Pride Centre opened by Premier
Guided tour bookings open now
Also featured in Open House Melbourne
Pride Centre opened by PremierThis Week in St Kilda #274
Rain Stops Falling @ Theatreworks
Ten Tenors @ Palais
Memo Comedy @ Memo
Festival funding chaos @ Council
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TWiSK is always free, proudly independent and totally self-funded
Pride Centre open – but you need to book a tour
The VPC welcomes members of the community to plan a visit either at Melbourne Open House (24/25 July) or book a tour through the Pride Centre website.
Bookings
As the Centre is a working home for organisations not all areas will be open for the public, but these tours provide the best chance to see the building for yourself.
Pride Centre opened by Premier
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews opened the Victorian Pride Centre on Fitzroy Street in an online event on Sunday.
The doors to the Centre open to the public from Monday.
TWiSK presents the opening remarks of Board chairs June Munro AO and Hang Vo:
Jude outlines the history and challenges overcome in creating the Pride Centre; and
Hang Vo presents the next steps and gives a highly personal insight into her motivation.
(22 minutes).
All events subject to COVID updates!
Updated 6 pm Thursday 15 July
Please check with event organisers if in doubt
When The Rain Stops Falling @ Theatreworks
Monday 12 July – Saturday 31 July
CHECK COVID CHANGES
Alice Springs. 2039. A fish falls from the sky – it still smells of the sea. It’s been raining for days and Gabriel York knows something is wrong.
When the Rain Stops Falling unfolds like a puzzle to be solved. Told through the interconnected stories of two families over four generations; between a prediction in London 1959 and its outcome in Australia eighty years later.
Tix
Open Mic @ Espy
Tuesdays from 7 pm
A basement full of surprises!
Espy gig guide
Questioning: Joel Lazar & Mia Kline @ JewMu
Thursday 15 July, 6.30 – 7.30pm
Join Jewish Climate Network CEO Joel Lazar and Mt Scopus College Captain Mia Kline in conversation on climate justice and a Jewish approach to environmental action. $30 / $15
Info and tix
Ten Tenors @ Palais
POSTPONED NEW DATE TBC
Australia’s premier vocal group The TEN Tenors are bursting back onto stages across Australia this July with a special 25th Anniversary tour.
Tix
Blake Scott @ Espy
CANCELLED BY COVID RESTRICTIONS
Blake will be joined by his band Jacey Ashton, Nick Finch and Olivia Bartley (Olympia) to perform Niscitam live. $35
Espy gigs
Price Revolution @ Memo
RESCHEDULED TO 28 AUGUST
Andre De Dilva’s tribute for Prince’s birthday is sold out!
Checkerboard Lounge @ George Lane
CANCELLED BY COVID RESTRICTIONS
Semi-finalists at the 2020 International Blues Challenge in Memphis TN, recording at the legendary SUN Studio and a new incredible live CD to launch.
Tix
Already sold out at George Lane – sorry
Ron S. Peno (Died Pretty) & Cam Butler
CANCELLED BY COVID RESTRICTIONS
Steve Boyd’s Rum Reverie
CANCELLED BY COVID RESTRICTIONS
Social Bike Ride: Yalukit Willam Indigenous Landscapes @ PPBUG
POSTPONED new date TBC
Join Port Phillip Bicycle Users Group (PPBUG) on a community bike ride to visit local Aboriginal sites of significance.
Led by historian Meyer Eidelson, the ride will visit ten interpretive signs installed in 2016 during Reconciliation Week.
Start and finish at St Kilda Town Hall
Trybooking
Inquiries: Liz, 0421 236 895
The Stones’ Sticky Fingers Tribute 2021 @ Palais
POSTPONED Friday 17 September
50th anniversary and still sticky! With local favourites, Adalita, Phil Jamieson, Tex Perkins and Tim Rogers. $99 +
Tix
Mirka after dark @ JewMu
CANCELLED BY COVID RESTRICTIONS
Saturday Night at the Museum opens the doors to the marvellous Mirka exhibition after hours. $20 / $15
Book early as sessions sell out.
Tix
The Eagles Story @ Memo
RESCHEDULED DATE TBC
With a commitment to replicating the true west coast Eagles sound live on stage. The respect for the original by Pete McCarthy, Gary Young, Paul Gales, Greg Goris & Steve Wells is the driving force behind the show. $50/$35
Tix 
Memo Comedy @ Memo
CANCELLED BY COVID RESTRICTIONS
With Richard Stubbs, Simon Palomares, Bev Killick and MC Oliver Clark.
$40/$30 in advance
Tix
Soon
Songs in the South @ Memo
Thursday 22 July, 7. 30pm
Hear the stories behind the songs. Co-hosted by Delsinki & Joyce Prescher, the evening will see 6 different performers come together on stage to perform and exchange songs and stories. $25
Tix
Aidan’s Farewell Concert @ Christ Church, St Kilda
Sunday 25 July, 3 pm – 5 pm
A very special event for Aidan McGartland, a local musicologist and opera singer.
In October he’ll be taking up a position in the University of Oxford’s prestigious postgraduate music program.
Alongside Aidan, the farewell concert includes renowned opera singer, Suzanne Johnston as host,
acclaimed mezzo-soprano and academic, Linda Barcan, distinguished pianist and associative
artist, Dean Sky-Lucas, as well as featuring emerging musicians from the Melbourne
Conservatorium of Music, Lisette Bolton, James Earl and Lilijana Matievksa. $30
Tix
Questioning: Rabbanit Ellyse Borghi & Tiah Gordon @ JewMu
Thursday 29 July, Thursday 6.30 – 7.30pm
Join Rabbanit Ellyse Borghi and Tiah Gordon, Head of Music at Kehilat Kolenu, in conversation on living an authentic and honest spiritual life. $30/$15
Tix 
Closing time @ Leroy Expresso
Takeaway only trading until next Friday
After 15 years on Acland (corner of Barkly), Leroy is closing.
Say gday before they move on.
TWiSK comment
Things are a bit grim in Acland Plaza.
With Big Mouth long closed, and Leroy set to follow, the Plaza has yet to meet expectations.
The proximity of the bottle shop gives the plaza an atmosphere akin to a random beer garden, while the public space is rarely used for activities.
Although, TWiSK did enjoy the current neon installations, especially the colorful puppy on a leash!
With $1M in the recent Council plan for Acland Plaza hostile vehicle mitigation, maybe St Kilda can expect more imagination and action from Council on Acland Plaza.
Festival funding gets political, then off the agenda – for now
COUNCIL MEETING 7 JULY
Debate about a controversial change to festival funding guidelines was postponed when the CEO used his powers to withdraw the item from the agenda seconds before it was scheduled to be discussed.
TWiSK understands there were frantic last-minute talks between councillors about the legality of the policy.
Concerns about party and lobby group endorsed councillors voting on the issue threw a very tricky spanner in the works. It was probable that six of the nine councillors would have needed to remove themselves from the decision – rendering the meeting without a quorum.
Clumsily worded draft
The chaos was prompted by a clumsily worded draft funding policy that sought to exclude groups that participate in political advocacy from receiving festival events funding.
(See the draft policy in full here – no longer available on council website)
Readers may recall that a Balcony Music festival organised by Progressive Port Phillip in May failed to receive funding at the last minute.
gdaystkilda.com.au/monday-17-may-sunday-23-may
At the time, Cr Andrew Bond said “as a political organisation who spent tens of thousands of dollars on a terrible campaign supporting the local Greens and ALP candidates at the recent Council elections, Progressive Port Phillip should never be in receipt of Council or ratepayers funds.”
Passionate personal submissions
Discussion about the revised funding guidelines prompted passionate personal submissions from a swag of community activists, including Rhonda Small, Brenda Forbath, Bill Garner, Krystyna Kynst and Ann Byrne.
Their submissions challenged the vast definition of political, which could exclude almost any organisation with an opinion or cause, such as the environment, gender issues or even arts funding.
How did such an unworkable policy get to Council in the first place?
Given that the CEO Peter Smith used his powers to withdraw the motion, TWiSK wondered how such a poorly worded policy got to Council in the first place.
TWiSK submitted these questions to Mr Smith’s and publishes them with his response in full.
Did the CEO see (and or approve) the revised guidelines authored by officers before they were included in the agenda?
I was aware of the revised guidelines and saw these before they were included in the agenda.
When did the CEO first become aware of community concerns about the revised guidelines?
Statements regarding the revised guidelines were submitted by a small number of community members prior to the Council meeting on Wednesday evening. I became aware of these concerns when reviewing the statements shortly before the meeting.
Why did the CEO wait until the motion was to be discussed in the meeting before proposing that it be withdrawn it from the agenda?
I was seeking governance advice during the early stages of the meeting regarding the appropriate mechanism to defer the item.
Watch the webcast of the CEO explaining his decision here – fast forward to the 44-minute mark
This debate is far from over, watch this space.
Greg Day
Happy to chat anytime 0418 345 829
Content suggestions and community questions are always welcome.
gday@archives.gdaystkilda.com.au
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This Week in St Kilda respectfully acknowledges the Yaluk-ut Weelam Clan of the Boon Wurrung. We pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge and uphold their continuing relationship to this land.