http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/south-australia/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ray-beckwith-the-science-behind-the-wine/ This is a story about instinct and passion, but also about tedious, solitary, methodical research. It is a great scientific adventure that in its own humble way mirrors the story of Watson and Crick, who unravelled the mystery of existence with their studies into DNA. The difference, of course, is that there were two of them, but there is only one Ray Beckwith. And while Watson and Crick confined themselves to the serious business of the building blocks of life, Ray’s mind was occupied with something which makes life so darned entertaining. Wine. Really good wine. What makes it tick, what makes it live on inside the bottle and get better with age. What makes a cheap bottle consistently good, a pricey bottle a coveted international icon. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ray-beckwith-the-science-behind-the-wine/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ray-beckwith-the-science-behind-the-wine/#item8591 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/south-australia-its-the-middle-bottom-bit/ If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/south-australia-its-the-middle-bottom-bit/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/south-australia-its-the-middle-bottom-bit/#item8551 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-might-be-the-best-tourism-ad-ever-made/ Camped on Kangaroo Island once. Great place. Swam naked on a pristine beach and ate the best damn King George Whiting ‘n’ chips you’ve ever had in your life. Update: last night on the ABC’s Media Watch it was revealed that celebrities were paid $750 to Tweet positively about KI. This article was posted hours before that, purely by coincidence, and we weren’t paid a cent. So there. Saw rare glossy black cockatoos, koalas, seals, you name it. The seals are hilarious. They waddle up the dunes on the island’s wild southern shore, then roll back down like kids on a grassy slope. Good times. For me, KI was a wild, sand-between-your-toes, hardly-spend-a-cent kind of holiday. That’s why I was initially bewildered by the artsy ads aimed at an upmarket audience, which are currently in their final week of an eight week eastern states TV run. Well, turns out SA Tourism know exactly what they’re doing. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Behind the picture http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-might-be-the-best-tourism-ad-ever-made/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-might-be-the-best-tourism-ad-ever-made/#item8314 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Regional-Australia-needs-a-healthy-flowing-Murray/ After a wetter than average year in the Murray-Darling Basin many people seem to think the problems of Australia’s most important river system are solved. They’re not. Rain and floods have returned life to many parts of the river system, but if they are to provide more than a temporary boost before the next drought hits, our federal Parliament will need to sign off on a strong Murray-Darling Basin Plan this year. When I say a strong plan, I mean a plan that results in a river not poisoned by salt, that flows, that is alive. Anything less threatens the future of the river and regional communities, not to mention Adelaide’s drinking water. For too long we’ve been taking too much water out of the river – much of it for irrigated agriculture – for the system to remain healthy. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Regional-Australia-needs-a-healthy-flowing-Murray/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Regional-Australia-needs-a-healthy-flowing-Murray/#item7732 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-horror-movie-about-poverty-and-violence/ When the Snowtown murder trial concluded in 2003 a prominent criminologist scandalised the good people of Adelaide by saying there was nothing surprising or remarkable about the case. New Yorker Allan Perry, a lecturer in criminal law at the University of Adelaide, blamed what he called a subculture of degeneracy in the city’s most depressed and dysfunctional suburbs, defined by inter-generational welfare dependency, the daily abuse of alcohol and drugs, shocking levels of child abuse, child neglect and family violence. Dr Perry said the only thing which shocked him about Snowtown was that people were shocked by it. And he really cut loose in his description of my hometown, sending talkback and the letters pages into meltdown, and prompting the then Attorney General Mick Atkinson to tell him to move back to Brooklyn. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-horror-movie-about-poverty-and-violence/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-horror-movie-about-poverty-and-violence/#item7675 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Premier-jay-is-walking-while-bikie-criminals-run-amok/ I am not sure who the South Australian Police Commissioner is. Is it still Mal Hyde? Or did we get a new one? You wouldn’t know. Whoever he is, he is, as they say, a quiet man who keeps to himself. In fairness, it’s not as if the South Australian Police Service has been doing nothing. Earlier this year, via its Twitter site, SAPOL courageously announced that it was launching an all-out blitz on one of the gravest threats to civil society - jaywalking. In a joint venture with Channel Nine, cameras were mounted at some of Adelaide’s most lethal intersections, places such as Beehive Corner which are a magnet for these dangerous criminals, with the offenders being nabbed and shamed as they went about their despicable enterprise. We can all sleep safer as a result. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Premier-jay-is-walking-while-bikie-criminals-run-amok/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Premier-jay-is-walking-while-bikie-criminals-run-amok/#item7434 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wanted-a-tough-cop-on-the-small-business-beat/ Finally, we have a government willing to stand up for small business in the face of hysterical opposition from the big end of town and their legal advisers. Last week the South Australian Labor Government successfully got its small business commissioner reforms through the Parliament. Those reforms had been subject to a frenzied attack by elements of the big end of town and their legal advisers. Despite such a self-interested and panic-stricken campaign the reforms secured the numbers in the South Australian Upper House. Like most Upper Houses in Australia, the SA Legislative Council is a place where the Government lacks the numbers and, accordingly, needs to convince the minor parties and independents of the merits of all government initiatives. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wanted-a-tough-cop-on-the-small-business-beat/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wanted-a-tough-cop-on-the-small-business-beat/#item6996 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-real-miracle-of-childbirth-isnt-childbirth/ Nothing on this earth would entice me to have a baby at home. Call me old fashioned, but I’m all for the protective womb of expert physicians and latest technology in a crisp white hospital environment. The risks are simply too great; the act of childbirth too unpredictable; the potential loss too devastating to contemplate. And tragically, in South Australia we’re hearing all too much about risk becoming reality. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-real-miracle-of-childbirth-isnt-childbirth/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-real-miracle-of-childbirth-isnt-childbirth/#item6980 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/on-message-even-when-up-to-his-neck-in-it/ A few weeks after he was clouted in the face with a rolled-up wine magazine, and on the same day that Channel Seven ran salacious allegations about his relationship with former parliamentary waitress Michelle Chantelois, Mike Rann wrote an article about the sex lives of pandas for our opinion website The Punch. The timing was somewhat awkward. Rann, an early adopter of Twitter and one of the first politicians to use blogging as a new and direct way of talking to the voters, was spruiking the arrival of breeding pandas Wang Wang and Funi at the Adelaide Zoo. He explained how male pandas were sexually lethargic, difficult to arouse, and how zoos overseas had resorted to showing them films of mating pandas in a bid to fire them up. Our website, driven as it is by robust and comic interaction with the readers, decided it would be best to hold the column for a while. Not out of any desire to protect the Premier – whatever scandals he was involved in were his problem, not ours – but because the job of keeping the reader’s comments within the boundaries of taste and libel would be impossible. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/on-message-even-when-up-to-his-neck-in-it/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/on-message-even-when-up-to-his-neck-in-it/#item6972 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-politics-its-all-just-a-little-bit-of-history-repeating/ For SA Premier Mike Rann, “school” ends today, and from 9am tomorrow, he is on holidays. This is earlier than he wanted, but the right-wing “shoppies” union gave him no choice. No wonder he has spent much of his last days railing against factional influence in the Labor party. Mr Rann has had a long innings since taking over the Premier’s job on March 5, 2002. Not a record, by a long way. The Liberal and Country League government of Tom Playford set the record, from 1938 to 1965, a longevity which will probably never be beaten. Of course, he did have a heavily biased election system in his favour. That long Liberal reign was followed by a Labor domination. Of the 46 years from 1965 until now, Labor has been in office for 35. And that period has been dominated by three Labor Premiers: Don Dunstan (1967 – 79), John Bannon (1982 – 92), and Mike Rann (2002 – 11). In those data is one reason for the Rann angst at being pushed out of the job early – he could have achieved the record of being the longest serving Labor Premier. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-politics-its-all-just-a-little-bit-of-history-repeating/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-politics-its-all-just-a-little-bit-of-history-repeating/#item6964 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something to reflect our pride – FreeSettlerVille, perhaps? Or our aspirations – New Melbourne might suit. Or something that highlights the diverse range of South Australian attributes, from bogan frenzies to Old Adelaide Family pretensions – Taylyah Ashton-Smith, maybe? Back in 1999 advertising ‘guru’ John Singleton declared the name South Australia “boring” and suggested ‘Bradman’ instead. It may be that having six or seven wives gives one a rather low threshold for boredom – although his enthusiasm for cricket shows he is not entirely averse to the concept.