Mateship and Money Making � Summary of Book

A ferocious �war� erupted in remote outback Australia in 1983. Shearers were on strike. �Scab� shearers had to be protected against invading mobs of unionists. In scattered and isolated woolsheds sheds the question was: should sheep-shearers be allowed to use �wide combs�? Australian merinos had always been shorn with �narrow combs�. Until a recent ruling industrial award expressly forbad wide combs. Initiated by the graziers (way back in 1926) the rule had become shearers� folklore. Wide combs were not just wrong � but positively evil. This was the 1980s, but the roots of the problem went back to the 1890s.

Shearers got paid per hundred sheep, not by the hour or the day, so the opportunity to get a bigger tally with the wide comb was something to be welcomed - one would think. Indeed, that was certainly the case. But fanatical opposing opinion could not easily be overcome. It was �un-Australian� to even think about it. But equally, it was �un-Australian� NOT to be allowed a free choice to use whatever equipment did the job best. Diametrically opposed points of view were quite irreconcilable.

The oldest and most powerful trade union in the nation�s history stood behind the strike. The Australian Workers Union, known wide and far by its acronym �the AWU�, had risen in the 1890s. Ruthlessly efficient at grass roots organiser, God help any shearer trying to occupy a stand without an AWU ticket. And God help any greedy upstart questioning AWU wisdom on industrial matters.

The shearing workforce had always been a rambunctious, contrary lot. The work was punishingly strenuous as well as highly skilled. Infectious group camaraderie governed its cult of �mateship�. This was also prone to impenetrable �insider-outsider� idiosyncrasies. There was money to be made for those who could stand the pace, but strong tribal loyalties to the union dictated customs and rules in the woolshed.

Many different types gravitated into shearing. At one end were staunch unionists preaching �mateship� and class solidarity. At the other end self-improving moneymakers accumulated funds get started as farmers. For the most part the two groups �got on�, or at least tolerated one another. Hard core class warriors enjoyed the competitive camaraderie and were not themselves against making money.

Moneymakers were not averse to a bit of class solidarity if it bolstered shearing rates of pay. They were less tolerant of rules which slowed them down.

In its foundation years the AWU had been pugnacious and militant. Violent strikes in the 1890s did not go well for it. Too many members were farmers who �scabbed� during strikes. The arrival of contract shearing further diluted the link between �mateship� and union solidarity. In 1902 moneymaking professional shearers were so exasperated by AWU belligerence towards woolgrowers, they formed a rival �Machine Shearers Union�, more friendly to the graziers. AWU leaders had to use all their guile and cunning to outwit the upstart MSU. The AWU moderated its militancy, adopted a policy of opposing strikes, and put its faith in the newly established Arbitration Court to fix wages and settle disputes.

Unfortunately for the AWU, factions within its rank-and-file remained attracted to the mythology of class war against the graziers. During World War I, the Arbitration Court was very laggard in updating the shearing award and militants had their chance. In defiance of the AWU a very successful strike was organised in Queensland. This opened the door for a militant faction with communist connections in the interwar period. The AWU�s firm policy of �arbitration not direct action� was ridiculed. The AWU denigrated them as �bogus disrupters� and excoriated their point of view, but at the same time adopted militant-sounding rhetoric. The union could not afford to be accused of being on the side of the bosses.

The graziers saw the danger and responded. Isolated shearing sheds were vulnerable to last minute walkouts when shearers stuck together. The Graziers� Cooperative Shearing Company (later known as Grazcos) in 1919 was founded. Grazcos operated on a big enough scale all over NSW (and later Victoria and Queensland) to recruit strike-breakers when there was �trouble� at particular sheds. It grew rapidly.

The militant element disrupted woolsheds in the early-1920s with some ongoing success. The AWU tended to �sit on the fence�, but a decisive win by the graziers in 1922 ended its flirtation with the �bogus disrupters�. Grazcos co-ordinated strike-breakers and the Graziers Association successfully prosecuted AWU leaders for advocating strikes.

�Bogus disrupters� did not disappear, and indeed caused the AWU further headaches during the Great Depression by forming a competing union, the Pastoral Workers Industrial Union, known as �the PWIU�. It�s leading lights were Arthur Rae, an AWU pioneer who had fallen out with mainstream Labor, and �Trucker� Brown, a disgruntled shearer from a downtrodden background in Cobar. The PWIU caused no end of trouble in this period, although the size and superior organisation of the AWU eventually gained ascendancy. Nevertheless, a serious shortage of shearers during World War II was the catalyst for more shearing shed disturbances and another debilitating (if ultimately unsuccessful) strike in 1945.

When the wool price boomed in the 1950s PWIU �troublemakers� re-infiltrated the AWU. They called themselves the �Dubbo Progress Committee�. While the wool price was still rising the AWU had little difficulty persuading the Arbitration Court to continue escalating shearing rates, but as the wool price receded from their extraordinary peak in 1951 the graziers began to resist. Still concerned about the radical threat within, the AWU abandoned the mantra of always accepting decisions of the Arbitration Court. This was the genesis of the 1956 strike, a drawn out �war of attrition� between the United Graziers Association of Queensland, primarily, and the AWU.

The 1956 strike passed into AWU mythology as an �historic victory� over the graziers. In fact any �victory� was a more pyrrhic than real. Certainly the grazier associations thought twice about again asking the Arbitration Court to cut shearing rates, but it also reinforced disruptive attitudes in shearing sheds. These were deeply resented by graziers and when they got their chance they put the boot in. The opportunity arrived with the wide comb dispute.

While �union attitudes� prevailed in the sheds in the years after 1956, society was changing, not least amongst the shearing workforce. Many were involved in shearing competitions and shearing schools. The �tally-hi� shearing technique developed and promoted by the Australian Wool Board encouraged the moneymaking culture at the expense of the old union solidarity. The old grazing stations had largely disappeared and most wool growing took place on mixed sheep and wheat-cropping family farms run on new agri-business principles.

Wide combs arrived in Australia courtesy of increasing numbers of New Zealand shearers. Wide combs were not new � they had been around since 1910 (or possibly earlier). In New Zealand they had been universally used for as long as anybody could remember � indeed there had never been the slightest sign of any objection. The most obvious reason for this was that New Zealand farms bred sheep with coarse wool in contrast to the predominant merinos with fine-wool fleeces. Romney and cross-bred wool did not clog up the teeth of the wider combs, as tended to happen when they entered a merino fleece.

However, there was a more fundamental problem. Australians were very much concerned with �fairness� among the shearers, and also with the way the labour arbitration court calculated shearers� wages. This risk was, the AWU said, that if wide combs became common, the Arbitration Commission would have an exaggerated view of how much money shearers were making. Commissioners would be more reluctant to award increases in pay. Some even believed that it was a sinister plot by graziers to get shearing rates reduced!

For the most of the twentieth century the AWU straddled different points of view amongst its unruly rank-and-file with masterly efficiency. Prone to authoritarianism, this was not always an attractive spectacle. Enemies were silenced and dissidents denied elected positions in the union. However, in the 1980s these methods no longer worked. The wide comb restriction no longer made any sense to those involved in the industry, and to outsiders it was simply bizarre. The union suffered an embarrassing defeat. However, as was characteristic of the AWU throughout its history, it lived to fight another day.

Mateship and Money Making � Summary of Book

A ferocious �war� erupted in remote outback Australia in 1983. Shearers were on strike. �Scab� shearers had to be protected against invading mobs of unionists. In scattered and isolated woolsheds sheds the question was: should sheep-shearers be allowed to use �wide combs�? Australian merinos had always been shorn with �narrow combs�. Until a recent ruling industrial award expressly forbad wide combs. Initiated by the graziers (way back in 1926) the rule had become shearers� folklore. Wide combs were not just wrong � but positively evil. This was the 1980s, but the roots of the problem went back to the 1890s.

Shearers got paid per hundred sheep, not by the hour or the day, so the opportunity to get a bigger tally with the wide comb was something to be welcomed - one would think. Indeed, that was certainly the case. But fanatical opposing opinion could not easily be overcome. It was �un-Australian� to even think about it. But equally, it was �un-Australian� NOT to be allowed a free choice to use whatever equipment did the job best. Diametrically opposed points of view were quite irreconcilable.

The oldest and most powerful trade union in the nation�s history stood behind the strike. The Australian Workers Union, known wide and far by its acronym �the AWU�, had risen in the 1890s. Ruthlessly efficient at grass roots organiser, God help any shearer trying to occupy a stand without an AWU ticket. And God help any greedy upstart questioning AWU wisdom on industrial matters.

The shearing workforce had always been a rambunctious, contrary lot. The work was punishingly strenuous as well as highly skilled. Infectious group camaraderie governed its cult of �mateship�. This was also prone to impenetrable �insider-outsider� idiosyncrasies. There was money to be made for those who could stand the pace, but strong tribal loyalties to the union dictated customs and rules in the woolshed.

Many different types gravitated into shearing. At one end were staunch unionists preaching �mateship� and class solidarity. At the other end self-improving moneymakers accumulated funds get started as farmers. For the most part the two groups �got on�, or at least tolerated one another. Hard core class warriors enjoyed the competitive camaraderie and were not themselves against making money.

Moneymakers were not averse to a bit of class solidarity if it bolstered shearing rates of pay. They were less tolerant of rules which slowed them down.

In its foundation years the AWU had been pugnacious and militant. Violent strikes in the 1890s did not go well for it. Too many members were farmers who �scabbed� during strikes. The arrival of contract shearing further diluted the link between �mateship� and union solidarity. In 1902 moneymaking professional shearers were so exasperated by AWU belligerence towards woolgrowers, they formed a rival �Machine Shearers Union�, more friendly to the graziers. AWU leaders had to use all their guile and cunning to outwit the upstart MSU. The AWU moderated its militancy, adopted a policy of opposing strikes, and put its faith in the newly established Arbitration Court to fix wages and settle disputes.

Unfortunately for the AWU, factions within its rank-and-file remained attracted to the mythology of class war against the graziers. During World War I, the Arbitration Court was very laggard in updating the shearing award and militants had their chance. In defiance of the AWU a very successful strike was organised in Queensland. This opened the door for a militant faction with communist connections in the interwar period. The AWU�s firm policy of �arbitration not direct action� was ridiculed. The AWU denigrated them as �bogus disrupters� and excoriated their point of view, but at the same time adopted militant-sounding rhetoric. The union could not afford to be accused of being on the side of the bosses.

The graziers saw the danger and responded. Isolated shearing sheds were vulnerable to last minute walkouts when shearers stuck together. The Graziers� Cooperative Shearing Company (later known as Grazcos) in 1919 was founded. Grazcos operated on a big enough scale all over NSW (and later Victoria and Queensland) to recruit strike-breakers when there was �trouble� at particular sheds. It grew rapidly.

The militant element disrupted woolsheds in the early-1920s with some ongoing success. The AWU tended to �sit on the fence�, but a decisive win by the graziers in 1922 ended its flirtation with the �bogus disrupters�. Grazcos co-ordinated strike-breakers and the Graziers Association successfully prosecuted AWU leaders for advocating strikes.

�Bogus disrupters� did not disappear, and indeed caused the AWU further headaches during the Great Depression by forming a competing union, the Pastoral Workers Industrial Union, known as �the PWIU�. It�s leading lights were Arthur Rae, an AWU pioneer who had fallen out with mainstream Labor, and �Trucker� Brown, a disgruntled shearer from a downtrodden background in Cobar. The PWIU caused no end of trouble in this period, although the size and superior organisation of the AWU eventually gained ascendancy. Nevertheless, a serious shortage of shearers during World War II was the catalyst for more shearing shed disturbances and another debilitating (if ultimately unsuccessful) strike in 1945.

When the wool price boomed in the 1950s PWIU �troublemakers� re-infiltrated the AWU. They called themselves the �Dubbo Progress Committee�. While the wool price was still rising the AWU had little difficulty persuading the Arbitration Court to continue escalating shearing rates, but as the wool price receded from their extraordinary peak in 1951 the graziers began to resist. Still concerned about the radical threat within, the AWU abandoned the mantra of always accepting decisions of the Arbitration Court. This was the genesis of the 1956 strike, a drawn out �war of attrition� between the United Graziers Association of Queensland, primarily, and the AWU.

The 1956 strike passed into AWU mythology as an �historic victory� over the graziers. In fact any �victory� was a more pyrrhic than real. Certainly the grazier associations thought twice about again asking the Arbitration Court to cut shearing rates, but it also reinforced disruptive attitudes in shearing sheds. These were deeply resented by graziers and when they got their chance they put the boot in. The opportunity arrived with the wide comb dispute.

While �union attitudes� prevailed in the sheds in the years after 1956, society was changing, not least amongst the shearing workforce. Many were involved in shearing competitions and shearing schools. The �tally-hi� shearing technique developed and promoted by the Australian Wool Board encouraged the moneymaking culture at the expense of the old union solidarity. The old grazing stations had largely disappeared and most wool growing took place on mixed sheep and wheat-cropping family farms run on new agri-business principles.

Wide combs arrived in Australia courtesy of increasing numbers of New Zealand shearers. Wide combs were not new � they had been around since 1910 (or possibly earlier). In New Zealand they had been universally used for as long as anybody could remember � indeed there had never been the slightest sign of any objection. The most obvious reason for this was that New Zealand farms bred sheep with coarse wool in contrast to the predominant merinos with fine-wool fleeces. Romney and cross-bred wool did not clog up the teeth of the wider combs, as tended to happen when they entered a merino fleece.

However, there was a more fundamental problem. Australians were very much concerned with �fairness� among the shearers, and also with the way the labour arbitration court calculated shearers� wages. This risk was, the AWU said, that if wide combs became common, the Arbitration Commission would have an exaggerated view of how much money shearers were making. Commissioners would be more reluctant to award increases in pay. Some even believed that it was a sinister plot by graziers to get shearing rates reduced!

For the most of the twentieth century the AWU straddled different points of view amongst its unruly rank-and-file with masterly efficiency. Prone to authoritarianism, this was not always an attractive spectacle. Enemies were silenced and dissidents denied elected positions in the union. However, in the 1980s these methods no longer worked. The wide comb restriction no longer made any sense to those involved in the industry, and to outsiders it was simply bizarre. The union suffered an embarrassing defeat. However, as was characteristic of the AWU throughout its history, it lived to fight another day.

My Aboriginal Generation Is Cool

�

There are so many different Aboriginal symbols and languages, they vary from tribe to tribe. There were roughly 600 tribes and around 500 people in a tribe � a population of around 300,000 when Capt. Cook arrived in Australia. To date, the Aboriginal population is over 548,000. It is sad that the population of other races has increased over ten times that of the Aborigines despite its being the oldest race known to mankind, 65,000 years old. I hope that in this book, you see how beautiful and important the Aboriginal history and culture are and how we all can enjoy it.

My Aboriginal Generation Is Cool

�

There are so many different Aboriginal symbols and languages, they vary from tribe to tribe. There were roughly 600 tribes and around 500 people in a tribe � a population of around 300,000 when Capt. Cook arrived in Australia. To date, the Aboriginal population is over 548,000. It is sad that the population of other races has increased over ten times that of the Aborigines despite its being the oldest race known to mankind, 65,000 years old. I hope that in this book, you see how beautiful and important the Aboriginal history and culture are and how we all can enjoy it.

My Aboriginal Generation Is Cool

�

There are so many different Aboriginal symbols and languages, they vary from tribe to tribe. There were roughly 600 tribes and around 500 people in a tribe � a population of around 300,000 when Capt. Cook arrived in Australia. To date, the Aboriginal population is over 548,000. It is sad that the population of other races has increased over ten times that of the Aborigines despite its being the oldest race known to mankind, 65,000 years old. I hope that in this book, you see how beautiful and important the Aboriginal history and culture are and how we all can enjoy it.

John Batman
An Inside Story of the Birth of Melbourne

A Summary of the Story

This book tells the story of how Melbourne was birthed. It begins with Captain Cook’s discovery of Australia and the colonisation that followed at Botany Bay. The quest began to find a suitable location for another settlement in the south of the continent. Although Port Phillip Bay was discovered, its potential was not immediately realised. The penal settlement established at Sorrento by David Collins in 1803 was abandoned within three months and the site of Hobart in Tasmania was chosen for the next development.

In 1824 the explorers Hume and Hovell travelled south from Sydney and reached Port Phillip Bay. They recognised the potential of the area but unfortunately Hovell made a mistake regarding its location, which impeded settlement for another eleven years. Hume and Batman had been childhood friends and when Batman, then living in Tasmania, heard about the vast pasturelands available in the area it triggered the dream of taking possession of the land of plenty north of Bass Strait.

It would take another nine years before he could assemble a group of influential men to assist him in his quest to claim the riches waiting at Port Phillip Bay. The plan was spearheaded by a group of four men supported by a larger group of investors. Charles Swanston who owned the biggest bank in Australasia controlled the finances, while Joseph Gellibrand, a lawyer who had been Attorney General in Tasmania, organised the legal requirements for the project. John Wedge’s role as surveyor was to map the territory ready for subdivision. John Batman, who was Australian born, brought a large variety of skills to the drawing board. He was thought to be Australia’s greatest tracker, he had captured bushrangers, successfully gathered the remnant of Tasmanian Aborigines as well as being a wealthy landowner.

The political climate within the British Parliament at that time was influenced by the recent passage of the Act to Abolish Slavery in 1833. The outpouring of humanitarian feeling generated by this event led to new attitudes towards native rights and title. Within the hearts of these men from Tasmania there developed a desire to establish a settlement that would not only bring them financial gain but also set a benchmark within the British Empire for equitable relationships between native peoples and Europeans. To achieve such an ideal the notion of a treaty gradually developed, modelled on William Penn’s Treaty in Pennsylvania in 1683.

Batman’s role was to lead the expedition to Port Phillip, explore the land and make a treaty with the local Aborigines. Unfortunately the timing of this opportunity coincided with the news that he was seriously ill at just 32 years old. The project became a race against his failing health and what was planned as a carefully thought out expedition became a hurried event.

John Batman in his barque the Rebecca finally passed through the heads into Port Phillip Bay in May 1835, the first white man to do so in three decades. He was amazed at the quality of the land he found and the beauty of the magnificent harbour. He needed to find the natives so he could execute the treaty that Gellibrand had prepared for him. However on seeing the European vessel entering the bay the Aborigines had sent up smoke signals telling everyone to hide until the clan leaders could meet and work out a strategy for dealing with the situation. Eventually they approached Batman and took him to a ceremonial site they had chosen. The treaty was duly executed but because of Batman’s ill health it was not possible for him to enact all that Gellibrand had written into the pro forma deed.

When John Batman returned to Tasmania he was hailed as a hero and referred to as the Tasmanian Penn. He called the settlement to be established by the treaty Batmania. There was still much to be done, since Gellibrand had to formulate documents in order to convince the British officials of the validity of the treaty, and that it was in the interests of both the natives as well as the government to recognise it. The decision on whether to accept or reject the treaty became a huge dilemma for both the local and British governments.

John Wedge was hastily bidden to travel to the mainland to survey the land in preparation for subdivision. He joined a group of Batman’s men left on the mainland where he met a strange visitor called William Buckley. He was a white man who had been living with the natives for over thirty years. At first he could not recall his native tongue but eventually communicated that he was an escaped convict. He became a valuable bridge between the Aboriginal people and the Europeans.

The settlers began to arrive and in August 1835, one vessel, the Enterprize, belonged to Batman’s rival John Pascoe Fawkner, who had been trying to beat Batman in the race to Port Phillip. Fawkner was not on board because financing the trip had sent him bankrupt and he was forced to remain in Tasmania until he could repay his debts!

Batman made a quick trip to Batmania, in November 1835 to check out the progress of the settlement and drop off a pre-fabricated house ready for assembling. As he was rowed up the river he was welcomed by three hundred singing and dancing Aborigines in ceremonial dress lining the Yarra Yarra. On returning to Tasmania, Batman sold his property for 10,000 pounds and organised for his wife Eliza, with their eight daughters and 25 servants to make the trip to their new home in Batmania.

John Batman and his family set up home in the Port Phillip settlement and a brief happy time followed. Batman was recognised as founder and even called the ‘Governor’. Captain Lonsdale arrived as commander and the infant metropolis flourished. Batman was experiencing a respite from his illness which enabled him to establish his property and business. Unfortunately a violent episode of his disease followed, resulting in his inability to walk. The Aborigines he had brought from Sydney constructed a perambulator made of wicker and bamboo and dragged him around in it. In modern times this mode of transport has been referred as a ‘batmobile’.

Behind the scenes however officials had requested legal advice about the treaty and it did not look promising. The Governor in Sydney, Richard Bourke, annulled the treaty but the Tasmanians held hopes that it would eventually be accepted. On 7th March 1837 the Governor from Sydney arrived to give the town its new name of Melbourne. In the midst of the celebrations the news was received that Joseph Gellibrand had disappeared in the bush near Geelong. Eventually it became clear that he had died and this tragic event affected the outcome of the treaty.

In the first months and year of the settlement the relationship between the natives and the Europeans was basically harmonious. While the Aborigines outnumbered the whites they were happy to share their paradise with the visitors. The Kulin were a tall healthy people measuring over six foot in height. This was because the Yarra Yarra River provided them with a rich food supply. The waters were alive with fish and billabongs abounded, providing habitat for enormous flocks of birds. Kangaroos, possums, dolphins, sharks and seals were a common part of the natural environment. In the upper reaches of the river some of the purest water on earth could be found, while the eco- system provided a natural environment for the largest trees on the planet, the giant Mountain Ash. The Aborigines were willing to be of assistance to the Europeans and William Buckley bridged the social divide and joined them on ‘walk about.’ This time of equable relationships was brief soon the Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land and their very souls.

Melbourne’s street plan was designed by Robert Russell and Robert Hoddle and soon blocks of land were put up for sale. The land negotiated by the treaty was now in serious jeopardy and although Swanston fought valiantly he had to concede defeat. He then bought land at market prices with the 7000 pounds his group received as compensation. Fawkner also bought a large tract of the treaty land which he called Pascoe Vale. At this time Batman’s health was in decline, his legs becoming paralysed, and sadly his family fell apart.

Even though John Batman was very ill he organised the first Race Meeting in Melbourne in 1838 to celebrate the anniversary of Melbourne’s Naming Day. Gradually the disease invading his spinal cord and brain took over until he was close to death. At the age of 38 he drew his last breaths pleading for his family to be able to retain their home, for it was now situated on crown land. But the local government made a decision that would affect the family for generations.

The city prospered because of the vast agricultural plains and the abundant fresh water available. In the 1850’s rich gold deposits were discovered in the area at Warrandyte and Ballarat leading to the settlement growing at a phenomenal rate. The result was that within 50 years of settlement the city became the largest metropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and was called “Marvellous Melbourne”. It won the World’s Most Liveable City award in 2011 and 2012.

John Batman
An Inside Story of the Birth of Melbourne

A Summary of the Story

This book tells the story of how Melbourne was birthed. It begins with Captain Cook’s discovery of Australia and the colonisation that followed at Botany Bay. The quest began to find a suitable location for another settlement in the south of the continent. Although Port Phillip Bay was discovered, its potential was not immediately realised. The penal settlement established at Sorrento by David Collins in 1803 was abandoned within three months and the site of Hobart in Tasmania was chosen for the next development.

In 1824 the explorers Hume and Hovell travelled south from Sydney and reached Port Phillip Bay. They recognised the potential of the area but unfortunately Hovell made a mistake regarding its location, which impeded settlement for another eleven years. Hume and Batman had been childhood friends and when Batman, then living in Tasmania, heard about the vast pasturelands available in the area it triggered the dream of taking possession of the land of plenty north of Bass Strait.

It would take another nine years before he could assemble a group of influential men to assist him in his quest to claim the riches waiting at Port Phillip Bay. The plan was spearheaded by a group of four men supported by a larger group of investors. Charles Swanston who owned the biggest bank in Australasia controlled the finances, while Joseph Gellibrand, a lawyer who had been Attorney General in Tasmania, organised the legal requirements for the project. John Wedge’s role as surveyor was to map the territory ready for subdivision. John Batman, who was Australian born, brought a large variety of skills to the drawing board. He was thought to be Australia’s greatest tracker, he had captured bushrangers, successfully gathered the remnant of Tasmanian Aborigines as well as being a wealthy landowner.

The political climate within the British Parliament at that time was influenced by the recent passage of the Act to Abolish Slavery in 1833. The outpouring of humanitarian feeling generated by this event led to new attitudes towards native rights and title. Within the hearts of these men from Tasmania there developed a desire to establish a settlement that would not only bring them financial gain but also set a benchmark within the British Empire for equitable relationships between native peoples and Europeans. To achieve such an ideal the notion of a treaty gradually developed, modelled on William Penn’s Treaty in Pennsylvania in 1683.

Batman’s role was to lead the expedition to Port Phillip, explore the land and make a treaty with the local Aborigines. Unfortunately the timing of this opportunity coincided with the news that he was seriously ill at just 32 years old. The project became a race against his failing health and what was planned as a carefully thought out expedition became a hurried event.

John Batman in his barque the Rebecca finally passed through the heads into Port Phillip Bay in May 1835, the first white man to do so in three decades. He was amazed at the quality of the land he found and the beauty of the magnificent harbour. He needed to find the natives so he could execute the treaty that Gellibrand had prepared for him. However on seeing the European vessel entering the bay the Aborigines had sent up smoke signals telling everyone to hide until the clan leaders could meet and work out a strategy for dealing with the situation. Eventually they approached Batman and took him to a ceremonial site they had chosen. The treaty was duly executed but because of Batman’s ill health it was not possible for him to enact all that Gellibrand had written into the pro forma deed.

When John Batman returned to Tasmania he was hailed as a hero and referred to as the Tasmanian Penn. He called the settlement to be established by the treaty Batmania. There was still much to be done, since Gellibrand had to formulate documents in order to convince the British officials of the validity of the treaty, and that it was in the interests of both the natives as well as the government to recognise it. The decision on whether to accept or reject the treaty became a huge dilemma for both the local and British governments.

John Wedge was hastily bidden to travel to the mainland to survey the land in preparation for subdivision. He joined a group of Batman’s men left on the mainland where he met a strange visitor called William Buckley. He was a white man who had been living with the natives for over thirty years. At first he could not recall his native tongue but eventually communicated that he was an escaped convict. He became a valuable bridge between the Aboriginal people and the Europeans.

The settlers began to arrive and in August 1835, one vessel, the Enterprize, belonged to Batman’s rival John Pascoe Fawkner, who had been trying to beat Batman in the race to Port Phillip. Fawkner was not on board because financing the trip had sent him bankrupt and he was forced to remain in Tasmania until he could repay his debts!

Batman made a quick trip to Batmania, in November 1835 to check out the progress of the settlement and drop off a pre-fabricated house ready for assembling. As he was rowed up the river he was welcomed by three hundred singing and dancing Aborigines in ceremonial dress lining the Yarra Yarra. On returning to Tasmania, Batman sold his property for 10,000 pounds and organised for his wife Eliza, with their eight daughters and 25 servants to make the trip to their new home in Batmania.

John Batman and his family set up home in the Port Phillip settlement and a brief happy time followed. Batman was recognised as founder and even called the ‘Governor’. Captain Lonsdale arrived as commander and the infant metropolis flourished. Batman was experiencing a respite from his illness which enabled him to establish his property and business. Unfortunately a violent episode of his disease followed, resulting in his inability to walk. The Aborigines he had brought from Sydney constructed a perambulator made of wicker and bamboo and dragged him around in it. In modern times this mode of transport has been referred as a ‘batmobile’.

Behind the scenes however officials had requested legal advice about the treaty and it did not look promising. The Governor in Sydney, Richard Bourke, annulled the treaty but the Tasmanians held hopes that it would eventually be accepted. On 7th March 1837 the Governor from Sydney arrived to give the town its new name of Melbourne. In the midst of the celebrations the news was received that Joseph Gellibrand had disappeared in the bush near Geelong. Eventually it became clear that he had died and this tragic event affected the outcome of the treaty.

In the first months and year of the settlement the relationship between the natives and the Europeans was basically harmonious. While the Aborigines outnumbered the whites they were happy to share their paradise with the visitors. The Kulin were a tall healthy people measuring over six foot in height. This was because the Yarra Yarra River provided them with a rich food supply. The waters were alive with fish and billabongs abounded, providing habitat for enormous flocks of birds. Kangaroos, possums, dolphins, sharks and seals were a common part of the natural environment. In the upper reaches of the river some of the purest water on earth could be found, while the eco- system provided a natural environment for the largest trees on the planet, the giant Mountain Ash. The Aborigines were willing to be of assistance to the Europeans and William Buckley bridged the social divide and joined them on ‘walk about.’ This time of equable relationships was brief soon the Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land and their very souls.

Melbourne’s street plan was designed by Robert Russell and Robert Hoddle and soon blocks of land were put up for sale. The land negotiated by the treaty was now in serious jeopardy and although Swanston fought valiantly he had to concede defeat. He then bought land at market prices with the 7000 pounds his group received as compensation. Fawkner also bought a large tract of the treaty land which he called Pascoe Vale. At this time Batman’s health was in decline, his legs becoming paralysed, and sadly his family fell apart.

Even though John Batman was very ill he organised the first Race Meeting in Melbourne in 1838 to celebrate the anniversary of Melbourne’s Naming Day. Gradually the disease invading his spinal cord and brain took over until he was close to death. At the age of 38 he drew his last breaths pleading for his family to be able to retain their home, for it was now situated on crown land. But the local government made a decision that would affect the family for generations.

The city prospered because of the vast agricultural plains and the abundant fresh water available. In the 1850’s rich gold deposits were discovered in the area at Warrandyte and Ballarat leading to the settlement growing at a phenomenal rate. The result was that within 50 years of settlement the city became the largest metropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and was called “Marvellous Melbourne”. It won the World’s Most Liveable City award in 2011 and 2012.

HISTORIC NOVEL SPANNING THE FIRST CENTURY OF THE AUSTRALIAN NATION

Rex Granger would see New South Wales develop from a depraved and starving convict settlement, to which no free settler would care to immigrate, to a thriving, self governing part of the British Empire.

When he began life as the pampered son of a middle-class English family, Rex Granger�s expectations did not include seven years transportation to the antipodes, nor did he plan to make his fortune by working the land.

The changing fortunes of Rex Granger would take him from Pristine Covent Gardens to the polluted back streets of London, from starving waif of the streets to patriarch of a pastoral dynasty.

HISTORIC NOVEL SPANNING THE FIRST CENTURY OF THE AUSTRALIAN NATION

Rex Granger would see New South Wales develop from a depraved and starving convict settlement, to which no free settler would care to immigrate, to a thriving, self governing part of the British Empire.

When he began life as the pampered son of a middle-class English family, Rex Granger�s expectations did not include seven years transportation to the antipodes, nor did he plan to make his fortune by working the land.

The changing fortunes of Rex Granger would take him from Pristine Covent Gardens to the polluted back streets of London, from starving waif of the streets to patriarch of a pastoral dynasty.

No chronological history of music can be complete. Even an extensive biography of a single composer will have details missing, withheld, or unavailable; scores undated, works lost or destroyed, personal and educational experiences forgotten or overlooked, and memoirs selective. When one deals with hundreds of composers, these same problems are multiplied manifold.

A Chronological History Of Australian Composers And Their Compositions by Stephen Pleskun, is the first of a three-volume series that puts into historical perspective the works and experiences of generations of composers and their compatriots. It attempts to recount the history of classical music in Australia from the time it was proclaimed a Commonwealth (1901). The author�s purpose is to reveal in as much detail as possible the classical music�making activities of those involved in any given year.

Pleskun focuses on composers and their compositions, the bulk of which is covered in A Chronological History Of Australian Composers And Their Compositions. However, composers do not exist in isolation, nor do they compose works purely for self-gratification. Thus, Pleskun has included in their stories the performers, educators, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and administrators who have played crucial parts in bringing aural visions to life and hence are an indispensable part of the music scene.

No chronological history of music can be complete. Even an extensive biography of a single composer will have details missing, withheld, or unavailable; scores undated, works lost or destroyed, personal and educational experiences forgotten or overlooked, and memoirs selective. When one deals with hundreds of composers, these same problems are multiplied manifold.

A Chronological History Of Australian Composers And Their Compositions by Stephen Pleskun, is the first of a three-volume series that puts into historical perspective the works and experiences of generations of composers and their compatriots. It attempts to recount the history of classical music in Australia from the time it was proclaimed a Commonwealth (1901). The author�s purpose is to reveal in as much detail as possible the classical music�making activities of those involved in any given year.

Pleskun focuses on composers and their compositions, the bulk of which is covered in A Chronological History Of Australian Composers And Their Compositions. However, composers do not exist in isolation, nor do they compose works purely for self-gratification. Thus, Pleskun has included in their stories the performers, educators, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and administrators who have played crucial parts in bringing aural visions to life and hence are an indispensable part of the music scene.

"Creating a New Society" comprises annotated extracts of mid-nineteenth century publications, culled from the extensive holdings of the Hocken Library, one of New Zealand's leading research libraries. It gives a picture of life in mid-Victorian colonial New Zealand: health, education, care of the destitute, requirements for emigrants, arguments over land settlement, and lively politics.

"Creating a New Society" comprises annotated extracts of mid-nineteenth century publications, culled from the extensive holdings of the Hocken Library, one of New Zealand's leading research libraries. It gives a picture of life in mid-Victorian colonial New Zealand: health, education, care of the destitute, requirements for emigrants, arguments over land settlement, and lively politics.

"Creating a New Society" comprises annotated extracts of mid-nineteenth century publications, culled from the extensive holdings of the Hocken Library, one of New Zealand's leading research libraries. It gives a picture of life in mid-Victorian colonial New Zealand: health, education, care of the destitute, requirements for emigrants, arguments over land settlement, and lively politics.