[Editor: A poem by “Kookaburra”. Published in The Eltham and Whittlesea Shires Advertiser and Diamond Creek Valley Advocate, 24 December 1925.]
Skitlets.
The elections are over.
Some language was plain;
Like the barking of Rover
’Twas mostly in vain.
Stan Bruce and his party
Did well at the poll,
While Walsh’s grand army
Got bogged in a hole,
The country is dry;
There’s a failure in hay,
But we may get some rain
After Easter, they say.
Cow cockies are buying
Up feed by the truck,
And they may get some maize,
If they’ve wonderful luck.
If we don’t get some rain
Milk will be very dear,
And consumers be paying
The same price as beer.
It would be a disaster
If such were the case,
Though beer flows much faster
When poured through the face!
The farmers of Bowen
Got some sense in their heads:
They just put the toe in
And kicked out the Reds
Who’d defied the police,
But were soon glad to go
To the very police
For protection, you know!
Young horses are selling
At two for a quid,
And many are spelling
That can’t raise a bid;
While motors are booming, —
Good Lord, how they squall!
They can hardly find room in
The road for them all.
They kill two or three
Every day in the year,
So the cost of our dying
Is now very dear.
We shall soon want a Daily
For motors alone
So if one is for sale he
Can then make it known.
The papers may bar them
For crowding out space,
While owners may char them
In some quiet place.
Tom Walsh, we are told,
To England may go
To shepherd his fold
In the fog and the snow.
So if he departs
On his nice little trip,
We shall bid him farewell
And just let him rip.
Now this is the end
Of my wonderful tale,
And should it offend
They may put me in gaol.
— KOOKABURRA.
Source:
The Advertiser (Hurstbridge, Vic.), 24 December 1925, p. 3
Editor’s notes:
Bowen = an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in Queensland
cockie = a farmer (the term was used to refer to poor bush farmers, from having land so poor that they were jokingly said to only be able to farm cockies, i.e. cockatoos, a type of bird; however, it was later used to refer to farmers in general)
Daily = a daily newspaper
rip = to move quickly, to go fast, to go with enthusiasm; such as used in the phrase “let her rip” (particularly used regarding vehicles or other machines)
Rover = a common name for a pet dog
spelling = resting (“spell” refers to a period of time, but was also used to refer to a period of rest, due to the common phrase “to rest for a spell” and variations thereof)
Stan Bruce = Stanley Bruce (1883-1967), who served as Prime Minister of Australia during 1923-1929
Tom Walsh = Thomas Walsh (1871-1943), socialist and trade unionist; both he and his wife (Adela Walsh, nee Pankhurst) were founding members of the Communist Party of Australia in 1920, although they later became anti-communists
[Editor: Corrected “If now” to “Is now”.]
The Institute of Australian Culture
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