John Pasquarelli was a kiap and crocodile hunter who became a Member of the first Papua New Guinea House of Assembly in 1964. He was later an adviser to Pauline Hanson, the former and unlamented right wing Australian politician. More recently he has kept Australians entertained with a flow of eccentric columns, letters to the editor and Internet contributions. Like this effort published in the Melbourne Observer recently which, however irrelevantly, reflects his obsession with Moslems:

A visit to the Pro Hart gallery confirmed what a character this inspirational bloke was.  I visited a huge mushroom farm in Mildura and on the road to Swan Hill, 35,000 acres of almonds are being planted as well as huge acreages of olives.  Lots of new housing is everywhere indicating that population numbers are holding up in many rural towns...  I covered a lot of ground during my short trip and guess what?  Not a burka in sight!

Now, at the age of 69, John has turned to landscape painting. And he's proving quite a dab hand at the milieu, considering he  picked up his first brush only five years ago. I might dislike Pasqua's politics but I admire his art. The work here, 'Thirty Miles To Burra', was painted in Val Rivers' country in South Australia.