Moreton Bay Menace

Nothing is ever cheap in the Eastern Suburbs,as private girls school Ascham discovered in dealing with an arboreal hazard in the form of a Moreton Bay fig at the centre of its grounds near Edgecliff Station on New South Head Road.

The cost to cull the tree is a predicted $100,750 hit to the school’s bottom line.

Ascham counts luminaries including philanthropistGretel Packer,fashion designerBianca Spender and media proprietorMia Freedman among its alumni and reported $55 million of gross income in its latest annual report to the charity regulator,so it can probably afford it.

But trees at the school have caused problems before,with Ascham removing two figs in 2015 after an arborist found there was a risk that branches could drop on students and teachers.

This time,an arborist’s report said the fig was in a “reduced state of health” despite attempts to nurse it and branches could fail.

The fig’s ailments could just be a factor of time:a school-commissioned report suggests it could be 120 years old and perhaps predate the school’s occupation of the site.

Obviously,a falling branch would be a terrible shame at any school,but you can imagine the sort of outcry it would prompt at a place where CBD haspreviously reported on a WhatsApp group to give voice to the trials and tribulations of school life. You remember - the discussions about the “hard bits” at the end of school socks and the appropriate age to stop cutting your offspring’s cherry tomatoes?

It will be up to the good people of Woollahra Council to assess the school’s application to take out the tree.

Everyone’s a Winner

Tuesday saw a heartwarming feat of democracy,union-style,at the Australian Council of Trade Unions triennial conference. All candidates for positions on the ACTU executive were elected unopposed.

The peak union body’s truncated triennial conference had been set to hear from Australian of the YearGrace Tameand Labor leaderAnthony Albanesebefore comrades were forced to downsize. Curse you,coronavirus.

Essential business still went ahead,with secretarySally McManusand presidentMichele O’Neilre-elected to their posts via Zoom.

The technology worked fine for the most part,although a few camera mishaps cut into the speaking time of Maritime Union of Australia secretaryPaddy Crumlin,who quipped that hearing less of him “would’ve kept a few people happy”.

About three dozen union officials were elected to the ACTU’s main decision-making body,including retail union bossGerard Dwyer, who kept his post of senior vice-president.

On preliminary figures,23 men and 13 women were elected.

But that won’t be the end of it,thanks to the ACTU’s unusual approach to satisfying its affirmative action rule that requires 50 per cent of its executive seats to be held by women.

Rather than force any male union boss to miss out,the ACTU allocates additional seats to women officials until the 50 per cent requirement is fulfilled. Everyone’s a winner,baby.

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