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It’s a beautiful morning in this part of the world – we have had a couple of quite warm days and nights now, and the same is promised today, following a rather strong gusty north wind blowing around the house overnight.

A good day for a drive in the country, well shall we say further north into the ‘country’ than I already am, for despite it’s proximity to Melbourne, I consider Sunbury to be still an element of country living, city style! That’s the ‘promo’ that attracted us here in the first place, out of the suburbs to a semi rural environment, and while development has been substantial in the past 27 years, it remains to my mind a very pleasant environment  to reside in. But we are heading further north today  – to Bendigo, about an hour or so up the divided highway from Sunbury, where our organisation has planned a general meeting of members. I’ve been given the okay to drive straight from here in preference to driving south into the city and then returning for a late morning meeting. So it’s a slow and relaxed start to my Wednesday, and a chance to catch up on the local regional newspapers.

It was there that I noticed a story involving the Principal of one of the local secondary colleges, Sunbury Downs, the school that my youngest daughter attended for six years, during which time I was a member of the School Council, and Council President for the last two years of Jodie’s attendance. In fact, I’m rather satisfied to say, that in that latter role, I was part of the selection panel that appointed the current principal – in fact come to think of it, that was the third time I had been a part of the Principal selection process in a school, choosing this man’s predecessor some years earlier, while back in the Primary School days, as School Council President on that occasion also, we had a changeover of principals – appointed a woman on that occasion, and I believe she is still there, many years down the track.

Back to Sunbury Downs, which school has received an award –  it was apparently the only school so recognised amongst 17 Victorian employers for it’s support of the Australian Defence Force [ADF] and it’s reservist employees. Reporting from the local ‘Your Community Voice’ this week –  ‘While management have to allow their military employees to leave when necessary, Mr Moore [the School Principal] has offered ongoing support to the school’s chaplain, Marcus Allcot, who is also a chaplain to the ADF. “I believe any staff member at the school is going to be more highly performing if they’re got a rewarding and morefulfilling personal life,” Mr Moore said. “Kids gravitate to Marcus because he’s of interest to them. Kids want role models, someone to see and look up to, so to have a role model with this stature in the school with this level of interest and uptake in the defence force, that’s positive”.’  Principal, Brett Moore, received, on behalf of the School the ‘Defence Reserves Supportive Employer’ award.

Quite sad to hear the news during my drive back to Sunbury this afternoon, that as a consequence of second explosion a few hours ago in the New Zealand mine, all hope of any of the 29 trapped miners surviving last week’s explosion, had now gone, and relatives had been advised that their loved ones were dead.  So after a few days of vague hopes of a miracle, that optimism was suddenly dashed, and instead replaced by the grief of tragic loss. I imagine there will be a lot of repercussions come out of this with angry responses already from relatives that a window of opportunity was losta few days ago to make a rescue effort.  But the rescue team has always insisted that an attempt was too dangerous because of the potential for further explosions, and I think that rightfully they will stick to that proposition. The fact that it was five days before that potential explosion occurred – naturally to all concerned, that seems like a ‘missed opportunity’, but it will never really be known whether a second explosion might have occured earlier, were a rescue attempt made.  Tragic, but bad luck all round!  Certainly however, though expected as I suggested yesterday, a very sad ending to that disaster. Despite that, the safety record in the mining industry in both Australia and New Zealand is fairly good, especially when compared to the numerous ongoing mine disasters in places like China which costs hindreds of lives each year!

This writer has been a little busy over the past few days – my head mixed up in Genealogical matters  – searching through online versions of old newspapers seeking little bits of family ancestral news.  A bit of a ‘new light’ has been thrown upon some of the original settlers here in Australia,  facts that I’d not been previously aware of, and my searching, while answering a few questions also opens up a whole lot of new questions!  I currently in regular contact with at least two distant cousins, who for a change, are just as interested in the family background as I am myself. Usually it’s a bit of a solo effort  – most people you come across in your researching are interested but generally not enough to be too bothered – too many other things in life to occupy oneself with!   Of course, in many ways, I can appreciate that attitude – my own research came to a major standstill for the best part of two decades whilst the family were growing, and employment roles took a bit more of a priority than they do these days.

Of particular interest has been reading some of the memoirs of the early families. Many of them were part of the coach building industry  [before cars began to take over at the beginning of the 20^th century].  The daughter of one of our coach building ancestors described a couple of aspects of the business she enjoyed been a part of as a young child – an example with the following brief paragraphs.

“One great pleasure was watching the buggies being painted and Dad drawing fine lines along the spokes of the wheels, and transfers with gold size on backs of buggies.  Emily used to get one shilling for putting the first coat of paint on a wheel.  She loved stirring the little kegs of white lead with a stick, and the varnish and paints, and also putting the marker into the rim of a tyre and wheel so they would bolt up properly after cooling.

Doing the tyres was really worth a watch.  In cold weather they were heated at two forges, and to grow tall enough to make the bellows blow was a real treat, as Emily was small and at first was lifted up to reach the handle.  In the summer they were done outside as there was a round solid slab of iron beside a (tyre hole) as it was called.  The tyres were put on an outside round fire and heated and then quickly lifted to just touch the wood of the wheel which had already been laid on the round iron and by quickly slipping in the marker where Dad had marked both tyre and wheel, the rim was then belted on with a sledge hammer and then quickly cooled down with buckets of water thrown all over the rim as it would start to burn the wood”

Meanwhile, it’s back to 2010.  It is disturbing to hear that little progress in terms of a rescue of the trapped miners in the New Zealand coal mine has been achieved. I think friends and relatives have been hoping that there would be another ‘Chile style’ miracle rescue as occurred in October, but as the days go past, it is becoming more and more obvious that these men have been lost. It also seems that the town of Greymouth is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that is slowly unfolding on a mountainside 28 miles away. This report on the affect of the disaster on the town, appeared in the Telegraph  newspaper a few hours ago, and was written by journalist Bonnie Malkin

“Scattered through the town are 29 families awaiting news of their loved ones, including two Britons, who have been missing since a powerful explosion ripped through the Pike River mine on Friday afternoon.  In the latest reports coming out of the area, rescuers admit hopes are fading for the 29 men, after a remote-operated robot broke down shortly after being sent into the tunnel. The robot was equipped with a camera which would have provided the first pictures inside the Pike River mine. But in a blow to rescue hopes, Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn said the robot had short-circuited shortly after entering the mine.  Certainly, the disaster has hit the mining town hard.  In Greymouth’s close-knit community of 10,000 people, almost everyone knows someone who is missing.

While the close relatives of the men gather twice a day for updates from the police, their expressions worsening as the rescue is further delayed, the rest of the community is also grieving.  While many churches have been left open so that residents can light a candle and say a prayer for the miners, a sign on the window of the ANZ Bank simply reads: “Our thoughts are with you all”.  At the nearby Salvation Army building a drop-in centre for residents has been set up. Air New Zealand has sent in support teams and the Red Cross is operating as an information centre for the relatives of the miners.  But spirits in the town remain low. Streets are mostly deserted, and the mine rescue is the topic of conversation in every shop, café and motel.  Captain Charles Prattley, local Salvation Army officer, said the entire community was “depressed”.   “There doesn’t seem to be so many people out on the streets going on with their lives, everything has quietened down and seems very subdued,” he said.  “People are not doing their shopping or doing ordinary things, everything seems to be on hold.”  Robin Kingston, assistant priest at the Holy Trinity Anglican church in Greymouth, acknowledged that the wider community was losing hope as the days ticked by without news of any rescue attempt.   “The feeling around the place is that things are not looking at all good and the chances of getting the men out alive are becoming less and less,” he said.  “People are becoming quite pessimistic. “They don’t want to give up hope entirely, but they are accepting that short of a miracle this is not going to be a good outcome.”

The windswept coastal town, wedged between the mouth of the Grey River and the shadow of the Southern Alps, was founded on coal mining. The first European to visit the area was Thomas Brunner in 1846, who discovered coal in the Grey valley, and several other places in the region.   It is not the first time that the area has been hit by a mining tragedy. In 1967 an explosion rocked the Strongman mine, just 18 miles from Pike River, killing 19 of the 250 men who were working underground at the time”.

A further matter of quite serious concern in the Asian region is the report I have read this evening that North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto the South Korean  border island of Yeonpyeong, triggering an exchange of fire as southern armed forces went on their highest state of alert.  In what appeared to be one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-53 war, South Korea’s government convened in an underground war room and air force jets were reportedly scrambled to the Yellow Sea island. Two South Korean marines were killed when North Korea shelled the border island, according to the military..  In an MSN report it was noted that   ‘about 50 North Korean shells landed on the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong near the tense Yellow Sea border, damaging dozens of houses and sending plumes of thick smoke into the air, YTN television reported. “A North Korean artillery unit staged an illegal firing provocation at 2.34pm local time (1634 AEDT) and South Korean troops fired back immediately in self-defence,” a South Korean ministry spokesman told AFP’. It’s not clear what has prompted this sudden ‘attack’ by the North, but it must be viewed with some considerable concern by South Korea, and really, by most of the western world.  Instability between the two Koreas could have serious consequences for all of us!

A beautiful Spring day this Saturday, just what the local Uniting Church ordered for it’s annual ‘Car boot and craft stalls’ sale day. Not been so involved with the church ctivities these days, I had no role to play, but I did call in briefly this morning – to greet a few people, and browse the bookstall [always one of my favourite occupations].  I’d actually forgotten about the sales – despite advertising it on the radio station over recent weeks –  was reminded following an early morning visit to the town centre, for a routine blood test, a visit to the chemist, fruiterer, and other spots. The hive of activity around the Village Green and the Uniting Church [located on the ‘Green’] jogged my memory, and I was pleased that they had achieved such a glorious sunny morning. Two years ago, this function was washed out to a large extent, when one Saturday in the middle of the drought, produced a few hours of heavy rainfall – it was probably the only day in weeks, that it had rained that year!!

Over the past 24 hours or so, I have been doing some research on my family history – or more to the point, writing up a section of the ‘book’ that I have been working on for many years now, albeit slowly!  The new information I received on Thursday night has inspired the spending of a bit of extra time on this ‘interest’. I have so much material that has been collected from various sources over the years, but I never seem to have allocated the time [or been able to] to consolidate a lot of the material.  That is what I have been working towards over the past two or three months, and while a little tedious at times, it is also a fascinating ‘occupation’, always something new is being learnt or found, but as is common in most aspects of genealogy, one problem solved, or query answered, is another mystery created.  Family history is a never ending task!

We are receiving disturbing news from New Zealand of a mine explosion overnight,  with between 20-30 miners and contractors trapped underground after a massive explosion in the mine.  Initially yesterday, attempts to rescue the 29 miners trapped bythe explosion were delayed because of fears of another blast caused by a gas build up, although I ubderstand that rescue attempts are now been undertaken.  There has been no communication with the missing men since an explosion in the Pike River mine on Friday, but the owners continued to holdout hope the missing men were still alive

I was reading an email  tonight, from a distant relative, 3rd or 4th cousin removed or thereabouts, and we were comparing the outcomes of our respective local family history society annual meetings [the Sunbury equivalent was held yesterday, and thankfully my short lived role of acting President, didn’t need to continue, as a full committee was put together, and apart from a general committee position for this writer, I ‘escaped’ the need to put my hand up for any of the more executive roles].

Anyway, my email correspondent had been searching some old newspapers on line for me, and came across some reports concerning the two original ancestors who came out here to Australia, and other aspects of the family –  reports that actually answered a few unanswered questions that had been floating around for years!  I’m not going into the details now until I’ve seen confirmation of what I’ve being told – suffice to say, it’s the most amazing piece of ‘family history information’ I’ve come across in over 30 years. Details that seemed to have been suppressed down through the generations!

Actually, yesterday was a bit of a mixed day – had to take the day of paid work to undertake some tasks relating to my voluntary work, beginning with some banking responsibilities for the radio station, followed by the meeting of the Family History Society – most of the members of that group are retired or not working, so a meeting in the middle of the day followed by lunch at the football club suited everyone [except me] – however, because of the precarious position that the organisation was in, I took the time off, as I had promised to see the Society through to the AGM at least. Later in the afternoon, it was a ‘coffee date’ with a good friend whom I don’t catch up with much these days – she and her husband helped me out quite a bit when I was unemployed, and at the time my wife and I separated, but because I work out of town these days, and both of us have stopped our regular attendances at the church, we seldom catch up [except through Facebook, lol]. Anyway, that was a pleasant hours interlude,  and this time, I just had the one coffee  –  our meetings of this nature in the past, usually with a couple of other friends, generally revolved around coffee and cake  [try plural for the cake part!!].

I must have had an omen, for following that,  I had a doctor’s appointment –   my mood was a little low, from that point onwards. He more or less told me that I was not looking after my ‘diabetes’ problem, which was a bit disappointing, as I felt I have been working very hard on the various aspects of ‘care’ for that situation – not perfect, I know, but a vast improvement on a year or so ago!  I’d even been feeling better! Not according to Dr ‘Larry’!!  Oh well, back to the drawing board! Couple of his comments were not very encouraging, quite dispiriting in fact.

Of course none of that was helped by another ‘meeting’  I had earlier that morning – in the street, ran into one of my former bosses & his wife, both older than me, and who told me that they were not on any form of medication, both in excellent health. And he had been a smoker [and a heavy drinker]!!  Strangely enough, last night, I was not really feeling in the brightest of moods. Think that carried over into the office this morning, where I found myself alone for most of the day, my two co-workers elsewhere, and yours truly really wished he was somewhere else. Even came home to an empty house tonight, as Susie has gone into the city for a concert or something!!  Plenty to do, but think it’s the night for a book.

On Monday night, I made a little note on Facebook about a debate that was then starting in Federal Parliament, on the basis of a motion by the ‘Greens’ senator who was recently the first member of his Party to be elected to the House of Representatives – Adam Bandt.  The actual motion proposed by the Greens MP Adam Bandt calls on MPs to consult their constituents on the issue of gay marriage.  I think one of his platforms and aims [as it is of the Greens] was to get the law changed so as to recognise gay marriages in Australia, so that, amongst other things, people living in formal same sex relationships could be given the same legal rights as heterosexual relationships and marriages. I guess I was a little bemused as to why it was necessary for Parliament to devote too much time to the subject. I began my comments, earlier in the afternoon, in anticipation of the debate coming up that night,  with the following view on Facebook.

‘Later today, Federal Parliament will debate a motion in favour of same sex marriage in Australia. While not wishing to denigrate the importance of this issue to many people, I consider there are far more important national issues that our paid politicians should be devoting the brief time they currently actually allocate to ‘work’ in Parliament House’.

Now I realised that by that comment, I would probably attract some responses, which I anticipated would not be too favourable towards my opinion, but I decided to take that on board if it arose. What I did receive initially were a few remarks which I guess you could classify as cynical ‘tongue in cheek’ comments, in preference to directly supporting or attacking my contribution, then followed by one or two more considered but brief responses, while the main form of ‘attack’ [for the want of a better word] came from an unexpected source ‘much closer to home’ than I had anticipated. Now I’m not going to name any of my respondees, except with an initial, but I thought it might be interesting to record their reactions in bulk, on this little contributing blog………………..

[J] When you think about it, we’ve fixed the Boat-People issue, we have close to 100 percent employment, our nation’s economy is back in the black, not to mention the carbon issue, high electricity bills, Street violets, so hey, why not spend valuable time on Gay Marriage? 🙂

[M] Perhaps there are more important issues for our politicians to discuss, but I suspect they will spend precious little time actually debating anything as important as equal rights.

[R] Absolutely Bill- there should be no discussion time wasted over this issue- just immediately allow any combination of people and/or tapirs to get married when and how they please!

[Me] Adam Brand, the Green MP from Melbourne, is now giving his ‘Love knows no bounds’ and ‘the power of love’ speech in Federal Parliament in addressing his Private Members’ Bill. Mmmmmmm!  And first speaker to respond – the ‘grandfather of Parliament’ – Phillip Ruddick!! I wonder what his view will be, no prizes for guessing!

[S] I’m surprised you aren’t getting behind Gay marriage, Bill. Just think of all the marriage celebrants, churches, caterers, tourist spots, lawyers etc that will benefit from the pink dollar.

[Ro]  yeah I’m surprised as well, why shouldn’t Gay people be aloud their piece of paper?

[Me] Well, they will eventually, just let time and society in general take it’s course

[J] Cause it’s not (natural) maybe?  Or is it..

[S] I guess you’re right, Bill. And this debate should be an accurate reflection of how our society currently views this issue.

[Me] I agree with you S, and despite the ‘opinion’ polls, I personally believe the attitude of the two major parties currently reflects society’s views, it’s too early – irrespective of the statistics that Bob Brown, Adam Bandt & others are coming up with!

[S] Fair enough. Let’s see if the debate reflects that.

[Ro]  maybe it’s too early because most of our society is over 50!  or maybe we should just wait until my generation are in power because then it wouldn’t be an issue. what makes me angry is it takes a person over the age of 60 to have a Gay child who is in a long term committed relationship with someone of the same sex to realise that this issue is just as important as the next!   i wonder bill if one of your kids where gay, what would your opinion be then.

[Me]  Hi R, I think I’m regretting even raising the subject, but like everything else that happens in our public lives, I like to take an interest in what in going on! Unlike most people, I’m just stupid enough to open my ‘mouth’, when maybe I should just shut up, and grumble behind closed doors like Mr and Mrs Average does!!

The only opinion I have expressed on the subject to this point, was that I felt there were more important issues that our Parliamentarians should be dealing with, and that I didn’t think society was ready for full acceptance of the idea of a formalising of gay marriages. Everyone seems to be ‘assuming’ my views on the matter are completely one-sided, but I’ve spelt nothing out!! And those who know me, usually will be aware, that I always look at both sides of an issue – sometimes accused of ‘sitting on the fence’ – really, prepared to listen to the various viewpoints [not an attitude that the various lay supporters of our major political parties can generally be credited with!!].

Personally, I have no problem with the concept of gay relationships – [or for such partnerships to be allocated the same legal & financial rights, etc that hetro marriages attract, which seems to rightly be a major cause of grievance] – certainly, some of these relationships come over as far more successful and genuine than a traditional ‘marriage’ – I just have a conservative view, perhaps no doubt influenced by a Christian background for which I don’t apologise [and an environment in which your Mum was also brought up], that on the assumption that Australia is still regarded as a Christian society, [when in reality, we know it’s more secular these days than anything], my interpretation of marriage is based on the way the Christian Bible appears to represent it [between a man and a woman]. Anything else, can be called something else, how others live their lives is their business, I’m simply not comfortable with those relationships being called a ‘marriage’! But I acknowledge that eventually, that’s the way it will go. So be it! The world and our attitudes to a thousand things are changing all the time, and we will all change with them.

I just feel it is a bit hypocritical of our Federal Parliament, where at the beginning of every day’s sitting, the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ is recited because it is traditional practice [but I’m sure that for 90% of members – and maybe the Speaker himself, although there, I’m assuming what Harry Jenkins believes, but may well be doing him an injustice – doing so, means nothing to them] – so long as that continues, then they in my view have no right to begin espousing interpretations of concepts spelt out in the Bible[ a document that most of them still ‘swear’ by when the need arises] to suit a few personal interests and pressure groups………

It was interesting listening to the various members who spoke on the issue last night – there was no clear denunciation ‘either way’ by anyone other than the initiator of the Bill, lambasting or supporting marriages – their speeches generally referred back to the respective existing policies of the main Parties. I guess the only way you are going to get Federal Parliamentarians to express what they each personally think is to have a ‘conscience’ vote on the matter – and I think that is the aim of some pushing the issue. I personally think such a vote won’t succeed – in 2010 – but it will come, sooner than you express R, before your generation is in power, but through the influence of your generation, no doubt!

[R] gee i hope so! i’m sorry for aiming it directly at you, some of the comments people left really peeved me off. Your right though as long as there is religion this will always take longer. given 15-20 years i really don’t know religion will have as big a hold on the way governments are run. when you think about it 25 years ago the whole family went off to Sunday church, the neighbours where like family and Granny lived with her kids and baby sat when needed, meanwhile the rest of the family never lived that far away. As i was saying to marc, the Gay marriage issue is not an issue in our generation and when we are in power i do wonder what will take its place. i mean what will we be accused of being cynical and taking an old world view of.   lol next time don’t fence sit on such a hot topic, not always a safe move.

[Me[  Advice taken 🙂 – it must have been a picket fence as well, ouch!!!
[For those wondering, R is my lovely artistic niece from the wonderful metropolis of Ballarat]

[R] That makes sense that one of your relatives would have such a well developed social conscience- I completely agree with her 🙂

And what was all that about, you might ask?   Well, this little report summarises what began my little ‘discussion’ on the net  –

“An impressive debate began in the House of Representatives tonight [Monday night]  on a motion by the Greens member, Adam Bandt, calling on parliamentarians to gauge their constituents’ views on the issue of marriage equality. This is part of the draft text of Adam Bandt’s speech on his equal marriage resolution:

“Love knows no boundaries.

Love knows no limits.

And love knows when it has found its partner.

Mr Speaker, there have been many attempts through history to limit love.

And all have failed.

And as we move further into the 21st century I am confident that attempts to limit love will fail again, that full marriage equality will become a reality.

Mr Speaker, this motion before the Parliament does not seek to overturn the Howard government’s change to the Marriage Act which sought to limit marriage to a few.

My colleague Senator Sarah Hanson Young has a bill before Parliament that when passed will amend the Marriage Act to enshrine the right for all Australian’s to marry regardless of their gender or sexuality.

And in time the Greens will move for that bill to be debated.

Instead this motion seeks to provide an opportunity for members of Parliament, the media and most importantly the community to discuss the importance of Marriage Equality.

The motion is not binding on Members of Parliament or the government its passage will not in itself legally endorse or ratify the right to marriage equality. Rather it will acknowledge the reality of community opinion in Australia which has changed.

The motion reads:

That this House:

(1) Notes that:

(a) There is a growing list of countries that allow same-sex couples to marry including the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Spain, Canada and South Africa; and

(b) there is widespread support for equal marriage in the Australian community.

(2) Calls on all parliamentarians to gauge their constituents’ views on the issue of marriage equality.

In moving this motion The Greens want Parliament to acknowledge that Australian public opinion is changing.

We also want Parliament to acknowledge that change is happening around the world.

And we want those who are still stuck in the old way of thinking to go out and engage with the people in their electorates to find out where are now at.

And I welcome my colleagues who have chosen to participate in this debate today and I am encouraged by the fact that many more MPs would have spoken today if we had more time for speaking spots rather than the ten we were able to allocate.

I am also encouraged by the number of MPs including Ministers who have indicated their support for Marriage Equality through the media, some of whom have raised the prospect of the bringing forward their Party conference to change policy.

This is welcome.

However, I would say that there is no need for such delay. If the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader were willing to shift direction we could change the law right now.

And it is especially disappointing that the Prime Minister and the government continue to hold on to 20th century thinking on matters of love when the community is so far ahead of them.

Because we know that the community has progressed.

Recent polling shows the majority of Australians support a move to full equality for marriage.

When The Greens Marriage Equality (Amendment) Bill was considered by a Senate Inquiry over 25,000 submissions were received.

We know that there are many small groups who are well-organized and well-resourced and that they will continue speak out very loudly in favour of discrimination. But it is a mistake to think that because they speak loudly that they speak for everyone.

I would ask members concerned about those groups to have a look at today’s analysis of community attitudes appearing in the Fairfax press. What it suggests for those sitting in this house by virtue of a small margin is that the well-organized old-world lobby groups are not engaging the voters in your seats. Instead, what you will find there, as Mark Davis writes, is that “perhaps the marginal seats are not as fussed by gay marriage as the politicians think.” Which means the time is right to make this change.

There are now so many people wanting to marry or friends and family members of those whose love the law says can not be recognised.

And it is these people, Mr Speaker who this debate is ultimately about. The many, many, many people want to marry and can’t because there partner is of the same-sex. And the many, many, many people whose sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, grandmothers and grandfathers, friends and neighbours who all know someone who wants to be married but can’t because of this archaic legal discrimination.”

Well of course, that is all one man’s opinion, and when the matter eventually comes to be debated in full, as it probably eventually will, we will no doubt see equally ‘emotional’ stuff from various quarters. He makes it sound as though half the country is waiting for the law to change so they can be married!!   In fact we are talking about a minority group – that fact doesn’t mean they have any less claim on the rights enjoyed by  the majority, but let’s get this thing into context, for heaven’s sake.  We still have a population of Indigenous people in desperate need of proper assistance and recognition in this country, we still have thousands of refugees ‘locked up’ because they tried to find a way to save the lives of their families – let’s get back to debating properly, the issues that matter to this nation as a whole!

During tonight’s radio show, I played some tracks from a couple of recently released albums by two Australian girls – a debut EP from Charity Turner, called ‘Our Secrets’, and a second album release from Kate Rowe entitled ‘Nature’s Little Game’ – both  of a folksy nature, with Charity more ‘pop’ orientated, while Kate’s songs were of a  acoustic nature. I probably personally had a preference for the latter though enjoyed listening and playing the music of both girls. There were some great lyrics in Kate’s songs n- a couple of examples:

Coffee My Lover………………………..’They say I’m addicted/They say you’re bad for me/They say you keep me up at night/But I sense their jealousy/My caffeinated lover you make me so delighted/When your scent is in the air I get so excited’

Dragon Orchid [How David Attenborough Saved My Love Life]…………………….’The male wasp is fooled by the orchid/He tries to mate and gets the pollen stuck to his head/Next time he meets an orchid he passes pollen on/And this is how the Dragon Ochids spread………………I was watching David Attenborough explain this/Marvelling at nature’s little game/When all at once it hit me/Oh my God my love life’s just the same………….Science calls it sexual deception/But I would call it unrequited love/It cheers me up to think my failed romances/May have some greater purpose that I can’t conceive of………….’

I was driving home from the rado afterwards, and had changed the channel to the ABC parliamentary broadcast as I’m prone to do!  A lady Senator was giving a speech [in the Senate] about mental health issues, and she mentioned the name Dr Dax. That name rang a bell in my distant past – my days of working, as both a nurse, and later, in administration in Victoria’s then Mental Hygiene Authority, in Ballarat and Melbourne. Dr Cunningham Dax was a name often mentioned in those days  –  he was the head of  the Authority from 1952 to 1968 [my years in the area covered 1965 to around 1969]. He died a couple of years ago, just short of his ‘century’, having being born in England, and was described as having lived a life in two halves, the first spent in England and the second in Australia.  He arrived in Australia with his wife  in 1951, after having been successful in applying for the role of of inaugural Chairman of Victoria’s Mental Hygiene Authority (later the Mental Health Authority] after a successful career in England. Although I of course never met him personally [being right down the bottom of the employment scale at that change, what I remember about him fits in with this description I read – ‘Senior staff applauded his dynamism but quaked at his occasional autocratic outbursts’  – a very sincere ‘boss’ of sorts. In reality however, he achieved much in the field of mental hygiene, with the following just two brief comments made about his work in a Tribute Obituary written following his death in 2008.

‘His more immediate concerns were to scrub the smell and dirt from over 150 wards throughout Victoria’s mental hospitals and training centres, and curb the excesses of some of his medical officers whose enthusiasm for new drug therapies he viewed with some alarm. Working through journalists such as Bill Tipping of The Herald as well as other interest groups, he battled under-funding and political apathy, gaining unprecedented government support for upgrading the amenity of institutions and broadening the services and treatments available to patients.’

‘He was not a fighter for patients’ rights in the modern sense of the term, working in an era where psychiatrists made diagnoses and ordered treatments with little regard for recipients’ views. But he challenged many ingrained community attitudes to the mentally ill and intellectually handicapped, stimulating wide-ranging public discussion. In so doing he exposed prejudices and promoted a more optimistic outlook about the prospects for improvement or recovery of former institutional ‘inmates.’ His attitude to staff was similarly top-down and some complained that he micro-managed, even to the extent of ordering the seating in one mental hospital cafeteria to be re-arranged in a more casual way.’

Of particular interest was one aspect of his work in England before he came out here. As described in Wikipedia – ‘In 1946, while the Medical Superintendent of Netherne Hospital, Dax pioneered the use of art programs as part of mainstream psychiatric treatment. He began a collection of artworks produced by psychiatric patients^. The Cunningham Dax Collection has become one of the largest collections of its type in the world, and is located in Parkville, Victoria, Australia’.  There a wide range of areas covered in the exhibition, including an  exhibition of artwork by survivors, child survivors and the children of survivors of the Holocaust. While there are apparently some quality works of art in the exhibition, they are,  along with others, supposedly better viewed as clinical records or historical artefacts, but the exhibition considers that regardless of the quality of the work in the exhibition,  there was a unity of shared of trauma. Trauma shared across generations is  well documented by this exhibition.

As to how all this reference to Dr Dax came about – well, the address I heard in Parliament this evening was obviously part of a Bill relating to additional funding for mental health work in Australia, something that arose out of the Federal Election campaign, and hearing it mentioned, reminded me of one part of my working career. That included 18 months in the then Ballarat Mental Hospital as a ‘Ward Assistant’ [my father worked there as a Psychiatric Nurse], followed by a number of years working in administrative roles, including some months in head office of the Mental Hygiene Authority, where Dr Dax was located, and in a couple of the outer suburban mental institutions – Janefield Training Centre, to the north of the city, and the Kew Children’s Cottages & Kew Mental Hospital in the ‘classy’ inner suburb of Kew. It was a few years after I left that department, that the major mental institutions as they existed, were eventually disbanded, and many of the inmates infiltrated into the broad community.  This had been one of the aims of Dr Dax, but I think in many instances, this did not prove to be very beneficial to many of the original patients who would finjd the integration process and acceptance by the broader community, extremely difficult to cope with. That’s another story. My first longterm job in Melbourne where I was able to develop friendships and relationships with staff and others, was at the Kew Cottages. These days, I find it difficult to recall all the names – I was the purchasing officer, and later, payroll officer in those days – Des Nugent [the boss – Secretary, whose young family lived in the house adjoining the office], David [the Deputy, who I drove up to Wangaratta one night to watch a car rally come through the area at midnight],  Penny [my little English ‘girlfriend’, who led me astray with my first ever drink drink of beer on my 19th birthday!! – still have that notorious photograph],  Phyllis [who religiously went to the Australian Open Tennis every year, because that was ‘the done thing’], and Eli [tall good looking European guy, who was afraid of intimacy with girls, but was still infatuated with Penny] are a few of the names I recall from those days  –  haven’t seen any of them for over 40 years, apart from Penny, whom we met on the badminton courts at Albert Park in Melbourne, one night about 30 years ago. I often wonder where they have all gone to, what has happened to them  – there we go, off wandering in the past  again………………………………………..

 

It was Mark Webber’s ‘team mate’, Sebastian Vettel who eventually came from behind them all, to get up and win the last race for the year in the Abu Dhabi F1Grand Prix, and in so doing, take the lead in the 2010 World Driving Championship,  for the first time this year – at the time when it counted!  Unfortunately, Australia’s big hope, Mark Webber could only manage 8^th position, and he ended up finishing 3^rd in the Championship outcome.

As described in one article this morning,  ‘Mark Webber was always going to struggle to win the Formula One Championship with his impressive form turning sour at the back end of the year.  Webber led the series midway through the season until losing it to Fernando Alonso when he committed an unforced error and crashed out of the recent Korean Grand Prix. He made up a little ground on the Ferrari driver with second place in Brazil in the penultimate round, but the bad luck which has haunted him throughout his career, returned with a vengeance. Webber trailed Alonso by eight points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi but virtually surrendered when he could find no qualifying pace and found himself fifth on the grid for the start of Sunday’s race. Then, on lap eight, Webber ran wide on turn 19 and smacked a safety barrier, forcing him into the pits. He lost precious time as did Alonso, who was called in too early by Ferrari, leaving Vettel to stretch his lead over the pair and take the front running in the championship’.

Despite that, he had a great year in which he won four grand Prix races, and at one stage as indicated, lead the series. This was after years of bad luck plagued by poor performing cars, accidents and mishaps, and if he maintains his current form, the future looks promising.

Mark Webber

‘Mark Webber refused to wallow in his own misery and preferred to celebrate his Red Bull team’s double title triumph after he finished a disappointing eighth in Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 34-year-old Australian, who went into the race as one of four drivers with a chance to lift the drivers’ championship, congratulated his close rival and team-mate German Sebastian Vettel on winning the title. “I fully congratulate Seb on the world championship,” he said. “It didn’t turn out and it’s a shame. There’s good time to reflect in the next few weeks and to look at the highs and the lows, but that’s the way sport is sometimes’ [from the ‘Age’ newspaper].

I was pleased with the news this weekend that Burma’s most famous democracy campaigner had been released by the country’s military from her seven years of house arrest, from a total of almost 15 of the past 21 years that she has been under such restrictions. Aung San Sun Kyt ha been a world symbol  against the oppression and rule in that country for two decades, and while this latest act of ‘generosity by the country’s rulers comes with no apparent guarantee that her ‘freedom’ will last, or whether there will remain restrictions imposed upon her by the regime, it at least gives the appearance of a move in the right direction.  Of course, there are still over 2000 ‘political’ prisoners which she wants to see released but it is difficult to swee the regime bowing to that kind of demand.

Aung San Suu Kyi was the daughter of Burma’s independence hero, General Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947 and after being educated at Oxford University, she returned to Burma where she was caught up in a revolt against the country’s dictator leader at the time, and in 1989, was first put under house arrest when the Burma junta declared martial law. Various periods of release and re-arrest followed for this woman who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Strangely, for a country that has been so dominated by the cdurrent regime for so long, she has massive support base throughout Burma. Even so, just last week, the regime in Burma, in conducting socalled free elections for the people, once again managed to manufacture a landslide victory for the ruling junta.  But I guess one can only continue to hold out hope that the kind of world pressure that the Burmese leaders have so refused to acknowledge and ignored, will begin to eventually take affect.

On matters not so world shattering or serious, the two rugby matches I mentioned were taking place overnight, resulted in defeats on both occasions to the Australian teams. In the Rugby League Four Nations final,  New Zealand eventually got up to defeat the Kangaroos 16-12, while over in the UK, it was a more convincing win by England over the Wallabies 35-18 in what was a rather surprising outcome. The English team looked inspired.  As for Mark Webber’s chances of winning the F1 Motor Racing Championship they took a bit of a dive yesterday, when he qualified only 5th on the starting grid for tonight’s final championship race – it looks at though he will need his best drive of the year, to have any hope of achieving his ambition. I might see the race later tonight!

On an even lighter note, I had a very pleasant two hours on the radio this afternoon – with a local resident and his Thai wife – Jack and Orr spend 6 months in year in Thailand [our winter months] and the other six months here in Australia, the best of both worlds it might appear. They joined me in my ‘musical matinee’ program today – with a collection of cds featuring star Thai singers, as well as a collection of jazz and blues music, as composed and created by none other than the King of Thailand [great stuff, I could play that all night!!], much of  it sung in English, as I gather he has a great music market in the USA. As well as playing some of their music for our listeners, my guests had plenty to say [well, mainly Jack, as Orr was a little shy earlier on, though as the program moved on, her on air confidence grew] and some great stories about both their lives in Thailand [the Land of Smiles] and about the country itself, and it’s peoples.  Next time I bring them him, I must make sure, that ‘they’ are familar with what is on their cds!! Before we went on air, I was removing the original wrapping from the discs, lol, so we did have the occasional difficulty in informing the listeners as to who or what they were listening to!! Hopefully, I was the only one who noticed that ‘problem’, and soon adjusted to the flexible nature of the program [rather different to my normal structured and organised to the minute planning!!].  We are actually trying to get Jack interested in presenting his own program – he’s interested, just needs to get around to the enquiry and training part!

Disappointment for all the sporting organisations, and other local outdoor activities planned for  today –  it’s been raining overnight, and was doing so steadily this morning under a heavy overcast sky. I think that since the local cricket season began at the beginning of October, they have only had two days of actual weekend play – Saturdays seem to be the time when it decides to rain!!  I noted a message on Facebook from my son, late morning, advising the members of his cricket team that today’s play was off – though you didn’t did to be a weather forecaster to work that one out.

Also a bit of a disappointment for the radio station this morning – a planned outside broadcast over  a 6 hour period at the premises of a new sponsor, had to be called off at the last moment [in fact after all set up procedures were in place] because of an  as yet undetermined reason, the necessary telephone connection had been withdrawn [rather necessary for an outside broadcast!]. While this was totally out of the control of our small dedicated band of  technical volunteers, it unfortunately was not a good look for the station, and a bit of a blow to the promotional plans for the day of the business venue in question – such plans further disrupted by the weather!!

So while I did have some time planned to be devoted to that station activity, I ended up back home much sooner than anticipated, and with the rain continuing outside, a chance to catch up on some indoor tasks – including a bit of reading. Currently, I’m getting stuck into  John Howard’s recently released biography, a book called  ‘Lazarus Rising’, and while it is quite a lengthy book as might be expected, and I’m less than a 6^th of the way through it, I am finding it to be quite a comfortable, and interesting read. I admire his style of writing – dare I say, in my own style, though of a much more professional nature of course!  Over the last year or so, there has been a bit of media attention given to the views of former Liberal Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser [1975-1983] and his anguish at the way his beloved Liberal Party of his days has changed –  Howard kind of acknowledges that, soon after Fraser’s ascendancy to the Prime Ministership, late in 1975, when he writes that “Malcolm Fraser and I have had our differences over the years and our relationship became very distant after I became Prime Minister, but I will always be grateful for the opportunity he came me back in December 1975. It was a generous promotion at a critical time’ [p91] [Fraser had appointed the young Howard as Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs in the first Fraser Government].  Two years later, following the 1977 election which saw the Liberals returned with a 48 seat majority [compared with 55 in 1975], there was further advancement for Howard who wrote “Thus, at the age of 38 years and 4 months, I became, unconditionally, Treasurer of the Commonwealth. Again, I had every reason to be grateful to Malcolm Fraser for giving me what was a huge promotion”. [102].  As I read through this biography, I have no doubt that I shall find other little quotations worthy of  mention in these pages!

Just a couple of statistics on the State election, due in November – on November 27, there will be 5,582,232 Victorians able to vote [and unlike some other countries, voting is compulsory] – this number is some 20,000 more than were eligible to vote just a few months ago in the Federal election.  There are 88  Lower House seats, and 40 Upper house positions. In all, a total of 711 candidates, of which some 86 are independents, while the remaining 624 come from the 10 endorsed political parties, the majority from the Labor, and Coalition Party [Liberals and Nationals] – Labor and The Greens have candidates in all seats, while the Coalition are represented as a body in all seats, although the Liberals are only contesting 79 of the Lower House seats. According to the electoral polls, with two weeks to go, the result is ‘up for grabs’, and while Labor is slightly ahead, and probably the favourite,  the Opposition could win government in an alliance with the Greens, which party could in fact end up with the balance of power, similar to the Federal Senate, after June.

I see that international but now ‘infamous’ world champion golfer, Tiger Woods is back in town, competing in Melbourne in the Australian Masters, the event he conquered s a ‘hero’ last year, just before ‘all hell broke loose’ in his personal life. After yesterday’s play, he was well off the pace [9 shots behind the leader, Australia’s Adam Bland], a different player to last year, and with this steady rain all day in Melbourne & district today, I doubt he will get the chance to his improve his positioning before Sunday. In retrospect, as it turned out, the golf did proceed – perhaps the persistence of the rain in that part of Melbourne was not as relentless as here. Whatever, it didn’t do Tiger Woods much good, and at the end of the day, he remained 10 shots behind the Australian leader – in fact a number of the international visitors were placed around the Tiger Woods score of 1 under, while a whole group of Australians ahead of them, meant many chances for an Aussie winner.

Meanwhile, one or two other international sporting contests happening this weekend of interest to us Aussies, none of which I will probably see because of the TV screening times on Free to Air TV. In Rugby Union, the Australian Wallabies come up against the old enemy, England, over at Twickenham [at 1.30am tomorrow morning our time]. The Australian coach, Robbie Deans concedes that the elements are working in favour of the English team, after the Wallabies have suffered several days of training in torrential rain, with more expected during game time, but the team is on a winning streak on this tour, including wins over the All Blacks [New Zealand] and Wales.  I’d love to watch that match, but  think sleep is a higher priority after three bad nights of broken sleep in a row.

Typically, the opposing channel here in Melbourne has decided on a late telecast of the Rugby League Four Nations Final, between the Australian Kangaroos and New Zealand – putting it on after midnight, in direct competition with the other match – totally unnecessary in my view, as there are enough interested viewers here in Victoria who like myself, would like to see a direct telecast in place of some useless Saturday night movie or drama program! Although having said that, I see another newspaper suggests a 7.30 telecast – we will wait and see, if I’m being unnecessarily harsh!!  No I’m not, I think that for the viewers in the northern states – Victorians are not regarded as interested in rugby, we have to wait until midnight!!!

On a different scale of things, Australian Formula 1 racing driver Mark Weber is attempting to win the World Championship this weekend.  He comes to the final race of the Formula 1 season with a genuine chance to win the World Drivers’ Championship; the current point scores show: 1. Fernando Alonso – 238pts;  Mark Webber – 281 pts; and Sebastian Vettel [Weber’s Red Bull ‘team mate] – 231 pts; with Lewis Hamilton – 222 pts. Assuming that Webber comes out of the qualifying rounds in a satisfactory position at the front of the  grid, the potential outcome is well summed up by the ‘Roar website’ writer:-

“With limited opportunities outside pit stops and barring major mishaps, the final laps could well see Vettel, Webber and Alonso racing to the wire.  In that order, and considering the winner receives 25 points, second receives 18 points, and third getting 15 points, neither Red Bull driver would win the WDC. Alonso would go from a double world champion to a triple world champion.  Vettel would have to pull over for his rival Webber to win to ensure a Red Bull victory, surely a decision that would grate. Still, Red Bull have left it to the drivers, and Vettel has teased the media by not saying what he will do – but for him not to pull over would be one of the most arrogant acts ever seen.  In a testament to an incredible season, there are so many tricky permutations and combinations that could see any of the top four come out a winner. Indeed however unlikely, Lewis Hamilton could pinch it from the lot of them should major mishaps occur”.

Once again, to watch this, I’ll have to be watching midnight TV, tomorrow night,  for the deciding race in Abu Dhabi, as Webber attempts to become the first Australian driver since Alan Jones in 1980. Prior to that, our Jack Brabham  won the championship three times, in 14959, 1960 and 1966.

Was I suggesting a couple of days ago that winter had definitely past, and we were moving towards the real Spring/Summer climate?  I don’t think our weather knows what it is doing!  Tonight, it is actually quite cold, after raining all day – in fact still is, and I can see a nice chilly start to my morrow, getting up for the radio! Oh well, at least it won’t be dark!

 

 

It seems we have just four candidates who have nominated for our local State seat of Macedon, for the State election on the 27 November.  The Labor candidate, MP Joanne Duncan, has held the seat for 8 years. The seat covers the township of Sunbury and adjourning towns such as Lancefield, Gisborne, Wooden and Romsey. Her main opposition will hopefully come from the Liberal candidate, a policeman named Tristan Weston, whom I admit to having communicated with and wished him luck, as I believe it is time this part of Victoria had a different perspective at the political level placed upon it. For too long now, our politics has been dominated at the Federal and State level [and to some degree, unofficially at the local government level] by the one political viewpoint. I believe those representatives have become too comfortable, and over recent elections, have not had to work very hard to retain their seats, thereby becoming complacent, and perhaps in some areas, not crediting the electorate due respect.

Not surprisingly, Tristan’s emphasis seems to be on law and order, and to a degree, concern for the gaining of appropriate infrastructure to adequately meet the needs of a growing community.  Joanne Duncan has had plenty of opoortunity to support these things when it suits her, and to claim responsibility when gains are made, it’s all very well saying she will support everything now, just prior to an election, things that could have been pushed for with more effort during her 8 years.  I think she has been an effective member in term of her regular presence within the electorate, and in attending mosrt functions and activities that it is appropriate for her to do so, but I feel that a much more effective and  stronger political voice is needed in the actual parliamentary scenario. I wonder whether many people in other parts of Victoria are even aware of her existance, because of what to me seems to be a relatively low profile in Parliament House. A popular local member I don’t doubt, but your motto promoted as ‘Making It Happen’ – well, I see that as appplying more to the party machine rather than the efforts of the individual member.

Of the other two candidates, we have a young 21 year old student, Nicky Haslinghouse, standing for the Greens  – deserved or not, she will pick up quite a few votes, simply because the Greens are the ‘flavour of the month’ currently. She too talks about transport and infrastructure. The 4th person is an Independant candidate, Lorraine Beyer, who was the only onje of the four, to make direct reference to the future use of the Victoria University site here in Sunbury – where, amongst other community organisations, our radio station is located. That site has been under a cloud for over a year now, since the university vacated it, and while the present Labor Government has just announced a new major educational project for the site, one has to wonder whether this is just a sweetener just prior to the election. On this issue, I’m not sure at this point, what the Liberal’s attitude to the site is, so that is certainly an aspect that Mr Weston needs to be queried about.  Jackson’s Hill, as the area is known, is a focal point of the Sunbury township, an ideal location with it’s many heritage buildings and structures to develop major community and educational facilities, and to encourage those that currently exist, to maintain their presence. Our management team is currently working very hard to try and get some more precise answers in respect to their future plans for the university site.  As for the law and order aspect [a major component of both major party’s approach to the election], I see there is a community forum planned here in Sunbury for next week on that subject, to which it is hoped to attract all four Macedon candidates. I hope they will all be encouraged to attend.

Anyway, those are just my views, and I will be content to support whoever wins the seat, I just feel a change of personality and focus is needed. I see that one of our local lads, who attended the secondary college that my daughter attended a few years ago, and also had a brief role at the radio station, has got himself on the Upper House ticket for the Labor Party. While I may not agree with his views, I do wish him well in the beginnings of a parliamentary career that he seems destined to eventually achieve.

Meanwhile yesterday, we were speaking briefly of Remembrance Day. On the TV tonight, there was a documentary entitled ‘As It Happened: The Last Day of World War I’.  This was a British production, and basically dealt with the number of casualties [deaths, wounded, missing] that occurred on that last day – the 11th November, 1918 – and in particular, the six hours from the signing of the Armistance in the railway in the French woods at approximately 5.10 am that day, and the official cease fire, at 11 am. Some estimates have quoted figures of up to 10,000 casualties that day – 663 Commonwealth forces [men & women] died that day [and perhaps many others in the days, weeks and months thereafter], and up to 3,000 Americans were killed. Some of the American generals were not prepared to accept the Armistace, and led their troops into situations and towns on the offensive, when in just a few hours time, they could have walked in peacefully. The attitude in some quarters was that Germany had to be proved to have been defeated, and their forces driven back to Berlin, with the rather prophetic claim, as it would eventuate, that Germany had not lost, merely agreed to a ceasefire. There were repercussions back in America at the high number of late casualties, but the reports of subsequent investigations were not released, with the feeling that to do so would tarnish the victories that had been achieved by their Americans from the time of their late entry into World War I. Interestingly, many of the French deaths on the 11th, were to be officially recorded as having died on the 10th November!

In conclusion, the comment was made by the program presenter, Michael Palin, whose great uncle died at the Somme, earlier in the war –  what does it matter what day a soldier is killed – it is all a waste of life, and for what real purpose!  A bit like a death in the family on Christmas Day – it seems more of a tradegy because of the date, but the loss to those around, is just as great, whatever the date!