with thanks to Catherine Palin-Brinkworth, who also kindly provided us with the following introduction

It was 1977 — I was President of Sydney’s Northern Suburbs Liberal Club, a youthful dynamic and active special branch of the Liberal Party. We were less than 2 years past the gigantic farce that had been the Whitlam government, and we were on a mission for free enterprise. Our branch secretary, Helen Burnett — granddaughter of Sir Joseph and Dame Enid Lyons — was the primary organiser of a magnificent dinner with Lang Hancock as our guest speaker, with a lot of help from Michael Darby. Our Branch membership also included several other key political thinkers — premier-to-be Nick and his wife Kathryn Greiner, flat-tax Dick Tanner, The Hon. Justice John Dowd now Chancellor of Southern Cross University, future Mosman member Phillip Smiles — and many more. It was a lively and highly enriching group.

We hosted around 200 people in the Wentworth Hotel ballroom; a significant and evolutionary experience for me, as a young woman accepting leadership on a large platform. My role was to host and chair the evening, and of course to lead the generous Q & A opportunity Mr Hancock provided.

I remember poet and environmental campaigner Judith Wright making her presence heard loudly but not very clearly. I particularly remember Mr Hancock writing his poem for me on this sheet of paper, just before his presentation, after we had discussed some of the dysfunction in the town called ‘Tommyrot’.

Here is the scan of the poem:

Here is the translation of the handwriting as best as Ms Palin-Brinkworth, Mr Darby and other senior figures can determine:

On Western Plains where Brains is not
where all is wind and Tommy Rot.
There stands the town of Canberoo [poet-talk for Canberra]
Its tax grown trees with ‘bull’ one deep
Neath summer skies of cloudless blue
[four lines crossed out]
A town where life’s total aim is sleep down???? much rum.

Feel free to improve on our translation in the comments section below.