Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Parties bickering over cycle scheme


NEWS

To the LNP administration, Brisbane’s CityCycle scheme is slowly gaining speed after a wobbly start caused by the weather. To the Labor opposition, the chain has well and truly slipped off CityCycle and it’s ground to a halt financially.


At the opening of Brisbane’s 100th CityCycle bike station recently, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced that a trip to Paris was up for grabs in celebration of the milestone that meant Brisbane City Council was now two-thirds of the way through rolling out Australia’s largest bike hire scheme, which will have 150 stations and 2000 bikes between St Lucia and Newstead when it is complete.
Cr Quirk said more than 4700 subscribers had made more than 40,000 trips since the CityCycle bike hire scheme first opened last October.
But Labor’s Lord Mayoral candidate Ray Smith hit back saying: “This week it was reported that just 2277 subscriptions were active – less than a quarter of what is needed to make the scheme viable.” Mr Smith said that celebrating the100th bike station showed that the LNP Administration had the wrong priorities for the city, with “ hundreds of bicycles are left standing idle every day”.
“At the moment, this CityCycle scheme is nothing to celebrate,” Mr Smith said. “This LNP administration is still pushing ahead and pouring millions of dollars of ratepayers’ money into a scheme that is failing.
“It’s clear residents are not using CityCycle but the LNP continue to throw good money after bad in an attempt to fix their botched bike hire scheme.
“Just last week, the LNP cut $400,000 from a program to make cycling black spots safer – but at the same time they poured an additional $200,000 into the failed CityCycle scheme that no one is using.
“Earlier this year, the LNP cut $382 million in funding for important local projects and services including 19 local roads projects, five bikeways, parks, community grants and library books.
“The prioritisation of CityCycle over vital suburban projects is further proof that this LNP administration has the wrong priorities for Brisbane. “If I am elected as Lord Mayor, I will undertake an immediate audit into the scheme to find out how things went so wrong for CityCycle.
“Since day one, this scheme has been plagued by safety concerns, community opposition, million-dollar budget blowouts, delays in delivery and an appalling implementation.
“The CityCycle scheme has been completely mismanaged and there is a lot of work to do if this scheme is going to be safe and successful,” he said.
Lord Mayor Quirk said: “CityCycle has got off to a promising start so far, particularly considering much of the inner city went under water during the floods and the popular Riverwalk was washed away,” Cr Quirk said.
“And we expect these numbers to continue to grow as we rollout more bikes and stations – we’ve seen the number of hire bike trips jump 30 per cent since February as flood-damaged stations have been repaired and the weather’s cooled down.”

Courier crashes to new heights


NEWS

If a story in our city’s morning daily newspaper The Courier-Mail can be believed we should all give ourselves a pat on the back. Yes, it seems Brisbane residents are embracing recycling more than ever. Not content with filling our yellow-top bins to the brim each fortnight, we are doing a damn fine job recycling The Courier-Mail itself.


Last Saturday the paper broke the news that despite yet another drop in its circulation figures, its readership had risen – also yet again. It has become a ritual for the newspaper to claim readership is holding up or growing despite the long-term decline in its sales.
This can only mean one thing – those who shell out their cash to buy The Courier-Mail are thoughtfully passing it on to others to read. The newspaper’s story itself said The Courier-Mail’s average daily circulation Monday to Friday in the first quarter of 2011 was 195,490 and 278,313 for its Saturday weekend edition.
Oddly, they did not give any comparative figures for the same period last year. Maybe they didn’t want to bother readers with too many statistics. They usually have the same thoughtful attitude each time the Audit Bureau of Circulation figures appear.
But we can supply the comparative numbers for the March quarter 2010. They were 208,214 Monday to Friday and 300,830 on Saturdays. That means on average 12,724 people who bought the Courier in the first three months of 2010 were no longer buying it come the first three months of this year.
That means 6.1 per cent fewer papers being sold each day. Similarly, over the past year 22,517 people stopped buying the weekend edition of The Courier-Mail – a circulation drop of almost 7.5 per cent.
What the Courier’s own story last Saturday did say was that its readership on Mondays to Fridays had grown 2.2 per cent to reach 603,000.
So congratulations to the diminishing pool of Courier buyers for your outstanding generosity by passing on your copy to friends, family, neighbours or even perfect strangers.

Ann Brunswick

Valves ‘would have reduced flooding’


NEWS

A proposal has been put forward for “back-flow valves” that its supporters claim would have reduced the massive flooding suffered by New Farm and CBD residents in January.


The proposal comes from retiring city councillor David Hinchliffe and the Labor candidate for his seat, Paul Crowther (pictured below) who have described the council’s flood inquiry as “secretive” and “arrogant”.
They have called on council to act quickly to install back-flow valves to reduce the potential for river floodwaters to travel back up council stormwater drains and flood local properties.
In a joint statement, Cr Hinchliffe and Mr Crowther said: “All of the flooding in New Farm and most of the flooding in the CBD was the result of river floodwaters flowing back up stormwater inlets and flooding streets of New Farm and in the CBD. The council’s inquiry into this flood should have been out in the open. Instead, it meets behind closed doors and treats requests for public hearings with sheer arrogance.”
Paul Crowther added: “There is plenty of international experience to prove that contemporary, state-of-the-art backflow valves could either eliminate this or substantially reduce it.”
Their claims are backed by local engineer Tim Saddington. “These valves do work,” he said. “ They ensure that the stormwater drains drain the land but the river water in times of flood don’t come back up the stormwater system. In the long term, they’ll save residents and the council a lot of money.”
Cr Hinchliffe said he had raised the issue in council for four months since the January floods, asking for council officers, senior councillors and the council’s flood inquiry to meet with local New Farm residents to discuss the issues.
So far, council has refused to attend meetings with groups of local residents. “Residents in Merthyr Road, Welsby Street, Sydney Street and Sargent Street suffered serious flooding because council doesn’t have backflow valves on all drains,” Cr Hinchliffe said. “Restaurants such as Maddigans in Margaret Street lost $100,000 worth of stock and can’t get insurance because the flooding was the result of council drains.
The damage in New Farm and the CBD is estimated in the many millions of dollars. One unit block alone in Sydney Street has an estimated $1million worth of damage.
“New backflow technology makes it much easier to reduce flooding in these areas.” Mr Crowther added: “Residents have a right to have their say with the council experts and decision-makers such as the Lord Mayor.
“However, the Lord Mayor and other senior councillors in civic cabinet have refused to attend public meetings on the issue. They won’t even allow council officers to attend such meetings. “The council inquiry should have been an open and public inquiry, just like the state’s flood commission. Instead, any interviews by the council’s inquiry have been behind closed doors.”
A meeting of residents in Sargent Street New Farm would go ahead within the next few weeks “ without council officers or any member of the LNP Civic Cabinet agreeing to attend”.

Many families in dire need: Salvos

NEWS

In the run up to its annual Red Shield Appeal later this month, the Salvation Army is warning that rising rent, electricity and increasing food prices are crippling many Australian families.

The Salvos point out that figures already show that last year an incredible 80,000 people came to ask for help from their welfare services for the first time ever. They say it’s clear many clients currently feel more depressed and less in control than they did because of the current economic situation. Many top celebrities have put their name behind the appeal, including Jennifer Hawkins, Brett Lee, Duncan Armstrong, Fifi Box, Julie Goodwin, Maggie Tabberer, Ita Buttrose, Wil Anderson, Iva Davies, Andrew Gaze, David Boon and many more.
The Salvation Army’s Major Peter Sutcliffe said: “The simple reality is the need for funds is critical this year. After all the challenges we’ve been facing in recent months helping the victims of floods and people in crisis, our resources are severely stretched.
“We help around 1 million people every year. If you put 1 million people in a line, it would stretch from the centre of Melbourne all the way up the Hume Highway and finish around Newcastle. This is how huge the need is – and that’s why we’re asking people to consider their gift this year and help us.
“It’s clear to us the demand upon our day-to-day social and community services is growing. The increasing cost of living is impacting in a big way on many low income families.”
“We know that data shows over 2.2 million people are now estimated to live in poverty; 75 per cent live in a household where nobody has paid work; 12 per cent of Australian kids live in poverty, which is deeply shocking and very alarming.
“Many of our clients are on the poverty line so when rent, electricity and food prices go up, there’s nothing else they can cut. Often there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, so it’s a terrible cycle they get trapped in.”
“We have an overall goal of $79 million if we are to maintain our vital social programs in the year ahead. It’s sometimes forgotten that The Salvation Army is so much more than food and blankets. We provide crisis accommodation, support for families in need, telephone counselling, bereavement support services, addiction recovery support, emergency services, employment help and much much more.”
The Salvos will be knocking on doors across the nation on 28 and 29 May. They highlight there’s no need to wait until then to donate, because the need is so urgent.

People can donate any time by calling 13 SALVOS (13 72 58) for the cost of a local call. You can also go to www.salvos.org.au or www.salvationarmy.org.au. People can also donate at any Westpac bank branch or post a cheque to PO Box 9888 in your capital city.



Hunters and Collectors’ Mark Seymour is supporting the Red Shield Appeal as the Salvos highlight money is desperately needed to maintain services. Pictured with Mark are Major Bram Cassidy and Captain Gen Peterson from the Salvos.

Drew project draws criticism



PROPERTY News
Residents in Fortitude Valley’s Light Street precinct are fighting a proposed nine-storey development that the local councillor says will make a mockery of the new Valley Neighbourhood Plan if it goes ahead.

The 50-unit development by Drew Group developers is more than twice the maximum height of four storeys for the Rosetta St area as set out in the recently approved Valley Neighbourhood Plan, says local councillor David Hinchliffe. And he adds that if the council approves this development next to residents’ existing two-storey homes, “the Valley Neighbourhood Plan won’t be worth the paper it’s written on”.
“How could council in all conscience approve a development of nine storeys in tiny narrow Rosetta Street when they have only just approved a Neighbourhood Plan with height limits of four storeys for this area? They may as well rip up the plan if they approve this.
“I will be urging my colleagues to oppose this and I will lodge a private objection as a local homeowner,” Cr Hinchliffe said.
Chairman of the Rosetta St body corporate, Ms Wagner Higgins, said: “We are very alarmed at the physical size of this building and the number of apartments which are to be built .
“We’re worried about the increase in local traffic, on-street parking, pedestrian traffic, and the inability for our complex to be “secured” against cars belonging to the new development entering and using our car park facilities.
“We don’t reject the development outright; we just want an outcome that doesn’t adversely affect so many people in our neighbourhood,”
Residents have already lodged an extensive objection to the application criticising a height twice the maximum outlined in the local plan, traffic impacts on Rosetta Street and Prospect Terrace and impact on privacy and overlooking of the adjacent townhouses.

LETTERS


We reprint some of the letters received after our recent expose on the state of the Walton’s building in the heart of the Valley.

‘The whole area is just repulsive’


Dear Editor
Yes, this area definitely needs to be cleaned up – from St Paul’s Terrace to Wickham Street and then along Wickham Street to Ballow Street. If just this area could be brought back to cleanliness for a start and then work on other improvement and naturally the area through the walkway from the station to the escalators also needs cleaning.
Why is it that years ago when we were all supposed to be much less sophisticated, the Valley was the place to go just for a “window shop” or a Chinese meal and everything was so clean and safe? Now in the middle of the day you see people lying on the footpath – yelling at each other; drunk; asking for money, cigarettes, etc – as you walk down the street. And most days there will be police attending to some type of disturbance. I have to go through this area because of employment; otherwise, like most of my friends, I would never go there.
I have, in the past been involved in my own catering business so if there can be laws which allow inspections which are of that standard surely there can be laws to control exterior and interior of all business premises.
I remember we could not have A-frame signs on the footpath but yet people are now allowed to sleep on those same footpaths. I even see them sleeping there during the day with their bags, doonas, etc. For a while up on the corner of St Pauls Terrace near the Den when I was passing that way last year, there was an old leather couch in the doorway and at 8.30am you would see someone having a great old sleep. Now in Wickham Street from the escalators to the post office you see this same thing.
The whole area is just repulsive and for a start just stop people from sleeping all over the place. And naturally do something with the Walton’s building; perhaps get all of those buildings that have been made look so dingy with that black paint which seems to attract graffiti Get to work on the exterior of their buildings as well.
If people want the Valley to be looked on as an entertainment centre then make it attractive to entice people to come there. Please try to bring the Valley back to what it used to be.

Leonie Meskell
via email


Name owner of all this litter!

Dear Editor

What to do? There is just one thing you should do which you have not and that is name the owner of the building. There’s no shame for them or motivation to change if they are anonymous. Apart from that, keeping the building empty is obviously just a land-banking exercise which could be defeated by the introduction of a land tax.

Richard
via email 5 May


'Walkway a disgrace'

Dear Editor
Regarding Waltons – yes, we do think that laws should be in place to compel owners to keep property to an acceptable standard. And as for the walkway between Valley Metro and the next building. Walked through the area this morning and it was really a disgrace – litter everywhere! Picked up a copy of The Independent at least. Keep soldering on!

Ern & Marg. Ellaway.
via email March 30

Property managers under the hammer, says Archicentre


PROPERTY News

Changing weather patterns, construction faults and poor maintenance are stalking property managers across Australia as they try to maintain quality and value of properties for the members of owner’s corporations, Archicentre says.
Archicentre, the independent building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, well known for pre-purchase housing inspections around Australia for over three decades, says providing commercial maintenance advice inspections and reports for property managers was one of the fastest growing areas of its operations.
Queensland state manager of Archicentre Ian Agnew said: “While the buildings and the faults are all different, our brief remains the same – to tell our clients what’s wrong, what’s causing the problem and what to do about it.
“The reality is that the apartment boom which started two decades ago has created a pool of residential and commercial buildings throughout Australia which have in many cases reached a stage in their life where careful management and repair is required to make the buildings financially viable and safe to comply with insurance and legislation.
“However, not all commissions are for older buildings with Archicentre recently considering an assignment to assess 100 units in a high rise which were under five years old.
“Some reports simply identified the root cause of a building problem and pointed the manager in the right direction to get it fixed. Others have been far more complex, requiring forensic examination of the building by a range of independent experts in order to establish a comprehensive repair program.
“These reports often have to be presented in person to owner's corporation meetings which Archicentre arranges to help owners understand their buildings problems.” Mr Agnew said that in many cases these repair works were complex and required the involvement of several tradespeople, ideally under the supervision of a registered builder.
Finding a builder could be difficult at the best of times and without a clear indication of the scope of works required at the property it could be especially time-consuming and frustrating.
Archicentre has introduced a new scoping service which can greatly assist this process by providing the detailed drawings and specifications necessary for both pricing and construction. A clear set of drawings and specifications will communicate exactly the scope of work required at the building, enabling competitive, “apples and apples” prices to be sourced by property managers quickly and easily.
Property managers are constantly being faced with changes in legislation the protection of owner’s assets and an increasing compliance with corporate governance. The Archicentre program provides a fully packaged professional product aimed at protecting the position of Property Managers and the value of the owner’s property.

• Archicentre’s free online Cost Guide provides Property Managers and owners with a range of price rates for a variety of common repair jobs.

A matter of wife and death



THEATRE ... Review: Phillip Bate

Some are born into greatness, some achieve greatness, others have greatness thrust upon them is a Shakespeare quote that has stood the test of time. If Shakespeare attended the opening night of the Centenary Theatre Group’s Blithe Spirit at Chelmer on Saturday night, May 7, he’d add a corollary. Some are born to play Noel Coward characters – especially Samantha McLaughlin who should have a walk-up start in any future Noel Coward productions, anytime, anywhere.


Samantha plays Elvira Condomine, the deceased first wife of author Charles Condomine (Damian Danaher) who invites an eccentric medium Madame Acarti (Meredith Downes) to hold a seance where Elvira’s ghostly blithe spirit returns to upset the ordered life of Charles and his second wife Ruth (Helene Holland).
In a long silver evening gown and long gloves which make her appear “cooler than the other side of the pillow”, Samantha’s Elvira shows Charles what he has been missing for the past seven years since she “passed over”. Matching Samantha’s blithe spirit is the eccentricity of Madame Acarti. The role allows Meredith Downes great scope to dominate proceedings. This she did with great gusto on opening night and she still has another eight performances to further develop the character!
Doubtless, the dexterity demonstrated in the roles of Elvira and Madame Acarti owe a great deal to the direction of Cameron Castles who allows the cast of seven actors a good time performing in the show so the audience can have a good time watching it. Cameron Castles also designed the early 1950s set which typifies the living room of a wealthy couple living in Kent. The cast provides the costumes with special credit going to Helene Holland whose range of elegant dresses and gowns befitting the lady of the house is truly magnificent.
As second wife Ruth, Helene offers a fine contrast to the flighty first wife Elvira. However, she’s no doormat as she battles to keep Charles for herself. With Elvira attempting to turn Charles into a ghost and Ruth enlisting the help of Madame Acarti to return Elvira back to the netherworld, it doesn’t need Madame Acarti’s crystal ball to predict a great deal of laughter occurs.
Describing his life as “careless rapture”, Damian Danaher plays husband Charles with some great comedic touches as he presides over the simple matter of wife and death. Completing the cast are Guy Smith and Joanne Smith who play the married couple Dr George and Violet Bradman needed to make up numbers for the important seance and Margaret Bell whose role as the maid Edith is pivotal to the plot. All three add fun to the improbable farce.

Property demand subdued

PROPERTY Residential

While demand for property in Brisbane remains subdued, pent-up demand for rentals could spark a surge in investor sales, says a leading property researcher.


Josh Brown, PRDnationwide research analyst, said: “Looking forward, investors capable of purchasing a well-placed property will begin to enjoy stronger yields.” The PRDnationwide Brisbane Highlight Report says it is likely that the property market will remain stable at least for the remainder of 2011 with provisions for further gradual price corrections.
Mr Brown said Brisbane had a slow year for property price growth in 2010, at 3.6 per cent, while sales activity had dropped to its lowest level in a decade. “The median house price is up $18,705 to reach $538,705,” he said.
“The cost of renting a three bedroom house in Brisbane has increased three per cent.
“This figure is in lieu of the low level of active buyers in the housing market and the high number of displaced residents following the January floods.” The volume of house sales was down 28 per cent.
“Settled transactions over the most recent period have softened considerably from the incentive driven half year ending December 2009 to register 6,456 sales.
The precinct to record the highest price growth throughout Brisbane was the Western precinct at 4.5 per cent (a gain of $25,000).
“The median price for Brisbane’s West Precinct has not only registered a price peak of $585,000 – it also recorded the highest median price for all precincts excluding Brisbane’s inner precincts,” Mr Brown said.
PRDnationwide also examined the Brisbane apartment market – interestingly unit prices are up slightly more than house prices at 3.8 per cent.
“Settled unit transactions have tightened significantly over the most recent December half year period to register 2,535, equating to a softening of 39 per cent (1,625 sales),” Mr Brown said.
“This not only represents the lowest level of sales activity in over 10 years, but also 1,345 transactions below the 10-year average of 3,880 sales per six month period.”

Wanted: a Tanner in the political works

POLITICS ... with Mungo MacCallum

Lindsay Tanner is probably the best leader that the Australian Labor Party never had. Many would dispute this assertion; Gough Whitlam, for one, would award the dubious honour to John Faulkner. But while the dour and relentless senator was a hugely effective parliamentary performer and campaigner, for my money he did not have Tanner’s depth and hard-headedness when it comes to policy.


Tanner, like Faulkner, is nominally from the left of the party, the traditional breeding ground for ideas and idealism. He joined the left when the label still meant something, before the factions degenerated into mere cannon fodder for the party warlords’ endless turf wars.
He has always been a genuine and avid advocate of reform, but not the sort of reform that can be condensed into a thirty second grab for television or an election slogan. Tanner’s great talent, the one for which he is most sorely missed, is for stringent analysis and deliberate, step by step development of policies which fit firmly into the Labor tradition but which are not bound to the shibboleths of the past.
He can be daring, but he is pragmatic and driven by outcomes more than ideology, a stance which does not always sit comfortably with the self appointed guardians of the party’s conscience. Above all, he is a clear thinking and dispassionate realist when it comes to the state of his beloved party, and indeed of Australian politics in general.
For this quality alone his views should be compulsory reading not only for his former colleagues, but for the pundits who so fearlessly hold forth on their problems, and, according to Tanner, are themselves a major cause of the malaise. Inevitably the mainstream coverage of his treatise, Sideshow, has concentrated on what are considered the instantly newsworthy bits: his thoughts on Kevin Rudd’s demise and the performance of Julia Gillard. But the book is a much wider and more interesting examination of the downward spiral fed by the misuse of the news cycle by politicians and journalists alike.
Federal politics has developed into a never ending election campaign, in which every appearance, action and comment is treated if it is the last thing the voters will remember before going to the polls. Thus every policy has to be reduced to a slogan, and every debate considered not on its merits, but in terms of the perceived winner or loser. The dumbing down is obvious, what is even more insidious is the way the regime encourages conscious dishonesty.
A politician asked a question like: “Will you guarantee that there will be no tax rises in your term of office? That not a single worker will lose a job? That no one will be worse off?” has just two choices: lie, or obfuscate. A refusal to play the silly game on the grounds that the question is unanswerable in that form is automatically taken as a negative. Yet such questions are the daily provocation ministers face, not just from the shock jocks, but from broadsheet gurus who regard themselves as the real kingmakers of the process.
They are the most willing to submit themselves and their readers to the tyranny of the opinion polls, an immensely damaging ritual which has effectively rendered serious forward planning impossible for any but the suicidal. A poll two years out from the next election which starts with the qualification: “If an election was held tomorrow...” is by definition meaningless. When the election is actually imminent, the polls can be a useful indicator of developing trends, but their use as a fortnightly gauge of the public’s mood swings has turned the politics into an ongoing popularity contest.
The standards of reality television shows such as Big Brother are now applied to the whole process of democratic government. The situation is farcical, but the aforementioned gurus take it, and themselves, terribly, terribly seriously. In fact they are mere observers, and frequently pretty lazy ones at that.
But they now regard their every utterance as not only infallible truth, but as determining the future for politicians and public alike. This should not matter, since they are in fact talking largely to each other. The holy trinity of The Australian, Paul Kelly, Dennis Shanahan and Greg Sheridan, generally communicate in prose comprehensible only to the initiated, and when their language fails to deter the reader, their pomposity does the job – I once noted that if the word “profound” ever disappeared from the English vocabulary, it would be necessary to buy Kelly a set of alphabet blocks.
But the politicians, sensitive plants as they are, react – indeed, usually over-react – to every nuance of the media’s pontificating and to every twitch of the polls. It was not always thus: Tanner notes that while Kevin Rudd was dumped as leader largely as a result of poor polling and an abrasive personal manner, 12 years earlier Paul Keating, who had the same problems, was never at risk. Such has been the steady drift away from substance towards spin.
Modern journalism is all about the search for the “Gotcha” moment; the gaffe, the slip of the tongue, the contradiction which can be seized upon and endlessly replayed as a clear demonstration that the reporters and commentators are not merely the judge and jury, but the real controllers of the process.
Such is their arrogance that they now feel qualified to set tests: If the prime minister does not instantly do what I say, it will be an admission of failure and probably of gross moral turpitude as well. Okay, here is a test for the media: read Tanner’s book, acknowledge the truth of it, report it seriously and at least try to learn from it.
And if you don’t, then ... then ... well, you won’t, will you? It would be much too hard. It’s so much easier to dismiss the whole argument by finding one tiny slip where Tanner breaks his own rules. Like he admits once having agreed to give a one word description of a politician. Gotcha.

A brolly good idea if I do say so myself

FROM MY CORNER ... with Ann Brunswick

The recent rain sparked an idea in my mind that could help the Brisbane City Council escape the seemingly unsuccessful CityCycle bike hire scheme. The concept came to me during a walk through the CBD during which the rain began to fall – heavily. The rain caught me without any protection, having left my umbrella at home.


So the thought occurred to me, why not a City Umbrella scheme? It is a simple concept, having umbrella stations at strategic points around the CBD. It would work pretty much the same as the bike scheme. You would obtain an umbrella the same way as a bike, by signing up to the scheme and swiping your card when you took a brollie, and have your hire time and fees calculated when you returned it at any other City Umbrella station.
The backer of the cycle hire scheme, the outdoor advertising firm JC Decaux, should view my idea as a winner. After all, the big money-spinner for the company in the bike scheme is not the hire fees, but the sale of advertising space on the bikes as well as its ability to have the BCC allow it to festoon the inner-city with those small vertical billboards that eat up space on our footpaths or the much larger ones that provide unmissable eyesores elsewhere around the CBD’s edges. So a City Umbrella scheme should appeal.
The Decaux people could sell ad space on the umbrellas. Plus the sort of downfalls we have experienced in the past few weeks would have kept even those few brave souls who actually use the City Cycles off the road. But they might still need an umbrella.

***
This is yet another item falling into the “is it just me?” category. I tried very hard to watch and become enthused about ABC TV’s two-part series about the birth of Cleo magazine. But part-way through the first night of Paper Giants my TV set was switched off.


To my mind it was a very pedestrian treatment of an already fairly well-known story. It also appeared to be an excuse for the cast to frock up in flares, big floppy hats, oversized sunglasses and other 1970s gear.
Besides, it was somewhat annoying having to listen to Asher Keddie’s lisping. I understand that the producers’ final audition shortlist was her and Daffy Duck.

***
Have you ever visited a speciality music or movie shop or department store and bought a CD or DVD? Admittedly they are now regarded as “old” technology, but of course you must have had the experience of purchasing one at some stage in your life. Of course you have.


Now try to remember, was the music CD or movie DVD in the case you took to the counter when you paid for it? Of course it wasn’t. It was somewhere in the back of the shop or under the counter, and the staff member who took your cash or credit card details had to spend a few moments to retrieve the disk matching the case you handed over – all to prevent people not like you stealing the covers with the actual disks inside.
To my mind it is not a very difficult system to run. So why doesn’t it apply to computer software? In a week or so, the subscription for the anti-virus protection on my home PC will expire, so a few days ago I bought some new software. I took the A-4 size box off the shelf, paid for it and took it home. Of course you know what comes next. The box, about 3cm thick, was completely empty except for a folder containing the CD and just slightly bigger than the disk itself.
In fact the box could have accommodated about eight of the folders. So if it were imported, most of the shipping costs would have been for thin air. My point is, why don’t IT stores do what other stores selling information disks do and keep the actual disk folders under the counter while displaying an information sheet on the shelf?

***
Late one night last week my slumber was disturbed by the sound of some unidentified mechanical device making a distinct, repetitive thumping sound. A walk to my front door soon helped identify the sound’s origin – a very large and noisy road construction machine.


It was being followed or preceded by several big trucks, a police car and lots of roadworkers in their luminous safety vests. It was then I remembered receiving in my letterbox a circular from the Department of Transport and Main Roads kindly advising me that such roadworks were being undertaken and would need to be carried out at night to avoid traffic disruption.
I retrieved the departmental letter and re-read it. Yes, it did tell me roadworks were being scheduled for several nights. However, it also said “work will start on 28th March” and should be completed “by 30th April”.
Given that my slumber was disturbed in the second week of May suggests those running the department are quite happy with a margin of error of around six weeks in the advice they give taxpayers.

You can never drink too much ‘water’



WINE ... with David Bray

David Lowe is a winemaker of enormous experience and expertise. I mention him here from time to time because his wines are interesting and very appealing. The latest batch to arrive are typically interesting products of the smaller regions that are creating new wines, new styles and generating a sense of excitement within the industry.


All from the Nullo Mountain vineyard, they are the 2010 Louee Riesling, 2010 Louee Pinot Grigio and the 2010 Louee “Late Picked” Riesling. High elevation, lower alcohols and letting the terroir dominate are the keys to Lowe’s winemaking: He believes in the dry riesling styles of the ‘70s, with the lower alcohol, fresh acidity and slow ageing potential.
His history of making Hunter Valley semillon is evident in these wines, with their vibrant freshness and the ability to develop complexity from slow ageing in the bottle. Louee Wines of which he is owner as well as maker, has two vineyards in the Rylstone region (part of the Mudgee GI) including one of the highest planting of vines in Australia at 1100 metres. T
he Nullo Mountain vineyard was planted in 1996 by Louee founders Rod James and Tony Maxwell. Lowe has always made the wines and the two businesses merged last year. As vineyard owners tend to do, Lowe loves the area: “The Nullo Mountain vineyard is a very special place. The mountain holds some of NSW’s most spectacular landscapes.
“There are savage sandstone escarpments dropping hundreds of metres into the Cudgegong River and agricultural country below on the Rylstone and Mudgee side and dense eucalyptus forests following down to the Wollemi Wilderness and Hunter Valley to the east.” The name Louee is derived from the aboriginal word meaning plentiful water. “With an annual rainfall of 1 metre and deep soils derived from 17 million year old lava flows, is it a unique vinicultural area. While it is part of the Mudgee GI, the wines are far removed from other Mudgee styles. The Louee wines are a true reflection of the terroir as there is very little work in the vineyard, and no irrigation.” Although unique in terms of terroir, Nullo Mountain is 50km from the Lowe winery enabling each variety to be brought quickly to the winery.
The grapes were then cold fermented using aromatic yeast to ensure that the fresh, regional fruit flavours were retained in the wine. Fermentation of the Late Harvest Riesling was stopped early, capturing the natural sweetness with balanced cool climate acidity.
“As with the cold climate wines from regions such as Germany and northern France, the natural acidity is an intrinsic part of these wines.”

• Louee wines are distributed by Lowe Wines and retail for around $25. Also on line at www.lowewine.com.au

A raw edge but a good heart



FILMS ... with Tim Milfull

Mad Bastards (MA15+)
Director: Brendan Fletcher
Stars: Dean Daley-Jones, Greg Tait, Douglas Macale
Rating: 4/5 96-minutes, now screening

In another example of excellent Australian filmmaking, Brendan Fletcher’s Mad Bastards, a struggling ex-con named TJ (Dean Daley-Jones) heads to the remote West Australian town of Wyndham on his a spiritual journey after being released from jail.


He has been urged by his still-imprisoned brother to reunite with his estranged family. Over the next 2000 kilometres and several days, the conflicted TJ comes to find a connection with not only his wary family, but a sense of peace in a heart that has been battling itself and “the man” all of its life.
In Wyndham, TJ encounters the local police sergeant, Texas (Greg Tait), who recognises potential bad blood when he sees it, and quickly warns the young man to move on – there’s no room in his town for lost causes, for broken men like TJ, despite the fact that Texas runs his own little men’s group to help the local indigenous men cope with life’s stresses.
When TJ ignores the copper’s demand and heads off to see the family he left more than a decade before, a dangerous fuse is set, and whether or not it will be lit depends not just upon TJ.
Filmed almost entirely in Wyndham, and featuring the burgeoning talent of a mostly non-professional cast, Mad Bastards might have a decidedly raw edge, but this film has a good heart and an important message about redemption and forgiveness, both of our fellow men and ourselves.
Fletcher coaxes some extraordinarily realistic and painful performances from Daly-Jones and Tait – who was an indigenous policeman for two decades – and crafted a charming role for the gnarled bush cocky, Douglas Macale as Uncle Black. Mad Bastards also features several spirited performances from Alex Lloyd, and the famed Kimberley musicians, the Pigram Brothers.
This film shines a refreshingly positive light on lives that have attracted way too much negative publicity.


No barrel of laughs, this one

Snowtown (PG)
Director: Justin Kurzel Stars: Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway, Louise Harris
Rating: 4/5
95-minutes, screening from 19 May

There have been a couple of books written about Australia’s worst serial killer, John Bunting, and an hour-long documentary made about the murders committed by him and a three accomplices in Adelaide in the 1990s, but Snowtown is the first feature film about their exploits.


When police discovered nine barrels stored in a disused bank vault, and realised that they contained human remains, the little town outside Adelaide became a symbol of depravity, and Adelaide itself became the focus of one of Australia’s longest and most expensive murder trials.
Justin Kurzel’s film examines Bunting’s disturbing influence on teenager Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway), after Bunting (Daniel Henshall) becomes involved with Jamie’s mother, Liz (Louise Harris).
The charismatic and avuncular Bunting grows to be a strong and indispensable part of his new family’s life but cracks gradually begin to appear in his sanity as Jamie and Liz realise that Bunting has some frightening hobbies that involve torture and murder. Kurzel resists the urge to sensationalise this dreadful tale; instead, the talented first-time director exhibits a strong respect for the material and the ravaged lives of those whose relatives had the misfortune to encounter Bunting and his mates.
It's filmed in desperate and dark tones by cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, and Shaun Grant’s stark screenplay mostly concentrates on the very limited viewpoint of the weak and impressionable Jamie, offering the audience a slowly growing sense of horror as the boy realises what is happening.
Snowtown is certainly not the kind of film one heads along to in the hope of entertainment; this is more of harrowing exploration of the depths to which our fellow man can stoop in the name of cash and charisma.



THE BINGE

Rubbered out tirelessly

Rubber (MA15+) now available through Madman
Cell 211 (M) available through Hopscotch from 19 May
The Last Exorcist (M) available through Hopscotch from 19 May
Hola Spanish Film Festival screening at Palace Cinemas from 18 to 29 May.


Written and directed by Quentin Dupieux, Rubber (above) is a very odd, weirdly cerebral horror film about a used tyre that comes to life in the Arizona desert and proceeds to murder random victims by telekinetic means. While this is happening, an anonymous group led by a very dodgy tour-guide watches on as the tyre wreaks its havoc, and offer a running commentary.


Yep – this is strange stuff, but satisfying in a perverse, metaphysical kind of way. On the other side of the world in Cell 211, new warder, Juan (Alberto Ammann) is being shown the ropes in a high security Spanish prison, when a riot sees him abandoned by his mates to an angry mob. Some quick thinking sees Juan embraced as a new prisoner by the inmates and their ringleader, Malamadre (Luis Tosar), and the pair begin to negotiate terms for the riot’s end. This suspenseful thriller had me on edge until the very end.
Finally, Palace Cinemas will be presenting the Hola Spanish Film Festival in the latter half of May, and there are some excellent films in the programme; I’m especially looking forward to the Opening and closing night films — Balada Triste De Trompeta (The Last Circus) won Best Director and Screenplay at Venice Film Festival in 2010, and as far as I’m concerned, any film that features clowns with AK-47s can’t go wrong.
Meanwhile, Los Ojos De Julia (Julia’s Eyes) looks to be paying homage to some of the best Hong Kong horror outings like The Eye, as a degenerative disease threatens the sight of Julia (Belén Rueda).

For more details about the festival’s programme, check www.spanishfilmfestival.com

Electrical extension



Brisbane residents and visitors will have longer to tap into the dots and dash history of the electric telegraph and its Morse code origins with Museum of Brisbane’s (MoB) free exhibition Send: From telegraph to text set to remain open until 10 July.

Presented in partnership with Telstra Museum, Send, which had been scheduled to close on 1 May, traces the history of messaging from the original pay-by-word telegrams to modern day speedy texts, tweeting, emailing and instant messaging. MoB is located on the ground floor of 157 Ann Street. MoB is open 10am-5pm, seven days a week. For further information about MoB visit www.museumofbrisbane.com.au or phone Council on (07) 3403 8888.

Being weight-listed one of voyage’s perils


TRAVEL .... with David Bray

One of the hazards of cruising is the serial cruiser, the person who has done more than a few of them, the platinum card holder. They have done, in Cunard’s case, at least seven voyages or sailed for more than 48 days. Boring, but then they have seen a few things. Not necessarily really rich, likely to be newly so
.

But the gravest danger of cruising must surely be to your weight. There are 10 restaurants aboard Queen Mary 2, ranging in size from the huge, three-level Britannia which does breakfast, lunch and two settings for dinner down to a couple of cosy bars. We find the food in the Britannia good if often bland, and usually find quicker service elsewhere for breakfast and lunch.
There are several classes aboard this very large liner, as explained by the line itself as follows: “The QM2 continues the Cunard tradition of special dining rooms for those in the higher class suites. Passengers in one of the O categories eat in Queens Grill, and the Princess Grill is reserved for P category guests.”
Your reporter can offer no comment on either establishment. But we do one night go right to the top and pay an extra $30 each to dine in the Todd English restaurant. Mr English, it transpires, is one of America’s leading restaurateurs and does indeed provide us with an outstanding dining experience – brilliant food and exemplary service. Our sole quibble is that portions are extraordinarily generous, but not so much that when staff insist on bringing a complimentary serve of what is listed as their signature dish, Love – basically ravioli with utterly delicious sauce – we leave the plate clean.
Wish we had listened to earlier advice to order it. Weird name, but. Then there is Kings Court, neither more nor less than a big food court for breakfast and/or lunch which at night becomes four more intimate dining venues: an Asian restaurant, an Italian trattoria, the Carvery, and the Chef’s Galley.
We soon gravitate to the Galley for breakfast, excellent omelettes. We enjoy a lunch of bangers and mash with good jazz at the Golden Lion pub but most days see us in Sir Samuel’s with smoked salmon. The same bar provides the only coffee we pay for aboard, takeaway café latte double shot at 7am.
The Winter Garden does what is billed a proper British afternoon tea (no tea bags here), complete with scones, clotted cream, fresh pastries, finger sandwiches and white glove service. We never quite get around to this one. Shows how much there is to do at sea. Food may be found in the court around the clock and room service is free.
The ship’s wine list covers most of the world’s areas at reasonable prices, with some luxuries. For the first week or so we wander across the southern hemisphere but eventually settle on the house list of very drinkable wines at around $25 the bottle. About what you expect in a decent place at home.
To counter the hazards, we take to the promenade deck (twice around is just over one kilometre) for a while but for the last two weeks exercise mildly in the gym and arrive home pretty much unharmed.



BRUISING FOR A CRUISING? 

How much?
So what's the cost? The round trip – cruise, all shore excursions, hotel and transfers in Hong Kong and airfare back to Sydney with Qantas, sold to us by the excellent agent Travelrite – cost $11,080 each. Add insurance and visa fees for USA and China. Daily expenses need be modest. We spent a bit on decent wine, email (communication patchy and expensive and in the end frustrating), a decent coffee every morning, takeaway from Sir Samuel’s, open at 7 and the only coffee we had to pay for ) one visit by Mrs B to the hairdresser and minor incidentals. Came in under $100 a day.

Where you can go
Cunard has very recently put out a new brochure about its World Cruise collection of fly, cruise and stay holidays. Queen Elizabeth sails Sydney to Bangkok, calling at Brisbane, Port Douglas, Kota Kinabalu, Hong Kong, Chan Mai and Ho Chi Minh city, February 29 to March 23. from $6,795 to $17,580. Queen Mary 2 does Hong Kong to Dubai, by way of Ho Chi Minh city, Bangkok, Singapore, Phuket and Cochin, March 24 to April 14, $6995 to $16,990. She goes on from Dubai to London, stopping at Muscat, Sokhna, through the Suez canal, Piraeus, Lisbon and on to Southampton, April 8 to May 1, $8195 to $15,790. (If some dates seem to overlap it is because they include flights and nights ashore.)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Council pours cold water on kiosk rebuild offer


NEWS

A restaurateur’s offer to rebuild the New Farm Summer House kiosk in its original form and on its former site at his expense has been rejected, with City Council releasing plans for a separate cafe on the river.


Glen Boyle lost a protracted legal battle with council to build a function centre on the same spot where his popular kiosk (pictured below) burnt down just over a decade ago. The size of the scheme upset many local residents, but after his legal battle was lost Mr Boyle offered to rebuild the kiosk to its original design. That offer was backed by Central Ward councillor David Hinchliffe who urged council to let Mr Boyle rebuild.
But Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner has announced that the old ferry building at the southern end of the park next to the New Farm ferry terminal will be transformed into a cafe “offering indoor and outdoor dining and water views” (above). A second affiliated coffee hut would operated from “near the site” of the original New Farm Park Summer House, which burnt down in 2000.
The Independent understands Mr Boyle, who had his lease cancelled recently, will have to tender for the lease of the outlets in due course.
Cr Schrinner said using the old ferry building would allow council to fill the need for a permanent, seated eatery servicing New Farm Park while also ensuring precious green space was not lost.
“This is not only a major win for the 17,000 visitors to New Farm Park each week, but also the 250,000 commuters that catch a CityCat ferry from this spot each year,” Cr Schrinner said.
But a defiant Mr Boyle vowed to fight on, saying of the new cafe plan: “We are a river city and more facilities should be made available to enjoy the river views; however this is not New Farm Park. Tell it like it is. New Farm gets another cafe, not the park.
“I have over 12,000 residents signed [to my petition] already and I’ll continue until council start to listen to the community.
“Every parent who takes their children to the playground will tell you there is no way they would walk all the way over to a cafe outside the park.”
A bewildered Mr Boyle said his original rebuild plans followed exactly what council had requested. The recent termination of his lease was equally mystifying and very unfair.
“In 11 years I never received one notice saying I was in breach of my lease. It defies logic to remove the kiosk and replace it with another. The agreement I had in place with council was that the kiosk would operate on a month-to-month basis until a new building was built. I have stood by my commitment. Council has not.”
Cr Schrinner said tenders to build and operate both the café and the coffee hut would be advertised within coming months and all parties were welcome to submit their proposal.
“In the meantime a temporary kiosk will be set up to ensure food and drink services are available while the new café and coffee hut are being built,” Cr Schrinner said.
“I think the proposal for a cafe and separate coffee hut will ensure residents, visitors and commuters all have easy access to quality food and drink while down at New Farm Park.”

No regrets over quit choice: Hinchliffe



NEWS

Campbell Newman’s departure from City Hall makes next year’s municipal poll a whole new ball game. So is Central Ward councillor David Hinchliffe – widely regarded as the best performer in the chamber – regretting his recent decision to quit politics. The Independent asked him about that and other issues surrounding his decision.


Are you perhaps now regretting that you didn’t throw your hat into the ring and have one tilt at the Lord Mayorality, if for no other reason than to argue you'd never die guessing about what might have been?

In the words of Edith Piaf, “Je ne regret rien”

What decisions during Newman’s mayorality would you see as campaign strengths for the ALP?

I think his tunnel-myopia has absorbed precious billions of dollars that could have been spent on giving us a world class public transport system.

If you were charged with the marketing of the ALP's municipal campaign next year, what would be your slogan?

People before Politics.

After almost a quarter-century in local politics, give a one-word answer to this: what is the greatest attribute a local pollie needs to be good in their job?
Empathypatiencehumourtactresilienceforesighthindsightvisioncommonsensethickskinhardworkandbrevity!

Very droll. What do you regard as your greatest achievement in your civic duties over that time?

I think the Powerhouse, Brisbane Housing Company, Museum of Brisbane, Vegetation Protection, Outdoor Dining, Off Leash Areas and Painted Traffic Boxes are all projects I’ve helped achieve, but the greatest achievement is probably just helping people with their everyday problems – that’s what a local Councillor should do after all.

And your biggest disappointment?

The pettiness of council politics today. In saying that, I do not absolve myself from some of the blame. I just wish we could find a better way to make it work. The last election was a close-run thing for you?

What would you say to people who interpret your retirement as a tacit admission that the ward is becoming more conservative at each election and a win by you would have been very unlikely?

All inner-city seats are increasingly volatile with more “undecided” voters. Whoever represents the inner city has to work hard to win people’s support – and that’s the way it should be.

It's been suggested you’ll be a full-time artist after finishing up as a city councillor. If you had to spend the rest of your creative days in just one spot on earth, where would you place your easel? (And don’t say Brisbane because there’s no votes in it for you any more! Oh, okay you can say Brisbane if you want to.)

As much as I love Brooklyn, Barcelona and Buenos Aires, Brisbane is still the place I want to come home to.

Reporter gags briefly and terminates interview.

Teneriffe Festival returns 2 July

NEWS

The Teneriffe Festival is to return to the streets of the riverside suburb on Saturday 2 July after attracting 30,000 people to the inaugural event last year.

“I’m excited to confirm that the Teneriffe Festival will be staged again in and around the riverside streets on Saturday 2 July,” festival chairman, local business owner Richard Bodley said.
“To celebrate our second year, we conducted a design competition in conjunction with the Design College of Australia. Out of over 30 entries, we’ve selected one student’s concept to be the basis for the festival’s branding this year.”
Lauren Sisson, a final-year student at the college, is excited to have her concept selected and to be working alongside the festival’s board to develop advertising, marketing and digital collateral for the event.
“I’m also a local, so I’m pretty proud to have my concept chosen for a festival that celebrates what I live and breathe every day,” Lauren said. The concept is called Teneriffe Recollections and is an eclectic mix of items that form the suburb’s cultural and historic fabric.
“We felt it important to ensure that the annual festival remains fresh and lively and opening the branding up to a design contest was a great way to foster new ideas and involve students in a commercial process,” Mr Bodley said.
“We couldn’t be happier with the outcome and I congratulate Murray Sutherland from Basis Group and Clinton Harvey from the Design College of Australia for driving the process.”
The 2011 Teneriffe Festival will have something for everyone, including a farmers, craft and fashion market, fashion parades, live music, family attractions, an outdoor picture show, sheep shearing, spinning and weaving, cooking demonstrations as well as historical displays and bus tours celebrating Teneriffe’s rich history and culture.
Food stands will serve market-fresh produce and snacks and the beverage stands will cater for all tastes.

• For more information, check out the festival’s website at www.teneriffefestival.org

Walton’s ideal for ‘flagship music venue’

News

The dilapidated Walton’s building needs to be transformed into a flagship entertainment venue to give the Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct what it lacks – a premier touring destination for musicians, musicals, dancers, comedians, circus acts, film premieres and variety entertainers.


That’s the view of Daniel Endicott, artistic director with Odyssey Productions. In a forceful email to The Independent after last issue’s front-page call for something to be done about the central Valley eyesore, Mr Endicott wrote: “Brisbane lost the fight to save the Regent theatre, but the Walton’s building could be our final opportunity to give this rapidly growing city what it is most sorely lacking: an inner city medium-large sized multi-purpose entertainment venue, seating 2000 plus persons, with full theatre production specifications.
“Such a major and economically sustainable facility could then be further complimented by music, arts, film, design and creative industry offices forming an industry hub, as well as music studios, rehearsal rooms, music retail outlet and cafes. It would create hundreds of jobs, countless cultural opportunities and bring literally millions of dollars into Fortitude Valley’s economy every year.
“Brisbane City no longer has Festival Hall, The Regent theatre, Her Majesty’s theatre or even Cloudland Ballroom and currently we are sorely missing City Hall’s ballroom. The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and Queensland Performing Arts Complex can’t properly accommodate touring music artists and are booked out predominantly with block seasonal shows. Many touring artists simply don't come to Brisbane based on lack of medium to large venues, which in turn adversely affects our own talent's exposure and export opportunity. With The Regent now being gutted, we no longer have a gala red carpet picture palace for film premieres and film festivals. The Valley can offer the Walton's building to fill this massive void in our city's cultural landscape.”
Mr Endicott argues that as a step away from typical nightclub entertainment, Brisbane needs a venue that can showcase its home-grown performers as well as host touring level shows.
The Valley needs a classy, respectable and international level platform to be able to truly claim its Entertainment Precinct title, by investing into the entertainment industry and supporting Brisbane creative culture. Such a development project will also totally complete the transformation of the Valley into a vibrant, exciting and future focussed business district, by finally addressing the eyesore that the Walton’s building has become through lack of vision.
“For this to become a reality, this heritage building's development would most likely need major support from all levels of government. Until then, this gigantic hulk sits and waits in semi-darkness, too big for most businesses to renovate, occupy and maintain, and too historically significant and structurally sound to be removed. The Walton’s building is the perfect complimentary building to the Brisbane Powerhouse and Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in terms of completing Brisbane’s contemporary cultural circuit.
“And in Brisbane where we have lost almost all of our historic theatres and memorable places, the old department store is the perfect cultural icon to turn the tide. We need to think and act for future generations. We need to protect and preserve our endangered cultural heritage. We need to provide adequate entertainment industry infrastructure.
“Let’s launch the Walton's building as the flagship of the Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct”

• This issue sparked probably the biggest response from readers in this newspaper’s history. Due to space restraints, we will publish other letters on this issue in our next edition.

Rents prove resourceful

PROPERTY residential

Demand for rental homes in resource-rich regions of Queensland is continuing to drive up residential rental yields in some mining areas, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).

The REIQ residential rental yield report found that over the December quarter 2010, the postcodes of Dysart, Blackwater and Moranbah in Central Queensland recorded gross yields between 14.5 and 8.9 per cent because there remains more demand than supply for rental homes in many of these mining areas.
Across the state, however, the market conditions of the past 12 months has resulted in more sustainable gross rental yields given property prices have generally softened and rents have remained stable.

Sewell family make their mark


COMMUNITY Noticeboard

The Sewell family made their presence felt at a family reunion in New Farm on 20 March. The gathering at the Brisbane Powerhouse included family members from as far away as Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and the Darling Downs.

Many new faces were introduced to one another and a family tree was displayed along with some photo albums and descriptions of family history. A summary of the project of gathering all the names, photos, addresses and records of a huge range of family was given by Ingrid and Peter Sewell.
Ingrid was the driving force behind the project and has spent many hours and kilometres of travel to collect it all together. Other members of the family spoke of their family’s part in the network and everyone listened intently to how the family had developed.
Ingrid also organised a decorated cake that had the photos of the earliest ancestors printed on the top (below). A digital record in the form of a USB was distributed to members of the family to share around to those that could not get there. Brisbane was selected for the gathering because it was the area that the earliest ancestors resided. Later family members move to other parts of Australia.
• Information by George Cowin



Keep that will up to date

In the leadup to Queensland Wills Week (3-7 May) State Member for Brisbane Central Grace Grace has urged Queenslanders to ensure that they have a valid will.

“Every Queenslander over 18 needs a valid will, regardless of their age or the value of their estate,” Ms Grace (pictured) said. And there was no better time than Wills Week to have one made.
“Making your will lets you specify how you would like your assets distributed, nominate guardians for your children, set up trusts and donate money to charity.” Ms Grace said The Public Trustee had been making free wills for Queenslanders since 1916, a tradition the Bligh Government was proud to continue supporting.
“This is about the Toward Q2 vision of a fairer Queensland where everyone can access a free will,” she said.
“There’s no better time than Wills Week to think about the importance of having a will made, and the benefit it could have for your family.” Ms Grace said a will was a living document that required updating as life changes.
“The birth of a child, marriage, going overseas, natural disasters, retirement, separation and divorce and entering a de facto relationship are all times to make sure your will is up to date,” she said. The Public Trustee of Queensland Peter Carne said the majority of Queenslanders wouldn’t have to travel too far to have a will made for free by The Public Trustee.
“We have offices in 16 regions across Queensland that employ local staff who understand their local communities,” Mr Carne said. “There’s also outreach service of courthouses, Centrelink officers and QGAP agents to assist with will making for those who don’t live near an office.”

• To contact The Public Trustee, phone 1300 360 044 or visit www.willsweek.pt.qld.gov.au.

‘Somewhere between a misrepresentation, a falsification and a bare-faced lie’

LETTERS

Following our article last issue on the six-month anniversary of the launch of CityCycle and our request for the views of our readers on the scheme’s success or otherwise, a range of responses came flooding in.



Dear Editor
I live in New Farm and I walk or cycle around the inner city most days of the week. In the time since the scheme has opened I have seen these hire bikes used perhaps half a dozen times in all. That does not indicate to me that the scheme is subscribed to any where near as heavily as Brisbane City Council would lead us to believe, Anyone who lives in the inner city, and who has enough use for a bicycle to own a helmet probably owns a bicycle.
Tourists may wish to use this service but, since you have to subscribe to the service and need a helmet, it really precludes use by them. In my opinion, given the Lord Mayor's office past performance, it can be assumed that the council’s figures on usage can be construed as being somewhere between a misrepresentation, a falsification and a bare-faced lie.

Name withheld on request
New Farm
via email April 14


Dear Editor

How does the Brisbane City Council measure the success of City Cycle? Counting the number of City Cycle rides is meaningless. A measureable indicator would be (a) the total amount of time CityCycles are ridden (i.e. extracted from check out/check in times in system records) compared to (b) the maximum number of hours the CityCycles are available for use (i.e. Total number of CityCycles placed in the system X 24 hours). Divide (a) by (b) X 100 would provide a “Usage Percentage”.
That could be measured on an ongoing daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis to provide a measure of performance. Measurement takes account of changes in the number of CityCycles placed in operation. If BCC is to believed then this Usage Percentage would increase over time.
“Ride” is not capable of definition since a “Ride” could be a few minutes or a few hours or anything in between or beyond. The CityCycle scheme has been used to persuade BCC to permit erection of lucrative advertising hoardings in key locations throughout the City. City and suburbs now have the visual pollution of advertising hoardings on pavements, road crossings, bus stops that no one wants to see. BCC looks to have been easily persuaded. I doubt whether the operator is concerned if CityCycle scheme succeeds or not. He has his revenue from advertising.
Another way to measure CityCycle performance is to use your eyes. How many CityCycles do you see on the road and cycle tracks? Not many. How many empty CityCycles racks do you see? Not many. How many CityCycles do you see parked at the cycle station? Usually a lot. How many people do you know who regularly ride CityCycles? Len Chapman New Farm via email 3 April

Dear Editor

As an inner city resident, I pass many of these hire bike stations on a regular basis. I have noticed that there are almost always only one or two bikes in current use,what ever the hour, and it is a rare occasion indeed if I see some one actually riding one.
To me the numbers quoted in your article Cycle scheme on track, says council' – 30 March issue – mean nothing in estimating the success of this “Parisian” scheme. I have never seen made public the total cost for establishing this scheme.
With this low usage, what is the monetary return on the capital investment, capital provided by the rate payers? This is a subject that many people would like illuminated in detail. Perhaps an independent publication such as yours, could undertake this task?

Marie Poutsma, Macrossan Street, Brisbane
via email April 7

Dear Editor


Living outside of Brisbane and working in Fortitude Valley, at first glance the CityCycle scheme looked like a winner. Though, with Australia’s helmet laws, you can’t jump on and pedal away when or where you want. It would have made more sense if council negotiated an agreement with government prior to rolling out the bikes everywhere, to remain unpedaled.

Dan McIntyre Woombye
via email

Julia has power but has she the passion?

POLITICS ... with Mungo MacCallum

Comparisons, says Shakespeare’s malaprop clown Dogberry, are odorous. True enough; but what makes the current contrast between our Prime Minister and her predecessor more than usually noisome is the fact that while Kevin Rudd in his job as foreign minister is generally regarded as smelling like a rose, Julia Gillard, in the top job, is getting just a little bit whiffy.

Let us state immediately that there is very little possibility that caucus members will even contemplate tossing Gillard into the compost heap before the next election, and in the highly unlikely event that they did so, it would not be to reinstall Rudd: the irascible tyrant needs a lot more deodorising before the party room would even consider wearing him again.
But there is a growing perception among the voters that while they still feel relatively kindly towards their prime minister and would genuinely like to see her succeed, she may not be quite up to the job.
The problem may simply be one of communication: Gillard is just not getting through to her audience. She is controlled, plausible and clearly on top of her subject, but somehow she lacks the clear commitment, even the passion, which would make her message convincing. The obvious example is, of course, the carbon tax.
Her case is unassailable: even those who profess to find the science of climate change unproven agree that if you are going to halt the increase of carbon dioxide emissions, the only effective way to do so is to put a price on carbon. The only remaining dispute is about whether you do so through some kind of emissions trading scheme or through a direct tax. In Australia, politics decrees that the best approach into start with the tax and develop it into a trading scheme as conditions change. It is straightforward, effective and above all affordable; when a large part of the tax is returned to consumers as compensation for the inevitable price rises, the rich will barely notice the difference and some of the poor might even finish up ahead. Selling it should be like giving away free beer.
But Gillard, so far at least, has not been able counter Tony Abbott’s constant channelling of Hanrahan: we’ll all be rooned. This is partly because Abbott’s sloganeering seems to the incurious to be borne out by actual events. It’s still more than a year before any effects from the proposed carbon tax will kick in, but already prices, particularly electricity, petrol and food, appear to be going through the roof.
At least some of the increases are actually due to delays in implementing the tax, but Abbott and his colleagues have quite consciously and deliberately adopted the strategy of blaming the tax for everything: the big lie is, as always, the simplest approach.
And as scare campaigns go, it is going pretty well and it will continue to flourish unless and until Gillard and her colleagues can come up with some hard numbers to counter it. And by then, if Abbott can establish a public mood of fear and mistrust, it may be too late.
Having paid his respects to his personal God every evening, Abbott must also breathe a prayer of thanks to the fridge magnet that gave him the idea: I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you for it. And herein lies Gillard’s other problem: following Abbott’s diatribes about broken election promises she is seen not so much as a liar, but as malleable, even weak.
She responds too readily to pressure, from her colleagues, from her opponents such as the miners and now perhaps the pubs and clubs, and from the opinion polls. Her word cannot be trusted, not because she is, like Abbott, deliberately mendacious, but because she is just as likely to change her mind next time she addresses the subject. After all, she has certainly done so at least once about the whole carbon price issue, as Rudd rather unnecessarily reminded the world last week.
And the electorate’s disappointment is more profound because she came to the job with much good will and sympathy: our first female prime minister thrown in at the deep end, in hugely difficult circumstances and before she was fully prepared for the task. We had high hopes for her, and she has let us down. As Shakespeare put it in rather harsher context: Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. But if Gillard is getting a caning from the polls, it’s nothing compared to what the Greens are getting from the loony right-wing media – and yes, Chris Mitchell, we do mean The Australian.
The beleaguered party must feel that there is no justice. For years it has copped a hammering for being a single- issue party, a bunch of fanatical fringe dwellers with no idea or understanding of the real process of government. But now that it has developed a wider social agenda and is on its way to becoming a player with policies covering most aspects of Australian politics, it is lambasted for deserting its roots: get back to tree-hugging, scream the critics.
There are several reasons for the outburst of unbridled hatred from the conservatives, led by the usual Mafiosi of News Limited. One is simply the fact that Greens are a party of the far left, at least in Australian terms; this alone makes them unacceptable to the professional Tories.
The second, obviously, is that they are on the brink of assuming the balance of power in the senate, and like all minority parties in hung houses of parliament, will obtain clout far beyond their actual voter support. At various time this has been the case with the Country Party (now called Nationals), the DLP, the Democrats and even individual independent senators: Harradine, Fielding and Xenophon are names that come instantly to mind but there have been others.
This travesty of democracy is perfectly forgivable when the minority is on your side, but if it’s not, then expunge it from the face of the earth. But I suspect the real issue for The Australian, or at least for many of its columnists, is that the Greens are seen as anti-religious; they are pagan worshippers of Gaia or worse and should be stoned to death as blasphemers.
Actually there are quite a lot of seriously Christian greenies, an obvious example being Peter Garrett. But they don’t count; they are merely dupes in the grip of the godless communist juggernaut now running out of the control of its revered and selfless founders – the ones we used to despise as the nutters with fairies in the bottom of the garden.
See, it’s all perfectly logical, at least if you work for The Australian.

Whatever you do, we’ll waltz all the way along

FROM MY CORNER ... with Ann Brunswick

Readers often write to me or to the editor of this newspaper asking to know my age. Why they consider it a vital fact they need to possess is beyond me and of course that information is among the best-kept secrets in our nation.

Not even Wikileaks has managed to obtain it. Yet.
Usually readers are spurred to ask my age because of a reference made in my column once to an event many years in the past. Many of those who write suggest it would be impossible for me to have had personal knowledge or remembrance of such events, being one so young. Of course that sort of flattery is always welcome.
But let me now once again tempt fate by referring to an event that I witnessed 35 years ago. It was 1976 and the USA was celebrating its bicentenary year. As part of its efforts to promote the nation’s 200th birthday and international goodwill the then US president Gerald Ford sent “personal” messages to people in all nations around the world, or at least the ones the US had not previously nor was currently invading or had plans to do so.
The greetings took the form of a short message delivered by the president seated behind his desk in the Oval Office of the White House. All very majestic. But when the message for Australia and all Australians aired here it was obvious that Mr Ford had simply “topped and tailed” a standard message for all nations.
He began by saying something like “Greetings to all our friends in Australia”. There was then a distinct edit in the tape before Mr Ford continued with his message. It was soon obvious to anyone who saw the message on TV that Mr Ford’s minders had sat him down at his desk and had him say something like “Greetings to all our friends in Afghanistan” and then had him back up and say “Greetings to all our friends in Albania”, then Algeria, then Andorra. Somewhere down the list came “Greetings to all our friends in Australia”, then through the rest of the As, on to the Bs and – possibly several hours or the best part of a day later – he finally wound up by sending greetings to America’s good friends in Yemen and Zambia (Zimbabwe did not exist then).
It was that performance that came to my mind when watching the TV news to see the current US President Barack Obama take the opportunity of our PM Julia Gillard’s recent visit to Washington to laud Australia, using words such as “We have no stronger ally than Australia” or “The US has no firmer friend than ...”, well you know the rest.
It seemed to me they are lines that are trotted out no matter which head of state or government of which US-friendly country sets foot in the White House. So it did seem to me that in return our PM went a tad overboard in her speech to some members of the US Congress. (It was some, because even though the US has “no firmer friend...etc”, most American lawmakers still do not turn up to hear our current or past PMs when they have the opportunity.) In particular, to me the line Ms Gillard used right at the end of her speech telling the US “you can do anything”, was especially inappropriate.
It was even worse than both Harold Holt’s commitment to then president Lyndon Johnson that Australia would go “all the way with LBJ”, and John Gorton’s pledge also to Johnson that Australia would go “a-Waltzing Matilda with you”. Both syrupy sentiments were expressed at the height of the Vietnam War when Aussie troops were fighting and dying alongside Yanks. Now we are doing the same again in the endless War on Terror started by that giant brain-box George W Bush.
So to my ears “you can do anything” sounded as if Ms Gillard was telling the US “do what you like”. Not the best concept to be promoting, even accidentally, in a world where many nations question the might of the US and how it is used.
Certainly the line is ripe for misrepresentation when translated into the language of some of America’s foes. And that means they are our foes too.

Feeling blues ... again

MY SHOUT .... with Ivor Thurston

My goodness, where does a year go. It’s hard to believe that in a few short weeks, your columnist’s old yet quaintly fashionable hushpuppies will be tapping along to my favourite music genre – the blues – at my close personal friend Rob Hudson’s Brisbane’s Blues Festival on Saturday 14 May.


On second thoughts, make that where has almost two decades gone! This is the 19th annual festival Rob has put on, and my hushpuppies have tapped away under the influence of maybe one too many Pimms Dakotas with citrus peel at most of them – and at a number of fine venues around town.
And this year the festival has found a new home at The Tempo Hotel in Fortitude Valley. Rob tells me that what started as an annual gathering of local blues fans has now turned into one of our river city’s most eagerly awaited musical events. Each year, hard-core fans as well as a surprising number of people new to the blues attend the festival. They all come along to enjoy a day of music that can touch your soul as well as make your body move.
Look, he’s an old friend so he can wax on a little! And he says that the Tempo Hotel’s ideal location in the heart of the Valley’s entertainment precinct as well as its close proximity to large amounts of free public parking, buses, trains, taxies and planes make it a perfect choice. The hotel formerly known as Bar 388 and Dooleys has a great musical tradition and this event will help add to that legacy. Okay, Rob. That’s enough!
The event’s two-stage format will continue with the Main Stage area featuring some of Brisbane’s best blues bands laying it down while the Downstairs Stage will feature superb solo artists. Rob!
This year’s festival features the Dillion James Band, Johnny Hucker, Mason Rack Band (pictured), Tim Gaze, Mick Hadley and the Atomic Boogie Band, the Asa Broomhall Band, the Mojo Webb Band and Blind Lemon. Doors open at 2pm on Saturday 14May.


Backyard to return in spring

The Valley’s reputation as the home of live music in this city was enhanced with the recent successful inaugural Ric’s Big Backyard Festival – and the good news is that the festival will return in spring.


y long-term friend Les Pullos, of Royal George, Fat Boys and Ric’s fame, says the September event will host a whole new lineup and with “a small amount of tweaking from the lessons we’ve learned the first time around”.
The first event on 26 March was blessed with fine weather and headlined by You and I, backed by another with 20 bands across three stages, it made good use of Ric’s entire back space, including the carpark and the new backyard drinking spot that is now open on Friday and Saturday nights.
“This new space is a welcome addition to the entertainment precinct and offers a relaxed, smoke-free environment that’s sure to be a hit,” Les plugged shamelessly as he gave me a personal and exclusive tour of the Ric’s backyard the other day.
“The first festival was fantastic in as much as it was the first in the new space and the sound quality was fantastic.”
Les admitted that while numbers were good, the entry price was “probably a just a tad too much” for the current economic climate.

The right line is fine


TRAVEL ... with David Bray

Cruising isn’t for everybody, but I reckon that if you choose your ship carefully there’s probably a great voyage there for you. Do your homework. Pick the right line and you should be fine.


There are plenty to choose from, now that they seem to have decided Australia is a fruitful market. We sailed with Cunard aboard Queen Mary 2 and really enjoyed the ship and all who crewed aboard her.
She’s big. The biggest liner, as distinguished from the huge cruise ships, given that she is basically designed for regular trans-Atlantic line voyages: 345 metres long, 150,000 gross tonnage, 2620 passengers. (We had 2464 as we left Auckland, 1351 Aussies, 572 Brits, 260 Yanks, 76 Canadians ... 28 nationalities in all.) An early surprise is that, despite having Southampton on her stern, our Queen is American owned, as are her equally regal sister ships Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. Carnival Cruise Lines, of Miami, Florida, have owned Cunard for years. They bill themselves as “the world’s most popular cruise line”, with 22 “fun ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 16 days to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Europe and Bermuda.
The ownership shows. It shows in big ways and small. Prices are in US dollars. The menu lists appetizers and entrees. There’s a casino off one of the main lobbies. My credit card paid into a Florida account.
Basically the ship is superbly sailed by Brits. We had Cunard’s Commodore Bernard Warner at the helm, which he handled with distinction in what must have been a challenging part of a long voyage. Christchurch is devastated by its earthquake the day before we leave Sydney headed for that NZ city. Fukushima, quake and tsunami, hit when we are not far out of Osaka, heading for Nagasaki which is closed to us and all other shipping.
Several groups of passengers ashore in both countries are brought safely aboard. Size and seaworthiness make our Queen serenely steady. In four weeks aboard, covering thousands of nautical miles, there is never a hint of roll, just a bit of pitch when we were right forward, as at the gym, or aft. Hey, you want sometimes to feel a bit of movement to remind you you’re at sea.
Her size is also a problem for the ship. All those people make long queues when going ashore. And here’s what I reckon is the big drawback: She’s simply too big for most ports to handle. In Sydney we board, after considerable palaver at Glebe Island, at Garden Island naval base, not an attractive place. Auckland sees us out at a container berth while smaller cruise ship slips onto a berth in the very heart of town. Guam is grim, ditto Xingang for Beijing and Waigaoqiao for Shanghai. Hong Kong has no room at all so, as the South China Morning Post reports, “Queen Mary is pushed to a far-from royal berth out of town”. In fact it’s not a berth, but an anchorage at Junk Bay in Sai Kung. Forty minutes in a tender to Central.
Which brings us to the end of Part One of this Odyssey.
Stay tuned.