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Artists impression of the Absoe site with a park along Boundary St
Wingate Developments is responsible for pulling together the development concept at Absoe.
The property developer moved into the Absoe Building in February this year and has been working hard to pull together the bits and peices required to finalise the sale, and commence community consulation.
Wingate director, Stephen Williams is keen to see a development consistent with West End’s values.
Given the size of the development, its prominence and the huge potential for a high profile outcome, the company has been very keen to see it go ahead.
Sydney based developer Payce Consolidated confirmed its purchase of the site for $42 million earlier this week.
West End Community Association has expressed concerns that the proposed parkland along Boundary Street be maintained and is inviting residents to complete a survey designed to test the feelings of the community. WECA has described the proposed 1500 apartments as an ambit claim.
Councillor Helen Abrahams has called on the developer to respect the intent and the letter of the South Brisbane Riverside Neighbourhood Plan.
Li CunXin deivers classical favourites with Coppelia starting the Queensland Ballet’s 2014 season
Queensland Ballet’s first mainstage season for 2014 is a captivating new production of Coppélia choreographed by Greg Horsman.
This brand new production will have its world première in Brisbane on Thursday 24 April at the Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).
The ballet tells the story of the eccentric Dr Coppélius and his invention of Coppélia, a life-like doll, who causes comic chaos between two young lovers, Franz and Swanilda, but the lovers unite and there is a happy ending.
Setting the much-loved story in the small Australian town of Hahdorf in the late 19th century, Horsman has created a touching and witty ballet, with endearing stories characters inspired by Australian history.
Coppélia is one of the most popular and well known ballets in the classical repertoire.
“I have great respect and affection for traditional ballet productions, but I think it’s important to give them a context that relates to our communities and audiences,” says Horsman.
“I began by looking at setting the story in a different place and period to the original setting. I also wanted to give Dr. Coppélius’ character more context and background, and give him a reason for creating this life-like doll.
“In the scenario I have created, Dr Coppélius’ daughter tragically dies at sea during their journey to migrate from Germany to Australia. In his sadness and mourning, Dr Coppélius attempts to recreate his lost daughter through a life-like doll.”
Queensland Ballet’s Artistic Director Li Cunxin said, “Greg Horsman will bring his flair for choreographing classical-style ballet to this traditional work, and his distinctly Australian scenario is perfectly suited to the delightful story.
“This is a ballet that the whole family can enjoy. The dancing is beautiful and elegant, and Delibes’ score is stunning. Audiences will leave the theatre feeling uplifted and entertained by an evening of beautiful dancing and music.”
Horsman said, “Queensland Ballet’s dancers have been brilliant. They have shown great patience, good humour and initiative in realising this production. I’m very grateful to Li and Queensland Ballet for this fantastic opportunity to create my first full-length ballet back home in Australia.”
Also joining Queensland Ballet for the season of Coppélia is Qi Huan, Principal at Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB). Qi will perform the role of Franz in selected performances and has previously worked with Choreographer Greg Horsman. His most notable performance was in Greg’s Verdi Variations where Qi gave an outstanding performance.
Narrative ballets generally have several ‘character’ roles, which require excellent stage technique and comedic skills.
After his wonderful performance as an Ugly Stepsister in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella last year, audiences can look forward to seeing Associate Teacher Paul Boyd creating his newest Coppélius. Paul is well-acquainted with the role, having performed it several times during his lengthy career.
Audiences should also watch out for Guest Artists Christian Tátchev, Queensland Ballet’s Director of Training and Ballet Mistress Janette Mulligan, as Mr and Mrs Hoffmann, the parents of Swanilda.
Horsman engaged a talented creative team to deliver his vision. Exquisite new sets and costumes have been designed especially for this production by Queensland Ballet’s Resident Designer Noelene Hill and Melbourne-based Set Designer Hugh Colman. Lighting Designer Jon Buswell’s designs will bring the beautiful costumes and set to life.
Delibes’ beautiful score will be performed by the Camarata of St. John’s, under the baton of Queensland Ballet’s Music Director and Principal Conductor Andrew Mogrelia.
Tickets are selling fast to this enchanting family ballet, so get in quickly to see Coppéliafrom 24 April – 10 May at the Playhouse, QPAC.
LNP money man, Greg Bowden at the Mercedes polo day in 2011
Emails tabled at the Independent Commission Against Corruption allege that Greg Bowden, the Lord Mayor’s Director Of Strategy, Communication & Economic Development played a role in accepting a cash-for-access $5,000 political donation to Forward Brisbane Leadership form Australian Water, the company at the heart of the Senator Sinodinos scandal.
Brisbane City Council Leader of the Opposition Milton Dick said Graham Quirk needs to show some leadership to address and investigate these serious allegations. Last month it was revealed that Bowden was paid over 17% of all thedonations to Forward Brisbane Leadership, an amount in excess of $900,000.
“If one of the people on the Lord Mayors ratepayers funded payroll has been caught playing a role in a cash-for-access scam then Graham Quirk needs to immediately suspend Greg Bowden’s employment and refer the matter to the authorities.
“Greg Bowden is a long term political fundraiser for the Liberal National Party and helped set up Forward Brisbane Leadership while raising funds for Campbell Newman and Graham Quirk
“I’ve long held concerns about Mr Bowden’s role within the Lord Mayor Office as the Director Of Strategy, Communication & Economic Development and the role he plays during the Lord Mayor’s overseas business missions.
“The Lord Mayor needs to release all the details of the business missions and detail any fundraising activities Mr Bowden has undertaken for the LNP while working for Brisbane City Council.
“Graham Quirk was Campbell Newman’s deputy while the alleged cash-for-access meeting took place and I call on him to answer some basic questions about these serious revelations at ICAC.
“How many other cash-for-access meetings were arranged this way?
“What was promised by Campbell Newman during these meetings?
“Who arranged the meetings for the Lord Mayor’s office?
“Ratepayers deserve and expect Graham Quirk to take swift action to address the serious allegations made as part of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.”
Moheb Moses enjoys a good lick as much as the next bloke
Moheb Moses is a business consutant to the technology industry. Writing in his blog this week he identifies some of the key differences between cloud solutions and other technologies. Of course, he is writing about the way that cloud services are sold, but it is very instructive for those of us using them because he has identified the reasons why many of us feel uncomfortable with buying cloud solutions and the problems we are having with our suppliers.
I have included edited extracts of his blog here. The full piece can be found on his site.
It’s impossible to pick up a technology paper today without reading about the growth of Cloud and the fact that everyone will only buy technology “as a Service” in the future. Despite the fact that I disagree with that statement (I think there will always be people who will want to buy products outright) there is no doubt that this is the fastest growing segment of the market and will certainly make up a much larger piece of the pie in the next 2-5 years.
But what I want to talk about today has nothing to do with technology or vendors or customers.
A different type of sales person
When I first entered this industry many years ago, services were bundled with the product. You bought a server or storage for example, and services like installation and support were included in the price (at very high margins of course).
But as the high volume/low margin players entered the market and products became more commoditised, it became obvious that resellers couldn’t operate on a 30% margin when their competitor was selling the same product (without services included) at 10% margin. So we separated the product from the services.
And something else became obvious.
Product sales people were different to Services sales people
They didn’t understand the heterogeneity of selling services vs the homogeneity of selling products. They struggled with the intangibility of services compared to the tangible nature of products. They felt uncomfortable charging for something that was being delivered by people who were already on staff (and were perceived to be effectively “free”).
So we hired consultants who knew how to sell services. We productised our service offerings. We reduced our price on products and increased it on the services. We educated customers that services weren’t free. And slowly, we changed the industry so that a sales person today wouldn’t think twice about creating a quote for services.
But now as we move to a Cloud world, we’re about to discover another reality.
Product sales people are different to Cloud sales people
The skills are different. The customer conversations are different. The people that make the purchasing decisions are different.
Selling business solutions rather than technology
The difference between buying a product, and buying that same product as a Service, is not a technology decision – it’s a business decision. The people making that aren’t IT – they’re the Finance folks.
And that means your sales people need to feel a lot more comfortable having a business conversation rather than a technology conversation. They need to be able to interpret what the Finance Director is saying and whether the money is going to come from Opex or Capex. They have to have a feel for whether a transaction is going to impact the P&L, the Balance Sheet or both.
Pricing will be based on usage rather than implementation
The other area that will come as a surprise to many sales people as Cloud matures even further is who they sell to and how they sell to. As Cloud evolves towards “Utility Computing” – ie. where users only pay for what they use, like other utilities such as electricity – we are faced with another challenge. IT won’t drive usage.
Many industry analysts are predicting that non-IT Departments (Marketing, HR, etc) will be the big drivers for technology adoption over the next 12-24 months. IT may recommend technology, but the people who use it (and therefore drive our “utility” revenue) will be the users.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has released its Headline Prevalence Data for its National Review, entitled Supporting Working Parents: Pregnancy and Return to Work National Review. The Review included an Australia-wide national consultation process and two national surveys, which Australia is one of the few countries to have undertaken.
“Our prevalence data comes from the first nationally representative survey of women’s perceived experiences of discrimination in the workplace as a result of their pregnancy, request for or taking of parental leave, and their return to work following parental leave. It also includes data from a survey of the experiences of fathers and partners that have taken time off work to care for their child under the ‘Dad and Partner Pay’ scheme,” said Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick. “The major conclusion we can draw from this data, is that discrimination has a cost – to women, their families, to business and to the Australian economy and society as a whole.”
The Review has found that one in two women in Australia reported experiencing discrimination in the workplace during their pregnancy, parental leave or on return to work. While prevalent at all stages, discrimination was more commonly reported as occurring upon return to work (35%) followed by when requesting or on parental leave (32%), and during pregnancy (27%).
“The Review also found that discrimination takes many different forms ranging from negative attitudes and comments through to dismissal and that many women experience multiple forms of discrimination,” said Commissioner Broderick. “Commonly reported types of discrimination women experienced during pregnancy, or when on parental leave, included reductions in salary, missing out on training, professional development and promotional opportunities. The most common types of discrimination women reported experiencing on returning to work after parental leave included negative comments about breastfeeding or working part-time or flexibly and being denied requests to work flexibly.
As a result of this discrimination, the vast majority of mothers (84%) reported a significant negative impact related to mental health (including stress, and a negative impact on their confidence and self-esteem), physical health, career and job opportunities, financial stability and their families. It has a negative impact of women’s workforce participation with high numbers of women having to leave the workforce or change their employer.
Despite taking very short periods of parental leave, over a quarter (27%) of the father and partner respondents reported experiencing discrimination during parental leave or when they returned to work. The data reflects what Ms Broderick has heard about negative attitudes towards men taking parental leave or working flexibly to care for their children.
Commissioner Broderick emphasized that employers and business peaks found managing these issues challenging. During the consultations, she found many were putting dynamic and leading strategies in place to overcome the challenges and support their employees.
Businesses need to get their heads around the changes to the international environemental standards coming into force next year. As an international standard this is not going to change as part of the Federal Government’s deregulation program so it is important to understand whatthe changes mean for you.
The world’s most popular environmental management system standard, ISO 14001 is being amended and the new changes are programmed for release next year! By 2016 a new ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard should also be available.
The changes will be discussed at the next meeting of the Sustainable Engineers chapter of Engineers Australia
Date: Tuesday 15 April 2014
Time: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Venue: Engineers Australia, 447 Upper Edward St, Brisbane
The presentation will address:
The brief background to ISO 14001 and how it has evolved over many years into the standard that we see and implement today
What is expected to change in 2015 when the new standard revision will be published
An outline of Annex SL – the new top level management structure that we will see introduced in the revised ISO 14001 standard – what it is and how it will affect the implementation of a management system
What the revised changes are likely to mean for your organization
And finally, some guidance on revision and transition timings and where you can get help
Based on BS OHSAS 18001, the new ISO 45001 will support new areas of management systems to ensure better compatibility and systems governance, making the implementation within an organization a lot smoother. Once published, the standard will apply to any organization wishing to:
Establish and implement an internationally recognized occupational health and safety management system to reduce or minimize risks to personnel and other relevant parties
Maintain and constantly improve their health and safety performance
Keep all operations in line with their stated health and safety policies to an internationally recognised standard.
For more information see the attached flyer.
Go to Qld Division event listing to register.
