RE John Olsen: A gift to the nationby Ross FitzgeraldPlease see the last nine lines.

My dear friend, the great Australian painter John Olsen was, at 77, the oldest artist to win the Archibald Prize.In 2019, over a long lunch at Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay facing the Sydney Harbour, I was with John and Barry Humphries when they yarned about what might happen to John’s 2005 Archibald Prize winning Self Portrait Janus- faced.

As Barry and I were then fifty years sober, it will come as no surprise that it was …

John Olsen’s gift to the nation\Ross Fitzgerald.My dear friend, the great Australian painter John Olsen was, at 77, the oldest artist to win the Archibald Prize.In 2019, over a long lunch at Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay facing the Sydney Harbour, I was with John and Barry Humphries when they yarned about what might happen to John’s 2005 Archibald Prize winning Self Portrait Janus- faced.

As Barry and I were then fifty years sober, it will come as no surprise that it was John who did all the drinking!That afternoon, in …

Pearls and Irritations

More Letters to the Editor in relation to our article “David McBride and the Alexander Maconochie Centre prison in Canberra.”

1. From Anthony Charles Wakeham, Redfern, NSW, Oct 3, 2024

Prof Ross Fitzgerald’s October 1 exposé “David McBride and the Alexander Maconochie Prison in Canberra” should be distributed far and wide.

Most Australians, in fact all good people around the world would be appalled to hear that an honest, military lawyer is being cruelly incarcerated for reporting war crimes. While the people responsible for those crimes walk free.

Even more shocking, is …

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Pearls and Irritations

In relation to our article David McBride and the Alexander Maconochie Centre prison in Canberra

1. Andrew Hopkins,NSW, Oct 2, 2024Prof Fitzgerald’s disturbing revelations about conditions endured by military whistleblower, David McBride & other inmates at the AMC in Canberra ought be taken seriously by governmental authorities and by the Australian media.

It is an utter travesty that so far, Pearls & Irritations is the only influential outlet to canvass Fitzgerald’s urgent call for a parliamentary inquiry about David McBride and conditions prevailing at the federal …

By ROSS FITZGERALD

The parlous physical and mental health of David McBride and disturbing revelations about conditions at the Alexander Maconochie Centre prison in Canberra are a national disgrace.

Yet the only media outlet to cover this story is the free Canberra newspaper, City News.

When I asked two editors of national newspapers why they won’t investigate McBride’s current situation, they both responded – McBride pleaded guilty.

We need to be reminded, that, at his trial, McBride’s lawyers planned a public interest defence.

When Judge David Mossop ruled that there can be no public interest …

‘Inhumane’ treatment of imprisoned David McBrideby Professor Ross FitzgeraldCityNews Canberra, 18 September 2024.https://citynews.com.au/wp-admin/post.php?post=329274&action=edit

“Whistleblower David McBride’s debilitating conditions of imprisonment at the Alexander Maconochie Centre comprise cruel and unusual punishment,” writes ROSS FITZGERALD.

Australian Defence Forces Army whistleblower lawyer David McBride – convicted for revealing war crimes in Afghanistan – is currently imprisoned in Canberra.

Before Mr McBride was sentenced by the ACT Supreme Court on May 14 to five years and eight months incarceration, he was leading a sober and useful life.

Whatever one thinks about his guilt or innocence, it is my …

The Australian September 10, 2024. We almost housed a Jewish state in Australia by Ross Fitzgerald

Persecuted Europeans Jews tried to build a homeland in Australia

The Kimberly plan would have significantly increased our European population and helped develop the northern and far western areas of Australia.

In the 1930s, most Australians agreed with the idea of 16,500 square km of the Kimberley being purchased by Jews for an unlikely homeland.

ROSS FITZGERALD

With virulent anti-Semitism gripping Australia and many Jewish students now afraid to attend some of our educational institutions, how many readers are …

“The vape black market is thriving in Australia and will continue to sell unregulated vapes with unknown ingredients and unknown nicotine levels to anyone of any age who has enough money to buy them,” writes PROF ROSS FITZGERALD.

Countdown to failure of pharmacy vape schemeby Ross Fitzgerald

Australia’s failed prescription policy for vaping nicotine was finally scrapped by a federal Senate vote on June 25. It has been replaced by an utterly unworkable pharmacy supply scheme that begins operating on October 1.

The fact is, pharmacists and vapers both hate the new system. …

Working with  Barry Humphries
ROSS FITZGERALD
Barry Humphries and I were friends for more than 60 years.
We drank together, got sober together, and also worked with each other.
In 1972, when we were two years sober, I played a small role in Barry’s raucous Australian comedy, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie.  In this path-breaking Australian film (or “fillum” as my father used to say), Barry not only played Edna Everage but a number of other characters as well, including the mad psychiatrist, Dr Humphrey de Lamphrey. I was one of Bazza’s mates farewelling him …

Anti-hero Everest reaches for dizzying heightsAcademic and author ROSS FITZGERALD reflects on the journey to his latest political satire “Pandemonium” and the series’ anti-hero Dr Professor Grafton Everest.    As some avid “CityNews” readers may know, my latest Grafton Everest political satire “Pandemonium”, co-authored with Ian McFadyen, of “Comedy Company” fame, has recently been published. In it, my anti-hero, Dr Professor Grafton Everest, is the first Australian Secretary-General of the shambolic United Nations. In its prequel, “The Lowest Depths”, published last year, Russia’s dictatorial president-for-life, Vladimir Putrid, is assassinated. Will …

Sober Days with Barry HumphriesROSS FITZGERALDBarry Humphries and I were friends for sixty-one years. We drank together, got sober together, and worked together.In late 1969 we were both admitted to a suburban Melbourne alcoholic and drug addiction hospital, Delmont. The wonderful lead psychiatrist there, Dr John Moon, who happened to be a Christadelphian, was a strong supporter of Alcoholics Anonymous. Delmont was the last mental hospital either Barry or I were admitted to as a patient.The night before we were due to be discharged, we got taken to a large …