Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of the activities in which we were involved during May 2019.
The most important event for us during the month was the Australian General Election held on 18 May 2019. All the polls predicted that the Liberal/National Coalition, which had been in power for six years, would lose to the Australian Labor Party (ALP). But the Coalition was returned and actually gained a couple of seats which will give it a majority in the House of Representatives (most likely 78 Coalition, 67 Labor, 1 Green, 5 Others). The Senate looks like being 35 Coalition, 26 Labor, 9 Greens, 6 Others.
Many commentators agreed when PM Scott Morrison called it a "miracle victory". He conducted a clever, albeit negative, campaign. In the end voters decided to stay with "the devil they knew."
Bill Shorten immediately stepped down as leader of the ALP; the new leader is Anthony Albanese.
Gladys Liu (Liberal) won Chisholm - the first Chinese-Australian in the HoR.
In other news:
The US unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, the lowest for 30 years.
A Berkshire Hathaway share is worth US$327,765. Warren Buffett, genius.
Lionel Messi scored his 600th goal; what a champion!
In the Champions League semifinals, Liverpool 4 beat Barcelona 0 and Tottenham 3 beat Ajax 2. Two British teams in the final.
Here are photos of some of the activities in which we participated during May 2019.
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| Book launch at the Australian National University, about Sir Robert Gordon Menzies (1894 - 1978). He was Prime Minister twice, 1939 - 41 (as Leader of the United Australia Party) and 1949 - 66 (as Leader of the Liberal Party which he founded in 1944); a remarkable 18 years and 164 days. |
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| Author Tony Bramston was interviewed by Paul Kelly, a well-known and respected journalist. It was interesting to get insights into Australia's longest serving PM. Vera came along, and really enjoyed the discussion. |
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| We had not seen Jen, Tom & the boys since September so flew up to Brisbane for a few days. From left: Tom, Sid (10), Kurt (14), and Nate (12) watching footy on TV. |
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| Nate's bedroom was a sight to behold! Typical 12 year old boy? |
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| Kurt (almost 14) has shot up and is now taller than Vera. |
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| Sid (10) got an Award at Hilder Road Primary School. |
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| We attended the ceremony/assembly where Sid received his Award. |
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| Kurt and Nate attend Marist College Ashgrove; on Saturday we all went to watch them play rugby for their respective school teams. |
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| Kurt in action; he is a second row forward. Marist colours are blue & gold stripes. |
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| Jen and Sid watching Kurt's game on the Main Oval. |
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| Sid's hero! |
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| It bucketed down that afternoon - Brisbane hasn't had much rain in recent months so this was very welcome. |
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| The boys enjoying gelato ice cream. |
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| The kitchen / family room - here Nate wants to "shake hands" with their Rhodesian Ridgeback called "Ketut". |
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| On Sunday we went to GPS and watched Nate and Sid play rugby. Sid is #13 (winger). |
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| Nate #9 plays half-back (and captain for this game). Here he is waiting for the ball as the forwards contest a line-out. It was a trial match against the #1 GPS team in their age group. Nate's team tried hard but the others were too good. |
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| Sunday Yum-Cha brunch. |
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| On their front balcony. From left: Sid (with Ketut); Nate; Kurt; Vera & me. Good kids! One of life's joys is to see our grandkids happy and healthy and growing and maturing in loving environment. |
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| My cousin's grandson, Claudius Mueller von Saalfeld 19 years old, stayed with us for a few days. He followed his brother, Moritz, here on a "work & holiday" visa. Many interesting stories of his adventures / experiences in Australia in the last 10 months. Soon he will return to Germany, and prepare for university in September. |
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| I took Claudius to the Australian War Memorial, the most impressive museum in Canberra. He was surprised that Australia, which suffered a relatively-small total of 100,000 dead in the two World Wars would build such a huge war memorial. |
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| We attended the "Last Post" ceremony which is held at the closing of the AWM every evening, 4.45 - 5pm. An individual 'digger' from WW2 is remember, his life described and his ancestors are invited to lay wreaths. Quite a moving ceremony. |
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| Claudius' brother, Moritz, drove from Melbourne (600 km) to pick him up. We went to Weston Park, in the middle of Canberra, to see some kangaroos - this is not a zoo, they are wild animals but obviously quite used to seeing people. |
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| A walk through a small forest in Weston Park; autumn leaves on the ground. |
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| Farewell dinner for the Germans, from left: Claudius, Aniko, Vera, me, Peter, Angie (visiting from Narooma), and Moritz. Claudius will have 2 weeks in Melbourne and then return to Germany via Nepal. Moritz has been in Australia for 13 months, and seems to have fallen in love with the place. He is a car mechanic (BMW apprenticeship) and has found a job he likes in Melbourne so I'm sure we will see more of him. |
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| The General Election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019. The leaders of the two major parties were Scott Morrison, leader of the Liberal Party and current Prime Minister, and Bill Shorten, leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the Opposition. |
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| Posters for the Green Party candidate at a Polling Station. Although Canberra is traditionally a Labor town, the Greens are well supported. The three HoR electorates (Canberra, Fenner and Bean), were all won by Labor candidates by big margins. The two Senate positions are split, one Labor (Katy Gallagher) one Liberal (Zed Seselja). |
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| ALP propaganda. |
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| A "How to Vote" card from the ALP, suggesting their supporters how to vote. Australia has preferential voting for the House of Representatives so it is important to fill in all the boxes according to one's preferences. |
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| Telopea High School, near where we live, was a Polling Station for the election. The photo shows people lining up to go inside to vote; there was a friendly atmosphere while everyone participated in the democratic process. Australia is one of the few countries which has compulsory voting (introduced in 1924) - all citizens 18 years and older must register on the Electoral Roll and must vote. People who don't vote will pay a fine unless they have a good excuse; consequently the turnout rate has usually been around 95%. Shock, horror in this election early indications are that the turnout rate was about 91% - apparently many young people didn't bother to vote - could it be time to increase the fine which is only $20? |
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| Aussie citizens marking their ballot papers. |
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| A band played music to entertain people as they lined up to enter this Polling Station. Barbeque sausages and steak sandwiches are a common feature of Polling Stations - good opportunity for service clubs like P & C organisations or Rotary to raise money. |
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| The following photos show some of the newspaper headlines on Sunday, the day following the election. The ALP and Bill Shorten had been confident of winning, and were devastated by the result. |
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| Scott Morrison's Liberal/National Coalition was returned for another 3 years. |
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| Scott Morrison is a devote Christian; he called the election a "Miracle Win". |
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| Raden Dunbar wishing his wife Iis "happy birthday". Their daughter Alexandra is looking on. |
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| Some of the ladies at Iis birthday party. The women partied while the men watched the election results come in on TV. By 8pm it was obvious that Labor would not win and that the Coalition would be returned with a small gain of two seats which was enough to form government in their own right. |
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| On Sunday 19 May the Australia China Friendship Society organised a trip to Braidwood, a town about 100 km east of Canberra. 24 members participated. Many Chinese came to this district in the 1860s during the gold rush. |
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| Historian John Stahel showed us around the Braidwood Museum. This is the wedding dress worn by Mary Nomchong when she married in 1877. |
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| Quong Tart was a leader of the Chinese community in Braidwood. He later opened a number of tea salons on Sydney. |
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| No, your eyes are not playing tricks. Mick Jagger, of Rolling Stones fame, tried his hand at acting. He starred as Ned Kelly (Australia's most infamous outlaw) in the film released in 1970. It was shot around Braidwood. The film was not a success - Jagger was definitely a better singer than actor. |
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| The famous metal body-armour worn by Mick Jagger as Ned Kelly. |
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| The special coach which transported gold from the diggings to the bank in Braidwood. It was imported from New York and incorporated a reinforced "strong box" under the seat to hold the newly-mined gold. |
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| After the Museum we had lunch and then visited Millpond Farm, 12 kms south of Braidwood. This was the site of a large Chinese miners camp during the gold rush period. The current owner, Antony Davies, showed us the restored flour mill which was built in 1859 and now houses the Wheatfield Gallery. Antony is the proud owner of several beautifully reconditioned antique cars and carriages. |
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| Our third and final stop was Bedervale House, a heritage-listed colonial homestead completed in 1842 for a wealthy grazier. |
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| Sonia Horan, the current owner, led a tour of Bedervale House. Many of the furnishings are original. We were lucky with the weather - a lovely autumn day (the following week winter arrived, and temperatures plummeted). |
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| I attended a discussion of this paper which was a joint publication by the Asian Bureau of Economic Research (ANU) and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing. It will become increasingly difficult getting the balance right between our biggest trade partner (China) and our traditional strategic ally and mentor (USA). |
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| The panel which discussed the paper "Getting the Aust-China relationship right", from left: Gordon de Brouwer; Prof Huang Yi Ping; Yuan Yan Wei; Amy King; Shiro Armstrong; and Prof Peter Drysdale. (Prof Drysdale was an expert on the Japanese economy 40 years ago). |
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| We tried out Canberra's new light rail which runs from Civic to Gunghalin. Smooth and comfortable. Worth the huge cost? - hope so - we'll have to wait and see (Canberrans love cars). |
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| Another Super Rugby match in Canberra. The Brumbies beast the Pretoria Bulls 22 - 10; but a disappointing crowd of only 6,300. We are now at the top of the Australian Conference. |
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| We did the "Mystery Tour" in Old Parliament House. |
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| One of the wonderful old signs in Old Parliament House - knitting was banned!!! |
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| There are two Carillons in Australia, one here in Canberra and the other at Sydney University. Our Carillon is 50 m high, 3 towers, 55 bells. |
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| The Canberra Carillon was opened on 15 August 1969 (coincidentally my 23rd birthday). |
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| Peter Bray, a student at the ANU School of Music, demonstrated playing the Carillon. You use your fists to hit the (white) keys, not fingers, and your feet play the black keys. |
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| Peter Bray with some of the bells. The smallest bell is above his head, and he is facing the largest bell. A good tour - we pass the Carillon often, and now we know much more about its origins and workings. |
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| On our way back to the car we saw this man who had just caught a 2.5kg carp. They are regarded as a pest as they replaced native fish, and not good eating - but in Asia they are popular food, often deep-fried. |
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| Our neighbours, Ann & Fergus Nelson, are recently retired and have decided to live in Italy for a few years. How good is that?! Fergus also has an Irish passport (through his grandfather) and Ann has a Polish passport, so they can reside and work in the EU. They had farewell-drinks at an indoor ski facility called VertiKal. |
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| The "ski slopes" comprise special fabric which is on a continuous loop. Doesn't look like much, but Fergus says it is a great way to improve technique and snow fitness. |
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| Monday 27 May is a public holiday in Canberra to celebrate Reconciliation Day (to foster closer relations with Australia's indigenous population). A number of activities were planned around Canberra, but it was a freezing day (max temp 8C and windy). We attended a showing of the documentary "Gurrumul" which was screened at Parliament House. It is the story of blind Indigenous artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (1971 - 2017), one of Australia's most important and acclaimed voices, whose music took inspiration from his country in North East Arnhem Land (he sang in his native Yolngu language). |
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| A model of Parliament House made of Lego. |
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| Vera next to a statue of Queen Elizabeth which was unveiled at the opening of APH in 1988. |
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I was a participant in a U3A course on "Managing your Superannuation" (March - May 2019), run by Carol Flynn. She is very knowledgeable about shares and other forms of investment and an excellent communicator. Turns out we knew each other from Austrade days, 25 years ago.
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| I was on a committee which organised a U3A course called "Why is it so?" which ran from 7 March until 30 May 2019. We arranged a number of good speakers as shown in the program. We are blessed in Canberra with a great many clever people who are willing and able to share their expertise with others. With the Superannuation and WIIS courses now completed it feels a bit strange - so much free time - will have to find replacements. |
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The most prominent speaker in the WIIS course was Maj Gen The Hon Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC. He had a distinguished military career, then was Governor of Western Australia, and finally Governor General of Australia 2003 - 2008. He was an excellent speaker and raconteur.
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Australia's 23rd Prime Minister (1983 - 91), Bob Hawke, died aged 89. He was a Rhodes Scholar, trade union leader, and won 4 general elections. A larrikin, but much loved / admired.
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| Former PM Bob Hawke, on the steps of Old Parliament House. An Australian treasure! |
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Vera continues her good recovery; she is at the gym and her hair is growing back. In a month we will go overseas, our first big trip since Bali last September.
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My brother arrived last night, will be with us for a week. Good to catch up.
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That's it for this post.
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera Olah and Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Friday 31 May 2019
