From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Come up and see my etchings. A dynamite little tip about the art world in one of our cities …

“Times are tough, so tough, one inner-city gallery owner has resorted to extreme measures to keep sales up. She’s been offering dinner dates to some of her male clients, which is then followed by s-x and the offer, a few ‘dates’ later, of large discounts on her art stock. Everybody comes out smiling, including some leading barristers and medicos who’ve been happily taking home some very expensive pieces at bargain basement prices. But a few ‘ladies who lunch’ have cottoned on to what she’s been up to with their hubbies and are on the warpath.”

Well, it’s one way to make sales in an austere business environment. Anyone for a Jackson Pollock?

Everyone’s a winner! Excited to receive a free lotto ticket with you Saturday Herald Sun? Of course you were! It might even have distracted you from the fact that the paper’s cover price went up 25%. Not that the paper was pushing that side of the equation too strongly … here are the two announcements, to scale:

A price jump from $1.60 to $2 is quite substantial, although The Hun still has a long way to go to catch up with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald (both $2 on weekdays, $3 on Saturdays), while The Australian Financial Review leads the pack with an eye-watering $3.30 on weekdays. Do you feel like you’re paying more for slimmer papers written by fewer journalists? If you know of more upcoming newspaper price rises, be sure to tell Tips.

Hidden Greens. A little bird wonders if Victorian Upper House member Sue Pennicuik has left the Greens.

“That’s the question the breathless residents of our quiet Hawthorn workers’ cottage are panting to each other following the latest missive from the environmentally advantaged Southern Metropolitan Region MLC. Printed on 100% recycled paper using vegetable/soy inks (I thought soy beans were vegetables), the two sided A4 missive delivers populist agreements with arguments against TAFE budget cuts and for public transport infrastructure, bike paths and gay marriage.

Not a mention however of any political allegiance, let alone the Greens. Selections from the last kerbside discussion I heard over the weekend (prompted I admit by a sense of capriciousness) were; ‘No, I really think she’s Labor’, and ‘She’s a Lib — I voted for them’. Confusion reigns in the old weatherboards in leafy Hawthorn. It’s especially galling to have it come from those whose party platform is supposedly transparency and honesty.”

 

But our conspiracy theorist is not on the money here. We talked to Pennicuik, who pointed out that under Victoria’s parliamentary rules, this type of communication (funded by Parliament) is not allowed to include information about the MPs’ party. Pennicuik said the rule did frustrate some recipients, who wanted to know which party the MP was from.

Speaking of the Greens, it’s not easy being the smaller player in a minority government, as the Greens are federally — the party’s polling numbers are holding up OK, although leader Christine Milne doesn’t seem to be as popular as Bob Brown. The party is also in minority government in Tasmania, where the Greens are polling quite well but are watching Labor’s numbers crash out of contention, pointing to a Liberal victory in next year’s state poll. Meanwhile, some senators look like they’re on the way out this federal election. If you know any inside gossip about the Greens, drop us a line — and party moles can stay anonymous.

Disability facilities. ABC’s Compass last night featured an inspiring story of two students at the public Sydney Secondary College in Balmain. One student, Daniel, has a disability, while his friend Elizabeth does not. Following on from the program, a reader contacted Crikey to suggest that the school’s senior campus, Blackwattle Bay, may be downgrading its facilities for disabled students:

“SSC’s Blackwattle Bay campus was purpose-built for Year 11 and Year 12 students with physical disabilities in 2004. Millions were spent on two formal classrooms, a big space for activities, a sunny outdoor area, laundry and huge bathrooms with hoists but apparently support for students with a disability is to be withdrawn and the campus used for other faculties such as drama or arts. Waste of taxpayers’ money for sure!

What about the parents who want to enrol their children at Blackwattle Bay but are being actively discouraged from achieving their aims? It seems that support for some young people with disabilities is not so forthcoming or are they just victims of an education revolution!”

We called the Blackwattle Bay campus and a spokeswoman told us this was not happening. She said she’d had “no indication” that facilities for disabled students would be reallocated to the general student body, and she was “not aware of any change”. The spokeswoman pointed out the facilities were used by different students groups at different times.

*Heard anything that might interest Crikey? Send your tips to boss@crikey.com.au or use our guaranteed anonymous form