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I imagine the news coming across the Tasman all day was not good for encouraging bright moods – in fact as the hours wore on, and rescuers appeared no closer to getting into the heart of some of the damaged Christchurch buildings [because of safety reasons mainly], the likelihood of a fast rising death toll grew by the hour. They were talking about figures of up to 300 people missing still, probably most of those trapped underneath rubble, in addition to the 75 confirmed deaths by this evening. Already being described as New Zealand’s ‘darkest day’, today was officially declared a day of national disaster. Yesterday, I sent a text message across to my New Zealand friends in Dunedin which I think is about 100kms south of  Christchurch. Dawn responded later on with the following note:-  ‘We felt it [the earthquake] but no damage. We have a lot of friends in ChCh, they are ok but lots of damage to their homes. Unfortunately there is going to be a lot of fatalities this time, 65 so far. One of our friends here has a 14 year old granddaughter missing”

Certainly, the earthquake has taken the other current big international news off the front pages, namely the growing crisis over in Libya, where that crazy longterm leader, Muammar Gaddafi made a bizarre and defiant television appearance yesterday, causing for death to the protestors in his country, as air force pilots were ordered to bomb protestors, and diplomats around the world resigned after a bloody crackdown against the people by the military forces in Libya. I’m afraid the outcome in that Arab nation is going to be somewhat different to what happened in Egypt – even if Gaddafi is forced out, it would appear likely that some degree of civil war will erupt, and as usual, it will be the ordinary people of the nation who suffer the most.  Already chaos has erupted, as the capital of Tripoli has been turned into a virtual battleground, with government buildings in some places set alight. Following the successful ‘people’s uprising’ in Egypt, this kind of mood seems to be spreading around the Arab nations of the Middle East, and one has to wonder where it will end. As for Gaddafi, this is how ‘Australian’ Foreign newspaper editor, Greg Sheridan described him in today’s paper.

‘Mad dog of the Middle East. Libya’s Gaddafi is a vain eccentric who has held his country in a deadly grip……………..Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is the most flamboyantly weird dictator in the modern world, not as ruthlessly sadistic as North Korea’s Kim Jong-il, not quite as nattily paranoid as Burma’s Than Shwe, nor indeed as dedicated a mass murderer as was Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, but beyond measure the fruitiest nut case on top of any national government anywhere……..Yet the man is a buffoon, a preening, ludicrous, Evelyn Waugh caricature of an African dictator, not only a scourge but an embarrassment to all Libyans and the wider Arab culture’.   Strong words indeed. And while ‘his’ people have lived under ‘that kind’ of rule for over 40 years, it seems that finally, they have had enough. Sadly, that ‘impatience’ and desire for change, as in Egypt and other nearby countries, is likely to cost many of them their lives!  Is there no good news in this modern world?

A brief opportunity for a kind of reflection this morning. I was driving towards the city on the Tullamarine Freeway, and for the first time I have noticed this year, there were three hot air balloons in the sky above us – in fact one of them floated extremely low across the freeway, so that had I the time [which I didn’t] to study it [and ignore the traffic] I would have been able to distinguish quite clearly, the individuals up there in the basket. The sky was quite overcast, but the wind conditions were very slight, so the burner mechanism was probably working overtime.  While I imagine in reality, it would be an exhilarating feeling to be up there, as noted previously, not for your writer –  the height, in such a ‘flimsy’ looking contraption would be one drawback for me, and that fire of burning gas puts me off too. Accidents are rare like everything else, but my venture up there would in my view be tempting fate!!! I’m happy to admire those things from ground level!

Susie came down from Bendigo late this afternoon  –  to play volleyball. Two more matches to go in the season apparently, but I certainly hoped she would not make a habit of it.  And because it was a late game, she would be driving back up to Bendigo quite late tonight – that I was not happy about, but knew there was nothing I could say or do about it, my ‘concern’ would not be welcomed. Not that I saw much of her – she had dinner at Jimmy’s place, they returned here for 30 minutes or so, before going out to the volleyball match. She would be back down again on Friday for the weekend!

I was reading a list of programs currently being run by the Uniting Churches’ Justice and International Mission Unit, and it was talking about a lunchtime presentation this Friday by Sudipta Singh, the Director of Programmes for the Church of North India [CNI], which has a strong focus on working for justice for people who are marginalised and in poverty in India. My impressions of  the kind of life in India, that is forced on the millions who are not privileged enough to have any kind of decent standard of living or human rights, tends to be borne out by stories such as the one that follows. It also comes as a reminder that there are many good people in this world who will always be prepared to step out of the circle and help others. Sudipta will speak about the work of CNI, and specifically address the work they are doing to combat human trafficking and assist the victims of trafficking.  To quote from the Mission’s promo:        ‘As an example of that work, in 2008 a young Nepalese girl in a remote area near the India-Bhutan border was approached by a recruiter to work as a domestic maid in Assam in India. The job was presented as well paid and so she left her town in pursuit of a better future and income. Tragically her real destination was a brothel in Delhi. After more than a year of being subjected to forced prostitution, she escaped and returned to her town. The family rejected her and the church community were indifferent to her plight, by Rev Wangyal and his spouse argued that embracing the escaped girl was core to the Christian faith. They took her into their home and challenged the local community to accept her. The returned girl was eventually able to return to her family and been accepted within the community. Rev Wangyal has helped to establish several livestock and agricultural livelihood initiatives to reduce poverty, a key factor making local people vulnerable to trafficking’.

Meanwhile here in Australia, we don’t have the death penalty for any crimes, with the last person to be hung in Australia being Ronald Ryan – I remember that well, because I was amongst the protestors out side the then Pentridge Prison, the night before his execution, in the late 1960s [might relate that story on another occasion]. Mind you, despite my opposition to the death penalty, it is not difficult at times to be persuaded otherwise – when Martin Bryant murdered 35 people in a quiet Tasmanian tourist cafe [at Port Arthur] at the end of April 1996, I doubt I would have protested his execution! Instead, he sits rotting in  prison cell – hopefully for the rest of his life, and hopefully ’rotting’ also. But as the following little story coming out of Pakistan indicates, even an insult can earn the death penalty………………… ‘Christian woman, Asia Bibi, aged 45, has been condemned to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. In November a Punjabi court found the mother of five guilty of insulting the prophet Mohammad after complaints from her neighbours and sentenced her to be hanged. Ms Bibi claims the accusations of blasphemy were made after she was told to bring water to fellow workers in a field. They declined to drink, saying that as a Christian she had contaminated it. They pressured her to convert to Islam, which she refused to do. She denies having made any blasphemous comments. Her accusers have refused to specify the alleged blasphemy. She is the first woman to be sentenced to hang under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. She has already been in prison for 17 months.  Ms Asia Bibi has been sentenced to death on accusations of blasphemy by a court that did not even hear her testimony.’……………………………..

Tonight’s ICC World Cup match –  Match No. 6 is  Kenya v Pakistan (Group A) to be played at Hambantota (Sri Lanka), Wednesday 23 February. The eventual result there saw a big win to Pakistan by 205 runs  –  Pakistan 7-317 defeated Kenya 112

It seems that 2011 is destined to be a year of natural disaster in the Australia/New Zealand region, because today, it was our eastern neighbour’s turn,. Or more precisely the New Zealand city of Christchurch and it’s surrounds.   A 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the city causing “multiple” fatalities and trapping people in damaged buildings, cars, etc  The quake hit about 12.51pm local time, and the immediate effect was scores of people trapped in damaged and flattened buildings.  The city soon ran out of ambulances to ferry injured people to hospital reports stated.  Live video footage [which we would see throughout the day and night over here]  showed parts of buildings collapsed into the streets, which were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Footpaths and roads were cracked and split, and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared throughout the city. People fled the city centre as emergency services rushed to the area to evacuate those trapped in buildings. Christchurch has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck on Sept. 4 last year, causing extensive damage and a handful of injuries, but no deaths.

As always, news of events such as this always put a bit of a dampener on my day with reports appearing on the internet, and then the radio quite soon after the initial quake. Throughout the day, I listened to ongoing reports, and later this evening, managed to see some of the television coverage, which always leaves one feeling so helpless, like an unwilling spectator of an event that you personally, can do nothing about, an event where you have no ability to stop things from happening, or to prevent the terror and agony that the coverage is telling you, victims are experiencing as you watch.  Perhaps under those circumstances, the wise approach might be to simply ignore the news, turn off completely from all the tragedies and disasters that are occurring somewhere in the world, basically every minute of the day, particularly if there is nothing that do can do about it! Unfortunately, I’m not able to turn away from events in that way, and so I probably end up giving myself more ‘emotional stress’ then is at all necessary, in concerning myself about other people’s ‘disasters’.   So of course with that attitude, I will no doubt go to bed tonight, but thinking of people over in Wellington, trapped under rubble in collapsed buildings, either dead, dying and/or seriously wounded, and no doubt, terrified – will they ever be found, or will their situation be worsened as a consequence of an aftershock which apparently are happening at regular intervals. There is so much we have no power to control, but that doesn’t mean some of don’t worry about such happenings!

All of that was probably a good reason why I really didn’t feel in the mood for my regular Tuesday evening radio show, but at the same time, a good reason why I should go ahead as per normal  – as I’ve mentioned on previous occasions, music can be a beautiful cure-all, certainly at least, a tonic to take one away for a few minutes anyway from the trials and tribulations of our troubled world.  Tonight in fact, was the 275^th edition of ‘Showtime’ which was in fact the first program I undertook on the local radio station. Perhaps this is an opportune moment to include in these pages, a little profile of my ‘radio presenter’ role, which appeared in the station’s most recent newsletter. The contents were based on an ‘interview’ that I gave to another of our personalities who is currently undertaking a media course of some nature.

“Bill Kirk has been with the station for over six years presenting music and spoken word programs covering show tunes, classical, jazz, folk, blues, contemporary and international music. He also enjoys any involvement with the sports area when the opportunity arises.
 He is one of the few broadcasters at 3NRG who present more than one show per week  ‘the challenges are time and commitment which I seem to manage … It’s important that you establish your priorities [as far as is possible] prior to committing to being there every week’
For Bill, one of the most important aspects of being a community radio broadcaster is providing a service to the community… ‘If you are not  providing it then there is something missing but I am not particularly
picking out community radio, I’ve been with associations like schools, church groups and other community and sporting organisations, and the same principles apply. It’s the same anywhere, you have a nucleus of people who do all the work and get involved and the others are just part of the membership. My problem is that I can’t be a member of a group without getting involved in it, which is perhaps to my detriment in some ways but that is the way I am … I would rather be an active participant of something’ 
Whilst commitment and community involvement are a primary ingredient for the community radio broadcaster the rewards are also important. ‘It is nice to get feedback … there’ll be a phone call from somebody I’ve never met before, they are over the moon because what I’ve played has brought back
so many memories in their life, it has made their day and that is fantastic feed back … you might only get it once a year but it’s terrific to hear something like that’.
 Bill is also making use of the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap) CD’s, many of which are stored in the station library … ‘I pick out what I want from their online AIRIT program and they send me a CD of my choices. I try and do at least a monthly program using this music, usually on a Sunday afternoon, or as a Fill-in occasionally when there is no regular presenter on air.
I regard all of my programs as an education, as they have been a great learning exercise for me personally, and have substantially developed my interest and knowledge in a wide genre of music types. I love music, I love sharing what I enjoy,  and it has taught me a lot’
Bill’s programs are:
Showtime -Tuesday 6-8pm;  Sunday Classics – Sunday 7-9 am;   Sunday Music Matinée – Sunday – 4-6pm on alternative weeks – emphasise on folk, jazz, blues & world music.
 [Written by Alan James, Feb 2011]
 
 Meanwhile, in the World Cup Cricket, one match would be played today, involving England, and looking at the scores, England were rather lucky to get away with a win, doing so with just 8 balls left in the match!!  The result of  Match 5: England 4-296 defeated   Netherlands  6-292 (Group B) played at  Nagpur (India), Tuesday 22 February 20:00

I have lots of sick leave – decided I’d earned a day of it, today. Would never have said that in years gone past, but needed a quiet peaceful day, rest the legs, catch up on a bit of reading and writing, etc. Not much happening for me at the office at present anyway. A guy could get used to this.

A couple of unpleasant news items – teenage boy taken by a crocodile somewhere off the northwest coast, what a terrifying ordeal, while you remained alive anyway!  He is not expected to be found alive.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the 23^rd Australian soldier to die in that ‘conflict’ occurred in the past 24 hours or so. Both houses of parliament today acknowledged formally the death of Sapper Jamie Ronald Larcombe, who was shot dead by insurgents while on patrol in the Mirabad Valley on Saturday night. He was the 23rd Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2001.Despite the death, Australia’s political leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to Afghanistan. I watched the parliamentary broadcast today, just before Question time, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard paid tribute to the 21-year-old, but then added that  she is determined to see the mission through.  When you look at an associated report today, telling us that yet another 50 + people  have been killed by a suicide bomb blast in north Afghanistan, you sometimes have to wonder just what is being achieved over there. No matter how many ‘allied’ forces are in the country, the suicide killings of innocent civilians continues on an almost daily basis. These little ‘tributes’ by the PM and the Defence Minister are beginning to become quite regular, as the casualties quickly mount of.

Interesting to note the contrast in Gillard’s sombre [appropriately] approach to her tribute speeches in those cases, and her attitude a few minutes later as Question Time in the House of Representatives gets into swing. She is the prolific abuser of parliamentary privilege [which she learnt quite well from Kevin Rudd who was equally disrespectful of parliamentary rules during question time. Her abuse of the tactic of drifting away from the question that has been asked of her into personal and other attacks against the Opposition is an insult, and a disgrace, to the Federal Parliament, and in my view the people of Australia. She is persistently asked by the Speaker to direct her answer to the question that has been asked of her, and she persistently ignores the Speaker’s request and continues down the path she is going. I mean why not, the Speaker is highly unlikely to order the Prime Minister to leave the Chamber – she knows that, as did Kevin Rudd. I feel for Mr Jenkins sometimes –  one can see him attempting to be fair to both sides of the House, but the senior government ministers, under the guidance of the PM no doubt take advantage of the fact that the Speaker is one of them. Perhaps it is time that the Speaker in Parliament in Parliament was appointed from outside of the leading parties  – but them, if that happened, we would probably see a rapid turnover of speakers every time the government of the day didn’t like the way their members were being treated!!  But I’m sorry, but Julia Gillard’s attitude really disgusts me sometimes. I am happy to listen to her when she is providing a reasoned and calm approach to a debate, but at those other times, I want to throw a brick at the TV screen!!!

I was interested to read recently that the old Bulla Uniting Church [Bulla is a small township halfway between Sunbury and Melbourne Airport] which has been associated with the Sunbury Uniting Church, has been sold.  I imagine that the building has a heritage category attached to it, and so cannot be destroyed. Perhaps that was an unlikely outcome anyway –  the buyers [for the sum of $1.3 million for the church and adjacent property] were the Syrian Orthodox Church, well it was bought on behalf of that Church group by a resident of Bulla, and the Priest associated with the Syrian Church also lives in Bulla. I’m not sure what has been happening in the past year or so, but certainly over recent years, a couple of the retired Ministers who were members of the Sunbury Church have been conducting services at Bulla, but the small congregation of mainly elderly people has apparently dwindled to such a degree that the Uniting Church of Australia deemed it of more value to sell the property. News about alternative arrangements for what is left of the existing congregation was expected at a later date.

Monday night TV [late] means Q & A, and tonight’s guest panel includes some prominent personalities – Anna Blyth [Queensland Premier],  Tim Flannery [Newly appointed Australian Climate Commissioner], Barnaby Joyce [The Shadow Minister for Regional Affairs and Water, and member of the National Party], Gina Castelain [ Indigenous businesswoman], and Ian Nelson [Queensland State Director of One Nation].  What a lineup of differing characters and political ideals!! With the help of the ABC website, I do like to include a weekly pen picture of the program’s guests. Here they are.

Anna Bligh

Many of the images of January’s tragic floods in Queensland will never be forgotten, especially the scenes of devastation, heartbreak and courage as Queenslanders struggled to deal with the disaster and help those who needed it. What will also stay in the minds of many will be the role played by the State’s Premier, Anna Bligh, whose inspiring and compassionate leadership in a time of extreme crisis won national praise.
In March 2009 Anna made history, becoming the first woman to lead a party to victory in a State election in Australia. Having been premier since taking over from Peter Beattie in 2007, she was determined not to follow the example of female premiers in other States who were appointed to the post mid-term but lost subsequent elections. Anna was born in Warwick, Queensland, in 1960 and grew up mainly on the Gold Coast. She graduated with an Arts degree from the University of Queensland in 1980 and worked in the community sector and the public service before entering Parliament as the Labor member for South Brisbane in 1995. She joined the shadow ministry the following year and became a minister in 2001. She held several senior portfolios, including education, finance, treasury and State development, before becoming Premier. Since 2005 she had been Deputy Premier. Anna and her husband Greg Withers, a senior public servant, have lived in South Brisbane for more than 20 years. They have two sons, Joe and Oliver, born in 1987 and 1993.

Tim Flannery

This month Tim Flannery was named by the Government as its Climate Change Commissioner, a job which entails explaining the science of climate change and communicating the need for action to prevent it. The appointment was a natural fit for Tim, who is one of Australia’s best-known scientists, biggest-selling authors and most prominent climate change activists. Always controversial in his determination to make people think about different ways of seeing the world and solving problems, he has managed to upset advocates on both sides of the climate change divide.  Named Australian of the Year in 2007, Tim has packed a great deal into his varied life. A mammalogist and palaeontologist, his pioneering work in both fields gave him a towering reputation in the scientific community. In his early research on Australian mammals he described 29 new kangaroo species, while during the 1980s his study of dinosaur fossils extended Australia’s mammal fossil record back 80 million years. His research and conservation work on mammals in Melanesia during the 1990s prompted Sir David Attenborough to describe him as being “in the league of the all-time great explorers”.
As an environmental activist Flannery has been particularly active on the questions of carbon emissions and population levels. He has advocated a population of just 6 million for Australia and forecasts, in the medium term, the end of conventional coal-fired electricity generation. But he has aggravated many environmentalists by advocating the use of nuclear energy for some countries and saying whaling of non-threatened species could be justified.
A prolific author, Tim is best-known for The Future Eaters (An Ecological History of the Australian Lands and People) (1994) and The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change (2006). His latest book is Here on Earth: An Argument For Hope.

Barnaby Joyce

Since taking his place in the Senate in 2005 Barnaby Joyce has became one of the best-known members of the Parliament, mainly because of his uncompromising attitudes and his willingness to challenge all comers – including his own side.
Barnaby was born near Tamworth, NSW, in 1967, and claims to have expressed an interest in entering politics from his primary school days. He graduated in commerce from the University of New England and worked for a chartered accountancy firm and a bank before setting up his own accountancy business in an old shop front in the town of St George in western Queensland. Before the practice became established he faced serious financial difficulties – an experience common to many in small business, and one which left an indelible mark on Barnaby.
Barnaby was one of the last candidates to win a quota in the 2004 election, and his win gave the Howard government outright control of the Senate for the first time. But Barnaby refused to be taken for granted as simply another backbencher who would support the coalition no matter what. He crossed the floor on several key votes and clashed with colleagues on such matters as single desk wheat marketing, amendments to the Trade Practices Act and voluntary student unionism. Several clashes with Liberals Wilson Tuckey and Bill Heffernan took place in public, even on camera, and have become the stuff of Canberra legend.
When Tony Abbott became Opposition Leader he appointed Barnaby to the key role of finance spokesman. But Barnaby’s no-holds-barred style proved unsuitable for a frontline economic portfolio, and he was subsequently switched to the shadow portfolio of regional development, infrastructure and water. Barnaby is also the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate.  He and his wife Natalie live in St George with their four daughters.

Gina Castelain

Born in Aurukun and educated there, in Cairns and Melbourne, Gina Castelain is a 27 year old Wik and Wik Waya woman whose traditional country includes the Aurukun wetlands (which are the subject of the Archer Basin Wild River Declaration) and the rich bauxite deposits north of Aurukun. Her mother, Norma Chevathun, was a prominent indigenous leader in the 1980s and 90s and one of the original Wik native title claimants.  Gina’s parents instilled in her the importance of both a strong sense of her identity as an Aboriginal person and the need to succeed in mainstream society. As a result, Gina moves easily between two very different worlds.
Gina is managing director of Wik Projects Ltd, an organisation set up by Wik and Wik Waya traditional owners to articulate their aspirations, represent their interests and pursue sustainable economic development opportunities on their country – opportunities which provide better socio-economic outcomes for Aboriginal people and reflect cultural and environmental values important to traditional owners. Wik Projects currently supports two local indigenous businesses that operate for the benefit of the communities of the western Cape, Aurukun Wetland Charters (an eco-tourism businesses operating on the Aurukun wetlands) and Aurukun Earthmoving (which provides contract earthmoving mainly to Rio Tinto’s bauxite mine and to Queensland’s Main Roads department). Wik Projects is also developing a proposal to harvest timber from the bauxite mining lease areas north of Aurukun – reducing carbon emissions by using a resource which would otherwise be bulldozed and burnt, and enabling traditional owners to be actively engaged in the rehabilitation of their country after mining is finished. Gina believes that everyone should have the opportunity to realise their aspirations and that this principle should apply as much to Aboriginal people as anyone else. For decades, the lives of Aboriginal people in Aurukun were controlled first by missionaries and then by government. For Gina, building an economic base will only happen if Aboriginal people and their organisations are empowered and supported, at the local level, to build it.

Ian Nelson

Ian Nelson is the Queensland State Director of One Nation. He has been an active member of the One Nation state and National Executive for many years.   In recent weeks he has been an outspoken critic of the Government’s flood levy and is calling for cuts to foreign aid spending.
Born in South Australia in 1948, Ian spent much of his teenage years working in the aviation and auto industries. He was also called up for National Service during that period.  After starting his own business he joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce International.  Ian changed careers in 2005, completing studies in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. In 2009, he furthered his qualification at the Vietnam International University in Ho Chi Min city.  When he returned to Australia he sold his business and has
been working for One Nation full-time since.  Ian lives in Brisbane. He is married and has a daughter.

I can’t say the latter gentlemen was very impressive, in fact he was an outright embarrassment, if not to his own group [One Nation], then certainly to the mainstream of the Australian electorate. While Barnaby Joyce confined himself to insulting one of Australia’s brightest scientists [because he didn’t possess precise climatology qualifications], Mr Nelson proceeded through various means to insult the entire Muslim population of Australia, and probably [through sheer ignorance] Christians as well!!  This country can well do without the likes of him and what his party has always represented. I would write on Facebook later that  ‘he was an embarrassment, not just to the group he supposedly represents but to anyone proud enough to call themselves Australian. We can sit back and be shocked at what is going on in places like Libya at the moment, but that kind of situation is created by people of that calibre taking charge of a people and imposing ‘their’ will and bigoted and prejudiced opinions on everyone else  – if this country was to allow ignorant people like that man to have a major influence on our society, we could end up in a not so peaceful environment, down the track. Perhaps an exaggeration, but I guess demonstrates my opinion of One Nation and the like – sadly, I think they reflect similar ignorant views of a portion of the population, and wildfires of that nature tend to spread before we realise what is happening’..ck and be shocked at what is going on in places like Libya at the moment, but that kind of situation is created by people of that calibre taking charge of a people and imposing ‘their’ will and bigoted prejudiced opinions on everyone else

Meanwhile, most of the questions from the audience tonight centred around issues such as the refugee boat people [do they get special privileges over the rest of us]; the cost of bringing the Christmas Island refugees to the Sydney funerals of the those refugees who died in last year’s Christmas Island boating tragedy;  the acceptance of Muslims into the Australian society [Ian Nelson’s responses here make the rest of us look bad – bigoted, stupid, ignorant answers];  Premier Blyth’s performance during the Queensland floods [ the only national leader currently looking good]; on climate change –  Barnaby Joyce and Tim Flannery not a good mix;  and One Nation ‘comment’ that they were 10 years ahead of their time, with policies they have had in place since 1998.

Even later on the TV tonight, which I couldn’t really watch [need my beauty sleep these days],  the Australian cricketers were going to perform – their first hit out in the 2011 World Cricket Cup:

Match 4:  Australia 6-262 defeated   Zimbabwe 171 [at  Ahmedabad (India), Monday 21 February]

Ballarat has a reputation [largely undeserved] for being a cold and wet place. Certainly this morning that reputation was more than justified, because by 10.30 am, it was just that –  wet, and relatively cold, although there were I noted, various scantily dressed backpackers venturing out of some of the establishments in Lydiard Street seemingly oblivious that the sun wasn’t shining, far from it in fact!  Mind you, earlier, the situation had been a little different  – at 7.30am,  there was bright sunshine outside the motel window, and numerous early morning joggers and walkers were passing in summer clothes as though e were in for a hot day, although I’m sure at that time it was already quite cool. I was waiting for breakfast to arrive – for the first time in a long while, I’d decided to have a cooked breakfast, no doubt of all the things I shouldn’t in one go these days – sausages, bacon, tomato and a large poached egg!!  I enjoyed it anyway! Whilst waiting, I got tuck into the Courier’s large weekend crossword – what a pity the solution would not appear until tomorrow’s paper which I would not be able to obtain!

James was heading back to Sunbury this morning, but I intended to stay a little longer – to some extent, that depended upon when Susie was leaving home for her ‘temporary’ move up to Bendigo where she was to study for most of the year. I kind of wanted to be home when she left, and had gained the impression it would be mid to late afternoon. However, a text enquiry later revealed that she would be ‘well gone’ by the 3pm arrival time I had suggested for myself. Jimmy was driving up there also, two carloads of belongings, and I guess she probably preferred to be on her way before Dad got home and began ’fussing’ about careful driving, etc!! So at that point, I decided not to rush – in fact would go back out to Enfield and have lunch, as invited with my sister & family.

But that was later! Left the motel at around 10am, and drove back to the lake, wanted to take a couple of photos of a nearly replenished and full Lake Wendouree. I got my photos, but my visit to that area was somewhat negated, as most of the Wendouree Parade [the road which travels the circumference of the lake, had been taken over by cyclists. There was obviously a family charity ride of some sort this morning – bikes everywhere ridden by all ages of kids and adults. Apparently, later this afternoon, there was to be a 100 kilometre cycling classic [around the lake I presume], and I would discover later that friends in Sunbury were actually down here today to compete in that event. Ironically, as I got there this morning, and the family event was getting under way, that’s when the weather deteriorated somewhat, and it began to rain,  and suddenly became quite cold. The rain was not heavy, more of a steady drizzle which would continue over the next hour or so.

From Lake Wendouree, I headed back into the central business district of the town, travelling via the little narrow street that my grandparents had lived in  – 50 Loch Avenue which had remained in the family from around the 1930s I think until a few years ago after my Dad’s sister passed away. I’d noticed in the ‘Courier’ that there was a similar house to the old family home, for sale just up the road. It was actually a bit difficult to get up that street this morning, as a furniture van was taking up much of the road space.  His was a very old area, and there were no new homes that I had noticed in the street for many years. The house for sale was at No. 43, and was described as a solid brick Victorian terrace home on a 360m2 site with side car access [at least one could park off street, many of the nearby properties didn’t have that option]. I notice it was advertised seeking a new owner  to restore the house to it’s former glory, which indicated that perhaps some work was required –  certainly looked in fair condition from out the front. This is the way it was described  – perhaps odd in view of the many beautiful new modern homes coming available around Sunbury, that I should be even taking note of such a vintage place, but with possible thoughts of coming back to Ballarat in the future, I had felt  that I’d like a smaller and traditional old home to settle into  –    original home which features high ceilings with ceiling roses and paneled doors with ceramic knobs and push plates. Comprises full width from verandah with intact cast iron lacework, wide central hallway, 3 large bedrooms, lounge, separate dining room, walk-in pantry with steps down to cellar, plus study/store room. Open fire places to 4 rooms, original kitchen with wood burner IXL stove, quaint bathroom, and enclosed rear verandah. All built on exceptionally solid bluestone foundations. I noticed ‘too late] that it had been open for inspection yesterday afternoon, and was to be auctioned on the 19 March. Temptation to come down then, and have a look – even though, failing a windfall in the next few weeks, your writer doesn’t have the money to buy a house at present, and it is a bit late in life to attempt to obtain anything as substantial as a housing loan!!  Dream on Bill!

Putting dreams aside, my next stop was the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery where I spent about an hour, wandering again through the Gallery’s magnificent collection of art works. Also purchased a couple of print by Australian artists,  my intention being to have them framed eventually, for display at home. One was a painting by Tom Roberts, pained in 1886 and called ‘A Summer Morning Tiff’, while the second was by Hans Heyson entitled ‘’The Three Gums’, painted between 1915-1920. I’m trying to build p a little collection of prints of Australian paintings – generally the prints are inexpensive, but the framing, etc, is where all the payout goes to. This painting was first exhibited as White gums in 1915, and the Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria were interested in purchasing it. But they deferred a decision about the purchase of the painting because they questioned Heysen’s nationality. Heysen subsequently re-painted the foreground and re-titled it The three gums before selling it to the Ballarat Art Gallery in 1921.

Below: The Three Gums by Hans Heyson

 

Above: A Summer Morning Tiff by Tom Roberts

 

Meanwhile, with the rain still falling lightly, and the air temperature quite low, I turned the car back towards the southern part of Ballarat, to drive out to Jean & Ross’s place again. I had the radio tuned into the local ‘community radio’ station – called themselves 99.9FM – the ‘Voice’ [of Ballarat] – and immediately began thinking of trying to join up with that station if I ever came down here permanently. Their program formats etc seemed to be similar to that of Sunbury, and as Jean would mention later, they were always looking for new volunteers! I actually kept the station tuned for part of the rest of the day, until the reception disappeared halfway to Melbourne.

One reason for returning to Jean’s place was in the hope of getting the opportunity to talk to her about the problems surrounding one of our brothers, up north in Queensland. No opportunity of that last night because of the large numbers present –  but I should have guessed. There is seldom ever ‘just family’ at Jean’s place, and why would today be any different. At least half a dozen other ‘visitors’ there during the course of my stay [over lunch], so about from a few brief words as I was leaving later, there was little opportunity, once again, to raise the subject!  One thing about these two – Jean and Ross –  they will never die ‘lonely’, there is always someone on call, and Jean has this knack of maintaining contact with many of Mum’s old friends and contacts [as per Jean Blomely last night]  – good on her, a great attribute irrespective of anything else!!

One of the 2011 activities in Sunbury, as part of this town’s 150 Year Celebrations, is a recognition of  175 individuals who have contributed to the life of Sunbury. With that in mind, I was interested to see that in Ballarat, organizers of the Volunteer Recogmition wards 2011 are encouraging Ballarat people to nominate the region’s unsung heroes, those nominees to be presented in a ceremony at the end of National Volunteers’ Week, on May 14^th. A spokesman noted that although the world seemed full of critics, cynics and negativity at times, the aim of the awards was to celebrate something good happening in the community. ‘That thing going good is the 30,000 people who are out there in the community without wanting anything from it. There is so much that happens in our community that just wouldn’t happen if people didn’t give what they have. People in our community deserve our recognition and our appreciation because they give of themselves’. There was a real need to nominate volunteers so that others would know what people are doing. In most cases, volunteers were unsung heroes and were active in all sectors such as the environment, health, emergency services, education, sport, social justice, heritage and the arts. ‘They don’t do it for the recognition or awards, but it is nice for them to get the tap on the shoulder’.  I can appreciate those words exactly, having been a volunteer for most of my adult life in some format or other. I will be interested to find out the outcome of this Ballarat project.

Returned to Sunbury mid afternoon. Called in off the freeway to Melton [the equivalent ‘satellite’ style township to Sunbury, but to the west of Melbourne, for an iced coffee at a large coffee lounge in the town. Have an old friend living here from ‘single’ days, who is also on her own these days. Would love to call in and say hi, but I can never bring myself to do that unannounced.  So as I was about to leave for the final leg of the trip to Sunbury, sent off a ‘safe’ text message, just enquiring as to how she and her family were doing. Her mother, up in Wangaratta was in her 90s now, and virtually blind now I think, but somehow she still manages to send a Christmas greeting each year to one of her daughter’s old boyfriends of 40 years ago!! That daughter’s response came later in the evening, not quite what I was hoping for, but nevertheless, the reply of an old friend, all one can ask for these days. ‘Thank you for thinking of me while in town. Family all well. Mum has her days but at 90 so would we all’.  Very true indeed. My own mother-in-law [as she was] is turning 90 in a few weeks time, still thinks she is about 15 years younger than she is!

At home, the place was deserted. Not so unusual, except this time, unusual circumstances. Susie had taken  a few belongings and moved up to Bendigo for the duration of her study year. Jimmy drove up with her [in his car] with a friend for company on his return, and to help with some of her belongings.  I did talk to Susie later in the evening – she rang me actually, although I think that was at the instigation of Shirley who had rung me wanting to know how the move had gone, and about Ross’s party.  It felt a little strange [lonely maybe] knowing she would not be back during the week though intended to be back here each weekend when she had a couple of shifts rostered at the local Big W. I was thinking that might change if she could find some casual work up there, but of course the boyfriend is still down here! An extra incentive to ‘come home’ each weekend!   Anyway, a quiet night for me –only TV was the news briefly, and a light meal, having already eaten substantially today already  – however, I did manage to avoid any of the various sweets that Jean offered up over the weekend. Though probably spoilt that by eating a chocolate Easter egg for dessert this evening!!

The World Cup cricket continued today with two games played:

Game 2 [20 Feb]: New Zealand 0-72 defeated Kenya 69

Game 3: Sri Lanka 7-332 defeated Canada 122

Last night, I had another great night at the radio station  – three hours of jazz music this week, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Don’t know if anyone else did, because I had no phone calls again this week. Perhaps now that the football season is almost back, everyone is in front of the TV on a Friday night!! Nevertheless, there is a substantial gap of no presenters on air at the moment on Friday nights, so whenever I feel I can spare the time, I like to try and fill part of that gap!!

As for today, a slow morning, with a departure just before noon, for the drive to Ballarat and beyond – a little place called Enfield [about 15 kilometres south west of Ballarat on the way to Colac and the distant coast], where my youngest sister and her family have their home.  Celebrations were to be had tonight for my brother-in-law’s 50^th birthday! To make it more difficult for everyone, it was to be a ‘surprise’ party, and knowing Ross and his inquisitive active mind, one had to wonder whether the surprise element would eventuate.

I eventually reached the budget priced Arch Motel in Ballarat, about 2 kilometres further west beyond the Arch of Victory at what used to be the extreme western extreme of Ballarat, but development over the years has extended well beyond that landmark into the suburb of Alfredton, etc.  It was a fairly basic, but clean and comfortable motel, and apart from James who would arrive a few hours later [it was now about 1.15pm] I had no-one other than myself to impress – it suited my purposes, a place to sleep overnight. Obviously, Jean & Ross would have found room for us out at their place, but these days, I tended to prefer the independence of the motel, and the freedom of the next morning to arise, breakfast, etc, at my own pace. James and I had a room each, as apart from the time spent at the evening party, his energy and constant ‘on the go’ I was also happy to do without beyond a certain limit. I think it probably suited him also.

The Arch of Victory referred to is the starting point of the Avenue of Honour, and was opened in 1920 by the then Prince of Wales. From there, in the western suburb of Afredton to Lake Burrumbeet [another of the district lakes now replenished with water after being completely dry] we have 23 kilometres of trees erected in memory of local residents who enlisted and served overseas in War between 1914-1918. Their names are listed on plagues at the foot of some 3,700 trees including Ash, Poplar, Elm, Maple, Oak and Plane trees. Mind your this picturesque drive has always provided a dangerous two way highway for motorists with the trees so close to the road – I have a feeling that this was one of the incentives to create the bypass freeway [referred to below] which I think rejoins the old highway near the end of the Avenue of Honour – I might be wrong about that, as I’ve never actually travelled beyond Ballarat on the new road that I can recall!

Upon arrival at the motel,  I unloaded the car, and changed immediately into some ‘walking clothes’. It was a coolish afternoon, plenty of both sun and clouds about, both seemingly competing with the other, for sky space,  but also the threat of a coming storm and some heavy rainfall. I drove around to Lake Wendouree via the Gillies Street area, the site of my first taste of full time employment back in 1965/1966 – as a ‘Ward Assistant’ at the then Ballarat Mental Hospital, where Dad was also working as a senior nurse. I guess he was the reason I was there in the interim period from completing secondary school and trying to decide which career direction I wanted to get into after failing to gain entry to the University social work course – the interview panel [of up to 10 women from memory ??] didn’t think I was ‘mature’ enough to undertake that course. I guess I was still a shy young fellow [still am of course J]. Anyway, I would end up working as a ward assistant/nurse for about 18 months, and while I didn’t commence the psychiatric nurse training program [assume I still had hopes of doing someone else, this was just a ‘fillin’ role] I often wonder where life would have taken me had I stayed and done so.  That whole complex now was a reasonably luxurious housing complex following the closure of most of Victoria’s psychiatric & mental institutions during the Kennett era. I guess that a lot of careers went ‘down the drain’ when that occurred, and that no doubt would have affected Dad, had he still being alive at that time, although he would have been close to retirement at that stage.

Anyway, onwards to Lake Wendouree, and as I set off on my planned walk, my intention was to walk only a part of the way around the lake perimeter, and then retrace my steps – a few reasons for that, the threatening weather as already noted, but principally the fact that unlike at this time last year, I’d slipped up on the walking regime a little since Christmas, for various reasons had not been so regular over the past couple of months, and so really didn’t feel that I was fit enough to attempt the full lap of the lake today – [or the Steve Monegetti track as it was officially named in honour of our Olyumpic marathon runner]. However, unlike all of the potential walking sites around home at Sunbury, this was a basically flat course and actually, apart from any consideration of the distance, quite an easy walk.   Anyway, the outcome, was that I simply kept going, and obviously once I got to a certain point, it would basically be the same distance to keep going or turn back.  Of course there was no question of not finishing the course, I had to get back to my car, and short of catching the ‘tourist’ tram’ over the last kilometer, there was no other option. Actually, even at the end, I think I was walking faster than that tram!!!  Was glad I made that choice! Last year, I was down here in March, and had been walking for two months, and managed to get around the lake perimeter in 69 minutes. In my current ‘condition’ I didn’t expect to be much better than 10 minutes beyond that time, so I was more than satisfied to get back to the car, and find the time was exactly 70 minutes!!!  No doubt, ages slower than the average walker, but at  least this time, I didn’t have any sprite young sexy things striding past me as though I was crawling  – actually, most people were walking [or riding bikes, or running, or pushing prams or walking dogs] in the opposite direction to myself. The regular ‘track’ was sign posted as an anti-clockwise walk – I was walking clock wise today [I do like to be different, hate sticking to the same routine!!!]

Apart from all that, Lake Wendouree was a beautiful sight today – not much more than 12 months ago, a certain brother-in-law insisted that we would never see the then dry lake bed filled with water again, in our lifetime!!!  How wrong he was!  It was a sight for sore eyes –  while there were lots of lake weeds on the northern side, the lake in total pretty well appeared to be at capacity levels, glorious to see, as was also the yachts out on the water – I think there would have been a lot more out there than there was today, were it not for the powerful blustery wind that was really throwing the waves around, and roaring through any sails that were up.  The other ‘thing’ that was back on the lake  –  the black swans, in fact the normal multitude of water birds,  that had disappeared for a few years during the period of the drought.  I wonder where they all went to, and it was equally amazing to note how quickly they knew that there was water to come back to. I think today, whilst walking, I noticed at least three groups of the black swans  with a little tribe of cygnets, safely under the watchful eyes, and ‘occasionally’ vicious beaks of the parent birds. At one location, a curious magpie strayed a little close to half a dozen young ones, and was very quickly sent on it’s way by ‘mother’ swan!!  All in all, the lake today, and all the activity associated with it, created a truly beautiful painting scene, with the waters, yachts and bird life back, and the affect of today’s windy conditions, creating that extra element to the scene upon the waters.

Actually, in thinking of the lake, I noticed a small article in today’s ‘Ballarat Courier’ which advised that the Ballarat City Council had won an ward for its work in securing a sustainable water supply for Lake Wendouree – the Local Government Professionals Award for Excellence. More than 1800 million litres of water have been provided through supplementary water supplies since mid 2010. The projects utilized class A recycled water from the North Ballarat wastewater Treatment Plant as a year-round supplementary supply and a series of storm water diversions from a number of urban catchments. I notice signs at different points of the lake warning people not to swim in the water, but that warning has been in existence ever since I was a child – there is only one small area where a limited amount of swimming was ever allowed, on the south eastern corner of the lake, at a spot named View Point, and I remember going there as a family on a few occasions when very young, usually with Mum and her sister Jean on the odd occasions she was visiting from Sydney.

On trip back to the motel, I stopped to purchase that copy of the ‘Courier’  –  always keen to do that, particularly if here on a Saturday, in order to study the property section. I’ve had it in mind for a few years, that I would like to return to Ballarat to live, after I retire, and the ‘kids’ are even more independent of me than they are already. This trip was no exception, and later in the motel, I would spend quite a bit of time studying the current list of houses for sale!!Well, by 4pm, I was sitting at a little table beside a window that looked out towards the main street which runs through the length of Ballarat – Sturt Street, although by here, it is officially the Western Highway, the main route of travel between Melbourne and Adelaide. There is probably not as much traffic on this part of the highway as in past years, since a bypass freeway was built to the north of Ballarat, and joins the original highway some kilometers further to the west. So it was relatively quiet out in the street, a pleasant scene of greenery and trees, and nature strips dividing up he various lanes of the road.  The sky outside is now quite overcast, in fact there was a bit of a light drizzle a few minutes ago, but it appears to have cleared itself again. One thing I did notice from today’s walk  –  not having walked any great distances over the past few weeks, nothing much beyond 30 minutes,  today’s effort seems to have created a touch of blisters on the bottom of my feet – must be the shoes I was wearing! However, that was not particularly noticeable through the evening and there didn’t appear to be any after affects of my little bit of extra exercise!!!

One thing I noticed from the local paper was that two of the city’s bookstores went into voluntary liquidation during the past week.  Two of my favorite stores in the Melbourne area [and I assume they are similarly affected] are Angus & Robertson, and the Borders franchise, and their ‘collapse’ sent shockwaves through Australia’s book retail and publishing world. It’s sadly a known fact, that book retailers across the globe have been hit in recent years due to the popularity of online shopping and electronic [perhaps the former being the more crucial factor at present]. Not just in Ballarat, but nationwide, and in New Zealand, about 2,500 jobs are threatened with this event. However, Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy has taken a philosophical approach [easy for him to do so of course] by, while noting that the collapse of Australia’s largest booksellers is a tragedy, new jobs would be created. He said ‘Technology marches on and there will be a transformation, there will be new jobs’ adding that companies needed to be ‘multiple platform’ now that consumers were online. Although the two groups are not linked, the Border’s announcement came a day after the Borders bookstore chain in the USA filed for bankruptcy. Rather sad news from the view of someone who loves the ‘physical’ presence of books, and fears the soothsayers who tells us that in a decade or two, all reading will be done through screens!!! What an unpleasant thought!

As for the surprise birthday party  – well, James and I [he arrived about 4.30pm, after working for part of the day] reached Enfield just after 6pm, and Ross was expected to arrive ‘blindfolded’ some time after 7pm. He was at a Country Fire Authority [CFA] exercise through most of the afternoon. Younger son, Alwyn, who has just joined the CFA was with the team, and apparently this blind folding activity was a normal part of training – they would be driven around for a period of time ‘blind’ and then expected to find their way to a certain spot –  an exercise to counter the problem of being lost in thick smoke during a fire, etc. Anyway,  the driver was going to bring Ross and Alwyn back to Enfield from Buninyong where today’s exercise was taking place in a somewhat circuitry trip to make it difficult for him to guess where they had been taken. By the time they arrived at my sister’s property, there must have been close to 60 people waiting for Ross’s arrival including a lot of children – nephews, nieces, grandkids, etc – and as the vehicle drove into the driveway, a deathly silence fell over everyone. Jean met him at the car as he took the blindfold off his face, and that on it’s own was not unusual, and he realized immediately where he was, and were it not for the excited reaction of some of the kids running out to meet him also, Ross probably wouldn’t have realized something special was going on until he walked up the ramp to the patio platform. Anyway, Jean’s little surprise plans had worked – it had actually being Ross’s birthday last weekend, and he had thought that a small celebration had at that time, had been his birthday ‘treat’. So he was literally ‘taken by surprise’, a great way for these things to happen!!

The evening’s activities as they usually do at ‘parties’ at Enfield – most of those present are of the Ross extended family, and his and Jean’s wide range of friends – they are a very social couple and there are always [despite the distance of their home from Ballarat itself] people ‘dropping in’. Unfortunately not many of the family on Jean’s side are generally able to be present at these things [most of her siblings live interstate now] and I find it difficult to organize many of my family to get down here – always working, playing cricket, etc. As a consequence, I generally feel a bit of an outsider – difficult to get much opportunity to converse with Jean and/or her three ‘kids’ as they have so many others around demanding her attention in one form or another. At least tonight, eldest son James was present – he has come to functions on a few occasions here, and generally seems able to mix well with people he is not familiar with [a legacy of his poker and casino activities I guess], and while most of those present – a lot of oldies, young children, and teens of the age of his two cousins, Vincent and Alwyn [Jean’s two boys] – were probably not of his normal crowd, it didn’t seem to worry him. He has always been good with children –  which is a reason why his decision to go back to university to obtain a Primary School teaching qualification is a good move – and it was not long tonight before he joined a large crowd of the ‘kids’ with a kick of the football in the extensive grassed area adjacent to the house  – he still remains a kid at heart whenever there is a football around!!

The surprise for me tonight was the presence of one of my Mum’s old friends, and former helper with the athletic club activities that both of my parents were involved with for many years up until Dad’s death, and beyond for some years for the ladies. A couple of Jean Blomely’s kids used to run in the athletics club with two of my brothers in those days, and she and my mother had been close friends for a long time. Now 82, and in not the best of health, she remained still pretty active in mind and body, having lost her husband ‘Ned’ some years ago, as well as the ‘running’ daughter, Marilyn, to cancer about 6 years ago.  Anyway, her presence tonight, at least afforded yours truly the opportunity to converse consistently with someone through the evening, and relive some of the past. I had left Ballarat by the time she became more actively involved with assisting my parents in the operation of the athletics club – a sporting group which arose out of my high school at the time at the initiative of probably my favourite teacher at the school in my later years – Dennis Bowers, a successful local long distance runner himself formed the Ballarat East Athletic Club, initially from students at the school, and in fact appointed myself as the initial club secretary – my first voluntary role in  community organization, a kind of role I’ve never been able to avoid since. Not sure whether I should thank or otherwise that little push by Dennis to get me involved – obviously, it was an asset, and a part of my life I’ve never looked back on. In the two or three years that followed, as Dennis relinguished his ‘roles’ in the club, both of my parents became heavily involved over the next 5/6 years.  Perhaps another origin of my radio days  –  for some years, Dad would give a weekly radio report of  local station 3BA, covering athletics and basketball, the two sports that he became heavily involved at the management level in his last years.

As with my own family, I notice an important aspect of many of these kind of celebrations is the photo montages – large displays of photographs, obviously tonight involving the 50 years of Ross’s life. And of course, a little beyond my technical expertise, the usual ongoing computer displays of all of those photos, was available inside the house for those seeking a bit of relief from the crowd and noise of guests on the patio area.

I seemed to have ‘wandered’ off track again!  Yes, the party!  Went along as all  such parties do, Because of the large number of young children present, the numbers dwindled considerably as the evening became late [and a little cooler]. I had just two drinks, right after our arrival, then nothing else before driving back to the motel – had insisted on James joining me, and leaving his car behind, as he as usual came ‘well prepared’ for a night of drinking!! These days, two at a time is enough for me, and I naturally find that the sugar content in beer is a particularly strong disincentive to have more than two of those beverages – the system is warned quite quickly, and I’m not unhappy to get those warnings.  Anyway, by the time we left, about 11.30 I think, there were still a crowd of ‘teens’ and a few of the older ‘steady drinkers’ still going strong.

As the night was still young as far as James was concerned, and with no internet connection in this particular motel [told you it was a budget motel] for James to utilize the various pieces of communication equipment he had with him, he purchased a DVD on the way home, although I think he was to find that his room didn’t have a DVD player either!!!  So he probably had more sleep than usual for a change.

Incidentally, today saw the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup for 2011, with host countries India and Bangladesh – in fact, those two nations provided the opening match: An exciting occasion for Bangladesh in particular to be able to host this tournament.  I doubt I will see much of this tournament – most of the coverage seems to be on Pay TV again, although I do notice that Australia’s first game, on Monday night against Zimbabwe is on the local Channel 9 [after midnight!!!]

Sat 19 February:  Match 1: India 4-370 defeated Bangladesh 9-283 by 87 runs at Mirpur in Bangladesh.

Commenting on Australian Rules Football – well, with my football team seemingly out of the principal pre-season competition, following last Saturday night’s games, we have to look forward to the main season, beginning in just over a month.  Coach Brett Ratten, from this week’s Blues web site, had a few positive thoughts for the team and supporters alike.  This is what he had to say.

“On Saturday night [last], Etihad Stadium provided the backdrop for the opening round of the NAB Cup, in what doubled as a unique triple-header involving three of the AFL’s inner-city strongholds. From my perspective, it was tremendous to see more than 40,000 football people turn out in support. Though we did open up slowly in the first hit-out against Richmond, we came home strongly to record a comfortable 18-point win. Similarly, we started tardily in the night’s third contest, but found a way back into the contest, only to go down by seven points in the finish [to Collingwood].
 Without doubt, the slow starts cost us – and yet, there were good signs when we started to get our hands on the ball and really got our game going. A win and a loss over Richmond and Collingwood respectively means that we’ll now be participating in the NAB Challenge series, with the next match penciled in for the weekend of February 26/27 – and as NAB Challenge series matches are staged at regional centres around Australia, our players will turn out in either country Victoria or interstate venues in two weeks time.
Of course, the Carlton Football Club’s weekend activities weren’t confined to the NAB Cup fixtures alone, with Sunday’s Hyundai Blues Family Day attracting 5000 supporters to Visy Park. All senior players were in attendance for the taking of the official Team Photo, and they immersed themselves with the Family Day activities through the day”.

With the Blues having played in the last two years Finals series, but being beaten narrowly on both occasions in their first and only game, the Club aim in 2011 is the win their way through to at least a second finals appearance in September.  If they fail in that aim, it will probably mean the end of Ratten as Coach, so there is plenty of incentive for him, as much as anyone to talk things up big at the beginning of the season. As my son would say [yell] ‘go Blues’!!

Now, my employment is within the public housing sector, and while I am personally keen to see my period of employment in that job come to an end later on this year, it was nevertheless with some concern, that I read the following article which was written by a representative of one of Melbourne’s largest housing and homelessness services, and I reprint it here out of concern and interest for the future of the sector and its many beneficiaries.

The article demonstrates the many misconceptions that are generated throughout our modern society [whether it be in relation to public housing, refugees, Indigenous communities, etc] either through political persuasion, the power of biased journalism, or simply just pure ignorance  – I need say no more, the comments from Scoullar below spell it out rather clearly.

Tuesday, 15 February, 2011  By Daniel Scoullar Online Opinion

Recently, The Age’s front page carried a story titled “Crisis in Public Housing” detailing unacceptably long waits for people in need of public housing in Victoria. At the same time, the online version provoked a completely different reaction – Attacks on people living in public housing.

 The Age story was informed by access to internal Office of Housing data obtained via freedom of information. It found a maximum wait of nearly 20 years for general applicants with an average wait of 4 years; and over 10 years for highly vulnerable ‘priority’ applicants with an average wait of 1 year. For those of us who work with Victorians in housing crisis, these are not surprising figures. With only 65,000 public housing properties in Victoria, a low annual turnover in tenancies and over 41,000 households already waiting, it is no wonder waits are so long.

 When the article appeared online, public comments were opened for the standard 24 hour period. By 9am the flavour of the public responses was already clear. Public housing tenants were guilty of various offences including being both lazy and wealthy; having new cars and secret jobs; rejecting housing because it was in the wrong area; destroying their properties; running drug labs; and generally abusing a system that discriminated against hard working Australians who ‘do the right thing’.

 Asylum seekers and refugees were singled out for particular criticism and one correspondent suggested people in need of housing should travel to Darwin and ‘get a boat’ as a quick way into public housing.

 These comments revealed disturbing misperceptions about the public housing system and public housing tenants. A number of more balanced comments were submitted later in the day, many as a result of efforts by homelessness organisations to add some balance to the one-sided online debate. Nevertheless, when comments closed, there were still two hostile comments for every balanced or supportive one.

 Here are a few examples:

 …we have public housing used by people selling drugs…isn’t it time the rules were closely examined. (H.G.)

 I can’t stop wander why am I working… (J.W)

 Surely 10-18 years is ample time for someone to try and make an effort with their life and turn it around? … hire a few motivational coaches… (Mum of many)

 If people are not happy waiting for 18 years for a free house, perhaps they should stop relying on hand-outs, get a job and stand on their OWN two feet. (Investor Brad)

 … No sympathy for those bludging of others. Get a job, and do your bit for society. (JK)

Many of the statements were factually incorrect and showed a poor understanding of how the system works. They also demonstrated a great deal of prejudice and negative stereotyping against public housing tenants with the core idea being that the majority of public housing tenants are engaged in unethical or illegal activities.

 It is in fact a very small minority of tenants who do the wrong thing. If a majority of tenants trashed their properties or dealt drugs, the entire system would collapse quickly.

 The real problem in Victoria is our lack of public housing — not that it doesn’t work for people when made available.

 I’ve seen similar patterns repeated in articles highlighting other socially disadvantaged groups such as single mothers, refugees, people who are homeless, Indigenous Australians and the unemployed.

 While it is true that online forums rarely host well informed debates on public policy, these comments represent views held by large segments of the community. We also see them come out in the tabloid media, often in programs such as Australia’s highest rating ‘current affairs’ program, Today Tonight.

 It is worth looking more closely at why such hostility flourishes regarding, in this case, individuals and families who fall victim to housing crisis.

 Firstly, it is clear that a lot of people are doing it tough. Rents are rising, so are interest rates, and Melbourne’s housing remains amongst the least affordable in the world. There are lots of people who do work hard, pay their mortgages and ‘do the right thing’ but who are still barely keeping their head above water.

 Unfortunately their anger is misdirected against those with even less, but it would be wrong to dismiss them. Our affordable housing crisis is touching more and more people as it deepens. This is a legitimate cause for anger.

 On top of this, there remains a great deal of distrust, anger and what appears to be misplaced jealousy towards recipients of social services. This is despite consistently high levels of generosity towards victims of fires, floods and other natural disasters.

 Perhaps we are still stuck in the old thinking of the worthy and unworthy poor?

 In this frame of thinking a natural disaster victim is ‘like us’ and government support for them is an acknowledgement that the position of victim and supporter is a result of pure luck and the situations could be easily reversed.

 When it comes to people who are homeless or in public housing, there is a judgment being made that the person needing help is a victim of their own making. They are at fault due to personal flaws, criminal tendencies or bad decisions. In other words, they got what they deserve.

 There is no acknowledgement that the causes of homelessness or housing crisis are often uncontrollable events such as a violent partner, family breakdown, unemployment, poor health or even rising interest rates.

 Nor is there any empathy with people born into extreme poverty or who, in many cases, are suffering the effects of structural disadvantage compounded over many generations.

 Are these things any less a ‘natural disaster’ than a flood or fire? Are these victims any more to blame for their situations?

 If this is the filter through which the public views disadvantage in Australia then positive change is doomed to advance slowly. Governments, communities and social services themselves must become more active participants in social policy debates and advocates who can educate ignorance, challenge misperceptions and nurture greater empathy through understanding.

 Confronting and dispelling the myth of the undeserving poor is a battle that needs to be won.

About the author: Daniel Scoullar is Communications Manager for HomeGround Services, one of Melbourne’s largest housing and homelessness services. He has worked in local government, politics and the community and international development sectors

I must be struggling for something to write about today, to find it necessary to resort to a comment or two about this subject. But in raising the issue, I was initially thinking in terms of ‘rumblings’ in the media about discord arising within the Liberal Party over one or items in recent days, eg, Tony Abbott’s response to Channel 7 over his ‘Shit happens’ remark to defence personnel over in Afghanistan last year, or the comments about refugees & children in detention [see yesterday’s blog], and now, this question of redesigning the definition of ‘marriage’!

I was making reference the other day to the beginnings of a few rumblings of ‘disagreement’ on one or two matters of national concern, eg, refugees, within the Liberal Party, and while the leading group there sticking together and denying any frictions, I personally feel it’s not a bad thing for members of the various political parties to feel they have the right to express their own viewpoints occasionally, as long as this is not taken to the degree where it does cause major problems for the existing leadership, etc, and we suddenly find for example, that Tony Abbott, as leader, is having his role challenged – as occurred to his predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, at the end of 2009 over the climate change debate.

With that in mind, there recently came to my attention another opinion of a senior Liberal at odds with the party’s hardline policy – on the question of gay marriage. As reported in ‘The Australian’ on the 10^th February, Deputy Liberal Party leader Julie Bishop has declared she is willing to listen to the views of her electorate when she considers her vote on gay marriage if legislation came before the parliament with a conscience vote, breaking ranks with her party’s hard line. Ms Bishop has been conducting an online poll through her website, which shows overwhelming support for gay marriage — but she says that views in her community are more evenly split. Speaking to the newspaper, Ms Bishop said that  “I’ve got a very open mind on this. Kerryn Phelps has been to see me a few times and, personally, I’ve been listening to people’s views,” “Once I’ve seen any legislation, I’ll canvass the views of my electorate. If  it is a conscience vote, I’ve got an open mind on how I’d vote,”. She said she voted for the Howard government’s ban on gay marriage in 2004 but views in the community were mixed now.  Her website poll has been conducted since December 9 and by yesterday had collected 1024 votes. Those who say they strongly support gay marriage are 80 per cent, with 10 per cent saying they are strongly against. Former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull is also canvassing voters on the issue, launching a survey on his website. Mr Turnbull’s poll has returned 68 per cent support for marriage equality. Mr Turnbull wrote on his website: “This survey is important as community views on marriage and the legal status of same-sex relationships are rapidly changing.”

Mind you, this cannot really be claimed as working in opposition to party policy. When Adam Bandt, the Greens MP began  a push  on his election to Parliament last year, to legally recognise same-sex marriage, by getting through a successful motion asking MPs to consult on the issue,  the general view was that parliamentarians of all sides should get out there and seek the views of their electorates. It was obvious that if a straight out vote had of been conducted at that time, there would have been no change to the existing legislation. But as Adam Brandt noted in Canberra last week,  “But change gets brought about by instances like this — people going back and revisiting issues that previously they might have had a different view on.” Mr Bandt said he hoped Labor would reconsider its policy, which stands by the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, at its national conference.

 As a further impetus, if you like, to the ‘cause’, the Australian Marriage Equality group and PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) spent last week in Canberra in meetings with more than 30 MPs from both major parties. They are stressing the importance of gay marriage equality to families, couples, gay and lesbian youth, and from a rights perspective’. I must admit that I have not chased up the outcome of those gatherings, as it is not something that is of particular weight personally on my mind.  As I think I have mentioned in other forums occasionally, I don’t agree with the definition of same sex relationship as been called a ‘marriage’  – quite happy for such relationships to have the same rights and benefits as a marriage between man and woman, but by my definition through my upbringing in the Christian church is that the status quo is the only appropriate definition for the use of the word marriage. Nevertheless, I am realistic enough to realistic enough to be fully aware that will eventually change, and Adam Brandt and others will get their wishes.

A sister’s birthday today, but as Jill suggested on the phone this morning, she was feeling a little too exhausted in body & mind to really enjoy the occasion with problems of another sibling taking a bit of precedence at present.  Anyway, greetings were exchanged, and a very lengthy update on current situation discussed in our early morning phone conversation. It was to be hoped that plans for the coming weekend would go part of the way to solving some of the issues of concern.

Another concern, on a more national front, relates to one of my principal topics of interest in these pages, situations concerning our refugees. I made a brief comment on Facebook this morning which created a bit of response, as it justifiably should. I had this to say.

• ‘Our Prime Minister recently showed a lot of compassion for the survivors of the Queensland floods who lost family members, as did most Australians, I’m sure. I wonder if we could extend that compassion a little further?  So an 8 year traumatised boy, whose parents drowned and he almost drowned in the recent Christmas Island boat tragedy, has been returned to detention on Christmas Island, despite having existing family in Sydney. This boy must be a terrible  threat to our society!!!  Terrible decision, Mr Immigration Minister.  Other detained children report that Seena runs to the fence when new boat arrivals come to the camp in buses. He tells the other kids that his Mum and Dad will be on that bus. When they do not get off he says they will be on the next bus.  Why do we need to keep this boy locked up? ‘  My attention was drawn to this situation by an organisation called  ChilOut – Children Out of Immigration Detention, and I found myself wondering later, just how accurate and perhaps ‘unbiased’ their reporting was. It seems to have been confirmed by later news reports I came across such as the following from the Nine Network:

“A nine-year-old boy traumatised after losing both his parents in the Christmas Island shipwreck will return to detention despite have relatives willing to care for him in Sydney.  Relatives fear the Iranian-born Seena will return to his daily ritual in detention of staring blankly at the gate waiting for new arrivals, in the hope his mother will be among them, The Age reports.  The only child will be returned to Christmas Island’s detention centre today after the funeral of his parents in Sydney on Tuesday, even though he has around 10 relatives living in Sydney.  Seena’s father was buried on Tuesday, but his mother’s body has not been recovered.  Seena’s extended family have expressed concern about the state of the boy, who insisted that he be buried with his father at the funeral.  An aunt who is in detention with Seena is reportedly too traumatised by December’s Christmas Island boat crash to comfort him, cousin Jaffar Ali Alghban said.  ”We are more than happy to take responsibility for him,” he said.  The federal government has refused pleas from survivors of the boat crash to be allowed to stay in Sydney while their asylum claims are being processed’.   ChilOut had been asking readers to write to the Prime Minister, and the Immigration Minister asking that the child be released immediately to his family in Sydney, with the hope that the Prime Minister’s compassion for Queensland flood victims could be extended to this little orphan of another tragic drowning.  Interesting, though not optimistic of seeing a favourable to that request, but if there is enough public ‘outcry’, well, from little things, bit things grow, as they say.

• Some interesting responses to my original Facebook entry. For example, Greg wrote that:-  I agree Bill, but when you look at the comments in the Herald Sun then the dog whistling becomes an issue – especially for a minority government. Scott Morrison – where did he come from? And of course Kevin Andrews is still there!!! Joe Hockey stood up – but the others have acted in a rather awful way.Where are the leaders we need? Joe Hockey stood up, – but the others have acted in a rather awful way. Where are the leaders we need?  Jane [from the UK] wrote: Bill that is so sad x x I feel most MP s all around the world only tend to display compassion when their actions will be a benefit to them. Usually at election times !!!  From Christine, came Like Greg’s “Where are the leaders we need?” Seems since “political correctness” became correct, no-one is willing to go against criticism etc & lead.  Sad to read of that boy Bill…no easy solution but human compassion would think he should be with his relatives L…
• I responded to those comments with some more of my own:-  I guess that was partially the point of my reference to the situation re your last point Christine, where young children are alone, and there are family available, surely some flexibility in the rules can  be applied! I still think many of our ‘leaders’ continue to adapt the approaches to this question [of refugees] that they ‘assume’ what the rest of the population thinks – there are votes in going the perceived way of the people.our ‘leaders’ continue to adapt the approaches to this question [of refugees] – but is it really what the average citizen thinks – or are some of these politicians who are starting to speak up against the political trend a truer indication  of the way we want these refugees to be treated.  Spin and scare campaigns by both sides over the past decade have tended to bully public opinion – but I think perhaps that public opinion is becoming tired  of being bullied or pressured – that red headed woman from the fish and chip shop up north tried it a few years ago, and where is she now? Gone, where she belonged!  I didn’t see the Herald-Sun comments, sorry Greg, but I’ve had a quick look at the web site you mentioned, and the above points seem to be borne out in respect  to, not just refugees, but Muslims and other groups as well – we do need more Joe Hockeys and others  in parliament to start speaking out more against the rednecked attitudes and comments that the public often seems to willing to believe.  And Jane, yes, in many ways, I think you are right too 🙂

 I  finished my Wednesday at a Family History Group general meeting – was good to see a reasonable turn up of members, willing to keep the group operational and active, after last year’s concerns that ‘things’ were falling apart, and disbandment looked likely

Postscript to refugee issue   ‘Mr Bowen [Immigration Minister] says he will apply the new laws allowing children out of detention.”It will apply to him [the young boy from Iran] urgently because he has been through a very traumatic situation,” he said.

I went out again last night – this time to see a movie, and while other aspects of the night [as shall be revealed] spoilt the night a little, it was an extremely worthwhile visit.  The movie was ‘THE KING’S SPEECH’ which in short was the story of the man who became King George VI of Britain, of his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch  who was plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, ‘Bertie’, through his wife’s persistence [the eventual Queen Mother], engages the help of an unorthodox Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war [or as one reviewer put it –   ‘the story of King George VI’s transition from a blubbering stutter-stricken wreck to a smooth spokesperson for the throne’. The patient/psychologist, teacher/student plotline runs parallel to that of Albert’s ascension to the throne due to a scandalous marriage perused by his brother Edward VIII (Guy Pearce). 

I have to say that I found the movie and storyline totally absorbing, with that impression added to by the brilliant acting, especially by the two lead male roles – Colin Firth as ‘Bertie’ [King George VI] and Geoffrey Rush as the unorthodox speech therapist. There was one particularly interesting point made about the film by one writer, which basically directed the urgency and necessity for the stammer problem to be overcome – with the advent of the wireless, no longer could royalty parade the streets at a distance and rule from the sanctity of their palaces, but they had to be heard as well..  ‘Set during the 1930s, when the British royal family were slowly making peace with the realization that the monarchy was no longer about ruling and governance but about stage managing media representations. Not long into director Tom Hooper’s feel good slice of historical fiction Michael Gambon as King George V enunciates an impassioned spiel about how the royal family can’t pass policy, can’t govern, and that the media – particularly the strange beast called the wireless – has recast them as a group of actors’.

As with my comments about Bryce Courtney novels on Sunday, the historical aspect of the movie, even though embellished for the purposes of entertainment, etc, was a particular fascination for your writer. Luke Buckmaster, writing in ‘Cinetology’ about the movie, explains this ‘impression’ much better than I ever could.  He says:-    ‘The dramatic momentum in The King’s Speech flows far too fluidly for it to be bought in the context of historical veracity as anything other than “inspired by.” Hooper suavely and cleanly fulfils the dramatic rhythms required for interesting storytelling, a telltale sign that liberties have been taken, truth stretched. However, it’s a fool – or a person destined for disappointment upon disappointment – who measures individual scenes in recreations such as this against historical knowledge to determine artistic worthiness. Adapting a “true” story has never been about being faithful to facts, per se; the genius lies in taking fiction and finding ways to make it truthful. This often manifests in broad strokes and emotional messages, and The King’s Speech demonstrates its brilliance in these departments in a tent pole moment in which Firth’s character, a king cursed with a most undignified of afflictions, musters up the courage to articulate an all-important declaration of WWII address to the people of Britain. We feel the gravity of the moment, not for its external ramifications – talk of a war that led to the death of millions of people – but for its personal significance in the life of one man who simply managed to spit it out’.    So if you are a student of history, but don’t mind occasionally straying from the precise facts and details in order to try and bring that ‘history to life’, this movie is a must see. I’ve not yet come across anyone who was vigorously critical of it.

 Meanwhile on the ABC television tonight, another fascinating episode of Q & A, and although at the time my mind was disturbingly on other matters involving one of my siblings and a family crisis up north [the details of which won’t be displayed in this forum], it was another interesting panel of guests facing the questions from a live studio audience. On the panel, we had John Pilger [journalist and author], Greg Sheridan [the ‘Australian newspaper’s foreign editor], Lydia Khalil [Middle East specialist], Craig Emersen [Federal Minister for Trade], and Helen Coonan [former Liberal Communications Minister]. I imagine that with Lydia on the panel,  quite a deal of discussion revolving around Egypt, Israel, etc, but in actual fact, from what I heard, 85% of the questions and subsequent debate & discussion [and argument I might say, particularly between Pilger & Sheridan, who should have been on the same side] involved the Wikileaks saga and their spokesman,  Julian Assange, and the rights and wrongs of all sides of that particular international ‘area’ of concern. Examples of a couple were:-

In the wake of charges of sexual assault being laid against Julian Assange, an incredible wave of misogynistic abuse was directed at Assange’s alleged victims by some supporters of Wikileaks. My question to the panel is, do you believe that, Julian Assange should be afforded heroic status and considered above reproach at the expense of affording appropriate weight to the investigation of serious allegations?  Or,

The Australian Government was quick to label Julian Assange a criminal despite the fact that he has not been charged with any crime and despite the fact that the information he released has been embarrassing at worst. Shouldn’t a government that is so fervently intent on bringing democracy to the middle east, practice what it preaches?

While apart from a couple of questions related to Egypt’s future and hopes for a peaceful outcome, it was inevitable that the following question concerning the controversy over a recent comment by Tony Abbott would be raised, viz,

While Tony Abbott’s “shit happens” comments could be construed in a number of different ways, what was the media’s role in making it the story that it is today? Was it a fair story and a real issue or was Tony Abbott under trial by media? Tony Abbott probably would have come out of that controversy looking much better had he responded in a different manner to the way he did when challenged by the Channel 7 reporters. General opinion on the panel pointed in that direction while not condemning T A of any wrong doing or disrespect towards our troops in Afghanistan. Similarly, even Greg Sheridan condemned the TV channel for their approach to the whole section, and I certainly agree with that view – very poor effort, once again, by the 7 network! 

A few brief points about each of last night’s panelists.

John Pilger, who grew up in Sydney, is known internationally as an unswerving opponent of tyranny and oppression and an articulate espouser of progressive causes. His enemies claims he exaggerates and distorts the facts to suit his political ends.  He has been a war correspondent, author and filmmaker. He is one of only two people to win British journalism’s highest award twice. He has been International reporter of the Year and winner of the United Nations Association Peace Prize and Gold Medal. For his broadcasting, he has won France’s Reporter Sans Frontieres and Academy Awards in both Britain and America. His first film, The Quiet Mutiny, made in 1970, revealed the rebellion within the US Army in Vietnam that led to its withdrawal. His 1979 documentary, Cambodia Year Zero, revealed the horrors of the Pol Pot regime. His new film, The War You Don’t See, shown on TV and in cinemas in the UK in December, will soon be released in Australia. He is the author of numerous best-selling books, including Heroes and A Secret Country, a history of Australia. In 2003 he received the prestigious Sophie Prize for ‘thirty years of exposing deception and improving human rights’. In 2009 he was the recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize. Recently John has become a leading supporter of Wikileak’s founder Julian Assange and has contributed to his legal defence on sexual assault charges.\

Lydia Khalil has spent her career focusing on the intersection between governance and security — whether it be understanding the rationales behind terrorism and counterinsurgency, how to create governance systems that lead to functioning societies or the effects of youth and technological change that inevitably impact every generation. Lydia focuses on the Middle East and the Arab world, and her current research examines how the rise of Middle Eastern youth will clash with the traditional power structures of the region.  In her early twenties Lydia was appointed to the White House Office of Homeland Security as a graduate fellow. A year later, she served as a policy advisor for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad from 2003-2004, where she worked closely with Iraqi officials on political negotiations and constitutional drafting. Since then, she has been a counterterrorism analyst for the New York Police Department, and currently holds numerous positions including her work as an International Affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior policy associate to the Project on Middle East Democracy.

Greg Sheridan is The Australian newspaper’s foreign editor and is one of Australia’s most respected and influential analysts of foreign affairs. Growing up in Sydney, Greg graduated from Sydney University with an arts degree in 1977 and was an active participant in the student politics of the time, along with future high-profile Liberals Tony Abbott and Peter Costello.  He began his journalistic career 30 years ago with The Bulletin, and his coverage of Vietnamese refugee stories in the period after the Vietnam War sparked a lifelong interest in Asia and regional politics. He joined The Australian in 1984 and worked in Beijing, Washington and Canberra before returning to Sydney as foreign editor in 1992. Greg knows the structures and societies of Australia’s neighbours intimately and has interviewed prime ministers and presidents in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and many other countries.  He is also a keen observer of US international affairs and is on close terms with senior figures in Washington. Greg is the author of several books on Asia and Australia’s role in the region.

Craig Emerson has represented the seat of Rankin, in outer suburban Brisbane, since 1998. Minister for Trade and a member of the Gillard Cabinet, Craig is regarded as one of the Government’s most innovative policy thinkers. Born in Baradine, NSW, in 1954, Craig studied economics at Sydney University and then completed a PhD in the subject at the Australian National University in Canberra.
 He has extensive experience in government at both the State and Federal levels. From 1986-90 he was economics adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and subsequently he was senior policy adviser to Queensland Premier Wayne Goss. Other positions he has held include CEO of the South-East Queensland Transit Authority; Director-General of the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage; and Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Craig has a deep policy interest in such areas as innovation, deregulation and ecologically sustainable development. He has written widely on challenging policy issues and on securing a prosperous future for Australia. His other interests include rugby league, volleyball and playing the guitar.

Helen Coonan entered the Senate at the 1996 election that brought the coalition to power under John Howard, and eventually became that government’s most senior female office-holder. Born in the NSW town of Mangoplah in 1947, Helen attended boarding school in Wagga Wagga before moving to the University of Sydney to complete her law degree. She then embarked on a diverse legal career that included starting her own legal firm, becoming a partner in a large commercial law firm an working as a commercial barrister.  She also practised as a registered attorney in New York for a large firm specialising in the entertainment industry, working for such clients as the New York City Ballet and making legal arrangements for Bruce Springsteen’s first tour of Australia. Following her election to the Senate Helen was promoted to the front bench after the 2001 election, when she became Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer. In 2004 she was promoted to the Cabinet as Minister for Communications and the Arts, a post she held until the Howard government lost office in 2007. In Opposition Helen was shadow minister for human services, foreign affairs and finance before deciding to leave the front bench when Malcolm Turnbull was defeated as Opposition Leader and replaced by Tony Abbott in December last year.

As for the more personal issues of the night, involving one of my sibling, well I came out of the cinema on a high from the movie I’d just watched, to find three messages from other siblings for me to contact them, regarding the circumstances surrounding a 4^th sibling!! I have to say, that left this writer feeling somewhat distressed for the rest of the evening, though I did manage a touch of amusement at the conclusion of Q & A, where a pre-recorded question involved a young man proposing to his girl, on camera!  A nice little Valentine’s Day touch, even if something I’d never do!!

Also learnt via Facebook, that son Adam, was moving out of home [again] – my wife’s family home. It had been intended that he and live in girlfriend would move out together – but apparently, she is staying behind for the time being, and Adam is on the move!  Shirley found out about the move from the girlfriend!!!  The ways of the young!!

Today is Tuesday  –  that all happened on Monday!! What will today bring??

Valentine’s Day – not something I have much cause to remember these days, but I do hope to see some flowers at home tonight – for my daughter, which will suggest that her boyfriend has remembered the occasion!!

However, if there are any readers out there, who are unlikely to receive an acknowledgement of the day per medium of flowers or otherwise, please accept this writer’s wishes that you have a pleasant day in any case, with the optimistic hope that something special will come your way.  Happy Valentine’s Day to all who would like to accept my greeting.