Economist.com Cities Guide: Sydney Briefing - December 2005

News this month

Beach bums

Race riots in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, home to a large and popular beach, sent shock waves through the city on December 11th. Trouble broke out when a crowd of about 5,000 mainly young, white men attacked ethnic Lebanese youths and smashed up cars in surrounding streets. More than 30 people, including police officers, were injured in the violence. A second night of unrest followed on December 12th as Middle Eastern youths retaliated against Sunday's attacks.

The riots followed an incident on December 4th, when a group of Lebanese-Australian men attacked two lifeguards who had asked them to stop playing football on the beach. The retaliatory action one week later was led by a group of 200 “white supremacists” who co-ordinated the attacks by text message, according to the police. John Howard, Australia's conservative prime minister, condemned the violence as un-Australian. In an emergency session following the riots, the parliament of New South Wales passed laws allowing the police to enforce curfews, cordon off trouble spots and ban alcohol sales.

Hanging on the telephone

Sydneysiders have been enjoying a rare and unflattering glimpse into the workings of the city’s two most powerful media families. In November, a Sydney court grilled Lachlan Murdoch, elder son of Rupert Murdoch, the head of News Corporation, and James Packer, son and heir-apparent of Kerry Packer, owner of the Publishing and Broadcasting television and magazine empire, about their roles in one of Australia's biggest corporate collapses: the demise in May 2001 of One.Tel, a telecommunications company in which the two companies were joint majority shareholders. The two sons were joint directors of One.Tel at the time, and together lost about A$1 billion ($750m) from their families' investments.

The sons' evidence was given as part of an ongoing civil case launched by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), a corporate watchdog, against Jodee Rich, One.Tel’s former managing director, and Mark Silbermann, a former director. ASIC alleges Mr Rich and Mr Silbermann allowed the company to trade while it was insolvent for three months before its collapse. The hearings are due to continue in 2006.

Going down

November brought bad news for the Liberal Party in New South Wales (NSW). In a state parliamentary by-election on November 27th in Pittwater (which includes Sydney’s wealthy northern beaches region), the party lost a seat it had held for 32 years, in a 26% swing to Alex McTaggart, an independent candidate and Pittwater's mayor. The by-election was called after the dramatic resignation of John Brogden, then leader of the Liberal Party in the Labor-led NSW state parliament, in August.

Mr Brogden’s downfall followed media allegations that he had propositioned two female journalists in a Sydney bar. He was a popular figure in Pittwater, with moderate views on social issues that clashed with those of the Liberal hierarchy. The by-election result is seen as a slap in the face of the party bosses. The victorious Mr McTaggart first sprang to political prominence in 1998, when he led a successful community campaign to stop the filming of episodes of “Baywatch”, an American television show, on a Pittwater beach.

Drink and be merry

Laws controlling the sale of liquor have been a hot issue in Sydney since rum was used illegally as currency in the city’s early colonial days. The latest changes governing the opening hours of pubs are no exception. Under proposals announced by the New South Wales (NSW) state government on November 28th, pubs will be allowed to open their bars on Christmas Day and Good Friday, instead of confining liquor sales to dining rooms. Sunday trading hours (now 10am to 10pm) will be lengthened to 5am to midnight, the same as other days. The public’s right to challenge new liquor licences in their neighbourhoods will be abolished.

Many commentators regard the controversial proposals as a capitulation by the NSW government to lobbying from the powerful hotel (as pubs are known down under) industry, in the face of growing competition from licensed sporting clubs. Health experts predict the changes will worsen an already-soaring public health bill from alcohol-related injuries, car crashes and social problems.

Not in my back yard

After years of dispute between federal and state authorities, Australia's government has finally settled on a site for radioactive waste from its sole nuclear reactor. Most of the waste generated by the Lucas Heights facility, which stands in a Sydney suburb, is currently stored on site. But on December 8th, the conservative coalition government, led by John Howard, pushed through legislation to send the reactor’s waste almost 3,000km to an unnamed location in the Northern Territory from 2011.

Politicians in the Northern Territory, which covers almost one-fifth of Australia’s land mass but has just 1% of its population, are unenthusiastic. But as the territory lacks full statehood, they cannot launch a legal challenge. An earlier plan to build a dump in the state of South Australia was foiled by a court decision in 2004.

Catch if you can

December 2005

Kylie: An Exhibition

December 26th 2005-May 7th 2006

No Australian pop soloist has hit the same heights as Kylie Minogue, the diminutive girl-next-door from Melbourne who shot to international stardom from a role in “Neighbours”, a television soap opera. As Ms Minogue recovers from cancer, the diagnosis of which interrupted her homecoming concert tour in early 2005, this exhibition comes to Sydney after attracting large crowds in Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.

The display draws on a collection of 300 items which Ms Minogue donated to Melbourne's Arts Centre, including costumes for her concerts and videos since the late 1980s. The touring exhibition’s top-drawer venues suggest how strongly Ms Minogue has secured her place as an icon of Australian popular culture.

Powerhouse Museum, Harris St, Ultimo, Sydney. Tel: +61 (02) 9217 0111. Open: daily 10am-5pm. Admission: A$10. See the Powerhouse's site and Kylie Minogue's official site.

More from the Sydney cultural calendar