The untold story of the last Australian plane out of Saigon
The din of war was growing louder and the North Vietnamese Army was getting closer when the last Royal Australian Air Force plane out of Saigon experienced a delay.
The hitch had nothing to do with the ordnance exploding at the perimeter of Tan Son Nhut Air Base, nor a fault with the C-130E Hercules that had landed hours earlier to serve as the backstop for two evacuation flights that had whisked Australian embassy staff, journalists and others to safety in Bangkok. It was personnel: all on board understood the significance of leaving on Anzac Day, 1975, and two in particular were jostling to claim a place in history.
'Each of them wanted to be the last person with boots on the ground,' the plane's captain, John 'Jack' Fanderlinden, said.
The loadmaster, Sergeant Halary Ashman 'Sam' Sims, and one of four Airfield Defence Guards left behind from the embassy both tried to claim bragging rights from opposite ends of the plane. For Sims, it was his job to be last on board.
In the cockpit, Flying Officer Fanderlinden could not see the stand-off but worked out what was happening when Sims told him he was going to 'jump out and make sure the undercarriage is OK'.
'Sam hopped out [the back door] so they could see that he was the last Aussie on the ground. He apparently walked around, stomped on the ground and made it perfectly obvious to everybody, then leapt back on board, shut the door and we were off.'
After nearly 13 years of Australian involvement in the decades-long Vietnam War, in which more than 60,000 Defence personnel had served, 523 were killed and about 2400 wounded, Fanderlinden lifted A97-178 into the air in the afternoon of April 25, 1975. Australia's combat role had ended three years earlier, and the RAAF planes were assigned to United Nations evacuations, but Fanderlinden's crew and passengers were the last Australian Defence Force members to leave. Saigon fell five days later.
The end of the war on April 30, known as a day of liberation and reunification in Vietnam but considered a day of shame for the vanquished, spawned a refugee crisis and led to a wave of migration that forever altered Australian society. There are more than 300,000 people of Vietnamese heritage in Australia, and Vietnamese is the fourth most spoken language. There are an estimated 35,000 surviving Australian veterans of the war.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the relationship between the two countries has 'never been stronger' and described Vietnam as 'an active player in regional and global affairs, and a key partner for Australia'.
On Anzac Day, a dawn service will be held on the grounds of the Australian embassy in Hanoi, while another will be held in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) on the grounds of the British consulate, hosted by the New Zealand consulate.
Fifty years ago, Australia had two parallel diplomatic missions. The embassy in the southern capital, which occupied the seventh floor of the Caravelle Hotel, was evacuated on April 25.
Fanderlinden remembers the day differently than other accounts. In his research, he found a 'blatantly wrong' description of the four Airfield Defence Guards being left behind to fend for themselves. Rather, he had already landed and shut down while the second of the evacuation flights was 'buttoning up' for departure.
'My orders were, I was to be the backstop for those two aeroplanes. If either of them broke down, their load was going to come on to my aeroplane, including the ambassador and whoever else on whichever aeroplane broke down, and [I would] destroy the Herc that couldn't get airborne,' Fanderlinden said.
'The second order was to pick up these four Airfield Defence Guards because they were part of the embassy mob and they were at the airfield when the ambassador and everyone was leaving on the second Herc.'
There are reports of the four men having no clue when a rescue might come as they were waiting for a Hercules that was off the Vietnamese coast.
'My recollection is totally different,' Fanderlinden said. 'Now that's me. I didn't do any circling over the coast. The most dangerous place to be is actually in the air. I wanted to be on the ground and minimal time in the air.'
He and his crew were on the ground for a couple of hours, waiting not only for the four guards but also nuns and nurses; between 30 and 40 people were on the last flight. He spent part of the time near base ops, where he got updated intelligence from the CIA and had to refile his flight plan, and watched South Vietnamese fighters and bombers depart for short, sharp attack runs as fighting neared.
'We could see the war going on around us. We could see fighter aeroplanes from the South getting bombed up and everything, flying to the perimeter … bombing and strafing, 10 minutes, very quick missions. It was noisy because all of this ordnance was going off,' he said.
'Interestingly enough, with all this destruction going on around us, I was watching normal activity taking place like construction work and repairing stuff.'
He wandered over and made friends with some workmen, who offered to share their lunch. 'It looked a bit dodgy,' Fanderlinden recalled, but it tasted fine.
'They were looking forward to the end of the war when stability would return to the country. I thought they could have been Viet Cong even.
'No backstop for me, so if my aeroplane broke down, bad luck. I needed someone on my side.'
With the call sign Black Jack, Fanderlinden flew 28 sorties in the last month of the war and encountered some 'excitement'.
He helped in the chaos of the evacuation from Phan Rang on Vietnam's south central coast, with an average of 250 passengers in the back, to the Can Tho airfield in the Mekong Delta, the only place he felt uncomfortable as he did not know who the enemy was.
He was airborne in the Hercules when the US C-5A Galaxy crashed outside Tan Son Nhut Air Base on April 4, killing 138 people including the last two Australians to die in the war: nun Margaret Moses and nurse Lee Makk. Fanderlinden circled above the site while the fighters returned to base and survivors were rescued.
While it was later revealed maintenance failures caused the crash, at the time rumours of surface-to-air missiles abounded. The air base was kept dark at night and Fanderlinden had his lights off while taxiing. By intuition, he slammed on the brakes: his loadmaster jumped out to discover they had come close to crashing into helicopters parked at the base and exploding.
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Fanderlinden spent his life looking forward. He rose through the RAAF's ranks, had a second high-flying career at BAE Systems and had a family.
The anniversary gave him a reason to reflect. After an Anzac Day visit to Gallipoli, he will speak about his Vietnam experiences at Fighter World in Williamtown on April 30.
He regrets losing touch with his plane, which was traded to the US and later sold to a contractor, and wishes it had a place in a museum.
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The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Vague food labelling is well past its use-by date
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Stuffed with lemon and herbs and roasted slowly, the chicken was melt-in-the-mouth perfect. As it cooked on this cold winter evening it filled the house with the most comforting aroma. The roasted potatoes were a triumph, too. Parboiled first - three minutes, not a second longer - they came out of the oven crisp on the outside, creamy within. And the broccoli, just lightly blanched, was a winning accompaniment with just the right crunch. Not a scrap of potato or broccoli was left. The rest of the chicken, denuded of legs, thighs and wings, was duly wrapped and refrigerated for its encore as sandwich filling, pasta sauce and, if time permits, some stock, frozen in an ice cube tray for later use. All that made it to the bin were the bones and the plastic the bird came in. If only all meals were like this. Not just for the eating but for the reduction of waste. 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"I will have to borrow 'a loose arrangement with the plot'," writes Kerry. "Today's newsletter was just brilliant. Loved it. Thank you." Murray says two things were inevitable: "First, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were going to come to blows. Two hugely powerful narcissists were only going to stay best buddies for so long. Second, the left were going to be almost orgasmic with glee over it." Bill writes: "Albo is spot on: meet Trump anywhere but the farce that is an Oval Office presser, in front of all those simpering cabinet acolytes who depend on Trump for their future. Imagine how our local idiot Dutton would have looked defending Australian meat farmers. On second thought, send Littleproud and watch him get eaten for breakfast." "I suggest all national leaders join my new MAGA movement: Make America Go Away," writes Rob. This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Stuffed with lemon and herbs and roasted slowly, the chicken was melt-in-the-mouth perfect. As it cooked on this cold winter evening it filled the house with the most comforting aroma. The roasted potatoes were a triumph, too. Parboiled first - three minutes, not a second longer - they came out of the oven crisp on the outside, creamy within. And the broccoli, just lightly blanched, was a winning accompaniment with just the right crunch. Not a scrap of potato or broccoli was left. The rest of the chicken, denuded of legs, thighs and wings, was duly wrapped and refrigerated for its encore as sandwich filling, pasta sauce and, if time permits, some stock, frozen in an ice cube tray for later use. All that made it to the bin were the bones and the plastic the bird came in. If only all meals were like this. Not just for the eating but for the reduction of waste. Australians are estimated to waste about 7.6 million tonnes of food each year. Of this, some 2.5 million tonnes is generated by households. For each Australian, that's 312 kilograms of food that ends up in landfill, where it rots and contributes for global emissions. As you can imagine in a country with a dysfunctional relationship with food (where else is cheese aerosolised?) the problem is supersized. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the emissions from food waste in the US are the equivalent of 42 coal-fired power stations. The agency says the amount of water and energy used to produce the food that's chucked each year is enough to supply more than 50 million homes. We can't do anything about America's profligacy when it comes to food, but we do have the power to change our habits. The most obvious is embracing leftovers. It's been encouraging in recent weeks to see a TV campaign championing the leftover lunch. Not only is it a money saver but the ricotta and spinach agnolotti somehow always tastes better reheated the next day. Supermarkets need to play the game as well. They should start by being honest with those use-by and best-before dates they stamp on their prepackaged foods. The use-by dates are mandatory and food - mainly meat and dairy - shouldn't be eaten and cannot be sold after them. The best-before dates are where the confusion arises. Food can be eaten after them. Yet, too often, products that have exceeded their best-by date but are still absolutely edible are binned with every pantry cull. A 2019 food waste report found that only 51 per cent of household "food managers" understood the difference between the two labels. Which means half of Australia's households are probably throwing out perfectly good canned food, sauces, biscuits and chocolate. And that's contributing to an annual food waste bill per household of around $2700. OzHarvest estimates about 70 per cent of the food we bin each year is perfectly edible. That's bad enough with families struggling through the cost-of-living crisis. It's even harder to stomach when every day we're assailed with images of what real hunger looks like in Gaza, in Sudan. A lat- arriving comment from Echidna reader Olivia, in response to last week's story about the demise of the corner store and deli, resonates with today's topic. She wrote about life as a single girl in 1980, of coming home to Paddington via the corner store to grab supplies: "Two spuds, a lamb chop, and some greens, that'll do. One day at a time, one meal at a time." Rereading it, thoughts turn to tonight's meal. Leftover chicken shredded and tossed through steaming farfalle with onion, garlic and baby spinach the packet tells me was best before last Thursday but I know will do just fine. HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you ever stop to think how much food is wasted? Should "use-by" and "best before" labelling on food be clearer? Do you save leftovers for meals later in the week? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Israeli forces stopped a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists early Monday and diverted it to Israel, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas. - Network 10's long-running panel show The Project has been axed due to declining ratings. - Former prime minister Scott Morrison has been congratulated after receiving Australia's highest civilian honour, but there is at least one call for him to decline the gong. THEY SAID IT: "If you're going to America, bring your own food." - Fran Lebowitz YOU SAID IT: They want to talk trade but when world leaders get their audience with Donald Trump they're reduced to being extras in his trashy reality show. "I will have to borrow 'a loose arrangement with the plot'," writes Kerry. "Today's newsletter was just brilliant. Loved it. Thank you." Murray says two things were inevitable: "First, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were going to come to blows. Two hugely powerful narcissists were only going to stay best buddies for so long. Second, the left were going to be almost orgasmic with glee over it." Bill writes: "Albo is spot on: meet Trump anywhere but the farce that is an Oval Office presser, in front of all those simpering cabinet acolytes who depend on Trump for their future. Imagine how our local idiot Dutton would have looked defending Australian meat farmers. On second thought, send Littleproud and watch him get eaten for breakfast." "I suggest all national leaders join my new MAGA movement: Make America Go Away," writes Rob. This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Stuffed with lemon and herbs and roasted slowly, the chicken was melt-in-the-mouth perfect. As it cooked on this cold winter evening it filled the house with the most comforting aroma. The roasted potatoes were a triumph, too. Parboiled first - three minutes, not a second longer - they came out of the oven crisp on the outside, creamy within. And the broccoli, just lightly blanched, was a winning accompaniment with just the right crunch. Not a scrap of potato or broccoli was left. The rest of the chicken, denuded of legs, thighs and wings, was duly wrapped and refrigerated for its encore as sandwich filling, pasta sauce and, if time permits, some stock, frozen in an ice cube tray for later use. All that made it to the bin were the bones and the plastic the bird came in. If only all meals were like this. Not just for the eating but for the reduction of waste. Australians are estimated to waste about 7.6 million tonnes of food each year. Of this, some 2.5 million tonnes is generated by households. For each Australian, that's 312 kilograms of food that ends up in landfill, where it rots and contributes for global emissions. As you can imagine in a country with a dysfunctional relationship with food (where else is cheese aerosolised?) the problem is supersized. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the emissions from food waste in the US are the equivalent of 42 coal-fired power stations. The agency says the amount of water and energy used to produce the food that's chucked each year is enough to supply more than 50 million homes. We can't do anything about America's profligacy when it comes to food, but we do have the power to change our habits. The most obvious is embracing leftovers. It's been encouraging in recent weeks to see a TV campaign championing the leftover lunch. Not only is it a money saver but the ricotta and spinach agnolotti somehow always tastes better reheated the next day. Supermarkets need to play the game as well. They should start by being honest with those use-by and best-before dates they stamp on their prepackaged foods. The use-by dates are mandatory and food - mainly meat and dairy - shouldn't be eaten and cannot be sold after them. The best-before dates are where the confusion arises. Food can be eaten after them. Yet, too often, products that have exceeded their best-by date but are still absolutely edible are binned with every pantry cull. A 2019 food waste report found that only 51 per cent of household "food managers" understood the difference between the two labels. Which means half of Australia's households are probably throwing out perfectly good canned food, sauces, biscuits and chocolate. And that's contributing to an annual food waste bill per household of around $2700. OzHarvest estimates about 70 per cent of the food we bin each year is perfectly edible. That's bad enough with families struggling through the cost-of-living crisis. It's even harder to stomach when every day we're assailed with images of what real hunger looks like in Gaza, in Sudan. A lat- arriving comment from Echidna reader Olivia, in response to last week's story about the demise of the corner store and deli, resonates with today's topic. She wrote about life as a single girl in 1980, of coming home to Paddington via the corner store to grab supplies: "Two spuds, a lamb chop, and some greens, that'll do. One day at a time, one meal at a time." Rereading it, thoughts turn to tonight's meal. Leftover chicken shredded and tossed through steaming farfalle with onion, garlic and baby spinach the packet tells me was best before last Thursday but I know will do just fine. HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you ever stop to think how much food is wasted? Should "use-by" and "best before" labelling on food be clearer? Do you save leftovers for meals later in the week? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Israeli forces stopped a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists early Monday and diverted it to Israel, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas. - Network 10's long-running panel show The Project has been axed due to declining ratings. - Former prime minister Scott Morrison has been congratulated after receiving Australia's highest civilian honour, but there is at least one call for him to decline the gong. THEY SAID IT: "If you're going to America, bring your own food." - Fran Lebowitz YOU SAID IT: They want to talk trade but when world leaders get their audience with Donald Trump they're reduced to being extras in his trashy reality show. "I will have to borrow 'a loose arrangement with the plot'," writes Kerry. "Today's newsletter was just brilliant. Loved it. Thank you." Murray says two things were inevitable: "First, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were going to come to blows. Two hugely powerful narcissists were only going to stay best buddies for so long. Second, the left were going to be almost orgasmic with glee over it." Bill writes: "Albo is spot on: meet Trump anywhere but the farce that is an Oval Office presser, in front of all those simpering cabinet acolytes who depend on Trump for their future. Imagine how our local idiot Dutton would have looked defending Australian meat farmers. On second thought, send Littleproud and watch him get eaten for breakfast." "I suggest all national leaders join my new MAGA movement: Make America Go Away," writes Rob. This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Stuffed with lemon and herbs and roasted slowly, the chicken was melt-in-the-mouth perfect. As it cooked on this cold winter evening it filled the house with the most comforting aroma. The roasted potatoes were a triumph, too. Parboiled first - three minutes, not a second longer - they came out of the oven crisp on the outside, creamy within. And the broccoli, just lightly blanched, was a winning accompaniment with just the right crunch. Not a scrap of potato or broccoli was left. The rest of the chicken, denuded of legs, thighs and wings, was duly wrapped and refrigerated for its encore as sandwich filling, pasta sauce and, if time permits, some stock, frozen in an ice cube tray for later use. All that made it to the bin were the bones and the plastic the bird came in. If only all meals were like this. Not just for the eating but for the reduction of waste. Australians are estimated to waste about 7.6 million tonnes of food each year. Of this, some 2.5 million tonnes is generated by households. For each Australian, that's 312 kilograms of food that ends up in landfill, where it rots and contributes for global emissions. As you can imagine in a country with a dysfunctional relationship with food (where else is cheese aerosolised?) the problem is supersized. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the emissions from food waste in the US are the equivalent of 42 coal-fired power stations. The agency says the amount of water and energy used to produce the food that's chucked each year is enough to supply more than 50 million homes. We can't do anything about America's profligacy when it comes to food, but we do have the power to change our habits. The most obvious is embracing leftovers. It's been encouraging in recent weeks to see a TV campaign championing the leftover lunch. Not only is it a money saver but the ricotta and spinach agnolotti somehow always tastes better reheated the next day. Supermarkets need to play the game as well. They should start by being honest with those use-by and best-before dates they stamp on their prepackaged foods. The use-by dates are mandatory and food - mainly meat and dairy - shouldn't be eaten and cannot be sold after them. The best-before dates are where the confusion arises. Food can be eaten after them. Yet, too often, products that have exceeded their best-by date but are still absolutely edible are binned with every pantry cull. A 2019 food waste report found that only 51 per cent of household "food managers" understood the difference between the two labels. Which means half of Australia's households are probably throwing out perfectly good canned food, sauces, biscuits and chocolate. And that's contributing to an annual food waste bill per household of around $2700. OzHarvest estimates about 70 per cent of the food we bin each year is perfectly edible. That's bad enough with families struggling through the cost-of-living crisis. It's even harder to stomach when every day we're assailed with images of what real hunger looks like in Gaza, in Sudan. A lat- arriving comment from Echidna reader Olivia, in response to last week's story about the demise of the corner store and deli, resonates with today's topic. She wrote about life as a single girl in 1980, of coming home to Paddington via the corner store to grab supplies: "Two spuds, a lamb chop, and some greens, that'll do. One day at a time, one meal at a time." Rereading it, thoughts turn to tonight's meal. Leftover chicken shredded and tossed through steaming farfalle with onion, garlic and baby spinach the packet tells me was best before last Thursday but I know will do just fine. HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you ever stop to think how much food is wasted? Should "use-by" and "best before" labelling on food be clearer? Do you save leftovers for meals later in the week? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Israeli forces stopped a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists early Monday and diverted it to Israel, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas. - Network 10's long-running panel show The Project has been axed due to declining ratings. - Former prime minister Scott Morrison has been congratulated after receiving Australia's highest civilian honour, but there is at least one call for him to decline the gong. THEY SAID IT: "If you're going to America, bring your own food." - Fran Lebowitz YOU SAID IT: They want to talk trade but when world leaders get their audience with Donald Trump they're reduced to being extras in his trashy reality show. "I will have to borrow 'a loose arrangement with the plot'," writes Kerry. "Today's newsletter was just brilliant. Loved it. Thank you." Murray says two things were inevitable: "First, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were going to come to blows. Two hugely powerful narcissists were only going to stay best buddies for so long. Second, the left were going to be almost orgasmic with glee over it." Bill writes: "Albo is spot on: meet Trump anywhere but the farce that is an Oval Office presser, in front of all those simpering cabinet acolytes who depend on Trump for their future. Imagine how our local idiot Dutton would have looked defending Australian meat farmers. On second thought, send Littleproud and watch him get eaten for breakfast." "I suggest all national leaders join my new MAGA movement: Make America Go Away," writes Rob.
West Australian
6 hours ago
- West Australian
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Courier-Mail
7 hours ago
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Some observers said there was so much bamboo he could 'build a bridge or skyscraper with it. A couple of knots with string and you could make a 6 storey building'. The new homeowner said they assessed the situation before purchase and found it was a clumping, not running, type of bamboo – which means they had a shot at removal, taking a massive 22 weeks to rid the neighbourhood of it. 'Well after about a day a week since Christmas we finally cut the last piece down,' the homeowner said. 'Some were 20m + and as thick as my leg. Now to find an excavator to dig it all up.' '+1 to having awesome neighbours who let us take down the fence and have full side access via their property the whole time,' the homeowner said. 'Wouldn't have been able to do it without that so we are very grateful. Although they are just as stoked it's gone themselves.' But that's not going to last long, others warned, saying removing the top is the easy part over for the couple – with much more vigilance and brutality required to make sure it's not going to be causing more damage in future. MORE: Shock twist as former Virgin CEO to tear down $17m mansion Inside slumlord's crumbling empire: derelict, unliveable, worth millions One who had the same thing around horse stables, said the rhizomes were a nightmare to remove: 'ohhh my heavens!!!! Could you get a smallish bulldozer in, to lift what's left, out of the ground?? I really want you to win this war, cause that's what it is!'. Another warned: 'Don't look now, but there are probably 20 shoots coming up amongst all that. In two weeks, they'll be a metre tall or coming up in your neighbour's yard. Ask me how I know'. Among the advice dished out was that 'unless you get weed killer on the cut within about 10 seconds, the wound has self-sealed and the herbicide is useless'. The homeowner was very aware of the challenge to come though: 'yeah saw that online so we pretty much sprayed each shoot the second we cut it. Seemed to work quite well. Within a week they'd lost all colour and gone hard. If we missed one it was back in days.' The challenge is so overwhelming for some homeowners that they've even sold up and moved elsewhere bamboo-free: 'I had a big clump of bamboo something like that at a house I once owned. Took about six months of hard yakka cutting it, digging out roots with a pick axe etc. Got to the point where I had it not quite totally eliminated, but well controlled, then I sold and bought elsewhere.' MORE: Inside new Liberal leader's property portfolio How NRL stars are banking an off-field fortune An arborist chimed in saying 'we cut down / kill bamboo clumps and other hard to kill plants almost every day. It definitely works just takes a few months with some species of bamboo. There are other chemicals that are more effective but you don't want that — the good thing about roundup is it's only just strong enough to kill things. You don't want to salt the earth — presumably one day you'll plant something else there. Roundup will allow that.' Digging up the mass underground had three solutions the arborist said: cut the stump/roots away with a mattock once it's dried, wait longer then use a shovel or hire a stump grinder if you want it gone quick. 'Just beware if you hit a rock or metal, the stump grinder could have to be repaired. That's the main reason stump grinding companies are so expensive. If you hire a grinder and DIY the job, they'll check for damage and the bill will be really high if you've hit anything.' Others have suggested just brutalising it with an excavator instead: 'I had some in my backyard but most were only 15-30mm thick. After cutting them down to ground level I used a 1.7t excavator with teeth on the bucket and it did alright. Would probably recommend a 2.7t if you have the access and use a ripper. Do all the hard work sitting down.' Not everyone agreed with the homeowner's choice to tear it down, with one playing devil's advocate to say 'landscape designers pay big dollars for mature specimens like that. Clumping bamboo is the best type of bamboo you can have'. 'They need to be pruned and maintained so people don't become overwhelmed and insecure. Now you've lost all that wonderful shade and windbreak. Oh well. It's your property. It's your Castle. You can do what you want. I just thought I'd put it out there for the bamboo lovers who are probably in tears.' Those bamboo lovers agreed it looked better before it was cut down, saying it 'makes the most serene sounds in the wind', 'we have two sides very happily privatised with clumping Nepalese Blue' and 'it looked good… now it looks sh*t'. The homeowner stuck to his guns though, saying 'the whole neighbourhood was sick of the leaves going everywhere and filling everyone's gutters. It killed everything around it. And our house is now full of natural light. It won't be getting left as it currently is. nice fence, Tropical garden and a pool going in.' GUIDE FOR AUSSIE HOMEOWNERS What not to plant Bamboo Golden cane palm Gum tree (large species) Common fig Lilly pilly (large species) Umbrella tree (an environmental weed in this area) West African tulip (this a Class 3 weed) Pine tree Poinciana Jacaranda Broad – leafed paperbark Weeping paperbark Mango tree Coral tree Willow (all types) (this a Class 3 weed) Camphor Laurel (this a Class 3 weed) Wisteria Black bean What to plant Directly above or up to 1.5m away from water supply and wastewater pipes Blue flax lily Tall sedge Spiny-headed mat-rush Common tussock grass Kangaroo grass Common hovea Between 1.5m and 3m away from water supply and wastewater pipes Austral indigo Dogwood Dwarf banksia Hairy bush pea Sweet wattle Woombye bush Broad – leaved palm lily More than 3m away from water supply and wastewater pipes Blueberry ash Plum myrtle Peanut tree MORE REAL ESTATE NEWS
