City Hub 7 July 2016

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MOORE PARK WIN Plans to build a stadium on Moore Park have been stopped. I’ve been raising this in Parliament and with ministers since information was leaked over a year ago and I thank everyone who campaigned and wrote letters to government and media.

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City election could end in court battle

BY LAWRENCE GIBBONS City of Sydney Council election results could be deemed invalid if the Council fails to enrol a substantial number of local businesses, according to some councillors.

With less than one week remaining before all businesses in the City of Sydney must enrol to vote in the upcoming September Council elections, many business owners remain unaware that they are legally required to vote in local council elections on September 10.

Local businesses have always had a vote in Council elections throughout NSW, but voting is now compulsory for business and commercial property owners in the City of Sydney. Changes in the law enacted last year require the City of Sydney to produce a roll of all eligible non-residential voters sixty days prior to Council elections. Businesses must return their enrolment forms to the City by July 14. Many businesses have failed to do so.

There are 80,000 businesses that are eligible to vote in the City. According to City of Sydney Liberal Councillor Edward Mandla, “If the corridor whispers are true, that the electoral roll is in the thousands rather than the tens of thousands --Melbourne is a good comparison-- we are open to a disputed election result, or, even worse, another election. The Minister will probably have to defer the election, conduct an inquiry and tell us to get our act together and make sure everyone gets to have a say at the election.”

Sydney’s new business voting system is based on Melbourne, where 65,000 non-resident voters are enrolled to vote. As in Melbourne, it is the legal responsibility of the City Council to produce a roll of all eligible business voters. The City of Sydney will, in all likelihood, fail to produce a roll of most eligible voters, violating the law and leaving open the very real possibility that the election outcome will be contested in the NSW Court of Disputed Returns.

According to Independent Councillor Vithoulkas: “The whole process is overwhelming and confusing and the City of Sydney Council is treating small business owners with utter contempt. I’m calling for an urgent independent inquiry and audit into

Town Hall. Source: Bidgee.

the business registration project because we need to get to the bottom of what is going on”.

Clr Vithoulkas continued. “As the deadline gets closer I am being contacted by anxious local businesses who don’t know how to register. It’s terribly unfair that they may face fines of $2,200 if they don’t register on time, all because they were given the wrong information by Council. Business owners are now questioning if the whole system has been set-up to fail, denying them their right to have a say.”

With multiple forms to fill in, many business owners are confused about how they can comply

with the law and avoid receiving fines as high as $2,200. As one local business owner posted on altmedia.net.au: “Just got a letter from the Council to enrol.

16 pages I have to fill out to get onto the roll plus I have to provide a multitude of certified documentation. It is easier to get a passport ... It seems to be designed to discourage you from enrolling.”

Clr Mandla.

City Hub has obtained an email from the NSW Bar Association indicating that its members had not been informed of their legal obligations to enrol.

Adding to the confusion, some types of businesses may have already missed the deadline to enrol. According to a City of Sydney spokesperson: “The overall deadline for enrolments is July 17. This is the latest date individuals and corporations can submit forms...The deadline for sole corporations, natural person group owners/occupiers, and rate paying lessees to submit the details of their nominated representatives is July 4.”

Councillor Vithoulkas said the situation was very confusing, despite Council spending an estimated $7,832 million of ratepayers’ money on the enrolment process and an information campaign to promote the business vote in September’s local government elections.

In July 2015, Price Waterhouse Coopers recommended that, as part of its multi-million dollar campaign, the City engage an independent contractor to go door to door in order to call on every eligible business. It also said there was an inherent conflict of interest in the council administering the business vote. Price Waterhouse Coopers stated that a door to door campaign was the best way to ensure that every business would be contacted. The City already conducts a similar survey of all buildings and businesses across the whole local area every five years and it takes around 10 months to complete. In Melbourne, the City conducts a census of all businesses in the municipality every two years. Beginning around March in an election year, staff surveyed businesses twice in key high density areas. The process takes three months.

In December 2015, the City opted to engage a contractor who would supply contact details for all occupiers for mail outs instead of conducting a door to door campaign as had been recommended by Price Waterhouse Coopers.

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BY CHARLOTTE GRIEVE Homelessness in Australia has been described as an “epidemic” of national proportions with over 105,000 Australians currently living without suitable accommodation.

Homelessness can be caused by an array of complex issues. Among these is a shortage of affordable and available housing. With the median house price in Bondi exceeding $2 million it’s no surprise that the homeless population in the Waverley region is on the rise.

“Although perceived as a wealthy area, Bondi Beach has many vulnerable and marginalised people in the community,” said CEO of the Wayside Chapel, Reverand Graham Long.

While Waverley Council has a number of Affordable Housing programs available, a registry exercise conducted by Waverley Council in April of this year found that 57 people were still “sleeping rough.”

Homelessness Australia claims Federal Government cuts to homelessness prevention have left communities to address the issue.

“The issue of homelessness requires an all-of-community commitment” said Reverand Long.

“It’s not just a government issue, nor is it the responsibility of service providers, charities or outreach groups. The responsibility [to address the issue of homelessness] is with everyone” said Andrew Everingham, co-founder of Sydney Homeless Connect.

This winter, Bondi locals and Guardian Funerals are responding to the crisis by working together to donate spare blankets as part of the 2016 winter blanket appeal.

Robert James from Bondi’s Guardian Funerals says this is a great way to raise awareness of the plight of homelessness while supporting those less fortunate. “The initiative really puts homelessness on the agenda of local communities and highlights the value of people coming together to support a good cause” he said.

The collaborative effort from both Guardian Funerals and the community resulted in the collection of over 3,800 blankets last year.

“This year we’re hoping to raise the bar and double the number of blankets donated to disadvantaged Australians. It’s a big goal but we know we can count on the generous support of the community to get us across the line” he said.

While social initiatives like these are welcomed by all, co-founders of Sydney Homeless Connect, Peter Durrie and Andrew Everingham, view

Homelessness is getting worse according to those in the sector.

the issue of homelessness as being widely misunderstood.

“It’s not just the poor guy sleeping in a cardboard box anymore.

Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness so there’s a lot of single mums out there. All it takes is a couple of things to go wrong” Mr Everingham said.

They find the issue of homelessness to be a systemic and growing problem that can only be properly managed by addressing the root cause of the issue.

“Housing is the number one barrier preventing people from stepping forward. The first thing that needs to be done is to provide someone with a home. Then you can think about support services and figure out how to clear the debt,” Mr Everingham told City Hub. While initiatives such as the Guardian Funeral’s winter blanket appeal are important in providing immediate relief for those sleeping rough this winter, greater attention must be paid to address the causes for homelessness. city hub 7 JULY 2016

3

Next ferry stop: Glebe

BY CHRISTOPHER HARRIS If you don’t like the way the table is set, turn over the table.

Or so is the thinking behind the latest plan to provide more public transport to Glebe by waterway rather than high way.

Local Greens MP Jamie Parker has started a petition to gain support for the current Balmain Ferry service to stop in Glebe.

“Imagine being able to hop on a ferry at Glebe and within minutes being on our beautiful harbour at Circular Quay instead of sitting on a bus fighting the congested roads in peak hour traffic.”

“Whilst the Labor and Liberal parties continue to support multi-billion dollar tollways the Greens are working for common sense alternatives that will benefit the community and deliver real results.”

Photo: Adam JWC Mr Parker told City Hub that the idea was not a new one and has been floating around for the past ten years or so.

He said the first major hurdle was persuading the government to investigate things such as projected patronage numbers and understanding the issues.

“We know that the water is deep enough, and you have to construct an appropriate wharf, there are no infrastructure obstacles in that regard,” he told City Hub. “We’re putting up this idea, we’re exploring feedback, understanding issues, consulting with the maritime union because we have to build up support,” he said.

“We don’t see that parking wouldn’t be a major issue, areas similar to Glebe such as Balmain and Birchgrove don’t have parking problems.

“Ferries do not attract commuters from other areas but

we know that ferries act as really strong tourism attractors.”

He said that the idea of running a ferry has been proven to be viable, but the political will was lacking.

Murray Jewell, who chairs the transport subcommittee at the Glebe Society said the idea was in its early stages.

“As a general proposition, the Glebe Society is for public transport, but there could be resistance amongst locals, as there could be parking difficulties if people were going to park their cars to catch the ferry.”

President of the Glebe Chamber of Commerce, Kris Spann, said that the plan for the ferry had been in discussion since the 1970s.

“It’s a recurring thing the community wants, but no government has ever delivered,” he said.

He said that the ferry would connect the 3,000 odd residents that live in the new Harold Park development.

“We’ve got a beautiful park at that end, it will be a way for people from the city to come and see what is happening in Glebe.

He said Glebe residents would benefit from the speed that the ferry could offer.

“It will be faster than the light rail, the light rail does a huge dog leg to Ultimo and the casino. Even the bus at the moment with the closure of George Street, is quite a wobbly way to get to the city.

“It would almost be reverse tourism, a lot of Glebe people will go events in City such as Vivid a lot more easily,” he said.

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5

Opinion

Greens v Labor in the Inner City

COMMENT – BY ADRIAN ROOK We are still yet to learn which party will form the government. Yet the result is already being regarded as a success for Labor and a failure for the Coalition – even if they do manage to clinch a second term.

The Labor Party managed to surprise pundits on a number of fronts during the vote tally, performing better than expected in some key marginal seats. One area which has also surprised some is the performance of Labor in their inner-Sydney stoush with the Greens.

During the campaign there was heavy speculation placed on the performance of the Greens in the seats of Grayndler and Sydney.

The evidence was there to support this speculation: the Greens held the seat of Balmain in the New South Wales elections last year, as well as picking up the seat of Newtown. The platform of no federal funding for the Westconnex project was seen as leverage over Labor, who would not make the commitment to renege on the promised Commonwealth funds.

Despite this, the results in these seats are disappointing for the Greens, as they failed to improve their primary vote count. In response, the Greens have highlighted the bad blood between themselves and Labor, with NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon claiming “Labor’s scare campaign to frighten voters to win back votes from the Greens with the repeated false claim of a Greens-Liberal preference deal had an impact on us”.

It is likely Senator Rhiannon overstates the impact of negative campaigning. Both Labor and the Greens engaged to some extent in negative campaigns against each other, which is expected of political parties vying for the same seat at an election. The outcome is better explained by looking to the advantages that Labor had in these seats.

There are three main issues which emerge when taking this approach.

The first is the popularity of both Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek. Albanese has held his seat for two decades, having first been elected in 1996. Tanya Plibersek was first elected in 1998. Both are highly respected and widely seen as two of the most popular Labor party figures.

Gaining name recognition for alternative candidates with an incumbent MP of twenty years is always a hard task. Unseating those incumbents whilst they retain a high level of personal popularity is even harder.

Secondly, Labor had an advantage in terms of both its campaign resources and its campaign efficacy. A campaign that consisted largely of volunteers talking directly to voters at their doorsteps, or by telephone is a consistent feature of Labor campaigns. The Greens are at a disadvantage to

king Street at a crossroads. Photo: J Bar

Labor, as they have fewer members that are able to mobilise for this sort of campaigning.

But it is likely the final issue which pulled the most sway with voters.

That issue is the trajectory that the campaign took in the final weeks.

The focus on hospitals and Medicare was clearly a strategy that paid its dividends, both in marginal heartland seats like Sydney and Grayndler.

As The Age’s economics editor Peter Martin noted in his column, the campaign on Medicare was successful because voters were already anxious about cuts to health spending. The idea of a GP co-payment, a freeze to the indexation of Medicare rebates

and a decline in the level of Commonwealth funding for hospitals contributed heavily to the success of this campaign. Support also came from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in their TV advertisements opposing the Medicare rebate indexation freeze.

It was hard for both the Coalition and the Greens to combat this strategy. Voters generally prefer Labor when it comes to health.

Whilst the WestConnex project will be a key issue in the inner city for some time, it was probably not as much of a vote changing issue at this Federal election as the Greens had hoped.

Micro parties Greens underwhelm in Sydney scope out Senate

BY JORDAN FERMANIS The election results in the Senate have seen the rise of independents and lesser-known parties.

At the time of writing, only about 65 per cent of NSW votes have been counted, but the result indicates that about 64 per cent of votes went to the Coalition and Labor both receiving roughly one million votes. The Greens pulled roughly 200,000 votes to make up 7.4 per cent of the vote as the third largest party by percentage. This means the Greens are likely to pick up one Senate seat from NSW. Perhaps the biggest surprise came in the from of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party which had a 2.75 per cent swing to claim a 3.97 percentage of votes and the Liberal Democrats which were left with the largest swing against at 6.75 per cent.

Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma MeowMeow from the Science Party says that he was dismayed by the amount of votes right wing parties secured in the Senate right across Australia.

Speaking to City Hub, MeowPhoto: JJ Harrison

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city hub 7 JULY 2016

Meow said, “The most disappointing thing about the Senate in Australia is how many anti-intellectual groups got in. Pro-racism, pro-nationalism, that’s the more terrifying thing. And what that signals is that Australia is shifting towards the right, shifting towards xenophobia and that’s terrifying.”

In terms of his own party’s ambitions, Mr Meow-Meow said he was concerned as to why parties like the Health Party had polled so positively in the Senate.

“Health Australia got a huge amount of votes in Victoria.

And Health Australia are ‘antivaxers’(anti-vaccination). It’s still pretty terrifying to think that we live in a country where an anti-vax group can get a seat in parliament but a science group can’t.”

Senate results are yet to be finalised, however it looks as though the rise of the so-called microparties will have an impact on the parliament, and whichever party forms a government.

BY LUCAS BAIRD Election results in the Sydney area have capped off a disappointing campaign for the Greens in the House of Representatives.

The Greens were only able to maintain their one seat in the lower house and failed to gain anymore despite targeting the inner city seats of Sydney The Greens made a point of challenging the prominent seats of Grayndler and Sydney this election, where they were touted to come into the mainstream political line-up. Despite their high ambitions, only a small swing of 0.12 per cent was gained.

Shadow Minister for Cities, Infrastructure and Transport, and Tourism, Anthony Albanese looked most threatenned in his ability to hold the seat of Grayndler against Greens’ candidate Jim Casey However, due to several setbacks for former firefighter including the surfacing of a video from 2014 where he advocated for a conservative government to take power to encourage more aggressive protesting, and a Daily Telegraph campaign in favour of Albanese, he did not receive a swing towards him.

Mr Casey did knock the Liberal Party out of the preference count for the seat, but received a swing against him of 11.4 per cent in 2 party preferred as Albanese soared back into Parliament by a margin of over 67 per cent.

It was better news for the Greens in the Eastern Suburbs where Dejay Toborek challenged the Prime Minister in his seat of Wentworth.

Mr Toborek was notable for his stance on gay marriage, who as a gay man himself told City Hub he felt “betrayed” by the PM for not sticking up for marriage equality.

Mr Toborek, while not making it to the preference vote, was the most successful in terms of swing for the Greens in the area, claiming a swing towards him of just under one per cent.

But this was no match for the PM who, despite receiving a swing against him of just over two per cent, held the seat by a hefty 66 per cent.

Sylvie Ellsmore challenged Labor Deputy, Tanya Plibersek in Sydney. Ms Ellsmore campaigned hard in the Sydney electorate, making appearances at student rallies and even taking up a position on a prisoners rights panel.

However, Ms Ellsmore failed to draw voters, receiving a swing of 0.1 per cent overall as Ms Plibersek retained the seat she has held since 1998 with a swing of two and a half percent, claiming the seat by a 65 per cent margin.

The nearby electorate of Kingsford Smith followed this status quo, with incumbent Labor MP, Matt Thistlethwaite retaining the

Voters queue at St John’s Church, Darlinghurst

seat with 59 per cent of the vote on 2 party preferred (a swing of six and a half percent). Greens’ candidate, James Macdonald, who had previously denounced Israel, only managed to gain ten per cent of the primary vote.

Political Expert at UTS, Dr Bligh Grant, said that this disappointing result for the Greens was because of the Labor Party’s effective campaign, which challenged the “Brave New World” approach by Malcolm Turnbull. “[The Greens’] kinds of concerns were not uppermost in people’s minds when they voted,” he said.

“The strong standing of Labor is indicative of the fact that people reached for or understood Labor’s message around protecting the core services of state.”

“That clearly overrode any sentiment towards the Greens.”

However, Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon stayed positive. She drew attention to how the Greens claimed 8.61 per cent of the overall vote in NSW for the House of Representatives, a 0.66 rise from 2013.

“Our campaign teams have done a great job promoting our key election messages - climate action, refugee rights, reduce inequality, and political donation reform. This work has helped to strengthen the community campaigns on these issues,” she said.

Senator Rhiannon looks likely to hold her spot in the senate as well. But she is likely to be the only member for the Greens from NSW in the upper house as they look to retain their 6 seats.

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7

Riot squad called in for Inner West meeting

BY MICHAEL FORNO A police riot squad and a privately contracted security firm watched over inner west residents on Tuesday night at the second council meeting of the newly formed Inner West Council.

The meeting was held at the chambers of the former Ashfield Council.

City Hub believes at least 40 residents were turned away from the meeting room, which was filled to its capacity of hundred people.

Many residents were surprised to discover that guests were able to preregister online for the event and that their bags would be checked and their bodies would be frisked for weapons.

ID was also required. Residents were then taken to the meeting room, by elevator with a security escort. Despite the pre-registration many were still turned away because the room was said to be at capacity.

A small gathering of residents in opposition to the construction of WestConnex preceded the meeting outside the chambers.

Jamie Parker, Greens MP in the NSW Parliament, addressed the crowd Source: Mark Holleley (supplied). saying that WestConnex and the associated unfair property acquisitions must stop.

Rochelle Porteous, a former Mayor of Leichhardt Council, prior to This is the second meeting of the Inner West Council following a heated the forced amalgamations, took the floor. maiden meeting of the new council in May. “I should start by saying that I do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the The Inner West Council is result of the forced amalgamation of the Inner West Council,” she said.

Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils by the NSW Government.

“We’ve been replaced by unelected administrators who have been A young woman faced court charges following the first council meeting for appointed by the Baird Government. But the next thing I want to say is that spitting on the Council Administrator, Richard Pearson. all meetings within this broad council need to be conducted according to Lewisham resident Ally Dun was one of few to make it into the Leichhardt Council meeting code of practice.” meeting room.

“You do not need to register, you do not need ID to get into the “I’d not been in those council chambers before but there was a very building, and everybody is allowed to speak. So I put the question to the obvious barrier of bollards and ropes separating the council area from the administrators tonight, will you guarantee henceforth that every council public area. It was standing room only but it wasn’t as crowded as the meeting that you conduct will be according to the Leichhardt code of previous meeting had been. They turned a lot of people away, even with meeting practice?” she said. pre-registration numbers,” she said.

Mr Pearson’s response came amid a din of disagreement and anger.

Inside the meeting a lot of tough questions were asked of the current “Look, I said earlier this is not a question and answer session. In this Administrator, Richard Pearson, whose interim leadership of the council will council meeting you get to express your views and I get to consider expire in September 2017. them,” he said.

Councillors question Moore’s campaign

BY LUCAS BAIRD Two Councillors have slammed Clover Moore’s continued use of ratepayer’s money to push her political agenda.

Labor’s Linda Scott and the Liberal mayoral hopeful, Christine Forster, have grown concerned over the Mayor of Sydney’s use of public information campaigns to sway voters.

This issue reached a head last council meeting where questions were put to the Mayor about antiWestConnex pamphlets that were delivered to over 98 thousand letterboxes.

The pamphlet was approved as a part of a public awareness campaign that the council passed on May 16, but has been criticised for misleading voters to think that it came only from the Mayor.

“I am strongly concerned that public moneys (sic) are being used to indicate that the message is only coming from one political party,” Clr Scott told City Hub. Clr Scott said that while she strongly supported public information campaigns like this and is against WestConnex, the information needed to be accurate, balanced, and reflective of the positions of councillors. Pointing out that she was the first councillor to take issue with a portion of the project taking green space from Sydney Park.

Clr Forster said that this has become a running issue for the City of Sydney. She cited the ‘Save Moore Park’ campaign as an example of the Lord Mayor using rate-payers money to push her agenda in the past.

Clr Forster also noted that the pamphlet did not contain an “authorised by the City of Sydney Council” annotation that was required of all election material.

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city hub 7 JULY 2016

The Mayor denied that this was in any part election material in the June 27th council meeting.

However, Clr Forster said it was “plainly a piece of electioneering” and the Mayor’s “own piece of political propaganda”.

“This pamphlet was issued during a federal campaign when there was federal money committed to Westconnex,” Clr Forster told City Hub. “The Lord Mayor is bending the rules here and she knows it.”

However, a spokesperson for the Lord Mayor said that this was all above board because the Lord Mayor is the elected spokesperson for the City.

They also added that because WestConnex is a growing issue in the area, it was her duty to inform the residents.

The Lord Mayor of Sydney has been accused of using public information campaigns approved by council only support her agenda. Source: Hpeterswald

Apart from some vocal displays of displeasure the meeting was conducted in an orderly and civil manner.

Ms Dun was surprised at the scale of police and security presence for what was a peaceful meeting.

“The protesters were all very quiet, we took our seats. We all had A4 pieces of paper. That said ‘stop the demolition, stop the WestConnex’ and on the other side said ‘Democracy not dictatorship, bring back our councils’,” she said.

“I’m sure the mainstream media will, like last time, say that it was an absolute furor, but last time it was still civil except for two people who made headlines. This time it was far more civil than that. It was well under control and everyone expressed their views in a way that didn’t obstruct the meeting unnecessarily. And when we left the meeting there were six police officers sitting outside the room on their phone because they just had nothing to do,” she said.

Stanmore resident Mark Holleley came with his wife to the meeting and was not admitted because the room was at capacity. He had heard from others that the meeting was going ahead. He said the council website said there was no meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

“I think it is deliberate. Everything was designed to make people unaware it was on and then when we got there to feel uncomfortable; and then it just encourages people to gloss over their views quickly.

“I thought it was outrageous. It was disgusting to be part of as a ratepayer, and a resident of what was Marrickville council. I am paying to be part of this institution.”

Mr Pearson defended the security precautions surrounding the meeting, “The people of the Inner West didn’t want to see a repeat of the scenes at first meeting of the Inner West Council.“I also absolutely refused to have the council staff put in that position again,” he said. “The meeting agenda was published on the Inner West Council website, and all of the remaining websites of the previous councils advertised the date of the meeting on the Council meetings page. I’m extremely pleased that protesters respected both their right to peaceful protest, and the right of other residents to attend the meeting in a safe environment and address items that were of interest to them.”

Opinion

WestConnex attacks democracy Adrienne Shilling, Paula Rix and Sharon Laura who have occupied houses in Haberfield. ( From Left) Photo: Luca

BY PAULA RIX The following is an edited extract from a speech given at anti WestConnex picnic in Ashfield Park.

“Last Tuesday I was one of the four women arrested whilst occupying a house in Chandos Street Ashfield slated for demolition.

Why did we do it? Some people say that the mayhem already evident along Parramatta Road suggests that protest is pointless.

I’d like to tell why I don’t think so.

- I recently retired as Senior Policy Officer at Shelter NSW where the focus of my work is on the crisis in availability of affordable housing. Finding solutions to affordable housing requires housing to be available: At the right price In the right place With right amenity This is why I am outraged at the wanton destruction of perfectly habitable homes.

I’m also the current Chairperson of the Tenants Union of NSW - which makes me extremely aware of the vulnerability of tenants living in both private and public rental accommodation, especially in Sydney.

- My personal and family situation compounds my opposition the WestCONex.

I am a grandmother and I am concerned that Haberfield Public School and it’s school population is within 200 metres of the pollution of stack particulate emissions and dust emissions with a devastating effect on young children’s lungs.

I have a 35 year old son who has an intellectual disability and lives in a community housing property in Ashfield also in the path of WestConnex.

And finally I want to mention my 95 year old father Ray Harrison who has been active in many No WestConnex Public Transport actions who is now living in residential aged care in Ashfield. A seasoned campaigner - who says : ‘Don’t give up the fight!’

The experience of Baird’s bulldozing of our community for a toll road to nowhere and forced local government amalgamations for his developer mates can make us despair.

I say determination is the best antidote to despair.

Let’s be clear - If we don’t act, we lose.

We are currently facing attacks on democracy, left, right and centre.

Non-violent direct action is something each one of us needs to consider now.

FEATURE

ART ATTACK

BY Alannah Maher Fears for the development of Australia’s cultural heritage have been heightened as Sydney’s art education institutions begin to be merged and streamlined.

Sydney University will dissolve its College of the Arts campus at Callahan Park and merge with the University of New South Wales’ Art and Design Faculty. In the wake of the news that Sydney will be left with just one tertiary art school, head of the National Art School, Michael Snelling, has confirmed that the independent institution is in discussion about a potential merger with UNSW. “That’s a disgusting proposition... the National Art School is probably the best known and most longstanding art school in Australia and it has produced some of the best Australian artists,” National Art School alumnus Reg Mombassa told City Hub. Mombassa is perhaps most well-known for his distinctly Australian art style, and he is one of many notable National Art School alumni.

“Reg Mombassa is a classic example of the type of artist that can come out of the NAS,” said fellow alumni and Archibald Prize-winning artist Tim Storrier.

“But it’s very hard to imagine that; a) Reg Mombassa would ever have been allowed to attend a university faculty art school, and b) that he would have been given the due credit in the teaching style that he needed.”

Without a diversity of choices in arts education, the general worry is that more traditionally focussed schools based on craft and practice will be lost to lecture halls.

Discussions between both universities, the NAS and the state government have been ongoing for the past year.

“It’s not so much that the art school is looking to merge with anybody, we really like being independent and we’ve spent a lot of time trying to become that,” explained Michael Snelling.

“However we are owned by the NSW Government and [if they put plans on the table], in all good faith we need to have a look at them, evaluate them, and give them feedback.”

“I’m very hopeful of seeing a positive outcome for the NAS. I think the government has devoted a huge amount of energy to trying to come up with a solution that meets its needs and meets our needs…”

While Snelling is adamant to maintain the independence of the NAS, he

Reg Mombassa. Photo: Chris Peken

assures that they have a positive and collegial relationship with the other schools, adding: “We’d like to work with them much more…we’re not antagonistic, we’re not at odds, we’re simply different.”

Meanwhile, as an alumnUS of the Sydney College of the Arts and another Archibald Prize-winning artist, Ben Quilty is “devastated” to hear that his art school is shutting down.

“What they promise is that they’re building a ‘super school’ and there’s been comments about the three schools performing below par… But look at the alumni, to tell me that Sydney College of the Arts has been behaving below its maximum ability is extraordinary,” said Quilty.

“The alumni from the past 10 years [alone] is extraordinary:Venice Biennale artists, famous film makers, artists in collections right around the world…”

“It follows a pattern that has been happening in Australia for some time; the University of Western Sydney [WSU] Arts School was shut down a few years ago, many of the TAFE art courses were shut recently, earlier

this year the University of Newcastle Fine Arts Degree was shut. They’re slowly closing all of the arts schools and the reason, I think, is that universities are forced to increase their numbers of international students to pay for the ongoing costs of education,” said Quilty, adding that artists study in their home countries to “tell the story of [their] place of origin”.

Both Quilty and Mombassa fear that as artists’ options to work and study in Australia become limited, we are likely to see a cultural “brain drain” much like the mass exodus of local talent seen in the conservative 1950’s and 60’s.

“I think people are getting really sick of…being bullied by relatively ruthless governments and wealthy individuals and institutions that [only] want to make money out of things, when people would prefer to have a viable community life or an interesting educational institution,” said Mombassa.

“In 1991 I had the choice of three different university art schools around Sydney and five other art schools including major TAFE art courses, and [if the amalgamations go ahead] by the end of next year that ends up being a couple of half-funded TAFE schools and one university arts school, that’s just breath taking, that is a city going backwards fast,” added Quilty.

The state government’s slashing of art education is comparable to the federal government’s drastic cuts to the national arts budget, symptoms of a time in Australia’s history where we are seeing a general lack of interest in promoting the arts at the top political and bureaucratic levels.

“I stress that I don’t see any direct connections between these things that are happening at the state level and the federal level,” stated Snelling.

“But I do think they reflect a general Australia wide need for a lot more affirmative noise about the state of the arts, the importance of the arts, the need for transparency and funding from governments… and a recognition about how much the arts contribute culturally, socially and financially to the way that the country functions in the wider world as well as how the country functions at a very local level.”

Unless strategic policy changes are made, all education in the arts – from visual arts institutions to NIDA and The Conservatorium of Music – are due to come under pressure.

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www.akac.com.au city hub 7 JULY 2016

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Paul Capsis as Quentin Crisp

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Resident Alien Quentin Crisp was a curious phenomena.The English writer and raconteur was discovered by chance at age 60, his acerbic wit and deliberate androgyny made him distinct, even during the culturally diverse 60’s and 70’s.

His look and voice were utterly unique, making any depiction of him without caricaturing challenging and difficult. Paul Capsis has taken on that challenge in the current production of Resident Alien, a one-man play written by Tim Fountain based on interviews with Crisp and excerpts of his writings.

Set in 1998-99 in Crisp’s famously filthy, derelict New York apartment, the monologue is an uncensored show-reel of Crisp’s abrasive candour, intuitive wisdom and incisive intellect.

“Quentin’s armoury was his words,” said Capsis.

“He had quite contradictory and quite full-on things that he says… in Melbourne there were nights when people would gasp in the audience at what Quentin had to say...”

Capsis has always been an admirer of Crisp, having felt an affinity with him from an early age.

He has immersed himself completely in the role, reading all of Crisp’s works, watching videos repeatedly, studying other performances, and even engaging a voice coach to help him with Crisp’s idiosyncratic cadence, tone and delivery. Capsis sees this role as one of his most vocally demanding.

“It was like learning a third language. I didn’t know anybody who spoke this way.”

Capsis vehemently wanted to create a realistic and faithful representation of Crisp.

“I feel I owe it to him… People need to know who he was.”

This melding of extraordinary talent and kindred spirit should make Resident Alien a show not to be missed. (RB) Jul 12–23.The Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, Cnr City Rd and Cleveland Street, Chippendale. $28-$48.

Tickets & info: seymourcentre.com

Dance Magic Dance – The Wedding Reception The Boon Companions cordially invite you to the fictional wedding reception of Peter and Sherry, where you can dress up in your best late 80’s garb and dance the night away.

The Melbourne based anonymous art collective will bring their immersive Dance Magic Dance experience to Sydney for the first time. Active since 2015, The Boon Companions put on art parties meet experimental theatre events that recruit around 40 performers.

“We’re anonymous. We make art where no one’s name is on the bill. It’s a completely noncynical exercise in art… I just think there’s something very beautiful about making art that gives people an optimistic sense of belonging,” said one of the group’s founding artists.

The parties centre on different themes and have been set, among other eras, in Paris in the 1960s, backstage at a Bob Fosse concert, the night before WWII, and during the second wave of feminism in 1972.

Henna Night

To her utter horror, she answers her door to find Ros, her exboyfriend’s new partner, wanting to talk. The two women descend into battle, as each seeks to protect their right to happiness and love. The result is raw emotion, black comedy and sizzling debate Director Glen Hamilton explained that Henna Night is an “intelligently written” and intimate story of “how women can deal with a broken heart”. As Hamilton notes, some spectators might even “recognise themselves in the play”.

This, the Australian premiere of Henna Night, promises a perceptive insight to the intimacy and rivalry of female relationships.

(RP) Jul 5–9, 9.45pm. Old Fitz Theatre, 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo. $25. Tickets & info: oldfitztheatre.com

Being told that your partner is leaving you for another person is hard.

Having that other person want to meet with you, so as to ‘iron out’ any animosity between you, before you have even met, is just plain confronting. Henna Night is just that.

Judith’s boyfriend has left her for another woman. On a diet of cigarettes and alcohol, Judith falls into a spiral of depression. In that state, she leaves a phone message for her ex-boyfriend: “I went to Boots [chemist] today and I bought a packet of henna and some razor blades... I thought, ok, I’m going to go home, drink a bottle of wine, and then depending how I feel tomorrow morning, I’ll either slash my wrists or dye my hair. Either way, I’ll ruin my bathroom carpet.”

a&e

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10 STAGE 12 SCENE 13 Sounds 14 SCREEN

“Some audience members ended up setting fire to their bras and walking around topless, which we didn’t expect, but it was a very enjoyable twist to the evening,” the artist said of the latter.

“So amongst all the wearing of stupid costumes and having a dance, we hope that there will be these beautiful, strange human moments as well,” she added.

You may not know who you’ll meet, what you’ll do or what you’ll see when you buy a ticket, but trust and blind faith may just lead to some unique experiences.

“Once you get there, don’t wait to be directed…move around the space as you see fit, create your own narrative and something magical might happen. We love the idea of no two people having the same experience at our events.” (SH) Jul 9, 7.30pm.The Works Glebe, 62 Glebe Point Road. $21.89–$32.34.

Tickets & info: eventbrite.com.au

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

Contributors: Carmen Cita, Craig Coventry, Greg Webster, Alicia Sim, Peter Urquhart, James Harkness, Leann Richards, Lisa Seltzer, Mark Morellini, Mel Somerville, Rocio Belinda Mendez, Sarah Pritchard, Athina Mallis, Leigh Livingstone, Joseph Rana, Shon Ho, Jacqui Rothwell, Emily Shen, Andrew Hodgson, Irina Dunn, Cindy Aravena, Jacob Aguilar, Caitlin Burns, Zeiya Speede, Rita Bratovich, Chantal Walsh, Raffael Piccolo, Barbara Karpinski, Taylah Felice.

Brendan Raymond & Grace O’Connell at rehearse. Photo: Mark Banks

Appointment with Death

Agatha Christie’s classic novel has been transformed into a completely different script in Appointment with Death. The book included famous fictional detective Hercule Poirot, but he is absent from the play. The theatrical version focuses on the Boynton family. The sadistic matriarch of this clan rules it with an iron fist, which oppresses her relations until a shocking tragedy turns everything upside down.

The Genesian Theatre, nestled in the heart of the city, is a good venue for this traditional fare. Its velvet curtains, cosy atmosphere and warm amphitheatre provide an intimate setting for a live experience. Any performance there is sure to offer good value, but this crime-mystery is perhaps more suited than a more abstract genre.

The producers and directors of the company are well known for their care for detail, and their presentations are intricately

woven with rich costumes and scenery. For this show, set designer Owen Gimblett and costumier Susan Carveth have the challenge of producing an enigmatic and secretive ethos.

In addition, the actors will have to utilise their talent and ability to woo an audience into a world which is distant from the modern bustle of Sydney.

Appointment with Death has romance, complications, secrets and evil doings. Can love free the Boynton family from the grip of an evil tyrant? Or is murder the only escape?

Set in the ancient middle eastern city of Petra, this drama will surprise, delight and titillate the audience with its unexpected twists and turns.

(LR) Jul 9–Aug 20. Genesian Theatre, 420 Kent Street, Sydney. $25-$30.

Tickets & info: genesiantheatre.com.au

Proof

THE HEIDI CHRONICLES A chronological timeline spanning three decades, 1968 to 1985, and set in middle class white America.Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles was prompted by her own personal experiences.The play features a heroine for her times, a

woman who succeeds professionally but flounders personally, who “wants it all – motherhood, sisterhood, love and boardroom respect”.We witness the idealism of the 60’s, the battles fought, the placard waving and the bra burning in a convincingly woven narrative. (MS) Until Jul 9 (Thu–Sat 7.30pm, Sun 5pm). New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown. $17-$32.

Tickets & info: newtheatre.org.au ALL MY SONS Written almost 70 years ago,Arthur Miller’s great post-war play could not be more topical. Joe Keller (John Howard) is the self-made businessman who embodies the American dream. Keller’s wife Kate (Robin Nevin) refuses to give up hope that her son, a pilot missing in action, will one day return. Chris (Chris Ryan), the other son, has safely returned from the war but his inner demons lie closely below the surface. He has fallen in love

Everyone knows the Peanuts comic strip, and plenty saw the movie – but like many, Sheridan Harbridge knew little of the 1967 musical. So landing the role of Lucy in Hayes Theatre’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown has been a dream come true.

“She is such a battle-axe,” Harbridge told City Hub during a break in the tech-run. “It is so much fun playing her – she is actually a disgraceful human. There is a lot of yelling, finger pointing and punching – I’m enjoying it.”

Inspired by the minimalist approach of Charles Schultz, Clark Gesner wrote the musical based on the beats of the threeframe comic strip. Taking just five characters, he’s distilled them into short vignettes, using the innocence of children to tackle adult concepts.

Lucy’s character is used to unpick the complications of men understanding women. So when she gets a ‘95’ on the crabbiness survey, Lucy is devastated and tells Linus that she shouldn’t be on the planet. He replies, “There is a reason [you should be on the planet]. It’s because I’m your little brother and I love you”. Instead of this ending her crabbiness, in the next scene she’s punching him and trying to get her pencils back.

Self-doubting throughout, Charlie Brown wonders whether he is an effective human being and ironically, it’s Lucy who provides the pinnacle line. “There’s a beautiful last moment of the show where Lucy shakes his hand and says, ‘You’re a good man, Charlie Brown’. She is a villain who gets in everyone’s way, but she has the insight to know what he needs to hear. It is a really beautiful moment,” said Harbridge.

As she attempts to pull her life back together, she becomes concerned that she might have inherited both her father’s genius and predisposition to mental illness.

Her internal battles become complicated as one of her father’s former students, Hal, arrives. He hopes to find one final piece of his mentor’s work that can be published. Add to that the reappearance of her older sister, Claire, and Catherine quickly begins to become overwhelmed. As much as Catherine wants to push Hal and Claire away, they are now very much part of her life.

David Auburn’s Proof, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, comes to Sydney.

Catherine spent years caring for her genius, yet mentally unstable father. He was her idol and her world. She lived in hope of imitating his genius. With his death, she is left alone and lacking focus.

AUSTRALIA VOTES 2016 – THE POLITICAL YEAR IN REVIEW A show that dissects the most unedifying moments of our current crop of politicians, examining their performances of the last three years. It is also somewhat of a tribute, featuring guest appearances from some of our favourite past politicians.A “tapestry of bizarre and eccentric characters” that provides an “affectionate look at the eccentrics and crazies that dominate Australian politics”. (RP) Jul 8, 8.30pm.The Harold Park Hotel, 70A Ross Street, Glebe. $14-$18.

Tickets & info: gottazip.com

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

with his brother’s fiancée, but their marriage will spell the end of his mother’s forlorn hopes. (GW) Until Jul 9. Roslyn Packer Theatre, 22 Hickson Rd,Walsh Bay. $76-$104.

Tickets & info: sydneytheatre.com.au or 02 9250 1777 GODFACE In this original production, Matriark Theatre Group have adapted the mad world of Australian politics into the art of puppetry. Director Scott Parker likens it to “House of Cards meets Adventure Time and the Mighty Boosh”, adding: “The designs are nothing short of stunning, the actors are brilliant, the writing is quirky and bold. As far as I know there’s nothing else like it going on.” (AMal) Until Jul 10 (Thu-Sat 7pm, 2pm Sat, 5pm Sun). 107 Projects, 107 Redfern St, Redfern. $25-$30.Tickets & info: matriarktheatre.com/godface

THE LITERATI Bell Shakespeare and Griffin Theatre Company are bringing a 350-year-old French play kicking and screaming into the 21st century.The Literati, penned by acclaimed Australian playwright Justin Fleming, draws inspiration from Molière’s Les Femmes Savantes.The play follows lovers Juliet and Clinton as they attempt to overcome the strong, highbrow disapproval of Juliet’s mother and sister. It is injected with enough sassiness and silliness to feel right at home on a Sydney stage. (CB) Until Jul 16. SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross. $38-$60.

Tickets & info: griffintheatre.com.au AUDREY OF THE OUTBACK Eaton Gorge Theatre Company and EMU Productions latest children’s show is a timeless Australian tale of growing up adapted from Christine Harris’ awardwinning book. Set in the 1930’s, the story

This production is not just for kids, but for everyone to remember how it used to be and how it can be. (GW) Jul 5–31, various show times.

Hayes Theatre, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point. $45-$55. Tickets & info: hayestheatre.com.au or 02 8065 7337

Ylaria Rogers plays Catherine. As she explains, Proof is an “up and down journey” exploring the human condition, and in particular the “need to connect to each other and trust each other”.

Proof makes us realise that as difficult as it can sometimes be to accept the imperfections that make the human condition, it is the connections that we have with others, that make life truly beautiful.

(RP) Jul 13–30, various show times. New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown. $25-$35.

Tickets & info: newtheatre.org.au/proof

is based on the adventures of 9-year-old Audrey, a girl who has the world’s biggest backyard, the Australian outback.“We love the character of Audrey, she is very independent and energetic and questions everything. She is someone that little girls and even boys can identify with,” said director Julie Scrine. (TF) Jun 27–Jul 16. King Street Theatre, Level 1, 644 King Street, Newtown. $20-$25 (discounts available).Tickets & info: kingstreettheatre.com.au or 0423 082 015 BACK AT THE DOJO After nearly losing his mind from the psychedelic excesses of the sixties, a young Danny (Harry Greenwood) gets his life back on track through a karate dojo in New Jersey.

Here, amongst other things, he meets the interesting and attractive Lois (Catherine Davies). Meanwhile in present-day Australia, a much older Danny (Brian Lipson) keeps vigil at his beloved Lois’

bedside. Featuring martial arts sequences, this play is based on the story of playwright Lally Katz’s parents. (GW) Until Jul 17 (Tue 6:30pm,Wed–Fri 8pm, Sat 2pm + 8pm, Sun 5pm).

Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills. $49-$72.Tickets & info: belvoir.com.au or 02 9699 3444 HAMLET: PRINCE OF SKIDMARK Children’s theatre duo The Listies have teamed up with the Sydney Theatre Company to do a ‘badaptation’ (bad adaptation) of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. One half of The Listies and Co-creator of this production, Richard Higgins explains the show as “two guys...battling the odds to try and do a four hour show with 30 characters in an hour”. (AMal) Until Jul 17.Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company, Pier 4/5 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay. $25-$64.Tickets & info: sydneytheatre.com.au city hub 7 JULY 2016

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THE NAKED CITY

DYSTOPIAN SYDNEY

character of Hill End. (ZS) Until Jul 9,Tues-Fri 9.30am-6pm, Sat 10am5pm. Arthouse gallery, 66 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Free.Tickets & info: arthousegallery.com.au HOSSIEN VALAMANESH – CHAR SOO This video installation places the viewer at the centre of a four-way intersection in an Iranian Bazaar. Filmed with stationary cameras placed at eye level, the viewer stands at the

centre of a crossroad, passively observing. Char Soo, translated as “four sides”, provides a nexus for Valamanesh – literally, in terms of being the main intersection in the bazaar, but also to anchor Valamanesh’s thought as he explores themes of boundary and translocality.This work is presented at Carriageworks in collaboration with the Sydney Film Festival. (ZS) Until Jul 17, 10am–6pm. Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh. Free. Info: carriageworks.com.au/events/char-soo/

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999-2015 Montages:The Full Cut gathers artist Tracey Moffatt and editor Gary Hillberg’s eight collaborative films, created between 1999 and 2015. Running between 10 and 20 minutes each, Moffatt and Hillberg present a series of montages of cinematic representations of topics such as violence against women, blackness and indigeneity, and artists’ work.

An overarching interest in the moment of change shines through in their collaborations.

Revolution (2008) begins with a supercut of the crownings and assassinations of leaders, before turning to scenes of political instability.

People pick through ruins, the elite are exiled, and, finally, Moffatt and Hillberg show us the birth of an heir.What ever changes?

Many of the pieces presented here share this narrative structure. Moffatt and Hillberg’s interest in the representation and

reconstitution of the social world in cinema undergirds their collaboration, but what animates it is a waxing and waning social optimism. Some pieces, like Revolution and 2010’s Other, seem to offer no way out, but then others do: Love (2003), a montage of violence against women in cinema, builds to a violent, retributive crescendo of women shooting, usually men, but sometimes offscreen. Cut to a man clapping his hands over ears, as if to say “no more!”. Cut to the opening scene of Grease: Sandy asks “Danny, is this the end?”, and he replies,“Of course not. It’s only the beginning.” (ZS) Jun 23–Aug 10; Mon–fri 11am-5pm, Sat–Sun 11am-6pm. Artspace, 43-51 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo.

Info: artspace.org.au

Following a period of 30 days’ notication, Australia Post will be decommissioning the red and gold Street Posting Boxes co-located outside Wynyard Railway Station on George Street in the Sydney CBD. This decommissioning is due to the closure of George Street on 1 July to allow construction of the Sydney CBD and South East Light Rail line to begin.

Should you have any queries concerning this action please contact Australia Post on 13 13 18.

GT22396

Proud to be Different Artists Gillie and Marc’s aptly named art project Proud to be Different celebrates the differences that make people unique.

This project according to its creators is “a series of video interviews talking to all the weird and wonderful people who make this world special, colourful and unique”.

These videos tell stories you probably haven’t heard before from people you would probably never have met. One of their first videos features Newtown local Norrie May-Welby, whom two years ago notably won a landmark High Court case to be recognised as gender non-specific.

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into an army base to obtain accurate dimensions. Heavy Artillery showcases the craft, the cunning and the imagination of artists who need to navigate the perils of political indoctrination and censorship.

(LR) Until Aug 7 (10am-5pm, Wed-Sun).

White Rabbit Gallery, 30 Balfour Street, Chippendale.

Admission Free.

Info: whiterabbitcollection.org

“They are the world’s first genderless person. Norrie’s outlook on life, the law and accepting who you are is so poignant that this video will make you believe in a beautiful, kindhearted future.”

Gillie and Marc have never been afraid to show originality. Their past projects have focused on provocative sculptures including Dogman (half dog, half human) and Rabbitgirl (half rabbit, half human).

If you’re different and proud of it, upload a video or picture to social media with the hashtag #proudtobedifferent to showcase your uniqueness. (AMal) View the different videos on the website: facebook.com/ gillieandmarc/video

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HEAVY ARTILLERY Prominent themes in this group show are identity and tradition and the modernist impact on both.

Furthermore (with all artists hailing from China and Taiwan) the restrictive atmosphere in which Chinese artists live results in work which is subtly subversive and intricately planned. For example: He Xiangyu’s contribution, ‘Tank Project’ (2011–2013), is a life sized leather replica of a Chinese tank – the creator sneaked

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JO DAVENPORT – MAPPING HILL END What is a map anyway? Mapping Hill End explores cartography as an open-ended process. Completed over the course of a 2015 residency, each painting is a map of Hill End in the NSW countryside. It was an encounter with indigenous cartography that sparked Jo Davenport’s interest in maps as documents that mediate space.Working with oil on linen canvas, Davenport melds topography with representations of the sensory or ambient

needed that an ‘Airbnb of Addiction’ will become the new normal.The crack house of the last millennium will morph to the granny flat in the backyard as billions in Saudi dollars are diverted from Uber to float the new dot com enterprise.

And what of the filthy drug trade itself, which is bound to escalate as citizens seek an escape from the economic and political malaise that dominates their every moment? The dealers will no doubt employ a level of sophistication way beyond our current imagination. No more loitering in Darlinghurst Road outside the train station, as a fleet of drones buzz continually across the metropolitan area

delivering everything from a kilo of hydro to a set of designer crack pipes.The authorities will no doubt fight back with a team of ‘crack’ shot (excuse the pun) bounty hunters on every corner, downing the wretched drones like rat hunters during the plague.There will be collateral damage of course, as your parcel of books from Amazon is blown to smithereens, but the relentless ‘war on drones’ will persist.

The explosion of narcotics will be paralleled with a new fashion and artistic movement known as ‘dystopian chic’. The once reviled Bobolas family of Bondi hoarders will be revered for their cutting edge placement of household trash within the urban environment. We’ve all seen the tumbling tumbleweeds that blow across the post-apocalyptic landscape in the latest reprise of ‘Carry On Armageddon’. Expect to see a helluva lot more in Sydney circa 2050 as our public parks and spaces are converted to a jumble of plastic shopping bags, cardboard boxes and rats’ nests.

Trash will turn to cash as tomorrow’s hipsters embrace the Bobolonian cool, stuffing their inner city pads with all manner of discarded junk and festering organic matter, an anarchic reaction to the stifling and sterile world of computerised robots and drones that now run the entire show.

Let’s face it, we all get a buzz out of the latest Hollywood rehash of Bladerunner or catastrophic disaster movie. Maybe the time has finally come to embrace the dystopia that lurks just around the corner – or are we already living the nightmare?

Licence No. 173676c

With Coffin Ed, Jay Katz and Miss Death The ABC’s Cleverman series, which concluded this week, presented a vision of Sydney in the not too distant future – an authoritarian world racked by political and corporate corruption and the oppression of minorities. So what else is new you might ask? The answer is probably ‘lots’, especially when it comes to theorising and fantasising about the dystopian nightmare that awaits us all.

Not the future that awaits us in the next series of Cleverman, but in the cold reality of the City of Sydney, soon to be branded one of the most ‘unliveable’ cities in the world.That of course is the most pessimistic prediction, but some would say the precursors for the anti-utopia are all around us.Take narcotics for example, and the burgeoning problems with ice, the most anti-social of all the illegal drugs currently available.The controversial plan for ‘safe smoking rooms’ for those addicted to ice has just been floated, and given that we already have a safe injecting room, the concept is certainly one to be entertained.

However in the not so brave new world, ice is just one of a multitude of illegal substances that have flooded the market.The ‘safe smoking room’ has now been joined by hundreds of similar facilities – like the ‘safe hallucinating room’. Here, those with a nostalgic craving for old school LSD can escape to a medically supervised environment of lava lamps, colour wheels and continuous screenings of Roger Corman’s The Trip. So many ‘rooms’ will be

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Sydney Live Music Guide LIVE WIRE

By Jamie Apps Mahler 4 – Sounds Of Heaven: Two of the world’s top classical musicians, Australian saxophonist Amy Dickson and Scottish percussionist Colin Currie join forces to perform the world premiere of Ross Edwards’ new double concerto, Frog and Star Cycle, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Thu, Jul 7, Sydney Opera House The Wildbloods: After a year and a half of recording and perfecting their debut album All The Adversity, the Sydney rock and roll family band are now excited to show the world a first glimpse of their new creation.

Fri, Jul 8,The Hideaway Bar Rory Ellis: Master Australian songwriter Rory Ellis hits the road to welcome his new 5-track release ‘Rah Rah’ into the world. Having released seven independent albums to date, Ellis has become an underground hero in alt-country and Americana circles.

Fri, Jul 8, Django Bar Hedge Fund: Born in Sydney but raised in London, singer William Colvin’s songwriting is thoroughly inspired by both cities. While the five members of Hedge Fund firmly identify as a ‘Bondi Band’, an unmistakably British sound seeps in through the music.

Fri, Jul 8, Waywards Chris Cavill & The Prospe ctors + Emily Wurramara: Chris Cavill & The Prospectors are back, a whole lot louder having shifted from folk sounds into a more blues-rock direction, the band has gone full electric with their 70’s rock/ grunge era inspired sound.Also taking the

stage during this event is Emily Wurramara who will be showcasing her debut EP Black Smoke, which blends english vocals with Anindilyakwa, the traditional language of her home on Groote Eylandt (NT).

Sat, Jul 9, Lazy Bones Lounge Dro Carey: Sydney musician Eugene Ward has been experimenting with pop, grime and UK garage sounds under his primary alias for some time now, with new EP Dark Zoo being the end result.This weekend he will be showcasing his sounds, which are rather unique to the local scene and continue to carve out his identity.

Sat, Jul 9, Civic Underground Split Seconds: In 2011 this band was dominating the WAMI awards in their home state of Western Australia, taking out Most Popular Newcomer, Most Promising New Act and Best Indie Pop Act. Now having relocated from Perth to Melbourne, the group look to continue this momentum as they unleash their second album Rest & Relocation.

Mon, Jul 11, Newtown Social Club From Sydney With Love – A Concert For Orlando: On Monday a superb array of Australia’s top artists are coming together to create what will be a dazzling evening concert of love songs to express strength and solidarity with the community in Orlando following the horrific shooting at the gay friendly Pulse Nightclub. Funds raised from the concert will go to the “Equality Florida Pulse Victims Fund” to support victim’s families, survivors, and anybody else in the nightclub who was affected emotionally.

Mon, Jul 11, Sydney Town Hall

By Jamie Apps Once a band gains a reputation as a great live act that can be all they are recognised for, being the first thing that comes up when people search them out online. The Bennies were one such band, but with their latest release Wisdom Machine they have managed to shake this stereotype and garnered praise for the music itself.

As bassist Craig Selak explained, this was something that the band had made a priority when they headed into the writing and recording sessions. “We definitely tried to add a few more layers to the songs this time around to shake off that tag of just being a live band”. In order to achieve this goal the band worked with the same producer from their last record, Sam Johnson, to “come up with a sound that we felt represented the energy of a live show but had a bit more of a polish on it from a recording sense”.

The time and effort that the group put into

Mallrat – Uninvited EP

The Bennies

the record certainly paid off for them, with the album hitting number ten on the Australian charts, which came as a shock to Craig and the rest of the band. “F*CK NO we were not expecting that at all. It’s been seven or eight years of long hard work so we’re really glad to get that kind of response,” said Craig.

The success of Wisdom Machine also saw the band make an expedition to Europe to perform a run of shows and festivals

Everybody remembers all those moments in their teen years, the moments which at the time seemed like the most important thing in the world, but looking back on them now are rather trivial. 17-year-old Brisbane emcee Mallrat conveys these exact moments and emotions in her debut EP. It’s refreshing to hear teen angst and the troubles of fashion and fitting in with the “cool” crowd depicted in a musical genre other than the prototypical poppunk. Mallrat uses bright pop elements crossed with hip-hop beats and raps to exude her message.

While the production elements are rather simple it works really well with each track’s story, and allows the listener to take it all in.

Standout tracks include ‘Inside Voices’,‘Uninvited’ and finally the EP closer ‘For Real’, which is a piano driven potential pop hit. Mallrat has set a very sturdy foundation with this release to build a formidable career upon in the future. (JA) WWW1/2

alongside some of their idols. Craig recalled some of those experiences for us: “We got to watch Rancid from the side of stage and smoke a bunch of joints with Less Than Jake and their tour band. It was just an amazing experience for our first time in Europe and something we weren’t expecting at all but are totally grateful for.”

With their own tour around Australia now well underway the band made sure to learn from their experiences in Europe, “particularly with Less Than Jake, a band that’s been around for such a long time but still approaches their live shows and touring with such enthusiasm and professionalism”.

Craig added: “That’s definitely something we want to emulate in our career because we’d love to be as enthusiastic and as relevant as they are at that point in their career when we hopefully get there.”

Jul 9, 7.30pm. Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville. $25+b.f.

Tickets & Info: factorytheatre.com.au

Tracey McNeil & The Good Life – Thieves

It’s hard not to sing along to the songs pouring out of the new album Thieves.

Go on, try it, don’t sing along. Let it go by, rocking on its merry way, pulling and picking at your bottom lip. Just let that lip quiver, its becoming increasingly difficult to hold back the listeners own fine voice, it just wants to mingle with the sounds of Tracey McNeil & The Good Life.

Listeners will only be halfway through the first of these catchy, laid back melodies before their bottom lip has dropped, and the words come out of their own volition.

This album is playful, with a little bit of heart and some bouncing beats. This is fun like a Sunday afternoon jam session. This is music that takes no effort to listen to and it will strongly encourage participation. (SP) WWW

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Maggie’s Plan

Maggie’s Plan breaks out of the traditional rom-com genre with levels of high-wit and a fetishisation of academic wit. The film follows Maggie (Greta Gerwig) as she falls pregnant with John (Ethan Hawke), a ‘ficto-critical anthropologist’s’ child. The film then plays out a love triangle between Maggie, John and his previous wife Georgette (Julianne Moore) a stern, intelligent woman, who

is used to getting want she wants. Maggie’s ‘plan’ relates to the situation with John’s child, which has various twists and turns.

Audiences will be amused by director Rebecca Miller’s latest film. Maggie’s Plan is certainly a ‘modern’ romantic comedy as it remains smart and funny throughout with a plot line uncommon for the genre. (JF) WWWW

The Wait

Goldstone

Director Ivan Sen – who also wrote, filmed, edited and scored this drama-driven thriller – must be complemented for producing a gem, marvelled for its masterful production values and the breathtaking cinematography of the sundrenched Australian landscape.

Intrigue and mystery accelerate soon after the ‘Welcome To Goldstone’ sign emerges on screen in the opening scene, and audiences will quickly sense that all is not as it seems in this small and dusty outback town.

In this spin-off to Sen’s previous offering Mystery Road (2014), troubled indigenous detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pederson) returns to

hunt for a missing person and discovers a trail of corruption, human trafficking, murder and corporate greed.

Amongst a stellar cast, Jacki Weaver is the standout performer as the unscrupulous mayor, whose venomous sneer, compounded by some of the most devilish dialogue ever scripted for an actress, will mark her as one of the most despised characters in Australian film history.

Resonating themes of the white people’s hold over black communities, the traditions and mythologies all combine in transforming this into one of the most compelling Australian features in recent years. (MMo) WWWW

The Wait is a stunning and powerful story about grief, love and loss.

Light and dark, silhouettes, sunshine and shadows successively cross the screen in a dazzling cinematographic display. These visual themes dominate a movie which communicates more with imagery than with voice.

Anna’s son has died in mysterious circumstances. Suddenly, his unknowing girlfriend, Jeanne, arrives at the family home and together the women wait for his return. They develop a relationship which delves into the meaning of family, ageing

and denial.Yet a ghost and a question haunts their encounter.

When and how will Anna reveal the truth?

The film is almost painterly in execution. Each scene is set with nuances of colour which enhance the atmosphere of secrecy and pain.

The actors blend with the scenery with performances of subtlety, where a glance tells more than the spoken word. A French-Italian coproduction, this is a fascinating and intelligently told narrative with universal appeal. (LR) WWWW

Real Estate: a web-series

fast-paced, quick-edit snippets make each episode feel like a trailer – full of punchy highlights.

While he is cynical about the property market and can empathise with the frustration of wannabe buyers, Staines does not actually like the protagonists in his story and is not barracking for them.

“I don’t really want them to win through violence.

Violence is something that will beget more violence and is just an ugly way of going about things.”

Ironically, he believes the audience for the series probably includes the type of people he is “mercilessly criticising”.

While he has no immediate plans to turn the project into something bigger, he believes there is potential.

In the mean time you can check out the series at Facebook.com/realestatedoco/timeline.

(RB)

A five-part web series where each episode averages about one and a half minutes duration, filmed on an iPhone 6 on nil budget and no marketing. It should have disappeared into obscurity, and yet at nearly 150,000 views and counting, Real Estate is a surprise hit.

Created by writer/director Laurence Rosier Staines, and inspired by the dire state of the current property market, the story focuses on a small group of young, middle class hipsters eager to buy real estate in a trendy locale. Disgruntled by the prohibitive prices, they decide to use violence and intimidation to besmirch the reputation of the neighbourhood and hopefully bring down house values.

Staines references influences such as Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap) when trying to describe the very dry, absurdist, often black humour and mockumentary style. He is definitely making a social comment, but doing it in an accessible, fun way. The

SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL This popular film festival returns to Sydney for its third year, showcasing 22 exhilarating films from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. Festival-goers have a wide selection of films to choose from – romantic comedies, thrillers, historical dramas and documentaries. Highlights according to festival director Elysia Zeccola are Land of Mine and Nice People. (MMo) Jul 5–27. Palace Norton St, Palace Verona & Palace Chauvel. $19-$130 (10 films).Tickets & info: scandinavianfilmfestival.com THE MEASURE OF A MAN Iconic French actor Vincent Lindon 14

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stars in an understated yet moving social drama that explores the degrading process of being unemployed and living off meager state benefits. Lindon’s performance is stunningly poignant as he is subjected to the humiliation of pointless job interviews and slow-moving bureaucracy.Acclaimed director Stéphane Brizé adds to the film’s realism with his ensemble cast of nonprofessional actors, who together depict the economically marginalised.

(CB) WWWW EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!

An American college based romp, the movie opens with freshman baseball

player Jake, driving to his new frat house to the strains of ‘My Sharona’ and steadily descends into a selfindulgent, supposedly funny look at male bonding and team building.With a cast that looks like they are several years too old for their adventures, the protagonists experience every trope of the genre. (LR) WW ME BEFORE YOU A romantic drama that paves a light-heartedness throughout a confronting, profound context. Luisa (Emilia Clarke) is breathtakingly charming as caretaker for a recently paralysed Will (Sam Claflin).While the story has its predictabilities, it also has surprises

within them. Some are calling this film controversial in regards to the underlying topic of euthanasia¬ – but if you’re open to characters making their own decisions in a film, you’ll find that Me Before You, puts you first. (RM) WWW MUSTANG Set in a small village in Turkey, five orphaned sisters are wrongfully accused of inappropriate behaviour with boys and are transformed into house prisoners by their grandmother and watchful uncle.

They must learn to cook and sew in what can aptly be described as a “wife factory” as their marriages are arranged. Effectively scripted with high production values and fine

performances from a predominantly young cast. (MMo) WWWW FINDING DORY Picking up a year after the original aquatic adventures of everybody’s favourite clown fish Nemo, audiences will be swept away on yet another trek across the oceans.

Early on this story feels familiar and verges on becoming repetitive, catching undersea currents with sea turtles and fending off much larger predators.Thankfully though it quickly accelerates and along the way we’re introduced to some great new characters.Visually, Pixar also raise the bar yet again. (JA) WWW1/2

KIKI Swedish documentary filmmaker Sara Jordenö brings us this doco on New York City’s ‘Kiki’ sub-culture, a LGBTQ community who gather to perform elaborate vogue dance routines. Kiki shows the underbelly of this flamboyant subculture, how it offers the new queer youth a chance of love and stability, with many having been bullied out of their homes of origin due to homophobia or transphobia. The class differences between these marginalised players and whiteAnglo gays are strongly presented. (BK) WWWW

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