Rerun of a November 2010 post in Little Darwin's gonzo series- REWIND THE PRESS !-which revealed the Northern Territory's colourful media past
As The Star, an independent newspaper run by Kerry and Sandra Byrnes , which challenged the Murdoch owned Northern Territory News, grew in popularity, various groups,including the NT government, tried to influence its content.
At first, it was not realised how big an impact the paper was having on the Darwin establishment. Because the paper often took the NT government to task, it was wrongly labelled an ALP paper.
Legal threats
In the minds of government members and their media minders, however, it was so regarded. The fact that John Waters,QC, an ALP stalwart , handled the legal side of the paper , including threats of legal action , of which there were a goodly number, added weight to the conviction that it was a Labor paper.
Kerry Byrnes recalled an occasion at a function in the Victoria Hotel when he was “bailed up “ by Chief Minister , Paul “Porky” Everingham, accompanied by his press secretary , Peter Murphy , a former Star editor , and berated because the paper never had anything good to say about his government. Over and over ,
Everingham drawled , “Why don’t you like us? ” Byrnes replied that it was not a matter of liking the government - it was all talk and no action. The paper was taking the government to task for that inaction. (In a taped interview, Kerry recently said the situation changed. Everingham did become a good CM and things did happen for the betterment of Darwin . )
Pinko commie
The animosity towards The Star from some in the big end of town became evident at an unusual encounter during a polocrosse day at Fred’s Pass Reserve one weekend . Kerry was sitting -“knee deep in horse shit and empty white cans “- when a group of prominent businessmen , one a large , gruff millionaire , drew nigh.
The corpulent fellow , who later suicided, bellowed at Kerry and went on about his " fucking, pinko, commie " newspaper . He demanded to know how you could get anything positive in the double expletive newspaper . Responding in kind, Kerry told him he could buy The Star and would then have to contend with the editor . (The editor at the time was Peter Blake who, Kerry said, would tell any proprietor who performed like the millionaire where to go in no uncertain way .)
The corpulent fellow , who later suicided, bellowed at Kerry and went on about his " fucking, pinko, commie " newspaper . He demanded to know how you could get anything positive in the double expletive newspaper . Responding in kind, Kerry told him he could buy The Star and would then have to contend with the editor . (The editor at the time was Peter Blake who, Kerry said, would tell any proprietor who performed like the millionaire where to go in no uncertain way .)
The juiced up businessman enthusiastically embraced the suggestion to buy the offending publication and emphatically stated he would call round at 9 am on Monday and purchase the despicable rag . Returning home from the rowdier than usual equestrian event , Kerry related the surprising news to Sandra. They spent the weekend “ on cloud nine,” spending the money they had not yet received on European cruises, new cars, paying off debt. There would be no more creditors ringing up-like the banks which “ went ballistic ” from the first day of the paper .
On the Monday , Kerry rushed in early and got the staff to spruce up the place to make it look a glittering prize for the new owner. Someone was sent up the road to get fresh coffee and cakes. At the appointed hour, the tycoon did not arrive ; by 10.30 it was evident that he was not going to show, so everybody got stuck into the coffee and cakes.
On the Monday , Kerry rushed in early and got the staff to spruce up the place to make it look a glittering prize for the new owner. Someone was sent up the road to get fresh coffee and cakes. At the appointed hour, the tycoon did not arrive ; by 10.30 it was evident that he was not going to show, so everybody got stuck into the coffee and cakes.
Two weeks later, again at polocrosse , Kerry saw the well-heeled fellow, a little tired and emotional, and asked him why he had not kept the appointment to buy The Star . He responded by saying he had no recollection of the episode. The Star blithely proceeded along its merry way
Letter from US President
The Star had regular columnists and contributors like activists, agronomist Rob Wesley – Smith and welfare officer John Tomlinson, deeply involved in the Freedom for East Timor movement, civil liberties and the Gurindjis ,to name a few issues . Wes received a letter from US President –Elect, Jimmy Carter , re Timor. A 1976 fishing column by E.M. O’Neil , a nom de plume ,included a picture of the pollution at the Gove wharf ore loading facilities , which is still going on today, according to a recent report in the NT News, which quoted Alcan as saying it may cost up to $100milllion to overcome.
One of Kerry Byrnes’s many tasks was virtually that of a bagman to make sure there was enough money in the kitty to pay the workforce , that grew to 35, each week and meet the monthly overheads , which kept him racing about like a doped greyhound.
A representative of the Printing and Kindred Industries Employees' Union (PKIEU) rang Kerry and said he wanted to inspect the newspaper , enrol members and check conditions. Keeping the whole operation running fairly smoothly without any unforeseen disruptions was a major concern in those early days. The thought of a union coming in and somehow throwing a spanner in the works caused alarm bells to ring. Kerry told the PKIEU man that all the staff were paid above award rates and fringe benefits included cartons of beer for regular piss ups , free party tucker- cakes, biscuits , garlic bread and garlic prawns . Our employees just luv us , mate , the union rep was told .
Ticklish problem
The fact that a green frog in the ladies toilet tickled the girls, causing them to scream , was not made known to the PKIEU in case a black ban was placed on the dunny or , worse still, the entire premises placed in quarantine until deloused .
Nevertheless , the union official insisted that he would visit. Kerry went into the factory and broke the news to a German printer , who immediately reacted angrily , shouting fuck several times in an aggressive Prussian way.
On hearing his outburst , other staff wanted to know what was wrong . The angry German said Kerry was sooling the union onto everybody . Something of a League of Nations , the staff included nationals of France, New Zealand , Scandinavia and Britain , who responded in a similar fashion as the German,whose surname, oddly enough , gave the impression he was a Pommie . The emphatic consensus was that they did not want any union dues deducted from their pay.
Santamaria on the line !
Fearing an insurrection in the factory and disruption to the harmonious running of the business, Kerry spoke to a right wing union official in Sussex Street, Sydney,about the union situation. As a result of that conversation, Kerry was surprised to receive a number of telephone calls from the Catholic Action leader, B. A. Santamaria, who warned about the danger of allowing “Communist unions” into the workplace. During one of those conversations, Santamaria addressed him as “son”, and asked Kerry , a Catholic, where he had been educated . On stating Marcellin College , Camberwell , Melbourne, run by the Marist Brothers, Santamaria said he knew it well.
A small business started to take out a full page advertisement which, Kerry said , was like a tiny corner shop running a six page advert. The owner invited Kerry and Sandra to a dinner party at his home , a fortress like building , with steel shutters and a generator , where you could imagine a drawbridge being drawn up to protect it from invasion by an unwashed horde at a time of revolution .
Goosesteppers, limp fallers
As the evening progressed , disparaging comments were made about blackfellows, Asians, Vietnamese refugees and what they were doing to Australia. Sandra took umbrage at what was being said ,saying they sounded like a nest of Aryan goosesteppers , and they left . Thereafter, the fellow from the extreme right wing group ,which included several doctors, pulled his advert and scowled at Kerry whenever he saw him in the street.
Kerry and Sandra had an unusual experience at a function for Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Kerry was approached by the PM’s security men who said they wanted to eject The Star photographer because he was drunk. Kerry issued an invitation to be his guest, and the snapper was given the bum’s rush. We hasten to point out that photographer was not Barry Ledwidge . At another political dinner , an exhausted scribe fell face first into a plate of potatoes . His wife was informed that her husband was embedded in the tatties, and resignedly said he was always doing things like that .
A much read regular column, SCURRILOUS ,contained snappy ,short items, often upset some in high places. Several late night telephone calls were received by an editor from a prominent man who not only applauded the paper for its stance against the NT government in a certain contentious matter , but urged a continuation of the campaign . One item , probably more, resulted in phone taps.
A much read regular column, SCURRILOUS ,contained snappy ,short items, often upset some in high places. Several late night telephone calls were received by an editor from a prominent man who not only applauded the paper for its stance against the NT government in a certain contentious matter , but urged a continuation of the campaign . One item , probably more, resulted in phone taps.
Surprising indeed were the legion of people who wanted to provide news tips , supply interesting scuttlebutt and arrange documents to fall from the back of trucks. Alleged drug dealers were named and details of odd behaviour by well to do people were provided. The walls of The Star, including the ladies loo with its girl- eating frog, would have been papered with writs had they published all the juicy bits.
News complains to Press Council
The Star gave these complaints a run in the paper, with additional comment , further stirring the possum. The Press Council became puzzled about the complaints , and one of its members actually rang The Star and expressed surprise at the attitude of the News. After all , this was an exchange between journos who at times went in hard on members of the public , yet seemed to cry foul when subjected to banter by their own kind.
After leaving The Star, veteran photographer and graphic artist , Barry Ledwidge, applied for a job at the News. Editor John Hogan , a Kiwi rugger bugger , marched out of his office, pointed at him, and said he would never get a job on the paper because he had worked at The Star. (Hogan went on to be an editor of the Townsville Bulletin .)
However, other ex-Star photographers who did get work at the News were Clive Hyde, recently retired chief photographer at the NT News, and the peripatetic Beat Errisman ,who is attracted back to Darwin from Europe like a bee to honey.
Yet another lively column, From the Longgrass , featured a drawing by an artist called Wicking -now a popular cartoonist at the NT News.
However, other ex-Star photographers who did get work at the News were Clive Hyde, recently retired chief photographer at the NT News, and the peripatetic Beat Errisman ,who is attracted back to Darwin from Europe like a bee to honey.
Yet another lively column, From the Longgrass , featured a drawing by an artist called Wicking -now a popular cartoonist at the NT News.
Media talent ,one scruffy
Through the newspaper’s portals passed a stream of journos – Andy Bruyn , now the Channel Nine ,Darwin, chief; Rex Clark , government media adviser, Channel 7, Queensland ,high flyer ; American Toni Gragg (Kelly) , who had covered the Cuban missile crisis for the US Navy , an all rounder , PR , government media advisor , later spent a time in the Hong Kong Department of Monuments and Antiquities. Val Smith , experienced in many aspects of printing, went on to run her own rural newspaper in Darwin .
Of the many editors who passed through The Star, John Loizou was the best one from the management’s point of view in that he was able to keep the costs down. A former NT News reporter who had been forced out of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy, he found it hard to get back onto the paper, probably because he had played an active part in the strike over the editor appointed to replace Jim Bowditch. On his return to Darwin , he was forced to work as a council employee .
Later taken back by the News, he became the productive editor of the Sunday Territorian and was recently praised by NT News reporter Nigel Adlam for his performance there . From Vietnam , where he now works, Louizou this month wondered what the capitalist Byrnes team thought when he wrote in The Star that his heroes had been Lenin and Marx
The wardrobe of one reporter who often slept on the premises ran to two shirts only . Each day he would take off the crumpled shirt he had slept in, open a drawer and take out the other shirt, in similar condition ,which he had stuffed in the previous morning , slip it on and go forth to face a crisp newsy world.
Reporter bashed
A reporter was knocked down and kicked by men at night over a story . During the thumping the assailants said the reporter would not write any more stories about a well known Darwin person as he would receive another bashing. Silly fellows-the man they mentioned got another big run in the very next edition, despite the fact that the reporter had an arm in a sling .
Kerry and Sandra were included in a trade mission to Hong Kong and had an interesting discussion with representatives of the Hong Kong Star who had strong memories of the legion of Australian journalists who had worked on the paper. Apart from their involvement with the newspaper, Sandra and Kerry had dealings with David Astley,who started a nursery supply business ,Tropigro , in Darwin and got them to print a tropical gardening magazine .
After two issues , he left to become manager of Channel 8, later Channel 9. Kerry and Sandra enthusiastically continued production of the magazine, becoming deeply interested in tropical gardening in the process. The magazine attracted national advertisers and there was widespread readership in northern Australia and some enthusiastic overseas readers. Through the magazine they made many contacts with nurserymen, horticulturists and enthusiasts. Sandra ,Kerry and family once travelled from Cairns as far south as Sydney selling the magazine to newsagents and other outlets .
When the paper was sold to South Australian trucking and media magnate , Allan Scott , of Mount Gambier , Kerry and Sandra ran Arnhem Nursery at Humpty Doo, still run by the family .
Other magazines they produced were the monthly Darwin Visitor ,which promoted tourism , and separate ones for hockey with the enthusiastic support of businessman Keith Kemp and Aussie Rules Football with the involvement of Aldo Roscetto and Bob Elix, into which they put a lot of time and effort.
