Hi all you wonderful readers – May you enjoy some time out with family and friends and find time for some interesting reading. It’s time to take a break and refresh ourselves for the new year which is so close now.
The photo on the left is of the Hanukkah menorah and Christmas tree standing side by side on the Cairns Esplanade where I live. On the right, I’m checking out a bookshop.
REVIEW ON AMAZON OF MY BOOK SECRETS AND LIES BY A NATIVE AMERICAN
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2021
As an individual of native heritage in another country, I perhaps read this novel in a more aggressive manner, looking for perhaps bias of the White woman writing “our” history and
Thinking she really knew what way. I did not find that at all. I felt she wrote from the voice of the people. She was able to share their pain, their distress, and their loss. I highly recommend this novel for anyone of any country, as our stories are very similar. The story of the first people, and what happened to us when another people decided that they wanted to take what was ours and makes it theirs. Then telling us we needed to become them. Taking away our heritage, telling us to act like them, but when we did they put us on the lowest rung of their system. I recommend this novel and would read more novels by this author. I received this novel in advance. I choose to write a review for this novel and the opinions here are my own.
BOOK LAUNCH OF “SECRETS AND LIES”
Thanks to all the wonderful people from around the world who spoke at and attended the book launch of my latest book. What an interesting time! We had a special appearance by Lex Wotton who is in the book. He spoke about the death in custody at Palm Island and the riot that followed and his jailing over the riot. Others who spoke were my editor from England, reviewers of my book from South Africa, the USA and Australia including a lawyer for the Mabo case Greg McIntyre, readers from Malaysia and Australia, David Jack who prepares the photos for my books, and my wonderful husband Norman who wrote the foreword and facilitates my time to write.
This book has been no 1 best seller in Public Law on Amazon Australia for about 2 weeks. Here is the US link which will take you to the AU link – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095SDW3LY
BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE
This is my review of “Shaland’s Jewish Travel Guide to Malta and Corsica.”
“Shaland’s Jewish Travel Guide to Malta and Corsica” is a masterpiece in bringing to light the unknown history and rich cultural treasures of Malta and Corsica which are situated in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea but off the beaten track for most tourists.
Author Irene Shaland’s experience as an art and travel writer, educator, and theatre reviewer brings a richness and depth not normally found in travel guides. Her husband, Alex, an internationally-acclaimed photographer has contributed a huge number of amazing photos that bring the story to life.
And this is much more than a travel guide. It also opens the door on the Jewish story of Malta and Corsica. As Jewish migrants from Russia to the USA, they bring unique insights to this travel guide.
Many gems of information for the curious are revealed like the first alphabet, the temples built well before the pyramids of Egypt, and much more, but you need to read it to find out. You will be surprised at how pivotal these two small islands were in the history of Europe. When you pick this book up, you’ll not be able to put it down.
Even if you don’t plan to travel there, you’ll be carried along as Irene’s skills as a detective and researcher draw you into this amazing story.” –Barbara Miller, an author of ten books, a psychologist, sociologist, historian and activist.
If your Amazon account is in the US (www.amazon.com), please follow one of the links below to take a look at the paperback or eBook edition of Irene’s book:
I wrote a chapter in this book on “The Power of Vision” and it was based on the principles I followed at a conference Norman and I and our team hosted in Cairns in 2006 where about 3,000 people attended. The link is – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CKD5GR8/
Question –What is on your reading list for the upcoming holiday? Let me know via email
Hi all you wonderful readers – We have enjoyed the Hanukkah celebrations ending nightfall of 6 Dec and Christmas will soon be upon us. For those who don’t celebrate these seasons, you will no doubt have holidays to look forward to with maybe some indulgent eating and gift-giving nonetheless. Don’t forget to take a book with you on your travels or stay-at-home break. God bless you and your family. I believe God has called me to write and I look forward to the book He has for me next.
Book Launch 7 Dec 12md AEDT Zoom
6 December 8pm New York time
Zoom ID 116 446 220 Passcode: 498888
You are invited to a zoom book launch of my book Secrets and Lies on Tuesday 7 December at 12md AEDT i.e. Sydney time and Monday night 6 December 8pm New York time.
Mayor of Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire, Ross Andrews, the Hon. Bob Katter, Federal MP, Native American podcaster Marina Maria, American Jewish author Irene Shaland, British editor Tony Crofts, Malaysian pastor Joy Tan, Cairns journalist & reviewer Christine Howes, Australian prayer leader Lilian Schmid and videographer David Jack will be sharing live with videos from authors in South Africa & Jordan. We may be joined by author Dr Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jnr. So it will be an interesting session. Tell your friends.
Reviews
This memoire, Secrets and Lies, tells the story of important events in the relationship between the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments and Aboriginal people on Aurukun and Mornington Island and their struggle to maintain control of their lives in the face of paternalism and racism. It does so from the perspective of the author, who had a unique opportunity to observe the events in which Aboriginal leaders participated and recount the conversations which occurred at meetings between community members and with politicians who played key roles in these events along with what was played out in the public arena and recorded in the media.
It paints an intimate picture of the individuals involved and brings to life the impact which actions of Government have had upon them at a personal and structural level. It provides a detailed insight into how a grass-roots activist organisation, the North Queensland Land Council, with a charismatic leader, Mick Miller, was able to operate in a regional, State, national and international arena in its advocacy of self-determination for Aboriginal people.
It traces the history of on-going advocacy of the author for Aboriginal people and the challenges they face through various changes of direction in her personal life. It is a unique and valuable record of the observations and participation of the author in activism which has as its unwavering focus a dedication to the cause of social justice for Indigenous people.
Greg McIntyre SC, Barrister, Michael Kirby Chambers Perth, Lawyer for the Mabo Case
Secrets and Lies – A powerful, hard-hitting yarn, from the grassroots of Cape York community-life through to the necessary development of life-changing political activism on Cape York in the 1970s and 80s.
This is a story which needs to be told and has to be taught, with lessons to learn about what should be done, and how it should (and shouldn’t) be done.
These yarns are at the roots of what still happens today, in this day and age, making it an essential read for anyone who has ties or in an interest, not just in the Cape York landscape, but across all of Government/Aboriginal politics.
A well-written and fascinating contextual read for anyone with a passion for justice for Aboriginal people.
Christine Howes, FNQ correspondent for Koori Mail
Special almost finished but it’s an honour to celebrate the anniversary of William Cooper again on 6 Dec. Kristallnacht To Cooper Protest Special 9 Nov – 6 Dec
To commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass and the response by Australian Aboriginal William Cooper in leading the Australian Aborigines’ League on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, I have a $10 discount on my William Cooper Gentle Warrior book with free shipping in Australia.
Shattered Lives Broken Dreams is available from Amazon as well as my website but William Cooper Gentle Warrior is only available from my website and is not available as an ebook.
Question – What is on your reading list for the upcoming holiday? Let me know via email
Hi all you wonderful readers – the holiday season is fast approaching and I wish you some wonderful time out with family and friends. Also, let’s hope you can snuggle up with a book around a fireside in colder climates or lay on a beach and read while listening to the waves lapping on a sandy shore. Mine will be the latter.
Book Launch 7 Dec 12md AEDT Zoom
Zoom ID 116 446 220 Passcode: 498888
You are invited to a zoom book launch of my book Secrets and Lies on Tuesday 7 December at 12md AEDT i.e. Sydney time and Monday night 6 December 8pm New York time. I launched it on amazon for NAIDOC and it has been bestseller in a number of categories from time to time. I was invited to have a physical launch at the Cairns Tropical Writers Festival but it was postponed till next year due to covid. So this zoom launch will enable my friends and book lovers from around the world to join in.
Review
Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir, is both a political chronicle and a personal memoir – a journey the young Barbara took into political activism and personal transformation, which became life-long. Barbara Miller shows the political and the personal can be two sides of a life journey of service.
There is critical history in this bookfrom an activist on the inside. Yet the book also shows that political activism is not enough. It must be balanced by personal integrity and pursuit. The journey from the political into the personal, with fulfillment in spiritual practice, is also illuminating. Can we do one without the other? I think not, whatever the spiritual practice is.
Barbara’s book bought memories of the days of the Aboriginal Co-ordinating Council (ACC), both of us working at different levels within the ACC to respond to the directions and needs of the old reserve mission controls moving into deeds of grant in trust and ‘self-management’. Barbara’s political background provided essential insight and sound analysis. Mine saw the failure of the services delivered by a racist regime, with the ACC working to meet their legislative responsibilities. Barbara supported this work through research. Hers has been an inspirational journey of service at many levels.
Judy Atkinson, Emeritus Professor, PhD AM
Here is an interesting earlier interview I did with a Native American interviewer, Marina Maria of Faith City Outreach for her podcast:
Kristallnacht To Cooper Protest Special 9 Nov – 6 Dec
To commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass and the response by Australian Aboriginal William Cooper in leading the Australian Aborigines’ League on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, I have a $10 discount on my William Cooper Gentle Warrior book with free shipping in Australia. – https://barbara-miller-books.com/
Shattered Lives Broken Dreams is available from Amazon as well as my website but William Cooper Gentle Warrior is only available from my website and is not available as an ebook.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
Keith DeLacy, A Philosophical Journey
Your Price: $39.95
ISBN:9781922449603
Connorcourt Publishing
Sadly Keith DeLacy passed away a few days ago of cancer at 81 years of age but he managed to publish his memoir in time – in September 2021. He even spoke at a function in Brisbane one week before he passed. An outstanding treasurer in the Queensland government, he is reported by a Gympie newspaper as being critical of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his book, having worked with him in the Goss government. I knew Keith personally in my early days and he seemed to be a person of integrity.John Roskam
DeLacy weaves together a tale of family, sport, politics, and business with candour, humanity, and profound insight. Anyone who wants to understand modern Australia must read this important and significant work.’ Gary Johns
‘When he became Treasurer in the Wayne Goss government he knew that Labor had a bad reputation for reckless spending. He set about making sure that he would not repeat the mistakes of other administrations. He succeeded. De Lacy has had a celebrated career after politics as a company director and entrepreneur.
Pre-publication Interview I did with Sylvia Tabua of Torres Strait Islander Radio on my book Secrets and Lies. It was a phone interview and my husband Norman videod me
If you are an avid reader and are in KDP select, all my ebooks are free. I am in KDP select as I pay a low monthly fee and can read 10 books free as often as I like. Sounds good?
Question – What is your favourite book and why in a few words? Or a book that impacted you as a child? Let me know via email
To commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass and the response by Australian Aboriginal William Cooper in leading the Australian Aborigines’ League on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, I have a $10 discount on my William Cooper Gentle Warrior book with free shipping in Australia. – https://barbara-miller-books.com/
FREE EBOOK SHATTERED LIVES BROKEN DREAMS
8-12 NOV
To raise awareness about the horror of Kristallnacht and the Holocaust and to let people know the amazing story about how Aboriginal people in faraway Australia, led by William Cooper, protested the treatment of Jews by the Nazis, I have my book Shattered Lives Broken Dreamsfree as an ebook for 5 days. Kristallnacht was 9-10 Nov so my book will be available free from Monday, November 8, 2021, 12:00 AM PST (Pacific Time, USA) to Friday, November 12, 2021, 11:59 PM PST. Bear in mind the US is 19 hours behind Sydney time. Here is the link to get your copy so share this with your friends and please let your organisation know – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084Q4SSTX
WHAT HAPPENED AT KRISTALLNACHT?
It is the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht on November 9 when the sounds of breaking glass shattered the lives of many Jewish people in Germany, Austria, and Sudetenland. It was the start of the Holocaust, a turning point in the history of antisemitism that would lead to mass genocide. Gangs of Nazi storm troopers destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses, set fire to more than 900 synagogues, killed 91 Jews, and deported some 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. While the official death toll was 91, it may have been in the hundreds. Their resilience in the face of this horror is a tribute to Jewish people. We say never again. If we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it.
Despite Aborigines not being citizens in their own land, William Cooper led them to the German Consulate in Melbourne on 6 December 1938 in a protest against the treatment of Jews. They knew what oppression was like. Cooper, a Christian, and his people, the Yorta Yorta tribe, many of whom were also Christian, related to the Jews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. William Cooper was honoured at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem in December 2010 and my husband Norman and I were privileged to be there with his descendants to witness the event.
Hi all you wonderful readers – I’m blessed to be living in Cairns in the Sunshine state of Queensland and we have only had 3 days of lockdown due to Covid-19 this year, faring much better than crowded cities like Sydney and Melbourne coping with the Delta strain.
In fact, except for the QR code requirement at venues, life has not changed much in Cairns since Covid-19 struck. My best wishes go out to all of you who have had your lives curtailed by many restrictions. A big hug to all of you who have been doing it tough. I only hope that during this time, you’ve been able to use it creatively to try out new things and to catch up on things you didn’t have time to do before. Maybe you even have more time to read books. Anyway, there is light at the end of the tunnel, so all the best.
Below are 2 photos taken by Norman of the Cairns Esplanade at night. Maybe we should be called a City of Lights.
During NAIDOC Week (National Aborigines and Islanders Week), I was interviewed about my new book Secrets and Lies
by Trevour Timms of Bummera Bippera Indigenous radio in Cairns
for National Indigenous Radio.
Here is the short but lively interview:
FREE EBOOK –White Woman Black Heart from 14-18 Sept on amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CCMV6CP
Oppressed Aborigines forced off their land at gunpoint. Over a decade later, one passionate young woman would take up their fight. Melbourne, 1970’s. Twenty-three-year-old university student Barbara Miller always stood her ground, even when it made her an outcast in her own family. So when she became a radical Christian advocate for social change, she didn’t think twice about joining the movement for Aboriginal justice. Boldly relocating to tropical Cape York and linking up with a Black activist and mentor on the frontline, she plunged into a life-changing battle despite the State’s threat of legal prosecution.
14-18 Sept the following ebooks will be reduced to 99c on amazon. The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia –https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GF864Q6
Did the deep north of Australia experience racism, discrimination, and segregation? Yes. But it was different from the deep south of the USA. A system similar to South African apartheid existed on Aboriginal reserves like Yarrabah in Queensland till as recently as 1984.
White Australia Has A Black History https://www.amazon.com/dp/064847223X
Some say he was Australia’s Martin Luther King. William Cooper saw his Aboriginal people dying around him and decided black lives matter. Starvation and discrimination took their toll. He became passionate that they should have a voice in Australia’s federal parliament.
Shattered Lives Broken Dreams – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084Q4SSTX
The Nazis shatter glass and shatter the lives of European Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. An Australian Aboriginal, William Cooper, leads the campaign for civil rights for his people who are dying of poverty and mistreatment around him. 1938; two worlds, far apart. Cut to the core after Kristallnacht, can he do anything to stop it?
BOOK OF THE MONTH
There were certainly plenty of good books to choose from. The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku is not new but it is certainly acclaimed. It is the WINNER OF THE ABIA BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR 2021.
Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you. Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested, and taken to a concentration camp.
Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom, and living his best possible life. He now believes he is the ‘happiest man on earth’.
Published as Eddie turns 100, this is a powerful, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABA NIELSEN BOOK BOOKSELLERS’ CHOICE – ADULT NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS FOR NON-FICTION 2021
LONGLISTED FOR MATT RICHELL AWARD FOR NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR 2021
Interview I did with ABC Radio Cairns for Reconciliation Week on my book Secrets and Lies
REVIEW FEATURE
Authors depend on reviews so I help other authors out with reviews when I can so I have decided to feature a few occasionally in case you’re interested. They are usually inexpensive and quick to read as ebooks on amazon.
Instead of the reviews this month, I have included an exciting opportunity for you with a feature called – BOOKS YOU MIGHT LIKE. They are from other non fiction authors. Check it out now – https://storyoriginapp.com/to/RWP8CwX
Question-What is your favourite book and why in a few words? Or a book that impacted you as a child? Let me know:
bmiller-books@bigpond.com
One of the books that impacted me in childhood was Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, an 1852 anti-slavery novel that had great impact in the US.
CAIRNS – CITY IN A RAINFOREST – PAINTING BY ABORIGINAL ARTIST MUNGANBANA. If you want to see more, go to www.munganbana.com.au
Hi all you wonderful readers – It was an effort to get this newsletter out because I am in my 11th day of being sick with a painful bacterial infection of my leg called cellulitis. After a couple of short stints in hospital and some home nursing from the hospital, I am slowly on the mend at home with antibiotics. I know some of you are in lockdown because of covid. Not an easy situation but I wish you all the best and hope you can take some time out to read.
Announcement My new book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth About Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir, is available on Amazon for 2.99 US as an ebook. The print book will be available from my website for Australians or from Amazon worldwide. Here is the link – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095SDW3LY
I would love some reviews on Amazon please and for you to share about it on social media. IRealesedon 3 July, it has been no 1 best seller in a number of categories and no. 1 new release in a lot of categories – Civil Law, Public Law, Constitutional Law Discrimination, International Treaties, Sociology of Race Relations, Civil Rights, Australian and NZ History, Australian and Oceanian Politics, Study and Teaching and Education Reference.
I have done interviews with Cairns ABC, The Cairns Post where it was front page as well as inside, Torres Strait Islander Radio, Bumma Bippera Radio and National Indigenous Radio Service and Vision Christian Radio. Below are photos of me with my new book banner outside Munganbana Aboriginal Art Gallery and my article in The Cairns Post. Norman photocopied it with the QR code to my website
BOOK OF THE MONTH
God is Good for You: A Defence of Christianity in troubled times by Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of The Australian newspaper.
At a time of crisis for Christianity in the West, God is Good for You shows just why we need faith in our world.
The Judeo-Christian tradition has created and underpinned the moral and legal fabric of Western civilisation for more than 2000 years, yet now we’ve reached a point in both Australia and many parts of the West where Christianity has become a minority faith rather than the mainstream belief. It’s a situation that’s fraught both for Christians and our wider society, where the moral certainties that were the foundation of our institutions and laws are no longer held by the majority.
At this point of crisis for faith, God is Good for You shows us why Christianity is so vital for our personal and social well-being, and how modern Christians have never worked so hard to make the world a better place at a time when their faith has never been less valued. It carries a vital torch for Christianity in a way that’s closely argued, warmly human, good humoured yet passionate, and, above all, convincing.
Interview I did with Vision Christian Radio Australia
Vision radio Q and A
REVIEW FEATURE
Authors depend on reviews so I help other authors out with reviews when I can so I have decided to feature a few occasionally in case you’re interested. They are usually inexpensive and quick to read as ebooks on amazon.
Instead of the reviews this month, I have included an exciting opportunity for you with a feature called – BOOKS YOU MIGHT LIKE. They are from other non fiction authors. Check it out now – https://storyoriginapp.com/to/RWP8CwX
Books on Yarrabah, Mapoon, William Cooper and de Quiros
The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah– https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GF864Q6/ White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, A Memoir– https://www.amazon.com/dp-B07CCMV6CP/
White Australia Has A Black History: William Cooper and First Nations Peoples’ Political Activism – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X1MYCDX/ William Cooper Gentle Warrior and The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita:Quiros Torres and Janszoon – www.barbara-miller-books.com
Announcement My new book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth About Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir, is available for pre-order on Amazon for the special price of 99c US as an ebook. It will be launched on 3 July and will stay at 99c for a few more days. The print book will be available shortly after. Here is the link – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095SDW3LY
I would love some reviews on Amazon please and for you to share about it on social media. It has had a lot of pre-orders already and so has been no 1 new release in a lot of categories – Civil Law, Public Law, Constitutional Law Discrimination, International Treaties, Sociology of Race Relations, Civil Rights, Australian and NZ History, Australian and Oceanian Politics, Study and Teaching and Education Reference.
This review came in today from Self Publishing Review – This passionate and deeply researched book shines a light on what Aboriginal really means. The author’s unique style of gonzo journalism is fascinating, and illustrates the power of on-the-ground reporting. Despite it being a work of history, this story feels incredibly timely, given the ongoing political battles for First Nation rights in other parts of the globe. All told, Secrets and Lies is an eye-opening and fearless reflection on a vital topic.
Norman made a large hand for me to promote my book and I am standing with it in his art gallery.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
This recent book by NSW Senator Andrew Bragg may be a gamechanger for Liberal party attitudes to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the possibility of the enshrinement of an Indigenous Voice in the Australian constitution. Here is and excerpt from his speech to the Sydney Institue.
Buraadja: The liberal case for national reconciliation
by Andrew Bragg
The title of this book is “tomorrow” in the Dhurga language of the Yuin people – Buraadja is about the type of country we want to be tomorrow.
The question is, why write a book on the history of liberalism and Indigenous affairs?
The answer is that the issues facing Indigenous people are serious and often intractable and there is a question mark over the nation whilstever we live with “the gap”.
I believe “the gap” is the modern consequence of the “Great Australian Silence” coined to describe the nation’s blind spot on Indigenous matters by anthropologist Bill Stanner in 1968.
As I said in my First Speech to the Senate, it is the nation’s unfinished business.
Put simply, Australia is a great country but it has not generally been a great country for Indigenous people.
What I wanted to do tonight was set out the key liberal arguments for delivering on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Before I do that, I must acknowledge the support of my colleagues for this project. It’s important that people know the Liberal Party is still the big tent. I have been encouraged even by people who don’t agree with this agenda to write.
The book has a generous foreword from the Prime Minister who said:
“… for over two centuries we have perpetuated and suffered from an ingrained way of thinking, and that is the belief we know better than our Indigenous peoples. We don’t. We also thought we understood the problems facing Indigenous Australians better than they did. We don’t.”
Prime Minister Morrison is developing a strong record on Indigenous affairs which builds upon Harold Holt’s and Malcolm Fraser’s significant record.
Innovation and leadership on Indigenous affairs has been a thread of Australian liberalism. It has always been there. Indeed, Billy Wentworth was effectively arguing for a voice to parliament in the 1960s.
His contemporaries like former Liberal Party director Tony Eggleton told me Wentworth influenced Harold Holt.
Harold Holt delivered the historic 1967 referendum to arm the national government with power to legislate for Indigenous people and to be included in the census.
Sadly too many of us remember him for his death, not for this achievement which his predecessor (and probably his successor) was not prepared to provide.
Had he not disappeared, I believe our collective memory would place the referendum at the top of the Holt recollection pile. Scant detail exists on Holt, he never wrote his memoirs and there is just one biography written by the brilliant Professor Tom Frame.
Malcolm Fraser delivered land rights laws which have led to the bulk of the Northern Territory now being under the control of the original owners.
The Fraser era was not an era of economic reform but it was impeccable on liberal values: a fair deal for Indigenous people and a strong humanitarian approach on Vietnam and South Africa.
The thread bloomed during this period. I interviewed all three Fraser Ministers for Aboriginal affairs – Ian Viner, Peter Baume and Fred Chaney. They all say that Fraser was instrumental in delivering land rights in the face of enormous opposition from the pastoral and mining sector and the Northern Territory Government.
Yet the nation remembers Gough Whitlam pouring the red dirt into the hands of Vincent Lingiari. We don’t give Fraser enough credit for forcing through the first Land Rights system in Australia.
The renowned Indigenous leader Charles Perkins described Malcolm Fraser as the best leader on Indigenous affairs in his lifetime. He said Fraser was “A1”.
Our Prime Minister Scott Morrison has presided over the radical overhaul of the closing the gap targets in collaboration with the Coalition of the Peaks. I am sure this will be a historically significant contribution.
The PM has ensured this critical reform agenda designed to boost education, health and economic participation is now “co-designed” with the appropriate input from the community itself.
He kept his commitment and funded the Voice co-design process which is underway through Ken Wyatt’s department. We are pursuing a Voice and we maintain our commitment to constitutional recognition.
He has also changed the anthem. Australia’s greatest sporting champion Cathy Freeman said:
“What a way to start the year!!! A phone call from our Prime Minister to say that we are “One and Free”! Thank you!!!”
The process of writing this book has also brought out comments from other leaders.
Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt said: “It is a contribution and a call to action for us all. And this is what we need to help not only progress on reconciliation but the debate around recognition..”
We commemorate NAIDOC Week or National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee from 4-11 July. It is fitting then to remember Aboriginal Christian William Cooper who convinced the churches in the 1930’s to commemorate Aboriginal Sunday. This became National Aborigines Day and has been transformed to NAIDOC so William Cooper is rightfully recognized as the Father of NAIDOC.
REVIEW FEATURE
Authors depend on reviews so I help other authors out with reviews when I can so I have decided to feature a few occasionally in case you’re interested. They are usually inexpensive and quick to read as ebooks on amazon.
Bold, Brave & Brilliant: 12 life lessons to cultivate mental strength and emotional resilience by Emma Loveday
While I didn’t agree with everything, there is a huge amount of useful information in this book from a writer who had social anxiety for 15 years and has successfully come out the other end to be able to help others. Each chapter starts with one of Emma’s colourful drawings which has helped her. Her key points are not to avoid pain in life which is inevitable and not to avoid failure because you can learn from your mistakes. She describes herself as the Queen of Trying. She talks about resilience and tolerating hardship, challenging your negative thoughts, not being a perfectionist, dealing with heartbreak, being vulnerable and adaptable and removing emotional roadblocks. She says everything worth fighting for involves a struggle and we need to prioritize so we are not overwhelmed. Much good advice. Reviewed by B Miller 17 May 21 https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B094XTXPHY/
Blame It On ‘Nam – How Education Became Indoctrination and what You can do about it: Become a critical thinking decision maker and advocate by Thomas Rowley, PhD
The author discusses the failure of the public education system in the USA to educate students in critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As an educator, he speaks from first-hand experience. He believes that the Vietnam War is one of the reasons for this. I won’t spoil your read by saying why. He is worried that many students and leaders in government, industry and education won’t listen to arguments that challenge their points of view. He discusses the effects of the pandemic and generational issues and is concerned re illiberalism. He recommends a plan of action and advocacy to deal with the issues raised. Reviewed by B Miller 20 June 21 https://www.amazon.com/Blame-Nam-Education-Indoctrination-critical-ebook/dp/B0971KXDJ3/
Farmers or Hunter-gatherers?
The Dark Emu Debate
Peter Sutton, Keryn Walshe
An authoritative study of pre-colonial Australia that dismantles and reframes popular narratives of First Nations land management and food production – Melbourne University Press.
My comment – Australians who have an eye on the media will know that Bruce Pascoe’s book Dark Emu that came out in 2014 has sold half a million copies, won him some literary prizes, led to a number of children’s books and study books for schools, led to a university professorship and generally made him famous. There has been little criticism until recently and now a new book by Sutton and Walshe has come out to specifically refute its argument that Australian Aborigines lived in villages of up to 1,000 people and were farmers not hunter-gatherers. There have also been doubts raised about his Aboriginality by others.
I read Dark Emu last year so have not refreshed myself on it. However, I thought at the time that the arguments were flimsy and stretched the point a lot. I have not read Sutton and Walshe’s book but know of Sutton’s good standing for his anthropological work at Aurukun in North Queensland.
Re Bruce Pascoe’s Aboriginality, just because someone is fair, does not mean they have no Aboriginal heritage. The long-accepted definition of an Aboriginal in Australia is someone who identifies as Aboriginal and is accepted as such by their community. So it is a personal plus community matter. I oppose any suggestion of having a national register of who is an Aboriginal. I don’t want to go back to the days of the late 1970’s in Queensland where the Bjelke-Petersen government wanted the government to define who is an Aboriginal.
Books on Yarrabah, Mapoon, William Cooper and de Quiros
The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GF864Q6/
White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, A Memoir – https://www.amazon.com/dp-B07CCMV6CP/
White Australia Has A Black History: William Cooper and First Nations Peoples’ Political Activism – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X1MYCDX/
William Cooper Gentle Warrior and The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita:Quiros Torres and Janszoon – www.barbara-miller-books.com
Announcement My new book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth About Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir, is available for pre-order on Amazon for the special price of 99c US as an ebook. It will be launched on 3 July and will stay at 99c for a few more days. The print book will be available shortly after. Here is the link – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095SDW3LY
I would love some reviews on Amazon please and for you to share about it on social medial. It is my second memoir, a follow-up from White Woman Black Heart which was too long. So in mid-2017, I pulled out about 50,000 words written mostly in 2016 and published White Woman Black Heart in March 2018. I planned to use the chapters I took out to write a second memoir and wondered if I would ever get back to it.
Then in November 2020, I had a dream where I was taken to Aurukun Aboriginal community, and saw an elder, a relative by marriage who was a Uniting Church pastor. In my dream, I thought ‘but you’ve passed away’. Then I saw a young Aboriginal girl who I thought might be his great-granddaughter. She pointed to a mobile phone of all things and said, “This is your story. You need to tell it.” Surprised, I didn’t say anything. The next morning, I remembered the dream clearly and that the first few chapters of my unfinished second memoir were about Aurukun. This gave me the inspiration and motivation to pick up the pieces and finish the writing.
REVIEW
Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir, is both a political chronicle and a personal memoir – a journey the young Barbara took into political activism and personal transformation, which became life-long. Barbara Miller shows the political and the personal can be two sides of a life journey of service.
There is critical history in this book from an activist on the inside. Yet the book also shows that political activism is not enough. It must be balanced by personal integrity and pursuit. The journey from the political into the personal, with fulfillment in spiritual practice, is also illuminating. Can we do one without the other? I think not, whatever the spiritual practice is.
Barbara’s book bought memories of the days of the Aboriginal Co-ordinating Council (ACC), both of us working at different levels within the ACC to respond to the directions and needs of the old reserve mission controls moving into deeds of grant in trust and ‘self-management’. Barbara’s political background provided essential insight and sound analysis. Mine saw the failure of the services delivered by a racist regime, with the ACC working to meet their legislative responsibilities. Barbara supported this work through research. Hers has been an inspirational journey of service at many levels.
Judy Atkinson, Emeritus Professor, PhD AM
ANOTHER REVIEW OF SECRETS AND LIES Secrets and Lies contains exciting examples of the battles by the indigenous people of QLD against a repressive state regime which greedily sought to control their land and their lives in order to exploit the natural resources. They have developed a remarkable capacity for developing relationships with non-indigenous people who have joined them in their struggle. Barbara has been admitted, not only into their confidence, but also into their families and has achieved remarkable advantages for them in those battles.
Paul Richards, lawyer, author of Adventures with Agitators
MONTHLY FEATURED BOOK BY ANOTHER AUTHOR
it is incredible to read a true account of a life and understand firsthand what leads a person down ‘an inevitable path’. The person in question is Josie Lacey OAM whose experiences of antisemitism and the rise of Nazism saw her and her parents have to leave their homeland, apply to immigrate to Australia, arriving here in 1939.
At school as a ‘reffo’ Josie encountered ignorance and antisemitism which left an indelible mark. Her strong moral stance and her deep desire to combat racism and foster greater understanding between people of different faiths has resulted in her extraordinary life’s work; to educate, demystify and to fulfill responsibilities to family members who never had the chance to reach their potential. The scope and extent of this work demonstrates Josie’s many and varied achievements, including her interfaith activities, her enormous contribution to WIZO and her work on the Race Discrimination laws. Her commitment to her husband, Ian, and to her family is like every aspect of her life; complete and unfaltering.
This book reveals Josie’s thoughts on so many subjects and shows her joie de vivre and the passion she has to effect change, which is Josie’s hallmark. An insightful and comprehensive look into a life well-lived, An Inevitable Path will provide the reader with a real sense of the amazing woman that is Josie Lacey.
I had planned on the title Battles with Bjelke and then Let My People Go, but ended up with Secrets and Lies. The subtitle is The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir. It is very revealing and no doubt you will be surprised many times. But also informed. It helps to understand how we got where we are today. But this is not first settlement history. It is a today book, or the last 50 years to May 2021 book. Don’t miss this exciting story! I plan to launch it at NAIDOC – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Day Observance Committee in July 2021. Check my website for a discount for early buyers – www.barbara-miller-books.com
Councillor Eric Koo oila and Chairman Donald Peinkinna of Aurukun in 1978 when the Qld government threatened to throw the Uniting Church out and take over the remote Aboriginal community.
Norman Miller at the Cairns Festival 2018 where he walked in the parade with the giant boomerang he made with the 3 points of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – Voice Treaty Truth.
My book Secrets and Liesstarts with the Aurukun people’s fight against mining on their land in 1975 and ends with the work for constitutional recognition including the Uluru Statement.
BOOK DESCRIPTION OF SECRETS AND LIES
Barbara Russell, a young woman from a white working-class family. A ruthless Premier Bjelke-Petersen enforcing legal discrimination. What secrets lie hidden? What lies are being told?
Barbara couldn’t stand by and watch the feud of the people with governments and miners strip Australian Aboriginal communities of all they held dear. Not if she could help.
But a white woman wasn’t always welcomed. A man fascinated with her passion might be her ticket to the action. Was she strong enough to make a difference for the people, resist the temptation of love, and stand up to her family too?
In this story of secrets, lies, ideological conflict and racial discrimination laws, Barbara teams up with Mick, an Aboriginal schoolteacher. They organise remote Australian Aboriginal people to fight Bjelke and the mining companies that encroach on their land. But Bjelke has a few tricks up his sleeve and will use all in his powers in this police state to stop them.
Can the church take on the state and win in this epic battle as the church stands with the Aboriginals to challenge racism? This historical memoir is another sizzling story in the First Nations True Stories series.
With the current debate in Australia of “Voice Treaty Truth” and the worldwide issue of Black Lives Matter, this book gives many key Aboriginal people a voice and reveals the shocking truth of the hidden history of 1975 to 2021 in a near-novel like manner. Every important historical event is covered. This is one of the social justice books that you will want on your shelf. The political activism examples are not those of keyboard warriors but those of a people who took to the trenches.
If you like fast-paced action, real-life heroes, and the window opened on another culture, this book is for you. If you like books with political intrigue that bring to life an interesting historical period, you’ll love Secrets and Lies.
REVIEW OF SECRETS AND LIES
A powerful, hard-hitting yarn, from the grassroots of Cape York community-life through to the necessary development of life-changing political activism on Cape York in the 1970s and 80s.
This is a story which needs to be told and has to be taught, with lessons to learn about what should be done, and how it should (and shouldn’t) be done.
These yarns are at the roots of what still happens today, in this day and age, making it an essential read for anyone who has ties or an interest in, not just in the Cape York landscape, but across all of Government/Aboriginal politics.
A well-written and fascinating contextual read for anyone with a passion for justice for Aboriginal people.
Christine Howes, FNQ correspondent for Koori Mail
AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Congratulations to the following winners of the ABIA Awards
ABIA BOOK OF THE YEAR
Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark, Julia Baird (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
Audio Book of the Year
Tell Me Why, Archie Roach; narrated by Archie Roach (Sound Kitchen, Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)
Biography of the Year
The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie Jaku (Pan Macmillan Australia, Macmillan Australia)
Also to other authors including Indigenous authors
In the children’s category, the Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year was awarded to Gunai author Kirli Saunders for her book Bindi (illustrated by Dub Leffler). Rapper Adam Briggs, alongside co-authors Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra, won the Children’s Picture Book of the Year Award for Our Home, Our Heartbeat.
Books on Yarrabah, Mapoon, William Cooper and de Quiros
Spoiler Alert – new book is on the way. Possible title – Battles with Bjelke: An Insider View of the Aboriginal Movement, A Memoir. This may not be the title but it is a shocking expose of the treatment of Aboriginal people in the days of the Bjelke-Petersen government and beyond and their valiant resistance.
Left – Barbara with John Mark and Susan Brown at the Paanja Festival at Mapoon. They were visiting from New Mapoon. Right – Barbara with Henrietta Fourmile and Rev Dorita at the launch of her book at Yarrabah – The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah.
Books on Yarrabah, Mapoon, William Cooper and de Quiros
It is also the 10th anniversary of the honouring of William Cooper at Yad Vashem with a Chair of Resistance to the Holocaust being named after him and my husband Norman and I were privileged to be there for that event.
White Australia Has A Black History and Shattered Lives Broken Dreamsare on sale on Amazon as ebooks from December 5 at 8am PST to Dec 12 at 12am PST. It is a kindle countdown sale so the price starts at 99c USD if you get in quickly and progressively goes up.
Convert Pacific Standard Time (PST) to AEDT or your own time zone on https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/pst-to-aest-converter
You can also get the above paperback books from my website. You can get the original paperback of the William Cooper story “William Cooper Gentle Warrior: Standing Up for Australian Aborigines and Persecuted Jews” from my website with free shipping – https://www.barbara-miller-books.com
82nd Anniversary of Australian Aborigines’ League’s Kristallnacht Protest (Free event) 6 Dec 1.30 pm AEDT. Online event also.
The William Cooper Legacy Project invites you to a screening of our new video on the 82nd Anniversary of the very day that the Australian Aborigines’ League marched in protest to the German Consulate, back in 1938.
Arrive at 1.30pm for formalities preceding the World Premiere at 2pm (AEDT) Screening Sunday 6 December
at Temple Beth Israel Synagogue, 76-82 Alma Road, St Kilda
All Covid-Safe protocols will be strictly in place – please be prepared to Sign-In, Sanitise, Wear Your Mask and be seated where directed.
BACKGROUND BRIEFING:
In preparation for this Sunday’s 2020 event, the German Government of today, on behalf of Chancellor Angela Merkel, were invited to reflect on the impact of the visit by William Cooper’s grandson, Uncle Boydie, to Berlin in 2017. Chancellor Merkel has now issued an unprecedented Apology for Germany’s 1938 actions… about what happened at the Melbourne Consulate on 6 December 1938.
Womenjika and Shalom
On Sunday 6th December, will be the 82nd anniversary of an act of great moral leadership, where an Upstanding group of Aboriginal people took a stance on behalf of a distant population of persecuted Jews – that has since brought together 2 communities, who now Walk Together in solidarity evermore, connecting and healing.
And 10 years ago saw two seemingly-random and disparate events occur again on opposite sides of the world:
– In Jerusalem in December 2010, the most significant Holocaust Memorial in the world, Yad Vashem, hosted a group of 10 Aboriginal people along with then-Foreign Minister of Australia, the Hon Kevin Rudd, as he unveiled a Chair of Resistance and Resilience to the Holocaust, honouring an Australian from the Yorta Yorta “mob”, a man who lived many years at a place called Cummeragunja.
– And back in Australia in 2010, on Country, there was the Premiere of the Short Black Opera Company production of Pecan Summer, telling the story of the “Walk-Off” by a group of Aboriginal activists, from that very same Aboriginal Mission, Cummeragunja.
Both of these events have huge and fascinating back-stories – which each weave their way to a remarkable organisation called the Austalian Aborigines’ League, explored for us by educator and orator, Dr Lois Peeler AM.
This year, on 6 December 2020, the story will be told, including footage and photography from that (and other) trips to Israel, and to Berlin, Belgium and even Buckingham Palace.
Amongst other appropriate entertainment, you will get to witness the Prelude “Pecan Summer”, composed by Yorta Yorta’s Prof Deborah Cheetham and performed by the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra conducted under the Jewish community’s Dr David Kram.
Additional celebrity performances include Kate Ceberano, Lior and Paul Grabowsky, along with multilingual productions of cultural music like Ngarre Burra Ferra and the Partisan’s Song.
Barbara Miller launching her 2 books on William Cooper the Sydney Jewish Museum Feb 2020. Barbara wrote “White Australia Has A Black History” and “Shattered Lives Broken Dreams”. The first focuses on William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines’ League’s Aboriginal activism and the second on their activism for Jewish people re their Kristallnacht protest at the German Consulate in Melbourne 6 Dec 1938.
Hi there, my audiobook “If I Survive” is finally out. It is a fitting tribute to the courageous and inspiring life of Holocaust survivor Lena Goldstein. I have 10 free copies for the first 10 people who contact me for a giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
It is not on Amazon yet but is at the following stores:
Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu lay wreaths at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Be’er-Sheva Israel 31 Oct 2-17
Norman and Barbara Miller laying a wreath there also with William Cooper’s grandson Uncle Boydie (Alf Turner) and Abe Schwarz behind us ready to lay a wreath on behalf of Indigenous servicemen.
Reenactment of Australian Light horse charge at the Centenary of the Battle of Be’er-Sheva 31 Oct 2017. I was privileged to be there leading an international tour group of 50 with my husband Norman Miller.
READ MORE
ABOUT THE STORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN LIGHT HORSE AND ANZAC ROLE AT BE’ER-SHEVA AND BUY DVDS OF THEIR COURAGEOUS CHARGE RIGHT INTO TURKISH CANONS OVER AN OPEN FIELD WITH GERMAN PLANES FIRING AT THEM. THEY RODE INTO HISTORY AND TURNED THE TIDE OF HISTORY LEADING TO THE END OF 400 YEARS OF OTTOMAN RULE OF THE HOLY LAND.
This book is a bestseller in 3 categories – Philosophy Reference, Religious Studies – Sociology and Education Workbooks.
“Success Code” is an anthology and I am a co-author. Do you ever wonder why some people always seem to succeed, and others fail? Most “overnight” successes have been developed with small changes in daily habits and mindset tweaks, one day at a time.
My chapter is entitled “The Power of Vision” The link which is
We asked over 20 experts to describe these habits for us, and the result was “The Success Code.” The book is a life lesson of habits, mindsets and stories of how they have been used to overcome obstacles and achieve success.
Shattered Lives Broken Dreams Anniversary of Kristallnacht 9-10 Nov coming up 10th Anniversaryin Dec 2020 of Yad Vashem inaugurating a Chair of Resistance to the Holocaust after William Cooper
The Nazis shatter glass and shatter the lives of European Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. An Australian Aboriginal, William Cooper, leads the campaign for civil rights for his people who are dying of poverty and mistreatment around him. 1938; two worlds, far apart. Cut to the core after Kristallnacht, can he do anything to stop it?
Described as Australia’s Martin Luther King, Cooper leads the Australian Aborigines’ League on a protest to the German Consulate in Melbourne. Would the Third Reich pour out its wrath on them? Would they make a difference?
A Chair of Resistance to the Holocaust was named in honour of Cooper at Yad Vashem. His grandson, Alf Turner, becomes passionate about fulfilling his grandfather’s unfinished business and taking the protest to Berlin itself. How will he be received? Launched in Feb 2020, the ebook now has a new cover. https://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Lives-Broken-Dreams-Australian-ebook/dp/B084Q4SSTX/
We timed our visit to Israel so that we would be in Be’er-Sheva for the 93rd anniversary of the famous charge of the Australian Light horse on October 31, 1917 and the ceremonies being held that day. We travelled to most of the other battle sites where the ANZACS fought as well.
Norman & Barbara Miller at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery after wreaths laid by our group along with a poppy wreath donated by the Cairns RSL
Australians at Park of the Australian Soldier, Be’er- Sheva, donated by Pratt Foundation, Australia. We laid wreaths there also.
For those who haven’t heard the story before, I’ll briefly say that the taking of the wells of Be’er-Sheva (Beersheba) was critical for Allied victory in Palestine. The British had fought all day, the NZ Mounted Rifles and an Australian regiment took the high place of Tel es Sabe after heavy fighting. Still, all would have been lost had it not been for a daring charge by the Australian Light horsemen (about 800 of them) charging straight into the Turkish guns.
They were regarded as the crazy Australians to charge over an open area to the Turks who were in trenches in fortified positions. German planes were firing on them. The horses had not had water for days and if the Allied forces did not take the wells of Be’er-Sheva by nightfall, all would be lost. The horses smelled the water and galloped ahead at a furious pace. The men were not cavalry but mounted infantry and the daring charge just before nightfall took the Turks by surprise. They didn’t adjust the sights on their guns quickly enough. Some Australians fought hand to hand in the trenches and others jumped the trenches and rode into the city to stop the Germans blowing up the wells. While the charge brought the breakthrough, the charge could not have happened without the British fighting all day and the New Zealanders taking the high ground, preventing them from being mowed down.
This happened on Oct 31, 1917. On the same day, the British Parliament passed the Balfour Declaration in favour of the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The political will and the military victory went hand in hand. After fighting in other towns, Gen Allenby was able to walk into Jerusalem with his forces and accept the surrender of the Turks, thus ending 400 years of the Ottoman Empire, and nearly 1200 years of almost uninterrupted Islamic rule of Jerusalem. There had always been a Jewish presence in Jerusalem and Palestine however and Jewish forces fought alongside the British to free their land.
This was a precursor to the formation of the modern state of Israel in 1948 and again, ANZACS played a critical role in the defence of Israel, then Palestine.
So, as we prepared to go to Be’er-Sheva for the Oct 31 service, we approached a number of organisations in Australia to let them know we were going and the Cairns RSL donated us 4 red poppy wreaths, one of which we laid at the Park of the Australian Soldier, Be’er-Sheva and one at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. We laid one at the Commonwealth Cemetery at Mt Scopus in Jerusalem and one at the NZ monument in Ness Ziona. We also laid wreaths of fresh flowers at all three ceremonies in Be’er-Sheva, including the one at the Turkish memorial. We approached the Turkish embassy before leaving Australia for permission to do this. We did it in a spirit of reconciliation.
The New Zealand team brought with them pillows with poppies sewn into them to lay as wreaths at each place noted above because the NZ soldiers didn’t have pillows according to Lila Diprose who made the pillows. They also brought loose poppies to strew.
Norman is wearing a Torres Strait Islander flag at the ceremony as he gave the Aboriginal flag to Richard Evans to wear and he wanted the other Indigenous group in Australia to be represented. Kris Schlyder, an ex-army man with our team laid the wreath at the Park of the Australian Soldier with Liz Wright and Joanna Moss.
We went to three commemoration ceremonies – the Park of the Australian Soldier, the British Cemetery and the Turkish ceremony where we laid wreaths at all three – Australia, New Zealand and Britain together. It was a moving time for all of us and there was time for the team to pray at the cemetery the next day when Norman and I met with the Municipality of Be’er- Sheva.
On Oct 31, we had organised for the Vice Chairman of the Society of the Heritage of World War I, Mr Ezra Pimentel to be our guide and he was very informative. As well as going to the ceremonies, we went to Tel es Saba where the NZ Mounted Rifles and some Australians took the high place, Abraham’s well and Chauvel’s Hill from where he watched the 800 Australian Light horsemen ride into history with their famous charge. We also saw the Warriors Club where a local ex IDF serviceman has built a museum in his backyard with much war memorabilia.
While in Be’er-Sheva, we visited HaMaKom or Bible House where local Messianic congregations have a library, meeting place and coffee shop. Ps Howard and Randi Bass are very involved there and Randi had prepared a wonderful display re the Australian Light horse and NZ Mounted Rifles. It is becoming an ANZAC Museum and deserves support from Australians and New Zealanders. They also gave us refreshments.
Norman and I and our team hosted Howard and Randi Bass from Be’er-Sheva in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra) and, with Sue Rowe, in New Zealand (Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga) in July 2010 in preparation for our ANZAC tour of Israel.
We followed the steps of the Australian Light horsemen and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles as they fought in Gaza, Be’er-Sheva, Ashkelon, Armageddon, Semakh, Ayun Kara near Rishon Le Zion, Yafo near Tel Aviv, Jericho, Hebron and Jerusalem.
We arrived in the dark at Semakh which was amazing as the battle was fought in the dark although early morning and we were there in the evening. It is near the Sea of Galilee and was captured 25 Sept 1918 by the 11th and 12th Australian Light horse who charged a heavily fortified Turkish railway station. Indigenous light horsemen were involved too. The charge was not as big as the charge at Beersheba but just as dangerous and daring. They were mostly Queenslanders and some from South Australia. This ended Turkish and German opposition around the Sea of Galilee. Recently, a statue has been erected to the Australian Indigenous Light horseman and his horse, a worthy commemoration.
We went to Mt Carmel and Megiddo, the Allied forces capturing it on 19 Sept 1918, with Australian General Chauvel calling it the Battle of Armageddon. British General Allenby was made Vicount of Megiddo or Lord of Armageddon.
On Friday, Nov 5, we visited Rishon Le Zion which is built on top of Ayun Kara where, outnumbered 8 to 1, the NZ Mounted Rifles won a hard-fought victory. We visited the graves of the 50 Kiwis who died in that battle buried at Ramleh. We laid wreaths at the statue to the NZ Mounted Rifles at Ben Gurion School in Ness Ziona. This statue was only built in 2010 with the opening on March 1.
This account is only a quick summary of one aspect, though an important one of our tour i.e. our journey in the steps of the ANZACS and Light horse.
Joanna Moss, NZ, Liz Wright, Britain & Barbara Miller, Australia after laying a wreath together at the Turkish memorial
Ceremony at 93rd anniversary Be’er-Sheva
175 Aussies & 31 Kiwis buried at Be’er-Sheva
HaMaKom or Bible House ANZAC Display made by Randi Bass, Be’er-Sheva for Oct 31
The light horsemen riding past the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery 100th anniversary
PM Benjamin Netanyahu speech 31 Oct 2017 at centenary
Hi there, I haven’t sent out an update since February. Wow! how time flies and I trust you are all well and coping with the Covid-19 lockdowns. I have been busy. Among other things, I have written 3 journals – My Prayer Journal, My Bible Study Journal and My Sermon Notes Journal. At the moment, these are best ordered from Amazon though you can order them in a pdf file from my website and print them yourself.
I have a chapter each in 2 books and put a new cover on my “Shattered Lives Broken Dreams” book. I have also turned the book “If I Survive” into an audiobook which will be available soon.
My Prayer Journal
This is an inspirational Christian prayer journal that would make a wonderful keepsake and assist with your spiritual growth and development. It has a beautiful floral cover with prayer hands and has prompts for prayer requests, answered prayers, insights and Bible verses. It will enrich and draw you into your prayer time. Ask the Father questions and record His answers. Write answers to prayer so you will be encouraged at His goodness. Press into the heart of the Father and be blessed. Hear His heartbeat! The link is
The Canberra Declaration released on 22 July a book called “The Blessings of Almighty God: the Canberra Declaration Story and the Call to Revitalise Australia.” I have written a chapter, with Norman, called “Canberra Declaration: the birth of a new push to protect our Judeo-Christian heritage.”
Norman and I helped launch the Canberra Declaration at a conference we hosted at Parliament House Canberra on 23 July 2010 so the book was launched for the 10th anniversary. Those who wrote chapters were asked to write some personal stories of how we got involved with the Canberra Declaration and our journey. The book is available from https://canberradeclaration.org.au/ and there is also information on my website here https://barbara-miller-books.com/the-blessing-of-almighty-god-book/
My Bible Study Journal
Journaling our Bible study helps us unearth its riches and take hold of God’s promises which can give us victory when we face life’s challenges.
The Bible is truly a light to our path and recording our study of it gives us invaluable guidance. The prompts include scripture, the message of the day, how to apply it and prayer and thanks. It is perfect for Bible Study Groups or personal use. The link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/0648472299
My Sermon Notes Journal
In these days of faith services by zoom etc, this is a journal to record and reflect on the sermons or online messages you hear. It will enable you to remember, digest and apply pearls of wisdom that can change your life forever. It is an Inspiring, comforting and uplifting way of personal and spiritual growth. You make the pearls of wisdom from another’ s study and life experience uniquely your own by engaging with the material. The link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/0648472272
The Success Code
“Success Code” is an anthology and I am a co-author. Do you ever wonder why some people always seem to succeed, and others fail? Most “overnight” successes have been developed with small changes in daily habits and mindset tweaks, one day at a time.
We asked over 20 experts to describe these habits for us, and the result was “The Success Code.” The book is a life lesson of habits, mindsets and stories of how they have been used to overcome obstacles and achieve success.
My chapter is entitled “The Power of Vision” and covers how my team and I successfully organised the Bethany Gate All Pacific Prayer Assembly conference in Cairns, Australia. It is on pre-order and at a special price of 99c so don’t miss out on the special price. The book launches as an ebook on 4 August. The link which is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CKD5GR8/
Shattered Lives Broken Dreams
The Nazis shatter glass and shatter the lives of European Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. An Australian Aboriginal, William Cooper, leads the campaign for civil rights for his people who are dying of poverty and mistreatment around him. 1938; two worlds, far apart. Cut to the core after Kristallnacht, can he do anything to stop it?
Described as Australia’s Martin Luther King, Cooper leads the Australian Aborigines’ League on a protest to the German Consulate in Melbourne. Would the Third Reich pour out its wrath on them? Would they make a difference?
A Chair of Resistance to the Holocaust was named in honour of Cooper at Yad Vashem. His grandson, Alf Turner, becomes passionate about fulfilling his grandfather’s unfinished business and taking the protest to Berlin itself. How will he be received? Launched in Feb 2020, the ebook now has a new cover. https://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Lives-Broken-Dreams-Australian-ebook/dp/B084Q4SSTX/
Don’t miss out! I am launching my book Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust on Amazon with a free promotion on Sunday, 16 February, 2020, 12:00 AM, PST or 7pm Sydney time. Please download it while it’s free, write a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads and share about it on social media. The link to the book on Amazon is – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084Q4SSTX/
Munganbana Norman Miller presenting a painting he did of William Cooper which he presented to Aviva Wolff on behalf of the Sydney Jewish Museum when I launched 2 books on William Cooper there recently. This canvas painting is called “The Gathering” and was used for the cover of my 2012 book on William Cooper which David Jack designed.
A photo of me dropping my books off to the Cairns Library as requested. I have donated copies to the Sydney Jewish Museum, the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne and will also donate copies to the Lamm Library in Melbourne and Yad Vashem in Israel.
Hi! An opportunity exists for you to get a free ebook in exchange for writing a few lines about it as a review I can post on Amazon. To qualify to put a review on Amazon, you need to have spent $50 buying books off Amazon in the last 12 months. Do you qualify and are you interested? Contact me to get your copy.
The paperback version of the book was launched to a large group at the Sydney Jewish Museum on 2.2.20 and was well received.
This is one of those rare holocaust stories of resistance to the holocaust by Australian Aborigines – a world away from the fray. They were not even citizens in their own land but, after Kristallnacht, made a brave stand. William Cooper led the Australian Aborigines’ League in a protest against Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, recognised as the start of the Holocaust. They protested the “cruel persecution of the Jews” by marching to the German Consulate in Melbourne on 6 December 1938 three weeks after the 9-10 November pogrom in Germany, Austria and Sudetenland that saw 91 Jews killed, Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues destroyed with shattered glass or fire. About 30,00 Jews were sent to concentration camps.
This book follows how the story was lost to history and then found with William Cooper being honoured in many ways by Jews in Australia and at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center in Israel. His family has carried on his legacy and the story covers his family’s trip to Israel and Berlin in 2017 to continue his work. Of holocaust books, it has a twist. Aboriginal William Cooper was a noted civil rights leader for his people but the only protest march he led was for the Jews. Read this inspiriting story.
Aviva Wolff, MC, Josie Lacey who introduced Barbara, Barbara and Rob Schneider who launched the book.
Family of William Cooper and their Jewish friends
Audience
Norman donating his painting of William Cooper to the Museum
Abe Schwarz introducing Di O’Brien, Cooper descendent
William Cooper led the Australian Aborigines’ League in a protest against Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, recognised as the start of the Holocaust. They protested the “cruel persecution of the Jews” by marching to the German Consulate in Melbourne on 6 December 1938 three weeks after the 9-10 November pogrom in Germany, Austria and Sudetenland that saw 91 Jews killed, Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues destroyed with shattered glass or fire. About 30,00 Jews were sent to concentration camps.
This book follows how the story was lost to history and then found with William Cooper being honoured in many ways by Jews in Australia and at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center in Israel. His family has carried on his legacy and the story covers his family’s trip to Israel and Berlin in 2017 to continue his work. William Cooper was an Aboriginal man of the Yorta Yorta Nation and did ground-breaking work for the “uplift”, as he called it, of his people but the only protest march he led was for the Jews and this was while he was not a citizen of his own land and could not vote. It is truly an inspiriting story.
Photo – Outside the 1938 site of the German Consulate Melbourne where William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines’ League protested Kristallnacht. This 2012 photo shows the historic re-enactment with the Hon German Consul this time receiving the letter of protest. Book Launch Sydney Jewish Museum 2.30 pm 2 February 2020 of Shattered Lives Broken Dreams and White Australia Has A Black History – William Cooper Gentle Warrior Series No 2 and No 1 respectively. You need to book – 61 2 93607999 https://sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/shop/events/talk/book-launch-white-australia-has-a-black-history-by-barbara-miller/
Click to view on Amazon
White Australia Has A Black History is available as a paperback from my website and I would love you to review it on Amazon and/or Goodreads.
Shattered Lives Broken Dreams has not yet gone to the printer and is not yet available on Amazon.
Barbara giving a talk on William Cooper at an Author Event at Lamm Jewish Library in Melbourne 3 Dec 19
Rabbi Gabi Kaltman, ARK Centre held an Indigenous themed Shabbat service and meal honouring William Cooper 6 Dec
David Jack interviewing Barbara on J-Air (Jewish Radio) in Melbourne on 4 Dec 19 with Maurice Klein working the desk. The topic was Kristallnacht and William Cooper. It was on the Beersheba Vision program run by Peter Kentley. Use this link to listen to the interview
The Richmond Football Club Melbourne and the William Cooper Legacy Project convened by Abe Schwarz hosted a seminar and dinner on 5 Dec 19. It announced a new William Cooper Centre which will integrate sport, culture and diversity as the home to the Korin Gamadji Institute emerging Indigenous leaders program, the Bachar Houli Academy, Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) and women’s and community football.
There were four speakers at the seminar – Barbara Miller, biographer of William Cooper, Mike Zervos CEO Courage to Care, a teacher from Parkdale College called Natalie Baker and Eli Rabinowitz, founder, the WE ARE HERE Project. Nola Kelly, the great-granddaughter of William Cooper, Leonie Drummond, Uncle Boydie’s daughter, shared briefly. Barbara is pictured speaking. A mural of the Tigers AFL players on the wall.
Cooper family at Richmond Football Club
The Hon Minister Ken Wyatt with Barbara and Norman Miller at Monash University
The Unveiling of the plaque at Monash Uni with Uni staff and Cooper family and the Minister
The Millers with Dr John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel.
On 6 Dec 19, the 81st anniversary of the 1938 AAL protest, Monash University launched the William Cooper Institute. The Gandel family’s philanthropy made the centre possible. Stirring speeches were made by the Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Mr Ken Wyatt, Chancellor Simon McKeon, the Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Jacinta Elston, Dr John Gandel AC, and Leonie Drummond, Uncle Boydie’s daughter.
Minister Ken Wyatt said that William Cooper cut a pathway for people to follow and showed bravery in the face of opposition. He said William Cooper stepped out and left footsteps in the sand to follow. He said he had recently returned from Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech, had paid tribute to William Cooper.
Uncle Boydie watching the orchestra of the Kristallnacht Cantata
The Yeng Gali Mullum Indigenous Choir
The Kristallnacht Cantata: A Voice of Courage held its world premiere on 8 December at Temple Beth Israel St. Kilda, Melbourne. The strident music of the orchestra conveyed the build-up to the Night of the Broken Glass and the shattering of glass and lives that took place. A tribute to William Cooper, the Cantata imagined a moving duet between Cooper and Otto Jontof-Hutter who was arrested in Stuttgart during Kristallnacht along with thousands of other Jews.
Otto’s grandson, world-famous violinist Ron Jontof-Hutter, active in the Berlin-based World Doctors Orchestra but living in Melbourne, conceived the Cantata. An Israeli composer living in Melbourne, Alon Trigger, collaborated with Ron as the lyricist and world-famous conductor Dr David Kram, as musical director, to put the Cantata together.
The event was held in Temple Beth Israel synagogue and Barbara was asked to read a scripture and she chose Isaiah 62:1-7. There was a beautiful performance by the Yeng Gali Mullum Indigenous Choir.
Author Barbara Miller is giving a talk at the LAMM Jewish Library of Australia in the first week of December. Come and hear her speak on her William Cooper books and the Holocaust.
Where: Lamm Jewish Library of Australia: 304 Hawthorn Rd, Caulfield South, Victoria When: 7:30pm, Tuesday 3rd December Bookings: 92725611 Event Flier:
Barbara will have a give-away of chapter one with a cover photo of her soon coming book ‘Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust‘
A successful book launch was held in Cairns with a stimulating PowerPoint delivery by the author, live entertainment, a diverse audience, lively discussion, enjoyable food and the moving song “Yorta Yorta Man” by Jimmy Little to entertain us. William Cooper was a Yorta Yorta man as were many others in the book.
This Is not your typical Australian History book or biography. Behind the dominant story is the black history of white Australia as seen through the eyes and life of William Cooper and other First Nations People.
Let me Introduce you to William Cooper, a pioneer of the Aboriginal movement for basic human rights who shaped Australia’s political activism.
How much do you really know about William Cooper? He was a leader in political activism for basic human rights who stood up for Australian Aborigines. He also led Aborigines in a protest march to the German…
