The Hobart Magazine July 2021

THE HOBART MAGAZINE / JULY 2021: ISSUE 24

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INDEPENDENT + LOCAL

ROBERT CLIFFORD EXCLUSIVE: ELECTRIC TASSIE FERRIES TO LEAD THE WAY

HOBART COMMUNITY NEWS WWW.THEHOBARTMAGAZINE.COM.AU

HOBART CHEFS OBSESSED WITH LOCAL PRODUCE TASSIE SCHOOL HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS WHAT’S ON THIS JULY MATTHEW EVANS DISHES THE DIRT ON SOIL

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Editorial Stephanie Williams (Publisher) editor@thehobartmagazine.com.au Advertising James Marten advertise@thehobartmagazine.com.au 0405 424 449 Contributors: Beau Leighton, Annia Baron, Sarah Aitken, Peter Carey Cover image: Robert Heazlewood Circulation: 35,000 copies are distributed each month, dropped to our network of over 300 cafes and public places across Hobart, at Hill Street Grocer, and delivered to inner city homes.

Publisher Information: While all care has been taken, some information may have changed since publication. The Hobart Magazine regrets it can’t accept liabilities from errors or omissions contained in this magazine. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or amend all advertisements without explanation. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. The views expressed in articles and advertisements are not endorsed by the editor or publishers. We welcome any questions, feedback or submissions, email editor@thehobartmagazine.com.au.

WELCOME TO

THE HOBART MAGAZINE This edition has naturally gravitated toward energy and transport. Both are such hot topics for Hobart and Tasmania right now. We’re at the centre of the future of how we source, capture, and use energy - with a new hydrogen plant slated for the north of the state, and people like transport industry captain, Robert Clifford of Incat weighing into the debate. In our exclusive interview and podcast with Robert, he also talks about Hobart’s traffic problems and how ferries could change that for a significantly low amount of funds.

In our pages this July we also have more community opinions on the current traffic situation and then go back in history to talk boats, trains and industry. We also share some school holiday ideas and discuss what to you if you’re lacking motivation.

We love hearing from our amazing community so email us at editor@thehobartmagazine.com.au or tag us on socials using #thehobartmag.

Cheers, Steph, James and The Hobart Magazine team.

No, this is not a Russian rocket launch. Pic by Luke Tscharke, Tourism Tasmania.

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LOCAL LADY

Margo Adler Interview: Stephanie Williams Pic: Dearna Bond As a native New Yorker, scientist Margo Adler has found her feet, and heart, in Hobart.

Where in Hobart do you live? I live in sunny South Hobart.

Well, sometimes sunny.

What’s the best thing about Hobart? The people. And the fact that I live within walking distance to town, but if we forget to close our gate, the wallabies come in and munch on our veggie garden. It’s a bit annoying, but when I tell my family in New York about this, they think I’m living in a David Attenborough documentary.

And the worst? The public transportation (or lack thereof).

Tell us a little about your work? I’m an evolutionary biologist, but it’s been about six years since I’ve actually done any research. I started Beaker Street in 2016 because I wanted to create engaging social events around science, and it unexpectedly turned into a full-time job. Now we have an annual festival (Beaker Street Festival) with a hub at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. It’s a raucous celebration of science and arts, with more than 150 scientists on hand, excellent booze and food, live music in an underground Speakeasy, and much more.

How has the festival (and Hobart!) evolved since 2016? The Festival has grown from a two-night affair at TMAG to a morethan-week-long bonanza that spans most of the state. Hobart has changed a lot too, so I hear. I wouldn’t really know because of children.

What are you looking forward to most at this year’s festival?

The Dark Sky Party at Spring Bay Mill, which is going to be amazing, and that’s all I’m going to say about it for now.

What excites you most in the science world right now? The fact that labs all over the world managed to work together to develop Covid vaccines in record time, which I hope will boost people’s respect for science, and the technology that’s been proven through this effort might also be a huge leap forward for vaccines for other diseases.

change my frame of mind, there’s nothing better than a swim. If that’s not available, a bath or shower is pretty good too.

What do you love doing outside work? Swimming (or gazing longingly at the water when it’s too cold and feeling like a wimp), having a glass of wine and drinking copious amounts of tea.

Where’s your favourite Hobart eatery? Bar Wa Izakaya for vegetarian ramen and Salamanca Cream for a dark chocolate Affogato afterwards Drink of choice and where do you head for it? A bottle of the best clean skin Tassie Pinot money can buy from Cool Wine.

Guilty pleasure? Reading the New York Times on my phone in the morning while my long-suffering partner gets the kids ready for daycare What do you never leave home without? Well I recently bought a bag to fill with all the things I need to get out of the house, because it takes me so long to leave. But I haven’t managed to put anything in it yet.

I’d like to travel to...New York City to eat sushi with my sister.

If I didn’t live in Hobart I’d live...in Barcelona or New Orleans.

You’re originally from New York. How did you find your way to Hobart? I lived in Sydney for 8 years, where I did my PhD and met my partner, who’s from here. After we came down a few times to visit, I knew this was the place to start Beaker Street.

People always say how different Hobart must be from New York, but New Yorkers are really friendly (much more so than they get credit for), and the friendliness of the people here makes me feel at home.

I’m inspired by... water. If I’m ever stuck for ideas, or need to 4

Favourite Hobart secret? There’s a thylacine that lives on the Rivulet Track and eats blackberries.

Where to next? I wouldn’t mind getting off the island for a week one of these days. A holiday somewhere warm sounds like a dream.

Quote to live by? “Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.”

- Oscar Wilde

Can I tell you a story?

A story about a girl born on the island, passionate for the wild, driven by change, it’s a Tasmanian story. Established in 2010 our Tasmanian brand started out small, but our dreams were big, our ethos was clear from the beginning and although the journey has been paved with potholes, mountains to climb, bends to navigate we have stayed true to our course of “wild at heart, ethical by nature!”

We are proud to have recently opened a new factory in Northern Tasmania where we produce our own range of slow, sustainable fashion and homewares right here in Tasmania using only natural GOTS certified organic fabrics and employing a growing team of Tasmanians. We’re also proud to support and promote local design by stocking the best small makers on the island. Our love of all that is Tasmanian is what fuels us to be dedicated advocates for the wild, protecting our wildlife and educating on the importance of keeping Tassie wild.

Make no mistake it may not be an easy journey, but we are dedicated to the cause, we thank all that has helped to support our cause by buying local. Your dollar has really made a difference.

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LOCAL LAD

Craig Deayton Interview: Stephanie Williams As the principal of Guilford Young College, Craig Deayton finds joy in helping young Tasmanians achieve their dreams...and a good cycle after work.

Where in Hobart do you live? Geilston Bay. What’s the best thing about Hobart? Tough question – it’s a brilliant, luminous, quirky undiscovered little gem of a city. So one thing? – kunanyi/Mt Wellington.

And the worst? It’s not so undiscovered anymore!

Tell us a little about your work? As the Principal of Guilford Young College (the Catholic 11/12 college), I get to work with around 800 young adults each day as well as a few not-so-young staff members like me. It’s an absolute joy to work with young people and help them on the way to achieve their dreams.

How do Tassie kids stack up against their mainland counterparts in relation to education? Every bit as good. Growing up here, I think we used to have an inferiority complex as a state and as Tasmanians. No more – this place is pumping and our young people are amazing.

There’s discussion about the future of the separate 11/12 College model - what are your thoughts on this? The debate about which model works better completely misses the point.

Both the 11/12 college model and the K-12 model can (and do) work equally well. The ACT does exceptionally well with an 11/12 model (as does Tasmania), Sydney and Melbourne, equally so with their K-12 schools. The research is clear – the most important factor by far is the quality of the teaching. This means the work of the individual teacher which is supported by effective principals and administration and excellent, well-resourced schools, is the key. Tasmania and the ACT are places where economies of scale favour the College model but where K-12 models thrive as well. The quality of the teaching is the major determinant in student outcomes.

How has COVID impacted you and the school? Fortunately Guilford Young College was well set up for online learning during lockdown last year. More fortunately, we have a teaching staff who rose to the challenge and made lemonade out of the semi-trailer loaded with lemons that was COVID. It was toughest on our students who really missed the social aspect of schooling. After the brief excitement of a school closure, it became very clear that we really do need to be among people.

How can we, as a community, help kids going through 11/12?

We can probably put more emphasis on enjoying these final years of schooling and less pressure on kids to perform. If you can love learning (or at least not be in an abusive relationship 6

with it), you’ll succeed. If learning is a stressful chore, success comes very hard and might be worth very little when it does come.

What’s your dream project to work on? In 2016, I spent a few months on an archaeological dig in Belgium, so as a history buff it would be joining the archaeological team at Pompeii.

What do you love doing outside work? Cycling and writing (in that order).

Where’s your favourite Hobart eatery? Wow – I could start with my top ten and keep going. If forced at gunpoint, I’d say St. Albi’s.

Drink of choice and where do you head for it? Vietnamese iced coffee at the Saigon District in North Hobart.

Guilty pleasure? Binge-watching Breaking Bad for the third time (there’ll be a fourth).

Favourite team? Easy - the future Tasmanian AFL team, (Essendon, until that great day arrives).

If I didn’t live in Hobart I’d live in...Flanders (the spiritual home of cycling). Like Hobart, it’s a small undiscovered gem of a place where the pace is slow, the beer sublime and the people just a little bit crazy.

Favourite Hobart secret? Will it stay a secret though? OK, it’s the tiny, but magnificently weird and beautiful Egyptian revival style synagogue in Argyle Street. It’s also Australia’s oldest synagogue.

Where to next? Finish my fourth book. My other job is Historian of the First World War. Quote to live by? ”Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” (Gandhi).

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Hi, I’m Nicola, the Designer and co-owner of Smitten.

13 years ago I had a dream to design lightweight merino wool clothing that was stylish, comfortable and practical, and get it manufactured right here in Tasmania.

We had recently moved from WA to Tasmania and loved the climate, the people, the whole island, and especially the sheep! We wanted to know where all the wonderful wool was going, because we were cold and wanted to wear some. So I designed some pieces and we decided to make it ourselves. We wanted to support Tasmania and be local. We wanted to create a unique Australian brand and offer visitors and locals a Tassie souvenir they could wear for years to come.

It’s a family business – Carl is Main Marketing Man, Nicola is the Designer and Photographer, our daughter Holly is the face of Smitten and part-time fab Salesperson, Brooke, our other daughter, is part-time Smitten Model and full-time Doctor in Tweed Heads, and Daniel, our skateboarding son, is hopefully taking over as Photographer for all our shoots (when he directs the camera away from beetles and sheep...)

We hope you love Smitten as much as we do. Our Holly, Nicola relationship with youand is one weCarl treasure. Mason Thankmerino you for keeping our wool dream alive.

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BITS AND PIECES TASSIE TREATY TALKS The state government has confirmed it has committed to treaty talks with Tasmania’s Aboriginal community.

Premier Peter Gutwein said a review looking at the return of land was underway. Members of the Aboriginal community will consult with former governor Kate Warner and law professor Tim McCormack to attempt to find a path to reconciliation, and a report is expected later this year.

NEW HOBART OPENINGS Fried Chicken! Bao! Mapo Tofu!

You can get them all at Luna Chan (127a Main Road, Moonah), open for lunch Tuesday to Saturday. Fusion Cafe (323a Elizabeth Street, North Hobart) recently opened, serving breakfast, pancakes, pizza waffles, burgers and loaded fries seven days a week. Taiwanese fried chicken chain, Hot Star Large Fried Chicken (74 Liverpool St, Hobart) has landed serving up “bigger than palm sized”, fried to order, crispy chicken and curly fries. Check out Calories Hub Street Food (14 Criterion St, Hobart) for Vietnamese classics. Boekampf Beer is undergoing a big refresh, emerging as The Albert Brewery and Taproom (73-75 Albert Rd, Moonah) later this month. Deep South Brewing (220 Argyle Street, Hobart) is now open for pickup pizzas from 4pm - 9pm Wednesday to Sunday. You can take a squizz at the new brewery space while you’re there. Head along to the Geeveston Twilight Feast on the first Thursday of every month. Huon Valley Folks and visitors get together to eat, drink and socialise from 5pm - 8pm.

Entry is free and first in best dressed.

Got an event coming up? Glamour Days (157 Liverpool Street, Hobart) now offers second hand formal wear and Bruce (29 Criterion St, Hobart), a Melbourne-born consignment store, has opened a boutique here, adding another option for choosing second hand first in fashion and cutting down on clothing ending up in landfill.

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WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE MT WELLINGTON CABLE CAR? Those for and against the proposed cable car on kunanyi/Mt Wellington sent 17,500 representations about the proposed development to Hobart City Council over the four-week public notification period that ended on June 22. It smashed the former record number of submissions - 1500, received in 2019 in response to a proposed hotel in the CBD - proving the debate is resonating. The Mount Wellington Cableway Company’s planning application has now gone to the next stage of the planning process City of Hobart CEO Kelly Grigsby thanked everyone who had submitted a representation. “The very high level of response underlines how engaged and passionate the people of Hobart are about our city and its future,” she said. Ms Grigsby said all the formal representations would now be considered by the Planning Authority as part of the assessment process, and that external assessment experts would spend the next few weeks preparing a report for the Council. The Council, acting as the Planning Authority, is due to consider the matter on July 27.

THUMBS UP Soccer star Christiano Ronaldo snubbed the free Coca Cola at a recent press conference, opting for water instead. A lot of impressionable little eyes were watching around the world, so thanks CR for backing up parents harping on about healthy food and drinks.

Thanks DarkLab for lighting up winter with another cracking Dark Mofo. Let’s hope it’s not the last.

The hashtag #delightfullydyslexic, particularly in work-related communications, to help contextualise typos and normalise dyslexia.

Over 150 engineers and scientists have been working on an environmentally friendly LEGO brick for the past three years, testing over 250 variations of recycled plastic materials in an attempt to find the perfect one.

THUMBS DOWN Tasmania has the worst Year 12 attainment rate of all states.

UNESCO has released a draft report recommending the Great Barrier Reef be put on a list of world heritage sites that are in danger.

Reports of seals being maimed, killed or so injured they require euthanasia after being hit by seal deterrents around fish farming pens. Seals are a protected species - would this be allowed if the farm was land-based, and the injured animals were protected land-based species?

Kingborough Council shared that a number of native plants planted along the Blackmans Bay foreshore track have been stolen, and others damaged.

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BITS AND PIECES FREE TAX HELP AT HAND IN HOBART As we farewell the previous financial year it’s time for the ol’ tax return. Not sure where to start? There are a few free tax help opportunities for Hobart residents on lower incomes. The ATO Tax Help program is a network of ATO-trained community volunteers who can help you prepare your tax return using myTax from July to October. You can receive Tax Help online or over the phone. You can also get help face-to-face from Tax Help centres across Australia. Search for ‘ATO Tax Help program’ to find the contact page. The UTAS tax clinic at Sandy Bay provides the community with free tax advice and support for unrepresented, lower income or vulnerable taxpayers and small businesses. See www. utas.edu.au/tax-clinic for the full list of what’s available. And if you’re within the Clark electorate, you can contact Andrew Wilkie’s staff to see if you’re eligible for free tax help through the ATO at his office from August to October. Contact andrew. wilkie.mp@aph.gov.au or call 6234 5255.

HOBART SCHOOL HOLIDAY FUN Winter school holidays are upon us and there are so many activities to choose from. If you need some out-of-the-house fun, check out local libraries, TMAG, Exit Left, Moonah Arts Centre, Mortons and Strike soccer schools, Glazed and Confused ceramics workshops, SOHO Arts, The Hobart Bookshop and TAS Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators free ‘Meet the Author and Illustrator’ sessions, Bricks for Kidz, Hobart City Council’s Bush Adventures and much more! Tag #thehobartmag in your fave finds and we’ll share the love.

TASSIE ELECTRICITY PRICES TO DROP....FINALLY! Tasmanians can look forward to a decrease in power costs after the Tasmanian Economic Regulator approved the changes in Aurora Energy’s electricity pricing for after July 1. Households can expect a seven per cent decrease and small businesses will get an 11 per cent drop. Energy Minister Guy Barnett said the government’s Tasmania First 10

Energy Policy aimed to deliver the lowest regulated electricity prices in Australia by next year. He said power prices had gone down 18 percent in the last seven years for residential customers and 27 percent for businesses.

NATIONAL TREE DAY GROWS Sunday 1 August is National Tree Day - a day to plant a tree (or more!) to green up our spaces, encourage biodiversity and provide cleaner air in the future. At the time of print there are three public plantings organised in and near Hobart - at Catherine St Reserve in Chigwell, the Hobart Rivulet between Tara and MacFarlane Streets and at Dru Point in Margate. See treeday.planetark.org for more information.

DERWENT WATER QUALITY RATINGS DECLINE, BACTERIA FOUND The Derwent Estuary Program (DEP) released their long-term water quality ratings for greater Hobart’s beaches and bays. CEO of the DEP Ursula Taylor said water quality is tested at 42 beaches and bays between New Norfolk and Kingborough each week between December and March. “Water samples are analysed for specific bacteria (enterococci) which indicate the presence of contaminants from stormwater run-off and other sources. Each site is classified as having Good, Fair or Poor water quality,” Ms Taylor said. If you’re a keen swimmer, it becomes a regular website to check. This recent release revealed that

water quality improved at Windemere Beach in Glenorchy, moving from ‘Fair’ to ‘Good’ for the first time in many years.

But water quality declined at some sites.

Three beaches moved from ‘Good’ to ‘Fair’ including two Howrah Beach sites and Taroona. Notably Howrah Beach mid has moved from ‘Fair’ to ‘Poor’.

The mixed results indicate there’s more work to do in managing pollution. Acting Mayor Bec Thomas is happy Windermere Beach, Hobart’s most northern beach is swimmable. “We’ve been working collaboratively with DEP to understand how the catchment contributes to water quality and are delighted that our community has access to a ‘Good’ rated beach on their doorstep,” she said. The news of ‘Poor’ water quality at the mid Howrah beach site has led to swimming in that section now not advised. Advisory signage will be installed as soon as possible (map provided for visual indication of area) to indicate which section of Howrah Beach is affected. Clarence City Council Mayor Alderman Doug Chipman said council was extremely concerned about the development. “This has been on our radar for a few years and getting to the source of the contamination is a top priority for council,” he said. “We have already taken steps to extend the funding for our Howrah stormwater investigation projects for an additional 12 months, allowing for a more intensive testing program of the nearby stormwater catchments.” The report can be found on the DEP website www.derwentestuary.org.au/publications.

Who Are We? Sofast is owned and run by a Tasmanian family who were frustrated with the fact that well designed furniture always comes with a premium price and a lengthy wait time. We cut out unnecessary costs to bring you designer sofas at affordable prices. hund Storing over one hundred sofas at our Cambridge warehouse with 2 seat sofas starting at $699 and 3 seat sofas starting at $899. All our sofas have full steel frames covered by a 10 year warranty and our 14 day change of mind policy.

Visit us in store at 1/44 Kennedy Drive, Cambridge or online at sofast.net.au @sofastfurniture

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BITS AND PIECES Cat Strategy includes proposed actions to increase education and awareness about responsible cat ownership, reduce uncontrolled cat breeding and increase community compliance with the legal requirements of owning a cat. The strategy was developed by representatives from most of the southern councils, the state government, Ten Lives Cat Centre, RSPCA and the Australian Veterinary Association. It’s hoped the state government will provide financial support for the strategy to be implemented. Meanwhile the Tasmanian Greens have proposed new laws to keep cats indoors, which could see owners face fines up to $1720 if their pets were found outside.

CROWTHER REINTERPRETED, ROUND TWO RELEASED The second artistic reinterpretation of William Crowther’s statue in Franklin Square has been revealed. Roger Scholes and Greg Lehman’s collaborative piece is part of the year-long Crowther Reinterpreted art project, in which local Aboriginal artists temporarily transform the statue. Scholes and Lehman have created The Lanney Pillar (2021), inside which a four minute film loops.

There is also a QR Code which takes the audience to a longer film on the Hobart City Council’s website. According to the artists, “the life of Aboriginal Tasmanian William Lanney [1835-1869] has been overshadowed by what happened to him after his death. Few of us know anything about his extraordinary life. A statue of the man who stole his remains from the Hobart morgue is perhaps the only public icon that may lead us to Lanney’s story.”

Hobart City Council launched the project last year to encourage conversation about Crowther’s statue amidst worldwide debate about how to deal with such public dedications to problematic figures from history. Each artwork will remain in place for up to two months, with members of the public encouraged to have their say about them on the council’s website.

The by-law became enforceable from Thursday 1 July and applies to businesses that provide or sell food in packaging that can be taken away from the premises and consumed immediately. It doesn’t affect packaged items larger than one litre or A4 size, or already packaged such as soft drinks in plastic bottles. Hobart City Council anticipates that the by-law will reduce single-use plastics going to landfill by 600 tonnes per year.

HOBART SINGLE-USE PLASTICS BY-LAW NOW IN FORCE Hobart now has a by-law that bans certain single-use plastic food packaging.

NEW CAT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY A new strategy to manage cats in southern Tasmania has been endorsed.

The draft Southern Tasmanian Regional

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WOOD HEATER BAN SUGGESTED BY ASTHMA AUSTRALIA The debate about how best to heat our homes has fired up again this winter with Asthma Australia calling for wood heaters to be banned to protect the lungs of residents, their neighbours and people with compromised health in the community. The organisation has suggested wood heaters be removed any time a home is sold, and that wood heaters be banned from all new builds. A 2017 report by the Environmental Protection Authority found that approximately 31% of Tasmanian households used wood heaters as a main source of heating, with that figure over 50% in the Huon Valley and down to about 16% in Hobart. Wood heaters are also the main form of man-made air pollution in Tasmania during winter.

CLARENCE BOOMING WITH DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS The City of Clarence continues its boom, with the local council receiving more development applications than any other in the Hobart region. According to the council, in the year to March 2021, Clarence lodged 1,056 applications; Glenorchy 530; Hobart 925; and Kingborough 815.

NEW FOOD HUB FOR THE HUON The Huon Valley is getting a new food hub network to link local producers and organisations into a sustainable local food system. The network will enable easier access to healthy fresh food across the valley and support local producers.

Huon Valley Council Mayor Bec Enders said the network would also help make the valley communities better prepared to deal with emergencies. The Huon Valley Council secured $192,500 funding through the state government’s Healthy Tasmania Fund grant program.

TWIGGY BUYS INTO TASSIE SALMON WA mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest has bought a near-$20 million, or 7.33 per cent, stake in Tasmanian salmon company Huon Aquaculture. Mr Forrest said he had always had an interest in aquaculture, even returning to university to study marine ecology at one point. His company has two aquaculture operations at Garden Island and Albany in WA.

Audi Centre Hobart

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NEWS FROM YOUR COMMUNITY

OPINION

WRONG WAY. GO BACK! While the State Government blindly bulldozes ahead with building more roads to get traffic into Hobart, the city is increasingly choking on traffic, writes Andrew Wilkie, MP. There seems to be no end to the mayhem as the Government ploughs on with plans for a $35m fifth lane on the Southern Outlet, which is set to cause massive disruption during the lengthy construction phase and will ultimately force more vehicles into the gridlock. Dynnyrne residents along the proposed route are understandably ropeable, living in fear of losing their homes via compulsory acquisition (see ‘Dynnyrne Residents Say SOS on Roads’, THM, June 2021).

Adding to anxiety levels, the public consultation process set down for May has been plagued by delays. Back in April, I extended an invitation to Premier Peter Gutwein to visit the site so he could see for himself the profound impact the plan would have on the community. He’s yet to accept.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, commuters are sitting idle in peak-hour traffic while bureaucrats dilly-dally on how to spend $25m in federal funds allocated in the 2018 Hobart City Deal to reduce congestion and activate the northern suburbs rail corridor. After three years of talking and numerous reports, we could surely expect to see some action by now. As part of its revamped CBD master plan, the University of Tasmania recently raised the prospect of a rapid transit corridor on the long-disused route.

While this certainly has some merit, light rail remains my preferred option. If this City Deal money had gone to private enterprise, I reckon the project would have been delivered by now. But we still don’t even have an agreement between the State and the Federal governments on what traffic projects will be completed.

Talk about a major arterial blockage.

On a high note though, the long-awaited 14

Hobart-to-Bellerive ferry service is finally ready to cast off this month. Let’s hope it will lead to bigger and better things.

The bottom line is the powers that be remain fixated on roads. And all the while Hobart lays claim to being the fourth most congested city in Australia. How ridiculous for a population of less than 250,000 people. Only five per cent of Hobart commuters take public transport to work, with more than 70 per cent using cars. According to the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, Hobart has the lowest percentage of dwellings with access to public transport of all other state and territory capitals at 13.5 per cent.

We clearly need a big-picture approach to the traffic congestion problem, including strategies to get more bums on Metro seats to help ease the traffic squeeze. Yes, we will always need cars and we do need to invest in better roads. But imagine what just some of the millions pumped into roads could do for alternative modes of transport including light rail, ferries, park-and-ride facilities, cheaper and more frequent buses, and improvements to encourage cyclists and pedestrians.

A city the size of Hobart should simply not be this congested. Traffic-weary Hobartians deserve so much more than endless talking about projects that are so achingly slow to be realised.

The Government needs to show some genuine vision and create a liveable city where people aren’t forced into cars because of a poor public transit system and delay after delay in delivering critical infrastructure.

Andrew Wilkie is the Federal Independent Member for Clark.

We welcome opinion and letters from members of our community. Email editor@thehobartmagazine.com.au.

RATES INCREASES ON THE WAY ACROSS HOBART After a year of rate relief, many local councils have recently released their budgets, with many including increases in rates. Hobart City Council will raise rates by an average of 2.73%, Kingborough 2.8%, Clarence 3.77%, Glenorchy 2.5%. Brighton Council have confirmed their rates will continue to only rise in line with the consumer price index.

HUON VALLEY CALLS ON YOUNG ARTISTS FOR NEW PROGRAM Young artists and crafters (16-25 year olds) living in the Huon Valley can now apply to receive one-on-one mentorship from an established local artist specialising in the same medium. The Huon Valley Council’s Young Artist Mentorship Program will run from August to October in 2021.

TAS FIRST FOR GREEN HYDROGEN Tasmania looks set to house Australia’s first green hydrogen plant. Australian company Fortescue Future Industries have secured land at Bell Bay near George Town, (in the state’s north for the newcomers), on which they propose to construct the renewable energy plant. Hydrogen fuel cells are used in electric vehicles, amongst other things, but hydrogen is traditionally made from methane in a process that creates greenhouse gas. TasPorts have signed an Option Agreement for 20 hectares of land with FFI for the proposed 250 megawatt plant. For more information on hydrogen as a green energy source, check out the article “What is Hydrogen Power?” by Dr. Qamar Schuyler on our website.

HOBART BUSKERS TO STAY Buskers will be allowed to continue to perform in specific locations across Hobart following the completion of a six-month trial. The ongoing Busking and Street Performance Program will be launched in August. Apply for permits online www.hobartcity.com.au.

OBSCURA WINTER JOURNEY A N E W P RO J EC T F RO M T H E T S O. IMMERSE YOURSELF IN A REALM OF S O U N D, L IGH T & V I S ION .

T H U R S D A Y 8 J U LY 6 P M O D E O N T H E AT R E T IC K E T S $ 4 4.9 5 T S O. C O M . AU 15

BITS AND PIECES WALLABY MEAT HARVESTING A mainland meat exporter has applied for a permit to harvest and sell the meat, fur and skins of up to 150,000 Tasmanian wallabies per year. Wild Game Resources Australia applied for a Wildlife Trade Operation permit with the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment and if granted, the company will be allowed to shoot wallabies in Tasmania and on two Bass Strait islands.

The company said all harvesting would be carried out on private land by people holding a current commercial wallaby hunters licence. They said the harvesting would have a “low impact” on the conservation status of the local wallaby population. “The proposed 150,000 wallaby a year is approximately 30 percent of the non-commercial cull that is currently occurring. It is not anticipated that there will be an increase in the overall cull that is taking place, rather a utilisation of wallaby from the non-commercial cull to a commercial harvesting market,” a spokesperson said.

STOP THE SWEET TALK WITH A TAX ON SUGARY DRINKS The Australian Medical Association has

called for a tax on sugary drinks. AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said that Australia lags behind comparable nations with our health outcomes and disease prevention, and that it was ‘time for action’ to reduce the national consumption of drinks full of sugar. Dr Khorshid said sugary drinks fuel diabetes, obesity and vascular health issues in Australia and that raising the average price of sweet drinks by 20 percent would be an important first step in reducing obesity and creating revenue for the cause. “More than 2.4 billion litres of sugary drinks are consumed every year in Australia.

That’s enough to fill 960 Olympic sized swimming pools,” Dr Khorshid said. A recent AMA report stated that Australia lagged behind more than 45 jurisdictions across the world who have already implemented taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages. The AMA report said that a tax in the United Kingdom had led to a drop in sugar consumption. And so has Christiano Ronaldo it seems.

PALMER’S ANTI-VAX LETTERBOX DROP HITS HOBART Former Queensland politician Clive Palmer has had anti-Covid-19 vaccine

leaflets dropped into letterboxes across the country, including in Hobart. In the leaflet, Mr Palmer claims the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the government are spreading “misleading information designed to create fear in the population.” He urges people not to get the Covid-19 vaccination and discredits figures on the number of deaths caused by the jabs. Various politicians and health experts have labelled Palmer’s flyers “dangerous” and “a campaign of disinformation”. Did you receive an anti-vax leaflet from Clive Palmer? We’d love to hear what you thought.

HELP THOSE IN NEED WITH FOOD DONATIONS Hobart City Mission are seeking donations of non-perishable food items for their food packs. Through their Emergency Relief program the charity distributes food packs to anyone who is struggling to make ends meet and afford food and bills. Donations can be dropped off to the head office at 50 Barrack St, Hobart anytime between 8:30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. See www. hobartcitymission.org.au/donate-goods/ for more details on how to help, and to find out which food items are suitable.

ARE YOU DYING TO KNOW? NEW HOBART WORKSHOP EXPLORES ASPECTS OF PASSING Conversations around end of life can be difficult. But inevitably it happens for us all, so a bit of knowledge around choices for pre and post death care might not go astray. From 8 – 9 August, you can be part of Dying To Know Day – exploring many topics around this eternal question. There’s a range of speakers and interviews, discussing everything from ‘what does a doula do’ to ‘how the Irish can teach us how to live, love and die’. There’s also a Q& A with estate planners, a discussion on what palliative care actually means and information about natural burial practices. The event is being held at the Lindisfarne Rowing Club and is sponsored by Mary Eleanor Natural Funeral care. Head to www.maryeleanor.me for the full program.

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Get ready for Tasmanian Whisky Week 2021 Celebrating the achievements and craft of Tasmanian distillers Masterclasses / Campfire Dinners The Tasmanian Spirits Showcase Plus many other various Meet the Maker and Tours Tasmania-wide!

Tickets on sale now taswhiskyweek.com taswhiskyweek tasmanian.whisky.week

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COMMUNITY

Words: Sarah Aitken

is amazing and I’m a sucker for a good Jerusalem artichoke.

Where do you like to eat in Hobart? I love to pop into Sunbear, always happy staff, delicious local produce and great coffee.

DAVID BALL, EXECUTIVE CHEF, THE GLASS HOUSE Tasmania’s brand as a foodie haven is cemented. But within the local hospitality industry there are those who love to use local produce...and those who are next-level obsessed with it. We spoke to a bunch of Hobart chefs who are top of the game when it comes to fostering relationships with local farmers and growers.

MASSIMO MELE, FOOD DIRECTOR, GRAIN OF THE SILOS AND CHIEF OF FOOD, THE TASMAN HOBART Where are you from? I grew up in Glenorchy - we moved back to Tasmania from Italy when I was almost six. I lived in Tassie until I was 18 then I left, and returned full time at the end of 2018.

What is your main focus as a chef? Quality, it all begins with an amazing product. I look for producers I can be around and spend time with. It’s all about a relationship with your growers.

When they become your mates everything starts to taste better. You get a better understanding of seasonality, availability and viability.

What do you love about cooking with local produce? I like the fact that the produce I buy is grown by someone I know personally. In the restaurant you can point to a product and almost every time I can name the provenance or the name of the person who grew it, packed it and delivered it. Then you know you are really supporting local.

Which local produce are you really loving right now? Right now I’ve just been enjoying the last of the Tongola Dairy Bloom.

A delicious cheese that won’t come back until October when it’s back in season. I’m also loving the winter bitter leaves. There are some great growers bringing these Italian varieties to the kitchen. Sugar loaf endives, Castelfranco radicchio, Romanesco 18

Where are you from? A little town in the UK called Mansfield.

We’ve been here for a little over four years now.

What do you love about cooking with local produce? Being able to experience where the ingredients I’m using are from makes a huge difference. There’s a strong connection to place, the land, and the environment. It’s also about the people behind the produce too, I love building relationships with the farmers and producers who supply us.

Favourite place/supplier/producer to get local produce?

Haha, that’s way too hard a question, there are so many amazing people here doing delicious things! I love a good honesty box roadside stall like the Bream Creek market stall, which is always a must-stop if I’m out that way. And on a Sunday, Farm Gate market.

What’s your current favourite supplier and ingredient? I’m loving the beetroot from Jenna and Zeb down at Cygnet from the Early Bird Market Garden - it has the most earthy and delicious flavour. I admit to a beetroot obsession! Another favourite is the regeneratively farmed beef from Sam and Steph at Tas Ag Co, it’s some of the best tasting beef on the island, and what we served up recently at the Winter Feast for Dark Mofo. And I just can’t stop eating James’ UnFeta’d from Soyoyoy Foods; it’s a plant based feta that’s super delicious.

Where do you like to eat in Hobart? I’m a huge fan of the kitchen at the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania in Glenorchy.

What they’re doing for the community is bloody brilliant, and the food is top notch.

Where do you like to eat in Hobart? Fico has long been one of my favourites, it’s consistent and delicious. Rude Boy is my absolute go to, what could go wrong with fried chicken and rum?!

STEPHEN PEAK, HEAD CHEF, THE AGRARIAN KITCHEN EATERY Where are you from? I’m from Byron Bay. I moved to Tasmania in February 2018 to work at The Agrarian Kitchen.

KONSTANTIN PUTKIN, EXECUTIVE CHEF, AURA How long have you been in Hobart? I made the move to Hobart from South Australia in March 2020. I decided after seven trips to Tassie in six years that it was time to make the move down.

What do you love about cooking with local produce? Keeping food as local as possible cultivates a successful and sustainable network of suppliers who are able to provide the very best that they have to offer and obviously keep money in the local region.

The sense of knowing that you’re supporting a proper family business or small partnership in their day-to-day lives is a great feeling.

Favourite place to get local produce? Littlewood Farm. These guys were the very first supplier that I went to visit when I made the move to start the journey that is Aura. They’ve moved mountains to do anything and everything they can to support our project and it doesn’t hurt that they have some of the best lamb and strawberries that I have had in this country (the gin’s not too bad either, and I usually detest gin). Special mention to James at Soyoyoy down in Kettering with his phenomenal soy fetta and tempeh, as well as Nicole and family at Grandvewe/Hartshorn.

Their support and amazing cheeses have been wonderful and will continue to feature on our menus.

Which local produce are you really loving right now? Angasi oysters, what more can I say other than WOW. Prior to now I’d never had a chance to try Angasi’s as they’d always be out of season on my visits to Tassie. One of my chefs, Jay, has just developed an amazing salt baked Angasi with a wakame butter and it’s bloody delightful!

What do you love about cooking with local produce? At Agrarian I try to have provenance in every ingredient we use. It’s not easy but if we didn’t know where our food came from, then we wouldn’t be able to provide a truly local food experience.

Our growers, farmers and fishers are our friends, our community, they are our food family. To me, this is the only way. It’s what makes the job so enjoyable. If I wasn’t doing it this way then I wouldn’t be cooking at all.

Which local produce are you really loving right now? The produce is amazing at the moment. This week we’re using native Angasi oysters from Yvonne and Steve (The Oyster Province), hand-dived clams from Dale out of St. Helens, cabbages from Tony Shearer (Rocky Top Farm), turnips from Lauren + Mike (Feld’s Farm), potatoes from Annie and David (Little Red Hen), green corn from Derek (Ryelands Farm) and a bunch of stuff from our own farm. It’s pretty exciting!

Where do you like to eat in Hobart? Tom McHugo’s is my most frequented venue, Hamlet or Sunbear for breakfast and lunch, and then I get to Fico whenever I can, which in my opinion is up there with the top restaurants in the country.

RYAN WATSON, HEAD CHEF, TEMPLO Where are you from? I’m originally from Yankalilla, South Australia. I moved to Hobart in 2015.

What do you love about cooking with local produce? I strongly believe in the importance of supporting our local farmers, utilising the amazing ingredients Tasmania has to offer.

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Which local produce are you totally loving right now? I’m really loving sugarloaf cabbages at the moment, delicata squash and radicchio treviso are hot items on the menu right now.

Where else in Hobart do you like to eat? I like to eat at the Winston, they brew great beers and do really good burgers. I also love to stop in at Kinoko Deli for midweek lunch. So good!

CAMERON PERRY AND PETER COOKSLEY, CHEFS, HAMLET Where are you from? Hobart.

What do you love about cooking with local produce? It makes sense. We love the people who grow our local produce and like to support them in any way we can. They produce great food and working with good produce makes our lives as cooks very easy.

Favourite place to get local produce? Tony from Rocky Tops grows great produce and is one of the nicest people you could meet.

Which local produce are you really loving right now? Aiden’s fresh Tasmanian seafood and Di and David’s produce from Caines Orchards.

Where else do you like to eat in Hobart? Tom McHugo’s.

TOM WESTCOTT, CHEF AND CO-OWNER, TOM MCHUGO’S HOBART HOTEL Where are you from? lutruwita/Tasmanian born and bred. I’ve lived in Hobart since I was 17.

What do you love about cooking with local produce? Cooking with vegetables and meats grown by people I have a relationship with is the most important consideration, “know thy farmer”.

It’s our aim to act as the link between the growers and the diner.

Ideally we should all be accountable to knowing where our food comes from, most people know their doctor’s name. To me it’s more important to understand the source of our food, we provide the platform to help this happen. Connections to food drive the

passion, the produce drives the menu, the interaction of people over the table enjoying food and drink prepared with this in mind drives the reasoning for farming in the first place.

Favourite place to get local produce? I could never choose, so many times a year I find discussions in the kitchen where we are all saying “this is my favourite vegetable” or “this is my favourite time of year to cook”. But it can be any month and the favourites are gone all too quickly, only to be transposed by the next favourite in the ever changing harvest. This very moment, forced to decide, I would say the line caught blue mackerel from Aiden Jackson is in peak season, winter is always best for seafood. Vegetable of the moment would go to the array of root veg grown by Provenance Growers at Neika, they have a stall at Salamanca on Saturdays. If you’ve never had an Angasi oyster, the native species to lutruwita is in season currently. Grown by the Oyster Province in Norfolk Bay and surrounds, they’re truly evocative of time and place.

Where do you like to eat in Hobart? Skewers and congee from Adam James of Roughrice at the Farm Gate Market is a must.

A lunch at The Agrarian Kitchen eatery - the produce is the star, the techniques applied are austere, I always leave feeling invigorated. The team at Fico are the definition of dedication to their career, escapism with great snacks. Hamlet is the greatest breakfast/lunch you can get - they’re smashing it.

SUPER HOT, HOT SEATS Have you tried to book a table at a top Hobart eatery lately and failed epically? You’re not alone. The owner of one local restaurant told us their waitlist is regularly topping 200-300 names on a weekend, and with school holidays upon us and the border reopened to Melbournian gastro-tourists, it could blow out further. It’s great news for our local hospitality workers and producers, and if you want to grab a hot seat maybe just book in advance...way, way in advance!

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There’s family fun to be had in all sorts of weird and wonderful places this winter. From atop snow-covered mountains to deep below the earth. Ziplining through the air to zooming across the water. New adventures just waiting for both young and old. Find out all the ways it’s our Off Season at discovertasmania.com.au/off-season.

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GET HANDS-ON IN THE SNOW

DELVE DEEP BELOW THE EARTH

When snow covers the mountain tops, it’s time for winter fun. Follow tradition and build a snowman on the car at kunanyi/Mt Wellington and see how long it lasts. Head to Mt Mawson in the south and Ben Lomond in the north for some skiing and tobogganing action.

Descend into the underworld and discover stalactites, stalagmites, crystals and glow worms.

Step into the oldest dolomite cave open to the public at Hastings Caves and warm up in the thermal pool afterwards. Explore the network at Gunns Plains Caves

And spot the wildlife in the snow at Cradle Mountain.

or Mole Creek Karst National Park – you can take a guided tour with Wild Cave Tours.

FLY THROUGH TREES

CRUISE THE WILDERNESS

Walk beneath the world’s tallest white gums at Evercreech Forest Reserve in northern Tasmania.

For the more adventurous, climb high and zipline

Check out the sunbaking seals on a Pennicott Wilderness Journey in the Tasman Peninsula.

Take in the beauty of the Cataract Gorge on a

between trees at Hollybank Wilderness Adventures.

Rug up and sip hot chocolate on forest adventures in Mt Field with Giant Tree Expeditions, and stroll through the treetops at Tahune Adventures.

Tamar River Cruise and marvel at the deep canyons and enjoy a forest picnic on a Leven River Cruise.

The brave can embark on a night-time lantern tour of Sarah Island with World Heritage Cruises.

EXPLORE AN ISLAND

MIX ART WITH DINOSAURS

Catch the ferry to Bruny Island and walk the Cape Queen Elizabeth track to see beautiful rock formations before choosing your own gourmet adventure. Hang out with furry locals on Maria Island and explore the convict heritage. Or go further afield - Sharp Airlines now offer a 30% discount for kids aged 3-11 on flights to King Island and Flinders Island, and a 50% discount over the school holidays (25 June-17 July 2021).

Celebrate NAIDOC week at TMAG with a hands-on activity inspired by the new children’s gallery – mapiya lumi/around here – on July 4. Make a friendship bracelet to wear to remind us of our connections with the air, land and water of lutruwita. Delve underground to explore the exhibitions at Mona. And become a dinosaur detective or discover how birds fly in the School Holiday Program at QVMAG.

discovertasmania.com.au/off-season

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WHAT’S ON IN HOBART MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

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copy It’s NAIDOC week, and to celebrate, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre are running two Aboriginal cultural experience city tours starting at 10:30am and 1pm at the TAC, 198 Elizabeth Street.

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The Tasmanian Songbook is a celebration of the legacy of Tasmanian songs and songwriters. Featuring the Wolfe Brothers, Monique Brumby and many more.

Theatre Royal, 8pm.

Also Obscura Winter Journey is on at the Odeon at 6pm.

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The Mt Wellington Bushcare working bee is on today, from 10-1pm. Contact Peter wellingtonpark@iprimus. com.au for more details.

A Taste of Ireland.

If you’re seven or over, you’re invited to have fun creating your own stop motion video at a workshop at Rosny Library today. Contact Rosny Library on 6165 6448.

Kyle Perry author of The Bluffs and now The Deep - will be in conversation at RACV Hobart Hotel from 6-8pm tonight.

If ever there was a time to start knitting, winter in Hobart would be it.

The Beginners Knitting workshop is on from 6:30-8:30 tonight at Kickstart Arts, New Town.

Last chance to see ART NU, Nolan Gallery’s celebration of Midwinter with a show inspired by the nude in art.

Salamanca Arts Centre.

Anita Hansen will give a lecture regarding W.B Gould’s Flower Drawings as part of the Friends of The Allport series. Held at The Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts in Hobart, 1pm.

Get your guts into gear thanks to skills learnt at The Art of Fermentation with Sharoon Soo, Kickstart Arts, New Town.

6:30 – 9:00 pm

A Taste of Ireland brings Celtic dance and music to The Theatre Royal tonight, 7:30pm.

Travel vicariously by watching the Paris Opera Ballet: Le Parc on the big screen at the State Cinema tonight.

The Sydney Dance Company bring their beautiful new juxtaposition of beauty and devastation, Impermanence, to the Theatre Royal tonight, 7:30pm.

Take the kiddos to the theatre to see Pete The Sheep, based on the book by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley.

Lots of sessions from July 14-17.

Tranmere Clarence Plains Land & Coast Care hold their weekly working bee today, 9am -12pm.

Contact Phil tacplaci@ gmail.com

World-leading virus researcher Professor Michael Breadmore delivers the 2021 Arthur Cobbold Memorial Lecture at UTAS, online from 1pm. And The Shitshow returns tonight at The Grand Poobah.

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Culture Club are holding their 2 hour monthly get together to make ferments, share cultures and build community. At Source Community Wholefoods in Sandy Bay. From 6pm.

Culture Club.

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Monica Trapaga the The Pocket Trio play jazz cabaret at The Studio as part of the Festival of Voices tonight and tomorrow night, and you can book a table and order cheese and Tassie drinks.

True blue John Williamson plays at Wrest Point tonight from 8pm as part of his Winding Back tour, celebrating 50 years of his music.

Marvel at copy a series of incredible musical performances as part of Starstruck from the TSO. 7:30pm, Federation Concert Hall.

NBL fans can catch the Hobart Chargers home games today 8am-12pm at the Kingborough Sports Centre.

i Sydney Dance Company’s Impermanence. Pic: Pedro Greig.

FURTHER AFIELD SATURDAY

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copy David Bridie, frontman from My Friend The Chocolate Cake and solo artist and producer, performs at The Republic Bar tonight at 8pm.

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copy Williams, Peter a medium, is in Hobart as part of his Searching Spirit Tour.

7pm at Wrest Point.

SUNDAY

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copy Shane Howard - founding member of Goanna and the Black Arm Band - plays at the Longley International Hotel at 2:30 today with Ewen Baker (Fiddle, Mandolin) and John Hudson (Guitar, Dobro).

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7 July Learn about the benefits of Aboriginal cultural burning and healing country at the Cultural Burning Workshop as part of NAIDOC Week 2021 in Huonville. Jason Smith will talk about the importance of coming together to heal country the right way with traditional burning practices and management. You’ll find out how burning can strengthen relationships and teach children the importance of being connected to country and how to care for it. Huon Valley Hub, 1-2pm.

It’s for all ages and free but you must book via eventbrite.

Shane Howard.

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The Schwing Thing, celebrating Allan Holdsworth is tonight’s JAZZAMANCA winter series event at Salamanca.

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Taking Flight, an exhibition by new members of the Art Society of Tasmania, opens 11am today at the Lady Franklin Art Gallery in Lenah Valley.

Runs until Sunday 29 August.

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Meg Walch hosts an intensive three hour workshop Drawing on the Brain: Journaling.

From 10am at Moonah Arts Centre.

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Aussie pop rockers from the 80s and 90s, Boom Crash Opera play at the Longley Hotel today from 2:30.

For even more events in Hobart and further afield this month head to www.thehobartmagazine.com.au/julyevents

Until July 11 For Country, for Nation is a touring exhibition that highlights the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have served among our military forces. It explores themes of remembrance and tradition through family histories, objects, art, and photographs from across Australia, drawing inspiration from cultural traditions and symbols of warrior’s discipline, knowledge, leadership, and skill.

This Australian War Memorial

touring exhibition is on now at the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston. (Meanwhile, did you know The QVMAG is the largest museum in Australia not located in a capital city?)

22 - 25 July See the inimitable Katie Noonan, Paul Grabowsky and a whole host of other wonderful talent at this year’s Devonport Jazz Festival.

This year the festival turns 20, and as always it will take place in a variety of venues across the city - from the Town Hall Theatres to churches, pubs and other community spaces. See devonportjazz. com.au for all the info.

1 August Love a scallop? Get thee to Bridport! The northern Tasmanian seaside town will host the Tassie Scallop Fiesta - a celebration of all things maritime, fishing, seafood and fine food plus local beverages and entertainment. It coincides with the start of the scallop season and honours the North East’s fishing and farming heritage.

Got an event coming up in Tassie?

Email us at editor@thehobartmagazine.com.au Background photo: Emilie Ristevski, Tourism Tasmania.

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PODCAST

Robert Clifford: Why electric boats are the future Interview: Stephanie Williams

Robert Clifford is the founder of Incat, a Hobart company building fast ferries for the world. Always looking to future opportunities, he has identified where Hobart sits in the next wave of transportation. For more of this interview listen to The Hobart Magazine podcast.

Where is the marine industry at right now? The marine industry is in a massive change. We went from sailing ships to steamships, and steamships to oil and coal. And next, we’re going to do away with all the fossil fuels. Exactly the answer to how is a little unclear at the moment. There are hydrogen fuels available like ammonia and LNG but they all have pretty major issues involved with them and they’re not easy to solve.

So batteries and electricity is the way that we think it’s going to go. Batteries can be powered by either shore power coming from hydro in Tasmania or by fuel cells, which are hydrogen produced. So either of those two sources of power will suit a battery powered boat.

Elon Musk has made the connection, tweeting about Incat.

What effect did that have? He has noticed us and we have done a couple of proposals for them over the years. He wanted to deliver his cars all round the world without using conventional ships, so we gave him a proposal for fast ships, to deliver them fast and get back fast. Nothing’s come of that but it was an interesting exercise. The second one, he wanted to land his rockets on a very large barge and then take that barge back to shore as quickly as he could, so we gave him a proposal for that as well.

So he’s aware of us, that’s about all I can say!

Your career had very humble beginnings. I started off in the printing industry. I did an apprenticeship as a Linotype operator for three years, which I really enjoyed. But it was obvious that the printing industry was computerising rapidly. I didn’t even know what a computer was, let alone know where the industry was going to go. I gave that up and went fishing with my father for the next 10 years or so. When I wanted a fishing boat, I built a boat. I got out of that and built the ferry boats. When the bridge went down in 1975, I had two ferry boats and then built three while the bridge was down.

Were all five ferries working at the same time? Yes, eventually. At the end of that period, there were five ferries that all had to be sold. We sold them to various operators around Australia, the majority in North Queensland. We sold them on the never-never, like a dollar a week, because that’s all they could pay. I had a lean time with five ferries and no money coming in and an 26

overdraft. I eventually sold those boats and the money started to come in.

When new orders came in, was it a scramble to build big enough teams to fulfill them? Yes, very much so. On the very first ferry when the bridge was down, we didn’t have any staff.

But we gradually built up from three or four builders to about 60 staff when we had satisfied this Queensland market. Then we had no choice but to go to the world market with a bigger boat.

We had about 200 staff to build the first 74 metre boat. On the delivery voyage of that, we got the Hales Trophy for the fastest ship across the Atlantic and we built eight more of those.

Were they exactly the same or are they tweaked a little bit for the client? The first eight boats were very similar - all the same length and same sort of machinery. Then we built the next model up and we built half a dozen of those and we’ve done that ever since. The present boats we’re doing, it’s about eight or nine of these large 112 metre boats.

Is that the largest boat you’ve built? So far. We’re planning and starting to build 120 metres at the moment and a customer has got 130 metres on order, so they’re getting bigger.

Recently you were testing a big ferry on the Derwent that eventually went to Trinidad and Tobago. How big was that?

That was 100 metres. We had built six or seven of those 96 metre boats and this was a derivative of the 96. The 112s we’re doing now, mightn’t sound like much in 12 metres but they are very much bigger boats. It changes all the engineering, the boat is four or five metres wider - it’s longer, higher and bigger. In terms of volume, it’s maybe 50%, 60% bigger.

What would it take for Incat to become a manufacturer of really big boats, like your ocean liners and your Spirits?

I don’t think that’s going to happen. Our upper limit is going to be something like 200 metres. We’re looking at that at the moment. I have this belief that we’re going to be offering a more standard boat to the market. The world is going to change with this electric propulsion. We’re very strong on electric propulsion because our boats are very light. We’ve had 40 years of experience building lightweight boats in aluminum. A typical aluminium boat would weigh half of a steel boat. We use a lot less power, so when we go to batteries and electric, we will use a lot less batteries and electricity than a large steel ship.

I imagine that COVID would play into the fact that people may no longer want to be on big boats with many people.

Perhaps, that may well be true. Most of the ferry boats around the world carry about 1000 passengers one way or the other.

What we think that’s happening with COVID is that people are not going to be flying in airplanes so much - they are going to be going on the 1000 or 500 passenger ferries. We’ve got customers in Canada that have literally halved their numbers so they’re sitting two or three metres apart. We’ve got other customers that have been almost shut down by their governments, like in Uruguay, Argentina and Spain, they’re all coming back online slowly. Europe’s opening up slowly, I think that the ferry industry is recovering and will recover much, much quicker than the airline industry.

On top of COVID, there’s the pressure from the environment on carbon emissions. In Norway as of the end of this decade, there will be a complete ban on carbon burning ships. The EU’s saying that they’ve got to cut by 25% in a few years’ time and by 50% by the end of the decade. There’s going to be a huge pressure to get rid of all the polluting fuel. LNG’s the flavour of the month at the moment but unfortunately it halves the carbon, but the methane gases that are produced are 26 times worse than carbon, so it’s an interim fuel only. Ammonia is promising but ammonia’s got to be produced and there aren’t many places to produce at the moment. Hydrogen can be produced relatively inexpensively they think, no one’s really done it yet but hydrogen is a volatile fuel. And so is ammonia, nobody likes ammonia. We’ve got to learn how to handle it and to be safe. I don’t think those

fuels are anywhere near as promising as straight electricity.

Batteries are heavy but it’s not as bad as it looks because if you take away 500 tonne of marine engines and fuel tanks and put in 500 tonnes of batteries, you actually haven’t done anything. We have an opportunity to change the world.

Bill Boeing had a little shipyard in Seattle at the turn of the last century. He bought an airplane and then decided it was a heap of rubbish and he could build something better. Then he got into serious production of airplanes. The 737s now, 100 years later, they’ve sold 11,000 and 747s and 787s, many, many thousands as well. I think shipbuilding’s got that opportunity with electric boats. The only way we can build them cheaper is if we build 10 or 20 a year.

How do you think you’re placed to do that? Here in Hobart, that will be difficult. This plant is capable of maybe three or four boats a year. So if we’re going to go to 10 or 20 boats a year, we will have to look for another site and that’s a possibility. We’re looking at it.

In Tasmania or further afield? If we get the right support all round, it would definitely be Tasmania, I can’t see why not.

Going back to Boeing, Seattle was probably not the best place in the world for bloody building airplanes but that’s where he lived and that’s where it developed. 40,000 people build airplanes in Seattle, Tasmania could do the same thing in a marine environment.

What sort of support would it take to get that happening?

Don’t know yet, certainly you need encouragement to set all these things up. You’ve got to have the right land, you’ve got to have the right labour relations and you’ve got the right electricity, which is obviously available. The hydrogen might help to make fuel cells for the batteries. So we’re investigating it. I think the real answer to that is we’re looking to the future and where we are with shipbuilding. We have this huge opportunity to change the mode of transport all together. Exactly how that’s going to work out, we don’t know yet.

There’s a lot of debate right now about the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels and where they will be built. Is it disappointing that they’ll be built offshore from Tasmania? Well, it’s a little disappointing. However, we could never build that kind of ship. Certainly we don’t want to build steel. Now, that kind of ship, for example, can never burn electricity because it would be just too expensive, they’d have a couple of thousand tonne of batteries. We’re still interested in putting a vessel on Bass Strait but it wouldn’t be from Devonport, it would probably be on a shorter route, something like Stanley to Stanley Point, which is an 150 mile route. If it’s electric powered, it needs to be on the shortest possible route. If it’s successful on Bass Strait, it would be absolutely huge on the international market.

Did you seek out those overseas opportunities or did they naturally come to you? In the beginning, they came to us, 27

Was the water and boats a strong part of your childhood?

Not as a young child but as a 10 year old. We moved from Sandy Bay to Bellerive. For four years of high school, I caught the ferry. While I was at Hutchins I started sailing and loved it.

I would have been probably 12 years old at that stage. Sailing is actually very good for business because every five seconds the situation’s changing and the business, it’s the same. You’ve got to be thinking on your feet all the time. You’ve got to make quick decisions on the water and whether they’re right or wrong, you live with them.

What has been your career high so far? Certainly the Sydney to Hobart was one, the Hales Trophy across the Atlantic was another. What comes first, I don’t know? The bridge obviously being down and turning a business from two ferries to five and from carrying quite literally, five or 600 people a day to 45,000, that was huge. then we started a bit of a look around. It’s a very different now in terms of communication. All the negotiations for the first international catamaran we sold for the Isle of Wight were on a Telex machine. Every morning, I’d find reams of paper. We had to decipher it all and then, that marvelous invention, the fax, came along. That was the first major breakthrough in being able to transmit designs overseas.

In 1994, you won the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on your maxi Tasmania, how did that trip up the Derwent feel? That was a big day and it was almost an all Tasmanian crew. We had 24 in the crew and 21 of them were from here. It was very big for Hobart. We had the right boat at the right time.

Have you done other Sydney to Hobart races? I’ve done seven in total. And that was the last one. I’d been on the winning boat three times, and a second and a fourth. So the record’s pretty good.

What advice would you have for someone growing their business in Tasmania? Well, I’ve got grandchildren that I’m talking to about various businesses. If I was starting over I think I’d start a ferry service up again. Kingston, for example, is growing like crazy, Bridgewater’s growing like crazy. A decent ferry service on the river that moved the traffic and used the water, would make a lot of sense. A simple Bellerive, Hobart ferry, is not enough. Hobart needs six or seven, new jetties and two or three decent ferries. In terms of how much that would cost as opposed to road infrastructure, it’s a lot, lot cheaper. Even one roundabout or intersection these days, it’s $50 million they’d throw at it. We can build 20 jetties for that and the boats, so it’s a no-brainer.

And is anyone doing that seriously? The ferry trial has been approved. It’s been approved but they’re going to do it with the wrong boat to the wrong jetties, it won’t work. Now, at the moment, I have to say that COVID’s a problem because any ferry service on the river will get most of its money out of tourism, pretty much like Sydney does.

28

And your career low? We owed a lot of money at one stage $100 million to both the state government and the bankers, and we had quite a lot of ships in the system. The bank panicked and brought us into receivership in 2001. They didn’t succeed.

We had one boat that was nearly finished negotiating with a Canadian customer. All the receiver managed to do was to get the price down because that customer was there anyway but he took advantage of getting the price down. Then we sold another one to an American customer. Within six months, we’d paid the bank and the Tasmanian Government off 100%. We never 100% recovered from it because banking’s always been difficult ever since.

Where do you hope the future of the marine industry lies?

There’s a massive opportunity I can see ahead of us with the marine industry refocusing on non-carbon fuels and that is going to have a massive change. And we very much are, or we should be, the right builder in the right place at the right time. We build the lightest boats, we’ve got the technology, we can offer the product. To be able to look at 1000 boats is something we’ve never been able to do before - we can literally look at 1000 boat potential.

It’s incredible. What would it take to get there? That’s a good question, I don’t know the full answer, I’m working on it.

Certainly, every day that there’s something in the media about this carbonisation is helping. I think batteries getting better helps and they’re getting better all the time. The hydrogen fuel cells which feed the batteries are also getting better. I think it’s a matter of time. Now, I’m at 78, so I’m not going to have the time. I don’t need this business for the money now, but I do employ people and at the moment, we’re employing about 500.

Out of what I’m seeing ahead, we can employ 5000, it’s not inconceivable. Do I want to employ 5000? No, I don’t but I don’t mind setting up the business that can.

To listen to more of Stephanie’s interview with Robert Clifford head to www.thehobartmagazine.com.au.

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What’s on

AT T H E T H E AT R E ROYA L

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

BY CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS

Thur 12 Aug to Sat 14 Aug

Wed 25 Aug to Sat 28 Aug

BO O K N OW theatreroyal.com.au box office

(03) 6146 3300 29

SCIENCE

WHAT’S IN YOUR SOIL?

Interview: Sarah Aitken

Tasmania’s poster boy for the tree-change, Matthew Evans of Fat Pig Farm, has released a brand new book all about dirt. It’s called Soil and it’s a fascinating delve into the history and future of this precious yet much-ignored resource. He told Sarah Aitken all about his love for the ground beneath his feet...even if it is currently sodden.

Congratulations on your new book. How are you going?

Thank you! I’m grouse. Well, I’m wet from the thighs down because I’ve been walking through long grass and there is just mud everywhere, but that’s a typical day for us in winter in Tasmania!

Why did you decide to write an entire book about dirt? I think the inspiration was being interested in what I eat, which led me to be interested in how things taste different or better, then to growing stuff, and if you’re interested in growing stuff you’re interested in soil! When I first started farming, 10-12 years ago, I had no clue what I was dealing with in the ground beneath my feet, that it’s a living, breathing organism. I wanted to find out all the cool things about soil to get people interested in it.

Most of us are quite disconnected from the soil that grows our food. How do you hope to engage people with it? You have to do storytelling with soil. I can look out my window at this beautiful forest, and if I go outside I can smell it. There’s this visceral pleasure and joy in what nature has created. Yet when we look at soil, only three per cent of it is visible – everything else is underground. A single shovel full of soil is more biodiverse than the entire Amazon rainforest but we don’t see it so we don’t think of it, we don’t know it.

What role has soil played in human history? Modern farming has mostly evolved from farming in the Middle East. We’ve been farming there for around 10,000 – 12,000 years in what’s called ‘the fertile crescent’. Well the fertile crescent, which is spoken about in biblical times, is no longer fertile...the Garden of Eden is now a desert, and we will do that everywhere if we are not careful. Farming has allowed us to build civilisations but if you ruin it, your civilisation collapses.

The Aboriginal people worked out how to manage the soil, but since white people arrived we’ve lost half the topsoil off our agricultural land. In such a short time we’ve managed to lose half the topsoil, which does all the world’s growing...it’s the magic bit. So I’m very worried about Australian soil. They 30

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31

measure the ‘half life’ of what’s left in decades. We are in a very precarious place and farmers who don’t put growing soil and regenerating soil at the top of their list are doing themselves and their descendants out of a job.

What can we do on a small scale, in suburban homes? Every bit of soil counts. If that’s a pot plant in your flat, or a little garden, just growing something and caring for that soil – every little bit counts. We should never underestimate the urban domestic garden and how it can feed us, or provide visceral pleasure. In terms of feeding the world the home garden is underutilised.

Around the tropics a billion people feed themselves from domestic gardens. They are blessed with more ability to grow things more quickly than we can here in Tasmania. But if you look at all the urban land in the world, we have built on an area greater than western Europe in size, people live on land that was good to grow food. We have taken that out of action, but a lot of it can be reclaimed, whether that’s with little raised bed, tomatoes growing in pots on the balcony, a ¼ acre block with room for a game of cricket and your broad beans - we can all take the ownership and responsibility for caring for our little patch of soil.

It doesn’t matter where you are - what really matters is to have a diversity of green living plants all year round and no bare soil 32

– try to make sure there is something growing in it. If you can, mulch it.

What happens if we leave the soil bare?

If you look around at nature, nature doesn’t create bare earth unless there is some other reason, like no rain. Earth is always trying to cover itself in something. There are a lot of things that live in the ground that don’t like being exposed to sunlight and the air. There is 4.5 times more living stuff below the ground than there is above...pretty much all the things below ground need to be fed by something, and the original food sources are the sugars created by plants. In a teaspoon of healthy soil you can have up to 10 billion living things – more than there are humans on earth! – but they all need sugars to survive. All of that energy comes from a plant and its ability to photosynthesise, so if you don’t have a plant, you’ve cut off the food source. You can use mulch or recently cut plants for the short term, but the best thing is to have living plants at all times in your soil.

Soil by Matthew Evans was released on July 2.

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COMMUNITY

EXPLORING THE BELLERIVE TO SORELL RAIL LINE Words and pictures: Peter Carey

With the Sorell Municipality recently commemorating their bicentenary, one can reflect on how it has evolved from a largely remote rural outcrop, to an important south east town and road junction to our East Coast or Tasman Peninsula.

Then progressively, with modern transport, overcoming a challenge which historian Geoffrey Blainey described as “the tyranny of distance”, to become a fast growing residential and commercial precinct; effectively a satellite suburb of Hobart.

Reflecting on the early 1890’s, we note a railway link which opened in May 1892 and ran for only 34 years, closing in June 1926. Let’s remember that the Tasmanian Government railway system overall was then only about 21 years old and this isolated line between Sorell and Hobart’s earliest eastern urban settlement of Bellerive, was not connected to the main network. There was also no bridge crossing the Derwent Estuary, thus necessitating support from some maritime transport to truly link the capital.

Much of the original alignment is now on private property but sources reveal that it did run through Warrane across near where the Mornington clover leaf now stands (near the Meehan Range MTB park), then crossed over near Pass Road, passing under

Tunnel Hill, through Cambridge, a bridge crossing to Penna and finally on to Sorell, extending beyond the station and into the stockyards where Woolworths now stands.

Of course, to the quintessential rail enthusiast, abandoned railways (and Tasmania has quite a few!), comes some fascinating buildings and structures as testimony to historical reflection.

I recently had the privilege of being hosted to explore the tunnel at Tunnel Hill just below Cambridge Road near the Mt Rumney turnoff. This structure is 173 metres long and sits 12 metres below the surface. Now privately owned and sitting on two separate titles, it has seen several owners with different objectives over the years but currently the owner of the western half has made good use of the darkness and dampness from the infiltration capacity of the sand stone for the commercial cultivation of mushrooms.

Then comes Sorell itself where the original railway station still stands as a private residence and antique shop. Situated in the aptly named Station Lane, it still has the remnants of the original platform, a rather derelict side loading covered wagon believed to have been designed to transport horses, and nearby, a carriage shed currently not in use but still helping to stand as testimony to a bygone era.

Finally, we look at preservation of rolling stock. The Tasmanian Transport Museum in the Hobart suburb of Glenorchy, has spent many years restoring a range of transport artefacts, especially rail and they are proud to boast a fully restored A+ (pronounced A Cross) end loading carriage which once operated on the very line in focus. The body was sold to a private owner after the line’s closure and was later donated to the museum in 1979.

At times it’s been known to have been coupled to one of the museum’s smaller steam locomotives, offering visitors short trips up and down a one kilometre isolated track.

Please note that the tunnel is on private property and not available for public inspection.

34

Photo: @explore_with_ab

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DINING OUT

DANPHE NEPALESE AND INDIAN FOOD Words and pics: James Marten

Nepalese food is a comfort in our house.

Having spent much time trekking and mountain climbing in Nepal as a younger man, Nepalese food is something I always love to go back to.

It’s a reminder of feeling small surrounded by epic mountains, of friendly, hospitable people and warming up in tea houses after a day spent hiking. Danphe Nepalese and Indian Food (2/138 Collins St, Hobart) is bustling the night we went. It was bright, cosy and as we all peeled of layers of gloves and beanies, it transported me back. My standard Nepalese order is a non-vegetarian thali ($22), it’s a great way to experience a taste of a few different dishes. The thali at Danphe doesn’t disappoint with chicken curry, daal, saag, aaloo ko achar and pappadums. I also order a garlic naan ($6), which is textbook.

The kids share a serve of chicken chow mein ($15), but hint, order with no spice unless your kids can handle a little heat.

My wife decide to explore the menu and orders the samosas ($6 for two), the fried chicken momo, ($12 for eight) and chicken chhoyla ($14) a Nepalese classic of grilled chicken tossed with fresh ginger, lemon juice, garlic, coriander, and spring onion. She orders them ‘medium’ spicy but even though she is quite fine with heat, it’s on the spicier side. The service is friendly and quick, and the food is fresh and authentic. The kids enjoy watching trays of momo dumplings being brought out to the display case, ready to be steamed or friend. It’s a very

inexpensive trip back to Nepal at a time when international borders are shut - if we can’t travel in person, at least our tastebuds can.

YOUR NEXT FAMILY LUNCH SORTED Peppermint Bay Bar and Bistro (3435 Channel Highway, Woodbridge) is an easy 35 minute drive down the Channel with great reward at the end. The indoor restaurant space is cosy with a woodfire and long bar, and outside is lovely on a nice day and perfect for kids who might not love being contained. You can gaze out to Bruny Island as the kids wander the beautiful garden. We enjoyed the daily pizzette ($15), a small wood fired pizza perfect for one, the crispy lamb and zucchini salad ($18), the green salad and pickles ($5) and moorish chips with perfect aioli. The drinks list is local and excellent - this visit called for a Hughes and Hughes pinot noir - and there is a range of sweet treats and coffee.

Time your visit for when the monthly Woodbridge Markets are on, every 2nd Saturday of the month from 10am-2pm at the Woodbridge Town Hall.

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PSYCHOLOGY

Lost motivation?

This is for you.

Words: Annia Baron

“Annia, I’ve lost my motivation.” Go on, I say listening intently.

“Well, I feel as though I once had oomph, more get up and go, you know? These days, everything feels as though it’s too much effort. And what’s worse is that I know what I should be doing to get out of this funk, but I can’t find the motivation to do it.

Inevitably, I end up procrastinating further, which robs me of any motivation I may have had left in the first place! And so the cycle goes.”

If this were you, and I was sitting across from you, I’d look you right in the eyes and speak with the sort of straight-talking, truth-telling, kick-up-the butt kindness you’ve come to see me for. I’d remind you: “Stop waiting for your motivation to come back – it won’t.”

Motivation isn’t something you’ve lost. You’ve lost sight of how to honour yourself. Your motivation isn’t low. You’ve lowered yourself into believing a convenient façade your mind came up with long ago. You’ve convinced yourself motivation comes first, then you’ll feel better to pursue change but that’s not how it works. Waiting for motivation is an excuse you’ve easily woven into your psyche to justify your inertia so that you can keep complaining about how things are so hard, which gives you permission to rely on those old coping mechanisms that have become a familiar comfort zone.

or enrolling in that personal development course you’ve been thinking about).

We talk about wanting to reach our goals but we’re waiting for our emotions and thoughts to change before we do something to change them!

Try looking at motivation differently: “Being in a negative state (e.g., low, flat, sad etc) doesn’t stop me from moving my body towards meaningful actions. I can act on my intentions WHILE I’m not feeling good.” For example, you can feel unfit AND at the same time be squatting or lunging. You can feel anxious AND at the same time click play on a meditation video. You can feel lonely AND at the same time send your friend a nice text message. You can feel unenthused AND at the same time search the net for inspiring stories. You can feel powerless AND at the same time sign a community petition to oppose something you care about.

Your action is the very spark needed to light the fire within you.

And independent of how you feel that day, continuing to act on your meaningful choices is what keeps the motivation flame ablaze.

Don’t wait for motivation.

Create it.

(Perhaps as my client, your face turns somewhat pale here).

But my dear friend, understand this: You don’t find motivation. You ignite it.

And if you give yourself permission to see more broadly and shift perspective, you’ll realise that generating motivation is in fact, easy.

(Here, hope returns to your face – hoorah!).

See, most of us view motivation from a narrow lens. We think we need motivation in order to start pursuing our goals.

This pattern of thinking creates a psychological association: Motivation must be present before I can take any action. As a result, your frontal cortex jumps to an unhelpful conclusion and interprets this as, “I can’t/won’t do what I know I should do until I feel good/motivated enough to do it.” As though only positive emotions and thoughts (e.g., happiness, joy, excitement) must be present first and then you’ll be able to do that thing you know is good for you (e.g. exercising, downloading that mindfulness app 38

And for whatever reason, you notice the glow is disappearing, that’s ok. Give yourself a moment. Do what you need to do to calm the mind. Take a few long, slow, deep breaths and ask yourself, “have I lost motivation or do I need to adjust my lens?”

Action leads to greatness!

Did you know that it took Leonardo Da Vinci 15 years to complete the Mona Lisa? Did he lose motivation? Far from it.

The great genius spent a lot of his time immersed in action, all kinds of action. He would often doodle in notebooks and engage in creative pursuits that led to his inventions of the helicopter, tank, scuba diving gear and the parachute. His actions contributed significantly to the fields of science, math, sculpture, and architecture. Sounds as though he had a good fire going!

If you feel your motivation could benefit from a boost, visit www.remindyourself.com or contact Annia, Clinical Psychologist & Mindset Coach on 0402 448 278.

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TRAVEL ON THE ISLAND

Exploring Tassie These School Holidays

Words: Stephanie Williams Pictures: Tourism Tasmania

We know that staying indoors with the family isn’t always fun. And while it’s obviously cold outside, you’re only a puffer jacket and beanie away from being comfortable and ready to explore. There’s lots of family fun to be had in all sorts of weird and wonderful places across the state these school holidays.

We snow best.

Close to home, the best place to get your snow fix is kunanyi/Mt Wellington (hot tip, warm up by the log fire in the mountain hut at The Springs with a Lost Freight hot chocolate), or take the one and a half hour drive to Mt Field. If you want to dust off your skis and teach your kids “pizza and fries”, Ben Lomond is the place to go. The classic snow covered vista of Cradle Mountain is best enjoyed with a wander around Dove Lake followed by a warming beverage by the closest fire.

Forests done differently.

Explore Tassie forests from a different perspective - starting with Evercreech Forest Reserve where you’ll find the incredible White Knights, the world’s 40

tallest white gums (over 90 metres high) or join a Giant Trees Expedition from Maydena. Tahune Adventures near Geeveston will have you on the 600metre walkway, which ends at a spectacular cantilevered platform, 50 metres above the riverbank with views to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Up north, fly through the treetops at Hollybanks Wilderness Adventures on the Zipline Adventure or climb the awesome High Ropes Course.

Caving in.

Sick of building forts and caves at home these school holidays? Explore a real one. Within easy reach of Hobart, head to Hastings Caves and Thermal Springs near Southport. Make a weekend of it and explore the range of caves up north at Mole Creek Karst National Park and Gunns Plains Caves - both offering glow worms and cool underground waterways.

Or if you think the kids would listen better to someone else - join one of the Wild Cave Tours at Mole Creek.

Island dwelling.

Take a break from the big island and

explore one of the many islands that surround the Tassie coastline. We’re spoilt for choice with Bruny Island and Maria Island, both within an easy drive, or take a direct flight further afield with Sharp Airlines from Hobart to King Island or Flinders Island.

Museums and galleries.

TMAG is celebrating NAIDOC week with a program of activities - while you’re there visit the new dedicated children’s gallery space mapiya lumi/around here.

Have you visited MONA post-2020?

They cleverly used the downtime to create new spaces and children’s outdoor play areas. Launceston’s QVMAG is also in on the game with a school holiday program as well as the gallery spaces.

Mole Creek Caves

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WHY I’M GETTING

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THE COVID-19 VACCINE www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au/vaccine 41

HISTORY

Words: Dr Richard Tuffin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow from the University of New England; and Ms Sylvana Szydzik, Conservation Project Officer, Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA).

“Seventeen men were at work in the blacksmiths’ shop… furnished with all necessary implements. The furnace is capable of casting five tons weight of iron in one piece…Forty-nine men were employed at shoemaking in a shop 80 feet long by 30 feet broad. Shoes are made for the officers, military and men…

Twenty-six carpenters were at work in a large shop, making various articles, and house-work for the station.”

When he wrote this description in 1850, the Revd. Henry Phibbs Fry could have been describing any number of colonial-era workshops. As it was, he was recording a visit to the notorious penal station of Port Arthur, on the Tasman Peninsula in south east Van Diemen’s Land. Established in 1830, for much of its 47 years of operation the station served as a destination for convicts who had reoffended after their initial transportation to the colony.

Though Port Arthur’s reputation for unremitting labour and – at times – brutality is mostly deserved, researchers from the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA) and University of New England (UNE) have increasingly been challenging this portrayal. Using historical and archaeological methods, we’ve looked at how convict labour reshaped the landscape of the Tasman Peninsula as they were made to extract and refine timber, stone, coal, shell, clay for the needs of the station and the colony.

As part of this we’ve been undertaking an archaeological investigation of the convict workshops to look at the more

skill-based manufacturing aspects of convict work. The site of the workshops was until recently a manicured lawn situated next to the Penitentiary. During the convict period the complex of timber, brick and sandstone buildings housed a variety of skillbased trades: blacksmithing, tinsmithing, carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring, wheelwrighting and sawing. The men used complex equipment forges, casting furnaces, steam engines and mills to complete their tasks.

The archaeological excavation is currently being carried out by Sylvana Szydzik (PAHSMA) and Dr Richard Tuffin (UNE).

After some months of excavation we have managed to expose the deposits and features associated with the 1857 blacksmith and foundry. Big patches of coal and charcoal, with fragments of iron throughout, marks the former location of the anvil. A patch of mortar and broken brick shows where the smith’s furnace had been situated. Not far away, a pit (possibly once used for casting) contained tens of kilos of casting and metalworking waste, as well as a broken anvil. This was probably thrown in the hole in the 1880s, after the convicts had left and the building was being salvaged, with the anvil being too heavy to relocate.

Below the foundry period deposits, we are starting to find footings and artefacts associated with an earlier period when the building was used by the shoemakers. Even lower than this, we are finding evidence of the clay, rocks and logs that were used to build up the former waterfront in the early 1830s. This excavation provides us with a rare window into the evolution of Port Arthur from penal station, to post-convict township, as well as the lives and labours of those who were forced to spend time here.

You can check out the excavation blog at www.blog.une.edu.au/ port-arthur-2020/ or visit the site in person.

42

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BOOK REVIEW

Holymans of Bass Strait

Words: Julian Burgess

Pictures: Supplied

The SS Koonookarra at Dunalley.

trade up the state’s East Coast. SS Koonookarra made regular trips to Maria Island, Swansea and St Helens and must have been a welcome sight for lighthouse keepers at remote places such as Eddystone Point, Swan, Goose and Deal Islands, Cape Wickham, Currie Harbour and Maatsuyker Island. In 1912 the SS Koomeela, of 191 tonnes, built for Wm. Holyman and Sons in Sydney replaced the Koonookarra. The new ship was still trading out of the Derwent up to the start of World War II. James Holyman, who lived in Battery Point, was twice married and had eleven children. His brother William Junior also had a large family and many members of the Holyman family worked in the family businesses. On the death of William Senior in 1921 James Holyman became head of Wm. Holyman and Sons.

A Holyman flagged ship hasn’t steamed up the River Derwent since 1984 but the company’s name still proudly adorns its former offices at 5 Morrison Street, Hobart.

The Wm. Holyman and Sons office was once a depot for its Tasmanian and interstate sea cargo and passenger services as well as handling bookings for Australian National Airways (ANA). The company founder, William Holyman, was a young English seaman who jumped ship at George Town on the Tamar River in 1854. By the 1860s he was in command of his own vessel trading out of the Mersey River. Within 30 years his three sons were in command of vessels in a growing fleet flying the company’s White Star Line flag around the Tasmanian coastline and further afield.

By the 1900s William Holyman Junior had moved the company’s headquarters from Devonport to Launceston, and his brother James was based in the Port of Hobart. Captain James Holyman was 34 when he took command of the SS Koonookarra, a passenger and cargo ship of 161 tonnes, bought by the company in 1901 for the Tasmanian lighthouse resupply service and to 44

Over the next 20 years he and the third generation of Holymans continued to build the family’s sea, air and road transport businesses. Victor and Ivan took the family into aviation in the 1930s with Holyman Airways. Tragically Victor Holyman and the passengers in his plane Miss Hobart disappeared in Bass Strait in 1934.

Guided by Ivan Holyman (later Sir Ivan), Holyman Airways became Australian National Airways in 1936 and grew into an important player in international aviation. Ivan and his cousin, Keith Holyman, were involved in many other businesses. Keith Holyman bought Hobart’s prestigious Wrest Point Riviera Hotel in 1946 to develop the tourism potential of ANA’s air passenger services. Ross Holyman, who trained as a marine engineer, became a tutor at the Hobart Technical School and later owned the State Theatre and managed Moonah Theatres Ltd. The Holymans’ other Tasmanian business interests included car sales (they were the first Australian Datsun dealers), food processing factories and timber mills. Their last ship was the MV Mary Holyman that made its last trip to Hobart in 1984.

The recently published book Holyman’s of Bass Strait tells the story of this family of pioneering mariners and aviators.

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Picture: Rob Mulally for VisitCanberra

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45

HISTORY

Hobart killer hid in kunanyi cave Words and picture: Sarah Aitken

A simple cave provided the perfect hideout for one of Tasmania’s most brutal bushrangers - and you can easily walk to it from Fern Tree. Sarah Aitken went in search of the story of Rocky Whelan.

We love to romanticise the anti-authoritarian bushrangers of our colonial past. The Ned Kellys and Matthew Bradys get placed on a Robin Hood-esque pedestal, with stories of their daring heists and impressive bush skills interwoven with the fondness for underdog convicts that makes up a significant part of our national identity.

But then there are characters like Rocky Whelan.

John “Rocky” Whelan was not just a bushranger. One of Tasmania’s first serial killers, he confessed to the brutal murders of at least five men (although he possibly killed 12, or more) in and around Hobart Town, and spent time on the run in the rugged bushland of kunanyi/Mt Wellington.

Whelan was a convict for most of his adult life, including for 18 years on Norfolk Island before he was sent to Tasmania.

Bushranger expert and author Aidan Phelan, who runs the website A Guide to Australian Bushranging, shared that Whelan had an imposing physical presence: “He was a very intimidating man. He was over six feet tall, muscular and rough, his nickname coming from his “craggy” features and pock-marked cheeks.” Phelan said that even fellow bushrangers found Whelan unsettling - particularly when they witnessed his ability to withstand cruel and intense punishments in two of the harshest prisons in the colony.

Shortly after being sent to Tasmania, Whelan absconded from a road gang near Hobart Town, was recaptured, and sent to Port Arthur. He managed to also escape from the prison, and get past the dog-line, before returning to the Hobart area and hiding in the bush.

“Mt Wellington being so close to Hobart Town, and the traffic to and from it, meant that the opportunity for highway robbery was great,” said Phelan. “By utilising the natural features of the mountain he could live in seclusion, only emerging when he had to go to “work”, as it were. It was a perfect hideout for a predator like Whelan.”

He travelled great distances - robbing and murdering men from the Huon Valley to the Midlands. He came undone when he tried to get a victim’s boots mended in town. The boots had the missing man’s name on them and a constable spotted them 46

sitting out the front of the shop. The victim, Magistrate Dunn, had been walking home along the old Huon Road bridle track when Whelan murdered him. Phelan said it was consistent with Whelan’s other crimes: “Whelan’s modus operandi seemed to be to bail up a traveller, rob them, then kill them by shooting them in the head or clubbing them to death, then dumping the body somewhere off the road.”

Rocky Whelan’s cave can be visited today - it’s a short walk from Fern Tree along the Fern Glade track - though there are a few other ways to get there so check your map carefully. The cave itself doesn’t offer much shelter and it is remarkable to think a man quite new to the area could survive a winter in that stark landscape.

Phelan agrees that on this point, at least, Whelan was impressive. “Here was someone that had been brought to Australia in bondage as a convict, and who spent most of his time here as a prisoner, yet was able to survive on his own in the bush with seemingly relative ease,” he said.

“It can be hard to comprehend, in this time of modern conveniences at the press of a button, how difficult the life of a colonist was, let alone the bushrangers, but places like Whelan’s Cave help us to get a taste of the ruggedness of the environment they sought refuge in and the isolation. Water came from streams, food was whatever you could hunt or steal, warmth and light came from fires, you had to be constantly on the move and every moment you had to be alert on the off-chance that a search party had finally caught up with you. There was very little romance in the life of an outlaw like Rocky Whelan.”

Whelan was hanged for his crimes at Hobart Gaol on 26 June 1855.

Dark Mofo vibes @somewhere_in_tassie

Well hello to you too! By Margie Law of South Hobart.

Black swan at Browns River by Robin Voss.

@georgieheartmedia and her mum.

Spotted in the wild. @gastowneast.

Mt Wellington sunset @colinrex.

East coast dreaming @sabrina_pocketsize.

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