Economy down, drink up

FOR a dedicated teetotaller, George W. Bush sure knows how to treat guests who like a glass or three of vino with their tucker.

FOR a dedicated teetotaller, George W. Bush sure knows how to treat guests who like a glass or three of vino with their tucker. At the dinner he and wife, Laura, hosted at the White House for the G20 summit leaders at the weekend, George served a Shafer Cabernet Hillside Select 2003: an American wine that retails for about $US500 ($770) a bottle.

Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for Laura Bush, says the dinner included dishes such as fruitwood-smoked quail, thyme-roasted rack of lamb with tomato and fennel, and eggplant fondue. While the pricey wine may seem a bit over the top in times of global financial meltdown, McDonough says it was the most appropriate drop in the White House cellar for such a gathering. "Of course the White House gets its wine at wholesale prices," she says. "Given the intimate size of the group, it was an appropriate time for the White House to use this stock."

Passport to hell

QUEENSLAND academic Torstein Hundloe is experiencing one of those bureaucratic nightmares familiar to almost everyone whose name is not Smith or Jones. Attempting last week to obtain a new passport so he could fly to New Zealand, Hundloe was knocked back because an unknown public servant had typed his father Arne Hundloe's name on his birth certificate as Hunloe. But after getting the birth certificate corrected, the professor emeritus at the University of Queensland's environmental management school was told he had to pay an extra $139, as a waterlogged passport he had previously surrendered was officially listed as being "lost at Iran embassy". At close of business on Friday, Hundloe and the Brisbane passport office were standing toe to toe waiting for someone to blink. The battle will resume this morning.From GG to Flying Docs

RECENTLY retired governor-general Mike Jeffery has been appointed as chairman of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, succeeding former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer. Fischer is about to depart our shores to take up his new post as the inaugural Australian ambassador to the Holy See in Rome. Yesterday the Flying Docs' chief executive Nigel Milan welcomed the old soldier's appointment. "General Jeffery has an exemplary track record of national service and leadership, both as a soldier and as a civilian," Milan says. "His leadership skills are unquestionable, as is his longstanding support for the Royal Flying Doctor Service."

Hugh by the Hudson

WHOEVER advises actor Hugh Jackman on real estate purchases deserves a bonus payment from the bloke who will walk down the red carpet with Nicole Kidman at the glitzy premiere of Baz Luhrmann's movie Australia in Sydney tomorrow night. American billionaire Bill Joy, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, decided earlier this year to put his flash Manhattan condominium on the market. Spread over three floors, with five bedrooms and views of New York's Hudson River, Joy reckoned his pad was worth a cool $US40 million ($61.9 million). After getting no offers and as the US stock market dived, Joy cut the price to $US25 million. Last week Jackman paid $US21 million. Clearly, working in an industry where box-office revenues seem immune from global financial strife makes it possible to pounce on a bargain.

Moved to tiers

THOSE curmudgeonly souls who feel one tier of government could be stripped from the Australian political system should avoid Canberra today. As well as all those well-paid members and senators, more than 550 city and town mayors will converge on the national capital for the first Council of Australian Local Government meeting. The two-day talkfest at Parliament House will feature Kevin Rudd - fresh from his foray among G20 leaders in Washington, DC - as its premier guest. The meeting will focus on infrastructure needs and the challenges facing cities, which should give about 500 of the mayors time to do a bit of shopping. Senior ministers including Deputy PM Julia Gillard, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong will also be there.

Every bat's a critic

LOUIS Armstrong, Mantovani and Patsy Cline have proved more than a match for a mob of screeching flying foxes that made life hell for residents of Queensland's Darling Downs for years. Allora resident Val Ireland started blasting high-volume Satchmo at the more than 14,000 bats that kept her awake for three years, to get them to move. "I rousted out a couple of my own and then another resident brought up a Mantovani, so we had a bit of variety," Ireland says. "We did get a very good response, it was really effective. We haven't had a bat in here since." The flying foxes have relocated 500m down the road, out of screeching range.