City Hub 21 June 2018

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Emotional support just as important as funding for artists Page 13

Caring For

Creatives WHAT MATTERS TO YOU? “Whether it’s standing up for renters rights and making housing more affordable, improving public transport, taking action on climate change or something else – I’m keen to hear what matters to you” Help shape the way we work in and with our community by giving us your feedback www.jennyleong.org/what-matters Authorised by Jenny Leong MP, State Member for Newtown, using parliamentary entitlements, May 2018.

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city hub 21 JUNE 2018

Nightmare on William Street

by Erika Echternach While Anglicare’s latest rental affordability snapshot reported that less than one per cent of Sydney’s housing options were affordable for low-income residents, tenants on Leichhardt’s William St received an eviction notice this month.

Although some of the renters have lived in the bedsit units for over 30 years, they must now say goodbye to their homes within 60 days due to an apparent bid by a new owner to drastically increase rental prices.

One tenant, Reg, who has lived in Australia for 45 years and his unit for 20 years, is being forced to return to New Zealand because he has no family here to stay with. He is 90 years old and has recently been hospitalised twice.

Basil, a William St unit renter for 32 years, suffers from severe mobility impairment as well as vision and hearing loss yet must find a new suitable accommodation.

The Redfern Legal Centre is advocating for the evicted tenants and assisting them in applying for public housing.

Nicole Kennedy, the tenancy coordinator at Redfern Legal Centre, said the Centre was offering the tenants a range of services including negotiating with landlords to retain their housing or helping the tenants acquire new accommodations.

“Our goal at the end of the day is that everybody avoids homelessness,” Ms Kennedy said.

Although the bedsit units provided a roof over their heads, the tenants faced numerous maintenance issues during their time on William St. Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne noted the tenants’ strong ties to their homes saying: “They have for years put up with a dilapidated bedsit in order to maintain their place in the Leichhardt community amongst their family, friends and community on a rent they can afford.”

At times the repairs were somewhat

Redfern Legal Centre acts for William Street tenants. Photo: Redfern Legal Service

addressed if not completely remedied.

However, at other times the problems were not dealt with, meaning residents had no choice but to seek permission from the owner to complete upgrades that were not their responsibility.

“There is a gas leak that the tenants say still remains,” Ms Kennedy said. “There was some action by the landlord, but it hadn’t resolved the situation.”

As stated by the NSW Fair Trading guidelines, landlords are obligated to fix urgent repairs, such as gas leaks, but tenants are not permitted to stop paying rent under any circumstances without risking eviction even if the hazard is not attended to.

Additionally, despite whether or not a tenant has maintained their unit and paid their rent on time, “no grounds” evictions allow landlords to evict a tenant at the end of a fixed-term lease, or during an on-going lease, without giving any

reason.

“Tenancy legislation in this country is far too heavily weighted in favour of landlords,” Cr Byrne said.

Ms Kennedy said it was difficult to give details about the legal recourse the Centre would take as the case was still in its early stages, but there would be an investigation into whether the eviction notices were valid.

After looking into the sale contract further and analysing possible terms of the eviction such as vacant possession, retaliatory or no grounds, Ms Kennedy said the Centre would be able to determine what type of legal action to seek.

Should the eviction be found valid and upheld the Centre will advise the tenants through the relocating process, although Ms Kennedy said the options would be limited because there’s currently not much on the market to rent for a similar price as the units.

However, Ms Kennedy said a no grounds eviction might grant the William St tenants the opportunity to negotiate with housing and transfer to social or community housing in NSW, though there are substantial waiting lists to get into subsidised housing.

Cr Byrne considers the tenants being allowed to remain on William St the most desirable outcome.

“We are doing our utmost to press for priority public housing assistance for these tenants, but what they really want is to stay in their homes,” Cr Byrne said.

Ms Kennedy explained that many of the William St renters were elderly, had serious health issues or lived on pensions, making it more difficult to find affordable housing in Sydney.

“That’s really the crux of why it’s such a big thing for these people to be having to try and find somewhere else to live,” Ms Kennedy said. “It’s a difficult place to find a rental property even if you’re on a large income and it becomes harder the less your income is.”

In the last quarter of 2016, the Greater Sydney area had the worst rent affordability nationally after taking average weekly household income into account. The 2011 median weekly household income in Greater Sydney was $1,477 per week with the median weekly rental payment at $474, meaning a third of Sydney-siders’ income was spent on housing.

According to a McCrindle Research study, the high cost of living has put residents under financial stress, causing some people to regularly skip meals in order to pay their rent.

“As house prices become more astronomically unaffordable, more and more people are renting – and most are vulnerable to eviction at any time,” Cr Byrne said. “Tenants desperately need more protection.”

Cr Byrne may recognise the need to protect renters, but the NSW Government decided in late May to sustain no grounds evictions, indicating tenants would have to wait longer to see their rights elevated.

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ABN 52 600 903 348 Group Publisher: Lawrence Gibbons Group Editors: Lanie Tindale, John Moyle Contributors: John Moyle, Lanie Tindale, Erika Echternach, Rickie Hardiman, Wendy Bacon, Hall Greenland, Paul Paech Arts Editor: Jamie Apps Cover Photo: Supplied. Cosmo’s Midnight (Cosmo & Patrick Liney) Designer: Nadia Kalinitcheva Advertising: sales@altmedia.net.au Mail: PO Box 843 Broadway 2007 Email: news@altmedia.net.au, arts@altmedia.net.au Ph: 9212 5677, Fax: 9212 5633 Website: altmedia.net.au If you have a story, or any comments you’d like to share with us: news@altmedia.net.au altmediagroup

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By John Moyle On Thursday 14 June legal proceedings against Transport for NSW commenced in the Supreme Court. Family owned Watches of Switzerland, located in George Street on the ground floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, are claiming that in the past 12 months their business profits have halved to $1.3 million and as Light Rail construction continues they expect these to fall even further.

Represented by barrister Don Grieve, they are suing the government for $4 million.

Located at the City head of the project the company has been subjected to construction since the project began in 2016. The jewellers claim that construction has been an excessive nuisance generating noise, dust and costly disruptions to their trade.

“Transport for NSW will defend the proceedings commenced by Watches of Switzerland, and it is not appropriate for us to comment further while the matter is before the Court,” spokesperson, Transport for NSW said.

Part of the argument surrounding TfNSW adequacies in running the project may centre on the cost blow-outs.

Elsewhere in Australia and around the world the average costs for track building is around $30-40 million per kilometre whereas in Sydney this has blown out to $160 million per kilometre.

Melbourne trams run on 300mm footings whereas in Sydney these have been engineered to 900mm.

The case could also question the choice

Light rail site office, George Street at midday. Photo: John Moyle

of consultant Parsons Brinckenhoff, who the Edinburgh City Council used to construct the Light Rail there, which only built half of the track promised and is still under litigation.

It is expected that there will be extensive arguments about the adequacies of the efficiencies of TfNSW. Transport for NSW said that they expected to take 12 to 18 months.

The Light Rail has now collected an unenviable list litigants including ACCIONA

Infrastructure Australia for $1.1 billion, VAC Group for $4 million and the class action being brought by cafe owner and City of Sydney councillor Angela Vithoulkas to yet determine the amount.

And then there is the case of 15-year-old schoolgirl Anna Lambden who was electrified by ‘dodgy wiring’ on her way home.

Let’s hope that there are enough silks left in Sydney to take these cases to the end of the line. city hub 21 JUNE 2018

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Waterloo Metro plans undone

By Lanie Tindale Community groups are condemning UrbanGrowth NSW’s community consultation process on the Waterloo Metro Quarter development.

Geoffrey Turnbull from REDWatch said that UrbanGrowth has broken its “agreement with public housing tenants” to provide a 6-8 week period to understand and discuss the Metro Quarter proposal.

Mr Turnbull said it was a “token” and “tick the box exercise”. He added that some public housing tenants spoke English as a second language, are elderly or have comprehension difficulties, and require a longer period of time in order to “make informed comments” on the developments.

REDWatch’s Alice Anderson said in a statement that public housing “is not your average community; it is the place where government concentrates vulnerable people. As a result, there is a greater need for capacity building and for time for public tenants to have their say about complex things like planning.”

Ms Anderson said: “Denied the opportunity for input at the start of the process, government and developers should not complain about opposition and “NIMBY” behaviour further down the track.”

During a meeting held by MP for Newtown Jenny Leong last Thursday, Alexandria Residents Group passed the following motion: “[T]he consultation period for the Metro Quarter has been inadequate and poorly advertised, and … the content provided to the community has been both insufficient and contradictory.”

“This meeting calls on Metro Quarter project to extend the consultation period by one month and provide more information so the community can make a more informed assessment of the impact.”

Community groups REDWatch,

Proposed developments. Photo: UrbanGrowth NSW

Counterpoint and Inner Sydney Voice also slammed UrbanGrowth’s decision to separate the Metro Quarter from the Waterloo Estate planning. They said in a media release this was to “speed up approval of the Metro Quarter so they can deliver it well in advance of the metro trains.”

Executive Officer of Counterpoint Community Services Michael Shreenan said that the decision to separate the two developments was an “illconsidered manoeuvre” and that “any trust by the community was eroded by the government’s backtracking on its undertakings.”

Mr Shreenan said: “Their talk about social housing residents ‘being hard to reach and engage’, hides the reality that it is easier for government to

ignore them than is to make sure that they have equality and ownership over any planning process that effects their community.”

The Metro Quarter plan will be submitted not long after the three-month engagement period for the Estate master plan will begin.

Community groups believe these two projects should be planned concurrently because of issues like shadows from the Metro Quarter buildings impacting compromising public spaces in the Waterloo Estate.

Mr Turnbull said thatshadow diagrams made by an architect, that was not employed by UrbanGrowth “tend to indicate there will not be a huge amount of sun, and good public spaces need to have sun.”

Mr. Turnbull said UrbanGrowth has “not

made public” the solar shadow diagrams that UrbanGrowth used when designing the precinct.

Mr Turnbull said there were other concerns held by residential community groups. There have not been pedestrian or traffic studies commissioned and “pedestrian traffic has to go across two arterial roads” to get to the Australian Technology Park.

There is only “one exit off the concourse” from the station. The Alexandria Residents group believe there should be at least three exits to accommodate a large number of people that will be using the station.

Some residents also raised concerns that there will only be 70 car spaces for 700 units.

“A lot of people are concerned about the fact that people will have cars and park then in local streets and that will create problems.” Mr Turnbull said.

An UrbanGrowth report on the community consultation process said that public transport, walking and cycling are the “preferred choice” for transport because “the majority of people who responded to [a] preference ranking exercise about the transport modes they use now selected public transport options.”

The Alexandria Residents Group have expressed concerns that if the buildings are approved to be up to 29 storeys height, it will set a precedent for the surrounding area. They believe that buildings should be around 8-10 stories high.

Mr. Turnbull also said that the “provisions for social housing that could potentially be for when they relocate people off the Waterloo estate” is “one of good parts of the proposal.”

There will be no fewer social housing dwellings in the new development as there are currently, and a maximum of 70 per cent of dwellings will be private housing. 5-10 per cent will be affordable housing. UrbanGrowth says that “all current social housing residentials have the right to return to the Waterloo estate.”

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5

Powerhouse: more rorts to come

By Rickie Hardiman The NSW government bent to pressure by agreeing to hand over documents relating to their controversial policy of moving the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta.

New modelling has been revealed after the NSW upper house ordered documents to be presented, and cabinet finally released papers even though many figures are redacted.

Greens MLC David Shoebridge has been at the forefront of the push for disclosure.

He said: “The long-suffering public should welcomer this commitment to accountability and transparency. There has been a shroud of secrecy over a most controversial decision made by this government.”

Walter Secord, Labor Shadow Minister for the Arts said: “The cloak of secrecy still surrounds this with pages and columns of key information of financial data redacted from the view of the NSW taxpayer.”

He went on to question how the community could properly assess the Powerhouse Museum move when it did not have the full financial implications of the project.

Mr Secord called on the Berejiklian Government to drop its plans to relocate the Powerhouse and adopt Labor’s plan for a cultural institution with exhibition and performing arts space in Parramatta.

Mr Secord said it is now clear why the Berejiklian Government fought the release of the documents because there is no case to move the Powerhouse Museum from Ultimo to Parramatta and “the government was making it up as it moved along”.

The NSW Government has already scheduled costs related to selling parts of the Powerhouse Museum site in Ultimo.

Residential and commercial developments plans are quoted for two to three storeys of office space, a fashion and design museum, a restaurant and bar and a theatre, with a capital cost of $387.5 million.

Arts Minister Don Harwin said the government

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city hub 21 JUNE 2018

Powerhouse Museum is moving from Ultimo to Parramatta. Photo: Museum of Applied Sciences

made no apologies for these plans saying: “This is how great projects come to life. We are creating a precinct at Ultimo”.

Costs to visit the Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta would rise from $15 to more than double at $34, and children, who previously had free admission, would pay $26.

This would make the visit untenable and beyond the budget of many families.

Greens MLC David Shoebridge spoke of costs to the family being more than $150 for a single visit and that this flew in the face of the government’s own analysis which warned new museum visits would be extremely price sensitive.

He said: “It confirms again just how out of touch this Liberal National government is, not just with Western Sydney but with people struggling to make ends meet across the state.”

“Whether it is nearly $2 billion on fancy stadiums or over $1 billion wasted on destroying the much- loved Powerhouse, this is a government that keeps putting vanity projects ahead of people’s real needs.”

Former Premier, Mike Baird, made the decision to move the Powerhouse and it has been a matter of contentious debate since the announcement was made.

The Public Service Association criticised the decision as a further example of the government’s willingness to “tear down public amenities” and sell them off to property developers.

Kylie Winkworth, former Powerhouse employee said: “It is shocking that a government should want to destroy a great museum with state of the art facilities to make way for apartments”.

According to Max Underhill from the Powerhouse Museum Alliance, “Darling Harbour, and surrounding area, is Sydney’s most important Transport, Engineering and Manufacturing Heritage Precinct.”

“The former Ultimo Power House, currently preserved as part of the Powerhouse Museum, is critical to this precinct”.

The Museum is the custodian of a collection of around 500,000 items valued at more than $311.5 million. They have been collected over 150 years.

There are 338,00 heritage items in the Powerhouse, of which 6,000 currently on exhibition would need to be moved into storage, many under climate-controlled conditions, until the planned opening in Parramatta in 2023.

All items need to be digitised, packed and tracked to prevent damage, loss or theft.

There are large objects including a Catalina Flying Boat, the largest and heaviest aircraft suspended in any of the world’s museums, along with a 26-tonne engine, Locomotive No. 1, which pulled the first passenger train in NSW. This is no ordinary move: it is a massive undertaking involving items of historical significance to Australians.

A total of 28,645 items are considered of such significance that they require their own risk management plan. At its peak, 215 museum staff will be participating in the move with the cost of relocation estimated at $65.7 million.

The new riverside museum site in Parramatta including costs of relocating a public car park, flood mitigation work in the basement, along with consultation and management fees, will add to the project’s $1.117 billion costs.

Unfortunately, some of Parramatta’s finest heritage buildings, Willow Grove and St. George’s Terrace, will have to be demolished to accommodate the new museum.

Vale Irene Doutney

By Hall Greenland When news came through last week that Irene Doutney, the former deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney Council, had died just 11 days short of her 70th birthday, the phrase that immediately sprung to mind was ‘Last of the Mohicans’.

Irene was born and bred in the heart of a Sydney that once was home to bohemians, wharfies, blue collar workers, Aborigines, artists, musicians and students. And she never forgot it.

Gentrification and the current sell-off of public housing is reducing that city to a memory, but Irene always had that old Sydney in her veins.

Irene’s father was a RAAF man, a World War I I pilot who saw action against the Japanese in the Pacific. Back in civilian life he was an aspiring artist eking out a living.

Irene grew up in what her older brother has described as ‘straitened circumstances’, in a rent-controlled flat in Victoria Street near the corner with Orwell Street, in the centre of Kings Cross.

When Irene was nine, the family moved to the suburbs, to Banksia, but her father died soon after of leukemia. Her mother struggled on but succumbed to cancer a decade later.

Irene attended local Catholic schools but rebelled against heavy authoritarianism of those schools and left school before matriculating.

Like so many of her generation she made her way to London which she found as intolerant of non-conformists as she had found suburban Sydney.

Back in Sydney she drifted in and out of jobs, suffered severe bouts of depression, and became a junkie – again like many of the best and brightest of her generation.

However her steak of idealism saved her – with the help of methadone. She volunteered to help when the AI DS epidemic hit Sydney in the 1980s and 1990s and straightened her own life out.

She went back to TAFE to complete her university entrance qualifications. She then did an Arts degree at the University of Sydney.

Essential to turning her life around was stable public housing in Redfern. So it was not surprising that she emerged from university to become an advocate for public housing and its tenants.

Given her background and values she was drawn to the Greens twenty years ago. She was elected to the City of Sydney Council as a Greens Councillor in 2008.

Remarkably, in 2012 she was forced to go public with her background of mental illness and heroin addiction when she learned political opponents were preparing a ‘dirt file’ on her.

“I know there will be people who sit in judgment on me but I hope there will be people who will

understand,” Irene told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I’ve been on a journey and it hasn’t necessarily been a great journey but it’s my journey and it’s what has made me the person I am now.”

The next day a David Ong from Auburn wrote to the Herald: “Her difficult journey to turn things around speaks to an uncommon level of resilience. It also bodes well for her empathy for the disadvantaged. I am sure some people will appreciate these qualities in their councillors.”

They did. Irene was re-elected and went on to serve as deputy Lord Mayor in 2016. The empathy was always in evidence as she championed the rights of public housing tenants, the LGBTI community and our First Nations people.

In her last days as the battle against cancer entered its final phase, this ‘old school Green’, as one supporter called her, asked that instead of tears and flowers, people make donations to the Factory Community Centre in Redfern.

Irene was also determined that the fight against the evisceration of pubic housing in the Inner City be stepped up. She was a woman who never forgot and was unforgettable.

A commemoration meeting for Irene Doutney will be held on June 29 at 2pm at Redfern Town Hall, jointly organised by the city of Sydney ?Council and the Greens N SW.

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PROPOSAL TO UPGRADE THE EXISTING MOBILE PHONE NETWORK AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITY AT 306-318 SUSSEX ST SYDNEY NSW 2000 Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) plans to improve their exiting mobile network with upgrades to existing telecommunications facility at the following location 306-318 Sussex St SYDNEY NSW 2000 (RFNSA No. 2000212): • The re-location of existing antenna to a new mount on the existing rooftop at a height of 49.15m (antenna centreline); • The re-location of fourteen (14) Remote Radio Units (RRUs) on existing mounts on the rooftop to new mounts at heights of 48.15m and 47.35m on the existing rooftop; • The replacement of existing mounting poles with new mounting poles to accommodate the relocation of ancillary equipment on the existing rooftop; • Associated and necessary ancillary works to ensure the proper functioning of the telecommunications facility.

The proposed works are defined as “Low-impact Facilities” in accordance with the Telecommunications (Low-impact Facilities) Determination 1997 and “maintenance activity” as defined in Schedule 3 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. The proposed infrastructure complies with the ACMA EMR regulatory arrangements.

Further information can be obtained from Emma Lachlan on 02 9363 3815 or email to info@commplan.com.au or from www.rfnsa.com.au using references listed above.

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9

WestConnex pollutes primary school

By Wendy Bacon An air quality consultant company reported to the NSW Planning Department that WestConnex M4/M5 construction would not have ‘significant effect’ on air quality at the same time as its own monitoring reports found that unusually high levels of fine particulate matter (PM) at St Peters school were likely to be due to local construction activities. The only major construction activities happening in the area at the time were large scale WestConnex New M5 works.

Pacific Environment has been paid more than $8 million by the Sydney Motorway Corporation to do air quality reports for the Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for all stages of WestConnex. As previously reported by City Hub, Pacific Environment was also commissioned by the Advisory Committee on Tunnel Air Quality (ACTAQ) to independently evaluate the model it was using to assess WestConnex impacts on air quality, although it was also responsible for the EIS reports.

Since major construction began in late 2016, residents have constantly complained about dust, odours and noise. Residents fear this will continue now that Stage 3, which involves five more years of construction, has been approved by the NSW Planning Department, despite the NSW Environmental Protection Authority expressing concern about inadequate assessment of its impacts.

The 2017 EIS monthly monitoring reports were not published on the WestConnex website until April this year, despite the Sydney Motorway Corporation that owns WestConnex, giving a written assurance to the school’s P and C representative Dr Peter Ross that they would be sent to the school. They show that between April and June last year the PM 2.5 averaged 15.3 u/ gm3 which was substantially higher than recorded at any NSW Office of Environment and Heritage

Local parents Ngaire Warboys and Janet Dandy-Ward campaigning against WestConnex in 2016 Photo: Wendy Bacon

monitor, the highest of which were Chullora with 9.6 u/gm3 and Liverpool with 9.5 u/gm3.

In May 2017, the Pacific Environment report notes that the high levels of PM 2.5 “could potentially be attributed to a significant increase in construction work in the area.” On one day, the average PM 2.5 exceeded national limits. Other Sydney monitors did not reflect the same pattern.

For the first three months of this year, the St Peters School monitor had the highest levels of PM 10 u/gm3 of any monitor in Sydney, including 6 monitors along the route of the M4 East.

In 2015, the School wrote to the Department of Education reminding it of its ‘duty of care’ to provide a ‘healthy environment for students and asking for assistance for the school in dealing with the massive EIS. No assistance was offered.

The School Principal Mr Neil Lavitt has told

parents that he was not sent the air monitoring reports. The Education Department refused to allow Mr Levitt to talk to City Hub. It takes two weeks or more to get answers from WestConnex.

Respected St Peters Preschool Director Laurel Walker told City Hub she hadn’t received any results and hadn’t asked for them because they “have not been front of mind.” She was meeting with WestConnex this afternoon. When asked if the Preschool had received a grant from WestConnex she declined to talk further.

City Hub spoke to Ms Walker shortly after the Premier Gladys Berejiklian, the Treasurer Dominic Perrotet and the Minister for Education Rob Stokes paid the school a visit to announcing the preschool funding for 3 year olds which was part of the NSW Budget

this week. As they left the school, a P and C member tried to talk to them about the air quality issues but they rapidly disappeared into waiting cars.

The air monitoring results confirm the worst fears of local parent Myfanwy Waddell who had little boys at the St Peters preschool in 2017, one of whom still attends the preschool. Ms Waddell was very concerned about the air quality at the school last year when the odours from the St Peters Intechange were overwhelming. “I felt that it must be dangerous and couldn’t believe it was allowed to happen”.The NSW EPA is prosecuting WestConnex’s CPB Contractors for failing to control the odour emissions.

While she knows that it is very difficult to prove any particular case is due to pollution, she can’t help but wonder whether the high PM results are connected with the family’s poor health over the last year. Her youngest child has had pneumonia twice. He has since been diagnosed with asthma.

She herself has suffered from pneumonia and conjunctivitis, her husband a very bad cough and her older child has had gastro, flu and colds over the same period.

City Hub has spoken to other residents living near the construction sites who have suffered from respiratory illness, worsened asthma and very severe conjunctivitis.

Westconnex Action Group spokesperson Janet Dandy Ward who has been campaigning against WestConnex since 2014 told City Hub, “I’m amazed that the Premier would front up to St Peters today when she has refused to answer thousands of submissions and letters stating our concerns about health impacts. We all know from experience how horrific the construction impacts have been and warn other communities to ignore Sydney Motorway Corporation and NSW Roads and Maritime services false assurances about air quality.

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city hub 21 JUNE 2018

Cox crows over Bondi

BY Paul Paech Cosmic star-watcher Brian Cox tends to paint a Very Big Picture, so when he said recently on an ABC interview that we know two things for certain about “meaning”, it carries more weight, than, say, Scott Morrison saying, well, anything.

“The first thing we know,” cosmologist Cox said, “is that meaning is local. And the second is that meaning is temporary.”

“Local” for Cox is some planet-sized bit of our massive expanding universe.

“Temporary” suggests that whatever else “meaning” is, it’s always changing, evolving, adapting.

I mentioned this to Murray Cox, a much loved Bondi entity, a respected landscape gardener, and the Bard of Bondi, as we drove back to Bondi from Kings Cross last Sunday.

As far as I know, Murray is not a relative of Brian, but since Einstein, everything is relative, so let’s imagine they’re cousins.

Brian knows a lot about the universe; Murray knows a lot about plant life in Sydney, and because he lives in Bondi Beach, he especially knows Sydney’s coastal plants.

Coincidentally, Murray also knows Sydney’s coastal waters, because he’s swum along all of it, from Palm Beach, across the heads and down to Cronulla, including 50 kilometres of Harbour.

(Not all in the one swim, though.)

Anyhow, driving into Bondi Junction, everthoughful Murray pointed over to a thriving but windswept cluster of bushes among the traffic islands: “I planted those,” he said, with justified pride.

A bit further along, he said the same thing about a dozen or so 15-meter-high she-oaks enjoying the grassy median strip at the entry to Syd Einfield Drive, aka the Bondi Junction By-Pass. “Casuarina cunninghamiana,” he explained.

“I picked that variety because I’d heard reports of them being used in Libyan oil fields to revegetate sand dunes.”

“Obviously a success”, he adds with a smile.

Channelling his cousin’s local/temporary mantra, Murray explains that Australia is by a long shot home to the world’s most diverse range of flora, because Australia’s plants have adapted over a long period to the tough conditions of many different specific places.

Gums learned to lose a branch or two when the going got tough, and other plants found out how to survive regular bushfires, some even requiring the heat of fire for their seeds to germinate.

The eucalyptus for example has adapted and diversified so much that there are more than 700 different types of Eucalyptus plants.

Because some of them grow vigorously to take advantage of water, because they know that the moisture may not last, thirsty fast-growing Australian eucalypts have today colonised wast swathes of the planet, from Los Angeles and France to Israel and China.

Early photos of Sydney show that land was well vegetated, and that even the very exposed coastal zones were able to nourish a stable and vibrant mix of flowering shrubs and bushes. The roots of the native grasses bound the large coastal sandhills together.

The shelter of the harbour nurtured different plants with many localised variations, while swamps, billabongs, estuaries and lagoons provided the moisture for trees to live longer and grow bigger.

When land was subdivided for development, however, practically all this native vegetation was cleared.

Murray says that the wonderful green canopies of many Sydney suburbs are a direct result of massive plantings of native plants which started in the 1970s.

Casuarina cunninghamiana Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The 70s saw the start of exciting patriotic era for Australians, with films (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Newsfront, Mad Max &c), music (Sherbert, Skyhooks, INXS &c), and the arts generally (Patrick White’s Nobel Prize, Oz magazine, Germaine Greer &co). Not to mention Gough Whitlam.

“Starting in the 70s, if something was Australian, we loved it,” says Murray. “And if was native and green and had roots, we planted it, not always understanding the huge difference between native Australian and endemic, the specific local plants.”

Murray urges us to keep planting endemic species in our streets, parks and the diminishing private garden spaces, ideally from plants raised from local seed.

The value of any seed is entirely because it changes into something else, so a seed is a temporary thing.

Cox family Bingo: earth-gardening Murray and star-gazing Brian both singing the same cosmic choral about local and temporary.

You can contact Murray about landscape work at murraycoxmail@gmail.com

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FEATURE

Caring For Creatives

By Jamie Apps Any artist pursuing their creative passion faces a constant struggle for funding, validation and, in the ideal case, the ability to have their art support them financially. One area that is often overlooked though is the emotional support and influence which can come from family and close friends.

This week City Hub spoke with a number of Sydney artists from a variety of fields ranging from music to comedy and professional wrestling to get a greater insight into this aspect of creative life.

For musicians Cosmo’s Midnight, a duo consisting of twin brothers Cosmo and Patrick Liney, and Tony Free (aka Anthony Grady) the influence of their family on their creative careers goes all the way back to their childhood.

“The music my parents played in our house or car laid the foundations for what I’d later relate to and create,” said Grady.

This was a sentiment echoed by Cosmo Liney who also added that his family’s support in the early years of Cosmo’s Midnight was crucial, “Our family was incredibly supportive.

Our Mum has been a composer for her entire life so I think having that around growing up, whether that was someone playing the piano or playing records, could definitely have pushed us to pursue music.”

Without those early creative influences during their childhood a deep seeded passion to pursue a creative career may never have developed for both Cosmo’s Midnight and Tony Free.

As twins Cosmo and Patrick Liney had a distinct advantage as they pursued a career in their chosen creative field because they always had someone there alongside them who could understand the struggles and emotions they were feeling along the way.

Unfortunately that isn’t always the case for artists though.

As Cosmo Liney told us he witnessed other musicians being discouraged from pursuing their creativity, “I saw other people I knew who were making music have their parents tell them to stop this hobby and pursue a real job.”

Comedian Frida Deguise is a perfect example of someone who had to not only battle to establish herself in her chosen creative field but also had to battle to convince her mother that comedy could be a viable career.

“In the beginning my Mum didn’t like that I was pursuing comedy and wanted me to stay in my more traditional job,” Deguise explained, “Once I started getting more gigs and things became more serious though the support from both my husband and Mum became much more important because they had to look after the kids more often.”

During an upcoming program curated by the City Of Sydney Late Night Library Frida and her Mum, Kawkab Dakiz will sit down to discuss the series of events which led to Kawkab finally supporting Frida’s creative career.

The Artists And Their Mums program will also feature Benjamin Law with his Mum, Jenny Phang and Moreblessing Maturure with her Mum, Sibusisiwe Maturure.

One final Sydney artist who has had to overcome a long and arduous journey to success in a creative field is professional wrestler Robbie Eagles. After 10 long years performing in community halls, clubs and various other venues around the country Eagles is now seeing success internationally, having recently competed for a prestigious company in Los Angeles.

During those early years in order to make a name for himself Eagles explained that it often meant “missing birthdays, family gatherings and other important events” which obviously

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Robbie Eagles.

Photo: New Photography

Frida Deguise & Kawkab Dakiz.

Photo: Mansoor Noor

requires an incredible level of understanding from those around him.

“Everyone around me has always known that I wanted to not only pursue wrestling but excel at it. Sometimes it has gone as far as my family helping me supplement my wrestling passion both financially and logistically. I wouldn’t have been able to do some of the things I’ve been able to without them,” Eagles said.

Artists never forget the support they’re given along the way and often return the love at every chance they get.

“I try to take any spare time I have to be with my family and spend quality time with them,” said Eagles.

As we can clearly see even in the wake of recent government funding delays the challenges in pursing a creative career are much more nuanced and multifaceted than simply money, so if you know someone with a burning passion for creativity go out of your way to show them some love and support. It may be that final thing they needed to make their dreams become a reality.

Tony Free.

Photo: Supplied

Artists & Their Mums Jun 21, Jul 19 & Aug 23.

Customs House Library, 31 Alfred St, Sydney.

FREE, but seats limited.

Tickets: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Lano & Woodley – Fly

In 2016, comedy duo Lano and Woodley surprised audiences with a performance at the Melbourne Comedy Festival’s 30th Birthday Gala after previously splitting up in 2006. Now, in 2018 they are back on the stage with their show Fly. An epic and silly tribute to the pioneers of flight, The Wright Brothers.

Originally starting as a trio, Colin Lane and Frank Woodley became the iconic duo they are today in 1994, performing for a show at Melbourne’s, Carlton Courthouse. That show then went on to win the Perrier

Athalia

Award for best comedy in Edinburgh.

Returning home to full houses and a TV show, until in 2006 when over 150,000 people said farewell to Lano and Woodley on the Goodbye tour. Back now with fresh new show Fly, audiences will be impressed that the pair are said to still be on top of their game. Head along for what is sure to be a load of laughs. (RH) Jun 27-30. Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Rd, Newtown. $40-$49.90+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.enmoretheatre.com.au

Bliss

The world premiere production of Peter Carey’s iconic novel Bliss comes to the Belvoir this June. Co-produced with Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre, Bliss follows Harry Joy, a ‘good bloke’ who dies on his front lawn and awakens to find that he is now in what must be Hell – though it is a hell of his own making.

In a hallucinatory and unpredictable rollercoaster from suburbia to the rainforest, Bliss is an exploration of capitalism with Harry being besieged onstage after coming back to ‘life’ by things and people from his life that now serve to torment him.

“I remember reading the book when I was in school and loving it

as a kid,” says Toby Truslove, who plays Harry Joy. “The play is as faithful as you can be – you can’t

do all the scenes but the style of direct storytelling that is theatre really works for Bliss.”

“There’s parts that are dialled up but it’s faithful to the spirit to the book.”

Carey’s classic Australian novel won the Miles Franklin Award in 1981 and was adapted into a film in 1986.

“The play’s very funny and comedic but there’s also some tremendously thought-provoking and moving sections,” says Truslove.

“It’s also a very satisfying play to perform because you feel like you’re right there with the audience. It’s fun to share this story.” (ES) Until Jul 15. Belvoir St Theatre, 18 & 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills. $37-$77+b.f.

Tickets & Info: www.belvoir.com.au

Photo: Prudence Upton

REVIEW: Assassins

Assassins is astounding audiences with its return to the stage, sharing a visually spectacular, fun and absolutely hilarious story that you won’t want to miss!

Set in a foggy, abandoned shooting gallery full of giant carnival letters, carousel horses and dodgem cars, a group of time travelling rebels who are obsessed

a&e

with guns and power unite with the aim to kill the presidents of the United States.

With rock and roll music playing from the moment the audience enters the theatre, they are transported to another time, with songs such as Hound Dog and Hotel California setting the scene, in unison with an old-fashioned radio presenter talking Bill Clinton and all things presidential.

Built up with an absolutely phenomenal cast who captivated the audiences with their flawless voices and upbeat performances. The cast is able to carry the story through, what appeared to be effortlessly, with constant wit and humour in not only the script, but their own quirky characterisations.

The stage design was beautifully

13 STAGE 14 SCENE 15 Sounds 15 SCREEN

flamboyant with seamless scene transitions and an added bonus was when the fourth wall was broken for a moment, inviting an audience member to join in the fun. All the elements worked together seamlessly, with the lighting, sound design and actors adding depth to the script.

Created by musical theatre composer and lyricist, Stephen Sondheim who also created the classics West Side Story, Into the Woods and Sweeny Todd, audiences are sure to enjoy Assassins as it takes them on a journey full of laughter and amazement. (JM) Until Jul 1. Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney. $30-$129.90+b.f.

Tickets & Info: www.sydneyoperahouse.com

Arts Editor: Jamie Apps For more A&E stories go to www.altmedia.net.au and don’t forget to join the conversation on Twitter at @CityHubSyd

For the first time ever, Handel’s Athalia will be performed in Australia this June.

The plot revolves around the Biblical Queen Athalia, who was the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. The play follows the dramatic events of Queen Athalia’s life as she strives to annihilate the Jewish line of kings descended from David, while the high priest Joad does everything in his power to thwart her violent reign.

The story delves into the deep psychological themes of Queen Athalia’s nightmares featuring her murderous mother and the challenges facing Joad and his wife, Josabeth, who are secretly raising Joas, the rightful heir to the throne who Athalia thinks has been killed.

Director Lindy Hume said she is excited to be directing the show because Handel is her favourite composer and Athalia in particular explores deep psychological themes.

“I love directing Handel because of his innate humanity and theatricality, even in his oratorios,” Ms Hume said. “One of the fascinating things about this work is that it deals with complexities between parents and children.”

The strong characters within this production are what makes it compelling.

“Athalia is very powerful of course,” Ms Hume said. “But Josabeth is equally complex in her own way. Her quiet grief is covering up an enormous rage which comes out at the end, so it’s interesting to see her emerge. And of course, the boy Joas is very charismatic too - he represents both innocence and the political future, and those two things are mutually exclusive, as we know.” (EE) Jun 21-26. City Recital Hall Sydney, 2 Angel Pl, Sydney. $93-183+b.f.

Tickets & Info: www.opera.org.au

Contributors: Craig Coventry, Emily Shen, Irina Dunn, Jade Morellini, Leann Richards, Lisa Seltzer, Mark Morellini, Mel Somerville, Olga Azar, Rita Bratovich, Rocio Belinda Mendez, Sarah Pritchard, Shon Ho, Riley Hooper, Georgia Fullerton, Gary Nunn, Renee Dallow, Andriana Vlahos, Erika Echternach & Lili Sekkai.

city hub 21 JUNE 2017

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What The World Needs Now: How The Inner West Connects What would living in Sydney’s Inner West be like as a musical? Find out by going to see What The World Needs Now: How The Inner West Connects at The Hellenic Art Theatre.

Presented by the Bridge On The River Choir, a community choir from St Peters, the show was co-written by members of the choir and Gary Smith, who directs the choir and runs Australia’s national clearinghouse for vocal music.

Inspired by life in the Inner West, the show is a comic-tragedy that follows a community choir as it harmonises its way through challenges posed by a major

infrastructure project and a love triangle involving three of the main characters. A band comprised of Sydney’s top musicians supplies the show’s tunes popular hits from the 1960s guaranteed to get audience members’ toes tapping.

Mr Smith said residents of the Inner West will easily relate to the tough living conditions suffered by the show’s characters, forming a connection among those who attend.

“The reference to infrastructure projects forms the background to the action on stage. Theatre-goers will need to come and see the show to find out how,” Mr Smith

said. “Our choir and our musical are great ways for people to come together, share their feelings and develop a sense of community while being involved in a creative and fun project.”

Mr Smith predicts that people will respond to the show “with unbridled enthusiasm. It will be an enjoyable and uplifting experience for anyone who comes.” (EE) Jun 22-24. Hellenic Art Theatre, 35/142 Addison Road, Marrickville. $15-35+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.trybooking.com/UMIM or Ph: 0414 869 352

THE NAKED CITY

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM With Coffin Ed Like many countries in the world Australians love museums. We identify strongly with our own iconic artefacts such as the stuffed carcass of Phar Lap and embrace the historic touring collections such as the recently announced King Tut extravaganza for the Australian Museum. When the State Government announced that the Powerhouse Museum is to be shunted to Parramatta, there was an understandable outcry at what looks like another potential grand bungle – on par with the decision to build the ill fated Sydney Monorail.

Whether there is a last minute switch of mind to move the Powerhouse or a change of government that reverses this madness, it remains to be seen. The whole sorry saga is worthy of a movie script, perhaps a shameless steal from the Night At The Museum franchise. The star of this appropriation would certainly be the amazing Transparent Woman, the first transparent anatomical model of a woman ever to be exhibited in Australia and a long time Powerhouse favourite. Ironically the last thing the State Government has been with their plans for the relocation is ‘transparent’.

Okay - let’s call her Tess (aka ‘Tess The Transparent’) and throw up a scenario to which any budding young filmmaker is welcome. The Powerhouse Museum is all but packed up and ready to be reassembled at Parra but the final inventory reveals that the much prized transparent woman is missing. A check of security cameras soon shows that she has miraculously sprung to life and fled the old Ultimo HQ late at night – obviously not all that keen on being

Photo: Gerwyn Davie

We, The People Who Live For The Beautiful The Waverley Council will be hosting a monthlong program called We, The People Who Live For The Beautiful to celebrate the power, beauty and diversity of the LGBTI community.

The event coincides with the 40th anniversary of the first Mardi Gras protest and is part of the Bondi Memorial Project, a public artwork being developed by ACON in conjunction with the Waverley Council.

Waverley Mayor John Wakefield said the Council was pleased to be supporting such an important program to the community.

“It is a fitting time to reflect on the

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city hub 21 JUNE 2018

relocated to a holding warehouse whilst the new Museum takes an eternity to be built.

The police are notified, the media run amok and there are sightings all over Sydney. The State Government immediately offer a $500,000 reward for the safe return of Tess although there is a growing movement in favour of her never being recaptured. The Premier doubles the reward to over one million dollars as well as a free family pass to the new Museum (when it’s finally finished) but a protest group smuggle a fully dressed Tess out of the country, finally finding temporary sanctuary in Ecuador.

After three years in exile Tess The Transparent begins to pine for some of her favourite exhibit pals at the old Powerhouse like the Strasbourg Clock and Harry’s Café De Wheels. She decides to return to Australia and reluctantly agrees to be reinstated at the new Museum in Parra (still a giant hole in the ground alongside the banks of the river).

She arrives at Sydney airport without a proper visa and is immediately sent to the Villawood detention centre. From there she is transferred to Nauru and then Manus Island and told by a defiant Peter Dutton that she will never return to Australia.

Her electronics begin to rust in the harsh tropical atmosphere and there are fears she won’t survive.

Mercifully both the State and Federal Governments are demolished at the next election, the Powerhouse Museum remains at Ultimo and the amazing Transparent Woman returns to her rightful place, celebrating with an imaginary pie and peas at Harry’s Café De Wheels. You can at least fantasise!

achievements of 40 years of Mardi Gras while we remember the significant losses and discrimination experienced by the LGBTI community.”

The main attraction of the program will be an art exhibition featuring some of Australia’s leading LGBTI artists, such as Gerwyn Davies, Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Liam Benson, Deborah Kelly, Kim Leutwyler, Helen Grace, Justin Shoulder and Shahmen Suku (Rahda La Bia), who focus their works on themes of love, identity, belonging and pride.

On opening night, Shahmen Suku will perform a

piece inspired by a traditional Indian wedding altar.

Additionally, the program will include historic walking tours with author Greg Callaghan, a showing of the documentary Deep Water followed by a discussion with the film’s creators, a screening of queer performance artist Leigh Bowery’s London Serpentine from 1989 accompanied by a panel of queer performance artists and theorists, and workshops in beading, collage and jewellery making. (EE) Until Jul 15. Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach.

FREE. Info: www.waverley.nsw.gov.au

British India

By Jamie Apps “The music industry really doesn’t reward longevity.”

This statement from British India’s Declan Melia seems strange at first given that British India has been able to remain relevant throughout the course of a decade whilst other bands around them have fallen away.

However during our time speaking with Declan he is able to mount a strong argument as to why he feels the band has been able to persevere.

Strangely Melia feels British India’s longevity is because they’ve never had an overnight hit single.

“When you have a big hit it places a bookmark in your career which everyone will always compare you to. So by not having a hit that is strangely what has given us longevity.”

Despite not have one “hit” the band has been incredibly successful throughout their career with four Top 10 ARIA albums and eight entries into the Hottest 100. Obviously they’ve been doing something right, yet even with this success they still wanted to innovate and push boundaries with their latest offering Forgetting The Future.

“It was a tough direction to take but when we

looked back at some of the songs in our back catalogue we felt they were a little overproduced or flowery and [thus] lost the emotion,” said Melia. “So with this record we wanted to strike a balance between keeping the emotion but still have the songs be sophisticated, elegant and layered.”

In order for the group to be able to realise this vision they had to first return to the music which they first listened to and fell in love with.

Now as more mature listeners they were able to listen to bands such as Bloc Party, The Rapture and The Presets with a more educated and critical ear to pinpoint exactly what made those bands and records so great 10 years ago.

During their 10 year career not only have British India matured as artists they’ve also witnessed a paradigm shift in the music industry.

“It used to be that you’d get a record deal, put out a record and be massive,” explained Melia.

That wasn’t exactly the case for British India though. Their most recent international success has come thanks to online streaming after one of their songs was simply placed on the right playlist at the right time.

“Being put on a certain playlist can be just as

Photo: Luke Henery

good as a record deal now because your music can be heard by millions of people.”

Whilst there have been drastic changes behind the scenes of the music industry Melia points out that the connection with fans is still incredibly important and something which British India are very proud of.

“Some of these songs are 10 years old now so they have a nostalgia attached to them. It’s still just sinking in to me that people know the

lyrics to Said I’m Sorry which came out nine years ago, so it’s all weird to me.”

Looking ahead Melia’s biggest fear isn’t further changes to the industry but rather maintaining that special songwriting spark.

“It’s easy to write a song, but what’s hard is writing a good song!”

Jun 30. Oxford Art Factory, 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst. $34.10+b.f.Tickets & Info: www.oxfordartfactory.com

The Rubens - LO LA RU

Lloyd Spiegel – Backroads

LO LA RU presents a fully realised sound that picks up on the RnB and hip-hop influence but also infuses more pop, jazz and blues elements along the way as well. The added pop elements inevitably forces the record away from the underground, honest and authentic sound of Hoops.

Despite this slight diversion away from the what made Hoops such a resounding success LO LA RU still sees the group keep the heart and soulfulness in both their sound and lyrical content.

With this new catchy pop sound injected throughout LA LA RU has a number of tracks which have limitless mainstream potential. To point out just a few doesn’t do the record justice but for arguments sake keep an eye out for opener Million Man, as well as Never Ever (featuring Sarah), God Forgot and finally Teeth. (JA) WWWW

There is a lot happening on the Backroads.

Moving through styles like a car through neighbourhoods, enjoying the scenic route and stopping just long enough for a photo, Lloyd Spiegel makes the trip look easy. Listeners will not get bored with a formula while listening to this album, as there doesn’t appear to be one. Instead each track is something new and each of them are enjoyable.

An emotional adventure as well as a musical one, Backroads enables the heart to take a journey sitting in the back seat with the intellect riding shotgun, both of them enamoured with their guide.

Lyrically focused and musically diverse, this album is bouncing along with life and rhythm. This is a road trip the listener will remember fondly, its ups and down shining with equal vigour in their recollections. (SP) WWWW

Brothers’ Nest

The synopsis of this Australian film is quite intriguing – two brothers return to the family homestead out bush with the intention of murdering their step-father and making it look like suicide. The reason for this dastardly act? Their mother is dying of terminal cancer and the property bequeathed to the stepfather will pass onto them in the event of his death.

Not a completely original story, but audiences should be captivated by the spine chilling chain of events which are cleverly intermingled with humorous dialogue.

Real life brothers Clayton and Shane Jacobson play the leads and their idyllic chemistry playing these evil characters which are vastly overshadowed by stupidity should ensure that audiences actually enjoy their villainous escapades.

The darkest of black comedies, this film transitions from two brothers childishly arguing and reminiscing about their early lives to bloodshed and murder.The shattering yet satisfying conclusion which resonates that crime doesn’t pay should leave audiences stunned. (MMo) WWW

Tag

Disobedience

Set 30 years after a group of nine-year-old besties, Hoagie, Jerry, Bob, Chili and Kevin create a ritual game of tag that they play throughout May each year, it may have been the game that brought them together each year as their lives change over time.

With the untagged champion, Jerry wanting to retire this could be the last game they ever play together.

In his directional debut, Jeff Tomsic takes on the American comedy film, Tag. The film was written by Rob

Director Sebastian Lelio has a way of handling tricky subject matter with delicacy, honesty and good story-telling. He did it with the Spanish film, A Fantastic Woman (2017) and he’s done it again with this romantic drama set within an insular, traditional Jewish enclave in a northern London suburb.

Ronit (Rachel Weisz), a successful New York photographer, returns to England after hearing of the death of her father who was the Rabbi in the fiercely conservative Jewish community from which she was forced to flee years earlier due to a transgression.

Politely shunned by all except her two closest friends, Dovid

Mckittrick and Mark Steilen, based off a story published in the Wall Street Journal. The cast features Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Isla Fisher and more.

Being based on a true story, I wish I had thought of this as a kid. A clean storyline with great dialogue and comedic timing by the cast. Super entertaining and hilarious.

Have not laughed so hard since The Disaster Artist.

(RH)

WWWW

(Alessandro Nivola) and Esti (Rachel McAdams) who are now married, Ronit accepts their invitation to stay in their home. It’s a tinder box for the original “transgression” - an affair between Esti and Ronit - to be reignited, which, of course, it is.

The relationship is handled with tenderness and taste, with a sex scene that is explicit but not titillating. The two Rachels in the lead roles are credible and appealing and Nivola gives complexity to a character tortured by religious duty, love, pride and his own inherent belief of what is right. (RB) WWWW

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