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July 2008 Kangaroo Valley Voice Page 14My homing thoughtsby Sean ScarisbrickAmerica’s2008 PresidentialCampaign –Part IWhenever you find that you are on the side ofthe majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark TwainTrue Terror is to wake up one morning anddiscover that your high school class is runningthe country - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.One of the difficult things about politicalwriting is that even the most deliberateattempts at non-partisanship can send tempersrising and wrath a-boiling when the writerrefuses to come out hard against one of thecombatants.So let me cover myself good and early – I’mnot particularly fond of either candidate.I naturally have a preference, but if you cannotdiscern it by the end of this essay, then Ireckon I’ll have done my job about right.I considered discussing the dynamics of the2008 American Presidential Campaign early inmy career as an essayist (six months andcounting…), but I found it unfeasible to sayanything substantial until the major players inthis drama had been decided.This year, that took a while.Hillary the invincible, however, is a fadingmemory, and the remaining comparison is assimple as black and white: a fresh young faceversus a craggy old war veteran.This month I’ll be focusing on the widercontext, and next I’ll take a closer look at thecandidates themselves.Speaking of context, as a non-naturalisedpermanent resident – a ‘legal alien’, if you will– I have no right to vote.I have been here long enough that I couldbecome an American Citizen if I desired to.But I have, for now, made a conscious decisionnot to.The reason has little to do with America, and agreat deal to do with me, and is perhaps fodderfor a future treatise.Though it is not legally mandated, the UnitedStates effectively operates under a two-partysystem.The two major parties are represented by theelephant (Republicans), and the donkey(Democrats). Hmmm – a fight between alumbering monolith and a hairy and everbrayingass – perhaps the images are a propos.Having introduced the two teams, I need tospend some time distinguishing them from thebroad philosophical ideologies they claim torepresent, and from which they draw themajority of their adherents.To my mind, one of the great encumbrances onAmerican political and social thought is thecommon mistake of confusing the members andactions and policies of a political party with thebroad philosophy they claim to represent.Think of it this way: just as it would be wrongto damn Jesus Christ and his message for thewide array of clerical abuses we have seenthough the ages, so too is it a promulgation ofignorance to blame to horrors of the politicalparties on the considered philosophies fromwhich they emerged.So to the parties:The Republican Party is broadly sympathetic tothe conservative worldview.Modern conservative thought traces its historyfrom Edmund Burke, through the principledpolitics of men such as William Wilberforceand the academic work of Russell Kirk, throughto the writings of the recently deceased WilliamF. Buckley, longtime editor of the NationalReview, in whose pages he reinvigoratedconservative political thought.From conservative Presidents, landmarks suchas the Emancipation Proclamation (whichabolished slavery), the National Parks System,First and foremost this debate should becentred on Diesel NOT Unleaded.Why? You may ask.Just look at the increase in supermarketprices for your answer. While it may costyou $5 or $10 extra to fill your tankeverything that is transported (which iseverything) rises as Diesel rises.My average basket at the supermarket per weekhas increased on average $30 and that’s for oneperson.Australia’s whole economy is tied to Diesel andtherefore it should be afforded the same priorityand status as water i.e. an essential commodity.I own a small transport company and I have hadto significantly raise my prices twice in the pastyear just to maintain profit margins.This cost you money too.I am compelled to write this letter because I amsick of all the namby-pamby pussyfootingand principles of limited government havesprung.The Democratic Party is more closely alignedwith liberal thought.There is room for some confusion here, becausemany would argue that the Australian LiberalParty is anything but ‘liberal’ in its outlook.It is difficult to trace a clear line along theprogression of liberal thought, but a good placeto start would be Rousseau, who inspired writersfrom Thoreau to Ginsberg and Chomsky, alongwith the intellectual subtleties of documentarymakerMichael Moore.From the consciences of more liberal Presidentshave sprung an increased focus on socialwelfare and some of America’s great civil rightsadvances.Independents occupy a strange middle space:they are not much loved by the faithful of eitherparty, but remain absolutely essential for anysuccessful presidential campaign.Independents sustain a dynamic in which bothparties try to stimulate their bases while at thesame time attempting to attract the necessaryvoters from the center.Both Democrats and Republicans claim they arecloser to the center than their opponents.Some argue that the game of politics (asopposed to the greater philosophical grounding)makes the distinction between the practicalactions of either party singly difficult todistinguish.That’s an interesting idea, but it ignores thesignificant differences in bearing betweenRepublicans and Democrats.And that’s where I’ll pick up the thread inAugust, as we get closer to the Tuesday after thefirst Monday of November. i.e.: Election Day onNovember 4.[In the interest of full disclosure, I shouldmention that I found this discussion muchsimpler than explaining cricket to Yanks…]sean@scarisbricks.netKookaburraFuel: An open debate:or how to knock about 50c a litre off the price of fuelThis open letter was forwarded to the Voice byPaul Marcus, a previous Editor. Worth a look.around everyone seems to be doing about thecurrent fuel debate. I have spent considerabletime researching this area because it affects myincome.Contained herein is the WHOLE truth aboutthedebate, the WHOLE big picture, if you will.NO-ONE till now has had the testicularfortitude to stick their necks out and present theWHOLE argument about just how much we arebeing RIPPED OFF. If you want the truth andthe WHOLE truth read on.DON’T – Listen to spin doctors from the oilcompanies. THEY HAVE A VESTEDINTEREST TO KEEP FUEL PRICES HIGH.DON’T – Listen to the government – state orfederal. THEY HAVE A VESTED INTERESTTO KEEP FUEL PRICES HIGH.DON’T – pay too much attention to news orcurrent affairs programs. THEY HAVE THEIROWN AGENDAS.So here we go, how to make fuel cheaper!FIRSTLY – DISBAND FUEL PARITYParity, for those that don’t know, is government(Continued on page 34)
July 2008 Kangaroo Valley Voice Page 15The schools of Kangaroo ValleyPart 5BENDEELA ---1876-1926The Bendeela area had been settled sincethe 1860’s by pioneers with largehouseholds, like the King, Milligan,Bryen, Rous and Rendall families, so theneed for educational facilities was animportant concern.Some of these settlers were lacking inliterary skills and desired more for theirchildren.A small slab building with a shingled roof, achimney, water tank and out house was built bythe community in 1876 and situated just pastwhere the Power Station is today.It was granted Provisional Status, then officiallyopened as a Public School in May 1878 andremained so until May 1908.The teachers during those thirty years were,Mary Kelly, James Emery, Annie Shannon,Henry Jamieson, Horace Foot and Henry James.In 1908, Bendeela became a Half-Time schoolwith Woodhill for a year and then with BudgongGap from 1910-1914. Oscar Schlacht, ThomasBryant and Victor Taylor were responsible forboth schools during those years.The school closed in 1914 for the period ofWW1 and re-opened in October 1919.Francis Mc Namara and his successorscontinued the ‘half-time circuits’ with BudgongGap until Bendella closed in 1926.These hard working teachers were DonaldBrooker, ES Trainor, John Toone and CarlMorisset.Bendeela became an active community andbeing closer to the main township and on thedirect route from the Southern Highlands overthe Meryla Pass was more quickly settled.Charles Throsby aided by the aboriginalTimelong had explored and mapped this route tothe lush river flats: it was used by the earlycedar getters and cattlemen.Besides the school, a Union Church and a PostOffice were established in the latter part of theC19th and supplies were delivered every twoweeks, by wagon, from Wilkinson’s store in theValley.There were four Saw mills and a Bee farmduring the early years of the C20th andelectricity connected in 1951.BUDGONG GAP 1884-1930The original school opened in October 1884.It was built on land owned by the early settlerJohn Randall.The site is adjacent to a creek, aptly namedSchool Creek, on the back road to Nowra overBudgong Gap.The local community constructed a singleroomed school house with the trademarkchimney, outhouse and water tank.The Council of Education provided the teacherand the equipment.Beginning as a Provisional School calledBudgong, with Henry Peck as teacher, itoperated for four years, with Annie Kennedyfollowing him.Kangaroo TalesBy Joan BrayThe well dressed pupils of Bellawongarah Public School 1905—a far cry from today’s uniformsThen in 1889, it became a Public School andthe teachers were Annie Kennedy, EmilyNoakes, and Edith Robinson.In 1895 Budgong closed for three years and wasre-opened in September 1898 as Budgong GapPublic, with Bridget Lambert the first teacher.It remained a Public School until 1909.Bridget Lambert resigned when she married andthe next teachers from 1889 -1909 wereWilliam Kingsell, Amy Monaghan, MaudeKennedy, Frank Roberts, Gordon Allmon.Children from the families of Gerrey, Randall,Forsyth, Limmery, Mc Nelly, Waddington andBrookes were all educated at Budgong GapSchool and as they had large families theschool was the centre of a happy social life.The annual Picnic and Sports Day wasespecially enjoyed by all this community.It was held on Charles Randall’s paddockadjacent to the school and this was bedeckedwith brightly coloured flags for the occasion.Private vehicles and two hired coachestransported the 200 adults and scores of excitedchildren and the grand event was opened bythe local Member of Parliament.It was reported in the ‘Kangaroo ValleyTimes’, in December 1901, that “Wilkinsonand Davidson, the proprietors of the local(Continued on page 16)Kangaroo ValleySupermarket4465 1512Hello and welcome to the Valley!We have the one-stop-shop for all youreveryday and weekend needsGroceries, Specialty breads, Delicatessen,Eco friendly, Organic products, Frozen foodsFresh fruit and vegetables, DVD hireChemist lines, Video hireNewspapers , MagazinesMoss Vale Road Kangaroo Valley
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