Tourist plane crashes in Perth (Australia)

Click HERE to access a French press article on a crash in Western Australia, which resulted in the deaths of two people. The accident occurred on Australia Day.

Australia and her Aborigines still trying to understand each other

#Australie #AustraliaDay #Aborigènes

The long road has been winding its way through a tunnel for many years, and the bright light is not yet visible. The newspaper The Australian recently shocked indigenous people by publishing this cartoon by Bill Leak:

Click cartoon to enlarge

People were hurt by this silly representation of an Aboriginal as a beer-guzzling father who has forgotten the name of his son. Reactions blossomed immediately. Aboriginal fathers spoke with pride of their sons. Everybody agreed that Leak's hurtful depiction of Aboriginals served no useful purpose. The newspaper itself lost readers and money.

Recently, animosity of Aborigines towards white society arose in Fremantle (Western Australia) on the old question of Australia Day festivities next 28 January. Many Aborigines call it "Invasion Day", considering that it marks the moment in history when white Europeans stole their land. The mayor Ecologist of this city near Perth, Brad Pettitt, whose wife is an Australian international netball player, had hoped that next Australia Day would be celebrated solely by citizenship ceremonies, but the federal government vetoed this idea. So, traditional celebrations will be held as usual.

Next stop Fremantle... for my son

I've just received a phone call from my son François, from the Paris airport. He's about to step onto a plane for Perth in Western Australia. Tomorrow, he has a room booked at the Norfolk Hotel in Fremantle.

François and I used to go there often for drinks in the beer garden during the fabulous season of the America's Cup in 1986, when we were both sailing regularly on the 12-meter wooden yacht Zigeuner, which used to sail (before World War II) on the Isle of Wight.

The itinerary of his forthcoming TV episode will stretch from Fremantle up to Broome. On the surface, it doesn't sound like a typical ride for a fellow on a moped, but François informs me that the production team might admit (for the first time in the series) the idea of his hitching a ride on one of the huge lorries that move back and forth along the coast. My son (unlike me) is already well-acquainted with this western coastline of Australia, and he surely had a few major ideas in the back of his head in deciding to shoot the episode here.

ADDENDUM: When he's moving around on his moped journeys, François often finds an Internet connection enabling him to catch up on his email and read my blog. He might be interested to see this article that has just appeared in Télérama.