COLOUR COORDINATED CURLEWS

The colourful Magnet Island  Curlew colony  has  seen the sudden reappearance of   Bluey , so named because he has a  blue band  about a  leg . He  has joined  Yellow Baby , right , who sports a yellow band plus a dash of dark green , like the flag or armband of some Banana Republic, yet is nevertheless still known as  Yellow Baby  instead  of El Supremo .

 

Wearing  an identification  band  indicates  the bird was probably saved   from  a  near death  or  dangerous situation  as a  chick by  a  carer, of which  there  are  a devoted  number on  the  island . 

 

Another banded  Curlew , left, is Whitey. In the  case of Bluey , he had gone missing a long time ago , so  his return is  a matter of rejoicing   by  Bev,   from  the Man  Friday Mexican  restaurant,  who feared  the  worst. 

  

Meanwhile , here at the Little Darwin ranch, our resident  Curlews have produced another   chick [ above]  with its mother . A  second egg disappeared  for  some  unknown reason , the suggestion being that it could have been taken by  a  Currawong  which had  been  worrying  the  nesting  birds. Ever since the chick  was born it  has been trotting  about  day and night , like the Road Runner , or  a  Russian athlete .

 

Other Curlews on the island are known to be sitting on eggs while some are showing signs of  going  broody . A Coucal was seen passing through the backyard bringing back memories of  cheese loving   Dracula , who also suddenly disappeared . Bev and the Queen of the Jungle  had looked after Dracula  from when he was  young .

Dracula soaking up the sun  before he went missing .

GLOBAL WASTE SPONSORSHIP FOR VICTORIOUS COWBOYS

Cleanit Industrial  Services  rig  on  Magnetic Island .Cowboys  cleaned up Canterbury Bulldogs , 36 to nil .

 

TEAR-JERKER MUSICAL BY ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER BASED ON AUSTRALIAN ELECTION SOB STORY

 CANBERRA : To show that the Turnbull Government is not a  bunch of South American  dictators , the shiny new regime , all wearing made in  Sri Lanka  starched  brown shirts and jocks , has promised to back Andrew Lloyd  Webber's production of  an epic  musical    called  Don't Cry for Me  Australia , inspired by  Eva Peron's smash hit  song   from  Evita  about  tragic Argentina , where the Yanks, once again, conspired to oust an elected   government in a right wing  coup   d'etat.

Webber  got the  brilliant idea  after  hearing that grounded former Speaker  Bronwyn Bishop , soon  to write a reveal all  book ,  was reported  as saying she was  crying  for Australia ; the  daddy of Federal Parliament , septuagenarian   Senator  Ian Macdonald , with  the undoubted wisdom of  the  elderly, said  he  knew  the election  would end  in  tears .

Senator Macdonald, it will be remembered was one  of  the scrutineers  for the "Town Crier ," Ewen Jones, in the   House of Reps seat of  Herbert , who is  a bit glassy eyed  after losing the  election  by eight  votes  to Cathy O'Toole (ALP ) ; there  will be a  recount  which will  be attended  by a planeload of  beady-eyed   Philadelphian lawyers acting  on  his  behalf.

 

There are reports  that Senator Macdonald  has  offered to  ship down  to Canberra  his piano  in  Townsville , see  above ,   to brighten up the party room  meetings where so many members are  misty eyed  at the thought of  those  who  lost their  seats . A kind  of  footy club  gathering about the pea green musical instrument with the senator pounding  away   with  his  good hand and both feet  , would undoubtedly lift  the spirits of  those  born to rule , who believe in  the  eye watering (for  wage slaves )   trickle  down  theory  of  economics.

 

True blue  weeper .

A sad,  unnamed  member of the Liberal Party , right , was snapped  by our candid cameraman just before he burst into  tears, demanded  a  tear  vial  in which to  catch and seal  his salty teardrops... and  a  crate of  Grange  to  drown  his sorrows .

 

 Some members of the Coalition,  however, known as Dad's Army, are more stoic,  and  only display  tears of  joy over the  latest attack plan , Operation Junta, in top secret meetings in  the  Monkey Nut  and Tasmanian  Devil   bunker.      

And the Townsville Bulletin  editor's eyes  must have  popped when Cathy O'Toole  was declared the preliminary  winner , as the  paper  , which at one stage  during the campaign  said  Jones did not have a clue, ran a   leader  strongly  backing   Jones, urging readers to vote for Ewen  . But then  the Murdoch  chain of papers  backed  the  Coalition across  the  nation.


Incidentally , the Chinese  regard   the number  8 as  very lucky . For example , the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics  in China took place  on 8/8/08 at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8pm ; the 8th day of the Chinese New Year sees the  annual gathering  of  the gods in Heaven .

So Cathy O'Toole  should feel  delighted  and lucky  by  her  8 vote win . In the event   of  a recount  turning  this into   an  88 vote win , the Chinese would regard this number  as  bringing  double joy. Would it ever ... Chinese celebratory  banquets  would be held   throughout  the electorate in ALP circles , with much rice  wine  consumed  and  8 tonnes  of   fireworks ignited  atop  Castle Hill . 

DARWIN WATCH #1

Shirley Shackleton passing through Darwin this  week on the way to  Dili  in connection  with the  proposed  film  about  the murder of  the    Balibo 5  and  Roger East by  the  invading  Indonesian  forces .

  *** 

 

Suggest the Northern Territory  News   UFO  reporter come down to earth  and  , along  with other Darwin media ,   check  on the  near  17 year   battle by Shirley Collins  to be recompensed for  her ruinous part in the   badly arranged by the Australian government   of   the  Bank of  America  Tour Down Under of  the USA in the lead  up  to  the Sydney Olympics .
 

***



 

The Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory  is  being relocated   from  its Cavenagh Street  premises  to 84 Smith Street , near the Chinatown carpark . Because of the move, the library will close July 26.  Any local journalists  who care to venture into the GSNT on a regular basis  and  ask questions   will discover   that  it  has   a thousand  untold  stories  which  can  be  written  by  other  than   historians . A News mugwump once  complained bitterly   about the high cost  of   getting  an  historian to write material about  the NT 's colourful  past when the obvious answer  was  to  get  reporters  to stop chasing  endless yarns about crocodiles, UFOs , crackers up clacker , etc.  and  exercise  real writing   and   investigative   skills   to    write   the   pieces   themselves .





MY LONG CHASE AFTER AUSTRALIA'S TARZAN

Peter Ryle's book

On a list of subjects to be researched during a   too short visit to the Cairns Historical Society was Michael "Tarzan" Fomenko , who gave up city life  to  roam  about  Far North Queensland , living mainly in the open , building  canoes, one of which he  paddled  800kms from Cooktown  to  Dutch   New  Guinea . 

The  athletic  son  of  a  supposed "Russian Princess " and a  father who was a  master  at  Sydney Church of England Grammar School, Fomenko  received  much  media  attention,  dubbed The Wild White Man  of  North   Queensland .

 

By  Peter Simon
 

When I was a reporter on the Cairns  Post  in the  early l960s, a Sydney newspaper asked me to track down  Fomenko  and  write  an article about him .

 

 While I did not  find  Fomenko , I spoke to people who  had  seen  Tarzan , had hearsay anecdotes  , had seen him  from a  distance  getting about in  a loin cloth  with a knife  at his  hip,  a  bag over his shoulder  in which  he carried  sugar  cane he obtained  from the Babinda  sugar mill.  It was said   "wild looking " Fomenko once camped on a  beach to  which there  was   a  bus service that  he occasionally used , never  paying , the driver too scared to ask for money from  this  strange man   carrying  a   knife. 

 

A straight story I wrote as a result of my search  got a  run  in Sydney and  up came a   renowned  beat up  reporter  who  went to  Cooktown  and  then south to isolated  Cedar  Bay  resulting in an exclusive in which Tarzan Fomenko supposedly  gave  his last interview before forsaking civilisation forever  and   dashing  off  into the  wilds of Cape York  , scattering  tropical flowers  along the way. There was  even  a  photograph  purporting to show  him in the  jungle  when in fact it was  a   well  known  Cedar  Bay  identity  who was paid  to stumble  through  the  undergrowth  and  pretend  to  be Tarzan .

Cairns Post photographer John Ellison and I both  chortled  over and made  highly disparaging remarks about  Tarzan's bogus  last  interview  story ; John , a caring individual   who  along with his wife had been involved in helping Aboriginal communities , later  worked  for East West Airlines  in Tamworth, where he  committed suicide   in   his   photographic  darkroom . 

 

By sheer  good luck , when I called at the Cairns Historical Society in attendance  was a member ,  historian , Peter Ryle, of  Kuranda ,  who in February  this year   had  launched  the  above book, Michael " Tarzan" Fomenko  The  Man Who  Dared To  Live His  Own Exotic  Dream .

 

The  book  nearly did not eventuate . Author Ryle  details  how  Harold Jung ,  into body building and martial arts  , had  befriended   Fomenko  and  over 20 years  had  gathered a  wealth of  material-taped interviews , newspaper cuttings ,  radio reports ,  photographs ,  intending  to  write a book  about  him .

 

 Harold's parents, Bruno and Jutta Jung,  had owned a  cane farm  at Deeral , south of Cairns , where  Fomenko had  built  his  first canoe while   living on the banks  of  a  river.

 

Over the years, Harold Jung  called into the Cairns Historical Society in his  search for more  information   about  Fomenko  and came into  contact with Canadian Gil  Jennex who, after  retiring in  Darwin, where he had  worked in the education department  ,  got  the library  into  order  at  the  historical  society.

 

Jennex   said   the intention was that Jung   would  write   a  book about Fomenko ; chapters had been discussed and other  book writing related   aspects.  However,  Jung  developed cancer and  died .

 

His  brother , Ingram , later came to the historical society and discussed what could be done with  his  brother's  Fomenko  archive .   Jennex  directed  him  to  Peter  Ryle who,  after  working at  various jobs including with  the Queensland Railway, Queerah Meatworks , near Cairns ,  and 30  years as  a brickie , retired  and began studying  history and politics  at  James Cook University , Cairns.  He had  written several books on North Queensland ,  including the history of the Cairns Port Authority . His wife, Lorraine , typed  book   manuscripts  for  the late Northern Territory  and   Queensland   author  and   publisher , Glenville Pike .   

 

Ryle put  a  solid year into  double checking  the information , recontacting people interviewed  over  the years  , the  book   launched  at  the  German Club .

 

Fomenko  is  now  in  a  retirement  village  in  Gympie, Queensland.  Author Ryle can be contacted at peter.ryle@bigpond.com 

LATEST DOMAIN GAME TAKES ITS TOLL IN QUEENSLAND

Handicapped counter 

The sight of  Queensland   Senator  Ian  Macdonald  (right) with an arm in a medical type sling has raised   eyebrows  and  provided  some wild speculation  in  the tense , long drawn  out  Townsville   counting of  votes  for the  seat of  Herbert  where the lead has  swung to  and  fro  between the  incumbent  LNP  Ewen  Jones  and  ALP  candidate  Cathy O'Toole . (The  latest  inside tip received by  Little Darwin  is that  O'Toole  could  win  by  a  hairdresser's whisker  in  a  thrilling  photo finish ).

The senator , aged   70,  the recognised Father of  the Australian Parliament , exudes the wisdom of the elderly, and is one of  the  scrutineers for the  Jones boyo  . He  suddenly  appeared with his hand bandaged , then  it  was in  a  sling . This caused  uncouth jibes by  Lefties  that  he  had  punched the  wall as  Ewen's  votes  took  a  dive .  Nobody  in  the media seems to have  asked him what is  the cause of his  injury and  you wonder if  anybody from the   media  spends any time at all in the  counting  room  , making observations, collecting  colour   about  a  seat, the loss of  which  will  make life  more difficult  for   PM  Turnbull .

The count  is  taking  place in  a  large former empty office-sign of  the times in  the city where one of the  major streets  had  more than 80 empty premises -  in   The  Domain   shopping  centre .

Despite not   asking  the obvious question about the  cause  of  his immobilised  limb  , the media are  fed   statements   by  the  senator   in  which  he  says Jones is a jolly good   fellow , full of  fun , loved by his  colleagues in the Canberra   party room and predicts  that Jones  will "fall over the line"... hopefully not doing  himself  an  injury  in  the  process. 

Another  Jones scrutineer  is  a former  Herbert  MHR  Peter Lindsay . He  and Macdonald  were  allegedly  spotted  photographing  count report  sheets , which  is not permitted, there  being  a sign that  no photographs  are to be taken .    Smart  phones  are  also banned  from  the  counting  area .

 Into this arena  came   metadata  expert  Federal  Attorney-General , Senator  George Brandis,  who also did some checking for  Ewen , in the  process straying into an area   in  which he should not  have  gone, according  to  an  informant. 

The demeanour of the LNP  team at the count  is becoming  tense , worried and  gruff as they determine  the  trend . Worrying the hell out of   them is that Pauline Hanson preferences  are  largely  flowing  towards  the  ALP in the closing stages of  the  battle.

Relief scrutineers  for the ALP have included a number of  savvy southern lawyers and unionists - none  of  this  colour, personality interplay,  intrigue and  massive  interest in  the  outcome  detected  or  reported  by   churnalists. At one stage  the PM was reported on TV to be jubilant that  Jones was  ahead, then  he was behind . It seemed to be  a  Hooray !- Boo ! situation.

Senator Macdonald is not the only person to show signs  of hurt in the campaign . Cathy O'Toole's campaign manager Jackson Hitchcock , from Melbourne , was shook up , bruised and lost his glasses in  a car prang in Townsville involving   a motorist  running  into several vehicles, wiping out Jackson's  own car, an incident not reported  by  local  media .
 

COUNT  UPDATE:  Jones leading  by  12 votes, whips out  in dash for finish post but  Ewen's nag carrying a lot of  lead  in saddlebag , O'Toole's mount gaining second breath as if solar powered  and  could  win , causing  a celebration  bigger than  that when Carbine won the Melbourne Cup with a  Queensland Prickly Pear stuck  under the saddle ;  nation  holding breath, close situation  mentioned  on  ABC  TV   Insiders.

LADY RENOUF WORE FLEECY LINED UNDERWEAR IN BRUSH WITH SPECTACULAR DARWIN ART

The  late Susan Renouf , then Mrs  Peacock, wife of the politician Andrew Peacock,  once appeared in  an advertisement  for  Sheridan bedsheets . Being a good sport, she apparently wore  fleecy-lined underwear  to Darwin  to  launch  the  Northern Territory's most  dazzling  art exhibition-Grandeur of  Light-showcasing the  watercolours of Harold Thomas , designer of  the National Aboriginal flag ,  in  September 1989.  

Lady Renouf , second from the right, in Darwin with  late  NT  Administrator Commodore  Eric Johnston;  on her right , artist Harold Thomas . Others, from the left , are  Harold Thomas  Junior and the head of  the   Raintree Aboriginal Art Gallery , Shirley Collins , who organised the  major  event , financially ruined by  her involvement in the poorly organised Bank of America Down Under Tour of  the  USA   before  the  Sydney  Olympics . 

The grand event  faced  disaster due to the  Ansett  airline  strike. In desperation ,   Ms Collins  asked the  RAAF if they  could  fly  Lady Renouf to  Darwin. The RAAF  agreed to her  urgent request , but  said  the plane would be a Hercules  in which it would be  cold , so  the VIP should be advised to wear fleecy lined  underwear.She and daughter Caroline Peacock  subsequently  lobbed  in  Darwin courtesy of  the  RAAF, no questions asked about  their  undergarments.  

Lady Renouf  and Shirley Collins in foreground of this snap of the glittering evening .

 A week before  the launch, Lord  McAlpine ,  the  British Tory treasurer , who owned parts of  Broome , Western Australian , had flown to Darwin in his own  jet for a  private  viewing  and offered  to  buy the entire  exhibition  for $100,000, this no doubt warming  the  cockles  of   the  artist's  heart .