Author Archives: Ernest Zanatta

I like a good cargo cult. Last April, at the time of the sad demise of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, I wrote at length about how he had his own cargo cult in Vanuatu, The Prince Philip Movement, which worshipped him as a god. (I do hope that they have chosen one of …

Continue reading “Contemporary Cargo Cults in the Pacific”

The above image was the Commonwealth Bank’s mascot back in the 1980s, when I first seriously engaged with them as a customer as a teenager. I think I took out a term deposit with a 13.75% interest rate in 1982. Back then, I think we saw our banks, particularly our local branches, as trusted partners …

Continue reading “The Elephant in the Heavily Mortgaged Room – More Thoughts on Home Affordability”

The cliche we know as the ‘Great Australian Dream’ is not new, nor original to Australia. Captain John Truslow Adams popularised a similar but not original idea in 1931 as the ‘American Dream’, which then became aggrandised. And even before such ideas of mundane, suburban, petit bourgeois prosperity and moderate affluence became clearly defined, we …

Continue reading “When Does The Suburban Dream Become A Nightmare? Reflections On Home Ownership”

Not too many Australian beer companies are owned by Australians. Broo, the publicly listed micro-brewery, is the exception that empathically proves the rule. You can’t own shares in Fosters (aka Carlton & United) or Lion Nathan (aka Tooheys) anymore unless you buy shares in Asahi or Kirin on the Tokyo stock exchange, and where is …

Continue reading “Broo’s Ballarat Land Sale Sunk By Red Tape”

What was it that the shade of Achilles said when Odysseus met him in Hell (or Hades if you prefer) on the latter’s long journey home to Ithaca? It was something along the lines of much preferring to be a day labourer in the world than a prince in Hell. Well, I am an office …

Continue reading “Allegro Non Troppo Part 3: Posh People With Very Deep Pockets”

A friend of mine read my posting about the rise of independents like Allegra Spender, and immediately sent me a detailed text with her thoughts. She is obviously not as generous as I am about posh patricians like Allegra Spender. I must say that her words have resonance with me, given that the involvement of …

Continue reading “Allegro Non Troppo Part Two: The Hegemony Of The Posh People”

I heard John Spender QC speak once. It was July 1989 and the topic was the Tiananmen Square Massacre which had happened weeks earlier. I am not sure whether he was shadow foreign affairs minister at the time, but that was a portfolio which he had held recently. He impressed me as well-informed, intelligent, articulate, …

Continue reading “Allegro Non Troppo: What Happens When The Posh People Turn Against Their Party”

Saw the above campaign poster on a wall just off Military Road last night. Much as some might find it reassuring to think that our rather inauthentic local federal MP loves Avondale Heights (read the small print in the bottom right hand corner), one of my friends suggested that this is a good reason for …

Continue reading “A Good Reason To Leave Avondale Heights?!?”

I usually only actively practice my Catholicism once a year or so – I sometimes attend the Italian service of the Stations of the Cross at the local Catholic Church in the evening of Good Friday. Last night, I chose not to do so, as it was dark and gloomy at 7.30pm. But I did …

Continue reading “McDonalds now has competition on Good Friday”

I am not really into attending the ballet or opera or such high culture – my main interest in the performing arts is watching Shakespeare and other great plays live. However, when out for a walk yesterday, I noticed a huge banner in the front window of the local pizza joint promoting a tour which …

Continue reading “Shen Yun Dance Company is touring Australia”