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Monthly Archives: July 2021

Read more about the article The great oil fires of Wickham, NSW
View from Bank Corner of the 1939 oil tank fire at Wickham. Photo by Russ Hughes.

The great oil fires of Wickham, NSW

Wickham residents were startled by a loud explosion at about 2pm on Saturday, December 16, 1939. Within moments the cause was clear: one of the huge fuel storage tanks owned by Commonwealth Oil Refineries near the waterfront had caught fire and was burning ferociously, sending huge black smoke clouds into the sky. Those who recalled the suburb's earlier scare with the fire on the oil tanker British Honour in 1930 scrambled to get their families and belongings out and away from the danger zone. A signalman - J. Sommers - at the Hannell Street railway box…

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So now it’s a race after all

July 7, 2021 Opinion by Greg Ray Our squandered vaccination opportunity If true leadership is most clearly recognisable in times of crisis, then I don't need to say anything about Australia's current national leaders. Their actions, and lack of action, speak volumes on their own. From "not holding a hose" in the bushfire crisis to "it's not a race" when Australia had precious months to get as much of its population as possible vaccinated, the prime minister has summed up himself and his government. The bushfires are behind us, and it seems from interviews I've seen…

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Read more about the article Coming in from the Cold War

Coming in from the Cold War

Do you ever find yourself longing for the good old days of Cold War Mk 1? I know, there were aspects of it that weren’t too great. The fear of nuclear war, for a start. But occasionally I find myself thinking back to the way it seemed to be before the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union fell apart and I almost feel a sort of nostalgia for the apparent simplicity of it all. It’s true that the simplicity was rather deceptive if you scratched more than a little below the surface of the…

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