Margot Giblin
I might have missed something but it seemed that even Aldermen Ruzicka and Freeman were as one on this. Could the very thought of overseas travel do the mind expanding trick?
LAST Monday night the Hobart City Council considered the motion to pursue a new sister city relationship with Fuzhou city in Fujian Province, China, because the Premier Paul Lennon asked them to on 27 September 2006.
A visit to said city by at least two conscientious aldermen would be required. The proposal was that they go in mid 2007, immediately after dropping in on our present sister city, Yaizu in Japan. Well they do lie in the same direction.
The cost for the trip to Yaizu, (given the thumbs up in the previous motion), is approx. $8,593 per person for a 3 to 5 day trip. That same motion called for expressions of interest from members of the community for self funded involvement in the delegation. The purpose of the trip is to celebrate the 30 years Hobart has been Yaizu’s sister.
Of Hobart — Yaizu sisterhood.
There was some discussion in support of Fuzhou, in China, now joining the family, hinging on those things she has in common with Hobart. Size seemed important.
Lord Mayor Rob Valentine ventured, sort of, maybe, and in a stream of possibly conscious argument, a query on the timing of the trip. Wouldn’t it perhaps, he wondered, tentatively, gently, almost, be better to alternate trips to this potential new sister with trips to the one we already have.
This, he mused, could be at two, or then again it could be two and a half, yearly intervals rather than, as the motion stood, visiting them both in late May or early June next year and then again, he presumed, in five years time.
Had the man’s antennae frizzled? With every alderman present murmuring ‘Yaizu, Fuzhou’, on the brink of harmonious accord was he going to, sort of, poke a playdough spanner in the works? With petty questions about how often trips should occur? The man’s a worry.
It was carefully explained, again, that the timing was to do with really important celebrations in Yaizu, coupled with the visit from the Governor of Fujian Province to Hobart later this year. It would be good to re-connect while faces were still remembered.
All aldermen now seemed supportive of the motion, even though they wouldn’t all be required to go. In fact it looked as if some of the more likely candidates (Zucco and Briscoe were originally nominated) may be just too busy to consider it. However, the general idea held strong appeal.
I might have missed something but it seemed that even Aldermen Ruzicka and Freeman were as one on this. Could the very thought of overseas travel do the mind expanding trick?
Rarely one to be totally compliant Alderman Freeman, in a cheeky misreading of the Proposed Sister City motion, took the opportunity to put forward his personal favourite — Breste, France. He’s been there before. He mentioned things we have in common — a port, socio-economic struggles and the sense of distance and consequent alienation from Canberra/Paris — and of course, explorers.
Breste is where all the French ones left from and, of them, some came to Hobart. What more could you want?
Alderman Cocker did ask at this point whether there was anything to limit the number of sister cities Hobart could indulge in. The answer was not the standard creativity killer, ‘Only your imagination’, but ‘Finances’. Well, that’s a relief.
So, back to the serious contender for the night. Fuzhou city looked a goer and it was; the motion was passed with a note that its consideration be a matter of some urgency given that Fujian Province’s folk will be here soon. Eyes peeled for the Salamanca Quickstep where hopefully they spot something not from home.
Or is that what we want for our sister — high productivity, export and employment figures? As in so many families, not at our own childrens’ expense, perhaps.
The criteria in all this aldermanic searching for a sister, language apart, seemed to be to points of similarity — in size, topography, economy or historical connections.
I wonder if this gives the best value for money, of which quite a lot seems necessary to keep the siblings talking.
Why not make lively connections with a city radically different to, rather than a bit the same as, Hobart?
Aleppo, anyone?
