Dear reader,

In the olden-days Herodotus was the bees-knees for historical and factual accuracy

Another scintillating dispatch from our man for the distant North-West frontier. The man they call “Frank’.

In this- un he seems to be making a reference to fake news. On the heels of the Federal Budget we’re still trying to work out which are the fake bits. Which are the fake substitute bits, and which are the ersatz fake bits. ‘Hard to find an honest man in Parliament”,  as they used to say. Harder still to discern the ultra-fake from the deep-fake. Is this fakery you may ask? It’s a deep well, a Ferevanti Well perhaps? A well of Loneliness? Of discontent? You be the judge…. and ‘I’ll bet you a Zac, that the judgement is yellow  and the victim is black’.

Frank writes;

Bonjour mes amies et autres,

Herodotus could spot an historical inaccuracy from miles away

When I was working as a well site geologist on Panarctic Oil’s Hoodoo Dome No.1 well on Ellef Ringnes Island in the Canadian Arctic, an arctic wolf was spotted hanging around our rubbish tip.
This was in 1970 long before refuse disposal sites and landfill and instant photography.
A group of us excitedly and bravely approached the wolf with our cameras. We got dangerously close to the snarling wolf to snap our pictures. When we had our film developed in Calgary our photos were graced by a tiny barely discernible distant wolf. It is all a matter of perception.

Another old codger, called Moses wrote a whole lotta semi- factual history down on tablets. They were cheaper than scrolls, but way heavier.

On the same well-site one of the roughnecks (as rig workers are known) caught a lone lemming near the pipe rack. He took it to the kitchen “Hey cookie, why don’tcha bake us a lemming meringue pie?”. The cook kicked him out (him and his lemming).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zhBVHhPV6U  (Joan Soriano- merengue)

Now we have all heard about lemmings committing mass suicide by swarming over cliff edges. Not unlike humanity swarming towards the cliff of climate change.
Despite the fake news of the lemming myth having been conclusively debunked, many still accept it as a given. Myth as fact.

Suetonius could tell a good yarn, with a bit of colour added to the racy bits

Am reading Claire Coleman’s ‘Lies Damned Lies’. The Chapter headed ‘Australian History is Fake News’ concludes with “It’s time for archivists and historians (and Dispatch writers) to speak up when lies are uttered. Otherwise, fake news will become the only news.
It happened with Indigenous people: character assassination on the scale of a whole culture. It can happen to others too. If you’re not worried about it, you should be”Though his facts were in French

Froissart could also tell a good yarn.Though his facts were couched in mediaeval French, which didn’t adapt well to the 24 hr news cycle on French mediaeval telly.

It happened with Yuendumu: character assassination on the scale of a whole community.
It happened with Kumanjayi Walker: character assassination on the scale of an individual.

Edmund Gibbon was no slouch in the historical artefact department. He wrote all about the Roman Empire, as if he was really there!

Despite attempts by those who know and love Yuendumu to debunk these stigmas, stereotypes and fake news assumptions, many still accept the portrayal of Yuendumu as a dangerous dysfunctional depraved community as a given. Myth as fact.

Despite attempts by those who knew and loved Kumanjayi Walker to debunk the portrayal of him as a dangerous, violent, young criminal who was ‘the author of his own misfortune’. Despite the deliberate co-ordinated fake news campaign aimed at character assassination of the victim. Many still accept the portrayal of the perpetrator as a heroic figure who saved himself and his partner and was doing his job. Myth as fact.

I’m told that 9,000 people signalled their support for police wearing guns on Aboriginal communities on a pro-Zac Facebook page.

They are like lemmings plunging head first into what Bruce Pascoe dubbed the ‘Gulf of Incomprehension’

A bientôt

Worlds greatest historian “SCOMO”, a well practised Ukulele. Short historical scripts for power point and white board.

François
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6gIEGmOBH4    

The underground theatre below Maralinga used to show underground films

Dear reader, with Sophie and Dutto hell-bent on control of all the resources not sold off yet to multinationals or Russian oligarchs in Australia, and Dutto detrmined to get the the very top of the tree, we return to our saga.

Like the  Zachary Rolfe trial there’s more turns and twists in this than a Hollywood sub plot to a B-Grade movie, that was destined to die at the box office,  and in time become legendary as an avante guarde classic. But there’s something worse afoot, With ‘Benny-boy’ and their new side-kick Terry stuck with them in the dark corridors of a hidden and moth-balled sub terranean city, there ony way out.  The suspended tram line is down, and though everything has crashed around with it, they know that as the road to Tarrin Kwot may be lined with IED’s and Victoria Crosses, ther nemesis Sophie will get out of it… because like Rasputin, (another great Russian leader) Sophie is unstoppabble, Indefatigable infelxible, indominatable , implacable and absolutely un-reasonable. 

When the only way up seems further down, its akin to a Federal Treasurer trying to stem inflation, Canute- like with a bottle of beer, a packet of Tim Tams, and a feel good, ‘have a nice day’ t-shirt adorning his personage, 

It had plenty of atmosphere

Stay with us as we plunge ourselves into another protoplasmic episode as our heroes. Now a party of four, seek redemption amongst the radiocative wastes of Maralinga…. 

Read on…..

As the fragments of tram tracks, the gantry, the scaffolding, what was left of the Public Order Response Vehicle, and the unspent magazines of Sophie’s MP 40 crashed all aound them, we noticed, as you’d expect in the Christmas light preparations being enacted at Mauripol, we’d see fragments at the very least of Sophie and Dutto. But no such thing rained down on us. In the darkness and the dust, we waited for the crashing to stop, and coughing with the dust and smoke it was several minutes before we dared venture out of the niche we sought refuge in. All that was left, a sulpherous glow as the debris smouldered amidst what looked like a streetscape of faceless buidings, warehouses and long, steel-shuttered blocks of flats. The city of the deep underground, promised to be under arc lamps and the sun directed through myriad shafts the salvation of Australia post apocalypse.  Now, it just looked like an average part of a capital city destined for urban renewal. In the concrete and fibro porticos, the long abandoned footpaths, and streets summerged under aeons of dust, 

Days of faded glory

‘There’s only one way outta this, even if we do make it to the surface, we’ll need a camel’. 

Ces made the point by slapping his hand, ( Oscar winning style) across Quent’s forehead.

‘Why didn’t you say so’?, as Terry passed us a packet of camels. 

Terry was thoughtful that way.  .

‘And these camels were the genuine article’. 

Ces unrwrapped the packet, ‘these are the camels they used to sell in the 70’s’!

‘Yeah’, Quent opined, ‘till they banned them for being too strong. Nowadays the only place you can get em is in the US”

Norman, beyond the cultural norm.

Benny piped in, ‘or in one of those funny little tobacconists off the main drag in Kabul. You can get most things in Kabul.’

‘You’re not wrong there’! Ces laughed, “including a paur of prosphetic legs or if you can find it an ol .303, a Lee Metford, a Martini Henry and a V.C, left over from the 1842 campaign’ ,Terry enthused, ‘Yeah cos as ya all know V.C’s dont have a use by date’!

‘Yep’’ Ces interjected, ‘bit like the ring in the ‘Lord of the Rings’, once you’ve got one you can be rendered nigh invisible, and have protective powers. Looks like we may need something like that in this fix’!

‘Yeah, if Sophie and Dutto are in trouble, we might need any ring we can get’. 

‘What’s that’? Ces pointed to a low blockhouse, the front just a grey oblong, the rear like a long low Nissan hut, on the facade, still legible on a rusted sign, hanging at right angles from a couple of brackets, ‘Gaumont Picture theatre’.  ‘Picture theatre, did they have movies there’? 

‘Oh yes’’ Terry enthused, ‘we trialled it before the expected occupancy by those selected to ride out the nuclear winter. What kind of films were selected’? Ces was a bit of a film buff. 

‘Oh easy watchable feel-good movies’ Terry enthused  . ‘Yeah, with famous actors’? 

‘Well not really, as part of the Anglo Australian nuclear agreement we could only get films approved by the British Consul General’. 

Arthur, a living LEGEND!

‘So you mean Hollywood wasn’t part of the equation’?

 ‘Yeah’. Terry said distractedly. ‘So what kind of films were you able to screen’?

‘Well, don’t get me wrong, this was the humour of the time,  but we had a matinee of Norman Wisdom numbers and then travelogues, you know with canals on barges, a trip to France, and a excusionists guide to Blackpool’. We were consumed with silence, “was that all’? Ces asked.  ‘Well, we had a comedy section of Tommy Handley shorts, favourites by Arthur Askey, and the best of all the complete ‘Carry- On’  Filmography. 

‘Excuse me Terry these films,  I hope you dont mind me saying, but they’re pure shit’!

Tommy, Shakepeare of the airwaves…

Why choose such shit films’? 

“Oh that’s easy, we had them on rrotation, becuse if anyone missed the world outside, they could always see a matinee of these and not really miss it at all. It was dreamt up by the psychologists, to stop people pining for the surface, they caled it ‘surface syndrome”  and by trial application, it seemed to work. 

After a Handley screening, the complaint about liveing underground ceased, and after the Arthur Askey number suicides went through the roof.’

Improvisation, a key element of great comedy.

Talent and LEADERSHIP Counts…

Is that all that was shown in the cinema?  Is there till a stock of old reels left to see?  Has the cinematic quality of this narrative lost its lustre?  Find out inthe next kinemtographic episode, “ My friend Flicka, was best seen at the flicks’, or ; “If this aint the last remake of Beau Geste, in jeste, laughing mater or not, it could be the end of destiny and history and who’s to Fukiyama? 

Another one from Frank, 

We ask ourselves is there any more joy to come for Yuendumu?

For this we are indebted to ‘the Australian’ for getting the story right. We apologise for not printing this-un sooner.  It’s just that with events post the Rolfe case comng to light we’ve been flat-chat keeping pace with this atrocity and the other one coming out of Ukraine.

Russia renews its promise of “Urban renewal” for Ukraine

In the end, there’s comfort in this, “Power Wins every time”. 

He writes…..

Dzien dobry,

Sorry folks, another Dispatch. I must make hay while the sun shines. Next week the situation in Eastern Europe may have deteriorated or there may be yet another climate change catastrophe, or goodness knows what.

NT renews its promise of Justice for law-breakers

The close family and friends of Kumanjayi Walker had just suffered five weeks of agony in the Darwin Supreme Court repeatedly watching body camera footage of the killing of their loved one. The residents of Yuendumu were subjected to the indignity of an intensified barrage of disparaging assertions and lies about our community. Not to mention the depiction in and out court of a nineteen-year-old man as a dangerous criminal individual whose execution was warranted.

When yesterday the judge lifted all court injunctions, the worm had turned. It was revealed that Constable Rolfe had had several run-ins with the law over several years, which showed him up for what he is, a liar, a violent dangerous racist living in a fantasy world. Some serious questions need to be asked, what were his superiors thinking to let this man loose on Central Australian Aboriginal society. How many characters like him are now wearing that uniform (and gun) protected by the impunity offered to acting police by the current laws?

Police renew arrests of jay- walkers and other ne’r do-wells in NT

Leading into Geelong there was a long stretch of double laned road. The road was designed for greater speeds than the speed signs displayed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U9TwG-uiDY
It was also one of the places where speed cameras were pioneered. On our way to a holiday in Lorne Wendy managed to exceed the speed limit. As I was working for a consultant geological firm, we moved quicker than the postal services. The speeding ticket never reached us.
At the time we first settled in Yuendumu, the Papunya police “serviced” Yuendumu. Thus, it came to pass that the Papunya policeman caused much excitement amongst Wendy’s pupils when he entered the classroom to serve her with the fine notice. They all wanted to know what Nangala had done to arouse the fuzz’s attention.
Some years later a man who gave driving lessons in Yuendumu took three men to the police station confident they’d get their driving licences. They didn’t, all three had arrest warrants out for them. The driving instructor had made the mistake of taking them for their driving tests on a Friday. Friday was the day when remote community police used to arrest people as then they would get to drive the felons to Alice Springs, where the police would spend the weekend. The arrested felons would be placed in remand until facing court, by which time the police were back in the communities where they would wait until Friday before making further arrests.
Someone did a study which provided some very revealing arrest statistics. The Friday arrest scam is no more.

Tough work wins respect for the law and shiny medals

So why am I telling you all this? There are many Warlpiri men and some women who have arrest warrants out on them. The way the law operates provides a steady crop of warrants for the constabulary to follow up. That begs the question as to why Constable Rolfe thought it was so important that Kumanjayi Walker’s arrest had to be prioritized. Why did he go knocking on doors at Warlpiri camp specifically looking for Kumanjayi Walker, when undoubtedly there were other residents of Warlpiri Camp with warrants out on them.

I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime before this tragedy, Kumanyai Walker and Zach Rolfe crossed paths in Alice Springs. For all I know Kumanyai Walker told Zach Rolfe to get fucked.

Do widzenia.

Frank

PS- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1S_zy_NiRA

Children in the front-line at Yuendumu, Prison fodder?

To the best of my knowledge on remote communities thanks to the 2007 Intervention, police do not require a search warrant. All they need is to assert they had a suspicion that there was alcohol on the premises or that a fugitive was holed up there, and they’re off the hook for invading a home.
The fact that they sometimes terrify little children is collateral damage. These children are the future arrest warrantees.

Another one from Frank.

If you find reading this distressing we suggest you return to the Bolt Report and the editorial of the Australian for a measured more clinically biased view as to why executions in aboriginal communities uphold the status quo. So that we, on the coastal fringes can feel good about the things that count, housing affordability, petrol prices and franking credits.

For Valour. Rolfe 1#

He writes;

Hola again,

Judge Burns lifted all court injunctions on the matter of Constable Rolfe’s murder trial.
After the ‘not guilty’ verdict, the Rolfe camp couldn’t contain themselves and went on a crusade to spread the message that a grave injustice had been inflicted on poor Constable Rolfe. They called for an inquiry into why the arrest and charges had happened in the first place. The CLP opposition jumped in and backed the call. Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker had visited Yuendumu within days of the shooting. Michael Gunner’s phrase “consequences will follow” was seized on as a clear case of politicisation of a tragic situation. How this is any different to Scott Morison visiting flooded towns in New South Wales I fail to see, but that is another story.

For integrity. Rolfe#1

This is where the Rolfe camp shot themselves in the foot. In my opinion Judge Burns had been anything but unbiased when directing the jury, but the Rolfe camp’s post-not guilty verdict antics proved too much for the judge.

When lifting ALL court injunctions Judge Burns said it was particularly important to ensure open scrutiny, “particularly so where there are post-trial claims made of interference in the charging process” (the Rolfe camp alleged that political pressure was behind what they considered a hasty and unwarranted arrest).

Throughout the trial I rapidly came to the conclusion that Constable Rolfe had deliberately hunted Kumanjayi Walker. In the end it was a deliberate execution, as I saw it. I felt restrained to say this, and it still makes me uncomfortable. I’ll let Zach Rolfe speak for himself:

For Family Values. Rolfe 1#

These are texts Zachary Rolfe had sent to an army mate…

Message 1- “Alice Springs sucks ha ha. The good thing is it’s like the Wild West and fuck all the rules in the job really… but it’s a shit hole. Good to start here coz of the volume of work but will be good to leave”

Message 2- “We have this small team in Alice, IRT, immediate response team. We’re not full time, just get called up from Gd’s (general duties) for high risk jobs, it’s a sweet gig, just get to do cowboy stuff with no rules.”

My friends and I used to play cowboys and indians. We used to sneak up on each other with bows and arrows and occasionally have stone throwing battles. Every now and then someone would get hurt, which resulted in an immediate cease fire. We grew up and the games ceased. We were never issued with Glock pistols.

For the best policy advice on Occupation. Rolfe1# ( Rolfe’s father accepts award).

Yapa grievances have been condensed into “no more guns on communities”
Just as important is local input and say in recruiting, and not just police.
Whoever thought that recruiting army war veterans to become policemen was a good idea?

Have been racking my brain for some appropriate music. Or a joke or so.
Suggestions are welcome. What happened is just not funny, nothing will bring back Kumanjayi Walker, but the exposure of Zachary Rolfe as a nasty deluded individual gives us a glimmer of justice, and maybe give pause to those who have swallowed the lies and deception of the deliberate campaign to paint a 19-year-old Warlpiri man as a dangerous criminal and my beloved Yuendumu as a violent dysfunctional place which needs to be brought to heel.

Just a bit of nice non-sequitur music will have to do.

Hasta luego,

Frank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLLjQcyK4eU

Transitioning to a more viable policy on mutations post WW111. Rolfe 1# ( Rolfe’s cousin endorses policy initiative)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXMyK6hbQZc

Quite a few very high ranking Russian Generals have lost their lives in Ukraine. For this noble sacrifice they deserve, each and every one a MEDAL!

In desperate search of some light relief we return once again to our saga. As Ukraine is imperilled by the Russian Steamroller, something equally as indefatigable is underfoot right here in Central Australia. The so called ‘dead-heart’.  Though we are confused as to why Zac Rolfe’s penetrating foray into criminal justice wasn’t deemed as murder, we are reassured he gave Walker three plugs just to be sure. Unlike Afghanistan which became a disorganised free- for all rabble, he was able to finish the job as trained.

We’ve been drawn to admire Sophie as our steadfast Fair Work Commissioner and her  determination to use our heroes, as mere prawns in her power game. Is there no end to her megalomania? Is it time the UN Human Rights Commission called her for war crimes?  Can we possibly spend taxpayers money to send her to Moscow, so she can find a Fair Work Commission type settlement to the fracas? Or is it just our Yuendumu moment?  Where gun- toting cops trained to KILL in Afghanistan are just doing their job. 

Some of these Generals are not only Brilliant, but they’re close mates of ‘Vlad the impeller”!

How many cliffs are there to roll corpses down in Yuendumu? Who the fuck knows where Yuendumu is anyway? Should we task ‘The Australian’ to help us? They know how to find trouble-makers, and taint an entire community with self righteous SHAME. 

Find out in this next galvatronic episode as our trio, Benny-Boy Roberts Smith, Australia’s greatest ever VC legend, Ces and Quent and their new sidekick Terry battle it out in the battle of the wits, or in Australia’s case in deference to our public policy these past thirty years, battle it out with half- wits. In a Lilliputian kingdom anything can happen, Grab a hose, Grab a mop, a hose, a colostomy bag, a ukulele? And dial 000… and know that no one will hear you!!

We return to our saga…

‘She’s evil’! He cried as we slid down the line. ‘Yep mate, she’s one of a kind’. 

We couldn’t see the ground below us, just the eerie glow of the conflagration above us and the insults, “ Potato head, Fatty!’ from above as Sophie and Dutto fought over the destiny of whatever was left post neo-liberalism of western civilisation.

I said to Ces, ‘do you think this time we’ll get out of it? 

They know the value of loyalty and obedience, and standing up and saluting in a car whilst it moves. They carry a chest adorned with SHINY medals!

I dunno, Terry here might find a way out, but if Sophie follows us and realise we’ve scarpered we’ll be on her hit-list faster than you can say Kumanjayi Walker’!’

And besides, there’s no guarantee that once we get down we’ll find anything anyway. What’s in the buildings Terry’?  Terry, the last to escape was above us, we could see him in his sky blue overalls sliding down the cable above us, and at the very top the form, large and foreboding of Benny-Boy making the descent. 

‘Hey Terry what’s in these buildings? 

I dunno, haven’t been near em for sixty years. All kinds of stuff, stuff that’s good’, and then less reassuringly, ‘stuff that aint so good’. 

‘Oh…. I thought as much, all this evil, all this corruption, preferment, rent-seeking, who could believe Australia would go this way. In the end it aint all that different’! from Russia….

You’re right Ces, and Terry here has unwittingly been at the centre of it’. 

‘Yup’! We heard Terry above us; ‘and I wonder in the end, has it been worth it’? 

Fo this noble sacrifice the PUBLIC, (even those in Australia) ADORE THEM!

Ces and I both thought about his sixty years of steadfast loyalty for nothing, it was ironic, but also banal. ’There’s a banality in all this, is that what they call  it’? 

‘Yes, spose so’ came from Terry. As I chewed on a ration biscuit as we slid down.  It was the first morsel we’d had in two days. I’d found it under the seat of the tramcar, a box of rations so old it didn’t even have a use- by date. Just before we jumped I grabbed a handful and shared them round.  I spat as my teeth bit into  something rough textured and acrid. ‘Yuk’, and spat out what turned out to be a weevil.  ‘There’s weevils in this’! I cried, 

‘Yeah mate’! Terry quipped, ‘its the banality of weevils’. 

We all laughed, clearly in a tight squeeze, Terry had a sense of humour. 

Into the inky blackness we slid, above us the firefight between Sophie and Dutto, to the death, with the plaintive cry;  ‘Now Benny’!  Now Benny!  and then after a prolonged silence,’ Benny’!  Where the fuck are ya”? 

Proud to win awards and be upstanding for principles of justice and VERY SHINY MEDALS!

‘Just like Geoffrey and Ghislaine’! Ces cried above the din. ‘These weevils! It’s hard to pick out the big-uns from the little-uns!  I spose thats what happens to a tin of biscuits left on the console of a tramcar some sixty plus years’.  Quent cried out, ‘in this fix it’s impossible to differentiate between the big-uns and the little-uns’! Your right and it gives us no choice’! as I munched away. “Yeah’! Terry chirruped. ‘What choice do you have’? 

‘Too right’! Ces concurred; ‘it’s the lesser of two weevils. ”. We all laughed again.

We could still see the conflagration above us, and then just before we hit the ground, there was a massive roar, the cavern was lit from end to end.  The special response vehicle was consumed in vivid flame. The incandescence was blinding, and above it all we could hear the shrill cry, “Fuck you Dutto”! And then just as we hit ground, the suspended tram tracks, the girders, the special response vehicle and the combatants, wherever they were, came crashing down. “Quick”!

‘Over here”! And in one leap, Ben who appeared from out of the blue motioned us to a niche in a wall.  We crowded into it, and with seconds to spare we were showered with bits of debris, and fragments burning and smouldering like so many sparks from  a celestial bonfire. And then all was silent. 

Will this be their. Silent night? 

Will Santa ever make it to Maralinga? 

People who don’t wear medals just don’t GET IT!

Find out in the next combative episode, ‘Dutto’s Dalliance with destiny” or ‘Sophies, Wheel of Fortune wont go fully round.”

Another one from Frank. This-un needs no introduction.

Hola,

In Afghanistan, as every brave ANZAC knows a pair of scissors is not just a pair of scissors. In the wrong hands a pair of scissors can be a very dangerous weapon.

I spent much of 1966 in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia, hired out to a firm which was looking for bituminous coal in the Permian-Carboniferous sediments of the Fitzroy Trough.
I was still a national of the Netherlands and as such required to lodge an Aliens Registration Card every time I changed job or address or got married. The increased enforcement of this requirement was Australia’s revenge on us Aliens for being exempt from army conscription. It was a delicious irony that on the card it was spelled out that “This card has to be filled out in the English language”
Meanwhile Wendy was doing her final year at the University of Melbourne. The Vietnam War was raging, and so were the anti-War protests. At one of these protests Wendy was wielding a placard which an enraged by-stander tore out of her hands and furiously stomped on. On the carefully prepared placard was written “Thou Shalt Not Kill”

A sign of the times-
We never learn we’ve been here before. Why are we always stuck and running from the bullets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f45-3XZ8ekk

There were those who were convinced that it was a national imperative to prevent those dominoes from falling. The communist threat had to be stopped at all costs, even if it meant spraying the paddy fields and countryside with agent orange, dropping napalm on gook villages and carpet bombing the north. Then there were those who didn’t think any of this was a good idea. Australia was a nation divided.

In 2001 the so-called ‘Tampa Affair’ led to a political race. Which political party was the toughest on border security? There were those in Australia who thought that it was a national imperative to save those desperate people from being ripped off by people smugglers, or worse, dying at sea, even if it meant locking them up on foreign islands and torturing them with an uncertain future. Then there were those who thought this was an abomination. Australia was a divided nation.

in the wrong hands a pair of scissors, thrown, wielded, catapulted, or just naked becomes a lethal weapon. A weapon that can penetrate the tough body armour that adorns noble warriors in the pursuit of the mission to civilise native tribesmen.

In 2012, Kwementyaye Briscoe died in the Alice Springs watch-house. The coronial inquest heard Briscoe was dragged along the ground by police after he was taken into “protective” custody for being drunk. Police did not check on Briscoe for two hours or seek medical care for his injuries, the inquest was told. No charges were laid.

In 2015 Kumanjayi Langdon died in the Darwin watch-house. Police used their increased powers under the so-called “Paperless Arrest” laws to incarcerate Langdon for the alleged crime of having been drinking. He died in the company of two strangers in a concrete cell designed to house criminals. He went to sleep and never woke up. The coroner opined the arrest had been unnecessary. No charges were laid

A wound, however superficial sustained in this glorious duty is an affront to notions of clean-living, mateship, honour and the notion of a fair go! Those who inflict such obscenities against those who uphold the law in Afghanistan, or the dusty wastes of central Australia, (also under occupation) should be dealt with severely.

In 2022 in a first for the Northern Territory, a policeman faced a jury after having been charged with murdering an Aboriginal man. He was acquitted. There are those in Australia who are convinced that Yuendumu is a violent, depraved out of control community and that Kumanjayi Walker was a dangerous criminal who was the author of his own misfortune. They believe, as did the jury, Zak Rolfe’s defence, that Kumanjayi Walker came close to murdering two policemen with his trusty pair of rusty blunt nosed scissors with which he inflicted a serious near fatal 3 mm wound on Constable Rolfe who luckily was armed and was able to defend himself and his mate. It is imperative that police are armed so they can defend themselves, they assert.

Then there are those who think this is a load of codswallop and that the verdict was a travesty and that police in communities should not be armed. Australia is a divided nation.

I know what side of the divide I am on and find it hard to accept just how many vindictive people there are in this great nation of ours who are spreading this poison about the place I love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JipPV-dgEBY

How many years must some people exist before they’re allowed to be free,
yes and how many times must a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see.

 

Chau amigos,

Frank

The value of shiny medals depends upon it.

The Ukraine debacle has gifted the world with a great leader. (He can do dance steps as well).

Two famous quotes are worth repeating here, (to paraphrase)  the one about the more things change they stay the same, and the other one about the first victim if war is truth.

Nothing much has changed and this latest one from Frank leaves us reeling, not so much in shock, but just the utter dispiriting banality of “the occupation”. 

Not Ukraine, not Myanmar, not Afghanistan, but right here in the middle of the country. The central bit not yet land-banked by developers for further suburban expansion. 

Frank writes; 

Meanwhile in Strayla the circus rolls on…..

Greetings again (sorry but I’ve got to get it off my chest)

What does the hapless population of Ukraine (and Syria and Myanmar and far too many other places) and Yuendumu Health Clinic personnel have in common? They have all had occasion to flee in terror.

Letter to the Editor (The Australian) by former Northern Territory Chief Minister, Paul Everingham:

I read that angry residents of Yuendumu are demanding reform.
Reform needs to start with those right there at Yuendumu.
The nurses are not withdrawn from a community like Yuendumu because the locals are treating them well. They are withdrawn because they fear for their safety.
And that was the case at Yuendumu…..

Paul’s intellectual piece has another 110 words which I’ll spare you from (full text forwarded on request)

This from someone who led a government that spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money on fighting Aboriginal Land Right claims. Paul’s direct involvement in Northern Territory politics ceased in 1987. Not sure when he moved to Queensland.

We Yuendumu residents are exhausted in fighting the stigmas, stereotypes, assumptions and lies we are subjected to.

and on…..

I’ll tackle just one of Paul’s assertions: The flight of the nurses:

On the day that Kumanjayi Walker was shot, the Yuendumu Clinic was unattended.
This fact was used in a campaign to depict Yuendumu as a violent community, and Kumanjayi as a dangerous and criminal individual. You know that saying “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t necessarily mean no one is out to get you”. Well, I reckon the campaign was coordinated and deliberate, and sadly successful.

and on….

A small cohort of children and youths were responsible for a series of break-ins which were exasperating the community. When the Clinic manager’s house got broken into, Department of Health officials in Alice Springs decided enough is enough. The community had to be taught a lesson, and Clinic personnel were instructed to evacuate and services were withdrawn.
It is important to note that the withdrawal of services, in a classic “them and us” scenario, was instigated by Alice Springs officials and not by Yuendumu clinic personnel.
Rumors started to spread. The clinic had been trashed, Kumanjayi was responsible for this, none of which was true. Kumanjayi was implicated in the break-in. Our local police stated that only fingerprints of small children were found, but this was ignored.
“Nurses flee in fear” was the headline on an article based on an interview with the head of the Nurses Federation. I attended the clinic a few days later, I saw no one cringing in fear. It was all lies.

Am currently reading Claire Coleman’s ‘Lies Damned Lies’ Yet another ‘must read’. The next edition she could easily add a chapter on the court case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS2sIv0ab0k (Lies- The Knickerbockers’ one hit wonder)

So when researching for this Dispatch, what do I find?

Yuendumu nurses’ terror: Walker ‘a very scary man’

and on….

A spate of terrifying break-ins to nurses’ accommodation forced them to flee Yuendumu in November just hours before police fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker.

Together with an invitation to subscribe for award winning journalism!

Can you believe it? Yesterday’s Australian. There is no let-up.

I won’t be taking up their invitation.

Cheers,

and anoints us with GREAT LEADERS!

Frank

Susan and ‘Keefy’ aim to streamline environmental approval process. A Win Win for killing off the planet.

Dear reader,

with the good news about Zach Rolfe’s acquittal coming out of the incident at Yuendumu we return once more to our saga. Comforted to know that execution as practised by Australia’s finest, ‘Benny-Boy’ in Afghanistan has been transferred to the  desert wastes of Central Australia. A victory for ‘Common sense policing’, the manufacturers of guns, and a bonus to those who must shoulder the responsibility of running private prisons, (and morgues).

But to more important things. What of our heroes? Ces, Quent and their new side- kick Terry, the under-employed tram driver entrusted to look after the dormant city of the nuclear age buried deep beneath the dusty crust of Maralinga? 

George and Keefy endorse the flat earth theory. A win win for those investing in Arks. We Arks Ya!!

Our heroes imperilled and yet, strangely drawn to the charisma of Sophie. “Charisma’, you might say?   Yes in spite of the repulsiveness, the unelectable anti-social some say socio-pathic tendencies we had to admire her impenetrability. Though we weren’t a professor tied up in a back-shed as an exalted Fair Work Commissioner in the back-paddock we had grown to appreciate just how Sophie could get things done….. for herself. 

Before Sophie there was; “The Blob’

She was a self supporting organism, more akin to “the Blob”, (readers warning, this is not a physical description).  Sophie as a force was unstoppable. Truly the measure of a modern Fair Work Commissioner. 

Our heroes had a grudging admiration for her.

And almost felt sorry for her.  Just as Dr Who feels sorry for the Daleks as ‘imperfect’ before drawn by destiny he has no other recourse than to pull the lever.  The tragedy , in our situation just like Susan Ley’s appreciation of the climate catastrophe, all our levers had been pulled.

Meanwhile Russia continues in its bid to upgrade Ukraine transport infrastructure.

Was Sophie human? That was debatable. Was she unstoppable? Our heroes were about to find out. 

‘Are you ready’? she cried. We tensed, this was it. 

The next bit happened in a flash. 

‘Now Benny’, and Benny ignited the first of his smoke grenades. He was a master in the art of warfare. He was the full bottle on Lao Tzu, and a fully accredited training platform for Zach Rolfe in his mission to kill defenceless young men at Yuendumu.  Benny  combined his experience with an expert facility for rolling corpses down cliff- faces. He was all about face. That’s why he wore the V.C emblazoned upon his chest. His face was impassive as always. Impenetrable 

Only known photo of Lao Tzu taken with a Box Brownie 560 B.C

The last thing we saw was Sophie, Mp40 at her waist spraying the Special Response Unit vehicle, and from inside Dutto mocking; “Is that the worst you can do fatty’? 

And then,  All was lost in a phosphorescent fug of smoke-grenade and the odd bit of tracer.  We could only hope that Sophie, (possibly next to Gina), the most powerful individual in the country would not loose her foot- hold and plunge to the darkness below. In that instant amidst the roar of machine gun-fire, the smoke grenades and the clunk of the hatch on the special response vehicle we saw nothing. It was at that moment. We felt the tap on our shoulders, it was Benny indicating it was “TIME” and flexing our hands, now protected by welding gloves, we felt for the aldis lamp chord, now tight, as it dipped from the edge of our tram- car into the depths below. 

Meaningful Disaster relief at Yuendumu. P.M comforts bereaved mother with a reassuring word and tip for 3.30 handicap Moonee Valley. (the horse was put- down)

We could hear the detonation of Sophies potato masher grenades, and  our descent cautious at first, but then sliding down, down downwards into the impenetrable depths below. Above us, the smoke radiating a ghastly pinkish hue and within that cloud, the roaring voce of Sophie herself, to the very last; “You fucken bastard Dutto I always win, and you know that in the end it’ll be me, as a proud Fair Work Commissioner that Will prevail’. 

Ces was the last out of the tramcar, and grabbing Terry by the neck, shouted, ‘Fer Chrissakes Terry make  a go of it and Get OUT’! Terry nodded furiously, in spite of his sixty years down here he still knew that his number was most assuredly up and his chance was now or NEVER!

Meaningful Disaster relief post bushfires. PM points to costume failure at annual Cobar Mardi Gras.

So the three of us, like string-beans upon a spider web tendril, like semi-precious stones upon a necklace, like pearls spun into the vortex of silk, we sailed down and down and whether we made a hard or softer landing, we scarcely cared. 

Terry mid way was reflective. We could tell that this, the consequence of being isolated for some sixty years had a long time to think about things, and we could appreciate his wisdom in this. It was a source of comfort to know that Terry had thrown his lot in with us, it was like being for moment  Ukrainian, that in spite of the worlds attention and goodwill showering upon us, we had to do it alone, cos in the end no one would help us. REALLY!!

Will this  leap into the dark be their last? Will they land on solid ground? Or is this the last leap fro the one that promised to be the ‘Great Leap Forward’? Find out in the next ‘leap-ish’ episode, ‘Three strikes and you’re in”, or “High Noon in Conniston Street”. 

P.M demonstrates first ever ” White- wash” applicator trialled for deaths in Custody. “Surfaces must be spotlessly clean before application’, (manufacturer instructions) and must only be used by qualified Hose- holder”.

Yu-end-umu? Or Yu-Dont wanna know?

Dear reader, we felt compelled to publish this brief reminiscence from Frank, so that you, (the general public) may better equip yourselves with an insight into his formative years. And understand why he just doesn’t get the heroics of police officers who’ve trained in Afghanistan and made great sacrifices to adorn their chests with nice shiny medals. One can only hope that the army of occupation, (the Yuendumu police) learn from the current situation in Ukraine to better equip themselves in dealing with law- breakers and those who are not fit to be members of responsible society.

Frank writes;

Franks old school. That’s his sports-car in the foreground

Reading the latest PCBYCP I quickly read through it and thought that building looked familiar.

We were upstairs (windows on the left side of image) After 15:30  a bus carrying high school girls would drive past. Before the bus’ arrival our class would

Prefects at Yallourn Tech. Is that Frank rear middle?

Strange, the nature of memories. I’d forgotten all about this.

Yallourn to Yuendumu. Frank chose to move to Yuendumu cos the police complex reminds him of his old tech.

Benny – boy learnt to hold his breath under deep-water whilst serving in Afghanistan. It helped him in rolling corpses off cliffs.

Zac got a lot of medals for a job WELL DONE in Afghanistan

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/zachary-rolfe-murder-trial-verdict-walker-family-court-police/100889974

If you haven’t the time, just scan down to Samara who spoke for us all.

All I can say is I’m immensely proud of my Yuendumu, who have suffered this ordeal with an indescribable dignity displayed from the outset when two years ago we all marched on the police station in peace and sorrow.

Zac, being congratulated by the GG for a job WELL DONE!!

On the day of the march, I counted approximately 35 members of the NT Police who had come to Yuendumu in the aftermath of the shooting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O54w0wYh2qA

An addenda to the previous dispatch;

Zac and Benny-Boy learnt their interrogation craft in Afghanistan

And another fragment from Frank. In this he reminds us that a button wrongly pushed can lead to all sorts of trouble.  like our mate in Moscow perhaps? He writes; 

Sorry folks,

pushed the send button before I was ready.

That song from Argentina (What happened to you justice) has the line:

Y al policía que era amigo, ahora lo tengo como rival. Stick it in Google Translate if you can’t work it out.

Flashy got a V.C in Afghanistan. Here’s hoping Zac gets one for N.T justice.

From the last paragraph of the Official Statement from the Walker Family:

“…We do have our own yapa justice system. Our culture and law is based on controlled punishment if someone kills someone else.
They get speared across both legs. If kardiya justice doesn’t work, then Zachary Rolfe should face our yapa justice system.
He committed this crime in our community on our land.
He should face our law next.”

Evil- doers will be given the BOOT!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce8ix4VGR2w

Frank

And those who carry the biggest gun will emerge as NOBLE HEROES!