Hi there. This is a reminder about next Saturday morning on Capital Radio 101.7 and to update you on the progress of “Turn on a Light”, the third and latest novel.

Tony Howes and Dale James present Capital Events from 9.00 am to noon on 101.7. Since January, either on the second last or last Saturday of each month, they play one of my short stories, read by our son, Paul. Next Saturday 30th April, they’ll be playing one of my favourites, partly because it provokes a great deal of thought. It’s called “Assimilation” and you may find it a stimulating thing to hear. Then again you may not, but I reckon it says a good deal about our history and the present ways we deal with Indigenous people. Whether you like it or not, however, there’ll be the chance to win either of the novels I have published to date: “Hiding Place” and “The Wiluna Solution”.

As for “Turn on a Light”, it has just gone to the printers, which is exciting. I should get the first proof this coming week. Its major theme is  awakenings by organisations, communities and individuals to the struggle needed to overcome social inequities and allow all people to lead full and rewarding lives.

We are now arranging a launch date and site, and will let you know as soon as we have worked all that out.

Over last week, we travelled to some great places promoting Aussie Yarns and Hiding Place and The WILUNA Solution. Starting in Merredin on Monday in rain which brought smiles to many faces and hard work later in the week to get ready for seeding, we then went to Kellerberrin, Southern Cross, Bruce Rock and Quairading. We were due to present in Cunderdin on Friday but rain seemed to get the better of the day so we’ll go back there when things have settled down.

Each place has its charm and they are places we are familiar with, having lived in Tammin and Southern Cross. The presentation in Southern Cross was special because we caught up with people we hadn’t see for thirty years.

A special thanks to the CRC managers who publicised and promoted our presentation, and to the ABC in Kalgoorlie and Anthony Tilli at Merredin for radio interviews.

Below is a shot of the presentation at Merredin.

We are really looking forward to this trip. It will take us back to several places we’ve either lived in or have connections with. While renewing acquaintances is important, however, presenting and discussing Dave’s novels is the top priority. As Dave said during his interview today on regional ABC, his stories take events in Australian history and sites that will be known to people, and through the use of fictional characters, depict his interpretations and attitudes that are part of our history. A particular focus is on non-Aboriginal attitudes to Aboriginal people and these stories, under the title of Aussie Yarns, question the extent to which attitudes have shifted over time. (See www.aussieyarns.com for more information on the novels.)

The itinerary is:

Monday, 11th April, Merredin CRC, 10.00 am (Dave may have accidentally said 11.00 am on the radio)

Tuesday 12th April, Kellerberrin CRC, 2.30 pm

Wednesday 13th April, Southern Cross CRC, 2.00 pm

Thursday 14th April, Bruce Rock CRC, 10.30 am

Thursday 14th April, Quairading CRC, 2.30 pm

Friday 15th April, Cunderdin CRC, 10.00 am

We’re off again on another tour to promote two published novels and the almost ready-to-publish “Turn on a Light”. The overall itinerary is outlined below, but we are immensely grateful to the personnel in the Community Resource Centres (CRCs) for their willingness to be involved and for their support and promotion. We may be wrong, but we believe a top programs funded through Royalties for Regions is a CRC, which gives a meeting place and a communication centre. Karen and I recall going to the Goomalling CRC for a presentation last year to see it had continued to publish the community newspaper we founded through Goomalling DHS in 1986 called “The Endeavour”. I was principal then and to see the paper surviving 30 years later was a warming thing.

Anyway, the itinerary (and we present at the CRC is each town with refreshments provided) is:

Merredin, Monday 11th April, 10.00 am

Kellerberrin: Tuesday 12th April, 2.30 pm

Southern Cross: Wednesday 13th April, 2.00 pm

Bruce Rock:  Thursday 14th April, 10.30 am

Quairading: Thursday 14th April, 2.30 pm

Cunderdin: Friday 15th April, 10.00 am

What appeals to us about these trips is reconnecting. As a child, I spent time in Tammin, nestled between Cunderdin and Kelleberrin when my father, Frank, was principal. I spent time in Southern Cross as principal of the district high school. I recall coaching Tammin in football more years ago than I care to remember and playing against Quairading, Cunderdin and Kellerberrin – and surviving even Danny Malone.

So if you know people in these towns, please pass the information onto them. We’d love to see them. And let them know, if they like the game, that Australian Rules Football plays a major part on one of the novels. And romance and my views on Aboriginal culture are also present.

I received the message below on another website and have transferred it here. Thanks, Dinah, for your honesty and the clear way you’ve explained the issue. That has stimulated us to have a think about what we’ve been saying and why. Here is what Dinah had to say.

You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and very broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

It’s an irrefutable truth in my thinking (and I am trying to get rid of it) that we always assume other people understand what we’re talking about. That is, until they tell us they don’t. The website Dinah was referring to has some information like Aussie Yarns, but it is limited . Anyway, as I began to tell Dinah that the website she was on (www.hidingplacenovel.com) will shut down in a few weeks, and that a new one has been established, I realised her comment went far deeper. Below is a summary of my response on the other website about what I am attempting to explain through my fictional writing.

Hi, Dinah, and thanks for taking to the time to let us know about the presentation and the fact that things are hard to understand. This website (meaning www.hidingplacenovel.com) shuts down in a few weeks, but we have a new one already operating at http://aussieyarns.com which we think is much better. If you go to that site, there are items under Home, Novels, Short Stories and Blogs that will demonstrate a range of ideas.

Now we trust what follows helps your understanding of our basic theme in all our output. And it’s all not complex. It just says that different cultures aren’t right or wrong, better or worse, or superior or inferior. They are just are. Our definition of culture is as follows: It’s the way we do things around here. So cultures will always differ from each other. And each has a set of values that keep it operating and alive. If those values are weakened or fade , the culture will die. This has been happening in Australia with Aboriginal cultures for over 200 years and if we (both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people) value different cultures and what can be learned from the difference, then we need to find ways for cultures to survive, and do it by walking and working together. Some people say, “Let Aboriginal cultures die, they are of no value in the modern age. So here are two questions. The first is, “What if someone said to you, let non-Aboriginal cultures die?” How would you feel about letting go of all the values that make you what you are? Different values aren’t and never have been a major problem. The problem has been, and remains, the inability of people to find ways to come together and work together without expecting differences in culture to be eradicated, overridden, suppressed, or expunged. The other question we would ask is, “What is the predicted life-cycle of non-Aboriginal cultures and what will happen when that cycle concludes?” Can you survive without the creature comforts of house, water supply, electricity, supermarket, and the mod-cons of this day and age? In summary, look at and try to learn from different cultures. Don’t try to join them, but watch, listen and learn, and as you do, you may become a teacher of the virtues of your culture, in ways that don’t expect other cultures to change.

We hope that helps as you try to understand the stories and content in the new website, and if you’re from a country outside Australia, think of your Indigenous people and ask the same questions about cultural difference. Have a great time thinking about all this and as we said, let us know what you think of the updated, new website.

I will present five different sections here.

1. Another reading of one of my Short Stories will be on Saturday 27th February at approximately 11.00 am on 101.7 Capital Radio. This one is entitled Dependency and Dysfunction and is probably, along with one entitled Assimilation, stories that I feel have challenge as well as substance . They outline not just why things are as they are in the Aboriginal world, but ways to think about and do something about them. In simple terms, the something is to listen to the ideas of Aboriginal people and support in them in executing those, rather than infiltrating their values and culture with ours and undermining their spirit. When I’m in this mood, I often think of the well-intentioned, and in parts, incisive work of Andrew Forrest in a review named Creating Parity. It was done for the Prime Minister’s Department a couple of years ago, when Tony was the CEO. My problem with the review is that it doesn’t give a definition for “parity”. Like, who will have parity with whom? On what basis and why is that better than the other way? What I get from the review is that parity means Aboriginal people will have equal outcomes with non-Aboriginal people because of linked opportunities through schooling, training, employment, housing, business creation and other strategies. Now while there’s sense in that from one perspective, from another it’s a wipeout. By that, I mean I have the sense that Aboriginal people will have to become like us to achieve parity. So, what of parity in other ways: in terms of culture, language and the soul and spirit of people. What will the cost be to Aboriginal culture and values if the answer is to be more like us? Imagine if white Australians had to give up certain values to ensure we had roofs over our heads and food in our mouths. Will Aboriginal values survive or isn’t the survival of those values deemed important in achieving parity? Is Creating Parity a new assimilation policy, however unintended? I don’t know. I am asking questions, and I’ll leave whatever thoughts you have with you. But if you get a chance to hear or read the two Short Stories mentioned above , they may help your thinking.
2. I have put the first of the audio Short Stories, Me and Magic, up on this website. It can be accessed by going to the short story of that name. The audio version is at the top of the page.
3. My recently published novel, The WILUNA Solution, is now being recorded as an Audio book through VisAbility here in Western Australia. While the organisation is focussed on providing for those with impaired sight, the production of the novel in this format means those who drive road-trains or long distances around paddocks or around mine sites in Haul Paks, or spend long hours on planes or trains or are unable to read for reasons other than impaired vision, can also be reached. So I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to be involved with VisAbility, to Dinesh and particularly Susie Punch for all patient assistance, and to VisAbility for its faith in my product.
4. Turn on a Light is nearing the end of it’s editing and I’m looking forward to taking the next steps in production. It’s been a labour of intensity over the past year to edit it back from about 480 pages to just over 300 pages. The difficulty I have in editing is to convince myself that some things I have written can be deleted. I believe that because I wrote it, it must gold. But with gentle criticism and assistance from a few people, I’ve come to realise more about repetition, where and how it happens, and, therefore, where and how to delete.
5. Life Sentence is the tentative title of the new novel taking shape. Each day I seem to get a clue or an idea to help me to map out stages or characters in the story. I am at the point where a lot of the basic research has been done. But I will continue to browse Far From Home, which is Neville Green’s and Susan Moon’s recount of Rottnest Island as an Aboriginal prison. The synopsis on the back cover is particularly moving . The authors write: “Accompanying the biographical listing of prisoners is a (sic) historical account of the Rottnest establishment and prison life, describing the experiences of men who were separated from their families and sent to a cold and dreary island off the west coast of Western Australia. For more than 370 it was a one-way journey, and today, denied the recognition they deserve, they lie in unmarked graves, far from home.”

Twenty years after the publication of Far From Home, some things are gradually changing in terms of recognition, But what will never change is the truth of the last eight words in the quote above.

“Turn on a Light”, the third novel, is getting closer to being published. The cover is all but complete and the text is being edited, hopefully to be done by mid-March. Then it’s into production mode.

This new novel, “Life Sentence”, focuses on Rottnest as an Indigenous prison and it’s final closure in 1902. It’s a story told through whitefella eyes: a warder from the Pilbara, a kid from York who is a clerk in the Prisons’ Department, and a war-weary warder named Joey who has a story to tell and defend. The idea came from being on the Island many times with Karen, Paul and Drew and how it affected my imagination. Then came  working with Rosie from the Rottnest Foundation about it’s recognition of Indigenous sites, and finally, reading Neville Green’s “Far from Home” summary of Rottnest as a Prison.

My story is fiction and doesn’t try to focus on the Island or explain events that caused, and have continued to cause, so much pain to Aboriginal people in that moment. Instead, it will try to tell the story of how an Aboriginal man got lost in the system, served well beyond his allotted penalty and how it was resolved through compassion and some understanding by non-Aboriginal culture. Yes, the ‘between world’ strikes again,

The characters, however, are starting to come to life for me. I can feel each one starting to talk to me, or alternatively, how I am becoming part of each one. There’s Duncan Ross, whose family own a cattle station near the Fortescue River and for various, usually sad reasons, he’s a warder at Rottnest Prison in 1901. Then, there’s Charles Atherton, who’s about twenty, and is sent to the Island in July 2001 as part of an Inquiry to assess the value of the Island as an Aboriginal prison. And of course, there’s Joey Walker, also a warder, and I don’t know him yet. So far, hes a long-serving warder, taciturn, but likes Duncan for some reason. And then we have Cecil, who, to date, in his language is called, “Manguny birirr,” which means ‘dreaming man’ in Yindjibarndi language [according to Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre].

Now I have ideas about where to go with this story and there is historical research I have to undertake: simple things like the Midland Railway line and when it was completed, when the Pilot structure for ships was taken from Rottnest to Fremantle, and history around (and it will be a large ‘around’) our first Premier, John Forrest.

If I were asked the theme of this story, and I haven’t been so far, I’d say at a superficial level, it’s “the consequences of misunderstanding.” But it goes deeper: to the oppression of a culture and the consequence and the challenge of listening to and understanding responses rather than defining and determining answers.

But then, I am at step two of this story, and who knows where it will take me. But I’m looking forward to it.

This year feels exciting.

Paul is reading my short stories on 101.7 Capital Radio every third Saturday around 11.00 am.

I have negotiated a deal with Visability for the production of Audio Books for the two published novels which spreads the message and has a number of other benefits, including financial.

The final editing of “Turn on a Light” is taking place and I trust will be done in time for a release in April. It’s a story that is very dear to me: conflict with bureaucracy, ignorance of Aboriginal culture, the trials and rewards of being a teacher, and, of course, falling in love. I will try to show you the cover, designed by Ross McLennan as soon as I can.

And just as exciting is are the ideas flooding about the next novel which is tentatively named “Life Sentence”. The story arose as I read Neville Green’s and Susan’s Moon’s work, “Far From Home” nearly two years ago. As a frequent visitor to Rottnest, many aspects touched me, and the concept of story, like the framework, began to emerge..

I started to write about a year ago, and hit a block in March 2015. So I left it writing and did a lot of thinking as Karen and I have worked our way through the production of “The WILUNA Solution” and the editing of “Turn on a Light”.

But about four weeks ago, I dug out what I’d written for “Life Sentence”. It was only thirty pages, but on re-reading it, it started to challenge me. As I’ve said before, my characters tend to tell me how they will behave and what they will do. The four I’d created with any substance were already telling me how they wanted to be part of the story. What does that mean?

I’ll try to explain. My first pass was to have three narrators around 1901 when Rottnest Island was being considered for closure as an Aboriginal prison: a young man in his early twenties, working for the Prisons’ Department, a warder of 28 who’s family run a cattle station just south Millstream (stay with it and I will explain, but it’s a magnificent place in the Pilbara south of Roebourne towards the Hamersely Ranges) and an aged warder who was the acting officer-in-charge of charge of the prison 1901. My revisiting to the story convinced me to only have two narrators and they are both of the young men, who have vividly different backgrounds but a common cause. An older warder and a long-term Aboriginal prisoner from Pilbara, like the younger warder, will have important roles in the story, but it’s the two younger men who will tell it.

I’ve been spent the last two weeks researching and have so much to go. Neville Green’s various documents give extensive background, particularly how Aboriginal prisoners were arrested, tried, sentenced and transported, the limited cultural understandings of Aboriginal ways by those who served as Justices of the Peace in the 1870s and beyond, and the limited and at times non-existent literacy of those appointed as warders.

But I am have many questions about shipping to the north-west around the 1890s and early 1900s, about ports like Cossack, Hedland,, Geraldton and Carnarvon around 1900, where and how railways operated at the time, and mapping life on Rottnest in the first years of the Twentieth Century.

But I think I know the story I want to tell and I think it’s one that will appeal. I just have a lot of work to do.

Stay with me and I’ll let you know what eventuates as it grows. And I am looking forward to writing it.

What should we do about Australia Day?

Either verbally or via Facebook and email, several people have asked my thoughts on the above issue.

I don’t have a clear answer. What I have is a perspective that may be useful to help people understand how I make sense of the question.

The focus of my perspective is on Indigenous people and their history since the arrival of non-Indigenous people (which means any race that is not either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander). It’s a history that I generalize as being one of dislocation, dependence and disadvantage which non-Indigenous people often perpetrated, yet, Indigenous people are the traditional owners of the country.

Before or after you read this, you may like to read a couple of relevant stories in my website, www.aussieyarns.com . If so, click on the Short Stories tab and go to two stories:

• Assimilation
• Disadvantage and Dysfunction.

Both give background that is useful to the perspective I am about to offer. And, as I always add, the stories and perspective are my views from three decades of walking with and chatting and listening to Aboriginal people. I am not speaking for them.

Now to the perspective. As an organisation, my company CSCPL always works to a program we devised called Walk Together. The program evolved over a couple of decades while working in a world between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. As it evolved to what it is today, I realised it is a simple way of defining progress towards a partnership or an agreed way of working: “From Dependence to Interdependence”. The model is just as pertinent to assessing non-Indigenous groups as it is to Indigenous ones but, as explained, my focus is on the traditional owners

So what does “From Dependence to Interdependence” mean? Try this model and the four natural stages it outlines from left to right.

DEPENDENCE to COUNTER-DEPENDENCE to INDEPENDENCE to INTER-DEPENDENCE

To explain it, at a very simple level, think of raising kids. At the start, it’s total dependence on the parents, but then, from somewhere, kids learn the word “NO!!!”, use it frequently and often angrily. Then come the mid-teen years when they think they know everything, know they can do anything and want total independence from the folks (as we did). But finally, in the majority of cases, comes the realisation as John Donne wrote with classical sexism in, “No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

That model is how I chart the Aboriginal journey, (and please understand I’m not likening them to children: it’s just that this model is most easily explained by referring to kids). For most of the first two hundred years of our presence in this country, for a host of different reasons, Aboriginal people became, or were forced to become, dependent. They struggled to retain the traditional authority and responsibility that existed when they were in language groups living their nomadic existence. Then came a gradual move to counter-dependence. One example was in the Pilbara in the late 1940s with a strike by Aboriginal stockmen. I see that rebellious attitude still being enacted: for example, the recent occupation of Heirisson Island by Noongar people.

But I don’t see counter-dependence providing any long term solutions to anything. It certainly has a place in a change process, but not as the end point. Yet, apart from a few wise older Aboriginal people around the place, most Aboriginal people today are somewhere on the continuum between dependence and independence, with many, particularly the young generation, clustered around counter-dependence which for some has almost become a way of life.

But wise older people are talking up independence and moving forward a stage. For example, the term Noongar Nation is being used by a number of Noongar leaders. And it’s not about separating or clashing or competing with the current state and national structures or policies. It is to define a common Noongar identity among the different clan groups to begin the process of regenerating authority and responsibility: a common voice from a common base. Then there is the opportunity to move to interdependence from a position of strength with other national groups.

So a couple of summary points:

• The debate around Australia Day is about cultural difference and different ways of knowing and doing. But for me, it is also part of progress over time to reconstruct the meaning and traditions of the day. Yes, a lot of what is or has been said is negative, a lot of it may be hard to take, but I see it as progress, because the topic is being raised, and being raised by formerly disadvantaged people who had struggled to maintain their authority and responsibility.
• We can’t avoid the anger, conflict and political shit-throwing if we are ever to reach some sort of a resolution to the issue of celebrating this nation as a nation. Crap will happen without doubt. As I have learned through all my facilitation work, change never happens until shit happens. Conflict to me says there is readiness for change. If there is no conflict, nothing will change. I’m sure, as readers think back to a change process they were involved in, they will agree.

But let’s move on if you’re still with me, and not too boggle-brained.

I don’t know how many generations of my mob have lived in Australia, but I feel privileged to be an Australian. At the same time, I comprehend why and how my Aboriginal friends feel negatively about that term privileged, and I know it’s what drives me to keep working and facilitating to reach middle ground to enable us all to regard ourselves as privileged Australians.

So I argue that we need a short-term and a longer-term or fall back plan.

For me, the short term plan is about making some changes to what we are celebrating and when we do it. Yes, we need to celebrate that we are a nation, but let’s acknowledge there are two histories woven into the fabric of nationhood.

So one thing that must happen is to change the day on which nationhood is celebrated. Get away from Phillip landing at Botany Bay and pick another significant day and date. Perhaps it could be the day that states agreed to sign up to create a nation? Or what about the date of the 1967 Referendum? Then again, what about the date that Kevin Rudd made the formal apology to Aboriginal people? Any of these may help to create a joint, rather than British-based history.

The second thing I would change would be to have a flag reflecting both the British heritage and Indigenous heritages: retain the Union Jack and the Southern Cross, but with the Aboriginal flag incorporated somehow.

Those two things could be done through a referendum in the next year or so, or else, and this is my longer term plan, use the push for Australia to become a republic as the basis for change of flag, the date of Australia Day, finalizing changes to the constitution, and any other things that need to be sorted.

So I believe the Australia Day debate says we are on a very important journey that has the potential to reconcile past differences. But that will only happen if we accept both histories as having equally made this country what it is and made it the place I am proud to call home.