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Published On: Mar 29, 2011 12:29 PM
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Tue - March 29, 2011
Uluru Handover Ceremony, 1985
This is the second account in the Desert
Star, of my attendance at the 1985 handover (or should that be hand-back) of
Uluru to its traditional owners. The accounts were written at different times,
the previous version being written closer to the actual event. There seemed to
be no point in having this version sitting in my computer unread. There is a
link to the photographs
I took on the day.
Posted at 10:45 AM Read More
Mon - March 22, 2010
Bliss, Movie Review
A recent television showing of this Australian
film, based on the best selling Peter Carey novel, has inspired me (if that is
the right word) to start a whole new category of Movie Reviews. I was looking
forward to seeing this 1985 film again after many years, it being one of the
most innovative and quirky of Australian movies, and a great book. Does it stand
the test of time? Well, yes and no. Carey wrote the story while living in the
hippy enclave of Bellingen in northern New South Wales, and the film is very
much of its time.
Posted at 12:08 AM Read More
Wed - September 16, 2009
Darwin, 2009
It was more of a loaf in Darwin this trip, with
no trip to Croker Island, though I did catch up with some people from there, and
I mostly stayed within the city itself, although I managed to venture south in
the last week or so. I did make some good contacts, and was frustrated by an
inability to make some others. Darwin temperatures, as usual for this time of
the year, reached a daily maximum of 32 degrees and a minimum of
22.
Posted at 02:12 PM Read More
Tue - April 28, 2009
Lake Mungo
Sometime in the late seventies or early eighties,
I saw a television program about the discovery of some human remains, revealed
by a relentless desert wind blowing over ancient sand dunes fringing a lake
which had last seen water some 15,000 years ago. These remains, dubbed 'Mungo
Man' (although it proved to be woman's bones), had been cremated some 30,000
years ago, and are claimed to be the most ancient ceremonial burial ever
discovered. The later discovery of a man's remains, coated in red ochre,
confirmed the importance of the region, which, with the whole string of lakes
stretching to the north, has now been designated a World Heritage Site. My first
visit was in 1991, and my second was just last week, in mid-April
2009.
Posted at 12:25 AM Read More
Wed - January 7, 2009
Kevin Rudd, 'Fiscal' Conservative?
Just over a year since the Howard Government was
thrown unceremoniously from power, with their leader, John Howard, losing his
own seat (his party didn't have the guts to dump him, but the voters did) it is
an appropriate time to take stock of the Labor Government under Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd. Perhaps there was a portent of the direction and flavour of the
incoming government on the night of the election, when, flushed with the
euphoria of victory and more than a glass or two of celebratory drinks, we
endured Mr Rudd delivering an uninspiring cliche-ridden speech in a flat
monotone. Anything was better than John Howard though, and we lived in hope of a
more tolerant society.
Posted at 11:47 PM Read More
Sat - November 1, 2008
The Ascent of Obama
My Backwards Bush counter tells me that there
are seventy-eight days, fourteen minutes, and twenty-five seconds to go, before
Bush the Lessor stumbles away to his inglorious obscurity - while paradoxically,
and indelibly, entering history as the worst president ever. Hopefully, we are
about to enjoy his antithesis, as a young and bold black man embarks on his
presidential career.
Posted at 06:05 PM Read More
Thu - November 29, 2007
Collet Barker
The Mount Barker township, region and mountain,
on the south eastern outskirts of the Mount Lofty ranges, was named by Captain
Charles Sturt, after Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th Regiment (Barker's
compatriot and friend Captain Charles Sturt was a fellow officer). Barker was
speared to death by three Ngarrindjerri men near the mouth of the Murray River
on 30th April, 1831.
Posted at 02:34 PM Read More
Wed - November 7, 2007
Ode to John Howard
One ought to be at least a little conciliatory of
John Howard's years in power, but I'll let someone else do that. The kindest
thing that I can say about the man, is that he stayed in power long enough for
us to throw him out, including it seems, out of his own seat. This hope of mine
was expressed in a previous blog, 'The
Rat to go down with his ship' . In this alone, Howard lived up to,
and fulfilled my expectations.
Posted at 01:41 AM Read More
Tue - October 23, 2007
The Rat To Go Down With His Ship
Nothing, apart from the Howard Government winning
this years election, (which is not going to happen), would disappoint me more
than if John Howard had chosen not to contest it as his party's leader. For a
while it seemed, he was contemplating retirement; passing the baton to his
economic partner throughout his eleven year reign, treasurer Peter Costello.
Fortunately Howard's hubris, along with his life-long dedication to
conservatism, and his love of power, has seen him remain to fight his last
fight. I didn't want him to retire, because I want to see him
defeated.
Posted at 12:59 PM Read More
Mon - September 24, 2007
Election Looms - Howard's Doom?
After what seems to have been a year of a phony
election campaign, the incumbent John Howard, Australia's Prime Minister, will
soon have to call an election. He is in no hurry to do so, as his so-called
'Liberal' party trails the opposition Labor Party by more than ten points, and
the Labor leader Kevin Rudd is being perceived as a fresh face. Howard is
increasingly being seen as a man who has run out of ideas, but also as a man who
has brazenly danced around the truth far too often.
Posted at 11:37 PM Read More
Thu - August 2, 2007
Mohamed Haneef; The Politics of Hate.
Of one thing we can be sure. Australian Federal
Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews, and Prime
Minister John Howard will pursue Mohamed Haneef with every ounce of their being.
Far more important for them now, is not Dr Haneef's guilt or innocence - details
like that are not important for this Government - it is the political mileage to
be gained from denigrating him, and the loss of face to be suffered if he proves
to be innocent. One has only to observe the on-going slaughter in Iraq,
(justified now as a huge loss of face if the invasion fails) with the carnage of
Iraqis not even worthy of comment by the war mongers Howard and Downer, to see
how individuals of other than white Caucasian bent stand in the grand order of
things.
Posted at 12:42 PM Read More
Sun - July 1, 2007
Darwin Again
Saturday morning I flew out of Croker, via
Goulburn Island again, and back to Darwin. Another week in the sun, then back to
the 'now when it's freezing, here in these cold, cold, hills.' The trip has
been successful and enjoyable, perhaps falling a little short of my goals in
some respects, but exceeding expectations in others. The booklet which doubled
as a field guide to Fort Wellington, and showing the locations of of the remains
of the fort proved invaluable. Last night, Tuesday 3rd July, Brother Max, Sharon
and myself had a great meal (Indian) at the Nirvana restaurant, and night spot,
after which I did a few songs at the 'jam' session, which I had participated in
on other occasions. The Adelaide Hills winter will be difficult.
Posted at 11:22 PM Read More
Thu - June 28, 2007
The View From Croker Island
It has now been ten days since I arrived on
Croker Island. During that time, John Howard has demonstrated his new found
concern for Aboriginal welfare. I have long held a cynical view of anything
Howard does, and nothing has disturbed me more than his ill disguised contempt
for the Aboriginal people of Australia over the past eleven years. His dismissal
of ill treatment, dispossession, and murder of the past as a "black arm band
view of history," his refusal to acknowledge or to express genuine regret for
the stolen generation, the disbandment of ATSIC leaving Aboriginal people with
no substantial representative body to speak for their rights, are just a few of
the glaring demonstrations of his indifference, if not malice. He has also, of
course, undermined what progress has been gained in cases like Wik, by passing
legislation to undermine those gains. What is the view, in light of Howard's
sudden 'concern' for Aboriginal welfare, from Croker Island?
Posted at 12:48 PM Read More
Tue - June 26, 2007
Fort Wellington, Raffles Bay
At last, two months into my visit north, today I
made it to the Raffles bay settlement, begun in 1827, and abandoned in 1829.
Here Collet Barker oversaw roughly eighty people, made up of convicts and
soldiers in almost equal numbers, and grew gardens, ran stock, erected buildings
and befriended Aboriginals. My story of his life will be greatly enriched having
tread this sacred ground.
Posted at 11:49 PM Read More
Mon - June 25, 2007
On Croker Island
I had a bit of a whinge on this entry a few days
ago. Have now edited that out. Tomorrow comes the boat trip to Raffles Bay. Here
are some pics of a beach walk on Mission Bay.
Posted at 11:28 AM Read More
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