RABBIT GETS A 'GONG

[Trev]

http://www.coastwatch.com.au/SurfBeach/ ... hHome-346/

MEMBER (AM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION

Wayne BARTHOLOMEW, NSW. For service to surfing as a competitor, administrator and mentor, and to the environment through support for a range of coastal conservation groups.

[TMC]

I've come to realise that being a member of the order doesn't require a great deal of service to the country. I think that perhaps the people in charge of nominating and selecting said members may want to tighten up their criteria.

[mustkillmulloway]

I've come to realise that being a member of the order doesn't require a great deal of service to the country. I think that perhaps the people in charge of nominating and selecting said members may want to tighten up their criteria.

give the man a mankinnie

basically i view as extremely suspect anyone with a oam

time and time again these people come un done

in anycase...who gives a fig....means nothin

they hand em out like lollipops at a pedophile convention

[steve shearer]

typical weasel words from anonymous internet heroes.

[ric_vidal]

typical weasel words from anonymous internet heroes.

I take it you disagree, Steve?

I’m impartial at best I guess but he certainly had an impact on surfing. Would have thought though most of the award related to doing a job he gets paid for and there lies a problem for some and one not just confined to Bugs.

Enlighten us if you are closer to the source or perhaps NC can as I don’t follow careers and perhaps he has gone above and beyond.

[steve shearer]

Mate I'd love to but I don't have time right now.
One small anecdote.
In the early nineties, a local kid was sleeping rough and finding it hard to keep a roof over his head.
His old man, though a nice bloke, is one of those fellas who finds it hard to keep a job and provide for his kids.
Rabbit took that kid in, provided a home for him, stable hours, mentorship and gave him a future when it seemed he was heading for a pretty dismal life.
That kid went on to make the top 44, own his own home and travel around the world as a professional surfer.
I'm talking about Dean Morrison.
After the last wave of Goldy burnouts (Butto etc etc), Rabbit it took it upon himself to be a role model and mentor to alot of young kids in the Coolie area.
He's also as hard-core as they come and it's phukn lame for limp-dicked idiots to write him off on the internet when they've got no clue what this guy has contributed to Australian surfing and his local community.
I was stoked to shake his hand yesterday and congratulate him on his achievements.

[ric_vidal]

^^ thanks, SS, maybe that is sufficient insight...

[Nick Carroll]

I'm right there with the shearer on this one.

Bugs came from virtually nothing and achieved a lot not just for himself but for others, Deano's the tip of the iceberg on that score.

He hasn't always been president of the asp, in fact most of his life's been spent on the grovel, but he's never given in to bitterness or whatever, and always given more than he's taken. He's a Keeper of the Flame as far as surfing goes. And he's super touched and thrilled to be in the honours list.

He's put more of himself into surfing than pretty much anyone on these forums, I'll bloody guarantee that, so how about you show the guy some respect.

[Trev]

Thanks for clearing that up Steve and Nick.
I had heard some of that without the details.
As for the awards, I have some concerns about them being handed out to sporting heroes just because of their sporting achievements but have no problem when they've taken their reputation and used it for the good of others (and/or the environment).
They had five profiles on the news up here last night of people virtually no one has heard of. They have devoted their lives to helping others and they sure deserve the award. You can bet none of them asked for it either.
Well done, them.

[lessormore]

Rabbit with a gong is OK by me

Certainly not as gay as Robert fcuking Plant getting a knighthood

The Queen's comment on being introduced to Jimmy Page-"and what do you do?" :? :?

[chrisb]

Mate I'd love to but I don't have time right now.
One small anecdote.
In the early nineties, a local kid was sleeping rough and finding it hard to keep a roof over his head.
His old man, though a nice bloke, is one of those fellas who finds it hard to keep a job and provide for his kids.
Rabbit took that kid in, provided a home for him, stable hours, mentorship and gave him a future when it seemed he was heading for a pretty dismal life.
That kid went on to make the top 44, own his own home and travel around the world as a professional surfer.
I'm talking about Dean Morrison.
After the last wave of Goldy burnouts (Butto etc etc), Rabbit it took it upon himself to be a role model and mentor to alot of young kids in the Coolie area.
He's also as hard-core as they come and it's phukn lame for limp-dicked idiots to write him off on the internet when they've got no clue what this guy has contributed to Australian surfing and his local community.
I was stoked to shake his hand yesterday and congratulate him on his achievements.

Yes, I heard that mentioned just last Saturday night at the surf film festival at Palmie RSL.

All the interviews and articles I've read of Rabbit portray him as a likeable and selfless person.
He certainly advanced the professionalism of the sport while enduring nasties such as poverty and a a beatdown by a gang of 30 angry Hawaiians along the way.

Talking about musician's knighthoods it was good to see Keith maintain the rage when Mick was awarded his. Nothing to do with sour grapes, just Keith being true to himself.

[nu boy]

I read in the paper yesterday that in the early 70s he submited a tax form listing himself as a pro surfer and they wouldnt accept it,said there was no such thing.I wonder if he owed them or they owed him its not like them to knock back anything coming in.

[Clif]

It's the weird thing about awards, they can only recognise some people, and in turn one gets an award at the expense of other deserving people. The people who get these awards, by and large, tend to be wonderful people. But funnily enough they are the same people who feel embarrassed by that very acknowledgment because they work alongside the many others who are unheard and unknown and who are just like them. Weird paradox! Nonetheless, all those who didn't get an award and deserve one too would be the first to congratulate Rabbit I don't reckon it would be their style to have a go at the awards or him. These people tend to be all about encouragement, it's why they do what they do. Personally, I reckon Rabbit is a shining example for people and I am so stoked for him. He is such a shining example that he would even forgive each and everyone of us if we drop-in on him [OK. Maybe not the last part ]

[puurri]

on topic.

As Groucho Marx said; "I'd never be a member of any club that would have me"

[oldman]

Don't know Bugs personally, never met him, never seen him in real life, but he seems the real deal and an unassuming character with it. I imagine he is both extremely chuffed about it and a little embarassed, as Clif alludes to, based on what's been said.

Trouble with these awards is that they were tainted for so long, going way back to knighthoods etc long before Oz awards. Basically if you had ever made mountains of money from other people's hard work, or perhaps done your paid work as a senior public servant, you ended up with a gong. If money went to various political parties then maybe even a bigger gong. People who actually worked gratis for charities were rarely ever acknowledged.

These days they seem to much more reflect an actual contribution to society though, above and beyond your paid employ. Good luck to him. If he's chuffed about the award, that's great. I hope he is even more chuffed that he deserved it, or at least that those who claim to know him say he deserves it. That's worth a lot more.

But being a dinosaur (apologies to Dino), I have a little trouble with the whole awards thingy.

[danw]

Here's my 2 bob.

as a grommet had posters of rabbit at Kirra all over walls.
have pretty much followed his whole career.



i say, well done mate. you bloody deserve it

[puurri]

Don't know Bugs personally, never met him, never seen him in real life, but he seems the real deal and an unassuming character with it. I imagine he is both extremely chuffed about it and a little embarassed, as Clif alludes to, based on what's been said.

Trouble with these awards is that they were tainted for so long, going way back to knighthoods etc long before Oz awards. Basically if you had ever made mountains of money from other people's hard work, or perhaps done your paid work as a senior public servant, you ended up with a gong. If money went to various political parties then maybe even a bigger gong. People who actually worked gratis for charities were rarely ever acknowledged.

These days they seem to much more reflect an actual contribution to society though, above and beyond your paid employ. Good luck to him. If he's chuffed about the award, that's great. I hope he is even more chuffed that he deserved it, or at least that those who claim to know him say he deserves it. That's worth a lot more.

Not quite always mate. There is a call for nominations from Federal and State agencies and many subversives (as I was) made a few. Whether or not they made the final cut was up to the ministerial spin merchants/ "demographers."

Pity.

[Dingus]

The way I figure it, and maybe you can verify puurri, is that with submission processes for achievement awards, the higher up they are the less signatures are required and less questions asked ( like "I ain't got one, so that little f*cking bottomfeeder will never get one" and the like) and less roadblocks in general.