Author: Mater

  • Were they that bad? #3 – Flora and Fauna Act

    It seems almost unfair to include this post in the collection, because the ABC has begrudgingly (very begrudgingly) done my work for me. Mind you, up until just recently, even official government websites were touting it as gospel. Fact check: Were Indigenous Australians classified under a flora and fauna act until the 1967 referendum? SPOILER…

  • Were they that bad? #2 – Australian Law as Applied to Aborigines

    Reference: Australian Law as Applied to Aborigines – Australian Law Reform Commission (Australian Government) With the settlement of Australia came the insurmountable problem of integrating two very different ‘legal’ systems (English Common Law and Native Custom), among a mixed group who had very different expectations and outlooks about right, wrong and barbarity. Can you imagine…

  • Were they that bad? #1 – The Beginning

    Over the many years of listening to the ever-worsening tales of our forefathers and their supposed behaviours on this continent towards the Aboriginal people, I’ve often wondered about how they could have been soooooo much different to me in terms of compassion. After all, wasn’t it the British Parliament that enacted the Slave Trade Act…

  • Mater’s Musing #53: Gee, this looks bad?

    Had a quick look at the latest Australian Mortality Statistics. Hell, that looks bad. A spike in Covid infections, followed closely by a spike in deaths, well above the baseline average (let’s forget that it was clearly elevated when the new infections were flatlining). Concerned, as you can imagine I was, I immediately went to…

  • Mater’s Musing #52: Says it all really!

  • Mater’s Musing #51: NAIDOC Lies, I’ve had enough

    After another week of listening to lies, stacked upon lies, dressed up as reconciliation speeches, I’ve simply had enough. It rates as one of the most frustrating experiences of my life to standby and watch the absolute perversion of our history as it is force-fed to well-meaning, but largely historically ignorant audiences, including many new…

  • Mater’s Musing #50: Happy NAIDOC Week

    This was photographed in the front window of one of Australia’s largest variety store chains. It’s getting increasingly difficult to use the week to “celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples” when this sort of agitation seems to be the main thrust of it.

  • 16 July 1945 – The Day the A-Bomb Stopped the War in Europe

    After being repeatedly told that the Left is neither Imperialists nor Nationalists, it is always interesting to read the details of “the Great Patriotic War that saved the Motherland”. From Chapter 49 of Antony Beevor’s book, ‘The Second World War’: “It must be very pleasant for you,” Harriman said, making conversation [at the Potsdam Conference]…

  • Mater’s Mischief #9: Seems Apt ATM

    Energy, education, health… Is there currently any aspect of life where this doesn’t seem to apply? We see it almost everyday on this blog (H/T Monty).

  • Mater’s Musings #49: Hmm…ok…okey dokey.

    Ok, let’s see if I understand the basic premise of this Government video. In its drive to eradicate discrimination and bias from its hiring practices, the Federal Government undertakes a trial of a recruiting process designed to remove it. The trial does indeed identify discrimination and bias in the public service hiring practices, just not…