Category: News

Taking a break from tearing apart the judiciary and parliamentary process, the Newman government this week was predicted to ab use its absolute power by ripping up that other pillar of civilised society, the arts.

The Westender reported yesterday through its facebook page, “Qld government to announce slashing to Arts sector this afternoon. Institutions such as the Queensland Centre for Photography have been notified by phone that their funding has been removed. They will receive no future funding from the Queensland Government.
Stand by for further updates.”

So far, those further updates have not materialised, though plenty of behind the scenes activity only confirms that something is afoot.

Having heard Newman wax lyrical about the government’s support for the classical artforms, especially when they uphold politically “incorrect” attitudes to power, sex and politics, it is clear that the arts sector is in a very difficult position.

If they call out the philistines in George Street then they are relegated to the outer circle with womens reproductive rights, environmentalists, paedophiles, judges and bikies. If they do not, they are complicit in assisting the government in manufacturing a make believe fairyland that masks the chamber of horrors under the pink, glittery frosting.

You can rely on Westender to keep peeling back the marzipan to reveal the maggots that have inhabited the meal.

Sporting clubs, corporations, superfunds and chambers of commerce are busy announcing their new executives following their annual general meetings.

Like most forms of democracy many of these annual general meetings are somewhat untidy. membership lists are not up to date, rules around eligibiity to vote are not clear, the purpose of the annual general meeting is not clear, the membership has not been properly notified.

This is not an extraordinary or isolated incidence of corruption, this is so commonplace that Westender is providing access to the standard rules for those of you have yet to hold your annual general meeting or those of you who have just been to one and found it wanting.

Football star Leigh Matthews was delayed from running for the president of the board of the Brisbane Lions on the basis that his membership was up to date. The West End Traders association is this month holding an extraordinary general meeting after the annual general meeting last month failed to elect a president. The full story was reported two issues ago.

Most organistions do not have their own constitutions and are governed by the model rules provided under the and available at the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 and Associations Incorporation Regulation 1999.

The area that seems to vex many associations are those around the holding of Annual General Meetings and the rights to vote in them.

The model rules clearly indicate that nominees for contested positions must nominate 14 days prior to the AGM. The entire membership must  have been notified of the time and place of the AGM and must have access to the agenda of the meeting and the rules for voting.

The model rules can be found at  at http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/AssociationsAndNonprofits/Model_rules.pdf

In the case of the West End Traders Association, new members who sign up by emailing WETA secretary, David Mildren and paying the membership fee of $100 between now and the 17th of November, can be ratified at the general meeting to be held prior to the Extraordinary General Meeting and therefore vote in the extraordinary general meeting election.

The annual general  meeting did not appoint a full complement of general members and can decide to accept nominations fro m the floor.

Nominations for other positions are now closed or were voted on last month.

The laconic pace of outback Australia seems an unlikely platform for a thriller but Aaron Pedersen as executive producer and star winds us so tight in this neat little film that there are times I could barely breathe. 

This is a tale of the good man overcoming adversity and given that our hero is a black detective returning home from detective school “down south”, the adversity mounts thick and fast. From the opening scenes which outlay the tragic murder of one of “his” people through to the final shoot out the relaxed and open space of the script allows the heat, dust and loaded history of the frontier to blow through the action with full force.
The use of arial photography provides a powerful sense of location as we watch suburban cars cruise around suburban Winton. The ramshackle disrepair provides a hauntingly dangerous backdrop to the actions and rifles with scopes brings the action close up and personal in a way that hollywood action shoot ’em ups rarely do.
There are the inevitable sacrifices made for the sake of bringing the action to an audience without too much set up and explanation: targets are always centred in the cross hairs, for example, where as a real sniper has to shoot off centre to cope with distance and wind. The protaganists “tail” each other at a couple of hundred metres in a landscape where most horizons are tens of kilometers away.
It’s relatively low budget and looks very homegrown to a local audience but the scenery is so exotic, the language so true to life and the depicted events are so stark, harsh and heart-rending that this is essentially a foreign film told in Australian English.
As such, it is probably limited to the art-house circuit in Australia, but will almost inevitably become a cult film somewhere in the world.
I would not be surprised if it spawns a genre of films in the way that a Fistful of dollars did in the seventies. This is a powerful piece of work.

Michael Klim and Kylie Kwong have lent their support to the Shop Small movement to drive more Australians to shop in small businesses during November.

Former Olympian Michael Klim, whose skincare range, Milk & Co, is now an international success, will be busy supporting Shop Small in his community this November.

“I’m asking every Aussie to support the small businesses they love and to help make a difference,” said Michael Klim.

“I’ll be shopping small in South Yarra and Richmond as much as possible to help make November the biggest shopping month of the year for small businesses. Shop Small is about backing the small businesses that give our neighbourhoods their colour and convenience. It’s an initiative every Australian can get behind and feel proud of.”

As successful Australian business entrepreneurs, Klim and Kwong understand how vital the support of the Australian community is to small businesses.

”Shop Small is here to inspire us all to shop with, and give something back to, the people who give our local community its character. The people who own and run the shops and services that make our neighbourhood our neighbourhood,” said Kylie Kwong, chef, restaurateur and owner of Billy Kwong in Sydney.

New research has shown that 94% of Australian consumers admit to forgetting to purchase from local businesses, despite recognising the importance of small businesses. Shop Small is an opportunity to reconnect with the small businesses that have been forgotten.

Founded by American Express, Shop Small began as a one-day event in the United States three years ago. It has since expanded across three continents, and will launch in Australia tomorrow. Shop Small is credited with stimulating consumer spending with small retailers and service providers overseas, and is launching here to support Australia’s two million small businesses.

More info: www.shopsmallaustralia.com

 

Did you know West End’s local population has just passed through some very significant milestones? There are now 20,000+ residents, 30,000+ workers and around 18,000 students in the neighbourhood – and the Westender is your platform to communicate and promote to this thriving local economy.

Extensive research proves that supporting local, independent businesses has enormous flow-on benefits. The local independent businessperson you choose to support is much more likely to spend his or her money locally, too, contributing to a multiplier affect that builds the local economy and community.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kerrod Trott and I started publishing the Westender way back in 1992, more than 20 years ago and long before Rupert Murdoch’s Southern News/City South News, Brian Laver’s scurrilous Neighbourhood News or the glossy new West End Magazine, a kind of lifestyle magazine.

The paper has been through numerous incarnations over the years but the underlying philosophy of the Westender is the same today as it was way back then: to promote a sense of community and belonging among the local residents, and to act as a channel to promote the wonderfully diverse small business community who make this such a great place to live, shop, work and visit.

With the support of my new partner and collaborator Geoff Ebbs, we’ve decided to have another crack at putting out a print edition in early December of this year, with the editorial philosophy of encouraging our readers – residents and visitors alike – to shop and save locally for Christmas this year.

Please contact me if you’d like a copy of our Media Pack for both print and online advertising. We’ll also soon be releasing details of an exciting new “I Save Local” phone app which will provide 24/7 access to our audience. Stay tuned for details.

If you’re planning your Christmas promotional and marketing budget, I urge you to find room in it for advertising to the nearly 70,000 people that live, work and live 4101, all of who are right on your doorstep and yet may not know of your services, products or business.

Cheers
Kerrod Trott
Founding Editor and Publisher

Gabriela Zabala of the Worldwide Socialist Website wonders if the NSW Government is missing the point with new, increased valuations for public housing.

In the latest step to push people out of public housing, the New South Wales government announced last month that tenants who do not qualify for government welfare benefits will pay full “market rents.” As a result, some tenants will face rent rises of up to $100 a week.

This is part of a broader assault on public housing by governments across the country. The state Liberal government’s move follows the imposition of a “bed tax” in June, which forces couples in public housing with an “unoccupied” bedroom to pay an extra $30 per week in rent, and singles an additional $20 per week, if they refuse two “offers” from NSW Housing to relocate to smaller properties. (See: “A bipartisan attack on public housing tenants”).

Public housing tenants already pay rent according to income, although those on welfare benefits usually pay no more than 25 percent of their household income. Tenants who work and whose income exceeds minimum thresholds pay “market rents,” while those on lower incomes pay marginally less.

This market-driven regime was introduced nationally under the Hawke and Keating federal Labor governments from 1983 to 1996, which presided over an historic assault on public housing, also slashing spending on new construction by about 25 percent. (See: “Australia: Public housing being ‘cannibalised’”).

Until now, however, public housing in NSW has been valued at reduced market rates, producing an inherent rental discount of around 9-10 percent. Under the NSW government’s latest policy, valuers no longer have to consider whether the properties are used for public or private housing—they are instructed to arrive at the market value based on locality and type of housing.

Many homes will therefore be valued at a higher rate, which will push up the rents of tenants by anything from $40 to $100 per week, depending on the location and size of the property. This increase is being foisted onto the working class in a country with some of the most expensive housing prices and private market rents in the world. In NSW, the most populous state, the median price for a modest home is $700,000—more than 10 times the average wage.

The rationale for the changes, according to NSW Community Services Minister Pru Goward, is to accommodate the needs of the 55,000 households on the public housing waiting list. This is a bald-faced lie, as the higher rents will result in increased hardship for tenants and will do nothing to address the shortage of affordable housing. In Britain and Canada, similar attacks on public housing have resulted in unaffordable rent increases and evictions, contributing to sharp increases in homelessness .

Across Australia in 2009-2010, 60 percent of lower-income rental households were in housing stress (paying more than 30 percent of their income on rent), and this figure continues to swell as rents rise—last year rents increased by an average of 8 percent nationally. In Sydney, rents in 2012 were almost $7,000 a year higher than in 2007. Incomes failed to keep pace and in fact declined for many workers. That is why the demand for public housing has grown dramatically, with waiting times blowing out to over 10 years.

The government’s real agenda is not to assist those on the waiting list, but to force people out of public housing and into the private rental market. It is a process driven by the demands of the construction and finance industry to dispense with what they consider to be a drain on profits.

This strategy has been pursued by Labor and Liberal state and federal governments for the past three decades. During this period, public housing has been deliberately underfunded, with supply failing to keep up with increasing demand. Maintenance budgets are also continually slashed. The result is that tenants are living in unbearable conditions and some housing becomes virtually irreparable, providing the pretext for selling off these homes to developers or private investors.

One example is Millers Point, overlooking Sydney Harbour, where public housing tenants are suffering what they call “demolition by neglect” of their houses, some of which date back to the early twentieth century. Continuous reports to Housing NSW about the urgent need for repairs have been ignored. Instead, tenants—some whose families have lived there for five generations—have been offered transfers to other areas.

Some public housing tenants live in dangerously unhealthy conditions. A report on ABC News 24 on September 27 highlighted the plight of Kelly Elliot, a single mother, and her infant daughter. After moving into a two-bedroom apartment in inner Sydney, Elliot contracted pneumonia, her hair began falling out and she suffered other ailments. Her daughter developed respiratory problems.

Elliot reported rising damp, with black mould on the walls, ceiling and on her bedding and clothes, to NSW Housing but it did nothing. Concerned friends who took up her cause and spoke with NSW Housing were told that the mould was not a serious issue and was the tenant’s responsibility. Friends and neighbours took up a collection for Elliot and her daughter to stay in a hotel until the apartment was remediated.

Tenants in the same block reported similar concerns, with one showing how an entire door disintegrated due to termite infestation. Another, 69-year-old Terry Tilker, slept in his living room in a reclining chair due to the extensive mould in his bedroom, which affected his breathing. He paid $190 per week for the one-bedroom unit.

The NSW Auditor General’s report in July stated that “public housing is ageing and increasingly not fit for purpose.” It revealed that the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC), which controls Housing NSW, is not only selling off public housing properties, but also reducing maintenance and upgrades, saying it must do so in order to meet its budget shortfalls. The LAHC was about $330 million short of maintaining the current number of properties in 2012-13 at a reasonable standard.

Both Labor and Liberal state governments have sold off public housing stock over the past decade, with more than 500 properties in NSW sold last year alone, raising $165 million. This year, the state’s public housing maintenance budget has been cut by $37 million, forcing many tenants, including families, the elderly, sick and frail, to live in conditions that do not meet basic standards.

There is bipartisan agreement on denying the basic right of all to affordable, modern and properly maintained housing—one of the most essential requirements of life—in order to enforce the austerity dictates of the financial markets and boost the profits of real estate developers and building companies.

Republished from: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/30/hous-o30.html