One of Australia’s Best Journalists, Martin Chulov, Sacked from The Guardian, A Sense of Place Magazine, 15 September, 2024
Martin Chulov is one of the single most outstanding journalists to have ever emerged from Australia, his coverage of Muslim radicalisation at the turn of the century without peer. Formerly employed by The Australian, his on-the-ground knowledge of radical Islam in Australia and his excellent sources and connections within Australia’s intelligence and policing communities, combined with […]
What Happened to Journalism? A Conversation come Interview between John Stapleton and the leading chronicler of our times Michael Gray Griffith, Rumble, 9 September, 2024
Farmers’ Market cancelled due to high wind, The Bugle, 28 August, 2024
The Kiama Farmers’ Market has been cancelled for this afternoon due to high winds. The market was originally going to move indoors to the Uniting Church next to its usual location at Surf Beach. However, the wind gusts have been so strong that branches from the surrounding Norfolk pines have broken off or become a […]
Windfarm saga encore, The Bugle, 13 August, 2024
Opinion piece by John Stapleton There are now two parliamentary inquiries into the impact of wind farms and the consultation process in the Illawarra, one a Federal government Senate inquiry and another in the NSW Upper House. At the same time the government is set to announce the winner of the so-called “feasibility licences” to […]
Turbulent Opposition: Anti-Wind Farm Rally Gathers Momentum, The Bugle, 29 July, 2024
“This Will Not Blow Over” read one of the makeshift placards at an anti-wind farm rally over the weekend. And so it is proving to be. Some 400 diehard opponents gathered in cold, windy conditions to hear a string of high profile speakers, including former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, outspoken free speech advocate and […]
The Snake Catcher of Jamberoo, The Bugle, 25 July, 2024
The snakes are sleeping now, dormant in the cold weather. But they won’t be sleeping for long. The minute spring arrives, the snakes wake up, hungry and randy, looking for food and looking for a mate. And that’s when the services of the Jamberoo snake catcher Hugh Marriot come into play, with locals encountering them […]
Labor’s decline: How Albanese’s policies and Dutton’s image are shaping the future of the South Coast, The Bugle, 18 June, 2024.
This is an opinion article written by John Stapleton. A curse on both their houses. So say the general public. Two years ago, Anthony Albanese, a Labor Party machine man if ever there was one, lied his way into office by promising to reduce household electricity bills by $275 just as “the cost of living […]
A Happy Dutton in Bomaderry, The Bugle, 18 June, 2024.
Must be nice to be voted Australia’s preferred Prime Minister for the first time in your long political career, as has just happened to Opposition leader Peter Dutton on 17 June. He certainly appeared upbeat as he visited Bomaderry on Tuesday, 18 June. He was given a tour of the electorate of Gilmore by local […]
Nationals pledge to scrap Illawarra Wind Farms if elected, The Bugle, 17 June, 2024.
The South Coast has suddenly become the focal point for some of the country’s most senior politicians, including Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, who has just come to the region to formally announce the formation of the multi-billion dollar Illawarra Offshore Wind Zone. This week it is the turn of the Federal leader of the […]
No Minister! Say anti-ocean windfarm groups to new zone, The Bugle, 15 June, 2024.
Cold and wet conditions greeted the Minister for Climate Change Chris Bowen, as he announced the new offshore wind farm zone off the Illawarra coast at the BlueScope steel works at Port Kembla. Mr Bowen was with Stephen Jones, the Labor Member for the Whitlam and Alison Byrnes, the Labor Member for Cunningham. The ocean […]
The Old Jamberoo Dairy Coop, The Bugle, 14 June, 2024.
The days when 50 dairy cows were enough to permit you a good, decent life in the prime dairy farming country around Jamberoo have long gone. Geoff Boxsell, 84, remembers the days when there were 96 farms providing milk on a daily basis to the Jamberoo Dairy Coop. Now there’s ten. And the Coop itself […]
Politics, Profit and a Whale of a Dilemma: A long-form essay, The Kiama Bugle, 2 June, 2024.
The whale watching season has begun, a ripple of excitement moving up the coast as enthusiasts perch on headlands and promontories to watch and record one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. The migration up and down the East Coast of Australia extends from May to November as the behemoths travel up from the Antarctic […]
Southern Gin, The Bugle, 22 May, 2024
With winter showing every sign of settling in, and barely a fortnight of autumn left, now might just be the perfect time to cruise the Kiama Farmers’ Market, and come across the stall for South Coast Distillery, most famous for its Sublime Gin. In an era when many local beer breweries have gone bust, finally […]
Historic Signa returns to Kiama, Kiama Bugle, 8 May, 2024
Nobody died and the boat didn’t sink. But nonetheless, the return of the Signa to Kiama Harbour managed to create quite a stir, with locals braving the drizzling weather to occupy vantage points along the foreshore. Many people have memories of the Signa, and a significant number of them showed up in Kiama on May […]
Weapons of Mass Deletion: Australia Joins Push for Online Censorship, New Dawn, 1 May, 2024.
Heaven’s net is indeed vast. But although its meshes are wide, it misses nothing. Lao Tzu. Chinese Sage. 604-531 BC. The dead weight of the state is everywhere in the lives of Australia’s citizens, no more so than in the media realm. How often do you hear people say, I don’t listen to the news […]
Max Hair Anzac, 93, holds ceremony in his driveway, Kiama Bugle, 25 April, 2024
Once upon a not so many years ago Max “Bunny” Hair, 93, was the returned veteran who, prouder than proud, would raise and lower the flag at ANZAC Day ceremonies in Kiama. Then Covid hit, and he was deeply upset that government restrictions meant he could not pay his respects to fallen comrades, and could […]
Jamberoo Flood Hero, The Bugle, 20 April, 2024.
Jamberoo tradie Mitchell (Mitch) Rosser is being hailed as a hero after rescuing a man from the flash floods which occurred during the torrential downpours in the early hours of Saturday 6 April. But he doesn’t want this story to be about him. He wants to make sure it never happens again. On inspection, it’s […]
On interviewing the last surviving Anzac, Kiama Bugle, 20 April, 2024
After decades in mainstream journalism, and having written literally thousands of stories, there aren’t too many things I haven’t written about. But there was one story about the world’s last survivor of the Gallipoli campaign, Alec Campbell, that has stuck in my memory all these years. Alec lied about his age in order to enlist […]
Kiama Community Garden brims with joy, Kiama Bugle, 19 April, 2024
“We love compost here,” declares a jubilant Peter Maywald, a staunch member of the Kiama Community Garden. But that’s not all that the dedicated members of the garden are in love with at the moment. A sense of jubilation surrounds the dedicated crew at the Kiama Community Garden, which until recently were certain they were […]
Golden Times in the Golden Valley, Kiama Bugle, 18 April, 2024
After three years of planning and dispute, the Golden Valley Subdivision, set on an old dairy farm just outside Jamberoo, has finally been approved. The proposal is for 50 houses on 850 square metre blocks. As land releases are rare around Jamberoo, and the area increasingly sought-after, the Golden Valley Road development is expected to […]
Jamberoo Croquet Championship, Kiama Bugle, 8 April, 2024
They call it “The Nasty Game for Nice People”. And Jamberoo is playing host to some of the fiercest competitors in the game, with the Jamberoo Croquet Club Championship kicking off today and running until the weekend. Thirty two competitors have assembled from clubs around the state, coming from Wagga, Nowra and as far north […]
After the deluge, Kiama Bugle, 8 April, 2024.
The entire South Coast region is still recovering from one of the heaviest deluges in years on Friday and Saturday 5-6 April, with some areas receiving more than 300mm of rain. The wild weather cut off roads and railway lines and caused major disruptions along the coast. According to the Bureau of Meteorology the heaviest […]
Young farmer’s growing success, Kiama Bugle, 7 April, 2024
There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the business community right now, with spiralling costs and low demand killing off many enterprises, but when it comes to dairy farming there’s plenty of optimism on the NSW South Coast. Justin Walsh, 39, runs a major dairy farming operation at Jasper Brush just past Berry. The […]
Behind the scenes of Australian hostage negotiation, Kiama Bugle, 31 March, 2024
The Australian Federal Police has more than 7000 staff, but few Australians have any idea what they do. In an attempt to better inform the public of at least some of their operations, for the first time the Federal Police are showcasing the work of their Negotiation Operations Team. The work of the Team includes […]
The Best Butcher on the South Coast: That’s the aim, that’s her reputation
The Kiama Bugle: 26 March, 2024. Back in 2015 Tina Henderson walked into the butcher in the centre of Shellharbour and applied for a job. And some of the first words out of her mouth to the then owner were: “I’m going to buy this business off you one day.” The owner laughed. But thus […]
The Honey Man
The Kiama Bugle, 23 March, 2024. Common name: The Honey Man. Real Name: Jeffrey Bell. He bought his 50 acre property on the plateau at the top of Jamberoo Mountain Road 35 years ago, long before the Southern Highlands became one of the most prized real estate areas in the state. “It was just a […]
Stoic by Name Stoic By Nature
The Kiama Bugle, 22 March, 2024 Ever feel like the last remnants of productivity and creativity in Australia are being demolished by a government determined to destroy every sign of local character and initiative? If you’re into craft beer, that’s exactly what you’re feeling as one major brewer after another has gone into administration in […]
Sick of the Rat Race? Why Not Set Sail?
Kiama Bugle, 8 March, 2024. Original copy: By John Stapleton Well, if you feel like you’ve suffered enough, and pretty much all of us feel like we’ve endured enough daily tribulations in the “Lucky Country” about now, there’s always the grand escape. The cruise industry is booming. Punters are cashed up after the years of […]
Remembering Barry Williams – Fighter for Australian dads
The Kiama Bugle: 5 March, 2024 One of the greatest fighters for Australia’s many separated dads, Barry Williams, founder of the Lone Fathers Association, has passed away aged 85. His funeral will be held in Canberra this Wednesday at Norwood Park Chapel in Canberra. Warwick Marsh of Dads4Kids fame writes: “Barry Williams (18 April 1938 […]
Dragon Boat Racing Revives the Soul
John Stapleton 28 February 2024, 5:21 PM Some people are born naturally optimistic. Happy, healthy, productive, they just laugh at the many challenges life throws at us on a daily basis. Not me. Only just last winter, having finished writing the book, Australia Breaks Apart, done a flurry of interviews and revelled in the somewhat […]
Jamberoo’s Million-dollar Listing
The Kiama Bugle: 26 February, 2024. Josephine Osborne remembers the days when the local farmers used to lead their cows through the centre of Jamberoo. That was 20 years ago, when the picturesque village nestled in the folding green hills at the base of the Escarpment was a centre for the local dairy industry, and […]
The War on Small Business: Survival in a Collapsing Economy
The Kiama Bugle, 22 February, 2024 By John Stapleton Ask yourself, would you open a business in Australia in 2024. The general answer: “You’d have to be mad. Not in a fit.” Small businesses across the country are in despair. The bakery and cafe in the centre of the picturesque South Coast town of Jamberoo, […]
Unfolding Catastrophe: Australia. Extract.
By John Stapleton The national derangement was complete. A Melbourne hospital prevented a mother from seeing her son, who was suffering from a severe brain injury after a motor crash. “We haven’t been able to see our son since he woke up from a coma.. We just want to hug our son.” Police were filmed […]
Going cashless: you will be cancelled and you will be happy
Kiama Bugle: 13 February 2024 Colourful Queensland Senator Bob Katter has created a national furore by insisting a cafe inside Parliament House in Canberra has broken the law by refusing to take cash. In an era when trust in government and trust in banks is approaching zero, Katter’s claims struck a chord with the general […]
Where Is Australia’s Royal Commission into the Covid Response? The Truth Will Out.
A Sense of Place Magazine, 12 February, 2024. By John Stapleton Australia’s response to Covid was arguably the worst in the world, with the country making headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons, including the pepper spraying of protestors and the censorship of dissident voices. The current Australian government, headed by Prime Minister […]
Prices are rising across the economy, The Kiama Bugle, 9 February, 2024.
Prices are rising across the economy Wherever you go, the ever rising prices of virtually everything, petrol, groceries, electricity, services, beer, basically everything, is front and centre of the conversation. It doesn’t matter if you are living in an upmarket area or a slum, the cost of living crisis is impacting on everyone. And causing […]
New Beer Tariffs Impact Our Local Hotspots
The Kiama Bugle, 9 February, 2024. Online version. Ever rising cost of alcohol John Stapleton 09 February 2024, 3:23 PM The ever rising cost of living is driving everyone to despair, but if you want to drink away your sorrows, as of this week you’ll be paying more even for that. Prices are up this […]
Tagged John StapletonJohn Stapleton Australian journalist