Archive for the 'Sydney' Category

Gleebooks Haebich event tonight

Published
by
Mark
5 months, 3 weeks ago
in Books, Writers & Writing, Immigration, Indigenous, Notices, Sociology and Sydney
. 3 Comments

Folks might remember I attended my erstwhile colleague Professor Anna Haebich’s book launch earlier this year, and invited her to write a guest post for LP on her book Spinning the Dream. I’ve just received this via email from our friends at Griffith REVIEW. If you’re in Sydney, this event would be well worth attending.

TONIGHT! Wednesday June 11
Spinning the Dream: Assimilation in Australia 1950-1970
gleebooks
upstairs at 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
6.30 for 7pm. $10 / $7 concession. Book gleebooks 02 9660 2333
Multi-award winning historian and author Anna Haebich will be in conversation with Julianne Schultz to discuss the experience of assimilation in Australia. Anna explores how Australians in the 1950s and 60s were challenged by new visions of the nation. Assimilation was heralded as the mechanism to sweep away divisions and exclusions of the past and absorb Aboriginal and new Australians into a common shared way of life. The rhetoric and reality of assimilation was to have a profound and lasting effect on several generations of Australians before it was abandoned in the 70s for multiculturalism. Today a form of ‘retro-assimilation’ has come to haunt public debate on national identity and nationhood. Anna’s new book Spinning the Dream (Fremantle Arts Centre Press) develops some of the ideas she explored in her Griffith REVIEW essays Retro-assimilation (Ed 15: Divided Nation) and A long way back - reflections of a genealogical tourist (Ed 6: Our Global Face).

Holding the tribes together in the climate change age

Published
by
Mark
5 months, 4 weeks ago
in Adelaide, Brisbane, Climate change, Economics, Elections, Energy, Environment, Melbourne, Perth, Politics, Sociology and Sydney
. 22 Comments

Some of the tensions in Rudd’s governance and indeed in his Cabinet over climate change issues are discussed by Brian in this post. Brian’s thoughts could usefully be read together with Shaun Carney’s column in yesterday’s Age [via Gary Sauer-Thompson at Public Opinion]:

The central tension for contemporary Labor is the need to weave together its disparate supporting tribes and Rudd’s car plan, which co-opts concern about climate change to underpin the ALP’s more traditional working class base, tells us how he wants to do it. When Labor was last in power, under Paul Keating, it managed to hold on to most of its white-collar support base but lost office when parts of its blue-collar base, pummelled by the effects of economic deregulation, concluded it had lost touch. Since then, the white-collar left has coalesced more solidly around the Greens - an effect that has been turbo-charged by the death of the more moderate Democrats. This has two consequences, both of which make it harder for Labor to hold on to power.

Continue reading ‘Holding the tribes together in the climate change age’

This is not art?

Published
by
Kim
6 months, 2 weeks ago
in Art, Culture, Ethics, Government, Media, Photography, Sociology and Sydney
. 221 Comments

In the wake of the controversy over the Vanity Fair photographs of 15 year old Miley Cyrus, which photographer Annie Leibowitz defended as “simple” and “beautiful”, Sydney has had a taste of the controversy about artistic representations of adolescent bodies with the opening of celebrated photographer Bill Henson’s latest exhibition at the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery in Paddington. Henson’s exhibition includes photographs of 12 and 13 year old unclothed models, taken with their and their parents’ consent.

Miranda Devine was quick out of the starting blocks to loudly condemn:

Such images presenting children in s*xual contexts are so commonplace these days they seem almost to have lost the capacity to shock.

The effort over many decades by various groups - artists, perverts, academics, libertarians, the media and advertising industries, respectable corporations and the pr0n industry - to smash taboos of previous generations and define down community standards, has successfully eroded the special protection once afforded childhood.

Miranda modified to be safer for work.

Well, there you have it. Continue reading ‘This is not art?’

Don’t cry for the “pseudo-battlers”

Published
by
Kim
6 months, 2 weeks ago
in Adelaide, Brisbane, Economics, Government, Policy, Sociology and Sydney
. 56 Comments

Ross Gittins has a great piece in the Sydney Morning Herald today, making the obvious point that:

… households earning $150,000 or more - starting at almost twice the median - are in the top 15 per cent of households.

The top 15 per cent aren’t rich, but they’re certainly not battlers. They’re not even anywhere near the middle; they’re up near the top.

The average earnings of adult full-time employees are now $60,000. So someone on $150,000 is pulling in 2½ times average. And you’re asking the rest of us to feel sorry for you? You reckon the bottom 97 per cent of taxpayers should be paying you special benefits?

The carry-on we’ve seen from people pulling down a paltry $150,000 a year borders on the obscene when put beside the troubles of the people who really do have cause for complaint, single pensioners living it up on $270 a week. That’s a bit over $14,000 a year - less than a 10th of what the well-off whingers are getting.

But how can people living on two or three times the average income genuinely believe they’re middle-income strugglers?

He goes on to answer his own question, and in doing so, makes the point that people usually have a poor perception of what others’ incomes actually are, and that they tend to compare up rather than down. There are oodles of studies that make that point.

Continue reading ‘Don’t cry for the “pseudo-battlers”’

Papal apology?

Published
by
Mark
7 months ago
in Australiana, Religion, Sexuality, Sydney and Women
. 28 Comments

The Pope had a lot to say about sexual abuse when he was in America recently. It’s now being reported that there’s “pressure” on him to repeat his apology to victims specifically in the Australian context, when he’s out here for World Youth Day. I have no doubt Benedict will, and I suspect the pressure in this instance isn’t needed. While an apology promotes healing for individuals directly damaged by clerical sexual abuse, it doesn’t address the broader problem, and nor do the protocols the church now has in place for dealing with complaints and reparations, welcome as they are. What should be quite familiar to Benedict is the concept of “structural sin” - something originating in liberation theology which he in his incarnation as Cardinal Ratzinger acknowledged as a valid manifestation of human evil and wickedness, even as he disagreed with the political and some of the theological overtones of liberation theology as theorised and practiced in Latin America (and in - significantly - Germany).

The Pope would also know very well that in Catholic sacramental and moral theology, an act of contrition and indeed an act of reparation are worthless without an awareness of the fault that led to a sin, and a genuine intention to “go and sin no more”, as Someone or other put it rather pithily. All this raises the question of whether the conditions of possibility of sexual abuse are genuinely being addressed.

Continue reading ‘Papal apology?’

Back to square one

Published
by
Mark
7 months ago
in Books, Writers & Writing, Culture, Media, Notices and Sydney
. 0 Comments

Just a quick plug - via the LP facebook group - for our friends at sQuareOne, who have a number of events coming up in Sydney targeted to people interested in independent publishing and freelance writing and blogging.

sQuareOne is a project of independent non-profit youth media and arts organisation Vibewire Inc. Vibewire exists to create communications platforms that facilitate and encourage young Australians aged 15 to 30 to express themselves on the issues that matter to them.

Check out what’s happening here.

Royal North Shore Hospital successfully avoids “provider capture”…

Published
by
Paul Norton
8 months ago
in Health, NSW Government, Religion and Sydney
. 13 Comments

And as a result the patients are starving.

It would appear, from reading this and other coverage of the sorry state of affairs at Royal North Shore Hospitals, that the hospital’s problems are related to the fact that decision-making in the hospital has been effectively concentrated in the hands of administrators whose principal concerns are the financial bottom line (and with a narrow, unstrategic, intellectually lazy conception of what this entails) and adherence to bureaucratic protocol regardless of the effect this has on the delivery of clinical services, with minimal or no input from health professionals such as clinicians or nutritionists.

This way of running things comes straight from the New Right toolkit of public choice theory, one of whose obsessions is the fear of “provider capture” by professionals (and their unions) in government services such as education and health. Such professionals, so the story goes, are motivated principally by self-interest of one sort or another, and thus if empowered to make decisions or influence policies in such services, will use such influence to enrich or aggrandise themselves at the expense of their employers and the wider public interest which they are supposed to serve. The solution is to exclude the professionals from influence over policy and management as far as possible, and vest power in generic managers free of links to vested provider interests.
Continue reading ‘Royal North Shore Hospital successfully avoids “provider capture”…’

Lazy Sunday! (Monday edition)

Published
by
Mark
9 months, 3 weeks ago
in Life, Photography and Sydney
. 12 Comments

I was a bit worn out still yesterday after my trip to Sydney, so this is a day late! Since we don’t live by politix alone (I sincerely hope), what did people get up to this weekend? Join in, share some tales, regulars and lurkers all!

If you’d like to see a larger image of the photos, click on them then click on “full view” once you’re inside the gallery.


Sydney Harbour Bridge II by *phenomenologist on deviantART

Continue reading ‘Lazy Sunday! (Monday edition)’

Surry Hills drinks Thursday

Published
by
Mark
10 months ago
in Culture, Life, Notices and Sydney
. 10 Comments

I’m off to Sydney later in the week for a couple of work-related meetings (and the New Matilda relaunch party). So if there’s anyone who’d like to catch up for a quiet drink on Thursday night, I’ll be at the Clock Hotel at 470 Crown Street, Surry Hills from 6pm.

NB: We sometimes let people know of other LP related meetups or events which we think LPers would be interested in via our Facebook group. It’s quite a neat way of doing so - as it’s very useful for messaging all invitees and/or attendees, judging numbers, etc. I don’t necessarily guarantee all future LP events will be advertised on the blog as such, so if you’re on FB, please consider joining the LP group.

Saturday Salon (Election07 edition)

Published
by
Mark
1 year ago
in Federal Elections, Miscellaneous and Sydney
. 0 Comments

OZ07An open thread where, at your weekend leisure, you can discuss anything you like.

You may, of course, wish to discuss the election! I’m writing this ahead of time, on Wednesday night before I head down to Sydney tomorrow. To me, it feels like the election is already over, because I voted last week, and I think it’s been in the bag since the Kevin07 election launch. Thanks to everyone for all the feedback and camaraderie and bloggy goodness during the campaign and I wish you all happy voting and a lovely election! Don’t forget, if you’re in Sydney, you might like to look in at the LP/NM/2SER election night party - details in this post.

Crossposted from LP in exile, where you can make comments while we wait for all the bugs to be ironed out of our new site.

P.S. from tigtog: I’ve made this “blidget” to keep people up to date on the latest posts over at LP in exile. It takes a little while to load, it works in Firefox, I’m not sure how well it works in IE.

Update: The blidget seems to be more trouble than it’s worth, bollixing the site for too many folks. It’s gone.

Sydney stuff

Published
by
Mark
1 year ago
in Federal Elections, Life, Media, Notices, Sociology and Sydney
. 0 Comments

I’m heading down to Sydney on Thursday morning. There are two events on over the weekend which LP people might find interesting. I’m speaking at a public forum on Friday night, along with Chris Nash and Rachel Hills, which is part of the UTS Australian Centre for Independent Journalism’s Public Right to Know conference. Details are here - it kicks off with drinks at 6.30pm.

On Saturday night, LP, along with New Matilda and 2SER, is holding an election watching/celebration party at the Bat & Ball, 495 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills, starting at 6pm. There’s bands and djs stuff, and you can read more about that here.

Cross-posted at LP in Exile where you can make comments while we wait for all the bugs to be ironed out of our new site.

The AHA are crying in their beers

Published
by
Shaun Cronin
1 year ago
in Food, Life and Sydney
. 0 Comments

Last night, if you were out and about in Sydney, you may have just heard at various pubs (under the constant dissonance of doof doof music and pokies) members of the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) crying in the beers. The reason is that the Iemma government have proposed major changes to NSW licensing laws. The main one being liquor licence fees dropping to between 500 and 2000 dollars. A victory for the people of NSW as well as for Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore who has been pushing for the changes.

A move away from the pokie supported beer barns and to smaller boutique bars is to be welcomed. Of course the AHA are unhappy as they now have some competition. They are already claiming that it will lead to a rise in alcohol related violence. David Elliott, the deputy chief executive of the AHA also has concerns regarding Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) provisions What the AHA forgets is they have been the main culprits in promoting and supporting a drinking culture that facilitates alcohol related problems. And anyone who has been to a busy pub on a Friday or Saturday will note how difficult it is to enforce RSA regulations in large venues.

To belabour a point, what the AHA and others (such as Adam Shand as noted by tigtog), fail to understand is that not everyone who wants a drink needs to also puke, get into a fight in between a flutter on the pokies. The target clientele for the smaller boutique bars will tend towards those that want to avoid such a scene.

Continue reading ‘The AHA are crying in their beers’

For “News” this sounds extremely like an op-ed

Published
by
tigtog
1 year ago
in Food, Health, Life, Sydney and Urbanism
. 1 Comment

From The Bulletin:

Don’t expect an outbreak of peace and love in the streets of Sydney from this one. At least the NSW Government has stood up to the right ogres (the AHA lobby) but for the wrong reasons.

Someone who is remaining byline-less Adam Shand thinks it will all end in tears. (only just found the byline - geez their formatting sucks).

Cross-posted at LP in Exile, where you can comment while LP waits for an end to its server woes!

AHA starting to lose the battle against small bars

Published
by
Shaun Cronin
1 year, 1 month ago
in Food and Sydney
. 36 Comments

While the nation wonders how it is going to survive another four weeks of election campaigning, Sydneysiders are focusing on more important issues such as Clover Moore’s Small Bar bill. As previously discussed on LP, the aim of the bill is to overturn NSW’s archaic licensing regulations.

There is some good news. Firstly the coalition, with some provisions, will support the bill. Secondly Alison Megarrity, the Labor member for Menai, has told caucus that they risk being seen as stooges of the AHA if they oppose or make concession in regards to the Small Bars bill. Thirdly the SMH ran an op-ed today by the AHA president John Thorpe that confirms he is an out of touch dinosaur who thinks Bob Askin is still premier.

Continue reading ‘AHA starting to lose the battle against small bars’

Raise the Bar

Published
by
Phil
1 year, 2 months ago
in Activism, Culture and Sydney
. 17 Comments

Today Peter Doyle made a call to turn the restaurant business in NSW into a closed shop, this in reaction to Clover Moore’s attempts to open up the industry to choice and variety.

The biggest problem we have is ease of entry into our industry,” he said yesterday, outlining a plan he says will offer Sydney-siders more quiet drinking spots without hurting restaurateurs. “The Government needs to immediately cease issuing restaurant licences,” he said.

Under Mr Doyle’s proposal, current restaurant licence holders should be granted a dine-or-drink licence, meaning 70 per cent of patrons must order food with alcohol. He suggests a fee of $30 per seat with a yearly renewal of $10 per seat. “Anyone entering the restaurant business would need to purchase a licence or part of the seat quota from an existing licensed restaurant. This new licence would give the restaurateur a tangible asset,” he said. “It would also give the government a new revenue stream.”

What is this the Taxi industry? Sorry Mr Doyle, what you’re suggesting is a seriously bad deal for consumers.

On Friday I went to the launch of Raise the Bar, a campaign to get folks to voice their opinions on new liquor licenses being proposed for NSW, they have a neat mechanism where you send your MP a drink in support of the proposed legislation, on the day of the launch they were running on about 100 drinks sent per hour, a good indication on the mood for change in the community.

It’s worth pointing out, as the organisers did, that this is not a Sydney centric effort but something that will be important to many towns and areas that might be a big light on in terms of dining and drinking options. So if you’re in favour of this head on over to the site, sign up and send your MP a drink.

By the way, it’s looking like the AHA might be in the mood to change their view on small bars, the trade off? Yep, more pokies. But of course.