Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time It was once hailed as the gold standard of quarantine facilities, a tropical “holiday park” surrounded by lush bush for travellers to quarantine away from Australia’s COVID-stricken cities It was also the first impression of Australia for countless Afghans evacuated after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban Now, the Howard Springs quarantine facility is hosting five members of the Bali Nine during their first days of freedom in Australia after almost two decades behind bars in Indonesia for trying to traffic more than eight kilograms of heroin Howard Springs Centre where five members of the Bali Nine are currently held Martin Stephens, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Matthew Norman and Si-Yi Chen were flown from Bali to Darwin on Sunday in an operation so secretive not even their families were notified they would be returning to Australia The men were loaded onto a bus on their arrival in Darwin and driven 20 minutes south of the CBD to the former quarantine facility where they will be temporarily housed as part of their reintegration into the community The group has agreed to continue rehabilitation in Australia as part of the sensitive negotiations between Australia and Indonesia which were facilitated by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto who agreed to transfer them home on humanitarian grounds Northern Territory Health and federal authorities have not yet revealed what support will be offered to the men who have not been able to see their families or communicate directly with them since their arrival in Australia which was taken over by the Department of Defence and turned into military accommodation last year is restricted and heavily monitored by private security The complex is surrounded by a mesh fence topped with barbed wire and cars regularly patrol the internal roads The only glimpses of what lies behind the fence are through gaps in the tropical bush that surrounds its perimeter this masthead was able to get a description of what the facility is like from those who spent time in isolation there during the COVID-19 pandemic the facility is made up of demountable buildings organised in a grid divided into a series of fenced-off sections crisscrossed by a network of paths The Howard Springs quarantine facility pictured in August 2020.Credit: Ben Sale Communal laundries are also available within each section “I kind of always equated it to a large caravan park that you just couldn’t leave,” said Melbourne filmmaker Ben Sale, who spent two weeks in quarantine at the facility in 2020 “I wouldn’t say that it was five-star accommodation by any means but it was entirely adequate for a comfortable stay.” The complex has a canteen and swimming pool but it is unclear whether they are still open for use those quarantining at the facility were confined to within their section and had three meals delivered to their door each day For NSW Health training support officer Jamal Mahmood the Howard Springs facility was his first experience of life in Australia after being evacuated from Kabul following the rise of the Taliban in 2021 The Howard Springs quarantine facility pictured in December 2020.Credit: Louise Radcliffe-Smith military feel and could be boring at times because since there wasn’t much to do other than watch TV and wander along the internal laneways you’re still behind bars because you can see the bars But I think it should be a lot better than what they were in.” Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter It was once hailed as the gold standard of quarantine facilities a tropical \\u201Choliday park\\u201D surrounded by lush bush for travellers to the Howard Springs quarantine facility is hosting during their first days of freedom in Australia after almost two decades behind bars in Indonesia for trying to traffic more than eight kilograms of heroin Matthew Norman and Si-Yi Chen were flown from Bali to Darwin on Sunday in an operation so secretive \\u201CI kind of always equated it to a large caravan park that you just couldn\\u2019t leave,\\u201D said Melbourne filmmaker Ben Sale \\u201CI wouldn\\u2019t say that it was five-star accommodation by any means but it was entirely adequate for a comfortable stay.\\u201D military feel and could be boring at times because since there wasn\\u2019t much to do other than watch TV and wander along the internal laneways you\\u2019re still behind bars because you can see the bars But I think it should be a lot better than what they were in.\\u201D Cut through the noise of federal politics with news This is probably not the page you’re looking for AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced The proposed plans for ‘Greater Holtze’ include the development of land to Palmerston’s east Darwin’s largest real estate agency will sell the first 500 lots of the Holtze Land Release which is expected to include up to 11,000 new homes by the time the development is completed Real Estate Central was appointed to sales and marketing of the first land release which will be developed Holtze Land Company (HLC) a joint venture between AKJ Development and HB Constructions Daniel Harris said Stage 1 titled lots were expected to be delivered to the market in 2025 “Myself and the team are really excited to be a part of this Holtze subdivision,” he said “I can’t say too much at this stage but I can confirm lots will be really competitively priced offering an amazing opportunity for first homebuyers in particular looking to utilise the $50,000 grant and secure their place in the market close to town.” HLC director Jessie Risk told NT News HLC was excited to deliver affordable housing in the Top End “The Holtze Land Company partnership between AKJ Developments and HB Group RELATED: Less choice for Darwin homebuyers Putt putt, pool and ponds in rural paradise Territory agents bring home top awards Halkitis Brothers Group director Nick Halkitis and AKJ Services owner Jessie Risk HB Group director Nick Halkitis said the development process would take eight or nine years “delivered on a staggered basis to not flood the market with properties” Mr Halkitis said they hoped to employ between 50 and 60 to be on site at any one time The Holtze Land Release is being developed on a parcel of Crown land to the east of Palmerston It sits next to the Palmerston Regional Hospital and close to Palmerston CBD the Yarrawonga commercial precinct and Howard Springs community facilities third parties have written and supplied the content and we are not responsible for it completeness or reliability of the information nor do we accept any liability or responsibility arising in any way from omissions or errors contained in the content We do not recommend sponsored lenders or loan products and we cannot introduce you to sponsored lenders We strongly recommend that you obtain independent advice before you act on the content realestate.com.au is owned and operated by ASX-listed REA Group Ltd (REA:ASX) © REA Group Ltd. By accessing or using our platform, you agree to our Terms of Use. where 38 East Point Rd is for sale for $1.785m has the highest level of unencumbered property wealth in the NT The Territory suburbs proving to be property goldmines have been ranked with coastal and rural pockets around Darwin the most lucrative New research by Suburbtrends analysed Australian real estate data to determine the suburbs with the highest unencumbered property wealth Howard Springs and Nightcliff had the highest level of riches wrapped up in homes without loans Kent Larder said the analysis offered a detailed view of property wealth distribution in Territory “Fannie Bay leads the list with an estimated $280m in unencumbered property wealth driven by high median house prices of $1.45m and a notable number of unencumbered properties,” he said showcasing the balance between property values and the volume of unencumbered homes “A notable observation is the dominance of Darwin suburbs such as Fannie Bay highlighting significant unencumbered wealth within the capital city Howard Springs and Humpty Doo in the Litchfield area reflect substantial unencumbered wealth outside the urban core “This mix of high-value and more affordable areas underscores the varied landscape of property wealth across the Northern Territory.” Mr Larder said the Suburbtrends analysis revealed a striking concentration of wealth was named the suburb with the most unencumbered property wealth in the country boasting an estimated $12.2b across the ritzy suburb “The suburb’s median house price of $4.5m and unit price of $1.16m coupled with 2,129 detached houses and 2,260 units owned outright underline its top position,” Mr Larder said with an estimated wealth of $9.8b across 3,878 houses and 748 units owned outright with $9.7b in unencumbered property wealth “This data underscores the immense potential wealth in Australia’s property market particularly within its premier suburbs,” Mr Larder said these areas are set to remain bastions of wealth and financial security for generations to come.” Mr Lardner said intergenerational wealth transfer via property was crucial to help younger generations in gaining financial stability and enter “a very tough housing market” currently locked out of the housing market stand to benefit most from future wealth transfers,” he said the third generation would gain a foothold in the housing market in the coming years through this transfer given the mismatch between new supply and high population growth rates the reality may be an even wider wealth gap — depending on your family’s postcode “It’s vital to acknowledge those without access to this wealth highlighting the need for ongoing broader economic and housing reforms the five remaining Bali Nine members have returned home to their respective cities in time for Christmas.(left to right) Matthew Norman and Michael Czugaj have returned to their respective home cities Source: AAP / Roni Bintang/Made Nagi/Made Nagi/Mick Tsikas/Mick Tsikas 3 min readPublished 20 December 2024 1:44pm ShareGet SBS News daily and direct to your InboxSign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.Your email address *Morning (Mon–Fri) The infrastructure company behind the Howard Springs quarantine facility near Darwin has pitched a plan to build the Victorian government’s new quarantine village outside Melbourne in as little as four months A senior executive at US construction giant AECOM said a 300-bed facility could be built at Avalon or Melbourne airports for as little as $45 million to $60 million It could be completed within four to six months or much sooner under a streamlined building process The airports are currently seen as the most likely sites for the quarantine village AECOM built the Howard Springs facility as mining accommodation in 2012.Credit: Louise Radcliffe-Smith A Victorian camp similar in size to the 850-unit Howard Springs facility would cost between $127.5 million and $170 million although Mr Clark said cost efficiencies could reduce that price Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday his government wanted to construct a cabin-style accommodation hub to either replace or supplement the hotel quarantine scheme following recent leaks of COVID-19 out of Melbourne’s hotels. Victorian officials will travel to Howard Springs to inspect the motel-style set-up built by AECOM in 2012 as mining accommodation at a cost of about $400 million The Premier has refused to speculate on how much a custom-built site in Victoria would cost or how long it would take to be up and running whose company has built temporary lodgings in immigration centres for the federal government estimated every quarantine accommodation unit would cost between $150,000 and $200,000 Avalon Airport chief executive Justin Giddings on land proposed for quarantine cabins.Credit: Joe Armao “Assuming the land and materials are available immediately the site is ‘plug and play’ for us to install pre-fabricated accommodation units and the government is comfortable with a flexible the first beds could be available within eight to 12 weeks,” he said While about 39,000 Australians wait to return from overseas, Mr Andrews has indefinitely blocked international arrivals in Melbourne to reduce stress on a hotel quarantine system that was reset in December but has allowed workers to become infected in three separate outbreaks over the past month Avalon Airport in particular has spruiked its suitability for a permanent facility on its more than 1000 hectares of free land. Airport chief executive Justin Giddings said that after the pandemic the hub could be used to quarantine international students and seasonal workers, as well as emergency accommodation during bushfires or other health crises said while a link to a local health service for serious coronavirus cases would be crucial his company could renovate demountables to act as on-site medical facilities Mr Kerlin said the quarantine facility could be built in four to six months if the government as happened early last year during the conversion of the old Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in East Melbourne into a coronavirus-specific hospital “That would have taken nine months normally We had it up and going in 12 weeks,” Mr Kerlin said “People were working 24/7 – the trades were doing two shifts and my people were working to send out documents at 2am The urgency of the situation pushed us along.” Mr Andrews said on Wednesday the funding model for Victoria’s new quarantine site was still to be decided and could involve taxpayer money “The mix has not been settled,” Mr Andrews said There might even be a contribution from the Commonwealth government who have responsibility for these matters after all,” he said in an apparent jab at Prime Minister Scott Morrison who has said the federal government will not take control of international quarantine Mr Andrews’ push for alternative forms of quarantine accommodation comes after an outbreak in the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel at Melbourne Airport leaked into the community and resulted in Melbourne being locked down for five days to stem the spread It also follows the suspension of hotel quarantine in Victoria for several months last year after the second wave of COVID-19 infections left Melbourne locked down for months and resulted in 768 deaths Hotel quarantine resumed after a board of inquiry, commissioned by Mr Andrews, in December made a series of findings regarding the system’s failure, and recommendations to improve the scheme Mr Clark said any timelines and costs depended on variables including infrastructure such as water and electricity plus the availability of local building materials Victoria could benefit from a drastic drop in demand for mining camp accommodation that has lowered the price of demountable units “There’s an opportunity to standardise the international quarantine facilities across every state,” he said “We never considered we would need a COVID facility in 2019 There will be a market for these types of accommodation into the future.” Stay across the news you need to know related to the pandemic. Sent Monday and Thursday. Sign up here The infrastructure company behind the Howard Springs quarantine facility near Darwin has pitched a plan to build the Victorian government\\u2019s new quarantine village outside Melbourne in as little as four months Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday his government following \\u201CAssuming the land and materials are available immediately the site is \\u2018plug and play\\u2019 for us to install pre-fabricated accommodation units and the government is comfortable with a flexible the first beds could be available within eight to 12 weeks,\\u201D he said While about 39,000 Australians wait to return from overseas Mr Andrews has indefinitely blocked international arrivals in Melbourne to reduce stress on a but has allowed workers to become infected in three separate outbreaks over the past month Avalon Airport in particular has spruiked its suitability for a permanent facility on its more than 1000 hectares of free land Airport chief executive Justin Giddings said that after the pandemic the hub could be used to as well as emergency accommodation during bushfires or other health crises \\u201CThat would have taken nine months normally We had it up and going in 12 weeks,\\u201D Mr Kerlin said \\u201CPeople were working 24/7 \\u2013 the trades were doing two shifts The urgency of the situation pushed us along.\\u201D Mr Andrews said on Wednesday the funding model for Victoria\\u2019s new quarantine site was still to be decided and could involve taxpayer money \\u201CThe mix has not been settled,\\u201D Mr Andrews said \\u201CThere are a lot of different options There might even be a contribution from the Commonwealth government who have responsibility for these matters after all,\\u201D he said in an apparent jab at Prime Minister Scott Morrison Mr Andrews\\u2019 push for alternative forms of quarantine accommodation comes after an outbreak in the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel at Melbourne Airport leaked into the community and resulted in Melbourne being locked down for five days to stem the spread Hotel quarantine resumed after a board of inquiry in December made a series of findingsthe scheme \\u201CThere\\u2019s an opportunity to standardise the international quarantine facilities across every state,\\u201D he said \\u201CWe never considered we would need a COVID facility in 2019 There will be a market for these types of accommodation into the future.\\u201D Stay across the news you need to know related to the pandemic. Sent Monday and Thursday. Sign up here The traditional owners of Darwin named the quarantine facility Manigurr-ma When Japanese oil and gas giant Inpex built workers’ accommodation back in 2012 at Howard Springs, just south of Darwin, it housed up to 3,500 mostly fly-in, fly-out workers during the major construction stage of the Inpex plant, and cost around $600m to build. After that, it was handed off to the Northern Territory government in 2019. Manigurr-ma is temporary home to around 400 people who have flown in from Victoria section of the village currently houses around 630 people from overseas – many from India Made up of 875 accommodation blocks across 67 hectares each with four separate rooms with a basic toilet it makes up what has loosely become known as the “gold standard” for quarantine facilities in Australia Arriving at Darwin airport in the middle of the night a bunch of us were sent on an interminable walk to queue at the international terminal then loaded on to buses for the 30km south-eastern slog to the village More queues before being escorted by blue plastic-clad full PPE staffers to the dongas that will be home for 14 days it is unseasonably warm and humid – a long way from Darwin’s sea breezes – but each separately air-conditioned and with individual verandahs A long way from the hotel accommodation down south which has repeatedly failed Not to mention cruise ships and public housing blocks Manigurr-ma donga. The author’s room in the Howard Springs quarantine facility. Photograph: Chips MackinoltyAppropriately masked, people can walk or jog around the footpaths between the rooms. Or wander up to the laundry. The food? Back in the day there was a dining hall capable of feeding 1,750 people at a time – not to mention a tavern, running tracks and basketball courts. You can also order more personal extras to be shipped in from local supermarkets – but no grog. Like so many other communities in the NT, this is a dry village. No exceptions. No “special care” packages can be left at the gate. So, perhaps, as much as it might be described as the National Centre for Resilience, it might also be dubbed a National Centre for Rehabilitation. And interestingly, given the studied indifference, if not hostility, to welcoming Australians of Indian descent back home – compared to the US and UK – many of the staff here are from the sub-continent and Africa. Truth to be told, it is likely that much of the Australian health system would face collapse without such skilled migrants, not least in the Northern Territory. So, Manigurr-ma. Not the slick marketing cliches of “gold standard” or “national resilience” but stringybark. A simple linguistic gift from the Larrakia. Chips Mackinolty is a Darwin-based writer and artist, based in the Northern Territory for 40 years book reviewer for the London Evening Standard decided that he would relax by reading a couple of English crime novels Heartily disliking both of the books—a detective story by Agatha Christie and a thriller by Sydney Horler—he wrote a column which was published in the Standard on December 22nd explaining why he reacted so negatively to them did not create a stir—surely no semi-sophisticated reader ever expected anything otherwise by that time from the likes of Edgar Wallace wannabe Sydney Horler—and it need not concern us here Spring’s scathing review of Agatha Christie’s detective novel engendered a furious four-day flurry at the Standard as the paper over four days in the first week of January published a series of letters both supportive and dismissive of the critic Among the chiding letters was a trio of missives from members of the Detection Club Britain’s prestigious assemblage of many of the most notable detective writers in the country John Dickson Carr (an American then living in England) and Agatha Christie herself who if not yet deemed the “Queen of Crime,” was about at the point where she needed to be thinking of getting a coronation robe fitted This flap between the critic and the crime writers about just what constituted acceptable criticism of a detective novel opens an interesting window on contemporary attitudes about detective fiction and whether it really merited respect as a literary form Anticipating American novelist and critic Edmund Wilson’s more extended attack on detective fiction in his essay “Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?,” Spring’s diatribe shows how some intellectuals held in utter contempt the detective fiction form at least as it existed in the Thirties and Forties (Both Wilson and Spring professed admiration for the late Arthur Concan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales.) Yet the vigorous response to his attack from detective writers and their supporters reveals that devotees of detective fiction were unabashed when it came to defending themselves and their reading matter of choice at the peak of the so-called Golden Age of detective fiction fans felt no need to cower in corners when mystery writing came under criticism from lofty the son of a jobbing gardener (a frequent character in classic English mysteries) Howard Spring never felt the touch of a silver spoon in his childish mouth With his mother having to take in washing to support the family after the death of his father Spring left school at the age of twelve to supplement the family’s meager finances by working as an errand boy After snagging a job in a newspaper office he slowly worked his way up to the position of reporter all the while taking evening classes at Cardiff University to improve his neglected education Spring was hired as book reviewer at the Evening Standard a post which provided him with a regular stipend while he tried to launch a career as a serious novelist Three years later Spring published his best-known novel when Spring composed his crime fiction review column in late 1938 some proud consciousness of his own tangible literary accomplishment a working-class writer who has been described as “an influential middlebrow novelist and literary panjandrum,” believed in the artistic validity of the popular novel even writing theoretical articles about the stuff and devising rules for its writing; yet Spring who considered himself more of a man of the people had no use for the frippery fiction produced by crime scribblers he had scathingly reviewed a Nigel Morland “Mrs a fetid farrago about the diabolical machinations of a pair of race gangs (Japanese and African) right in the very streets of London He condemned the novel as utter hokum and “a first-rate example of those books which cause a reader with a grain of intelligence to distrust and dislike the whole class to which they belong.” Hatred of Nigel Morland’s crime writing was one thing on which Spring and Auden actually agreed (though Eliot was more indulgent of thrillers) the Detection Club had been founded in 1930 to a great extent in order to distinguish writers of rarefied To be sure a number of detective fiction writers trafficked in thrills too particularly in the Twenties alternated Hercule Poirot detective novels like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd with thrillers like The Secret Adversary and The Secret of Chimneys (She even sacrificed Poirot’s dignity by marooning him in the Thirties the gulf between detective fiction and thrillers widened as detective writers sought to win greater literary prestige for their work In class terms it was often asserted that detective fiction was read by notables like cabinet ministers and clerics while lowly thrillers merely kept housemaids and shop clerks up at night and drowsy in the morning In his uncheerful 1938 Christmas review column for the Evening Standard righteously calling down a pox on both houses of crime fiction He made this clear with his wholesale dismissal of Agatha Christie’s detective novel along with Sydney Horler’s thriller For Spring so casually to bracket Christie with Horler who among writers of shockers made the late Edgar Wallace look like Leo Tolstoy a proverbial coal in the Christmas stocking the Christie novel which Spring panned was her latest Hercule Poirot opus a Christie for Christmas which actually concerned Christmas—and murder Spring condemned Christie’s novel for having “a clumsy crime a clumsy solution and an overladen narrative,” adding darkly that the book confirmed “my darkest suspicions about these detective novels.” He declared that if ever he felt the urge to commit murder sweeter and somehow less farcical job of it” than had Christie’s careless killer Spring was hardly the first person to give a bad review to a detective novel (There had even been people who had not liked The Murder of Rogert Ackroyd.) But where Spring engendered controversy was when at the very beginning of the review and continuing for a dozen paragraphs he systematically detailed the solution to the murder including both the identity of the murderer and the means of the murder (one of the author’s rare stabs at a locked room) in the view of the scandalized members of the Detection Club constituting a dagger to the heart of their very profession If reviewers began willy nilly spoiling the plots of detective novels obviously I cannot go into detail concerning Spring’s substantive criticism of the plot of Hercule Poirot’s Christmas despite the fact that the reviewer seems to me to land some logical blows on the technical soundness of Christie’s locked room gambit like the late modern crime writer Robert Barnard still consider the novel one of the Queen of Crime’s cleverest mysteries.) First to pepper Spring’s line of defense was John Dickson Carr then the corresponding secretary of the Detection Club and himself the undisputed master of the locked room mystery In his letter Carr complained: “[In his review] Mr Spring has carefully removed every element of mystery [from Christie’s novel] He discloses (a) the identity of the murderer (b) the murderer’s motive (c) nearly every detail of the trick by which the murder was committed and (d) how the detective knew it After this massacre it is safe to say that little more harm to the book could possibly have been done.” While Carr allowed that a “critic is at liberty to say what he likes about the merits of the book,” he insisted that it emphatically was not playing fair for that critic “deliberately to give away every secret of a detective novel whose whole effect depends on keeping back those secrets until the end.” To this protest Spring responded unapologetically in a column the text of which ran under a picture of the critic impudently sitting astride the arm of a chair that it was a critic’s duty to go into detail explaining why he did not like a book If this rule were set aside for detective fiction “it is tantamount to an admission that these books have no relation to the art of writing and therefore cannot be dealt with by the normal methods of criticism.” Then he proceeded to concede that in his view crime fiction indeed had no relation to the art of writing “[T]he cheap titillating tale of mystery or detection,” he declared loftily an “increasingly illiterate” British public away from the mentally wholesome and “lovely regions of true imagination where the great novelists and the great poets dwell.” How obscene it was to waste time on Edgar Wallace or Agatha Christie Arnold Bennett and Somerset Maugham.” (Arnold Bennett actually wrote indulgently of Edgar Wallace’s thrillers while Somerset Maugham was an avid reader of both detective fiction and thrillers but it appears that Spring knew this not.) Of Edgar Wallace who had had a street plaque erected in his memory Spring wrote witheringly that “it is time it was said that [Wallace’s] output was of trash redeemed by hardly a vital spark.” Both thrillers and detective fiction were “injurious and mentally devitalizing to those who read them because more often than not those who read them read nothing else.” the latter of whom was a mainstream novelist like Spring who had occasionally dabbled in detection and was also a founding member of the Detection Club Simpson briefly explained the exact nature of Spring’s “offence”: “A detection story is primarily a puzzle which the reader likes to put together for himself Spring did was to assemble the puzzle in public thereby spoiling a good many people’s pleasure.” Simpson compared Spring to “that nuisance who at a theatre tells his neighbors just what is coming next or who explains the tricks during a conjuring show.” a former crime fiction for the Sunday Times and a leading exponent of the more novelistic detective novel methodically explained to Spring how one can properly review a detective novel She provided a review of an imaginary mystery called The Blood-boltered Pincushion wherein “nothing has been given away to spoil such pleasure as the book may be capable of affording”: The Blood-boltered Pincushion is an exceptionally feeble specimen even of the detective novelist’s alleged art It is about a stockbroker found dead in a rabbit hutch and the “great detective” is an analytical chemist who shows himself unable to distinguish between a sulphate and a sulphite The criminals’ motive is psychologically improbable and the murder-method a physical impossibility not only by the usual travesty of legal procedure but by frequent lapses into bad taste and worse English the wooden characters use throughout such dialogue as was never yet heard on human lips Those who will swallow such defects all for the sake of a good “guessing game” will be shocked to find that no fewer than three clues have been deliberately concealed from the reader praising his daring in speaking out against the ghastly existence of crime fiction Mostly lost by these letter writers was Spring’s original offense of gratuitously spoiling most of Christie’s mystery “Sincere congratulations on the denunciation of the detective dope pedlars and addicts,” cheered Sydney Jones Fabricius Maiden a barrister-at-law residing at The Bailey’s Hotel in Kensington (a great many Standard readers appear to have dwelt in Kensington and Chelsea) avowed: “Mr Howard Spring has performed a public service in his denunciation of the detective ‘novel’ [note scare marks].” An evident wag by the name of Frank Acheson an art deco block flats in Mayfair which had recently replaced a razed Georgian mansion declared: “The trouble with those readers who are so terribly hurt by Howard Spring’s forthrightness in blowing the gaff (at last thank Heaven!) on the high priests and priestesses of detective fiction is that they place too much importance on esprit de corpse.” Asserted Ian Monroe of The High a block of flats on Streatham High Road in London: “Intelligent fiction readers will thank Howard Spring for his long overdue exposure of so-called detective fiction.” Others defended the crime novel and condemned the critic ‘Tripe.’ In my opinion he is terribly doped by his ‘cleverness’ because education and time have made him unsporting and smug.” F Covent Garden accused Spring of “a gross breach of literary etiquette in his criticism of ‘Hercule Poirot’s Christmas’…equalled only by his sulky apologia.” John Dickson Carr’s “admirably stated indictment,” he added “errs only on the side of leniency.” An infuriated John Emanuel of 6 Eaton Rise expressed his doubt that “that great majority Howard Spring has such an overwhelming contempt who read nothing else but detective novels and ‘thrillers’ have ever read anything so smug and complacent as Mr Spring’s defence of himself and his theories.” an unmarried retired banker and ARP warden who was the elder brother of artist Harold Gilman (dubbed England’s Van Gogh) deemed John Dickson Carr’s “protest” against Spring’s review “moderate and justifiable,” while Spring’s “retort…has only made bad worse.” He tartly urged Spring if he thought Edgar Wallace’s fiction was such facile trash and so “absolve himself of the necessity of any parasitic work.” Another Spring opponent Peter Weissenberg of 2b Bickenhall Mansions reminded the critic that the fine author J Priestley had recently published a thriller called The Doomsday Men Spring had reviewed Priestley’s book earlier in 1938 and panned it urging him to get back to writing something worthwhile.) Who won the January 1939 correspondence battle between the forces of the critic and those of the crime writers no matter how furiously its naysayers said nay to it Agatha Christie is as hugely popular as ever while I imagine rather more people know of Dorothy L though the latter’s two most famous books—massive Edgar Wallace has made something of a comeback and there is even a wretched Sydney Horler volume available Fans of Golden Age crime fiction realized something that the Edmund Wilsons and Howard Springs of the world did not (and even they admitted they liked the Sherlock Holmes stories): that it was fun and a harmless escape from the tedium and unpleasantness of everyday humdrum existence Wilson and Spring and all the rest of their pious ilk really need not have concerned themselves unnecessarily with that Masthead About Advertisers: Contact Us Privacy Policy Become a member for as low as $5/month The Commonwealth and the Northern Territory have today signed an agreement to establish the Defence Accommodation Precinct Darwin at Howard Springs The agreement will enable the Department of Defence to use the Howard Springs facility as an accommodation precinct from July 2023 The first cohort of over 1,300 military personnel from Australia and partner nations are scheduled to arrive at the facility later this month to participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre The facility will relieve pressure on limited on-base Defence accommodation in Darwin and ensure Defence requirements do not place excessive demand on local hotel accommodation during major exercises scheduled during the peak season The five-year lease arrangement between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory is estimated to cost approximately $50 million per year The estimated annual cost covers all expenses in operating and maintaining the facility including: lease payments to the Northern Territory Government Back to news listing The Northern Territory Government acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Northern Territory and recognises their continuing cultural and spiritual connections to the lands, waters and communities. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures, their Elders past and present, and to future generations. © 2025 Northern Territory Government of Australia (Glenn Campbell/AAP PHOTOS)An inquest into the deaths of three people during forced quarantine at Howard Springs will examine the legality of their detention and adequacy of their care All articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperBreaking news alerts direct to your inboxInteractive Crosswords Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueDavid Hardy The trio had been diagnosed with or suspected to have COVID-19 and died in the nation's largest quarantine facility in Darwin during the Omicron wave between November 2021 and January 2022 Counsel assisting the coroner Patrick Coleridge said issues to do with their care during their time in the Centre for National Resilience (CNR) would be examined in the inquest was it easy for someone in a position of a detained person to access services were services easier to access for some?" he asked during a directions hearing on Friday Mr Coleridge indicated that the legality of their detainment would also be probed while Ms Dick and Ms Bading were detained from majority Indigenous communities within the NT "In what circumstances were they taken into the facility did it occur with their consent (and) how was their consent obtained?" Mr Coleridge asked very broad brush overview of the issues likely to arise and it seems everyone will bring a different perspective to the table." Coroner Elisabeth Armitage said she suspected the term "death in custody" would be debated as well as the adequacy and access to care The Howard Springs facility was used to quarantine repatriated Australians suspected of contracting COVID-19 it was also used to detain members of the local community with suspected COVID under orders from the chief health officer Mr Coleridge said while the trio had "individual and independent stories" there would be "common features and lessons to learn from the circumstances in which they died" Family members of all three deceased dialled into the court hearing as the coroner expressed her condolences "If there's anything special that you would like to contribute or particular cultural matters that you would like us to address or incorporate into the inquest please let us know," she said The inquest is set down for two weeks of hearings from April 8 next year Aboriginal Counselling Services 0410 539 905 Today's top stories curated by our news team. 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Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueHoward Springs was better known for its bakery's donuts before the quarantine came along.Howard Springs was really only well known in the Darwin area for one thing - giant donuts The little village's bakery belies its humble shopfront and was a go-to stop for delicious sugary treats on steroids The bakery's popularity was such that it grew into the nearby Coolalinga shopping centre Today Howard Springs is the nation's citadel against COVID-19 The Centre for National Resilience no less this year's clear Oscar winner for silliest name Some time this weekend the flights are expected to resume from India to bring home those thousands of stranded Aussies, via quarantine at Howard Springs As one of the few reporters who has ever been there no-one is more surprised than those living in the Top End that this worker's camp has taken the national spotlight The Northern Territory is not well known for doing these sort of things terribly well Tight discipline and the NT aren't always used in the same sentence There is a cowboy culture about the Territory that's why folks up there love the place so much people up there don't like to be told what to do you don't need a licence to drive a boat on the famous barra waterways There was electoral hell to pay when it was suggested a 0.05 limit should be imposed on those licence-less pilots Yet the NT has run the tightest of ships at the resilience centre Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited there recently and called it the best facility in the world The fact there's never been a case of community transmission of this highly infectious disease anywhere in the Territory is remarkable The workers' camp accommodated workers at a Japanese-owned gas plant built on Darwin Harbour.Sure and there's a lot of space between those that are there There have been 168 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the centre opened its doors in July 2020 to the almost 7000 people who have passed through mostly returning Australians with the occasional US Marine who has arrived for joint military exercises The Howard Springs facility is not an old mining camp it was built to house the thousands need to build a huge gas plant deep inside Darwin's harbour The media likes to say it is on the outskirts of Darwin they needed the gas to keep Japan's lights on after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011 Supposedly the biggest factory of its type in the southern hemisphere it gave Darwin a tremendous economic boost Palmerston was the fastest growing urban region in Australia for several years the gas plant is built and the ships dock just long enough to pick up the gas and then head home The Centre for National Resilience has been one of the NT's greatest success stories in recent times.It was so busy partying while the Inpex building boom was on it sort of forgot to prepare for the hangover Where this facility works and hotel quarantine hasn't is the individual accommodation blocks of each resident Thousands can safely and comfortably stay there the only real problem is the number of cases coming from India Health facilities in the Darwin area can only cope with so many a hectare or two in size mostly bordered by lush tropical growth No-one really knew what to do with the centre when the workers left so Inpex just handed it over to the government which really didn't know what to do with it either you can see the school with more than 600 students at the bottom of the picture Picture: Google.When it was sprung on citizens without warning that it was to become a quarantine centre they reacted as you would expect Just over one fence is the Darwin region's second biggest school what if flies carried the virus across or sick people sucked on the fence and their kids sucked on the same piece of wire back in the early days we didn't know a lot about how the virus behaved The centre has been run by federal authorities through AUSMAT and in recent weeks the feds have been handing over control to the NT government That worries locals deeply for reasons we have already explained Not Thursday and definitely Not Then - they will be carrying the can for Australia Remembering some of our most vulnerable people live up there in Third World conditions with pre-existing chronic health problems If it wasn't for the incredible success of the facility so far - Chris McLennan is a national agriculture writer for ACM and former editor of the Katherine Times in the NT In case you are interested in filtering all the latest down to just one late afternoon read, why not sign up for The Informer newsletter ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.