The Beast's Monthly Mailbag

Words The Informed People of the Eastern Beaches

Coogee Beer Prices

Hello - I am writing to you to feature in your letters segment in The Beast. My topic of discussion is a recent robbery that took place at the Coogee Palace, or as some may call it, the Coogee Pavilion (aka Justin Hemmes’ empire).

I was down for a quiet Sunday dinner and a few drinks with my partner. I went to order a modest schooner of Stone & Wood and an Aperol Spritz but, before I could even touch my luscious lips onto said drinks, was robbed of the outrageous amount of $37 for the two beverages! $37 bloody dollars!! For two drinks!!!

Shocked by this, I went and downed said drinks in record time, then went back to order two more, before promptly leaving the venue for the more affordable Coogee Legion Club, which was offering $17 for a schooner and an Aperol - less than half the price! Big props to the Coogee Legion Club.

Snag (enraged local)

Coogee

Response to Beach Wagon Bruce

It must be devastating for you when you go to the beach trying to walk and negotiating the wheel ruts of these wagons destroying the natural beauty of the beach, Bruce (Beach Wagons at Congwong are CongWrong, Letters, The Beast, February 2023).

The last time I looked I saw four to eight people weighing approximately 60-90 kilos jumping over half a metre into the air hitting a ball over a net landing in the same area for hours on end - gee, that never disturbed the sand surface.

I even saw children building sand castles and digging holes in the sand. We must stop these children, volleyball players and wagon pullers from having fun, just in case they may disturb the sand surface! Get a life, Bruce.

David Coogee

Plain Package Pokies

Here’s a thought... plain packaging worked in lowering cigarette consumption, why not plain package pokies? Silence the jingles, turn off the fairy lights, make them as boring as possible. Just as plain packaging helped make smoking unglamorous, it might make pokies uninteresting and less addictive, and affects no one’s rights.

John Acton Bronte

The Pointy End of the Patriarchy

The deal had been done, the DA approved to knock down 600 trees on the Royal Sydney Golf Course for an ‘International Golf Course’ and all that was left was an Extraordinary Meeting to approve the funds. I knew it was going to be approved but we couldn’t allow the animals to be made homeless without a fight, so a handful of us fronted up to the International Convention Centre at Darling Harbour with a pile of leaflets mentioning things like canopy, critters, climate change - you know the deal.

I want to attempt to describe the barrage of nastiness we were met with by both the club members and the ICC security who clearly had been primed (but that’s another story). You could easily spot the members as they walked along the long corridor mixed in with random punters. They were mostly male, 100 per cent caucasian, all in the 50-70 year age bracket, almost all wearing a navy blazer, beige trousers, pale blue business shirt, grey hair, plain shoes and devoid of a sense of humour.

Mostly they reacted with annoyance at my polite attempts that they consider another viewpoint by hurling the flyer away, muttering in disgust, peeved that anyone would dare to question their right to do as they please on the land they consider their own. They clearly have no understanding of the concept of ‘custodians of the land’ or freedom of speech for that matter.

I am not normally easily intimidated, but I have never been so aware of white male privilege (the entry fee into this exclusive club is about as much as most people would earn in a year). I have worked on stalls on election days for decades and never have I encountered such vehement rudeness and aggression.

So, I’m sorry to say the animals, insects, reptiles and birds will all be homeless, including many endangered ones. There will be a ton of Roundup as part of the plan, which will wash into the sea and damage the sea grass and endangered seahorses, and the Eastern Suburbs - and indeed Sydney - will lose those 600 beautiful majestic trees. Nothing can replace a mature tree. This is an unimaginable and tragic loss.

Nicolette Boaz Bondi

Disability Ignorance

Just wanted to have a rant on behalf of my brave daughter who worked up the courage to go for a swim at Ross Jones pool at the south end of Coogee on Sunday morning. Four months ago she suffered from a bleed on her brain causing a stroke which has left her with some deficits which don’t include intellectual disability. Unfortunately, as she was navigating the stairs after her first swim since the incident, a (probably well-meaning) passerby drew even more attention to her by saying in a loud voice to people walking down the stairs, “move... she is very disabled.” Can people say nothing or just be kind in future, please?

Anonymous Randwick

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The Kindness of Others

Hi The Beast - My topic is the kindness of others, and after my experience last Wednesday I thought this might just be a good news story in this busy world that we live in.

I was walking home from work last Wednesday, February 1, which is something I do not often do, as I usually drive. My car was getting new tyres that day so my feet were my ride home.

On the way, unfortunately my head connected with a tree branch just along from South Coogee Cemetery, which actually did hurt a bit and managed to produce quite a lot of my O-positive for a period of several minutes. However, I was so very lucky that on this day a lovely woman called Emilia was walking towards me when this happened and she so kindly stopped to help me and waited with me while I contacted my husband to come and pick me up.

Although I thanked her at the time, I just want to again thank you Emilia and acknowledge your kindness and for stopping to help me, and just want you to know I was fine once I got home and cleaned up, and the cut thankfully did not require stitching. When I think back, it could have been so much worse and I am just so grateful you stopped to help me. So, if you or anyone you know is reading this, I just want to again thank you and just remind us all that there are always those moments in our lives when we think we are okay and ‘we’ve got this’ but just maybe we haven’t. So, thank you Emilia for being there for me just in that moment! My best wishes to you always.

Nicole Maroubra

My Humble Opinion

G’day Beast team - Just a quick note to say ‘love your work’ as always. Good on you for providing equal air time in the previous month’s publication to the rival candidates for the Coogee state electorate. With councils, federal and now state, we have had a lot of bloody elections in the last 18 months. But that’s democracy, hey.

Just sharing my view about the state election and why your vote and my vote matters this time round. I’ve been lucky enough to talk to, and get help from, the local MP Marjorie over recent times. I’ll use the word ‘lucky’ again - we are lucky to have such a hard working local MP. A local rep like Marjorie only comes along once every so often.

What I think the difference is that Marjorie provides compared to other candidates and politicians, three words: genuine, caring and passionate! A lot of the pollies come and go, and many of them - most perhaps - just fit the cookie cutter career pollie mode. They want to be a pollie because they want to get the cushy seat in parliament and strut their stuff before their party powerbrokers and retire with the plum diplomatic job. No disrespect to other candidates running in this election, but notable ones fit that mold. That’s why we only hear from them a few weeks before polling day.

Not Marj, she’s a true local, not a blow-in. She’s shown through her efforts in the most challenging times that she’s more than up to the job. She’s a fighter who loves the East and our community. And she is passionate! I love the fact this isn’t a ‘job’ for Marj, it’s a vocation. Marj for Coogee again!

Kate McNamara Bondi Junction

A New Liberal Candidate

Dear James - I came home today to find my corner plastered with billboards promoting the new Liberal candidate for the seat of Coogee. A speech pathologist up against a Doctor of Economics; a seemingly unknown up against a sitting member who is completely immersed in and supportive of every single organisation, school, church, mosque, synagogue, hospital, Tafe, university, sporting organisation and individual within our electorate; a mother of three up against a single woman who we selfishly acknowledge gives us her time and energy 24/7; to a relatively unknown up against a sitting member whose Clovelly family members have devoted themselves to activism within our community for decades and continue to do so.

Our sitting member, Dr. Marjorie O’Neill, is working tirelessly to have our once great public transport system reinstated since it was so brazenly axed by our State Liberal Government, despite the many protests organised by our member, and the various Liberal Premiers and Ministers for Transport ignoring her invitations to attend. Yet when I read what this Liberal candidate stands for, unbelievably it’s “better public transport”. Something doesn’t add up!

The Liberals destroyed it and Marjorie has never stopped taking steps to restore it! Talk about hypocrisy! In the words of past Liberal Premier Nick Greiner, “Never let anyone interfere with the public transport in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney as it can’t be bettered.” Yet it is his very same Liberal Party that axed it!

Pancho Coogee

Keep Marj in Charge

Hey guys - Thanks for your witty little mag, so good to see it continuing on for so many years, even through the hard times. Always good for a laugh! Speaking of a laugh, I read the article from Kylie the local Liberal last time round (Let’s Keep Coogee Moving Forward, Kylie’s Campaign, The Beast, March 2023).

Now, I’m not one to be unkind to a fellow citizen, so won’t be unkind here, but I have to laugh, because ‘good luck Kylie’ in running in Coogee for the Libs. This area is characterised by our easy-going nature, our relaxed and tolerant social views, our care for the environment and our valuing of diversity. No matter what Kylie’s personal views are on anything, these are not the views and attitudes shared by the current version of the ‘Liberal’ party.

Ultimately, ‘Team Liberal’held to ransom by the Nationals and far right religious conservatives in their own ranks - doesn’t reflect the values nor care about the issues we care about here in Coogee.

Kylie, unfortunately for her, represents the party that denies climate change; the party that does not value our LGBTIQA+ members of the community; the party that is currently trying to sabotage an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament; the party that only gives out emergency funding to disaster victims if there’s a vote in it for them; the party that thinks it’s okay in NSW to send the recently retired Nationals leader off on a $500,000 per year job for life in New York City!

Well, it’s looking like the people of NSW have had enough of this mob and will follow the lead of the folks here in Coogee who already threw them out from this area four years ago. We’re a smart mob out here in the East, ahead of the game. NSW: take Coogee’s lead! Here in Coogee it’s got to be Marjorie.

Harry, UNSW resident student

Young People: Make Your Voices Heard

Does it seem at odds with progress that the power brokers in government are the ones that are closer to retirement age and therefore are reaping the benefits of investment properties, super tax breaks, etc. at the expense of the younger generation?

Why are younger people not making a stand against this intergenerational wealth divide? It seems like people are shamed into buying properties at exorbitant prices (by comparative world standards) and may now be trapped in negative equity as a result of just trying to buy their first home in desperate circumstances such as the lure of low 2020/21 interest rates, that now they are suffering as a result of wildly high prices that the older generation have no incentive to change?

Make a change, young people, your voices should be heard.

KK Bondi Beach

Careful Corflutes

I notice that Kellie Sloane, the new Liberal candidate for Vaucluse, hoping to replace the retiring member Gabrielle Upton is now visable in Bondi on a number of poles. It is noticeable, however the posters primarily only state Kellie’s name and that of Vaucluse.

The Liberal Party’s name is almost unreadable, it’s in such small print. This would suggest to me that Kellie is not as proud of her brand as perhaps she should be. Maybe it’s her training as a journalist reading the views of the electorate.

David Boyd

Bondi Beach

Captain Cook Statue Posters

It is one thing for political candidates to place posters on poles, fences and so on - we can live with that. It is another thing to deface public monuments with posters, as has happened with the Liberal posters for their Coogee candidate adorning the Captain Cook statue at Randwick.

This is at a time when some advocate that statues of historical figures, such as Cook, be removed because of their negative connotations. On the other hand, authorities attempt to balance that view against the idea that they are historic and heritage items that should be left as reminders of our past.

If they are used as billboards, then how can one complain, say, when someone else paints graffiti on them?

Paul Convy Coogee

Getting the Job Done

Hi Beast team - For four years now I’ve always enjoyed picking up The Beast each month and reading the interesting views and latest news, and I like the fact I get a monthly insight from our local member Marjorie O’Neill.

One of the best things Marjorie did for our community was keep the information flow going during COVID, a major disruption to the last four years of my family’s life. I was interested in opening the mag for last month’s edition to see an article by the state Liberal challenger for the local area, Kylie Von Muenster.

I’m sure Kylie’s a nice person, and good on her for having a go, but I’m a bit miffed we haven’t heard anything from her for years (or ever really) about anything going on in the Eastern Suburbs until four weeks before polling day. I note Kylie reckons she has a “strong voice” as it says so on all her brochures - funny that, seems like a copy of another candidate’s campaign slogan.

I’m not really sure what Kylie stands for, and with no track record out campaigning for community causes I have a bit of doubt about how effective she can be. Especially in the “pale, male and stale” boys club of the right wing of the Liberals.

Our current MP Marjorie knows the ropes in Macquarie Street, has stood up for us with a genuine strong voice and made some big gains for the area in health services and in fighting cuts to our bus services.

From a local perspective as a swinging voter, and with COVID in the rear view mirror, I feel the need for a forward-looking candidate with a progressive philosophy. I’m very happy with the job Marjorie is doing for us in the Eastern Suburbs and the seat of Coogee and I’ll be sticking with Marj for sure this time round.

At least we know Marj will write a column in The Beast every month, and not just one token piece before an election!

Sam

Clovelly Doing the Hard Work

Dear Sir - I am not normally one to write letters to the editor of news publications, however as a lifelong resident of Randwick and a current volunteer at the Children’s Hospital, I would like to venture my opinion about the upcoming election with regard to the electorate of Coogee here in the middle of The Beast’s circulation area.

While I’m very pleased to see two female candidates running for Labor and the Liberals - and I wish both ladies well - I would like to share some experiences of my encounters with our current MP Dr Marjorie O’Neill, before and during COVID.

Before the pandemic I had been involved in the local campaign to save the children’s cardiac services at the hospital, which the State Liberal Government has repeatedly attempted to cut. During a local community campaign led by clinicians, nurses and grassroots citizens, Marjorie was always there fighting side by side with the campaign and providing a very effective voice for us all in Parliament to have the cuts overturned - or at least delayed until the Liberals try again. In my opinion, having Marjorie in State Parliament is our best hope of always standing up and rallying people against such unethical cuts. I am simply not convinced that, as a Liberal backbencher subject to the control of the old boys club of Liberal powerbrokers, Kylie would be anywhere near as effective - she would be told to “keep quiet and toe the party line”.

My further experience with Marjorie was during COVID when we were all locked down, cut off from our communities, unable to see our sick or elderly residents and getting conflicting news reports about the pandemic that led to confusion and uncertainty. Marjorie and the team in her office worked tirelessly to get information out to the community, including those in the health care community itself, to ensure everyone knew the state of play and what we had to do to keep everyone safe.

I can attest to the fact that, at her own personal risk and while staying within the ever-changing rules, Marjorie would be out there as long as permitted, masked up, meeting people, ensuring as best she could that people were not totally socially isolated. Marjorie and her team arranged grocery deliveries to the elderly, ensured the frail could access medical services and care, supported outreach services for youth and mental health, and many other examples. When an elderly family friend of mine passed during COVID, Marjorie was personally on the phone to the family and before they passed did all that she could to make their last days comfortable.

Marjorie has been a very hard working MP who has shown genuine care and attention for our local community. I have just listed some examples in health care and I know those working or volunteering in other areas such as education, local sporting groups and the environment will have similar examples.

I wish all candidates well but I am very proud to have Marjorie as our local MP and I hope that we have her as our local representative into the future.

Mrs Elsa Rostram Randwick

Politics

I used to love The Beast when it was a political free zone and I would prefer to leave it there. I have yet to read a view of readers from the centre and with an impending state election would urge readers to question some of the sweeping assertions made by our incumbent member.

Her main complaints about the current Government are: the health service has been starved of funds; there is a massive shortage of nurses because they are underpaid; the bus service is totally inadequate; the ocean is polluted.

I would suggest that any Randwick resident can see the massive investment taking place at Prince of Wales Hospital and we will have the foremost health facilities in the state on our door step. I think the shortage of nurses is more about availability than pay, but remember the opposition mantra is all about pay so they do not want to spoil a story.

I do not have a car and only use public transport (I have never seen Marjorie on a bus) and can assure you that services have not deteriorated in the last few years, in fact they have improved, and the light rail is excellent.

Finally, I was assured by Marjorie at the last election that she would personally do something about the pollution of the ocean. I am still waiting to see what.

The State of NSW has enormous infrastructure projects under construction and anyone who would prefer to live elsewhere might like to explain why.

David Harrison Coogee

Dom and the NSW Liberals I just wanted to mention some broken promises of Dominic Perrottet and the NSW Liberals which I think highlight why they can’t be trusted. The major one was ‘no more privatisations’, made by Gladys prior to the 2019 election. As we know, Gladys got elected and straight away her treasurer Dominic went to work on drafting a plan to sell off the pine division of NSW State Forests - a crucial state asset that is recreationally used by the public, and also a crucial refuge for the homeless as camping is free and unlimited. I really doubt the new owners would be happy that the public can camp or ride motorbikes throughout the plantations.

To not gain a mandate from the public for such a sell-off I think is criminal, especially when a promise was made not to privatise any more public assets. The one good thing that came out of the bushfires was that the sale had to be stopped.

Other public services that were handed over to corporate interests despite the promise was the government’s share in WestConnex (monopolising the toll network) and many bus routes across Sydney. Yes, more broken promises were made around the road map to COVID recovery. Three times vaccinated regional travel was denied despite reaching the promised vaccination rates. Dominic basically gave in to the nervous Nationals for the exact same reason he was criticising the Queensland Premier for.

Dom also claimed he was being “cautious” but in the same breath he was trying to abolish international quarantine. So, international travellers could come to Sydney, no dramas, but we couldn’t travel outside of the Sydney Basin. There was a time where the vaccinated were allowed to travel to Victoria but you weren’t allowed to drive to the Blue Mountains.

I get that no government response was ever going to be perfect in a pandemic, but these were obvious inconsistencies coupled with consistent broken promises.

Anthony Bosch Bondi

In Response to Johnny Marauder

Dear Beast - I wasn’t sure how to take Johnny Marauder’s letter with regard to banning beach cabanas on Waverley Beaches (Ban Beach Shade, Now! Letters, The Beast, March 2023). Was he being facetious, or is he truly of this opinion?

He quite heartlessly asked in his letter, “How many people die from foot and shin Melanoma anyhow?” which clearly shows he, like most Australians, have no concept of the dangers of the sun and how melanoma progresses.

It doesn’t matter where a Melanoma starts - shin, foot or back, as in my case - it can spread to other parts of the body and kill you. In my case it spread right throughout my bones and I was diagnosed as Stage IV with a prognosis of 12-24 months. Thankfully, I was one of the 50 per cent of advanced melanoma patients who responded to immunotherapy treatment and I am now four years clear. I was lucky.

Here are the facts: more people die from Melanoma than die on our roads; every six hours someone dies from melanoma; melanoma is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia (excluding other skin cancers); melanoma is the most common cancer affecting 20 to 39-yearolds; Australia has the highest incidence rate of melanoma in the world, circa 8.7 times the global average.

Skin cancer and melanoma (the deadliest form) is a huge problem in Australia. The fact that there has been so much complaint about the new trend of beach cabanas highlights how entrenched being a ‘bronzed Aussie’ is in our culture. We should be applauding the fact that people are protecting themselves from the sun.

I ask this of Johnny Marauder: are you the type of person who would encourage a friend not to take safety precautions when driving in a car, like wearing a seatbelt or travelling at a safe speed? If not, then don’t discourage people from taking safety precautions when in the sun, as they have more chance of dying from melanoma than they do from dying in a car accident.

Anne Gately Coogee

Entitled Dog Owners of Waverley

Hi - Not sure if this hot topic has been covered. I have worked in the Randwick area in pharmacy for over four years and recently started working in another pharmacy in Waverley. I am shocked how, within a few blocks of my previous job to my current job, dog owners’ attitudes are - totally entitled!

Last week I had a customer walk straight into the pharmacy with his border collie who instantly jumped up and placed its paws on the counter. The owner didn’t even flinch. I interrupted my colleague and asked him could he please tie his dog up outside? Well, he took offence and turned on his heel and stormed off, stating that he was taking his business elsewhere.

We are a medical setting. We have customers with mental health issues, serious medical issues, the elderly and little children, and this dog owner gets upset at my request. Our own pharmacist has a fear of dogs. Up and down the street I am seeing this happening. Dogs in Vinnies charity store, dogs in the Waverley QE Supermarket... I had a dog jump on my leg at Woolworths at the checkout the other day while I was being served. The owner continued talking on the phone and didn’t bat an eyelid. But the worst part of this saga is ‘Violet’, a long-time customer unbeknownst to me whose dog did its business at the counter, and she walked out and left it on the floor in all its stinking glory. I chased her up the street and her response was, “I don’t have a bag!” Well, this must just be an Eastern Surburbs thing, so entitled.

Amanda Pickstone Clovelly ¢

Please send your feedback to letters@thebeast.com.au and include your name and suburb. We try and publish as many as possible, but nothing too crazy please.