Cinema

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

Sometimes karma jumps like a tiger snake and gets you in the neck. It happened Vol 16 September 15th 2017 this week – in slow motion – as the only bloke in Australia who could make Novak Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 Djokovic look good stepped up to the microphone and, ‘Woohoo, gotcha, Scotty!’ Both fangs, just where it hurts most – right in the insufferable pomposity. Amazing, isn’t it. As Prime Minister, you think you’re out of the woods. The electors are forgetting about the Brittany Higgins/Grace Tame revolt. The Christian Porter/Alan Tudge horrors are fading. The Emmanuel Macron disaster is getting lost in memory’s shadows. The torturing of the ‘on water’ asylum seekers is pretty much historic. And Albo still hasn’t cut through as the people’s champion. I mean, how good is that? And then comes Djoko. Okay, he’s a goat, and not just ‘greatest of all time’ but a ‘gross overpaid, arrogant twit’. And a mad anti-vaxxer to boot. But he’s a sportsperson in a country where sport is not just king but queen as well since women have begun making headlines in cricket, soccer, tennis, AFL, netball and half a dozen other codes. It’s the full catastrophe. Almost as bad, it’s Scomo’s old friends, the Border Force - the mob he practically invented - who stuck Djoko in a crummy hotel full of asylum seekers, some of whom have been incarcerated for NINE YEARS. And when the media discovered them, they grabbed the opportunity with both hands. ‘How long,’ they pleaded, ‘are we going to be punished by the Morrison government for seeking a safe haven from persecution and violence?’ ‘Good question!’ we cried. Karma. Scotty’s new friend the Indian Prime Minister and Hindu enthusiast, Narendra Modi knows there are three types, but the one that applies in this case is ‘the destiny that you earn through your actions and behavior’. A British Prime Minister back in the early 1960s, Harold Macmillan put it slightly differently. Asked what the greatest challenge to the political leader was, he responded, ‘Events, dear boy. Events.’ Sometimes they come from a clear blue sky. But in the far-off mountains, a lightning bolt has struck a tree in a grove of eucalypts; an orange spark kindles a little fire, and then suddenly the mindless, greedy exploitation of nature over the last two hundred years blankets that sky in the roiling darkness of nature’s rage. No wonder we call it a raging bushfire. Other times, a bat bites a bloke in a Chinese wet market, and two years later the so-called ‘supply chains’ snap in far-off Australia and we wait in vain for our Woolworths delivery of essential food items. And no one in the Morrison government which unmasked the country to Omicron saw it coming. Enter Djoko, stage right, darling of the anti-vaxxers. He protests his Border Force incarceration; his clever lawyers convince a judge he’d been badly used, and he’s released. But then the Border lads discover that he’s fibbed on his visa application. So how will the Morrison Government’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke respond? His choice – the devil or that deep blue sea over which a deported Djoko will fly back to his European home. And on Friday evening, when Morrison always ‘puts out the garbage’, it was ‘Bye-bye, Novaxx.’ In the end, it really didn’t matter that much. In a poll that quickly sped around the social media, karma triumphed. The result was ‘Morrison 52, Djokovic 48’. The question? ‘Who would you prefer to see deported?’

Bazza blinked a couple of mes to adjust his eyes to the dim light and made his way through to the back corner of the pub. He had a decent sip of the offered schooner and raised both eyebrows at Mick. “We have to change spots in the pub, Bazza, just in case the brother in law walks by the front window. His family have been staying with us since Christmas and are showing no sign of leaving.” “Ahh….. that would be the family from Newtown, Mick. I always knew that would be a challenge for you this holidays.” “Bazza, they are usually the last to arrive before Christmas and the first to leave but the pandemic has changed all that. They have not been away for twelve months. I should of twigged when they unpacked the latest model coffee maker with enough fair trade beans to see us through to next Christmas, cartons of soy and almond milk, organic muesli, a rice cooker with four se ngs, designer mineral water, cases of inner city cra beer, Newtown dis lled gin, a smoker for our barbecue, their preferred 1500 thread count Egyp an co on sheets…….” Bazza interrupted with a chuckle. “They even brought a bloody air purifier……. Do you believe it? An air purifier…….. for down here!! And then the kids unpack every latest electronic gizmo. I regret giving out the wifi password as we have used up about three months worth of internet. As well, their idea of outdoor entertainment is to fly the drone they got for Christmas, which sets off every dog in the street. Bazza…….there is a level of permanency to this visit that I just don’t like.” They both took long sips and Mick’s eyes skirted the bar. “On top of all that, Bazza, the brother in law has struck up a friendship with the neighbour, another blow in from Sydney. I’ve hardly ever spoken to this bloke but it’s now glasses of Chardonnay and discussions about fringe theatre un l midnight.” “Well, Mick…… you need to take them out and about a bit.” Mick shook his head.

“I tried that, Bazza. I took the lot of them to the beach. The parents put sunscreen and zinc cream on the kids every fi een minutes The kids would not go in the surf because they reckon it’s full of sharks and then spent the whole me making Tik Toks on the sand. I followed up with a trip to the local club for lunch. The brother in law even asks about membership which causes me immediate concern. Anyhow…….. the parents query whether the chicken is free range and the salad organic. They try to order some French Beaujolais vintage and are quite shocked when it is not available. I mean…… it’s the local bloody club.” Mick took a long sip.“I tell you, Bazza. I am going to be spending a bit more me at the pub.” They both finished their schooners in silence just as a thin man with a barista beard, black tee shirt and ght black jeans strolled over in his Doc Marten boots with three schooners. “Ahhhh…… there you are, Mick. And you must be Baz. Why didn’t you tell me they had a cra beer brewed in Newton on tap at this pub? Its a bloody good reason to stay a bit longer.”

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

DEATH. – Mr. Phillip Coman, one of the district’s best known and most highly respected residents, died at Eurobodalla on Wednesday night. The remains were bought to Moruya, where the funeral took place yesterday. SUNDAY SCHOOL PICNIC. – Another postponement has been forced upon the C.E. Sunday School picnic. Owing to the damp state of the trys ng ground on the bank of the Kiora River, the organisers wisely decided not to hold the picnic on Tuesday last, but to combine with the parish’s annual func on and picnic at the Heads on Founda on Day, 26

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

th January. A SENSATIONAL STORM. – On Sunday last an unprecedented hailstorm accompanied by a severe thunderstorm and torrents of rain occurred here. For a me residents were terrified as the roofs of the houses were struck by stones measuring 2¾ inches x 1¼ x 1½. In a very short space of me hail, two feet deep, was piled against fences and buildings. In its course the storm effected considerable damage. It is es mated that fully 1000 panes of glass were broken. The worst to suffer were the Amusu Theatre with 30 panes smashed, and C.E. Church, Rectory and Parish Hall combined with 82, the windows of the Presbyterian Church, Public School and Centennial Hall on the Southern sides were completely wrecked. Many of the lead lights of the R.C. Church were broken whilst almost every house in town had from one to 16 panes smashed. Many roofs were penetrated by the stones and galvanized iron tanks pierced. The corn in numerous fields was stripped of leaves and cobs, vegetable gardens levelled to the ground, and poultry killed. The water cascaded down the hills and gu ers and in a very short me the lowlands were a vast sheet of water. The chain lightening was very vivid and the thunder appalling, but we have not heard of anything being struck. The hailstorm was of three-quarters of an hour’s dura on, but the rain con nued to fall for about four hours, a er which the sun shone brightly, enhancing the beau ful scene presented by the surrounding hills in their mantle of dazzling whiteness. PERSONAL AND OTHERWISE. – Humanity is a queer thing. Charlie Chaplin is paid £250,000 a year. Lloyd George, Prime Minister of an Empire with a popula on of 450 millions, receives £5000 a year, or 50 mes less. Mary Pickford gets as much salary in one year as Prime Minister Hughes would draw in 33 years. ESC GENERAL BUSINESS. – It was resolved to supply the Bateman’s Bay ferryman with a clock for use on the punt, same not to cost more than one pound. The Engineer was instructed to prepare es mates of the cost of a new windmill, to be erected near the Moruya wharf, and the Clerk was instructed to ascertain from the Progress Associa on if they would provide half the cost. Extracted from the Moruya Examiner by the Moruya and District Historical Society Inc. h ps:// www.mdhs.org.au

Save Tomaga River

The Beagle Editor,

Your readers might be interested in the following correspondence between Council and a group of

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 property owners and residents of Mossy Point/Tomakin. Dear Mayor Hatcher and Councillors, Congratula ons on your new posi ons within the Eurobodalla Shire Council. I am part of a group of property owners and residents of Mossy Point/Tomakin that have started an online pe on for ac on by Council and or State Government agencies to immediately assist in the review and ini a on of urgent remedia on works to the Tomago River Sand spit/azimuth. The pe on link is a ached, and we have support from key Commercial opera ons in and around the River including Tomakin Club.

We understand Council have an exis ng Environmental Management Plan specific to Tomago River, that is not being acted upon, is now not relevant or suitable regarding the current condi on of the sand spit deteriora on.

We request acknowledgment of this email and pe on and request your immediate a en on to the issue which if le una ended will result in substan al nega ve affec ve to the safe use of the river by locals and thousands of tourists every year. h ps://www.change.org/p/save-tomaga-river On and behalf of the Pe on for Saving Tomago River NSW. Peter Brogan Resident, Property Owner and rate payer If you are one of the thousands' of people that enjoy using the Tomakin / Mossy Point waterway, please read on and sign this pe on to help keep this waterway in its current state before it is changed forever! We need your support. My extended family and I are lifelong residents of Moruya and Mossy Point da ng back to the 1800's and currently own three proper es between us that front the river. We have a strong history with the Tomaga River and have watched the condi on of the sand spit/azimuth that separates the River from Tomakin Bay (beach) deteriorate over the years. We have requested interven on on several occasions over the last 20 plus years from Council. All efforts to date have been subpar and unsuccessful, to the point of poten ally adding to the deteriora on that the interven on was aimed at stopping/slowing. Current Situa on: con nues…...