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Jackaroo is the story of a fatherless child. Michael Thornton was in Year Nine at a well-to-do boarding school when he was hauled out of class and informed that his father, an alcoholic with whom he had had little or no contact, had fallen over the balcony of the George Hotel in St Kilda and died. Michael’s mother has little comfort to offer. Jackaroo is pretty nearly the story of a motherless child as well.
Thornton tells the story of the years that follow with honesty and remarkable moral stamina. Yet despite a sugaring of funny stories, this is a desperately sad book. There isn’t a single character who loves Michael. The deepest affection he experiences is a connection with a horse, Charlie.
It is impossible to read Jackaroo and not be filled with admiration for the author. He has extraordinary tenacity and strength of character. While still at school, he fights his way past those who have decided he isn’t worth their notice to secure a place in the school’s swimming team. His resolve in doing this is only a taste of what is to come.
After leaving school, Michael gets a position for a year as a jackaroo on Habbies Howe, a large property lying between Seymour, Euroa and Yea. He is lucky to get the job because the experience of jackarooing for the Webb family on Habbies Howe is keenly sought after. If this is good luck, however, we are soon wondering what bad luck might bring. Michael is paid $9 a week and works like a serf. Worse than the back-breaking labour is the raw emotional climate of the place. Michael receives very little by way of support and encouragement. Apparently, a year as a jackaroo on Habbies Howe is the SAS commando training of the bush. Those who survive the course are looked up to and seldom want for work. They develop strength and resilience. But there is no suggestion in this world of bleak stereotypical masculinity that they are free to grow in other ways.
This book revolves around larger than life father figures, among them Mr Webb of Habbies Howe, Mr Allen of Mortlake and Malcolm Fraser, the federal minister for defence when Michael gets a job in Nareen. There is a search going on here that Michael doesn’t clearly articulate but which is impossible to miss. Women play cameo roles in this story with the exception of Michael’s mother, a woman portrayed in appalling colours. It says something that the happiest day Thornton describes is spent entirely on his own, in the company only of his trusted horse, mustering cattle to satisfy the demands of an exacting boss to whom Michael feels the need to prove himself. The approval he receives is a smile. The chapter, ‘best day’, is achingly lonely.
Michael Thornton clearly has fine human qualities. He is also a man of faith, one who prays, one who finds the hand of God in creation and one who stands up against the exploitation of the vulnerable. He tells his story without rancour and with deeper gratitude than more damaged souls could express. His story embraces life on the land in three states as well as a time learning the wool trade in England. Jackaroo is an engaging story about choosing life. It shares its humour generously; it keeps its pain to itself.
Michael McGirr is the head of faith and mission at St Kevin’s College. His latest book is The Lost Art of Sleep (Picador).