Commemoration of the death of Ned Kelly 11th November

Ned Kelly was a man who was, in many ways, "larger than life"; a man who had done wrong, but who had also been wronged, and who took on the might of the state.

Ned was no angel; indeed, there is little doubt that he was engaged in mass horse stealing, as well as committing the bank robberies for which he is well-known. However, he was also a man driven to desperation by the underhand actions of some of those who sought to bring him down.

It is not his illegal actions as such for which he is remembered; it is because he was a man who was "larger than life", and who - whilst on the run as an outlaw - showed that he could be chivalrous, daring, and brave whilst fighting against incredible odds.

Ned Kelly's first brush with the law came when, at 14 years old, he was charged with beating up a Chinaman. Ah Fook had asked Ned's sister for some "water", and had become abusive when she gave him only water. It is possible that Fook was spying on the Kellys for the police, checking out the rumour that Ned's mum was illegally selling booze. In those days, it was quite usual for travellers to purchase a glass of whiskey at homesteads when far away from towns and pubs; however, it was technically illegal, and therefore could be used as a minor charge by those police who were "after" the Kellys. When Ned told him to clear off, Fook threatened him with a bamboo stick, whereupon Ned took the stick, hit him, and chased him away. Ah Fook went to the police, and Ned was subsequently locked up in remand for 12 days, although he was not convicted.

Aside from that incident, it has been said that Ned hated the Chinese presence in Australia for several reasons, including that he blamed them for his friend Joe Byrne becoming addicted to the opium drug, provided in the Chinese-run "opium dens".

The police in the Beechworth area constantly victimised and harrassed the Kelly, Quinn, and Lloyd families, and many of the men in those three families had trouble with the law (often for contrived, minor, or technical offences). When he was 15, Ned himself was jailed for 6 months for minor offences; at one stage he was jailed for two and a half years for "receiving" a stolen horse (in fact, he was originally charged with stealing it, until the police found out he was in jail at the time of the theft); and some years later he was arrested and fined for drunkenness.

In 1878 Ned was accused by a police constable, Fitzpatrick, of trying to shoot him dead. In fact, it appears that Ned fired a warning shot at him to warn him away from meddling inappropriately with Ned's sister. Ned said of Fitzpatrick that "I have been told by Police that he is hardly ever sober, also between him and his father they sold his sister to a Chinaman". Fitzpatrick was later sacked from the police force because he "could not be trusted".

Facing fifteen years in jail, because of Fitzpatrick's accusations, and hearing (as Ned later wrote) "how the police used to be blowing that they would shoot me first and then cry Surrender", Ned and Dan "took to the hills", later to be joined by two of their friends, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne.

When police were sent out to hunt down the Kelly gang, three policemen were killed in an ensuing shootout; following which, the Victorian Governor proclaimed the four as "outlaws" (that is, anyone could shoot them; they were "outside the law").

The Kelly Gang roamed the bush for over two years, defying the police hunt for them: they held up the National Bank in Euroa; took over the NSW town of Jerilderie, robbed the Bank of NSW there, and gave the town's population free drinks at the pub (where Ned produced his famous "Jerilderie Letter"); then later took over the Victorian town of Glenrowan (again, the town's population received free drinks), where the four were finally cornered by 34 police in a long and bloody shootout. Joe, Dan, and Steve died, but Ned survived his 28 wounds, and was taken by the police.

Ned, and his family, had for years been constantly harassed, and often falsely accused by the corrupt policemen of the local area. The Kelly Gang did not see themselves as bushrangers (they did not "stick up" mail coaches, nor rob travellers) and, as Allan Nixon wrote, "their robbing of two banks... would serve to remind people that they were against authority"; indeed, the proceeds of each bank robbery were actually distributed to the gang's family, friends and sympathisers. Ned's radical thoughts are apparent; it was said that "in the hour of his capture, the police took from his pocket a declaration for a Republic of North-Eastern Victoria". Allan Nixon says that Kelly's Jerilderie Letter showed "elements of a manifesto" and a "foreshadowing of a rebellion".

Although the date of birth of Edward (Ned) Kelly is not known (commonly believed to be between November 1854 and January 1855), his death by hanging on the 11th of November 1880 is a date etched into our national memory. In fact, the 11th of the 11th is also noteworthy to Australians for several other reasons: 1) the end of the First World War, in which so many Australians died needlessly in foreign fields, in 1918; 2) the sacking of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, by the "Queen's Representative", Governor-General John Kerr, in 1975; and 3) the foundation of the Ballarat Reform League, which led to the Eureka Stockade rebellion, in 1854.


The legendary status of Ned Kelly

Like the stories associated with Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, Jesse James, and Butch Cassidy, the story of Ned Kelly has been romanticised. Like them, the stories of his chivalry and bravado have been told in a way that will excite youthful imaginations; like them, he committed crimes of theft and violence; and, like them, he was a criminal who, if alive today, would be hunted down without mercy, and jailed.

However, rather than dwelling on the negative aspects of such legendary figures, we should take the opportunity to look at the positive outcomes that can arise from the telling of their stories. It is the dash and daring of the "larger than life" persona that captures the imagination, and gives some sustenance to the ordinary man's consideration of whether he, too, could become "as game as Ned Kelly".

It is the rebellious spirit of people like Ned Kelly that can inspire Australian nationalists to fight against the state traitors and other nation-killers who are slyly striving to carry out the Asianisation of Australia.