The Beast - September 2025

Events

Beautiful Homes. Beautiful Concrete.

If you Love concrete, you’ll love the Ablestone Facebook group

Dedicated to the transformative power of concrete for modern, stylish, and sustainable living. It’s free to join and open to anyone who loves concrete and its endless possibilities. As a member, you’ll be inspired with videos, new products, and stunning designs and applications. Share, connect or simply enjoy the visual feast.

Beautiful Homes. Beautiful Concrete.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Phone 02 9318 1722 or visit metromix.com.au/able-concrete/

Architect: MCK Architects.

Photography: Rethmeier Still Images.

Builder: Toki Construction

Subject Bella's First Fish Location Mentawai Islands, Indonesia Photographer Adam Perica

Healthy Living

Words James Hutton - Publisher

Welcome to the September 2025 edition of The Beast, the monthly magazine for Sydney’s healthy beaches of the east.

Despite all the rain, the coastal walk and beaches are springing back to life after the one miserable month of the year when everyone either hibernates or escapes to Indonesia. There’s nothing like the threat of nice weather to get people out and about.

Speaking of healthy living, Jim Squadrito’s touch footy competition is kicking off in October, so it’s time to get organised and register your team. Queens Park Touch has been servicing the Eastern Suburbs since 1977 and is the oldest continual touch association on the whole east coast - and possibly even the entirety of Sydney. For more information and to register, please visit www.queensparktouch.com.au.

On the same topic, if anyone is struggling with compulsive eating, food addiction or an unhealthy relationship with food, I’d like to bring Overeaters Anonymous to your attention. It’s a great local service offering a supportive, non-judgmental community where individuals come together to share their experiences and recover from compulsive eating behaviours.

Overeaters Anonymous is open to anyone who has a desire to stop eating compulsively. There are no dues, no fees, no diets and no weigh-ins. Local meetings are held weekly and are open to newcomers, and you can attend a meeting - either online or in person - in Randwick every Saturday morning from 9-10am and every Sunday afternoon from 5-6pm at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church (in the Ventnor building) and in Bondi every Wednesday evening from 7-8pm in the School of Arts at 138 Bondi Road (in Room A).

For more information, visit www.oa.org or oasydney.org, or call Carol on 0468 945 931. Finally, a big thanks to Bellevue Hill artist Elena Kipnis, who is the talent behind this month’s beautiful cover artwork of a wintry Bondi Beach with the Bondi Vista ferris wheel in full swing. You can see more of Elena’s beautiful work on her Instagram page, @rear2kerb. Cheers, James

The Beast

The Beast Pty Ltd ABN 32 143 796 801 www.thebeast.com.au

Editor

james@thebeast.com.au

Advertising Enquiries advertising@thebeast.com.au

Rates and Specs thebeast.com.au/advertise Circulation

60,000 copies delivered every month; 2,000 in shops and 58,000 in mailboxes.

Impressing the In-Laws

Odour Management

Dear Pearl - I have a dilemma, and I would be very grateful if you could help me to solve it please. My wife and I frequently indulge in ‘the devil’s lettuce’, notably a particularly loud Bhutanese shadow garden-grown dark evil variety, a bit of necromancer’s kush, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, my very strict in-laws will soon be visiting us from Romania for a week and I need to get rid of the pungent ganja smell from our house very fast. In all your infinite wisdom and years of experience, could you please assist me in my time of need by advising how to banish this odour from my property?

Best regards, Pinky Bondi

The Angst of In-Laws

Dear Pinky - In all my years of writing for The Beast, never did I envisage being asked to provide cleaning advice to a cannabis user with odoriferous upholstery and décor. But, darling, since you have faith in my infinite wisdom, Pearl will do her best to

provide a solution to save your marriage from ‘death-by-pungent ganja’.

Although I possess infinite wisdom on a vast range of topics (like fashion advice, dog ownership, parking etiquette...), I admit to lacking experience when it comes to ‘the devil’s lettuce’ - but not from want of trying. Unfortunately, Pearl is a woman of slight stature with a cannabis intolerance. Unlike a dietary intolerance, which one can boast about at Eastern Suburbs dinner parties and private school functions, my intolerance to cannabis has caused an issue amongst the Bohemian set of 60 to 70-year-olds that I run with. Two tokes on the Erskineville garden-grown strain will have old Pearl comatose, much to the embarrassment of her friends, and after waking up stoned on the concrete floor of a rooftop garden in Surry Hills having slept through a 70th birthday celebration with my undies showing, I realised the dark evil was not for me.

But to your odour issue... the smell of cannabis doesn’t linger in the way tobacco does, so for

your house to reek of it, perhaps you are hitting a loud strain way too hard (necromancer’s kush sounds pretty aggressive), as there is a whiff of paranoia in your call for assistance. But who is Pearl to judge? Having been married three times, I understand the angst and anxiety that in-laws cause.

I suggest you leave your ‘lettuce’ bagged up with a trusted friend, open all the windows, sugar soap the walls, shampoo the carpets and upholstery, and wash the window coverings and all your clothing. These are all things that I would suggest to any young person trying to impress strict in-laws, regardless of a cannabis habit. Light a few candles and bake bread for aroma and ambience as well. If these endeavours fail, borrow a very smelly dog from a friend and blame the pooch.

Remember, if your in-laws are as strict as you say they are, I’m sure they will have no idea what pungent ganja smells like. Perhaps they will think it is your cooking. Good luck!

Pearl Clovelly

Words Pearl Bullivant Photo Charles Windsor

Happy families.

The Beast's Monthly Mailbag

Words The Healthy People of the Eastern Beaches

Even the Animals Know Better Awaiting completion of the new Council building at Bronte Beach, Council lifeguards, for the next two or three years, will be housed in temporary facilities providing excellent views of the water, in particular the notoriously dangerous rip at the south end known as the ‘Bronte Express’, which has claimed several lives.

Sadly, upon completion of the build, the lifeguards will be relegated to an inadequately elevated location under a flight of stairs further from the notorious rip and substantially less elevated than their temporary quarters that provide a vastly superior view.

Unlike those behind the proposed permanent structure, which is likely to cost upwards of $40 million, the builders of the temporary location seem to understand that lifeguards’ surveillance facilities are critical to surf safety.

Why? Is it because the surf club, which is also to be in the new building, is being gifted the upper floor as a licensed commercial function centre? Those sipping a drink at the function centre will have a better view of the surf than is available to the lifeguards, as will club executive members attending meetings in the ‘training room’.

Lifeguards don’t spend their long shifts standing up, they will be seated in their insufficiently elevated cubicle. I suspect those who planned its location do not comprehend that waves obscure vision from land, and the bigger the waves the greater the problem.

Animals on the Serengeti know to hunt from elevated positionslookout posts are always elevated, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out why. It certainly doesn’t say much for those who authorised the proposed location for the lifeguards whose responsibility it is to protect us from dawn to dusk each day, irrespective of the weather and sea conditions. It is obvious that their view of the sea should be maximised.

Greg Maidment Bronte

Etched in Stone for Being Ordinary - A Heartfelt Letter

I’ve seen a lot change in Bronte over the years - some for the better, some not so much - but there’s one change happening right now that I can’t help but speak up about. The new Bronte Surf Club clubhouse is under construction - a modern facility to match the times. ‘Progress’, they say, and I get that, but one thing that doesn’t sit right with me is this: you can now have your name etched into the new building in return for a donation. That’s right, just fork over a bundle of cash and, voilà, you’re ‘in the club’.

Back in my day, and at most surf clubs up and down the east coast, to have your name or photo up on the wall wasn’t something you could buy - it had to be earned. You had to do something remarkable. Maybe it was winning a state or Aussie title after years of early mornings, freezing water, brutal training and unwavering commitment. Maybe

you served on the committee for decades, quietly holding the place together, navigating politics, uniting people, mending rifts, being the glue. Or, maybe you were just that rock-solid person who showed up, week in, week out, season after season - no fanfare, just service.

You gave your heart, your time, your soul... and maybe, just maybe, your name would go up on the wall. That was the honour. But now, apparently, the only qualification you need is a functioning bank account.

Don’t get me wrong - fundraising is important. Building a new clubhouse isn’t cheap, and if people want to give, good on them, but calling it ‘recognition’ feels off. It cheapens the legacy of the names already on those walls. It blurs the line between those who gave and those who bought.

I walk through Bronte and remember the faces, the stories, the rescues, the heartbreaks, the laughs on the deck after a long day on the beach, and I worry we’re losing the heart of what made surf clubs like ours sacredcommunity, service, legacy.

Is it just me? Am I out of touch, or does anyone else feel like we’re trading in honour for optics? Maybe there’s still time to get it right. Let’s honour the past properly, and never forget what it really meant to earn your place on the wall.

A Proud Old Bronte Member

In Good Hands

Dear Editor - I’ve got to say, the media really know how to beat up a story, and sometimes to the detriment of our thriving community. I note the recent furore around the weights being removed from the Bondi Beach outdoor gym. Yes, the weights were removed a few months ago by Council officers, but thanks to the passion and dedication of one local councillor they are allowed back permanently.

Letters on the matter were sent unanswered to many councillors, but Cr Stephenson and the mayor

answered the call and fought passionately to have them back. It’s just sad that one poorly written article can start a tsunami of false information. I would expect better from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Speaking of all things Bondi, it’s also great to see a council take a sensible approach to the shark net situation. Residents are keen on removing them but only if we have other mitigation strategies in place, something I note the mayor is fighting for. His stance strikes the perfect balance of environmental equity and safety, it’s just a pity that the state government is looking to wash their hands of any responsibility in the matter.

So glad to see our Bondi community in such good hands after years of neglect.

Clinton Bondi Beach

Steps in the Right Direction

Dear editor of The Beast - Can I just say, I am so excited by all the positive initiatives we’ve seen from this new Waverley Council.

I’ve walked past Bronte House for years but never made it to one of the rare open days. I’m so keen it will now be open to the public to enjoy. I also look forward to seeing what they do with the old council chambers - I understand it will be opened to the community as a recreational hub; it’s totally wasted as office space.

As a supporter of the arts, I was delighted to see the cemetery residence repurposed into a writers studio for local authors. I often walk through our cemetery to appreciate the view and I think the sandstone shelters have been renovated beautifully.

I’m so excited Council has brought New Year’s Eve back to Bondi. We need more fun stuff locally, particularly live music events, and Bondi Festival was bigger and better than ever before.

Finally, I applaud Council for purchasing the first affordable housing block in Waverley in over two decades, especially for designating some units for victims of domestic violence.

There has definitely been a sense of rejuvenation and positive can-do attitude and I hope this can continue with the same gusto.

Renata Waverley

Bronte House

Dear Sir - I’m delighted to see that Waverley Council has this month voted unanimously to open up Bronte House to the public when the current private residential lease ends next February. There have been a lot of great initiatives from this new council, but this one will be huge for our local community.

The house and garden are well preserved and beautiful and should be enjoyed by the many, not the few. I’m looking forward to being able to spend time in the gardens on weekends on my way down to the beach. Hopefully this change will mean the somewhat neglected area of park at the back of the house will be improved, with better access too.

Bravo to Mayor Will Nemesh and Waverley Council!

Peter McInerney Bronte

Question Time

Dear editor - I have a few questions for Will Nemesh (Where There’s a Will There’s a Way, The Beast, August 2025)...

1. Please advise how much affordable housing there will be, where this affordable housing is, who are the developers, and whether it be sold as ordinary housing stock after a period of time, as is usually the case?

2. How will the ‘historic agreement with e-bike operators’ stop people leaving their bikes in the middle of footpaths? Who is policing this, and how?

3. Has the ‘new Bronte Surf Life Saving Club building with integrated council facilities’, located just above sea level, been designed with full appreciation of the known advent of rising sea levels due to our changing climate? What exactly are these ‘integrated council facilities’?

4. Where will Council staff and elected councillors work when the old council chambers turn into a ‘recreational sports precinct’? What exactly is meant by a ‘recreational sports complex’, and who will own and manage it?

Lenore Kulakauskas Bondi Beach

Answer Time

Thanks for your questions Lenore. I’ve done my best to provide a response below.

1. Prior to the purchase of 49 Mitchell Street in Bondi Beach, Council owned 24 affordable housing units. The purchase of 49 Mitchell Street has increased this number by an additional six dwellings. On top of this, I have initiated a process to refurbish an existing building in Edmund Street in Queens Park, which will deliver a further six affordable housing units. Within my mayoralty I will have increased our affordable housing stock by a minimum of 50 per cent. These dwellings are owned by Council in perpetuity and managed by a community housing provider.

2. As part of the agreement with share bike operators there will be designated parking zones throughout the local government area, which will be continuously rolled out. These zones will be geo-fenced, meaning that if a user does not return a bike to that zone, they will be continuously charged. E-bikes placed inappropriately will have three hours to be relocated, otherwise Council can impound the bikes (which it has and will continue to do). There are many other parts to the agreement, which sets a comprehensive framework on how e-bikes are used, parked and managed.

3. Yes it has. As part of the redevelopment, Council is rebuilding its protective seawall.

4. Council chambers has already been vacated for close to a year. There was a strategy in place to move Council staff to offices within Bondi Junction including the Library, Mill Hill Centre, Customer Service Centre and Whitten

Lane. The old council chambers never housed or accommodated all staff. Council currently uses the Boot Factory as its chambers - a project that cost over $20 million more than was originally budgeted for by the previous Council.

In terms of a potential community/recreational facility, it will be owned by Council and managed by Council, just like the Margaret Whitlam Centre. I have requested that any design incorporate significant community space.

Will Nemesh Mayor of Waverley

Dogs Walking Their Owners

Once designed as a simple means of controlling man’s best friend, the humble leash has evolved into more of a fashion accessory than a functional tool. Commonly seen dangling from hip pockets or draped over shoulders, these colourful tethers now often accompany an air of entitlement and disregard.

In Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, it appears many dog owners believe they’ve received an unofficial exemption from adhering to signage, regulations or basic etiquette. The criteria for this imaginary pass are remarkably loose; owners need only declare their dog is ‘friendly’ or offer a token apology while their unleashed spoodle barks relentlessly at a dog that is actually restrained.

Callan Maroubra

Stakeholders

I note in the ‘Wenty’, the latest concept by the Mayor of Waverley. It purports to reinvigorating Bondi Junction. So, a meeting was called. I’m not sure who invited the ‘key stakeholders’, but they included Westfield parent company Scentre Group, a bunch of other developers and the Urban Task Force.

Well, I had to look them up, and they are the leading advocate for property developers and equity financiers in Australia. And then there was Architectus, a massive design firm.

They seem to have decided among themselves that increasing the height limit to 100 metres would ‘activate revitalise and renew’. I’m not sure how that works to mitigate the ‘windswept concrete jungle’ they apparently want to get away from, or how this serves other residents’ loss of sun.

I note that no locals, long-term residents, community representatives, local historians, environmental specialists, local artists, musicians or local public art experts were invited as stakeholders. I don’t know what other councillors or staff were invited. The entire focus seemed to have been commerce.

And then I thought, ‘Oh, wait, the Mayor of Waverley works as a consultant for developers’, and suddenly it all made sense.

Hyacinth Jones Bondi

The Mayor of Waverley works in Planning & Public Affairs for Fivex, a boutique commercial property company - not as a consultant for developers.

The Future of Bondi Junction

Dear James - Recently our Liberal Mayor Will Nemesh convened a roundtable regarding the future of Bondi Junction. The roundtable, intended to shape the direction of one of our most significant urban centres, was overwhelmingly attended by property developers. This raises serious concerns about whose voices are being prioritised in decisions that will affect local residents, small businesses and the character of our community for generations to come.

I think we all agree that Bondi Junction definitely needs a masterplan, but when developers are the dominant stakeholders at the table, what does that say about the vision this Liberal-led council has for Bondi Junction?

Are we heading toward a future shaped more by profit than by people? Planning decisions should reflect the interests and aspirations of the entire community - not just those with commercial interests. Waverley residents and

our small businesses all deserve transparency and a seat at the table.

Bronte Babe Bronte

Council’s community consultation for the future of Bondi Junction was launched on August 1, not long after The Beast received these letters. Community input is being sought on the reshaping of this vital precinct to set a clear long-term direction for community outcomes, transport, public space and land use.

“Community is at the heart of the revitalisation of Bondi Junction. This is why we are undertaking significant community consultation for both the visioning concept as well as the master planning stages over the next few months. I encourage our community to have their say on what will be the first plan in over 20 years to give the Junction back its soul,” Mayor Nemesh told The Beast.

If you would like to provide your input on what an activated and experiential Bondi Junction could look like, please complete the online survey by visiting haveyoursay.waverley.nsw.gov.au.

There will also be two pop-up stalls around Bondi Junction where the community can share feedback on Wednesday, August 13 from 11.30am-1.30pm at Oxford Street Mall (near the train station), and on Thursday, August 14 from 10.30am-12.30pm at Waverley Library.

Africa or Bust

I met a young fella at the local dog park the other day. Nice kid, polite and chatty, just finished school, now set for some travel in his gap year. His name was Arne, aged 18.

So bloody what, you might ask? After all, Europe is crawling with young people from our entitled Eastern Suburbs. Well, Arne’s plans are a bit different. All going well, he will pedal his bicycle 7,000 kilometres through seven African countries, from the Mediterranean coast down to Equatorial West Africa, over five

months or so. It’s all about raising money for suicide prevention, in particular Lifeline and the smaller local groups that form part of its network, like local surf and running clubs.

“This trip will test every part of me,” he says. “I’ll be cycling through places I’ve never dreamed of, meeting people, building stories, pushing my limits and getting my perspectives shaken up in ways I probably can’t imagine yet.”

So, Arne is raising funds to launch his difficult and dangerous mission. The day I met him in the dog park, he was selling cookies. I passed on the cookie but promised a small donation and this letter to The Beast.

If you can help this big-hearted young adventurer, please go to www.arnejoseph.com and donate. One day you or a loved one might thank him. Either way, wish him the very best.

Michael Tamarama

Dodging Landmines

Would the dog owners who walk their dogs up Beach Road between Glenayr Avenue and Gould Street please pick up after them?! It’s a disgrace the amount of dog shit left on the nature strip and footpath. I’ve had dogs, it’s not that f*cking hard!

Pissed Off Resident Bondi Beach

Bronte Beach

Just what is going on at Bronte Beach? It used to be a great place to catch a quiet swim in June, July and August. Lately it’s been a construction site.

I gather that the powers that be want a great big surf club. Okay, I suppose we can survive that. But why does the ocean pool have to be closed one day after another? They clean it out, they fix it up, and it needs more work, always. The council website has very little information and lots of ‘correct’ stuff, as usual.

Bronte is the best ocean pool we have. Mahon Pool at Maroubra was damaged by storms and still

isn’t fixed. So why close down Bronte Pool week after week, month after month? It’s closed almost as much as it’s open. We all need a healthy population to keep us fit and healthy and out of hospital. Keep our pools open as much as we can, please!

Peter West

Bondi Junction

Reviewing Waverley's Resident Parking Scheme

The recent Waverley Council ‘Have Your Say’ survey is so obviously biased toward business interests and designed to undermine the parking needs of residents. While not perfect, the scheme has brought much-needed relief for many of us residents who rely on street parking.

If you want to keep resident parking, don’t rely on the biased survey, email your councillors and make your voice heard.

Steve Waverley

In Support of Hyacinth Jones Hyacinth Jones’ letter to The Beast certainly caused quite a hullabaloo on a local community Facebook page (An Emerging Pattern, Monthly Mailbag, The Beast, August 2025). The responses from our elected officials at Waverley Council were quite concerning and I believe inappropriate.

Implying there was a case for defamation when someone expressed their concerns is not the way councillors should respond, unless of course it is to intimidate residents into silence.

Waverley Council has its own social media page where it could quite easily and transparently address residents’ concerns or questions and not use it just for public relations.

Interestingly, the social media page in question has the option of commenting anonymously, which is very unusual and I can’t say I’ve seen that function on any Facebook page anywhere. Is it to protect the opinions of some with the admin having the prerogative to identify the anonymous com-

menters and remove them from the group? Smells more than just fishy, but rather a way to control comments and allow a certain brazenness and protection. It’s almost duplicitous of the social media page to offer anonymity on a community platform that has called itself using the name of a beachside suburb.

But back to the councillors; if you’re not prepared to serve the community, please reassess your suitability for the role you are paid to carry out. Also, why not show a genuine concern for residents’ issues rather than attempting to silence them?

I suggest Waverley Council provides training to councillors to support and serve residents and use words that say we hear your concerns. We are a community of people with different backgrounds and opinions, and page one of good leadership is understanding the importance of the contributions of all.

To imply that a resident concocted a tale when a check of the minutes proves the incidents to be true is not a good example of improving the service Council provides, and how can a councillor possibly know all the facts without seeking more information?

It baffles me that councillors want to politicise everything when we just want them to keep the streets clean, repair damage and enforce building safety codes.

Listening to a Council meeting is truly disturbing with the way they speak to each other.

Hyacinth Jones has every right to express her opinion without the weight of councillors threatening ‘defamation’. Can councillors remember to act with civility and courtesy and not treat their positions as an opportunity to demean residents, please?

The new opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is trying to rebrand the Liberal Party to be less combative, and I suggest councillors of all stripes try conciliation as a way to improve community harmony. Diana Bondi

TALKS + IDEAS

9 Sep Natalie Kyriacou OAM in conversation with Laura Wells

23 Sep S. Shakthidharan in conversation with Benjamin Law

30 Sep Clare Stephens in conversation with Jessie Stephens

2 Oct Bri Lee in conversation with Bridie Jabour

7 Oct Tracey Holmes in conversation with Stan Grant

Celebrating Gather Up Your World In One Long Breath, the new memoir from the prizewinning writer of Counting and Cracking

Chatting science, sex and secrets in Seed, the intriguing new book from award-winning author Bri Lee.

Humanity, culture and politics through the lens of the natural world. Exploring Nature’s Last Dance.

A deep dive into cancel culture and digital lives at the launch of The Worst Thing I Have ever Done Stephens’ debut novel.

Discovering The Eye of the Dragonfly. An unmissable look at a life led on the frontlines of global storytelling.

Hyacinth’s Rambling Conspiracies

Unlike Hyacinth Jones, I’m not opposed to a small amount of the tax I pay being spent on monuments to hostages and WW2 refugees, or new sports facilities.

Ignoring the plight of dozens of people being held hostage because “we live in a world of deaths” doesn’t make you level-headed, it makes you appear callous.

This may surprise Hyacinth, but a massive chunk of the Eastern Suburbs also have “strong ties” to these groups and sports. I suggest she get off Facebook conspiracy groups and put her iPad down - what may come off as great investigative work to Hyacinth just looks like racist, kooky conspiracies to everyone else.

George Bronte

Call for Witnesses

On Wednesday, April 9, at about 12.15 to 12.20pm, I was walking along Oxford Street near the mall to catch a bus at the intersection of Denison and Oxford Streets. Somewhere outside The Mill Hill I was hit from behind by a cyclist riding illegally on the footpath. The cyclist did not stop. The speed and force of the collision knocked me head first onto the concrete footpath, leading to concussion with 15 to 30 minutes’ amnesia. I hit the ground so hard that I suffered multiple injuries to my head and body.

The purpose of this letter is to try to find witnesses to the event, because The Mill Hill lost its CCTV footage, which could have shown the collision, due to a technical problem.

I have a screenshot that shows me being walked back to the Bondi Junction Medical Centre semi-conscious, but the person leading me did not provide his name or contact details.

To apprehend the hit-and-run perpetrator, details of the appearance of the bike and the rider’s clothing, and any other identifying physical features, should help. From other CCTV footage showing what bikes passed before and after I was hit, it seems that he was a

push-bike rider. If those who saw the hit-and-run collision have any useful information to help identify the perpetrator, please provide it to the Bondi Junction police. Phone video footage of the collision would be especially helpful.

Name

and Address Withheld

Small Business R.I.P.

It would seem Randwick Council is now singing from the same hymn sheet as the City Of Sydney Council, where the eighth wonder of the world, Clover Moore, has single-handedly over the years destroyed parking availability in her domain.

The Spot precinct can ill afford to lose 22 parking spaces as Council prepares to squander over $6 million dollars of ratepayers’ coin to window dress St Paul’s Street. This could be the final nail in the coffin for small businesses in that area already struggling to keep their doors open, what with high rents and electricity increases spiraling out of control so Chris Bowen can save us all from a climate catastrophe.

To the Liberals’ credit, they at least asked for the decision to be deferred for a year, only to have the Labor-Green machinery bulldoze them out of the way. A little humour was well-received however when reading that smart poles would be installed - more like dumb poles, if you ask me.

Jimbo Coogee

Another Pocket Park Letter

Reading over the increasingly off-topic letters on pocket parks in recent issues of The Beast has left me pondering why, in the face of so much evidence pointing to its short-sightedness, some of us cling tenaciously to the same self-defeating anthropocentrism that has led to so many of us living in concrete jungles, deafened with the sounds and choked with the smells of vehicles.

In attempting to deter the venting of local keyboard jockeys, I should point out that both concrete pavements and cars have

their uses, their needs and their place (and with a little innovation, both can be used to generate renewable energy). However, the question to be answered is not the binary either/or between roads and pocket parks, but rather a more nuanced one - what kinds of cities do we want to live in?

It can be daunting to try to imagine a reality slightly (or significantly) different to the one we currently live in. Even when we rail against the inconveniences and injustices of our world as it is, there is still something comforting in knowing it so well we can be certain what it is we resent about it. However, there’s little point in our much-vaunted liberal-democratic choices and freedoms without us actually seeking to exercise them to try to make things better for everyone (and everything) around us.

So, here is another question - what if pocket parks make our suburbs just that little bit more clean and pleasant? Not just for us, but for the birds and animals, insects and invertebrates that live among us. Because here’s the thing - even if no one ever sits, or plays guitar, or writes a sonnet, or runs around in circles until they’re dizzy in a pocket park, we all still benefit just by having those plants growing there.

People will talk about money and taxes and financial crises, and I get it - everyone who works for a wage is doing it tough, and it seems more practical to have councils focus on roads and rubbish and balancing the books - but if the profits of large companies are not nose-diving, and most CEOs are still getting their bonuses, it’s not a shortage of wealth we’re suffering from in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Which brings me to a final question - what kind of world do we all want to live in?

Sandra Clovelly

Please send your letters to letters@thebeast.com.au (with your name and suburb).

Always sketching.

Local Artist... Elena Kipnis from Bellevue Hill

Interview James Hutton

Local artist Elena Kipnis is the talent behind this month’s cover artwork of a very wintry Bondi Beach. Elena shares her local favourites with The Beast...

How long have you lived here?

A little over two years now - long enough to feel like home and short enough to still appreciate every sunset.

Why do you live here? After hopping between a few countries I finally landed in this suburb, where the beaches are postcard perfect, the coffee is strong enough to power a small rocket and the vibe is just chill enough that I don’t feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. It’s basically the jackpot of places to call home.

What's your favourite beach? North Bondi. It’s great for people watching and just the right balance of locals and chaos.

What's your favourite eatery? Gertrude & Alice, the perfect blend of café and bookstore magic - a true Bondi gem!

Where do you like to have a drink? Ravesis, for their unbeatable live music band selection.

Best thing about the Eastern Suburbs? The perfect combo of stunning beaches, leafy streets and endless cafés where I can sip a flat white and sketch for hours.

Worst thing about the Eastern Suburbs? The overwhelming crowds on Bondi on weekends, when it feels like half of Sydney and most of Europe have the exact same beach plan as you.

How would you describe your art? I’m drawn to everyday moments - the quiet, the fleeting, the easily missed. Through my work, I try to capture those fragments of life that often go unnoticed, inviting people to slow down and see the beauty in the familiar.

Where can people see your work? On my Instagram, @rear2kerb, or sometimes on the walls of kind strangers who believe in emerging artists. I’ve participated in Incognito Art Show for the second year in a row now and my works found their forever home.

Who are your artistic inspirations? Heidi Lai is a big inspiration for me, she captures the same emotions and everyday stories I explore, but through the rich, textured world of oil painting. Her work reminds me how powerful simplicity can be, no matter the medium.

Any other local artists to look out for? NotNotCamScott is probably one of the most famous local artists around, and I genuinely love his work.

When did you discover you had a gift for your craft? I’ve always loved art, aesthetics and design, but it was a sketching friend who inspired me to practise drawing every day. That dedication

helped me discover my style and what I truly enjoy creating.

What are you working on at the moment? I’m currently building my website to showcase my photography, prints and original artwork.

Do you have any exhibitions coming up? Not yet, but my dream is to take part in The Other Art Fair event.

Did you study art? Yes, I have a diploma in Graphic Design and a degree in Multimedia Project Management but never formally studied drawing.

Any words of wisdom for young aspiring artists? Keep practising, and trust that your style will find you along the way.

What music are you into at the moment? I’m drawn to music that’s intense and atmospheric, mixing heavy sounds with deep emotional layers. Right now, I’m really into Tool and Katatonia-style of bands.

What do you get up to on the weekends? Spending time with my son, which always keeps things fun and full of surprises.

What do you do for work? I manage customer support operations and lead teams in tech.

What's your favourite thing about work? Being part of real tech progress - building products that are smart, useful and actually make people’s lives better.

Do you have a favourite quote? “Focusing on what you can’t control makes you stressed, focusing on what you can control makes you powerful.”

Any other words of wisdom for readers of The Beast? The only thing you truly have control over is yourself - your actions, your mindset and your growth.

Photo Nataliia Tsvalinska

ECO-FRIENDLY TALKS, STALLS, WORKSHOPS: PICKLING AND FERMENTATION

NATURAL SKINCARE SUSTAINABLE GARDENING VINTAGE CLOTHING KINTSUGI - MENDING GARMENTS WITH GOLD THREADS LEARN TO DIY

ELECTRIFY YOUR HOME, AND MORE!

1300 722 542 randwick.nsw.gov.au/ ecoliving

New Writers’ Centre Likely to Leave the Others for Dead

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo Fay Tality

Scribes in a writers’ centre being set up by Waverley Council may find themselves inspired to tap out stories and verse where death is a dominant theme.

The centre will be in a converted staff cottage in Waverley Cemetery. Writers in residence will look out onto a vista of tombstones - 90,000 people have been interred in the oceanside necropolis.

Waverley Council will spend $225,000 repurposing the cottage, which will become the workplace of three writers for five-month stints, starting in July 2026.

The centre will be named after famous cemetery resident Henry Lawson. Other writers buried there include poet Dorothea Mackeller and journalist Jules Archibald, co-founder of The Bulletin magazine.

Writers using the Henry Lawson Centre will have their own rooms, and there will be no production deadlines or limitations on the types of work produced.

“Residencies are for the development of literary works of any kind and do not carry any completion of work outcomes,” says the council.

A lithium battery caused this garbage truck to go up in smoke.

Lithium Batteries Causing Garbage Trucks to Go Up in Flames

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo Elon Musk

Randwick and Waverley Councils are urging responsible disposal of lithium batteries following a spate of garbage truck fires.

The contents of a Randwick Council garbage truck recently caught fire and the council says it’s the fourth garbage truck blaze this year.

Meanwhile, Waverley Council says it has had had “several” such incidents on garbage trucks over the past two years - and that they’re the direct result of lithium batteries going in household rubbish bins. Then when the batteries end up in garbage trucks, increased temperatures can trigger a fire. So where should you dispose of these potential ticking time bombs?

Waverley Council says, “Household batteries can be recycled at the Waverley Council customer service centre in Bondi Junction and all batteries can be dropped off at our regular ‘Recycle it Saturday’ events.”

In Randwick, lithium batteries can be left at the Community Recycling Centre in Matraville. It’s open Monday-Friday from 6am2.45pm and the first Saturday of each month from 7.30am-2pm.

Shark Nets Look Likely to Return to Bondi and Bronte

This Summer

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo Valerie Taylor, AM

A proposal to scrap the use of shark nets has become tangled in debate over funding of other measures to keep beaches safe from the predators.

There’s overwhelming community opposition to the nets because they snare such a high tally of non-target species. Now the NSW Government has approved a trial of net-free beaches in three LGAs - Waverley, Northern Beaches and Central Coast - asking each to nominate a beach for the trial.

In Waverley, it’s a choice of Bondi or Bronte, the only two netted beaches. The nets operate six months a year and are due to go back up on September 1. There’s unlikely to be any change as Waverley puts the bite on NSW for funds to cover additional mitigation strategies.

Mayor Will Nemesh says stopping use of nets “is conditional on the significantly increased use of drones and SMART drumlines at Waverley Council beaches, resourced by the state government.”

The NSW government is solely responsible for the management of shark nets. While local government is an important stakeholder it is not the decision maker. Waverley Council has been rational with its advocacy on shark net management and will make a further submission on August 19.

Another one bites the dust.

The new writers’ centre.

The great white didn’t appear to get the point as Dean had his speargun trained on it.

Dean’s Terrifying Great White Encounter

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Dean Thomas

Maroubra spearfisherman Dean Thomas was feeling lucky after getting a 2kg Australian Salmon one afternoon in early July. Then a much bigger fish turned up.

“I saw this large figure to my right - a white shark,” the 33-yearold Randwick resident told The Beast. “It approached and came within a metre and a half of me.”

Dean switched on the action camera that was strapped above his diving mask and began to record the experience.

The shark, which he estimates was between 2.5 and 3 metres in length, started circling, closely approaching him and his catch, which was in a netted bag attached to his diving float.

Dean held his ground and continually pushed his speargun out towards the shark to warn it off.

“It wasn’t fazed though, it just continued to approach within metres of me without any hesitation.”

For three and a half minutes, the apex predator continued to slowly circle around him and his catch. Dean realised that

the sight of his speargun wasn’t going to deter it.

He took a deep breath, then swam 100 metres to the rocks with the great white initially following him.

“I was calm up until that point, but in the white water I started to freak out because I couldn’t see it anymore.”

Dean managed to haul himself up onto the rocks before pulling in his diving line attached to his catch and dive float.

His words on reaching dry land, recorded for posterity on his camera and broadcast later on Channel 9 news: “F*cken hell! Well, I’m alive!”

He later learned his unwanted undersea companion was a tagged female that had been pinged swimming between Maroubra and Bondi over the previous three days.

You can check out some of Dean’s other awesome underwater experiences on his Instagram, @deep.down.underspearfishing, and his YouTube channel, Deep Down Under Spearfishing.

Adelaide and Lucinda Share Journey of Love in Dementia Doco

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo Anna Trichet-Laurier

A pair of Maroubra sisters help their beloved Nan battle the demons of dementia.

That’s the storyline of Nansie, an 80-minute documentary that premiered on July 16 at the Randwick Ritz.

Directed by Anna Trichet-Laurier, the film shows Adelaide and Lucinda Miller helping their grandmother Ann (aka Nansie) live a dignified life against a backdrop of mental and physical deterioration.

It documents the memory loss that goes with dementia, with Nansie no longer able to recall her granddaughters’ names.

And the documentary shows the anger that often manifests, with Nansie raging at the girls as they help her to shower at her aged care facility in South Coogee.

“We highlight how joy is often tinged with sadness,” says Lucinda, 24, who works dual occupations as a town planner and actor.

“The film shows how we learned a lot about ourselves in the four years it took to make,” says Adelaide, a 27-year-old journalist.

Today, Nansie is aged 88 and still living a fruitful life thanks to the loving care of her granddaughters.

Nansie and the Miller sisters.

The latest from Randwick City Council about living in this great city

Randwick News

This month, we’re celebrating our beautiful environment and the progress we’ve made towards a more sustainable city. From protecting our coastline to supporting the community’s transition to net zero emissions, sustainability remains a top priority for Randwick City Council.

Through our rebate programs, we’re helping residents save on energy bills while making greener choices. In the past financial year, 429 sustainability rebates worth $233,000 were provided for things such as rooftop solar and insulation. For every rebate dollar provided, residents and businesses invested an average of $13, resulting in a total investment in new and additional energy and water saving measures in Randwick City of more than $3 million in 2024-25.

We’re continuing to make sure our beaches stay clean through installing more Gross Pollutant Traps – big underground filters that catch rubbish in stormwater before it hits the ocean.

Our new resilience team is helping the community prepare for and respond to emergencies. They’re working on Randwick City’s first emergency dashboard, which is set to go live by early 2026. It will provide community members with real-time updates on local hazards and disasters.

If you’re switching to an electric vehicle, we’ve got you covered with more than 100 public EV chargers now available, plus rebates to help with installing a home charger.

Join us in celebrating Randwick City’s unique environment. There are plenty of sustainability focused events all month, including the 20th anniversary celebration of our Eco Living Festival on Sunday 14 September.

What’s On

PLANT WITH US FATHER’S DAY

SUNDAY 7 SEPTEMBER

8.30 – 10 am

10.30 am – 12 pm

Arthur Byrne Reserve

SATURDAY CIRCLE

SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 10 am – 12 pm

27 Munda St Randwick Sustainability Hub

ECO LIVING FESTIVAL

SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 10 am – 4 pm

Broadarrow Reserve Maroubra Beach

MALABAR PRECINCT RESIDENTS MEETING

WEDNESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

7 pm

The Juniors, Malabar

COOGEE PRECINCT RESIDENTS MEETING

MONDAY 15 SEPTEMBER

7.30 pm

Coogee Senior Citizens Centre

SCAN FOR MORE RESIDENTS MEETINGS

Councillor Dylan Parker Mayor of Randwick

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker

Bronte Beach Precinct Fears Environmental Funding Cuts

Words & Photo Anthony Maguire

Bronte Beach Precinct is worried that Waverley Council could be cutting back funding for crucial environmental projects.

Precinct committee member Susan Hely voiced the residents group’s concerns at a council meeting just before the formal adoption of a ten-year Environmental Action Plan (EAP).

Ms Hely said EAP funding had initially not been covered under Waverley’s Long-Term Financial Plan due to unspecified “funding constraints”, but later the council changed its tune, saying the Environmental Action Plan would be included.

She quoted from a recent Council document that stated “not all actions are fully funded… It depends on the grant opportunities to be fully or partially implemented.”

Speaking later to The Beast, Ms Hely said, “My question iswhat’s going on? I didn’t get any answers at the meeting about my concerns. All the indications are

that numerous parts of the Environmental Action Plan are being defunded - which parts?”

“The environmental attractions of this area are a prime reason why we live here and the council needs to give a firm funding commitment to vital areas like ocean water quality and tree cover,” she said.

A Waverley Council spokesperson, however, reiterated the council’s commitment to the EAP, explaining that it has not changed, nor have aspects of the plan been ‘de-funded’.

“As a leader in the sector on environmental sustainability for more than a decade, any suggestion that Waverley Council is not prioritising sustainability is simply untrue,” the spokesperson said.

“Waverley Council’s Environmental Action Plan reflects the aspirations of our community, so it includes ambitious environmental targets including net zero by 2035 and 35 per cent green cover by 2032.”

“The mix of funding sources was outlined in the Long-Term Financial Plan and EAP reports, tabled at June’s Council meeting. The EAP includes a summary of actions and who is responsible for its implementation. The state and federal governments also have responsibility for our local environment, and as such Council relies on support and collaboration with different levels of government, including through grant funding.”

“More broadly, our commitment to environmental and climate-related actions is embedded across Waverley’s broader financial and operational systems - not limited to the funding of our Environmental Sustainability team alone. This is reflected in capital works, asset management and procurement, and event processes to ensure a whole-ofCouncil responsibility for delivery of the EAP. We are proud to be and continue to be a leader in environmental sustainability.”

Cutting Out Over-Regulation for Planning Approvals

Words Anthony Maguire

Reginald Ulation

Waverley Council is calling on the state government to cut the red tape that all too frequently holds up planning approvals.

Councillors approved a proposal from Mayor Will Nemesh that the planning system be overhauled to streamline applications and save urgently-needed housing and infrastructure projects from becoming mired in a sea of regulations.

“Our current planning system has become bloated with bureaucratic complexities,” Mayor Nemesh said.

He said there should be a review of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act of 1979. The Act worked well back in the day, but since being passed, the legislation has been amended more than 150 times and has grown from 137 pages to over 300 pages in length. In the process, multiple barriers have been created to efficient planning approvals. For instance, if councils don’t decide on a development within a given timeframe, it is automatically refused.

“Excessive regulation has been an impediment to good development and has been a contributing factor to the current housing crisis,” Mayor Nemesh told Council.

Susan from Bronte Beach Precinct wants Waverley to commit to environmental funding.

Waverley Council wants to reduce planning regulations.

Photo

Fiction and reality collide as a theatrical film is created live before your eyes.

bondipavilion.com.au

All 482 visas may now apply for PR, including cooks, café managers, hairdressers, marketing staff, etc. The qualifying period has also been reduced to two years

Please call Brendan to discuss further

Brendan Muldoon

Reg. Migration Agent # 0742052 39 Gould Street, Bondi Beach Phone: 0404 552 322 brendan@bondimigration.com.au www.bondimigration.com.au

Dylan’s Second Term Projects Gain Traction

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Mark Bond

Randwick City Council Mayor Dylan Parker has led a string of initiatives to protect the environment, ease cost of living pressures and improve housing affordability since being elected last October.

The young Labor councillor, who previously served as mayor from 2021-23, has also championed public access to Sydney’s coastline, along with the rights of seniors, tenants, First Nations residents and (drumroll…) dog owners! Here are his top ten achievements so far from his latest term...

1.

Cleaner Beaches

Council is fast-tracking stormwater diversion from Coogee Beach in a joint $7 million project with the state government. “It will ensure Coogee is pristine many more days of the year,” Mayor Parker says. Gross Pollutant Traps have also recently been installed at Malabar and South Coogee, bringing the council-wide total to 38. These traps filter out plastics, cigarette butts and other ocean pollutants.

2. Cost of Living Relief for Seniors

Council has increased this year’s rates discount for elderly homeowners by $100, meaning pensioners receive a total discount of up to $450. “Aged pensioners are on fixed incomes and many face acute cost of living pressures,” says Mayor Parker.

3.

Affordable Housing

Randwick is encouraging and supporting the delivery of more than 300 new affordable homes over the next 15 years. Council is also facilitating transfer of empty homes to the rental market, limiting Airbnb proliferation and securing Voluntary Planning Agreements with developers. “These agreements ensure developers pay their fair share in easing the housing crisis.”

4. Coastal Walkway Expansion

“We’re fixing the ‘missing link’ between South Coogee and Lurline Bay after acquiring a crucial property - thanks to a decades-old arrangement with the previous owner,” says Mayor Parker.

5. First Nations Recognition

Randwick City Council is transforming the La Perouse Museum and Headland into a First Nations Cultural Precinct. “Aboriginal families in the La Perouse community trace their family connection to the area to well before the arrival of the First Fleet. This initiative, developed with the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, will give proper recognition to First Nations history and culture,” Mayor Parker says.

6. Arts, Culture and Nightlife

“We’re handing over public spaces like the Town Hall to artists and community groups, cutting red tape for outdoor dining and supporting local businesses through popular events like the Spot On street festival,” says the Mayor.

7. Surf Club Upgrades

The 80-year-old Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club will soon be rebuilt in a $15 million project. “There is state and federal funding, but the council is contributing the lion’s share of $9.5 million,” says Mayor Parker, a proud member of Maroubra SLSC. Coogee SLSC is also set for refurbishment, with an upgrade of the South Maroubra SLSC to follow.

8. Tree Canopy Protection

New planning controls require tree planting in new developments, complementing Council’s own program, which has planted over 2,000 trees since 2022. “Private investment will now improve our urban canopy - starting with hundreds, then thousands of new trees.”

9. Wildlife Protection

“People often think that in cities we simply plonk ourselves on a piece of land and forget about the animal residents. Protecting our biodiversity is crucial, so we’ve partnered with WIRES to open a native wildlife recovery centre at Randwick Sustainability Hub - the first of its kind,” says Mayor Parker.

10. Space for Dogs to Roam

A new off-leash dog park has opened at Muraborah Reserve near Maroubra Beach. “There’s an active community of dog lovers in Maroubra who approached me and others about providing more space for dogs to roam free,” the Mayor says. “Local dog owners are jumping for joy - and so are their pets!”

The problem solver.

A Nightmare on Simpson Street

Stroll down Simpson Street in North Bondi and you’ll encounter a crazy house numbering system that seems like something out of Alice in Wonderland.

Number 1 starts in the middle of the street. Then, heading south, there’s number 3, then - wait for it - number 287. The madness continues with number 1A sandwiched between 301 and 303.

What’s going on? The houses span the narrow block to Old South Head Road, where some of them have front entrances and letterboxes and others don’t.

Two dozen of the Simpson Street addresses reflect the Old South Head Road house numbers - their official addresses are Old South Head Road. And this can be a nightmare for delivery drivers and others trying to navigate this odd, looking-glass world.

Every now and then, residents try and get the numbering system reviewed. The latest attempt was made by Saul, the owner of one of the houses officially designated on Old South Head Road, even though the entrance is in Simpson Street.

Saul asked the council to change his address to Simpson Street and update its records, which will then be recognised by all. But his request was knocked back because there would have to be a “full renumbering of the street” to accommodate the change. This would require the support of all residents. But Saul and other affected residents say that’s not what they’re seeking.

“All we’re after is recognition of our existing numbers,” Saul told The Beast.

Saul says the current numbering system is not only nonsensical, but dangerous.

“The back of my property in Old South Head Road is just a fence and not accessible. I once had a confused delivery driver throw a pizza box over the fence - what if an ambulance or fire crew suffers the same kind of confusion?”

Saul’s next door neighbour, Ryan, shares his concerns.

“It’s extremely annoying,” Ryan said. “I get parcel deliveries on both sides of the house because my primary address is in Old South Head Road, even though the front entrance is in Simpson Street.”

Council Tries to Lure Shoppers as Traders Still Cross about Drawn-Out Upgrade

Words Anthony Maguire

Photo Ada Proyek

Waverley Council has launched a promotion to drum up revenue for businesses hard hit by the protracted Charing Cross streetscape upgrade.

Called ‘Snap, tag and win,’ the promo is offering $100 vouchers to spend at Charing Cross businesses to people who post eye-catching pictures of local spots on Facebook or Instagram and tag Waverley Council.

The streetscape upgrade is now in its second year and businesses have suffered as footpaths were ripped up and parking lost. Ben Kelly, owner of Frank’s Deli, says, “We’re 30 per cent down and might not last out the year if the work isn’t finished soon. More workers are needed to complete the job.”

There wasn’t a single fluoro-vested worker in sight when The Beast checked out the Charing Cross shopping strip. There were just trucks and an excavator sitting empty. Admittedly, it was raining at the time, but the rain was light.

Waverley Council says the upgrade is due to be completed by the end of the year.

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Rod Serling

The twilight zone of Bondi's Simpson Street, where number 301 is right next door to number 1a.

Kerbside chaos in Charing Cross.

Finalists Selected for 2025

Brightest & Best Business Awards

Waverley Council has selected the contenders for this year’s Brightest & Best Business Awards. Out of all of the entries, the judging panel has selected a list of finalists (see opposite) across 13 award categories.

And the public is also having a say by choosing the winner of the People’s Choice Award, with voting closing on September 19.

There were more than 150 entries for this year’s Brightest & Best Business Awards. The 71 finalists will attend the awards ceremony on the evening of Wednesday, October 29 at Bondi Pavilion.

Mayor Will Nemesh will preside over the awards ceremony, with award winners being presented with crafted wooden trophies plus cash vouchers and in-kind prizes from event sponsors. Drinks and canapés will be served in the Pavilion bar and on the balcony overlooking Australia’s most famous beach before and after the presentation.

Waverley Council runs the Brightest & Best Business Awards to recognise the hun-

dreds of small businesses that bring in $2.7 billion of revenue each year to our local economy.

There are a dozen awards specific to major business sectors such as hospitality, entertainment and tourism; healthcare and medical; and trade services.

In addition, there are two awards for individuals - Entrepreneur of the Year and Businesswoman of the Year, along with the People’s Choice Award, which was a big hit when it was launched last year. This year will also see the introduction of the overall Business of the Year Award, for the highest scorer across all categories.

Contenders for the awards go through two rounds of judging, including a visit, phone call or web enquiry from a Council-appointed ‘mystery shopper’, who awards a rating based on customer service, staff knowledge, store appearance, website quality and social media engagement. From now, award winners and runners-up will be selected based on the feedback from mystery shoppers.

St

Luke's Clovelly Welcomes All to the Opening of New Community Hub

Words Dave Rogers, Senior Minister, St Luke's Clovelly

Sometimes it feels like our super-connected modern world has left us craving community. As I write this it’s the middle of Loneliness Awareness Week and the latest report says that more Aussie kids are turning to ‘AI friends’.

Somehow we all need more of that old-fashioned, in-person, embodied community (thanks to American social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt for the timely reminder).

Over the last 12 months, St Luke’s Clovelly has created a new hub for community that’s accessible and welcoming to all. After 100 years we decided it was time for a reno - along with half the Eastern Suburbs, it would seem - and on Saturday, August 30, we’ll be throwing an Open Day for the whole community. As well as the official opening, there’ll be activities like face-painting, inflatables, a photo booth and games - plus a free barbecue, coffee, drinks and plenty of pizza.

We’d love to welcome you all to come along from 3-5pm on August 30 and say g’day. St Luke’s is located on the corner of Arden and Varna Streets, Clovelly, and more information can be found at clovelly.org.au.

Dave on the tools.

Words Anthony Maguire Photo Enzo Amato

Last year's Brightest & Best Business Awards winners with the mayor.

Beauty & Cosmetic Services

Antisystem

Barbershop

Blow Bar Co

G Hair Concept

Haus Of Beauty

Sage Beauty

The Fit Injector Clinic

Hospitality, Entertainment & Tourism

Bondi Wellness Festival

Bonnibel

Dive Centre Bondi

Lets Go Surfing

WanderBuddies

FINALISTS 2025

Discover Learning Australia First Education Bondi

Little Kids School Waverley Community Out of School Care Centre

Believe Advertising & PR

Focus on Forbes Media

Marzipan Media

Bondi Visuals

NEXA Group

Storylast

Creature Fitness

8 LIMBS

Evoke Movement

Feel Free Dance

Live Well Health & Fitness

Nimbus Co.

Bondi Dental

Elite Spinal Physiotherapy & Pilates

Kids & Co Clinical Psychology

Summit Physiotherapy & Sports Medicine Tracton Optometrists

Bondi Vet Hospital

H2O Laundry & Dry Cleaning Hot Toast

MALLEYS LAWYERS

Matchboard PropSearch

Bondi Boulangerie

Bondi Records

La Paleteria

Ottway The Label

Threadx

WEST 14TH

Best New Business Entrepreneur of the Year

Dog Days Concierge

Freedom Potential

JVC Energy Australia

MAMA SMOKE

Storylast

Anna Mildon, Guest Realty

Syed Abid, Inzer

Sharon Melamed, Matchboard

Deborah Garcia Guedes, Nidas Australia

Felicity Ward, The Fit Injector Clinic

Chloe Austron, The Little Ones Lost

Mint Plumbing & Relining

Pamment Projects

Pest2Kill

Proximity Plumbing

SBC PLUMBING

Arthur Murray Bondi

Divide 8 Pizza Hot Toast

JVC Energy Australia

Lets Go Surfing Tracton Optometrists

Business Woman of the Year

Doone Roisin, Female Startup Club

Sarah Lawrance, Hot Toast

Deborah Garcia Guedes, JVC Energy Australia

Brenda Miley, Lets Go Surfing

Sarah Dominguez, The Wattle Centre

Crime News

Jackie O’s Sinister Stalker

A man has been arrested in Clovelly for allegedly stalking and threatening radio star Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.

Police say David Gourlay, 38, was infatuated with Ms Henderson and had bombarded her with sexually explicit social media messages and comments. He had the delusional belief that he was the father of Ms Henderson’s child and had sent flowers to her Clovelly home. Then, after his overtures were spurned by the 50-year-old KIIS FM host, things turned ugly.

When cops investigating complaints from Ms Henderson nabbed Gourlay sitting on a bench near her house, he is said to have been in possession of a sock with a large metal bolt inside. It’s alleged he planned to use this to assault Ms Henderson.

After spending a week under observation in a mental health facility, Gourlay was charged with several offences including stalking, possessing an offensive weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence and intimidating with intent to cause fear or harm.

Shopping Centre Stabbing

Eastern Beaches Police are investigating the stabbing of a man inside the Pacific Square shopping centre in Maroubra Junction.

A 23-year-old man was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics for a wound to the back of his neck before being taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in a stable condition.

His assailant was a man wearing a black hoodie with the words ‘GEED UP’ in light blue letters. Anyone with information about the attack is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Bondi Man Was Member of Interstate Meth Ring - Police

A 51-year-old Bondi man has been arrested and charged with multiple offences by detectives investigating interstate methamphetamine supply.

Police swooped on his Bondi Road home and took him to Waverley Police Station, where he was charged with 25 counts of supplying a prohibited drug and participating in a criminal group.

Boy Deliberately Targeted in Hit and Run - Police

A teenage boy sustained serious leg injuries when he was hit by a car in Maroubra in the early morning - and it’s alleged he was deliberately targeted by the driver.

After the victim was taken to hospital in a stable condition, police arrested a 22-year-old man in New Orleans Crescent, South Maroubra and seized a Toyota Prado. He was taken to Maroubra Police station and charged with a number of offences including wounding a person with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Sebastian Manager Walks Free

The former manager of high-profile singer Guy Sebastian has been acquitted on four charges of embezzling money from the former Australian Idol star.

However the jury could not decide on a further 60 charges against Titus Day, who heads local talent agency 6 Degrees Management. The jury was discharged and the case may continue dragging through the courts.

Day was originally convicted of all 64 charges and given a four year jail sentence, but after serving seven months inside he won an appeal against the convictions and a retrial was ordered.

Maroubra resident Sebastian is no stranger to litigation and in

2023 took his elderly next-door neighbour to court over allegations the man had threatened him. However, the charges were ruled to be unfounded after high-profile defence lawyer Bryan Wrench came on board as pro bono defence counsel.

Asian Women Targeted in Random Attacks

A middle-aged woman is said to have assaulted four women of Asian background in separate attacks within the space of six hours.

Police say the first victim was a 22-year-old woman walking along Anzac Parade, Maroubra at 3.30pm. The 57-year-old then went to Kingsford and assaulted a further three women. The final attack took place around 9.20pm at a Kingsford light rail stop.

Two days later, police arrested Charlotte McComber and charged her with four counts of assault. Fronting court, she was refused bail by magistrate Michael Stoddart.

Motorbike Bandits

A pair of motorbikes being driven along Maroubra Road, Maroubra at 8pm one night attracted the attention of a passing police patrol.

“There were two persons on each bike, all wearing full face balaclavas, long pants and hoodies,” Eastern Beaches said in a Facebook posting.

The patrol car did a U-turn and tried to stop the bikes, which turned into Flower Street. One of the bikes made it round the corner but the other didn’t, flipping over on its side. Rider and pillion passenger leapt to their feet and took off like Olympic sprinters.

After a brief foot pursuit, police caught a 15-year-old boy who’d been riding pillion. The rider got away, as did the two people on the other bike, which a short time later was found abandoned on Byrne Avenue, South Coogee.

Both motorcycles had been stolen - one from Bronte and the other from Bondi Beach. The 15-year-old has been charged with being carried in a conveyance without the owner’s consent.

Words Jimmy Fellon

Photo Timothy Lennox

A stereotypical stalker.

SELECTION Track & Field

The

Subject Winter Activities Location Coogee Photographer Simonne Martin

Subject Beach Myna Location Bondi

Photographer Mahsa Hashemi

Subject Sunny Morning Location Location Coogee Photographer Zara Morrow

Subject Kookabutterfly Location Bondi Junction Photographer Graeme Bogan

Subject Teabagging Location Tamarama Photographer James Smith

Subject Mirror, Mirror on the Floor... Location Bondi Photographer Mahsa Hashemi

Subject Sadness Location Coogee Photographer Brody Vancers

Subject Three Mermaids (1966) Location Bondi Photographer G. Price

Subject Surf Check Location Coogee Photographer Erin Diemar

Subject Colourful Characters Location Clovelly Photographer Jean McPeak

The Unreliable Guide to... Unplugging

The Unreliable Guide is suffering from a bout of information indigestion. My attention is under siege - wherever I look someone is trying to show, tell or sell me something. I feel like my mind has been secretly leased out to a marketing algorithm with a 48-month contract and a relentless pop-up clause.

And I’m not alone. Tired of ads telling us to get thinner, richer, younger, cleaner and more productive before breakfast, activists like Brandelism and #adhackmanifesto have been sneakily defacing or replacing ads on billboards, tube trains and bus stops to expose how corporate interests are colonising our public spaces. Inspired by this kickback at the fat cats, The Unreliable Guide is here with some tips and tricks on how to survive the Age of Mental Overload.

Psychic Obesity

If you’re struggling to remember useful things like your PIN number or the name of your sister’s second child it’s probably because your brain is already

stuffed with useless information. We dine out on clickbait headlines, graze on delicious morsels of outrage and feast on fights between Facebook warriors. But this constant snacking on quick bytes leaves us mentally bloated and emotionally gassy. Studies now suggest that the average person consumes about 74 gigabytes of data a day. That’s more data than a smarty pants like Shakespeare would’ve seen in his whole lifetime. And, like junk food, this gorging on gigabytes isn’t nourishing us - it’s giving us an existential stomach ache.

Who Put Those Words in My Brain?

Part of the problem is that we’ve stopped choosing what we pay attention to. Take publishing - around 2.5 million books were published in 2024. Not only did Shakespeare have to manage without the internet, only about 30 titles a year were published back then. Plus, books were eye-wateringly expensive and most people couldn’t read anyway. Now we

can’t even sit on a park bench without a QR code demanding our attention. Information is everywhere. If capitalism could tattoo adverts on our eyelids, it would. The UK-based activist group Bite Back (angry Poms again, gotta love them for that) ran a billboard campaign answering back to the proliferation of fast food ads. They were doing such a good job their message was swiftly silenced by the ad giants.

Digital Fasting

So, if we can’t answer back, what can we do to detox our brains? Dry July gives our livers a break, so maybe we need a digital fast to reclaim our attention span. The ‘typical’ global internet user spends 7 hours a day online - that’s 40 per cent of our waking life gone in a puff of pixels. If you want to reflect on what that looks like, check out Eric Pickersgill’s confronting photographic series, Removed. We need to unplug - not forever (we’re not Amish), but long enough to give our overworked minds a breather. The Unreliable Guide has replaced the morning doomscroll with a walk down to the beach. I’ve even stopped taking my phone to the bathroom (radical, I know). Soon I might start swapping those bus stop ads for a haiku about dolphins or a drawing of a duck.

Finally, French philosopher Simone Weil didn’t declare, “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity,” while checking her TikTok notifications. If we want to reconnect with life, we need to disconnect from information overload. Until they start beaming ads directly into our skulls (as in MT Anderson’s disturbingly prophetic novel, Feed), the choice to scroll or to stop is thankfully still ours.

Words Nat Shepherd Photo Eric Pickersgill

Modern day communication.

along to

Precincts are meetings of residents who get together regularly to discuss local matters or issues of concern in their neighbourhood. Waverley is split into 13 Precincts and meetings are open to any person living within the Precinct boundaries.

Visit waverley.nsw.gov.au/precinct or scan the QR Code to find out which Precinct you belong to and when they are meeting next.

Waverley Council proudly supports resident run Precinct meetings.

Words Jeremy Ireland Photo Steffi Graffiti Let it go.

The basic premise of the let them theory is the ability to let go, particularly letting go of the need to control or change someone else’s behaviour. It is understanding the difference between what we can control and what we can’t control that, once understood, can ultimately lead one toward stronger self-esteem, higher self-worth, higher self-value and a better sense of being. A basic example might be when someone does something that goes against our wishes and we just let them, or if someone cuts us off in traffic and we let them, or if they don’t return our calls and we simply let them, or if they do something nasty and we just let them. Instead of trying to get someone to behave in a certain way, just let them be them. Yes, we like to be included; yes, we like to be acknowledged by our boss for good work; yes, we prefer not to be disappointed by our partners... but the reality is if our grip on how others should treat us is too tight then we are heading towards a slippery slope of frustration and disappointment.

The Power of Letting Go

Every now and then a new phrase pops out in the self-development book world that truly takes off. Such phrases are more often than not the titles of these books. You might remember The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck or He’s Just Not That Into You. Clickbaity perhaps, but very effective nonetheless. Right now it’s a phrase by motivational speaker and lawyer Mel Robbins with her latest book The Let Them Theory

The phrase ‘let them’ first came to my awareness a few months back. A client who was having trouble with some family dynamics began our session with, “Jeremy, I’m now living by the ‘let them’ theory.” Not having heard the phrase before, I asked to hear more, and for the next 20 minutes or so a gushing transformation was coming to light that I could see was quite empowering; they were experiencing that self-discovered ‘a-ha’ moment that therapists love to see in their clients.

Since then I’ve noticed the phrase is everywhere, blowing up the internet big time. The book is selling out, podcasters can’t get enough of it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw the slogan on a T-shirt. As a broad brush approach, the let them theory is catchy; it feels fresh and somewhat new. To Mel Robbins’ credit, she has rebranded and brought to the popular self-help platform a core idea that has been at the base of time-tested therapies like mindfulness, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

The second part of Robbins’ let them theory is perhaps equally as important - ‘let me’. If someone takes two days to reply to a text, that’s on them, but how you react is on you. You have the choice and can decide what to do - this is the real empowering part. Accepting the difficult thoughts and emotions, rather than trying to control them, is key with acceptance and commitment therapy. Accept the feelings, but act in accordance with your values. Choosing how one responds is where the true power lies.

It is important to acknowledge that the let them theory is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card. It isn’t about condoning or putting up with harmful behaviour. Of course there are some things you just can’t ignore. There is a line here and, yes, you do need to set boundaries. Tolerating bad stuff in the name of ‘let them’ in such scenarios is not recommended and can even do more harm than good, especially if risk is involved.

The notion that you can’t control the actions of others but you can control how you react is one of the commandments of the psychology bible. When a client is frustrated by someone and tells me, “If only they would do this or do that then everything would be fine,” it is a revealing experience for them. Trying to control someone else’s behaviour, convincing them to think differently or flat-out trying to change them often gets you nowhere. Let their actions guide your choice, or in other words, let go and let them.

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

Instantly reverse your winter binge.

Spring Super Green Salad

Words Dana Sims Instagram @stone_and_twine

What ‘springs’ to mind for fresh September produce? Asparagus at its seasonal peak, of course! If you’re wanting some respite from the heavier, wintry, carb-loaded meals, this super green textural salad is perfect for the start of spring, with little to do but chop with intention and arrange beautifully on a plate.

Crunch your way through the delicious, wholesome combination of raw sliced asparagus, celery, fresh peas, parsley, dill, spring onion and green apple, with earthy walnuts, parmesan and a zingy lemon, chilli and mustard vinaigrette to dress and elevate each bite.

It’s a fresh flavour bomb of goodness that is guaranteed to serve you well from the inside out. This recipe will serve 3-4 hungry people as a meal, and even more as a side.

Ingredients

2 bunches (14 stalks) asparagus, woody ends snapped off, cut into 2cm pieces on the diagonal

2 large celery stalks and leaves, finely sliced on the diagonal 1 cup fresh peas, shelled

1 green apple, sliced thinly on a mandolin, then cut slices in half 2 spring onions, finely sliced on diagonal

1 cup flat leaf parsley, stems removed, chopped

¼ cup dill, stems removed, finely chopped

¾ cup parmesan, finely grated

1 cup walnuts, roughly halved

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp cracked black pepper

Vinaigrette

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp red chilli flakes

¼ tsp white sugar

¼ sea salt

¼ tsp cracked black pepper

Method

1. Add all salad ingredients in a large bowl and combine.

2. For the vinaigrette, add all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well to combine.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat well.

4. Transfer to a large serving platter and rip in!

Dana Sims is a Sydneybased food and prop stylist who has grown up in the Eastern Suburbs and loves to create delicious food. She is inspired by the fresh produce we have access to in Sydney. For ideas, recipes and styling inspiration, check out her Instagram, @stone_and_twine.

One Fine Winter’s Day

I’m up the North Coast chasing winter snapper out of the tinnie, but before I can even wet a line, I have to pull off a sketchy solo beach launch in the dark. A solid two-metre groundswell is running, and the usually calm beach is lined with a spicy twofoot shorebreak, barely visible in the flicker of my torch. I drop the boat in and manage to park the car without getting bogged. Then I spin the bow into the waves and wade into the freezing winter water before firing up the engine, jumping aboard, and punching through the shorey.

I’m over the first obstacle, but there’s no time to celebrate. I’ve still got a ten kilometre run down the coast ahead, navigating through a maze of bommies and hoping like hell I don’t run into a migrating whale under the cover of darkness (in hindsight this is something I do not recommend for anyone to undertake). A tense hour later and I pull up to the spot just as day breaks. The first zone is a washy stretch close to the rocks, and the water is turbulent to say the least. After twenty minutes of getting bucked around while belting casts to no avail, I

call it quits and push out wider in search of calmer water.

Having never fished the area before, I have no marks or intel to go off, leaving it entirely up to my own intuition to find fish. After a short while combing the charts and studying the sounder, I hone in on an underwater mountain of sorts, a 16 metre pinnacle that comes up from about 30 metres around it. The sounder lights up with a stack of bait and I have a hunch that there are some big hungry snapper not too far away. I’m casting a big 7" Zman Jerk ShadZ with my target being a fish in excess of that 5kg mark, with little to no interest in anything smaller. After a few drifts to work out the line, I’m right in the zone, so I suspend my offering through the bait with brimming anticipation.

In the meantime, huge humpback whales breach within earshot all around me, making me feel as vulnerable as ever on my 4.1 metre tinnie. Then, bang! The rod is very nearly ripped right out of my hands as a fish picks up the lure a few metres from the bottom and makes its first blistering run. I can barely get any line

back and quickly jump on the tiller to lead the fish to deeper water to avoid getting dusted. After a short but scrappy battle, the fish comes boatside and I lay eyes on exactly what I’ve ventured out here for - 70cms of prime North Coast snapper, fins flaring and blue spots shimmering in the morning light. I’m stoked to say the least and bring it aboard for a few shots before dispatching it over ice for a feed. A few casts later I manage a similar model, before the bite slows down and I decide to go back in.

Once back on dry land, with the wind still offshore and the swell still pumping, I don’t hesitate to drive to one of my favourite nearby beaches where I’m greeted with perfect blue lines and not a soul in sight. I grab my twinnie and surf by myself for hours in the crystal clear water, picking off perfect little barrels one after another before returning back to the car and boat on the beach to eat some lunch.

With the perfect weather and great visibility not going anywhere, I can’t help myself but to don the dive gear and jump in to grab my bag limit of lobsters and a cheeky abalone at a nearby protected bay. I celebrate the day’s efforts with a cold beer from the fridge before enjoying the rest of the afternoon capturing shots of whales as they cruise by. Not a bad way to spend a picture perfect winter’s day if you ask me!

Words and Photos Lewis Kennedy-Hunt

This 70cm snapper couldn't resist the 7" Zman Jerk ShadZ.

Living the life of Lewis.

September 2025

The Future of Bondi Junction

Words Dr Marjorie O’Neill, Member for Coogee

Photo Jerry Atric

For generations of my family, Bondi Junction has been more than just a transport hub or a shopping precinct - it’s been part of our story. My great grandfather, Jim Favell, visited Bondi Junction every day after the death of his wife, sitting on the corner of Oxford Street and Bronte Road, reading his newspaper and seeing friends. My grandmother, Marjorie Spooner, worked at Grace Bros, and the extended family met at Easts to enjoy such delights as ‘chicken in a basket’.

The Bondi Junction Mall was a lively community meeting spot, and I still remember stopping in at a little Italian bakery - I think it was called Pan Italia - after high school with my little sister to grab an olive roll (Mary always had a chocolate one). All the cafés were buzzing with school kids and parents. Today, only a handful remain, with the Cosmopolitan Café standing as one of the few survivors.

While no one can deny the convenience, comfort and choice provided by Westfield Bondi Junction, it’s important to reflect on how its arrival reshaped our community. The construction of the shopping centre drew foot traffic away from surrounding shopping strips, leaving formerly bustling areas like the mall and

Oxford Street lined with empty shopfronts. The visible decline of these once-vibrant areas is a challenge we must now face together.

Waverley Council has started developing a new Master Plan for Bondi Junction - a unique opportunity to reimagine the area and shape its future. Our community must be part of that conversation.

When I think about what I want Bondi Junction to become, a few things come to mind. First, our mall shouldn’t be a place you simply pass through - it should be a destination in its own right. With Bondi Junction sitting on the T4 train line and serviced by dozens of bus routes, it is one of the best-connected places in the east, making it an ideal location for new housing. But not just any housing, we need homes that reflect how our community lives - not just one-bedroom investor apartments, but family-friendly housing with three bedrooms, adequate storage, hallways and shared green space.

This aligns with the NSW Government’s Housing Strategy 2041, which emphasises the need for “well-located housing close to jobs, transport, and services” to ensure livable, sustainable growth. Bondi Junction ticks all the boxes - now we just need planning and development that reflects that vision.

The demographics of the area is also changing. According to the 2021 Census, Waverley is seeing growth in younger families and professionals seeking walkable neighbourhoods with access to schools, healthcare and open public space. If we want to build a thriving residential community in the Junction, we need to think about things like the walkability of the area and access to a range of dining and entertainment options, as well as prioritising facilities including our local schools, medical centres, childcare centres, parks and play areas.

The Junction is so much more than a collection of buildingsit’s an interconnected precinct where, in an ideal world, everything works together. As more of us, including families, live in apartments without studies or spare rooms, community facilities like libraries will become increasingly more important. Every day, locals utilise the Waverley Library facilities, and in the afternoons it fills with high school students studying for the HSC, doing homework or simply having a safe and quiet space to be. These kids - along with everyone else - need to be able to move safely between their schools, the library and public transport. Therefore, creating safe, walkable links between these destinations should be non-negotiable for this master plan.

At the same time, we mustn’t forget Bondi Junction’s important commercial role. The area currently supports around 7,500 jobs, many in professional services like finance, insurance, health, education and retail. It forms part of the Eastern Economic Corridor, a major employment hub stretching from the airport through the CBD to Bondi Junction and the North Shore. Preserving commercial space is critical to supporting local jobs and avoiding the short-sighted trend of converting every building into residential towers.

If it’s done well, the Bondi Junction Master Plan can deliver a balanced and vibrant precinct - a place where people want to live, work, shop and spend time; a place with energy, opportunity and a sense of local identity.

But, to get it right, we need everyone to have a seat at the table. The vision for Bondi Junction should reflect the voices of our whole community - young people, families, older residents, small business owners, renters, homeowners and the people who work here every day. What are your thoughts? Let us all know.

Bondi Junction back in the day.

The Beast Supercross

ACROSS

1. Recently deceased pro wrestler (4,5)

7. Wireless sound communication (5)

8. Large cupboard for storing food (6)

9. Copy or simulate (7)

10. Largest city in Myanmar (6)

12. Require something because it is essential (4)

16. And so forth (3)

17. A building where cows are kept (7)

18. Repetition of a sound (4)

19. Liquid waste discharged into a river or sea (8)

20. Burnt bail container (3)

Trivial Trivia

1. On which part of the body would you wear a choker?

2. What is the name given to small cubes of baked or fried bread served with soups?

3. What word is used to describe a non-malignant tumour?

4. What name is given to a group of stars?

5. What is the collective noun for Rhinoceros; an embarrassment, a crash or a parliament?

6. According to the nursery rhyme, what was Yankee Doodle Dandy’s pony called?

DOWN

1. Harry Potter and Ron’s bookish friend (8)

2. Opponent of technological progress (7)

3. Shisha (6)

4. Kitchen on a ship (6)

5. Kurt Cobain’s band ((7)

6. Technique of painting on wet plaster (6)

11. Tortilla chips topped with cheese and sour cream (6)

13. Move slowly and idly in a particular direction (6)

14. Austrian composer and conductor (6)

15. Digital optical disk (1,1)

16. To extend (5)

17. Shackle (5)

7. Who wrote the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda?

8. In which Australian state would you find Queenstown?

9. What was the secret of Samson’s strength?

10. An autopsy is also known as what Latin phrase?

Subject Mill Pond Location Coogee Photographer Claudia Lovett

Words Lisa Anderson

Friendship

Genre Comedy Drama

Reviewer Linda Heller-Salvador

We all seek acceptance to some degree, but writer-director Andrew DeYoung (Our Flag Means Death) takes the concept of fitting in to a whole other level with his comical debut feature titled Friendship.

Craig (Tim Robinson) is socially inept to the point of being somewhat awkward, but he feels like he’s won the jackpot when his quirky and charismatic new neighbour Austin (Paul Rudd) invites him to hang out.

Initially, their outings are a fun time of exciting adventures, but this soon goes from broto-whoa when Austin introduces Craig to his circle of friends. Feeling like an outsider, Craig tries waaaaay too hard to fit in and eventually creates a disturbing scene. What follows is an irrational obsession that consumes Craig as he desperately attempts to rekindle the bromance he found with Austin. This ultimately results in disastrous consequences that force Craig to confront the repercussions of his bizarre actions.

Friendship explores the serious side of connections, loneliness and emotional repression in an absurdly funny and seriously cringe-inducing manner that may leave you weirdly exhausted by the experience.

The Terrys The Terrys

Label Impressed Recordings

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

Pop some fluoro vests on these blokes, because if there’s a band that’s worked harder I’d be surprised. They’ve even been digging into some old records because there is early Bloc Party (Gang of Four?) all over a couple of highlight tracks - ‘Spezial’ and ‘Annihilated’. And while they’ve built their reputation on, dare I say, catchy yet disposable ‘skate pop’, they are now in the dangerous territory of being considered a proper band. ‘Eraser’ is one hundred percent a Terrys song, and it is also a legitimate classic. Are they the best thing out of Gerringong?

Hilltop Hoods Fall From The Light

Label Universal Music Australia

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

Okay, five stars is too much, but when the greats roll in, tip their hats and ‘fall from the light’, you nod back and acknowledge everything that came before. The data doesn’t lie. With three songs in the Hottest 100 of Aussie Songs, including number two, Hilltop are up there with Crowded House (and they’re actually Australian). This is their first album I’ve routinely skipped tracks (Omelette) on, but ‘Laced Up’ is up there with their best work. You’re either a Hilltop fan or not, and if you’re not (and under 50), stop being a mug and start listening to lyrics.

hard life

Onion

Label Island Records

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

Fresh off being sued by Easy Jet, easy life - ahem, hard life - have had to change their name and succumb to the horrible and cruel reality of the world we live in. Gone are the carefree fun songs about drinking at the beach, now they are old, (probably) hungover and arguably better than they have ever been. They’re still as smooth as the skin of a real estate agent slipping on the tiles after an alleyway massage, but they have developed a jagged edged, and if they don’t slip and land on it, it could be the making of them.

Star Signs

Visions Beardy from Hell

Scorpio Oct 24-Nov 22

Being seen to be working hard is more important than actually being a hard worker. Perception always trumps reality.

Sagittarius Nov 23-Dec 21

Learn how to monetise your uncanny ability to turn even the most basic activity into a stress-

Capricorn Dec 22-Jan 20

Achieving spiritual growth is difficult when you don’t have any values or beliefs to become more aligned with.

Aquarius Jan 21-Feb 19

Getting upset about the same thing again and again makes about as much sense as laughing at the same joke again and again.

Pisces Feb 20-Mar 20

The amount of excess junk in your bathroom is almost perfectly correlated with the excess junk in your head. Time for a cleanout?

Aries Mar 21-Apr 20

You’ve heard the saying, “Children are the promise of the future...” so you should be well aware that we’re all doomed.

Taurus Apr 21-May 21

The reason you struggle to explain your views to others is because you don’t actually understand them yourself.

Gemini May 22-Jun 21

Just because your partner doesn’t want your cold feet touching them doesn’t mean they don’t love you.

Cancer Jun 22-Jul 22

Relying on your friends’ praise and attention for your sense of self-worth is enabling harmful behaviours.

Leo Jul 23-Aug 22

If only you could control yourself as well as you control others, then you would be the perfect psychopathic person.

Trivial Trivia Solutions

LITTLE BAY LIVING BEYOND BREATHTAKING

Extraordinary 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom residences.

Inspired by its coastal setting, Este is a new collection of Little Bay residences by Urban Property Group. Framed by oceanfront vistas and overlooking the picture-perfect St. Michael’s Golf Course, Este is home to light-filled residences and rooftop gardens that include a state-of-the-art wellness retreat.

Experience the beauty of life above the endless ocean.

Construction underway and display suite coming soon.

Artist’s impression

incredible showroom, made-to-order headboards & beds