LETTER FROM MELBOURNE

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LETTER FROM MELBOURNE 1 AUGUST TO 4 SEPTEMBER the Australian Film Industry Awards in December. Co-hosts, may include Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, The Herald Sun reported. Everyone’s a winner The Age and The Sunday Age were jointly named the 2007 Newspaper of the Year for excellent content, design, production and campaign journalism in the Pacific Newspaper Publishers Association awards, held in Melbourne. The Herald Sun reported that according to new Audit Bureau of Circulations figures, it is Australia’s best read daily, pointing out that on weekdays it sells 328,000 more copies than The Age. On Saturdays, the Sun sells more than 513,000 copies with an average readership of 1,414,000. The Financial Review reported that the Roy Morgan Research, Audit Bureau of Circulation figures showed many capital city papers lost readers during 2006-07 but that the number of people visiting websites increased significantly with most sites recording growth of more than 40 per cent. Tony Whiting, chief executive of The Border Mail headquartered in Wodonga, retires into his next career. Rupert Murdoch has sealed a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, for almost $6b. Still attractive Experts this month decided that the National Gallery of Victoria’s Head of a Man, formerly supposed to have been painted Vincent Van Gogh, was not done by the Dutch master. No doubt it will attract the crowds for precisely that reason… Hawkesbury artist Ana Pollak won the $20,000 Dobell Prize for Drawing for her Mullet Creek, The Age reported. The Great Lake, Tasmania by colonial artist Eugene von Guerard sold for $1.86m, bringing much needed funding to the Victorian National Trust, which receives $236,000 State Government funding per year but the cost of managing its properties and collections is $6m, The Age said. Fashion week 19-year-old designer Jacqui Alexander, 19, has been named as the face of the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. She replaces model Claire Quirk, 15, who has been deemed too young by the City of Melbourne, The Herald Sun reported. A Herald Sun report said those in the know are saying Australia is following European trends and that the tan is on the way out! Fashionably late Fifty years ago, leading Melbourne courtier Hall Ludlow made a series of startling dresses inspired and modelled by Dianne Masters. In early August, Masters, in her seventies and still a beauty, gave 12 priceless Ludlow Gowns to the Victorian College of the Arts for use as costumes in theatre projects, The Age said. Will be missed Ray Martin, 62, is retiring from television after almost 30 ears in the business, The Herald Sun said. Channel Nine’s Garry Linnel has quit his post as director of news and current affairs, saying his 377 Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000 T. 03 9642 5999 F. 03 9642 5844 print@printmode.com.au www.printmode.com.au position had become ‘untenable’, The Age reported. SBS newsreader Mary Kostakidis, who has been with the network for 20 years, walked out of the station in apparent frustration at its commercialisation and changes made to its nightly news bulletin, The Age said. There has been speculation the situation will not be reconciled and that Kostakidas may sue SBS for breach of contract. Musical bunch The annual Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, from 12 to 14 October, www.portfairyspringmusicfestival. com follows the earlier in each year folk festival in the same town. Out-scalped Ticketmaster’s attempt to out-manoeuvre scalpers by auctioning the best tickets for events online (and thereby catching a greater amount of royalties for artist) were only partially successful. The best seats at certain concerts where selling at around $500 but were still being sold on at prices almost double that on e-bay, MX reported. Keating’s accalades Keating the Musical beat Miss Saigon and Priscilla Queen of the Desert to win best musical at the 2007 Helpmann Awards. Docklands Food Hall to close Myer’s new headquarters will be at 800 Collins Street, in the Docklands. The retail group will sign a 12-year lease for a new $100m building at Lend Lease’s Victoria Harbour Precinct, The Herald Sun said. In September, when major renovations start in the city store, the Myer Food Hall will be closed, disappointing many shoppers. Some stores will reopen elsewhere within the store, others will be closed down. Educaion The best and the rest A $20m maths, science and technology oriented selective public school will open in 2010 for up to 650 year 10 to 12 students. The John Monash Science School will be on the site of Monash University’s Clayton campus. Education Department eastern region manager Jim Watterston said contributions from industry and business could ‘be quite significant’, The Age said. Critics say the school will poach the best students from surrounding schools, and that it is unfair. The rest … Under the State Government’s ‘Broadmeadows regeneration project’ 17 schools have merged to become four. $100m over the next three years will go toward new buildings for the students in the area. In the northern suburbs, almost half the secondary schools are in the bottom fifth of the state in VCE achievement, and almost 40 per cent of primary schools are in the bottom 20 per cent. Year 12 retention rates are at 25 per cent. According to The Age education editor Farrah Tomazin, there are too many schools and not enough students. Pay matters Thousands of teachers are considered striking as the Australian Education Union pushed for a 30 per cent wage rise, The Age said. In late August teachers released a television advertising campaign to gain public support and increase pressure on the government. To be a teacher (1) A teacher from a state secondary school in Richmond was threatened with suspension by a principal because he opposed a hip-hop concert by an American Christian group at the school, brought to Australia by a Youth Arm of the Assemblies of God, sparking concerns that the group is using state schools to spread its message, The Age reported. To be a teacher (2) Teacher Tim Moran of Langwarin Secondary College, who was dismissed and had his teacher registration cancelled after he failed to physically intervene in a brawl, has had the decision overturned by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, in a decision that The Age described has having ‘far reaching ramifications’. An Age editorial said schools urgently need guidelines for what teachers should do in such a situation. Watch this space. Aussie schools After last year’s history summit, which addressed the way Australian history should be taught in schools, this month there was an Australian Literature summit with 20 experts discussing ways of including more ‘Australian contemporary and classic’ works onto school and university curriculum, The Age reported. La Trobe’s remodelling La Trobe University, trying to turn around years of flagging performance, is planning to cut undergraduate courses by 25 per cent by 2010 and asking up to half of its academics to focus on teaching rather than research, The Age said. 10
1 AUGUST TO 4 SEPTEMBER LETTER FROM MELBOURNE Oh to browse A significant number of books from the Melbourne University’s Baillieu Library research collection are soon too disappear from the shelves, and go into storage, The Age reported. The books will be available within 24 hours of request, however emeritus Professor Ron Ridley, says his professional life is at stake and ‘it would end if that collection moves’. There has been no space for new books at the library since 1999. Many things are changing … Naughtons Hotel is closed, and the Clyde Hotel, also in Carlton, may follow, The Age reported. An estimated 60,000 to 75,000 people visited the university for its open day to learn more about the new Melbourne Model, The Age said. Queensland University has named chemical engineer Paul Greenfield as vice-chancellor. Greenfield has been senior deputy vice-chancellor since 2002 and a director of UQ’s commercialisation arm UniQuest. Alan Robson, vice-chancellor of the University of Western Australia, has been elected chairman of the Group of Eight research Universities. He will take over from Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis, at the Go8 meeting in September. The number of full fee degrees that cost more than $100,000 at Australian campuses will top 100 next year, according to The Age. Strengthening responses Victorian schools are looking at improving the way they deal with sex crime allegations. Police figures show there have been 661 sex offence claims in all Victorian educational institutions in the past three years – an average of more than three a week, The Herald Sun reported. Federal focus on states The Federal Government decision to top-up the Higher Education Endowment Fund with an extra $1b has been welcomed by universities, but they are still pushing for the $5b fund to be doubled by 2009, the Financial Review said. Pell push Church leaders, headed by Cardinal George Pell, have directed Catholic schools to maximise enrolment of Catholic students. The edict does not mean non-catholic students will be ineligible, The Herald Sun said. Not many men A new study of 600 students aged eight to 11 has found young boys are more likely to behave for a male teacher than a female teacher. This only sharpens the case for more male teachers in primary schools, where women outnumber men five to one, according to The Herald Sun. Primary concerns A draft charter, developed by the Australian Primary Principals Association following a federally funded forum, recommends English, maths, science and Australian history should be the core subjects for children from prep to grade six – and the only guaranteed subjects offered. There has been some criticism about the absence of physical activities, music and foreign languages, The Age said. Environme Conservaion CH2 The building celebrated as Australia’s best environmental performer is facing criticism because some of its environmental features do not yet work, The Age said. The Melbourne City Council’s environmentally advanced CH2 has been criticised because aspects of the water, plumbing, lighting, and rooftop wind turbines are not yet up to scratch. Nearby, a former nine-storey commonwealth bank building owned by the city in Burke Street near the corner of Swanston Street will be available for notfor-profit groups with rents discounted up to 55 per cent of market rates, if they can establish that they benefit the city. Smoggy city Air monitoring by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria shows that a higher population and the bushfires contributed to the doubling of air pollution over Melbourne last year, The Herald Sun said. No less than 5 stars Daniel Grollo, managing director of the construction company Grocon, says that pressure from government and business for greater savings in water, electricity and cuts in greenhouse gas emissions mean it is unlikely any future buildings in Australia will be anything less than five stars, The Age said. Flannery Australian of the Year Tim Flannery says property taxes should be re-examined and the possibility of tax breaks for commercial building owners to encourage Australia’s office buildings to become more environmentally friendly, The Age said. Trees trick Several companies who advertised that they offset the carbon impact of their products by planting trees did no such thing. The Federal Government has identified 12 such companies in the past year, but none of them will be prosecuted for false advertising because their mistakes were unintentional, The Herald Sun reported. A report by the Australia Institute described the tree planting schemes as a ‘fad’ which is ineffective and distracting, the Financial Review said. Conservation survey The Department of Human Services is conducting a survey of 2,200 Victorian households throughout the state, in an attempt to better understand patterns of utility consumption, and the various effects of weather and state concessions in order to help Victorians become more energy and water efficient. Sustainability fund The Victorian Government is calling for applications for its Sustainability Fund, which provides funding for projects that drive more sustainable resource use in Victoria, by 28 September, www.sustainability. vic.gov.au. Energy Petrol prices Grocery prices are being pushed up due to the introduction of petrol discount dockets by retailing giant Coles and Woolworths an inquiry into petrol prices has heard. The inquiry was also told that cobranding with the supermarkets meant Shell and Caltex were creating a market duopoly pushing out independent petrol retailers. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission public hearings began in Canberra this month, as part of its inquiry into the price of unleaded petrol, The Age reported. RACV spokesman David Cumming told the inquiry that motorists are smart and know how to exploit the petrol cycle, and said any attempt to scrap the discount docket scheme could lead to less Z E P H Y R U S welcomes you to our Luxury 4 Star Accommodation and sailing holidays, based in the heart of Split Croatia where you can “experience it all”. Cruise the Adriatic, exploring the wonders of the islands on your own private yacht. Discover the many treasures within the old city walls of Split, the Croatian city with over 1700 years of history. For all inquiries contact Murray and Cathrine Cook P/F +385 (0) 21 396 162 M +385 (0) 98 998 6597 zephyrus@zephyrus.hr www.zephyrus.hr 11
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