Mayor4Unley

An extraordinary news story about two women who were assaulted by a huge male kangaroo ... The women were cycling on a winery tourist trail in the Clare Valley. They were admiring a huge male kangaroo up ahead. He watched intensely as they cycled towards him. Something snapped in his mind and the roo attacked the women, landing on one and then bouncing off and jumping on the other woman. It would have been traumatic. One of the women requires surgery. The kangaroo left the scene, probably to reflect on his recent encounter with cyclists. Obviously he has a disdain for the two wheelers. The women were lucky that they were on bikes which acted as shields. It would have been worse if they had been walking. Rogue roos can rip the insides out of a person. Here's the story

I planted a crop of climbing peas a couple of weeks back and they are rushing out of the ground. They like the cooler weather and hopefully will produce a bountiful harvest in a couple of months. I collected the seeds from last year. They are called Telegraph Peas due to their mature height; reaching for the heavens; with tall stakes to cling to. By why, after 1,000s or millions of years of evolution and training, do the young pea plants tend to flop onto the ground. Later in life, in a few weeks they'll get the knack and be good clingers; and climb and cling. Meanwhile they need a bit of twine to hold them upright. It's a bit of a worry if that's your major concern at the moment 😉 Then again, gardening is a wonderful escape from the complexities and demands of the outside world.

Here's a great photo from the bush. Just love it! A clash of old and new power saving technologies, The windmill is iconic Australia. Solar panels are delivering extra power, especially to the rural areas. At Unley, in the Village Green, there is an old windmill; a relic from a bygone era when the area was primarily agricultural. One of my pet projects and desires is to restore the windmill and install an underground tank to be used to simulate pumping water. There needs to be a bit of controlled leakage just like with real windmills in the bush. Solar panels on the nearby Council building would power the pump and help to turn the windmill blades.At night, soft LED lights would highlight the feature. It would be a magnificent working art feature. Before I leave Council, I want to see this happen. I had better start working on it soon ;))

At times you just need to take a break and get away from the city crowd; and from its demands and pressures. Going bush is an easy escape and helps to put things and priorities into perspective. The clearer skies, the red and greening landscape and the local kangaroos, wombats and magpies help to give life a new perspective. An ideal way to settle the mind and to recharge.

It's alooong election campaign for who governs Australia. So loooong and such a wild ride. Another 5 weeks to go. Ignoring the polls and listening to the people I'm prepared to call the election; at least for the House of Reps; but I won't (publicly). The outcome in the Senate is a big unknown; but I hope for one with a wide array of independents and not dominated by major party hacks (many with no real life experience) who never seem to be representative of the people. It's disappointing that we rarely hear from party candidates who might have their own opinion. Their campaign is simply a blue or red (or green) brochure with their photo (with their leader) and with a few words that echo their party's slogan. It's disappointing that parties constraint their candidates from saying anything that reflects their personal opinion. Sad. How can you vote for someone you don't know; someone you know nothing about; someone you might actually like. I am more conc...

This milk issue is outrageous. The hard working dairy farmers are getting screwed by the supermarkets who promote their own brand milk which is bought at dirt cheap cost from the farmers. This only happens because consumers buy the cheap milk at $1 a litre. We must all take a stand and stop buying unbranded milk. Only buy branded milk. This will ensure that dairy farmers get a better deal. At your work place see what milk your company buys for your morning tea cuppa. If it is an own brand from the supermarket then talk to the boss; make a representation to management. When you go to a coffee shop, ask the barista which brand milk they use. If it is unbranded then ask them to change or switch to another more ethical barista. Make a stand. If we drive our dairy farmers into the ground it will encourage foreign buyers to buy up more of our agricultural land. The only milk I buy (in SA) is Jersey Premium (yellow top) from Fleurieu Milk Company . Full cream milk is the only way to...

It got a bit heated at the Unley Council meeting last night. One of the topics for debate was cats and how best to deal with stray cats. I argued that residents should have a choice of how to deal with these cats. There is Council's preferred way of euthanising cats by sending them to Animal Welfare League, or there is the option of engaging a volunteer group called 'CATS Inc.' who will trap, desex and return the cats, at a low cost to the resident. I argued that residents should have the option of how best to deal with these cats; ie. choose to kill or not to kill. Residents should make that decision and not Council. I tried to get an extra $1,000 to fund CATS Inc. It became quite a feral debate.