Have they got the message yet?

 Late last year Whispers posted a video (below) of a US comedian who is a superb Barack Obama look-alike as he toured Kings Cross in support of attempts to revitalize the former nightclub area of Sydney.


Tonight Whispers had reason to visit the Cross after a small party in Dank Street. Dank Street in Waterloo is a sort of uber design area with million dollar apartments and oh-so-smart designer shops and is home to Luke Mangans latest restaurant Mojo. Pleasing to see that Mojo was filling up as we passed by but Kings Cross?. Dead as the proverbial Dodo. Even the strip joints are closing down. Coffee shops, small fast food outlets are screaming foul. As for cleaning up crime, Whispers was offered drugs twice on our stroll.

Boy Wonder enjoys a glass of wine-before midnight

On Facebook a post by respected art dealer Michael K. Carr drew ire. It was snap of a recent typical sunny Sydney day at the wondrous Boy Charlton Pool that nestles beside the harbour. The snap was of 2 policeman and Sydney's drug sniffer dogs that now invade everywhere and anywhere courtesy of former Labor premier Bob Carr who loved to govern via whatever edict came that week from Rupert Murdoch's downmarket tabloid The Daily Telegraph.
#Some posters say the snap was of dogs during a bomb search.
                  

It's Front Page news

Visiting our doctor in Oxford Street near Whitlam Square this morning brought the sight of even more empty shops, former bars & nightclubs.               

Never mind- you can still drink  24 hours at the glitzy Star Casino and also when the James Packer consortium finally opens the Barangaroo casino there will be no lockout laws and despite what Boy Wonder premier Mike Baird says (he reckons if you need a bottle of wine after midnight there is something strange about you) drinks will flow at all hours at Bangaroo,

further reading : # the screed by Matt Barrie that has ignited a seething undercurrent of furious Sydneysiders distraught at seeing their nightlife vanish overnight.
# The 'raid' by police on a small restaurant serving wine by the glass
# You can also read Boy Wonder's Facebook page defence of the Lock Out Laws- 8000 plus comments and they aren't complimentary. The campaign is just beginning!.

Fight Club Minefield

Finally the seriousness of the Bondi Bender is sinking in as it dawns upon the mainstream media just how serious the street brawl between two Australian corporate giants  is and why it's a little more than a disagreement between pals.
Malcolm Farr in the Telegraph was the first to point out the obvious : James Packer has just been awarded the opportunity to make a fortune with his proposed casino complex at Barangaroo with relaxed licensing laws. This opportunity was given him by former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell who dramatically resigned a few weeks ago after mis-leading the ICAC. O'Farrell had also just legislated tough new laws with stiff penalties for street brawling after several deaths and restricted alcohol sales in Kings Cross while also announcing that Packer's Barangaroo casino would be able to operate 24 hours 7 days a week.
Yesterday the police have gone from "not investigating" to now calling for witnesses to the dust-up. Trials are under way in the UK with numerous News Ltd employees accused of hacking mobile phones with serious questions about 'fitness' to run broadcasting networks. David Gyngell heads the Nine Network that ironically, was once owned by James Packer.
How could it have come to this : 2 men who have been life long friends- as were their fathers Kerry Packer and Bruce Gyngell- now find themselves on the front pages for all the wrong reasons?
Waverley Police are now calling for witnesses to come forward, If the 2 fighters were to be charged - as law experts now say could happen-that also brings into question the payment for photos of the affair. 

One Punch Laws, a Billionaire and the Media Mogul

Lost in the media's salivating over the street punch up between friends James Packer and his former Nine Network pal David Gyngell is the fact that both could be charged under NSW's heavy new "one punch" legislation introduced by the recently retired NSW premier Barry O'Farrell who was also instrumental in paving the way for Packer to build a multi-million dollar hotel and casino complex at Barangaroo.

Instead Australia's media have overlooked this important factor and despite the fact neither were apparently intoxicated, the legislation is squareky aimed at those who brawl in the streets. Both Gyngell and Packer have been life long friends- Packer was best man at Gyngell's wedding and visa versa. Meanwhile pundits have been excitedly fronting cameras in a reporting frenzy over the sale of a by-stander's snaps of the bust up and the fact they were purchased by News Ltd for a reputed $200,000 even while Packer pal Lachlan Murdoch visited James at his Bondi residence today. Not one has mentioned the new laws on street fights and the fact both could be charged with affray. This is a serious matter. According to witnesses both were throwing heavy punches : Packer is around 6'4" and a slip or fall during a fight could easily do him serious damage. Nor does the fact they are friends exempt them form the law particularly as the fight was witnessed by numerous by-standers and security men had to pull them apart.
What message will be sent to the public if two of Australia's senior businessmen can freely battle in the street ?
How on earth can the NSW government justify it's oppressive 'one punch' legislation and the fact James Packer has almost carte blanche with lax licensing hours with his proposed new casino when Kings Cross club & pub owners have been hit by laws restricting their hours?
The history of street punch ups has been tragic in Sydney with a number of distressing deaths in recent years and they weren't all strangers  as this recent example shows.
Being Sydney & NSW- once described as "the Chicago of the Southern hemisphere" with it's woeful history of official corruption since inception of the colony, the 'sweeping under the carpet' mode was immediately in full flight with both protagonists issuing gushing press releases and declaring undying support for each other.
It remains to be seen if the law is impartial in this case.
# James Packer's grandfather Sir Frank Packer was known for his fisticuffs and street fights with rival publishers and was once NSW Heavyweight boxing champ.
## The battling duo were mismatched : Packer is a billionaire, Gyngell a mere multi-millionaire.
### View the "$200K" fight snaps here.

Distant Love

Gorgeous Miranda Kerr was out and about this week in New York where she lives. You can see her in this lovely picture spread in the UK Daily Mail.
But alas, no James Packer by her side. Packer is in China and Sri Lanka for a week but will be back in Sydney in the next few days to oversee the continuing construction on his mega new home in Vaucluse and for business meetings about the proposed Barangaroo casino.
What an odd affair they seem to be having -so many thousands of miles separating this love-struck pair and Miranda still seeing her ex Orlando Bloom on a daily basis. Meanwhile James is confiding in his new (well relatively- 10 months) 'personal assistant' who hails from the land of Wendi Deng.
Perhaps James & Miranda are having a modern style of affair- one of the mind. Sounds just like a dream.

Move over James Packer

While it's all over bar the shouting with James Packer's proposed $1.1B casino for high rollers at Barangaroo getting the go-ahead, he will have fierce competition in Cairns.

the proposed Barangaroo Packer Casino and hotel...  and Tony Fung's proposed Acquis Resort in Cairns

Chinese tycoon Tony Fung wants to build a A$4.4 billion casino and resort in Cairns,

James Packer                   Tony Fung

close to the Great Barrier Reef, which is bound to  accelerate competition in the country's gambling and tourism market particularly the fierce attempts to lure 'whales', the high spenders.

The Queensland state government announced two weeks ago that Fung's casino proposal was declared a "coordinated project", the first step in the government's approval process.
"Basically it's declared a coordinated project because of the size and complexity of it," a spokesman for the Queensland state government told Reuters. "It's the first step in a comprehensive assessment of the approval process. The proponent has to prepare an environmental impact statement."
 The Aquis Resort at the Great Barrier Reef has a targeted opening of 2018 and is said will create 26,700 jobs when fully operational, according to information on Aquis' website. The resort is also set to include 13,500 square metres of high-end retail and two 2,500-seat theatres.
Fung, a Hong Kong based private investment banker and investor, has homes in Queensland including a house in the Noosa Hinterland. His private businesses include a cattle farm and wagyu beef breeding business and a sugar cane plantation.