For Akenaton
A couple of stories from my past that others might find amusing.

Like most in Oz I can recall where I was when I heard the news of the Whitlam dismissal; I was the Director of Steiglitz School Camp, about 60 miles west of Melbourne, and was running a camp for Moreland High students. There were several ways of driving from Melbourne to Steiglitz and Moreland students usually came via Bacchus Marsh and Staughton Vale. One of the teachers had, instead come via Geelong, as he had been in the RAAF Reserve and wanted to drive past Pt Cook RAAF Base. His hobby was aircraft identification and he was surprised to see a large jet (I think he said it was a Boeing 707) with US markings which identified it as Air Force 2. This was a couple of days before the dismissal and he had commented on it when he'd arrived at the camp. Curious.

Some time after the subsequent election, which saw Malcolm Fraser installed as PM, some friends of mine returned from a trip though France. They had watched a bit of TV while there and had caught a French newscast of the Coalition celebrations in which Tamie Fraser (Malcolm's wife, also from the Melbourne 'upper crust' and supporter of Malcolm's Western District and patrician image) had been interviewed.

Shades of Kevin Rudd's (the current Opposition Leader) recent speech in Mandarin to the Chinese President at APEC; Tamie was interviewed by the French journalist in French. My friends assured me that the French used in the following snippet could not be translated in any other terms than;
Journalist: "To what do you ascribe the unprecedented nature of this landslide victory?"
Tamie: "When in doubt, the people always turn to the aristocracy!"

Cheers, Rowan