The Sun-Herald

If you want to get into the museum business, you really should know something about history first. Ned Kelly never bungled any robbery of any bank. Every one of his robberies was so successful that not a single shot was ever fired. His was hung after trying something different. Gallipoli was a military fiasco, but that was the fault of the English, not Australians. It is not remembered for being an example of what losers Australians are. There is a different message there. As for the suicidal sheep thief, that story has more in common with Japanese kamikaze polites than it does with celebrating loserdom. It is an example of someone putting death before surrender as a mark of their conviction.

DD replies: Fair enough. So what should go in the Museum of Failure?

• by stompie on March 23, 2008 at 10:51 AM

The Liberal and Labour Parties and almost forgot the Nationals, have failed the Australian people by continually selling our common wealth.
Things like the Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, the water and power utilities, putting tolls on our roads.
Not to mention not taxing foriegn corporations via the 1954 Double Taxation Act.
The fire sale of our natural resources.
But lastly the Australian people have failed by not demanding that the Commonwealth Constitution Act 1901 is upheld.
So in a nutshell the Constitution should be put in the Museum of failures as the checks and balances and speration of powers we were led to believe was part of that Constitution Act are an illusion that serves the political parties, their mates and fails the Australian people as a remedy to elitism.

• by eagleman on March 23, 2008 at 12:10 PM

How about the Defence Dept for every stuff up in equipment purchasing for the Army, Navy and Airforce over the last 30 years?

• by Hunter on March 23, 2008 at 01:37 PM

The Bondi Beach subway, which after 100 years finally made it to Bondi Junction but not a metre further or perhaps NSW State Rail in general, where 40 years ago the fastest train from Sydney to Newcastle took 1 hour 58 minutes and now the fastest train takes 2 hour 36 minutes. So when it was recently announced that State Rail would be building a $12 billion metro to the northern suburbs as only one arm of a four armed plan, we all knew that we were being sold yet another lame duck.

• by Stephen on March 23, 2008 at 02:16 PM

City Rail NSW. What a joke!

• by Richard on March 23, 2008 at 07:05 PM

How about the Sea-Sprite helicopters?

• by David Barrott on March 23, 2008 at 09:37 PM

Museum fossils worth 'stuffing' :Germaine Greer, Paul Keating and Gough Whitlam.
House hold objects: (1) Those kitchen vertical grillers that were smoky and dirty; (2)Kitchen asbestos mats (for under saucepans) to stop custards and sauces burning (3) Kerosene in-house floor heaters

• by Pat Walsh on March 23, 2008 at 10:57 PM

Anyone who takes themselves too seriously - which includes myself and all of the above but not DD

• by Ian G on March 24, 2008 at 01:11 AM

Kyle and Jackie O. And please don't allow them to leave the museum. EVER!

• by ilovetheinternet on March 24, 2008 at 08:46 AM

Becoming the clever country. We now have tradies, miners and baby boomer housing investors making a killing off of the Chinese and Indians becoming clever whilst our own clever people get abused at school and onward into life as the afore mentioned annihilates them financially.

• by meathead nation on March 24, 2008 at 10:32 AM

Yeah, Ned was definitely a loser. What else can you say about an Irishman that put an iron bucket on his head and thought himself bulletproof?
Other notables include the Leyland P76, the Chrysler/Mitsubishi car plant in Adelaide and Government Aircraft Factory 'Nomad'.

• by Godot on March 24, 2008 at 11:47 AM

Adelaide

• by barbarella on March 24, 2008 at 01:49 PM

How about a museum of true stories told by Australian journalists, or aren't you interested in rarities?

• by John on March 24, 2008 at 02:54 PM

Amazing how this gets turned into anti-Howard dribble. Get over it fellas, he's gone.
Anyway, I think the museum should have a Leyland P76, A mitsubishi 380, Peter brock endorsed Lada's, a few copies of the Bulletin magazine and an AUSTEN sub machine gun.

• by Marlon on March 24, 2008 at 09:15 PM

I disagree with Stompie on all counts and here is the history he requested...
The Jolly Swagman was a loser because who would commit suicide just because they were busted stealing sheep? (Hardly a noble cause worthy of matyredom?)
Our celebration of the Anzacs focuses so heavily on the failure at Gallipoli that most Australians have never heard of General Monash or Albert Jacka, both heroes of WW1 who in different ways actually helped the Allies win the damn thing.
Ned Kelly had similair gripes to the American colonists before their revolution. But they successfully planned, preached and waged a military campaign against British rule which birthed a new nation...Ned puts a metal bucket on his head, shoots at a few cops and is quickly captured and hanged...hardly a good role model for those who actually want to win in life!
Yes DD we focus too much on the negatives in Australia and I'm glad you brought this up!!

• by turncoat on March 24, 2008 at 11:51 PM

That spray on hair stuff.

• by mike on March 25, 2008 at 09:20 AM

That amazing beer and wine bottle recycling device by KTel. You stuck the empty bottle in a holder, cut around the circumference and then (I forget how) joined the base to the bottle top to create a aweful looking vase that today would probably have real retro chic on a formica table top. (Blah!)

• by Yuri on March 26, 2008 at 04:07 PM

Throw in the Sydney big band, 'The K-Tels'. This band pays homage to all those terrible compilations of the K-Tel corporation ( remember 'Whopper', "Ripsnorter' and 'Teaser'?) by playing all those cheesy tunes. Problem is, they do it real well...

• by CF on March 26, 2008 at 08:57 PM