Organisers are expecting a large crowd for this Sunday’s Kerferd Oration in Beechworth by the CEO of World Vision, Rev Tim Costello AO.
Tim Costello has been a leading voice in debates on poverty, gambling, homelessness, reconciliation and drug abuse. And since 2004, when he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of World Vision Australia, he has ensured that global poverty has been placed on the national agenda, particularly through the Make Poverty History campaign.
His Kerferd Oration, “Community Values for a World in Need”, is timely. The global financial crisis, terrorism, conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan and parts of Africa, climate change and extreme poverty, demand our attention.
“Many of Victoria’s community values have been forged in the intensity of fire and concentrated through drought,” Tim says. “Facing terrible hardship can be devastating. Knowing that other people – people around you that you may not even know – are on your side brings relief and an immense sense of common spirit and purpose. It creates resilience and hope.”
Tim speaks of the values of compassion: of good humour, friendship, tolerance and human dignity. “It is about the practice of going beyond immediate needs and desire for comfort, to the richness of seeing others prosper and grow, and celebrating their worth,” he says.
“And these qualities and gifts of generosity not only build up those around you, but can be part of the solution for the most intractable problems facing the global community, including poverty, and climate change.”
Sunday’s Kerferd Oration is a free community event at the Kerferd Conference Centre at La Trobe Beechworth. It begins at 11am, doors open at 10.15am. A light lunch will be provided after the Oration.
Tuesday 28 July 2009
Monday 20 July 2009
Historic documents to shed new light on police side of Kelly story
Little-known original documents including telegraphs, letters and reports from police involved in the hunt for the Kelly Gang and the recovery of the bodies of their three murdered colleagues have been found at the Victoria Police Museum.
Collections Manager, Liz Marsden, said a box containing the documents had been discovered during the course of an exhaustive registration project of every object, book and piece of paper in the collection as part of a Museums Australia museum accreditation program.
She said the Museum was excited to find the box of ‘extremely fragile documents’ relating directly to events surrounding Australia’s most notorious bushranger. At present this collection is not available for research as it is being painstakingly digitalised with the aim of making it available to the public sometime in the future via the museum’s website.
Meanwhile, they will form the basis of a fascinating talk – The Kelly Hunters: a Police Perspective - by the respected author, historian and retired Superintendent of the Victoria Police, Dr Robert Haldane, at the Historic Courthouse, as part of the 2009 Beechworth Ned Kelly Weekend on Saturday 8 August at 10am. Dr Haldane was granted access to the documents as part of his research for the Ned Kelly Weekend.
“These Police Museum documents are actual primary sources from the police and volunteers on the ground at the time,” Dr Haldane said. “They offer a real insight into the thinking and behavior of the police working on the Kelly case. These are ‘bottom up’ working documents from police and civilians in the field and they give a very different perspective to the police side of the story which has largely been overshadowed by the mythology surrounding the Kelly saga.”
One of the documents, a report from a policeman sent to recover the body of Sgt Kennedy, shot dead by the Kelly Gang, gives a graphic description of the sergeant’s face as so badly mutilated the body should not be viewed by the widow. Dr Haldane said this ran “counter to the dominant view of the Kellys behaving humanely toward their victims. The truth is they brutally murdered three policemen – an unprecedented act then and now in Australia - and then robbed their corpses.”
Another of the letters, written in the aftermath of the Stringybark Creek killings, is from a policeman to a superior begging permission to join the hunt for the Gang and pledging he would ask nothing from the State in the way of support for his family in the event of his untimely death.
Dr Haldane said other archival material also revealed some surprising facts about the make-up of the police force at the time. Contrary to popular belief, more than 80 percent of the force was Irish, as was the Chief Commissioner and the Chief Justice. This challenged the widely-held notion that the bushranger (Australian-born) was a victim of English establishment racism toward the Irish. “Ned Kelly committed crimes against Irishmen, was hunted by Irishmen and ultimately, convicted by an Irishman,” Dr Haldane has concluded.
His talk is one of a number of events in the packed Ned Kelly Weekend program, being directed for the first time by the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group and with a special focus on the police role in the Kelly saga.
The program will also include a Victoria Police Museum exhibition, The Police View of the Kelly Gang and Policing the North East at the Sub Treasury Building of the Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct, a former gold office and for many years the Beechworth police station.
In addition, authentically re-created events featuring precisely detailed police uniforms of the day from Ned Kelly Weekend organisers, the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group (BHRG), will give new prominence to the ‘men in blue’ of the Kelly era.
Dr Haldane will also appear at a Saturday evening Q & A at Beechworth’s Old Priory, Behind the Armour, which will see a panel debate both sides of the argument. Moderated by ABC Radio’s Gaye Pattison, the panel lineup will include Dr Haldane, the noted Kelly historian, Alex McDermott and author, Kelvyn Gill, whose biography Edward Kelly: The Times of his Life, 1820 – 1893 is currently due for release.
Passionate debates aside, the Ned Kelly Weekend program also offers some rollicking good music and fun including the sensational opening night event at the Nicholas Hotel, Food, Featre, Fashion & Fiddle-de-dee, featuring one of Australia’s best Celtic bands, Braemar.
Collections Manager, Liz Marsden, said a box containing the documents had been discovered during the course of an exhaustive registration project of every object, book and piece of paper in the collection as part of a Museums Australia museum accreditation program.
She said the Museum was excited to find the box of ‘extremely fragile documents’ relating directly to events surrounding Australia’s most notorious bushranger. At present this collection is not available for research as it is being painstakingly digitalised with the aim of making it available to the public sometime in the future via the museum’s website.
Meanwhile, they will form the basis of a fascinating talk – The Kelly Hunters: a Police Perspective - by the respected author, historian and retired Superintendent of the Victoria Police, Dr Robert Haldane, at the Historic Courthouse, as part of the 2009 Beechworth Ned Kelly Weekend on Saturday 8 August at 10am. Dr Haldane was granted access to the documents as part of his research for the Ned Kelly Weekend.
“These Police Museum documents are actual primary sources from the police and volunteers on the ground at the time,” Dr Haldane said. “They offer a real insight into the thinking and behavior of the police working on the Kelly case. These are ‘bottom up’ working documents from police and civilians in the field and they give a very different perspective to the police side of the story which has largely been overshadowed by the mythology surrounding the Kelly saga.”
One of the documents, a report from a policeman sent to recover the body of Sgt Kennedy, shot dead by the Kelly Gang, gives a graphic description of the sergeant’s face as so badly mutilated the body should not be viewed by the widow. Dr Haldane said this ran “counter to the dominant view of the Kellys behaving humanely toward their victims. The truth is they brutally murdered three policemen – an unprecedented act then and now in Australia - and then robbed their corpses.”
Another of the letters, written in the aftermath of the Stringybark Creek killings, is from a policeman to a superior begging permission to join the hunt for the Gang and pledging he would ask nothing from the State in the way of support for his family in the event of his untimely death.
Dr Haldane said other archival material also revealed some surprising facts about the make-up of the police force at the time. Contrary to popular belief, more than 80 percent of the force was Irish, as was the Chief Commissioner and the Chief Justice. This challenged the widely-held notion that the bushranger (Australian-born) was a victim of English establishment racism toward the Irish. “Ned Kelly committed crimes against Irishmen, was hunted by Irishmen and ultimately, convicted by an Irishman,” Dr Haldane has concluded.
His talk is one of a number of events in the packed Ned Kelly Weekend program, being directed for the first time by the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group and with a special focus on the police role in the Kelly saga.
The program will also include a Victoria Police Museum exhibition, The Police View of the Kelly Gang and Policing the North East at the Sub Treasury Building of the Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct, a former gold office and for many years the Beechworth police station.
In addition, authentically re-created events featuring precisely detailed police uniforms of the day from Ned Kelly Weekend organisers, the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group (BHRG), will give new prominence to the ‘men in blue’ of the Kelly era.
Dr Haldane will also appear at a Saturday evening Q & A at Beechworth’s Old Priory, Behind the Armour, which will see a panel debate both sides of the argument. Moderated by ABC Radio’s Gaye Pattison, the panel lineup will include Dr Haldane, the noted Kelly historian, Alex McDermott and author, Kelvyn Gill, whose biography Edward Kelly: The Times of his Life, 1820 – 1893 is currently due for release.
Passionate debates aside, the Ned Kelly Weekend program also offers some rollicking good music and fun including the sensational opening night event at the Nicholas Hotel, Food, Featre, Fashion & Fiddle-de-dee, featuring one of Australia’s best Celtic bands, Braemar.
Thursday 16 July 2009
Windows into a world in need
An art exhibition that reflects the theme of this year’s Kerferd Oration in Beechworth is being unveiled this week in shop windows in the town.
More than 25 pieces of art are on display in Beechworth windows from now until the Oration on Sunday, August 2, which this year is being delivered by the Chief Executive Officer of World Vision Rev Tim Costello AO. The title of his Oration, “Community Values for a World in Need”.
The curator of the exhibition, Pam Magennis, said last year’s inaugural exhibition, which reflected Professor Tim Flannery’s Oration on climate change, was such a resounding success that she wanted to continue the momentum.
“The idea developed last year taking art to the streets and using the window spaces. It makes art more accessible,” Pam said. “I’ve had such great support from both artists and the local traders. The traders were keen to be involved again, providing venues to exhibit the works and promoting the Kerferd Oration.”
Pam said viewing the art work on a self-guided tour, with details of pieces in a catalogue and also in the windows, was a “rich experience” using the streets of Beechworth in a different way. “Historically, Beechworth streets have seen many performances – parades, decorations, and festivals and now this art exhibition,” she said. “And it opens up a lot of conversations about the theme of the Kerferd Oration. Artists have looked at ‘the world in need’ in their pieces and we are asked to look at what our community values are in the light of this.”
The artists participating in the exhibition looked at their personal experiences, their thoughts about local and world events, about social justice issues, about family and also about the environment, which they see as intertwined with the need for social justice.
The art works are on display in shop windows in Camp and Ford Streets. Artists participating include Border photographer Rob Lacey whose work looks at identity and culture, and developing a sense of belonging and caring. Other artists include Jo Voigt, Ali Rowe, Lily Cunningham, Bronwyn Cossor, Mary Rosengren, Mary Ross, Kathy Whelan and Kerry Weymouth, Inga Hanover, Judy Hawking-Burnett and Vicki Luke.
Catalogues can be obtained from the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre in Ford Street. The Kerferd Oration is on Sunday, August 2, at 11am, at the Kerferd Conference Centre at La Trobe Beechworth. Doors open at 10.15am.
Caption: Photographer Rob Lacey finishes installing his series of photos, “Identity and Culture”, in the window of Beechworth Pharmacy.
Thursday 2 July 2009
Lively debate, rollicking good fun on the menu at Ned Kelly Weekend 2009
fashioned knees-up when the famous Ned Kelly Weekend returns from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August.
In its sixth year, this major event for regional Victoria, and Australia’s most significant annual celebration of the Kelly legend, looks set to spark plenty of debate with this year’s program taking a close look at the role of the police in the Kelly drama.
One hundred and twenty nine years may have passed since Australia’s most notorious bushranger was committed for trial in Beechworth’s Courthouse and hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol, but the line remains clearly drawn between those whose sympathies lie with the Kelly clan, and those who believe the police version of events has been hijacked by those on the opposite side of the fence.
A Courthouse talk by the respected author, historian and retired Superintendent of the Victoria Police, Dr Robert Haldane, is sure to be controversial. Dr Haldane is expected to reveal previously unknown material from the Victoria Police Museum which will shed new light on the role of the police in the hunt for the Kelly Gang (More on that soon!).
Dr Haldane’s exhaustive research has also unearthed little known details about the make-up of both the police force and policing methods of the times in which the fates of Ned Kelly and some of the lesser-known characters of the story, in particular, police officers Michael Kennedy, Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan were so tragically sealed.
A Saturday evening Q & A at Beechworth’s Old Priory, Behind the Armour, will offer a great opportunity to hear both sides of the argument. Moderated by ABC Radio’s Gaye Pattison, the panel lineup will include Dr Haldane, the noted Kelly historian, Alex McDermott and author, Kelvyn Gill, whose biography Edward Kelly: The Times of his Life, 1820 – 1893 is currently due for release.
Passionate debates aside, the Ned Kelly Weekend program also offers some rollicking good music and fun including the sensational opening night event at the Nicholas Hotel featuring one of Australia’s best Celtic bands, Braemar.
Full program details or bookings via Beechworth Visitor Information Centre - www.beechworthonline.com.au or phone 1300 366 321
In its sixth year, this major event for regional Victoria, and Australia’s most significant annual celebration of the Kelly legend, looks set to spark plenty of debate with this year’s program taking a close look at the role of the police in the Kelly drama.
One hundred and twenty nine years may have passed since Australia’s most notorious bushranger was committed for trial in Beechworth’s Courthouse and hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol, but the line remains clearly drawn between those whose sympathies lie with the Kelly clan, and those who believe the police version of events has been hijacked by those on the opposite side of the fence.
A Courthouse talk by the respected author, historian and retired Superintendent of the Victoria Police, Dr Robert Haldane, is sure to be controversial. Dr Haldane is expected to reveal previously unknown material from the Victoria Police Museum which will shed new light on the role of the police in the hunt for the Kelly Gang (More on that soon!).
Dr Haldane’s exhaustive research has also unearthed little known details about the make-up of both the police force and policing methods of the times in which the fates of Ned Kelly and some of the lesser-known characters of the story, in particular, police officers Michael Kennedy, Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan were so tragically sealed.
A Saturday evening Q & A at Beechworth’s Old Priory, Behind the Armour, will offer a great opportunity to hear both sides of the argument. Moderated by ABC Radio’s Gaye Pattison, the panel lineup will include Dr Haldane, the noted Kelly historian, Alex McDermott and author, Kelvyn Gill, whose biography Edward Kelly: The Times of his Life, 1820 – 1893 is currently due for release.
Passionate debates aside, the Ned Kelly Weekend program also offers some rollicking good music and fun including the sensational opening night event at the Nicholas Hotel featuring one of Australia’s best Celtic bands, Braemar.
Full program details or bookings via Beechworth Visitor Information Centre - www.beechworthonline.com.au or phone 1300 366 321
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