It would be difficult to work in the Northern Territory in the last half of the 20th century, and not have come across Charles Perkins.
Born in Alice Springs in the late 1930s, Charles Perkins career reads like a template for indigenous activism, from the Freedom Rides of the 1960s to his work with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in the 1970s and his role as Commissioner and Deputy Chair, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission in the 1990s.
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I’ve always enjoyed it when I get the chance to happen upon a bit of living history.
In 1991 the Alice Springs School of the Air celebrated its 40th anniversary, and one of the people who turned up to share her story was one of the original teachers, Molly Ferguson.
Her story however was as much a picture of our society in the 1950s as it was about her work at the School of the Air. Molly spoke of her stint as acting Principal, and that being a woman she could only be an acting Principal as at the time only men could get the job full time.
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I met Winston Peters in 1990 while he was traveling through the Northern Territory.
At the time he was a Maori member of the NZ National Party, and his star was such he was tipped to become New Zealand’s first Maori Prime Minister.
Unfortunately the highest he flew was Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, when his New Zealand First party held the balance of power following the 1996 election.
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While many think of Central Australia as a desert, there is real beauty in this arid environment.
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In 1990 while working as Manager Regional Stations for the Northern Territory, the Central Australian branch of the Australian institute of Management presented me with their inaugural “Manager of the Year” award.
Sometimes it appears that mobile phones have been with us always, yet in 1988 the arrival of a cellular phone network in Darwin was big news.
In 1987, primarily through a body of work surrounding the world heritage listing of Kakadu National Park, I was the joint winner of the Electronic Journalist of the Year award for the Northern Territory.
I shared “The Eric” with my colleague Phil Smith, who had a reputation for the quirky stand-up.
In 1987, the lease on the satellite monitoring base, Pine Gap, near Alice Springs was up for re-signing by the Federal Government.
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It wouldn’t be the Top End without a bit of barramundi fishing.
While a keen fisherman myself, in 1987 I covered the annual Barra Classic, on its return to Corroboree Billabong.
One of the benefits of working in smaller TV newsrooms is that you do get to do a bit of everything.
In August 1987, I was heading for an early finish to my day when asked to cover a media conference with Australian band INXS, and songstress Jenny Morris.
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