Top cop out of aces, asks ‘What about me?’

After roughly a year of negotiations, setbacks and controversy, the question of where South Australia’s police horses will land finally looks settled on Gepps Cross.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens seems to have accepted that he’s played all his cards and, no matter how much the Mounted Operations Unit protests about being forced 10km north, the move is happening.

“I share their frustration that the horses are being moved out of the CBD – it’s not our preferred outcome,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide on Wednesday

“But there was a decision of the government not to pursue a park lands option… so we are now moving to the option that’s been provided to us by government – that’s Gepps Cross.”

The peculiar saga (cops usually get their way with SA governments) has left the Police Commissioner in a somewhat musical mood.

ABC presenter Stacey Lee asked Stevens whether he complained to the Premier when the State Government purchased the former West End brewery site and earmarked it for housing. SA Police had previously nominated the site for a new barracks.

“Maybe that Talking Heads song ‘What About Me’ popped in my head,” Stevens quipped, presumably referring to the 1982 hit from Moving Pictures later covered by Shannon Noll.

Regular ABC listeners should, however, be thankful that Stevens did not offer to perform his own cover.

A video of the top cop’s singing prowess surfaced on X this week from, of all places, Labor backbencher Tung Ngo’s X account:

Police Commissioner, Grant Steven audition of “The Gambler” at the SA Federation of Chinese organisations from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. pic.twitter.com/y1Efnjl6Hc

— Tung Ngo (@tungMLC) October 8, 2023

We’ll leave the last word with former Labor Minister Pat Conlon, who replied: “I think he has invented a new species of criminal offence.”

Luxury retail pop-up for Rundle Mall this Christmas

A Louis Vuitton pop-up will open in Adelaide Central Plaza from today and will trade until December 28, just in time for Christmas shopping.

As reported by the Australian Financial Review, securing the French fashion house is part of larger luxury retail plans for rich lister Shaun Bonett’s Precision Group which will spend $125 million on attracting major brands to Adelaide Central Plaza.

Bonett told the AFR he wanted to secure Louis Vuitton as a permanent tenant in the future, and said Adelaide was “the last developed city of the world that does not have a Louis Vuitton store”.

The Precision Group founder said he would invest $125 million over the next three years to “create the first dedicated luxury shopping precinct in Adelaide’s CBD”.

The AFR said Bonnet would draw upon an existing relationship with luxury giant LVMH to bring more major brands to Adelaide Central Plaza which would join Tiffany & Co and TAG Heuer in the retail centre.

Whatever they do, InSider reckons they need Frank (below).

The return of the king

Sometimes InSider worries that Adelaide will never change, and then is glad that Adelaide will never change. Thanks to u/LittleZackBackup on Reddit for this affirmation.

And for u/rushworld for the suggestion: “The Rebel escalator and store could be the new “Whispering Wall”. You have Frank at one end and the entire Rebel store at the other end. Tourists will flock from around the globe to experience this auditory phenomenon.”

Frank Ratta is an institution and a damn good Elvis impersonator too. 

NoLo is no go

The best commentary was reserved for the worst “wines” at last week’s Royal Aelaide Wine Show, with Chair of Judges PJ Charteris blasting the whole low or no alcohol (NoLo) scene.

“I was fortunate, or unfortunate enough, to judge the first low or no alcohol wine show in Sydney last year – it’s like ‘Apocalypse Now’ without the war,” he told the lunch of winemakers and industry players.

“We could only find about four bronze medals, at best maybe six,” he said of the entries in the prestigious Adelaide show.

“I’m kinda perplexed about the apparent excitement around this category.

“I don’t know if it’s a kind of a drumming up exercise or not, but the overriding summation is one of the Frankenstein-like nature to these wines. They’ve been pulled apart and reassembled with bits not quite in the right place.

“I understand that technology might help us get to it, but I can’t help but think that a ‘drink less and drink better’ position might be a better way.”

PJ recommends enjoying the outstanding Reisling and Sémillon he judged at the show instead.

Stuff you should know

In the lead up to Global Handwashing Day, 15 October 2023, the Food Safety Information Council today released research showing men still lag behind women in hygiene.

Lydia Buchtmann, the council’s communication director, said the consumer research continues to show men were less likely than women to always wash their hands after going to the toilet (79 per cent of men versus 86 per cent of women) and before touching food (62 per cent of men versus 70 per cent of women).

Young people were less likely than older age groups to always wash their hands after going to the toilet (76 per cent under 34 years versus 89 per cent over 65 years) but ages made little difference when washing hands before touching food (67 per cent under 34 versus 66 per cent over 65).

“For the first time this year we asked cat owners whether they washed their hands after cleaning out cat litter trays with 88 per cent of female cat owners and 80 per cent of male cat owners saying they always did,” Buchtmann said.

She said that it’s important to scrub after this chore because faeces can pass on the infective stage of Toxoplasma parasites if cats are fed raw red meat or eat wildlife.

“This can be particularly risky for pregnant women and their unborn babies,” she warned.

“Don’t clean out litter trays if you are pregnant but do make sure they are emptied daily.”