Columns »

[24 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

The treatment of detainees at the Alexander Maconochie Centre federal prison in CanberraROSS FITZGERALDOct 24, 2024

So far, the only media outlets courageous enough to publish my revelations about the inhumane treatment of David McBride and other inmates at the odious Alexander Maconochie Centre federal prison in Canberra have been Pearls and Irritations and Canberra’s City News.

On 22 October 2024, I finally received a response on behalf of Richard Glenn, Director-General ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate.

This followed my 25 September 2024 email in which I directed a number of questions …

Columns »

[21 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

by ROSS FITZGERALD

“In Queensland, Premier Stephen Miles and his ALP government are seen as weak, incompetent and overwhelmed. This is an electorally terminal combination,” writes PROF ROSS FITZGERALD.

In the forthcoming state election, my prediction is that Labor in Queensland will get hammered.

As it happens, Labor in Queensland is the name of a political history that I co-authored with Sigrid Thornton’s brother, Harold Thornton.

In the recent NT election there was a 23 per cent swing against the ALP.All signs indicate that, on Saturday, there will be a swing against Labor of …

Reviews »

[19 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

Jack Iverson was, my father often told me, the finest bowler to whom he ever kept

By Ross Fitzgerald

Oct 19, 2024

Playing against England, in the home Ashes series of 1950–51, Iverson led the Australian bowling averages with 21 wickets at 15.24 runs per wicket. Bamboozling the Poms, in one Test he got 6 for 27. A little known fact is that Jack Iverson’s highest score in all five Tests was 1 not out.

A famous old club: A History of the Brighton Cricket Club by David King

ISBN 9780646977829

RRP: $85.00 (hb)

Reviewed by Ross …

Books »

[16 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

This year the nimble Melbourne publisher Hybrid have taken a punt and released The Ascent of Everest, a boxed set of four Australian political  satires.

All these fictions centre on Dr Professor Grafton Everest, whose first academic position, in the mid-1980s, was a lecturer in Life Skills and Hospitality at the ultra leftist University of  Mangoland. At the same time, Grafton Everest was also assailed by the uber-right-wing government of the odious premier of Mangoland, Sir Otis Hoogstratten.

These days, in 2025, through no wish or effort of his own, Grafton has become …

Featured »

[15 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

“There should be a public inquiry, not just into the mistreatment of whistleblower David McBride, but also into serious allegations about the inhumane conditions other inmates face at the AMC,” says letter writer ANDREW WILLIAM HOPKINS.

The fact that Australian Army war crimes whistleblower David McBride has been granted a chance to appeal against his five years and eight months sentence at the dreadful Alexander Maconochie Centre prison in Canberra is long overdue.

It is important to understand that this occurred only because of the tireless efforts of Prof Ross Fitzgerald and …

Books »

[15 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

This year the nimble Melbourne publisher Hybrid have taken a punt and released The Ascent of Everest, a boxed set of four Australian political satires.

All these fictions centre on Dr Professor Grafton Everest, whose first academic position, in the mid-1980s, was a lecturer in Life Skills and Hospitality at the ultra leftist University of Mangoland.

At the same time, Grafton Everest was also assailed by the uber-right-wing government of the odious premier of Mangoland, Sir Otis Hoogstratten.

These days, in 2025, through no wish or effort of his own, Grafton has become …

Columns »

[14 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

ROSS FITZGERALD

No. It’s not because November 5 is the date of the American election, in which Ronald Thump (my fictional creation in the Grafton Everest political satires) may win by a whisker.

No. It’s not because November 5 is the date of the Melbourne Cup, in which Francesco Guardi, trainer by Chris Waller is a good each-way bet at 26 to 1.

It is actually because on November 5 (Guy Fawkes Day) 1974, at the instigation of my long time friend Barry Humphries, I met the luminous model and actor Lyndal Moor …

Columns »

[14 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

By ROSS FITZGERALD

In the forthcoming October 26 state elections, my prediction is that Labor in Queensland will get hammered. As it happens, Labor in Queensland is the name of a political history that I co-authored with Sigrid Thorntons’s brother, Harold Thornton.

In the recent Northern Territory election there was a 23 pre cent swing against the ALP.All signs indicate that, on Saturday October 26 in Queensland, there will be swing against Labor of about 10 per cent.

The primary problem for the state ALP is that Stephen Miles and his government are …

Reviews »

[13 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

My father Bill (“Long Tom”) Fitzgerald and one of Australia’s greatest spin bowlers – the enigmatic Jack Iverson.Jack Iverson was, my father often told me, the finest bowler to whom he ever kept.

Playing against England, in the home Ashes series of 1950–51, Iverson led the Australian bowling averages with 21 wickets at 15.24 runs per wicket. Bamboozling the Poms, in one Test he got 6 for 27. A little known fact is that Jack Iverson’s. highest score in all five Tests was 1 not out.

A Famous Old Club: A History …

Columns »

[12 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

 Prison shame passes unnoticed on the ACT campaign trail, by Andrew Fraser.

The Alexander Maconochie Centre federal prison in Canberra… “Even discounting for hatred of “the screws”, so many former and current inmates are speaking out and the picture is uniform: drugs are rife in the AMC.”

“Even in the very teeth of the ACT election campaign, it seems, reports of malfeasance by staff at the Alexander Maconochie Centre can be virtually ignored. There’s no votes, it seems, in the treatment of our most despised fellow citizens, which is supposed to be the …

Columns »

[12 Oct 2024 | No Comment | ]

Sunlight needed to eradicate prison horrors at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in Canberra

By Andrew Fraser

Reports of malfeasance involving staff at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, the ACT’s supposedly human-rights-compliant prison, are now too numerous and too frequent to lack substantial veracity.

Yet, even in the very teeth of the ACT election campaign, it seems they can be virtually ignored.There’s no votes, it seems, in the treatment of our most despised fellow citizens, which is supposed to be the measure of us as a civilised society.

As Professor Ross Fitzgerald so searingly spelled out …