Fresh food markets stall

NEWS


A bid to give outdoor dining and cooking a greater focus in the Chinatown Mall appears doomed. Seven local restaurants first set up stalls to cook and sell Asian food in the mall seven weeks ago. Last Saturday, three operated – and one of those has also now called it a day.

And local councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) has called on the City Council to subsidise the food outlets to try to keep the concept going. Lord Mayor Campbell Newman in launching Chinese New Year in the reopened mall earlier this year urged the mall to experiment more with outside cooking and dining, and waived outdoor dining fees for a year to help achieve this.
Tom Tran from the Green Tea Restaurant on the mall congratulated the city council for giving the idea a trial, but said last Saturday’s markets would be his last.
He is pulling the pin after running a stall for the entire seven-week trial, saying the setup costs each weekend, additional labour and wasted food simply made it uneconomic. He praised the council for at least giving it a try adding that “it was better than doing nothing”.
Cr Hinchliffe said: “In view of the declining activity at the Saturday Chinatown markets, I’m calling on all stallholders to be exempt from fees.
“Clearly there’s not sufficient marketing and therefore insufficient customers to make it viable for stall holders,” he said.
“This market is a good idea, but good ideas need good execution to realise their potential. There should have been a decent marketing budget.
“The council is pouring truckloads of dollars into King George Square to try to conceal its abysmal failure – and with miserable results.
“A portion of that money could be much better spent on promoting the Valley and Chinatown markets.
“The local traders shouldn’t have to pay a cent to occupy stalls; not after what they had to put up with for 10 months while the mall construction lurched from fiasco to disaster.”

New meters causing angst

NEWS

The local councillor has questioned whether residents have been properly informed about the rollout of new metered spaces across Fortitude Valley.

And Councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) has also gone into bat for one resident who also claimed the noisy installation of the new meters on a recent Sunday morning had breached council rules.
Cr Hinchliffe in an email to council transport chair Graham Quirk said: “Can you confirm please whether all residents and businesses have been contacted about the now confirmed changes to parking meters in the Valley area as identified on the council website.
“I am receiving emails from residents who live directly next to the metered spaces and who say they have not received anything from the administration about the meter changes. Please advise as soon as possible. Have these been advertised in all the local newspapers or have you sent something directly to residents and businesses?”
Newstead resident Justin Green recently complained via email to Cr Hinchliffe about weekend work being conducted outside his Ella Road home. Mr Green wrote: “I awoke on Sunday morning at 7:48am to the sound of jackhammer outside my apartment. As you can imagine I was less than impressed.
“After observing that the culprit was a Brisbane City Council worker and was jack hammering for the purpose of installing parking meters, I reviewed the noise restrictions page on the Brisbane City Council website, to only discover that the worker was not permitted to undertake such works at any time on a Sunday to the extent the works satisfied an exemption under the The Environmental Protection Act 1994. I therefore rang the complaint line provided to voice my concerns.
“The complaint line informed me that approval had been given to install parking meters on a Sunday (I assume at this time or any time) and this included the use of a jackhammer.
“However I fail to see how under the EPA Actthis would be approved. When I asked the complaint line operator which part of the exemption of the EPA Act the works came under but they were unable to assist.”
In a follow-up email to the council’s new chief executive officer Colin Jensen, Cr Hinchliffe wrote: “The loud and disruptive work involved in installation of parking meters ought not to be carried out on a Sunday morning in a residential street. There is plenty of construction activity which occurs in suburbs during the working week.
“I see no reason why hard-working residents’ quiet enjoyment of their precious weekends should be unduly disturbed by this sort of activity. What adds insult to injury is that there was apparently no advanced notice to residents – or to myself.
“I have been a critic of the installation of parking meters in areas where residents don’t want them and do want permits which exempt them from the meters. It is bad enough to have these meters imposed without locals’ support, but then to have them imposed in this way, aggravates the situation.
“As a new CEO, can I urge you to encourage the agencies of council to adopt a more resident-friendly approach to infrastructure development and to such activities as installation of meters.”

A pox on both their houses!

OUR SAY

Some time after this Saturday our nation will have a new government. Election day will see the end of Kevin Rudd’s government that in its last days was led by someone else. Since the 2007 federal poll we have had two leaders of our federal government and three leaders of the alternative government.

In the election campaign we have seen at least a half-dozen former government and opposition leaders having their say on various issues and personalities. Perhaps the loudest voice from the past has been that of former Labor leader Mark Latham. As a reporter for Channel Nine’s Sixty Minutes program, Mr Latham has injected himself in front of the cameras on at least two occasions to buttonhole the prime minister and opposition leader. In his 60 Minutes report on Sunday Mr Latham urged people vote for nobody come Saturday. That is perhaps a bit extreme, given that having a guaranteed free vote under a fair electoral system is something very rare in this world and should never be discarded lightly.
Yet Mr Latham’s advocacy would likely find some support within the ranks of those who have been following the current election campaign. It has, unfortunately in this newspaper’s opinion, been an uninspiring campaign.
Both Labor and the Coalition parties have been hostage to the views of swinging voters in marginal seats, no matter how out of kilter they may be with the majority of Australians.
For instance, both sides have failed to educate the electorate on the facts about so-called boat people. Both sides have sought to cast themselves as being in favour of a limited Australian population by suggesting curbs on immigration, without actually saying what their respective population limits might be. Voters could be excused for thinking it as all been based on sending subtle signals, or “dog whistling” on immigration issues.
Both sides have indulged in barely truthful negative advertising. Unfortunately, they do so because of one simple fact it works with many voters. The focus groups assembled by polling companies have ruled the responses of both sides to key issues. Labor has ditched its previous rock-hard commitment to fighting climate change. The Coalition has ditched its previous rock-hard commitment to workplace reform. Both sides have failed to show inspiring leadership or policies that ignite the imagination of voters. The current prime minister even found it necessary to declare she was radically changing her campaigning technique and was no longer going to be the sort of candidate she had been in the past, but then went on to exhibit no discernible difference in her campaigning style.
So Mr Latham’s suggestion will no doubt find support and some voters, or more correctly non-voters, may indeed put blank papers in ballot boxes on Saturday.
But what in the end is the point in doing that? We believe a far better approach is to vote for a third party or an independent candidate.
But at the same time we urge voters to be wary of rewarding the lacklustre major parties by filtering their votes to them via preferences. A guiding principle may be for voters to do what major parties have been doing to them – put them last.

NINE FINE YEARS




This issue celebrates the ninth birthday of our newspaper. And for the past eight years, it’s been a tradition to use the sassy, feisty and uber-trendy staff of Fat Boys in the Valley Mall to mark the milestone. Here, from left, Lou, Daniel, Robyn and Kylie wish us well.

Candidates have their say

THE BATTLE FOR BRISBANE

With the bulk of The Independent’s circulation within the federal seat of Brisbane, we asked all five candidates for the inner-city seat to provide a 300-word statement as their final pitch to electors before the big day. Brisbane became more marginal in the latest redistribution and will be closely watched on election night to gauge how the parties are faring.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Okay, you might be reading these online well after the event, but the comments below might be handy if there's another poll next week!



Arch Bevis
Australian Labor Party

Economic security is the key. Without a strong economy, good jobs and services can’t be provided. The Labor Government acted swiftly to tackle the global financial crisis. The stimulus packages helped keep Australia out of recession – the only advanced economy to do so. About 200,000 jobs were saved.
Now Labor is building a stronger economy. We have low government debt. In our $1.2 trillion economy, the debt is like a person who earns $50,000 per year owing just $8,250. Most people have home or car loans of much more than this.
The Budget will be back in surplus in three years – three years earlier than originally forecast. Interest rates are 2.25% lower than when Labor came to office. We have just recorded the largest trade surplus in the country’s history.
Nation-building infrastructure is vital to supporting the economy, improving productivity and providing jobs.
The Government is already rolling out the National Broadband Network which will transform the economy by providing super fast internet connection and download speeds. The roll-out begins in Brisbane in the second quarter of 2011 – less than a year away. Labor has committed to building the long-awaited railway from Redcliffe to Petrie.
Funds have already been provided for the feasibility study for the cross-river rail link and underground rail stations in the CBD. A re-elected Labor Government will continue to roll-out computers in schools and trades training centres in high schools – both programs Tony Abbott has announced he will cut.
We have supported an expansion of renewable energy in homes and industry, helping our environment and creating green jobs.
In the Brisbane electorate, 600 homes have had solar panels installed. Labor is making a record investment in health, including training more than 3,000 new nurses and 1,300 GPs over the next three years.



Andrew Bartlett
The Greens

I have nearly 11 years experience representing Queensland as a Senator in the federal Parliament with the Australian Democrats. I decided to get re-involved in politics with the Greens because I continue to believe that a two party political system is not delivering the policies, programs or government that our country needs and deserves.
My aims in this election are to make the case for urgent, effective action to address the threat of climate change, to demonstrate that the Greens provide a strong, credible and effective alternative to the Labor and Liberal-National parties across all policy issues, and to convince people of the importance of Queenslanders electing a Greens Senator to ensure our state has a voice on balance of power issues which can both replace and improve on what the Democrats previously provided in the Senate. Our political system can and should do better for the people it is meant to serve.
The economic benefits derived from the inner city are often greatly underestimated. The electorate of Brisbane is home to a huge amount of vital services and employment generating activity, as well as providing a cultural hub for the broader community. This pivotal contribution needs to be better recognised and supported, but we must also ensure that the liveability of Brisbane is not compromised.
I have lived all my life in inner Brisbane and know the local community well. I grew up and went to school in the electorate, and currently live at Windsor. I have been involved in a wide range of not-for-profit community groups.
I will continue my advocacy for greater action to tackle the housing affordability crisis, to invest more in public transport, to make the inner-city more bicycle and pedestrian friendly and to better support economic activity and jobs which assist in making the necessary transition to a low carbon economy.



Ewan Saunders
Socialist Alliance

Politics today in Australia is marked by growing disillusionment with the politicians who were elected on the slogan of 'change,' but have delivered no real change. Socialist Alliance is a party of activists, committed to building movements capable of bringing about real change, that puts the people and environment before profits. Our policies are based on offering a real alternative to the major parties, which represent the interests of big business.
On the looming threat of Climate Change, our policy is for immediate and large-scale investment for 100% renewable energy by 2020; fund by taxing the corporate polluters and billionaires.
On Indigenous rights, we call for repeal of the Northern Territory Intervention laws; abolish racist welfare quarantining; no uranium waste dumps; close the gap in Aboriginal health, education and housing by 2020; repay stolen wages; real measures to end Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Support rights of asylum seekers. End mandatory detention; end deportations; no 'offshore processing' of refugees.
Defend workers' rights: abolish the repressive, Howard-era Australian Building and Construction Commission, and scrap all anti-union laws.
Antiwar: Bring back all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan; freedom for Palestine -- end the inhumane Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Women's and gay rights: pay equity now; remove abortion from the criminal code; equal marriage rights for same sex couples.
Public transport: Boost investment in suburban and high-speed intercity rail. Make public transport free and frequent.
Housing: Tackle homelessness and the 200,000 housing shortfall with a large-scale social and community housing program, Cap rent and mortgage payments at 20% of income.
Health: Boost funding for preventative care; free dental care; end subsidies to private insurers; expand community-based health care networks; boost funding on mental heath.



Mark White
Family First

We have an aging population so we need to find ways to care for and share their wisdom by involving older Australian?s in the practical education of our young people thus helping young people care for our older citizens.
I support retired people spending four hours a week working with and mentoring young people and assisting businesses. This would provide $100 tax free to retirees on top of their pensions. This is a win / win for business, young and retired people who all can benefit.
Brisbane is a wonderful place to live and to raise a family however city people rarely understand the tremendous lifestyle that is available living away from the city.
We need to identify opportunities to assist regional Australia?s growth. Let's start by moving more Government departments to Regional Australia thus providing needed employment opportunities to help families stay closer together.
Let’s look towards the future and see what industries can be moved North or West.
Let’s look at better funding distribution to allow for the required infrastructure in these growing communities, hospitals, schools and community services etc. If elected I will be seeking Federal funds to assist in building a city underground train loop taking in the top end of Queen St, QUT/Parliament, Woolloongabba, New Farm, Newstead and Fortitude Valley looping back to Roma St via the Exhibition rail corridor, instead of just the proposed cross city railway line.
This will allow Ipswich and Cleveland rail lines access to the tunnel as well the Beenleigh and Northern lines.
The London Tube first section opened in 1863, almost 150 years ago and even though I have never been to Great Britain most people are aware of this important transportation network. We need people with vision in Canberra and I offer myself as a genuine alternative.



Teresa Gambaro
Liberal/National Party

I believe that we are experiencing growing pains due to the fact that services and infrastructure have failed to cope with population growth.
The coalition believes Australians are looking for sustained investment in infrastructure and services to meet existing demands and to support increases in population. We believe in setting guard rails for population growth by tasking the Productivity & Sustainability Commission to advise on population growth bands and soundly considered sustainable targets.
The Intergenerational Report predicts that Australia’s population will have a two thirds increase to 36 million people by 2050. The Coalition will reduce Australia’s annual rate of population growth from 2% under Labor to 1.4% in our first term by reducing net migration from 298,924 in 2008/09 to no more than 170,000 per year by the end of our 1st term.
The coalition will ensure 2/3 of our permanent migration programme will be for the purpose of skilled migration. Growing population will increase demands for infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, water and electricity. Managing population growth will enable our infrastructure services and environment to catch up. We have the leadership to reduce the current level of immigration intake.
We will support a high speed broadband investment of $6.3 billion dollars.
We will provide an increase of 2800 new hospital beds and a $150 million dollar fund for nurses’ training and development.
We’ll spend $90.7 million over 4 years to operate community controlled hospital boards. We will commit to a free computer based Internet filter, not the expensive ISP based filter that will not work.
I will commit $375,000.00 and our Green Army for renovation and rejuvenation of sections of Ithaca, Breakfast and Enoggera Creeks. We will plant more trees in our area and support an emissions reduction scheme that will reduce emissions by 5% by 2020.

Employment growth the key to safe investment

PROPERTY NEWS

With gloomy predictions continuing as to the current slowing of the Australian residential property scene, one indicator stands out for prospective yet cautious buyers keen to enter the market – employment growth.

According to the most recent Matusik Snapshot, the areas that do best in terms of new job creation usually do best in difficult economic times. This is in contrast to those areas where new work is hard to come by or where jobs are being lost.

These areas, Matusik says, are more likely to see distressed sellers and possible falls in price. The top 25 “safe” employment areas and the 25 “least desirable” locations in the country are listed in the Snapshot (www.matusik.com.au) but Brisbane readers will be interested to learn that inner Brisbane has recorded a 6.1 per cent employment growth over the last 12 months, placing it in the top 25 performance areas in Australia. The Gold and Sunshine coasts also make the list with increased employment levels.
As Matusik researchers point out, however, they do not envisage a collapse in residential demand, end prices or rents, rather that things are unlikely to miraculously improve after this weekend’s federal election.
“The best outcome for the Australian housing market in coming years is a ‘muddle-though’ scenario where overvaluation is resolved by little growth in end prices and rents, supplemented with wage growth, some fiscal support and a low interest rate environment.
The report also sounds a warning. “If interest rates rise too fast, economic growth slows and/or housing demand slumps, then we could see a sharpish drop in house prices down under."
A rise in interest rates, likely to be 0.25% by the end of the year, can have a dire effect on the property market. Matusik’s analysis of interest rate rises over the past 40 years and their effect on housing suggests that house prices drop 1.5 per cent, often within six months of the rise, and confidence falls by 2.5 per cent, again shortly after any rise.

New development wave washes over West End

PROPERTY NEWS

City Council was expected to give the green light to a new mixed use development in West End as this issue of The Independent went to press. Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment Chair Amanda Cooper said The Wave to be built at 321 Montague Road West End would go to council after committee approval on Tuesday (August 17).

The developer initially lodged an application with the Brisbane City Council for a maximum of 10 storeys. The development application was approved by council, but challenged in the Planning and Environment court by local residents. Due to the site’s proximity to the CBD and ability to absorb growth, the court found in favour of the developer and approved the 10 storey height.
The Wave developer then lodged a subsequent development application based on the intent of the draft South Brisbane Riverside Neighbourhood Plan, which would allow 12 storeys in the area. Cr Amanda Cooper said the committee's support for the DA was a win for commonsense.
“The site is a derelict former gasworks facility that is crying out for redevelopment,” Cr Cooper said. “Its proximity to the city, public transport, schools and other social infrastructure make it ideal for redevelopment.
“It’s disused industrial sites like these that hold the key to accommodating growth in Brisbane while protecting the valuable tin and timber areas.” Cr Cooper said council was obligated to find 156,000 new dwellings under the State Government’s South East Queensland Regional Plan.
“We understand that we have a responsibility to provide for growth, and we believe the best way to do that is to put higher density living into old industrial areas close to the city,” Cr Cooper said.
“That way we can protect the leafy tin and timber suburbs and lifestyle Brisbane residents have come to love.”
She said Labor councillors had voted against the development in committee, despite voting in favour of increased heights and densities in the South Brisbane Riverside Neighbourhood Plan in May 2008 and supporting a massive 40 storeys in nearby Woolloongabba and 30 storeys at Milton.

Work halted on listed site

PROPERTY NEWS

Construction work of a heritage-listed building in the Valley has been halted. Local councillor David Hinchliffe’s office told The Independent it had received notification that the building at 208 Wickham Street Fortitude Valley “was been attacked with the jack hammer”.

Office staff reported this to the Compliance and Regulatory Services and received the following advice from the Rapid Response Team: “At 2:30pm officers from the Rapid Response Group attended the address and have issued a stopwork order to the builders on site. Building work was occurring and some minor demolition work, namely; cutting in a doorway.
“This matter has been referred to the Central Built Environment and Land Use team and is currently being fully investigated by one of their officers. Further consultation with the owner and builder/s are taking place and compliance notices are being drafted for service.”
Councilllor Hinchliffe’s office staff said they understand that an application had been made for work to be done for a snack bar at the premises.
As this issue of The Independent went to press, a meeting with owners and other concerned parties was being held.

Rum range a holey success

TASTINGS ... with David Bray

Rum is Bundy. And vice versa. That was the firm belief of your reporter and many of his journalism, Ballymore and sailing mates, back in the days. Things have changed. Years since I had a rum and Coke (not the pre-mix, and easy on the Coke, please).

The business that makes Bundaberg rum is no longer Australian-owned and there is some evidence that while, to quote from the publicity material, “Australia is home to the best rum maker in the world”, that rum isn’t Bundy.
The story is that Stuart Gilbert, master distiller at Holey Dollar Rum, has been making popular rums for over 10 years now but it was his newest rum creations that really stood out last year when all three rums won Best in Class awards in the highly competitive International Wine and Spirits Competition 2009.
The Holey Dollar Overproof (rrp $64.99) then went on to beat a line-up of Caribbean and West Indian rums to take the overall World’s Best Rum trophy in a unanimous panel vote.
Then just recently the 2010 competition 2010 announced its results in London and again all three of the Holey Dollar Rums were awarded Best in Class. Gilbert started the Holey Dollar Rum Distilling Company back in Sydney in 2008. He was already well-known as an international rum judge and maker of successful rums and but this wasn’t quite enough.
So he starting putting all his skills and efforts into the art of making and blending small quantities of rum with complexity, flavour and diversity, that were still affordable luxuries for the everyday person in Australia, which the publicity reminds us, is a country whose first currency of trade was rum. Stuart says: “The Holey Dollar rums are serious, individual, hand-crafted rums, made in pot-stills with extra ageing in oak barrels.
We’re never going to be huge but we want to give consumers a better class of rum. “Rum-making is a living process, linking nature with human ingenuity: a melding of technology and artistry. It is created by taking molasses, adding yeast, distilling and maturation. The variables within the process are almost infinite. By only using the finest natural raw materials, the best fermentation procedures, the best pot stills available in the world, together with an experienced and devoted master blender, you can create something that sets you aside from other rums. At Holey Dollar nothing artificial is used, no expense is spared, and quality is never substituted, to create this special and unique tasting rum.”
And if you think wine-lovers can be carried away in their descriptions, here are judging notes supplied by the IWSC:
Holey Dollar ‘Premium’ Rum (40% A/V) - Medium depth of old gold colour. Attractive nose with good floral notes and some dark, brown sugar characters. Good, rich mouth with flavours following the nose along with treacle, The PR people have thoughtfully provided these IWSC judging notes: dark chocolate and some vanilla. Raisin and prune are there and go into the full finish. (RRP $39.99)
Holey Dollar ‘Overproof’ Rum (57.2% A/V) - Medium to dark colour. Nose is filled with tropical fruits with floral backing and some rich vanilla. Mouth is big and demonstrative with all the flavours the nose had plus prune and treacle, with good, sweet vanilla. Long extended finish with lots of aromatics … a very attractive rum. (RRP $64.99)
Holey Dollar ‘Cask Strength’ Rum (75.9% A/V) – …wonderful dark amber colour with aromas of raisins and chocolate, toasty almonds and a hint of dried banana…layer and layer of progressively drier and woodier oak flavours finishing long and warm on the palate…a fabulous drink. (RRP $84.99)
What do you reckon you could do for Father’s Day, eh?

Where am I?

Look, it’s obviously some artwork depicting a well-known Valley car park – but where is it? The artwork, that is!
Tell us and you’ll have the chance to win a $60 prize voucher to enjoy some tucker and a drink at the Brunswick Hotel in New Farm. Email your answer to editor@theindependent.com.au to reach us no later than 5pm on Friday week, 27 August 2010. Or drop us the answer in the post by the same deadline to PO Box 476 Valley Q 4006.
One lucky winner will be off to the Brunnie on us. Bon appetit!

Winner of last issue’s competition was Shaun Reno, of Spring Hill, who correctly named the Arup Building in Wickham Street.

Jolie good time had by all

FILM .... with Tim Milfull



Salt (M)
Stars: Angelina Jolie, Leiv Schreiber
Director: Phillip Noyce
Rating: 3.5/5
100-minutes, now screening.

After seeing Phillip Noyce’s Salt, I’ve decided I can forgive Kurt Wimmer for the execrable Law Abiding Citizen, which starred Gerard Butler as an improbable assassin avenging his murdered family.

The latest film for Angelina Jolie is quite a sophisticated affair that digs deep into the realms of covert operations. Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, and when we first meet her, Salt is being tortured by particularly nasty North Korean interrogators who are unconvinced that she is actually an American businesswoman, rather than the spy that they believe she is.
After a tense border exchange, it becomes clear that Salt actually is a spy, and a pretty talented one at that. Two years later, she is working alongside her boss, Ted Winter (Leiv Schreiber) when a walk-in defector ‘exposes’ her as a deep-cover Soviet spy. And suddenly all hell breaks loose – Salt is on the run, and the entire US law enforcement organization after her, convinced that the visiting Russian President is her next target.
Noyce has garnered a solid reputation as a purveyor of quality action and suspense, and Salt is no exception. Once she’s on the run, our heroine doesn’t stop until the credits begin rolling (very cleverly leaving the option open for a film or TV franchise).
Schreiber offers a rock-solid supporting role as Salt’s bemused superior, and Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent as the sceptical head of another covert agency. Stick with the black and white morals of this kind of action writing, Kurt; when you start playing with the grey, you make a mess.

Bittersweet saga of tragedy and loss



Father of My Children (M)
Director: Mia Hansen-Love
Stars: Louis-do de Lencquesaing, Chiara Caselli
Rating: 4/5
108-minutes, now screening.

Mia Hansen-Løve is the partner of veteran French director, Oliver Assayas, and the influence of Assayas shows in her latest film, Father of My Children, a gentle, bittersweet film about a family coping with tragedy and loss.

The eponymous father is Grégoire Canvel (Louis-do de Lencquesaing), a critically successful producer running Moon Films, which has a respected catalogue of productions going back decades.
By day, Canvel maintains a frantic schedule juggling productions, fighting for money, arguing with unions, negotiating new deals, and worrying about the future of the company that has become his life.
By night, the dedicated father cossets his three children and a loving wife, heading away to the country home on weekends, and surreptitiously trying to run Moon Films when away on family holidays. When creditors begin closing in, and film productions stall for want of funding, Canvel makes a devastating decision, and his wife, Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) is left to pick up the pieces.
In Father of My Children, Hansen-Løve has assembled an excellent cast, with the performances of de Lencquesaing and Caselli ably complemented by three very good child roles: Clémence (de Lencquesaing’s daughter, Alice), Valentine (Alice Gautier) and Billie (Manelle Driss).
The script – also penned by Hansen-Løve – offers a subtle vision of contemporary French life, and in a special bonus for film-lovers, opens a tantalising window into the hectic and frantic life of an independent production company. This is simple, beautifully-wrought storytelling at its best.

THE BINGE



Directorial debut shows style

Survive Style 5+ (M) available from 1st September
Undead (M) now available
Reel Anime Film Festival 2-15th September at Dendy Portside
Russian Resurrection Film Festival 1-8th September at Palace Centro and Barracks

Gen Sekiguchi’s debut feature, Survive Style 5+ (pictured above) offers an intriguing premise, uniting five narrative arcs with a theme of violence, and the common element in all of the stories is a Brit hitman plagued by existential angst (played by Vinnie Jones).

Featuring Japanese heavyweights like Tadonabu Asano and Sonny Chiba, this mix of the surreal and the banal is very entertaining. And in a re-release – probably in line with the recent success of the Spierig brothers’ vampire gorefest, Daybreakers – Madman has decided to give their debut feature, Undead another run.
This sci-fi/zombie cross-over pitches a small-town outside Brisbane against itself, as a meteor brings a reanimating disease to Earth to raise the dead. This is the kind of film that would make Peter Jackson proud: splatter film at its very best! Keep an eye out for more slick stuff from the boys, as they’re aggressive about reanimating the Queensland film industry on a more global scale.
Anime lovers will be delighted to hear that Reel Anime will be back at Dendy Portside in the first half of September, offering the next filmic chapter in the Evangelion series – Evangelion 2.0: You Can[Not] Advance – to befuddle us all. Kazuyoshi Katayama’s King of Thorns offers a futuristic version of Sleeping Beauty, as humanity’s survivors wake from cryogenic sleep to discover the horrors of alien invasion.
In Summer Wars, Mamoru Hosoda builds on the reputation he garnered with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Takeshi Koike’s Redline tosses Speed Racer out the window, bringing us one of the most exciting anime car-racing films in recent years.
For more details, go online to www.madman.com.au/reelanime

Finally, the first week of September offers another distraction as the Russian Resurrection Film Festival rolls into town again. I saw four screeners, including the dramatic twentysomething drama, Parental Guidance, a harrowing adolescent school feature, Everybody Dies, But Me, a Second World War tragedy in One War, and the bittersweet ideological angst of The Miracle. There’s plenty more on the program, including a kids’ animation – Belka & Strelka: Space Dogs in 3D – and a comprehensive WWII Retrospective, featuring an impressive array of vintage Soviet films.
For more information, check out www.russianresurrection.com

It would be well hung anywhere

FROM MY CORNER ... with Ann Brunswick

Your favourite correspondent is blushing with pride at the moment with the news that she might be the subject of a “Chloe” type portrait to be hung in a suitable licensed premises somewhere deep inside this paper’s distribution area.

Visitors to Melbourne’s Young and Jackson Hotel have probably gazed over the beautifully naked Cloe who adorns an upstairs room in that establishment. Well, it now appears that a push is on to have a similar portrait, of yours truly, arguably this world city’s most loved newspaper columnist, commissioned to adorn a licensed premises somewhere close to where I transact most of my business these days.
I’m not sure where this might be, but by george I think it’s a right royal idea if it goes ahead. And may I add it would be an astute business move by any licensee involved, because I think I can say with a degree of immodesty that seeing I am such a well-loved figure in these parts, any bar made famous by having a painting of moi in it would certainly see it quickly filled by thirsty punters keen for a peek and a pint.
And just to show how seriously this project is being taken, I’m led to believe that a famous local artist Sandy Herberte, who has works hanging in some of the finest galleries here and abroad, has offered to do the portrait for this very sensible project for free!
I’ve met Mr Herberte a number of times in the exercise of my duties and he’s a very nice chap indeed. In fact, I’ve always been very comfortable in his presence, and I would have no qualms at all sitting nude for this portrait, as long as it was done tastefully and with the best possible lighting, of course. All I would ask is that Mr Herberte share in the spirt of the occasion by executing the painting in the nude himself.

***
Perhaps someone at one of our major universities could undertake some research to confirm my theory about people who use mobile phones while walking. You see for some time now it has been my belief that some, indeed a lot of, people can’t walk and talk at the same time.

Otherwise, why would those who use mobiles while walking invariably seem to find it impossible to get out of the way of other pedestrians, ie: me, while finding it all too easy to get in the way? Also, why would people dialling or texting on their phones while walking have the same problem?
It seems that any use of a mobile phone transports some people into another dimension in which nobody else seems to exist. These thoughts crossed my mind on the weekend while sipping coffee at a girls’ catch-up morning at a near-city footpath bistro. Our footpath table was near a pedestrian crossing that happened to be one of the few remaining zebra crossings left in captivity in our metropolis.
But don’t get me started on the way the Brisbane City Council has culled our zebra crossings in its ongoing efforts to bend over backwards to make sure cars have absolute right of way at all times.
Now, back to that particular zebra crossing. During our girls’ giggle morning my view happened to be across the table to the zebra crossing. One person, a young man, nearly didn’t make it across. He was texting or dialling on his mobile phone while walking along the footpath and simply kept walking onto the zebra crossing without looking.
Such was his pace that a car approaching the crossing had no time to slow down or stop as he began to cross, still without taking his eyes off his phone.
Only when the car had narrowly missed him did he look up and take note of his surrounds and, no doubt, how he had just missed out on a trip to hospital.

Valley cleans up with award

NEWS

An email tit-for-tat earlier this year between inner-city councillor David Hinchliffe and Lord Mayor Campbell Newman over cleaning up the Valley has paid off with the locality receiving a special award in the Spotless Suburbs Competition for “litter management”.

Cr Hinchliffe and the Lord Mayor exchanged dozens of at-times pointed emails over one weekend in what became a war of words over the state of the Valley’s cleanliness. The emails were subsequently leaked to the media and were published online. Cr Hinchliffe (Central Ward) who had argued for more bins and increased cleaning services says the end result has been a cleaner Valley.
“In this case, the jousting match between Campbell and me resulted in something very positive and constructive. We have more bins, cleaning schedules have been changed to provide more cleaning of footpaths and streets and we have a heightened awareness of the need to keep the Valley clean.
“I also think the motto I coined for the Valley – Cleaner. Greener. Prouder. – is starting to get traction,” he said.
“Of course, much more needs to be done. This award is a pat on the back for heading in the right direction, but we’ve got a lot further to go, particularly with some of the pathetic and irresponsible owners who are letting the rest of the Valley down.”
Cr Hinchliffe singled out the “disgraceful” Walton’s department store in Brunswick Street West. He decried the fact that there was no legislation with teeth that would empower the council to force the owners to either put up or cover up “this Valley eye-sore”.
Cr Hinchliffe is keen for public pressure and the developmental community, plus bipartisan support from both sides of the council chamber, to create strong legislation that would force buildings such as this to an acceptable standard. “This would then attract more locals and visitors to the Fortitude Valley area where they would be surrounded by buildings and streetscapes that shows a well-cared and secure environment,” he said.

Cr David Hinchliffe is pictured above, centre, with judges John and Lou Carothers.

Laneway honours Robyn’s work

NEWS

A “living and working Valley legend” has been honoured by having a laneway named after her. Cr David Hinchliffe on Wednesday August 4 unveiled the first Valley Lane Name “Robyn Ward Lane” and plaque at 257 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley

The lane sits between Delahunty’s Cost-less Chemist and the bottle shop of the Elephant and Wheelbarrow, corner of Brunswick and Wickham Street. The laneway is named after Robyn Ward who for more than 30 years has worked as a senior pharmacist assistant to James Delahunty’s Valley Chemist.
Cr Hinchliffe told guests at the lane naming that while he was the local councillor, Robyn Ward was the local counsellor, dispensing good advice to people for decades.
He said Robyn’s strong personality and common sense approach to life had provided much needed advice and counselling to Valley residents from all walks of life.
She was immensely respected and is a personality in her own right –she called a spade a spade and offers a smiling friendly face to those in need.
The cross road of Brunswick and Wickham Street was originally known as the “Valley Corner” and was a pharmacy site as early as 1895 when Bell & Crease Chemists first opened. They were then taken over by the first radio chemist – Chemist Roush – who then sold onto the first discount chemist – Carl David.
Delahunty’s purchased the chemist in 1979, moving the pharmacy to its current location in 1988. The Delahunty’s purchase of the Brunswick Street building led to the restoration to its original glory which includes a lift to the Brunswick Street Medical Centre.

Valley icon makes welcome comeback

An iconic Fortitude Valley institution is to make a comeback when the inaugural Valley Laneways Markets kick off this Sunday, August 8.

The California Cafe, which began in 1951 in the Carol’s Corner building on the corner of Brunswick and McLachlan streets, was run by George Apostolos (pictured above) for just over a half century until it sadly closed its doors almost a decade ago.
His son Charlie, told The Independent this week: “It’s coming back in the laneways markets for six weeks until we can bring it back permanently.” He was coy about where the cafe’s temporary home would be, adding: “People will just have to walk around the markets and find it!”.
The Valley Laneways Markets will operate each Sunday from some of the little-known laneways close to the Valley’s heart. When the California Cafe closed, many of its original 1950s features, including the faux marble laminex tables and chairs, anodised metal milkshakes containers, oval plates and sugar bowls were retained in anticipation of a return one day.
Charlie says there are only about 10 of the monster plates left that George and his staff used for their famous “mixed grill” meals that legend had it stumped the hungriest and the largest of truckies.
Charlie said the new markets would help create pedestrian flow around the Valley heart. “We love the Valley and think it’s special. “We want to complement the existing weekend mall markets; not compete with them.”

Council decision a screensaver?

NEWS

New Farm residents in particular would be happy to hear the news that the unsightly construction site that is the old Village Twin cinemas might soon see some real progress after a year of little progress.

Brisbane City Council has finally approved the Village Twin redevelopment, and local councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) says the application was
held up by council’s insistence that an awning on Barker Street be reduced. “I strongly urged the council to adopt a more reasonable approach about the awnings,” Cr Hinchliffe said.
“Given our climate, I would have thought the more awnings we have the better. Fortunately, officers in council have agreed and the final obstacle to a development approval for the Village Twin has finally been removed.”

It’s a buyer’s market out there!

PROPERTY NEWS


By Sally Scott

Australia’s rapidly rising population will lead to a huge demand for property – so we’ve been hearing and reading over the past 12 months. But it seems this hunger to acquire somewhere to call your own is slow in coming, given the latest statistics that indicate Australia’s housing market is not as undersupplied as most commentators believe.

Research findings from Matusik Property Insights show a rise in properties for sale this winter, and in Melbourne and Brisbane particularly. Michael Matusik says: “In Brisbane, there are now about 25,500 houses and apartments for sale, up from 18,250, or 40 per cent, this time last year ... it is estimated (across the country) that by the time we get to spring, there could be as many as 400,000 dwellings for sale.”
Matusik also points to The Economist findings, which last month dubbed the Australian housing market “the most overvalued” of the 20 it studied. The upside of his findings, Matusik says, is that it is a buyer’s market and sellers need to be aware of this.
“A good offer, early, may be the best you will get in the current environment,” he says.

Rents stabilising

And it seems tenants in Brisbane can breathe a little easier with the latest data predicting rents to stabilise over the next few months. The RP Data rental review for the June quarter showed advertised rental costs for houses across the country had increased by an average of just $10 in the previous 12 months. And Brisbane rents for both houses and apartments recorded no change in the past quarter.
Michael Matusik sets out reasons why this trend is likely to continue, at least in the short term, in his July property report, Snapshot. In it Matusik backs the RP Data findings, saying that the amount of rental stock available is not only greater than most realise but it is also getting larger.
“Total listings are growing by around 17 per cent a month, which is quite fast, yet new listing are up 26 per cent over the month before, suggesting an accelerating supply of dwellings available to rent,” his report states.
“This trend is evident across most of the country.”
Quoting from further data from the Queensland Government’s Office of Economic and Statistical Research, Matusik points out that the rental vacancy rate across the state is now over 5 per cent, up one percentage point on March this year, and is 5.5 per cent in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Inner Brisbane suburbs are more in demand with a 3 per cent vacancy rate. Such figures should be a cautionary tale to landlords, who might be considering lifting rents in the near future.
In the words of Matusik: It often pays to keep a good tenant at the same rent, rather than risk losing them for a few dollars more a week.

Warning issued over non-compliant insulation warning

PROPERTY NEWS

Home renovators and owner builders have been urged to check any building insulation products being offered to them to ensure they comply with the labelling, testing and quality requirements contained in the Building Code of Australia regulations / Australian Standards.

Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, says that with the collapse of the Federal Government’s Home Insulation Program some insulation products imported by installers have not been tested correctly and fail to comply with the Building Code of Australia (BCA).
These products, including sub-standard glass-wool batts, other insulation products and laminated foil, could now find their way into new building and renovation projects.
Archicentre Queensland state manager Ian Agnew said anyone undertaking a renovation or building a new home should buy insulation products from a reputable source and check that the insulation products comply with BCA standards.
“We have instructed our architects undertaking renovation design concepts and pre-purchase inspections to be extremely vigilant. Archicentre’s statistics show that in some suburbs 40 per cent of homes still have no roof insulation and these are prime targets for unscrupulous contractors wanting to dump inferior products.”
“Saving a few dollars and not having the correct material is not just an environmental matter it is also related to safety especially where the threat of fire is concerned.” Mr Agnew said it is also vital to use properly qualified and accredited installers as incorrect installation of unsuitable products can become a legal liability, especially if the property is sold with poorly installed substandard insulation.
“People now apprehensive about ceiling insulation shouldn't be ... they should just use a reputable installer and make themselves aware of the quality Australian made products which can be safely used when installed properly."
Mr Agnew said it was important, both environmentally and economically, to restore community confidence in the insulation industry with installers and Australian manufacturers.
Archicentre is also urging all home buyers to check if the home they are considering buying has been part of the Federal Government Home Insulation Scheme. If so home buyers need to request an inspection report by an independent qualified inspector which lists the time it was done, the qualifications of the inspector, and the details of the professional indemnity insurance policy which covers the quality of the inspection.
Mr Agnew said in the case of the home owner, for peace of mind and safety, the same type of inspection by a qualified person should take place with the home owner receiving a similar report.

Viability test for those renovating ideas

PROPERTY NEWS

Queensland renovators and owner builders can now test the viability and practicality of their ideas before they commence an expensive project through a new “consultation” service launched by Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects.

Renovators can book a one-hour consultation at Archicentre’s office at the Institute with an Archicentre architect for a set fee. Ian Agnew, Queensland state manager of Archicentre said: “‘Ask an Archicentre Architect’ provides people, who are thinking of renovating or building, with access to professional architectural services for a set fee.
“The initial decision making, design and management process in the end determines the failure or success of renovations in producing a good return environmentally, quality of lifestyle and importantly financial return.
“Above anything, architects design lifestyles. While people may know they need an extra bedroom or study, they may not know how best to maximise their space and budget. By consulting one of our architects, people now have the opportunity to afford good design.
"We believe it is extremely valuable to apply professional design expertise at the beginning of the project to help people consolidate their ideas and get an indication of costs.
“Such information allows for realistic assessment of the project and the financial viability at the beginning which can save a considerable amount of time and money.
“In today’s world of digital cameras people can quickly assemble visual information and other relevant material to be brought along to the consultation for discussion.” Mr Agnew said the “Ask an Archicentre Architect'” service was a cost-effective program that can be used for initial design ideas, major renovations, kitchen and bathroom updates, or re-arranging internal space within the home by removing interior walls.

To book, call (07) 3846 4957 or email vtanton@archicentre.com.au

Leighton grabs three green gongs

PROPERTY NEWS

Leighton Contractors has won three prestigious awards within a few weeks for its efforts in environmental sustainability at its construction sites and offices. Leighton Contractors took out the Australian Business Award for Environmental Sustainability in its industry; the Premier’s Climate Smart Award for Industrial Eco-Efficiency; and an individual award for achievement in developing a sustainable environment from the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s (UDIA) Women in Development Awards.

Darren Weir, general manager, Leighton Contractors Northern Region, said the company was thrilled to receive this recognition for its environmental sustainability leadership. “We are very proud of this external endorsement of what we’ve been trying to achieve for the past several years, which is the enhancement, preservation and protection of the environment at construction sites and in our offices – everywhere we work,” he said. “We have a carefully considered and implemented strategy, including our Green Office and Site Resource Efficiency Programs, the Sustainable Business Program and Greenhouse Gas Abatement Plan. Together these plans are delivering significant and measurable outcomes for us in water preservation, waste reduction and energy efficiency.”
The company was chosen from 26 entrants as the winner of the Premier’s Climate Smart Award for Industrial Eco-Efficiency, while its Environmental Sustainability Coordinator in Queensland Samantha Hayes won the UDIA award. Along with its internal strategies, Leighton Contractors is also carving out a niche as the leading designer and constructor of sustainable buildings in Queensland, with Green Square Office Park and HQ (pictured above) examples of completed buildings using technology to enable environmental excellence.
Both contemporary buildings feature a range of greener alternatives to conventional buildings to minimise environmental impacts including rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing and irrigation, and technology such as gas fired cogeneration plants to produce electricity.
The company is also involved in the construction of three other projects which will target results in sustainability excellence: One One One Eagle Street, Queensland University of Technology’s Science and Technology Precinct and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s accommodation project at Southbank.

Building a fine reputation

TASTINGS ... with David Bray



The bluestone and brick chateau was the biggest building in South Australia when it opened in 1890, and the largest winery in the southern hemisphere. It was owned by Adelaide Wine Co, later called the Château Tanunda Wine Co. It was Seppelts for those of us who were involved with wine when things began to move along. Had been since 1916.

A big, solid Barossa building bursting with history and some great wines. In time, Seppelt went to Penfolds and then on to Southcorp. In 1998 John Geber, a very successful South African-born international entrepreneur, in the Barossa on wine business, chanced upon the building and snapped it up. It was, according to The Adelaide Review, “an abandoned ship in a sea of concrete, boarded up and broken down.
The chateau no longer made wine, just stored it”. Mr Geber’s family had planted grapes in South Africa’s Cape Province in 1809. His mother was of aristocratic though not wealthy lineage, related to the Sackville-Wests. “Very steeped in very strong French-English heritage,” he told the Review, “so I knew about all the old stuff, chateaux and estates.”
What’s more he had good money and went about spending quite a lot of it. Today the property is a spectacular complex of function centre, first-class winery, croquet green and a cricket oval overlooking the vineyards and ranges, reckoned to be one of the most spectacular grounds in the world with three “world class test strips’’.
Just to round things off, a Wine Train used to run between Adelaide and Tanunda but hasn’t done so for some time. Mr Geber owns it now and is working on getting it running again next year.
What brings all this to my notice and yours is a nice neat range of good, well-priced wines under The Tower label. The Chateau’s wines come at four levels, Limited Release (pricey, as you might imagine), Chateau, Grand Barossa and Barossa Tower.
The company word is that its top of the range wines are uncrushed, basket-pressed and unfiltered.... “made with minimal intervention to allow the true character of the grapes to express themselves. The combination of traditional methods with the best technology creates an elegance and softness in the wines’’.
The Château sources fruit parcels from its own vineyards on the estate as well as fruit parcels from old Barossa vineyards, for which the region is respected and renowned. This focus restores the links between Château Tanunda and the grape-growing families of the Barossa – a partnership which goes back over one hundred years.
“Some of our small fruit sources are quite unique with three parcels over 100 years old”. The Barossa Tower is described as a larger and more accessible range: “The wines are filtered and are high quality wines with fruit notes and a restrained easy drinking’’.
So here they are: Barossa Tower moscato 2010 is light, fresh, slightly fizzy and a touch sweet, likely to be a very popular aperitif. Likely price around $15.
Barossa Tower pinot grigio 2010 is from nearby Eden Valley cool and clean, bright, crisp and generously flavoured. This reporter likes it a lot. $15.
Barossa Tower shiraz 2009 used grapes comes from four local vineyards as well as Tanunda’s Cricket Block to create the house style Barossa shiraz – lifted aromas of blackberry, plum and black pepper accompanied by spicy dark berry fruits on the palate. $18.
Barossa Tower cabernet merlot 2008 also used fruit from five different Eden Valley and Barossa vineyards again to produce the house style of lifted aromas of black cherry, blackcurrent and plum with chocolate and dark berry fruits on the palate. $18.
It’s great to see and taste such good things coming from an almost-lost part of our wine history.

One-term government more and more likely

POLITICS ... with Mungo MacCallum

It’s time, in fact it’s well past time, it may even be too late, for a reality check. Australia, having been the only advanced country to avoid recession, is now experiencing the economic double of falling unemployment and falling inflation. Interest rates are a lot lower than they were when the government came to office and are unlikely to rise beyond what are seen as normal levels.

Australia has the lowest debt in the industrialised world and the budget is forecast to return to surplus within three years. The mining boom has meant that some parts of the country are doing better than others, but everyone is doing pretty well and both business and consumer confidence ratings are high.
Seen from the point of view of the hip pocket, things could hardly be rosier. And yet the voters are preparing to vote the government that has presided over this happy state and is at least partly responsible for it out of office after one truncated term. Instead, they plan to install a mob of shop-soiled has-beens and wild-eyed never-will-bes whose policies consist of slashing government services, refusing to collect the taxes with which to pay off what it absurdly insists is unsustainable debt and sending asylum seekers to Nauru.
The government’s popularity has been falling for months, and it has now got to the point where the slide looks unstoppable. How has it come to this? Well, stand and take a bow, you factional bosses. These are the men (they are all men) who insisted that Kevin Rudd abandon his climate change stand, the retreat from conviction that started the rot. And when the rot set in, they demanded that he be replaced, precipitating a vicious split in the party that utterly derailed Julia Gillard’s already abysmal campaign for re-election.
Polling replaced principle; the views of a shonky focus group in the western suburbs of Sydney were considered more important than consistency, decency, commonsense and the ideas and ideals on which Rudd had been elected in a landslide less than three years before. Rudd’s real crime was summed up by one of his executioners, Senator Mike Arbib: “he has stopped listening to me.”
Julia Gillard, apparently, still is listening, and is likely to suffer ignominious defeat as a result. Rudd, to his credit, realised that the factions and their war lords were not only superfluous but destructive, and took them on early in his prime ministership; he has now paid the price. Gillard accepted their inevitability and dominance, and is likely to pay an even greater price.
But while the Labor Party might lose, the factional leaders can’t; safely ensconced in the senate seats into which the have inserted themselves, they have no responsibility to service an electorate and can devote all their energies to maintaining and enhancing their own power bases. This is their real purpose in life: they have no vision, ideology, imagination or sense of public duty. Their sole talent is supposed to be strategic and tactical – they are meant to know how to win elections. As has now been proved conclusively, they don’t.
Like all idols they continue to exist only because their followers believe, wrongly, that they have real power. They don’t. These be your gods, oh Labor.

In what must be the supreme irony, Labor is now turning to the leader it spurned, Kevin Rudd, to try and save a few seats from the potential carnage. Before entering hospital for the emergency removal of his gall bladder Rudd issued a statement indicating his willingness to join the campaign throughout Queensland and anywhere else for that matter.
Presumably it is hoped that this show of loyalty will at least ameliorate the damage done by the war of leaks and allay the resentment in the sunshine state over the dumping of the home town boy. All the signs are that the rejection of Labor has now gone far beyond such parochial limits, but desperate times demand desperate measures. Just how desperate is indicated by the fact that Gillard has said she is not only hoping, but praying, for Rudd’s speedy recovery so that he can get back on the trail.
If our proudly atheistic leader has retreated to the religious rituals of her childhood, she must indeed be in need of a miracle.

On a more cheerful note, wasn’t it good to see that hard but strangely attractive woman with the steel-capped black boots, Laura Norder, getting a gig in the campaign last week. Laura is normally only exhumed from her home in the political gutter during the dark days of state elections; she is, after all, a state rather than federal responsibility.
But having nothing better to offer, Julia Gillard invoked her to safeguard the populace against knives, knuckledusters, stun guns and, improbably, gas-filled dart guns for sharks – I’ll bet you didn’t know sharks carried guns. Not to be outdone, Tony Abbott summoned Laura to his side to help combat gang violence – if any gangs threaten violence, she’ll belt the crap out of them.
In the circumstances, reports that the Family First Party had approached the Australia Sex Party (Real Action!) to suggest a preferences deal seemed almost credible. And it was no real surprise to find Julia Bishop on television with the Chaser team, employing her famous death stare to best a garden gnome. Can this campaign get any worse? You betcha.
The former room temperature foreign minister Alexander Downer waited until Kevin Rudd was safely sedated, and then accused him of acting as a conduit for Downer’s own malicious, disloyal and possibly illegal leaks. When Rudd came to and said he might sue, Downer claimed to have been misunderstood. But Julie Bishop said Rudd had been known to swear, so that must prove something. And there are still two and a half weeks to go.

Leaking to conclusions again

FROM MY CORNER ... with Ann Brunswick

Readers of the national broadsheet The Weekend Australian may have noticed that its stable of 379 political commentators has been joined in recent weeks by former Queensland premier Peter Beattie.

Mr Beattie’s latest column at the weekend was devoted to his view, whatever that’s worth, on the tit-for-tat leaking within the federal Labor Government that has seemingly stalled PM Julia Gillard’s campaign for the election of her government. On that point, let me be detour for just a moment. You see, since calling the election Ms Gillard and others in the Labor camp have been talking about the need to “re-elect” the Gillard government.
Well, call me pedantic, but to my mind the Gillard government has never been elected, so how can it be re-elected? Now that’s off my chest, let me continue.
Mr Beattie saw fit to hold forth on the problems of leaking in politics. He should know all about leaking, one of his former staffers remarked to me over drinks at a ladies lunch on Sunday.
Well, yes, it did occur to me that when in the premier’s office, as a backbench MP, and as state secretary of the Queensland branch of the Labor Party, Mr Beattie did have somewhat of a reputation as a leaker. In fact some who knew him and his modus operandi well used to say that rather than leaker, he was a running tap.
It is actually a tad sad to see so much space in The Australian and its weekend edition handed over to so many commentators. There are just so any of them. The 379 number quoted at the top of the previous item is probably a little exaggerated. It may be closer to 320 or so.
Nevertheless, from my reading of them, not many have anything new or insightful to say. Most a fairly predictable or, like Mr Beattie, fairly pedestrian. So few of them have ever caused me to sit bolt upright and say, “I never thought of it like that”, or “That puts things in a whole new light”.
And as for The Australian's longtime commentator Paul Kelly, the sooner he hangs up his shingle the sooner we can start cutting our greenhouse gas emissions by saving all those trees that are felled and processed to make the paper used to print his lengthy think pieces.


***

Here’s a quick two-part quiz for you. Check out the Brisbane City Council parking sign (pictured above) snapped in Brunswick Street at New Farm. Now imagine you are driving your car on a Saturday or Sunday down the street some time between 4pm and 6pm.

OK, so here is the first part of the quiz. Are you allowed to park to the left of the sign for a few minutes just to pop into a nearby shop, or will you be running the risk of being fined and towed away? Now, for the second part of the quiz. As a ratepayer can you work out why it seems so difficult to get a simple bloody parking sign right?
We wish we could bring you the answers but sadly, just like you, we don’t know them either.

Donal’s Go Card gripe rings true

I got this thoughtful email from Donal O’Sullivan of New Farm that’s worth sharing with you.

“In your column, you have written about how visitors to Brisbane will have difficulty getting on our buses without a Go card. I have previously written to the minister several times about the inadequacies of the go card, but to no effect.
“I attach a copy of my recent letter to the minister dated 19 March for your information, in which I mention among other things the difficulty I will have when my grandchildren from NSW come to visit, and I cannot take them anywhere on the bus because there will no longer be any paper ticket that I can buy.
"But both the minister and Translink do not seem to care about little unimportant seniors like me and my grandchildren on holidays.
"We have got to keep hounding our politicians until they provide an appropriate and satisfactory ticketing service on public transport to the community, instead of ripping us off left right and centre.”

Roman holiday from quality film-making

FILM ... with Tim Milfull

The Ghost Writer (MA)
Director: Roman Polanski
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams Rating: 3/5
128-minutes, screening from 12 August.


Roman Polanski has led a life dogged by tragedy and controversy: escaping Nazi persecution as a child; losing his wife Sharon Tate to Charles Manson’s lunatic gang; a conviction for statutory rape; and a decades-long exile from Hollywood – although the latter might be considered by some as a blessing in disguise.
While the most recent scandal about his house arrest and failed extradition attempt to face the rape conviction again may have been subverted by Swiss authorities, new charges have arisen over another alleged statutory rape in the seventies.
Opinions might be divided about Polanksi’s guilt or innocence on these charges, but few argue about his talent for cinema, with classics like Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, and The Pianist cementing his reputation as a master filmmaker. This is why his latest film is such a disappointment.
Based on a well-received Robert Harris novel – The Ghost – and adapted by Polanski in collaboration with the novelist, the film tells the story of a talented anonymous writer (Ewan McGregor) hired to ghost write the autobiographer of former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan).
Hidden away in the soulless, concrete mansion of his publisher, The Ghost collaborates with his subject to redraft the manuscript left behind by Lang’s former confidante, who committed suicide under mysterious circumstances.
The more he digs into Lang’s past, The Ghost finds more and more mysteries, especially regarding the ex-PM’s grumpy, opinionated wife, Ruth (Olivia Williams). When charges of war crimes come to light out of Lang’s term of office, The Ghost realises he might be in over his head.
Ostensibly, The Ghost Writer has all the hallmarks of a Polanski classic: very good performances, an evocative score, and a series of excellent locations shot with a moody, unsettling aesthetic. Unfortunately, Polanski’s script lets The Ghost Writer down, failing to bring the characters to life or believable suspense to the narrative.



Keeping up with the Smiths

Killers (M)
Director: Robert Luketic
Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck
Rating: 3/5
93-minutes, now screening

Featuring one of the lamest posters in recent times, Aussie expat Robert Luketic’s Killers doesn’t promise much in the action-comedy stakes. Ashton Kutcher has a reputation as a lightweight, with a career top-heavy with unremarkable film and television; he’s probably more famous for his Twitter correspondence and a long-term relationship with uber-cougar Demi Moore.

And Katherine Heigl has a somewhat more consolidated career, working on Grey’s Anatomy and in an on-again-off-again career with Judd Apatow. In Killers, Luketic teams up these two with a collection of other B- listers, including Tom Selleck and the excellent character actor, Catherine O’Hara as a vaguely dysfunctional middle-American family. Heigl plays Jen Kornfeldt, whose series of disastrous relationships have left her a quivering mess. On a holiday with her parents (Selleck and O’Hara), she meets Mr Perfection, Spencer (Kutcher) who sweeps her off her feet. Three years later, the pair has a beautiful home, and an attractive circle of friends, even if Jen’s parents are a little eccentric. But trouble comes to town when Spencer’s old career returns to haunt him; suddenly, there’s a $20-million bounty on his head, and Jen is reeling with the revelation that her husband was once a contract killer. Robert Luketic directed a winner in Legally Blonde back in 2001, and ever since has made some pretty unremarkable mainstream films, including another Heigl vehicle, The Ugly Truth. Killers may not be as consistently clever as Grosse Point Blank, but it is a serviceable Hollywood action-comedy, and surprisingly, more believable than that other assassin-flick, Mr & Mrs Smith.




THE BINGE

One hump or two?

Humpday (MA15+)
Change of Plans (M)
North Face (M)
Five Minutes of Heaven (M)
All now available from Madman

The premise of Humpday involves a Seattle tradition of a home-made pornography festival writ large, as two former college buddies reunite, and make a drunken pledge to film a porno about two straight fellers having sex.

Writer-director Lynn Shelton tells a very believable and occasionally hilarious story about relationships and the lengths two guys will go to in the search for artistic expression.
Daniele Thompson’s Change of Plans is also about mini-midlife crises, as a group of friends and strangers sit down for a dinner party one evening, and agree to meet again a year later. Written by Thompson and her husband, this film features some elaborate relational machinations and an excellent series of confrontations and affairs.
With North Face, writer-director Philip Stözl departs from his music video background to tell the true story of two attempts to climb the north face of The Eiger, a treacherous mountain marked as the last of the challenges of the European Alps. Featuring some excellent performances, dramatic action sequences, breathtaking scenery, and unsettling subtexts of Nazi rhetoric in the lead-up to the Second World War, North Face is an excellent example of an action flick. In Five Minutes of Heaven (above), Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall)and writer, Guy Hibbert imagine what it would be like to sit two grown men down together four decades after one as a child witnessed the other murdering his older brother in an act of sectarian violence during the Troubles of northern Ireland.
Based on Hibbert’s close consultation with both real-life characters, and featuring some remarkable performances from James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson, Five Minutes... is a confronting examination of truth and reconciliation.