Kookynie Courier and Gwalia Gazette were outspoken rural journals of late 19th century Western Australia during the gold rushes north of Kalgoorlie, and staunch defenders of miners’ rights and civic pride in their burgeoning towns. Eventually gold was harder to find, men went off to war, and railways closed.
In 1921 the two respected newspapers were consolidated by owner-editor John Lorikeet under the KC masthead. His son George continued the family press dynasty until finally retiring in 2009, and the business passed to low-tech entrepreneur and dilettante Peter O’Hara.
His vision was to take this venerable tradition of outspokenness online and spread global wings. Flying wider then, lorikeet became more wedge-tail eagle, purveyor of intellectual carrion, with delectable morsels recovered from the detritus of post-modern life.
Seventeen years later, the show goes on, with the same loyal newsroom staff gathering at least weekly in the back bar of the pub for editorial meetings and team building exercises. And the old school motto Veritate et Virtute is still their revered lodestar.
KOOKYNIE COURIER 
‘Sydney entrepreneur and dilettante ‘ this is a bit sophisticated. Dilettante sounds a bit like a wild west hustler.
Oh yeah, we have some of the best darn hustlers out west here (think Bondie et al), so I have plenty to aspire to.
Just stumbled across this site. Kookynie happens to be the birthplace of my father – born 1910.
Hi Andy, I hope you don’t mind me having a bit of fun with his birth town. Kookynie was no doubt very different in those days.
G’day, stumbled upon your blog by way of Cracked.com, which featured your post about the moving van with the genitalia paint job. Funny how things come around… my great-grandfather’s mother is buried at Kookynie. He lived around Laverton around the early 1900s before joining the war, going to Gallipoli and coming out alive (or I wouldn’t be here!) I myself grew up in Gwalia from ’71-’79. We lived in one of the old abandoned houses (one of the better ones) with no running water, electricity or flushing toilet for a while. That was a lifetime ago… I’ll be reading your blog on a regular basis from now on! Cheers!
Bravo Peter! Methinks there’s gold in dem dare words you’re writin!