Macquarie stands too tall for Premier's liking - Sydney Morning Herald

THE DIARY

Striking ... the new statue of Lachlan Macquarie in Hyde Park. Photo: Elliot Toms

LACHLAN MACQUARIE, as governor, single-handedly transformed NSW from a penal colony to a modern 19th-century society. But the state's present leader can't even get a statue placed where he pleases. The Premier, Barry O'Farrell, along with the Governor, Marie Bashir, wanted a new statue of Macquarie in Hyde Park positioned so he looked directly over Macquarie Street, but they fell foul of bureaucracy. ''The Governor and I would have liked it to be centred, looking straight down Macquarie Street past the barracks, his church, down to the stables near Government House,'' O'Farrell said, when unveiling the statue on Thursday. ''[But] apparently you have to have a plan of management process. I think the real problem is commitment.'' A plan for the $150,000 statue to be fixed low enough so people could stand beside it was similarly thwarted. ''The historical architects of the city council insisted it be as high as it is,'' the Premier said. And so Macquarie's statue, pictured, by sculptor Terrance Plowright, stands tall on a double-decker, 1.5-metre-high granite plinth, to the side of a park footpath and looks on the Sydney Mint, which was among the buildings he commissioned. O'Farrell praised the fifth governor of NSW for his ''vision, determination and humanitarianism''. "Very few people in the 225-year history of NSW or Australia have left a greater imprint than Macquarie," he said, adding he ''absolutely'' liked the statue. "What I wanted to achieve was to show a man who was large in stature, powerful, a soldier, a war hero, a man of some physical presence," Plowright said. The lord mayor, Clover Moore, said the ''striking, almost towering monument'' was a fitting tribute to Macquarie. Indeed, he puts today's leaders in the shade.

THE PM LOSES CONTACT

In focus ... Julia Gillard. Photo: Harrison Saragossi

The Prime Minister in dorky, dark-framed glasses is a dead ringer for ginger-haired Velma Dinkley from the cartoon Scooby-Doo. But Diary reader Wendy was instead reminded of the time Julia Gillard lost faith in her contact lenses. Gillard was left all but blind the night before an ALP national conference, when in opposition and dating her colleague Craig Emerson. ''Craig and I were staying together at a hotel and I managed to forget to pack my contact lens holder, so I was just storing the contact lens at the bottom of a glass, which wasn't exactly the smartest thing in the world to do,'' she told her biographer Jacqueline Kent. ''Er, so in the bathroom [was] this glass with the contact lenses and a bit of solution in them … During the course of the night Craig gets up and thinking it's water grabs the glass and drinks it, so I was wandering around the national conference blind for the next morning. I did have to give the health policy report at the podium not basically able to see my notes or see the audience.'' Her relationship with the present trade minister ended after the 2004 election. Presumably they didn't see eye to eye.

PARTY CENTRAL

Australia Day can be a dull news day for many media organisations. So we applaud The Armidale Express for injecting some life into January 26. The newspaper's live blog had these gems to offer from the city's celebrations:

Distraction ... Russell Crowe on stage with nicole Kidman. Photo: Bellinda Rolland

11.30am: The band is playing, more than 40 people are at the racecourse, stalls are starting to be set up. The Lions Club is selling sausage sandwiches.

1.00pm: The Backtrack boys are putting on a performance to hundreds of onlookers. It's an amazing sight to see a border collie jump a nine foot wall.

1.15pm: Lily Roff from St Mary's wins the under 10s lamington-eating competition.

1.50pm: The Armidale Pipe Band finished off a stellar performance to the cheering of the crows [sic].

2.30pm: Dr Soo-Wee Ong held a second magic show to the delight of the crowd. Elsewhere Melita MacMahon won the women's egg race. John Schuman won the men's barreling ahead of everyone else.

STAY IN TOUCH . . .

WITH RUSTY THE RACONTEUR

RUSSELL CROWE can't help but steal the spotlight, even when he's not on stage. The combined star wattage of the Australian Academy of Cinema Television Arts was no match for Go Russ Go, who hosted the academy's annual awards on Wednesday in Sydney. The evening's biggest gaffe came when actor Dan Wyllie and model Megan Gale were due on stage to present the Best Young Actor Award, reports Shelly Horton. The announcer read their names, the music swelled and then … nothing. The presenters missed their cue, leaving the stage empty for an intolerable minute before Wyllie bolted in from the wings. He introduced the video package of the nominees solo before the model tottered sheepishly on stage to announce Saskia Rosendahl from the film Lore as the winner. Speaking at the after-party, Gale said she hadn't been told it was her time to shine: ''I was in make-up chatting, waiting to be called and no one got me. Dan took off at a sprint, which is easy in flat shoes and a suit. It took me longer to catch up in ridiculous heels and an Alex Perry gown.'' Wyllie, though, put the blame firmly on Crowe. ''I was backstage and Rusty was having a fag and telling me a story. And you know, you can't interrupt a Rusty story!'' Meanwhile, some guests were surprised Nicole Kidman didn't co-present the final award for best film with other Oscar winners Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Crowe. But she ducked out to make husband Keith Urban's concert at Sydney Olympic Park in time for his first song.

WITH A WHIFF OF EAU DE BABY

ARE we really sure a pair of middle-aged gay men are the authority on how your average, suburban baby should smell? Apparently if you are Italian designer dudes Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, pictured, better known as Dolce & Gabbana, the answer is absolutely. Having cornered the market in designer threads, sunglasses and various other shiny baubles, the pair have launched their first baby perfume. The duo, pictured, told the fashion press in a statement: ''This perfume is also inspired by the smell of a baby and is 'designed to cuddle and pamper every little boy and girl', which means it's fine for delicate skin, is unisex, but ultimately, mimics the smell of a baby's skin.'' And all yours for about $50 a bottle, surely a small price to pay in order to disguise (or, as D&G put it, ''enhance'') the smell of stale milk, vomit and dirty nappies? Dolce & Gabbana are the latest in a line of high-end fashion brands launching fragrances for the booming baby perfume market, or rather "eau de enfant". Products from Burberry and Bvlgari are already available.

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