40 years ago: 1967 Referendum

May Day March in Queensland prior to 1967 Referendum

The sign on the BLF float reads:

FULL CITZ. RIGHTS for
ABORIGINALS
AWARD RATES & CONDITIONS
TO APPLY IMMEDIATELY
WE DEMAND DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS
VOTE YES
For The Aboriginals on
MAY 27th.

On May 27th 1967 after years of campaigning there was a Referendum to change the Commonwealth Constitution which up until then had said:

"The Parliament shall … have powers to make laws for peace, order, and good government [for] the people of any race, other than the aboriginal race in any State". Another clause said that "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth … aboriginal natives shall not be counted".

The 1967 referendum achieved the highest ever Yes vote of close to 91%


Australian Council of Salaried and Prefessional Associations (ACSPA) campaign leaflet

pancakes and possums!

pancake recipe
one cup plain flour mixed with one cup of keffir left overnight
mix in one egg then salt and milk or flour to get desired consistency
pour onto greased hot skillet

an old blackened cast iron skillet and a cast iron pan created different patterns

some stewed mixed fruit was quickly added ...

yum ... thanks Greg

we saw the possums in the dark ... they didn't show up in the camera screen at all!

front then back

Katoomba: the autumn leaves ...

the autumn leaves are falling
the nights are getting dim
the painter cleans his pots out well
and he hands his brushes in ...

I just walked up the hill to Katoomba post office and saw so many signs of autumn ...


the sky was deep blue with a few high clouds and of course shone right through the dying leaves ...



the shadows were long too even towards mid day ...

high clouds ...

great shadows ... if you scroll down this one it's like some primitive movie!

email from Polperro

On our return from Japan these photos arrived via email:

John's ladder

Scarlett's pork pie