Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of our activities during the month of October 2022.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during October 2022.
Some news items which caught my eye in October 2022.
First, here are photos of some of our activities during october 2022.
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| Following advice that Capital Golf Course would close, Brian Edwards, Bill Nelson and I took out memberships of the Royal Military College Golf Course (aka Duntroon). It's a nice little course, about 5 km from home. Basically 9 holes (you play the second 9 to slightly different greens). While not as big or challenging as Capital, the maintenance here is much better, the bunkers are 'real', and it has reasonable club facilities. |
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| The Golf Course has nice sitting areas, inside and outside, for players. |
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| A group teeing off on the 1st (and 10th) hole. |
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| My niece, Sasha and her kids Bonnie and Oscar, stayed with us for a couple of days during the school break. Boonie is a talented dancer - amazing flexibility as shown here. Oscar is an aspiring soccer player and has made the Cronulla District team. |
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| We were in Sydney for Niniek's birthday and Andrew got 3 tickets (Andrew, Eddie and me) to attend the opening game of the A League Soccer Season. Sydney FC played last year's winner Melbourne Victory. The game was played at the newly reconstructed ($800M!) Sydney Football Stadium in Moore Park. It is a wonderful stadium for watching Soccer, Rugby Union and Rugby League. Andrew bought a life-membership. |
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| The weather was pretty miserable, but we had good under-cover seats. The skill level of the players was impressive, especially given the wet conditions. Melbourne ended up winning an entertaining game 3 - 2. |
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| Eddie plays in an indoor soccer competition on Sunday mornings in Marrickville. His team has won a few games, but they were soundly beaten this time. |
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| Niniek's birthday. She invited 30 people for lunch at Caroline and Andrew's home in Queens Park. The occasion was also a "Sukuran", a traditional Indonesian celebration to bless a new home. |
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| Delicious Indonesian food - yummy!!! |
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| Caroline got the "apex" of the rice, as the owner of the new home. Everyone was most impressed by the house, and expressed best wishes for the Olah family for the future. |
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| Some of the guests - calling the birthday girl to cut the cake for dessert. |
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| Vera attends a ukulele group on Tuesday mornings; the coordinator is Chris van Reyk (left side of photo). |
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| The spillway of Scrivener Dam was "blasting" after all the rain we have had. Actually, October was the wettest October ever in Canberra. |
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| Picnic by AIFA (Aust Indonesian Families Association). A great bunch of people. |
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| We visited Floriade, Canberra's annual Spring flower festival. It was great to have Floriade back after a 2 year hiatus due to Covid. Our 49th wedding anniversary was in a few days. |
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| Tulips galore; wonderful! |
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| Woden Valley celebrated it's 60th anniversary. Hughes was the first suburb to be developed in this area (1962), followed by Curtin (where we lived from 1996 - 2011. There were two dozen suburbs (basically Inner North and Inner South) when I arrived in Canberra in 1964 - there are now 116 (population of 80,000 then, 450,000 now)! |
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| I am a volunteer English tutor for migrants on Monday mornings. This time the group made a visit to the National Gallery. |
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| We are fans of Leo Joseph who plays blues piano. He celebrated his 64th birthday at the JazzBar in Yass which we attended toether with Sue and Frank Tavares. |
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| We saw this movie which was purportedly set in Bali ("Paradise", where Vera grew up) although it was actually filmed in Queensland. The other reason for seeing it was that a friend, Eva Barry, had a role. The two big Hollywood stars, Jennifer Roberts and George Clooney, stole the show. They had gone through an acrimonious divorce years before, and were thrown together in a crisis involving their daughter. In the end they realised that they still had feelings for each other. A rom-com, or chick flick, 4 stars out of 10. |
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| Almost a year after his death, the Department of Defence organised a Memorial Service for our good friend Paul Barratt. Admiral (Ret'd) Chris Barrie gave a moving eulogy. Paul was certainly one of the good guys! |
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| I rarely wear a coat and tie these days - mainly to funerals! |
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| Bryce Courtenay (1933-2012 aged 79) was born in South Africa and migrated to Australia in 1958 at the age of 25. He had a successful 30 year career in Advertising; started writing when he was 55 and authored 21 books. His first book, "The Power of One", was about growing up in apartheid South Africa. It was very popular, translated into 18 languages and sold more than 8 million copies. On the 10th anniversary of his death, his second wife, Christine, published a biography "Bryce Courtenay: Storyteller" which reveals much of the inner person. Christine and Bryce moved to Canberra - she says that he loved living here, the 'Bush Capital'. |
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| Each year the Australia China Friendship Society (ACFS) awards prizes to the best students of Mandarin in Canberra schools. |
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| Students performed a Lion Dance at the School Awards on 30 October. |
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| We had a look at the photographic display to mark 50th anniversary of Aust-China diplomatic relations. It was one of Whitlam's first actions when he became Prime Minister. |
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| Painting of Gough Whitlam meeting Mao Ze Tung in November 1973, the first official visit to the People's Republic of China by an Australian Prime Minister (Whitlam made an unofficial visit in 1972 when he was Leader of the Opposition). |
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| Diesel is much more expensive than Unleaded Petrol at present - apparently supply is tight, mainly due to diesel supplies being cut off from Russia by sanctions imposed for their invasion of Ukraine. |
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News items which caught my eye during October 2022.
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Global
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IMF projection of global economic
growth: 2.7% 2023 (global inflation 8.8% this year, 6.5% in 2023); WTO
projection for global trade growth: 3.5% in 2022, 1% in 2023. UK govt of Liz Truss: Chancellor
of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng was replaced by Jeremy Hunt and planned tax
cuts for the wealthy were cancelled. Shortly afterwards Liz Truss announced
her resignation as PM; she was replaced by Rishi Sunak, first UK Prime
Minister of Indian descent. A crowd stampede at a soccer match
in Malang, Indonesia resulted in 135 deaths and many injured. Brazil’s general election Lula 48%
Bolsonaro 43%; there will be a final run-off on 30 October. Lula ended up winning a close election. EU inflation in September
estimated at 10%, mainly due to surging energy costs. Maersk ordered 6 large container
ships which can operate on ‘green methanol’. Thailand: a former policeman stabbed
and killed 37 (including 24 children). Cheating accusations in
professional Chess Competitions, and Fishing Competitions. Populations over 65 years of age
in 2020: USA 17%; UK 19%; Germany 22%; Australia 17%; China 12%. OPEC+ announced plans to cut oil
production by 2 million barrels per day to “stabilize prices”. 20th Anniversary of terrorist
bombings in Bali which killed 202 (including 88 Aussies). Widespread flooding in many countries, including Nigeria,
Nepal, Australia. Drought in California; Mississippi River's low water level is affecting shipping. Giorgia Melani (45) first female
PM of Italy. She heads the right wing “Brothers of Italy” Party. Former PM of Pakistan, Imran Khan,
was barred from holding public office for alleged corruption. Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder
of Red Bull, died aged 78. Germany legalized 30 grams of
cannabis for personal use (19 US states have also legalized). Major restructuring of big Swiss bank,
Credit Suisse. A ‘crowd surge’ in Seoul resulted in 153 dead, many injured. VW said it would stop making
internal combustion vehicles by 2033. |
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Russian invasion of Ukraine |
USA pledged another $625M in
military aid to Ukraine; total US aid estimated at $52 billion. Counter offensive by Ukraine
military made good gains against Russian forces. Putin hinted at grave
consequences (tactical nuclear?). Bombing of Crimea Bridge; harsh
retaliation of Russia with extended missile attacks on Ukrainian targets (but
many intercepted by Ukrainians). President Zelensky addressed the
G7 Leaders who said they would support Ukraine “as long as it takes.” Elon Musk said his Starlink internet service for Ukraine is costing about $20M per month; he asked Pentagon to pay, but then backed off.
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USA
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House of Representative’s January
6 Committee voted unanimously to subpoena former President Trump to give
evidence. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was sentenced to 4 months in
prison for contempt of Congress (refused to appear before the Jan 6 C’tee). US Govt announced further
restrictions on sales of high tech products to China (eg semiconductor chips
and equipment, and AI related products). Hurricane Ian devastated parts of
Florida and South Carolina. Kim Kardashian fined $1.3M for
undisclosed advertising crypto currency. NFL Quarterback Tom Brady (45) and
Giselle Bunchen (42) announced divorce after 13 years of marriage and two
children. President Biden issued a blanket
pardon for Americans federally convicted of possessing cannabis. Austin Thompson (15) shot and
killed 5 persons in Raleigh, North Carolina. There have now been 548 mass
shootings (4 or more deaths, excluding the shooter) in the USA this year. First Asian American, actress Anna
Mae Wong (1905-61) featured on US currency. Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter ($44B). |
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Australia |
Daylight Saving started on Sunday morning,
2 October; clocks forward one hour. Australia’s ALP Govt reversed
recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. National Covid Safety Plans ended
14 October. Canberra’s Public Health Emergency was declared over: no more
mandatory QR code registration, reporting and isolation; some testing sites
closed; wearing of masks became optional. Last week there were 616 new cases reported
in Canberra (264 PCR, 352 RAT). There
has been a total of 205,752 cases of Covid in Canberra since March 2020. The Australian War Memorial has
decided to feature the historic “Frontier Wars” between the indigenous
inhabitants and white settlers. The AWM’s current redevelopment has blown out
to $550m. National Rugby League: the Penrith
Panthers beat the Parramatta Eels 28-12 to win the 2022 NRL championships. The Australian Govt announced the
repatriation of 20 women and 40 kids stuck in refugee camps in Syria. They
are Australian citizens but wives of ISIS fighters. Reserve Bank of Australia raised
official interest rates 0.25% (to 2.6%). On 7 October Sydney with 2,194 mm,
passed the previous annual rainfall record set in 1950. Widespread
flooding this month on the East Coast of Australian (esp NSW & Victoria). Australian Govt announced
cancellation of 200,000 robo-debts. New Canberra law decriminalized small
amounts of drugs for personal use. Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers brought down his first budget. Estimated GDP growth: 2022/3 3.25%; 2023/4 1.5%; 2024/5 2.25%. |
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China |
20th Congress of the
Communist Party of China. Xi Jin Ping appointed for 3rd term as
Leader. Founder of JD.com Liu Qiang Dong
(49) settled a sexual assault charge brought by student Liu Jing Yao (25) in
Minnesota court. Tesla sold a record 83,135 cars in
China in September. China’s GDP increased by an estimated 3.9% in Q3 2022 (0.4% in Q2). |
......
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade. I subscribe to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines - tracking Covid-19's impact on trade" (former title 'Trade Matters').
Who was Australia's Best Prime Minister?
Americans are fascinated by leadership and there are many surveys conducted on "Best President?", but not so much in Australia.
The most recent survey I found on ranking Australian Prime Ministers is shown below.
Australia’s
top 10 Prime Ministers
Professor Paul Strangio writing in “The Conversation” (Monash University), on 1 August 2021
Based on a 2020 survey of 66 political scientists and
historians
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Ranking |
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1 |
John Curtin |
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2 |
Robert Hawke |
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3 |
Alfred Deakin |
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4 |
Ben Chifley |
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5 |
Robert
Menzies |
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6 |
Paul Keating |
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7 |
Gough Whitlam |
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8 |
Andrew Fisher |
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9 |
John Howard |
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10 |
Edmund Barton |
Of course this is a very subjective issue. Personally, if I look back over the last 60 years (13 PMs since Robert Menzies), I would rank Bob Hawke first (he was an excellent people person); followed by Gough Whitlam (visionary, but chaotic); with Paul Keating third (his strong connection with Asia, and he is still making sensible commentary today).
Next I would put Kevin Rudd. He avoided recession during the GFC, his 'sorry' statement to indigenous, he ratified the Kyoto Climate Change Accord, and pulled our troops out of Iraq, etc. Despite having won a resounding victory in the December 2007 general election, his Party turned against Rudd in June 2010 and elected Julia Gillard in his place. At the moment Rudd's personal failings still tarnish his image, but I wonder if, in the fullness of time, his impressive achievements will be recognised and he will rise in the rankings?
So, who are your favorite Prime Ministers?
...
That's it for another month.
It's my sister's birthday today - happy birthday, Ange!!!
In exciting news just to hand, Lula won the election in Brazil. He got 60.4 m votes (50.9%) while the far-right incumbent Bolsonaro got 58.2 m votes (49.1%). Congrats and good luck, Lula!
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra Australia
Monday 31 October 2022
