Journalist Neil Dibbs , on the right , seen at a highly successful bottle dig in the old Pine Creek goldmining area of the Northern Territory , has died in Darwin . When working in London as a reporter , Neil used an early metal detector to look for Roman and old British coins on the banks of the River Thames . It was jokingly suggested he also went looking for Jack- the - Ripper's slashing implement.
By Peter Simon
Neil spent two years in Darwin with Australian Associated Press and while working for AAP in Sydney in the l980s, he was hired by South Australian transport and media millionaire Allan Scott to edit the Darwin Star which was challenging Murdoch's Northern Territory News.
Neil replaced Peter Murphy who became press secretary to the NT Chief Minister, Paul "Porky " Everingham.
The newspaper was named after the Hong Kong Star , at the suggestion of journalist Peter Blake , who had worked in Honkers. The Darwin Star , started as an independent by Kerry and Sandra Byrnes , was a bi-weekly, became a tri-weekly ,one of its contributors agronomist Robert Wesley-Smith.
It is said Scott bought the newspaper title, not its premises, for $250,00 , installed a rotary press , and declared it would become a daily , a direct challenge to the Northern Territory News .
Scott also bought an Alice Springs newspaper, was keen to buy Ansett ,had a swag of shares in the Bank of Adelaide .
As a result of Scott moving into the Territory , a so-called independent , weekly, giveaway paper , called the Darwin Sun , actually produced on the Murdoch premises , starting up, with low advertising rates . It was claimed Murdoch had to get the approval of Darwin nudists ,who campaigned for a free beach, to use the Darwin Sun name .
In any case, the growing Murdoch empire consequently started up free Sun newspapers in several places in the country where it was challenged or did not want any competitor moving in . So it could be said Darwin nudists helped Rupert apply heat on and skin media competition.
At the height of the newspaper wars in Darwin there w ere four newspapers .Conscientious Neil Dibbs worked up to 14 hours a day . Scott eventually sold out . Neil became a ministerial press officer.
Neil's wife, Sue, was involved in the Open Gardens movement. Neil may have even had some connection with a rose growing group, which sounds a bit exotic for Darwin .
In 2016 the National Trust reported that because of the generosity of Sue and Neil Dibbs it was now the custodian of an art deco American timber office chair . It had been made in the l920s-l930s, possibly by the Milwaukee Chair Company .
Neil had been a regular at the long running august body known as the Friday Club.
The writer of this post ,with Neil in the bottle digging bonanza photo at the top of this story , is the proud owner of the above rusty, model plane ,a prize awarded to the 1985 winner of a car rally by the Darwin Press Club at the Aero Club . It was given to me by Neil Dibbs and is now on Magnetic Island . It had been parked in Neil's garden for yonks. Back to the bottle digging photograph : most of them were Dutch case gins, some were Chinese.
