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| Southern Highlands' fans: Miriam Margolyes,Nicole & Keith,Leo DiCaprio, Lady Renouf,Lord McAlpine. Arnie |
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| James Fairfax |
The
Southern Highlands is undoubtedly the most beautiful and desirable country property in Australia
. It's green gentle rolling hills, just a 2 hour drive from Sydney are home to numerous celebrities like
Harry Potter star
Miriam Margolyes, superstar
Nicole Kidman and
Keith Urban who call the former Governor's retreat Bunya Hill their country base,
Fairfax publishing scion
James Fairfax along with numerous Eastern Suburb's residents who have hobby farms there. The late UK
Conservative Party heavyweight
Lord McAlpine called the Shire home as did the late
Lady Renouf for some years and even the ex-California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a representative to look for a suitable property while last year film heartthrob
Leo DiCaprio declared it was his favourite spot in all the world.
Three years ago publisher
Jane King decided the local newspaper scene needed a bit of shake-up, moved there with her family and produced a
Southern Highland's version of her Eastern Suburbs free newspaper
LatteLife. Her son
Cristian King who manages the three King newspapers took on the job of reporting on local council affairs and was soon ruffling some very important feathers out of their complacent stupor.
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| Bunya Hill |
But a few weeks ago Latte Life's advertisers found an anonymous old-style
Poison Pen Letter landing on their doorsteps alleging all sorts of scurrilous goings-on. To show there were no hard feelings all the advertisers decided to step up their support for the newspaper and many delivered the letters to the local cop shop. Now the
Australian Federal Police has stepped in to forensically examine the offending missives.
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| Cristian King |
Meanwhile manager Christian King- defending himself -succeeded in having an attempted
Apprehended Violence Order from a local councilor thrown out of court and is also suing a councilor for defamation.
And to show
he has no hard feelings, Cristian has now put himself up for election in the
Wingecarribee Shire Council which if successful could see him as Australia's youngest Councilor. Ex-Wingecarribee Mayor
Julie Arkright has stepped into the breach to take over Cristian's council reporting.
I'm told the local coffee shoppes and pubs are abuzz with chat on the matters with many viewing it as the most exciting series of events to have happened in the area in decades!
# Whispers occasionally does some work for LatteLife Newspapers.
