Clockwork Orange Cake

PGTS Journal, 21 November, 2004

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Social Gangrene: The Clockwork Orange Aspects of Today's Race Relations in Armidale, NSW, Australia
By Dan Byrnes
Author's Note: Everyone in the world who has just been smacked in the kisser for no reason at all and lost two valued front teeth is perfectly welcome to criticise this article as much as they like. And no one else is. That's why my email or other address does not appear here. I've had enough sympathy, thanks.
This article appears on the Net not because I am still feeling sorry for myself about a certain incident. But because the town in which I live is entering a dangerous phase in its social history. And if something constructive is not done about obvious and glaring problems of race relations in Armidale, things will only get worse. The summer of 2004-2005 in Armidale could get quite ugly. As you will find if you read on... and find it more and more unpleasant. (Who said the Net is not a useful vehicle for real communication? You are now reading Instalments 1 and 2 of a projected four instalments, and more if I can get some people in Armidale to speak out on these matters.)

Part 1 - Visiting Armidale for a bit of social history...

I've lived in Armidale since early 1994, originally moving here awhile to finish various studies at University of New England. I happened to stay here. For a writer, the university library is invaluable. Though if I can say anything brief about Armidale, the town, quite apart from the university, it is this. In Armidale there is far too little to admire, about anything, really, except the food supply, which somehow is perpetually of very good quality - on an all-seasons basis.
At times the town seems just a bog-and-fog of apathy, complacency, cold winters; much-talk-about-much and no-action-about-anything. This is merely an educated-Australian version of that mindless old Australian attitude, "she be right, mate". But in Armidale it manages to pass for local pride.
In Federal politics, Armidale was held by the National (Country) Party for more than eighty years. This surely must be an unbeatable record for lack of imagination in Australian country town life! Truly unbelievable but true!
Populated as it is with an elaborate set of high schools, public and private, plus a university no less, Armidale has become merely an education town with not enough to think about - and no admirable urge to grapple with the future. I find Armidale's lack-lustre attitude to the future quite appalling, and have said so very often since around 1996 to anyone who will listen. Which is very few. But I did say, apathy, complacency.
During winters, Armidale in "The New England" hibernates from life as though it has never heard of Northern Hemisphere winters as in Scandinavia, Canada, or even Old England. Armidale goes into itself. It is inward-looking and introspective. It buries itself in its past and then refuses to acknowledge what it sees there - which is why so much of Armidale's Twentieth Century history remains unwritten. But in late 2004, legacies of its past are walking its night-streets. And whatever their reasons, these legacies are very, very angry.
In late 2004, Armidale should be telephoning Houston to report, "Houston, we have a problem." So far, it isn't.
Because of Armidale's indigenous population, who managed to survive the town's pioneering past, there is of course an ongoing "race relations situation" which creates and forms a continual undercurrent of conversation for all social circles. In an "academic town", and a rather churchy town, some of this conversation becomes very well-meaning indeed.
Opinions vary widely on situations, as one might expect. I listen to everybody and think my own thoughts. That is not the point of this article. The point here is to be as clear as possible about a worsening situation, which, if I were an Aboriginal person in Armidale, I would find very worrying indeed. Certainly, being a white, I know, and know of, a number of white people who are becoming increasingly worried.
Worsening? If you have ever seen the movie, A Clockwork Orange, you'll know about the Droogs, about young Alex and his friends and their fondness for ultra-violence, mayhem, creating reasons for shock-horror, and mostly avoiding capture. Well, A ClockWork Orange is now being shown for real in Armidale, night after night, and I recently became an extra, painfully, very unexpectedly.

Part 1 - What is the point? Managing race relations or bad behaviour?

I refer to the night of 10 November, 2004. A little explanation. Since I love music and try to support community radio, public broadcasting, I am a volunteer with Armidale's station. I've developed a routine of going often to the station around 10pm or midnight, mostly to switch from broadcast of some pre-recorded material to reception and re-transmission of satellite transmission. This takes only a few minutes and I am home within 15 minutes.
It's a job that relieves many others in Armidale of an inconvenient task. It's no bother to me. I'm a night owl by temperament, a writer who lives alone, and near our FM station; and a late-night stroll into the CBD helpfully breaks me away from my computer and let's me think afresh about my latest computer tasks - or writing. Since I am single, this makes me a lone white male who may seem to be wandering the streets at midnight for unknown reasons. In fact, my mission is perfectly innocuous and helps our radio station provide broadcasting continuity, 24x7.
(Oh, and I don't keep a guard dog. I now predict that guard dogs are going to become more popular in Armidale.)
Given that by 2004, and given that I am observant, this weekly routine has been current for years already. My feeling is that since mid-winter 2003, there has been a regularly increasing potential for night-street-violence anywhere in the Armidale CBD. From mid-2003, since I intimately know all the CBD laneways by now, I have taken care, while walking to and from the station, to pre-plan any escape routes it might become convenient to use. If necessary?
Routinely walking around the Armidale CBD around midnights, one can see many odd things, and unfortunately, many such oddities are populated by people of "Aboriginal appearance". If you don't believe me, just ask Armidale's taxi drivers! Or the police!
Or did I start thinking about taking such precautions the Thursday night a while back now, when another public broadcaster and I came out of our station around 9.30pm and walked down past the bus-stop closest to the police station? This bus-stop, near the courthouse, has a much-used set of public toilets. And lying on the footpath we found a grey-haired old Aboriginal man partly-covered in blood, maybe with a loosened tooth or two. He was drunk, incoherent, and had no way to explain himself, even to himself. We heaved him to his feet and carried him down to the police station. We thought, it was impossible to tell if he'd been beaten-up, or simply taken a very bad drunken fall. The police knew him anyway. I suppose they took him home. He was in a piteous condition.

Part 1 - The midnight joker in the balaclava

So I've been feeling that Armidale has some problems increasing in severity - with risks of violence. As follows... Going to the radio station, some Wednesday or Friday night previous to 10-11-2004, (I didn't put it in my diary, as it happened), at 11.50pm, I'd been just near a certain hotel of the East Mall, quite a well-lit area, going to the station as usual, when I encountered two male part-Aboriginals, one tallish and slim who stayed right out of the situation that ensued, and one flabby and pudgy, about 28. Neither of them was drunk at the time, and nor was I.
The pudgy one on a whim decided to refuse to let me pass on the footpath, and demanded cigarettes. I told him I had none on me, though I did. He then demanded $50, which I did not have on me, as by policy I don't carry my wallet on such short night excursions. This pudgy guy then drew his beanie down over his face in balaclava style, adopted a menacing boxer-pose, and continued to demand $50. (I smoke, and it's all-too-common in Armidale to find Aboriginal people on the streets, or in the Mall, begging cigarettes. If only they ever wondered what a bad advertisement they are for their people! If only... If only...)
Somehow, this beanie-hiding guy maintained the air of a joker. He was not entirely serious, and he knew it, and so did I. I was not amused, however. I simply danced out of his way and on up the street, safely. But I was pretty annoyed to hear him giggling to his mate, ha ha, he'd frightened a whitie, etc. (I must say, the pudgy one's mate had no part in any of this.)
All-in-all an annoying situation designed to make one wonder, no? Still, this was not technically a situation of demanding money with menaces. That came the night of 10-11-2004... A full moon not long ago, so a very dark night it was.
This Wednesday midnight was far more menacing, and by way of a surprise attack. Ouch! I walked back from the FM station as usual, past the Pat Dixon (Memorial) Medical Centre as it happened.
(Pat Dixon being a much-admired Aboriginal woman, now deceased, who did much welfare and benefit work for her people, and was an Armidale councillor. You will find below, she is remembered with respect by one of my emailers on these subjects.)
I got to my flat, which in fact has a side entrance in a darkish spot on a flat piece of ground, which has a sensor-light above the front door. So I was within a pool of light. I was just about to put my key in my door when to my amazement, two men came rapidly in off the street, looking very determined to be dealing with me. What took place might have taken 90 seconds, or some minutes, I have no idea. Time seems to move at different speeds when stress hits.

Part 1 - And it happened so fast...

A figure in a white jacket with a white hood, followed by someone taller and even fitter-looking in a red jacket, I think, but still am not sure, came down my pathway and began saying indistinct things. And it's pretty rare to see an Aboriginal wearing any sort of hooded garment, was one of my first thoughts - so what's this guy on about? (The fellow in the red shirt or jacket said almost nothing during what ensued, though I think he was the one who... ).
They had evidently shadowed me since some time after I walked by the Pat Dixon Medical Centre. I had seen, heard and suspected nothing. Did I have enough time to get through my door, slam it, and ignore them? Not if I turned around to look at them more closely, which as it happened, I did. A little bit slow-thinking. But I have never been in a situation like this in my life - ever. And there is nothing outside my flat, not even a garden tool, which could be used as a weapon any kind, by anybody.
Both of them were aged 25-28 and very fit-looking. There are no other descriptions of any sort available, really. The red-jacket one to my left, the hooded one on my right, me with my back to my front door - and nowhere to go. The hooded one put his head down and kept it there, then he put his dukes up and started prancing like an over-active boxer, his muttered, indistinct words turning out to be a menacing demand for $50. (So is $50 the going rate? I wondered. And so lost a little time to think about what to do or say).

Part 1 - How demented can a man be at midnight on a dark night in spring?

This fellow, rather skilfully actually, kept his white hood right over his face, and kept dancing about like a demented boxer (like, at midnight, by surprise, is this seriously demented behaviour or what?)...
He behaves and dances and flails his fists about so that, evidently, I will have no clear idea of when or if he will strike. I kept saying I had no money on me. I got too interested in when or if he might stop his demented boxer-dancing, and made the mistake of forgetting about the red-jacket bloke, who stayed silent.
You might ask - why didn't I quickly turn my key, get inside my place, lock my door and so on. But that might have been an extra risk of its own kind, not so easy anyway, and I have been in situations before in life which taught me that a fight in the open is far better than one in a confined place. Not that I got any time to exercise this wisdom. Besides, I wear glasses, and I didn't want to risk them.
Just when I thought the dancing-boxer-one might have believed I had no money on me and decided to go away, the other one, in the maybe-red jacket, who'd been standing back in the shadows near my garbage bin, leapt forward and gave me one great smack in the mouth! Then they were off. I was so stunned, I didn't actually see them leave.
Just one solid blow! A real, practiced-boxer sort of blow! Not a king hit. A king hit is one solid blow that drops a man on the spot and leaves him down. I reeled and stood on my front step, with an instant bleeding nose, quite a blood flow. And two teeth knocked straight out from my upper jaw. Right in the middle! I gulped some blood down, felt something go slow down my throat, and thought, oh no! I've just swallowed a tooth! The other tooth I found on the doorstep in the morning.
Rather some blood flowed down my steps, and I figured I'd leave it there till I informed the police. Not that that will do much good. I'm sure we had a practiced boxer here, in the maybe-red jacket as the back-up man. Who in fact was the real action-man. His pretentiously boxer-dancing little apprentice was just the front man, a diversionary tactic. It was very dark, so no descriptions, really. But I'm sure it was not the bloke with the white hood over his face who hit me, the angle of the hit did not match his position at the time. The hood was on my right, to one side, and the hit came from my left-front.
I'm also sure they were in cahoots as to what tactics to employ. In which case, this was not merely a random attack, it was premeditated, a practiced act. For someone - who just happened to be me this late Wednesday night - or say, 12.15am Thursday.
In my doorstep pool of light, I couldn't find either tooth near my steps. I went inside. It took 40-45 minutes for the two blood flows to subside, nose and upper jaw. I'm pretty annoyed. Instead of ringing the police, which seemed pointless on such a dark night, I sat down and began writing something like what you read now.
And it boils down to this... Two demanding-money incidents in about ten days and $50 is the going rate. These days, no lone male - more so if white - is safe on Armidale streets after 10pm. Not on any night. And summer is coming up.
Various aggro part-Aboriginals have gained command of the night streets of Armidale. Both decent standards of life and the police have lost control. It's probable that the police currently lack the numbers to be able to cope. That's one reason why I never bothered to ring them.
I just wanted to stop bleeding, really. Oddly enough, it never occurred to me to think that I was entirely alone here, which I was. I just wanted to stop bleeding.

Part 1 - Really Angry Personality Types?

I was thinking, I who studied psychology in a previous life, a long time ago at University of New England, those guys that bopped me are really, really, really Angry Personality Types as far as personality types go these days. They dig ultra-violence. They are into it. (The first time I vaguely recalled the movie, A Clockwork Orange.)
By 1.55am, and absently, I was just going to wipe the blood off my glasses, which I actually hadn't taken off yet. When I stopped and looked closely. A man gets hit in the smacker and suddenly gets blood - rather amazing - on the inside of his glasses? Blood that stays there and dries!? That's semi-professional-class boxing stuff, I'd say. And so sudden. Which is what I thought I'd tell the police. Show it to them.
So I left the blood to dry further on my glasses. In total, overpowering disgust, I went to bed. The totality of that disgust is partly why this writing appears on the Net. Luckily, I slept well. Me, the innocent victim of what?

Part 1 - Reporting to police

Next morning, 9am, I strolled into the police station. Speaking felt quite odd. After all, my mouth has just been rearranged. I had a split top lip, a very sore mouth, an ultra-tender nose... and probably a pretty glum demeanour. A constable basically unsurprised about the incident ushered me into a room and wrote down what I told him in a small notebook. He was a bit amazed I'd not rung his station as soon as possible after it happened, but I hadn't. Whatever... We agreed, if I had no useful descriptions, there was little useful to be done. (Knuckleprints on the tooth I had swallowed, would that be of any help? I didn't think so then. I still don't think so.) I went about my day's business. Well, I tried to. Really, I ended up taking most of the day off. Some kinds of disgust really are phenomonally overpowering.
Moving along from the police station, I reported the incident to our radio station and resigned from duties, as per my earlier email to them of about 1.55am, sent while inspecting my bloodied glasses, actually. They understood but lamented. We all shrugged our shoulders a little and commented sadly on life these days in Armidale. Life went on, as it tends to do, preceding death.
Being somewhat busy of late, I didn't bother phoning any family people or emailing any friends about these matters till the following Sunday. By which time, through the usual media channels, something about the incident found itself reported in at least one regional pre-Saturday newspaper.

Part 2 - Reasons to collect a bit of e-mail

And now, I had better tell you here that I collected the replies to my e-mails on this for a particular reason. Not to gain sympathy, since I've had suitable doses of that, thank you. So I could edit the replies so that you - the reader and all of us - can find out what some people have thought, do think, about these sorts of incidents.
Just so we know... because as we all know, Political Correctness Wants To Rule, OK. And the Politically Correct Brigade is so terrified of its own views, and its own, post-modernist conscience, it seriously cannot abide material as is being carried on this web page. While the fact is, as a lot of folk in Armidale are saying lately - the situation in this town has changed. There are few people in Armidale now, who are as Politically Uncorrect as The Aboriginal Clockwork Orangers. Which is an easy-enough proposition to test. Just wander alone in Armidale streets anytime around midnight. Anywhere at all in town, so I'm told. Read on...

Part 2 - E-mail of 14 November 2004 from W in Canberra
Good day Dan,

I was very disturbed, and angry, to read about your encounter with those
two thugs. I hope you reported it to the police fairly quickly - even
with a limited description of them the police may know who they are. Do
you think they were after drug money? Increasing addiction to hard drugs
seems to be the poison that is making even country towns no longer safe.

Let me know if the police have any luck with those two scumbags.
Regards, W.
First e-mail from M in Canberra
Dear Dan,

Annoying! My God! Are you OK? Apart from the obvious injuries, that is.
You still seem to be in shock - but that would not be a surprise. Wow,
that's not the Armidale I remember. And your teeth! What can be done?
Have you had medical treatment? Is there any chance of victim's
compensation to do some dental repair work? I take it you have reported
it to the police. If it is a smallish gang, which it could be, maybe the
cops can crack it, and the problem will go away. It's hard to tell
whether this is an example of the world just getting worse or whether
there is a local problem that can be solved. Sincerest sympathies and
best wishes, M.
NB: M used to be a public servant in Tamworth who often travelled around Northern NSW, to Moree and Armidale.

Part 2 - Musings on a sub-culture

Two days after "the incident, I'm finding that eating seems a much less attractive past-time when you've lately copped a massive blow to the kisser and lost two teeth. And other thing.
It's amazing how, if one has suddenly suffered damage from someone who is part of a sub-culture, one quickly becomes preoccupied with that sub-culture, trying to tease out the whys and wherefore of whatever happened. Motives. Wondering. Sharpening curiosity. Questions. Questions such as: what are the boundaries of the sub-culture? Why did a member of that sub-culture cross those boundaries and enter my domain? Etc. I don't envy the local police any part of this. They are going to have an increasingly difficult time, handling these troubles. They have had troubles in the past, as press clippings below will show...

Part 2 - Reply to E-mail from M in Canberra

Hello M...
Tks for concerns, and yes, I'm ok by now, no need for medicals, apart from still being VERY annoyed. Off to the dentist this week for a check-up. The night after my incident, Thursday, I hear from a fellow's sister here Friday morning, he got done over worse than I did, by a gang of eight, 2.30 am on Friday when he came out of the all-night service station, having unluckily decided to go there. So if there is any concern, it's not just me. It's unfortunately a bit more generalised than that.
There is a rampage on here in Armidale, and yes, it's not the Armidale it used to be at all. It's someplace different, already. I think the local cops have the picture - there's a minor war going on, conducted by itinerant Abos. I imagine the local Aboriginals here are being annoyed about it all, too, as these sorts of things don't do them any good.
Even further in reply to M in Canberra -
Hmm, dunno about a rescue effort for Armidale, I think the place is just going to have to get used to a negatively changed sociology. There's not much economic activity here for the whites, you know, let alone the blacks. It's a peculiar town. But moving along, the local police and the visiting magistrate last January amid much PR in the media put 20 local hoons in the slammer; they'd all been annoying the town right across 2003 in a wide variety of ways, but now, not a year later, with summer coming, it looks we have a fresh crop of aggressives. None of we whites know for sure, either, if any annoying Aboriginals are locals or itinerants; the Moree mob are widely distrusted, and the long-term feud between the Armidale mob and the Taree mob is well-known here since it regularly erupts yet again. No one here ever seems to mention the Tamworth mob, who are generally quiet except for the occasional internal dispute.
I often wonder whether some of Armidale's problems are not partly due to the university itself, that is, due to "educated/ informed / aware discussion of the issues", such that sleeping dogs aren't allowed to stay asleep. The university is the area's single largest employer, which makes Armidale a company town; whatever the Company on the Hill says, goes. Will the university be employing a large number of Aboriginals? Not noticeably.
Also moving along, following the 20 put in the slammer last January, the local "elders" here made suitable noises about yet another committee to discuss the issues, but the fact is, the Aboriginal parent generation has got no control over either itself or its kids, who run rampant - and can now co-ordinate with mobile phones, if they want to, I notice on the street. Lot of post-10pm activity of an odd kind here on the Armidale streets, and down along the creek. In an "academic town", a "literary town", I doubt anyone here would be game to collect the local folklore on race relations in Armidale, it would certainly not be a pretty collection about anything, or anyone. Sociological gangrene, really.
Years ago now, one Friday night here outside one of the hotels the Aboriginals frequent, around 10.30pm or so, I saw a lame white man trying to scurry away for some reason, gotten by two Aboriginals, one of whom really started kicking the lame fellow when he was down, like, right in the middle of the street. Make it a drizzly night for extra atmosphere, maybe. I've seen quite some bad behaviour in Australia, but only once before have I ever seen a man kick another man who was down. The only other time I saw this sort of thing, was around 2am one night in the 1970s, at the Singleton all-nighter, and with that incident, the bloke who'd gotten kicked, when he recovered and gotten up again, was last seen heading off raving how he was going to go get a rifle. I got outta there real quick. If memory serves, the kicker here was of German origin.
Maybe also here in Armidale re mobile phones, fresh input from the wonders of new technology into quite old racial wounds! Also not pretty. (Oddly enough, it's only lately I've noticed quite a number of younger Aboriginals in the Mall using mobile phones.) Education is a marvellous thing, of course. It appears a lot of today's young Aboriginal people have been told that we whites are invaders and dispossessors. They seem to believe it, and rather resent it, and they might tell some of us to go back where we came from. What they haven't been told, it seems, is that none of we whites (or Asians in Australia, or Polynesians) are going to move anywhere new because of the past historical facts. There is a lot to be said for telling a fully-rounded story, no? I could go on, but... Cheers, Dan.
Further in reply to M in Canberra -
But moving along, the local police seem alerted to the incidence of problems. There might be a core of say, 20 guys on the rampage of late. By the way, the Armidale police and the visiting magistrate last January (2004) put 20 of these types into the slammer, and advertised it heavily in the media, types who'd been annoying the town last year. This summer brings a new crop. Actually, from newspaper reports, as you'll see below, since early 2004, all that has happened with Armidale's levels of violence is that the winter provided a lull. By November it's warmer, and the violence is resurfacing. I've begun to wonder if this is not just violence, maybe it's the result of remarkably misguided people declaring a low-level guerilla war?
With these young "Urban Aboriginals" (to give them some kind of a sociological niche), I think there's a rising-generation-type problem, that affects their attitude from age 15 upwards - say by the age they bleakly begin realise that they're not going to get anywhere. It's in Moree, Armidale, not Tamworth so much, Taree, Dubbo, and west as far across as Perth, so one reads. Any drugs issues apart from alcohol will only make things worse, of course, and I wonder if the dismantling just lately of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) will not leave in its wake as it disappears, some vacuums around the countryside which might just become filled by periods of mindless violence? It is very hard to say. This Armidale violence does not seem to be politically motivated in the least for even any misguided sense of purpose - it is simply happening.

E-mail from S in Melbourne
Hi, Daniel,

Sad to hear your news. Are you sure they were not the same mongrel
culprits in both incidents? If so, even more worrying, and you probably
should advise the police - hopefully you reported these events to the
police anyway. Also, anyway, how did the news-media get hold of the
story? Perhaps it's time you considered a dog - a big one. Have you
tossed in the midnight prowl? Maybe there needs to be two folk - you and
a big guy - doing the midnight shift. Or perhaps it's time for you to
consider a shift back to Melbourne? Keep your eyes peeled, take the dog
(growling), as well as the big guy, and carry a big stick! We are going
along here at a pedestrian pace without any eventful stuff either way of
good or bad...

Best regards, S.
(Incidentally, S. used to be a social worker in the Victorian prison system. He knows a good deal about crims.)

Part 2 - E-mail from R in Armidale
Dear Dan,

terrible attack by thugs. No way to behave to another human being. They
need the same done to them in the public market, and the censorship of
all decent people. On a lighter, less Old Testament note... Again, sorry
you met with twerps with a fuck-you attitude. Riff-raff that are a
blight on the body politic.

Regards, R., and S. commiserates as well.
NB: R. here a while back had his car torched by some "Aboriginal youth". And he is one white man in Armidale who is most kindly and well-disposed to Aboriginal people. He took his car-torching with more equanimity than I could muster, I must say!

E-mail from P in Victoria
Dear Dan,

What a dreadful run of bad luck. It's odd that they picked on you--I
don't remember you as an aggressive person (unlike myself in my younger
days... ) I would not have thought Armidale was so dangerous and
violent. Is there high unemployment and hopelessness? Let's hope you
don't suffer any more.

Regards, P.
P is a journalist, a former police-roundsman in Melbourne - now retired in country Victoria -

Part 2 - E-mail from L in Tamworth
Dan,

I'm so sorry to hear of your ordeal, and at the same time grateful that
it was not much worse. This sort of unprovoked attack does far more
damage than the immediate physical injury, and piggy-backs on the
current state of apprehension we are all living under re; terrorism. One
of the reasons we came to live in the country way back in '72 was the
open country lifestyle. I know you also have enjoyed this way of life.
What happens now? Will you ever feel safe enough to have a walk in the
cool of the night? Is there nothing the Police can do? I always feel a
sense of outrage when people who are too lazy or warped to earn a day's
pay injure and intimidate others for their own gratification. A helpless
outrage, as there seems to be a rise in violence right across our
society, and a corresponding inability by authorities to prevail.

When we first arrived in Tamworth, a lady in South was indignant that
her car had been stolen from right under her unit. When asked how the
thief had managed to enter the car and drive it away, she said that the
keys were in it! Such was the trust in people doing the 'Right Thing'.
Nowadays, attacks on people in their own homes are commonplace . . . and
we can only think..'There but for the Grace of God go we'.

The older I get, the more the words of my parents ring loud in my mind.
'What's this world coming to?' The only thing I can think of
(unfortunately) is that things will get a lot worse before they begin to
get better. As our society veers further away from the Christian
principles on which it was based, there will be no standard to conform
or aspire to; Other than the law of 'Might is Right'. A sobering
thought.

Dan, I hope you are better soon, at least physically. Use your gifts
with writing and communication to hammer the powers that be into
increasing their visible presence in the community ( at night
especially). Maybe there are others in your community who could be
helpful in a combined effort. We can't let these mongrels keep getting
away with it.

Best regards, L.

P.S: (I wonder what Pat Dixon would say to these people...)
Reply to E-mail from L in Tamworth

Dear L,
Hmm, yours is the second response early this morning, So far, as I sent out around 17 of those reports on said incident, four days after it happened, it rather looks like other people want to get outraged on my behalf. There have been other incidents like this in Armidale, a lot last year, 2003, (20 of those offenders were put in the slammer in Jan 2004 - to no avail it appears.) The night after I was done over, a fellow went into the all-night service station at 2.30 am, came out and was done over by a gang of eight. His sister happened to overhear me telling my tale of woe - and mentioned this. There is some kind of minor-scale race relations war going on in Armidale.
The blokes who got me seemed like chronically angry personality types. Like, is their tolerance for white folks approaching zero? One thing we never hear of is the racism of blacks who hate whites. Oh well. What would Pat Dixon think? She'd be absolutely appalled, mortified, embarrassed beyond belief. I'd just come down past Armidale's new Pat Dixon Medical Centre before this happened, it's about two blocks from where I am, and as I can't imagine these types hanging around there late at night, they must have seen me coming somewhere between the med centre and my place, on my own street. What a bad stroke of timing, eh? If I'd gone another way (while it was a very dark night), situation might have been avoided. I might make a few remarks on a website once I get things back together re uploading websites.
As to "the state of the world", Australia is gradually getting more violent, and mindless, and I feel (personally, and/or as a historian) the Australia I grew up in is already a museum piece - and with changes in matters of religion also being noticeable. It seems a great problem that youngsters these days are simply not told there are certain things that one never does - as though the merest hint of talking of morals or ethics is "verboten". I suspect a lot of kids today get up to extra mischief simply because no one ever told them: there are some things one simply does not do.
It's one thing for times to change, another for them to get worse...

Second e-mail from M in Canberra

From M in Canberra -
Well, I'm here working late (as usual). Your local violence scene sounds
terrible! A few years back, I went to a 'do' at the local (would you
believe) 'Burns Club' - The do was sort of a stag night minus the
strippers. Very staid and gentlemanly really. Just lots of eating,
drinking and laughing. Anyway, recall that at around 1:30 or 2 am, I
decided not to bother with a taxi and walked the 2.5k home - not exactly
in a straight line. Bunch of young hoons in the car park area of the
club made me feel a little nervous about walking, but, I was amazed that
at that time in Canberra's early hours, there was some activity in the
streets and that it consisted of people bicycling and jogging around the
place! I kid you not!

Whilst we have our share of hold-ups, rapes and stabbings in the ACT,
and that includes in the local area, (and it was a bit silly of me to
trust to luck like that even a few years ago) it still feels relatively
safe here. A walk in the CBD of Melbourne at midnight still feels OK
(I've done it - relatively recently). I once walked late at night in
York UK the night of a Rugby match and it was, by contrast, Frigging
frightening!

When I was working in the NSW Northern district I remember Moree was a
trouble spot. You didn't want to go walking about in Moree at night
alone. The odd person got hit with a baseball bat at the time. I would
have thought Armidale more like Melbourne than Moree. Such a pity the
city has lost something important. A rescue effort is needed. Reclaim
the night!

Regards, M.
Hello M, Tks for concerns, and yes, I'm ok by now, no need for medicals, apart from still being VERY annoyed. Off to the dentist this week for a check-up. The night after my incident, Thursday, I hear from a fellow's sister here Friday morning, he got done over worse than I did, by a gang of eight, 2.30 am on Friday when he came out of the all-night service station, having unluckily decided to go there. So if there is any concern, it's not just me. It's unfortunately a bit more generalised than that.
There is a rampage on here in Armidale, and yes, it's not the Armidale it used to be at all. It's someplace different, already. I think the local cops have the picture - there's a minor war going on, conducted by itinerant Abos. I imagine the local Aboriginals here are being annoyed about it all, too, as these sorts of things don't do them any good.

Brooding e-mail "from deep in northern NSW"
Hi Dan,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. That area has been a problem for a
while. PJ [a mutual acquaintance who used to be a semi-professional
lightweight boxer] was once bailed up by a teenager egged on by two
teenage [Aboriginal] girls. PJ suggested that they just bugger off
because PJ did not feel like sorting the problem out. They left,
fortunately for them.

And like, a friend of K's daughter M owns one of the motels in Armidale.
One evening there were two Aboriginals inside the foyer checking the
place out, and refusing to leave until the police were threatened. Time
for a racial stand against these usually interlopers from elsewhere . .
. a Hillgrove picnic or something equally imposing. A new generation of
Aboriginals seems to be ignorant of earlier "solutions"...

Regards, J.
E-mail from B in Sydney
Dear Dan,

Very unfortunate, not fair neither. I sure hope you are recovering ok.

B.
E-mail from B south of Geelong, Victoria
Hi Dan,

No good to hear about your encounter with some of the local hoods. It
sounds as though you've survived the episode okay - save for a few
missing teeth etc. Interesting you say how this sort of crime is on the
rise in Armidale - you normally think of crime being related to large
cities and so on, but with regional unemployment, poverty or whatever I
guess this sort of thing will happen more frequently.

Your tale about two Aboriginal (?) attackers working in tandem reminds
me of the time that four young Aboriginal girls came in to our PO [Post
Office outlet] and very skilfully, right in front of our eyes, at less
that three metres away, managed to steal a mobile phone which was one of
several on display on the counter, hidden under the skirt of a baby they
had plonked on the counter while they distracted us.

Funny, I admire their pluck, but I think they ended up being tracked
down, as they had worked their way down the coast doing the same sort of
thing. They even made small talk as they left the shop, and we didn't
notice it missing till they had flown the coop. Anyway, good to hear
you're okay, but, yeah, very unsettling at the time. In the meantime,
have you solved your computer problems you reported recently?... . Will
sign off, but I'll write again shortly. Any virtue is recommending
staying off dark streets at late hours? Or maybe take someone with you.

Take care. Cheers, B.
Part 2 - E-mail No. 1 from K in Armidale
Hi Dan,

Been while since I ran into you around the place and it just happens I
was catching up with C. about some ex-staff and regular clients
downstairs and she said you'd just been in, but looking a little worse
for wear. I suddenly had a horrible thought that the paper articles I
had been reading about an attack was in fact about yourself? C.
confirmed that my guess was right... I am so, so sorry that you have
experienced this incident and I can't imagine how wretched you must feel
about it. I couldn't help myself but send you a quick note to say how
sorry I was to wish you all the best.
Regards, K.
Dear K.,
Well, thank you very much, indeed. Much appreciated.
Everyone has been quite sympathetic/outraged etc. (Pls pardon if I whistle through what is left of my teeth when I next see you, I am left sounding like grandpa, I'm afraid. ) It was a quite outrageous incident, being, The Clockwork Orange end of the spectrum in downtown Armidale. Actually, it was all a series of strange synchronicities really, anyway one looks at it. If only I'd gone a slightly different way to the FM station and back, etc. But if it was strange for me, imagine how strange it also was for the two blokes that did me over. Ya gotta be pretty strange to do something like that. Bizarre and strange as A Clockwork Orange.
Yep, we now have some new colours to mention when discussing race relations in Armidale, socially gangrenous as they are increasingly becoming while folk sit around mouthing pious nothings. I've been here now for ten years, and I doubt anyone in town (including me) would have the guts to dredge up, write about, and present all the local "folklore" and incidents about race relations in this town this past decade. It's not a pretty picture. As you gather, this thought has crossed my mind.
One day soon you'll see something about it on an Internet not far from you, since a distant friend tells me, if I don't want to put anything on my website, he'll put it on his, ASAP as I like!
Cheers, Dan.

Reply to K in Armidale

Dear K, Hello again, and I've not long read this week's "Armidale Independent". My troubles pale to insignificance beside this poor fellow assaulted, left unconscious, and carjacked, etc. Really feel sorry for him. And people around the traps sure are talking. A spotlight is going to fall on the police, methinks, and they are going to need reinforcements. We shall see what happens.
Cheers, Dan.

Second e-mail to K in Armidale

Dear K.,
Somewhat, wow. If you have a few clippings to hand, I'd like copies of them in due course. I've got various old newspaper items on Armidale hanging around. And have just had an email from a Melbourne pal telling me to, oh well, turn it into a writing experience.
By the way, if things are now not so bad in Moree, there is a lot of talk here in Armidale, now, about the visiting Moree boys. Presumably, no one knows the facts here. But as journalist, I did a newspaper job in Moree years ago somewhat after the notorious murder of an Aboriginal there one night. The Moree powers-that-were then were engaging in much hand-wringing about their bad reputation, generally, in the media, and were wanting advice, generally, on how to mend their public images. At the time, things seemed so bad, this was quite an ask.
Whatever, Armidale currently has its own situations - and things are also quite an ask. Hard to say what kind of asks might be set on the books. Behind most riotous situations are feelings of great anger on the part of the so-called rioters, and not till things settle down can any reasonable reasons or justifications for any actions taken be discussed, sifted, accepted or rejected, and so on. Mind you, the individual victims of a riot get to feeling rather angry, too, whatever the general set of rights and wrongs of the wider-scale situation.
So in brief, someone, somewhere, ought to be asking the offending Aboriginals in Armidale, "ok, what are you angry about? Tell us!" And set to sifting one thing and another. Large-scale group therapy?
Leave the idea with you. What sort of person(s) would take on this job?
Cheers, Dan.

Further e-mail from K in Armidale
Dan,

Absolutely to everything you said. Re: the Moree thing - exactly - there
is less tolerance for that level of anti-social behaviour over there
that 'they' do travel over to Armidale to use it as their "playground"
whether it is the football Knock-out weekend, a family funeral, just an
excuse..... Whatever the reason, there are groups of people coming from
out of town to cause trouble IN town.

This becomes an inter-tribe and family issues for the aboriginal
community AS WELL as the non-aboriginal community who gets stuck in the
middle... But you have mentioned what I fear - murder..... Is that what
it will take before Chetwynd [the mayor of Armidale] and Co. pull their
toffee-covered fingers out of their ears and take their silk night-masks
off their eyes and SEE and HEAR what the rest of us already know? It's
not just David Hookes who could fall down and strike his cranium on the
tarmac!!

And oh... How sad the passing of Pat Dixon.... There were the beginnings
of a system of youth governance within the local community - attempts
were being made to reconcile within the Aboriginal community and to
ensure that parents were taking responsibility for their young children
and showing them that is OK to succeed, that it's OK to be good at
things... Kids that did wrong were set up to face their victims to help
understand the impact of their actions... Unfortunately this didn't seem
to get followed through... Those young children are now a bit older...
What are they doing now...?

It's about re-education of a whole people. How do you change a mind-set
that says to kids that it is OK to drag a grown man out of his vehicle
and bash him senseless? Or to follow a man home and attack him for ...
What? Nothing? Or to cut a lady so badly that her arm needs to be
amputated; or a student who has to bear the scars of the schooner glass
that was smashed over his head because he wanted to HELP someone who was
being beaten!!

If Armidale doesn't embrace this problem and OWN it, it's only going to
get worse and we'll be sitting here saying "Told You So" but.... That's
not going to help the next victim, is it?

I'll dig up my little clippings this evening and see what I have got -
I'll let you know. Perhaps by getting an accurate picture together of
some of the past offences, we might be able to see what patterns of
behaviours are highlighted... Dunno... Isn't there some wanker out there
with a PhD who should be doing this???
Further from K. in Armidale ...
Yes indeed Dan, The situation here is not a very good one and is
festering dangerously un-checked. Not so long ago I was speaking with a
man who is now on Council out at Moree. He spoke happily about how far
that town had come as far as race relations were concerned. Later, I was
saying to my partner that I thought that a community such as Moree which
is thrust into the spotlight with its past "problems" has no choice but
to face up and deal with the issues - a lot of work has been done and
there is still probably far to go.... but there is an example of a town
that is DOING something instead of Armidale's "sweep it under the rug" and
"it's not a problem at all" approach.

We [here in Armidale] watched with interest 18 months ago when young Kim
Drury was on Big Brother TV. She was "a bit rough around the edges" -
but Country-Honest if you know what I mean. The other housemates asked
her where she was from and she was telling them about Armidale and
mentioned that you couldn't walk safely around at night...

Holy crap! Did the media jump on that one! Do you recall all the
articles in the paper - it was on Channel 10 news etc etc... Anyway,
it's not rocket science to see that she was correct - but truths like
that aren't popular to read.... and I guess because of such a public
denial, council can't now be seen to be "fixing" a problem that they
have denied even exists! So they have created their own Catch-22.

I reckon, if a gathering was called for all the people who had been
assaulted in Armidale since 2000, you would fill the Town Hall. I
personally know about six just off the top of my head without the people
who I have 'heard of'. Mostly at night, mostly after money, mostly
Aboriginals, mostly nothing ever happened afterward...

I guess it's just a shame to see how good this community could be, how
progressive our indigenous involvement could be... but so often the
wrong messages are being sent out to the youth and I don't know what we
can do to change that...

I have kept a few articles here and there referencing the street brawls
that have occurred with startling regularity over the last year or so -
I'm not sure why when that happens in Redfern it's national news but
when it happens in Armidale TWICE in two months it's just accepted.....

I'd say that the only way to WAKE UP THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (as Billy Bragg
puts it) is to shove these facts down their throat until they choke on
them. If that means an editorial on the last 10 years of street violence
in Armidale, then so be it!!!

Anyway, don't take on-board blame for what has happened to you Dan. You
are the victim and whether or not "this" or "that" could have been
different on the night, does NOT detract from the bastards who did this,
thinking that it's acceptable in the first place. I hope you're nearly
back to feeling like yourself again (teeth excepted!) and I look forward
to seeing some interesting items in the local media over the next few
weeks and months.

Kind Regards, K. in Armidale
And now for a view which behind it has a particular kind of attitude, namely: "oh yes, and haven't we seen a lot of this kind of thing on TV from around the world, we know what goes on".

From a friend in Melbourne known for his over-whimsical sense of humour...
Dear Dan,

Shocked and saddened by your nasty incident. Attacking possible
indigenous types with your front teeth. The latent rabbit in you coming
out. I phoned twice last night but you were probably out with the
vigilantes and a posse. Remember - the good guys wear white. Talk
tonight, it is 6am here. Stay in after midnight. Walk tough and beware
the institutional shuffle. Think West Point and carry a cudgel (nowadays
referred to as Nunchakus). Stay cool and turn it into a writing
experience ASAP.

Cheers, P.
(More to come soon, and depending on my incoming email, this article could grow to be quite long, because the problems of Armidale are wide and a number of people are very concerned indeed - Dan Byrnes, Armidale, 19-11-2004/28-11-2004)

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