Images Australia 2012-3 Summer Visit

The Antipodes Bite Back

In 1983 The Birthday Party called it a day. Not that many people noticed that one of the most harsh and discordant post-punk bands had disbanded. The Birthday began in the early 1970s with school friends Nick Cave and Mick Harvey and the final line up coalesced around 1978 with Tracy Pew and Roland S Howard. Just the names alone give you some image of the band following its own path cut through an undergrowth of urban decay, body disassociation, psychosis, biblical horror and Baudelaire intoxication.

To my mind The Birthday Party represent a high point in Australian post-colonial culture. There is little that is referential in the body of work left to us by them in regards to the antipodean largely pan-European culture of white Australia. I see the theater of Bertolt Brecht and Dada and its roots (Rimbaud, Lautréamont) as possible inspirations for the songwriting and performance of The Birthday Party. However works such as Nick the Stripper leave one wondering what the hell was going on in St. Kilda in 1981.

While Nick Cave has made his mark on the world of music since The Birthday party dissolved, I have grown more and more interested in the work of the recently deceased Roland S Howard as I get older. Nobody played guitar like Howard, who seemed to turn it into a weapon, stabbing out out into the air with vicious chords that somehow crystallized into strange rainbows of color he invented himself. This is the aural equivalent of absinth.

A documentary has been made about Howard, "Autoluminescent Rowland S. Howard" (2011). 

Synopsis: From myth to legend Rowland Howard appeared on the early Melbourne punk scene like a phantom out of Kafkaesque Prague or Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A beautifully gaunt and gothic aristocrat, the unique distinctive fury of his guitar style shot him directly into the imagination of a generation. He was impeccable, the austerity of his artistry embodied in his finely wrought form, his obscure tastes and his intelligently wry wit. He radiated a searing personal integrity that never seemed to tarnish. Despite the trials and tribulations of his career, in an age of makeover and reinvention, Rowland Howard never ‘sold out’. With recent and moving interviews, archival interviews and other fascinating and original footage, AUTOLUMINESCENT traces the life of Rowland S Howard. Words and images etch light into what has always been the mysterious dark.

Teaching About Ferals

In the mid 1990s I was out and about in the bush and inner city with the ferals of Australia. Now I am teaching Swedish people about the culture:

In The Hunter a group of colourful people visit the home, camping in the yard in buses and a tipi. These characters are ferals.

The feral subculture is a counter-cultural social movement originating in the latter part of the twentieth century, mainly centered in Australia. The movement reached its media heyday in the mid 1990s, in parallel with other similar movements in Europe and elsewhere. In common with those movements, the feral phenomenon can be seen as part of the wider counterculture. In Australasia, the ferals are often seen as an amalgam of the punk and hippie subcultures, with a radical environmental philosophy. The movement, during the 1990s, was the subject of national attention, and as a phenomenon has been the subject of anthropological attention as a characteristically Australian "alternative lifestyle".

"So what constitutes the feral spectacle? They are often talented musicians, didj players, artists, dressed in recycled garb, dreadlocked, adorned with multiple piercings and folk-jewellery: feathers, birds feet, skulls and umbilical-cord necklaces (feralia). A wild rustic appearance is desirable. For many, this transpires as fabrics fade and hair tangles in unkempt locks. Others will go to great lengths to achieve a turbulent look - a 'cultivated crustiness' (Hetherington 1996a:43). The feral rig is an ensemble of materials discovered dada-esque in garage sales, op' shops, or fashioned from the hide of road-kill or dead animals found in the bush. Outfits range from the sartorial splendour of brightly imbued and offbeat garments, to dirty green and brown hued favourites. Army great coats with personalised patches sewn on the rear are not uncommon, nor are silken night dresses and fairy wings. They revel in an iconography of otherness and authenticity. The identification with various indigenous peoples and historical cultures - their cosmologies, rituals and artefacts - is apparent in multiple appropriations. " - The Feral Spectacle








"Going Tribal", a documentary by Light Source Films, examined the subculture in 1995.
The feral movement is strongly associated with radical environmentalism and a communal lifestyle, with many members residing on multiple occupancy properties. In common with the hippies before them, many members of the feral movement rely on a system of crash pads, squats, and extended networks of "friends of friends" throughout Australia to travel with a minimum of financial outlay. Although the itinerant lifestyle and environmental beliefs most associated with the feral movement are akin to those of the earlier hippie movement, the ferals adopted a confrontational, politically charged style of dress, music, and philosophy more often associated with the punk movement.

William Barak: A great man

William Barak (or Beruk) (c. 1824 - 15 August 1903), (Centre) was the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, based around the area of present-day Melbourne, Australia. He became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore.

BARAK, WILLIAM (1824-1903), Aboriginal spokesman, variously called 'King William, last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe' or 'Beruk (white grub in gum tree) belonging to the Wurundjeri Willum horde whose country lay along the Yarra and Plenty Rivers', was the son of Bebejern and great-nephew of prominent Victorian tribal leaders Billi belleri, Captain Turnbull and Jakki Jakki. He was regarded with more romance than reason by contemporaries as an innocent witness to the first European intruders, William Buckley and John Batman. He spent his childhood in traditional Aboriginal fashion but with tribal dislocation; after Melbourne's settlement he was not properly initiated. Relations invested him with the possum shawl, necklet, waist string and nose peg of manhood in a brief ceremony, but much of tribal lore was left to be picked up informally. He received a brief taste of education at Rev. G. Langhorne's [my great great grandfather] mission school in 1837-39, and was possibly one of the more sober members of Captain Henry Dana's Native Police Force.

With his Gippsland-born first wife Lizzie, he was among the first group of Goulburn Aboriginals who settled at Acheron in 1859, hoping to have the area reserved. After much official indecision Coranderrk, near Healesville, was gazetted and he settled there permanently in 1863, in a 'neat little cottage and garden, most tidy and comfortable'. Barak worked for a small wage on the station farm and acquired a few horses. Further schooling and religious instruction were undertaken; he could read but not write. He was baptized, confirmed, and took a second wife Annie 'of the Lower Murray' (Lizzie died before 1863) in a publicized Presbyterian ceremony in 1865. The fate of his family was typical of the time; two infants died of gastro-enteritis, David and Annie of consumption. When he married Sarah (Kurnai) on 7 June 1890 he was the oldest man at Coranderrk and only full-blood survivor of his tribe.

In the late 1870s when management of Aboriginal affairs came under vigorous public criticism Barak emerged as a respected spokesman. Until his death he was the acknowledged leader at Coranderrk and a liaison between officialdom and the native population. His contact with such people as Graham Berry, Alfred Howitt, Mrs Ann Bon and Alfred Deakin, his petitions and public appearances were important spurs to action, especially the government inquiry of 1881. He outlined a plan for autonomous communities under Coranderrk's first manager, John Green: 'give us this ground and let us manage here ourselves … and no one over us … we will show the country we can work it and make it pay and I know it will'. His white champions did not share this faith and the scheme was never fostered, although Coranderrk was retained.

While adapting his own life to the changing conditions Barak maintained a remarkably balanced tie with his own culture. He was an accomplished painter in ochre and charcoal, 'a baritone of average compass', and a source on Aboriginal ways for both tourists and serious anthropologists. Lorimer Fison drew on his knowledge extensively. He was Howitt's chief informant for central and south-west Victoria and elsewhere. Large parts of Howitt's Native Tribes of South East Australia (London, 1904) rest heavily on his knowledge and opinion. Howitt invited him to Bairnsdale in 1882 and his notes of these interviews cover a wide range of customs, beliefs and kinship patterns, discussed with respect and deep feeling by Barak yet evaluated maturely against his Christian faith.

He died on 15 August 1903. In 1934 the local Australian Natives' Association erected a marble monument donated by Mrs Bon in Healesville's main street. This was later defaced by vandals, stored in the municipal offices, and finally placed above the heap of stones which marks his grave at Coranderrk.

Those who knew Barak described him unanimously as wise and dignified, with penetrating eyes and firm principles. The Board for the Protection of Aborigines noted him 'the most intelligent … remarkable black'. However, to the ordinary people he remained a romantic curiosity on picture postcards; erect and bearded, wearing sandshoes and a long coat, a Bible in one gloved hand and a boomerang in the other.

There Goes the Neighbourhood

As I have written here before, between 1995 and 1999 Redfern in Sydney was my home in the world. An amazing neighborhood that centered around The Block, the property of the Redfern Aboriginal Housing Company. In Redfern a lot of artists, musicians and activists made their lives in a fashion that was more often than not cooperative and autonomous. I have written down some of my recollections of the period 1995-97 in Redfern here, when the threat of gentrification, the heavy police presence and the social problems (including uncontrolled hard drug use) where eating away at the sense of community that I found when I first came to The Fern in 1994.

"The Block, Redfern, has been described as the "Black Heart" of Australia and occupies a unique place within Sydney's urban landscape as a centre for the Indigenous community. It was the site for the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, and has been the gathering point for many protests and community events. Just minutes from the second busiest train station in Sydney are the open camp fires and communal use of public space of the community on The Block." Critical Spatial Practice

Today the exemplary blog, Critical Spatial Practice has published an account of the art exhibition There Goes The Neighbourhood along with a short essay on The Politics of Urban Space:

There Goes the Neighbourhood is an exhibition, residency, discussion and publishing project for May 2009. The central element of this project will be an exploration of the politics of urban space, with a focus on Redfern, Sydney. The project will examine the complex life of cities and how the phenomenon of gentrification is altering the relationship between democracy and demography around the world. While urban change itself is not always a bad thing, gentrification often happens at an accelerated rate, out pricing the lower income and marginalized communities from the neighbourhood and dislocating them from their existing connections to urban space. The project brings together artists from Australia and around the world whose work addresses these issues.

There Goes the Neighbourhood is also a 132 page book, that can be downloaded as a PDF from the website.

Australia on Film

I may actually go and see Baz Luhrmann's Australia as it will be showing here in the far north of Sweden in about a month.
What I am more excited about is the Australian Screen website. It is a treasure trove of Australia cinema going back to its earliest years. There are online streams from hundreds of films and some are in their entirety. Teaching notes and resources such as still images and downloadable segments make the Australian Screen site a valuable potential teaching tool. You can register as a member (there is also a Facebook group) and receive emails and make contacts with others interesting in the amazing world of Australian film.
I was happy to reconnect with a favorite film of mine, The Year My Voice Broke. Not easy to find a copy of these days, but a film that reminds me so much of growing up in rural Queensland.

Murdoch on "A Golden Age of Freedom"

If you are interested, as I am, on what one of the largest media publishers in the world is thinking about in regards to the present global situation you may like to listen to the Boyer Lectures on ABC Australian radio National tomorrow. The introduction goes like this:

The 2008 lecture series, A Golden Age of Freedom is presented by Mr Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation.

On a wall in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal office in Manhattan hangs a Russel Drysdale painting. It has travelled with him around the world. The Stockman and his Family depicts a pioneering Australia, steely and resilient in the face of solitude and hardship. Values which he feels have taken us to where we are today - one of the most prosperous and peaceful nations on Earth. But will these values see us through the times ahead?

Rupert Murdoch beholds a period of great transformation that will bring prosperity to billions around the world. This golden age of freedom will unleash a new global middle class. Markets, media and technology will all play their part.

But to reap the rewards we must make some drastic changes. A ballooning welfare state, failing state schools and full reconciliation among all Australians head his list.

Some predictable stuff, but of interest nonetheless. From tomorrow the lecture will be online for downloading and streaming from here.

First Australians

First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people. First Australians explores what unfolds when the oldest living culture in the world is overrun by the world's greatest empire.

Over seven episodes, First Australians depicts the true stories of individuals - both black and white - caught in an epic drama of friendship, revenge, loss and victory in Australia's most transformative period of history.

The story begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the friendship between an Englishmen (Governor Phillip) and a warrior (Bennelong) and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. First Australians chronicles the collision of two worlds and the genesis of a new nation.

In the above video Aidan Wilson speaks about the use of mobile technology in the teaching and preservation of Aboriginal languages in Australia. PARADISEC (Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures) offers a facility for digital conservation and access for endangered materials from the Pacific region, defined broadly to include Oceania and East and Southeast Asia. The research group has developed models to ensure that the archive can provide access to interested communities, and conforms with emerging international standards for digital archiving. The research group is composed of investigators from the four participating institutions.

On the SBS First Australians website there is more than six hours of video available that is not part of the broadcast series. A slideshow presentation of the series narrated by its creators is available on the Sydney Morning Herald site.

A Reminder of My Island

Occasionally my homeland touches me on the shoulder, whispers in my ear like the wind down a cold early morning inner city Sydney backstreet, "you remember me?"
A friend sent me a link to a video by The Drones, who I had never heard of before (I live at the North Pole). The Drones are from Melbourne, have done four CDs, seems like lots of tours. Judging by the muscular timber of the screeching guitars, treacle-like bass and train wreck rhythms they have studied hard Australian Pub Rock 101 (or maybe just lived it). Topping it off is the slightly demented vocals of singer Gareth Liddiard who spurts rough broken glass glossolalias concerned with the crustier side of life.
While I feel I have moved on from the genre, The Drones represent to me the bone thin gutter intellectual scene that one met so often in the early 1990s in the inner city cellars and bar rooms of the twin metropolises Sydney and Melbourne (Brisbane was even stranger, with a madness that too much sunshine can bring). I hear the burnt Australian shadows of The Birthday Party, Beasts of Bourbon, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists and even The Go Betweens and AC/DC in The Drones.
There are downloads if you wish to take this further.

Ya can take tha boy outta tha country but ya cant take tha country outta tha boy.....(or somethin like that)

"Last round, a bull jumped on me guts and pierced me kidneys and broke seven ribs and I've been out for six weeks then and then come back. Get on a buckin’ bull again, he knocked me out, broke my nose, broke a leg and a few ribs and I was in hospital for a week." JOSH BIRKS, 18 year old bull rider.

I just stumbled upon a story from the ABC in Australia from the area I grew up in. Kingaroy is a few hours drive from where I was born and not so far from where I went to High School. The ABC piece, Former Champion Helps Young Cowboys (video and transcript) is an intense insight into the masculine culture (and English dialect) of my 'home country'.
I went to a rodeo (Oakey Rodeo, my one and only time) when I was about 17. Being the soft type I was horrified by the whole experience, but being 17 and going to school with many seriously disturbed young men who were built like brick outhouses I kept my sensitives to myself.
Young Josh quoted above wants to be world champion bull rider. If he lives that long I wish him luck..

The End of the Commonwealth of Englishes

In three weeks I have presented seven lectures on The Cultures of Commonwealth English. It has been a demanding time, but I have learnt a lot. I have been using a wiki to teach and administer the course. The wiki is the textbook, the lectures notes, the plan and the study materials for the exam. I am not sure how the students feel about the use of the wiki, but I suspect it may be positive. I will distribute a short series of questions to guage opionion during the last lecture tomorrow. I have been even teaching from the wiki in the classroom, using the embedded videos and images as learning objects in lessons. I have been spacing out the videos from between 10 an 20 minutes apart, as the students start to get bored listening to my voice after about that amount of time. I hope to be teaching the same course again next term and I will continue to develop the wiki as part of future teaching of the course. You can check the wiki out HERE.

Words from the Communities

In light of what I wrote on this blog recently regarding the very suspect documentary Historiens Fångar featuring the ideas and philosophies of Keith Windschuttle, there is an interesting article online from Mute magazine, titled Doing it for the Kids by Elizabeth Povinelli. I recomend it and quote from it here;

Here, we must remember that Failure, Normality, and Success are not Kantian ideas floating in space but ways of measuring the social world, norms for what is fair or not. Because they are making buckets loads of money, Native Americans able to exploit their sovereignty to establish casinos are considered not to be playing fair. Neoliberal discourse has transformed the organisation of responsibility and accountability. Anything larger than the individual is seen as an impediment to the enterprise subject. Social groups and collectivities as well as long standing federal and state commitments to indigenous social welfare are said to be the cause of poverty. When indigenous people cease to see their social worlds from the perspective of local cultural sense or as related to state-backed social welfare then they will, it is said, emerge from poverty and with this emergence gain the health that all other Australians have.

Elizabeth A. Povinelli is Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies at Columbia University where she is also Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Law and Culture. She is the author of numerous books and essays including The Cunning of Recognition (Duke, 2002) and The Empire of Love (Duke, 2006). She has served as a consultant for several indigenous land and native title claims in Australia

Australia Says Sorry...........

The Australian Government officially apologized today for the horrors inflicted on generations of Aboriginals through organized programs of physical and sexual abuse, forced integration and cultural indoctrination that were most often perpetrated upon children. Firstly, looking at the concept of an apology, the power relations of an apology are not always as straight forward as one would expect. A colleague and former teacher of mine published a thesis looking at the use of apologizing in British English, finding that:

SORRY is the subtlest word, especially for the middle classes. That is one finding of research into how the British apologise, which reveals that the middle classes say sorry twice as often as the working classes — but with different implications.
They may be “afraid” to admit it, they may “regret” being so, or they may simply “beg your pardon”; but the middle classes are clearly a very sorry lot when it comes to etiquette. They are more likely than anyone to apologise for lack of consideration and similar offences.
But at the same time, they are also the most adept at using apologies to minimise their responsibility for the offence, thus craftily re-asserting their superiority.
“The use or avoidance of apologies appears to be an important way of signalling class identity,” said Mats Deutschmann, who led the study. “Acts of politeness have traditionally been ways for social inferiors to show deference towards social superiors,” he said. “But now we are getting ‘downward politeness’.”
As class distinctions have blurred, social superiors are using apologies to give an illusion of humility when confronted by people they regard as inferior. The Times

In many ways sorry seems so small. The apology from the Australian Government, "For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations", has been an issue for such a long it seems a bit ridiculous that it did not happened at least a decade ago:

More than 10 years since the story of the stolen generations was told in the Bringing Them Home report, the declaration of the apology will usher in a new era of recognition and reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia. SMH

While the emphasis was clearly on the past wrongs, there is a today a desperate need for action.

Meanwhile:

72% of Australia's Aborigines are living in poverty. Remote Indigenous communities face particular economic disadvantage, despite so-called benefits.
From the Australian Bureau of Statistics:

* In Australia the average income is $585 per week.
* The average for Aboriginal people is $364 per week.
* Aboriginal income in cities is $435 per week.
* Aboriginal income in remote communities is $267 per week.

and the killing continues;

Over the period 1997–99, the life expectancy at birth for an Indigenous male was 56 years, and for an Indigenous female, 63 years. Comparable life expectancies were experienced by males in the total population in 1901–10, and females in 1920–22. Today, males in the total Australian population have a life expectancy of 76 years and females 82 years.....In the age group 35–54 years, the Indigenous death rate was 5–6 times higher than expected. The Health and Welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (2001)

If something is not achieved in regards to the situations experienced daily by many indigenous Australians it seems likely the apologizing could go on for some time yet.......

The Prisoners

Keith Windschuttle introduces Swedes to Aboriginal his-story

Between 22:00-23:00 on Monday 4th February 2008 the program 'Historiens Fångar' (History's Prisoners) (streamed online now) by Danish film maker Poul-Erik Heilbuth was shown on Swedish Television Channel 1 with a repeat planned for next Sunday 10th February 2008 at 14:25 on the same channel.

I have registered a complaint with the Swedish Broadcasting Authority about the way the program 'Historiens Fångar' was presented without any discussion or dissenting opinion to those expressed by the main figure interviewed in the film. This man is well known in his homeland, Australia as holding extreme and controversial opinions when it comes to the exact subject matter the film dealt with, indigenous peoples. While many of the opinions expressed in the program do have basis in the situation experienced by many indigenous Australians (the area I am most familiar with, although the program dealt with indigenous North Americans, Sami and Inuit peoples) they were presented to viewers without any counter arguments or alternate opinion.

The most notable voice in the program was from Keith Windschuttle, a controversial figure to say the least in the debate around the history of white colonization in Australia and the Aboriginal people. Windschuttle is widely recognized as being a revisionist historian with a political agenda that is inevitably fulfilled by his research. To quote the respected Australian journalist and critic Gerard Henderson:

The problem with Windschuttle's work is that, at times, you get the impression that he is a former Marxist - turned political conservative - who is waging a personal war on the very left-wing interpretation of Australian history that he once both embraced and proclaimed. His revisionism is essential reading for anyone who wants to join the debate on Australian history. Yet, because his history contains a substantial degree of personal polemic, it sometimes lacks empathy.
The Trouble with Windschuttle, The Age Dec 7 2004.

Due to the one-sided nature of Mr. Windschuttle's account of Black-White relations in Australia and the way this was presented as a general reference point in the program for indigenes of the USA, Greenland and even Scandinavia, there should have been some counter balance provided in the documentary 'Historiens Fångar'. There was not. I suggest that the Australian current affairs program Four Corner's edition The Cape Experiment is one example that could lend an element of balance to some of the more ideologically motivated claims made by Windschuttle in 'Historians Fånger'. Windschuttle's books are self-published through his Macleay Press. By a even a quick review of the total published titles from MacLeay one can easily detect the ideologically narrow approach taken by the company:

The Invention of Terra Nullius: Historical and Legal Fictions on the Foundation of Australia by Michael Connor

The White Australia Policy: Race and shame in the Australian history wars by Keith Windschuttle

Washout: The academic response to the fabrication of Aboriginal history by John Dawson

The Killing of History: How a discipline is being murdered by literary critics and social theorists by Keith Windschuttle

Corrupting the Youth: A history of philosophy in Australia by James Franklin

The Multicultural Experiment edited by Leonie Kramer

Meet Bazza

I am writing a course for first term culture studies using a wiki. Wikies are a great tool for arranging a course, headings give way to sub-headings and so on. It is very easy to code and is very flexible. The wiki platform I am using (ProjectForum) even looks good. The above video I uploaded to Google this afternoon (it is open source) to use in the course. It is an episode from The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972) written by the now quite famous Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage) who plays the psychiatrist in the scene. When I arrived in England in 1997 I actually had people call me 'Blue' (I don't have red hair so they had not idea what they were talking about), and ask me if I wanted to 'crack a tube with them'. I remember hearing about Barry McKenzie from my father, and it seems it was an important step in the cultural independence of Australia away from Britain, but it was a bit before my time..I found it irritating that some poms thought Australia was still all 'chunder' and 'sheilas'....I was into The Birthday Party and and Michael Dransfield poetry. Another video I cam across today was this masterpiece from Barry Humphries looking back at the Whitlam government in Australia. I thought to use it in the course material but I don't think anyone who did not grow up in Australia would understand it as it is very funny...if you know the topic:


The beginning of Barry Humphries' Flashbacks episode 3 - The 70s, in which Barry, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson discuss the impact of Gough Whitlam. This series aired on Australian television in 1999 and is now available on DVD.

"Fire and the Story"

The documentary "Fire and the Story" developed by Cape York Elders and Clan Groups regarding traditional fire knowledge and the problems with it's absence in the environment and urban areas in Australia today. The film is a product of the grass roots Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways (TKRP) project and is a bid to educate the broader public, nationally and internationally, in the benefits of reapplying Indigenous burning techniques. The range of chapters and stories that make up the film are based on real experience with Elders on country assessing the issue first hand.
Preview (Film)
Read More (PDF)

Just getting 11 years 8 months and 22 days of John Howard off my chest......

"I left the keys under the mat." John W. Howard has left The Lodge

The opposition Australian Labor Party has won the Federal Election by a massive majority. Prime Minister John Howard is expected to loose his own seat of Bennelong, the first serving Prime Minister to do so since 1929 and only the second Australian Prime Minister to do so ever.

I am very glad for this result. I grew up in a labor voting family and while I lean more towards Green Party policies, the abandonment of the Howard vision for Australia is long overdue. While obsessive economic growth and soft nationalism may seem to be a formula for successful governance on the surface it just does not provide for all levels of society. As well, many of the key ingredients for sustainable development are ignored when popular opinion and fiscal performance become the sole measure of success. I would like to list a few of the issues that have troubled me over the last 11 1/2 years of Howard.

Australia since 1996 has committed its citizens to armed conflicts in Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Afghanistan, and Iraq (with fatalities in each). Austraian peace keeping military have been deployed Bougainville (1994)(1997-2003), Guatemala (1997), Yugoslavia (1997-),Kosovo (1999-), East Timor (1999-), Solomon Islands(2000-),Ethiopia/Eritrea(2000-), Sierra Leone (2000-2003), and Sudan (2005-). As well military excercises have expanded considerably; Rim-of-the-Pacific 1996 (RIMPAC 96), Crocodile99, WESTPAC Exercises, Tandem Thrust 2001, Talisman Sabre (biannual), Exercise Albatros Ausindo and PN-RAN Exercise Lumbas 2007 being some of the more major war games conducted under the Howard administration. All this gun play costs money and military spending has increased considerably since 1996:

Since coming to power in 1996, the Howard Government has increased spending on the military by 46 per cent in real terms. Spending for the current financial year will reach $19.9 billion. Thanks to Costello’s 12th Budget, next year it will be $22 billion or around 2 per cent of gross domestic product. By 2016-17 it is expected to rise to $29.9 billion. The Guardian

International aid on the other hand is stagnant or has fallen slightly in real terms under the Howard government, 0.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2007 from 0.36 in 1996/97 (ABS Australian National Accounts Series 5206.0). This is despite a booming economy that is being driven hard by mining and exports (coal, oil, gold, aluminium, wheat, beef, wool, passenger motor vehicles, natural gas and other base metal ores being the top 10). I believe that as the energy demands of global society change over the coming decades (due to peak oil, altering cost structures and changing attitudes to non-renewables like coal) then what is driving the Australian economy today will cease. That the country has not contributed to international aid as reflected its prosperity will also not assist it in the future when countries such as Indonesia and the micro-Pacific states are needing more help as a result of climate change. It is then that histroy will judge the Howard government. History will also take stock of the social policies of the Howard government.

One of the most interesting books I have read in the last few years about politics in Australia is God under Howard: The rise of the religious right in Australia By Marion Maddox (Allen & Unwin, 2005):

God Under Howard makes it clear that this growing electoral base needs to be satisfied, policy-wise, and the Coalition is delivering. Maddox presents a persuasive argument that shies away from demonising individuals of faith. They are not her target. Instead, she highlights the ideological similarities between conservative churches such as Hillsong and Howard's Government. A denomination that celebrates wealth as God's blessing and supports personal satisfaction fits Coalition dogma perfectly. "Such theology is a neat fit," writes Maddox, "for a government that stresses market capitalism and privatised economics over social welfare and collective responsibility for one another."
The recently revitalised abortion debate provides ample support for Maddox's disturbing thesis. It is evident, despite the obsequiousness of those suggesting otherwise, that a number of conservative, Christian men in the Government are determined to make women's bodies their domain. Maddox warns us that unless we want to enter the realm of America's decaying democracy, where the line between church and state is hopelessly blurred, we must fight to reinstate our democratic traditions.SMH

Maddox builds a convincing argument that while Howard himself has always shied away from evangelical admissions in political contexts, he has fostered a climate of right wing evangelical christianity in his policies and those he appoints to positions around him. The power asserted by the secretive Lyons Forum in the Federal Coalition Government is discussed at length in God Under Howard. The Lyons Forum is:

"A secretive Christian faction of the Federal Coalition which attempts to influence policy in areas such as censorship and other so-called "family" issues. It is widely regarded as the equivalent of the American religious right. The forum has about 50 members, including about 15 members of the front bench, and meets once a fortnight. Membership is restricted to coalition MPs" Electronic Frontiers Australia

One example of the catering to right wing agendas by Howard has been the rediculous levels of censorship that have been excercised in Australia under his government. Not only has sedition been made a crime again (Federal Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005) but dozens of books, films, audio, websites and computer games have been banned (A short list I complied recently). Australia, under Howard, has slipped regarding freedom of the press to a level that one usually associated with non-democratic countries;

“Two international studies ranked Australia 35th and 39th on a world press freedom index,” News Ltd chairman and chief executive John Hartigan said. “We should be up there with other democracies that are way in front of us." The Australian

Race is discussed by Maddox in God Under Howard and it is difficult to forget the feelings I had when I read about the Cronulla Riots:

On Sunday 11 December 2005, an estimated crowd of some 5000 people had gathered at Cronulla beach. In the week leading up to the incident of the 11th, this confrontation and the subsequent circulation of anonymous calls to gather at the beach — spread via SMS text messaging ("Come to Cronulla this weekend to take revenge. This Sunday every Aussie in the Shire get down to North Cronulla to support Leb and wog bashing day.") and other means — were the subject of much publicity and media commentary.

The mob appeared to be of non-Lebanese ethnicity. The assembly occurred after elements in the local community had called for a public showing in response to the previous weekend's confrontation between a group of Middle Eastern background and some local Cronulla beach surf lifesavers. Police had earlier stated that they believed this previous assault had been racially motivated.

A number of the rioters wore clothing bearing racially-divisive slogans such as "We Grew Here, You Flew Here", "Wog Free Zone", "Aussie Pride", "Save 'Nulla" and "Ethnic Cleansing Unit". Chants of "Lebs out", "Fuck off Lebs", "Lebs go home" and other discriminatory expressions were continuously shouted out by the mob. Wikipedia

Howard responded to the riots by saying "I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country. I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people. I do not believe Australians are racist." The increasingly racialised atmosphere in Australia was made apparent by the riots and while I don't think Howard had much to do with the violence in Cronulla directly, the society that has developed during his 11 years of government is one where race is now a part of identity to an extent it has not been in Australia for several decades. Eleven days before the election which saw the end of the Howard government the special police powers granted after the Cronulla riots(including the ability of the police to close bars and hotels, to stop and search vehicles and people, to seize cars and phones and to disperse mobs) were made permanent in New South Wales.

I was in Australia in July this year when the so-called Northern Territory 'intervention' was announced by now former Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough. To combat an 'epidemic' of gross sexual abuse of children the military were to be sent in to take over Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Because of the federated structure of the Australian state and national system, the Northern Territory is the only state level administrative area that the federal government has the legal ability to do such a thing (although the Australian Capital Territory around Canberra and national parks can also be 'intervened' with if they had to I suppose). Having lived in Redfern and having friends on several communities, I know that there are very unpleasant realities behind the apparent concerns of Brough and Howard. However, they situation for even the government run legal and social systems in Aboriginal communities has been dire for years, let alone any projects or programs run by locals. Prior to the intervention there was only one child welfare officer working in Katherine in the Northern Territory. Katherine is at the crossroads for serveral Aboriginal communities and support for the young there has not been sufficient for a long time.

Watching the slow death of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Council (ATSIC) in 2004 and 2005 as it drowned in its own isolation and mismanagement is typical of the attitude of the Howard government to the indigenous peoples of Australia. ATSIC was

an elected body whose constituency was indigenous Australians. This included: people from the many Aboriginal communities on the Australian mainland, Tasmania and other off-shore islands, and the ethnically distinct people from the many Melanesian communities inhabiting the islands of the Torres Strait, collectively known as Torres Strait Islanders. Later the Torres Strait Regional Authority took over responsibility for programs in the Torres Strait Islands. This body continues to operate.

While it (again) seems clear there were problems with ATSIC, the fact that it was the only elected representative body for and by indigenous Australians made it an important part of the structure of a demoracatic and just Australia. Because its chairman was charged with criminal offences seems like a strange reason for disbanding the entire organisation. Instead, all the roles and duties of ATSIC passed back to the federal government's representatives:

The policy and coordination role is now the responsibility of the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination in the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs from 27 January 2006 (previously with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs). wikipedia

With the loss of his seat in the Federal Senate in 2005 by Aden Ridgeway the last elected Aboriginal officer during the Howard Government was gone.

With the Australian military active overseas, and in the marginal parts of Australia, one would only expect that immigration would reflect a reaching out to the world in need. The image of people living behind electric fences and razor wire in the desert is not something I would have associated with the Australia I grew up in (although at school between 1974-86 we were told nothing about the stolen generation, genocide, or anything really). While immigration detention was begun by the Keating labor government it was it 1999 that the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (IRPC) opened:

The Centre was opened in November 1999, with a capacity of 400. This capacity was very quickly exceeded, as the boat arrivals continued. Nursing and administrative staff working there at the time have since complained that facilities were totally inadequate, and that it was impossible to provide proper medical care.

Most detainees applied for refugee status, and had no possibility for release until their claim had been finalised. Men, women, and children were detained at The Centre. The highest number of children detained at any one time was 456, out of a total population of 1442, on September 1, 2001. As at 26 December 2003, the average length of detention for children was one year, 8 months, and 11 days. An unaccompanied child refugee had this to say:

"I believe you [Australians] are nice people, peace seekers, you support unity. If you come to see us behind the fence, think about how you would feel. Are you aware of what happens here? Come and see our life. I wonder whether if the Government of Iran created camp like Woomera and Australians had seen pictures of it, if they would have given people a visa to come to Australia then."

The detention centre was a source of much controversy during its time of operation. There were a number of riots and escapes, as well as accusations of human rights abuses from groups as diverse as refugee advocates, Amnesty International, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, ChilOut, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations.

In March 2002, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, said:

"It is obvious that the prolonged periods of detention, characterised by frustration and insecurity, are doing further damage to individuals who have fled grave human rights abuses. The detention policy has failed as a deterrent and succeeded only as punishment. How much longer will children and their families be punished for seeking safety from persecution?" Wikipedia

Then Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone turning on the electric fence at the Villawood Immigration Detention Center

The razor wire has come down - but the electric fence is going up. After months of battering over a string of departmental bungles and growing public concern about the effects of mandatory detention, the Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone, took personal carriage of a rare pleasant duty in her portfolio last week: removing the razor wire around the Villawood detention centre.

All the children had been let out, along with some of the longest-held detainees. Senator Vanstone thought of the idea herself, viewing it as symbolic of the shift she hopes to see in the departmental culture.

"OK, let's go and have a snip," she said to media crews, doing away with three coils of the wire.

The decision to remove the perimeter wire and leave razor wire in only one area for criminal detainees went further than reforms introduced after the inquiry into the detention of the mentally ill Australian resident Cornelia Rau, she said.

But what the Government cuts with one hand it apparently builds with the other.

Immigration officials admitted yesterday the razor wire was being replaced in some parts by an electric fence.

Over the next three months an "electronic detention system" will be built on top of one-quarter of the fences in higher security areas at Villawood.

They said it would deliver "a short, harmless shock" to anyone coming into contact with the fence but stressed it would be more than three metres above the ground and that warning signs would be put on the fence itself. SMH Date: September 15 2005

I could go on.....Children overboard and the Tampa, the Tas RFA Logging Deal, Cubby Station, the Pacific Solution, Mohammed Haneef and detainment without trial..but I won't. It will take a generation for Australia to move on from the Howard Government. The time to get over all this has begun. Goodbye John....goodbye!


Bye Bye!

Some Indigeneous Culture

I just opened my email and go two images of Australian Aboriginal culture sent to me:


Group of Dancers in Darwin. These men are in jail but have formed a dance troop in the prison and get work outside at cultural events and conferences.


Zorba the Greek Yolngu style. Amazing video from Arnhem Land

Australian Federal Electorates in Flash

This is a map of the Australian Federal electoral seat of Groom. It is the area in which I was born (in Toowoomba) and grew up (Toowoomba, Goombungee and Oakey). It is part of a Flash presentation for the upcoming election in Australia showing every one of the electorates for the entire nation. It can be accessed HERE. It would be great if it was online permanently but I think it will not be the case. I will be teaching a realia course next term on Cultures of Commonwealth English and it would be nice to use.

Remains of Aboriginal Australians to Return

The Swedish Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm has been given permission from the Swedish Government to return the remains of ten Aboriginal Australians to their country. On the 22 October 2007 a delegation of representatives from various Australian Aboriginal groups will visit the museum and take possession of the remains.
The remains come from the Kimberley region of North Western Australia where in 1910-11 a Swedish expedition plundered graves. The expedition was led by Eric Georg Mjöberg (1882 - 1938), who’s relative Lotte Mjöberg followed in Eric’s footsteps in 2004 and met the people of Kimberleys in an attempt to right the wrongs of the past, as documented in this radio broadcast.
In 2004 the remains of 15 Aboriginal individuals were returned to Australia by the Ethnographic Museum with an emotional ceremony performed when they reached their home country.
Aboriginal remains from British museums are also being returned.