This will hurt me...

  Zinc work, East Risdon Bay. August 2021. That Deadman Dance   by Kim Scott A masterpiece. In Bobby Wabalanginy, an intelligent and optimistic soul, Scott conjures up a narrator who will live long in the memory. Bobby, whose real name remains unpronounceable to the invaders throughout the novel, means "all of us playing together", a bitter irony given the course of events. Bobby is a marvel. Bright and eager for knowledge, he is a natural showman. These capacities allow him to shine in both his indigenous world and the newcomers to his land. Part clown, part shaman, the book does a magnificent job of naturally showing the reader the centrality of songs, music, and dance to the Noongar people of southwestern Western Australia. Bobby learns to speak, read and write in the white man's language, but a reoccurring motif throughout is the fundamental disconnect in understanding between the two cultures. His native culture is just as complex but more physical, present and eleme...

  Towards the end of the day, Tasman National Park, Tasmania. May 2021. Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss  I hope that  Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray  – “River of Dreams” in the Wiradjuri language – is but the first of many novels from the perspective of Australia’s original inhabitants as they confront the realities of invasion, colonisation and the calculated efforts to destroy over 50,000 years of continuous culture. This is the kind of book that I hope is (gently) introduced to younger readers and comes as a welcome relief from the self-mythologising nonsense that passes for historical memory in these parts. Heiss has woven a story through both a gendered and Wiradjuri lens that never seems forced or moralising. It follows many of the familiar patterns of the historical fiction romance, but in framing the central characters within the Wiradjuri cultural and linguistic tradition, what may have been a traditional tale is lifted into much more worthy territo...

  Looking southwest from Cape Raoul, Tasman National Park. May 2021. Taboo by Kim Scott Kim Scott has achieved a great feat with  Taboo . In tackling a subject so replete with immense themes - decolonisation, pain, the art of memory and forgetting - he manages to toe the line successfully like few others. Moreover, he's written an authentic and engaging book on the murder, dispossession and maltreatment of the Noongar people that is at once sombre yet optimistic. This is all the more startling from a book saturated with violence of all kinds. Violence upon violence over generations to the point where our heroes are both sullied by that violence - both perpetrators and victims - and retain the redemptive power that will be required to ensure that a persecuted people can both survive and prosper. Australia has now reached the 'truth-telling' phase of real reconciliation. After two centuries of colonial dispossession, repression masked as harmony and silent shame, this is a no...

  One of many. Davey Street, Hobart. March 2021. Why Weren't We Told? by Henry Reynolds This is an essential read for any Australian who still holds (what they perceive as) the benign view that Australia's foundation was a case of gritty settlement of an unoccupied land against the odds. Moreover, it challenges the notion that the fate of its Aboriginal occupants (however tragic) is primarily due to their primitivism rather than any specific colonial policy or action. Why Weren't We Told?  is an exciting and accessible history. The book serves as Reynolds' literary memoir of a journey from 'innocence' (believing the comfortable myth of Australia as one of heroic settlement) to understand the true horrors of invasion, dispossession and ongoing racism. While I thought of myself as being quite across the realities of the Australian story, Reynolds has done a fabulous and thorough job in unpacking and interpreting the trends in historiography and highlight the disti...

  Ezra swims. Douglas-Apsley National Park, Tasmania. January 2021. Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas While the novel's arc did not entirely convince me – the tale of a gay half-Greek/ half-Scots/ not quite-Aussie who only ever wanted to be one thing (a world champion swimmer) –  Barracuda  held my attention the whole way through. A scathing critique of Australia’s tendency towards self-mythologising, the book bristles with an undercurrent of rage that blooms in a moment of devastating brutality on which the entire novel turns. Issues of race, class, sexuality, friendship and what it means to succeed and fail permeates throughout. All the while, the characters surrounding the central protagonist are glimpsed more in shades and shadows, echoing the self-absorption required of the elite athlete. There is a lot of pain on display, and it is grim reading at times. Still, it is thoroughly readable, and we are rewarded with a satisfactory resolution. One thing that struck me ...

Jennifer save me. Seven Mile Beach. January 2013. Australia Day? I don't like it. Stupid flags... Australia Day , John Tranter ‘Lovely, isn’t it? The water views? And there’s something historical about the Harbour – go on, help yourself, there’s heaps more prawns – of course in the old days it was totally unimproved. But they brought in boatloads of crims – and screws, prostitutes, a few politicians to run the show and look after the profits. A set-up built to last.’ So spoke a Sydney business identity, over lunch on the water – oysters, chardonnay – ‘Another lobster, love?’ – while far below his former partner drifted fathoms deep through the blue gloom, in a concrete suit, to his final bottom-of-the-harbour scheme among the barnacles and the bones dozing in the wavering light. A seagull sailed across a paler blue. The rigging tap-tapped against the mast; nearby, rich kids wasted a weekend on Daddy’s yacht. ‘See that boat? The Sergeant here reckons ...

I've got Hen and Ez hitting the nets pretty hard in advance of the Ashes series. My hope is that one of the two might stand a chance at getting a run as spinners by about test three. Surely if the mugs they keep sending out can get picked, these two deserve a chance!

Life goes on. Tahune AirWalk. September 2010. Sunday Top Five! An interesting one today that I've extrapolated upon: My Top Five Tracks By Aussie Rock Legends Cold Chisel ! First, some context... I’ll admit that for a very long time Cold Chisel have existed on the periphery of my consciousness. Being from Burnie, Tasmania, you can’t help but recognise all the hits. Undeniably, I’d always quietly liked the tracks, but found the boozing image and yob fan base a little alienating. Thus, I kept my distance and stuck to more exotic (if you can call Gram Parsons and the whole West Coast Country Rock experience ‘exotic’) sounds. Thus, my real discovery of the Chisel is something of a surprise. Originating in Adelaide, Australia, they one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge domestic sales, although for some reason they never could crack that overseas market in the way that contemporaries like Midnight Oil or...

A kayaker checks out the competition down at Hinsby Beach, May 2010. Theme Thursday delivers yet another tricky one this week for us Antipodeans . CANDY. In Australia, CANDY is a stripper . CANDY is a working girl . CANDY is a woman of ill repute . CANDY is not lollies . CANDY is not sweets , nor is it sweeties . CANDY is not toffee , loll-loll or ket . In Australia, CANDY is most certainly not confectionery . The man in the kayak may well be eye CANDY (for some), or arm CANDY (for others), but I would advise against eating him (there are laws about that). I'm glad that we got that sorted...

Sometimes it's enough to just have a lay down on the grass and gaze up at the sky through the eucalypts. Australia is a lovely place to be, and everybody knows that Tasmania is the pearl in our oyster! Which got me thinking. The other day I was on Facebook - you can find me here (I know, I know) - and I downloaded that little application that lets you pick top fives. Now, I've always been partial to a list, whether it's the top ten pop songs that last for two minutes and forty two seconds ( There She Goes or Whip it at number one),? or the three best Big M flavours (can't go past banana), I like making lists. So the prospect of expending thirty seven seconds making yet another top five intrigues me. The other day I pondered the all important [read: not at all important] "Five places other than where I live now where I could live". I went with (in no particular order): Germany The Czech Republic Hungary Barbados Estonia It was hard to leave out Finland, bu...

Here you can see a shag take wing on the Derwent. Yesterday we had an odd sort of a day. Lots of rain, started off cool but got increasingly humid as the day wore on. It was rather uncomfortable by late afternoon, with everyone sweaty and cranky. The icy poles didn't last too long after the were broken out. The above photo is mine, but I have a few others to share below that I can't claim credit for. It's a big country, Australia. Sometimes events in different states serve to illustrate that very well. Over the last couple of days, two stories have featured heavily in the news. One concerns the intense bushfires that appear to have killed quite a few people across the state of Victoria. As this photo courtesy of the ABC demonstrates, it must have been pretty unpleasant out there. The other story is happening in North Queensland . Heavy rains have caused some reasonably severe floods in a lot of areas. The photo below isn't of a fish farm, it's some cattle yards c...

Australia is a bloody big country. We've got bloody great big bits of water, bloody great big deserts, bloody great big trees, bloody great big sharks, crocs, snakes, spiders, wombats and bloody great big snags. When I took this photo of Henry the other day, he turned to me and said "look at that bloody great big mountain, are there any bloody great big yowies up there?" I didn't know. I've not seen any. So another Australia Day has come around again. It's a funny kind of day, Australia Day. It used to pass by pretty much unnoticed, and then the bloody Bicentenary came along is a haze of canary yellow and lime green and Australia day all of a sudden was bigger than Ben Hur in a pair of budgie smugglers and thongs! Then, along comes John Howard (with a bit of help from his mate Pauline Hanson ), and we've got these bloody great big flags everywhere. You can't turn without spotting a beach towel, singlet, bikini thong or set of BBQ tongs emblazoned wi...

Kingston, Jamaica. Australia looked in the box seat but have had a little collapse late on to be four wickets down for just 17 runs. They still lead by 136 runs, but the four guys out are all batsmen, including Hussey and Ponting. Now, I'm not one of these guys who has jumped on the "I hate Australia because they are so arrogant" bandwagon. However, I want the Windies to win. I have decided to run through today's team to try and figure out what the reason may be. Jaques: Can't even spell his own name correctly. New South Welshman, which means he has had a 'smooth selection' into test cricket. Looks unfit, and he's a rubbish fielder. Let's just say I haven't warmed to him... Katich: How many chances does one bloke get? And isn't it funny that it has taken a move to New South Wales to get all of these chances? Ponting: He is originally from Tassie, but has lived in New South Wales for years now. Consider that a black mark against his name. Hu...

I have been dismayed to read much of the comment around the Commonwealth’s plan to raise taxation on ‘alcopops’ in an effort to curb the risks associated with binge drinking. While there should be no surprise that the opposition have rubbished it and alcohol industry groups are unhappy , the general critiques that I've seen are very poor. As ever, of the commentaries, the Herald Sun leads the way in outrage . One that really got me riled up (enough to post about it here), was a piece in Crikey titled ‘ Voodoo tax policy on alcopops ’. In it, Bernard Keane speaks of ‘handwringers’ and ‘wowsers’ with a set against kids having fun. He claims that “we’ve still yet to see any evidence that binge drinking is now any worse than in the past”, and makes particular note that the tax ‘attacks’ young women unequally. In not sure where he has been looking, but a quick note of the stats around alcohol-related hospital admissions, alcohol-related family incidents (mostly domestic violence), al...

For those of you not here in Australia, you may have missed the 2020 Summit held over the weekend. There were many different ideas thrown around, some worthy, and some less so. Overall, I think that is was a positive exercise. Lavartus Prodeo offer a neat summary here . The one suggestion that I have been amused by is the suggestion that we should change our national anthem. We tend to have this 'discussion' every five or so years, so should not take a summit to flog this dead horse. That said, I reckon that Advance Australia Fair is a rubbish song, and I find it a bit embarrassing really with its lameness. Now PM Kevin Rudd has already knocked this one on the head , but this has not stopped the arguments spreading like wildfire . I personally have been advocating change for a long time, and now have the forum to do it! I have long argued that there already exists two quintessentially songs out there that would be perfect for Australia's next national anthem. My first ch...

Every year people just get sillier and sillier here in Australia in the lead up to ANZAC Day . I had hope that with John Howard out of office, we might be able to just calm down a little when it comes to ANZAC Day, but it seems not. This year there has been yet another kerfuffle, with the Australian Capital Territory Government has been accused of "delivering a massive insult" to 'Diggers' (veterens), with plans to launch dozens of hot-air balloons over the capital on Anzac Day. Here is poor old Brendy (Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson), who likened the tale to an April Fool's Day joke: "Our attitude is that Anzac Day is a day of commemoration of sacrifice made in our name, not a day for celebration. You can never underestimate the stupidity of the ACT Government when it comes to these kinds of events." On a similar front, the always good for a laugh Returned Services League's national secretary Derek Robson thinks that it offends the decen...

What a big week in footy! The Bombers flying high after thumping North Melbourne , the Tigers spoiling cheating Carlton's party , Melbourne appearing to throw in the towel for the 2008 season about seven minutes in, and the Sydney Swans endeavoring to lift the ratings for SBS's bigamy melodrama Big Love with their special brand of "football" . The sense of excitement has only been heightened with a strong start to the tipping season for our mob, with four tied all on top with a very impressive six from eight, with the inexperienced Henry, pregnant and fatigued Jenry and the unfortunate exile in the city of sin Good Parson Edgar Freelove hot on the heels only one tip behind. This could turn out to be the closest tipping year on record. A scan of the post-round wrap up in tomorrow's fish and chip wrappers has thrown up an early candidate for comment of the year. The newcomer to footy coverage, the Herald Sun's self-professed girly-girl Miss Saints aptly captu...

That naughty Abu Bakar Bashir is at it again! I don't want to enter too much into this guy or his latest caper, because to be honest there is no need as the guy doesn't need my help to establish that he is a fool. However, there is one aspect of his latest tirade against infidels that struck me. Here is this bloke, 69 years old, advising to the youth of Indonesia that "the young must be first at the front line - don't hide at the back. You must be at the front, die as martyrs and all your sins will be forgiven. This is how to achieve forgiveness." Right. And how many times has old Abu martyred himself for the grand cause? That would be the first question I would ask if someone was advising me to die for something they believe in.

In the most depressingly predictable manner, bad public policy has won the day again. I can't say that I blame the government, but in their pursuit of a 'fair go for carers', the media's simplistic bombast has only extended a less efficient, more expensive means of delivering what ultimately is a small amount of money. The most shameful part of the whole thing is how wholly unsurprising it has been.

I was thinking about posting on the hysterical reaction of both the mainstream press , as well as the blogging world , to the proposed cut to the one off bonuses to pensioners and carers awarded by the previous government. Aside from the logical incongruity of a 'cut' to a 'one-off bonus', I am sick of hearing about the 'proposed scrapping of the carers pension', which is something altogether different and in no way part of the announcement. If ‘journalists’ or news editors cannot get basic stuff like that correct, then public discussion around important areas of public concern has no hope. Now, I happen to think that the Howard response represented the most cynical type of politics, and is very poor public policy. Addressing some of the previous government's public policy failures – as well as some poor economic management – can only be a good thing. It's not like the present government are not targeting many areas, my day to day job has revealed to m...