On June 26, The Border Mail printed a letter from the co-curator of the Ned Kelly Vault in Beechworth. The letter was in complaint to a reference within a recent interview I did with Prime7 News (aired June 20) about plans for the Ned Kelly Centre in Glenrowan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The issue was cited to be that I stated there was no other Kelly museum, which the writer extrapolated to mean that I was “undermining the hard work and dedication of many in the North East who research and collect Kellyana and help to keep the story alive, relevant and exciting”.
Referring specifically to our vision for the Ned Kelly Centre, I said at one point “… we don’t have a museum for it… [the Kelly story]”, but I also went on to say “… it will bring the place to life again; Glenrowan and Wangaratta, and the whole region …” It was never my intention to repudiate the efforts of any Kelly-related site anywhere in the North East. And I am appalled that my words were apparently construed as such.
Beechworth has a rich heritage to share, including important aspects of the Kelly story. The heritage precinct of Glenrowan is also an important Kelly site – witness to the pivotal Last Stand and introduction of the Kelly armour, neighbouring Ned’s beloved home at Greta, and his final resting place. The region is also still home to six generations of Kelly descendants, including my own line. This is where we are working to establish the Ned Kelly Centre, a charity with DGR status, museum and heritage centre.
There are many Kelly-related sites across our region, and we at the Ned Kelly Centre believe that each has a uniquely important role and there is room for all. It is unfortunate and unwarranted – under any circumstance – for any professional person to resort to a demeaning attack to make a point on an assumed (in this case, misguided) belief.
A founding policy of the Ned Kelly Centre is to speak and act with professional courtesy and respect to all, and we look forward to a future of positive collaboration with others in promoting the rich heritage and history of our beautiful Kelly Country.
Joanne Griffiths, founding director Ned Kelly Centre
We need real action
As was evidenced by the meeting about illegal deer hunting at Whitfield on Monday night, talk is easy and cheap but action is a little more problematic for governments at all levels - especially when they are and have been beholden to the hunting fraternity for several decades.
Protecting hunters’ access to a sustainable deer population has backfired dramatically with the explosion of deer and the problems that has caused.
It's not just a rogue hunter issue. It's a whole community issue and when all levels of government start acting in the best interests of the whole community, balancing the needs of hunters for something to shoot at and the needs of the rest of us hoping to live in a safe environment devoid of a growing gun culture, then we might just see some real action in reducing the huge numbers of deer that are wreaking havoc in the bush, in paddocks and gardens and on our country roads.
Maybe declaring the deer as a feral pest instead of a game wildlife species would be a good place to start. Put a bounty on them. Put sufficient resources into policing illegal hunting/shooting and actually make the problem go away, because the current strategy (if you could call it that) of talking about it, is achieving Jack.