Pittwater Life April 2024 Issue

News
SEEN…
Reader Rod Austin
from Clareville
reports he and
wife Janet, while
on a recent trip
to Europe and
waiting for a
flight from
Cardiff to
Dublin, were
flabbergasted
to see this
display poster
at the QATAR
Airlines checkin
desk. Just goes to show the
“power” of AI… although it appears the AI algorithms
haven’t worked out the North Avalon headland doesn’t look
like that since the latest rockfall in 2017. Nor has there been
a restaurant/café on the Avalon SLSC site for several years
now (PS, Council is asking rent of $169,000 per annum)…
* * *
Former Pittwater MP Alex
McTaggart and current
parliamentarian Rory Amon
were among the 45,000-strong
crowd at Los Vegas’ Allegiant
Stadium on March 3 to watch
the Manly Sea Eagles kick off
the 2024 NRL season against
the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
The pair, both Manly fans,
made a pact to wear North Avalon Surfriders shirts and
Avalon Bulldogs caps. (Pictured with Manly Legend Steve
Menzies.) The 25,000-kilometre round-trip was worth it as
Manly secured a 36-24 victory. (The pair wish it known they
paid their own way.)
* * *
A Bilgola Plateau resident
drew on plenty of wit
when crafting this sign
to lampoon the owners
of caravans and boats/
trailers continuing to
selfishly clog Plateau
Road… while the legality
of the parking might
be okay, surely the
impeded vision is a
safety concern worth
following up?
HEARD…
Former Liberal Mackellar MP Bronwyn Bishop has
apologised to current parliamentarian Dr Sophie
Scamps after claiming the Independent MP was part of
an antisemitic movement because she backed a call for
the Albanese Government to find a way to send aid to
Palestinians. Speaking on Sky News in early March, Ms
Bishop criticised several independent MPs for writing a joint
letter to the government that called for a “clear direction”
about how the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA) could regain Australian funding. The government
had suspended the funding after Israel released a dossier
claiming that some UNRWA staff joined Hamas in the
terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. The UN agency fired
12 employees and said it would investigate the matter. Ms
Bishop’s remark prompted a letter from lawyers acting
for Dr Scamps; on March 12, a contrite Ms Bishop issued a
statement on Sky: “Dr Scamps has called for funding to be
restored to UNRWA by Australia to address [the] humanitarian
crisis in Gaza… This does not make her an antisemite,”
Ms Bishop said. “I should not have suggested that, and I
apologise to her for the offence, distress and harm I caused
her.” Dr Scamps concluded: “Australia is facing many
challenges. People want constructive debate and solutions,
not pointless old school mudslinging.” On March 15, the
Government released $6 million in paused funding to
UNRWA.
* * *
In January we reported the mystery of the “hacked
hydrangeas”; Palm Beach locals John and Tigi Coplestone
had arrived home from a holiday in New Zealand in late
December to find their prized flowers stolen (see before and
32 APRIL 2024
The Local Voice Since 1991