North Sydney Sun June 2022

The inside story on North Sydney’s Independent * Winter puzzles special * Neutral Bay Woolies upgrade

June 2022 Issue 14

News and views for North Sydney’s residential and business communities

Spenceley’s dash to buy ambulances for Ukraine Local councillor and entrepreneur James Spenceley has successfully spearheaded a fundraising drive to deliver urgently needed second-hand ambulances into war-torn Ukraine.

Spenceley and his team have already raised over $200,000 to secure vehicles in the European Union and deliver them to local towns in Western Ukraine.

As we went to press, his team had already imported three ambulances for war zones in the Zaporozhia and Mykolaiv regions. Each ambulance is estimated to save on average five wounded soldiers per day so that’s potentially 105 lives saved in the first week.

The Swoop chair and Vocus founder told the North Sydney Sun that: “Having spent significant time in Ukraine and having both family and friends there, I found it difficult to find direct and trusted ways to donate or get assistance immediately to help people in Ukraine.”

He said that speaking with his contacts there, he found one of the most requested items to be ambulances, with many having been destroyed in the conflict.

“At a time when clearly ambulances are in massive demand across Ukraine, many towns have had their

Spenceley surveys the destruction in Bucha, Ukraine ambulances destroyed, lost to occupied areas or indeed moved to front lines where again they are again damaged or destroyed. As a result there is a serious shortage of ambulances across Ukraine,” Spenceley said. “It is common for huge amounts of injured and seriously injured people to be transported to hospital and medical centres simply in the back of cars, without medical supplies or the ability to assist during the journey.”

“I sourced and personally purchased two second-hand ambulances with the required associated medical supplies and departed May 18th to col-

lect them and personally deliver them to Ukraine,” he said. A third ambulance has also been bought and delivered subsequent, and eight more are being processed.

Spenceley also said that his team has procured a “massive amount” of medical supplies.

Speaking from Ukraine, Spenceley told the Sun that no words could describe the devastation wrought by Russian bombardment of the country.

“This is not a liberation, it is just wanton destruction,” he said.

North Sydney Sun readers can donate at www.ausukraineaid.org

Kylea Tink’s going to Canberra

Independent candidate for North Sydney Kylea Tink has stormed home in the election, snaring 53% of the two candidate preferred vote against Liberal Trent Zimmerman. Read what she said at her victory press conference on page 2.

www.northsydneysun.com.au

Fresh from Tink success, indy group now targets state MPs Buoyed by their stunning success in identifying Kylea Tink and propelling her on the path to victory over Trent Zimmerman in one of the safest seats in the country, the North Sydney’s Independent group is now setting its sights on the state seats of Lane Cove, Willoughby and North Shore.

The NSI group began its campaign to find an independent candidate to oust the sitting member in June last year. It subsequently approached Kylea Tink—with a background in charities and public relations—to run, she agreed and the rest is history.

Now it is turning its attention to state parliament, publishing a survey asking respondents to offer their opinion of the Liberal state government, their local state representatives and issues which are important to them. The survey is also asking for support to help identify potential candidates to run against the three incumbent MPs. NSI is directed by Hunters Hill resident Kristen Lock and Chatswood resident Denise Shrivell. They formed the group in early 2021 in reaction to what they saw as Zimmerman’s failure to represent North Sydney’s views on climate change and a national integrity commission. Their efforts attracted the attention of Climate 200’s Simon Holmes a Court who then Fr backed their campaign.

NSI advertised in the North Shore Times in July for a candidate but failed to identify anyone suitable, and in the interim, Kylea Tink—the former head of the McGrath Foundation and Edelmans Australia—was asked if she would like to run. After a vetting process, NSI selected her as its candidate and the ultimately successful campaign was born, assisted by deeply experienced media heavyweights including Jim Middleton, formerly of the ABC, and Belinda Noble, a former commercial television journalist who now runs her own media strategy consultancy.

Ultimately, the Tink campaign garnered the assistance of some 1,000 volunteers and to most observers, had the superior ground game against all competition at the federal election.

Their three target Liberal seats are all potentially vulnerable to an independent run.

Continued Page 7

Kylea Tink’s first thoughts as the new federal member for North Sydney Kylea Tink exceeded even the best expectations of her supporters and stormed home with a strong 53% two candidate preferred majority in North Sydney at the federal election.

Tink achieved uniform swings against the Liberals across the electorate, winning 49 of the 56 prepoll and election day booths on a two candidate preferred basis. She did this with a 25% primary vote and a stunning 73% of preferences over the Libs from the eight excluded candidates.

Several days after the election, Tink held a press conference with reporters including our own James Mullan, to discuss her next steps and what she thought about the result.

Did the major parties underestimate the appetite for change?

What has been underestimated by the two major parties is the appetite for community people to be represented by their MPs in the House of Representatives.

That’s a really important point to make. There has been a lot of commentary in this campaign about how people like myself are anti–Liberal and pro another party, it’s simply not true. I never stood to run against a party, I stood as a whole different way of doing politics, which is outside a two party system.

How do you approach the new prime minister Anthony Albanese?

Once government is formed it’s absolutely my job as the representative for North Sydney to make sure it is stable and that the government knows it has the confidence of North Sydney and supply is guaranteed.

What I know is that you get the best results in any environment when you are prepared to work with the people around you and come to the best outcome. That’s definitely everything that I’m taking in from the seat of North Sydney’s perspective. We’re there to make this a better place and that will be what drives me everyday for the next few years.

imising effectively. And providing stimulus in the places that brings about positive outcomes for us.

As the federal member here I will work with state members, I will work with councils to make sure we are fully aligned to get the outcomes for all.

I think Trent is a really good man and I think for him this a moment for him to actually decide what he wants to do. I wish him all the very best. If he did reach out to this campaign I’d welcome that. Because I do think he is a good person who had good ambitions but he was unable to effect those within the government structure.

is fair and equitable for all.

I know in Warringah one of the key people on staff in that team is a grants writer, and that person spends day in day out working with community groups at all levels, to apply for grants as they become available.

Was there moment in the campaign where you thought the mood had changed and we have a good chance here?

Never. We gave this everything we had and this was very much about none of us waking up on Sunday after the election and wishing we had done more.

So from my perspective when I woke up on Saturday morning we’d already won because we had fundamentally changed the conversation that was taking place at least in North Sydney.

I didn’t allow myself to actually think past 6 o’clock on polling day. I think it’s only really hitting me today as I stand here that that was step 1, now we go into step 2. Which is actually delivering on the ambition we have and making the contribution.

How about the former MP’s spending promises for local projects such as North Sydney Oval and various parklands?

Transparently, with integrity and accountability and actually adding North Sydney’s voice to calls that will be very loud, that we actually want the grants giving process to be done in a way that

Have you spoken to outgoing MP Trent Zimmerman since the election day?

I have on Sunday. He is such a gentleman and I really thank Trent for all the work he has done in this seat for the past seven years. He has been a good local member.

The reality is at a federal level the government needs to be doing these things. That’s leadership, so leading our nation forward in a direction that we can go that’s best for all. Coordination, across the state and territories, to make sure we are learning and maxNorth Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 2

That will be my role as North Sydney’s federal member to make sure we are applying for every opportunity for funding that we can get and really ensuring that pork barrelling is dead in this seat.

Woolworths lodges plan for 10 storey tower, open retail plaza in Neutral Bay Woolworths has lodged a planning proposal for a revamped supermarket and open retail plaza in Rangers Rd, Neutral Bay topped by a ten story residential tower.

The proposal is a test for North Sydney Council, which earlier this year rescinded a planning strategy which would have allowed 12 storeys at the site and has subsequently blocked plans to permanently close Young Street as a plaza and a Waters Rd development which would have traded open space for extra height on a tower.

According to documents lodged with Council, the new development spanning Rangers Road and Yeo St would feature a 1,013 sqm public plaza with a connecting alleyway. Around 3,311 sqm would be provisioned for a new Woolworths supermarket, 2103 sqm for commercial space, 1846 sqm for additional retail and it would be topped off with 91 residential apartments and 163 car spaces.

“The principal design approach was to create an intrinsic relationship between architecture and nature while promoting a variety of retail activation, integrated outdoor seating, and good pedestrian connectivity from Rangers Road to Yeo Street,” according to Koichi Takada Architects.

“The public plaza combines substantial planters to promote canopy trees growth as well as water fountains to promote children’s play. The guidelines emphasise the need to create alfresco dining spaces as an extension of the new retail and the plaza in order to activate the precinct, incorporating public art, landscaping and pavement, fixed street furniture and bicycle parking. All of these elements act to create a welcoming environment for the community and precinct for all ages. The high quality retail with a focus on Food and Beverage offerings will activate the precinct at night, provide amenity for the community both during the day and of an evening.”

However, Woolworths is asking for a height extension from the present 16m to 40m in order to build a stepped 7 storey to 10 storey residential tower.

This is likely to prove contentious given that high rise in Neutral Bay was the major issue of the last council elections and that nearly all of the current councillors voted in February to rescind the area planning study which would have enabled such development. The Woolworths application explains why it is proceeding with what seems a hopeless cause.

“The planning proposal responds to a number of strategic studies and reports, specifically the Military Road Corridor Planning Study and Draft Future Directions Report for Neutral Bay Town Centre, that set the intent for the future revitalisation of the Neutral Bay town centre. It is important to

note that at the time of finalising this planning proposal, after some two years working in consultation with the council, the newly elected council made an unexpected decision to rescind the council’s prior endorsement of both these documents,” the application explains.

“Unfortunately, given the extent of work undertaken to date and the advanced nature of the Planning Proposal, Woolworths are in a position

ArƟsts impressions above: Credit: Ivolve Studios where they are unable to pause the project to wait for another 12-24 months while the council reviews the previously endorsed strategy to decide how it wants to proceed,” it adds.

A majority of councillors recently blocked a plan to add another storey measured at over 3m to a mixed use apartment and retail development in Waters Rd in return for a 1.5m setback

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 3

from Waters Lane and a $2 million voluntary developer levy to help fund an open air plaza in Grosvenor Lane.

This was justified by the opposing councillors on the basis that it represented an ad hoc development proposal at a time when North Sydney Council had yet to develop an alternative approach to its rescinded planning policy for the Neutral Bay area.

McGrath Foundation unveils North Sydney mural McGrath Foundation unveiled a mural in North Sydney to honour the 185 McGrath Breast Care Nurses caring for families impacted by breast cancer across Australia – and announced a commitment to increase that number to 250 by 2025.

The mural depicts McGrath Breast Care Nurse Joylene Fletcher and her 26-year-old patient Emily Quinlan and represents the more than 20,000 Australians diagnosed with breast cancer each year, the McGrath Breast Care Nurses caring for them today, and the 65 more required to reach the Foundation’s goal by 2025.

The mural was designed and painted by acclaimed Australian visual artist Sarah McCloskey, known for her engaging portraits of women that aim to capture both their vulnerability and strength.

McCloskey said, “As a portrait artist, I’m especially interested in exploring emotion, connection, and personal stories in my work. When I teamed up with the McGrath Foundation for this opportunity, I was able to witness the strength of the connection between the amazing McGrath Breast Care Nurses and the incredible people they care for. The chance to capture that through my art in a large-scale mural has been a real privilege.”

McGrath Foundation President & Co-Founder Glenn McGrath said, “I want to thank all of our incredible McGrath Breast Care Nurses for the huge impact they have on the people they care for every day. There is still a way to go before everyone in Australia impacted by breast cancer has a breast

Sarah McCloskey, Emily Quinlan and Joylene Fletcher pictured by the mural care nurse. It is our mission to ensure that no one misses out on care, and this commitment moves us closer to achieving that goal.”

McGrath Breast Care Nurse Joylene Fletcher said “It’s truly an honour to have our work as McGrath Breast Care Nurses recognised in this beautiful mural and to stand alongside Emily, who has shown maturity beyond her age – her positive outlook

and drive makes it clear the love she has for life.” Through the work of the Foundation, ninety per cent of women in Australia live within 75km of a McGrath Breast Care Nurse.

The commitment to fund 250 McGrath Breast Care Nurses by 2025 – the Foundation’s 20th anniversary – will bring the Foundation closer to its mission of ensuring no one goes through breast cancer without the care

of a specialist nurse. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia with 57 people diagnosed each day.

Locals are encouraged to get down to The Library Cafe at 240 Miller Street, North Sydney or www.mcgrathfoundation.com.au/250 nurses to learn more about the artwork and the McGrath Breast Care Nurses.

Rydges sold for $75 million to Singapore buyer Singapore investment and asset management company High Street Holdings has bought Rydges North Sydney for $75 million.

CBRE Hotels negotiated the sale of the 167-key hotel on behalf of Event Hospitality & Entertainment.

The High Street Holdings acquisition was negotiated on behalf of a Singapore family office, which last year made its first Australian tourism acquisition with the purchase of the Kennigo Hotel Brisbane.

High Street Holdings partner David Marriott said the family office was actively pursuing further Australian investment opportunities.

“The transparency of the Australian market and the strength of domestic demand, which accounts for circa 80% of hotel visitation numbers, continues to be a key attraction in light of the volatility in international tourism in recent years,” Marriott said.

Located at 54 McLaren Street, Rydges North Sydney occupies a significant 2,549sqm freehold site in one of Australia’s largest corporate catchments. A refurbishment of the hotel

will be embarked on post-settlement.

CBRE Hotels’ National Director Wayne Bunz said “Sydney is a truly global city, renowned as a global tier one investment destination with hotel assets highly sought after but tightly held. This sale highlights the recent rebound in demand from Asian-based capital reinvesting into Australian hospitality and accommodation assets.”

Rydges North Sydney is situated just off Miller Street, next to the under -construction Victoria Cross Metro Station, which will connect North Sydney and the hotel with the Sydney CBD in around three minutes.

CBRE Hotels’ MD Michael Simpson added, “There is circa $8.4 billion of large-sale development projects either under construction or in the planning stages in the North Sydney precinct, including the new 60,000sqm Victoria Cross office project adjoining the hotel.”

“Combined with the 61,000sqm 1 Denison Street and 42,000sqm 100 Mount Street office towers, limited hotel supply bodes well for the local accommodation market.”

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 4

Milsons Point residents irked

by Luna Park’s new attraction

Milsons Point residents have criticised Luna Park management for opening a new attraction on Lavender Green at the northern end of the venue without apparently seeking a development approval from the local council.

Councillor Ian Mutton told the North Sydney Sun that Luna Park had opened a temporary skating rink at the marquee at Lavender Green without the seeming necessary approvals. He concedes that a 2018 regulatory change allowed Luna Park is able to replace, move and change existing rides and amusements as exempt and complying developments without a development application.

“However, it is clear that this exemption does not apply to Lavender Green at the northern end of Luna Park, as the document states: Lavender Green is excluded from the Exempt and Complying Developments and Amusements Zone. Any rides or amusements on Lavender Green will require a development application."

Mutton adds: “There is no ambiguity here. In fact, in a letter from state member Felicity Wilson this point is reinforced: ‘Lavender Green has been removed from the amusement zone to ensure it stays green.

New rides and amusements on Lavender Green may only proceed through a full development application process.”

“There’s not much green about Lavender Green” he quipped.

“Residents have not been advised of a Development Application. The (Luna Park regulation) defines an amusement device as an amusement, ride or game, which a skating rink based on cartoon characters clearly is. This move by Luna Park continues its complete disregard for the community. Not only has the marquee structure on Lavender Green been in place for many years, it is constructed using permanent concrete footings and hardscape.”

The Sun was unable to obtain a comment from a Luna Park spokesperson before we went to press.

In an email to the NSW planning department sighted by the Sun, one local resident wrote: “If the department does nothing to stop this latest development, it will be followed by another and another. Then suddenly, Luna Park will claim the community accepts such use and will be given permission to intrude further on our lives. “

Council GM resigns Ken Gouldthorp has resigned from North Sydney Council after four and a half years in the top job. Council accepted Gouldthorp’s resignation, effective from 1 July 2022, at its meeting on Monday 23 May. In moving the resolution accepting Gouldthorp's resignation, Mayor Zoe Baker stated “Council conveys its sincere thanks to Gouldthorp for his service to the council and for leading the organisation during a period of unprecedented challenges which have included a once in 100-year pandemic.” Gouldthorp said that it has been a privilege working with the North Sydney community and leading the dedicated staff of North Sydney Council.

“While North Sydney is a subset of the greater Sydney City area, it retains a very strong sense of community with high levels of volunteerism in Council programs such as Bushcare, Streets Alive and through all its Community Centres,” Gouldthorp said.

Local Government NSW - an advocacy and resource group for councils has been appointed to recruit a new general manager.

Robert Emerson, Director of Open Space and Environmental Services, has been appointed as acting general manager while the recruitment takes

PUBLIC NOTICE PROPOSED TERMINATION OF STRATA SCHEME 71916 being the property situated at 84 Alexander Street, Crows Nest NSW 2065 comprising folio identifiers lots 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 & 10 in Strata Plan 71916, Lot 11 & 12 in Strata Plan 72859 and Lot 13 & 14 in Strata Plan 73614.

Notice is given of an intention to apply to the Registrar General for an order terminating the above Strata Scheme and the consequent winding up of the Owners Corporation, pursuant to section 142 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (NSW). Any person having any claim against the Owners Corporation of the above Strata Scheme or any estate or interest in or claim against any of the lots comprised in the Strata Scheme is required, before the expiration of fourteen (14) days from the date of this publication, to send particulars of the estate, interest or claim to:

Elly Ashley at HOLDING REDLICH Level 65, 25 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000 Tel: (02) 8083 0441

North Sydney Sun | May 2022 | Page 5

place. “Mr Emerson has extensive experience at the senior management level and is well known and respected in the community. We are confident that Council will continue to operate effectively in this transition period,” said Cr Baker.

Gouldthorp’s departure comes at a key time for the council as it attempts multiple negotiations with the state government over issues such as the reclamation of parts of Cammeray Park and Bradfield Park as well as coming in the middle of the North Sydney Olympic Pool project.

The Sun Says...

The stunning victory of independent Kylea Tink last month cannot be dismissed as a mere aberration.

The swing against Trent Zimmerman of around 12% to 13% was the 3rd highest against an incumbent in the nation. It follows a swing of 20% against the Liberals in the recent Willoughby by-election and a big shift to progressive councillors at council elections last year.

There is absolutely no doubt that the Liberals are on the nose with North Shore voters.

But the onus is now on the new independent movement to deliver on what seems a big promise: that it will truly represent the community in ways not possible by a party member.

This may be easier in theory than in practice.

It seems clear for example that the issues research conducted by the Voices of North Sydney group has been influential on the independent agenda.

But at least some of this appears to be based on so-called kitchen table conversations and a series of pub meetings that attracted several hundred only in an electorate of 120,000.

This is far from exhaustive or empirical, certainly no better, for example, than a Compass Poll of 507 people finding vastly differing results in terms of the issues of importance to locals, but dismissed by Voices as lacking sufficient sample size.

Copyright Decisive Publishing.

All rights reserved.

ACN 065 084 960 Responsibility for election comment taken by G Lynch Office address: Unit 3 20 Cliff St Milsons Point NSW Australia 2061 Phone: 02 9061 7048 URL: www.northsydneysun.com.au Email for editorial: grahamelynch@northsydneysun.com.au

Founding editor and Decisive CEO: Grahame Lynch Associate publisher: James Mullan james@northsydneysun.com.au Printer: Spotpress, 24-26 Lilian Fowler Place Marrickville NSW 2204 15,000 copies circulated to homes and businesses in the North Sydney electorate. Printer statement available on demand

LOCAL ANALYSIS & OPINION

How Tink won North Sydney and how it could easily have gone to Labor LABOR COULD HAVE WON Possibly the most illuminating aspect of the mood of North Sydney voters was how they voted in the Senate, where there was no Kylea Tink option or even a preferred proxy.

The Liberals performed almost exactly the same across the House of Representatives and the Senate: Trent Zimmerman scored 38% of the primary vote, while the Liberal Senate ticket obtained 41% of the North Sydney vote. However, Labor and the Greens did much better in the Senate than the House of Reps. The Labor Senate ticket returned 29% of the vote in North Sydney, while the Greens scored 17%: a combined tally of 48%.

If this vote had been duplicated in the lower house in the absence of a strong independent, Greens and other preferences would have likely seen Labor get over the line and take the seat. Traditionally, 8 out of 10 Greens preferences go to Labor.

But instead, it appears a sizable percentage of North Sydney voters chose Labor or the Greens in the Senate and switched their vote to Kylea Tink in the lower house. Labor’s Catherine Renshaw scored 22% of the primary vote and the Greens’ Heather Armstrong attracted just 8% of the vote. Combined at 30%, that was a 18% lower share of the vote for Labor/ Greens than they achieved in the Senate. Meanwhile, Kylea Tink returned 26% of the primary vote in the lower house to come in a clear second.

With Labor and the Greens directing preferences her way, she then comfortably eclipsed Zimmerman to win 53-47 on a two candidate preferred basis. Key to her victory was the Greens preferencing her above Labor.

The Greens also ran almost dead in the lower house in terms of its campaign messaging on election day.

Tink’s win was also helped by the anaemic performance of the minor parties such as United Australia, the New Liberals and One Nation: between the six of them, they attracted a measly seven percent of the vote.

TINK TRUMPS ON RECALL Key to Tink’s victory was the fact she started her campaign in September last year and had been in the field for over six months by the time the election came around.

At times her campaign’s focus on name recognition and cute colour analogies seemed to lack seriousness and depth, but it addressed the biggest issue faced by any debut candidate: lack of name recognition.

Research shared with the North Sydney Sun by Climate 200 convenor Simon Holmes a Court underlined this point. A survey of over 1,000

Analysis by GRAHAME LYNCH, founder of the North Sydney Sun and an editor and journalist for 31 years

North Sydney voters conducted midcampaign showed that only 23% of the electorate had never heard of Tink, compared to 40% for Labor’s Catherine Renshaw. 11% had never heard of Zimmerman, despite him facing his 4th election. Tink’s intensive marketing hit the spot.

Assisting her cause was the failure of the Liberal Party to officially endorse Zimmerman as the candidate until six weeks before election day.

This prevented him from spending party campaign funds, ceding the battle for mindshare to Tink in the months leading up to the election.

The preselection delay did assist Zimmerman in one respect: he possibly would not have won preselection if submitted to a vote of the membership. But the delay in the election to the last possible day helped Tink in another respect: it gave her more time to establish her brand, at the same time as Liberals became more frustrated with their preselection woes.

This also provides another clue as to why Tink prevailed: her supporters were both numerous and enthusiastic.

By contrast, some of the local Liberal members elected to support candidates elsewhere such as Warringah’s Katherine Deves.

Labor’s Renshaw had a path to victory but probably faltered due to lack of belief in her cause from head office and, thus, a lack of budget. While she attracted campaign support from the likes of Kevin Rudd, Richard Marles and Anthony Albanese himself, Labor was notably low profile on direct mail and other conventional marketing when compared to the Tink publicity machine. And at least one senior national party office-holder confessed to the Sun that they saw North Sydney as a Tink-Zimmerman race and held out no hope for their own candidate.

LIBERAL LOSSES WERE WIDE Even though Tink’s victory margin over Zimmerman was just six percent, a notable feature of the results was how uniform they were.

The North Sydney electorate di-

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 6

vides roughly into quadrants: Willoughby, Lane Cove, Hunters Hill and North Sydney itself. Of the four, Zimmerman only won Hunters Hill: in the other three districts he was bested in all but two booths. Longueville and Willoughby North were in the end the only places to prefer the Liberals over a sea of pink elsewhere.

Tink ran up some 2PP impressive majorities in large booths: 58% in Greenwich, 61% in St Leonards, and 60% in Waverton and Lane Cove. In 2019, Zimmerman was lineball or ahead in these same locations.

But Tink also pulled ahead in locations that the Liberals would regard as heartland such as Castlecrag and Northbridge. Notably these areas preferred independent Larissa Penn over Liberal Tim James at the recent state by-election as well.

GLADYS NOT THE ANSWER? With Liberals no longer in the winners circle, the local party has lost its most effective recruitment tool for members. What’s more, its membership is starting to look a great deal more conservative and elderly than an electorate which skews young and also majority-identifies as progressive, if Compass Polling May survey findings are accepted. Media reports have it that former Willoughby member and Premier Gladys Berejiklian will be tapped to run against Tink in 2025.

But multiple sources close to Berejiklian tell the Sun that she is over the political life and enjoying her new role as the well-compensated boss of Optus Communications’ billion dollar enterprise business.

2025 is a long way off but the next best candidate after Berejiklian is likely Gail Giles-Gidney, who scored as much as 69% of the vote during her tenure as Willoughby mayor. GilesGidney left the council in her ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of state preselection for the Liberals and would almost certainly pull back on the majority that Tink scored in the Middle Harbour and Chatswood areas that delivered her victory federally.

The inside story behind the group who “rocket launched” Kylea Tink and made history Before Kylea Tink came the idea of Kylea Tink. And that idea came from a small group called North Sydney’s Independent which in June last year put the call out for an independent candidate to take on Trent Zimmerman and win the seat of North Sydney. Eleven months later, they achieved their goal and in the process helping to shake the foundations of Australia’s most dominant political party over recent history to its core. In this exclusive interview, Grahame Lynch speaks with the cofounder and spokesperson for North Sydney’s Independent, Kristen Lock.

SUN: How do you feel having a germination of an idea last year and seeing it come to such stunning fruition?

LOCK: Immensely, immensely satisfied, because we never knew there’d be any result, frankly. It was pie in the sky. It was a safe seat, but we knew the community. We have friends, we grew up here. We work here. We have kids here and the sorts of people and the community that we knew didn’t seem to be represented in that vote the way Trent was casting the vote.

To be honest, I think if we tried this three years ago, I firmly believe nothing would’ve happened. The last three years have just been a straw that broke the camel’s back, I think for this community. I think to get this many people off the couch, Grahame, they have to be so fed up in Australia.

It was almost like a kamikaze campaign by the Liberal government, and the so-called Liberal government, I would say as a former Liberal. I don’t regard them as the Liberal party I knew, got to know in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

It was almost like they were out to self-destruct. They alienated so many people on so many levels. If you weren’t upset by refugees, you might have been upset with climate. If you weren’t upset with climate, you might have been concerned about the Leppington Triangle or the funding of the Great Barrier Reef, or the offshore detention centres.

SUN: If we go back to last year when eventually someone in your group

identified Kylea as a possible candidate. What did you see in her at that stage that recommended her over anyone else that you might have had in mind?

LOCK: There are actually two people who approached us separately (suggesting Tink). There were so many blocks to people taking on such an enormous role apart from family and time of life, career commitments, age is a factor, so many personal issues.

And this commitment was potentially huge, Grahame, because we thought we should be first out of the blocks as we were concerned Morrison might have an election as early as August.

There were others we looked at who weren’t even sure if they could get time off work to campaign and let alone for nine months as it turned out being.

What we really wanted was someone who probably the most important understanding they had to have was the Ted Mack approach. Understanding it wasn’t their voice that was going to Canberra.

SUN: And was it Kylea Tink’s work with the McGrath Foundation and similar that recommended her to you?

LOCK: It didn’t have to have been the types of jobs that she had, but the fact that she saw herself as an advocate.

Although it was a paid, they were paid advocacy roles, the understanding that she was carrying the voices and needs of others. She certainly had the intellectual capacity.

She had the download capacity, which an MP would need to be over, particularly an independent MP who doesn’t have a party telling them how to vote on each legislation. They have to read every single piece of legislation. They need policy, rigorous policy analysis before they cast their vote. We needed someone who could download quickly and she could download quickly, and she proved that early on.

Her country background as well, I think gave her an earthiness and a community awareness that was going to be critical for someone like a com-

Indys now target local state seats Continued from page 1 North Shore is held by Felicity Wilson with a 61% percent 2PP vote but she suffered a 10% swing against her in 2019. Wilson is also likely to face a contested plebiscite for her Liberal candidacy in October this year.

Lane Cove is been held by veteran MP and state planning minister Anthony Roberts with a 64% 2PP vote.

Willoughby is the most vulnerable, with Tim James scraping in on a 53% 2PP vote at this year’s by-election. He suffered a 20% swing to an independent, Larissa Penn, who had virtually no budget and was running mainly against the Beaches Link Tunnel, which is causing environmental concerns in Cammeray and Northbridge. NSI spokesperson Kristen Lock told North Sydney Sun there had been: “many inquiries and a lot of energy pouring in for us to turn our attention and experience to the NSW 2023 state election.”

munity independent to understand.

SUN: Now you are targeting the state government for next year’s election but they are obviously different on climate change and integrity. So what issues will you run on there?

LOCK: We understand Voices of North Sydney … are going to be engaging the community in more of their fabulous forums, around kitchen table conversations and in town halls. Within the state seats that fall into the North Sydney federal electorate, to help us gauge just as they did last time. They existed long before us.

They’ve been collecting the views and sharing them. We’re hoping that they’re going to elucidate for us the issues that matter to Lane Cove and to North Shore and to Willoughby that may or may not be being properly represented on the parliament floor for them.

We’d like to understand, does the community seek a community independent voice, for a start? Are there issues that they aren’t being represented on accurately and honestly in parliament? So whether it’s the artificial turf issues, or funding of sports clubs, ovals, and the integrity of those processes and the transparency of those processes, or at a state planning level, are the actions and the policies in line with the net zero goals of the overall government? Maybe they are. We'll see what the community say.

SUN: Can I just clarify a point there?

Voices of North Sydney, that’s a separate group to North Sydney’s Independent but you do seem to be working in a partnership, is that right?

LOCK: No, not a partnership. But definitely, I love the work they do, North Sydney Independent, love that work, as otherwise you’ll have parties trying to sell what they think is best for those communities to the communities. Community independents are the opposite, like Ted Mack. So Voices of North Sydney, what they do, very like an adjudicator, is pull out those voices of democracy, and the issues might be different in Lane Cove to Willoughby to North Shore, and may have nothing to do with climate action or integrity.

So that’s not something a partisan, politically deliberate group like ours will do. We wouldn’t be in a position to do that, because we first need to find out if there’s a demand for it. It’s really like a free market. If there was no demand for Kylea Tink, she wouldn’t have won. If there was no space in the market, she wouldn’t be there.

So I guess we’re looking for spaces in the democratic market at state level to see if people also feel they want the kind of product that delivers their

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 7

Kristen Lock voice to parliament, rather than a party voice to them. So Voices of North Sydney, they just happen to give a really good set of data that we can look at and go, oh, it looks like in North Shore public transport’s not an issue, but in Lane Cove it’s a massive issue.

SUN: From an outsiders point of view, it seems like you let go of Kylea at a certain point to let her run her own race?

LOCK: Well, if you go to a September town hall event where I introduced her, and Julia Zemiro you’ll see I said, “And from this point, Kylea will be doing all the talking, as is appropriate.” So we were almost like the, what is it, like a rocket launcher?

So we kind of set up the launch pad and found a candidate. It was kind of dictated by the type of candidate as to how present North Sydney’s Independent would need to be. So in the establishment and the foundation phase, highly involved, and then as the campaign took off which to be honest, it was dream level participation by the community.

We were hoping to get 800 people for polling day, and we thought, wow, imagine that. You know, there were 50 of us, and it ended up being 2,000 signed-up supporters, 1,000 actual volunteers on the ground.

But you know, if Kylea hadn’t won, the campaign still had the value of the community voice just being heard.

SUN: Do you think the success of independents in many seats will now force the parties to re-evaluate how they do things?

LOCK: I think we kind of turned the steering wheel a little bit. That’s right.

ConƟnued page 8

What to do at tax time if you worked from home this year 84 percent of taxpayers will be claiming a refund this end of financial year, and the average size of refunds last year reached nearly $3,600.

Mark Chapman, director of Tax Communications at H&R Block Australia, shared his top tips for maximising your refund this year with North Sydney Sun. Working from home: What You Can Claim If you work from home, you can claim a tax deduction for the work-related proportions of household costs such as utilities bills, cleaning, depreciation of furniture and IT equipment, home office repairs and telecom costs.

Ideally, you should have a specific room set aside as a home office. If you are using a room with a dual purpose (e.g. dining room), or a room shared with others (e.g. lounge room), you can only claim the expenses for the hours you had exclusive use of the area.

Three Ways to Calculate Home Office Costs 80 cents per hour - The ATO’s 80 cents per hour method covers everything including items like mobile phone and internet usage. This temporary “shortcut method” is available until 30 June 2022 (but not beyond that date). You will need to keep a rec-

ord of the number of hours you have worked from home as a result of COVID-19.

Flat rate allowance of 52 cents per hour - You can claim 52 cents per hour for each working hour plus separate claims for the work-related proportion of items such as home Internet, mobile phone costs and other expenses that directly relate to your work such as stationery and printer ink. All you need to do to claim this is to keep a diary – note the time you start work each day, the time you finish work each day and any breaks. These additional costs often make this a preferred method since the size of the claim is often much larger than using the 80 cent rate.

Actual Costs - You can claim the actual costs you’ve incurred by keeping a diary of your work from home hours (for a typical 12-week period) and you’ll also need to work out the amount of your home (by floor area) that you’re using as your work space. From this, you can then work out the workrelated proportion of your household expenses and apply this percentage to the actual amount you spend on electricity, gas, water, phone and internet, etc. You’ll also need to keep all the original bills to prove your claim. This generally produces a bigger claim than either of the flat rate methods but the amount of paperwork and calculation

involved is much greater.

Claims for stationery Provided it is for work-related use, you can claim a tax deduction for all stationery purchases in the period in which you make the purchase and provided it’s used exclusively for workrelated purposes, there is no limit to what you can claim. If certain items are used partly for work use and partly for private use, you can claim the work -related proportion of the cost. “Preordering” (ie, ordering before EOFY for the next tax year) is a very sensible strategy for saving on tax. If the item is

over $300 you are required to claim over a number of years - the exact number depends on the effective life of the asset.

Claims for Self-Education You can claim the cost of any workrelated courses that you undertake, provided that they relate directly to your current role and aren’t intended to boost your skills into a promotion or another role entirely. In addition to the cost of the course, you can claim travel costs to and from the course, accommodation and meals if you’re required to sleep away from home.

The inside story behind the group that launched Kylea Tink ConƟnued from page 7 I think the parties didn’t value us the whole way along, and, present company excluded, I’m sure, most of the media didn’t rate us either, anywhere. I don’t recall one journalist, or political expert, for that matter, forecasting six to seven independent seats being won.

SUN: I was thinking during the campaign that the national media focus would be on Labor and the Liberals and the independents would be drowned out. But that didn’t happen..

LOCK: And I think that goes to word of mouth on the ground, to conversation. It won’t be a secret after this when people, political students look at this, but it’s very hard for the machinations in Canberra to affect the conversations in Lane Cove Plaza.

So when Scott Morrison or Barnaby Joyce start saying things on the news, it’s very hard for them to supersede what Mary said to her friend in the plaza, because that’s one to one.

Morrison kept saying they wouldn’t pursue an ICAC and persisting with the low climate credentials.

It just reinforced the headline difference between what Kylea and similar independents were picking up on in the community that people were unhappy with. Keep talking, Scott.

That was great. You just keep talking.

SUN: Much of the agenda that you’re promoting isn’t too dissimilar to what Labor and the Greens promote. So from the point of view of someone in the community trying to make sense of what’s happening, what’s the difference between what you’re doing and what Labor and the Greens offer in terms of outcomes?

LOCK: I’m going to be really painful and sound like Scott Morrison and go, I actually challenge the premise of your question.

Not only did the political parties not seem to be in contact with real people and communities, the media seemed to be in much greater contact with the political parties than with the people. The media far and away mostly see everything through left and right and existing colour teams.

So are you a Liberal, are you blue?

Are you red? Are you green? We need to pigeonhole you somewhere.

Community independents are going to be impossible to pigeonhole like that because it depends on the policy they’re looking at and whether it’s in line with a strategic longer term vision for the good of their community.

I know that’s a bit esoteric, but it’s something I’ve been struggling with as a former young Liberal, and having worked for (former Liberal MP) Bill Heffernan in my university holidays.

And so for me, it’s been so freeing, so

intellectually freeing, to stop classing every conversation and every opinion or position as red, blue or green.

SUN: Can you put a date or an event on when you drifted away from what you were and what you are now?

LOCK: It started cracking for me with the second Iraq war.

Because I put trust in John Howard at the time that he must have had information that we weren’t accessing, that I was trusting him to have.

That was the crack that I started seeing in the moral fibre of the Liberal Party and also the way David Hicks was treated.

SUN: I’ve also observed from your online presence that you’ve got a very strong view about the prevalence of soft drinks in society and schools?

LOCK: I worked in remote Aboriginal communities (as a nurse). I’d seen high rates of obesity and the often associated disease with obesity.

And one of the lowest hanging fruits is the prevalence of sugary drinks since the mid-1980s, early ‘90s, which parallels very neatly with the increase in potentially preventable chronic diseases and lethal diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease and I could go on.

My kids went to school and sud-

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 8

denly I had to argue with them. When I was growing up, it was water or milk.

To me it’s like having alcoholic drinks on the kitchen bench in front of alcoholics. It makes it hard if you put sugary drinks in front of kids all the time.

And the marketing companies know this.

You see something eight times a day, by the eighth time you see it, the Magnum ad or whatever it is, it’s a finite resource of resistance, you’re probably worn down by the eighth time. The saturation of the kids’ environments with sugary drinks is setting us all up for one very big, expensive hospital bill for all of us.

And that takes away from other less preventable diseases.

This interview was edited for length

WHAT’S ON IN NORTH SYDNEY 8 June - 19 June Sydney Film Festival Venue: Hayden Orpheum The Orpheum will be screening several films throughout the Sydney Film Festival including; A Love Song, Hinterland, The Tasting and many more.

Check orpheum.com.au for more details.

Sat, 11 June, 8:00PM LOST: Return to Beirut Venue: The Independent LOST is an experimental documentary film about Beirut. The film is accompanied by Rami Khalife on the piano, live. The film is a visual representation of Khalife's original 13 track album.

Sat, 11 June, 8:00PM Queens Ball Venue: Big Top, Luna Park After a 2 year hiatus the debauched Queens Ball is back on the Queens Birthday Long Weekend. Themed “A Twisted Carnival“ the night is headlined by Swedish Pop Star COBRAH. Thu, 16 June, 8:00PM Shorrock & Cadd - The Two Amigos Venue: Norths Cammeray Our very own “Two Amigos” will be

joined onstage by a 5-piece band to present an evening full of wonderful music, poignant memories and loads of laughs guaranteeing that this will be far more than your average stroll down memory lane.

Thu, 16 June, 8:00PM Spiritualised (pictured) Venue: Big Top, Luna Park Vivid Sydney presents legendary British space-rock act Spiritualised, back in orbit, spreading the swirling, hypnotic psych-pop syrup of latest opus Everything Was Beautiful.

Sat, 18 June, 7:30PM Sydney Comedy Club Venue: Sonar @ Luna Park Jake Howie, Gavin Scott, Kate Dolan and Garry Who headline a night of comedy by the Harbour. Plus many more acts to keep you laughing.

Sat, 25 June, 8:00PM Sinatra at the Sands Venue: Norths Cammeray Accompanied by his All Star Big Band Tom sings all the wonderful songs from this sensational recording of Sinatra in his prime. ‘Come Fly with Me’, ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’, ‘One for my Baby’, ‘You Make Me Feel

So Young’, ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, ‘It was a Very Good Year, ‘My Kind of Town’ and many more!

Tue, 28 June, 8:00PM I Prevail Venue: Big Top, Luna Park I Prevail are the biggest heavy music success story in recent history - and Australia is one of their biggest fanbases in the world. They are supported by acts; Motionless in white and Windwaker.

Fri, 1 July, 8:00PM No Quarter -The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Legacy Venue: Norths Cammeray Witness the legendary British super-

group in all its glory and excesses!

Widely hailed as “the best Led Zeppelin band on the planet,” (Dennis D’Amico, Exec. Prod. Paul McCartney), NO QUARTER, is pounding its way to a venue near you soon, all the way from Seattle US. Sat, 2 July, 8:00PM The Killer Queen Experience Venue: Norths Cammeray Formed in 2003, The Killer Queen Experience has risen from a Local Brisbane based Queen Cover Band to an International Touring Show and is Australia’s most sought-after Tribute Act today.

Check with venues first

Lower north shore music scene loses vital venue

By James Mullan After seven years of bringing live music to the lower north shore, Crows Nest’s Street Market Asian Tapas and Live Music has closed. This follows the closure of the restaurant’s first site in Kirribilli that had been operating above Kirribilli Seafoods since 2009.

For owner Alan Liang it’s been a huge journey and effort running one of the only live music venues north of the bridge. After suffering an injury playing for Guangzhou F.C in the China’s top flight football league, Alan decided to use part of his insurance pay out to study in Australia. While studying Marketing and HR at Macquarie University, Alan worked at the Kirribilli Hotel where he got his first taste of life in hospitality.

The Kirribilli Street Market Asian Tapas opened in 2009 with great success. So much so, Alan was confident enough by 2015 to open a second site in Crows Nest. “I decided to open up a second one as a music venue. There was a time I was at a music venue in the Western Suburbs and they were all laughing at us in the North,” he remembers. The business moved into a site at 116 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest.

That had formerly been a pizzeria and a Spanish tapas bar. In a tip of the hat to its past, Street Market would go on to keep the tapas service but put an Asian twist on the food.

As for the music, a regular customer called Adrian Keating happened to be the principal of a Sydney orchestra and extremely well connected in the music industry. So it was settled for

Alan: “I didn’t know how to recruit or how to get them so Adrian did all the the musician side. He looked after all the music so I looked after all the food a beverage.”

In its time Street Market saw the likes of Thirsty Merc and Matt Finish Band perform there. Alan particularly remembers a performance by Ric Herbert; famous for his performance at both the Sydney 2000 and creating the anthem of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

The restaurant was one of the only live music venues on the North Shore that consistently had gigs from professional artists. Bucking the reputation of the area, almost every night you could hear any genre of music reverberating out onto Willoughby Road.

Yet, after 7 years of operating in this niche, staffing and financial pressures caught up with the business at both the Crows Nest and Kirribilli sites. “Mainly we were coming up with staff shortages and the problem is in Kirribilli the venue could only hold 80 people, and in Crows Nest I fit about 180,” he said.

The inconsistent nature of business was unsustainable.

“There are a lot of issues. The main problem is the inconsistency of the trade. If an event is paying $30 an hour I can still survive, but I cannot survive if customers one day come in with 100 of them then another day I only get 2 customers. It’s really the inconsistency.” he said.

Despite these factors the owner believes the government did enough to

support the business during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns. Regardless, the stress of running a small business had taken its toll on Alan.

“It’s just too hard to work as a big venue. I’m the chef, the waiter, the electrician, the accountant, everything you could imagine. I can’t keep up with all of that. So I decided to change my career.”

That change will likely see the 42 year old move into the construction management industry. He is already studying the subject at TAFE. When asked about what he will miss most about running the restaurant, Alan quickly responded with ‘the customers’. He told us of a couple that frequented both the Kirribilli and Crows Nest sites that had emailed him

when they announced they closed.

“They were saying they went on their first date at my restaurant in Kirribilli. They became a couple, then introduced each other to their families at my restaurant. They moved down the road to Crows Nest and they were so happy to have the second restaurant next door. Now they have kids and the kids had their birthdays here.

And now when their grandparents look after them they come in on the weekend for live music. Things like this are really touching.”

It is sad to see a much loved local restaurant go out of business from the community’s and the owner's perspective. But Alan is looking forward to leaving the crazy work hours behind to spend more time with his family.

NORTH SYDNEY WELLBEING

Demystifying psychotherapy

By Living To Thrive’s Chuck Anderson Over the years I have come across hundreds of people that have challenges with their mental health.

Sadly, many do not seek professional mental health support because they are either afraid to ask or do not know where to start.

In this article I will discuss various types of psychotherapies and my personal experiences with some of them.

This puts me in an exceptionally vulnerable position, but I also know that sharing lived experience breaks down formalities and it is the most authentic way to inspire and encourage others.

My intention is to help remove some of the assumed barriers and unknowns around seeking professional mental health support.

According to the Australian Psychology Society, “Using scientific principles, psychology explores human emotions, cognitive ability and biological functions to help us better understand how and why we think, feel, behave and react.”

Researchers are yet to understand what causes mental illness. Studies have shown that it can be a mix of several factors such as brain chemistry, genetics, childhood and adult trauma, physical illness and even culture (Australian Government Department of Health).

I started seeing a psychologist when I was 27 years old as I was thinking, feeling and behaving in ways that were unhealthy for my partner and I (who I am still with and happily married to). For example, I found myself often unnecessarily irritable, shorttempered, impulsive and easily overwhelmed at random, no matter the circumstance.

It felt like I had this invisible weight on my chest and face that held me down no matter what I was doing or who was around. My partner and I agreed that in-order for our relationship to work I needed to get professional support for myself.

Ultimately, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Nearly fifteen years later, I continue to manage all three through self-education, meditation, exercise, positive interventions, prescribed medication and psychotherapy as needed.

Over the years I have explored different types of psychotherapies depending on what I was trying to work through at that time.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was created by Dr. Aaron Beck

in the 1960s. Beck was a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. CBT is considered the “gold standard” of psychotherapy.

According to the National Health Service (NHS) of England, “CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle.

CBT aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts.

You’re shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel.

Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis.”

Although CBT was originally intended for the treatment of depression, it has since been successfully used in treating several other mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders, phobias, sleep and eating disorders, substance abuse and obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD).

If you want to learn more about CBT read, “Mind Over Mood, Second Edition: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think” by Dennis Greenberger, Christine Padesky and Aaron Beck. It is full of practical tools, exercises and much more.

For me, CBT offered excellent tools and practical methods of challenging negative self-talk. However, my psychologist and I found its approach less

suitable for my personality and what I was working through the time.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was created in the 1980s by Dr. Steven C. Hayes, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Nevada.

ACT uses mindfulness and behavioural activation to grow psychological flexibility—your ability to engage in values-based actions while experiencing difficult thoughts, emotions, or sensations.

For example, a personal value for you is health but you often beat yourself up over your poor dietary habits and body image.

Instead of trying to challenge and change the automatic negative selftalk, you simply acknowledge and accept what you are feeling and commit to values-based action towards living a healthier life.

ACT has been shown to be effective in treating several clinical disorders including anxiety and mood disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, chronic pain and much more.

There is much more to learn about ACT, and I highly recommend anyone that is interested to read, “Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life” by Steven Hayes and Spencer Smith.

I personally found ACT to have the approach most suited to my personality and overall mindset. ACT allowed me to accept who I am by while giving me space to build the healthy behaviours and mindset that I needed to thrive. There are several other psychotherapies that I would love to dive into, but I only have so much space for this article. However, I would recommend anyone interested in the treat-

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 10

ment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to investigate a psychotherapy called Eye Movement DesensitiSation and Reprocessing (EMDR).

It is shown to be extremely successful in the treatment of PTSD (as well as other disorders) for victims of abuse, accidents, rape, childhood trauma, war veterans and much more.

I have not used EMDR personally, but I do know several people that have. Lastly, Schema therapy is a great psychotherapy for anyone looking to understand how their childhood experiences influence them in adulthood.

Go to www.psychology.org.au as a resource to search for a psychologist for any of the above (and more) psychotherapies.

It should also be noted that you do not have to have a clinical disorder to see a psychologist.

If you simply need someone reliable and supportive to speak with, a respectable psychologist can be that for you.

Each of the psychotherapies mentioned should be investigated and explored in more depth to ensure they meet your individual needs.

We all experience some sort of trauma in our lives, but how we experience and get treated for that trauma can be very different.

Managing mental health takes selfaccountability, self-will and the support system of friends, family, colleagues, and sometimes professionals.

Psychotherapy can be a confronting and sometimes painful journey to finding a healthier path to live your life. However, we only get one shot at life, why not make it the one you want and deserve to live?

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

From primary school teacher to art professional: Janice Brown Janice Brown has created a successful art business from her local North Sydney home studio after having an epiphany during the pandemic that she was unhappy with her life long career . She tells her story to North Sydney Sun’s Grahame Lynch.

SUN: You had a background in education and made a sideways turn into art a few years ago. Can you tell us the story about how that came to be?

BROWN: As the world plunged into new challenges due to the pandemic in 2020, my work as a permanent primary school teacher changed too.

It was bringing me down, why? My specialised role as an English teacher took another bout of being marginalised. This was due to some being unwilling actually acknowledge or know what our specialised teaching role involves. It took me 6 and a half years to train at university at Macquarie for this role as a mature aged student whilst working, raising a family plus doing full time volunteer work to support my community.

I got tired of the lack of communication and dismissiveness instead of a collegial approach. Then, a suggestion was made of ‘giving art a go’ whilst on long service leave. I started by using watercolour pencils to depict my own photography of landscapes, seascapes and Sydney icons. My new journey gave me so much joy. After delving into a lot of research to decide which way I would go, either as a hobby or a business? The decision was ready to make a choice.

On 1 February 2021, I launched my own small art business, Sydney InSights, in my home studio in North Sydney. My own photographs and hand self-taught representations of these then underwent a production through a local printing company to produce ‘all occasion’ greeting cards.

My prints of original art are processed through the local Kodak Express on Walker St and the professional framers of my original art pieces is, ‘Fantastic Framing’ in Miller Street, North Sydney.

Now in 2022, my own website at www.sydneyinsights.com.au is established which allows online purchases from anyone both here and overseas. My first artwork was accepted in an overseas gallery and I have kept experimenting and lately love working on canvas’ of various sizes.

A lovely local English tutoring company, ‘W & T Academy’ in Chatswood also supports my art business through the teaching and learning of English to students of other language backgrounds.

SUN: What do you specialise in?

BROWN: I specialise in landscape and seascape drawings and paintings using acrylic or watercolours. Recently, I finished my first ever series of 4 canvas ‘commissions’ which show our friends journey over the last few years visually, from the time they were going out to now and beyond. This was presented to them as a gift for their seventh anniversary. Truly a piece of assembled art—four separate canvases make up their love story—you cannot buy something like this anywhere. If I had to describe my main genre I display, I would say, ‘contemporary’ art.

The bonus now is, I get to still teach English as a lifelong learner and prove to others including my students that, you are never too old to learn!

SUN: How does Sydney Harbour and North Sydney inspire you?

BROWN: This is an easy question.

North Sydney has been our home now with hubby, David for over 11 years.

We have the best bunch of neighbours in Hampden Street. They not only are great friends but we all look out for each other’s interests and support each other in the best way possible. This is something rare these days.

North Sydney and the lower north shore is unique due to its close proximity to everything whilst remaining seasonally beautiful.

For example, we have the choice of various medical clinics and hospitals, shopping centres, private and public schools and one of the best beaches in the world in Balmoral and last but not least, Sydney Harbour.

You never get tired of it…each day or night it majestically shows off to locals and tourists alike, that this suburb has so much more to offer than you’d expect.

SUN: Where have you been exhibiting and where can locals see your work?

BROWN: I have done a few local markets to test them out but from now on, the only one I do is through North Sydney Council, ‘The Coal Loader Artisans Market’ which occurs four times a year. Locals can also view my work firsthand, by making a personal arrangement on my website, to visit my home studio at a suitable time for us both.

I also have my art on other commission based platforms for the public to reach out for my art such as; Artisan Collective Australia, SaatchiArt.com, Bluethumb Australia and my most fond avenue to expand my work to the public is through Gallery247 in Melbourne.

So far my work has been at Portland Art Show Victoria and recently at the Bendigo Art Show, Victoria.

In 2021 I became a member of photocrowd.com (UK) which has rewarded me with recognition of some of my best photography on the world scene.

SUN: How important are your supporters to the success of this art?

BROWN: This whole new adventure for me didn’t just come about by chance. There was a lot of behind the scenes work and support, to produce

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 11

my new small online art business.

The experience so far has shown me you need resilience, patience, continual research, time and money.

Without the support of the North Sydney Sun and other small local businesses, it would probably be impossible to exhibit my work in a local gallery…that is definitely something that I would love to do in the not too distant future.

My small business supporters I would like to mention as without them, I probably would have dismissed the whole journey at the start.

These include Laurel Leaf BistroMcMahons Point, Kodak Express, Fantastic Framing, Worldwide Printing, Berry Street Mini Mart and 28scafe, North Sydney.

Also North Sydney Council, Artisans Market at the Coal Loader, Kairos Films, Naremburn Life Line Store.

Erksleys Art Store in St Leonards. National Gallery of Art, W & T AcademyChatswood plus my close friends and family.

There are also those more experienced in art and have given me some tips and knowledge along the way. Ako Lamble of Mosman Art School, Sheila Tan who is a fellow local and self-taught artist on a whole larger scale than me and Katherine Ugarte– a local who actually told me recently that I inspired her to go back to her love of art. Her work has been selling as fast as hot cakes, literally!

Hopefully others too will become inspired to pick up a camera, pencil or brush and ‘give art a go’ too.

kids’ puzzles DOT-TO-DOT

PENGUIN FUN FACTS Penguins go through an annual ‘catastrophic moult’, where they lose and regrow all their feathers in a short space of time.

There are 18 species of penguin, 10 of which are considered endangered.

All penguins are native to the southern hemisphere – they never share a habitat with polar bears.

The smallest penguin, the little penguin, weighs just 1.5kg and is only 30cm tall.

Emperor penguins are the only bird species to breed on sea ice.

The king of Norway knighted a penguin, Sir Nils Olav, who is mascot of his guard.

PUZZLES AND PAGINATION © Pagemasters | pagemasters.com

WINTER RIDDLE

JUNIOR CROSSWORD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

In a one-storey Igloo in Canada, the bedrooms were yellow, the kitchen was blue, the living room was orange and the entry hall was red and the sitting room was purple. What colour were the stairs?

ANSWERS: They are no stairs, it’s one story.

ANSWERS: Scarf, Lemon, Ocean, Throw, Boots, Parka, Lolly, Chill (SNOWBALL).

EASY SUDOKU

SOLUTION 2 1 4 3 6 5 9 7 8

8 3 7 4 9 1 2 6 5

7 9 1 8 3 2 5 4 6

4 5 8 7 1 6 3 9 2

6 2 3 5 4 9 7 8 1

2 2 8 3 4 8 8 4 1 5 4

9 6 5 2 8 7 1 3 4

SOLUTION

9 7 1 3 8 7 5 9 3 1 7 6 8 2 1

1 7 9 6 2 8 4 5 3

6

6

2 8

3 8 2 9 5 4 6 1 7

5 3

All blank squares must be filled in using numbers from 1 to 9.

Each number can only appear once in each row, column and in the nine 3x3 blocks.

5 4 6 1 7 3 8 2 9

MAZE

Neck warmer Sour fruit Large body of water Toss Shoes Winter jacket Sweet treat Relax

E

L

L

L

A

E

L

P

P

A

AERY

TINNIE

OFF

NILS

ON

BAT

END

LEI

OFT

OBEY

TO

BOA

EVE

MAC

OLD

RING

US

BOP

FAN

MAY

PAL

SWAY

PUZZLES AND PAGINATION © Pagemasters | pagemasters.com

t

F C

4x4 CROSSWORD ACROSS

t K

1 5 6 7

F t

F A r C K

s

J

BLUSTERY

FIREWOOD

MITTENS

SOUP

BRISK

FLEECE

MULLED WINE

STEW

CHILLY

FOG

NIPPY

STORM

COAT

FROST

PIE

STOVE

COLD

FROZEN

QUIET

TEA

COSY

GLACIAL

QUILT

THAW

CRISP

GLOVES

RADIATOR

WIND

DOONA

GUST

RAIN

DRAFT

HAIL

SLIPPERY

DREARY

HEATER

SNOWBOARD

( 5 9 / & 2 ) & 2 $ 7 : ' 7 $

5 $ ( , 2 < 6 2 & 1 + 2 $ 7 5

8 7 $ , 8 / % / 8 6 7 ( 5 < 7

' ( 6 + 6 2 8 3 < , $ 1 5 , '

, ) 7 & 5 , 6 3 % $ : 6 $ 0 2

0 ( 2 $ 2 , 3 7 ' 5 $ ) 7 , 4

( 7 & * ( , 3 2 ( ' / 2 & & 8

7 ' ( ( 1 + 6 / , 3 3 ( 5 < ,

6 ( 1 , ( 1 , : ' ( / / 8 0 /

* 6 7 ( : 4 ) , 5 ( : 2 2 ' 1

A e

A O

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SOLUTIONS

secret message: Time to go into hibernation

t C J r K O s A F

SOCKS

$ 0 2 / . * 1 5 , 6 ( % , ( =

* 6 7 ( : 4 ) , 5 ( : 2 2 ' 1

s F O J C A t K r

ICY

5 8 / < 6 $ 1 2 2 ' 9 2 $ 1 =

8 7 $ , 8 / % / 8 6 7 ( 5 < 7

A K r t s F C J O EARMUFFS

< ) * / $ & , $ / 6 2 $ 7 6 ,

P 6 ( 1 , ( 1 , : ' ( / / 8 0 /

F A

BLIZZARD

7 ) 1 ( = 2 5 ) + 1 7 5 2 , /

A

7 ' ( ( 1 + 6 / , 3 3 ( 5 < ,

J t F A r C K O s r O C s t K J

Once all words have been found, the leftover letters will spell out a secret message.

.

6 , 5 % + $ , / 5 6 ' 5 7 %

C A r F A N O e t O l l

J r C t

WINTER WORD FIND

s C A

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e t

K s A O F

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e

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SOLUTION r

J

Insert the missing letters to make 10 words – five reading across the grid and five reading down.

NOTE: more than one solution may be possible

s

s

r e s

C J t F O r A s K

A s

s

5x5 CROSSWORD

F

Green fruits (inf) (4) Speak at length (4) Refer to (4) Atmospheric water vapour (4)

SOLUTIONS

P

O r K C A s F t J F A s K J t O r C

F

1 2 3 4

ACrOss: 1. Arcs 5. Vain 6. Onto 7. Stew DOWN: 1. Avos 2. Rant 3. Cite 4. Snow

s

DOWN

Narratives (4) Useless, in — (4) On the surface of (4) Winter dinner (4)

( 7 & * ( , 3 2 ( ' / 2 & & 8

LAY

0 ( 2 $ 2 , 3 7 ' 5 $ ) 7 , 4

ELK

, ) 7 & 5 , 6 3 % $ : 6 $ 0 2

3 letters

' ( 6 + 6 2 8 3 < , $ 1 5 , '

OK

5 $ ( , 2 < 6 2 & 1 + 2 $ 7 5

KNEE

( 5 9 / & 2 ) & 2 $ 7 : ' 7 $

NEW

$ 0 2 / . * 1 5 , 6 ( % , ( =

HAP

5 8 / < 6 $ 1 2 2 ' 9 2 $ 1 =

ELF

< ) * / $ & , $ / 6 2 $ 7 6 ,

IRIS

7 ) 1 ( = 2 5 ) + 1 7 5 2 , /

NEE

Reference: Macquarie Dictionary.

.

6 , 5 % + $ , / 5 6 ' 5 7 %

FLU

F

L

A

L

L

A

E

E

L

A

SNAP UP

A

E

4 letters

F

SCRIPT

C

U

L

L

U

E

L

A

E

P

A

C

U

P

P

A

P

PSEUDO

C

YAW

E

F

P

A

A

P

E

L

P

P

P

A

A

E

E

P

A

IRONIC

L

UFO

F

E

F

P

U

P

E

A

P

A

F

F

A

F

P

E

L

GIVE UP

P

TEN

A

ASSETS

E

TAR

P

C

L

A

U

E

L

P

E

E

L

L

E

U

L

P

A

AFFECT

P

TAN

SCATTERED A

F

C

E

EKE

J

A

L

YO

SOLUTION

L

C

AN

K

A

U

CANT

O

F

L

MOO

s

L

U

FIE

All blank squares must be filled in using letters from JACK FROST. Each letter can only appear once in each row, column and in the nine 3x3 blocks.

E

P

DUE

WINTER SUDOKU

A

6 letters

WE

MY

P

SKI

2 letters

6 1 2 2 3

SIN

E

SWOON

P

SAC

A

SNOOP

E

ROO

A

SNAIL

A

ROE

TIP: There is at least one eight-letter word, and only letters from this word are use to fill the grid.

P

NYLON

P

RIM

You can’t use the same word twice, but different verb forms and plurals are allowed.

L

NAURU

E

PUP

A

HABIT

L

PUB

L

EERIE

2 2 1 / . ' $ ( 8 5 <

PEN

WORD FILL

$ 8 5 $ /

5 $ , 1 * 3 $ < / 2 1

6 1 2 2 3

AURAL

% 6 $ & & 7 5 , ( 3 7 2 8 ) 6 7 1 $ : 3 8 3 3 $ 5 <

2 ) ) / ) 8 + & $ % 1 , 7 / ( ( , 9 (

% 6 $ & ( & 7 5 ) , ( $ 3 1 7 2 8 ) / 6 7 $ 1 < $ : 3 ( 8 3 3 $ 5 <

PAY

SOLUTIONS

Using adjoining squares, can you find all of the words in the grid? Each square can only be used once, and all squares must be used to solve the puzzle.

2 ) ) ( / ) 8 ) + $ & $ 1 % 1 , / 7 $ / < ( ( , 9 ( (

( ( 5 , 6 ( .

6 1 ( . ( 1 , ( ' 0 1 <

1

5 letters

1

3 ( 1

6 : 2 2 ( / . ' 7 6 $ ( : ( 1 $ 8 5 < < <

PAR

5 $ , 1 * 3 $ < / 2

$ 8 5 $ /

% % 2 3 $ 6 6 ( 3 8 3 ' 8 6 2 % , 0 1 , 5 5 2 0 2 2 1 7 , 1 0 $ & 5

SCATTERED

6 : ( 3 ( 7 6 1 ( : 1 $ ( < ( < 5 , 6 ( .

6 1 ( . ( 1 , ( ' 0 1 <

masters.com

WINTER WORD FILL

% % 2 3 $ 6 6 ( 3 8 3 ' 8 2 % 6 , 0 , 5 1 5 2 0 2 2 1 7 , 1 0 $ & 5

TION ©

winter puzzles

winter puzzles GIANT CROSSWORD 68 Slowly moving mass of ice (7) 69 Rhythm of a line of verse (8) 70 Overseas (6) 71 Popular 46-down drink, hot — (9) 72 Harass (8) 73 Institution or state funds (8) 74 Collections of financial accounts (7)

1 4 8 11 13 14

Floating ice (7) Extremely cold (8) Atmosphere (8) Preferred (9) Spittle (6) Large-scale narrative musical work (8) 16 Jurisdiction of royals (7) 17 Small cosy houses (8) 19 Wholly (8) 20 Offensive (9) 24 Flood (8) 25 Mishandle (6) 27 Argued over petty matters (8) 29 Take unawares (7) 31 Particular skills (7) 33 Loud 46down weather phenomena (13) 37 Not frequent (8) 41 Snow hut (5) 42 Fertile desert area (5) 43 Moisten (meat) (5) 44 Stage play (5) 45 Despondent (8) 48 Fair and generous behaviour (13) 51 Violent gusts of wind (7) 54 Convert to code (7) 56 Writing pad (8) 57 Finishing (6) 58 Richness (8) 59 Marine animal with pointy nose (9) 63 Accompanied (8) 65 A rather dangerous adventure (8)

DOWN

1 Conflagration (7) 2 The winter — is the shortest day of the year (7) 3 Dirty (5) 4 Woolly coverings (7) 5 Precise (5) 6 Cake topping (5) 7 Made of glass (9) 8 Already stated (14) 9 Extremely pretty (9) 10 Coldness (5) 12 Someone who does not eat animal products (5) 15 Rower (7) 18 Turn (5) 21 Primary colour (4) 22 Land surrounded by water (6) 23 Ctrl+Z (4) 26 Extremely sweet or indulgent (8) 28 Confuse (4) 30 Loss of memory (7) 32 Flag or standard (6)

34 Water tubes (5) 35 Consulate (7) 36 Japanese rice dish (5) 38 Hard cheese (8) 39 Largest US state (6) 40 Communication between two parties (14) 46 The coldest season (6) 47 Select organisation (4) 49 Frozen water vapour (4) 50 Flowerless plant (4) 52 Mythical Scottish emblem (7) 53 Feature of 33-across (9) 54 Full of energy (9) 55 Picture of the Virgin Mary (5) 59 Not detailed (7) 60 Clear gemstone (7) 61 Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea (5) 62 Saddle (7) 64 Triangular bones in the lower back (5) 66 Malediction (5) 67 Mountaintops (5) 68 Evil spirit (5)

SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1. Iceberg 4. Freezing 8. Ambience 11. Favourite 13. Saliva 14. Oratorio 16. Regency 17. Cottages 19. Entirely 20. Obnoxious 24. Inundate 25. Fumble 27. Quibbled 29. Startle 31. Talents 33. Thunderstorms 37. Sporadic 41. Igloo 42. Oasis 43. Baste 44. Drama 45. Downcast 48. Sportsmanship 51. Squalls 54. Encrypt 56. Notebook 57. Ending 58. Opulence 59. Swordfish 63. Escorted 65. Escapade 68. Glacier 69. Scansion 70. Abroad 71. Chocolate 72. Harangue 73. Treasury 74. Ledgers DOWN: 1. Inferno 2. Equinox 3. Grimy 4. Fleeces 5. Exact 6. Icing 7. Glassware 8. Aforementioned 9. Beautiful 10. Chill 12. Vegan 15. Oarsman 18. Twist 21. Blue 22. Island 23. Undo 26. Luscious 28. Blur 30. Amnesia 32. Ensign 34. Hoses 35. Embassy 36. Sushi 38. Parmesan 39. Alaska 40. Correspondence 46. Winter 47. Club 49. Snow 50. Moss 52. Unicorn 53. Lightning 54. Exuberant 55. Pieta 59. Sketchy 60. Diamond 61. Ibiza 62. Harness 64. Sacra 66. Curse 67. Peaks 68. Ghoul

ACROSS

QUICK QUIZ What year was the first Winter Olympics held?

2. Which prehistoric monument is aligned to the sunset of the winter solstice?

5. The title of John Steinbeck’s novel The Winter of Our Discontent comes from a line in which Shakespearean play?

6. At which hotel does Jack Nicholson’s chracter (pictured) 3. The Three Friends of Winter is work as the winter caretaker in an art motif comprising of pine, The Shining? bamboo and what other element?

MEDIUM SUDOKU All blank squares must be filled in using numbers from 1 to 9. Each number can only appear once in each row, column and in the nine 3x3 blocks.

2 9 3 1

SOLUTION

6

4

7.

1 5 6 4 3 6 8 9

What is the name of the Ancient Greek god of the north wind?

8 7 2

3

6 1 7 9

9. Balaclavas were named for their use at the Battle of Balaclava during which war in the 1850s?

SOLUTIONS

10. The unique migration of which animal occurs every winter along the Eyre Peninsula’s Spencer Gulf in South Australia?

PUZZLES AND PAGINATION © Pagemasters | pagemasters.com

WINTER 9-LETTER

2

7

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list?

The centre letter must be included, and each letter may only be used once. No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural words ending in ‘s’.

AIM

7 8 1 6

18 words: Good 27 words: Very good 37 words: Excellent

S

R

O

I

B F

E

T

T

SOLUTIONS befit, befits, best, bestir, bets, bettor, bettors, bier, bistro, bite, biter, bites, bitter, bore, bores, brie, brief, briefs, brio, brit, fibre, fibres, fobs, FROSTBITE, obit, obiter, orbit, orbits, ribose, ribs, robe, robes, sober, sorb, sorbet, strobe, tribe

4. Who wrote the fairytale The Snow Queen?

8. True or false: Winter is the third of the four concertos in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons?

1. 1924 2. Stonehenge 3. Plum blossom 4. Hans Christian Andersen 5. Richard III 6. Overlook Hotel 7. Boreas 8. False (it’s the fourth) 9. Crimean War 10. Australian giant cuttlefish

1.

2 3 1 7 4 8 6 9 5

9 8 6 1 5 2 7 4 3

7 5 4 3 6 9 1 2 8

1 7 3 9 8 5 4 6 2

5 6 9 2 3 4 8 1 7

8 4 2 6 7 1 3 5 9

3 1 5 8 2 6 9 7 4

6 2 8 4 9 7 5 3 1

4 9 7 5 1 3 2 8 6

AROUND THE GROUNDS

How our local top clubs are performing as we hit mid-season This year has been the first disruption free winter season since 2019 and many North Shore clubs are thriving. The Sun has put together an update on how the three of the top clubs in the districts are performing.

Northern Suburbs Rugby Club Coming into the 2022 season Norths were quietly confident of more success after making the finals in the past 5 seasons.

The opening rounds of the year definitely affirmed this confidence with a 42-12 drubbing of Eastwood, a convincing 31-16 victory over Warringah followed by a 41-18 thumping of Souths.

Number 8, Brodie Leber was impressive in all three games crossing for a try in each, while flyhalf Angus Sinclair alone chipped in 33 points from conversions, tries and penalties.

In a round 4 match up in Cowra a trend would set in that has since bugged the Shoremen; failure to win the close games. The first time they had played in the regional town since 2018 ended with Norths losing by 1, just falling 33-34. The next week was very similar with a 34-32 loss to neighbouring Manly.

Round 6 was the first home game at North Sydney Oval and was set up to be a classic against the always powerful Sydney Uni. The game was close with Norths missing out on the win 12-17. The pain was short lived as the team bounced back the next week to secure a 22-21 victory over archrivals Gordon followed by a victory over West Harbour. Of late close games have become the norm with a 1 point loss to Parramatta and a thrilling 44-44 draw with Randwick has them sitting in fourth spot with 8 games to go.

It’s definitely been a season of mixed form most of which can be put down to injuries. The club had an off season focussed on building squad depth and player development. Coach Zak Beer says this depth has been crucial.

He told the Sun: “It’s been great to see young Shoremen who’ve come through our system step up into 1st grade and deliver for us.”

Of the young talent he has been particularly impressed with flanker Boston Kerapa who just graduated from Colts: “He’s bought into the high standards and work-ethic we’re about. As a result of a huge

preseason he’s starting to see the rewards”.

Norths Bears Basketball The inaugural season of NBL1 East has seen Norths’ Women thrive, while the Men’s squad has had mixed fortunes. Currently on top of the NBL1 East Women ladder, the Bears boast a 8-1 record. The season started with victories over Canberra, Maitland and Central Coast at home. Followed by comfortable wins away against Manly and Inner West. It was only until a road trip to face Lauren Jackson’s AlburyWodonga side where the Bears’ Women finally dropped a game.

Yet this proved to be a one off as the team bounced back to dominate their next games against Illawarra, Sutherland and Hills, beating all three by 20+ points.

Coach Renee Garlepp has credited the team’s success to “hard work and a willingness to buy into the system.”

The squad are all incredibly talented and selfless,” she told the Sun. Guard Riley Evans has been in incredible form averaging 21 points with a season high 26 points against Manly. Meanwhile, in the front court Emily Simons is averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds a game, highlighted by a monstrous 14 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assist game against Illawarra. “Both provide lots of experience and smarts.

Both have played college basketball and have been around the game.

They are great leaders to our young players,” coach Garlepp said of Evans and Simons. Point Guard Kate Seebohm has also shown quality all year leading the league in assists.

For the Men’s squad consistency has been hard to come by. The line up has been hampered with injuries and sickness which has undoubtedly affected chemistry. With a 4-6 record they are sitting third last on the ladder with wins coming against Bankstown, Maitland, Central Coast and Hills. Brennan Rymer has been a bright spot for the team averaging 24 points, while putting up a massive 33 points against Bankstown. Former Sydney Kings player Anatoly Bose has also contributed strongly, averaging a double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Recently Norths swept rivals Hills to take out the Life Members Cup with both NBL1 teams winning.

Above: The Shoremen celebrate a try. Below: Riley Evans (Photo credit: James O’Donohue)

North Sydney Bears As the Bears celebrate 100 years since their last first grade premiership, this years squad have started the season in good form. The top team coached by Jason Taylor won their first 5 games of the season.

Now half way through the 2022 competition Norths sit in 5th place on the table. Highlights of the year have included a 56-18 drubbing of rivals the Sea Eagles, a 30-16 win over Parramatta in their first home game and recently a 32-24 win over former NRL parent club Souths. In the latest Round 13 the Sea Eagles got their revenge handing Norths a 22-16 loss.

Outside back Tom Carr has starred throughout, registering a league leading 13 tries and 18 line breaks. No doubt hooker Ben Marshke’s play making helped this

North Sydney Sun | June 2022 | Page 15

with 10 try assists and a competition topping 15 line break assists.

For the Bears Womens’ NSW Premiership squad this season has started perfectly as they sit top of the table, undefeated after 6 rounds. Impressively they have scored an accumulated 132 points and only conceded 36. Winger Pier Pritchard has been unstoppable, crossing the line in every game but one, while lock Kira Dibb has registered 36 points already.

Off the field the Bears have been in discussions with the Perth NRL bid about a potential joint venture to become the competition’s 18th team. Chairman Dan Dickson said “We won’t be kicking anyone away talking about potential ventures with the Bears. The NRL is going to want growth in the game and WA is an area they are considering.”

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Swans academy makes North Sydney Oval home for winter North Sydney Oval has again become a host for Australian Rules football with the Sydney Swans academy playing and training there over winter. In preparation for the AFLW season the Swans are hosting a Female Winter Series which will see teams from Tasmania, Northern Territory and Greater Western Sydney compete go head to head at the historic ground.

The series is a chance for young players to make their case for inclusion in the new Swans’ AFLW squad.

Assistant and Female Academy coach Baker Denneman says “We see The Winter Series as pivotal to the continued development and education of our academy players and vital to our AFLW list build.”

The squad is made up of the Swans Academy female players aged from 18 to 21, as well as their ‘Futures squad’ which is a development group made up of talented 16 and 17-year-old girls.

In the mid 2000s North Sydney Oval often played host to Swans Men’s preseason games yet has not frequently hosted AFL in years. This can be attributed to the growth in attendance of the sport and the small dimensions of the field. However, the playing surface is a perfect size for AFLW according to head of the Sydney Swans Academy. Chris Smith.

“The size of the oval suits the AFL

womens game, it's a little bit shorter than your standard oval.”

Another obstacle that may have hindered efforts to get AFL on at Oval is the high demand from other sports.

“We know that North Sydney is a prestigious ground and quite iconic and that there were other tenants there that sort of had first dibs that being rugby and cricket. We were very mindful of that. The conversations have always been trying to see whether we can fit in in any sort of capacity at all.” Smith told the Sun. The Swans had been looking for an elite level facility for many years and North Sydney provided a perfect fit.

“We were looking for a space that's not only suitable for our high performing girls but also convenient. A lot of our girls who are participating are from the North Shore, Northern Beaches and the North West. So this allows them easy access to get to a training facility that has lights and suitable changerooms. North Sydney ticked the boxes in all those areas.”

AFL has seen a huge uptake in female participation in the last decade.

From 2014 to 2019 alone women’s participation nationwide jumped from 194,952 to 586,422 participants.

This increase comes with higher demand for space including high performance facilities.

Smith believes their new home is perfect for what they needed and feedback has been positive.

“The girls are genuinely excited.

The one thing about driving high training standards and high performance is that you need to provide a setting that suits that and North Sydney definitely ticks that,” Smith said.

“It’s a beautiful surface, the ground itself is quite picturesque and it’s an iconic area. The parents have loved sitting there watching their daughters play. The coaches love training there, the facilities are suitable for what we are after.”

AFLW Development Coach Bron-

wyn Gulden added “The girls have been very excited by the opportunity to not only train at such a venue, but also compete and play games at the prestigious ground.”

The Sydney Swans will debut in their first ALFW season later this year.

Where they will play is yet to be decided leaving the possibility of more permanent fixtures at North Sydney Oval.

Chris Smith said the club is definitely considering it: “Going forward we definitely are looking at where we play some of our AFLW games. The draw hasn’t been set in stone and we’d definitely be interested in playing a game or two there.”

The grass may be greener as local parks get set for upgrades

By James Mullan With the winter sports season well underway, many locals and sports clubs have been frustrated with ground closures due to the playing surface conditions. North Sydney Council will attempt to address these issues with several local parks set for upgrades, refurbishment and adaptation projects.

In a revised North Sydney Community Strategic Plan, the council has flagged several projects that will attempt to improve local parks across the district.

Anderson Park is set to get new lighting, a surface reconstruction, improved drainage and irrigation. Central to this project is shifting the playing field and lighting further west, away from the water. The council also hopes to improve soil conditions by providing subsoil drainage, upgrading irrigation systems and potentially using different turf types. Works are due to start at the end of the winter season with lighting upgrades potentially starting earlier.

At Anderson Park’s Neutral Harbour, waterfront plans are also in place to provide kayak storage facilities as well as at John St, Milson Park and Tunks Park. The council has allocated $375,000 for the kayak storages and water access projects with works set to start next year.

Tunks Park will also have its west-

Anderson Park ern amenities block upgraded. Contracts have been awarded with work set to start once site access improves.

The block which was built in the 1960s will get a new canteen, toilets, change room, extended shelter and storeroom.

Upgrades are aimed at improving the amenity for women and young girls. Plans were drawn up in consultation with Norths Pirates Junior Rugby and North Sydney United FC, who have experienced a significant increase in female participation over the last decade.

Waverton Park will also receive

$600,000 for an upgraded amenities block due in 2024/25.

Later down the track and perhaps the most significant commitment the council has made is to Primrose Park.

The waterfront park is set for reconfiguration to add a full-size playing field, drainage improvements and an additional dual cricket net. These upgrades are due in 2023/24 and will cost $1,470,000.

The North Sydney Oval, St Leonards Park precinct is in the middle of a major rejuvenation project.

Recently the St Leonards Park walkways were resurfaced while in the oval

new dressing rooms and a big screen were finished. The council has now committed to upgrading the Mollie Dive Function Centre and media equipment to support conferences and events.

In previous plans, new seating at the oval was due in 2020. However, due to pandemic disruption this was delayed. Now plans for seating and toilet refurbishment will receive $1,830,000 to be completed by 2024/25.

Meanwhile next door at Bon Andrews Oval there are $100,000 plans to improve drainage.