Reporter Keith G. Willey used to string for southern
newspapers and magazines and knew a good story when he saw one. He got
maximum mileage out of offbeat stories both in Darwin and down south. Letters to the
editor of the Northern Territory News , supposedly written by people down
south, especially one person
from a suburb of Melbourne , saying that Territorians were weird or lacking in social
graces, sounded suspiciously like the work
of one K.
G. Willey. They sparked colourful
responses from indignant locals
For example, criticism of Darwin barmaids to the effect that they were
less than perfect and that Darwin men were sloppy dressers and should wear suits were milked
for all they were worth. Keith wrote a poem in defence
of barmaids serving up foaming amber fluids . An obituary he penned about an alcoholic Darwin bank dog who went on
the dry , refrained from going to the pub , and
died was a
classic .
Often he sat in the Vic Hotel just gazing into the
depths of his glass of
beer as if musing about the meaning of life ; at times he would recite snatches of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khyayyam. There
was a stressful time when Willey thought
he h ad discovered gemstones.
During a trip
to the Daly River he found red stones in
the wash and thought, hoped, they were valuable.
He sent his wife to Adelaide
with samples of the stones and
paced the NT News office
impatiently waiting for Lee
to ring . He confided
to colleagues that he
had found these red looking stones
which when held to the sun
could easily be
rubies. “God, woman, ring !”
Keith said , gesturing at the office phone . Alas, a jeweller informed Lee the
stones were carnelian , a semi precious
gemstone , an entire bagful not worth much .
Due to his interest in swimming ,Willey campaigned to have the town’s dilapidated saltwater pool at Lameroo
Beach repaired. In a report he wrote
about Lameroo there were
two photos of him,
one showing him holding his nose because
of the stench.
Willey also thought up and became the editor of a
quarterly publication The Territorian , official
organ of the Cattlemen’s Association of
North Australia and the NT
Game Shooters’ Association, which was
printed and published by the
NT News every two months .[This caused the demise of Glenville Pike’s
North Australian Monthly which had run for
12 years.]
GINGER PALMER'S DIARY
Lawyer Dick Ward
gave Willey the diary of a swashbuckling rogue
, “ Ginger “ Palmer , who was found hanging by his belt in
the Darwin lockup . There were
conflicting stories about
Palmer’s origins . Some said he was Australian . Another account maintained he had been a
ship’s carpenter in the British Navy and had served at Gallipoli, but did not go ashore. In the
Territory he was often in trouble with police
and at one stage was ordered out of the
Territory , retreating to Thursday Island .
The diaries told how Palmer once stole a 45ft long ketch from Cairns , set his accomplices adrift ,
sailed to the Dutch East Indies where he dodged
Dutch authorities , killed many people, some with axes , and
sired several children before
being captured and brought back to Australia.
He changed his name and returned to the
Territory. An Aboriginal
woman saved him from drowning when he was
attacked by a crocodile . As a
reward , he subsequently left her on
sandbank to die, but she was rescued by other Aborigines. A detective told this writer
that Palmer was “ an evil
old bastard ” . Near the end of his life , he lived in a camp at Shoal Bay , not far from
Darwin. I was taken to meet him in 1958. Palmer slept on the frame of an iron bed without a mattress
and reeked of rum. In the mangroves
nearby was a large
dugout canoe . Appearing drunk in court in Darwin , he said his name
was Sutton , not Palmer. Willey
ran Palmer’s diary
in the book Naked Island & Other South Sea Tales. NEXT : Exceptional News stories
