The 9pm Shire

Cronulla seen from North Cronulla Beach: click to embiggen

Australia’s treasurer Joe Hockey exudes love and understanding. We take the train to Cronulla to find out exactly what makes this southern Sydney suburb so great. And there are shellfish, damn fine shellfish.

Back from hiatus thanks to your support, this episode of The 9pm Edict heads south to the Sutherland Shire to follow up the words of our Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison, as quoted in The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader in March:

“I get so much encouragement when I walk through Cronulla mall, go down the beach, or up to Miranda Fair… On Australia Day we were at the fireworks at Cronulla and I was walking through the crowd and people were coming up to me to say ‘g’day’ and encourage me and congratulate me on what we had done so far, and basically saying ‘keep giving it to ’em and don’t back down’.”

He said residents weren’t against immigration or asylum-seekers but wanted a process that was done “the right way”.

But there’s much more, including observations about the films The Princess Bride and Solaris. For some reason.

You can listen to the podcast below. But if you want all of the episodes, now and in the future, if you subscribe to the podcast feed, or subscribe automatically in iTunes, or go to SoundCloud.

Thank You

The 9pm Edict has been made possible thanks to the generosity of its supporters. This month, it’s a big thank-you these 54 kind souls.

Supporters who are LAYING DOWN A CASE: Reselsnark. Thank you very much, Sir.

QUALITY CHAMPAGNE Supporters: Christopher Neugebauer, Leanne O’Donnell, Nicholas Fryer, Timothy Davis, and one who wishes to remain anonymous.

TRIPLE SHOT Supporters: PointZeroOne, John Lindsay, Geoff Lloyd, Andrew Kennedy, Firstdog Onthemoon, David Heath, Rohan Pearce, Chrissie M, Alison Young.

Continuing CHEEKY RED Supporters: Paul McEwan, Benno Rice, Garth Kidd, Eric Rose, Chris Hill, Syl Mobile, Robyn Parker, Dave Hall, Sean Richmond, Peter Lawler, and two who choose to remain anonymous.

CLEANSKIN Supporters: Paul Williams, Tony Barnes, and one who chooses to remain anonymous.

Continuing SCHOONER Supporters: Wade Bowmer, Rhydwyn, William Southers, Scott Swabey, Jonathan Ferguson, Iain Triffitt, Katrina Szetey, Byorgen Druffeldroff, Ric Hayman.

MIDDY Supporters: Peter Viertel.

Continuing FLAT WHITE Supporters: Marcus Westbury, Ginevra Makes, Mat Farrington, Ross Poulton, Leesa Watego, Robert Abbey, Nick Andrew, Dave Singer, deejbah, and Matta.

And of course I’d like to thank the four supporters who wish for no reward at all. Thank you everyone.

[Credits: Photograph: Cronulla seen from North Cronulla Beach, taken by Stilgherrian on 5 May 2014. The 9pm Edict theme by mansardian, Edict fanfare by neonaeon, all from The Freesound Project. Joe Hockey interview by by Alan Jones and 2GB, 2 May 2014. Kentucky and Texas soundbites from BBC World Service Assignment. Photograph of Stilgherrian taken 29 March 2009 by misswired, used by permission.]

3 Replies to “The 9pm Shire”

  1. Thank you for the 9pm Edict – the Shire edition

    It seems an interesting experiment: to try and capture the essence of a place in a podcast, and I appreciate your conclusion. When we used to live in Sydney I never took to ‘the Shire’. I’ve found it hard to identify why that was, although I think some of what I didn’t like was captured in your recording. It seems to have a ‘country town’ mentality and embodied the ‘negative’ connotations that phrase can bring to mind. A place which yearns for the ‘old times’ and carries with it a dislike of the new, particularly new people. I do have to admit though: hearing about the muscles served at the pub made me rather hungry 🙂

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