Speakers during 2023
Every month, Probus Perth invites a speaker to address members on his or her particular field of expertise or endeavour. Below are summaries of talks given recently. Summaries of various earlier talks are to be found within the “Archives” section of the website.
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AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY (AWC)
Gill Sheridan February 2023
Many members were unaware of this Association and the wonderful work that they do.
Gill began by showing three photos of our small mammals and asked the audience to name them – quite a challenge!
She then explained that Martin Copely established the Conservancy in 1991. This was a fenced area about an hour East of Perth called Karakamia where feral animals were excluded and the native animals allowed to roam freely. From this small beginning the Conservancy now manages 12.9 million hectares in iconic regions throughout Australia, such as the Kimberley, Cape York, Lake Eyre, Top End etc.
Gill explained how Australia was one of the richest countries with such varied native animals and plants, but we are the worst with almost 33 of our original mammals now being extinct.
It is imperative that we work to save those that we still have and the Conservancy is actively doing this. Their mission is for “The effective conservation of all Australian animal species.” The extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger showed too little was done until it was too late to save the animal and we do not want that uncaring to continue.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy is a private organisation that relies on donations and philanthropy as well as applying for any grants. There is a staff of 200, 70% of which work in the field, and 86% of the funds go to conservation, keeping administration costs as low as possible. They do however work in collaboration with other groups, and the Defence Department has helped with fences.
In the field, fences are constructed, feral animals removed, and the land practically managed. This means continuous checking of fences and repairs, culling feral animals such as horses, goats and camels, (11,000 are found each year). The figure of up to 5 million animals being killed each night by feral cats shocked the audience. Fire management is done by burning in mosaic patterns and hence preventing very hot huge fires.
Gill showed photos of before and after fences had been constructed and it was amazing how the land recovers when given a chance. She explained how Mt Gibson, an 8000 hectare area which contains 14% of Australia’s threatened animals has been fenced and is proving to be very successful in restoring the animal population. 9 species have been introduced into the area so far and the tenth is due soon.
The Kimberley area is a 4.3 million hectare project which is under way at present. It will contain a new headquarters and be a centre for both staff and public. Gill showed a video of this almost pristine landscape that it is hoped may be kept in its natural state.
Members were informed of night walks that are available at Karakamia and on the website is information about volunteering or giving a donation.
It was a most interesting and informative talk.
Wendy McCallum
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Kimberley Rock Art; Conundrums
Hamish McGlashan April 2023
Prehistoric rock art is found throughout the world: the best known examples are in southern Europe,, where they are immense tourist attractions. Because of fears that large numbers of tourists might result in deterioration, life size replicas have been made and the original sites are protected by legislation. They are also regarded as being of World Heritage by UNESCO.
The Kimberley region of North-western Australia holds rock atr which is older and more prolific than anywhere else in the world.
My first visit to the Kimberley was to seek a cave which contained such rock art. The first European to record this was George Grey on his 1838 expedition. It was “rediscovered” in 1957 by Howard Coate, a missionary at Kunmunya on the west Kimberley coast who had been asked to find it by Professor Elkin from Sydney . It precise location had not been known.
We found this cave and like Grey were awestruck by the figures Theses huge mouthless figures are known as Wandjinas, sites abound in the Kimberley, and their meaning was first revealed to the outside world by the Rev. Love, the mission superintendent at Kunmunya. He explained that the Wandjinas were creation spirits which, when they died, painted themselves on the walls and roofs of the caves. Family groups looking after the sites kept “the Wandjinas fresh” by retouching them regularly. This ensured the coming of rain. So, they form part of quite recent aboriginal religion and culture. The Rev. Love also noted similarities between the Bible and local Aboriginal beliefs.
The paintings are deteriorating, as the formerly inhabited areas, which remain of cultural significance, have not had permanent residents for nearly a hundred years and food is now purchased from the supermarket rather than gathered from the bush. Is there any vale in a culture which is irrelevant to the life being lived?
Hamish McGlashan
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Why Don’t Western Australians speak French?
Elton Brown May 2023
Elton put forward three reasons why French is not our first language.
1. England and France had been continually in conflict for over 1000 years. In the 18th Century the big powers were exploring and trying to enlarge their empires. Captain Cook reached the East coast of Australia first, but was closely followed by the Frenchman La Perouse. Cook and Banks on returning to Britain, sang the praises of the new land. Louis XV, not to be outdone by the British sent Louis Aleno de Alouarn to the West Coast. He sailed from the Ile de France (Mauritius) and landed on Dirk Hartog Island where he planted the French flag and claimed the country for France. The Vice Admiral thought the South West looked a good place.
George III, needing to find a new place for all his prisoners, then sent Governor Phillip in 1788 accompanied by convicts to form a settlement in the new country. Louis XVI sent La Perouse to Botany Bay to observe what the British were doing but he lost his way on his return and it is not known what happened to him. As the French Revolution occurred in 1789, further visits to Australia by the French were put on hold.
In 1793 D’Entrecasteaux with his ships Recherche and Esperance came looking for La Perouse.
These names are familiar to west Australians and Frenchman’s Peak and Cape Le Grande are also reminders of this expedition. But the French were more interested in finding la Perouse than making a settlement.
2. Napoleon then entered the chase for new colonies. Nicholas Baudin with his ships, the Geographe and Naturaliste conducted a visit to examine whether Australia was one or two continents. At Endeavour Bay they encountered Matthew Flinders who was also finding and mapping the coastline. Leschenault was also a crew member and Vasse a young sailor who fell overboard. Herisson was a member of Baudin’s crew. Charles Lesueur was an artist on the voyage.The ship Casuarina was captained by Freycinet,
The second French ship was captained by Hamelin who named Lancelin. Bouvard was an astronomer and Baudin named the place after him. The hydrographer was Levique and Joseph Bonaparte Gulf was named after Napoleon’s brother. Baudin had planned to release the Irish Convicts and with their help take over Botany Bay, but this did not happen. Baudin did take one convict, Mary Beckwith, who stowed away on his ship and remained with him until his death.
So the French certainly left their mark on this country. Why not settle? Trouble was brewing back in France.
3 In 1805 in the Battle of Trafalgar the British defeated the French and so they were no longer a naval threat. Ideas of settlement in Australia faded. But Napoleon rose again until his disastrous attack on Russia and was forced to abdicate. He escaped from the island of Elba but the Battle of Waterloo finally defeated any of his future ambitions. Louis XVIII came to the throne. Louis de Freycinet captained a ship to Shark Bay. This posed a threat and caused the British to send Major Lockyer in 1826 to form a post in Albany and claim the West for Britain. The Swan River Settlement then was established 3 years later in 1829. That was the end of the French ambitions for Australia.
These are the reasons why we do not speak French! But the French have left their legacy in many of our place names!
Wendy McCallum
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Honey Bees and their Keepers
John Chadwick June 2023
John has been a bee keeper for 12 years and an active member of the Apiarists society which he has seen grow from 600 when he joined to 1400 today. This is due to people becoming more aware of the importance of bees in the environment and the desire to preserve them, particularly as bees have been under threat in recent years. Not only from the climate change but also from the pests that have become prevalent in hives – fortunately not in Australia so far, but it is imperative we keep up our strict environmental controls.
John then gave us a history of how bees have been used and cultivated by man over many centuries. From accidental finding of hives and the sweetness of honey, early man then put out terracotta pipes to entice the bees to form nests inside. The only problem with this method was that all the bees were killed when the pipe was broken to retrieve the honey. Over the centuries man has gradually developed the standard size of a bee hive with movable frames. Usually around 80% of what the hive produces is collected. However most hives are left with enough honey for food to tide them over the winter.
A typical hive has 30 000 bees in it but can expand up to 60 000. The queen lays between 500 -700 eggs per day. The worker bees live for 6 weeks, the first 3 in the hive and the last 3 collecting nectar and pollen. They die on their last flight – usually because their wings have worn out!
The drones only job is the mate with a new queen. When this happens the old queen departs with around 10 000 workers and this is when we see a bee swarm.
There are many native bees in Australia but it is the European Bee that is the favourite for commercialisation. Earliest evidence of bee keeping have been found in cave paintings in Spain which are 15 000 years old.
Breeders have tried to foster more traits of calmness rather than aggressive bees in the hives.
In modern times problems have occurred, particularly in the USA. Orchards have become so huge with many thousands of trees that all need pollinating by bees in the Spring. This has resulted in many hives being transported around the country. Bee keepers are earning more money from this fertilising business than from selling their honey! Unfortunately, this also means close contact of bees with many others and has resulted in many hives being infected with bacteria and pests.
Our hobby farmers which include many women as well as men are very anxious that these overseas problems do not make their way in to Australia. Vigilance at border security is extremely important.
It was a most interesting and informative talk. John also brought some of his delicious honey for sale which was very appreciated by members
Wendy McCallum
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Facial Profiling
Sylvia Marina August 2023
Sylvia gave some background of her life being born in New Zealand to now speaking to groups all around the world.
Sylvia concentrates on helping a board select members with varying styles and capabilities.
She basis her choices on Physiognomy. She referred to Jacques Penny, a Japanese author who wrote “Your Face Never Lies”.
Sylvia explained the different shapes of peoples’ heads and faces indicated the type of personality that they had. She went into detail about the shape and spacing of eyes, eyebrows, the size of ears, or whether the face is round, square or elongated. She indicated that these attributes indicated the personality. There was quite a lot of scepticism among the audience, so it was a lively discussion time.
Wendy McCallum
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MH 370 and Aviation Safety
Geoffrey Thomas September 2023
Geoffrey was a most interesting and dynamic speaker. The members were extremely involved for the whole talk and many wished he could still continue!He gave background knowledge of how he became so interested in aviation before he launched into the safety of different aircraft.
He explained that the Douglas DC 8 was the strongest aircraft ever built snd is still used by NASA.
Donald Douglas invented many planes and in 1940 90% of passengers were on a Douglas type aircraft. He said that during the War a DC 3 was produced every 25 minutes from the 180 000 employees, 80% of whom were women!
Other interesting facts were that Cathay Pacific had the first Frequent Flyer club and that due to circumstances, Geoffrey was the first male flight attendant on MacRobertson Airlines!
Geoffrey indicated that a lot of the aviation problems are not due to the plane but are due to poor pilot training. Cockpits have been simplified as much as possible and the layout is consistent in varying types of the same company’s aircraft. This allows pilots to move to different planes and still be familiar with the controls. But is is still imperative for governments to ensure all pilots are fully trained – pick your airline carefully!
He then moved on to the mystery of MH 370. He told us of the different technological devises there are to keep track of planes in the air. Qantas monitors its engines 24/7 which is reassuring!
The Malaysian pilot had begun flying north in the correct direction when he turned off the transporter and then obviously turned South. Military radar has confirmed this happened.
Many people were involved in the searches. Many others have speculated on what happened and why – lots of books have been written.
Geoffrey quoted Richard Godfrey, British born, but lives in Germany who has been very involved in both aircraft design and the Space Station. He has reconstructed the flight path of MH 370 and his area is consistent with that of the University of Liverpool and The University of Western Australia. His predictions have proved correct in that any debris from the plane has been found on the Eastern shores of the South African Continent
A company called Ocean Infinity is building robotic vehicles and it is planned for one to search in the area that has been identified. So far only a part of that area has been searched. This may put an end to the mystery as to where the plane went down. As to the why? Despite the Malaysian Government giving exoneration to the pilot the general consensus from various evidence is that he committed suicide and took all his passengers and crew with him.
With question time, Geoffrey answered about the safety of aircraft and showed a slide of the enormous amount of wiring and huge number of systems that are required for a plane to fly. There are many safety checks and with over 36000 flights per day it is pretty safe on reputable airlines.
Covid caused a huge problem for the airline industry with millions losing jobs and huge fleets of planes being moth balled. This will all take time to recover – a huge task to bring all the planes back into a flying state and to recruit and train staff. It will be some time before we see a reduction in fares.
The audience were most appreciative of his talk and he was issued with an invitation “Please come and talk to us again!
Wendy McCallum
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Renewable Energy
Brian Rourke October 2023
Brian was farming in Kojonup, crewing on the training ship Leeuwin when he joined a prawn trawler out of Darwin. This is where he encountered the force of the tide and set him on a new career in 1996 of how to harness the tremendous tidal energy. With friends he set up the company of Tidal Energy Australia Pty Ltd.
Brian then explained the other forms of renewable energy. Solar panels are not as efficient as we think and thermal energy using a graphite block proved to be unreliable. Aeolian power is good but the windmills have a limited life. The best is hydro power but in WA it is almost impossible to build new dams because of environmental or aboriginal heritage laws.
Tidal power is a source of energy which is simple, reliable and predictable. It is a clean source of energy, creating no pollution and thereby helping to reduce greenhouse gas. It is expensive to build, but the infrastructure will last for many years and the kilowatt cost becomes minimal.
Derby in the Kimberley where there are huge 11 metre tides is an appropriate place with the two arms of Doctors Creek being ideal. Brian then went into the technical details of how the dam and power station would work.
France, Korea and Canada have already set up tidal power stations, so the precedent has been established. Kerauden Bay is proposed to produce 32 mw and Blaze Bay 300 mw. This power could be linked to the power lines which formerly went to the now defunct Goldsworthy mine. The other line would link to the Pardoo Road House. This would provide power to a large area of the Kimberley. Horizon Power is keen for the project to go ahead as it alleviates all the diesel power that is now required. The aboriginal settlements are also keen as it means more reliable, cleanner and cheaper power for them.
Brian and his colleagues are hopeful that they will be able to commence the big project before too much longer. They are still waiting on approval from the environmental point of view.
It was a most interesting talk and members wished him well in his endeavour.
Wendy McCallum
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My Mad Life
Sandra Harris November 2023
Sandra was a very entertaining speaker who provided much interest and amusement in the recounting of her extraordinary life.
She was the youngest presenter on radio in Perh having begun with being the dead wife in Noel Coward’s play, Blythe Spirit whebn she was 18. At that time most of the ABC programs came from the BBC or the Commercial Channels and hence the local ABC needed to fill in the gaps that would otherwise have been advertisements. Sandra got the job and this lead to am amazing life.
She left Australia in 1964 and when in Athens, deserted the ship and began her European Adventure. She was quite interested in her gentleman lift from Paris to London and thought the relationship might develop until she saw a photo of the wedding of the Crown Princess of Denmark and he was the groom!
She continued to provide us with tales of many famous people. Barbara Cartland’s response to Sandra when asked if their were class issues in England answered “No. I am talking to you!”
Others mentioned and given anecdotes about included: The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong Jones, Laurence Olivier, Muhammad Ali, Roger Moore, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Charles, Telly Savvalas, Ginger Rogers, Joan Collins, Michael Jackson, Sean Connery, Michael Caine and quite a few others.
She was supported by her Husband and then showed photos of her lovely family, three children and partners and her 5 grandchildren. She has written 4 books and had her latest Act III available for sale.
Certainly an amazing life!
Wendy McCallum
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