Cinema

Gadfly 230 By Robert Macklin It’s a curious paradox – when pollsters ask voters their most pressing concerns, the vast majority put Climate Change at the top of the list. Yet their voting preference doesn’t reflect it. If it did, Labor and the Greens would be streets ahead of the Coalition instead of the few points lead halfway through the campaign. Part of the reason, I suspect, is that even with the horror bushfires of 2020 and the shocking pictures of Lismore inundated to the rooftops and so many Australians drowned in their cars or washed away by the raging current, the vast majority of us were not personally touched by either calamity. It can seem nebulous, a worldwide phenomenon beyond our own personal involvement or control. Scott Morrison, Angus Taylor and their donors in the fossil fuel industries play on this phenomenon with practised lines on Australia’s percent of worldwide CO2 production. They raise Morrison’s favourite stalking horse, China as the biggest polluter while ignoring its massive program of amelioration and its virtual domination of the renewal energy industries. And after all, it was the industrial revolution of Britain that started it, Europe that doubled up and the United States that exploded it. But that doesn’t explain the paradox. And until a few days ago I too was more or less dazzled by it. I advocated more action by government but at the ballot box it was just another reason to vote against the Morrison government. I think it’s because in Canberra, even the most ferocious bushfire would have to devour half of the city before it reached our home unit. And our little Tuross bolthole is almost 150 metres up from the beach, and not even 1.5 degrees increase in the Earth’s average temperature is going raise the surf into our backyard. And underneath it all, like most of us, I’d been brought up on the romantic Dorothea Mackellar jingle – written in England - memorialising our wonderful ‘sunburnt country’ of drought and flooding rains… But then something happened. Those flooding rains of climate change that damn near drowned Lismore, the north coast and southeast Queensland reached Tuross in a different form. Down here, they were less powerful but even more persistent. Day after day, week after week, they’d return, sinking into the soil and running off into the sea. The lawn grew like never before and the grass in the Reserve so outmatched council’s mower brigade that it covered the way to the beach in a big green fuzz. This meant that the little potholes and roots beneath the grassy cover were invisible, and when I strolled down to see what had happened to the beach during our absence, my foot caught in a pothole and the rest of me went arse over turkey, face-first on to a concrete bike path. Blood everywhere. A couple of older blokes saw it and came to my aid. (Thank you, John!) But I was able to walk back home, and we drove to the medica1 centre which had just closed. So next stop the Chemist. There, Kim, a very experienced nurse put lots of those little narrow adhesive strips over the cuts and scrapes. It looked much worse than it was but a packet of Panadol and three days later I’m almost back to form, even if dreams of Hollywood are no more. All I can think now is, ‘I wish I had ten votes in this next election. Every single one of them would go to action on climate change.’ robert@robertmacklin.com

“But you have got to admit the Big Bloke is travelling well, Bazza. We are at the midway point in the elec on campaign and they are throwing everything at him and he is pulling through.” Bazza stared at his half empty schooner for a long moment. ‘Yeah, Mick. ScoMo reminds me of one of those blow up punching bags with a weight in the base we had as kids. You would knock it down and the big smiling face would be straight back up and smiling at you.” “Ahhh….. he’s like a non s ck fry pan, Bazza. He must be made of teflon. China can’t even knock a bit of skin off him with this Solomon Islands business. I reckon Donald Trump could even learn a trick or two from our bloke. You’ve got to admire his form.” Mick picked up his half full schooner and had a generous sip. Bazza sighed and toyed with his half empty schooner. “Yeah, Mick……. a definite rewri ng of the rules in play here. If it needs fixing, don’t touch it. If it’s sensi ve, offend it. If it happened, deny it. When it all gets too hard just put on some hi-vis, roll a croissant or pretend to enjoy a beer with a stranger.” “All a bit harsh, Bazza. The opposi on is not shy about doing the same.” “Yeah….. I’ve got to agree with you there, Mick. It’s hard to put a finger on a policy from either side that seriously addresses the major issues of the day let alone a vision for a be er country. Can you name a single ini a ve over the life of this government that will be remembered as worthwhile in a decade or so?” “Its all about the economy, Bazza and the Big Bloke has delivered. The boys have got the joint cking along and are far more fiscally responsible than the Labor Party. Everyone knows that.” Bazza rolled his eyes. “Mick, the economy is growing because of a tsunami of s mulus coupled with low interest rates, but I would not call this government fiscally responsible. That term has been repeated so many mes it is just assumed it’s true. Mate, the reality is the Abbo , Turnbull and Morrison Governments are massive spenders. Let’s just call them the ATM Governments. Check the percentages of spending to GDP by the ATM Governments compared to previous ones. It makes Gough Whitlam a fiscal conserva ve by a long shot.” “Take a chill pill, Bazza. You need to be more comfortable and relaxed at our age.” “Maybe, Mick. I reckon either side will look a er our interests in the immediate future but it’s the future genera ons that are going to be pre y cranky about all the ‘not doing’. I just hope this massive voter enrolment of young people shakes things up and puts a pin in the punching bag.” “Drink up, Bazza. Your schooner is s ll half full.” Give Mick a p at john.longhurst59@gmail.com

Reading—history 100 Years Ago— 29th April 1922

SOME Snapper. Bar e Turner landed a 25 pounder at Broulee the other day. The skeleton is kept as evidence of size. MR. C. Berriman announces that he will open business at Turlinjah on an early date. He begins with produce and groceries. THE infant child of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Clarke met with a painful mishap last week end. A basin of boiling water had been temporarily set down on the floor while some cold water was being procured to add to it. The li le one dabbed its hand in and sustained a rather severe scald. MR. A. F. Emmo , whose recently built silo was not quite filled owing to caterpillars playing havoc with the corn intended therefor, has now a fine crop just breaking into tassel and ear with which he expects to complete the filling within the next week or two. Jack frost will be the determining factor. BALL in Coila-Turlinjah hall next Friday night, May 5

Above: an image of a shop at Turlinjah at a later date.

th. Tickets 2s, 6s and 4s. Proceeds in aid of Hall

requirements. Good music and refreshments. MR. Con Irwin has been appointed cheesemaker at Kiora factory. Con had good training in the Moruya factory, where he served about ten or twelve years. VERDUN Rolfe, the li le son of Mrs. Rolfe, of Moruya, was amusing himself with the mangle last week, ul mately ge ng two of his fingers so jammed that the doctor had to amputate them at the first joint. MORUYA COTTAGE HOSPITAL. Correspondence. – From Dr. Quilter, acceptance of appointment of Medical Officer for further 12 months. From Govt. Treasury, no fica on that the subsidy for 1921 of £200 7/10 had been paid into a/c at the Commercial Bank; Reports. – Matron reported – Pa ents treated since last report 7 : discharged 4, died 1, remaining in hospital since last report 2. Fees received for pa ents £2 18s. BATEMAN’S BAY. (From our Correspondent.) Easter brought a large influx of visitors – boarding houses were crowded. The car traffic easily reached a record. At last the South Coast Prince’s Highway is yearly gaining popularity; A visit has been made recently by Mr. Donaldson, Inspector of Aboriginals, and I hear he told them that the Land’s Department required their reserve for allotments and that soon changes would be made for their be erment; Anzac Day was marked by the usual impressive ceremony at the Honour Stone. These Honour Stones are proving to be dumb, gaping mouths which will never permit the memory of our part in the great struggle to be forgo en. The stone was decorated by the Public School pupils and was embedded with wreaths, crosses, etc.

Reading—le er to the editor “ONE” Hospital Advocates launch Radiotherapy Pe on for South East

The Beagle Editor, This Saturday, weather permi ng, the next phase of the con nuing campaign by “ONE” Hospital Advocates Group and the community to ensure the delivery of an appropriately resourced level 4 Eurobodalla Regional Hospital will be launched via a Pe on. As with the community’s other massively subscribed Healthcare pe ons, this will be speeding like an arrow straight to NSW Parliament. This campaign, as it has done from the start, joins the health needs of the neighbouring communi es of Bega Valley who, as pa ents and frontline staff know only too well, share many of the healthcare issues in common with the Eurobodalla. At NSW Health’s direc on, SNSWLHD, the local health management’s execu ve, has been adamant in denying the self-evident reality that our Region is in desperate need of locally available Radiotherapy Services. Anyone with friends or family members who have witnessed their loved ones, whether an elderly rela ve or a mother of young children, suffer the indigni es and challenges of long journeys, from our Coastal region stretching 100s of kms from Eden up to South Durras, involving repeated, exhaus ng, logis cally complicated and impossibly expensive journeys o en many days and hours away from home and family, will know what an incredibly draining and almost impossible challenge this is for the sick pa ent. In 2022, is the above scenario excusable and acceptable? With even respected advocacy organisa on CANASSIST’s appeals le unanswered, the background facts are damning. With a seniors demographic that is na onally significant, and a region that was publicly singled out by name in December 2019 by the Federal Health Minister as one among a roll-call of Local Health Districts (LHDs) mee ng the criterion for access to Commonwealth funding for local radiotherapy, a ‘shy’ SNSWLHD eventually volunteered the informa on (only a er ques oning from local healthcare advocates) that it had not bothered to apply for the funding earmarked for the region and its needy pa ents! Even though in that same funding program, LHDs in and outside of NSW with lesser or parity popula on counts applied for and were happily allocated their funding, SNSWLHD rejected the opportunity to do so on the basis that our region’s popula on (70,000+) was not “viable”! At the same me, the proac ve interest of two well creden alled service suppliers willing to co-locate to the new hospital site and bulk-bill was also similarly spurned! With a new Hospital site now finally purchased (a sympathe c ‘Thank You’ to the local Braemar Farm family) and construc on planning s ll underway, surely the fiscally responsible approach would be to plan in and provide for those facili es now, rather than the much costlier op on of ‘retro-fi ng’? Our popula on is already genera ng unacceptable levels of radiotherapy referrals out of the region. There is an absolute Duty of Care to our most vulnerable here that seems as clear as daylight. “ONE” New L4 Eurobodalla Hospital Advocates

The Beagle Editor, This week I learnt that Council has given a 40% discount for stall fees for not-for-profit mid-week SAGE Farmers’ Markets be included in Council’s Fees and Charges commencing 1 July 2022, and has agreed that, for the period un l 31 December 2022, the Sage Farmers Market licence not be charged stall fees in order to support the markets’ opera onal costs. I have lived in Moruya for nearly a decade and no one can doubt that the Moruya Country Market is an asset to our community. I have had two stalls and have met so many people who have benefi ed from the markets. Visitors love the markets and it is a real community hub for catchups and for showing off our town. Apart from providing employment for over 100 small business's that a end on a weekly basis, and being a major drawcard to the town on Saturday mornings readers might be interested to learn that any profits that are made are donated back into our local community. In my me I have seen dona ons to organisa ons such as Lions, the Moruya High School, as well as the local tennis and netball clubs. The dragon boats, animal welfare league, Moruya hospital ...etc etc, the list is numerous and dona ons were substan al. All funds come from the stall holders via the site fees, which coincidentally have recently been increased by the Eurobodalla Shire Council. For those unaware....an unpowered stall site at the Moruya Country Markets costs $25 and Council takes $19. All Council does in return is mow the grass. They get nearly $100,000 a year from the markets and all they do is mow the grass. I remember the commi ee asking Council for years if there could be more seats so that visitors had somewhere to sit to enjoy the ambience. Those requests were ignored. Don't get me wrong. SAGE markets are terrific but unlike SAGE the Moruya Country Markets don't get any grants, there's no Council recogni on. They just suck the fees so that blokes like me can't afford to make much. I need to sell seven kilos to cover my site fee before I begin to make a single dollar. It was disappoin ng to hear that our new Mayor (Mathew Hatcher) announced this week that seeing as the SAGE market has had such a hard me, their fees are being minimalised, if not totally wiped. SAGE gets prime adver sing from ESC, Moruya Country Markets get nothing. Where is the equity? What about the Tuross Community Gardens. Do they get their fees waived as well because it has rained for ever. Is it a case of the noisy wheel or ... is the Moruya Country Market just a "Cash Cow" for the Eurobodalla Shire Council, placed on ‘set and forget’ un l the next site fee increase. To say my vendor friends and I am disappointed is an understatement. How about the Moruya Markets not be charged stall fees in order to support the markets’ opera onal costs. How about we have some equity instead of having a council that has its hand out every me you turn around. I can't speak on behalf of the commi ee or my fellow traders. This is my own personal view. Name and address supplied

To the Editor, An elec on issue promised last me which hasn’t been kept is a na onal integrity commission. The marke ng department is making plenty of noise but integrity or climate change isn’t on their playlist. Much of the noise relates to the short term and a fis ul of dollars. Li le if any discussion about community trust in our ins tu ons which has been in serious decline.

Books I usually read are received at Xmas, birthdays and fathers day. The weekend newspaper book reviews is the execu ve summary way to read vicariously. However now and then a review requires further research. “Keeping Them Honest” is one of those books. It explains what we need to do to expose poli cal corrup on and restore trust. Authors Stephen Charles a former Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Victoria & Catherine Williams research director of the Centre for Public Integrity to quote the SMH review “do not mince their words in this scathing cri que of the federal government’s failure to deliver a na onal integrity commission,.”. A long list commences with bugging of the East Timor cabinet building and the disgraceful behaviour handed out to the whistle blower and his legal representa ve Bernard Collaery. If this is how Australia treats friends in the neighbourhood it is understandable that it was an easy decision by Solomon Islands to sign a cosy agreement with China. (note to marke ng department; don’t upset Tasmania or New Zealand or... ) The chapter on The Sports Rorts resonates for us in Eurobodalla. “Around $100 million of taxpayer’s money’s was thrown at marginal electorates,o en on projects of no or li le intrinsic merit, to bolster the Coali on’s electoral chances. Meanwhile spor ng groups that wasted long hours in the hope of winning grants, and should have been chosen on merit, received nothing.” When the scale of this rort was exposed I felt for parents involved with kids sport who slaved for long hours across kitchen tables with incomprehensible bureaucra c applica ons forms. When really they should have been told they were in the wrong coloured electorate, don’t waste your me and don’t bother! It’s clear that the promise of a na onal integrity commission was never ever going to be fulfilled with so many skeletons in the cupboard. For those that get the feeling things aren’t quite right I suggest visit your local bookshop (Moruya is a beauty) read the covers and table of content of “Keeping Them Honest" Guaranteed to have you reaching for the credit card. Ross Hayward Broulee