Read more: Curry and Rice and All Things Spice.
In the midst of the most terrible time in our history, even worse than Whitlam or WW2, our country is crying out for a Moses to emerge and lead us out of the wilderness. I rate our present plight as worse than WW2 because at least in that era we were all pulling together for the sake of Australia.
This cannot be said today. Leading up to Federation we had such a man. Someone whose name is probably unfamiliar.
Yet, it was people like him who created the Australia that we knew and loved. A country that gave us pride and showed us that a strong back and a good work ethic could start a revolution.
During our Australia Day family lunch Waltzing Matilda came up among the collection of background music and prompted quite a discussion, especially from my two grandson’s girlfriends.
My brood have been raised on a diet of Australiana history and anecdotes so the questions have come mainly from the girlfriends who are both city raised born and bred Australian girls.
Read more: Waltzing With Matilda - the Story Behind the Song
In the 1880’s shearers wielded a lot of influence on our country. Despite us not yet being a single united nation, in the various states where wool growing was the major industry militant unionism arose with great co-operation between the various state organisations.
In those days, shearers and general farm workers were numerous. Wool was the biggest export commodity of most of the states but the working conditions of those who produced this golden fleece were poor. Are we any richer today?
Read more: Australia - Born on the Sheep's Back and the Sweat of the Shearer
Maybe. just maybe, back in 1975, a little baby girl was born in a hospital somewhere, There was a storm, perhaps, at 5.36 am, and she was born. She was a pretty little thing. A bundle of love bound up in a fragile little package called a baby.
As her mother lay there, gazing with wonder into the eyes of this precious child, the father asked " what will we call her? "
The mother said " Shirley. After Shirley Temple " and that was that. Imagine that?
Gazing at an eclipse of the moon many moons ago, I was minded of the magnitude of Creation and my forthcoming interview with the Big Guy upstairs, at which I will have a lot of explaining to do. The following passed through my mind.
According to legend, St Augustine was walking along the beach pondering how in the Blessed Trinity there could be three persons in the one God, when he saw a small boy pouring buckets of seawater into a hole the young boy had dug in the sand. On asking the boy what he was doing, the boy told Augustine that he was pouring all of the ocean into the hole. On telling the boy that which he was trying to achieve was impossible, Augustine was told by the boy that he would pour all of the ocean into the hole before Augustine understood the mystery of the Trinity – then disappeared.
It is a tragedy that Australia forgets to celebrate those who travelled this vast land and gave us the gift that we enjoy today: a life that many used to envy and is being destroyed by ill educated bureaucrats and politicians.
Teachers who no longer teach. Parents who no longer parent. News channels who do not report what is new but simply churn out regurgitated media lies instead of truth.
The Napier earthquake of 1931, also known as the Hawke's Bay earthquake, was a devastating seismic event that occurred on February 3, 1931, in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 and remains one of the most powerful earthquakes in New Zealand's recorded history.
The earthquake struck at 10:47 am and lasted for about two and a half minutes. It caused widespread destruction, particularly in the cities of Napier and Hastings. The impact was intensified by the fact that the earthquake occurred during a busy time of day when people were at work and children were in school. foreword by Monty
Read more: The Napier Earthquake 3rd February 1931 - Out of the Rubble...
Sparrow Force was one of three formations rapidly put together by the Australian Government in March and April of 1941 when concern was rising about the intentions of the Japanese to enter WW2 as a combatant and to form a ring of defenses against any advance on Australia. The three forces were given code names of birds: Gull, Lark and Sparrow. Gull and Sparrow were formed at the request of the Dutch government.
Gull Force was sent to Ambon and was soon overcome. The survivors were then mainly executed.
Lark Force went to Rabaul on the north tip of the island of New Britain. It too was soon overwhelmed by a far superior Japanese force and the vast majority were captured with a majority of those executed or used for bayonet practice by Japanese troops and beheading practice for junior Japanese officers. The massacres at Tol Plantation have been mentioned in other articles.
I love words and the precision that they have.
They are like snipers. If used in the right hands, our bullets called words can hit their target very accurately.
That is why the Left want to destroy our language.
There is no precision anymore.
When our words are attacked, we have a problem that is much graver than people realise.
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