>[!INFO]+ Meta >Area:: [[Neverland - The Lost Continent of Australia]] >Date:: 2013 >Tags:: #text Kevin Murray • Dennis Altman • Greg Barnes • Itiel Beresen • David Carter • Julie Copeland • Nikki Gemmell • Fiona Giles • Barry Hindess • Christopher Kelen • Duncan Kerr • Niall Lucy • Mardi McConnachie • Tom Morton • Nikos Papastergiadis • Guy Rundle • John Slavin • Lesley Stern • Christos Tsiolkas • Chris Wallace-Crabbe First published 2013 \@2013 Kevin Murray and authors ISBN 978-0-9875154-0-7 www.kitezh.com/neverland *To Robyn Murray* TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface to Second Edition 1 Introduction 4 Australian Karaoke plays the Nordic stars 13 > *Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech from Agnes the Grim 55* Please consider Australian Shinto 58 > *Kyutu at Hashi Mitsuri 88* The invisible city of Kitezh down under 97 > *Constantin File, Doc # B616 120* The Lost Tribe of Levant 123 > *Enileh Haghar's Address to the General Assembly 146* An unsafe haven for Illyrian guests 153 > *Travels with the ALA 175* The Unaustralian saudade 187 > *Sermon on returning from Rome 207* Balanda dreaming 211 > *The Queen's Christmas Address from Australia, 2008 230* The city that never grew up 233 Pass the pipe 255 > *Another Europe 255* > > Niemalsland - Tom Morton 255 > > Danish-Italian Colonisation - Julie Copeland 256 > > French - Greg Barnes 257 > > New Holland, Portugal and France - Itiel Bereson 258 > > Roman Australia - John Slavin 260 > > The stray Roman - Chris Wallace-Crabbe 262 > > Dutch Australia and the conflict with Japan - Guy Rundle 263 > > La Perouse - Nikos Papastergiadis 266 > > Briefing Note for President Bush's Visit to Australia, May 2003 - > Dennis Altman 267 > > Antipodean Venice - Mardi McConnochie 268 > > *Another Asia 269* > > The Cultural Revolution - Duncan Kerr 269 > > On to the Kingdom of Prester John - Christopher Kelen 270 > > The Antipodean Civil War - Chris Tsiolkas 271 > > *Non-colonisation 272* > > The unimaginable - David Carter 272 > > Never a Colony - Barry Hindess 273 > > *Anti-colonisation 274* > > Radical Ecological Urbanisers - Geert Lovink 274 > > Australian Castles - Niall Lucy 276 > > History in motion - Lesley Stern 277 > > wasteland - Nikki Gemmell 279 > > A kiss on two cheeks - Fiona Giles 280 #### **Acknowledgements** *Neverland* rests on a midden of innumerable conversations. I am grateful for the indulgence of many who've helped me string together the various scenarios of possible Australias. I owe a particular debt to David Odell for classical curiosity, Carlos Cordiero for persistent Lusitanian speculation, John Stanley Martin for Nordic dreaming, Grisha Dolgoporov for Russian nightmares, Eric Lloga for Albanian confidence, Ann Carew for Balanda understanding and Roberto D'Andrea for a tram conductor's conviviality. Underneath this midden is the solid ground of artistic work from which *Neverland* draws its inspiration. I think particularly of the second generation craft practitioners who featured in the original exhibition *Turn the Soil: What if the British hadn't colonised Australia?* Neville Assad-Salha, Vizma Bruns, Sarit Cohen, Philomena Hali, Anita Apinis Herman, Asim Memishi, Hanh Nguyêt Ngô, Anders Ousback, Laurie Pain and Szuszy Timar. Images of these and other artists in *Neverland* can be found at www.kitezh.com/neverland. That exhibition wouldn't have been possible without the solid support of Suzie Attiwill, Alison Bennett, Susan Cohn, Jeffrey Taylor and NETS Victoria, as well as funding through Visions Australia and the Gordon Darling Foundation. Writing space was gratefully provided by Moss and Shirley Cass, Rhyll Nance and Alan Griffiths. And living space was artfully curated by my wife Naomi, and step-daughters Esther and Ruby. While the faults remain the author's, they would have been far greater without the bold counsel of McKenzie Wark and the sympathetic editing of Stephanie Holt. ### PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION Nearly ten years ago, the first edition of *Neverland* was about to be launched. The book was edited, cover designed and pre-sales very healthy. It was time to think about the invitation list. But then the publisher decided to defer the launch until Christmas in order to maximise sales. Then it was deferred again until after Christmas, when there would be more media space. Then calls to the publisher stopped being returned. There was nothing for it but to catch the train up to Sydney and confront the publisher directly. He sat me down and came clean. There was a cash flow problem. What specifically? The typesetter was refusing to release the manuscript. OK, perhaps we can come to some agreement and defer royalties so the typesetter can get paid first. Well, it\'s not actually your manuscript that is due payment, it\'s all the others that came before it. In fact, we are going into administration. But don\'t worry, we\'re confident that they\'ll be a buyer for the list. After several months, a buyer did emerge - a wealthy young entrepreneur from Melbourne. Eventually, I started up conversation with the new owners. Sure, let\'s look at a launch for Christmas. But as Christmas approaches, there seems to be little movement. Actually, there\'s a problem with the manuscript. It\'s the typesetter. He\'s refusing to give it up. But wasn\'t there an agreement to keep the list? Yes, but that was only on the understanding that it was debt free. Oh, I see. There\'s a certain point when you begin to think a book is not meant to be. After all, *Neverland* is about the Australias that never became reality. So perhaps there\'s poetic justice in this book never sharing the light of day. Life takes over. Other projects demand attention. Rather than fight a losing battle, it's better to focus on other fronts. For the past ten years, I\'ve been a little obsessed with the possible future of Australia as a country of the South, in solidarity with its cousins in Africa, Latin America and the southern islands. While the past is largely a dealt hand, the future is still open to speculation. But eventually you need to connect the past with the future. To fully embrace a southern future requires an understanding of historical direction which is not deterministically European. *Neverland* attempts to unstick the sense of manifest destiny in Australia\'s place in the Anglosphere. Ten years ago, this issue was brought to a head by the referendum about Australia becoming a republic. In a way, the withdrawal of this issue from public life does add increased weight to the question. Queen Elizabeth remains as strongly head of state as ever. Rather than re-enter the murky world of formal publishing, I\'ve chosen instead to self-publish *Neverland*. Having the book appear in print form, by whatever means, does at least give some material reality to the speculative enterprise. I\'ve been very pleased that all but one of the contributors to the *Pass the Pipe* section has agreed to have their speculations re-printed, some even re-writing their alternative histories. I\'m also thrilled that one of Australia\'s finest exponents of the antipodean imaginary, ceramicist Stephen Bowers, has constructed a theatre especially for the front cover. "There is another world, but it is in this one." Paul Éluard