Brekkie Crumbs (Notes from the NewsRadio Breakfast team) for Wednesday October 28th
Marius - Politics: …
One of the more engaging recurring scenes in our great democratic pageant is, or are, “the doors.”
This is the scene played out each morning that federal parliament sits, which gives MP’s arriving at the doors of Parliament House their chance to get their eight seconds in the media sunlight.
Doing the “doors” is one of the daily tasks of press gallery journalists. Lying in wait in the expectation of another dissident spray from Wilson Tuckey, or Barnaby Joyce - red faced and dripping sweat in a torn footy jersey - adding some new strain to Coalition relations.
A recent contribution came from Tony Abbott, always a good man with a grab.
With the Government battling to find some way to find at least a temporary resting place for the 78 asylum seekers on board the Australian customs ship, the Oceanic Viking, various Opposition members were volunteering compelling metaphorical links between the ship adrift in northern waters and the Government’s refugee policy. But Tony Abbott narrowed it down.
The Oceanic Viking, he said, was like the “Maria Celeste.” A quick Google before he hit the doors would have reminded him that he meant the Marie Celeste. (In fact, Google says the ship in question was named the Mary Celeste, but popular mis-use has it as Marie.)
But the striking characteristic of the Marie/Marie Celeste when it was found drifting in the Atlantic in 1872 was that, far from being crowded with refugees or anyone else, it was deserted. Sailing in clear weather, in full sail, but nobody - not a soul - on board.
The Marie Celeste is a great, mysterious image, but a more compelling parallel in history with the Oceanic Viking, as it wanders from port to port in search of someone who will take its human cargo, is the St Louis.
In May, 1939 the St Louis sailed from Hamburg for Cuba. On board were more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler’s Germany.
They reached Cuba safely, but were refused entry. They were then bounced around the world. The United States would not let them in and tried to pressure Cuba to review it’s rejection. Finally about two thirds, more than 600, of the passengers were returned to Europe.
Of those, it’s estimated nearly half ended up back in the hands of the Nazi regime they had been fleeing and were murdered in the death camps.
Today, those refugees on the St Louis look out at us distantly from monochrome images, nervous smiles framed by the ship’s portholes.
How could those men women and children be sent back to Hitler’s genocide?
Compassion has always been in limited supply around the world, whether it’s 1939 or 2009.
Mark - Breakfast E.P. …
A minor correction to my piece about Radio Australia yesterday.
I got some of my audience figures a bit mixed up.
Radio Australia has about half a million regular listeners in Indonesia and it’s estimated about 2 million listeners overall.
Thanks to John Westland - RA’s Rebroadcasts Manager - for pointing out my error.
Westie’s an old mate of mine who’s been part of RA for years.
He’s been doing plenty of digging into the archives for the 70th anniversary celebrations and even he’s been surprised at what he’s found out about the organisation at which he’s worked for three decades.
For example, why was Sir Robert Menzies always so fond of Radio Australia?
Of course, “Australia Calling” (as RA was originally called) was set up the Menzies Government as Australia’s own wartime propaganda station.
It was officially opened by Sir Robert on the 20th of December 1939 - which also happened to be Ming’s birthday.
So when he turned 80, Menzies agreed to do only one broadcast interview: with Radio Australia.
Old Bob regarded RA as his baby, and always kept it close to his heart…along with Dame Pattie, the Queen, and probably most important of all, the Carlton footy club.
