The Beast - March 2025

BEAST

March 2025

Swans v Hawks

Fri 7 Mar | 7.40pm

Sydney Cricket Ground

Roosters v Broncos

Thur 6 Mar | 7.55pm

Allianz Stadium

Waratahs v Force

Sun 8 Mar | 7.35pm

Allianz Stadium

Swans v Lions

Sat 15 Mar | 4.15pm

Sydney Cricket Ground

Sydney FC v Phoenix

Sat 15 Mar | 5pm, 7.50pm

Allianz Stadium

Australia v Indonesia

Thur 20 Mar | 8pm

Allianz Stadium

Waratahs v Brumbies

Sat 22 Mar | 7.35pm

Allianz Stadium

Roosters v Titans

Fri 28 Mar | 6pm

Allianz Stadium

Sydney FC v

Melbourne City

Sat 29 Mar | 5pm

Allianz Stadium T ickets on sale

sydneycricketground.com.au/events

allianzstadium.com.au/events

JOIN

Waverley's Marine Bioblitz

28-29 March 2025

Explore local rockpools and shorelines

Photograph marine animals and plants

Register and more info here

Upload your photos to the iNaturalist App

Nesta Creating Memories, by Lornelle Henry.

Community Unity

Words James Hutton - Publisher

Welcome to the March 2025 edition of The Beast, the monthly magazine for Sydney’s united beaches of the east.

Despite all of the awful things going on around the world, everyone in Australia deserves to feel safe, regardless of their race, religion, sexual preference or whatever. It was awesome to see the mayors of just about every council in Sydney come together in early February to make a joint statement, united in calling out violence, hatred and extremism, with the goal of creating a stronger, safer and more united society where everyone feels respected and valued.

The Beast agrees that local government should stay focused on local issues, and the joint statement by the mayors of Sydney was an important gesture and one that has been very well-received.

Thanks to local artist Georgia Carey for this month’s cool cover painting of Bronte. You can read Georgia’s profile piece on page 20 and see more of her work on her Instagram at @gg.careyy.

There are a couple of cool events happening for International Women’s Day this year. Randwick Council’s Women’s Art Prize Exhibition will be showing at Randwick Town Hall from March 8-10 and at Lionel Bowen Library Gallery on March 18. For more information please visit randwick.nsw.gov.au.

Waverley Council is putting on an evening to honour pioneering Bondi fashion designer Camilla Franks on March 7 at the Pavilion. Camilla is one of the great characters of the area and has appeared on the cover of The Beast. Refreshments will be served from 5.30pm prior to an inspiring conversation with Camilla and interviewer Michaela Kalowski. Admission is $15 (donated to Women’s Community Shelters). To book, please visit bondipavilion.com.au.

On a final note, a belated happy 30th birthday to Sam and Maddie! Cheers, James

The Beast

The Beast Pty Ltd ABN 32 143 796 801 www.thebeast.com.au

Editor

james@thebeast.com.au

Advertising Enquiries advertising@thebeast.com.au

Rates and Specs thebeast.com.au/advertise

Circulation

60,000 copies delivered every month; 2,000 in shops and 58,000 in mailboxes.

Pearl's Ponderings on the Cost-of-Living Crisis

A Quick Whinge

Dear Pearl - I’m a second year UNSW student living with my wonderful gran in Maroubra and working in hospitality. I’m from Fortitude Valley in Queensland originally, and I’ve noticed that there seems to be a lot more weirdo customers down here in Sydney. I’m especially sick of hearing about the cost-of-living crisis from our customers, who clearly have a fair bit of money to throw around.

My gran’s a big fan of yours so she suggested I have a whinge here about out-of-touch posh people instead of complaining all the time at home.

Jess Maroubra

Understanding 'Cozzie Livs'

Dear Jess - Since you emanate from Fortitude Valley, it appears that you are viewing the cost-of-living crisis from

the blinkered perspective of one who has been exposed to a wide range of social classes, particularly those at the lower end of the scale. If you are going to survive in ‘hospo’ in the Eastern Suburbs, may I suggest you open your mind to the shades of grey that exist among our residents.

As a student, the cost-ofliving crisis means living an intentionally frugal existence and making sacrifices like holding down numerous casual jobs while trying to complete a degree, drinking at home rather than the uni tavern, crossing Anzac Parade to splurge on dhal in an Indian diner and using gran’s backyard as a clandestine rave venue. The issues of global warming, rental costs and HECS debts weigh far heavier than the ability to indulge in vacuous, conspicuous consumption (think those hideous high waisted Lululemon leggings, a

cashed-up bogan Louis Vuitton handbag and cosmetic facial injectables).

To the burghers of the Eastern Suburbs; the cost-ofliving crisis (aka ‘cozzie livs’) is having a terrible impact on one’s ability to live the good life and hence it requires constant media attention to ensure that all Australians are aware how tough it is to eke out a comfortable existence on a six figure salary. If you’ve recently been to the USA (like Pearl just has) you would know that Australia’s pathetic exchange rate has made the Aspen ski holiday an unaffordable endeavour, along with the obscene cost of business class seats that have risen due to demand.

And, in the East we relish owning multiple items, as one is never enough. The maintenance of multiple pets, multiple luxury vehicles, multiple children (all educated privately) and multiple investment properties is beyond palatable, and then there’s the upkeep of the multimillion dollar abode and the coastal holiday house. And don’t forget the cost of poison required to kill the verge tree blocking one’s ocean views. Since Bunnings obliterated local hardware stores, Wesfarmers can charge a premium for Yates Tree and Blackberry Killer Concentrate.

In the spirit of wokeness, I implore you to extend tolerance and pity to your customers when you are at work, rather than whinging to your poor oldgran, who seems like a sensible lady. And always remember that ‘cozzie livs’ only exists because of the very people who are whinging about it, own shares or have superannuation invested in the companies that are screwing the hell out of the rest of us.

Pearlie Clovelly

Words Pearl Bullivant Photo David Gates

Fleischmann’s breadline (not Iggy's) in New York, 1904.

Beautiful Homes. Beautiful Concrete.

If you Love concrete, you’ll love the Ablestone Facebook group

Dedicated to the transformative power of concrete for modern, stylish, and sustainable living. It’s free to join and open to anyone who loves concrete and its endless possibilities. As a member, you’ll be inspired with videos, new products, and stunning designs and applications. Share, connect or simply enjoy the visual feast.

Beautiful Homes. Beautiful Concrete.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Phone 02 9318 1722 or visit metromix.com.au/able-concrete/

Architect: MCK Architects.

Photography: Rethmeier Still Images.

Builder: Toki Construction

The Beast's Monthly Mailbag

Words The Fantastic People of the Eastern Beaches

Christmas Day

Every year now the residents of one select beach get up in arms over the ‘disorderly’ behaviour that occurs on Christmas Day, usually blaming the backpackers and foreign scoundrels. Australia relies heavily on our 457 visa holders for a plethora of jobs and tourism. Although some might suggest otherwise, temporary visa holders are a vital part of the community.

What do people expect thousands of young people to do on Christmas Day when they are on the other side of the world without family and a nice big house to share the festivities in? If we want to reap the rewards of having tourists/temporary visa holders in the community, without their own family around, it should come as no surprise that thousands of ‘orphaned’ young people might want to celebrate together in the sun on Christmas Day. The problem is that currently we don’t seem to designate a beach and then inform people who don’t want to partake that for one day a year [insert name of specific beach here] is probably best to be avoided. This then leads to the increasingly tiring annual moral panic, ‘Irish, English and other foreign people destroy beach!’ It’s nearly as tedious as the Australia Day outrage trotted out earlier and earlier every year (move it, don’t move it... I just want a day off, I have no love for the 26th specifically).

As for the mess, it’s not ideal, but I was young, dumb and drunk once. Make it an official location, prepare for it and rotate the beach of choice each year. Then, for the clean up? Sell the photo rights to the Murdoch Press so they can run their stories the following day! Keep up the good work!

Henry Bondi

Respecting Others' Views

As I enjoy Australia Day in Clovelly and reading The Beast, I can see the value of The Beast’s Monthly Mailbag to offer all readers a way to express their own views in a peaceful and respectful way.

Like the majority of The Beast’s readers, I enjoy the diversity of letters like Matilda in the January Monthly Mailbag and then Sue and others’ responses in the February circulation. Some are far right while others are far left, whereas I suggest most of us are just happy being in and around the middle.

Ian Smith Clovelly

Improving Waverley

A few weeks ago I felt I couldn’t postpone my obligatory Bondi Junction shop any longer. I decided to walk there to get my steps up, but also because I enjoy walking. There is zero hassle involved (or so I thought) and it takes your mind off things.

Walking is such a natural way of getting around for humans, surely I can just put my shoes on and safely, pleasantly, directly go where I want to?

Unfortunately my expectations were not met. I passed broken beer bottles, throw-away coffee cups and mattresses pissed on by dogs. I tried to stay on the narrow footpaths, consisting of broken and mossed on concrete slabs, but found my way often blocked by clusters of smelly garbage bins. Parts of my route were missing trees to provide shade or rain cover, but there were plenty of cheap and uninteresting apartment buildings under construction. And, of course, those noisy, big, heavy steel boxes (cars!) lining the streets, stopping me from crossing the road and hearing the birds, and obstructing my view. As an able-bodied person, I couldn’t imagine how someone with a pram or who is less stable on their feet would do this walk. This got me wondering, are people happy with their neighbourhood, or do they envisage living somewhere better? And shouldn’t everyone be able to walk (or roll) to where they want to? It is clear that Waverley Council, with its limited funds, sees the value of walking and cycling and has been improving the streetscape in Notts Avenue, Curlewis Street and hopefully soon around the North Bondi bus depot. Our neighbourhoods and shopping streets (like Hall Street, Gould Street and Campbell Parade) are however still a long way away from what our beloved European cities have - safe, beautiful and comfortable places that are nice to be in or walk through. We are blessed with oodles of natural beauty in Waverley, but we can do a lot better with the built environment next to it.

That’s why I challenge you to imagine more, and better. Like Paris and Amsterdam, which continue to take action to improve, we can transform Waverley. Start by imagining what you want your

Term 1 Events

Open Day: 26 February

Jane Barker Luncheon: 4 March

International Women’s Day Luncheon: 7 March

Our Community Consultative Committee (CCC) is looking for new members. If you are interested in joining our CCC, which typically meets four times per year, please contact our Independent Chair, Ms Roberta Ryan at roberta@forward-thinking.net.au

Congratulations to the Class of 2024 for their exceptional HSC results. St Cath’s ranked 24th in the state, with a top ATAR of 99.60, 11 All Rounders, 22 creative nominations and 4 exhibition selections.

To contact the school or join our communications list, please email us at stcaths@stcaths.nsw.edu.au, call 02 8305 6200 or visit stcatherines.nsw.edu.au

neighbourhood to be like, and share your vision with neighbours and Council. Our streets can become safer and more welcoming spaces that connect us, but this requires vision, committed change and a bit of effort.

Joey Bondi

An Introduction

Dear Beast readers - Please allow me to introduce myself... I’m Michael Richmond and I’m running as an independent for Wentworth in the coming federal election. I’ll be up against the two titans: Current MP Allegra Spender and the Liberal candidate Ro Knox.

I’m running because I genuinely care about this community and believe we need fresh ideas, not just the same old political playbook. My policies focus on health, housing, addressing our rising national debt and making Wentworth a place where young people don’t feel like they have to move away to get a fair go. I’m 19

years old, so I have a good understanding of what young people are up against.

Despite my age, I am serious about making a positive change. So, if you’re tired of the usual campaign talk, let’s shake things up. If you ever see me around, please say hi, I’m always open to a friendly discussion. You can learn more about me at my website, michaelrichmond.com.au.

Michael Richmond Bondi

Captain Cook Statue Vandalism... For the Umpteenth Time

Sigh... another year, another vandalising of Randwick’s Captain Cook statue. The thugs have vented their impotent rage once again. And, once again, incredibly, they have their sympathisers within Randwick City Council itself.

Phillipa Veitch, a Green seemingly stuck in a student-protest mindset, responded to this act of criminality in her own electorate

with a capitulation-to-crims policy: she wants the statue removed. She says it is “a painful reminder of the devastating impacts of colonisation, which continues [sic] to this day.” Rephrased as an Onion headline, her position is: “Randwick Residents Oppressed by Inanimate Block of Sandstone.”

As for the hooligans who wrecked the statue: idiots gonna idiot. Please put away your spray cans, your hammers, your vacuous obsession with symbolism, and your lavishly misdirected fuming. Find a cause that will actually make a difference to the lives of people in need. After all, there are no medals for bravery in the statue wars.

Gary Malone Maroubra

Cook Monument

Surely the mindless destruction and vandalising of Randwick’s Cook monument warrants an Australia Day award to the

jelly-brained perpetrator(s), for it takes an amazing degree of heroism and bravado to attack and deface an unguarded static item during the silent and witness-free hours of the night.

Not only has this carefully sculptured statue been a source of admiration and historical regard since early municipal days, but it pays homage as to how a low-born youth attained esteem within British and French maritime circles as an outstanding navigator, cartographer and overseer in having his vessels victualled with scurvy-deterring provisions.

He, like many other European sea-going captains of the time, was primarily an explorer - not a coloniser - whose cerebral achievements in but one week of his major expeditions would have surpassed the lifetime intellectual limitations of those social losers who content themselves with idiotic fantasies of achievement. Perhaps they are even now, as a gang of course, contemplating a surreptitious attack on an incapacitated aged war veteran.

John Murray Coogee

Kieran’s Satire

Dear James - Kieran’s most recent piece, (Authorities Fail to Defend Bondi, The Beast, February 2025), crosses the line from satire into deplorable nastiness and vilification.

Whether to be read as racist or socially pejorative, referring to ‘Westies’, namely people from the Western Suburbs of Sydney, as pests flooding Bondi Beach, as invaders threatening our Eastern Suburbs way of life, and as those who don’t belong, is not funny or acceptable. Ever. Shame on you for publishing this trash.

Helen Tan Coogee

Living in the East

Hi James - I have been lucky to have lived my entire life in the Maroubra Beach area, from being

a 1960s Commission kid to a North Maroubra home owner. I have seen plenty of changes in Maroubra over the decades, both good and not so good.

However, during the past couple of decades, especially the current one, I have felt worry, sadness, anger and violence become more prevalent locally, statewide, countrywide and internationally.

On the day that televised the inauguration show of the 47th President of the USA and his immediate commencement of his reign of [domestic] terror, the February edition of The Beast landed in my letterbox.

Enjoying the letters and articles as always, when I came to the Local Artist page, for no particular reason I answered the questions put to her and I realised that all of us who live in The Beast’s circulation area are privileged. We can walk, or take a short drive or bus trip, and end up on the edge of a part of the Australian coastline, stop and watch the sea, look at the far horizon and take in the knowledge that we live in a lovely part of Sydney.

Living in Maroubra and out to La Perouse, we have headland walks where we can see, hear and smell the ocean, take in the fragrance of gum trees, enjoy the birdsong, admire the Sydney sandstone and visit quirky, friendly cafés.

Summer weekends are pretty woeful traffic wise, and the prices to rent or buy are frankly ridiculous, but I do understand why many people desire to live near the coast and those of us who do should be grateful and welcoming, not exclusive.

Eve Smith Maroubra

Clovelly Pocket Park

It would be a shame if the proposed pocket park in Burnie Street, Clovelly, didn’t eventuate. That the parking preferences of a handful of shopkeepers take pre-

cedence over the wider benefits to the community seems unfair. There must be hundreds of people who pass this corner on foot every day and would welcome the increased safety, tree shade and respite that such a minor civic improvement would bring. Even those commuters who wait at the bus stop opposite would surely prefer to overlook a park rather than bitumen and parked cars.

It’s not as if the shops wouldn’t also benefit from a more pleasant neighbourhood; research shows that retailers grossly overestimate the proportion of their customers that drive and the distances the customers travel to shop.

So, the more attractive the pedestrian environment, the greater the potential trade. If the park weren’t to proceed, it would be confirmation that we prioritise cars over people.

Steve Kovacs Bronte

Burnie Pocket Park

Hi, I am backing Ross Feller, who wrote in the February edition letters about the necessity for the Burnie Street pocket park.

The Clovelly and Carrington Roads pocket park is a huge success. I love to watch the children play on the stage, weary walkers drink from the fountain, dog walkers rest in the shade and young women thread the tiny strands of jasmine to grow up the yellow structures. It is such a pleasure to walk along that strip and not be terrified by cars coming around the corner from the east ready to knock you out if you’re too slow to jump.

That could be the story down at Burnie Street. We need these safe havens for children and the elderly walker. I’m the latter, and I wait with bated breath for the pedestrian to be considered in this marvellous plan for a pocket park down at Burnie Street.

Lindy Morrison Randwick

Pocket Parks Such a Waste

In reply to the letter from Ross Feller in February’s Beast, the pocket park on the corner of Carrington Road and Clovelly Road is a farce. There is a larger area of hard surfaces of bricks now than when it was a slip road. The one shade tree was already in place. The new park offers no protection from the elements at all. As my local bus stop, I can personally say I have never seen anyone sit on the birdcage seats, nor has anyone used the ‘stage’. It was a total waste of $2 million of ratepayers’ money. Why can’t councils and councillors do the basics better? Roads, rubbish, beaches, parks, streets, health and safety... And the repair, cleaning and maintenance of roads, footpaths, kerbs, gutters and effective, well-placed signage.

The chevron signage on Carrington Road has been replaced since the public works, but the parked cars completely obscure them - perhaps they could be on

higher poles to warn motorists of the sharp bend?!

Please don’t hold this pocket park as a good example of council’s responsible fiscal policy.

Margie Coogee

Authorities Fail to Defend Bondi

Hi James - In response to the February issue of The Beast article, ‘Authorities Failed to Defend Bondi’ by Kieran Blake, I am a little bit taken back by the silly attempt to raise awareness for protecting Australian Indigenous wildlife disguised as a tasteless joke making fun of people from Western Sydney visiting Bondi Beach in the summer time.

The language used within the article comes across as extremely racist and gross. Living in such a gorgeous suburb as Bondi and raising my daughter here, I consider myself very lucky. However, with the vibe within this article, it helps perpetuate an elitist stereotype and insular perspective that

I am constantly trying to defend and dispel. The author would do well to read back over his words and realise the way that this could come across. People in today’s society have such limited attention spans and won’t bother to get that this was a huge farce.

Alex

North Bondi

PS. Murriverie Road is a nightmare to drive down. We need to do something about that.

Big Swell, Be Alert

Hi James - I’m just sitting watching the big surf on the last of the storm and big swell days and just saw, in real time, a swimmer float out to sea in the North Bondi rip.

In around two minutes total he had been taken out to around the end of the kids pool and had reached the stage of floating on his back, a few strokes and he was clearly not making any progress trying to get back to shore.

In this time, in rough sizable swell and a strong rip, I watched

four volunteer lifesavers not kick into action at all. Two walked approximately ten yards away and then wandered off in the opposite direction. Two watched from the beach and at one point whistled and yelled, “Hey mate,” but still no action. And one minute later the guy clearly wasn’t having a leisurely swim and was back floating and trying a few strokes to no success. Until that good old faithful of saviours passed by, a surfer, and took the swimmer to safety. On contact with the surfer, I watched the lifesaver light jog toward the paddleboard located up the beach, for no reason.

I feel like this could have been handled better. At what point in these rough swells does action get taken? I know they’re not professionals, but when four of them watched from the sidelines it seems maybe some extra risk assessment and training could be in order.

K Bondi Beach 

I thoroughly enjoy going through all of the letters to the editor that are sent in each month by our diverse range of readers. Everyone is welcome to write in and share their thoughts on local issues. If you have something to say, please send your letters to: letters@the beast.com.au (please include your name and suburb). I try to publish as many of them as possible. Nothing too crazy please!

Coogee Beach

The sun above, a blinding crown, Its warmth deceives, no shadows frown. Inviting the brave, the sparkling sea, oh how I raced in, oh foolish me.

I waded in with heart of joy, No fear of waves, no threat to see Confidence swelled as high as tide, The water’s might, I dared defy.

But the sea is fierce, its face a snarl, Waves rose up in a wild cruel smile. A current pulled, unseen, unknown, A silent trap, a fate unsown.

I kicked, I fought, the shore in sight,

But the waves struck down with merciless might. Each gasp for air met choking foam, The ocean claimed my strength, alone.

One last surge, my fading plea.

A push to defy death’s eternity.

The shore drew close, I pleaded, Please. Then darkness took my hope to sea.

When I awoke, the sun still burned. The sea’s cruel laughter faintly churned. Upon the sand, I lay undone, The drowning lost, the shore had won.

Anthony Ransley Coogee

Local Artist... Georgia Carey from Bronte

Local artist Georgia Carey is the talent behind this month’s cover, a beautiful gouache painting of Bronte. Georgia shares her local favourites with The Beast

How long have you lived here? I’ve lived in Bronte for two and a half years. It is my first ‘home’ since moving to Australia from the US. I’ve been obsessed with Australia ever since I learned where it was on a map (impressive for an American, I know). I wanted to experience something other than my life in New York City and California and I knew I had to move to Australia at some point in my life, so I did!

What's your favourite beach? Bronte, of course.

What's your favourite eatery? I love The Coop for a morning coffee and treat, and I’m a shameless frequenter of The Char and Bangkok Bites on a Sunday night.

Best thing about the Eastern Suburbs? I think the best thing about the East is the raw beauty of the coastline. There has been many a day where I just stare out into the ocean for hours and there’s nothing like it.

Worst thing about the Eastern Suburbs? The commute into the city.

Where do you like to have a drink? Anywhere the sun is shining (my parents will hate this)!

How would you describe your art? I like to say it’s pretty doodle-y, I’m not really sure there is another way to describe it.

Where can people see your work? I have an Instagram that’s pretty raw (@gg.careyy) and a little website (ggcareyy.com). I also sell some prints at The Coop and at Bondi Markets.

Who are your artistic inspirations? That’d have to be my mum and sister. Mum was a graphic designer who brought us up doing crafts all the time, and my sister is just a fabulous illustrator/designer (she’ll be famous one day). And I really love @alimofun and @sheltonartco - they are epic.

What are you working on at the moment? I’m working on some fun freelance doodles while I work my 9-5. Hit me up if you have a project you think would be fun to work on together.

When did you discover you had a gift for your craft? I’m not sure I’d call it a ‘gift’, maybe more of a handy hobby. It’s all because of my mum, who always forced us to be bored when we were little and then would just ‘happen’ to have crafts lying around everywhere. So it started when I was young, but I finally decided to put more energy towards it when I moved to Australia.

Any words of wisdom for young aspiring artists? Just keep doing the darn thing. A little something is always better than nothing, and I bet we can all agree it feels pretty good once you’re in the groove of creating things. And if you’re too scared to put yourself out there yet - just create for

yourself! I kept my art Instagram hidden for four months before I told a soul, but I’m very happy I started somewhere.

Did you study art? I did indeed. I always chose art as my elective throughout high school and studied visual arts as my minor in university while I majored in economics. I also recently finished a graphic design program.

Any other local artists to look out for? I love Easty Beasty’s work, she’s so cool. And Nick Hollo - he does the most amazing pastel artworks, wears the coolest outfits and is just so kind!

What music are you into at the moment? I just went to a Spacey Jane concert and died. I’m also obsessed with Royel Otis (who I’ve actually done a painting of). Those two are big weight-pullers on my ‘making art’ playlist because they make me so excited, a bit emotional and a bit feral.

What do you get up to on the weekends? Beach, more beach, a cheeky bevvie, exploring a different beach, etc. I just invested in a snorkel too, so things are about to get a little crazy.

What do you do for work? I’m a graphic designer working in-house.

What's your favourite thing about work? I love the way we get to use our brains; how so much thought about psychological impact has to go into every single aspect of our designs, but from the outside you would have no idea. And I love that I get paid to be creative - I just think that’s the coolest thing in the world.

Do you have a favourite quote? “To define is to limit.”

- Oscar Wilde

Any other words of wisdom for readers of The Beast? Keep on Beasting!

Interview James Hutton

Photo Lauren Fish

Loving life Down Under.

First Nations Culture Celebrated at Councils' Australia Day Events

Words

The focus this year was on Indigenous culture and survival as our local councils celebrated Australia Day.

Waverley held a Dawn Reflection event on Bondi Beach. The sun rose to the strains of didgeridoo playing by artist and performer Walangari Karntawarra. Then another Indigenous artist, Aunty Lola Ryan, gave a welcoming speech and reflected on what Australia Day means to her.

“To me and my people, Australia Day is Survival Day,” said Ms Ryan. “It means we’re still here after 65,000 years.”

Next, there was a speech from Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh, followed by dancing from Wiradjuri group the Wagana and the Gamay Dancers plus a smoking ceremony.

Mayor Nemesh said, “Australia Day is about embracing our diversity, shared values and the strength we find in unity.”

No mention was made of the arrival of Captain Arthur Phillip and eleven ships carrying hundreds of convicts on January 26, 1788, reflecting Austral-

ia’s changing perception of its national day.

Randwick Council’s Australia Day event was called Culture on Country and ran from 4-7pm on the La Perouse headland. It featured performances by First Nations musicians and dancers including Uncle Vic Simms and the All-Star Band, Leroy Johnson and the Waterbag Band and Doonooch Dancers.

Addressing the crowd, Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker explained that Culture on Country was “an important platform for reconciliation and fosters a deeper understanding of First Nations culture through music, performance, and storytelling. It recognises the survival and resilience of one of the oldest continuous living cultures in the world.”

Randwick Council also held its Citizenship Ceremony and annual Community Service Awards, as well as the annual Australia Day Community Event at Kensington Park.

Meanwhile, over in Woollahra, not far from where Captain Phillip landed with the fleet

in Sydney Cove, there was no formal Australia Day event. However, a citizenship ceremony was held at Council Chambers two days later, on January 28. Woollahra’s apparent indifference could reflect mixed feelings by many in the community about celebrating a day that marked the onset of the British ‘invasion’ of the Australian continent.

Sounding the charge for the invasion was Captain James Cook’s voyage around Australia in 1770, when he claimed the continent for Britain. At school, many of us were told Captain Cook “discovered” Australia.

Flash forward to January 2025, and Captain Cook no longer enjoys the Christopher Columbus status that he once did. Two days before this year’s Australia Day, the statue of Cook at Randwick Junction had its nose and right hand broken off and was daubed with red paint. It’s not the first time it has been targeted by vandals.

With so many now apparently regarding Cook and Phillip as historical pariahs, it is perhaps surprising to note that support for celebrating Australia Day as our national day on January 26 has gone up sharply, at least according to a poll recently commissioned by the Sydney Morning Herald that showed support soaring from 47 to 61 per cent over the last two years (support was 79 per cent among those aged 55 and older). Interestingly, support among younger people for celebrating Australia Day on January 26 has dropped, with only 35 per cent of younger voters - those aged 18 to 34 - in favour. The research was conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald by Resolve Strategic.

Australia remains the only nation that places the beginning of its own colonisation as the central day of national celebration. Confusion remains about exactly what we are celebrating and the date continues to be mired in controversy.

Anthony Maguire Photo Annabel Osborne

A traditional smoking ceremony at Bondi Beach.

Clovelly Filmmaker Goes With the Flow in Latest Production

Words and Photo Anthony Maguire

Local writer-director Kate Vinen explores the healing power of the ocean in her new short film, Flow.

The film opens and closes with scenes shot at Malabar’s ocean pool as Ms Vinen takes viewers on a journey based on her personal experiences as a survivor of uterine cancer.

Ms Vinen, 44, received the cancer diagnosis ten years ago and underwent a hysterectomy. She then grappled with the realisation that she would never have children. Along the way, her relationship broke down.

After the surgery, she started researching and outlining a film treatment.

“One of the things I learned was just how many men leave partners who have cancer,” Ms Vinen told The Beast. Her experience is echoed in the film as the protagonist Harper, played by Lianne Mackassy, “realises she’s with someone who lacks the ability and presence to be truly intimate.” She then has to navigate

her journey of healing alonewell, not entirely alone, because Harper experiences a crucial turning point when she joins a support group.

Meanwhile, the ocean provides solace and comfort, reflecting Ms Vinen’s own experience as the Malabar ocean pool became a place of healing for her, helping her wash away the societal narratives that tie a woman’s value to motherhood.

A master’s graduate from the Australian Film Television and Radio School, she has written and directed eight short films. The latest before this one was Hopeful Romantic, which won five awards including Best Film at the 2022 Australian Women’s Film Festival. Hopeful Romantic is screening on ABC iview.

Flow is currently in post production and Ms Vinen is raising funds to complete the film. To support her endeavour, please go to her page on the Australian Cultural Fund website: https:// bit.ly/flowshortfilm.

Ocean Lovers Festival Returns to Bondi With

a Packed Schedule

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo Reece Cycle

Artist Carolyn Cardinet’s ‘trashion parade’, where models take to the catwalk wearing clothes made from beach trash, will be one of the many highlights of this year’s Ocean Lovers Festival at Bondi on the weekend of March 22-23.

The program will also feature a talk by shark expert Valerie Taylor on the latest grey nurse shark census. Learn how hundreds of citizen scientists have been collecting information on numbers of this protected species and hear what you can do to save this threatened species.

Or maybe you’d like to hear some scientific justification for all those visits you make to the beach - learn about the therapeutic benefits of the ocean in a session called Vitamin Sea.

Ocean Lovers will also feature films with ocean conservation themes, including Deep Rising, narrated by Jason Momoa. And there will be a free sunrise yoga session on the beach, as well as over 60 market stalls offering local cuisine, fashion and more.

For more information, please visit oceanloversfestival.com.

Appropriate beach attire.

Malabar Ocean Pool is a key setting in Kate’s film.

Global Table

22 March, 12–7pm

Oxford St Mall, Bondi Junction

Celebrate the best of the world’s food and music this Harmony Week at Global Table.

Join us in the heart of Bondi Junction for our mainstage lineup of incredible artists across the globe, as well as our famous community long table where you can feast on delicious food from an expanded array of gourmet food stalls.

Check out our family-friendly, multicultural dance demonstrations and classes, roving performances, activities and market stalls over extended hours!

Mouths of Illusion: Beyond The Machine

A multimedia experience unlike any other will be making its Sydney premiere in the Bondi Pavilion’s Yalagang Room from March 1-15. Mouths of Illusion: Beyond The Machine gathers original poetic texts, videos, sculptures and soundscapes “to critique our ‘relentless layering of arbitrary selves’ in a ‘distraction camp’ commodity culture

where alienation and desire-gratification entrench our language universe of identity labels.”

Compiled over nine years by Sydney artist Nick Frost and New Zealand artist Nick Kealey, the work speaks of ‘manufactured optimism’, “our relentless narratives of want in bright-brave utopias of ‘choice’ fanned by sensory-emotive-mental lures of instant commodification, where identities are fabricated in gratified automatising soundbitey therapy mantras out of big-brother faces in ever-subtler loops of self-hypnosis!”

Mouths of Illusion: Beyond The Machine seeks to uncover the borderless, timeless presence that is awareness alone - our true and lasting identity.

The materials of this multimedia installation have been forged out of profound integrity experiences for both artists. For Nick, this included a forty-year path of self-enquiry and near-death experiences, including one in 2000 due to paralysis. The complex personal and artistic journey of Nick Kealey, through fields of painting, sculpture, musical composition and video production, was sadly cut short with his untimely passing just one week before the New Zealand production in 2020.

Mouths of Illusion: Beyond The Machine will be open every day from 10am to 9pm in the Pavilion from March 1-15. The show is free and will be hosted each day by Nick Frost. For more information, please visit www.mouthsofillusion.com.

Words Ben Jones Photo Gabrielle Gazal

Coogee Author Relives

Boyhood

Horror in New Book

In his just-published book, Tarzan Loves Jane, Coogee author JJ Comerford draws from his horrific boyhood experience of being raped by a teacher.

He also draws closely from experiences in his adulthood, with the lead character in the book, John Wolf, returning to his old school years later with a loaded shotgun in a backpack. He wants to get even with the Catholic brother who’d raped him and put him on a path of drugs, depression and failed relationships. However, it turns out the evil Brother Andrews had passed away 18 months earlier.

Mr Comerford did actually go to his old school with a shotgun hoping to even the score with his rapist, only to be told he had already passed away. Then his life took an upturn as he found romance, which again is echoed in the book. John Wolf joins a dating site called Tarzan Loves Jane and meets the love of his life, Amber, at Coogee. They bond over drinks at the Coogee Bay Hotel and steaks at La Spiaggia.

“Eighty per cent of the book is true,” Mr Comerford told The Beast. “I do have a partner called Amber, but we met at Courtyard Café in Coogee.”

In Tarzan Loves Jane, his alter-ego, John, finds that despite the blossoming romance, he continues to be held back by his past. Release comes as he starts to write stories about his memories and feelings - which is how Mr Comerford began to escape his demons in real life.

To awake his inner writer, Mr Comerford did two courses at The Writers Studio at Bronte, which helped him develop the skills to start putting down his narrative as a book.

“It’s been really cathartic,” says the 59-year-old. “My life is now rich with love and laughter. I hardly ever think about being raped. But the darkness is still there. When it comes for me, I turn to the stories I’ve written, rereading them until the shadow recedes. In these moments, I reclaim my power. I am in control. I am finally the hero in my story.”

Promoting Water Safety for Neurodivergent Participants

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo David Schwimmer

Did you know that children on the autism spectrum are 160 times more likely to drown than their neurotypical peers?

This alarming statistic drives the mission of Autism Swim, a charity dedicated to providing inclusive, life-saving water safety education.

The group provides a program called Dippers, loosely based on the surf club Nippers concept, but structured to help participants reach individual goals.

“We provide individualised water safety education, tailored to participants’ unique needs,” says Autism Swim general manager Antoinette Spear. “You might get some people in a group working on basic water familiarisation, while others might be starting to ride waves.”

Open to participants aged five up to young adults, Autism Swim sessions are taking place this summer at Bondi, Bronte and Coogee. The program runs with the support of sponsors Community Bank Clovelly, Vital Dental, Retinue Accounting and Perouse Dental.

For more information, please visit autismswim.com.au.

Autism Swim session at Coogee.

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Dave Martin

Inspiring local author JJ Comerford with his book, Tarzan Loves Jane.

The latest from Randwick City Council about living in this great city

Randwick News

It’s been a beautiful and busy summer in Sydney, but as autumn approaches there’s still plenty happening in Randwick City.

It’s International Women’s Day on 8 March, a time to acknowledge the achievements of women around the world, and to reflect on the ongoing work that remains to achieve equality for all women.

Council’s annual Women’s Art Prize showcases the creativity of female artists in Randwick City. Check out the incredible entries at Council venues in March and early April.

This year we’re also presenting an exciting new live music event, with the support of the NSW Government, through Women NSW. Women’s Work features an incredible line-up of some of Sydney’s leading female vocalists and musicians. Check out our website for more information and book your spot today.

Council is also participating in Multicultural March this month with celebrations culminating around Harmony Week.

To mark the week, we’re programming a special line up of multicultural performers on the Harmony Stage at The Spot Festival on Sunday 23 March.

The Spot Festival has become one of the most popular outdoor events in Sydney’s east. Enjoy fresh, new live music across two stages, as well as food, cultural performance, market stalls, free kids’ activities, and more.

I look forward to seeing you there!

What’s On

MAROUBRA BEACH MARKETS

SATURDAY 1 MARCH

8am – 2pm

Broadarrow Reserve, Maroubra

WOMEN’S WORK, LIVE MUSIC EVENT

SATURDAY 8 MARCH

7 – 8.30pm

Randwick Town Hall, Randwick

WOMEN’S ART PRIZE

8 MARCH – 10 MARCH

(ALL ENTRIES)

Randwick Town Hall, Randwick

18 MARCH – 13 APRIL

(TOP 50 ENTRIES)

Lionel Bowen Library Gallery

THE SPOT FESTIVAL

SUNDAY 23 MARCH

The Spot, Randwick

Councillor Dylan

Parker Mayor of Randwick

Randwick Mayor

Dylan Parker

New Woollahra Mayor Plans to Tackle Family Violence

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Alex McClintock

Woollahra’s new mayor Sarah Swan wants to fight the scourge of family violence that hides behind the area’s well-heeled façade.

Mayor Swan says she’s had first-hand experience of family violence, having been exposed to it as a child. And she is principal of a legal practice, Swan Lawyers in Bellevue Hill, which mainly covers family law.

“Council doesn’t have the capacity to stop family violence, but we have a role to play as part of a bigger framework,”

Mayor Swan told The Beast.

Part of that role can be increasing support to local organisations like Bondi Cottage, the Lokahi Foundation and Jewish House, which “work day and night in this space.”

The new mayor explained that in Woollahra, financial control in relationships is of particular concern.

“It often stems from people living beyond their means.”

As well as tackling family violence, Mayor Swan wants

to streamline the development application process and sees Artificial Intelligence (AI) as having a role to play in this.

“AI can screen applications to check if there are missing documents. That will free up staff members to carry out other tasks.”

Meanwhile, at 33 years old, she feels a strong empathy for the area’s youth and wants to follow up on a motion last year from fellow Liberal councillor James Ardouin that a “youth council” be created.

“I’d like young people to have a stronger voice,” she said. “Much of the correspondence we receive comes from older residents.”

Those older residents are also very much on Mayor Swan’s radar.

“We do a lot of good work with Holdsworth and organisations like Woollahra Dementia Alliance. It’s crucial that we reach out to people who are socially isolated and have mobility challenges.”

Waverley Rugby Enters its 55th Year After Another Dominant Season

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Stu Wright

Waverley Rugby is celebrating its 55th season this year. Founded in 1971 by ex-students of Waverley College and friends from other local schools, the name ‘Waverley’ became synonymous with the diversity of the municipality as the club developed during the 1970s and ’80s.

In 2024, Waverley won the NSW Suburban Rugby Union First Division Club Championship, and the club’s second, third, fourth and fifth grade sides all won minor premierships. All five men’s opens teams reached the semi-finals, and sixth grade ran second in a firstpast-the-post competition.

Waverley’s first, third, fourth and fifth grade teams all played in grand finals, with third grade winning for the third year in a row, and undefeated premiers fourth grade going back-to-back with an insane display of running rugby.

‘ONE WAVE’ is Waverley’s motto, regardless of which grade you play and whether you are a player or a supporter.

Training is at Waverley Oval every Tuesday and Thursday from 6.30pm. If you are interested in having a run, please give Club Captain Callum Bidmead a call on 0413 362 144 or visit www.waverleyrugby.com.au.

NSW Suburban Rugby Union First Division Club Champions.

Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan wants Council to put more resources into combating family violence.

A torched car in Dover Heights.

Crime News

Antisemitic Attacks

The local community is reeling from a series of antisemitic attacks on buildings and cars in the Eastern Suburbs.

It started with a graffiti attack on buildings and the torching of a car in Wellington Street, Woollahra, on November 21. The pattern was repeated in Magney Street, Woollahra, on December 11, when another car was set alight and several homes daubed with hateful messages.

On January 5, antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on the side of a car in Queens Park. A few days later, five more cars and a house in Queens Park were targeted.

Then in the early hours of January 17 in Dover Heights, a number of cars were daubed with antisemitic graffiti and two were set alight. A nearby house was splashed with red paint, and it was later revealed that the property was owned by the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, until relatively recently.

Hot on the heels of the Dover Heights attack came the January 21 firebombing of a childcare centre in Maroubra. Hateful graffiti was sprayed on the side of the building. The centre is non-denominational, but located near the Maroubra Synagogue and Mount Sinai College.

In the early hours of January 30, Mount Sinai College in Maroubra and a neighbouring house were targeted in a graffiti attack. Around the same time, graffiti was sprayed on the side of a house at Eastlakes and on a wall at Eastgardens.

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker has called the attacks “abhorrent,” while Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh said “the escalation of antisemitism is fracturing our social cohesion and making our community feel less safe.”

Maroubra Stabbing

An 18-year-old man is alleged to have been stabbed in the back after an argument with another man at a licensed premises on Marine Parade, Maroubra Beach.

The victim was rushed to hospital and a crime scene established. Two weeks later police raided homes in Chifley and La Perouse and arrested two men. They were taken to Maroubra Police Station and charged with wounding a person with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Peeping Tom Preyed on Woman

Police arrested a man after he was caught peering at a 29-year-old woman getting changed in the bedroom of a Coogee apartment block.

The woman told her male flatmate she saw the man gazing at her between gaps in a fence outside their unit. The peeper made his exit before he could be confronted. But two days later, he was at it again.

This time, the flatmate chased him away and found him hiding in a nearby park. Police were called and officers arrested a 50-year-old man. Eduin Lopez was charged with peep and pry. Appearing in Waverley Court on January 22, he was let off lightly with a $150 fine.

Teenager Allegedly Spat at Cop

A teenage boy has been charged with several offences after allegedly spitting at the face of a police officer trying to arrest him.

The incident is said to have happened late at night in Arcadia Street, Coogee, after police intervened in a verbal confrontation between two groups.

One youth allegedly threatened officers and spat at the face of an officer who was arresting him. Then he kicked the door of a police vehicle so that it hit an officer. He

was charged with two counts of assaulting police and a number of other offences.

Man Stalked 12-year-olds - Police

A 62-year-old Queens Park man is alleged to have stalked and terrorised a group of 12-year-old girls.

Police say Mark Coker followed the four girls in Westfield Bondi Junction, prompting them to run away. Later that day, they encountered him again. It’s alleged that the girls were about to use a pedestrian crossing in North Bondi when he stopped his vehicle and blocked their way, yelling at them before driving off.

Three days later, he is said to have turned up when they were swimming at Bondi Beach. The girls say they saw him watching them from the shore, then he walked down to the water, plunged in and swam towards them. Again, the girls beat a hasty retreat.

The girls reported the incidents to police and Coker was arrested at his home and taken to Waverley Police Station, where he was charged with a number of offences including stalking.

Would-be Thieves Thwarted

An UberEats driver valiantly held onto his keys when he was set upon by a two youths who wanted to steal his delivery scooter. A witness to the attack at Dominos in Rose Bay called police and officers arrested the pair.

Beach Photographer Zoomed in on Women

Police allege a 63-year-old man took a series of invasive pics of scantily-clad women at Bronte Beach on Australia Day.

He wasn’t exactly low-profile, not even trying to blend in by wearing beach attire - instead of board shorts, he wore long, dark business trousers. Police were called. After being arrested and marched down the sand by officers, Kamal Arora was taken to Waverley Police Station where he was charged with recording intimate images without consent and offensive behaviour.

Words Jimmy Felon

Come along to your local Resident Precinct Meeting

Precincts are meetings of residents who get together regularly to discuss local matters or issues of concern in their neighbourhood. Waverley is split into 13 Precincts and meetings are open to any person living within the Precinct boundaries.

This March, the following meetings are on:

Mill Hill / Bondi Junction – Monday 3 March, 6.30 – 8.30pm South Bondi / Tamarama – Wednesday 5 March, 7 - 9pm Vaucluse / Diamond Bay – Wednesday 12 March, 7 - 9pm

Visit waverley.nsw.gov.au/precinct to find out location of the above meetings closer to the date.

Not sure which Precinct you belong to? Visit waverley.nsw.gov.au/findyourprecinct Waverley Council proudly supports resident run Precinct meetings.

The Unreliable Guide to...

Time

The Unreliable Guide just got back from two fabulous weeks in Sri Lanka. Two weeks at home is nothing, but this trip felt epic because time expanded with the things we saw, heard, smelled, ate and felt. Turns out, this experience is not unusual - time expands or contracts depending on how much we stimulate our brains and our senses. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks knew there was a difference between scientifically measured chronological time and our subjective experience of it. When Einstein declared “Time is an illusion” he probably wasn’t specifically thinking about the awesome power of the mini break, but new experiences do force us to focus on the now and make the most of the time we have. Do you feel like your life is running away from you like sand from a leaky egg timer? Never fear,

The Unreliable Guide is here with some tips and tricks to make time your friend, not your enemy.

Finding Time to Travel

I hate it when people tell me they don’t have time to travel because they’re too busy at work. Yes, money is useful for sure, and we all need some, but really, who looks back on their life and says, “Well that was a life well spent - look at that wedge of cash in the bank!”? Even if you need to accumulate some beans for your kids/ grandkids, when the grim reaper waves his scythe in your face you want to look back on a life filled with love and laughter, not spreadsheets and reports. If you’re spending all your precious time - and by that I mean your precious life - working in some godawful job to accumulate the cold hard, here’s a cold

hard fact for you: an average Jo, aged 45, spending two weeks per year on quality holiday time, has approximately 490 adventure days left before they either die or are too old to adventure. To put that in perspective, a gap year between school and uni is about 470 days, so if you took that opportunity for fun back then, that’s half your allocation gone right there. My advice? Seize the day before you have a seizure!

Time Out

But of course, you don’t need to jump on a plane and blast your senses with a dose of foreign excitement to make more of your time. Just being aware of each day as a treasure chest of moments that can be enjoyed gives us time to breathe. Reckon you’ve got no time to walk the beach, swim, play tennis, or whatever your happy vibe is? Try switching off the socials after work and go to bed early. Then you can get up in time to have some fun before the daily grind recommences. This is probably the best life hack I know, and I see hundreds of you doing this each morning. Good on you if you’re doing this already, and give it a go if you don’t. At work, try bringing a sanga to work to avoid lunchtime queues, and use the time to get out of the office. Find a scrap of nature and sit in it. Look at the sky. Watch a pigeon trying to shag another pigeon... Even if you only have ten minutes, you’ll feel so much better than if you’d stayed at work staring at a screen.

Finally, I’ll leave you with the words of the eminent Dr Seuss... “How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”

Words Nat Shepherd Photo Muttiah Muralitharan Island time.

Bronte House Open Days

Saturday 8 and Sunday 16 March

10am to 2pm

Explore two acres of beautiful garden

Frustratingly accurate.

Computer Says No

Words Jeremy Ireland Photo Davith Thomas

One of my all-time favourite comedy shows was Little Britain, particularly the skit where Matt Lucas plays the customer applying for a bank loan and David Walliams plays the bank manager, ‘Carol Beer’. If you’re not familiar with the skit, it starts with Carol asking, “How much do you want to borrow?”, and Lucas’ character replies “2,000 pounds.” After punching the amount into the computer keyboard, Carol quite blandly replies, “Computer says no.” It’s a brilliant piece of satire with the line now etched as a catchphrase in popular culture.

The skit’s original intention was to have a go at organisations and customer service platforms that took all common sense and human interaction out of the equation by relying on computers to make decisions and respond to customers’ requests. Fast forward 20-odd years and it feels like ‘computer says no’ is more relevant than ever.

Unfortunately, in an ageing population the computer is still saying ‘no’. For many elderly, understanding technology can be difficult, frustrating and quite isolating. Getting help can be hard, and even when help is available the reality is technology for many remains a bewildering experience. It might be fair to say that the world changes and it’s up to the individual to keep up, and in some sense that’s a just call, but the reality is what seems easy to one person isn’t necessarily easy for another. Anything is easy if you know what you’re doing, but if don’t know and you struggle to understand, what then?

Just a few years back my dear old neighbour (now sadly passed) was part of that large cohort

who struggled with technology. No internet, no smart phone, no email, no on demand TV... nothing at all digital in her house apart from a set top box for the television. She relied on cash, letters in the mail and a landline. In one sense it was quite liberating, but it was very evident to me that she was quickly being left behind. As much as I tried to help and even encourage the new technology, it was apparent that it was just beyond her, and in all honesty she couldn’t justify the cost.

In 2023, leading consumer advocacy group CHOICE pointed out that 80 per cent of people over 65 were finding it difficult to keep up with tech changes, and half of low-income families struggle to pay for home internet, with many such families relying on mobile only connectivity. In this sense it’s not just the elderly the computer is saying ‘no’ to.

It’s worth considering how it must feel when change is difficult to understand and adopt, especially in a fast-paced world where technology and computer-based platforms are the norm. Feelings of stress, anxiety and isolation are just a few, not to mention an overwhelming sense of being left behind. One quote sums it up pretty well, “Elderly people fall into two main categories: Those who caught the computer bus and manage to handle life’s digital highway, and others who have been left standing at the bus stop wondering what the hell just happened.”

Fast forward to 2025 and it’s harder than ever to actually talk to someone if you need tech support. My dear old Dad, still cognitively sharp as a tack and very tech savvy at 80, got stung when Telstra dumped 3G, despite having a 4G phone. He could text and use the apps but could not make or receive calls. Using someone else’s phone, he tried to call Telstra - big mistake.

We need to bear in mind that there are plenty of people who have to deal with computers saying ‘no’ constantly, and it can be a debilitating experience for them. Although the gap is shrinking as more elderly are getting on board with tech, it’s worth remembering that cognition ultimately declines as we age and learning new things gets harder. If you are someone who cringes every time you hear, “Just simply log on,” or, “Just go to our website for details,” or my favourite, being asked, “How can I help?” by a chatbot, remember, you are not alone. Next time the computer says ‘no’, try talking back to it just like Carol does - chances are it’s listening!

Jeremy Ireland is a local psychotherapist. Have you got a question? You can get in touch with Jeremy by calling 0400 420 042.

Local meeting places are drying up.

The Women’s Well

Words Dr Marjorie O’Neill - Member for Coogee Photo George Orwell

In many communities all over the world, throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East, wells serve as a critical gathering place for women. While wells are often a primary water source for drinking, cooking, cleaning and farming, they also hold significant cultural and social importance. Water is both a source and a symbol of life, associated with birth, fertility and purity.

A well is a traditional place where women meet regularly, building a sense of community and solidarity. It is often the central meeting point for the exchange of information and mutual support, a place for passing on knowledge, cultural preservation and creating social capital. In modern society, the wells have gone and social isolation is a growing problem.

Two years ago, a group of Eastern Suburbs women started the Eastern Suburbs Women’s

Well, a space where women could come together for free, meet new people and create community. Since its inception, the Women’s Well has hosted numerous free events. These have included International Women’s Day events with keynote speakers from across our community speaking about issues such as healthy aging (Professor Anne Ring), homelessness (Ren Fernando, co-founder of ReLove) and wildlife conversation (Camille Goldstone-Henry).

There have also been events focused on understanding youth mental health, supporting single mums, addressing domestic and family violence, and how women can overcome imposter syndrome. The Women’s Well has also hosted events alongside the Royal Hospital for Women to discuss and bring attention to women’s healthcare issues such as menopause and

perimenopause, along with women’s chronic pain conditions including endometriosis. The events are always free, held locally with local leaders highlighting and addressing issues women in our community face, while creating a safe space for women to come together and meet new people.

This year’s Women’s Well events will kick off with the annual free International Women’s Day breakfast and panel that will be held on March 7 at St Brigid’s Church in Coogee from 8.30am with another star-studded line-up of local women who are doing remarkable things. It is an all-ages event, so if you would like to bring your mothers, daughters, granddaughters or friends, they are more than welcome. For more information about the Women’s Well, please visit thewomenswell.org. I’ll see you there!

Smarter Economy Stronger Future

Small businesses are the cafés that make our morning coffee, the bookshops that bring our streets to life, the gyms, the architects, the salons and the family-run stores that hold our community together. And also business-to-business companies - in tech, clean energy and media - that are sometimes hidden, but always there across every aspect of our lives. But too often, these businesses are drowning in rules and paperwork that make life harder.

I’ve run a couple of businesses and know what that means. I’m determined to make Australia the best place in the world to start and grow a business.

Government must ensure that regulation isn’t holding businesses back. Investment rules should encourage capital to flow to dynamic new businesses, and good businesses should not go under because their debtors don’t pay them on time.

One thing I constantly hear from local businesses is that dealing with red tape has become a full-time job in itself. In fact 82 per cent of small businesses say they’re struggling with compliance. We need a smarter, simpler approach to regulation - one that supports businesses.

So, I’ve coordinated a push from eight Independent MPs to raise the ‘small business’ threshold from 15 to at least 25 employees. This would simplify regulation for over 46,000 businesses, allowing them to focus on their staff and customers instead of paperwork. Both the major parties claim to back small business - they should support this change.

When the government proposed new industrial relations laws, I stood up for small businesses by securing important protections from some of the worst impacts.

Regulation is just one part of the challenge. If we want small businesses to succeed, we also need to make it easier for them to raise capital.

I’ve spoken to so many innovative businesses in Wentworth - tech startups, green energy innovators and creative entrepreneurs - who all say their biggest roadblock isn’t a lack of ideas, but rather a lack of funding. Right now, per capita investment in Australian startups is only a third of what it is in the US and half of what it is in the UK. Lending to small businesses has barely moved in five years.

I met a local entrepreneur recently who had started an incredible sustainability-focused business, but she struggled for years to get funding. She told me she almost gave up, until she finally secured a small private investment. Now, her business is growing, creating jobs and making a real difference. But it really shouldn’t have been that hard. We need to make sure great ideas like hers don’t get stuck in the too-hard basket.

Superannuation should be a great source of this capital, but some of the reporting rules discourage investment in start-ups. We can do better by tweaking these rules without putting retirement savings at risk. We should also make government a better customer by awarding at least 30 per cent of contracts to small or young businesses - not just the usual big players.

When the government passed a tax hike on superannuation balances over $3 million, I fought very hard to stop it from taxing unrealised gains on super balances. Taxing paper profits discourages investment and threatens innovation and economic growth.

One of the biggest issues small businesses face is access to capital - not just in securing funding, but also in managing cash flow. A major frustration I hear from small businesses is that big companies take too long to pay their invoices, leaving them struggling with working capital. Despite guidelines suggesting a standard payment time of 30 days, average payment times for some of Australia’s largest businesses are double or even triple that, and occasionally even more.

This has real impacts on small businesses. ASIC data shows cashflow is the largest cause of insolvency, and small businesses I speak to are often left chasing debts from larger business who hold the market power.

I want to use the weight of government and our existing payment times reporting system to tip the balance. By making paying suppliers on time a condition of government procurement, as they have done in the UK, we can introduce real consequences for slow-payers beyond just ‘naming and shaming’.

Small businesses are at the heart of our economy and our community, but right now far too many are bogged down by red tape, limited investment and visa bottlenecks. It doesn’t have to be this way. With some smart, practical changes, we can give small businesses the freedom to grow, innovate and thrive - this is what I will continue to push for.

Words Allegra Spender - Member for Wentworth

Photo Elon Zuckerberg

Allegra hosting innovators and entrepreneurs in Bondi Junction in partnership with Bondi Innovation.

Your values. Your voice.

Comforting Eggplant Parmy

Words Dana Sims Instagram @stone_and_twine

Affectionately known as a ‘parmy’, this layered eggplant parmigiana is a classic, celebrating this humble yet diverse vegetable with Italian ingredients that work their magic every time.

The breadcrumb isn’t an absolute necessity, but it contributes to the comfort food status of the dish. A ‘from scratch’ sugo is generously poured between the layers, with the flavour developing as it bubbles away on the stove.

This parmy can feed the masses, perfect for a night in with a good movie and glass of well-chosen vino rosso.

Ingredients

Sugo

1kg roma or vine-ripened

tomatoes

1 small brown onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped

¾ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 tsp sea salt

¼ tsp cracked black pepper

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs tomato paste

Eggplant

2 egglplant, sliced 1cm thick lengthways

200gm panko breadcrumbs

1 cup plain flour

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup extra virgin olive oil for frying

300gm buffalo mozzarella, roughly torn

1 cup parmesan, grated

1½ cups fresh basil, leaves picked

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃.

2. To make the sugo, place the tomatoes in a large bowl. Pour boiling water from the kettle over the tomatoes until they are covered and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Drain the tomatoes and carefully peel the skin from each one (it should come off easily) and discard. Remove the end of the tomato and roughly dice the tomatoes.

3. In a large frypan, on a low heat, add the olive oil. Add in the onion and garlic and gently sautee until the onion is translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes, sea salt, pepper and basil. Stir occasionally for 5 minutes, then leave to cook down for 35 minutes on a low heat. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a further 5 minutes. Set aside.

4. To crumb the eggplant, place the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow bowls. Dip the eggplant slices one at a time into the flour, then beaten egg and then coat with the breadcrumbs. Shake off any excess and set aside.

5. Heat the olive oil in a large frypan over medium heat and fry each piece of eggplant in small batches until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towel and allow to cool.

6. To assemble the dish, place a cup of the sugo on the bottom of a medium sized baking dish. Place a layer of eggplant on top, scatter with basil leaves, torn buffalo mozzarella and grated parmesan. Continue to layer the ingredients in that order until all the eggplant is used.

7. Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 220℃ and remove the foil. Bake uncovered for another 10 minutes until the cheese has browned and is bubbling.

8. Leave the dish to rest for 20 minutes to further set and then serve with fresh basil on top.

Dana Sims is a Sydneybased food and prop stylist who has grown up in the Eastern Suburbs and loves to create delicious food. She is inspired by the fresh produce we have access to in Sydney. For ideas, recipes and styling inspiration, check out her Instagram, @stone_and_twine.

Invite the whole street around for this one.

• Join our community based club in the Eastern Suburbs

• Make new friends in a safe and friendly environment

• Player development for boys and girls from Under 6 through to Opens

• $130 registration (includes playing kit) RESPECT ∙ COURAGE ∙

The Beast Magazine wants your local photos...

Subject Heron Hangouts Location Coogee Photographer Luahn Rosenthal

Subject Phone Check Location Clovelly Photographer Janet Wood @photobyjanet

Subject Wonderful Wylie's Location Coogee Photographer Anne Ring

Subject Summer Days Location Coogee Photographer Brody Vancers

Subject Bogey Dips Location Bronte

Photographer Georgia Carey @gg.careyy

Subject Dinner Time Location Maroubra

Photographer Bec @notjustaprettyflower_

Subject Misty Mornings Location Clovelly

Photographer Avcek Lc

Golden

Location

Subject Happy New Year Location Coogee

Photographer Mary Lin

Subject

Hour

Bondi Photographer Mahsa Hashemi

Exotic species aplenty.

Island Hopping

Words Lewis Kennedy-Hunt Photos Charlotte Leedham

Last month I signed off from the shore of a tiny remote island 20 kilometres off the coast of central Queensland, where a lingering storm cell had left Charlotte and I stranded. With diminishing food and water provisions, we had no choice but to radio a local dive boat to collect us from our makeshift abode and return to the mainland to wait out the bad weather, reluctantly leaving the tinnie tied to a tree until we could return safely.

By this point, our appetite for adventure was almost entirely diminished. The whole saga had drained us mentally, physically and financially. Nevertheless, we decided to make the 6-hour journey down the coast to Fraser Island once we arrived back on the mainland with our boat. The familiar shores of Fraser and the comfort of the trusty Pajero were a welcome change as we settled into a few days of relaxation and exploration on the famous island. But, unbeknown to us, there was plenty more misadventure still to come.

It all started on the first morning when I rose at sunrise to check the beach for a potential fishing spot. As I came over the dunes a pack of dingoes ran at me with unusual vigour. I

tried standing my ground and shouting at them so they would back down, but they had me outnumbered and I had no choice but to succumb to being rounded up like a merino. One dog in particular was very aggressive, snarling at me with sharp teeth exposed. I tried to deter him by kicking sand, but that only made him more angry. Fearing being bitten, I had no choice but to wade out into the shark-infested waters (I later learned this is a tactic employed by dingoes to drown their prey before eating them on the shore). Thankfully they lost interest and I made my escape back to the campsite where Charlotte lay sleeping in the swag.

At one point I was met by a swarm of giant march flies that began biting me all over - a comical display of white man versus nature and a baptism of fire I wasn’t expecting on the island I thought I knew so well.

With three days to explore the island, we made a fast-tracked attempt at seeing all the sites, leaving us with little downtime. We ditched the boat in the dunes and navigated the treacherously soft cutting of Ngkala Rocks before zipping up to the island’s tip to watch the turtles. After a

quick stop at the historic Maheno wreck, we washed off with a drift down the breathtaking Eli Creek before re-hitching the boat and cruising the three hours over to the remote west side. With its numerous creek crossings and unpredictably soft sand, the west side tends to weed out a lot of the crowd, and we found a picturesque spot all to ourselves that became home for the next couple of nights.

The boat was in the water before we could even crack a beer, and we immediately set about exploring the island from the water. With the aid of a high tide, we pulled into Wathumba Creek and donned the diving gear in search of a feed. There was no shortage of fish life, and it was only a matter of selecting the preferred size and species. The short dive produced a generous meal of pan-sized whiting and flathead. The protected waters of the west side were a welcome change from the central Queensland slop, and we hooked across the flat water spotting huge shovelnose sharks, rays and turtles over the pristine white sand.

We stopped to throw some lures around and quickly landed a handful of exotic captures. Eventually we arrived back at camp with fresh fish, which we paired with a few ripe Bowen mangoes we had picked up from Yeppoon a few days earlier. With nowhere to be, we left the boat on anchor out the front of camp and soaked up the day from our hammocks under the shade of the she-oaks.

Island opulence.

The Beast Supercross

1. Who won the coveted album of the year at this year’s Grammy Awards?

2. Which cartoon character lives in a submerged pineapple under the sea?

3. What is the largest island in the world?

Trivial Trivia

4. In what galaxy is our solar system located?

5. What is the collective noun for a group of flamingos?

6. Which television show featured Targaryen & Stark?

7. Which rugby League team does Jarome Luai play for?

ACROSS

1. Former minister who took a government car for a 476km trip to a winery (2,6)

7. A condensed but memorable saying (5)

8. Storage man (6)

10. Plant cultivated for its fleshy, turnip-shaped edible stem (8)

11. Linens for the dining table (6)

13. Zulu King (5)

15. A legislator (7)

19. Bovidae mammary gland (5)

20. Repair or improve something (6)

21. Institute legal proceedings (3)

22. Sri Lankan port town that hosts cricket matches (5)

23. Sets up and maintains equipment for bands (6)

DOWN

1. Crime-riddled capital of South Africa (12)

2. Make a loud noise, usually to express pain (4)

3. In cricket, a ball bowled that bounces by the batsman’s feet (6)

4. Port and tourist town in southwestern Italy (6)

5. Floral emblem of NSW (7)

6. Chastity (8)

9. Achieve or complete (2)

12. Headache tablet (7)

14. Type of golf club (6)

16. Male falcon (5)

17. Fitness program that involves Latin-inspired dance (5)

18. Large hairy humanoid creature said to live in the Himalayas (4)

8. In which town is the Big Prawn located?

9. What type of food is Campanelle?

10. What animals were the Canary Islands named for?

Viv Hits a Six!

Words Lisa Anderson Photo Nick Kleindienst

POSITIONS VACANT

at Waverley Rugby

∙Males under 21 (as at January 1st, 2025) to play in our U21s team

∙Males over 21 to play in our six Opens teams

∙We are also hoping to re-establish our women’s team that we had from 2001-17

Pre-Season

Training

6.30pm Tuesdays and Thursdays at Waverley Oval

Follow Waverley Rugby on Facebook and Instagram or visit our website at www.waverleyrugby.com.au

Contact

Callum Bidmead Club Captain 0413 362 144

Russell Mohi Director of Rugby rmohi21@gmail.com

Dear Seattle TOY

Label Domestic La La

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

9387 1700 www.willsproperty.com.au

If melodic Aussie punk is your cup of tea, chances are you’ve already gorged yourself on TOY like a grandma with a plate of scones in the Blue Mountains. It’s amazing how much jam and flour a little old lady can consume, not to mention the cream. Speaking of, three albums in and getting stronger, Dear Seattle can now safely claim to have settled at the top of the genre. TOY is their crowning achievement and something to be celebrated. Songs like ‘Cut My Hair’ give us a glimpse into (hopefully) a stadium rock future, but for now, enjoy them as they are.

The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow

Label XO, Republic Records

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

Listening to a rich bloke whine about how hard it is to be him, for an hour and a half, isn’t really how I wanted to spend my Sunday afternoon, but I can’t complain - at least I’m not him. Beyond the apparently en vogue notion that it’s terrible being rich and famous, there is enough substance in the production and arrangement in Hurry Up Tomorrow to make for a worthwhile album. He is certainly a master of experimental pop who can command the ear. There is also more than a subtle hint that this will be his last album, which is probably for the best.

Mac Miller

Balloonerism

Label Warner Records Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

Post-humous albums can be complex things. Is it a cash grab or a tribute? Is the world richer for it, or should we respect that the artist didn’t consider it complete and let them take it to the grave? Should we stop overanalysing everything and just enjoy life? Perhaps the latter. As Miller says on Balloonerism, “Whatever happened to apple juice and cartwheels?” With that in mind, let’s just appreciate the ride and savour a little more Mac. My personal playlist is certainly richer for ‘5 Dollar Pony Rides’. What could have been, eh? F*** fentanyl and anyone that deals in it.

Star Signs

Visions Beardy from Hell

Taurus Apr 21-May 21

You’re not going to be able to afford the lifestyle you desire by competing on a level playing field in the non-criminal sector.

Gemini May 22-Jun 21

It’s worth putting in the hard yards now so you can sit back and relax later, when you’re about a hundred years old.

Cancer Jun 22-Jul 22

Keep an eye on your local café’s prices. Anything over $5 for a coffee is criminal, especially when they just shrank the cups.

Leo Jul 23-Aug 22

Don’t get jealous when the hottie at your local café is flirty with other customers who actually have the chance of a hook-up.

Virgo Aug 23-Sep 23

Despite all the silly theories, hedonistic prioritisation of pleasure over other life values is not independent of well-being.

Libra Sep 24-Oct 23

You’ll know you’re really lonely when you conjure up an injury just so you can go and hang out with the physio on a Friday arvo.

Scorpio Oct 24-Nov 22

The smaller your circle of friends, the worse they will treat you, because they know you don’t have any other options.

Sagittarius Nov 23-Dec 21

Remember to thoroughly clean your fingernails when you’ve had them exploring crevices they shouldn’t really be in.

Capricorn Dec 22-Jan 20

Next time you have friends over for dinner, throw up the idea of a partner swap after a few wines and see where it leads.

Aquarius Jan 21-Feb 19

Stop trying to organise other people’s lives and just focus on your own affairs for a while, even if it bores you half to death.

Trivial Trivia Solutions

incredible showroom, made-to-order headboards & beds