I once went on a government sponsored march. It was a symbolic gesture which ended with a ceremony to acknowledge the Kulin aboriginal people and their traditional ownership of the land. The walk started from outside the NGV and proceeded along St Kilda Road to an area past Government House to a spot in the Botanical gardens where there was to be a ceremony acknowledging the traditional ownership of the Kulin people. And speeches. It was held on a Sunday morning and St Kilda Road was closed to traffic. The weather was overcast and cool. The government sponsored the walk.
I heard about the walk because I had had to go out of the office on Friday morning and during the drive I heard on the radio Melbourne’s shock jock Neil Mitchell denigrating the event and as usual pouring contempt on the Labour government’s intention. I thought this made it important enough to go to. I wanted to try and make a statement even if I knew that by going I would not make any difference. I had long been concerned at society’s attitude to aborigines. I knew I had always lived in a racist society and I always felt uneasy about it. For all the talk about what aborigines had been given by the government I knew they were never given two things – power and acceptance. I despaired over whether aborigines would ever be accepted into the mainstream of society and wondered if they would ever be given power – real power – which had an effect on the behavior, status and wealth of Caucasian Australians.
I could not get anyone else from my family to accompany me. The event had received a fair amount of publicity and might give someone a reputation they might not want if it was known if they attended. I already had the reputation of a being a left wing ratbag in the extended family – and a mean one at that - so I had nothing to lose. I drove alone. I was lucky enough to find a free parking spot and walked to where the march assembled.
I was not surprised by the number of people who turned out for the march. There was not an overly large crowd but there were a satisfactory number. I deliberately started in the middle of the marchers and determined I would push my way towards the front during the course of the march to get a feel of who were attending. I wanted to see if I recognized anyone. Maybe people I knew might be marching. Famous people maybe. I was not disappointed. There were surprises.
There were actually some celebrity matrons marching. At least two. For part of the way they walked together. These women actually often appeared in the society pages. Was this a fashionable society event? Maybe it could become one. I looked around to see if there were any celebrity photographer’s accompanying them but unfortunately not. I would not get my photo in the paper by lurking in the background.
Apart from Bracks and Brumby it seemed that all of the Cabinet were there. There were a number of things that struck me. They were all young and were all well-dressed. Suits and ties. Sunday best. They talked in small groups all the way along. Sometimes one or two would leave the group and join another group. The three of four groups were constantly changing. The talk never stopped. I noted there was not one joker among them. They were all serious people intent on the matter at hand. I did not attempt to get close enough to eaves drop on what they were talking about. Politics I assumed. Party problems. Cabinet matters maybe. The rest of the marchers left them to their discussions.
There was one odd man out. An Eminent Person. He was even officially designated as Eminent. Or more precisely one eminent couple. A man and wife. Mr Malcolm Fraser and Mrs Tammy Fraser were among the marchers. They both looked as if this protest march was the most natural thing in the world for them to do on a Sunday morning. They were showing where their sympathies lay. Both were happy to talk to people as they walked. I walked close to them for a fair length of time. I was interested to see who were drawn to converse with them. They were not mobbed by fans but nor were they ignored and left to walk alone. Most people who approached them were middle aged or over middle aged. I would say that the majority would have been Liberal Voters. They looked conservative. A lot were New Australians. Beneficiaries of multi-culturalism who wished to express their appreciation. There were some aboriginals. A lot of shaking of hands. There were no problems or unpleasantness. It was all very civilized and Mrs Fraser was particularly charming. People obviously enjoyed talking to them both and the Frasers liked talking back. I was so close to them at one point Mr Fraser looked me in the eye inviting me to come up and speak to him but I declined.
I could not bring myself to speak to him. I could not help pondering as to what his motives were in attending this march. Why was he doing all these odd things at this point in his life? He was in effect now acting as the conscience of the nation. What was he looking for? Was he looking for Atonement? Forgiveness? Absolution? I had not forgiven him for his actions in 1975 and how could I give him succor now?
So I went home and wrote him a letter. Which in turn led to some humour.
I wrote to him that while I congratulated him and his wife on participating in the march I could not bring myself to talk to him. I agreed that their attendance in the march gave it a status that it would not have had if they were not there but nevertheless I still had issues with him that were unresolved. I could not forgive him and take him to my heart as others did.
I pointed out in my letter that I thoroughly disapproved of his actions in 1975. I felt that more than anything his actions were immoral. Highly immoral and he could never get away from this. I pointed out that Democracy is an arrangement that is agreed to by the participants and that he had betrayed that arrangement. It is a matter of honour more than anything and public figures must act honourably. He had definitely not acted honourably. It did not matter that he had a chance of seizing power and that anyone else would have done the same thing. In my mind this made it worse. I particularly pointed out the immorality of his actions in guaranteeing the Governor Generals pay and pension in 1975 values before he was appointed Prime Minister. And I felt his recent claim that he had always been against Australia’s participation in the Vietnam War was hard to swallow. And his claim that he always saw himself when he was Minister for The Army as being the champion of and the protector of Australian Soldiers against the dangers of excessive American Policy was extremely hard to comprehend.
I also said however I thoroughly approved of some of his recent utterances and congratulated him on his stance on many issues. Views that were now thought to be controversial and going against public opinion. Even appearing to be opposite to what he expressed when Prime Minister.
I finished up by asking him if indeed he was now seeking Atonement. Forgiveness? Absolution?
I said I did not wish him to reply and did not give my address.
A few weeks later at work I received a phone call. I was out in the factory checking on a production matter when a message came over the loudspeaker “phone call for Neville Gibb. Malcolm Fraser for Neville Gibb on the phone”. I picked up the nearest receiver and it was not Malcolm Fraser. But it was his secretary. How she tracked me down I do not know. This was before facebook. She had some questions. She said Mr Fraser had read my letter and he would like to reply to it. Could she have my address?
After some discussion I said I preferred to decline a reply and she accepted this. I was polite about it.
For the next few days I was often asked by bemused people if they had misunderstood the message on the loud speaker. Was it really Malcolm Fraser on the phone? How did I know him? What did he want?
Of course I did nothing to disabuse them of whatever was in their mind and emphasized our close friendship. Malcolm and I were like this – close collaborators - buddies. We often talked on the phone. I particularly led my boss on with tales of being Malcolm’s close collaborator. Same school etc. Same charity. Friends with his daughter. Talked to him all the time at the Football. Etc. I think he half believed me but being rusted on anti labour he did not know whether to be jealous or contemptuous. How could someone like me know Malcolm Fraser?
The march ended with a quite formal and well organized smoking ceremony. I had never seen one before. A proper and somehow inspirational acknowledgement of Aboriginal Land was read out. Again I had never witnessed one. This was surprisingly serious stuff. Some short surprisingly relevant speeches were given. All by women. Change happens slowly. But maybe it can happen.
Neville Gibb
August 2017
I heard about the walk because I had had to go out of the office on Friday morning and during the drive I heard on the radio Melbourne’s shock jock Neil Mitchell denigrating the event and as usual pouring contempt on the Labour government’s intention. I thought this made it important enough to go to. I wanted to try and make a statement even if I knew that by going I would not make any difference. I had long been concerned at society’s attitude to aborigines. I knew I had always lived in a racist society and I always felt uneasy about it. For all the talk about what aborigines had been given by the government I knew they were never given two things – power and acceptance. I despaired over whether aborigines would ever be accepted into the mainstream of society and wondered if they would ever be given power – real power – which had an effect on the behavior, status and wealth of Caucasian Australians.
I could not get anyone else from my family to accompany me. The event had received a fair amount of publicity and might give someone a reputation they might not want if it was known if they attended. I already had the reputation of a being a left wing ratbag in the extended family – and a mean one at that - so I had nothing to lose. I drove alone. I was lucky enough to find a free parking spot and walked to where the march assembled.
I was not surprised by the number of people who turned out for the march. There was not an overly large crowd but there were a satisfactory number. I deliberately started in the middle of the marchers and determined I would push my way towards the front during the course of the march to get a feel of who were attending. I wanted to see if I recognized anyone. Maybe people I knew might be marching. Famous people maybe. I was not disappointed. There were surprises.
There were actually some celebrity matrons marching. At least two. For part of the way they walked together. These women actually often appeared in the society pages. Was this a fashionable society event? Maybe it could become one. I looked around to see if there were any celebrity photographer’s accompanying them but unfortunately not. I would not get my photo in the paper by lurking in the background.
Apart from Bracks and Brumby it seemed that all of the Cabinet were there. There were a number of things that struck me. They were all young and were all well-dressed. Suits and ties. Sunday best. They talked in small groups all the way along. Sometimes one or two would leave the group and join another group. The three of four groups were constantly changing. The talk never stopped. I noted there was not one joker among them. They were all serious people intent on the matter at hand. I did not attempt to get close enough to eaves drop on what they were talking about. Politics I assumed. Party problems. Cabinet matters maybe. The rest of the marchers left them to their discussions.
There was one odd man out. An Eminent Person. He was even officially designated as Eminent. Or more precisely one eminent couple. A man and wife. Mr Malcolm Fraser and Mrs Tammy Fraser were among the marchers. They both looked as if this protest march was the most natural thing in the world for them to do on a Sunday morning. They were showing where their sympathies lay. Both were happy to talk to people as they walked. I walked close to them for a fair length of time. I was interested to see who were drawn to converse with them. They were not mobbed by fans but nor were they ignored and left to walk alone. Most people who approached them were middle aged or over middle aged. I would say that the majority would have been Liberal Voters. They looked conservative. A lot were New Australians. Beneficiaries of multi-culturalism who wished to express their appreciation. There were some aboriginals. A lot of shaking of hands. There were no problems or unpleasantness. It was all very civilized and Mrs Fraser was particularly charming. People obviously enjoyed talking to them both and the Frasers liked talking back. I was so close to them at one point Mr Fraser looked me in the eye inviting me to come up and speak to him but I declined.
I could not bring myself to speak to him. I could not help pondering as to what his motives were in attending this march. Why was he doing all these odd things at this point in his life? He was in effect now acting as the conscience of the nation. What was he looking for? Was he looking for Atonement? Forgiveness? Absolution? I had not forgiven him for his actions in 1975 and how could I give him succor now?
So I went home and wrote him a letter. Which in turn led to some humour.
I wrote to him that while I congratulated him and his wife on participating in the march I could not bring myself to talk to him. I agreed that their attendance in the march gave it a status that it would not have had if they were not there but nevertheless I still had issues with him that were unresolved. I could not forgive him and take him to my heart as others did.
I pointed out in my letter that I thoroughly disapproved of his actions in 1975. I felt that more than anything his actions were immoral. Highly immoral and he could never get away from this. I pointed out that Democracy is an arrangement that is agreed to by the participants and that he had betrayed that arrangement. It is a matter of honour more than anything and public figures must act honourably. He had definitely not acted honourably. It did not matter that he had a chance of seizing power and that anyone else would have done the same thing. In my mind this made it worse. I particularly pointed out the immorality of his actions in guaranteeing the Governor Generals pay and pension in 1975 values before he was appointed Prime Minister. And I felt his recent claim that he had always been against Australia’s participation in the Vietnam War was hard to swallow. And his claim that he always saw himself when he was Minister for The Army as being the champion of and the protector of Australian Soldiers against the dangers of excessive American Policy was extremely hard to comprehend.
I also said however I thoroughly approved of some of his recent utterances and congratulated him on his stance on many issues. Views that were now thought to be controversial and going against public opinion. Even appearing to be opposite to what he expressed when Prime Minister.
I finished up by asking him if indeed he was now seeking Atonement. Forgiveness? Absolution?
I said I did not wish him to reply and did not give my address.
A few weeks later at work I received a phone call. I was out in the factory checking on a production matter when a message came over the loudspeaker “phone call for Neville Gibb. Malcolm Fraser for Neville Gibb on the phone”. I picked up the nearest receiver and it was not Malcolm Fraser. But it was his secretary. How she tracked me down I do not know. This was before facebook. She had some questions. She said Mr Fraser had read my letter and he would like to reply to it. Could she have my address?
After some discussion I said I preferred to decline a reply and she accepted this. I was polite about it.
For the next few days I was often asked by bemused people if they had misunderstood the message on the loud speaker. Was it really Malcolm Fraser on the phone? How did I know him? What did he want?
Of course I did nothing to disabuse them of whatever was in their mind and emphasized our close friendship. Malcolm and I were like this – close collaborators - buddies. We often talked on the phone. I particularly led my boss on with tales of being Malcolm’s close collaborator. Same school etc. Same charity. Friends with his daughter. Talked to him all the time at the Football. Etc. I think he half believed me but being rusted on anti labour he did not know whether to be jealous or contemptuous. How could someone like me know Malcolm Fraser?
The march ended with a quite formal and well organized smoking ceremony. I had never seen one before. A proper and somehow inspirational acknowledgement of Aboriginal Land was read out. Again I had never witnessed one. This was surprisingly serious stuff. Some short surprisingly relevant speeches were given. All by women. Change happens slowly. But maybe it can happen.
Neville Gibb
August 2017
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