Women rush to join Brisbane’s Tattersall’s Club

The century old Tattersall’s Club in Brisbane voted to allow women members for the first time last year. So what impact are the ladies making so far?

FEMININE TOUCH

YOUR diarist this week popped into Tattersall’s, also known in some quarters as the Queen Street Workers’ Club, to see what horrors had unfolded since the recent decision to allow women to join the previously male-only bastion.

Expecting to see a giant portrait of Germaine Greer erected over the members’ bar or perhaps readings of feminist literature in the wine-tasting room, he was surprised to see changes had been de minimis.

Except for what could be described as pink-hued curtains in the billiards room, it was as if the revolution had never occurred. In fact, on the day he visited there were very few ladies in sight and an Anzac Day ceremony underway in the members’ dining room was basically wall-to-wall males. Despite that we hear the ladies are queuing up to join Tatts with 242 females signing up since February.

The Tattersalls Club voted to allow women members for the first time last year. Picture AAP/David Clark

IN THE SOUP

ONE chap who wears his feminist credentials on his sleeve is political hopeful and Rich Lister Clive Palmer, who was spotted at Tatts dining with a fellow chap of the rotund variety. Your diarist couldn’t get close enough to Clive to hear whether he was hatching a cunning plan for national political domination or merely in animated discussion about what to have for lunch.

The famous Tatts pea and ham soup.

City Beat would bet on the latter because there is always a mental battle amongst seasoned Tatts members about whether to have the lamb’s brains or the famous pea and ham soup for starters. Readers will, of course, recall the scandal that ensued last year when a decision was made to change the pea and ham soup recipe.

Clive Palmer is a regular at Tattersalls.

Our spies now tell us the controversy started when someone decided to use green split peas rather than the traditional brown variety. That not only turned the soup green, rather than a lovely Brisbane River brown, it also made it unpalatable to chaps used to the good stuff. City Beat can now reliably report the brown variety is back and it’s delicious.

COMPUTER SAYS NO

FROM the top end of town to struggle street and something really needs to be done about the Federal Government’s disgraceful MyGov site. An aged pensioner has contacted your diarist to complain that he risks missing out on his next payment because he has been unable to access MyGov and report other income. The problem is every time he tries to log in he gets a message that he is logged in on another device so cannot be granted access.

After several failed attempts last week, he was locked out for two hours. He was then texted a new code but when he put that in he was told it was incorrect. A couple of visits to the local Centrelink office has failed to rectify the problem.

It would be hard enough for able-bodied people to cope with this, but it must be nigh on impossible for the disabled and the elderly. Cleaning up this mess really needs to a priority of the incoming Federal Government, of whatever persuasion.

NEPAL BOUND

WE hear there was a good turnup at a business lunch yesterday hosted by Michael Johnson’s East Coast Forum. The aim of the event was to raise funds for Rachel Sakurai, executive general manager of Computershare in Queensland, who is trekking Nepal in the coming winter to raise funds for underprivileged Nepalese children.

The lunch featured a premium panel with four leading Brisbane business leaders - Bronwyn Morris, Sarah Szeljko. Lance Hockridge and Rick Dennis, who shared their knowledge and experience as professional company directors.

HAIRY ENCOUNTER

JOSEPH La Motta does a cracking haircut from a tiny barber shop at the top end of Adelaide St, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Tomaso and Giovanni who were also barbers. But having a small shop like Joseph’s means he can often miss passing trade especially if people waiting for a taxi or an Uber ride stand in front of his small shingle. City Beat spies noted Joseph has put up a little sign up politely telling people to stand away from shop if they are not queuing for a hair cut as he is losing income. Fair enough.