Belshaw's World - crisis in the Westminster system

Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express on Wednesday  3 February 2010. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because the Express columns are not on line. You can see all the columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010.

I have avoided getting involved in the topic so beloved by some Express correspondents, the pros and cons of a republic. However, in this column I want to address some constitutional issues that presently worry me, so I need to make my own position clear up front.

I am a supporter of constitutional monarchy and of the Westminster system.

The central problem faced by republicans is that they have failed to address the key question of just what the Australian system of Government might look like under a republic.

The minimalist position put forward at the referendum by Prime Minister Howard simply took the Queen out of the loop, attempting to leave everything else unchanged.

This position was rejected by the combination of those supporting the current system with those opposed to it but who wanted an elected president.

The debate has not advanced since.

Bluntly, any particular republican model put forward to a referendum is likely to be defeated since there is no national consensus on what the relationships should be between Head of State, Parliament and the Executive. Those like me who support the current system will always be able to point to the gap between the current working system and the risks of any alternative.

You might think that this would make me happy and indeed at one level it does. Sadly, however, there are threats to our current constitutional system that both monarchists and republicans need to think about in terms of our future.

Canada is presently facing something of a constitutional crisis following the decision of the Governor-General on the advice of the minority PM to prorogue Parliament until later in 2010.

Prorogue means that that Parliament is actually terminated. Everything on the books at that point including legislation under consideration is relegated to history. When Parliament resumes, it is a new Parliament starting with a blank sheet so far as business is concerned.

The Canadian PM's move is highly unusual and is actually the first technical step that would be required to create a dictatorship. You see, the existing Government continues in power until the new Parliament is formed.

The conventions dictate that that continuing Government should act in caretaker mode. However, there is no legal constraint on what the Government might do so long as formal Parliamentary approval is not required. Proroguing Parliament without an election is a most unusual and potentially very dangerous step.

In some ways the Westminster system rests upon a glorious illusion.

I say illusion because the victors always write the history. In the case of the Westminster system, its history was written by Whig lawyers and historians who wished to present political events in a certain way.

I say glorious because in so doing they articulated a set of constitutional principles and a working constitutional model that was carried round the world.

The first step in the story was the rise of Parliament as a control over Executive Government, in this case the king. Later, during the so-called Glorious Revolution, Parliament established that it had the power to actually appoint the king. The king continued as the head of Executive Government, but Parliament had the power to remove as well as control over the supply of money.

Later still, Executive Government shifted to those members of Parliament controlling a majority in the House of Commons. The concept of Prime Minister and Cabinet had arrived. The monarchy became a figure head, if still with certain reserve powers.

In all this, Parliament retained its centrality as a check on Executive Government.

The form of the Westminster system varies from country to country depending on the date of establishment. However, in all cases history, precedents and conventions are important in determining the way the system actually operates.

Today we live in a period of unparalleled executive power that will override anything considered to be against the national interest, overriding history, precedents and conventions as required.

The divine right of kings has been replaced by the divine right of Executive Government.

This is why many Canadians have reacted with outrage at what they see as a further attack on the centrality of Parliament. Australia could well take a lesson from the Canadian experience.

Aeradio and the 1949 Kempsey Floods

In Belshaw's World - Kempsey disaster – six killed, huge damage, I tried to tell the story of the 1949 Kempsey floods. In doing so, I drew from the story of Kempsey Aeradio.

This photo shows the submerged Aeradio facilities at Kempsey aerodrome. You can seethe extent of the flooding pretty clearly. 

Following a series of crashes especially along the east coast aviation route, the stations were established to try to improve safety by providing radio contact with pilots.

The next photo shows two of the Aeradio team (Charles Peddell (left) and J Pickles) operating from temporary headquarters in the Kempsey police station. Communications was a major problem during the flood, phone lines and the local radio station were both down, so the Aeradio people's radio skills came in handy. Charles Peddell was later awarded a Certificate of Merit by the NSW Commissioner of Police for his work on restoring communications during the flood.

Maitland Floods 1955

My Wollombi Valley Twitter Feed drew my attention to the February issue of the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority's newsletter. There I read: 

Thursday 25 February 2010 marks the 55th anniversary of the 1955 Maitland flood, which devastated the city of Maitland and claimed 13 lives. The CMA and the State Emergency Service (SES) will be presenting an exhibition of historic photos, which will be on display at Stockland Green Hills from 18-20 February to commemorate the '55 flood and remember the lessons of the past. Following this there will be a special flood tour of the Maitland Court House Precinct guided by local historian and flood survivor Peter Bogan.

These were some big floods. As kids, brother David and went though by train from Armidale as soon as the line was open. There was water everywhere.

I mention all this because Hunter people may not know that Screen Australia has three home movies on-line that show the floods. They are very scratchy, but do give a feel for the sheer power of the water. You will find them here.  

Welcome to Jeremy Smith, problems with writing

Email today from a writer - in this case presently US based - who is writing a novel partly set in New England (Armidale and Coffs Harbour) during the period from about 1890 and 1920. I won't give the plot away except to mention that it involves music.   

I have said before what a remarkable number of writers have come from or moved to New England. Of course, since my New England doesn't exist in any formal sense, the presence of those writers and of the differences between writers from different areas is essentially a blank sheet.

Here I would like to welcome a new writer to New England. Jeremy Smith, previously Executive Director at the Australian Society of Authors, is coming to Armidale to teach writing at the University of New England. Jeremy is also a blogger. Welcome, Jeremy, and hat tip to Gordon Smith for the lead.

I think that everybody who writes sometimes suffers from writer's block. I also think that this is far worse for fiction writers. Those bloody characters simply won't do as they are told!

I mention this because Gordon Smith partner's, Bronwyn Parry romance writer extraordinaire, has just written an entertaining post, Knit 1, Write 2,  on the writing process.

Some years ago I did actually start to write a novel, a commercial thriller.

At the time I was working in a position that brought me into direct and extensive contact with the Australian and global defence and aerospace industries. I started keeping a writer's log: scenes from the minister's office; plant visits including descriptions of people, machinery and processes; the physical security processes involved in entering a US defence plant; what the offices looked like; details of an official ministerial visit to Indonesia; the words people used; and specific commercial negotiations. The actual details were disguised, but the aim was to create the texture required to support the main story. The background would sound true because it was true.

I suspect that it would have been quite a good novel. However, inconstant person that I am, my ordinary career intervened and I put the project aside. I then lost all my notes in a move.

I am not sure that I will ever return to fiction, although like most writers I still believe that I have a great or, at least, successful novel within me. But it has left me with a better understanding of the agonies and challenges that fiction writer's face.            

Dalwood Centre closes, more questions on Tillegra

My main post today, History of the New England New State Movement 2 - defining New England, is on the New England's History blog. This took a fair while to write, so just two brief notes here.

Back in December new NSW Premier Keneally pledged that the children from rural and remote areas would not be left without the programs the Dalwood Assessment Centre and Palm Avenue boarding school at Seaforth offers until an alternative was in place.

Now according to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Centre has been shut and the 15 specialised staff made redundant. Health and education officials have not been able to find a new location to house the 100 or so children already referred for a four-week stay over the next two terms and cannot agree on an alternative program.

This is one of those small things that are very important to particular parents. I have been following the story in the Armidale Express where a number of locals, including The Armidale School Headmaster Murray Guest, have placed great weight on the importance of the school. This is one of those very silly things that the Sydney Government is prone too, promise then fail to deliver.

Meantime, the controversial Tillegra Dam has come under more questioning with a number of NSW Government agencies expressing reservations about the project.

Update

The NSW Premier has now denied the SMH story on Dalwood; the school just hasn't opened yet. The two stories are so diametrically opposed that it is impossible to make any sensible judgement at this point..

Inverell District Family History Group reorganises after fire disaster

On 25 January in Fire guts Inverell's historic Byron Arcade I provided a report on this huge fire. I have updated this post a little to include later Inverell Times stories on the aftermath.

One of the things that I focused on in my original story given my interest in history was the loss inflicted by the fire on the Inverell District Family History Group. Fortunately, the Group has taken quick recovery steps. In a comment on the original story, Ann Hodgens wrote:

Jim,
On behalf of the Inverell District Family History Group I'm pleased to report that we have new premises and plan to re-open on Monday 8th February upstairs at 129Otho Street, opposite the Centrelink offices. Whilst we've lost our library,we've managed to salvage most of the material the wonderful fire brigade men were able to obtain from the building after the fire. Our insurance will cover furniture, computers etc. and we've had offers of replacement books. Information regarding several of our current projects was offsite,and the Pioneer Register will continue but may be delayed. Forms are available on our website www.inverellfamilyhistory.org.au.
Our members are determined to continue and we are working hard to rebuild as soon as possible. The support we've received from the family history and history world has been wonderful.
Ann Hodgens
President

The work that societies like the Group do in preserving the history of families and districts makes a huge contribution to the retention of knowledge about our own past.

In my original post, I mentioned that in 1912 my grandfather, David Drummond, came to Inverell to manage Maxwelton, a wheat block created out of the newly subdivided Bannockburn Station. Mum was born while they were living there, so I could claim a personal Inverell connection.

While living at Inverell, my grandfather became an active member of the Oakwood Branch of the Farmers and Settlers Association. This meeting notice is from cousin Jamie's collection. Eight year's later, this active involvement would lead to his entry to the NSW State Parliament.

The back of this photo also from cousin Jamie's collection is inscribed in my grandfather's handwriting "a squatter goes to town"!

While my grandfather was proud of the fact that at twenty two he was in charge of Maxwelton, managing a wheat block on a share farm basis was hardly a sure course to wealth. Still it did provide sufficient certainty for his marriage in 1913.

The photo itself is not a very good one. Still it's interesting. The young Drummond is quite dressed up, especially for the sometimes hot Inverell climate. You did get dressed up to go to town!

I know far less than I should about various horse drawn vehicles. It remains a gap in my knowledge. However, I think that this is a spider sulky,a light weight vehicle that allowed easy carriage. This was also probably the vehicle in which my grandfather drove his bride to her new home at Maxwelton. 

The last photo from cousin Jamie's collection shows Pearl and David Drummond with daughters Edna (mum, left) and Phyllis. The photo would have been taken about 1915 or early 1916 not long before Phyllis's sudden death in July 1916 from flue.  

Phyllis was an attractive and much loved child, you can actually see this from the photo, and her death was a tragic blow.  We forget today just what a constant presence death was.

This short family story may seem to have wandered a little from the Inverell District Family History Group. However, all families have stories that reveal something about life. Their preservation plays a role in the preservation of history.

I would argue that this is especially important today many Australians - and I suspect others in other countries too - are more cut off from their past simply because fashions in history have changed towards the current and general thematic.

Certainly in my work in trying to write a history of New England, as well my writings on my own family, I depend upon the work of local and family history groups.

Congratulations to the Inverell District Family History Group on their courage and strength in responding to disaster.               

Armidale seminar paper - “Unrecognised and now almost unknown: explorations through the history of the broader New England”.

I am cross-posting this on the New England's History blog as well as here.

On Friday 19 March 2010 I will be presenting a paper in Armidale as part of the University of New England's Classics & History Seminar Series. As the heading says, my topic will be “Unrecognised and now almost unknown: explorations through the history of the broader New England”.

This will be my first opportunity to report in an academic environment on the historical research that I have been doing into the history of New England, so I am quite excited.

While I have an idea of what I want to say, I now have so much material that choice is a bit of an issue.

One thing that I actually have to do is to demonstrate that there is such a thing as the history of the broader New England. This is where the unrecognised and almost unknown comes in. I also want to show why the history of the broader New England is important as a separate thread in Australian history. Last, I want if I can to share my joy in the methodological challenges involved and the pleasure of discovery.

At the moment, my thinking is to prepare two sets of material.

The first is a formal, fully footnoted academic paper. This is important because it allows people to check my research. I can then also use it as a source on things like Wikipedia articles. The second are powerpoints, because this gives me greater flexibility in responding to however many people come.

I mention this now not just because I am quite excited, but also because I know that a number of people are actually interested in our history. If you would like to receive a copy of the paper after delivery, email me ndarala(at)optusnet(dot)com(au) and I will add you to the list.

The importance of a Gin and Tonic

Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express on Wednesday  27 January 2010. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because the Express columns are not on line. You can see all the columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010.

Several years ago flying to Armidale on Qantas, I asked for a gin and tonic only to be told that they no longer served alcohol. I have avoided Qantas as much as possible since.

This may sound an extreme reaction. Surely the man can go for an hour without a drink! However, in my mind it marked the final end of an era, a sad full stop on part of our history.

I suspect that it is hard now for some Armidale people to realise that until the second half of the eighties New England people generally flew on New England owned and headquartered carriers. They were our airlines.

The rise and fall of New England civil aviation deserves a book in its own right. I can only point to a few of the key features.

In Tragedy in New England Skies (AE 6/1/10), I spoke of the formation of Virtue Air Transport and its transformation into New England Airways.

By 1935 New England Airways had flown more than a million miles and had begun to spread its wings.

In October 1935, it was transformed into a new company, Airlines of Australia, with 60% of the capital held by the UK’s British Pacific Trust.

The Trust then sold its shares to the Ivan Holyman controlled Australian National Airways combine. While Airlines of Australia survived for a period after this, its fate was now sealed and it exited stage left.

In 1947 the next major New England airline emerged with the formation of East-West Airlines by Armidale grazier Don Shand.

The early history of EWA was just as remarkable as that of New England Airways as the company scrabbled to survive.

Slowly the company built up its route structure. The photo shows the first landing at Port Macquarie of an EWA DC3.

In 1961 EWA faced its greatest threat when the then Minister for Civil Aviation in the Menzies Government told the company that it must merge with Ansett. Government policy provided for just two airlines and there was no room for a regionally based upstart like East West that was starting to get pretensions above its station.

When East West announced the threat it created a major political storm. The Minister responded by denying that he had said anything of the kind.

Member for New England David Drummond was in a very difficult position. The Menzies Government was on a knife-edge with a one seat majority. However, Drummond also knew that the Minister was, at best, gilding the lily.

White and shaking, Drummond rose to speak to an almost empty House of Representatives. The House and press gallery filled as he spoke, confirming the company’s version of events.

Drummond’s reputation for honesty was such that his statement effectively destroyed the immediate threat.

Don Shand died in 1976. Five years later a consortium led by Bryan Grey (the later founder of Compass) and Duke Minks made a successful bid for EWA.

The new owners took EWA into an aggressive strategy that challenged and finally broke the two airline policy. However, they then sold the airline to Western Australian businessman Rick Stowe who on-sold it to Ansett in 1987.

It may have taken twenty six years, but Ansett had finally gained EWA!

As EWA exited stage left, the door was opened for the third major New England carrier.

As part of the takeover, Ansett had had to agree to East-West giving up some its New England routes. These were taken over by Tamworth based Eastern Airlines.

To fund its expansion, Eastern brought in Australian Airlines as a partner, becoming Eastern Australia Airlines. Then, as had happened before, Australian gained complete control.

All this may seem a long way from the simple question of a gin and tonic.

When I first flew East-West on a regular basis I formed the habit of ordering a gin and tonic on the flight. I carried this onto Eastern. It was just a nice thing to do associated in my mind with home.

When I asked why I could not get a gin and tonic on that Qantas flight, I was told that Qantas Link had just taken over from Eastern Australia and that Qantas Link did not serve alcohol.

An era had ended.

New England's environmental wars - introduction

In Locals continue to object to Glen Innes wind farm I referred to the environmental battles that had been raging across the North, finishing with perhaps another post?

I know far less than I should about this topic. Just to illustrate with a few examples.

At Byron Bay, the only Green controlled Council in NSW has just lost a legal battle when a court upheld a home owner's right to protect his property from the sea. According to the Australian, this effectively demolished the Council's plans to roll back beachfront living.

Across the North, the NSW Farmer's Association has been organising farmers and graziers to attend a Canberra protest meeting over property rights. The Sydney based green lobby group the Total Environment Centre has described farmers' claim for compensation for loss of property rights incurred under land clearing bans, as a furphy and has vowed to fight "all the way" against any push by farmers for land clearing bans to be eased.

Just to the south of New England on the NSW Central Coast, the Express Advocate reports that Wyong Shire’s 10,000 waterfront landowners have been given a reprieve from harsh new building restrictions imposed because of climate change policies. The council has voted five to four to cease using a state government draft policy on building applications in low-lying coastal areas because of the damage and uncertainty created. My thanks to MyCentralCoast for this one.

In the Wollombi Valley in New England's south, the draft decision by Cessnock City Council to change the zoning of 2500 hectares of Hunter farmland now under existing Rural 1A zoning to Environmental 3 to create a “buffer” for the Watagans National Park has created local outrage. You will find full details of his one if you search Wollombi Valley On-line.

In Water Wars - the Darling floods I reported on battles over Darling River waters. 

All this actually becomes remarkably complicated because these disputes sit at the centre of a series of over-lapping circles of change, including changing attitudes to the environment and of varying administrative structures.

Sometimes the conflicts that arise are simply irreconcilable. In other cases, they can be eased by carefully disentangling the issues involved. In this context, it helps to understand how the bits fit together in a broader sense.

Over the next post or so, I will try to draw out some of the common threads in these various disputes. In doing so, I should make my own biases clear. Because of my personal background, I have a natural sympathy for the local.

So in the case of the Wollombi Valley proposed re-zoning, I am immediately inclined to support those challenging the new zoning. To convince me, its protagonists would need to demonstrate two things.

First, the identified benefits to come from the change. This needs to be beyond the level of generalities. Secondly, the identified costs of the change. Who will lose? Once these two steps have been carried out, it becomes possible to at least make a rational choice by comparing costs and benefits.   

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 50

John Caling sent me the following email. Given that the Guyra Lamb and Potato Festival has just concluded, it somehow seemed appropriate to included this here. John wrote I have tried this and it isn’t a hard as it seems – give it a go.

This seems a little daunting to start with, but if you apply yourself you may find that it's not as difficult as you think.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.
With a 5-kg potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-kg potato sacks.

Then try 25-kg potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 50-kg potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each sack!