CITY HUB March 2024

TANYA PLIBERSEK MP

Federal Member for Sydney

No Australian government has done more for the environment and climate than the Albanese Labor Government.

Here’s our top 20 achievements.

1. Strong laws to force big polluters to cut emissions so Australia gets to net zero by 2050.

2. Approval of enough renewables to power 2.5 million homes and on track to deliver 82 per cent renewables by 2030.

3. Setting up Australia’s first national Environment Protection Agency.

4. Protecting an extra 40 million hectares of Australian ocean and bush – an area bigger than Germany.

5. Fixing the Liberal Party’s broken environment laws.

6. First environment minister in Australian history to block a coal mine.

7. Better protecting our threatened species, including cracking down on the feral animals and weeds killing our native flora and fauna with a $500 million investment.

8. Logging to be regulated by national environment laws, for the first time ever.

9. Rescuing the Murray-Darling Basin Plan – delivering an extra 180,000 Olympic swimming pools of water to help stop rivers dying, with 10,500 Olympic pools of water flowing back in 2024 so far.

10. $1 billion to boost recycling capacity by over one million tonnes a year, including soft plastics - driving a recycling jobs boom.

11. $200 million to restore rivers and waterways in our cities, transforming concrete drains into natural creeks with plants and animals.

12. $150 million to deliver clean drinking water to remote First Nations communities.

13. $1.2 billion to protect the Great Barrier Reef and doubling the funding for the marine scientists who look after it.

14. Pushing for World Heritage listing for Murujuga, Cape York, Flinders Ranges, West Kimberley, the Parramatta Female Factory, and Victorian and Broken Hill Trades Halls.

15. Doubling national park funding, including Kakadu, UluṟuKata Tjuta and Booderee, and adding 10 new Indigenous Protected Areas.

16. A world first Nature Repair Market – to supercharge investment in nature, without the greenwashing.

17. Expanding the water trigger to ensure all new gas developments consider the impact on water.

18. Strong new laws to protect the ozone layer.

19. Halving food waste by 2030 – saving 4.6 million tonnes of food and avoiding around 9 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

20. Stronger rules on packaging, electronic waste and solar panels, with fashion, tyres and mattress producers on notice to reduce waste.

We’re committed to protecting more of what’s precious, repairing more of what’s damaged, and managing nature better for our kids and grandkids.

Sunset at Sunny’s:

beloved cafe at children’s hospital closes (See p. 8)

HubARTS: Biennale

Ten Thousand Suns and almost 100 artists . (See p.27)

PUBLISHED

14 MARCH 2024

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Outrage is spreading amongst the community for mounting death tolls at the greyhound racetrack. Photo: Juhku, Shutterstock

BY GRACE JOHNSON

A

nother greyhound death earlier this month has intensified calls for the closure of Wentworth Park, a notoriously dangerous racetrack.Two-year-old Oceanside was euthanised on March 2, a Saturday night, after suffering fractures, the second death in only a fortnight.

83 greyhounds have been injured on racetracks since the beginning of 2024.

Outrage at the increasing toll of greyhound deaths and injuries is spreading amongst the inner Sydney community, who want to see the racetrack closed down before the lease expiry in 2027.

Director of the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG) Kylie Fields is calling for an end to the cruelty, saying “How many more dogs will die and be maimed by 2027?”

“Wentworth Park shows all that is wrong with greyhound racing,” she continued.

“It is supposed to be one of the safest tracks in the country, upgraded with public funds.”

In an effort to promote safety, the racetrack has reportedly been trialling the double-arm lure, which is designed to prevent greyhounds bunching together as they pursue a single lure, but to no avail.

“But dogs keep dying and suffering while the big gambling companies rack up their profits,” said Ms Fields.

“The inner Sydney community is sick of seeing young dogs suffer. Greyhound racing has no future at Wentworth Park and the sooner it closes the better,” she asserted.

LABOR’S PLAN FOR THE RACETRACK

The previous government committed to ending dog racing at Wentworth Park when the licence expires in 2027 and planned to convert it into shared green space.

The Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association, which runs Wentworth Park, agreed to leave upon the lease expiry, but now they are saying the former Coalition government left office without an alternative being finalised.

 This cruelty simply cannot be allowed to continue 

The association no longer wants to leave, saying the cost of a new site would be around $100 million.

“Wentworth Park is the ideal place. We’ve invested many millions of dollars in that facility,” said chief executive Rob Macaulay.

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has said it would be “bitterly disappointing” if the current Labor government backed down from converting the park into green space for the community’s use.

The Lord Mayor has been a long-term proponent of removing greyhound racing from Wentworth Park and the City, saying her council had begun developing a master plan for the precinct.

“Wentworth Park sits in the middle of one of the most densely populated

neighbourhoods in Australia and is dominated by a greyhound racing track,” she said.

“This parkland should be for the benefit of the community, not an industry that has admitted to killing up to 17,000 healthy dogs each year, has been shown to live-bait, and causes problem gamblers real suffering.”

Animal Justice Party upper house member Emma Hurst said, “It is absolutely reprehensible that the Minns Government is considering backflipping on the decision to close this racetrack.”

“Omega Texas and Oceanside were killed for gambling profits and if Minister Kamper signs an extended lease to allow Wentworth Park to remain a greyhound racing track, many other dogs will die too.”

“NO JUSTIFICATION”

NSW Lands and Property Minister

Steve Kamper had said in a budget estimates hearing on February 20 that the government was reconsidering the future of the site, including “the continuity of some form of racing … whether it will close and what form it could take”.

Ms Hurst said there was no justification for keeping this track open except to appease the racing and gambling lobby groups.

“Dogs are being killed on this dangerous race track, and there will continue to be deaths and high injury rates if the Minister Kamper chooses to extend their lease on Crown Land,” she said.

“This cruelty simply cannot be allowed to continue – Wentworth Park racetrack must be shut down.”

Protest against police brutality ends in violent clash

BY GRACE JOHNSON

Asnap rally against police brutality saw protestors clash with police officers in Sydney, just hours after a peaceful vigil for gay couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

Activist group Pride in Protest organised the rally, which took place on Oxford Street the night before Mardi Gras and saw over 300 people attend.

Police say it was an “unauthorised protest” and that “the crowd were directed to move onto the footpath”, but videos have surfaced of officers aggressing the protestors.

In a statement, the group said “police officers formed lines, and began

pushing, hitting, and threatening people.”

Evan van Zijl from Pride in Protest told City Hub that “police violence, intimidation and threats are not new to queer and Blak peoples.”

“The people who threatened to kill one of us if ‘we tried it’ tonight are the people who march in the parade.”

POLICE BRUTALITY CONTINUES

“We saw cops hitting and shoving our friends and chosen family,” they continued. “We saw a police officer grab our friend, a trans woman, by her throat. We heard officers threatening to pepper spray a stationary, non-violent crowd.”

“We sustained countless scrapes, cuts and bruises at the hands of these police officers, but are called unreasonable for asking that they not be invited to march with us in Mardi Gras tomorrow.”

 Police have shown us time and time again that they are not our friends 

Member and former Board Director Wei said “Police have shown us time and time again that they are not our friends, they don’t protect our community, rather they abuse and put some of our

most vulnerable community members in direct harm.”

The activist group has long campaigned for police to be barred from marching in the Mardi Gras parade.

Tensions have flared between the LGBTIQ community and police since a senior constable was charged for murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with a police-issued gun.

The backflip decision of the Mardi Gras board to allow police to march out of uniform in the parade has been a further “betrayal” for many members of the community.

On the night of the protest, after a peaceful vigil for Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, speakers moved to Oxford Street to continue speeches.

Speeches highlighted “the systemic, institutional violence perpetrated by police and the carceral system against queer and First Nations communities” and called for a defunding and disarming of the police.

Police have not yet implemented any recommendations of the Sackar inquiry into LGBT+ hate crimes or the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deaths in Custody.

NSW Police at the snap rally organised by Pride in Protest. Photo: Mark Dickson

Commissioner apologises to families of LGBTQ hate crimes

BY SHIBU THOMAS

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has issued an apology to families of victims of antigay and anti-trans hate crimes in the state, months after a damning report highlighted the police’s failure to properly investigate those crimes.

“To the victims and families that NSW Police failed by not adequately and fairly

investigating those deaths between 1970 and 2010, I am sorry. I apologise for the gaps in those investigative processes where records and exhibits were lost or not examined with enough rigour,” Webb said.

A special commission headed by Supreme Court Justice John Sackar looked into suspected gay and trans hate deaths, some of which had remained unsolved for over 40 years. The commission looked at around 34 suspected gay and trans hate deaths and recommended that the NSW Police commissioner order a fresh inquiry into four suspected gay hate deaths.

COMMUNITY NEEDS MEANINGFUL ACTION

In its report, released in December 2023, the commission said NSW Police and in particular its Unsolved Homicide Team had “much to reflect on with respect to their attitudes to hate crimes against the LGBTIQ community”. and their capacity to solve cold cases more generally.”

The commission made around 19 recommendations including asking the police to continuously monitor DNA evidence for fresh leads in unsolved cases, review the practices, procedures and training for its unsolved homicide team and LGBTQI bias training for police officers.

That apology must be accompanied by meaningful action

The commissioner issued the apology on February 25, a day after she attended ‘Sunrise Service of Reflection‘, an event to commemorate the victims and survivors of homophobic and transphobic violence at the Rise Memorial at Marks Park in Tamarama. Directly addressing Webb, ACON President Justin Koonin pointed to the “systemic failures within the NSW police system” that had “prevented justice for decades.”

“We would also welcome an apology for the conduct of police from 1970 up to the present day… but that apology must be accompanied by meaningful action,” Koonin said.

In her apology, Webb said she recognised that “the investigation failings highlighted by the Special Commission of Inquiry (SCOI) report have resulted in enduring hurt for many. They do not represent the standards the community expects of us, and we expect of ourselves.”

Webb acknowledged “the increased suffering experienced by victims and their families where the crimes were motivated by bias against members of the LGBTIQ community.”

“I assure the LGBTIQ community that under my leadership, NSW Police will use these lessons to continue to improve the way it serves all members of the community with respect, fairness, and inclusivity,” said Webb, adding, “The mistakes of the past will not define our future.”

NSW Labor must work with local councils to deliver genuinely affordable housing

As rental affordability plummets to its lowest in 17 years and demand surges for homelessness services, the Minns NSW Labor Government has proposed a raft of planning changes that they purport will help solve the housing crisis.

Under the proposed changes, vast swathes of land near transport infrastructure would be rezoned to enable the development of low- to midrise housing, and the rights of local councils to refuse development applications within these areas significantly restricted. There would be no minimum requirements for affordable housing in any of these developments.

Meanwhile, the Transport Oriented Development program would see stateled rezonings to allow high-rise development near 39 train and metro stations, which could contain as little as 2% affordable housing.

The Greens know that co-locating new housing with infrastructure is crucial to

fostering well-connected, thriving communities.

From the cities to the regions, people should be able to live in well-planned areas with ample public and accessible green space, public and affordable housing, health and community resources, and reliable transport links. Delivering this vision will take carefully considered strategic planning - not wholesale rezoning of the nature proposed by NSW Labor.

Instead of rushing through planning changes that will make it easier for developers to bypass local councils and build big without any requirements for genuinely affordable housing, the Minns NSW Labor Government should work constructively with local councils and communities, who are best-placed to identify appropriate locations for increased housing density.

Confected debates between elected politicians at different levels of government won’t help the woman sobbing in the rental line with 60

other people trying to find a place to live, nor the elderly public housing tenant facing his lifelong home being demolished.

Our communities need a strategic, well thought out approach to increasing housing supply and a massive increase in public and genuinely affordable housing - which NSW Labor could achieve by mandating at least 30% affordable housing in all developments.

Read our joint submission with Sue Higginson MLC, NSW Greens Planning spokesperson, to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure on the planning changes here:

Jenny Leong MP Greens Member for Newtown

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb.

Photo: Dan Himbrechts, AAP

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Nominations close Tuesday 19th March.

Beloved cafe at children’s hospital to close

BY GRACE JOHNSON

For over two decades, Sunny’s Cafe at the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick has been a source of comfort and respite for medical staff and the families of sick children.

But now, the beloved cafe is facing closure with a phased withdrawal of their lease, leaving staff with an uncertain future.

Located inside the High Street entrance of the hospital, the cafe is run by the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF), who made an announcement in the staff intranet that they were considering closing the cafe.

The reason for the closure is unknown, but the foundation has said that running the cafe is no longer financially viable - it will likely be replaced with a commercial entity.

The loss would be a devastating blow not only to staff, but to all the hospital workers and visitors that rely on the cafe as a place to relax and recharge in an otherwise stressful environment.

“A MONUMENTAL LOSS TO US ALL”

On February 6, the SCHF made an announcement to all hospital staff in the intranet that they were considering the phased closure of the cafe by the end of the financial year.

Sari Jurie, who has worked at the hospital for almost a decade, sent an email, which was set up during the consultation period, urging the foundation to reconsider closing the cafe.

“To close Sunny’s Café will not only be a monumental loss to us all, but it will say a lot about the service not offered at Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick,” she wrote.

In response, the SCHF said, “We are really proud that Sunny’s has played such an important role in the SCHF community over the past 20 years and this has been a really difficult decision for us.”

Though the foundation cannot decide to shut the cafe, they are withdrawing their lease, leaving the fate of the cafe to future operators.

In the email, SCHF said they are “very good at fundraising, less so at operating a café.”

“Over the past 4 years SCHF has raised over a quarter of a billion dollars for the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, which has funded clinical care, research,

patient experience, new buildings and equipment in the Network.”

“The reality is that very little of this fundraising revenue comes from the cafe.”

The email went on to say that the foundation is actually having to divert resources from fundraising to keep the cafe operational with rising food and staff costs.

But the cafe’s last financial statement reportedly showed over a million dollars in profits, despite trying to keep food costs as affordable as possible for patrons.

The foundation declined to comment in response to City Hub inquiries.

UNQUANTIFIABLE VALUE

Far from the cold offerings of packages sandwiches and commercial muffins, Sunny’s offers hot meals made in-kitchen in addition to regular items like burgers. Specials change daily and include comfort foods like Malaysian laksa, Thai curries, Japanese katsu chicken and a range of Indian dishes, catering to the multicultural community of the hospital.

Sari from the hospital told City Hub that the cafe’s value cannot be quantified. “Sunny’s gives families a place they can go where they can have respite from their appointments,” she said.

“It’s a place where they can relax, and enjoy their food and coffee in a welcoming space.”

The location on the ground floor of the hospital is especially important for patients in wheelchairs or attached to

intravenous (IV) poles, or who have had medical infusions or chemotherapy. Such patients might not be able to leave the grounds, and their families and visitors are often in need of a quick bite to eat.

Staff at Sunny’s have built strong relationships with hospital workers and families alike - frontline staff Louise, Ekkie and Irene know all the regulars’ orders by heart.

Diana Mailata has been a regular at Sunny’s Cafe since her son was born at the Royal Women’s Hospital next door.

 This is the kind of place where you go to take your mind off things

A “frequent flier” (a term used jokingly between hospital regulars), Diana has been going to Sunny’s since 2016, when her son Harvey was born 26 weeks premature and diagnosed with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. Arthrogryposis means a child has been born with joint contractures, meaning they cannot move their joints much and may even be stuck in one position.

“This is the kind of place where you go to take your mind off things,” she told City Hub, “when there’s appointment after appointment, when you’re getting medical jargon thrown at you and long waiting times, here is where you can let your brain rest for a second.”

“The staff at the cafe are always smiling

and bubbly, there’s a lot of laughter and joy here, no matter what’s going on in your life or with your child,” she continued. “It’s not going to be the same without it.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR SUNNY’S

Now that the foundation says profits from Sunny’s aren’t enough to justify continuing to run the cafe, the SCHF will begin the phased withdrawal of their retail lease over the next four months. This is supposedly to give the hospital enough time to source a new cafe operator.

In their initial correspondences, the foundation said they were “considering” the phased withdrawal of their lease and “consulting” with their staff in the interim about the “proposed change”.

But City Hub can confirm that staff had already been offered redundancies, even during the consultation period.

In an email to Sari, the foundation said Sunny’s will move to a “light service model” in March, providing sandwiches, salads, snacks, and coffee.

“Now the decision has been made, the Network will seek expressions of interest from operators as well as seek extended hours of operation to improve the offerings,” the email said.

Since then, Sari has begun a petition on change.org with the goal of 10,000 signatures before May.

The foundation does great work, she said, but she’s still hoping the petition will persuade them to consider keeping the cafe open, for the good of everyone at the hospital.

Staff at Sunny’s Cafe at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. Photo: Supplied

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Sydney councillor pushes for more affordable housing

BY JASMINE SIMMONS

In an effort to combat the ongoing housing crisis, a Sydney councillor has pushed for councils to be able to require developers to build affordable housing on-site.

Currently, the NSW Government largely controls whether and how local councils can require affordable housing to be built in new developments.

Despite the City of Sydney having one of the most comprehensive affordable housing strategies of any council in Australia, housing affordability in the

Local Government Area (LGA) continues to go backwards and is projected to worsen unless there are major changes.

In the City of Sydney council meeting held on February 19, Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore asked the council for power to force developers to build affordable housing in new developments.

“This is not a hard change to make. It is straightforward,” Cr Ellsmore told City Hub According to Cr Ellsmore, the NSW Government would be required to grant the City of Sydney Council permission to

update planning rules under the Local Environmental Plan.

This would ensure that developers are restricted to building only affordable housing under the Council’s rule.

“Most people think Council already has this power – we don’t, but we could have, if we update our rules, and the State Government agrees,” stated Cr Ellsmore. Developers currently pay a small affordable housing contribution of 1-3 per cent in the City when working on a development.

Cr Ellsmore said that “if we were in other international cities like London, the Council would force the developers to build the affordable housing, and it wouldn’t just be 3 per cent, it would be 25 per cent.”

PUSH FOR COUNCIL CONTROL

Cr Ellsmore addresses in the motion that the council should have control over how the contributions are paid and what they should be used towards.

“Often getting the contribution in the form of buildings is a much better deal for the city,” said Cr Ellsmore.

“It means housing goes up fast. Importantly, it also ensures a better

diversity of incomes for the future tenants in the development. We want that.”

With Sydney currently being one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, existing public, social, and affordable housing needs to be protected or otherwise accessible to people on low and middle incomes.

 The affordable housing crisis is urgent. Now isn’t the time to be moving slowly

“Ideally, we want all developments to include some affordable housing,” said Cr Ellsmore.

“We want communities to have a good mix of people, and especially when lots of new apartments are being built, some of them at least should be affordable.”

The motion outcome saw the Lord Mayor and Liberal councillors vote to defer the discussion surrounding planning for affordable housing.

“The affordable housing crisis is urgent,” said Cr Ellsmore. “Now isn’t the time to be moving slowly.”

Palace Verona: another death on Oxford Street

BY ALEX DRISCOLL

Palace Cinemas announced that on February 14, it would be closing the doors to its longstanding and iconic Palace Verona location on Oxford Street after 28 years. This would be followed by the opening of a new location in Moore Park. It is the latest of many Oxford Street locations to either shut its doors or relocate.

In a statement provided to City Hub, Palace Cinemas stated that this would be “a bittersweet farewell to its beloved Verona Cinema”, with CEO Benjamin Zeccola highlighting that this is “a beautiful full-circle moment”, with the location having “opened its doors on Valentine’s Day 28 years ago”.

For its final showing, Palace Verona ran a special screening of Finnish film Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki and rewarded patrons with a glass of champagne as well as an invitation to the opening of their Moore Park location.

The closure of this local institution, however, is just the latest in a series of iconic and established venues along Oxford Street closing down or

re-locating out of what used to be one of Sydney’s premier nightlife spots, contributing to a growing identity crisis.

City Hub reported in late 2022 that 45 shopfronts along Oxford Street were closed due to a combination of COVID-19 and the harsh lockout laws under the previous LNP Coalition Government. Residents and business owners have also expressed vocal opposition to a proposed cycle path, which some claim will only damage the viability of local businesses further.



The latest in a series of iconic and established venues along Oxford Street closing down

Increased instances of homophobic attacks, including an incident involving reality TV star David Subritzky which left him with a bloody lip after being called a homophobic slur, have also contributed to fears of Oxford Street losing its identity. A worrying trend in what is supposed to be one of the world’s most iconic Gaybourhoods,

some have citied the opening of Noir, a non-LGBTQI nightclub, and the closure of venues in the nearby Kings Cross as the reasons for attracting a new hostile crowd. A petition has been created by locals to have Noir shut down due to a number of queer-phobic incidents, citing it as a threat to public safety. While the relocation of Palace Cinemas

Verona is hardly linked to growing instances of homophobia along Oxford Street, it is still part of a worrying trend. Though the City of Sydney have expressed their desire to revitalise Oxford Street and maintain its cultural identity, the closure of this local institution to some may feel like yet another chapter in the story of Oxford Street’s slow demise.

Verona Cinema on Oxford Street in Paddington closed on February 14. Photo: Four Square

Turf Wars: Inner West debates artificial grass

BY GRACE JOHNSON

Aturf war has surfaced over the Inner West Council’s push to replace grass with a synthetic sporting field, amidst rising community concern about introducing plastic into the environment and potential health impacts.

With the Minn’s Labor government agreeing to provide an additional $20 million to the council for Rozelle Parklands, the council is now deciding which nearby park will receive an ‘allweather’ surface, which are synthetic sports pitches constructed in artificial grass.

But community groups and councillors alike have said there’s been a lack of information regarding the possible options, rendering it difficult to make an informed decision.

All-weather surfaces have become increasingly popular in recent years, with sports clubs saying artificial turfs can be used more frequently and more intensively. But installing artificial turf can be controversial - scheduling more training sessions in local parks puts pressure on roads and parking.

Research has shown that artificial turf with rubber crumbing can also cause significant damage to the environment and the health of the local community. The synthetic material can release microplastics, heavy metals and other toxins into local waterways. Players can pick up particles and toxins from synthetic turf on their clothes and skin. When the field needs to be replaced, large amounts of plastic end up in landfill.

Dr Amanda Cohn told Parliament earlier in February that “natural turf maintains low surface temperatures even on hot days due to cooling by evapotranspiration and low thermal mass”, noting that extreme heat caused by synthetic turf can cause heat-related illnesses.

Artificial grass can get twice as hot as natural turf. One synthetic field in Sydney was measured at 88 degrees Celsius, despite outside temperatures being only 28 degrees.

Falling on these surfaces can cause second- or third-degree burns and pose significant health issues particularly for children, being closer to the ground. Heat emanates from synthetic fields, in addition to the heat that players experience directly from the sun and physical exertion.

Garnet Brownbill from the Natural Turf Alliance told City Hub that a huge part of the problem is the lack of understanding.

“All the councils we’ve spoken to, all the community groups we’ve spoken to, the

football associations, very few of them seem to be knowledgeable about the heat, none of them seem to know about the plastics issues,” he said.

“None of that information is given to them.”

“UNFORTUNATE” COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

Inner West Council’s recent community consultation, which ended on Sunday February 18, asked residents to rank in order of preference which park they’d like to have an all-weather sporting field installed.

The options were Waterfront Drive in Callan Park, Leichhardt Oval no.2, Easton Park, and Balmain Road playing field (Callan Park). Not having a synthetic field was not one of them.

 None of them seem to know about the plastics issues 

To City Hub, Friends of Callan Park president Hall Greenland called it “a rather unfortunate piece of public consultation, smuggled in over Christmas and New Year, and lacking in real choices.”

“There does appears to be a rush to a decision,” he added.

It seems now that the council is moving towards a hybrid solution, which can be up to 95 per cent natural grass.

Independent councillor John Stamolis told City Hub that despite the Mayor having “a bucket of cash he wants to splash around”, and the issue becoming “a matter of expedience”, hybrid turf is a plausible option.

“There are tiers of priority,” he said. “If we can’t have an authentic turf, then hybrid is the next option. Plastic should be absolutely last.”

He also acknowledged that synthetic

turfs don’t allow dogs on the surface and excludes some sports.

Mr Greenland said, “It’s the least worst option and obviously much better than the full plastic treatment. But it does leave the question of the other fields.”

SUPPORT FROM THE FOOTBALL COMMUNITY

Those from the football community are largely in favour of a hybrid turf.

Paul Avery, President of the Balmain & District Football Club (BDFC), told City Hub that with the current natural turfs fields, they are losing valuable playing time and having to turn away prospective players for want of available fields.

“The grass playing fields are closed every Monday for rest and maintenance, said Mr Avery.

“So that’s 52 days a year that those fields are not available for use. And that has a big impact when we have such a chronic shortage of playing fields in the northern area of the LGA.”

He also said that “plastic grass” has become a useful phrase to inspire fear in the community.

“A lot of the information that circulates is based on old style synthetic fields from 20 years ago which used to use a rubber crumb, inlay and those types of things. But the technology has actually come a long way since then,” he said.

“With hybrid grass, there’s a real opportunity there to give the community what it needs,” he continued. “We have over 3000 players and that’s growing, and we are having to turn away players lleft, right, and centre at the moment.”

The club has seen a huge increase in women and girls wanting to play sport following the Matildas success, he said, but a lot of girls have had to be put on the waitlist.

In a heated debate in the local community’s Facebook group, some users accused Mr Avery of being self-interested.

Others were concerned that the needs of the football community were being placed above those of the local community.

Mr Brownbill told City Hub, “If you look at Lambert Park, Fraser Park, Arlington Oval, those fields aren’t really used by community for social support.”

“A lot of councils and councillors say they’re increasing the field usage by putting in plastic grass. But the reality is, an open turf field, you get 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anyone and everyone can walk on those fields. So they’re actually reducing the hours of utilisation,” he continued.

Echoing Mr Avery’s concern that the term ‘plastic grass’ was being used to instil fear in the community, in the recent council meeting, Mayor Darcy Byrne told council, “I think some of the descriptions that have been promulgated about plastic grass is deliberately incendiary.”

The mayoral minute noted the advocacy and submissions from local football clubs that they are facing severe capacity constraints and are in danger of having to turn away large numbers of players, due to a shortage of playing space.

The motion also asked that council note “the huge increase in usage of Lambert Park since the installation of an all-weather surface and expansion of participation in sport this has allowed, particularly for girls.”

A report outlining the outcomes of the consultation regarding the all-weather turf will be provided to council before the March meeting, as well as a summary of available technologies for providing a hybrid surface.

Greens Councillor Liz Atkins amended the motion to include a report on the environmental impacts of an all-weather surface versus natural turf, which the Labor majority voted against.

With a decision to be made in March, Mr Greenland described the situation as “pressing” and reiterated that though the process would take some time - designs need to be made, tenders put out, clients and customers consulted - the mayor seemed to be in a hurry to make a decision.

He also pointed out to City Hub that strangely, the mayor brought the motion forward as a mayoral minute, which are not disclosed to the public prior to the meeting, but “lo and behold, there was a representative of the Balmain District Football Club in attendance and ready to speak.”

Cr Stamolis noted that the upcoming council elections might have a role to play in the preference given to local football clubs, but maintained that hybrid grass would be the better option moving forward.

Inner West Council has been pushing to replace grass with a synthetic sporting field.

Photo: Roman Kosolapov, Shutterstock

Mayor urged to take responsibility for asbestos crisis

BY HOPE PRATT

Lord Mayor Clover Moore has come under fire with critics saying she has refused to take responsibility for the ongoing asbestos crisis unfolding in the City of Sydney.

Earlier this week, an Extraordinary Council meeting was called to discuss the asbestos contamination of local Sydney parks and outline City staff’s response to the issue.

The meeting was called by Independent Councillor Yvonne Weldon, who was concerned over the City’s response to the contamination, and wanted a clear outline of the steps taken by the City to remediate affected areas.

While the Lord Mayor accused the NSW Government and the state’s environment watchdog of a “massive” and “costly” regulatory failure in the meeting, some councillors are insisting that she take her fair share of the blame.

Liberal Councillor Shauna Jarrett slammed the Lord Mayor, saying she “continues to hide behind the EPA whilst shifting blame to the NSW state government. In her world, she is not responsible but tells us she cares deeply.”

When asbestos was first discovered in Rozelle Parklands in January, council was reportedly asked to test parks in the City of Sydney municipality but declined to do so.

“NOT A REASONABLE REQUEST”

Council had been wrongly assured by the contractor that their mulch did not come from the affected supplier.

“The City has over 400 parks and thousands of garden beds,” said the Lord Mayor at the time. “To request that each of these sites be tested when there was no indication there was an issue is not a reasonable request.”



Residents and visitors to the City of Sydney deserve better

But the discovery of asbestos in City of Sydney parks led to the abrupt cancellation of Fair Day on Tuesday 13th February, when an investigation by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) revealed bonded Asbestos at Victoria Park – the site of the event – and Belmore Park.

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Concern then erupted over the 25,000 people who attended the Yabun Festival at Victoria Park earlier in January, before proper testing of the area had occurred. Fifteen more parks have since been identified to be contaminated with asbestos.

Cr Jarrett said, “Residents and visitors to the City of Sydney deserve better.”

She went on to say that if testing had been conducted when initially requested, there would have been enough time to find an alternate site or have Victoria Park cleaned in time.

“It is time for the Lord Mayor to stand up and say sorry to the organisers of Fair Day, and the Yabun Festival,” reiterated Cr Jarrett.

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Asbestos was discovered in the parklands three weeks after it opened on December 17.

Photo: Bianca de Marchi, AAP Image

Council slashes Mandarin program days before Lunar New Year

BY GRACE JOHNSON

The City of Sydney slashed their weekly Mandarin Rhyme Time, a bilingual program for infants, at the Darling Square Library in Haymarket just days before Chinese New Year celebrations began.

Mandarin Rhyme Time, for 0-2 year olds, uses rhyme, movement, music and singing to help develop early literacy skills. Songs and rhymes are sung in both Mandarin and English. Sessions run for 20 minutes.

The discovery was made by Osmond Chiu, father to a young infant, who had been going to the weekly bilingual Rhyme Time last year.

He had been looking online to see when the sessions would restart - they coincide with school terms - when he saw that the sessions had been cut from weekly to monthly.

After inquiring on the City of Sydney’s X (previously Twitter) account, Mr Chiu was told that the changes were based on “community feedback.”

What’s even more disappointing, Chiu told City Hub , is that these cuts were made just before Chinese New Year.

“Cutting rhyme time just before Chinese New Year without any prior warning feels tone deaf and completely disrespectful,” he said.

“Talking up their Chinese New

Year celebrations while cutting Chinese language programs makes the Council’s commitment to multiculturalism seem superficial and tokenistic.”

INVESTMENTS IN CHINATOWN

In response to City Hub’s questions, Lord Mayor Clover Moore 0-2her commitment to the development of the area, saying, “In my time as Lord Mayor we have invested over $100 million in new and improved libraries that are now a wonderful community resource.”

 Cutting rhyme time just before Chinese New Year feels tone deaf and completely disrespectful

“They attract people of all ages and backgrounds, providing them with education, fun and an opportunity to meet other people.”

The area has taken a hit over the past few years, she said, being one of the first in the city to be impacted by the pandemic.

“We are breathing new life into Haymarket and Chinatown with a multi-million-dollar strategy to activate and improve streets and public spaces, shopfronts, parks and lighting,” the mayor continued.

Plans for a $44 million facelift to the area were approved in a council meeting in December, which would see a long-term upgrade of public space, with more trees, seats, lighting and integrated public art, as well as a proposed review of planning controls to support vibrant building signage and renewal of smaller buildings as a point of difference from the city centre.

At the time, the Lord Mayor said, “Haymarket is one of Sydney’s most iconic urban villages and has long been recognised as a focal point for Asian food, cultures, and communities both locally and internationally.”

But with these cuts to the bilingual learning program, Mr Chiu says it “suggests the City of Sydney only sees Chinatown as a tourist gimmick rather than the living and breathing cultural heart of the Chinese community in Sydney.”

“DEVASTATING CUTS”

Labor Councillor Linda Scott was similarly perplexed by the cuts, particularly before new year celebrations.

“Our City’s diverse communities are devastated to learn, just as Lunar New Year approaches, that the Lord Mayor and City of Sydney have made significant cuts to Mandarin Rhyme Time at our City’s Darling Square Library,” she told City Hub “Fostering a love of reading is imperative to the growth and development of young children; something bilingual rhyme

times seeks to promote. It is devastating to parents, carers and their children that this is hindered due to the Lord Mayor’s service cuts at Darling Square Library,” she continued.

“With Darling Square a short 3 minute walk to the heart of Chinatown, I simply do not understand why the Lord Mayor and the City of Sydney reduced bilingual library sessions at this location.”

A City of Sydney spokesperson told City Hub, “Attendance at Bilingual Storytime at Darling Square has been declining recently, and at the at the same time increasing at our Green Square branch.”

“Programming was adjusted to reflect changes in demand.”

But the cuts have had a significant impact on bilingual children in the area. Mr Chiu said, “Rhyme time was one of the few opportunities I had to regularly bond with my son in an accessible and structured bilingual environment.”

“These cuts have just made it that much harder to immerse my son in a bilingual environment,” he said, “and signal that not even the library in Chinatown is safe from cuts to Chinese language programs.”

Following City Hub and community inquiries, City of Sydney has reportedly reinstated weekly session in line with the school term, with a spokesperson claiming that the reduction in sessions never occurred.

Community members were devastated to learn of cuts to the bilingual Mandarin program. Photo: City of Sydney website

Council plans to revitalise Bondi Junction with 3am trading

BY AARYAN KAPOOR

In an effort to breathe new life into Bondi Junction, the local council is challenging outdated planning regulations by proposing to extend trading hours.

Businesses will be allowed to trade until 3am in an attempt to transform the area from a ghost town to a night-life destination, with a focus on Oxford Street Mall.

time, except Coles and Woolworths, and maybe the bottle shop.”

The proposed changes will need to go through a consultation process with local businesses and residents before they are made final.

Waverley Council has also stated that they’ll consider issues such as venue sound management and anti-social

Sydney’s eastern suburbs are a “worldfamous tourist destination”, and the CBD should reflect that, said Mayor of Waverley Council, Paula Masselos, who tabled the motion.

But the proposal has faced some community resistance, with residents concerned about safety, noise and antisocial behaviour.

Liberal Councillor Leon Goltsman said that communities are often resistant to change. “With any change, there will always be people who are reluctant to it and resist it,” he told City Hub

“They’ve got every right to feel concerned,” he added, “but I think it’s a matter of making sure those very people who have concerns are part of the journey.”

A CITY OF POTENTIAL

Drawing on the successes of Melbourne, Paris and London, the councillor said extended trading hours would “enrich the area and breathe new life into the district.” Current restrictions aren’t allowing businesses to operate to their potential, and that the area is becoming a ghost town after a certain time, he said.

“There’s little available after a certain

Reopening of Rozelle Parklands delayed again

BY GRACE JOHNSON

The remediation and reopening of Rozelle Parklands has been pushed back a month, sparking outrage across the community.

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) abandoned their original deadline of February 29 and granted overnight a month-long extension to Transport for NSW.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne has been particularly critical, saying granting the extension leaves the EPA looking like “a toothless tiger”.

“FLAGRANT DISREGARD” FOR THE COMMUNITY

After discovering friable asbestos in an area of the parklands that was meant to have already been remediated, the Inner West Mayor said the contractors were “clearly off-track” in removing the contaminated mulch.

In light of clean-up being behind schedule, the council then launched legal proceedings against John Holland and CPB in an effort to hold the contractors accountable.

behaviour as well as current liquor licences and outdoor dining permits.

“What we’re doing is increasing the cultural identity of Bondi Junction and allowing more vibrant nighttime economy, which will of course be supporting retail, dining, and entertainment and cultural events within the district.”

 With any change, there will always be people who are reluctant to it

Night-time Economy Minister John Graham has similarly welcomed the proposed changes, seeing extended trading hours as a way to revitalise Bondi Junction night-time scene.

Since the NSW government introduced reforms last year that permitted NSW venues offering live music or entertainment to trade later, the minister said local councils now had the chance to replicate the success of Enmore’s entertainment precinct.

“I think Bondi Junction deserves to be given life that’s sustainable and world class, while impressing the community and helping local businesses,” Cr Goltsman told City Hub

“This is not a high school history assignment in which you ask for more time, this is a public safety threat that should have been cleaned up before now,” he said.

 The community is rightly outraged about this delay

“A commuter who got fined trying to navigate traffic at the Rozelle interchange wouldn’t get a waiver so why are Transport, John Holland and CPB being let off the hook?”

Member for Balmain Kobi Shetty also shared her disappointment, saying “The community is rightly outraged about this delay.”

“It is incredibly frustrating news after we have waited so long for this park to be opened – to then have it open for less than a month before it was shut down.”

“I’ll continue pressing the NSW government to make sure the park and the important shared paths through it can be opened as soon as possible,” she continued. “We need to determine how this contamination happened and what can be done in future to prevent similar incidents.”

The mayor said it is “completely unacceptable” that the remediation is behind schedule and that the delays were having a huge impact on the community.

Members of the community have not been able to access the park since asbestos was first discovered in midJanuary, only a few weeks after the Rozelle Parklands were officially opened. The mayor said John Holland and CPB have displayed a “flagrant disregard” for the local community since asbestoscontaminated mulch was found.

“They have refused to even respond to correspondence from Council or to meet with local community representatives,” he said.

“Throughout the construction of the Interchange, they have ignored and fobbed off thousands of legitimate complaints from local residents about construction impacts.”

The contractors have reportedly ignored all attempts at correspondence from the council and to meet with local community representatives.

Waverley Council is proposing to extend trading hours in a bid to revitalise Bondi Junction. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Workers seen in the Rozelle Parklands.

Photo: Bianca de Marchi, AAP

Are democracies truly democratic?

BY PETER HEHIR

In most democratic western countries, certainly in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, politics manifests as a duopoly.

Why is it that in spite of cultural, racial and social divisions the world over, personality takes precedence over policies? Decisions about which party to vote for is more often than not based on the perceived credibility and trustworthiness of the public face of the party.

Democracies ostensibly offer a freedom of choice. This sounds good in theory. But does our Australian duopoly really offer the opportunity to choose? Has it ever?

A democracy is defined as ‘a Government in which the supreme power is held by the people and is used by them directly or indirectly through representation’. It refers to ‘a political unit (as a nation) that has a democratic government and is based in the belief or the practice of the idea that all people are socially (and politically) equal’.

But the reality is that in the four ‘democratic’ countries mentioned above, and in a great many others, this social equality simply doesn’t exist. The reality of widespread social inequality is readily evident. The disparity between the super-rich and the working poor is ever increasing. Opportunities easily accessed by the wealthy are denied to the bulk of the population; even something as essential as education.

The ‘level playing field’ espoused by the well off is an illusion. It’s simply a justification for the retention of the status quo. The core tenet of a democracy; that the broad base of the population holds

the supreme power, and that they (we) are actually able to exercise that power, is an aspiration that doesn’t exist.

The public perception is that there is little to choose from between the two major contenders. If there isn’t much to differentiate between the policies of Australia’s current duopoly; and if the wishes, hopes and aspirations of the mass of the population aren’t reflected in either of the political parties’ election platforms, obviously the needs of the public can never be addressed.

If the core principle of a democracy – that the people can use their power through representation, and if they are not truly represented, it follows that the democracy exists in name only. It’s just a thin veneer unveiled at election time, designed to create the illusion of active participation and of genuine endorsement.

Ancient Athens is reckoned to be the cradle of democracy. Around 500 BCE the ancient Greeks established an Ecclesia, an Assembly. This met on the Pnyx, a hill in central Athens. The Athenian assembly was the most important institution, and every free male citizen could take part in the discussions. It could be argued that our party system is a corruption of BCE democracy, in that it is intrinsically undemocratic. Unlike in the earliest assemblies, a party member today is bound by the dictates of the party. Individual expressions of opinion are banned under threat of expulsion.

The Westminster system was born out of the defeat of the oligarchy. The political duopoly that emerged saw a clear delineation between the wealthy and

the poor. This was the reflected in their policies. Their goals were clear. Policies were defined and were presented by those politicians best able to articulate them. Labor, Labour, and the Democrats face off against the Liberals, Neo Cons, and the Republicans. The focus today, however, is almost always on the personalities and only serves to distract from the similarity of their policies.

Nowhere is there any evidence of a political recognition, through the framing and implementation of policies, of the extent of social inequality. It’s hardly surprising that in the US the working poor are widely evident, but little is done to alleviate the poverty trap that a great many find themselves in.

 Does our Australian duopoly really offer the opportunity to choose? Has it ever?

The elimination of Western government agencies in the areas of health, education, prisons, employment, communication, transport; and the privatisation of these and many other government services, compounds the existing social inequality and gives the lie to our status as a true democracy.

The dismantling of the public service and the privatisation of their portfolios only serves to widen the gap between the haves and the have nots.

Making prisons profitable is an obvious absurdity. Servicing the bottom line can

only be achieved by criminalising ever larger sections of society, by incarcerating greater numbers, and at the same time reducing operating costs and the programs available within the prison walls. This is a further punishment; one that precludes rehabilitation and only results in increased recidivism.

Policies that punch holes in the safety net and deprive ordinary people with the means to survive just serve to push more and more people into crime.

In a democracy, any government legislation that implements the ‘user pays’ concept and restricts access to essential services is hostile to the concept of social equality. It further alienates much of the population. Only those policies based on the concept of achieving a genuine social equality can be said to be truly democratic.

Policies that fail to be implemented once an election is won, further diminish our faith in the duopoly. The method of determining who to vote for often boils down to the public perception of the leaders. This is the absurd cult of personality. Of image and presentation over form and substance.

We live in an era where there is little to choose from between the policies of the Liberal coalition and the Labor Party. And they are the only plausible contenders. This gives the lie to our democracy and that we the people are the holders of the supreme power.

Today’s biased media ensures the Athenian voice of a single citizen remains unheard.

This article was originally published in Pearls and Irritations.

Nineteenth-century painting by Philipp Foltz depicting the Athenian politician Pericles delivering his famous funeral oration in front of the Assembly.

Flying foxes are driving Sydney residents batty

BY GRACE JOHNSON

Flying foxes, a familiar presence in summer, have seemingly overstayed their welcome in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, leaving a mess across footpaths and cars that residents say pose serious risks to their health and safety.

Residents are having to clean up after the fruit bats on a daily basis, with some already having slipped and hurt themselves on the slush that the animals leave behind.

 Bats have long been seen as pests, as something to be driven off or culled

The issue has prompted a debate within Waverley Council about whether they should cut down trees or use ultrasonic sound devices to deter the animals.

Liberal Councillor Will Nemesh, who brought the motion forward, along with fellow Liberal Councillor Sally Betts, told City Hub the situation has been getting worse.

“We have been receiving ongoing and

increasing complaints from our residents about this issue,” he said.

“This year the inundations in and around the Avenue in Rose Bay have been particularly bad,” he continued.

He suggested that the removal of hundreds of trees from the Royal Sydney Golf Club has exacerbated the problem, along with berry season, which lasts between January and March.

The bats sometimes return for a second time during the winter months, leaving behind a slippery mess that poses safety hazards to pedestrians and motor vehicles.

PROPOSAL TO UPGRADE ONE (1) MOBILE PHONE BASE STATIONS WITH 5G AT

Rooftop Facility 265 Chalmers Street Redfern NSW 2016

Optus Ref: S1046, www.rfnsa.com.au/2016004

1. The proposed facility consists of the addition of new 5G/4G equipment and associated works as follows:

• Installation of three (3) new 5G antennas (0.79m long) at 25.77m, 26.37m and 26.37m in height

• Installation of three (3) new 5G antennas (0.75m long) at 24.7m, 25.3m and 25.3m in height

• Installation of three (3) new 4G/5G antennas (2.1m long) at 25m, 25.9m and 25.9m in height

• Installation of eighteen (18) new Remote Radio Units (RRUs)

• Ancillary equipment including but not limited to: new fibre and electrical cabling, new mounts and reconfiguration of existing equipment on the facility and in the existing equipment room

2. Optus regards the proposed installation under exempt development from Local & State Government approval in accordance with State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021 based on the description above.

3. Notification is being undertaken in accordance with Section 7 of Industry Code C564:2020 Mobile Phone Base Station Deployment

4. Members of the public may obtain further information on the proposed work, and we invite you to provide written comments about the proposal. Further information and/or comments should be directed to Optus’ representative: Ken Hsieh, Ericsson, phone: 0468 725 667; email: ken.hsieh@ericsson.com by Friday 29 March 2024.

The motion noted that pedestrians often have to walk on the road to avoid the mess and that flying fox urine and faeces, and the detritus left behind, may contain deadly viruses.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Research led by scientists at Western Sydney University shows that flying foxes are always on the move among a vast network of roosts, making them one of the key dispersers of seeds and pollen in Australia’s fragmented forest ecosystems.

However, their extreme mobility also brings them into conflict with humans.

Large bats have long been seen as pests, as something to be driven off or culled. In even as recent as the 1990s, electric wires were used to kill spectacled flying foxes to prevent them from eating lychees, until it became illegal.

With more flying foxes coming into urban areas, perhaps as a result of losing previous foraging areas, and staying for longer, pressure is mounting from their human neighbours to “do something”.

While the council is considering defruiting methods or the use of sonic devices, research has shown that dispersal techniques rarely work, are high in cost, and usually just move the problem to other backyards.

Trimming trees has been proven to solve some of the tensions between fruit bats and residents, so that branches don’t hang over backyards or streets.

Councillor Nemesh told City Hub, “Whatever the solution, it will need to balance environmental and ecological considerations along with resident concerns,” he concluded.

PROPOSAL TO UPGRADE EXISTING OPTUS MOBILE PHONE BASE STATION WITH 5G AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATION

Bat & Ball Hotel, 495 Cleveland St, Redfern NSW 2016 www.rfnsa.com.au/2016003

The proposed upgrade to the existing facility consists of the following works; Removal of three (3) existing panel antennas, Installation of three (3) new panel antennas (each no longer than 2.8m), Installation of one (1) new 5G antenna (no longer than 2.8m), Installation of ten (10) new RRUs, Recovery of one (1) existing parabolic antenna, New antenna mounts with back bracing and strengthening steelwork, Replace 1x existing Optus GPS antenna with 1x new Optus GPS antenna, and Installation and reconfiguration of associated ancillary equipment at the existing facility and within the equipment shelter.

Optus regard the proposed installation as Exempt Development in accordance with the State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021 based on the description above.

In accordance with Section 7 of C564:2020 Mobile Phone Base Station Deployment Code, we invite you to provide feedback about the proposal. Further information and/or comments should be directed to: BMM Group, 1300 260 834, submissions@bmmgroup.com.au by 28th March 2024. Further information may also be obtained from the website provided above.

Residents are saying flying foxes are leaving behind messes that pose serious risks to their health and safety.

Photo: Jekjob, Shutterstock.

Push to de-amalgamate Inner West Council

BY GRACE JOHNSON

Under new controversial legislation introduced on February 6, local councils across NSW wanting to reverse their forced amalgamations will have to foot the bill.

The legislation creates a legal pathway for councils to de-amalgamate, requiring that they create a business case to be handed to the commission who would then make a report for the minister. The minister would then need to approve the case before it was taken to the people for a vote.

Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig said the forced amalgamation of councils was “a failed and expensive experiment”, and that one of his main priorities as minister was to find “a way to remove the roadblocks posed by the existing demerger process, and give communities the opportunity to decide.” But many have expressed their disappointment that councils will have to fund their own de-amalgamation after they were forced to merge in 2016 under the former Coalition government.

Dr Amanda Cohn, Greens MLC and spokesperson for Local Government, said, “Failed amalgamations were an expensive mess that the NSW Government created and they’re a mess that the state should be cleaning up.”

“Impacted communities have already paid the cost for forced amalgamations through inefficiency, cuts to local services and weakened local democracy.”

President of LGNSW Cr Darriea Turley was even harsher in her criticism, saying, “It’s a cunning public relations exercise by the State Government so that it looks good in the eyes of ratepayers by agreeing to allow de-amalgamations, while at the same time knowing councils cannot foot the bill to carry them out.”

FORCED AMALGAMATIONS

The Inner West Council was formed by the NSW Government in 2016 by bringing together Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils.

In December 2021, a non-binding poll was conducted, which saw the Inner West community vote to de-amalgamate the current council and revert back to three separate ones.

Labor tabled a rescission motion, arguing that council should wait for a cost-benefit analysis before deciding whether to give the community a say. The rescission motion, met with community protest (pictured), was defeated 10 to 5 as only Labor councillors tried blocking community involvement.

The result was carried with 62.5 per cent in favour from a 80.7 per cent turnout.

Following the vote, Inner West Council prepared a de-amalgamation business case and submitted it to the NSW Minister for Local Government – who is responsible for the final decision – in December 2022.

 They are not representing the community. We’ve lost local representation since the merger

The business case was then referred to the NSW Boundaries Commission for assessment in January 2023. A public inquiry was held under section 263 of the Local Government Act 1993. Three sessions took place on 6 December 2023 at St Peters Town Hall.

The commission engaged Deloitte to provide advice on the financial implications of the proposal. This analysis included a review of both the Council’s business case and an independent analysis of financial and other information from Council.

In January this year, the commission released a summary of key findings from the Deloitte’s analysis of the financial implications of demerging.

But one councillor has said that Deloittes ‘blindly’ accepted costs from Inner West Council, who have inflated the cost of demerger by over $100 million.

INFLATED COSTS

Independent Councillor John Stamolis has long been critical of the merged Inner West Council, particularly of its Labor majority.

Regarding the Deloittes report, Cr Stamolis said the costs were “implausible” and proof that “Inner West Council continues to work behind the scenes against the community by taking every opportunity to grossly inflate the cost of the demerger.”

In correspondence with City Hub, Cr Stamolis said, “The report shows that

Inner West Council says they will need 163 staff for 4 years at $26.5 million per year. That’s an average of $163,000 per staff member each year. They are certainly not back office and service staff at that price!”

“Yet again, Council are grossly inflating the cost of demerger in the hope that no one notices and that they won’t be questioned about this.”

The stated costs have seemingly deterred residents from supporting a demerger, an effect that recent legislation requiring local councils to foot the de-amalgamation bill will most likely exacerbate.

The Inner West community was consulted again in June 2022 on whether they did or did not support a de-amalgamation, but results were inconclusive.

53 per cent of telephone survey respondents said they would prefer Inner West Council to stay as it is, the key reasons being the financial impact of de-amalgamation and the efficiency of service delivery and management under the current council.

Of those that supported the deamalgamation, respondents said that smaller council areas provide better management, services and facilities, and that the amalgamated council’s services have actually declined, one of the most recent issues being the FOGO bins.

Inner West Council did not respond to City Hub inquiries.

LABOR’S RESPONSE

In a statement, Cr Stamolis said Inner West is a major power base for Labor and they have been desperate to kill off the demerger.

The independent councillor, who was a statistician and data analyst at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for over forty years, said that only 11 of the 128 NSW councils are under majority control by a major political party.

“Inner West Labor do not want to lose their political control of a big inner-city Council,” he said.

“That’s why the 3 Labor Mayors of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville offered a merger proposal in 2016,” he continued. “No other inner-city Councils did.”

In response to a question referencing a loss of democracy in a Labor-dominated council, Labor Councillor Mark Drury laughed and told City Hub, “That’s an interesting view of democracy.”

“The way democracy works is that people get to have their say, then people vote, and then the majority vote carries the day.”

“We have debates and discussions on the Inner West Council,” he continued, “and all councillors have the right to have their say, but it’s just that the majority may not agree with them. If we don’t agree with the minority view, that doesn’t mean it’s not a democracy.”

Susanne Martain, a long-time resident in the Inner West, said that the Inner West Council has long ignored community input.

“Labor is pushing their own policies,” she told City Hub. “They are not representing the community. We’ve lost local representation since the merger.”

Ms Martain, who has a corporate background, also asserted that the Council’s data and numbers cannot be relied on.

“Demerger costs are grossly overstated and projections are inaccurate,” she said.

To compare, one-off costs for smaller rural councils are estimated by Deloittes to be around $4 million while bigger councils in Queensland are of the order of $10 million.

Cr Drury further disagreed that there has been a push for Inner West Council to demerge, saying very few residents talk to him about the demerger.

“I know that there is a ginger group who think this is important,” he told City Hub. “There were not many submissions to the Boundaries Commission, and I don’t think it is a matter that most normal Inner West residents are engaged with.”

“I think most normal residents just want us to get on and provide quality goods and services within the council area.”

Ms Martain told City Hub that “every suburb and every ward voted in the majority to de-merge” and that the issue is still is important to that 62.5 per cent of the community.

“I guess I’m an abnormal resident then,” she said to City Hub. “As are thousands of others in the area.”

Residents outside Ashfield Town Hall in 2021 to support councillors who support residents’ right to a poll.

Photo: Peter Boyle

COFFIN ED’S NAKED CITY

RAH-RAH THE OLD CRANBROOKIANS

Cranbrook is one of Sydney’s most prestigious private schools, founded back in 1918. Whether you like or dislike select private schools like Cranbrook, one thing is for sure, over the years the school has produced a fascinating list of so called ‘old boys’ ranging from a Nobel prize winning novelist to a number of highly original artists and a disgraced corporate crook. We are used to seeing our exclusive colleges generating a regular supply of conservative politicians, judges, lawyers, high ranking public servants and captains of industry. Cranbrook is no exception.

When it comes to topping the music charts we are more used to working class lads like Jimmy Barnes and Johnny Farnham rather than the graduate of a toff public school. Singer Billy Field, whose album Bad Habits reached No. 1 on the Kent Music Report in 1981, was definitely an exception. Raised on a large sheep and cattle property in the Riverina he went on to complete his secondary education at Cranbrook and become both a highly successful singer, producer

and recording studio owner with the now legendary Paradise Studios. In the late 1940s and throughout the ‘50s, the renowned Australian artist, Justin O’Brien was the art master at Cranbrook, and amongst his pupils were Martin Sharp and Peter Kingston. The story has it that they both met flicking clay at each other in one of Justin’s classes forging a friendship that later saw them collaborate at the communal

NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE ACT 1974 – PART 6 APPROVALS:

In recognition and respect for the role that Aboriginal people play in managing and protecting their cultural heritage and in accordance with Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Consultation Requirements for Proponents 2010, Abode Projects 149 O’Sullivan Road, Bellevue Hill, New South Wales 2023, and Archaeological Management and Consulting Group (AMAC), invite Aboriginal persons or organisations who hold cultural knowledge relevant to determining the cultural significance of Aboriginal object(s) and/or place(s) in the area of the proposed subdivision to register their interest in participating in the consultation process, regarding the Aboriginal cultural significance and archaeological assessment at the area of land located at 149 O’Sullivan Rd, Bellevue Hill (Lot 2 DP11094)

This will be carried out with the view to assist, Abode Projects in completing an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment and possible test excavation for the proposed subdivision at 149 O’Sullivan Road, Bellevue Hill, New South Wales

Registered parties will be included in the formal consultation process. To register for consultation about this project please contact:

Archaeological Management and Consulting Group, 122c Percival Road, Stanmore 2048

Or via email: consultation@archaeological.com.au

The closing date for registration is 25/03/2024.

artists’ hangout, the Yellow House in Kings Cross and work on the restoration of Luna Park’s Coney Island. They went on to become two of this city’s most creative, innovative and at times eccentric painters and graphic artists, as well as campaigners for the preservation of many of the city’s heritage buildings.

Best known for his paintings of Sydney Harbour, Kingston was also a wonderful, filmmaker and cartoonist, contributing

regularly to Oz magazine along with its co-founder Sharp, and venturing into the world of early Australian pop art with his paintings and moulded sculptures of the Phantom. He died in 2021, aged 78 and left behind a remarkable legacy of work. Sharp’s major obsessions, lovingly portrayed in his paintings and drawings, were Luna Park, Tiny Tim, the Sydney Opera House and the chalk inscription of ‘Eternity’ which surfaced on the pavements of Sydney from 1932 to 1967. Sadly, Sharp died all too early aged 71 but his works evoke a remarkable time period in this city.

Author and playwright Patrick White who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1973, spent a couple of his early school years at Cranbrook whilst actor, playwright and novelist, Sumner Locke Elliott enrolled at the school some ten years later.

Despite a recent scandal, Cranbrook is gradually moving to becoming coeducational, and perhaps in fifty years time the alumni will include a list of women to rival some of the artists, authors and even corporate bad guys that the school has knocked out since its foundation in 1918.

Potts Point • Darlinghurst • Glebe

Redfern • Pyrmont • Surry Hills

17 February – 6 April

ENJOY GREAT SOUTHERN NIGHTS IN HOLLYWOOD QUARTER

Sydney’s sizzling new precinct, Hollywood Quarter, is going to fully combust on March 23 when it hosts the Great Southern Nights Gig Trail .

BY RITA BRATOVICH

Follow the sights, sounds, and scents through the streets of Surry Hills as pubs, club, cafes, restaurants, and street vendors and performers fill the entire zone with festivity.

Hollywood Quarter is a thriving destination in a completely transformed area of Surry Hills. The once desolate industrial wasteland bordered by Wentworth Ave, Commonwealth, Campbell, and Riley Streets has been given a total make-over. It’s now a vibrant dining and entertainment district that has hung onto its nostalgic charm while boasting a modern, snazzy new aesthetic.

The Great Southern Nights Gig Trail will take visitors on a taste, hear and see discovery tour through the bustling laneways and landscaped streets to experience European-style indoor/outdoor dining. Incredible live music across a range of genres will be performed in many different venues and on the streets.

a vibrant musical haven in the heart of Surry Hills

“Activating the much-loved venues and streets of Sydney’s Hollywood Quarter will create a vibrant musical haven in the heart of Surry Hills,” said John Graham, Minister for the Arts /Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy/ Minister for Jobs and Tourism.

“Through programs like Great Southern Nights we are invigorating precincts to deliver world-class cultural experiences that showcase NSW’s creative sector and give businesses the confidence to invest. We want to see music, entertainment and culture out on the footpaths, creating energy and encouraging people to embrace our nightlife.” Some of

the city’s most popular and well-rated establishments are in HQ including Ace Hotel Sydney, The Soda Factory, Alberto’s Lounge, The Burdekin, Golden Age Cinema & Bar, Hollywood Hotel, Hotel Harry, Butter and Paramount House Hotel. They will all be offering delicious, bespoke menus along with outstanding live gigs.

Music Curator Trevor Brown, drawing from experiences playing in Italy, France and Eastern Europe, says you can expect to find music in surprising places. “Get ready to explore the back alleys, nooks and crannies of the Hollywood Precinct.”

The musicians around Foster and Commonwealth St will be playing rich, cultural, street music from Europe, South

America and Africa. “Think Moroccan, New Orleans jazz, Haitian, French, Italian, African music blends. Expect us to mix and match with unexpected combinations, and some exciting musical processions.” says Brown.

TROUBADOURS

TREVOR BROWN - Baritone Sax/Clarinet

ADAM BURRELL – Trumpet

NICK WISHART – Alto Sax

MARY HART - Cello/Bass

BEN FINK - Banjo/Guitar

PHILLIPE WITTWER – Accordion

ROB LAURIE - Drums/Percussion

In amongst it all, in crevices, on mounds, and scattered throughout and beyond the precinct will be a broad, diverse range of buskers eager to test their talents in front of potential new fans.

Great Southern Nights is a NSW Government and ARIA initiative that promotes live music in venues all over the state. The Uptown Program was created by NSW Government to help define village-like business communities and support them in building their entertainment and night-time economies.

“The partnership between Hollywood Quarter and Great Southern Nights is an excellent example of how Uptown districts can activate larger events to amplify live music, increase patronage and enhance their precinct’s night-time economy,” said NSW 24-Hour Economy Commissioner Michael Rodrigues.

“This is the first time the festival has partnered with an Uptown precinct, and I look forward to seeing Hollywood Quarter transformed into a live music destination as

HERE’S THE DAY’S PROGRAM:

ACE HOTEL SYDNEY (6pm-12am)

Charlie Villas and Fried Pork Chop

ALBERTO’S LOUNGE (lunch)

Fritto Disco Speciale starring Kirin J Callinan

BURDEKIN HOTEL (7-10pm)

Kingdom Calm ft Burkina Flats & Bakura

BUTTER (9pm-12am) Cherryrype, Grebel, Izzybops, LXGCY

GOLDEN AGE CINEMA & BAR (10pm-1am) Tasman Keith

HARRY’S (7pm-3am) Refuge Recording presents SilverStix

HOLLYWOOD HOTEL (7pm-1am)

The Zoe K Experience (New Orleans Edition)

PARAMOUNT HOUSE HOTEL (5-8pm)

Jono Ma

SODA FACTORY (7pm-4am) Soda’s House of Fun ft DJ Nino Brown & Friends

Trevor Brown, festival music curator.

Photo: Mark Dickson

Cherry Rype.

Photo: Supplied

Photo: Supplied

they put their district on the map for locals and visitors across Sydney and beyond, with nine venues hosting events and roving entertainment throughout the night.”

Hollywood Quarter is set to become one of Sydney’s unhidden gems, with its eclectic architecture, loads of history, and cool, urban atmosphere. It’s easily accessible by public transport and is on the doorstep to many other locations and attractions in the city. Great Southern Nights is the ideal way to come

and experience this fabulous precinct.

Crawl the pubs and restaurants, imbibe the vibe, get a feel for neighbourhood.

HOLLYWOOD IN THE HILLS

The naming of the Hollywood Quarter precinct pays homage to the cinematic connection in Surry Hills history.

The Paramount House building in Commonwealth St was purpose built in 1940 to be the Australian headquarters of American movie studio, Paramount Pictures. With various film-related businesses in the surrounding streets, this part of Surry Hills came to be known as Little Hollywood.

The building is in the Inter-War Functionalist style, which, to nonarchitects, has features that harken back to art deco. There are several distinctive hotels and pubs in the city that conform to this style. The Paramount House building has a curved frontage with large pale amber tiled facade and now functions as a multi-purpose venue. It houses the retro Golden Age independent cinema, a favourite among film buffs, and Paramount Coffee Project cafe, as well as bar and event areas.

Backing onto this building in what used to be the film storage warehouse, is the

recently completed Paramount House Hotel, a beautiful boutique hotel. The wedge shaped, rustic brick structure features a stunning copper-clad crown around the roof. Around the corner, also in the Inter-War Functionalist style, is the Hotel Hollywood. Built around 1940, this building was originally called the Nevada Hotel but was renamed because of its proximity to the Little Hollywood district.

encouraging people to embrace our nightlife

The hotel was purchased by Australian actress, Doris Goddard, in 1978. Born in Sydney in 1930, Goddard travelled to Hollywood, LA and made several movies, playing small parts against big names. When she returned and bought the Hotel Hollywood, she injected some credence into the name by becoming a singing publican and local identity. After her death in 2019, a shadow hovered over the future of the hotel, but thankfully the new owners decided to keep the building and return it to its former glory.

(JUST SOME OF THE) FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS:

ALBERTO’S: Lunch special, 2 course + wine $45. 12-5pm (all day!) featuring special guest songman Kirin J Callinan.

BEAU: Snacks on Fracks 4pm to 6pm. Enjoy Happy Hour perched at the bar or in the laneway.

BUTTER: 3 Crispy Chicken Wings & Tiger Beer $20

GILDA’S: Open from 5.30pm for a pre-show meal. Or a drink with snacks. Walk-ins welcome!

KILN: Late night snack menu plus dj tunes to entertain you. Up on 18th floor with views for miles.

NEL RESTAURANT: Join Nelly on a delicious Australian degustation journey.

PELLEGRINO 2000: Dine al-fresco, be entertained by the troubadours, and be transported to Italy!

POLY: “Apolytivo” delicious drinks and food at ‘happy hour’ prices!

Only on Saturday 23rd. From 5-6pm.

THE ROVER: Happy Hour from 4-6pm, $2 Oysters, $6 Beers, $6 G&Ts, $10 Wine, and a $14 Spritz. Dinner reservations from 5pm.

NOMAD: Feast al-fresco and be entertained by the troubadours. Book an outside table now.

TIO’S: Cold beer, colder margaritas and hot popcorn. Plus $12 Margaritas (till sold out).

Doris Goddard in front of Hotel Hollywood

Hotel Hollywood 1950s

Paramount building exterior Surry Hills, Sydney

HubARTS

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

Fabulous films in a new venuetrès magnifique!

(See p.31)

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

BY JOHN MOYLE

Epic in scale and breath-taking in execution, The Lehman Trilogy sees three actors take us across 150 years and three generations of the now infamous family.

At its heart, it is an immigrant-made-good story as we come across Henry Lehman (Adrian Schiller) in his clothing store in Montgomery Alabama where he is soon joined by brothers Emanuel (Howard W Overshown) and Mayer (Aaron Krohn).

None of The Lehman Trilogy’s success as a production would be possible without the skill of actors Adrian Schiller, Howard W Overshown and Aaron Krohn, who work effortlessly off each other.

FRAMING

All equally matched, they provide not only the lead characters across three generations but also a large number of support roles as the family history unfolds.

With little in the way of props and no change of costumes, through the subtle use of nuance and physicality they inhabit all of the characters they portray from a three-year-old child, wives and lovers to tightrope walkers and rabbis.

In the third act Aaron Krohn has one moment where he brings the house down with his horizontal dancing routine that is brilliantly executed with support by the rest of the cast.

Set designer, Es Devlin has given us a

A NEW NARRATIVE AROUND FRANKENSTEIN

BY JOHN MOYLE

New Ghosts Theatre Company is not only going gothic with Frame Narrative, its latest production at the Old Fitz Theatre, it is also wracking up a few firsts.

Frame Narrative will be a world premier for playwright Emily Sheehan and also her first production with Lucy Clements, the NGTC CEO and managing director, who will also direct.

“Lucy Clements and I have been in conversation for a couple of years, and when Lucy announced her new position it felt like a really good connection to bring this play to the Old Fitz,” Emily Sheehan, playwright said.

Frame Narrative is a five-hander which is billed as a meta-theatrical gothic horror story which traces the evolution of gothic

literature to trashy ‘90s horror.

“Frame Narrative is about a revered filmmaker who is on the festival circuit with her cinematic adaption of Frankenstein,” Sheehan said.

“A young critic arrives at her house wanting to discuss the inspiration behind the film and then the play starts to unravel as we get into what draws an author to create a work and the work experience being at the heart of that inspiration,” Sheehan said.

“The monster in this work isn’t a hideous monster, it is something that you made in your image that starts surpassing you,” Sheehan said.

March 8 – 30, Old Fitz Theatre, 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo newghoststheatre.com

simple open plan box set on a revolve that adapts in time and space from the early clothing store in Montgomery through the ages until the final scene set in the early days of the global financial crisis. A cyclorama reaching from one side of the stage to the other gives us a screen on which video designer, Luke Halls’ images, from early cotton cropping in Alabama to the rise of New York City, are a powerful backdrop onto which the drama is played out.

At the side of the stage, as in the silent movies, is pianist Cat Beverage who uses a Yiddish folk song as a motif signifying the advance of time and action.

The Lehman Trilogy is that rare production where all of its elements come together to produce theatre that is memorable and rewarding.

Until March 24, Theatre Royal, 108 King St, Sydney www.theatreroyalsydney.com

HISTORICAL TALE RETOLD THROUGH SONG

By JASMINE SIMMONS

Portraying classic Australian theatre and history, Australia Felix by Geoffrey Sykes works to address probing values of the past and present in an entertaining stage production. The play follows the life of runaway convict George Clarke in the early colony of NSW. Also known as “The Flying Bear”, Clarke lived with nine Aboriginal tribes and proved himself to be a great explorer, gaining the attention of the NSW Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell.

Throughout the story, history is upended with visions of early Australia that resonate with current debates. Australia Felix was showcased at the Chippen Street Theatre in December 2023. It saw an enthusiastic audience and critical response, making the upcoming production highly anticipated.

Playwright and director of the work, Geoffrey Sykes, states that the Rosyln Packer studio space is well suited to the new Australia Felix theatre piece.

“This revue show is presented by ‘travelling players’ in the tradition of

ballads and storytelling,” says Sykes. “It’s set on the eve of the execution of the convict George Clarke, with the sandstone and brick wall of the studio a perfect ambient setting for a nineteenth century jail, where executions were public events.”

The work is theatrically inspired by Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss, which according to Sykes, “deliberately uses an entertaining convention to re-open questions of history”.

Australia Felix embellishes the tale of Clarke and explores a debate between the two explorers, representing Australian identity and values.

March 22 – April 6, Richard Wherrett Studio, Roslyn Packer Theatre, 22 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay www.trybooking.com

Photo: Sara Clarke

The Lehman Trilogy Production.

Photo: Supplied

POTTY HUMOUR

BY RITA BRATOVICH

They’re back. Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, those two irrepressible muggles who have kept Harry Potter fans “Rowling” in the aisles for four amazing seasons are returning for a fifth round.

Potted Potter, the sensation that has swept across the world like a flying blue Ford Anglia, is heading to Sydney for another season of frivolity, slapstick, poorly performed magic and extreme Harry Potter geekiness.

This 70-minute show crams the plots of all seven Harry Potter books into one amalgamated, frenetic, clump of entertainment. Expect fast-paced dialogue, witty songs, physical comedy, quick costume changes (well, prop and accessory changes, actually) and loads and loads of Harry Potter references. Plus, a real game of Quidditch. How do they do it? Only one way to find out.

Clarkson and Turner created Potted Potter in an even more concentrated form back in 2005. It was a five-minute performance for fans in a London bookshop who had queued dutifully in anticipation of the arrival of book six in the series, Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince

It went over so well that they fleshed it out into a full-length stage presentation and took it to the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. And just like the original book itself, the show became a phenomena, touring countries around the world.

If that’s not enough validation, it also gained residency at Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas in 2019, winning two Best of Las Vegas awards on its debut, and is now in its fifth year.

Much like the Harry Potter franchise, Potted Potter has gained a hard-core fan base while continuing to gather new appreciative audiences.

Unlike the Harry Potter film adaptations, Potted Potter is very low budget, has a minimal, all-purpose set, no lavish costumes or make-up, and is entirely performed by two fairly unknown actors. Therein lies much of the humour. You don’t need to be familiar with the Harry Potter books to enjoy this show; in fact, you’ve probably garnered enough incidental knowledge through pop

culture saturation. If you don’t know what Hogwarts is by now, you’ve been living under a three-headed dog. Get down to platform 9 3/4 and jump on the Hogwart’s Express to Potted Potter April 9 - 21, Seymour Centre, Cnr Cleveland St & City Rd, Chippendale www.seymourcentre.com/event/ potted-potter

NIGHT OF THE LIVING, SINGING AND DANCING DEAD

BY RITA BRATOVICH

Zombie! The Musical is the third offering from Laura Murph, whose previous two shows, The Lovers (book/ music/lyrics) and The Dismissal (music/ lyrics) were massive hits with audiences and critics.

This time, Murphy has joined forces with the Hayes Theatre in a collaboration made in heaven — except with zombies.

“This partnership is pretty perfect because I think everyone is so invested in this project. We all believe in it so much. And we’re all really putting our hearts and souls into it,” says Natalie Abbott, who is just one of the incredible cast of Zombie! The Musical. Abbott starred in The Lovers and is an unabashed Murphy fan.

“I’m a lucky girl. I’m a very lucky girl. Honestly, I wanted to be a part of this project before I knew anything about it.

I’d do anything to be in a Laura Murphy show, so I feel very fortunate. She’s such a fantastic writer and such an amazing person.”

As with The Lovers and even The Dismissal , Murphy tries to do more than tell an amusing narrative with

punchy songs. There are easter eggs and hidden messages in Zombie! that raise it above the level of schlock horror. The plot itself is deceptively simple.

“Zombie! is about a small community theatre company who is putting on a show. It’s their opening night and there’s an outbreak of virus at the turn of the millennium, and the virus is a virus that turns people into zombies, and they have to try and save the world, either with kindness or with violence,” explains Abbott.

Abbott plays Sam, an understudy who is easy to work with, very reliable, everybody’s friend. She represents a “beautiful part of humanity”.

“It’s such a fun role to play because she’s so real and beautiful,” says Abbott, who commends Murphy on giving voice to characters who rarely get heard. The music in Zombie! is a smoothie of genres, with the pop-style tunes mostly taking their cues from the sounds of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s. The plot is set in Sydney, so, refreshingly, the songs and dialogue are done in Aussie accents. There are also a few cheeky local references.

The rest of the amazing cast includes: Drew Livingston, Ryan Gonzalez, Tamsin Carroll, Chelsea Dawson, Nancy Denis, and Adam Di Martino.

The show is directed by theatre doyen, Darren Yap.

“Darren is the perfect person to guide us in telling this story, and guide us in telling a Laura Murphy story. He’s so inclusive in the workroom and he’s so open to hearing ideas and letting us play and involving someone as important as Laura in those processes,” says Abbott.

March 8 – April 6, Hayes Theatre, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Elizabeth Bay hayestheatre.com.au

On stage, Abbott will be reunited with her co-star from Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical, Stefanie Jones, as well as Monique Sallé whom she worked with in The Lovers

EXPRESSING THEMSELVES THROUGH ART – ARTEXPRESS

BY JOHN MOYLE

Continuing a tradition that began in the mid fifties the Art Gallery of New South Wales has just announced the 50 finalists for its annual ARTEXPRESS show.

Chosen from around 8,850 submissions by 2023 HSC arts students across NSW, ARTEXPRESS is now one of the AGNSW’s major events.

The eleven month process of selecting

the works is conducted statewide and the works are chosen from a wide range of mediums and may include any subject that is G-rated.

Last year, Olivia Phoon was a Year 12 student at St Andrews Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD and was inspired by her ancestral heritage and stories uncompleted to do work on a series of paintings she titled, Hazy Recollections

QTOPIA – DEDICATED TO QUEER CULTURE AND HISTORY

BY RITA BRATOVICH

Qtopia is a museum and gallery consisting of repurposed historic premises in Darlinghurst. It is completely dedicated to documenting, preserving and exhibiting the relics and remnants of LGBTQ+ life in Sydney, and to further sharing the art and culture of this resilient community.

The main building was once the Darlinghurst Police Station, a place that holds dreaded memories for individuals and the community as a whole.

A few metres away is the infamous underground men’s toilet block.

Accessed via a spiral staircase, this was an attended public convenience in the 1930s, but by the 1970s, it had established itself as one of the city’s most notorious beats.

“I went through my paternal grandmother’s photo album and I chose work that I thought would work with this piece,” Olivia Phoon, artist said.

Also from an inner city college is Ben Stubbs-Goulston, who graduated from Sydney Grammar last year and is currently studying arts law at ANU and is looking at continuing his art as part of an extra curriculum activity.

Stubbs-Goulston entered a series of photo media works titled Somewhere, nowhere, representing how the world may halt humanity’s innate desire to process and ascend.

“I chose to specialise in photography and my work includes a combination of Photoshop to help with the editing and the photo taken as it was,” Stubbs-Goulston said. artexpress.artsunit.nsw.edu.au

SAVE THE SYDNEY VEGAN MARKET

BY ELIZABETH USHER

In 2017, Vegan NSW announced that they would be launching the Sydney Vegan Market, designed as a monthly highlight for the Sydney vegan community and a celebration of all things vegan.

There was such a buzz around the fact that the local community could now sustain a regular large event, and the monthly crowds swelled to over 15,000 attendees by the end of 2019. Sadly, like so many aspects of life, the 2020 lockdowns brought the Sydney Vegan Market to a halt.

rising costs, has meant the future of SVM is threatened.

“We understand the value that the event holds to community and the fact that we have charities and animal sanctuaries who really heavily rely on the event as an outlet for promoting what they do and for fundraising,” says Mike McNally, Chair of Vegan NSW.

Individuals can help the Sydney Vegan Markets continue by volunteering on the day, promoting the event on social media to friends, and even just coming along in person to enjoy the day, which is completely free to attend.

The rotunda in Green Park, in front of St Vincent’s Hospital, served as a bandstand for many years, then briefly as a cafe during which the top area was enclosed.

The Loading Dock and The Substation are additional repurposed sites which, together with The Bandstand, make up Qtopia’s performance venues.

All of the above sites have been reimagined into a space that retains elements of its origins so that the history is preserved, but that now fosters a more powerful, uplifting presence.

Qtopia opens with five major exhibitions, each adhering to a particular theme: HIV/AIDS, human rights, sexuality & identity, media representation and First Nations stories.

301 Forbes St, Darlinghurst, qtopiasydney.com.au

After a brief stint at Sydney Olympic Park, the markets finally returned to their spiritual heartland in Entertainment Quarter, but attendance was well below pre-Covid numbers. This, coupled with

Sydney Vegan Market, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park

3rd Sunday of each month (next event: Sunday 17th March 2024)

www.vnsw.org.au

CRAIG DONARSKITHE POWERHOUSE BEHIND WHITE BAY

BY JOHN MOYLE

Described for many years as an eyesore, the White Bay Power Station is now set to become a major multi-disciplinary arts precinct like no other in the world.

“It will not be an art gallery,” Craig Donarski, Manager Arts, Culture and Creative Industries, White Bay Power Station said. “There will be no white walls.”

The heritage listed 38,000 square metre industrial site is located at the neck of the Balmain peninsular just

three kilometres from the CBD and is an example of how visionary politics from both sides of government can work.

Built to power Sydney’s tram and rail network between 1912 and 1917, with further extensions later constructed, White Bay became the longest serving city power station until it closed in 1983.

Donarski knows something about former power stations having been director of the Casula Powerhouse for the past seven years before his appointment at White Bay.

“For the immediate now there are three spaces, which are the Boiler Room, the Turbine Hall and this gorgeous little area called the Recreation Hall, which is a 1920s dance hall pickled in the era and that has a sprung wooden dance floor and benches down either side and a little stage at one end and old fashioned footlights,” Donarski said.

“These three spaces are good to go but there is also a ton of other spaces that haven’t been remediated yet,” Donarski said.

“There is a building next to the Turbine Hall that is almost as large and also the coal handling shed that will make a great mid-sized venue.”

The first reuse of the space will be for the 24th Biennale of Sydney in March.

“The Biennale is using the two large spaces and also some outdoor space for art and music and performance, concert workshops, talks and interactive events,” Donarski said. Donarski sees events playing a big role in the future of the space and is quick to assure that White Bay will not detract from current spaces.

“Unlike other post industrial conversions in NSW, all the others were gutted out and turned into shells, (whereas) this place wears its heritage on its sleeve,” Donarski said.

While the delivery of the Metro West Station is not expected before 2030, a bus turning zone in front of the power station is being constructed for the Biennale and all of the current Balmain/Rozelle buses stop right outside the venue.

From mid-July, when the Biennale bumps out, until early next year is going to be a period of testing and trialling to see what kinds of events can work in the site.

“It is an empty space and a blank canvas,” Donarski said.

“It is gritty and industrial and quite steam punk and has a real flavour.”

White Bay Power Station, 28 Robert St, Rozelle

THE HOTTEST BIENNALE YET

BY RITA BRATOVICH

The 24th Sydney Biennale is underway, and, with a program that spans six venues, features almost 100 artists from up to 50 different countries, and covers a broad range of innovative styles, this edition will shine as brightly as its Ten Thousand Suns title suggests. Making it even more special, this is the 50th year of the Sydney Biennale. This milestone auspiciously coincides with the opening of its centrepiece venue, White Bay Power Station. The monolithic ex-industrial site that has sat dormant for decades has been reinvigorated with an injection of funding, lots of love and imagination, and lots of callous-causing restoration work.

With many of the original features left in place, White Bay itself is like an enormous found object art piece. Inside, it feels like an industrial cathedral, quiet and spacious, allowing for large scale works to be placed or hung and appreciated from many perspectives. Here you will find video, diorama, sculpture, and flat board installations that are cheeky, cute, political, poignant and simply beautiful.

The UNSW Galleries is a modest space on the Art & Design campus. The artworks here are themed around culture and conflict with some particularly striking sculptures made from wooden and metallic repurposed materials. Artspace in Woolloomooloo is another building that has been recently

revamped. The exposed brick and heavy timber frame give it warmth and intimacy. Here, the display of sculptures, canvases, photographs and installations reflect on appropriated culture and colonialism, among other themes.

At the Art Gallery of NSW a generous space has been give to Beinnale. Expect to find a range of genres and mediums — from photographs to sculptures to costumes and more — addressing issues around war, gender, materialism, identity.

On the campus of Sydney University is Chau Chak Wing Museum which features a variety of works including photographs, canvases, sculptures that comment on resistance, sexuality, tradition meets innovation.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is where you will find the large, colourful wall to floor installation made from a variety of materials including beads, kitchen and garden utensils, rattan sticks and ornaments. Never Walk in Anyone’s Shadow by Anne Samat has frequently been used as the hero image for this year’s Biennale. MCA’s exhibit also includes stunning digital works, posters and framed images.

The internationally recognised Sydney Biennale is the largest contemporary art event of its kind in Australia. This year’s edition has been curated by esteemed artistic directors, Cosmin Costinaş and Inti Guerrero.

Until June 10, biennaleofsydney.art

White Bay Power Station 3

1913 First day operation

1920s Boiler house 2 under construction

1956 Parsons Steam Turbines

24th Biennale at Chau Chak Wing Museum

At Home With The Locust People by Bonita Ely

Kaylene TV By Kaylene Whiskey

TRIPLE J - UNEARTHING NEW AUSTRALIAN MUSICAL TALENT

BY DOUGAL TSAKALOS-STEWART

Triple J Unearthed acts as both a radio station and a discovery platform for unsigned artists around Australia. There is an award given to one artist in each state organised by the station named the “Unearthed artists of the year.”

While there is no cash prize involved, Unearthed is an effective vehicle for boosting an artist’s profile and providing opportunities for artists.

Triple J Unearthed winners and nominees are frequently called up for festivals.

Winners and finalists of the Unearthed award also have the chance to sign with a record label, which is a fantastic step for any young artist who has just started their music career. A great

example of this is Sycco. After losing the 2020 Unearthed Artists of the Year award, she was still able to sign with Future Classic records in the same year.

Triple J Unearthed has a branch competition for younger artists — Unearthed High — which focuses on helping high-school aged artists build a career. The prize for this competition is a choice between funding for future music releases or opportunities to use the Triple J studio.

Considering the music landscape of the last two decades in Australia has been largely populated with indie music, it’s fair to say the Triple J Unearthed awards have been a massive success.

triplejunearthed.com

MENDELSSOHN’S ELIJAH AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

BY JASMINE SIMMONS

The Sydney Philharmonia Choir presents the acclaimed baritone, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, in the title role in Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, with Brett Weymark conducting Mendelssohn’s renowned oratorio.

Elijah brings to life the story of the Old Testament prophet in a series of dramatic episodes told through orchestral narrative, climaxing with Elijah ’s ascent to heaven in a chariot of fire.

This widely popular 19th century composition is best known for the magnificence of its music and Mendelssohn’s portrayal of complex human drama.

Artistic Director, Brett Weymark from the Sydney Philharmonia Choir has worked to unite various talents for this performance. Soloists will perform with the 400 voices of SPC’s Festival Chorus to emulate the

signature sound of Mendelssohn. The 1846 premiere of Elijah at the Birmingham Festival established Mendelssohn as one of the most outstanding composers of his time. Elijah has been hailed as one of the great oratorios, alongside Handel’s Messiah.

Felix Mendelssohn was a child prodigy best known for his concertos, symphonies, and piano, organ, and chamber music. Elijah is one of only two complete large-scale musical compositions that Mendelssohn wrote in his short life.

A romantic flair influenced by composers Handel and Bach can be heard throughout Elijah , creating a colourful choral and orchestral sound.

May 18, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Bennelong Point, Sydney www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au

MASSIVE MAHLER CONCERT AT THE CONCOURSE

BY RITA BRATOVICH

Hear Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No 2, “The Resurrection” with a 90 piece orchestra, a huge choir and soloists from Opera Australia in one unforgettable concert at The Concourse this March.

The Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by its acclaimed artistic director, Paul Terracini and joined by the voices of Willoughby Symphony Choir. Imogen-Faith Malfitano and Celeste Haworth from Opera Australia will perform solo parts at front of stage in what promises to be a spectacular presentation of one of the most loved and enduring symphonies in the classical repertoire.

Composed between 1888 and 1894, Mahler’s extraordinary and epic work was first performed

in 1895 and received with great enthusiasm from audiences and critics.

The work is a manifestation of Mahler’s creative exploration of themes such as life after death, redemption, resurrection, light and dark. The result is a very moving, all-senses experience.

Multi award-winning soprano Imogen-Faith Malfitano completed her Bachelor of Music (performance) and Masters in Music Studies (Opera Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Celeste Haworth has performed many roles as a principal artist in Europe, Australia and Asia.

Dr Paul Terracini was born in Sydney and has enjoyed a career in Australia and internationally as an instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and conductor. March 17, 3pm, The Concourse, 409 Victoria Ave, Chatswood, www.kpo.org.au

REACHING A CRESCENDO - REUBEN TSANG

BY BY RITA BRATOVICH

It’s fair to call Reuben Tsang a prodigy. At just 12 years old, he played Chopin and Beethoven at the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition — one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world. It was a performance that stunned audiences and augured a luminous career for the young musician. His return to the competition last year earned him the Nancy Weir Best Australian Pianist Prize. Tsang is currently completing a Bachelor of Music at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University on the Emily Reinhardt Piano Scholarship. His tutor is the esteemed Russian-born and trained pianist, Natasha Vlassenko. Born and raised in Cairns, Queensland, Tsang began taking piano lessons when he was just 5 years old and immediately showed potential. In 2018, while still in high school, he performed for the then Prince Charles during a royal visit to Cairns. Tsang has performed in various masterclasses held by well-renowned artists including Behzod Abduraimov, Sergio Tiempo, Jovanni-Rey de Pedro, Mikhail Solovei, Roy Howat and Andrea Lam. He performs as a piano soloist and chamber musician locally in

Brisbane and within the Queensland Conservatorium.

With a gleaming future clearly in sight, Tsang is a musician in demand. His upcoming tour has been eagerly anticipated and the performances will present a rare opportunity to see a star in the making.

With a sensitive, poetic touch, Tsang has

selected a program that features some of the most beautiful piano ever written. See Reuben Tsang for his one and only Sydney recital. March 23, 7:30pm, Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music www.pianoplus.com.au/event/ reuben-tsang/

PROGRAM

Domenico Scarlatti

Sonata in D major K.119

Sonata in C major K.132

Sonata in G major K.427

Johannes Brahms

Piano Sonata No.1 in C major Op.1

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Scherzo. Allegro molto e con fuoco — Più mosso

IV. Finale. Allegro con fuoco — Presto non troppo ed agitato

- INTERVAL -

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Piano Sonata No.3 in B major K.281

I. Allegro

II. Andante amoroso

III. Rondo (Allegro)

Gabriel Fauré

Impromptu No.1 in E major Op.25

Impromptu No.3 in A major Op.34

Impromptu No.5 in F# minor Op.102

Franz Liszt

Rhapsodie espagnole S.254

IT’S A LOVE STORY: FANS UNITE FOR TAYLOR SWIFT

BY JASMINE SIMMONS

Swiftie, non-swiftie, or casual fan, the nation has been flooded by everything Taylor Swift amid her recent tour. The girl who once played at small venues with her guitar has become an international pop sensation.

The Eras Tour reflects on each stage in Swift’s career, from beginning to present, and has united older fans, who saw Swift’s transition from country to pop, with a younger generation of Swifties who know every word to her latest pop hits.

When Australian shows were announced for Sydney and Melbourne in June last year, initial dates sold out within hours. Due to the high demand, extra shows were added for each city, which again sold out in no time.

Fans began preparing for the concerts months in advance. Inspired by the high-quality production level of the show and Swift’s dazzling presence on stage, Swifties created DIY costumes involving sparkles, glitter, and lots of colours, each representing their favourite album, song, or Taylor Swift era.

Many concert attendees also re-created looks and outfits that Swift herself wore on stage, including the bejewelled bodysuit she wore during her Lover era set. Others took cues from her most popular music videos, re-creating Swift’s “Junior Jewels” t-shirt featured in the “You Belong With Me” video released in 2009.

The popularised bracelet phenomenon further connected Swifties from all eras. Friendship

bracelets made a comeback for The Eras Tour, with some fans making hundreds of colourful beaded bracelets to trade with other concert-goers. Most bracelets spelt out the names of Taylor Swift songs and album titles, while others feature lyrics, inside jokes, and niche fandom references.

When the nights of the Australian concerts finally arrived in February, crowds broke astonishing records for Swift. The popstar played to 96,000 people a night over three sold-out shows at the MCG in Melbourne, the largest crowd Swift has ever performed to in her entire career.

At her second Sydney concert on February 25, high-pitched applause and an ongoing standing ovation filled Accor Stadium. This came after Swift performed her song “Champagne Problems” as part of her Evermore era set. The rapid clapping and cheering left the superstar momentarily speechless, referring to the Sydney crowd as “wild”.

Although the Australian Eras Tour saw such a high attendance, many Taylor Swift fans were disappointed after their unsuccessful attempts to secure tickets in the sale. However, this setback did not stop passionate Swifties. On each concert night, fans who could not make it inside the venue set up camp outside, dressed in sparkling outfits and trading handmade bracelets.

The volume of Taylor Swift’s powerful voice and the tune of her songs were heard loud and clear from outside the stadium. Even without seeing her face, the fans outside united with those inside, singing along to her journey throughout the eras.

Taylor Swift performing to record crowd in Melbourne

Photo: Getty

CABRINI

BY MARK MORELLINI

This biographical drama is set in the late 19th Century and explores the remarkable endeavours of a Catholic missionary named Frances Xavier Cabrini Cabrini is sent by the Pope to aid the homeless and illiterate immigrants in the impoverished Five Points Lower Manhattan, New York City, a notoriously overcrowded, dangerous and diseaseridden slum.

At a running time of just over 140 minutes this dramatisation highlights the courage and resilience of an inspirational survivor, who was the first woman to lead an international mission and who also refused to back down. The movie also touches on the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, where women

were deemed to be inferior.

Cabrini is an emotional cinematic experience, heart wrenching at times compounded by the entrancing musical score. Italian actress, Cristiana Dell’Anna, who started out on an Italian soap, delivers such a powerful and astonishing performance that audiences won’t be blamed for believing that she actually is Cabrini

The cinematography in this ambitious production, which borders on masterpiece status, is mesmerising, especially in the sequences filmed in the churches. The period has been flawlessly recreated, an incredible feat considering the mammoth nature of this production.

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In cinemas now

MADAME WEB

BY MARK MORELLINI

What were they thinking? A wannabe Spiderman spinoff about a female paramedic named Cassie Web who has clairvoyant abilities after a near death experience and is somehow connected to Spiderman?

Cassie assigns herself the task of protecting a trio of future spider women from an enemy that is trying to kill them. The only question that needs to be asked after watching a mere thirty minutes of this dribble is, does anybody really care? This movie is riddled with problems. The dialogue doesn’t flow naturally or spontaneously. Many of the scenes feel contrived and very rehearsed –

audiences seemed to laugh in all the wrong places.

The first half was exhausting to watch owing to the setting up of a new superhero which fans of the genre really aren’t interested in. Too much talking and minimal superhero action until the last act — which was unfortunately too little too late — resulted in a dreary, dull, and unexciting cinematic experience. With the exception of an atmospheric musical score and beautifully shot scenes in Peru (but were they shot in Peru?) this latest cringeworthy superhero flick felt like a ‘straight to streaming’ feature which had very little to offer.

1/2 In cinemas now

HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS

BY RITA BRATOVICH

In a large house in a thriving city in North Macedonia, a group of disparate, disenfranchised people try to live their chaotic, tangental lives under the one roof. Goran Stolevski’s third major feature film, Housekeeping For Beginners, is gritty, dark, funny, and emotionally intelligent.

The film begins frenetically, with lots of different characters being introduced quickly, dialogue that is too fast for the subtitles, sharp-cut editing and seemingly unrelated scenes. Coupled with unsteady hand-held camera, it makes for a challenging exposition.

However, once a trigger-point incident happens, the narrative begins to settle and gel, and the film becomes quite engrossing.

Dita is a social worker in early middle-age who lives in the house she inherited from her father, a former politician. She has an even, pragmatic nature and a kind heart and as such, she has amassed a motley group of un-paying housemates. The script is excellent with very authentic and often quite witty dialogue. The characters are thoughtfully, empathetically drawn, with their respective differences being overcome by a synergetic dynamic among them.

Housekeeping For Beginners is ostensibly a queer film interwoven with Balkan socio-politics, but its themes are universal: love, friendship, family, class, resilience – basically all the visceral experiences around being human.

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In cinemas May 9

DUNE PART 2

BY MARK MORELLINI

Filmed in the impressive IMAX format, this epic science fiction action drama is visually stunning. Every dollar of the reported $190 million budget is evident on screen. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful, and the elaborate sets are mammoth. Excellence is prevalent in most areas of production.

The setback in this windswept epic is in the storytelling technique; the story is so long and dense. It’s simply very difficult to keep up with all the subplots and plots within plots, and the intricacy that it creates. That seems to have been the same issue with Part 1 of this latest re-imagining and even the original David Lynch version produced in 1984.

There is just so much to absorb story wise and once audiences feel they’re lost in between plots frustration and disinterest sets in, and it’s impossible to recover.

If this happens it’s best to just sit back and enjoy the sheer artistry, the mesmerising cinematography, the action-packed war sequences and the originality and bizarre nature of the land and flying machines.

For the most memorable and mindblowing experience it’s highly recommended to watch this mammoth visual spectacular in the IMAX Theatre. The vast screen and deafening loud soundtrack compounds the enjoyment.

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In Cinemas now

35TH FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

BY MARK MORELLINI

The French Film Festival returns this year for its 35th presentation with a program consisting of 41 of the finest cinematic offerings.

“When I curated this festival, I proposed movies which represented two values: diversity, and humanity. It’s a festival to connect people and to connect to your own emotions,” says Karine Mauris, the Artistic Director.

Proudly presented to open the festival is the Australian premiere of the lavishly produced The Three Musketeers Part One - D’Artagnan, one of the biggest box office hits in France. Directed by Martin Bourboulon and starring Francois Civil, it’s based on Alexandre Dumas’ beloved classic novel by the same name.

Part two of this movie screens during the festival, but there will be a special screening of both movies back-to-back in one session.

Comedies are always popular at this festival and Nature of Love is a must see for lovers of French comedy. It’s about the unexpected complications that humorously arise when a woman in a relationship falls madly in love with somebody else.

The closing night movie is the hilarious comedy Second Round which delves on a disgraced journalist who cannot believe what she has discovered about a frontrunner is a presidential election. It’s a satire directed and also starring Albert Dupontel.

For festival attendees who enjoy historical dramas the Australian

premiere of The Edge Of The Blade should be perfect viewing.

“Set in Paris 1887, the world was changing, and the story surrounds a woman played by Doria Tillier who fights for her honour in a duel, during a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote let alone fight for their honour.”

Actor Johnny Depp appearing in the historical feature Jeanne Du Barry is the surprise of the festival. This movie opened the Cannes Film Festival and is a lavish drama which tells the true rags to riches story of King Louis XV’s (Johnny Depp) mistress.

Attendees do not need to be French.

“[This is] a festival for French lovers and the movies in our program are challenging and inspirational.”

ALL YOUR FACES – A huge box office hit in France this drama details the French restorative Justice Program. This story of forgiveness and self-realization is an emotional experience. Stars a powerhouse cast and is directed by Jeanne Herry.

ROSALIE – Set in the 1870’s a woman holds a secret in this historical romantic drama. She fights for acceptance and honor within her community. A strong and beautiful movie. Directed by Stephanie Di Giusto.

ALONG CAME LOVE – Spanning many decades this is the beautiful story about love, family, and secrets. Set at the end of WWII a relationship blossoms between a university student and a single mother. Directed by Katell Quillevere.

Until April 9, All Palace Cinemas

www.affrenchfilmfestival.org

PALESTINIAN FILM FESTIVAL

BY RITA BRATOVICH

In October last year, the organisers of the Palestinian Film Festival made the decision to postpone the event, given what was then transpiring in Gaza. War and unrest in Palestine is nothing new – in fact, for the past 75 years it has been continuous — but this particular assault had just begun. “It was so intense, it wouldn’t feel right for the community not to have space to mourn,” explains Festival Director, Naser Shakhtour. “Also, we thought the festival itself would be undermined because it was not the right space and time frame for people to come and see.”

As the horrors worsened and political discourse became increasingly convoluted, the general public started to develop an appetite for more knowledge to better understand the situation.

The program for this, the 12th edition of the Palestinian Film Festival, is modest but impressive, and includes documentaries, features and shorts from around the world. Some films from the original program have been substituted with others that felt more imperative now, but the overall number and quality of films has been maintained or even increased.

Before the Palestinian Film Festival was created, it was almost impossible to get Palestinian content shown in this country; it was deemed too political, too esoteric.

“It’s like a hot potato, people were avoiding it. So, by us coming in and creating that platform, we normalised it. […] It doesn’t have to be a good story. At least we exist with our good and bad. And we can reflect on ourselves and we can laugh at ourselves and we can cry at ourselves.

“Since [last year] there is a massive surge of interest in Palestinian stories… to know Palestine outside the news reporting,” says Shakhtour. “Now, people are eager to learn about Palestine and know Palestine and support Palestine, and the best thing to do is to actually learn about it through film, through Palestinian film makers and Palestinian stories.” Shakhtour believes the only way to solve problems is to understand the multiple dimensions and get an allround perspective, and art and film can be very good at providing that.

And that’s what I think the festival has achieved.”

Watching a film with a group of people who have a common culture and understanding is a unique, very positive experience.

Shakhtour insists that the Palestinian Film Festival is not just for the Palestinian community, it is for everyone. “There’s a universality about the Palestinian cause, and that’s reflected through cinema and audiences.”

The festival has now concluded, however several films are expected to have individual release.

palestinianfilmfestival.com.au

The Three Muskateers

Gaza Surf Club

23 MARCH 2024

HOLLYWOOD QUARTER GIG TRAIL

The Hollywood Quarter in Surry Hills will be loud and colourful as the Great Southern Night Gig Trail guides music lovers around to the sounds of live tunes. Pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants will offer food and drink deals, catering for all appetites and budgets.