It can now be revealed that Barry Humphries provided Russia with details of the outrageous Australian government treatment of artists , writers and talented , myopic women from Moonee Ponds .
In an exclusive dispatch from Moscow , using the thinly disguised name , Beria Humphivitch , the patriotic Australian told the truth about Down Under in a lengthy shock document run in the Melbourne high class publication, Broadside, edited by activist Pete Steedman , on September 18 , l969 , who went on to become an ALP politician .
Briefly , it said a terrifying document signed by dozens of Australian artists, writers and intellectuals had been smuggled into Russia telling the horrendous story of how the works of talented men and women were suppressed by the State .
Some were even being forcibly restrained by the State from fleeing to the free world . Recently, a young satirist , as a protest , had turned himself into a human torch, warning picture follows.
It went on to say that hundreds of stories were pouring into the Soviet Union revealing that many writers were forced to bury their manuscripts and bank statements underground .
It cited the case of an Aboriginal wrestler and intellectual , who managed to elude customs officials , tried to swim to Siberia , but had been washed up in Bulgaria . Still pinned to his briefs was a bloodstained badge : I AM A FRIZZY- HAIRED OVERPAID BLACK POOFTAH . He had died soon after .
The gruesome report included the following photo of the remains after the self immolation of the satirist , with the caption : The death of an artist as a Taxpayer .
Published fortnightly, Broadside, run by David Syme and Company Limited , was a wide ranging publication which covered the Vietnam War, art, theatre, books ,Aboriginal affairs , censorship , and chess also ran talented cartoonists and illustrators such as Michael Leunig and Peter Burleigh . Did a muscular Russian female pothole filler , Olga from the Volga , inspire Dame Edna ?
