Australia adopted decimal currency on February 14, 1966, the year before I was born. According to Wikipedia:

“In 1965, the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, a monarchist, wished to name the currency the royal. Other proposed names included more exotic suggestions such as the austral, the oz, the boomer, the roo, the kanga, the emu, the digger, the kwid, the dinkum, the ming (Menzies’ nickname). Owing to Menzies’ influence, the name royal was settled on, and trial designs were prepared and printed by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The choice of name for the currency proved unpopular, and it was later dropped in favour of the dollar.”

Here’s a design of the proposed 10 royals note:

According to the Reserve Bank website: In June 1963, with no clear consensus having emerged on a name, the Government decided to name the new currency the Royal. Treasurer Harold Holt explained that the Government saw this name as “emphasising our link with the Crown” and as being “a dignified word with a pleasing sound”.

Between June and September 1963, the Bank’s Note Printing Branch developed a variety of design concepts for the Royal notes.

Just three months after announcing the “royal” decision the Government conceded on September 19, 1963 that the name of the currency unit would be the “dollar”. This decision won quick and general public approval.

The video below was used to promote the changeover from pounds, shillings and pence to decimal currency. The old coins remained legal tender until February 1967, but continued to appear in currency for many years afterwards.

I recall obtaining sixpence and shilling coins in change up until the late 1970s.

Advance Australia Fair won the contest and later became the National Anthem.

Looking at the poll results on the Australian Electoral Commission website, it surprised me that Song of Australia (excellent version above by Peter Dawson from 1932) won the ballot convincingly in South Australia (with 34.12 percent), despite being trounced elsewhere in the country.

I have since discovered the lyrics were written by English-born poet, Caroline J Carleton, who moved to South Australia.

According to this website:

“Caroline Carleton (1820-1874), daughter of William Baynes, and her husband Charles James Carleton, arrived in South Australia from England in the Prince Regent in 1839. Their two children had died during the voyage. The Carletons lived in Adelaide for some time where Charles practised as a medical officer. They later moved to Kapunda where he had a similar position at the mines.

“After the death of her husband, on July 20, 1861, she started teaching but later, due to ill health, moved to Wallaroo where here daughter was teaching. Caroline died at Matta House on July 10, 1874, to be remembered as a clever, courageous, kind and courteous gentlewoman. Her admirers later had a monument placed over her grave at Wallaroo.”

The lyrics are:

It should be one of those services you order and forget; one that operates quietly and efficiently behind the scenes.

That hasn’t been our experience, however.

We found a pile of letters on a chance visit back to our former address. When I made a telephone enquiry to Australia Post, I was told it was probably because we hadn’t listed all possible name combinations.

For instance, I recorded my name on the application form as Michael John Gorey. It was suggested I add:

Michael Gorey
M Gorey
MJ Gorey
MJ & JA Gorey
M & J Gorey

Well, that’s annoying, especially when you aren’t asked to do that when you place the order. It also seems to be unnecessarily bureaucratic.

Surely the surname should determine the redirection, and listing other names should only be required if you have alternative surnames.

Anyhow, I added the other name combinations and expected everything to just work.

However, passing by the old house last night, I called in to check the letterbox. Again, there were several letters there, including a new health insurance card.

Not only were the name combinations on the list, four of the letters were from Australia Post seeking to confirm the redirection order!

Furthermore, at our new address we received a lot of mail for the former occupant in our first week.

I mentioned this to the property manager, who said there was a mail redirection in place. It’s obviously not working and Australia Post should lift their game.

Fortunate in the sense I now know something about an unsung South Australian sporting hero of the 19th century; sad however at his tragic end.

The SANFL this weekend celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture with its inaugural Indigenous Round.

As the league notes: “Throughout generations, indigenous players have made significant contributions to the game of Australian football in South Australia.”

The league has also selected an Indigenous Team of the Century. It’s a travesty the name of former North Adelaide player Harry Hewitt is missing from that team and I hope an effort is made to rectify it.

I discovered Hewitt while researching West Adelaide’s inaugural SAFA season in 1897. The Advertiser on May 26, 1897 reported that two Aboriginal players, BT Bailey and P Barker, had been “passed” to play for West Adelaide.

It was reported in a very matter-of-fact way, but I assume it meant that Aborigines needed special approval to play league football.

A further search led me to reports of Harry Hewitt, who played for Medindie, as North Adelaide was then known.

In this report from a match against South Adelaide in May 1892, The Advertiser wrote: “The Dingoes included Harry Hewitt, the Aborigine from Point MacLeay, and he played a splendid game in the ruck, defeating his opponents time after time”.

Another article on April 9, 1892 described Harry’s cricketing talents: “On January 2 against Medindie he made 126 not out, on February 13 against Milang 113 and on March 11 against Mount Barker 107 not out. Excellent performances these. Go on Harry, my boy, keep at it and you may get into an inter-colonial before long.”

Harry played at least one game for Port Adelaide. The Advertiser on August 3, 1891 described his play in a match against Fitzroy: “Hewitt, late of the Medindies, as is his wont, entered the field shoeless and stockingless, and arrayed in a gaudy guernsey, created the best part of the afternoon’s amusement by his appearance and his comical gait. He was wonderfully fast, seeming to be everywhere, and would have been a valuable man except for his infringements of the rules, for which the referee pulled him up with the utmost rigour.”

Harry was also a leader. On Friday, May 29, 1885 he captained an Aboriginal team against an SAFA combined side, known as the Wanderers, in an exhibition match.

Harry told the South Australian Register that nine of his best players were prevented from going to Adelaide and he was compelled to take substitutes who had never played before. Playing barefooted, Harry said the green grass was a drawback.

Intrigued, I searched again and sadly discovered the tragic story of Harry’s death. Here is the full report from The Advertiser of January 25, 1907:

A tragedy happened at Milang early yesterday morning amongst the blacks camped near the town, and as a result Harry Hewitt, an aboriginal, well known both at the Point Macleay Mission Station and in other parts of South Australia was killed.

There had evidently been a great disturbance in the camp, during which fierce fighting occurred. The police on visiting the place yesterday morning saw evidences everywhere of the battle, and they found the body of Hewitt who was quite dead. An examination of the corpse disclosed the fact that there was a large hole in the skull, which had apparently been caused by a terrific blow.

As a result of the inquiries made among the natives, the police arrested an aboriginal known as Tommy Lawson on suspicion of having struck the blow which caused Hewitt’s death, and he is at present in custody on a charge of murder, pending the outcome of the coroner’s inquest, which was opened at Milang yesterday afternoon.

Hewitt, who was about 40 years of ago, was well known in South Australian athletic circles. About 12 years ago he played for a cricket team in North Adelaide, which was known as the Cambridge Eleven, and he surprised his opponents on more than one occasion by his wonderful fielding. He would stop the hottest hits when the ball was travelling on or off the ground whilst his return was both accurate and rapid.

On one occasion Hewitt scored 144 not out against the Prospects. Hewitt played for a Milang team on the occasion of a turf pitch being used for the first time on the Unley Oval. In the football season his prowess as an all-round man when he was a member of the Medindie team is well remembered by old footballers.

He was not misplaced in any position in the field, but his particular forte was in the following department. As an athlete Hewitt took part in numerous sports gatherings, while as a swimmer he was no mean opponent. Besides his athletic excellences Hewitt excelled as an acrobat and gymnast, and he was for some time connected with a travelling circus.

He also took part in a variety show, playing in farces and sketches. The Salvation Army likewise claimed some of his attention, and while connected with this organisation Hewitt attained the rank of corporal. He was recognised as one of the most intelligent South Australian Aborigines at Point Macleay.

He could read and write and was conversant with a variety of subjects which are usually considered outside the ken of an ordinary native. Hewitt was a most quiet and inoffensive man and general regret is expressed at the manner of his sudden death. For the past few years Hewitt had been earning a livelihood at Milang as a fisherman.

What a remarkable man!

The Register reported that Harry was buried on January 28, 1907. “The weird screams of the wailing women around the bier, by the moonlit waters of the lake, was enough to chill the nerves of those who had never witnessed such a scene. It was simply thrilling in its blood-curdling intensity, then sad and mournful like the sighing and sobbing of the legendary Banshee of Ireland.”

Lawson stood trial for manslaughter, but was acquitted after the jury found he had acted in self defence.

Mrs Baxter, the licensee of the Pier Hotel at Milang, was found guilty of supplying Lawson with wine, and was fined five pounds.

Searching more about Harry’s life, it’s evident he was an early advocate of Aboriginal rights. The Advertiser published this forceful and heartfelt letter on February 7, 1905:

Sir, As an aboriginal, may I say a few words about the fisherman’s license? First, the white man took the land from us and killed our game, and now he expects us to pay £1 license before we can catch fish for the market. True, we can catch fish for our own use without a license, but what is the good of that? We have few opportunities for earning a livelihood, and now they are trying to stop us from earning a honest shilling. They are not getting rid of us fast enough, too they think they will starve us out. Perhaps, however, the Government have some means of keeping us in comfort, so that we won’t have to trouble about getting our living.
H. HEWITT (Aboriginal)

Harry Hewitt represents the spirit of Aboriginal Australia. He was a talented sportsman, intelligent and articulate. He was discriminated against and ridiculed for his appearance. He tragically lost his life in a drunken brawl.

As someone who played for both North Adelaide and Port Adelaide, surely he deserves to at least be recognised in the SANFL’s Indigenous Team of the Century.

It actually seems contrary to the “Anzac spirit”, which wartime historian Charles Bean defined as: “Reckless valor in a good cause, enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat.”

Although, I suppose it is resourceful of Australians to contrive an excuse for a long weekend.

Maybe I’m just bitter that I worked most holiday Mondays during my career as a journalist.

But it’s interesting to note our Kiwi friends aren’t taking a day off on Monday.

“A spokesman for the Minister of Labour said there were no immediate plans to change the current situation and most New Zealanders wanted to recognise Anzac Day on the day itself.”

And it will be interesting to see how resourceful Australians are next year when Anzac Day falls on Easter Monday.

Regarding Anzac Day itself, there has been some discussion this year about whether relatives of deceased servicemen should be allowed to march, as they have been encouraged to do in past years.

Relatives were today being asked to join the back of the marches. The RSL said this was to boost the dignity of the events amid concerns about the dress sense and behaviour of some planning to attend.

That’s fair enough. I’ve been concerned that Anzac Day has lost its solemnity in recent years. Some people behave as if it’s a celebration, rather than a commemoration.

There will come a time soon enough when there are no longer WW2 veterans marching. The RSL needs to start planning for this, both in terms of its membership and managing the Anzac Day ceremonies.

I suggest doing away with the marches. Simply have an 11am service in addition to the dawn service.

There is a pleasing new focus on National Servicemen in Australia, and rightly so. Most had their lives disrupted while they completed their duty.

I recently discovered the website of the National Servicemen’s Association and had Dad’s name added to the honour roll.

Dad didn’t talk much about his military service. I got the impression he didn’t really want to do it.

In fact, here are his brief notes on three years of his life:

“My sporting life was interrupted and I was called up for National Service duty in the Army.
One of my first memories of initial training was when my battalion (the 14th Artillery) marched through the CBD of Melbourne to line the route of the cavalcade of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on their first visit to Australia in 1954.
Although I was contemptuous of the reasons behind National Service I made the best of it and served out my three years.
I trained as a radio operator for the officer in charge of the observation post, directing the guns onto their targets.
Although not seeking it, I received promotions in rank and finished up being offered the rank of sergeant at the end of my training.”

I never knew Dad formed part of the cavalcade for the Queen’s first visit to Melbourne until reading that.

I’ll add to this post if I can discover more information about the 14 NST Battalion. If anyone can assist, please comment here or contact me.

National Service and conscription have always been controversial subjects in Australia.

Allen Callaghan writes in his brief history:

Under the National Service Act 1951, all young men turning 18 on or after November 1, 1950 were required to undertake 176 days standard recruit training in the Navy, Army and Air Force, followed by five years in their respective Reserves. The first call-up notices were issued on April 12, 1951 and the first National Servicemen marched in during July.

The Army was allocated the largest proportion of men – about 198,000 – and formed 10 National Service Training Battalions. The locations of the Battalions were: Queensland, 11 Battalion at Wacol; New South Wales, 12 Battalion at Singleton and Holsworthy, 13 Battalion at Ingleburn and 19 Battalion at Old Holsworthy and Holsworthy; Victoria, 14, 15 and 20 Battalions at Puckapunyal and Watsonia; South Australia, 16 Battalion at Woodside; Western Australia, 17 Battalion at Swanbourne; Tasmania, 18 Battalion at Brighton.

Here is a copy of the certificate I gratefully received from the National Servicemen’s Association:

In 2005 I wrote that Australia Day didn’t mean much more to me than just being a holiday. In 2007, I suggested having a new date for our national day.

I wrote on Wendy’s Cultured Views this morning:

“I don’t like the choice of date because it’s NSW focused and marks the founding of a prison. I would prefer Australia Day to be on June 9, the anniversary of Matthew Flinders completing the first circumnavigation of Australia. Get rid of the Queen’s birthday holiday (it’s the wrong date anyhow) and introduce a new holiday on December 31 for New Year so January 1 can officially be Federation Day.”

At first I thought I was alone in being disturbed by the growing jingoistic nationalism associated with Australia Day. I started writing a blog post, but stopped because I thought it would invite redneck attacks.

I followed the search term for “Australia” on Twitter. It was full of presumably young people saying “Happy Australia Day” and describing their plans for beer, beach and barbecue.

There were a few left-wing radicals throwing in remarks about “Invasion Day” and the dispossession of the Aborigines.

On holiday at Mandurah a couple of years ago every second car had an Australian flag attached (probably made in China). People wore hats with Australian flags and their towels were Australian flags. They probably wore underpants with Australian flags on them.

I struggled to pinpoint why exactly, but this bothered me a little.

In Mount Gambier today it was more subdued, but I saw young men walking down the street wrapped in Australian flags.

John Birmingham neatly articulated my concerns in his Blunt Instrument article for the Brisbane Times, headlined: “Since when did dumb-arsed nationalism become compulsory?”

Birmingham writes: “I don’t mind getting ruinously drunk. I don’t mind the odd cockroach race. And I love a barbecue, especially if there’s ruinously drunken cockroach racing involved. But one of the things I really like about Australia, or I used to anyway, was our quiet reluctance to wave the flag in everyone’s face; a reluctance which has gradually given way to an uglier, brutish readiness to paint the flag on our arses and sit on the face of anyone who looks even remotely disinclined to play along.”

Some of the reader comments nailed it for me:

“Big business has seized Australia Day as a dumbed-down Down Under 4th of July and all in the name of selling more beer and lamb to the easily-manipulated Southern Cross tattoos-types who are just looking for a excuse to get tanked up, jump into the ute and go bash anyone who looks remotely unAustralian. Sorry – I don’t buy into the whole tub thumping, beer swilling thing and I think one of the great attributes that Australia has lost, is that quiet (dare I say it, almost British) reserve and dignity, that we as a people used to display at home and aboard. Regionally, this reserve won us more friends than this new stance of smashing foreigners in the face and shouting Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi.”

and

“I think it’s time we returned to the real reason for Australia Day – The Day Off. If there wasn’t a public holiday, I doubt if anybody would even know it was Australia Day. Or care. Nobody gives a rats about our national day – If you want to see a truly united Australia, try to take our Day Off away. (Make sure you have a current Will first, though.) Actually, this applies to ALL our public holidays. And we would do anything to get more of them. Waving the southern cross is just for show so they think we’re patriotic enough to keep our holiday. Bollocks. We’d wave shamrocks if it meant St Patrick’s day were a public holiday too.”

I like this one:

“Seems to me that the Australian Of The Year gong provides a causal link between dumb-arsed nationalism and Straya Day. Steve Waugh smacks a few balls to the boundary, and suddenly he’s the best citizen we’ve got? (Bermuda resident) Pat Rafter puts in a gutsy 5-set loss to Goran in the Wimbledon final, and we can’t wait to drape him in diamonds? Cathy Freeman, bless her, runs a lap of an athletics track rooly quickly and she gets AOTY? John Farnham assures us that we’re the voice, and that’s justification enough to parade him before the masses?”

A few people traced the rise of Australia Day nationalism to former Prime Minister John Howard’s insistence the public holiday occur on the actual date.

Before 1996 (I think), the Australia Day holiday occurred on the nearest Monday to create a long weekend.

Because January 26 was a Tuesday this year, the holiday was on the Tuesday, but in typical Australian fashion, many people “took a sickie” yesterday to make it a four-day long weekend.

And many of them will be hungover and unproductive tomorrow, or sunburnt, if they bother to show up for work.

I liked it better when Australia Day was just a long weekend, like the Queen’s birthday, with no embellishments.

“Who made Australia what it is today? We asked a panel to name the 25 people who have changed the nation the most,” the introduction boldly proclaims.

There were eight judges, four each from Melbourne and Sydney, possibly because that’s where the magazine circulates or maybe because that’s where the editors think Australia starts and finishes.

They came up with a mixed bunch, trying to focus on the arts and sciences without dwelling too much on politics. In the process they forgot about the law (except for Eddie Mabo) and overlooked sport (except for Cathy Freeman).

The magazine’s top 10 Australian change makers of the past 50 years:

1. Germaine Greer
2. Rupert Murdoch
3. Paul Keating
4. Gough Whitlam
5. Judith Wright
6. Patrick White
7. John Howard
8. Bob Hawke
9. Eddie Mabo
10. Noel Pearson

They are all eminent people, obviously. It’s disappointing however, that two foreigners were named as the top two Australians.

Greer has hardly been in the country for 20 years and Murdoch is an American citizen.

Here are my top 10 change makers:

1. Kerry Packer
2. Bob Hawke
3. Graham Kennedy
4. Murray Gleeson
5. Paul Hogan
6. Sir Charles Court
7. Rod Laver
8. Don Dunstan
9. Ron Barassi
10. Kylie Minogue

I didn’t have a points system or any objective judging criteria. These are just people who I think influenced Australian life and society, shaped their fields and/or represented Australia to the world.

Kerry Packer isn’t my favorite Australian of the last 50 years, but I find it hard to ignore his influence across a range of sectors including media, business and sport. World Series Cricket was a revolution in its day.

Paul Keating has conveniently written Bob Hawke out of the history books as a reformist, but Hawke changed the economy for the better and improved relations between workers and industry.

Graham Kennedy was the premier entertainer of his generation and Murray Gleeson was the country’s foremost legal figure.

Paul Hogan created an international stereotype about Australians that lingers today, while Rod Laver dominated tennis from the amateur era through to professionalism, winning two grand slams.

Sir Charles Court helped facilitate the Western Australian mining boom and Don Dunstan changed South Australian society after decades of conservatism.

Ron Barassi changed football forever when he crossed from Melbourne to Carlton.

Kylie Minogue (pictured) is my token woman.

It’s not a full biography and tries to paint a portrait of the man, rather than the politician. But Hughes lived for politics, becoming the longest serving elected member in the British Commonwealth.

I knew only a little about him and still feel there is much more to learn.

He has been demonised over the failed First World War conscription referendums, which split the Labor Party.

Most people remember Hughes for that and the photographs of him as an old man still serving in Canberra.

He was young once, of course.

Sadly he is not remembered for his efforts in establishing the ALP and charting a moderate path for the labor movement, when it could easily have been caught up in the revolutionary fervor sweeping the world.

His Labor legacy is probably forgotten because he became a “rat” and switched sides to the conservatives.

Hughes didn’t need the people’s mandate to introduce conscription. He could simply have passed legislation through parliament, as John Curtin did in the Second World War.

Hughes wasn’t afraid of making tough decisions, so it’s rather curious why he went down that path.

I was interested to read about his role at the Paris Peace Conference that formally concluded the war and led to the League of Nations being established.

Hughes asserted Australia’s right to a place at the negotiating table and was quite a significant player.

He insisted that Australia be given control of German territories in the Pacific south of the equator.

He was ahead of his time in fearing Japanese ambitions in the region and wanted New Guinea in Australian hands as a buffer against potential attack. This proved a clever strategy in the 39-45 war.

The controversies he generated at the peace conference were related to blocking the “racial equality clause” in the league covenant and deriding American efforts to create the world body.

He also pushed for unrealistic reparations from Germany.

Japan, which had fought on the allied side, wanted freedom for its citizens to travel, which Hughes vigorously opposed.

Hughes clashed heatedly with American president Woodrow Wilson.

Hughes described Wilson “as humorless as the great pyramid …as impassive as an undertaker at a pauper’s funeral”. Wilson described Hughes as a “pestiferous varmint”.

In one reported exchange:

Wilson: But after all you only speak for five million people.

Hughes: I speak for 60,000 dead. For how many do you speak?

America entered the war late (Wilson campaigned against it at the 1916 election) and lost 53,000 dead in battle.

Hughes is remarkable for his longevity in parliament (58 years) and the fact he changed parties five times.

He was the most colorful Australian politician of his era. He was influential in founding the ALP and in consolidating the federal system.

The book gave just a snapshot of his life, including his personal relationships, and I’m now keen to read more.