Findcate

Four months after NSW police seized Henson’s work from a Sydney gallery, the photographer has sparked renewed debate after making his first public defence of his work.

In a book by journalist David Marr, Henson says he finds models in several different ways. Most often, he is introduced to them by a friend or relative, but sometimes he sees a child in public and gives a business card to their parents.

He said he was once invited to a Melbourne primary school by a principal and “had a look around at lunchtime” before the principal offered to contact the parents of two children he had seen. It was not the first time he had been invited into schools to search for models, the book says.

Leonie Trimper, president of the Australian Primary Principals Association, said parents should have been told in advance about Henson’s visit. “Primary schools are not showcases for the public to come in and choose students for their own personal projects.”

Gail McHardy, the executive officer of Parents Victoria, said anyone wanting to enter schools for “external purposes” had to seek appropriate permission in advance, not after the event.

Ms McHardy asked whether Henson had been accompanied by staff on the visits and whether he had approached the children.

She said model agencies and other agencies had to follow protocols when approaching children in schools.

But Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush came to Henson’s defence yesterday amid the latest controversy over the photographer’s work, saying public discussion of the furore had been “shrill”. “We’re not a very arts-attuned society,” Rush told The Weekend Australian. “So people start to see only the sexual politics of it.”

At the time of the raid on the Sydney gallery, police threatened to charge both Henson and the gallery, but the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions later found there was insufficient evidence to proceed. In Marr’s book, Henson concedes some of his models may have looked back with regret about working with him but says there has never been any negative reactions at the end of a session.

Liberal senator Bill Heffernan yesterday said it was an unforgivable betrayal of the trust placed by the parents in the schools that had allowed a photographer to commercialise children in the playground. “It’s absolutely outrageous someone ought to be sacked,” he said.

“The thing that shocked me most of all about the debate was the perception that artists were above the law or were asking for special exemptions, but that was never the case,” she said. “There is a responsibility in the artistic community to address that.”

In the book, Henson says he takes photographs only with the “willing participation and full control” of the family.

The child then makes the final decision. He also points out that children have an ability to detect unsavoury people. “Kids can smell a rat, you know, and we just don’t give them credit for it.

“If there is a dodgy teacher in the school, kids will know about it … It’s all part of the way in which they are naturally equipped to be resilient. Babies are tough.”

While Henson has been well-known to art collectors and gallerists for more than 20 years, most Australians hadn’t heard of him or seen his photographs until May, when police raided the Sydney gallery following a complaint from child protection advocate Hetty Johnston.

“He has a tendency to depict children naked and that is porn,” Ms Johnston said at the time.

The raid triggered furious debate, with everyone from Cate Blanchett to Kevin Rudd offering an opinion on what they saw as the differences between art and pornography.

The Prime Minister said he found the photographs “absolutely revolting” a sentiment echoed by then Opposition leader Brendan Nelson and former NSW premier Morris Iemma.

“Kids deserve to have the innocence of their childhood protected,” Mr Rudd said at the time. “Whatever the artistic view of the merits of that sort of stuff frankly I don’t think there are any just allow kids to be kids.”

In contrast to Mr Rudd’s comments, current Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull publicly denounced the raids, claiming artists should be allowed to express themselves within the bounds of the law.

Tags: artistic co, australians, cate, cate blanchett, hetty johnston, journalist, kevin rudd, malcolm turnbull, sydney

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Officers scoured the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra in search of works by controversial photographer Bill Henson, one of the country’s most acclaimed and successful artists.

The confiscation of the photographs by police has caused a furor, with the prime minister, Kevin Rudd, describing them as “absolutely revolting”.

But many Australians said the police raid was a clumsy attempt at censorship and a

dangerous attack on freedom of expression which would embarrass the country internationally.

In a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, a former police superintendent and now art gallery owner said he was dismayed at “the purse-lipped paragons of public morality” who condemned Henson’s works as child pornography.

On Wednesday a group of leading writers and artists, including Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett, signed an open letter expressing dismay at the actions of police and the allegation that Henson was a pornographer.

The prospect of Henson, whose work has been shown in New York, Paris and at the Venice Biennale, being charged had done “untold damage to our cultural reputation”, the letter said.

Henson’s photographs were not titillating but part of an artistic tradition that stretched back to ancient Greece, Caravaggio and Michelangelo.

One of the few politicians willing to defend Henson was Malcolm Turnbull, a former head of the Australian Republican Movement and now the conservative opposition’s treasury spokesman.

He said he owned two of the artist’s works, but neither depicted naked teenagers.

“I don’t believe that we should have policemen invading art galleries. I think we have a culture of great artistic freedom in this country and I don’t believe the vice squad’s role is to go into art galleries,” said Mr Turnbull.

In addition to scrutinizing the National Gallery, police reportedly ordered a gallery in Newcastle, north of Sydney, not to exhibit two Henson photographs featuring nude teens, and descended on another gallery in the city of Albury.

Police have said they intend to prosecute Henson for obscenity but no charges have yet been laid.

The investigation has stalled because Henson has refused to reveal the identity of the girl he photographed nude for the exhibit.

The chief of police in New South Wales, Andrew Scipione, weighed into the debate, saying that as a father he strongly disapproved of the photographs.

Tags: ancient greece, art gallery owner, artistic freedom, artistic tradition, australian republican movement, australians, bill henson, cate, cate blanchett, child pornography, clumsy attempt, conservative opposition, dangerous attack, freedom of expression, greece, malcolm turnbull, mr turnbull, naked teenagers, national gallery of australia, newcastle north, police superintendent, public morality, sydney morning herald, treasury spokesman

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Under the current state planning laws, 900 new houses may soon
engulf Catherine Hill Bay. This idyllic Central Coast coalmining
town from the 1870s comprises 100 historic homes and intact
heritage streetscapes nestled in rolling green hinterland on a
pristine surf beach. The area is rich in social history and abounds
in biodiversity and endangered species.
Rose Property Group plans to build 600 houses there, and Coal
Allied 300 dwellings. Both proponents have signed memorandums
of understanding with the Minister for Planning to facilitate the
developments. If these plans proceed, “Catho’s” heritage,
environmental and aesthetic values will be obliterated.
A ministerial decision on the Rose Group application is expected
imminently. Public submissions on the Coal Allied plans close
this Friday.
Catherine Hill Bay’s significance has been recognised by a
rollcall of authorities. It is zoned as a conservation area and has
been nominated for state heritage listing. In 2006 the Land and
Environment Court rejected Rosecorp’s earlier proposal for 600
homes. That year the NSW Department of Planning recommended against
development on environmental and heritage grounds.
The developments are now being considered under Part 3A of the
NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, which gives the
Planning Minister the authority to override environmental and
planning legislation and policies on projects deemed “state
significant”. The National Trust is deeply concerned about the
growing use of these powers. The application of Part 3A to green
light Catherine Hill Bay will set a dangerous precedent for the
coast, and other places of environmental and heritage significance,
raising developer expectations.
The role of the trust, the nation’s largest community-based
conservation charity, is to safeguard natural and cultural heritage
and to encourage Australians to appreciate that each generation has
a responsibility to the next.
Yet we are not anti-development, and are acutely conscious of
the need to provide housing and infrastructure to support our
population and economy.
However, the construction of 900 dwellings at Catherine Hill
Bay, with the inevitable impacts for infrastructure and the natural
and built environment, would represent the triumph of development
over the environmental and social values that the broader community
holds dear. What will our children’s children think of us when they
reflect on an irreplaceable heritage and environmental jewel,
trampled by the relentless march of capital over community and
culture?
Tina Jackson Executive Director National Trust (NSW)
Sydney
Apart from superwoman, 2020 vision looks blokey
I am a senior female human resources executive, specialising in
remuneration and organisational effectiveness. I have lived all
over the world and returned quite recently from nine years working
in New York, Istanbul and Europe. Australia has a reputation for
its blokey, misogynist work environment. My work has given me great
insight into how inequality (particularly in relation to pay)
becomes entrenched in organisations and cultures.
To have the Prime Minister include just one female in a
10-person leadership team that will discuss Australia’s future is
disgraceful (”Rudd’s summit slammed as a one-woman show”, February
27). It sends a message to thousands of women that it’s not worth
bothering. That the one female is a beautiful celebrity - an
actress - rubs salt into the wound.
Amanda Wilson Balmain
The businesswoman Catherine Harris apparently thinks that the
Prime Minister should understand “that most women are not actually
at home looking after the grandchildren or children %26#133; they’ve
got lots of other jobs as well”.
Mrs Harris appears to assume that a woman who looks after her
children or her grandchildren at home is incapable of contributing
to a significant national debate.
This attitude shows scant regard for the diversity of
circumstances in which many women find themselves.
Of course, there should be more women on this committee, but
they need not necessarily be drawn only from high-profile positions
in the business world.
That would be decidedly unbalanced.
Elizabeth Chandler Mount Victoria
After the very positive reception to Kevin Rudd’s announcement
that Cate Blanchett is one of 10 committee members guiding
Australia’s 2020 Summit, the following are other positions this
very versatile actress is being considered for by the Federal
Government: governor of the Reserve Bank; leader of the Australian
mission to the next round of Kyoto Protocol talks; Australian
ambassador for peace, Darfur region, North Africa; head of
emergency services, Royal North Shore Hospital; special rapporteur
for Aboriginal intervention, Northern Territory; astronaut on
NASA’s 2015 manned mission to Mars; and governor-general of
Australia.
Please note there is absolutely no truth to the rumour that she
will be the next premier of NSW. Some things just can’t be
fixed.
Ben Cardillo Epping
There may be only one woman on the 2020 committee - but boy,
what a woman.
Mike Doyle Darlington
The summit will be just like the great republic debate, where a
selection of high-profile (mostly) men participated. That debate
turned out to be a dog. Will the 2020 summit also be just a
propaganda exercise?
How many real people, such as the women at the grassroots of
local communities, will end up there?
Mary Jenkins Spearwood (WA)
Never have I heard so much whingeing and whining about so
little.
Each of the 10 chairwomen and men at the 2020 Summit can invite
99 women, and six of the groups will be co-chaired by women.
Marilyn Shepherd Kensington
Hollow promises for the north-west

For years the Baulkham Hills Shire Council has been told to
increase densities in Sydney’s north-west to accommodate the
population growth on the promise that real infrastructure in the
form of heavy rail will be provided.
The targets for that growth through development were set and are
being implemented by council and enforced by the State
Government.
We’ve grown and the densities are clearly evident, but all we
are left with is the traffic chaos, empty promises and more
speculation about the removal of the rail line.
Unless there is absolute proof that the State Government is
going to provide the north-west rail line, the upgrade of
Showground Road and more buses, no increase in densities above the
absolute minimum should be approved by the local council
involved.
The people of the north-west have had enough of overdevelopment
based on empty promises.
Cr Peter Dimbrowsky Baulkham Hills
Metro rail systems work fine in highly built-up areas like
London and Paris (”Bye heavy rail, now for a north-west metro”,
February 26), but Sydney’s north-west is much more spread out.
If the NSW Transport Minister, John Watkins, needs proof of how
passengers shun the all-stops services for longer trips, he need
look no further than his electorate, where his own constituents
prefer to crowd out the Central Coast express services to travel to
Eastwood and Epping, rather than use the all-stops services.
People simply won’t use a first-stop-Rozelle service to get to
Rouse Hill.
Bruce Stafford Tascott
Clearly for certain key members of the NSW Labor family the
Light on the Hill only has a future if privately powered.
So maybe it’s time Frankie “The Dinner” Sartor, Mickie “Power of
One” Costa and “Macho” Morris Iemma (have you seen the size of his
water cannon? It’s huge!) left the True Believers and formed their
own gang: the ADP (Australian Developers Party).
Nick Franklin Katoomba
Yesterday in Parliament our embattled Premier stated that
Malcolm Turnbull (27 per cent) had an approval rating three times
greater than Barry O’Farrell (13 per cent).
He is clearly using the highly specialised Macquarie Street
mathematics system used by all past and present health ministers,
which does away with the usual customs employed in rounding numbers
up and down.
Perhaps arithmetic could be introduced as an optional elective
at the table of knowledge? Numbers don’t develop new relationships
with each other - their relationships are fixed. If I have two
kebabs, even if one is a tiny bit larger than the other, it would
be absurd to say I had three kebabs.
Jonathan Egan West Ryde
The concept of democracy is a myth. The definition of democracy
is “government of the people by the people”. But our only input
into government is once every few years when we vote for one of two
political parties. After that the winner does what it chooses
unhindered.
The best example of this is the current electricity
privatisation proposal, where three-quarters of the population of
NSW oppose the sale yet the Iemma Government is going ahead with
it. Is this democracy?
John Poleson Kingsford
Mind their own business

What a breathtaking piece of gratuitous advice from the Business
Council of Australia (”Freeze new spending, business tells PM”,
February 25). Its deputy chief executive, Melinda Cilento, needs to
tell the likes of Macquarie Group and many other Australian
corporations that executive salaries present a far more significant
issue requiring the attention of Australia’s businesses than
government spending.

Just imagine the added employment or the enhanced infrastructure
investment to be gained by applying just half a Macquarie Group
CEO’s salary to the economy in one year.
Russell Mills Redfern
Driven bats

Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens is just that: a botanic garden for
the protection, display, scientific study, education about and
propagation of plants, not a stinking bat colony (”Batanic gardens
to evict squatters”, Letters, February 27). The bats are destroying
very old and irreplaceable trees.
We have taken overseas visitors to the restaurant in the gardens
and had to speak loudly to make ourselves heard above the din of
the bats. Walking through the gardens, I have been shat upon from a
great height. It was pretty awful for me but dreadful when it
happened to my infant granddaughter, as bats are known to carry
disease.
We are coming up to the bicentenary of the gardens. The bats
must go.
Kate Chivers Epping
Tim Entwisle has been shirking his responsibility for the past
10 years by failing to act on the only advice that will move the
bat colony: plant some fast-growing, hardy natives in an
appropriate place in the gardens and then net the palm grove.
Instead he has been pursuing a policy that is guaranteed to
increase the amount of damage to the trees, that of noise
disturbance, which cause the bats to repeatedly take off and
land.
In the past 20-odd years, one successful colony relocation has
been undertaken, while dozens have not worked. Mr Entwisle is
wasting still more time to protect the palm grove by going down a
path which is all but guaranteed to fail.
Storm Stanford Lewisham
Responsibility ducked

It is impossible to quantify the role of public money and the
subsequent business goodwill that has underpinned the recent
adventures of ABC Learning. It is also very difficult to assess the
social impact of cherry-picking sites, the concomitant closure of
community-based child-care centres and alliances with other private
schooling initiatives.

Now a light is being shone on the folly of carelessly diverting
public responsibilities to the for-profit sector. Affordable child
care is always at the top of reasons for gaps in workforce
participation and lack of opportunities for women.
Governments should apply their resources to publicly managed,
staffed and properly supervised agencies and leave the private
sector to be just that.
Gus Plater Saratoga
Hey Dumbo, we’ve already got Morris in Blunderland

Mickey Mouse in White Bay? Wouldn’t work %26#133; too close to the
real thing in Macquarie Street (”Disney eyes White Bay”, February
27).
David Calvey Vaucluse
Who would contemplate besmirching our beautiful harbour with
this cultural Chernobyl? I had the unfortunate experience of
visiting EuroDisney last year. While I put on a brave face for my
children, I was paying $200 per person for the right to queue all
day and loiter around tacky souvenir shops.
We already have our own iconic home-grown harbour theme park -
Luna Park.
John Arneil Fairlight
A whole new ball game

Roy Masters may be right when he says the AFL will fail in western
Sydney (”AFL imperialism doomed to fail”, February 27) but he’s got
a nerve to call it “imperialism”.

It was the rugby codes that colonised NSW when the schools gave
them preference just after federation. Australian football was
quite well established here by then. So why is it the rugby league
claque pretends Australian football was never played in Sydney
until Warwick Capper arrived in 1982? Is Masters afraid the
indigenous game might really catch on if it is played in
schools?
Tony Barrell Balmain
Prelude to peace

Perhaps it is because the New York Philharmonic was part of a US
diplomatic plan that they were welcome in North Korea.

Whatever the background, once again the ability of music to rise
above economic or cultural imperialism and draw people together has
been demonstrated.
Let’s hope an invitation is extended to an Australian ensemble
soon.
Philip Cooney Wentworth Falls
It makes fashion sense

Allan Tieu (”Society grooms men who blush”, February 27) challenges
the norm that only females should wear make-up. He’s quite right to
question the fashion rules. I want to know why you have to be at
least 185 centimetres tall and no more than a few centimetres wide
to be a model. Do clothes really hang better on stick insects?
C’mon designers - be brave and use a variety of model sizes, so
that the rest of us can relate to your creativity.

Wendy Crew Lane Cove
Allan Tieu is correct in asserting that the wearing of make-up
by men no longer signifies “sexual orientation or subculture” - but
it does signify the resurgence of a loathsome beast that has
remained in obscurity since the Regency. Ladies and gentlemen, I
give you the fop.
Scott Hillard New Lambton
Lunch can spice up your life

David Breeze (Letters, February 27), I agree that making your own
lunch is the sensible option. So is wearing Clarks shoes, a spencer
in winter and chewing your food 20 times before swallowing. These
things are also incredibly dull. Feel free to wallow in a life of
mundanity, but please be kind enough to allow us risky people to
live on the edge and splash out on an $8 meal at lunchtime. Some of
us can even afford it without risking bankruptcy. Crazy, I
know.

Rebecca Gordon Surry Hills

Tags: actress, attitude, australians, cate, cate blanchett, dwelling, europe, Food, ford, job, malcolm turnbull, real people, target, ups

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THREE months into the job, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should
feel pleased with himself. He’s made a good start at constructing
his own monuments of symbolism: ratifying Kyoto, apologising to the
stolen generations, and getting Cate Blanchett to chair a session
at the talkfest of the country’s 1000 cleverest people.
Rudd’s done an even better job at demolishing John Howard’s
legacy. What’s more, he’s got federal Liberal MPs to help him. Take
the “3 Rs” of Australian politics %26#151; refugees, reconciliation
and the republic. Howard was steadfast on each of these issues, and
he spent a decade campaigning on them. With Howard gone, the
Liberals have decided to agree with Labor on two of these three
issues. At the weekend the Liberals announced that they accepted
the shutting down of the Pacific Solution for refugees, while a
fortnight ago they ultimately supported the stolen generations
apology.
To this can be added a further three matters: Iraq, Kyoto and
industrial relations. Rather than opposing Labor’s withdrawal of
combat troops from Iraq, the Liberals now claim that had they won
the election they would have scaled down Australia’s commitment
anyway. After spending years arguing against the Kyoto Protocol,
and after Howard overruled Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion that the
Liberals ratify it, the party has decided that ratification is a
good idea. And last week Brendan Nelson announced that his party no
longer supported WorkChoices.
It’s no wonder that the Liberals are doing some soul-searching.
In the space of a few months the federal Liberal Party has reversed
or abandoned its position on five out of six of the central policy
issues of the Howard era. Whether such dramatic policy changes are
justified is not the point. In some cases changes were justified
and in others they weren’t. The Pacific Solution had outlived its
purpose, if indeed it ever had one. On the other hand, ratifying
Kyoto is merely gesture politics.
Political parties are more than just their policies. A political
party is as much a product of its history, its membership and its
ideology. But the problem for the federal Liberals is that in the
last few years of Howard’s prime ministership, as the party moved
away from its core principles, it was defined by its policies
rather than its philosophy.
Over the past few years, sometimes the Liberals’ policies were
derived from their philosophy, and sometimes they weren’t. For
example, it often seemed as though the party paid only lip-service
to federalism, and the notion that decisions should be made by the
level of government closest to the people affected by those
decisions. Similarly, notwithstanding the Liberals’ very capable
management of the economy, they didn’t often enough put into
practice the principles of small government, lower taxation and
less regulation.
Good policy doesn’t turn into bad policy overnight. If key
policies can be ditched so quickly after what, in the end, proved
to be a relatively narrow election loss, voters will inevitably ask
whether Liberal MPs ever believed in those policies in the first
place. There’s also the problem of what replaces the old policies.
Although the Liberals might be finished with WorkChoices, there
remains the question of the party’s position on further
deregulation of the labour market.
None of this is to say that policies cannot ever be changed.
When circumstances alter, policies should be altered. What’s
notable about each of the Liberals’ recent policy changes is that
each was done in a hurry and each was done in reaction to something
that Labor did. The Liberals can’t afford to be put into such a
position again. But at the moment there’s every chance that the
Liberals will respond to Labor’s moves on the republic in the same
way as they responded to Labor’s initiatives on the apology and the
Pacific Solution.
Many Liberals would say that the very last thing they need is a
divisive internal debate about the republic. But if you can’t have
a divisive internal debate when the party is in opposition,
federally and in every state and territory, then it’s legitimate to
ask when would be a better time. It’s a near certainty that renewed
calls for a republic will come out of Labor’s Canberra talkfest,
even if Rudd waits until a potential second term to hold another
referendum on it. The issue will not go away.
It will probably take three years for the Liberals to arrive at
some sort of position on the republic. The advantage of starting
the debate now is that they’ll have the time to engage in analysis
and reflection. It’s something the party hasn’t done enough of
since November 24.
John Roskam is executive director of the Institute of Public
Affairs.

Tags: australian politics, cate, cate blanchett, ford, job, malcolm turnbull, pace

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A creative renaissance is in the wind, and like Lewis
Carroll before him, Andrew Upton is seeing sunny times through the
looking glass, writes Russell Skelton.
Andrew Upton is a sunny optimist. With the Howard era consigned
to history he believes there will be a freeing up of ideas and a
healthy engagement of contentious issues.
“The culture wars reduced issues to black and white. People were
lionised or demonised. Ambiguity became the enemy,” he says.
“What I hope we will get now is a re-engagement of ideas that
were off the agenda. The most important thing for the arts is not
money, (that is the second most important thing), but the community
in which they take place.”
At 42, Upton appears relaxed and confident about his place in
the world. He was apologetic about turning up late for the
interview, a victim of Sydney’s gridlocked CBD. Dressed stylishly
for an official function he had just attended, he had all the
appearance of what Paul Keating might describe as the “boy next
door”.
Upton, the accomplished playwright, and Cate Blanchett, his much
acclaimed actor wife, stand at the heart of what many in the arts
industry hope will be a creative renaissance under the Rudd
Government. As artistic co-directors and CEOs of the Sydney Theatre
Company, they are powerfully placed to shape and nurture a fresh
arts agenda.
The couple have never viewed the worlds of politics and the arts
as unconnected spheres. On taking up the directorship in
controversial circumstances - amid resentful mutterings that they
had no managerial experience and the position should have been
advertised - they wasted no time in connecting the dots between
theatre and politics. The theatre complex, located at the Wharf in
the Rocks, should be environmentally relevant with a minuscule
global warming footprint, they said.
The forthright declaration was made at a time when the Howard
government was still in the grip of the coal lobby and climate
change denial. Upton and Blanchett later signed a petition calling
on former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull to dump Gunns’
Tasmanian pulp mill or be dumped. The couple are reported to be
spending more than $1 million on making their 1926 Hunters Hill
mansion self-sustaining.
Upton does not believe the culture wars are over or that the
election of the Rudd Government will result in a wave of dreary
politically correct theatre. He says there is an inevitable healthy
tension between the creative arts and the publicly elected.
“Artists will always produce works that make politicians feel
uncomfortable and inevitably there will be the response: ‘For God’s
sake, why don’t you shut up’.”
I interviewed Upton at the Wharf soon after the opening of
Blackbird, a play directed by Blanchett. It was a
sparkling day and the playwright was in an expansive mood, clearly
enjoying the critical success of his wife’s directing, the
impending management challenge and birth of their third child in
April. The conversation ranged way beyond the agreed subject of the
interview: Upton’s libretto for Alice Through the Looking
Glass.
Blanchett’s directing of Blackbird preoccupied the
critics who read the production as a sign of perhaps the risky,
even confronting, artistic direction the Upton-Blanchett management
would bring. Written by David Harrower, the play explores the
sexual and emotional relationship between a 12-year-old girl and
her 40-year-old male neighbour. The script covers the taboo terrain
negotiated so brilliantly by Vladimir Nabokov in Lolita,
although without the insight, subtlety and originality. It was
Blanchett’s second outing as a director.
Upton was open to all questions, engaging and enthusiastic about
his current work and plans for the STC. He sees the Wharf as a
creative centre where the best of Australian theatre - playwriting,
acting, directing and set design - can be shown for national and
international audiences. He aspires to create a milieu that will
attract talent from overseas. “I know Phil Hoffman (the Oscar-
winning actor directed Upton’s play Riflemind) is going to
want to come back, he just loved the way Australian actors approach
their work.
“Sydney really needs to pull its socks up, it’s been too reliant
on excellent wine and spectacular sunsets. We are a society, not an
economy. The arts gives a city international appeal, we want people
to come to Sydney because of what it offers apart from a glorious
harbour. That philosophy has worked for Melbourne, which is in
great shape; the rich arts culture makes it a real
destination.”
As for suggestions that he and Blanchett have no management
experience, Upton says that this was fully taken into account by
the board.
The company had been set up in such a way by former artistic
director and CEO Robyn Nevin that internal structures made
management less of an issue.
“The bad side of politicking comes about from bad management.
When we are all on a par and contributing together there is less
need for intrigue, lobbying (because) the pockets of creativity are
involved.”
Apart from shaping the STC, Upton’s creative side has been
preoccupied writing Carroll’s libretto for the Victorian Opera. His
fascination with words and the way the mind recasts memory drew him
to Lewis Carroll and the children’s story Alice Through the
Looking Glass.
“When Carroll wrote Through the Looking Glass he
described (in letters to friends) how the weather that week was
sunny, but the weather patterns and records from that time, and the
Victorians kept accurate records, suggest it was overcast and
raining.
“I found that fascinating, how memory converts something grey
into a perfect day. It was wonderfully sunny in Carroll’s mind when
it was actually raining.”
Carroll’s ambiguity holds a special challenge. Alice on her
journey (which is also a series of moves on a chess board) is
constantly faced with puzzles about time, space and numbers. The
White Queen talks to Alice about having jam “tomorrow and . . .
yesterday - but never jam today”. Then there is the constant
dilemma for Alice of “living backwards” and “remembering things
before they happen”.
Upton, widely respected for his adaptations of such works as
Don Juan, Hedda Gabler and Cyrano de Bergerac,
found there were many levels to interpret the surreal world of
Carroll, the master storyteller who specialised in word play.
“Carroll’s word games are very English and, in a sense, undermining
of authority. If you compare Through the Looking Glass
with Alice in Wonderland there is a sense of decay of the
adult world and of authority. Alice is on a journey to become Queen
but there is also a darkness.”
For Upton it has been an extraordinary exercise, composing
blocks of words and sending them off to Alan John - best known for
his opera The Eighth Wonder - who then composes the music.
At each stage the opera is sung, workshopped, refined and
rewritten. Director Michael Kantor is also involved in the process.
Upton believes his words, whether for opera or theatre, are
inhabited by a rhythm, which he believes assists the composer.
So why does Lewis Carroll need to be sung if it is the subtle
word play and ambiguity that most characterises the tale for
children built around chess moves and barely disguised worldly
themes? “For me it became about singing because the story is
happening in a dream state, an enhanced state. Assuming the story
is happening to the characters rather than implied, the world
becomes heightened (by the music).
“It also fascinates me what the meaning of words are in the
context of an opera.”
As a writer Upton says his own work comes slowly: “It takes me
about three years to write something from scratch, for some people
it takes a year.”
He has resigned himself to the fact that during his
co-directorship he will write what he can. “I comfort myself,” he
says laughing, “in the knowledge that most writers like Shakespeare
and Pinter were heavily involved in the theatre.”
Upton, like the White Queen in Alice, knows or hopes he
knows what the future looks like for him.
He has been occupied for years with Oedipus, the King in Greek
mythology who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.
The story appeals because it is about one deeply complex character.
“I am not saying I will do this but there are elements of that
story that appeal to me.”
Upton believes in the Australian theatrical identity, which he
sees in all sorts of forms including TV programs such as The
Chaser and The Norman Gunston Show.
It’s a tradition that reaches back to La Mama, the Pram Factory
and the Nimrod Theatre. “It often comes through a conjunction of
writers, actors and the production of a whole event. It’s raw and
astute.”
As for the future direction of the STC, he says that change
(after Robyn Nevin’s nine years at the helm) is inevitable and was
after all the fundamental reason why he and Blanchett were
hired.
“Changing things should not be seen as criticism of the way
things were done; it should be seen as evolution.
“Australia produces world-class interesting work; it is part of
why Cate and I came back. What we want to do is establish a flow so
that work goes out (to the world) and Australia is seen as an
incredible pool of talent and ideas.”
That, on reflection, seems a modest ambition given that over the
years the STC has launched and nurtured the careers of such actors
as Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving and two Oscar winners
Geoffrey Rush and one Ms Cate Blanchett.
Through the Looking Glass will be performed at
the Malthouse in May.
www.malthousetheatre.com.au

Tags: ambition, andrew upton, artistic co, cate, cate blanchett, hugo, issa, malcolm turnbull, mutt, old girl, pace, playwright, sake

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• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Cate Blanchett’s green theatre
• Blanchett not fit to run our theatre, says actor
• Battle over arts and minds divides NIDA

A creative renaissance is in the wind, and like Lewis
Carroll before him, Andrew Upton is seeing sunny times through the
looking glass, writes Russell Skelton.
Andrew Upton is a sunny optimist. With the Howard era consigned
to history he believes there will be a freeing up of ideas and a
healthy engagement of contentious issues.
“The culture wars reduced issues to black and white. People were
lionised or demonised. Ambiguity became the enemy,” he says.
“What I hope we will get now is a re-engagement of ideas that
were off the agenda. The most important thing for the arts is not
money, (that is the second most important thing), but the community
in which they take place.”
At 42, Upton appears relaxed and confident about his place in
the world. He was apologetic about turning up late for the
interview, a victim of Sydney’s gridlocked CBD. Dressed stylishly
for an official function he had just attended, he had all the
appearance of what Paul Keating might describe as the “boy next
door”.
Upton, the accomplished playwright, and Cate Blanchett, his much
acclaimed actor wife, stand at the heart of what many in the arts
industry hope will be a creative renaissance under the Rudd
Government. As artistic co-directors and CEOs of the Sydney Theatre
Company, they are powerfully placed to shape and nurture a fresh
arts agenda.
The couple have never viewed the worlds of politics and the arts
as unconnected spheres. On taking up the directorship in
controversial circumstances - amid resentful mutterings that they
had no managerial experience and the position should have been
advertised - they wasted no time in connecting the dots between
theatre and politics. The theatre complex, located at the Wharf in
the Rocks, should be environmentally relevant with a minuscule
global warming footprint, they said.
The forthright declaration was made at a time when the Howard
government was still in the grip of the coal lobby and climate
change denial. Upton and Blanchett later signed a petition calling
on former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull to dump Gunns’
Tasmanian pulp mill or be dumped. The couple are reported to be
spending more than $1 million on making their 1926 Hunters Hill
mansion self-sustaining.
Upton does not believe the culture wars are over or that the
election of the Rudd Government will result in a wave of dreary
politically correct theatre. He says there is an inevitable healthy
tension between the creative arts and the publicly elected.
“Artists will always produce works that make politicians feel
uncomfortable and inevitably there will be the response: ‘For God’s
sake, why don’t you shut up’.”
I interviewed Upton at the Wharf soon after the opening of
Blackbird, a play directed by Blanchett. It was a
sparkling day and the playwright was in an expansive mood, clearly
enjoying the critical success of his wife’s directing, the
impending management challenge and birth of their third child in
April. The conversation ranged way beyond the agreed subject of the
interview: Upton’s libretto for Alice Through the Looking
Glass.
Blanchett’s directing of Blackbird preoccupied the
critics who read the production as a sign of perhaps the risky,
even confronting, artistic direction the Upton-Blanchett management
would bring. Written by David Harrower, the play explores the
sexual and emotional relationship between a 12-year-old girl and
her 40-year-old male neighbour. The script covers the taboo terrain
negotiated so brilliantly by Vladimir Nabokov in Lolita,
although without the insight, subtlety and originality. It was
Blanchett’s second outing as a director.
Upton was open to all questions, engaging and enthusiastic about
his current work and plans for the STC. He sees the Wharf as a
creative centre where the best of Australian theatre - playwriting,
acting, directing and set design - can be shown for national and
international audiences. He aspires to create a milieu that will
attract talent from overseas. “I know Phil Hoffman (the Oscar-
winning actor directed Upton’s play Riflemind) is going to
want to come back, he just loved the way Australian actors approach
their work.
“Sydney really needs to pull its socks up, it’s been too reliant
on excellent wine and spectacular sunsets. We are a society, not an
economy. The arts gives a city international appeal, we want people
to come to Sydney because of what it offers apart from a glorious
harbour. That philosophy has worked for Melbourne, which is in
great shape; the rich arts culture makes it a real
destination.”
As for suggestions that he and Blanchett have no management
experience, Upton says that this was fully taken into account by
the board.
The company had been set up in such a way by former artistic
director and CEO Robyn Nevin that internal structures made
management less of an issue.
“The bad side of politicking comes about from bad management.
When we are all on a par and contributing together there is less
need for intrigue, lobbying (because) the pockets of creativity are
involved.”
Apart from shaping the STC, Upton’s creative side has been
preoccupied writing Carroll’s libretto for the Victorian Opera. His
fascination with words and the way the mind recasts memory drew him
to Lewis Carroll and the children’s story Alice Through the
Looking Glass.
“When Carroll wrote Through the Looking Glass he
described (in letters to friends) how the weather that week was
sunny, but the weather patterns and records from that time, and the
Victorians kept accurate records, suggest it was overcast and
raining.
“I found that fascinating, how memory converts something grey
into a perfect day. It was wonderfully sunny in Carroll’s mind when
it was actually raining.”
Carroll’s ambiguity holds a special challenge. Alice on her
journey (which is also a series of moves on a chess board) is
constantly faced with puzzles about time, space and numbers. The
White Queen talks to Alice about having jam “tomorrow and . . .
yesterday - but never jam today”. Then there is the constant
dilemma for Alice of “living backwards” and “remembering things
before they happen”.
Upton, widely respected for his adaptations of such works as
Don Juan, Hedda Gabler and Cyrano de Bergerac,
found there were many levels to interpret the surreal world of
Carroll, the master storyteller who specialised in word play.
“Carroll’s word games are very English and, in a sense, undermining
of authority. If you compare Through the Looking Glass
with Alice in Wonderland there is a sense of decay of the
adult world and of authority. Alice is on a journey to become Queen
but there is also a darkness.”
For Upton it has been an extraordinary exercise, composing
blocks of words and sending them off to Alan John - best known for
his opera The Eighth Wonder - who then composes the music.
At each stage the opera is sung, workshopped, refined and
rewritten. Director Michael Kantor is also involved in the process.
Upton believes his words, whether for opera or theatre, are
inhabited by a rhythm, which he believes assists the composer.
So why does Lewis Carroll need to be sung if it is the subtle
word play and ambiguity that most characterises the tale for
children built around chess moves and barely disguised worldly
themes? “For me it became about singing because the story is
happening in a dream state, an enhanced state. Assuming the story
is happening to the characters rather than implied, the world
becomes heightened (by the music).
“It also fascinates me what the meaning of words are in the
context of an opera.”
As a writer Upton says his own work comes slowly: “It takes me
about three years to write something from scratch, for some people
it takes a year.”
He has resigned himself to the fact that during his
co-directorship he will write what he can. “I comfort myself,” he
says laughing, “in the knowledge that most writers like Shakespeare
and Pinter were heavily involved in the theatre.”
Upton, like the White Queen in Alice, knows or hopes he
knows what the future looks like for him.
He has been occupied for years with Oedipus, the King in Greek
mythology who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.
The story appeals because it is about one deeply complex character.
“I am not saying I will do this but there are elements of that
story that appeal to me.”
Upton believes in the Australian theatrical identity, which he
sees in all sorts of forms including TV programs such as The
Chaser and The Norman Gunston Show.
It’s a tradition that reaches back to La Mama, the Pram Factory
and the Nimrod Theatre. “It often comes through a conjunction of
writers, actors and the production of a whole event. It’s raw and
astute.”
As for the future direction of the STC, he says that change
(after Robyn Nevin’s nine years at the helm) is inevitable and was
after all the fundamental reason why he and Blanchett were
hired.
“Changing things should not be seen as criticism of the way
things were done; it should be seen as evolution.
“Australia produces world-class interesting work; it is part of
why Cate and I came back. What we want to do is establish a flow so
that work goes out (to the world) and Australia is seen as an
incredible pool of talent and ideas.”
That, on reflection, seems a modest ambition given that over the
years the STC has launched and nurtured the careers of such actors
as Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving and two Oscar winners
Geoffrey Rush and one Ms Cate Blanchett.
Through the Looking Glass will be performed at
the Malthouse in May.
www.malthousetheatre.com.au

Tags: ambition, andrew upton, artistic co, cate, cate blanchett, hugo, issa, malcolm turnbull, mutt, old girl, pace, playwright, sake

Related posts

• The Upton factor
• Cate set to shine for STC
• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Much ado about NIDA’s direction
• Cate Blanchett’s green theatre
• Blanchett not fit to run our theatre, says actor
• Battle over arts and minds divides NIDA

Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett are Sydney’s very
own Hollywood royals, but even an Oscar-winner needs a little help
when it comes to those dreaded close-ups.
And no, we are not talking Botox.
Kidman and Blanchett have been getting help in the follicular
department, with both stars having hair extensions, also known as
“weaves”, glued to their scalps for photo shoots and red-carpet
appearances.
The actresses are well versed in the black arts of wig-wearing
for their on-screen performances - but what is more curious is how
much of that fake hair is creeping into their off-screen lives.
Hairdressers across town have been chattering about the
thousands of dollars worth of hair regularly glued into Kidman’s
scalp, most recently for the fabulous curly mop she flourishes on
the cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, courtesy of
uber-hairdresser Kerry Warn.
Kidman is famous for her locks, which over the years have been
spiralled into cascading tendrils, straightened into a sleek mane,
bleached blonde and even cropped off into a pixie-style do.
However, so many different styles mean she is constantly making use
of hair that is not her own.
Similarly, Blanchett, who has long endured a heinous ginger
fuzzball planetoid for performances as Queen Elizabeth I, has
sought help to pull off a variety of looks.
Paddington’s Renya Xenides makes customised hair
extensions for some of her celebrity clients that clip in with
secret fastenings.
The stunt hair is harvested from Third World regions, mostly
throughout Asia.
The stars can take heart in the knowledge they may be sustaining
a small village somewhere on the subcontinent, thanks to the
demands of fame.
Bailey’s brush with disaster
Marilyn Koch, business partner of the celebrity hairdresser
Joh Bailey, summed up 2007 at the salon’s Christmas party as
their “anus horribles”, much to the amusement of guests, including
the federal MP Malcolm Turnbull.
Koch had cheekily borrowed from the Queen’s 1992 “annus
horribilis” Christmas message, but behind the scenes she and Bailey
were working frantically to rescue their beloved business, which
counts the rich, famous and powerful as clients.
Plagued by court cases over the underpayment of apprentices and
negative press after an ill-fated expansion with Myer, things only
got worse for Bailey and Koch when their relationship with another
business partner, Hilton Paul, soured. Paul is now suing the
business for non-payment of long-service leave.
Over the past two months PS has followed an intriguing paper
trail revealing a complete restructuring of the salon’s ownership,
which does not appear to include either Bailey or Koch, though
neither would comment in great detail about it when PS called.
It all began on November 5 last year, when Kulgoa Investments
served a statutory demand on Joh Bailey Hairdressers to repay an
outstanding loan. Kulgoa Investments is owned by the businessman,
philanthropist and high-profile member of the Jewish community
Paul Kornmehl, 87, who made his fortune in women’s hosiery
with his Kolotex brand.
On November 28 one of Bailey’s oldest friends, the former
dancer, socialite and renowned fashionista Suzanne
Pritchard, registered five new business entities.
On December 7 Joh Bailey Hairdressers was deemed in default of
the Kulgoa loan.
On the same day, the business, including all the salons, was
sold to the same entities registered by Pritchard.
Ten days later all Joh Bailey companies went into voluntary
administration with debts of more than $2 million. On the same day
a special resolution was passed to wind up all Joh Bailey
companies.
On January 22 Kulgoa’s loan was repaid in full. Four days later,
despite the closure of some salons, “Bailey’s people” told the
media the remaining salons continued to perform well and “bore no
liability to the failure”.
In a statement issued to PS yesterday Bailey said: “To be
honest, I was stung by the whole experience. It has taken a number
of months to resolve the related issues and, I’m pleased to say,
that is now complete. In the process we have had to close some
salons and whilst that is regrettable, I am relieved to take back
control of my own destiny.”
Rocking on

Sydney business identity Greg Jones is not one to do things
by halves, especially since pocketing a reported $45 million after
floating his RAMS mortgage business six months ago. RAMS’s more
recent woes were the last thing on Jones’s mind last Sunday night
at Paddington spaghetti joint Buon Ricordo when he joined a group
of intimates to celebrate wife Kim’s 40th birthday. He
presented her with a $250,000 knuckleduster, resulting in several
jaws dropping on various tables. Jones, a former political adviser
to the NSW attorney-general, once told the Herald he had
been dining at Buon Ricordo since he was 22. He’s now 55.
Web of confusion

PS found itself back in the 1980s this week after stumbling across
the website of former Sydney Swans owner and disgraced medico
Geoffrey Edelsten. Edelsten was famed for his glitz,
helicopters and Ferraris, though his world unravelled in 1988 when
he was deregistered and later jailed for hiring hitman
Christopher Dale Flannery to bash a patient. So why a
website? Edelsten told the Herald’s Jacob Saulwick: “I
started it because media reports over the last 20 years are just so
erroneous factually that I thought I would correct it. Hopefully it
will balance some of the unfair journalistic records.” Erroneous?
Like his own website’s list of very expensive cars and super
yachts. When asked which ones were his, Edelsten admitted “none”.
And he has no problem regurgitating those “erroneous” reports
highlighting the famous women he has been linked to in the press,
including Diana Ross and Lynda Carter (she played
Wonder Woman in the TV series).
Medical mystery

Four years ago Edelsten applied to the NSW Medical Tribunal to be
re-registered as a doctor. He was rejected on character grounds. He
was allowed to apply again this week, but said he had “absolutely
no intention” of doing so. But he still has big plans. He has gone
into business with Alan Kwan. On January 16 they registered
a new business called New Age Medicine Group. While he did not give
too much away, Kwan promised “it will be quite interesting. It is
something different.”
Fresh canvas

A decade ago Steve Bush and Deke Miskin were the
darlings of the Sydney publishing world, boasting more than a
million teenagers reading their magazines each month, from
Girlfriend to TV Hits. They sold their business for
an undisclosed sum, but it was enough for Miskin to pay a record
$28 million for a Point Piper mansion, Altona. Bush sunk his money
into one of Australia’s finest private art collections, boasting
works by Picasso, Hirst and Miro. Bush’s passion for art has now
produced a magazine called Art World, to be launched in
Sydney next week, having already received the imprimatur of
Britain’s art collecting king Charles Saatchi (Nigella
Lawson’s husband), who has ordered a subscription.
On the nose

Today Sydney’s original fashionista, Pat Ingram, notches up
35 years in the notoriously fickle fashion magazine business. The
ACP executive celebrated the milestone with cupcakes and champagne
in her office, though she managed to share a few “highlights” with
PS, including the time as a young reporter she was nominated to
interview high-profile men around town for the “Bachelor of the
Month” column. “On this occasion I was to meet with a hot, hirsute,
lascivious and oleaginous nightclub entrepreneur whose first
instinct was to make it obvious he was interested in more than an
exchange of views on what made him irresistible to women,” Ingram
revealed. “To deflect his advances I offered him a light for his
cigarette but as he leaned in, my little disposable shot the flame
straight up his nose setting his nasal hair alight. After leaping
backwards and evincing great injury, mostly to his ego, he then
shed black ash from his nostrils for the remainder of our very
brief embarrassing interview.” Ingram declined to reveal the
Lothario’s identity.
Psst%26#133;

Deborah Hutton’s private life continues to provide fuel for
dinner conversation across Sydney. Seven months after reports that
the 46-year-old’s alleged seven-year relationship with former
Hockeyroo Danni Roche had expired, effectively “outing” the
television personality, Hutton has remained tight-lipped on the
subject of her love life. In recent weeks chatter has
surrounded the younger man who has been by Hutton’s side throughout
much of the summer: Paddington solicitor Nicholas Hogan.
However when PS contacted Hogan, 35, he described his relationship
with the homewares queen as nothing more than platonic. “We are
just good friends %26#133; nothing more. I am also her solicitor,” a
bemused Hogan politely explained. Hutton’s friends say she is
getting on with life after a difficult six months since the death
of her brother Rod Haylock and rampant speculation about her
private life. PS understands Hutton is taking her mother on a
holiday to China in coming weeks.

Tags: actress, brother, cars, cate, cate blanchett, helicopter, hollywood, jacob, journalist, malcolm turnbull, nicole kidman, spira, ups

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Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett are Sydney’s very
own Hollywood royals, but even an Oscar-winner needs a little help
when it comes to those dreaded close-ups.
And no, we are not talking Botox.
Kidman and Blanchett have been getting help in the follicular
department, with both stars having hair extensions, also known as
“weaves”, glued to their scalps for photo shoots and red-carpet
appearances.
The actresses are well versed in the black arts of wig-wearing
for their on-screen performances - but what is more curious is how
much of that fake hair is creeping into their off-screen lives.
Hairdressers across town have been chattering about the
thousands of dollars worth of hair regularly glued into Kidman’s
scalp, most recently for the fabulous curly mop she flourishes on
the cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, courtesy of
uber-hairdresser Kerry Warn.
Kidman is famous for her locks, which over the years have been
spiralled into cascading tendrils, straightened into a sleek mane,
bleached blonde and even cropped off into a pixie-style do.
However, so many different styles mean she is constantly making use
of hair that is not her own.
Similarly, Blanchett, who has long endured a heinous ginger
fuzzball planetoid for performances as Queen Elizabeth I, has
sought help to pull off a variety of looks.
Paddington’s Renya Xenides makes customised hair
extensions for some of her celebrity clients that clip in with
secret fastenings.
The stunt hair is harvested from Third World regions, mostly
throughout Asia.
The stars can take heart in the knowledge they may be sustaining
a small village somewhere on the subcontinent, thanks to the
demands of fame.
Bailey’s brush with disaster
Marilyn Koch, business partner of the celebrity hairdresser
Joh Bailey, summed up 2007 at the salon’s Christmas party as
their “anus horribles”, much to the amusement of guests, including
the federal MP Malcolm Turnbull.
Koch had cheekily borrowed from the Queen’s 1992 “annus
horribilis” Christmas message, but behind the scenes she and Bailey
were working frantically to rescue their beloved business, which
counts the rich, famous and powerful as clients.
Plagued by court cases over the underpayment of apprentices and
negative press after an ill-fated expansion with Myer, things only
got worse for Bailey and Koch when their relationship with another
business partner, Hilton Paul, soured. Paul is now suing the
business for non-payment of long-service leave.
Over the past two months PS has followed an intriguing paper
trail revealing a complete restructuring of the salon’s ownership,
which does not appear to include either Bailey or Koch, though
neither would comment in great detail about it when PS called.
It all began on November 5 last year, when Kulgoa Investments
served a statutory demand on Joh Bailey Hairdressers to repay an
outstanding loan. Kulgoa Investments is owned by the businessman,
philanthropist and high-profile member of the Jewish community
Paul Kornmehl, 87, who made his fortune in women’s hosiery
with his Kolotex brand.
On November 28 one of Bailey’s oldest friends, the former
dancer, socialite and renowned fashionista Suzanne
Pritchard, registered five new business entities.
On December 7 Joh Bailey Hairdressers was deemed in default of
the Kulgoa loan.
On the same day, the business, including all the salons, was
sold to the same entities registered by Pritchard.
Ten days later all Joh Bailey companies went into voluntary
administration with debts of more than $2 million. On the same day
a special resolution was passed to wind up all Joh Bailey
companies.
On January 22 Kulgoa’s loan was repaid in full. Four days later,
despite the closure of some salons, “Bailey’s people” told the
media the remaining salons continued to perform well and “bore no
liability to the failure”.
In a statement issued to PS yesterday Bailey said: “To be
honest, I was stung by the whole experience. It has taken a number
of months to resolve the related issues and, I’m pleased to say,
that is now complete. In the process we have had to close some
salons and whilst that is regrettable, I am relieved to take back
control of my own destiny.”
Rocking on

Sydney business identity Greg Jones is not one to do things
by halves, especially since pocketing a reported $45 million after
floating his RAMS mortgage business six months ago. RAMS’s more
recent woes were the last thing on Jones’s mind last Sunday night
at Paddington spaghetti joint Buon Ricordo when he joined a group
of intimates to celebrate wife Kim’s 40th birthday. He
presented her with a $250,000 knuckleduster, resulting in several
jaws dropping on various tables. Jones, a former political adviser
to the NSW attorney-general, once told the Herald he had
been dining at Buon Ricordo since he was 22. He’s now 55.
Web of confusion

PS found itself back in the 1980s this week after stumbling across
the website of former Sydney Swans owner and disgraced medico
Geoffrey Edelsten. Edelsten was famed for his glitz,
helicopters and Ferraris, though his world unravelled in 1988 when
he was deregistered and later jailed for hiring hitman
Christopher Dale Flannery to bash a patient. So why a
website? Edelsten told the Herald’s Jacob Saulwick: “I
started it because media reports over the last 20 years are just so
erroneous factually that I thought I would correct it. Hopefully it
will balance some of the unfair journalistic records.” Erroneous?
Like his own website’s list of very expensive cars and super
yachts. When asked which ones were his, Edelsten admitted “none”.
And he has no problem regurgitating those “erroneous” reports
highlighting the famous women he has been linked to in the press,
including Diana Ross and Lynda Carter (she played
Wonder Woman in the TV series).
Medical mystery

Four years ago Edelsten applied to the NSW Medical Tribunal to be
re-registered as a doctor. He was rejected on character grounds. He
was allowed to apply again this week, but said he had “absolutely
no intention” of doing so. But he still has big plans. He has gone
into business with Alan Kwan. On January 16 they registered
a new business called New Age Medicine Group. While he did not give
too much away, Kwan promised “it will be quite interesting. It is
something different.”
Fresh canvas

A decade ago Steve Bush and Deke Miskin were the
darlings of the Sydney publishing world, boasting more than a
million teenagers reading their magazines each month, from
Girlfriend to TV Hits. They sold their business for
an undisclosed sum, but it was enough for Miskin to pay a record
$28 million for a Point Piper mansion, Altona. Bush sunk his money
into one of Australia’s finest private art collections, boasting
works by Picasso, Hirst and Miro. Bush’s passion for art has now
produced a magazine called Art World, to be launched in
Sydney next week, having already received the imprimatur of
Britain’s art collecting king Charles Saatchi (Nigella
Lawson’s husband), who has ordered a subscription.
On the nose

Today Sydney’s original fashionista, Pat Ingram, notches up
35 years in the notoriously fickle fashion magazine business. The
ACP executive celebrated the milestone with cupcakes and champagne
in her office, though she managed to share a few “highlights” with
PS, including the time as a young reporter she was nominated to
interview high-profile men around town for the “Bachelor of the
Month” column. “On this occasion I was to meet with a hot, hirsute,
lascivious and oleaginous nightclub entrepreneur whose first
instinct was to make it obvious he was interested in more than an
exchange of views on what made him irresistible to women,” Ingram
revealed. “To deflect his advances I offered him a light for his
cigarette but as he leaned in, my little disposable shot the flame
straight up his nose setting his nasal hair alight. After leaping
backwards and evincing great injury, mostly to his ego, he then
shed black ash from his nostrils for the remainder of our very
brief embarrassing interview.” Ingram declined to reveal the
Lothario’s identity.
Psst%26#133;

Deborah Hutton’s private life continues to provide fuel for
dinner conversation across Sydney. Seven months after reports that
the 46-year-old’s alleged seven-year relationship with former
Hockeyroo Danni Roche had expired, effectively “outing” the
television personality, Hutton has remained tight-lipped on the
subject of her love life. In recent weeks chatter has
surrounded the younger man who has been by Hutton’s side throughout
much of the summer: Paddington solicitor Nicholas Hogan.
However when PS contacted Hogan, 35, he described his relationship
with the homewares queen as nothing more than platonic. “We are
just good friends %26#133; nothing more. I am also her solicitor,” a
bemused Hogan politely explained. Hutton’s friends say she is
getting on with life after a difficult six months since the death
of her brother Rod Haylock and rampant speculation about her
private life. PS understands Hutton is taking her mother on a
holiday to China in coming weeks.

Tags: actress, brother, cars, cate, cate blanchett, helicopter, hollywood, jacob, journalist, malcolm turnbull, nicole kidman, spira, ups

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THOUSANDS of people have marched through Australia’s streets today for the second annual Walk Against Warming, calling for greater action on climate change and renewable energy targets.

In Sydney, organisers said crowd marshals counted more than 28,000 people in the city’s Domain and on a round-trip walk through the city.Nature Conservation Council’s Cate Faehrmann said early estimates suggested as many as 150,000 people had marched in similar protests across the country. %26quot;It’s clear that there is a lot of support out there. Much more needs to be done and that’s what the community said today on climate change,%26quot; she said. %26quot;It’s a big message that’s being sent to the next government to get more serious on climate change and give us more than what we’ve seen today.%26quot;Ms Faehrmann called on the next elected government for a short-term target to reduce greenhouse pollution by at least 30 per cent by 2020.Asked whether, in light of today’s rallies, the Government would further reduce green house gas emissions, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today said diplomacy was the solution to an international issue. %26quot;The key to success in terms of climate change is diplomacy,” he said in the Adelaide Hills town of Stirling. Mr Downer said it was important the international community negotiate %26quot;a serious convention which will stabilise and reduce global green house gas emissions” over the next couple of years, starting at the meeting of the United Nations’ framework convention on climate change in Bali next month. %26quot;We should negotiate a proper and a serious convention which will stabilise and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and it’s not going to work and not going to be meaningful if developing countries and the US aren’t prepared to participate,” he said.Earlier during the protest, federal Labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett was met with boos but Ms Faehrmann said the crowd was merely frustrated by the lack of progress on climate change. %26quot;It’s action in the next few years that counts. That’s why people are getting frustrated, they have seen delays, they have seen decisions which will increase our greenhouse emissions,%26quot; she said. The boisterous crowd included many young children and the odd dog. Some marchers were dressed for the occasion as pollution emitting stacks and others in dog costumes. Ms Faehrmann said she was disappointed that federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull had not turned up despite being invited.In Adelaide, thousands also took to the streets.Among those marching down the city’s King William Street from Victoria Square to Elder Park were Greens Senate candidate for SA Sarah Hanson-Young. %26quot;The huge momentum of today’s Walk Against Warming rallies across the country is an indication of the concern in the community for the future of our planet and future generations,” she said in a statement.Organisers had predicted some 25,000 people would participate in the Adelaide event and the number came close to that, said Greens spokeswoman Gemma Clark.- With AAP

Tags: adelaide, cate, malcolm turnbull, spokeswoman, target

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TASMANIAN Premier Paul Lennon is to seek urgent clarification about just what Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull has done in delaying his approval of the Gunns pulp mill.

Mr Lennon said the Tasmanian parliament was likely to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the $2 billion pulp mill plan when it meets later today. A yes vote would leave Mr Turnbull the only barrier to a green light for the facility. He was due to make a decision on the mill yesterday but granted himself a 30 working days - six weeks - extension to consider the issue. Mr Lennon said he hoped Mr Turnbull had acted legally. %26quot;That is the real question where, as to whether or not the minister has followed the statutory process that he is required to do under his Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. He claims he has,%26quot; he said. %26quot;That is at odds with advice that I have received from my state solicitor-general. So I will be seeking urgent clarification this morning.%26quot; Mr Lennon said it was becoming clear to the Tasmanian community that Mr Turnbull was more interested in prosecuting his feud with businessman Geoffrey Cousins than in proper process for what was the biggest industrial development ever proposed for Tasmania. Mr Cousins, a former adviser to Prime Minister John Howard, has enlisted the support of more than 120 well-known personalities, including actors Bryan Brown, Cate Blanchett and Rachel Ward and playwright David Williamson, in his campaign against the mill. Mr Cousins said today that the Federal Government’s decision was likely to influence the election result. He was expecting chief scientist Jim Peacock would advise the Government not to support the mill. %26quot;I’m informed by people who have been reviewing all the evidence that is going to the chief scientist very shortly that it’s very much firming up against an approval of this mill, particularly in view of its likely impact on the marine environment.%26quot;

Tags: cate, cate blanchett, malcolm turnbull, mr turnbull, playwright

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