Chero Barbi is 89 years old and has been an inventor all his life. He's the son of an Italian immigrant and was born in a grass hut at Innisfail, Nth Queensland. Locals say it would be hard to find a sugarcane plantation that didn’t have a Chero Barbi machine.
His latest invention is a horizontal cultivator that attaches to a tractor. The idea was picked up by an entrepeneour in the district who now makes and sells the machines for $50,000.00 each and doesn’t give Chero a cent despite making a contract promissing Chero $1000 per machine. Chero is proud of his inventions but
his wife is fed up with him and his mad ideas and wishes he had made some decent money.
Harry Anning is his mate and is the publican at the Babinda Hotel. Harry loves the old man and has helped him for the past ten years or so. He is also helping in the fight with the bad machine stealer.
Chero went on the ABC Inventors show in 1971 - or 72 with the louvered bricks.