The Beast - August 2024

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Romancing the Stone.

Whether an inner-city semi or a harbourside pad, Ablestone® Designer Concrete will stimulate your senses in a way few other materials can. Silky to the touch, combined with serene elegance and cool atmospherics.

That is just the beginning, the possibilities are endless. Consider ‘The Coast’ mix (featured) or create a mix to suit your unique taste.

Fill Your Boots!

Words James Hutton - Publisher

Welcome to the August 2024 edition of The Beast, the monthly magazine for Sydney’s well-irrigated beaches of the east. Yes, our wet winter has continued - well, at least for the tiny minority of us who aren’t currently gallivanting around Europe or Bali. Honestly, social media makes everyone else’s lives look so amazing.

A big thanks to Randwick artist Angélique Moseley for this month’s beautiful cover illustration of a mermaid with her takeaway coffee at Bondi. The piece is titled ‘Keep Cup’, so you’ll be relieved to know that this little mermaid is doing her best to look after the environment. You can see more of Angélique’s work at her website, coarsecurve.squarespace.com, or @coarsecurve on the Cara app.

There’s a lot on in August. Woollahra Gallery will be hosting local artist Robert Eadie’s first major exhibition in yonks. Robert has created an extensive and compelling body of work over a 60-year career, and Strange Light will be the first significant showcase of his work in over a decade. Woollahra Gallery is open from Wednesday to Sunday at 548 New South Head Road, and Strange Light will run from August 14 to September 1 with free admission.

Waverley Council is putting on a competition to celebrate the opening of the newly renovated Boot Factory in Bondi Junction. To enter, check out page 9 of this edition of The Beast (just to the right), and fill your boots with everything that makes Waverley such an epic place to live for your chance to win a $1,000 Westfield voucher. There’s a QR code if you’d like to find out more. Oh, and feel free to include The Beast in your entry!

Journey into the Aboriginal Past of Bondi & Sydney Harbour

11 July

Join Matt Poll, Manager Indigenous Programs at the Australian National Maritime Museum, on a fascinating journey into Sydney’s aboriginal past.

That’s enough from me, other than a friendly reminder for Randwick residents to avoid putting soft plastics in your FOGO or yellow bin; you should chuck them in the red bin or (even better) recycle them at the Randwick Recycling Centre. And if you contact the call centre, don’t be a dickhead to the staff.

As Jeff Fenech says, “I love yous all!”

Cheers, James

The Beast

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The Whale Song Movie

Screening and Q&A panel

28 July

Enjoy the fascinating parallel between the musical talents of worldrenowned DJ Sam Feldt and the melodious Humpack Whale.

The Beast's Monthly Mailbag

Words The Lovely People of the Eastern Beaches

The Bondi Monopoly Board Bondi residents are being pushed out of Bondi. Before you discount this as a rant about the rental crisis, I assure you this goes deeper.

The facts: Ben and Sue’s (fake names) apartment block has been bought by a tech billionaire, and as such they are likely to be evicted. Ben and Sue have lived in the same Bondi flat on Hastings Parade for over 41 years and can no longer afford to live in the area if evicted. They are in their 80s and love their home. They are treasures to the community, everyone knows them and they know everyone. The billionaire lives next door in one of the mansions he owns opposite (I’m not sure which one).

A DA response was submitted opposing the development last week, with more than a handful of residents signing a petition to stop the construction. It’s a small effort by the local residents to do something, but it’s unlikely to succeed unless this gets more attention, hence my writing in.

So, what’s the issue? The billionaire has a legal right to purchase the block, in fact he can purchase as many blocks as he likes in the street. He’s already got two, so why not complete the monopoly set before he passes GO?

No offence to him - he seems like a nice family man, he pays his taxes and deserves to reap the rewards of his entrepreneurship (I even benefited from his share price back in the tech boom days) - but please stop buying up the street. I’m sure there are other

ways you can spend your money (I hear crypto is having a run).

Should this apartment go the way of many others I’ve seen in Bondi recently, the Bondi we know won’t be Bondi anymore, it will be an extension of Bellevue Hill, with about the same level of community appeal and the vibrancy to match.

A walk around the current streetscape of Bondi reveals a similar story. There are about five blocks this has happened to. The skeleton of the building remains but with 20 less people living in it.

The names of owners ring like a roll call of Australia’s rich list. No fault to them, but they’re not doing the ocean swims every day or getting their morning coffee at Bru. They jet around the world and leave the houses empty. Their apartments aren’t open to tourists in summer and hosting new arrivals eager to join in our beach lifestyle. They’re ghostly shells, gated and removed.

This trend displaces low to middle-income earners and decreases population density and therefore less customers for local Bondi cafes, shops and services.

Change is inevitable. The march of property gentrification is written into Australian economic theory, however this current trend goes against the recent push of the NSW State Government to open up more housing.

The DA for the development rests on the point that Bondi needs more sole-family dwelling

options - but I argue it’s not in the public interest. If you want rich suburbia and car parks for your widdle-ladder 4WDs, go up the Hill.

Should the DA be approved, Ben and Sue, and other residents of Hastings, will be replaced by a single rich family (who I bet are going to be lovely neighbours). However, if each of these developments occur, one by one, the Bondi won’t be a Bondi but rather a soulless playground for the rich.

NB: As you’re reading this you might think I’m a grumpy old man, but I’m not. I’m a grumpy 34-year-old who’s unafraid of change but fiercely protective of my community and trying to look after the home of Ben and Sue and those like them.

Yours Sincerely, Edward Dostine - not a bad guy, but below average foil-boarder Clovelly

Trash Talk: The Nightmare On Mount Street

Dear James - I’m writing to express my complete exhaustion in dealing with Randwick Council regarding the ongoing garbage collection issue on Mount Street, at the corner of Clovelly Road.

Despite years of diligent outreach from residents and myself, the council has shown a shocking indifference to our concerns about the relentless garbage collection, disrupting our mornings as early as 3am and now, unbelievably, seven days a week!

Randwick Council has demonstrated a disturbing lack of care and oversight by irresponsibly delegating the organisation of bin collection to shop owners. Its mismanagement extends to its own trucks, as evidenced by one blissfully arriving at 6.30am last Sunday - so much for catching a well-deserved sleep-in.

How can we be expected to go to work and pay taxes five days a week when we can’t even get the necessary sleep due to garbage collection every single morning, seven days a week?

This relentless disturbance is not only an inconvenience but also poses serious health risks due to chronic sleep deprivation. It’s become a recurring nightmare!

Philippa Clovelly

Council Chicanery

In order to be accurate in my commentary on the extravagant Council plans for a replacement Bronte Surf Club building, I requested of Council a copy of the Heads of Agreement it had agreed with the club.

I received a partial copy along with the decision;

To refuse to provide access to some of the information (the cost of constructing the new facility and the funding arrangements) because there is an overriding public interest against disclosure, at this point in time.

This despite some of the withheld information being readily available on the Council website.

I appealed to the Information Commissioner who ruled that Council decision is not justified and commented that;

Further, after reviewing the information in issue in conjunction with the publicly available information contained in media articles, the Agency’s website, and media releases from the both the Agency and the NSW Government, I am of the view that the redacted information is largely innocuous, and the reason for which the anticipated prejudice could reasonably be expected is not evident (the “Agency” being the council).

Having now received the complete document, it is obvious that the secrecy was ridiculous and merely demonstrates, as was already known, that Council might become liable for far more than the $11.655 million already committed to this $18 million extravagance should other anticipated funding not be forthcoming and should there be, as is virtually certain, cost overruns. Interestingly, it also discloses that the

estimate of an $18 million build does not include GST.

Oh well, I guess it’s just an additional $1.8 million of ratepayers money for a project of $20 million-plus, unless of course they abandon the plan to gift this private club a top floor commercial function centre.

Greg Maidment Bronte

Noah's Backpackers

I have contacted Waverley Council on numerous occasions about the obvious degradation at Noah’s Backpackers at Bondi. Incredibly, they have accepted the owner’s word that building is happening there.

No tradie has been there for over a year. Now there are squatters, and racist graffiti. The gateway to Bondi looks like the Bronx, and the surrounding businesses must be appalled. It would be helpful if Council did its job, which is to enforce planning/ permit laws in preference to reiki classes and whale song sessions.

Reay McGuinness Bondi

For private properties, the responsibility for repairs, graffiti removal and securing the property lies with property owners. While Council’s role is to ensure compliance with planning laws, we cannot compel owners to undertake work on their propertyor go faster in that work - unless there is an imminent threat to safety. Matters such as repairs are always a decision for owners and often there are various matters at play not known to Council (such as the availability of materials and tradespeople). Given the high visibility of the building, Council is in the process of contacting owners in regards to the removal of graffiti.

Waverley Council

Poetry Tricks

Xavier Wright, the winner of The Beast Young Writers Competition, is to be commended for his poem. As a 90-year-old ex

writer - I gave it up after COVID - may I suggest to Xavier, without sounding pedantic, that he follow the rhythm of his poetry, and cut out unnecessary words.

He writes:

At Bondi’s edge, the surfers play, In the dance of waves, they find their way.

If he follows the meter* he would be better to delete ‘the’. The uninterrupted rhythm would then be: tee dum, tee dum, tee dum, tee dum.

So, it would read:

At Bondi’s edge, the surfers play, In dance of waves, they find their way.

I hope he will find my suggestion helpful and edits his poem - there are many more examples - for he has a promising writer’s career ahead of him.

I do, however, hasten to congratulate him on an imaginative piece of work.

Michael Rabin Randwick

*Meter describes the rhythm (or pattern of beats) in a line of poetry. It is a combination of the number of beats and the arrangement of stressed and nonstressed syllables in each line.

Resident Parking for Blair Street

Dear James - I just wanted to write and express my disappointment at a recent Council decision. I moved to Blair Street from South Bondi last year and couldn’t believe the difference in parking availability at this end of town. Unlike South Bondi, Blair Street and its adjoining streets have unlimited parking, meaning that removal vans, tradie vehicles, trailers, campervans and backpackers all use it as a dumping ground - I report an abandoned vehicle weekly!

In summer, people often actually live in their vans parked on Blair Street. Residents cannot access their homes, and local businesses get zero passing trade other than on foot.

Determined to do something, I hauled my heavily pregnant body

up and down Blair Street from Seven Ways to Gould Street and started a petition to have a resident parking scheme introduced. Over 35 people agreed, raising frustrations and safety concerns, particularly for shift workers coming home late at night.

Blair Street is a main thoroughfare with multiple schools and the Seven Ways development. I then followed all Council processes, rallied my neighbours and presented a speech at a Council meeting - only for seven of the councillors to just dismiss it and include it instead as part of a wider parking review (thank you to the four that supported me). The review would take until 2027 to see any improvements.

Meanwhile, I still have to carry my 3-year-old, all my groceries and my now 37-week-old baby bump multiple blocks because there are three huge vans parked outside my unit, which will likely be parked outside for the next month.

I am just so disappointed. I was naively hopeful that our processes would work and Council would prioritise its local residents.

Yours sincerely, Laelia (Frustrated Mum) North Bondi

A Long Letter About Buses

I was returning from St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst and as I approached Taylor Square (in front of the Courthouse stop) I saw a 333 bus just leave towards Bondi. I thought I was going to be in for a long wait, being that it was after 7pm, but not a minute later another 333 pulled up. I got on and, being unsteady after treatment, was given the seat in the front of the bus.

In no time, before we even reached the next stop, we were tailgating the first 333 bus bumper to bumper. So it continued all up Oxford Street until just before Centennial Park when we overtook the other bus. But by the time we were at the Waverley Bus Depot on Oxford

Street, the other bus had caught up, so both 333 buses arrived at the Bondi Junction Station at the same time.

I noticed that as we pulled up to Stand A there was a 381 about to leave from Stand B. To my amazement, after the 381 left the stand, a 380 took its place on Stand B. So then you had four buses - yes, that’s right, four buses, not just one or two or three, but four buses - leaving the Bondi Junction train stands at the same time. This was around 7.30pm in the evening - not in the morning when people want to hurry to work, but the evening on a Tuesday night, not even a busy Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, but an ordinary weeknight!

As we headed down Bondi Road I watched in amazement, disbelief and complete perplexity as the 381, followed by the 380, bumper to bumper with no cars in between them, and the 333 that I was on travelled along. As we stopped at the Penkivil Street traffic lights I saw the 381 and 380, which had both stopped on the other side of the lights, still almost glued together at the same stop, bumper to bumper, drive off together, still with just millimetres between them. Then, when I got off, I noticed that the bus had gone very much ahead at the bus stop, because he was making room for the other 333, which was a fraction of a millimetre behind.

I stood there wondering how it could be possible that at 7.40pm mid-week there were four buses with just seconds as the interval going down Bondi Road towards the beach. Surely even the backpackers from overseas with much colder winters than we have here in Sydney were not going swimming at night when the temperature is below ten degrees, which with the wind factor feels more like five degrees.

I thought that maybe the laws against child labour had changed and that Transdev John Holland was now hiring kindergarten-aged 3-year-olds to decide

the bus schedules, or that maybe Transdev John Holland, being an employer who values inclusivity, was giving the job of scheduling the bus timetables to severely challenged persons. Surely you don’t need a tertiary or even secondary level of education for this. A below average IQ, failed high school drop-out would have enough sense to schedule the buses better than what we currently have.

I have heard all sorts of excuses like, “The buses leave Circular Quay at different times and then get lagged because of the number of people getting on,” but that does not answer how a 380 and a 381 that both commence at the Junction should be leaving one minute apart from each other. That scheduling is obviously the challenged person’s handiwork, and while I commend Transdev John Holland for being an all inclusive employer, I am annoyed that people like myself who cannot drive and rely on buses have to wait up to half an hour for the 380 or 381 when surely they could alternatively start at the Junction 15 minutes apart. This would give people who want to get off at stops not serviced by the limited service 333, like at Flood Street and Ocean Street, the chance to have a better scheduled bus service. This would mean, for example, a 380 leaving at quarter past the hour, followed by a 381 at half past the hour, followed by the next 380 at 15 minutes before the hour and so on.

While I am at it, I can’t get over the ridiculousness of having all the 333 buses in the morning leaving from the North Bondi interchange, so that by the time the buses have turned on to Bondi Road from Campbell Parade they are already full, leaving passengers at Denham Street, and even more passengers at Wellington Street - forget about the ones in Bennett Street who don’t stand a chance whatsoever. It is further evidence of terrible scheduling, Anyone could tell you that to

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avoid this problem you should not start every peak hour service at the North Bondi interchange. It would make much more sense to start every second or third 333 at either Dudley Street or Denham Street, thereby giving the poor hapless passengers waiting at Wellington Street and Bennett Street the chance to get to work on time and benefit from a properly run bus service.

The other day I saw a person get on the bus one morning at Wellington Street, and as the bus driver was about to shut the door, telling people at the bus stop that he was full and could not take any more passengers, this old fellow began shouting and yelling at the top of his voice for everyone to move back just two or three steps so that others could get on. The bus driver watched as the passengers moved up towards the back, and I estimate that at least another 20 passengers got on to the bus thanks to this guy yelling to everyone to move up. Surely the bus drivers can be instructed to look in their rear-view mirrors and tell the passengers that he is not going to pull away from the stop unless they all fill the spaces at the back of the bus.

Another thing I cannot fathom is why people take one step on to the bus and then come to a complete stop, not only preventing others from getting on the bus but also dangerously obstructing the driver’s view on the left side to his exterior mirror.

A few days later I was on the 333 and the same old fellow got on the bus through the third rear door because the driver didn’t open the first door when he stopped to drop off one solitary passenger alighting from the back of the bus at Wellington Street. Once more, the guy began yelling at everyone to move to the back to allow others on. The driver then let more people on and, amazed at the old man’s actions, I gave him an admiring smile. He then showed me five empty seats at the back of the bus, and this was while at least

30 or 40 people were wedged up against each other, packed tighter than tinned sardines and making a very accurate replica of Tokyo’s trains at the front end of the bus, cramped up next to the driver.

I am sure Transdev John Holland’s drivers are very charming, charismatic and endearing, but I cannot understand why passengers are gluing themselves as close as possible to the driver when there is not only ample standing space towards the rear of the bus, but even a few unoccupied seats!

While I was chatting with the old man who had yelled to everyone to move to the back, discussing the very obvious mismanagement of the Eastern Suburbs bus services, another passenger chipped in and said that maybe Transdev John Holland should stick to the construction industry and leave the transport industry for competent adults to run and schedule.

Zak Bondi

Road Fatalities

Dear Beast - Successive Councils, State and Federal Governments have reduced speed limits again and again, along with breath and drug testing to address rising road deaths. We have been assured these measures are necessary and for the greater good. The road deaths are increasing; the current measures are not working - why?

Lack of concentration on the roads - Drivers are distracted by electronic devices, with many using them while driving. Apart from the obvious, cars have dashboards full of information, diverting eyes from the road. It seems that, when learning to drive, the message of being encased in tons of metal that is dangerous and potentially fatal to anyone or anything seems lost.

Lack of anticipation - Anticipating the traffic ahead is important for making informed decisions when driving. If the lights are changing ahead of you,

then you need to slow down, before the car in front stops. While cars are trying to make lane changes, take your foot off the accelerator to allow cars into your lane. If you are making right hand turns across traffic, be sure that the oncoming traffic is travelling at a speed that allows you to make a safe turn.

Mirrors are not ‘bling’ - It seems strange that checking in the mirrors provided is a novelty these days. Side mirrors, to check blind spots before lane changes, are seldom used. Surprise, surprise, but the central rear vision mirror isn’t for make-up application! A driver should be aware of the cars behind at all times, and if one disappears from view, maybe it is in your blind spot - check it.

International drivers - Many of the drivers on our roads have come from other societies where the road rules are different or not closely adhered to. Despite passing a test in Australia, old established habits remain. This adds another dimension to driving today.

Disrespect for road rules - More than ever before, we see the younger generations disrespecting laws, rules and those who enforce them. It is by no means universal, but we see nightly examples of youth crime pertaining to car theft, car chases and accidents by teenagers.

Those who speed at 140km/h in a 60km/h zone are not going to adhere to the law. However, when the authorities reduce speed limits based on these idiots, we all suffer.

It’s time to address the other issues that cause road accidents and fatalities.

Margie Coogee ¢

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

Local Artist... Angélique Moseley from Randwick

Randwick artist Angélique Moseley is the talent behind this month’s cover painting of a mermaid at Bondi Beach. She shares her local favourites with The Beast...

How long have you lived here? Randwick has been home for five years, but I’m originally from Vancouver, Canada.

Why do you live here? The greenery, the quiet and local community.

What's your favourite beach? Easy peasy, Gordon’s Bay. Seeing a multipurpose fishing beach feels like a hug from a very human past.

What's your favourite eatery? It’s a toss up between Ummarin Thai and Pizzavelly.

Where do you like to have a drink? At the Ritz Bar! My husband and I love cinema and geek out over a film and a drink.

Best thing about the Eastern Suburbs? The commitment to eco-friendly solutions. Every

keep cup, laundry rack and FOGO compostable bag-swap between neighbours is a humble heroic deed.

Worst thing about the Eastern Suburbs? Rent breaks so many bodies.

How would you describe your art? Texture-heavy fantasy. I try to bring out the tactile quality of character designs, objects and environments.

Where can people see your work? So far, at my website, coarsecurve.squarespace.com, or @coarsecurve on the Cara app. Instagram is being abandoned by a lot of artists because there’s no legal protection in Australia against art accounts being scraped for generative AI. I’d love to do work with indie game developers and book publishers!

Who are your artistic inspirations? Living legends Ade Adesina, Yofukuro, Shawn Wood and Polly Nor. But otherwise, Albrecht Dürer and Hieronymous Bosch.

What are you working on at the moment? A painting of an audience with a prince and his unnerving guards. It’s an illustration for a Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

Do you have any exhibitions coming up? That’s a question for ‘made it’ Angélique.

When did you discover you had a gift for your craft? If by ‘gift’ you mean an inability to stop doing it, then it was when I drew the pimples on a self-portrait in primary school art.

Any other local artists to look out for? Katie Barbarie Stewart; she paints and sculpts, and her work finds the connective tissue between psyche and environment. But most of the artists I know are poets - go read Sydney Spleen by Toby Fitch.

Did you study art? Mr. Wilson taught uni-level art history at my high school, but I did my Masters of Linguistics and Literature and studied writing for film and television at Vancouver Film School. I got serious about drawing to flesh out friends’ Dungeons & Dragons characters, and continued teaching myself through practice and YouTube over lockdown.

Any words of wisdom for young aspiring artists? Thank the people who support you.

Do you have a favourite sporting team? The Southampton Saints. My Dad likes to tell people about the four letter words I’d join in on singing in the stands as a kid.

What music are you into at the moment? Bardcore band Middle Ages, but I repeat Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter.

Who is your favourite person? Corey. He taught me about kookaburras, medieval soup and probability. He hasn’t divorced me yet.

What do you get up to on the weekends? Walks in Centennial, writing, gaming and adding my support to the freedom protests.

What do you do for work? Social media optimisation, copy-editing, sewing... Some of you know me from Cat & Cow, but these days I take linework commissions.

What's your favourite thing about work? Being useful, even if it’s just making others smile. But I love unlocking an idea’s heart.

Do you have a favourite quote? “If we could all live a thousand years … we would each, at least once … be considered a genius.” - John Berger (from G.).

Any other words of wisdom for readers of The Beast? Kindness first. Make your workplace accessible for disabled folks - and bring your keep cup.

Interview James Hutton

Kindness first.

ECO LIVING FESTIVAL

SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 9AM – 3PM

RESERVE MAROUBRA BEACH

Two huge events on one day! Learn about sustainable living AND enjoy a unique local shopping experience.

• Eco workshops, innovations, and talks

• 130+ market stalls with fresh produce, artisan foods, arts and crafts

• Live performances

• Kids’ activities

• Prizes… and more!

Consider taking public transport, and remember to BYO reusable cup, water bottle, and shopping bags!

SCAN THE QR CODE FOR MORE DETAILS

Brought to you by

How Martial Arts Was a Life-Changer for Two Bronte Boys

Meet ‘Badger’ Fletcher and Dalton Wills. If you surf at Bronte, you may already know them, because these lifelong friends have been catching waves and hanging out there since their teens.

As well as sharing a passion for surfing and the lifestyle that goes with it, Badger (real name Hugh) and Dalton got into martial arts as teenagers. They joined a jiu-jitsu group at Bronte RSL, and for Badger, this was a pivotal point in his life.

“At that time I didn’t have much direction and was on the point of getting caught up in the wrong crowd,” he told The Beast. “Jiu-jitsu gave me something to work towards as I progressed through the different levels.”

These days Badger, 33, makes his living teaching jiu-jitsu and he recently won the Black Belt title in his weight division at the NSW Champion-

ships. Dalton also competed at this event, and won a title as a White Belt - unlike Badger, he hadn’t kept on doing jiu-jitsu as a teenager, and only got back into it recently.

But you wouldn’t want to kick sand in Dalton’s face down the beach. He has a black belt in the Korean martial art Taekwondo.

Dalton, also 33, explained how in his early 20s he sustained a compound fracture of his left tibia (shin bone) as he launched himself off the top of ‘Superman Hill’ at the start of the Gully Death Race, part of an annual Bronte Boardriders tradition.

The injury meant he had to give up football, which had provided a lot of structure to his life. Once he was back on his feet, he decided to take up Taekwondo.

“I wanted to test myself, and I thought Taekwondo would bring back my confidence

because it has a lot of kicks and aerial movements,” he explained.

And that’s what happened, with Taekwondo helping Dalton cast off self-doubt and find some direction.

What’s the main difference between jiu-jitsu and Taekwondo, you may wonder?

“In Taekwondo, you’re looking to stay on your feet, whereas in jiu-jitsu, you’re mainly grappling on the ground,” Dalton explained.

So have Dalton and Badger ever used their martial arts skills in real-life physical situations? Not in Dalton’s case.

“One of the best pieces of advice my old man ever gave me was that the best defence is a good pair of running shoes,” he chuckled.

Badger, however, tapped into his jiu-jitsu prowess a year ago during a two-year sojourn in Europe. He was walking alone down a dark street in Amsterdam after a night out with friends when a pickpocket sidled up to him and grabbed his wallet. Badger decided he wanted it back.

“It all happened very quickly, and my memory of the event is a bit blurry because I’d had a bit to drink. But as we struggled, I noticed he’d produced a big kitchen knife. I managed to get him on the ground and pin him down, with his arms behind him. We remained like that for what seemed an eternity but it was probably five minutes.”

Finally, he managed to flip the man onto his side, grab the knife and throw it away. And he got his wallet back. He only sustained a small knife cut to his hand.

But like Dalton, he says flight is a more sensible and safer option than fight.

“When I’m teaching jiu-jitsu, I emphasise that running away is the best self-defence.”

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Hisamori Tenenuchi

Friends who grapple together...

'Heart of Maroubra' Faces Deportation After Visa Mix-up

Words and Photo Anthony Maguire

For the past quarter century or so, Bangkok-born Muy Lert-Amnuaylap has been a cheerful and much-loved member of the Maroubra Beach community.

Working long hours at a McKeon Street mini mart, she mothered many local youths who had found themselves at a crossroads in life, counselling them against taking drugs and chastising them rather than calling the police if she caught them shoplifting.

Muy delighted in sharing her customers’ personal milestones and in the words of one of her fans, graphic designer Caen Clasby, “is the heart of Maroubra. She knows all of us, knows our kids and has seen them grow up.”

But now the 65-year-old is fighting to stay in Australia. There have been a series of visa

mix-ups dating back to when she first came to Australia in 1996. Settling in Melbourne, she was introduced to a Cambodian-born Australian citizen and they subsequently married. But it wasn’t a union made in heaven.

Within a few months, the relationship had broken down against a backdrop of alleged abuse from the husband and his family. He then withdrew his application for her spousal visa. A subsequent bridging visa lapsed because Muy was homeless and did not speak English at the time. Meanwhile, Muy relocated to western Sydney, where she suffered more abuse working at a Cabramatta clothing sweatshop where she was only compensated with bed and board.

Then in 2000, her life took a huge turn for the better as she

started her mini mart job in Maroubra, living in a flat above the shop.

“I found happiness here in Maroubra,” Muy told The Beast. Now she needs to secure her future with permanent residency status. Maroubra locals have helped her get another bridging visa and hired a lawyer who is preparing a case for permanent residency, soon to be submitted to Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

Meanwhile, the federal member for Kingsford Smith, Matt Thistlethwaite, has been approached to put in a good word for Muy. And a petition on Change.org titled ‘Help Muy stay in Australia and avoid deportation’ has made a big splash, attracting more than 12,000 supporters as this edition of The Beast was going to press. The petition web page carries numerous glowing endorsements from locals such as Maroubra fishing identity and luderick whisperer Peter Bellanto, who used to run a café near where Muy worked.

“She is a wonderful asset to Australia,” writes Mr Bellanto.

Multiple copies of the petition cover page have been printed and stuck up all around Maroubra Beach, adding to her already formidable celebrity status around the beachside strip.

Walking along the beach promenade with Muy after taking her photo, we were approached by a young man wearing a dripping wetsuit and carrying a surfboard. “Muy!” he said, his face lit up in delight. Perhaps he was one of those she’d steered onto the right path years earlier.

Muy is a genuine local legend whom many believe has earnt the right to stay in Australia. The Beast would certainly like to see her remain here.

Muy found happiness in Maroubra, now she’s fighting to stay.

Saving a Life With a Stem Cell Donation

Clovelly resident Tom Gallop may have just saved someone’s life.

He gave a blood stem cell donation on June 5 at Royal North Shore Hospital after learning he was a good match for a patient battling blood cancer - the same class of blood cancer that claimed the life of The Beast’s co-founder Dan Hutton in October 2019.

Mr Gallop’s family lives across the road from Dan’s brother James, who now runs The Beast solo, and the two have become good friends.

“During the two years of Dan’s illness, James was at the ready to donate stem cells, but Dan was never able to go into remission long enough to have the treatment,” said 31-year-old Mr Gallop, Product Manager at Sydney-based tech company Spriggy.

At the time of Dan’s death, Mr Gallop thought stem cell donations had to come from relatives. But when he went

to donate blood last year, he learned about the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR), which sources anonymous donations.

“Going on the registry was a no-brainer for me because if you are matched to a patient, there’s a 60 per cent chance of giving that person a new lease of life,” Mr Gallop said.

But it’s not easy finding a match.

“At any one time in Australia, there are 7,000 patients hoping for a donation, but only one in 1,500 people on the registry will end up giving one.”

After a series of blood tests, he was placed on the short list of potential donors for a particular patient - until one day earlier this year, when he was told he was the preferred donor.

Then came electrocardiograms, X-rays and other procedures to confirm he was in good health. After that there were four days of injections

to stimulate the production of baby stem cells.

“That was challenging because you have to self-inject, and I’m not good with needles,” he said.

But during those four days, he stayed with his parents David and Kathy at the family home and their love and support eased the discomfort. And then it was time to go into Royal North Shore for the stem cell donation procedure.

For the better part of a day, he was hooked up to a machine which drew blood and put it through a centrifuge which isolated baby stem cells.

Now he is looking forward to meeting his stem cell recipient one day in the future.

“You can make contact with the recipient two years after the donation if you both choose to do so.”

For more information about becoming a stem cell donor, please visit www.abmdr.org.au.

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Kathy Gallop

Tom was matched with a donor recipient who he hopes to meet one day.

Our 1st VIII rowers became the only girls’ school crew in Australia to qualify for the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta after winning Head of the River and both the NSW and Australian Championships.

Key events in Term 3:

• Year 6 Musical: 5-6 August

• Open Morning: 22 August

• P&F Trivia Night: 24 August

• Celebration of Learning: 6 September

• Back to St Cath’s Day: 7 September

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

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

You really couldn't find a better way to poison the planet.

Understanding the Hazards of ‘Forever Chemicals’

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Polly Fluoro

Ninety years ago, a pair of scientists made a discovery in the Frankfurt laboratories of IG Farben, a chemical company later to gain notoriety as manufacturer of Zyklon B, the gas used in the Nazi death chambers.

Fritz Schloffer and Otto Scherer classified a new group of chemical compounds which were the forerunners of what we now call per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. And we are now learning that a number of these chemicals have substantial hazards, albeit not as insidious as the cyanide-based Zyklon B.

Some are ‘forever chemicals’ which do not break down in the body and have been conclusively linked with a range of cancers and other serious health hazards.

Cancer clusters and higher than average morbidity rates

have been occurring near defence bases and other facilities using a firefighting foam that is very effective in putting out fuel blazes because of its fluidity and ‘lightness.’ In fact, Lightwater is the brand name of the foam marketed by the industrial conglomerate 3M, which after a string of court cases in the United States is now having to fork out more than US$10 billion to clean up contaminated sites.

However, you don’t need to be living near a defence base to be exposed to PFAS substances. They’re in a huge range of consumer products including cosmetics, dental floss, shampoo and rain jackets. And in your kitchen cupboard you may have another potential source of PFAS contamination - nonstick cookware.

While it is difficult to quantify the dangers of most other products containing PFAS

substances, there is a growing body of scientific opinion warning that teflon-coated frying pans and the like carry definite dangers because of their gradual release of chemicals under extreme heat.

“Switching your cookware can be a good move in the light of latest studies,” says Professor Denis O’Carroll, an expert on water contaminants who heads the Water Research Centre at UNSW.

PFAS substances are so pervasive in our environment that they inevitably make their way into our water supplies. So are you taking a risk when you drink tap water?

The answer, says Professor O’Carroll, is no. Not if you’re quaffing down Sydney tap water, anyway.

Professor O’Carroll was kind enough to comment on a tap water sample taken from a kitchen in Clovelly by The Beast and analysed by a commercial lab in Western Sydney. It came back certified as containing less than 10 nanograms per litre for PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS, the three PFAS substances regulated under Australian water quality standards. Current regulations allow up to 560 ng/L for PFOA and a limit of 70 ng/L for a combination of PFOS and PFHxS.

“I’d be happy to drink that water,” said the Professor.

However, there is a growing call for Australian drinking water limits to be further reduced in line with a recent drastic lowering of limits in the United States to virtually zero and a review is currently being carried out by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Meanwhile, the use of PFAS is being phased out by numerous manufacturers such as 3M, which has pledged to cease all of its use in the production line by the end of next year.

Not-so Secret Men’s Business

Words and Photo Anthony Maguire

Inside a shed in the grounds of the Uniting War Memorial Hospital in Waverley, ten men are working away.

Retired sales engineer Mike Weihen, 75, is wielding a paint brush as he applies lacquer to a dozen wooden possum boxes. Nearby, former building contractor James Allison, 68, is running a wood plane along a 1.8 metre length of Tasmanian oak that is destined to become a hat rack. Meanwhile, one-time Telstra technician Graham Ely, 78, is sanding down the wooden slats of a garden chair that he will bring back to pristine condition.

Welcome to the Waverley Community Men’s Shed. Established in 2013, the group has around 70 members. They are almost all retirees and the oldest is 94. But you don’t have to be a pensioner to join. One of the ten working in the shed

when The Beast popped round was a ‘baby’ of just 61 - Randwick resident Frank Fay, who was restoring a half century-old wooden rocking horse.

The blokes carry out commissioned work for local residents and community organisations and don’t even charge fees for the things they make and restore.

“We just ask for a donation, and if people can’t afford it, that’s fine,” says shed manager Peter Black, 82.

A lot of the people they help are some of the most disadvantaged members of the community. The lads have made a stepping frame for Wairoa School at Bondi and an indoor trapeze for two young Coogee boys who are on the spectrum. They’ve also helped countless local elderly folk preserve their possessions, and the memories that go with them.

The shed has also built outdoor furniture for Ronald McDonald House, and recently one of the blokes made a set of steps and a platform to help a disabled child get up and down from a trampoline.

So what drives these Good Samaritans? “Camaraderie, being with a nice group of men and learning new things,” replies retired Bellevue Hill software developer Jeff Silverbach, 66.

Helping to keep the group afloat are grants from Waverley, Randwick and Woollahra Councils. There is also a $100 joining fee. And every two years, the shed holds a sale of the furniture, toys and other goods turned out at the workshop - the next one is coming up on November 16 at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park.

But now there is a cloud hanging over the future of the Men’s Shed.

“In about two years, we’ll have to find new premises because of the redevelopment coming up here at the Memorial Hospital,” says Mr Black.

“We’re hopeful of locating to a new shed in four to five years, but in the meantime, we’re looking for temporary premises of 200-400 square metres, in the Eastern Suburbs and at a peppercorn rent.”

If you’d like to get in touch with the men’s shed, please phone 0480 439 315.

The Good Samaritans from the Waverley Community Men’s Shed.

The stairway to Heaven.

•

•

•

located in Jannali

in the Eastern Suburbs

Bondi Pavilion Releases Biggest, Best Schedule Yet

Words Leith McCredie Photo Irven Lewis

The Bondi Pavilion has a huge line-up of talks, comedy shows, outdoor street performances, film screenings, art exhibitions, festivals and music planned over the coming months, and The Beast recently got a sneak peek at what is easily the most epic schedule we’ve seen to date.

If laugh-out-loud stand-up is your jam, it’s worth checking out Are Your Pulling My Leg? on August 7, a clever comedy featuring five big-time comedians who live with a disability. Or if you’re into the classics, there will be a screening of National Theatre Live’s Macbeth on August 18 starring Tony and BAFTA Award winner Ralph Fiennes and Olivier Award winner Indira Varma.

The Festival of the Winds kite extravaganza will take place on September 10, with food stalls and entertainment on the beach, and the free outdoor show Found Objects by Shaun Parker will take place on August 17 and 18 featuring parkour, dance and acrobatics performed to a magnificent music score. The kids will delight in the clown-

ing, circus and humour of The Librarian on October 4 and 5.

Following a run of sell-out author talks and book launches at the Pavilion, you won’t want to leave booking these incredible events to the last minute. Eastern Suburbs local and author of international best seller The Book Thief, Markus Zuzak, will be launching his non-fiction debut Three Wild Dogs on September 10, and acclaimed Yuwaalaraay storyteller and performer Nardi Simpson will launch her brilliant new novel The Belburd on September 25. There will be more exciting talks from much-loved authors announced in the coming months, all exclusive to the Pavilion.

The Bondi Pavilion Art Gallery will be focusing on works exploring fitness and mindfulness for the remainder of 2024. Return the Weights - JD Reformer & Lauren Brincat, an exhibition influenced by the recreation and leisure activities of Bondi Beach, will be showing from August 23 to September 22, and This Given Moment and The

Garden of Hopes and Dreams, two exhibitions dedicated to mindfulness and gratitude, will be showing from September 27 to November 3.

Music lovers will also have plenty to get excited about, as the king of romantic anthems, clever wordplay and indie pop classics, Ben Lee, will be performing in the Pavilion for one night only on October 26 for a sneak peek at his upcoming new album, plus some old favourites. On September 6 and 7, The Birth and Death of Stars by MZAZA will take participants on an other-worldly musical odyssey featuring stunning vocals, live music and celestial collage animation. Lunchtime Concerts at the Pavilion will also offer a free monthly fix of solo and duo music acts spanning from pop and jazz to classical.

There really is something for everyone at the Pavilion, and we’re stoked that this iconic public asset has been brought back to its former glory. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.bondipavilion.com.au.

Outdoor show 'Found Objects' by Shaun Parker will be free at the Pavilion on August 17 and 18.

Waverley Council Update

Mayor's Message

Free, fun events

Our ‘A Place for Us’ program is offering free, fun events and activities across our venues, created with the community in mind. It includes theatre, family movies, live music and Family Fun Days.

For the little ones, don’t miss our Waverley Library kids program which includ es a fun feast of dancing, music and stories.

We also have a bumper crop of Seniors activities to keep you fit and entertained, including Table Tennis and a Seniors High Tea on 19 July. Visit waverley.nsw.gov.au and search ‘A Place for Us’

Fill your boots! Win one of two $1000 Westfield Prizes

To celebrate the imminent opening of the Boot Factory, we're giving you the chance to win a fantastic prize We’re nearly finished restoring and upgrading the Boot

Factory on Spring Street in Bondi Junction.

Breathing new life into the building, we are transforming the former shoe making factory into a place for the community. To celebrate, we’re giving you the chance to win one of two $1000 Westfield gift vouchers by designing your very own Waverley boot.

See the competition card in this edition of The Beast for more details.

Work has begun at Charing Cross!

After a consultation spanning almost 5 years, works have now begun to make upgrades to Charing Cross Streetscape! The construction will proceed in a two-phased approach consisting of electrical works in phase 1, followed by civil works.

Got a question about the works? Email us at majorprojects@waverley nsw gov au

Walking strategy

People in Waverley Council walk a lot – and we’re developing our first ever strategy to promote even more walking!

Ph: 9083 8000 | waverley.nsw.gov.au

Stay in touch: waverley.nsw.gov.au/subscribe

We want to make it safer and more pleasant to walk to places such as schools and shops and better integrate walking with other modes of transport

Head to our Have Your Say site and tell us about where you would like to walk more and what would encourage you to walk more often. Community feedback is open until 5pm Sunday 21 July. Visit haveyoursay.waverley.nsw. gov.au.

The Whale Song

Join us on Sunday 28 July for The Whale Song, a sensory and emotional journey that shows the deep connection between humans and marine life. Enjoy the fascinating parallel between the musical talents of world-renowned DJ Sam Feldt and the melo dious humpback whale, narrated by renowned marine biologist Nan Hauser Visually stunning cinematography, compelling storytelling and fusion of music and nature make this movie a standout piece in the world of short documentaries. For further details visit waverley.nsw.gov.au/ secondnature.

Paula Masselos Mayor of Waverley

Plenty of Passion at ACF Eastern Sydney’s Q&A Nature Forum

Words Dr Stephen Lightfoot Photo Dr Jonathan King

With 2,106 birds, plants and animals currently on our threatened species list, Australia is facing an extinction crisis. Iconic creatures like the koala face the very real prospect of going the way of the Tasmanian tiger. Our nature protection legislation, which is over 20 years old, is failing to halt this looming wave of extinctions. And now the Federal Government has put the much-needed reforms to these laws on the backburner. What do we need to do to save our big backyard? This is the question that around 300 members of our community discussed recently at the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) Eastern Sydney’s Q&A Nature Forum at Randwick Town Hall. Questions were asked by the audience and were answered by a panel that included Member for Kingsford-Smith Matt Thistlethwaite, Member for Wentworth Allegra Spender, ACF National Biodiversity Policy Officer Brendan Sydes and Australian Youth Climate Coalition campaigner Natasha Abhayawickrama.

The tone of the evening was set by local hip hop artist Cocoa

the Conscious, who had the crowd up and dancing early in the piece. It was a packed house, and it was fantastic to see our local MPs bopping away with Randwick Mayor Philipa Veitch in the front row.

What followed was an indepth and passionate discussion about our failing nature laws, our extinction crisis, ending native forest logging and the intersection between a healthy environment and a safe climate.

The passion in the room was taken straight back to Canberra by Allegra Spender and Matt Thistlethwaite, who both spoke on the floor of the Parliament about the forum and the demand from our community for strong nature laws. Allegra Spender called for an end to native forest logging in this term of parliament. It was democracy in action, and our community and elected members of parliament ought to be congratulated. But the time for talk is over. We desperately need the full set of reforms to our nature protection legislation to be passed by the parliament. Nature in this country literally depends on it.

New Filmmaking Talent to Be Showcased at BONDIWOOD 2

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo Gai Steele

Attention up and coming filmmakers - you might be able to have your productions screened at the BONDIWOOD 2 festival.

Festival director Haydn Keenan wants to help nurture budding local filmmaking talent at the September 26-29 event in the Bondi Pavilion. He is keen to screen some short films in between the feature-length productions and wants to give a showcase to talented unknowns. The only condition for submission is that you must live in Bondi.

Last year’s inaugural BONDIWOOD was a success, with more than 1,200 people attending screenings of 16 movies that were either made by local filmmakers or starred Bondi-based actors.

“We’ve had enormous support from the senior end of the film industry, and now we want to open the event to the other end of the spectrum,” Mr Keenan told The Beast.

For more information, please flick an email to production@ smartstreetfilms.com.au.

Not a bad turnout!

Haydn wants to showcase work from unknown local filmmakers.

Crime News

Bronte Exec’s Tall Taxi Tale

Bronte property executive Brett Henson came up with an interesting excuse to explain why he got behind the wheel of a cab and took it for an illicit drive.

What happened was this, Downing Centre Local Court was told: After consuming a number of alcoholic beverages in the CBD on a Friday night, Henson had walked up to a vacant taxi in Hunter Street and tried to open the front passenger door - the handle of which snapped off in his hand, with Henson then collapsing backwards onto the footpath.

That part of the story was agreed on by both prosecution and defence as 44-year-old Henson faced justice for taking a vehicle without the owner's consent and driving under the influence of alcohol.

But when Henson addressed the court, a version of subsequent events was put forward which varied drastically from the agreed facts.

You see, the magistrate was told that the taxi driver, Sayeed Khan, tried to ‘extort’ money for the broken handle from the hapless Henson. And when this extortion was resisted, Henson

found himself surrounded by five large men calling themselves The Muslim Brotherhood. So naturally, fearing for his life, it was understandable that he should leap into the temporarily-unattended cab and drive it away, abandoning the vehicle in the Eastern Suburbs.

Magistrate Gregory Moore didn’t buy the yarn spun by the former Mirvac executive and fined him $3,500.

Pooch Trainer in the Dog House Bondi

dog trainer Courtnie Donlan apparently went barking mad and stabbed a man in the arm, a court heard.

The attack is said to have taken place in a Malabar unit block, where the 29-year-old was captured on video smiling as police escorted her to a paddy wagon.

She was taken to Maroubra Police Station and charged with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, wielding a knife in a public place and a number of other offences.

After being granted bail, she ended up in custody after failing to comply with drug and alcohol restrictions.

Donlan lists herself online as a dog trainer serving Bondi Beach and surrounds.

Second Arrest for Friendlyjordies Firebombing

A second man has been charged over the November 2022 arson attack on the Bondi home of ‘Freindlyjordies’ political commentator and satirist Jordan Shanks.

NSW Police charged the 37-year-old with destroying property using fire and participating in a criminal group. They say he’s a bikie.

Another man, also 37 and said to be an associate of the Alameddine crime family,

was arrested one month after Shanks’ house was firebombed. Police say the pair used a Mercedes stolen from Bellevue Hill to travel to and from the crime scene.

Man Touched Teenager, Court Told

A man stalked a 16-year-old girl from the city to Bondi Beach, where he sexually touched her, a court heard.

University student Midhun Krishna Udayakumar, 28, has been charged with sexual touching without consent, stalking and a number of other offences.

When he applied for bail at Downing Centre Local Court, it was looking touch and go at first. The court was told the offences had been committed while the Kingsford man was out on bail for another sex offence - exposing himself and performing an indecent act on public transport. But in the end, Magistrate Susan Horan allowed bail under strict conditions, including staying away from Bondi Beach.

Jewellery Store Theft and Arrest

Eastern Beaches Police were looking for a man who’d stolen a $9,000 gold chain from a jewellers when they saw their suspect on a street in South Maroubra.

They stopped the car, there was a foot chase and then, after a brief struggle, they had the suspected thief in handcuffs. Sure enough, when they searched him, police say they found the chain - along with not one, but two knives!

A 46-year-old man has been charged with several offences including theft, assaulting police and custody of a knife in a public place. The gold chain has been returned to a jewellery shop in Maroubra.

Words Jimmy Felon

Photo Dia Mabuk

'Twas a big night for Brett.

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Tomorrow

Never Comes

Who likes going to the dentist? No disrespect to the profession, but chances are the majority of the people sitting mouth agape in the dentist’s chair would rather not be there, including myself. Given half a chance, I’ve definitely been known to cancel, reschedule or even try and convince myself it can wait until another time. Whether it’s postponing, delaying or leaving it to the last minute, all such tactics fall under the general banner of procrastination.

We all procrastinate to some degree, despite knowing that niggling feeling will still linger after we’ve put off that thing we were meant to do. Depending on its magnitude and the resulting consequences, procrastination can really bog us down and cripple our well-being. Terms like ‘stalling’ or ‘putting off’ might all be agreed upon when defining procrastination, but what’s often not considered is that procrastination is commonly mistaken for laziness - the truth is that it has nothing to do with being lazy.

Procrastinating is making a decision to delay a job or goal you’ve committed to, and instead do something of lesser importance, despite there being both positive and negative consequences to not following through on the original task or goal. By

its very definition, procrastination is an intentional choice; the larger the potential negative consequence is, the more problematic it becomes, encouraging us further to actually push things back.

To avoid associations of guilt by procrastinating it’s common to make excuses using unhelpful rules and assumptions that help justify putting things off For example, ‘I’m too tired’, ‘it’s too nice a day’, ‘I’m not in the mood’ or - the one I’m a sucker for - ‘I have plenty of time, I’ll do it later’. The issue here is that these unhelpful rules or assumptions often spark some kind of discomfort - fear, resentment, frustration, anxiety or depression, to name a few. The resulting procrastination then becomes a strategy to avoid this discomfort.

Some such assumptions linked to procrastination might be fear of failure, fear of disapproval or uncertainty, low self-confidence or esteem, seeking pleasure, low energy and stubbornness. With low self-confidence, for example, we might procrastinate on applying for a job or asking someone out on a date. So, by giving up or not trying, we avoid having to expose our supposed inabilities or inadequacies. The issue here is that although the relief from discomfort that procrastination provides might seem like a positive consequence, leaving you feeling good in the short term, it really only reinforces the behaviour and keeps the behaviour going. The negative consequences of procrastination, like shame and guilt, also reinforce the behaviour, making the task even more aversive and leaving procrastination as an attractive option.

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of changing negative behaviour by not only looking at our emotional state before the behaviour but also going back a step further to look at how and what we were thinking before the emotional state. Procrastination is like the

perfect storm, a low-pressure system continuing to build and close in. If we are prone to self-labelling in a self-defeating and negative way, procrastinating leaves us susceptible to condemning ourselves as inferior, sapping our confidence even further and letting it compound until we slip into depression. Once the procrastination cycle takes hold it’s easy to see how you can fall down the rabbit hole of automatically expecting little of yourself, allowing the unpleasant consequences of ‘do-nothingism’ to make your problems worse.

Of course, there are many other factors influencing why we procrastinate, and not all procrastination has bad outcomes, but it’s no real surprise to see how it can be linked to anxiety and depression. The good news is there’s much help available, particularly in the ‘self-help’ eHealth capacity that can help you identify the procrastination cycle and get you back on track.

To stop procrastinating, firstly we need to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and untrue assumptions, then come to terms with how such feelings promote discomfort (fear, for example).

Then we should recognise that such feelings can actually fuel procrastination. So, once we have detected this discomfort, the trick is to say, “I don’t like feeling this discomfort from fear; procrastination will only affirm it.” By actually doing the task, the fear starts to neutralise.

Motivation alone, however, is not always enough to change. By identifying and flipping negative thoughts about doing a task to positive thoughts, the ball will start rolling and we will find that action will spur motivation, which in turn spurs more action.

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

Words Jeremy Ireland

Photo Post Poned

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Addressing Homelessness in Our Community

Words Dr Marjorie O’Neill - Member for Coogee

I love my warm bed, and I really have to push myself on these cold mornings to roll back the sheets and get moving. My dog Hermes is even more reluctant to leave our warmish unit and join me for a morning walk, which includes passing other human beings who have not been as fortunate as most of us and who have spent the night on the street. Homelessness is a sad and growing problem in our society. In May this year, there were estimated to be about 2,037 people sleeping on the streets of NSW - a 26 per cent increase from 2023. Many more are sleeping rough on friends’ couches, in cars and the like.

Homelessness is a multifaceted issue affecting many communities worldwide. Understanding the factors contributing to this crisis is crucial for developing effective solutions. It is a terrible experience and a very poor reflection of a community. It is also a complex problem that’s not easy to fix. Homelessness is driven by a complex interplay of economic, social and personal factors. Addressing it requires a multifaceted approach that includes increasing affordable housing, providing robust support services and tackling underlying issues like domestic violence, mental health and substance abuse. Mental health problems are sadly too often a cause and consequence of homelessness. Individuals with untreated mental illnesses may struggle to maintain employment and housing stability. Once homeless, their mental health often deteriorates further due to the stress and instability of life on the streets. Access to mental health services is critical, yet many homeless individuals find these

services inaccessible due to systemic barriers or a lack of information. Many individuals experiencing homelessness need comprehensive wrap around support, including healthcare, legal assistance, job training and social services.

Domestic and family violence is a significant and often overlooked driver of homelessness. Victims, predominantly women and children, may flee abusive situations without a safe place to go. Shelters and temporary accommodation are often overcrowded and unable to meet the demand. In NSW, 18,255 people - 38 per cent of those seeking specialist homelessness services in 2022 to 2023reported family and domestic violence as the main reason they were seeking assistance, making it higher than any other category. Tragically, close to half of those were turned away because of a lack of accommodation support.

While these are just some of the factors that drive homelessness, the solutions to these problems require all levels of government, along with communities and not-for-profits working together. In its most recent budget, the NSW Government committed the single largest funding allocation towards social housing ever seen by a NSW Government. It is recognised that having a safe home is fundamental to a person’s well-being. The Minns Labor Government has taken an historic step to build more homes and set the state on a path to end homelessness, with significant investment in new social homes and increased support for people in crisis. A record $6.6 billion Social Housing and Homelessness Investment is being made as part of the Building Homes for NSW program.

Confronting the housing crisis requires a comprehensive plan. By funding new social homes and homelessness support services, we are assisting some of our most vulnerable, while alleviating pressure on the private market. This once in a generation program will directly build thousands of homes across our state to confront the housing crisis and rebuild our public housing system after a decade of neglect and will change the lives of the most vulnerable people in our community.

If we want to assist those dealing with homelessness then we need to support those governments and public policies that place a priority on addressing this unnecessary social problem. We are a prosperous country and our homeless deserve better. As we work towards the provision of much more public housing, we need to support and give thanks to those amazing organisations that are helping to make life on the streets a bit more bearable such as Jewish House, St Vincent de Paul, Youth Off The Streets and Wayside, just to name a few. If you know anyone that is experiencing homelessness or housing stress, please don’t hesitate to contact our office by calling 9398 1822 or sending an email to coogee@parliament.nsw.gov.au - we are here to help.

Photo Matt Talbot

There are over 2,000 rough sleepers in NSW.

C O N N E C T

W I T H C O O G E E

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Follow Dr Marjorie O’Neill MP on Instagram for the latest local news and send a DM if we can help with anything!

Alternatively, call the Coogee Electorate Office on 9398 1822 or email coogee@parliament.nsw.gov.au

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Protecting our people and places.

We Are Heading in the Right Direction on Climate TransitionLet’s Stay the Course

Many Australians are doing it tough right now. The cost of living is top of the agenda, and power bills are a significant part of that.

With so many pressing concerns, the opponents of climate action are arguing that climate action can wait, but in truth, reducing emissions and cutting power bills go hand in hand.

The jump in power and energy bills hurting Australians was caused by the spike in fossil fuel prices that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Coal prices went up 500 per cent between 2021 and 2022, and gas prices went up 400 per cent.

These fossil fuel prices are set by the international market and emphasise how urgently we need to escape from this fossil fuel trap.

No continent is as vulnerable to the impact of climate change as Australia, but no continent has the wealth of resources that Australia enjoys for the switch to renewable energy - Australia is the windiest and sunniest continent on earth.

A solar panel in Australia generates far more energy than

the same panel would in Europe or North America, and Australia’s rooftop solar provides the cheapest household electricity in the world.

The road to net zero is a longterm transition and there are plenty of challenges, but science is clear, and the economics is too - this is the path to follow.

Australia can reduce our climate pollution, lower household power bills and emerge from this transition as a renewable energy superpower. To do that, we need a well-planned transition, and we have to stay the course.

The Coalition is pushing for a radical shift to nuclear energy, but this option is too slow, too expensive and not suitable for Australia. The latest data from the CSIRO shows that large-scale nuclear costs in 2023 are around twice as expensive as firmed renewables, and small modular reactors are around three to five times as expensive.

With 90 per cent of our coal-fired power stations set to retire in the next decade, nuclear simply cannot be built in time to make a difference to ensuring energy reliability. The next ten

years are also crucial for our climate, and nuclear energy does not offer a timely solution.

The renewables path makes scientific sense, by reducing our carbon pollution, and economic sense, in terms of energy cost and economic opportunity.

I’ve been critical of the Albanese government for not moving as quickly as we could, but there has been some significant progress. This parliament has seen net zero legislated, fuel efficiency standards passed and record government investment into the transition to renewable energy. More renewable energy projects have been approved during the first two years of this parliament than in last nine years under the Coalition. In the last 12 months we have added more renewables to the grid, and we are seeing prices come down as a result.

South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT have already achieved over 80 per cent renewables, so we know it can be done. We do not have time to waste. Building clean industries in Australia will allow us to phase out coal and gas and tap into the significant economic opportunities that wind and solar power present.

If we execute our existing policies, we are on track to reduce climate pollution by 42 per cent by 2030 - within touching distance of our 43 per cent target. We are so close, and we must keep going for our kids and future generations. The opportunity of the renewable transition will protect our people and our places.

Australia has the best renewable resources in the world. We can’t miss the chance to seize this opportunity. Our journey towards a cleaner future is not without its challenges, but the benefits are far-reaching. We can transform Australia into a renewable energy superpower, reduce our climate pollution and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.

Words Allegra Spender - Member for Wentworth Photo Sunny Skye

Gigs are meant to be a bit loose.

The Unreliable Guide to... Not Being a Gig Git

Words Nat Shepherd Photo Matt Giteau

The Unreliable Guide went to a gig recently, and it got me thinking. Years ago, when I was a fresh-faced student with time and energy, I went to a great number of gigs - three a week on average. Nowadays, I probably don’t see more than half a dozen a year, maybe because the enjoyment of going to a gig can change as you get older.

You may no longer be prepared to sleep outside the venue all night in order to get a ticket (is that even a thing anymore?!). You might prefer a seat instead of crowd surfing the mosh pit. You may no longer have the patience to babysit a vomiting/tripping mate all night. Queues of more than ten minutes for the toilet may feel unreasonable.

Yes, other people can be irritating, but gigs are communal events and it’s important to accept this if we want to have a good time. With this in mind, I’ve decided to offer my tips and tricks on how not to be a gig git.

Space - The Final Frontier

At the recent Vivid Festival, the UK dance band Underworld

performed for three nights at the Opera House. We went to two of those nights and they were both bloody fantastic. Strangers were hugging in the foyer and almost every face was split with a grin as wide as the early nineties. Brilliant.

And it wasn’t all baggy-faced ravers either, there was a huge cross-section of fans, everything from wide-eyed twenties shifting sweet shapes to old-skool oldies jumping like they’d dropped 30 years on the way in. There was only one fly in this delicious ointment, on the second night, a middle-aged pr*ck next to me said, “I’ll f*cking sort you out, mate, if you don’t stop f*cking dancing”.

Did he not know Underworld is a dance band? Did he not hear the singer just say, “Dance with me Sydney”? Could he not see everyone else in the concert hall leaping about like electric monkeys? My little feet are made for dancing, so I swapped places with a kindly, well-built chap dancing on the other side of me. Moody Git didn’t dare pick on him, but still flinched every time anyone accidentally

brushed past him, bumped his chair or otherwise invaded the clear two metres of space he required as his cordon sanitaire. Everyone else was loved-up that night, but Moody Git didn’t want to be loved-up, down or sideways. He just wanted to video the event in peace. But why bother? Why not just wait for the special on Netflix and then watch it in isolated comfort, mate?

Dance Zones

But what can be done about this clash of expectations? Maybe venues need to provide a small, miserable-pr*ck zone away from everyone else so we can all enjoy the gig in our own way. The Enmore Theatre kind of does this with a mosh pit downstairs and a no-dancing area upstairs (although I believe that’s more down to a fear that the entire balcony might collapse and rain down bits of damp plaster and rotten wood onto the heads of the party people below).

Maybe venues could set up a small private bar with a TV showing the gig and provide the Moody Gits with a digital copy of the event at the end. Then they could sit in splendid isolation and leave all the cool kids to reach for the lasers. Or better still, venues could provide a warning that a gig is a communal event and there might be the potentially triggering need to interact politely with other people.

Finally, The Unreliable Guide suggests you don’t take your bad vibes into public spaces. If you are in a shitty mood, either stay at home or give yourself a stiff talking to (and/or a stiff gin and tonic). There’s no excuse for being a grumpy bastard and super-spreading your toxicity into the universe. Peace and love, mate.

Eastern Suburbs to Host Nuclear Reactors

Words Kieran Blake - kieranblakewriter.org Photo Cher Nobyl

Private schools of the Eastern Suburbs have been chosen to house Peter Dutton’s Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as they require the same amount of land and tax dollars to build and maintain.

According to the LNP, “SMRs are the Rolls Royce of energy generation and private schools are the Rolls Royce of education.”

Private schools will be gifted extra funding as well as permission to acquire land to accommodate the reactors, which Mr Dutton believes will satiate local hunger for a clean energy revolution.

“We could have powered the region with Elon Musk’s ego,” continued the statement, “but

that’s currently being shot into space.”

Private schools are considered a perfect source of power due to the enormous sense of entitlement among their students and the unbridled testosterone and toxic masculinity of the anachronistic bastions of male privilege.

Nuclear reactors also use copious amounts of water. Our local schools offer proximity to the ocean and impressive aquatic centres, as well as the tears of parents whose sons’ schools have started enrolling girls.

In addition, power will be generated on site from the kinetic energy of students tapping, liking, texting and swiping

during frenzied cyber bullying of their classmates, their ex or ‘some random chick I’ve never even met.’

Social media also forms the nexus of the most innovative feature of the plan, known as the Energy Loop.

The Loop harnesses the vitriol of comments posted on local community Facebook pages and feeds it surreptitiously into the reactors via the students’ social media accounts.

Undiluted anger will light thousands of homes as locals complain about restrictions on their dogs, traffic during school drop-off and the construction of a wind farm in a different time zone. The religious zealotry of comments regarding international conflicts will keep the aircon purring during summer, and in winter.

“We’ll keep you warm by burning a few Four Corners reporters,” promised the Coalition.

Construction of nuclear power stations in the East has attracted criticism. Some fear students could create nuclear weapons in the science lab, but the LNP replied, “That just makes The Scots College Cadet Unit annual camp a lot more exciting.”

Critics also cited nuclear waste as a reason to reject the proposal, but again the LNP allayed fears.

“Members of schools’ First XVs will take small bundles of waste home each weekend, and if they fail to dump it at Mount Druitt, they’ll lose their scholarships.”

The LNP also reminded residents that nuclear energy is renewable and sustainable.

“The mere mention of SMRs will renew the tenure of Green, Labor and Teal candidates, and will sustain the Facebook frenzy which powers Mr Dutton’s dream.”

Centennial Park cooling pond.

Chasing Rainbows

Rain cascaded down from the swollen sky, drumming into window panes on a frigid winter’s morning. A day acquainted with the gas heater and armed with a hot tea couldn’t have sounded any better, but our plans were slightly more adventurous than that. A quick phone call, the suggestion of a bakery pie and the promise of catching fish was all it took before we set off through the saturated Sydney streets and up into the hills.

Fuelled by steak and mushroom pies, we ditched the car and hiked in to the spot, trading the warm Hilux for icy Tablelands winds. At least we had escaped Sydney’s rain, even if it meant frozen fingers. The spot was quite unique, a dammed creek that had formed a few hectares of water that thousands of stocked trout now called home. With no boat access allowed, circumnavigating the body of water by foot while casting into the deep drop-offs was the approach. Fortunately for me, Ethan had spent a fair amount of time here and knew exactly what to do to spark the interest

of the fish. We cast small soft plastics with light line from the bouldery shore and it was only a matter of time before Ethan plucked a small rainbow trout out from beneath his feet. It all seemed easy enough, but with a face and hands that burned in the wind chill, even casting was a challenge. The water was gin clear, filtering light through to the depths to appear like an oversized aquarium.

After a few fishless hours of monotonous casting, we admittedly had lost the sharp focus we began fishing with. This was only until a huge rainbow trout the size of a small dog cruised past our feet sending us furiously casting to no avail. Soon after, Ethan landed his third fish for the day while I still had no points on the board.

I couldn’t help growing frustrated considering we were both seemingly doing exactly same thing. As the day wore on, the wind eased off and the light started to mellow, bringing fish up to sip at the surface for insects, each fracturing the perfectly calm surface. The arvo bite

was what we had come here for and I knew that my persistence would pay off eventually.

A few kilometres of walking, and some hundred casts later, and I finally felt the subtle but tell-tale tap at my lure. I quickly came tight to an acrobatic rainbow trout that swerved and squirmed as I manoeuvred it toward the shore to land it at my feet. It was by no means a trophy fish, but the satisfaction was well and truly there considering the four fishless hours I’d just endured. During the remaining minutes of fading light, we caught a handful of other fish, before hiking back to the car with two fresh trout ready for ice. After a parmy and beer at the local country pub, we descended back to the city, greeted once again by the incessant rain.

Ethan’s Famous Smoked Trout

1. Marinate the gilled and gutted fish in a brine of water, salt, honey, soy sauce, sriracha, garlic and thyme.

2. After marinating, remove the fish from the brine and rinse thoroughly under cold water.

3. Pat the fish dry with a paper towel, then place it uncovered on a drying rack in the refrigerator until the skin becomes tacky.

4. Preheat the smoker to 90°C using maple, alder or another mild wood chip.

5. Smoke the fish for 3-4 hours, or until the internal temperature of the fish reaches 63°C.

6. Serve with mayonnaise, dill and lemon sauce on a baguette and enjoy with your co-workers, friends or family.

Words and Photo Lewis Kennedy-Hunt

This rainbow trout couldn't resist Lewis' Zman Grubz.

It's hard to beat smoked trout.

August 2024 Tide Chart

Subject Crazy Clouds Location Bronte

Photographer Alara Gee Kee

Subject Shark Point Location Clovelly

Photographer Ben Barnes @benilyboodily

Subject The Observers Location Bronte

Photographer Patricia Ku Bernardo Fleming

Fresh Location

Subject Two's a Crowd Location Bondi

The Beast Magazine

Photographer Wil Larcombe @willarcombe

Subject

Bondi Photographer Wil Larcombe @willarcombe

Subject Currawong Location Bondi Junction Photographer Graeme Bogan

Subject The Great Splash Location Coogee Photographer Dominic Rowland

Subject King's Birthday Weekend Location Coogee Photographer Claudia Lovett

Subject Long Shadows Location Centennial Park

Photographer Juan A. Rojas

Subject Deep Purple Location Bondi Photographer Siiri Meyvogel

Warming Winter

Chorizo and Chicken Empanadas

Words Dana Sims Instagram @stone_and_twine

It seems like we’re going to be rugged up for a while, so what better time to share this tasty recipe for warming winter empanadas. I just started thinking about what was currently in the fridge - chorizo, chicken thighs, lots of veggies, and the obligatory packet of puff pastry.

It is absolutely necessary to inject flavour with stock, herbs and spices, and to build a flavourful sauce. And it’s a great way to use vegetables before they end up looking miserable in the crisper. The key is to get the puff browned and flaky and these things will be delicious!

This recipe will make 16 of these epic empanadas.

Ingredients

2 Spanish chorizo (hot)

3 chicken thigh fillets, fat trimmed, cut into a small dice

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1 leek, finely chopped

Kernels of 1 cob of corn

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped

3 sprigs thyme, leaves picked

1 red capsicum, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

½ cup chicken stock or bone broth

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs passata

Zest of 1 lemon

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbs plain flour

1 tbs olive oil

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

4 sheets puff pastry

1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200℃ fan forced.

2. In a large pan set to medium heat, add the olive oil. Into the pan add the potato, carrot, leek, capsicum and garlic. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes until starting to soften. Add in the chicken, chorizo, rosemary and thyme and stir to mix through.

3. After a further 3 minutes, add in the corn, stock, Worcestershire, passata, lemon zest, cayenne pepper and flour and stir well to combine all ingredients. Turn the heat down and let simmer for a further 15 minutes so the stock absorbs and the vegetables cook through. Season well with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

4. When the mixture is cooked, lay out the 4 sheets of puff pastry and allow to defrost a little. Cut approximately 12cm rounds into the pastry (you will get 4 per sheet). Place a tablespoon of the mixture into the centre of the pastry round, fold in half so the edges meet to create a semi circle and press the edges together. Gently press over the edges with a fork to give a nice edge and ensure the empanada is sealed.

5. Lightly brush each empanada with the egg wash. Place in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

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.

Ay Caramba!

HYAMS BEACH HEAVEN

The Boathouses at Hyams Beach offer the perfect place to escape from busy Sydney and recharge your batteries. Just an easy three-hour drive from the Eastern Suburbs, The Boathouses offer separate two-bedroom properties, available to be booked individually or as one. For more information or to book, please call 02 4411 7000 or email bookings@holidayscollection.com.au

MAILBOX DELIVERERS WANTED

The Beast

for

You'll need to be available for four or five days around the 18th to the 23rd of each

Locals over 45 years of age are preferred for this work, as the last 20 years has shown us that this is the only demographic capable of getting a job done properly from start to finish.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please email james@thebeast.com.au.

The Beast Supercross

ACROSS

1. Sheep-loving country (3,7)

7. Skeleton Coast country (7)

8. AI company (6)

9. Oesophagus (6)

10. Whether (2)

12. Flexible container (3)

14. Relating to the Andes (6)

15. Russian money (5)

16. Selenium (2)

17. Smeared with oil (8)

20. The ANU’s poorer cousin (1,1)

21. Coloured eye tissue (4)

23. Strip of leather (4)

24. Italian ‘the’ (2)

25. Bogan motor hobby (9)

Trivial Trivia

DOWN

1. One thousand-millionth of a gram (8)

2. English tennis town (9)

3. Symbolic (10)

4. Not fat (4)

5. Women’s clothing brand (4,1)

6. Religious salespeople (11)

11. Unrestricted (4)

12. Pommie

ABC (1,1,1)

13. ... Pacino, (2)

16. Look fixedly (5)

17. Cain’s brother (4)

18. Exposes someone ’ s secrets (4)

19. Italian ‘of’ (2)

22. Long, narrow inlet (3)

23. Enjoys best of both world’s (2)

1. What landlocked mountainous state is the smallest state in the USA?

2. Which continent doesn’t have a desert?

3. What organ’s capacity is measured by a spirometer?

4. What city had the first underground train line?

5. Which planet has the biggest moon?

6. Which country has the harp as its national emblem?

7. What was the first toy adver-

tised on television?

8. What is the fastest selling non-fiction book of all time?

9. What is the name of the Islamic month of fasting?

10. What is an adult female sheep called?

Diamond Bay Cockatoo.

Words Lisa Anderson Photo Olivia Furniss-Roe

Ezra

Genre Drama, Comedy

Reviewer Linda Heller-Salvador

In Ezra, the fierce force of a parent’s love conquers all. Screenwriter Tony Spiridakis (Greenport) has drawn inspiration from his personal experience to create an insightful and humorous comedy-drama portraying the struggles, joys and heartache two people experience while co-parenting their energetic autistic son.

Max (Bobby Cannavale), a struggling standup comedian, and his ex-wife Jenna (Rose Byrne) disagree on parenting techniques for their intelligent yet autistic son Ezra (William Fitzgerald). When Max becomes increasingly frustrated and angry over the constant butting of heads, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, he has a record of bad decision-making and, although this one is supposed to be an adventurous yet ‘unscheduled’ road trip, it actually lands both him and Ezra in a heap of trouble.

Ezra, by its nuanced and heartfelt storytelling, reinforces the need for destigmatising autism. As the film’s director Tony Goldwyn (Conviction) stated, “It's about celebrating the fact that what makes us powerful is our uniqueness and our differentness.”

JOHNNY CASH Songwriter

Label Columbia Records

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

What the? A new Johnny Cash album? Isn’t he dead? Yes, he is. Songwriter is a collection of demos recorded in 1993 that have been posthumously fleshed out with a full band. An interesting concept, yes, and one that initially intrigued me, but having listened to it, now feels like a grubby little cash grab. I dare say Johnny Cash never released these songs because they’re not very good and he knew it. You don’t go through a man’s underwear draw after he’s dead. Rather, you avert your gaze as you pour the dirty magazines and odd socks in the skip bin.

TOWA BIRD

American Hero

Label Interscope Records

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

It’s always a red flag when you search a musician and the first thing that comes up is a Vogue article. Towa Bird is Gen Z’s Joan Jett apparently. I don’t know about that, but from the opener, ‘Intro’, it is clear she definitely shreds. Weird that she doesn’t really do too much more on the album though, apart from a few safe dabbles here and there. It’s a shame, because her guitar playing is clearly the thing that could elevate American Hero from a fun but completely forgettable album, to an album someone might recommend in a completely forgettable review.

HOCKEY DAD Rebuild Repeat

Label BMG Rights Management

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

Hockey Dad is the best thing out of Windang since... well, heck, Hockey Dad may just be the best thing out of Windang ever. Now four albums deep, they’re all grown up, and it shows. Rebuild Repeat is by far their most seasoned release yet. There is more than a dash of salt here - we have been served a delicate dish with a hint of herbs and a splash of spice, slow cooked to perfection. A lot of the noise around Rebuild Repeat has been its lack of exactly that - noise - but it’s plenty noisy if you ask me, they’ve just embraced a more nuanced way to bash and crash.

Star Signs

Visions Beardy from Hell

Libra Sep 24-Oct 23

Exercise extreme caution while eating a carrot this month. In fact, be careful when involved in any dealings with carrots.

Scorpio Oct 24-Nov 22

You can’t claim to be suffering from seasonal affective disorder when you’re a miserable prick all year round.

Sagittarius Nov 23-Dec 21

You spend so much time and energy thinking up ways of avoiding work that it’d be easier just to do the work.

Capricorn Dec 22-Jan 20

Your sudden concern for the environment is about as convincing as the time you pretended to care about refugees.

Aquarius Jan 21-Feb 19

If you make a point without making a new enemy, then you haven’t really made the point

Pisces Feb 20-Mar 20

No matter how much you fiddle around, you won’t be able to get your downstairs section into a comfortable position.

Aries Mar 21-Apr 20

The number one sign of a healthy relationship is zero evidence of it online, so please stop oversharing.

Taurus Apr 21-May 21

If you’re still doing your fair share of housework, you really need to learn the dark art of weaponised incompetence.

Gemini May 22-Jun 21

By the time you accumulate enough money to live the life you’ve aspired to, you’ll be way too old to enjoy it.

Cancer Jun 22-Jul 22

Start showing more appreciation for the people who tolerate you. It is not an easy task, even for the most patient person.

Trivial Trivia Solutions

DID YOU KNOW?

SOFT PLASTICS CAN

NOT GO IN THE FOGO OR YELLOW BIN

Plastic bags can be recycled at the Randwick Recycling Centre or disposed of in your red lid bin.

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