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Blue Light Dance Party – Calling all Primary School Kids!

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Blue Light disco for all primary school kids in Canberra

The PCYC of Canberra invites all primary school age children to a Blue Light Dance Party to raise funds for the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program. Hayley Jensen will be performing, there will be a whole range of fun activities including rock climbing and a giant slide, fantastic DJs and VJs plus loads of giveaways!

When: Saturday the 28th of June, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm for primary school age children only.

Venue: Exhibition Pavilion at Thoroughbred Park off Randwick Rd. Lyhenam

Cost: $15 per child.

Family discounts and pre purchase discounts are available. Please contact PCYC on 6101 6937 for more information.

Pat Drummond and Karen Lynne in Concert with Craig and Simone Dawson

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Craig and Simone Dawson

Canberra’s Country/Folk couple Craig and Simone Dawson will combine forces with Sydney based Country/Folk duo Pat Drummond and Karen Lynne for one night only this month to bring a spectacular night of music and storytelling that is sure to be a dynamic show to remember.

Pat Drummond and Karen Lynne first teamed up at about the same time as Craig and Simone did in the late 90s. Although their music and song writing styles draw upon different influences, there are some definite similarities. This is particularly evident in the way many of their more meaningful narrative style songs are written and delivered. The presentation of their music is also mostly based on delivering an often powerful and poignant message.

Pat Drummond, the main songwriter in his work with Karen Lynne is
based at Leura in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. His style is a cross between song writing and journalism. His well-documented songs about real people and places are drawn from interviews gathered on his erratic tours across Australia and present a composite picture of that country and her people.

Karen Lynne, also from the Blue Mountains area, is a multi award winning vocalist involved in many different musical collaborations including lead vocalist for the popular bluegrass band “Acoustic Shock.” She is also a popular singer/songwriter in her own right in Folk and Country music.

Craig and Simone are no strangers in folk music circles. Their original songs and instrumentals cover many styles that draw on a diverse range of influences including Delta Blues, Ki Hoalu (Hawaiian slack key), Celtic and Country. They are best known for their hard hitting ballads which explore a variety of political, social and even ludicrous topics.

Following support act “Divided by 3,” Craig and Simone (with special guest Peter Logue) will begin the show with a stack of new songs and some old favourites. Pat and Karen will take the stage after with songs from their long awaited new CD "The Long Journey Home." What happens in between, after or even throughout is anybody’s guess!!!

Appearing at “The Merry Muse,” Polish Australian White Eagle Club, David St, O’Connor on 13 June from 7:30pm. Tickets $12/$15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review: Fred Smith launches 'Texas' album

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Fred Smith

Two more weekends and I’ll be going home
My home’s a nowhere
But a nowhere where I’m known
Where the sheep are nervous
And the men are all good blokes
Take me back to where the people get my jokes

From ‘American Guitar’, Texas (2008) by Fred Smith

So saying the above (or rather, singing the above), Fred Smith did literally start heading home, from the USA to Australia. His first chance to play the song live came on his last night after three years in America, coincidentally in a town called Frederick (his first gig three years earlier had been, even more coincidentally, in Fredericksburgh). The next morning he hopped on a plane and returned to Australia via a two week tour of Canada.

In the intervening time, Fred had tripped around the USA: from house-husbanding to house concerts, from suburban conventionality to folk conventions, and to a string of gigs, festivals and song contests along the way.

Fred has now been back in Australia for about six months and he’s appreciating the return to his old neighbourhood. Launching his ‘Texas’ album at Tilley’s Devine Café in Canberra last month, Fred relates a quote on topic: ‘”Home is the place you go where they’ve got to let you in.”’

‘It’s good to be home!’

How does Fred sum up his time in North America?

‘There’s twenty times more opportunities there but also twenty times more artists looking for a place in the sun. Though there are far more developed structures over there for artists to build a career: folk conferences, folk DJ lists, song contests and promoters ready to help the interesting performers find their feet.’

Fred won the Ploughshares Song-Writing Contest in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania and was chosen from a field of 380 songwriters for an “Official Showcase” at the North American Folk Alliance Conference.

‘The conferences and contests are a strange environment to play your heart out in, but they certainly helped kick start things for me over there and I made a lot of friends doing them.’

‘There are far fewer festivals here but I think the ones we have are better. They are more about getting people involved and less about providing an altar for the worship of a handful of artists.’

Back home and Fred has slipped easily back into gigging and festivals. In late April he was one of the headline acts at St Albans where he played a ‘no repeat’ weekend over several main stage performances, involving a number of confederates and guest artists.

‘It was nice to go St Albans and be billed for five shows on the main stage to an audience that knows me. I really felt free to play the full breadth of my repertoire from the comic to the melancholy.’

‘In most festivals and gigs the sets are short and the temptation is to play my own ‘hits and memories’ but in the long run there’s no risk or growth in that. And it underestimates an audience.’

‘It also gave me a chance to rope in friends like Penelope Swales and Chris Gillespie so that I could present a different aspect of my work each gig and experience the joy and edginess of playing with new collaborators.’

‘Having done a lot of solo gigging over the last three years, that felt great.’

Having survived three years of living in Washington, interspersed with touring and gigging, Fred has collated his experiences, observations and a dash of US history and produced the ‘Texas’ album. It’s a meandering journey that’s the epitome of the performer himself: from the frivolous and light-hearted to the emotive and emotional.

Or the purely wry and observational, as in ‘God Bless America’:

Detox boys watch botox girls
Meet for sushi on 7th Avenue

Fred sets out across the country this winter to play a string of dates (mostly with Liz Frencham) to promote ‘Texas’, following a couple of preliminary shows in home town Canberra over the Mothers Day weekend. The pulling power of Fred in his own neck of the woods is palpable: the Saturday night gig at Tilley’s is sold out a couple of weeks beforehand, and he still manages to pack an overflow gig in a church hall the following afternoon, with a 3pm kick-off and on Mother’s Day, no less.

‘I wanted to do a second gig where people could bring their kids. After three years in USA, I came back and all my friends have got kids.’

Given the demographic, Fred promises to tone down a few racier lyrics for the second show (“I’ll do the American versions!”). But he has at least one little slip up and has to quickly correct a lyric to, “This ship is going down”.

And there was proof positive that the word “jolly” can quite nicely substitute for another more expressive and emphatic adjective.

To underscore the appeal that Fred has among Canberrans, it was noticeable that some faces from the Saturday gig had turned up for more on Sunday afternoon. One punter held her arm out to be tagged by the door dragon and offered: ‘You might as well put the stamp in the same spot as last night!’

One day I’ll calibrate a scale that can record the response an artist gets by measuring the attention they command by their presence and stagecraft. It will be gauged by the ‘Pin-Drop-O-Meter’. In Fred’s case, it just takes one man, one softly played guitar, and the gentle opening lyrics of ‘Into My Room’ to drop the needle down to zero. And we’re talking a room with more than its fair share of very small children with balloons and other distractions.

Several songs later and the twilight zone factor returns as the crowd seems to instinctively and intuitively join in on mass on the first chorus of a song. Then the penny drops, and the reverentially-bowed heads remind me, that they are all singing off the same hymn sheet: lyric sheets with choruses to a selection of Fred Smith songs which went out around the crowd before the gig.

And in the ecclesiastical surrounds of St John’s Church Hall, it’s all the more appropriate when Fred later announces, ‘God Bless America: that’s hymn number four’.

Playing songs of American history and culture to Australian audiences. How does that play out then? And how does it compare to playing to US audiences?

‘American audiences responded very warmly and I learned not to underestimate them. But in the end I feel Australian audiences really understand my songs- the language, the humour.’

‘By the end of my time there I had over an album’s worth of songs written about America. The more I sang about them the more they responded but that’s not unusual; people respond to music they can relate to.’

‘Australian audiences seem to be really responding to the ‘Texas’ songs notwithstanding their American focus. Maybe they just enjoy a yarn and I certainly came home with a few of them.’

‘But also from our immersion in American TV and music we all have a strong sense of America combined with an appetite to take the piss out of Americans. That’s definitely where I started from but I like to think I got beyond that in the end because it’s a beautiful and complex country full of spirited people.’

There’s a palpable sense of the landscape political in ‘Texas’, reflective possibly of the fact that Fred arrived in the US the day after the 2004 US presidential election, then left in late 2007, as Barak Obama’s star was on the rise, arriving back in Australia in time to vote in the 2007 federal election.

‘[America is] an amazingly diverse country and at the moment, divided and traumatised. The Iraq intervention has polarised the body politic viscerally and everyone you meet there is passionate about it one way or the other.’

As a musical development exercise, America was undeniably beneficial for Fred: ‘I have come back from the US with a stronger sense of myself as an artist. Having played the same stages as the likes of James Keelaghan and Dave Francey, I know my writing is up there.’

And right about now, his music is out there. Fred Smith’s tour kicks off with a screening of ‘Bougainville Sky’ (a film about his peace-keeping work on Bougainville from 1999 to 2003) in Margaret River, WA on 13 June, and then it’s on to gigs in all points west thereafter.

The aforementioned ‘American Guitar’ song is one that wraps up the ‘Texas’ album, and indeed, Fred’s two Canberra shows, with a deft little coda on his time in the US:

Made a name a little fame now wealth
Made some friends and learned a lot about myself
Good enough reasons to come this far
Just to play on an American guitar

For more details and tour dates: www.fredsmith.com.au

Fred Smith plays at the Braidwood Folk Club on Thursday 19 June. Doors 7pm. $15/$10.

This Week In Folkus 30May-1Jun

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The Folkus Room

Hello and welcome again to your Weekly Wot’s Wot in Folkus & around the traps…

ed…. the past week’s headlines in Folkus
PORNOGRAPHIC ROCK FORMATIONS FOUND ON MARS! … POLICE SEIZE LANDER’S CAMERAS!
NASA DENIES HISTORY OF SERIAL ABUSE OF YOUNG HEAVENLY BODIES!
KEVIN & BRENDAN LABEL MARS "REVOLTING" and "DISGUSTING"!
MALCOLM DISAGREES WITH BRENDAN!
MALCOLM’S TWO PICTURES OF MARS DOUBLE IN VALUE!
those persistent scaremongers & harbingers of DOOM, the wowsers and insurance companies, are taking over our world….
AND politicians prove they know nothing about art or science… nothing new at all really

INDEX
1. This Week in Folkus
2. Next Week in Folkus
3. Parish Notices
4. The Comics
5. Sport

1.

This Week In Folkus – THREE BIG SHOWS and they’re all BEST quality to the core …
The Folkus Room, (operates out of The Serbian Cultural Centre & Club) 5 Heard St. MAWSON ACT .. eastern side of Southlands Centre and just off Athllon Drive.. CHECK OUT OUR NEW MAPS PAGE…. www.thefolkus.org.au and follow the links

Friday 30 May .. King Curly and The Doomsday Piano fresh from a very successful National Folk Festival, this fabulous band was picked up to tour with K D Lang…. ’nuff said …… PLUS Jordan Best

Saturday 31 May .. Sat Arvo Jazz – 2pm to 5pm … with Judi Pearce & The Arrangement

Sunday 1 June .. The Yearlings; PLUS Doctor Stovepipe

2. …….
Next Week In Folkus … MORE GREAT AFFORDABLE ENTERTAINMENT
Friday 6 June .. Queen Juanita & Her Zydeco Cowboys ….. there will be dancing !!
Sunday 8 June .. Harry Manx & Yeshe Reiners …. bookings going fast

3.
Parish Notices…….. who said Canberra hibernates in winter????

3a. The Folkus Room is offering annual subscriptions. Click HERE for details… WE NEED YOU!

3b. ON STAGE NEXT WEEK – Sunday (dress rehearsals) to Thursday ….Make sure you see the Irish Community Players latest production of Bernard Farrell’s "therapeutic" comedy, "I Do Not Like Thee, Dr Fell", which will be on at the Canberra Irish Club, 6 Parkinson St, Weston, from 2nd to 5th June at 8 pm. Tickets cost $20 for Adults and $15 for Concessions, and bookings will be available at the club in a few week’s time on 62887451. Don’t miss the play that helped launch Liam Neeson’s career…

3c. Folkus on Blues is about to get happening. If you are a bluesy performer we would like to meet with you or your representative at The Folkus Room (Serbian Club, Heard St, Mawson) at midday on Saturday 31st May. If you can’t attend, or arrange a representative, and would like to be part of the Folkus initiative, please email me to that effect and I’ll see that your act is included. It would help too if band reps could come armed with a list of available dates – your diaries ladies and gentlemen.

3d. The notice with depth & C21…. Arlo Guthrie is on Friday week (13 June) at The Canberra Southern Cross Club. There are still a few seats left…. phone 02 6283 7200 for bookings

3e. There’s a very good reason to go along to The Front Cafe in Lynham on Saturday night (31st of May – 8pm). You’ll get to hear the new and scintillating Moonlight Rooftop Revellers (don’t try to say that too many times out loud!). A love child of Dr. Stovepipe, who as you may know are the very talented Ed Radclyffe, Pablo Shopen and Jim Sharrock. To concoct an elixir for a Moonlight Rooftop Reveller, one only needs to extract a Jim (temporarily, as he attends to other doctorly duties) and add a Krista (Krista Schmeling formerly of the Honeybells). You could imagine the jazzy, westerny, swingy, gospelly, old-timey possibilities – OR you could go along and hear it for yourselves!

4.
Sometime in the future, George Bush has a heart attack and dies. He goes to hell where the Devil is waiting for him. "I don’t know what to do here," says the Devil. "You’re on my list but I have no room for you, but you definitely have to stay here, so I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ve got three people here who weren’t quite as bad as you. I’ll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I’ll even let YOU decide who leaves." George thought that sounded pretty good, so he agreed. The devil opened the first room. In it was Ted Kennedy and a large pool of water. He kept resurfacing over and over and over, gasping for air. Such was his fate in hell. "No!" George said. "I don’t think so. I’m not a good swimmer and I don’t think I could do that all day long."! The devil led him to the next room. In it was Tony Blair with a sledgehammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing that hammer, time after time after time, and more rocks appeared. "No! I’ve got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day!" commented George. The devil opened a third door. In it, George saw Bill Clinton lying naked on the floor with his arms staked over his head and his legs staked in spread eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky doing her thing. George Bush looked at this in disbelief for a while and finally said, "Yeah, I can handle this." The devil smiled and said… "Monica, you’re free to go!"

 

 

Child
Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing.
I want to fill it with color and ducks,
The zoo of the new
Whose name you meditate–
April snowdrop, Indian pipe,
Little
Stalk without wrinkle,
Pool in which images
Should be grand and classical
Not this troublous
Wringing of hands, this dark
Ceiling without a star………… Sylvia Plath

 

Stay Well & Truly Silly Gentle Folk

Bill Arnett
The Folkus Room
Canberra’s Acoustic Preference
61-2-62627265
0407 434 469
"No Strangers Come Here – Just Friends We Have Not Yet Met"

Australia must act now to address global food crisis

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May 19, 2008 — The world is in the midst of an horrific global food crisis. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) lists 82 nations as in “food deficit”, 37 of which it classifies as “in crisis”, while 850 million people are in dire need and over two billion suffer daily hunger. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued an urgent appeal for aid, warning that, “Without these funds, we risk the specter of famine, malnutrition, and unprecedented social uprising.” Food riots have already broken out in over 40 countries. 

Australia can and must play a big role in addressing this crisis. We are amongst the world’s largest exporters of dairy, barley, wheat, beef and lamb, and, up until recently, rice. A few years ago, we produced enough rice to feed almost 40 million people a meal a day for 365 days, and Australian rice was exported to 72 countries. We are the world’s second largest wheat exporter, with 14% of the global export market, and we export about 20% of the global feed barley trade. We are also the world’s second largest exporter of both beef, and lamb and mutton. Our dairy exports make up 12 % of world dairy trade.

Within the next four weeks, almost all broadacre farmers in Australia will make decisions on how much acreage they will sow, and thus how much food will be harvested not long after. Leaving aside intermediate and longer-term measures, we must commit to the following immediately:

  • The Government must move to purchase existing wheat and other food reserves, to provide immediate food aid to the FAO and the World Food Program.
  • The Government must cease all subsidies for biofuel production, and instead send the equivalent quantity of food/grain overseas to countries in distress.
  • The Government must immediately regulate domestically-manufactured fertilizer prices, and subsidise imported fertilizers (relative to world prices), so that farmers pay no more than what they did in January 2006, when the current hyperinflationary spiral really took off.
  • The Government must slash the cost of all petroleum products for the agricultural sector, by suspending the hyperinflated international pricing for domestically-produced oil, and by eliminating the fuel excise.
  • The Government must immediately regulate domestically manufactured agricultural chemicals, especially weedicides and herbicides, and subsidise imported agricultural chemicals, to January 2006 prices. These chemical costs have soared just like the cost of fertilizer and petrol. The hyperinflated costs of these three items, together with the slashing of water allocations in the Murray-Darling Basin, form the immediate chokehold stopping Australian farmers from making a dramatic contribution to the world food crisis.
  • The Government must guarantee a minimum floor price for the resulting harvests.
  • The Government and quasi-governmental agencies must immediately cease all “environmental flows” of water in the Murray-Darling Basin, and cease government purchases of water, which is driving the cost of it to $1000 per megalitre or more, this in one of the richest agricultural areas in the entire world, which provides more than 40% of our agricultural production, and over $20 billion per annum in agricultural exports.
  • The Government must take immediate steps to keep our pig, sheep and dairy industries alive and producing, by imposing a significant tariff on pork imports, by subsidising hay and other feed grain for our diminishing sheep flock, and by reinstating water allocations to farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin.
  • The Government must enact an immediate moratorium on all farm foreclosures, (as provided for in the CEC’s Homeowners and Bank Protection Bill ). It also must either provide or guarantee low-interest credit to primary producers to finance this year’s crop.

    There is no excuse for inaction on any of these points. Given that the budget surplus estimate for 2008-09 is $21.7 billion, the Government has more than adequate funds to implement all of the above. And, if it can create a $20 billion investment fund largely for the benefit of British mineral cartel giants Rio Tinto and BHP, as it has just done, it can certainly find the resources to feed starving human beings.
     

See www.cecaust.com.au for instructions on how you can mobilise with the above statement.

Irish Community Players perform Bernard Farrell Comedy

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I Do Not Like Thee Dr Fell

For the past 15 years, the Irish Community Players have presented Irish culture through theatre. They have performed a wide mix of Irish-written plays, from turn of the 20th Century dramas to contemporary comedies.

Tonight they are going back to the 1970’s, the days of jumpsuits, flares and spandex, to present an Irish take on American psychobabble, in the comedy, I Do Not Like Thee, Dr Fell, from the pen of acclaimed Irish playwright, Bernard Farrell. This is the second of Farrell’s plays staged by the Players, the first being another comedy, All in Favour Said No, which they presented in 2006.

This play is a perceptive and mind-expanding comedy that pokes fun at the concept of American therapy groups which thrived during the late 1960’s and for much of the 1970’s. Six participants are locked in a bare room with only a few chairs and beanbags to undertake a “therapy’
session, with no way out until morning. As the night progresses, the
personalities, phobias and relationships of the characters emerge and change – with hilarious results.

Bernard Farrell was born in Sandycove, County Dublin and now lives in Greystones, County Wicklow. He was awarded The Rooney Prize for Literature in 1980, The Sunday Tribune Comedy of the year Award for Forty Four Sycamore in 1992, and in 1998, Kevin’s Bed was nominated as best Irish Play in the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards. He is a member of Aosdána and in 1996/1997 was the Anglo Irish Bank Writer-In-Association with the Abbey Theatre. His work has been performed in almost all of Ireland’s leading theatres, and has been produced overseas in the USA, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Holland, Germany, New Zealand and Australia.

I Do Not Like Thee Dr Fell was Farrell’s first full-length play and it proved to be an instant success in Ireland. It premiered in 1979 on the Peacock Stage at the Abbey Theatre (Amharclann na Mainistreach) in Dublin and featured a young Liam Neeson in the cast,

Liam couldn’t make it to Canberra for this show but you’re sure to enjoy a night of comedy, confusion and bad fashion from a bygone age. You may learn something about yourself in the process – hopefully it’s something you’ll want to know…
 

Ready, set, go…Reading for a Reason in 2008 – are YOU ready?!

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MS Readathon 2008

MS Readathon June 1 – June 30

MS Australia is encouraging children to have fun reading to change the lives of Australians living with multiple sclerosis (MS) by taking part in the annual MS Readathon.

Each working day five people are diagnosed with MS, a disease that affects the body’s central nervous system producing symptoms such as blurred vision, loss of balance, pins and needles and speech difficulties. With no known cause or cure for MS, this annual event has become one of the largest fundraisers for MS Australia.

Each year the MS Readathon inspires children to help people living with MS by collecting sponsorship from family and friends for the books they read in the month of June. All participants who complete receive a Certificate and reading rewards.

Children are encouraged to race to register either via the MS Readathon website or a registration form from their local school or library. For more information, visit www.msreadathon.org.au or call the State/Territory office on 1300 677 323.

A huge thank you to all the individuals and organisations that have extended their support for the 2008 MS Readathon and its official launch in the ACT. We look forward to the continuing support of the local communities, teachers, friends and family members who will get behind an ACT student and sponsor them during the month of June to help to improve the quality of life for people living with MS and their families.

Thank you to all the wonderful Volunteers and Community Representatives who have extended their help in the program this year and are now preparing to motivate all our wonderful participants to Read for a Reason in 2008. They will be seen in your classrooms, assemblies and libraries across the ACT and its surrounding areas.

With the launch of the 2008 MS Readathon in ACT, the stars are ready to bright once again. Here is what some of our stars from 2007 have to say –

– Teagan Louise Norman from Wagga Wagga raised $1,130 and read 22 books in last year’s MS Readathon and she has already registered for 2008. Teagan says, "I did the MS Readathon because I want to help find a cure for people with MS like my mum and others around Australia. I also like reading so much I thought this was a good idea to show how much I like reading and raise some money for people living with MS. I am lucky to have a mum who even though she has MS tries to do the best she can to stay strong. I want to help other children whose mum or dad are less fortunate than my mum and are in a wheelchair."

– 2007 ACT Top Fundraiser, Cameron Cox raised $ 10,000 and read 32 books in last year’s MS Readathon and has already registered for 2008. Cameron says, “I like to help people and I like to read and doing the MS Readathon I get to do both. I also try to raise more money than I raised the year before, that is my goal this year." In support of the MS Readathon & its team, Cameron’s mum Dianne Cox adds, “I would like to thank all the people who work for the MS Readathon without you doing a lot of hard work the MS Readathon would not be a success it is. As a parent we get the enjoyable part of reading with our kids."

Thank you once again.

2007 was a fantastic year with the MS Readathon being able to help raise awareness and sponsorship for the 18,000 Australians living with multiple sclerosis, thanks to the hard work of community-minded children, parents and schools in ACT and its surrounding areas.

The challenge is set for 2008! The game’s afoot for 2008! Start preparing for an even bigger and better MS Readathon. We look forward to even greater participation to make an even bigger difference by Reading for a Reason in 2008 – are YOU ready?!

 

The kangaroo killing fields

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Small mob of Eastern Grey Kangaroos on former bnts site

On Friday 16/5/08 defence announced that they would go ahead of the unnecessary slaughter of our native Eastern Grey Kangaroos on the bnts site.

With the Indigenous people having a separate legislation to us, I asked Animal Liberation and Wildlife Protect, to ask the Indigenous people to immediately move into the bnts site to claim it, in order to save the site from housing development, and the death/removal of any of the Eastern Grey Kangaroos, a legal move that Wildlife Protect and the Indigenous people had been working on since the protest earlier this year.

Unfortunately everyone felt that there was plenty of time before defence would actually commence their cruel, illegal butchering of our native wildlife, so they didn’t ask them to act immediately.

Saturday 17/5/08 I met up with one of the indigenous people who asked me for some money for food, which they would need on the bnts site, which I handed over to him.  Again I warned that they needed to move in immediately, that we were running out of time, but unfortunately he said there was still plenty of time.

They were waiting for the overseas media to arrive.

On Monday 20/5/08, the unthinkable happened. 

I was informed that defence had begun their inhumane, unnecessary, illegal massacre of just under 100 Eastern Grey Kangaroos, that I had counted on the former bnts (belconnen naval transmission station) site on 2/5/08, when I visited and partially inspected the site, (I requested another site visit on 2/5/08).

First I watched the 6.30pm win News, and watched a kangaroo trampled to death in the chaos, while on the 7pm ABC news, the innocent dropping, fighting for their lives, trying to get up, dropping again, a joey, hopping after it’s mother, as it was shut out while she was trapped into the killing/anaesthetic pen with other innocent, gentle native Eastern Grey Kangaroos.

Kangaroos slipping, breaking their legs, their necks, colliding into one another, into the steel posts, as they jumped at the fences to try and escape the illegal herding of our native wildlife, with females herded into one corner, who were so stressed that they began pulling out their joeys from their pouches and throwing them out.

Kangaroos collapsing and dying from shock.

The anaesthetised for their cruel research had large, appearing to be too heavy, blue collars put around their necks, with the kangaroos, getting up, falling down, trying to get up again, too heavily sedated, seriously injuring themselves.

The incompetence, inexperienced, negligence was evident, none of these people involved in this darting, murder, experiments, knew what they were doing.

With the illegal slaughter, that should never have taken place in the first place, should have been abandoned immediately.

The rspca, who aren’t qualified anyway, and without expertise, left before the herding and darting began, and if the rspca were doing their job, they would never have allowed any of this cruel, illegal slaughter to commence, they should be standing beside us, refusing to allow this to happen.

I felt as though I had lost a part of my life, that was sucked out of me.  The tears swelled in my eyes.

What have these gentle native animals, who are not at all dangerous, done to these people, to deserve such undignified, disrespectful treatment.

The scene was that of an abattoir.

Monday 19/5/08 I phoned Peter Garrett’s office and was informed that the illegal massacre began on Saturday 17/5/08.

Each day I phoned Kevin Rudd’s office to try and stop the illegal, unnecessary slaughter of our native wildlife.

Finally on Tuesday 20/5/08, Kevin Rudds’office informed me that Kevin Rudd agrees with defence’s decision, with the person who answered the phone letting me know that she had a typed script in front of her that she was told to read out to callers.

I again contacted the indigenous contact and asked him if he had moved into the site yet, he said tomorrow, Wednesday.

Wednesday 21/5/08, 9am, Finally the Elders moved into the site with their fire, and flag, and claimed it.

The police were called, who surprisingly, arrested 6 Elders, removed them and their flag from the site, and took them away in their paddy wagon.

They have to back in court on 6/6/08.

Below in my emails to the police is more information on this, in assisting the police with several charges, they need to lay on the perpetrators.  I constantly phoned the police to request they arrest everyone involved in the illegal, inhumane, unnecessary, cold blooded murders of our native Eastern Grey Kangaroos.

The police continued to arrest the protesters, for sneezing in the wrong direction, in the attempt to weaken the protest, and to try to draw away the focus on the illegal cruelty that is going on inside, where the real criminals lie.

We had celebrities join in with the protest, Lynda Stoner, and Fiona

24-26/5/08, security guards, and possibly others, illegally driving around the enclosure, to illegally herd the kangaroos into the killing pens.

It appeared that all the joeys were cruelly bashed to death.

I am absolutely sickened, and extremely saddened by this local government and Kevin Rudd our newly elected Prime Minister’s mentality in this matter.

Kevin Rudd had the authority to stop this horrifying violence from now and into the future, that was happening virtually right in the middle of our city, but he refused to turn the ACT into an honest, native wildlife caring state.

It is intolerable, to be deliberately encouraging this type of violent, barbaric, cruel inhumane behaviour in our community, taking us back into the dark ages, rather than working together with WCG’s (Wildlife Carers Group) Proposal of our Kangaroo Park/Wildlife Sanctuary, to ensure that we begin behaving like a civilised, educated community, using our Kangaroo Park/Wildlife Sanctuary as an educational tool, etc, for our new generation, teaching them to care, nurture, respect, value, live among, and to love our unique native wildlife and surroundings.  Something to be extremely proud of.

This deliberate, unnecessary, illegal violence against our very own defenceless, non violent, peaceful, gentle native Eastern Grey Kangaroos, will live on and haunt this community for eternity, and indeed will damage Australia’s reputation.

Kevin Rudd really needs to do a quick re think about what he has allowed to happen here in the ACT, and end this type of violence in Canberra, and throughout the rest of Australia, before it’s too late for our native wildlife, environment.

Emails to Michael Phelan Chief of Police:

Further to this email, and our phone call, to assist you with fraud, inexperienced staff, incompetence, negligence, and cruel and unnecessary destruction of our native wildlife:
 

The government and defence claimed that they were saving the special native and protected grasslands, and wrongfully accused the kangaroos of killing it off, and thereby killing off other protected species.
 

The police have witnessed first hand, everyone driving all over this special native and protected grasslands, totally destroying/killing it, along with the other protected species.

  • Grossly Over exaggerating the kangaroo population.
  • using security guards to drive around the site in their cars to round up and herd our native Eastern Grey Kangaroos.
  • Failure to provide a safe, secure, soft, warm recovery area for anaesthetised kangaroos that would lead out into a safe enclosure once recovered from anaesthesia.
  • Failure to provide the proper care and treatment of injured, recovering kangaroos.
  • Kangaroos breaking their legs attempting to escape and left lying on the ground suffering, through herding and round up, and in holding pens.
  • kangaroos breaking their necks attempting to escape herding, roundup, holding pens
  • kangaroos collapsing and dying from shock through roundup, herding, holding pens
  • joeys bashed to death on vehicles, with other joeys apparently baited and poisoned, using green pellets, that were seen to eat it, and then collapse, unsure if it was to their death. 
  • kangaroos left traumatised, in shock, distressed, through roundup, herding, holding pens.
  • live kangaroos bagged and dumped on the trailer as dead, left suffering.
  • Blood test needed to be taken by WCG from a live joey for further investigation.
  • kangaroos severely injuring themselves attempting to escape holding pens, roundup, herding.
  • kangaroos colliding with one another in holding pens, roundup, herding.
  • Kangaroos deprived of water and food, with joeys left alone in a holding pen for 3 days, deprived of mothers milk, food, starved till cruelly slaughtered.

I expect immediate action and the immediate arrest and removal of these government bodies, including the rspca, and anyone/everyone else involved in this fraud, conspiracy, corruption, incompetence, negligence, and cruel and unnecessary butchering of our native wildlife flora and fauna, all based on lies.

Hi,

Further to my emails, to which I have not received any replies.

Firstly, may I point out that taxpayers pay your wage, to uphold the law.

No matter who breaks the law, it is your paid job, to arrest the correct people, rather than repeatedly arresting anyone who is attempting to stop the criminals/crime.

tams, contractors, the rspca, defence, etc. have broken the law:

  • Extreme animal cruelty
  • Expired licence
  • Fraudulent application of a licence to kill native Eastern Grey Kangaroos
  • trespassing

Until the courts determine who is the rightful owner of the former bnts site, you have enough charges against tams, contractors, the rspca, defence, etc, to arrest them, remove them from the site, hold/freeze the licence, and stop any further cruel unnecessary massacre of our native wildlife.

More information on cruel unnecessary kangaroo massacre that commenced 20/5/08 in canberra on the bnts site on www.geocities.com/wildlife_carers_group/, Click on the news panel.

SAVING AND CARING FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION, AND ALL OUR NATIVE WILDLIFE. More information on www.geocities.com/wildlife_carers_group/, Click on the news panel for news on our native Eastern Grey Kangaroos on the defence sites, the rehabilitation licence, and animal welfare issues, and some of the abbreviated local, national and international media releases, 13 May 2007, http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/plan-for-three-days-of-death/584324.html, 14 May 2007, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/14/world/main2799551.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_2799551, 20 May 2007, http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1927723.htm, http://www.spa.gov.sa/English/details.php?id=452929, http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/printer_1309191.php, 25 May 2007, http://www.abcscience.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/07/2182771.htm, 7 March 2008, www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com/kangaroo-archives25.html, 23 April 2007. More information on www.geocities.com/wildlife_carers_group/, Click on the news panel for news on our native Eastern Grey Kangaroos on the defence sites, the rehabilitation licence, and animal welfare issues.

Update – BNTS site visit on 2/5/08, More information on www.geocities.com/wildlife_carers_group/, Click on the news panel. We have succeeded in getting the stanhope government to back down for now, with some of the newly erected fences finally dismantled, although, on 25/4/08, upon inspecting the site, it appeared as though other fences have been erected, once again depriving some of our roos from water, and fresher feed, therefore, to secure the proposed Kangaroo Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, by WCG, please keep signing our petition and Click on http://gopetition.com/petitions/save-all-the-kangaroos.html to sign our petition individually, (23/5/08 – almost all cruelly and unnecessarily massacred, commenced 20/5/08) to save ALL our kangaroos PLEASE, and send it onto your family, friends, co workers, mailing list, etc. post it onto your websites, and (CURRENT) www.gopetition.com/petitions/reinstate-our-act-kangaroos.html  to reinstate our ACT native Eastern Grey Kangaroos onto the ACT Rehabilitation Licence for full term rehabilitation of sick, injured, orphaned native Eastern Grey Kangaroos, noting the fact that the ACT is the only state in Australia, that does not allow the full term rehabilitation of our sick, injured, orphaned Native Eastern Grey Kangaroos, which are acts of animal cruelty. PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD.

Thanks, have a fun day, and all the best for 2008 Nora
NORA PRESTON (began rehabilitating wildlife in the early ’80’s.)
President/Founder
WCG – WILDLIFE CARERS GROUP INC. – Founded in 2004.
PO Box 3509
WESTON CREEK ACT 2611
Mob: 0406 056 099
email: [email protected]  
www.geocities.com/wildlife_carers_group/, www.myspace.com/wcginc Check out www.myspace.com/wcginc and become a friend.

26 May 2008

Support WCG. WCG is an independent, non profit, non government community based charity providing animal/wildlife care, rescue/rehabilitation and is also an animal/wildlife welfare group, providing protection for our wildlife/animals, run solely by volunteers, with no government funding. WCG relies on donations from the public in order to carry out its work. If you would like to make a donation to WCG, please send a cheque/money order made payable to Wildlife Carers Group Inc. to PO Box 3509, Weston Creek. ACT. 2611. AUSTRALIA. or contact us by email [email protected] or mobile: 0406 056 099 to discuss other alternatives. Thank you for all your support.

Aims and Objectives: To promote the general welfare and continued survival of native fauna and flora as an essential element of the environment, and specifically to undertake the specialised care necessary for the rehabilitation of orphaned, sick and injured native birds and other animals, to promote public awareness of the need to conserve existing wildlife species, and an understanding of their particular habitat and feeding requirements.

Support WCG. Become a WCG MEMBER, VOLUNTEER, WILDLIFE CARER, download the m/ship form from www.geocities.com/wildlife_carers_group/ and join up. Thank you for all your support.

Disclaimer: WCG and the author do not assume or accept any responsibility and shall not be liable for the accuracy or appropriate application of the information contained in this letter/email.

 

Seeking human guinea pigs for councelling model comparison

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The Effects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Clients Following Training of Intern Psychologists

Master of Clinical Psychology (MClinPsych) students at the University of Canberra are conducting research and are seeking adults who are wanting psychological therapy/ counselling and who may also be interested in participating in this research project. The purpose of the project is to compare client outcomes of two therapeutic models, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). CBT is a well-accepted therapy for helping people through a number of difficulties including depression and anxiety. ACT is a newer therapy, but which also has been shown to help people through a number of difficulties, including anxiety, pain, and substance abuse. 

We are seeking participants who are over 18 years of age and are currently experiencing mild or moderate levels of depression, anxiety or other psychological, relationship or stress related problem, and who are interested in receiving 10 weeks of individual psychological therapy/ counselling at the University of Canberra Psychology Clinic. The therapy is conducted by Intern Psychologists who have completed 4 years of psychology, and who are enrolled in the Master of Clinical Psychology program at the University of Canberra and who are eligible for full or conditional registration with the ACT Psychology Registration Board. The Intern Psychologist will be supervised by an experienced Clinical Psychologist. The therapy will be offered at a cost of $15 to $35 per session (which is the normal fee for clients of the Psychology Clinic), and sessions usually run for 1 hour per week. The first two appointments will be assessment appointments to discuss the current difficulties being experienced. The following sessions will involve therapy using either CBT or ACT. For more information contact the University of Canberra Psychology Clinic on (02) 6201 2883 and cite this study. The researcher will contact you with more information regarding this study.
 

Canberra Battery World launches recycling program

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Battery World staff member Jared disposes of a used battery in the recycling bin.

Each year 8,000 tonnes of hazardous battery waste ends up in landfill.

In a bid to preserve the environment, Canberra Battery World has launched a recycling program to encourage the community to stop throwing out this hazardous waste in the normal garbage.

A recent Australian Bureau of Statistics report stated that batteries were the most common form of hazardous waste disposed of in Australian households and that 97 per cent disposed of batteries via their usual rubbish collection.

Canberra Battery World franchisee Mark Roberts said as society became more dependent on portable power, batteries were an increasing environmental problem and a long-term plan was needed to limit the amount of battery waste entering landfill.

"The chemicals in batteries are toxic and can contaminate soil and harm wildlife so we don’t want them going into landfill," Mr Roberts said.

"Most batteries can be recycled so we urge the community to be responsible and bring their used batteries to our store so they can be disposed of safely.

“Our store is conveniently located and has parking so it just a matter or quickly popping in and dumping old batteries in the purple-and-yellow Battery World recycling bins, rather than dumping them into the trash which will ultimately harm our environment.”

Canberra Battery World provides this service to consumers free of charge and not only sorts all batteries collected to ensure they go to the correct recycling plants but also arranges delivery of them to the plants.
 

Battery World is Australia’s largest and most comprehensive retail battery chain which has access to more than 10,000 batteries and accessories. Along with many other items, Battery World can power a range of household, industrial, recreational, marine, technical and cosmetic items and is the most convenient place for customers to obtain all their portable needs.
 

To locate your local Battery World store please go to www.batteryworld.com.au or call 13 17 60.
 

Rhonda Burchmore "Pure Imagination" tour Canberra Theatre Playhouse Fri 8th Aug

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Rhonda Burchmore

One of Australia’s most adored, multi-award winning female entertainers, Rhonda Burchmore takes her beautiful new album “Pure Imagination” on tour for the first time.

With 25 years experience covering the scope of TV, musical theatre, opera, film and cabaret, “Pure Imagination” the album is the closest performance to Rhonda’s heart.

Pure Imagination will take you on a magical journey of songs and stories about love, life, loss and fantasy, which showcases Rhonda’s multi- octave vocal ability, backed by simplistic jazz influenced, touching arrangements and string orchestration.

Classics such as ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, ‘Unchained Melody’, ‘Crying’, ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’, ‘If You Go Away’, ‘At Last’, ‘In My Daughters Eyes’, ‘Seventeen’, ‘Send in the Clowns’, and ‘The Way Were’ are just to name a few. Chosen for their importance and relevance at certain times of Rhonda’s career, every song has a meaning and place that will be revealed by Rhonda on stage around the country. This is definitely an up close and personal intimate tour.

We all know she’s got some of THE best legs in the business, but Pure Imagination is about something much deeper than that. It’s about a voice which sparkles, climbs, dips and ultimately has two-and-a-half decades of experience wrapped confidently around it.

The 2 hour show will feature songs from “Pure Imagination” as well as some of Rhonda’s well known performances from musicals and shows such as ‘Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend’, ‘Fever’, ‘Sway’ and ‘To Sir With Love’ and some fabulous tap dancing thrown in, all backed by the amazing Ray Alldridge Orchestra

“from Bette Midler to Burt Bacharach, from Anthony Newley to the inimitable Peggy Lee, Burchmore segued from soul to swing to croon and sensual jazz, backed by the stylish and impeccable accompaniment of the Ray Alldridge Orchestra. Burchmore knew how to vamp and weave and spell, and she fascinated the audience with anecdotes of her childhood, meeting her idol Midler and singing a Bacharach song to the man himself. Whether raising goosebumps with ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ or belting out her Midler version of ‘I’m A Woman’, the effervescent, electrifying Burchmore raised the bar with Pure Imagination and brought world-class entertainment to Canberra’s own world-class Teatro Vivaldi. Diamonds maybe a girl’s best friend, but Pure Imagination is pure gold under Burchmore’s artful alchemy, it doesn’t get better than this” – Peter Wilkins, Canberra Times April 08.

www.rhondaburchmore.com
 

 

FRI 8TH AUG CANBERRA THEATRE, www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au
$55 inc B/F, $50 inc B/F for students, seniors, pensioners discount
 

This Week In Folkus

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Folkus on Us

Hello and welcome again to your Weekly Wot’s Wot in Folkus…

ed.
Page 3 item in the Sydney Morning Herald today says, "In a move clearly aimed at young women, a new kind of lo-calorie Vodka Cruiser …. is being promoted in Sydney bottle shops with the offer of free condoms and the chance to win a free pole dancing kit." says it all really doesn’t it… the Thugby League driven, Alan Jones adoring, Morris Iemma controlled, cultural centre of the universe……….

INDEX
1. This Week in Folkus
2. Next Week in Folkus
3. Parish Notices
4. The Comics
5. Sport

1.

This Week In Folkus – MORE STUNNING FOLKIE QUALITY!!!
The Folkus Room, (operates out of The Serbian Cultural Centre & Club) 5 Heard St. MAWSON ACT .. eastern side of Southlands Centre and just off Athllon Drive.. CHECK OUT OUR NEW MAPS PAGE…. www.thefolkus.org.au

Friday 23 May – The Transylvaniacs In Concert … Free range, backyard-distilled folk music direct from the villages of Transylvania to the catacombs of Mawson…….. BE THERE!

2. …….
Next Week In Folkus … THREE BIG SHOWS and they’re all BEST quality to the core …BOOK NOW!
Friday 30 May .. King Curly and The Doomsday Piano with some friends of theirs; Jordan Best
Saturday 31 May .. Sat Arvo Jazz – 2pm to 5pm … floor spots plus Judi Pearce & The Arrangement
Sunday 1 June .. The Yearlings; Doctor Stovepipe

3.
Parish Notices……..

3a. The Folkus Room is offering annual subscriptions. … WE NEED YOU!

3b. The Canberra Irish Players are near to finishing rehearsals for another hit out ….Make sure you keep a night free for the Irish Community Players latest production of Bernard Farrell’s "therapeutic" comedy, "I Do Not Like Thee, Dr Fell", which will be on at the Canberra Irish Club, 6 Parkinson St, Weston, from 2nd to 5th June at 8 pm. Tickets cost $20 for Adults and $15 for Concessions, and bookings will be available at the club in a few week’s time on 62887451. Don’t miss the play that helped launch Liam Neeson’s career…

3c. Folkus on Blues is about to get happening. If you are a bluesy performer we would like to meet with you or your representative at The Folkus Room (Serbian Club, Heard St, Mawson) at midday on Saturday 31st May. If you can’t attend, or arrange a representative, and would like to be part of the Folkus initiative, please email me to that effect and I’ll see that your act is included. It would help too if band reps could come armed with a list of available dates – your diaries ladies and gentlemen.

3d. The notice with depth & C21…. Follow The Folkus into winter. The program just keeps getting better. We are also expecting to be able to present more jazz and blues/roots stuff as aficionados of those genres become more aware of the breadth of our charter.

4. … Hello John,
An old man was on his death bed, and wanted to be buried with his money. He called his priest, his doctor and his lawyer to his bedside. "Here’s $300,000 cash to be held by each of you. I trust you to put this in my coffin when I die so I can take all my money with me." At the funeral, each man put an envelope in the coffin. Riding away in a limousine, the priest suddenly broke into tears and confessed, "I only put $200,000 into the envelope because I needed $100,000 to repair the roof of the church." "Well, since we’re confiding in each other," said the doctor, "I only put $100,000 in the envelope because we needed a new X-ray machine for the pediatrics ward at the hospital which cost $200,000." The lawyer was aghast. "I’m ashamed of both of you," he exclaimed. "I want it known that when I put my envelope in that coffin, I enclosed my personal cheque for the full $300,000."

Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
if you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"                          Thomas Parke D’Invilliers .. (F Scott Fitzgerald)

Stay Well & Truly Silly Gentle Folk

Bill Arnett
The Folkus Room
Canberra’s Acoustic Preference
61-2-62627265
0407 434 469       www.thefolkus.org.au
"No Strangers Come Here – Just Friends We Have Not Yet Met"

Mosaic Workshop

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Roman Mosaic

 

 

Roman Replica Mosaic Workshop

All Welcome, suited to beginners and those with some mosaic experience

 

About this workshop:

Sydney based mosaic artist, Christina Macaulay, will guide participants through some of the traditional laying techniques to create a replica of a segment of a roman mosaic, 25cm square. A choice of 5 roman mosaic templates will be provided. The method we will learn is a traditional laying technique as taught by the Mosaic School in Ravenna, Italy.

The material we work with is unglazed porcelain tile which offers a similar palette to the marble used in roman mosaics of the 2nd and 3rd century. Christina will cover a range of mosaic methods, but the workshop will focus on the laying style that achieves the look of the traditional mosaics of the early Roman period. This course provides a solid foundation in design and techniques which will enable participants to continue on with more ambitious mosaic projects at home.You will also be provided with information about materials used in both traditional and contemporary mosaic works, adhesives suited to specific situations, and some basic rules about mosaic design and laying styles.We will also cover setting up a home workshop and occupational health and safety issues that relate to mosaic practice. Course notes will be provided.
 

About your Tutor:

Christina Macaulay is a Sydney mosaic artist based at the Lennox St. Studios in Newtown. Christina trained in mosaic at the Ravenna School in Italy and with Emma Biggs in London. She teaches at her Newtown Studio and the Mosman Community College and has taught residential courses at the MacGregor Summer and Winter Schools. In Spring 2008 she will teach at the Grafton Artfest. Christina has completed several commissions for private clients in Sydney and Canberra and exhibits her work locally. She is a skilled tutor who enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge and skills in this ancient art form with her students.

Where: Strathnairn Arts Centre HOLT ACT
When: Sat. 2ND & Sun. 3RD AUGUST

Cost: $275 per person (Includes tuition, all materials, grouts, adhesive, backing board and use of tools)

For enrolment details please contact Christina on
P:02 9557 9550, M: 0403 988 545 or E: [email protected]
 

www.studiomosaico.com.au

Attracting tourists from India to Victoria

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Jennifer Hutchison, CEO of Yarra Valley and Dandenongs Marketing

Attracting tourists from India to Victoria

By Rama Gaind

Jennifer Hutchison, as the CEO of Yarra Valley and Dandenongs Marketing, takes pride in selling the many tourism attributes of this Victorian region to the national and overseas market.
In particular, she has been investigating market strategies involved in attracting international tourists.
Speaking of the numerous ways in which this could be done, Ms Hutchison’s eagerness could not be curtailed. A goodwill mission to China and Hong Kong has proved successful, with a trip to India set to reap dividends in the very near future.
Ms Hutchison is quick to point out that tangible inroads are also being made into the Indian market by tourist offices in Sydney, Gold Coast, Port Douglas and Port Stephens.
The Yarra Valley and the Dandenongs region gets around 26% of the international visitors that come to Melbourne.
“We know that the international percentage is higher than we can measure,” she said. “Yarra Valley and the Dandenongs is as big as Switzerland. However, Dandenong is not as sophisticated as the Yarra Valley.”
About an hour’s drive out of Melbourne, venturing into this region is an experience that should not be overlooked.
Statistics show that for the year ending December 2007, there were almost 1.5 million overnight visitors to Victoria, with 325,161 visiting regional Victoria. An estimated 26,718 people visited the Yarra Valley and the Dandenongs, which represents annual average growth of 8%.
Ms Hutchison’s enthusiasm for future tourism growth cannot be contained as she elaborated on her visit to India last year as part of a tourism delegation.
She pointed out that 30 million Indians travelled outside India every year, with visitor expenditure from India being AUD$232 on trips to Australia during 2004.
Official statistics reveal that for the year ended December 2007, tourists from India to Victoria had increased by 13.8%. About 32,375 visitors of Indian origin visited Victoria – an increase of 10.8%. This trend is likely to increase with forecasts of almost 135,000 in 2016, a jump of over 16%.
Ms Hutchison recalled fond memories of her short stay in India when crucial meetings were held with tourism representatives in Mumbai, New Delhi and Jaipur.
“First stop was in Mumbai where we met with 90 travel agents and told them about Dandenong, penguins on Phillip Island and the Yarra Valley,” Ms Hutchison said.
“After a little hesitancy in grasping the geographical standing of the Dandenongs, it was referred to as Melbourne’s hill station,” she said. “I am confident that it will lead to a good yield with the honeymoon and incentive market. “
In the capital of New Delhi, it was a day of presentations with Thomas Cook and Cox and Kings, a company which celebrates 250 years in 2008.
“Then it was on to Jaipur for six days for a trade show in which 40 different Australian tour operators and 100 agents from all over Australia. I was very happy with the trade mission. There was excellent input by representatives of the trade industry, who worked sincerely and were enthusiastic about learning more.
“I’m excited about the possibilities for Australia and have high aspirations … I was amazed at the burgeoning wine industry in India, cool climate wines that are soft on the palate.”
While in India, she didn’t let the opportunity go by without visiting Udaipur with her husband. She stayed at Fateh Prakash Palace which is classified as a Grand Heritage Palace. It was a soothing break from the rigours of city life with picturesque views of Lake Pichola, Jagmandir Island Palace, Lake Palace and the Sajjangarh Fort.
Away from the hectic work schedule, Ms Hutchison got caught up with the cricketmania sweeping the country as she backed the winners when India won the 20-20 cricket and it was a “fascinating experience” to be in the crowd when India won against Pakistan.
“The crowd was happy to learn that we were Australian.“