The PR Blog

When I was sixteen, I sneaked ( or is it snuck?)  into a theatre to watch a film that would stay with me for life. I was only 16 but I pretended to be 18.  My older brother took me. He was good like that. He knew I would see it and felt it was better to do so under his watchful eye. 

Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange wasn’t just a film - it was a visceral, unforgettable encounter. What struck me wasn’t just the graphic violence. It was the contrast: the lilting beauty of Beethoven soaring over acts of sheer horror. The delight of Alex and his gang in depravity, paired with the elegance of music, made it more disturbing, not less. It showed me something then that I would come to understand only more fully with age: evil often wears the mask of culture, refinement, even charm. I was quite upset when we left the theatre. My brother said: " Don't watch things because they sound exciting unless you are ready. "  And he was right. I was too young, But in many ways, I am glad I went to see that film when I did. It opened my eyes. 

That thought returned to me recently, talking with Redhead, who turned 93 yesterday. Our conversation turned to today’s moral blindness, especially around the events of October 7 and the current violence in cities like Paris, Los Angeles, Melbourne, the list goes on. So many now shout "Free Palestine" with passion, but refuse to watch, even acknowledge, the brutality Hamas unleashed that day. Murder, rape, beheadings, the deliberate targeting of civilians. It was not resistance - it was terror. And yet, some people actively look away.

Like young Greta Thunberg.who refused to look. To watch. Thank goodness I opened my eyes when I did...... 

The show takes a look at the horror that emerges when people are allowed to make anonymous decisions as part of a crowd.

It caused a degree of shock and horror at the time and was designed to show us how being anonymous in a crowd can, in his words, “turn perfectly nice people into internet bullies, or rioters, or hooligans”.

I am proud to pay tribute to a testimony to the power of coal. If a grand old lady of over 100 years can still stand with coal power in a world seemingly obsessed with renewables I have to say this: try running her on wind power or solar panels. Or looking for a big enough power point to plug her into each night. She works 14 hours a day in the summer months when the days are long and there is always a brisk breeze on Lake Wakatipu but she still thrives on Coal. 

Anyone who has ever visited the beautiful town of Queenstown in New Zealand, will know the sight of the steamship Earnslaw. 

The TSS Earnslaw is an integral part of Queenstown’s pioneering history and to this day a Queenstown icon. She was commissioned by New Zealand Railways to service the communities around Lake Wakatipu. Launched in the same year as the Titanic, the TSS Earnslaw’s maiden voyage was on 18 October 1912. 

And this grand old lady runs on something that is demonised today -  hard back-breaking work and coal. 

An exclusive editorial investigation by Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble, Chief Correspondent, Ratty News

Dusty Gulch - To the untrained eye, it looked like a tantrum.Two titans of modern swagger....Donald J. Trump and Elon R. Musk...squabbling like boys at a sleepover, fighting over who gets the top bunk, the last lamington, or the final say in America’s next great drama.

One called the other “disloyal.” The other pretended not to care.... while a Tesla got keyed outside a moong bean festival celebrating gay pride in Gaza. Social media was abuzz. Left-wing judges wagged fingers. Meme factories shifted into fifth gear.

But here at Ratty News, we sniffed something deeper.

Was this ego? Was it orchestration.... A two-act spongecake of political theatre baked with surgical precision to lure out a nest of rats hidden deep within the walls of government?

If it isn't? Then that matters too...... 

On June 6, 1944, the world witnessed an extraordinary event that changed the course of World War II. Known as the Normandy Landing, or D-Day, it marked the largest amphibious invasion in human history. 

The Normandy Landing was the result of months of meticulous planning and preparation by Allied forces. Under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, a multinational coalition consisting of American, British, Canadian, and other Allied troops including Australian, came together to devise an audacious plan. The objective was to establish a foothold in Nazi-occupied France and initiate the liberation of Western Europe.

Canberra's finest fall from grace... and altitude

They came, they posed, they plummeted. In what was billed as a whirlwind outback charm offensive, Prime Minister Albanese, Climate Minister Chris Bowen, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong descended... quite literally... on Dusty Gulch for a photo-op tour that turned into a full-blown bush baptism.

Dressed in high-vis vests and sporting expressions of city-bred optimism, the trio’s visit quickly unravelled into a cautionary tale of political parachuting gone wrong, airborne budgies, CWA sabotage, and old fashioned bush justice. As Ratty Airways circled low and Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble reported live, the stage was set for a landing so unforgettable it may be commemorated in marmalade for years to come.

It was supposed to be a triumphant outback photo op for Queensland Day. Instead, it turned into a comedy of altitude and attitude -  with the Prime Minister, the Climate Minister and the Foreign Minister all taking a dive, quite literally, into the heart of Dusty Gulch.