Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.
What Time is It? It is flow of a sandstorm that will on each day compress somewhere into a structure – sandstone, selected and only remembered in the longue durée.
On Thursday, 8 January 1970, The Army Minister Andrew Peacock denies the statement made the previous day by senior Labor figure Jim Cairns that Australian officers in Vietnam had suggested to troops that they would be home by June.
On Thursday, 8 January 1970, Queensland Labor Senator George Georges rejects oil company assurances that drilling in the Great Barrier Reef area could be done in such a way that the reef would be preserved in an untouched state.
On Saturday, 8 January 2000, Queensland Labor Member for Woodridge, Bill D’Arcy resigns from Queensland Parliament due to the controversy caused by the Net Bet scandal.
On Friday, 8 January 2010, The Togo national football team is involved in an attack in Cabinda Province, Angola, and as a result withdraws from the Africa Cup of Nations. The attack was perpetrated by the FLEC, their first since the Angolan Civil War.
On Thursday, 8 January 2015, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, speaking from the Adelaide Hills, outlines plans for Commonwealth recovery payments for victims of the 2015 Sampson Flat bushfires, amounting to $4 million.
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Neville Buch