The Beast's Monthly Mailbag Words The Wonderful People of the Eastern Suburbs DUNCAN'S RANT RESPONSE Waverley Council has had an Outdoor Public Space Management Plan in place for many months to ensure compliance with the relevant public health orders and to help keep the community COVID-safe. This plan includes additional staffing, signage and communications as well as working closely with the police, Transport for NSW, NSW Health and neighbouring Councils to ensure our open spaces remain open for the safe enjoyment of our community. At Bronte Park on Christmas Day, as in previous years, Council rostered additional rangers and paid for additional police on public holidays over the busy summer period to ensure compliance with the alcohol prohibited areas. The no alcohol areas are clearly signed and have been communicated extensively through traditional and social media. Despite this, a crowd of approximately 2-300 people gathered during the afternoon at Bronte Park and additional police were called in to ensure the crowd was safely dispersed. For New Year’s Eve, following discussions with the police, additional measures were implemented including turning 12 The Beast February 2021
off the barbecues and fencing off picnic huts and Biddigal Reserve for the evening. In regard to the Bronte Cutting Safety Upgrade, Council has a duty of care to ensure the safety of the over 1 million pedestrians who use the cutting annually. Two thorough community consultations have been conducted, most recently in November-December 2020. Paula Masselos Mayor of Waverley COOGEE BEACH PA SYSTEM STILL A PUBLIC NUISANCE 6.58am, New Year’s Eve: a lifeguard, with his megawatt PA, tells one surfer that he/she is in the wrong bit of water. But at least 20,000 other people in Coogee’s amphitheatre shaped valley - many still (until then) blissfully sleeping - are forced to eavesdrop. Did the ‘emergency use only’ tag on the microphone switch fall off again? Peter Coogee TRUMP, SEX AND SCOMO In Jeremy Ireland’s most recent article (Delusions of Grandeur, The Beast, January 2021), he says, “Trump is a unique individual.” Well, aren’t we all? Ireland also claims, “In all fairness… we really know Trump
through the media.” In all fairness, fairness is not a concept that Trump comprehends or practises. Yet we know Trump from his own words. Through his 25,000 tweets (reported by CNN), he communicates directly with his devotees - the poorly educated. In his congressional testimony, Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, said that Trump is a racist, a conman, and a cheat. There is also a video in which Trump - the man himself boasts of grabbing women by the p*ssy. Finally, in ‘the worst seconds of my life’, Stormy Daniels reports that Trump only had one position. What a dick. Trump is the man who recently gave our esteemed Scomo a medal, a tellingly labelled Legion of Merit. Yet there is no merit, sexually or otherwise. But it fits the bill. When 70 world leaders met in December last year to celebrate five years of the Paris Climate Agreement, the merit boys Trump and Scomo - were not even invited. Trump and Scomo are isolated with a use-by-date of January 2021 for Trump and mid-2022 for Scomo. Until then, we Australians can enjoy a prime minister colorfully decorated with a merit medal for his performance, outstanding services and achievements, as it says on the medal’s box. And some people say that Australians do not get irony. They do! Thomas Klikauer Coogee WAVERLEY MOTORCYCLE PARKING If I am to now pay the same rate for my motorcycle as a car for metered street parking, then I will park it parallel to the kerb and take up as much space as I possibly can. Simple! Gavin Kleinhans Bondi Beach
