Not all are in thrall with the bells of Town Hall

Last weekend there was an extra jingle throughout the city as bellringers from across Australia and New Zealand gathered for their annual Bellringing Festival. 

The Adelaide Bellringers, a volunteer group who – you guessed it – ring Adelaide’s bells, hosted the festival for the first time in nine years. 

Celebrations included a civic reception hosted by Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith, which was shaping up to be a jolly good chime until she was schooled about the apparently dodgy quality of Town Hall’s bells. 

“I should say there was some dissent about the quality of our bells, which I found quite shocking,” Lomax-Smith told Tuesday night’s council meeting. 

The bellringers questioned whether Town Hall’s bells were badly balanced, needed grinding, reweighting or rehanging. 

Lomax-Smith chose to see the best of the clanger.

“Apparently they have an unusual chime that some people find quite endearing so I’m not actually sure where we stand with the bells, but campanologists take it very seriously,” she said. 

According to the Adelaide Bellringers website, the Town Hall bells have been on the receiving end of criticism since 1935, with a “scathing” report criticising the engineers who cast them. 

In that report, they were called “discordant in tone and out of tune with each other”. The bells, not the councillors. Although…

Everyone wants a piece of Pete

Peter Malinauskas is a busy man.

The Premier, like his predecessors, has his hands pretty full with that whole “running the state” business (not to mention four kids at home).

But Malinauskas this week wanted to provide a physical demonstration of just how many demands there are on his time.

Speaking to an audience at the Hawke Centre on Wednesday night as he unveiled his political donations ban, Malinauskas said: “When you’re in elected office as an MP, a minister or a leader, you are inundated – inundated – with requests for your time.”

“People naturally want an opportunity to explain their problems, celebrate their successes, advocate solutions, generate interest in their ideas.

“They want to see leaders interested in their concerns, as they well should.”

At this point, Malinauskas abruptly exited stage right.

It was his first pause in a rousing speech extolling the virtues of liberal democracy and referencing none less than Winston Churchill, Felix Frankfurter, William Boothby and Catherine Helen Spence.

The abrupt halt in proceedings had InSider theorising the Premier was off for a quick sip of water à la US Senator Marco Rubio’s infamous 2013 State of the Union reply speech.

But we were surprised to see Malinauskas return to the stage pushing a trolley (once a Woolworths trolley boy, always a trolley boy) holding a sizeable pile of documents.

Premier Peter Malinauskas’ trolley excursion: a story in three parts. Photos: Hawke Centre livestream

“This pile here – which I think achieves the dramatic effect I’m looking for – this is meeting requests that have come to my office just for the month of May,” Malinauskas explained, adding that the pile didn’t include cabinet meetings, electorate office requests or meetings with government officials and MPs.

“None of this should be surprising – ministers and MPs have busy jobs – but this is routine just to have that big a request on your time.”

The Premier demonstrating how many people want to meet with him. Image: Hawke Centre livestream

Beyond demonstrating his busyness, the Premier’s broader point was that a politician’s “most precious and finite of resources” is time and it should be spent on policy, drafting laws and meeting with constituents rather than political fundraising.

Malinauskas also invited the audience to rifle through his meeting requests, adding: “These are all FOIable.”

InSider, which operates on a limited freedom of information budget, believes the Premier should make a tradition of this and start providing stacks of free government documents at every public meeting. Cabinet minutes would be particularly appreciated.

Council body pays up for ‘significant’ name change

The Local Government Association of South Australia, the peak body representing the state’s 68 councils, has announced a “significant” rebranding to – hold your breath – LGA South Australia.

InSider was sent the big news this week, as LGA South Australia chief executive Clinton Jury enthused about how the rebrand represented “our organisation’s ability to innovate and better support local governments”.

The Local Government Association of South Australia (left) has rebranded to LGA South Austalia (right).

“The changes represent much more than a new brand strategy as the association positions to have greater influence and showcase its broader services for members,” Jury says in the release.

As for the previous brand (and its notable lack of abbreviation), it served the peak body well for around 25 years and, according to Jury, “represented a critical function of the LGA”.

LGA South Australia chief executive Clinton Jury spruiking the rebrand to members this week. Photo: supplied

InSider was told that LGA contracted Adelaide creative agency Voice Design to come up with the new branding and logo.

We asked how much this marketing coup cost and was told it was “commercial in confidence”, which is sure to thrill all householders and businesses about to be hit with council rate increases. Member councils pay annual fees to the LGA of up to $100,000.

And yet only 34 per cent of eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot at the 2022 council elections, so we’re not sure that cutting your name short like KFC did years ago will do much.

Following questions from InSider, an LGA spokesperson said: “While we are unable to release the specifics of a commercial arrangement, the rebranding was done on a small budget to ensure the best value for our members.”

InSider would have been happy to offer rebranding suggestions for free – or a least a bottle of something nice. How’s this: “All the way with LGA.”

You know where to find us.

RAA’s shiny new toy: defaced

Disclaimer: InSider does not condone tagging private property. But one tag caught our attention this week.

Stepping out for lunch on Tuesday after the long weekend, InSider noticed a man hanging from the top of RAA’s new Grenfell St building cleaning the newly installed glass façade.

Why? Well over the weekend some daredevil graffers managed to reach the first-floor windows and throw up some gnarly tags (apologies for the potentially outdated slang).

This is despite seven-foot-tall barricades guarding the construction site.

InSider can’t imagine the RAA is too pleased that their new build is already subject to vandalism from ruffians shooting their ego everywhere via spray paint.

In saying that – what a feat!

InSider also noticed some graffers have taken to defacing public art in the East End. Unlike the RAA vandalism, there’s nothing physically impressive about this – it’s all street-level stuff on Vardon Avenue.

Vandalising the yet-to-be-finished RAA building is one thing – but tagging over public art is another. Do better, Adelaide taggers!

Winners are grinners

InSider is excited to announce the SA Liberal Media team as winners of our inaugural Cringiest Political Propaganda of the Year Award – and it’s only June!

Set to Tom Jones & Mousse T.’s ’90s hit ‘Sexbomb’, this 23-second-long video demonstrates masterful craftsmanship by superimposing Premier Peter Malinauskas’ head on that of Tom Jones and cleverly replacing the lyric “sex” with “debt”.

InSider congratulates the SA Liberal Media team for showing they are hip with the youths.

Bon Voyage

The City of Adelaide is on the move this weekend… the clipper ship, not the town.

The world’s oldest surviving clipper ship will make a short hop from Dock Two to adjoining dockside land in Port Adelaide in a move being touted as the ship’s last resting spot.

Photo: Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Limited Board

That will come as a relief to the old girl – which has had many a home in her 160-year life, including her 10 years of being refurbished by dedicated volunteers in Adelaide.

The Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Limited Board ship director Peter Christopher said the scale of the undertaking has been vast.

“Everything about this project is enormous,” Christopher said.

“The size and weight of ship; the length of negotiations, the detailed planning and fundraising, and all by a team of dedicated volunteers.

“This is the most historic surviving ship in Australia and the new home will help greatly to raise awareness among the general public.”

The group hopes the clipper can become the centrepiece of a family-friendly maritime heritage precinct, or seaport village, which will build upon the tourism appeal of the Port’s docks.

The new resting place is expected to boost the daily tours of the ship which run daily and also encompass a visit to the lesser known, Annie Watt – a smaller ship known as a trading ketch and the Nelcebee, the second-to-last ketch to operate in South Australia’s coastal trade – which are housed in a shed adjacent the designated home for the City of Adelaide.