RMG
I managed to catch it this time! I missed your Anzac Day one. Some great shots there. I have a book with a shot of the City Rd, Broadway intersection decorated for the same visit and there is no traffic lights which means it must have a far more relaxed place.
"In Townsville, Palm Islanders in tribal ochre and cockatoo feathers danced, and Torres Strait Islanders performed for the Queen. From the book,"
I'm willing to bet money Palm Island was reasonable place then, it's a lawless dangerous no-go zone shit hole these days. I knew aboriginal women from there who had moved her kids to Sydney to get away from it and refused to live anywhere near Redfern either, made sure her kids went school, made sure they were polite and well dressed in short this women is admired and respected by any decent person who meets her. She would have the good will today from mainstream Australia as once existed in the past but it's been ripped away by Cultural Identity Politics whose advocates aren't just misinformed they are malevolent
It was from her I first heard the term ATSIC as Aboriginals Talking Shit In Canberra. When she wanted to move her kids away from Palm Island it seems that out of the billions of dollars thrown into "Aboriginal Projects" every year there was apparently not even enough for some airfares to get her and the kids out of the place.
50 years on and we've gone backwards. That's what happens when you apply Identity Politics as a "Solution"
Ian, society has changed for the worse because of socialism's advance. The aboriginal rights movement was taken up by the communists in the 60s, who later morphed into socialists and the Greens. The left plays on social division for its power, which partly explains how the benign relationship between black and white of old has now become toxic for all. Little can demonstrate more the evil consequences of progressive politics than contemporary aboriginal crime and social dysfunction. How were things in comparison fifty years ago?
Worthy of a post of it's own is my father's account of being in the Army at the time & tasked with Royal Guard duty in Sydney.
At 2am they marched into position along a parade route. They stood in position until mid-morning/midday/early afternoon Her Majesty passed by. Shortly after the motorcade conveying Her Majesty had passed they were dismissed & then on leave until 2am the following day. (use one's own imagination to fill in the details of this daily leave)
The first day nobody knew what to expect, so the troopers were armed with a .303, bayonet and Three rounds each (to handle any attack that may be launched upon Her Majesty by terrorists or other blackguards).
The second & subsequent days there was no .303 or bayonet, instead they were dressed in full webbing only & each trooper gripped the belt of the trooper either side of him, forming what was (hopefully) an unbreakable khaki chain, in an attempt to keep the adoring crowd from crushing Her Majesty & party.
Steve, what a great vignette. I love hearing about people's own versions behind major events, and that kind of background. Thanks for that.
An excellent post, thank you, I really appreciate your site.
Cheers, Lesley.
My mother, an ardent monarchist, took myself and my little brother to see her 'live' in 1977 in the plaza between St Andrews and the Sydney Town Hall. HM was over here for her Silver Jubilee Tour.
I was nine at the time and we smuggled ourselves up to the front of the barriers. I can still remember thinking that she looked just like an old lady and not at all like a Queen. Heavens, where was her crown?! My brother and I agreed, however, that Phillip definitely looked like a king.
My other memory was of an elderly woman fainting nearby, and being given a drink of water by a policeman. There were lots of older women in the crowd.
I think that one of the things republicans fail to realise is the intensely familial nature of the monarchy. Especially with a Queen, there is a feminine dynamic - dare I say 'mystique' - that the 'pure political' thinkers seem to have completely missed.
My late mother didn't give a stuff about politics, but it comforted her to know that there was a non-politician, a mother who had her own family problems to deal with, who was "in charge of all that nonsense".
There's a coincidence, Peter, as I too was nine when I first saw the Queen. Though it was a few years earlier, she'd arrived at Nadi Airport for Fiji's Independence, and we'd gathered in our school uniforms to wave as she passed in a big limo with Phil and Anne. However, to me, she well had a 'Queen' aura.
The Queen has been an immensely unifying figure for (hundreds of?) millions from diverse backgrounds for generations, and that's exactly, as you say, the thing that republicans miss. They're too self-involved, and circumscribed, with their mightier grown-up independenceness.
And now that you've raised it, you don't see old women fainting as often as they used. What happened? - Looser foundation garments now? Healthier diets? More robust constitutions born of learnt-immunity to ABC shock programming?
No - it was just a stinking hot day, and the glorious reflective power of 1970's pebblecrete worked its inevitable wonders on the old dear's constitution.
Although I do think that the ABC thing may have some merit to it...
missed it! swine.
just because i'm a day older than her...
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