Dunkley
The ÀUVW exhibition at our new gallery space 60 Mt Eliza Way AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE A Solo Exhibition By Maki Horanai
Packing them in: Liberal Dunkley MP Bruce Billson and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull followed by TV news crews visit the Mornington Peninsula Brewery. Picture: Jarryd Bravo
No booze cruise for PM A LIQUID lunch was not on the breakfast menu when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited the Mornington Peninsula Brewery in Mornington while on the election campaign trail late last week. Mr Turnbull seems to be running a ‘hit and run’ election campaign - featuring short and sharp visits to electorates - while Labor leader Bill Shorten focuses on spending more time in specific marginal seats each day. The Times was not notified of the Prime Minister’s trip to Mornington but managed to scramble an agile photographer at no notice to cover the visit. Mr Shorten visited Seaford on Saturday 30 April for a community consultation session. Mr Turnbull and a busload of political staffers and Press Gallery journalists briefly dropped into town on Thursday morning (12 May) to be entertained by Liberal Dunkley MP Bruce Billson who took great delight in showing the press corps around the brewery while extolling the virtues of free enterprise and emerging export markets for the peninsula ale. The media throng was so enraptured by the Bruce Billson show that Liberal candidate Chris Crewther seemed somewhat sidelined from the spotlight. The Liberal candidate and Mr Billson did manage to engage in a bit of jocular banter for the cameras though. Mr Billson said his prospective successor is “a newer, improved version�.
“He’s more handsome, svelte, taller and has less kilometres on the clock,� he said. “I want to grow up to be like Bruce and Bruce wants to grow up to be as tall as me,� Mr Crewther said. “I’m hoping for a belated growth spurt,� Mr Billson responded. After half an hour or so of touring the brewery, the prime ministerial bus departed and headed to a Moorabbin engineering company. An angry single mother ‘Melinda’ confronted Mr Turnbull in Moorabbin about cuts to family tax benefits and the rising cost of education. “The cost of school is going up and up and up and yet we’re not getting any more money and now you’re going to take the family tax benefits away. It’s not just single mums you’re hurting,� she said. The Prime Minister said he understood how tough it can be bringing up children as a single parent. Perhaps he wished the Mornington Peninsula Brewery was scheduled after the Moorabbin bus stop so he could have a post-confrontation drink. Although he could have cracked open a can of Mornington Pale from the slabs of beer handed over to the accompanying journalists earlier in the day by the teetotal Mr Billson. “Stay hydrated!� he cheerfully ordered the departing journalists. Neil Walker
Billson building for the future BRUCE Billson is preparing for a life after politics and has already hit the ground running. The irrepressible Liberal MP for Dunkley decided to retire from the political scene after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull decided to drop him from cabinet late last year but has already landed his first post-politics gig. The former small business minister was appointed executive chair of the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) in March. “When I decided not to continue I wanted to do things that helped me energise enterprise and support the creation of opportunities and livelihoods for people and this seemed a good fit,� he told The Times. “I’m a fan of franchising because it gave me a start when I was at school. I still fondly remember Mark Foster who owned the Frankston Macca’s franchise in Wells St where Westpac is now and it was great to see a local businessman and woman using the franchise model to create opportunities for themselves and others.� Mr Billson concedes the franchising sector faces challenges when asked about the 7-Eleven scandal involving the underpayment of many of its workers. “That’s part of why I was asked to be involved.
Franchising is a fantastic business model where you can be in your own business but not actually be on your own,� he said. “You get support but as the 7-Eleven case shows you still are at the end of the day a business owner as a franchisee and you’ve got important responsibilities to your workforce and under the law that you need to be alert to and upholding. “That’s part of the education that is a segment of what the FCA does.� Mr Billson has also registered a business consultant firm name, Agile Advisory Pty Ltd, for “delicious possibilties� after political retirement. “That’s language I’ve been using for 20 years has become very fashionable of late and I thought I’ve often talked about the need to be agile in a changing economy and I thought I’ll stick with that.� He is not quite finished in politics yet though and says he will support Liberal candidate Chris Crewther in his election efforts before the 2 July federal election. “I’m fully committed to fulfilling my responsibilities as the member for Dunkley and like a good athlete you try to run your hardest as you run over the finish line.� Neil Walker
0DNL +RUDQDL V works are beautiful, technically graceful and conceptually wistful. The works emulate European style with the freshness of a Japanese sensibility, the artist citing Giotto, Fra Angelico and Kano Eitoku as her artistic forebears. Maki has now had 18 solo exhibitions in various cities throughout Australia. +HU FROOHFWLRQ RI DGPLUHUV ÀQG KHU ZRUNV WKRXJKWIXO mysterious and evocative. She and her partner, poet Hillel Weintraub, have published 14 books and their latest, 'At the Edge of the Universe' will be available during the exhibition. Collectors who acquire Horanai's work gain an extraordinary peaceful companion.
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Please RSVP your attendance by Thursday 19 May to AliceH@manyunggallery.com.au or SMS 0403242247
0DQ\XQJ *DOOHU\ 0RXQW (OL]D 60 Mt Eliza Way, Mount Eliza P I 9787 2953 E I staff@manyunggallery.com.au Frankston Times 16 May 2016
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