Category Archives: Australian culture

September 30, 2025 · 6:39 pm

What’s in an “I”.  Peris/Peiris …. !!

Earlson Forbes

I read with interest the exchange among Victor, Kyle and yourself regarding the question of whether Nova Peris is of Sri Lankan heritage, albeit ever so minor.  A few years ago, an article I had written titled … (From Ceylon to Australia: Migrant Journeys, 1860ies to 2010… was published in your excellent Thuppahi Blog.  In summary, some of the content of that article establishedv THAT:-
&  In 1882 some 500 Ceylonese entered Queensland as indentured labourers.
&  The development of the Pearl Fisheries and later jewellery trade, brought several Ceylonese to Thursday Island as skin divers, boatman, traders and utility workers.
suger plantation workers in Queensland   ina photo served up within  Earlson’s article
‘camel riders at sunset  in Broome

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September 29, 2025 · 8:31 pm

Nova Peris: What’s in Her Name?

Michael Roberts  

In step with David Sansoni’s email questioning Victor Melder has categorically challenged my  speculative suggestion  that  NOVA PERIS may possibly have had  a grandparent who was a Sri Lankan pearler/trader/seaman in the north-western reaches of Australia .

VICTOR: “No, Nova Peris is not of Sri Lankan heritage; she is a prominent Indigenous Australian from the Gija, Yawuru, and Muran/Iwatja peoples. While her surname, “Peris,” has European origins, and she has documented Scottish, Irish, and Filipino heritage, her Indigenous identity comes from her family’s connections to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions and cultures in Australia.”

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September 28, 2025 · 7:43 pm

Nova Peris & Her Roots: Any Sri Lankan Links?

Michael Roberts

Since Nova Peris-Kneebone was one member of the Australian 4 x 100 relay team that secured  a medal  in the Olympic Games of 1996 ( …..   ), I  raised  the speculative question:  does  the name PERIS indicate that one of  her grandparents was a Sinhalese merchant, worker or pearl-diver who was  among the Sri Lankan personnel  known to have  particpated  in trading,  pearl-diving and labouring  activities in the north-western, northern coastal areas of Australia from the early twentieth century  and perhaps  even earlier? 

Australia’s gold medal team, (left-right) Sharon Cripps, N. Peris-Kneebone, Catherine Freeman and Tania Van Heer, celebrate their victory (Photo by Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images)

371732 05: Australian gold medalist Peris-Kneebone autographs the “Nova” watch she designed for Swatch Watches June 27, 2000 in Santa Monica, CA. Peris-Kneebone, the first Olympic torch bearer on Australian soil and a member of the Aboriginal Muran Clan was on hand to discuss her part in the 17,000-mile journey the olympic tourch will make. (Photo by Jason Kirk/Online USA)

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September 13, 2025 · 1:46 am

Peter Mayer: Straddling USA-India-Australia via Academia

Michael Roberts

 The world of university lecturers is quite varied and cannot be easily distilled. My experience is mostly based on my years teaching at Peradeniya University n Sri Lanka (1960-62 & 1966-76) and Adelaide University from 1978-2004—besides exposures to the environments in Oxford, Chicago, Heidelberg & Bielefeldt.

I have decided to introduce my TPS readership to some personnel from this highly-variegated field. My first choice has been an easy one: PETER MAYER is an easy man – personable, talented, multi-skilled and well-travelled. As vitally, he is an American who has married an equally personable lady named “Latha” who is from India.

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September 3, 2025 · 4:11 pm

AI Looms Over Our Future …. Look-Out!

ITEM in LUMEN, Adelaide University Magazine, September 2025 or so … no date specified clearly & bearing this title: “The  Future and  AI” …. Authorship unclear: maybe Carolyn Semmler, maybe Isaac Freeman

Whether we like it, or not, artificial intelligence is here to stay. The genie is out of the bottle. Its rapid evolution has been embraced by some, and met with raised eyebrows by others.

  In our earlier issue of Lumen this year, we asked readers to describe their hopes and fears for the future. AI was an overwhelmingly present theme.

We shared some of these letters with academics from both the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia to help clarify and respond to concerns on four broad themes: impact on jobs; global security; wellbeing; and the potential for cognitive decline.

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August 31, 2025 · 9:32 pm

Fascist Aussies on the March in Melbourne & ….

An Observer, 31 August 2025

The Fascists in Australia have risen up and taken to the streets in capital cities across Australia demanding migrants (meaning coloured people, especially Indians and like folk) be kicked out of Australia, and no more let in, in the name of freedom and democracy.

This movement seeks to “reclaim Australia” for White Australians. Meanwhile, pro Palestinian marches take place every Sunday, so naturally the two protests clashed today showing the diversity of Australian society.
VISIT THESE SITES … https://youtu.be/ru6CaCFX-HY?si=bNeloxO_wUPcTZQe

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August 24, 2025 · 3:08 pm

Bob Carr Reveals: Power of the Israel Lobby in Australia

VISIT FACEBOOK …https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=24703724925930545

My attempt to  place the digital  Reference  here was defeated [initiall] by the engines of the digital world. It seems that the Israel Jewish  maesros can  reach  far …. wide  …. and DEEP !!@!!

…aah …problem circumvented  -God knows how.

My thanks to Dulip Karunaratne  in Queensland for this item …. That old Aloysian lobby does some fruitful work eh! … the Green & the Gold esto perpetua!

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August 24, 2025 · 2:03 pm

Reviving Australia’s Convict Past via AI

Tomos Morgan, BBC News, 19 August 2025, where  the title runs thus: “Faces of Welsh convicts sent to Australia recreated by AI” ++

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has helped researchers generate what they believe could have been the faces of Welsh convicts sent to Australia in the 19th century. The lives of 60 criminals deported from Anglesey for crimes as small as stealing a handkerchief have been traced by a team of volunteers and researchers.

 They have used detailed prisoner records from the time, historical sketches and, where possible, photos of the prisoners’ modern day descendants to create a profile of what they may have looked like.

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August 17, 2025 · 12:26 am

Vale: Bob Simpson, Aussie Cricketer & Coach

Priyan, in The Island, 16 August 2025, where the title reads: “Former Australia captain and coach Bob Simpson dies aged 89”

Pix shows Simpson with Sobers

Austalian cricket has lost a giant after former Test captain and the first full-time coach Bob Simpson  died in Sydney at the age of 89.

Simpson is one of the most influential figures in the history of Australian cricket. He played 62 Test matches between 1957 and 1978, averaging 46.81, and claimed 71 wickets while being known as one of the greatest slip fielders of his time. In first-class cricket, he amassed 21,029 runs and picked up 349 wickets with his legspin.

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August 12, 2025 · 1:00 pm

Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills: German Settlers From 1839 On ….

Keith Conlon in a Genealogical Society of Queensland – GSQ’s post =deospnoStrg8 r42uti9lf3m8pgff0il26tl5f1tag2f57flti74h033aA5t · … entitled  “From Prussa to Hahndorf in South Australia. Thanks to Keith Conlon”

The end of an epic pioneer voyage:  it began in Silesia, Prussia, for the ‘Old Lutheran’ religious refugees who founded Hahndorf in South Australia in August 1839.

John Ford waterccolour    

 

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