Get over it

Sophie Mirabella

TONY Blair continues to grant audiences paying $1000 a head the pleasure of his company and, after knocking off Brisbane and Melbourne, yesterday it was Sydney's turn to host the former British prime minister for lunch.

Blair sat at a table with former Australian PM Bob Hawke and, when Blair rose to speak, he paid gushing tribute to Hawke, claiming that Bob's counsel had been invaluable in his early years in politics, although Hawkie was long gone from office when Blair become opposition leader in Britain. But Blair said that Hawke circa 2011 looked great, sounded great, and asked what his secret was. Even though he's 80, Hawkie didn't hesitate. "Sex," he replied, maintaining his now-regular practice of boasting about his sex life. His wife, the lovely Blanche D'Alpuget, was not present, leading some to wonder if she was resting up.

Tiny heckler

LIBERAL Party shadow minister Sophie Mirabella joined an indignant crowd at Shepparton in rural Victoria on Thursday who were all upset at the threat to the region of imported New Zealand apples. But it seems that her three-year-old daughter Katerina didn't think much of Mum's speech and was keen to get hold of the microphone herself. Mirabella, who's obviously had far more desperate hecklers, hung on for grim life. Incidentally, those New Zealand apples are indeed a real threat; check out the green legs on the one on the far right of the picture.

IGA puts boot in

QUEENSLANDERS love their giant objects on the side of main roads, with constructions such as the Big Cane Toad, the Big Bull and the Big Captain Cook all occupying prime position along the Bruce Highway. Thus there was considerable community distress in the north Queensland town of Tully when Cyclone Yasi swept through earlier this year and damaged the Big Gumboot, a 7.9m high fibreglass structure with a spiral staircase leading to a viewing platform on top of the boot. But the recovery effort has swept into action and yesterday Queensland Premier Anna Bligh accepted a cheque from IGA Tully for $20,000 repair work for the boot, which will be matched by the government. "Normally we don't say thanks for putting the boot in, but on this occasion IGA is to be praised," Bligh said. But some big things are struggling in the tough tourism market, with the Big Pineapple at Nambour still to find a buyer after the previous owners had to call in the receivers. Maybe if they had a cyclone damage it they could get help from the Bligh government and IGA.

House comes down

THURSDAY night's performance of the old classic Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney brought the house down, but probably not in the manner the director would have intended. At a point in the show when the set of the Banks family home was supposed to be dropped on to the stage, the house came down with more of a forceful thud than a Poppinsesque flutter to earth, damaging set equipment and bringing the production to a dramatic halt. The audience was then told to wait in the lobby while repairs were made for about 15 minutes. After the musical resumed there was another problem discovered with the sets rotator, which led to an announcement that the performance would be cancelled. Refunds or tickets to an alternative performance were offered. With tickets costing about $110 each, and with many grumpy and disappointed children in tow, some parents were heard uttering a quiet supercalifragilisticexpiali- docious, or maybe something a little stronger.

Gone for cover

THE Age has made much this week of the book written about former Victorian police chief Christine Nixon by one of its journalists, Jo Chandler. But yesterday's coverage failed to make any mention of Chandler. The paper ran excerpts from the book on Thursday but not yesterday. What have they got to hide?

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