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In 1960, Oz women were said to be drunks, and Princess Margaret
can now expect to have free photos. The concept of male nurses was raised. William Dobell tricked the Art World, and two especially
gory murders were committed in Maitland. And, can you believe it, a few lucky men were admitted to hospitals during labours
of women. Has the new idea of the equality of the sexes gone too far?
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In 1963. The bodies of Bogle and Chandler mystified police and still do so. The Queen popped in and knighted Bob, now Sir
Bob Menzies. Initiation ceremonies to universities and the military vexed some caring mothers, and the Labour Party was ridiculed
for listening to 36 faceless men. A learned professor suggested that this fair land should take in 50,000 negroes as migrants.
John Kennedy, President of the USA, was shot dead."
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1966. The Vietnam War started to heat up in January, and got hotter as the year progressed. Our young 20-year old boys were
conscripted via a birthday lottery and, by year end, 60 were dead. Joern Utzen ran up too many bills at the Sydney Opera
House, so his resignation was accepted. President Johnson came all the way to Australia, roller games on TV were shockers,
and our cemeteries were no places for the living.
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In 1969. Hollywood produced a fake movie that showed a few
Americans walking on the moon. Paul Keating just got a seat in Canberra. Thousands of people walked the streets in demos against
the Vietnam War, and HMAS Melbourne cut a US Destroyer in two. The Poseidon nickel boom made the fortunes of many, and the
12-sided cupro-nickel 50cent coin filled the pockets of our new but ubiquitous jeans. Oz Magazine died an untimely death.
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In 1961, the term New Australian was no longer politically
correct. The States still would not allow petrol vending machines.
We all thought that Mrs Aeneas Gunn would never die, but she did. Sydney
University denied that its Philosophy Department was a centre for free love, and the Brits were talking about joining a Common
Market
with Britain. Ten Pin Bowling was laying them in the lanes, people were up in arms over Russia resuming nuclear testing. American
visitors thought that our public lavatories stank.
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In 1964. HMAS Voyager, an Australian destroyer, was sunk in
a collision with the air-craft carrier, Melbourne. Stamp collecting was disappearing as a hobby, wine was no longer plonk,and
mothers were waging war on old-fashioned tuck-shops. The Beatle cult was angering some people. The Tab: to be on not to be?
Did Billie Graham have lasting effects? Prostitution was proposed as a safety valve against rape. Judy Garland got bad Press
in Melbourne and left Oz in a sulk.
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1967. Postcodes were introduced, and you could pay your debts with a new five-dollar note. You could talk-back on radio,
about a brand new ABS show called "This Day Tonight." There was no point in talking any more to the Privy Council. Unemployment
was at 1.8 per cent. Getting a job was easy. Arthur Calwell left at last. Whitlam took his place. The Labour Party was about
to be re-born. Harold Holt drowned, and Menzies wrote his first book in retirement.
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COMMENTS FROM READERS
Tom Lynch, Speers Point.Some history writers make the mistake of trying to boost their authority by including graphs and
charts all over the place. You on the other hand get a much better effect by saying things like he made a pile. Or every
one worked hours longer than they should have, and felt like death warmed up at the end of the shift; I have seen other writers
waste two pages of statistics painting the same picture as you did in a few words.
Barry Marr, Adelaide.You know that I am being facetious when I wish the war had gone on for years longer so that you
would have written more books about it
Edna College, Auburn. A few times I stopped and sobbed as you brought memories of the postman delivering letters, and
the dread that ordinary people felt as he neared. How you captured those feelings yet kept your coverage from becoming maudlin
or bogged down is a wonder to me.
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In 1962. Hitch-hiking was still safe for all concerned, it
was generally conceded that doctors could refuse home visits at night, and the wonders of The Pill were being extolled. And
condemned. Terylene swimsuits for men were being exposed, there were some people who were suggesting that a link between smoking
and cancer of the lung, and death of cracker-night was a great relief to dogs. Many people were concerned that we were being
Americanised. They would prefer the current Pommification. Most people still hated the Japs, but there were occasional voices
urging acceptance.
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1965. Is the woman's place in the home? Winston Churchill
died. Maybe we should cancel Anzac Day marches. Freedom Rides were exposing the treatment of Aborigines. Hemlines are going
up, exposing spiritual knees and legs. Dawn Fraser took the flag in Japan, Mavis Bramston was staged, and ball-point pens
were not coming to a school near you. Alphabet soup was filling bowls, and school projects were irritating.
1968. Sydney had its teeth fluoridated, its sobriety tested
with breathalisers, and its first Kentucky Fried and first heart transplant. There was much violent opposition to the Vietnam
War and demos were everywhere all the time.The casino in Tasmania was approved. We won a pot of gold at the Olympics, Lionel
Rose became the first Aboriginal to become a World Boxing Champion, and poet Dorothea Mackellar died.
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ANOTHER COMMENT Betty Kelly. Every
time you seem to be getting serious you throw in a phrase or memory that lightens up the mood. In particular, in the war when
you were describing the terrible carnage of Russian troops, for no reason, you ended with a ten line description of how aggrieved
you felt and ended it with "apart from that, things are pretty good here". For me, it turned the unbearable into the bearable,
and I went from feeling morbid and angry back to a normal human being.
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