ASYLUM SEEKER TRAGEDY / BALI BOMBING

 Shipping  Reporter  makes  unusual   find  

The  above 2004  book  dealing  with  the  2001 tragedy in which more than 400 asylum seekers  set out from  Indonesia  in an unseaworthy boat for  Australia  was   found on  Magnetic Island .   It  contains  various  related inserts   , margin  notes  and  underlining of  text , and  expresses   indignation  at  the handling of the  tragedy , which  included  the controversial  claim  that  children  were  deliberately   thrown   overboard .

A  handwritten  note  at  the  bottom of  a  page expresses the hope that one day a sailor from the Royal Australian  Navy will  tell  what  really  happened . Underlined  on  the  back cover  blurb  is  the author's claim that nothing less than a comprehensive  judicial enquiry into the sinking of SIEV  X will suffice  if  Australia   is  to  regain  its  national  honour . 

 

 

There are  stapled  in  related newspaper  cuttings  , including the  following  article by Laurie Oakes ,  illustrated  with   a  Cook cartoon . 

Another  cutting relating to the  Bali bombing  highlights the fact that  two weeks before the attack , which claimed   the lives of  88  Australians  , Australian authorities  were warned  about  an Indonesian chemist  and engineer  who could  be  involved  in  plotting  attacks  on "sin spots".   It goes on to say that documents relating to that alert  and intelligence authorities '  knowledge of  terror activities  in  the lead up to the October 12 Bali attack  were the subject of an unprecedented action  against   The  Australian  newspaper in Sydney .Three Australian Federal Police  agents  raided  the   offices  of  editor-in-chief  Chris Mitchell and investigations   editor Natalie O'Brien.  

The title page of  the book bears the   handwritten  name  of the  late  Val Noble ,Townsville, 2004, with  a telephone number . A member of the  ALP , very interested in politics,  she  lived  on Magnetic  Island  for  years , and  each day liked  going to a  coffee  shop  with  The  Australian . In  discussions  with this writer, she mentioned her  West Australian connections ,  the  late  Australian cartoonist  Paul  Rigby  and  the  Limp  Fallers'  Association  of   Perth.