Remember Manor Garden Allotments

I thought I'd post a YouTube video documentary about the Manor Gardens Allotments in the UK.

I discovered this story about a year ago and thought I'd post it now while I'm thinking about it.
If you think the Olympic Games are "Friendly" or for "The People" you might reconsider your opinion after seeing this story! The Oppressive bureaucratic business machine that is the Olympics is far from friendly to the people who live anywhere near a proposed venue.

The Manor Gardens were in the way of a proposed Olympic site! What chance did the people have to save their sanctuary from the Greed and Grandiosity of an Olympic development committee?



(Warning: This is a pretty long video and may take some time to load!)

NUC and Environment Centre "Pay The Rent" to Larrakia Nation

This morning was a special event was held at Nightcliff Uniting Church.
About 15 years ago members of the Nightcliff Uniting Church Congregation decided that in the spirit of 'Reconciliation' and the 'Uniting Church Covenanting movement' they should acknowledge the Traditional Indigenous Owners.
A recent decision by the Environment Centre NT means there are now Two Organizations in Darwin who will make regular payments as "rent" to the Larrakia Nation.

After a rousing Sermon by Rev. Dr. Lee Levett-Olson, Principal of Nungalinya College, a ceremony was held in a Shady spot outside the Church, where both Nightclif Uniting Church and The Environment Centre NT "Paid the Rent" to Larrakia Nation representative Donna Jackson at the symbolic occasion.

Both organizations consider paying a form of "Rent" to be a symbolic gesture of recognition and respect for the Larrakia People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land that they occupy.




(Lee calls the people to gather)

During the Worship service Lee gave a sermon entitled "Law in our Hearts" making a great example of how both Indigenous People and Balanda are dismayed by the lack of order in each other's society. Referring to a divine law that predates our religious institutions and is written on the Hearts of all people of God. He cited the inconsistencies that cause each to wonder where is the "Law" in the other's customs.

Law in our Hearts
(Excerpt: Rev. Dr. Lee Levett-Olson Lent Sermon 29 March 2009)

"One of the great tragedies of the Top End is the way in which so many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people misunderstand each other’s culture. Both groups are proud of their own traditions; both believe their social order is grounded in law; both see that law as being connected to divine origins which give them a unique place in creation: and each group acts as though the other had no real law at all.

Indigenous people look at the white legal system – its strange clothes, incomprehensible words, adversarial approach, and lethal forms of ongoing punishment – and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the justice?’

They look at governments that change rules from one season to the next, and see that those who make the rules are not bound by them, and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the law?’

They look at young people who show no respect for elders, at a society so obsessed with racing to riches that it has no time for history, at a world facing destruction because no one cares about creation, and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the tradition?’

They look at the way land is bought and sold, and the poor are evicted, and fencelines change, and underground resources are plundered, and profits go to those far away, and the sick and the elderly are taken from their families, and ask what many white voices also ask, ‘Where is the culture?’

These are good and valid questions, and they deserve an answer – but because no answer we give

changes anything, Indigenous people conclude, ‘Balanda got no law’.
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White Australians look at Indigenous communities – at houses breaking down, at the violence and despair, at the dirt and the dogs, the drinking and drugs, at children missing school and illiterate parents – and ask, in racist contempt or helpless compassion, ‘Where is the culture?’

We look without knowing the language; we look without caring for history; we look in a hurry, with no time to listen; we look from outside, blind to our blinkers. So we learn nothing about ancient systems of governance and trade recorded in song and in knowledge-objects thousands of years before Moses’ stone codes. We learn nothing about social order built on sustainable environments, and health-promoting practices that made death from preventable illness almost unknown.

We learn nothing, but we label: we call them ‘hunter gatherers’, ‘primitives’, ‘pre-history people’. We label their kinship systems confusing and inflexible; their ancient rules mere ‘customs’; their deep knowledge of health and environment ‘folklore’; and their spirituality ‘superstition’. And because we lack the tools to learn better, white Australians conclude, ‘Indigenous people have no law.’..."

"...We would all become People of Law – not external codes or expendable justice, one rule for the rich and another for the poor, but grounded in history, cherished in spirituality, kept alive in ceremony, recorded deep in culture:..."

"...We are called to be People of Law, and if we take up that call, we will begin to see our kinship – Indigenous and white, migrant and First Peoples, stewards of land and those who come later – all of us together, People of Law. Deeper than any culture, challenging all societies, present in each of us, written on our hearts: God’s eternal Rom – shalom for all creation."

(Fiona, a member of the original 'Rent Paying' Congregation speaks about what motivated the group to formalize their acknowledgment of The Larrakia People)


(Ian O'Reilly recounts the History and formulation of the Rent Paying policy.)

Excerpt From Ian's speach:

Paying The Rent
(Ian O'Reilly 29.03.09)

"About 15 years ago (I’m not exactly sure when), a Congregational meeting of NUC agreed to ‘pay the rent’ in perpetuity. It took a few years for the resolution to be implemented, because at the time the Larakia Nation was not an incorporated body, and we had to wait for this to occur before we could put our desire into practice. Today’s ceremony recognizes this small, historic moment..."

"...several sources of inspiration for our action. Another was Midnight Oil, whose song ‘Beds Are Burning’ goes:

The time has come to say fair’s fair
To pay the rent now, to pay our share.
The time has come, a fact’s a fact,
It belongs to them, let’s give it back.’

Nightcliff Uniting Church has maintained our desire to be seen to be a community committed to justice and reconciliation for Indigenous Australians. The action is small and the amount tokenistic, but it is symbolic of our recognition of historical and current injustice, and it has been costly for us because we are a small organization that struggles to meet our financial commitments. We have not been able to rise to the challenge of the second half of the song verse, but we do ‘pay the rent’. We choose not to ‘sleep while our beds are burning’. Thankyou Larakia people for your recognition of this today."

Congregation present "Rent" declaration posters to Larrakia Elders



Some of the Flags painted by members of the NUC congregation, Young and Old.



Dr. Stuart Blanch of the Environment Centre Pay's The Rent



Larrakia Elders receive Rent Posters


NUC Band plays "Walkin' Down The Road" (Robin Mann 1978 with permission)

My cycling Heros!

Have you ever heard of a comic duo called Flight of the Conchords?

No????! These guys are really funny! We bought their video about 3 months ago and have watched every episode about 5 times... some favorites we've seen possibly 7 or 8 times now! Seriously they're great and the music is soooo Coool!

Here's a couple of samples:

Basil and the bean stalk

Well it sounds like a great title for a really interesting story but alas I have no time for creative imaginings! So the story is as simple as the title suggests. Beans and Basil...


(Beans to the roof)


(Beans 1ft long!)

I did however have time to pick some of the Snake beans that are growing abundantly outside my bedroom window! I combined them with some fresh basil, a sweet potato, some green curry paste, coconut milk and Chicken. (My apologies to my vegan friends... and the chicken whose life was sacrificed for sake of pleasing my palate) They made an excellent dinner.


(Beans, basil and sweet potato)

I have no images of the meal because in our house all hell breaks loose at dinner time. To take a photo at that time would have left me vulnerable to attack by marauding midgets and would definitely have invoked the wrath of a tired and hungry woman!

Dragonfly = change of season.

The change of seasons in the Wet/Dry Tropics region of the Northern Territory has some fairly obvious indicators... Although I have not learned all the sighs that indicate the more subtle differences of our 6 seasons, I am becoming more aware of some signs. The change in wind direction is a reasonably reliable sign.

We Balanda are generally only aware of two seasons or at best three. According to most people I speak to there is a Wet and a Dry season. Those who have been around for a while know the period between Dry and Wet as THE BUILD UP! (It's a rather hot humid time with no rain and can be extremely uncomfortable)
My senses tell me that we are now in a very special season! More days of blue sky are appearing as the monsoon departs and the clouds are blown away by southerly winds. It's still hot, the ground is drying out but the foliage is still quite green. Everywhere trees are flowering and the Spear Grass is stretching high to reach it's maturity the seed ripening stage. Native fruits are becoming abundant and there is a flush of fertility and life. This season is known by Yolngu People of East Arnhem Land as Mirdawarr


(Dragonfly drawing, by a child... acutely aware that new things are appearing)

One other indicator of a change in seasons is the appearance of Dragonflys!
I'd say by the feel of things that Mirdawarr is now with us.

Book launch

On Thursday night my wife and I took the kids into the Northern Territory Library to see the book launch for Ted Egan's new book 'Due Inheritance'.

Mr Egan has long been an outspoken advocate and friend to indigenous people. The gentleman who introduced him at the book launch put his influence as the NT administrator into great perspective. We were reminded of just how important it was to have someone so outspoken and diplomatic as Ted Egan for our Administrator when very few people were willing to speak against the lack of compassion that filled the country at that time! Ted did and at various public events he brought us together as neighbors and friends when so many Australians were looking to condemn with labels like "Cue Jumpers, Itinerants, Longrassers" and so on.
When he was Administrator Ted Egan would get up on a stage and speak directly to the audience like he was talking to a bunch of old friends! He'd speak warmly about his Aboriginal mates, using language or sing songs about Darwin's Chinese founding families and characters like Granny Lum Loy! While Ted was administrator Darwin felt like an oasis from the cesspit of racism and fear that Australia seemed to be becoming during the 'Howard Years'!

Unfortunately the evening didn't turn out a great as I'd hoped it would be. Maybe I was expecting too much or maybe the events of the day had left my nerves in a frayed and agitated state. I just wanted to blurt out a few thoughts that have been burning in me since Thursday night.

On the way in to town at about 5:30pm we drove past a stretch of Bagot road that I often cycle home on at that time of day. Negotiating the usual aggressive traffic we passed some police cars with lights flashing on the other side of the road. They were blocking traffic from a cyclist and his bike which were lying beside the gutter! After both my wife and I acknowledged that something was wrong there was silence while the scene sunk in, we didn't speak for a few minutes... Then my wife became very agitated and exclaimed that it could have been me! ... (I thought to myself. Yes it could easily have been me! I've had several close calls along that road!)

We drove on and found a car park close to the Northern Territory Library. It was early so we had a wander around the library and listened to a choir that happened to be singing in there at the time. I was looking forward to hearing what Ted Egan had to say and to get a copy of the book he'd written. I was hoping his book would challenge ordinary Australians into thinking more carefully about the issues that face Aboriginal People in this country...


It's all very convivial so long as you partake in the Grog culture

We were pretty thirsty but it looked like there would be refreshments and some nibblies for the big event. I went to the bar in the hope of getting a softdrink or some juice. I don't happen to drink alcohol and neither do my wife or kids... Unfortunately when I asked for a non alcoholic drink I was looked at with complete confusion... So I repeated myself. "Do you have anything to drink that does not contain alcohol?" The woman turned to her colleague and referred the question. The reply came... "Oh yehh... I think there's some soda water at the bottom of the Eskie..."


Water??? But can't I interest you in some lovely wine?

As a non drinker I do not begrudge other people having a drink, usually it doesn't bother me at all unless people's behavior is not suitable for the environment. So if I'm in a rowdy bar I expect to see somewhat excited and intoxicated people, or if I'm at a restaurant I might expect to see people drinking wine with their meal or at a concert there might be a bar set up and some people drinking. The usual thing... Even a bunch of people sitting around outside under a tree with a cask of wine isn't a particularly disturbing sight. However when I attend an event whether it is public or private, and there has been no provision for anyone but those who are drinking alcohol, that's a whole other thing! On Thursday night what could have been a pleasant time turned into something very unpleasant for me.
Now the whole room closed in around me! Reality came crashing down on my head! Here we were thinking we'd come to be amongst other people sensitive to the issues of Indigenous Australians. I was listening to a man propose all kinds of divisive approaches to dealing with alcohol consumption on Aboriginal communities yet there was precious little consideration for anyone who chose not to drink at the launch of this contentious new book! What if some of those people had actually attended the book launch? What choice would they have? What message would be sent about polite society when all that is offer is Grog?
It was like someone had written a bad script that didn't match the theme of the play! I looked around me and wondered if I was having some kind of bad dream. Maybe soon the white rabbit would come and lead me back to reality... NO! THIS IS REALITY!


More conviviality...

For just one hour I was caught in some kind of Hell where the intelligentsia of a tiny 'Australian colonial outpost' were pontificating in their gay intoxication, what is needed to rectify the condition of their woe begotten Indigenous brothers and sisters. The suffering of the disadvantaged, the besieged "First Australians" seemed like no more than a topic of conversation. In my agitated state the whole thing appeared as a farce!

As we left the launch I saw a fellow sitting awkwardly in a chair at the back of the room and holding a half bottle of red to his lips. An ANGEL I thought! I looked him in the eye and he stared dully at me. I felt for a moment that the truth of it all was sitting right there in front of me. For that moment I saw an honest man! Why not drink it from the bottle if that's what you want? The glasses are only there for effect.

As we drove home the police were still putting together the evidence of the crime scene, apparently the cyclist was the victim of a hit and run! Reported slopily and hidden in an article about Cadel Evans at the bottom ofpage six in this morning's NT news! I called the hospital this morning to find out if he was alright. Apparently he lived...