​Early morning, July 4, Camp Ockanickon, Pine Barrens, New Jersey, USA.

The faint sounds of a horse approaching could be heard as we escorted our prisoner, their leader, to what was now our headquarters.

As the horse galloped past the first cluster of cabins, its rider calling out at the top of his voice, “The British are coming, the British are coming,” loud speakers played “God Save The Queen, “  and the announcement was made that the British were already here, had taken over the headquarters building and were holding their leader captive.

Weary campers were suddenly roused and reacted to this call to arms. Like the original ragtag outfits that fought for independence in America, they armed themselves with whatever was at hand, brooms, hockey sticks, baseball bats…

Camp Ockanickon was celebrating Independence Day as they always did with the kids divided into teams of the red and blue to compete in various activities. There was significant anti British feeling amongst the campers, so much so that the English camp counsellors had asked the camp director if they could hold their own celebration on July the fourth. 

They came to me, the only Aussie in the camp, to see if I had any ideas. My immediate thought was to take over the camp so plans were put in motion.

One of their number, Paul, was something of a musician so he put together the anthem. We asked the other international counsellors to help us out.  The British then included Spanish, Norwegian, Indian and Australian recruits. As the sun rose over the camp we all snuck out of our cabins and made our way to headquarters where most of the admin staff were sleeping. Some of us went to the manager’s residence, woke him up and escorted him, still clad in pyjamas, to our stronghold.

Campers surrounded the building, banging on doors and windows. It had the makings of a full blown riot. 

One of the myths that the campers were told was about the groundsman, a shadowy character by the name of Rick Hynes and how campers were known to disappear if they got too close to his workshop. Using the loudspeakers we warned that if any damage was done Rick Hynes would find those responsible. Everything went quiet.

We allowed the camp director to speak to the campers and he told them that we were negotiating a peaceful settlement. 

After a brief period of negotiation it was agreed that, in recognition of the peaceful relationship that Britain and America now enjoyed, that we would relinquish control of the camp if we could raise the US flag on the main flagpole and fly a Union Jack on the other.

After the flag raising we, the international rebels and the camp managers, talked to the campers about the importance of reaching a negotiated peace settlement between opposing parties.

Out on the point on Lake Ockanickon the British flag billowed in the breeze. Just below it flew a cheeky little Aussie flag.


John Holschier
​June 2024

I am not normally a person who rebels, however when I see injustice, particularly where volunteers are concerned, I feel the need to expose any wrong doing and correct the processes involved.

At this time I was a CFA volunteer and the nominated Crew Leader on this particular ‘call out’ with responsibility for the operation of the tanker and the welfare of the crew.

Samaria Fire Brigade had a very busy period from 5pm on 15th December, until later in the morning on 16th December 2014.

After refilling the tanker with water later in the evening of the 15th, we stopped at the control point to check on progress of the possibility of a replacement crew. At that time we were told that they had been unable to locate any replacement crew from Samaria.  We had two crew members with commitments the following day. Myself, and the other two crew agreed to remain on the tanker overnight.  Following the release of the two crew members, the remaining three Samaria crew went back up to the fire ground to continue to patrol and black-out.
​
At 3am on 16th December we had located two small logs burning on the fire ground perimeter and stopped to deal with them. I was at the rear of the tanker when one of the crew rolled past me on the ground at the side of the tanker. I went over to check on him. I asked what had happened and he said that as he stepped down from the tanker rear deck, he missed the hand rail and fell. The crew member was carefully loaded back onto the tanker.  We radioed ahead to the control point advising them that we had a suspected broken leg. Upon arrival it was assessed that due to pain levels, it was possibly only a sprain, however we continued to treat it as a possible fracture, despite the fact that the crew member was still able to wiggle his toes and move his foot without increasing the pain.  He was very carefully lifted from the tanker to the back seat of a car for transfer to Benalla Hospital.

For most of the early morning the crews just monitored the fire ground situation until earthmoving equipment arrived at around 7.30am to make the area safe for crews to enter and extinguish the fire. Just as the area was made safe, a strike team arrived to relieve us. Samaria tanker was released from the scene at 9.00am on Tuesday 16th December. At this point we still had no update on the condition of our crew member.

On arrival back at the station around 10.00 am, we checked again with the hospital, who advised they were still waiting on x-rays.

Both the driver and myself were exhausted after being awake continuously for around 28 hours and operational for almost 17hours of this time. We both headed home to bed. I arrived home at approx. 10.45am to be briefed by my wife following a phone call just received. The X-rays had confirmed that our crew member did have a fractured leg and he would be taken to Wangaratta for an operation to have the leg pinned. The crew member was eventually released from hospital some days later and returned home, but was unable to return to work.
 
The CFA initially refused to pay ‘loss of income’ compensation to our injured volunteer.

In January 2011 legislation was introduced that considered all volunteers to be ‘workers’ and therefore eligible for protection under all the regulations that applied to the workplace.

This is when I started to ‘make waves’. The Kennett Government had passed legislation stating that loss of income compensation would not be paid to ‘workers’ over 65 years of age, because at that age they should be on either superannuation, or a pension. Our volunteer was over 70 and had regular seasonal work.

Following consultation with the volunteer representative body, Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria, I compiled a report, and with a little assistance from a retired County Court Judge, a submission was made to the CFA pointing out that their policies were in breach of at least two Federal laws.

Compensation was paid, and the CFA amended their policy. They confirmed this to all brigades in written form, in September 2016. Loss of income is now paid to all CFA volunteers, irrespective of their age.

The response from the CFA set a precedent for all organisations in Victoria with a volunteer component.

This was all achieved ‘pro bono’, with no cost to the Volunteers of the CFA.


Barry O’Connor.
6th June 2024.


​(This is a slightly edited version of Barry's 'Rebellion' story published in 2022).

As a motherless four year old, I was stolen from my father and older brother by a loveless aunt and a (thankfully), wonderful uncle, and taken to their extensive farm.

My first act of rebellion was to attempt, not once but twice, to run away on my three wheeled trike.  Not once, but twice, my attempt was thwarted before I had even pedalled some hundred yards.

It had probably been pre-arranged, but the next I knew was that I was transported to the care of nuns at Villa, a home/boarding school at Ballarat. Sisters of Mercy!  What crap!

I endured the sisters for just on eight years, until I got my “Merit Cartificate”.

Occasionally we went swimming at Lake Wendouree, and my swimming attire was Aunty Mary’s one piece swimming suit.  How embarrassing!  One day I snuck away and disposed of the dreaded attire in some bushes, claiming to the nuns that I had lost it.  My act of rebellion!  I was so pleased with myself that I don’t recall the consequences.

I then completed my secondary education at St. Pat’s College, also in Ballarat and joined the workforce in Benalla.

I obtained board at the home of a lovely couple who put on a surprise 21st birthday for me.

Not long after this I learnt to drink beer and, one night, while  the couple were away for a few days, I had some friends around and we had a small party. The neighbours were quick to tell the couple on their return, and I was evicted!

In time I transferred to St.Arnaud, and then Wodonga, where I worked my guts out, working till 11.30 p.m. of a week night.  Although I say it myself, I had developed a wonderful work ethic. At the same time I was boarding at a hotel, and as was common in those days, there was no such thing as 6 o’clock closing. Drink was available until 11 p.m. every day, including Sunday, so I succumbed.

Nevertheless, I retained my work ethic, and one fateful day, when my manager, the “Boss,” arranged with a salesman to do a stock deal which was outside the parameter of the Company’s province, I refused to counter- sign the offending cheque. My act of rebellion! To his credit, the boss didn’t ask another officer for his signature, but referred the issue to the Managing Director in Melbourne. Some tense days!  Was I in trouble?

I don’t recall the immediate consequence, but I do recall that the boss and I still got on reasonably well together.  Eventually a letter arrived from the Managing Director authorising me, or instructing me, to append my signature to the cheque.  No comment as to whether or not I was in the bad books.

However, time heals all, and within several months I was appointed to the position of Assistant Internal Auditor for the Company and its 14 country branches.  I believe the decision I had taken had been vindicated!
​
Ray O’Shannessy

June 2017
 
This essay was originally written and published in June 2017, is being added to the 'Rebellion' Collection' in June 2024.

In 1965, a rumour began to circulate among the senior students of my boys high school, that a repeating final year student, older than the rest of us, had been required to register for National Service and, on completion of 5th Year, could be ‘called up’ to serve two years in the Australian Army.
 
The National Service Act was passed in November 1964, by the Liberal/National government. The Act required that every six months, 20-year-old males  register for national service with the possibility, that, if their birth date was drawn out in the ballot, they would be required to serve in the army for a period of twenty-four months of continuous service, followed by three years in the Army Reserve.
 
Controversially, conscripts, for the first time in Australia’s history, could also be sent to fight with the Australian troops in Vietnam against the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army.

Then eighteen- to twenty-year old, did not have the right to vote, but they could be sent overseas to fight. Eighteen- to twenty-years old did not get the right to vote until 1973.
 
It was then, that I first became aware of possible personal implications of the National Service Act and its direct link Australia’s participation in the Vietnam War. 
 
Although interesting, the prospect of personally being conscripted was largely irrelevant, as I had already committed myself to attending university, and knew that I would be exempt while I was studying.
 
When it was time for me to register in 1968, when I had turned 20, I was emotionally and intellectually torn.
 
I had developed a belief that the war in Vietnam was a continuation of the Vietnamese people’s fight for independence. I also believed that the introduction of conscription was a means for the government to prop up an increasingly unpopular war.
 
I came to believe that it was wrong Australians were fighting against the Vietnamese. Thus, I concluded that the National Service Act itself, was an immoral law.
 
In registering, I knew that I could probably gain exemption on conscientious grounds and in fact, as I was training to be a Methodist minister at the time, I would have been automatically exempt.
 
After much consideration, discussion among friends, and prayer, I decided in all conscious, that when I turned twenty, I would not register for national service.
 
I visited the Department of Labour and National Service and advised them to that effect.
 
I realised that in doing so, I would be

• automatically registered,
• not included in the ballot, and
• my name would be added to the list of those conscripted.
• I would have no opportunity to apply for exemption.

 
I could not have imagined then, how my life might unfold, following on from my decision.  
 
 
Graham Jensen
June 2022

I am not normally a rebellious person, however I will always stand up for the rights of my fellow volunteers in any organisation that I am involved with.

This story starts with myself, as a crew leader for the Samaria Fire Brigade. Samaria brigade received two pager messages at 17.34 and 17.43 on 15th December 2014, to attend fires at Lima South and Tatong. Upon confirmation from Vicfire, based on current need, Samaria Tanker was deployed to a fire at Old Tolmie Road, Tatong at 17.48. Following the suppression of this fire, we were released at 19.30 hrs and returned to the station. We had just replenished our water and supplies on the tanker, when at 20.00 hrs; we received multiple pager messages to attend a number of locations in the Lurg/Winton area. A severe thunderstorm had gone through the region and lit fifteen significant fires between Shepparton and the ranges. We set off to the last pager location which was Kennedy Lane, Lurg, with a crew of five, including myself.

On the fire ground we were directed to a number of fires, which we extinguished and moved onto a more significant fire in very rugged country just east of Tatong. The main outbreak was extinguished; however there were a number of spot fires just inside the perimeter that required monitoring. Samaria was selected to remain on-site, as we had the experienced crew, a 4WD tanker and equipment to deal with the rugged terrain. At one point we went back down the hill to refill with water, and then asked the Incident Controller if he could organise some change-over crew, as two of our crew needed to return home for commitments later in the morning. It was 2 am on 16th December at this point. We were later told that replacement crew could not be located. Upon returning to refill the next time, we dropped off the two crew members requiring a lift home, and the remaining three, including myself, went back up into the hills.

At 3 am we located some burning logs close to the fire perimeter and stopped to extinguish them. In the process, one of the crew slipped and fell, breaking his ankle. He was quickly loaded back onto the tanker and very carefully driven down to the command point, where he was transferred to another vehicle for transfer to Benalla hospital.
​
To cut the story short, the crew member was eventually operated on at Wangaratta Base Hospital and returned home, some weeks later. The problem then arose with CFA regulations. Under the Kennett Government the rules had been changed on paying loss of income compensation to anybody in Victoria who was over 65 years of age. The reasoning being that they should be either, on the pension or drawing down on their superannuation. Unfortunately this reasoning did not match reality in any form, as many older Victorians were still employed, either in their own business, or as PAYE employees. By way of explanation, my brother-in-law worked in a special area of insurances, and in 2014 there were over 600 employees and contractors on building sites in Victoria who were over 70 years of age.

Our crew member was 72, however was very fit and had regular seasonal work for over six months of the year. Whilst he drew a pension during the off-season, he declared his income to Centrelink when he was working. The initial approach for loss of income compensation to the CFA was met with a very firm ‘no’.

Well, it was time for me to rebel and fight the case. With the pro-bono assistance of a friend who was a retired County Court judge, I prepared a case to put to the CFA, via the volunteer’s representative group, Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria.

We pointed out that the current CFA regulations were in breach of at least two Federal Government laws, and we required the loss of income to be paid to our crew member. These breaches of the laws had been pointed out to the CFA in a report in 2011, however they had taken no action to correct the situation.

Upon presentation of our case, the CFA relented and paid all of the assessed lost income. In September 2016 the Chief Officer of the CFA sent a letter to all brigades stating that loss of income compensation would now be paid to all volunteers, irrespective of their age. Not only did this change the policy for the CFA, it set a precedent for all organisations in Victoria with a volunteer component.

I do not normally get as passionate about issues as I did with this one, however we did receive the desired result without the volunteers, or the regional fire brigades, paying out one cent in legal fees. 

I stood down from the CFA in August 2015 after almost 34 years of service, in protest to the treatment of CFA volunteers.   


Barry O’Connor.
May 2022.