ARTISTS DECORATE PULPIT

Artificial  flowers  made  by craft  club  from scraps of  material  for  Uniting Church ,  Magnetic  Island.

DUCK INN FOR HUNGRY LIZARDS

 
Vallis Pix 

ASPECTS OF EAST TIMOR STRUGGLE

Photos from Wesley-Smith Collection 

There was a dramatic scenario  when it  was erroneously suggested  longtime East Timor supporter   Robert Wesley-Smith would burn a dog alive  in a Darwin park  to  highlight  the  fact  that  America had  provided  Indonesia  with  ground attack  Bronco  aircraft   used to  napalm  freedom  fighters in  the mountains .

The above photograph  is from that event , showing him addressing   the crowd  in 1978-on  a day  of immense significance  to  America -  July 4. There was outrage from many people  when the  media carried reports that a dog would be set alight .  He  later pointed out he had  never  stated he would  perform such an act .  However, he told members of the Press  that  not  many  people  voiced  outrage  about   humans   being  napalmed  in  East Timor .

There was  great  tension  when Wes  arrived in Raintree Park . He is shown  holding up a toy dog  he  had  bought from nearby  Woolworths. He had no intention of  burning man's best friend, nor  an imported  Chinese  soft  toy.

However, a group of supporters had proposed  dousing a cut out wooden dog with metho  and  setting it alight, but he  had  firmly ruled this out . Perversely, some of those who turned up seemed  annoyed that no dog had been incinerated . An angry letter to the editor writer branded the event a  Commo stunt . There was a dog ,albeit  sleepy (below ) at  the rally ,which was attended by  police  and other officials , even  a suggestion there had been a sniper on a nearby building . 

There were many interesting people at the demonstration . In the top  photo  back  row , far left , in  a  hat , was  Sam  Kruger , worthy of  a  major  documentary , books ,  who  is  said  to  have played a part in Operation Vengeance in which  the  Americans shot down  Harvard trained  Admiral Yamamoto, who masterminded the bombing of Pearl Harbour , outlined in  this blog . Kruger , buried  in Alice Springs , also  was said  to have had a connection with  the Israeli military  leader  Moshe Dayan ; Sam  was visited by  Israelis  in  Darwin.

An intelligence source  once  informed Kruger , a supporter of the East Timorese , that  he  and his" four eyed mate", Wesley-Smith , would be killed if they went to Singapore. 

In the crowd at Raintree Park  was Jon Isaacs of the Miscellaneous Workers' Union and  leader of the  NT ALP.  Another was  Peter Job, involved in the East Timor Support Movement  during the Indonesian occupation , which included working on the radio link to Fretilin in 1978. Job went on to obtain a PhD. in International and Political Studies and wrote A Narrative of Denial , Australia and the Indonesian Violation of East Timor,available from Melbourne  University Press . 

See also Wesley-Smith's Ebook  117 Days in East Timor . 

INTERESTING EDIBLE LINKS BETWEEN KIWIS AND THEIR AUSSIE COBBERS

 

The cover  of the latest edition of the above magazine  features   Anzac  Biscuits and a tasty  Pavlova  Sponge ( named after the Russian ballerina ) decorated with  added  modern  Kiwi  Fruit (actually Chinese ) pieces  -  items  of common   cultural   interest  . 

It came as a surprise to  read that the  1949 design for the Royal Tour of NZ stamp  , which did not eventuate because of  the king's poor health, featuring the Treaty House at Waitangi,  erected in 1835, had  first  been  built  in  Sydney from  Australian  timber.

The  monument  on  the cover is  a New  Zealand  Maori War  memorial  in  Hobart ,Tasmania, erected in  l850.

 The  call  to  visit  New Zealand  is  from  a  l930s  window display  in  Sydney  for  the  Union Steamship  Line . 

Apart  from  the  eye-catching  cover, the journal , as usual, has  articles  of  great interest  such as Van Diemen's Land  ( Tasmania ) 1838-1858; New South Wales prisoner photographs ,C1870-l930; Looking  for  Kiwis  in  Australia.

Under  the heading Kiwi orphan,Australian entrepreneur , there is a well illustrated article about Nora Isolda Hurse, born in March 1913, at Te Puke , in the Bay of Plenty,  orphaned at an early age,  nicknamed  Swanee ,because of the shape of her neck .

On moving to Australia  , after  her  third marriage,  under the name Nora Burnett, she set  up the first   agency  for     people  in   films, stage  , radio and  television  .  At one stage  she had  60 top radio actors under  exclusive contract  .  The writer of  the  article ,on a visit from New Zealand  to see Aunty  Swanee  , who lived at Kings Cross,  became an extra  on the film set of  They're a Weird Mob , from the comic  novel by John O'Grady,about Italian  journalist  Nino  Culotta  who comes to Australia  to write a series  about the country for  Italians  wanting to  emigrate  here.

The small part the woman  had on the film set  involved pretending it  was a beautiful day  at  Bondi , leaping about in the waves, when it was actually  freezing .Mrs  Burnett  managed a  concert party which entertained soldiers in Japan and Korea during the Korean War in l952.She retired to the Gold Coast ,often went to the casino, died in 2002. 

NEW FLIGHTY ISLAND HAIRDRESSER

 

MARS ROVER BECOMES UBER TAXI

 

SUNSET AT AURUKUN , CAPE YORK