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2017ACHIEVEMENTS
Page 11
I want to thank everyone who worked hard to achieve the landslide victory for love, fairness and equality.
The question now is when will same sex couples be able to get married – it’s looking like early February at this stage.
It was the culmination of a tough number of weeks, months and years.
I’ve also been speaking out on other issues important to the inner city like defending green open space, protecting residents from intrusive noise, reducing building defects, preventing climate change and getting more affordable housing.
Whether you were one of the first people to lobby your MP or one of the last people to post your survey form, you have helped make Australia a better place.
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Turn the page to read some of our achievements for the year.
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Dry beaches this summer BY JADE MORELLINI After introducing a permanent ban on the consumption of alcohol at Coogee Beach, Randwick Council has extended the ban to other Eastern Suburbs’ beaches, from Clovelly to La Perouse, over this festive season. This has provoked anger amongst locals who disagree. The alcohol ban at Coogee was put in place after 15 tonnes of rubbish was left on Coogee Beach last year during Christmas Day celebrations. Influencing the spread of the ban to other beaches is the NSW Police force’s Eastern Beaches Local Area Command Superintendent, Karen McCarthy, who wants the ban to cover Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Australia Day. Many locals disagree with the decision; particularly young people who feel they are being targeted by the authorities and will now have to find a new place to enjoy a social drink during the festive season. Frequent beach-goer, Ian Morrison, said, “I remember a year ago when they had heaps of rubbish left on Coogee Beach. Maybe if they just put huge bins there instead of cancelling it that would have helped, but I don’t agree with it, I think we should be allowed to drink responsibly.” Randwick Council believes alcohol-free beaches will make it safer for families and children, allowing them to enjoy the beach without disturbance, but sometimes parents want to join the celebration. Coogee Chamber of Commerce president Bernadette Summers told FairFax Media, “Sometimes families want to be able to go out and enjoy a glass of wine with a picnic.” NSW Police requested the ban as it proved to be a success in reducing social disturbance
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Randwick Council have extended an alcohol ban on Eastern Suburbs’ beaches over this festive season. Photo: Jade Morellini
at Coogee Beach, especially on warmer days when it is an attractive spot for visitors. Council Officer Allan Graham wrote to the council saying, “This request from police ... is based on the reasonable assumption that many of the city’s beachside parks and reserves will be the preferred destination for large crowds of people who wish to celebrate the festive season and Australia Day in a beachside setting.” Young people who frequently spend New Year’s or Australia Day at the beach said they were “angry” and “really annoyed” with the ban, as it is pushing them out and forcing them to find a new place to spend their day. “Alcohol is a core part of celebrations, it’s part of our Aussie culture to enjoy a beer at the beach with a group of friends. And now we can’t even do that, I guess we’re going to have to find somewhere else to go where alcohol isn’t banned,” Morrison said. 24-year-old beach goer, Oscar CliffordSmith said: “I think this is really unfair, a few people shouldn’t ruin it for everyone. They shouldn’t ban it, they should try and fix the problem not just eradicate it entirely,
because I can’t afford to rent a private beach house like most adults can.” Educating the public to the problems alcohol is causing on the beach, to try and prevent unsafe behaviour, could be a strategy to control use of alcohol rather than prohibiting it altogether. 23-year-old beach goer Maria Castro said, “They shouldn’t prohibit it, but they should make people more conscious of the problems that alcohol causes. I mean it’s a celebration and everyone likes to drink alcohol, but maybe create more awareness on the problems cans or beer bottles can cause for the ocean such as contamination. They shouldn’t prohibit it because even if it’s prohibited, maybe people will do it anyway.” 22-year-old beach goer Sofia Valori said, “I think we should be allowed to celebrate, but in a safe way. Just because we have alcohol it doesn’t mean we’re going to be unsafe or bother anyone else. The people who cause problems, they are not everyone. Yeah they should be able to control the use of alcohol, but don’t ban it completely.”
2017ACHIEVEMENTS DEMOCRACy
MARRIAGE EquAlITy Australia voted “yes” to marriage equality and the Parliament is finally debating and voting on a bill.
AMENITy The department did not approve the Harbourside redevelopment monstrosity and demanded more work on bulk and scale. Lendlease withdrew late night excavation and concrete pouring at Barangaroo. The final Elizabeth Bay Marina is smaller with night works limited to emergencies. The government is now consulting on and establishing regulations for short term letting.
HERITAGE The Save Our Sirius win in the Land and Environment Court confirmed that the government cannot legally refuse to heritage list an iconic building because it would reduce its sale price. The government rejected a three storey glass building for luxury retail adjacent to the 1850s Campbell’s Stores at The Rocks.
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The government abandoned a forced merger of Woollahra Municipal Council with Randwick and Waverley councils.
ARTS The government promised to retain some cultural presence at the Powerhouse site in Ultimo. Proposals to amalgamate the National Art School with other art schools is now off the agenda.
SOCIAl juSTICE With cross party colleagues, I drafted one of the world’s most robust assisted dying bills, which helped grow support in the Parliament. Funding cuts to community legal centres were overturned.
TRANSpORT We finally have plans and timeframes to upgrade Edgecliff Railway Station for accessibility. The government will fix the Sydney Harbour Bridge cycleway, which puts cyclists and pedestrians in conflict and has inaccessible steps.
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IWC demerger urged BY JOHN MOYLE It could be a case of going back to the future for the newly-merged Inner West Council if a coalition of independents and Greens get their way for a demerger from their 2016 forced amalgamation. “Communities a lot less affluent than our council have challenged the mergers and they have won,” Councillor John Stamolis, Independent, Balmain Ward, said. Cr Stamolis estimates that around 50 per cent of Inner West councillors support the demerger plan that they are hoping will go to a vote on December 12th, when council meets next. “Whether we get time to address it will be interesting,” said Councillor Pauline Lockie, Independent, Stanmore Ward, “as the procedure is that we have to have a debate beforehand, and we are not sure if that part of the meeting will be public or not.” The call for the Inner West Council to demerge has been on Cr Stamolis’ agenda since 2016 when he publicly questioned the forced merger plans. At the time, he was quoted in local community activist John Lozano’s blog as saying, “The case for mergers never stacked up, and that’s why communities across the inner west do not want to merge.” Today, he was even more convinced of his position when he told City Hub “We caved in when all other councils around us did not.” In fact, Inner West was the only council forcibly amalgamated out of the 12 other Sydney innerregion councils, representing one million people. The others refused to merge. “It was basically the three Labor mayors of Ashfield, Marrickville and Leichhardt that got us into this and it is time for them to lead us out of this,” Cr Stamolis said. He pointed out that the population of the Inner West Council is 182,000, three times the average of all other 12 councils in
the inner region. “In my short time on the council I have seen very few tangible benefits delivered to the community,” said Cr Lockie, “and what are delivered, are at a huge cost that the community is not aware of,” Lockie said. Councillors Lockie and Stamolis were speaking after an address given by Labor shadow-minister for local government, Peter Primrose, where they heard him say that, if elected, NSW Labor’s policy was that they would support councils going through voluntary demergers. “There is a potential that if Labor win the next election, demergers will be legally possible,” Cr Lockie said. “It is a real obligation on the Inner West Council to put the information out there so that the residents can make an informed decision on whether or not they want to stay merged.” Cr Stamolis claims that access to Inner West councillors is at an all time low, with just one representative for over 12,000 residents, compared to an average of one councillor for around 6,000 residents across the 12 un-merged inner region councils. “Staff have already foreshadowed that we can’t bring the levels of service up to the highest levels,” said Cr Lockie, “as all three former councils all had different approaches to delivering maintenance and essential services.” Cr Lockie said that the demerger campaign owed a lot to the efforts of Rochelle Porteus, Greens councillor for Balmain Ward. She added, “We were lied to by the State Government in terms of what the real costs and benefits of the process were.” Cr Lockie claims that the $10 million grant from State Government to fund the merger process is inadequate, as new estimates from council staff now place that cost in the order of $45 million.
WAVERLEY COUNCIL NEWS MAYOR’S MESSAGE The Bondi Pavilion Stakeholder Committee was finalised last week with 17 new members. Thanks to all those applied to be part of the committee. The stakeholder committee will kick off this new chapter with work on the Bondi Pavilion and finalise its report by late January.
The Inner WestCouncil looks set to challenge their forced amalgamation.
The Inner West councillors are not alone in wanting to demerger from a forced amalgamation, with Greens MP David Shoebridge on the record as saying that he would support the 20 new councils in achieving demergers. Other support for demerging has come from
state Nationals leader John Barilaro, who has been critical of the forced local government mergers in the bush. “Not challenging the merger was the biggest political miscalculation in the history of the inner west,” Cr Stamolis said.
WAVERLEY COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN
For a full list of who is on the committee, and to keep updated on the project, please head to waverley.nsw.gov.au/bondipavilionproject
Happy holidays and Christmas closures I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Waverley Council’s Customer Service Centre will continue to be open every day from 8.30am to 5pm over the Christmas period except on the public holidays. We’re normally open every Thursday until 7pm but just on 28 December the Customer Service Centre will close at 5pm. The Bondi Pavilion office will be open every day except Christmas Day, but close earlier at 3pm just on 22 and 30 December. The Library will be open every day but closed from 24-26 December and 31 December–1 January. Have a safe and happy holiday season. John Wakefield, Mayor of Waverley
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Pushed, not jumped BY ALEC SMART On Thursday 30 November, Glebe Coroner’s Court released their findings on a mystery that has intrigued the public since the victim was found naked at the base of a cliff south of Manly in 1988. NSW Police insisted at the time that the victim, Scott Johnson, had committed suicide, but the new inquiry – the third in almost 30 years – has found otherwise. NSW State Coroner Michael Barnes declared, “Mr Johnson fell from the cliff top as a result of actual or threatened violence by unidentified persons who attacked him because they perceived him to be homosexual. “I am of the view it is very unlikely Scott took his own life.” The coroner was also critical of the Police. “Regrettably, those responsible for the initial investigation quickly jumped to conclusions without thoroughly and impartially examining all the facts,” he said. “By the time numerous mistakes were recognised it was too late to properly test the evidence to find the truth.” On 10 December 1988, Scott Johnson’s crumpled, naked body was found by a 13-year-old boy and two spear fishermen on a rock ledge at the base of Blue Fish Point, two days after he was last seen alive. It appeared he had fallen 50 metres from the cliff top above, in an isolated spot half way between Manly’s Shelly Beach and North Head. Although no suicide note was found, Scott’s clothes were discovered neatly folded at the top of Blue Fish Point, 10 metres from the edge, along with some personal items and a bus ticket from Lane Cove, where the 27-year-old American mathematician had been staying. The initial investigation by Manly Police proclaimed there was no evidence of foul play. Constable Troy Hardie, a Manly police officer who partially oversaw the case in 1988, concluded there were “no suspicious circumstances.” “There was no evidence of any foul play, so I believed it was suicide,” Mr Hardie later told the Coroner’s Court. Indeed, within 24 hours of the body being found, investigating officers wrote ‘NFA’ – No Further Action – on the police occurrence pad, and maintained that view, despite suspicions raised by Scott’s family and associates. A subsequent inquest held at Glebe Coroners’ Court just three months later, on March 16 1989, issued the finding that Scott ended his own life. NSW State Coroner Derrick Hand accepted a presentation by the head of the police investigation, Detective Sergeant Doreen Cruickshank, that Scott’s clothes folded neatly and no obvious sign of a struggle suggested he had a premeditated plan to jump. And yet scepticism about Scott’s ‘suicide’ began from the outset. Dr Johan Duflou, who performed the autopsy on Scott’s body, told the first inquest in Glebe that Scott’s fall was so disfiguring that the police officers’ insistence there were no ‘defence wounds’ was forensically inaccurate. “There was nothing to suggest one way or another – suicide, accident or homicide.” Blue Fish Point is a scenic location about half way along a bush trail that leads from Shelly Beach, south of Manly, to North Head, near the entrance to Sydney Harbour. It is accessed by a sandy coastal track that snakes through dense forest around abandoned WWII concrete artillery bunkers, east of an army barracks and the North Head Wastewater Treatment Plant. The forested area surrounding the path is a notorious ‘beat’ for homosexual liaisons, and this was publicly known in the 1980s. The most popular spot for gay trysts is right on the cliff edge itself at Blue Fish Point, sheltered behind a threemetre high sandstone wall that runs its length and obscures the headland from the path behind – and potential witnesses. Entry is obtained through a hole in the wall. Scott, a graduate student who had recently submitted his dissertation in mathematics for the Ph.D he was studying at the Australian National University in Canberra, was highly intelligent. 6
city hub 7 DECEMBER 2017
headed the 2013 operation in the wake of the second inquiry into Scott’s death, prepared a 445page report for the Coroner’s Court. Later criticised for sloppy investigative work, she rejected the likelihood that gay men were set upon by thugs at Blue Fish Point because no victims come forward to say they were bashed and she could find no records of hate crimes at nearby Manly Hospital. “Based on these realities,” Det. Young concluded, “it is not unreasonable to draw an inference that no crimes of personal violence occurred at the North Head gay beat and certainly none that required medical treatment.” Yet victims of bashings were reluctant to seek police help. Gordon Sharp, a gay man who regularly visited the Blue Fish Point beat, explained why to the Glebe inquest in June this year. “Occasionally the word would go up, ‘bashers!’ You’d hear a scream go up, you would grab your kit and dash off. No one saw the value of reporting to the police because you were likely to get another smacking from police.” The Johnson family’s lawyer, John Agius side of Marks Park. Within a few weeks another SC, told the NSW Coroner’s Court a private gay man was bashed in Bondi, and although he investigation had identified five gangs that preyed managed to escape his attackers, he revealed that upon gay men around Sydney’s east coast beaches, his attackers – likely the notorious ‘Bondi Boys’ including Blue Fish Point, and highlighted 50 had threatened to hurl him over the cliff. “You’re people of interest as possible murderers. going over the side, you poofter!” was the chilling Nevertheless, Glebe Coroner Michael Barnes threat. stopped short of recommending a reopening of the Another gay man, TV newsreader Ross case Warren, disappeared in the same cliff area at NSW Police released a statement. Marks Park, Tamarama, a known gay beat, “While the Coroner has not made a around the same time. His body was never found, recommendation for further investigation, we likely eaten by sharks. understand the frustration of Mr Johnson’s family, Of 88 unsolved murders in Sydney spanning who have sought the answers to his death. three decades from the 1970s, at least 30 fit the “The case will remain open and any new gay-hate agenda. information provided to police relating to the Criminologist Stephen Tomsen, who worked circumstances of Mr Johnson’s death will be with NSW Police, identified 74 anti-homosexual thoroughly investigated.” killings between 1980 and 2000. Scott’s brother Steve is still hopeful for a I knew a gang of gay-bashers that operated on resolution, and urged the NSW Government and Sydney’s North Shore during the 1980s. In 1982, at Police to launch ‘fresh eyes’ into investigating his the age of 15, when I was attending college, one of my brother’s death and other gay-hate crimes from the class colleagues had served time in youth detention time period. for murdering a gay man near St Leonards’ Park in “I strongly believe Scott’s killers are out there North Sydney. Because he was a minor and claimed today,” he stated after the Glebe Corner’s verdict the older man had propositioned him, his charge was was issued. “We may have heard from friends downgraded to manslaughter. of the killers through the inquest. They should And yet police, accepting he was forced to be encouraged to come forward. The inquest ‘defend’ himself, were unaware of the true nature produced many leads that should still be pursued. of his methodology: he was the lure, or ‘bait’ These leads now clearly need to be urgently to attract gay men into secluded areas where followed-up as part of an honest and thorough they were ambushed by his gang who beat them homicide investigation. unconscious – or to death. “It is a historic time in Australia for the After release from custody he and his cohorts LGBTQI community, for everyone ... I’m hoping continued to batter gay men using home-made now that the coroner has focused the police’s weapons. In the case of the St Leonards Park attention on homicide they see this as a new victim, they threw him over the Falcon St. Bridge beginning,” he said. into traffic on the Warringah Freeway below. It is “Especially because of the progress that’s being highly probable they too visited Blue Fish Point made for equality in Australia, stepping up and during their rampages. solving this crime is a hero opportunity... an Detective Chief Inspector Pamela Young, the opportunity for the police to show they are now Unsolved Homicide Team investigator who on the right side of history.”
Blue Fish Point, near Manly, where Scott Johnson was probably pushed over the cliff. Photo: Alec Smart
He had achieved excellent academic grades from the University of California and the University of Cambridge and, like the familiar joke that rocket science is the domain of the brilliant, had actually worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was also a keen mountain climber and longdistance runner, and neither smoked nor drank. He had no history of depression or mental illness, and an autopsy revealed he was not HIV positive. It’s likely that Scott’s then-boyfriend, Michael Noone, played a part in influencing Manly Police that Scott was suicidal. He told police that Scott had rung him in June 1988 from America, apologising for having an affair with a stranger and claiming he was so wracked with guilt he considered jumping of the Golden Gate Bridge. On June 14 this year at the inquest into Scott Johnson’s death, Noone repeated his claim that Scott was suicidal. “He was convinced that he had either contracted AIDS or exposed himself to a virus and he was deeply remorseful and decided to do away with himself by jumping off Golden Gate Bridge,” Noone said. “But when he got there, he found that his muscles froze over. He was effectively incapable of carrying out his intent. “Scott was a person who set himself an extremely high standard, and when he himself fell short of those very high standards he went into a downward spiral of self-blame. Depression is the only way I can think of describing it. He turned in on himself.” Scott’s brother Steve was dismissive of the ‘suicide’ explanation. He began researching the case, including hiring an investigative journalist, eventually spending over a million dollars to uncover aspects that the NSW Police had either ignored or overlooked. In 2005, the revelation that an inquest into the deaths of three young men in the 1980s found that they, too, had mysteriously fallen from sea cliffs, later confirmed as victims of gangs of gaybashers, provoked Steve to begin lobbying to get his brother’s case reopened. This led to a second inquest in 2012 that eventually overturned the ‘suicide’ explanation and, although it dismissed the likelihood Scott took his own life, recorded an open verdict. The NSW Police Force Unsolved Homicide Team, set up a new police strike force, Macnamir, to investigate gay-hate crimes, of which there were many bashings and murders, especially along Sydney’s beach-side suburbs, throughout the 1980s-90s. On 15 December 1988, a week after Scott’s death, 29-year-old Ronald Currie was found in a toilet block in North Manly. He’d been beaten to death. Along the Northern Beaches, multiple reports of gay bashings were recorded in the Manly Daily regional newspaper. Less than a year later, in November 1989, the body of a 31-year-old gay barman, John Russell, was found at the base of a cliff on the Bondi
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city hub 7 DECEMBER 2017
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A crock at the end of the rainbow BY JOHN MOYLE It has taken the Inner West Council just two months since its formation to achieve headlines for all the wrong reasons, and most of these come down to two words: Julie Passas. Having served three terms on the old Ashfield Council, in September Councillor Passas was elected as a Liberal candidate for the Ashfield Ward on the new council. In no time she was sucking the oxygen out of the Inner West because Labor Mayor Darcy Byrnes did a deal with the Liberals and appointed Cr Passas, Liberal, Ashfield Ward, as deputy mayor for twelve months, despite the Liberals gaining only two council positions. “The deputy mayor issue was an instance where the Greens were concerned that Labor was putting power before principle,” Tom Kiat, Greens, Ashfield Ward said. Then came the flag-gate issue [allegations that Cr Passas intimidated a gay neighbour after he hung a rainbow flag over his balcony], which City Hub covered last week, so I thought in the name of balanced journalism that I should contact Julie Passas for her side of the story. Speaking with City Hub this week, Cr Passas was adamant that she had done nothing wrong and that we had got our facts wrong by suggesting that the police had been called to the flag incident. “As far as I am concerned, if there has been any harassment it has been channeled at me,” Passas said. Then she threw down the gauntlet by challenging the City Hub to “look into my history.” Well, always the fearless free press, that is what we have done and it makes for entertaining reading. Cr Passas’ council history on record goes all the way back to 2001, when the Daily Telegraph
reported on an incident in which she was accused of threatening the life of fellow Ashfield councillor Emma Brooks Maher following a staff Christmas party. Full of goodwill and cheer, CR Passas was reported to have called Cr Brooks Maher a “slimy bitch” and further threatened her with three Italians, who possibly weren’t Santa’s little helpers. Furthermore, Cr Brooks Maher claimed that Cr Passas had previously physically assaulted her in the Ashfield Council kitchen. Another 2001 Ashfield Council incident saw the tables turned on Cr Passas, when she claimed that then Mayor Mark Bonanno, assaulted her while she was using a telephone in the council’s dining room, from which she was banned from entering after she had accused a fellow councillor of lying.
In the same year, Cr Passas accused Mayor Lucille McKenna of defamation in a spat about her or her family leasing council property in Yeo Street. That meeting had to be adjourned when it erupted into a shouting match between Cr Passas, Labor councillor Mark Drury, and the public gallery. “If any of us behave badly it reflects on the entire council and the work that we are doing,” Cr Pauline Lockie, Independent, Stanmore Ward, said. In 2004 Ashfield residents had to stump up $1,200 for a vote recount that saw Cr Passas lose by 27 votes, while her nemesis, Cr Emma Brooks Maher, was re-elected. Not a good year for Passas, as her AVO against Cr Mark Bonanno also failed and she was ordered to pay $100,000 in costs. But Cr Passas is not always in the thick of things, as she sometimes leaves the chambers on her own free will, which she did in 2013 when Ashfield Council was discussing a rainbow crossing, saying that “Council should not be involved in the issue.” See a pattern forming here? 2014 was the year that politicians at all levels debated the 18C Racial Discrimination Act - that is all except for Cr Passas, who declared that it was a federal issue and not a council one. “I have grown up without any laws and it has made me a better person,” Cr Passas said. This was also the year that Cr Passas questioned the need for the council to welcome new babies into the area, citing that fixing footpaths was more constructive. It seems Cr Passas knows footpaths well. During a Marrickville Council election, she was photographed tossing a cigarette butt onto one outside a school polling booth, on a day that also saw her being asked to leave the area
because her election material had not been registered. At the time she said,” I couldn’t swallow the cigarette.” It came as a surprise to many who know her when, in 2015, Cr Passas silenced herself. Actually, she had taped her mouth in protest after accusing fellow councillors of gagging her because she was the subject of a Code of Conduct investigation being held behind closed doors. Only three months into the year, Cr Passas had already been ejected from two Ashfield Council meetings, leading her to say “I’m fed up with the whole thing if people don’t like my deliverance.” By July, Cr Passas was back in the chamber busy rounding the troops to vote against the motion that Ashfield Council publicly support marriage equality. She said that she did not think that “the Ashfield Council should be speaking for the 43,000 Ashfield residents on this matter.” “A hiccup” is how Cr Passas described the Civil and Administration Tribunal’s finding that she had engaged in seven grounds of misconduct while serving on Ashfield Council. These findings state that between 2013 and 2015, Cr Passas had disrupted council meetings, refused to leave the chambers after official warnings, and belittled a council engineer engaged in roadworks. City Hub understands Cr Passas has been referred to the Internal Council Ombudsman over recent her altercation with her neighbour and that rainbow flag. “We have been advised by the general manager that we are not allowed to comment on the matter,” Colin Hesse, Greens, Marrickville Ward said. Yes dear reader, there may be something at the end of the rainbow..
HAVE YOUR SAY ON CHANGES TO OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD PARKING POLICY We invite your feedback on changes to our neighbourhood parking policy. These proposed changes aim to increase parking permit options for residents and local businesses and help improve parking turnover in high-demand areas.
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We have proposed these changes in response to residents’ requests. The proposed changes would provide: • tradespersons parking permits for residents and businesses • more choice in the type of vehicle eligible for a business parking permit • more visitor parking permits for most households and more flexible purchase options • recommended parking restrictions for different types of development. There would be an increase in some permit fees to help with overall administration costs.
You can review the draft neighbourhood parking policy at sydneyyoursay.com.au and email your feedback to parkingpolicy@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au or post it to: Chief Executive Officer Attention: Christine Laurence Transport Policy Analyst GPO Box 1591 Sydney NSW 2001 Submissions close at 5pm on Friday 12 January 2018. For more information call 9265 9333 or email parkingpolicy@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
Council locked out in Lilyfield BY ANNA FREELAND The Inner West Council has forfeited their right to act as the Relevant Planning Authority (RPA) for the proposed rezoning of a Lilyfield industrial site after failing to meet the deadline set by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE). A Rezoning Review of the site, located opposite Callan Park on Balmain Rd, was requested by the owners The Roche Group to allow the construction of 142 residential apartments, up to six storeys high. The request was sent to the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel in October who recommended that the proposal proceed to DPE’s ‘Gateway’ process. In accordance with this process, the panel invited Council to be the RPA, which is the body that negotiates on behalf of the community and contributes to the final design and development standards. According to notes from the November Council meeting, the invitation was received on 16 October and Council was given 42 days to reply. While they intended to accept, the matter was one of 12 agenda items unresolved during the meeting and they subsequently missed the deadline. Greens MP and Member for Balmain Jamie Parker said, “This is an embarrassing mistake. “It’s an enormous let down for the community and residents are rightly furious because of the incompetent way they run their meeting process,” he said. “The council has to be more competent when it comes to prioritising these issues.” Mr Parker, formerly the Mayor of Leichhardt, said while it is a newly amalgamated council and teething issues are to be expected, “There should not be mistakes like this. “It begs the question: what else is going wrong?” In a video posted to Facebook last week, Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne blamed the loss of the Council’s planning consent on Premier Gladys Berejilian and Greater Sydney Chief Commissioner Lucy Turnball, saying they directly ‘intervened’ to fast-track development. A media release published on Monday also claimed the government had ‘bypassed’ Council and that the DPE would proceed without community consultation. The Mayor was quoted in the release as saying, “[Developers] no longer have to go through the process of dealing with Council – they can pretend to, and then they go to Lucy Turnbull’s Greater Sydney Commission, and the State Government’s Department of Planning, who will process their application, and ignore the views of the inner west.”
Christine Webb (left) and Felicia Finlayson of One + 2 Art Studios. Photo: Anna Freeland
A spokesperson for the DPE rejected the claim and said, “The Premier and Lucy Turnbull have absolutely not intervened in this decision.” A spokesperson for the Greater Sydney Commission also confirmed that they were not involved. “The Planning Panels are independent of government and are not under the direction or control of the Department of Planning and Environment or the Greater Sydney Commission,” the DPE spokesperson said. “Council was offered the role to take the proposal forward but declined the offer.” The Council was contacted for further comment but declined. “The Council will always be requested to be the RPA,” said Mr Parker. “It’s ridiculous to suggest that there’s some huge attempt by the state government to take over planning. “I’m incredibly critical of the state government and their planning processes but, on this matter, it’s the council that’s made the mistake and they should own up to it and apologise,” he said. According to the DPE website, Planning Panels are well within their rights to self-appoint as the RPA if, following a rezoning review, if the council does not take up the responsibility. Currently home to several businesses and artist studios, rezoning of the 6,000sqm site from ‘Light Industrial’ to ‘Mixed Use’ will now be determined by the DPE with input from the Planning Panel who will prepare the report and conduct community consultation.
Mr Parker said, ‘The Council can make a submission but they will now take a backseat. “They will be just like any other stakeholder because they sat having a meeting for hours and didn’t get to one of the most important planning issues in the community.” Felicia Finlayson, an artist from One + 2 Art Studios at the site, said, “You would think this would be a very important thing to put at the top of the Council agenda. “I was quite disappointed with the Mayor. The video caused quite a panic, especially for residents who thought they’d been taken out of the planning process when, really, the state government had taken the correct pathway,” she said. Ms Finlayson says the Council has failed the community and is now concerned about what will happen to the 50+ working artists who rent the space. “There are places all over the inner west, such as this one, that artists are using, that are being quickly rezoned for residential development. Soon, they will have nowhere to go,” she said. Ms Finlayson says more consideration needs to be given to developing creative spaces as part of community planning. “While there is investment in the major arts organisations, there are very few spaces for emerging artists to practice,” she said. Fellow artist and advocate, Christine Webb, said, “One of the unfortunate things that is accepted in Sydney is that people can buy up industrial sites with a view, not to continue the industrial work there but, to file an application for development. “As a normal part of capital development, the small people, like us, aren’t considered. It’s just really wrong,” she said. “What we have here is something precious that’s grown over time and can’t be created.” A spokesperson for the DPE said, “Any potential relocation of the existing artists’ co-op is not a matter for the Department.” However, they did confirm that the proposal will be publicly exhibited early next year and community feedback will be sought before any decision is made. “The site across at Callan Park where the art school is will be vacant next year and would be a perfect location for a creative hub for the inner west,” said Ms Finlayson. “That’s what I’ll be lobbying the NSW government to consider when they’re looking at the redevelopment of our current site.”
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city hub 7 DECEMBER 2017
FEATURE
By Mel Somerville The City Hub’s Christmas gifts shopping compilation is chock-o-block full of Summer essentials and the best picks this silly season. Pets The Christmas Glebe Artisans Market will be at Foley Park, Glebe on Saturday December 16 from 10am-3pm. With over 50 stall holders selling their unique hand-crafted wares, there is ‘something for everyone’ including the family pet! Amongst the range of items for sale, will be canine fashion and accessories like Parrot Pals and Pet Pals by Irene that make perfect gifts for a bird lover!
Santa Spectacular © SaltyDingo. Photo: Supplied
The Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide 2017
Kids Every parent knows slime is the latest must have kids’ craze. The Horrible Science Slippery Slime Kit is a fun way to teach new learners about why glow worms glow and other fun facts. The set contains everything you need to create your own slippery slime and mould a glow worm, $21.99 from Officeworks. Store up to 60 of your latest and greatest Pokémon cards in a Sun & Moon Collector’s Album, $135, and to help you start filling it up right away, Pokemon cards, Steam Siege 10 pack is $59.50 at www.pokemoncards.com.au Vividshop provides a unique blend of clothing, accessories, semi-precious jewellery, gifts and lifestyle products, for the person who wants something delightful as a gift for a friend, baby or child, or simply to self-indulge. Vividshop is located at 558 Crown Street, Surry Hills or online at www.vividshop.com.au Rather than a material gift why not give your child an experience they will remember for the rest of their life by visiting the Sydney Santa Spectacular. This event is a fun filled extravaganza featuring rides, arts & craft, ice skating and a North Pole experience. This could even be an early Christmas present as the event is currently on now right through until December 27 and if you head there before Christmas you can place a gift under the Sydney Children’s Hospital Charity tree. Teen The Peter Alexander Vegemite Print PJ range is impressive. Deck out the whole Fambam in matching sleepwear bearing the Australian iconic national food symbol. Too good to wear to bed, the Vegemite Flannelette PJ set is $99.95 and the Happy Little Vegemite Tee is $49.95. Get your teen a subscription for Netflix. It’s free for the first month and then $9.99 a month. They’ll battle you for the remote but let them know you rule the roost. www.netflix.com.au Young Adults S’well thermal bottles are a hydration accessory that are beautifully crafted and composed of 18/8 stainless steel, helping to keep your
Glebe Christmas Artisans Market. Photo: Mike Ody
SodaStream Sparkling Water Maker is available at Kmart for $69.You’ll help the planet by reusing your soda stream bottles when you make your own soda water and can add flavorings including sugar free. Highly addictive. Stocking Stuffers Finders Keepers Sydney Christmas Market at The Cutaway, Barangaroo Reserve December 8-10 is renowned as the greatest one stop shop where you can shop ethically, thoughtfully and give back to local makers and creative communities.The market continues to be a great place to find those hard-to-buy-for gifts.
Central Park. Photo: Supplied
beverage of choice hot or cold. Their alwaysinnovative array of sizes, shapes and styles allow you to do good for the planet and help rid the world of plastic water bottles. S’well partner with UNICEF and many other important charities, so not only do these bottles work great, they also help accomplish great work. $59.95 from www.myer.com.au The Holy Meme Bible: New Testament, is a 60-page colouring activity book that aims to document 2017s most iconic Internet trends and features a range of activities inspired by notable activity books such as Wreck Your Journal, Mad Libs and even Where’s Waldo. The definition of a meme involves an idea that acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted across varying mediums. Buying a meme colouring book could actually fill your existential void and retails at US$14.99. www. thememebible.com Nintendo Switch is the latest and greatest console from the longtime favourite video game maker.The Switch provides all of the benefits of a home console with the added benefit of being portable.A bundle featuring the newly released Mario Odyssey
and limited edition red controllers is available for $549 from www.jbhifi.com.au
Paddy’s Market are open 10am-6pm every Wednesday to Sunday and provide another perfect one stop spot to pick up gifts for everyone on your list.
Last Books is a unique second-hand bookshop located at the south end of Newtown near St Parents Peters Station. Owner Helen Lowe has worked in An Ozpig is your best friend for the outdoors.Take it the book industry for over 15 years so will fishing, camping or use it in your own backyard or definitely be able to help you find the perfect book patio.The Ozpig is great when entertaining for anybody. outdoors. Relax and enjoy the warmth of an open fire in safety while you boil the billy and cook up a Everybody loves a good cafe breakfast but the prices feast. $370 from www.ozpig.com.au can quickly rack up so save yourself some money throughout the year and deck out your kitchen with Every parent needs a good night out to escape appliances from Breville and cook up a breakfast the kids and what better place than the storm at home instead.The Breville store in Ultimo has wonderful Sport For Jove Theatre Company. With a wide range of products to suit all budgets. their 2018 season already shaping up to be another stellar year treat yourself to early bird For one final shopping destination we recommend tickets now. www.sportforjove.com.au checking out Central Park Mall located at 28 Broadway, Chippendale.With everything from Grandparents fashion for the young hip teen to a cinema and Captain Baldy Flies, hand tied flies to use in salt finally groceries you can certainly grab all of your or fresh water guarantee you’ll catch fish. Christmas essentials here, this festive season you These ecofriendly imitation insect flies are all can also get ‘Santafied’ - take a selfie and transform original designs aimed at native species. All your selfie in to dear old Saint Nick himself and proceeds go to Sydney Children’s Hospital. have your very own personalised Christmas gift These little beauties can be ordered by calling wrap printed! Your Christmas pressies will look on the Captain himself on 0435 094 851 or point under your tree. Printing is free and available email captbaldy@optusnet.com.au every Thursday until Christmas 3-7pm.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Seagull
Chekhov’s play The Seagull marks the birth of the modern age. Melodrama was the standard fare when he wrote it in 1895 but Chekhov let go of melodramatic effect. What he seems to be trying to capture is the natural cadence of everyday conversations, a type of realism. When he wrote The Seagull this was a new thing. The Seagull has the sense of being set in Russia but if you listen to what they say the language sounds very now. Director Anthony Skuse wanted to create a world for the play to exist in, so the actors are wearing contemporary clothing but it’s a world unto itself, it fits both here and now. Chekhov has a great ear for human foibles and quirks. He calls this play a comedy in the subtitle, Seagull - A Comedy, but when he uses the term
Vertical Dreaming A Redline Production compiled and arranged by Andrew Henry comes Vertical Dreaming, an entertaining and revealing cabaret of the songs and poems that saved Henry’s life. In 2017, Henry checked into a facility to treat depression. During this time, he discovered a scrapbook full of poems, recalling “With not much to do in there it was terrific and occupied my time. I found two of them especially confronting, like someone had gotten into my head and I had written these poems.” For the show, each chosen poem has been paired with a song, with Henry describing them as, “things that I discovered that were wonderful and therapeutic for me as reminders that I wasn’t alone in these scenarios I was going through.” Accompanied by some of his best friends rocking a live band, Andrew Henry is standing up and spotlighting a subject that is an epidemic in this country and industry. “It’s something that we as people often keep very secret, private and we judge ourselves for it because it seems like an irrational emotion. What I’ve found empowering is by being honest about my experience that has empowered others to be honest about theirs. If we can get people to feel like they have an ally and they feel confident and know there is nothing to be ashamed of I think that will be a great win.” Not all doom and gloom, the show is set to be funny, entertaining and a reverence, talking about something so common and saying it’s ok not to be ok. “A positive experience for the audience and a nice way to end our year at the theatre.” (RH) Until Dec 15. Old Fitz Theory, 129 Dowling Street (Cnr of Cathedral St), Woolloomooloo. $30-$35+b.f.Tickets & Info: www.redlineproductions.com.au
THE BODYBAG - THE PANTO Australian performer and drag artist Trevor Ashley returns to the stage in a hilarious pantomime which will have theatre-goers literally rolling down the aisles in hysterical laughter. Ashley who plays the role of Rachel Marinade, a big and blousy diva who ‘isn’t very nice at all’, said the show is a hoot. Ashley explained that after he saw The Bodyguard – The Musical he was adamant he’d write a panto based on that production. “I thought this deserved a bit of a parody - I had to pounce on it immediately. I put it together very quickly as it was just too good an opportunity.” “It’s going to be outrageous and ridiculous with lots of song parodies and pop culture references. Everybody gets a serving in this – we’ve tried to leave much of the scripting up to the last minute as we want to be as current and pop culture as we can.” Being a pantomime Ashley said that audience participation will be expected. “It’s all the stuff you’d expect to see if you went
city hub 7 DECEMBER 2017
to see a kid’s pantomime, except of course the subjects will be much more adult. It’s all about getting the audience involved and we’ll be getting people on stage but we won’t target anybody awfully, it’s mainly group participation. Unless you’re under 30 and muscly I think you’re going to be pretty safe sitting in the first few rows!” This show is aimed at audiences over the age of 18 who enjoy a good night out. “Seeing The Bodyguard is always a help and if you enjoy shows like Saturday Night Live or Fast Forward you’re going to love this, even if you hate musicals as it’s a parody of musicals which has elements of films, television shows and cultural references.” And what would the gorgeous Rachel Marinade do to those who don’t attend? “She’d come after you and troll you on twitter! So Beware!” laughed Ashley. (MMo) Until Dec 20. Seymour Centre, City Rd, Chippendale. $59-$69.Tickets & Info: www.seymourcentre.com
REVIEW: Virgins & Cowboys
This is a play of movements; brief transitional scenes that incrementally reveal the truths and lies of each character as they reckon with their respective sexuality, friendship, goals and identity. The action begins in a share house with three housemates. Sam (Keiran Law) is a uni drop out, un-aspiringly employed, with an expression
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comedy, it’s different to our concept which is funny one liners and gags. What he’s meaning is a disposition or point of view. There’s an optimism
in the way the characters move forward and overcome life’s burdens, as opposed to a tragic disposition where they might say, “I’m going to kill myself.” Chekhov also poses a question about the importance of faith, whether it’s faith in your course of action, faith in the people around you, faith in this difficult moment to arrive at the next or faith in someone above, because if you don’t have faith, what you’re left with is despair, and that’s a tragic frame of mind. “One of the best things about The Seagull is the diverse cast, it’s not just Anglo-Saxon actors. Theatre is about representing the world we live in and we made an effort to cast more broadly,” said the play’s director Anthony Skuse. (MS) Until Dec 16.The Depot Theatre, 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville. $22-$32+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.thedepottheatre.com
12 STAGE 13 Sounds 14 SCENE 15 SCREEN
dominated by an orange lumberjack mustache whose only ambition is to deflower either of two virgins he met online. Dale (George Lingard) is unassuming, straightforward, perhaps a little simple and naive. Kieren (James Deeth) is philosophical and spiritually impatient, pursuing one life change after another. The boys are having a casual roundtable discussion about Sam’s quest to conquer a virgin with the emerging wisdom being - do one, or the other, or both. The contenders are 19-year old Lane (Penny Harpham), intense and a little scary; and Steph (Catrina Cornwall), inexplicably intact at 29, fitness obsessed and even-tempered. There is no intermission but the play is clearly divided into two acts. The first act is mostly a pragmatic exposition in which the foibles of each
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
character are revealed. It is quick paced, comical and sometimes abrasive. A fade to near black indicates a transition and the actors dismantle the set in co-ordinated activity which is quite mesmerising to watch. The second half takes place on a bare stage and is much more solemn and surreal. Time and life stories have moved forward, although it’s questionable whether anyone has actually advanced. Morgan Rose’s script is a mixture of definitive and abstract, providing enough resolution for a satisfying theatre experience, but also enough vagueness for a hearty after show debate. (RB) Until Dec 16. Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross. $30-$38+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.griffintheatre.com.au
Contributors: Barbara Karpinski, Craig Coventry, Emily Shen, Georgia Fullerton, Greg Webster, Irina Dunn, Jade Morellini, James Harkness, Joseph Rana, Leann Richards, Lisa Seltzer, Mark Morellini, Mel Somerville, Olga Azar, Rita Bratovich, Rocio Belinda Mendez, Sarah Pritchard, Shon Ho, Zeiya Speede, Jade Morellini, Alex Eugene, Manuel Gonzalez, Tommy Boutros, Riley Hooper & Taylor Martin, Mohsen Dezaki, Daniel Jaramillo.
Wasted
importantly to feel something. It’s an exploration of what it means to love life and in today’s society and the challenges and distractions that surround us and she’s really asking us to face ourselves and it’s a really exciting work.” Audiences will have a short session of local slam
poets in most shows at the beginning, followed by the second act, which will be Wasted. “Kate Tempest’s work is both slam poetry or heightened language, slam poetry is the closest thing that I can use to describe it because really there’s nothing like this work which is why it’s so
Live Music Guide LIVE WIRE Sydney
Pataphysics - Tip Of The Spear
By Jamie Apps
aka Madeleine Carr. Photo: @quasarmedia
British India. Photo: Luke Henery
Downtown Boys: America’s most exciting political band Downtown Boys are out to draft a new history with their radically-minded, indefatigable protest music and they’re bringing their powerhouse live show to Sydney tonight. Thu, Dec 7,The Lansdowne Hotel Hannah Cameron: With captivating live shows and regular airplay on local and national radio, Cameron has steadily grown a loyal following for her unique take on the folk genre. Tonight she arrives in Sydney to showcase her new album, I Lay Where You Lie. Thu, Dec 7, Golden Age Cinema Dean Lewis: To date Dean has already amassed over 65 million streams worldwide of his debut EP Same Kind Of Different, with first single Waves recently being used in the mid-season finale on US TV Series Suits. Fri, Dec 8, Factory Theatre Michael Griffin’s Thelonious Monk Octet: Sydney Saxophone star Michael Griffin brings a night of music that is fuelled by some seriously good horns, as he and his all star eight-piece band pay homage to one of the world’s biggest jazz legends. Fri, Dec 8, Foundry 616 British India: After five hugely successful albums, British India found themselves at a crossroads. Forgetting The Future is the story of them destroying their world in order to live in it. Hear their new rebuilt style this weekend at The Metro. Sat, Dec 9,The Metro
A Very Sweaty Xmas: The bulk of the Sweat It Out roster (plus some special guests) are set to join forces this weekend to party and raise money for a good cause. With two stages and an insane festival-standard lineup they will be raising money for Youth Off The Streets, a charity chosen by late founder AJAX’s family. Sat, Dec 9, Marrickville Bowling Club Australian Chamber Orchestra: When the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Choir of London last performed Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in 2013, critics and audiences alike declared it the concert of the year. Sun, Dec 10, Sydney Opera House Paul McCartney: Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 21-time Grammy Award winner and recipient of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Sir Paul McCartney brings his acclaimed longrunning One On One Tour to Sydney this Monday. Mon, Dec 11, Qudos Bank Arena Big Thief: Brooklyn’s Big Thief are retuning to Sydney and upping the ante significantly this time around as they bring their new album, Capacity. Tue, Dec 12, Oxford Art Factory Robyn Hitchcock: One of England’s most enduring contemporary singer/ songwriters and live performers.A surrealist poet, talented guitarist, cult artist and musician’s musician, Hitchcock is among alternative rock’s greatest songsmiths. Wed, Dec 13, The Lansdowne Hotel
By Jamie Apps The music industry, particularly electronic music, is still very much a “boys club” but DJs and artists like Alison Wonderland and Sports are leading the women’s movement. This weekend Alison Wonderland is hosting her very own festival, The Wonderland Scarehouse Project, which further cements herself as Australia’s leading lady of electronic music. Whilst this is a huge step for Alison she has also made a point of using her influence to support up and coming female DJs such as Sports. Sports, aka Madeleine Carr, has only been performing for a “couple of years” but her passion for music is undoubted having worked behind the scenes extensively before taking to the stage. “I was working behind the scenes throwing events, booking parties and naturally when you’re in that environment if you have a thirst for music DJing is the next logical step.” Carr explained. Since taking that step Sports says she has noticed a shift in the way women are viewed, “we’re taken a little bit more seriously these days but it’s certainly still early stages. We still need more representation in the back end of the business and at record labels though.” Whilst Sports is in the midst of positive changes within the industry she explained that Alison Wonderland was
someone she looked up to as the pioneer for women. “[Alison’s] been in it for a while, she really copped the brunt of a lot of bullying when she first started out but she’s a tough cookie and a true role model.” Obviously with that connection Sports was incredibly excited to be invited on to the Wonderland Scarehouse Project tour lineup. Sports has been included alongside some huge international names such as; A$AP Ferg, Danger, Lunice and Party Favour. When asked if it was intimidating being alongside those names Sports said, “Not really because everyone is super nice. In terms of talent there are a couple that are quite intimidating but underneath it all we’re all just music nerds.” With Sydney being both the final Australian leg of the tour and Sports’ “home turf” excitement levels are at an all-time high and Sports highly recommends checking it out. “There’s a huge range of acts but everyone has been carefully selected so if you like some of the artists you won’t be disappointed by any of the others because they all compliment each other.” Sports can be found on social media at @madcarrsports Dec 9. Secret Farm Location (busses departing 1pm Central and Gordon, 2pm Parramatta). $59-$120+b.f. Tickets & Info: www. wonderlandscarehouseproject.com
In the last few years we’ve witnessed a revolution in the rap game. Where the main topics were once women, money and thugs they’ve since been replaced with more thoughtful topics which explore the social issues of racism, classism and economics. Aussie rapper and producer Pataphysics continues this new style of rap in his latest record Tip Of The Spear. Throughout the record Pataphysics lyricism provides well researched, articulated criticism and thoughts surrounding illegal detention, depression, love, politics and many more. Rather than layering these poignant
lyrics upon a stereotypical rap/ hip-hop beat Pataphysics further breaks out from the pack by injecting influences from jazz and soul. This is a record well worth checking out, even if you’re not typically a rap fan. (JA) WWW1/2
Hoolahan - Casuarina Casuarina moves through the listener like a light breeze. It casually moseys through the body with its easy rhythmic motion and all the good vibes that the band and the listener can feel together, bonded in a to and fro melody. The impression left by this combination of feels is barely an impression at all, it stretches out on the beach in the listeners mind and blows away with the wind. Hoolahan’s music is better than the listeners own thoughts, it takes far less effort to live in its swaying shoulders, head shaking, smiling at the corners than whatever else is going on.
Why not become lighter than air? Evaporating into the lingering nothing and lacking in existence has its merits, though it’s hard to place it, much like the intangible beauty of Casuarina. (SP) WWW
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Kate Tempest’s new show, Wasted, is not an ordinary play but showcases a new form mixing heightened language, music and theatre into the one piece. The play explores the distractions of modern life in being a young person growing up in a city environment and how drugs can distract individuals from what they really believe in, so they might use them as a way of coping with the struggles of the environment rather than taking time to face themselves. Director, Elsie EdgertonTill said, “Wasted is a play by Kate Tempest but when I say play, It’s the wrong word. This really is an experience, Kate is inviting us to seek but more
exciting, and there are also theatrical aspects and the two interplay with each other in a really unique and exciting way,” Edgerton-Till said. They hope audiences attend the performance and experience it, feeling something rather than thinking something. “We’ve got such an amazing design team on this so it’s a very visual experience, and it’s something that’s really unique and exciting. I’m such a fan of Kate Tempest and her work and I think she’s created something that isn’t one or the other, it’s an interesting new form and that’s what really excited me about the piece and we have such an incredible team working on it,” Edgerton-Till concluded. (JM) Until Dec 9.The Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville $30-$40. Tickets & Info: www.tkcaus.com
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city hub 7 DECEMBER 2017
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THE NAKED CITY
Porphyrophobia!
With Coffin Ed There was probably no more relieved person in Australia last week than Don Burke when the announcement was made that somebody in England with questionable DNA had announced their engagement to somebody from America. Suddenly he was pushed back to page five or six in the daily papers and almost forgotten on the six o’clock news.The heat was temporarily off. As for the couple in question, yes I refuse to name them as they have already sucked up an inordinate amount of TV news time and press coverage. Channel Seven for example devoted something like the opening eight or nine minutes of their evening news broadcast in reporting on their impending wedding. Even a North Korean missile strike on LA wouldn’t have chewed up such a huge part of the bulletin. No doubt many listeners, long time royalists, lapped it up with the enthusiasm they normally reserve for the latest copy of New Idea. For me it only brought back a trauma that has been with me since my childhood. I have mentioned this before but let me take you back to the 1950s when
British Royalty was almost sacrosanct in a country yet to experience the diversity and multi-culturalism we enjoy today. I was with my father in the State Newsreel in Market Street and we had taken refuge from a sudden downpour to dry out with some cartoons and a serial. Whilst the newsreel sessions were almost continuous they were interrupted every thirty minutes by the playing of the national anthem, which at the time was God Save The Queen. My father was no lover of royalty and as the opening bars rang out and the audience rose as one he pulled me back to my seat.“You don’t have to stand up, it’s not against the law to sit down.” This drew an almost hysterical response from the woman seated directly behind who immediately began prodding us both with the sharp end of her umbrella, at the same time screaming and ranting that we should be ashamed of ourselves. Mercifully my dad immediately alerted the usher that a patron had gone bezerk with an umbrella and much to her protestations she was dutifully kicked out.The trauma however had been cemented. Even since that fateful day I have felt the heavy thrust of an umbrella in my back whenever any member of the largely
dysfunctional British Royal family appears on screen.There’s apparently no actual word for fear of royalty but ‘porphyrophobia’ is often suggested, as it describes a phobia with the colour purple, long favoured by the buffoons of the royal lineage. Over the coming months you can expect a lot of important new stories to be either excluded or pushed back to the arse end of the bulletin to make way for the royal engagement and the endless photo opportunities it throws up. Given that a diminishing number of Australians have a deep rooted Anglo Saxon connection, you have to wonder why the local media is so obsessed with reporting this bunk. Even the ABC can’t help themselves with their European correspondent James Glenday constantly reporting on the ‘event’ for ABC TV and reminding all of us back home just how ‘exciting’ it was.Well speak for yourself James because all it does for me, and probably many other Australians, is give us the heebie jeebies. It’s not uncommon for certain items on TV news to be prefaced with the warning “some viewers might find the following story distressing” especially when it refers to conflict or terrible famine.Whilst I would never make light of that caveat, I would like to see a similar caution whenever a story on the Royals was about to be aired. This would give porphyrophobics like myself, as well as Republicans and those who cherish egalitarianism the chance to look away, mute the sound and not be impacted by the banality of the royal parasites. Having said all that I am not entirely heartless and will be sending the Royal couple an Ancestry DNA kit as a wedding present and wishing them all the best.
At Your Door: The Doormen Of New York City New York City may be famous for the hustle and bustle around its prestigious skyscrapers but let’s not forget the hard working people who make up this amazing city. Iconic amongst these are the doormen who work for some of the finest hotels and apartment buildings in Manhattan. A photography exhibition titled At Your Door: The Doormen Of New York City is being presented to Sydneysiders as a unique reflection on 13 doormen who migrated to New York City from Eastern Europe and their journeys leaving behind their status and everything familiar to them. City Hub spoke to New York based photographer Alina Gozin’a on why she chose to capture doormen specifically
from Eastern Europe. “Because there seems to be a large proportion of them from that part of the world. Back in the day the majority of doormen were from an Irish background, then in the 70s a lot were Hispanic and then it changed to Eastern Europeans after the breakdown of the USSR in 1989. It was a lot safer than driving taxis or washing dishes. Doormen are protected by the unions and are well educated and well mannered people so they are always in high demand.” Gozin’a came to the project by default as she discovered that every second doorman in Manhattan she met was Eastern European and she herself has a Russian background. It’s an exhibition that explores the history of migration to America
and the untold stories of some of the men who make New York City run. (DJ) Until Dec 16.Wentworth Galleries, GPO building, 1, Martin Place, Sydney. Info: www.doormenofnewyork.com
1717 Painting/not painting Kevin Chin, Hole in Paradise, 2017.
Seventeen artists display works in which they explore the traditional notions of painting in this latest exhibition at Galerie Pompom. The scope of the brief allows for a diverse range of interpretations, with pieces ranging in scale, materials, style, presentation and content. The vividly coloured, cartoon-like Bossy Bottom by Matthew Harris features a hot pink nude on all
fours atop a bright yellow tiger-skin rug.Then there is Belem Lett’s Hollow Earth with undefined but suggestive shapes that may be a garden and gate or a uterus. Neil Haddon’s We’ll Bring Our Own Trees depicts a Adam and Eve as classical figures in an abstract Garden of Eden.The mixture of styles subtly hinted at underscore Haddon’s theme of migration, displacement, incongruity. Nuha Saad presents a curious installation comprising three oriental style stools with bold coloured satin cushion tops and an equally bold trio of splayed curved table legs. Hole In Paradise by Kevin Chin is a large oil on linen with a realistic image of a disrupted idyllic location.Yellowing palm trees rise above a narrow tarred road on which are stray dogs, a heavily laden old truck, discarded waste. Tara Marynowsky has assembled a collection of old Victorian era photographs featuring mothers with child and entitled The Hidden Mother.The babies in the photos are obscured by draping cloths that are bulged to suggest the shape of a child but imply they are deliberately hidden. This is a mere sampling of the range of works on display at this unassuming gallery in Chippendale. (RB) Until Dec 17. Galerie Pompom, 2/27-39 Abercrombie St, Chippendale. FREE. Info: www.galeriepompom.com
NEW PALACE CENTRAL - STATE OF THE ART CINEMA COMPLEX NOW OPEN The new luxurious Palace Central which is situated on the third level of Central Park on Broadway, opened its doors several weeks ago and should prove to be a popular entertainment destination for avid movie-goers. The state of the art cinema complex boasts 13 screens (of which three are Platinum class), multiple lounge and bar areas and an in-cinema dining menu which includes share plates, alcoholic beverages and premium handmade choc tops. Built at a price tag of around $10 million, the venue’s official launch was on November 14
city hub 7 DECEMBER 2017
23 and Benjamin Zeccola CEO of Palace Cinemas, said that he is very proud of this innovative cinema complex. “The thing that is exciting for me about Palace Central is that it’s all the good ideas that we have been developing over the past three decades and we’ve been able to fit them all into the one venue. So it’s the combination of entertainment and hospitality. Hospitality is really important to us, but the most important thing obviously are the films we put on followed by the comfort and amenities of the venue and that leads into hospitality. We also
operate in a more boutique way, offer a more quality experience, a more carefully curated experience for people who love that kind of thing.” Zeccola said that Palace Central will be host to all the film festivals and unique events which patrons have become accustomed to, including the Italian, French and Spanish film festivals. “You can look forward to seeing all the great events that we’ve been making famous in Sydney – you can look forward to seeing your favourite film and your favourite festival at Palace Central.” (MMo)
Wonder Wheel
Woody Allen has written and directed this drama which is set in a 1950s American Coney Island summer. The story surrounds the relationships and romantic entanglements within a family who suffer from the disappointments and high expectations of life. Kate Winslet plays the role of Ginny, an unhappily married woman who works in a clam house on the boardwalk at Coney Island. Her husband is abusive and she longs for love which she hopes to find in Mickey, (Justine Timberlake) an aspiring writer. Ginny’s young son is a pyromaniac and her step-daughter who has
left her gangster husband also predictably falls in love with Ginny’s lover Mickey. Amongst all these neurotic characters and the overmelodramatic storylines which would be appropriate for any daytime soap opera, lies a dark humour which lightens the drama ultimately transforming this film into a self-parody. This is not Woody’s best work, but moviegoers who appreciate his quirky style of writing should also be charmed by the colourful cinematography and the fine period musical score. (MMo) WWW
Sweet Virginia
Sweet Virginia is a very slow burning thriller about a mysterious killer in a quiet and remote Alaskan town. The film follows Sam (Jon Bernthal), a retired rodeo star who now owns the Sweet Virginia hotel, as he befriends one of his customers. Unbeknownst to Sam the mysterious Elwood (Christopher Abbott) is responsible for the sudden violence and ensuing
chaos strewn upon the town. Unfortunately for the film this is as deep as the plot of Sweet Virginia gets, which makes the film drag along too slowly. Bernthal’s performance is commendable but the remainder of the supporting cast are simply too superficial to garner any real meaning or empathy. (JA) WW
Wonder
This is a faithful adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s novel about a boy born with facial disfigurement who, after being home-schooled to age 10, experiences real school and the real world for the first time. The plot follows August “Auggie” Pullman - played with incredible depth by Jacob Tremblay - over the course of a year during which he learns about friendship, alienation, betrayal, integrity, bullying and redemption. The cast includes powerhouses Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as Auggie’s parents and an incredible ensemble of talented child
and teen actors. The device of progressively telling a different character’s story in turn helps provide wider perspective and deeper understanding, avoiding the superficial, one dimensional tropes that afflict so many movies in this genre. Stephen Chbosky has directed this with sensitivity but also a refreshing degree of understatement so that he manages to achieve genuine warmth and relatability instead of melodrama. It’s definitely a kid’s movie but there’s lots of quirky humour for adults who have to chaperone. (RB) WWW
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CHRISTMAS TRADING TIMES
CHRISTMAS EVENTS SCHEDULE
Wed 20 Dec
10am – 6pm
Thur 21 Dec
10am – 6pm
Fri 22 Dec
10am – 6pm
Fri 22 Dec
Sat 23 Dec
10am – 6pm
Elf Face Painter
1pm - 3pm
Sun 24 Dec
10am – 6pm
Meet & Greet Toy Soldier & Raggedy Ann
1pm - 3pm
Mon 25 Dec
CLOSED
Thur 21 Dec Soulfood A Cappella
1pm - 3pm
Sat 23 Dec
Tue 26 Dec
CLOSED
Wed 27 Dec
Soulfood A Cappella
1pm - 3pm
10am – 6pm
Meet the Grinch
1pm - 3pm
Thur 28 Dec
10am – 6pm
PHOTOS WITH SANTA
1pm - 3pm
Fri 29 Dec
10am – 6pm
Elf Face Painter
1pm - 3pm
Sat 30 Dec
10am – 6pm
Meet & Greet With Fairy & Santa’s Reindeer
2pm - 4pm
Sun 31 Dec
10am – 6pm
Mon 1 Jan
CLOSED
Tue 2 Jan
CLOSED
Fri 26 Jan
10am – 6pm
Sun 24 Dec Meet & Greet Santa’s Reindeer & Balloon Twister
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