I’ve never known for sure whether there was a persistent radiation problem around the site of the December 1980 traffic accident on the Pacific highway, outside Laurieton. I do know that a truck, involved in a crash with a van was carrying radioactive isotopes (Americium 241 and Cesium 137), DDT, a mysterious substance called Strip X which was labelled, “Fatal if absorbed through the skin” and a quantity of Chinese food, tinned Lychees, boxes of food from ‘Yeo’s” and large containers of Chinese sauces.
A number of people became sick at the time, most prominently two police officers who spent a total of 16 hours at the crash site. Recent concerns arose after five workers on the same stretch of road developed symptoms of nausea and dry-throats, these have brought the 1980 crash back into prominence.
Authorities at the time chose to sweep the whole matter under the carpet, despite the persistent efforts of local GP Dr John Mackay, to bring several issues to public attention.
Following the accident Dr Mackay became aware that several of my patients, who’d been at the site of the crash, were manifesting symptoms “consistent with some form of chemical or radiation toxicity, or both, resulting from exposure to some radioactive toxins, and the chemicals D.D.T., and Sodium Proprionate.”
In his report on the incident Mackay cited a document from Arthur. C. Upton “Radiation Injury: Effects, Principles and Prespectives”. Upton outlines the prodromal manifestations of radiation sickness accordingly:
Not having medical training I can’t judge Dr Mackay’s acumen as a diagnostician, but he certainly posed some important questions.
Mackay was largely unsuccessful in gaining any significant official response to his concerns about symptoms amongst his patients so a group of concerned people, including myself, took his report to George Peterson MLA. George approached Pat Hills the relevant minister holding the portfolio for highways. According to George, Hills was not only unhelpful but so stridently dismissive of the report that he became convinced there must be something the government wanted to hide.
Since that time I’ve remained convinced that there had been a cover up. I didn’t know that some of the assorted chemicals had been left on site and simply buried a couple of metres down.
So, it was with some relief that I read of Greens MP Cate Faehrmann’s comments, reported in the Sydney Telegraph of 19 April, 2012 in which she said there appeared to have been a cover-up by previous governments and there needed to be an inquiry
There are many questions remaining unanswered. Despite initial tests of the accident site proving negative, further independent testing has been arranged.
Since we now have a government in NSW of different political complexion to the one that handled this matter in the first place, is it reasonable to believe that they will display a certain amount of courage in having this matter thoroughly investigated?
It’s not often I have the privilege to read matters analysed from a legal perspective. Certainly, subjecting Elgin’s appropriation of the Parthenon Marbles to detailed analysis is of a more than passing interest for me. So, it was with great pleasure that I read Theodore Theodorou’s reassessment of Elgin’s activities through the lens of a letter from Robert Adair, British Ambassador to Constantinople for the period 1809 to 1811. Adair’s posting covered the latter part of the period, 1801 to 1812 during which Elgin’s agents were removing sculptures from the Parthenon.
My concern, since first listening to George Bizos on the matter, has been whether any of the Firman issued were actually genuine documents at all. This concern is prompted by the simple fact that no originals have ever been produced by Elgin, the British Parliament or the British Museum.
Theodore Theodorou presents an extremely well argued analysis of the basic legal position surrounding Elgin’s acquisition. He sheds a completely new light on the matter, for me.
His contribution heightens my resolve to keep working for the restitution of the Marbles. I urge all readers to visit Theodore’s website.
A footnote
There are some other beautiful elements of Theodore’s website, in particular the several images of 17th to 18th century embroidery and some miscellaneous historical objects, forming part of the Theodorou collection.
Last night the new website of the International Organising Committee – Australia – For The Restitution Of The Parthenon Marbles, was launched at the Athenian Restaurant, Sydney. Designed by Dennis Tritaris from Orama Communications, I believe it represents a new standard in website design. Dennis has created a website that has the potential to make full use of Web2.0 tools to mobilise the truly global nature of this issue, connecting those of us who care about restitution without regard for national borders. The new website is an expression of the international focus of the Australian committee.
The restoration of the Parthenon
Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles is probably the world’s most well-known cultural property dispute.
Legal Opinion
A significant body of legal opinion acknowledges the illegality of Britain’s retention of the largest part of the Parthenon Marbles. George Bizos, Professor Vassilis Dimitriadis, Professor David Rudenstine, Christopher Hitchens, and Michael J Reppas, just to mention a few, note the illegality.
A professor from the University of Crete has called into question the sole document that the British Museum has found in recent years to support its legal ownership of the Elgin Marbles, reports the Times of London.
According to the museum, the 1801 document is an Italian translation of an Ottoman firman, or license, in which the Sultan’s grand vizier was authorized to permit the Earl of Elgin to take the sculptures. Elgin took the marbles between 1801 and 1805, and Britain’s argument has long been that the move was legal, because he asked for permission from the Turks, whose empire ruled Greece at the time. They also say that he saved the sculptures from likely damage and deterioration during the Greek-Turk conflict.
But Professor Vassilis Dimitriadis, a specialist in Ottoman law, now says that the original firman, on which the translation is based, could not have been legal, because it is missing the Sultan’s emblem and signature, and an invocation to God. Dimitriadis claims that, by law, only the Sultan could issue a valid firman.
There’s not time to cover the entire range of legal opinion on this blog, but in essence many lawyers point to the absence of any legitimate documentation sanctioning Elgin’s removal of the Marbles from the Parthenon.
Far deeper than legalities
Of course the matter is far deeper than legalities. My friend Emanuel J Comino AM often reminds me of the significance of the Parthenon as the pinnacle of artistic achievement in the city-state of Athens, birth place of democracy. This is really the heart of the matter. All would do well to consider the gravity of the Elgin’s act which in cultural terms is an affront to the city-state that gave us the very notion of democracy. This temple of Athena was the centre of a state that developed the very foundations of a political system that so many of us take for granted and that our Greek friends are privileged to hold as a centre in their cultural tradition. The inner strength afforded by such a noble history is constantly revealed in Hellenic character and traditions. Such strength can be observed in the ability to retain a cultural focus despite Τουρκοκρατία (Turkish rule) from the 15th century until the declaration of Greek independence in 1821.
The removal of the Parthenon Marbles is an affront to these traditions and an affront to democracy. In case we are in any doubt about the nature and character of that democracy, I leave the last word to Pericles. In his funeral oration for those who fell defending Attica from the Spartans he wrote:
“For our system of government does not copy the systems of our neighbours; we are a model to them, not they to us. Our constitution is called a democracy,because power rests in the hands not of the few but of the many. Our laws guarantee equal justice for all in their private disputes;
and as for the election of public officials, we welcome talent to every arena of achievement, nor do we make out choices on the grounds of class but on the grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we carry the same spirit into our daily relations with one another. We acknowledge the restraint of reverence;
we are obedient to those in authority and to the laws, especially to those that give protection to the oppressed and those unwritten laws of the heart whose transgression brings admitted shame.”
“We are lovers of beauty without extravagance, and lovers of wisdom without effeminacy.
We differ from other states in regarding the man who keeps aloof from public life not as “private” but as useless; we decide or debate, carefully and in person, all matters of policy, and we hold, not that words and deeds go ill together, but that acts are foredoomed to failure when undertaken undiscussed.”
In a word, I say our city as a whole is an education to Greece, and that our citizens yield to none, man by man, for independence of spirit, many-sidedness of attainment, and complete self-reliance in limbs and brain.
Men of the future will wonder at us, as all men do today. We need no Homer or other man of words to praise us”.
“For you now, it remains to rival what they have done and, knowing that the secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom a brave heart, not idly to stand aside from the enemy’s onslaught”.
Walking through Darling Harbour past the Barangaroo development with a group of Year 10 students on an urban growth and decline field study, last Friday, pricked my interest in having a closer look at Barangaroo’s Headland Park.
Munn Street Reserve at Millers Point provides an excellent view of activity at Barangaroo and the seemingly untenable overseas cruise ship berth right in the middle of the project. I couldn’t help wondering how passengers must be feeling about the noise and dust from the latest foundations work on the site.
Current developments at Sydney's Barangaroo project.
I also noticed that the Headland Park development was beginning to take shape. From the Reserve it resembled a pile of rubble so I planned to return for a closer look at water level.
Saturday was a great day for paddling on the harbour and I set out around 8.00am to paddle from Drummoyne to Darling Harbour. Like so many kayak journeys, nothing unfolds quite as planned. I took a meandering course that eventually led me to Gore Cove, just to the east of Greenwich Point.
The True Valletta at berth in Gore Cove
Here there was a large tanker at berth and since Sydney has all but lost its status as a working industrial port I wanted to take a closer look at the vessel that was discharging its cargo of oil. Some years ago I’d actually accompanied a friend who worked as a tugboat captain on the harbour while we undertook the delicate task of nudging one of this impressive craft into its Gore Cove berth. Since then I pretty much forgotten about Sydney as a working port. Apart from the insistent sound of machinery it was also the Maltese flag fluttering at the stern that caught my attention, so turned into the bay.
A couple of weeks earlier I’d also paddled into White Bay for the first time. This was once a very busy stretch of the harbour withe the Glebe Island terminal at its entrance, as well as coal loader and bulk grain loading facilities. While the silos remain, it seems that the main activity these days in dry bulk materials handling. On the day I went in there was a small vessel loading chemicals.
Bulk chemicals being loaded at a White Bay berth.
The vapour trail in the sky was an accidental addition.
So, after missing the shot of progress on the Headland park that I wanted, I’d set out again. What a beautiful morning it was on Sydney harbour. I was joined by my eldest son who was paddling his sleek, light weight and very fast surf ski .
Setting out towards Darling Harbour from Birkenhead it was difficult not to meander a little, so instead of a direct path we headed our between Snapper and Spectacle islands and along the northern shore of Cockatoo Island before crossing the main channel from Longnose Point to Balls Head and then along the north shore to Blues Point. From here we cut straight across the harbour to the Headland Park. While Rob made a quick detour into Walsh Bay to look at Jones Street Wharf and the luxury waterside apartment of at 19 Hickson Rd, I bobbed around just off Millers Point trying to line up a clear shot amongst the parade of passing motor boats making the surface like a huge washing machine. Finally I grabbed the shot I wanted on the iPhone and then realised it was in video mode.
Headland Park Millers Point.
Happy with anything at all in the wash I made for clearer water further out towards Goat Island. Coming about to see where Rob I noticed that the Captain Cook cruise ship had just rounded the headland from Darling harbour. It looked huge from the vantage point of my kayak. I’d never remembered it being quite so large. Certainly I wasn’t on the same scale as the passenger vessel Arcadia, moored in Circular Quay, but it did look unusually large. Suddenly its horn blasted, then I realised that it was Rob attracting all the attention. He was right in the crafts path with his back to all the action, attempting to picking up little runs in the chaotic turbulence that was swirling around the headland. Suddenly Rob was in the drink and in the next moment scrambling back up onto his ski and paddling furiously away from the looming white hull. The course of our journey.
Wednesday 14 March, 2012, marks an important day in the struggle for the restitution of the Parthenon Marbles. It marks the launch of a state of the art, world’s best practice, website.
By way of background to the website it’s necessary to explain that it’s the site for the International Organising Committee – Australia – for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles. This was the first Committee in the world to campaign for securing the repatriation of the famous marbles. Founded by Emanuel J Comino AM in 1981, the Committee continues the work of a previous committee which operated under the auspices of the Australian Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).
Current Committee Secretary, Dennis Tritaris of Orama Communications, and the committee at large have shown how well best practice in the use of Web2.0 tools can powerfully focus public gaze and concern on this enduring injustice.
With Greece confronting such difficult economic conditions the injustice of the continuing retention of the major part of the priceless Parthenon Marbles, by the British Museum, is even more painfully evident. While Greece confronts such acute financial difficulties the museum continues to earn a substantial income from the merchandising of the Parthenon Marbles. Despite the attempt to render the Marbles mere artefacts, detached from their historical, cultural and geographic context, and present them as in some way more relevant to the world in their present gloomy hall. The museum maintains that retaining Parthenon Marbles along with other artefacts “allows a world public to re-examine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected human cultures.” To those of us who don’t accept the Museum’s imperial taxonomy, the Parthenon Marbles remain an integral part of the Parthenon as a monument to the glory of Classical Greece and the civilisation it gave to the world.
Sadly, a host of fallacies about the Marbles are still asserted by the British Museum. The latest attempt I’ve encountered in the litany of self justifying rationalisations presented in the latest clever museological propaganda piece. The video seeks to justify the retention of the Marbles with the argument that in the Museum their contribution to the whole of world history can best be appreciated. This approach, despite its imperial hue, has also been taken up in a BBC British Museum initiative A History of the World in 100 Objects.
Can the Marbles be better understood in gloomy Room 18, at the British Museum or in the New Acropolis Museum? For me the answer is indisputable. Anyone who has the opportunity to make to journey both the Russell Square and the Acropolis will find the answer.
Lakes Entrance has always intrigued me facing onto Bass Strait and sitting as it does two-thirds of the way along Ninety Mile Beach. It’s close to a major metropolitan area yet far enough away to have a distinctly provincial character. Certainly it has all the hallmarks of a tourist town and I wondered what it must be like in the off-season, particularly June and July when the winds swing in from the west and south-west bringing a touch of polar chill.
Before I left Sydney, my next door neighbour informed me that there’d been a blue-green algal outbreak in the Gippsland lakes. A quick review of the published media revealed a story from ‘The Age‘ reporting that, “Consumption of fish, prawns and mussels from the entire lakes system was banned by the Health Department earlier this month after an outbreak of toxic blue-green algae in waters east of Paynesville.” The story made the obvious point, given the area’s dependence on tourism and commercial fishing quoting Dale Sumner, general manager of Lakes Entrance Fisherman’s Co-op who was reported as saying that, “Those commercial guys are out of work with no other income stream while the ban is in place, and there are a lot of other businesses in town which rely on recreational fishing . . .”
When this sort of thing happens to towns that are already hard pressed the economy suffers. Despite this I found enormous generosity in this town. The proprietors of The Lakes Waterfront Motel demonstrated this in their fair minded approach to the retailing of art works and artefacts from Kurnai artists. This ethos of generosity seemed widespread as I soon discovered while fishing.
Meeting a man from the Green Line
I knew that fish from the Lakes had to be cleaned carefully with the heads and gills removed, while the blur green algal outbreak was still an issue but tis seem like a small sacrifice for fresh fish. So, after checking out the satellite images of the are I reasoned that a small stretch of shoreline just west of the Kalimna wharf was the easiest and most promising area for me to fish. I picked up some green prawns and set off. It was a disappointment, not a bite. As I headed back to the motel I passed a man fishing a short distance away. ‘The Ludderick should come on in a moment’, he explained. “The tides dropping and see those mussels, well they’re excellent bait for them”. So with renewed enthusiasm I returned to me spot. Throwing out the line with a mussell on the hook, still nothing happened. In desperation I returned t prawns. Suddenly there was the unmistakable nudging of my bait, then another little nibble and finally a solid bite. The line tightened, the rod bent and in moments I was reeling in a sizeable fish. No Ludderick this fish, but a presentable silver bream measuring around 29cm and just over the 28cm Lakes Entrance limit. I fished on for a while but without so much as the slightest touch.
Passing my new acquaintance I noticed that he’d already pulled in half a dozen Ludderick. ‘They’re into it every time I throw the line in”, he observed. “Not bad eating Black Fish, although we don’t call them that these days.”
I’m surprised they’re biting on mussels, I said, I thought they preferred weed.
Well they take mussels, although it’s true they’ll bite on weed, he advised.
Gregory went fishing there everyday. He was impressed that I’d caught a bream and threw in a Ludderick for good measure. He even cleaned both, cutting off the heads and confirming the blue green algal problem.
They’ve played it down around here, he explained. It’s bad for business.
We chatted. Gregory was from the UK but his father was from France and he grew up in Pondicherry. This puzzled me when he told the story, but know I realise that his father must have had relatives in Pondicherry since it had been a French possession for a time.
French India 1741-1754, from Wikimedia Commons
Later his family migrated to the UK. He worked as a driver on the Green Line for years and then decided to migrate to Australia. He’d started work on the Victorian Railways, as a fireman on the run the Albury. He wasn’t allowed to come straight in as a driver. He said that he hated Australia at first, if only because of the distance involved. is first job being the Melbourne Albury run, not far by Australian standards, but a huge distance compared with the Green Line. I guessed that he must have been bored. He thought he’d made a mistake coming, till he met a woman. They married and he was catching lunch for her today, now that they’ve both retired to Lakes Entrance.
We chatted for a while. It’s always interesting to chat with people who’ve a broad cultural base and a sense of global history and geography. He was intimately acquainted with Pria Viswalingam’s work, as it turned out, and quite excited to learn that “Decadence: The Decline of the Western World’ was running in Melbourne. He wouldn’t make the trip but would certainly look out for the doco.
In search of fresh prawns
The trawlers along the waterfront promised an abundance of fresh prawns. Once I learned that they were being trawled from Bass Strait, I was keen to try some. The owner of the motel explained that they went out in the evenings and returned about 8.00am the next morning, with a fresh catch.
Prawn Trawler at Lakes Entrance, Victoria
Wandering along to the trawler wharf about 8.15am I noticed that trading was straight off the boats, so stepping up onto the nearest one I was a little bemused that there was no one around. After a few moments an older Greek Australian emerged from below.
Oh, I was up at five but I thought I’d have another sleep, he explained.
I thought it odd that he was already berthed at five in the morning, so I asked, Is this last night’s catch?
No, it’s what’s left over.
They’re a bit small, I noted.
Yes, here have some. No charge, he smiled, wrapping me up a kilo of medium school prawns.
Wow! Thanks, I said with genuine appreciation, and went on my way but since that was ultimately Melbourne I thought Gregory deserved the prawns.
He was easy to find and delighted if not surprised with the offering. I was leaving that morning so I thanked him for his kindness and hit the road for Melbourne.
A varied landscape
The other intriguing feature of the area is that it sits at a boundary of the still heavily wooded East Gippsland and the largely rural and partly industrial South Gippsland.
Looking at Google maps of this area conveys a sense of just how wooded the eastern Gippsland area is extending as it does from the NSW border to the Gippsland Lakes. The Gippsland region includes a much bigger area extending to Melbourne in the west, the Victorian alpine country to the north and Wilsons Promontory to the south. Gippsland includes the Bass Coast, Baw Baw, East Gippsland, South Gippsland, Wellington Shire Councils and Latrobe City Council. The southern and eastern parts of the region are more intensely cultivated and at times I felt, when travelling through these areas that I could almost have been in England.
Countryside in the dairying area around Leongatha, South Gippsland, Victoria
Leongatha proved quite a surprise. It’s importance as an educational centre was the first aspect I noticed, then the huge Murray Goulburn Cooperative Devondale Dairy. The Leongatha-based dairy processing site became part of Murray Goulburn in 1973. At first I was a little confused by this since Leongatha is nowhere bear the Murray or Goulburn rivers. Actually the Goulburn river is the main Victorian tributary of the Murray River.
The Murray Goulburn website explains the situation succinctly. As it turns out the company was established in 1950, is 100% controlled by Australian dairy farmers and is Australia’s major exporter of dairy products. Its Devondale brand is a market leader. The town itself brims with the benefits of wealth and the social legacy of rural industry.
Leongatha Remembrance Hall and Art Gallery
A sculpture of Victory, commemorating the end of WWI, adorns the roof
Yesterday I attended TeachMeet Sydney. This was a meeting/un-conferences where teachers shared good practice, practical ideas and personal insights into teaching with technology.
Various participants volunteered the ideas, tools or a websites they’ve used in their classroom.
Held at the Eveleigh Technology Park in Sydney, TeachMeet was an outstanding success. Presenters in plenary style sessions were limited to 7 minutes each. In smaller workshops this was down to 2 minutes.
It simply wasn’t possible to take it all in, there was so much more going on that I could only just sense through the Twitter feeds at #TMSydney
There was rich discussion and lots of fascinating stories about practice and about students responses to some of the inspired ideas contributed by this dynamic collection of teachers, consultants and the occasional student.
Teachers from all types of schools were there, demonstrating, networking, sharing and collaborating. Attendees can be viewed on this Google spreadsheet. Take the opportunity to look at just who you might include in your PLN, if you missed them yesterday
TeachMeet Sydney was open to all. If you’d like to know more, there’s a Wiki and here are the analytics.
How it all started
Unassumingly dynamic with his Harry Potter glasses Ewan Mcintosh was, in a sense, the keynote speaker. Even Ewan, convenor of the first Teach Meet six years ago in an Edinburgh pub, like everyone else in that first plenary, restricted his comments to seven minutes.
When I started to search for more background on that first event I came across Ewan’s Education Blog. As is often the case when trawling through cyberspace, it wasn’t long before I started to drift off onto one of the posts, actually a YouTube video, on the Blog.
It explores the changing relationship children have with technology and the capacity such tools have for assisting children to approach learning in a self organising manner.
What changes does this imply in the types of relationships the professional educator needs to develop with learners?
Dayak people already displaced by logging: Rukun Damai and Long Ubung
Rainforests are both biophysically and iconically vital to the health of the entire planet. When I went to school we were taught about virgin rainforests,. Then we were taught that rainforest dwellers practised a form of shifting cultivation, cycling through various parts of the forest ‘slashing and burning’, cropping and then abandoning their cleared spreads and moving on, only to return some years later when the forest had regenerated. Later I realised that this was a generalisation and an over simplification.
What I came to understand was that much of what we thought of as random collections of species, climaxing and surviving according to the principles of natural change, was often an established equatorial garden created by forest people over many years.
Through the string of islands to the north of Australia lie some of the world’s most remarkable rainforests. Beginning as far back 40 000 years ago a process of incremental transformation has unfolded through these island chains. Such sustainable change is all but invisible yet the very language and culture of the forest peoples of this region is enmeshed and entwined in the process. Outwardly the illusion of the virgin forest remains yet the primal expression of culture is undeniable. These notions crystallised for me years ago when I visited Kalimantan, the Mentawai Islands and West papua (follow the links to my articles).
When I reflect on the position of traditional rainforest peoples it’s with these understandings in mind.
Forest peoples have a truly global significance, exemplifying sustainable practices within the rainforest ecosystem and all too often standing as tragic examples of the loss that confronts humanity and the planet when their sustainable practices are supplanted by unsustainable practices, all too often logging and mining.
When I first encountered notions of emissions trading schemes and carbon credits it seemed like a workable plan. Carbon credits are regarded as one of the ways of offsetting unsustainable use of fossil fuels. Certainly, using carbon-based fuels is essential while the world transitions to non-carbon energy alternatives.
Yes, I understand that these schemes are open to manipulation, to approaches that still consider clear felling a rainforest and planting oil palms is making a useful effort in sequestering carbon dioxide, but there seemed to be a way through this. So, it was with no small measure of irony in mind that I read yesterday’s Jakarta Globe.
Green Activists Seeing REDD Over Program’s Effect on Forest Tribes, by Tunggadewa Mattangkilang. It concerned the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) schemes in the Kayan Mentarang National Park, which straddles the districts of Nunukan, Malinau and West Kutai in East Kalimantan. This area is to be used as a REDD scheme pilot project for offsetting carbon emissions. Unfortunately there are an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Dayak people living in the 1.3-million-hectare park, sitting on the border with Malaysia.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has warned that the way of these forest dwellers will be threatened
“Such programs will further marginalize the indigenous people in the forest to the extent that they won’t be able to continue with their way of life. That’s because one of the conditions of these programs is a prohibition on any human activity in the forest, which is the same as throwing these people out.”
I’d welcome comments on this situation and thank the Jakarta Globe for the feed.
Searching for a campsite along the east coast of Australia in January is a challenge. I kept remembering that cartoon published way back in the 70s. It reflected whimsically on the lifestyle of the Australian summer holidays and the significance of the Nativity. The infant Jesus was adored by beachwear clad Aussies as he lay peacefully in an esky surrounded by caravans and tents festooned with beach towels, flipper and fishing gear. Well, at least that’s how the memory played out in my mind as yet another camping area, bursting at the margins, flicked past.
With sunset a little after 8.00pm, Summer Saving Time, finding somewhere to sleep for the night became an imperative. National Parks are almost invariably out of the question, unless one has had the foresight to book a spot beforehand. I certainly hadn’t done this as my journey was largely one of impulse and serendipity. There was no plan just a desire to go fishing at Lakes Entrance, despite reports of a blue green algal bloom. It was the 16th of January and my only deadline was the need to be in Melbourne for the commemoration of the tragic deaths of Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner on Friday January 20th.
The only option for camping that night was a State Forest so I decided to stay just on the NSW side of the border and head out towards Mt Imlay to a designated camping area known as Nelson’s crossing. It was supposed to be around 17kn from the Princes Highway and before long I saw the turn off. All looked very promising, Mount Imlay National Park to the north and Timbillica State Forest to the south . Tall stands of secondary forest and no other people were excellent signs as the road snaked up and away from the coastal zone.
My destination, Nelson’s crossing promised a fast running and left me with images of bullock drays making their slow passage up into the foot hills of the coastal ranges. Nelso, I imagined, must have been a pioneer timber cutter. This imagining was regularly reinforced as every 12 minutes or so a timber truck streaked past, presumably on its way to the mills around Eden.
Imlay Rd before the Nelson's crossing turn off and passing timber truck.
Now I knew it was 18km from the highway but when I arrived at the place where Imlay creek crossed Imlay Rd, I thought, “Ah, a crossing. Dam signage must have been wrong”. This was apparently confirmed when I noticed a small reserve with a picnic shed, fire place and a roughly landscaped area, plus a toilet.
Had I been a little less concerned about the westering sun I’d have noticed that a further 300 metres up the road was the turn-off the Nelson’s crossing, still another 4 km on.
So I began to set up camp. It was a peaceful setting, except that the timber rucks just kept coming, the bird life prodigious and varied. I became absorbed in the behaviour of a couple of Black Cockatoos. They had red tail panels but were far more subdued that the Red Tailed Black cockatoos I’d seen in the past. A quick search on the brilliant Michael Morcombe eGuide to the Birds of Australia on my iPad revealed that they were Glossy Black Cockatoos ( Calyptorhynchus lathami). That explained why they kept hanging around the casurina trees. They were doing exactly as the app said, ” . . . quietly feeding the the foliage of casuarina trees, the only sound being the busy clicking of bills as they demolish the hard, woody seed capsules.’
Settling in for the night, I felt uncomfortable, so close to the road. There’s safety in numbers out in isolated public spaces and there was no one else around, save the timber trucks that became infrequent after sunset. I dragged a few branches around the perimeter of my campsite, roughly walling it off and ensuring that anyone walking around at night would make enough noise to wake me up.
Rising with the sun I did battle with March Flies for a while, had a quick breakfast and broke camp. As I was leaving I thought I’d check out a sign further up the road. Sure enough it was the sign to Nelson’s crossing so I drove in. What a pity I missed it the night before.
Nelson's Crossing
Soon In was in Victoria and the Gippsland. In my mind this was bushfire country and there was plenty of evidence of past fires. Along the Hhighway south and west of Cann river there was plenty of evidence of earlier bush fires. The long straight stretches of road and limited traffic emboldened me to stand in the middle of the road for this shot.
Bush fire damage on either side of the highway west of Cann River.
Still intent on camping but wanting to avoid the crush of the coastal camping grounds, I made for what looked like an out of the way stretch of coastline that began at Bemm River, a small resort and fishing town on Sydenham Inlet. So, turning left at Manorina, a small cluster of galleries and craft shops, I drove to the coast, assuming that if Bemm river wasn’t suitable I could continue on minor roads to Lakes Entrance.
Bemm river is a backwater, just the place I wanted to stay, but I needed to be contactable and with only Telstra service my Optus connection simply wasn’t going to work. I tried a few open areas around the town but there was no service. The town seemed to have missed crush and ubiquitous connectivity.
I’d hoped to travel along the Pearl Point Track from here. It seemed to traverse an absolutely pristine coastal coastal zone, with intact barrier dunes, lagoons and salt marsh. Chatting with a man selling bait from one of several outlets I soon discovered that the road through Cape Conran Coastal Park, had been shut to campers. Disappointed I returned to the highway and made straight for Lakes Entrance, With hindsight, I think I should have researched the area a little more thoroughly, but connectivity and the limited number of local informants was the main problem. By now I’d resolved to stay in a motel, so as soon as there was network I began searching for a likely destination and that was to be The Lakes Waterfront Motel, an excellent boutique motel with unobtrusive service, minimal to no traffic noise and a 50 metre walk to the lake, from my unit.
One thing that impressed me about this motel was the fair trading approach the proprietors adopted to indigenous art and craft. The front office was full of paintings and artifacts made by local Aboriginal people. According the the proprietors, these were sold wihout commission and all proceeds retirned to the artists. The area is on the lands of the the Gunai – Kurnai people. Their nation bordered on the lands of the Bidawal people to the east around Cann River and Mallacoota.
The arts, potentially, an important source of income for people in this area. It’s not a wealthy area. Lakes Entrance with its population of 6000 people, is most dependent on touriam and the fishing industry. Lakes Entrance has the second largest regional Indigenous population in Victoria.
Amongst the indigenous community there are several socio-economic challenges.
The Indigenous unemployment rate is 3 times higher than the overall average, or about 30%
Only 1 in 20 Indigenous people have access to a phone at home or own a vehicle
16% are homeless
11% are in special accommodation
See source Expanding Cultures Conference 2007. I haven’t had time to check for more recent stats, but I don’t expect they’ll show much variation.
During the last school holidays I travelled through south eastern NSW, across into the Gippsland region of Victoria and then slowly made my way down to Melbourne, via the La Trobe valley.
There were times when I was quite surprised by the beauty of this part of Australia. It was one of the areas that I’d never visited. By reason and by repute, I thought it was likely to be most impressive. It was, both in terms of the special beauty of particular places, stark contrasts and environmental challenges.
Several places stand out. The first of these was the Fred Piper lookout, named after the man who drove a regular bus route from Bega through Bemboka and then up and over Brown Mountain to Cooma. Fred died in the winter of 1951, as he shovelled snow off the Snowy Mountains Way.
Upper Bega valley, the view from Fred Piper Lookout
The lookout commands excellent view of the upper Bega valley out towards the town of Bemboka. The town “was established to serve the needs of the local dairy farmers and the travellers on the Brown Mountain Route. Brown Mountain (1241 m) lies about 25 km west of . . . . It was first crossed in 1816 when a bridle path was established. In 1822 a mail service from Cooma to the coast began traversing the route which became known as the ‘Postman’s Track’.” SMH December 8, 2008.
Quite apart from the view, along the escarpment are some beautiful remnants of wet sclerophyll forest, merging with temperate rain forests.
Old growth eucalypts, with bright lichens and moses contrasting with tree ferns
Down in the Bega valley, earlier clearing has transformed the landscape into one of verdant rolling hills with minimal tree cover. I reflected on just how abundant this area must have been before the settlers came when the Yuin people were the only people in this land. When I returned to Sydney, I looked through the Powerhouse Museum Flicker stream and came across this image that shows just what a chaotic impact unrestrained clearing had on such land.
I suspect that this image is more likely to have come from the north coast of NSW, but it illustrates the way much of eastern Australia was ‘developed’.
Travelling on further to Bega i was impressed by the obvious wealth of the area and the commercial success of the dairying industry. Just beyond Bega, in the heat of the day, the cattle seemed as though they might be resting in a slightly over heated version of the south of England.
Friesian cattle resting.
Year ago, when I worked as a consultant with the Country Areas Program I flew into Merimbula before heading up the coast to Central Tilba for a school visit. Remembering the colour of the ocean along this stretch on the NSW south coast, the Saphire Coast, I was keen to head back to Merimbula. I wasn’t disappointed, but being the summer holiday period I soon headed inland again to escape the teaming caravan parks and look for a quieter camping spot. This wasn’t before I had the most curious architectural encounter. Sitting on a hillside in Merimbula is this extraordinary row of terrace houses.
My rational side tells me that it’s unlikely that there was ever terrace housing built here in the late 19th century. On close examination, the terrace has a very high standard of finish with little evident wear or weathering. The detail is excellent but the overall loom is of a much more recent building, particularly the brick work. If any readers have information about this remarkable terrace I’d love to learn more about it.
“After white settlement, the land now known as Merimbula was first owned by the Twofold Bay Pastoral Association. This association opened a port in Merimbula during 1855. In 1857 the first postmaster, Henry Jefferson Bate, was appointed. Sale of land commenced in 1860.”
Twofold Bay is one place I’d always wanted to visit. My images of this rea have been shaped by its history of whaling, but I was also aware that it’s a place of great natural beauty.
Worang Point, Twofold Bay, Eden. The exotic trees almost make this look like another country.
Twofold Bay is still a site of controversy. Just across the bay I noticed this huge stack of wood chips in the distance.
Wood chipping on Twofold Bay across the water from Eden, near the site of old Boyd Town.
Last night the new website of the International Organising Committee – Australia – For The Restitution Of The Parthenon Marbles, was launched at the Athenian Restaurant, Sydney. Designed by Dennis Tritaris from Orama Communications, I believe it represents a new standard in website design. Dennis has created a website that has the potential to make full use of Web2.0 tools to mobilise the truly global nature of this issue, connecting those of us who care about restitution without regard for national borders. The new website is an expression of the international focus of the Australian committee.
The restoration of the Parthenon
Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles is probably the world’s most well-known cultural property dispute.
Legal Opinion
A significant body of legal opinion acknowledges the illegality of Britain’s retention of the largest part of the Parthenon Marbles. George Bizos, Professor Vassilis Dimitriadis, Professor David Rudenstine, Christopher Hitchens, and Michael J Reppas, just to mention a few, note the illegality.
Professor Vassilis Dimitriadis’ opinion is summarised at the Elginism website in a report by ARTINFO, published: August 29, 2008 which reads:
A professor from the University of Crete has called into question the sole document that the British Museum has found in recent years to support its legal ownership of the Elgin Marbles, reports the Times of London.
According to the museum, the 1801 document is an Italian translation of an Ottoman firman, or license, in which the Sultan’s grand vizier was authorized to permit the Earl of Elgin to take the sculptures. Elgin took the marbles between 1801 and 1805, and Britain’s argument has long been that the move was legal, because he asked for permission from the Turks, whose empire ruled Greece at the time. They also say that he saved the sculptures from likely damage and deterioration during the Greek-Turk conflict.
But Professor Vassilis Dimitriadis, a specialist in Ottoman law, now says that the original firman, on which the translation is based, could not have been legal, because it is missing the Sultan’s emblem and signature, and an invocation to God. Dimitriadis claims that, by law, only the Sultan could issue a valid firman.
Another examination of the legal issues and developments in international law can be found in a paper ‘Cultural Property and the Shortcomings of International Law: A Case Study on the Looting of the Parthenon‘ by Michael J Reppas Esq.
There’s not time to cover the entire range of legal opinion on this blog, but in essence many lawyers point to the absence of any legitimate documentation sanctioning Elgin’s removal of the Marbles from the Parthenon.
Far deeper than legalities
Of course the matter is far deeper than legalities. My friend Emanuel J Comino AM often reminds me of the significance of the Parthenon as the pinnacle of artistic achievement in the city-state of Athens, birth place of democracy. This is really the heart of the matter. All would do well to consider the gravity of the Elgin’s act which in cultural terms is an affront to the city-state that gave us the very notion of democracy. This temple of Athena was the centre of a state that developed the very foundations of a political system that so many of us take for granted and that our Greek friends are privileged to hold as a centre in their cultural tradition. The inner strength afforded by such a noble history is constantly revealed in Hellenic character and traditions. Such strength can be observed in the ability to retain a cultural focus despite Τουρκοκρατία (Turkish rule) from the 15th century until the declaration of Greek independence in 1821.
The removal of the Parthenon Marbles is an affront to these traditions and an affront to democracy. In case we are in any doubt about the nature and character of that democracy, I leave the last word to Pericles. In his funeral oration for those who fell defending Attica from the Spartans he wrote:
“For our system of government does not copy the systems of our neighbours; we are a model to them, not they to us. Our constitution is called a democracy,because power rests in the hands not of the few but of the many. Our laws guarantee equal justice for all in their private disputes;
and as for the election of public officials, we welcome talent to every arena of achievement, nor do we make out choices on the grounds of class but on the grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we carry the same spirit into our daily relations with one another. We acknowledge the restraint of reverence;
we are obedient to those in authority and to the laws, especially to those that give protection to the oppressed and those unwritten laws of the heart whose transgression brings admitted shame.”
“We are lovers of beauty without extravagance, and lovers of wisdom without effeminacy.
We differ from other states in regarding the man who keeps aloof from public life not as “private” but as useless; we decide or debate, carefully and in person, all matters of policy, and we hold, not that words and deeds go ill together, but that acts are foredoomed to failure when undertaken undiscussed.”
In a word, I say our city as a whole is an education to Greece, and that our citizens yield to none, man by man, for independence of spirit, many-sidedness of attainment, and complete self-reliance in limbs and brain.
Men of the future will wonder at us, as all men do today. We need no Homer or other man of words to praise us”.
“For you now, it remains to rival what they have done and, knowing that the secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom a brave heart, not idly to stand aside from the enemy’s onslaught”.
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