City Hub 29 March 2018 by Alt Media

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Wake up call for Sydney BY JOHN MOYLE This week Sydney music lovers were rocked when Sydney’s iconic venue The Basement closed it doors after 45 years of operation. A week earlier, in Kings Cross, a new jazz club barely made it to 45 minutes of existence as police and council harassment caused it to close on its second night of operation. Venue manager for Prohibition jazz club Paul Jospeh said police threatened to bust them as they were setting up for a night’s trading. Mr Jospeh says three men approached the doorman about coming into the club just for a look, which they did. Once inside they threw off their cloaks of anonymity declaring that they were licensing police “Owner and licensee of Prohibition, Mr Ian Chandler, was approached by the licensing police and informed that he may be in breach of the law for not scanning them in and that he was liable for a $11,000 fine,” Mr Jospeh said. But there was more. Later that night a couple of City of Sydney rangers approached Mr Chandler outside the club and threatened him with a $6,000 fine if he breached a zero tolerance noise level. Fearing for instant penury if they were busted for any the aforementioned breaches, the club decided to close, putting 40 musicians booked for the week out of work along with three staff and a security guard. A recent report by independent think tank Committee for Sydney is a wake-up call for all government agencies, businesses and policy makers to take Sydney into the 21st century as a 24 hour precinct or risk becoming a second tier city in a world increasingly turning on the lights and staying open. The report Sydney as a 24 Hour City examines issues relevant to Sydney as a 24 hour precinct such as transport, retail operations, hours for public spaces, lighting and a more open and supportive policy for music venues, small bars and clubs.

Sydney captured at night. Photo: Supplied

As Sydney joins other 24 hour precincts around the world benefits to Sydney could see an increased annual turnover of $30 billion and create up to 100,000 new jobs. “The Committee for Sydney’s report identified serious concerns with the lock out laws’ impacts on Sydney nightlife,” Alex Greenwich, independent MP for Sydney said. “If Sydney is going to be a global city, we need to remove the 1.30am lockout for small bars and well managed venues.” Sydney as a 24 Hour City builds on significant work done by councils, state government, universities and campaigning organisations such as Keep Sydney Open. “What we’ve sought to do is develop a strategic approach for Greater Sydney, involving participants from public, private and civic sectors,” spokesperson, Committee for Sydney said. One of the early studies done on a 24 hour

economy for Sydney was the OPEN Sydney report by City of Sydney back in 2012. “The City is a long term supporter of the nighttime economy and its contribution to our city’s vibrant community and the broader economy,” spokesperson, City of Sydney said. However one giant shadow looms large across the implementation of any attempts to make Sydney a global city: Barry O’Farrell and Mike Baird’s infamous lockout laws that were introduced in 2014 as a knee jerk reaction to alcohol fuelled assaults. The governments of the day also refused to address issues of their own making such as lack of public transport and putting a brake on the number of liquor licenses issued in areas with already large numbers of venues. “It is clear whether you are talking about the Liberal government or the Labor opposition that they have done nothing about the lock out laws,

while the impacts on the community have been significant,” Jenny Leong, Greens MP Newtown said. “We need an approach to licensing laws that don’t punish the whole of the community and shut down our night life.” Tyson Koh is a spokesman for the Keep Sydney Open movement that has been vocal about the lockout laws affecting central Sydney. “A lot of people have failed to understand how the lockouts have been so damaging to businesses in the inner city and Kings Cross,” Koh said. “This is not a level playing field as people can still go out later in the inner west or parts of the eastern suburbs, or go to the Casino.” Koh added that there was another issue affecting night life in Sydney and that was the attitudes of the police and government. “I see this as part of a broader war on culture that the police and parts of the NSW Government are engaging in and that is very concerning.

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BY Staton Whaley Two cottages at 9 and 11 Marion Street Leichhardt have been rushed to demolition by Inner West Council amidst backlash from the Greens and the local community. Eight months ago Inner West Council made the decision to knock down the cottages to create twenty-two parking spaces. This decision was reversed four months ago, but has suddenly been re-approved. The 2017/2018 budget proposal calls for $300,000 to be used in the demolition, but this appears to be above market price for such work. Demolition expert James Anderson, of Democorp Australia, called it “an excessive price to knock down the cottages.” He estimates houses of that size should costs about $22,000 each for demolition and waste removal, “Five years ago we knocked down the Orioles Park Stadium in Auburn, with the grandstands and amenities, and re-turfed where we demolished for $110,000,” Mr Anderson said. Inner West Council did not respond to questions regarding the cost of demolition. Councillor Tom Kiat, Greens Party for Leichhardt, called the decision “atrocious.”

Going, going, gone at Marion Street. Photo: Staton Whaley

Kiat compared the cottages’ destruction to “the Liberal State Government’s stadium knock-down and rebuild. It’s the same level of government waste and a complete misreading of community priorities.” Leichhardt Greens Councillor Rochelle Porteus agreed, calling it “a very bad decision.” Porteus stated her concern for the lack of community consultation prior to a decision being made. “The Council only consulted with the one street surrounding the civic centre, so they went out to about 300 houses, which is outrageous

because the consultation that you should do with a civic precinct should really be the suburb of Leichhardt because it has an impact on the whole suburb of Leichhardt…They got twenty five responses from the three hundred people…sixteen of the twenty five responses said we don’t think you should knock those cottages down…But even with the very bad very minimal consultation that they had, they ignored that as well.” Councillor Pauline Lockie, independent for Leichhardt, thinks there are “big question

marks about the process…The uproar that has ensued since the demolition has become public shows that it really is something we should have taken to our residents.” Cr Lockie would like to have seen “cost benefit analysis applied to the different options that were before the council.” Cr Porteus believes “the assessment process is flawed because they haven’t taken into account the Aboriginal artwork which is present on the buildings. They are significant artworks, and they have aesthetic and cultural value.” Blak Douglass, also known as Adam Miller, is the Aboriginal artist behind one of the cottage murals. Mr Miller described the demolition as a “double disappointment from his perspective.” He acknowledges his work as “probably one of the only artworks created by an Aboriginal artist in the municipality on a building.” “If the demolition of the cottages goes ahead it will be probably one of the only examples of desecration of modern Aboriginal art in Sydney.” Leichhardt resident, Crisseta MacLeod , who spoke at the meeting, was “very disappointed on the matter.” city hub 29 MARCH 2018

Businesses derailed by construction by Gabriela Szymanowska and Addie Morton Heading into another day of construction, businesses and residents along the Light Rail project can expect more headaches, dust and business downturn. The NSW government is facing yet another threat of a class action suit, this time with plenty of physical and financial evidence of damages caused to small businesses and residents. There is no doubt that once completed the $2.1 billion Light Rail project running from Circular Quay along George Street through to Surry Hills and onto Randwick’s High Road will provide plenty of benefits to the area. “Small businesses are a priority and we want to ensure that those who have experienced disruption while we build the light rail will reap the benefits once services start,” a spokesperson for Transport for NSW said. Around 40 businesses have closed with many on the brink of closing, while others have increased their debt levels massively. Currently the construction is causing a 20 to 50 per cent downturn for businesses in the area. David Sherbert, resident of Devonshire Street, said he has already counted 16 stores that have closed near his home. Stores that are still open and need compensation are not receiving enough, even though in 2017 the State Government decided to award compensation in the form of backdated rent relief. “The State Government was forced into some sort of compensation, but all it actually was was a partial assistance with rent,” Mr. Sherbert said. “So, if a shop owner was a renter, they would get part of their rent subsidised.” As of 25 March 2018, 75 businesses had officially applied for compensation and Transport for NSW is waiting for six more businesses to

Problems continue with the construction of the light rail. Photo: Transport for NSW

complete an assessment of outstanding progress. “Applications are assessed as quickly as possible, once all financial statements and any additional information required has been provided to Transport for NSW,” a spokesperson for Transport for NSW said. “On average, applications are determined within less than four weeks after all information has been received.” Isaac Cheng, owner of Mohr Fish restaurant on Devonshire Street, said, “No, we do not receive anything. No one contacted us to try to give us this information. We found out information about the Light Rail on the internet.” Mr. Cheng also commented on customers cancelling bookings due to a lack of parking near his shop. Although he has created a map of alternative routes for his customers, he has seen

a 20 to 30 per cent loss in business because of construction. Chris Deale, owner of Dove and Olive Café on Devonshire Street, wants to look at the bigger picture of the Light Rail. He acknowledges the decline in business, but in the long run, he believes the new system will benefit everyone. “I guess you have to say that it’s not a surprise that we have seen a decline in business. It’s not a shock to anyone: not to Light Rail, it wouldn’t be a shock to the government … everyone along here knew it was going to impact business,” Mr. Deale said. “From our point of view the issue isn’t so much how long it’s taking, it’s not the impact to traffic, it’s that the site looks like a construction site.” City of Sydney councillor and owner of Vivo

café, Angela Vithoulkas, has been a leading voice for small businesses in the area, but is facing her own battle as her cafe is entering another year on the construction zone. “This October, it’ll be three and a half years on a construction zone. And we don’t know how much longer we are going to survive. What was once one of Sydney’s most awarded cafes is now the face of Light Rail devastation,” Ms. Vithoulkas said. Transport for NSW has already had one lawsuit filed against it, but there is potential for another larger suit as a large array of evidence that has been collected. “A group of small business owners got together and set up a website to gather data information and had people sign up because so many people got knocked back from financial assistance for Light Rail, they didn’t fit the criteria—not that we knew what the criteria was before people put in their claims—and residents haven’t have anywhere to go to put in their claims,” Ms. Vithoulkas said. The website, Sydney Light Rail Class Action, lists the reasons for the class action suit and asks those who have been affected to fill out a form.It also has a virtual map pinpointing the locations impacted by the Light Rail construction. Currently, the website mentions that 84 businesses and residents have been impacted and that the number is growing. While the website is a good idea in theory, the site has its own problems. There is no acknowledgement as to who set up the website and one of the questions requests information about the respondent’s mental health. While the website is collecting data to file a class action suit, there is also the question of how safe the site is and who is this information being given to. Construction is set to be complete in April 2019.

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Eastgate goes free BY Paul Paech “Well aren’t you smart, then.” That was how Waverley’s colourful Councillor Sally Betts responded recently when Mayor John Wakefield told her that he’d resolved a dispute from Betts’ time as mayor that could have cost Waverley Council millions of dollars. City Hub understands that the legal dispute relates to the Eastgate Shopping Centre carpark and was discussed in two confidential sessions of Council during December and February. It is believed that the dispute involved a threatened claim for the recovery of money from Council by ISPT which along with Waverly is the joint owner of the carpark and owner of the adjacent Eastgate shopping centre. Mayor Wakefield was contacted for comment and confirmed that Eastgate had been the subject of confidential meetings but he would not detail the nature of those discussions. When former Mayor Cr Betts was asked about the Eastgate matter, she denied the multi-million dollar claim. “At no time during my Mayoralty was a legal claim made against Council and my understanding is that a claim has never been made to this day,” Ms Betts said But City Hub has identified a long-running dispute over revenue from the Eastgate carpark in Bondi Junction. Under Mayor Betts, Council abolished free short-term parking in Eastgate by introducing a minimum $1 fee, a move which was unpopular both with shoppers and shopkeepers. Crucially, it was also opposed by ISPT who argued that it would discourage shoppers from visiting the centre. “This agreement expired in August 2013 and while the parties have been continuing discussions about the on-going management of the carpark, Council has continued to maintain and operate the

carpark.” Peter Monks, Acting General Manager, Waverley Council said. Mayor Betts still argues that Council had to introduce the $1 charge in order to maintain Council’s income after the expiry of the previous contract with ISPT. Cr Wakefield and several other councillors had opposed the introduction of the fee at the time, characterising the original $1 parking fee as a cash grab. It is understood that on becoming Mayor last September, Wakefield was alerted to the fact that Waverley had failed to conclude any deal with ISPT on the revenue from the carpark. Because Council was only part-owner of the building, it was required by law to enter into a new financial contract with ISPT. Under the current Council led by Mayor Wakefield, Betts acknowledges that a new agreement, including a free first hour parking, has now successfully been negotiated with ISPT. At the September election, Betts had argued that Waverley Liberals were superior financial managers, but Wakefield argues that although Mayor Betts was aware of the financial issues around the carpark revenue, she chose to ignore them. “Hard financial negotiating is a central part of a mayor’s job,” he says. “Problems don’t just go away because you don’t like having to deal with them.” Wakefield dismisses Betts’ claims of the Liberals’ support financial responsibility by pointing to his record at Council. When Waverley sold its depot in Alexandria in 2011, Wakefield claims he managed to negotiate an extra $15 million on top of the price which Betts’ Liberals were prepared to sell it for. “It is vital that Council maximises every valuable public asset,” says Wakefield, “but the social consequences must part of every equation.” The key issue, he argues, is always how we can

Eastgate to soon offer free one hour parking. Photo: supplied

use Council’s considerable resources to make life better for the people who are lucky enough to call Waverley home. Abolition of the $1 Eastgate charge is part of a wider plan by Wakefield to adjust parking prices throughout Waverley to better meet the changing needs of local residents and businesses. By increasing and simplifying the cost of longerterm parking in Eastgate, Council is making it cheaper for short-stay shoppers. Wakefield also argues that it helps keep parked cars out of nearby residential areas.” Cars are a major issue for everyone in Waverley, Council has an obligation to do what we can to alleviate the stress for locals, he says.

“Council makes money from parking, but if that’s all we’re doing, we’re asleep at the wheel,” he says taking aim at his predecessor. He points out that during her time as mayor, Sally Betts got through three different general managers, and argues that her support of amalgamation inevitably resulted in considerable instability and bad decision-making. Waverley Council is consulting with the public to remove the one dollar fee which is expected to be implemented within two months. Wakefield expects that the appointment last week of a new general manager will provide Waverley Council with solid professional guidance over the coming years.

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Sydney’s mean streets get meaner BY Mick Daley Last week’s release of figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on homelessness have prompted withering scorn from community commentators. The Greens and leading charities have expressed outrage at the figures, which show the rate of estimated homelessness up from 40 in every 10,000 people in 2011 to 50 in every 10,000 in 2016. Mission Australia has released a damning statement on the figures confirming that 37,715 men, women and children are now going without a safe, permanent place to call home on any given night in NSW. The NSW state government has presided over a period in which the increase in homelessness not only doubles the national figure at a staggering 37 per cent, it indicates that over 116,000 more people are now without accommodation across a nation debating whether or not to give $36 billion in corporate tax cuts to its wealthiest corporations. And while the cost of living, rentals and real estate continue to rise, the federal Coalitions plans to introduce a new Welfare Reform Bill looks set to cut payments to more than 80,000 people. Mission Australia CEO James Toomey says the organisation has been warning of a spike in homelessness for too long, based on the nation’s inadequate planning and social housing provisions. “It is an international embarrassment caused by the long-term absence of a national coordinated plan and the lack of a serious commitment to building new social and affordable homes,” he said. “We cannot afford to ignore this situation any longer. Safe and secure housing provides the platform for children to attend school, adults to

Jenny Leong fighting to reduce homelessness. Photo: supplied

work, people to be healthy and communities to thrive. Mr Toomey says Mission Australia has devised a plan to combat homelessness, based on a Housing First Approach that has been shown to work in Canada and parts of the US. They want a national strategy that addresses key homelessness drivers including family violence, poverty and the lack of affordable housing. He said it would deliver 300,000 new social homes and 200,000 affordable rental properties by 2030. “We know what works. We need a coherent national strategy and a long term commitment

from government to build new social and affordable homes. This requires commitment from all governments, from the corporate sector, charities and individuals.” Mr Toomey said the plan would involve a review of tax breaks to property investors and 30 per cent increase in Rent Assistance payments, as well as new housing stock delivered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. “The housing market is not delivering for those on the lowest and even moderate incomes. The lack of appropriate social and affordable housing is very clearly evidenced in the

alarming rise in overcrowding, particularly in NSW, where the housing market has seen some of the most significant price rises. Greens MP Jenny Leong points the finger squarely at government ministries operating on an ideological agenda. “A 37 per cent increase in homelessness is cause for serious concern and the figures are not surprising given that just last year in Homelessness Week we saw the Minister for Family and Community Services, who is supposed to be the person in government responsible for providing people with a safe and secure place to live was supportive of a change to laws that allowed police to make Martin Place a restricted zone and move people on who were sleeping rough, as opposed to actually dealing with the issue. “Allied to the homelessness figures, there’s been an astronomic 74 per cent rise in the numbers of people living in ‘severely’ overcrowded dwellings in NSW which shows that the housing and rental stress in this state is at breaking point,” Ms Leong said. Leong supported the call for a Housing First approach. “A Housing First approach has been seen to have an immediate impact on the issues affecting peoples’ lives. It provides for a whole suite of needs, all of those wraparound services that this issue demands. “Mental health services, addiction services, other support mechanisms and assistance all flows if you provide people with a safe and secure place to live in the first instance. “The other side of that picture is that we all know that this liberal government has consistently defunded support services, mental health services, refuges and other community services that provide that assistance directly to individual people in need,” Ms Leong said.

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As Australian as ABC! BY MARI U S WE B B Author Bio: Marius Webb worked at ABC Radio, played a pivotal role in the establishment of double j and triple j and was the first staff-elected Board Member. The ABC as we know it, has been under siege now for so long that it is starting to not just show very advanced signs of wear and tear, but to give all the indications of impending mortality. While very few of us at the moment seem inclined to approve the doings of President Trump, we should at least be grateful that he has made a great deal of fuss about “Fake News”. His crude and wilful attacks on all kinds of media have sharpened the perception of what we perceive as ‘good’ and ‘reliable’ sources of news. Trump’s technique is to blatantly exaggerate and assert one ‘truth’ or ‘fact’ as opposed to another. And it’s gradually degenerating into a shambles. In Australia, the ABC has caved into pressure from the PM and his financial cronies, and pulled a financial piece by Emma Alberici on the grounds that some of the ‘facts’ in her report are ‘wrong’. This is appalling, if only because it means the ABC is gradually ceding its independence to the government of the day. We can go down the Trump path and accuse everyone we disagree with of being wrong. Or we can be sensible and agree to disagree. This has always been the Australian way but it is starting to go out of favour. The ABC is at the fulcrum of this debate but it has been so debased by the Liberal Party – remember Tony “no cuts to the ABC” Abbott – and so weakly defended by the ALP, that it is but a shadow of its former self. Without the ABC there is only advertising

Marius Webb. Photo: Christine Webb

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so well, to tell only one side of the story. Our culture is absolutely saturated with information that is not objective. Think tanks now dominate the arena of public political

debate but are generally invisible to the public. Mostly funded by the right side of politics they are not a good symptom of a healthy democracy. The Trump effect. It used to be the case that Australia, for its relevant population size, enjoyed one of the best media systems in the world. There was a healthy balance between the commercial media and the ABC, unlike Britain where the BBC was dominant, or the US, where there were only commercial media. The ABC tried to make programs for everyone. Play School, Blue Hills and Monday Conference. The commercial stations were only interested in audience demographics. Graham Kennedy, Number 96 and 60 Minutes. But things have changed. Technical innovation has meant that the media choices now available are immense and all the established operators are struggling to keep up. If we were to lose one or two of our commercial TV networks it is unlikely to matter much in the scheme of things as they will be promptly replaced by some new form of delivery. If we lose the ABC however, it would be much the same as an incoming government deciding to close the National Gallery, or turn the Opera House into a Cruise Ship Terminal. The ABC is absolutely crucial to our culture simply because its remit is to serve the interests of all Australians, not commercial interests. Weakened financially, shaking at the knees politically, and desperately scratching its head creatively, the ABC is a shadow of its former self but is still worth saving because it still has the capacity to provide us with a marvellous mirror on our inner sense of being Australian.

Westconnex air quality stinks BY Wendy Bacon Thousands of Sydney residents living close to WestConnex unfiltered ventilation stacks may never know whether their air quality is affected by tunnel emissions, due to the failure of the Sydney Motorway Corporation to place air monitors near their homes. NSW Planning’s conditions of approval for the M4 East tunnels required the Sydney Motorway Corporation (SMC), which controls WestConnex, to monitor air pollution levels in areas around two stacks continuously for a full year before the tunnels open and for at least two years afterward. Thousands of residents’ had strongly objected to the M4 East Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the grounds they they feared the tunnel would negatively impact on local air quality. The community message was clear. So when the then Minister for Planning Rob Stokes, announced his controversial decision to approve WestConnex’s M4 East tunnel, he stressed that he was imposing “strict and unprecedented” conditions, which included provision for residents living close to the ventilation stacks to have input into decision-making through an Air Quality Community Consultative Committee (AQCC). In 2016, a similar condition was imposed with Mr Stokes’ approval of three more stacks for the New M5 tunnel. The M4 East Committee was established last June and the monitors turned on in December. The New M5 Committee has been established but the monitors will not be turned on until later this year. Both Committees are chaired by professional mediator and lawyer Steven Lancken. I contacted him for this story but he explained that as an independent chair he was unable to speak to the media, and referred me to the Sydney Motorway Corporation. When I asked why the names of the people on the Committee were not available publicly, he said this was a ‘privacy’ matter. There are six monitors along the M4 East. (A map can be seen on the Ecotech site at http:// airodis.ecotech.com.au/westconnex/index.html ). In Haberfield, there are monitors at Haberfield Public School to the northeast and Ramsay Street to the southeast of the nearby stack. At the Western end of the tunnel In Homebush, there are monitors at Powells Creek, near the junction of Parramatta Road and the M4, and at Allen Reserve, a small park to the east of the Homebush ventilation stack. There are two other monitors along the route. At the Homebush stack, there are no monitors

Ventilation stack under construction near homes at Powell’s Ck in Homebush. Photo: Chris Nash

to the north, south or west and at the Haberfield stack there are no monitors on the southern side of Parramatta Road. This is significant because WestConnex EISs have found that the chances of negative impacts are greater at height, and the unmonitored areas include a number of multistory buildings. Some of these apartment buildings are close to both Parramatta Road and the M4 and so will be impacted by both the road and the stack. The M4 East planning conditions mandate that air quality results must be measured against national standards. Any exceedances of those standards must be reported to NSW Planning. Unfortunately, although SMC is supposed to be making all data public, data is removed from view after 30 days. Even so, the results so far do nothing to allay serious health concerns. Monitored levels of PM 2.5 (dangerous fine particulate matter that is linked to cancer and heart disease) are currently showing annual averages well above the national limit of 8 µg/m³.The levels are higher than anything reported by the NSW government last year. Haberfield School

has the highest levels of PM 2.5. The Powells Creek levels in Homebush are currently above the annual limit for both PM 10 and PM 2.5. There have been exceedances of the daily average limits of 25 PM 10 µg/m³ at several sites. As expected by those familiar with scientific research on air quality, levels are higher near congested roads and construction sites. At an important meeting on March 5, there were no representatives present from the St Peters community which is badly affected and has been actively campaigning against the impacts of WestConnex. A spokesperson for the WestConnex Action Group and resident of St Peters Janet Dandy-Ward told City Hub that she was shocked that St Peters was unrepresented. “Our community has been suffering terrible impacts for two years. We were never officially told who is on the Committee. I’m concerned about what the M4 East monitors are telling us about air quality near WestConnex sites. Who knows what it is in St Peters? We never believed that RMS’s constant assurances that the air

around us would not be affected by the M5 East and its ventilation stacks.” The minutes of the Committee meetings are publicly available. The committees received their contextual information about air quality from the NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) which has prejudged the situation and constantly asserted that any impacts on air quality during Westconnex construction will be negligible. The members of the committee were presented with a very narrow range of location options for the monitors. I asked Ecotech, the company setting up and maintaining the monitors, about the location decisions but was told that their staff are unable to comment because they are contracted by SMC. SMC instructed Ecotech where to locate the monitors. Applications to join the committees were invited from people living or working near the stacks who could make a ‘constructive’ contribution. But not everyone who met the criteria was accepted. For example, Malachy Ward, a retired Haberfield resident with experience in dealing with air quality issues applied on the basis that he represents the Haberfield Association on WestConnex issues and is the grandparent of some Haberfield Public School students. He was rejected. When he asked why he was not chosen, he was told that the standard of applications was ‘very high’. In fact only two of three required positions for Haberfield residents were filled. In all there are six RMS and SMC representatives on the M4 East Committee and only five community representatives, not all of whom can always attend meetings when scheduled. There are Council representatives but they’re also not always present due to other commitments. One member of the New M5 committee Rasmus Torkel has established a website on which he reports on meeting discussions about the stack locations. WestConnex also provides minutes on its website. Mr Torkel wrote on his website that locations proposed by WestConnex are all on RMS land and “as a consequence, some very good locations were rejected in favour of quite unsatisfactory locations.” One location was rejected because it might be ‘vandalised’. City Hub has submitted questions to SMC. Wendy Bacon has campaigned against WestConnex. She is covering air quality issues on her blog at wendybacon.com. Rasmus Torkel’s website is found at http://rasmustorkel.id.au/new_m5_aqccc/

MEET the locals

Paddy’s Market By Addie Morton and Gabriela Szymanowska Paddy’s Market is more than just a market. It is an Australian icon. Paddy’s has been associated with the Haymarket area for 150 years and is the largest and longest running market in Sydney. It specialises in the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables, clothes, electrical goods and souvenirs. If you want it, there is most likely a stand that sells it. The market is a goldmine for shoppers who are looking to save money. There are rows and rows of fresh fruit and vegetables listed at prices much cheaper than grocery stores. If shoppers are in need of clothing, there are stalls with prices less than department stores. Each stallholder at the market is a small business. With the two locations combined– Haymarket and Flemington, there are over 1000 stalls, making it a great place for locals and tourists alike. Shopping at the markets is a great way to support local businesses while saving money. In the early days of the market, it was an open air affair, with merrygo-rounds, sideshows, saveloy sellers, farmers with produce and animals for

sale, second hand dealers, craftsmen and members of the rag trade. This carnival atmosphere seeped into the DNA of the markets and is still present today. The market is teeming with life, from sights, to sounds to smells, and is worth visiting for the market experience alone. If you find yourself wandering the aisles of Paddy’s, here are City Hub’s picks to shop at: Alp Berber has been a stallholder at Paddy’s Market for 27 years. He is the current stallholder of Tilley Soaps, the oldest 100% Australian owned soap manufacturer. Berber tries to keep his products Australian-made because that is very important to him. The stall sells soaps that are natural plant and vegetable-based, handmade bath bombs, diffusers, and scents for homes. Berber says he enjoys meeting people from overseas who come to his stall. He said if anyone is looking for a good Australian product, they should come and see him. Stephen has been selling leather belts at Paddy’s Market for over 40 years. He describes his products as “working belts for working men.” His shop, Olmate

Belt Shop, sells handmade leather belts, belt buckles, and hats. Stephen said his favourite part of being a stallholder at Paddy’s is interacting with customers. “The people you meet come and go, and there’s some interesting customers,” he said. Awakening Lotus, a new age spiritual shop, has been run by Jo Thompson on Yellow Aisle in Paddy’s Market for eight years. The shop’s main goal is to “help people who’ve lost direction by providing products and services which may help them,” Thompson said. The shop sells a variety of spiritual items such as incense, dreamcatchers, and healing crystals. Thompson also provides life coaching, dream analysis and daily bookings for aura and chakra photography. Miro Bactashi has been selling handmade Aboriginal style art in Paddy’s Market for over 10 years. All art found at Bactashi’s stall are Australian made handcrafted products. From bowls to traditional garments to tapestries to paintings, any Aboriginal style art can be found at the stall. “It is hard,” Bactashi said. “Customers must know about the Aboriginal culture when buying the art.”

You haven’t been to a market until you’ve been to Paddys. Photo: Staton Whaley

Marea has been a stallholder at Paddy’s Market for more than 30 years, selling authentic Australian magnets, paintings and postcards. She remembers coming to Paddy’s Market as a child with her grandmother when it was at the Old Entertainment Centre and only open on Fridays. Now, Marea and her husband both work stalls selling the souvenirs that are mostly made in Sydney. Maps Henriques, a part-time student, has worked the past three

years at Paddy’s Market for a stall that sells boomerangs, paintings, masks, didgeridoos, plates and tiny surfboards, all made by local Indigenous artists based in the Shepparton, Victoria. The bright, colourful artwork stands out as each artwork is unique and the supply is limited as each is hand crafted. If you’re looking for a special gift to take home, this stand is one to visit Haymarket is open WednesdaySunday from 10:00am to 6:00pm. city hub 29 MARCH 2018

FEATURE

Death Of Community Theatre

By Jade Morellini For centuries, theatre has been driving a rich culture of storytelling among communities, expressing the voices of many and uniting them as one. Theatres provide a place to discuss new ideas and to stimulate conversations about events occurring around the world, or to question the norms. After the devastating news surfaced of the closure of the beloved Kings Street Theatre at Newtown, reality set in that good and affordable theatre venues, which provided practice studios for the performing arts, are slowly disappearing off Sydney’s grid. “We have less theatres than ever in the world we live in now and there was a time when there was a theatre in every community, or at least a community hall that was used for cultural purposes in every village and every town,” CEO of Sydney Fringe, Kerri Glasscock said. “The less theatres we have, the smaller the chances of placing those stories on the stages and of people gathering together to hear them, so the loss of old theatres is really sad to a community.” King Street Theatre was a privately-owned venue and was a space that enabled individuals to work together and create new content for the stage. Co-directors of Kinetic Energy Theatre Company, Jepke Goudsmit and Graham Jones said,“Our vision for The Edge, last known as King Street Theatre, was to establish a program of ongoing training, research and creation by our company.To run educational programs in a wide range of the performing arts, for a variety of levels and ages.To explore collaborations, guest-residencies and apprenticeships.To be a host for exchange.To make the space available to other contemporary Australian theatre-makers.To bring people together and build community.To celebrate and explore being human.To play.To learn.To heal.To grow.And

Sam Bowring’s play The Great Library of Earth 2007 at Newtown Theatre (Dancing Giant Productions). Photo: Supplied

to keep the cost down for all, as much as we could.” Unfortunately, many years later the rent grew too high and forced the recent owner to sell. Long-standing theatres like this provided a place for independent artists to hire space to practice and create new shows, but now with the loss of King Street, there aren’t many theatres left that are accessible. Founder of the Newtown Entertainment Precinct and Short+Sweet Festival, Mark Cleary said, “Independent theatres, there aren’t much left at all.You’ll need to go over to Darlinghurst or Woolloomooloo to the Old Fitz Theatre. I mean, theatres have really sort of halved in the city area in the last few years and it’s a great pity because the thing that we are missing the most in Sydney is venues.” Glasscock agreed, acknowledging the difficulty in

accessing the remaining theatres, “There’s now not one single theatre in Sydney where you can just hire it without any territorial guidelines attached. I mean, that’s valid, I run my own theatre that has territorial guidelines attached and we have them because we need to maintain a level of quality to ensure we have the right audience numbers and the cost of running businesses in Sydney is so extreme that we have to constantly maintain a certain number of performances in order to keep the doors open,” Glasscock said. “But there needs to be spaces where anyone can hire and present art, that’s where the local and state government need to step up and fulfil their responsibility, because there has to be places that are equipped and affordable and adequate for people to hire, no strings attached and with no territorial guidelines. If we don’t have those, where

are the next generation of artists going to showcase their crafts and where are they going to develop their audiences?” Glasscock continued. The government have the power to open more of these spaces, but not much has been done on a state level to ensure that the arts live on. “The local council that is the best funding body is the City of Sydney, Cr Clover Moore and her team. They do a fantastic job supporting performing arts, they put some resources towards Eternity Playhouse and they turned Darlinghurst Theatre into the Hayes Theatre,” Cleary said.“They’re pretty proactive and I’ve been in meetings where they have been unhappy with venues closing so Clover really is clever about these things, she has been able to do a lot that the State Government hasn’t.” Cleary is the founder of Short+Sweet, a festival of ten-minute plays and theatre pieces, and this is providing greater opportunities for individuals in the arts scene. “One of the things that my organisation, Short+Sweet does, is it creates new producers. We teach people how to make short theatre and so when we teach them how to produce, they want to go and produce stuff and what do you need when you’re producing? You need a space and there are way less places,” Cleary said. “Seventeen years of Short+Sweet and around the world, we’ve put on 6000+ new works – that’s a ridiculous amount! So, we certainly give a voice to young writers and give them an option to advance, but for people who want to put on a play that they wrote or found, it’s hard, it’s really hard because there’s just nowhere to do it. For the fringe it’s sort of easier because once a year there’s facilitation around venues and that’s a useful tool,” Cleary said. The arts will continue to be a significant part of the community’s culture, but now the issue remains that spaces need to be created for artists to generate new ideas and bring their stories to life.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Sydney Theatre Company is bringing a compelling story, The Children, to the theatre, confronting audiences and encouraging them to question the choices they have made in life. The story follows Hazel and her husband Robin, who after working hard and raising a family of their own, have retired in a cottage near the ocean. Then the nuclear power plant they used to work at gets torn apart by a natural disaster and they face the consequences of their decisions from long ago. Designer, Elizabeth Gadsby said, “The writing is so tightly structured that all the key pieces of information are revealed in a really beautiful way, but basically it’s a generational story about responsibility and how one generation deals with the results of their choices for the following generation.” The play has been extremely popular and is on its way to Broadway after playwright Lucy Kirkwood amazed millions with her thriller Chimerica in 2017.

Reviewed by Lawrence Gibbons La Bohéme is unquestionably one of the most popular operas of all time. The tragic story of the tempestuous love affair between the poet Rodolfo and the mesmerisingly frail Mimi has captured the hearts of operagoers for generations. Originally set in the bohemian quarter around the Sorbonne on Paris’ Left Bank during the 19th century, Opera Australia has modernised the production by transforming the action to 1968 during the time of student protests. The opening and closing scenes take place in a sparsely decorated, freezing garret. The challenge of mounting an insular opera outdoors on Sydney Harbour is cleverly addressed by

New Theatre welcomes back contemporary Australian play, Silent Disco this season, which previously won the 2009 Griffin Award and 2012 AWGIE Award for Stage. Examining the burgeoning love between a young Indigenous boy and a white girl in Sydney, Silent Disco’s portrayal of disenfranchised teens remains relevant in today’s landscape. “It’s the story of two teenagers who fall in the love and the complications surrounding that,” says Lachlan Philpott, the playwright. “The inspiration for the play was looking at the question of how technologies that connect us can also disconnect us. It’s a very moving play that is also very funny at times.”

The Children

“It’s a really interesting mix, there is a slight thriller quality and it’s very funny, the characters all have really sharp wits and great senses of humour, but that humour is sitting on top of something that is deeply

Notably, the play has been adapted so that the lead male and his stepbrother are no longer Indigenous but of a broader non-Anglo background due to casting difficulties. “It was a big decision but I think you have to make a decision about whether you want the work to go on so that new audiences can see it,” says Philpott. “When it was performed in the United States, there wasn’t an option to cast Australian Indigenous actors in those roles but the play read well despite being slightly different. We’re still at a time where people who are not white are disadvantaged and disempowered.” (ES) Until Apr 14. New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown. $20-$35+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.newtheatre.org.au

tragic and very traumatic,” Gadsby said. Pamela Rabe, Sarah Peirse and Willian Zappa bring this story to life under the direction of Sarah Goodes, who worked alongside Gadsby in her careful consideration of the performance space design. “I’ve created a very small pocket of reality which is surrounded by a void of blackness and that was to do with this sense of really needing a threshold between that internal space and then this greater natural world outside. We wanted to create a sense of the relationship between that human made structure and then the greater environment,” Gadsby said. This new and exciting drama will keep audiences hooked with laughter, but also make them think about the larger issues in life. (JM) Until May 19. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney. $81-$108+b.f.Tickets & Info: www.sydneytheatre.com.au

REVIEW: La Bohéme

Photo: Opera Australia

Designer Dan Potra who places the garret on an elevated platform at the centre of the stage. In the foreground a streetscape slopes upwards, suggesting that the garret was set in avant-garde Montmartre, kilometres away from

a&e

the student uprisings at the Sorbonne. Romanian soprano Iulia Maria Dan is enchanting in her Sydney debut as Mimi. The chemistry between Dan and Korean born tenor Ho-Yoon Chung is palpable.

13 STAGE 14 SCENE 15 Sounds 15 SCREEN

Australian soprano Julie Lea Goodwin steals the show as the sultry Musetta; her performance is made all the more steamy with Australian baritone Samuel Dundas playing her jealous lover Marcello. Behind the set a massive screen comprised of 24 panels projects an image of the Eiffel Tower, historic photographs of the Parisian uprisings and other romantic (at times cliché) images. Add burning cars, fireworks on the Harbour and a machine blowing snowlike foam onto the stage and audience alike and the effect is nothing short of spectacular. Until Apr 22. At Fleet Steps, Mrs Macquarie’s Point. $89$348+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

Alison’s House Photo: Clare Hawley

Silent Disco

Playwright Susan Glaspell and poet Emily Dickinson shared a similar fate: their work went unrecognised in their lifetime. Perhaps that’s why Glaspell chose to focus her play on Dickinson. City Hub asked director Julie Baz why she decided to stage this play by Glaspell. “We wanted to see what classics by female writers were out there that we could stage,” she said.“They were not easy to find, but going back through the Pulitzer lists we came across Alison’s House by Susan Glaspell.We chose it because of how relevant its themes are today.The questions it raises about legacy and public versus private lives are, in this era of Facebook and Twitter and omnipresent mass media, more pertinent than when the play was written.” In Glaspell’s play, the title character of Alison has been dead for 18 years, during which time she has become the country’s foremost poet. While alive, she lived in the family home with her parents, then her sister Agatha, until her death. Alison’s House won the Pulitzer Prize in 1931. It is set on New Year’s Eve in 1899, and examines the question of whether the private life of a public figure belongs to the world. What was controversial about the awarding of the Pulitzer to this play? Baz says, “Some critics considered the work to be over-literary and thematically and structurally too conventional. However, from a 21st century viewpoint, those critics overlooked the ideological conflicts of interest that give a play like Alison’s House its resonance and relevance. What the characters in the play seek to protect or expose is not just personal privacy, but rather patriarchal concerns about the family name, social standing and, by implication, the property (including women) to which that social standing is attached.” The Dickinson family refused to give Glaspell permission to use their name or to quote from Emily’s poetry so Glaspell moved the setting to her home state of Iowa and recast the Dickinson family as the Stanhopes and quoted from Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose work Dickinson loved and whose poem The House inspired the title of Glaspell’s play. (ID) Apr 4-21. Depot Theatre, 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville. $22-$32+b.f.Tickets & Info: www.thedepottheatre.com

Contributors: Barbara Karpinski, Craig Coventry, Emily Shen, Greg Webster, Irina Dunn, Jade Morellini, Joseph Rana, Leann Richards, Lisa Seltzer, Mark Morellini, Mel Somerville, Olga Azar, Rita Bratovich, Rocio Belinda Mendez, Sarah Pritchard, Shon Ho, Jade Morellini, Alex Eugene, Manuel Gonzalez, Tommy Boutros, Riley Hooper, Mohsen Dezaki, Daniel Jaramillo, Georgia Fullerton, Gary Nunn, Addie Morton. city hub 29 MARCH 2017

Photo: Daniel Boud

Nikolai Erdman’s 1928 play The Suicide was banned in Soviet Russia, no doubt for the implied criticism of the regime in the work. This explains why it has lent itself to many adaptations at different times and places. Director Eamon Flack says, “I love a big play full of odd-balls and dreamers and Erdman’s play is chockers with both. Erdman is a comic genius. I really think if Stalin hadn’t put the kybosh on him he’d have become one of the great comic playwrights of the twentieth century.” Thirteen actors take to the stage

Sami In Paradise in Eamon Flack and Co’s reworking of the original play, which is reborn in this production as an Australian black comedy in which the original setting, a Stalinist camp, has been relocated to a modern refugee camp. Flack says, “It’s such a brilliant idea, to take the misery and ridiculousness of life and turn it into a farce in order to show the situation for what is was. Comedy is brilliant at talking about embarrassing, difficult things. In this

country for example we’re so embarrassed and panicked by the existence in the world of refugees.” Flack has a particular take on refugees, “Here’s the thing about refugees - they’re not saints, and they’re not demons. They’re ordinary idiots like the rest of us, except their lives got turned upside down and they’ve got nowhere else to go. So we’ve moved the setting from Russia in 1928 to one of these big refugee camps of today.”

A great cast of “mad clowns” includes Yalin Ozucelik, Paula Arundell, Fayssal Bazzi,Vaishnavi Suryaprakash and Hazem Shammas. Ozucelik really enjoyed the experience of acting in Sami In Paradise, “There’s such infectious, comic energy flowing from our large, diverse cast, it’s impossible not to be roused by it. “Ozucelik also says he hopes “to be a valuable part of the public conversation” on the topic of refugees. (ID) Apr 1-29. Upstairs Theatre, 18 & 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills. $37-$77+b.f.Tickets & Info: www.belvoir.com.au

THE NAKED CITY With Coffin Ed With the approval of the $11.3 million Cloud Arch last year and the giant milk crate for Belmore Park seemingly still on hold the cashed up City Of Sydney Council is not afraid to splash large chunks of their massive revenue stream on so called public art.The latest addition to the ‘’City Art Collection’’ is a series of over sixty handmade bronze bird sculptures, the work of celebrated English artist Tracy Emin. Dubbed The Distance Of Your Heart each bird supposedly “reflects on the distance of Australia to other parts of the world and aims to inspire hope for many city visitors who feel lonely and homesick when separated from their loved ones.” Mmm – I would have thought the pigeons and ibis do a pretty good job of that anyway – and for absolutely no cost bar a clean up of their droppings. With a total cost of around $912,000, each of the smallish individual birds comes in around $14,000, including the scrap cost of the bronze involved. And herein lies an immediate problem. If the past is any precedent the Council will need 24/7 surveillance on all of the birds to prevent them being stolen or even vandalised. That was the fate some years ago that befell one of the sculptured heads in the Plaza Iberoamericana, on Chalmers Street near Central Station – decapitated overnight and straight to the scrapyard. Whilst many Sydneysiders and tourists have a liking and reverence

Cement Fondu

BEDS NOT BIRDS?

for public art, there is a minority for whom it is meaningless and merely the object of their vandalism. Take the large historical photographs of old Sydney which the Council, in all good faith, recently adorned building hoardings along George Street. To most people they provided a fascinating glimpse of what the City was like around a hundred years ago yet a mindless minority chose to obliterate them with tags and other graffiti.

The exhibition covers a number of unique artworks, “our art is from a range of different artists from different cultural backgrounds, different art practices and different levels of where they’re at with their career.” The exhibition features paintings, videos, performances and sound pieces, offering something for everyone. “It’s very open and that’s how we wanted to start it. We also have a partnership with Studio A and we are very lucky and very excited to have a collaborative installation that is revealing itself over the next few weeks with one artist being Rosie Deacon,” Monte said. Their inaugural exhibition, Suburbia, which Radha La BiaShahmen Suku, The Divine Game, opened March 10 is a free evening of art and 2017. Photo: Tim da Rin fun for the public to engage in to celebrate Cement Fondu is a new exhibition and arts the launch and will showcase a broad range space arriving at Paddington, which presents of perspectives. an ambitious and diverse year-round program “We really wanted to present a diverse of multi-art form exhibitions for the public range of artist perspectives and practices for to experience and enjoy. our first exhibition and we also wanted to Director, Megan Monte said, “Cement design our program as being multifaceted. We Fondu is a really evolving art space and we wanted to present something fun that can break all art forms including digital art, dance, create a broader discussion about place, performance and music. Alongside our community and personal experience,” Monte curated exhibition program, we also have a concluded. (JM) project space which is going to feature a Until Apr 29. Cement Fondu, range of different collaborations with artists 36 Gosbell Street, Paddington, Sydney. organisations and public workshops.” Tickets & Info: www.cementfondu.org 14

city hub 29 MARCH 2018

Perhaps Emin’s birds need to be electrified with a pulsing 240 volts, along with suitable warning signage, although that might require an endless number of languages to cater for any unsuspecting tourists. If the shock treatment fails then maybe snipers equipped with rubber bullets could be deployed to take out any bird bandits. Whilst public art often polarises the community on an aesthetic level it also creates a fierce argument over the often high costs involved and whether the money would be better spent elsewhere – like on social welfare programs. For the hundreds still sleeping rough in Sydney the birds would be as welcoming as their cinematic counterparts in a well known Alfred Hitchcock movie. Winter is not far away and once again those almost invisible and totally neglected areas of Sydney like Tom Uren Square in Woolloomooloo will see elderly men bedding down on rock hard concrete. It’s probably drawing a long bow but somewhat ironically Tracy Emin’s best known work is her controversial My Bed, an installation piece first exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999. As uninviting as the unmade, trash surrounded crib is, it would no doubt be most welcome by those who currently sleep al fresco on the mean streets of Sydney. That’s not Tracy’s concern but it should be the focus of the City Of Sydney Council who for all their bluster have done little to get the rough sleepers off the streets, if only during the freezing months of winter.

Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize 2018

The Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize 2018 features 19 pairings of contemporary Australian and New Zealand artists, selected by Guest Curator and artist Nike Savvas. The Prize seeks to encourage mentoring relationships between different generations of artists. Savvas, who was born in Sydney but works transnationally between London, Sydney, and Nicosia, says the Art Prize is unique because it empowers artists to exercise a voice as curators and mentors. “Artists are now relying more on other artists and peer support than in recent years,” Savvas said. “Collective discussions are happening more frequently now in the studio environment and in the digital realm more than in recent years.” Savvas says the 2018 Art Prize reflects on a range of material, perceptual, conceptual, political, strategic and subjective developmental approaches with which to address painting.

This year’s artists were selected by Savvas because she deemed them as “artists’ artists.” “At their core lies a resolute philosophy of mindful intent, method and focus on studio outcomes over and above other concerns,” she explained. “These are artists whose creative processes and enduring models for practice have not been compromised over time.” As an artist herself, Savvas says there are many points of focus within her practice including: aesthetics, memory, politics, the body, spatiality, identity, presence and absence, high art and low art, colour and systems logic. An instalment she created will appear at the 2018 Adelaide Biennial of Australia Art. It is made up of 3,000 strands of wire, fixed with multiple colourful plastic rectangles. (AM) Until May 12. National Art School, Forbes St & Burton Street, Darlinghurst. Info: www.nas.edu.au

Live Music Guide LIVE WIRE Sydney By Jamie Apps

Claude Hay: Has become a permanent fixture on the live circuit and rightly so. He has clocked up four albums since hitting the scene a decade ago and his music has taken him across the country and the world. The new song is classic Claude Hay, jaunty drums bustle along with gritty guitars straight out of Claude’s home studio backing up one of the best voices around, Still Want More is typically impressive work from Australia’s leading DIY swagger rock technician. Thu, Mar 29, Lazybones Lounge Maverick: Sydney’s Maverick are really ramping things up in the lead-in to the release of their new EP State of Mind! As part of this push into the minds of Sydney music fans the band will be performing live tonight so head out and run amok with them. Thu, Mar 29, AM//PM Kele Okereke: Ditching the chaos of the clubs for the calm of a cosy club Kele Okereke will take to the stage at Sydney’s The Basement tomorrow night. Legendary for dissecting the tumult of modern life through his much-loved back catalogue, the Bloc Party frontman has taken a step back from the bright lights and moved into some more hushed and delicate atmospheres this time around. Fri, Mar 30,The Basement Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: Join Sydney Philharmonia Choirs on Easter Saturday, for an epic presentation of one of JS Bach’s greatest choral works, his majestic B Minor Mass. For this one-off performance, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs will be joined

by four of Australia’s finest baroque soloists - Janet Todd, soprano; Sally-Anne Russell, mezzo- soprano;Andrew Goodwin, tenor; and David Greco, baritone, with the magnificent sound of the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Music Director, Brett Weymark. Sat, Mar 31, Sydney Opera House Tanya Sparke & Peter Dasent: A very special night at Foundry with two long-time friends who work in entirely different musical worlds yet create a special magic when they perform together. Sat, Mar 31, Foundry 616 First Aid Kit: The Swedish sister act duo will be playing a special all ages show this Tuesday.The duo has garnered worldwide success off the back of their critically acclaimed three studio albums and enthralling live performances. Tue, Apr 3, Enmore Theatre Dermot Kennedy: A mighty voice reflecting an adventurous soul guides Dermot Kennedy as he arrives in Sydney for the first time this Wednesday. Mixing classic folk styling with modern glitchy, hip-hop production techniques sees Kennedy creating a sound truely unique to him. Wed, Apr 4, Oxford Art Factory Luke Elliot: 2017 saw New Jersey born and bred singer/songwriter Luke Elliot release his debut album, Dressed For The Occasion to great acclaim in Australia.To mark the success Elliot will be making his way down under this week. Wed, Apr 4, Lazybones Lounge

Ready Player One

A nostalgic trip for the older generations with an overload of pop culture references. Ready Player One was a visual adventure crossing between the troublesome real world and the

By Jamie Apps When you first think of Swedish musicians a select few major electronic dance music acts will jump to the forefront of your mind but if you Google ‘Swedish musicians’ you may be shocked by the sheer volume of artists coming from this relatively small Scandinavian nation. One artist in particular who has been making major waves in the last 12 to 18 months is future-pop singer-songwriter Tove Styrke. Since the release of her most recent singles, Say My Name and Mistakes, Styrke has clocked up millions of plays on Spotify and garnered endorsements from the like of Lena Dunham, Sam Smith and Lorde. Lorde in particular was so captivated she handpicked Styrke as her support act for the current Unites States arena tour, which is where Styrke spoke to us from about her whirlwind success. “I feel like this past year has just been so much fun. I’m currently on tour with one of my favourite artists ever which is such a huge thing but then after this I get to go to Australia for the first time ever, so it’s such an exciting time really.”

Obviously with Styrke holding Lorde in such high regard it was an easy decision to make when asked to take part in the tour, “Usually when you get these kinds of requests you take a little bit of time to think about it but for this one I took about two seconds before I said yes.” Although arriving in Australia before the release of her next album, Sway which is set

to release on May 4, Styrke says fans will get an early glimpse of what is to come. “I’ve been working so hard on this album for so long and can’t wait to share it with people. I’ve been trying out some of the new songs live alongside some of the older material so people can expect a lot of fun with these shows.” Styrke is not just excited to share the music with fans but she is also incredibly excited to actually meet and connect with fans in Australia. “I’m excited to meet people in Sydney and hangout after the show, that is one of the coolest parts of what I do.” As this will be her very first performance in Sydney Styrke is expecting there to be an added level of electricity in the air, both from fans and herself. “When you play to a new audience there is a sense of mutual excitement because they don’t know what to expect from me and I don’t know what to expect from them but that usually leads to really great shows.” Apr 10. Oxford Art Factory, 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst. $45+b.f.Tickets & Info: www.oxfordartfactory.com

Alison Wonderland - Awake With her second album, Awake, Alison Wonderland has pushed her boundaries in many ways and created something that demands attention. Whilst her production abilities are well known this new record also features a number of special vocal performances by Wonderland herself, adding another nuance to her sound. This is an incredibly personal record, not something you can typically say about a dance music release. The single Easy in particular delves

ever-changing virtual world. The first half showed real promise but diminished towards the end. An entertaining watch, but missing a little something that would have made it extraordinary. Following the death of the virtual reality world creator of OASIS, a virtual world where players can literally do anything, a video is released on the platform challenging the players to complete three missions to claim the Easter Egg that will give the winner the ownership of OASIS. Ready Player One stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Simon Pegg and T.J Miller to name a few. Directed and produced by Steven Spielberg the film was written by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline, based on the book of the same name written by Cline. (RH) WWWW

Tove Styrke

into Wonderland’s own struggles with depression and how that saw her pushing people away. This is not a sad record though, Wonderland does a great job of blending personal stories with driving club beats. We are bound to be hearing a number of tracks from this record regularly across both radio and clubs, keep an ear out for No, High, Cry and the aforementioned Easy in particular. (JA) WWW1/2

The Other Side Of Hope A Syrian refugee who inadvertently finds himself in Finland after stowing away inside a pile of coal on a cargo ship; an older Finnish businessman who leaves his wife, wins a fortune in a game of poker and buys a failing restaurant in a dodgy part of town. What do these two have in common? They are the lead characters in this dark, dry comic drama from director Andrey Zvyagintsev. The stories begin separately then crash together when Khaled (Sherwan Haji), on the run after being denied asylum, is discovered sleeping behind Waldemar’s (Sakari Kuosmanen) restaurant. There are some wonderfully quirky characters and a script that weaves through a

Photo: Malla Hukkanen

landscape of political commentary, emotional drama, subtle sentimentality and offbeat humour. The slightly wooden performances, especially from the Finnish characters, only adds to the comic value, and the folk rock soundtrack which toggles between underscore and on screen performance, is the perfect mood setter. (RB) (Finnish/Arabic with English subtitles) WWWW

APIA Young At Heart Seniors Film Festival 2018 This film festival returns for its 13th edition and attendees should be delighted by the variety of films screened. Especially dedicated to avid movie-goers over the age of 60, the program consists of 16 films which should ensure there’s something for everyone. The opening day event includes a light afternoon tea, a glass of sparkling and a gift bag prior to the screening of The Bookshop. This Spanish and British co-production stars Emily Mortimer and tells the story of a lady who opens her first book shop in late 1950s England. Audiences should warm to French produced Aurore, a romantic comedy which examines the life changes a middle-aged woman experiences. Movie-goers who enjoy a good political drama

Photo from the film LBJ

won’t be disappointed in Chappaquiddick which stars Australia’s very own Jason Clarke and details the events in 1969 when Senator Kennedy drove his car into a lake which led to the death of a political campaigner. Sea Dreaming Girls is an absorbing documentary which revolves around a group of elderly ladies living in a small Italian village who are determined to travel to the sea for the first time. Film lovers will also have the opportunity to revisit classics All About Eve, A Star Is Born and The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie. (MMo) Apr 2-11. Palace Norton St, Palace Verona, Palace Central. $8.50-$20+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.youngatheart.net.au city hub 29 MARCH 2017

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