My Favourite Australian Story - Out of the DustPROGRAM TRANSCRIPT: Monday, 23 January , 2006CAROLINE JONES, PRESENTER: Hello. I'm Caroline Jones. In the lead-up to a new series of Australian Story, we're bringing you three favourite programmes selected by viewers. In a special online poll, we invited you to choose the episodes you'd most like to see again. Tonight's programme centres on Dani Haski and her efforts to reconcile two very different communities torn by the same tragedy a quarter of a century ago. Later, we'll hear again from Dani Haski to find out what's happened since the episode went to air in September last year.DANI HASKI: When I started looking at organising everything, I did realise that there was a pretty wide gap that I was potentially about to try and cross. So, there was a little bit of trepidation when I started doing this that maybe there'd be this huge cultural gap between us, between the country people and city, or me personally as a middle-class Jewish girl from the eastern suburbs and them country people from the north-west of New South Wales. PHILLIP PARNABY: My name's Phillip Parnaby. I live in Bourke. I've lived in Bourke most of my life. I'm married, wife, Anne-Marie. Got five children. I'm just an everyday milkman, I suppose. Just the local milko, I suppose you'd call me. I'd call myself a country boy, yeah. I don't mind the city for a holiday, that type of thing. Like to get down there and kick back a bit now and again when we can, but, yeah, the country's me life, yeah. DANI HASKI: I spent about two or three days drafting a letter to basically say, "Hi, I'm Dani Haski. I'm doing some research into this accident that you were witness to. Can I talk to you? Five of your friends died as well as three young schoolboys from Sydney. One of those schoolboys was my younger brother, Ben." It took me ages to craft that letter, 'cause I didn't want to sound insensitive. I didn't want to scare them. I just wanted to talk to them. |
