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Producer Gary Hunn outside the house where Ned Kelly spent the first four years of his short life.
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With
40 hours of film
shot in two expeditions following in the footsteps of Australian
bushrangers , Magnetic Island musician,
songwriter and roving honorary
ambassador for the
American state of South Dakota ( he
composed a special song
for them ) , Gary Hunn
is
bubbling over with enthusiasm about his
project . He spends hours sitting in a darkened room editing the exciting footage .
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Film crew : Director of Photography , son Kelly Hunn , with camera , and Mitchell Booth , audio engineer, at John Dunn's grave , Pioneer Park , Eastern Suburbs Cemetery , Sydney .
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More
relentless than a bounty hunter , his exhaustive
research has involved interviews with authors of books on bushrangers, visits to various state memorials, access to locked up very important sites , even with instructions to watch out for a bull , several museums , astounding
leads , hundreds of pages of old court and family
documents . Currently he is reading the
death cell letters of Captain Moonlight .
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Death mask of Andrew George Scott, aka Captain Moonlight . His head was removed while his body was still warm and the mask made.
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By
the way, do you know that the acknowledged world authority on
Ned Kelly is an American
woman in North Carolina who has never been to Australia ?
It
is surprising that some
major television network here or overseas has not contacted Gary as he
plans , at this stage , to produce two films on bushrangers and has another major project in mind . There is an international and particularly
strong American connection in the series. His research is being
carried out at his own expense.
He advances the theme
that there is a direct line from the
French Revolution, the Irish rebellions, the
brutal
treatment of convicts in Australia , the Eureka Stockade , through to the present day
political system , the Australian Labor Party , even Paul Keating , and unions .
Without a doubt , he says , the brutal treatment of convicts played a big part in men becoming bushrangers . Three million lashes were given to convicts in three years during the reign of Governor Darling.
A raconteur par excellence , Gary's enthusiasm for the
project and his knowledge on
the subject produced
incredible anecdote after anecdote during an interview with Little
Darwin.
On the Norfolk Island penal settlement , for example, he tells how a special wooden cage was built in the centre of the compound and the troops were instructed from White Hall, London , that in the event that a French or Russian vessel loomed off the island and an invasion appeared imminent Irish prisoners were to be put in the cage and burnt , because it was felt they would help any force fighting the British .
On the Norfolk Island penal settlement , for example, he tells how a special wooden cage was built in the centre of the compound and the troops were instructed from White Hall, London , that in the event that a French or Russian vessel loomed off the island and an invasion appeared imminent Irish prisoners were to be put in the cage and burnt , because it was felt they would help any force fighting the British .
NEXT
: Ned Kelly discoveries and the buried
treasure of Frank Gardiner who married a sheriff’s widow in America and knocked about with famous Wild West identities Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson .
