LETTER FROM MELBOURNE

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LETTER FROM MELBOURNE 1 AUGUST TO 4 SEPTEMBER weather and stable industrial relations had helped the project along. Better safe than sorry The West Gate Bridge is likely to get $240m to improve safety and maintenance according to The Age. Advice from some experts appears to have gained weight following the collapse of a bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis on 1 August in which 13 people died. Ford factory, just the beginning According to Kevin Baker’s Economic Tsunami, the world motor industry will be given a serious jolt when Chinese car-makers begin exporting them in around 2010. The Age speculated on the dire run-on effects for the Australian car industry. 242 workers at plastics manufacturer Venture Industries walked off the job in a protected strike action. The company apparently refused to guarantee more than $25m of entitlements. The strike at Venture, which makes dashboards and bumper bars for Ford, had a flow on effect at Ford which stood down 600 workers, raising the total number for the month to 1,850, The Herald Sun said. Watch this space… Ford is in talks to save up to 140 jobs by selling on its Geelong casting plant The Herald Sun said. About 100 employees of car component maker Bekaert were given a reprieve when a review (planned for early August) of its Geelong site was postponed until September. The Australian Workers Union is ‘expecting the worst’ The Age reported. What’s new The parliament of Victoria, Road Safety Committee, has been conducting an inquiry into the vehicle safety, including public hearings in August. There was a particular focus on modern technologies and their application. air Quite a night The annual Melbourne Airport 2007 Stakeholder Report, held at the Touring Hall, Melbourne Museum, attracted a notable cast of engineers, designers, logisticians, transport specialists, and others involved with the airport in one way or another. The event doubled as a farewell to outgoing CEO Chris Barlow and a welcome to Chris Woodruff. A profitable airport, which is obviously keeping its eye on other airports around the nation and the globe as it lays plans for what might be the biggest infrastructure development site in Victoria in the next few years. $330m over the next five years in a collection of individual projects which will make significant changes to the International terminal. Includes an entire new international passenger precinct to be completed by 2011, www.melbourneairport.com.au. More/less flights Cathay Pacific will fly between Hong Kong and Melbourne three (increasing from two) days a week from 1 October, the Financial Review said. Bucking the recent trend, Jetstar will cancel its direct flight from Melbourne to Honolulu in Hawaii because not enough tickets are being sold for the route, The Herald Sun said. Virgin Blue celebrated its 7 th birthday with a special round of cheap tickets. Welcome More international passengers (4.5 million) passed through Melbourne Airport in the last financial year than ever before, The Age reported. The (three per cent) growth has been attributed largely to the expansion of Jetstar. pors Channel deepening The Port of Melbourne Corporation says a $25 to $30 levy on full containers would cover the cost of deepening the bay and would mean Melbourne would still be cheaper than other major Australian ports. However, Shipping Australia chief executive Llew Russel says a new surcharge would discourage business and make Adelaide, NSW and Brisbane ports more attractive, according to the Financial Review. Wayne Kaylor-Thomson, then-acting, but now chief executive of the Victorian Employer’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, wrote in The Age that ‘channel deepening is Victoria’s most urgent infrastructure task’. Premier Brumby said the project has the full support of his government as long as it were convinced the environmental damage to the bay will not be too severe. Brumby is full speed ahead on this! The Port of Melbourne Corporation’s geotechnical engineer, Don Raisbeck, said that the effects of ripping up 550,000 cubic meters of rock from the Heads could cause damage that would take up to 30 years to recover, including in marine national park areas (a significant increase from the corporation’s previous estimate of two to five years) The Age reported. One major potential problem for the project has been overcome. The 500-megawatt gas-fired Newport Power Station’s operator Ecogen, had warned that it may be forced to shut down during the $736m dredging, causing blackouts and huge costs to the government. Also, Ecogen was concerned sediment turned up the dredging would corrode the station’s pipes forcing the station off line, and that the sediment would contaminate fish in ‘the Warmies’, a popular nearby fishing spot. However the boards of both organisations will sign an agreement to work together to facilitate the project, which will be undertaken during the regular maintenance periods at the station, The Age said. The Port of Melbourne Corporation had a record number of containers pass through the port in July with 188,145 containers, a 16.1 per cent increase from last July, The Age said. PMC chief executive Stephen Bradford said usually records came around Christmas time and said it seems to reflect the general economic buoyancy at the moment. Stevedoring inquiry The Essential Services Commission is conducting an inquiry into the ‘impact of port planning on competition in the provision of container stevedoring and related services in Victorian ports’. Similar reviews will occur across the nation as a follow up to the 2006 Competition and Infrastructure Reform Agreement, signed by the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments. He workPlace jobs Positions vacant Greyhound Racing Victoria seeks an Animal Welfare Business Development Officer to develop a unique business unit within the rapidly growing industry, www.grv.org.au. Adelaide Research and Innovation, the commercial development company of South Australia’s oldest university, The University of Adelaide, seeks a managing director to develop an entrepreneurial culture promoting research, education services and IP to industry, 03 9602 1666. Melbourne International Arts Festival seeks an artistic director for its 2009 and 2010 festivals, 9662 4242, by 19 September. Victorian Major Events seeks a chief executive officer, expressions of interest, j.allen@jdcallen.com.au. Racing Victoria seeks seven independent directors, cgmelbourne@russellreynolds.com. Goulburn Valley Grammar School, seeks a Principal from June 2008, select@ckh.com.au. Zoos Victoria, who markets Melbourne’s three great zoos, seeks a promotions manager, a brand manager, and membership manager, 96901988. The National Zoo and Aquarium is also seeking a ‘Lion Tamer’ general manager, www.nationalzoo.com.au. The Energy Supply Association of Australia seeks an energy and greenhouse gas policy advisor, 2 positions, 96701017. Banyule Council seeks a chief executive officer, execsearch@mcarthur. com.au. Film Victoria seeks a general manager, Melbourne film office, www.careers.vic.gov. au. The NSW Government seeks a government chief information officer, see www.jobs.nsw.gov. au. The Department of Environment and Water Resources seeks a chair and chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the new body created by the Federal Government to prepare a plan for the basin, including working out a sustainable and integrated limit on ground water and surface water diversions, admin@hsexecsearch.com.au. The Victorian Government wishes to appoint a director to the Sentencing Advisory Council, www. kathleentownsend.com.au. The Department of Sustainability and Environment seeks a director and a policy officer, water, 96236513. Communiy Too much cheek to turn the other one Archbishop Denis Hart has suspended Monsignor Geoff Baron from his post as Dean of St Patrick’s cathedral indefinitely, following the release of camera footage showing Baron verbally abusing a group of skate-boarders who had been skating at the city church site. The Archbishop has also hired security guards to protect the city church, after some skateboarders threatened to vandalise it, The Herald Sun reported. Eclipse Tuesday 28 August saw the first total lunar eclipse in Melbourne since 2000. Cloud coverage meant predictions of the city turning blood red were sadly unrealised. 20
1 AUGUST TO 4 SEPTEMBER LETTER FROM MELBOURNE Good dog/Bad dog There are 83,449 dogs working throughout Australia, 19,914 of them in Victoria, according to the Australian Companion Animal Council. The majority of them work on farms, The Herald Sun reported. More than 2,700 dog attacks were reported in Victoria over the past year. Many more go unreported. The Herald Sun released a chart of the ‘danger areas’. Wyndham was worst with 229 attacks followed by Hume, Boroodara, Ballarat, and Brimmbank. Endangered dingos The State Government’s advisory council has recommended that dingos be listed as a threatened species, upsetting farmers and pleasing conservationists, The Age said. Fortified whiners This year, the Federal Government will sign an agreement with the European Union on trade in wine. One of the catches for the Australian fortified wine industry is that the use of the terms ‘sherry’, ‘port’, ‘vermouth’, and ‘masala’ will be banned within 12 months. Lynch’s Restaurant in South Yarra celebrated its 30 th birthday this month and in September, Paul Lynch, 78, who has been running the restaurant from day one, will put it up for auction, The Herald Sun said. Missing and missed Photographs of missing persons were posted at train stations during National Missing Persons Week this month. This year’s particular focus was mental health, The Herald Sun said PM Gusmao Independence hero Xanana Gusmao has been appointed Prime Minister of East Timor, The Herald Sun reported. Derryn Hinch has revealed he has an inoperable liver tumour. To fine weather Peters Ice Cream turned 100 this month. The company was founded by American migrant Fred Peters in the Sydney suburb of Manly in 1907, and later had a factory in Meyers Place in Melbourne. Peters also contributed to Australian radio and television culture with Peters Pals and Peters Fun Fair. Multinational company Nestle bought Peters in 1996 but its ice creams are still Australian made, The Age reported. HMAS Sydney The government has approved a $2.9m grant to help shipwreck hunters find the HMAS Sydney. The Navy officially rejected mistaken claims by an amateur group to have found the vessel. The $2.9m grant comes on top of a $1.3m grant approved in August 2005. As Victorian as … The National Trust is seeking nominations in the annual Victorian Heritage Icons Awards. Just about anything can be nominated. Last years awards recognised Flinders Street Station, the MCG, Phar Lap, the Eureka Flag and Puffing Billy. Jeff Kennett’s hairstyle has been nominated, www.nattrust.com.au. Wise move Under a proposed new visa deal, high-school students will be able to spend their gap year working in the United States before returning for university study, The Age said. Being faithful The Scots’ Church in Collins Street is having a special mid-week AFL Grand Final service 26 September, with guest preacher Rev. Allan Dunn, chaplain to Essendon Football Club. Also in September, the church hosts an array of concerts, including international figures such as Colin Walsh, an organist from England, Max Kenworthy and Nicholas Grigsby, organists from New Zealand, and Roman Perucki of Poland. Its head preacher, the Rev Douglas Robertson recently found himself in Scotland, preaching to Queen Elizabeth. St Ignatius Church has received a $100,000 grant from the State Government, which it will use for works including waterproofing and roofing, The Age reported. Another $2,000,000 needed. The Archbishop of Dijon, Roland Minnerath, spoke at Newman College in August, addressing the division of state and Church in a lecture titled ‘Caesar’s Coin: How Much Should Church and State Interact’. Dib dib dib, dob dob dob Millions of people celebrated the centenary of the Scouts on 1 August. There are 28 million scouts throughout 155 countries, including 60,000 in Australia, according to The Age. Drink drive The son of World Vision Australia chief and antibinge drink campaigner Tim Costello was fined $500 and had his licence revoked for 16 moths for drink driving, The Age reported. The twenty-fourth Melbourne Prayer Breakfast at the Melbourne Convention Centre was attended by 800 people. Former Premier Steve Bracks’ son has been charged over the incident in which he crashed a car into a tree with a blood alcohol reading of 0.129, The Herald Sun said. Vale Victorians Steven Nott, 50, and co-pilot Janelle Johnston, 34, who died when their light aeroplane crashed outside Clonbinane north of Melbourne. Harry Adams, AM, Naval Officer, aged 74. Dr Robert Pargetter, principal of Haileybury College since 1999. Wolfgang Sievers, photographer of Australian industry, aged 93. Shirley Horne, AM, Social Policy Stalwart, aged 85. Olive Alyson Syme, interior decorator and activist, aged 101 (The Age featured a wonderful obituary by Melbourne architect Neil Clerehan). Dr David Komesaroff, doctor, part of the first open heart surgery anaesthetic team at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, invented the Komesaroff Resuscitator that continues to save lives, as well as the Komesaroff Anaesthetic Machine and other medical inventions, aged 75. Dr Sheila Marion Barr, wife of the late Rev Archibald Chrichten Barr who came from Scotland to Scots Curch in 1949 and preached until the 1960s. John Lawrence Cairns-Smith-Barth, aged 55. Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director, aged 93. Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, 80, born to Polish Jews, converted to Roman Catholicism as a boy, then rose to become leader of the French church. His mother died in a Nazi concentration camp and Lustiger always insisted he had remained a Jew after his conversion. Charles Henry Whiting, prolific writer and historian, aged 80. www.skyairworld.com Please contact SkyAirWorld to assist you with your charter and aviation needs and let our experienced team find the perfect solution for you. P: 1300 759 247 F: +61 (7) 3860-6056 E: info@skyairworld.com 21
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