I’m sure, like me, you have election overload … it’s a bit like watching too much Master Chef … painful feelings of acute indigestion. It may be some time before we sense the impact of both state and council elections on the Sunshine Coast, but massive change has clearly been the order of the day.

At the state level, Labor had stopped listening to the electorate – ignoring the howls of outrage over the sale of state assets- the ‘family silver’ – and numerous stuff-ups from computer glitches in the state hospitals payroll system to the $16m health fraud.

Labor ignored the Coast for other reasons, not the least of which was that they had no parliamentary representation here. So resident voices were ignored over the Traveston Dam fiasco, several reforms including water, affordable housing, local government and planning acts, and the intervention of the Urban Land Development Authority into major planning developments such as Caloundra South. As Mayor Bob Abbot said with some passion in this magazine in March, “what we got was four years of absolute chaos at all levels.”

So, now that the LNP holds the reins in George Street, is the Coast likely to get a better deal? You would certainly hope so. The chopping of the Premier’s Literary Awards was miserly and a bad early sign for a region like ours that has strong artistic and creative drivers.

However, there are now a couple of LNP ministers on the Coast, with Maleny-based Andrew Powell a good listener, and having an office in the right place for looking after the Hinterland environment.

The new local government minister is David Crisafulli, who was a TV journalist and deputy mayor of Townsville. Hopefully, he is sensitive to the uneasy relationship between council and state better than Labor’s Desley Boyle or Paul Lucas, neither of whom grappled with the issues during their time with the local government portfolio.

The Hinterland Times asked the new minister to respond to Bob Abbot’s comment that, “the government needs to treat the councils in a different way.”

“The Newman Government will return power to your community,” Mr Crisafulli said, “by giving Sunshine Coast Regional Council the freedom to act with authority and effectively serve their ratepayers. This government recognises that councils are the officials closest to Queensland communities, and have the local experience that is necessary to provide local solutions. They are best placed to provide the most practical and appropriate services to meet the needs of their ratepayers.”

Mr Crisafulli also acknowledged that amalgamations had been forced on council under Labor and there had been no funds or resources to manage the process. He said the new Boundaries Commissioner would examine all issues raised by the amalgamations, particularly here on the Sunshine Coast.

Mr Chrisfulli did not refer to specific local issues raised by the Hinterland Times, particularly who will control planning, but he said that, “Local problems are often best solved by local solutions, and we want councils to have the freedom to provide them. That’s our commitment to communities and the people who lead them.”

On the local level, our new mayor, Mark Jamieson impressed on a number of levels during his campaign, particulary his preparedness to tackle a bloated bureaucracy, an issue that’s on everyone’s lips. Meet the candidates nights all contained questions from residents about a Council administration that appears to have a will of its own.

The Hinterland Times spoke to a number of business people over this issue and one particular businessman employing 30 people on the Range told us that,

“the vision of the leaders is great. No problem with that. It’s the application of policy and how long it takes to get something achieved that is basically simple. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost the Australian can do approach. These days it’s can’t do because of potential litigation. The administration won’t give a clear decisive rule about what you can and can’t do. There’s too much grey. They keep moving the goal posts. I’m quite ropeable about it.”

We’ve all been ropeable… now for the future.

Michael Berry

Jacinta Vock’s photograph (above) was selected as one of 22 photos displayed in Perth and London in The Royal Commonwealth Society ‘Women as Agents of Change’ Photography Competition and published in a journal for the Commonwealth.

The letter from the Royal Commonwealth Society informing Jacinta of her selection highlighted the significance of her achievement. “This is a huge achievement. We received hundreds of entries from young aspiring and professional photographers from every corner of the Commonwealth and just 22 photos have been chosen for exhibition. The standard of entry is always extremely high and entrants competed with their peers from 46 countries. Congratulations!”

Rhondda was producing a series of 19th century look- alike images for Porters Paints, the renowned national maker of traditional, water-based paint finishes.

Rhondda worked with Helen King from Classic Country Living in Maleny, the local distributor for Porters Paints.

Rhondda’s concept for the shoot was a dream sequence where a ballerina was dreaming while flying a kite and was hit with a creativity bolt of lightening. In her dream, she realises that everything she needs to be creative lives in Helen’s shop.

One of the limited edition images will be auctioned to support Jessica’s US trip fund- raiser. Auction date to be announced shortly.

Dianne Cannon is rather different … apart from having a natural fibre clothing shop in Maleny called Rather Bizr… she is a committed alternate … a label first used in the 1960s to describe mainly young people who rejected conventional lives in favour of alternative options. Of course, many people from the 60s and 70s came to lead conventional lives, but not Dianne. Twenty-two years after setting up Rather Bizr in the main street of Maleny, she is still there, and still planning alternative ways of living and doing business. Dianne spoke with HT editor Michael Berry.

“I started putting in White Cloud products which now runs the Tree of Life shops around Australia. It just worked, and I was able to get fabrics that I couldn’t get in Australia… beautiful fabrics from India – rayons, silk and cottons and exotic velvets in colours of the rainbow. Their style of clothing is centuries old, from an industry that’s been there forever and Australia just didn’t have those skills of embroidery. There was a gap here for those people who wanted to dress in alternative ways – reflecting their individuality with flair ,colour and artistically designed fabrics that flowed with feeling and the exoticness of the east, shawls and scarves in exquisite designs.

It was a special time. For example, when the Maleny Folk festival came to town (1987-93), from the counter down to the end of the shop, you couldn’t see daylight. It was quite scary and exciting at the same time, there were so many people here the energy was peaceful and loving.”

One of Dianne’s innate skills is knowing what suits a person in terms of colour and design for their clothes.

“I guess I am a feeler. I can look at someone and really know what their colour is and what is going to bring them out. It’s what brings customers back too. I’ve had customers that have been with me forever.”

Dianne spotted the growing interest in natural fibres more than ten years ago. Hemp, bamboo and tree pulp were slowly making inroads and it was a trend that fitted with her alternate approach to business.

“I knew that every marketing seminar I had ever been to asked what is your point of difference.” She says with enthusiasm. “I asked myself, is there a market for what you’re doing in town? A couple of new Indian clothes shops had come in and I realised that I had to drop what I was doing and move into these new natural fibre and very basic products, she adds.”

When hemp clothing first came on the scene the fabric wasn’t well manufactured, and it was a controversial new product because of its link to marijuana. Politicians even had to change the rules in parliament to allow hemp to be grown here for fabric. However, Dianne persisted with the few manufacturers using hemp, bamboo and wood fibres. This was to be her new point of difference – all-natural products.

“I don’t like the shops that produce racks and racks of the same clothes all over Australia. Fortunately, most of the people that come in here think the same way and they are looking for something different.

“My view is that you should buy the natural product because it makes you feel good. Clothing is all about what feels good to wear. Also, hemp, bamboo and wood pulp don’t use the amount of sprays and water that cotton needs for example. I am very conscious that we have to consider our environment out there.”

For the past ten years at least, Dianne’s commitment to natural products has created a special niche. She has stuck with a few loyal suppliers who have also matured with the natural products, offering a broader range of designs and colours in reliable fabrics. When you ask Dianne for her secret to success she returns to her baseline – being different and taking the alternative route, it is essential for small business to have a point of difference.

“I still see myself as alternate. I like people dressing to express who they are and I probably don’t fit into the everyday square, but I am always sorting and looking for something that’s different, that’s eco friendly.”

“I originally embraced being alternate because everything about it made sense to me … alternative medicines, food, spiritualism … anything that gave me answers to being different. Spiritually, I accept no labels but I believe there is a higher self out there. I thank spirit every day for everything that comes my way and I just make sure every day to try and have empathy, compassion and spiritualism in my world.”

Ever the restless and creative spirit, Dianne is embarking on another project from her 30 acre property in Conondale. Twenty-eight years ago she was manufacturing clothes under her own clothing label – gooloo – which means where you find something special. Now she is creating another label.

“ I have just had samples made with someone who makes quality clothing in the Eumundi area. I can also get access to reliable quantities of wood pulp, bamboo and hemp fabrics. They’re dearer, like everything else about manufacturing in Australia, but I am trying to keep costs down so it’s still a viable market.

“I will have only clothes for women at first – in beechwood, tree pulp fibre, organic cotton and bamboo – new styles for the fuller figure that isn’t catered for at the moment. So, I am looking at the points of difference without getting lost in small ranges and selective colours.

“I want to keep this new venture simple, small and controllable. It will be mainly on-line so I could see myself moving out of the shop while maintaining my passion for design and for clothing that is alternate. I also want to put more time into my sculptures I have so much to explore there.

As I said at the beginning, Dianne Cannon is rather different. in the Hinterland Times Ph: 54 999 049

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Geoff is a lifelong surfer who owns his own surfboard company, Free Fluid, and he sponsors local kids by giving them top quality Australian- made boards worth $600 to $1400. He also sponsors a Sydney surfer now living on the coast, David Wilkinson, who receives a new board each year.

“I’ve probably given 30 kids their first board,” says Geoff. “If they ever talk to me and say they want to start surfing, I’ve usually got something in the shed that’s just sitting there doing nothing. Most people remember their first surfboard, like their first car.”

Geoff gets a kick out of knowing his boards are being ridden by a new generation of surfers, but there’s another reason for his philanthropy.

“Maybe some kids weren’t born as lucky as what I was,” he says. “I had a really generous father who looked after me, especially with surfboards, and it’s something that carries on. Not everybody has $600 to throw towards a board for their kid, especially in these times. A lot of them are single parent kids. If the kid needs a board and is keen, I throw him a board.”

Year 9 Maleny High student, Tully McLaughlin- McLeish, 14, started surfing lessons through the River School when he was in Year 7, and now surfs regularly.

“Geoff found out about us doing surfing and he called and asked if I wanted a board,” says Tully. “I probably wouldn’t have kept surfing if it wasn’t for Geoff. It’s a great rush when you go down a wave and you turn for the first time, or you wipe out for the first time.”

While Geoff isn’t a licensed surfing instructor, he’ll give his time freely to help a new surfer get on their feet.

“I’ve taken some out and shown them a few things,” says Geoff. “I show them basic things about paddling out, how to cuff your hands, that sort of stuff.”

Year 10 Maleny High student, Josh Campbell, 14 began surfing in August last year, when Geoff gave him a board.

“Geoff took me, Bradley and Tully one time when we first started,” says Josh. “He got a long board for us. We were surfing little waves and then we just went by ourselves and did it. He was really good, he just explained it really well and every time I didn’t get it, he told me what I did wrong, and next time I did it.

“I like that surfing is a sport where no one tells you how to do it, you just do it however you want. It’s fun, you’re at the beach and it’s awesome, and you learn a lot of things, like how the sea works and how you have to know what waves to catch without falling off.”

The parents of Geoff’s protégés also speak highly of him.

“He has a really big heart,” says Jenny Bernasconi Donoghoe, mother of Maleny High student Ruby Donoghoe who has also received a board from Geoff. “The way he mentors those kids, it’s just beautiful.”

The youngest recipient of a Free Fluid board is six-year-old Maleny boy Jasper McLeish, who was keen to hit the waves on his bright red board within days of receiving it. Geoff has already promised to take Jasper out for a surf to get him started.

Originally from Sydney, Geoff began surfing in 1958 at the age of seven, and has been a mad surfer and collector of surfing paraphernalia ever since. He has 400 surfing films dating back to the 1960s, and a collection of around 100 vintage surfboards. Some are on show at surf shops on the coast, some at his Caloundra beach shack, and the rest stored at his Reeseville home.

Geoff registered Free Fluid in 2005, and decided to make retro-style boards with twin and single fins and Malibus, which are manufactured at Black Widow Surfboards in Warana.

“In the 60s and 70s you were judged by what type of board you rode,” says Geoff. I rode for Brian Jackson of Cronulla. In those days you had some pride in what you had under your arm. I’m disappointed in the quality of boards these days, and I’m of the opinion that 90 percent of people are on the wrong equipment. Not everyone has the ability of Kelly Slater, and they tend to ride those types of boards.

“Everybody has a different opinion on surfboards, but my advice would be to just go out and enjoy yourself. The main thingis to ride the wave and not the board.”

Geoff mows more lawns than he catches waves these days, but he’s never bored and seems content with his lot.

“Surfing has taught me to be patient, because you’re always waiting for the perfect wave or the perfect day. ”

For more information on Free Fluid Surfboards, call Geoff on (07) 5494 3154.

Last year Greg was a finalist in the national 3D Noosa Travelling Scholarship with his kinetic sculpture, Flight of a Course. This year, as Greg told HT editor Michael Berry, his main entry is an in-your-face, cutting edge graphic outburst that highlights his growing concern with the conflict between the environment and large-scale mining.

Greg Windsor doesn’t stand idle when confronted by big challenges of our time, whether it’s coal exports and coal seam gas exploration, ruination of the Great Barrier Reef, genetically-modified food, or failure to protect our water supply. You name it and his sculptures and paintings often burst with violent energy and outrage at the political world around him.

Recently he confronted Campbell Newman on the Nambour election campaign trail …challenging the premier’s clean coal policy by thrusting a chunk of coal in his face and asking how he proposed to clean it.

“I feel strongly about this,” says Greg, an articulate American, now a resident of the Obi Obi valley for eight years. “We are the citizens of this planet and we should start speaking loudly about the decisions being taken on

our behalf. Do we want to continue shipping out the increasing and outrageous amounts of coal? Because if we dig it up, are we not responsible for those who burn it? Or is it only about our economic gain?”

When he is not assembling his social statements in wood and metal or wiffle balls and cornflakes, Greg is a supply teacher at Sunshine Coast high schools.

Greg worries about the environmental directions of his adopted country because of the children he teaches. It’s a sensitive issue in itself … teaching young minds about art and society … not telling them what to think, but getting them to ponder political and commercial policies that may be putting their futures at risk.

One particular project he is pleased with is The Juggler, a giant, welded steel, brass and wood sculpture that now sits proudly at the Burnside State High School

“The Juggler was a collaborative effort between myself and students with experience in both metal and woodworking. We continuously discussed ideas and direction throughout the artistic process and it eventually became a speaking point for alternative energy, with symbols that refer to peak oil, wind power and other issues concerning kids.”

Soon after completing The Juggler Greg was ‘tickled pink’ to find out he was one of 40 national finalists to be

exhibited at the Noosa Regional Gallery last year with his piece “Flight of a Course.” (see far right).

The most important topic for me is alternative energy sources because I find as an artist and a sculptor I am interested in physical balance. For example, when you put six feathers on one side of a bird and six feathers on the other side, essentially you have symmetrical balance. Now, I am interested in what happens when you put seven feathers on one side of the bird and five feathers on the other – you get asymmetrical balance and things become more dynamic. I don’t have a degree in physics,” he says with a smile, “but I am interested in the way that science can benefit sculpture kinetically through balance and imbalance.

“So duality is a big key part of my work,” adds Greg. “When I take a stance I ask what is the other side. So, if I am right, who is wrong? If I am partial to something, I ask what is the other option that I have. But then again imbalance makes life more interesting because symmetry is boring,” he adds with a laugh.

Greg’s provocative entry into this year’s $15,000 Noosa [Now called] ‘Sunshine Coast Art Prize 3D’ is called Coltrane’s Jive. It’s a bizarre, medieval-looking, war weapon with a huge box of coal, a catapult and, if you look carefully, the skeletal head of a rodent.

“The catapult was the first war machine,” says Greg. “ I have tried to fuse together the catapult and coal as ancient symbols, and yet this is also a contemporary challenge.

I consider the government’s exploitation of coal as violent behaviour. If we go down this path, it is destructive… we’re talking about potential catastrophic disaster.”

As he says in his artist’s statement to this year’s Noosa judges:

“Coltrane’s Jive” signifies power and violence, a single-minded machine, crude and unvarnished, offered up as the saviour of Australia’s failing economy… As an environmental activist and artist my work is self-consciously orientated towards commentary upon the tragic and wholly preventable social and ecological crisis into which we are heading.”

Does Greg have any illusions that his provocative artistic sculptures change people’s thinking? It’s not a question he need answer because there’s no other way this artist can work … the medium becomes his various thought-provoking messages.

“How can you stand idle as an artist?” he asks with rising passion in his voice. “We have the potential to be the mouthpiece as conveyors of important messages of our times. As an educator, I am trying to teach kids about lateral thinking and renewable energy, but how can I do that if we are now proposing to quadruple the amount of coal we export…”

He’s quick to praise the intellectual, high value content of school art curriculums in Queensland, but he says the kids who energise him out of school time are the ones he sees ‘falling through the cracks.’

“ I want to reach those who are not engaged because they lack self confidence, self esteem, self efficacy. Those are the kids who need a little bit of – ‘hey it’s OK to fail.’

“I had a kid who came into an art class and said, I just failed. In an art class you never fail. You develop skills and you tap into your own abilities, and from that nobody fails. Failure only occurs when we stop trying.”

Failure to try is why Greg got involved with SCAIP (Sunshine Coast Art Industry Precinct), a public place that encourages grassroots kids to come in and connect to art, music, and community. “It isn’t a “big (high-brow ) hoity toity gallery,” says Greg, “but a gallery accessible to these kids.

Greg is also a contributor to NAMTEC, the youth development centre servicing the Sunshine Coast.

NAMTEC offers free or subsidised programs and services for young people aged between 12 and 24. He has also volunteered for Nambour’s Men’s Shed …”where the older blokes can share their career experience and wealth of knowledge”, he says.

Greg Windsor’s concern for his environment continues to shape his art. But equally as creative for this passionate sculptor is stimulating young minds to consider their future world and how they may help to shape it.

Linsey is also an accomplished musician and musical instrument maker, having for over 35 years designed wind instruments, specialising in woodwind instruments from Eastern Europe.

He is in demand at festivals around the world, which he combines with touring solo shows extensively through Europe, North America and Asia.

With his partner, Jess Ainsworth, Linsey recently moved to Maleny to become emersed in the local creative scene and rekindle long-term friendships. Linsey and Jess spoke with Julie Shelton.

Like many musical people Linsey and Jess like to interact with kindred spirits and their recent move from Kin Kin was as much about getting closer to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland creative community as it was about easier accessibility to Brisbane.

“We’ve been together 26 years,” says Linsey, 19 of were in Kin Kin. It was great to be near Jess’s sons and more recently

“I’m lucky in that I make a living doing what I love doing, and it’s the same for Jess.

Retiring is not on the horizon – I’ll be playing music until I drop dead!”

to be close to our grandchildren. “However during those 19 years we only went to

Brisbane three times to see shows because the four hour round trip made it unattractive. Now we can drive home in just over an hour.”

Adds Jess, “Linsey could live anywhere – for most of his work he travels and he can compose anywhere – but Maleny’s greater accessibility to the airport was an attraction for us. And we’ve got a lot of friends here and at Crystal Waters, mainly because of the Woodford Folk Festival.”

Maleny can feel lucky it has attracted someone of Linsey’s national and international calibre. He adds another thread to the rich tapestry of a creative Hinterland, something Linsey values for past and future collaborations.

“We both have known for a long time that Maleny is a really creative community with a lot of like-minded people who share similar ideas, similar ethics and philosophies. When I’ve done shows in Maleny they’ve always been really well attended and the local community seems to respond very strongly to my style of presentation.

“Being amongst like-minds is important, in that we can share aspects of culture that are important to us. But it’s actually not so important for project collaboration, as that doesn’t necessarily need close geographic proximity. For example, at the moment I’m working on two major collaborative projects with people from Brazil and Montreal, and the other with seven artists from around Australia.”

Linsey is looking forward to local collaborations too. In fact since moving here he has already started rehearsing a new band with Fatima, a local musician. “It’s great being near old friends such as Steve, Fatima,

Jacinta and Tunji Beier, with whom I’ve been performing for 16 years, and who lives at Mapleton.”

Through the 80s Jess and Linsey often performed together with regular gigs at the Maleny Folk Festival. These days they move down different paths with Jess committed to teaching massage.

“I don’t perform with Linsey now, however, I’m away almost as much as Linsey, teaching massage at a massage training Institute in Kin Kin – I’m passionate about Ka Huna massage and its healing effects on the body, mind and spirit.”

With several musical projects always on the go at any given time, moving house had to be woven into Linsey’s frenetic schedule, which included long-standing commitments to his latest major project – an international collaboration that takes him beyond music and audio trickery and into multi-media.

“It’s all happened quickly, even though we have known for a while that we wanted to move,” explains Linsey.

“Before we sold our place in Kin Kin, I’d set up a project with an Australian friend, Mark Bromilow, who has directed a lot of my solo shows.

“Just after we moved to Maleny, Mark arrived with the video artist from Montreal to work together on the project for nearly three weeks.

“Then in November we are all going over to Montreal for the third stage of development. It’s a show called ‘This Little Life’, a multimedia project where we create a live film on stage and the audience is watching the film being created in real time. We use tiny little figures on a tiny little stage and I’m doing the music live with tiny instruments and an iPad.”

One of the attractions for Jess and Linsey of the move to Maleny is downsizing to a more manageable block.

“One of my passions is gardening,” says Jess. “We had five acres at Kin Kin where we created an oasis – we planted 9,000 trees and had lots of bamboo to look after. So we’re looking forward to downsizing to half an acre – this block is much more manageable. We love the fact that it’s small and that it’s very private.”

For Linsey, though, travelling and making music is what makes him tick … and what rejuvenates him.

“I travel a total of 3-4 months of the year but the maximum amount of time away in one stint is usually no more than two weeks. In April, however, I was away for a few weeks firstly in Canberra performing at the National Folk Festival, then over to Western Australia for the Fairbridge Folk Festival, and up to Geraldton for a community project called ‘Make Some Noise’. In May both Jess and I will be on Magnetic Island for a Music Camp where I am running some workshops.

“When I go on tour, that’s often more like a holiday because I’m just doing one thing with maybe one show a day and the rest of the day free.

“At home, though there is never any downtime – there probably should be! But in fact it’s always “play”. – I’m lucky in that I make a living doing what I love doing, and it’s the same for Jess.” Retiring is not on the horizon – I’ll be playing music until I drop dead!”

RAWHINIA AND ASTAR CASTLE are not only identical twin girls but they have identical musical talents.

These highly motivated and attractive teenagers are the youngest violinists in the Queensland Youth Orchestra (QYO2), and can count internationally renowned violinist, Nigel Kennedy as one of their friends.

The girls and their single mum, Katusha, spoke to HT Editor from their home in Conondale.

NOW I have to say, at the outset, that I was never quite sure whether I was talking to Rawhinia or Astar. It was also unnerving that each girl had the uncanny knack of finishing perfectly the other one’s sentences. (To help you out reading this story, Astar is in the pink top.)

“We heard Nigel Kennedy play ‘The Four Seasons’ when we were very little,” said Astar with remarkable poise for a 13 year-old. “We both knew right there and then that we wanted to play the violin, so we started saving, even though we were only two and a half years old. We finally bought our first violins when we were six.”

Katusha, the twins’ mother, has always given the girls her whole-hearted support for their musical aspirations. While she loves to listen to the girls play, she is not musical herself but recalls with a deep sigh the girls’ first response to the sound of a violin.

“When the girls were just two and half and they said they wanted a violin I laughed at them not taking them seriously. But every birthday and Christmas after that they saved.”

Being interested in early childhood herself, Katusha was quick to spot academic intelligence in her twin girls. They were quick to read, and before they were four they had already worked their way through the Enid Blyton library. They also have photographic memories – an ideal asset for learning music.

When they were about eight years old British violin virtuoso, Nigel Kennedy visited Brisbane and the twins wrote to him hoping to meet him.

“We got tickets to Kennedy’s concert,” said Astar, “and he invited us to come back stage after the concert. We cheekily asked him to sign our three quarter violins, and he did!”

“He quite liked their quirky sense of humour,” said Katusha with a sense of pride. “So now, whenever he comes to Australia he will ring the girls and ask them to come to his performances, and his private parties … which are just for him, his band and his friends… very late nights, but what an honour!”

“He came out again in 2010 and we went to one of his parties,” said Astar, “and that’s when he asked us to play for him.” “… Yes but at 1.30am in the morning!” laughed Rawhinia.

Katusha recalls Kennedy was very impressed with the way the girls worked with each other, without either of them realising that’s what they were doing. He has asked the girls to keep in contact with him as they progress, and wants to meet privately with them if they ever go to Europe, in fact Kennedy said “a trip to

Europe would be an asset to the twins musical education”. For the past four years the twins have had private

lessons with Adam Piechocinski, a local Woombye based violin teacher, originally from Poland.

With so much music practice, it was the girls who suggested home schooling to their mother. They do their lessons from Conondale through phone and internet conferencing, and they get to see school friends on open days at Brisbane School of Distance Education.

“I got involved last year in the Home Education System, when I wrote the girls school program for Years 8 and 9.

I found that because they have a very high IQ it was hard for me to keep up with them. They are now in Year 9 at BSDE. They’re doing Year 10 science and a very advanced level of maths. In English I decided to keep Astar and Rawhinia in Year 9 so that they wouldn’t finish high school too early. Otherwise they will be too young to move on to university.”

The girls are just as advanced with their music. They are already at Grade 7 AMEB level but their teacher doesn’t want them to sit their exam until they acquire new violins. The entire family… mother, grandmother and the twins… when their tight schedule permits, are street busking, playing at weddings or baking biscuits for local events, to raise the $10,000 needed for two quality European violins.

Astar and Rawhinia have set up a fundraising account at the Maleny Credit Union for anyone who would like to contribute to their violin quest. (See end of story).

Not surprisingly, Astar and Rawhinia want a professional career in music. They are already the youngest violinists in the Queensland Youth Orchestra 2. Next step though is university. As if their timetable isn’t full enough, the twins have also started a four year business degree which they are hoping to complete by the time they are in Year 12.

“We want to go to the conservatorium,” adds Astar, “but we’re not sure which one, whether it will be Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. “

While professional violinists are rare, Katusha is conscious that her daughters have special talents, quite apart from their looks and their youthful passion to succeed.

When the Castle twins are not playing the violin they are sitting at the piano, playing the guitar, the clarinet, the flute, or composing violin pieces.

“I am very fortunate to be constantly surrounded by beautiful live music,” said Katusha with a satisfied smile. “I have these wonderful passionate musicians that I hear every day, so I count my blessings”.

Lend your support to help these extraodinarily talented locals girls become future world renowned performers…fundraising account to raise money for two violins for Rawhinia and Astar Castle:

Maleny Credit Union BSB: 704-606 Acc. No: 200101553 A & R Castle

THE ART OF FIELDING is a debut novel by American author Chad Harbach which has attracted astonishing plaudits

from far and wide. Chad (pictured below left), will be in Maleny, and in conversation with local author Steven Lang for the latest Outspoken event at the Maleny RSL Hall on Tuesday May 22 at 6pm.

Steven says of Chad and The Art of Fielding: “The Art of Fielding is a book about baseball in the way that Moby Dick is a book about whales …

Mr Harbach is that rare sort of writer who can transcend the limits of genre and produce a novel that is, above all, immensely entertaining, but also full of insight, pathos, drama; populated by rich characters for whom, as readers, we hold hopes and fears.”

The Outspoken evening will begin with a short talk/reading from Benjamin Law. Ben is a Brisbane-based writer and a frequent contributor to frankie, The Monthly, Good Weekend and Qweekend.

His essays have been anthologised in The Best Australian Essays twice, and his debut book The Family Law (2010) was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the Australian Book

Industry Awards (ABIAs). Here are a couple of the quotes about The Art of Fielding: ‘Reading The Art of Fielding is like watching a hugely gifted young shortstop: you keep waiting for the errors, but there are no errors. First novels this complete and consuming come along very, very seldom.’

Jonathan Franzen

‘The Art of Fielding is one of those rare novels that seems to appear out of nowhere, and then dazzles and bewitches and inspires, until you nearly lose your breath from the enjoyment and satisfaction, as well as the unexpected news-blast that the novel is very much alive and well.’

James Patterson

Outspoken is a series of conversations with Australian and international writers and is an initiative of the Maleny Community Centre, Steven Lang and Chris Francis.

www.outspokenmaleny.com.au

Tuesday May 22, 6.00 pm. Maleny RSL Hall. Tickets $12/$8. Maleny Bookshop 5494 3666

Big Bob will have his work cut out as Queensland has had the biggest shake-up of mayoral positions in history, with 65 per cent of the state’s mayors (43) replaced by newcomers.

About half of the state’s 73 mayors have no background in local government.

Queensland Local Government Minister David Crisafulli says it will be a fresh start for many councils.

“In many cases councils have been battered and bruised in recent years,” he said.

So, good luck Bob and farewell!

Mayor of Sunshine Coast Council: 2008 – 2012