THE MALONEY SCRAPBOOK

  Anecdote 3 - BLOKES WHO TREAD SOFTLY Maybe it still goes on as frequently, but in the streets of Brunswick post-WWII there always seemed to be 1 or 2 single adult men (sons or brothers) who lived their life out in the back bungalow or rear bedroom.  They smiled and stopped to chat as they passed to or from the factory work or their pub. Sometimes Mum would invite them to join our family tea, or sit on the verandah with Dad on the hot summer nights. They usually had a "party piece" - a song or poem recital for the Sunday nights when we would gather around some neighbour's lounge and entertain ourselves or play cards, and always talk (mostly on boring things to our childish ears). Tommy Tyler was one of those blokes. He lived out the back of his Mum's place in Collings Street for 51 years until Mrs Tyler died. Then he moved into a room at Whitby House, and finally a renovated garage in Rose Street.  Tommy sang "Danny Boy" with a wonderful tenor voice, but he...

 Anecdote 2 -  “CHERRY BOBS” – A UNIQUE BRUNSWICK TRADITION   If you know how to play “cherry bobs”, then you attended St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Hope Street West Brunswick! For over 50 years, and apparently at nowhere else, this game predominated in the enthusiastic activities of Primary School Children.   As the game relied on a constant and consistent supply of cherries, the game was seasonal - a perfect lead up to the Christmas holidays. For when cherries were IN, then “cherry bobs” was the game.   The Rules were simple, although devious tricks had been cultivated by generations of children.   The First Step was to dig a hole in the hard earth of the playground. At St Joey’s, this was under the gum trees near the Hope Street entrance. The diameter and depth of the hole was at the Digger’s discretion.   The little Digger then measured out a similarly discretionary distance from the hole, and with the edge of those school shoes (...

 Anecdote 1 - "If you want a Loyal Friend in Politics ... (Written by Warren Maloney on 27th June 2021) 1989 and the Queensland people had at last voted out the very, very corrupt National Party Government under Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It had taken a Royal Commission to expose the large and frequent bribes and corrupt practices that had ruled Queensland for 21 years, The Labor Party, led by Wayne Goss, was elected. The Nationals were furious and shredded everything (even technical office manuals) in their last few days and instructed Public Servants not to assist the new Government.  My good Friend, Deane Wells, was elected and chosen to be the new Attorney General and Minister for Justice. I flew up to Brisbane to help him as a temporary Chief of Staff for the first few weeks.   Day 1 - Whilst trying to sort out staff and equipment (and keep Deane busy), I received a phone call from " the leading " good guys Legal firm (the ones with the white hats and the white h...