No wonder the siege at Glenrowan left such an imprint on the national psyche. Superintendent Hare had prosecuted the pursuit of the Kelly Gang, and the land had been left firebombed and the rivers poisoned. It was a degree of destruction that would not be seen again until 65-years later in Dresden, Germany. It could have no other effect but to galvanise public opinion against the Victorian police.
P. australasiae were the first out. They saw the kind of people that the Kellys and associates were and had the good sense to leave the party before the inn went up. It was a difficult decision leaving the warmth and waffles of the inn, but once Curnow had alerted the authorities and the train disaster had been averted, it was a no-brainer...
That was the source of one facet of the national psyche: the distrust for authority and its attendant figures. The other facet can be traced back a few months to the bank robbery at Jerilderie, and, more importantly, to the letter that was produced there. The letter was, for want of a better term, the rejection of any degree of responsibility. It was the junkie’s promise, the I’ll have your money tomorrow; the crim’s I didn’t do nuffin’, man, and it has become the national refrain. The cerebral cortex shudders. It has become numb from the semantic satiation.
Written on Monday, 7 March 2011