Tuesday, November 5, 2013

VALE BRIAN MANNING

When  he  worked  on  the  Darwin waterfront ,  avowed  Communist,  the  late  Brian Manning , admitted  it  was   provocative  for  him to have    put  his  notebook  inside  the  cover  of  Quotations  From  Chairman Mao Tse-tung's  so called little  red book .  The   notebook  was  pulled  out  when  he  was  having  lively discussions   with  representatives of  the  stevedoring  authority,  sometimes during disputes ,  and  other   Darwin officials . Brian  was  a  great  human  being  who late  in  life experienced   ill health and  got  about  with  the  aid of  a  walking  stick. The  walking  stick was  stolen while  he was  shopping  in  a supermarket and  replaced  by a  fancy carved  one  bought  by  his  son  for  several hundred  dollars .  Brian  said  that  after  the  theft ,  he  went  about  glaring at " old , shuffing  farts " in  shopping  centres  looking  for   his  walking  stick
 
His  many  contributions to  Aboriginal advancement,  land rights, the  East Timor  struggle,  dealings  with author  Frank Hardy ,  and   many other  subjects  will  be   covered  in  the ongoing  Little  Darwin  condensed  biography of  NT  editor , Jim Bowditch. Brian's old Bedford truck, frequently  used  in  May Day parades  and  worthy battles ,  was  suggested  for  inclusion on  the  Territory Heritage list  and   lodged  in  the  old  Qantas hangar in  Darwin .  Over  the  years , I  had  many conversations with  Brian , exchanged emails,  and  we spoke  over the  phone . We chatted  at  the  last bombing of  Darwin ceremony  down at  the  wharf, where so many waterside  workers  had  been  killed .
 
 An account of his  involvement  in  setting up  and  running  the “illegal radio  in Darwin  which  kept in contact with  Fretilin  in  East Timor after the Indonesian  invasion appeared  in the book A Few   Rough Reds , produced as a  result of the 2001   Seventh National Labour History  Conference  in Canberra, a series of talks  on the history of  communist  organisations in  Australia .The stories in it were  described  as  inspiring accounts of  working class activism  guided  by  a  serious commitment  to  socialist  politics. -Peter  Simon