Mayor4Unley

Preacher Billy Graham has died, aged 99. He was the best of the bunch of US evangelist preachers. When he visited Australia, 130,076 crammed into the MCG to hear him. In Adelaide he also drew a huge crowd. Before he died, his son asked what Billy wanted on his headstone. The reply was, just say 'Preacher'. A quote from Billy Graham “ when wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost ”. Just so true.

That holiday in Port Douglas and Cairns last year was just so fantastic. Tropical fruit for breakfast and prawns and seafood for lunch and dinner. The red pawpaws (or papaya if you prefer) were superb. I prefer the red to the yellow fruit. Richer and more complex in taste and flavour. They do taste better in Queensland. However, to keep the memories alive I occasionally buy a red pawpaw from the local green grocer at Goodwood, Unley, SA. From experience, the best are from the Skybury plantation near Mareeba, high up on the Tablelands above Port Douglas. If you're buying one, select from the Sunbury brand and get one a bit green so it can ripen to your taste. Tip, drizzle some lime juice on it. Yum!

A snapshot of South Australia's population: According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the preliminary estimated resident population (ERP) of South Australia at 31 March 2015 was 1,696,200 people. This is an increase of 13,900 people since 31 March 2014 and an annual growth rate of 0.8%. Australia’s growth rate over the same period was 1.4%. Population growth is driven by natural increase (births minus deaths) and net migration (overseas and interstate).  Net migration contributed 52% of South Australia’s population growth in the 12 months to March 2015.  Positive net overseas migration helped to counter South Australia’s net interstate population losses. This is more easily understood pictorially. Here’s a diagram showing the components of South Australia's growth, 2014-15 For more information from the ABS ... click here . I'm not in a hurry to see higher figures of growth. SA is somewhat unique due to its smallness compared with the oth...

Have a read of the book My Life in Ruins by Adam Ford. He’s an Archaeologist who has participated in digs around the globe. He ponders the period 8,000-10,000 years ago when people switched to farming from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Why would they do that? He reckons … you only have to work for an hour a day to get enough food, and spend the rest of the time lounging around creating very elaborate creation myths and taboos and things. An interesting concept, but most of our inland (non-coastal) Australian Aborigines did not switch to farming … yet they had time to dream and construct creation myths and taboos.

I’ve been reading an interesting article on Australian architect Peter Stutchbury. A fascinating read on a remarkable man. Talking about architecture and inspiration, here’s a quote from him … “I’d say real beauty is found with the least number of ingredients and the most amount of thinking.” A profound and yet so simple a statement.

It’s all too easy these days to not communicate face to face and just use email or sms to tell someone you fancy them,  wouldn't  mind a bit of sex and then, later, to use email or sms to break-up. Is there any guilt these days? Is it too awkward to just say in person ‘sorry Babe’? These days it is just that much easier to do it online. And, if you don’t have the guts and just want to quickly move on to the next relationship , then there is the option of outsourcing the task of saying sorry to Babe. Here’s a link to someone who will do the dirty deed An sms or email to Babe will only cost you $5.50. In fact you can outsource most dreaded tasks to someone else online. Here’s some more information … Breaking up is hard to do. So let someone else deal with it. Remember when breaking up was hard to do? There were the teary speeches, the recriminations, the anguish at losing someone who meant a great deal to you. Well, not anymore. These days, with a bit of hel...

Is it really going to become the world of robots? Probably, to some degree. Hopefully humans will still have an important role – like creating the robots and testing their resilience. Technology has come a long way. Check out this video of the latest batch of robots. Click here to watch the video

There is no better gift you can give your Valentine than a box of your favourites chocolates. That way you can share the pleasure on the day.

I woke up with a big smile on my face. A good start to the day. I started planning the day. It was Saturday and the weekend was here. A slow start and a few coffees were on the cards. The weather forecast was not too bad. What more could you ask for? ... and then it dawned - it was Friday - and I was off to work. Life has a few disappointments.

Kids must learn to swim. Enrol for a Swim & Survive VACSWIM course @ Unley pool. Below is an extract of an advertisement for VACSWIM. Summer is nearly here, are your kids ready for a safe holiday season? Enrolment for the 2015 SA Water VACSWIM program is filling fast! As summer’s scorching heat arrives ahead of schedule, it’s imperative that our children not only know how to behave, but also know how to react in and around water. VACSWIM SA aims to deliver a fun, enjoyable, safe and most importantly an educational program to young South Australians. For over 60 years, the SA Water VACSWIM program has provided water safety education to school aged children across the state. *The number of drowning deaths in the 12 month period from July 2013 to June 2014 has seen a 9 per cent reduction on the 10 year average. Although this statistic is welcomed, the figure of 266 drowning deaths in Australia is still too high. VACSWIM SA and its partners YMCA of South Aus...

This October will mark the centenary of ANZAC. It was in October 1914 that the first convoy of Australian troops left Western Australia by ship to fight the war to end all wars. To this day, the ANZAC spirit lives on and remains relevant to our ever changing society (and its make-up). This year's Annual Hawke Lecture is titled Commemorating the ANZAC Centenary: Why is it Important for all Australians? It will be delivered by Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston ACAFC (Ret’d). He will reflect on the centenary of ANZAC and explain why it is so important to observe this time in history and just why does the ANZAC story and the values remain so central to what it means to be an Australian today and in the future? The centenary not only provides us with the opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of our past and current servicemen and women, but it helps to unify our ever-changing nation. I hope that recognition of the centenary helps to inject the ANZAC spirit into all s...

Here's a quote that has been gaining traction across the globe. A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transport. This has been paraphrased from Enrique Penalosa, the former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. It's a profound statement and just so true. We must strive for a public transport system that will be preferred (over cars) and used by the majority of society, rich and poor (and those in-between). Here's a link to a relevant story about public transport in New York, USA ... click here

Recently Unley Council (on behalf of the State Government) consulted with residents about a Development Amendment Plan (DPA2) to accommodate the forecast population growth over the next 30 years. The response from residents was huge with 100s of submissions and 45 verbal presentations at a recent Council Committee meeting. There was overwhelming opposition to the proposal. In its current form I can not support the DPA2. It encroaches too far into the suburbs away from the transport corridors where the high density should have been concentrated. Residents have commented to me that there was too much concentration of proposed highrise development in the western areas of Unley eg. Black Forest and Everard Park. Much of the eastern suburbs escaped the red pen. The pain needs to be shared across Unley. A report on the feedback will come to Council and direction will be given on where revision is required. My forecast is that it will take 6-9 months and further consult...

A friend sent me a link to the latest 10 memorable Australian food trends. It seems that I have not been keeping up with the trendy ones at the head of the queue. I am a simple person and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. One of those pleasures is a strong European style short black coffee aka. espresso. Some days I opt for a short macchiato (an espresso with a thin layer of rich frothy milk). Then along comes information about what’s new and trendy. One of the latest trends is to use butter instead of milk in coffee. I write blog this before I try it, and yes I will try it. Knowing little about Tibetan food, it does sound rather Tibetan in style; they would use yak butter. The question is, should I use salted or unsalted butter? For a review of the latest food trends, visit the Australia Food Blog via   this link. Following my query about whether or not to use unsalted butter, my friend has sent me another link that expands on this topic. The recomme...

Plastic waste is part of our society. There is a needless amount (especially from households) still going to landfill and not being recycled. Education programs (especially with our kids at school) are slowly working. But, there will always be plastic waste. We just need to maximise the diversion of that waste to recycling. REPLAS is an Australian firm that has excelled in converting plastic waste to plastic products that are innovative and durable, often used in marine environments. REPLAS has partnered with companies like Coles and Dulux to manage (ie. re-use) their plastic waste. Also, Coles has drop off bins outside their stores where shoppers can deposit plastic bags from home. I will be challenging Council to embrace plastic products instead of steel, wood and concrete eg. bollards, walkways, benches, posts, garden furniture, ... the list is extensive. Check out the REPLAS website  here and don't forget to drop off plastic bags at Coles weekly. I...

Each year, Bike SA recruits a group of 200 people (mad keen cyclists) to visit some beautiful regions by bike. This year the 9 day bike trip will visit the Murraylands (aka. the Riverland). If you are a bike enthusiast and have a hardened bum, then you should consider it. Dates:  20 to 28 September 2014 Details: 9 day road tour along the Murray River and Riverlands by bike It may be tough on the bike for 9 days (although it is described as leisurely), however the evenings are a gourmets delight with fine local food and wines. For more details, visit this link.

An international cycling conference has just concluded in Adelaide. It was a huge event with 1,000s of overseas delegates. The Bike SA group has highlighted snippets and outcomes from the conference. Here are a few … 1. There is no such thing as a cyclist In Australia, we're obsessed with defining people by their mode of transport. Many speakers at the conference were keen to point out that people don't care what mode of transport they use... they just want to get from A to B. Time for us to move past the "Us vs. Them" mentality and realise that we're all just people - and we all choose different modes of transport.  2. Modal share follows the money If you don't invest, then you don't get more bums on bikes. Cities that saw substantial increases in people cycling (Seville, Nantes, Paris etc.) all decided to spend serious amounts of transport funding on cycling.  South Australia spends 0.5% of the transport budget on bicycles. That's wh...

I got sent an online survey about the services and activities of the Dog and Cat Management Board. I confessed to having a broad knowledge about the Board, but lacked finer details about the research and activities. I have since reviewed the Board's website and find that it has a lot of interesting and relevant information. So, if you have a cat or dog problem or just want to know more, then visit the website. Here's a link to the Dog & Cat Management Board website and here's an extract from that website on cats ... There are currently around half a million unowned cats in South Australia. Each year approximately 15,000 cats are  surrendere to South Australian shelters and of these cats, at least 70% are euthanased. They may arrive at Shelters as strays, ferals or owned cats, but thousands of healthy, sociable cats are destroyed because there are not enough good homes for them. Ninety per cent of cats presented to shelters are unwanted kittens. Most kittens b...

Have you ever considered hosting an international student in your home?  Give it some thought. I have heard of many positive experiences. If you're lamenting an empty nest then think about it.  Here is more information from the SA Government Education Department ... Host an international student We are looking for willing families to host international high school students commencing their studies in a South Australian government school in Term 3, 2014. You can choose to host a student for a period of time that best suits your family: ·          Study Tour student for 2-5 weeks ·          Study Abroad student for 1 – 4 terms ·          Graduate student for 1 – 5 years We are always looking for families in the zoned areas of the following schools, however, if you live outside of these zones, please still contact us. Adelaide Hig...

Today I attended the opening of the new playground at Forestville Reserve. Looks fantastic. Lots of Mums and Dads were there with their kids. The in-ground mini trampolines will be a huge hit. The popcorn and fairy floss tent was doing a brisk trade, everything free, courtesy of Unley Council. The Swimming Club did well with a sausage sizzle fundraiser. Go and check it out. There's a BBQ nearby - have a picnic while the kids play safely - at least, it's a soft fall. A shade sail will be added in readiness for next summer.