How Australia helped install an African dictator in Uganda In 50 years of journalism I never met a more unforgettable monster than Idi Amin, widely known as the Butcher of Uganda. He ruled the East African State from January 25, 1971, until 1979 when he was dumped by those who had been his original supporters,…
England bowler Ollie Robinson called Australian Test hero Usman Khawaja a “fucking prick” after bowling him out in the First Test at Edgbaston. Robinson refused to apologise after yelling “fuck off, you fucking prick” after dismissing the Pakistani-born batsman who scored a Test-saving 141 runs. This is not Robinson’s first racist outburst. And he was…
OBITUARY James Gilbert Mitchell, my eldest brother, died at 2.15 am on Saturday, March 25, 2023. His death followed a long battle with bowel and prostate cancer. He was 84 years old. He grew up in Townsville, North Queensland, and made his living selling cars, prospecting for gold, silver, tin and opals and repairing musical…
Below is a passage from R.S. Whitington, first-class cricketer and journalist. It’s highly relevant today after some graceless commentators rubbished the award this year of a fourth Allan Border medal to the outstanding batsman Steve Smith. By R.S. Whitington Victor Trumper [above], whose name stands as high in Australian cricket as Jack Crawford’s stands in tennis,…
Mount Isa Aboriginal William Barton would unite Australians as GG or President William Barton, an Aboriginal Australian didgeridoo player, composer, teacher and leader, was born in Mount Isa on 4 June 1981. He learned to play from his uncle, an elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga tribes of Western Queensland. He is widely recognised as one of Australia’s finest traditional didgeridoo players…
Peter Pringle was born in England on 28 June, 1940. He took an Honours degree in Science at Oxford University and later became a member of the august Linnean Society of London. Then came a career change: he switched from science to journalism. He showed immediate talent as an investigative reporter and foreign correspondent, excelling…
Loyal ABC listeners and watchers are appalled, and, as a consequence, the national broadcaster’s ratings are in free-fall. The reason? Regular programming was blacked out so that every radio and TV channel in every State and Territory captured (kidnapped?) an audience devoted entirely to the funeral of Mrs Brenda Windsor and the elevation of her…
Page from history “Do you know that there is a duke in Scotland who can ride 90 miles without leaving his own estate?” asks a man in Victor Hugo’s 1869 novel, The Man Who Laughs. “Do you know that Her Majesty has £700,000 sterling from the Civil List, besides castles, forests, domains, fiefs, tenancies, freeholds,…
For years and years, every time politicians or commentators were asked about adopting a Republic in preference to a Monarchy, they replied: “Let’s not talk about Republicanism now. It’s such awfully bad manners. We should wait until the Queen has died and then we can have that discussion.” Well, folks, the Queen is dead. She…
Page from history: bushies go to war “Total silence befell the gathering as the announcer, in sombre and subdued tones, began to read a message from the Prime Minister advising that Britain was at war with Germany and that Australia, as a member of the British Empire, was also at war. “Young men were urged…
