Aussie Waves Podcast

On Saturday 19 March 1932 Captain Francis Edward de Groot, dressed in full military uniform, raced up on horseback, drew his ceremonial sword, and cut the ribbon declaring the Sydney Harbour Bridge open and proclaiming he was doing so "in the name of the decent and respectable people of New South Wales.” Here is a YouTube clip that shows some of the footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19R0d1VCGxM Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/ Thanks to Ken Dampier for post-production and Emmie the AWP Wonder Dog for security.  

Warning to Indigenous Australians -this episode may refer to people who have passed away. On Australia Day 1972, four young Aboriginal men erected a beach umbrella on the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra and put up a sign, which read 'Aboriginal Embassy'. Check out a short youtube documentary about this important political protest site (but ignore some of the stupid racist comments in the comments section): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlBS4GO-xJE Kenny Dampier, Executive Producer, is down with a bug. So apologies for the low production quality. But thanks to Emmie, the wonder dog, for helping with the recording. 

Sixty years ago Melbourne hosted the Olympics. In this episode we look at two events– one in the lead up to the Olympic games and the other during the games. The first is the Olympic Torch Hoax and the second is the ‘blood in the water’ water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary. Here’s a few YouTube videos of the water polo match, including one from a movie made about it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ca8P65IUkM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLoA5yLZ4l4 Executive Producer Kenny Dampier is still on other projects. So apologies for lower production quality than usual.   Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

On the 7th of July 1986, Australians Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers were hanged in Malaysia for possession of 141.9 grams of heroin. They were the first ‘Westerners’ to be executed under new and tougher drug laws introduced in Malaysia in 1983. Production quality is a little lower for this episode. But Ken Dampier, Executive Producer is busy on other projects. Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/ Thanks to Ken Dampier for post-production.

In this episode we review the cycling career of one of the greats of Australian cycling – Phil Anderson. Anderson was the first Australian to wear the maillot jueune, or the yellow leader’s jersey, at the Tour de France. Vive la France, Vive le Tour!!! Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/ Thanks to Ken Dampier, Executive Producer, for post production.

In this episode we are going to look at four bushrangers you might never have heard of - John Cesar, Sam Poo, Mary Ann Bugg, and John Gilbert. John Cesar was our first bushranger, Sam Poo our only Chinese bushranger. and Mary Anne Bugg our first Indigenous female bushranger. Some sources: http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/First-bushrangers-trace-back-to-African-roots/2005/01/26/1106415665901.html http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/2866513/australias-only-chinese-bushranger-remembered-150-years-on/ http://www.thunderboltbushranger.com.au/mary-ann-bugg.html http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gilbert-john-johnny-3609  

The entire Dampier family has been ill with a really nasty virus. So apologies for taking this long to get this episode out. You may never have heard of Howard Florey. But chances are you owe this Australian your life or the life of someone close to you. His work on the development of the first penicillin-based antibiotic medicines in the 1940s has probably saved millions of people worldwide. We also revisit the Hilton Bombing. A new book by Rachel Landers called ‘Who Bombed the Hilton’ puts forward the case that it was actually the Ananda Marga that carried out the bombing. It seems I may have been wrong!!

In this episode we are looking at some strange Australian history that show just how weird a place Australia is. This includes: the Great Emu Wars, when female convicts mooned the Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania, the woman on the $20 note, our Prime Minister who held a Guinness World record for beer drinking and how the Western Australian town of Esperance tried to fine NASA for littering when Skylab crashed. Here’s a YouTube video on The Great Emu War, very funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9G6WCsfoow' A picture of the $20 note featuring Mary Reibey: http://www.polymernotes.com/australia20.html Bob Hawke sculling a schooner in 10 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5mBShX9fdU Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/ Thanks to Ken Dampier for post-production, and for his ever lasting knowledge

It’s the ANZAC Day long weekend. And it's also family history time!! Find out how my grandfather Company Quartermaster Sergeant Major William Cook was captured in North Africa in November 1942, was made prisoner of war, and escaped via the Vatican. An amazing story and one I did not believe until my family was recently able to retrieve official War Office documents!! I’ll post these documents on the AWP Facebook page. I know it isn't strictly Australian history, but it is a great story.

At 12,40 am on 13 February 1978, a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. The bomb killed two garbage collectors and a police officer. The Hilton Hotel was the site of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting. Two members of the Ananda Marga Hindu religious sect, Tim Anderson and Evan Pederick were convicted of the bombing. Anderson was subsequently acquitted. Controversy and conspiracy theories have surrounded the incident and some have claimed that ASIO was responsible. Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/ Thanks to Ken Dampier for post-production.

Do you know what the capital city of Australia is? If you live overseas you will probably answer Sydney. Wrong! It’s actually Canberra. Some people say that Canberra is a good sheep station spoiled. In this episode we learn about how Canberra came into being, how it got its name, and why it is located where it is. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/downloads/canberraconf_facts.pdf https://www.nationalcapital.gov.au/index.php/fact-sheets Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/ Thanks to Ken Dampier, who is currently on holidays in Thailand, for post-production.  

Maybe you have seen a photo of the medal ceremony for the men's 200 meters at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. U.S. sprinter and Gold medallist Tommie Smith and his compatriot John Carlos, the Bronze medallist, stand on the dais. They have no shoes on and each is wearing a single black glove on one hand. They are thrusting their fists into the air in a black power salute and their heads are bowed in protest as the Star Spangled Banner is played. It was an act of defiance aimed at protesting against segregation and racism against African Americans back home in the United States. But let’s take our gaze away from Tommie Smith and John Carlos. You will see a small guy from Australia standing still. It’s Peter Norman. What few people realise is that Peter Norman is the forgotten hero of that medal ceremony. Sources for this episode include: http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3572112.htm http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/world-finally-recognises-littleknown-aussie-hero-in-iconic-photo/news-story/0ddb2750053826

On the morning of 19 February 1942, just 10 weeks after the Japanese navy launch its attack on Pearl Harbour, mainland Australia came under attack from the sky. Japanese forces mounted two air raids on Darwin. The raids involved 54 land-based bombers and approximately 188 attack aircraft, which were launched from four Japanese aircraft carriers in the Timor Sea. For more details visit the Australian War memorial website at: https://www.awm.gov.au/talks-speeches/1942-bombing-of-darwin/ Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/ Thanks to Ken Dampier for post-production.

Juanita Nielsen was an Australian newspaper publisher and conservationist who was leading a campaign against high rise development in Victoria Street, Kings Cross in Sydney. On the 4th of July 1975 she disappeared, never to be seen again.  A coronial inquest found that Nielsen had most likely been murdered. But the case has never been officially solved. In this episode we are going to look at the criminal underbelly of Sydney in the late 1960s and 1970s. We will try and get to the bottom of just what happened to Juanita Nielsen and why. Music courtesy of Dano at: www.danosongs.com Thanks to Ken Dampier for post production. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com and visit the Aussie waves Podcast Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/AussieWavesPodcast  

On Christmas Eve 1974 Tropical Cyclone Tracy destroyed the northern Australian city of Darwin. The cyclone took Darwin by completely by surprise and 71 people died. This was before the internet and it took the rest of Australia a while to find out what happened. Check out the you've video of the song Santa never made it into Darwin by Bill and Boyd at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HYbgLcIz2s For more images and sounds of Cyclone Tracy visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvyuFmk6s_U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B89wBGydSvs Finally, take a moment during the Christmas-New Year Break to have a look at Steve Lee's Gremlins Toolbox on Facebook. If you like fantasy fiction I think you will enjoy some of the uploads on this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/GremlinsToolboxAudioLair/?fref=photo And also take a listen to the talented Mr Lee's podcast, Audiolair. You can download it from iTunes, Google Play or any other podcast App. Music courtesy of Dano at: www.danosongs.com Thanks to Ken Dampier for po

In this episode we will be looking at what happened immediately after the dismissal and how it al played out in the December 1975 election. We will also investigate the ramifications of the 11th November dismissal, including a number of crucial questions about Australian democracy and the Constitution. Check out Sir John Kerr's letter dismissing Whitlam as Prime Minister: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/snapshots/dismissal/dismissal-letter.aspx Music courtesy of Dano at: www.danosongs.com Thanks to Ken Dampier for post production. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com and visit the Aussie waves Podcast Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/AussieWavesPodcast

At 1.15 pm on the 11th of November 1975, 40 years ago, Edward Gough Whitlam, the 21st Prime Minister of Australia, was dismissed by the Governor-General Sir John Kerr. The Dismissal of Whitlam and his Government was one of the most dramatic and controversial political events in Australian history. And this is the 40th anniversary of that event. Checkout the excellent Tandberg cartoon on the dismissal at: http://whitlamdismissal.com/images/tandberg-large.jpg Music courtesy of Dano at: www.danosongs.com Thanks to Ken Dampier for post production. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com and visit the Aussie waves Podcast Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/AussieWavesPodcast  

Remember The Seekers? Only if you are over 50 years old, probably. The Seekers was one of the first Aussie Pop Groups to make it big overseas. I used to think their music was way too lame. But maybe I did them a disservice. The angelic voice of Judith Durham took them to the top of the charts in Australia, the UK and the US. For this episode listen to a few of their hit songs at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ga9Bs4fzSY&list=RD4Ga9Bs4fzSY#t=0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5pvpIvz5YQ&list=RD4Ga9Bs4fzSY&index=3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nze8B39OB0k&index=4&list=RD4Ga9Bs4fzSY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSVfLNCW4Fs&index=2&list=RD4Ga9Bs4fzSY Very 1960s wholesome music.    

On the 21 October 1978, 20 year old frederick Valentich dissappeared while on a training flight over Bass Strait.  Some say he was taken by a UFO. 

On 22nd August 1966, Vincent Lingiari, led a walk-off of 200 Aboriginal stockmen, domestic servants, and their families from the Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory. The protest was about the poor work and pay conditions on the cattle station. But it was much more than that. It was also a struggle for Indigenous land rights and it changed Australia forever. Let’s see how ‘from little things big things grow’. Check out the YouTube video of the Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody song ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’. The didgeridoo solo at the end is pretty darned cool:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ndC07C2qw  Also check out the original petition from the Gurindji people to the Governor-General Lord Casey: http://indigenousrights.net.au/land_rights/wave_hill_walk_off,_1966-75/a_petition_to_the_governor-general