Probably most people have forgotten the hanging of Ronald Ryan in Victoria in the 1950’s. He was the last man hanged in Australia. It is an event which I will never forget. How could anyone at the time. In the weeks leading up to it, the media went into a feeding frenzy the like of which is seldom seen. There were endless items about wretches, unable to walk to the gallows because of their terror, being dragged there by a couple of burly warders; about death watches by warders, The last meal, the procession to the place of execution lead by a priest reading extracts from the bible (always omitting the bit about “thou shalt not kill), the springing of the trap, and the twitching body being examined by a doctor.
There were photos of the relatives involved being chased by eager paparazzi, and members of the public, some of the “he had it coming-ites”, some expressing disgust, and some old dears quoting “appropriate” passages from the good book.
The reason the memory still sticks in mine, is that the night before the hanging I had a dream, probably one of the most vivid dreams I have ever had. I dreamed I was in the death cell, waiting to be hanged the next morning. I dreamed it all, from the fat, friendly guard trying to cheer me up by telling my weak jokes, and the last meal of Wiener schnitzel and potato salad being wheeled in on a tray. I remember that I couldn’t eat any of it, and gave it to the guard who ate it with gusto. I tried to sleep but the light was on so I buried myself in my blankets. Then the head warder came in with a priest and asked me if I was ready. I stood up and suddenly it hit me. I was about to die. I remember the cold terror that came over me a I staggered along the corridor accompanied by a banging of tin mugs and people shouting things like, ” keep your chin up, they’ll do it for you soon!!) Then we went through an open door and there were the gallows—– and I woke up, bathed in sweat, shivering, terrified and ALIVE!
From that moment on, I have been a firm opponent of the death penalty. I wouldn’t even support executing Eichman, or Hitler, or Genghis Khan for that matter.
So imagine my surprise when in the Sydney Morning Herald of March 14, I came across an item headed “FEDERAL LAW AIMS TO STOP DEATH PENALTY.” aimed at stopping the states from reintroducing capital punishment. It appears that, while capital punishment was no longer legal Federally, it was still on State Statute books although no further hangings took place in Australia after Ryan’s. The last state to abolish it was NSW in 1985.
After, and the Bali bombing in 2002 and the 9/11 bombing in the US, John Howard, ever the political opportunist, suggested the Liberal opposition parties should make the reintroduction of the death penalty an election issue.
There always seems to have been an almost sadistic streak in the minds of the Conservative side of Australian politics. This is perhaps best brought out in a book by David Marr and Marian Wilkinson. Titled”DARK VICTORY”
it describes the almost insane measures by which the Howard Government, helped by some of their thoroughly politicisation public servants, attempted to keep out asylumn seekers arriving in Australia by boat.
Beginning with the story of the TAMPA, it tells of some of the SIEV boats, and how their unfortunate passengers were treated, on Government orders, by a reluctant navy and army.
The refugees, having committed no crime, were labelled “illegals” and were towed back into Indonesian waters with their ancient, leaking boats sinking beneath them. Terrified of being sent back to Iraq or Afghanistan, they sabotaged their boats’ engines so eventuallythe navy had to pick them up. According to DARK VICTORY some of the sailors were crying during these operations.
Get DARK VICTORY, It’s a bloody good read, and it’ll give you some idea of the monsters that we sometimes elect to govern us!
Oh! In case you were wondering, despite what Peter Reith said, there never were any “kids thrown overboard”.
