Cadelmania

SYDNEY City Council claimed the prize as the most shameless exploiter of Cadel Evans's stunning Tour de France win.

SYDNEY City Council claimed the prize as the most shameless exploiter of Cadel Evans's stunning Tour de France win on Monday, although it certainly had a fair bit of competition across the country.

The council has been in conflict with the state governments of Kristina Keneally and Barry O'Farrell about the College Street cycleway in the middle of the city, which has been blamed for holding up traffic. NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay has threatened to bulldoze the cycleway, claiming it's not widely used, but the council was set to hear a proposal from Liberal councillor Shayne Mallard last night that the offending cycleway have its named changed to the Cadel Evans Cycleway. The champion cyclist doesn't seem to have any apparent connection with Sydney, other than possibly touching down there when coming back from his home in Italy. The Sydney City Council is also going to award Cadel the freedom of the city, an honour in which he was immediately preceded by Lady Gaga.

Chantilly waste

ELSEWHERE in the country, Cadel's name and cycling feat became the metaphor de jure yesterday. Liberal senator Brett Mason asked a witness in a Senate committee hearing if imposing a carbon tax was like "cutting off Cadel Evans's leg", which led to groans all around. Further south the AFL leapt into action, with chief executive Andrew Demetriou saying he'd discussed with Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu how to involve our Cadel in the lead-in to the grand final. At least Cadel has a Victorian connection. The good folk at Equestrian Australia claimed that there was another Australian sporting triumph in France during the weekend beside our Cadel: "Australia's leading jumping rider Edwina Alexander won the Global Champions Tour of Chantilly". The Chantillian event might have been in the same country as the Tour de France, but not the same league.

Gee-up for GG

GOVERNOR-GENERAL Quentin Bryce generally casts her net wider in her public appearances than the tea, scones and country fairs favoured by most of her predecessors, but so far she has largely steered clear of horse studs. All that could change, however, with the appointment of former political staff member Di Buckley as her speechwriter. Buckley, who in addition to minding politicians and other corporate entities through the years has lived and worked in London, New York, The Hague, Hong Kong and Singapore, is also the author of Great Thoroughbred Studs of Australia. She has also contributed to a book on great, grand and famous hotels. Now that sounds more like your standard governor-general.

Mind the cats

US journalist Andrew Marantz of MotherJones.com provided some insight into how Indian call centre workers are trained to call Australia. He says they are trained to speak slowly when talking to Australians because Australians are dumb or drunk and that Australia is technologically backward, with most mobile phones no better than a Nokia 3110, a revelation that "drew scoffs from around the room". The instructor then warned that Australians drink constantly, "and don't attempt to make small talk with them about their pets, OK?". Presumably one of our fellow countrypersons bit the head off (figuratively speaking) a call centre worker who'd asked how their cat was.

Bidding for a star

CATE Blanchett has put herself up for auction, with a lunch with her being the main prize in an auction organised by the Salvation Army's Oasis Youth Support Networks to support their activities among homeless people. The Salvos' use of figures is dazzling -- the lunch at the two-hat Aria restaurant involves a five-star dining experience and a three-course meal. Or was it the other way around? You'd think that a theatre person would be alive to the irony of sitting around in a fancy restaurant to talk about the homeless, but it's all in a good cause, where the big end of town can indulge itself and at the same time get behind the other end.

Miner's might

THERE was a revealing insight into the debate in Australia over whether good agricultural land should be used for farming or mining on the weekend when Australia's oldest company, cattle producer the Australian Agriculture Company, sold for $21.6 million its Meteor Downs cattle station near Emerald in central Queensland to mining giant Xstrata. The 17,474ha property has two mines on site with another to come, but the old pastoral company wanted to use the land for cattle grazing. AACo chief David Farley says the company faced the prospect of three to five years in court battling Xstrata. "I don't think we could have expected a favourable outcome. Mining is worth a lot more to governments than agriculture is." If a giant company such as AACo, which has huge legal resources at its disposal, has trouble confronting the miners, what chance does the small family farm have?