Northern Rivers artist made 2009 Archibald Prize finals

Angus McDonald, Beyond, portrait of Zoe MacDonnell, 2009

Lennox Head artist Angus McDonald made the short-list for the Archibald Prize this year, which was eventually won by Guy Maestri for his portrait of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Angus has had a busy year so far as he was also short-listed for the 2009 Monalto Sculpture Prize.

The Libs 2009: not sleeping - dreaming

Federal Coalition shadow minister for indigenous affairs Tony Mad Monk Abbott denies that he fell asleep and missed five parliamentary divisions because he had drunk too much at dinner on 12 February 2009.
I believe him. I'm sure he was just daydreaming of the return of 'King' Howard.
But just in case, here's a small reminder of a few things which didn't shake the world during that unofficial nap time:
Fighting in south Dafur was reported to have displaced 30,000
The ICC announced that no arrest warrant had been issued yet for President Al Bashir of Sudan
The International Criminal Court in The Hague was reported to be examining a demand by the Palestinian Authority to investigate possible war crimes during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip
Shoulder pads made a fashion comeback in the U.K. and
The UK Tele ran a photo of Michelle Obama kissing Abraham Lincoln.
Oh, and of course, the Australian Parliament went about the important business of that day which Abbott was elected to participate in.

Pic from www.nma.gov.au

NSW Attorney-General Hatzistergos blunders into a political farce

While everyone is supposedly thundering for the convicted individual's blood, the NSW Attorney-General is managing to make himself a small target over his announcement of the suppression order that wasn't.

A resident on the NSW North Coast was found guilty of sexual assault on a minor and, was give a two-year suspended sentence with a two-year good behaviour bond.
In line with the judge's directions any details which would identify the victim were suppressed and could not be reported in the media.

Then the Attorney-General John Hatzistergos inserted himself into the debate about this sentencing.
On 4 March 2009 he stated in a radio interview with ABC North Coast Mornings (the politically convenient line) that the entire judgment was suppressed and so he couldn't discuss the judge's reasons for the sentence.
At least one member of his staff contacted a local Northern Rivers newspaper saying that any mention of the defendant in the court case was suppressed and it was in breach of an order.

Both the Attorney-General and his staffer were of course wrong.

So what was the outcome of the Attorney-General's attempt to distance himself from the somewhat heated debate over Judge Chris Geraghty's swan song?

Why on 6 March The Sydney Morning Herald's Richard Ackland, in a sincere effort to explain the sentence, released details of the assault which were otherwise unpublished in the area in which the victim lives.
The same day Andrew Bolt in his The Daily Telegraph blog allowed himself another free kick for his boring colour bias.
Then on 7 March The Daily Examiner gave the most left-handed compliment to the defendant's barrister, David Imlah, by implying that possibly guilty people would be lining up for his services.

Well done, Mr. Hatzistergos - you turned a tragic set of circumstances into political farce and probably made the situation worse for one little child.

Just for the record.........NO CLEAN FEED!

************

McGauchie's definitely not in the brass razoo stakes

"Telstra's multi-millionaire chairman has hit back at the "hysterical" public outrage over executive pay, defending corporate Australia against the growing "bosses are bastards" mentality.

Donald McGauchie - who approved a multi-million dollar golden handshake for Telstra's soon-to-depart chief executive Sol Trujillo - said the outcry of "us versus them" in response to job cuts is helping no one, as companies do all that they can to protect their employees and shareholders.

McGauchie, who was paid $602,500 last year for his role as chairman, owns nearly $500,000 worth of Telstra shares. Last year he attended nine board meetings - earning $66,000 per meeting.

Including his fees for board roles at James Hardie Industries and Nufarm, he earned a total of nearly $900,000 last year as a non-executive director."

Well that's nice work if you can get it.

I specially like the fact that Donald G. McGauchie AO (former National Farmers Federation president) was on the board of James Hardie Industries Ltd where his director compensation for 2008 was a lordly $189,192.00.

Was that before or after James Hardie tried to bilk asbestos victims? Oh, it went way back to during!

And is he the same McGauchie that SourceWatch claims tried to break the maritime unions, was once lauded by Li'l Johnnie Howard as an heroic figure for that same union busting and is still on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia. [Sing Amen]

Why just last week McGauchie warned of tough economic times ahead - just not for him.

**Donald McGauchie's board affiliations according to Business Week.

I'm rather surprised to find Kevin Bacon missing from this list........

Maud up the Street reckons the well-connected Donald's probably a member of The Australian Club in The Big Smoke, but I'm betting on The Melbourne Club further south myself.

Queensland election: will the LNP re-introduce duck and quail shooting?

Brisbane's Westender reports: Rumours abound that Queensland's pro-hunting lobby has persuaded the LNP to re-introduce duck and quail shooting if it wins government after March 21.

The LNP has not been forthcoming to organisations like Birds Queensland about its intentions and the Greens are concerned that the LNP will attempt to sneak into government without releasing policies like its approach to hunting native animals.

Greens MP Ronan Lee, who led the original move to ban duck and quail hunting, said the LNP should immediately dispel these rumours by stating publicly the laws against duck and quail hunting will not be altered.

"There is a widespread feeling in the community that these practices are cruel and inappropriate and Mr Springborg should be prepared to clarify his policy," Mr Lee said.

pic Westender

Harmony Day in Grafton, 27 March 2009

GRAFTON MIGRANT WOMENS GROUP

HARMONY DAY 2009

12PM - 1.30PM FRIDAY 27 MARCH

MARKET SQUARE, GRAFTON

PERFORMANCES
LOCAL SERVICE INFORMATION STALLS
$2.00 LUNCH - Satays + plain rice or Noodle dish or Fruit salad.

Clarence Valley Council will provide 2 small marquees, tables and chairs to be shared by local service providers. Other information stands are welcome. Please RSVP by 20 March 2009. Community Development Officer Tim Shearman Ph:66450232 or tim.shearman@clarence.nsw.gov.au

A Special Kind Of Vision: contemporary indigenous art on the NSW North Coast

On 5 March Arts Northern Rivers and the Retrospect Galleries hosted the launch of a full-colour book showcasing contemporary indigenous art titled A Special Kind Of Vision.

An exhibition of the same name is running at the gallery featuring the work of:
Albert Digby Moran / Alison Williams / Bevan Skinner / Brenda Webb / Frances Belle Parker / Garth Lena / Gilbert Laurie / Graeme Walker / Jacqui Williams / Joanne Lapic / Karla Dickens / Kim Healey / Lelarnie O’Sullivan / Les Evans / Lewis Walker / Lexie Donovan / Mark Deamon Noter-Browning / Michael Philp / Noel (Charlie) Caldwell / Oral Roberts / Penny Evans / Peter Robinson / Priscilla Sutor Anderson / Robert Appo / Timothy Ives.

Where: Retrospect Galleries, 52 Jonson Street, Byron Bay

When: Opening 6pm Friday March 6, exhibition runs till Thursday March 26

Time: Open 7 days, 10am to 6pm

More info: (02) 6680 8825 or www.retrospectgalleries.com

Painting is Alison Williams' Belonging from Arts Northern Rivers e-news

Copies of the book are available at Arts Northern Rivers and Retrospect Galleries for RRP $38.50

The Prim Minister and Senator Conjob go sensoring

With their national broadband plans languishing (will there or won't there be an announcement on Friday 13th) and the Great Firewall of Australia still not legitimately live trialled, I was amazed to see the Prime Minster's monkey Senator Conroy announce his burning desire not to produce "dumb projects":
THE federal Government is considering mandating that all major new infrastructure projects such as bridges, roads and railways have smart sensors built into them to monitor maintenance and help prevent disasters like the Minnesota bridge collapse.
Minnesota bridge collapse?
Yeah that's a big bridge. In America.
But most of our bridges are smaller ones dotted over the country and maintained by local government on shoestring budgets.
Will the Rudd Government's grand smart sensor implant hype plan actually come with increased funding for local councils so that they can boost the rate of upgrading and why isn't any of this proposed smart technology going into aging infrastructure like the 7,000-odd wooden bridges in NSW many of which are on the North Coast?
Surely the most vulnerable of bridges deserve the highest level of monitoring.

Water, water, everywhere....

Sitting here on the NSW North Coast congratulating myself on the blessed good fortune which meant that the weather has not dealt our region a really bad hand so far this year, it is hard to imagine the extremes experienced elsewhere.

This is the Burdekin Dam, northern Queensland in February 2009.

Thanks to Andrew, Monica, Samantha and Connor for the pics.