Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A bit of a change of pace, because you might
recall a few months back we spoke to local comedian
Rusty Smith about a performance that he was directing ahead
of the fiftieth anniversary of Cyclone Tracy, called the Golden Jubilee.
He also flagged that he was going to be working
on an event for Cyclone Tracy survivors to share their stories.
(00:20):
And now the details have been firmed up and I
am pleased to say that he joins me in the
studio right now along with filmmaker Gareth Benson. Good morning
to you both.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Lovely to have you both in the studio. Now, tell
me a little bit more about this event.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Well, listen to an extension on from the Golden Jubilee
that we did in the Fringe Festival. And because we
sold so many tickets, I was getting calls, as I
said the time, from hotels in Darwin saying, you know, hey,
I want to know what's going on to Cyclone Tracy.
Where's the event where they're on? You know, I had
all this sort of stuff for what a more information?
So we realized that was definitely something that people needed
(00:57):
to tell.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Get to get it off their chest.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
So as much as there's commemoratory on the twenty third,
we've got a whole stack of survival story. So they're
different from the Golden Jubilee stories. The Golden Jubilee at
Brown Smart in the Fringe was really about the before
and after, you know, before the cyclone, what happened to
day and how it affected Darwin. This is the nitty
gritty of the night itself. This is right into the
(01:20):
wind eye of the still fear. You know, what happened
to be how do they survive under the mattress with
the louvers smashing on top of them and the cat
flew into the tree and the cars are up in
the air and all this sort of stuff is what
everyone wants to get off their chest.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, so we're providing the platform for that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
And so Gareth like, how tough is that? You know,
when you look at the sheer volume of stories that
people have to tell, and then when you you know,
you look at what has happened, how tough is it
to put all of that together?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Look, it is tough because you know, I think it's
an event that goes way beyond the territory as well.
All Australians were touched by this event, you know, at
various stages of their lives, and it's really important that
all the Stralians have that opportunity to connect to.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
The Tracy story and to share it, because.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It's not just one of survival, it's one of resilience
and hope. We still stand here in a city because
the territories decided to state that the powers that be
allowed us to rebuild, so it's also a story of
hope and revival.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
A slight touch on the fact that Tiger Brennan and
GoF Whitlam had an argument where Tracy will is a
famous argument where Goth wanted to level Darwen completely, nothing left,
just ground it and then rebuild.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
It again.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
And said no, no, this is our home.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's interesting because I can't remember why. But in recent
days I've actually spoken about this with with people off
air and the fact that the government, you know, we're
looking at just leveling Darwin and whether it was going
to be a situation where it's like, well, we don't
it's too hard, We're not going to rebuild. And you
know what you said earlier about that resilience and hope,
and you know the people that still live here. You
(03:03):
just think to yourself, we have got like the backbone
of the Northern Territory is so strong, right, it's incredible
when you think about the you know, the territory spirit
and the way that it was able to be rebuilt.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yep, absolutely, and we want to honor that. We want
to honor the opportunity for all territories to be part
of that. In both theatrical as well as a panel.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Sta well after the Golden Jubilee, people asking me about
the Cyclone storys all over the place, So it's fun.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It was ironic because I'm walking down the mall and
I hear this. It's Charlie King.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
And Charlie said, I really want to tell my story.
I've never told it. I said, okay, well I'm going
to put you on as a key speaker. So he's
Charlie King' ting to be one of the speakers, and
also Richie and Christine Fijo. Now Richie said, my story
is amazing. Christine's even better.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, so let's get her on.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It's incredible. You know the stories that you do here
as well about Cyclone. Tracy and I was saying to
you guys, off even you know, I'm at swimming and Julie,
one of the other mums, comes up to me and
she starts telling me about her experience, you know, with
cyclone Tracy. And these are people that I've known for
quite some time that you actually don't realize what they've
been through. And I think that it would be really
(04:11):
difficult for some people to share their stories, but for others,
almost a cathartic experience to sort of get it off
their checks.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Well, I just mentioned earlier than they were very well
known territory and I mentioned it to her and she
just said, Nope, it traumatizes me, Leave me out of it.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, yeah, it is interesting, but it's just interesting how
people process things difficult.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And the other thing I'm finding and everyone to wear
that any Cyclone Tracy survival will back this up.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
The minute you.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Mentioned Cyclone Tracy, they can instant recall it in a microsecond.
It's not like, oh, what happened at school, what happened
in the footy game.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
It's instant. That's from the fear help it will never
forget it.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Yeah, it's the yardstick of all Australian natural disasters. In fact,
we often compare back to Tracy, and I feel that
that is in the time of the fiftieth is a
time to reflect and but also move forward.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Hope, and so the shout out is for all the
people like me that I walked around all these years
wanting to tell my story. It's a platform people. There's
quite a few dates there get amongst it.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Sign up.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So it's next Friday is the opening night at the
Palmerston Library Community Room. The first performance is at six pm.
It's actually coinciding with the last night of the Palmerston
Markets and then other dates have just opened up because
it looks like it's going to be a sellout. For
the opening night on the Saturday and the Sunday again
at the Palmerston Community Room, there will be multimedia reimagining
(05:37):
of the Cyclone Tracy using AI and some other tools
that we as filmmakers are bring.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I just want to check it, he said to me,
I can get you out of the linen press that
you went to cyclone, And this is Gareth out of
there and flying around in the cyclone, basically looking at
it from above and orazi way.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
We really hope that this is a stepping stone towards
an educational project that we can actually share this story
for schools and children so they can remember as well.
Comes off the back of other projects that we've done
around the bombing of Darwin with Rusty and others, so
that we can remember it and we hope that the
final performance at the Museum and Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory will remain this story can remain so we
(06:18):
can actually ensure that it's enshrined in the memory of
all territories.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
So certainly the twenty fourth it's at the museum.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
We've sort of got ten o'clock to four o'clock all
day that we are show sort of rolling, and then
at five point thirty the Remembering Cyclone Tracy People've got
the show at the Railway Club.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
So this is Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
That's where our season ends.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
We're starting in Palmerston and working our way into the
heart of Darwin.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And it really is based on just influx of people
contacting me and saying we want to tell our story.
So it's a platform come and tell your story, hear
your story and support Darwin.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I think it's a really important thing to do, such
an important thing to do, so to anybody out there listening,
this morning. What can they expect when they come along.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well, there are three stages to this story.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
The night before Christmas. There is then, of course the
eye of the storm, and then there is revival and hope.
So there's three chapters in each one of them. Rusty
as the MC will basically take you through the journey
of what it was like as a Tracy survivor, but
also hold space for those that wish. Our panelists. We've
(07:27):
got four, as Rusty mentioned, Richard Fijo, Christine Fijo and
Charlie King for opening night, but there'll be other panelists
and other people along this journey so that they can
feel that their story is well.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
We've got most iconic Ury Twins lined up. We're just
try and get them the right date and time and
matts and so they can be here. The other thing
is for all the people that aren't going to be
here at Christmas time. You know, that's why the early dates,
the Parmesan library and also for the hup you do
how it brings in all the rural people, regional and
there's a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Of people traveling here as well for different commemorations.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Do December twenty fourth day will be hectic.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
I was just with the Rotary Club of Darwin North
Jeff Goodridge last night, who was with a number of
other and they are planning events around the twenty third.
There's going to be a big event out at the showgrounds. Yep,
this is our fine. So we're looking forward to engaging
with people, visitors to Darwin and at the end of
the day, yeah, we're looking forward to holding that platform
strong so everyone feels included.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
It's not about it, so it's a remembering cycle and
Tracy people, they're having a commemoration on the twenty third
as well, so like get them all out there, provide
a lot to platforms, come and tell you stories. And
I listened to the stories, you know, the emotion of
all Darwin and see how we rebuild it. And we're
the ones that stood.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Up absolutely absolutely and hats off to you as well
for doing that really and making the place what it
is today. It's incredible. It is really incredible stuff. Well,
thank you boy so much for joining me in the studio.
Now tell me if people want a bit more info,
is there a website or somewhere where they can go
to it?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, so we manage put it up on your website one,
and then we've got to garriscot a website.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Get tickets through Humanitics, so that's they're not for profit
platform for the same our tickets. And just this week
we've actually released seniors tickets because what we actually acknowledge
is that the territory and survivors many are in that category,
so we want to make it affordable so everyone to
be part of it. They are only ten dollars on
the Humanitics site under cyclone stories.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yes, oh good on you. No. I think it's a
really good thing to do. And I know that there's
plenty of different events being held by different groups, but
it's not a competition. It's an opportunity for everybody to
get out there, to have their voices heard, to share
their story and really to be around each other. I
think is probably an important.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Thing fellowship also for the other people are putting on shows.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
We've said, bring you books along and have a book
store to sell, bring your t shirts along and sell them.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Welcome. Yeah, all wonderful stuff. Lovely to have you both
in the studio this morning. I really appreciated Gareth Benson
and Rusty. We've spoken to you a few times Rusty.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I didn't crack you off as much as last time.
He behaved yourself this morning so disappointing.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Good on your boat. Thank you so much for your time,
A bit of a change of pace, because you might
recall a few months back we spoke to local comedian
Rusty Smith about a performance that he was directing ahead
of the fiftieth anniversary of Cyclone Tracy, called the Golden Jubilee.
He also flagged that he was going to be working
on an event for Cyclone Tracy survivors to share their stories.
(00:20):
And now the details have been firmed up and I
am pleased to say that he joins me in the
studio right now along with filmmaker Gareth Benson. Good morning
to you both.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Lovely to have you both in the studio. Now, tell
me a little bit more about this event.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Well, listen to an extension on from the Golden Jubilee
that we did in the Fringe Festival. And because we
sold so many tickets, I was getting calls, as I
said the time, from hotels in Darwin saying, you know, hey,
I want to know what's going on to Cyclone Tracy.
Where's the event where they're on? You know, I had
all this sort of stuff for what a more information?
So we realized that was definitely something that people needed
(00:57):
to tell.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Get to get it off their chest.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
So as much as there's commemoratory on the twenty third,
we've got a whole stack of survival story. So they're
different from the Golden Jubilee stories. The Golden Jubilee at
Brown Smart in the Fringe was really about the before
and after, you know, before the cyclone, what happened to
day and how it affected Darwin. This is the nitty
gritty of the night itself. This is right into the
(01:20):
wind eye of the still fear. You know, what happened
to be how do they survive under the mattress with
the louvers smashing on top of them and the cat
flew into the tree and the cars are up in
the air and all this sort of stuff is what
everyone wants to get off their chest.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yes, so we're providing the platform for that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
And so Gareth like, how tough is that? You know,
when you look at the sheer volume of stories that
people have to tell, and then when you you know,
you look at what has happened, how tough is it
to put all of that together?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Look, it is tough because you know, I think it's
an event that goes way beyond the territory as well.
All Australians were touched by this event, you know, at
various stages of their lives, and it's really important that
all the Stralians have that opportunity to connect to.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
The Tracy story and to share it, because.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It's not just one of survival, it's one of resilience
and hope. We still stand here in a city because
the territories decided to state that the powers that be
allowed us to rebuild, so it's also a story of
hope and revival.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
A slight touch on the fact that Tiger Brennan and
GoF Whitlam had an argument where Tracy will is a
famous argument where Goth wanted to level Darwen completely, nothing left,
just ground it and then rebuild.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
It again.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
And said no, no, this is our home.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's interesting because I can't remember why. But in recent
days I've actually spoken about this with with people off
air and the fact that the government, you know, we're
looking at just leveling Darwin and whether it was going
to be a situation where it's like, well, we don't
it's too hard, We're not going to rebuild. And you
know what you said earlier about that resilience and hope,
and you know the people that still live here. You
(03:03):
just think to yourself, we have got like the backbone
of the Northern Territory is so strong, right, it's incredible
when you think about the you know, the territory spirit
and the way that it was able to be rebuilt.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yep, absolutely, and we want to honor that. We want
to honor the opportunity for all territories to be part
of that. In both theatrical as well as a panel.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Sta well after the Golden Jubilee, people asking me about
the Cyclone storys all over the place, So it's fun.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It was ironic because I'm walking down the mall and
I hear this. It's Charlie King.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
And Charlie said, I really want to tell my story.
I've never told it. I said, okay, well I'm going
to put you on as a key speaker. So he's
Charlie King' ting to be one of the speakers, and
also Richie and Christine Fijo. Now Richie said, my story
is amazing. Christine's even better.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, so let's get her on.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It's incredible. You know the stories that you do here
as well about Cyclone. Tracy and I was saying to
you guys, off even you know, I'm at swimming and Julie,
one of the other mums, comes up to me and
she starts telling me about her experience, you know, with
cyclone Tracy. And these are people that I've known for
quite some time that you actually don't realize what they've
been through. And I think that it would be really
(04:11):
difficult for some people to share their stories, but for others,
almost a cathartic experience to sort of get it off
their checks.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Well, I just mentioned earlier than they were very well
known territory and I mentioned it to her and she
just said, Nope, it traumatizes me, Leave me out of it.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, yeah, it is interesting, but it's just interesting how
people process things difficult.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And the other thing I'm finding and everyone to wear
that any Cyclone Tracy survival will back this up.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
The minute you.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Mentioned Cyclone Tracy, they can instant recall it in a microsecond.
It's not like, oh, what happened at school, what happened
in the footy game.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
It's instant. That's from the fear help it will never
forget it.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Yeah, it's the yardstick of all Australian natural disasters. In fact,
we often compare back to Tracy, and I feel that
that is in the time of the fiftieth is a
time to reflect and but also move forward.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Hope, and so the shout out is for all the
people like me that I walked around all these years
wanting to tell my story. It's a platform people. There's
quite a few dates there get amongst it.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Sign up.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So it's next Friday is the opening night at the
Palmerston Library Community Room. The first performance is at six pm.
It's actually coinciding with the last night of the Palmerston
Markets and then other dates have just opened up because
it looks like it's going to be a sellout. For
the opening night on the Saturday and the Sunday again
at the Palmerston Community Room, there will be multimedia reimagining
(05:37):
of the Cyclone Tracy using AI and some other tools
that we as filmmakers are bring.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I just want to check it, he said to me,
I can get you out of the linen press that
you went to cyclone, And this is Gareth out of
there and flying around in the cyclone, basically looking at
it from above and orazi way.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
We really hope that this is a stepping stone towards
an educational project that we can actually share this story
for schools and children so they can remember as well.
Comes off the back of other projects that we've done
around the bombing of Darwin with Rusty and others, so
that we can remember it and we hope that the
final performance at the Museum and Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory will remain this story can remain so we
(06:18):
can actually ensure that it's enshrined in the memory of
all territories.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
So certainly the twenty fourth it's at the museum.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
We've sort of got ten o'clock to four o'clock all
day that we are show sort of rolling, and then
at five point thirty the Remembering Cyclone Tracy People've got
the show at the Railway Club.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
So this is Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
That's where our season ends.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
We're starting in Palmerston and working our way into the
heart of Darwin.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And it really is based on just influx of people
contacting me and saying we want to tell our story.
So it's a platform come and tell your story, hear
your story and support Darwin.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I think it's a really important thing to do, such
an important thing to do, so to anybody out there listening,
this morning. What can they expect when they come along.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well, there are three stages to this story.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
The night before Christmas. There is then, of course the
eye of the storm, and then there is revival and hope.
So there's three chapters in each one of them. Rusty
as the MC will basically take you through the journey
of what it was like as a Tracy survivor, but
also hold space for those that wish. Our panelists. We've
(07:27):
got four, as Rusty mentioned, Richard Fijo, Christine Fijo and
Charlie King for opening night, but there'll be other panelists
and other people along this journey so that they can
feel that their story is well.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
We've got most iconic Ury Twins lined up. We're just
try and get them the right date and time and
matts and so they can be here. The other thing
is for all the people that aren't going to be
here at Christmas time. You know, that's why the early dates,
the Parmesan library and also for the hup you do
how it brings in all the rural people, regional and
there's a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Of people traveling here as well for different commemorations.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Do December twenty fourth day will be hectic.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
I was just with the Rotary Club of Darwin North
Jeff Goodridge last night, who was with a number of
other and they are planning events around the twenty third.
There's going to be a big event out at the showgrounds. Yep,
this is our fine. So we're looking forward to engaging
with people, visitors to Darwin and at the end of
the day, yeah, we're looking forward to holding that platform
strong so everyone feels included.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
It's not about it, so it's a remembering cycle and
Tracy people, they're having a commemoration on the twenty third
as well, so like get them all out there, provide
a lot to platforms, come and tell you stories. And
I listened to the stories, you know, the emotion of
all Darwin and see how we rebuild it. And we're
the ones that stood.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Up absolutely absolutely and hats off to you as well
for doing that really and making the place what it
is today. It's incredible. It is really incredible stuff. Well,
thank you boy so much for joining me in the studio.
Now tell me if people want a bit more info,
is there a website or somewhere where they can go
to it?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, so we manage put it up on your website one,
and then we've got to garriscot a website.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Get tickets through Humanitics, so that's they're not for profit
platform for the same our tickets. And just this week
we've actually released seniors tickets because what we actually acknowledge
is that the territory and survivors many are in that category,
so we want to make it affordable so everyone to
be part of it. They are only ten dollars on
the Humanitics site under cyclone stories.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yes, oh good on you. No. I think it's a
really good thing to do. And I know that there's
plenty of different events being held by different groups, but
it's not a competition. It's an opportunity for everybody to
get out there, to have their voices heard, to share
their story and really to be around each other. I
think is probably an important.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Thing fellowship also for the other people are putting on shows.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
We've said, bring you books along and have a book
store to sell, bring your t shirts along and sell them.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Welcome. Yeah, all wonderful stuff. Lovely to have you both
in the studio this morning. I really appreciated Gareth Benson
and Rusty. We've spoken to you a few times Rusty.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I didn't crack you off as much as last time.
He behaved yourself this morning so disappointing.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Good on your boat. Thank you so much for your time,
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