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Empty remnants of John Howard

21 September 2009 in History, Photography, Politics, Sydney by Stilgherrian | 7 comments

Photograph of John Howard's campaign office in Epping by Trinn ('Pong) Suwannapha
Yesterday ’Pong and I journeyed to Epping in Sydney’s north-west suburbs to photograph this monument to history: John Howard’s campaign office for the 2007 federal election. It’s still empty almost two years later.

Epping seemed strangely bleak. This was far from being the only empty shop on Beecroft Road. Signs were dilapidated. In the alley behind the shops, magpies rummaged through restaurant garbage bins in search of food. The eucalypt smoke enshrouding the suburb — the result of back-burning operation before summer — didn’t help.

Two years ago posts referencing John Howard dominated this website’s tag cloud. It’s been a long time since he was Prime Minister, but he’s still prominent here and in the mainstream media through things like his Menzies Lecture — and that was a strange attempt to stamp his own rhetoric onto Australia’s political history.

I wonder how long it’ll be until we stop hearing about the miserable old toad?

[Photo: A Space for Howard ©2009 Trinn (’Pong) Suwannapha. All rights reserved.]

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  1. Pam’s avatar

    Pam on 21 September 2009 at 8:53 am

    Well if you’d shut up it would be quicker, wouldn’t it?

    OK I am guilty too, for encouraging you by reading this.

    Reply

  2. mpesce’s avatar

    mpesce on 21 September 2009 at 10:48 am

    Epping is a pit. No idea why, as it’s situated in the leafy North Shore.

    As for Howard, the less said, the better.

    Reply

  3. Stilgherrian’s avatar

    Stilgherrian on 21 September 2009 at 12:43 pm

    OK, OK so I’m not helping. Nothing new there, eh?

    Reply

  4. yewenyi’s avatar

    yewenyi on 21 September 2009 at 2:05 pm

    I am surprised that some enterprising individual has not already edited the signage…

    Reply

  5. Bob Bain’s avatar

    Bob Bain on 21 September 2009 at 9:15 pm

    Vandals Sir! Vandals!

    http://bennelog.blogspot.com/2007/11/howards-epping-office-defaced.html

    Sunday, November 18, 2007

    The results were not pretty — the word “LIAR” was scrawled across the shop window while Howard’s head has been defaced with a circle and crosshairs in one of the pictures…

    and there under the picture of the electoral office (pre pong) we are reminded that Democracy lives…

    “Speedy recovery: no trace of the graffiti that marred Howard’s Epping shop front on Sunday night. Democracy lives.”

    Reply

  7. Stilgherrian’s avatar

    Stilgherrian on 22 September 2009 at 7:38 am

    So, Gentlemen, the vandals and street artists did get there after all, eh? I’m not surprised. At the end of Howard’s time in office there was, in some quarters at least, a lot of pent-up anger.

    Reply