Stuart MacGill's fall from grace after coke deal conviction
Ex-Australian Test cricketer Stuart MacGill has been spared jail despite a "colossal lapse in judgment" over a cocaine deal which led to his terrifying kidnapping.
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Courier-Mail
3 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Lamar Ahchee's lawyer 'optimistic' over Bali cocaine charges
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. A despondent Australian man accused of receiving 1.8kg of cocaine hidden in Lindt Chocolate ball wrappers can avoid the death penalty in Bali, his lawyer says. Lamar Ahchee sat alone outside a Bali prosecutor's office on Tuesday while paperwork for his case was organised, covering his face in a medical mask and shielding his eyes with a grey baseball cap. His lawyer Edward Pangkahila said he was 'optimistic' Ahchee would escape capital punishment, saying he was a drug user rather than a drug dealer. But Mr Ahchee, 43, of Cairns, faces an uncertain future after police handed over paperwork to Bali prosecutors with his case to be heard within weeks. Australian Lamar Ahchee being handed over from Bali Police to the Denpasar Prosecutor's Office for the alleged importation of 1.8 kg cocaine to Bali. Picture: Lukman Mr Pangkahila said he was seeking for Mr Ahchee's case to be considered personal use, rather than dealing. 'The urine test was positive, we have the assessment from the doctor,' he said. When asked if Mr Ahchee could escape the death penalty, he replied: 'I'm optimistic, he's a good person, let's see. We're going to find out all the facts of the situation in the court.' Mr Pangkahila said Mr Ahchee was likely to face two charges of importing drugs, which carries a death penalty if convicted, as well as possession charges which carries a life sentence. Mr Ahchee's legal team have pleaded with prosecutors to only charge him under article 127 of Indonesian law, which carries a maximum sentence of four years and rehabilitation. The Australian prisoner did not speak when he boarded a bus back to Kerobokan prison after visiting the prosecutor's office. He was living in Kuta, Bali, when he received 1.8kg of cocaine in two separate packages mailed from the UK on May 20. The cocaine was wrapped in more than 200 red Lindt chocolate ball wrappers. The alleged cocaine wrapped in more than 200 red Lindt chocolate ball wrappers. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Indonesian police released photographs of the drugs, which were shaped like the popular chocolate treat. Mr Ahchee was allegedly offered almost $5000 to receive the drugs, which had a street value in Bali of more than $1 million. Indonesia has a history of hard line action against drug dealers, with Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran executed in 2015 over their role in the importation of 8.3kg of heroin into Bali. It is not suggested that Mr Ahchee is guilty, only that he has been accused of an offence and has yet to be brought before the courts. Gede Wiraguna Wiradarma, head of the crime unit at the Denpasar Prosecutor's Office, said on Tuesday: 'Police investigators have handed over the case of Australian Lamar Ahchee to the prosecutor. 'Following this handing over, prosecutors will compile the indictment to be registered at the Denpasar Court.' The case must be presented to the court within 20 days, he added. Lamar Ahchee inside the Denpasar Prosecutor's cell. Picture: Lukman Mr Ahchee has been held in the same prison where Schapelle Corby served her time while he awaits trial. He has previously said that he started using cocaine a decade ago and continued his habit when he moved to Bali in 2017. A medical assessment found that he had been using up to four grams of cocaine per day in the lead up to his arrest. That amount would cost at least $1500 a day, based on Indonesian police estimates.
The Advertiser
5 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Lehrmann called 'national joke' on return to lion's den
Bruce Lehrmann has challenged damning findings from a landmark defamation case, arguing not all rape is violent as his tattered reputation takes another beating. The former federal political staffer is appealing his loss to Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, whom he sued over an interview they conducted with his former colleague Brittany Higgins on The Project in 2021. In his ruling on the defamation case in April 2024, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found Ms Higgins' claims she had been raped by Lehrmann in parliament house in 2019 were proven on the balance of probabilities. In his headline-grabbing decision, the judge quipped: "Having escaped the lions' den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat" in reference to his doomed defamation bid. Lehrmann's lawyer Zali Burrows told the appeal court on Wednesday Justice Lee's ruling, on the heels of an abandoned criminal trial, meant Lehrmann has become probably "the most damaged man in Australia". Media attention, aggravated by commentary from Channel Ten and Wilkinson, led to a flood of hateful social media comments aimed at Lehrmann, she said. "He's pretty much become a national joke," Ms Burrows told the court. She argued Lehrmann, 30, was denied procedural fairness because the facts found by Justice Lee were "starkly different" from the case run by Ten. The ex-Liberal staffer had been "taken by surprise" the judge had adopted a "softer" sequence of events that had not been put to Lehrmann in cross-examination, Ms Burrows said. She claimed Lehrmann had been accused of committing a violent rape but Justice Lee had found it was a "non-violent rape", prompting Justice Craig Colvin to say he wasn't sure he understood that concept. Ten's barrister Matt Collins KC contended the judge had found Ms Higgins' rape was violent, and indeed: "All rape is violent". Lehrmann argued the judge was not satisfied about a number of the violent elements argued by Ten, including he had held open Ms Higgins' legs. "The sting of the (defamatory) imputation resides in the act of intercourse without consent, not in any detail of it," Dr Collins said. He rejected Lehrmann's suggestions he should be awarded damages of more than $20,000 if successful on appeal. Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins when he knew she was seriously intoxicated, continued raping her when she became aware, and left her in a state of undress, Dr Collins said. "That is not a man with any reputation in respect of sexual morality that would warrant compensation," he said. He took issue with Justice Lee's finding Lehrmann had been reckless as to whether Ms Higgins was consenting and urged the appeal court to instead find he knew she did not consent. Ms Wilkinson's lawyer agreed Lehrmann's "level of indifference" could not be inadvertent and instead amounted to a definition of "intentional rape" as understood by an ordinary person. "A young man who knows that a woman is very drunk knows that she cannot consent," Sue Chrysanthou SC said. "This is not a legal question, this is a question that is considered on the standards of the community." Lehrmann not only knew Ms Higgins was very intoxicated but encouraged her to drink, she said. Both lawyers argued Lehrmann had been confronted with the main facts of the case as found by Justice Lee: that sex took place, Ms Higgins did not consent and Lehrmann had been reckless as to her consent. Lehrmann maintains he did not sexually assault Ms Higgins and a 2022 criminal case against him was abandoned without any findings against him. Earlier in the day, Ms Burrows apologised Lehrmann was not represented by a silk, telling the panel of judges he "really wanted" Guy Reynolds SC but "couldn't afford" to engage him. The defamation case and related appeal are among a host of court actions spawned by Ms Higgins' allegation of sexual assault. The Western Australian Supreme Court will next Wednesday rule on former Liberal senator Linda Reynolds' high-profile defamation case against Ms Higgins, her former employee. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 Bruce Lehrmann has challenged damning findings from a landmark defamation case, arguing not all rape is violent as his tattered reputation takes another beating. The former federal political staffer is appealing his loss to Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, whom he sued over an interview they conducted with his former colleague Brittany Higgins on The Project in 2021. In his ruling on the defamation case in April 2024, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found Ms Higgins' claims she had been raped by Lehrmann in parliament house in 2019 were proven on the balance of probabilities. In his headline-grabbing decision, the judge quipped: "Having escaped the lions' den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat" in reference to his doomed defamation bid. Lehrmann's lawyer Zali Burrows told the appeal court on Wednesday Justice Lee's ruling, on the heels of an abandoned criminal trial, meant Lehrmann has become probably "the most damaged man in Australia". Media attention, aggravated by commentary from Channel Ten and Wilkinson, led to a flood of hateful social media comments aimed at Lehrmann, she said. "He's pretty much become a national joke," Ms Burrows told the court. She argued Lehrmann, 30, was denied procedural fairness because the facts found by Justice Lee were "starkly different" from the case run by Ten. The ex-Liberal staffer had been "taken by surprise" the judge had adopted a "softer" sequence of events that had not been put to Lehrmann in cross-examination, Ms Burrows said. She claimed Lehrmann had been accused of committing a violent rape but Justice Lee had found it was a "non-violent rape", prompting Justice Craig Colvin to say he wasn't sure he understood that concept. Ten's barrister Matt Collins KC contended the judge had found Ms Higgins' rape was violent, and indeed: "All rape is violent". Lehrmann argued the judge was not satisfied about a number of the violent elements argued by Ten, including he had held open Ms Higgins' legs. "The sting of the (defamatory) imputation resides in the act of intercourse without consent, not in any detail of it," Dr Collins said. He rejected Lehrmann's suggestions he should be awarded damages of more than $20,000 if successful on appeal. Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins when he knew she was seriously intoxicated, continued raping her when she became aware, and left her in a state of undress, Dr Collins said. "That is not a man with any reputation in respect of sexual morality that would warrant compensation," he said. He took issue with Justice Lee's finding Lehrmann had been reckless as to whether Ms Higgins was consenting and urged the appeal court to instead find he knew she did not consent. Ms Wilkinson's lawyer agreed Lehrmann's "level of indifference" could not be inadvertent and instead amounted to a definition of "intentional rape" as understood by an ordinary person. "A young man who knows that a woman is very drunk knows that she cannot consent," Sue Chrysanthou SC said. "This is not a legal question, this is a question that is considered on the standards of the community." Lehrmann not only knew Ms Higgins was very intoxicated but encouraged her to drink, she said. Both lawyers argued Lehrmann had been confronted with the main facts of the case as found by Justice Lee: that sex took place, Ms Higgins did not consent and Lehrmann had been reckless as to her consent. Lehrmann maintains he did not sexually assault Ms Higgins and a 2022 criminal case against him was abandoned without any findings against him. Earlier in the day, Ms Burrows apologised Lehrmann was not represented by a silk, telling the panel of judges he "really wanted" Guy Reynolds SC but "couldn't afford" to engage him. The defamation case and related appeal are among a host of court actions spawned by Ms Higgins' allegation of sexual assault. The Western Australian Supreme Court will next Wednesday rule on former Liberal senator Linda Reynolds' high-profile defamation case against Ms Higgins, her former employee. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 Bruce Lehrmann has challenged damning findings from a landmark defamation case, arguing not all rape is violent as his tattered reputation takes another beating. The former federal political staffer is appealing his loss to Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, whom he sued over an interview they conducted with his former colleague Brittany Higgins on The Project in 2021. In his ruling on the defamation case in April 2024, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found Ms Higgins' claims she had been raped by Lehrmann in parliament house in 2019 were proven on the balance of probabilities. In his headline-grabbing decision, the judge quipped: "Having escaped the lions' den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat" in reference to his doomed defamation bid. Lehrmann's lawyer Zali Burrows told the appeal court on Wednesday Justice Lee's ruling, on the heels of an abandoned criminal trial, meant Lehrmann has become probably "the most damaged man in Australia". Media attention, aggravated by commentary from Channel Ten and Wilkinson, led to a flood of hateful social media comments aimed at Lehrmann, she said. "He's pretty much become a national joke," Ms Burrows told the court. She argued Lehrmann, 30, was denied procedural fairness because the facts found by Justice Lee were "starkly different" from the case run by Ten. The ex-Liberal staffer had been "taken by surprise" the judge had adopted a "softer" sequence of events that had not been put to Lehrmann in cross-examination, Ms Burrows said. She claimed Lehrmann had been accused of committing a violent rape but Justice Lee had found it was a "non-violent rape", prompting Justice Craig Colvin to say he wasn't sure he understood that concept. Ten's barrister Matt Collins KC contended the judge had found Ms Higgins' rape was violent, and indeed: "All rape is violent". Lehrmann argued the judge was not satisfied about a number of the violent elements argued by Ten, including he had held open Ms Higgins' legs. "The sting of the (defamatory) imputation resides in the act of intercourse without consent, not in any detail of it," Dr Collins said. He rejected Lehrmann's suggestions he should be awarded damages of more than $20,000 if successful on appeal. Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins when he knew she was seriously intoxicated, continued raping her when she became aware, and left her in a state of undress, Dr Collins said. "That is not a man with any reputation in respect of sexual morality that would warrant compensation," he said. He took issue with Justice Lee's finding Lehrmann had been reckless as to whether Ms Higgins was consenting and urged the appeal court to instead find he knew she did not consent. Ms Wilkinson's lawyer agreed Lehrmann's "level of indifference" could not be inadvertent and instead amounted to a definition of "intentional rape" as understood by an ordinary person. "A young man who knows that a woman is very drunk knows that she cannot consent," Sue Chrysanthou SC said. "This is not a legal question, this is a question that is considered on the standards of the community." Lehrmann not only knew Ms Higgins was very intoxicated but encouraged her to drink, she said. Both lawyers argued Lehrmann had been confronted with the main facts of the case as found by Justice Lee: that sex took place, Ms Higgins did not consent and Lehrmann had been reckless as to her consent. Lehrmann maintains he did not sexually assault Ms Higgins and a 2022 criminal case against him was abandoned without any findings against him. Earlier in the day, Ms Burrows apologised Lehrmann was not represented by a silk, telling the panel of judges he "really wanted" Guy Reynolds SC but "couldn't afford" to engage him. The defamation case and related appeal are among a host of court actions spawned by Ms Higgins' allegation of sexual assault. The Western Australian Supreme Court will next Wednesday rule on former Liberal senator Linda Reynolds' high-profile defamation case against Ms Higgins, her former employee. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 Bruce Lehrmann has challenged damning findings from a landmark defamation case, arguing not all rape is violent as his tattered reputation takes another beating. The former federal political staffer is appealing his loss to Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, whom he sued over an interview they conducted with his former colleague Brittany Higgins on The Project in 2021. In his ruling on the defamation case in April 2024, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found Ms Higgins' claims she had been raped by Lehrmann in parliament house in 2019 were proven on the balance of probabilities. In his headline-grabbing decision, the judge quipped: "Having escaped the lions' den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat" in reference to his doomed defamation bid. Lehrmann's lawyer Zali Burrows told the appeal court on Wednesday Justice Lee's ruling, on the heels of an abandoned criminal trial, meant Lehrmann has become probably "the most damaged man in Australia". Media attention, aggravated by commentary from Channel Ten and Wilkinson, led to a flood of hateful social media comments aimed at Lehrmann, she said. "He's pretty much become a national joke," Ms Burrows told the court. She argued Lehrmann, 30, was denied procedural fairness because the facts found by Justice Lee were "starkly different" from the case run by Ten. The ex-Liberal staffer had been "taken by surprise" the judge had adopted a "softer" sequence of events that had not been put to Lehrmann in cross-examination, Ms Burrows said. She claimed Lehrmann had been accused of committing a violent rape but Justice Lee had found it was a "non-violent rape", prompting Justice Craig Colvin to say he wasn't sure he understood that concept. Ten's barrister Matt Collins KC contended the judge had found Ms Higgins' rape was violent, and indeed: "All rape is violent". Lehrmann argued the judge was not satisfied about a number of the violent elements argued by Ten, including he had held open Ms Higgins' legs. "The sting of the (defamatory) imputation resides in the act of intercourse without consent, not in any detail of it," Dr Collins said. He rejected Lehrmann's suggestions he should be awarded damages of more than $20,000 if successful on appeal. Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins when he knew she was seriously intoxicated, continued raping her when she became aware, and left her in a state of undress, Dr Collins said. "That is not a man with any reputation in respect of sexual morality that would warrant compensation," he said. He took issue with Justice Lee's finding Lehrmann had been reckless as to whether Ms Higgins was consenting and urged the appeal court to instead find he knew she did not consent. Ms Wilkinson's lawyer agreed Lehrmann's "level of indifference" could not be inadvertent and instead amounted to a definition of "intentional rape" as understood by an ordinary person. "A young man who knows that a woman is very drunk knows that she cannot consent," Sue Chrysanthou SC said. "This is not a legal question, this is a question that is considered on the standards of the community." Lehrmann not only knew Ms Higgins was very intoxicated but encouraged her to drink, she said. Both lawyers argued Lehrmann had been confronted with the main facts of the case as found by Justice Lee: that sex took place, Ms Higgins did not consent and Lehrmann had been reckless as to her consent. Lehrmann maintains he did not sexually assault Ms Higgins and a 2022 criminal case against him was abandoned without any findings against him. Earlier in the day, Ms Burrows apologised Lehrmann was not represented by a silk, telling the panel of judges he "really wanted" Guy Reynolds SC but "couldn't afford" to engage him. The defamation case and related appeal are among a host of court actions spawned by Ms Higgins' allegation of sexual assault. The Western Australian Supreme Court will next Wednesday rule on former Liberal senator Linda Reynolds' high-profile defamation case against Ms Higgins, her former employee. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Sydney Morning Herald
8 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Looking for a new book? Here are 10 new titles to try
This week's books include the fiction debut of the former 'queen of current affairs', some Australian coastal noir, two true wartime tales and shocking tales from Australia's paramedic frontlines. FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK The Far Side of the Moon Jana Wendt Text Publishing, $40 Anyone who had a nerd-crush on Jana Wendt growing up (raises hand) will be eager to read the short stories in her debut fiction collection, The Far Side of the Moon. Wendt was a fixture on Australian television for decades, establishing herself as a star reporter with Channel Nine's 60 Minutes in 1982 and going on to become – as her fictional alter ego is described in the story Fame and Nothingness – the 'queen of current affairs'. That story probes the disconnect between fame and the (often quotidian) private life of someone touched by it, with an appealing blend of wistfulness and playful bemusement. Only two of the tales are related: the final stories deliver drastically divergent perspectives from co-workers at a numismatics shop, in a fable-like illustration of the effects of cynicism and openness. It isn't Rashomon, exactly, but Wendt's keen intellect and imagination make for a strikingly plausible, humane contrast. Readers will take pleasure, too, in the volume's running themes – particularly the puzzles it constructs from the different kinds of truth, and the opposing strategies deployed to uncover them, in journalism and fiction. Billed as 'Great Ocean Road noir', Luke Johnson's King Tide is a foreboding, character-driven crime fiction set in the fictional town of Lagunes Bay on Victoria's Surf Coast. In the wake of a monster storm and king tide, a buried corpse is washed free from its sandy grave. The victim is a young woman, Hayley, who vanished from the town years before; suspicion falls widely in a community that did little to find out what happened to her. Now young adults, Hayley's peers must know something, and the gruesome secret implicates Tate, the town's golden boy who may have been Hayley's final boyfriend, and his 'bad boy' best friend Luther. Meanwhile, Brylie and her Anglican vicar father have returned to Lagunes Bay – the former still resentful and clueless about why they left town in the first place – setting everyone further on edge. King Tide leans into its rugged setting to amplify the sense of danger and deliverson genre tropes. Johnson has written a mystery laden with dark secrets, suspense, and small-town menace, while crafting young adult characters realistic and complex enough for a coming-of-age novel to infiltrate by stealth. Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime Fiona McKenzie Kekic HQ, $32.99 Eva wakes up to the 50th birthday from hell. She receives an anonymous Facebook message informing her that her husband is having an affair. And she loses her job. As if that's not enough, her elderly parents have gone missing in India, Bollywood dancing their way to some obscure fate with only a trail of very weird TikTok videos as clues to their whereabouts. Eva decides to put miles between herself and her faithless husband and embarks on an epic rescue mission. What's disguised as a search for lost parents is, of course, a quest of self-discovery, as Eva steps outside her humdrum existence into a larger-than-life subcontinental adventure. Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime is strongly reminiscent of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, though it'll also remind readers of the feelgood classic Shirley Valentine in its main arc – a middle-aged woman liberating herself from the weight of social expectation and reckoning with middle age, love, and second chances in an exotic locale. Luke Harris returns to Melbourne and appears to be an ordinary university student, but his past life won't leave him alone. As a teenager, Luke was an underworld enforcer, and his skills – from street smarts to how to bury a body – remain of value to Gus Alberici, the brutal crime boss he worked for. It was only a matter of time before Gus resurfaced, and when he does, it's to coerce Luke into finding a few things that have vanished – Luke's father, for one, and a large pile of Gus's cash, for another. Pressured to resume his old life, Luke seems to have no choice but to resort to nefarious skills to stay alive, track down his dad, and discover what happened to the missing loot. Stillwater is a gritty Australian crime thriller with plenty of action and suspense. It's artfully paced, written in a muscular style, and the fortunes of its flawed (anti)hero should keep readers on the edge of their seats. Land of Hope Cate Baum Indigo Press, $29.99 Land of Hope folds a dystopian fable into an Emily Bronte-like gothic novel. It's a fascinating idea for a crossover, and the central character, Hope Gleason, seems to emanate from the wild and windswept moors as if she were a ghost already. Rumours and myths about Hope – and her role in her husband's brutality – swirl long before an indescribable sound annihilates a nearby village. A weapon of some kind has been unleashed, and Hope takes an orphaned lad under her wing, as the two survivors embark on a grim quest for a serial killer amid the apocalypse. Like Bronte, Cate Baum uses the brooding, elemental landscape to expressionistic effect, and she channels the spirit of Cormac McCarthy in the mercilessness and extremity of the novel's examination of evil. The orphan is irritating, it must be said, but the passions at play and Baum's morbid imagination should have you hooked regardless, especially if you're a fan of Wuthering Heights, gothic sensibility, serial killer chillers, or all three. Survival in Singapore Tom Trumble Penguin, $36.99 In September 1943, Australian commandos – after having sailed from Australia in a craft disguised as an Asian fishing boat – entered Singapore Harbour and sank a reputed seven Japanese ships. The somewhat surprised Japanese assumed it was a local operation and arrested large numbers of suspects, including detainees in Changi prison. It's the repercussions of the raid that are the main focus of Tom Trumble's evocative study of extraordinary fortitude and inner strength. Elizabeth Choy, for example, who became known as the Heroine of Singapore, endured intense torture and brutal beatings, her ordeal (via a variety of primary sources) presented here in vivid, grim detail. Likewise, British diplomat Robert Heatlie Scott, who drew strength from a volume of the complete work of Keats given to him by an interrogating member of the Japanese military police. Both survived the war. It's not just the characters, though – Trumble is adept at describing the city itself at this time with eerie details like hooded Japanese informants cruising the streets. A comprehensive, dramatic (sometimes novelistic) re-creation of dramatic times. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, 'The very rich are different from you and me'. Indeed! One measure of it can be found in the things they consume – such as the world's most expensive spirit, a US$44 million Limoncello. Coleman has fun delving into the obscenities of the rich and famous throughout history, which he divides into seven parts, one for each of the deadly sins. There's no shortage of rogues for the gallery, be it the aptly named Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus, whose wealth equated to the yearly incomes of 32,000 citizens – or the almost universally detested Belgian king Leopold II, whose genocidal greed bled the Congo dry. From papal orgies hosted by the Borgias to exorbitant modern weddings, this is a chronicle of fantastical sounding but true excess. And, as much as we might think ordinary punters admire them, Coleman highlights the case of Luigi Mangione, who murdered multi-millionaire Brian Thompson and became something of a cult hero on social media. In the spirit of Boccaccio, funny and sobering. The Last Tour Ann Curthoys MUP, $39.99 When Paul Robeson sang to workers on the construction site of the Sydney Opera House, it became famous as the first concert on the site, but was one of many in the tour of Australia and New Zealand by Robeson and his wife, feminist and activist, Eslanda. This may be an academic study of what proved to be Robeson's last tour, but it's a very engaging one: Robeson is the subject of the book, but it's also a window into post-war, Cold War Australia. In what amounts to a portrait of the tour, Curthoys emphasises its many facets, especially its political side, Robeson being a Marxist who made his support of the USSR well known; a political stance that led to his and his wife's passports being revoked. Apart from the music, the Robesons were deeply interested in Indigenous and women's rights movements in Australia and New Zealand. Along the way, we learn about Robeson's studies and reading, Robeson being the only African American at Rutgers in 1915. First-rate cultural, political and social history. This series of dispatches from the battlefront of ambulance duty comes layered with grim humour, but as former journalist and ambo driver Tim Booth explains, it's a way of coping with the drama and sheer absurdity that can come with the job. Take Darlene and Fluffy. After being called by a neighbour, Tim and a workmate enter the stench of Darlene's flat and find her, barely conscious, cradling the rotting Fluffy. It's clear Darlene's not going anywhere without the pet, and so they wind up taking a dead cat to emergency. Other cases are just plain gripping, such as a car crashing through a clothing shop window, leaving a teenage girl critically injured. But, even here, the absurd is not far away – the site strewn with confusing, life-like mannequins. Other anecdotes include the time a young woman called 000 for a broken toenail. Collectively, they paint a darkly comic picture of a system stretched to its limit (in this case, NSW), that is also dealing with the absurdities of all-too-human foibles. Blamey Brent D. Taylor ABC Books, $36.99 In what became something of a controversial address, General Blamey (commander-in-chief of Australian military forces in WWII) spoke to troops who had just seen action in New Guinea in 1942, the rumour spreading afterwards that he had said they ran like 'rabbits'. It's part of the mythology surrounding the 'flawed' figure of Blamey that Taylor examines in this no-nonsense biographical assessment. He cuts through the innuendo, the quirks and the public image, and Blamey emerges as the country's greatest general. He coolly examines the facts of Blamey's career and concludes that, by any reasonable standard, he was an outstanding leader. Pivotal to this is the death rates of Australian troops in WWII, which were very low. He may or may not have been popular among the troops, but he was efficient and diplomatically successful in dealing with our allies in arguing for control of Australian troops. Taylor takes us back to a tough rural upbringing in NSW, his invaluable time under Monash in WWI (especially the groundbreaking significance of the Battle of Hamel), his civic life and sometimes controversial private life. A bit like Blamey himself, no fuss, and to the point.
