Noel Pearson remembers Goff Whitlam

9 comments on “Noel Pearson remembers Goff Whitlam ”

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1. Kiwiri - Raided of the Last Shark 1

   7 November 2014 at 10:16 am

   The full transcript is here:

   http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/gough-whitlam/noel-pearson-on-whitlam-a-friend-without-peer-of-the-original-australians/story-fnpxuhqd-1227113668920
2. Observer (Tokoroa) 2

   7 November 2014 at 10:18 am

   To Micky Savage

   Thankyou for this great Link.

   Politics need not be the backward mess that our little NZ elected lot make it.

   Again Thankyou !
3. Manuka AOR 3

   7 November 2014 at 10:54 am

   Reposting here, also from the Memorial:

   Kev Carmody & Paul Kelly
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAONlfoNVuY
   The story that began with a walkout and strike that was to last 8 years, the Gurindji Strike, and culminated in Gough’s arrival, – the ‘tall stranger’ in the song.

   From the last verse:
   That was the story of Vincent Lingiari
   But this is the story of something much more
   How power and privilege cannot move a people
   Who know where they stand and stand in the law

   Full lyrics here:
   http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/paulkelly/fromlittlethingsbigthingsgrow.html
   • mickysavage 3.1

     7 November 2014 at 12:38 pm

     Thanks Manuka AOR. I had text accompanying the video link but it disappeared somewhere. I h/ted your comment in yesterday’s open mike.

     I agree with you about this passage from the speech which is wonderful:

     The Whitlam government is the textbook case of reform trumping management. In less than three years an astonishing reform agenda leapt off the policy platform and into legislation and the machinery and programs of government.

     “The country would change forever. The modern cosmopolitan Australia finally emerged like a technicolour butterfly from its long dormant chrysalis. And 38 years later we are like John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin’s Jewish insurgents ranting against the despotic rule of Rome, defiantly demanding “and what did the Romans ever do for us anyway?”

     “Apart from Medibank and the Trade Practices Act, cutting tariff protections and no-fault divorce in the Family Law Act, the Australia Council, the Federal Court, the Order of Australia, federal legal aid, the Racial Discrimination Act, needs-based schools funding, the recognition of China, the abolition of conscription, the law reform commission, student financial assistance, the Heritage Commission, non-discriminatory immigration rules, community health clinics, Aboriginal land rights, paid maternity leave for public servants, lowering the minimum voting age to 18 years and fair electoral boundaries and Senate representation for the territories. “

     Whitlam and Labor packed a whole lot of significant change in a really short time …
     • Manuka AOR 3.1.1

       7 November 2014 at 1:56 pm

       Noel conveys the power and the effect of those changes – he brings them to life.

       It was an extraordinary time, and difficult to convey just how momentous. All those things that are taken for granted now (Noel’s list above). In less than 3 years. It seems impossible, but it really did happen and so can again.
4. Murray Rawshark 4

   9 November 2014 at 12:19 am

   Noel Pearson is not universally popular with Aboriginals. I know he is a strong advocate of letting the miners into the Cape York peninsula and is very popular with Abbott. I get the distinct impression that he’s Abbott’s favourite blackfella, and not the Noel Pearson he was all those years ago.

   http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-07/indigenous-leader-pearson-heckled/5875694
   • Manuka AOR 4.1

     9 November 2014 at 6:56 am

     “Abbott’s favourite blackfella”

     I think the absolute opposite is true – That Abbott has seen the man who could replace him, and that we can now expect to see an insidious Aus MSM media campaign to undermine Noel, as per your link. The last thing the extreme right want is an Aboriginal PM.
     • Murray Rawshark 4.1.1

       9 November 2014 at 6:41 pm

       If there was an insidious media campaign on behalf of the right, it wouldn’t be in the ABC. It’d be in rags like the Courier Mail, and they love Pearson. I have no idea where you get the idea of Pearson as PM from.
       • Manuka AOR 4.1.1.1

         9 November 2014 at 7:37 pm

         “I have no idea where you get the idea of Pearson as PM from.”

         “There was a moment during Noel Pearson’s eulogy of Gough Whitlam at Wednesday’s state memorial service when the camera settled on Tony Abbott and you couldn’t help wondering if our Prime Minister envied the speaker’s oratory gifts and, perhaps, pondered if it heralded a new contender to his crown.”

         “Will we one day look back at Pearson’s speech at the Sydney Town Hall and say “That’s when it all began? That was where Australia’s first indigenous Prime Minister announced himself?” ”

         http://www.smh.com.au/comment/noel-pearson-for-pm-not-so-fast-20141107-11i3j4.html#ixzz3IYCyKlDI

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