General

Reflection on Christmas 2020

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Christmas 2020.  We finally got here, despite the traumas which we have experienced during the year.  Christmas survives. It is a different Christmas to last year and certainty a very different Christmas to past years.

Christmas has changed over the decades in regards to its traditional meaning and its observance. Commercialism, secularism and political correctness have taken its toll. As an example of the latter, for some it is “happy holiday” rather than “Merry Christmas”.  This was highlighted with the Obama American Presidency, when he sent out cards with similar words.

Tasmania has seen great changes as well.

For the vast majority of Christians, including of those who are nominal, it heralds the birth of Jesus Christ and provides a Message of Hope for mankind. For the staunch Christian fundamentalist, Christmas is not honoured as they believe December 25th was observed by early European pagans who celebrated the changing of the seasons on that day. Later the Church put a Christmas meaning to it. Various sects contend that it not scriptural, so the day should be ignored.  

Historically, the first Christmas was not observed until more than three hundred years after the birth of Christ. Therefore, originally, there was no Christmas.  For Tasmania, the first Christmas came with Lt John Bowen RN who settled at Risdon Cove.  He held the first one, December 25, 1803. The following year came Colonel David Collins and with him the Rev Robert (Bobby) Knopwood and the first Christmas in Hobart was held December 25, 1804.

In the north of the State, Colonel William Paterson arrived in 1804 with 181 settlers and although I cannot find any documentation of the observance of Christmas, I have no doubt it was held.

In Australia the first ever recorded Christmas (referred to as Yuletide) took place in Governor’s Phillip’s modest residence at Sydney Cove, December 25, 1788,

Christmas 2020 will again be a day of family visiting, wonderful meals, gifts, watching the delights of children, picnics and for some, religious observances. Yet there will also be businesses operating and mass entertainment aired as though it was is just another day.

It was very different once – and not so long ago.  When black and white television was introduced into Tasmania for a number of years on this special day, only religious programmes were presented.  It was the same for the wireless (radio) until a certain hour in the evening, only religious and Christmas music was aired.  Businesses were closed for the day.  Everyone enjoyed themselves, rested and had the time to catch up with family. Churches were full with many who rarely went to church making this day a particular reason to attend.

In short there was more reverence, more respect and a more relaxed day. Christmas has always been commercial, but the sense and belief that it had a spiritual significance was recognised.

We live in a very secular society. The meaning of Christmas may be still there, but it has faded into the back ground. It is now no longer fully acknowledged.  Perhaps we have become too embarrassed over its meaning?  After all, don’t we live in a multi-cultural society, one of many faiths and cultures?  We certainly do not want to offend anyone. Yet in all my years (and I am now matured) I have never, ever, met a person (outside Ebenezer Scrooge) who wanted Christmas or even its meaning, banned.  I stress no atheist have I met, agnostic or those of a different faith or culture have expressed a desire to do so. They are content to enjoy Christmas Day in their own way and while they may not observe its religious significance, they are not the ones complaining.  Are we being therefore, socially manipulated and non-Christians being used as an excuse?

I personally think we have lost some of the quality of Christmas.  For me I thoroughly enjoy the carols, Christmas cards, the lights, the goodwill, the food, the fun, the family, the visiting.  Perhaps we should regain some of that something that made Christmas a day of uniqueness, specialness with a spiritual meaning. A child-like expectation.

Times are grim enough and those who wish to see the end of Christmas, I say “Bah Humbug”. Let’s continue to enjoy ourselves and observe Christmas for many years to come.  And yes,

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Our inherited freedoms and the concept of fear

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Australia has changed.  It is not the Australia I knew.  As a mature man I can compare what was to what is.  Our freedoms are something which I took for granted.  I was under the illusion that those in authority would protect and honour our inherit freedoms, but we have seen those very same identities who should be in the forefront in defending our freedoms, only too willingly to erase them. Not only that, but to persecute those who stand up for freedom backed by a police force which, in instances, has become an instrument of the government and not the servant of the people. I never, ever, thought I would see things happening in this land of ours under the banner of “we are doing it for your own good”

The late US President Regan said that the ten most feared words of the English language are “I am from the government, I am here to help” (2nd August 1988). Yet even before the present virus outbreak, our freedoms were being eroded and this current situation has provided an excuse to erode them even further.  Democracy we have seen is not a guarantee for freedom.  We have witnessed dreadful laws enacted and enforced throughout Australia, especially in Victoria and Queensland that would make some less worthy nations envious.

Freedoms do not come easy; they are not given; they are fought for and won. We must be eternally vigilant otherwise they will be taken away.  We are familiar with those who went to war to ensure that our way of life and freedoms are protected from a brutal enemy.  Freedom, however, has to also be won through the corridors of powers, such as our parliaments and institutions. We cannot be free unless we have freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of thought. We must have a free media. We must be protected by unbiased laws, but we have seen Australia governed by the executive and not by parliament.

The freedoms which we have enjoyed have been inherited from Great Britain.  Millions have been attracted to our shores because of the freedom we offered and once enjoyed. Long before the Norman Conquest, King Alfred, (the only British king to be called “Great”) implemented laws which laid foundation of the rights of the common man.  He was a studious law giver, a man who promoted literacy and was concerned with the weak and the dependent. He based his laws on earlier worthy codes and the bible. He was a learned man who was full of compassion.

Then in 1215 we had the Magna Carta when King John was forced to sign the charter forcing the King to be subject to the same laws as any other person. It influenced the United States Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. Both these latter peoples’ right were also influence by the British Bill of Rights of 1688 which set out the basic laws of parliamentary rule and rights of the common man, while putting a break on the powers of the Monarch, the then government.

Then we have the Australian Constitution, with sections 92 and 117 guaranteeing the freedom of movement backed up by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, with Article 13 guaranteeing the free movement in and out of a country, with Article 20 guaranteeing the right for peaceful assembly and association.  Australia signed this, but what is the point of signing something which we are NOT going to honour?  What is the point of an Australian Constitution if State Governments do not honour it? Or a federal government too weak to do anything about it? We have a High Court for the Federal Government to show these States that they are simply acting illegal.

We also operate under English Common Law and among other aspects, states that we are innocent until we are proven guilty, not the other way around.  Governments exist to serve the people, we the people are not here to serve governments.

We have seen State Governments act in a dictatorial way, again especially in Victoria. There, the police do terrible things to their own citizens and there have been multiple breeches of human rights in this regard.  When Premier Daniel Andrews were questioned on this during a media conference, he replied “THIS IS NOT ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS”. His own words. We are in trouble. We, the people, must protect our rights, because it has been shown that the political elite will not do so on our behalf while the various Oppositions have proven to be weak and hopeless including that in Tasmania. Our governments have been bereft of compassion.

But how come we have got to this stage?  Simply out of fear. Fear is feeling overwhelmed.  Fear will make people submissive. Fear creates the belief that is it enduring and because of fear we believe life can be reduced to a set of rules and the more rules we create the more habit-bound we become. We lose innocence and spontaneity, we forget the light and vitality of life and we end up living in the shadows.

Hence, because of fear, we allow ourselves to be under house arrest, putting our trust in governments that not only tell us what to do, but supplies all our needs. Government then becomes not only our mother and father, but god.  When the true God is rejected all we have is Big Government. Again to quote the late President Regan, “Government is not the solution, government is the problem”. (Jan 29 1981).

We have a brain, an intelligent and hopefully enough wisdom because of experience to be able to judge for ourselves.  We are individuals, not sheep.  Too many of our people have accepted what is being told and the message is one of fear giving predictions that simply have not happened.  We cannot every time a new virus appears shut down society, imprison its citizens and destroy its economy.

The one fear I have, come January next year (2021) we will truly see the horrific hardship of this shut down fully occur, which a leading QC, Michael Wyles, has stated is illegal. It has not only destroyed the economic life of people, but too, their mental and social life.  The rate of suicide is far higher than the death rate of this current virus, much of which could have been avoided if the vulnerable were instantly protected and those who had the virus were adequately quarantined which governments failed to do. We also must take note that 99 per cent of those who contract the virus will survive and that most will only have a mild case of it.

A certain percentage (and it is quite high) of people like to be told what to do. It brings security and they don’t have to make decisions for themselves. I have been staggered how easy and how quickly we have been willing to give our freedoms away and let us not be fooled, governments have learnt from this.

I thank you for your time.  We are a loving people, loving our family, our friends and our country.  Therefore, we are indeed concerned what is going on. Our national anthem says, “We are young and free” – well, we are no longer free.

Anzac Day 2020

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Anzac Day.  On that day 105 years ago Australian and New Zealand troops went ashore at Gallipoli, hence the term embracing Australian and New Zealand Army Corp. Nearly 8,000 Australians died from the bullet, disease and sickness during that campaign which continued to the end of the year. There were another twenty six thousand casualties. Yet, it was not the first action Australians saw nor was the first fatalities for our nation recorded at Gallipoli. It was during an action against a German signal station in New Guinea which was then under German control.  It is called the Battle of Bita Paka (11/9/14). It was a successful Australian attack, navy and military, in which we incurred our first casualties. Seven Australians were killed.

Perhaps on this day, 25th April, we should remember Private Harry Hodgman, the first Tasmanian to die, perhaps the first Australian, on that fateful morning when he was being rowed ashore.  A Turkish sniper put an end to his young life. He was twenty three years old and is buried at Line Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli.

We should remember Nurse Elizabeth (Lizzy) Orr, later Sister Orr, and then Matron.  Lizzy hailed from near Hamilton and was Matron of the hospital ships that took the wounded and sick from Gallipoli, the Mediterranean and Salonika, over those many months.  What a responsibility. That was not her first military experience as she was a nurse during The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa. Like all nurses at that time, she paid her own way to get the front.

And we remember, General Sir John Gellibrand, born at Ouse, not far from where Lizzy was.  Gellibrand became Tasmania’s highest ranking officer during the war. Gellibrand, though always controversial, was a humane man and after the war started the Remembrance Club helping the veterans, widows and families. It became Legacy, a nation-wide organisation which still has the same principles commenced by Gellibrand.

From Gallipoli of course, men were evacuated to the Middle East, to be joined by many others, for recreation, re-training and to be sent to the battle fields of the Western Front, France and Belgium. Thousands of Australians remained in Palestine and Egypt as mounted infantry with the Australian Light Horse to fight the Ottoman Empire.

There were many battles and campaigns in the western front and Tasmanians were awarded eleven Victorian Crosses, one going to Henry William (Harry) Murray from Evandale, who became the highest decorated soldier in the British Commonwealth. Overall, 60,000 Australians died during WWI, including 3,000 Tasmanians and three as many, casualties.  In all, a quarter of million men from a small national population of under five million.

The war ended 11th hour, 11th November 1918 and the Versailles Treaty was signed the following year.  Just twenty years on, the scenario was repeated when on the 3rd of September 1939 WWII began. Australians served in all theatres of war, army, navy and air force and more than eight thousand died because of neglect, brutality and disease while POWs under the Japanese. The toll of our Air Force men was enormous, more than ten thousand.

In all, 14 Tasmanians have been awarded the Victorian Cross, our last in Afghanistan Corporal Stewart Cameron.  By my reckoning, that’s 14 per cent of the hundred awarded to the whole of Australia.  Yet, we make only up only 2 and half per cent of the national population.  A huge sacrifice and record.

Many memorials dot our hamlets, villages, towns and cities calling us to remember those who made the greatest of all sacrifice and those who served.  Post WWII saw Korea, Malayan Emergency, Indonesian Confrontation, Vietnam and the latter military campaigns, including Afghanistan which rages still.

They fought for freedom.  Yet, freedom is not only won on the battlefield.  The freedoms which we have and have inherited go back thousands of years.  Freedom is not given; it is won by sacrifice backed by a hunger to treasure such a concept. War is not the only way to defend our freedoms.  We, as a people, must be forever vigilant to maintain those freedoms, such as freedom of movement, thought and expression.  Those treasured rights that our forefathers fought for – and won, are under severe threat, not by an enemy heading to our shores, but from our own legislators.

This year 2020 is a strange year in that our usual ANZAC services cannot be held.  This is a tragedy. Never before, in my now long life or anyone’s for that matter, has this occurred.  Still, we must not be deterred.  We must remember those whom we honour on this day and reflect on for what they fought.  They fought for their families, their community, Australia and their friends and our way of life. Let us reflect not only on their sacrifices, but also why they left our shores to do so.

Lest we forget.

Australia Day 2020

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Australia Day.  A day when Australians can come together to celebrate this country of ours.  As all school children know (or at least, should) January 26th 1788 was the date when the half English, half German, Captain Arthur Phillip arrived with his settlers after a 15,000 mile voyage from Portsmouth, England to Sydney Cove and planted, as an historic fact, the Union Jack. He had moved those who came with him, from Botany Bay where they had arrived January 20th. Phillip after leaving Botany Bay searched a more suitable site where there would be water, a place to clear the land, erect huts and begin cultivation.  What he found, he described as “The finest harbour in the world in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in perfect security”.  Thus history was made and so began Australia.  The decision to come to that part of the world for the near 1400 souls and eleven vessels was based to a great degree on Captain James Cook’s visitation to the eastern part of Australia in April 1770, this year being the 250 anniversary of his exploration. Cook landed at Point Hicks before proceeding to Botany Bay. He was, without doubt, one of the world’s greatest explorers.

Arriving with Phillip was Elizabeth King who was the first white woman to set foot in Australia.  She is buried at Back River, near New Norfolk.

On January 1, 1901 we became a nation.  However, we would not have become the Australia we now know so well, if it was not because of Phillip’s landing. What we enjoy today and have the privilege of living in, have been constructed on the foundations of those who went before. Things do not just happen and the peoples who came long ago and even up to recent times, endured the sacrifice, the bravery, the struggles, the enormous challenges, and the many set-backs and yes the failures from which we can learn.

Between 1788 and1901, the six colonies thrived and it is incredible what was achieved within that short space of time.  When Tasmania received Responsible Government in 1856 and a name change to Tasmania from Van Diemen’s Land and until federation, tremendous development took place, allowing Tasmanians to enjoy one of the highest living standards in the world. Convict transportation had ceased several years previously. There followed substantial progress for industry, farming, fruit growing, communication, railways, the growth of cities, education and recreation activities.  Then came federation and a new country was born.  We began with our own Constitution and together with the Statute of Westminster 1931 we became a fully independent country from Mother Britain and with the passing of the Australia Act in 1986 conclusively sealed it. We adopted our own flag on September 3rd 1901. As early as the Versailles Treaty of 1919 which ended the First World, we signed the treaty as an independent nation and much to the chagrin of Britain, Australia said “no” to the execution of our own soldiers during that war whereas all participants, Britain, New Zealand, America, Canada, France and Germany did shoot their soldiers for various offences. Then in World War Two, exercising our independence once again, our war-time Prime Minster, John Curtin, turned to the USA for support much against the will of British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

We have become the envy of the world setting an example of how to achieve and succeed against adversity. Politically we are stable. Economically we are wealthy. On the world stage we are respected. We are still a cohesive society, although there are cracks.  We are a freedom loving country, despite dreadful government legislation, both on the state and federal level that curtails our freedom of thought, speech and movement.  It is the people which must fight continually for that freedom to be restored. It is our rightful inheritance.

Australia Day, January 26th, is the day for all Australians to celebrate, whether one has been here for thousands of years, hundreds of years or just several months.  Our aboriginal heritage is a part of it, with Australia Day being endorsed by aboriginal alderman from Alice Springs, Jacinta Price, aboriginal politician Warren Mundine, Aboriginal pastor Cedric Jacobs whom I knew and the late Sir Neville Bonner, the first aboriginal to sit in the Senate with whom I corresponded. It is time for those of British stock and those of all other stocks to come together, forgetting our political, racial and social differences, to fly the flag and enjoy that traditional barbecue.

For this Australia Day in 2020 it would be wonderful to see Australia culture dominate.  We are rich in bush dancing, folklore, music, bush ballads and poems, art and song and no doubt in numerous other ways.  However, during Australia Day celebrations, mainly organised by the municipalities, we see little of this, most resorting to events of a multi-cultural flavour.  The home culture can never get through when this happens.  It is Australia and while respecting all other cultures, because it is OUR Day, let the home culture dominate.

We have much to celebrate, despite what is occurring in the rest of the world, the question must be asked: would you like to live somewhere else? Our thriving cities, our open spaces, our sporting achievements, our recreation facilities, our life style and our comradeship, I would suggest, if we are honest, the answer would be NO.

Christmas is once again upon us

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Christmas is once again upon us. It is to herald the birth of Jesus Christ, born possibly 4-2 B.C., now more than two thousand years ago.  Yet, there is nothing in the Gospels to say we should honour His birth and certainly no instruction to do so. Indeed the first Christmas, as we know it, was not observed until the time of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great more than three hundred years after Christ’s birth. Some Christian denominations do not honour Christmas Day at all, believing December 25th has its basis in a pagan event thousands of years ago. Historically they are right.

Nonetheless, today in the year 2019 right around much of the world we will celebrate Christmas day on December 25th except for the Orthodox Christians who will do so January 4th. The festivities which accompany Christmas, such as the tree, Father Christmas (Santa Claus) and the giving of presents came much later and are really a product of modern times and may I add, commercialism.

Therefore Christmas in its varying forms has been with us (i.e. Christian-based nations) for near seventeen hundred years. A long time.  In Australia we still observe the day even though, increasingly, we are becoming a secular society and the number of those professing to be active Christians, diminishes.  We live in a post-Christian era.  There has been a rise (and census returns will prove this) in those claiming to be atheists, certainly agnostic and of non-Christian religions. For instance, those soldiers who left our shores to fight during WWI, 97 per cent claimed to be Christian.  Today it is down to about 60 per cent. That is a dramatic drop and it does affect the meaning of what Christmas is all about.

Over the decades, growing up in the 50s 60s and even 70s, there has been a substantial change in people’s attitude towards Christmas.  For the first ten years of my life there was no television in Tasmania. For a number of years of its early existence, television on Christmas Day screened programmes of a religious nature and the wireless (radio) played only (again) religious and Christmas music. All shops and service stations were closed and certainly no sport was played, except for those children who were already enjoying their Christmas gifts that may have been of a sporting nature.   It was indeed a day of reverence and quietness and those who wished to do so went to church. Oh, how it has changed.  TV and radio air nothing special, shops and service stations are open, the roads are full and the serenity and the respect of the special meaning of the day has long since gone. True we still have the Carols being sung at the various community venues, which is good to see.  However, already, there are questions over their relevance. For instance, Mitchell Council in Adelaide decided to ban them all together, but back-tracked their decision because of public backlash. This was positive, but the movement has begun with the excuse that Christmas does not reflect the diversity of modern Australian society. Yet, as one who has many agnostic and atheistic friends, never have they once complained about the observance of Christmas. Nor have I heard Jewish friends being offended. It is part of our annual calendar and while they may not put any religious meaning to the event, it can be enjoyed by being with family and friends and not forgetting those who may be alone or ill. 

As stated, we now live in a very secular society and the influence of the church in our lives has lessened over the years, certainly from when I was a boy. Christmas then, is a legacy of the past and part of our national heritage.  Christmas came to our shores from Britain with the First Fleet in 1788. The first Christmas held in Australia was on December 25th 1788. Christmas was brought to Tasmania by Lt John Gordon Bowen Royal Navy who settled at Risdon Cove, September 11 1803.  He was instructed by Governor King from Sydney to observe all Church of England rites and while there is no documentation that I have come across of the first Christmas, there is no doubt it would have been held at Risdon, December 25th 1803. It must have been a bland affair, perhaps dining on opossum and wallaby, even native hens.  In February the following year David Collins arrived and moved the settlement to the present site of Sullivans Cove, Hobart.  With him was the Reverend Robert (Bobby) Knopwood who conducted the first Christmas in Hobart December 25, 1804.  In the north of the island, Colonel William Paterson had settled in November 1804 and while, again, I cannot find any documentation pertaining to the event, I am sure Christmas was held.

Consequently, Christmas in Tasmania has been observed continuously for 216 years and in Australia for 230 years.  Its meaning and respect over the years, particularly of late, may have changed, but I hope Christmas will continue. I am fully aware of course, there are Scrooges who utter, “Christmas Humbug!”.  Even so, it is a special day and it should be a reminder that there is meaning to life and that there is HOPE.