INNER WEST INDEPENDENT July 2021

Meet the Greens candidates for the council elections

Local drag queen on identity and performing through COVID

When I get on stage it’s the best feeling but also terrifying

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YOUR FREE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER

Inner West takes Tokyo Page 17

SEPT

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IndieNEWS T3 Line shutdown in Bankstown-Sydenham

BY DANIEL LO SURDO rain commuters on the T3 Bankstown line will be forced to seek alternate public transport avenues in the coming weeks as the NSW Government announced plans last month to close stations between Bankstown and Sydenham to carry out essential works for the Sydney Metro & Southwest project.

Stations on the T3 line will be closed from June 28 to July 11, with Transport for NSW implementing frequent bus services and additional trains to mitigate commuter inconvenience during the winter school holiday period.

“180 extra buses will run hundreds of extra services during the morning and evening peaks, with a bus available every three minutes for impacted customers,” a Transport for NSW spokesperson told the Independent.

“Additionally, 180 extra train services per day will run on the T8 Airport and South Line to complement the busing strategy linking customers to T8 stations.”

City of Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour assured constituents that Council would be closely monitoring the shutdown throughout its fortnight duration.

“I know the work being carried out will cause inconvenience to some of our residents, but I am told it is unavoidable,” Asfour told the Independent.

“I can assure residents I will be keeping an eye on the situation so there are no unnecessary delays.”

Transport for NSW Acting Deputy Secretary Howard Collins understood that reduced patronage during the school holiday period would minimise the degree of commuter inconvenience.

“We choose the school holiday period when there are less people travelling on the network to further limit impacts on the community, with an estimated 40 per cent decrease in patronage during weekdays,” Collins said.

T IndieARTS: IN THE HEIGHTS John M Chu & Lin-Manuel Miranda join forces for their new Latin love letter, In The Heights (See p. 23)

PUBLISHED DATE 24 JUNE 2021 Published monthly and freely available throughout the Inner West.

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Distribution enquiries call 9212 5677.

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ABN 52 600 903 348 Group Publisher: Lawrence Gibbons Publisher Assistant: Mal Moody Group News Editors: Allison Hore, Daniel Lo Surdo, Eva Baxter Arts Editor: Jamie Apps Contributors: Allison Hore, Wendy Bacon, Kate Rafferty, Daniel Lo Surdo, Eva Baxter, Peter Hehir, Elise Papaioannou, Dylan Griffiths, Sasha Foot, Elysia Cook, Gemma Billington, Rachel Clark, Georgia Robinson, Mark Morellini, Soofia Tariq, Jamie Apps, Irina Dunn, Renee Lou Dallow, Olga Azar, Patrick McKenzie, Jarrod Wolfhunter, Lucinda Garbutt-Young, Tessa Pelle, Craig Coventry Advertising Managers: Mal Moody 0484 042 615 Dan Kinsela 0480 362 148 Advertising: sales@altmedia.net.au Cover Photo: Rowing Australia. Thomas Birtwhistle is heading to Tokyo Designer: Nadia Kalinitcheva Mail: PO Box 843 Broadway 2007 Email: news@altmedia.net.au, arts@altmedia.net.au Ph: 9212 5677 Fax: 9212 5633

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A BROKEN PROMISE

Despite the strategy to counter the effects of the shutdown, residents from the Bankstown-Sydenham corridor have grown disillusioned by the State Government’s decision.

Sydenham to Bankstown Alliance Convenor and former Canterbury Deputy Mayor Barbara Coorey understands that the closure will wreak havoc in her area.

“We [will] have 80,000 people in peak hour who will not be able to be transported properly,” Coorey told the Independent.

“All hell is going to break loose.”

The State’s decision to shut down the

The NSW Government’s plans to open the Sydney Metro in 2024 has meant the closure of the BankstownSydenham corridor from June 28 to July 11. Photo: NSW Government

corridor this winter stands contrary to plans revealed in the Sydenham to Bankstown Preferred Infrastructure Report Overview of June 2018, whereby school holiday closures to facilitate trackwork were said to be “restricted to up to two weeks in the Christmas holidays each year,” with the document also stating there would be “no two-week possession closure during the July school holidays.”

The mixed messages received in the community have continued to fuel frustration towards the State.

“It’s a disgrace, they’ve broken their promise about shutting down the line,” Coorey said.

“We’re very angry … it’s not just the shutdown, it’s the redevelopment, the whole demolition of these suburbs.”

All hell is going to break loose Among the work that is set to be conducted to the 125-year-old T3 Bankstown line will be works to electricity substations, an implementation which Coorey believes will harm community members living and using infrastructure surrounding the corridor.

“They’re now also constructing service substations along my area in the corridors, they’re right behind people’s homes and they are designed for very high infrastructure use,” Coorey said.

“They’re building them behind the health centre and senior citizens centre in Belmore, they’re doing it right behind people’s homes in Hurlstone Park, it’s really bad.”

Substations on the Bankstown-Sydenham corridor will all be above ground and positioned within a secure compound in the railway network. They will convert electrical power to an appropriate voltage, current type and frequency, which can be used to supply the rail network with power.

While there is no established evidence that the exposure to magnetic fields from substations causes any health effects, regardless of the proximity, there remains the possibility of increased health risks for children with prolonged exposure to abnormally high magnetic fields associated with substations.

CHANGING IDENTITY

With metro services set to start in 2024, Coorey worries that the BankstownSydenham corridor is being singled out as an area for significant redevelopment.

“The T3 line is under capacity to run a metro on it … we are under patronage,” Coorey said.

“They’re creating the patronage with the high-density, because metro means high-density.”

Per .id, the City of Canterbury Bankstown Local Government Area is expected to rise 17.48 per cent in the next fifteen years, with the metro line expected to be responsible for growth in high-density infrastructure within the BankstownSydenham corridor.

The Sydney Metro plans to run a train every four minutes in peak hour in both directions from the CBD, with lifts, level platforms and platform screen doors all to be added to increase safety, accessibility and increased security.

Within the shutdown period, platforms at Marrickville, Canterbury, Lakemba, Hurlstone Park, Belmore and Wiley Park stations will be rebuilt, as well as the concourse roof at Campsie Station, and the concourse precinct at Marrickville station.

In preparation for the temporary closure, Transport for NSW has distributed 35,000 flyers at impacted stations, as well as in the CBD, to help commuters plan and alter their trips.

INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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IndieNEWS

Pub launches safety initiative response, “a lot of businesses have commented on our post saying they would also be a safe haven, so I think it’s a really great community initiative.”

She said people may not feel confident with their kids knocking on a door, but they would if it were a business.

BY EVA BAXTER t about 3:15PM on June 7 a 12-year-old girl was waiting to be picked up after school at the intersection of Terry and Thornton streets in Rozelle when she was approached by a man not known to her.

Police have been told the man attempted to speak to the girl. The girl fled on foot and sought assistance in a nearby shop.

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NSW Police encourage children to always walk straight home or to the place they are walking to, to walk near busier roads and streets or use paths where there are lots of other people and know where safe places are, a shop, service station, police station, library or school.

Officers from Leichhardt Police Area Command have commenced an investigation, which includes canvassing local businesses for CCTV footage.

He started chasing her from school and followed her The Cat and Fiddle Hotel reported the incident in a Facebook post on June 8, “he started chasing her from school and followed her until she headed towards the Cat and Fiddle Hotel. He stopped when she headed towards the Hotel because there were too many people coming in and out.”

“So PLEASE (sic) tell your children, if they ever feel in danger, to come straight into the pub and seek out one of our staff.

They will be safe and taken care of until someone can get there to collect them.”

The Cat and Fiddle Hotel in Balmain has launched ‘pubsafe.’ Photo: Google Maps

The Cat and Fiddle Hotel has launched a Pubsafe initiative in response and will put forward a motion for endorsement from Inner West Council and an endorsement from the Australian Hotels Association.

Anna Clark, sales and marketing manager at the Cat and Fiddle, said pubs are “part of the community, the

locals know us and especially in an area like Balmain and the Inner West, there’s pubs on virtually every corner, so they’re such an institution.”

“So many parents have responded so favourably and thanked us for the idea because it’s not something that they would normally consider.”

Anna said the post had a “wonderful”

As investigations continue, police would like to speak to a man who might be able to assist with inquiries.

The man is described as being of Caucasian appearance, aged between 60 and 80, with shoulder-length white hair.

He was wearing a brown puffer jacket, black pants and white Nike joggers.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Leichhardt Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

DO YOU RUN A BUSINESS IN THE CITY OF SYDNEY? ARE YOU READY TO HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR CITY’S FUTURE? You might be eligible to enrol and vote in the upcoming Council election if you: 1. Work from a space in the City of Sydney 2. Pay more than $75 per week for your work space and have been using it for three months or longer 3. You’re not enrolled as a resident in the City of Sydney local area 4. You are entitled to vote in Australian elections

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Authorised by Frank Littlewood, 25 Francis Street, East Sydney, NSW 2010

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Enrol to vote before 28 June. It only takes a few minutes!

Scan to find out how.

Addi Road Volunteers Awarded ANOTHER VISION ANOTHER COUNTRY

by Mark Mordue There’s an old saying: in dreams begin responsibilities. The Irish poet WB Yeats made reference to it, as did the American writer Delmore Schwartz, who named a short story after it. There are many ways to interpret this saying. But the most obvious would be that our dreams require serious effort if we are to make them come true; and should they start coming true, well, then we owe them something very important.

Looking at Julian Meagher’s portrait of Craig Foster with his eyes closed, it’s easy to imagine the hopes – and the weight – such dreaming can bring once you are well along the path of your life’s journey.

Moving from a childhood in Lismore, Craig enjoyed a stellar football career, playing for and captaining Australia. He then became well known as a sports commentator and football analyst under the wing of Les Murray at SBS. Now 52 years of age, Craig has emerged as one of the most important social justice voices in Australia. An arc as seamless, and yet difficult, as a child’s dream of scoring a goal playing for their country.

Craig’s picture is all over Sydney at the moment, fluttering on pennants to promote the Archibald Prize. The portrait by Julian Meagher depicts him with his eyes closed. Meagher first tried painting Craig last year. “It didn’t get into the Archibald and I am glad. I know Craig better now and this second picture is a small work,

Expressions of interest sought for two special spaces at Addi Road Addison Road Community Organisation is inviting expressions of interest from not-for-profits, charities and social enterprises to use two different spaces that are becoming available for rent in the new year.

Long-term tenants Reverse Garbage and The Bower are moving on to larger purpose-fitted spaces elsewhere in the Inner West, making two special buildings available for new initiatives for the first time in decades.

Addi Road is currently seeking expressions of interest from organisations that would like to find a new home in this unique community of charities and creatives.

intimate and more vulnerable, when he was feeling tired and asking me, ‘What do I need to do to get people to listen?’”

“But Craig always keeps playing. He keeps a cool head through what is a very difficult fight.

He’s such a steady and inspirational figure. It can give you a lot of strength watching him. It’s hard not to want to be on his team. There’s so much love and so many good people in Australia. But we need the right people at the microphone and on the front pages. Painting Craig was something tangible I could do to help with things I felt helpless about, just by getting him in the Archibald and giving him another microphone.”

Craig found inspiration in Meagher’s painting.

He calls it “a powerful work … allegorical and open to interpretation. There are so many ways our eyes have been closed … to racism, to human rights abuses, to refugees, to climate change, to sexual assault, to the disabled, to our indigenous people and something as significant at the Uluru Statement From the Heart. Rather than share the portrait over and over, I’ve been sharing little pieces online. Each piece of the painting refers to a social justice issue I’ve just described. The pieces point back to the larger portrait.

“We’ve normalised our ability in Australia to look away and get on with ‘life’. So, the painting asks people to pause and think about the human rights abuses we have perpetrated and contemplate the issues. Deep down I think the underlying driver in it all is racism. It began at The buildings are a 350 square metre straw bale store and a 1000 square metre World War One-period drill hall in need of major repair and restoration. If you are capable of taking on such a project and adapting the spaces for your purposes, please get in touch with your expression of interest. Send an email to operations@addiroad.org.au

Announcing the inaugural exhibition for the Addi Road NAIDOC Artspace Award Addison Road Community Organisation (ARCO) is based in Bullanamming (Marrickville) on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. As part of our commitment to

colonisation, and it has never been dealt with, never even been adequately discussed or explored. That’s why the lens of the #RacismNOTWelcome campaign has been so important to me.”

Craig began working on the campaign when he became an Ambassador for the Addison Road Community Organisation last year. He says, “Addi Road is like a second home to me, a spiritual home. It became the heart of multicultural Australia at the same time as the demise of the White Australia Policy under Gough Whitlam. I could relate to the multicultural community feel of Addi Road after my time at SBS. When the #RacismNOTWelcome campaign started I knew I wanted to join in.”

Rosanna Barbero, the CEO of Addi Road, appreciates the relationship. “I just love working with Craig. He’s a fighter. He’s a warrior. And I love the way he navigates the most controversial things and gets to the other end unscathed and brings people with him. People can see he is genuine. He does not do it for the glory. He is someone who believes, when given this level of privilege, that you have to use it for the benefit of others. So yes, I hope people vote for the painting of Craig for the Archibald People’s Choice award. It’s really about people voting for something bigger than the portrait.

It’s the message we all have to vote for. We all have to open our eyes.”

acknowledging and supporting the ongoing struggle for justice, rights and recognition by Indigenous Australians, we are dedicating our 80-square-metre exhibition space, the StirrUp Gallery annually for use by Indigenous artists through the Addi Road NAIDOC Week Artspace Award.

We thrilled to announce that the artists exhibiting with us in 2021 are Maddison Gibbs and Jason Wing. The artists will exhibit work inspired by stories of local waterway known as Gumbramorra Swamp and the NAIDOC 2021 theme, “Heal Country”. Their exhibition is titled We used to dance here.

Exhibition dates: July 5th – 25th Location: StirrUp Gallery, 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville

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IndieNEWS

Byrne calls for Rozelle Parklands upgrades

An artist’s impression of the Rozelle Parklands. Photo: NSW Government

BY DANIEL LO SURDO nner West Mayor Darcy Byrne has petitioned the NSW Government to make Rozelle Parklands the best sporting precinct in NSW. The Rozelle Parklands project aims to be opened in 2023, with up to 10 hectares of land offering a rectangular sporting field, an oval, play equipment, picnic areas and a wetlands area fitted with a boardwalk.

With the parklands set to be managed

by Council, but owned by Transport for NSW, Byrne has called for considerable amendments to the Rozelle Parklands’

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Urban Design and Landscape Plan to provide further sporting facilities and amenities upon the conclusion of the WestConnex Rozelle Interchange.

“Rozelle and Lilyfield residents have been subjected to the most outrageous impacts throughout the construction of the WestConnex,” Byrne said.

“I am determined to make sure there is something positive for the community to look forward to at the end of the nightmare.”

Frustration surrounding WestConnex construction continues throughout the

inner west this year, with tunnelling causing damage to multiple properties and generating consistent noise that was particularly disturbing to residents forced to stay at home as part of COVID-19 safety measures last year.

But now with the emergence of the Rozelle Parklands, Byrne views the facility as a just reward for the hardships his constituents have faced throughout the construction of WestConnex.

“We now have a unique, once in a generation opportunity for a multi-code facility that will benefit all local sporting clubs and codes,” Byrne said.

“I have been fighting on behalf of the community to ensure that the Government provides sufficient funding for the facilities and amenities within the Parklands, so that our community is not left simply with a grassed over concrete slab.”

CATERING FOR LOCALS

With insufficient facilities currently undermining community participation in the inner west, multiple sporting clubs have also requested the State Government to expand its current plans for the space.

Calls for accessible toilet and change room facilities, additional multipurpose

sporting fields, an eight-lane athletics track, hockey pitches and access to public transport have all been listed as key elements that are presently not included in the project.

The spaghetti junction promises to link the new M4 and M5 tunnels, the ANZAC Bridge, Iron Cove and the future Western Harbour Tunnel together through a complex three-storey interchange varying between 35 and 65 metres underground. The Rozelle Parklands project will be situated directly above the Rozelle Interchange.

I am determined to make sure there is something positive for the community to look forward to As part of the project, the NSW Government established the formation of the Rozelle Parklands Working Group to involve community members in optimising the use of the land.

Working Group consultation began in February this year, with an ultimate recommendation expected to be conveyed to the Minister for Transport Andrew Constance in mid-2021.

The energy transition is here - but who will be left behind?

When it comes to climate change, public opinion and economic good sense are way ahead of Scott Morrison and his Liberal National Federal Government. There is an enormous and unstoppable economic transition that is already underway - if only the federal government would get out of the way and stop throwing down roadblocks, the transition might even happen fast enough to stop us reaching dangerous tipping points in the earth’s climate.

The speed and scale of the transition has exceeded all predictions, and is gaining pace, thanks in large part to the young people of this world who have taken to the streets in recent years to demand a rapid move away from fossil fuels.

Climate activists have been sounding the alarm bells for years, but in recent years this movement has become an unstoppable force.

10 years ago when The Greens were campaigning for No New Coal, we were seen as the radical fringe. Now, mining giants, banks, insurance companies and fossil fuel companies agree with us. @jennyleong.newtown

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Every state in Australia now has a target to achieve 100% renewable energy.

Billionaires are funding an under-sea cable to export renewable energy from Australia to Asia.

The recent announcement by AGL that they would be replacing the Liddell power station with a solar farm and pumped hydro for storage is another blow to the federal government’s nonsensical and ideological ‘gas fired recovery.’ Anyone with any understanding of long term capital investment can see that the business case for investment in new fossil fuel power stations does not stack up. The only reason these projects are viable and going ahead is because the federal government is funding them. Private capital is going where the profits will be - in renewable energy.

I have no doubt that in the not too distant future, there will be criminal prosecutions for people in positions of power who knew about the climate crisis and who have willfully failed to act.

Jenny Leong MP Greens Member for Newtown P.S. Scan the QR code to watch Jenny making the case for a just transition in a speech to parliament.

By actively hindering the energy and economic transition, the federal government is putting at risk our economy, our long term security, and the right of future generations to have the same levels of prosperity and stability that previous generations have enjoyed. @jennyleong

@jennyleong.newtown

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www.catprotection.org.au INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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IndieNEWS

Inner West elections: Meet the Greens

The Greens election candidates. L to R: Kobi Shetty, Member for Newtown Jenny Leong, Liz Atkins, Member for Balmain Jamie Parker, Marghanita da Cruz, Dylan Griffiths and Justine Langford. Photo: Inner West Greens on Council

BY SASHA FOOT, ELYSIA COOK AND DANIEL LO SURDO head of the Inner West Council local elections on September 4, the Independent profiled all five Greens candidates seeking to either be elected or gain re-election to Council.

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KOBI SHETTY

Kobi Shetty is the candidate for Baludarri-Balmain, encompassing Balmain, Balmain-East, Rozelle and most of Lilyfield.

Shetty will bring her knowledge of sustainability for her potential constituents.

“Balmain has got such beautiful heritage and green spaces. We need to be proactive in order to keep it, and visionary in trying to make it what we want it to be,” Shetty told the Independent.

Shetty said that Inner West parking has been problematised by state infrastructure projects, including WestConnex, the Western Harbour Tunnel and the White Bay Power Station, whereby residents have not been able to park on their own streets.

“These projects have been really upending in this area. Everyone’s been heavily affected by drilling, noise, trucks and traffic changes.”

For Shetty, running for council is about being the voice that keeps everyone informed on issues within the community and making a difference.

“It’s important that residents get a voice rather than significant changes to their local councils being forced upon them.”

DYLAN GRIFFITHS

As a renter living in Ashfield, Dylan Griffiths is running as the lead Greens candidate for the Djarrawunang-Ashfield Ward.

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INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

Griffiths, a younger candidate, is inspired by the incumbent Councillor Tom Kiat, who was at the time he ran the only candidate under 30. “[It is] important to have a candidate that is under the area’s median age,” Griffiths told the Independent.

Griffiths also acknowledges that 50% of Ashfield residents are renters and wishes to represent those members of the community.

“Councils are generally dominated by property owners and business owners and I think in the Inner West where there’s such a high proportion of renters it’s important to have one of us.”

 It’s important that

residents get a voice rather than significant changes ... being forced upon them

Living in the Inner West for 25 years, he is eager to provide residents with access to affordable housing.

“The Ashfield Ward is the ward that suffers the most rental stress... that’s a huge issue for young people who don’t have intergenerational wealth or property.”

JUSTINE LANGFORD

Justine Langford is the candidate running for Midjuburi-Marrickville, covering Marrickville, St Peters, Sydenham and Tempe.

Langford told the Independent that her campaign prioritises the protection of the ward’s “vibrant, thriving and rich character”.

With her own edible garden, solar panels and rainwater tanks, it’s no surprise that Langford is passionate

about sustainability and sustainable design.

Langford has been a Digital Producer at the ABC for over 20 years and is a “keen dog owner, kayaker and cyclist”.

She is concerned that high-rise development in the former Marrickville Council area is unsustainable, saying that there’s been a major reduction in tree canopy and the character of the area is being destroyed.

For Langford, affordable housing and sustainable development is the answer to preserving Marrickville’s arts, creative and live music sectors.

“We don’t want to lose the creative industry that lives in Marrickville to housing which is becoming less and less affordable.”

LIZ ATKINS

Liz Atkins is running as the candidate for the Damun-Stanmore Ward.

After finishing her Law degree at the University of Sydney, Atkins shifted away from conventional legal practice and went into public service as an avenue for change.

Atkins told the Independent that public service allowed her to “consider what the law should be and make a difference that way, rather than working for the law”.

“When I retired I wanted to make a difference ... so when I looked around and saw where I could make a difference, well I could be a Councillor.”

Atkins understands that there has been insufficient attention afforded to public toilet facilities in the Inner West.

“There are older people who are stuck at home because they know there are no toilets,” Atkins said.

Atkins also identified the ward’s lack of accessibility at Stanmore Station.

“By allowing for a more accessible station, those with disabilities, the elderly and women with prams will be considered,” Atkins said.

Atkins is passionate about re-considering the Council’s tree removal policy and implementing affordable housing options for the entire Inner West area.

MARGHANITA DA CRUZ Marghanita da Cruz is the Greens’ candidate for the Galgadya (Leichhardt) Ward, currently serving as the incumbent since September 2017.

“What I’m standing for is community, heritage, clean air, clean water, walking and public transport,” da Cruz told the Independent.

Concluding her first term in Council this year, da Cruz looks to build closer connections with the community should she be re-elected in September.

“I think the relationship with the community has been really shattered through the amalgamation, and that’s something that really has to be rebuilt,” da Cruz said.

An Annandale resident of almost 30 years, da Cruz enjoys exploring different areas of the Inner West by foot in her pastime.

“We have a beautiful, walkable Inner West,” da Cruz said.

“That’s what I like best - we can actually walk to places.”

Now ahead of September’s election, da Cruz hopes she can continue to be placed in a position where she can positively impact the Inner West community.

Local Government elections across New South Wales will be held on the 4th of September 2021. Votes will determine who will represent each ward on the Inner West Council for a three-year term.

IndieNEWS

Model for Sydney parklands draws criticism

BY EVA BAXTER inister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes released at the end of May a white paper for public consultation which proposes to legislate the Greater Sydney Parklands (GSP).

GSP is a NSW government super agency established last year to oversee more than 6,000 hectares of parklands; Centennial Parklands (Centennial, Moore and Queens parks), Callan Park, Parramatta Park, Western Sydney Parklands and Fernhill Estate.

On June 12th in Potts Point, the Alliance for Public Parklands held a discussion of community advocates on the implications of the GSP.

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Trustees will be thinking about money more than trees and grass Katy Grusoven helped convene the Alliance after “alarm bells” were raised at the GSP’s announcement.

Grusoven said they had all been up against the same threats: commercial exploitation, encroachments, nibbling at the biscuit.

Minister Stokes attended the Alliance’s first public forum in February.

There he explained he wanted “[…] to make sure that I was not unnecessarily spending money on duplicating processes and running multiple administrative bodies.”

62% of Callan Park has been given to the Centennial and Moore Park Trust, which is part of the Greater Sydney Parklands agency. Photo: Eva Baxter

TAKING OUT THE TRUSTS

There are currently 3 trusts established under 4 Acts, created over many years, managing 5 parks according to the white paper, “all of this legislative complexity generates unnecessary costs that do not contribute to the improvement of parks.”

The GSP plans to remedy this by creating an independent board with a combined administrative model.

Linda Bergin OAM, advocate for public parklands said, “around 24 trustees with deep knowledge of these parklands have been reduced to eight, mostly new and with little previous parklands experience.”

“The proposal is for a self-funding GSP, so trustees will be thinking about money more than trees and grass.”

The white paper proposes innovative ways to fund the parklands while maintaining all the protections in the existing Acts that prohibit sale and retain the conservation function of the Acts.

Callan Park was given $14 million yet Stokes transferred 62% of the site to Centennial Park trust. The level of development and commercial activity allowed in Centennial Park is greater than under the Callan Park Act. Hall Greenland, president of Friends of Callan Park, suggests the proposed model “be turned upside down, and the GSP board be merely a coordinating body, that it be representative and that each of the parks have community trust boards that are representative, transparent, democratic, and have a say in everything that concerns their park before the board actually makes any decisions.”

Greenland said parklands should not have to pay for themselves, or raise funding, they should be properly funded by governments.

The Alliance for Public Parklands has met with Stokes, is participating in several Elton Consulting roundtables, and will respond to the white paper in another forum in a conversation Q&A in parliament house.

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The Inner West’s war on waste T

BY KATE RAFFERTY he Inner West is making moves towards a more ecologically sustainable community, with reuse, recycling and a circular economy at the heart of new Council and community initiatives.

At government level, the Inner West Council has released their new “Zero Waste Strategy 2021-2036” draft document, which outlines ways to address and reduce issues of waste in the Inner West over the next 15 years.

Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne says the main issue he’s keen to tackle is food waste.

“I’m really passionate about extending food recycling in the Inner West, and that’s because the reductions in carbon emissions will be massive, just by recycling food and organic material instead of dumping it at landfill,” he said.

“Not to mention, the savings for residents will be very significant, in the millions of dollars, and that will grow exponentially over time.”

One way that Council aims to target food recycling is by rolling out a food recycling service for all apartments and households in the Inner West.

Currently the programme only exists for apartments, which provides specific table-top and kerbside bins for food scraps, as well as compostable bin bags.

What is great about this technology is every item gets reused in some way The bins are collected and recycled at EarthPower, a unique food wasteto-energy facility in Camellia, which converts methane gas released by food scraps into green electricity.

Mayor Byrne says this would be a big, but valuable investment for the Council, which would call for establishing a new system of waste collection, and also education for the community.

Key news also from the strategy is the relocation of The Bower and Reverse Garbage to Summer Hill.

Having outgrown their facilities at Addison Road in Marrickville, the two organisations are expected to move to the Inner West Council Works Depot at 7 Prospect Rd, Summer Hill.

While many residents would prefer to see the organisations stay at their Addison Road home, Mayor Byrne says there are new opportunities that come with the relocation.

“I think there’s the potential for a 10

INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Director of UNSW’s SMaRT centre, with glass waste ceramic tiles like those which will be used to transform the Village Project’s building. Photo: UNSW

much bigger partnership between Council and these two not-for-profit organisations,” he said.

is choosing to revamp and renovate its new home in Summer Hill through entirely sustainable means.

collection event, which saw over 400 Inner West residents drop-off all kinds of reusable material.

The collected waste will be manufactured through the SMaRT Centre’s Green Ceramics MICROfactorie™, where a process of heat and compression reforms collected materials into an entirely new resource, including tiles, bench tops and table tops.

Stella Robison, an interior design team member at The Village Project said the SMaRT Centre’s technology has been a ‘perfect fit’ for the team and their sustainable design plans.

“The Green Ceramics technology was the perfect way to show how the community’s materials would be reused in a circular way, going straight back into our building.

“What is great about this technology is every item gets reused in some way,” she said.

According to Ms. Lea, the Project’s design plans will go further than just modelling the ethical way, with plans to

WASTE COLLECTION

While not the most glamorous, another item on the agenda is bins.

Greens councillor Marghanita Da Cruz says with the amalgamation of Councils, the Inner West has seen a disharmony between what bins different areas are using.

In Marrickville and Ashfield, households have a yellow and red bin, but in Leichhardt, households own a yellow, red and blue bin for paper.

Council is looking to harmonise these services, so each household in the Inner West has a large yellow bin, and smaller red bin.

For councillor Da Cruz, the more exciting development is the introduction of more community dropoff points for e-waste and hard to recycle items.

“We know the community has been very keen on this, so we’ll be looking to add more drop-off points at local libraries and service centres to help with the safe disposal of items like batteries, x-rays or fluorescent light globes,” she said.

While the draft remains on exhibition, Council will be reviewing community feedback submissions and plan to finalise the strategy by the beginning of the next financial year in July 2021.

SUSTAINABILITY MADE EASY

Council is not the only one making greener choices. Local not-for-profit and cooperative, The Village Project,

The Inner West Council is expanding the food waste recycling scheme to cover all households in the local government area. Photo: Inner West Council

Their latest project is a collaboration with UNSW’s SMaRT (Sustainable Materials Research and Technology) Centre, using their Green Ceramics™ recycling technology to turn unwanted or broken porcelains, textiles and glass into ‘green ceramics’ that will furnish The Village Project building.

Bindi Lea, co-founder and project manager at The Village Project says their aim is to model how sustainable renovation can be made easy.

“We want to show that we can transform a whole building completely sustainably, across three floors, and across all kinds of spaces,” she said.

To take full advantage of UNSW’s Green Ceramics™ technology, the group ran a glass and clothing waste

educate visitors to the building about how materials have been reused.

“Each item of furniture or furnishing will have a chip in it, so people can just tap their phone on the chip and then they can read an explanation about the item and also find out where to buy it”, she said.

In the future, Ms Robison says The Village Project hopes to partner with more innovative companies and encourage ethical consumerism in other ways.

“We’re hoping to build a recycling hub for problem waste in the future, and we want to run more recycling events, so we can get more education about recycling issues, and maybe looking at it in a revolutionary way”.”

IndieNEWS

Perilous Petersham crossing

BY GEMMA BILLINGTON oncerns about a Petersham pedestrian crossing culminated in the Inner West council’s unanimous decision to enhance the safety at the West Street and Railway Terrace intersection.

In a meeting last month, the Inner West council voted to alert Transport for NSW and the Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance, of the need to address the infamous intersection, a site of community worry for decades.

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Kids are genuinely unsafe on their way to school Backing onto West Street, Petersham Public School students regularly use the busy intersection and often pool at either end of the crossing due to the limited waiting space. Endless queues of cars obstruct the crossing; endangering cyclists, pedestrians, and commuters of the nearby Lewisham and Petersham Stations.

The Petersham Public School P&C launched a petition imploring the NSW State Government to improve safety, with

Darcy Byrne dubbed the West Street and Railway Terrace intersection in Petersham one of the most dangerous in the Inner West. Photo: Google Maps

measures suggesting the development of a second pedestrian crossing, red-light speed cameras, additional waiting spaces, and safety devices like guardrails and bollards.

The petition has surpassed 1,300 signatures in the four months that it’s been online.

COUNCIL CALLS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Greens councillor Louise Steer tabled the motion at an Extraordinary Council Meeting after it had been adjourned three times.

“The amount of traffic has dramatically increased in that area,” she explained.

“It’s caused by increased construction, the Petersham RSL development, the Petersham station upgrade and also because we simply have, as a result of the WestConnex and Sydney Metro ongoing construction, a lot more people coming to the area and using our roads as shortcuts to avoid WestConnex and to get home.”

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne dubbed the West Street and Railway Terrace crossing, “one of the most dangerous intersections in the Inner West.”

“Parents of Petersham Public School have rightfully been asking government and council to implement safety measures here because pedestrians are not safe when crossing over the bridge on either side of the road, and kids are genuinely unsafe on their way to school,” said Byrne.

Byrne asked the State Government to listen to residents’ concerns and said the community is “ready to work with government to make sure that this is a safer intersection.”

Steer hopes that once the Minister for Transport is aware of the dangerous Petersham intersection, discussions between council and government can begin.

Concerns remain that the disconnect between residents and Transport for NSW will further delay safety measures.

“The representative doesn’t necessarily live in the area or know the area, so they’re just looking at a lot of computer projections and things like that,” Steer said.

“It’s like a game of monopoly, moving the traffic around in a way that suits someone very remote from the area who doesn’t really care about having to drive around here.”

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IndieNEWS

Fann’ee is not your friend T

BY ELISE PAPAIOANNOU heir name is Dakota Fann’ee (they/them), and they are not your friend. This is the new catchphrase Sydney-based drag queen Dakota is testing audiences with at their resident venue, The Imperial Hotel in Erskineville.

“I haven’t had any bad reactions yet. My drag comes from comedy and my double entendre name. I do connotations to pull the joke and let them [audience] complete it. I’m always trialling stuff,” says Fann’ee.

30-year-old Dakota has been performing as a drag queen since 2008, starting in their hometown, Melbourne and moving to Sydney in September 2019. While many think their drag name is after child-star American actress Dakota Fanning, it is a double entendre.

“So, Dakota Fann’ee - break it up, my fanny smells like dick is the first one.

And then, my dick smells like fanny is the second one. So, you can read it in both ways. I come from comedy; I come from a scene where drag names were a laugh.”

For Mardi Gras 2021, The Imperial collaborated with the Broken Heel Festival to create a two-day, two-hour, 11-queen performance with a strict runtime.

Forty-five minutes before the opening show, Dakota Fann’ee got stuck in the elevator. After 30 minutes of manager’s attempts, a group of firemen came and saved them. They escaped with three minutes left until showtime.

I come from a scene where drag names were a laugh Fann’ee ran down the stairs, did not stop for water, stripped backstage and changed quickly, repeating “I’m fine!” before running out onto the stage only one minute late.

“Guys, gals and non-binary pals, I was just stuck in the fucking elevator for the last 45 minutes and made it back on the stage with only oneminute late!” Fann’ee relayed the events to the audience, who laughed and cheered. It was unbelievable and on-brand for Fann’ee to be the centre of attention and a credit to their work

Fann’ee in the Imperial Hotel dressing room. Photo: Elise Papaioannou 12

INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

ethic that they did not stop to sit down until after the show’s first act.

A MOTHER’S LOVE

Out of drag, Phe (he/him) identifies as a gay man and struggled to tell his parents he was a drag queen more than coming out as gay. Phe was born in Melbourne into a strict Greek Orthodox household.

“They have such an old view where you need to settle down and have a wife and kids or keep it a secret. So, my first barrier was to cut through that, especially being as loud and eccentric as I am.”

He described himself as a shy teenager who wanted to “branch out.”

He was on a gay pub crawl and saw a “fantastic performer, and I thought, I can do that, but better!” So Phe contacted the performer on Myspace, asking how he could do what they did.

The queen replied to shave everything and come to their house and start.

Phe’s mother says, “growing up [Phe] was a child that loved the attention, who thrived on being on stage, a child that was not afraid to express himself.”

He says his mum also struggled to understand being a drag queen didn’t mean he was transgender. Over the last 12 years, he worked to change his mother’s views to become, in Fann’ee’s words, “probably one of the biggest allies. I am quite glad they got to learn first-hand, especially about the queer community and understand that for me, drag is my performance art.”

His mother added, “finding out was hard as I did not understand what drag queen meant. I was hurt, confused and wondered where I failed as a mother.

Now I understand the meaning of the term drag. I am so proud of my son and what he has accomplished in the gay scene. And I stand by his every decision.”

FLYING HIGH

Phe always had a day job as part of a long-haul cabin crew for 12 years, flying international and national.

It allowed them flexibility and the opportunity to travel the world performing and watching drag. He has performed in underground drag shows from New York City to the Middle East.

“Sometimes that [travelling] incorporated having Dakota in one of my suitcases and learning how to paint my face with four products. So, I’ve become a bit of a MacGyver.”

Following the COVID-19 lockdown, Dakota started performing as many gigs they could pick up, describing themselves as a workaholic. Along with the Imperial, they also started regularly performing at Universal Bar in Darlinghurst and doing independent gigs.

Fann’ee performed in Rood Food at The Imperial in late 2020. Fann’ee reflects on that two-month production as a “whole new experience.”

“I didn’t do production shows of that calibre … I always look back and think, oh my god, I can’t believe we did that. I felt alive, and I certainly felt I found my home.”

Fann’ee says the tide of performers is changing, with the inclusion of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Person of Colour), AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth) and drag kings. They are especially an advocate for BIPOC performers, to get the same respect and pay rate as white queens and performers.

“That’s a constant goal,” Fann’ee said.

For Dakota’s future, they want to explore stand-up comedy, of course in drag, and continue seeing how they can waver their comedy between being politically correct and garish.

And remember, their name is Dakota Fann’ee, and they are, in their words, still not your friend.

Opinion

Green Bans Turn Fifty

IndieNEWS

President of the North Parramatta Residents Action Group Suzette Meade outside Willow Grove. Photo: North Parramatta Residents Action Group

BY WENDY BACON ifty years ago, last week, two NSW unions took a bold step. At the request of thirteen Hunters Hill women, they agreed to impose a construction black ban (later renamed a green ban) on a small piece of bushland at the junction of the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers in Sydney Harbour.

This small event sparked a unique movement that transformed urban politics in NSW for a period of several years and influenced generations of activists around heritage, planning and social issues.

The Green Bans legacy is a powerful one. As I write, residents and Sydney construction workers have mobilised overnight to defend a recent Green Ban imposed by the CFMMEU union on Willow Grove, a rare example of heritage Italianate architecture in Parramatta.

Today, if you catch a ferry from Circular Quay to Hunters Hill, you can walk along the southern shore until you come to Kellys Bush. There you will find a faded photograph plaque of NSW Builders Labourers’ Federation leader and environmentalist Jack Mundey with the ‘Battlers for Kellys Bush’. This commemorates the handing over of the land to Hunters Hill Council by the LNP

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government in the early 1990s, more than twenty years after it was protected by the first Green Ban. Although much has changed in half a century, in some respects those days were similar to our own. In 1971, Sydney was in the midst of a property and construction boom. Any site that property developers and the road building lobby could get their hands on was up for grabs. This included a huge swathe of inner Sydney from Kings Cross to Redfern, Glebe and The Rocks.

The pressure to push lowerincome residents out of inner Sydney has never stopped In Hunters Hill, developer AV Jennings planned to build high rise apartments on the Kellys Bushland. But a strong community campaign led it to offer a compromised plan of large low-rise homes. But the Battlers wanted to preserve the land for its continued use as a favourite community spot for fishing and bushwalking.

Liberal Premier Bob Askin initially appeared to be onside. His government faced an election in 1971 that Labor was expected to win. Two days before the

election, the Battlers received a telegram from Askin stating that he was “hopeful of a helpful decision on your problem and will advise within 24 hours.”

Askin scraped home. In June 1971, he informed the Battlers that the Minister for Local Government and Roads was about to rezone the land as residential.

Labor, which had promised to save the land if it came to power, recommended that the Battlers contact the unions.

Initially, the women got in touch with the union that covered the drivers of heavy equipment (FEDFA). They agreed not to work but suggested that the Battlers contact the BLF. After visiting the site, the BLF agreed to impose a ban.

MEDIA REACTION

To understand what this meant at the time, you need to know that the mainstream media demonised the Communist Party of Australia-led BLF, whose members marched to court to support arrested organisers and had even thrown an inadequate work shed into an excavation site during a safety campaign. Their politics were underpinned by a belief in workers’ rights and the social responsibility of labour to support community

rights to housing, heritage, and a healthy environment. After successful campaigns to improve their own poor conditions, the union had turned their attention to broader action.

A telegram was sent by NSW President Bob Pringle to the Battlers. It read: “This union believes that social and environmental issues are matters that should be of concern to all citizens. For this reason, we wish you well in your campaign and further resolve that 1) we will not build on the land known as Kellys Bush and 2) on request from the committee we are prepared to initiate industrial action including interstate industrial action on major projects being constructed by the phoney conservationists and Jennings.”

Among many heritage sites, the Congregational Church in Pitt Street was saved, as were buildings in Martin Place and Macquarie Street and some giant figs in the Botanical Gardens that were to be destroyed for an Opera House car park. The BLF would impose bans that were supported by a strong community campaign. With little legislative protection in place, the BLF formed an alliance with the National Trust.

(Continued on page 14) INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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IndieNEWS

Opinion

Green Bans Turn Fifty REFLECTING ON THE BANS

Looking back fifty years, the period was intense but brief. Conservative unions often failed to support the bans. For instance, Australian Workers’ Union labour was used to demolishing buildings in Ultimo to make way for an expressway. Their actions led to the ‘Battle of Fig Street’ during which antiexpressway activists occupied roofs and were arrested. Today, the site is marked by a park. When the Wran Labor government was elected in 1976, it stopped the expressway.

Scab labour was also used to break the ban in Sydney’s Rocks area. Residents from all other areas gathered to occupy the building. Scores of us, including Jack Mundey, were arrested that day. I remember being struck by the staunchness of much older women who would never have imagined ending up in a police cell to defend the actions of a ‘Communist union’. But they unflinchingly stood with the union that had given them a chance to save their working-class neighbourhoods. Further demolition was stopped.

The stakes were high, and pressure was inexorably building on the union.

Ultimately, the NSW Branch leadership

(Continued from page 13)

was eliminated by a combined intervention by the union’s Federal branch backed by the NSW Master Builders and NSW police.

GREEN BANS’ LEGACY The Green Bans saved parts of Sydney that would have otherwise been destroyed.

But the movement was about more than saving the physical environment.

It also reflected a broader set of ideas that inspired alliances between resident action groups and progressive planners and architects. Their vision was to put communities at the heart of planning. Surry Hills, for example, had its own People’s Plan that encompassed architecture, health, and education.

The pressure to push lower income residents out of inner Sydney has never stopped. To provide some secure housing, the Labor government built the Sirius building, a fine example of brutalist architecture, in a prime position in the Rocks. At the time, this was seen as a flow-on from the Green Ban that helped preserve the area.

The processes that were undermining the gains of the 1970s accelerated after the NSW LNP government was elected in

2011. The property developers and road lobby asserted their old control.

We have become used to the rhetoric of community consultation being used to justify hidden decisions that precede any public planning process. There is no better example of this than Australia’s biggest infrastructure project, the WestConnex system of private roads.

With a stroke of the pen by Minister Rob Stokes, WestConnex and other major projects have been declared ‘critical infrastructure’ against which no ‘merit appeals’ can be launched. Hundreds of homes, many of them heritage ones, were demolished. Thousands of hours were spent on submissions, including by independent experts, that were disregarded. When conditions are breached, there is no accountability.

Militant builders labourers paid a price for the Green Bans: for years they lost their right to work in the NSW industry.

Green Ban supporter and Kings Cross newspaper owner Juanita Nielsen was murdered in 1975 by organised crime interests linked with development in Victoria Street. Only this week, the NSW Police have offered a one-million-dollar reward for anyone who identifies her killers.

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However, unionists who impose Green Bans also potentially face a heavy price today. Many of those who celebrate the green bans do not realise that the actions the BLF took in the 1970s would today lead to massive fines, and even imprisonment.

Nevertheless, the resident action movement remains strong in NSW and Green Bans can still provide a way for unions to join with residents in resisting destructive developments. The CFMMEU, including its then veteran member Jack Mundey, was part of the successful campaign to save Bondi Pavilion.

Today, the CFMMEU is not alone at Willow Grove. The NSW Teachers Federation, waterside workers and museum workers are also supporting the ban. By 5.30 am this morning, 150 residents and unionists blocked the entrances. Later, the North Parramatta Residents’ Action Group barrister headed for the NSW Supreme Court to appeal against last week’s decision. An injunction against anyone entering the site has been granted until the appeal is heard next Friday. The choice, resident activists say, should not be heritage versus a new museum but a plan that incorporates both. Their struggle, like the building itself, draws on a rich heritage.

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IndieNEWS

Opinion

Council can take action on affordable housing

BY DYLAN GRIFFITHS ydney is the third worst city in the world for housing affordability. In Australia, one in six young people aged 15–19 have experienced homelessness, 25 percent of whom are based in NSW. For many the amount needed for a home loan deposit seems insurmountable with the inability to become a homeowner tied to intergenerational inequality.

We have a growing gap between property owners and lifelong renters.

In 2016, the percentage of renters in the Inner West had climbed above 40% compared to the 32.6% in greater Sydney. It’s even more stark in my area, Ashfield.

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I lived in affordable government owned affordable housing for a few years - it changed my life. It lifted me up, allowed me to study at university, find secure employment, and pursue my passions.

If it wasn’t for affordable housing, I would not be running for council today.

You may have heard, generally from a relatively affluent property owner, that ‘councils can’t do anything for housing affordability’, ‘only state and federal governments can take action’, or ‘this isn’t a key issue for our area’ – these assertions are far from reality, councils can and must take action on affordable housing.

Access to financial resources vary significantly between local government areas – as such, so does a council’s ability to leverage funding. The Inner West Council has land, under-utilised borrowing power, and was recently given $70 million dollars due to the compulsory acquisition of Councilowned land in Tempe.

COUNCIL’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUND In 2019, with sustained pressure from Greens councillors, the Inner West Council established an affordable housing trust fund to hold revenue from its small affordable housing stock and relevant Voluntary Planning Agreements, so that they could be reinvested into maintenance of units and development of new affordable housing projects. This fund could be significantly bolstered by levying developers for an affordable housing contribution.

A DEVELOPER LEVY

The Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme and State Environmental Planning Policy 70 (SEPP70) allows councils to levy developers and make them pay for affordable housing by

The Ironbark affordable housing development in the City of Sydney. Photo: City West Housing

contributing a share of their windfall profits when an area is rezoned for higher density. Once councils develop an affordable housing contribution scheme they must embed it in their local environmental plans (LEP) and it becomes part of the local planning laws. The scheme is not currently used by the Inner West Council.

Councils can and must take action on affordable housing This scheme has been available in selected parts of the City of Sydney since 2002, and recently became available across NSW. In Green Square, the City of Sydney gives residential developers the choice of 3% of the total residential floor area being provided as affordable housing or $228.58 per square metre (indexed annually) of the total residential floor area. Monies are collected in a trust fund and passed onto City West Housing, which is responsible for development and management of affordable housing in the area.

Using this scheme and others driven by former Greens Councillors on the City of Sydney Council, the City reports the delivery of 835 new affordable housing dwellings with hundreds more in the pipeline. Imagine if the Inner West had a similar scheme in place prior to

large developments along the Summer Hill/ Lewisham/ Dulwich Hill light rail corridor.

While intended to provide rental units for very low to moderate income households the City of Sydney’s scheme that delivers below market rent housing is still too expensive for people on low incomes. Further, the City does not retain ownership of many of the affordable housing units and, from some perspectives, it could be viewed as a developer-led affordable housing program. We want to take a different approach to SEPP70 and an associated developer levy.

A GREENS LED COUNCIL WOULD DO MORE

We believe that not for profit housing should be owned by council. This means the public can hold their council to account on quality, management, and growth of council’s housing stock. A Greens led Inner West Council will build hundreds of council owned affordable housing units.

Inner West Council Greens also prefer using the SEPP70 as a levy rather than inclusionary zoning (floor space contribution) as it would allow council to retain control over a development’s architectural, sustainability and management standards – we don’t want to see developers just reserve

their cheapest and most poorly built units for their contribution, nor would we want to see an Inner West version of London’s Sky Pool controversy, an apartment block’s 25m luxury lap pool that is not accessible to the development’s affordable housing tenants.

It’s disappointing that more councils have not managed to embed a SEPP 70 scheme into their LEP - a Greens led Inner West Council will ensure that a developer levy is implemented. Housing is a right, and the perverse role of the profit motive in the housing industry should, at the very least, be mitigated with profits being channelled back into the community.

The Greens on council will make full use of the current planning rules to get proper benefits for the community from new development. As well as calling on the state government to massively increase its affordable and social housing stock, our MPs are also working hard to give local government greater power and to change the planning rules that allow poor quality, expensive housing to be built and under the guise of ‘affordable housing’.

While the state and federal governments need to address the housing crisis, action at the local level is not a question of ability but of priority and political will.

INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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IndieNEWS

Opinion

Council de-amalgamation: rage against the machine

A recision motion put forward to stop the vote on deamalgamation going ahead has been defeated. Photo: Peter Boyle

BY PETER HEHIR onday night saw the ALP machine get a well-deserved kick in the teeth and the result was a great win for democracy!

The ALP Councillors, voting as a block, as is the ALP caucused custom, were soundly thrashed by a majority of 10 to 5 when their rescission motion - which effectively would have denied Inner West residents a say on whether their local councils should be de-amalgamated - was easily defeated.

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Even both of the Liberal councillors thought that it was anti-democratic!

The attempt by the ALP to deny the people of the Inner West a say on whether the IWC should de-amalgamate and be put to a vote at the Council elections on September 4th, was tossed out with the rest of the political rubbish.

The ALP’s scare tactics came to nought.

The cost can, should and no doubt will be borne by the State Government, even if we have to mount a massive campaign to force them to exercise the power that they have under the Act.

CRITIQUES OF THE ALP

Frankly I’m appalled at what the ALP has become.

Not just in the Inner West, but all over the country. The great, male, moving right show continues its jackbooted trampling of democracy.

The ALP’s record here in the Inner West under the leadership of the Labor Party mayor, Darcy Byrne isn’t at all pretty. He worked for a period in the office of the 16

INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

current Federal Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese, who has spent a lifetime inside the Labor Party machine.

The IWC deal done with the Liberals to ensure that the Greens, who had five councillors elected, were kept down, didn’t sit at all well with the true believers of either major party.

It’s my understanding that Byrne is facing suspension after 6 allegations levelled against him were upheld (4 in full and 2 in part) by The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

The penalties will be announced on 28th June.

Having never seen this situation before in the Inner West, it is not yet clear about the implications of any potential suspension and its impact on the functioning of the IWC. It is a fact that we have seen five General Managers come and go under the stewardship of the mayor, Darcy Byrne.

His performance during his term as mayor, his relationship with IWC senior management and especially with the role he played in the amalgamation of Ashfield, Marrickville and Leichhardt Councils, bears some really serious scrutiny.

He tabled a motion at an IWC meeting where he’d threatened possible defamation proceedings by way of a ‘Concern Notice’ issued against a sitting independent councillor; forced her to apologise and didn’t declare his interest, which led to the investigation by NCAT. Wendy Bacon wrote in a recent City Hub article:

“According to Council Minutes of March 10th 2020, the ‘conduct reviewer’ found Byrne breached the Council’s Social Media Policy in making comments about another Councillor which “a reasonable person would consider humiliating”, and by attributing motives of personal advancement to Lockie and accusing her of being “unprofessional, disrespectful and having bad manners,” the Mayor had acted in a way that would bring the Council into “disrepute.”

Infiltration of newly formed community organisations, in response to some of the more outrageous decisions made by a succession of both Labor and Liberal State Governments, is unfortunately an all too common ALP practice.

The political naivety of these groups makes them susceptible to the subversive tactics employed by some ALP apparatchiks and their diehard rusted on supporters, in order to take over, white-ant and thus neuter these well-meaning community groups from within.

However I’m not suggesting either Byrne or Albanese are such operators.

There are many genuine people in the ALP and I knew quite a few of them personally during my time as a member, but it was and still is, an organisation that is tearing itself apart internally.

TENSION WITHIN DIFFERENCE

The vitriol that exists between the Left and Right factions has to be seen firsthand to be believed.

While I was the President of the Rozelle Branch, I continually refused overtures by

both factions to join them and elected to remain independent, so not to be forced to toe any particular line. I was told by an ALP teacher on the Left that I had to join a faction or “I’d be hit by trucks travelling in both directions”.

This comment was made without malice and with genuine concern by someone who I both respected and admired and was around the time of the bashing of Federal ALP member Peter Baldwin, some forty years ago.

Frankly I’m appalled at what the ALP has become For years I kept a baseball bat inside the front door and slept with one beside my bed.

I firmly believe that local issues should be determined on merit and that decisions should be made by local representatives that benefit the community as a whole.

Councillors have also expressed alarm at the high level of staff resources for the mayor. The Labor Party mayor has five staff, costing $2.1 million over the term.

That’s more than a quarter of the current IWC debt!

Independent councillor John Stamolis has proposed that any requirement for more than two staff in the Mayor’s Office must come to a Council meeting for debate, and that at least three of these current staff be allocated to roles which actually provide a direct service to our community.

Sounds pretty good to me.

I can hardly wait for the June 28…

THE INNER WEST ROWERS TAKING ON TOKYO 2020 Five Inner West rowers to fly the Australian flag at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games

BY DANIEL LO SURDO ith a much-anticipated Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games set to begin in the coming months, five Inner West based rowers are set to make their mark on the global stage.

To commemorate the occasion, the Independent has profiled all five rowers that will represent both the Inner West and Australia in the Japanese capital.

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THOMAS BIRTWHISTLE

Thomas Birtwhistle is a member of UTS Haberfield Rowing Club, where from Dobroyd Parade, he has continued to progress and build his performances for Tokyo.

At the 2021 Australian Rowing Championships, Birtwhistle took gold in the PR3 Men’s Single Sculls with a time of 7:39.75, beating out Tokyo 2020 crewmate James Talbot in the final.

In June this year, Birtwhistle joined Kathryn Ross and Simon Albury at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Gavirate, Italy to meet classification and eligibility requirements for the PR3 Paralympic rowing category. Whilst in Italy, Birtwhistle took out the PR3 Men’s Single Sculls event at the International Para-Rowing Regatta, which ran alongside the Final Qualification Regatta.

Now with a Paralympic campaign looming, Birtwhistle will look to capitalise on his rich vein of form in Tokyo.

JAMES TALBOT

James Talbot began his rowing career in the Inner West with Balmain Rowing Club, before moving on to Sydney University Boat Club and the New South Wales Institute of Sport.

Talbot will be the other male representative to join Birtwhistle in the Australian Mixed Coxed Four boat - with the pair united by similarly enduring roots to the Inner West.

Talbot started rowing in high school, however gave up the sport after finishing his secondary studies. It was not until he was involved in a serious motorbike accident resulting in permanent damage

UTS Haberfield Rowing Club’s Thomas Birtwhistle will be competing at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Photo: Supplied

to his hand and wrist that he picked up an oar again, with his injuries preventing the possibility of playing contact sports.

The 28-year-old first made his Australian team debut at the 2018 World Championships, where as part of the Men’s Pair, finished second.

Outside of rowing, Talbot works as a foreign exchange dealer in the financial markets.

Coached by Lizzi Chapman, Talbot will now be fixated on registering an eyecatching Paralympic debut campaign.

GEORGIE ROWE

After only taking up the sport in May of 2017, UTS Haberfield Rowing Club’s Georgie Rowe has enjoyed a rise to the Olympic stage that very few could replicate.

A native of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Rowe first decided to begin rowing after being crowned national champion at the 2016 Australian Indoor Rowing Championships. With a lengthy background in surf ski paddling and surfboat rowing, Rowe’s flat-water talent was first nurtured by David Gely and Tim McLaren at the UTS Rowing Club.

With strong performances continuing to mount from Dobroyd Parade, Rowe earned selection to her first Australian Rowing Team in 2018, where she won

bronze in both the World Rowing Cup 2 and World Championship regattas as part of a fierce Women’s Eight crew.

Initial displays in an Australian outfit secured Rowe’s continued selection in the national crew. The 28-year-old won gold and silver respectively in the 2019 World Rowing Cups 2 and 3, while winning silver in the World Championships.

 Birtwhistle will look to capitalise on his rich vein of form in Tokyo Ahead of Tokyo, Rowe has been training at Rowing Australia’s National Training Centre to optimise her preparation and train alongside her crewmates ahead of a highly expectant Olympic regatta.

Away from the water, Rowe enjoys meditating, yoga, reading, surfing, and drinking coffee. She is also a registered nurse.

NICHOLAS LAVERY

As another member of the UTS Haberfield Rowing Club, Nicholas Lavery will be targeting a memorable showing for a strong Men’s Eight crew in Tokyo.

Lavery first wore Australian colours at

the 2019 U23 World Championships, where in a Men’s Four crew along with Marcus Britt, William O’Shannessey and younger brother Rohan, Lavery finished ninth. Experience on the international stage provided Lavery greater exposure to the world’s best young rowers before arriving back in the UTS Rowing sheds on the Parramatta River.

The following year saw Lavery accept his invitation to Rowing Australia’s Reinhold Batschi National Training Centre in Canberra, with ambitions to forge an Olympic debut atop the Wesley College alumni’s move to the nation’s capital.

Now with a year under the top rowing infrastructure in the country, and previous experience in international competition, Lavery looks poised to mark an impressive performance in Tokyo.

When Lavery isn’t training or competing, the Melbourne native enjoys music, writing and meditating.

TIMOTHY MASTERS

Joining Lavery in the Australian Men’s Eight boat will be fellow UTS Rowing Club member Timothy Masters.

After graduating from Princeton University in America with a Bachelor’s in Military & Political History, Masters returned to Australia for a bid to qualify the Men’s Eight for Rio 2016.

While Masters couldn’t gain qualification for the Brazilian-held Olympics, the now 29-year-old became a regular fixture in the Australian national team the year prior, with the Melbourne native collecting silver medals in both the 2017 and 2018 World Rowing Cup 3 while also finishing second in the Men’s Eight final of the 2018 World Championships.

During this period, Masters joined Rowing Australia’s National Training Centre in Canberra.

A brief switch to the Men’s Fours in the 2019 season earned Masters gold in the World Rowing Cup 2 and 3 before a sustained return to the Eights competition for the 2021 season.

Masters lists Hanover in New Hampshire, USA, as his favourite place to compete, and enjoys reading, music and cycling in his spare time.

INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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IndieNEWS

Marrickville Town Hall live music proposal muted support from the Councillors previously as well as from the local community and the music sector.”

CRITICISM OF THE MOTION

The plan was for the building to be transformed into a venue for concerts, performances and cultural events, with Council hoping the Town Hall’s transformation would birth a wider cultural precinct on Marrickville Road.

Plans to bring live music to Marrickville Town Hall have been halted. Photo: Inner West Council

BY ALLISON HORE rom council meetings to contemporary culture, the Marrickville Town Hall was set to begin a new life as a live music venue.

But those plans have been halted after some councillors had second thoughts about the idea.

In September last year, the Inner West Council moved to transform the building into a live music and performing arts venue.

But following a council meeting last week, the plans to transform the space

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into a live music venue will go back to the drawing board. In the meeting, councillors voted to refer the September motion back to a “relevant local democracy committee” for advice.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne expressed disappointment towards the decision.

“The longstanding project to convert Marrickville Town Hall into a multicultural music and arts venue has been derailed with Greens, Liberals and independent Councillors voting not to proceed with the plan,” Byrne said.

“This plan has had overwhelming

This plan has had overwhelming support from the Councillors previously The move was not without criticism.

Greens member for Balmain, Jamie Parker, called it a “property fire sale” and said it was “disappointing”. The venue is currently used by a number of local community groups to run events.

Councillor Victor Macri questioned the viability of community use of the space during working hours and said more work needs to be done on the proposal before it moves ahead.

“Community use from 9 to 5? Most of the community are working then, so that’s

going to be a bit difficult, so that’s not really going to be for community use,” he said.

“I don’t think I can support this.”

Some councillors also expressed concern about the impact a “state-ofthe-art” council venue would have on struggling local live music operators in a post-COVID economy.

“The last thing they would want is a council multi-million dollar investment competing against them,” said independent councillor John Stamolis.

After a heated exchange with Byrne, Stamolis seconded a foreshadowed motion put forward by Greens councillor Colin Hesse requesting the live music venue proposal be reworked.

Byrne said the rationale given by councillors who voted to delay the expressions of interest process was “nonsensical.”

“The reasons put forward for withdrawing support for this awesome idea were, with respect, quite nonsensical,” he said.

“They claimed, variously, that there was no demand for music venues, that the Town Hall would be an inappropriate location and that it would be bad for the Marrickville economy.”

COFFIN ED’S NAKED CITY

RHYMING SLANG REBORN!

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he internationally famous Australian jockey Edgar Britt, who died in 2017 aged 103, was occasionally asked his reaction to the popularity of his name in Australian rhyming slang. For those not familiar “going for an Edgar” meant going for a shit and was in common usage for about half a century. Rather than be offended, the sharp witted Britt was happy to acknowledge the association and enjoy the humorous side of the phrase. These days most millennials would have no idea of what you were saying if you announced you were “going for an Edgar”. It seems traditional Australian rhyming slang has no place in the quasi-illiterate world of texting, social media chit chat and day to day banter.

Modern day rhyming slang is generally agreed to have started in London in the first part of the 19th century, popularised by Cockney street vendors looking for a secret language to disguise what was being said from passers-by. Whilst its stronghold is still in the East End of London and other working class areas, it has quickly infiltrated the broad British lexicon, although still associated with a certain uncouth underclass. The Queen would never use it!

of hip hop influenced, non rhyming (and generally boring) street jargon takes over.

Just when rhyming slang arrived in Australia is open to question and there’s strong evidence that the early convicts used it as a kind of coded language to deceive their captors. The Cockney variety certainly peaked in the post WWII period, popularised by radio broadcasters, sporting commentators and the thriving pub culture.

Whilst any word can be used to rhyme it’s the names of well known personalities that stand out, like Barry Crocker (i.e. ‘having a shocker’), Reg Grundy (i.e. ‘your undies’) and Bob Hope (i.e. ‘soap’).

There’s currently a dictionary of hundreds, if not thousands of words that range from Khyber Pass (i.e. ‘arse’), to Britney Spears (i.e. ‘beers’) and Apple Tart (well that one’s fairly obvious). Whilst constantly updated, much of the old school slang remains, kept alive and passed down from generation to generation. However its popularity is generally seen to be waning, as a new style

Every now and then, some of the gems of distinctly Australian rhyming slang are highlighted in the media or elsewhere. Back in 2013 the Fraser Coast Regional Council in Queensland announced a series of informal chats with the mayor and members of the community, which would be called, “Jatz and Crackers with the Mayor”. Needless to say this generated considerable

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mirth as ‘Jatz Crackers’ in rhyming slang translate as ‘knacker’s’ or to put in bluntly, the male genitalia.

Given the paucity of vocabulary currently employed by much of today’s youth and the homogenisation of language that the internet has brought, it’s definitely time to reinvent the idiom and bring back a contemporary form of rhyming slang. Here are just a few suggestions: Miley Cyrus – ‘The Virus’ (i.e. COVID-19) and Annabel Crabb – ‘The Jab’ - As in, she didn’t want to get the Miley so she went in for her Annabel.

Craig Kelly – ‘A belly’ or better still ‘a belly laugh’ - As in, I stumbled on Craig Kelly’s Facebook page and got a big Craig Kelly out of the QAnon garbage he had just posted.

Fred Nile – ‘A mobile phone’ - There are many who would never want to acknowledge his name, but hey, what else rhymes with ‘mobile’.

Donald Trump: ‘A dump’ - Time to let Edgar rest in peace and next time you are going to the toilet, you are there to ‘take a Trump’.

Miranda Devine: ‘A whine’ - She was upset with the Left again and was having a real Miranda about it.

Al Pacino: ‘A cappuccino’ - She opted for a latte but he preferred an Al Pacino.

Or to put the whole lot it into context: I was just enjoying an Al Pacino when I had a call from Pete Evans on my Fred Nile. Pete was raving on about the Miley and why he was going to avoid the Annabel. He was having a real Miranda and all I got out of it was a big Craig Kelly. The whole episode made me want to take a Trump!

IndieARTS

POTTED POTTER – THE UNAUTHORISED HARRY EXPERIENCE

BY OLGA AZAR otted Potter – The Unauthorised Harry Experience is a capsule capture of author J.K Rowlings’ seven-book series that shattered records across readers of all ages, and engendered so much attention worldwide that it has its own parody and, heartfelt treatment. Not just for the fans, the short, audience-friendly show features two clever Kiwi-based actors who compress the phenomenon of the books’ exploits and adventures into 70 minutes of gleeful chaos.

Potted Potter started out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 15 years ago and has been touring with various productions ever since, and now resuming in the ANZAC bubble.

According to producer James Seabright, “the show’s creators Daniel Clarkson and Jeff Turner have worked carefully to adapt the production to be COVID safe, which will also mean that repeat visitors to the show will enjoy some exclusive new material. Australia, thank

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you for having us back and I hope you enjoy the show!”

“It’s very exciting,” says Tama Jarman, who plays a somewhat dim-witted foil to fellow actor Adam Brown, of coming over the ditch. Jarman admits that he hasn’t read the books, though he’s seen the movies. This might work in his favour, “my character makes a few mistakes on getting things right,” he explains, as his character confuses other stories and quests (will Frodo appear?), and the actors jump from being themselves to characters in the comedy.

“Everyone should come along, even if they are not Harry Potter fans. There are enough non-Harry Potter references to keep everyone interested.”

“There is massive appeal,” says Jarman.

“From six to Dumbledore’s age, 150 is the cap. Can I please see your ID?” Until Jul 4. Seymour Centre, Cnr City Rd &, Cleveland St, Chippendale. $59.90-$79.90+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.seymourcentre.com

THE TAP AFFECT

The Australian Tap Company. Photo: Sean Sinclair

BY MARK MORELLINI ap dancing is a style of dance that you don’t see much of in Australia but The Tap Affect, the inaugural dance project from The Australian Tap Dance Company, is about to change that.

Peta Anderson has achieved so much in this field and is one of the co-creative directors of the dance company. She also choreographed and dances in this show.

“The concept of the show is the way tap has affected the tap dancers in the show, how it has affected our emotion and the way it makes us feel. As well as taking the audience on a journey it’s basically about us going on our own journey.”

The roots of tap are represented by seven dancers and a percussionist

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who pay tribute to the masters who created this art form including Eddie Brown, Buster Brown and Eleanor Powell.

“We go on more of a percussive journey rather than choreographing a Broadway dance piece. We want the audience to feel how tap dance can make them feel emotionally rather than it being in lights and big costumes. We’re stripping it all back and getting into the musicality of tap.”

But do audiences have to be tap dance enthusiasts to enjoy the show? “No Definitely not. I think if you enjoy music and dance, you’re really going to enjoy it!

Jul 8-10. Riverside Theatres, Church & Market Streets. $24-$38+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.riversideparramatta.com.au INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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IndieARTS

OUT OF AFRICA

talent for singing, writing, and performing

BY JARROD WOLFHUNTER is obvious. Tarisai spoke openly about arisai Vushe is the Zimbabwean-born, hardships faced during the pandemic and singer-actor, and psychologist, who its devastating and lingering impacts on first became familiar to Australians as a the performing Arts Industry.

20 year old in 2007 when she stunned Yet, it was during this period of audiences with powerful performances uncertainty that, Out Of Africa was born. covering Whitney Houston, and Tina Tarisai met with Playscript’s Artistic Turner on reality TV; Tarisai has Director, Geoffrey Sykes in late 2020 to been a powerhouse ever since.

From 2013 to 2016, Tarisai performed not one but discuss three pivotal roles in her Disney’s, The Lion King story of a before thrusting herself childhood into the Nelson Mandela in Zimbabwe, Musical, Madiba from 2018migrating to 19 as a lead.

Sydney, Australia Tarisai is inspiring at 14 years old, - with aspirations and growing up towards United with dual cultural Nations identities in a Ambassadorship country grappling with Tarisai Vushe. Photo: Supplied - her passion and

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Suzan Mutesi. Photo: Supplied

the nuances of multiculturalism before catapulting herself into the entertainment industry on prodigious vocals, drive, talent, and grit.

With input from Zimbabwean keyboardist, Jonathan Chagaresango; Ugandan dance and song talent, Kenneth Tusubira; model and born performer Suzan Mutesi; Out Of Africa came together naturally and at an extraordinary speed, and will be stage-ready at the Seymour Centre Sound Lounge in Redfern in July, and

Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre in August.

The performance length is a hefty 105 minutes featuring time-honoured African song and dance, with contemporary Australian themes infused with comedy, rap, folklore and history, and is something not to be missed.

Jul 3-17. Seymour Centre Sound Lounge, Corner City Road & Cleveland Street, Redfern. $31-$36+b.f.

Tickets & Info: www.seymourcentre.com

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IndieARTS

RAISING AID FOR INDIA AT THE FACTORY THEATRE

BY RENEE LOU DALLOW e have all seen the distressing images of COVID ravaged India on our screens and most of us have felt pretty helpless in the face of it. Ramy Zach, a Hatha Yoga teacher who runs Adiyoga in Newtown through the Isha Yoga Centre, has decided to be proactive in raising money to help.

Zach and his team have created the event, Raising Aid For India, which will take place at The Factory Theatre Marrickville.

“We’ve had only a few weeks to make all this happen,” said Zach. “Outside in the courtyard there will be DJs, food stalls and traditional arts and crafts.

Whilst inside, there will be a variety of workshops running consecutively.”

Workshops include Bollywood Dance lessons, ‘Sound Healing’ workshops, which Ramy explained, rely on different sound vibrations to heal different parts of the body through physical and

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mental meditation. There will also be talks on Ayervedic medicines which are, according to Zach, “based on natural mediums and organic compounds made from mixed herbs. These come from a knowledge of yoga and lead to ways of treating illness in the body by creating balance on a deeper level.” Very popular too is soul drumming, which is a way of channeling what is deep within through the rhythm of drum beats.

The project works to provide free hospital transport for the poor, food and safety packs for hospital and frontline workers, COVID support phone lines, insurance cover for sanitary and frontline workers, cremation services and more. This will all be done through charities working in India and sponsored

by Unicef.

Jun 27. The Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville. $30-$35+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.factorytheatre.com.au

ORDINARY PETS FOR AN EXTRAORDINARY CAUSE

BY LUCINDA GARBUTT-YOUNG his July, ordinary animals across Australia will contribute to the care of seriously ill children across four hospitals associated with Ronald McDonald House.

Paws For Sick Kids aims to raise money for at least 625 nights of accommodation for families of unwell children.

This is vital for families who live over 100km away from treatment at Sydney Children’s Hospital.

The charity also want to see children happy and willing to come in for treatment.

Enter your fury (or scaley, or even feathury) best friend; by entering the challenge and using #pawsforsickkids, your pet’s photo or video will be shown to sick children around Australia, encouraging smiles.

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Callum Pugh and Wilbur

You will be able to choose from seven challenges that showcase your pet’s personality to the world.

“Paws For Sick Kids is by design a cheerful campaign. We want it to brighten the moods of the families we support, as well as positively engage the general community. Pets provide a really unique form of comfort,” said RMHC Sydney CEO, Simone Daher.

The charity is also calling for donations in addition to making children happy. When you post your pet, you might also collect sponsorship from friends.

The task is simple. Show off your beloved pet, raise some funds, and help the families of sick children have the best experience they can.

Find out more at www.pawsforsickkids.com.au INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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IndieARTS

HARPER BLOOM

BY JAMIE APPS hen Melbourne’s Harper Bloom first started writing her latest single, Shaky Bones, little did she know the journey of a year that Australia was about to embark upon. Written just after the first COVID induced lockdown of Melbourne Harper looks back on that moment and says “we didn’t realise what was about to hit us.” Now coincidentally enough the single has arrived just after Melbourne completes yet another lockdown, although thankfully this one was much shorter.

Speaking with Harper recently we discussed the inspirations behind Shaky Bones, the upcoming EP Faith, Sex & Skin, and her mindset as live shows return.

Whilst speaking about Shaky Bones Bloom explained that it was inspired by a combination of factors. Musically Harper says the track was heavily influenced by Neil Diamond’s Cherry Cherry because she had become “infatuated by the upbeat strumming patterns and the simple chord progressions.” Lyrically though the inspiration came from a source closer to home.

“The lyrics then came from watching people on the beach and witness a bit of miscommunication between a couple who weren’t really sure of where they were sitting with each other,” explained Bloom.

“They were kissing and then fighting, so I wrote a song about being so nervous around someone that they send shivers up your spine.”

Shaky Bones along with the five other tracks make up the Faith, Sex & Skin EP. During our chat Bloom said the EP has a nice mixture of songs, some of which

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are “super playful and fun to play live”, combined with a a “couple of slower, more serious songs.” The string which binds the entire EP together though is the “upbeat and positive message” it conveys.

Surprisingly Faith, Sex & Skin was Bloom’s first experience recording in a professional studio with a producer to guide her.

“Recording in a studio was a bit daunting,” said Bloom. “But, Ben [McCarthy - Harper’s producer] has a way of making you feel extremely comfortable and confident. He basically said ‘sing as though you are in your lounge room and think about why you wrote the song.”

With Ben’s guidance Harper says she was able to produce her “most honest work” to date.

To celebrate Pride Month in June Harper will be making her Sydney live performance debut at the acclaimed Oxford Art Factory.

“That’s really exciting because I’ve never played in Sydney before,” said Bloom.

“I’m excited to play on Oxford Street and meet everyone that is there to listen to my music.”

When asked what Sydneysiders can expect from a Harper Bloom show she said, “My band and I have worked really hard on creating a really fun, vibrant & inclusive show. We love to get the audience involved and singing along.

The show is all about positivity, getting everyone in the room involved and all coming together to have a great night.”

Jun 25. OAF - Gallery, 38/46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst. $19.38+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.oxfordartfactory.com

ANITA LESTER Anita Lester’s Sun And Moon And Stars searches for connection in a disconnected world

BY TESSA PELLE isten to any of Anita Lester’s songs, and you’ll find yourself entranced by the inner workings of her deepest thoughts.

Written in the middle of 2020, her new single Sun And Moon And Stars masterfully captures feelings of connectedness in a time of uncertainty and isolation.

“Walking through the usually bustling streets of St Kilda and feeling the dead air was quite a profound thing to witness every day. I was feeling so alone but also feeling so connected with the quietness of that moment in the world,” she says.

Anita Lester is a Melbourne-based musician, writer, and artist. After releasing her debut EP, Erato in 2020, her new music encapsulates the lessons she’s learned amid a globalpandemic.

“Everyone has these very inner tumultuous worlds, but there’s something so much bigger that connects us all” she says.

Like many artists and musicians, Anita found herself stuck for inspiration when the world shut down last year. “I’ve been writing music since I was a young teenager and it usually comes out quickly and easily, but [in 2020] I only wrote 1/50th of what I usually would in a year.

“Even though there’s been less of it, the quality of the music I’ve made, I

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think, has been more substantial and considered,” she says.

In Sun And Moon And Stars, Anita uses the universal experience of the pandemic as her muse, creating an experience listeners can relate to. Her folk-centric style is honest and raw.

“I’m trying to not write about my romantic experiences. I think a lot of artists chase the romantic muse, but a lot of my music is centred around the universe and the world we live in.”

After a year of Zoom calls and livestreams, Anita is still experiencing the impacts of the pandemic on live performances.

“When I get up on stage now, it’s simultaneously the best feeling in the world but also completely terrifying.

Everyone I know who is playing music again feels like an imposter in their own industry” she says.

Anita will be performing a stripped back show at Sydney’s Giant Dwarf Theatre on July 8 that will treat listeners to an intimate night of unique storytelling.

“It’s kind of the first gesture to the world of my new sound. I have a dynamic presentation of the different instruments that I play and the types of stories that I tell between me and an instrument.”

Jul 8. Giant Dwarf Theatre, 280 Cleveland St, Surry Hills. $20-$25+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.giantdwarf.com.au

IndieARTS

FRENCH RETRO FILM FESTIVAL

BY MARK MORELLINI overs of French Cinema should be delighted with the specially curated Vive La Revolution: French Retro Film Festival which arrives just in time for the Bastille Day celebrations.

The program consists of 12 classic comedies and dramas that have made an impact on discerning audiences over the years and should also be of interest to a whole new generation of cinephiles.

The Grand Illusion was produced in 1937 and is regarded as the best French film of all time and something of a masterpiece.

Two French soldiers make several escape attempts in a German prisoner of war camp and are ultimately imprisoned in an inescapable fortress. Starring renowned actor Jean Gabin this was the first

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foreign film to garner an Academy Award nomination for Best Film.

Married At Marinbad is the critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated 1961 drama starring Delphine Seyrig. Set in an isolated chateau, a man meets a woman whom he believes he has met previously. A haunting romantic tale perhaps even a ghost story?

Winner of Best Film at the 1967 Venice Film Festival, Belle De Jour stars sex kitten Catherine Deneuve and tells the story of a beautiful but frigid housewife whose promiscuous fantasies lead her to becoming a prostitute. Tragic and perverse this film may have been ahead of its time.

For audiences who enjoy black comedies 1991’s Delicatessen delivers the goods.

IN THE HEIGHTS

BY JAMIE APPS irected by Jon M. Chu the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first broadway hit, yes even before Hamilton, In The Heights is a bright and colourful love letter to Latin culture in New York.

In The Heights places bodega owner Usnavi de la Vega (Anthony Ramos) at the core of the film to guide the story but this is not a film with a singular focus. Rather In the

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La Vie En Rose

This zany film surrounds an apartment building landlord who prepares delicious meals for the tenants who are regarded as oddities. Winner of several European film awards.

What would a French Retro Film Festival

Heights is a film about the Latin community of Washington Heights as they chase their dreams in the face of ever encroaching gentrification of their neighbourhood.

Throughout its two hour and 23 minute runtime In The Heights is an unabashed musical filled with vibrancy, colour and exuberant dance numbers which combine Spanglish, salsa dancing, and hip-hop. While most of these moments hit and create a fun filled energetic experience for the viewer the lengthy runtime is a concern, with the film feeling like it had moments where it could have ended sooner.

As a someone who adored Hamilton I went into this film with very high hopes and while it delivered in some senses in others it fell short. Visually this film is just as captivating as Hamilton. However, it failed to connect with me on a deeper soulful level and the music hasn’t stuck in my mind as much as Hamilton did.

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FROM THE VINE

BY CRAIG COVENTRY oronto CEO Marco Gentile (Joe Pantoliano) resigns in protest after being unable to fulfil a promise to his predecessor to make his company more environmentally responsible. Alarming his wife and daughter, he swiftly arranges a return to the Italian town of his youth, where it is soon revealed to him the answer to his personal crisis may lie in service to something outside himself.

He decides to resurrect his grandfather’s vineyard, and in the process helps to breathe life back into a township in decline.

But will his wife and daughter come along for the ride?

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Film and TV veterans Pantoliano and Wendy Crewson breeze effortlessly through this feel-good comedy. Director Sean Cisterna’s supporting cast too, though somewhat stereotypical, are likeable small-town characters, and while this film doesn’t reach any great heights, it will still leave you with a warm feeling in your chest like you’ve just sipped a nice glass of red.

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be without the inclusion of the lavish 2007 Edith Piaf biopic La Vie En Rose?

Actress Marion Cotillard won an Oscar for her engaging performance as the legendary Piaf. A special 35mm screening.

Jul 1-28. Dendy Newtown, 261-263 King St Newtown. $18.50-$23+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.dendy.com.au

TALL POPPY

BY JARROD WOLFHUNTER ustine Moyle is the creative mind and director behind documentary, Tall Poppy, an account of the emerging Olympian and skateboarding prodigy Poppy Starr Olsen in response to her impending debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Justine first encountered Poppy at the Bondi skatepark in 2014 tearing it up with adolescent and grown men, as a 13 year-old girl. Justine says she was struck by Poppy’s nonchalance towards her situation, in what has traditionally been a very rough n tumble, male-dominated sport. Justine went on to say that Poppy quietly went about carving out her on presence in Bondi while her remarkable development as a skateboarder had her rising from strength to strength to where Poppy is now, on the Olympic road.

Tall Poppy tracks the young trailblazer as she transitions from amateur to professional, from child to adult with all the challenges that journey encompasses; including the uncertain impact of the pandemic and how it almost derailed Poppy’s dream.

Justine’s background is in media communications. Justine has worked up to directing this major film through years of directing and producing on smaller scale projects. Justine talks passionately about the wider societal importance figures like Poppy have on changing outdated attitudes towards women and credits figures like Jacinda Ardern, and author Elizabeth Gilbert for being her inspiration to unearth other inspirational women.

Tall Poppy is the result of over five years of dedication from Justine and her team; Poppy, 21, has been hard at it since age eight. With the Tokyo Olympics imminent, this uniquely Australian coming-ofage story is set to wow audiences, and spur on Poppy to bring home skateboarding Olympic Gold!

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INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021

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DINNER & SHOW $80 The Birdcage on York offers that very special touch of OH LA LAAAAAA including audience participation, interaction, and an array of performers and vocalists each night.

Enjoy a 3-course dinner and a glass of bubbles on arrival as you are guided by our MC and delve into a magical world of highly acclaimed international burlesque artists intertwined with the added thrill of Circus Artistry.

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www.thebirdcageonyork.com.au 99 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000 | ph: 9290 1155 | www.clubyork.com.au 24

INNER WEST INDEPENDENT JULY 2021