Patriot Realm

What is the Doctrine of Discovery? 

In International Law, it is one of the most hotly disputed rulings ever made. 

In 1823, American Justice John Marshall ruled that discovery of territory previously unknown to Europeans gave the discovering nation title to that territory against all other European nations, and this title could be perfected by possession. Needless to say, this did not go down too well with the Native American Indians, and it does not go down well with other Peoples from around the globe today. 

Perhaps we should turn to history to understand what might have been behind the quest for conquest. 

The Decline of Australia’s Liberal Party is a case study on the internal divisions and loss of direction plaguing its counterparts elsewhere

The Liberal Party of Australia – a traditional conservative party akin to the Republican Party in the US and the Conservative Party in the UK – is currently in a state of acute crisis, a situation not dissimilar to the instability experienced by most conservative political parties in the West over the past few decades. 

Formed in the late 1940s, the Liberal Party, in coalition with the smaller and ultra conservative National Party (representing the agricultural sector) has governed Australia for most of the post-World War II period. 

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; 
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 
At the going down of the sun and in the morning 
We will remember them."

As we greet the dawn of a new day, many of us will speak these words. Some of us will stand alone and others will be in the company of patriotic and grateful citizens who have risen to pay tribute on what is one of our most important days of each year.

To attend a Dawn Service is a privilege. Lest We Forget how many perished so that we may do so.

The Last Post would be familiar to all Australians from an early age. It is played at every ANZAC Day ceremony by a bugler in an army uniform and frequently at funerals of soldiers and veterans.

Does the average civilian attendee understand the significance of this quasi musical interlude? Is it an entertainment piece that everyone expects to hear because it is always part of the programme like the hymn “Oh God our Help in Ages Past”?

The Last Post is one of the most ancient tools used by modern British founded armies and has its roots in the days of the Roman Empire when horns were used to play the hymn of the Goddess Diana and as signals to command troops on the battlefield. Even to this day, the French term for what we call Reveille is La Diana.

Ming The Merciless was a nick name given to one of our most outstanding Australian military commanders of WW2.

His name was Lieutenant-General Sir Leslie Morshead. He was the Commanding Officer of the 9^th Division of the 2^nd AIF, Commander of the garrison of Tobruk during its period under siege from April to December, 1941, the chief Rat of Tobruk one might say, and still in command when the 9^th got around the German defences to break the deadlock in the Battle of El Alamein in October, 1942.

He has been rightly described as “The Hero of Tobruk and Alamein”

His greatest achievements were against the German General Erwin Rommel, known as The Desert Fox but Morshead outfoxed him at every throw of the dice.

It is the 25^th April, and a German man and his wife from Munich are taking a motoring holiday to the South of France. They pass through the northern French city of Amiens. They observe much gaiety among the populace and are wondering what it is all about. 

They pass through the city and 15kms down the road they approach a small town. On the outskirts, they pass a cemetery which has a sign “Adelaide Cemetery”. 

Says the man, " that is not a French name. What does it mean? "