Unfortunately i can’t give you any of the actual story as the Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper is owned by my namesake ! …….and has put everything behind a paywall.
The Kalgoorlie Miner was founded by Sidney Edwin Hocking in September 1895.[2][3]
In 1896, Hocking launched Hocking & Co. Ltd with himself, brothers Percy and Ernest Hocking, J. W. Kirwan and their printer W. W. Willcock as shareholders.
By 1898, The Kalgoorlie Miner had become a harsh critic of the Western Australian Government, led by John Forrest. The newspaper contended that the government discriminated against the goldfields population by inadequate parliamentary representation and in other ways. An action for an alleged breach of parliamentary privilege brought against The Kalgoorlie Miner failed and criticism of the government continued unabated.[4]
Following the death of Sidney Hocking in 1935 the running of The Kalgoorlie Miner was taken over by his four sons, Sidney, Ernest, Percy and Joe. In April 1970, the ownership passed from the hands of the Hocking family to West Australian Newspapers Pty Ltd.[5]
The newspaper was printed in Kalgoorlie until 1976, when press operations were transferred to Perth.
A book on the newspaper’s history was published to mark its centenary in 1995: The Voice of the Goldfields: 100 Years of the Kalgoorlie Miner, by Norma King.[6]
There is a story on my father’s side of the family that my great-grandfather left Adelaide for mining opportunities in WA eventually returning to Adelaide a wealthy man and bought the land that is now Adelaide Airport.. unfortunately his dim offspring sold that land before it was bought up by the govt from the subsequent owners…anyway i digress
The headline in itself was enough to make me chuckle as i doubt there are too many trees in Kalgoorlie to hide behind
By the way if you have never heard of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia it is the powerhouse of the state and has lost and made many fortunes over the years and it and a few other place quietly keep Australia afloat.. Why ?.. this is why