Dear reader, with some regret, (though in the interests of journalistic integrity) we give you part two of the rather censorious piece, “Bendigo-gorne”. Written before more recent events, the author despairs at the response by most of the mainstream media. Clearly the child (Parramatta Police Complex murder) who carried out the killing of an accountant was inspired like all children by the glory and honour of doing “grown up” things. Clearly he was alienated. And for whatever reason self alienation is a very comforting place to be if you’ve got big brothers who inspire you to do those banal, evil and stupid things for the greater glory of your very own little GOD.  What and who motivated him, is the conversation this country has not had. We, as a pluralist, secular society, and the  tradition, (from as long ago as 1967) must be upheld.

we read on…

‘Good ol Aussie Values’. The Footy Show Hosts.

Bendigo survived the worst ravages of 60’s architectural and Vicroads determinism. The same that ravaged Geelong and Ballarat. Bendigo represents a time capsule, (its population being 96% Anglo Saxon) of an Australia that used to be. Why is this so? A compound of the past? A past steeped in the sort of unconscious nostalgia of ‘Uncle Norman and the Footy Show’. Partly true, but the drivers of multiculturalism where not there. Until recently no big projects, no burgeoning industry and a fairly quiet housing market. Till recently. Bendigo was just that little bit further from Melboune. Recently ‘foreign people’ have come to Bendigo for work, for opportunity, and like the rest of us, as a place where you can raise a family without the paranoia found in the big cities. Boomed it has. Culturally, economically and demographically as a consequence the provincialism that defined Bendigo and for some antagonised is challenged. Change can be fearful for those who are not beneficiaries.

One Councillor is presumably opposed to the changing demographic. Bendigo’s celebrated success within the cultural, administrative and housing sector is tempered by the influx of overseas professionals to take the places for those we don’t train for locally. We, as a nation have ‘outsourced’ training. For this community’s representative, a vision of Bendigo is threatened. It’s what motivates the flag draping. An argument defined by singular issues. Recently the Councillor went on a hunger strike to protect an old building, a strange act for an elected councillor. But one that defined a singularity. A singularity of the marginalised. And a rebuke to the established processes of governance. And part of that marginalisation has been the steady diet of Murdoch media attention depicting Muslims as assassins, murderers, anti-Australian, (Like Adam Goodes) and defilers of women. They seek to nullifying the positives of post war multiculturalism into the dullness of negativity.

Wearing the flag is a provocative thing, but for this individual, as a Councillor it legitimises the busloads and trainloads of malcontents shipped in, to smear the positive vibe that this City is about. It’s a carte d visite for other malcontents. There were anti mosque protests in Ballaarat, and no one noticed. The same group tried there with no response. How happy they must be with the reaction in Bendigo then. And it’s not just the success of Bendigo that galvanised them, but for the vast majority ‘life is good’. It makes some unhappy. And will do whatever it takes, hunger strike or demonstration to make a point. Their trump card? Unhappiness.

There’s a paradox at work here. A demo in Melbourne is a non event. In Bendigo it’s front page news. It reinforces the city bush stereotype. Reinforces the long standing prejudice about troglodyte yokels and the tragedy? The truth, is lost to those bussed in. There’s an irony in that. At work here is the grotesque untruth that Bendigo is truly provincial. ‘Dad and Dave’ provincial. To the vast majority such a premise is insulting. Insulting to the confident self assured image presented by the Bendigo Bank, the cultural sector, innovative businesses, the corps of volunteers who make the town welcoming and work. Reinforcing stereotypes works both ways.

Bendigo’s spiritual (passive) heart arises. The Great Stupa.

Five miles beyond Kangaroo Flat. ‘Sandhurst Town’, (Bendigo’s very own Sovereign Hill) was an evocation of the “Real Australia” set somewhere in its Victorian heyday. It closed down. ‘Old Australia’, like the ‘Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement’ was dead boring. ‘Wobbies World’ was fantasy land in comparison. Upon this site, The biggest Stupa in the southern hemisphere now rises. A triumph of religious and secular pluralism. Its message, one of universal tolerance.

So what future do THEY want. I think they’re a bit like the front bench of the Federal Government. Strong on what they HATE. Strong on defining ‘Team Australia’. Strong on telling us what we cannot do. But very poor indeed on imagination, problem solving, and the sensible conversation governments must have as leaders. And why can’t they? Because the problem, of difference, of “Australian-ness”, (whatever that means), and its identification, is in their head.

And, what future do the other ‘they’ want. The “they’ is the tiny minority of hate filled fringe dwellers. The united Australian patriot front and the juvenile delinquents inspired by their Islamo-nazism. The conversation needs to be loud and clear, we have no tolerance for hate derived filth. And those responsible for corrupting the hearts and minds, the festering cleric, the snide politician, the radicalised Iman, must be bought to account. Those responsible for inserting the blind, autocratic hate filled “GOD” back into the public conversation must be ‘hunted down every rabbit hole and burrow’ until it they are vanquished.

Rupert and Johnnie. Still batting for “Team Australia” and “U.S”

There is so much hope in invested in Malcolm Turnbull as a ‘thinking Prime Minister’. It is time this nation had a mature conversation about ‘values’, and the obligation we must all share as “Australians”. And whilst we’re at it, achieve reconciliation with the indigenous Australians. And please, lets make the conversation truly participatory, on all levels rather than leave it all up to Rupert. There are many appalling things done in ‘gods’ name, and Rupert and Johnnie Howard have achieved quite enough!

Oh and just as an afterthought, I thought the Twentieth Century had “cured” us all of that ‘ol style’ religion. Sadly, not.