CAPRICORN (Dec 23 to Jan 20)
Rather than build new ones, you figure that whenever the state's south-east dams look like drying up in future, wouldn't it be cheaper just to organise a Woodford Folk Festival for the following weekend?
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 to Feb 19)
It makes your day when you see a car bumper sticker that says: "Is it true ....or did you read it in The Courier-Mail?"
PISCES (Feb 20 to Mar 20)
Having scratched off a Crosswords instant scratchie ticket that came oh so close to being a big winner, you rush back to your local newsagency and ask whether it's possible to buy an extra vowel.
ARIES (Mar 21 to Apr 20)
You hear somewhere that Campbell Newman has trouble sleeping at night because he tosses and turns with the worry that there's perhaps one car space left out there within a 10km radius of the city that he's forgotten to stick a parking meter on.
TAURUS (Apr 21 to May 20)
Following the collapse of talks in Copehhagen, you single-handedly save the plant by inventing a McDonald's paper serviette dispenser that only releases one at a time.
GEMINI (May 21 to June 21)
You wonder if there's anyone else out there who doesn't know what the "7" in the soon-to-be-opened Clem7 tunnel stands for?
CANCER (June 22 to July 23)
One way is going to cost a $7 toll?
LEO (July 24 to Aug 23)
There are seven entrances?
VIRGO (Aug 24 to Sept 23)
Or seven exists?
LIBRA (Sept 24 to Oct 23)
It goes for seven kilometres?
SCORPIO (Oct 24 to Nov 22)
It's on average 7 metres underground?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 to Dec 22)
Or was it just a way for the people at The Independent to pad out these really silly and totally unbelievable starsigns?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
How green is this Valley?
Leading the way into 2010: Year of Sustainability, is Fortitude Valley State School, with students proudly showcasing their determination to conserve and recycle. They do this through a water tank, solar panels, astro turf, community vegetable garden, drought resistant plants, frog-breeding pond and recycling.
They are also using laptops instead of notebooks, and even the parents have said “no” to airconditioning and plastic wrap around their kids’ lunches.
The garden sign, designed and painted by proud FVSS parents at the front of the school, says it all. FVSS is a community school in turn supporting the Valley community as they support the school.
Volunteers are always welcome to assist in the garden, so please contact the school and register your interest. The school holds its “vegie delight market” every Tuesday from 3pm and all community members are welcome.
All the proceeds go straight back to the garden and it’s cheap too. Just last week I bought two eggplant, a handful of basil and fresh chilli all for $2 ... a bargain! Well done FVSS – keep up the great work, I hope you get the chooks you want next year.
Kimberley Stanton
Feast for the eyes
Exhibitions
Brisbane residents and visitors have only until Christmas Eve to catch four Museum of Brisbane (MoB) exhibitions showing in City Hall before the dear old girl is closed for up to three years for much-needed repair work.
The exhibitions are City Machine, Brisbane Celebrates: 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards, Karla Dickens and Up the Coast: Day tripping, weekenders and getting away.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says MoB would be relocated in early 2010 with two gallery spaces set within 157 Ann Street while City Hall undergoes restoration.
“MoB has become well-known for its informative and entertaining exhibitions that tell many important stories about Brisbane,” Cr Newman said. “Through its exhibitions, MoB will continue to lead conversations about Brisbane’s diversity, its community and our City’s place in the world.
“City Hall holds a special place in Brisbane’s history which is why MoB is located here. “The next few weeks are a great opportunity to take a cultural journey and catch some fascinating exhibitions in the building’s pre-restoration state.”
City Machine (Space 2) reveals Brisbane’s building blocks and how the city was ‘made’. The exhibition features historical photographs, documents and illustrations from the last 150 years such as proclamations, plans and diagrams of Brisbane’s first roads, bridges, reservoirs and tramways.
Brisbane Celebrates: 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards (Space 3) is an exhibition of more than 150 photographic works including winning and finalist entries from the 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards, which pay tribute to how Brisbane celebrated memorable moments and events throughout our 150th year.
Karla Dickens: In loving memory I found the black virgin (Space 4) is a solo exhibition of colourful collaged paintings exploring the artist’s journey of self discovery. Up the Coast: Day tripping, weekenders and getting away (Story Hall) celebrates the affinity Brisbane residents have for coastal getaways to the Sunshine Coast from the 19th Century to present day.
Open 10am-5pm, seven days a week, MoB is located on the ground floor of City Hall. Admission is free.
Bahman Omidvar of Sinnamon Park has won the People’s Choice category in the 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards with this entry, A Feast of Food, Friendship and Faith, showing an Iranian New Year (NowRooz) celebration in Brisbane. Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said A Feast of Food, Friendship and Faith illustratedthe importance of diverse cultural celebrations in Brisbane’s community.
Brisbane residents and visitors have only until Christmas Eve to catch four Museum of Brisbane (MoB) exhibitions showing in City Hall before the dear old girl is closed for up to three years for much-needed repair work.
The exhibitions are City Machine, Brisbane Celebrates: 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards, Karla Dickens and Up the Coast: Day tripping, weekenders and getting away.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says MoB would be relocated in early 2010 with two gallery spaces set within 157 Ann Street while City Hall undergoes restoration.
“MoB has become well-known for its informative and entertaining exhibitions that tell many important stories about Brisbane,” Cr Newman said. “Through its exhibitions, MoB will continue to lead conversations about Brisbane’s diversity, its community and our City’s place in the world.
“City Hall holds a special place in Brisbane’s history which is why MoB is located here. “The next few weeks are a great opportunity to take a cultural journey and catch some fascinating exhibitions in the building’s pre-restoration state.”
City Machine (Space 2) reveals Brisbane’s building blocks and how the city was ‘made’. The exhibition features historical photographs, documents and illustrations from the last 150 years such as proclamations, plans and diagrams of Brisbane’s first roads, bridges, reservoirs and tramways.
Brisbane Celebrates: 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards (Space 3) is an exhibition of more than 150 photographic works including winning and finalist entries from the 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards, which pay tribute to how Brisbane celebrated memorable moments and events throughout our 150th year.
Karla Dickens: In loving memory I found the black virgin (Space 4) is a solo exhibition of colourful collaged paintings exploring the artist’s journey of self discovery. Up the Coast: Day tripping, weekenders and getting away (Story Hall) celebrates the affinity Brisbane residents have for coastal getaways to the Sunshine Coast from the 19th Century to present day.
Open 10am-5pm, seven days a week, MoB is located on the ground floor of City Hall. Admission is free.
Bahman Omidvar of Sinnamon Park has won the People’s Choice category in the 2009 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards with this entry, A Feast of Food, Friendship and Faith, showing an Iranian New Year (NowRooz) celebration in Brisbane. Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said A Feast of Food, Friendship and Faith illustratedthe importance of diverse cultural celebrations in Brisbane’s community.
Yungaba battle all but lost
Yungaba Action Group have held a last-ditch protest rally on the grounds of the former historic immigration centre at Kangaroo Point, only days before the building and its riverside grounds were officially handed over to developers.
Group spokeswoman Del Cuddihy said about 70 demonstrators had gathered on the grass on the riverside at Yungaba last Sunday morning to show the State Government had made a tragic mistake in selling off the Yungaba building for residential development.
The historic building and its riverside grounds were handed over to developer Austrland on Tuesday, December 15.
Built in the late 19th Century by Queensland’s government architect J.J. Clarke, Yungaba was an immigration centre for much of the first half of the 20th Century and Yungaba Action Group had fought hard to keep the colonial Yungaba house in public hands as an immigration museum.
The Government sold Yungaba and its riverside lands to Australand in 2003 for an amount that Works Minister Robert Schwarten has always declared “commercial in confidence”. Following this week's formal handover, Australand plans to convert Yungaba into 10 luxury exclusive apartments and will also build three nearby residential towers on the 1.9 hectare site.
Australand has undertaken to build a multicultural centre worth several millions of dollars on the edge of the site but Yungaba Action Group has said such a centre will be a white elephant, with no real connection or relevance to the history of immigration in Queensland.
Yungaba Action Group has been buoyed by recent national coverage of the sale, with a recent weekend edition of The Australian running a major news feature, with actor Geoffrey Rush and writer David Malouf both calling on the government to retain the building in public hands as a museum.
Architect Robert Riddel who was on the heritage council that assessed Australand’s plans, also questioned the sell-off.
Malouf wrote: “What a gift it would be to a generation of Australians, 50 years from now, if some part of the place were preserved, and its archaeology of feeling made visible and passed on.”
Parking woes to worsen?
News
The introduction of a new bus service from Newstead through the Valley to the city and West End could see the removal of dozens of on-street carparks, the local councillor warns.
Cr David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) says the council is considering the fate of carparking along Ann and Wickham streets as part of the new “City Glider” service. Cr Hinchliffe said he had lodged a petition on behalf of 16 traders in the Ann St area earlier this year asking for one-hour parking in Ann Street on weekends to encourage “turnover”' of parking.
The response from council was: “Brisbane Transport (BT) are currently finalising the proposal to implement the City Glider Bus Service which is likely to impact on some of the current parking restrictions along Ann Street.
A decision regarding the impact of the City Glider on future parking restrictions should be known by late January, early February 2010.' Cr Hinchliffe called on the council to state clearly whether parking will be impacted and how.
“I support the City Glider service, but I also think it’s vital that council consult with all businesses in the Valley and the general public about whether whole lanes of parking or traffic will be dedicated to the new service or not.
“We know the general issues, but the devil is always in the detail. This service is a good initiative, but good initiatives can be undone by sloppy detail.
“It’s time for the council to take the community into its confidence and tell it like it is. Will the Valley lose a lot of on-street parking? If so, where and how much?”
The introduction of a new bus service from Newstead through the Valley to the city and West End could see the removal of dozens of on-street carparks, the local councillor warns.
Cr David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) says the council is considering the fate of carparking along Ann and Wickham streets as part of the new “City Glider” service. Cr Hinchliffe said he had lodged a petition on behalf of 16 traders in the Ann St area earlier this year asking for one-hour parking in Ann Street on weekends to encourage “turnover”' of parking.
The response from council was: “Brisbane Transport (BT) are currently finalising the proposal to implement the City Glider Bus Service which is likely to impact on some of the current parking restrictions along Ann Street.
A decision regarding the impact of the City Glider on future parking restrictions should be known by late January, early February 2010.' Cr Hinchliffe called on the council to state clearly whether parking will be impacted and how.
“I support the City Glider service, but I also think it’s vital that council consult with all businesses in the Valley and the general public about whether whole lanes of parking or traffic will be dedicated to the new service or not.
“We know the general issues, but the devil is always in the detail. This service is a good initiative, but good initiatives can be undone by sloppy detail.
“It’s time for the council to take the community into its confidence and tell it like it is. Will the Valley lose a lot of on-street parking? If so, where and how much?”
Valley project gives hope to our city’s homeless
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has announce a $18.5 million Fortitude Valley housing project with Brisbane Housing Company (BHC) to help Brisbane’s homeless.
Brisbane City Council owns the Constance Street site and invited BHC onto a 1200 square metre portion of the site to provide a landmark development tackling affordable housing.
The building will feature 80 units with two levels of commercial space, earmarked for community groups who provide support services to the homeless.
The Lord Mayor (pictued above in front of a drawing of the project) said the development would be located next to council’s Green Square office headquarters, developed by Leighton.
“Council is tackling the issues of affordable housing and homelessness on a number of fronts. Working with developers and housing providers to encourage more affordable housing is an important part of that approach,” he said.
“And the problem of affordable housing is growing. Take the West End, which because of the chronic lack of supply, recorded the highest annual increase in weekly rental prices of about 40 per cent to $460 according to RP Data.”
Cr Newman said BHC could get access to council’s Affordable Housing Incentive Package and Housing Affordability Fund Infrastructure Charges Reduction Scheme schemes that could provide up to 87 per cent off infrastructure charges.
“Discounts off infrastructure charges can be significant savings, which is why we already offer a 35 per cent discount to developers to encourage the supply of new homes, and offer more again to non-profit agencies and providers of social and affordable housing,” he said.
“This development will provide Brisbane’s homeless with both good quality units and vital support services located inside the same building to help them back onto their feet.”
Brisbane City Council has provided Brisbane Housing Company with more than $14 million over six years.
Have your say on heritage
The Queensland Heritage Council’s Our Shared Heritage project invites the community to suggest places they’d like to see on the Queensland heritage register for future generations to enjoy.
“As the state’s independent advisor on heritage matters, one of the Heritage Council’s main jobs is to ensure the Queensland heritage register accurately tells the story of our state’s development – for all Queenslanders,” council chair David Eades said.
“We’ve been grateful for the efforts of the State Government’s state-wide heritage survey which has identified about 200 places so far that may be worthy of state heritage listing. “Now we are going direct to the community to ask which local places are important to them and need the protection of the Register.”
Mr Eades said the community’s suggestions would be forwarded to the Department of Environment and Resource Management’s Heritage Branch where they would be considered as a supplement to the statewide heritage survey and depending on research may then come before the Heritage Council for a decision on listing.
“Don’t miss out on the opportunity to protect the special place that you think is important to the state. Together we can ensure the Queensland heritage register captures iconic Queensland places of all descriptions,” he said.
What’s wanted
Name a place in Queensland that is not yet heritage-listed but which you believe should be by emailing your suggestions to the Queensland Heritage Council on heritage. council@derm.qld.gov.au before January 26, 2010.
The place nominated must fit at least one of the following criteria: • Rare, uncommon or endangered part of Queensland’s history
• Part of Queensland’s development
• Able to tell us something new about our state’s history
• A great example of its type
• Visually significant
• Creative or technically innovative for Queensland
• Special to a group for social, cultural or religious reasons
• Linked to an outstanding Queenslander or Queensland group
• Likely to reveal archaeological fact about Queensland’s history
• And not already on the State heritage register.
How do I find out if the place I’m thinking of is already heritage listed?
Check out the Queensland Heritage Register at http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/heritage/registers_and_inventories/queensland_heritage_register.html
Reservations expressed over rate rise
Property insights
A leading property researcher says the latest interest rate rise could prove to be a deterrent to first-home-buyers. PRDnationwide research director Aaron Maskrey (pictured) said the 0.25 per cent rate rise may take some of the momentum out of the expected rush of first home buyers to the market before the reduction to the home owners boost in late December.
“With the holiday season’s extra expenses – first-home buyers could think twice about buying with the latest rate rise as some could be priced out of the market,” he said. Mr Maskrey said recent rises to the rates have seen little “kick back” or change in spending or confidence.
“However, every increase now gets us closer to upsetting the fragile state of the economy, especially when you consider the turmoil which several major international economies find themselves in,” he said.
“So far, the RBA has had its movements spot on, as they help navigate the economy through turbulent times.
“The most recent rise should have little immediate impact to investors, but we could see long term, an increase in the number of investors re-enter the market due to the departure of first home buyers.”
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ .called the decision by the Reserve Bank to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent “premature considering Australia’s economic recovery is still in its infancy”.
“The increase also seems to go against the Reserve’s most recent comments on monetary policy which indicated that only if economic conditions evolved would a gradual adjustment of the cash rate be required over time,” REIQ managing director Dan Molloy said.
“The Reserve must be confident the current economic recovery is sustainable to increase rates an unprecedented three times in as many months.
“As there has been no substantial change to the economic forecast since the Reserve’s November meeting, another rate rise just a month later seems a little heavy-handed,” Mr Molloy said.
“While it is fair to say economic conditions in Australia haven’t been as dire as previously predicted, unemployment is still at its highest level in nearly eight years.
“Inflation is also easily within the Reserve’s target band and global conditions remain patchy, so it would have been preferable for the central bank to adopt a wait-and-see approach.”
Master Builders’ director of housing policy, Paul Bidwell, said that the rate rise “takes some of the gloss off strong approval figures in Queensland”.
“It remains to be seen whether the rate rise will undermine the emerging recovery in building activity. Movement in unemployment over the coming months will be a major factor in determining whether the emerging recovery continues.”
A leading property researcher says the latest interest rate rise could prove to be a deterrent to first-home-buyers. PRDnationwide research director Aaron Maskrey (pictured) said the 0.25 per cent rate rise may take some of the momentum out of the expected rush of first home buyers to the market before the reduction to the home owners boost in late December.
“With the holiday season’s extra expenses – first-home buyers could think twice about buying with the latest rate rise as some could be priced out of the market,” he said. Mr Maskrey said recent rises to the rates have seen little “kick back” or change in spending or confidence.
“However, every increase now gets us closer to upsetting the fragile state of the economy, especially when you consider the turmoil which several major international economies find themselves in,” he said.
“So far, the RBA has had its movements spot on, as they help navigate the economy through turbulent times.
“The most recent rise should have little immediate impact to investors, but we could see long term, an increase in the number of investors re-enter the market due to the departure of first home buyers.”
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ .called the decision by the Reserve Bank to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent “premature considering Australia’s economic recovery is still in its infancy”.
“The increase also seems to go against the Reserve’s most recent comments on monetary policy which indicated that only if economic conditions evolved would a gradual adjustment of the cash rate be required over time,” REIQ managing director Dan Molloy said.
“The Reserve must be confident the current economic recovery is sustainable to increase rates an unprecedented three times in as many months.
“As there has been no substantial change to the economic forecast since the Reserve’s November meeting, another rate rise just a month later seems a little heavy-handed,” Mr Molloy said.
“While it is fair to say economic conditions in Australia haven’t been as dire as previously predicted, unemployment is still at its highest level in nearly eight years.
“Inflation is also easily within the Reserve’s target band and global conditions remain patchy, so it would have been preferable for the central bank to adopt a wait-and-see approach.”
Master Builders’ director of housing policy, Paul Bidwell, said that the rate rise “takes some of the gloss off strong approval figures in Queensland”.
“It remains to be seen whether the rate rise will undermine the emerging recovery in building activity. Movement in unemployment over the coming months will be a major factor in determining whether the emerging recovery continues.”
Gambaros stands the test of time
Review: Gary Balkin
AT A GLANCE…
Gambaros Seafood Restaurant 33 Caxton Street
Phone 3369 9500
Hosts: Michael, John & Donny Gambaro
Licensed
Parking: On premises
RATING …
Food - 17
Wine List - 18
Service - 17
Ambience - 17
Over 50 years ago, at a time when most readers of The Independent were each a twinkle in the eye of a spawning oyster, there were three seafood havens in our Brisbane town – a Sandgate restaurant named Baxters (famous for its fresh mudcrab, oyster soup and black rye bread and where one could dine privately in a curtained-off alcove), a plainly furnished, totally unpretentious South Brisbane noshery Burleigh Marr’s (famous for its oysters shucked to order, and of course its sandies and mudcrab), and a tiny takeaway café (famous for its fish and chips and fresh crustaceans) run by the Gambaro brothers in Caxton Street, adjacent to the then small pub.
Whew, what a puffy statement! But the seafood was so exciting and good in those 1950s havens that we were all breathless with superlatives when describing the respective experiences at the three icons. In this 21st Century, only Gambaros lives on to sate our sense of seafood heritage.
The Nineteenth Century Baxters just faded away ever so sadly; Burleigh Marr’s, then also the great wholesaler to hundreds of hotel and restaurant outlets, suddenly closed its bustling diner when Burleigh Marr the man himself sold at a price he could not refuse. However the Gambaro boys, Michael and Dominic, steadily worked away, and they built an extended room next door for a small number of diners. This mushroomed in popularity, and the extensions gathered steam over a couple of decades. The fare was consistently very good, the Gambaros worked hard and were “always there” as genial, versatile hosts, cooks and waiters.
They also invested in prime New Farm property, operated a supermarket on the corner of Brunswick and Sydney streets, while their fresh, well-cooked unpretentious food in Caxton Street won over legions of fans. When Gambaros became licensed, the offerings were less than a dozen wines. But demand grew rapidly, new premises were built across the road in Caxton Street, and more renovations over the years built the business into what it is today – one of Australia’s most popular seafood restaurants. I have dined on Gambaros seafood twice this year – firstly in October at the Paddington Hotel bar celebrating the annual “Mad Monday” for the Broncos’ wiser and older generation – yes, the 1990s premiership players, coaches, staff and directors like to reflect and rejoice but drink comparatively moderately these days. Then after a few schooners Alfie Langer and Chris Johns arrange, with the Paddo’s blessing, some seafood from Gambaros for the 30 or so “good ol’ boys”. Michael Gambaro rolled up this year with platters of scrumptious prawn cutlets, crumbed whiting, calamari and sea scallops.
The Caxton Street godfather patted Wayne Bennett on the back, as they are indeed old friends (Wayne was given his first job as a 14 year old at their New Farm supermarket), and Michael, genial as ever, was assured that we all loved his seafood. I regarded it as superb. Fresh produce, still with the whiff of sea-salt and with the texture of perfection.
Last week, I visited Gambaros for a restaurant review, along with an Irish colleen born in England. Colleen, though English if you get my drift, embraces all things Irish with great enthusiasm. Michael was at the door, greeting us each by name, as Colleen is a local regular, and Michael has known me since the 1950s fish café days and later as a fellow seafood restaurateur at Pier Nine.
I didn’t reserve a table, but arrived at 5.30pm to ensure we’d be accommodated, supposedly anonymously. We were seated in a warm, welcoming manner in the exquisitely furbished restaurant, offered drinks, the classic wine list and the menu. Throughout the evening, the waiting staff and management were very professional, unobtrusive yet helpful and pleasant.
The menu is a far cry from the original, even that of the 1980s, featuring innovative dishes as well as those of the retro style. I was interested in how the average diner out celebrating, but on a limited budget, would fare, so we ordered accordingly. Colleen started with a Chandon champagne-style wine ($11) while I was keen on a draught Cascade light ale ($3.50) to go with her entrée of Crumbed Sea Scallops ($25.50) and my Old-Fashioned Crab Bisque ($12) with crab meat laced with brandy, drizzled with cream. The scallops were pronounced juicy in Colleen’s practised Celtic twang while I was glad the Irish Dish suggested I should order the damper croutons on the side, as the crunch really worked with the strong texture of the delicious, potent bisque.
For mains, I opted for the 20 year old house favourite Michael Special Barramundi ($36.50), dipped in parmesan, egg and cream, crumbed and pan-fried; and Colleen ordered the entrée sized garlic prawns ($25.50, $37.90 main), flambéed with brandy, shallot greens and cream, with a timbale of saffron rice. My barra was good, and the prawn I was offered had perfect texture though I considered the garlic cream a little bitter. I love garlic, but it’s horses for courses, neigh?
More innovative dishes include the Schezuan Pepper Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna with avocado, pickled ginger and wasabi mayo @ $25.50, and for the same price Ceviche of Clearwater Scallops and compressed watermelon. While I sipped my Bleasdale Potts Catch Verdelho, Langhorne Creek S.A. @$7.50, m' Irish pal-tra-la happiy giggled her way through a glass of Forest Hill Boobook unwooded Chardonnay, Great Southern W.A. @ $8.50. Good drops, with the giggle juice winning by a half-head, so thought m’ Colleen.
Mine Hosts in 2009 are Michael, John and Donny Gambaro, as Dominic retired several years ago. The Gambaro family also operate their wholesale market at South Brisbane and a café at New Farm on the site of the old supermarket shop. This café is run by youngest brother Frank, and it’s a good local seafood café for we New Farmers, especially when the efficient Frank is on the job there. Fresh fish is not so abundant here, except for the easily accessed Atlantic salmon.
If one is lucky, one can arrive early to buy fresh local snapper, but an unsympathetic laugh may greet you if you arrive too late in the day. But I can really recommend Frank’s snapper in crisp batter when he has the fresh fish in store.
Letting a boy’s imagination run wild
Where the Wild Things Are (PG)
Director: Spike Jonze Stars: Max Record, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper Rating: 4/5 101-minutes, now screening
Beloved children’s author Maurice Sendak had always been a little reticent about granting film rights to his legendary picture book, Where the Wild Things Are. After all, while the pictures themselves are fiercely evocative, there’s really only a hundred or so actual words in the slim title, and the narrative is even slimmer: little boy gets angry at his parents and wanders off into his imagination to lick his wounds.
But Sendak found a safe bet in his friend Spike Jonze, a young director whose career, while primarily featuring music videos, has occasionally diverted into the surreal, collaborating with the likes of Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation). In adapting Sendak’s book, Jonze relocated to Australia and began the complicated process of bringing to life a little boy’s imagination.
The result is quite astonishing. After he confronts his Mum (Catharine Keener) and her new boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) – the little feller has had a bad afternoon courtesy of his sister and her friends – Max runs off, jumps into a little boat, and sails to a new land filled with giant trees and populated with… well… scary monsters. But the diminutive Max overcomes his initial terror and bluffs the little group of monsters into believing he is their new king. Jonze has been quoted describing his film as less a children’s film, and more of a film about childhood, and it’s a fair call – he has expertly tapped into the psyche of a small boy coming to terms with his inner demons and learning to cope with them.
Max Record is simply astonishing as the boy in question, as are the various monsters, including the barely controlled Carol played by James Gandolfini. With glorious visuals and a wild, unrestrained soundtrack, this really is a masterpiece.
Feast awaits over Xmas break
With a veritable cornucopia of films coming up over the next few weeks, and as The Indie taking a break over the festive season,let’s highlight a few films I’m looking forward to at the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010.
Always worth waiting for, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has once again collaborated with the gorgeous Penelope Cruz in Broken Embraces (December 17). And it might be a case of ‘believe the hype’ when it comes to James Cameron’s Avatar (Dec 17), which has been 10 years in the making, and is rumoured to have cost almost half a billion dollars. I’ve seen a sneak preview of some of this sci-fi pic, and it does look incredible.
Boxing Day is traditionally one of the more lucrative dates on the cinematic calendar, and there are some big titles in the offing. Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lovely Bones (pictured below) which is based on the novel of the same name by Alice Sebold and is a compelling murder mystery starring Saorise Ronan, who was last seen in Atonement. And there have been some promising reports about Jane Campion’s period romance, Bright Star that tells the little known story of the romance between legendary poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). Sam Taylor Wood’s Nowhere Boy is a finely crafted bio-pic about John Lennon’s life before The Beatles; and if you’re looking for some grubby French post-Christmas fare, you can’t go past the very funny coming-of-age film, The French Kissers. Finally, January will see the release of Australian director John Hillcoat’s superb adaptation of The Road by Cormac McCarthy; George Clooney stars in Up in the Air, a comedy about what one man will do for frequent flyer miles; and Brisbane’s own Spearig brothers release their antidote to Twilight, in Daybreakers.
The Binge
Oz offerings on DVD worth a look
Dead Snow (R)
Lucky Country (M)
Balibo (M)
Samson and Delilah (MA15+)
The Cove (M)
Ghost in the Shell: 2.0 Redux (M)
(all now available through Madman Entertainment)
If you’re looking for some ideas for pressies in the countdown to Christmas, you can’t really go past a DVD; and there are numerous titles being released in time for the wrapping. Made by two Norwegian graduates from Bond University, Dead Snow is a zombie film with a difference: reanimated Nazis attacking stupid preppies on a ski trip – ’nuff said.
Three Aussie titles are being released, with Queensland’s own Kriv Stenders directing the gorgeously shot period piece Lucky Country starring Aden Young as a disillusioned farmer in the Victorian bush at the turn of the twentieth-century; Robert Connelly’s award-winning Balibo starring Anthony LaPaglia tells the story of six journalists who were murdered during Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor; and Warwick Thornton recently picked up a gong for Best Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for his beautiful film about young love in remote Australia, Samson and Delilah.
Doco lovers can’t go past The Cove. Directed by Louie Psioyos, this suspense-filled film exposes the practices of a very dodgy village in Japan that indulges in an annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins, and then passes the catch off as whale meat in the domestic market. And finally, something for the anime lovers out there, Mamoru Oshii has released a digital reproduction of his legendary Ghost in the Shell, (pictured below) the landmark animated film that inspired films such as The Matrix.
Less alcohol doesn’t have to mean less flavour
I don’t want you to think I’m a problem drinker, but I have to say that for me, low-alcohol wine almost always tastes like low-alcohol wine. The “almost” is there because there are a few well-flavoured low-alcohol wines out there. It depends a bit on your definition of low alcohol.
The subject arises because there’s a big drive on in some northern hemisphere countries – Britain and France leading the way – for winemakers to supply such wines. We read that retailers are “gearing up to stock a wider range of low-alcohol wines in the run-up to Christmas, in response to growing consumer demand and increasing health concerns about drinking”.
Research apparently tells them that British drinkers are knocking back more units of alcohol than they were nearly 10 years ago because of the prevalence of extra-strong lagers and high-alcohol wines. It suggests that consumers who want to buy low-alcohol wines prefer better-tasting products.
Important changes in European regulations, which have traditionally hampered the growth of this market, are also set to increase the pace of change. It is now legal to sell wine which has had its alcohol by volume reduced by up to 2 per cent through the use of two specialist techniques, reverse osmosis and the “spinning cone” method.
There’s a catch and it is that the processing required to lower the alcohol content of wine tends to affect its flavour. But figures from the market researchers Nielsen show that the broader category of low-alcohol drinks, which includes no-alcohol beers, wines and ciders, has seen sales grow 11 per cent in the past year.
The fact is that around 10 per cent alcohol by volume can deliver some lovely wines (e.g. Hunter semillon.)Lower than that you can expect the wine to have some degree of sweetness and there’s nothing at all wrong with those great German rieslings or indeed our local moscatos.
I like this hint, from somewhere in cyberspace: The single best way to create a wine that tastes like wine but has less alcohol in it is to add water, just like you do in the pub when you order a spritzer. This way, you take a good, balanced wine and simply dilute it. It won’t be quite so perfect but you can at least still taste the structure and detail of the original drink.
Here are three widely differing and delicious Australian wines, low in alcohol:
• Mount Eyre 2009 Three Ponds semillon is a fine example of how well this grape does in the Hunter _ grassy, lemony, vibrant with a crisp dry finish and a moderate 10.5 per cent alcohol by volume. Around $15
• Terra Felix Moscato Gold 2009 is sweet has low alcohol (5.7 per cent) and zippy and “comes in a clear glass bottle to let the golden hues shine through’. Last year’s vintage all went to China and sold out. Around $30.
• Jean Pierre sparkling brut delivers light-bodied fruit aromas, quite low alcohol (11 per cent), fresh and fruity without being overly sweet, crisp finish and a moderate price. Around $7.
Melba range worth singing about
Any entrepreneur who puts the words wine and opera in juxtaposition or even close to each other may be fairly confident that your reporter will make something of it. Which is why de Bortoli scores a mention here with its Melba range.
You will know a bit about Dame Nellie: this country’s first and one of its greatest operatic divas when that word meant rather more than it does in today’s gossip magazines.
She was pretty much queen of a big part of the western operatic stage and social scene for decades. Born Helen Porter Mitchell, she was the first Australian to gain international fame as a classical musician. Early on she married Charles Nisbett Frederick Armstrong, the son of a baronet, who managed a property near Mackay. They had one son, George. Although theoretically the marriage lasted almost 20 years, in practice it was over within two. Melba majestically moved on.
On one of her return trips to Australia in 1909, she bought a property in Coldstream, Yarra Valley and called it Coombe Cottage, after a house where she had stayed while singing at Covent Garden. She retired in 1928, died in 1931 and was buried in Lilydale cemetery.
The Melba range, de Bortoli tells us, is in her honour. Questioned about who is the opera-lover in the company, chief winemaker Steve Weber nominated his wife Leanne (nee de Bortoli). On more technical matters: “These wines are our interpretation of cabernet blends made in claret styles. “We are using most of eh Bordeaux varieties as well as syrah, sangiovese and nebbiolo to produce three distinct styles of claret, some of them closer to the cabernets from Bolgheri than from Graves. All wines are deliberately fine and medium bodied".
The wines are: 2007 Melba reserve, described as typical of the classical styles made famous by the valley’s pioneers. Touch of merlot. It is made to be long-living and comes in a heavy bottle. $60 and well worth it. 2007 Melba Lucia blends cabernet and sangiovese to produce a wine “that is quite Mediterranean in style"’. Dame Nellie must have done a pretty good Lucia di Lammermoor, as of course did Dame Joan, happily still with us. Delicious at $31. 2008 Mimi, she of the cold hand in La Boheme, inevitably another Melba role.
And by the way, Mimi’s real name, she tells us, is Lucia. Here are cabernet, syrah and nebbiolo, combining to produce a distinct “elegance, savouriness and brood’’. Romantic and lovely. $31.
The subject arises because there’s a big drive on in some northern hemisphere countries – Britain and France leading the way – for winemakers to supply such wines. We read that retailers are “gearing up to stock a wider range of low-alcohol wines in the run-up to Christmas, in response to growing consumer demand and increasing health concerns about drinking”.
Research apparently tells them that British drinkers are knocking back more units of alcohol than they were nearly 10 years ago because of the prevalence of extra-strong lagers and high-alcohol wines. It suggests that consumers who want to buy low-alcohol wines prefer better-tasting products.
Important changes in European regulations, which have traditionally hampered the growth of this market, are also set to increase the pace of change. It is now legal to sell wine which has had its alcohol by volume reduced by up to 2 per cent through the use of two specialist techniques, reverse osmosis and the “spinning cone” method.
There’s a catch and it is that the processing required to lower the alcohol content of wine tends to affect its flavour. But figures from the market researchers Nielsen show that the broader category of low-alcohol drinks, which includes no-alcohol beers, wines and ciders, has seen sales grow 11 per cent in the past year.
The fact is that around 10 per cent alcohol by volume can deliver some lovely wines (e.g. Hunter semillon.)Lower than that you can expect the wine to have some degree of sweetness and there’s nothing at all wrong with those great German rieslings or indeed our local moscatos.
I like this hint, from somewhere in cyberspace: The single best way to create a wine that tastes like wine but has less alcohol in it is to add water, just like you do in the pub when you order a spritzer. This way, you take a good, balanced wine and simply dilute it. It won’t be quite so perfect but you can at least still taste the structure and detail of the original drink.
Here are three widely differing and delicious Australian wines, low in alcohol:
• Mount Eyre 2009 Three Ponds semillon is a fine example of how well this grape does in the Hunter _ grassy, lemony, vibrant with a crisp dry finish and a moderate 10.5 per cent alcohol by volume. Around $15
• Terra Felix Moscato Gold 2009 is sweet has low alcohol (5.7 per cent) and zippy and “comes in a clear glass bottle to let the golden hues shine through’. Last year’s vintage all went to China and sold out. Around $30.
• Jean Pierre sparkling brut delivers light-bodied fruit aromas, quite low alcohol (11 per cent), fresh and fruity without being overly sweet, crisp finish and a moderate price. Around $7.
Melba range worth singing about
Any entrepreneur who puts the words wine and opera in juxtaposition or even close to each other may be fairly confident that your reporter will make something of it. Which is why de Bortoli scores a mention here with its Melba range.
You will know a bit about Dame Nellie: this country’s first and one of its greatest operatic divas when that word meant rather more than it does in today’s gossip magazines.
She was pretty much queen of a big part of the western operatic stage and social scene for decades. Born Helen Porter Mitchell, she was the first Australian to gain international fame as a classical musician. Early on she married Charles Nisbett Frederick Armstrong, the son of a baronet, who managed a property near Mackay. They had one son, George. Although theoretically the marriage lasted almost 20 years, in practice it was over within two. Melba majestically moved on.
On one of her return trips to Australia in 1909, she bought a property in Coldstream, Yarra Valley and called it Coombe Cottage, after a house where she had stayed while singing at Covent Garden. She retired in 1928, died in 1931 and was buried in Lilydale cemetery.
The Melba range, de Bortoli tells us, is in her honour. Questioned about who is the opera-lover in the company, chief winemaker Steve Weber nominated his wife Leanne (nee de Bortoli). On more technical matters: “These wines are our interpretation of cabernet blends made in claret styles. “We are using most of eh Bordeaux varieties as well as syrah, sangiovese and nebbiolo to produce three distinct styles of claret, some of them closer to the cabernets from Bolgheri than from Graves. All wines are deliberately fine and medium bodied".
The wines are: 2007 Melba reserve, described as typical of the classical styles made famous by the valley’s pioneers. Touch of merlot. It is made to be long-living and comes in a heavy bottle. $60 and well worth it. 2007 Melba Lucia blends cabernet and sangiovese to produce a wine “that is quite Mediterranean in style"’. Dame Nellie must have done a pretty good Lucia di Lammermoor, as of course did Dame Joan, happily still with us. Delicious at $31. 2008 Mimi, she of the cold hand in La Boheme, inevitably another Melba role.
And by the way, Mimi’s real name, she tells us, is Lucia. Here are cabernet, syrah and nebbiolo, combining to produce a distinct “elegance, savouriness and brood’’. Romantic and lovely. $31.
Those dark days are behind us, right?
Last Wednesday was December 2 and for Queenslanders it marked a significant turning point in our state’s history. On that day in 1823 explorer John Oxley sighted the mouth of the Brisbane River, and set in train a series of events that led ultimately to establishment of the Moreton Bay and eventually the state of Queensland. Of course December 2 also marked the election in 1972 of the doomed federal Labor Government under PM Gough Whitlam.
The date also marked the 1989 election of the doomed Labor Government in Queensland under Premier Wayne Goss. The Labor Party held a big dinner at the Brisbane Convention Centre to mark the occasion and your columnist was pleased to be invited along as a guest of a Labor pollie. W
hy I received the invitation is a mystery, but the pollie in question professed a deep admiration for my jottings over the years and emphasised the point by regularly placing a hand on my upper thigh and giving a gentle squeeze now and then. Still, I must hasten to add that your columnist maintained her journalistic independence and did not respond to the overt hints of physical desire.
Nevertheless, it was a pleasant evening and as the night wore on, it started me thinking about how much has changed in the past 20 years at the state government levels. Those of us around in the dark days of the Bjelke-Petersen regime and those of his successors up to December 1989 would remember that our state was run by governments that had, at best, a prickly relationship with trade unions. They were keen on privatising services, starting with prisons. They were seen to be unduly open to the influence of developers and others who made big donations to the ruling party. They tried to impose an unwanted dam on a sleepy south-east Queensland community. Ministers were going to jail for official wrongdoings. And they had plans to hive off formerly sacrosanct national park, notably on Lindeman Island, for private accommodation.
Thank goodness those dark days are far behind us.
****
Like me, you would have seen state government adverts on TV urging motorists to slow down at roadworks and obey the signs telling us to obey lower speed limits, usually 40kph. A good idea, of course. But like me you no doubt also have come across the 40kph signs at places or at times when no roadworks are in progress.
In recent weeks, while piloting my trusty 1965 Land Rover around near-city suburbs, several such signs have told me to slow to 40kph. But in all cases there were no roadworks as such, the only activity being building work that ended at the fenceline. At one site, the 40kph sign was on show, but once through the roadworks there was no sign to tell drivers to resume normal speed.
If the government wants to instill in drivers’ minds the idea of routinely slowing down at roadworks, it needs to make sure the signs mandating a lower speed limit are not used and abused.
***
Former federal Labor Party leader, former alternative prime minister, and well-known walking pile of unadulterated political bile, Mark Latham, has a regular column in the Australian Financial Review. In a recent column he urged the federal government to sell the ABC radio, television, and now internet network. His argument was based on a belief that the commercial network owners could fill the gap left by the disappearance of our national broadcaster, while the government could raise several billions of dollars to boost the budget’s bottom line.
If you are someone who believes the current offerings of networks Seven, Nine, and Ten outshine those of the ABC for quality and depth of coverage, then Mr latham may convince you to offload a national and international broadcasting institution. But from my point of view, it would be difficult to sell the idea that Today Tonight or A Current Affair could take the place of the 7.30 Report, Lateline, or Foreign Correspondent.
It is also relevant to note that of all the new free TV channels started in the past few months, it is the ABC’s third channel that actually has a lot of new content, including Australian-made programs. Channel 10’s One focuses on sport, while Channel Nine’s Go channel and Seven2 are take up by reruns, usually of US-made shows. How many more times can we watch I Dream of Jeannie?
It is difficult not to come to the conclusion that Mr Latham is grasping at straws in a bid to remain part of our public discourse. Thankfully not many people take notice of him any more.
The date also marked the 1989 election of the doomed Labor Government in Queensland under Premier Wayne Goss. The Labor Party held a big dinner at the Brisbane Convention Centre to mark the occasion and your columnist was pleased to be invited along as a guest of a Labor pollie. W
hy I received the invitation is a mystery, but the pollie in question professed a deep admiration for my jottings over the years and emphasised the point by regularly placing a hand on my upper thigh and giving a gentle squeeze now and then. Still, I must hasten to add that your columnist maintained her journalistic independence and did not respond to the overt hints of physical desire.
Nevertheless, it was a pleasant evening and as the night wore on, it started me thinking about how much has changed in the past 20 years at the state government levels. Those of us around in the dark days of the Bjelke-Petersen regime and those of his successors up to December 1989 would remember that our state was run by governments that had, at best, a prickly relationship with trade unions. They were keen on privatising services, starting with prisons. They were seen to be unduly open to the influence of developers and others who made big donations to the ruling party. They tried to impose an unwanted dam on a sleepy south-east Queensland community. Ministers were going to jail for official wrongdoings. And they had plans to hive off formerly sacrosanct national park, notably on Lindeman Island, for private accommodation.
Thank goodness those dark days are far behind us.
****
Like me, you would have seen state government adverts on TV urging motorists to slow down at roadworks and obey the signs telling us to obey lower speed limits, usually 40kph. A good idea, of course. But like me you no doubt also have come across the 40kph signs at places or at times when no roadworks are in progress.
In recent weeks, while piloting my trusty 1965 Land Rover around near-city suburbs, several such signs have told me to slow to 40kph. But in all cases there were no roadworks as such, the only activity being building work that ended at the fenceline. At one site, the 40kph sign was on show, but once through the roadworks there was no sign to tell drivers to resume normal speed.
If the government wants to instill in drivers’ minds the idea of routinely slowing down at roadworks, it needs to make sure the signs mandating a lower speed limit are not used and abused.
***
Former federal Labor Party leader, former alternative prime minister, and well-known walking pile of unadulterated political bile, Mark Latham, has a regular column in the Australian Financial Review. In a recent column he urged the federal government to sell the ABC radio, television, and now internet network. His argument was based on a belief that the commercial network owners could fill the gap left by the disappearance of our national broadcaster, while the government could raise several billions of dollars to boost the budget’s bottom line.
If you are someone who believes the current offerings of networks Seven, Nine, and Ten outshine those of the ABC for quality and depth of coverage, then Mr latham may convince you to offload a national and international broadcasting institution. But from my point of view, it would be difficult to sell the idea that Today Tonight or A Current Affair could take the place of the 7.30 Report, Lateline, or Foreign Correspondent.
It is also relevant to note that of all the new free TV channels started in the past few months, it is the ABC’s third channel that actually has a lot of new content, including Australian-made programs. Channel 10’s One focuses on sport, while Channel Nine’s Go channel and Seven2 are take up by reruns, usually of US-made shows. How many more times can we watch I Dream of Jeannie?
It is difficult not to come to the conclusion that Mr Latham is grasping at straws in a bid to remain part of our public discourse. Thankfully not many people take notice of him any more.
No budgie protest recorded
By Mungo MacCallum
Tony Abbott can afford to feel a bit happier after the weekend’s by-elections – but only a bit. The Liberals certainly avoided the backlash feared by the party’s nervous nellies, and held their safe seats without the humiliation of going to preferences.
In Bradfield, their primary vote was down by 3.7 percent, but most of that went to the heavenly host of Christian Democrats on the ballot paper, and came back to the Libs in preferences. In Higgins the primary vote slipped by 1.9 per cent, but after preferences the Libs actually picked up 1.5 per cent on the 2007 result, suggesting that far from having a strong personal following, the departed Peter Costello may actually have been a negative factor.
Certainly there was no evidence of a protest vote because of climate change, factional brawling or even Abbott’s appearance in budgie smugglers. But nor should there have been: protest votes are used by the electorate to chastise governments, not oppositions. With some justice the Libs point out that there were no Labor candidates standing to protest against; but any genuine anti-government vote should, to be at all useful to Abbott, have translated itself into support for the Liberals on offer. Normally by this stage in the electoral cycle even popular governments suffer a swing against them in by-elections of around 2 to 5 per cent as the voters remind them that they are not to be taken for granted. The fact that this did not occur indicates that Abbott has a lot of work to do if he is to generate any momentum for change next year. But he already knows this.
He emerged from the chaos of the last fortnight more or less by accident, and then only after Joe Hockey disqualified himself from serious consideration by answering “maybe” to what was always a yes-no question on climate change. There is much sympathy for Hockey on the basis that he was always a reluctant candidate, persuaded to stand in order to save the party from complete destruction, and then promptly pushed over a cliff by an ungrateful party room. But in fact Hockey may be the lucky one.
There is some evidence that Nick Minchin and his fellow terrorists had planned to use Hockey as a sacrificial lamb: he would become leader and save some seats at the 2010 poll, after which he would be tossed aside like a worn-out sock and Abbott would take over for the more winnable 2013 election.
Instead the roles have been reversed, and Abbott could well suffer the fate of so many of his predecessors. It is rare indeed for losing Liberal leaders to be given a second chance. Still, once Minchin and Alan Jones made it clear they would wreck the whole party rather than bow to Malcolm Turnbull and his views on climate change, and then Hockey refused to abandon his principles – well, not all of them – there was no choice left: as Labor had done in 2003 with Mark Latham, the only option was to kick high and chase and hope for a lucky bounce.
It was unquestionably what Sir Humphrey Appleby would have called a courageous decision; according to the polls Abbott was the least popular candidate on offer, with views shared by less than one third of the electorate. He was certainly the choice of the bedrock, rusted on, grass roots, heartland (choose your metaphor) of the party, but they were the ones who had nowhere else to go, except possibly to the Nationals or to fringe independents; they certainly weren’t going to vote Labor.
To win back government the Libs need the middle ground, which has never been Abbott’s preferred territory. But as he says, at least there will now be clear points of difference on just about every issue, and in some ways this is a good thing for politics in general. In particular, it means that the government has to pull its collective finger out and start working up climate change as a political priority.
For more than a year it has been allowed to drift, allowing the deniers, rent-seekers and loonies to make the running, and as a result public enthusiasm for action has dwindled. If it had remained at its earlier level Minchin’s Al Qaeda would never have gained the acquiescence of the backbench for scepticism and rejection. Now Abbott has put himself forward as the caped (well, speedoed) crusader who will save us all from the greenie communist scourge.
Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong will have to get back in the field and this time run a well-planned and consistent campaign to explain the science, the threat and the way to meet it. It actually doesn’t matter if the average punter does not understand exactly how an emissions trading scheme works; the average punter doesn’t understand exactly how a television set works either, but television sets are regarded as necessities in most households.
Rudd’s ETS may look a bit like a black and white HMV set, but at least it’s a start; we can upgrade to the HD flat screen plasma digital model as time and circumstance allow. The important thing is to allay the doubts and fears in the electorate which Abbott, aided by the above mentioned deniers, rent-seekers and loonies, will be seeking to exploit. Given that the overwhelming mood in the electorate is still for action of some kind, that should not be too hard. Abbott’s formula – that any cost can be either avoided altogether or deferred – is neither defensible nor credible. Rudd has now missed his Copenhagen deadline; he can afford to postpone his projected double dissolution election until the second half of next year, when it will be the best fit both technically and politically.
That gives him plenty of time to restore rationality to the debate – and for Abbott to become the third Liberal leader to self-destruct over the issue.
Tony Abbott can afford to feel a bit happier after the weekend’s by-elections – but only a bit. The Liberals certainly avoided the backlash feared by the party’s nervous nellies, and held their safe seats without the humiliation of going to preferences.
In Bradfield, their primary vote was down by 3.7 percent, but most of that went to the heavenly host of Christian Democrats on the ballot paper, and came back to the Libs in preferences. In Higgins the primary vote slipped by 1.9 per cent, but after preferences the Libs actually picked up 1.5 per cent on the 2007 result, suggesting that far from having a strong personal following, the departed Peter Costello may actually have been a negative factor.
Certainly there was no evidence of a protest vote because of climate change, factional brawling or even Abbott’s appearance in budgie smugglers. But nor should there have been: protest votes are used by the electorate to chastise governments, not oppositions. With some justice the Libs point out that there were no Labor candidates standing to protest against; but any genuine anti-government vote should, to be at all useful to Abbott, have translated itself into support for the Liberals on offer. Normally by this stage in the electoral cycle even popular governments suffer a swing against them in by-elections of around 2 to 5 per cent as the voters remind them that they are not to be taken for granted. The fact that this did not occur indicates that Abbott has a lot of work to do if he is to generate any momentum for change next year. But he already knows this.
He emerged from the chaos of the last fortnight more or less by accident, and then only after Joe Hockey disqualified himself from serious consideration by answering “maybe” to what was always a yes-no question on climate change. There is much sympathy for Hockey on the basis that he was always a reluctant candidate, persuaded to stand in order to save the party from complete destruction, and then promptly pushed over a cliff by an ungrateful party room. But in fact Hockey may be the lucky one.
There is some evidence that Nick Minchin and his fellow terrorists had planned to use Hockey as a sacrificial lamb: he would become leader and save some seats at the 2010 poll, after which he would be tossed aside like a worn-out sock and Abbott would take over for the more winnable 2013 election.
Instead the roles have been reversed, and Abbott could well suffer the fate of so many of his predecessors. It is rare indeed for losing Liberal leaders to be given a second chance. Still, once Minchin and Alan Jones made it clear they would wreck the whole party rather than bow to Malcolm Turnbull and his views on climate change, and then Hockey refused to abandon his principles – well, not all of them – there was no choice left: as Labor had done in 2003 with Mark Latham, the only option was to kick high and chase and hope for a lucky bounce.
It was unquestionably what Sir Humphrey Appleby would have called a courageous decision; according to the polls Abbott was the least popular candidate on offer, with views shared by less than one third of the electorate. He was certainly the choice of the bedrock, rusted on, grass roots, heartland (choose your metaphor) of the party, but they were the ones who had nowhere else to go, except possibly to the Nationals or to fringe independents; they certainly weren’t going to vote Labor.
To win back government the Libs need the middle ground, which has never been Abbott’s preferred territory. But as he says, at least there will now be clear points of difference on just about every issue, and in some ways this is a good thing for politics in general. In particular, it means that the government has to pull its collective finger out and start working up climate change as a political priority.
For more than a year it has been allowed to drift, allowing the deniers, rent-seekers and loonies to make the running, and as a result public enthusiasm for action has dwindled. If it had remained at its earlier level Minchin’s Al Qaeda would never have gained the acquiescence of the backbench for scepticism and rejection. Now Abbott has put himself forward as the caped (well, speedoed) crusader who will save us all from the greenie communist scourge.
Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong will have to get back in the field and this time run a well-planned and consistent campaign to explain the science, the threat and the way to meet it. It actually doesn’t matter if the average punter does not understand exactly how an emissions trading scheme works; the average punter doesn’t understand exactly how a television set works either, but television sets are regarded as necessities in most households.
Rudd’s ETS may look a bit like a black and white HMV set, but at least it’s a start; we can upgrade to the HD flat screen plasma digital model as time and circumstance allow. The important thing is to allay the doubts and fears in the electorate which Abbott, aided by the above mentioned deniers, rent-seekers and loonies, will be seeking to exploit. Given that the overwhelming mood in the electorate is still for action of some kind, that should not be too hard. Abbott’s formula – that any cost can be either avoided altogether or deferred – is neither defensible nor credible. Rudd has now missed his Copenhagen deadline; he can afford to postpone his projected double dissolution election until the second half of next year, when it will be the best fit both technically and politically.
That gives him plenty of time to restore rationality to the debate – and for Abbott to become the third Liberal leader to self-destruct over the issue.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
‘Incompetence the final straw’
Departing venue owner lashes out at govts
News
One of the leading lights in the Valley entertainment scene for the past two decades has called last drinks as a venue owner with a swipe at the “incompetent” legislators largely behind his decision to quit the industry.
Stephen Fitzgerald, long-time owner of iconic Ric’s in the Valley and the adjoining popular Fat Boys Cafe, told The Independent: “I’ve been a licensee in Australia in all states over three decades, and I’ve learnt there’s something worse than corruption and that’s incompetence. And right now we have some of the most incompetent legislators in control.
“The Hill Song Brigade and (Queensland Premier) Bligh scare the shit out of me more than a guy with a broken glass or a knife.”
Asked whether red tape and government regulations were making it harder for licensees to conform and make a living, Mr Fitzgerald said: “It’s impossible to conform because the governments change the legislation before you’ve had time to comply or before that legislation has been in place long enough to see if it works. And those changes are now media driven [and are] not good government policy.”
Mr Fitzgerald, whose beer trade at Ric’s was stubbie based, said the prospects of licensed venues such as Ric’s having to put beer or wine into plastic cups had also helped hasten his decision to move on.
“The threat of compulsory use of plastic cups was the last straw,” Mr Fitzgerald said. “A vibrant cafe society has an aesthetic and there’s no aesthetic in drinking your favourite wine or beer out of a plastic tumbler like a toddler. Maybe we could all abstain and become tea toddlers.”
Asked to detail his most costly run-in with authorities over his time in hospitality in the Valley, Mr Fitzgerald said: “Just over four years ago a malicious complaint caused QFRS (Queensland Fire and Rescue Service) to inspect the building Ric’s occupies. They deemed the building classification was wrong and gave us a notice to install sprinklers and alarms at a cost of more than $120,000, with 60 days to comply.
“We disagreed but tried to get a contractor to do the work. The construction boom was on and we couldn't get the work done within six months. QFRS and OLGR (the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing) closed us down before we could resolve this. I was stunned; we had been operating for over 11 years prior. We lost $500,000 in revenue and five staff by the time we found the right avenue of appeal which was the High Court.
“We won, on the provision we supplied the QFRS with the certificate of classification (COC). Until then we were allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity. We waited 12 months for a coherent reply from the Brisbane City Council as to the COC which it eventuated had been lost in the system around 1992. The only resolution was a new COC . “The legals, the certifier, the architect, the builder were heading for $250,000. The only way we could get the certifier to write the COC was to install alarms, more toilets and a ramp, totalling $150,000. So we had to placate the certifier to get his COC out before we could satisfy the QFRS.
“We got the COC in our hands in January this year about the same time OLGR hit us up for $20,000 for trading after midnight. It was shortly after this I started waking up at 4am and thinking: “Hey I think it’s time to move on."
Below are other questions put to Mr Fitzgerald and his answers:
Q: There’s been an explosion in the number of licensed premises in the Valley since your first foray into hospitality here in May 1991 with the cafe Red Hot & Blue. Does your departure, from Ric’s especially, suggest it’s perhaps becoming too hard to make a decent living with all that competition?
A: The competition is good and the diversity is great. Look at the accolades Gourmet traveller, in-flight magazines, Vogue, rolling stone, etc, have given to all of us at various times – something the trash media don’t mention when they’re focused on violence and alcohol abuse. The danger is entertainment precincts become tourist destinations rather than liveable communities so the hoards come in on the weekend and the rest of the week is a ghost town. With urban renewal comes property price rises the rents go up the kids cant live in the area so you get a theme park or a retirement gated community rather than an arts precinct.
Q: The local chamber of commerce has endorsed the push for small boutique bars catering to a very small number of patrons. A welcome addition, or will it just make life harder for established venues such as Ric's?
A: This is a great idea and what Ric’s should have been classified as years ago.
Q: You’ve been a solid supporter of local, live music for all the time you’ve had Ric’s. How do you rate that scene now with, say 15 years ago, and are there enough outlets for emerging bands to strut their stuff before a live audience.
A: There are more venues than ever in every capital city. The problem is the bands are not pulling the crowds and that has nothing to do with their talent, but again that’s a cycle. In 10 years the scene will be very exciting when the current baby boom hits their teens.
Q: The VEP is Australia’s first designated entertainment precinct. Is it here to stay, or will those who now question the wisdom of concentrating licensed premises in one small area win the day and we’ll see the VEP wound back?
A: They’ll renege on it for sure.
Q: You’re walking out of here after a lifetime in hospitality. Will you be back with a new venue some day?
A: I’m turning 52 next week. We’ve put on a gig 365 days a year for 15 years which must be up there with some record. I’d like to find another circus for a couple of more shows after I’ve written the memoir expose of the last one.
Last drinks: Stephen Fitzgerald pours a farewell drink at Ric's, while a friend checks to make sure he comforms with the venue's dress code.
News
One of the leading lights in the Valley entertainment scene for the past two decades has called last drinks as a venue owner with a swipe at the “incompetent” legislators largely behind his decision to quit the industry.
Stephen Fitzgerald, long-time owner of iconic Ric’s in the Valley and the adjoining popular Fat Boys Cafe, told The Independent: “I’ve been a licensee in Australia in all states over three decades, and I’ve learnt there’s something worse than corruption and that’s incompetence. And right now we have some of the most incompetent legislators in control.
“The Hill Song Brigade and (Queensland Premier) Bligh scare the shit out of me more than a guy with a broken glass or a knife.”
Asked whether red tape and government regulations were making it harder for licensees to conform and make a living, Mr Fitzgerald said: “It’s impossible to conform because the governments change the legislation before you’ve had time to comply or before that legislation has been in place long enough to see if it works. And those changes are now media driven [and are] not good government policy.”
Mr Fitzgerald, whose beer trade at Ric’s was stubbie based, said the prospects of licensed venues such as Ric’s having to put beer or wine into plastic cups had also helped hasten his decision to move on.
“The threat of compulsory use of plastic cups was the last straw,” Mr Fitzgerald said. “A vibrant cafe society has an aesthetic and there’s no aesthetic in drinking your favourite wine or beer out of a plastic tumbler like a toddler. Maybe we could all abstain and become tea toddlers.”
Asked to detail his most costly run-in with authorities over his time in hospitality in the Valley, Mr Fitzgerald said: “Just over four years ago a malicious complaint caused QFRS (Queensland Fire and Rescue Service) to inspect the building Ric’s occupies. They deemed the building classification was wrong and gave us a notice to install sprinklers and alarms at a cost of more than $120,000, with 60 days to comply.
“We disagreed but tried to get a contractor to do the work. The construction boom was on and we couldn't get the work done within six months. QFRS and OLGR (the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing) closed us down before we could resolve this. I was stunned; we had been operating for over 11 years prior. We lost $500,000 in revenue and five staff by the time we found the right avenue of appeal which was the High Court.
“We won, on the provision we supplied the QFRS with the certificate of classification (COC). Until then we were allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity. We waited 12 months for a coherent reply from the Brisbane City Council as to the COC which it eventuated had been lost in the system around 1992. The only resolution was a new COC . “The legals, the certifier, the architect, the builder were heading for $250,000. The only way we could get the certifier to write the COC was to install alarms, more toilets and a ramp, totalling $150,000. So we had to placate the certifier to get his COC out before we could satisfy the QFRS.
“We got the COC in our hands in January this year about the same time OLGR hit us up for $20,000 for trading after midnight. It was shortly after this I started waking up at 4am and thinking: “Hey I think it’s time to move on."
Below are other questions put to Mr Fitzgerald and his answers:
Q: There’s been an explosion in the number of licensed premises in the Valley since your first foray into hospitality here in May 1991 with the cafe Red Hot & Blue. Does your departure, from Ric’s especially, suggest it’s perhaps becoming too hard to make a decent living with all that competition?
A: The competition is good and the diversity is great. Look at the accolades Gourmet traveller, in-flight magazines, Vogue, rolling stone, etc, have given to all of us at various times – something the trash media don’t mention when they’re focused on violence and alcohol abuse. The danger is entertainment precincts become tourist destinations rather than liveable communities so the hoards come in on the weekend and the rest of the week is a ghost town. With urban renewal comes property price rises the rents go up the kids cant live in the area so you get a theme park or a retirement gated community rather than an arts precinct.
Q: The local chamber of commerce has endorsed the push for small boutique bars catering to a very small number of patrons. A welcome addition, or will it just make life harder for established venues such as Ric's?
A: This is a great idea and what Ric’s should have been classified as years ago.
Q: You’ve been a solid supporter of local, live music for all the time you’ve had Ric’s. How do you rate that scene now with, say 15 years ago, and are there enough outlets for emerging bands to strut their stuff before a live audience.
A: There are more venues than ever in every capital city. The problem is the bands are not pulling the crowds and that has nothing to do with their talent, but again that’s a cycle. In 10 years the scene will be very exciting when the current baby boom hits their teens.
Q: The VEP is Australia’s first designated entertainment precinct. Is it here to stay, or will those who now question the wisdom of concentrating licensed premises in one small area win the day and we’ll see the VEP wound back?
A: They’ll renege on it for sure.
Q: You’re walking out of here after a lifetime in hospitality. Will you be back with a new venue some day?
A: I’m turning 52 next week. We’ve put on a gig 365 days a year for 15 years which must be up there with some record. I’d like to find another circus for a couple of more shows after I’ve written the memoir expose of the last one.
Last drinks: Stephen Fitzgerald pours a farewell drink at Ric's, while a friend checks to make sure he comforms with the venue's dress code.
Mall nightworks resume in earnest
News
UPDATED DEC 3
Brisbane City Council’s promise to have the new $8 million Chinatown Mall open by Christmas may be back on track, with nightworks resuming after being halted for a night for lacking proper council approval.
Local councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) told The Independent : "They've (the contractors) been working most nights ever since. They now have all their council approvals in place and they've been pulled into line."
It's a development that has not pleased Green Tea restaurant owner Tom Tran. His crucial weekend trade, where he has been hoping to recover some of the losses incurred by the much-delayed project, was badly affected last weekend, with nightworks starting early on Friday and Saturday nights and continuing well past his closing time.
Cr Hinchliffe said the stopwork order came after council officers were called by residents who had been kept up every night for a week with rock-breaking, pile-driving and concrete-sawing noise throughout the night.
"Some residents are on medication, it's got so bad", Cr Hinchliffe said. "Last week residents contacted the call centre and when compliance officers discovered the operation did not have the appropriate permits, they were shut down."
Resident Ian Mursell from Fortuneland apartments on the mall, is among a number of residents who have sent emails and made numerous calls to council to complain about the night work.
"All we're wanting," said Mr Mursell, "is justice and some commonsense. This is unfair and unreasonable for both residents and local restaurants to have to put up with all this."
Cr Hinchliffe said that relations between the council and the contractor ADCO were "strained".
“Everyone's pointing fingers at everyone else. I just think they should have consulted with the community right at the outset and sat down to work out the best way to construct this mall. They could have avoided all these problems."
The council promise to have the new mall opened by Christmas was made to this paper as our November 25 issue went to press. In that issue, Cr Hinchliffe expressed concerns that the mall may not be fully reopened until Chinese New Year in February.
The statement from the Lord Mayor’s Office said: “We expect the mall to be open in December, with a few finishing touches like artwork to be completed in January.
“The major cause of delays has come from utility companies taking this opportunity to get in under the mall and upgrade and future proof their services too. The lack of knowledge about the location of these utilities and the hardness of the rock under the mall has made this a very lengthy and slow process.
“The need to keep access to the shops and the car park open has also restricted us to doing much of the work one section at a time.
“We have also done a lot to support the traders during the mall upgrade, which we are spending $8 million on without requiring them to chip in like we have with other upgrades of shopping strips.
“This includes a $300,000 promotional campaign letting people know that Chinatown Mall is still open for business and waiving outdoor dining fees during construction.”
Economic Development chairman Cr Jane Prentice said that she expected most of the mall to be open by Christmas.
“In fact I think the Christmas opening time will work in the traders’ favour as curious shoppers come for a look at the new China Town Mall,” Cr Prentice said.
In one missive to Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, Ian Mursell wrote: “We are in desperate need to have the ongoing night works which are most definitely not essential to be done at night stopped immediately.
"Once again we are repeatedly not considered when 'essential' night works are carried out in front of our homes.
“Every night except Friday and Saturday nights we are assaulted with heavy machinery, rock breaking, backhoes, concrete cutting and earthmoving trucks working between 8.30pm through until 6am if stopping at all.
“The work that is carried out at night is not necessary to be done in the evenings. It isn't gas, water or power disruptions for residential or commercial tenants it is rock breaking, earthmoving, concrete cutting and heavy machinery.
“We have been advised on several occasions that residents would be considered and that night work would only be undertaken with considerable notice to residents and only when necessary. This is not what is happening on a daily basis.
“We 80 plus residents have been exceedingly patient with the lack of progress, continual disruption and no notification of the every night night works but enough is enough as to look at the site one would have to expect that given work done to date there is still several months more work to be done.”
Valley police boost gets thumbs up
News
The Valley Liquor Accord has praised Premier Anna Bligh for finally listening to the calls of more police in entertainment hot spots to curb alcohol-fuelled violence.
VLA chairman Danny Blair said this week the VLA had been championing this type of government action for months and “finally they’ve listened”.
“We had very few problems during Valley Fiesta weekend when we have the biggest saturation of people in the Valley and it's purely because there are more police on the beat,” Mr Blair said.
“It’s been this rationale that we have been using to plead for more police on the streets in the Valley entertainment precinct. “The police are always welcome in the Valley and the more visible presence of blue uniforms, the better.
“What we need after this blitz is to increase police numbers that work in the Valley on Friday and Saturday night on a full-time basis.”
News of the ongoing police crackdown have come as the VLA joins forces with key stakeholders in the Valley Entertainment Precinct to make Queensland’s music scene a safer and a more enjoyable place to socialise. The Your Playground. Play Nice, Play Safe campaign incorporates several new initiatives that will be extensively advertised and promoted with the backing of DRUG ARM, the Brisbane City Council, Valley Chamber of Commerce, Valley Malls Advisory Committee, Queensland Health and Black and White Taxis.
The campaign includes a drug awareness and prevention trial by DRUG ARM in early 2010 and all 29 (5am) VLA licensees have committed to participate in Queensland Health’s Safer Venues campaign which will enter its fourth year in 2010.
The VLA has also provided additional assistance to ChaplainWatch and is encouraging the roll-out of ID scanners in VEP venues in late 2009 and early 2010 as well as banning people convicted of alcohol-related violence.
Mr Blair said licensees are committed to making the VEP a more enjoyable environment and expected the drug awareness and prevention trial to be as successful as the initial Safer Venues campaign which is now cemented in the constitution.
The Valley Liquor Accord has praised Premier Anna Bligh for finally listening to the calls of more police in entertainment hot spots to curb alcohol-fuelled violence.
VLA chairman Danny Blair said this week the VLA had been championing this type of government action for months and “finally they’ve listened”.
“We had very few problems during Valley Fiesta weekend when we have the biggest saturation of people in the Valley and it's purely because there are more police on the beat,” Mr Blair said.
“It’s been this rationale that we have been using to plead for more police on the streets in the Valley entertainment precinct. “The police are always welcome in the Valley and the more visible presence of blue uniforms, the better.
“What we need after this blitz is to increase police numbers that work in the Valley on Friday and Saturday night on a full-time basis.”
News of the ongoing police crackdown have come as the VLA joins forces with key stakeholders in the Valley Entertainment Precinct to make Queensland’s music scene a safer and a more enjoyable place to socialise. The Your Playground. Play Nice, Play Safe campaign incorporates several new initiatives that will be extensively advertised and promoted with the backing of DRUG ARM, the Brisbane City Council, Valley Chamber of Commerce, Valley Malls Advisory Committee, Queensland Health and Black and White Taxis.
The campaign includes a drug awareness and prevention trial by DRUG ARM in early 2010 and all 29 (5am) VLA licensees have committed to participate in Queensland Health’s Safer Venues campaign which will enter its fourth year in 2010.
The VLA has also provided additional assistance to ChaplainWatch and is encouraging the roll-out of ID scanners in VEP venues in late 2009 and early 2010 as well as banning people convicted of alcohol-related violence.
Mr Blair said licensees are committed to making the VEP a more enjoyable environment and expected the drug awareness and prevention trial to be as successful as the initial Safer Venues campaign which is now cemented in the constitution.
Newstead project in demand
Property news
A new project under construction in Newstead is leading the charge with the developers reporting a marked resurgence in buyer confidence for inner-city apartment dwellings.
Aris Newstead, developed by the Brisbane Housing Company (BHC), is scheduled to be one of the first developments completed in the Newstead Urban Renewal precinct. The $30 million project will launch next week and will feature 95 studio, one and two bedroom apartments, of which 39 will be sold to the market.
BHC CEO David Cant said the company expected demand to be strong with Aris Newstead offering investors the added security of knowing that the building will be completed by spring next year.
“Our development is already under construction with completion scheduled for mid 2010, this is a great positive for buyers who will be able to receive a return on their investment sooner,” he said. Mr Cant said the location, coupled with the price point would prove a major selling point.
“Ninety per cent of the top three floors are under $500,000 and one-bedroom apartments with city views and a secure carpark start from $384,000. “Aris Newstead is located in close proximity to the master-planned multimillion dollar Newstead Riverpark, metres away from a major public transport upgrade and only a short distance to various riverside bike and walking paths.”
Mr Cant said the body corporate fees would be among the lowest in Brisbane.
“We expect body corporate fees to be around $3000 to $4000 per year. “This is a great point of difference when you take into account the building will have a lift and two top floor terraces with barbecue facilities,” Mr Cant said.
For sales inquires contact PRDnationwide at Newstead, Yolanda Van Diggelen 0404 476 894 or Adam Gray 0418 708 661.
Go to www.arisnewstead.com.au for more information on the project.
It’s their river but we all pay!
OUR SAY
The owners of these expensive Pier South apartments now fast taking shape at Mirvac’s Waterfront project at Teneriffe will have exclusive views to the Brisbane River - at a very high cost.
While they are paying tens and tens of thousands of dollars more for that privacy, the cost to Brisbane citizens is also high. A year or so from now, they’ll be diverted away from their river, forced to go inland behind Pier South through parkland before rejoining the riverfront.
Buyers of apartments at the not-so-exclusive Pier North (bottom photo ) will have to put up with the sights and sounds of fellow humans having fun. For that terrible, terrible burden, their units are much, much cheaper.
We have no beef with Mirvac who it would appear has deliberately privatised a key section of the waterfront to maximise its income from unit buyers.
You can’t blame them for trying that on. But we’d like to blame someone for the fact that they got away with it. The trouble is no-one seems to want to put up their hand and take the blame for it happening in the first place.
And certainly no-one seems to want to ensure it never happens again.
The Independent can reveal that unnamed council officials gave the Mirvac plan their tick of approval, with our expert source telling us that the project was presented to them in such a way that those officials accepted the argument that RiverWalk simply could not be constructed in front of Pier South.
We repeat what we’ve said on this issue in the past: we congratulate Mirvac on the amount of parkland it has incorporated into the project. But we can’t help but feel that the fancy jetty to the left of the project, and the generous parkland and lake feature behind the Pier buildings, was all part of a master plan to get riverfront exclusivity for many of its buyers.
In fact, Mirvac appears to have engineered a win-win situation as the parkland is to be operated and maintained by the city council.
We repeat our point that there are plenty of lovely pathways in other parks near the river, but there is only one riverfront and the citizens of Brisbane have lost it.
We remain annoyed that Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, who has made so much political capital around election times in the past by promising to complete a nearby “missing link” in RiverWalk, has so glibly washed his hands of the issue by blaming former Deputy Mayor and local councillor David Hinchliffe for letting this decision pass when he was planning chair. Cr Hinchliffe for his part told us last year that he thought the final design would almost certainly come back to a full council meeting for final ratification and that he would vote for a change in design then. That did not happen.
All we know is that the project go-ahead was given by nameless and unaccountable council officials. We can’t vote them out of office for their decision. But we also know that a great opportunity had been lost forever to have a continuous walkway right alongside this fantastic river of ours from beautiful Newstead House right through to the city’s heart.
Or need it be forever? Mirvac got what it wanted, but can the people of Brisbane still have their right of way? What if the city council in future simply built RiverWalk in front of these exclusive apartments, regardless of the cost, to serve as the ultimate warning to developers that they can try anything on, but people will win out in the end?
Maybe in future when the residents of those apartments have to “put up” with the sounds of Brisbane families enjoying their riverfront and having fun, on foot or on bike, then maybe it’ll be known as the Mirvac principle.
So starting right now, maybe it’s time for all the local residents of the area – indeed all residents of Brisbane who love our city’s greatest natural feature – to put their local councillor on notice, indeed put future Lord Mayoralty candidates on notice: commit yourselves to rectifying this matter over the years ahead, or we simply won’t be voting for you!
Don’t tell us it can’t be done. Don’t snow us by saying it will cost too much. Just do it! Put future developers on notice that there’s a bloody good chance that if they try to be to too clever by half, they’re going to get “mirvaced”!
• Over coming issues, The Independent will examine what went wrong with this project’s approval process, and if there is any elected official out there who wants to say sorry for the fact that it did.
The owners of these expensive Pier South apartments now fast taking shape at Mirvac’s Waterfront project at Teneriffe will have exclusive views to the Brisbane River - at a very high cost.
While they are paying tens and tens of thousands of dollars more for that privacy, the cost to Brisbane citizens is also high. A year or so from now, they’ll be diverted away from their river, forced to go inland behind Pier South through parkland before rejoining the riverfront.
Buyers of apartments at the not-so-exclusive Pier North (bottom photo ) will have to put up with the sights and sounds of fellow humans having fun. For that terrible, terrible burden, their units are much, much cheaper.
We have no beef with Mirvac who it would appear has deliberately privatised a key section of the waterfront to maximise its income from unit buyers.
You can’t blame them for trying that on. But we’d like to blame someone for the fact that they got away with it. The trouble is no-one seems to want to put up their hand and take the blame for it happening in the first place.
And certainly no-one seems to want to ensure it never happens again.
The Independent can reveal that unnamed council officials gave the Mirvac plan their tick of approval, with our expert source telling us that the project was presented to them in such a way that those officials accepted the argument that RiverWalk simply could not be constructed in front of Pier South.
We repeat what we’ve said on this issue in the past: we congratulate Mirvac on the amount of parkland it has incorporated into the project. But we can’t help but feel that the fancy jetty to the left of the project, and the generous parkland and lake feature behind the Pier buildings, was all part of a master plan to get riverfront exclusivity for many of its buyers.
In fact, Mirvac appears to have engineered a win-win situation as the parkland is to be operated and maintained by the city council.
We repeat our point that there are plenty of lovely pathways in other parks near the river, but there is only one riverfront and the citizens of Brisbane have lost it.
We remain annoyed that Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, who has made so much political capital around election times in the past by promising to complete a nearby “missing link” in RiverWalk, has so glibly washed his hands of the issue by blaming former Deputy Mayor and local councillor David Hinchliffe for letting this decision pass when he was planning chair. Cr Hinchliffe for his part told us last year that he thought the final design would almost certainly come back to a full council meeting for final ratification and that he would vote for a change in design then. That did not happen.
All we know is that the project go-ahead was given by nameless and unaccountable council officials. We can’t vote them out of office for their decision. But we also know that a great opportunity had been lost forever to have a continuous walkway right alongside this fantastic river of ours from beautiful Newstead House right through to the city’s heart.
Or need it be forever? Mirvac got what it wanted, but can the people of Brisbane still have their right of way? What if the city council in future simply built RiverWalk in front of these exclusive apartments, regardless of the cost, to serve as the ultimate warning to developers that they can try anything on, but people will win out in the end?
Maybe in future when the residents of those apartments have to “put up” with the sounds of Brisbane families enjoying their riverfront and having fun, on foot or on bike, then maybe it’ll be known as the Mirvac principle.
So starting right now, maybe it’s time for all the local residents of the area – indeed all residents of Brisbane who love our city’s greatest natural feature – to put their local councillor on notice, indeed put future Lord Mayoralty candidates on notice: commit yourselves to rectifying this matter over the years ahead, or we simply won’t be voting for you!
Don’t tell us it can’t be done. Don’t snow us by saying it will cost too much. Just do it! Put future developers on notice that there’s a bloody good chance that if they try to be to too clever by half, they’re going to get “mirvaced”!
• Over coming issues, The Independent will examine what went wrong with this project’s approval process, and if there is any elected official out there who wants to say sorry for the fact that it did.
Heritage ruling a blow to Regent campaigners
By a staff reporter
The group trying to save the Regent Theatre in Queen Street City has been dealt a blow with the Queensland Heritage Council rejecting their application that the Regent’s Cinema One and associated bar area should be included in the Queensland heritage register.
But the group has not given up the fight, with a spokesperson saying there was still a good chance the two areas could be preserved.
The Queensland Heritage Council recently announced there would be no extension to the heritage listing boundary for the theatre. QHC chair David Eades said an application had been received to enter the Regent’s Cinema One and associated bar area in the Queensland heritage register.
“Unlike the Regent’s entrance foyer and grand staircase which was entered in the register in 1992, the cinema and bar do not meet the criteria for heritage listing,” he said.
“The cinema and bar were built in 1978-80 and decorated with replicas and some parts salvaged from the Regent’s demolition. “Although the cinema conjures up some of the style of the original Regent, it doesn’t come close to the scale, atmosphere and flamboyance of what Brisbane lost nearly 30 years ago.”
Mr Eades said the Heritage Council met with the applicants who submitted the nomination, the developer’s representatives and others and closely considered all aspects of the proposal.
“This was not a decision that the Heritage Council took lightly,” he said. “But the Heritage Council must weigh nominations against specific criteria and consider the significance to the state as a whole.”
Mr Eades said the latest QHC decision would not alter the heritage-listing of the Regent’s entrance foyer and grand staircase. “We can all be assured that any development applications for the Regent site will conserve the state heritage-listed sections of the building.
“There is a great opportunity for new life to be breathed into this heritage place for the enjoyment of all Queenslanders now and into the future.”
The Queensland Heritage Council is the state’s independent peak body and advisor on heritage matters and determines what places are entered in the Queensland heritage register.
The Save the Regent Group was deeply disappointed by the decision, a spokesperson said. “However, our lawyers are currently pursuing an appeal against the original council decision to allow the redevelopment of the Regent. We are hopeful of a good outcome from this for the sake of Brisbane’s heritage.”
Wrestling life to its fullest
Review by Toby Oakes
Anyone with even a remote interest in public affairs would have seen, heard, or read about Hughie Williams at some time over the past 30 years on our TV screens, radios, and in newspapers.
Williams has been a long-serving official of the Transport Workers’ Union, and has for more than a decade held the position of its Queensland branch secretary. As an outside observer, he has always come across in the media as a tough union boss, ready to stand up for his members.
What most of us would not know is how tough Williams’ own life has been. Williams begins his autobiography by detailing his dirt poor upbringing, the death of his father, and how his mother one day just walked out on her children. Some of the stories he tells are heartbreaking.
Intriguingly he relates his deep feelings of inferiority as a boy and young man, and the role his chosen sport of wrestling helped overcome them. The book is full of anecdotes of his involvement in the Police Citizen Youth Clubs and the good and bad cops that went with it.
There are also plenty of tales of the fights he endured as a TWU organiser. Some of the most intense battles were with officials within his own union. Then there were the fights with the Bjelke-Petersen government and its anti-union laws and attitude.
Williams also covers the woeful state of the Labor Party in Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s, along with his own role as a member of the reform group that eventually put the party in a good enough shape for Wayne Goss to be elected premier in 1989.
This is not self-serving book. It is a frank account of a colourful and intriguing life. The book has been published by Williams himself and is available from the TWU by ringing 3890 3066.
Manor mayhem where mirth abounds
Review by Phillip Bate
At the start it was just the set falling apart. By the end of the night most of the audience attending Murder at Checkmate Manor were also falling apart with laughter (myself included).
Mayhem abounds when an amateur drama group – in this case the Centenary Theatre Group at the Chelmer Community Centre – morphs into another amateur theatre group, the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate’s Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society, staging a murder mystery. In addition to the play, the cast also finds time to run a quiz session and host a fashion parade.
As well as the mystery of “whodunit” there’s also the mystery of spotting the undeliberate mistake as the cast of five take on 14 roles of characters with chess piece names such as Clarissa Rook, Regine (queen), Colonel King, Lady Doreen Bishop, Gladys Knight and Pawn the butler. N
o wonder director Eric Scott calls his cast “The Magnificent Five” and it’s easy to agree. Assuming the task of being self-appointed “martyr to the cause” of the guild’s dramatic society is English lady Phoebe Reece, convincingly played by Jill Brocklebank. Phoebe Reece seems to be a law unto herself – not only playing four roles but even prepared to rewrite the script (originally written by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jnr) as she sees fit.
Another to play four roles is long standing CTG member Honey Butz who plays Audrey Smythe who in turn plays Lady Doreen Bishop, mistress of Checkmate Manor. Her insincerity as her sister, aunts and cousins are all “bumped off” is delightful to behold. For those seeking a love angle in the plot, there’s the situation of Lady’s Doreen teenage daughter Daphne Bishop in pigtails and tennis skirt making a play for Inspector O’Reilly.
I was sitting the front row and when Selina Kadell who plays Thelma Greenwood playing Daphne fluttered her eyelashes at Inspector O’Reilly I forced myself to stay seated and jealously cursed Nathan Cammerman who was playing the inspector. It’s hard to tell who was the vamp – the flirting teenager or the inspector who wears fishnet stockings to work – either way it made for great comedy.
In every murder-mystery set in a stately home or manor there has to be a butler. This play was no exception with Kathleen Crome demonstrating deft comedic touches as she buttlered her way through dead bodies – although whether she murdered them you’ll have to watch the play yourself.
Special congratulations also go to stage manager Margaret Bell and her backstage lights and sound personnel Fiona Watson and Peter Hughes who cope with falling walls and associated props whizzing across the stage.
There are five more opportunities to attend the play: this Friday, Saturday and Sunday November 27 to 29 and then Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5. Bookings at www.centenarytheatre.com.au
Above: Selina Kadell as Thelma, Nathan Cammerman as Gordon, Jill Brocklebank as Mrs. Reece, Honey Butz as Audrey and Kathleen Crome as Felicity)
Friday, November 27, 2009
What plonk goes best with Peking duck
WINE .... with David Bray
It is often hard to find a decent wine match for the food in Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, restaurants in our part of the world. This is partly because the wine lists are usually not very good, offering about as much choice as the dessert menu, and partly because we don’t really know what goes best with so many of the dishes.
So there is some advice to be gleaned from the recent inaugural Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, said to be the world’s first authentically Asian, and Asia’s largest, wine competition.
Some 1300 wines from around the world were judged by a pan-Asian panel of wine professionals from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and India.
The organisers say the top wines for the Asian palate were revealed in the trophy winners. Among them: Best wine with Chinese dishes: With Abalone РJacob's Creek sparkling ros̩ (Australia); with Kung Pao chicken РMartin & Weyrich moscato allegro 2007 (California); with Dim Sum РWairau River pinot gris 2009 (NZ); with Peking Duck РJudas malbec 2006 (Argentina).
Debra Meiburg, Master of Wine, director of the competition said: “Out of the four Chinese food and wine pairing categories, it was interesting to note that three trophies were awarded to white wines and rosés. Despite many wine lovers in Asia reaching for a bottle of red to pair with Chinese cuisine or not drinking wine at all, our results highlight that these styles are particularly compatible with a range of classic Chinese dishes.
“Significantly, the trophy winning wines in the Chinese food and wine pairing awards, particularly the trophy for the best wine with braised abalone awarded to the Jacob’s Creek sparkling rosé, show that pairing the perfect wine with fine food doesn’t have to be expensive.
“We hope these awards will give people the tools and confidence to order wine when eating Chinese food.” Less significant for the purposes of matching with food, and introducing some less well-known Australians (another way of saying big surprises), were: Best Pinot noir and best New World pinot – Wooing Tree pinot noir 2007 (NZ); Cabernet sauvignon/ cabernet blend – Quarisa Treasures cabernet sauvignon 2006 ( Coonawarra); Shiraz and best Australian shiraz Eden Springs High Eden Shiraz 2007 (Eden Valley); Tempranillo & blends – Mr. Riggs Yacca Paddock tempranillo 2007 (Adelaide Hills); Sauvignon blanc and best New Zealand sauvignon blanc Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 43 Degrees sauvignon blanc 2009; Chardonnay and New World chardonnay Stella Bella chardonnay (Margaret River) 2007; Riesling and New World riesling Petaluma Hanlin Hill riesling 2009 (Clare Valley). Best value wines for HK market included Eden Springs High Eden riesling2009 and Barossa Valley shiraz 2007.
Competition director Simon Tam said: “The Asian consumer wine market is a valuable segment of the international wine industry, growing at more than seven times the rate of any other region. So it’s about time the millions of Asian wine lovers had an authoritative guide to the best wines, suited to their unique taste and consumption patterns.
“Because of our pan-Asian panel of judges, there were some surprises among the results. Contrary to popular belief in the international wine industry that Asia is a sponge for hugely concentrated wines, the panel awarded the majority of medals and trophies to those wines displaying subtlety and delicate structure.”
braylin@bigpond.net.au
It is often hard to find a decent wine match for the food in Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, restaurants in our part of the world. This is partly because the wine lists are usually not very good, offering about as much choice as the dessert menu, and partly because we don’t really know what goes best with so many of the dishes.
So there is some advice to be gleaned from the recent inaugural Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, said to be the world’s first authentically Asian, and Asia’s largest, wine competition.
Some 1300 wines from around the world were judged by a pan-Asian panel of wine professionals from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and India.
The organisers say the top wines for the Asian palate were revealed in the trophy winners. Among them: Best wine with Chinese dishes: With Abalone РJacob's Creek sparkling ros̩ (Australia); with Kung Pao chicken РMartin & Weyrich moscato allegro 2007 (California); with Dim Sum РWairau River pinot gris 2009 (NZ); with Peking Duck РJudas malbec 2006 (Argentina).
Debra Meiburg, Master of Wine, director of the competition said: “Out of the four Chinese food and wine pairing categories, it was interesting to note that three trophies were awarded to white wines and rosés. Despite many wine lovers in Asia reaching for a bottle of red to pair with Chinese cuisine or not drinking wine at all, our results highlight that these styles are particularly compatible with a range of classic Chinese dishes.
“Significantly, the trophy winning wines in the Chinese food and wine pairing awards, particularly the trophy for the best wine with braised abalone awarded to the Jacob’s Creek sparkling rosé, show that pairing the perfect wine with fine food doesn’t have to be expensive.
“We hope these awards will give people the tools and confidence to order wine when eating Chinese food.” Less significant for the purposes of matching with food, and introducing some less well-known Australians (another way of saying big surprises), were: Best Pinot noir and best New World pinot – Wooing Tree pinot noir 2007 (NZ); Cabernet sauvignon/ cabernet blend – Quarisa Treasures cabernet sauvignon 2006 ( Coonawarra); Shiraz and best Australian shiraz Eden Springs High Eden Shiraz 2007 (Eden Valley); Tempranillo & blends – Mr. Riggs Yacca Paddock tempranillo 2007 (Adelaide Hills); Sauvignon blanc and best New Zealand sauvignon blanc Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 43 Degrees sauvignon blanc 2009; Chardonnay and New World chardonnay Stella Bella chardonnay (Margaret River) 2007; Riesling and New World riesling Petaluma Hanlin Hill riesling 2009 (Clare Valley). Best value wines for HK market included Eden Springs High Eden riesling2009 and Barossa Valley shiraz 2007.
Competition director Simon Tam said: “The Asian consumer wine market is a valuable segment of the international wine industry, growing at more than seven times the rate of any other region. So it’s about time the millions of Asian wine lovers had an authoritative guide to the best wines, suited to their unique taste and consumption patterns.
“Because of our pan-Asian panel of judges, there were some surprises among the results. Contrary to popular belief in the international wine industry that Asia is a sponge for hugely concentrated wines, the panel awarded the majority of medals and trophies to those wines displaying subtlety and delicate structure.”
braylin@bigpond.net.au
Ease the squeeze, Anna!
How many more times are we to hear politicians promise a light-rail system for inner-Brisbane? Premier Anna Bligh has raised the issue again. This time it is a suggestion for an underground light-rail (whatever happened to the word “tram”?) linking the CBD and Toowong, West End, Newstead, Bowen Hills, Bulimba and the North Shore precinct at Hamilton.
Apparently we need the new system to help alleviate the problem of cars clogging our city streets driven by the many people moving here each day. For the past 40 years, ever since trams were last seen on our CBD and suburban streets, there has been talk of bringing them back.
Those of us old enough to remember the non-air conditioned beasts lumbering along our thoroughfares would support their return. For me, Ms Bligh’s comments brought back memories of sitting adjacent to an open door on a tram as it rattled along with the wind blowing up my football shorts. Successive governments have undertaken studies that went nowhere. Maybe if they had not had so many studies, they may have had enough funds to actually build a new tram system.
Ms Bligh has ruled out trams on our streets, preferring to have them run in tunnels. Heaven forbid if they hold up cars. Forty-plus years ago it was trams and their passengers who ruled our roads.
Just as they once did in Brisbane, vehicles in Melbourne must come to a halt when a tram does likewise at most stops to ensure the safety of alighting or boarding passengers. Now we apparently need to foot the extra cost of tunnelling just so we don’t hold up the cars that are to blame for clogging our streets in the first place.
***
Part of Ms Bligh's rationale for the new tunnel trams was that twice as many people will be working in the CBD in 25 years’ time. “Employment in the same area will double from 200,000 to 400,000 – double the number of people trying to get into the CBD just to get to work,” the premier told us.
Well to my mind Ms Bligh herself could alleviate some of that expected pressure by starting to shift her own public servants out of the CBD.
Surely there are enough people on her payroll living in outer areas such as Caboolture, Logan City, Ipswich, or on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts who would love to work closer to home.
Or, taking a harder line, she should set out a 20-year plan for the bulk move of government departments to those areas, or even further afield. Given the advances in communications technology, such as email, vide-conferencing and the like, why couldn’t the Education Department be located in Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Townsville, or Cairns.
***
Also in the past week or so there has been some discussion of the latest attempts to “brand” Brisbane. Yes, yet again our money is being given in big wads to those highly talented original thinkers in the public relations and advertising industries to come up with a slogan for the city.
The latest, apparently is something about Brisbane being “a new world city”. Almost as catchy as that mangy ferret that a few years ago was billed as our city’s image-making saviour. Here’s a simple thought.
Given the problems caused by a population influx as identified by Anna Bligh why not adopt the slogan: “Go away.”
That would surely help stem the flow of people here and the need for costly new infrastructure. Or could it be that something ruder may be needed.
Is Malcolm in a complete muddle?
By Mungo MacCallum
This week’s long-promised vote on the emissions trading scheme is crunch time for Malcolm Turnbull, certainly; but whole Liberal Party, and indeed the coalition, have a lot riding on it too.
Unless they can come up with a formula that gives at least the impression of some kind of common purpose, they can forget not only the next election, but probably any future as a meaningful political force.
If they simply splinter screaming abuse at each other and defiance at their leaders, the prospects are not bright.
The Nationals are already decided: when the Senate vote comes up, they will just say no. This not a problem for their senate leader, Barnaby Joyce, who has declined to serve in the shadow ministry. However. his deputy, Nigel Scullion, is shadow Minister for Human Resources, and would thus traditionally be bound by any decision of the shadow cabinet, where Turnbull is believed to have the numbers.
he same, of course, would apply to the Liberals Eric Abetz, George Brandis, Helen Conan, Michael Ronaldson, David Johnston and, most significantly, their leader Nick Minchin, the high priest and thunderer of the climate change denialists.
Minchin has said he will abide by any decision of the party room; he has not said where he stands on the principle of the solidarity of shadow cabinet. Clearly he believes that while Turnbull might push a recommendation for a yes vote through the latter, he has little hope in the former.
So will Turnbull be humiliated by his party as a whole? If Minchin is right about the numbers, it could happen. But the most likely result is a compromise: a decision to offer all members, including shadow ministers, the right to a free vote. This highly unusual procedure is also referred to as a conscience vote.
It is usually only applied to what are called “moral” issues, such as abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia. Decisions on matters of less concern to the Roman Catholic Church, such as war, poverty, and especially the environment, are deemed to have no moral component at all. To turn an emissions trading scheme into a conscience issue would be, to say the least, unprecedented.
But it gives the coalition parties their best hope of getting through the week without blood on the sawdust. The government only needs seven Liberals to vote with it to pass the scheme; it should get them comfortably. There are still that many rational beings left on the senate opposition benches. Turnbull will be desperately hoping so. The alternative, not only from his own point of view but that of the whole conservative movement in Australia, is almost too terrible to contemplate.
***
For a man condemned by his opponents as a master of spin, an iron fisted controller of th media and an Olympic-class manipulator of public opinion, Kevin Rudd sure made a meal of the Oceanic Viking affair.
By the end of last week his repeated assertions that the 78 Tamils aboard were receiving no special treatment looked not just dishonest, but very silly and even a touch insane. Yet our beloved Prime Minister continued to seek his own refuge behind desperate weasel words like “non-extraordinary,” claiming in Bart Simpson vein that he had not be at the meetings, he did not know the details, but he stood by everything that had been done, and whatever it was it was completely normal procedure.
Among his colleagues dropping jaws quickly gave way to sweating brows and even rising gorges as they realised that they were seeing their great hope of re-election piss his most valuable public asset up against the wall, and that there was absolutely nothing that they could do about it. Their glorious leader, the man of integrity, the politician you could trust, suddenly gave the impression that he was, in Winston Churchill’s immortal phrase, either labouring under a misapprehension or he was guilty of a terminological inexactitude – in other words, he was either a fool or a liar.
This would be bad enough even if the crisis was now over, with the Tamils, deal done, safely ensconced in Tanjung Pinang detention centre and the Oceanic Viking finally out of Indonesian waters. But it doesn’t end there.
Rudd’s insistence that in this case everything was done according to the book means that those not following the same script, which includes fast processing and resettlement, English lessons, family search and daily consular access are presumably doing it wrong In particular, the implication is that the treatment of those already in Tanjung Pinang, which includes none of the above, is cruel and inhumane.
This will not amuse the Indonesians who administer the camp, which, as they point out, was built at Australia’s suggestion and largely with Australian money. Now apparently they are running some kind of hellhole, so the Australian government can shift the problem out of its own jurisdiction. Like Nauru, they have become Australia’s dumping ground, and So much for the much-vaunted equal partnership between two proud and sovereign nations.
As a result Prime Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has deferred his planned visit to Australia for a few weeks, but that may not be enough. Now he plans to arrive just about the time the Tamils are due to finish their processing and begin their resettlement, presumably in Australia – that is if the deal actually works out. But whether it does or not, the issue will be well and truly back in the headlines then.
The meal has turned into a dog’s breakfast.
he key diplomatic element in the agreement with Indonesia was that it had to be done in a way that allowed Indonesia to save face. But Rudd decided that saving his own face in front of the Australian media was more important. It is perhaps his first serious political misjudgement since becoming Prime Minister. But now that it’s finally come, it’s a real ripsnorter.
This week’s long-promised vote on the emissions trading scheme is crunch time for Malcolm Turnbull, certainly; but whole Liberal Party, and indeed the coalition, have a lot riding on it too.
Unless they can come up with a formula that gives at least the impression of some kind of common purpose, they can forget not only the next election, but probably any future as a meaningful political force.
If they simply splinter screaming abuse at each other and defiance at their leaders, the prospects are not bright.
The Nationals are already decided: when the Senate vote comes up, they will just say no. This not a problem for their senate leader, Barnaby Joyce, who has declined to serve in the shadow ministry. However. his deputy, Nigel Scullion, is shadow Minister for Human Resources, and would thus traditionally be bound by any decision of the shadow cabinet, where Turnbull is believed to have the numbers.
he same, of course, would apply to the Liberals Eric Abetz, George Brandis, Helen Conan, Michael Ronaldson, David Johnston and, most significantly, their leader Nick Minchin, the high priest and thunderer of the climate change denialists.
Minchin has said he will abide by any decision of the party room; he has not said where he stands on the principle of the solidarity of shadow cabinet. Clearly he believes that while Turnbull might push a recommendation for a yes vote through the latter, he has little hope in the former.
So will Turnbull be humiliated by his party as a whole? If Minchin is right about the numbers, it could happen. But the most likely result is a compromise: a decision to offer all members, including shadow ministers, the right to a free vote. This highly unusual procedure is also referred to as a conscience vote.
It is usually only applied to what are called “moral” issues, such as abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia. Decisions on matters of less concern to the Roman Catholic Church, such as war, poverty, and especially the environment, are deemed to have no moral component at all. To turn an emissions trading scheme into a conscience issue would be, to say the least, unprecedented.
But it gives the coalition parties their best hope of getting through the week without blood on the sawdust. The government only needs seven Liberals to vote with it to pass the scheme; it should get them comfortably. There are still that many rational beings left on the senate opposition benches. Turnbull will be desperately hoping so. The alternative, not only from his own point of view but that of the whole conservative movement in Australia, is almost too terrible to contemplate.
***
For a man condemned by his opponents as a master of spin, an iron fisted controller of th media and an Olympic-class manipulator of public opinion, Kevin Rudd sure made a meal of the Oceanic Viking affair.
By the end of last week his repeated assertions that the 78 Tamils aboard were receiving no special treatment looked not just dishonest, but very silly and even a touch insane. Yet our beloved Prime Minister continued to seek his own refuge behind desperate weasel words like “non-extraordinary,” claiming in Bart Simpson vein that he had not be at the meetings, he did not know the details, but he stood by everything that had been done, and whatever it was it was completely normal procedure.
Among his colleagues dropping jaws quickly gave way to sweating brows and even rising gorges as they realised that they were seeing their great hope of re-election piss his most valuable public asset up against the wall, and that there was absolutely nothing that they could do about it. Their glorious leader, the man of integrity, the politician you could trust, suddenly gave the impression that he was, in Winston Churchill’s immortal phrase, either labouring under a misapprehension or he was guilty of a terminological inexactitude – in other words, he was either a fool or a liar.
This would be bad enough even if the crisis was now over, with the Tamils, deal done, safely ensconced in Tanjung Pinang detention centre and the Oceanic Viking finally out of Indonesian waters. But it doesn’t end there.
Rudd’s insistence that in this case everything was done according to the book means that those not following the same script, which includes fast processing and resettlement, English lessons, family search and daily consular access are presumably doing it wrong In particular, the implication is that the treatment of those already in Tanjung Pinang, which includes none of the above, is cruel and inhumane.
This will not amuse the Indonesians who administer the camp, which, as they point out, was built at Australia’s suggestion and largely with Australian money. Now apparently they are running some kind of hellhole, so the Australian government can shift the problem out of its own jurisdiction. Like Nauru, they have become Australia’s dumping ground, and So much for the much-vaunted equal partnership between two proud and sovereign nations.
As a result Prime Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has deferred his planned visit to Australia for a few weeks, but that may not be enough. Now he plans to arrive just about the time the Tamils are due to finish their processing and begin their resettlement, presumably in Australia – that is if the deal actually works out. But whether it does or not, the issue will be well and truly back in the headlines then.
The meal has turned into a dog’s breakfast.
he key diplomatic element in the agreement with Indonesia was that it had to be done in a way that allowed Indonesia to save face. But Rudd decided that saving his own face in front of the Australian media was more important. It is perhaps his first serious political misjudgement since becoming Prime Minister. But now that it’s finally come, it’s a real ripsnorter.
Despair and desperation on debut
FILMS .... with Tim Milfull
Cold Souls (M)
Director: Sophie Barthes
Stars: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Emily Watson Rating: 3.5/5
101-minutes, now screening
Paul Giamatti has a problem. The star of films like Sideways and John Adams, and one of the busiest character actors on stage or screen, cannot come to grips with his latest role as the lead in Chekov’s Vanya. And the resulting angst is tearing him apart. That’s when he stumbles upon an advertisement espousing the benefits of “soul storage”.
It seems that for a nominal fee, the company run by Dr Flintstein (David Strathairn) can extract your soul and store it until you feel ready to deal with it again. As an added bonus, clients can have their soul warehoused in Jersey to avoid tax. For the conflicted Giamatti, soul storage seems like a godsend.
But with any process, there is the chance of side-effects – notwithstanding Giamatti’s rather ordinary soul, which resembles a chickpea – and the actor’s performance actually suffers in the absence of his soul. When Dr Flintstein suggests an alternative, Giamatti’s life takes a number of dramatic turns.
It’s inevitable that Sophie Barthes’s debut film will be compared to certain other films – the kind of films that tend to polarise people – so let’s get it out of the road: Cold Souls sits very comfortably on the shelf beside films like Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There.
It’s said. So if you didn’t like either of these films, it’s probably a good idea to avoid this one.
If you did like getting into Malkovich’s head or fantasised about a spotless mind, I’m confident you’ll get a kick out of Cold Souls. This despite the fact that Barthes is on record as avoiding the comparison to Charlie Kaufman: “He’s much more cynical, sarcastic, and twisted”. And there is less of a cynical edge in her first film, although it’s hard to argue that there is any less despair and desperation.
Frustrating, flawed ... and fantastic
A Serious Man (M)
Director: Ethan & Joel Coen
Stars: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick
Rating: 5/5
105-minutes, now screening
Sometimes things go wrong in the world of Ethan and Joel Coen – think Tom Hanks in The Ladykillers – but more often than not, things go really, really right.
In the case of their latest film A Serious Man, the planets have aligned, and in a very Jewish way.
For this is a Jewish film made by two Jewish men, and set within the kind of Jewish community the brothers were raised in the 60s After an opening that Roald Dahl would have been proud of – a period piece featuring a weather-beaten couple about to be cursed by God – we meet Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a college professor in a mid-Western town waiting on tenterhooks for news of his tenure, and panicking about a meeting with a disgruntled international student who may or may not have left a bribe on his desk.
If matters at work are complicated, Larry’s home life is quickly unravelling. His wife Judith (Sari Lennick) is having an affair with the execrable proto-SNAG Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed); son Danny (Aaron Wolff) is being bullied at school, and cannot cope with poor TV reception at home – F-Troop is constantly fuzzy; daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is obsessed with her hair; and Larry’s brother Arthur is an emotionally and socially crippled mess plagued by a seeping sebaceous cyst. Like all of their films, A Serious Man is a fascinating, intricately layered character study, with Stuhlbarg’s long-suffering Larry only the tip of a richly-veined iceberg.
All of these characters are alternately frustrating, gorgeous, flawed, and tragic, and thanks to long-time collaborators, cinematographer Roger Deakin, and composer Carter Burwell, each astonishing frame is perfectly complemented with a pitch-perfect score.
This may just be their best work yet, and that’s at the peak of an already amazing oeuvre.
The hype is right … which is pretty scary
Paranormal Activity (M)
Director: Orin Peli
Stars: Michah Sloat, Katie Featherstone
Rating: 3.5/587-minutes, screening from December 3
There’s been a lot of hype about this little horror film – comparisons with The Blair Witch Project; rumours about Steven Spielberg’s involvement; astonishment at the miniscule budget; and much hoopla about Paranormal Activity being the scariest film ever made. So when I sat down with a large preview audience, I was a little sceptical.
More than halfway through this tale of a woman haunted by a mysterious presence, I had my doubts: just how was Oren Peli going to scare the pants off us? Well, by adopting a policy of ‘less is more’, that’s how…
Michah Sloat and Katie Featherston are a young couple living somewhere in California. He’s some sort of broker – successful enough to work from home and to be able to lash out on very expensive video cameras – and she’s a student who contributes to the household income with her beading work.
As the film opens, Michah is bubbling with enthusiasm over his camera purchase, especially since it might lead to the end of Katie’s paranormal woes. Dragging the camera around the house, setting it up in the bedroom, and engaging in all manner of tomfoolery, Micah is a picture of bravado. Katie – who has been living with this annoying and sometimes malevolent presence since late childhood is a little more circumspect.
Like Blair Witch, all we see is courtesy of Micah’s camera; unlike Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity slowly builds an incredible tension, and does so without cheating. There are plenty of loud noises and bumps in the night, but everything here is unnervingly believable, and the audience I sat with appreciated every terrifying moment. This is one instance where you can believe the hype.
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