A beautiful, haunting novel from the
award-winning
Ursula Dubosarsky
Amber | Captain Cook | Ronald Ryan | Harold Holt | Vietnam War
Gough Whitlam | Juanita Neilsen
Portrait of James Cook, Nathaniel Dance-Holland 1775
In The Golden Day there are several references to the life, death and remarkable voyages of British navigator and explorer Captain James Cook and his boat the ‘Endeavour’.
All of this formed a major focus of ‘Social Studies’ classes in New South Wales primary schools in the 1960s and 70s.
Map of Captain Cooks three voyages
Captain James Cook
Ronald Ryan (1925–1967) was the last person to be hanged in Australia by order of a court.
Ryan had been convicted of the murder of a prison officer while trying to escape from Pentridge Prison in Melbourne.
Ronald Ryan
‘The year began with the hanging of one man . . .’
His body was never found, but he was pronounced dead on December 19.
A memorial service was held December 22.
Speculation continues as to his disappearance – read more here.
Harold Holt
‘. . . and ended with the drowning of another.’
The Vietnam War was a long and complex military conflict between the USA and the communist forces governing North Vietnam.
The war began in the late 1950s, and Australia became involved as an ally of the United States in 1962
In the USA, a powerful civilian protest campaign against the war was mounted, sometimes marked by considerable violence.
Both in the USA and Australia this protest movement was inextricably associated with the social changes and counter-culture of the late 1960s and 70s.
Apart from the conflict itself, protest also focused on the issue of conscription, ie. the forcible drafting of young men to serve in the army overseas.
In 1969 US President Nixon announced that America and its allies were to begin their withdrawal from Vietnam. The last Australian battalion left in December 1971, although the official final American withdrawal was not until 1975.
The Vietnam War
Gough Whitlam (1916–) was elected Prime Minister of Australia on December 5, 1972. After a sometimes controversial and turbulent period in office, he reached a deadlock situation with the Senate, which refused to grant the supply of money to keep the government in operation.
Whitlam held out, not wanting to be forced into an election over the issue, but the matter was decided for him when the increasingly urgent impasse was broken through by Governor-General John Kerr, who dismissed Whitlam from his position on November 11, 1975. This historical event is commonly known as ‘The Dismissal’ – a play on words relating to cricket, Australia’s national sport.
An election was immediately called for December 13 to resolve the matter, and Whitlam was defeated by Liberal Malcolm Fraser, who became the next Prime Minister.
Gough Whitlam famously addressed the crowd on the day of his dismissal.
And for some more (if bizarre) atmosphere of the day:
Gough Whitlam
‘They passed a newspaper kiosk. A crowd had gathered round it, picking up papers. There were posters with shouting black headlines. But the girls didn’t stop to see what the news was . . .’
It is assumed that she was murdered, possibly because of her outspoken position against businesses who were planning a high-rise development of the area.
Juanita Neilsen
‘They wandered into the street, past the empty rubbish bins, the high blocks of units and the crumbling terrace houses, down past the little stone church, and along the walled laneway where someone had painted “Who Killed Juanita?” in large, dripping white letters.’
On July 4, 1975, a woman named Juanita Nielsen (1937–?) disappeared from near her home in Kings Cross, Sydney. Despite prolonged investigations, her body has never been recovered.
In December 1967, the Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt (1908–1967), was drowned while diving off Cheviot Beach at Portsea, Victoria.
In the months after Juanita’s disappearance, posters and graffiti seeking an answer to her death appeared on walls all over the district. For further reading click here.
Amber
