Life, Down Under. The digital diary of Vera & Alex Olah: Post #259 30 November 2022

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our activities in the month of November 2022.

The contents of this post are in the following sequence:

Photos of our activities during November 2022.

Some news items which caught my eye in November 2022.

Some significant events so far in 2022 ...

International Trade.

Highlight

The highlight of the month was spending 10 days in Sydney helping look after Eddie & Jay while their parents were on a business trip to the USA to promote their furniture (reddie.com.au). Good to spend quality time together; they are growing up so quickly!

First, here are photos of some of our activities during November 2022.

Andrew and Caz asked us to look after Eddie & Jay while they did a 2 week business trip to the USA. Four grandparents look after 2 grandkids!!! From left: Paul, Niniek, Vera & me.

The kids have lots of after-school activities.

Walking up Birrell Street to Waverley Primary School on Bronte Road, about a kilometre from home. The kids insist on carrying their (huge) school bags.

Jay and Eddie on WhatsApp chatting to their parents in the USA. Technology makes 'keeping in touch' so much easier these days.

Tennis lessons at Coogee Tennis Club. Eddie is hitting the ball really well; Jay is improving.

Coogee Beach. We used to come here quite often when Vera & I lived in Sydney 30 years ago.

Eddie has a "Sprint" class in Centennial Park.

While waiting for Eddie, I came across the "Federation Memorial" in Centennial Park. On 1 January 1901 60,000 people gathered here to celebrate Australia's Federation: the 6 self-governing British colonies joined together to form one country, the Commonwealth of Australia. The original temporary Memorial didn't last long. This one was inaugurated in 1988, during Australia's Bicentennial celebrations (200 years of European settlement).

The plaque commemorating Australia's Federation and the Federation Memorial. It is difficult to read. The Plaque and Memorial are completely under-stated, for an event which was so significant in Australia's modern political history.
Australia's first Governor General, Lord Hopetoun, asked Edmund Barton to form an interim Government on 1 January 1901. The first federal elections were held on 29 & 30 March 1901. Of the 76 seats in the House of Representatives, Edmund Barton's Protectionist Party won 31 seats, George Reid's Free Trade Party won 28 seats, and Chris Watson's Labor Party won 14 seats. Labor agreed to support the Protectionist Party, so Edmund Barton became Australia's first Prime Minister.

Many streets around Bondi Junction and Queens Park feature magnificent old fig trees. Most common are the Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus Macrophylla) and Port Jackson Fig (Ficus Rubiginosa). This photo is of Brisbane Street, Bondi Junction near Andrew & Caz's home.

I had a look at this exhibition, which is on the wonderful 'sea walk' between Bronte Beach and Bondi Beach. It is an annual event in Spring, but was not held during Covid.

It was the last day of the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition - big crowds.

A view back to Bronte Beach.

It was a beautiful, warm day (after weeks of cold and rain) and Bondi Beach was crowded.

Many people played beach volleyball on Bondi Beach, and also beach tennis (as in this photo). There are many more sporting facilities than when we lived here 30 years ago. In summer I used to come down most days after work, around 6.30pm, and jog along the sand and have a swim. Great fun.

We had lunch with our friend, Charles Yu.

My first cousin Oda, and her daughter Marion, came from Germany and spent a few weeks in Australia to see Marion's son, Moritz, who lives and works in Melbourne. We caught up with them in Sydney. From left: Aniko, Marion, Angie, Oda, Vera & me.

Coffee break in the lovely Queen Victoria Building in Sydney.

Oda and Angie.

We visited the magnificent Chinese Garden at Darling Harbour.

Layout of the Chinese Garden, which was a gift from the City of Guangzhou. It is a veritable oasis in the middle of a huge city.

The Chinese Garden is surrounded by apartment buildings and offices.

Feeding frenzy.

We had a family gathering at Caz & Andrew's home in Queens Park; from left: Davide, Angie, Sasha, and Marion.

We saw a play "Sunshine Super Girl" about indigenous tennis star Evonne Goolagong Cawley. She was born in 1951, grew up in Barellan, a small country town in NSW. Her father was a shearer, Evonne was one of 8 children. At the age of 14 she moved to Sydney to focus on her tennis.
Evonne played tennis professionally from 1970 until 1983. She won 14 Grand Slam titles: 7 singles, 6 doubles and one mixed doubles. In 1975 she married British tennis player Roger Cawley; they had two children, a daughter and a son.

The play was performed at the Q Theatre; the stage was set up as a tennis court.

Friends Angie and Howard visited from Sydney.

Book launch of Dreamers & Schemers by ANU historian, Professor Frank Bongiorno.

TV reporter Laura Tingle interviewed the author, Professor Frank Bongiorno.

Former Ambassador Kevin Magee gave an entertaining and informative talk to the Australia China Friendship Society on 23 November. He described highlights of his distinguished career, most of which was spent working on China-related issues.
Vera & I met Kevin and Vicky in Singapore 25 years ago, when we both worked at the Australian High Commission (Kevin was in the Political Section, and I was in the Trade Section).

The legendary "pig's knuckle" of the restaurant of the Harmonie German Club in Canberra. Yummy!

We attended a "Blues Piano Night". Five wonderful pianists entertained the crowd, individually and as a group.

The renovated front steps and doors of Old Parliament House were re-opened on 27 November 2022, after being damaged by a radical Indigenous group last year. It was a huge restoration project which cost millions of dollars. The perpetrators were charged and will appear in cour early next year.

Xmas concert by the U3A Brindabella Orchestra.

Less than a month to Xmas!!!

Enjoying the Xmas lunch (turkey, ham followed by Xmas pudding) with Sue and Frank, hosted by the Southern Cross Club Woden.

Our Wednesday lunch group has been going for over 20 years: from left, Paul Flint, David Evans, me, Noel Cock, Neale Emanuel. We had lunch earlier today at the Flavours of India restaurant in Woden. Delicious food!

My brother Andy with his mountain-bike group in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Super fit!

The price of fuel at Costco this week. Diesel is still much higher than petrol.

I read two books during November.

This novel was set in England and France in the 1790s, during a period of growing tension between the two countries. A female spy is sent to Paris to subvert bilateral discussions between the fledgling USA and Republican France.

This novel was published in 1996. It describes one of the first trials pitting long-term smokers (sufferers of lung cancer) against the tobacco industry, and particularly how juries can be influenced when the stakes are high.
John Grisham is a fine author; it is a good read, fast-paced and believable.

News items which caught my eye during November 2022.

Global

Brazil Federal Election: Lula (Worker’s Party) beat Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) by 2.2 million votes.

India: Bridge collapse in Gujarat: 141+ dead.

Iran: Continuing anti-Govt demonstrations; over 300 dead, thousands arrested.

British Petroleum (BP) profit in Q3 $8.2B ($3.3B in Q3 last year). Govt will introduce a Super Profits tax on energy companies.

Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu’s party formed coalition; he is PM again.

Pakistan: former PM Imran Khan attempted assassination.

UK: Inflation 11.1% in October; Bank of England raised interest rates 0.75% (to 3%).

UN: Sec Gen Antonio Guterres addressed COP27 Climate Change Summit in Egypt with warning of grim future. Top emitters of CO2: China, USA, EU, India, Russia. Finally agreed on a “Loss & damage Fund” in which rich countries will help poor countries fight the effects of Climate Change.

World population passed 8B (it is estimated to peak at 10.4B).

Many world leaders attended big meetings: ASEAN; G20; and APEC. Presidents Biden and Xi held bilateral talks.

Turkey: Bomb in Istanbul killed 6 injured 81.

Major Crypto Exchange FTX (CEO Sam Bankman-Fried) filed for bankruptcy.

England beat Pakistan to win the T20 cricket cup (played in Australia). England is also the current T50 One Day Champion.

Football (Soccer) World Cup in Qatar (20 Nov-18 Dec). 32 teams competing. Impressive opening ceremony; but then hosts Qatar were beaten 2-0 by Ecuador. A wonderful feast of soccer in Qatar, amazing skills. Some World Cup highlights/upsets so far: Japan beat Germany; Morocco beat Belgium; Saudi Arabia beat Argentina; Ronaldo has now scored for Portugal in 5 World Cups; wonderful scissors goal by Richarlison (Brazil) against Serbia. As of this morning (30 Nov) Netherlands, Senegal, England and USA have advanced to the Group of 16 knock-out stage. Australia lost to France but beat Tunisia; we play Denmark early tomorrow morning (our time) – praying for a win!!!

Indonesia: earthquake in West Java: 270+ dead, many injured and homelss.

England: Cristiano Ronaldo will leave Manchester United after disagreements.

Scotland: UK Supreme Court ruled that Scottish govt must obtain approval of British Govt before holding another independence referendum.

Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim (75) to form a coalition Govt in Malaysia.

Taiwan: Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing Wen resigned as head of the DPP Party, following poor results in local elections; she will continue as President until 2024.

Canada beat Australia to win the 2022 Davis Cup (first time Canada has won this tennis competition).

USA permitted Chevron to recommence operations in Venezuela.

Singapore decriminalised gay sex (but still bans gay marriage).

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia cancelled the “Black Sea Grain Exports” agreement because of drone attacks, but later reinstated the agreement.

General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated that the war in Ukraine has resulted in 100,000 dead & injured (including 40K civilians).

Ukraine military occupied Kherson following Russian withdrawal.

Two rockets landed in a Polish village killing 2 people. Ukraine and the Western media immediately pointed the finger at Russia. It turned out that the rockets were most likely from Ukrainian air defence.

Russian missiles target Ukraine infrastructure, such as power generation, as winter sets in.

President Putin said “We share your pain” to mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met President Zelensky in Kyiv; pledged continuing support.

USA

Federal Reserve raised interest rates 0.75% to 4%.

Houston Astros beat Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 to win the World Baseball Series.

Mid-Term elections held for 435 HoR seats and 36 Senate seats. The Republican Wave did not eventuate, it was much closer than expected. The Democrats retained control of the Senate (even without the Georgia runoff on 6 December); while the Republicans narrowly won control of the House of Representatives.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, said that he will give most of his fortune (estimated at $124B) to fight Climate Change and Inequality. He joins Warren Buffet and Bill Gates who have pledged to give their fortunes away.

Former President Donald Trump announced that he will seek to be the Republican nominee in the 2024 Presidential Election.

After several delays, NASA finally launched unmanned Artemis 1 spacecraft which will circumnavigate the moon.

President Biden celebrated his 80^th birthday on 20 November.

Mass shooting in Colorado Springs gay club: 5 dead, 18 injured. Another mass shooting at a Walmart Store in Virginia.

The Supreme Court cleared the way for the House Ways & Means Committee to finally obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns.

Elon Musk took over management of Twitter; sacked half the staff.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned the importation and sale of products of 5 Chinese companies: Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua, Hytern.

Australia

Vigils in many cities followed death of 15 year old indigenous boy Cassius Turvey in Perth; Jack Brearley (21) arrested.

Gold Trip (21:1) won the 3,200 metre Melbourne Cup.

Widespread flooding in Central-West NSW (Forbes, Gundagai, Wagga, Eugowra, Deniliquin, Condoblin, etc).

Australian trade surplus A$8.7B in August, A$2.4B in September.

PM Albanese attended ASEAN, G20, and APEC meetings. Many bilateral discussions, including with President Xi – hopefully reset the relationship?

Carnival cruise ship Majestic Princess: 800 of 3,300 guests tested positive for Covid.

Crazy weather on the East Coast: cold (including snow) in the south, hot in north.

Fears of 4^th Covid wave with new cases up 47% this week.

Word of 2022: “TEAL” = female, independents elected during May election.

Trial of Bruce Lehrmann (accused of raping Britney Higgins) postponed to February 2023, following a mistrial.

Labor won the Victorian State election, giving Daniel Andrews a 3^rd term as Premier.

Retired Justice of the High Court, Virginia Bell, presented her report on former PM Morrison’s secret assumption of 5 Ministerial portfolios. Not illegal, but “fundamentally undermined the principle of responsible government.” Labor Govt moved a parliamentary motion to censure Morrison.

The National Party announced that it would not support a proposed referendum on a constitutional amendment to create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament (Labor policy).

Today Parliament voted to etablish a national Anti-Corruption Commission.

China

President Xi attended G20 and APEC meetings, his first travel outside China since Covid started.

Spike in new Covid cases (around 40,000 new cases); 2 deaths (first in 6 months).

Despite recent relaxation of the strict rules, reports of protests / demonstrations in at least 16 cities against the Zero-Covid policy – people tired of lock-downs – most unusual to see this level of dissent in China.

China launched manned Shenzhou 15 spacecraft; the three astronauts will replace those on the Tiangong Space Station and will live there for 6 months.

Some significant events so far in 2022 ...

January 2022	Ash Barty won the Australian Open Women’s Singles. She then retired from tennis (World #1). Got engaged.
February	Russia invaded Ukraine on 24/2. Strong resistance by Ukraine (supported by NATO/West).
May	Labor won the Federal Election on 21/5; Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister. Rich Strike (80-1) won the Kentucky Derby. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) started raising interest rates.
August	Commonwealth Games in Birmingham; Australia most medals. Mikhail Gorbachev died. Cameron Smith joined the LIV Golf break-away tour; A$140M signing on fee.
September	Queen Elizabeth 2nd died aged 96. King Charles 3^rd took over. Liz Truss replaced Boris Johnston as UK Prime Minister, but resigned after just 44 days. Australian High Court became majority females (4/7 Justices).
October	Rishi Sunak(42) new British PM.
November	USA mid -term elections: Democrats kept control of Senate but Republicans took House of Representatives. President Biden turned 80 (20/11). Former President Trump announced he will run for 2024 election. Anti-Zero Covid demonstrations in China.
Continuing	Russian invasion of Ukraine now in its 9^th month. Anti-Govt demonstrations in Iran (estimated 300+ killed).

...

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').

Here are some of the more interesting graphs in the Bloomberg newsletter during November 2022; they are largely self-explanatory.