Faces & Voices
Central Australians are inevitably shaped and changed by geography, environment and history. It’s a place where people respond to huge and visible challenges – and have amazing stories to tell about the process.
That famous Whitegate mob again
Less than two years after winning the Prime Minister’s award for non-fiction, Alice Springs writer and painter Rod Moss has earned another national accolade with the acquisition of his painting Ukaka Band at Whitegate by Parliament House in Canberra. The painting shows three members of the Ukaka Band playing at a shed on the Whitegate camp, which was the central location of Rod’s book The Hard Light of Day. Rod says he was both shocked and thrilled by the purchase of the painting, wh...Read more
The memories are always there
Geoff Shaw was among hundreds of Alice Springs people who commemorated Anzac Day today. “I march every year to pay my respects to all the people who lost their lives in the various wars that Australia attended and to the friends and men I lost in Vietnam,” he says. But like many Australian war veterans Geoff doesn’t need a special day to remember the experiences that changed his life forever. “It’s with me 24 seven,” says Geoff. “I feel sad to the extent that I’m back here al...Read more
Voices in the wilderness
Occasionally hammering the floor with a home-made walking stick to drive a point home, his long white beard flowing freely, Peter Latz had the air of an old testament prophet as he spoke at the Desert People’s Centre recently. The occasion was a symposium on religion and language. Latz’s subject matter – the remarkable life and times of Central Australia’s first Aboriginal missionary Moses Tjalkabota (pictured) – seemed to dictate an almost evangelical approach. But the impression was ...Read more
Candidate finds a voice
By Alice Springs Town Council election candidate Edan Baxter In the lead up to this Council election there is too much focus on simple visual marketing. It seems as though the key communication strategy of most prospective Councillors’ is just to get as much signage as possible located in the trees around town. Many people have said to me: “Edan – where are your placards? Is it possible for you to make it onto Council without placards?” It’s a good question – so I’ve de...Read more
Satyasankalpananda Saraswati, 1951-2011
Friends and family have recently celebrated the life of a Central Australian doctor and yogi whose long personal struggle with illness and its accompanying revelations led her to champion a spiritual approach to life. Satyasankalpananda Saraswati – known mostly as Satya – inspired many with her courageous life and her contributions to the yoga community both in Alice Springs and internationally. She will also be remembered for her commitment to Aboriginal health and was instrumental in the e...Read more
Boffa NT’s Australian of the Year
By Jonathon Pilbrow The People’s Alcohol Action Group (PAAC) in Alice Springs is delighted and very proud that its spokesperson, long-time alcohol reform campaigner Dr. John Boffa, has been named NT Australian of the Year. Dr. Boffa received the award in Darwin last night. John Boffa has been a tireless and absolutely dedicated campaigner for alcohol reforms for many years, and has made a huge contribution to getting urgently needed changes on to the local and national agendas. He’s a very s...Read more
For the love of literature . . . and trams
Since it opened in early 2010, Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre has been promoted by the Victorian government as a great resource centre for writers from the inland. Alice Springs’s Glenn Morrison investigated the centre for himself on a visit to Melbourne – and took the city’s pulse while he was at it. Boarding a tram in Melbourne for the first time some 12 years ago, I discovered a lively culture aboard these somewhat archaic people movers, a mode of transport Sydney chose to dum...Read more
Playing with fire
By Rod Moss Eighty fires, many of them deliberately lit, had encircled the town mid 2011. We became accustomed to breathing carbonized air though a few dozen asthmatics sought relief in the hospital. At night, the rim of the eastern MacDonnell’s was alight, a long dazzling cord suspended above the valley. Rodney and his brothers, together with Harry and Adrian junior, rehearsed for a recording session at CAAMA. They knew the buffel didn’t grow right up to the sheds and most of the trees ...Read more
What a Lulu!
Thanks to Alice Springs historian Josie Petrick for forwarding this story exploring the fascinating link between singers Siobahn Stagg, soon to visit Alice Springs, and one of Alice Springs’ first talent exports, Lulu Benstead. Lulu is believed to be the first white child to be born in in Alice Springs, on 5 February 1891. With a voice of ʻangelic purity and beauty’ (The Age, 2010), Siobhan Stagg is one of Australia’s brightest vocal talents. This month, history comes full circle whe...Read more
Julia’s Adventures in Blunderland Part 4
By Blair and Jenny McFarland Newcomer to Blunderland? Catch up with Julia’s previous adventures in Part One, Part Two and Part 3. “What happens then?” asked Julia, glad to find someone who seemed to know what was happening in Blunderland. “Then the marble halls echo with calls for making cuts and economising, as the players earn their high salaries through reducing services. It is considered bad form to promote dependence in the client group by actually providing services.” The...Read more
Little Well
By Rod Moss Again the Healing Centre has scheduled a trip into the heart of the country. Again there have been difficulties in securing men to join the group. There’s twenty-two of us in three vehicles. And though three senior men had indicated their enthusiasm for the event, they all withdraw, for various reasons. But we’re still packing the troupies to the seams. We’re not looking for ochres or herbal plants this time. The focus is on sitting at Little Well, and for the older folk...Read more
Julia’s Adventures in Blunderland Part 3
By Blair and Jenny McFarland “Aren’t they silly” said a disembodied voice from the forest. Julia looked around and saw a smile hovering amongst the branches of a tree. A fat Corporate Cat slowly appeared, looking smug. “They should leave it to businessmen. We know how to get the job done.” “How did you actually do?” Looking a bit uncomfortable, but continuing to smile, the Corporate Cat said “We set up leadership initiatives to identify people who ...Read more
Recent Features
- The hospital they didn't want
- The secret life of white-plumed honeyeaters
- Crime levels not new: police commissioner
- Mandatory treatment plan would cost hundreds of millions
- Misbehavers "not welcome": police commissioner
- That famous Whitegate mob again
- CASA and the zen of tourism
- Return of the man from Oodnadatta
- The memories are always there
- More truancy officers
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