Reef’s killer live shows have gained them a huge following across the globe and made them a favourite at festivals, including Glastonbury and Reading.

Reef formed in 1993, signing to Sony imprint S2 Records the following year. Their debut album Replenish (1995) achieved Gold status and saw the band play shows with the Rolling Stones, Paul Weller and Soundgarden.

Their sophomore LP Glow (1997) stormed the UK Charts at Number 1 and included the smash hit single Place Your Hands. The third studio LP Rides (1999) came along two years later, produced by George Drakoulias and in the same year the band saw off the likes of Oasis and Pulp to win the Music Industry’s Soccer Six competition.

The poppier sounding Getaway (2000) came next, produced by Al Clay (Pixies, Stereophonics) and holding another hugely successful single Set The Record Straight.

This month Reef are releasing an incredible box set that compiles all these phenomenal successes and lovingly documents the story of how West Country’s finest sons went from fledgling band to one of the best loved rock acts of the nineties.

Their complete recorded works is included in this all-encompassing box set. Spanning across their ten year  career, the 9 CD and 1 DVD package features every commercial song recorded, including their very first demo ‘The Purple Tape’ – which lead to the band being signed to Sony – as well as b-sides, demos, live tracks, rarities and previously unreleased and unheard material. The DVD includes all music promo videos, TV appearances and interviews and some home movie footage capturing the story of this iconic ‘90’s band. Beautifully packaged the box set also contains a 64-page booklet featuring never- before-seen pictures of the band, a 12” vinyl of their newly arranged 5th album (Lucky #5), a vintage poster and a replica demo of their ‘Purple Tape’ sessions.

REEF: ’93 – ’03 ‘Ultimate Collectors Box Set’ is available through www.amazon.com from March 26th 2012, Reef will tour nationally in June.

www.selecttouring.com.au || www.facebook.com/selecttouring || www.reefband.com

Select Touring Presents Reef Australian Tour With Special Guests Tickets On Sale

Friday 1 June Metropolis FREMANTLE WA
Tickets www.oztix.com.au & www.moshtix.com.au & www.heatseeker.com.au

Thursday 7 June The Hi Fi BRISBANE QLD
Tickets from www.thehifi.com.au

Friday 8 June Billboard MELBOURNE VIC
Tickets from www.billboardthevenue.com.au

Saturday 9 June The Metro SYDNEY NSW
Tickets from www.metrotheatre.com.au

1 x 52 min National Documentary Program

Director Jasmin Tarasin
Presenter Dr Clare Wright
Producers Lucy Maclaren & Alex West
Writers Dr Clare Wright & Alex West
Executive Producers Joe Connor, Ken Connor & Alex West

© 2011 SCREEN AUSTRALIA, FILM VICTORIA AND RENEGADE FILMS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

ISAN 0000-0002-C6A4-0000-1-0000-0000-Y

ONE LINE SYNOPSIS.

Historian Dr Clare Wright guides us through the fascinating story of how Australian women became the first in the world to gain full political rights.

An evocative and moving film about a little known part of our history.

ONE PAGE SYNOPSIS.

There is no power in the world like that of women … this most potent constituency we seek to represent, and for their suffrages we sue.

Louisa Lawson

Historian Dr Clare Wright leads us through the story of how Australia’s unique history bred an amazing group of rebellious women who each played crucial roles in shaping the destiny of the country. But this being Australia, this tale of nation building is driven as much by raw luck and rank opportunism as by high-minded idealism.

Women in the nineteenth century had virtually no rights.  Once they married they signed over everything to their husbands (including their children!).  If the marriage turned abusive it was almost impossible to escape.  And even worse was the fate of ‘fallen women’ as unmarried mothers were called.  The lot of all women desperately needed to be improved.  Only by having political representation would this be achieved.

And getting this representation came about by the vision and hard work of five women in particular, Caroline Dexter, Henrietta Dugdale, Louisa Lawson, Mary Lee and Vida Goldstein. With their comrades, they would carry the flag over half a century until a newly federated Australia could claim its title as a uniquely democratic nation.

Their tireless, and sometimes thankless, work would take them from the poorest slums to the seats of power in the fledgling nation.

Utopia Girls tells the story of how Australian women attained political power and influence – in their own country and on the international stage – through the lives of these five remarkable and unique women.  By witnessing their personal trials, inspirational wins, crushing setbacks and unforgettable achievements, we will come to understand how it is that in 2011 women can walk through life essentially free to be whoever they want to be.

Clare guides us through this fascinating story, with some of Australia’s most prominent actors illuminating the film by reciting from contemporary texts.  Beautiful graphic and archive sequences illustrate our story.  The result is an evocative and moving film about a vitally important but little known passage of Australian history.

CHARACTER OUTLINES.

LOUISA LAWSON.

If there is one woman who challenges the stereotype of the po-faced, wowser, nay-saying, bluestocking female social reformer, it is LOUISA LAWSON.  A daughter of the bush, Louisa was born in 1848 on a sheep station in rural NSW.  Her father was a station hand turned timber carter. She grew up as the second eldest of nine children in a home wracked by poverty, insecurity and danger. As a rebellious, dynamic child, Louisa believed “there were loads to be lifted … wrongs to be righted and wounds to be healed”.  It was a conviction that guided her life.

At the age of 40, Louisa started her great life’s work.  In offices in George Street, she began the first newspaper edited, published and printed by women – The Dawn.  The Dawn, published monthly from 1888 to 1905, actively and systematically campaigned for women’s rights. Its political influence and social impact were extensive: promoting legislative change on female suffrage, marriage and divorce, property ownership, women’s education, equal opportunity in the labour market and women’s conditions of work.  Louisa was not only its editor and CEO; she also wrote many of its articles.  A financial and political success, The Dawn had no rival then (and many say since) as an organ for change in women’s lives.  Part of The Dawn’s success lay in the fact that her campaign was “not against men, but against customs that have given them the whip hand too long”.  Indeed, many of the paper’s supporters were progressive men.

VIDA GOLDSTEIN.

If Louisa was the bush battler who blazed the trail for women’s social and political emancipation, VIDA GOLDSTEIN was the woman who most willingly trod the path of fledgling liberation.  Born in Portland, Victoria in 1869, Vida was the eldest of five children. Her mother was born and bred of the Western Districts squattocracy; her father was of Polish Jewish origin with ties to the Polish independence movement.

Her mother Jeannie was an early feminist who undertook good works in the slums of Collingwood.  Tagging alongside her mother, Vida never forgot the scenes of misery and deprivation in the slum houses.  By the early 1890s, Vida’s lifelong undertaking to improve the lives of women and children was set on course.  Unlike Louisa, who married and bore children out of obligation and inevitability, Vida vowed she would never marry.

To renounce marriage was a life-altering decision, but the real turning point came for Vida in 1891 when she assisted her mother in collecting signatures for the Monster Petition for women’s suffrage.  Victorian Premier James Munro announced that he would consider introducing a women’s franchise bill into parliament if the women of Victoria demonstrated their support for it. Suffragists collected 30,000 names in 6 weeks, making it the largest petition the government had ever received.  As a 21 year old, when other girls of her class were busy attending balls and other ‘gay pursuits’, Vida had become a political activist.

HENRIETTA DUGDALE.

Henrietta Dugdale was born in London, and arrived in Melbourne in 1852.  Henrietta always wore her hair short.  She made her own clothes, grew vegetables, did carpentry and was an excellent chess player besides taking an active role in public affairs. From 1869 Mrs Dugdale was a pugnacious pioneer of the Woman’s Movement in Victoria. In 1884 she was president of the first Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society.

To conservative Melbournians, Henrietta had an extraordinary combination of beliefs.  She was anti religion, anti monarchist and anti alcohol and laid responsibility for most of the troubles of the world at the feet of men.  She was also pro education of the working classes and of course, suffrage for women.  She had a sharp tongue and a biting wit that she deployed to great effect in the cause of votes for women. She believed that people could improve the disciplined control of human nature by reason and the co-operation and equality of the sexes. These views were embodied in a novella, A Few Hours in a Far Off Age (Melbourne, 1883), which she dedicated to George Higinbotham ‘in earnest admiration for the brave attacks made by that gentleman upon what has been, during all known ages, the greatest obstacle to human advancement, the most irrational, fiercest and most powerful of our world’s monsters—the only devil—MALE IGNORANCE’.

The emancipation of women was to solve the problems of her era and she exhorted women to throw off their chains, discard their apathy and learn self respect. The working classes were also to be liberated by temperance, education and the eight hour day. She stirred many women into positive action to achieve their rights and to gain access to the professions. She was a member of a Victorian group of radical, free-thinking women who believed in temperance, birth control and ‘applying the surgeon’s knife to rapists’. Although to many at the times she seemed irrational and emotional, Henrietta really was a pioneer of the women’s movement in Victoria.

CAROLINE DEXTER

Caroline Dexter (1819-1884), feminist, was born in Nottingham, England.  She was educated privately in England and in Paris became well versed in French culture and friendly with the female novelist, ‘George Sand’ (1804-1876). In 1843 she married the painter, William Dexter. Despite success with the Royal Academy he decided to migrate to Australia and Caroline joined him a few years later.

Caroline spirited writing is distinguished by its intensity towards the natives, exulting in the clear air, moonlight, colours of the wild flowers and shapes of majestic trees. Her maxims on how to manage a husband suggest a droll humour or increasing revolt against domestic fetters. Soon afterwards the Dexters separated. William returned to Sydney where he died in February 1860.

Caroline moved to Melbourne still independent, dynamic and unconventional, startling society by opening an Institute of Hygiene and promulgating such novelties as divided skirts and abolition of corsets.

In 1861 Caroline married William Lynch (b. Ireland 1839). Later he wrote: ‘It was my wife’s mind that attracted me, and from her I learned all that I know of art’. With his wealth Caroline became a patron of local writers and artists, holding her salon at Bombala, her fashionable home in Brighton.

Caroline deserves to be remembered as a champion of women’s rights and a friend to the Aborigines. Though little of her writing remains, she contributed richly to the cultural life of Melbourne by her wit, love of local colour and zest for arts and letters.

MARY LEE.

Mary Lee (1821-1909), suffragist, was born in Ireland.  In 1844 she married George Lee; they had four sons and three daughters. In 1879 Mary, widowed, sailed for Adelaide to nurse her sick son John Benjamin; after his death the next year she remained, Mary becoming devoted to ‘dear Adelaide’ which she could not in any case afford to leave.

For the rest of her life Mary Lee, ‘once the slip of an old red-hot Tory stem’, worked single-mindedly for political and social reform. Her qualities of leadership, conviction and perseverance matched the social and political climate of late nineteenth-century South Australia. Mary Lee played a major part in South Australian political history. She saw the suffrage as her ‘crowning task’ and, under (Sir) Edward Stirling’s presidency, steered the campaign skillfully, combining her experience of political processes with her knowledge of women’s social disabilities and of the value of publicity to awaken public interest and understanding.

Unafraid of controversy, determined and sometimes abrasive, she publicised her commitment in the Register: ‘If I die before it is achieved, like Mary Tudor and Calais, “Women’s enfranchisement” shall be found engraved upon my heart’. The Constitution Amendment Act was finally passed on 18 December 1894, making South Australian women the first in Australia to gain the parliamentary vote, and on the same terms as men. Additionally, it gave them the right to postal votes and to stand for parliament; these were unique provisions anywhere.

On her 75th birthday in 1896, at the Adelaide Town Hall Kingston handed her a purse of fifty sovereigns, publicly donated through the Mary Lee Testimonial Fund, with a ‘handsomely bound and artistically engrossed’ address which acknowledged that the achievement of women’s suffrage ‘is mainly due to your persistent advocacy and unwearied exertions’.

As her financial resources dwindled, Lee asked (Sir) Josiah Symon to arrange the sale of her library. In 1902 Kirby initiated an appeal for her relief in the Express and Telegraph and the Australian Woman’s Sphere, but with poor response. Kirby observed that many had benefited from her work, but her advanced views and outspokenness had not made her widely loved.

PRODUCTION NOTES

JASMIN TARASIN, DIRECTOR.

When was I first approached by Renegade Factual to consider directing Utopia Girls, I received the script with no real idea of what I was about to read. Upon reading the script I felt a great sense of embarrassment that, as an Australian woman, I did not know this story.  It was so extraordinary and so important that I felt I had to make this documentary.

As a 35 year old woman reflecting on what Vida Goldstein would have felt going to London as a representative of Australian women, and discovering how hard they had worked to win the political equality we now take for granted, I feel very honoured to be a part of making this landmark documentary. I feel thrilled that I am able to help show Australian women how lucky we are to be part of such a progressive and impressive history. Fundamentally, the reason why I am able to have a successful career which I love as film/TV director, as well as be mother, wife and a woman without having to rely on a male, is because of women like Vida Goldstein, Caroline Dexter, Henrietta Dugdale, Louisa Lawson and Mary Lee, one hundred years ago.

The script that Alex West and Clare Wright had researched and written over many years achieved a great sense of engagement, excitement and a real insight into what life was like for women 100 years ago.

I enjoyed the challenge of trying to create a visually and emotionally arresting experience on screen that would effectively represent this story. It was a wonderful and moving experience to collaborate with some of Australia’s finest actors as they brought some of the historical texts to life. I feel these pieces allow the audience to emotionally engage in what life was like for these strong and determined women and see what a challenge it was for them to achieve what they did.

Working with historian Clare Wright was inspiring as she took me on her passionate journey of discovery throughout this documentary. One of the most moving moments I had was with Clare at the Public Record Office in which we were reading through Court Transcripts, both with tears streaming down our faces, at the realisation of how tragic Maggie Hefferman’s story was.

PERSONAL STATEMENT.

DR CLARE WRIGHT

I felt compelled to tell the story of Australia’s world-leading status in the quest for women’s rights, partly because the fact of Australia’s pre-eminence is largely unknown, and partly because the women who lead the charge deserve to be heroes in their own right.  If building bridges and telegraph lines were feats of mechanical engineering, the campaign to give women the vote was a feat of social engineering of equally epic proportions.

As a woman, wife and mother today, I take for granted my ability to play a role in public life.  Yet only a century separates my birth from that of Vida Goldstein (her 1869, me 1969).  The gulf in our experiences and expectations couldn’t be wider.  I needed to understand – and communicate – the extent of Vida’s legacy.

I also wanted to cross the divide from the Academy to the mainstream media to tell this story – build a bridge of my own!  Television has such a wonderful capacity to not only educate, but also engage an audience on a visceral and emotional level with our collective histories.

Working with Alex West and Lucy Maclaren at Renegade Factual has been a rewarding confluence of hearts and minds.  The talent and dedication of the key crew and production team has taken a promising kernel of an idea and germinated it in a hot house of creativity and commitment.  Director Jasmin Tarasin has infused the narrative with a haunting beauty, evoking the lost century with eerie verisimilitude.  Katie Milwright’s cinematography has raised the bar on documentary making.  It’s been a privilege to work in this environment of rich collaboration.

Utopia Girls represents an innovative and rewarding cross-fertilisation between the discipline of historical scholarship and the unique story-telling capacity of television history.  The result is a beautiful, bewitching blend of authenticity and art.

BIOGRAPHIES.

RESEARCHER, WRITER, PRESENTER.

DR CLARE WRIGHT.

Dr Clare Wright is an award-winning historian, author and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media.

Clare holds a PhD in Australian Studies from the University of Melbourne and an MA in Public History from Monash University.  From 2004-2009, she was an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow at La Trobe University.  She is an internationally recognised scholar in the fields of the social history of alcohol and women’s political activism.  Her expertise in Australian History covers the gold rush period, 19th and 20th century women’s history, democracy movements, mining history, bushrangers and the liquor industry.

Her best-selling first book, Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australia’s Female Publicans (MUP 2003, 2004) met with both critical and popular acclaim.

Clare has worked as a political speechwriter, university lecturer, historical consultant and radio and television broadcaster.  She was the Executive Officer of the History Council of Victoria from 2003-2004, striving to promote the work of history teachers and practitioners in the state.

She is a popular public speaker and has presented numerous keynote addresses at conferences, symposia and AGM’s, as well as chairing Writers Festival events.  Clare has been a judge of three major literary awards.

Clare’s thought-provoking essays and opinion writing have appeared in The Age, Crikey, The Week, Overland and Meanjin as well as leading scholarly journals.

In 2005, Clare was named as one of Australia’s top 20 public intellectuals by The Age.

Clare appeared as a member of ‘The Brains Trust’ in over 40 episodes of the long-running ABC quiz show, The Einstein Factor.  She has presented regular history segments for 774 ABC Melbourne and 602 ABC Sydney.  In the bicentennial year of Australia Post, she appeared in, and was historical consultant to, the 2-part documentary, The Stamp of Australia (History Channel, Foxtel)

Clare is currently a freelance historian and an Honorary Research Associate at La Trobe University.

Clare lives in Melbourne with her husband and three children.

PRODUCERS.

LUCY MACLAREN.

A graduate from Swinburne Film and Television school, Lucy started her career as a casting consultant, assistant director and production manager as well as producing several short dramas and documentaries. She has also been Investment and Project Manager at the Australian Film Commission and Film Victoria.

In 1999 she produced her first feature film Strange Fits Of Passion written and directed by Elise McCredie, which was accepted into Critic’s Week at Cannes. She has since produced the highly acclaimed dramatised documentary Love Letters from a War and a 50 minute drama, Cable. Lucy has also worked as a Line Producer on many feature film projects.

Currently Lucy is a producer at Renegade Films.

ALEX WEST.

Alex first worked at the BBC as a documentary director and later for a variety of producers and public service networks. He then joined leading UK independent producer Wall To Wall, helping develop the company into an internationally renowned producer of high quality and innovative factual programs. He co-exec produced the original UK series of Who Do You Think You Are? – now a successful SBS series in Australia. Among many factual and doc credits he also produced the major international series The Mafia for ABC TV and National Geographic Channel.

He is a Fulbright Scholar and his programs have been British Academy Award nominees. He also executive produced the Logie Award winner for outstanding documentary for The Bridge (ABC TV 2007).

As Head of Factual at Renegade Films he has produced and executive produced several documentary series for the ABC and SBS, including Jail Birds, Ned Kelly Uncovered, Bi-Polar Bears, House Of Food Obsessives, Asylum Fc, Last Chance Saloon, Inside The Firestorm and Immigration Nation: The Secret History Of Us.

Last Chance Saloon was nominated for the 2010 Logie as ‘Outstanding Factual Series’. Inside the Firestorm received 3 2010 AFIs: Best Director, Best Editing and Best Sound in a Documentary.

DIRECTOR.

JASMIN TARASIN.

The work of Jasmin Tarasin is inspired by finding the beauty in reality. Jasmin’s ability to find intimacy and honesty in her work has been a integral part of her success as a director. She works in the realm of documentary ,film, advertising and video installation. Her honest and unaffected approach has brought attention to her work worldwide. Her directorial debut ,a four part television documentary on the artistic process of fashion designers in Australia, The Closet Tales of Australian Fashion. This series garnered her a nomination for best documentary in the 2006 ATOM awards and media attention. The Age describes her work  on the documentary,“(as) a tapestry of beautiful imagery.. and therein lies the appeal.” She has since worked internationally as a director. In the last year Jasmin has launched a international video portrait installation work as part of the Sydney Arts Festival entitled Live which featured musical acts including Jarvis Cocker , Warren Ellis , Juliette Lewis , Martha and Rufus Wainwright and many more. This exhibition will tour nationally and internationally over the next 12 months. She also enjoyed making award winning music videos for artists including Peaches and Gareth Liddiard ( The Drones ). Along with a handful of commercials for clients including Pantene , Bank of Queensland , Dove and Target. Grey’s Worldwide Creative Director on the Pantene Project, Jeff Orr commented on Jasmin’s particular ability to “combine.. powerful visual storytelling with the complex demands of brand communications. These ads will live on history reels as some of the best spots we have made in Australia. Her most rewarding project however has been the collaboration with Renegade Factual in which she will bring the story of the history of women’s rights in Australia to the screen. This fascinating and fairly unknown story of the woman that made our country one of the first in the world in which woman could vote . This rewarding and challenging project was one Jasmin enjoyed using archival footage, photographs , letters , newspapers along with narration from Dr Claire Wright , she looks forward to sharing this journey with the Australian public.
Jasmin will now be developing a feature film based on the story of the most wanted woman in Australia in 1902 , Jessie Hickman , a female bushranger. She is also working on a film piece with innovative dance company Chunky Move. And most importantly enjoying her new role as a mother with her son Sonny.

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

KATIE MILWRIGHT.

Cinematographer Katie Milwright graduated from The Victorian College of the Arts School of Film and Television in 1996. After a solid career as a motion picture Camera Assistant; an SBS Tele Feature THE HEARTBREAK TOUR launched her cinematography career.  Her work includes award winning TV commercials, Documentaries and Feature Films. Her first feature film CORROBOREE for Director Ben Hackworth, received great praise. The film screened at illustrious Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals and won her a Gold Award from the Australian Cinematographers Society. A moving Portrait of “Cate Blanchett” shot for Visual Artist David Rosetzky toured to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra and also New York’s “International Centre for Photography”. Her latest feature film, romantic comedy THE WEDDING PARTY is due for release in 2011.

EDITOR.

BILL MURPHY ASE.

Bill Murphy’s editing work encompasses award winning films across many genres.  His credits include the Oscar winning animation HARVIE KRUMPET, the Emmy Award winning feature documentary EXILE IN SAREJEVO, the AFI Award winning television documentary WILDNESS, the multi award winning drama STRANDED, and the feature films ROMPER STOMPER starring Russell Crowe, AMY starring Rachel Griffiths, TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US starring Guy Pearce and Helena Bonham-Carter and HALF LIGHT starring Demi Moore. In 2000 Bill edited an innovative, two hour film, EL NIÑO which accompanied the John Adams oratorio “El Niño”, directed by Peter Sellars, which premiered at the Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris in December of that year.

Other significant works include Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s award winning documentary films BASTARDY, CHASING BUDDHA and ISLANDS, Lawrence Johnston’s NIGHT, Scott Millwood’s recently completed WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BRENDA HEAN? and the MIFF Grand Prix winner DOUGLAS MAWSON: THE SURVIVOR by David Parer; Adam Elliot’s feature animation MARY AND MAX and SBS documentary series THE NAKED LENTIL.

In 2003 Bill was accredited as a member of the Australian Screen Editors, in recognition of his screen editing and his outstanding contribution to Australian screen culture.

Executive Producers.

Joe Connor, Ken Connor & Alex West

Joe and Ken Connor are the owners and Executive Producers of Renegade Films Australia.

Both were Executive Producers on Series 1 & 2 of the cult comedy WILFRED in close association with the original creative team of Jason Gann, Adam Zwar, Tony Rogers and Producer Jenny Livingston.

Partners for over sixteen years they have produced over 120 episodes of the Award winning ROCKWIZ, a popular Australian music show.

Joe and Ken’s company is also regarded as one of the Top 100 factual production companies worldwide through their renowned and multi award winning documentaries INSIDE THE FIRESTORM and IMMIGRATION NATION. ‘Renegade Live’ productions have included SEVEN SONGS TO LEAVE BEHIND and THE 2010 ARIA HALL OF FAME as well as many concert productions of Australian artists.

Renegade Films continues to set the pace as a generator of talent and ideas in the ever-shifting landscape of development and production of television, film and new media platforms.

BACKGROUND NOTES.

The principle [of discrimination]which regulates the existing social relations between the sexes ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other.

John Stuart Mill, The Subjugation of Women, 1869

There is no power in the world like that of women … this most potent constituency we seek to represent, and for their suffrages we sue.

Louisa Lawson, The Dawn, 1889

How is it that a western woman today can enjoy exceptional freedom, power and privilege, when little over a hundred years ago women were subjected to such entrenched political, legal, economic and social disadvantage?

Utopia Girls tells the extraordinary story of how women overcame centuries of legal and civic discrimination to make Australia the first nation in the world to instate ‘perfect equality’ in its Constitution.

We look at the suffrage story through five remarkable protagonists: Caroline Dexter, Henrietta Dugdale, Louisa Lawson, Vida Goldstein and Mary Lee. These women were startlingly different in their family backgrounds, life experiences and personal approaches to politics, but together they lead a revolution.

Remarkably, at the same time that Australia constituted itself as a nation, it became the first country on earth to give women full political citizenship: the right to vote and the right to stand for election to the federal parliament.  This was the jewel in the crown of liberal Enlightenment. At the turn of the twentieth century, Australia was considered the most democratic nation on earth.

In constituting full universal suffrage (for whites), then hammering out the social, sexual, economic and political logistics of that massive gender accord, Australia tested it mettle as an international innovator. More than that, it ushered in the modern era of modernity.  Hemlines raised.  Family sizes shrunk.  Before long, bras were burning, and formerly bluestocking women were reborn as material girls.

The international women’s suffrage movement – which has brought inexorable political, legal, economic, social and sexual transformation to the lives of millions of women around the world – heralded a revolution of cataclysmic proportions.

But don’t let the neck-to-toe dresses, pursed lips and big hats fool you.  The women who lead this tsunami of change were rebels with a dead-serious cause.  They took a sledgehammer to the legal apparatus and social custom that had oppressed, excluded and victimised their sex for centuries.

The leaders of this intense and fiery crusade in Australia were women cut from very different cloths.  Caroline, a London bohemian with a distaste for long dresses.  Henrietta, an unconventional gold rush emigrant and utopian free-thinker. Louisa, a bush pioneer who did it tough on the colonial frontier. Mary, an elderly Irish widow with fire in her belly.  Vida, a beautiful young city girl from the best of homes who threw caution to the wind to live the most radical of lives.

Across a wide brown land and five idealistic decades, together they rocked the world.

What we really need to know is this: why Australia?  What was going on in that hotbed of radicalism and idealism at the end of the earth that at long last delivered the liberal reforms envisioned by the likes of John Stuart Mill?

Women in America – the land of the free – couldn’t vote until 1920. Women in Britain – the home of liberty – didn’t win full suffrage until 1928.    And women in France – the revolutionary bearer of liberté, egalité and fraternité – were denied their political rights until 1944.  But Australia – sewn from convicts and fertilised by gold  - produced the most enlightened specimen of ‘perfect equality’ the world had yet known.

Utopia Girls tells the story of how Australian women attained political power and influence – in their own country and on the international stage – through the lives of these five remarkable and unique women.  By witnessing their personal trials, inspirational wins, crushing setbacks and unforgettable achievements, and appreciating their goals, their values and their visions, we will come to understand how it is that in 2011 women can be walking through life essentially free to do whatever they want to do and be whoever they want to be.

This is the situation most women in the Western world take for granted.  So much has changed, so relatively quickly, it’s easy to forget how difficult it was to achieve.  At a time when Australia’s Prime Minister is an outspoken woman, the idea that women have a voice in our democratic system of government seems so commonplace as to be humdrum.  But little over century ago, there was nothing obvious, expected or ordinary about the notion that women might have a say in making the laws that governed them.

The truth is, a battle royal was waged between the corseted advocates of change and the staunch defenders of the male prerogative to power.

The insurgents won.

Utopia Girls is their story.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES.

Janet Bomford, That Dangerous and Persuasive Woman: Vida Goldstein (MUP, 1993)

Audrey Oldfield, Australian Women and the Vote (Cambridge, 1994)

Susan Magarey, Passions of the First Wave Feminists (UNSW Press, 2001)

Shurlee Swain and Renate Howe, Single Mothers and Their Children: Disposal, Punishment and Survival in Australia (Cambridge, 1995)

Brian Matthews, Louisa (McPhee Gribble, 1988)

Stuart Macintyre, A Colonial Liberalism: The Lost World of Three Victorian Visionaries (Oxford, 1991)

Alfred Gabay, Messages from Beyond: Spiritualism and Spiritualists in Melbourne’s Golden Age (MUP, 2001)

Patrick Morgan, Folie a Deux: William and Caroline Dexter in Colonial Australia (Quakers Hill, 1999)

TIMELINE OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

HOW WOMEN WON THE VOTE

1852-6 First evidence of campaign for women’s rights as part of liberal democratic reform movements on the gold fields

1884 Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society formed by Henrietta Dugdale, a gold rush immigrant – the first women’s suffrage organization in Australia

1886 First bill calling for women’s suffrage introduced to Sth Australian parliament (for spinsters and widows over 25 yrs only)

1889 Victoria introduces Women’s Franchise Bill into Parliament (the first of 19 such bills in Victoria).  The Lower House passes the Bill but the Upper House rejects it.

Womanhood Suffrage League established in NSW by Louisa Lawson and Rose Scott.

1893 Successful passing of the Women’s Suffrage Bill in New  Zealand (right to vote only)

1894 South Australia becomes the first Australian colony to grant women the vote and the first jurisdiction in the world to grant women the right to sit in parliament

1899 Western Australian women get the right to vote (right to sit in 1920)

1901 Federation of Australian colonies under federal Constitution

1902 Franchise Act gives Australian women political equality with men: the right to vote in federal elections and the right to sit in federal parliament on the basis that highest standard of citizenship available to any Australian woman must apply to all Australian (white) women.  South Australia sets the standard.  Aboriginal men and women excluded from citizenship rights.

NSW women get right to vote (1918 right to sit)

1903 Tasmanian women get right to vote (1921 right to sit)

Vida Goldstein stands for federal Senate seat.  First woman in the British Empire to stand for federal parliament.

1905 Queensland women get right to vote (1915 right to sit)

1907 First woman elected to a federal parliament (Finland)

1908 Women finally get the right to vote in Victoria, after 3 decades of campaigning, the last state to do so.

1921 Edith Cowan elected to Western Australian Senate – first woman in the British Empire to win a parliamentary seat.

1923 Women granted the right to stand for election in Victoria, the last state to concede this right.

1943 Edith Lyons wins House of Reps seat in federal parliament; Dorothy Tangey wins Senate seat representing Tasmania.  First women in federal parliament.

FULL CAST AND CREW CREDITS LIST.

Director

Jasmin Tarasin

Writers

Clare Wright

Alex West

Presented by

Clare Wright

Producers

Lucy Maclaren

Alex West

Line Producer

Kate Pappas

Director of Photography

Katie Milwright

Motion Graphics and Title Design

Studio Ish

Kylie Robertson

Rebecca Stegh

Grid Sequence

Monica Monin

Editor

Bill Murphy ASE

Musical Director

Gareth Liddiard

Music Composed and Performed by

Dan Luscombe

Biddy Connor

Laura Jean

Jen Sholakis

Sound Recordist

Lynne Butler

Camera Assistant

Simon Walsh

Grips

David Cross

Geoff Full

Gaffers

Daniel Carr

Matt Russell

Additional Sound

Rainier Davenport

Costume

Jeanie Cameron

Make Up

Nadja Mott

Researcher

Clare Wright

Archive and Materials Research

Rebecca Albeck

Presenter Training

Jo Kennedy

Production Assistant

Tamie Wexler

Assistant Editor

Sam Frederick

Production Support

David de Carteret

Andrea Edwards

Wiriya Sati

Cast

Roy Billing

Patrick Brammall

Tom Budge

Maud Davey

David Field

Jack Finsterer

Damon Gameau

Alice Garner

Nicholas Hope

Simon Maiden

Barry Otto

Anna Lise Phillips

James Saunders

Alexandra Schepisi

Louise Siversen

Kerry Walker

Stills Photography

Mike Baker

Ilana Rose

Dean McCartney

Sound Design & Mix

Good Audio Sense

Rodney Lowe

Post Production Facilities

Blue Post

Post Producers

Peter Millington

James Collins

Colourist

Marcus Smith

Mastering

Peter Pilley

Legal Advisor

Jenny Lalor

Production Accountant

Trish Mulhall

Insurances

Horsell International Pty. Ltd.

Denis Walsh

Completion Guarantor

FACB

Corrie Soeterboek

Post Production Script

Reezy Miller Script Services

Executive Producers

Alex West

Joe Connor

Ken Connor

Renegade Films is one of Australia’s most progressive and innovative production companies.  It was started in 1995 by brothers Joe and Ken Connor, primarily to produce television commercials. The core business of commercial production laid a solid infrastructure from which Renegade developed other projects.

In 2005 ROCKWIZ, was commissioned by SBS and has become the network’s flagship entertainment program. It is now in its ninth series.  In 2006 Renegade produced the feature film RATS AND CATS, directed by Tony Rogers, and the comedy drama series WILFRED from the same creative team. WILFRED was nominated for four AFI Awards and went on to win two. A second series was commissioned and went to air in March 2010, which also won an AFI award. Renegade negotiated the sale of the format of Wilfred to FX Network in the USA and 2011 saw the production of a critically acclaimed US series of WILFRED starring Elijah Woods.

In late 2008 Renegade appointed Alex West as Head of Factual and since then thirteen hours of documentary production has gone to air including the landmark documentary INSIDE THE FIRESTORM, commissioned by the ABC to document the unfolding of Australia’s greatest peacetime disaster, the bushfires of Black Saturday. It was awarded three AFI awards for Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Sound in a documentary.   Since then Renegade Factual has also produced the well received three part documentary series IMMIGRATION NATION: THE SECRET HISTORY OF US for SBS which takes a controversial look at the White Australia policy.

Renegade Films is dedicated to the development, production and delivery of distinctive, innovative and high quality television. Renegade actively encourages established creatives, whilst nurturing new and emerging talents.

With a number of shows already sold out, and the rest on the verge of being so, Feel are proud to present a fourth and final Sydney show for Henry Rollins: Saturday 28th April. Tickets on sale Wednesday April 18th!

And joining Henry for this and most East Coast dates * will be Australian comic Bruce Griffiths.

Sat April 28             JUST ANNOUNCED                           The York Theatre, Seymour Centre   Sydney  NSW   *
Cnr Cleveland St and Shepard St Newtown
Tickets available $50.20 (transaction fee may apply) from www.sydneycomedyfest.com.au,www.ticketek.com.au, phone 132 849 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Following a string of commanding shows that tore through Europe and the USA, The Darknesshave pleased eager Aussie fans by confirming rumours they will be bringing their showmanship in spandex to our shores for the first time in six years.

In massive show of people power, South Australian fans of The Darknesshave made such a noise about getting the band to Adelaide, that they have added a show on May 12th, tickets go on sale April 16th from 9am,www.venuetix.com.au
The British glam rock sensation officially announced their Australian 2012tour dates just last week, and within an hour of tickets going on sale, the Melbourne show sold out. Melbournefans who were not quick enough to get their hands on the first round, can rest easy as a second show has just been announced – Wednesday May 9at The Palace Theatre.
Having supported the likes of Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, and Def Leppard, The Darkness deliver an awe inspiring live show that is not to be missed.  Catch the original line up of Justin Hawkins (vocals/ guitar), Dan Hawkins (guitars/ backing vocals), Frankie Poullain (bass), and Ed Graham (drums) this May.
You can download their brand new single ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’for free herehttp://www.theactualdarkness.com and watch the new clip for ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lEhgNW-l2Ys

Tickets for The Darkness’ Australian Tour are on sale now with Adealide on sale April 16th.
mcmanusentertainment.com                         www.theactualdarkness.com

Fri May 4                                    Eatons Hill Hotel                                                BRISBANE             QLD
With special guests Nine Sons Of Dan
646 South Pine Road Albany Creek 18+
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.oztix.com.au

Sat May 5                                    Newcastle Panthers                                                 NEWCASTLE            NSW
With special guests Voodoo Sons
Cnr Union and Hunter St Newcastle  18+
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.moshtix.com.au

Sun May 6                                     UNSW Roundhouse                                                SYDNEY                         NSW
With special guests Voodoo Sons
University of New South Wales, Kensington Campus, Sydney  18+
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.ticketek.com.au

Tue May 8                                     The Palace             SOLD OUT                                    MELBOURNE             VIC
With special guests Baptism Of Uzi
20 – 30 Bourke St Melbourne 18+
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.ticketmaster.com.au

Wed May 9                         The Palace   JUST ANNOUNCED                             MELBOURNE             VIC
With special guests TBC
20 – 30 Bourke St Melbourne  18+
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.ticketmaster.com.au

Thu May 10                        ANU Bar                                                            CANBERRA             ACT
With special guests Fun Machine
The ANU Bar and Refectory Australian National University Union Inc. Tickets 18+
$72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.ticketek.com.au

Sat May 12                         Thebarton Theatre JUST ANNOUNCED     ADELAIDE             SA
With special guests TBC
112 Henley Beach Road TorrensvilleALL AGES
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from Venue*Tix - www.venuetix.com.au
mcmanusentertainment.com            www.theactualdarkness.com

With a number of shows already sold out, and the rest on the verge of being so, Feel are proud to present a fourth and final Melbourne show for Henry Rollins: Saturday 21st April. Tickets on sale April 11th!

Sat April 21    JUST ANNOUNCED
The National Theatre            Melbourne             VIC
20 Carlisle St St Kilda Tickets $50.40 (transaction fee may apply) from www.ticketek.com.au, phone 9525 4611 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

And joining Henry for this and most East Coast dates * will be Australian comic Bruce Griffiths.

And for those of you that can’t get enough of Henry, you can catch him for free when he swings by to check in with the folk from The Project (TEN) on Tuesday April 17th from 7pm and also on Adam Hills in Gordon St Tonight (ABC) on Wednesday April 18th from 8.30pm. Meantime…

Wed April 18              SOLD OUT            The National Theatre                        Melbourne             VIC     *
20 Carlisle St St Kilda
Tickets $50.40 (transaction fee may apply) from www.ticketek.com.au, phone 9525 4611 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Thur April 19              SOLD OUT            The National Theatre                        Melbourne             VIC     *
20 Carlisle St St Kilda
Tickets $50.40 (transaction fee may apply) from www.ticketek.com.au, phone 9525 4611 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Fri April 20               SELLING FAST            The National Theatre                        Melbourne             VIC     *
20 Carlisle St St Kilda
Tickets $50.40 (transaction fee may apply) from www.ticketek.com.au, phone 9525 4611 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Sat April 21    JUST ANNOUNCED           The National Theatre            Melbourne             VIC     *
20 Carlisle St St Kilda
Tickets $50.40 (transaction fee may apply) from www.ticketek.com.au, phone 9525 4611 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Sun April 22                        Her Majesties Theatre                         Adelaide             SA     *
58 Grote St Adelaide
Tickets $47.50 + bf from www.bass.net.au, phone 131 246 or in person at all BASS outlets

Tue April 24                        Panthers                                                 Newcastle             NSW    *
Cnr King and Union St Newcastle West
Tickets $45.00 + bf from www.moshtix.com.au, phone (02) 4926 6200 or in person at the venue (Cnr King and Union Streets) and all Moshtix outlets.

Wed April 25            SOLD OUT  The York Theatre, Seymour Centre             Sydney             NSW   *
Cnr Cleveland St and Shepard St Newtown
Tickets available $50.20 (transaction fee may apply) from www.sydneycomedyfest.com.au,www.ticketek.com.au, phone 132 849 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Thur April 26            SOLD OUT    The York Theatre, Seymour Centre             Sydney             NSW   *
Cnr Cleveland St and Shepard St Newtown
Tickets available $50.20 (transaction fee may apply) from www.sydneycomedyfest.com.au,www.ticketek.com.au, phone 132 849 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Fri April 27             SELLING FAST              The York Theatre, Seymour Centre               Sydney  NSW   *
Cnr Cleveland St and Shepard St Newtown
Tickets available $50.20 (transaction fee may apply) from www.sydneycomedyfest.com.au,www.ticketek.com.au, phone 132 849 or in person at the Venue Box Office and all Ticketek outlets.

Sun April 29                        Darwin Entertainment Centre             Darwin             NT
93 Mitchell St Darwin
Tickets $45.00 + bf from www.darwinentertainment.com.au, phone (08) 8980 3333 or in person at the Venue Box Office.

Tue May 1                        Tanks                                                             Cairns                        QLD
46 Collins Ave Edge Hill
Tickets $45.00 / 40.00 (conc) (MA15+) through TicketLINK, www.ticketlink.com.au or phone 1300 855 83

Wed May 2                        Powerhouse               SELLING FAST                        Brisbane             QLD             *
119 Lamington StreetNew Farm
Tickets $50.00 from www.brisbanepowerhouse.org, phone 07 3358 8600 or in person at the Venue Box Office

Thur May 3                        Powerhouse               SELLING FAST                        Brisbane             QLD             *
119 Lamington StreetNew Farm
Tickets $50.00 from www.brisbanepowerhouse.org, phone 07 3358 8600 or in person at the Venue Box Office

Fri May 4                        Powerhouse             SELLING FAST                        Brisbane             QLD             *
119 Lamington StreetNew Farm
Tickets $50.00 from www.brisbanepowerhouse.org, phone 07 3358 8600 or in person at the Venue Box Office

Sat May 5                        Theatre Royal                                     Hobart             TAS
29 Campbell St Hobart
Tickets $45.00 + bf from www.theatreroyal.com.au, phone 6233 2299 or in person at the Venue Box Office.

Sun May 6                        The Street Theatre             SOLD OUT            Canberra             ACT
15 Childrers St Canberra
Tickets $45.00 + bf from www.thestreet.org.au, phone 6247 1223 or in person at the Street Theatre Box Office.

Tue May 8                        IPAC                                                             Wollongong             NSW             *
32 Burelli Street, Wollongong
Tickets $49.50 (includes GST and booking fees) from www.ipac.org.au, phone (02) 4224 5999 ($4.70 transaction fee applies) or in person at the venue

Thur May 10                        Margaret River Cultural Centre             Margaret River  WA
51 Wallcliffe Rd Margaret River
Tickets $42.00 from www.artsmargaretriver.com, phone 08 9758 7316 or in person at the venue box office.

Fri May 11                        Astor Theatre                                                Perth                              WA
Tickets $52.40 
from www.perthcomedyfest.com.au, phone (08) 9484 1133 or in person at all Bocs outlets.

Sat May 12                        Astor Theatre                                                Perth                              WA
Tickets $52.40 
from www.perthcomedyfest.com.au, phone (08) 9484 1133 or in person at all Bocs outlets.

It’s been four years since The Darknesstoured here, and in 2012 Australian fans will be graced with the original line up of Justin Hawkins (vocals/ guitar), Dan Hawkins (guitars/ backing vocals), Frankie Poullain (bass), and Ed Graham (drums), following their reunion in 2011.

“…heroically reunited, with a returned sense of funand still this millennium’s most multi-dimensionally entertaining live rock show.” LA Weekly

Their yet to be titled third studio record, their first in eight years, and the follow up to their multi platinum selling Permission to Land (2003), that spawned the smash hit singles ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, ‘Growing On Me’ and ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’ is due out later this year.

You can download their brand new single ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’for free here http://www.theactualdarkness.com and watch the new clip for ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lEhgNW-l2Ys

Known for their epic live shows, The Darknesshave returned to the scene with a level of dramatic fanfare that is delighting fans and critics alike. With tours already completed in Europe and the USA, the Brit Award winners will land in Australia this May, ready to deliver performances of stratospheric proportions.

Tickets for The Darkness’ Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Australian dates go on sale 9am April 4th.

McManus Entertainment, Max, Triple M and Fasterlouder Present

The Darkenss Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Australian Tour 2012 With Special Guests
Tickets On Sale 9am Wednesday April 4th 2012

Fri May 4                                    Eatons Hill            Hotel                                                BRISBANE                         QLD
With special guests Nine Sons Of Dan
646 South Pine Road Albany Creek
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.oztix.com.au

Sat May 5                                    Newcastle Panthers                                     NEWCASTLE            NSW
With special guests Voodoo Sons
Corner Of Munibung & Pendlebury Rd, Cardiff
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.moshtix.com.au

Sun May 6                                     UNSW Roundhouse                                    SYDNEY                         NSW
With special guests Voodoo Sons
University of New South Wales, Kensington Campus, Sydney
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.ticketek.com.au

Tue May 8                                     The Palace                                                 MELBOURNE             VIC
With special guests Baptism Of Uzi
20 – 30 Bourke St Melbourne
Tickets $72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.ticketmaster.com.au

Thu May 10                        ANU Bar                                                            CANBERRA             ACT      
With special guests Fun Machine
The ANU Bar and Refectory Australian National University Union Inc. Tickets
$72.00 + credit card fee where applicable from www.ticketek.com.au

2011 ended with sold out shows across the country and accolades including Album Of The Year at the 2011 Rolling Stone Awards, Best Independent Artist at the AIR Awards, and ARIA Nominations.

2012 is shaping up to be another big year for the quartet, with fans voting Endless Summer in at number 9 in the triple j Hottest 100 and more recently the band have taken out the 7^th Annual Australian Music Prize, for their debut LP Prisonerand received a nomination for Apra Song Of The Year for Endless Summer.

The Jezabelsare currently doing a run of sold out shows in Europe and North America, and will head back to Europe for a number of summer festival shows, before returning to our shores in June for their most ambitious tour to date with supports from Canadian electro rock sensation LIGHTS and Melbourne triple j Unearthed darlings Snakadaktal.

Prisoneris also now available on vinyl, for all the collectors out there. And Rosebud is being released at a 7” vinyl for Record Store Day.

If you can’t wait to catch them live, head here to check out the film clip for, Rosebud.

Rosebud is available on The Jezabels’ debut LP Prisoner, Prisoner isnow also available on vinyl
Both are in store now independently through MGM Distribution and via www.thejezabels.com

SLAM Make History with over 100 Venues Registered for National SLAM Day February 23^rd 2012

More than 100 music venues from around the country will celebrate Australia’s thriving live music scene at National Slam Day on February 23^rd 2012.

“We are so excited to see over 100 venues already signed up, from Tennant Creek to Hobart, Gosford to Melbourne, Fremantle to Adelaide, artists and venues are coming together to celebrate local live music, with more being registered each day. Giving thousands of music lovers the opportunity to get out and support their local live music scene” SLAM Day organizer Helen Marcou.

When 20,000 passionate music fans marched down Melbourne’s Swanston Street on February 23^rd 2010 for the inaugural SLAM Day in response to crippling Victorian liquor licensing laws, they created the largest cultural protest in Australia’s history.

And music fans will create history again on February 23^rd 2012, as it will be the first time so many venues have simultaneously supported a single cause.

National SLAM Day celebrates our small venue culture. Head over to the website (Slamrally.org) to see our gallery of musicians holding speech bubbles with their answers to the question: “What does live music in small venues mean to you? Jump on the SLAM Facebook page and tell us your answer! http://www.facebook.com/SLAMrally

Small venues are part of our cultural fabric. All Australian acts, from AC/DC to Men at Work, Cold Chisel, the Divinyls, Kylie Minogie, Cut Copy and Temper Trap, started out in small venues. As Paul Kelly said at the 2010 SLAM Rally: “You don’t learn how to write a song at school, you don’t do a Tafe course on how to play in front of an audience, small venues were my university.’’

Live gigs at small venues are fun, dynamic, intimate, and compared to arena concerts or a movie ticket, great value for money.

So get out there and support your local venues and musicians on February 23rd. For more information, or to register your venue for National SLAM Day, go to: slamrally.org

According to the 2011 report Life’s Better with Live, live music contributes $1.2 billion to the economy and supports nearly 15,000 jobs nationally. An estimated 42 million patrons attended 328,000 venue-based gigs at 3,900 venues in 2009/10. Yet the report revealed that Australian musicians earn a mean average of just $12,200 from live performance.

National SLAM Day 2012 : some facts

What is National SLAM Day?

On Thursday February 23, about 100 small venues in Australia will host local bands in one of the biggest musical celebrations in Australian history. The occasion aims to promote and foster a greater appreciation of our small venues.

What is SLAM?

SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) started in 2010 in response to crippling Victorian liquor licensing laws which inappropriately linked live music to violence, leading to the closure of the iconic Tote Hotel and threatening other small venues. The subsequent SLAM Rally, on the back of a flatbed truck through Melbourne on February 23, 2010, was the largest cultural protest in Australia’s history.

Why are small venues important?

They are part of our cultural fabric. All Australian bands, from AC/DC to Men at Work, Cold Chisel, the Divinyls, Kylie Minogie, Cut Copy and Temper Trap started out in small venues. As Paul Kelly said at the SLAM Rally: “You don’t learn how to write a song at school, you don’t do a Tafe course on how to play in front of an audience, small venues were my university.’’

How much does live music contribute to the economy?

According to the 2011 report Life’s Better with Live, live music contributes $1.2 billion to the economy and supports nearly 15,000 jobs nationally. An estimated 42 million patrons attended 328,000 venue-based gigs at 3,900 venues in 2009/10. Yet the report revealed that Australian musicians earn a mean average of just $12,200 from live performance. You can support musicians by attending their shows and buying their music and merchandise and joining your local peak music bodies.

How much time and money do musicians spend on their developing their careers?

According to Music Victoria’s report Barriers to Career Progression, on average active musicians spend  around 33 hours a week on their career and an average of $100 a week on tasks such as administration and rehearsals.

Why attend small venues?

Because they are fun, dynamic, intimate, and compared to a ticket to a film ($18.50) it’s great value for money to see three bands play original music for less than $15. So get out there and support your local venues and musicians on February 23. For more information, or to register your venue for National SLAM Day, go to: slamrally.org

www.slamrally.org

Dig it Up! the ever-evolving series of national concerts curated by the Hoodoo Gurus and conceived by Feel Presents, continues to roll out the surprises with the announcement today of two new participating venues for Melbourne and a mystery act confirmed for Sydney.

The Pony Bar in Melbourne (68 Little Collins St and a short 5 min walk from The Palace) will open it’s doors at the earlier than normal time of 3.00pm on Anzac Day playing host to Hoodoo Gurus’ compadres Kim Salmon and Spencer P. Jones as well as young Geelong act The Murlocs. Kim and Spencer will perform a solo set each as well as a double act while The Murlocs (featuring Broderick Smith’s young son Ambrose on vocals and harmonica) will perform a set of their blistering r’n'b. Get in early!

http://www.singhalamusic.com/the-murlocs/

A revolving cast of local celebrities will also DJ at Pony during the day while in the Palace main room featured DJ’s will include Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring) among others.

And as it is with Sydney, the Melbourne Dig it Up! will now house a venue dedicated to comedy when the Spleen Bar (41 Bourke St and across the road from the Palace) opens it doors with featured comedians and fellow rock tragics Dave O’Neil, Andrew Goodone and CJ Fortuna.

Good enough for ya?

Sydney meantime, has snared seminal act Kids in Dust to complete the line-up of live activity. Kids in Dust performed just once, appearing at the Sydney Trade Union Club in the early 1980′s, but appeared many other times under another name. Dig It Up! is sworn to secrecy over the true identity  of Kids in Dust, suffice to say fans of the genres represented by Dig it Up! are in for a massive surprise come 3.30pm April 22nd.

And joining Kids in Dust as the latest additions for Dig It Up! Sydney will be audio / visual collective Sounds of Seduction plus DJ’s Jack Shit, Silky Doyle, Andy Travers, Nic Dalton and Stuart Coupe all brought on board to keep the party going.

In other Sydney Dig it Up! news all reserved seating tickets have now sold-out. General admission or dance floor tickets are all that remain – who’s complaining?

Oh, and if you didn’t already know it, Gold Watch: 20 Golden Greats, the new best of from the Hoodoo Gurus featuring the new single Use By Date, is on-sale now. Check the new TV ad for the goodness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJiFWzybd5U&feature=youtu.be

Full performance schedules for both Sydney and Melbourne will be revealed very shortly. Until then tickets for both Sydney and Melbourne and also the Adelaide Dig it Up! are on-sale from www.digitup.net.au

www.digitup.net.au ||   www.hoodoogurus.net    || www.feelpresents.com

Friday April 20^th                     The Tivoli        SOLD OUT                   Brisbane         QLD

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus, performing Stoneage Romeos in its entirety (plus other smash hits), The Sonics (USA) & The 5.6.7.8’s (Japan).

52 Costin St Fortitude Valley Tickets from www.ticketek.com.au, feelpresents. oztix.com.au, ph: 132 849 or in person at all Ticketek and Oztix outlets (including Rockinghorse Records)

Doors open 7.30pm

Sunday April 22^nd                 DIG IT UP!                                                                Sydney        NSW

Four venues / four stages: Enmore Theatre / Notes / Green Room Lounge / The Sly Fox

Featuring The Sonics, Died Pretty, Redd Kross, Tek & Younger, The 5.6.7.8′s, The Fleshtones, Kim Salmon and Spencer P. Jones, Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate) Hard-Ons, Royal Headache, The Lovetones, Belles Will Ring, Straight Arrows, The Gooch Palms, Damien Lovelock, Sounds of Seduction, Alternative Comedy, guest DJ’s, special mystery guests Kids in Dust and Hoodoo Gurus performing Stoneage Romeos (plus other hits) live and in it’s entirety.

Four venues all within one minutes walk of each other on Enmore Rd, Enmore. Take advantage of all days pass outs, a street full of quality food and restricted capacity. All events held indoors. No fear of sunburn

here! Tickets from www.ticketek.com.au, feelpresents.oztix.com.au, ph: 9550 3666 or in person at the venue box office and all Ticketek outlets

Doors 12 noon. Bands start 1.00pm

Tuesday April 24^th                HQ                                                   Adelaide              SA

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus, performing Stoneage Romeos in it’s entirety (plus other smash hits), and The Sonics (USA) and Hard-Ons

1 North Tce Adelaide Tickets from www.venuetix.com.au, feelpresents.oztix.com.au, phone (08) 8225 8888 or in person at any VenueTix or Oztix outlet.

Doors open 7.30pm

Wednesday April 25th         The Palace                                      Melbourne          VIC (Anzac Day)

Three venues / four stages: The Palace (main room and upstairs) / Pony / Spleen Bar

Featuring The Sonics, Died Pretty, Redd Kross, The 5.6.7.8′s, The Fleshtones, Kim Salmon and Spencer P. Jones, Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate) Hard-Ons, Royal Headache, The Lovetones, Beaches, The Frowning Clouds, The Morlocs, Comedians Dave O’Neil, CJ Fortuna and Andrew Goodone, guest DJ’s and Hoodoo Gurus performing Stoneage Romeos (plus other hits) live and in it’s entirety.
20- 30 Bourke St Melbourne

Three venues all within a less than 5 mins walk from each other in central city Melbourne. Take advantage of all days pass outs, a street full of quality food and restricted capacity. No fear of sunburn here! Tickets from www.ticketek.com.au, feelpresents.oztix.com.au, ph: 132 849 or in person at all Ticketek and Oztix outlets (including Greville & Polyester Records)

Doors 1.00pm. Bands start 2.00pm

Saturday April 28th              The Astor Theatre     SOLD OUT  Perth        WA

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus, performing Stoneage Romeos in it’s entirety (plus other smash hits), Redd Kross (USA) & The Fleshtones (USA)

659 Beaufort St Mt Lawley Tickets from www.bocsticketing.com.au, feelpresents, oztix.com.au, phone (08) 9484 1133 or in person at all BOCS and Oztix outlets (including 78 Records)

Doors open 7.30pm

For enquiries regarding “Dig It Up” contact:

Stacey Piggott from Two Fish Out Of Water

Phone: 02 9560 3382

Email: stacey@twofishoutofwater.com

For enquiries regarding “Gold Watch: 20 Gold Greats” & Hoodoo Gurus catalogue, contact:

Tatiana Marchant @ Sony Music Entertainment Australia

Phone: 02 9383 6381

Email: tatiana.marchant@sonymusic.com

www.digitup.net.au ||   www.hoodoogurus.net    || www.feelpresents.com

The Perth leg of Dig It Up! The Hoodoo Gurus Invitational has now sold-out. The Perth event which also features Redd Kross & The Fleshtones, joins the Brisbane Dig It Up! in selling out its allocation well in advance of the show date. Perth we thank you too for your gooood taste.

Sydney meantime has now sold out of both A & B Reserve tickets leaving just a handful of C reserve (available at just $99.00 + bf) and general admission tickets (floor space only) – arguably the best seats in the house!

Our biggest news though, comes with the announcement of a 4th venue for Sydney. The Sly Fox Hotel, also on Enmore Road and approximately three minutes walk from the Enmore Theatre, has agreed to open their doors to the Dig it Up! audience and will be hosting acts between 3.00pm – 8.30pm. The addition of The Sly Fox will ensure a day jam-packed with options and activity and crazy value for money.

Speaking of that value how about all these new additions at no extra charge… in Sydney and Melbourne we give you -

Steve Wynn, the singer / songwriter for L.A. Paisley Underground prime movers The Dream Syndicate (the proud owners of a generational classic in ‘The Days of Wine and Roses’) and later frontman for both The Miracle Three and The Baseball Project (the latter featuring R.E.M’s Peter Buck) returns to Australia after a 25 year absence. Performing in duo-mode with his wife Linda Pimon (on drums), Steve Wynn will perform classics old and new when he joins team Dig it Up! for shows Sydney and Melbourne.

Steve Wynn: Tell Me When it’s Over <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpSJFSkmnn4&feature=related>

And Sydney you also get …….

Between them, Kim Salmon & Spencer P. Jones are responsible for writing the greater part of the Beasts of Bourbon catalogue. Classics like Words From A Woman, Execution Day, Cool Fire, A Place Called Bad, Something to Lean On and more, all poured from the hearts and pens of these two noted guitar slingers. Individually they have spearheaded a multitude of post-punk acts forever on the lips of the underground tastemakers, from the Scientists and The Johnny’s to The Beasts and The Surrealists to The Escape Committee and Precious Jules. See them perform the almost-hits from all these combos as well as material from their respective solo catalogues over a solo set each plus a rare duo outing. Another Sydney Dig it Up! exclusive.

Kim Salmon: Swampland <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkyaqHPTFGQ>

Spencer P. Jones: Execution Day <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFtwtqRsqvE>

The Gooch Palms are another of the exciting new crop of bands (Royal Headache, The Straight Arrows among them) to have emerged from Sydney in the last little while. Self-described as shit-pop The Gooch Palms (featuring guitarist / singer Leroy and Kat on keyboards / vocals / theremin) adhere to the entire garage spirit: raw, direct, fun and we are thrilled to have them on the Sydney Dig it Up!

The Gooch Palms: La Cucaracha <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGKu8BjwY1U>

Tickets for Sydney, Melbourne and the Adelaide Dig It Up! are available now via www.digitup.net.au <http://www.digitup.net.au/>  and while you are there sign up to the mail list to receive regular updates – like this!

Schedules and final additions will be announced in the next post due mid-March. Stay with us!

www.digitup.net.au ||   www.hoodoogurus.net    || www.feelpresents.com

Friday April 20^th                     The Tivoli        SOLD OUT                   Brisbane         QLD

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus, performing Stoneage Romeos in it’s entirety (plus other smash hits), The Sonics (USA) & The 5.6.7.8’s (Japan). 52 Costin St Fortitude Valley Tickets from www.ticketek.com.au, feelpresents. oztix.com.au, ph: 132 849 or in person at all Ticketek and Oztix outlets (including Rockinghorse Records) Doors open 7.30pm

Sunday April 22^nd    Enmore Theatre, Notes Live, The Sly Fox and The Green Room  Sydney        NSW

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus, performing Stoneage Romeos in it’s entirety (plus other smash hits) + The Sonics (USA), Died Pretty Redd Kross (USA), the 5.6.7.8′s (Japan), Tek & Younger (ex-Radio Birdman), The Fleshtones (USA), Steve Wynn, Kim Salmon & Spencer P. Jones, The Gooch Palms, Hard-Ons, Belles Will Ring, Royal Headache, The Lovetones, The Straight Arrows; plus alternative comedy, spoken word, guest DJ’s with more acts to follow. Four venues all within one minutes walk of each other on Enmore Rd, Enmore. Take advantage of all days pass outs, a street full of quality food and restricted capacity. All events held indoors. No fear of sunburn here! Tickets from www.ticketek.com.au, feelpresents.oztix.com.au, ph: 9550 3666 or in person at the venue box office and all Ticketek outlets Doors 12 noon. Bands start 1.00pm

Tuesday April 24^th                HQ                                                   Adelaide              SA

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus, performing Stoneage Romeos in it’s entirety (plus other smash hits), and The Sonics (USA) and Hard-Ons 1 North Tce Adelaide Tickets from www.venuetix.com.au, feelpresents.oztix.com.au, phone (08) 8225 8888 or in person at any VenueTix or Oztix outlet. Doors open 7.30pm

Wednesday April 25th         The Palace                                      Melbourne          VIC (Anzac Day)

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus performing Stoneage Romeos in it’s entirety (plus other smash hits) + The Sonics (USA), Died Pretty, Redd Kross (USA), the 5.6.7.8′s (Japan), Steve Wynn, The Fleshtones (USA), Royal Headache, Beaches & The Frowning Clouds, Hard-Ons, The Lovetones and more acts to follow.  20- 30 Bourke St Melbourne Twelve bands across two stages Take advantage of all days pass outs, a street full of quality food and restricted capacity. No fear of sunburn here! Tickets from www.ticketek.com.au, feelpresents.oztix.com.au, ph: 132 849 or in person at all Ticketek and Oztix outlets (including Greville & Polyester Records) Doors 1.00pm. Bands start 2.00pm

Saturday April 28th              The Astor Theatre     SOLD OUT  Perth        WA

Featuring Hoodoo Gurus, performing Stoneage Romeos in it’s entirety (plus other smash hits), Redd Kross (USA) & The Fleshtones (USA) 659 Beaufort St Mt Lawley  Tickets from www.bocsticketing.com.au, feelpresents, oztix.com.au, phone (08) 9484 1133 or in person at all BOCS and Oztix outlets (including 78 Records) Doors open 7.30pm

For enquiries regarding “Dig It Up” contact:

Stacey Piggott from Two Fish Out Of Water Phone: 02 9560 3382 Email: stacey@twofishoutofwater.com

For enquiries regarding “Gold Watch: 20 Gold Greats” & Hoodoo Gurus catalogue, contact:

Tatiana Marchant @ Sony Music Entertainment Australia Phone: 02 9383 6381 Email: tatiana.marchant@sonymusic.com

www.digitup.net.au ||   www.hoodoogurus.net    || www.feelpresents.com