Winner Walkley Book Award 2010

January 18th, 2011 jen Posted in Winnder Walkley Book Award 2010 Comments Off on Winner Walkley Book Award 2010

How fantastic it was to see Shirley Shackleton receive the Walkley Book Award for her book The Circle of Silence – A personal testimony before, during and after Balibo, last night in front of Australia’s finest journalists.  Shirley has been writing articles about justice and the Balibo Five’s murder and cover up in East Timor for over thirty years. She set up a scholarship for journalists to study in the U.S. which saw several of our leading journalists educated through it. The Circle of Silence tells the story of the impact of the murder of the Balibo Five on Shirley and her family and the subsequent struggle against gigantic odds to inform people in this country as well as around the world about what was going on in East Timor. The roughshod treatment she received from the Government and the television station who employed Shackleton following the journalists disappearance is eye opening stuff. Not always popular with local activists for her abrasive warts and all style,  her voice was the one that often cut through when others’ didn’t and she showed the courage of a true giant of democracy and truth putting aside the cost to her personally.  I highly recommend the book as a good read. Published by Murdoch Books.
In her speech Shirley said she ‘wanted to put down what I know to have happened so it’s on the record’.  She also called for help to pressure the Indonesian Government to send the bodies of the journalists. home. It seems at 78 Shirley still has unfinished business.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Shirley Shackleton Walkley Book Award finalist

January 18th, 2011 jen Posted in Shirley Shackleton, Walkley Book Award Finalist Comments Off on Shirley Shackleton Walkley Book Award finalist

Port Phillip Citizen of the Year Shirley Shackleton is enjoying a spate of attention for her years of dedication to the East Timor cause.  It was revealed recently by the Walkley Foundation that she has been shortlisted for the 2010 Walkley Book Award for her book The Circle of Silence: A Personal Testimony Before During and After Balibo (Murdoch Books).
The prestigious Walkley Awards are awarded annually for Excellence in Journalism. The Foundation website says the aim of the “Walkley Book Award celebrates excellence in non-fiction literature and long-form journalism. More than 60 books were entered this year, and the subject matter ranged from true crime, politics and war to biography and investigative journalism”.
Shirley is up against some stiff competition: Chris Hammer for The River: A Journey through the Murray-Darling Basin (Melbourne University Press) and Paul Kelly: The March of Patriots: The Struggle for Modern Australia (Melbourne University Press).
The winner will be announced at the Walkley Awards gala dinner on Thursday, December 0 at the Crown Ballroom in Melbourne. The awards ceremony will be televised on SBS.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

East Timor veteran Shirley Shackleton wins Port Phillip Award

January 18th, 2011 jen Posted in Friends of Suai News, News from Port Phillip, Port Phillip Residents, Shirley Shackleton, Shirley wins Port Phillip Award Comments Off on East Timor veteran Shirley Shackleton wins Port Phillip Award

East Timor veteran of solidarity, Shirley Shackleton, wife of Greg Shackleton one of the Balibo Five murdered in 1975, has just one the Port Phillip Citizen of the Year Award in a ceremony at the St Kilda Town Hall.

In a speech to the assembled citizens Shirley shrugged aside the mammoth work load as well as the determination and courage she has shown through her  involvement with the solidarity movement for East Timor for thirty five years to tell a story of civil disobedience on our home turf. Shirley reminded us of the fragility of democracy through a local story about being wrongfully arrested in Albert Park whilst protesting against the park being converted into a racetrack for the Grand Prix.  At 78, Shirley Shackleton proved she hasn’t lost any of her sharp wit and determination to lay the bald truth before us when she asked us to remember that the wealth Australians enjoy now has been won at the cost of our own Aboriginal people.   Shirley beat five other nominees for the Award including the tremendously popular Father Bob Maguire who is a Port Phillip community icon.
Shirley is one of twelve residents of Port Phillip whose work was critical to the success of the Timorese peoples’ struggle for independence. There are short introductions to them here and more about Shirley Shackleton here.
Photographs by Chris Cassar and others by Liz Milsom

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Shirley Shackleton nominated for Citizen of the Year

January 18th, 2011 jen Posted in Port Phillip Citizen of the Year Nomination, Port Phillip Residents, Shirley Shackleton Comments Off on Shirley Shackleton nominated for Citizen of the Year

hirley Shackleton will front up to the St Kilda Town Hall tonight to see if the Citizen of the Year Committee of the Port Phillip Council considers thirty-five years of activism to help the Timorese escape death and oppression and hold our governments accountable for their role in East Timor’s oppression, is worthy of honouring her as Port Phillip Citizen of the Year. She is up against stiff competition in the form of Father Bob Maguire a popular local identity who is almost as outspoken and blunt as Shirley. Father Bob is a local parish priest in South Melbourne who is a friend of Shirley’s. Shirley told me last night at the Australia East Timor Association Independence Dinner that she has given three sermons in Father Bob’s church over the years. Father Bob reached national audiences in Australia through John Safran’s television series and now on Triple J’s Sunday Night Safran on religion politics and Hoochies!

AddThis Social Bookmark Button