Australian Shorts

Previously a rubbish tip, work on the nine hectares included installing 55,459 wick drains to provide drainage escape for groundwater to the surface and placing 740,000 tonnes of sand surcharge across the site.

Construction will begin late 2014 for completion by March 2018.

The 14,092.82 kilometers separating Europe and Australia has been a major reason why no Australian has performed at the Eurovision Song Contest. But in a first, indigenous Aussie hit singer Jessica Mauboy was invited to sing at the May 9-11 event in Copenhagen.

Despite heavy lobbying from Melbourne’s music industry, major live music venue The Palace Theatre announced it will close its doors for good May 31. The owner of the building, China-based Jinshan Investments, has been so far thwarted from turning it into a multi-story hotel and apartment complex.

But it has decided to raze the building anyway and ordered the club out. “Numerous requests to the landlord to extend our lease have been rejected,” the operators said. The music industry wants the State Government to buy the building and keep the club going. It has 450,000 patrons a year.