The 1970's: A Turbulent Decade

By Jon Peasey

The 1970's brought about numerous changes in Australian society. A change of government in Canberra the nation's capital brought rapid changes in Commonwealth Government reforms and legislation. Wage increases and soaring inflation pushed up the cost of commodities and basic items such as food and petrol. As interest rates began to climb; employers began to lay off workers in an endeavour to contain ever rising costs. Vietnam War issues came to a head during the decade. The political scene in Canberra seemed like an ongoing soap opera. We tuned in daily for another 'exciting' episode.
Early in the decade I moved interstate and began a new life in Queensland, Australia. Different careers with jobs that had steep learning curves and greater responsibility were ahead of me. As the decade moved on I found fulfilment on the personal level when I fell in love, married my beautiful fiancée and we later had two sons. However, it was also a time of personal and national economic pressures as costs continued to rise and showed no signs of slowing down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jon Peasey
• Release date: Apr 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9780994150899

Jon Peasey

I am a retired male nurse, married with three grown up sons, who have all left home to pursue their own interests in life. My wife and I moved from Toowoomba in south east Queensland in October 2015 to Brookfield a suburb in Brisbane Queensland (QLD). We made the move to be closer to family. In December 2018 we moved to Nundah Queensland to move even closer to family.Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland. Queensland is famous for the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. Brisbane is situated on the Brisbane River and is known as the 'River City'. It is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city.I am a Christian and I fellowship with like minded Christians. I enjoy writing, reading my Bible and Christian books. I tend to read non-fiction books in my spare time. My interests are my family, writing, bible study, beach walking, car touring, gospel preaching and bible teaching.

Book preview

The 1970's - A Turbulent Decade

By Jon Peasey

Published by Peasey Publications

at Smashwords

Copyright 2019 Jon Peasey

ISBN 978-0-9941508-9-9

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free eBook. Although this is a free eBook, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed the book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at smashwords.com. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Preamble

Chapter One: 1970 - Better health, strength and a new car

Chapter Two: 1971 - Meeting my future wife

Chapter Three: A Far North QLD Holiday

Chapter Four: 1972 - Oh What a Year

Chapter Five: 1973 - A Defining Year in Australia

Chapter Six: The 1974 Floods

Chapter Seven: 1974 - A year of economic and inflationary pressures

Chapter Eight: 1974 - Marriage and fulfilment

Chapter Nine: 1974 (continued)

Chapter Ten: 1975 - Political Turmoil

Chapter Eleven: 1976 - The Aftermath of the Whitlam years

Chapter Twelve: 1977- A new job

Chapter Thirteen: 1978 - Sorrow and Joy

Chapter Fourteen: 1979 - The need for a larger home

Epilogue

About the Author

Cover photos:

Ford Escort [Source: Ford Motor Co brochure]

Skylab [Source: Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia]

Cyclone Tracy [Source: National Museum of Australia]

Whitlam dismissal [Source: Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC)]

Preamble

"As the [1960's] decade came to its final conclusion, Australia was poised for more expansion and a different political climate. What would the 1970's have in store for us all? Vietnam War issues had created a polarising effect and people in general wanted Australian troops out of Vietnam. On the home front my life was moving in a different direction and major changes were in store for me during the next decade."

These were the concluding words from my eBook titled ' The 1960's - Changing Times'. The 1970's decade brought a huge shift in the socio-economic and political affairs of the entire nation. These changes would have an effect on every individual Australian. Changes were under way that would affect our living standards, our units of measure and even our sense of purpose as a nation.

On the world scene the 1970's decade saw several coups in various nations around the globe. Many of these coups were military coups which in the main ended up with dictators in charge of these countries. This usually resulted in many deaths and an economic down turn in the individual countries. In some cases genocide was practised by these dictators; just more examples of man's inhumanity to mankind.

Chapter One: 1970 - Better health, strength and a new car

On the national front, as Australia moved into the year 1970 the war in Vietnam was still cause for much contention and debate. Most Australians wanted our soldiers out of Vietnam and back home on Australian soil. However, this was not the Commonwealth Government's view on the matter. The Commander-In-Chief of the American military forces in Vietnam was pushing for more Aussie troops to be sent to Vietnam. Our Liberal/National Parties' Coalition Government seemed amenable to any requests from the USA. Australians in general had had a gut full of the Vietnam War and were prepared to show their displeasure to the Commonwealth Government. This anti-war feeling even went as far as ostracising Aussie troops on their return from Vietnam.

On New Year's Day 1970, Robert [Bob] James Lee Hawke (a future Australian Prime Minister) was elected President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). This man would soon make a name for himself.

On Monday, 12-Jan-1970 Prime Minister John Gorton announced that New South Wales, Canberra and Queensland would each receive one of the six cannons jettisoned by Captain Cook from the Endeavour on the Great Barrier Reef in 1770. The canons would be distributed for the Captain Cook celebrations for the bi-centenary of his landing in Botany Bay NSW in 1770.

On Saturday, 17-Jan-1970 severe tropical Cyclone Ada hit the Whitsunday Islands region of North Queensland killing 14 people. The category 4 cyclone destroyed Whitsunday Island resorts and also many boats. An estimated 80% of mainland buildings in Shute Harbour, Airlie Beach and Cannonvale were severely damaged. This small but intense system accompanied by 24 hours of heavy rain caused the Proserpine River to peak at a record level of 11.16 metres; its highest recorded flood level. Due to the lack of public information prior to the cyclone crossing land, a new system of publicly broadcasting a whooping siren sound was introduced to warn people whenever a cyclone was imminent.

On Monday, 19-Jan-1970 notice was given by the Federal Parliament that Australia would change over to the Metric system of measure and weights. Since the time of Captain Phillip and the First Fleet, Australia had only known the British imperial units of currency, measures and weights. Decimal currency was introduced into Australia back in 1966. In monetary matters, Australians were used to dealing in multiples of 10 instead of multiples of 12. This would help to make the change in weights and measures much easier. The Federal Parliament later passed the Australian Metric Conversion Act on Friday, 12-Jun-1970. This Act enabled the Metric Conversion Board to be brought into being to facilitate the conversion of imperial measurements to metric.

A severe thunderstorm on Wednesday, 21-Jan-1970 in Brisbane Queensland (QLD) caused widespread damage to 1,000 homes. The storm also caused widespread power outages and chaos in the peak hour city traffic.

On the international front in Paris, France, the Australian Boxer, Johnny Famechon retained his WBC world title by defeating Fighting Harada of Japan for the second time.

On the home front as Australia moved into the new year of 1970 I was settled nicely into my job as a Telephone Clerk/Salesman with Dunlop Footwear at Bankstown in Sydney. Health wise I was gradually recovering from the bout of Meningo-Encephalitis I had contracted last year. Physically my body was regaining strength however my short term memory was not back to normal. January was a quiet month at work as traditionally retail trading was very slow after the Christmas holidays break. Many shopkeepers went on annual holidays at this time so orders were slow coming in. Our footwear factory was closed for the annual holidays and our team of sales representatives was also on annual leave. The bonus for me working over January was the very much reduced traffic on the roads.

When the schools resumed for the new year of 1970; in early February I re-enrolled at Fairfield Evening College to study for the NSW Higher School Certificate. This year I would study five core subjects of Maths, English, Geography, History and Economics. A different subject was studied each night from Monday to Friday. This new course was much harder than the School Certificate last year; which thankfully I had passed in all five subjects. Last year I had attended Evening College for four nights a week from Monday to Thursday. So I now had an extra night of study and would need two years to complete the course instead of one year.

On the national front in February 1970 trading in mining shares soared to new heights when on Tuesday, 10-Feb-1970 nickel shares in Poseidon NL reached $280.00 per share. Nickel prices rose sharply in late 1969 due to a shortage of the mineral out of Canada. Poseidon NL shares were only trading at $0.80 per share in September 1969; so the colossal rise in share prices set up a frenzied time of trading on Australian Stock Exchanges. Would the bubble burst?

On Monday, 23-Feb-1970 the 'Indian Pacific' passenger train began its inaugural journey from Sydney NSW to Perth WA a distance of 4,352 km. The much lauded new service broke through the old mishmash of different rail gauges in different States. This new line was also a boon for rail freight between the east coast and the west coast of Australia. The journey is considered to be the 7th longest train journey in the world.

On the home front I was now settled into a routine of working at Dunlop Footwear, Monday to Friday and going to Evening College at night. Saturday became a study day at home completing assignments. Sundays I spent with my grandparents at Naremburn on Sydney's north side. I went with them to the Berry Road Christian Assembly at St Leonards and participated in the usual Sunday assembly activities.

After my break up with my former girlfriend Maria last year I was not interested in looking for a new girlfriend. I was still getting over the break up so I chose instead to concentrate on my studies which were taking up a major portion of my time anyway.

At work as I regained my normal health and strength I began to do a lot more tasks involving walking to and fro between the Administration block, the Factory and the Warehouse. The packing and distribution departments were located in the Warehouse complex. A lot of liaising was required between (a) the production planning section, (b) what was already in stock in the warehouse and (c) what shoes and boots were scheduled for production. As we sometimes ran out of different sizes it was essential that we knew when those sizes would be back in the warehouse. The Warehouse handled all the orders for the whole of Australia, the NSW Branch where I worked did not have priority over other States; however, that did not stop my bosses from trying to get priority. The other State Branches required a different lead time as the goods had to be delivered over long distances. Fortunately, the Factory Manager and the National Sales Manager kept a close watch on distribution priorities, so it was fair for all concerned.

On the national front on Monday, 23-Mar-1970 the mining boom bubble burst as Poseidon NL shares took a severe tumble down to $145.00 per share. From then on it was a downward spiral. Many investors lost huge amounts of money, particularly those who had bought shares at $280.00 per share. Panic set in at the Stock Exchanges as investors began to unload their shares and tried to cut their losses.

Easter was early this year as Good Friday fell on March 27. Queen Elizabeth II was due in Australia on Easter Monday, 30-Mar-1970 for the Bi-Centenary of Captain Cook's landing in Botany Bay in 1770. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and their daughter Princess Anne were here for an official visit lasting 36 days. Yet again the reigning monarch of Australia was here for an official visit. This was her 3rd visit to our nation; (1954, 1963, 1970).

In late April a very controversial figure appeared on the national scene. On Monday, 27-Apr-1970 a chap from Western Australia (WA) named Leonard Casley formally seceded from the Commonwealth of Australia over a long dispute over wheat quotas. This action immediately created a huge furore. Leonard Casley created what came to be known as the Hutt River Province. The Province later became a Principality, in lieu of Province; in order to protect Leonard Casley's supporters from legal prosecution.

Hutt River Principality in Western Australia

[Source: Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia]

As it was now a Principality, Leonard Casley took to himself the title of Prince Leonard. Neither the State of Western Australia, nor the Commonwealth of Australia nor any other nation recognised this new Principality. From TV interviews at the time with the so called Prince Leonard it became obvious to all and sundry that the man was a bit odd. He turned out to be very clever and was able to use the relevant Australian laws to keep his Principality in existence. Today the Hutt River Principality remains in existence in WA. The people who lived in the Principality did not pay taxes to the Australian Tax Office because they were deemed to be non-residents of Australia.

On Sunday, 3-May-1970 Queen Elizabeth on her final day in Australia opened a new International Terminal at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport. This airport is also known as Mascot Airport. The new terminal was a much needed improvement as the volume of international flights in and out of Sydney had increased dramatically with the advent of jet airliners. The old terminal had become woefully inadequate.

On Friday, 8-May-1970 anti Vietnam War demonstrations were held across the nation. This was an extremely unpopular war that Australia was involved in. Constant scenes from the battlefields in Vietnam were shown on the nightly TV news. People were growing sick of this war which seemed to be dragging on and on. A lot of pressure was being applied to the Commonwealth Government to bring our troops home.

With winter approaching the weather turned cold and we needed to rug up. I was continuing to go to Evening College, but it was now apparent that my short term memory recall was slow in improving. While I was at lectures I understood and was able to follow the tutors, however I had difficulty retaining that knowledge when I got home. As this difficulty was spread over the five subjects I had to make a decision. I could not see me being able to sit for exams and pass them.

Wednesday nights were when the Berry Road Assembly had its mid week Prayer/Bible Study meetings. While I was still in the throes of making up my mind about my studies an incident occurred that hastened that decision. I got ready one Wednesday evening to go to the College however I had a very strong impression from the Lord that I should go to the Prayer meeting. As I drove towards the College the impression became stronger. As I neared the intersection of Polding Street and the Horsley Drive it became obey or not! Where Polding Street meets the Horsley Drive the road kinks slightly to the left. I was in the right hand lane to make the turn down Horsley Drive to the College.

So I said to the Lord, Lord if you want me to go to the Prayer meeting I will take my hands off the wheel and you will direct the car through the intersection and down Polding Street. The lights were on green as I came to the intersection. I took my hands off the steering wheel and the car went round the kink and straight ahead! The point where I took my hands off the steering wheel was where the road began to kink. If the car had gone straight ahead it would have smashed into the house on the opposite corner! I took back control of the car and proceeded down Polding Street. I then made my way across the city to the Prayer/Bible Study at Berry Road,