Friday, August 1, 2014

THE UNLUCKY AUSTRALIANS Continuing biog of Crusading Editor, ”Big Jim” Bowditch


On  meeting  former watersider Jack Meaney  at  the  Adelaide River Show in the Top End ,  Frank  Hardy said  he  needed  somewhere quiet to write his  book about the  Gurindji struggle   , The Unlucky Australians. Meaney took him home to  Milton Springs, the place where the Stayput   Malays had been hidden .  Young John Meaney remembered the author  pounding out the book  on a typewriter ,  puffing  away on his  pipe  filled  with  Plum tobacco .  In that  book  Hardy paid  tribute to the part  played by  Bowditch  in the struggle . He described  Bowditch  as  the most colourful  character  in a city where there  were  no human beings , only characters.  His friend  Jim Bowditch, he said , was the last of  the  fighting  editors.

ASIO  took  an interest in the book  before it was   published. A l968  ASIO    report  stated   Hardy had  been in Darwin  on  26/12/67 and  had  gone  to  Wave Hill . The reason  for the visit, it stated, was  for Hardy to put the “ finishing touches”  to his book,The Unlucky Australians.  It continued- 

Hardy has shown proofs of the book  to everyone who is mentioned  in it  .  The book should have been published   in August  but has been held up because the publishers are very worried about   libel actions.  Jim (James Frederick) Bowditch , who is a friend of Hardy’s , has read  the proofs  and thinks  that this book  may not be published  , because  of the  numerous  libellous statements . 

In a move  to  ease the Wattie Creek situation, which  was embarrassing the  government and  Vesteys, the  government  in July  l968   said it would build a township  on Crown land  at the Wave Hill centre in an attempt to meet  the needs of  the  Gurindji and other  Aboriginals in the district.  Most of the  strikers  remained at  Daguragu  despite  the lack of facilities.  Vesteys  gave the government an undertaking that  the Aboriginals at  Daguragu would not  be  disturbed.  
 
The Gurindji then began  fencing  and  building on the land . Support  flowed in from   many sources.  Brian Manning  said the watersiders of Australia  donated   $17,000  through a levy , the money to be used  by the Gurindji for  fencing.  Manning, who had a 16mm Bolex movie camera, went to  Wave Hill with  Cec Holmes  who  made a film of the  fences being erected.  

Hardy staged a  demonstration outside Vesteys headquarters in Britain and arranged for a   TV  team to come to Australia .About  l970, a   Darwin activist,  agronomist  Robert  Wesley-Smith ,  met  Bowditch and  came under his influence. Bowditch   invited  Wesley-Smith to drop into the  office  at the  end of the day  for a drink  and a  talk  with  him and other  staff members. Commonly called   Wes , he  did not drink  at  the time, but enjoyed  the  discussions .  Bowditch provided  support for   Wesley- -Smith’s   campaigns and  gave him editorial backing on  various  issues  . Wes and his then wife , Jan, both became involved  with the Gurindji after reading  Hardy’s book .  ASIO  even   checked  to  see that  Wesley-Smith  was absent  from  Darwin  in Adelaide for two weeks to  be  married.  
 
Wesley-Smith  and    George and  Moira  Gibbs   were in a group  which   formed  the Murramulla- Gurindji  Cattle Company which after three months   was  passed over to the control of the  Gurindji.The Gibbs  were another example of  activists  mindlessly condemned by some   for their  involvement  in union work  and other   issues ,closely watched  by    ASIO.  Some of the  offspring  of  Darwin activists interviewed in connection  with  this  biography   said  they had  often  suffered at  school -   “ copped it ”  being  one expression- due to  their parents’ activities.  
 
It was not only  unionists  who were subjected to mindless scorn .   Kim Lockwood  related  an  episode   at school  in Darwin , aged about 10 , when a  pupil came up and told him , “ Your dad  is a  communist .” Not knowing  what a  communist was, Kim   went home  and  told his  father , who reacted angrily .  He told  Kim  to  inform  the  boy  that if he ever  repeated  that statement he  would  knock  his  block  off.   

When George Gibbs died  in  l969,  Cec Holmes delivered the eulogy at the funeral service   and his wife, Sandra,  performed an electrifying   rendition  of the  stirring union song  the Ballad of  Joe Hill .   There was an  editorial in the NT News  paying  tribute to Gibbs  headed  DEATH OF A  BATTLER.  

The Communist  newspaper  Tribune   said    Gibbs  had been involved in  the movement for Aboriginal rights  since the l950s  and  in recent times had  been closely associated  with the struggle of the Gurindji   people  at Wattie Creek.  He had come to the NT in the  l930s and had been a founder member of  the  Workers’ Club .  Mrs Gibbs   came from  a  family of union activists,  and she had  been involved  in  the Peace Council  with Esther Meaney .
 

As secretary of the  waterside section of the NAWU, Brian Manning , inaugurated  a $100  annual   educational   bursary to be awarded   to an Aboriginal student as a memorial to George  Gibbs’s  dedication to the Aboriginal cause.  There being no applicants, the  money each year was put towards establishment of  the George Gibbs  Memorial  Collection  at the Mitchell Library , Sydney  , the repository of all the   NT Council for Aboriginal Rights material ,  his  diaries and  union memorabilia from the early days . Mrs Gibbs died of cancer in Sydney . 
 
The Gurindji would come to Darwin  and at times “ a whole  mob ”  travelling  on the Wattie Creek  truck    would go  to the NT News and talk with Bowditch . One of them , Mick Rangiari , was known as “ Hoppy Mick ” because his pelvis was broken in a  fall from a  frightened horse. After the  accident  he had   spent several painful weeks lying on a   verandah  without  medical treatment.

Rangiari   drove a  battered  vehicle  to Darwin  and asked  Bowditch to help the Gurindji.  There is a suggestion that  on that occasion  Bowditch  bought a complete set  of new tyres for  Rangiari as the  ones on  the  truck  were  badly  worn.

In the   long drawn out  campaign   for the  Gurindji , Frank  Hardy and  Paddy Carroll  of the NAWU  had a falling out ;  Bowditch arranged a reconciliation . At   a  packed  performance in Darwin by American country  and  western singer , Johnny Cash , Sandra  Holmes  sang   the protest song  Gurindji Blues    written by Ted Egan ,who later  became  the Administrator of the Northern Territory , from the  floor of  the  Penthouse .  

Under  the heading  ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY   , ASIO's NT  regional  director  on March  30  l971   sent headquarters   a   confidential report   about  the involvement of NAWU Aboriginal  organiser   Dexter Daniels  in relation to  fund raising activities   on behalf of the   Roper River  Land Rights  Fund .  He wrote that Roper River was   not readily accessible  from Darwin and it was necessary  for ASIO to rely  on , blacked out  ,  to  obtain  information   on the activities of   persons  of security  interest in this area. 

Later in the year   ASIO stated  NT News  employees    “taking the  Tribune  included Bowditch and journalists   Peter Cooke, John Loizou  and   John Meeking  , the political roundsman . Cooke was  described as being  far left in his views  , but  as yet, unwilling to  join an “old left” political group , such as  the C.P.A.

In  l972 Lord Vestey wrote to  Prime Minister  Billy  McMahon  offering to surrender  some areas of the Vestey lease to  Aborigines.  An area of 35  square miles of Wave Hill  was given over , enabling the Wave Hill  centre and Daguragu  to be linked by  vacant Crown land  . NEXT :Pressure  on  Bowditch   and   another   manhunt .