In this week’s column, car park capers at the ABC, more “big” names bandied about for FIVEaa gigs, embarrassing wind problems and we ask: isnt’ it iconic?

Unpave paradise

The ABC’s State Director, Sandra Winter-Dewhirst, has sealed the envelope and dropped off the resignation letter, ending a 24-year career at Aunty on Friday August 30th.

Sandra took on the job 10 years ago after the sad death of John Doherty, who was appointed in the tumultuous reign of ABC managing director Jonathan Shier.

In those days the job had input and control over editorial output, but a staff revolt put pay to the Shier “interference” – yes, only at the ABC.

The State director’s role was downgraded and became known around the national broadcaster’s Collinswood corridors as “officer-in-charge of car parks”.

Sandra had other ideas and set about pushing the ABC brand and taking up roles at the University of South Australia’s School of Communication, Information and New Media, University of Adelaide’s Media Advisory Board, the Guadagnini Violin Trustees, Country Arts SA and the Institute of Public Administration Australia.

As for possible replacements in the ambassadorial role, may we suggest weekend gardening show host Jon Lamb – he could turn the massive car park into a productive vege plot.

The princess and the pea

We’re not picking on Opposition frontbencher David Ridgway, we swear. It’s just that he keeps coming up with the most entertaining stuff.

Ridgway is chairing a parliamentary committee into wind farms and is a known opponent of the turbines, including repeatedly musing that “wind turbine syndrome” is like car sickness – some people get it, some people don’t.

He spent a night this week with other committee members sleeping in house at Waterloo that had been abandoned because of noise from the nearby turbines (see Tom Richardson’s entertaining take on the night’s activities).

So, how was it? Did he feel or hear anything?

“It was very windy [and] a fair bit of rain last night and I couldn’t really hear any distinctive noise that I could say was coming from the wind farm,” he told the ABC.

“At times we thought we could hear something when we were standing outside and I just spent the last hour or so lying in bed listening hard, but the wind is in the wrong direction so it’s blowing the wind away from us.”

To summarise: it was too windy to hear the wind from the wind farm.

Almost Tasmania

A couple of Adelaide “names” (celebrity just doesn’t cut it in our provincial city) are in the running for on-air gigs in a revamped FIVEaa breakfast show

The station has lost audience share in the key shift over the last twelve months, and industry veteran Keith Conlon had told station management in 2012 that this year would be his last.

The Outsider relayed the early whispers last week that Kevin Foley was one name to be bandied around; this week we can tell you that DMG Radio’s Sydney bosses have written two other names on the white board.

Top of the list is current Sunday Mail editor David Penberthy, who recently filled in for a couple of weeks and notably sliced and diced Education Department bureaucrat Keith Bartley on the recent school sex assault scandals.

Another regular relief broadcaster, lawyer Alex Ward, is also on the list.

Could either gentleman carry off their current full-time job and a brekky radio spot?

Would “Penbo” (note the similar moniker to radio legend “Pilko”) be able to stay awake for editorial conferences at News Ltd?

Penbo tells us: “I had a terrific time filling on FIVEaa and really loved working with Jane and was thrilled that they gave me the opportunity, but I am more than happy with my job and flat out anyway editing the Mail.”

The Outsider would like to see Penbo take the gig – and then interview the member for Adelaide, Kate Ellis (Mrs Penbo).

That would add further to Adelaide’s unique media and political diversity where ABC TV’s newsreader Mrs Harmsen throws to political reporter Mr Harmsen and Channel Ten’s newsreader Rebecca Morse throws to her hubby James Wakelin for the day’s political yarn.

Next thing you know a Cabinet minister will be shacked up with the Speaker … Hang on a minute.

Isn’t it iconic, don’t you think?

The word icon is derived from the Greek for image -ikon.

Icon is used in the English language to describe an image that represents or symbolises something.

A person or place that represents or symbolises something is known as iconic, having the qualities of an icon.

Just what then did Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis (InDaily’s most avid reader) mean when he referred to the empty plaza behind parliament house as “iconic”?

Adelaide, the city of empty paved areas?

Cultural cringe moment of the week

Julia Gillard is going to live in Adelaide.

Now we can look forward to years of this: “Spotted! Former PM Julia Gillard at Coles Unley!”