Good Food & Wine Show's Australia 2012

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The Good Food & Wine Show is back and will spice up your weekend with new chefs, new features, new master classes plus hundreds and hundreds of delicious food and wine tastings - it's sure to be a weekend to remember!

Click on a city below to see which chefs and features are coming to you!

Melbourne 1-3 June 2012
Sydney 21-23 June 2012
Perth 13-15 July 2012
Adelaide 12-14 October 2012
Brisbane 9-11 November 2012
Good Food and Wine Shows in Australia 2012

Brisbane to Host Davis Cup Tie Between Australia and South Korea

AUSTRALIA'S Davis Cup team will prepare for life after Lleyton Hewitt in Brisbane next month. 
 
In a further boost for the venue which hosted record crowds at the Brisbane International in January, the Queensland Tennis Centre at Tennyson will stage Australia's tie against South Korea from April 6-8.

Team stalwart Hewitt will not play as he nurses a foot problem expected to keep him off the court until June.

Australian hopes will rest on Queenslander Bernard Tomic and most likely the nation's No.2, Matt Ebden, for the Asia Oceania Zonal second-round tie.

World No.85 Ebden made his Davis Cup debut in Australia's 5-0 first-round win against China in Geelong last month, winning a dead rubber after Tomic, Hewitt and Chris Guccione had sealed victory.

Meanwhile, Marinko Matosevic stormed into contention for a Davis Cup recall by reaching his first ATP quarter-final yesterday.

Matosevic, who lost his only Davis Cup match in a 2011 tie against China, came through qualifying to upset sixth-seeded Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr at Delray Beach.

Head of Australian men's tennis Todd Woodbridge is excited by the options for a Davis Cup role that "a couple of years ago it looked like we were going to struggle to fill".

"We look at the line-up knowing that Lleyton's no longer going to be in the plan for this particular tie," Woodbridge said.

"Bernard, this will be his fourth playing tie and he knows how to shoulder responsibility and handle pressure. It's really who's going to vie for that second singles spot.

"Matt Ebden is a choice by top 100. Marinko Matosevic has played before, maybe he's starting to hit some form."

On the fringes of selection is James Duckworth, who upset Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in Brisbane this year.

"We've known who the targets possibly are and they're starting to follow through with the results," Woodbridge said.

"It's a bit more of a challenging and exciting time for some of our young guys because there's a bit of pressure on them to try to get that spot, a want for that spot."

The hardcourt tie is ideal for Australia's new guard to gain Davis Cup experience and move a step closer to ending the nation's five-year absence from the elite World Group.

South Korea's highest-ranked player is No.285 Yong-Kyu Lim.

The winning team will advance to the September playoffs for a chance to return to the 16-nation World Group in 2013.

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New Brisbane Convention Centre on Track

A new convention centre under construction at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane, Australia and projected to attract more than 220 events and 30,000 visitors annually is on schedule for a March 2013 opening.

RNA chief executive Jonathan Tunny and Brisbane Marketing Convention Bureau director Annabel Sullivan used this week's AIME platform to unveil interior designs of the new convention centre and the role it will have in the multi-billion dollar RNA Showgrounds regeneration project.

"The $59 million Royal International Convention Centre (RICC) is stage one of a A$2.9 billion regeneration project to transform the Showgrounds into a vibrant year-round destination offering a unique lifestyle and cultural hub," said Tunny.

"It is Australia's largest 'brownfield' development, is the most significant urban renewal project in Brisbane since South Bank and includes 340,000sqm of new residential, commercial and retail precinct development."

Tunny said the 22,000sqm multi-level centre is set to hold international, national and local business events which in 2010-11 pumped a total of A$212 million into the Brisbane economy.

"Situated in one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia, the new RICC is ideally located  1.6 kilometres from Brisbane's central business district and 15 minutes from international and domestic airports," he said.
"It will have pride of place on the 22 hectare RNA Showgrounds site, which is Brisbane's biggest indoor/outdoor events venue, attracting millions of visitors a year."

Tunny said the new RICC offered 'Australian first' features including a custom-built operable ceiling grid system which can cut exhibition set-up time by up to 24 hours.

"Our catering facilities will be world class and feature 12 of the latest designed self-cooking centres, capable of serving 2,600 plates in 40 minutes.

"The ovens enable us to produce fresh food on a daily basis for large numbers and feature a computerised system to track and monitor the quality of the food being served."

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Lady Gaga for Third Brisbane Show

LADY Gaga will play a third Brisbane Entertainment Centre concert on June 16, promoters said yesterday.

Tickets go on sale at noon on March 2 at livenation.com.au.

An allocation of advance tickets will be available to Visa card holders from 2pm on Monday to 5pm Wednesday at visaentertainment.com.au.

Lady Gaga's Brisbane shows on June 13 and 14 have sold out.

Promoters are also discounting tickets for the third show of country music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on March 25, despite March 23 and 24 shows selling out.

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CB series -Sri Lanka Vs India on 21st February - Gabba, Brisbane

Even though Sri Lanka is down in the points table, tomorrows win with bonus point against India will enhance the morale of the team further.

See the points table below:

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR
Australia	5	3	2	0	0	14	+0.433
India	5	2	2	1	0	10	-0.672
Sri Lanka	4	1	2	1	0	7	+0.323

Sri Lanka only played 4 matches and maintaining plus Net RR. And from last match against Australia captain Mahela as well as Dilshan back to their normal form with Sangakkara. More importantly Faveez Maharoof proves his quality with fine bowling figures of 8 overs, one maiden, 18 runs and two wickets.

The fielding was exceptional and first time in Sri Lankan cricket history we got three all-rounders in the team who can bowl fast medium and medium fast (Maharoof,Angelow and Thisara).In match against Australia Kulasekara was well supported to Malinga with better Slow left-arm orthodox bowing of Rangana Herath. And up to now in the series Sri Lanka headed by largest victory in terms of wickets and runs (vs Australia).

In bowling Herath,Maharoof(plays only one match) as well as Kulasekera are in the top five slots under “Best Economy rates” category. Dinesh chandimal is in the fourth place among top runners (but he played only four matches as all others played five matches) .The captaincy of Mahela in this series also has been hailed by many cricket experts as well.

On the other hand India having all sought of problems as their inform Match wining captain MS Dhoni has been suspended for one ODI .He was the third most run getter in the series. Furthermore there was a question mark on fitness of Virender Sehwag and specially Sachin Tendulkar who went for a precautionary MRI scan after being hit on the helmet by a Brett Lee bouncer.

So there is a chance to Sri Lanka to win with extra point which would take the team into number two spot in points table. But more importantly it will further boost the morale of the team and cricket loving community in Sri Lanka. And also special gratitude should be given for the Sri Lankans who are living in Australia supporting our team with always playing “our songs” with specific local “Baila” with our identity. This uniqueness can be observed in any part of the world which Sri Lankan cricketers are playing and separate social research can be done on that as well.

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Aussies Pound India at the Gabba, Brisbane

Australia have rocketed to the top of the tri-series standings as Ben Hilfenhaus continued to torment India in his return to one-day cricket.

Replacing an ill Clint McKay for his first ODI in more than two years, Hilfenhaus took a career-best 5-33 as the home side pounded the tourists by 110 runs on Sunday night.

But both sides face growing worries about modern-day greats Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar who were both made to look second-rate with ugly failures at the Gabba.

A tired Ponting’s immediate one-day future is on shaky ground after he looked all at sea making just seven – his fifth straight single-figure failure – as Australia posted 5-288.

But the stand-in skipper, due for a rest with Michael Clarke expected to return from injury this week, still managed to marshall his troops to a convincing victory by routing India for 178.

The tourists had no answers to the pace and swing of new-ball duo Hilfenhaus and Brett Lee (3-49) who ripped through their top-order to effectively kill off the contest at 4-36.

Skipper MS Dhoni delayed the inevitable with a patient 56 but once he holed out to Hilfenhaus, in the 38th over, a bonus point was in the bag for Australia.

Australia’s dominant win takes them to the top of the table on 13 points – three ahead of India (10), who will meet Sri Lanka (7) on Tuesday.

While Australia’s selectors have a dilemma in how to handle Ponting’s twilight years, especially with the next World Cup three years away, India appear to have just as big a problem in managing Tendulkar.

The Little Master, searching for his hundredth international century for the past 11 months, was made to look like a rookie as he upper cut Hilfenhaus straight to Xavier Doherty at third man to fall for three.

While Ponting has just 18 runs in the tri-series at an embarrassing average of 3.6, Tendulkar has 68 runs at 17 and hasn’t looked like challenging for his milestone century.

Like Tendulkar, who lasted 12 balls, Ponting struggled to find the middle of his bat and the gaps in the field in a painful 26-ball stay after David Warner propelled the home side to 1-70 with a breezy 43.

Australia’s momentum halted with his innings and only an impressive century stand by Mike Hussey (59 off 52) and adopted Queenslander Peter Forrest (52 off 71) put the home side on track on a good batting wicket.

Late lusty hitting by Dan Christian (30no off 18) and David Hussey (26no off 20) then ensured India would face a tough chase as they blasted 65 off the last six overs.

India shot themselves in the foot in the field with four dropped catches, including two off Mike Hussey, and two muffed run outs.

The comedy of errors wasn’t restricted to the players though with the match officials involved in farcical scenes after third umpire Bruce Oxenford unwittingly giving Hussey out on one.

Oxenford blamed a technical malfunction as he attempted to give the not out call to a stumping review but “OUT” flashed on the big screen before the batsman trudged off, only to be recalled by the on-field umpires.

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Now That's Impressive Parking - Queen Mary II's Royal Arrival in Brisbane

THE world's most famous cruise ship arrived in Brisbane yesterday and it was up to Ipswich's Captain Chris Gallagher to ensure the ship's safe arrival into port.

Captain Gallagher of Karalee took control of the Queen Mary 2 at 3.30am yesterday as it floated off the coast at Mooloolaba.

He was one of two pilots guiding in the Queen Mary 2 for the final three hours of its trip before docking in the Brisbane River.

Despite its impressive size, Captain Gallagher said the Queen Mary 2 was easy to direct.

"The ship is very manoeuvrable. Despite its size it is very powerful and has an amazing propulsion system," he said.

"It's very much a team effort. It's not down to one person. There was a second commander who is like the captain and 10 other people on the bridge."

Preparations for the ship's arrival began over a year ago, and included a trip to Sydney for Captain Gallagher to meet the ship's crew.

"We actually spent a bit of time on a ship simulator at the Brisbane Airport and had a number of scenarios. We put in high winds and currents before the ship arrives so we know how it will perform once we get on board."

It was a happy moment once the ship had docked safely.

"It was exhausting. Once we got along side the dock there was a lot of relief. A high profile ship like that we don't want to it to go wrong."

He described taking control of the ship as one of his career highlights.

"It has to be. She's a very special ship and it would have to be up there when I look back on my career."

In 2009 Captain Gallagher piloted his first international vessel, the USS Ronald Reagan down the Brisbane River and into port.

Royal arrival

The Queen Mary 2 cost $1 billion to construct and is three times the size of the Titanic.

It is 345m long, 41m wide and travels at a top speed of 30 knots.

The ship has over 300 original art works, valued at over $5 million.

Now That's Impressive Parking - Queen Mary II's Royal Arrival in Brisbane