When hard times among the People revive the old stories of the hero Jackaroo, an innkeeper's daughter follows her own quest to unlock the secret reality behind the legend.

From choirboy to cowboy . . . In 1967, fresh from boarding school humiliations, and having lost his father to alcoholism, gangly teen Michael Thornton was packed off to a tough sheep and cattle station to work as a jackaroo. He was to learn the wool trade from the lamb up, under a boss legendary for working his farmhands in an almost military regimen. Tasked with the dirty, disgusting and downright dangerous jobs, jackaroos are the dogsbodies of our farms. But at Habbies Howe, in central Victoria, somewhere between castrating lambs with his teeth and hauling backbreaking sacks of fertiliser for no obvious purpose, Michael discovered inner strength, and the friendship and male role models he'd craved. He also earned respect – enough to later walk into a job with the nation's most famous farmer, the Defence Minister and future PM Malcolm Fraser. In Jackaroo, Thornton recalls his years learning the ropes in an era when farm work was still done on horseback. Engaging, candid and often funny, his memoir reveals the hard working lives of the unsung all-rounders of the country. 'Engaging and energetic' The Australian

Jackaroo; n. a male station hand. That is according to the "Australian Slang Dictionary' whereas the Macquarie Dictionary gives a more realistic version. " A jack of all trades". Certainly a jackaroo is far more than 'a male station hand', which will be evident as the reader moves through this recount of the writer's five years of 'Station Management Apprenticeship"', possibly a more precise definition of the word. ('Station" being a large sheep and/or cattle property/ranch). The origin of the word 'jackaroo' has been debated as long as the word has been in existence, but the most popular belief is that early English migrants, who worked on stations in the Australian Outback, were given the name of "Jack Raw", being raw to the ways of the Australian bush. One such English migrant, whose name was Jack Carew may have had an influence on the foundation of the word. There is also the more recent female counterpart, known as a jillaroo. It is however, generally agreed that the word has no connection with the famed Australian icon, the kangaroo.

The ten pound pom' was the description of those people who emigrated to Australia from Britain between 1945 to 1972. Government Assisted Passage Scheme devised by British and Australian government.Australian government subsidised the fare to only £10 paid by the immigrant. '£10 Pom' was born.This is the personal memoir of one of these '£10 pound Poms '. His history, the reason for the journey and life in the outback is set down in this book in an informative and interesting way.Included in these memoirs are snippets of living conditions and attitudes. Songs and tales of life. Personal struggles. Interesting information of the layout and job allocation. Risks of the job are many including the fauna and flora dangers that must not be overlooked. Tales of the outback and also tales of the locals and the passions and temperaments of the many interesting characters found in this wild but beautiful country. Enjoy this wonderful tale and dream of the life under the southern skies!

The aliens are here. And they want to help. The extraordinary new project from one of the country's most acclaimed and consistently brilliant SF novelists of the last 30 years. The Jackaroo have given humanity fifteen worlds and the means to reach them. They're a chance to start over, but they're also littered with ruins and artifacts left by the Jackaroo's previous clients. Miracles that could reverse the damage caused by war, climate change, and rising sea levels. Nightmares that could forever alter humanity - or even destroy it. Chloe Millar works in London, mapping changes caused by imported scraps of alien technology. When she stumbles across a pair of orphaned kids possessed by an ancient ghost, she must decide whether to help them or to hand them over to the authorities. Authorities who believe that their visions point towards a new kind of danger. And on one of the Jackaroo's gift-worlds, the murder of a man who has just arrived from Earth leads policeman Vic Gayle to a war between rival gangs over possession of a remote excavation site. Something is coming through. Something linked to the visions of Chloe's orphans, and Vic Gayle's murder investigation. Something that will challenge the limits of the Jackaroo's benevolence ...