Category: News

Helen Abrahams, The Gabba Ward Councillor, along with the Boundary Street traders, have agreed that the seats, bins and planter boxes designed by John Mongard specifically for Boundary Street West End should be restored and installed before the new footpath is laid.

The blue and orange colours and the design of the street furniture are unique.

“There is always someone sitting on the seats so I am sure they are some of the best used seats in Brisbane,” said Helen Abrahams

The “Boundary Street” seats and street furniture have thinned out due to the number that have been removed so the plan is to bring them back to the block between Jane Street and Vulture Street.

At the meeting of traders held on Wednesday 17th, there was total agreement to keep the furniture. Councillor Abrahams said it was important to talk to the local traders because once the new concrete footpath proposed for the western side of Boundary Street is in place the furniture will be fixed.

“The seats have been disappearing over time and another one was removed just last week,” said Helen. “It would appear there was a complaint about people smoking and Council’s response was to remove the seat. This is not the solution.”

In another case, the seat was removed because it was always being unbolted and shifted so many times that it became unsafe.

“The seats and other street furniture are what make Boundary Street different. It has a village feel about it. Sometimes, it takes some time to walk down the street because there is always someone who wants to stop and have a chat.”

“Once the new footpath is in place, I am sure the planter boxes, seats and bins will once again become a major feature of the street. The plan is for a facelift for the street without changing the character.”

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May is a time of reflection and commemoration for Buddhists worldwide, as it is widely celebrated as the month in which the baby Buddha was born, some 2500 years ago.

According to Buddhist legend, a child was born in a grove of blossoming trees. The child stood up, took seven steps and declared that “I alone am the World Honoured One”

He then pointed one hand to the sky, and one to the ground, to indicate that he would unify both heaven and the earth. This child would grow up to become Buddha, and the founder of one of the world’s largest religions.

While there are no records for the specific date of birth, Buddha’s Birthday is celebrated in most Asian countries on the eighth day of the fourth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which this year, falls on the 17th of May.

The most notable exception to this rule is Japan, where Buddha’s Birthday is celebrated on the 8th of April each year.

The consumption of vegetarian food is usually observed on this day, while other traditions include temple offerings and lantern hangings. One of the most widely practiced traditions of this day is the bathing of the baby Buddha. This ritual honours the moment in which Buddha was first born.

A figure of the baby Buddha is positioned in an altar, and people can approach the altar and fill a ladle with water or tea, pouring it over the figure to bathe the baby.

Brisbane officially celebrated Buddhas birthday on the 3rd – 5th of this month, with a festival in the Southbank Parklands.

Celebrations at the festival included dragon boat races, Buddha bathing and multicultural performances.This year marked the seventeenth time the celebration has taken place at Southbank.

Sources : http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhistholidays/a/buddhabirthday.htm

http://www.gadling.com/2013/05/16/better-know-a-holiday-buddhas-birthday/

http://www.buddhanet.net/festival.htm

The question of indigenous rights and Australian heritage is one that may never be answered wholly or to the satisfaction of all who call Australia home; however there are many people and organisations, such as the Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy, striving to achieve a more harmonious understanding of the first nation’s people.

The Aboriginal Sovereign Embassies or tent embassies have been set up in different cities across Australia as an organisation for the first nation’s people to gather and discuss community issues.

Tiga Bayles, a radio talk show host for 98.9 FM and General Manager for the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association, has identified the need for communication between white Australians and the first nation’s people.

“The tent embassy is a primary vehicle for this, not just for our mob; it is for everybody who calls this place home.”

“Too many white Australians live and die in this country without ever engaging with the First Nation’s people. The tent embassy provides an opportunity for the white Australians to talk and communicate with the First Nation’s people.”

Sariah Jambers, a non-indigenous supporter of the Sovereign Uni,on speaks of the tent embassies aims;

“I think it is very important that non-indigenous Australians attend these events. Many “white” people are uninformed about issues facing Aboriginal people. They will stay ignorant unless they find out for themselves because currently it is not an issue that the mainstream media wants to delve into.”

“Before joining the embassy I found it hard to relate to Aboriginal people. As if we were foreigners. Attending these events, learning about Sovereignty, and connecting with people who are serious about Aboriginal self-determination at the grass roots level, we can start to build a bridge to mend our fractured Australian identity.”

To get involved, add the Brisbane Aboriginal- Sovereign Embassy on Facebook to keep up to date with events or go to http://nationalunitygovernment.org/ to find out more information.

In a recent edition of Time Magazine, the writer wasted no time in pointing out that it is responsible for around ten percent of the expected budget defecit. In a week which Australia excised itself from its own immigration zone, the absurdities mount at a pace reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.

When Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan delivered the national budget yesterday,he blamed the nation’s $17.8 billion deficit on the stubbornly high Australian dollar, softening company-tax revenue anda slowdown of the China-driven mining sector. But an estimated $2 billion to $3 billion of that deficit (the true figure won’t be known until September) comes from the blowout of the government’s controversial border-protection budget. And for that there’s nothing and nobody to blame but the ruinously expensive policy known in Australia as the “Pacific Solution.”

Read the full article at Time World

Paniyiri President Chris Kazonis was particularly proud of the community spirit displayed at the festival.

“All the staff on the park are volunteers, there is not one paid person on the ground,” he boasted to The Westender. Some of the uniformed barristas serving coffee in the various food stands may have been disappointed to hear that, but we do not want to dampen the general high spirits of the day by splitting hairs.

The commercial strip along Edmonstone Street outside the Greek club boasted solar providers, internet directories and toy stores along with the obligatory food stalls. Inside the Greek club a rolling cooking demonstration with full blown TV cooking contest presentations kept hundreds entertained and well fed as the day rolled on.

Among the attractions this year is a sizable piece of chalk art by pavement artists Amelia and Dom. Talking to Westender this afternoon, Dom said that Amelia is the artist and his job is merely to lay down some of the foundation. Westender will return tomorrow to meet Amelia and see how she is filling in the remainder.

In addition to the frenzy of Zorba music, burning souvlaki and deep-fried loukoumathes a cultural program in one of the meeting rooms at the Greek club, featured lectures on images of femininity in wartime, the journeys of Odysseus and other weighty topics.

The Greek economic crisis had just reached fever pitch during last year’s Paniyiri and was further marred by the nasty eviction of the indegenous tent embassy to make way for festivities.

Images of five rubber-gloved police wrestling an Aboriginal man to the ground prompted a wave of protest and satire, including the picture postcard story – Paniryi Irony

For the thousands of festival goers, though, Paniyiri is about indulgence and satisfaction to the sound of Greek dance music. There was an almost endless supply of that to go around.

ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said, “The failure to include an increase in the abysmally low $35 a day payment in Tuesday’s Budget was not good enough.”

She described it as “cruel” for the government to acknowledge the payment is not enough and yet do nothing about it.