Economist.com Cities Guide: Sydney Briefing - October 2005

News this month

Latham bites

The diaries of a has-been politician have scandalised Sydney’s establishment. Mark Latham led the federal Labor party to its fourth successive election defeat last October, and retired from his western Sydney constituency earlier this year. In “The Latham Diaries”, published on September 19th, he turns on his former colleagues with a venom unprecedented even in the bear-pit of Australian politics. According to Mr Latham, Kim Beazley, his successor, conducted a campaign of “smear and innuendo” against him, while the Labor party itself is “irreparably broken”.

Commentators have reacted scornfully to Mr Latham's invective. Many in Labor blame his performance for the party's election loss, and the media has portrayed him as arrogant, embittered and self-delusional. Mr Latham seems unbowed (especially as sales of the diaries are running hot), but the affair is no help to his former party, which is slowly rebuilding under Mr Beazley for the next federal election, due in 2007.

By the by

September brought trouble for the Labor government of New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state. In three by-elections in Sydney, NSW's capital, held on September 17th, Labor suffered a sharp rebuke: the party retained all three constituencies, but with far slimmer majorities. The loss was smallest in the seat of Maroubra, where Bob Carr, the popular former state premier, stood down. However, in Marrickville, an inner-western constituency, the Green Party scored 40%, and in Macquarie Fields, in Labor’s traditional western Sydney heartland, the conservative Liberal Party increased its vote by almost 10%.

This is bad news for Labor, which has held power in NSW for ten years. Commentators interpret the results as a backlash against the government's patchy performance in managing the state’s transport, hospitals and schools. Labor has much to do to ensure it retains office in the next state election, due in 2007.

Big brother comes calling

John Howard, Australia’s conservative prime minister, has been one of George Bush's staunchest backers in the war in Iraq, to the dismay of many Australians. He came under more fire in September, when the country deported an American peace activist. Scott Parkin, a history teacher from Texas, had been in Australia since June, loudly criticising the mission in Iraq before participating in an anti-globalisation demonstration in Sydney in late August. Without warning, he was detained in Melbourne on September 10th and sent back to America three days later.

Civil-liberties groups are outraged, especially as the government has yet to explain its actions. Authorities seem to be in a tough mood: a day before Mr Parkin was arrested, Mr Howard announced a strengthening of anti-terrorism laws, giving police powers to detain suspects for 48 hours and to fit them with tracking devices for a year.

A chapter ends

Sydney’s literary world is mourning the death of a local icon. Donald Horne, a writer and critic who coined the expression “the lucky country”—now a standard description of Australia—died in Sydney on September 8th, aged 83. The expression came from the title of his first book, published in 1964, which portrayed a country he saw as blessed with material wealth, but run by people with “gummed-up” imaginations. It was followed by 26 more titles, spanning a career that made Mr Horne Australia’s most prominent public intellectual. He was dictating another book just before his death.

Mr Horne was a leading champion of republicanism. His commentary could be sharp—in “Looking for Leadership”, published in 2001, he described John Howard, Australia's prime minister, as “an apparition from the Dreamtime Fifties” with “a compass that was set backwards”. His passing will be marked in Sydney by a wake at the Mitchell Library, to which Mr Horne bequeathed his extensive papers.

A feast for the eyes

After property investment, Sydney’s second obsession seems to be food, and with good reason—the city’s restaurants rank among the world’s best. The culinary scene's bible is the “Good Food Guide”, published annually by the Sydney Morning Herald, in which the best eateries are graded with between one and three chefs' hats. When the 2006 edition was launched on September 5th, the biggest gasps came from the downgrading of Rockpool, a smart seafood restaurant, from three hats to two. Neil Perry, Rockpool’s creator, described the move as a “kick in the guts”. Matthew Evans, the guide’s editor, justified the demotion “by an occasional clumsy pairing when we’re used to finding excellence”.

Nevertheless, Rockpool remains in a high league—the guide awarded hats to only 46 restaurants (including 11 in our restaurant section), naming Tabou as best bistro. The 2006 edition, the guide's 21st, contains a record 400 reviews overall.

Catch if you can

October 2005

Italian Film Festival

October 13th-30th 2005

This annual festival of contemporary Italian cinema grows in stature every year. Films are screened conveniently in two of Sydney’s most buzzing districts: Paddington and Leichhardt, the latter a centre of Italian life. Highlights of the 12-film programme include “Le Chiavi Di Casa” (“The Keys to the House”), directed by Gianni Amelio and starring Charlotte Rampling, and “Come Inguaiammo Il Cinema Italiano” (“How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble”), a documentary about Franco Granchi and Ciccio Ingrassia, a legendary Sicilian comedy duo (pictured). There is also a retrospective of five films directed by Lina Wertmuller, including “The Seduction of Mimi” and “Love and Anarchy”.

Palace Cinema, 99 Norton St, Leichhardt, Sydney. Tel: +61 (02) 9550 0122; Academy Cinema, 30 Oxford St, Paddington, Sydney. Tel: +61 (02) 9361 4453. See the festival's website.

More from the Sydney cultural calendar