Timor Ponies
“And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast;
He was something like a racehorse undersized,
With a touch of Timor pony - three parts thoroughbred at least -
and such as are by mountain horsemen prized.
He was hard & tough and wiry - just the sort that won’t say die-
There was courage in his quick impatient tread;
And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye,
And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.”Excerpt from The Man From Snowy River a poem by Banjo Paterson
Timor Pony
This verse from The Man from Snowy River, was written by famous Australian poet Banjo Paterson who had his first book of ballads published in 1895. History shows the Timor pony to be a very apt metaphor for the identity of the Timorese and their Australian friends who worked at the grass roots for East Timor’s liberation until 1999 and continue to struggle for peace and good health in East Timor.
I keep meeting this growing list of people right in our own backyard, in Pt Phillip. People who have worked hard for East Timor as far back as 1975.
Who are they and why? How did they do it when successive Australian Governments were denying the reality. The reality that the Timorese were living with intolerable human rights abuses. How did they work with the Timorese people when their country was closed to outsiders? Find out here as stories about each resident ‘timor pony’ is posted.
If you are one of them, or if you are related to them or know them, you can add to their story by registering as a participant. If you know someone who worked like this and they don’t live in Pt Phillip it doesn’t matter, act on it now by including their name in our history of friendship and solidarity. David Scott Shirley Shackleton
Paul Stewart Jean McLean Patsy Thatcher Louise Byrne Jacob Rumbiak Graham Pitts Carmela Baronowska Julie Shiels