Wollomombi Falls - no flow at all

Last Thursday afternoon I took a run out from Armidale to have (another) look at Wollomombi Falls, about 40km east on the Waterfall Way. It is as dry as a chip on the New England Tablelands, so there was no water at all flowing over Wollomombi Falls or the companion Chandlers Falls. The gorge is still a spectacular sight.

On the long paddock

It is very dry on the New England Tablelands at the moment, so on a run out to Wollomombi Falls last Thursday afternoon, I found that some people are starting to use the "long paddock" to graze their stock. I had to stop to allow one young lady to cross.

The dam that Zihni built, revisited

In The dam that Zihni built I posted a scanned colour transparency of the completed Oaky River Dam, a small hydroelectric dam about 40 km from Armidale which was constructed in the early 1950s under the supervision of my classmate Alex Buzo’s father Zihni. In that post I said I did not have any photos from the construction phase, but that turns out not to be so; going through some old papers a few days ago I discovered an old photo album from my primary school days, which contains six photos I took on a trip out there with Zini, Alex, Alex’s younger brother Adrian, and I think another school friend - I have vague memories of Ian Storey accompanying us, but the person to the left of the last photo looks like Harry Pidgeon. They were interesting trips; the New England Tableland was at one stage of its ancient history under the sea, and as well as talking to us about the dam construction and taking us on the steep ride to the bottom of the gorge on the cable-winched trolley, Zihni would show us how to crack open the right kind of rocks to reveal the fossils of the ancient life-forms they contained.

These are not great photographs; the camera I had in those days was very basic – a “Baby Brownie” or similar, taking a 127 roll film, with a lens such that the film could only be contact printed – the quality was not good enough to permit enlargement. Nevertheless they are a record of happy times, and of the construction of a local hydro station in the early post-war years. My best guess is that these photos were taken in 1953. I daresay the gent to the right of the fifth picture is Zihni himself.

 

 

 

"Stopping the boats" in international waters

Based on my understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Convention for the Safety of life at Sea (SOLAS), it occurs to me that there is a couple of responses that the master of an asylum seeker vessel might make upon being intercepted by a Royal Australian Navy or Customs vessel and ordered to head back to Indonesia:

“I understand what you are saying captain about your wish for me to reverse my course but I should make it clear to you that I am exercising my right to freedom of navigation under Article 87 of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea which I believe Australia and Indonesia have ratified. Furthermore, if you believe I am not in international waters but in the Australian contiguous zone then my passengers exercise their right to claim asylum in Australia.”

Or:-

“I regret to inform you captain that my vessel is unseaworthy and as such I am unable to reverse my course. I therefore intend to proceed to the nearest safe haven. In so doing I exercise my right of Master’s Discretion under Chapter V Regulation 34-1 of SOLAS.”

I wonder what the commanders of Royal Australian Navy and Customs vessels are instructed or expected to do upon receiving either of those responses.

Russell Ward by Adhi Hendranto

Going through some old papers a couple of nights ago I came across the 1967 edition of The Martlet, the magazine produced annually by the students of Wright College, the first men’s college at the University of New England and my happy home (not far) away from home 1961-65.

Inside I found this little gem: a sketch of Australian historian Russell Ward (“The Australian Legend”), by Indonesian student Adhi Hendranto. This brought back a number of memories. Russell was my “moral tutor” throughout my time at UNE; this somewhat quaint term deriving from the Oxbridge tradition meant that he was responsible for my pastoral care, the person I could go to if there was anything I wanted to discuss. Russell used to have his dozen or so charges for biscuits and cheese and a pre-dinner sherry once a term, after which we would go off together to formal dinner in Wright College Dining Hall.

In my last couple of years in Wright College, Russell was also my Resident Fellow in Beta Block, living in quarters just around the corner from my room, Beta 2.

As for the artist, Adhi was my next door neighbour for a year or two, so this sketch of Russell by Adhi was a nice find.

Australia21 needs your help

Australia 21 is a not-for-profit organisation which brings together diverse thinkers to develop ideas for Australia’s future, on policy areas ranging from climate change to drug law reform to euthanasia. Australia21 only tackles 'wicked problems'. These are complex problems that defy definition, resist all usual attempts to solve them, hardly ever sit conveniently within the responsibility of one organisation, and attempted solutions are thwarted by unforeseen consequences.

We have exciting plans for the future. But these plans are now at risk due to a lack of funding. So we would like to tell you a little bit about us and seek your help.

We believe that Australia 21 is uniquely placed to think about policy issues facing Australia in a way which goes beyond the populist consensus of the major political parties.

* What other organisation could bring together a former federal police commissioner, addiction specialists and former premiers to agree publicly that the war on drugs has failed and get them in the same room to discuss alternatives?

* What other organisation could gather palliative care workers, doctors, lawyers, former politicians and students to develop ideas about how we could regulate euthanasia in Australia, while also including opponents of euthanasia in the discussion?

We want to keep the conversation going – but we need your help. As well as plans for further developing the discussion on these valuable topics, Australia 21 is commencing a project about asylum seekers and a project about inequality in Australia, timely projects which are needed now more than ever.

If you believe in the work we do, if you have ever considered donating money to Australia 21, we would like to stress in the strongest possible terms that now is the time to do it.

Donations will be gratefully received at http://www.givenow.com.au/australia21

A Soviet-era joke for our times

For some reason the Tony Abbott’s moves to abolish the three climate change agencies brings back to mind a Soviet-era joke which runs something like this:

Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev are travelling together across the Soviet steppes on a train. The train breaks down in the middle of nowhere and comes to a shuddering halt.

Lenin declares, “I shall go up to the front of the train and make a fiery speech urging the drivers on in the name of the Revolution”.

Stalin waves his hand dismissively and says, “No, that will never work. I shall go up to the front of the train and have the drivers shot for their crimes against the state, and we will get new drivers”.

Khrushchev says, “No, we don’t do that anymore. I shall go up to the front of the train and tell the drivers they had better get the problem fixed or we will send them to a labour camp”.

Brezhnev says, “Why don’t we just pull down the blinds – then we won’t know whether the train is moving or not”.