​​I was watching a television story about the birthplace of the Australian Kelpie dog, when it triggered a memory of a visit to the actual property during an RACV Tour in April 2008.
​
As part of the tour we visited Warrock  Station near Casterton. This was the birthplace of the Australian Kelpie dog in 1869.

​The station was actually an extraordinary self-supporting ‘village’ in the middle of an extensive pastoral complex, of what was originally 11,696 acres.

It was settled by Scottish cabinet maker George Robertson, who purposefully educated himself in many aspects of agriculture and architecture before immigrating in 1840. He acquired the licence for Warrock station in 1844, for a fee of £300 which included 2,500 sheep, and a team of bullocks. He then proceeded to put into practice his agricultural, architectural and social ideals.

For the next 27 years Robertson designed and fastidiously erected 30 timber and 3 brick station buildings to form a homestead complex without parallel in Australia.

The timber was harvested mainly from redgum trees on the property, and the bricks were handmade from clay, also located on the property.

The first buildings he constructed on the property were a one-roomed hut for himself, of split palings with a roof covered with local Blackwood shingles, and a privy out the back. The hut was moved on skids to the present homestead site in 1846, and extended when he married in 1853.

Around it Robertson built, a small largely self-sufficient village consisting of 33 mostly timber buildings arranged regularly around the area known as ‘The Green’, which became an extensive garden of decorative plants, essential fruit trees and vegetable gardens, all designed to make the station largely self-sufficient.  

The new buildings included workers’ accommodation, which was far superior to that on most other properties at the time. Rainwater was stored in fifteen underground brick-lined tanks.

From 1840 to 1860 the following infrastructure was built on the site around the ‘The Green’, a dairy and storeroom; a grain store; a cottage, originally used around the run as a shepherd’s hut and moved to its present site in the 1860s as a cottage for a gardener, housekeeper, cook or governess; a conservatory and propagation houses (essential for the garden); a bacon smoking house; stables, with a Stevenson screen for meteorological measurements under its veranda; a meat house; and a coach house.

Alongside these, forming a buffer between the domestic and farm precincts are a workshop for Robertson, which later became his office, bachelors’ quarters, and a blacksmith shop.

​Whilst initially there is no dedicated free-standing "chapel" building classified on the heritage registry, there is a prominent belfry behind the main homestead built in 1864/65. It is suggested that the ‘belfry’ was housed in part of the main building that would have served as a chapel on Sundays, a school for the workers children during the week, and possibly a social gathering point for dances and special events on Saturday evenings.

​The farm precinct south of the house includes a larger workshop, including a brick-lined sawpit, a bullock yard, pigsties, a brick store, draught horse stables, dog kennels, a hay barn, a hay shed, a cow bail, and men’s quarters and implement shed.

Between the west and south clusters are the buildings used for the accommodation of the workers: a station hands’ cottage; two shearers’ quarters; men’s bathroom and toilets; and a large brick men’s dining room and kitchen.

​Robertson and his wife, whom he married in 1853, had a great interest in gardening, and developed a formal garden around the homestead, which included a wooden sundial and a gabled lynch-gate, a croquet lawn and later a tennis court.

​ 
Whilst researching, I located this image of a foot bridge over the Glenelg River.
 
Whilst I have visited other large station properties where there are similar ‘village’ type structures, nothing that I have visited could compare to the infrastructure at Warrock. 
​
 
Barry O’Connor
August 2026

The subject title could perhaps be ‘Life Traditions’.

I have been fortunate to have grownup and lived in small rural communities for most of my life, with the exception of three years in Melbourne and twelve years in Sydney.

In rural communities many of the prompts listed for this month’s subject would be considered traditional, if not mandatory.

Wetting the baby’s head, yes, three times. Confirmation, yes. Bar Mitzvah, no. The Debutant ball, yes. Exchange vows, yes, twice. Buck’s parties, yes, but lost count. The Wedding ceremony, yes, twice. The gold watch, no, but received a very expensive chronograph one. And, tin kettling, yes, but lost count.

From the internet: Tin kettling was an early 20th-century Australian rural custom where locals would surround a newlywed couple's home. Armed with kerosene tins, pots, and pans, they created a raucous serenade. The ritual required the couple to invite the crowd inside for drinks, dancing, and well-wishes.

Now, there always seemed to be some confusion, and a relative ‘grey’ area in relation to the timing of the above and the ‘official’  country traditional ‘housewarming’.

However, the ‘tin kettling’ was generally targeted at newly married couples, whilst the ‘housewarming’ was for newcomers to the district, although in some instances this covered both situations.

The timing was also questionable, as I attended ‘tin kettlings’ that took place at some ungodly hour of the evening or night, whilst the ‘housewarming’ was supposed to be of a more formal nature, and held at a time that suited the ‘target’ residents.

In many respects, either of the above events were what we would consider today to be a ‘house invasion’.

With ‘tin kettlings’, numerous ‘invaders’ arrived with the necessary equipment to make enough noise to disturb the entire district. 

The only redeeming factor was that all of the ‘invaders’ arrived with plates with all sorts of biscuits, cakes and sandwiches, and generally with enough food to actually feed the entire district, that they had just woken up.

I do recall that one such event had been planned for a newly married couple, after they had returned from their honeymoon.

The timing was set for mid-evening, when it was assumed that the couple had finished dinner and sat down to rest for the evening.

All of the ‘invaders’ assembled a short distance from the house and crept up on foot, making as little noise as possible. There was a light on inside, so we spread out around the house.

Once all were in position, we banged the assortment of metal paint tins, cooking pots and pans, making a considerable amount of noise. After a few minutes, we did not have a response from inside. Further investigation revealed that the ‘target’ couple were in fact, not at home.

It was later revealed that they had gone over to their parent’s place for a ‘welcome home’ dinner.

What did we do? We sat down on the front veranda and enjoyed the delights that we had brought along, however we left a couple of plates, with a note for the ‘target’ couple.

And no, we did not plan to ‘tin kettle’ them again.


Barry O’Connor.
July 2026

​And it is still with me !!!!…. The place is the Swanpool & District Memorial Hall, or as many would know it, the Swanpool Cinema.

It is a facility which I became associated with in 2009, when I was asked to take over the chairman position with the local community development association, which held its meetings in the hall. Following the stabilising of the committee and with the associations objectives now back on track, there was a further issue that came into focus in 2012.

Later in 2012 a war of words erupted over the rejection of the Bald Archy Prize Exhibition which had been offered to the Benalla Art Gallery by the creator and director, Peter Batey. Peter had been educated in his early years in Benalla. The controversy received extensive coverage in all forms of the media. The basic issue was that the gallery was already committed to a program for 2013/14 and could not accommodate the touring exhibition.

The news reached myself, and my wife, in the Benalla Ensign one afternoon, as we sat down for afternoon tea. We looked at each other and decided that, as we may have a hall available in Swanpool during the cinema’s winter break, we may be able to retain the exhibition within Benalla Rural City.

I immediately canvased some of the key local decision makers and got a general consensus that we should at least put in a bid. My wife Pamela, contacted Peter Batey and he agreed to consider our proposal.  In November 2012, Peter Batey came down to Swanpool, to speak with us and look at the facilities. He was very impressed with the hall, but expressed some concern about the lack of hanging space and lighting. He was assured that if we were to be allocated dates for the 2013 tour, we would have the required infrastructure in place. We must have been convincing, as two weeks later we received an email confirming that we would be allocated the dates of 10th to 25th August 2013.

There is an old saying, bite off more than you can chew, and then chew like hell!! This was about to be chewing on a monumental scale.

We had to address the lack of lighting and the hanging space in the hall. We were able to obtain some wall modules on permanent loan, and the Swanpool Men’s Shed refurbished them and installed the latest in art gallery hanging equipment. Lighting was addressed next. Fortunately, there had just been a discussion paper issued in March 2013 by the Smithsonian Art Museum on the latest energy efficient and zero emission gallery lighting. We attempted to source this new lighting format, but supplies in Australia were in industrial flood lighting fittings and in the wrong Kelvin colour range for art illumination.

Middy’s in Benalla contacted the manufacturer, and yes, they could produce the lights in the correct colour range, but could only supply industrial light fittings.  It is believed that Swanpool was one of the first locations to install this new Cree (chip) lighting in a gallery in Australia. This lighting format is now used almost exclusively in art galleries and conservation workshops around the world. The hall gallery space was set up to ‘world’s best practice’ for art exhibition lighting, viewing height and distance.

​Photograph of Barry with Peter Batey - Newcastle Herald Archive, via Google Search, with article 'Bald Archy isn't your Regular Art', August 9 2013.

This is a story that I have avoided for some time, however it is time to put finger to keyboard and tell the story.

The local Pony Club meeting held on Sunday 16th October 1977, was to become a day when things really did fall apart, in a very tragic way.

The club was well supported by local residents, and some members from surrounding districts, who did not have an active club in their area.

The day was progressing well with the children competing in various activities.

During one of the activities a pony tripped and fell, rolling over on the young girl rider. Members raced to the girl to check on her condition, whilst another parent caught the pony. Fortunately one of the parents in attendance was a nurse, and she quickly assessed to situation. Whilst the girl had been knocked unconscious, she was breathing and had a strong pulse.

The nurse was concerned that she may have internal injuries and suggested that she be taken to the hospital as soon as possible.

The problem was that the nearest ambulance station was over 20 minutes to the north, and the nearest casualty hospital was 35 minutes to the south.

The nurse was concerned that we did not have 20 minutes to wait for an ambulance.

A quick discussion was held with the girls parents and it was decided to transport the girl as quickly as possible, using my car. The girl was loaded into the back seat where the nurse could attend to her during the trip.

The girls parents lived within walking distance of the reserve, so they agreed to take the pony home, ring the hospital to alert them to the issue, and they would then follow along in their car.

The nurse and I departed immediately. I kept up the pace on the highway, hoping that the Police would spot me, and may be able to give me an escort to the hospital. Unfortunately none were sighted for the entire trip.

I was keeping up the pace, and we were about 15 minutes from the hospital, when the nurse tapped me on the shoulder. I knew what this meant, however kept up the pace, as there was still a chance that the girl could be revived at the hospital. Both the nurse and myself had tears streaming down our faces, but tried to stay positive.

We duly arrived at the hospital where the staff were waiting to rush the girl into the operating theatre.

Just as they wheeled her away, her parents arrived.

We all sat in the waiting room, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally one of the doctors emerged with the news that despite their best efforts, they had been unable to revive the girl. The parents, the nurse, and myself were devastated.

Whilst the parents remained with their 14 year old daughter, the nurse and myself returned to the Pony Club grounds to break the news to the other members.
​
 
Barry O’Connor.
May 2026

For much of my early life I was very much influenced by my parents. My father was a builder, and from the age of 10, I spent time at the weekends on building sites, as one of the crew. I had a very enquiring mind and would look at house plans and block layout drawings to ensure that there were no mistakes, or fixtures located where they would not operate. At the age of 12, I was doing house block layouts for my father, that ensured that all of the required easements and setbacks were achieved.

I attended Technical College and whilst I had a background in carpentry, my real passion was with aeronautical engineering. I built and flew model aircraft as a hobby. Upon completion of my Leaving Certificate, I was intending to transfer to Preston Technical College to complete a Diploma in aeronautical or mechanical engineering. Unfortunately my father’s business was going through a quiet period and the family finances would not allow me to pursue my engineering career.

I left school and joined the commercial workforce. I held a number of very interesting positions with the Commonwealth Bank and rose through a number of positions, including a secondment to the computer section.

I moved from the bank to a number of positions with larger companies over the years, but always had an enquiring mind and looked at their operations and systems to see if any improvements, or cost savings, could be made.

In 1978 I applied for a management role with a large international company. Prior to being accepted, I was required to undertake a full psychoanalysis. This was conducted by a reputable firm and took almost the entire working day. I was later contacted by the my prospective employer and offered the position. I asked at the initial interview, what was the result of the analysis. I was told that I had senior management potential. Being 30 years of age, that was news that gave me some encouragement.

Six months after commencing with the company, I was contacted by the firm who had conducted the  psychoanalysis, asking if I could make time to go over the results of the test. Being very inquisitive, I agreed, but had some concern as to why this was not discussed with me at the appointment interview. Perhaps because of a possible salary negotiation?

What was revealed by the consultant, was the fact that I had an above average ‘clerical’ ability. In his words, the ability to perceive key information that was surrounded by superfluous wording, or data.

AI: From a psychological perspective, clerical ability is interpreted as a specialized aptitude or cognitive skill set, primarily focusing on perceptual speed, accuracy in processing information, and attention to detail.

It was revealed during the interview that this skill was not acquired, I was born with it. The problem that I now had, was attempting to identify which of my family I had inherited this skill from. It may be considered that the skill is a blessing, unfortunately it can be a curse.

You are given a set of circumstances that do not ‘compute’, and you agonise over the issues, until you receive additional information, to solve the dilemma.

I am still trying to identify which of my forbears blessed, or cursed me, with this skill.


Barry O’Connor
​March 2026

In January 2025 I was approached by Jim Renkin, the former Group Officer for the Benalla & District Fire Brigades Group. His request was for me to join the committee that had been formed to capture the history of the Group. The Group is the largest in the CFA comprising 19 brigades with 833 members.

I agreed, however I was not aware of what my task would actually be, and what my research would uncover. I was tasked with writing the book, and as usual ‘bring your own wages, and a cut lunch’.

The first task was to incorporate a book that had been written previously by Harold Mundy, which covered the period from 1940 to 1990. I was fortunate that the committee Secretary had been able to locate a digital copy of the original book. All that was required was to convert it from the original smaller format, into the proposed A4 format.

All was going along well with the inclusion of the original content and the changes in the page layout, until a problem was uncovered with the digital conversion obtained from the National Library, which had converted the words ‘burn’ and ‘burning’, to ‘bum’ and ‘bumming’. A quick check of the original 85-page content, managed to correct all of these issues.

Then work commenced on the current history from 1991 to December 2025. The main content was from the actual Group meeting minutes, and the many media reports that covered the major incidents from an ‘arm’s length’ perspective.

Whilst I thought that the writing of this book would not impact on me, it did. As I wrote about incidents that I attended with fellow volunteers, it brought back memories of the sometime horrendous situations that I faced alongside these volunteers, many of whom are now no longer with us.

On the positive side there were stories of very unusual incidents, such as the Longford natural gas plant explosion, which resulted in the main gas supply for Victoria being cut. CFA volunteers were sent around the Benalla township to call, house by house, to ensure that the gas meter was turned off. This allowed the remaining gas within the system to service the local hospital. Many residents who became aware that the volunteers were on their way, would jump into the shower quickly before the meter was turned off.

Another very unusual incident was the return of the MIR Russian space station to earth. Nobody appeared to know exactly where it would come back to earth, but New Zealand and southern Australia were in the suspected impact area. All emergency service groups in Victoria were alerted and basic safety formats and responsibilities were established. Fortunately, the space station landed in the Pacific Ocean, east of New Zealand.

The book finished with 413 pages and comprised the two histories, honour board details for volunteers who had served in an official capacity with the Group, Incident response data and a three-page history on each of the 19 brigades. I was able to locate some of the very early history on some of the member brigades which was not previously recorded. All this information will be passed onto each of the brigades, along with instructions on how to access Trove.

In addition to bringing back memories for me, some of them horrendous, my research for the book uncovered some serious issues that have impacted adversely on our volunteers. You will have to read the book, to discover the facts behind some of the misleading statements currently being made by our Victorian politicians.
​
 
Barry O’Connor,
February 2026.   ​

I have written about some of motorsport activities in the past, but Bev’s prompt reminded me of a situation that did throw a ‘curved ball’.

To set the scene, the event was held at Sydney Motorsport Park in October 1999. The event was the Alfa Romeo Club’s six-hour relay race. This event is not actually a race, but a reliability test, run over a period of six hours. There are teams of between two and six cars, with from one to three drivers. On the first day, all cars must complete testing and then complete a number of laps to establish a nominated lap time for the following day.

Points are awarded for the greatest number of laps completed closest to the nominated lap time.  Points are deducted for times over and under the nominated time.

The qualifying runs and times had been set for the day, when the Team Captain called all of our team drivers to a meeting. This is where the ‘curved ball’ appeared. He advised the team that I would be starting the race the next day. This meant a one hour stint on the circuit, completing laps as close to my nominated time as possible. The unfortunate aspect was, that it is usually in the first few laps that the incidents occur.

An experienced driver suggested that if we were to draw on the inside of the grid, then just stick to the lefthand side and go.

One car from each team starts the ‘race’ and at predetermined times during the race, the ‘sash’ is transferred to the next car. The Velcro slip is transferred from the front mudguard of one car to the next as shown here. The ‘sash’ is the red item in the man’s hand.

The 1999 6 Hour Relay at Eastern Creek comprised 42 Teams, 166 Cars and 214 Drivers. Believed to be possibly a world record. Guinness took photos of the grid set up on the Saturday. It was the largest participant motor sport event in Australia that year.

The next morning,we did in fact draw the inside of the grid. I was rather nervous about the start, however when the start lights went out, most of the drivers veered to the right, giving me a clear passage all the way down to the first turn, and being on the inside I had ‘right of way’ at the first turn.

I managed to complete almost thirty laps without incident, when the alternator warning light came on, so I signalled that I was coming into the pits. The sash was then transferred to the next car, with the Escort being taken out the back of the garage to cool down before being refuelled for the next driver.

Whilst I was very nervous starting the race, after around five laps you seem to get into a rhythm, and then only have to watch for slower cars, or incidents on the circuit in front of you.
​
I must have settled down very well, as a few days after the event I received a phone call telling me that I had won the driver’s performance award for the number of laps completed closest to my nominated time. This was from a field of 214 drivers.  ​

Barry O'Connor
​October 2025

In August 1994, I was transferred to Sydney by my employer Nissan Diesel, to take up the position of National Parts Manager.  Upon arrival the General Manager informed me that I was also the National Marketing Manager for both trucks and parts. I did enquire as to the possibility of two remuneration packages, however that request was met with a fairly negative response! My wife was also able to secure a transfer to Sydney with her employer, Komatsu Earthmoving Equipment.

With a view to our eventual retirement, in 2000 we commenced a search for a potential property. My wife had never lived on a farm; however, I had been fortunate to have spent all my life except for 15 years, growing up and living on farms, in small rural communities.
After an extensive search commencing at Armadale in NSW and following the ‘rain shadow’ down the Great Dividing Range, in February 2002 my wife and I purchased ‘Condarra’, a 570-acre property in the Samaria Valley. The property was leased out, with the longer-term view of moving onto the property when we eventually retired.

In May 2006 I was asked by the Managing Director to complete a ‘due diligence’ report for Mack, Volvo and Nissan Diesel, Australasian operations. This was completed as part of the impending take-over of Nissan Diesel in Japan by Volvo and involved a complete assessment of staff and manufacturing capacities, distribution/dealer network, market penetration, sales and profitability, along with market projections for the next five years.

On completion of the report several issues arose. Our efficient distribution and support for Nissan Diesel products had us placed within the top 100 companies in Australia for sales per employee. The ‘due diligence’ report highlighted the fact that our division was by far the most efficient and profitable of the three companies. I was further swayed by the fact that I would have to move a 15,000-line-item warehouse to the other side of Sydney, whilst maintaining a level of service to our dealer network.

Following the confirmation of the proposed company take-over by Volvo extending to Australia, the sudden death of a close friend, and forecast changes within the structure of our respective companies, and the fact that the tenant on the farm wished to move on, my wife and I decided to take early retirement. For me it would be a ‘home coming’, for my wife ‘a change of direction’.

We moved to ‘Condarra’ in August 2006 and became active in several community groups. This was a complete change of direction for my wife; however, I was very familiar with the community support structures that exist in the ‘bush’. As a former farmer, and a successful manager in the corporate world, you tend not to be idle for any length of time. In Swanpool there were seventeen community groups for a population of only six hundred people. I re-joined the CFA in 2007 after a break of fifteen years.

During the initial period of ‘retirement’, I also became involved with the Benalla U3A and two of the local history groups.  I have written several history books on the region, the latest being the history of the Benalla & District Fire Brigades Group which looks like being 400 pages.

I often stop and ask myself, “How t did I ever have time to go to work?”
 
Barry O’Connor,
​September 2025 

​I did my driving lessons with my mother whilst driving from Wollert to the Epping railway station to catch the train to and from work. After several months, it was decided that I should have a couple of lessons with a licenced driving instructor, which I did. After two lessons, it was in the driving instructor’s opinion that I was ready to go for my licence test as soon as I was eligible.

In 1966 I was 18 and went for my driver’s licence at the Epping Police Station. At this point in time, the Police Station was manned by a single policeman by the name of Mr. Gray. The Police Station was a weatherboard home with a small lock-up in the garden.

Whilst I passed my licence test on the day after my 18th birthday, I did not have enough money saved to buy a car at that point. I was working in the Commonwealth Bank and whilst I was paying board at home, every available cent was being saved towards a car. I did eventually save around the anticipated amount, along with a small loan from the staff credit union, to buy a secondhand car.

The FC Holden was selected, as my father had purchased a new FC Utility in 1958 for his building business and had a good run with it, having been driven from Wollert to Box Hill six days a week.

In 1967 I found a car at a dealership in Bell Street, Preston.

It was a 1958 model, identical to the one shown here. It was in very good condition and had the optional extras of a sun visor, radio and heater. From memory I paid $480 for it.

​The car got plenty of use. Not only did it get me to and from work, it was also used for a number of outings for friends to such events as Young Farmers Balls at various points around the state. With bench seats front and back, it could accommodate six people comfortably. In 1970 I did fit seat belts but did not retain the car long after that.

Later in 1970 I traded the FC in, and purchased a 1966 model Valiant Regal sedan, identical to the one shown here, which was a real step up, in comfort and performance. It had the slant six motor which was very economical.

​I can remember the registration number of this car - it was JOE-215.


Barry O’Connor
​August 2025.

Many years ago I was in Kununurra in Western Australia, when it was decided to take a scenic flight out over the Bungle Bungle Range and also fly over the Argyle Diamond Mine, which was at that time still operating.

We had flown over the vast mine site and were making a loop back towards Kununurra, when I notice some very straight fault lines, in what is normally very ‘rounded’ landscape. From our altitude it appeared the some of these faults reached the horizon, and were that straight, it looked like somebody had created them with laser beam for guidance.

I attempted to capture these straight fault lines, however by the time the camera took the image we had moved on.

I have never really been sure if what I saw was real. Was it a line on the aircraft window, or was I just imagining this phenomenon?

I was recently watching a beautifully filmed television special on the Kimberley Region, when I spotted these straight fault lines again. Well, I was not imagining anything, these lines were real!!
​
The search began through the many hundreds of images on the internet. Bingo!! The fault lines were located and very real, and located near the Piccaninny Creek area in the Purnululu National Park.     

Purnululu National Park.     

Barry O'Connor
​July 2025

Further to report last month on the aircraft crash at Lilydale in February 1982, this is the reason I was attending the Lilydale event.

I am not sure to this day, how I became involved with this display at the event at Lilydale airport in 1982. I was managing the Kenworth truck dealership in Footscray at the time.  The display had been organised by some of the factory staff in Bayswater, who were members of the local Rotary Club, which had organised the Lilydale airshow as a fundraising event.

Because I was part of ‘the event’, I was required to attend the morning briefing.  As it transpired, I was nominated to be the ‘bad’ person during the display. The basis was that the Rotary Club had set up a ‘tug-of-war’ between the recently released Kenworth C500 and around 100 plus, school children. Although on the day, I recall that a few parents lent a ‘little weight’ to the school children’s team.
​
The basis of the event was for me to drive the C500 shown in the image below, on the right. 

From the Kenworth website: At the time, mining and drilling companies watched with interest. Rapid progress was then being made in the development of Australia’s vast natural resources, with increased production of black coal and discoveries of oil, gas and copper-zinc deposits. The C500 had already proved itself in the harsh landscapes of Arabia and Africa, and the locally manufactured version was soon reporting for an even more rugged workout on the Australian continent. The C500AR (Australian Right-hand drive) found its way into the mining, logging and oil drilling industries, with a number of trucks engineered to lift oil-drilling rigs and to move oversize rigs from one site to another.

This is one of the C500 models that was sold through the dealership in Footscray.  It was capable of moving equipment weighing up to 150 tonnes solo, in 50-degree ambient temperature from Port Augusta to the Olympic Dam mining operations in South Australia. 

On the day, the truck had been set up with a 9 tonne block of concrete on the chassis, so that it would have some grip on the grass where the display was to be held. The truck was positioned and three heavy ropes were attached to the front bumper.

I walked out with my black overalls on, and set up the truck for the competition.

The plan was to allow the children to pull the truck forward about two or three meters and then I would let the clutch out and pull them back.

This all went well and as I brought the truck to a hault, I stepped out of the cab and exclaimed, “You lot didn’t have your Weeties this morning”.

That was followed by my arrest by two local policemen for ‘child abuse’, and I was marched off in handcuffs.

“I was there”… (and then I wasn’t!)

 
Barry O’Connor.
​June 2025.

I was watching a recent news report on the Avalon Air Show when I saw the images of an aerobatic aircraft crash. The routine was almost identical to one I had witnessed at the Lilydale airport some years ago. The aircraft flew in from the left, did a couple of manoeuvres and then a loop, almost identical to the routine flown in Lilydale. 

I had no personal images of that day, so I did a Google search and located the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report on the incident;

On the morning of 14 February 1982 the pilot attended the air show briefing but as the same manoeuvres were to be flown as on the previous day no individual briefing was held. The weather conditions on the day were not ideal for display flying, with a temperature of 36 degrees Celsius and a northerly wind of about 10 knots with gusts up to 20 knots.

The turbulence was reported to have been moderate from the effect of thermals and trees on the airfield boundary. The pilot taxied VH-TBC to the holding point about ten minutes before his planned take-off time. After taking off, the display sequence was flown normally up until the final steep turn manoeuvres. The aircraft approached the airfield from the southwest at a height of approximately 200 feet above ground level and commenced a left turn at an angle of 60 degrees. The turn was continued through 360 degrees and then the aircraft was rolled into a turn to the right at a similar angle of bank. The aircraft appeared to climb slightly in the initial part of the turn to the right and after turning through 90 degrees the angle of bank increased to 100 degrees and the nose of the aircraft began to drop below the horizon. The aircraft then recovered to a wings level attitude, the nose of the aircraft was raised above the horizon, but the aircraft impacted the ground heavily on all three wheels. The wheels and right main plane broke off and as the aircraft slid forward the engine was torn from its mountings and lodged underneath the fuselage. The aircraft slid for a distance of 90 metres and turned through 180 degrees before coming to rest. Subsequent investigation did not disclose any fault with the aircraft that would have contributed to this accident.

The aircraft was a SOCATA (French Aerospace) Model. TB-10.  Registration VH-TBC.

​Whilst the pilot of the Avalon incident did survive with considerable debilitating injuries, the pilot of the Lilydale aircraft, Mr Eberbach, was killed instantly. He was the sole occupant of the five seater aircraft. Whilst he had experience flying demonstrations at air shows, he was actually employed as an aircraft salesman.

There is a background story to me being at the air show, but that is for next month.
​
Barry O’Connor.
May 2025.

I first wrote about this in August 2020 with the following paragraph:

The current infection status for Benalla, is that we have had three cases reported in March/April so far this calendar year. We currently have no reported cases, or patients in hospital. Our township, and surrounding communities are complying with the regulations, however many of our businesses have closed, some permanently, or are on limited trading programs, due to the restrictions. These restrictions were to be eased in June, but have now returned to previous levels, due to issues in Melbourne.

What was very annoying was the fact that we seem to have had a culture, amongst a noisy minority in Melbourne, of selfishness and blatant disregard for the regulations and the laws currently in place to combat this virus outbreak.

The restrictions were severe. The whole state of Victoria was locked down for 262 days in six ‘lockdown periods’. *Lockdown 1: March 26 to May 12, 2020 – 43 days. *Lockdown 2: July 8 to October 27, 2020 – 111 days. *Lockdown 3: February 12 to February 17, 2021 – 5 days. *Lockdown 4: May 27 to June 10, 2021 – 14 days. *Lockdown 5: July 15 to July 27, 2021 – 12 days.*Lockdown 6: August 5 to October 21, 2021 – 77 days.

One misleading rumour that was spread by social media, was that the virus caused diarrhoea. This caused a ‘run’ on supermarkets for toilet paper stock around the world. Many stores ran out of stock and sales had to be restricted. This did not stop some Melbourne residents, who hired buses to travel to regional areas, to ‘raid’ their supermarket stock. In more than one case, local residents blockaded the bus, until the police arrived and demanded that the ‘raiders’ return the stock to the store.

In an attempt to restrict the spread of the disease, the Victorian State Government set up a ‘ring of steel’ around the Melbourne metropolitan area. It may well have been described as a ‘colander’, as many ‘escapees’ simply used the back roads to get around the blockades. However some of the ‘escapees’ plans  come ‘unstuck’ when regional shop owners recognised them as non-locals and refused to serve them.

The Government health agencies came in for a considerable amount of criticism following the easing of restrictions. However, in the very early days of the pandemic, they had little, or no, information about the virus, and they could only act on the information they had, including setting quarantine periods for those infected with the virus.

Whilst the significant numbers of infections now appear to be behind us, the virus is still within the community. I personally tested positive in May last year, and have had an instance as recently as two weeks ago, where two associates tested positive following an event the previous evening. Thankfully both cases were medicated immediately and both recovered quickly. Fortunately, both my wife and I tested negative the following morning.

One day we will be rid of this virus, as research scientists eventually come up with the ‘solution’.
​
Barry O’Connor.
March 2025.​

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

Disease                      COVID-19
Virus strain                 SARS-CoV-2
Location                      Australia
First outbreak             Wuhan, Hubei, China
Index case                  Melbourne, Victoria  
Arrival date                 25 January 2020
Date                            As of 12 January 2023
Confirmed cases         11,861,161                 
Active cases                79,112 (estimated)
Hospitalised cases      5,025
Critical cases               419
Ventilator cases          117
Recovered                  10,541,594 (estimated)
Deaths                        19,265
Fatality rate                 0.15%
Test positivity rate       21.75% (7-day average)
Health Department.    ​

This ‘trigger’ relates to the November 2024 story that I wrote about the issues with the Federal Government introducing taxation for not-for-profit community groups. The last line of that story was, ‘to be continued’.

Little did I know what was about to unfold.

In the ‘undated’ response received from Dr. Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, last October, the statement was made that the new laws had been introduced by the Morrison Government in the 2021/22 budget. Whilst this seemed plausible and stated in an official Government document, I did not doubt the validity of the statement.

In December, during a completely unrelated process, whilst completing an investigation into the history of a local not-for-profit community group, I came across a section within their 2014 annual handbook, which gave details of new regulations concerning income, taxation and the threshold of $416. (In my original report I had no knowledge of the origins of the $416). Following this discovery and some further investigation, it was discovered that the statement made by Dr. Andrew Leigh, in the undated letter regarding the origins of these regulations being the Morrison government, was false. The origins of these regulations date back to 2011/12 when the ACNC was created by the Gillard Labor government. The Treasurer at the time was Mr. Wayne Swan and his Chief Of Staff was Mr. Jim Chalmers.
​
A copy of a screen dump from the Australian Taxation office website taken on 30th January 2025, is shown here, and clearly shows that these taxation regulations were put in place for the 2011/12 financial year. 

​As mentioned previously in this report the taxation threshold figure that currently exists is in conflict with other thresholds that apply to not-for-profit community groups. We have a basic threshold of $416 for profit declaration, but a requirement to register for GST, when the turnover reaches $150,000.

The only comparable threshold of $416, applies to individual Australian residents who are under 18 years of age.

It is suggested that by far the majority of community not-for-profit groups exist for the community benefit and support structures that are vital within any community, particularly in rural and regional areas. They do not exist to launder money or avoid taxation.

What a lot of politicians and public servants fail to realise is that volunteer contribution to the community is not ‘a given right’ it is a ‘privilege’.

As stated previously, these taxation laws will go down in history as the greatest disincentive for volunteers that Australia has ever seen.

If we are unable to gain some sort of resolution to the issues raised in this report, we will see thousands of experienced volunteers simply walk away from their important community support roles.


Barry O’Connor
​February 2025

This story goes back to August this year when I discovered that the Federal Government had introduced taxation for not-for-profit community groups in the 2023/24 federal budget.

I was encouraged to investigate the matter after one of the clubs that I am a member of, was assessed for a taxation payment of $6,000 for the 2023/24 year. Not-for-profit groups are now required to pay tax on any profits over $416 or any funding that is contributed for the direct benefit of the members. In the above case the group provided a small subsidy for the annual membership fees.

I commenced my investigation by contacting a number of groups that I am a member of, to see if they were aware of these new taxation requirements. To my dismay almost all had no idea that these laws had been introduced.

In 2023 a report was issued by Prof. Ian Hickey advising that collectively, volunteer contributions to Australia’s social prosperity were valued at $287.86bn, equating to 14% of Australia’s GDP in 2021.

During my investigations I received adverse reactions from a number of volunteers who have taken exception to the requirement to provide their myGov details to confirm their identity. Many have stated that they will simply resign. These new regulations require one person to accept responsibility for reporting and compliance for a community group which will almost certainly be managed by a committee.  It is suggested volunteers will find this ‘all too hard’ and we will see a massive drain from this valuable resource. These taxes will go down in history as being the greatest disincentive for volunteers that Australia has ever seen.

Further investigation took place and to my dismay the whole process of the introduction was an absolute debacle. I assembled the information that I had, and sent a copy of this to our local MP Dr. Helen Haines on 12th September. She assessed the content and then forwarded a copy to the Federal Treasurer Dr. Jim Chalmers, on the 16th September, asking him what could be done about the issues that I had raised.

After almost a month an undated response was received from the Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh on the 18th October. This reponse did not address any of the issues raised which will have adverse impact on the community, but simply stated the details of the current regulations. It was simply a ‘go away and don’t annoy me’ response.

Following this I received some further information about the processes introduced by the Federal Government. The main issue that arose from this was the fact that there was no provision within the regulations to allow for an off-set of volunteer hours contributed to running these community support organisations, any fundraising that they may undertake, or the time required to comply with the new taxation regulations. My response to this is:

Whilst the Federal Government is holding out its hand for the revenue raised, there appears to be no offset allowance for volunteer hours contributed, even at the minimal rate as assessed by the Governments in each state, each year. Does the Taxation Department think that somebody waves the ‘magic wand’ and the funds mysteriously appear in the community group’s bank account??

Three weeks ago a report from a Senate Inquiry was released which highlighted the issues that I had raised in my original submission of 12th September. However, the Senate report did not include the issue of off-set time allowance for volunteer input to community support functions.

The situation is perhaps encapsulated in a comment made to me recently by a fellow volunteer who said,

“I have no problems whatsoever volunteering my time for the benefit of the community, but having been a taxpayer all of my working life, I will not, under any circumstances, volunteer my time to raise money for the Taxation Department.”

I have prepared a media alert, highlighting the adverse impact on the community and other issues created by these new laws, which will be released to key media outlets and Federal Parliamentarians over the next two weeks.

To be continued………………..

Barry O’Connor.
14th November 2024.


References cited:
​
Ms Kristen Tran, A/Professor Jo-An Occhipinti, Professor John Buchanan, Dr Sebastian Rosenberg, Dr Christine Song, Professor Ian B. Hickie (2023)  A Contributing Life: A Snapshot of the Value of Social Production  The University of Sydney Brain and Mind Centre

Sydney University News (15 March 2023) - 'Australian unpaid social contributions valued at $287 billion' ​

​In August 2024 I was contacted via the Benalla Family Research Group, by the Genealogical Society of Victoria to participate in a verbal survey that they were conducting for people who grew up in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

I was interested in the concept, so I agreed to a Zoom interview in September. There was a preliminary interview conducted, to go over the actual process for the recorded interview. I received a preliminary outline of the process and became aware that most of the questions were formatted towards somebody who had attended University. Such questions as, “Were you involved in demonstrations?”  

The interview time was set and the conversation centred around my early recollections of the suburb of Lalor. The interviewer had not heard of the history of the suburb, and during the interview I explained how the development of the suburb failed in the initial development due mismanagement. I later provided some documentary evidence of the process that saw the project originally commence and then cease.

She was very interested in the information that I had assembled for my family history during Covid in 2022. She was particularly interested in the work that my Mother and my Auntie did for the forces during the war. Both ladies were living with my paternal Grandfather in Flemington at the time. My Auntie worked at the munitions factory in Maribyrnong, and my mother worked at a facility in North Melbourne that made aircraft identification models and wall charts for the Airforce. Both were able to get to work via a short walk to the tram line and then in different directions to their workplace.

An interesting story evolved around the Maribyrnong facility. In later years I was working in the Commonwealth Bank in Moonee Ponds. The bank did the payroll for the factory and it was my job, along with another staff member, to take the payroll to the factory and distribute it to the staff as they come to the cafeteria for lunch.

Another area that she was particularly interested in was the work that I did with our local youth club and the work that we did with children with disabilities at the Kinglake West facility. The facility was a POW camp during the war. It was later repurposed to accommodate children with disabilities for weekend activities to give their parents a break. A group from our youth club would go to the camp for a weekend to assist the staff and provide supervision for some of the activities. These included mini Olympics, which catered for all levels of disability such as darts, quoits, balloon volleyball, boot tossing etc.

Whilst the children had disabilities they all had a mischievous streak, which kept us amused.  One of the children was twelve years old, but had not grown physically from the age of one. He was very small but could have an intelligent conversation with you. For a prank, the other children would put him in a suitcase and place it at the end of the table in the dining room. When one of the newer staff would approach the table, one of the children would kick the case, and it would suddenly start talking. They got away with this prank on a number of occasions.

The overall experience of recalling my early years was a very rewarding one, as the questions brought back many memories that had not been spoken about for many years, or had just passed into history.

Barry O’Connor
​October 2024.

​The story commences with me joining the Epping Football Club at the age of 13 to play in the under 14 side. At that time, I had grown tall and only played a small number of games in the under 14’s when I was bumped up to the under 17’s, as they did not have a ruckman at that stage. I played out my seasons with the under 17’s, when I then took up the ruck position in the seniors Second 18. The First 18 had two very competent ruckmen and I was not up to their standard, or playing experience.

In the Second 18, I was coached by one of two brothers, with the other younger brother, being my rover. Whilst I was very comfortable playing with the brother, the coach had some issues. He seemed to be unable to comprehend that if I was playing to the skill level that he demanded, I would be not be playing in the Diamond Valley League, I would be in one of the clubs in the Victorian Football League.

On more than one occasion I was the recipient of a severe tongue lashing, for my inability to perform to his unrealistic standards. Whilst I was unable to leap tall buildings in a single bound, I was doing my best and for many games, rucked for almost the entire game, as there was no other player in the side that was anywhere near my height.

The situation came to a head during a pre-match pep-talk prior to a home game. The coach was giving his instructions to the individual team members, when he came to me.

​“Barry, when you a resting in the back line, I want you to stick to the Full Forward as if he is your girlfriend. You know, as if you are joined at the hip”, and then he moved to the next player.
 
I thought for a moment and then responded, “I can’t”. The coach wheeled around and with a very angry look on his face retorted, “Why not?”  My response was “I don’t kiss men!!”

The rest of the team rolled around laughing, however the Coach was less than impressed. Needless to say the relationship between the Coach and I deteriorated even further, and at the end of the season I left the club.

Despite representations from my father, who was a committee member of the club, I simply said that if this person was to continue as a coach, I would be leaving the club to play elsewhere.

How did this shape me? Well from that point on, I would not accept insults and abuse from anybody, and if I found myself in a situation where I was not enjoying myself, I simply stopped doing it.


Barry O’Connor.
​September 2014.

​This is not so much a story of ‘found’, but ‘returned’. When my first marriage ended I ‘lost’ a number of personal items and historic photographs. I was led to believe that many of the original photos had been destroyed. It appears that this was not the case. Some 25 years later, my eldest daughter visited one day and presented me with an old photo album, which contained images and certificates from my early childhood, through to my later days at secondary school.

To my delight the album still contained many of the early photographs that had been taken by myself, and other family members. Of significant importance to me were two school certificates, one being my Intermediate Certificate and the other my Leaving Certificate.

​
Barry O’Connor.
​August 2024

During some periods in your life you feel like you are riding the crest of a wave. This was one of those periods. However, I was oblivious to the result that would see me ‘dumped on the rocks’.

It was during one of my ‘in between jobs’ periods, when I obtained a position as the Credit Manager at Gould’s Toyota in Northcote in 1985. I was to look after the Parts and Service departments accounts, along with following up payments from insurance companies for the work completed in the Panel Shop. I was successful in maintaining the accounts and was very happy with my five days a week job.

For one Saturday, I was asked to fill in for the regular salesman who had a family wedding on that day, so I agreed to cover his role for the day.

The ‘wave’ started rolling, when soon after opening on that Saturday morning, a family who had just received their lottery winnings, came into the showroom to order six Toyota Landcruiser Sahara wagons for the members of the family. Whilst we did not have all of the desired colours in stock, I took the orders and the deposit and scheduled the delivery for the following week. Whilst I got the sale and the commission cheque, the regular salesman was less than impressed.

Having seen my ‘sales ability’, the General Manager asked me to leave the Credit Manager role and take up the role as Fleet Manager, which meant establishing the Fleet Department from scratch. This was done and we were successful in establishing relationships with a number of fleet clients in the region. This activity caught the attention of another Toyota dealer, as we had obviously called on a number of their clients.

The Lane family, who had a number of different car dealerships, including Melbourne City Toyota, contacted me and made me an offer that I could not refuse. I was to take over their Fleet Department, as the previous Manager had moved on, and they were looking for a replacement. Initially the department consisted of myself and one salesman. As the activity increased we employed another two salesmen in order to cover the Melbourne metropolitan area adequately.

I was still riding the crest of the wave.

Sales flowed and the department was showing good results……………..until on the 1st July 1986, when Fringe Benefits Tax was introduced.

Sales did not just drop off, they stopped totally. Companies were unsure how the new tax would impact on them financially and simply stopped ordering replacement fleet vehicles, instead opting to hold them for another twelve months.

The Fleet Department was disbanded and I found myself ‘dumped on the rocks’.

There ended my ‘almost brilliant career’.

​
Barry O’Connor.
July 2024.
 

I am not normally a person who rebels, however when I see injustice, particularly where volunteers are concerned, I feel the need to expose any wrong doing and correct the processes involved.

At this time I was a CFA volunteer and the nominated Crew Leader on this particular ‘call out’ with responsibility for the operation of the tanker and the welfare of the crew.
Samaria Fire Brigade had a very busy period from 5pm on 15th December, until later in the morning on 16th December 2014.

After refilling the tanker with water later in the evening of the 15th, we stopped at the control point to check on progress of the possibility of a replacement crew. At that time we were told that they had been unable to locate any replacement crew from Samaria.  We had two crew members with commitments the following day. Myself, and the other two crew agreed to remain on the tanker overnight.  Following the release of the two crew members, the remaining three Samaria crew went back up to the fire ground to continue to patrol and black-out.

At 3am on 16th December we had located two small logs burning on the fire ground perimeter and stopped to deal with them. I was at the rear of the tanker when one of the crew rolled past me on the ground at the side of the tanker. I went over to check on him. I asked what had happened and he said that as he stepped down from the tanker rear deck, he missed the hand rail and fell. The crew member was carefully loaded back onto the tanker.  We radioed ahead to the control point advising them that we had a suspected broken leg. Upon arrival it was assessed that due to pain levels, it was possibly only a sprain, however we continued to treat it as a possible fracture, despite the fact that the crew member was still able to wiggle his toes and move his foot without increasing the pain.  He was very carefully lifted from the tanker to the back seat of a car for transfer to Benalla Hospital.

For most of the early morning the crews just monitored the fire ground situation until earthmoving equipment arrived at around 7.30am to make the area safe for crews to enter and extinguish the fire. Just as the area was made safe, a strike team arrived to relieve us. Samaria tanker was released from the scene at 9.00am on Tuesday 16th December. At this point we still had no update on the condition of our crew member.

On arrival back at the station around 10.00 am, we checked again with the hospital, who advised they were still waiting on x-rays.

Both the driver and myself were exhausted after being awake continuously for around 28 hours and operational for almost 17hours of this time. We both headed home to bed. I arrived home at approx. 10.45am to be briefed by my wife following a phone call just received. The X-rays had confirmed that our crew member did have a fractured leg and he would be taken to Wangaratta for an operation to have the leg pinned. The crew member was eventually released from hospital some days later and returned home, but was unable to return to work.
 
The CFA initially refused to pay ‘loss of income’ compensation to our injured volunteer.

In January 2011 legislation was introduced that considered all volunteers to be ‘workers’ and therefore eligible for protection under all the regulations that applied to the workplace.

This is when I started to ‘make waves’. The Kennett Government had passed legislation stating that loss of income compensation would not be paid to ‘workers’ over 65 years of age, because at that age they should be on either superannuation, or a pension. Our volunteer was over 70 and had regular seasonal work.

Following consultation with the volunteer representative body, Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria, I compiled a report, and with a little assistance from a retired County Court Judge, a submission was made to the CFA pointing out that their policies were in breach of at least two Federal laws.

Compensation was paid, and the CFA amended their policy. They confirmed this to all brigades in written form, in September 2016. Loss of income is now paid to all CFA volunteers, irrespective of their age.

The response from the CFA set a precedent for all organisations in Victoria with a volunteer component.

This was all achieved ‘pro bono’ with no cost to the Volunteers of the CFA.


Barry O’Connor.
6th June 2024.

(Note - this is an edited version of Barry's 'Rebellion' story written in 2022.)

'You've travelled through time and encounter a younger version of yourself.  What life lesson (or lessons) would you share?'

This was a subject that I suggested, so I had better contribute something!

My life experiences have been varied, and during the process I have encountered some very helpful people and some very unhelpful people, some of whom turned out to be downright fraudsters. Fortunately, I was aware of the possible implications and avoided the losses.
 
My father was a Master Builder and I worked on sites with him at weekends from the age of 10 until around the age of 18 when I purchased my freedom, in the shape of an FC Holden Special sedan. One of the very early lessons that you learn on building sites is to watch where you are walking. In those days all homes were built on a timber sub-frame with wall frames, ceiling and roof structures all fabricated on-site. My advice to a younger version of myself in a similar situation would be to always look down when you are walking across floor joists, or foundation bearers. You only need to slip once, and the pain and the ‘barking’ of your shins will certainly ensure that you do not do it again.
 
The second piece of advice that I would impart would be to always go to an older experienced person if you need considered advice. Don’t listen to your mates, as they are as inexperienced as you are.
 
My third piece of advice would be to look upon anybody who suddenly befriends you with suspicion. My experience is that these people are general not interested in your wellbeing, but are more focussed on obtaining information that you have, or taking credit for something that you have contributed to your employer, or the community.
 
The fourth piece of advice I would share is the information that was given to me by a very wealthy Solicitor, who told me during a discussion about wealth creation, that you should never owe money on a depreciating asset. Not only are you paying interest, the item is depreciating in value. His logic was very clear, an asset appreciating in value, is not only providing an offset for your interest, it may in fact cover the interest cost and offer some form of additional return.  Real estate does not depreciate, unless you have purchased in the wrong location, such as a flood area, or you paid too much for it the first place.
 
Lesson five, is the realisation that you will make mistakes. What you do with these adverse results is to consider what went wrong, or how could you have done better with the issues that you were presented with. Making a mistake once is human, making the same mistake again is stupid.
 
And finally, enjoy yourself before you get married, after that it’s too late!!   
 
Barry O’Connor.
May 2023

Looking at a supermarket television advertisement for steak, it reminded me of a memorable event whilst in Manjimup, Western Australia in 1988. To this day, I have never again experienced the quality of steak that I had that day.

I had just refuelled the car and asked the attendant where a good place for lunch might be. He responded that if I liked steak, there was a little café run by two girls that was very popular in town. The instructions were to continue on the main street, take the next turn to the right, then go straight over the next street, and turn left into the second. The café is down about 200 yards on the left. I duly followed the instructions and arrived outside a classic 1950’s group of three shops, complete with verandah.

Walking into the small shop in the middle of the group, I was greeted with black and white vinyl tiles on the floor, laminex tables and vinyl chairs. A number of tables were occupied, with many patrons obviously enjoying their meals. I was advised by one of the girls, to take a seat at any vacant table and she would come over and take our orders. I duly ordered rump steak and the meal came out a short time later. The steak was exceptional, tender and almost melted in your mouth. Whilst I was consuming my meal, a number of other guests finished theirs and were very complimentary to the two girls as they left.

I finished my meal and as the shop was now empty, except for myself and my son, I motioned to the girls to come over to my table. When they arrived, I posed the question, “You do not get meat of this quality unless you know the butcher. Which one of you is going out with the butcher?” Both girls started to laugh, and a short time later the shorter, and it would appear the older of the two, responded. “I am married to him!!”, and the other responded, “And I am his sister!!” That explained the exceptional quality of the steak.

Whilst I could not remember the exact address of the café, I did a Google search and followed the original instructions and located 31B Rose Street, which is still operated as a restaurant today, however under another name. : Sales History: 2016 Sold $438,000 July 28, 2016. 1993 Sold $316,000 December 22, 1993. It would appear that the girls sold the premises in 1993. It now trades under the name of the Blue Tiger.

Barry O'Connor
​April 2024

Reflecting on the celebration of women in our community, I reflect on the contributions made by the female members on both sides of my family.

On my maternal side, there were women who stepped up and contributed ‘above and beyond’. My mother was the eldest in the family and was therefore assigned assistant home duties. All of her four sisters went into nursing.

On my paternal side there was only one female in a family with four boys. This must have been a challenge for my auntie, as her mother died when she was 19, which obviously left the bulk of the household duties under her guidance.

To continue the story, we need to move forward to the 1940’s. At this point in time my mother and my paternal auntie were living with my paternal grandfather in Flemington, having moved from north western Victoria in 1940. At this point my mother was in a relationship with my father, who was at that time serving overseas during WW2. They did marry on 20th May 1944 whilst my father was home on leave.

My maternal Auntie’s all went into nursing with three going into general hospital nursing, and one into psychiatric nursing.  This Auntie did serve in the military during WW2 and returned to her normal nursing duties at the Bacchus Marsh Psychiatric Hospital after the war.

During WW2 both my mother and auntie stepped up to contribute. My mother worked at a facility in North Melbourne making aircraft identification models for the services. My auntie took up duties at the munitions factory in Maribyrnong. Both continued in their positions until the war ended.  My mother then took on the task of raising a family and dealing with the issues that the war had inflicted on her husband.

My auntie later married but did not have children, however she and her husband successfully operated news agencies and sub-post offices for many years.

I am sometimes asked ‘Who runs the world?’.  After some considerable deliberations over many years, I would submit that it is, banks, insurance companies and women……not necessarily in that order.
​
Barry O’Connor.
10 March 2024.