Daily Archives: March 21, 2015

A beaten Malcolm Fraser leaves the Liberal function late on election right. Photo: C. McKinnon

Whatever you thought of his politics and his seminal role in the vice regal dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government almost 40 years ago, John Malcolm Fraser was, above all else, a genuine liberal in the best sense of the word. Thus he goes to his grave appalled, surely, by the oafs, boofheads and lesser ninnies that not only control the Liberal Party and conservative politics in this country these days, but take their disgrace to the summit of running Australia too.

How could it have come to this, J.M. Fraser must have wondered, constantly, in more recent years, as political behaviour, state and federal, from top to bottom, in our parliaments and out, and right across the three major parties in our democracy, became uglier, greedier, less inclusive, less civil, less caring, more irresponsible, more ill-mannered, more shrill, more ratbag, and wholly more venal, indeed blighted in any and every way you care to look at what is happening to national political life in this country?

This is not to pretend Fraser was a saint. He never got over losing his trousers in Memphis all those years ago after losing government to the Hawke Labor onslaught in 1983. And political opponents like Labor’s Peter Walsh, another flawed man of the land (wheat) like Fraser (beef cattle), pursued the then prime minister’s supposed gaucheries quite mercilessly through Senate questions on notice in the late 1970s and early ’80s that, for whatever reason, never seemed to get answered. And while some in Labor will never forgive the often socially awkward if hard-nosed Fraser of the 1960s and ’70s for what happened on November 11, 1975, Gough Whitlam certainly did in later life. Whitlam and the opponent he flayed on the front steps of old ParLiament House as “Kerr’s cur” that white hot November day, not only reconciled in the 1990s but became friends who shared a deep mutual respect on many issues, not least their detestation of John Howard.

Even Paul Keating, another flawed pillar of the recent political past and one who forever “hates Tories”, could not have been more plain speakingly generous in his unqualified tributes when he learned of Fraser’s death on Friday. Keating’s statement of eulogy is all class.

Which is a aeons distant from what can be said of John Howard and the federal Liberal Party and its national organisational cronies under Howard’s leadership in the 1990s and 2000s. He, it and they shunned Fraser utterly, right up and beyond the day voters rid us of Howard’s government in November, 2007 as well as disposing of the Toad himself. And let me remind you that the only time Malcolm and Tamie Fraser were ever asked back to the Lodge after Fraser lost office in 1983 was when the Keating-appointed Sir William Deane ended his five-year appointment as Governor-General and asked John and Janette Howard to include the Frasers in the afternoon tea the Howards hosted for the Deanes the June day in 2001 that Bill Deane’s appointment ended.

Deane recognised Fraser’s deep contribution to Australian life, most particularly the ethos of multiculturalism, and ensured the Frasers understood he did so.

source:smh.com.au

Bill Lark of Hobart’s Lark Distillery. Photo: Peter Mathew

When it comes to the world of whisky, Tasmania is rapidly defining itself as a global leader.

At the World Whisky Awards held overnight in London, the Sullivans Cove distillery was named Craft Distiller of the Year, and for the third consecutive year was also pronounced Australia’s best single malt whisky.

Tasmania’s Sullivans Cove is named Craft Distiller of the Year.

In addition, local legend Bill Lark – the man behind another leading Tasmanian whisky producer, Lark Distillery – was inducted into the Whisky Hall of Fame for his services to the industry.

The latest round of recognition follows last year’s defining victory, when Sullivans Cove’s French Oak variety was named the world’s best single malt. This year, that title went to a distiller from Taiwan, Kavalan Vinho Barrique.

Being named the world’s top craft distiller is a handy consolation prize, says Sullivans Cove marketing manager Bert Cason. “It’s pretty awesome when you consider the many thousands of craft distillers across the globe,” he says.

Finely crafted

Visitors to the distillery might be sorely disappointed if they are expecting a bucolic experience to match the quality of the whisky. A staff of 10 produces the coveted drop from a concrete shed in an industrial estate close to Hobart’s airport. Neighbours include an auto-scrapyard, a metal fabricator, and a manufacturer of electrical cables.

“There’s absolutely nothing romantic about it,” admits the distillery’s founder Patrick Maguire. “There are no pretty little creeks, or rustic stone buildings. But it’s what comes out of the place that is important.”

The Lark Distillery, five minutes up the road from Sullivans Cove, is similarly functional, operating out of a tin shed plonked in a paddock beside a winery. It was founder Bill Lark who in 1992 resurrected the Tasmanian distillery industry after it had been dormant since the early 1900s.

“That’s a major gong for Tasmanian and Australian whisky,” says Maguire in tribute to his neighbour’s induction into the Hall of Fame.

Legendary Lark

At one time more than a century ago there had been eight distilleries in the Hobart area. Lark lobbied to have laws amended to allow the legal distilling of spirits to recommence. With his wife Lyn, Lark began experimenting with making whisky at their kitchen table. His friend Maguire would go around and lend a hand, which is how he became interested in the craft himself.

“We go back a hell of a long way,” says Maguire. “We may be business rivals but we’re also great mates. I’ll go to their bar and tell them their whisky is s–t, and they’ll laugh at me and tell me that mine is, too. We like taking the piss out of each other.”

Both men were instrumental in establishing the Tasmanian Whisky Producers’ Association almost five years ago. Maguire was the first president.

Tasmanian tigers

There are now about 10 whisky distilleries operating in Tasmania including Overeem, Hellyers Road, Heartwood, Redlands, Belgrove, Trapper’s Hut, and William McHenry and Sons.

The burgeoning industry is even attracting ‘whisky tourists’, keen to take one of the many whisky tours on offer.

So what’s the secret? How is this small island creating some of the most celebrated whisky on the planet?

Executive Style caught up with Bill Lark while he was in London to receive his award to ask him.

“We’re using a traditional brewing barley locally grown in Tasmania,” says Lark. “It doesn’t give us the same high yield of alcohol as a distilling barley used in other parts of the world, but what it does is bring to our whisky a richness of malt and flavour.”

Lark also says the climate is conducive to whisky production.

“We enjoy great seasonal variation and diurnal changes in temperatures which really aids the maturation process, and as any distiller will tell you, 60 per cent of the character of any whisky comes from the time it spends in the barrel.

“I’d also like to think some of the success is owed to the dedication of those who are making whisky in Tasmania, and are very passionate about producing a high quality product.”

source:smh.com.au