hospital - Every man and his dog knows that many hospitals are a mess so why wait until an election is imminent to make a big splash? Aboriginal problems - see comment on Tassie hospital. And now they will blame others for Wednesday's interest rate rise! Talk about trying to distract us from Kevin's rising star.

Busy July

Wow! July has been a month. Lots of visitors from down South escaping the July cold. Unfortunately it has been unusually cold in most of Eastern Australia this winter and we have not been spared. An oval less than a kilometre from us had a frost last week, the first ever recorded in this district. Needless to say the jeans have been getting a workout and shorts have been finally washed.
Still it was great to have friends from Melbourne, Cullen, Canberra and Sydney. Plus Karissa and I had significant birthdays so multiple celebrations. Went fishing with brother Michael last week and caught some nice bream off the rockwall.
Many political discussions with visitors. General disgust with the whole Dr Haneesh affair. The usual cynicism about Howard’s motives regarding Aborigines and glee over the latest revelations in the Costello/Howard saga.

An Amazing Woman

About a month ago I met Sheila. She is a lady in her 80s who was a Lieutenant in the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service in World War 2. Sheila was in charge of hospitals in New Guinea and has preserved her experiences in a fabulous book called The Lieutenant and the Tin Trunk. Based on her memories and the diary that she kept and interspersed with photographs from the locations where she worked, this is a treasure. The book is written in a style that takes the reader right up to some of the experiences that Sheila had. Sheila’s account doesn’t focus on the traumas (and there were plenty) but reveals the good humour, care and decency that she and others brought to this unprecedented challenge in their lives. The necessity of ‘making the best of it’ meant appreciating the simplest pleasures- swimming, dances, food parcels from home, occasional picture shows in the rain, rides on boats and daring trips into the hills. The value of friendship is at the highest level. To meet Sheila now is a pleasure. The same charm and intelligence that saw her ‘do her duty’ with such evident success as shown in her memoirs, shines through. It is humbling to know that her generation gave so much so selflessly and so effectively.

A salvaged ship, hot rocks and gas.

Time to eat humble pie. On my post of 23 June I proclaimed the Pasha Bulker would not be refloated. I got that one wrong. Today she was successfully towed off the beach. Well done to all concerned. I also said Geodynamics (GDY) who explore for geothermal energy in granite rocks underground would break $2.00 - they did that 4 days later. I also thought Queensland Gas Company (coal seam gas) would hit $3.00 before long. They did that today. So.... two out of three aint bad! Now to celebrate with some Taylors.

Aborigines and Johnny-come-lately

A few weeks ago John Howard, in the face of scary poll results and the admitted threat of electoral annihilation, stated that he did not have a rabbit to pull out of the hat. Well, guess what! He has just found his rabbit. Child abuse in Aboriginal communities is Howard’s rabbit – the Tampa and children overboard rabbit that he has harnessed just 4 months out from the federal election. Of course none of us condone child abuse and all of us want to see it eliminated but WHY HAS HOWARD WAITED TIL NOW TO ACT? Once again Howard’s actions are driven by political strategy. We have seen it with Hicks, climate change, water, and many other issues. As Dr Tim Rowse of the ANU wrote: Recently, we heard through the Prime Minister's leaked analysis of the Government's electoral prospects that he has no 'rabbit to pull out of a hat'. In 2001, when the Howard government needed a rabbit it found one in the alleged 'child abuse' by unauthorised refugees (Children Overboard). The government won a mandate to deal firmly with refugees, and it exercised that mandate, in part, by imprisoning children. Now the government is facing defeat, and it has found -- in the dire circumstances of some Aboriginal communities and families -- the 'rabbit' that it needs. Again, the protection of children will be the Howard team's rallying cry. Today's announcement has the stench of 2001's rotting rabbit carcass.
If there is any doubt about Howard’s belatedness and his tricky strategizing then the following should put the doubt to rest.
Patrick Devery writes on Crikey:
The abuse of children in Indigenous communities is an issue that was highlighted long before Lateline's report in May 2006 initiated the Northern Territory Government's report into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. Below is a timeline of how the issue of sexual abuse in Indigenous communities has been publicly addressed.
1989: Judy Atkinson writes a report for the National Inquiry on Violence naming sexual abuse in Indigenous communities as endemic and epidemic.
1991: Ms Atkinson writes a similar report for the Prime Minister and cabinet.
1999: Aboriginal academic Boni Robertson leads an inquiry of 50 women, representing all indigenous communities in Queensland, to look into alcoholism and abuse of women and children in remote communities.
2000: Ms Robertson's report is tabled in the Queensland parliament.
2002: The Central Aboriginal Congress prepares a paper showing the number of Indigenous women being treated for domestic assault at the Alice Springs hospital more than doubled from 351 cases in 1999 to to about 800 cases in 2002.
7 July 2003: Prime Minister John Howard calls a summit on violence in Indigenous communities in response to statements by a number of indigenous leaders. The summit begins on 23 July 2003.
5 August 2003: Cape York community doctor Lara Wieland hands John Howard a 10-page letter outlining incidents of abuse, and claiming that child sexual abuse and neglect are out of control in the community.
26 November 2004: NT Chief Minister Clare Martin reports to a cabinet colleague that "social dysfunction" at central indigenous community Mutitjulu is driven by chemical addiction and passive welfare, and that two-thirds of its children are malnourished or underdeveloped.
15 May 2006: Lateline obtain a confidential briefing paper written by Nanette Rogers, Crown Prosecutor for central Australia. The paper -- originally intended for only a small number of senior police -- details endemic sexual abuse of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory. Remember how this dominated the media for several weeks!! Where was Howard and his white charger then? (my point in italics)
22 June 2006: The Northern Territory Government announces an inquiry into child sex abuse across the Territory's Aboriginal communities.
8 August 2006: NT Chief Minister, Clare Martin, officially appoints Rex Stephen Leslie Wild QC and Patricia Anderson to the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sex Abuse.
30 April 2007: Little Children are Sacred, Report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse is presented to the Northern Territory government.
16 June 2007: Little Children are Sacred report publicly released.
21 June 2006: Prime Minister John Howard and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough hold a press conference to announce a series of reforms directed at indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The Prime Minister calls the situation "akin to a national emergency".

It is disgusting that Howard should compare this situation to Hurricane Katrina when alarm bells have been clanging since the day he became Prime Minister.

More Recent Reading

The Conversations at Curlow Creek by David Malouf (1996, 214pp). This was a good Australian story set in NSW, 1827. It’s about two men, one a bushranger who is to hang at dawn and the other the police officer who is to supervise the hanging. The novel tracks the conversations and thoughts of the two men throughout the night before the execution. I liked the Australianness of their situation – the bush; the convict connection; the Irish background of both men. I found the story a little tedious in the middle but the ending grabbed my attention by the throat.

The Little Karoo by Pauline Smith (1925, 160pp). I enjoyed reading the Karoo stories set in South Africa and discovering the tough, dour and pious people and the demanding lifestyle of Platkops dorp. The musical names and words and intriguing terms like inspanning and outspanning (hooking and unhooking oxen to the wagon) belied the daily struggle. I wonder to what degree the stories are autobiographical. I note Arnold Bennett says in his intro that Pauline left for school in England at the age of 12. My interest in Pauline Smith is a strange tale of coincidence which I hope to soon share with that endangered species - my blog reader.

Coincidentally I had also just finished reading Jon Cleary’s The Sundowners (1952, 336pp) which gives an interesting insight into the lives of shearers and their pursuit of hard work in an earlier rural Australia. The bushfires and droughts and pressures of the woolshed tested the sense of humour and the relationships of the main characters. I liked the way Cleary captured the dilemma between wanting to stay on the road with all its unpredictability and adventure with the yearning to settle down in a place of your own.

Some Recent Reading

Time’s Arrow by Martin Amis. The book recounts the life of a German Holocaust doctor. The narrator, together with the reader, experiences time passing in reverse, as the main character becomes younger and younger during the course of the novel. This is done with unerring skill and is quite disconcerting. The doctor starts off as a middle class American who then goes back through several identities until he is participating in the horrors of Auschwitz. A good, challenging read. I read this book because I saw a fleeting and dismissive reference to it in Inga Clendinnen’s (IC) book Reading the Holocaust (IC writes: ‘The most effective imagined evocations of the Holocaust seem to proceed either by invocation, the glancing reference to an existing bank of ideas, images, sentiments(‘Auschwitz’), or, perhaps, more effectively, by indirection. Martin Amis in Time’s Arrow conjures Auschwitz skimmingly through the swift manipulation of familiar clusters of icons.’ An that’s it! IC, I’ve discovered combines intellectual acuity with academic arrogance to denounce and dismiss just about anything that lacks historiographical purity.

Reading the Holocaust by Inga Clendinnen’s (IC) book (1998, 250pp). I decided to read something of IC after reading her attacks on Kate Grenville’s The Secret River. IC wrote a lengthy piece called The History Question – Who Owns the Past? in Quarterly Essay No 23, 2006. When Grenville responded to IC's bombastic and selective attack she had to use kindergarten simplicity to spell out that her work was fiction. But IC had to have the last say with a supercilious pedantic uppercut. (Quarterly Essay No 25, 2007).
I was going to do a detailed comment on this particular history war but after reading the piece in The Age of last year where IC said she jumped around with anger over Grenville’s treatment of some sacred historical incident I thought why bother. IC appears, at least in this brief encounter with her, more interested in histrionics than history. Proprietorial purists like IC should accept that more people have received more understanding of historical events/ periods/people from historical novels than ever have from pure historical works. A quick scan of my meagre bookshelves shows writers such as Roger McDonald (early Tasmania + Darwin); Peter Carey (early OZ); Tracy Chevalier -The Girl with the Pearl Earring (17th century Holland); Colleen McCullough (ancient Rome); Tolstoy ( everyone knows this one); numerous novels on World War One (eg Pat Barker, Sebastian Faulks, Patricia Anthony et al - I wouldn't include All Quiet On The Western Front because the Clendinnen clan would probably suggest it was a belated diary because the author had been there). That's enough and I've only checked one bookcase but you get my point. Anyway I read IC’s book on the Holocaust and was a bit underwhelmed.

Bulkers senior on Pasha Bulker

At last some bulk coverage of the Bulkers. (Jesse's email is bulkers and Luke's cricket mates call him Bulkers). These photos were taken from the ship's bridge camera just before the grounding.

Here is my take on the bulk carrier stranded on Nobbys Beach, Newcastle.
There is no way the Pasha Bulker will be pulled off the beach. She will leave Nobbys in little bits after being cut up. Either that or she will stay to rust into the sand over the next 100 years.
Our best bet is to invite 1000 Bangladeshis who are experienced in cutting up large ships on beaches to come over for a couple of months and Nobbys will be clear by summer.

Speaking of bets, it is more likely that Geodynamics (GDY) who specialise in hot rocks energy will break $2.00 this year than the PB will be towed off Nobbys. Similarly Queensland Gas Company (QGC) is more likely to go through $3.00 very soon. And while I'm giving free advice, if you can buy Taylors 2005 Shiraz for under $13.00 grab it.

A Good day On the Sunshine Coast

Started with a couple of sets of tennis. I usually play Tuesday mornings with a group of similar age people. Some are exceptionally good. We play on courts in the most beautiful setting against a rainforest backdrop and with very old Poinciana trees overhanging the clubhouse. Then home for a quick shower before driving 40 minutes to Noosa to attend a NoosaLongweekend event. The NoosaLongweekend is a ten day arts festival with a strong literary flavour. Today I sat in on a chat between Janet Turner Hospital and Peter Goldsworthy. It was very interesting and enjoyable. Then a chocolate gelato on Noosa beach which was at its stunning best. Then back to Buderim to join Wendy, Joyce, Clive and Sheila for afternoon coffee at Merlots. Sheila lives in Buderim and was a nurse in New Guinea in WW2 and is a wonderful lady. Joyce is visiting from Melbourne so thinks the weather here is tropical. Clive is up from Canberra and has just bought land in Buderim so he can experience this beautiful place full time.

Zorba the Greek

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzaki (1952, 319pp) I just finished reading this book for the first time. Published over 50 years ago, I see why it is a classic. It has something for everyone but I’m sure that, like a lot of things, the older you get the more you are able to identify with the multiple themes of this wonderful story. It is set on Crete and centres on Zorba, a rich character who has a zest for life that most of us would like to have. He shows us that even in his later years he has passion for work, women, music, friends, and nature. His cynicism toward religion and books is credible because his vitality abounds without them. There is much down to earth philosophy in Zorba’s words and actions. His selfishness and irrepressible ego are acceptable because his humanity and love (especially towards the narrator and the the aged Dame Hortense) make him a person we would all like to know (and, perhaps, be like).

Things Italian

I recently read A Small Place in Italy by Eric Newby. I thoroughly enjoyed Eric’s account of his restoration of and life in an old farmhouse in Italy. He and his wife Wanda purchased the ruin in 1967 and spent the next 25 years fixing it up, holidaying there, getting to know the neighbours and participating in all sorts of community events, especially the vendemmia (the grape harvest). The vendemmia was always a mix of hard physical work on often very steep slopes with no machinery and a lot of drinking of last year’s vintage. The farmhouse was situated in the foothills of the Apuan Alps on the borders of Liguria and northern Tuscany. This was where Eric spent time as an escaped prisoner of war in 1943-44 so there were many interesting connections throughout the book. I also enjoyed the liberal sprinkling of Italian in the story as I have been learning Italian for 2 years now. I love Italian and would love to spend some weeks there in a small town.
Ciao a tutti, belli e bruti!!!

John Howard Just Doesn't Get It

In spite of Rudd's slipups and despite the largesse of Costello's budget and even 'finetuning' of Work Choices, the gap between Liberal and Labor does not lessen. Howard just doesn't get it that after 11 years many people have had a gutful of the trickiness and the lying - kids overboard; weapons of mass destruction; blind subservience to a zealot in the White House; IRAQIRAQIRAQIRAQIRAQ;the AWB scandal; Kyoto; coming late to climate change; coming late to David Hicks; coming late to water management; the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to sell their messages in the media; Peter Reith (phones); Herron (ABC); Heffernan (homophobia and misogyny); Santo Santori (share dealer); etc etc etc etc etc, and the spin, the bloody spin!
As Matt Price put it in The Weekend Australian: 'Long regarded as the nonpareil (unrivalled person) of guile and artifice, a perception of Howard as too-tricky-by-half seems to be embedding itself in the national psyche. Not least because Labor has been banging on and on about it for years'. Yes Matt, not just Labor but many of Howard's 'battlers' are sick of the lies and the shit and the arrogance with which the Government thinks it can get away with it.
NO MORE! Governments become complacent and arrogant after ten years and people get sick of it. We got sick of Fraser, then Hawke/Keating and now it's Howard's turn. Yes, poor performing and arrogant governments that have been in for ten years or more can get re-elected but only where the the opposition is about as useful as a lead parachute. This happened in NSW this year and in Qld last year. With Kevin and Julia and the team most Aussies think they will bring a breath of fresh air and some good things, (at least until they inevitably become tarnished with the ten year trance).

Aborigines

27th May was the 40th anniversary of a constitutional referendum where 91.7% of Australians voted to amend the constitution to give Aborigines a better deal in this country. I have read much in the weekend press and seen TV programs which recalled the euphoria of that result long ago in 1967. I could go on at length about the analyses that have been done to explain why the expecations of 40 years ago have not been fully realised. I will just say that it is depressing that in spite of an unprecedented declaration of goodwill and unanimity 40 years ago, the 'Aboriginal problem' is still the biggest blight on the Aussie landscape. After billions of dollars and countless inquiries and even with the good will of many good people, many Aborigines by a range of measures are still the most disadvantaged Australians. Lower life expectancy, preventable diseases, 3rd world living conditions, unacceptable literacy levels, child abuse, domestic violence, debilitating drug and alcohol problems ..............the list is depressing. Of course there have been achievements and there are many Aboriginal Australians who have experienced the good life, but that so many have not is a shame on all of us.

Petrol Prices

As petrol prices again approach $1.50 a litre in many centres we hear the usual platitudes from oil companies and politicians. PM John Howard said this week that there was no magic bullet for this chronic problem. Indulge me while I repeat the letter that I had published in The Age last August:

Step on the Gas John

John Howard invited us to ring him at The Lodge if we had the solution to high petrol prices in Australia. Well I did ring but he doesn’t live there so perhaps he’ll read my solution here. I’ll even waive my $150,000 consultancy fee for saving the nation billions. The solution is to use what we have got heaps of – natural gas. Mr Howard says of high petrol prices, ‘everybody’s got the problem, America’s got it, Europe’s got it, Asia’s got it’. Notice how he didn’t include Middle Eastern countries who are sitting on oceans of oil! They don’t have a problem. In fact Saudi Arabia cut the price of its petrol by 33% on 31 May this year to about 21 cents per litre. In other words they are driving around on the product that they have an abundance of. If Australian governments had shown some leadership in the past twenty years or so most of us would be driving around in natural gas powered vehicles instead of gloating over huge contracts with China and Japan to whom we give it for a few cents a litre. Instead we have a handful of cars and some highly publicised public buses running on the fuel that is to us what oil is to other countries. Why hasn’t this happened in Australia on a large scale? Because John Howard and his predecessors have not displayed the leadership needed to put relentless pressure on car manufacturers to develop affordable natural gas cars and to stand up to the oil companies who would resist that course. The political clout of the oil companies (Exxon recently announced it was making one billion dollars a week profit) combined with the readiness of Mr Howard to follow George Bush into the Middle East to protect America’s (and Exxon’s) thirst for oil makes the quest for a solution very elusive indeed. Not utilising our abundant natural gas for our cars is like the Saudis driving around on two dollar a litre ethanol made from date peels!

On My Knees; Depression; Bungendore

Just got back from a flying visit to Canberra where I spent 4 days on my creaking knees helping my son and his wife lay slate on the floor of half their house. It went well and when finished will be a striking feature of their home. Coincidentally they used the same slate (from India) that I had used in my house at Bungendore 25 years ago. It is a great material with a multitude of colours and form. Five days on and I’m still blowing stone dust out of my nose from the cutting process. A highlight of the trip was to attend the opening of Sharon’s latest exhibition at Old Parliament House. It is on the Great Depression and is an excellent portrayal of that difficult time in the 1930s. It is well named with Scarred and Strenghthened. I recall that it was in 1932 that my father went to Cullen Bullen at the age of 16 to work with his brother Vic cutting mine props to make a meager living while they started to clear the timber on what was to become their farm. On my last day I made a quick trip to Bungendore to check the hut and change a leaky tap and get some books and just take in the ambience of that magnetic place. Here is a photo.

Cost of War

If you can handle being shocked, disgusted, incredulous, angry, and overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all just click on www.costofwar.com
And this does not even take into account the human cost for all those who have suffered and lost in the fiasco in Iraq.

World Laughter Day

The first Sunday in May is World Laughter Day. Don't laugh (oh yes you can). This is no joke (yes it is). World Laughter Day was created in 1998 by Dr Madan Kataria from India, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement. The celebration of World Laughter Day is a positive manifestation for world peace and is intended to build up a global consciousness of brotherhood and friendship through laughter. Its popularity has grown exponentially and Laughter Yoga is practised around the world at laughter clubs, laughter studios, in the workplace and in many specialized applications including schools, government departments, military & police, hospitals & hospice and more. There are more than 5000 laughter clubs and studios in more than 50 countries with new venues opening daily.
Wendy and I go to what is called laughter class most Saturday mornings at a stunning venue at Cotton Tree , Maroochydore at the mouth of the Maroochy river. There are plenty of laughs which happen as part of a loosely structured exercise programme. We do breathing exercises and laughs with names like the Haka, the Kookaburra, the Clam, the Mad Professor,the Machine Gun and many more. Between 12 and 25 people turn up and we go for about 40 mins. Then we adjourn to a nearby coffee shop and sit and chat looking across the sparkling river and sandbanks. A good way to start Saturday. Check out www.laughteryoga.org HaHaHaHaHaaaaaH!

A fair go for the word fair

The past week has seen both sides of politics trying to outdo each other with their commitment to fairness. Labor wants to scrap Australian Workplace Agreements and introduce a fairer system embodied in Forward with Fairness and Fair Work Australia. Howard responded immediately to make his Work Choices fairer with some 'finetuning' to protect workers on less than $75000. Big Business condemned Labor and we had CEOs of some of our biggest companies saying the sky would fall if Work Choices was scrapped. I have to smile at CEOs who are on multi million dollar salaries pontificating about threats to whole sectors posed by collective bargaining. The just retired CEO of Rio Tinto was the saddest: Leigh Clifford earned $6.7 million last year (about $18,356 a day) bemoaned Labor's union driven agenda. How can these people relate to some 20 year old kid on $14.00 an hour in the retail sector being screwed out of penalty rates?Of course Labor is not averse to a little fairness bypass as the shafting of the Labor member for Newcastle to make way for ACTU secretary, Greg Combet shows. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!.......fairness....... like beauty it is in the eye of the stubbyholder.

Sunset from our front door last night.

We often have beautiful sunsets and this was a beauty. How fleeting they are though. Perhaps Nature's quick toast at the end of another wonderful day. Salute!

Anzac Day connection

This is a picture of my small collection of Gallipoli pieces. The story behind them may be of interest. In October, 1988 I took a small group of College students on a visit to Gallipoli in Turkey. At Canakkale I went to the Troy Anzac Travel Agency to obtain advice and a guide for our day at Gallipoli. Here I met the very helpful and knowledgeable elderly proprietor, Hussein. We spent a few hours wandering the battlefields with our guide. During this time I found the small eyelet that can be seen in the photo. Khaki still surrounds the eyelet. The guide said I was lucky because the battlefields had been well picked over. One can only wonder if this piece came from a jacket or other piece of clothing or personal gear.
In the afternoon we revisited many sites at our own pace and without the guide (we had a hire car). One highlight was a quiet reflective walk along Anzac Cove. We were the only people there. It is a very small stony beach. Another student and I stripped down and swam out about 30 metres until the strong current told us not to venture further. I still get goosebumps recalling turning in the water and looking up at the hills and cliffs as I made my way back to shore. How frightening it must have been to struggle to the beach back in 1915 with rifle and pack amid the congestion and bullets and shells. The stones in the photo are from the beach at Anzac Cove.
After watching the sunset from The Nek I drove the students back to Gelibolu and caught the ferry back to Canakkale. The mood was somber. Late that evening I went back to Hussein at the travel agency and had a long chat about Gallipoli and history and our countries and fate. When I told him I was from Canberra he said he’d heard about our grand war memorial and asked if I’d send him a photo. He had a wall adorned with postcards from old customers including some from Australia. I promised I would and some weeks later I took some photos of the Australian War Memorial and posted them to him.
In 1998 a friend of mine, Sue, was going to Gallipoli and asked for some tips. I suggested she visit the Troy Anzac travel agency and get their advice. She went there and Hussein was still there! Sue noticed some photos of the Australian War Memorial on the wall and commented that she was from Canberra. When Hussein told her that a fellow who’d come here some years before had sent them Sue was able to establish that it was me and told Hussein she and I were friends. Hussein was thrilled and insisted on giving her a present for me. He opened up a drawer full of Gallipoli bits and pieces and handed over the 3 bullets in the photo.
A friend at the memorial identified two of the bullets and cartridge as being .303s and the other as German. I treasure these pieces and the story of how I came by them.

Water matters!

Finally the Howard Government comes up with something I totally agree with. They suggest pumping water from the mighty Clarence river in northern NSW over the border to the huge population centres of Southeast Queensland. At the outset I must declare that such a project would have to have strict controls. NOBODY is talking about draining the Clarence DRY!!! To be viable it would be about harvesting the excess water only to the extent that the Clarence's ecology and biodiversity would not be harmed. But of course as soon as the idea is raised political and self interest jump right in. Consequently there is no way this proposal will get off the ground. The (Labor) NSW government won't countenance a (Liberal) Federal government idea that might be popular in Queensland where votes in the November election will be critical. Then there are the locals who see the proposal as the end of the world and think the Clarence is to be replaced by a large empty drain. So...... mateship in Australia does not extend to sharing water.
EXCEPT where I live. Premier Peter Beattie is working 24/7 building a pipeline from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast so that water can be pumped from our full dams to Brisbane's near empty dams. Of course this is a stopgap measure that governments excel in and it would be more visionary to construct a pipeline from the bountiful rivers of northern Queensland. A short pipeline from NSW's northern rivers would be the simplest and most logical but simplicity and logic don't sit well with experts and governments.
FOOTNOTE 1: I wonder if the guy who cut down the last tree on Easter Island intended sharing the wood with his mates or whether it was for his exclusive use and if so whether he was beaten to death by envious others. It was after the last tree disappeared that Easter Island society declined and ultimately abandoned the islands leaving only the huge statues as evidence of their skills.
FOOTNOTE 2: Gee....... I actually advocated pumping northern NSW water to Qld in my 21 January blog post. Does that mean I am ahead of the game or just smarter than Malcolm Turnbull? If Malcolm should read this before hell freezes over, I am available for consultancy work - I have plenty more ideas to save the country and my fee is miniscule!

Anzac Day (25 April) and Gallipoli Pines

These are photos (taken March 2007) of what I call my Gallipoli pines. They are 6 Allepo pines or Pinus halepensis. I planted them at my property at Bungendore in 1987. They were struck from seeds from two old Allepo pines which are located on the banks of the Shoalhaven river where the Kings Highway crosses it about 15 kiometres west of Braidwood, NSW. There used to be a schoolhouse where the pines are and the story goes that a Braidwood soldier returned with seeds from the original Lone Pine at Gallipoli in Turkey and distributed seeds to schools in the district to be planted as memorials to the Australians who fell in battle at Gallipoli.

There appears to be confusion and even mythology about seeds that originated from the original Lone Pine. Here is what the official Australian War Memorial web site says:
Lone Pine or Plateau 400 was the scene of a major diversionary offensive launched by the 1st Australian Infantry Division on 6 August 1915. The Turks had cut down all but one of the trees that clothed the ridge to cover their trenches. The ridge dominated by the single Allepo Pine (Pinus halepensis) became known as Lone Pine. In three days of fighting the Australians lost more than 2000 men and the Turks losses were estimated at 7000. Seven Victoria Crosses were awarded. As far as we know two Australian soldiers souvenired pinecones from the ridge that found their way back to Australia. Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith of the 3rd Battalion whose brother was killed in the battle for Lone Pine Ridge sent a cone home to his mother, Mrs McMullen at Inverell in New South Wales. Mrs McMullen kept the cone for 13 years until 1928 before planting the seeds. She grew two seedlings, one of which she presented to the town of Inverell and the other to the Parks and Gardens section of the Department of the Interior in Canberra. The Duke of Gloucester planted this second tree at the Australian War Memorial in October 1934. Today it stands over 20 metres in height.
Sgt Keith McDowell of the 24th Battalion carried a pinecone in his haversack until the end of the war. Upon returning home to Australia he gave it to his Aunt Mrs Emma Gray, who lived at Grassmere near Warrnambool Victoria. A decade or so later Mrs Gray planted the seeds and four seedlings were grown. One was planted in May 1933 in Wattle Park, Melbourne. Another at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and another at the Soldiers Memorial Hall at The Sisters. The last was planted in the Warrnambool Gardens.
In 1990 two trees were taken back to Gallipoli with war veterans who attended the memorial service to mark the 75th anniversary of the battle of Lone Pine.Since the 1980s many trees have been grown by both seed and grafting techniques from material collected from the tree at the Australian War Memorial. These have been disseminated to many organisations including RSL branches and clubs, schools and other interested organisations.

It is interesting that this account makes no mention of the pines near Braidwood that are the grandparents of the trees I planted. Nor does it mention the ones planted adjacent to the Turkish war memorial at the top of Anzac Parade just outside the Australian War Memorial. There appears to be evidence that there may be more than the few Lone Pine descendants mentioned in the Australian War Memorial’s website. For example in the Brisbane Courier-Mail of 17 April 2007 a story about the proposed new dam on the Mary river states: ‘A 90 year old tree grown from the seeds of the original Gallipoli Lone Pine will be destroyed if the controversial Traveston Dam is built’. It is located next to the war memorial in the small town of Kandanga. The RSL sub-branch president is quoted as saying: ‘There were a few a few others but they all died. The last one died in Sydney about seven years ago.’
I wonder just how many seeds were brought back from Gallipoli and how many grew into mature trees around Australia. Clearly these pines hold special significance for Australians because of the Gallipoli connection and it would be interesting to find out.

Virginia Massacre

I am horrified but not surprised by the terrible slaughter on a Virginia campus. It is just a magnified example of the daily violence that is an accepted part of American culture. With over 30,000 deaths by guns in the US every year the gun is the answer for many Americans to many problems. The usual cliches about how this latest massacre will 'reignite' the gun control debate are already being trotted out. But as fast as those laudable cries surface they will be drowned out by the gun forces, most notably though that bastion of American values - The National Rifle Association.
While movies like The Departed continue to win Oscars, while actors like Nicholson, Damon, DiCaprio, Sheen and Baldwin give them prestige and directors like Scorsese are feted, then the massive Hollywood movie machine will validate violence and especially the gun culture that kills nearly 100 Americans every day. The issue of the US barging into foreign countries with all guns blazing is a strongly related problem. If you have any doubt about how Americans feed on Hollywood violence have a look on the internet at the gushing reviews that The Departed received.
HELLO.... America!! The emperor has no clothes!!

Risky Business

Interesting stats from last week's Time magazine. There was a 36% decline in the number of children injured by falling out of trees who were admitted to English hospitals between 1999 and 2006. It made me recall the regularity with which kids broke wrists and arms while climbing trees when I was young. At Wolaroi, the boarding school at Orange that I attended in the early 1960s, there was a huge set of monkey bars. In the first few weeks of Term 1, new kids broke arms and wrists with regular monotony as they flung themselves like Tarzan between the bars. And there was no soft landing material on the ground. Injuries declined as the term wore on and kids became more skilled or became more wary. I think we have become very protective of children and perhaps there are many good reasons for this given the number of wierdos we all have to survive. However, lawyer driven liability concerns and endless regulation and OH&S issues and daily media doses of fear have all helped to discourage risk taking among many of us and our children. It's easier to watch a video or play a computer game. Hence the other stat from Time: There was a 35% increase in the number of children admitted to English hospitals with 'repetitive-movement injuries' commonly caused by playing video games!!!

Aboriginal Victorians by Richard Broome

I have just finished Richard Broome’s Aboriginal Victorians – A History Since 1800. (2005, 467pp)
I have known Richard since we went through Uni together in the 1960s and it is always great to catch up with him and Marg when they holiday at nearby Mooloolaba at Christmas. This Christmas just gone he generously gave me a copy of his latest history work for which he had just won the NSW Premier’s Prize for History.
My first sense is awe at the meticulous research and recording of so much detail in the story of Aboriginal Victorians over the last 200 years. As Richard says in the Preface it is a book that took about 15 years to produce!
Of all the observations in this history the one that has biggest impact for me is that there were in Victoria ‘perhaps 60,000 (Aborigines) before Europeans and their diseases arrived’ around 1800. And the evidence is that Aborigines had inhabited Victoria for 30,000 years! This population had plunged to about 500 in the 1920s. Unbelievable!! Richard chronicles the interaction between black and white in Melbourne and the many regions of Victoria. Disease, alcoholism, pastoral exploitation, bureaucratic regulation and inquiries ad nauseum, all get comprehensive coverage in the story of decline. The writing was well and truly on the wall in the first 50 years of white settlement because ‘Europeans were deemed ‘progressive’ and Aborigines ‘primitive’: a circular and self-fulfilling justification for Aboriginal decline. Colonists argued that Aborigines were inferior simply because they were inferior.’
The role of alcohol is especially disturbing. Richard tells us that analysis of annual reports for the 1860s ‘found that those locked-up for drunkenness and resisting arrest made up 76 percent of all Aboriginal convictions.’ It is easy to despair when in early 2007 prominent Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson shouts from the rooftops that alcohol is still the scourge of many Aboriginal communities. But many areas of Aboriginal life in the 1800s and early 20th century that Richard covers still have a sad resonance today. After recounting an episode in 1941where an Aboriginal man, Norman Clarke, resisted arrest, was batoned into submission by Constable De Vere, and slipped in the police cell breaking his jaw, Richard observes Clarke ‘joined a long line of Aboriginal people who had ‘fallen’ in police stations.’ Right now in 2007 a Queensland policeman, Sergeant Hurley, is awaiting trial over the death of an Aborigine, Mulrinji, in a police cell on Palm Island. Apparently he ‘fell’, sustaining fatal injuries!
Of course there are aspects of Aboriginal life for which European settlement is not responsible. Richard touches on cannibalism. The area of child abuse, domestic violence and rape is stated to be complex and related to a range of experiences and conditions that Aboriginal people have endured. Geoff Clark, the former ATSIC chairman, recently found guilty of rape, seems somehow to symbolize the enormity of the challenges that still confront Australia and the place of its indigenous people. The recent book, Bad Dreaming by Louis Nowra, puts the spotlight on the sore on the Australian cultural, political and social landscape that is Aboriginal domestic violence and child abuse. When considered against Richard Broome’s valuable work it makes me realize that although we have come so far, we still have a long way to go.

Easter Reflection

I recently read Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris (2006, 96pp). It has been a best seller in the USA because it has been caught up in the 'intelligent design' debate and in the whole religious right assault. I found it an articulate and logical attack on the absurdity and culpability of religion. It focuses on Christianity but also puts the case against all the rest! Harris speaks for many when he says: 'It is time we recognised the boundless narcissism and self-deceipt of the saved.' This little book is a timely reminder of what horrors religion has visited on humankind and the totally unscientific delusion that drives believers. The predictable pontificating of prominent prelates this Easter in the face of man made and natural catastrophes around the world just makes their flimsy case even flimsier.

Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, says of Harris's book: 'I dare you to read this book..... it will not leave you unchanged. Read it if it is the last thing you do'.

Visit to Bungendore and Canberra

Just got home from a visit to Bungendore and Canberra. I stayed in my hut (pictured) which is on the escarpment above Lake George. It's about 30 min drive out of Canberra. Unfortunately the Lake has been dry for about 12 years so it really should be called just George. It was nice and green around the hut because of the 120mm of rain in February. However this is deceptive because it is still very dry. A number of plants around the hut had died and some of my olive trees had struggled through the summer. Still, the olive trees are getting some size (photo). The yellow box trees I planted two years ago along Lake Road are doing well because they are native to this area.

I caught up with many friends in Canberra but it was especially good to see my sons and daughter in law. The weather was stunning and I always reckon April is the best time in Canberra. Really enjoyed watching Luke play in the cricket grand final which his team won. Also paid several visits to the wonderful National Library and the National Gallery.

Richard Flanagan

I went to Noosa last night and heard Richard Flanagan talk. He wrote The Unknown Terrorist (see my comment on this blog on 14 January 2007). He was very good and spoke of his concern for what had happened to Australia over the past 10 or 12 years. This concern and even anger had motivated him to write this novel which he hoped might make some people question the erosion of independent thought and action that was happening. The intolerance of difference, the blind following of the USA, the exploitation of fear and the corruption of the democratic and judicial process made for a pretty dismal perspective. Fortunately Richard saw hope and was able to point to the demise of other repressive times. He talked about his personal experience of the Thatcher years in the UK. The trouble with the inevitable passing of tough times is the poor bastards that have to suffer before the pendulum swings the other way. At least we can be confident that the worst of the Howard years may be gone and the a more caring and compassionate Australia may soon reappear. Still our travails are as nothing compared to Zimbabwe or the Sudan.
Richard seemed like a good bloke who was generous in his time and conversation with all who waited to have books signed.

Cullen Bullen Visit

I have just spent nearly a week with my brother, Michael, and his wife, Beth, on the farm at Cullen Bullen (photo). This is my old home town and I still have 200 acres there which was part of the original family farm. As usual it was an insight into the busy and demanding life of farming. In four days: we shifted cattle from paddocks many kilometers apart including across a major highway and a railway line with all the frustrations and hazards that entailed; we vaccinated, drenched and weighed about 120 steers; several steers were dehorned; the vet came and treated two steers for pneumonia and gave no hope to a 650 Kg bullock that had an infected foot and leg and so had to be shot; my brother organized a likely lot of greyhound dog owners to come and butcher the beast and remove all bits of the carcass and they gave him $50 for a beast that was worth $1000 (and so it goes....); 25 tonne of fertilizer was spread by two huge trucks; Michael finished sowing a 60 acre paddock of oats with the necessary lifting of 40Kg bags of super onto the seed drill; I sprayed out about 700 litres of poison onto blackberries; we erected an electric fence to protect a 5 acre patch of oats from cattle in the same paddock; and we made several trips to nearby Portland for necessary supplies. In between there were a couple of appointments to be kept, Beth was making daily trips to Lithgow to visit her sick Mum and cakes had to be cooked for the cake stall on Saturday to coincide with polling day. WOW!! But it was beautiful to sit on the back verandah in the evening and have a beer and watch the setting sunlight bounce off the magnificent sandstone cliffs across the paddocks to the east.

Cullen Bullen Visit

I have just spent nearly a week with my brother, Michael, and his wife, Beth, on the farm at Cullen Bullen (photo). This is my old home town and I still have 200 acres there which was part of the original family farm. As usual it was an insight into the busy and demanding life of farming. In four days: we shifted cattle from paddocks many kilometers apart including across a major highway and a railway line with all the frustrations and hazards that entailed; we vaccinated, drenched and weighed about 120 steers; several steers were dehorned; the vet came and treated two steers for pneumonia and gave no hope to a 650 Kg bullock that had an infected foot and leg and so had to be shot; my brother organized a likely lot of greyhound dog owners to come and butcher the beast and remove all bits of the carcass and they gave him $50 for a beast that was worth $1000 (and so it goes....); 25 tonne of fertilizer was spread by two huge trucks; Michael finished sowing a 60 acre paddock of oats with the necessary lifting of 40Kg bags of super onto the seed drill; I sprayed out about 700 litres of poison onto blackberries; we erected an electric fence to protect a 5 acre patch of oats from cattle in the same paddock; and we made several trips to nearby Portland for necessary supplies. In between there were a couple of appointments to be kept, Beth was making daily trips to Lithgow to visit her sick Mum and cakes had to be cooked for the cake stall on Saturday to coincide with polling day. WOW!! But it was beautiful to sit on the back verandah in the evening and have a beer and watch the setting sunlight bounce off the magnificent sandstone cliffs across the paddocks to the east.

Aussie Values - Good Value???

I just saw an item on TV showing Fred Nile, under a huge banner with the Australian Flag and the words AUSSIE VALUES, calling for a halt to Muslim migration until it can be established that the existing 300,000 Australian Muslims can be vouched for as worthy Aussies. Stone the bloody crows!!! When jingoism, racism and Christian self
righteousness collide they make for a perverse mix.

Then there was the standard 60 Minutes piece which once again talked of Aussie Values being freedom, mateship, patriotism, resilience, optimism (the kind that begets ‘she’ll be right!’). The usual suspects were interviewed: the ex-convict (freedom); the soldier (mateship); the dynastic grazier (resilience and optimism); the migrant (the lot); the flag draped yobbo (patriotism to excess). Once again it was presented as if these values are the exclusive province of Australians. Somewhere in there I guess Aussie Values do reside but it is the misuse of them by anyone from politicians to ordinary people that really gets me. It’s such a copout to use Aussie Values as a weapon in any holier than thou attack on someone whose difference you can’t handle. When you look at the daily examples of ALL sorts of people behaving contrary to the Aussie Values that we all think identify us a Aussies then you realize they are more an ideal than a real thing. The unprovoked bashings, the corruption, the executive crime, the ridiculous salaries that company CEOs get paid, the preference for vested interests, the rip offs and exploitation, the road rage, the obscene defences lawyers mount for vermin, etc. etc etc. all have nothing to do with fair go and mateship and tolerance and all the rest that we think typically characterize Australians. Values are a very mixed bag and open to all sorts of interpretation, use and misuse. Some will think I'm guilty of all three right here.

Great Book: My Secret River

The Secret River by Kate Grenville (2006) (334pp)

This is a fabulous book. It’s about a convict, Will Thornhill, sent from the slums of London to Sydney in its earliest days. It recreates his experience in trying to get a small farm going on the banks of the Hawkesbury. The difficulties and challenges he faces trying to achieve his dream are formidable and Grenville enables us to identify with them. By far Grenville’s greatest achievement is to capture the interaction between the enthusiastic and determined interloper, Thornhill, and the local inhabitants and users of the land, the Aborigines. Even though the author reminds us that this is a work of fiction, her research and the resonance with facts we already know of black/white history make this story a sobering read. I was left with a sense of admiration for the tenacity with which many early settlers tried to carve a living from the wilderness. Yet this was tempered by reflection on the cost to the indigenous population of the suffering imposed by white men with their guns and disease and righteousness.
By coincidence I am now reading Aboriginal Victorians by my good mate Richard Broome and he brings a scholarly treatment to the sweep of white settlers through Victoria in the 19th century. It is inevitable that I have Grenville’s Thornhill in the back stalls of my mind as I read Richard’s rich and often depressing historical account. I’ll write more about his history when I finish it.

Some of My Reading In Past Year

Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (2003) This autobiography of a Chinese peasant boy who goes on to become a world famous ballet dancer is a fabulous tale. On the one hand it is a story of courage, determination to succeed, loyalty to family and personal growth. On the other it gives an insight into the narrow world of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and its stifling effect on individuality. It also reveals the extraordinary amount of work and practice that lies behind success at the highest level. A poignant moment for me is when Li leaves China for the first time and stops over at Tokyo airport. He sees a cup of coffee advertised for US$3.00 and ‘in total astonishment’ calculates (twice) that this is equal to half a month’s salary for his factory worker father. The poverty of rural China constantly pierces the story and the Western reader’s conscience.

Learning to Fall by Philip Simmons (2002) (157pp) Simmons wrote this book after he was diagnosed with a rare terminal disease. This is a gem. It doesn’t get much better than this. He is an absolute inspiration and the short book is filled with wisdom, hope and inspiration. Words don’t do his words justice. You just have to read it yourself. Humbly recommended for anyone who is having or has had a big challenge. Philip’s words can be revisited regularly for they are a tonic for all ailments.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (2006) (216pp) Please see my comment on the blog on 12 February 2007.

The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan (2006). Please see my comment on the blog on 14 January 2007.

Shantaram by Gregory Roberts (2003) (933pp). This is one of the best books I have read. This autobiography/novel is riveting for its story as well as its portrait of Mumbai. Written by an escaped Australian criminal it has the lot: romance, suspense, gun running and all sorts of crime, gangs and gurus, obscene opulence and wrenching poverty. Roberts does get the reader right inside India. Even if only half of the adventures were true it would still be unbelievable!

Inhaling the Mahatma by Christopher Kremmer (2006) (427pp) Kremmer is an insightful writer who has a talent for taking his readers into unfamiliar cultures and leaving them richer for the experience. In this book he shows us India based on his long encounters there as a reporter then a husband married into an Indian family. Religion and politics in all their Indian colour and complexity are handle skillfully and interestingly. The revelation of the story behind the intriguing title is just amazing and yet, so India.

The Last Nizam by John Zubrzycki (2006) (382pp). This is the remarkable story of an Indian prince, Mukarram Jah, the Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad. It is a story of unbelievable wealth – Jah’s grandfather had been the richest man in the world. Yet this prince turned his back on his dynasty and on history and in the 1970s bought a half-million acre sheep farm in Western Australia. I was mesmerized by a man who could reject all the sycophants and corruption of his bejeweled palaces in India to find solace in the remote outback only to be ripped off by so many Aussie ‘entrepreneurs’ who saw him as an easy target. Nevertheless Jah did have a lot of fun driving bulldozers and getting his hands dirty. Sadly it all fell apart and he now lives in exile in Istanbul.

The White Earth by Andrew McGahan (2004) (376pp) This is a really good Australian novel that covers a range of themes including family conflict, the taming of the land, and the conflict with Aborigines over Native Title. There are echoes of Hansonism and the simplistic solutions that it prposed for complex problems. For me the obsession with property and the potential dangers in inheritances and anticipated inheritances resonated strongly. Set in Queensland, McGahan interweaves contemporary developments with historical events and traditions in a way that is provocative and sobering.

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis (2004) (480pp). I read this when son Jesse was visiting over Christmas. He had been reading it across the world and was raving so I grabbed it. It is the autobiography of the frontman for the popular band, Red Hot Chili Peppers. I learnt a lot about the drug scene and the sexual demands and opportunities that go with being a successful rock star. It is a tedious chronicle of his daily drug experiences and almost daily diverse sexual experiences. It’s interesting though, in the same way Keith Richards is interesting. Kiedis, like Richards, has defied the survival odds. The sad part is that in a perverse way, for many of his fans and readers it probably validates the drug scene and its link with rock music because he does enjoy many drug experiences and does survive and succeed. It has added to his charisma – just look at the Amazon reviews. If more people died or were totally stuffed at an early age, the horror of what drugs can do to a person and the ripple effect for their family just might get greater attention.

Military Madness

I heard on the news yesterday that the new American jet fighters, the F-22 Raptor, cost $500 million EACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! On this blog on 13 January 2007 I reported the work of Fred Hyde who is building schools in Bangladesh. Fred can build a school for $6000. Now ponder this: One F-22 Raptor could build 83,333 schools in Bangladesh. This is just too unreal to even comment on.

Dick Cheney's Visit

What a coincidence that this entry should follow one headed Big Snake. Just wanted to ask that you click on my aussie values blog link opposite to see a great article by Mike Carlton in SMH 17 Feb 07. (I know the dates don't add up but that's because the blogs are entered on American time and they are a bit behind!!)

BIG SNAKE

Wendy and I were having a coffee outside yesterday about 11.00am and just outside the back fence there was a cacophony of screeching by about 20 birds of about six different varieties. We back onto a belt of rainforest so there are always plenty of birds but such a commotion, which had gone on for over 20 minutes, was unusual. I went out the back gate and got as close as I could to the focus of the birds' attention and sure enough there was a 3 metre python stretched along a branch about 8 metres above the ground. Wendy and Karissa came to look and we were sure it had just eaten a bird as it was a bit distended and this may have accounted for the noisy behaviour of other birds. It was grey and green with beautiful markings and it was superbly camouflaged against the branches. It just looked like one of the many vines looping around trees. Let's hope it stays in the forest!
We have had 170mm of rain in the past 4 days so everything is just so fresh and green. The Sunshine Coast's dams are overflowing and this is why Peter Beattie is building his SE Qld water grid to pump the water here to Brisbane's dams.

A Bad Luck Story

Bad news for the young Indian boy pictured on my Blog below on 11 January 2007. Anton has reported that it was proving difficult to get in contact with the father of the boy: ...'the clinic's staff show up at his house but he's never there. It may be extremely bizarre to believe, but from what we hear from the relatives of the boy the parents aren't eager to get the operation for him at all. This it seems is because they’re simply too lazy even though we're providing transport and paying for it. This just a typical attitude from my experience parents often don't care about their children in poverty stricken India.’

Although frustrated, Anton has learnt from his experience in India and in his final report he mentions the boy with the clubbed foot: ‘The lesson I learned from all of this is that the clinic’s most important work is not medical aid but education. This was particularly driven home when we offered to pay for the operation of the boy with a club foot (see the blog for details). This condition was caused by cerebral palsy caused by nerve damage ultimately caused by severe nutritional deficiency prior to and after birth. The operation will cost $300. Dr Gehrman said that while he applauded and supported our offer to fund the operation; he wanted to point out that with $300 he could employ and train a health care worker for 12 months. This one trained worker could prevent dozens or even hundreds of similar cases by educating villagers about nutrition.’

My response to Anton was; ‘I guess we should be philosophical about the way other people see things differently to us. I am disappointed for the boy with the club foot because we both know how easy it is for us to improve his quality of life.
I'm sure many Indians would see many aspects of Australian life as bizarre. For example they surely would be bewildered by the extraordinary high suicide rate among Australian youth and the numbers of teenagers using drugs. They would wonder why, in one of the world's richest countries, many Aborigines are living in appalling health, education, economic and employment circumstances. (They would probably also be shocked at our beef barbeque culture.)’

Fortunately all is not lost. Anton is seeking to help another young Indian boy: ‘The other operation is a 12 year old boy with spastic paralysis since early childhood due to cerebral palsy. The knees are deformed so he cannot walk properly, and it's too far progressed to be cured with acupuncture or physiotherapy. At least one knee needs to be operated to help him effectively.’
I’ll report if this small project succeeds.

Book Comment: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Just finished The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (2006). It is very good. I always admire writers who can write realistically through the eyes of a child. There is something about the view of the adult world though children's eyes that sharpens the focus on the insanity and inhumanity of what adults foist on each other and the world. The insanity in this case is Auschwitz and the nine year old narrator, Bruno, moves there because his father is appointed Commandant. Bruno’s ignorance of the reality behind the high wire fence that separates his home from the inmates only enhances the reader’s horror. Boyne cleverly laces his main character’s innocent observations with understatement to magnify the evil that most readers are already aware of. There is some potent satire in Boyne’s view of the Holocaust not least of which in the final two sentences: ‘Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age.’

As I read this book, I was reminded of To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) where Harper Lee uses the young Scout to make observations about the adult world of racism and justice in America’s Deep South. The childlike style also dredged up memories of Raymond Briggs’ caustic satire on nuclear war When the Wind Blows (1982), - perhaps this needs resurrecting in light of current developments! Not that Briggs’ characters are children but they are childlike and the comic strip format adds to the mix.
Of course adults don’t have a monopoly on bad stuff. Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding shows us that even children have an innate capacity for evil.

Big Day Out

Had a Big Day Out this week with my brother Michael. We drove to a feedlot near Dalby (Qld) to see his cattle. It was very interesting and gave some meaning to the term 'grain fed beef’. Basically it is the battery hen equivalent for cattle. It is so scientifically precise in terms of the grain mix, hormones, weight - a very big operation with 10000 cattle. They actually cook some of the grain so it is like toasted muesli - that component tasted good to me too! They seemed contented enough but I was disappointed that their pens had zero shade.

We then drove back through the Bunya Mountains Nat Park and that was fabulous. We spent a couple of hours there and did a good walk. The Bunya pines are very impressive. Great camping ground and info centre. We continued on to Kingaroy and loaded up with peanuts.
A highlight of the day was seeing numerous bottle trees - I had never seen them in their natural state. Also whole mountain sides covered in majestic blackboys. We did 520km all up.
Passed this old house shimmering in the heat. Also passed through several tiny towns where the war memorial set up after World War One was conspicuous. Always sobering to see the bewilderingly large numbers of names from such small communities and of course the numbers who paid the ‘supreme sacrifice’. Also to see 3 and 4 surnames the same can only hint at the staggering grief that was carried by families and communities in those times. (On reflection did any of the names we saw on memorials once play in the dust outside this house?)

Australia Day Thoughts

The Prime Minister announces a 10 billion dollar water plan and is acclaimed for his vision. It would have been vision if he'd announced it soon after being elected in 1996. In 2007 it is catch-up, necessity and a canny response to Rudd in an election year. Still, better late than ever but I have a few questions: 1. Why are vast the majority of Australians being asked to suffer water restrictions and change their shower heads to save a few litres when agriculture accounts for three times as much as household use (Aust Bureau of Statistics)???? Of course our farmers must grow our food but when so much of our food is being imported why are we using so much water to grow rice and cotton???? If we imported these two products imagine the water we would be able to redistribute. What a con job this water thing is. What I mean by a con job is that with vision equivalent to that which produced the Snowy Scheme we could harvest the oceans of water that go to waste every year in Australia's inland. We have put in place pipelines of enormous length to shift natural gas around the country. Other nations have built pipelines to carry oil thousands of kilometres. Right now huge areas of inland Australia are awash with floodwaters. By not harvesting these annual natural oceans and diverting them to the cities is like not having a rainwater tank on your house to take advantage of the next storm. If Cubby Station can catch annual overflow water in quantities greater than several Sydney harbours WHY CAN'T GOVERNMENTS DO THE SAME THING ON A MUCH GRANDER SCALE?

The Palm Island review is complete and the policeman is to be charged with Mulrunji’s manslaughter. See my aussie values blog link opposite.

The Pommies can only make 110 on Australia Day. Fortunately those great Aussie values of compassion and fair go and support for the underdog preclude a class action by those fans who, throughout the summer, have expected Test Matches to go 5 days and One Dayers to go 50 overs an innings.

Tim Flannery is (deservedly) announced by PM Howard as Australian of the Year and five minutes later sticks it into Howard for not doing something about climate change sooner. Irreverence for authority is an Aussie value that is alive and well and Flannery is to be commended for not succumbing to the sycophantic role that Howard’s spin doctors probably hoped for. Howard would most likely have preferred Shane Warne but saw an environmentalist as a more astute election year choice that might bolster his Johnny-come-lately environmental credibility.

Kevin Rudd included ‘community’ in his Australia Day list of Aussie values. I saw ‘community’ in full swing in the Buderim celebrations. A lot of hard working community minded people put on a great breakfast and then an impressive parade that featured a lot of groups that comprise volunteers who work to serve the community. No doubt Australians role up their sleeves in large numbers to provide physical and financial support for many causes. Of course I don’t know whether other societies and cultures do this to a greater or lesser extent but I suspect that when people need help anywhere there are many who put their hand up to share what they’ve got or to offer help.

Wave or Waiver the Flag on Australia Day - 26 January

How predictable (and timely) that John Howard should leap on the Aussie flag controversy that the Big Day Out organizers started by trying to ban it. He can’t help but leap on anything that offers him the opportunity to portray himself as the defender of Aussie values and the champion of anything that is true blue. Yet there are a lot of deadshits out there who would use the Australian flag for purposes that are quite contrary to the values it is supposed to symbolize. Would Howard agree with the Cronulla rioters who cloaked themselves in the flag in order to give some legitimacy to their supremacist views? Would he agree with those deadshits who reportedly demanded people kiss it at last year’s BDO and assaulted those who refused. He says: ‘The proposition that the display of the Australian flag should ever be banned anywhere in Australia is offensive and it will be to millions of Auistralians’. Well, John, the flag is banned at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane so what are you going to do about it?

A Quick Trip To Port Macquarie

Last week I did a 3 day drive to Port Macquarie in NSW (1500Km all up). The drive took me through the northern coastal river country of NSW. The country from Tweed Heads to Coffs Harbour could never look better. It is so green as to be almost luminous. The section around the Bangalow- Byron Bay area is an especially beautiful part of Australia. The rolling green hills that stretch away to the beaches are covered with macadamia orchards and coffee plantations and many other sub tropical fruits. I marvelled at the huge Moreton Bay fig trees that are sometimes close to the highway - they are just massive and their broad span could shade a hundred cattle. One of the reasons I always like to take the coast troad is to see the mighty northern rivers. The Tweed, Richmond, Clarence, Macleay, Hastings - Wow! The volume of water passing into the Pacific daily from these rivers is mind boggling. I can't help but think as I drive over their bridges that they would go a long way to solving the water shortages of Brisbane and Sydney. Of course I'm not suggesting that they should be ripped off to the point of damaging their ecology but surely carefully computer monitored harvesting of the excess that just flows away is feasible. Perhaps it is too simple in its concept and too difficult politically! Heaven forbid that Queensland should take 'NSW water' from the Tweed 20 kilometres to supply the thirsty Gold Coast (the fastest growing city in Australia).
I must mention the beautiful river towns of Ulmarra and Maclean. These are fabulous historic river towns on the Clarence. It is not hard to imagine the hustle and bustle of their busy river life when they were centres for river boats coming and going in a pre highway and pre heavy truck era. Now they are quiet and charming places for travellers to stop and reflect and be awed by the magnificent river.
The purpose of my trip was to visit my Aunty Betty. She is my mother's sister and only sibling and has a special place in my life. No one on the planet has known me longer. We had a great day together that included a 3 km walk along the creekside boardwalk through Port's paperbark forest. The walk begins and ends at the fascinating, original Port Macqaurie cemetery which dates back to 1821. The rest of the day was taken up with coffee downtown, lunch at a local vineyard, drives around Port's beautiful headlands and beaches and finally some Aussie Open tennis on the TV. Betty was pretty tired after all this because as she kept telling me 'I'm not a spring chicken anymore'. Nevertheless at 82 she is an inspiration with her energy and positive attitude. No matter what life throws at you, Betty says you just have to cope and get on with it.
I was pretty tired my self when I got back to Buderim but glad I'd done the trip and travelled through such beautiful country. No doubt the green of this area is a luxury and a total contrast to the dry, thirsty places further south and west. But then to be driving through 'Eden' while listening to reports of bushfires, evacuations and droughts in other parts of the country typifies Australia and always has.

A GOOD MOVIE

I watched the movie Babel last week, the day after finishing reading The Unknown Terrorist. Coincidentally it is about innocent people who find themselves in unusual circumstances which, because of stereotyping and misinterpretation, quickly escalate out of control. Even though the main players in the story are often the victims of stereotyped views and politically and ideologically driven officialdom, it is the humanity of ordinary people that triumphs. The Director, Alejandro Inarritu, says he wanted to 'talk about the overreaction of the US empire towards the Muslims. I also wanted to observe the problems of the borders between the US and Mexico, and to talk about the millions of Mexicans who live in a very harsh reality in America. I was interested in solitude, and deserts - not only actual deserts, but also urban deserts, where you are surrounded by people but totally isolated'.
This is a top movie.

A GOOD BOOK

The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan

I finally got around to reading this novel which was published in 2006. I really enjoyed it. It is a thriller with plenty of social and political comment. Set in post 9/11 Sydney it involves a Kings Cross pole dancer caught up in a whirlpool of murder, media hype and politically manipulated fear of terrorism. Readers will recognize the Australia that Flanagan portrays so clearly. The Australia where the ‘War on Terror’ has created all sorts of fears and uncovered the Australian racism that mostly lies dormant just below the surface of our fair go-tolerant-she’ll be right national persona. With disarming precision he taps into the Sydney psyche that we tend to ignore or at the least pretend is not really the Sydney we know and love: the obsession with real estate, the power of the radio shock jocks and the media, the disdain for the poor, the weak, the druggos, the Aborigines and the suspicion of all that is different from Muslims to Asians to those that only read either the Telegraph or the Sydney Morning Herald. Flanagan concentrates on the hard edge of Sydney and by extension Australia and there is little doubt that he attributes this hardening to the period since the election of the Howard government in 1996. When his hapless pole dancer walks past a street person getting beaten, the thugs ‘kept on for a few minutes more, kicking him as if he were to blame for everything in that dirty, dead decade they were all condemned to live through, a sack of shit that had once been a man, in a place that had once been a community, in a country that had once been a society’. Of course the government’s role in turning Sydneysiders and Australians inward, with all the xenophobia and paranoia that accompanies that, is aided by the media. Flanagan is caustic in his treatment of the media’s role in falling for the Governments agenda of fearmongering. His TV current affairs celebrity presenter is instantly recognizable and his contempt for Sydney shock jocks is palpable no less than through the name of his Sydney radio king, Joe Cosuk. Cosuk’s anagram is milked and its potentially abbreviated epithet adds to the readers’ distaste for this influential character.
Without doubt a major message in The Unknown Terrorist is that the terrorists have won. They won the moment those planes hit the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. They unleashed their most pervasive and formidable weapon: fear. The fear that has been generated and exploited, especially in the coalition of the willing has resulted in extraordinary legislative curtailments of democratic rights; a legitimizing of prejudice among many; a deadly fiasco in Iraq; and the nightmare of Guantanamo Bay. In so many ways the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. We have sacrificed so much of what we say we are protecting and in the case of Iraq, trying to export. Flanagan has shown us this in clear relief. Politicians, police, journalists, bureaucrats – those who are supposed to be the ‘goodies’ have succumbed and have compromised their own values to create an Orwellian world where the forest has been overtaken by the trees.

Richard Flanagan interview by Kerry O'brien on 7.30 report, Nov 2006. Please see the link opposite for this interview

Connections with my novel, Kadaitcha.
It was interesting reading a post 9/11 Australian novel on terrorism. The first coincidence was early, on page 21, when there is a bomb scare at Sydney’s Olympic stadium. It is the threat of an explosion at the stadium that becomes the driving force for the fear and hype and hunt for the perpetrators that Flanagan weaves together in his novel. Where Kadaitcha gives considerable weight to the motives behind its main character blowing up the stadium at the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Flanagan does not touch on motive at all. He doesn’t have to because 9/11 and the ‘War on Terror’ have made terrorism a cause in itself. Mention terrorism and the fear, suspicion and the stereotyping will provide an automatic response that makes details of the cause irrelevant. Like Flanagan I tried to make comment on aspects of contemporary Australia. We run parallel on a few issues and vary our respective emphasis. Although I target the media I don’t do quite the hatchet job of Flanagan. My radio shock jock, Stan Dawes is not quite as big a prick as Joe Cosuck (forget the pun!). Where Flanagan and I are in complete synchronization is in our attack on the Howard government. My attack was focused on his treatment of Aborigines and his winding back of the Wik decision from the moment he was elected in 1996. I sat through debates in Parliament on the Native Title Act Amendment (remember his 10 point plan!) and was stirred to try and put this latest blow in the context of a disturbingly long history of repression. Of course Flanagan writing much later, when Howard had been in power nearly a decade, had more shit to deal with, especially when 9/11/2001 provided Howard the catalyst to take Australia into waters that many thought we had sailed away from forever.

A GOOD EDUCATION STORY

An 85 year old Aussie, Fred Hyde, and his team are building and running schools in Bangladesh with outstanding results. They are onto their 30th school! They operate within self help communities and on budgets that see almost 100% of donated money going into the school projects. What an amazing example of Aussies showing compassion in a practical way!! So... if you are interested have a look at the website in my Links. I guarantee you will be impressed.

A Good News Story

I want to mention an enterprising young Sunshine Coast man that you may find interesting. Anton is 16 and when told he was too young to go on a formal/Non Government Organisation overseas aid project he just went independently anyhow. He has installed solar panels in an Indian village. Check out his blog in my Links (the Solar mission link) to see how his project unfolded.

Anton is now organising surgery to correct the club foot of this young Indian boy:

Peter Bulkeley

Hello!! I've decided to have a personal blog and this is my first post. I doubt that I will be religiously consistent with my postings but I will try and put occasional things up that show what I and others in my family and circle are doing.

Today is a lovely drizzly day on the Sunshine Coast with a pleasant 27 degrees. Some contrast to Melb where it's going to be 36 today. Just spoke to my lovely sister-in-law Sue who fiiled us in on the family news from Melb.

There has been a riot at Arukun in northern Qld and that reminds me to put a link here to my Aussie Values blog where you can see some of my comments on the Palm Island/Mulrunji case that has attracted a lot of attention in recent weeks