DARWIN INVASION PLANS REVEALED

During Indonesia's Konfrontasi over the formation of Malaysia ,during President Soekarno’s reign, air raid sirens were installed in Darwin and police were issued with a small number of Al Capone like tommy guns to fight off the invaders. Most of those tommy guns are still in Darwin . The erstwhile head of the NT Museums and Art Galleries , Dr Colin Jack –Hinton, is said to have been given two of the guns. Are they still in the museum ? As the late Jack-Hinton enjoyed a joke and spent a lot of time in Indonesia, he may have entertained the generals there with hilarious tales about our lamentable armoury in Darwin. The RAF AVRO Vulcan strategic bombers , capable of carrying nuclear weapons , flew in and out of Darwin, and provided more of a threat to Indonesia than some Chicago popguns. By sniffing about , Little Darwin has also unearthed the fact that there were secret instructions in the ABC’s office to deny the invading Indonesians use of the broadcasting facilities. This involved smashing key equipment. The last thing we wanted was the invaders to brainwash Territorians with a cooking show - 101 WAYS TO MAKE NASI GORENG - played over and over, ending in a hearty cry, “ Merdeka!”

FORGOTTEN DARWIN ABC EVENT

A milestone in the history of the Darwin ABC newsroom –it’s 60th anniversary -went unnoticed . On March 19 , 1951, the ABC started the NT radio news service . The South Australian ABC news editor, Mr R. Morrison, accompanied by the newly appointed regional journalist,Don Dyke, came to Darwin to supervise the event . It was officially opened by the Postmaster-General (Mr Anthony).News services were broadcast at 7.30 am daily, Monday to Saturday, and at 6.25 pm daily, Monday to Friday,over the Darwin station, 5DR. Morning news services were relayed to Alice Springs through 5AL.

SPEEDY BONYTHON DODGED BOMBS

An Adelaide correspondent informs us that one of the city's notable citizens, Kym Bonython, who died March 19 , aged 90, narrowly escaped death when the Japanese bombed Darwin in 1942. An RAAF pilot, who had served in the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea , he was suffering from dengue fever when admitted to Darwin Hospital . He had just been evacuated to cover when his ward took a direct hit. A promoter , he brought many great musicians to Australia through Aztec Services and played a part in getting the Beatles to tour in 1964, ran art galleries in Adelaide and Sydney and , a lover of motor sports, encouraged Formula 1 racing in Adelaide. Against Australia becoming a republic,he favoured euthanasia. Little Darwin once had a book about 8mm photography which had been the property of Bonython in much younger days .

LIGHTS,CAMERAS,WACKY ACTION!

The global consumption of VEGEMITE is expected to rocket to astronomical heights due to a zany commercial shot in Darwin at the weekend . A 15 -strong film unit from Melbourne captured the internationally famous Darwin Rock Sitters’ Ice Hockey team in ferocious action at Mindil Beach, in a three hour shoot, watched by a puzzled group of Aborigines .

Decked out in their dazzling uniforms , the squad, never beaten by any of the top Canadian or Russian teams , once more issued a challenge to the world’s ice hockey teams to come on down to Darwin for a hit and giggle, and all the vegemite sandwiches they can eat . The awesome Darwin side looked frightening as they posed for the cameras, some players wielding golf clubs, cricket bats and other unusal armoury.

Mother Nature provided a slice of good luck for the yeast extract film-the tide was out and the Mindil backdrop looked like real ice. For one of the hockey players , padded up to look like Bazza,the Conan-like Barbarian , terror of the international ice rinks, it was his fourth appearance as a film star, his last starring role with Nicole Kidman,in a passionate scene on a boat , bobbing about near Stoke's Hill Wharf, in the epic film, Australia , the title later changed to Gone With The Wind in a desperate bid to get bums on theatre seats . Unfortunately , that steamy scene was cut from the movie . Another international hunk in the Vegemite commercial is a famous paparazzi star and a real estate investor .

The world famous Darwin Ice Hockey team is the sporting arm of what used to be the Rock Sitters Club, a group of thoughtful and enlightened residents who regularly sat on a seaside rock and debated the meaning of life over a flagon of wholesome strawberry milk.

There was even a metal flagpole on the outcrop about which the merry throng sang patriotic ditties, some singing with such gusto that they plummeted off into the sea and were eaten by the Mandorah Monster , who found them tasty, almost as good as Vegemite . By a million to one chance, lightning hit the flagpole and the rock was split asunder. Stormy seas then washed away this unique venue for cultural gatherings . PS :Incidently, this explains our CRYPTIC ROCKWORDS.

SEW MY GUMLEAF DOWN,SPORT

Expect the unexpected when you open Little Darwin -in this case a 1907 Australian postcard sent to Mrs Julian Barclay, 2116 University Avenue,University Park,near Denver,Colorado,USA. It consists of an actual gumleaf sewn to a map of Australia when the NT was part of South Australia. Expressing best wishes for Xmas and the New Year, it was sent by Madge Magarey ( a surname well known in footie circles) who resided at Park Terrace, Wayville, Adelaide. From the Peter Simon Ephemera Collection

SAVE INDONESIAN LITERATURE

Jakarta Globe recently ran a report about concerns over the largest archive of Indonesia's literature. The budget has been cut to $28,000 for the H.B. Jassin Documentation Centre at the Taman Ismail Marzuki cultural complex , Cikini,central Jakarta, not enough to meet the administration costs of the free library and carry out conservation work against mould.

Jassin,who died in 2000,was a keen bibliophile and began collecting novels, poetry and plays in Indonesian , in 1932. Today the library houses more than 16,000 works of fiction, some 12,000 nonfiction, and thousands of documents and photos from some of the country’s leading literary figures. A fund has been launched to prevent a possible closure and there have been assurances that it would be unthinkable for such a decision.

In view of the NT’s long association with Indonesia and the fact that a former Chief Minister,Shane Stone,has/had business interests in that country, there could be an opportunity for the NT government ,organisations and individuals to help.

MEDIA WARS TURNED WEEDY

Darwin agronomist and veteran activist, Rob Wesley-Smith, is like St Peter at the Pearly Gates in that he has extensive tomes in which are the names of the good, the bad and the ugly. Inserted in his Gutenbergs with a sharpened Magpie Goose quill , the ink made from the blood of fruit bats trapped on his leafy rural retreat, is invaluable information about a wide range of subjects-the struggle for Wattie Creek, East Timor, civil rights campaigns, Vietnam War demonstrations, the Territory’s agricultural and pastoral industry , our blessed civic mothers and fathers , cranial trauma, the local media, etcetera.

As a result of the recent Little Darwin post about crusading editor Jim Bowditch’s WW11 experiences, with the associated Kerry Byrnes photograph taken in 1974, Wes hit the recall button in his archives and emailed us additional details about the photo, tension at Darwin’s independent newspaper, The Star, and other media related matters . *******

Wes found the photograph of Bowditch was used in The Star by a columnist , Prudence,headed SHAPING THE NEWS ,October 18,1979. The caption read : Jim Bowditch...they don’t have editors like him anymore, the text critical of the Northern Territory News. Prudence said she did not quarrel with the quality of the journalists on the paper; it was quite clear from the blatant nature of the sub-editing and editing of the newspaper that the NT News had retreated a long way from the courageous and scrupulous journalism which characterised it under Jim Bowditch.

****** Then came a clipping about four journalists and a photographer resigning at The Star. Departing editor, Neil Dibbs stated the staff, Andy Bruyn (now of Channel 9,Darwin ), Rex Clark( Channel 7, Qld), Gary Dembon and ace photographer, Barry Ledwidge (Four 22 Images,Darwin ), had given notice as a matter of principle. Dibbs said The Star would continue to be published as the staff worked out their notice. He would not disclose the reason behind the resignations. A former Star employee said there had been a long-running dispute between journalists and the manager , Glen Rafael, a shareholder in the paper along with South Australian businessman Alan Scott, over direction of editorial content .

****** Then a “witch”- currently topical in caustic Canberra Coalition, shock jock and assorted dingbat circles-got into the act at The Star . Dawn's Cauldron, by politician Dawn Lawrie ( called a broomstick rider by drawling Chief Minister Paul Everingham ) , of 30/1/82 , announced she would no longer be contributing to The Star , for which she had been writing since its first issue . In that time the paper had survived three changes of ownership and at least six editors. Despite gloomy predictions from rivals, the paper had continued to prosper and presented stories which often enraged the establishment, she wrote. The Star had been lucky to have as its first editor, Peter Blake, a big man with a big heart, a sense of humour to match, and an international reputation as a first class journalist. Although the editors differed greatly in style and philosophy, successive editors, with the backing of management, had resisted the urgings and protestations of those who objected to people being kept informed of what was really happening in the Territory, because of some real or imagined embarrassment to the power brokers. The Star continued its independent line, with the editor taking responsibility for the paper's content and with a healthy respect between management and editorial for each other's responsibilities. How times had changed!

The new management had now decided what should and should not be printed, what the people should and should not know about what goes on in their town, and had decided to direct the editorial staff accordingly. Under these circumstances, it was no wonder that the entire editorial staff had resigned. Freedom of the press, she continued ,was not yet so lost that professional journalists were prepared to accept in toto the dictates of management when it came to the public interest and their right to know what is going on. The story which management decided /insisted must not be run appeared on the front page of a rival mid-week publication anyway,and people must now be wondering what prompted the management ban on a legitimate piece of Darwin news. “I admire the editorial staff for the stand they have taken. They are not on strike, they've resigned, but the underlying philosophy is the same.And under the circumstances there is no way I can continue to write for this paper.”Her stirring piece carried the farewell message: THANK YOU ....AND GOOD NIGHT. ( The new editor, John Loizou, guaranteed editorial independence of journalists .)

******Wes's musty parchments also turned up some personal information about the fact that his own column in the The Star -WESVIEW-came to an end , his golden prose no longer gracing its pages. Instead, businessman and politician ,Tom Harris , was given regular space and under the heading WHO'LL RID US OF THIS PEST, wrote about troublesome Coffee Bush ,or Leucaena, in the Darwin region.

Thirty years after the article, it still irks Wes that the accompanying photograph was of Mimosa. An alert agronomist would not have committed such and egregious error. Rest assured this botanical crime was entered in the Humpty Doo Doomsday Book.