HERBERT APPEAL DEADLINE SOON

At  long last , the sign  for  MHR  Cathy O'Toole (ALP)  went up over  the  premises  of ousted  Ewen Jones (LNP)   in  Townsville  at  a  busy  intersection , apparently unnoticed by the  local  media . One  would think the fact that  the  increasingly  vital  seat   won  by   Labor  by  37   votes  for  the  first  time  in 20 years  and  by a  woman  makes  it  a  thoroughly newsworthy event.  Nope

 And just last week  she  was  present  in the  House of Representatives in  Canberra   during  which the Turnbull Government  twice lost  a  vote in the biggest  upset  for  a  government  in  half  a century .

One would think  the local  media might have  done an in depth report   about  Ms O'Toole's impressions  of   Canberra, finding  her   way  round  the  maze ,  the  voting event which rattled the government , other  colourful snippets . Nope .

Here is  a  news   tip  for  the  Townsville media ...your representative , when in Canberra ,  has an  office  diagonally  across  from   ousted  PM  Tony  Abbott , aka  the Mad  Monk ,  now a  vocal  back bencher.    She  could  be  near  the frontline  of   a  Guy  Fawkes like  plot   by  unhappy , babbling  delcons  and  extreme  right wingers , hosed off , to put it mildly, about   Turnbull's  leadership  and  the  narrow  election  win , especially  O'Toole's victory. 

 After Abbott today  criticised  PM  Turnbull  for  calling  the  Royal Commission into the  Don  Dale Juvenile  Detention Centre in Darwin , the gunpowder  plot  has   thickened , there is an alarming smell  of  burning  Cordy-ite in the  air in the  Coalition   corridors  of   power.    

 

Should Ms  O"Toole  see  the  above bunch of desperadoes heading towards Abbott's grotto, she should  immediately press the alarm  button and  dive  under  the desk .

 

With talk of  Turnbull not likely to last much longer and even  Abbott   coming back as leader !!! , the Member for Herbert , in  more ways  than one , is in a strategically  important  office  in  Canberra. She should keep a close watch on those   going   to  and  from  Abbott's office.

Another tip  for the media : the deadline for an appeal  to the Court of  Disputed Returns in the seat of Herbert  is  September 16 ,  so  get  in  and ask Senator  Macdonald  and   Ewen Jones what  is  happening ...this is called being on the ball, following up  the obvious  angles  and  not  waiting   for  a  media  release.  Could  even lend  itself  to  a  count down series.  It might also  pay to check  to see if the betting shops are holding  any  money on the likelihood of a challenge, the outcome .  Surprising  what  you  learn  when  you  ask  obvious  questions . 

ON 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF PUNK ROCK : NORTH QUEENSLAND'S QUEEN OF PUNK AND HER PET RAT

IT TOOK a lot of guts –albeit some of it self destructive - for an attractive young girl to be a punk rocker in the North Queensland city of  Townsville in the early 1980s . Her Mohawk haircut, tattered clothes , a splash of tartan , and safety pin accessories caused many eyebrows to be raised , as did her pet rat , Woof, which she carried about with her . Known as Ruth Rebel , she drank heavily , lived rough and became the Queen of Punk in the north. She wrote poetry , strutted her stuff on stage, singing in a wild band , Noise. Other members of the group were Ned Kelly, Stew Spew, Dennis T. Menace and Andy Anarchy . The band put out a cassette - Like A Stain On Your Toilet. Ned Kelly hanged himself , police blamed Ruth for his death and she went through an emotional, despairing time.
 

There was a dramatic change in her chaotic life when she became involved with Townsville’s new community radio station , 4TTT-FM . Prior to that radio connection she had been a loner , lacked confidence and knew little because she had been “ naughty ” at school . The first time she took part in a radio show she froze and became speechless. 

 

From time to time she helped present the late night rock show at the radio station . With the passage of time she became a regular presenter. To some, Ruth Rebel, also known as Rebel Ruth, was the punk scene in Townsville. She presented a Saturday night show called Slash Slamming and Safety Pins , a name she disliked, so renamed it Punk and Disorderly . On air comments and swearing sparked complaints to the Australian Broadcasting Authority .  

 She freely admitted having been anti-war , anti religion and anti - cops and ran shows on these themes , slipping in some of her poetry on those topics. A zealous man connected with a religious program , Freedom Zone , refused to play rock , saying it was the music of the devil . He frequently complained about and clashed with Ruth . She responded by imitating his voice on air and called his segment the Bondage Zone . In turn, he declared her the devil. Ruth also mimicked and mocked sponsors and  the Queen .

Her on air antics inflamed many , one listener phoning in to say he had recently been released from jail and was going to rush in and bash her. Conversely , many people were protective towards Ruth and said she was a beautiful teenager with a troubled background.

Some of Ruth’s poems appeared in newspapers and magazines . She regularly contributed poems to an American punk magazine and became known in international punk circles. Photocopies of her poems, stapled at the corner, were put on sale for a $1.50 in a Townsville music shop and whenever there was a sale she was elated to think somebody wanted to read her work. The poems , with associated text , gave an insight into Ruth’s past , her lifestyle and her attitude to modern society .


Her first collections of poems bore the title As Seen Through the Eyes of a Rebel;her second, Oi!the Cause is Lost !,dedicated to people  who show their tits , have fun and are a general nuisance , carried the message not to give in ,be yourself and watch out for McDonalds, even if their chips and burgers are nice

In an explanatory note she said most of the poems were an outlet for “ my frustrations on wot I see goin on around me ”. She hoped the poems would broaden peoples’ minds- “not as in preaching and shit ” -but to learn about the other side of the coin . Giving brief and bizarre biographical details, she said she had been born in Brisbane in l968 where she had lived in “ a biscuit tin ” until 12. Now she was in Townsville, which she called Clownsville, a “ vast black hole ”, but better than Mareeba . In addition, she wrote that she been unemployed for about six years because her only experience had been with biscuit tins . The unusual biography continued : Ruth hopes to be a novelist and a beauty consultant one day . I also like crocheting ...

The poems dealt with the Clone Employment Service ( Commonwealth Employment Service ), divisions caused by religion, the isolation of the individual, trying to survive on the dole, greedy big business and inner thoughts of despondency in a flea- infested, rented house with a leaky roof.

 In the cover poem, Oi! The Cause Is Lost!, Ruth took skinheads to task for bashing people, saying they were neo- Nazis , cowards without balls , who went about in gangs . She wrote that the skinheads would probably “kick me to my knees ” for speaking out against them . There was no copyright claim on her poetry, just a request to acknowledge that she was the author and not to just rip her off .

When Ruth left Townsville for “ the south ”, she surmised that some of the “old crones” at the radio station , who strongly objected to her , threw wild parties to celebrate her departure. After two years in Sydney she returned to Townsville . When she went along to 4TTT , under new management , hoping to once more contribute to the air waves , she found the welcome mat had been well and truly withdrawn as far as she was concerned . Furthermore , she was shocked to learn the station broadcasted greyhound racing .

Once more , she departed the Townsville scene , and nothing more was heard of her ; people speculated she had come to a tragic end . However, her name appeared from time to time in contributions to several punk “ zines ” , this being the name for cheap cut and paste magazines . The October 1993 issue of the punk zine APITO , produced in Rockhampton, Queensland,  listed a Ruth Rebel poem dealing with sexism on the cover. That issue also covered the plight of East Timor , whaling and called for independence for Tibet

I became interested in Ruth Rebel about ten years ago when researching the history of 4TTT-FM, an extraordinary community radio station which would make a great TV series or a film . Through its portals passed individuals who became influential in law , politics, music , broadcasting , Aboriginal and Islander advancement , environmental protection , nuclear protests , union activities and other fields of endeavour.

A woman doctor connected with the radio station was even blamed by some northern religious fanatics for Darwin’s Cyclone Tracy because she had promoted birth control and abortion and God had punished the nation as a result . 4TTT-FM , operating with limited funds, knocked the socks off many radio stations , parts of  networks owned by conglomerates whose content is compiled  and  dictated  from  afar.

Extensive inquiries eventually led me to Ruth , with two sons, struggling along in Queensland , still writing poetry and full of fond and unusual memories of her time at the radio station. When I recounted some of the colourful anecdotes I had gathered about her and her rodent at the radio station she branded me Big Ears , addressing me as such in emails. Did I know , she asked , that a manager at the radio station had a coffin and slept in it . My large ears had picked up that titbit. Ruth told me that during her travels she had teamed up with her birth mother , but this reunion had not worked out . Her adoptive mother , a Christian , had died in her sleep before Ruth had a chance to thank her for having persevered with her .

A person from the University of Central Queensland, hearing I had been researching Ruth, contacted me and asked if I knew where she was as somebody was interested in doing a documentary about the punk rock scene and dearly wanted to speak to her. That film , called A Piss In the Ocean , included a male punk rocker,Bollocks, Ruth Rebel  listed in the credits.

Darwin activist  Stuart  Highway  admired  Ruth  Rebel.  

An email Ruth sent me dealt with the plight of women in Papua New Guinea where sexual assault and the spread of aids is rampant . Much to my surprise, Darwin activist , Stuart Highway , who had a stall at the Nightcliff Sunday market , had been in contact with Ruth Rebel in connection with several campaigns over the years. He first became aware of her in punk magazines in the 1980s and said  her poems help her cope with the boredom and stresses in her life. More than that, she was able to draw attention to injustices in the world.-(By Peter Simon ).

WHEN AUSTRALIA RODE ON THE OLD SHEEP'S BACK

The December  1936 edition of the National Geographic  Magazine, recently obtained by this blog,  contains   several  well  illustrated   articles  dealing  with  the  Australia way of  life , especially   the   importance of   wool  to the nation .
 

Of  particular note is  an  aerial photograph [above]  of  Anlaby  Station , north of Adelaide , home of the  wealthy  and  influential  Dutton  family , who   hosted royalty and many prominent people, including  Lady Spencer, Princess Diana's paternal grandmother .
 

 Anlaby  is  mentioned  in connection with the  fact that  a  fifth of the nation's wealth was   carried on  the back  of  sheep . The author wrote that the  merino  was   the "uncrowned  King of Australia, " supplying between a quarter and a third of  the world's wool .  Above the mantelpiece of one  sheep station  study  , like an  ancestral portrait , was " old David," an Australian merino ram bought for  more than  " US25,000 ! "

This sounds as if he was referring to Anlaby ,  as it was the oldest  merino  and  Clydesdale stud in South Australia , shearing more than 70,000 sheep  a  year , the homestead  employing  14  gardeners   in 1904 . Then there was the steam yacht . A member of the clan, Francis Dutton , shared in the  copper find at Kapunda which added to the  family  coffers; he  became the SA Premier  and the   SA  Agent- General in London, where  he died in 1877. 

 

 Known as   "Squire  Dutton, " Henry   Hampden  Dutton    made the first car crossing  from  Adelaide to  Darwin  in  1908  with Murray Aunger . He died, aged 53,  in his  bed  at Anlaby,  the  large house  filled  with  antiques, books , paintings ,  in  1932.  

 

Over the years , the Dutton  empire shrank along with its  fortunes  until there was a closing down auction  of contents  during  the   time of  author and poet  Geoffrey  Dutton . At the sale   was the  now  Magnetic Island  researcher and postcard  enthusiast  Gary Davies who bought  some ephemera and   a  footscraper , the latter now outside the entrance  to  his  stately  home, the grounds  of  which include part of  the Magnetic Island  old  jetty next to  a man-made billabong , the  venue for  well attended  jazz  festivals in the past  .  During the  auction , he recalled the top of  the Anlaby  fountain , which had  played before  many prominent  visitors, including  local and overseas literary  identities,   fell off , symbolising  the  end  of   a   dynasty  and  a  golden  era .  

WEST PAPUA FLAG, CAIRNS

A float representing the oppressed people of West Papua, displaying the separatist  West Papua Morning  Star flag , the same flag the centre of  a controversy in Darwin recently  , took part in  the Cairns Tropical Wave Festival .  The  flag  is  wrapped  about  a  marcher.

 Children  decked out to look like  jellyfish  and  other marine life ,below, took part in the Cairns Tropical   Wave  Festival  with  floats and  marchers  representing a  wide   cross section  of  the  North  Queensland  community .  

 

 

Strolling ukulele  players  added  to  the  colour  and  entertainment . 



WHEN TURNBULL GOVERNMENT TURNED TURTLE , MAN FROM TURTLE BEACH PLUGGED BREACH

Exclusive  report  on  Pearl Harbour like  attack  on  Canberra  Aquarium by  our  award winning   political  pundit , Argus Tuft

While the Turnbull Government  was  bobbing  belly up in the House of Representatives , the  National Party  Whip , George  Christensen  (LNP , Queensland ) ,   stripped  down  to  his  true  identity as  a  thwarted  Great Barrier Reef  turtle patron  to  help  get  the  numbers  that  finally  saved  the government from being turned into  fish  fingers  by the  ALP.  He is that large  white  figure  in the  above  dramatic  photograph , the worried looking PM about to don a made in China life jacket , Christopher  Pyne  ready  to fire soggy  Titanic  distress  flares . 
 

Before  the ALP  hit  the  government ship of state  with a  Japanese whaling  harpoon , just on closing time , corpulent  Christensen  was  dressed in  a  suit  which made him look like  a shellback  turtle . There was a frantic  call for all hands on deck as the ship began to list , so  Christensen threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves  and threw himself into the large hole in the side of  SS Turnbull .

During  the  recent election campaign those  wretched  GetUp! activists tried to chuck  Christensen , above ,  into a  huge boiling vat  of  mock  turtle   soup  when he promised to donate $12,000  to  a Whitsunday turtle rescue  group-if  he  were  voted back in . GetUp!complained to the Australian Electoral Commission  that  this  could be seen as   buying  votes, the matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police , the outcome of  that  investigation  not  yet  known . Of course ,the  AFP  is  run off its feet  of  late , invading  parliament  in a  search for  those  subversive  fiends  upholding  democracy  and  freedom  in  this country .

After the sneaky ALP attack , Immigration Minister   Peter Dutton , missing   during the   count, and  turtle teller  Christensen   drew up contingency plans to  counter  any  further  enemy attacks .

SPRING SNAKING IN UP NORTH

With  weather  supposed to be warming up , there are  increasing indications  that  Spring is here . Snakes are on the move , one  pictured left   in the Townsville suburb of Mundingburra  , where it had  taken  up residence  in  a  planter  box . Residents  have been alerted  to  watch  out  for  snakes .

 

On nearby  Magnetic Island , a harmless  green tree snake had a snap at a handyman who disturbed it  and   Coucals  have been spotted  fluttering about in the bush  and  heard  calling at night. Larry the  cussing  Lorikeet  is  also  frisky  and has been exceptionally naughty .

In fact, the Queen of the Jungle  may lodge him in the Tower of London  if  he  continues to misbehave . While she was  in Townsville  having  her  bones  realigned   because  of  injuries received when she  came off a motorbike  on a German  autobahn when  she was much  younger , Larry , home alone , went on a rampage . 

Unable to  fly because of injuries received   in Cyclone Larry , he dragged each and every one of his five  teddy bears , all much bigger than he , into his cage in which he sleeps at night . Once they were  in there , he tore to shreds the fresh newspaper  lining the Queen had  placed on the bottom . Then , over  hours, he pooped on the  poor  teddies and the new  Purple People Eater  triangular shaped  nest in  which  he snoozes .

 

Imagine the scene  which   greeted the   Queen  when she  limped through the door. Larry made  things worse  by impatiently rattling two empty food dishes , demanding  they be   filled .

Well, dear twitterpated  reader, the  Queen let fly. Larry was  abused , threatened. He joined  in  the  tirade  by  muttering , "Bugger!Bugger! Bugger !"The  bears were  rescued, cleaned ; the Purple People Eater  washed  and  hung on the line , pecked  by   those rascally  Currawongs .

During the week, the sluggish beating  hearts of  patients entering the Latitude  19 Health Medical Centre  on  the island raced  when  people   were  greeted  by  this mutilated octopus just inside  the front door . It  was not a case of an unusual   medical emergency , it was an  objet d'art  for  Dr Claus  Bader , who has  filled the  premises with  a soothing  piscatorial  theme , a  huge print of  a  crown of thorns starfish  munching away  on  the  Barrier Reef  dominates  a  wall  in  the reception  area . 

LONGTIME ACTIVIST AT TOP END LAUNCH OF WATTIE CREEK BOOK

Sans gumboots , Darwin agronomist, Rob Wesley-Smith , speaking during the launch in the  Northern Territory  Library ,  NT Legislative Assembly,   of the book, A Handful of Sand, by Charlie Ward , about the walk off by Gurindji stockmen   from the  English  owned Vesteys  Wave Hill   cattle station  in the Northern Territory  50 years ago . Ward is  next  to Wes ; Murray McLoughlin , left , Northern  Land  Council  media  officer ,  a former ABC reporter, was  the  MC .  

 

As reported  previously in this  blog, Rob   was  present when PM Gough Whitlam in 1975 handed  over the Gurindji land  to Vincent Lingiari , the historic moment   captured  in  a  famous photograph showing the PM pouring sand into the  hand of  Lingiari . What is more , Rob took the original photograph of the event , below, which  was  restaged  for  the  travelling  media .

More  details  about the involvement of  Wesley-Smith  and others  in the Gurindji  struggle  will  be  included  in  an  upcoming post .