Local paper gets the ‘money shot’. Liberal MP for the marginal Melbourne seat of La Trobe Jason Wood is believed to be under instructions to keep his mouth firmly closed for the duration of the campaign. A planned forum on seniors was to see him speak later this week, but his minders are so worried he will “stuff it up” that they convinced party officials to bring in Senator Mitch Fifield to speak in his place. The local papers aren’t stupid and have been increasingly frustrated at Wood’s reluctance to talk or be seen in public. Last night at a candidate forum on public education, Wood was again a no-show. With the official tables set up with professionally printed name plaques for candidates, a local photographer was seen framing the ALP and Greens candidate in a shot with an empty chair clearly identifying a space for Wood.
Crean’s calling, unannounced. An independent school in Victoria, Bacchus Marsh Grammar, was advised that the local (Labor) member Caroline King was to formally open its BER project yesterday — with permission from Simon Crean. Except that the project is not finished and there was no plaque or ceremony planned. They received about one hour’s notice. DEEWR was also not advised.
Last drinks at QPAC. The Queensland Performing Arts Centre has closed it’s greenroom to staff and forced them to prop up the under-performing “Cafe”. The greenroom is only open an hour before the first show and until the last show curtain rises (with limited hot food and over-priced sandwiches). They have also closed the greenroom bar and will only open it when a company pays for two staff members to run it. And staff discounts no longer apply; full prices for all staff and artists.
Word is that visiting actors are very angry at having to go out among the punters to get a cup of decent coffee or something to eat after the greenroom has closed, and having no bar open after a show to wind down. Some staff have re-named the greenroom as the “upper and lower lounge rooms”. This is suppose to be a world-renowned entertainment theatre venue, but with no greenroom keeping to proper theatre tradition, this venue has lost it’s heart and soul as a theatre.
Not easy being green … as Suncorp insurance brand GIO has recently found. A few years back the company launched its product disclosure statement, the long, legally required statement of cover, on a DVD. Each PDS is typically 40-50 pages, so it saved millions of printed pages each year for a document that few read. The solution was to send it on DVD. Suncorp bean counters have recently ditched that and now customers will again get a printed book mailed with their policy, largely due to the cost of producing the DVD.
Clothes on at Diggers. After attending the Diggers and Dealers conference for the past six years, I can safely say reports about topless waitresses are unfounded. The “skimpies” only serve at the pubs, not at the official Diggers’ functions.
Bikie attack in Sydney. We got this leaflet in the post yesterday and felt the need to bring it to your attention. Apparently my neighbourhood is about to be assaulted by a “High-Speed Cycleway”, which will have a huge impact on a quiet street. The troubles this development will cause include “noisy walkers … and cyclists whizzing by” along with a “massive influx of casual visitors”. Forget stopping the boats — our neighbour wants to stop the cyclists, and walkers. No doubt there are genuine safety risks with hi-vis jackets blinding people as they whizz past on their infernal machines as well, not to mention all those walkers, stomping away … It’s outrageous! I know Crikey covers the big issues so I thought it was my duty to keep you up to date — stay brave and strong.
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