Tempe House - then and now (Tempe House Tour Part 8)

To finish this series about Tempe House I was keen to take some photos from similar vantage points from which 19th century artists depicted it. These were taken from Kendrick Park in Tempe, across the Cooks River.

Many people and heritage organisations argue that the Wolli Creek development has ruined the context and setting of Tempe House, and I agree. Others say that, sadly, it was the only way the house could be preserved at all. That is probably true too. In the 1990s the state government was lobbied to buy the site and restore the house, as the only one of its architect, Verge, still in its original setting, with no bulk behind. They declined.

I think it is such a shame that a development of this size and bulk was presented as the only option. Sadly, in Sydney, developers are allowed to extract every cent they can. Promises were also made that there would be public access, including the parkland sweeping down to the river, but it has never been open as far as I know, and the house, while beautifully restored by renowned heritage architectures is sitting unused and inaccessible (other than to curious bloggers who scramble up rock faces, scale walls and straddle fences...and to the owners of the apartments who have private access through electronic codes on gates.)

Postscript: This afternoon I went into the city to see an exhibition at the Museum of Sydney called Lost Gardens of Sydney. The garden of Tempe House is one of those featured.

Below: Taken 18 Sep 2008

Below: Cooks River Tempe House by Conrad Martens, 1838

Below: 18 September 2008

Below: Tempe House by Samuel Elyard, 1836
Below: Cooks River with Tempe House by James Clarke. I couldn't get a similar vantage point because the railway bridge now runs at the right, and the river is obscured by trees in the park

Costa Living

NSW public sector workers, including the fire brigade, are looking for pay increases more than what the state treasurer and givernment is offering - 2.5%. Inflation is currently over 4%, so it would mean an effective pay cut.

The name of the Treasuer is Michael Costa, so this banner on the side of the fire engine is a "cost of living" pun on his name.

Gathering support

Some Falun Gong practiotioners were out and about garnering support from the Catholic World Youth Day participants recently. With some success as you can see above!

What I Learned Today

According to the young man on the megaphone:

1. Taxpayers pay teachers' salaries. (True: for public school teachers)
2. 90% of taxes paid in Australia are paid by Liberal Party* voters (manifest nonsense, and one would hope for better from someone with ambitions to be a politician in this country)
3. Ergo, teachers who belong to the teachers' union and who don't support the Liberal Party are shooting themselves in the foot.

* The Liberal Party in Australia is the conservative party. These 12 or so young people are members of the Young Liberals, and they staged a "demonstration" today outside the building of the public school teachers' union. It was very funny. Their megaphone work needs a little work, and their grasp of facts helps one understand why their party is not in government nationally, or in a single state! But they were very polite.

Democracy was served

In primary school and church halls all over Australia today, the people voted. (And by the way, it's compulsory to vote - there are fines if you don't turn up and get your name marked off the roll).

Later: In light of gmg's comments (inside), I add that there were, if not fireworks, whoops and hollers of joy, and air punching delerium emanating from the Sydney Daily Photo household at the outcome, it must only have been because private fireworks are banned in NSW! !

What the people decided was that it's all over for the bloke below as Prime Minister. John Howard's coalition government was resoundingly defeated, and he looks like losing his own seat in parliament. He faced a very strong challenge from a former ABC journalist, Maxine McKew, of the Labor Party. At close of counting tonight she is just ahead. This would make him only the second Prime Minister in Australian history to lose his own seat.
And it's all beginning for Kevin Rudd, the leader of the Australian Labor Party, who will be the next Prime Minister. On many issues, there is not much difference between Rudd and Howard. But, there are also significant, election defining differences. Rudd has promised to ratify the Kyoto Treaty on climate change, withdraw combat troops from Iraq, and roll back the extremely unpopular Industrial Relations laws.

Peaceful protest

A message for our Prime Minister, John Howard. Tomorrow is the federal election. John Howard is, according to the polls, fighting for his own political survival as much as the government overall. Tomorrow evening should reveal all. (Mind you, Howard is not really able to influence whether a paricular school stays open or not - that is the decision of the state government; but there's nothing like an election to focus protest.)

Mural, Trades Hall, Sydney

Yesterday, October 1st was a public holiday in NSW for Labour Day. It celebrates the introduction of the 8 hour working day (ha!) , won first by striking masons at Holy Trinity Church, in Millers Point, in October 1855. The major success came in 1856 in Melbourne, where the 8 hour day was won across the building trades.The first Monday in October holiday was gazetted across all NSW in 1963, not without controversy in areas like Newcastle, which had a strong May Day tradition. Read more about Newcastle here. The ACT and South Australia share the NSW Labour Day date; in Victoria, it's the 2nd Monday in March, as well as in Tasmania, where it's called eight Hour Day; in Western Australia, it's the 1st Mon in March. Queensland and the Northern Territory have their Labour Day holiday on the 1st Monday of May, the traditional European day of celebration.

PS - for pedants, "Labour" is sometimes spelled the 'American' way - Labor - in Australia, because that was the spelling adopted by the Australian Labor Party in 1912. According to the ALP's own history, it was because of the influence of the American labor movement.

Guest Workers In Australia

Update 18 Dec 2007: It was reported in today's Sydney Morning Herald that Mr Gong and Mr Huang reached a settlement with their former employer and will now be free to return to their families in China, with financial security. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but were believed to cover all of what they were owed.

Meet Mr Huang Jianzhing, and behind to the right Mr Gong Wei.

They each paid $ 12 000 to a recruitment agent in China to come to work in Australia under the Australian government's 457 workers' visa program. This allows Australian companies to employ overseas workers for a limited period of time. Their families remain in China. Like many guest workers, they were lead to believe they would be paid a fair wage, and would be able to help their families at home.

Mr Huang and Mr Gong told us through the translator that when they arrived in Australia they were paid $50 a week, and forced to work up to 17 hours straight, in sometimes dangerous conditions. They are currently homeless, having been fired when they complained.

The Construction Union is housing them and assisting them with a legal case to try to cover back pay.

Other workers facing a similar situation have been deported before they can attempt to get back pay owed.

A rally was held today outside the Sydney office of Australian prime Minister, John Howard, to protest about the exploitation of these and other workers like them.

Why don't you just say what you mean?

Update on the APEC fence and the Police State (see entry from 31 August): today German tourists in Sydney were forced by police to destroy their pictures. I can't believe this is the society I live in.

I am waiting for the knock on the door telling me to delete my blog entry, and if it comes, my response will be similar to that seen on the sign here. So, if you don;t see me for a few days....

From the Daily Telegraph:

"REQUIRING tourists to delete happy snaps of Sydney's APEC security fence may be "over the top" but it is necessary, NSW Transport Minister John Watkins said.
He was responding today to news reports that three German tourists were asked by police to delete digital photographs of the newly built fence, which stretches five kilometres through Sydney's CBD.
He said the move was part of the efforts to ensure there was no breach during the major protests expected later this week.
"There is some concern amongst police that some of those protesters who are coming ... will look for weak points in the fence," Mr Watkins told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"And that one of the things they are doing is a recce of the fence to find where they can attack it. "

Theme Day - Street signs

In a way, a contiuation of yesterday's theme for me. See those loud speakers on the post near the street sign? They have recently appeared around central Sydney, and are touted as "public information" and "security" devices, enabling public broadcast of warnings, crowd instructions etc. in the case of terrorist attack or emergency.

I can't wait for Soviet- style military marching music, or Maoist or Dear Leader propaganda lectures to begin...

Taken on the corner of Druitt and George Sts outside Sydney Town Hall.

By the way, it's the first day of Spring here today.

All these Daily City Photo Bloggers have signed up to particpate in the theme day.http://www.twincitiesdailyphoto.com - Cleveland (OH), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - Boston (MA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Mainz, Germany - Evry, France - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Nottingham, UK - Toulouse, France - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Manila, Philippines - Mumbai, India - Montpellier, France - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Moscow, Russia - Paris, France - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Austin (TX), USA - Lyon, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Hyde, UK - Hong Kong, China - Joplin (MO), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Chandler (AZ), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Arlington (VA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Villigen, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - San Diego (CA), USA - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Nelson, New Zealand - Quincy (MA), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Bend (OR), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - New Orleans (LA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Detroit (MI), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Selma (AL), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Arradon, France - Sheki, Azerbaijan - New York City (NY), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Tenerife, Spain - Auckland, New Zealand - Forks (WA), USA - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Chateaubriant, France - Madison (WI), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Ajaccio, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Budapest, Hungary - Lyon, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Le Guilvinec, France - River Falls (WI), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Naples (FL), USA - London, UK - La Antigua, Guatemala - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Trujillo, Peru - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Oslo, Norway - Grenoble, France - Shanghai, China - Toronto (ON), Canada - Durban, South Africa - Zurich, Switzerland - Cape Town, South Africa - Singapore, Singapore - Torino, Italy

Wrapping democracy in a 3m high fence

Dubbed "The Great Wall of Sydney", a 5 kilometre long fence is being built around parts of central Sydney in readiness for hosting leaders of 21 countries around the Pacific rim (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum: APEC) and 6000 assorted flunkies, hangers-on and groupies and a 1500 strong media pack.

The trouble is one leader, at record levels of unpopularity amongst his own people, is arriving with an entourage which includes 20 motorcade vehicles, back up decoy motorcade, sniffer dogs, secret service agents . . .This leader recently added $4 million to the tab for security by announcing he'd be arriving two days early (and leaving early- not staying for the main leaders' meeting).

Personally I think the fence is a great idea for containing the APECers and ensuring we citizens never have to encounter this most unwelcome visitor. An immigration detention centre (Baxter) in the middle of the desert would have been a more suitable venue.

Many Sydney people are, to put it mildly, pissed off. Apart from the fence there is an "exclusion zone", which includes the area around the Opera House and Botanic Gardens, and several streets. Roads will be blocked off at certain times. One-third of the NSW police force will be deployed. We have brand new water cannon, buses for holding demonstrator/prisoners, and they're clearing jails of weekend detainees to imprison demonstrators who step outside the strict rules.

All because of a leader who has "led" the "free world" into a mad war to protect "democracy". So our democratic freedoms are wrapped up in a 3m high fence.

Domestic

Today I've flown north of Sydney to Coffs harbour, for work. I caught the train to the airport. It's a sparkling new station, completely under-utilised. The reason? It was built as a public-private partnership and costs an exorbitant amount to get off at the station. While the railway line and trains are just a part of the public transport system, the "station access fee" provides a premium payment for the private station owners. If there are more than one of you travelling, it is cheaper to take a taxi. Rather than encouraging people to take the train, it's a real disincentive.

Sydney has several highly unpopular pieces of public-private partnership infrastructure, includign many toll roads and tunnels. All because governments refuse to invest directly for the future, and the obsession with a "private is better" ideology. They have been shown over and over again to be very unpopular and inefficient when they collapse and the government has to buy them out anyway.

I live only two stations from the airport, and when I travel alone for work it is about the same price as a taxi to catch the train. I actually prefer it.

Do you have PPPs in your part of the world? What is public reaction?