Arts ……………………. 35,36 Cinema ……………….. 33,34 Community ………………4 to

Next Bay Players Show : Children of the Black Skirt

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 By Heather Powell Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

I know the next Bay Theatre produc on, Children of the Black Skirt, does not open un l the end of the third week in September, and ckets are not yet on sale to the public. However, it is a different dynamic for a charity group availing of the theatre’s offer to the community to raise funds for their par cular cause. The Friends of Maranatha Lodge have selected the Saturday ma nee of the first weekend the show opens – Saturday 18th. In order to raise funds the group has to personally sell as many ckets as they personally can before cket sales go on line for the public to purchase their own , and this won’t be all that long now.

So it would be greatly appreciated if The Beagle could inform those in the community who might wish to contribute to this cause, that it is important to contact Heather Powell (me) as soon as possible and purchase, or at least book, a seat for the ma nee.

Not only will the audience be financially contribu ng for items that help enhance the personal quality of life for the residence to enjoy, especially for those with no family nearby to provide personal items, they will be having an opportunity of seeing how a thirteen and sixteen year old girl master roles, usually played by young adults who play the role of the teenage children.

I a ended a rehearsal. The Queensland playwright, Angela Bezien, handles the theme of an orphanage from a really imagina ve perspec ve, and I was staggered to see that the two children are on stage throughout. This is a huge ask of ones so young, and the enormous amount of work that will go into this show, with Lyn Sterling direc ng, certainly deserves full houses as a reward.

Being curious as to who originally came up with this idea of offering the public a chance to fund -raise, I spoke to Barbara Gellatly, a BTP Life Member, and without whom I very much doubt the Bay would have its own community theatre.

Anyway, knowing Barb, I was not surprised to learn it was she who had come up with this idea – ages ago.

It was a ploy to lure in audiences to see the show in the first week of its run, as so o en locals missed out simply because the second and third weeks were booked out while the first week’s shows were half empty. Full houses for the opening shows spread the word in fine style as well as benefi ng the group who personally sold as many ckets as they possibly could. Apparently the first group to avail of this fundraising scheme, decades back, was Bob Wiles and the Aussie Rules mob.

Gadfly 185 By Robert Macklin The sudden appearance of an Australian Army General in the Morrison Government’s Covid-19 imbroglio was not only troubling, it was entirely predictable. The Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Coalition these days has a predilection for militarizing any operations of government that Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 the electorate finds problematic. No doubt Lieutenant General John Frewen knows quite a lot about army logistics. However, he is not dealing with the army but a system of civilian government, State and Federal, with a very long experience in procuring and distributing vaccines across the Australian community. If some additions to the rollout are required – such as showgrounds and carparks for mass vaccination – the States and Territories don’t need a military outsider to get the job done. In short, General Frewen is window dressing in the Morrison marketing plan; and in a country with such a militarist Anzac attitude, it’s a very clever trick. It’s one ScoMo learned at the feet of the master, John Winston Howard. It was Howard who in August 2001, when confronted with the Norwegian ship MV Tampa carrying 433 rescued refugees seeking to land them at Christmas Island, sent out a Squadron of SAS operatives to takeover the vessel, thereby militarizing Australia’s refugee program and assuring the Coalition of victory in the forthcoming election. Morrison, as Immigration Minister in the Abbott Government, eagerly picked up the military chalice and developed Operation Sovereign Borders with the then Deputy Chief of Army, General Angus Campbell prominently by his side. And while Campbell was not particularly suited to the ‘selling’ role accorded him, his very presence did the trick. One of the reasons military figures are so useful is that, unlike the politicians they serve, these men take seriously the separation of powers and the constitutional processes of our civilian government. They can be relied upon to take orders respectfully and even to have their own decisions countermanded by a Prime Minister such as Morrison. Indeed, Morrison and Defence Minister Peter Dutton had no qualms in ‘correcting’ General Campbell – now Chief of the Defence Force - when he withdrew the Meritorious Citation from an SAS unit accused of war crimes. Campbell took it on the chin. Equally, it was Howard who chose General Michael Jeffrey as Governor-General in 2003, the first military man since William Slim in 1953. Tony Abbott as Prime Minister chose General Peter Cosgrove; and Morrison followed the lead with General David Hurley in 2019. While they are all no doubt splendid fellows, their great advantage to the government of the day is their absolute reluctance to say anything in public which might ruffle the political feathers. Indeed, these days Frewen has begun to sound more like a showground barker than a logistics expert. Asked by a reporter on Sunrise about our relegation to the OECD’s ‘bottom four’ in vaccinations, he leapt to the fray. ‘Now, just the other day,’ he said, ‘I released the supply planning parameters out until the end of the year… ‘So, we have got the amount of vaccines coming that we need this year. We have got a comprehensive system in place right now about how we are administering the vaccines…But from here to the end of the year we're going to have to make sure that people are turning up increasingly in droves… AZ has been a really important workhorse in our vaccine rollout. I know that you and Kochie had it. I've had it myself. My mum's due to get her second next week...’ Yep, ScoMo himself couldn’t have put it better. robert@robertmacklin.com

Alexandria, Edmund Richardson, Bloomsbury, 978-1-5266-0381-4, 328pp Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro, Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-36488-6, 307pp There is no connec on between these two books that I can think of: the first is a story about an eighteenth-century Englishman in Afghanistan and India, and the second is by an Englishman with a Japanese name (Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki and went to the UK in 1959). So, perhaps that’ the connec on – there’s an Englishman involved in both books. I had ambled into Moruya Books a couple of weeks ago and was immediately taken by the cover of the Edmund Richardson book. Alexandria, the tle, suggested that there might be much to learn about this fabled Egyp an city which was founded in 331BCE by Alexander the Great. It is famous for its library that was burned when Julius Caesar was besieged there in 48BCE. The cover shows what is described as “the fragmentary colossal head of a youth” apparently courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I decided I needed to know more about Alexandria than the fact of its erstwhile library and I picked it up. Of course, as any reader of my book reviews will know, I am unable to buy but one book in a bookshop. I needed a second one – to keep Alexandria company, you understand. Julie was quick to thrust into my hands the Ishiguro book saying that she hadn’t read it but that she thought I should. I am not sure that’s a good reason for inves ng in reading material, but Ishiguro must be good because he is a Nobel prizewinner. He has published eight novels, including this one, as well as screen plays and shorts stories and the lyrics for several songs performed by the American jazz singer, Stacey Kent. I have to confess that I had only read The Remains of the Day (1989) which was adapted for the silver screen in 1993 and that starred Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. Both book and film were brilliant, so I had high hopes for Klara and the Sun, his ninth novel. But back to Alexandria. Edmund Richardson is Associate Professor of Classics at Durham University, and the sleeve notes say that “he’s fascinated by characters on the edge of most histories”. The subject of this book is not really Alexandria at all, or at least only peripherally. The book is essen ally a biography of a man called Charles Masson … at least that’s the name he took a er deser ng from the army of the East India Company. His name when he deserted was James Lewis. He was recruited by an American adventurer called Josiah Harlan to an expedi on to overthrow the then regime in Kabul.

As Australian and US troops withdraw from Afghanistan as we speak, one wonders about the history of that country. Richardson’s book is a fascina ng tale of adventure. Richardson admits that no one really knows the truth about Masson; even Masson’s biography is full of distorted facts and downright lies. But he was a great archaeologist and he lived and travelled in Afghanistan for several years in the 1830s. He discovered that when Alexander the Great went around conquering people, he caused a city to be built wherever he went. As a result, there are – or were – many Alexandrias. This book tells an extraordinary story and is almost as different from Klara and the Sun as it is possible to be. Klara and the Sun is Ishiguro’s first book since winning the Nobel prize in 2017. It is not clear exactly where

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

the novel is set. Ishiguro’s prose is so sparse that one gets an almost Scandinavian feel. But the se ng is old world rather than new. The Klara in the tle is not a human. She is an ar ficial friend – or AF – who is solar-powered and purchased as a companion for the human hero, Josie. Josie is suffering from some chronic ailment that we are not told much about, and Klara takes it upon herself to save Josie from the effects of this ailment. The novel is an explora on of how an ar ficial intelligence might interact with humans and, in par cular, the degree to which an emo onal a achment might form. There is an underlying theme of gene c modifica on though it is not developed. Ishiguro deals with this cleverly: on the one hand he could be foreseeing an emo onal capability in the robot of the future, but it is equally possible to put Klara’s ac ons down to clever programming. We become aware that AFs process images differently to humans: they see things a set of boxes that are not well-connected. I wasn’t clear at first why Ishiguro had done this, but as I read on it was clear that this was way of describing the difference between an AF and a human. The novel has been described as a “masterpiece” by at least one reviewer. Perhaps I am more restrained: it is, without doubt, a good book with an interes ng story and characters that make the reader think. Ishiguro’s wri ng is sparse and the dialogue in the book is o en naïve but this works given the subject ma er. But I think that the epithet “masterpiece” can be applied only a er a passage of me has passed and I think this is a book for today. In 50 years, if anyone read it, they might be amused by the assump ons about ar ficial intelligence. I do not, however, want to seem unduly harsh. This is a book worth reading. And so too is Edmund Richardson’s Alexandria though you may not want to read them one a er the other, as I did. But both books have something to tell you and what they tell you is worth hois ng on board.

The Beagle Editor,

Planners' Priori es: Moruya Bypass Route - What Planners' priori es should be, but aren't: 1. Iden fy the bo leneck. 2. Iden fy assets and set out to preserve them. Vol 16 September 15th 2017 3. Iden fy what is already blighted and keep further damage to that area where possible. Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

Iden fy the bo leneck.

The present bridge runs straight into the main street. Had it been moved a few hundred meters farther east the traffic would have run straight into the open corridor which has been wai ng decades for the money to complete it, namely the purple op on. Following this route involves virtually no demoli on to exis ng structures and provides direct access to the proposed new hospital site.

Iden fy assets and set out to preserve them.

What is the main a rac on of Moruya? The beau ful river and the surrounding farmland.

Visitors from the airport get a thrilling unspoilt view of a tranquil river reflec ng the mountains in the background. Is that to be destroyed forever by a concrete monster stretching from one side to the other.

What else does Moruya have? Not much!

The concrete structure should be as close to the ground as possible to accomplish this. To start the concrete monster from the highest point in the area, where the impact will be its greatest and spoil the view for the greatest area is criminal vandalism – a monument to the amount of damage which concrete engineering can do. On the north side of the river the traffic already runs nicely past the Industrial estate. There is no need for a second road destroying farmland un l the through-traffic has to branch off to the new bridge, - somewhere near the Motel which is already strategically placed to serve passing traffic.

Iden fy what is already blighted and keep further damage to that area where possible. The sewage works, though necessary, is not an a rac ve feature. Moruya in not going to develop around the sewage works! so bring the bypass through as close to that as is prac cal a er it crosses the river. Then on the south side the route would go directly into the no-man's-land which has been wai ng for a road all these years.

Find a solu on which addresses issues 1-3.

Roundabouts Look at what has already been accomplished south of Nowra and at Burril Lake. It is now a pleasure to drive along those stretches of road since the access for the local traffic has been accomplished through roundabouts. Australia has been rather slow to adopt roundabouts, but they have served as a very prac cal op on in most of the civilised world. All that is needed to solve Moruya's traffic difficul es is a roundabout in the undeveloped corridor at the bo om of Campbell Street near the corner of the golf course, and where the Motel is already strategically

placed. South Head road could be curved across this no-man's-land to meet the roundabout. Since a roundabout was put at the beginning of South Head Road the traffic crosses seamlessly, except when Vulcan street is blocked at the traffic light, which is not the fault of the roundabout.

The Solu on The solu on is quite straigh orward, which would save the government a couple of hundred million dollars when the economy is reeling from the impact of the Covid crisis. Money which would be be er spent on a new bridge for Narooma.

Firstly. Bring the bypass off the main road near the Motel south of the industrial estate. Secondly. Cut across to bridge the river opposite the sewage works. Third. Follow the exis ng, wai ng corridor, to a roundabout next to the motel at the bo om of Campbell Street. – close enough to the town to a ract the visitors. Otherwise, if it is out of sight, visitors will speed past and not even no ce Moruya, and take the business elsewhere! Fourth. Bring South Head Road onto this roundabout.

Fi h. Con nue the bypass along this exis ng corridor to another roundabout where you will need an access to the new hospital site. At this point the bypass can re-join the exis ng highway. Half the distance (and expense) of the orange route, and virtually no damage!

No demoli on. No destruc on of Moruya's only assets. Direct access to the new hospital.

Save the government $200 million at a me of na onal economic crisis. And get a new bridge for Narooma out of the same money!

Alan Beardsmore

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As Council is a Monopoly, do we get value for money

Le er to Beagle Editor, Living in Eurobodalla. In the latest colourful edi on , the incumbent of the recently demoted posi on of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the chief numbers man is no longer part of the ESC execu ve) makes a useful contribu on to readers.

We all know our top er of government is not very good at service delivery, and needs to u lise defence staff for simple tasks. Service delivery is more the task of State and Local government. Mr Westbury states, “our team is trying to ensure that ratepayers get value for money”. I would ask Mr Westbury, given the difficul es you have in working for a monopoly provider, do we get value for money? In the private sector compe on sets a “value price”, say $4 for a cup of coffee, a li le more if there is a water view.

Do you or your councillors examine whether our footpaths, roundabouts, and other items delivered by council are compe ve with private sector provision? Given the money sloshed around for shopper surveys and ci zen juries some of us believe this is a fair ques on. Past and future councillors do not seem very interested in this issue.

Owen Cartledge

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The Beagle Editor, While many in our region are outraged by the brazen and careless land clearing taking place in our backyards Vol 16 September 15th 2017 as new developments forge ahead, behind the scenes, far more surrep ous ac vi es are taking place. They Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 are occurring away from our daily commute, but should enrage us just the same. Our Mogo state forest is being logged. The very forest that just 18 months ago was consumed by the ferocious and unprecedented fires of 2019/20. Talk about kicking a dog while it's down. Talk about ignoring what our scien sts are telling us. A team of researchers from ANU, have diligently dissected research regarding fires and forests and have found that not only does logging set back the recovery of these forests by about 100-200 years, it also comes at a huge risk to us. Researchers have determined that forest fires burn ho er and stronger in logged forests saying that there are many obvious reasons for this ci ng that logging opens up the canopy, changes the microclimate, dries up the soils, and leaves piles of debris (as much as 80% of the tree is discarded) serving as flash fuel in the event of a fire. This is not ‘cleaning up’ of our forests - it's se ng up the perfect condi ons for the next bushfire event. Which with global hea ng, will be likely worse the next me. This is occurring in the backyard of our villages. There is just one compartment that has not been logged in Mogo State Forest - compartment 146 - and forestry commission NSW has it in its sights. Directly compe ng with logging, is the plans for Mogo state forest to be developed into one of the most extensive mountain biking trails in NSW. Ecotourism, a major sector of our region, directly competes with forestry, which provides only a handful of jobs and is massively subsidised by our tax dollars. Looking at the bigger global picture, land clearing is responsible for 15-20% of carbon emissions. Science tells us we are in the cri cal decade - pping points are being reached, and we have just a few years le before global hea ng exceeds our control. What does this mean? As our planet heats up, we will have more extreme weather events - heatwaves, droughts, floods, bushfires will all get worse. The seasons will become more erra c, food will be difficult to grow and will become far more costly, and all this will have direct and indirect effects on human health. Like the planet, we humans have a narrow temperature range in which our bodies can survive and thrive. The predic ons for our future, with unabated climate hea ng, are a direct threat to our very survival. Our planet has a fever, but we have a remedy. We must urgently stop burning fossil fuels. We also need to keep our climate cooling, carbon retaining trees in the ground. So let's all transform our rage into meaningful ac on. Please help SAVE OUR TREES! Join Friends of the Forest tomorrow Sat 10 July from 10am - 12pm corner Dog Trap Road and Princes Highway for a Covid safe protest followed by a picnic. Can’t a end or want to do more? Then sign this pe on… h ps://www.nature.org.au/get-involved/take-ac on/bushfire-emergency-save-forests-from-loggingdestruc on/ And also send your emails to Minister for Tourism and Jobs - Stuart Ayres on penrith@parliament.nsw.gov.au And Minister for Forests - John Barilaro on monaro@parliament.nsw.gov.au And our state member for Bega - Andrew Constance on bega@parliment.nsw.gov.au And Environment minister Ma Kean on hornsby@parliament.nsw.gov.au If you want to know more about the research please check out: h ps://www.bushfirefacts.org Michelle Hamrosi

The perfect gi for your rela ves in Lock Down in Greater Sydney (or for your next explore should they ever open the Greater Region to outside visitors) With a trip for every week of the year, Day Trip Sydney takes you to mountains, waterfalls, swimming holes, forests, coastlines, urban parks, Aboriginal cultural sites, historic architecture, hidden spots and more. Each adventure includes direc ons by car or public transport, a map showing walking routes and facili es, and a guide to trip highlights. There are trips for everyone – families, solo adventurers, furry friends – all within 120 kilometres of the city centre. Escape the urban chaos with a leisurely stroll through beach-side sanctuaries, swim beneath waterfalls, wander through tranquil coastal rainforests, or hike in the majes c Blue Mountains. Whether you’re a Sydney local or a first- me visitor, Day Trip Sydney will ignite your nomadic spirit.

Need some armchair inspira on? Two new tles on the Moruya Books Couch! Lonely Planet’s Armchair Explorer and Jenny Herbert’s the Art of Being a Tourist At Home.

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why do we travel in the first place? It’s an urgent ques on in these days of climate crisis and global instability. Staying closer to home makes good sense: it’s cheaper, easier, less stressful and be er for our health as well as the health of the planet. Perfect for our mes.

Queue Here we wait Edging closer Wondering if We’ll be ok! We're told to lockdown Not lock up! Life must go on Somehow now! Restric ons follow We’re being watched By passerbys in our shops. Hard to talk with masks to cover Noses, mouths for one another Steamed up glasses do not help When trying to read our shopping lists No more “ how ya goin love?” Can't see your smile, frown or look! So home we go to close the door And ponder when we’re out once more!

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By Mary Murray

100 Years Ago—9th July 1921 FIRE. – Early on Wednesday morning a fire was found to be burning furiously in the barn at the rear of Mr. W. J. Jeffery’s co age at Rosehill, Moruya. When discovered the fire had full away, and in a very few minutes the building, with all its contents, was razed to the ground. In the barn were three saddles, a sulky, two sets of Vol 16 September 15th 2017 harness, plow, 30 bus. saccaline, 40 bus. corn, corn sheller, 1 bag bran, 1 bag seed oats, part of a roundVol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 about, as well as a number of sundries, all of which were destroyed. The origin of the fire is a mystery. ACCIDENT. – What might have terminated in a fatal accident occurred on Sunday evening on Mullenderee road, when a sulky containing Messrs. Honan Bros. collided with a sulky driven by Mr. W. Ryan who was accompanied by his mother Mrs. W. Ryan, of Mynora. The impact was so great that a wheel on each sulky was smashed to pieces, as well as other parts of Honan’s vehicle being damaged. All the occupants were thrown to the ground but escaped injury except Mrs. Ryan who is suffering from bruises and shock. FOOTBALL. – On Saturday last the Moruya football juniors journeyed to Mogo, where they were beaten by the local team by 40 to nil. AERIAL COASTAL SURVEY. – The “Seagull” flying-boat in charge of Captain Andrew Lang, which stayed some days at Moruya on its recent Southern Aerial Survey trip, passed Moruya on 27th ult., en route from Gippsland Lakes to Sydney. The trip from Lake Entrance to Eden, 140 miles by aerial course was nego ated in 2 ½ hours. A. AND P. SOCIETY. - A. and P. Society’s Ploughing Match and Sports will be held in Mr. A. F. Emmo ’s Braemar paddocks on 17th Aug. SHIPPING. – Last week end Allan Taylor’s steamer Allenwood was berthed at the local wharf. She le on Sunday laden with 85,000 of mber. OUR RIVER. – Owing to persistent agita on of the Moruya Progress Associa on, we have at last got a dredge at work in our river. On Monday the Antleon commenced opera ons at the entrance. WEDDING. – On Saturday a ernoon last the marriage of Mr. Jack Patrech, son of Mr. Patrech, of Bateman’s Bay, and Miss Jennie Innes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Innes, of Clyde River, was celebrated in St. John’s Church, Moruya, by the Rev. G. A. Sanders. The bride, who was a red in white crepe-de-shine with mob cap and veil, was a ended by Vulcan Street Moruya her sister as bridesmaid, and her brother officiated as best man. A er the ceremony the bridal party adjourned to the Shamrock Tea Rooms, partaking of reherche refreshments prior to their departure for Bateman’s Bay. OBITUARY. – On Wednesday evening at the local Hospital, an old iden ty of the district in the person of Mr. T. Kennedy (whose illness was reported in last issue) passed peacefully over the Great Divide at the age of 85 years. The late Mr. Kennedy, who was a na ve of Ireland, with his wife and two children came to this country 37 years ago, and for many years carried on his trade as a tailor. His wife and only son pre-deceased him many years ago. His only daughter, Mrs. Wold, with her daughter and son-in-law, arrived from Sydney on Wednesday morning. Extracted from the Moruya Examiner by the Moruya and District Historical Society Inc. h ps:// www.mdhs.org.au