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Every now and then, being a Rotarian - and in this case, being a Surfers Sunrise Rotarian - gives one some quite exclusive "insider" information about what is going on. Many members have "the pulse" of the town, but it is uncommon for the Guest Speaker to have such intimate access to "the pulse" as Inspector Bruce Kuhn. You see, Bruce was in charge of controlling the Aboriginal protests at the recently held Commonwealth Games. So, how do you deal with a bunch of Aboriginal protesters who are unrelated to the 'Yugambeh' tribe, the local indigenous people on whose ancestral lands the games were held? In particular in view of the Yugambeh having no issues with the games and indeed were dead set against this mob muscling in on their turf? How do you deal with a bunch of protesters, many of whom are not Aboriginals themselves (but very much look like "professionals protesters")? The reporters and cameramen of the local and international media were just waiting for an opportunity to have a decent bust-up. Anything to break the dull monotony of following a baton relay stretching not just for kilometres of flat ground, but also for hours of, in essence, repetitive spectacle of the same baton handover from one well deserving and often high profile individual to another? On the last day before the games started, our very own District Governor Darrell Brown was one of the Baton Bearers affected by this unauthorized protest which blocked Seaworld Drive. Your editor happened to be there too. My personal attitude to this sort of disruption is somewhat more teutonic and thus, in retrospect, I have nothing but great praise for the way the Police handled the issue in a way that indeed did NOT create the incident the sensationalist media were hoping for. 150 police personnel were on the ground. Their job was not just to maintain order, but to ensure that the Gold Coast would be projected as anything but violent. As those of us who also watched the evening news (or were at the Opening Ceremony) would know, the mob still kept agitating in the evening too. Bruce's team was right on the ball. There were no real ugly scenes. I dips me lid!
So, what is the real story? Much regret to say, but you should have been there yourself. Since Rotary is on principle not political and is far more determined to promote peace than conflict, the details of Bruce's presentation will not be reported in this bulletin. Suffice to say that, upon your Editor's question of who finances the 'Stolenwealth Games' organization (yes, it is an organization. It costs money to fly people in from as far as Perth), Bruce's answer produced the proverbial "sharp intake of breath" as writers of conspiracy novels would describe it. The organization is related to the highest levels of a major parliamentary party. Except that this is not fiction.