The Bookcellar: 2015 Meeting Notices

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Documents from our past

Bookcellar member Miriam Lasky has kindly consented to conduct our December program during which several members will “show and tell” about some of the interesting documents they have in their possession.

At the last meeting Michael Folie mentioned that a couple of the items presented will concern notorious Australian loans. Here are a few more details:

In late 1974 Rex Connor was authorised by the Whitlam Cabinet to negotiate a US$4 billion petrodollar loan outside normal Treasury processes. Hear about Tirath Khemlani and the investigations undertaken by one our members.

In 1987 Alan Bond bought Channel Nine for $1.05 billion. According to Bond (1) ..” Kerry thumped the table and said, 'Listen, if you can pay me $1 billion, I'll sell ..., otherwise bugger off...' then I rang the National Australia Bank”. One of our members will take the story from there.

STORIES VOUCHED FOR

Our membership may include one or two dodgy characters but the veracity of their stories is beyond question and will be authenticated by the evidence they bring on December 2 to substantiate these and other tales.

Depending on health issues members Ian Hamilton and Neil Perry may bring their guitars to lead us in a festive sing-a-long, so please return the email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Monday, November 30th.

Come along to our December meeting on the 2^nd. Our meeting place will again be Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen St.

Ian Jelfs - 9598 1530, Bob Murray 9598 5698 or John Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, December 2. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO

(1) Alan Bond interview transcript from Enough Rope, ABC TV interview with Andrew Denton, 3 November 2003

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Wednesday November 4

Water - infrastructure and pipe dreams

Have we wasted money on the North-South pipeline and the desalination plant or not? Can desal water be pumped north cost effectively? Come along and hear the answers.

Nationals Leader and Deputy Opposition Leader in the Victorian Parliament, Peter Walsh MLA was Minister for Agriculture and Food Security and Minister for Water in the previous Coalition Governments for four years. He was a Boort irrigation farmer before entering Parliament in 2002. So he knows something about Melbourne and Victoria’s Water and Sewerage.

We have asked him to speak about the infrastructure needed and the reforms he envisages now after the experience and frustrations of his term in office. Our burgeoning population deserves considered capital expenditure to meet our water and sewerage needs.

Our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday November 4. Mr Walsh is a former director of SPC Ltd, a former President of the Victorian Farmers Federation and a board member of the National Farmers Federation. He is a marathon canoeist and is the Member for Murray Plains.

So come along to our November meeting on the 4th to hear him at Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen St.

But first let us know you are coming. Please if at all possible by return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Monday, November 2nd or call Ian Jelfs - 9598 1530, Bob Murray 9598 5698 or John Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, November 4. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO

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Wednesday October 7

“You know it makes sense...”

Sam Kekovich is a suave and sophisticated embodiment of modern 21^st Century values. He will bring to the Bookcellar penetrating analyses of philosophical, lifestyle and football trends with recommendations to uplift our national and personal games.

Known for his selfless dedication to the trade, local industry and employment aspirations of Meat and Livestock Australia, he was a renowned premiership ruck rover for the North Melbourne Football Club.

Slammin Sammy Kekovich started his AFL career with the Shinboners in 1968, and in the following year, won the club's best and fairest award, represented Victoria and was the club's top goalkicker, kicking 56 goals.

From that point, his brilliance was displayed only in flashes due to injury and other non-football activities, including soccer, trampolining, and posing naked in the "Truth" newspaper. However, he did play a major role in the club's breakthrough premiership win in 1975 under AFL great Ron Barassi. Sam holds the dubious honor of being North Melbourne's only player who was absent from the club's 1975 Premiership team photo.

Our speaker at the Bookcellar on Wednesday, October 7 is known for his direct-to-camera TV monologues, done deadpan perhaps most famously, encouraging people to act less 'unAustralian' on Australia Day by eating lamb.

So come along to our October meeting at 12:45pm on the 7th to hear Sam at Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen St.

But first let us know you are coming. Please if at all possible by return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Monday, October 5th, or call Ian Jelfs (9598 1530), Bob Murray (9598 5698) or John Foley (9866 685)

Bring along a friend at 12:45pm on Wednesday October 7th.

The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO.

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Wednesday September 2

Trams, Trains & Buses

Trip Advisor says Melbourne's Public Transport is efficient, inexpensive, safe and extensive. Free CBD tram travel seems successful.

So what are our priorities for Public Transport Victoria (PTV)’s development? What must happen first? Will we update train signalling, ensure buses connect, lengthen tram lines, add third express lines to the Frankston and Dandenong train lines or just add more equipment and services?

Our speaker at the Bookcellar on Wednesday, September 2 will be Mark Wild.

Mr Wild is Chief Executive Officer of PTV. He is an electrical engineer with an MBA and UK experience as a Managing Director in train control systems. So there’s no one better to ensure we know the facts behind and plans for:

Overcrowding on peak train and tram services;
MYKI and how on-the-spot penalties totalled $6.3m last year;
Coping with the Crush – CBD and Airport trips to treble by 2031 according to the Australian Infrastructure Audit Report;
Why 35% of Melbournians use public transport to get to work compared to 50% of Sydneysiders according to the State of Australian Cities Report and
What IBAC Commissioner Norman O’Bryan QC warned was poor supervision and a culture of expediency which allowed tender rigging to flourish.

So come along to our September meeting at 12:45pm on the 2nd to hear Mark at Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen St.

But first let us know you are coming. Please if at all possible by return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Monday, August 31st.

Please call Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530, Bob Murray 9598-5698 or John Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, September 2. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO

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Wednesday August 5

Australia and Soviet Jews

For thirty years Isi Leibler led a campaign based here in Australia to free Soviet Jews. Its success with the fall of Communism in 1989 led to the exodus of one million Jews from Russia to Israel - perhaps the largest brain drain in history.

Whenever we are inclined to think Australia doesn’t count or there aren’t enough of us to matter, maybe we should study this persistent operation and its results.

Our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday August 5 will be Sam Lipski.

Sam Lipski is an award-winning journalist who has written for The Australian, The Bulletin, the Jerusalem Post and the Washington Post, and was the Australian Jewish News’ Editor-in-Chief 1987-98. He was a TV news producer and commentator for the Nine Network and at the ABC he was executive producer of Four Corners and founding producer of This Day Tonight. He is currently chief executive of the Pratt Foundation.

Sam will speak about his book Let My People Go: The untold story of Australia and the Soviet Jews 1959 - 89 co-authored with Suzanne Rutland. He’ll answer your questions about this Melbourne-based episode of historic proportion.

So come along to our August meeting on the 5th to hear Sam at Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen St.

But first let us know you are coming. Please if at all possible by return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Monday, August 3rd

Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530; Bob Murray 9598-5698 orJohn Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, August 5. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO

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Wednesday July 1

Melbourne’s Future

When he’s not tweeting to boost our town our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday, July 1, Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, is wrestling with the issues of planning, major projects and operational challenges. But this gives him a unique perspective to brief Bookcellar members on what’s coming up in or city, in a talk on:

The Melbourne We're Building

The Western CBD now burgeons as Robert Hoddle may have envisaged. Our Yarra once again is an attractive feature and Fishermens Bend will extend the Docklands story. Migrants choose this town. Tourists flock to our sports, theatres, gardens and restaurants.

Our municipal leader knows a thing or two about politics and has a longstanding interest in health. 14 years in Parliament he was Leader of the Opposition for four years. He has served as our Lord Mayor for nearly seven years and been Chairman of Melbourne Health (The Royal Melbourne et al) for eight years.

If you want to know more about what’s coming up in Melbourne or just compare notes on managing Stephen Mayne, please return the email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Monday, June 29th.

So come along to our July meeting on the 1st to hear the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor at our venue: Our meeting place will again be Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen St.

Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530 Bob Murray 9598-5698 orJohn Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, July 1. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO

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Wednesday June 3

Pommy Pollies on View

Miliband? Sturgeon? Farage? Even David Cameron? Our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday, June 3, Sue Knopfelmacher, has not long returned from an extended stay in Britain and will give us an Australian-eye view on the big figures in the May election, how they presented (or were presented) to the public and how the public reacted.

Sue will discuss the media consumer's reactions rather than the high politics and also how it all compared with contemporary Australian politics and politicians, in a talk on:

Impressions of the UK and its Politicians

Sue is a veteran of curriculum design, staff learning and teaching in both the Victorian state and independent education systems and when she is not worrying about the world she teaches an "ideas and philosophy" extension at Presbyterian Ladies College in Melbourne. She has lived in the UK over the years, so has the feel of the place.

If you want to save an airfare but still know more about the atmosphere that surprisingly returned David Cameron to 10 Downing Street, please return the email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on June 1st.

So come along to our June meeting on the 3rd to hear Sue at our new venue: Our meeting place will again be Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen Streets.

Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530, Bob Murray 9598-5698 or John Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, June 3. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO.

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Wednesday May 6

Murder in Melbourne

There have always been murders in Melbourne. Most recently the Maitre d’ at our former venue, the Post Deng was detained and charged for the crime.

What is bizarre and tawdry is what happened in the first decade of this century.

Once upon a time in Melbourne there was a gigolo who thought he was a vampire. He bit the tongue off a prostitute and was then murdered in broad daylight on a suburban street. His execution, top brass believed, was organised by police. The aftershocks of this killing—and the murder of a state witness and his wife inside their fortress home—rocked the police force and the Parliament, vanquished one government and brought the next to its knees.

Our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday May 6 will be Liam Houlihan.

Liam is an award-winning journalist and former lawyer. He has reported from Singapore for underworld figure Mick Gatto's pursuit of missing Opes Prime money. He was the Sunday Herald Sun's crime reporter for five years from 2007 until 2011 during the rise and fall of police chiefs

Christine Nixon and Simon Overland. He is currently a News Editor at the Herald Sun.

Liam will speak about his fourth book, Once Upon a Time in Melbourne and answer your questions about Melbourne crime, our police force and crime reporting today.

So come along to our May meeting on the 6th to hear Liam at our New Venue: Our meeting place will again be Max on Hardware, 54 – 58 Hardware Lane. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale streets, up from Elizabeth towards Queen St.

Come along but first let us know you are coming.

Please if at all possible by return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Tuesday, May 5th or phone Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530, Bob Murray 9598-5698 orJohn Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, May 6. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO

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Wednesday April 1

A Turk at Gallipoli

What does a Turk think about Gallipoli in the centenary month of that fateful landing in the Dardenelles? To our allies it was about trying to shorten World War 1 by opening another front that could knock the Turkish Empire out of the War and give warm water sea access to Russia. To Australia it has been called a national baptism. But what about Turkey?

Our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday April 1 (no April fooling) will be distinguished Turkish-Australian, Dr John Basarin.

John’s father, a Turkish Army Officer took him to Gallipoli as a 10 year-old saying "son – this is where Turkey was born". He migrated to Australia in 1973 and after a career in chemical engineering was awarded a PhD in 2011 for his thesis on Anzac Day and Gallipoli.

So come along to our April meeting on the 1st to hear John at our new venue Max on Hardware (54 - 58 Hardware Lane). Exercise enthusiasts will be disappointed to learn the usual steep stairs and obstacle course is in the dustbin. Hardware Lane runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale Streets.

Medals may be worn.

Come along but first let us know you are coming to be more informed about Gallipoli and Turkey. Please return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Tuesday 31st March or phone Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530, Bob Murray 9598-5698 or

John Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, April 1. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies. BYO.

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Wednesday March 4

Moslems and Us

As we hear daily, Muslim communities in Australia and similar countries contain a violence-prone ultra -Islamist minority. What are the origins of this modern confrontation between Islam and the West? And are there elements in Islam generally which lead to problems? Our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday March 4 will be our member, Colin Macleod.

Colin graduated in 2010 with a late-life Bachelor of Theology degree on Islam, early Christianity, Islam and Aboriginal religion. His summing up this time will take us from the Fall of Constantinople via Salman Rushdie to Britain, France, Canada's and Tony Abbott's problems with Mecca.

So come along to our March meeting on the 4th to hear Colin. He will discuss:

‘Islam and the West’

Several of our members have lived in the Middle East and other Islamic countries. Their brief comments and questions will be welcomed to help throw more light on the thinking behind today’s challenges.

Our meeting place as usual is the Post Deng Restaurant (up those stairs to the first floor) at 214-216 Little Bourke Street. Shoes OK. Come along but first let us know you are coming to become more informed about Islam how Australia should treat it. Please return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Tuesday, March 3.

Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530

Bob Murray 9598-5698 or

John Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, March 4. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies.

March_15

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Wednesday February 4

Menzies at War

Prime Minister Bob Menzies took Australia into World War 11 and controversially headed the government in the early stages, now 75 years ago. Our speaker at the Book Cellar on Wednesday February 4 will be new historian of that controversial period, Anne Henderson.

With Menzies at War, Anne has followed up her biography of Menzies' predecessor, Joe Lyons, Joseph Lyons : the People's Prime Minister with Menzies at War, covering the story from 1939 to 1949 - painfully formative times for Menzies, who was to become our longest serving Prime Minister from 1949 – 1966.

So come along to our February meeting – our first for 2015 - on the 4th to hear Anne. She will discuss:

'Was Menzies a reactionary Anglophile or an Australian nationalist?'

And what does Anne make of David Day’s and the ABC TV program’s conspiracy theory that Ming tried to topple Churchill as British PM? Or the Judith Brett or Stuart Macintyre interpretations?

Our meeting place as usual is the Post Deng Restaurant (first floor) at 214-216 Little Bourke Street, just a block along from the old Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices behind the GPO where Menzies once had offices. Bring along your Pig Iron Bob campaign badges, Ming Dynasty thistles and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports regalia but first let us know you are coming to hear how responsible government should act. Please return email to thebookcellar1958@gmail.com before lunch on Tuesday, February 3.

Ian Jelfs - 9598-1530

Bob Murray 9598-5698 or

John Foley – 9866 6851

Bring along a friend at 12.45 pm Wednesday, February 4. The usual luncheon charge of $25 applies.

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