Book Review - Arthur Gietzelt, Sticks & Stones, AT and DO Gietzelt, Warilla, 2014
By Elizabeth Craig
Sutherland Shire Historical Society
Published in the Sutherland Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin, May 2014
This new hard cover 484 page book by former Sutherland Shire President, Arthur Gietzelt , was published shortly after his death on 5th January this year. It has an attractive cover, was produced on good quality glossy paper stock, and is quite weighty (not one to read in bed!) Sticks & Stones is extremely well referenced with 665 endnotes and six pages of bibliography, plus a comprehensive index. It is sprinkled with black and white photos, and its production was a family effort, with Gietzelt’s wife Dawn and their children, editing, referencing and reviewing his drafts. The foreword is by former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. Each chapter begins with a pithy quote and an introduction.
Arthur Gietzelt was a Sutherland Shire Councillor from 1956 to 1971, with two terms, totalling nine years, as Shire President. He resigned from Council to serve as a Federal Labor Senator from 1971 to 1989. He was Minister for Veterans Affairs under Bob Hawke from 1983 to 1987.
Sticks & Stones is an engagingly written memoir. It begins with a brief description of his forbears’ arrival in Australia, his youth in Sans Souci and initial contact with the Shire, his war service and eventual move to Caringbah North with his young wife Dawn soon after the war. His fights with Council over proposals to rezone Caringbah North gave him a taste for local government. The bulk of the book focuses on his time as a Sutherland Shire Councillor from 1956 to 1971. You could almost say it takes over from David Kirkby’s history of local government in the Shire which covers the first 50 years until 1956. The perspective of the two friends, however, is very different.
Whereas Kirkby’s history is a careful, but bland account of the achievements and challenges of Sutherland Shire Council, Gietzelt’s account is very personal and quite explosive at times. Although written as an old man (he died at 93), it radiates passion and energy, reflecting the way he must have approached his work as a Councillor. He writes vividly of the struggles and wrangles with his political opponents, such as Liberal Councillor Keith Bates over planning laws which favoured developers on the Council. He describes his efforts as a rookie Councillor to win favour with the electorate and reverse the Liberal dominance of the Council.
Gietzelt’s memoir provides insight into the relationship between Councillors and Council staff and shows how personality and political conflicts can get out of hand rendering the Council unable to function. It shows how contentious issues are affected by the way they are reported by local and city Press. He describes conspiracies by the extreme right to damage him and the Labor Party, alleging Gietzelt’s corruption in dealing with Council suppliers. The subsequent Section 99 Inquiry exonerated him and led to the sacking of the Shire Clerk Howard and Purchasing Officer Finch in 1968. Gietzelt writes of the horror of the attempted assassination of him and his family when a bomb exploded at his house in March 1971. He believes he knew who the culprit was and an arrest was made, but he says that because of intervention by the State Liberal Government claiming insufficient evidence, a trial did not go ahead.
Gietzelt’s pride in his achievements for the Sutherland Shire is obvious. He describes innovative schemes he introduced to overcome lack of resources to provide the services and infrastructure needed by the fast growing population. He championed the development of Sylvania Waters , stopped Towra Point becoming a second airport, clarifies the story behind the development of the Tradies Club at Gymea, fought against the Liberal’s proposal to split the Shire, oversaw a very successful Captain Cook Bicentenary celebration with projects such as the iconic E.G. Waterhouse National Camellia Garden, protected the Royal National Park from development, gave the Sharks their own ground, and supported the development of Kirinari, the Aboriginal hostel in Sylvania. He also took an early stand against Apartheid by refusing to allow a white South African surf team use Shire beaches ... and much more.
Although very much a partisan view of Arthur Gietzelt’s time in local government, Sticks & Stones is a valuable account of the development and social history in Sutherland Shire in the post-war years. If others saw the events differently, it is up to them to write a history in response. And at $29.99 this memoir is extremely good value. It is available through the website: www.arthurgietzelt.com.au
Sutherland Shire Historical Society
Published in the Sutherland Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin, May 2014
This new hard cover 484 page book by former Sutherland Shire President, Arthur Gietzelt , was published shortly after his death on 5th January this year. It has an attractive cover, was produced on good quality glossy paper stock, and is quite weighty (not one to read in bed!) Sticks & Stones is extremely well referenced with 665 endnotes and six pages of bibliography, plus a comprehensive index. It is sprinkled with black and white photos, and its production was a family effort, with Gietzelt’s wife Dawn and their children, editing, referencing and reviewing his drafts. The foreword is by former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. Each chapter begins with a pithy quote and an introduction.
Arthur Gietzelt was a Sutherland Shire Councillor from 1956 to 1971, with two terms, totalling nine years, as Shire President. He resigned from Council to serve as a Federal Labor Senator from 1971 to 1989. He was Minister for Veterans Affairs under Bob Hawke from 1983 to 1987.
Sticks & Stones is an engagingly written memoir. It begins with a brief description of his forbears’ arrival in Australia, his youth in Sans Souci and initial contact with the Shire, his war service and eventual move to Caringbah North with his young wife Dawn soon after the war. His fights with Council over proposals to rezone Caringbah North gave him a taste for local government. The bulk of the book focuses on his time as a Sutherland Shire Councillor from 1956 to 1971. You could almost say it takes over from David Kirkby’s history of local government in the Shire which covers the first 50 years until 1956. The perspective of the two friends, however, is very different.
Whereas Kirkby’s history is a careful, but bland account of the achievements and challenges of Sutherland Shire Council, Gietzelt’s account is very personal and quite explosive at times. Although written as an old man (he died at 93), it radiates passion and energy, reflecting the way he must have approached his work as a Councillor. He writes vividly of the struggles and wrangles with his political opponents, such as Liberal Councillor Keith Bates over planning laws which favoured developers on the Council. He describes his efforts as a rookie Councillor to win favour with the electorate and reverse the Liberal dominance of the Council.
Gietzelt’s memoir provides insight into the relationship between Councillors and Council staff and shows how personality and political conflicts can get out of hand rendering the Council unable to function. It shows how contentious issues are affected by the way they are reported by local and city Press. He describes conspiracies by the extreme right to damage him and the Labor Party, alleging Gietzelt’s corruption in dealing with Council suppliers. The subsequent Section 99 Inquiry exonerated him and led to the sacking of the Shire Clerk Howard and Purchasing Officer Finch in 1968. Gietzelt writes of the horror of the attempted assassination of him and his family when a bomb exploded at his house in March 1971. He believes he knew who the culprit was and an arrest was made, but he says that because of intervention by the State Liberal Government claiming insufficient evidence, a trial did not go ahead.
Gietzelt’s pride in his achievements for the Sutherland Shire is obvious. He describes innovative schemes he introduced to overcome lack of resources to provide the services and infrastructure needed by the fast growing population. He championed the development of Sylvania Waters , stopped Towra Point becoming a second airport, clarifies the story behind the development of the Tradies Club at Gymea, fought against the Liberal’s proposal to split the Shire, oversaw a very successful Captain Cook Bicentenary celebration with projects such as the iconic E.G. Waterhouse National Camellia Garden, protected the Royal National Park from development, gave the Sharks their own ground, and supported the development of Kirinari, the Aboriginal hostel in Sylvania. He also took an early stand against Apartheid by refusing to allow a white South African surf team use Shire beaches ... and much more.
Although very much a partisan view of Arthur Gietzelt’s time in local government, Sticks & Stones is a valuable account of the development and social history in Sutherland Shire in the post-war years. If others saw the events differently, it is up to them to write a history in response. And at $29.99 this memoir is extremely good value. It is available through the website: www.arthurgietzelt.com.au
