NT ELECTION SCOOP : SEXY MARILYN MONROE HELPED CLP

The Seven Year Itch featured in the downfall of the Henderson Team .  On election day , near the Darwin Karama electorate voting booth-the seat held by Treasurer , Delia Lawrie , now Leader of the Opposition - was none other than the Hollywood film star , Marilyn Monroe , flaunting a CLP T-shirt . Actually it was the larger than life figure of Marilyn which used to be one of the unusual items on display in Finlay’s Sticky Beak Shop, depicting the scene from The Seven Year Itch , her skirt blown up by  gusts from subway vents.  Little Darwin understands that the figure , complete with a  wind blowing device, was bought from Finlay’s for a mere 50 bucks. In her slightly more demure attire, she supported young CLP candidate, Rohan Kelly, 23,  who polled well for a new chum . It is a shame that the real Marilyn was not available to sing happy birthday , Mr President , to Terry Mills . Is it true that some ALP helpers complained about Marilyn’s presence ? The above  photograph shows a  26ft  high sculpture of  Marilyn in the  itchy pose, which stopped  the  traffic  in Chicago. How come  Darwin's  dynamic media  did not  pick up the fact  that  Marilyn participated  in the election ?

WILD NT ELECTION TALES

In the wake of every election a major shake out takes place, post- mortems are held, old scores settled , odd stories run riot. Naturally, there is speculation about the likely new ministerial appointments and who will be given the shadow ministry responsibilities. Shock departures from the political fray are often announced . Among the most interesting scuttlebutt being put about town is that the former Chief Minister , Paul Henderson, and/or  former Treasurer, Delia Lawrie , will announce  retirement “within days.” Why ? we asked , reaching for a few grains of salt . The emphatic explanation given claimed that retiring in the top positions meant their superannuation entitlement would be much higher than staying on in Opposition in much lesser positions on lower pay. Whether fact, fiction or indication of a stressful build up period , this is not known. Nevertheless, it is an indication of the buzz about the town***Another fascinating P3 titbit is that when the CLP previously lost government and had to move from the Wedding Cake top floor there was a large amount  of choice vino in their bunker . Wonder how much  workers’ juice , saki , cognac, champers  and Scotch will have to be moved for  the ALP ? *** Speculation also concerns the future of former ALP spin doctors and a certain journalist in the media who is expected to depart the NT . *** Most fascinating is the suggestion that a special calendar is planned for the Christmas market which will focus on colourful aspects of Territory politics, a bit like those fabulous Pickering cartoons which showed many Australian politicians in all their glory .***Channel 9 is to be taught the correct pronunciation of NEW ERA...not NEW ERROR . Then again, some might  think it  was   another  Territory  technicolor  blue .

OUR WES BOILED IN OIL

Interesting to see that Little Darwin’s series on Darwin activist Rob Wesley-Smith under the heading  THE UNQUIET AUSTRALIAN ( a play on  Graham Green's book, The Quiet American ) carried over into the 2012 Portrait of a Senior Territorian. The oil painting of Wes done by NT News reporter Alison Bevege (above) was entitled THE UNQUIET ACHIEVER.  Another person mentioned from time to time in Little Darwin – veteran photographer Barry Ledwidge – is also an artist  and entered a portrait of scientist Roswyn Rennie. In his biographical details, Baz said he spent a lot of time sailing and going to parties. He also proudly pointed out his membership of the Darwin Ice Hockey team and  the fact that he eats lots of Vegemite .

" NEVER TRUST NEWSPAPERS." Continuing biography of crusading Northern Territory editor,"Big Jim" Bowditch.

Boyish  and  diminutive-looking Bowditch (left) with close friend, Federated Clerks' Union official, Harry Krantz, both strong ALP supporters. Bowditch challenged   "pseudo Labor Party" members, later stood as  an  ALP candidate in Darwin .

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IN 1950 Bowditch became involved in the bitter national union and political struggle during which ASIO kept a close watch on him. He went from being a clerk hailed as a war hero to a person openly branded a “ Commie” and spat at during a rowdy meeting in an Adelaide theatre.

(By Peter Simon )

The union drama was due to the right wing campaign to “ cleanse ’’ Australian unions of left wingers and Communists . Catholic Action took a key part in the battle and “Industrial Groupers” manoeuvred to seize control of unions . The ensuing brawl led to a split in the ALP and the formation of the Democratic Labour Party . One of the major targets was the Federated Clerks’ Union ; a scalp obtained by the right wingers was Jack Hughes of the NSW branch who had inspired Bowditch with his powerful oratory.

In the fiercely fought election for the SA branch of the FCU , which included Jim’s position as secretary of the Alice section , he supported Krantz as SA state secretary. Bowditch found himself in the strange position of being supported by both sides in the election. Without consulting him , the Groupers claimed him as one of theirs, probably because they felt a war hero was against anyone branded a Communist. Bowditch received a telephone call from an Adelaide journalist pointing out that he was being supported by both sides . Bowditch said he was in Harry Krantz’s group , which resulted in a newspaper story saying that he had refused to back the right wingers , implying that he was , in Jim’s words , “a red hot Commo”.

Bowditch went to Adelaide for meetings with Krantz and saw the journalist who had written the report to put him right. However, he said the reporter seemed to have swallowed the “Establishment’s bullshit ”. Bowditch commented that he should have sued the paper . In Adelaide a FCU how to vote pamphlet, containing A Message from Jim Bowditch D.C.M., M.I.D., was issued  repudiating  the “  insulting inference ” that he was in anyway associated with the anti-union body seeking to “ capture” the union ; under the sub heading Jim Bowditch says- it showed how to vote in the union election.

A copy went into the ASIO files along with a Tribune item in which Bowditch was quoted as having said that if what the clerks’ union executive was doing amounted to Communism , then he “would be in favour of Communism ”. An Advertiser report saying that Bowditch had denied membership of the Industrial Groupers was also included in the ASIO report.

Bowditch attended a noisy clerks’ meeting in the Tivoli Theatre, Adelaide , to consider a call by the Groupers to remove the entire executive of the SA union . It was said to be the biggest union meeting held in Adelaide, possibly Australia , with more than 600 people present. Both sides were in force , and very vocal . A report said about 350 people were lined up outside the theatre at 7.30 and each person’s name was checked to see if they were on the union membership roll. Some people shouted : “Krantz, why don’t you lift the iron curtain ? ” The last person was admitted at 8.30.

Up on the stage , Krantz introduced Bowditch as a war hero and Jim rose to speak. He hardly got a few words out before heckling and booing began . Despite the uproar , he carried on . During his speech he said he could not understand why the Catholic church was backing moves which were designed to split the ranks of the working class, a statement which caused an explosion of jeering from right wingers. Some people ran down the aisle shouting, one spitting at Bowditch across the orchestra pit . Fights and scuffles broke out . The bid to oust the executive failed 375 votes to 272 .

An oddly worded newspaper account of the meeting said it had been orderly , “with the exception of two bursts of uproar”, one lasting for five minutes before heckling of Krantz subsided.

Soon after the wild Tivoli meeting, Bowditch felt compelled to write a letter to the Adelaide Advertiser to answer various claims being made by the Groupers. However, the paper cut out 200 words , which angered him . After reading what the paper did to his letter, he wrote to the FCU : “ I have decided it is much better to leave the daily Press alone as one does not get very far with them , and I now hope that the matter fades out. ”

In the letter Bowditch said, among other things, that he had referred to the right wingers as pseudo-Labor because no genuine Labor follower would attempt to disrupt a union which had made the progress like the SA branch of the FCU had made in the last eight years. Furthermore, no genuine Labor follower would employ the tactic used by Groupers in state and branch elections of inferring anyone opposing them was either a “Red ” or dominated by a “Red” .

Bowditch said the SA branch executive followed the non-political, non-sectarian rules of the union and were not “ stooges ” to any political party . It wished to further the interests of all clerks -whether a large portion of its members voted Liberal, Labor, independent or informal.

He went on to say : “ It is my personal belief that a Labor government is preferable to a Liberal for wage earners, and I vote and work for the ALP accordingly . However, I am totally opposed to union affiliation with the ALP or any other political party for many reasons, some I have given, and certainly oppose the Industrial Group’s intrusion into our union and the resulting disruption . ”

Bowditch called at the offices of interstate newspapers trying to explain the FCU’s case to journalists. At the Sydney Telegraph , he stated that the editor, David McNicoll , called him a “ Red Ragger ” and ordered security staff to show him off the premises.

In a postscript to a letter he wrote Krantz, Bowditch made a Wodehousian remark : “Give those Groupers whato !”  Bowditch and Krantz went to Darwin for the first FCU conference in the NT where Jim mixed with unionists and visited the Northern Standard newspaper. In the bitterly fought FCU elections which followed Bowditch and Krantz survived the Groupers’ onslaught.

During the election campaign a Catholic priest speaking from the pulpit told clerks in his Alice flock not to to vote for Bowditch . On being informed of this, Jim went round and debated the issue with the man. It was a typical act for Bowditch - he liked to hear what the opposition had to say on every issue and would debate the matter . Even during the vicious meeting in Adelaide and the conference in Nowra , he had surprised many on “ his side” by wanting to engage the opposition in face to face debate , and let them have their say .

While this bitter battle raged , Bowditch continued his work as a clerk in Alice. Once he was sent to Tennant Creek to report on a strange situation where the key to a safe was supposedly  lost. When it was opened by an engineer the 700 pound ($1400) which should have been inside was missing. The man responsible for looking after the money admitted having spent it on drink and gambling.  During his travels in the Centre Bowditch met surveyor Len Beadell who built extensive access roads in the outback for  the  Woomera rocket range tests. NEXT: Aboriginal advancement moves in the  NT.

UP A LAZY NORTH QUEENSLAND RIVER

RISING FROM THE DEAD

Grey Nomads chanting an AFL song send real estate values plunging in the outback as Bulldust Diary author Peter Burleigh and his disturbing  travelling companions blunder on through Western Australia before it is dug up and exported overseas and  to the new  lucrative market on Mars .

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Two members of our group who must remain anonymous to prevent action for libel but whose names are Bob and Mickey, wake and rise at 5am. They slam car doors, rumble their voices, clatter their cups and barely stifle their laughter. They are louder than any six roosters. Everybody wakes up to share the grumpy joys of pre-dawn sleepus interruptus. The two instigators of this torture insist the tweeting of the birds is responsible for our early starts. No wonder we all drop off to sleep around 8pm each night.

Stimulating discussions are rare because the intellectuals among us are dozing or comatose. You might, for example, wish to debate why ice hockey isn’t played in Central Australia, but you can’t. Mr JW, who has asked me to describe him as "no more decent man ever stood up in a pair of shoes" (a  donation in a glass was made to the author for the inclusion of this accolade) , has the kind of enquiring mind which wants to ask such questions, but is frustrated by such early starts. Because I am bemused by anything that happens before 9.30am, I cannot describe the contributions to our national wellbeing made by those who sacrifice their mornings’ sleep. The NASA space program has been credited with several technological advances but none have yet flowed from the EMWUP (Early Morning Wakeup Program)

Another of our number has been re-named Bermuda because of his vagueness and habit of being late. He gets lost. Disorientation is no stranger to him. He is in fact the Southern Hemisphere representative of the Bermuda Triangle in Australia. It follows him around like a dark cloud. I watch him carefully and notice a striking likeness to Clark Gable: the hair, the nose, the moustache. He is a mayday call waiting for the Global Positioning System to break down.

At Windjana Gorge our tents are as hot as saunas, but in the magnificent Gorge the walls throw cool shadows around us. Vast limestone cliffs rise above us as we walk up the river. Crocs are everywhere, drowsing in the sun. They seem very passive, but I’m not about to annoy one to test the limits of its passivity. This Gorge and the nearby Tunnel Creek was the setting for a bloody struggle between local Aborigines and the Settlers. Jandamarra, the leader of the Aboriginal resistance, held out in the cliffs and tunnels for over three years until he was shot down in 1891 by a blacktracker.

At Tunnel Creek, a remote extension of Windjana Gorge, we wade through waist-deep water through almost a kilometre of limestone caves. The miner’s lights on our heads show the red dots of a crocodile’s eyes in one of the cave sections. Bats fly above us. They squeak. Do vampire bats squeak? At the far end the cave opens onto a sunlit pool surrounded by green trees full of birds and butterflies. Tiny fish swim around your feet. Magic. Even a Conga Line of Nomads wading towards us singing an AFL team’s theme song can’t break the spell.

Galvans Gorge is further up the Gibb River Road, which is deteriorating faster than a Grey Nomad’s libido. After a 1km walk you reach a sweeping rock pool fed by a lacey waterfall. The cliffs around the falls form a Cinerama scene (Baby Boomers probably will deny knowing about this widescreen technique). Quite a stunning oasis in miles and miles of arid bugger-all.

A further stretch of corrugations, sharp protruding rocks and loose stones mockingly referred to as a road brings us to the Mount Barnett Roadhouse. Its coat of arms should be a red circle with a slash through it and its motto is “NO”.

•NO tyre repairs.

•NO shop after 5pm.
•NO mechanical repairs.
•NO credit.
•NO Internet access.
•NO food (that isn’t previously crumbed, battered, re-heated or fried).
•NO beer or liquor at all, at any time.
•NO wet shoes in the shop.

Interpol has kindly supplied  the above  photograph of a person believed to be Peter Burleigh in a  secret  foreign hideaway. Hordes of  angry  Grey Nomads   keen to tar and feather  Burleigh for making   fun of them  should follow up this  lead with the help of Rex , the  wonder police  dog.

BREAKING NEWS : In a surprise  development , Peter Burleigh  has  sent Little Darwin a message while floating  about OS. In part , it says : While we were basking in the French sun we followed the weather  reports from Darwin. Ghastly. No doubt you are all as pale as parchment and as wrinkled as albino prunes...I will be working on a few pieces for Little Darwin which will reveal the truth about French culture, its icons and its future. Like all Little Darwin's correspondents , I have minimal knowledge of such subjects but do have passionate opinions. As George Orwell or Oscar Wilde insisted, "ignorance is bliss".

MAJOR QUEENSLAND INFLUENCE ON TERRITORY ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

The aftermath of the LNP Campbell Newman landslide victory in Queensland which decimated the ALP could influence-even decide - the Territory election. Already the ALP ( Henderson Team ) here has  repeatedly highlighted  the announced intention to slash more than 20,000 public service jobs in Queensland and stop funding in other areas as a  warning to Territory voters. . In a full page advertisement in the NT News , ACTU president Ged Kearney , in an open letter to NT public sector workers, has drawn attention to the slashing of jobs by Coalition governments in Queensland , Victoria and NSW. She asks if the CLP can be trusted to protect public services and those who run them. Public servants have also been brought to the Territory from Queensland and NSW to publicly  voice their concerns and  warnings.

During a recent trip to Queensland this writer twisted  radio dials, channel jumped and studied newspapers reports and letters to the editor to get a grip on the political pulse.  Front page stories throughout the state saying thousands of jobs to go , regional papers headlining the local numbers to be axed ,  generated a palpable feeling of unease, a sense of  betrayal , exactly like that noticed following  the election when the Bligh Government , without any prior warning, announced it was going to sell state assets .

The Newman Government cuts are to be made in many departments – agriculture, fisheries, works , roads,  nowhere seemed immune . There was even a newspaper report that the use of photocopiers would be severely curtailed in government departments-indicating incredible penny pinching or a desire to keep secret government information. Another report claimed a number of courts were to be closed.  What next ?   Funding for established literary and musical events got the axe. There have been large union protest rallies in Brisbane against the Newman Government .

The suggestion that the Queensland breast cancer screening organisation would be scrapped resulted in a massive anti –government response which clearly rattled some pollies . Newspaper letters to the editor and the airwaves were filled with angry comments from women and many men . The government hastily claimed there would be no change , it would just be handed over to local hospitals to do the work . Loading already overworked Queensland hospitals with more responsibilities did not wash with  many members of the public. What probably did not get a mention in the Darwin media is that a poll carried out in " Can Do" Premier Campbell Newman’s electorate of Ashgrove showed that his support had slumped nine percentage points since his election in March , indicating he would not win the seat if an election were held right now.

People in the electorate reportedly expressed anger and frustration with his new government . A commentator said people were shocked by the ham- fisted way an apparent arrogant government was going about cuts, seemingly  “ settling scores”, operating in a “ clubby way.” A political observer contact in Brisbane said Premier Newman , with his jutting jaw, reminded him increasingly of the strutting Italian wartime leader Mussolini, il Duce ( the Chief ), who came to a sticky end–hung upside down from a tree with his mistress by angry countrymen at the end of his reign .  While he says  Premier Newman  may get the Sunlander  train to run on time to Cairns , he may  derail the voters'  support in the process.  This analysis of   El Supremo  Newman  seems to accord with  the Green Left  magazine cover  at  the top of the post , a great collector's  item.   While it might be thought unthinkable that the ALP could win the next shoot out in Queensland , the way the Newman regime  is rattling the community there could be  a  massive swing against it. A recent  gaffe of his was to equate the Queensland financial position to that of  Spain, which upset  the business  community .

In the NT , the CLP has made confusing statements about public service employees and its election campaign is being run along similar lines  as that in Queensland  by the same person who ran the LNP campaign in the Sunshine State. There is to be a combined rally in Raintree Park at midday on Tuesday. An email from Thomas Mayor of the  NT Maritime Union of Australia urges members to attend , his message:  The Liberals have sacked thousands (QLD more than 20,000) of public servants effecting not only the families of those workers, but also reducing the services provided to everybody. The CLP are anti worker, opposing improvements to Workers Compensation and Definition of a Worker laws passed by the Labor government recently. Come to the rally to tell Tollner and Mills that we don’t want them in government and if they do win, they better not attack workers and their families.

It will be interesting to see   how big an influence " southerners", especially those in Queensland, will have on the Territory election outcome .