Australian Short Stories

Introduction to Australian Short Stories by Dr Gordon Moyes

“I have found that some of the best ways to tell people about the love of God is through the telling of stories. Jesus used stories and parables throughout his ministry.

The stories I have told each Sunday night for over seventeen years on my radio Program Sunday Night Live with Gordon Moyes, are real stories about real people and situations. Some of them are funny, some are sad, but each communicates an important lesson about God’s love for His people.

I hope you will enjoy reading them, as much as hundreds of thousands of people every week enjoyed hearing them. These stories have become part of a legend in radio broadcasting history, with at least two Prime-Ministers, two Governors-General, two Premiers publicly stating they end their week every Sunday night by regularly listening to these stories. During their years of being broadcast, they achieved the highest ratings of all broadcast programs.

I hope you enjoy them in print as much as I have enjoyed writing them, about the people who have made my life for nearly fifty years.”

- GORDON MOYES

Currently Australian Short Stories are progressively being published on this website. It is under construction.

There are seven sections:

When Box Hill Was a Village

  1. Meat For Our Pies
  2. Mrs. Cherry’s Horton Grammar School for Girls
  3. Snapdragons and Gum Tips
  4. World War Two in Box Hill
  5. My Part In Fighting World War Two
  6. Riding the Railway Tracks
  7. Running Away To C.
  8. Too Poor for a Sheep’s Head
  9. A Stool From School
  10. Saving the Empire
  11. The Night My Father Died
  12. Eternity Street
  13. The Court Street Kinder
  14. I’m Dreaming of A Poor Christmas
  15. The Fighting O’Haras
  16. McKelvie’s Paper Round
  17. Mr. Justice McTaggart’s Revenge
  18. Getting Even With Mr. Justice McTaggart
  19. Old Fishface’s Bill
  20. Knowing the Drains
  21. The Surrey Dive
  22. The Conway Stewart Fountain Pen
  23. The Gentleman Burglar
  24. The Don and The Cat’s Whisker
  25. The B.S.A. 500
  26. The Old Fashioned Physician
  27. Going To The Dentist
  28. The Pool Room Thief
  29. When Mr. Menzies Came To Our Place
  30. The A.B.C.
  31. An Incredible Temporary Mum
  32. My Mother
  33. Miss Appsley of The Silver Screen
  34. Old Tom Black
  35. Sunday School Picnics and What Came Of Them
  36. The Sunday School Anniversary Concert
  37. From Coal Mines to China
  38. Beverley
  39. Yours Sincerely, SPitt
  40. Teenage Parties
  41. The One Eyed Orchardist
  42. The Day The Queen Came to Box Hill
  43. The Library Scroll
  44. When Tennis Was King
  45. When Winning Wasn’t Everything
  46. Jean Perry
  47. Voting To Stay Dry
  48. Part Of The Problem or Part Of The Answer?

Pastor to the Slums

  1. Granny’s Teacup
  2. Maggie Scraggs
  3. Cheap by Name, Cheap by Nature
  4. Going to College
  5. Probation Officer
  6. The Battle for Union Road
  7. Big Bertha Skidmore
  8. Verna’s Diamonds
  9. As Long as They’re Clean
  10. Willy the Weed
  11. He Had the Last Laugh
  12. Success Through Chess
  13. The Fire Bug
  14. My First Funerals
  15. From the Top of a Banana Box
  16. The Hawaiian Holiday
  17. Me Old China
  18. Riding the Bike, Doing the Ton
  19. Jim Ford
  20. Mrs. Gossip
  21. Happy Harry McEwan
  22. God Strike Me Dead
  23. Bowled Out!
  24. A Most Peculiar Man
  25. Worthy of His Hire
  26. Tommy Lee
  27. The Manses
  28. Vistors to the Manse
  29. What a Coat of Paint can Do
  30. Neighbours
  31. The Perils of Gas
  32. The Central Character of the Centuries
  33. A Boy From Cummeragunja
  34. The Honeymoon Surprise
  35. The One That Got Away
  36. When George Told the Millionaire ‘No’
  37. Robbie
  38. My Old College
  39. A Daughter for the Bishop
  40. Graduation, Ordination, and Re-Ordination
  41. The Day JFK Died

A Country Parson

  1. A New Parson Comes to Town
  2. Bribed With Firewood
  3. The Insurance Man
  4. Water – But Not a Drop to Drink
  5. A Country Battler
  6. With a Bit of Personal Effort
  7. A Step Towards Church Unity
  8. Big Momma Bertha
  9. When the Methodist Minister Got Bogged
  10. Cab Sir?
  11. Chaplain to the Mental Hospital
  12. Chook Head Clarrie
  13. The Crane that Learnt to Fly
  14. All Creatures Great and Small
  15. The Day the Beer Bottle Fell
  16. When the Communion Wine Was Crook
  17. Dirt Poor
  18. It’s a Bit Wet
  19. Plain Jane
  20. On Fire
  21. On Wings Like Eagles
  22. The One Teacher School
  23. Pounding the Typewriter
  24. Rabbito Bill
  25. Runaway Girl
  26. Smitty’s Soup
  27. The Dim Angel
  28. Teen Week
  29. The Cow Cocky
  30. The General Store
  31. The J-525 to Ararat
  32. The Meek Librarian
  33. To Her On Mothers’ Day
  34. True Love
  35. When the Lights Came On
  36. She’ll Win the Election
  37. Winning Tatts
  38. My Best Friend Was a Farmer
  39. Dr. Gwen
  40. Say Goodbye to the Country

The One Teacher Bush School

  1. Death Among the Reeds
  2. Lost in the Bush
  3. Anzac Day
  4. The Ararat Show
  5. The Copper Head Snake
  6. My Country
  7. Morte d’Arthur
  8. Education Week
  9. The Ararat Eisteddfod
  10. The European Eel
  11. The Fire at Ross’s Farm
  12. The School Formal
  13. Gordon Boys
  14. The Greatest Show on Earth
  15. The Bush Heroine
  16. The Music Man
  17. A Very Pretty Catch
  18. Tangmalangaloo
  19. Like a Wolf on the Fold
  20. The Yellow Dog
  21. The Surprise Visitor
  22. The Search for Timmy O’Rourke
  23. Death of a School

A Suburban Minister

  1. Our First Day
  2. Cheltenham
  3. The Greek Wrestler
  4. The Recovery of Elsie
  5. Matches
  6. The Man in the Dinner Suit
  7. Fighting the Vietnam War
  8. Catherine the Great
  9. The Three Johns
  10. Chartering the Rotary Club
  11. Father of the Year
  12. Romance Among the Cabbage
  13. A Youthful Church
  14. Johnny Walker
  15. The Work of an Evangelist
  16. David’s Place
  17. The Fellowship of the Right Handers
  18. The World Convention
  19. Discovering Courses
  20. Wonderful Counsellor
  21. When Billy Came to Town
  22. Missions Alive
  23. Just an Ordinary Bloke
  24. Planning for Growth
  25. Must Give up Christianity
  26. Speaking in Pictures
  27. Girl Friends
  28. Christmas Wrappings
  29. Matchmaker
  30. A Most Unlikely One
  31. The Great Lizard
  32. That’s Not Right in Church
  33. The Leopard Changes His Spots
  34. Little Ida
  35. The Full Forward
  36. How I Defeated the Kiwi All Blacks
  37. A Step to Canberra?
  38. To Stay or Go?
  39. Here Comes the Bride
  40. A Very Logical, Practical Theologian
  41. For the Love of Willie
  42. Lorrie the Lamb
  43. The Nine Lives of Rodney the Rooster
  44. The Christmas We Struck Gold
  45. Time to Leave

Superintendent to the City

  1. The Role of Superintendent
  2. Waiting
  3. Shifting
  4. Re-Ordination
  5. Corporations
  6. Debt
  7. I Like Chinese
  8. Spring Fair President
  9. Caring For The Kids
  10. Easter Mission
  11. Credit Line
  12. The Rotary Club of Sydney
  13. LifeLine
  14. Billy Graham
  15. Stephen Seymour
  16. Mr Justice What’s His Name
  17. Sex Offenders
  18. Sir Alan Walker
  19. Gordon Powell
  20. Graham Hardy
  21. Counselling
  22. Philosopher
  23. Marjorie Jackson
  24. Richard Chambers
  25. Insurance
  26. CADE Units
  27. Overseas Council
  28. Wesley Film Productions
  29. Feeding The Chooks
  30. Joni Eareckson Tada
  31. An Overcoat and Two Bob
  32. Moon Walking
  33. Breaking Barriers
  34. Summer School
  35. He Now Knows His Roots
  36. Cottee Orchard
  37. Freddy
  38. The Overcomers
  39. Fred Nile
  40. The Face of Christ
  41. Thirty Days And Around The World
  42. Cottee Lodge
  43. Bobby Limb
  44. The Billy Graham of Asia
  45. The Congenial Paperboy
  46. Christmas at Wesley Mission
  47. Recycled Clothes
  48. Cufflinks
  49. Film Pioneer
  50. A Conference of Evangelists
  51. Wesley Chapel
  52. Our Greatest Church Planter
  53. Chuck Colson
  54. Habitat for Humanity
  55. A Great Cloud of Witnesses
  56. Three Wise Men
  57. Radio saved her life
  58. To China With Love
  59. The Lay Preacher
  60. The Chief Commissioner of Police
  61. The Television Producer
  62. Coping With Poverty
  63. The Order of Australia
  64. National Aborigines and Islanders Day
  65. Caring For The Kids
  66. Todds Barrett
  67. The Port Arthur Tragedy

A Christian in Parliament

  1. In Time of Flood and Drought
  2. ALDIrage
  3. Moonlight Becomes You
  4. The Scholastic Saga
  5. The Influence of a Good Teacher
  6. A Loveable Rogue