Straddie debates mine closure

STEVEN RIGGALL

COMMUNITY members have criti-cised the State government’s decision to introduce a national park on North Stradbroke Island to coincide with the cessation of mining activity over the next 17 years.

Minjerribah elder Margaret Iselin, known to locals as ‘Aunty Marg’, claims the decision will cost hundreds of jobs and leave many families with no employment prospects.

But Dale Ruska, member of the Quandamooka people and leading anti-mining campaigner, said while he did not want to see a national park estab-lished, he supported the mine closure because community dependence on mining was minimal.

Aunty Marg said she was “stunned” to hear about the decision to phase out sand mining on North Stradbroke Island by 2027.

Aunty Marg described the decision as “underhanded”, and said she had not been contacted by Anna Bligh or anyone in the state government before the deci-sion was announced earlier this year.

“Anna Bligh should have come and held meetings and consulted with people here,” Aunty Marg said.

“She hasn’t contacted us in any way, she hasn’t even called.”

The decision to phase out mining on

North Stradbroke Island was announced by Anna Bligh on June 20.

Ms Bligh said her government would oversee the creation of a national park on North Stradbroke that would cover 50 per cent of the island by 2013 and 80 per cent of the island by 2027.

The decision is a further step in ful-filling the green target plan outlined in the government’s “Towards Q2” policy vision, which proposed a 50 per cent increase in the area of protected wilder-ness in Queensland by 2020.

For Aunty Marg, the introduction of a national park would mean fewer jobs for workers who live on the island.

“I can’t see 470 jobs here if they make this all national park,” Aunty Marg said.

“They’re advertising now for volun-teer workers for the national park, cut-ting out our workers.”

She said there were no jobs on North Stradbroke Island before the introduc-tion of mining.

“There was nothing before mining came here,” she said.

After the state government closed down the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum on the island in 1946, Aunty Marg said her family was forced to work menial jobs scrubbing floors and chopping wood for “a pittance”.

Her mother and sister worked at a hospice for leprosy patients on nearby Peel Island until it, too, closed in 1959.

“The government at the time took everything away, even the shop,” she said.

“Our father went out and worked with the fisherman.

“He wasn’t paid. We were given fish to live on.”

She said her husband ‘Uncle Pat’ Iselin worked in the mines and over time was able to earn a comfortable living.

“We lived through hardship but now we have a beautiful house and we have educated our children,” she said.

Aunty Marg said the mining indus-try was crucial to the people of North Stradbroke, including the anti-mining activists who oppose it.

“A lot of these younger people, they think they can talk for us, but they never lived through what we lived through,” Aunty Marg said.

Mr Ruska said he sympathised with Aunty Marg’s concerns.

“Mining was a godsend for some of the elders here,” he said.

Mr Ruska said after the state govern-ment removed the asylum at Dunwich many of the elders were living in “eco-nomic limbo”, trying to transition to a Western style of life without enough jobs to go around.

When the mining operations began in the 1950s, it offered opportunities for employment, but Mr Ruska said times had now changed.

“Not all of us are economically depen-dent on mining,” he said.

“I can only count around 30 families on the island that actually benefit from mining, both employees and contractors.

“The majority of the workers come from the mainland.”

Instead, Mr Ruska said the focus of any activism should be in opposition to the destruction of cultural heritage, primarily the clearing of land by mining companies.

“This island as a whole is very sacred to Aboriginal people,” Mr Ruska said.

“It can’t be conceived on a lease-by- lease basis.

“It’s all one big spiritual entity.“Birthing sites, burial sites, sacred

ceremonial grounds have all been dis-turbed by mining.”

Mr Ruska said re-vegetated land planted by the mining company, Unimin gave a “good impression through green coverage”, but did not constitute real rehabilitation.

Considering North Stradbroke Island was a “fragile and unique” environment with World Heritage listing, Mr Ruska said any continuation of mining on the island would amount to a “genocidal” destruction of spiritual and cultural identity.

However, he did not agree with the State government’s decision to turn most of the island into national park.

“All of this about a National Park is not from the Aboriginal people’s point of view – it’s been dictated to us by the state, it’s solely their view about what they think will further our interests,” Mr Ruska said.

He said a better way to protect the island would be to gain recognition of Aboriginal ownership on North Stradbroke, which would ensure a right to a portion of any profits from eco-nomic activities on the island, while also conserving its environment through tra-ditional stewardship of the land.

The issue of environmental reha-bilitation figures heavily in the debate over the future of sand mining on North Stradbroke Island, with activists and Unimin Australia arguing over the impact of mine site rehabilitation.

Aunty Marg said the miners had sought her advice early on about which plants to collect to stabilise the sand dunes, something she appreciated.

The former sole mining company on the island, Consolidated Rutile Limited (CRL), now owned by a subsidiary of Unimin Corporation USA which is part of the huge Sebelco group, co-published a guide to the flora of North Stradbroke Island with the Queensland Herbarium and the Minjerribah Moorgumpin elders-in-council Aboriginal Corporation.

Continued on page 2

Sand mining on Stradbroke Island... Long-term rehabilitation plans once Yarraman mine closes in 2027. Photo: AAP

Continued from page 1

The guide draws on elders’ knowl-edge of native plants and features a series of interlinear notes by Aunty Marg explaining their various uses.

Unimin’s website claims that “Unimin is renowned internationally for the reha-bilitation of native vegetation and eco-systems on NSI’s high sand dunes” and shows a series of pictures of alleged for-mer mine sites progressing through the rehabilitation process, from a fully func-tioning mine to a fully fledged forest.

But President of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland Simon Baltais contends that many of the photos are actually of natural habitats elsewhere on the island, undisturbed by mining.

“Some of those photos are very deceptive,” Mr Baltais said.

“Around 90 per cent of the photos are of natural habitats from other parts of the island.

“There’s a significant distinction between past mining sites and natural sites.”

Unimin Sustainability Manager and longtime Stradbroke Island resident Paul Smith defended the photos.

“I think Simon is treading a little bit dangerously there,” Mr Smith said.

“I can provide photographic proof and I can actually put the photographer on the stand if he wants me to.”

“[Simon] is trying to put emotion into an argument there and I’m not sure why.”

The disagreement over the authen-ticity of the photographs belies a much deeper rift between the miners and opponents of the mine.

For years, both sides have fiercely debated the likelihood of the Stradbroke Island habitat returning to its natural state after mining has been discontinued.

Mr Baltais d not think it is going to happen.

“You’ll be hard pressed to find any scientific paper which shows a signifi-cant return to the biodiversity that once was,” he said.

“It’s really a nonsense to say that they can return these habitats back to their pre-mining condition.”

Mr Baltais cited a letter writ-ten by Griffith University School of Environment Associate Professor Carla Catterall, which cast doubt on the ability of mining companies to fully rehabili-tate former mine sites.

Professor Catterall quoted an arti-cle published in the journal Ecology and Society, which which reviews the ‘myths’ of restoration projects, includ-ing the ‘carbon copy’ myth, which assumes it is possible to make a copy of an ecosystem that has changed due to human alteration and the ‘fast forward’ myth, which assumes that restoration can redo in a short period what it takes centuries for nature to accomplish.

Mr Smith was unimpressed by the

letter.“Dr Catterall has never been to the

island, she has never walked through our rehabilitation, she has never done any scientific work on the island, and she certainly has never done any research for any of the people who have done sci-entific research on the island,” he said.

“It’s entirely her opinion whether the mining rehabilitation is successful.”

“We have lots of research from lots of other experts from places including the University of Queensland.”

Alluding to activists such as Mr Baltais and the Australian Greens, Mr Smith said Professor Caterall’s letter had been taken out of context and used as part of a “very well orchestrated cam-paign” to misinform the public about the issue.

“There comes a time when they have to provide clear evidence other than hearsay and emotion to back up their arguments,” Mr Smith said.

Professor Caterall said while she had no interest in engaging in a public debate at this time, she was not expect-ing a “favourable response” from the sand mining business, saying the let-ter was intended to “stand on its own merits”.

Regardless of their feelings on the matter, Unimin is preparing to scale down their workforce on the island over the next 17 years to coincide with the state government’s plan.

In May 2009, before the state gov-ernment announced its plan to end sand mining on North Stradbroke, CRL sent a letter to the Australian Securities Exchange announcing the intended clo-sure of its Yarraman Mine in 2013 and an anticipated approximate halving of its workforce on the island by 2014.

This was before Unimin Australia bought all of CRL’s shares in mid-2009.

Mr Smith admitted that jobs were going to be lost with the closure of the Yarraman mine, but said that the num-bers lost would not be as large as those quoted in CRL’s letter.

In an earlier press release on the issue, Mr Smith said the company sup-ported 650 jobs “directly and indirectly” through their operations on North Stradbroke.

The figure comes from a commis-sioned study conducted by Synergies Economic Consulting, which found that Unimin employed 289 people on the island, directly and through suppliers.The other 351 jobs are on the mainland.

Mr Baltais argued that tourism would be the major employer on the island in the future, once most of it was declared a national park.

“Under the current arrangements there will be plenty of long-term jobs into the future,” Mr Baltais said.

“Mining provides transitory jobs – that’s all.”

“It’s really a non-sense to say that they can return these habitats back to their pre-mining condition.”

Indigenous heritage good for businessSteven RiggALL

MINING, environmental sustain-ability, and sensitivity to Indigenous cultural heritage can all co-exist if handled properly, according to an Australian Indigenous mining contractor.

Northern Project Contracting (NPC) Communications Coordinator, Hamish Townsend, said sensitivity to cultural heritage was integral to the mining process.

NPC is a 100 per cent Indigenous-owned mining and civil construction company, which operates primarily in the Gulf of Carpentaria region and takes about 80 per cent of its work-force from local communities.

Mr Townsend said environmental rehabilitation was essential to NPC’s practices.

“It’s part of the mining and civil construction process, and we think we can do that competitively with anyone.

“Using local people has positive advantages as well,” Mr Townsend said.

“It’s really all about business, it’s just good business.”

Mr Townsend said local traditional owners walked the land to check for artifacts and specific dreaming sites as part of mining planning.

“That will all be noted and is all part of the early stages of plan-ning…and that comes from the orig-inal agreements with local native title holders.”

Mr Townsend said the rehabilita-tion of mining sites was also planned for at the beginning of the process.

“At the beginning of a mine you do what is called a pre-strip, which

is basically taking the topsoil and putting it somewhere else,” he said.

“When you come to fill in that hole, you fill the last so many metres with the soil that was already there so the original kind of vegetation can eventually grow back.”

He said a good portion of NPC’s business profits went to local proj-ects in northwest Queensland, such as helping to fund a local project of learning and literacy for the Waanyi people.

The development of a Waanyi dic-tionary and “community events that bring people together” like the local Doomadgee rodeo.

Mr Townsend acknowledged indi-vidual mine sites were finite proj-ects, but said workers at NPC could take the skills they learnt on the job elsewhere.

“The mining planning process is an isolated activity in and of itself, so what we’re trying to do at the end of the day as a company is to teach the locals skills... that are transport-able to other places,” he said.

But he cautioned that business must come first in order for com-munity development projects to be sustainable.

“All of these principles are good business.

“The business and the projects have to come first.

“By putting your culture first and making everything work around that, you’re thinking about things inside out,” he said.

“By making the business sustain-able and taking what you can work with, you’ll get the best results that way.”

Thank you for picking up the 2010 edition of The Source. This paper is the end product of more than 14 weeks of work by students from Griffith University’s Bachelor of Journalism, Bachelor of Communication, and Bachelor of Arts. First of all, I’d like to thank our design and production team. These four students put days of intense effort into creating this fine publication to show off our articles. I’d also like to thank Trish Ketels and Dr Susan Forde, our tutor and course con-venor. The Source could not have happened without their generous support and guidance.

Each edition of The Source is unique, as each student decides what stories to pursue. This year, The Source boasts news, technology and sport sections plus the lifestyle and arts liftout Lifesource. The Source also has a website to combine the talents of our TV and radio broadcast students with our online edition; stories in this newspaper which also have a ‘broadcast version’ available on our website are marked with a symbol. Go to thesource.griffith.edu.au. If you have any ques-tions about anything published here or on the website, please contact Susan Forde at s.forde@griffith.edu.au. Student Editor - Susannah Thomsett

Supervising editortrish Ketels

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Photographic contributionsAAPAbove Photographytimothy Allen of new eden PhotographyAnaphylaxis Australian incBrisbane BroncosJeff BusbyLisa BusinovskiLeanne CodnerBen DillonHelensvale BMXian HughesCourtney Laidler

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The Source Team

TIm SChAEfER

SHADOW Minister David Gibson has joined Logan residents and members of Logan City Council in slamming the State government’s plans for three new satellite cities in south-east Queensland.

Shadow Infrastructure and Planning Minister and Member for Gympie David Gibson has accused the government of complacency and questioned the timing and wisdom of the Bligh government’s proposal.

“This is a government playing catch-up,” Mr Gibson said.

“For over 12 years we have known about the population growth in Queensland and the impact on our lives and only now, at the 11th hour, do we see this government act.

“Like the water crisis, the power cri-sis, the transport crisis, this government has a track record of doing too little, too late.”

Mr Gibson was responding to a Labor government proposal for three satellite cities to be built in Brisbane’s south-east.

The proposed sites are Yarrabilba, Greater Flagstone and Ripley Valley, currently fledgling suburbs in the expanding urban corridor between Brisbane’s CBD and Robina on the Gold Coast.

Under the proposal, the three self-contained satellite cities would eventu-ally house a combined 250,000 people, and would serve as the government’s first major response to the population crisis in south-east Queensland.

A spokesperson for the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Stirling Hinchliffe, said years of planning had been invested into the State govern-ment’s south-east Queensland Regional Plan 2009–2031, of which the three sat-ellite cities were a key component.

“Queensland is growing at more than

2000 people per week and every one of them will require a roof over their head,” the spokesperson said.

“The establishment of new commu-nities within south-east Queensland is a vital part of the government’s plan to provide much needed housing to exist-ing and future residents of Queensland.”

The spokesperson said the proposed satellite cities take pressure off the state’s housing demands and create a sustainable environment for future generations.

“These three new communities will provide a vibrant lifestyle where employment centres will be established close to residential centres, and where people can work, rest and play close to home,” he said.

“These three model communities will build on the considerable local and regional scale strategic planning that has already been undertaken.”

But some residents living close to the

proposed development site of Yarrabilba do not share the government’s optimism for the area.

Bill Granger, 61, has lived in the neighbouring Logan Village for nearly 20 years.

The town is located two kilometres from the proposed development site, and Mr Granger said he is concerned about the impact the development would have on the small township.

“Logan Village is known by the locals as a bit of a country town,” he said.

“It’s always been quiet here, and I think that’s the attraction of the area.

“It’s a little piece of country life not that far from Brisbane.

“But once they start building and the people move in, I don’t think we’ll be able to call ourselves a country town any longer.”

Mr Granger also questioned the gov-ernment’s choice of Yarrabilba as a sat-ellite city location, pointing out that the proposed location was a 45-minute drive from Brisbane’s CBD and a 20-minute drive from Logan City, making it iso-lated from dense employment areas.

“You’ve got to wonder why the gov-ernment thinks Yarrabilba is the right location,” he said.

“It’s miles from the city and the Gold Coast, and I don’t know where they’re going to find all the jobs to employ the people who move in.

“Not everyone wants to drive 40 min-utes to get to work.”

Mr Gibson agreed the location of the cities would become a major issue once residents moved in.

“Without jobs, they will simply become dormitory suburbs with every-one travelling in and out each day,” he said.

The issue of public transport in south-east Queensland was a key issue dis-cussed at the Brisbane Institute’s ‘Our Future, Your Say’ community forum held in September.

While addressing the forum, Logan City Council Deputy Mayor, Russell Lutton, admitted he held grave con-cerns for the future of the Yarrabilba and Flagstone proposed cities if the

government’s earlier decision to reject a council bid for a rail link between Acacia Ridge and Flagstone was not reconsidered.

“It is a necessity,” Cr Lutton said. “If the train line from Acacia Ridge

doesn’t eventuate, I don’t think Flagstone is a goer.

“We’re not going to be able to put people on buses for that distance.”

Cr Lutton was referring to the Bligh government’s rejection in March this year of a proposal for a passenger serv-ice to be added to the existing Brisbane to Beaudesert freight line.

At the time, Transport Minister Rachel Nolan cited the prohibitive costs associated with construction and a lack of requirement as the major reasons the government rejected the proposal.

Ray McKnoulty, chair of infrastruc-ture consultancy Conics, who is one of several consultants hired by the govern-ment, said he acknowledged Cr Lutton’s concerns but told the Brisbane Institute forum that the government was well aware of the need for an effective public transport system for the proposed cities.

“It’s imperative that we get rid of the need for the second family car,” Mr McKnoulty said.

“We can’t keep creating communities that are constantly driving into the city and needing two cars to do it.

“That’s why we are focusing heavily on a public transport system that will be functional from the day the first resi-dents move in.”

But Mr Gibson again questioned the government’s infrastructure planning record, referring to the failed Traveston Dam project as an example of the Bligh government’s dubious record in relation to infrastructure projects.

“The Traveston Dam fiasco was a perfect example of how a government ignored the concerns of the community and the advice of independent scientists to push ahead with a project that was doomed to failure,” he said.

“The Bligh government has a track record for not being able to be trusted.

“They have become arrogant and out of touch with community concerns.”

Vandals threaten skate parks’ future: Council EmILy WILLIAmS

A WARNING has come from the Gold Coast City Council to skate park vandals – use the parks properly or risk losing them permanently.

Southport Councillor, Dawn Crichlow, gave the ultimatum after continued misuse and vandalism on several of the city’s skate facilities.

“It’s shocking to see the parks treated this way, the state of some is appalling,” Cr Crichlow said.

She said if the parks were control-led by the PCYC instead of council they would be properly maintained.

“It’s no use building parks and youth centres then just walking away.

“We should put all facilities, whether it’s skate parks, basketball courts etcetera, in the hands of the PCYC who do an excellent job at run-ning youth centres.”

Each year the council spent more than $1.6 million on removing graffiti and cleaning the current parks.

“It’s very costly to remove graffiti,”

she said.Along with the PCYC, Nerang High

School Chaplain, Chris Perry, runs a skate watch program to help kids get more involved with skateboarding.

Mr Perry said he believed there were some positives to having the parks.

“Skateboarding is a good avenue for students to escape from the every-day norm of things that can happen within the home environment,” he said.

“But there are a few security issues when it comes to lighting and surveillance.”

Police Sergeant Byron Lyons, who frequently patrols the local skate park, said keeping the youth all in one location might actually diminish the chances of vandalism elsewhere.

“They congregate in one area, we know where they are, it gives them that alternative to go and meet some-where instead of meeting in local streets and disrupting residents,” Sgt Lyons said.

“Fridays and Saturday nights are our busiest; we can have up to 30 or 40 people in the park.”

The skateboarders, however, say they are not to blame and Council should be pointing fingers elsewhere.

“Skate parks are a place to hang out with your friends; it’s the people who don’t skate that cause all the problems,” one skater said.

“It keeps you out of trouble, you know, we could be off doing drugs and stupid things like that, getting drunk and causing a ruckus,” he said.

“They just think we’re a menace and we’re not. We’re just trying to live and have fun.”

There are currently 20 skate parks on the Gold Coast.

Despite their popularity, this isn’t the first time vandals have been warned about misuse of skate parks in the area.

Gold Coast parks and recreation staff are researching the cost of demol-ishing the skate park in Helensvale because of its frequent misuse. Up in the air...BMX rider at the Helensvale park. Photo: courtesy Helensvale BMX

Satellite cities plan too little, too late: Opposition

The original..The south-east’s first satellite city, Ipswich, from the air. Photo: courtesy Above Photography

JORDAN PhILP

NEW studies show that growing num-bers of Brisbane clubbers are risking drug addiction as they turn towards party drugs as a cheaper alternative to alcohol.

The Federally funded Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) study saw a rise in people becoming addicted to stimulants such as ecstasy, cocaine and speed in an attempt to save money on a night out in Brisbane.

In the 2010 Drug Trends report, the IDRS coordinator, Fairlie McIlwraith, said the report found a large group of ecstasy users who preferred consuming illicit drugs over alcohol.

“We found that 39 per cent of ecstasy users ranked illicit drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine as preferable to alcohol,” Ms McIlwraith said.

“Our annual drug trends reports have found that the location for over half of common ecstasy use is venues like nightclubs and raves.”

Ms McIlwraith said the study found a large proportion of ecstasy users took drugs despite the health risks and the possibility of addiction.

“The users we interviewed told us the median price of two ecstasy tablets for one session was cheaper than the cost of several standard drinks in clubs,” Ms McIlwraith said.

“We also found an alarming amount of amphetamine users who would drive under the influence of illicit drugs.”

Anti-drug organisation, Teen Challenge counsellor Alanna Frase, said she had seen a trend develop with young people putting themselves at risk of addiction when taking so called ‘designer drugs’ in order to have a good night out.

“A lot of the younger people we meet in our outreach and rehabilitation cen-tres started using party drugs sparingly, but began to spiral downwards into addiction when they started using them on a regular basis,” Ms Fraser said.

“The ease of just popping a pill quickly rather than drinking for an extended amount of time in some way makes drug consumption glamorous.”

In 2009, the federal government

launched an $18 million anti-drug cam-paign that featured a series of television commercials targeting users of mari-juana, ecstasy and ice.

The campaign was shown in cinemas, on television and on billboards, and showed the risks each drug posed.

Ms McIlwraith said a comparison of the two Illicit Drug Reporting System reports between 2009 and 2010 showed no substantial progress was made to decrease recreational drug usage in that period.

“The two reports show the 2009 anti-drug campaign has had no sig-nificant or major affects on the recrea-tional consumption of illicit drugs,” Ms McIlwraith.

Former Police Communication Centre phone operator Joe Klippelt, said he had regularly taken calls concerning illegal drug use while manning the CBD area emergency phone hotline.

Mr Klippelt said on an average week-end the centre would receive more than 50 emergency calls attributed to party

drugs within the CBD.“Over a weekend we would get doz-

ens of calls just from people in areas like Fortitude Valley and the CBD with emergencies ranging from overdosing on ecstasy to [behaving] violently,” Mr Klippelt said.

“Hard drug consumption seems to be the norm nowadays amongst the younger generation and is showing no sign of slowing down.

“That’s not including house parties, pubs and outer suburbs.”

Transcontinental Hotel bartender, Jessa Duggin, said she had seen party drugs become a regular occurrence at outer suburban pubs.

“It’s not out of the ordinary for me and the other staff to be offered drugs or to be asked where they could get some,” Ms Duggin said.

“One in five younger people we get in here on busy nights would be off their head.

“It’s becoming just as popular as drinking, if not more.”

Overdose...Recreational drugs such as ecstasy are becoming increasingly common in clubs as a cheap alternative to alcohol on a night out clubbing. Photo: AAP

Drug use rising in clubs

BEN DILLON

THE CRIME and Misconduct Commission (CMC) is yet to table in parliament its review of Queensland Police’s ‘move-on’ powers, even though public submissions to the review closed in early 2009.

These powers, first trialled in 1997 in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, were welcomed by the Queensland Police Service despite disquiet among civil lib-erty and legal groups.

The move-on laws have been par-ticularly controversial since 2006, when they were extended to allow police to give a move-on order in any public space, including schools and railway stations, which are already areas of “limited” public access under law.

Only allocated areas including Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall and the Surfers Paradise Esplanade were subject to move-on directions before 2006.

Legal Aid Queensland (LAQ) and the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties have made submissions to the CMC criticising the laws.

They cited the high number of youth, ethnic, Indigenous, homeless and first time offenders being criminalised under the legislation.

Legal Aid Queensland gives thou-sands of Queenslanders legal advice every month through their Brisbane

and regional offices, including people affected by the move-on laws.

LAQ spokesperson, Miranda Greer said the police were not using their pow-ers fairly.

In its submission to the CMC, LAQ stated in many instances police move-on powers are not used properly and fairly, and their use further isolates already marginalised people in our society by criminalising their conduct.

In their submission to the CMC, the Homeless Persons Legal Clinic (HPLC) said the move-on laws disadvantaged the homeless.

“Move-on powers exacerbate the exclusion experienced by homeless peo-ple,” the HPLC submission said.

The HPLC submission said the laws were generally punitive and failed “to consider the underlying causes of a per-son’s homelessness”.

Queensland Law Society (QLS) spokesperson, Ken Mackenzie said the organisation looked forward to the release of the CMC’s report and were opposed to the idea of move-on powers since their inception.

“The move-on powers have increased police interaction and conflict with vul-nerable people in public spaces,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“There is anecdotal evidence that the powers have been abused, tar-geted against people based upon their

appearance or reputation rather than any actual anti-social conduct,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“Directions have been given well in excess of those permitted by law.”

A 2006 report by the Public Interest Law Clearing House in conjunction with the University of Queensland School of Law looked at concerns raised about the move-on powers.

The report found 75 per cent of respondents provided personal accounts of police harassment and targeting, rais-ing serious concerns about attitudes of operational police towards home-less people, and policing practises in Brisbane.

Queensland Police spokesperson Kim Daniels declined to comment on the CMC’s review.

However the Queensland Police Union (QPU) defended the move on laws as they stand, stating in a submis-sion to the CMC the laws allowed police “to act proactively [sic] and prevent the commission of offences by having indi-viduals leave a particular location”.

The QPU’s submission added the powers allowed police to move a person on before they commit a crime.

“Offences which may have been com-mitted had the person subject to the direction remained in the location are prevented from occurring.”

But Mr Mackenzie said he was

sceptical of the move-on laws powers of prevention.

“Many people will be cowed by the threat of arrest into complying with an unlawful direction,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“The Society believes the move-on powers need substantial amendment, if not repeal.”

CMC spokesperson Leanne Hardyman said she hoped the consulta-tion about the move on laws had pro-vided an accurate summary of public feeling.

“Community consultation has played a large part in the review process,” Ms Hardyman said.

“The CMC received over 60 submis-sions from private citizens, councils, government agencies and departments, interest groups and stakeholders.”

Given varied opinion on the issue, widespread interest in the CMC’s review and subsequent report recommendations is expected.

Although the QPS declined to com-ment on its development, Mr Mackenzie said the society hoped for a timely out-come of the review.

“The society hopes the final report could be delivered before the end of the year,” he said.

Ms Hardyman said the Commission was waiting for state parliament to proc-ess the report and it was expected to be tabled later this year or early next year.

Move-on law sparks battle for public space

UNDER sections 46–48 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, move-on powers may be used when police believe a person’s behaviour or presence in a particular place is:

* Causing anxiety to a person who is at a public place, entering or leaving it.

* Interfering with trade or busi-ness at a place by unnecessarily obstructing, hindering or impeding someone at, entering, or leaving a public place (in this circumstance, the occupier of the premises must be the complainant regarding the person’s behaviour or presence).

* Disrupting the peaceful and orderly conduct of any event, enter-tainment or gathering at a public place.

Also, if a person or group of persons is or has been behaving in a disorderly, indecent, offensive or threatening way, or if a police officer reasonably suspects that a person is soliciting for prostitution, an officer may give a direction to move on.

The move-on law explained

SUSANNAh ThOmSETT

IN AN attempt to keep Brisbane’s train passengers safe and feeling secure, Translink employees have been given the legal power to frisk search people, remove them from public transport and detain them before delivering them into police custody.

The employees, called senior transit officers, began patrolling Brisbane trains on September 27.

The powers were created after amendments to the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994 in October 2008 made a new category of “authorised person” able to detain people who commit physical or sexual assault on trains, or who vandalise Queensland Rail property.

Senior transit officers can use “reasonable force” and handcuffs, and can also frisk search a person they believe to be carrying a dangerous item.

The new transit officers are required to undergo training approved by the Police Commissioner.

So far only eight senior transit officers are ready for work, with another 25 yet to be trained.

Queensland State President of the Rail Tram and Bus Union, Bruce Mackie, said when the RTBU first heard of the powers two years ago, they were met with fierce resistance from their intended recipients, Queensland Rail’s transit officers.

“The majority of them felt it wasn’t what they signed on to do, and the capacity to search, arrest and remove people from public transport using reasonable force and handcuffs changed the nature of the transit officer’s jobs,” Mr Mackie said.

“After considerable resistance from the current QR transit officers, the Minister made the decision that would

give these powers to Translink, and created the role of senior transit officer, who are drawn from the general public and not QR’s employees.

“Any transit officer who wants to fill that position must go through normal government employment processes and resign from QR.”

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties President, Michael Cope, said it was “entirely inappropriate” for Translink employees to have these powers because they were neither trained nor scrutinised to the same level as the police.

“If they want police powers to be exercised on trains, they should put more police on the train,” Mr Cope said.

“The police have significant powers already; and there are structures in place to manage the abuse of those powers.

“I know they’ll [transit officers] get some training, but nowhere near as rigorous as two to three years in the police academy,” he said.

Mr Mackie said the RTBU had stood firm on the view these powers should not be given to any transit officer by any private or government body.

“We have campaigned strongly that the money spent in the process of setting up a separate department and enabling the role of senior transit officer should have been spent on putting more police in the re-established Railway Squad,” Mr Mackie said.

“One, police officers are more comprehensively trained, two, they have more extensive powers already, and three, they can draw on the pool of police officers in Brisbane if necessary.

“Police officers are the only people who should have these powers in any Queensland forum… no private security guard has the power to detain someone, these powers essentially make [senior transit officers] private police.

Then-Minister for Transport, Reginald Mickel, said at the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill’s second reading the senior transit officers’ powers were not “police like”.

“The government believes increasing transit officer powers to provide them with a ‘limited power of detention’ is the best way to increase safety and security,” Mr Mickel said.

According to the explanatory notes tabled with the Transport and Other Legislation Bill 2008, the amendments were made primarily to improve the public’s perception of rail security.

“Although less than two per cent of all crime in Queensland is committed on the Citytrain network, recent customer research shows that only 70 per cent of passengers perceive there is a satisfactory level of personal safety and security,” the notes said.

Data released by the Queensland Police Service revealed 209 incidences of common and serious assault, assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, and grievous bodily harm occurred on trains and around stations from March 2008 to March 2009.

This figure had been “relatively static” over the five years before March 2008, despite a considerable increase in train travel.

“Obviously, any level of crime is concerning, however, while there is a perception that railway stations and trains are dangerous, the reality is quite different,” the report said.

Mr Mackie said while there was a need for officials with powers like senior transit officers, their role would be better served by the police.

“We believe every member of the public has the right to leave their home and travel to their destination on public transport safely and securely.”

Gen Y’s ‘right to fight’ danger to society

translink security increased DnA kits deter spitting on Council buses

LILy ChARLES

GENERATION Y has an embedded “right to fight” attitude, which industry experts say make them more dangerous when they go out drinking.

According to Chaplain Watch founder and Senior Chaplain, Lance Mergard, the mindset leads youths to alcohol-fuelled, anti-social behaviour, often resulting in violence.

Mr Mergard said this attitude seems confusing and dangerous to older generations.

“It seems to be that there is this type of implied sense of personal right that if you invade my space I will invade yours, but far more aggressively,” he said.

“The respect for others – taking latitude, stepping back and really having the guts as a human being to take a second look at what’s going on – it doesn’t seem to be there these days.”

The issue has become such a problem in recent years it moved police to develop Operation Unite Bravo, a series of two-day operations targeting drunken behaviour and alcohol-related violence in Australia’s entertainment precincts.

Queensland’s Deputy Commissioner of Specialist Operations, Ian Stewart, said Operation Unite Bravo was about sending a strong message to Australian youth.

“We are saying very strongly, if you are going out with the intent to get drunk and cause trouble, you are going to be dealt with,” Mr Stewart said.

“We’re not saying don’t go to these precincts, we’re saying by all means go, but you have a responsibility to act correctly and within the law.”

Operation Unite Bravo first started in December 2009 in conjunction with the State government’s Operation Merit program, a 10-week campaign against alcohol-fuelled, anti-social behaviour.

The second Operation Unite Bravo, which ran from September 10-11 this year, saw more than 1000 additional police officers on patrol in the Fortitude Valley, Brisbane CBD, Gold Coast and Townsville entertainment precincts.

During the most recent operation, 660 charges were laid for alcohol-related offences.

But Queensland Police Chief Superintendent, Katarina Carroll, said she was generally pleased with people’s behaviour during the operation.

“We expected people to behave well and generally they did,” she said.

“But you always get those incidents where you’re disappointed with people’s behaviour out on the street.”

Queensland Police Minister, Neil Roberts, said the two operations were a worthwhile cause for the Queensland Police Service.

“It feeds into and supports the strategies we’ve already put in place, the key one amongst those is following on from Operation Merit and the parliamentary inquiry,” Mr Roberts said.

A review of Operation Merit has led to the development of new strategies to deal with drunken behaviour, including designated “Drink Safe Precincts” in Queensland’s popular entertainment areas.

The precincts will be government-funded for 12 months and will be trialled in Fortitude Valley, Surfers Paradise and Townsville, giving revellers in these cities access to experienced community workers and volunteers in a so-called “safe zone”.

But Caxton Street Precinct Liquor Accord Chairman, Alex Farquhar, said more needed to be done before people would take the consequences of alcohol-fuelled violence seriously.

“My personal view is that people aren’t being held accountable for their actions,” Mr Farquhar said.

“If somebody does something wrong they should deal with the consequences of what they’ve done.

“But people are getting into fights and hurting each other, then only getting a $150 fine – it’s not really cutting the mustard.”

Mr Farquhar said venues in Caxton Street were working together with Brisbane City Council and other venues to provide a safer environment for their patrons.

However, Mr Farquhar said he was unsure whether extra police officers in the Caxton Street entertainment precinct was a sustainable option.

“I’d love to see more police officers on Caxton Street but I don’t know if the resources are there for that to happen,”

Mr Farquhar said.“But the cops who do patrol Caxton

Street on the weekends are doing a great job.”

In the lead up to this year’s holiday period, the Queensland Government announced an extra $700,000 in funding for their “One Punch Can Kill” campaign in an attempt to lower the number of violent incidents over Christmas.

With advertisements and merchandise already available, Mr Roberts said he hoped the message would start to sink in.

“A lot of young people recognise the slogan ‘One Punch Can Kill’,” he said.

“What we’ve got to do is to keep repeating, repeating and repeating it so that ultimately people start to think

about what it actually means.”The campaign will be built around the

third Operation Unite Bravo, which has been planned for early December.

Mr Farquhar said last year’s results proved people needed the message to be reinforced before they embarked on holiday binge drinking sessions.

“I think the figures and statistics from last year prove that it was a roaring success, hence people have been asking why this isn’t happening all the time and not just throughout the holiday season,” Mr Farquhar said.

“It’s called ‘silly season’ for a reason and if they can bring in more police just to stem the activities of those few overindulgent patrons in Brisbane, then I think that’s a good thing.”

Safe zone...Chaplains are constantly on the watch. Photo: James Hyams

DREW mUSCh

WITH POPULATION growth exploding in Queensland’s south-east and public transport use increasing, a new set of problems have emerged with a very scientific solution.

A spokesperson for the Brisbane City Council said Brisbane Transport bus drivers had regularly been the targets of spitting from disgruntled passengers.

“In the past, Brisbane Transport operators have been subjected to assault by spitting from some passengers,” the spokesperson said.

In order to curb this growing problem, Brisbane Transport bus drivers have been issued with DNA kits, which they can now use to catch spitting commuters.

The initiative is still in the trial phase, with only 100 drivers from the Garden City depot equipped with the kits.

“Brisbane Transport management was interested in ways of better protecting drivers and became aware of the DNA kits and deterrent signage used on Perth buses,” the Council spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said police would remain “responsible for investigating assaults and [the] apprehension of offenders”, while bus drivers would be responsible for collecting the DNA sample according to set collection procedures.

“Bus drivers have received training in the collection process [and] set procedures are used to ensure [they] exhibit continuity,” the spokesperson said.

Bus drivers trained to collect the

samples are required to obtain the swabs at the time of the incident and the swabs are then provided to police for processing and investigation.

The Council spokesperson said bus drivers were also requested to provide a voluntary sample for exclusionary purposes.

Brisbane lawyer, Robert Champney, said he had serious concerns about the initiative and the recording of DNA evidence by bus drivers.

“It’s a concern that Brisbane City bus drivers are now essentially becoming de facto police officers in that they’re collecting evidence, assumingly they’ll have to take down statements as well,“ Mr Champney said.

“The Brisbane City Council bus drivers may not have the required training to avoid the contamination of evidence, and whether this evidence would hold up in court would remain to be seen.”

“And there’s also an issue of whether the Brisbane City council bus drivers should be doing this function, as it really is delving away from their primary role as an employee to operate the bus.”

The Brisbane City Council declined to comment on Mr Champney’s concerns.

Since implementation, the kits and deterrent signage are reported to have had the desired effect, and spitting assaults have steadily declined.

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

Workplace bullying takes serious toll

DANIEL ROCKETT

BRISBANE researchers have begun infecting human volunteers with malaria so they can test the effectiveness of anti-malaria drugs.

The researchers, who are based at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, are undertaking clinical trials to test the performance of anti-malarial drugs with the help of 16 healthy male volunteers.

QIMR researcher Professor, James McCarthy, said the volunteers were injected with a very low dose of malaria parasites, which was expected to have no serious effects on the subjects.

“The injection will contain around 1,800 par-asite-infected red blood cells from a controlled

sample we have developed,” Professor McCarthy said.

“In comparison, a single bite from a malaria-infected mosquito will deliver 20 times more [approximately 30,000] parasites into the blood,” he said.

Once a human is bitten by an infected mos-quito, the parasites multiply in the liver and infect red blood cells, causing fever, chills, head-aches, shivering and anaemia.

If left untreated, malaria can be fatal because it disrupts blood supply to vital organs.

Professor McCarthy said the volunteers would be treated with commercially available malaria treatments five days after they were injected with the parasites.

“The purpose of this study is to test the effec-tiveness of the actual method of observing the parasites in the blood following treatment,” Professor McCarthy said.

“Once we have perfected this method, we hope to start testing new drugs, which may prove to be effective against malaria,” he said.

Scientist, Rebecca Sedwell, is responsible for testing the volunteers’ blood after they have been infected and after treatment.

“Through our testing, we are able to measure how effective different types of anti-malarial drugs are,” Ms Sedwell said.

Malaria is a serious issue in the medical com-munity with recent studies showing the fever affects half the world’s population.

According to the World Health Organisation, malaria claims almost one million lives every year and a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds.

In Africa, one in five child deaths is due to the disease, and African children reportedly have on average between 1.6 and 5.4 episodes of malaria fever each year.

Workplace bullying is a sensitive issue that can be hard to prove and even harder to take action against. So, what is workplace bullying and what is the best way to tackle it? Susannah Thomsett reports.

JOURNALISM student Madeleine Lakos was so dedicated to her first job, waiting tables at a chain café, she endured her manager’s bullying without complaint.

Lakos, 20, says in December 2008 her manager’s behaviour and attitude soured after the staff Christmas party, during which he bit the café’s assistant manager and broke two of her fingers.

The next morning the staff member in question resigned without pressing charges.

“Everyone was a bit drunk at the party… but everyone knew about it,” Lakos says.

“He was a bit of a dick to everyone for a month afterward.

“He got angry over small things… he set impossible time limits on jobs like restock the bar in fifteen minutes.

“When I failed he called me stupid.”In March 2009, after an enjoyable

year at university but a further unhappy three months at the café, Lakos was fired over a triviality: a docket that had 12 customers’ orders on it, when the rule was a maximum of six.

According to Griffith University Research Fellow Dr Sara Branch, who has a Masters in Organisational Psychology, bullying is persistent and escalating inappropriate behaviour directed at a target who is unable to defend themselves because of some power imbalance.

Both workplace harassment and workplace bullying occur in all indus-tries and fields, between coworkers and between employers and workers.

“One of the things about bullying is that it’s a power dynamic…it can occur colleague to colleague, it can occur from staff member up to manager,” Ms Branch says.

According to Branch, workplace bul-lying can be divided into dispute-related bullying, with roots in a specific argu-ment or issue, or work-related bullying, which is more arbitrary.

After being late to work three times, Lakos says she received a written warn-ing, which was standard practice for the chain, and in a bid to be professional she apologised both in writing and in person.

Lakos says she believed that after her apology, her manager realised she would back down easily and began to target her.

“It was my first job, I loved it at the time so I hung onto it for a long time, was a suck-up… I think he enjoyed that a bit too much,” she says.

Branch says workplace bullying severely affects not just its victims, but their colleagues and employers as well.

“It’s been linked to lower job satis-faction, higher intention to leave, which flows on to higher absenteeism,” Branch says.

“It generally creates a really horrible atmosphere… a ‘culture of fear’; and it’s also been linked to depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and suicide in some extreme cases.”

A 2002 European study of 118 work-place bullying victims conducted by Eva Mikkelsen and Stale Einarsen found that 80.5 per cent of participants rated being bullied worse than experiences such as accidents, divorce, serious illness and bereavement.

“I felt really angry, and very upset… I got so scared and worried and paranoid, I ended up not doing the job as well,” Lakos says.

Dr Branch says the estimated cost of workplace bullying using a prevalancy of 3.5 per cent of individuals is $6 to 13 billion every year, including lost oppor-tunities and direct and indirect costs.

But 3.5 per cent is actually quite a small estimate, she says, and a higher rate of about 15 per cent means work-place bullying costs Australian employ-ers $17 billion to $36 billion a year.

Branch says she believes the best pre-ventative measure available to organi-sations is awareness training, so that employees know what constitutes bully-ing and can cope with conflict.

“Having said that, all the training in the world won’t help you if you come up against a person who just chooses to be horrible, but it might help you be able to cope with it,” Branch says.

Lakos says if she knew then what she knows now, she would have dealt with her manager’s bullying differently.

“If I’d learned more about my rights, I could have stood up to him more; he was always threatening to take stuff out of my pay, which is illegal, of course,” Lakos says.

Queensland lead hospitality organ-iser of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), David Pullen says knowing your rights as an employee can be more confusing these days.

“The employer will often set up an employee assistance service but often that’s… advice to their employees about their rights from the employer’s angle,” Pullen says.

“Governments provide a service, so people can ring up a range of serv-ices from a Fair Work Ombudsman to government departments such as the Anti-Discrimination Commission, Queensland Working Women Service, there’s a range of services there which are government funded.”

Staff at the Workplace Health and Safety Infoline (phone 1300 369 915) can give you information to help you work out which agencies to involve in a complaint.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s website (www.whs.qld.gov.au) says most external agencies

only accept complaints after complain-ants attempt to resolve the bullying internally through an informal process, such as speaking directly with the per-petrator or mediation between parties, or formal processes where available.

Pullen says the LHMU provides two kinds of support to bullied members, service and organisation.

“We provide a legal service, an infor-mation service, a personalised service from a service centre that can assist peo-ple… we could represent that individual person with their employer, or advise them on that,” he says.

“The beauty of the trade union is we do a little bit more than represent peo-ple, we can actually organise people and change the way a whole workplace oper-ates… by getting people in the union, by building power, by educating people about their rights, by basically organis-ing workers, which is the big difference from that servicing model.”

“And by gaining respect, by knowing your rights and knowing that you have strength in a union, that’s what threatens people and then people won’t bully.”

The LHMU represents 1331 workers under 25 years old, 187 of those in the hospitality industry, and their Member

Assist unit has handled 190 complaints of workplace bullying so far this year.

Branch says having a strong network of friends and allies in the workplace is also a way of protecting yourself from harassment and bullying.

“At the very least you can go and have a chat to them… and also, if you’re seen as being part of a group, you’re not so vulnerable, not so isolated,” Branch says.

Lakos says she sees her experiences as a learning curve, albeit a steep one.

“If you don’t take responsibility for your own role in things, you never learn for the next time.”

Paranoid...Victims of workplace bullying often feel angry, upset and scared. Photo: Ingeborg Mate Holm.

Brisbanites infected with mosquito disease for parasite study

Click here for a radio version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

WHEN monthly fashion magazine Essence, which targets an African American readership, hired caucasian-Australian Ellianna Placas as fashion director in July this year, many minority journalists and industry experts were outraged.

Despite Placas’ impressive resume, including experience at O: The Oprah Magazine and US Weekly, many have said the position at Essence should have been given to a black woman.

That view was shared not only by some fashion commentators and read-ers, but also by one former Essence editor.

Former Essence executive fashion and beauty editor, Michaela Angela Davis, was outspoken in her disapproval of the hiring decision.

Davis, who currently works as a documentary filmmaker, took her dis-approval over Placas’ appointment to social networking site Facebook.

“It is with a heavy heart that I learned Essence magazine has engaged a white fashion director,” Davis wrote.

“I love Essence and I love fashion. “I hate this news and this feeling. “It hurts, literally.”Davis also led a series of

demonstrations at this year’s New York Fashion Week in protest of the lack of African American fashion directors at Essence, or any other similar magazine.

Canadian fashion, lifestyle and con-temporary urban culture magazine Contra Toronto staff writer, Felicia Mancini, said she believed the colour of a person’s skin was irrelevant as long as they did their job well.

“As long as the content and message remains loyal and dedicated to its desig-

nated readership, content knows no such thing as colour,” Mancini said.

“If the writer is passionate and knowl-edgeable about issues affecting [the magazine’s] readers, everything else should be secondary in importance.”

Styleaholics.com Blogger and Style Consultant Najwa Moses said in her blog that the fashion industry in general

was a hard place to work in if you had a black or a brown face.

“Essence is the one place we might think, ‘Oh, if I keep moving up in my career, I might make it there’,” Moses wrote.

In an article for the Association of Young Journalists and Writers, Rianna Sing said the lack of ethnic diversity in women’s publications is noticeable.

In her study of Seventeen magazine, Sing noted that out of 40 advertisements for beauty, only two black models were used.

Lisa Wasonga, a University of Connecticut Law School graduate who is also an African American woman and an avid reader of Essence magazine, said the two ethnicities “denote more than just divergence in colour”.

“There are aspects of white culture completely unfamiliar and foreign to blacks and vice versa,” Wasonga says.

“Many of those aspects are things dealt with in magazines like Essence.

“When a black woman picks up a Vogue, InStyle or Cosmo issue that has a headline announcing ‘Hot New Hair Tips’, we automatically know there’s nothing between those pages that will apply to us as women of colour.”

With such strong cultural differences, connecting with readership could be difficult.

MSNUK Celebrity Editor and experi-enced fashion and beauty writer, Lucy Mapstone, said Placas’ role should have been reserved for an African American editor.

“These kinds of issues have been rife in fashion journalism since their incep-

tion,” Mapstone says.“Black people are rarely featured in

mainstream fashion magazines, so it could seem that she doesn’t deserve such a high position on an African American magazine, because that role should have been filled by a black woman.

“I wouldn’t say it’s particularly dis-criminatory, it’s just the way it is, and should be.”

But Essence Editor-In-Chief, Angela Burt Murray, defended her decision to appoint Placas as fashion editor in a statement to the press.

“I understand that this issue has struck an emotional chord with our audience… however, I selected Ellianna because of her creativity, vision, the positive reader response to her work, and her enthusi-asm and respect for the audience and our brand,” Murray said.

Murray said she was disappointed that the hiring of a white member of edito-rial staff overshadowed far more serious issues reported monthly in Essence.

“Interestingly enough, the things I think should most upset people and inspire boycotts and Facebook protests, often seem to go relatively unnoticed,” she said.

“When our writers investigated the inequities in the health care services black women receive: Deadly silence.

“When we run story after story on how HIV is the leading cause of death for black women age 18 to 34: Zilch.

“The things that really are the end of our world apparently aren’t.”

We’re used to controversy in the world of fashion magazines over issues such as body image, ageism, objectification and photographic airbrush-ing. What we don’t often hear about is controversy behind the scenes, among the people who create that glossy world. Amber Drury looks at an

exception to this rule.

Fashion not the only hot topic at Essence

LILy ChARLES

THE Australian media industry is sidlin-ing the body image issue only months after the Federal government released its Voluntary Code of Conduct on Body Image according to a former magazine deputy editor.

The code was released in June this year following recommendations from the government-appointed National Advisory Group on Body Image in 2009.

It is aimed at the media, advertising and fashion industries and “challenges them to do the right thing by young people”.

It outlines principles to guide the industries in adopting more body image friendly practices.

However, former Girlfriend Deputy Editor and media commentator, Erica Bartle, said most members of the media industry refused to implement any changes recommended by the code.

“I’ve seen little blips on the radar, but nothing overwhelmingly different or positive,” Ms Bartle said.

“The problem is it’s a voluntary code and lots of editors, like Vogue’s Kirsty Clements, have come out and said it’s a real grey area.

“The best they are going to do is talk about it, but then there’s the risk of it being pushed under the carpet or put in the ‘too hard’ basket, and then it’s back to things as usual.

Editor for The Australian Women’s Weekly, Helen McCabe, said the move-ment needed to be led by readers before industries partners could take action.

“This has to be consumer led, and it is to a certain extent,” Ms McCabe said.

“But I do believe it is important for the biggest title in Australia to take a

lead, especially when it is not really our decision.”

“It is what our readers want… I would say to people concerned about these issues that it is up to you.”

But Ms Bartle said that sort of state-ment was a poor excuse for the media industry to do nothing.

“In a way, it’s a bit of a cop out,” Ms Bartle said.

“As much as magazines reflect the zeitgeist, they also steer and direct it.

“Readers are only going to consume what they are being offered.

“It’s pretty narrow-minded to think that women wouldn’t be open to see-ing more realistic representations of themselves.”

The Australian Women’s Weekly is one of the few magazines to change in response to the code, offering to identify images that have been digitally altered, which McCabe said was a major con-cern for their readers.

“Frankly, [the readers] are fed up by it,” Ms McCabe said.

“It seemed logical for us to be involved and take a stand against the overuse of Photoshop, because it does create completely unrealistic images of often already beautiful women.”

The Federal government said it will “screen” the media industry, recog-nising organisations that demonstrate meaningful and ongoing integration of the principles outlined by the code of conduct.

These organisations will then be able to carry the Body Image Friendly sym-bol in their publications.

Former Minister for Youth, Kate Ellis, said some media organisations were making special attempts to follow the code, including Girlfriend, Cleo, Grazia and Cosmopolitan, who run special issues focused on positive body image.

Despite the increasing use of models

with different body types and other posi-tive campaigns, Ms Bartle said research showed body image was still a major concern for Australian youth.

“During my tenure at Girlfriend we launched a self-respect campaign and did a lot of research into the area of body image,” Ms Bartle said.

“Despite that campaign being launched three years ago, in a recent poll Girlfriend found, overwhelmingly, that girls are still feeling terrible about themselves.

“Body image is still a very big problem.”

The code of conduct is not only aimed at national media organisations, but at all members of the media industry.

Style Editor, Cassandra Laffey, said her Brisbane-based fashion magazine incorporated code guidelines into each publication.

“As we have a wide female demo-graphic, we have always sourced mod-els of different age groups and body shapes in our fashion shoots, stories and advertorials to reflect our readership,” Ms Laffey said.

“Style does not digitally alter images of people and their body shapes to por-tray unrealistic ideals.

“We do use supplied images from other sources and photographers and can’t guarantee that these supplied photos reflect the voluntary code of conduct.”

Griffith University journalism stu-dent, Meagan Verner, said while media organisations following the code was a step in the right direction, she would prefer to learn about the ethical dilem-mas surrounding body image during her studies.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect human being,” Ms Verner said.

“We need to be aware of how the media, by consistently publishing

waif-like models as an ‘ideal’ body type, is negatively influencing the behaviour of women in Australia.

“It does need to change, and we, as the next generation of journalists, need to learn how we can help to change it.”

Body image guidelines ignored: Editor

Body image...Model gisele Bündchen on the victoria’s Secret cat walk. Photo: AAP

Every scar tells a life changing story. www.findingcures.com.au

“I love Essence and I love fashion. I hate this news and this feeling. It hurts, literally.”

“Interestingly enough, the things I think should most upset people and inspire boycotts and facebook protests, often seem to go relatively unnoticed”

DREW mUSCh

IF YOU pop into the sports hall of Yeronga TAFE you’ll see a young basketball coach dishing out some serious lessons to people from all walks of life.

You’ll also see the adoration, the love and respect players have for this man.

Coach David Yohan is a man who, by his own personal account, is lucky to be alive.

“Growing up, I wasn’t a perfect kid,” Yohan says.

“I had some bad influences and I was in bad situations.

“I grew up at this park and this is where I learnt to play basketball, and to be honest it probably saved my life.”

Yohan and his mother arrived in Australia in 1993 as refugees from war-torn Sudan, intent on creating a new life for themselves.

However, Yohan says it wasn’t long before he found himself on a dangerous path of an entirely different variety.

Hanging out at the park and basket-ball court directly across the road from the Yeronga TAFE, Yohan says he was exposed to an unpleasant and increas-ingly dangerous way of life.

In an environment where jail and death were very real, constant threats, basketball quickly became a way out.

Playing basketball led Yohan to rep-resentative teams and basketball schol-arships, but most importantly, it showed him the power of sportsmanship, team-work, and goals.

Yohan says after seeing local youths going through the same issues he went through years ago, he felt compelled to be “a force for change”.

It was from these humble beginnings that PAWES began.

PAWES (Providing Awareness With Education and Sport) is a not-for-profit association targeting at-risk, marginal-ised and disadvantaged young people.

It aims to provide coaching and men-toring, without the worry of financial constraints.

“I created PAWES close to two years ago now,” Yohan says.

Using PAWES as his organisational base, Yohan began coaching more and more kids, finally forming a local team called ‘Hoop Dreamz’.

“I started coaching five to ten kids, and now we’re an organisation.

“I saw the next generation falling into the same traps I was falling into; anti social behaviours and taking risks within their life.

“I wanted to change that.“I wanted to help people help

themselves.”In his role as coach, Yohan stalks

the court, barking out instructions to his young charges with equal parts of toughness and humour.

The atmosphere is light and fun, but when the serious stuff begins the players switch on instantly.

Such is their respect for their coach and leader.

One of the players, Nyamuoch Yakuac, whose family also came to Australia from Sudan, finds Yohan’s unique coaching style ideal.

“He’s pretty cool,” Yakuac says. “He makes us work so hard and he

just pushes us.“He’s tough but he’s fair.”Yohan has been awarded the Pride

of Australia medal, nominated for Young Australian of the Year in 2009, a Community Award recipient and the Young Citizen of the Year in 2010.

But Yohan does his best to shun such accolades.

“To be honest, that doesn’t interest me,” he says.

“At first, when things like that came up I was hesitant to be in that.

“I didn’t want other people, espe-cially the young people, to see me any differently because I don’t see myself differently to them.

“This is not about getting recognition, this is about improving lives and mak-ing a difference.”

Yohan says he sees his young players as the future of the PAWES organisa-tion, and the ones who will carry on his work long after he’s gone.

“That’s the great thing about us, it started with a young person and now other young people are catching on,” he says.

“Soon the players are going to be the next volunteers; the ones that are going to take over.

“That’s really what I’d like.“It’s sustainable.”But despite all the positive inroads he

has made, the future of PAWES is far from assured.

“We’re okay until the end of the year, but with the new year coming we’re back to square one,” Yohan says.

“We have nowhere to call home, to train, we have nothing.

“We rely on volunteers, and at the moment we don’t have any.”

The work required to keep the organi-sation afloat is tremendous.

Yohan is required to create and print the flyers, write permission slips,

negotiate and manage tournaments, coach the team and even drive the bus to and from games.

He says the support he receives from the local community is excellent, but wider support is required if PAWES is to survive.

This is the reason Yohan created the PAWES Fun, Community and Basketball Day.

The day took place at Yeronga TAFE on October 2, and was designed to thank current supporters and attract new ones.

“We had nothing when we started, absolutely nothing,” Yohan says.

“We had one ball. “We’ve come a long way, so we’re

using this as a thank you to the people who have supported us.

“But at the same time we are using it to create awareness for the wider pub-lic and everyone else who may come, whether it be government officials or agencies, that we need further support.”

SUSANNAh ThOmSETT

THE SPECIAL needs of disadvantaged young parents and families in Beenleigh are being catered for thanks to a unique program run by Wesley Mission Brisbane’s Young Parent Support System (YPSS) coordinator.

The Young Parent Support System (YPSS) provides a combination of health care, information and community support to disadvantaged young parents.

YPSS Program Coordinator Donna Hanson said the program included antenatal, babies’ and toddlers’ parent-ing support groups for parents up to 25 years of age.

Ms Hanson said the YPSS staff received a lot of guidance and direction from the young parents attending their program.

“It’s a very basic thing, but other pro-viders tend to use a more clinical envi-ronment,” Ms Hanson said.

“But our classes, it’s a safe place for young parents to come to, a place to have their own opinions heard, they have their own influence on the program.”

The YPSS aims to spread information to young parents on building attach-ments in families, helping strengthen the bonds between parents and babies, and encouraging communication between family members.

“With our parenting support groups we aim to pass on parenting skills

and life skills, help them connect with relatives and other young people,” Ms Hanson said.

“A lot of young parents are a little iso-lated, we want to help them link to other people in the same circumstances.”

“Single parents frequently come from another state, and they’re away from their family… some of them have no one at all to turn to.”

In a 2008 study on pregnancy care, Maternal and Child Health Nurse Nicole Carver, La Trobe University’s Public Health Lecturer, Bernadette Ward, and

Senior Lecturer, Lyn Talbot, said that it was important in antenatal care for the “voice” of pregnant women to be given weight as well as the “voice” of experts.

“Several studies have reported that while continuity of care is important, increased satisfaction with care is more closely linked to… caregivers not being rushed, personalising care, listening to women’s concerns and making an effort to get to know women,” the study said.

A Wesley Mission Brisbane spokes-person said the organisation’s parenting support groups ran on a 12-week cycle,

with each week dealing with a different topic such as changes to the body during pregnancy, pain relief, what to expect after the birth, and where to find addi-tional support.

“Sometimes we have guest speakers, we have music and movement sessions to help form that attachment between parent and child, the program really var-ies,” the spokesperson said.

Approximately 10 to 12 families attend each session.

“Child health nurses from Logan Hospital run the antenatal classes,

they’re able to offer antenatal checks and after the baby is born the parents can come to the babies’ classes for more check-ups.

“We also have a lactation consult-ant at the babies’ classes to help with feeding.

“After the child is one year old, the family can attend the toddlers’ group… it’s the same principle as the babies’ groups, but with age appropriate information.”

The spokesperson said young parents generally joined the YPSS through the antenatal group, and continued on to the babies’ and toddlers’ groups.

Ms Hanson said Centrelink referred some young parents but the majority joined the antenatal program through the local hospital.

“We’re helping young people and making links with other community groups,” Ms Hanson said.

According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2006, 45 per cent of Queensland fathers and 57 per cent of mothers surveyed were aged 25 or under when their first child was born.

Another ABS study found that in Australia in 2008, there were 67,654 births where the mother was aged 25 years or under, and 37,587 births where the father was 25 years old or under.

Visit www.wmb.org.au for more information on Wesley Mission Brisbane and its programs.

Wesley mission supports young parents

A baby’s life...Young mothers socialise with their babies at Young Parent Support System. Photo: courtesy Wesley Mission

hoop dreaming for at-risk kids in yeronga

Courtside assist...Providing Awareness With education and Sport helps members of Hoop Dreamz perform on and off the basketball court. Photo: courtesy PAWeS

LOWOOD resident Louise Slattery is the owner and sole worker of Brisbane Valley Cat Rescue.

She says the RSPCA was forced to euthanase 11,000 of the 18,000 cats received through their Queensland shelters over the past two years, which is why she started a no-kill cat shelter at her home.

Each year Slattery does her best to save the ever-increasing number of abandoned animals that are left at her door.

Grey cats, brown cats, fluffy cats, fat cats and ginger cats, Brisbane Valley Cat Rescue takes them all in, caring for them 24 hours a day.

However, with no stable income and so many animals being left with her, she is struggling to cope.

“Because there are so many cats, I can’t actually get around to getting everything done, other than what must get done,” she says.

But despite the fact that more than 300 cats were left at her shelter this year, Slattery says she is determined not to be labelled a cat hoarder.

Instead she affectionately refers to herself as the cat slave.

Slattery has devoted her life and her home to re-housing and caring for

unwanted cats since 2001, and is proud to be working hard for her cause.

An accident involving a front-on collision with a semi-trailer left Slattery, who used to work as a taxation consultant, partially crippled in both the knees and spine forcing her to quit her job.

Activities such as mowing the grass

and making repairs to the cat housing are a physical challenge for Slattery.

“I’ve got a lot of pain in the legs and in the back, and so I can only do things where I can set the pace on how I do them,” she says.

Caring for animals is nothing new for Ms Slattery.

Years before she turned her attention

to cats, the shelter predominately took in dogs, as well as other domestic animals ranging in size from guinea pigs to cows.

“I realised that cats were getting a very bad deal,” she says.

“There were lots of people doing dog rescues and cats unfortunately didn’t have the support that they needed.

“If they were going into pounds quite often they were being put down just on principal because no one was adopting cats out of pounds.

Slattery’s shelter is more a labour of love than most passers by would realise.

She says she does not make any money for the service she provides, and says she also has not been granted any disability pensions or unemployment benefits.

Instead, she’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of her own money to provide the animals with medication, food

and secure cat housing. “When you take in

vaccinating, micro-chipping, de-sexing, de-fleaing, de-worming, feeding, petrol to and from the vets, some of the emergency care that’s been needed on abused animals, feeding mother and kittens, you’ve going to lose approximately $300 to $400 per cat and kitten that you actually adopt out,” Slattery says.

Adopting a fully micro-chipped, wormed and de-sexed cat from Slattery’s shelter costs $150, but adopting an adult cat from the Queensland RSPCA costs $180.

“You don’t make any money, all you can try and do is to not lose too much,” she says.

Slattery says she is “floating” financially, relying on occasional donations to help her pay the bills.

“I’ve got a couple of friends that come over occasionally, but its 99 per cent me,” she says.

Slattery says she wishes that one day her services will not be needed.

She says there isn’t enough focus on cats as being pets, companions or friends of the family.

“People will see a cute little puppy or cute little kitten in the pet shop and they’ll buy it on impulse without thinking about the fact that it needs... long-term care, what are they going to do with it on holidays, do they have the room for it at home, are they prepared to pay for all the vet costs when it gets older, are they even going to like it in four months time when it’s no longer a puppy or kitten,” she says.

“All these animals would be dead if the shelter wasn’t here now.”

It takes a special kind of person to do this job, but Slattery is keen to not be honoured for her efforts.

“It’s not for anyone who is terribly intelligent because they would be smart enough not to do it,” she says.

‘No-kill’ shelter helps abandoned catseach year in Queensland thousands of unwanted

cats are euthanased because shelters such as the RSPCA are unable to find homes for them all,

but one Brisbane woman is trying to stop the deaths

by running a cat shelter from her own home. Nadia

Vanek reports.

Cat slave...Louise Slattery loves every one of her felines to bits. Photo: nadia vanek

NATASHA Attard was only 15 when ongoing harassment caused her to run away from her hometown of Mackay.

Now 24, Attard says she had a comfortable childhood growing up in a well-off family, with two brothers and plenty of friends to spend time with, and even horses to ride.

Then at 15 she moved out of home and in with her older boyfriend.

A school friend of Attard’s then also ran away from home, and she offered the girl a place to stay for the night at her new home.

It was after that night that Attard’s life changed forever.

“One of my friends from school ran away from home, so I told her to come and stay with me,” Attard says.

“Then her mum came around and bashed me.”

Attard was struck multiple times and thrown down the stairs, and the incident left her with severe facial injuries.

Attard says her friend’s mother had been angry because she saw Attard as a threat to her family.

She reported the assault to the police, but Attard says her complaint wasn’t taken seriously.

“I went to the police and tried to lay charges against her, but they told me they couldn’t do anything because I didn’t have any witnesses.

“They said I couldn’t prove that I didn’t do it to myself to frame the woman.

“But I was only 15. “I found out later her husband was a

police officer.”Attard says her friend was unhurt and

returned home to live with her mother, but despite that Attard continued to be harassed by the woman for seven months.

The woman followed Attard to her school and verbally taunted her until she felt she had no option but to leave town.

Telling no-one, she fled to Brisbane leaving her support network behind.

She had no money and nowhere to stay, and quickly fell into life on the streets.

“My family didn’t know I was homeless at first. I didn’t tell them because I felt like they didn’t care.

“After a while I knew my dad cared because he would keep putting money in my account for food and things.”

Living on the streets had made her feel depressed, and lead her to develop a serious drug habit.

Attard says she hit rock bottom in 2008 and would often take drugs such as speed and ice to hide her depression symptoms from her friends on the street.

She says her old friends and family knew nothing about her new life.

“I told my dad I needed money for food and stuff, but I’d use it for drugs,” Attard says.

Attard could not continue to hide her problems from her family and eventually confessed her drug use to her father.

With his guidance, Attard enlisted the help of the Brisbane Youth Service (BYS), a community organisation dedicated to helping homeless and disadvantaged youths build better futures.

The combined efforts of her father and BYS allowed Attard to travel to Sydney to spend time on her uncle’s property and undergo rehabilitation.

It was there she rediscovered her love of music and also fell in love with her now late partner, Moe.

“He was the most incredible person I’ve ever met,” Attard says.

Moe passed away in 2009, after he

was hit by a drunk driver while riding his motorbike.

Attard says this devastating event led her back into a party-drug lifestyle.

Soon after her relapse, Attard found out she was pregnant to a friend from the Sydney party scene.

“I was off my face on drugs, I had been drinking and I’d popped pills, and then I went home.

“He was staying at my house and I must have slept with him because two months later I found out I was pregnant.“

Shortly after Attard’s daughter was born, she moved back to Brisbane to look for work and try to turn her life around for the second time.

With the help of the Brisbane Youth Service, Attard found accommodation and work.

She now also volunteers as the BYS Youth Homelessness Ambassador.

As part of her ambassadorial role, Attard travels around the country giving motivational speeches about her time as a homeless youth.

Although it’s rewarding work, she says it’s tough watching friends still struggling to get off the streets.

“It is hard to see them, and when you’re in accommodation all you want to do is help.

“But you can’t because you jeopardise your own place.”

Brisbane Youth Service Fundraising and Marketing Manager, Richard Langford, has known Attard since he began work at the centre two years ago.

He says Attard plays a vital role in keeping BYS running.

According to Langford, Attard’s story doesn’t only touch corporate hearts, it inspires the disadvantaged youths she meets at BYS.

“She is very motivated and through that motivation she has an inspirational effect on the other youths.”

in 2010 there are more than 11,000 people under the age of 25

living on our streets. But homelessness doesn’t

have to be a life sentence, writes Lily Charles, after an inspirational meeting

with one former homeless youth.

Youth service shows way out of street life

Pride...natasha Attard is recognised for her hard work at the Brisbane Youth Service. Photo: Lily Charles

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

ADRIANNA WEBSTER

EACH year, more and more chil-dren in Australia are being diagnosed with potentially life-threatening food allergies.

Sufferers develop a hypersensitive reaction, known as anaphylaxis, when exposed to certain types of foods, which can include milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, crustaceans and soy, and many others.

The reactions to ‘trigger’ foods can be so severe that they must be treated as a medical emergency requiring immedi-ate treatment.

Also, more than one body system at a time can be affected, including the skin, the respiratory system, the gastro-intesti-nal and the cardiovascular, which makes these reactions particularly dangerous, as symptoms can include swelling in the mouth or throat, difficulty breathing and even loss of consciousness.

Queensland allergist Associate Professor Pete Smith said he had seen the wide variety of anaphylaxis in chil-dren increase five-fold over the past 10 years.

“Food allergies contribute to signifi-cant morbidity, particularly in the very young, with food allergy occurring in five to eight per cent of the young chil-dren,” Mr Smith said.

“This is also reflected globally with rises reported in the UK and USA.

“Current dietary prevention strategies are clearly not working to prevent food allergy.”

Furthermore, research has been con-ducted showing that there are links between other severe conditions in chil-dren, including skin conditions, asthma and hay fever.

“In Australia we have seen rises in allergic conditions such as eczema, where in a similar population and sur-vey instrument the rate of eczema in children under five years has risen from three per cent in the 1960s to 17 per cent in 1991,” Assoc Prof Smith said.

Chief Dietician at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit, Dr Anne Swain, said during her time at the Allergy Unit she had seen an increase in the number of patients being affected by food sensitivities.

“Anecdotally, we’ve found that admissions to hospitals in small children have escalated,” Dr Swain said.

Dr Swain said a possible contributing factor to the increase was food condi-tioning, caused by excessive exposure to a food substance.

“Every time we change the food source, again we watch a change in what people get sensitised to,” Dr Swain said.

“There are still lots of peanut allergies and cashew nut allergies, but now we’re looking at more walnut allergies.”

Fourteen-year-old Elly Kirkham grew up with a severe nut allergy and is also a celiac, which means she cannot eat food containing gluten, a protein found in grains such as wheat.

As a result of her allergies, Elly has had to stick to a strict diet.

“Having food anaphylaxis has been difficult because it means I’m different,” Ms Kirkham said.

“Teachers in primary school weren’t used to handling my allergies, so during lunch time I would sit alone in a class room all by myself and could maybe have one other friend with me at a time.

“Now when I go to parties and things, I have to take all my own food, I have to tell people how to use the EpiPen, they need Mum’s number and need to know what to do in case of an emergency.

“It still feels embarrassing and awk-ward to have to tell people about it, that I have food allergies and anaphylaxis,

and they sometimes don’t believe it.”According to Maria Said from

non-profit organisation Anaphylaxis Australia Inc., it is important for people affected by allergies to feel able to man-age their conditions.

“It’s very much about individuals learning to care for themselves, and learning to manage it themselves,” Ms Said said.

“It affects their life as a whole because it’s food that we’re talking about and we eat several times a day.”

Elly’s mother, Annelise Kirkham, has two children with food anaphylaxis and says the concept was initially incredibly difficult to understand.

“As a mother, I felt desperately guilty to have caused my child to have food anaphylaxis or not to have been able to prevent the risk. So when there was a diagnosis, I felt it was my fault, my responsibility; I was terrified.

“I had the diagnosis in my head and

the script in my hand and I sat down and watched her.

“She was doing a little skippy dance in front of me and all I could think was she’s so carefree and has no idea what’s we’ve been told.

“You suddenly become terrified and irrational to protect your child.”

Clinical health psychologist and Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Queensland, Professor Justin Kenardy, said high stress situa-tions where parents and children experi-enced near-death experiences, could put tension on a relationship.

“The younger the child the more important the distress level is, espe-cially in pre-preschool level kids,” Mr Kenardy said.

“Anxious and concerned parents cre-ate in their children the similar feelings of anxiety and concern.

“Parents need to remember that young children are born to read their parents

and need to be especially aware of their own level of distress.

“If the parent feels they need to do something about how they’re feeling when they’re dealing with the stress of protecting their children, then they should do something about it.”

Ms Kirkham is well aware of the stress that comes with looking after chil-dren with anaphylaxis.

“I was absolutely over the top,” Ms Kirkham said.

“The turning point came when we were in a supermarket one day and she saw a nut on the ground and just started screaming, saying it was going to get her.

“I had to drop everything I had, pick up my other baby, leave my shopping and drag this screaming child out of the supermarket.

“It was then that I said to myself, ‘OK, I’ve really messed this kid up’.

“I still wouldn’t let them eat in a Chinese or Mongolian restaurant, but we do eat out. She goes to parties, to camp, overseas to non-English speaking countries, we’ve found it’s all do-able, it just takes time.”

Dr Swain has spent time researching and developing the safest elimination diets.

“I went through the literature and read as much as I could about the elimina-tion diet, but there were still gaps in the research.

“Over the years we’ve seen patients and put them on the elimination diet, challenged them and shown them how they can liberalise, how much they can manage, because they need to know how much [food] they can have before they get the symptoms.

“What eventuated in 1989 was our first Friendly Food recipe book that came out, and then more recently the second book on Friendly Food came out. Now we’re working on the last part of the book, which is the food challenges.”

Patients like Elly Kirkman have seen similar benefits through strongly researched regimes.

“After taking some of the food chal-lenges recently, Elly is now able to eat almonds, which is a big step for us,” Elly’s mother said.

She said now that Elly was a teenager – statistically the most at-risk group – dealing with the allergies was a “whole new ball game”.

Prof Kenardy has seen how important it is for parents and children to keep an open relationship and keep communi-cating as the children hit puberty.

“The parent will want their child to have a normal experience but it’s hard to allow them to be put at risk to exposure to allergens.

“The main thing for parents is that there needs to be very clear communica-tions between parent and child.”

“I think these kids have a huge weight on their shoulders as they are usually told from a very young age (from diag-nosis) how serious their condition is,” Prof Kenardy said.

The cause of allergies like Elly’s con-tinues to baffle scientists.

Hypotheses include that we are now living “too clean”, that we are delaying exposing children to certain foods for too long, and even that birth by caesar-ean section prevents babies from getting a mouthful of bacteria in the birth canal that can be associated with doubling the risk of milk allergy.

“The more that we can educate the community on supporting people, the better,” Ms Said says.

For more information, go to www.allergyfacts.org.au

Allergy research lacks funding

Five-fold increase in child food allergies: experts

ADRIANNA WEBSTER

ALLERGY organisations and research facilities continue to struggle for funding even as cases of food allergies and anaphylaxis have increased dramatically over the past five years.

As the reportage of allergies and allergic reactions in chil-dren continues to rise, allergy organisations in Australia are struggling to find funding to support the growing demand on resources.

Maria Said from Anaphylaxis Australia Inc. (AAI) said the organisation struggled to sup-port the increase in families and individuals in need of informa-tion, doctors and facilities.

“AAI is a national support organisation that educates for the allergic individual and we also support anyone who’s trying to manage anaphylaxis – teach-ers, childcare workers, health professionals, anyone working in government,” Ms Said said.

“There are no other major patient support organisations that have the outreach that we have.

“It’s predominately a volun-teer run organisation.

“There are two of us who work full-time and three of us who work part-time, and we’re abso-lutely run off our feet.”

Chief Dietician at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) Allergy Unit, Dr Anne Swain, said during her time at the unit she had seen an explosion in patients with food allergies and the need for more resources.

“We’ve started to see patients with food allergies and a number of them also have food intoler-ances and we’ve now realised that what we need are more resources, not just for people with food intolerance, but also to help people with an egg allergy, a milk allergy, [or] a nut allergy, which we’ve begun to develop,” Dr Swain said.

With such a demand for pub-lic health and resources, it is no wonder not-for-profit organisa-tions like AAI are struggling to meet their needs and hoping for more state and federal support.

“The waiting lists for aller-gists in Queensland are so huge that there are people waiting to be properly diagnosed and supported.

“The government in Queensland really needs to do more to acknowledge food allergy as a public health issue,” Ms Said said.

Queensland Health was unavailable for comment.

For further information on anaphylaxis and allergies in Australia, go to Anaphylaxis Australia website (www.allergy-facts.org.au) or the website of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, www.allergy.org.au.

Anaphylaxis Facts

Common symptoms of a mild to moderate allergic reaction

• Tingling of the mouth• Hives, welts or body redness • Swelling of the face, lips and/or eyes• Vomiting, abdominal pain

Common symptoms of severe anaphylaxis

• Difficulty and/or noisy breathing• Swelling of the tongue• Swelling or tightness in the throat• Difficulty talking or hoarse voice• Wheeze or persistent cough• Loss of consciousness and/or collapse • Pale and floppy (young children)

Anaphylactic shock...the effects of a reaction. Photo: Anaphylaxis Australia inc.

IT’S 11pm on a Friday night and inside the Mana Bar, a small bar on the outskirts of Brunswick Street, a crowd of young people is drinking and button-mashing their way through the shiniest new offerings from the gaming industry.

Almost all of the games depict vio-lence in some form, yet Brunswick Street’s best kept secret is being cham-pioned as a counter-point to the seedy atmosphere of Fortitude Valley.

Part cocktail bar, part video game museum, the Mana Bar has already managed to capture a loyal and expan-sive following since opening in March this year.

The usual trappings of a nightclub exist within the Mana Bar: bright lights, pulsing music, energetic bartenders, attractive waitresses and the unmistak-able noise created by alcohol and youth.

Yet the Mana Bar provides a unique experience in Brisbane’s nightclub scene.

On walls lining the sides of the bar sit eight televisions, each hooked up to a video game console and displaying the latest games.

Crowded around the screens are groups of young men and women, most with a drink in their hand.

A Legislative Assembly of Queensland report in March 2010 into alcohol-related violence listed not just drugs and alcohol, workplace pressures and society’s apparent obsession with being intoxicated as causes of violence, but also isolated video games as a key ingredient in the unsavoury atmosphere dominating Queensland’s night-time hotspots.

If sections of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland’s “Inquiry into Alcohol-Related Violence” report are to be believed, the Mana Bar sounds like a recipe for violence, but Mana Bar owner Guy Blomberg couldn’t be more proud

of the establishment and those who fill it to capacity most nights.

Standing in front of his bar, Blomberg speaks with the energy of someone who knows he’s created something special.

“We’re in the unique, wonderful posi-tion of being a venue that serves booze, a venue that has violent video games, together in this holy matrimony, and we don’t see any violence at all,” Blomberg says.

Blomberg says he is proud of the pos-itive atmosphere that reverberates from the walls of the Mana Bar and says he is willing for the government to use it as a case study as it attempts to curb the increasing rate of violent incidents in Brisbane’s entertainment districts.

“I think the government should be looking at our venue and asking what the Mana Bar is doing right.

“The regulars are the friendliest and most polite clientele you could ask for.

“We get owners from other bars say-ing they would kill for our clientele because they are young, friendly, polite and they drink like fish.”

While Blomberg remains open to possible collaboration with the state administration, the video game industry in general has long maintained a prickly relationship with government ministers who, Blomberg claims, represent a gen-eration that is out of touch and unwilling to cooperate with the emerging industry.

Little surprise, then, to see the LAQ report littered with warnings concerning violence within games.

Controversially, a particular section of the report suggests violent video games are a contributing factor to vio-lent behaviour.

These sorts of claims have incensed many in the video game industry, but member for Springwood and Chair of the “Inquiry into Alcohol-Related

Violence” report, Barbara Stone, says the concerns are valid.

In the report, Ms Stone identifies the issue of young people playing violent video games, and says there is evidence suggesting this exposure to violent media could have a significant impact on the culture emerging in the suburbs.

“We are aware of research implicat-ing violent interactive video games in youth violence,” Stone says.

“Making a choice to brutally stab and dismember a moving image is a differ-ent experience from simply watching such an event on a screen.

“I believe the hypothesis that violent video games are involved in the esca-lation of youth violence needs further exploration,” Stone says.

With years of previous experience in the industry as a video game designer, Blomberg is quite passionate in his rejection of aspects of the report, espe-cially the committee’s recommendation of further research into violent video games and their effects.

Blomberg says he was frustrated by claims in the report suggesting the phys-ical interaction required to play a violent game is something which isolates video games, making them different from the sort of violence found in film and television.

“The committee is actually stating as fact that something interactive is more influential on youth violence than some-thing that’s not, which isn’t based on any fact whatsoever,” he says.

“These statements, which generalise and trivialise an industry, are what is so frustrating, especially when there’s no voice of reason on the other side.”

There is no shortage of Mana Bar regulars who share the sentiments of Blomberg, especially among the young ones.

Spencer Lawson is 20 years old,

employed, has an active sporting career, a fiancé and a child, and yet invests sev-eral hours a day in his favorite hobby, gaming.

“For me, gaming is my method of relaxation,” Lawson says.

“I can sit down, leave my stresses aside, get lost in a world for several hours and take out my frustrations with no consequences.”

Lawson is just one of a growing number of adults who use games as an alternative to movies, television and alcohol as relaxation tools.

At the same time, Lawson says he thinks the government is wrong in its characterisation of violent video games as a serious issue.

“I play violent games all the time and I find it insulting that the government

would assume that I am so easily influ-enced by violence,” he says.

“I just don’t think it has an effect, and definitely no more effect than something violent on TV or in a movie.

“I think the government is looking at video games as something to blame because it’s the newest form of interac-tive entertainment.”

Blomberg says government need not look far in its quest for more research into the effects of violent video games.

“The Mana Bar is the ideal candidate. “Our venue hasn’t had incidents, and

it’s actually quite a rare thing. “We’re open in the heart of the Valley,

the middle of the entertainment pre-cinct, surrounded by other nightclubs where violent incidents occur, and the Mana Bar is incident free.”

Pixels and pints at the Mana Bar

Untangling the e-waste issue

We’ve heard the popular explanation that blames the growing levels of violence on our streets on violent video games. If this is true, how has the Valley’s Mana Bar managed to combine alcohol, bright lights, loud music, crowds of young people and video games, but remain violence-

free? Tim Schaefer investigates.

SUSANNAh ThOmSETT

ELECTRONIC and electric garbage, or e-waste, is the fastest growing form of waste in Australia, and can be dangerous and tricky to handle, according to key environmental and recycling groups.

According to the National Waste Report 2010 produced by the Environmental Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC), 16.8 million units or 106,000 tonnes of TVs, computers and computer products were thrown away in 2007 alone.

Due to the shorter life spans and increasing popularity of these products, the report predicts these figures will grow to 44 million units or 181,000 tonnes of electronic waste by 2027.

A spokesperson for Clean Up Australia said the vast majority of e-waste was sent to landfill, where the hazardous materials used to manufac-ture electronic products could then leach into the soil and groundwater, causing environmental problems.

Everyday e-waste often contains toxic or environmentally damaging sub-stances such as lead and arsenic (found in cathode ray tubes), mercury (found in switches and housing), antimony trioxide (used as a flame retardant in some plastics), selenium (used in circuit boards), cadmium (found in semicon-ductors) and cobalt (found in magnets).

Also while the familiar, single use alkaline or zinc batteries used in many common products can be safely thrown away with your regular garbage, rechargeable batteries can contain cad-mium and so are classed as a hazardous

waste to be disposed of more carefully.The EPHC said the effects of the

“potentially hazardous” e-waste materi-als that leach into the surrounding envi-ronment from landfill were not yet well understood.

However, according to the National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO), donating unwanted electronic items to char-ity rather than sending them to landfill could also be counter-productive.

A survey conducted by NACRO of member organisations found the organi-sations were receiving overwhelming quantities of e-waste, with 75 per cent of respondents claiming to be oversupplied with e-waste compared with the resale demand for such items.

NACRO said the donations were made either out of kindness and over-estimation of the value of used electron-ics, or in attempts by the donors to avoid the inconvenience and cost of going to

the tip.NACRO’s survey also found that for

95 per cent of the organisation, dispos-ing of e-waste carried costs for their organisations, not profit.

Lifeline Brisbane Operations Manager Steve Dawber said that in September Lifeline had found a way to recycle broken e-waste donations.

“We get a lot of electronic items from the donation systems, we have people to test items and see if they work at our distribution centre,” Mr Dawber said.

“We’ve set up a partnership with the Kingfisher Recycling Centre, sending our broken TVs and things to their vol-unteers for disassembly, who have vari-ous mental and physical disabilities.”

Mr Dawber said the Kingfisher Centre now took all of Lifeline Brisbane’s bro-ken e-waste donations, and sold the disassembled items for scrap metal and recycling.

Landfill or useful...Some e-waste is recyclable. Photo: ingeborg Mate Holm

mild mannered...Mana Bar patrons drink and game responsibly. Photo: AAP

SUSANNAh ThOmSETT

CLEAN Up Australia recommends that if an appliance or gadget can’t be reused, recycling is the next best way to avoid sending e-waste to landfill.

Planet Ark has consumer web-site (http://recyclingnearyou.com.au) and Recycling Hotline (1300 733 712) designed to help Australians find the nearest recycling location for their unwanted goods.

Different types of e-waste – such as computers and computer acces-sories, TVs, mobile phones, printer cartridges, and batteries – are accepted by different organisations, which have the necessary facilities to process them.

The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities said a federal government National Television and Computer Product Stewardship Scheme that would oblige TV and computer manufacturers to take back and recycle their old products should be up and running in 2011.

In the meantime, e-waste collec-tion bins are located in sheds at the Brisbane City Council’s four tips at Nudgee, Chandler, Ferny Grove and Willawong.

Brisbane ratepayers can use one of their five annual general waste vouchers to avoid fees for this serv-ice, and each tip waives e-waste

recycling fees for one day a year.For more information on waste

disposal and recycling in Brisbane City Council areas, visit www.bris-bane.qld.gov.au.

Logan City Council operates recy-cling facilities for mobile phones, printer cartridges and recharge-able batteries at their Browns Plains SmartTiP and Carbrook SmartTiP.

The Helensvale and Merrimac Transfer Stations on the Gold Coast also accept e-waste, see www.greengc.com.au.

For more information on e-waste recycling services in your area, please visit your local council website.

The Australian mobile phone industry has run a voluntary recy-cling program called MobileMuster since 1999, with 3500 collection points nationally including mobile phone retailers, Australia Post shops and public libraries.

The Cartridges 4 Planet Ark cam-paign accepts all printer, fax and photocopier ink cartridges for free, drop off points include Australia Post, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Tandy, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Officeworks stores.

Some Battery World shops also run a free battery recycling pro-gram for their customers, visit www.batteryworld.com.au for more information.

e-waste recycling tips

THERE are many titles you could give Andrew Leavold – ‘Scruffy ex–counter monkey’, film maker, director or historian.

Whatever you call him, Leavold says being forced to pull the life-sup-port plug on the iconic video store he thought of as his “child” for the past 15 years might turn out to be good for his career.

He is a man who clearly believes there is “life after death”.

“Not running the store means more time to finish off the PhD, work on

more film projects, and perhaps do some freelance stuff here and there,” he says.

Leavold has a great ability to docu-ment the oral histories of those who would never otherwise have a chance to tell their stories.

His love for film extends beyond the eccentric collection of VHS and DVDs that lined the shelves of his beloved Trash Video.

Leavold says he recently secured a documentary contract with the ABC for “The Search for Weng Weng”,

not to mention a place at Griffith University to write a doctorate based on his obsession for obscure Filipino film genres, the culmination of five years of research.

“It’s mutated into two projects, the first project is a film called Machete Maidens Unleashed which just screened at Melbourne Film Festival and Brisbane film festival,” Leavold says.

“And so that’s basically a his-tory of B-grade film making in the Philippines by the guy who made Not

Quite Hollywood.“The original concept was to do a

sort of detective story on the long-dead ‘James Bond’ midget Weng Weng.”

The documentary premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival last June and will soon air on the ABC.

Leavold says instead of rent-ing films out through Trash Video, he’ll be able to use his collection “more like a research laboratory” to help his research for his PhD and

independent film projects.“I’ll basically be living of the pro-

ceeds of the liquidation for the next 12 months.

“First task is to finish off the doc-torate and be able to go and teach in the Philippines, and then try to become a paid film maker at some point.”

Fans of trash video should look out for Leavold‘s up-and-coming Filipino midget comedy, The Taller They Come in specialist video stores around Brisbane.

Off to the Philippines...Andrew Leavold isn’t afraid of what the world is going to at throw him next. Photos: nadia vanek

West end small business trashed

TRASH Video was everything your local franchise DVD store is not.

Packed with character, its walls were pasted with posters of obscure films dating back to the 1940s.

The shelves were filled with an eclectic mix of films, from grotesque horror and Filipino midget movies to the absurd Czech films of the 1960s and 1970s.

Trash Video store owner Andrew Leavold says the store boasted an extensive range of films that he began collecting when he was just 10 years old.

But despite his obvious love of film, Leavold says with lower profits in recent years and a rise in rent that his turnover couldn’t cover, keeping the store open just became too difficult.

Leavold is realistic about why Trash Video was no longer profitable after 15 years in business.

“We’re not shiny, we’re not happy, blissfully dumb Blockbuster staff that people can peer down their noses and feel superior to when they rent DVDs,” he says.

“Most people don’t want to rent anymore, they just want to own.”

Yet selling new release DVDs to customers isn’t something Trash ever included in their business base.

“We never got into sell-through because we couldn’t compete with JB Hi Fi,” Leavold says.

“We never got into new releases because we couldn’t compete with the chain stores.

“My job was making inaccessible films accessible.

“We can no longer do that because of the digital age.”

West End resident, Ariana Magmuzmos, has rented videos from Trash Video since she was 15, has worked in the store for the past two years and says it was a special place.

“Trash is such an amazing place and not enough people appreciate it,” Magmuzmos says.

“Something that really pisses me off is how West End prides itself on being such a diverse and unique place, and yet you don’t see Civic Video or Red Room DVD closing down.

“Trash is the one closing down.”Leavold says it wasn’t just

technological changes that caused his business to close after so many years.

Rent costs are rising in the suburb as more and more big-name businesses try to take advantage of the area’s popularity and increasing gentrification. Leavold says the rent at Trash Video increased by about 50 per cent over a decade, moving from $21,000 to

$33,000 per year.“That’s $250 [more] a week in rent

and if you’re making $250 less than you were 10 years ago, then there is no profit,” he says.

“So despite the efforts of customers to come in and donate a bag of video tapes or sponsor a new release, it isn’t enough.”

Leavold says the situation was so bad that he did not take any salary from Trash Video for the past four years, relying on his girlfriend’s income to pay the rent. Magmuzmos says that rent plays a big part in the survival of small businesses.

She says no one is making money except those in real estate.

Net Rent property manager for West End, Mike Harrison, says paying rent could be one of the biggest challenges for small businesses.

Harrison says while small businesses in the area increased in number over the past nine years, many were struggling more than ever to stay in business.

He says Boundary Road has seen rents rise to $600 or more per square metre, while rental prices in nearby streets increased to between $350 to $400 per square metre.

One of the reasons for the rent increases in West End is the increase in demand for retail and commercial space in the popular suburb, with many buyers and business owners wanting a piece of the action.

According to a report from February by brisbanetimes.com.au, Brisbane City Council estimates the population of South Brisbane and West End will increase by 312.5 per cent over the next 20 years, driving the growth of both res-idential and commercial high rise devel-opments along the river.

Gooble Warming owner, Jodie Karash, has run her store selling hand-made alternative clothing and circus supplies in West End for 10 years and is feeling the same pressure.

“We have been fine up until the stimu-lus package ran out... we now have no employees,” Karash says.

“It’s cheaper for us to shut the shop for half the week rather than pay someone.”

Magmuzmos says if a business like Trash Video can’t operate in West End, it won’t be successful anywhere else.

But Leavold says it’s not the end for Trash Video.

“Trash will continue as an inter-net presence, but without the public store front, and by sell-ing rather than renting,” he says. “To paraphrase the words of Fu Manchu: ‘The world shall hear from Trash again!’”

Iconic specialist video store Trash Video has shut its doors after 15 years as a landmark business in

Brisbane’s West End. Nadia Vanek speaks to owner Andrew Leavold about the store’s colourful life and the

challenges facing small business.

Life after liquidation for Trash’s Andrew Leavold

Weird and quirky...trash video was not your every day video rental store

LIDIANA ROSLI

CRITICALLY acclaimed and internationally successful musical theatre extravaganza WICKED is set to open in all its emerald glory at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre in January.

WICKED has had phenomenal success around the world since opening on New York’s Broadway on October 8 2003, before playing in London’s West End in 2006 and in foreign language versions in Tokyo and Stuttgart, Germany.

When the Australian production arrives in Brisbane in January 2011 it will already have played more than 866 shows and been seen by more than one million people.

The musical has been seen by 24 million people worldwide, with the eight international companies grossing $1.9 billion.

The Australian WICKED tour has graced audiences in Melbourne and Sydney and will move on to Adelaide in April 2011, with plans to take the show to Perth after that.

For anyone who hasn’t yet been initiated into the WICKED fan club, the show tells the story of two girls who met in the Land of Oz long before Dorothy dropped in and began her well-known journey to see the Wizard.

In the story, one of the girls, Elphaba, was born with emerald green skin and was smart, fiery and misunderstood.

The other girl, Glinda, was beautiful, ambitious and very popular.

WICKED explains how these unlikely friends grew to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

Zoe Gertz is the understudy for the lead role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, currently being played by Jemma Rix.

Ms Gertz said WICKED was a show that appealed to audiences of every generation.

“At the basic level of it, WICKED is a spectacular show with spectacular music and songs and dance numbers,” she said.

“But it is also a metaphor of what is going on in the world today.”

Ms Gertz said the story of WICKED touched on a lot of relevant issues.

“It has these universal themes that resonate with people.

“The abuse of power by someone who is in control, the racism against someone who is different from the rest.

“I truly believe that is why WICKED is such a great show, because it is just not about entertainment, it is about the world today.”

WICKED Australia Co-Producer

John Frost said the show was an overwhelming hit right from the beginning.

“When WICKED opened on Broadway, it worked its magic on critics and audiences alike,” Mr Frost said in a statement.

“It won 35 major awards including a Grammy, three Tony Awards and six Helpmann Awards including Best Musical, WICKED has been described as the ‘Best Musical of the Decade’ by Entertainment Weekly.”

Mr Frost said he was excited about the opportunity to bring the show to Brisbane, which people loved for a variety of reasons, including the story, the impressive sets and costumes, the songs, and because of the “life-affirming friendship” that develops between the two girls.

“Melbourne and Sydney audiences have been blown away by WICKED and now it’s Brisbane’s turn,” he said.

WICKED features music and lyrics by Academy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, which has sold 4 million copies since it was published in 1995 – 3.3 million of which were sold after the show opened in 2003.

The Australian director of the production is Lisa Leguillo.

Cast highlights include Bert Newton as The Wizard and Lucy Durack as Glinda.

Tickets for WICKED are on sale from www.qpac.com.au and prices range from $69.90 to $134.90.

WICKED hits Brisbane

Award winning act...(Above) The emerald green Elphaba has wowed audiences across the world.Photo: Jeff Busby. (Inset) Understudy for the role, Zoe Gertz. Photo: courtesy The Shock Factor.

LIDIANA ROSLI

THE GOLD Coast Film Festival is bringing with it some exciting new release anime films when it opens on November 10.

The festival, presented by Australia Fair Shopping Centre in Southport, runs from November 10 to 16 with films being screened at the Australia Fair Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinemas.

The special Anime Showcase, pre-sented by the Multicultural Communities Council Gold Coast, is set to include free seminars and demonstrations in addition to the screening of new release films.

Anime is a unique Japanese form of animation, which originated in 1963 with Astro Boy.

Anime Films screening as part of this year’s film festival include the award winning Summer Wars, Redline, Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, and King of Thorn.

Yuko Miyamura, who voiced the character Asuka Langley Shikinami in Evangelion, will be introducing the film at the screening.

Acclaimed filmmaker Noritaka Kawaguchi, who is also CEO of ani-mated film company CoMix Wave Films Incorporated, is scheduled to make an appearance at the Festival.

Mr Kawaguchi and well-known animation filmmakers Jun Awazu (Negadon) and Ushio Tazawa (The Place Promised in Our Early Days) will attend this year’s festival as special guests and will be giving free anime workshops on Thursday November 11 at the Robina Community Centre.

Topics will include “Creating a Feature Film in the Anime Style”, “The Importance of Creating Culturally Relevant Anime” and “Tricks of the Trade: Animation Industry Secrets”.

Gold Coast Film Festival Director Casey Marshall Siemer said the Festival was fortunate to have such excellent tal-ent aboard this year.

“We are very lucky to have such an acclaimed team of anime filmmakers attend this year’s festival as our guests,” Ms Siemer said.

“I encourage everyone to come along to the free sessions and to also take the opportunity to see some of the new release anime films in the festival pro-gram,” she said.

On his last visit to the Gold Coast in 2007, Mr Kawaguchi won the inau-gural Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film in for 5 Centimetres Per Second, and that

winning film will also be screened at this year’s festival.

5 Centimetres Per Second tells the tale of three friends who grow up and learn the harsh realities of life together.

“I thank the Gold Coast Film Festival for inviting us to the Gold Coast again; it’s a special place for me and our com-pany,” Mr Kawaguchi said.

“I am looking forward to sharing my passion for anime at this year’s film festival.”

Mr Awazu’s animation short, Negadon, was created on a tiny budget over a period of 28 months and has won several awards, cementing his reputation as an artist with extraordinary ability.

His eagerly awaited first feature-length film, Planzet, has also been an outstanding success.

Mr Tazawa’s work includes Table and Fisherman, The Place Promised in our Early Days, Eago, Dimension Bomb, Beyond (OAV) and Afro Samurai Resurrection. He is currently working on his directorial debut, Ichirin-sha. The 2010 Anime Showcase is funded by the Regional Arts Development Fund.

Anime on show at Gold Coast Film Festival

Stunning...(top) Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) produced by FUNimation, (bottom) Redline produced by gastonia. Photos: Madman entertainment

DREW mUSChWHILE many of our best and brightest are doing great things in Hollywood, the Australian film scene continues to struggle financially.

Despite the industry’s steady out-put and a wealth of young talent, Australian films are struggling to cor-ner the home market.

Forty-four Australian movies were released last year, making approxi-mately $54.8 million, or five per cent of profits, at the Australian box office, in 2009.

This is significantly less than the $63.4 million earned in 2001 by films such as Moulin Rouge and Lantana, which represented around seven per cent of the box office.

The top grossing Australian movie of 2009 was Mao’s Last Dancer, which made about $15 million, $25 million less than the overall top grossing

movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Screen Queensland CEO Maureen Barron said despite financial issues, the support provided within the industry was second to none.

“Through our development section here we have people who will sit down and talk through how somebody could take their work further, and try and give people some guidance,” Ms Barron said.

“And when they’re ready we’re happy to put them in touch with more experienced film-makers if they don’t have more experienced people work-ing with them.”

There is also a seemingly endless supply of home grown talent with tre-mendous filmmaking skills.

Young local filmmaker, Jai Hogg, said the training, ability and determi-nation of Australian filmmakers was world class.

“As far as talent is concerned, there’s tonnes,” Mr Hogg said.

“There’s a lot of competition.”“Everyone is afraid of everyone;

you get that sense that someone could pop their head through before you do because they’re good as well.”

The talent of Australia’s filmmak-ers is something local film power-brokers have been aware of for quite some time.

“Our guys do incredibly well,” Ms Barron said.

“Over the course of the years you can look back and you can see that Australians do have the capacity to make films that local audiences love.”

Home-grown film industry financial woes continue

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

ADRIANNA WEBSTER

CRAFT, art and homemade markets are on the rise as Brisbane hosts its second Finders Keepers event for the year this November.

The Brisbane craft scene has exploded in the past five years thanks to organisations like BrisStyle and Finders Keepers finding gaps in the market.

Finders Keepers, who started their markets in Sydney and are now estab-lished in Melbourne and Brisbane run-ning twice a year said they were look-ing for somewhere to let them sell their crafts in a more hands-on manner.

“We found a need to bridge the gap between the local weekly style markets and expensive design trade fairs and exhibitions,” Finders Keepers said.

“Our aim was to create a platform for emerging designers, artists and musi-cians to showcase their work in a sup-portive and creative atmosphere.”

According to Helen Berthold, BrisStyle’s Market and Events Coordinator, the markets create oppor-tunities for like-minded people to dis-play their goods and also to connect with the Brisbane community.

“We provide these really great niche events where there wasn’t really any-thing before and they went off, every-one was hungry to find wares by local artists,” Ms Berthold said.

“We started as an Etsy street team (Etsy: an online handmade market-place) and the markets provided an opportunity for us to get together in the fresh air, out of shopping centres, and really create a nostalgic atmosphere for home crafts from your mum or grand-ma’s time.

“I think that’s why they’re so popu-lar, you’ll never find one of the same thing and the variety suits such a range of people - we have a very big indie following while continuing the more traditional methods too, handmade has become the new hip, craft is the new cool.”

Even more than just craft, the renewed concept of Australian made and owned, encouraged by people like Dick Smith and the Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) organisa-tion has been going for decades now.

AMAG is responsible for the green triangle with the golden kangaroo logo on Australian products and has been an advocate of keeping things local since the 80s.

The AMAG website claims that it makes sense to buy things that have been made right here in Australia.

“That means you can have confidence in the quality and know that whatever you are buying hasn’t travelled around the world before it reaches your home,” the website said.

Kim Wallace, owner of Udessi, an online boutique gallery specialising in independent Australian art, believes in the importance of Australian made products.

“Udessi showcases Australian art and

design, and there is a big range of pieces on my website that aren’t necessarily anything to do with specific Australian native elements, but just to have and know that you can go somewhere and everything is made in Australia that’s really important to me,” Ms Wallace said.

“Whether you buy a handmade bowl or a mass produced bowl it changes everything for me.

“When you have your breakfast in the morning and its mass produced, it’s just a bowl; whereas when it’s handmade you can still see the fingerprints and it’s slightly wonky... that’s what gives it its charm and that’s what going to stay

with people and hopefully be passed on to the next generation.”

Whatever it means for the next gen-eration to come, the craft markets of Brisbane definitely now have a foothold in the culture of the city and they’re reinforcing traditions of reusing the old and creating anew.

The next BrisStyle Indie Eco Market will be held on November 6 from 9am–2pm at St Augustine’s Church, Racecourse Rd, Hamilton and the Finders Keepers market will be held on over the same weekend of November 6 and 7 at The Old Museum, Corner Bowen Bridge Road & Gregory Terrace, Herston.

LOSt for original Australian gift ideas to send home to her native Netherlands, graphic designer Kim Wallace embarked on a vision of making Australian handmade art, collectables and home wares accessible within Australia, and so began Udessi.

Q – What is Udessi?A – I’m Dutch originally, so when

i came here i studied graphic design and i really missed the creative side, working with my hands more, rather than behind a computer. And as someone that moved here from overseas i was really missing places to go to buy Australian art, or Australian gifts, you know something that was made in Australia rather than all the imported things.

Udessi showcases Austral-ian art and design online and we started the website with eight art-ists and now there’s over 25 art-ists’ work being showcased.

Q – So what do you look for when you’re looking for new artists and pieces?

A – The first thing is that they’ve got to be made in Australia. that’s my one biggest priority.

The second thing that I do like,

is for the pieces to have a bit of an Australian feel. Renne tremel’s work is an excellent example of that, where it actually incorporates Australian wildlife in such a beau-tiful way and that to me is really Australian art.

Q – What advice would you give to others wanting to open an online craft store?

A – if they’re a crafter them-selves I definitely recommend do-ing it in combination with a blog. Blogs are so easy to set up and to have some sort of online rep-resentation where people can find some more info about you is really good. it also doesn’t take a lot of money to set it up and you don’t need a lot of technical knowledge to do it. it’s very intuitive.

Q – What are your hopes for Udessi for the future?

A – Well i’m home-based so i hope to at some point to move to a bigger property and have a home based gallery where people can visit on appointment. i get a lot of requests from people who want to pick things up and look at so that’s what we’re working towards.

– ADRiAnnA WeBSteR

Q&A with Udessi

Aussie art form...‘Udessi’ has 25 artists’ works showcased. Photo: courtesy Udessi

Handmade is the new hip, and craft is the new cool

Every scar tells a life changing story. www.findingcures.com.au

AmBER DRURy

BRISBANE based indie alternative-rock band Alibrandi are taking the local music scene by storm, with crowded live gigs and the release of their EP, The Emergency, on iTunes.

Nathanial McManus, or Nato as he is known, is vocalist and guitarist with Alibrandi.

McManus recalls what it was like in the band’s early days, before their cur-rent success.

“David Williams [guitarist], Ben Harris [bass] and I have been playing in various bands together for years,” McManus says.

“In about 2005 I moved to Melbourne and, of course, we kind of stopped play-ing together.

“David and I would talk a lot on the phone about how when I moved back up we’d start something again, so we did have plans to form a band,” he says.

“Then, out of the blue, David called me in the middle of the night and just started playing guitar down the phone and it sounded amazing.

“I asked what it was he said it was an idea for a song.

“It was so good that I knew I had to come home and start a band again, so we did.

“We went through like four different drummers before Michael Mihailovic came along.

“And just recently we’ve added Lachlan Day as our third guitarist.”

The band’s name is immediately recognisable as part of the title of well-known Australian novel (and now movie) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta, but McManus says this was not deliberate.

“The name came about when we were recording our EP,” he says.

“We had a different name then, but it just didn’t feel right, so we were throw-ing around names and Alibrandi was the working title for one of our songs.

“So we went with Alibrandi.

“It had nothing to do with the movie, although it makes it easier for people to remember.”

Alibrandi’s music is a unique, fresh sound, which makes the band’s live show experience all the more enjoyable.

McManus says their inspiration is drawn from a lot of different musical sources, which helps create their own special sound.

“The beauty of our band is that we all have such diverse tastes in music,” he says.

“There’s a lot of common loves that we share, but there’s a lot of music that one likes, and the rest of the group doesn’t.

“I guess the bands we all love are bands like Bloc Party, Manchester Orchestra, Sparta, At the Drive-In.

“These acts would probably be the four main inspirations for our band.

“In saying that, though, I could still list so many other bands that inspire our music and that we love.”

McManus says it took a lot of money and dedication from the band to get their EP, The Emergency, off the ground, and they are happy it was released on iTunes in late 2009.

“Of course, every musician would like their work to do a lot better, espe-cially considering we invested so much of our money into it.

“The key is actually getting people to listen to it.

“The EP is a quality product that I totally believe in; you can buy it on iTunes, from us at our live shows or from our good friends at Kill the Music.”

McManus says Kill the Music in Brisbane’s Elizabeth Street is “an amaz-ing shop” that strongly supports local bands.

“We urge all Brisbane music lovers to check them out,” he says.

With so many regular live shows around Brisbane under their belt, McManus says Alibrandi has plans to take their music around the country.

“In 2011 we’re going to really start focusing on touring more around Australia.

“We’ve played a bunch in Brisbane, but it’s time we got out and did our thing in other states.

McManus says playing live shows is integral to the band’s identity.

“An Alibrandi show is always loud, energetic, intense, and fun,” he says.

“We love playing live. “It’s the whole reason we do what we

do.”Despite the band’s big touring plans,

McManus says they also hope to go back to the recording studio in the near

future.“Depending on time and money, we

may record something near the end of next year,” he says.

“Right now we’re not sure if it will be another EP or a full length album, but I definitely think something will happen.”

In between live shows and writing music, McManus says his life is pretty normal, but he is never too far removed from the passion for his band.

“I work a day job, and I watch a lot of TV – good TV though!

“Dexter, Entourage, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, Deadwood, the list goes on.

“But to be honest, my days generally consist of work, then band.

“Whether it’s rehearsing, playing a show or writing, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

McManus is keen to get others inter-ested and involved in what he considers to be Brisbane’s amazing local music scene.

“I think that there are some totally amazing bands here in Brisbane,” he says.

“Bands like We Set Sail, The Medics and Fatis Valour, just to name a few.

“It’s just a shame that people won’t go out and see live original music anymore.

“People are prepared to spend $150 to see Britney Spears lip sync but won’t spend $10 to see great local bands.

“I don’t think the music is dying, but I think the lack of interest from the public is what’s killing it.

“I’m not trying to judge the public or criticise their choice in music, but I guess I just want to encourage people to go see a local show.

“Who knows, you might be pleas-antly surprised.”

You can catch Alibrandi at their next live show on December 1 at The Zoo in Fortitude Valley, where they will be sup-ported by We Set Sail, To The North and The Belldivers.

Looking for Alibrandi?...Then look elsewhere. Nato claims the band name wasn’t influenced by the book. Photo: Timothy Allen

JORDAN PhILP

JAMES Geekie is one of Brisbane city’s main metal promoters and notorious for being the man behind the skins death metal outfit, Defamer. What a lot of people don’t know is that he’s also the drummer for stoner rock band, Shellfin.

If you haven’t heard of stoner rock before, you’re probably imagining red-eyed teenagers in grungy clothes, but Shellfin couldn’t be further from that image.

Three well-dressed lads and one sweet bass playing lady make up this band, and they’re serious about rock-ing out.

Geekie says despite Shellfin being a few years “younger” than his other act, Defamer, which has toured inter-nationally, it’s gotten just as big, if not bigger.

“Stoner rock isn’t the same as metal,” he says.

“There’s a small but dedicated crowd who seek it out, but there haven’t been too many prolific stoner rock bands in Australia’s music his-tory that you can point to, so when we came along we were answering a lot of people’s prayers,” Geekie says.

“[Shellfin] formed because Josh and I both lamented the fact that there didn’t really seem to be any stoner rock bands in Brisbane, which was a shame because we love the genre so much.

“Cue a month later and we were in a jam room just playing around and wrote some songs we thought were pretty cool, so we kept at it, on a very casual basis.”

Despite the casual intent, Geekie says things have been going better for Shellfin than expected due to the band’s unique sound and live stage performance in a vast landscape of “copycat bands”.

“Well, like I said, there aren’t too many bands doing this kind of heavy rock that wanders all over the place,” he says.

“A couple of our songs are quicker and in-your-face, where other songs tend to go on for five to six minutes and wander all over the musical land-scapes of epic, fast and slow.”

Shellfin have an EP titled Stay For Tea out, but Geekie says these days you can only get hold of it online.

“You can’t get physical copies of the EP anymore since it sold out ridicu-lously quick, over about three or four shows, especially after we got great reviews.”

Geekie says the band has a “do it yourself” ethic, spreading the music as far and as cheaply as possible.

“We released the album online for free and there have been hundreds of downloads from our bandcamp site, shellfin.bandcamp.com and now all the blogs are picking it up and loving it.

“It’s a lot harder I find to get this sort of music out there than in metal, it’s a harder crowd to seek out, so we’re really pushing it to be taken for free.”

Shellfin are going from strength to strength, describing their sound as “if Queens Of The Stone Age and Kyuss had a baby, we would be that baby”.

Shellfin launch their debut album on November 20 at The Globe Theatre in Fortitude Valley.

Shellfin spread stoner rockBECKy PAXTON

IF YOU haven’t heard of local indie band Oh Ye Denver Birds, then get ready.

The band and their debut single, ‘Walls’ recently featured on Triple J Unearthed.

They are launching their new song, ‘Your sacrifice’, this month while on tour around Queensland.

They are also busy recording their debut EP.

With influences like Sigur Ros, Sufjan Stevens and Elliott Smith, Oh Ye Denver Birds have a refreshingly off-beat and complex sound that does not dull after a few replays.

Their densely layered music has innovative and intricate instrumenta-tion with classical violin, raw guitar, keyboard, trumpet, tambourine, syn-thesisers and sticks.

Front man Dom Stevens, originally from the Sunshine Coast, began Oh Ye Denver Birds as a solo project before gathering band members Josh Spencer, Katherine Gough and Zac Vale to help build their symphonic pop, alternate-electro, rustic folk sound.

Stevens’ and Gough’s whispery harmonised vocals, combined with the band’s melodies, evokes a feeling of blissful floating.

Triple J’s Unearthed site shows a long list of positive reviews for Oh Ye Denver Birds.

On the site, Triple J Music Director Richard Kingsmill wrote that if Oh Ye Denver Birds were from Brooklyn, they’d be on a million blogs by now.

“I’m happy their home for now is Unearthed,” Kingsmill says.

“But it might not be for much

longer if they keep writing songs this good.”

Lead guitarist Josh Spencer says he has been playing in bands since he was in grade nine mainly because he wanted to be cool and wasn’t good at football.

Spencer says after the Splendour in the Grass music festival last year Stevens asked him if he wanted to be in the band.

“It sounded like a pretty good idea, so I went along with it,” Spencer says.

“I guess it’s grown quite a bit since Dom’s home recordings.

“It’s gone from folk music to more electronic, beat-driven sounds.”

Spencer says the band likes to travel up to Stevens’ barn on the Sunshine Coast every weekend to cre-ate their music.

“We get to get away from the city lifestyle and relax in the hills,” he says.

“Like any band, really, it’s always good to get drunk and just jam on stuff so we’ve gotten into a bit of that recently up there.”

Spencer says the upside of being in the band is getting free drinks, meet-ing new people, going to new places and getting to play music.

“And the downside’s loading gear out of venues and being broke,” he says.

Spencer says his best gig was shar-ing the stage with Akron/Family.

“They got us all up for a huge jam when we played with them in Sydney,” he says.

When asked how he would describe the band’s sound, Spencer says: “Hitty hitty sounds, knock knock wow! That really is the only way I know how to describe it.”

You can see Oh Ye Denver Birds at No Years at Brisbane Powerhouse on December 31.

On the couch with Brisbane’s newest Birds

Alibrandi breaking out of Brisbane scene

Local birds soaring...Oh Ye Dever Birds going national. Photo: Lisa Businovski

Tradition stays strong... for some

UMESH Chandra has a wealth of knowledge on traditional Indian culture in Brisbane.

Publisher of the Brisbane Indian Times, president of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin and guest host of two local FM radio stations, Chandra says that practising traditional Indian culture is very popu-lar within Brisbane’s Indian community, possibly more so than “back home” in India.

“Religion and weddings are highly regarded and upheld as Indian society is typically very traditional, and wed-dings in Brisbane have continued to be so, but back home religion, culture and tradition are often taken for granted,” Chandra says.

One of the most respected Hindu priests in Brisbane, Pundit Sanat Pandey says he has performed hundreds of tra-ditional weddings in Australia over the years.

“I now only do a few weddings a year, but they are always traditional Indian weddings and the families of our follow-ers in Brisbane hold great respect for our culture,” Pandey says.

Newlywed Ekta Shah opted for a very traditional week-long Indian wedding.

“I did have a choice of what kind of wedding I wanted, but I wanted the tra-ditional stuff because I absolutely love it and there is a meaning behind every-thing,” Shah says.

“It is very usual to have a traditional wedding; my family, all the people I know here have had that, but things are changing.”

Chandra says there are more similari-ties than differences between Indian and European weddings, and facilitating some of the tradi-tional rituals can be difficult in a modern society.

“An Indian wed-ding is very similar to a European wed-ding; ceremony and reception all in one day, or over a few days depending on the rituals,” Chandra says.

Traditional Indian weddings are often very lively celebrations that are con-ducted partially in Sanskrit, and involve many different ceremonies.

There are separate celebrations for the bride’s and the groom’s side of the family, including evening celebrations, lunches, the day of Menhendi (henna), and the heartbreaking Vidaai ceremony when the bride leaves her friends and family to become part of the groom’s family.

Traditional Western weddings have their own versions of these celebrations, with buck’s and hen’s nights, religious marriage ceremonies, and one or more celebratory events for the bride and groom.

“Weddings in Brisbane are very costly, although some of the tradition for weddings has been made easier by technology,” Chandra says.

“Specialised com-panies are now estab-lished in Brisbane to make weddings in the traditional Indian sense easier to facilitate.”

“Cross cultural rela-tions are much different now in Australia and in India,” Chandra says.

“Traditionally the weddings are still often

arranged and the couple knows each other well before marriage and are often known within the extended family network.

“This family network can extend as far as India and Fiji.”

It is also now more common to see more intercultural, interracial and inter-religious marriages.

“I do know people who haven’t had traditional marriages and married other castes,” Shah says.

The mixing of networks and religous

groups has created opportunities for a more diverse culture.

“Traditionally in Indian culture you wouldn’t find people from the south of India marrying people from the North of India, but now this is a common occur-rence,” Chandra says.

“Before it was a very caste-orientated system of Punjabi’s marrying within the Punjabi network and vice versa.

“In the old days the caste system cre-ated big gaps between groups, but nowa-days it’s very well accepted.

“The thinking was different, they thought in terms of comparing horses to thorough-breds.

“There was a way of thinking that skills and education should be kept within the family and therefore mar-riages should be kept within the same

class to create more assets and security.With more financial security and more

exposure to the international commu-nity, separation of classes and cultures is now less common.

“At the end of the day it’s just exciting to get married and be able to share your religion and beliefs with close family and friends, it’s such a beautiful way to celebrate your love,” Shah says.

Picturesque...newlywed eka Shah (top) enjoying her traditional wedding with Menhendi (bottom) henna tattoos being drawn on friends and family. Photos: Peter McDonald

India is a country with a long history, diverse culture and religions, and a steadfast adherence to ritual. Yet, in the case of the exquisite rituals of the traditional Indian wedding, it seems that some things, at least, are changing,

both for those in India and for Indians living in Brisbane. Adrianna Webster reports.

LAWRIE BEAT HEART DISEASEthanks to the amazing work of The Prince Charles Hospital.Read Lawrie’s life changing story at www.findingcures.com.au

“In the old days the caste system created big gaps between groups, but nowadays it’s very well accepted.”

Exploring the untouched paradise of Malaysia

MALAYSIA is fascinating. Like many places in Asia, the colours, smells and tastes are bizarre and intense.

Sitting just above the equator, the country enjoys summer conditions all year round with tempera-tures ranging between 21°C and 32°C; perfect for exploring a place home to some of the most pristine tropical jungles in the world.

Although it is best to keep in mind the rainy sea-son is between November and March on the east coast and between April and May on the west.

Newcastle University student Georgina Ramsay, did a one month exchange in Malaysia in July but was initially unsure about travelling to the country.

“I thought Malaysia… I know nothing about Malaysia; I didn’t know that I want to go there,” she says.

“[But] just because Malaysia isn’t as high up on the tourism radar does not mean it has less to offer.”

With its three major ethnicities being Malay, Chinese and Indian, Malaysia is commonly described as a ‘melting pot’ of cultures; however it is anything but.

Envisage lots of pots bubbling away separately in the same kitchen and you have a more accurate depiction.

Ramsay says as a traveller you could never get bored with Malaysia for the religious and ethnic diversity is unparalleled.

“You should prepare to see Hindu temples, Islamic mosques, Buddhist temples, Hokkein temples etc. This diversity extends not just to the people but to the food as well,” she says.

A visit to Malaysia is not complete without a visit to its capital city Kuala Lumpur and a visit to Kuala Lumpur is not complete without tasting frog por-ridge and having the dead skin of your feet eaten off by hundreds of nibbling fish.

Despite whole frog carcasses floating in the bowl, Ramsay says frog porridge was honestly the best food she ate in Malaysia – a big call consider-ing how much amazing food is available.

“It was the spiciest, and it just tasted different to everything else (but in a good way),” she says.

As for the skin-hungry fish, dipping your feet in amongst their sucking gobs is thrilling and the tick-ling of their mouths against the soles of your feet and toes is something that takes a few minutes to get used but in the end your feet feel fantastic and sparkle with cleanliness… sort of.

Taman Negara National Park is a popular tourist destination in Malaysia.

It is known as one of the world’s oldest rainfor-ests, older than both the Amazon and the Congo, at roughly 130 million years of age.

The park is 4343 sq km stretching across three states; Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu.

Taman Negara sells tourists the chance to see

wild tigers, elephants and panthers. Sadly this is not a common occurrence. Our guide confessed during our jungle night tour

that he had spent months trekking through the jun-gle in search of a tiger, yet the most he saw of one was its faeces left behind.

So if you are travelling to the park to see a tiger, expect to be disappointed.

But disappointment should not be used in the same sentence as Taman Negara.

The place is breathtaking. A simple ride in one of the wooden boats down

the river winding through tropical canopy is enough to fulfill the nature-hungry traveller.

Pink-leaved trees line the bank; their rosy reflec-tion in the emerald water, magical.

You may even catch a glimpse of a flying horn-bill or macaque swinging in the tree tops. Ramsay says the park was more beautiful than she had ever expected.

A trip on a fine afternoon is like a dream; the sunlight dancing on the shallow water’s surface

illuminates the river a sparkling orange; captivat-ing amongst the towering pink and green foliage.

Taman Negara also offers a rare tourist experi-ence that is both amazing and unsettling. The indig-enous peoples of Peninsula Malaysia are known as the Orang Asli and are the descendents of the earli-est inhabitants of the land.

There are 18 Orang Asli tribes and 869 communities.

The Negrito Batek tribe still live in Taman Negara, much the same way as their ancestors did; largely untouched by modernisation.

Visiting their village is marketed as a tourist attraction at the park.

But if you are expecting to see an untouched jungle community, you may be shocked to step into the village and see many foreign tourists.

Griffith University student Corey Callahan, 27, who also did an exchange in July says his experi-ence at the Batek village was bittersweet.

“Here we were privy to the lives of a proud native people who accept tourists into their village and give their time to demonstrate a few aspects of their traditional lifestyle.

But beyond the showmanship and beyond the relatively small amount of money this endeavour makes them, there was a definitive air of sadness in their village as their lives were constantly intruded

upon,” he says. Many tribe members hide in their palm frond

shelters, shying away from visitors. Ramsay says the Batek people were very mysterious.

“I wish I had gotten to spend more time with the women, but I did get to spend time with the chil-dren (cheeky cheeky!!), and also the men who were surprisingly easy to talk to and very approachable.”

Although ecotourism is transforming the tradi-tionally nomadic hunter-gathering lifestyle of the Batek people.

They are beginning to stay in the one area longer and do not have to gather as much food or make their own clothing, for they receive money and gifts from tourists.

Ramsay says she learnt a lot about the way the Batek people lived and the traditions they still followed.

“It was a great way to view how indigenous lives manage tradition and modernity,” she says.

Callahan says that while he enjoyed meeting the Batek people, his experience was marred by the

remains of foreigners’ presence in the form of dis-carded cigarette packages and litter.

He was disappointed by the seeming ignorance of tourists, blind to the way they were influencing these peoples’ lives.

“People need to be aware of the impact they have as tourists on any environment because just by vis-iting a place, whether it be a rainforest walk, a reef, or a native village, they are disrupting its native state and it will never be the same again,” he says.

There are many opportunities to experience the culture of the Orang Asli peoples throughout Malaysia, and communities such as the Mah Meri people in Pulau Carey Island in Selangor, welcome you to do so.

While the experience may feel intrusive, the proceeds from tourism are an important element in helping preserve the traditional customs of the Orang Asli tribes and serves as a valuable source of income for the people.

The warmth and beauty in their lifestyle, the way natural resources are not exploited but used effi-ciently and thoughtfully, the rich artistic traditions – dancing, carving and weaving – the tight-knit family atmosphere and the gorgeous smiles of the children are moving and unforgettable.

Ramsay says she really enjoyed sitting with the ladies and watching them make handicrafts from

banana and palm leaves. “They spoke about their lives and you were able

to interact with their children, who were as inter-ested in me as I was with them.”

Callahan says he felt very comfortable visiting the Mah Meri people in Pulau Carey. “The wedding ceremony they allowed us to experience was beau-tiful, the villagers were happy and friendly and I felt a lot less obtrusive than while at the Batek village.” Callahan says he would recommend travelling to Malaysia because of its small tourism industry.

“You would have a lot more opportunity to expe-rience the ‘real’ culture rather than a culture that has been mutated by decades of tourist influence.”

A lot of people do not realise that Borneo is not the name of a country but of the world’s third larg-est island.

Although you have to fly across the South China Sea to get there, two states in Borneo – Sabah and Sarawak – are in fact, parts of Malaysia.

The rest of the island is part of Indonesia.Sabah is known as ‘the land below the wind’

for it lies beneath the typhoon belt but the place can receive over 4000mm of rainfall in many parts annually.

You can travel by bus, providing that flash flood-ing does not cut your journey short, to the northern-most point of the island, the tip of Borneo, to see some delicious afternoon sun bathing the crystal ocean.

It is incredible to watch a black storm in the dis-tance sweep across the sea towards you, transform-ing the landscape within minutes.

About an hour from the tip is the town of Kudat where you can meet the people of the Rungus tribe.

The indigenous peoples of Malaysian Borneo are collectively known as the Bumiputera, not Orang Asli and there are also many different tribes.

The Rungus people offer you the opportunity to share their culture with some rice wine, traditional dancing and the opportunity to watch in awe as they play wooden flutes with their nostrils.

You can then experience sleeping overnight in their bamboo longhouse.

More must-dos in Sabah include visiting the Orang Utan Reserve at Sepilok and seeing the famous ‘rafflesia’, the world’s largest flower, which only blooms for three days.

Kota Kinabalu is the capital of Sabah. You can expect all the glorious gems of Asia and

more; striking ocean sunsets, bustling markets, and wildly delicious food.

Off the coast of the city is the Tunku Abdul Marine Park where Sapi Island offers white sandy beaches lapped by glittering water home to clown fish in reefs you can snorkel.

Ramsay says it was nice being so close to the ocean after staying on the Peninsula however Kota

A visit to malaysia is not complete without a visit to its capital city Kuala Lumpur, and a visit to Kuala Lumpur is not com-plete without tasting frog porridge and having the dead skin of your feet eaten off by hundreds of nibbling fish.

While Aussie students are sucking up vodka from plastic buckets on Thailand’s Phi Phi Island or catching the swell in Bali, many do not realise there is another affordable and beautiful Asian country right on our doorstep, writes Becky Paxton.

Kinabalu was also different in other ways. “It was much more open, life was lived more on

the streets, the markets were continuous and not obviously for tourists; this was where the locals shopped, and tourists just happened to watch.

“The smells and lifestyle were different, and the overarching Islamic presence was not so over-whelming here,” she says.

There are whole communities living in houses built on stilts in the ocean in Kota Kinabalu.

Ramsay says her highlight of Kota Kinabalu was visiting a water village where she was warmed by the generosity of the people who satiated her curi-osity about the place.

“The children were the cheekiest I had ever encountered,” she says.

Callahan also says the simple walk through the stilted fishing village was one of his definitive experiences in Malaysia.

“Its one of those rare moments that really decon-struct the barriers of internationalism and make you realise just how similar everyone is,” he says.

Mt Kinabalu is the pride of Sabah. It is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia at

4095.2m above sea level. Locals believe the peak to be haunted by spirits

of their dead ancestors. Tens of thousands of people climb the mountain

each year. Most climb to the summit and back in two

days, which sounds impressive, until you learn an international Climbathon is held on the mountain annually where extreme athletes conquer the peak within two and a half hours.

Don’t let this fool you; the climb is tough. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia student Mei Xin Chua, 21, who lives in Kuala Lumpur says one of her best life experiences was climbing Kinabalu but that the vertical ascent was a grueling trek.

“The physically challenging climb was indeed a precious memory because believe it or not, Mt Kinabalu is a jaw dropping environmental stunner that sprawls into the heavens,” she says.

On the first day climbers usually trek the humid mountain terrain for anywhere between three to six hours depending on fitness level, before reach-ing the Laban Rata Rest House where dinner and showers are provided.

If you reach the cabins on a clear afternoon, the view is stunning; you can stand above the clouds and watch the sun set behind them.

As evening falls, so does the temperature. Kinabalu is unique in that you can go from wear-ing a singlet and shorts, sweating in the heat, to being so cold you can’t take your hands out of your gloves to click your camera.

Laban Rata sits at 3272m high, understandably there are power shortages.

Kinabalu may be the first time you exhale frost breath while showering for the water is like ice.

Although you may be exhausted and think sleep

will come easy, shortness of breath at such high altitude can make it difficult to relax.

So go to bed as early as possible for sleep is needed when you have to wake at 2am to com-mence the climb to the summit in complete darkness.

But when you stand at the peak watching the sun rise, the clouds in mystical bows across the jagged rock, it all feels entirely worth it.

Callahan says climbing Mt Kinabalu was one of the highlights of his travelling career.

“Being able to observe the sunrise from 4100m over a skyline of jagged mountains and preliminary cloud formations really puts life in perspective.

It was at moments like this that you really appre-ciate how wondrous the landscapes of the world can be,” he says.

STA travel advisor, Liz Gurashi, says her com-pany does not get many students wanting to book holidays solely to Malaysia.

“It is more Thailand and Bali that is a much big-ger market for students,” she says.

Gurashi says most people go to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore as a stopover but that they are not places that people go for two weeks holiday.

But Ramsay says Malaysia is an excellent place for a holiday.

“It is the perfect combination of tourist sites, urban super-modern cities, beautiful beaches and traditional Southeast Asian lifestyles. I am sure you could not find this combination anywhere else in the world.”

Gurashi says in the high season period that coin-cides with university holidays, July and November – February, you can fly return to Malaysia with Brunei Airlines for roughly $700.

A direct flight to Kuala Lumpur via Malaysia Airlines is around $1000 but if budget airlines are not a problem for you, then Air Asia and Jetstar offer some cheap student friendly deals.

Accommodation in Kuala Lumpur starts at around $47 per night for a two star hotel and if your budget is tight, there are 8-10 bed mixed dorms in Kota Kinabalu for $12 per night, includ-ing breakfast.

One Australian dollar is worth nearly three Malaysian ringgit so once there, your money will go a long way.

For all the natural beauty of Malaysia, it is the remarkable kindness and humour of the people that will see this country etch its way into your heart.

Ramsay says the people of Malaysia have a hos-pitality that is incomparable.

“In Bali you are treated like a tourist but in Malaysia you are treated as a potential friend.”

Callahan says while attractions like climbing Mt Kinabalu are once-in-a-lifetime experiences, it is the people who give you the best memories.

“The people were the primary reason I think I enjoyed it so much, everyone was so friendly and helpful, I am already planning a trip back over.”

Exploring the untouched paradise of Malaysia

Exotic get-away...(From left to right) The Rungus tribe in Kudat, the Water Village in Kota Kinabalu,

UniveRSitY students who once said no to international exchange because they were unable to uproot their lives in Australia for long periods of up to 12 months, are now gaining valuable, resume-enhancing exchange experiences in a fraction of the time.

An organisation called the Australian institute for Mobility Overseas (AiM Overseas) has come up with a new exchange option that takes the pressures of 21st century student life into consideration, by offering intensive three to four week courses that are more accommodating to students with inflexible degrees, employ-ment commitments or financial constraints.

For the past three years AIM Overseas, which is the only organisation of its kind in Australia, has enabled Australian students to participate in short courses at interna-tional universities during their own university holidays.

the courses usually count for credit toward university degrees, normally as an elective, and are eligible for funding through the OS-HeLP scheme meaning students can receive a loan of up to $5500 dollars for their trip, that will be added to their overall HeCS debt.

So far more than 400 students have taken advantage of the program.

AiM Overseas director Robert Malicki says although the courses were serious and academically focused, they weren’t just about sitting in a classroom, with most including field trips to give students a taste of the country they’re in.

“if you’re studying international Law and Human Rights you’ll visit the Un in vienna. if it’s learning Spanish in Mexico you’ll prac-tice out in the ‘real world’ Mexico City,” he says.

University of Southern Queensland stu-dent eliza Walker did a 3-week teacher and education Practice course at the University of north Carolina through AiM Overseas during her 2009 Christmas break.

Ms Walker says AiM Overseas was very helpful.

“Rob and Marine were in regular contact with me before, during and after the pro-gram,” she says.

Ms Walker says her experience was amazing.

“We got to go into a variety of schools, participate in college classes and extra-cur-ricular activities and meet a lot of interesting and friendly people, most of which I am still in contact with,” she says.

Ms Walker says she would recommend the course to everyone.

“it is a life-changing experience. not only have i gained valuable knowledge to do with my chosen career path, I have gained life-long friends,” she says.

Griffith University Urban and environmental Planning student Corey Callahan just returned from doing an indigenous Communities of Malaysia pro-gram at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in July.

He says he chose to go through AiM over-seas because it was so easy.

“everything was organised for me and i trusted they would look after me.”

Mr Callahan says the exchange was a great experience.

“Although it was sold as something slightly different from what we experienced, what we experienced was still amazing.”

Griffith University student Sarah Wesche studied a Marketing and Management course at germany’s Berlin School of Law and economics in the July break earlier this year.

Ms Wesche says she went through AiM Overseas because they offered the country she wanted to go to as well as the course.

“AiM was so helpful in making sure i had everything I needed,” she says.

“the actual course was ok; well structured and the lecturers were great, but of course you’re overseas and don’t really want to sit in a classroom so that bit was hard.”

Ms Wesche says she used the $5000 OS-HeLP loan.

“there is no way i could have saved enough money to go if I hadn’t, Centrelink isn’t that generous,” she says.

Ms Wesche also got credit for the course, which was based on pass/fail criteria, towards her management minor.

“it was an excellent experience that i would recommend to everyone at uni.”

Exchanges made easy

AUSTRALIA hosted more than 5.1 million international visitors last year according to Tourism Australia statis-tics, so it is perhaps no surprise there is a growing interest around the nation in sustainable tourism or “ecotourism”.

Research shows high volumes of tour-ists consume large amounts of resources, meaning it is crucial that more environ-mentally friendly approaches to tourism are adopted.

Without ecologically sustainable practices, our national treasures such as reefs and rainforests may be at risk.

The idea of a form of tourism that off-sets a traveler’s carbon footprint and has a positive impact on the environment is wonderful in theory, but can ecotourism actually live up to its claims on a practi-cal level?

There are some critics who doubt the supposed positive impact these strate-gies have on the environment.

Some tour companies and accommo-dation providers essentially falsely mar-ket their products and services as being ‘green’.

Ecotourism Australia’s National Quality Standards Manager, Kristie Gray, describes this practice as “green washing”.

“You need to do more than offer peo-ple the opportunity to reuse their towels and sheets when they come and stay with you,” Gray says.

“That’s not eco anymore, that’s a given.”

Ecotourism Australia has become the

first organisation in the nation to develop a multi-level certification program for businesses in the tourism industry that adhere to best practices in the areas of climate action, ecological sustainability and respect for culture.

Businesses receive a level of certifica-tion based on how environmentally sus-tainable their operations are.

She says ECO Certification is a lengthy process and requires a high level of commitment of time and money on behalf of the applicant.

“We’ve had people that have had

applications in progress for 12 months and more,” Gray says.

Gray says business owners that want ECO Certification must be willing to evaluate operating procedures, assess suppliers and products, submit a busi-ness plan, and pay the certification fee.

If applicants successfully meet the guidelines, they receive ECO Certified status and may display the internation-ally recognised logo on their products and marketing materials.

Gray says the visibility of this logo has a pay-off for businesses because its presence is important to tourists.

“It’s not just the hippies and the activists these days… it’s quite cool to

be green and people are showing the tendency to select green products over those that are not,” Gray says.

Brisbane Urban Adventures is a Brisbane-based day tour company that provides travelers with an eco-friendly experience.

Brisbane Urban Adventures Director, Shaun Gilchrist says the company’s tours are organised around low car-bon impact activities such as walking, cycling, and using local public transport.

Gilchrist says not only do tourists want green travel options, but they also

want to have a positive impact on the communities they visit.

“Being responsible, being eco friendly, being green – these are terms that have become quite generic to most people,” Gilchrist says.

“The focus is now on doing some-thing that has a positive impact.”

Gilchrist says the tour company has an agreement with Carbon Neutral, a non-profit carbon abatement company to offset any carbon they produce, and they help the community by making regular donations to local charities.

They support local organisations such as Surf Life Saving Australia, Save the Children Brisbane, WSPCA and the

RSPCA, by donating $100 per month to each charity.

Gilchrist says although Brisbane Urban Adventures is only in its first year of operations, it has already experienced a sharp growth in participant uptake and received substantial publicity including two television appearances on Channel Seven’s The Great South East program, as well as on New Zealand’s TV One Good Morning Show.

Gilchrist attributes the success of the new tour company to its community involvement and the environmental focus placed on the tours.

“People like that ‘feel good’ sensa-tion of doing something for the environ-ment,” Gilchrist says.

According to a 2008 report by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism Ecotourism is becoming a cut-ting edge strategy in the tourism indus-try and Australia leads the world in green tourism products.

The study showed more than 700 ECO Certified operators in Australia.

Ecotourism’s growth shows travellers are becoming more aware of the impact that their holidays have on the environ-ment, but it remains unlikely that they will change to ‘green’ activities entirely.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation estimates that ecotourism will make up 10 to 15 percent of all rev-enues from tourism worldwide in 2010, and they predict that profits in this sector will continue to grow annually.

From ‘true blue’ to greenThe booming ecotourism industry is offering an exciting new way to experience Australian cities,

with tourists becoming more mindful of their impact to the environment, writes Courtney Laidler.

City adventure...A group of ecotourists stop along Brisbane River as part of an Urban Adventures tour, which is growing in popularity. Photo: courtesy Edna Schoeman

“Being responsible, being eco friendly, being green – these are terms that have become quite generic to most people...The focus is now on doing something that has a positive impact.”

Every scar tells a life changing story. www.findingcures.com.au

Meet Fiona: Green Tourist

FOR some tourists, the draw of ‘green’ travel is not about becoming ecofriendly alone, but rather the unique travel experiences that green travel companies offer.

take the example of 23-year-old French tourist, Fiona Nico-las, who is currently travelling around Australia.

Her carbon footprint is impor-tant to Nicolas, who wants to ensure that throughout her trav-els her Haviana thongs leave as faint a footprint as possible.

nicolas recently participated in a cycling tour around Brisbane organised by day tour company, Brisbane Urban Adventures.

“i chose Brisbane Urban Ad-ventures because they have smaller groups and their tours are more adventurous than most,” she says.

So far, Nicolas has done two tours with Brisbane Urban Adventures.

She says she prefers this com-pany’s tours over other types of tours because they are “off the beaten trail”, showing partici-pants more than just the stand-ard major tourist attractions.

“You get to experience more of the local culture this way,” nicolas says.

“Shaun, our guide, told us funny stories and anecdotes along the way… with smaller groups it’s more intimate and the guide can share more than just basic information.”

nicolas opts for green travel options whenever possible and says that ecotourism has not placed any limitations on her travel plans.

the French tourist says the motivations behind her eco savvy travel choices are logical ones.

“if you’re having fun doing it and you’re making a positive contribution to the environment at the same time, then, why not?”

Natural fun...Fiona Nicolas enjoys ecotours. Photo: Courtney Laidler.

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

AmBER DRURy

AS Canada’s largest city, with close to 2.5 million people, and boasting access to forests, scenic river valleys and the breathtaking Niagara Falls, Toronto is the perfect destination for the eclectic traveller.

The city was founded in 1793 for its protected harbour and today Toronto is the fifth largest city on the entire North American continent.

Affectionately referred to as “T Dot” by the locals, it feels like everything is at your fingertips here, from the amaz-ing meals in Greektown to the views at Niagara Falls.

Tourists flock to Toronto each year, earning the city the title of number one visitor destination in Canada. One of the best ways to get an overall idea of the city’s size is to visit the Canadian National (CN) Tower in the heart of Downtown Toronto, which is one of the world’s tallest towers.

From this vantage point it is easy to be blown away by Toronto’s sheer beauty and bustling commercial activity.

CN Tower was completed in 1976, stands 553.3 metres tall and has been declared one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

It is no surprise, then, that the tower defines the Toronto skyline, making it hard to photograph the city without the structure dominating.

Visitors to the Tower can observe Toronto through the glass floor, which, up until 2009, was the world’s high-est (that title now goes to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa).

Toronto native Casey Palmer spends his weekends exploring the city where he was born and raised, and says that Toronto is a city of discovery.

“Even though I’ve lived in the Greater Toronto Area for 27 years, I am constantly finding something new,” Palmer says.

“I’m never at a loss for something to keep me busy, there are always fes-tivals, amazing places to eat and some

genuinely incredible sights to take in,” he says.

“There is something here for every-body, I truly believe that.”

Just a 20-minute walk from the tower lies the shopping precinct of Queen Street West in the centre of Toronto’s CBD, which is also its creative heart.

Fashionista Estée Mancini is as pas-sionate about the shopping district.

“Queen St West has always been my favourite place to visit in Toronto,” Mancini says.

“It is the perfect spot to come for shopping, to eat at cafes and to just soak up the artistic atmosphere.

“It is definitely unique and very popu-lar with locals in their 20s.”

Queen St West boasts some of Toronto’s best vintage shopping, espe-cially in the Kensington Market area, which has justifiably earned its title

as Toronto’s most vibrant and diverse neighbourhood.

Kensington Market is the go-to shop-ping destination for Toronto locals and tourists who want access to the unique fashion from up-and-coming young local designers and vintage specialty stores that make up the majority of the shops and boutiques in the district.

But it is not only the shopping that attracts visitors to Kensington Markets; the area is also well known for its rich multicultural atmosphere and dining opportunities.

Mancini took me to her favourite place to eat in the area, Irie Food Joint.

Situated at 745 Queen St West, Irie Food Joint serves up traditional West Indian dishes such as jerk chicken and roti, accompanied by West Indian beers like Red Stripe.

The meals are authentic, affordable

and would serve as the perfect end to a busy day’s sightseeing in Toronto.

Another must do is a visit to Dufflet Pastries, which can also be found in the busy shopping precinct.

The store opened in 1982 and is now the place to go to find the city’s finest pastries.

With offerings ranging from cheese-cakes to cookies, and hot chocolate to espresso, it is no wonder that Dufflet Pastries is such a dessert mecca.

High on your tourist to-do list should be a visit to Casa Loma in Toronto’s mid-town, famous for being the only existing full-sized castle in North America.

Casa Loma was the one-time home for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt and was built over a three-year period from 1911 to 1914.

Visitors to Casa Loma can take a self-guided audio tour of the breathtaking

castle, which is surrounded by five acres of beautiful gardens that are open to the public from May to October.

A trip to Toronto is not complete without taking in the natural wonder that is Niagara Falls.

Around an hour’s drive from the Toronto CBD and situated on the Canadian-United States border, Niagara Falls is best visited in the more tem-perate period from May through to mid-September.

In addition to the spectacular falls, you’ll find an abundance of amuse-ments at Niagara Falls including the Maid of the Mist boat ride that will take you from the Canadian docks, past the base of the American Falls and into the basin of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, to gambling at the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.

Among the many other Niagara attrac-tions are Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks, the Mystery Maze, go-karting, and Skylon Tower, Niagara’s tallest total entertainment complex.

At the end of the day when you’re looking for somewhere comfortable to lay your head in Toronto you’ll find you are spoilt for choice.

But if you’re looking for a conven-ient urban retreat, the centrally located Drake Hotel on 1150 Queen St West is a great place to start.

The Drake Hotel proclaims to be “a hotbed of culture”, is one of Travel and Leisure Magazine’s Top 500 Hotels in the World and was voted second in TripAdvisors list of Toronto’s best hotels.

The hotel combines new and old, creating a contemporary destination complete with sushi bars and live indie music venues.

For more information on Toronto, check out the following websites:

City of Toronto: www.toronto.caKensingston Market: www.kensing-

ton-market.ca/ CN Tower: www.cntower.ca/ The Drake Hotel: www.thedrakeho-

tel.ca/

Picture-perfect escape in Toronto

Korean dining: From the bizarre to the sublimeBEN DILLONFOOD is a big deal in Korea.

In fact, the influence of food in Korean culture is so encompassing that between friends and family it is com-mon to be welcomed with the greeting “Have you eaten rice yet?” instead of plain old “Hello”.

Korean people are fiercely proud of their culture and country, and this atti-tude extends to their food with some dishes enjoying a near mystical status.

The love of food is at the core of the Korean dining experience, which boasts dishes that range from the sublime to the truly bizarre.

At the more extreme end of the culi-nary spectrum are dog stew, steamed silkworm pupae and live octopus.

On the less extreme and more palat-able end are spicy soups, barbecued meats, and a seemingly endless variety of vegetables and seafood.

Rory Daly is a food and beverage connoisseur who has lived and travelled in many countries, including Korea, and has experienced some of the stranger foods on offer in the “Land of the Morning Calm”.

However, he rates his one bite of dog meat as the worst of his many culinary experiences.

“It was greasy, tasted and smelt like wet dog and was really chewy,” Daly says.

“Really horrible.“It looked oily and not very good, and

I spat it out after tasting it and being told it was dog.”

Barbecued dog meat is actually a rarity in Korea, with man’s best friend

usually ending up in a stew called Boshin-tang.

Eating dog is somewhat misunder-stood in the West where we see ‘Rover’ as a pet, not an entrée.

However, far from being able to order a shank of Doberman in puree of Poodle sauce with a nice Maltese Terrier mousse for dessert, there is actually only one breed of dog that is specifically raised for consumption.

That dog is the ‘Nureongi’, a yel-lowish-coloured canine only found in Korea.

The number of Koreans who eat dog regularly is very low and the habit is losing popularity with the predominant dog-eaters being men over 50, which is interesting given the commonly espoused belief is that dog meat works as an aphrodisiac.

There may be some truth to this, as the way in which the animal was tradi-tionally slaughtered (hung and beaten to death, a method now banned) meant that adrenaline pumping through the dog as it died stayed in the meat making its way into the diner’s mouth and bloodstream, ostensibly creating an adrenaline ‘high’.

Another unusual food eaten in Korea is bondegi or silkworm pupae.

Bondegi is a ‘street food’ found mostly at the footpath stalls that prolif-erate around markets.

The smell of bondegi is noticeable from 20 metres away, with an acrid aroma of steamed football socks and used ashtray.

Despite the odour, bondegi is a popu-lar protein-rich snack for many Koreans, including children.

And then there is the culinary delicacy

that is live octopus.Among the more dangerous treats to

try in Korea (which also includes the deadly blowfish), live octopus, or San-nak-ji, is a dish best dunked liberally in sesame oil before swallowing the sev-ered but still twitching tentacles.

Fatalities can occur as a result of eat-ing this dish.

In 2008 a man in Gwangju died after choking on a live octopus tentacle, when the octopus suction cap stuck in the man’s throat.

Korean restaurants in Australia can’t offer the full gamut of Korean delica-cies, especially some of the more bizarre offerings, there are still some gems to be found locally.

Young-Sun Hwang is a Korean who immigrated to Australia in 2005, and was initially unimpressed with the qual-ity of Korean restaurants here.

“When I first arrived here I thought the [Korean] restaurants were not authentic because the food didn’t taste like in Korea,” Young-Sun says.

“But now there are some restaurants which are trying to be more authentic by using the ingredients we use in Korea, not local substitutes.

“My favourite Korean foods are bibimbap and bulgogi, which is best cooked on a charcoal fire,

“I think all Korean barbecue tastes better on charcoal.”

The most popular Korean “dish” is

actually a style of eating rather than one dish, and is one that Australians would find both familiar and different at the same time.

The Korean barbecue is one of the finest culinary experiences on offer, and almost every street corner in Korea provides the opportunity to savour this unique dining experience.

Korean barbecue is a social event as much as it is a meal, centring around a table with a charcoal or gas fired barbe-cue at the centre, with a hotplate over the flame.

The meat is cooked on the table in full view of the diners, having first been delivered as raw strips or marinated pieces of meat, which are then cut into smaller pieces with scissors as it cooks.

Spread around the rest of the table will generally be individual bowls of rice, a soup or two, a basket of different types of salad leaves, a paste made from three different beans and various spices, and more side-dishes (including kimchi) than you can poke a chopstick at.

As the meat becomes cooked diners take up utensils, grab a bit of meat and enjoy the mix and match of meats, salad leaves and sauces.

Coupled with the beverage of your choice – for Koreans this is usually a distilled rice-wine called soju – and fam-ily or friends, the Korean-style barbecue is a unique and flavoursome experience.

In Brisbane we recommend O Bal Tan, Madtong San and Hanwoori in the city, Po Sok Jong in Fortitude Valley, and Lee House Korean Barbecue in Sunnybank, which provides the authen-tic charcoal barbecue experience.

Toronto city by night...‘T Dot’, as it is referred to by locals offers some great sights. Photo: AAP

Chopsticks ready!...A modest version of the Korean BBQ theme. Photo: Ben Dillon

Brisbane breakfast hot spotsBreakfast is widely regarded as the most important meal of the day, so why not make it the most enjoyable one, too? Give yourself a break from making your own burnt toast, soggy cereal and instant coffee, and give one of Brisbane’s many breakfast hotspots a try instead. Ingeborg Mate Holm checks out the food, drinks, service and atmosphere at some inner city cafes and delis.

Up-Tempo breakfast offers unique diningLOOKING for somewhere to eat breakfast in West End?

Then it’s worth stopping at Tempo Caffe and Bar on busy Boundary Street.

This small but chic establishment has a warm, laid-back atmosphere that flows from inside the café out to the footpath, where additional tables are shielded from the worst of the traffic noise.

Tempo Caffe is well-known for its all-day breakfast and weekend visi-tors may face a bit of a wait for a table.

That said, once seated the service at Tempo is enthusiastic and efficient, allowing patrons a reasonable amount of time to chat and enjoy their drinks before the food arrives.

Tempo’s food is modern with a touch of Mediterranean flavour and is carefully presented to give you the best dining experience.

In my case, my meal was both deli-cious and abundant.

I tried Tempo’s baked field mush-rooms stuffed with cannellini with Burlotti beans cassolè, which comes with a choice of hummus or herb crumbed ricotta for an non-tradi-tional breakfast experience.

Don’t forget to try the hearty Tempo breakfast, featuring plenty of bacon, free-range eggs, homemade hash brown, beans, mushrooms, maple and macadamia pork sausage, with a dash of tomato relish, all resting on organic sourdough or Turkish bread.

Tempo Caffe is a good place to go to chat and have a delicious breakfast with friends.

Set aside plenty of time to sit and enjoy the atmosphere, but remember to bring your wallet as this great expe-rience can easily cost more than $20 for a full breakfast with drinks.

Tempo Caffe & Bar 181 Boundary Street, West End, Brisbane Ph: (07) 3846 3161executive Chef: Ben grossOwner: Ali neichalaniOpen: Tues to Fri: 7am–5pm, Sat: 7am–4pm, Sun: 7am–3pm Our ratings (out of 10):Food: 8Drinks: 8Service: 8Ambience: 8

Pancakes perfect in historical setting JORDAN PhILP

IF YOU live in Brisbane, chances are you’ve either been to, or know of, the Pancake Manor, if only because it’s one of the few restaurants in the CBD that’s open 24 hours, making it perfect for when you’re out and about late at night (or early in the morning) and hunger sets in.

Pancake Manor is a bit of an institution and has been serving pancakes to the Brisbane dining public for more than 30 years.

Housed in a converted cathedral on Charlotte Street, just a short walk from Queen Street Mall, it’s worth a visit just to see the building itself, which is more than 100 years old.

The interior boasts high ceilings and

warm tones that create a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere, while the restored stained–glass windows reveals the building’s history and how sensitive the owners have been in their renovations.

The massive main room holds groups of moderately sized wooden booths to allow for a private and relaxed meal, with an accommodating round tabled bar in the centre offering drinks from milkshakes and coffee to a range of alcoholic beverages to satisfy any thirst.

If you’re going out to the Pancake Manor on a weekend night like my companions and I did, be aware that you could be subjected to a long wait, although it is perhaps a testament to the restaurant’s quality that there was so much demand at 2am in the morning.

We were greeted and told there was a

bar downstairs where we could wait for our table.

We followed the flight of stairs under the cathedral and came across The Knight Bar, which features small booths along its walls, low lighting and quiet music, radiating a calm, intimate ambience that really allowed us to enjoy the drinks on tap and talk without having to yell.

The prices were reasonably cheap and the setting was comfortable, so our 20-minute wait for a table didn’t seem long at all.

On the sweet side, the Pancake Manor’s menu is exactly what you would expect: A mountain of delicious pancake options, with a variety of extras such as ice cream, cream and syrup to compliment with your choice.

If sweet, syrupy pancakes aren’t your thing, don’t be alarmed; the menu has a host of savoury options, too, including a wide range of fresh salads, savoury crepes, nachos and even burgers, steak and chips.

Despite being a Friday night, the service was extremely quick once we were seated and our party’s orders were taken promptly. The wait staff were polite and gave a moderate amount of time to let our party decide on our orders, and then it took only 10 to 15 minutes before we received our smorgasbord of pancakes, crepes and drinks.

You would expect great pancakes from a place that specialises in them, but the strawberry jam pancakes were beyond perfection. The light fluffy buttermilk pancakes, which came with

sweet strawberry jam on the sides with a choice of additional warm cream and a scoop of ice cream to top it off, was the main talk of the table. If you’re looking for a decent meal rather than a greasy kebab, the Pancake Manor fits the bill.

The Pancake manor18 Charlotte Street, Brisbane City Ph: (07) 3221 6433www.pancakemanor.com.auOwner: David Langford executive Chef: Paul Shefford Open: Monday to Sunday, 24 hours

Our ratings (out of 10):Food: 9 Drinks: 7 Service: 9 Ambience: 8

Breakfast, all day every day...tempo Caffe specialises in unique breakfast ideas. Photo: ingeborg Mate Holm

SPOIL your taste buds and start the day with a delicious culinary experience, then Brisbane’s famous Gunshop Café should be high on your destination list.

The Gunshop Café is tucked away on the corner of Boundary and Mollison Streets in West End, and only the constant flow of customers hints at the culinary wonders hiding behind its walls.

You can count on the Gunshop Café being busy and bustling, but the experienced waiters are able to navigate the cafe floor with a smile, serving patrons in a relaxed and comfortable manner.

While waiting for your food, be sure to try something from the day’s fresh juice selection.

The breakfast at the Gunshop Café was awarded best breakfast in Brisbane in both 2008 and 2009, and you can understand why when you take the first bite of your meal.

I tried the Canadian brioche French toast, with bacon, caramelised banana, pecans and maple syrup, which was absolutely delicious.

For a slightly more traditional breakfast, try the Toulouse sausages with sweet potato hash, a poached egg, rocket, and bush tomato relish.

It’s a terrific starting point as you come to grips with the café’s exciting menu.

The Gunshop Café is perfect for a leisurely get-together with friends. The food is marvellous and the presentation

inspirational. The big breakfast meals range in price

from $15.50 to $19.50.

The Gunshop Cafe 53 Mollison Street, West End, Bris-bane Ph: (07) 3844 2841 www.thegunshopcafe.com executive Chef: Jason CoolenOpen: Mon: 7am–2pm, Tues to Sat: 7am till late, Sun: 7am–12:30pm

Our ratings (out of 10)Food: 8taste: 8Service: 8Ambience: 8

A gunshot above Boundary’s elite

Good coffee, great food at SouthbankPOPPY’S Basket in Grey Street is handily located near South Bank train station, making it easy to get to for those who want to avoid parking in the busy surrounding roads.

Step inside and you find yourself in deli heaven.

Unfortunately, the decor of the place isn’t quite what you might expect from a good deli. The interior has quite a cold feel to it, with uncomfortable tables and chairs.

Similarly, you shouldn’t stop by Poppy’s Basket if you are looking for morning smiles, because while the service is efficient, the friendliness is minimal and the presentation could easily have been done at home.

Thankfully, the open kitchen in the back and a delicious flow of deli aromas make up for the less than snug atmosphere.

What you will find at Poppy’s Basket is good coffee and great food.

I tried the breakfast roll, which was made from wonderful sourdough bread and topped with plenty of bacon, egg, Swiss cheese, caramelised onions and lots of flavour.

The serves are filling but a bit pricy given the lack of accompanying great service. Prices start from $10 for the brekkie rolls or $7.50 for the tasty Bircher muesli with fresh fruit and sheep’s milk yoghurt. Poppy’s is a great place to go if you’re passing by on

your way to somewhere else, but is not necessarily the place you’d choose for a leisurely brunch.

Poppy’s Basket Bakery & Deli Shop 3, 166 Grey Street, South Bank, Brisbane Ph: (07) 3844 0144executive Chef: troy FisherOwners: greg and gayle FisherOpen: Monday to Sunday: 6:30am–6:00pm

Our ratings (out of 10):Food: 4taste: 7Service: 5Ambience: 6

Brunch Basket...tasty treats at Poppy’s Basket Bakery. Photo: ingeborg Mate Holm

BECKy PAXTON

BRISBANE residents looking to spice up their Asian-inspired cooking repertoires are benefiting from free weekly classes in Fortitude Valley’s Chinatown Mall.

The Master Classes, created by the Brisbane City Council, are held every Tuesday at 6pm.

They feature live cooking demonstrations by the chefs and staff of various restaurants in Chinatown, teaching audiences how to prepare their signature dishes.

The sessions also include free food tasting, copies of the recipes, and a 15 per cent discount for attendees at any of the participating restaurants after the show.

The shows are hosted by the quirky Edith Li and will continue to run weekly until the end of March 2011.

A Brisbane City Council spokesperson said the free classes were part of a range of activities designed to bring visitors to the newly redeveloped Chinatown Mall.

“The purpose is to provide Chinatown Mall restaurants with a platform to showcase their culinary expertise to visitors to Chinatown Mall,” she said.

The spokesperson said the classes were about providing a welcoming tourist attraction and to increase the local community’s connection to Asian culture and cuisine.

“This and the other related programs in Chinatown Mall are contributing to Brisbane’s profile as Australia’s New World City,” she said.

The spokesperson said the council initially expected the classes to draw about 25 participants each week, but interest in the events had increased and the classes were now attended by more than 60 people at a time.

“Council is receiving new enquiries daily from the public interested to know more about the cooking classes,” she said.

Class participant, Sarah Silverman, who recently moved to Brisbane from the

US, said she enjoyed being an assistant in a recent cooking demonstration held by the Kings Diner Chinese Restaurant.

Ms Silverman said she preferred standing up helping the chef and watching the cooking close up than sitting in the audience.

“I would love to get in here again next week,” she said.

Ms Silverman said it would be good if the council’s website listed the name of the demonstrating restaurant each week so class participants could better plan

which sessions they attended. “I’m a big fan of Thai Wi-Rat, but I

missed them, hopefully they will come round again,” she said.

The council spokesperson said the participating restaurants had all commented they had experienced a substantial increase in business on Tuesday evenings since the classes commenced.

“Although not all Chinatown Mall restaurants chose to participate in the program, it was likely that more would

join at a later date,” she said. Participating restaurants currently

include Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant, Thai Wi-Rat Restaurant, Green Tea Restaurant, Kings Diner Chinese Restaurant, Chingu Restaurant, and PhoB Vietnamese Restaurant.

According to the council spokesper-son, the classes were funded from the Chinatown Mall’s special levy.

“But this cost is minimal as the participating restaurants undertake the classes with their own staff and

ingredients,” she said.Local valley resident and regular class

attendee, Paul Wright, said he enjoyed the classes because they created a nice sense of community within a big city.

“It’s good to see people come together to share each other’s cultures,” Mr Wright said.

“It’s pretty awesome that it’s all free too.

“Not a lot is these days.”Call (07) 340 838 195 to book your

seat.

Valley comes alive with free Asian cooking classes

DOmINIQUE KOLARSKI

THIS dessert-lover’s paradise first opened its doors in Fortitude Valley’s fashionable Emporium complex in December 2004.

The original Freestyle café was in Rosalie and had an arty, restaurant-in-a-cottage feel, like many restaurants and

cafés in the Paddington area.However, the present incarnation

of the restaurant in the Valley is more urban-contemporary than the original.

Being famous for dessert does mean most patrons going to Freestyle Tout go for the dessert.

After all, “tout” means “everything” or “all”, and Freestyle Tout really does

have everything a sweet-tooth could want.

Hot fudge brownies, warm flourless chocolate cake, chocolate saucy pudding, caramel and banana tart, Spanish churros, baked lemon and lime cheesecake, berry deluxe sundae, the list goes on.

The desserts all cost $15.90, are served on dinner-sized plates and come with decadent sauces and sculpted chocolate embellishments.

It’s enough to make anyone want to skip the main course and go straight for the sugar fix.

But for those who want something savoury, Freestyle Tout does offer a range of lunch and dinner options, including Chinese five-spice duck salad ($16.90), wagyu beef burger ($17.50) and sautéed chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto ($22).

Freestyle Tout’s Emporium restaurant also offers an intimate function room and hosts a number of regular social functions, including book clubs and salsa dancing classes.

China Town...tantalises taste buds. Photo: noemi eros

Tasty treats...Freestyle tout’s Berry Deluxe Sundae. Photo: nadia vanek

DOMINIQUE KOLARSKI

RESTAURANT Rapide is a renowned local restaurant run by Brisbane couple Sam and Anne Louise Walters since August 2006.

The dining experience at Restaurant Rapide is infused with a passion for cuisine and the modern Australian experience.

The decor is modern, fresh and minimalist and seats just 50 people indoors and al fresco.

The menu’s selection (entrée, main, side and dessert) is minimal yet charming.

From the entrée – starters’ soup and Sichuan salt and pepper squid –to the mains – rabbit three-ways and lamb rack – to the delightful desserts – Lindt chocolate pudding and lemon and vanilla pannacotta – it promises to stimulate every taste bud desired by the customer.

The food is, for the most part, beautifully prepared and presented.

And while quantity may be lacking, the quality more than makes up for it.

A waiter will ask if you’re ready within 10 minutes of being seated and is at your command for the rest of the night, placing napkins over laps and constantly refilling glasses with water.

The wine list is impressive, without the exorbitant price tag of its inner-city competitors.

There is also a b.y.o option available with corkage at $10 a bottle.

Owner and Executive Chef, Sam Walters said they had been lucky enough to have been awarded one star for the past three years in The Courier-Mail’s Good Food Guide and one chef’s hat in

The Brisbane Times’ Good Food Guide two years running.

“We believe we are not so much unique, but it is what we offer that set us at the level we are at, and that is a high level of service, friendliness and an ever-changing modern produce driven menu,” Mr Walters said.

Mr Walters has a good relationship with Rocklea’s fruit and vegetable markets suppliers which enables him to source the freshest possible produce and to tailor the menu to what’s in season and what looks good.

“As far as the restaurant goes, I believe that you need to evolve and change the look of the restaurant, we have owned the restaurant for four years and changed the way it looks twice, this keeps our regular customers interested and keeps us on our toes as we are always trying to think of what we can do next to change the look,” he said.

Restuarant Rapide sets itself apart from its competitors, with complimentary breads and canapés when guests have ordered, getting taste buds going from the very beginning.

freestyle Tout50/1000 Ann Street, Fortitude ValleyPh: (07) 3252 0214www.freestyletout.com.auOpen: Mon to thurs 10am - 10.30pmFri & Sat 10am till 11pmSun 10am till 10pm Closed: Public holidays

Our ratings (out of 10):Food: 9Wine: 8Service: 6Ambience: 7

Restaurant Rapideexecutive Chef: Sam Walters4 Martha Street, Camp HillPh: (07) 3843 5755www.restaurantrapide.com.auOpen: Lunch: Wed–Fri from 12pmDinner: tues–Sat from 6pmClosed: Sun & Mon

Our ratings (out of 10):Food: 8Wine: 9Service: 7Ambience: 7

Dessert specialists tempt diners Modern, fresh and minimalist

ROBERT mUKOmBOZIGRIFFITH University is sprucing up thanks to development work taking place on all five campuses.

The development is responsible for delivering new capital works as well as refurbishment and alteration to existing facilities.

Construction on Nathan campus commenced on September 20 and is expected to be completed by July 22, 2011.

The development includes a new building, which will occupy the space adjacent to the existing Central Theatres and Macrossan postgraduate research centre.

The building will house a central courtyard with canopy and a new student centre.

The ground floor will have 362 sqm devoted to a bookshop and café, while the heart of the building and the plaza on the first floor will house three 30-seat seminar rooms and two 60-seat seminar rooms.

A statement from Griffith University said the building would be a key feature of the Nathan Campus.

Postgraduate student, Michael Snyder, said the development was a bonus to the university, but also a temporary irritant for students.

“There is a lot of noise everywhere, normal routes through the university have been changed,” Mr Snyder said.

He said the construction was making it difficult for students to concentrate close to their exam times as well as creating detours around key affected buildings.

Despite the disruptions, the university said they were doing their best to ensure the construction moved quickly to minimise interruptions for students.

“Contractors need to recognise some extremely important safety and environmental issues about working on campus,” a statement from the university said.

“Having a clear understanding of them is a condition of entry to our university sites for all contractors, their staff or subcontractors.”

The university helped ease the transition for students by offering the chance to ask questions over a free doughnut on Wednesday mornings.

Mt Gravatt campus received the state-of-the-art Paynter Dixon designed tennis centre, which offers 12 international competition standard tennis courts.

2009 Regional Award Winning courts feature a plexi-cushion playing surface, the same material used on courts at Melbourne Park, venue of the 2011 Australian Open.

The centre also has a clubhouse with pro shop, licensed café and club room.

Griffith’s Gold Coast campus received the Science and Engineering Building on the edge of Engineering Drive and Parklands, which has seminar

rooms, lecture theatres, labs and houses the Biomolecular Sciences, Electrical Engineering and the new School of Architecture.

The Gold Coast campus will also benefit from the new Smart Water Research Centre, the first university owned and operated building to be located on Smith Street.

The building will house some of Griffith University’s water sciences-based research groups as well as accommodating the Gold Coast’s City Council’s Scientific Services branch, which tests the Gold Coast water quality.

The building was funded by Gold Coast City Council, State Government and the University, and now provides a permanent and secure home for the university’s marine vessels.

The science-focused developments at the Gold Coast campus are part of a strategy to take advantage of government services, like the new Gold Coast University Hospital, which is adjacent to the University’s Goldcoast campus and will open in late 2012.

With $32 million in Federal government funding, the university developed the Sir Samuel Griffith Building as the first zero-emission and self-powering teaching and research building driven by solar-hydrogen energy.

The Sir Samuel Griffith building will also host the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility.

New buildings give campus a facelift

JORDAN PhILP

THE $300 million upgrade at the intersection of Mains Road and Kessels Road will improve one of Brisbane’s worst traffic choke points, with benefits for Griffith University and its students in particular.

The intersection has been a high priority for both federal and state governments for some time, but planning for the project stalled due in part to indecision over which road

would be a better underpass.Queensland Transport and Main

Roads Project Director, David Bobbermen, said the decision about the underpass has been made.

“The best option out of all that evaluation was for Kessels Road to be an underpass, but a short underpass,” Mr Bobbermen said.

Mr Bobbermen said there would be short-term impact on traffic when the project commenced in February 2012, and a positive long-term impact in

several key areas.“The local traffic’s going to benefit

with improved safety, improved traffic flow,” he said.

“There’ll be more reliable travel and minimised travel times through the intersection, and no doubt there’ll be reduction in noise and emissions, and also fuel usage through the intersection.”

As well as reducing commute times for drivers, the upgrade will also create new bus priority lanes, on-road bike

paths, and improved footpaths.Queensland Transport Deputy

Director of Planning, Design and Construction, Geoffrey Smith, said discussions had also been held with Griffith University to decide how students at the university could engage in the project to gain real-world skills and experience.

“There could well be work experience opportunities for engineering students with some of the contractors who are undertaking this work,” Mr Smith said.

“It’s quite a unique project, a very complex project because they have to keep the traffic flowing through the intersection all the time that the construction is going on with minimum disruption.

“So it’s something that students would be potentially very interested to observe and study the methodologies used to achieve those objectives.”

The Mains and Kessels Road intersection upgrade project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

Nathan campus...Redevelopment feels long overdue. Photo: Steven Riggall

DANIEL ROCKETT

GRIFFITH University’s Brisbane and Logan students will regain their collective voice following the reintroduction of a Student Representative Council (SRC), the first in more than five years.

But the new council will not be a student ‘union’: Elected representatives will be unpaid, and students will not pay a membership fee.

Griffith University Pro-Vice Chancellor, Colin McAndrew, said each campus will be represented by an elected President, Secretary and Treasurer.

Instead of student members’ fees, the new SRC will be funded by the university.

“It’s not a union that people will join, it will just be a representative body,” Mr McAndrew said.

Griffith University’s last SRC folded in 2006.

Former SRC President, Glen Chatterton, said the organisation collapsed following the introduction of the Howard government’s voluntary student unionism policy.

“VSU was the reason why the Griffith SRC ceased to exist,” Mr Chatterton said.

“The then-government saw [student

unions] as a breeding ground of political opposition.”

Before 2006, universities across Australia were required to charge students a services fee which usually funded a student representative organisation.

Under the Howard government’s reforms it became illegal for universities to force students to belong to a student union or to pay it money for services, unless they chose to.

Mr McAndrew said he agreed that VSU played a big part in the former SRC’s demise.

“The [old] SRC was only ever a political or advocacy body, and didn’t have any revenue beyond the fees students paid,” Mr McAndrew said.

“When the fees stopped, it fell over.”Mr McAndrew said while it will

consist of only a few elected positions, the new SRC will be in its early stages in 2011 and may yet evolve into something bigger.

“The history of the previous SRC was that they kept adding positions from year to year and at the end they had something like 32 positions, it was getting a bit crazy,” Mr McAndrew said.

“Having said that, it will be up to the SRC itself to devise its own future.”

The SRC could decide to introduce some form of payment for representatives in future years.

Nathan campus law student Elizabeth Macaulay, said the establishment of a new SRC would have a positive impact on student life.

“It will be really good to have students advocating for other students and to have someone to talk to who is not involved directly with the uni,” Ms Macaulay said.

Another law student Fatima Raza said the student body could look at more than just issues affecting campus life.

“It will be a good chance to broaden horizons and think about policies and politics outside university as well,” Ms Raza said.

Following October’s elections across the Brisbane and Logan campuses, the new SRC will take office in December.

Griffith’s Gold Coast campus has a separate student guild which will be unaffected by the new changes.

SRC back giving students official voice on campus

mains-Kessels Rd jam solved with underpass

mIChAEL SPRINGA STATE school principal has criticised the Queensland Core Skills (QCS) test, saying it unfairly privileges private school students while punishing their state school peers.

Kimberley College Principal, Paul Thompson, said the biggest problem with the test was that an individual school’s results were averaged and their average mark helped determine the overall position (OP) for that school.

Mr Thompson said this led to some schools excluding children with lower academic scores in order to maintain their high OP ranking.

“Schools which exclude children on the basis of lack of academic abil-ity and send them down the road to the state school, they enhance their own OPs, and they lower the OPs of the people in the state schools,” Mr Thompson said.

Mr Thompson said there were prob-lems with the content of the test that were common with tests in general, in that it did not accurately evaluate stu-dent’s thinking abilities.

“What tests do is they punish people

for making mistakes… and making mistakes is the basis of learning,” Mr Thompson said.

“So in other words, if a kid goes home and tells his parent ‘I got every-thing right today’, the parent should be worried, because all he’s doing is demonstrating what he already knows.”

Kimberley College student, Gideon Aidei-Okyere, agreed with his Principal’s view.

“I don’t see how it actually tests stu-dents on their abilities or what they’ve learnt really, because most of the ques-tions would have to be applicable to everyone, and not everyone does the same things,” Mr Aidei-Okyere said.

Fellow Kimberley student Jared Heinemann, who is repeating Year 12 to improve his OP, said his teach-ers told students the QCS test was the most important factor in determining their ranking.

Core skills test favours private ed: Principal

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

Click here for a radio version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

BECKy PAXTON

GRIFFITH University’s Indigenous Curriculum Working Party is about to set up a student consultative body as part of its effort to reform the curriculum.

Academics believe including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies, knowledges and perspectives in the curriculum is crucial to reconcili-ation and tackling climate change and that a student voice should be part of the process.

The curricula reform project was approved in March 2008 and funded with a $220,000 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) grant obtained in December 2009.

Currently two committees, the Advisory Group and Working Party, meet on Griffith campuses to develop and implement strategies to “indigen-ise” the curriculum.

Griffith University Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) Professor Susan Spence said the project was facilitating a university-wide approach to Indigenous curriculum development and cultural partnerships.

“It is important that Griffith stu-dents have the opportunity to develop an awareness of and respect for the values and knowledges of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Peoples,” she said.

Working Party Co-Chair Coordinator Professor, Keithia Wilson, said Indigenising the curriculum was a social justice issue about respecting and giv-ing voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ cultural authority.

“Indigenous Australians are our nation’s first people,” Professor Wilson said.

“We live and work on their land. “We need to see that their knowledges

are valued equally alongside Western knowledges,” she said.

Working Party Co-Chair Coordinator Dr Chris Matthews said while it had been an issue at the university for a long time, it was difficult to say exactly what Indigenising the curriculum meant.

“It is about creating awareness and embedding Indigenous knowledges in education,” he said.

Dr Matthews said workshops were being held to explore what Indigenising the curriculum involved.

The Working Party received the ALTC grant to trial strategies over two and a half years.

“We run ideas and assess them and see what we learnt,” he said.

Dr Matthews said developing a cul-turally appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curriculum was not purely about increasing the amount of Indigenous subjects available at the university.

Working Party member, Professor Michael Meadows, agreed, saying Indigenising the curriculum did not mean creating one compulsory course that every student must do.

“We want Indigenous knowledges incorporated within all courses,” he said.

Professor Meadows said there was potential to incorporate Indigenous studies and knowledges into many disci-plines including law, science, health and medicine.

“Our job is to set up processes to help Griffith meet that potential,” he said.

Professor Wilson said part of the

Working Party’s role involved captur-ing what academics already taught and then determining what else should be included.

Professor Meadows said the Working Party would also provide resources and advice for faculty staff on how to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges into their courses.

“There are a range of strategies to educate staff to educate students,” he said.

Professor Meadows said the univer-sity had an obligation to provide profes-sional development for its staff about teaching methods, including educating staff in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges.

“You can’t say you’re a com-plete teacher without knowledge of Indigenous affairs.”

“Our Indigenous heritage is the hall-mark of our identity.

“It is what makes Australia different from other countries.”

Griffith University Associate Lecturer, Marcus Waters, was also a member of the Working Party, but gave up his posi-tion to concentrate on his PhD entitled “Contemporary and Urban Indigenous Dreamings”.

Mr Waters said there were only about 60 Indigenous people in Australia who had a doctorate, which was one of the reasons it was important for him to focus on completing his.

Mr Waters said such figures further highlighted how complex the task of Indigenising the curriculum was, and said the first step was to document exactly what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander epistemology (knowl-edge base) and pedagogy (system of teaching) were.

Mr Waters said clarification of what it meant to be an Aboriginal in the 21st century was needed before a curriculum inclusive of Indigenous knowledges could be developed.

He said there were about 500 differ-ent Aboriginal nations and 500 different languages in Australia and these differ-ent communities were all “thrown into a washing machine”.

“We have been left traumatised and damaged over multiple generations due

to the ongoing effects of colonialism,” he said.

“We are still in a process of healing and getting our heads together.”

Mr Waters said an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge base and pedagogy emphasised a circular rather than a linear system of teaching which was about ensuring the same opportunities available today were left for future generations.

Mr Waters said issues such as climate change and sustainability were already encouraging people to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and living.

“People are thinking the system we have now is simply not working, let’s

go to the Aboriginal people, who have a demonstrated history over thousands of years in sustainable living, and ask for help.”

Mr Waters said Australia’s rapidly growing population, consumption rate and environment abuse were issues not given due importance, and the Aboriginal epistemology involved a necessary emphasis on respecting the sacred land.

Mr Waters said Aboriginal knowl-edges encouraged students to be socially conscious of their actions and to partici-pate in their community.

He said students and teachers alike needed to realise that their learning process began before their first day of semester and continued long after.

For example, an engineering student who could develop technology for sus-tainable living needed to realise that was the role they played as part of their community.

“This to me is how we best embed an Indigenous knowledge base into the classroom,” he said.

Mr Waters said part of teaching this knowledge base was to encourage peo-ple to move away from the individualist, materialist mindset of modern society.

Mr Waters said Australia’s history of colonialism neglected the intellectual capacity of the Aboriginal people to contribute to global society.

“We are dealing with the oldest intel-lectual property in the world, something that all Australians should identify with and be proud of,” he said.

Professor Meadows said Indigenous Australians had a legitimate philoso-phy that was largely absent from formal

education. “They have valid perspectives that we

are missing out on,” he said. “Indigenous knowledges should be a

fundamental part of our education, like learning to read and write.”

Mr Waters said those involved in indignising the curriculum would become leaders in what needed to be done to save the world.

“I don’t mean to sound romantic, but that is what is at stake, the very future of the world we live in,” he said.

Dr Matthews said the importance of Indigenising the curriculum lay in improving the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

“We can’t even relate on a human level,” he said.

He said Australian history had seen the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people begin with the European policy of Terra Nullius – “the land belongs to nobody”.

Dr Matthews said the gap in health and education needed to be closed.

“But we have to be careful about what this means,” he said.

Dr Matthews said he did not want to return to a policy of assimilation where non-Indigenous Australians believed improving the situation meant Indigenous Australians “can become more like us”.

Mr Waters said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also needed to be open to non-Indigenous people.

“We are all Australians and we need to fully understand and appreciate what that means,” he said.

Professor Meadows said the Working Party’s task was about making a change in the way Indigenous issues were dealt with at Griffith and there was no set time frame on this.

Professor Meadows said Indigenising the curriculum was a slow process in which relationships needed to be estab-lished with Indigenous communities, not just among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students at

Griffith University.“It takes a lot of time, talking to

elders, keeping the Indigenous commu-nity informed, but if we end up with the outcomes we want, it will be worth it,” he said.

“We want to make sure we actually make a difference, not just produce a report to be put on the shelf.

“All of us really want to make a change.”

He said it was his personal wish that every student who graduated would know more about Indigenous affairs.

Dr Matthews said Indigenising the curriculum was about creating the opportunity for students to learn in cross-cultural environments.

“Fundamentally what we would like to achieve is for students to critically evaluate the discipline, to look at how the discipline is culturally constructed and to critique the law and education systems, to see whether it excludes or includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and values their knowl-edge,” he said.

“The people who come out of univer-sity are going to be our next generation of leaders.”

“They need the ability to see beyond what they’ve been brought up with, it is a valuable skill for everyone.”

Mr Waters said respecting, valuing and incorporating the knowledges and perspectives of a country’s Indigenous people within not just the education sys-tem but the entire structure of a society was an international movement now.

“If we don’t do this, we risk becom-ing backward to the rest of the world,” he said.

Mr Waters said the incredible success of the movie Avatar had prompted ques-tions about why such a narrative had proven so popular.

“The film reflects a social conscious-ness in relation to the partnership between the world’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

“It is an important issue of our time.”

Griffith team works towards Indigenising the curriculum

Update...Michael Meadows, Chris Matthews and Marcus Waters, the advocates for curriculum changes. Photo: Becky Paxton

“We are dealing with the oldest intellectual prop-erty in the world, something that all Australians should identify with and be proud of... We want Indigenous knowledges incorporated within all courses.”

Every scar tells a life changing story. www.findingcures.com.au

University testing pregnancy

Debate continues on bilingual education

Being a university student can be challenging: Juggling classes, assignment deadlines and exam preparation with external commitments. What most people ignore is how much harder this juggling act becomes when a student is also pregnant, writes Amber Drury.

TOO MUCH stress such as that caused by univesity examination periods can be dangerous for pregnant women, and precautions should be taken to maintain the well-being of both mother and child, according to a clinical nurse consultant.

Figtree Private Hospital Clinical Nurse Consultant, Leanne Wallace, said she believed self-help was paramount for pregnant students.

“It is so important to make regular visits to doctors and to always follow up with appointments to obstetricians/mid-wives,” Ms Wallace said.

“Examinations are very thorough when a woman is pregnant, so if you remain on top of your regular visits, if any complications should arise they can be detected fast.”

Stress is commonplace for students, it may be unavoidable, but health profes-sionals can help people deal with stress so negative repercussions are avoided.

“Stress in itself can be managed with good health care,” Ms Wallace said.

“Relaxation techniques, such as yoga, are very helpful.”

Ms Wallace said levels of cortisol, a hormone released when under stress, are greatly reduced through activities like yoga, relaxation therapy, swimming and walking.

Stress can also be better controlled through improved time management.

“Really good time management is very important,” Ms Wallace said.

“Be aware that you’re not going to be able to stay up and study till the early hours of the morning [when pregnant].

“Be realistic with university work-loads and balance your days accordingly.

“Spend a certain amount of time studying, and then make sure you take care of yourself.”

Kristen Brown experienced firsthand the demands of pregnancy combined with the pressures of the final semester of a Bachelor’s degree.

“I felt a lot more stress in regard to university at the start of my pregnancy because you are just coming to terms with everything that is going on,” Ms Brown said.

“Now it is not as stressful as it first was.

“Maybe it is just a better part of the pregnancy or that I’m over a few uni-versity hurdles at the moment, but things have changed.

Ms Brown says university has been put into perspective, and if she doesn’t do well this semester then it won’t be the end of the world.

“I know a lot of girls who have had babies prior to completing degrees and who are going back now as their babies are a bit older,” Ms Brown said.

“It just shows that it is possible and you aren’t the only person who would be doing it.”

Although her education remains a high priority, Ms Brown now focuses on her unborn son’s health.

“Before I fell pregnant, my priorities were set on my studies and my social life.

“Now things have changed to making sure my baby and I are in good health, coping well, and then study.”

Ms Brown said she didn’t mind that things had changed.

“Things that used to be so important, end up being so trivial and my biggest accomplishment so far will be being able to say I brought this tiny life into the world,” she said.

Being pregnant at university can be a very different experience for interna-tional students.

Government bonuses and covered expenses granted to Australian couples are not offered to international students because they do not hold citizenship.

Danish International Masters student, Ingeborg Mate Holm, who is pregnant with her first child, has found preparing for a baby in Australia to be expensive.

“My boyfriend and I intend to take an intensive pre-natal class in preparation for the birth of our child, even though it is really expensive,” Ms Holm said.

“Healthcare in Denmark is com-pletely free due to our tax system, so I am noticing it will be difficult,” she said.

The stresses of living and study-ing overseas while pregnant are com-mon and Ms Wallace advises pregnant international students to research every option available to them.

“International students may have to

go to public sector healthcare, which could leave them with less financial bur-dens but still provide high quality care,” she said.

“Free support for pregnant women and new mothers is available and refer-rals can be made by doctors to commu-nity health centres.

“These centres are in all states, pro-vide very thorough medical services and are free of charge.”

An unplanned pregnancy can be even more stressful, as it represents drastic lifestyle changes and not everyone is happy to follow through with them.

A 25-year-old man, who did not want to be identified, said his relationship with his university student girlfriend

dissolved after she had an abortion to end her unplanned pregnancy.

“My girlfriend was very career driven and her degree meant the world to her,” he said.

“She always had definite plans of what she wanted to achieve profession-ally and when she fell pregnant we both knew it was not the right time.”

“After her abortion she threw herself into university even more than before and we rarely saw each other until we eventually decided our relationship wasn’t working.

“It just really wasn’t the right time for us to have a child together.”

Support is available for expectant and new mothers, but Ms Wallace said she

realised it was sometimes hard to ask for help.

“Never be afraid to ask for help,” Ms Wallace said.

“Often women are quite proud and like to be independent, and if people are struggling we don’t like to admit we aren’t doing well.”

“It’s much better for you to ask for help if you need it. There is no stigma.”

Ms Wallace recommends visiting Family Planning Queensland services (www.fpq.com.au) and contraception, pregnancy, baby and parenting website The Bub Hub (www.bubhub.com.au).

Most universities also offer on-campus student health and counselling services.

Pressure...international student ingeborg Mate Holm balances study stresses and pregnancy. Photo: Susannah thomsett.

NOEmI EROS

DEBATE is continuing once again over the benefits of the Northern Territory’s Bilingual Education policy, including whether children in bilingual schools are able to perform academically as well as children in monolingual schools.

The NT’s bilingual policy, which allows students in some schools in the state including those in remote areas to be taught in a combination of English and their Indigenous language, has been the subject of ongoing debate for almost two years.

In October 2008, the then NT Minister for Education Marion Scrymgour announced that the first four hours of education in all NT Schools were to be delivered in English, a decision which opponents said meant that students for whom English was their second lan-guage would be forced to learn in what was essentially a foreign language for a large part of their day.

Critics also believed this decision could spell the death of the remaining endangered Indigenous languages in Australia, with some arguing that peo-ple had a right to be taught in their own

native language.The most recent debate arriving from

this complicated issue is whether chil-dren in bilingual schools are able to per-form academically as well as children in monolingual schools.

Labor Senator for the Northern Territory Trish Crossin said “the debate has been that children who are in bilin-gual school are not performing as well as children who are in an English only situation”.

Senator Crossin, who has herself taught in a bilingual school, said she dis-agreed with that argument and believed

bilingual schools were as successful in educating children as any other school.

University of Queensland Linguistics Lecturer, Dr Ilana Mushin, said she shares the Senator’s opinion.

Dr Mushin said in today’s society it was necessary for Indigenous children to be able to speak, read and write in English.

Senator Crossin said the focus really should be on getting more children to go to school.

To reach that goal, she said the first step was to work on the solution together with Indigenous parents and to engage

them more in their children’s education.Dr Mushin said the reason some

Indigenous parents did not send their children to school was not because they did not want the best for their children, but because they were uneducated them-selves, which made it difficult for them to justify to their children why they should have to go to school.

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

LAWRIE BEAT HEART DISEASEthanks to the amazing work of The Prince Charles Hospital.Read Lawrie’s life changing story at www.findingcures.com.au

VALUE for money and good quality should be your top priorities when buy-ing a car, followed by other important considerations such as what the ongoing running costs (such as servicing, regis-tration and insurance) of the vehicle are likely to be.

But before you prepare yourself to start bargaining, there are three basic rules you need to know before you buy your car.

KNOW WhAT yOU WANTThis is often easier said than done, as

many buyers don’t know what they want until they start looking. Start by thinking objectively about how you will use your car – for short trips, long trips, the daily commute. This information is relevant as it will help determine the size of car you need as well as how much you will need to set aside for things like running costs. Or maybe you’ve always loved a certain make or style of car and having a car that fits into that ideal type or style is important to you.

Whatever your preference, if you temper your enthusiasm for specific car features with factual research about the various cars on the market, you’ll have a stronger starting point.

DO ThE GROUNDWORKThe emphasis in the car buying game

is on doing adequate research first, but it doesn’t have to be boring.

While the internet is great because it allows you to view a kaleidoscope of vehicles from the comfort of your own home, it’s really worth getting out to some used-car yards in person to get a feel for the various models on offer.

Despite being the most time consum-ing part of the buying process, checking out cars can also be the most exciting, as you flit from one car yard to another to scope out what’s on offer.

You’ll probably find that there aren’t a lot of car yards that cater to our budget of $3000, but they do exist and visiting them will give you the best idea of what is actually available in the real world.

Mike Price from Car King Moorooka recommends making a firm budget to stick to it when looking in car yards.

“Tell the salesperson why you are

visiting so they can help you,” Price says.

“Do you want to look, test drive or buy?

“If they really want your business they will help you even if you are ‘just looking’.”

When dealing with used-car salespeo-ple be honest but firm and avoid being bullied or coerced into a sale.

Also, don’t believe anyone who says the car won’t be there tomorrow, as 99.9 per cent of the time that is a lie used by the seller to get you to part with your cash faster.

But don’t despair, there are honest used-car dealers out there who will be more than happy to help you in your search.

One more tip is to also look at cars that cost $1000 to $1500 more than your budget. If you find a car you like through a private sale or auction then you will be able to get it for a better price than you would from a dealer. This difference in price just may make a car previously out-of-reach a purchasing reality.

GET IT ChECKED OUT BEfORE yOU SIGN ANyThING

You’ve looked around and you have a fair idea of what you want and what is available in your price range.

But you don’t want to drive off in your new car only to discover later on that you’ve purchased a dud, so it’s important to seek advice from a quali-fied mechanic before you buy and, if possible, get them to check out the car for you.

RACQ offers comprehensive pre-purchase inspections and reports that range in price from $170 to $355. Most local mechanics will be able to carry out a similar sort of inspection, probably for a lot less. If you have a mechanic that you trust, then get them to do it for you.

Tom Tripcony, a retired mechanic with more than 40 years’ experience, says his tips for looking for a 3K hero are simple.

“Obvious things to look for are rust on the body and whether the engine smokes,” Tripcony says.

“Most people get scared if there is any smoke coming out of the exhaust

pipe, but real mechanical issues aren’t just a puff of smoke, it is continuous, smelly and there’s a lot of it,” he says.

If you’ve ever been to a concert where they’ve used a smoke machine you’ll know the type of smoke Tripcony’s talk-ing about.

Smoke like that indicates serious problems.

It is also very important to drive the car you’re thinking of buying for a decent amount of time; anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour is enough.

While driving, use all of your senses to pay attention to what’s going on with the car.

Think: Does it smell funny? Can you hear whining or banging noises that are not coming from your passengers?

Use your hands and body to ‘feel’ the car as you are driving; this will tell you everything you need to know about the way the car drives and whether there are any issues.

There should be no slack or looseness in the steering.

The brakes shouldn’t go all the way to the floor before they work, nor should the clutch (if it’s a manual).

Clunking, crashing, banging and whining noises are all bad signs and may indicate suspension or gearbox/dif-ferential problems.

And while it’s not fantastic news if the car does any of these things, it’s also not likely to be catastrophic.

Many people have joints that ‘crack’ from time to time, but they get about just fine. The same goes for cars.

You will, however, know something is wrong if any of these noises are louder than a normal conversation or have a jarring effect on you.

This means the car is bad news.If something doesn’t look, sound,

smell or feel right, use common sense and your intuition and just walk away.

Some tips and tricks you might like to consider

There are a lot of ‘ifs’ in buying a car, and ‘if’ you have the time and willing-ness to learn, there is money to be saved and sometimes made (legally of course). 1. Car auctions

This is a good option for those with intermediate automotive knowledge.

Cars sold at auction can be cheap, making it a good place to pick up a bargain. But remember, as with private sales, at only $3000 there is likely to be no warranty with the car.

On the upside, when you decide to sell, you may be able to flick the car along for more than you paid for it.2. Get your checks done

As well as a mechanical inspection, it is a good idea to get a REVS (Register of Encumbered Vehicles) check to ensure there is no money owed on the vehicle. This check costs $12.85 and can be done by post, just visit the Fair Trading Qld website (www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au).3. Private sales

Private sales can be good, but use your instinct; drive the car, ask to see the ser-vice records and ask how much money has been spent on the car recently.

Also, ask straight out if money is owed on the car and if it’s ever been in an accident.

Most of the time, these answers will indicate the honesty of the seller and the car.

Don’t be overly suspicious, though, as you could miss a bargain that might just require a new spare tyre or a general service.4. Registration

In Queensland, cars are taxed by the number of cylinders in their engine – the more cylinders the greater the cost.

An average four-cylinder car costs around $650 per year to register (includ-ing mandatory CTP insurance), while a six-cylinder costs around $850.

To lessen this upfront cost, an alterna-tive is to pay your registration every six months, or to opt for a car with a smaller engine, or even a motorbike or a scooter. 5. Servicing

Servicing your car is where it gets expensive, as labour in almost every workshop is charged at more than $70 an hour.

If you take your car to a main dealer (like Ford or BMW) for servicing, you’ll be looking at double or triple that amount.

Cars need attention from time to time and, as daunting as it may seem, some of the minor servicing can be done at home by anyone, including the mechanically illiterate, thanks to easy-to-understand literature available at many spare parts shops and online tutorials.

Oil changes are a great way to get into ‘doing it yourself’ car maintenance, as the costs are low and the job is relatively easy.

Another one that is even easier is changing the air filter.

While conducted less often than an oil change, it is important to do this accord-ing to your car’s servicing schedule.

Some general guidelines are:* Oil changed every 10,000 to 20,000

km and checked weekly.* Air filter changed every 40,000 to

50,000 km and checked yearly.* Spark plugs, points and leads

checked monthly and renewed as needed.6. Warranty

Dealers and auction houses must, by law, provide a statutory warranty on any car they sell, although there are some exclusions.

For cars under 10 years old, that have driven less than 160,000 km, the warranty is for three months or for 5000 km, whichever comes first. For cars older than 10 years, clocking over 160,000km, the warranty is for one month or for 1000 km.

These warranties apply only to parts of the vehicle that are ‘unfit for the intended use’ and generally don’t apply to parts that wear-out like tyres, suspen-sion, brakes and electrics.

A dealer warranty can be of ben-efit if one is offered at your price point, although you should read it carefully to see exactly how much of the cost the dealer will pay for every component covered in the warranty.

AT ThE END Of ThE DAyFor all of the above information there

are caveats, the most important being that if you are seeking a particular body-style (like a convertible) or brand, just go for it.

If there is a sexy (but rusty) Alfa Romeo you lust after, then buy it. Seriously. But be prepared for the con-sequences, whatever they may be.

It could be everything you’ve ever wished for, or a total nightmare that will provide years of amusement for your family and friends.

It may cost a lot of cash or cause a lot of heart-ache, but this is automo-tive character building at its finest and you will remember it later on when you can afford to buy shiny late model cars where everything is in good working order.

Trust me, it will be more fun to recount the torrid affair you had with a gorgeous-but-temperamental Italian in your youth, than endure a boring life-time of Toyota ownership.

Student car buyers’ guide: Get off the bus and on the road to freedom

Buying a car can be a daunting experience no matter who you are, but the task can be especially difficult for students who may never have bought a car before and for whom price

can be the deciding factor. Automotive journalist Ben Dillon has come up with a guide to help you find a decent ride for under $3,000.

mazda 121...the once-laughable bubble car is now kind of cool. Photo: Ben Dillon

ford festiva...A solid and reliable student option, and a great example of substance over style. Photo: Ben Dillon

LIAm DOOLAN

AUSTRALIA’S video game devel-opment industry has begun moving away from large projects associated with overseas companies’ intellectual property in favour of the small budget games market.

Australia’s largest game develop-ment studio, Krome Studios, made 100 staff redundant and closed its Adelaide studio in August this year, causing some people working within the industry to believe small game developers and projects were the future of video game development in this country.

Krome Studios co-founder John Passfield, who is now creative direc-tor of video game developer 3 Blokes Studios, said Australian game devel-opers were ideal small game creators.

“When you see the smaller-sized Australian developers doing so well, it’s a good indication that we are bet-ter suited to creating these kinds of games,” Mr Passfield said.

Local video game critics, however, have mixed views about the direction of the local video game development industry.

Ken Lee, who writes for Australian video game online magazine and web-site Pixel Hunt, said the future looked good for independent developers working on a small project, but more uncertain for those in large commer-cial firms.

He said he believed most local developers, who were often required to work with developers’ and publish-ers’ intellectual property, could use this new form of development to build their own reputations on the world stage.

“Most major game studios based in Australia fulfil a support role for lead studios offshore, and lack the opportu-nity to create brand new and exciting intellectual property,” Mr Lee said.

Budding game developer Dyllan Richardson, who is studying a Bachelor of Multimedia at Griffith University and hopes to forge a career platin the local games industry, said independent projects were a smart alternative for local developers who had previously focused on much big-ger games.

“I’m interested to see where Australian developers can take digi-tal distribution and, personally, I see it as a far safer approach financially than the current large-scale games which are distributed in stores,” Mr Richardson said.

Local gamers have also given their support to this new form of game development. Australian studios are focusing on their forte, which is creat-ing small, addictive games for digital distribution platforms such as Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii.

Veteran Brisbane gamer Alex Stevens said downloadable video games were the way of the future because people lead busy lives and often had less time to rest and enjoy themselves.

“Nowadays time is precious and small titles like Firemint’s Flight Control [for Apple iphone, Apple ipad and Nintendo DSi] are suitable to play when you only have a few seconds to spare,” Mr Stevens said.

“If [developers] Halfbrick and Firemint keep making games like Fruit Ninja and Flight Control, I’m certain there will be a market for them in Australia.”

LIAm DOOLANTHIS year Nintendo’s iconic Mario video game character celebrates his 25th anniversary, a landmark event that has led video game industry experts to look at what has made both the character and the game series such a success.

Nintendo Public Relations Manager for Australia and New Zealand Heather Murphy said Mario, the Italian plumber, was the most well-known and beloved video game character of all time.

“Anyone can relate to Mario regardless of the age they are or the amount of experience they’ve had with video games,” Ms Murphy said.

She said the sales of Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo Entertainment System showed how special Mario was to video game players of the 1980s and helped explain why the character had maintained such a large fan base over time.

“The original Mario Bros game sold more than 40 million games, so a lot of people would have grown up with Mario,” she said.

Matthew Williams, owner and administrator of local video game website The Nintendo Basement said Mario’s appeal was hard to pinpoint, but it was clear many people worldwide were completely infatuated with him.

“I honestly can’t say where the appeal of Mario lies; maybe it’s his big nose, killer moustache, love handles, or even his way with the ladies,” Mr Williams said.

“Whatever it is, though, I’m affected by it, as is just about everyone else on the globe.”

He said just mentioning the name ‘Mario’ to any per-son in any part of the world would show the popularity of Nintendo’s iconic character.

“I could safely bet that they would know who you’re talking about, unless of course you were in Italy, where Mario could easily be the name of someone’s brother,” Mr

Williams said. The manager of EB Games’ Brisbane City store said

Mario games had always been considered video game mas-terpieces, which was why Nintendo’s series had been so successful over the years.

“Mario is fun like no other game...Nintendo makes high-quality games and also some of the best franchises within the video game market, like the Mario and Legend of Zelda series,” he said.

“Mario has constantly reinvented video gaming with titles like Super Mario 64, which set the standards for 3D video games, and more recently Nintendo brought back 2D gaming with the New Super Mario Bros series on Wii and DS.”

Japanese designer Shigeru Miyamoto’s Super Mario 64 has consistently made the ‘Top 100’ lists of best games of all times for the industry. It was one of the first 3D platform games.

As Long time Nintendo fan Ben Hauser said Mario was iconic because he had followers world-wide, related to all ages and both

genders, and managed to combine it all with the content of the Super Mario Bros series.

“I think the main reason that Mario is so iconic is because he has universal appeal,” Mr Hauser said.

“He is not aimed children or adults, males or females, but everyone.

“This, combined with the game’s brilliant design of the Super Mario series, has cemented Mario into video game history.”

Mr Hauser said provided Nintendo did all of this and continued to make fresh and innovative games, Mario would retain his popularity.

“It’s most likely that the games will retain their quality and Mario will still be popular for years to come.”

Social networks the new addictionJARROD BOyD

FACEBOOK, the most popular social networking site in the world, has more than 500 million users, prompting research into its success – leading some to claim that using the site is actually addictive.

Facebook was launched in February 2004 and is used by about one-quarter of the world’s two billion internet users.

With so many Facebook users, it is not surprising that there is concern about the ‘overuse’ of Facebook.

One website even diagnoses the prob-lem as “FAD” or Facebook Addiction Disorder, while another site provides a step-by-step guide to beating Facebook addiction and another offers a ‘FAD helpline’.

Griffith University student Kathleen Andrews, 21, says her use of Facebook occasionally borders on the ridiculous.

“I constantly have conversations over Facebook with my housemate who lives literally three metres away,” Ms Andrews says.

Facebook has become such a signifi-cant part of social practice that Stanford University in California even offers a course called “The Psychology of Facebook”, which helps participants become experts on the psychology behind Facebook use, as it relates to motivation and persuasion.

According to course convenor Dr BJ Fogg’s course description, the main focus of the course is Facebook’s per-suasion psychology.

“We examine Facebook as a system that can foster attitude and behaviour change,” the course description says.

“This generally has two facets; firstly, Facebook, Inc. has persuasive goals.

“For example, Facebook seeks to per-suade users to upload profile pictures.

“Secondly, the users themselves have persuasive goals.

“For example, when a person uploads a profile picture, what persuasive goals drive the photo selected?”

The course looks at topics such as the psychology of status updates, profile pictures, commenting, and even poking.

With this focus on ‘virtual’ social-ising, many are fearful that ordinary social lives will be compromised.

Dr Brock Bastian from the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology believes that the need for this online interaction stems from a narcissistic need for acceptance.

“It’s certainly a lot easier to interact with people online, there are fewer quali-ties you have to deal with,” Dr Bastian says.

“Facebook allows the user to see how many friends they have, who comments on what, how many photos they are tagged in, and it all becomes a bit of a competition,” he says.

But the idea that it can be addictive still sounds questionable to many.

“But what about it is addictive, you know?” Dr Bastian says.

“It’s like with alcohol – people are addicted to feeling drunk.

“I believe the addictive property lies with the ability to build and control a profile.

“People could get addicted to build-ing up this profile, seeing how many friends they can get, etc.

“In this sense it is very similar to Dungeons and Dragons or Second Life; it is a persona you can create into what-ever you want.

“Sure, it’s your picture, but beyond that you can project whatever you like.”

It is interesting to note that when “Second Life addiction” is typed into Google, about 6.7 million hits are displayed.

Browse through a few selected stories

and it becomes clear that the game is causing problems for some.

People are playing so much they lose their real life friends due to little interac-tion with them.

One Second Life player reports on the internet that the game took over her world and became more important to her than her ‘first life’– “I had landed myself in trouble in my real life and it was a nice escape into a world where no one knew my real life issues... I have

beautiful homes in my inventory, I have ani-mals in my inventory, you name it, Second Life has it”.

Others report that they have missed work to play the game, and in one bizarre circum-stance it has led to divorce when a woman ‘found’ her husband’s on-screen avatar hav-ing sex with another

woman’s on-screen avatar.Dutch television program Rondom 10

staged a debate to discuss the potential negative consequences of online gam-ing, with Second Life, World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons the main culprits.

So, if a game has the ability to ruin lives and relationships, what’s stopping Facebook from doing the same thing?

“Games, and indeed even Facebook, just like alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, can have very big implications and risks for groups of people that are sensitive to the risk of addiction,” Dr Bastian says.

“Most people are smart enough to not let it happen to them and have it affect their real life, in the sense that others suffer (in terms of personal relation-ships),” he says.

“It is definitely possible though. “I think we can add a new one to the

list when it comes to online addiction. “Now we have gambling, pornogra-

phy, gaming, and social networking.”

Niche games dominate Australian development

Mario still favourite with gamers

“I think the main reason that mario is so iconic is because he has universal appeal...it’s most likely that the games will retain their quality and mario will still be popular for years to come.”

Mario reflects...2010 marks 25 years of running and jumping. Photo: ian Hughes

“...I believe the addictive property lies with the ability to build and control a profile...it is a persona you can create into whatever you want”

JARROD BOyD

WITH obesity in Australia at an all time high, public weight loss competitions are proving to be an unexpected weapon in the battle to regain control and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Griffith University student Heath Noon recently completed the BodyBlitz Body Transformation Challenge losing a staggering 23kg in just 12 weeks and becoming the monthly winner of the Australia-wide competition.

The BodyBlitz 12-Week Challenge first started in 2003 and is a competition run by Women’s Health & Fitness and Australian Ironman magazines.

The challenge is designed to help contestants lose weight and enjoy the benefits of a healthy life, and relies on the individual to put in the effort required to lose the weight.

The competition is unusual in that no diet or exercise programs are provided and the only rule is that contestants must not use performance-enhancing substances or diet pills.

Mr Noon said taking part in the challenge was not easy.

“Performing those 5am cardio sessions and basically eliminating any social life I previously had was super hard,” he said.

“However, I surrounded myself with people who believed in my goals.”

Mr Noon said the hardest part was trying not to buckle under peer pressure to go drinking while he was taking the challenge.

“I could [previously] never stick to a decent weight loss or exercise program,” he said.

“I’m pretty much an all-or-nothing kind of guy, and although I’d start off with awesome intentions, I’d either drink or binge on food and then give up.”

Nutritionist and personal trainer Sam Walker said that although it was a phenomenal effort by Mr Noon to win the challenge, it was not healthy to lose so much weight so quickly. “Although I applaud the effort Heath has gone to and the weight he has lost, it is more of a famine situation than a healthy weight control; and that actually makes it easier to put the weight back on as famine situations increase fat sensitive lipase (the enzyme responsible

for fat entering lipocytes),”Mr Walker said.

“And without adequate follow-up he will be right back where he started.

“I see the benefits in such challenges to promote a healthy weight and the 12-week challenge strategy is very popular in the contemporary media and the community responds well,” he said.

“The challenges provide great motivation and awareness, but many drop out because they set their goals too high; and can promote dangerous behaviour that is brought out in a competition setting, including skipping meals and in extreme cases anorexia and bulimia. “Accurate guidance must be given before during and after these challenges otherwise they may pose serious health risks to these clients,” he said.

Mr Noon said he was motivated to enter the competition after recognising the amount of weight he gained when his mother was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Lymphedema, which attacks the immune system and causes body parts to swell up.

During the summer holidays following his mother’s diagnosis, Mr Noon turned to food to deal with the situation.

“I had no motivation and slept up to 16 hours a day,” he said.

“I suffered a lot of anxiety and depression and generally felt terrible when I looked in the mirror.”

“This weight gain was primarily a result of the stress of procrastinating and leaving everything to the last minute.

“I looked to food for comfort, to self-medicate.”

Mr Noon said he realised he needed to change if he was ever to pick up the pieces of his stagnating life.

So he entered the BodyBlitz Challenge and hasn’t looked back.

Mr Noon said the fact that he lived on a university campus, surrounded by friends who loved nothing more than to pressure him back into an unhealthy lifestyle, made the transformation even harder.

“I really think that in life, moderation is the key and it’s not the end of the world if you have a few beers or a few slices of pizza,” Mr Noon said.

“You just get back into it the next day.”

“What I’ve learnt is that life is a marathon and that you will have your good and bad days.

“I guess it’s how you deal with the bad times that make you into the person you are.”

“Unfortunately, life is full of negative people and as soon as you eliminate these people from your life, half the battle is done.”

Mr Noon said in the future he wished to help his mother get back into shape and would like to start his own personal training business.

“Although I wish to be a lawyer, I would love nothing more than to start a personal training studio on the side with my best mates,” he said.

“I do, however, realise that I still have a lot of work to go in transforming my body to the best it can be, but I view that as a positive challenge and not a negative thing.”

Student transformed by Body Blitz challenge

Biggest Loser inspiring a healthy countryJORDAN PhILP

AUSTRALIA is currently one of the most obese countries in the world despite efforts to halt the growing health crisis.

The obesity problem is leading to a growing list of medical disorders that are not only life-threatening, but are placing a massive burden on Australia’s healthcare systems.

But one positive reaction to this increasing health issue has been a national trend to promote weight loss and healthy living, led by reality televi-sion programs such as The Biggest Loser and gym franchises like Fitness First.

The program helps overweight con-testants drop massive amounts of weight over a three-month period through a reduced-calorie diet and intense training regime.

The ongoing appeal of the program for overweight viewers is that some of successful contestants who lose weight during the course of the show, also man-age to keep it off, and go on to become high-profile personal trainers and life-style coaches.

The Biggest Loser 2009 runner-up Sharif Deen is one such “success story”.

Deen now works as a full-time per-sonal trainer and coach.

He said the program let the public know it was possible to change to a healthy lifestyle without relapsing to your old habits.

“I used to work in a call centre, eat-ing chocolate and junk food on a daily basis, but now I’m a personal trainer and coach,” he said.

“My life goals are now to help people achieve their goals.”

Mr Deen said while some former The Biggest Loser contestants were known to have relapsed into unhealthy living after filming of the show finished, he was determined to make sure he wasn’t one of them.

“It’s soul destroying for audiences to see former contestants relapse after they have invested so much trust and emo-tional time into you, and then see you go back to that lifestyle,” he said.

“I didn’t want to be that contestant, I wasn’t going to allow myself to be that person.”

Meaghan Trattles, another competi-tor in the 2009 The Biggest Loser series said she agreed the show had an amaz-ing influence on her lifestyle and had

given many contestants and viewers a new lease on life.

Ms Trattles, who is now a spokes-person for gym equipment franchise Fitness World, as well as for women’s sports clothing line, Lorna Jane, said of

the show: “It has completely and utterly changed my life.”

“Not even just the way I live, but the way I act and treat the world, definitely for the better,” Ms Trattles said.

Mr Deen said in spite of, or per-haps because of, Australia’s rapid rise the global obesity scales in the last decade, the national fitness industry was booming.

“The fitness industry is making a hell of a lot of money out of the obesity problem,” he said.

But according to Fitness First Personal Trainer, Tye Tirrell, gym fran-chises, together with The Biggest Loser, are already making an impact on obesity in Australia.

Mr Tirrell said Fitness First’s mem-bership number had grown as a result of their association with The Biggest Loser.

“We’ve had a fifty percent increase in our membership since the show aired and we’ve just advertised a Biggest Loser special for our members with the winner taking home $10,000,” he said.

But big companies like Fitness First are not the only ones working to pro-mote a healthier lifestyle to Australians.

Individuals like Meaghan Trattles are also playing their part.

Since her participation in the show Ms Trattles vowed to dedicate her life to promoting healthy living and proper education, but warned the issue of obe-sity in Australia had to be targeted in the right way or the efforts could fail.

“I’m going to be dedicating my whole life to stopping this problem, it’s about knowledge and correct marketing

campaigns for the right way to lose the weight and keep the weight off,” she said.

“There are way too many campaigns being promoted that simply don’t work.”

Mr Deen said part of the solution was educating Australians to prevent devel-oping poor eating habits.

“I don’t think the fitness industry alone can change it, education has the ability to create a change,” he said.

“The problem is personal trainers are unable to relate to obese people, with the school of thought that obese people are lazy but the issues go deeper than that, there’s a gap between knowing they need to do it and knowing what to do.”

The Biggest Loser series has been criticised by some health professionals for setting contestants up for failure and relapse back into an unhealthy lifestyle.

But Mr Deen said the show gave con-testants a sufficient amount of education and preparation to change their ways.

“The show definitely prepares its con-testants, but it’s about responsibility for your own weight,” he said.

“We’re all given the same opportuni-ties, and it’s just a matter of whether you leave the house with the right attitude.”

Transformed... Heath Noon’s self-portraits, taken to demonstrate his weight loss. Before Body Blitz (left) and after the 12-week challenge. Photo: Heath Noon

“It has completely and utterly changed my life...Not even just the way I live, but the way I act and treat the world, definitely for the better.”

FOR PAT Farmer, each downhill step along the snowy, mountainous path in Vail, Colorado, felt like an icepick being hammered into his left shin.

Farmer suffered a stress fracture to his shin that fired a sharp pain which felt like it was going straight to the bone.

Meanwhile, his back, his arms and his right leg began to ache as they picked up the slack.

Farmer was competing in the 1995 Trans-America Foot Race, and with his efforts so clearly causing him great pain, the question must be asked: what would drive a landscaper and father of two from NSW to run 1740 kilometres in 22 days?

As Farmer’s injuries took their toll and he tumbled from first to last place in the race, perhaps the more appropriate question is: what would motivate him to continue running for the next 3000 kilo-metres to complete the race?

If sport is meant to test the limits of human ability, then ultra marathons like the Trans-America Foot Race, which covers 4714 kilometres of road and rocky paths between Huntington Beach, California, and New York City, could be considered a form of self-inflicted torture.

Ultra marathon running is extreme in nearly every way imaginable, and because of the mind-boggling distances, the rest of us are left in their wake won-dering how their achievements are even possible.

Generally defined as any distance over 50 kilometres, with most races consider-ably longer, the ultra marathon has long been regarded as a sport undertaken by only the crazy and the fanatical.

But as recognition for the sport grows, these so-called ‘lunatics’ are shown for what they really are: dedicated athletes who do not set goals based on standardly perceived limits.

As ultra runners undertake feats that may make you cringe, they set new benchmarks of human endurance, which is why understanding them can be an incredible motivator, whether you’re a runner or not.

Farmer, 48, is now retired from the elite ultra scene which he dominated during the 1990s, but he still maintains his regular training regime, starting most days at 5am with a 20-kilometre run.

He’s a man who immediately makes you feel that if you tell him he can’t do something, he’ll do it twice just to prove you wrong.

A quick look at the list of his run-ning achievements is testament to this. Farmer has run the Trans-American Foot Race twice, the Simpson Desert twice, from the northern-most point of Australia to the southern-most point, and he’s run the circumference of Australia.

While most of us would be wor-ried about the harshness of the running environment or the seemingly endless hours, Farmer says it’s the mental aspect of ultra running that poses the greatest challenge.

“It comes from within yourself,” he says.

“Your body is crying out: ‘Slow down, stop.’

“But I’ve always found that your body will do anything your mind wills it to do, and when you feel like you can’t go on any further and you take one more step, you realise that you can and it gives you the strength to take the next step.”

Therein lies the great power unleashed by the ultra marathon.

Running such immense distances requires a keenly developed mental strength which arguably outweighs that needed in any other sport.

According to Farmer, finding that inner strength comes down largely to

one thing: developing a frightening familiarity with pain.

He says ultra marathon races have a huge impact on the body, resulting in conditions such as bruised kidneys, stress fractures, swollen legs, split lips, blisters, severe dehydration, and even ears made raw and bloodied by sunburn which, in Farmer’s case was due not to inadequate sun protection, but rather to the force of the sun in the Simpson Desert.

Farmer reinforces this point by explaining how the Channel Nine news crew following his progress were able to cook eggs on the bonnet of their 4WD.

“You’re just exposed to the conditions for such long periods of time, and you’re pushed to such a limit where your body

is incredibly stressed and it’s easy for it to tip over the edge and break down, and that’s exactly what happens.

“Naturally, that hurts, and naturally, it’s a huge achievement to overcome it, and that’s where your inner strength is drawn from.”

Brisbane Sports psychologist Allira Rogers has an understandable awe for achievements of ultra marathon runners.

She groans in disbelief as she tries to understand how these elite runners are able to continue to push to such incred-ible lengths.

Rogers is familiar with the drive, per-fection and competitiveness of athletes, something which, she says, ultra runners exceed.

According to Rogers, the difference s in how different types of athletes associ-ate and dissociate with pain.

She says running hundreds or thou-sands of kilometres fine-tunes an ath-lete’s ability to block out pain, inuring it to stress and injury.

But, she says ultra runners also have the ability to associate with pain, gaining

an in-depth understanding of their own body, what it can take, and how pain can be used to keep them on track with where they are in the race.

According to Rogers, ultra runners differ from other athletes because they have accepted pain as inevitable and a normal part of what they do, and they use it to their advantage.

For these athletes, the mental compo-nent almost takes precedence over the physical.

“They are different in terms of their level of control, and maintaining that control, over their body and their mind, which is what sets them apart, I think,” she says.

“It’s that focus which is different, not just focusing on what the task is, but

focusing in on what their body is doing, and they are definitely more tuned in to that, it’s a characteristic of these athletes.”

Farmer agrees and explains this drive in his own straightforward way.

“The difference ultra runners have with the rest of society is that they don’t accept excuses.

“You know, you’re sick, you’re injured, it’s cold, it’s hailing, it’s blister-ing heat, so what? You just do it.”

It’s this philosophy that helped Farmer gain confidence in his abilities, knowing he could persevere and succeed simply by working harder than anyone else. If his competitors weren’t up at 5am train-ing each morning, he knew he could beat them. Simple.

The ultra marathon made its first real appearance in the Australian main-stream media in 1983 after 61-year-old Cliff Young astonished the nation in the 1000km Sydney to Melbourne Foot Race.

During the race Young, who is Farmer’s hero, defeated a field of elite

ultra marathon runners while wearing a pair of galoshes and a ‘give it a go’ attitude.

It was a seemingly impossible achievement, due in part to the fact that Young didn’t realise that at night time the expected practice was to rest, so he simply kept on running.

Yet despite the incredible nature of the sport and the fact that it is one of the toughest sports in the world, ultra marathon running remains in relative obscurity.

Perhaps some of the ongoing obscu-rity and limited appeal of the sport can be attributed to the anti-social hours required, both for training and for com-peting in the races.

Farmer notes that training runs would often take on a sour note for him, when the unusual sight of a man running along the road at 3am prompted teenagers to throw beer bottles out of their car win-dow at him.

The appeal can be even harder to understand given the sport is certainly no magnet for sponsorship or prize money.

While Farmer explains that for some races the first prize was a paltry $150, he shrugs off this apparent deterrent tbe-cause it’s not about the money.

Farmer recalls one competitor by the name of Joe Record, who was so poor that after scraping the money together to get to the starting line he would sleep on a park bench until race day. He says that while most athletes would be horrified at such a prelude to a weeklong race, Joe was somehow able to not only compete, but win.

Farmer says he recalls only too well the pain in Vail, Colorado, in 1995.

It was his second attempt at the Trans-America Foot Race and, after coming second in 1993, he was aiming for noth-ing less than first place.

He remembers pushing the pace from day one, only to prove by day 22 that he was human after all, as his body struggled under the pressure of running almost 80 kilometres per day.

According to Farmer, it was during these low moments in his races that the “devil inside” almost succeeded in persuading him to quit, telling him that people would surely understand.

Almost, but not quite, and he carried on despite the pain in his leg.

Over the next 10 days his leg improved and he moved up in the pack from last place out of 30 runners on day 22, to limp over the George Washington Bridge at the finish line in New York in fourth place.

It wasn’t super-human powers that got him through the Race, but the simple knowledge that he was strong enough to finish and that he had put in the work that made him ready for it.

Rogers says it is likely to be years before ultra marathon running starts gaining serious public recognition.

Rogers talks with awe about the accomplishments of another ultra run-ner, Dean Karnazes, it becomes clear that these determined athletes have an amazing power to motivate others.

“Ultra runners are the ones who show us you can do anything, and you are capable of doing anything and your mind and body can be pushed to its lim-its,” she says.

“That’s very much something I respect.”

Although running a thousand kilome-tres doesn’t appeal to everyone, Rogers says that doesn’t mean you can’t follow in their footsteps.

She says just hearing about the achievements of ultra marathon runners can help people gain appreciation for what they are capable of and the power the mind has over the body.

Farmer is adamant he hasn’t raced his last ultra marathon and encourages oth-ers – not to pursue a career in ultra run-ning – but to pursue anything they “have a passion for”.

He laughs as he recites his mantra, which he says he is sure will be put on his tombstone: “There is no force on this earth greater than your own personal will.”

Running out of his mindCalled ‘crazy’ by some and ‘fanatical’ by others, what is it that drives people to take on the torturous

physical challenges of ultra marathon running? Andrew Cramb investigates.

“you’re sick, you’re injured, it’s cold, it’s hailing, it’s blistering heat, so what? you just do it.”

Driven...Despite retiring from official ultra marathons, Farmer says he is not finished and is currently training for a run across the Americas covering 21,000km. Photo: AAP

Amy KETTERTHE year was 2000, and the Australian public watched in antici-pation as Cathy Freeman appeared on the TV screens.

In just 400 metres Australia would have yet another Gold medal for the Olympic tally.

Ten-year-old Elyza Codner watched in awe, as her idol lapped the track wrapped in the Australian and the Aboriginal flags.

From that young age Elyza Codner repeated her Olympic dream to her parents, who were skeptical at the time.

Ten years on and Codner is work-ing towards her dream.

Codner represented Australia at the World Triathlon Championships in Hungary this year.

Wearing green and gold, the 19-year-old triathlete competed in the 20 to 24 age group and placed 19th.

She was the first Australian to cross the line and said it was an amazing feeling.

“To be wearing my country’s col-ours and to cross the finish line know-ing I had pushed myself to the limit

was an indescribable feeling,” Codner says.

Codner had lived for that day, giv-ing up most of her social life and many other luxuries.

“Everything I do, I make sure it is not going to affect my game, from the food I put in my mouth to the amount of exercise I commit to, everything is monitored,” she says.

Codner’s dedication led to surpris-ing success, given she only tried tria-thlons 18 months ago at the recom-mendation of a friend.

She has always been enthusiastic about sport, with running and touch football consistent activities in her life.

“I changed between so many sports when I was younger, though I was always a runner and played touch football,” she says.

As soon as I took to the bike and the ocean, I was convinced triathlons were for me.

Traveling to Sydney and Melbourne earlier this year, Codner raced in the qualifiers and received an astounding 15th place over all.

Besides the fact that she pushed her body to extremes, Codner also had to endure excruciating pain when a

group of jellyfish stung her midway in a race.

But she soldiered on and surprised herself with seventh place.

Through her extensive train-ing, Codner has also met many new friends, including her second great inspiration.

“My coach Leanne Southwell has been my main inspiration,” Codner says.

“She is 42-years-old with four kids and still gets out and trains with us every morning.

“She raced at the Hawaiian Iron Man Championships last year and placed 5th over all.”

Although Codner and her fellow team mates are happy with their achievements, they are still disap-pointed by the coverage triathlons receive in the media.

She puts it down to not a lot of peo-ple being familiar with the sport unless they personally know a triathlete.

“The only way people usually know about triathlons is if they are involved in the sport or live on the coast where these events take place,” Codner says.

“Other than that there is not a lot of opportunity.”

Goldman carries on tradition

Determined...Codner places 19th in her age-group at the World triathlon Champion-ship in Budapest, Hungry in September. Photo: Leanne Codner

Triathlete fulfilling childhood dream

ANDREW CRAmB

GRIFFITH University has a fine tradi-tion fostering elite athletes, and swim-mer Katie Goldman is no exception.

At 18-years-old, Katie Goldman is preparing for her first Olympic appear-ance in 2012 and has already competed internationally at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The swimmer, who is also study-ing interior design at Griffith, said she stunned even herself at the Australian Championships in March when she fin-ished two hundredths of a second out-side the 800 metre freestyle Australian record, beating her personal best by 11 seconds.

“This year has been my best year, but coming so close to the Australian record was probably the most exciting thing,” Ms Goldman said.

Goldman said balancing her univer-sity studies with 30 hours of training each week required organisation and focus.

“Last year was quite hectic having grade 12 and swimming.

“This year with uni, the sports college has been really good and so last semes-ter I was only doing part time,” she said.

Griffith Sports College Manager Michael Jeh said Goldman was friendly and dedicated and one of a number of talented elite athletes at the college.

“It’s the whole mission of the Sports College that people like Katie can study

and compete,” Mr Jeh said.“We have a lot of athletes here com-

peting internationally.”The college is a central coordination

point for the integration of sport and education and aims to provide means for flexible study for elite athletes.

Jeh said he liked to joke that if Griffith Sports College were a country, it would have come fourth in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and 14th at the Olympics in Beijing.

Goldman took her second semester off to train for the Commonwealth Games, where she competed in the 400 and 800 metre freestyle events, facing 800 meter world record holder Rebecca Adlington of the United Kingdom.

“It was an amazing experience, it was truly an honour to be part of the Australian team,” she said.

Goldman’s best result from the games was fourth in the 400 metre freestyle finals.

“I didn’t have the games I wanted but it was a great experience,” Ms Goldman said.

“Competitions like this pave the way for the London Olympics in 2012.”

Goldman participated in a variety of sports as a child but excelled at swim-ming, and at age 13 the sport became her focus.

She is now part of the Miami Swimming Squad on the Gold Coast.

“I’ve got a really great squad, I train under Dennis Cottrell.

“It’s good that you’re not just going

there by yourself, you’ve always got someone there pushing you along.”

Although Goldman now competes at an international level, she said swim-ming for her was still about having fun.

“You’ve got to work really hard towards your goal,” she said.

“You know nothing comes easy but

also having fun with it and being a good sport, that’s really important.

“As long as you enjoy what you do, you’re going to do well at it.”

For now, Goldman said her focus is firmly on her sports career.

She said she looked forward to the direction it was heading, but was glad

she would have a career in interior design to fall back on.

“I mean, I’m not going to be a swim-mer forever, but at this point in time I’m definitely focused on swimming,” she said.

“It’s going quite well for me and I love it.”

So close... goldman places fourth in the 400 metre freestyle at the Commonwealth games in Delhi. Photo: AAP

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JARROD BOyD

AN INCREASING number of female referees are being accepted into football codes that were once solely male domains.

In February this year, Amy Fearn became the first female to referee an English Championship football match, while in July Maria Rebello became the first female to officiate the Santosh Trophy in India’s National Football League.

In Australia, rugby union seems to be at the forefront when it comes to the use of female match officials.

Rugby union referee Sarah Corrigan became the first Australian female ever to officiate the Women’s Rugby World Cup Final in September, and attendance levels in Queensland refereeing programs are steadily on the rise.

Queensland Rugby Referees Association (QRRA) Executive Officer Paul Heath said he believed that while numbers were increasing, there was still a long way to go for the female referees.

“We have about 12 out of 260 referees that are female and about half of those

are juniors that have just come through in the last year or so,” Mr Heath said.

“Half the problem with not having as many female referees as we would like is they don’t believe there is enough opportunity for them, but with Sarah Corrigan refereeing the Women’s Rugby World Cup final this year, they are starting to see they have ample opportunity to make it big and be successful,” he said.

Townsville and District Rugby Union Referee, Chyna Howlett, knows what it takes to find your feet as a female referee.

“I get respected in Townsville now that I have proved myself,” Ms Howlett said.

“I think a lot of teams when I walk up to chat with the team and check boots before the game think it is some sort of joke due to both my five foot stature and also the fact that I am female, but on the field I quickly show them who is boss,” she said.

“My family is big into rugby so I have grown up with it.

“I started running the line with my dad

when I was about 12 and then refereeing when I was about 14, so I know what it takes.

“Sometimes it’s hard, but you can’t let the men intimidate you,” she said.

Mr Heath said there was no discrimination when it came to the referee scene.

“We treat all referees and budding referees exactly the same, we don’t care what sex or gender they are,” he said.

“I am fully aware that women have the exact same ability to successfully ref as men do, and about 98 per cent of the players show them the same respect.

“It is only a matter of time before female referees are just taken as normal.”

Ms Howlett said with people like Sarah Corrigan leading the way, there was definitely a future in being a female referee.

“Sarah Corrigan is one of the females I aspire to be like,” she said.

“It was so amazing that she got that final!

“I definitely want to be in her position one day.

“It just shows that females can do it; we just have to work hard at it just like anything,” she said.

Ms Howlett said the most important thing for budding female referees was to make sure that you were enjoying yourself.

“Don’t let the men intimidate you, if you enjoy it then go for it,” she said.

“Work hard, but make sure you are always having fun.”

For more information on becoming a rugby union referee, call Paul Heath on 0409 192 396.

Chyna howlett...Officiating a Townsville rugby union game. Photo: Sally Mann

JORDAN PhILP

DESPITE being a relative newcomer in the Australian fight scene, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, is rapidly gaining interest and shows no signs of slowing down.

Combining the techniques of boxing, kickboxing, ju-jitsu, judo, karate and wrestling MMA is a full contact combat sport, also known as Extreme Fighting, No Holds Barred and Vale Tudo. It usually takes place within a padded cage to prevent the fighters from falling outside the ring and hurting both themselves and the spectators.

The sport has been likened to the Ancient Greek fighting sport Pankration – meaning ‘all power’ or ‘all strength’ – which combined the disciplines of boxing and wrestling.

Whatever its origins, Australian fans have enthusiastically grabbed hold of the sport with both hands and claimed it as their own, as the sport’s largest organisations such as Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bring more and more bouts for Australian audiences to witness live on their home soil.

Local MMA events are being held at venues around the country on a weekly basis, however it has only been in the last year that major fighting organisations like the UFC from the United States have responded t Australia’s enthusiasm for the sport and begun holding large-scale multi-million dollar events, bringing fighters from all corners of the globe to compete in front of Australian crowds.

Australian MMA fighter Chris Haseman says fighting organisations like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have helped to create massive interest in the sport.

Haseman, who is one of Australia’s current UFC champions, says he believes the sport is on the verge of a gigantic boom in Australia.

“Over the past 10 years, it’s been slowly growing; UFC is now shown on free to air television, which makes it a lot more accessible to the masses,” Haseman says.

Matt Cooper, who is director of Brisbane’s MMA organisation, Rize Events, agrees.

He says the local response to the six arena events he has held in Brisbane so

far has been amazing.“We’ve had all of the locally based,

long-term MMA people and teams involved in the show, and in addition to existing fans of the sport from those gyms, a whole range of people from outside of any training background in martial arts has started taking an interest,” Cooper says.

“Australians are clearly becoming increasingly interested in MMA and also much more knowledgeable, it’s been great to see the change over the years.”

Cooper says despite Australia’s relatively small population, the country

has produced some of the world’s best MMA fighters to date.

“Even without many people realising it, Australians have a long and proud history in MMA,” he says.

“People like Chris Haseman, Elvis Sinosic and Larry Papadopoulos have been fighting at a high level in Japan and elsewhere internationally since the mid-1990s.

“We’re only a relatively small country, but like many sports we’ve always produced greater athletes than we should proportionally in ‘fight sports’.

“With the sport growing fast here, I think you’ll see a whole host of Australians competing in MMA around the world in the next few years.”

Promoter and head of New South Wales MMA organisation Cage Fight Championship, Luke Peccutti says combat sport is not only entertaining, but promotes healthy living and a disciplined lifestyle.

“A lot of people who start training in MMA started out just to try something different because it involves a lot of Olympic style sports like boxing, wrestling and judo,” he says.

Peccutti, who has held more than 3000 MMA events through CFC, says he has seen MMA become a positive influence in children’s lives.

“I’ve seen kids come in off the street and focus their energy on training rather than being out there getting in trouble,” he says.

“Once they start doing competitions, they are evolving, getting better and really pushing themselves to accomplish their goals.”

The Ultimate Fighting Championship can now be seen at selected times on digital sports television channel, One.

Female football refs gain respect on the field

UfC mixed martial arts competition...Champions Chris Haseman (right) and Hale vassa (left). Photo: Courtesy Red Dragon Marital Arts and Fitness

Rising crowds for new martial arts

mIChAEL SPRING

THE PHRASE ‘triple-threat’ is usually bestowed upon someone who is talented in the arts of music, dance, and acting. What, then, would you call someone who represents Australia in cricket and soccer, hosts a television show, and has time to study politics and economics at university? You would call that person Ellyse Perry.

The 19-year-old golden girl of women’s sport is a ray of sunshine, a precocious talent who has helped herself to a double-serving of every sport loving child’s dream.

The gifted teen made her international debut in both soccer and cricket at the age of 16. The youngest ever Australian cricket international and the first to represent the country in both sports.

But, it appears playing both sports at such a high level will one day be untenable, and Ms Perry is coy about which sport she will commit to.

“I obviously love playing both very much,” Perry says.

“I’d like to be able to continue to do that for as long as possible.”

There is no tug-of-war over her outstanding talents though says Perry’s coach, Richard McInnes from the Australian Institue of Sport.

“We’d love to have Ellyse 100 per cent of the time, and that would mean soccer wouldn’t have her any of the time,” Mr McInnes says.

“Vice versa – they’d probably love to have her 100 per cent of the time and we’d miss out all together.

“Me and (Tom) Sermanni, the Matilda’s coach, if we’ve got her 80 per cent of the time each then, for our programs, then I think we’re both pretty happy.”

Ms Perry, like many teenagers, lives in the moment, and prefers to look ahead to upcoming events like the Women’s Soccer World Cup in Germany, rather than dwell on big decisions.

“The competition for a spot in that squad is incredibly high,” she says.

“I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t love to be involved but that rests a lot on my performances leading up to that and to make the team is another question.”

Perry has 11 caps for the Matildas

(soccer), but missed the team’s historic win at the Asian Cup in May this year. It would have been a bitter disappointment for Perry, if not for the fact she was in the West Indies winning the Twenty20 World Cup for Australia.

McInnes is fully aware of Ms Perry’s dilemma and expects her to be unavail-able for an upcoming Four Nations tour.

“That probably doesn’t match up to a soccer world cup and that’s her decision, and we’ll respect whatever decision she

makes,” he says.Perry is yet to make a decision.“I think I’ll certainly make the

decision then and there, not only what is good for me, but also the team as well,” she says.

In between deciding and training for events, Perry hosts Channel Ten’s ‘Football Stars of Tomorrow’ which focuses on soccer at grassroots level.

Ms Perry, though, has made the wise decision to earn a degree in politics and

economics, something she says helps her put sport in its place.

“It’s great to have university; it’s probably one of those things that keeps the balance,” Ms Perry says.

“I like to be able to take my books away when we’re on tour and have somewhere to escape to and read about…it gives me a future outside of sports as well.”

For now, though, her future is very much inside sport.

With talent, educated speech, looks, and exposure, Ms Perry has become an important sports figure, particularly in women’s sport.

Mr McInnes believes there are other women who have the talent to play two sports at the highest level, but who lack the drive that Perry has.

“We’ve got some young girls coming through the system now that are either very good hockey players, netball players, who are also representing Australia at cricket at youth and senior levels.”

Besides dedication and desire, Ms Perry has a clear advantage playing two sports allowing her to keep fit and transfer skills across codes.

This was evident in the Twenty20 final, when Ms Perry was called to bowl the last ball of the game, with New Zealand needing a six to snatch victory.

“I had to hesitantly bowl the last ball to her and she whacked it pretty hard, but I just managed to stick a foot out because she hit it straight back at me on my big clumsy boot, and it stopped so we won the world cup which was great,” he says.

Ms Perry is hoping her success will inspire young girls to play sports and bring publicity to women’s sport.

“Considering I played two sports that were typically male dominated, it would be nice to see more girls playing it and feel like they’re not intimidated by the men, or not allowed to play because it’s more of a boy’s sport or whatever else,” she said.

Few could argue with Perry’s reasons for playing sport in an age of mercenaries, over-hyped divas and perennial “bad boys”.

It’s all about the game itself.“That’s what sports has always been

for me – purely for enjoyment,” she says.

Watching Ellyse Perry perfect her craft brings joy to many people.

Just like an actor who can sing and dance – a ‘triple-threat’. A term she will undoubtedly redefine.

Australian pride...ellyse Perry (right) enjoying a moment with a fellow teammate. Photo: Michael Spring

COURTNEy LAIDLER

CRICKET has long been a national favourite when it comes to sport, but according to Cricket Australia more needs to be done to keep Australians interested in the game.

Queensland Cricket’s Game Development Manager, Mark McLatchey, said current cricket marketing campaigns and programs are directed towards young children and recent immigrants, two popu-lation groups identified by Cricket Australia as having the least interest in the sport.

“We’re really keen to try and get as many people involved in our game as we can,” Mr McLatchey said.

In order to get children more involved in the sport, Cricket Australia, in partnership with Milo, has launched the In2Cricket pro-gram, which aims to teach younger children how to play cricket.

The program is now being offered at state schools and cricket clubs throughout the country for children aged five to ten.

The half-hour clinics teach kids basic skills such as batting, bowling and fielding.

The sessions conclude with a game

to get the children moving. Carina Cricket Club’s Assistant

Program Coordinator for the In2Cricket program, Julie Brook, said the program was popular amongst school-aged children and that enrolment numbers at the Carina Club had reached an all time high.

“We think the [In2Cricket] pro-gram is bringing more kids into our junior ranks as well,” Ms Brook said.

Queensland Cricket also wants to attract more fans with Indigenous and multicultural backgrounds to the sport.

“There’s more people immigrat-ing to Australia [and] we’re looking to provide the exposure [to the game of cricket] as an option for them to become part of Australia,” Mr McLatchey said.

According to Queensland Cricket, previous marketing campaigns resulted in a national 20 per cent increase in game participation over the past seven years.

What a catch: the life of ellyse Perry

Kids get in2CricketTIm PARfITT

REGISTRATIONS at local soccer clubs have risen considerably since the 2006 World Cup tournament, but the 2010 World Cup hasn’t changed the trend according to the general manager of Football Brisbane, Reuben Robertson.

Mr Robertson said the popularity of the World Cup had made soccer into one of the “leading” sports played in Australia.

Football Brisbane is an administrative body that sets rules and organises local soccer clubs throughout Brisbane.

The organisation was set up as part of the implementation of the Crawford Report into governing soccer in Australia.

He said several key companies had helped promote the sport by featuring soccer celebrities in their television advertisements

“Companies such as Sanitarium have started to advertise through soccer in an attempt to increase sales of their prod-ucts and in turn help soccer registra-tions grow throughout Australian soccer clubs,” Mr Robertson said.

One of Sanitarium’s advertisements features Socceroos midfielder, Tim Cahill, and the Socceroos in a fictitious game of soccer where in Tim Cahill kicks a penalty past a wall of opposing players, his success fuelled by him being a “Weet-Bix kid”.

During the World Cup in July–August this year there were further television advertisements depicting the Socceroos in World Cup matches, which stated that Weet-Bix was the official breakfast of the Socceroos.

Sanitarium National Advertising and Media Manager, Pete Davis, has over-seen the soccer-themed television adver-tisements since October 2009.

He said while the advertisements had not increased revenue for the company, Sanitarium would continue to support football in Australia.

“These ads will not run a great deal more now, but we will continue with our support of Tim Cahill, soccer, the Qantas Socceroos and the Hyundai A-League, with various promotions, TV ads and other messages,” Mr Davis said.

“We believe it is our role to help support the development of sport in

Australia and I’m sure our contribution goes a long way to assisting the sport-ing bodies to encourage participation in these sporting codes.

“While the expectation is that we will see an increase flow on in 2011, the simple answer is that we haven’t seen it in 2010.

“This is because our season is not aligned to the World Cup.

“We commence sign-on at the end of January each year and our season commences late March, and therefore we would not expect to see numbers increase until the next season.”

Given that the last World Cup had higher viewing numbers than the world’s largest sporting event, the Olympics, Mr Robertson said viewership for soccer-related advertising was also likely to grow.

“Without advertising you limit your audience,” Mr Davis said.

“In the end, promoting the game can only be good for it.

“We attract new members and we receive a flow on of revenue to assist in development and facilities, which in turn attracts more people to the game.”

television advertisements assist future soccer registrations in Australia

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

Click here for a radio version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

ADRIANNA WEBSTER

THE NEXT FIFA World Cup could yet be ours, if the current interest in soccer training for younger children continues.

In the past twelve months new soccer schools have been opening their doors across Brisbane to teach basic skills to children as young as 18 months old.

One such school is Little Kickers, which opened a franchise in Brisbane in 2009 and already has more than 200 members.

The school caters solely to children aged from 18 months to seven years old.

Director of the Queensland branch of Little Kickers, Karen Tannoch-Bland, said it was great to be able to use soccer to captivate such a young audience and educate them about soccer and healthy living.

“The company evolved to get pre-schools interested in sport because of the obvious growth in childhood obe-sity, and to get kids up and about,” Ms Tannoch-Bland said.

“At the end of the day it’s not about sticking in as many franchises as we can, it’s very much about getting the right people onboard and settling them in, and getting the classes up and run-ning and making sure that the kids are happy.”

Brazilian Soccer Schools (BSS), which opened in Brisbane in March, has a similar approach to learning.

BSS have one million members worldwide and work with children from the ages of three to seven years old.

The school was created based on specific techniques used for the devel-opment of children, from the methods of BSS founder Simon Clifford and Futebol de Salão.

BSS Brisbane coach and owner, Andy Case, said high quality coaching and a supportive environment were key aspects in the learning and development of young soccer players.

“I started the BSS here in Brisbane because I not only felt like something was missing in coaching, but loved what using techniques inspired by Brazil and Futebol de Salão did for the kids,” Mr Case said.

“Brazil has won the World Cup the most times and normally they’re the most attractive team to watch because of their individual skills.

“What Scott Clifford revealed was that at an early age most kids in Brazil play with a very small ball, about a size two football.

“It doesn’t bounce and it’s very heavy; because they keep the ball on the floor, they have to use their feet a lot more [and] that makes their ball skills better.

“We started using those techniques, developed it further, and by beginning to play music when we’re playing soc-cer, it is just good fun.

“If you watch Brazilians play, they have drummers in stands.

“Well, we have a PA system and it’s a bit like aerobic soccer.”

Previously one of the biggest prob-lems facing kids who wanted to play soccer in southeast Queensland was the difficuty in accessing resources, clubs, schools and good coaching close to

home.With companies like Little Kickers

and Brazilian Soccer Schools opening across the southeast, those resources are getting easier to access.

“In Brisbane there is an elite soccer league, the schools have their leagues, and then there’s about half a dozen teams in each of the age groups,” Mr Case said.

“Because you only get about 14 kids per team, you get a lot of these kids who are quite eager to be in these teams.

“People then have this preconception that if you don’t get into these leagues that they’ll never make it to a higher level, which is rubbish.

“If you’re good enough you’ll get there.”

Football Queensland’s Football Operations Manager, Bruce Dinsdale, said the increased interest in soccer within Australia helped to provide development pathways for Queensland talent onto the world stage.

“Currently [we’re] implementing a skills program for young players, which will hopefully increase the technical skills level of young players with the ultimate aim of producing world class players,” Mr Dinsdale said.

Mr Case said it was important to focus on the skills of the individual dur-ing training.

“We do a lot of work on juggling, that’s just kicking with your feet up and down, and we spend a lot of time on teaching kids how to dribble, rather than passing,” Mr Case said.

“We also focus a lot more on the indi-vidual skills rather than the team play.

“We find if someone is really talented, say a 10-year-old whose skills are great and they’re running circles around kids their age, we try to match that skill up to a higher level.

“They can then be playing with 13 year olds and that’s really good for them to develop, and not get bored and frustrated.

“It’s frustrating for me to watch club soccer sometimes when kids have to be divided based on age, because it doesn’t reflect their abilities or help them for

their future,” he said.Mr Case said the soccer school pro-

vided kids with more benefits than just sporting skills.

“At the end of the day, any type of activity like this can only be a positive thing for children when they’re growing up particularly when they come into the classes and all of a sudden they have to deal with other children and different personalities,” Mr Case said.

“There’s a lot more benefits to what we do than just playing soccer.”

LILy ChARLES

THE BRISBANE Broncos have been nominated for two major charity awards this year, but according to one of their star players, their work is all for the kids and not for the recognition.

Following a significant restructure of their charity program in 2009, the Broncos now support seven organisa-tions as charity partners, including the Starlight Children’s Foundation and Mission Australia.

But Broncos’ second-rower, Corey Parker, said they do it for the kids, not the media coverage.

“I don’t do this stuff to get recognition by any stretch of the imagination,” Mr Parker said.

“I’ve seen firsthand the difference sporting identities can make in chil-dren’s lives, and through the time I’ve been at the Broncos I’ve been able to meet people who are involved in organi-sations, and if they need me to lend a hand here or there, I’m happy to do so,” he said

Mr Parker lends a hand as Ambassador to the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Starlight’s Fundraising Campaign Coordinator Claire Cunningham said the charity had developed a special understanding with the NRL star.

“The whole WOW Brisbane Broncos team supports Starlight throughout the year, but we have a special relationship with Corey Parker,” Ms Cunningham said.

“Corey has contributed greatly to Starlight through visits to the Starlight Express Room, attended Starlight Five Chefs Events where he has also donated wonderful prizes to help us raise much-needed funds.”

As well as providing financial sup-port to charities, the Broncos maintain a personal relationship with each of their charity partners, with players acting as ambassadors and making public appear-ances for the charities, as well as weekly

visits to community centres.Community Services Coordinator for

the Brisbane Broncos, Jess West, said team members played a vital role when charities were in need.

“The players are the face of our club and they can make a huge impact when

we go to schools and hospitals,” Ms West said.

“You can see how much they can really lift the spirits of the children… they are significantly brightening the children’s days.

“They’re very important and they do

a great job.”Corey Parker was nominated for the

Telstra Ken Stephen Medal at the 2010 NRL One Community Awards, but lost out to the Canterbury Bulldogs’ Andrew Ryan.

“I know Andrew Ryan does a lot of

stuff in the community and by all means, good on him that he won the award,” Mr Parker said.

“It wasn’t one of those awards that you’re disappointed in losing.”

“Whoever was going to win it did a good job.”

Broncos’ charity all about the kids

Generosity...Broncos rugby league team and Corey Parker (inset) supporting charity partners. Photo: courtesy Brisbane Broncos

youth...Kids train at soccer school. Photo: courtesy Brazilian Soccer School

Soccer school participation on the rise in Brisbane

AmBER DRURy

THE FUTURE of the National Basketball League is looking brighter for the 2010/11 season after verging on failure last season.

The NBL is regaining strength as a popular sporting league in Australia with the addition of a new Sydney team and games broadcast on free to air television.

Back for his second season in the NBL, new Cairns Taipans recruit, Ayinde Ubaka, is happy with the sup-port for the league so far, especially from fans.

“It’s reassuring to see so much sup-port from our local area,” Ubaka said.

“I really think that NBL can cement itself as a popular professional league in Australia, with every game I see the support for NBL grow, it’s very encouraging.”

Last season with the Gold Coast Blaze Ubaka averaged 16.3 points and 4.2 assists, and is bringing this ability to the Taipans.

“It’s a very competitive league and you really need to do your best each game,” Ubaka said.

Ubaka enjoyed his time in Australia with the Gold Coast Blaze and working with the NBL.

This year he returned for the 2010/11 season with the Cairns Taipans, and has put the injury setbacks of last season behind him.

“My first season in Australia was definitely rewarding even though I was injured early this year toward the end of the (2009/10) season,” Ubaka says.

“At first I wasn’t going to return to Australia, but now I’m glad I’ve made the move.”

Ubaka said the games broadcast on free to air television was definitely help-ing the NBL become better than ever.

“Not everyone can make it to games, but that doesn’t mean you can’t support the NBL,” he said.

“Television coverage is paramount to creating (an) even stronger following; it is a very positive step in the right direc-tion for Australian basketball.”

The rebirth of the Sydney Kings and game coverage on Channel Ten and ONE HD are not the only changes this season, new sponsorships also helped the league strengthen its image.

The NBL announced a three year partnership with internet provider iiNet, as well as a two-year partnership with sports betting organisation, Centrebet.

Channel Ten and ONE HD signed on as the official broadcast partner of the NBL with merchandise company,

AND1, now the official apparel supply partner.

World renowned sports equipment manufacturer, Spalding, has joined forces with the NBL as official ball partner.

A press release from the NBL stated under a five year deal, NBL games will be broadcast live on Channel Ten and digital sports station ONE HD nation-ally until the end of the 2014/15 sea-son, starting with minimum two games shown per week for the 2010/11 season.

The NBL also unveiled a new mar-keting campaign, which will be released nationally to increase public support for the sport.

The television commercial, launched at the beginning of the season, focuses on the unique elements and the unpre-dictability of the sport.

Basketball Australia Chief Executive Officer, Larry Sengstock, said the mar-keting campaign highlights the advan-tages of basketball over other popular sports.

“Unlike competing codes, the

National Basketball League’s appeal is that from the moment the game starts until the final siren anything can happen anytime,” Sengstock said.

“There are no nil-all draws, no drawn-out penalty kicks, no waiting for a result.

“It is non-stop action for the whole family.”

On television, or live in the stadium, basketball is promising to be one of the most exciting spectator sports for fans.

“The point of difference for the NBL is linked to a key part of the game structure – the 24-second shot clock,” Sengstock said.

“The constant action and urgency created by the ever reducing shot clock means that players are always on the edge; looking for the next quick pass, the next screen and the unexpected shot.”

Although Queensland already has the most NBL teams, there is talk of a Brisbane-based team joining the league to compliment the Gold Coast Blaze, Townsville Crocodiles and the Cairns Taipans in Queensland.

A meeting was held at Carina Leagues Club in August in the hope that Brisbane could once again have a team of its own.

A passionate group of 50 locals, including former Brisbane Bullets player Leroy Loggins, met with Larry Sengstock and the NBL’s General Manager of Operations, Chuck Harmison, to plan how best to put together a Brisbane team.

“After witnessing the passion, work ethic and shared vision displayed by the group at the meeting, I am feeling optimistic that there could indeed be a Brisbane team in the NBL for season 2011/12,” Sengstock said.

“Ultimately this group will need to rally appropriate financial backing as well as corporate and community sup-port by November if they are to have a chance of obtaining a license in time for the 2011/12 season.”

New teams are only granted licences if they demonstrate a clear plan that ensures long term financial stability.

The Brisbane Bullets were, until 2008, one of only two teams that had survived

since the NBL’s 1979 inception. The Bullets played out of the Brisbane

Entertainment Centre, winning three championships and making it to the grand final play-offs 20 times.

Brisbane and Gold Coast basketball fans can show their support for the NBL by following local team Gold Coast Blaze.

NOEmI EROSTHE FEDERAL government has backed a new sports vision with $195.2 million in extra funding to encourage more Australians to play sport.

The government’s new “whole-of-sport” strategy is set to promote increased participation in sport to improve national health and productiv-ity and to sustain Australia’s success in international sporting arenas.

This new approach is detailed in a report titled “Australian Sport: The Pathway to Success” and focuses on three main areas: increasing the number of Australians participating in sports, strengthening pathways to sport and striving for success both on and off the field.

The report said Australian sport was “at a critical junction” and it was time

for change.Australia has the fifth highest rate of

adult obesity in the developed world.It also cites the 2007–08 National

Health Survey, which found that 68 per cent of adult Australian men and 55 per cent of adult women were overweight or obese.

The survey also found that 17 per cent of Australian children five to 17 years-old, were overweight and nearly 8 per cent were obese.

The extra federal funding for the new sporting plan is part of the $324.8 mil-lion ongoing boost to the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) sports reform.

The ASC will use the additional funds to support National Sporting Organisations (NSO) “to deliver pro-grams that can increase opportunities for people to participate in sport”.

Griffith Sport Operations Manager Ilze Johns said it was unfortunate they were not able to apply for grants from

the government to take advantage of the new sports strategy, as they were a department of Griffith University and not an incorporated body.

“If we had access to government funding we could develop new sporting programs on campus, we could develop new facilities or upgrade our facilities,

so we could offer more to people,” Ms Johns said.

However, the ASC’s Stuart McLennan said all recognised national sporting organisations were invited to apply including Australian university sport.

Ms Johns said as children grew their interest in sports declined.

Even if they had been involved in sports in primary school, not all of them would continue to be involved in sport in high school and even less would con-tinue to play sport in their university years.

The creators of Australia’s new sports vision have identified the same problem and have made one of the main focuses of the sports reform agenda a ‘Sport and Education Strategy’.

This strategy was developed to increase the role and effectiveness of sport in schools, and to increase the

number of children playing sport.The ASC said it would include pro-

grams aimed at “specific targeted popu-lations”, including indigenous groups, people with disabilities, women, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) groups, and rural and regional populations.

While decisions by the Australian Sports Commission Board on how to allocate the funding have not yet been finalised, Mr McLennan said once the decision was made further advice would be provided to each NSO.

nBL on solid ground for 2010/11

National funding boost for youth sport

Pumped and primed...Players from the nine nBL teams shape up for the 2010/11 season. Photo: AAP

“Unlike competing codes, the National Basketball League’s appeal is that from the moment the game starts until the final siren anything can happen anytime...it is non-stop action for the whole family”

“...17 per cent of Australian children aged 5-17 were overweight and nearly 8 per cent were obese.”

Click here for a video version of this story, or go to www.thesource.griffith.edu.au

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