Canberra CityNews February 17-23

Funding gun threatens housing success

The dead hand of bureaucracy has fallen on an innovative and successful Aboriginal development group. The Government won’t listen, but it will pull the funding in a few weeks, reports ELERI HARRIS

BETWEEN the rolling hills, vineyards and mountain bike tracks on the capital’s outskirts, a mob of indigenous Canberrans have built gardens, classrooms, a workshop and training facility to elevate the employment opportunities and well being of their kin.

Holding horticultural, mechanical, landscaping and construction classes, taking on those sentenced to community service and providing housing to the needy, Billabong Aboriginal Development Corporation is an independent nonprofit, operating on a mix of ACT Government funds and corporate sponsorship.

But now chairman Jim Best says the ACT Government is holding a gun to its head, pushing Billabong to sign on to a new community housing register that would mean surrendering their autonomy and permanently tying it to the whim of bureaucracy.

“We try not to get involved in the politics,” Best insists.

“But we’re between a rock and a hard place.

“In order to provide housing, you have to sign up to the framework and the [amended Housing Assistance] Act. Section 25S says if they don’t like

INDEX

February 17-23, 2011

Billabong’s chairman Jim Best... “We try not to get involved in the politics, but we’re between a rock and a hard place.” Photo by Silas

what you’re doing, or they perceive a risk, they can appoint 10 or 12 bureaucrats to your board and take over your whole organisation. Not just your housing, all your buildings, all your plants, and they can decide what happens to them.”

Billabong’s only paid full time employee Linda Vincent says she doesn’t understand why the Government isn’t more supportive of the Territory’s only indigenous housing provider; the corporation currently manages 24 properties, 17 Government public housing properties, and seven of their own.

“You see in the media all these things about

Aboriginal housing and how bad it is. But I’ve worked in residential property management before, these houses are well kept, we have no evictions, we can actually do it better than the Government can do it.”

Billabong has recently been offered a credit union loan to build more houses, but Department of Housing and Community Services director Maureen Sheehan says its Holt property lease will not be renewed until the corporation signs the register.

ACT Greens leader Meredith Hunter says she has urged Chief Minister Jon Stanhope to assist

Billabong in a restructure that would allow it to sign up for housing activities as a separate entity.

“Billabong is a unique and successful community group,” Hunter said.

“It would be heavy-handed, and completely unacceptable if the lease for Billabong’s land has been tied to them signing up to the community housing register.”

Housing Minister Joy Burch says Housing ACT and the Registrar of Social Housing have met with Billabong Aboriginal Corporation on numerous occasions to work through their “unique concerns”.

“The primary intent of the provision 25S is to protect the ACT community’s assets should the provider fail, in that the assets would be transferred to another ACT community housing provider,” she says.

“Every other community housing provider in the ACT has signed on to the registration, and all have since become registered.”

Best points out Billabong, the 2010 ACT indigenous finalist in the Landcare Australia awards, is not like any other housing providers and does not have the resources to set up a subsidiary organisation to manage its property arm.

“Our contract is $636 a year per house for 17 houses,” Best says.

“If we can do the job, if we can keep people in tenancies, if we can create the process where they come from an environment where they’re on a benefit into part-time employment, affordable housing into the private market, wouldn’t that be the object of the exercise?”

The Chief Minister has given Billabong eight weeks to sign or they will lose their lease and not be included in the 2010-11 ACT Budget.

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DonateLife

Lake walk’s new name and new lease of life

By Megan Haggan

THE annual Terry Connolly Organised Walk around Lake Burley Griffin has been renamed The DonateLife Walk, and organisers expect it to attract even more than the 600 participants who attended last year.

Gift of Life president David O’Leary says the re-badging would help tie the event into the Federal Government’s awareness campaign, “DonateLife”.

DonateLife Week runs from February 20-27 and the walk will take place at 7am at Regatta Point on Wednesday, February 23.

According to Mr O’Leary, who received a liver transplant 20 years ago after contracting hepatitis on an overseas posting, 2010 saw a surge in organ donation across the country with 309 multi-organ donors helping to save many lives. This was up from 247 multi-organ donors in 2009.

“This is a good sign. To go from 247 to 309 shows there’s definite improvement; but the overall figure is that there’s around 1700 Australians waiting for organ donation each year,” he says.

Almost 55,000 ACT residents are on the register, and in 2010 a record 10 multi-organ donors helped 32 recipients in the Territory (not including the southern area health service of NSW).

David stressed the importance of not just deciding to register as an organ donor, but also talking to family about the decision, as family members can override a person’s choice to become an organ donor if they die under circumstances which make it possible.

“Registration in itself isn’t enough. This is what people have done in the past, but not discussed it with their families.

“In Australia, the legislation is, at the end of the day, that if anyone is placed in that situation familial consent is required. Doctors won’t proceed without seeking it. So a major plank of the national campaign is having that discussion so your family knows your wishes.”

He describes his own transplant as “an absolute miracle: I was extremely lucky to get a match in such a short space of time. Of course, some people don’t receive one in time.”

More information or to register for the walk, visit www.giftoflife.asn.au

The gift of life from Angus

WHEN Glenys Cody, of Calwell, lost her  -year-old son Angus in 008, the fact that he had saved the lives of others through organ donation helped her cope.

“It didn’t remove the tragedy, but it did give us the silver lining that kept us going – that Angus was able to help other people’s families,” she said. “For us, organ donation has been the silver lining around the tragedy.

“His lungs went to a girl who was 19 at the time, she had a double lung transplant. His kidneys went to two separate middle-aged men, and his heart valve was able to be stored separately and used afterwards.”

Glenys had previously talked to her sons, Angus, Lachlan and Hayden, about her own wish to have her organs donated if anything

happened to her, and over a long discussion all the family members had agreed that they felt the same way.

“I wanted my organs to be used to help somebody else if they could. And when Angus’ situation arose there was no question of whether it was what he wanted, and that made it easier. I knew it was his wish.

“A lot of people asked me, in the hospital, how I dealt with it. I said: ‘When you’re looking at your child lying there and you know he’s not going to survive, and then you think about it being your child being there because they couldn’t get a donated organ... how can you not make the decision to donate?’ You put the shoe on the other foot.

“He had so much life in him, he pushed every boundary there was to push and he loved life – he couldn’t get enough of it. But we all know it’s going to happen to all of us: We’re born, we die and we pay taxes. And you don’t need your organs any more once you’ve passed.”

Cheerfully

into the rut mum in the

By sonya Fladun ROUTINE

– I know it sounds a bit boring, but apart from lots of love and a good sense of humour, few things are more important in a family with young children.

Without routine, family life is a little rudderless boat on a stormy sea surrounded by lurking icebergs – saying afloat is hard work, but progress in any direction is damn near impossible.

Before children, I wasn’t a routine kind of person. I liked to keep things spontaneous and associated routine with monotony and boredom. Even recently, I’ve thought we’ve fallen into a bit of a rut and I’ve yearned to shake things up and break from our daily and weekly schedule. But be careful what you wish for.

In recent months our family’s life was turned completely upside down. We moved house yet again and spent six weeks in temporary accommodation.

Then there was Christmas and the long school holidays for which, preoccupied with other dramas, I’d failed to plan any strategic activities for our children.

Our family routine quickly went out the window. Our previously happily settled children (and parents, too) totally lost the plot. This temporary episode has brought home the huge importance of fixed routine – though not, perhaps, the regimented schedule of the Von Trapp family, complete with marching and boatswain’s whistle.

Routine gives us some sense of control and allows us to accommodate more easily the little hiccups of life.

Certainly, young children, who really have very little control over their own lives, benefit from a good steady routine and the sense of certainty it brings. It is a kind-of security blanket that allows them to get on confidently with the things they enjoy – learning, playing, exploring the world. So now with the new school year underway I’m busily re-establishing our routines and taking the opportunity to tweak our old way of doing things. There’s a new regime of daily and weekly chores and a reward system for keeping bedrooms tidy. And I’m ruthlessly enforcing an earlier bedtime to ensure the kids are more rested and to make parental life just that little bit easier (maybe a boatswain’s whistle would be a good idea).

Although part of me still hates to admit it, it does feel good to get a bit of the old routine back into my own life – things like that first nonnegotiable cappuccino in the morning, once the children are off to school, to my glass of wine and relax time with the other half when the children go to bed. Thank goodness for routine!

Helping power of a photo

By Eleri Harris

“I WAS always interested in photography,” Rodney Hoare says, adjusting his glasses and tapping away on his keyboard.

“Basically, when I got crook, I found it was hard to get into certain spots and figured other photographers out there had the same difficulty.”

Diagnosed with primary progressive MS in 2007, the largely house-bound former industrial spare-parts salesman has found a new lease on life, founding the Australian Disabled Photographers Association with wife Sharon from a home studio in Conder.

“We’re trying to get more disabled people involved in photography, because it is very therapeutic,” Rodney says.

“Once you take the pictures you can sit at the computer and you don’t have to go out to take photos. You don’t have to be taking portraits, or landscapes, or standard photos. You can be sitting there taking photos of fruit, spiders, anything in your house. It’s amazing what you can do that’s different.”

Aiming to gather disabled members from within the Canberra community to meet, discuss, learn about and exhibit photography, Rodney and Sharon hope to furnish more than just a society of amateurs.

“The whole thing is to get people’s minds off their illness and on to something that’s more positive,” Sharon says.

“Giving them some sort of an outlet that they feel is constructive and have other people feel that it’s constructive and have other people com-

pliment them on their work. And for their carers as well, to give them an out.”

Based on a UK model, Rodney and Sharon mean to provide classes, advice, exhibition space, an online gallery/shop and camera modifications.

“We’re taking it a bit further than to try and get information out to people,” Rodney says, explaining that with a little bit of ingenuity and some spare cash, a camera can be modified with brackets to stop shaking and with buttons for tongues and zooms for teeth.

Starting with a website and a grant from MS Australia, the Hoares are struggling to get through the red tape and promotional processes involved in establishing a charitable organisation.

They need cameras, legal advice and assistance from photographers, photography teachers and disability support services.

Rodney and Sharon Hoare... “You can be sitting there taking photos of fruit, spiders, anything in your house. It’s amazing what you can do that’s different,” says Rodney.

Photo by Andrew Finch

“We’re winging it,” Rodney laughs.

“I’d like to get people on board who do teach, get studio help where we can take groups to studio and they teach about lighting aspects and things like that. Even get people on board who teach Photoshop.

“We’re sending a letter out to Australian landscape photographer Ken Duncan, we’re trying to get him as a patron and maybe to approach camera suppliers to get sponsorship through them so that we can do exhibitions and competitions, things like that.

“I think we’re doing alright. It is a very steep learning curve, but I’ve run businesses and this keeps my brain active.”

To find out more about the Australian Disabled Photographers Association visit http://disabledphotographers.org.au/

School closes suddenly

CHEF Andrew Haskins and wife Catherine have temporarily closed their new cookery school 3seeds at Majura Park following an emergency dash to Sydney with their daughter Lily, who suffered a cardiac arrest. Lily is now out of a coma and the family is waiting to be informed of the next step of her recovery. “As a result, we have elected to keep the doors of 3seeds closed until such time as Andrew can get back to Canberra. We anticipate this to be within the week,” says Catherine.

Aiding Queensland

ACTEWAGL and ACTEW have donated more than $60,000 to the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal to assist Queenslanders affected by the recent floods and Cyclone Yasi. Of this amount, $20,000 was donated by the organisations’ staff through the workplace-giving program. ActewAGL CEO Michael Costello said: “ActewAGL and ACTEW played an integral role in the recovery phase of the 2003 Canberra bushfires and we understand the financial cost that is involved in rebuilding after a disaster. We wanted to do what we could to help those affected get back on their feet.”

Room to help

ROOM to Read is hosting an International Women’s Day fundraising evening at Tilley’s Devine Cafe Gallery, Lyneham, from 6.30pm on March 8. Since 2000, Room to Read has built 1129 schools and 10,000 libraries in nine developing countries. The evening features the Cyrenes women’s choir, a raffle and guest speakers, including Prof Hilary Charlesworth, Prof. Margaret Sheil and Yeney Prihatiningtias, of the University of Brawijaya, Indonesia. Entry of $25 includes a complimentary drink on arrival. Bookings to www.roomtoread. org/IWDCanberra

All he wants to do is…

By Kathryn Vukovljak

“THIS one is considered a ‘survivor’ car, which means it’s in its original condition and hasn’t been molested or modified in any way,” says Mustang owner Justin Forrest, with evident pride.

“It used to belong to an old lady in California who’d just drive it to the local shops and back.”

Justin’s car, a 1966 Mustang coupe in Signal Flare Red, will be part of a static display of about 120 classic and modern Mustangs and other American cars at the biennial Canberra Mustang Car Show on Sunday, February 27, from 9.30am on the Patrick White Lawns adjacent to the National Library of Australia.

Justin admits that his car’s age does mean it drives like “an old car”.

“It’s nice to cruise in it, putter along, enjoy the scenery,” he says. He also confesses that he’s quite looking forward to getting the car out of

the rain that blighted the photo shoot, so he can dry it off with a special towel.

“I love Mustangs, the classic lines. It might be time to invest in another one,” says Justin. “It’s an addiction.”

The show will be hosted by the Mustang Owners Club of Australia Canberra District, and will feature cars from Canberra, the south coast and northern NSW. There will be a jumping castle, food, drinks and ice creams on sale, with proceeds going to the Pediatrics Unit at the Canberra Hospital.

Event co-ordinator Ian Jackson says the show is a “great opportunity to walk around some well-known and rare local cars, marvel at the condition and ask the owners about them”. Justin says he’s happy to answer questions about his car, although he’ll be dressed as Patch the platypus on the day to help raise money for the Pediatrics Unit.

Beer label inspires top story

By Kathryn Vukovljak

INSPIRED by an extinct marsupial on a beer bottle, Ainslie author and nature writer Nicholas Drayson has been shortlisted from 136 entries for the inaugural Nature Conservancy Australia Nature Writing Prize – for a story that came about while drinking a beer on his verandah.

“I’m very excited, and most honoured,” he says. “I won’t actually be able to attend the awards ceremony, so my daughter is going for me. I’ll be spending a couple of weeks in the UK; it’s my mother’s birthday.”

Born and raised in England, Nicholas has worked as a journalist in the UK, Kenya and Australia, writing for “The Daily Telegraph” and “Australian Geographic”.

“When I came to Australia in 1982, I was bowled over really; everything was so different and new. I was inspired to write about nature.”

The recent winner of the inaugural Wildcare Tasmania Nature Writing Prize, Nicholas is also the author of “Confessing a Murder”, “Love and the Platypus” (2007) and “A Guide to the Birds of East Africa” (2008). His latest novel, “A Guide to the Beasts of East Africa” will be published later this year.

“The story for this particular prize is just me sitting on my front verandah, looking at the wildlife in the garden and musing on life and nature. With a beer,” he says.

“I had a Tasmanian Cascade, and was pondering the label, which features a picture of a thylacine with a striped tail, but they didn’t have striped tails, only striped backs. Anyway, that sort of inspired the story.”

The winner will be announced in Sydney on

Author Nicholas Drayson… “I’m very excited, and most honoured.”

February 22, and will receive $5000, gifted by the MacLean Foundation, as well as publication in the “indigo journal”.

The judges said of his work: “It’s the future of

our environment seen from a verandah, a demand that we observe and learn from what surrounds us dressed up as an entertaining stream-of-consciousness meander over a couple of sundowners.”

briefly

Principal commissioned

Coutts as principal of Canberra Girls’ Grammar School at a ceremony at the school chapel. Mrs Coutts was formerly principal for seven years of Headington School Oxford in the UK.

Seventies ball

THE Canberra Star Ball, in aid of the Starlight Children’s Foundation, will be held at the Hotel Realm from 7pm on Friday, March 11. It will have a ‘70s theme and there will be live and silent auctions. Tickets are priced at $185 and Loren Sahely on (03) 9468 2038 or loren.sahely@starlight.org.au is taking bookings.

Sweet intentions

INDEPENDENT grocers IGA will donate 30c from every pack of its Signature Chocolate Hearts sold until June 30 to the McGrath Foundation. Funds raised will go towards the placement of McGrath Breast Care Nurses in communities around Australia and increasing breast awareness in younger women. The chocolate hearts packs are priced at around $3.79.

Entries open

ENTRIES are open for the annual Super Mother’s Day Classic walk and run for breast cancer research at www.mothersdayclassic.com.au. The event will be held at Rond Terrace, Commonwealth Park, on Sunday, May 8.

Tony’s grip is loosening

By Michael Moore

“WHAT you see is what you get”. This is the main reason why Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has to go.

He may have been appropriate as a leader in what appeared to be an almost impossible election. However, he is not the right person to operate where there is a minority parliament.

Through the election campaign Abbott was able to contain himself and project an image that suppressed the head-kicking tendencies. We were fed a diet of “what you see is what you get” in an attempt to counter Julia Gillard’s about face during the campaign in early August last year.

However, under his leadership the Liberals are oppositionist in the extreme and are failing to show their real capacity as the alternative government.

The Liberal Party backbench and quite a few of his front bench are beginning to realise that his oppositional style of politics will, in the long term, backfire.

Abbott is a political head-kicker. He has always been the head-kicker. His “strongman” tactics have always been his greatest strength as a politician. Unfortunately, they are also his greatest weakness as a leader. His bully-boy approach even applies in his own ranks. Look at the recent reports regarding Julie Bishop’s anger over Abbott’s unilateral decision to adopt a policy that cuts overseas aid programs to Indonesia rather than support Labor’s flood levy.

This is the same flood levy that Abbott also unilaterally decided to oppose. It’s what he is good at – opposing.

The difficulty of taking an oppositional stance whenever possible is that it exposes hypocrisy. In government, Abbott was a strong supporter of levies: the gun buy-back levy; the stevedoring levy; the milk levy; the East Timor levy and the Ansett flight ticket levy.

The overseas aid approach is just a symptom of what is happening in the party. The backbenchers are realising that the tactic of pushing the independents into a corner to bring the Government down is not going to work. Those with most to lose in an early election are the cross-benchers. They need a full term to explain to their constituents what they have delivered and to justify their decision. They will be punished by the electorate if there is an early election with no chance of retaining their own seats.

As columnist Robert Macklin pointed out in last week’s “City News”, Tony Abbott is on the way out. With his demise the Liberals will have a chance to choose someone who is more centralist, less oppositional and who really will be able to use minority government to demonstrate that they have what it takes to appeal to a much broader cross-section of the community.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health in the Carnell government.

A passion to manage

By Kathryn Vukovljak

“A SMALL business can take over your life, but the opportunity to manage a great team and to think strategically about how we can change things is just fantastic,” says Julie McKay.

Julie, executive director of UNIFEM Australia, is the joint winner of the Australian Institute of Management Young Manager of the Year Award.

Julie won the award alongside Dr Tal Rapke, medical affairs manager at SanofiAventis (NSW), and says it’s interesting that both winners were from non-government organisations, in non-traditional management roles. “It makes me feel very proud, that we are shifting recognition to the NGO sector,” she says.

Julie says she is passionate about the development of the NGO sector and, in a voluntary capacity, sits on the boards of the UN Association of Australia, the YWCA of Canberra and Australian’s Helping Aboard.

Julie says she plans to use her award to raise her professional profile, as well as that of UNIFEM Australia, a national committee which promotes women’s human rights, political participation and economic security. The prize includes

Julie Mackay… “It’s a leadership award, but my ability to lead depends on the dedication of a lot of other people.”

one year’s personal membership to AIM, an Apple iPad, and a tailored learning and development program to the value of $7500.

Julie says that the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day in March is keeping the team busy.

“We’re co-ordinating hundreds of events across Australia for IWD,” she says.

As the only staff member of UNIFEM Australia when she started work in 2007,

Mum

Julie now manages a team of eight.

“For me, this is a good time to reflect on the men and women I work with in the sector, a lot of whom work for free,” she says.

“It’s a leadership award, but my ability to lead depends on the dedication of a lot of other people.

“The capacity of a small team to achieve big goals is amazing, and it’s an honour to be building a team that together, works out what we can do.”

wants to make Big Splash!

MARK PARTON’s got his parents coming to visit...

SO, my parents are coming to Canberra. It’s been a while since they’ve journeyed here. They live in country WA.

I was talking to my mum the other night and asked her what she wanted to see on this trip. I didn’t ask dad, because he would have just referred the question to mum.

At the top of her list is the war memorial. Apparently, I got her out of there too quickly last time. I had no idea. She told me she wants to spend a whole day in there. Cool, we can do that.

“What about Parliament House?” I said. Mum was keen to get in there and see the place, but didn’t fancy going to Question Time.

“Won’t it be boring ?” she said. “….boring,” I heard my father echo in the background.

“Come on, mum,” I said, “this is your chance to experience democracy in action.” I don’t think I’ve heard anyone over the age of 60 respond with “whatever” before, but she did.

WA is bereft of licensed clubs as we have them. My parents have listed on their must-do list: “Having a schnitzel and chips on one of the trams at the Dickson Tradies”. I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or amused.

“Oh, and we want to see the little towns and the little people,” mum added with an agreeing grunt from dad. I think she meant Cockington Green.

“There is one thing that we really MUST attend,” mum added at the end.

Could it be the National Museum or the perhaps the National Library?

No, the biggest attraction in town, according to my mum, is the Kaleen Primary School Swimming Carnival at Big Splash. It’s on on the day after they arrive and they’re desperate to see granddaughters Brydie and Delaney striving for glory.

Ain’t it the truth, when it comes to any holiday destination: There may be lots to see and do, but the biggest attraction is usually the people.

Mark Parton is the breakfast announcer on 2CC

‘We’re principally an extension and renovation company, so we’re specialists in what we do.’

Stay home and put the Kelton crew to work

AT different life stages, housing needs change: We might need more bedrooms for a growing family, a home office for a small business, or a private space for older parents.

And moving is not always the best solution, says Laura Sutton, from Kelton Constructions in Queanbeyan.

“Often I get calls from people who are looking at the option of moving, but they like the area they’re in, and don’t want to worry about the expense of moving when instead, they can stay in the area that they have established their lifestyle in,” she says.

“Housing is expensive, and moving is expensive.”

Moving can also be disruptive to family life, particularly for children where the possibility of changing schools is raised.

Many local families are instead choosing to extend their existing homes, Laura says, adding on bedrooms, living areas, decks – and increasingly popular is the parents’ retreat, featuring a new master bedroom, walk-in robe and ensuite. Kelton also constructs granny flats.

“Another big trend is that people are opening up their homes, making them open-plan. It’s a friendlier way to live.

“We’re principally an extension and renovation company, so we’re specialists in what we do.”

A family business that’s been operating since 1988, Kelton Constructions was founded by principal Anthony Sutton, Laura’s dad.

“He’s still the one who goes out and does all the consultations,” Laura says. Because clients looking to remodel or extend their homes are a discerning market, the company has put in place some measures to ensure that it offers the best customer service it can.

“We have a five-year guarantee on workmanship and materials, and we also offer a guaranteed completion date, where if we don’t meet that date, there’s a cash-back refund.”

The third plank of Kelton’s customer service commitment is its fixed-price contract, which means the agreed contract price isn’t varied throughout the building project unless the client requests a change, or chooses an item that’s more expensive than provisionally allowed for.

Because the company has more than 20 years’ experience, clients don’t need to temporarily relocate while the work is being done, again minimising disruption.

Getting started is a simple process, Laura says.

“We ask the client a few questions, to determine their needs and make sure we’re the company that can best assist them.

A new bathroom... Kelton Constructions also remodel existing bathrooms, ensuites and toilets.

Growing with Kelton Constructions

Kelton Constructions offers a wide range of extension and remodelling options, including: additional bedrooms, including wardrobes; extended living areas and new kitchens; add new and remodel existing bathrooms, ensuites and toilets; creating granny flats, parents’ retreats and studios; adding second storeys; adding basement levels; building garages and carports; and when there’s other work already being done, patios, balconies, decks and pergolas. More information at www.keltonconstructions.com.au or call 6299 3622.

“We can then arrange an appointment for a consultation at their home – some people already have plans drawn, some don’t. We can provide advice on what is feasible and what their options are in terms of meeting their needs.

A new bedroom... many families are choosing to extend their existing homes, Laura Sutton

“Based on the consultation we give them a professional and detailed costing. From there the design and inclusions are refined and we then move into the government-approval phase.”

Safety push flawed by poor seat fitting

With the deadline for the start of new

national laws governing the use of kids’ car seats edging closer, MEGAN HAGGAN discovers there’s a lot to know about keeping children safe

UP to 75 per cent of child car restraints aren’t fitted properly, placing children in danger, says Eric Chalmers, ACT president of the child accident prevention group KidSafe. He urged Canberran parents to make sure their kids’ seats are compliant in the lead-up to new national laws which will come fully into practice on March 15.

The new laws had a 12-month phase-in period to give parents time to acquire appropriate restraints or booster seats and get them fitted correctly.

“The problem so far has been one, getting children or families to use them, and two, misuse, where people don’t know how to fit them,” Mr Chalmers says. “Around Australia, most research says over three-quarters of restraints aren’t used properly: for example they’re the wrong type of restraint for the child’s age, though that’s dropping quite quickly in the ACT because we’re able to get to more people than in most States.”

KidSafe has been contacting new parents and those with primary school and preschool-aged children, as well as sending out reminders about child restraints and boosters with vehicle registration renewal notices. The group sells, hires and fits the restraints.

Poorly fitted seats can actually be more dangerous than not using one, he says. For example, with a lot of seats children can “submarine” or squirm their way to freedom, wriggling their way out from under the harness, if they’re not

correctly secured.

“So the seatbelt comes on to their abdomen and can badly injure them in an accident,” Mr Chalmers says.

“If they pull their arms out of the harness, you take away the impact that harness absorbs in an accident.”

He says that he’s seen a lot of incorrectly fitted restraints in his time.

“I’ve seen parents forget to put the top tether on at all; or the seat or capsule has been in the back of the car but not connected to anything at all. I’ve seen the restraint in the middle of the back seat, yet the bolt [where the restraint is tethered to the top of the back seat] is on the side. There are some very interesting positions people use!”

The new laws specify that children aged under seven must be in an appropriate child restraint that meets Australian standards, and which is properly fastened and adjusted.

Children aged under four must not travel in the front seat of a car with two or more rows of seats, and in these vehicles children aged between four and seven must only travel in the front if all other seats are being used by other children aged under seven, and only while using an approved booster seat and properly adjusted and fastened seatbelt.

Fines and demerit points will apply if the new rules are not followed.

“People say we put kids in cotton wool these days, but what we actually focus on are the

things that really do kill children, like driveway run-overs,” Mr Chalmers says. “There’s a very simple solution to these: you never let your child run around in the driveway.

“If you’re in a driveway or a swimming pool or just next to the road, you carry them or hold their hand so you know exactly where they are.

“Likewise, if you put them in a car, put them in a proper child restraint so you know they’ll be safe – it’s no different to wearing a seat belt yourself.”

More information on the new laws is at www.kidsafeact.com.au/new_road_rules

Super Rugby season

Adam primed for huge Super Rugby season

The new Super Rugby season starting on February 8 promises to be the game’s biggest year. Here Wallabies star ADAM ASHLEY-COOPER explains how important playing for the Brumbies is to his goal of making the World Cup

ROLLING towards the end of an extensive wait between World Cup campaigns, Qantas Wallabies star Adam Ashley-Cooper says he’s primed for a huge Super Rugby season with the Brumbies and taking the first steps towards RWC11 in NZ, in what promises to be a massive year for the sport.

Four years since Australia were unceremoniously knocked out by England in the World Cup quarter finals in France, Ashley-Cooper says he and his teammates have been eagerly awaiting a chance at redemption.

Now 2011 has arrived, the new year brings with it not only another chance at lifting the William Webb Ellis trophy in October, but a new Super Rugby competition which features a new Australian franchise, increased local derbies and an extended finals series.

Ashley-Cooper says he’s looking forward to the chance of being a part of rugby’s biggest year which kicks off in Australia on February 18 when the Melbourne Rebels make their debut and play host to the NSW Waratahs.

“We’ve all been waiting four years now since the disappointing end to

our World Cup campaign in France, it’s been an extensive period of time since then but now 2011 is finally here and it’s very exciting,” Ashley-Cooper says.

“But we have a big Super Rugby campaign in front of us, and I think I speak on behalf of all players that will hopefully represent Australia at the Rugby World Cup, that their main focus is with their provinces.

“Everyone understands that all performances will contribute towards World Cup selection – and this is the big one in the game of Rugby – this is the one that everyone wants to be a part of.

“It’s the biggest event and I guess it’s amongst all players’ goals to represent their country at a World Cup and hopefully picking up the trophy.”

The Brumbies utility back says there’s an added buzz around the training field with a revamped provincial competition about to get underway, with sport’s biggest prize awaiting those who stand out above the rest.

“Anything new is always exciting and with the inclusion of the Melbourne Rebels, it brings with it an added ri -

valry to the competition and, of course, an opportunity to play more games in Australia,” Ashley-Cooper says.

“There’s more local derbies this year, too and the players get just as excited about them as I guess the fans and supporters and the families do.”

It’s been long while between drinks for the Brumbies, who have not appeared in the finals since winning the competition back in 2004 – a year

Adam AshleyCooper... “The new Super Rugby will be an exciting competition and that leading into the World Cup it makes for just a great year of rugby.”

before Ashley-Cooper run out for the first of his 62 Super Rugby caps.

Still Australia’s most successful franchise, with two titles from five appearances in the decider, the Brumbies will be confident of finishing as the best-placed Australian team, which would secure them a place in the new finals series.

“At this stage it’s hard to say who’s going to be there, but at least you

know the Australian supporting base will have someone to get behind come finals time,” Ashley-Cooper says.

“The new Super Rugby will be an exciting competition and that leading into the World Cup it makes for just a great year of rugby.”

So when will dreams of the gold jersey start flashing in front of the player’s eyes? The old cliché of one game at a time is bound to be printed again and again as the Reds, Waratahs, Brumbies Rebels and Force, make their way through 21 weeks competition.

“Fundamentally, a Wallabies World Cup jersey comes into a player’s mind at the start of their career, that’s why you play the game,” Ashley-Cooper says.

“So everyone has that in the back of their mind, having the opportunity to wear the green and gold at a World Cup because it’s the ultimate goal in rugby.

“It’s certainly motivation for individuals playing the game this year, but it’s just as important, that their main focus will be week-to-week with their provinces, but just using that little bit of an extra motivation, knowing that there is a Wallaby jersey behind it if you perform.

“Personally, I can’t wait – but it’s still a long way ahead even though it’s this year. I’ll be doing everything I can with the Brumbies and myself to make sure I’m there in September in NZ.”

Why, oh, why, do we avoid good health?

HEALTH Minister Katy Gallagher opened the Centre for Research & Action in Public Health at the University of Canberra recently and, in discussion afterwards, made the remark that if the hospitals were free of patients whose diseases were related to tobacco, alcohol and obesity, she wouldn’t have to be thinking about the need to build a new hospital.

I was struck by that comment, because in another domain I have been told that “all the low-lying fruit” has been gathered in the field of preventative medicine, and that we should be seeking cures, not prevention.

In general, I don’t agree. Prevention is always better than cure, if you know how to prevent whatever it is. We don’t know that, in the case of many cancers, but if we did (as with lung cancer) we would be able to do something about it – and we’ve pushed down the right path with respect to tobacco.

In the case of all three disease domains the Minister mentioned, prevention is, if not straightforward, then at least accessible to everyone. A physically active life, no fags and moderate alcohol, healthy eating, decent sleep – what more does she need to say? This regimen won’t guarantee you a life completely free of illness, but it greatly ups the odds in your favour.

So why don’t we all follow it? Ah. Well, there’s the rub. Watch a Hollywood film of the 1940s, and the characters seem to chain-smoke their way right through it. Very few films today show anyone smoking, and if they do, that’s plainly something to be frowned on in the plot. What has changed is the social acceptability of smoking in anyone else’s presence — and a further link in that chain comes shortly with the ban in the ACT on smoking in outdoor eating areas.

Prevention is always better than cure, says DON AITKIN

We have hardly begun on the other domains. Drinking beer, wine and spirits is a widespread activity in virtually all societies. Alcohol-based drinks assist relaxation or stimulation according to desire. Most of us learn to accommodate that desire to what is more or less good for us. Some don’t. There are lot of messages about, and advice, and laws.

Binge drinking among the young is a sign that learning is lacking. I would put most of it down to a lack of interest in creativity (or something better to do), as well as a lot of disposable money. But with a bit of luck, most will get through that phase, too.

Obesity seems to have many links, to passive interests such as watching television, a lack of engagement in physical activity as one’s weight increases, a preference for prepared foods high in sugar, salt and fat, disposable money, and so on. The prospects ahead are cancers, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Again, there’s a lot of information about, and a bit of regulation, too.

There’s no silver-bullet solution, and Minister Gallagher made clear that she has to deal with what is, not with what she would like it to be. But, given what we have done with seat-belts, HIV-AIDS and smoking, I have some confidence that a future Australia will be healthier, and display less grogfuelled violence, less obesity and more hospital beds available for those suffering from ill health that is not related to lifestyle.

I hope to live long enough to see the change, too.

Don Aitkin, political scientist and historian, served as vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra from 1991 to 2002.

Organic food is better, isn’t it?

THE organic food market is growing at a rate of 20-30 per cent a year and, in 2008, was estimated to be worth $600 million in Australia.

If this is the case, it is time the consumer knew the scientific, quantitative facts about organic food and whether it lives up to the connotation of being healthier.

The organic topic has been done to death and qualitative anecdotes are unhelpful in evaluating what the true nutritional and agricultural chemical status is of organic food, they just confuse the consumer.

Organic practices shun away from the use of synthetic chemicals in the production of their foods.

Research suggests that the level of pesticide residues are lower on organic produce than conventional non organic produce, although there is no research currently that validates that adults who consume organic foods have lower levels of agricultural chemicals in their bodies than those who consume non organic foods. This is a question that needs to be answered to support the benefit of organic food and, thankfully, one which is being researched and analysed currently by Liz Oates, of RMIT in Melbourne.

It will be the results from her findings that will give kudos to the emotional topic of chemicals and health of the organic eater.

The other health connotation that

What is the true nutritional status of organic foods, asks food scientist AMANDA DOS SANTOS?

organic food has is that it has higher levels of nutritional compounds.

The actual bio-availability of nutritional compounds has been found to occasionally be higher in organic foods, although this is often due to differences such as production methods.

Similarly to the issue with agricultural chemicals, it is inside the human body, in vivo, where the nutrient values need to be analysed. It is the bio-accessibility of the minerals, vitamins and other nutritional compounds, after the digestion process which is the real test of whether an organic food is a healthier option.

It is the lack of “in vivo” studies on the nutritional values of organic versus nonorganic foods that needs to be focused upon, as does the impending result from RMIT on the build up of agricultural chemicals within the adult body.

Combining the results of these two aspects of organic foods will help determine whether organic foods are a healthier option.

The Government is wasting money

AS a walker, a ratepayer and a cyclist, I am dismayed that the ACT Government proposes to waste money on a few expensive cycling and walking projects when, for the same cost, it could achieve much more by funding more projects that are genuinely cost-effective.

The Government’s “Cycling and Pedestrian Network” report makes three fundamental errors in the way it deals with cost-effectiveness. Firstly, it scores “cost-effectiveness” without regard to connectivity, network enhancement, safety or strategic importance. Secondly, it calculates cost-effectiveness the wrong way round, giving a project a higher score if it is more expensive. Thirdly, instead of weighing a project’s cost score against its benefit scores, it

Don’t stop development

JOHN Hibberd (“Plan or the bush capital dies”, CN, February 3) is right suggesting we need a more compact city.

At present we have more than 100 suburbs spread over 45kms with most of us living in free-standing homes on “quarter-acre” to “halfacre” blocks.

The worst-possible outlook would be to stop all developments – then have our suburbs stretch endlessly into NSW, depriving us of taxes, rates and car registrations needed to maintain and improve our city.

J. McDonald, Hackett

Cedric delights

I WAS delighted to see you have had the good sense to commission [gardening writer] Cedric Bryant to write for “CityNews”. I shall look forward to each edition of “CityNews” in the future.

Elizabeth Frazier, via email

Jury out on Fahey

JOHN Fahey, former Premier of NSW and Finance Minister in the Howard Government, is to head up the proposed flood re-construction authority. No doubt he is a pleasant enough person, best known for jumping up and down enthusiastically after Sydney won the Olympics and selling a pup to the community in the form of Telstra at $7.40 which is now worth $2.90 after hitting a low of $2.55. A brilliant salesman he may be, but it remains to be seen if he can prevent the rorts in flood reconstruction that occurred with the insulation and school-building programs.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

Treble the funding

HAVING been a long-time friend and working colleague of Maj. Brian Watters, former

adds them together.

This flawed and illogical report gives its top-ranked $0.2 million Civic Cycle Loop only 29 points for cost-effectiveness. The secondlast-ranked $17 million Fyshwick-to-airport bike path gets 500,000 points, even though it will serve only 34 people.

As the Canberra Pedestrian Forum recommended more than a year ago, the Government should prioritise cycling and walking projects that offer good value for money, using a recognised method such as dividing the sum of a project’s benefits by the sum of its costs.

Leon a rundell, convenor, c anberra Pedestrian Forum

senior member of the Salvos, I was delighted at the exposure, courtesy of “City News”, of the wonderful long-term drug rehabilitation programs conducted by Capt Dale Murray and his members (letters, CN, February 10). The Government should at least treble funding the Salvos’ anti-drug efforts, instead of resourcing “do-drop-in-for-a-while”, Hollywood-starlet type programs.

colliss Parrett, Barton

End support scheme

M INISTER Julia Gillard said in a speech to the Committee for Economic Development, in Melbourne, on February 1, that she wanted two million people back to work.

Ms Gillard, there are 326,000 people who are unemployed because of the Government’s Child Support Scheme. This equates to 43 per cent of the total number of liable parents that are in the scheme. There are also many other liable parents who have reduced their hours of work or have taken pay cuts.

When one pays 80 per cent of one’s wages in taxes and child support, there is no incentive to work.

Ms Gillard, you said that you are serious about wanting to ensure that every Australian, who can work, does work. The simple solution is to abolish the Child Support Scheme. There is a better way to support children after divorce or separation. It is to ask the parents what they want to do – not tell them what they want.

John Flanagan, n on- custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting), Wollongong

At

all about living

New life for old ‘Weekly’

By Megan Haggan

IT showed women how to look their best despite rationing in World War II, it recognised that the housewife of the ‘50s had consumer power and it declared that Elvis Presley couldn’t sing – and now Canberrans can check out its first 50 years via the National Library’s Trove service online.

The National Library is about to celebrate the digitisation of the first 50 years of “The Australian Women’s Weekly” with a launch which will see attendees dress up in vintage, enjoy some retro food from authentic recipes and take stock of the magazine’s influence on women’s lives.

Women from around the country were invited to send in their own copies to help with the digitisation project. A total of 484 copies were missing from the Library’s collection, and 317 needed replacement because they were damaged or written upon.

“Many issues had the crosswords completed, coupons for free shampoo samples were torn out and pin-ups of Johnny O’Keefe removed, for example,” says Cathy Pilgrim, director, Digitisation and Photography Branch, at the National Library.

The call-out saw 170 of the missing issues sent in: “There were issues found under old lino as people did renovations, as well as missing issues bought for us on eBay, from secondhand book shops and garage sales.

“One issue was donated by a lady whose mother had won 1000 pounds in the best recipe competition in 1949. She reported that with the prizemoney, her mother bought a Pontiac car, dolls for herself

and her sister and a Hornby train set for her brother.”

Cathy says she finds the advertising of the past fascinating, whether it’s for brands we still know, such as Arnotts biscuits or Cadbury’s cocoa, or those which have fallen by the wayside, such as Wundawax and Shelltox fly spray (“Now with high content DDT!”)

“In the 1930s, ads often made ridiculous claims – for example, Bathoids bath salts to wash away fat as you bathe. Fishers’ Phospherine Nerve tonic to restore health,” Cathy says.

“Later on, most of these tonics and potions were identified as being toxic, some with ingredients such as arsenic.

“In the ‘50s, it was recognised that the housewife was a consumer, and could influence her husband in buying a particular model of car… the Ford Zephyr advertised for 999 pounds, and the Austin A50 was advertised with a woman driving which was progressive for the time.

“An article from 1956 on Elvis Presley took an interesting perspective – ‘as a voice, Presley

is nothing, but is a specialist in off-colour lyrics, facial tics and suggestive twitches’!”

The library is still seeking issues to fill gaps in its collection, and the list of missing copies can be found at www.nla.gov. au/digicoll/AWWmissingissues list.html.

The existing collection can now be viewed at trove.nla.gov. au/ndp/del/title/112 and readers who’d like to donate copies can call Julie Whiting on 1800 059 097, or email jwhiting@nla. gov.au

Win the Royal Show ride you can’t buy!

OH, what a feeling! It’s Royal Canberra Show time again and, amid all the thrills of the main arena, “CityNews” is offering the ultimate, money-can’t-buy prize – the opportunity for two readers to join the Toyota V6 HiLux Heroes for one of their 15-minute precision-driving performances.

As a VIP passenger, the winners will ride with one of the highly skilled drivers during the Canberra Show, something the sponsor says is an exciting “rev-head experience”.

All passengers must be over 18, fit and healthy and be willing to sign a participant waiver form prior to the performance.

But you’d better get your entry in before the closing date of midday, Monday, February 21.

The details and entry form are at citynews.com.au/win

Sound archive artist hip-hop Matt samples success

THE National Film and Sound archive’s hip-hop artist in residence Matt Cornell will introduce a screening of the film “Planet B-Boy” (2007, M) at a special screening at the Arc Cinema on Friday, February 25. Directed by Benson Lee, the film provides an overview of break dancing throughout the world. The screening will be followed by an open-floor, “B-Boy” jam with live band accompaniment and sampling of items from the collection dug up by Matt’s research. Advance bookings to 6248 2000.

ART Song Canberra is emerging from seasonal hibernation with “Joie de Vivre”, featuring songs of late 19th-21st century France and America. Adelaide soprano Greta Bradman performs with pianist Leigh Harrold. Bradman got her love of singing from her grandfather, Sir Donald, once a noted boy soprano. It’s at Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, February 27. Tickets only at the door.

LIZ Lea, the artistic director of Canberra Dance

arts in the city

Helen Musa

Theatre, will flutter through the National Gallery’s Australian Garden on February 24 at 7pm as “the Bluebird” before performing “120 Birds”, her look at the world of touring dance companies of the 1920s and 1930s in the James O. Fairfax Theatre. Bookings essential to 6240 6528.

VERONA comes to the grounds of Shaw Vineyard Estate, Murrumbateman, at 6pm, February 27 with a one-off production of “Romeo and Juliet”, staged by the touring group Essential Theatre. Bookings to www.flintinthevines.net.au

TANKA poetry, ancestor of the haiku, Canberra poet Kathy Kituai writes, is becoming increasingly popular in Australia. I knew that, but I didn’t know that she is holding a meeting on February 26

to create an interactive group dedicated to the art form. You can call her on 6247 8124 or email kkituai@gmail.com for more information on this and also her creative writing course running from February 17 to April 7.

PAUL Worstead is running for the Greens in the forthcoming NSW election in the seat of Monaro. A fundraiser will be held on February 26 at 6.30pm in Wamboin Hall on Bingely Way that will combine an art auction and comedy from Harry Laing – a natural combination? $10 at door.

SINGER/songwriter Mark Seymour will perform as part of “Flix in the Stix” coming to the Australian National Botanic Gardens on February 26. The event combines film and live music. For bookings and details visit www.flixinthestix.com. au/canberra

THE Canberra Classical Guitar Society and the Wesley Music Foundation have raised more than $2000 in donations to commission two works for

Little gem in a new dress

Everyone can relate to birth, death, and unwanted pregnancies, the producer of an award-winning Irish comedy, coming to Canberra next month, tells HELEN MUSA

IRELAND has always been awash with playwrights, or so it seems. Think of Shaw, Wilde, Yeats, Synge, O’Casey, Behan, Beckett, McDonagh… the list goes on. And it’s still like that, if my recent late-night conversation with the Dublin-based founding director of Guna Nua Theatre, Paul Meade, is anything to go by.

In 1998, Meade, an actor and playwright, joined a theatre friend, David Parnell to set up this company, devoted to creating new works. Guna Nua is an Irish expression meaning “new dress”, a term familiar to all Irish children being told by their elders to put their best face forward. Given the Irish propensity for writing plays, it’s hardly surprising that there are lots of other writers’ theatres in Dublin, but his has been one of the most successful, with a record of touring Ireland, Edinburgh, London and New York.

Meade will be in Canberra soon with “Little Gem”, written by actress Elaine Murphy and now in its third

year of production. The play was a sheer gift when it turned up.

“It came along at the right time… this was just perfect,” Meade tells me, adding that he couldn’t believe bigger theatres, such as the Abbey, hadn’t snaffled it up.

Luckily, when her script arrived on their increasingly cluttered desk, Murphy’s name rang a bell; Meade had done a radio play with her and took a second look. Guna Nua needed a play with a small cast and “Little Gem” had just a grandmother, a mother and a daughter.

Murphy’s play, later the recipient of a swag of playwriting awards in Scotland and Ireland, stood out and Meade thinks it’s something to do with the fact that Murphy is an actress.

“She understands the structure of drama, the language… she has a natural ear for dialect, she’s a super writer,” he says.

In addition, Murphy works at a health clinic in Dublin, the source of many authentic anecdotes.

amateur guitar orchestra from composers aged age 20-30 in the Canberra region. If that’s you, email your contact details to info@classicalguitarcanberra.org.au by March 1. Liz Lea as the Bluebird.

Barnsey for birthday gig

Made up of six monologues recounting life events that bind three Dublin northsiders together, it feels more complex because of the way the characters seem to speak to each other within the monologues.

A tough New Yorker was found by Meade “bawling and crying” and saying things like: “I loved that scene,” as if it were a conventional play.

But it’s not, though Meade and the designer have used a simple set and projections to indicate different locations in pubs, sitting rooms and hotels.

The play also “has a lovely light touch, a lovely sense of humour,” Meade says, praising Anita Reeves, who’s played the grandmother Kay from the outset, as “a special kind of a performer, a comedian-actor”.

But in the end, to Meade, the lynchpin is the script, endlessly funny and moving: “Everyone can relate to birth, death, and unwanted pregnancies,” he says.

“Little Gem”, The Playhouse, March 1-5, bookings to 6275 2700 or www. canberratheatrecentre.com.au

ROCK singer Jimmy Barnes will headline Canberra’s 98th birthday party next month.

The free “Celebrate in the Park” will be held at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park on March 14 and is part of a nine-day festival to mark Canberra’s birthday. This year’s concert line-up includes dance sensation The Potbelleez, chart toppers Scarlett Belle and former Australian Idol favourite and Country Music Festival winner, Luke Dickens.

The free entertainment starts at 2pm with a performance by Bob the Builder followed by the cutting of the official birthday cake at 4pm. Professional skateboarders and BMX riders from The Shed in Melbourne will also entertain with demonstrations and workshops during the afternoon.

The event will conclude with a fireworks display at 9pm.

The Canberra Day long weekend also marks the start of new event “Enlighten”, featuring performances by jazz guitarist George Benson and Australian favourite, INXS. Other highlights of the weekend are the popular “Symphony in the Park” and The Black Opal race meeting at Thoroughbred Park.

For more information at www.events. act.gov.au

Heck, we all know what’s going to happen, but...

cinema

IN “A Million Wild Acres”, his wonderful account of the Pilliga scrub, Eric Rolls told the story of the railway-sleeper cutter whose fingers got trapped when a wedge popped out of a log and who spent, what we must assume, a long, hopeless wait for death’s mercy.

Extreme-adventure enthusiast Aron Ralston confronted a similar fate when on April 26, 2003, in a narrow canyon in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, a falling boulder trapped his right hand against the wall.

Aron later wrote “Between A Rock And A Hard Place”, about his ordeal. More fortunate than that lonely sleeper cutter, whose axe lay just beyond his reach, Aron had a small collection of beneficial stuff

James Franco in

Dougal Macdonald

and the courage and ability to use it. But no lever to shift the boulder. After five days, he exercised the only remaining option and amputated the trapped arm.

Film-maker Danny Boyle had Aron’s co-operation in filming the story in a replica of the actual location. The result mixes veracity with auteurial imagination, perhaps to mollify audiences. Heck, we already know what happened. Nobody is forcing us to watch the film.

So why subject ourselves to its terrible outcome? Mostly to see James Franco’s Oscar-nominated performance as Aron. This much is justifiable. The film’s nomination for best film might be driven more by public sentiment than cinematic merit.

The amputation sequence is a true “what’s not to like” passage although less horrifying than it could have been. As a frank, authentically-internalised account of human resilience, the book is better.

At all cinemas

MANY humans need a hook from which to hang their hopes and fears about what happens after death. Mine is Hamlet’s soliloquising about “that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns”.

“Hereafter” slowly brings together French TV interviewer Marie (Cecile de France) who survived a near-death experience during the Boxing Day tsunami, American former psychic George (Matt Damon) and London boy Marcus whose twin brother Jason, struck by a car while fleeing hooligans when bringing their addict mother her medication, died leaving Marcus (Frank McLaren) distraught.

“Hereafter” radiates a comforting sense of common objective between its creators on both sides of the camera. Peter Morgan’s intelligent, sensitive screenplay is almost persuasive in its examination of the possibilities of a hereafter.

Octogenarian Clint Eastwood’s direction

Be first to see new movie

BE one of the first in Canberra to see the anticipated movie “Conviction” when Fox Searchlight Pictures and Limelight Cinemas Tuggeranong celebrate Rotary International’s 106th birthday with a special charity preview screening of the movie “Conviction” on Wednesday, February 23.

The film is a true story of a sister’s unwavering devotion to her brother. When Betty Anne Waters’ (two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank) older brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction.

Convinced that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne puts herself through high school, college and, finally, law school in an 18-year quest to free Kenny.

The screening at 7.30pm, in aid of Rotary’s Polio Plus campaign to eradicate global polio, is preceded at 6.30pm by light refreshments. Bookings to Julia Pedler at julia.pedler@pedler.id.au or call 0416 170012.

is careful, concerned about story, character and location, semiotically restrained while compulsive. Yet its dramatic elements provide a sea change from the violent actioners that led his career to a gallery of Oscars. “Hereafter’s” violent passages paraphrase actual events. Its antagonisms are more subtle; blows to the spirit rather than the flesh.

Eastwood and Morgan leave it for the film-goer to evaluate their story’s outcome. Its strongest fictive passive explains Marcus’s salvation from the 2005 London train bombing. We may forgive them that indulgence.

At all cinemas

(MA)

THIS lumpy little rom-com starring and coproduced by Natalie Portman tries to prove that good sex, no less fulfilling for her than for him, needs no augmentation by the realities of what happens after Eros finishes supping perhaps more well than wisely.

Writer Elizabeth Meriwether and director Ivan Reitman stop the film when medico Emma (Portman) goes back to aspiring TV-writer Adam (Ashton Kutcher). There. I’ve written a spoiler. Within its first five minutes, “No Strings Attached” signals it anyway.

Emma is happy to have Adam bonk her whenever, wherever (events that Reitman stages with impressive coyness aided by strategic placement of solid objects concealing the working bits). She’s a feisty gal who may, or may not, one day make a successful enduring relationship. All she asks meanwhile is to have breakfast on her own.

The role of Adam needs somebody who does convincing shallow. Even that much is beyond the performance capabilities of Kutcher, a pretty boy.

Sadly, the role of Adam’s sitcom star father under extends the undeniable talents of Kevin Kline.

Why Portman took on “No Strings Attached” is a question not important enough to demand an answer. The Hollywood benchmark for the glories of female sexuality remains “Love And Other Drugs”.

At Greater Union, Hoyts and Limelight

A feast of fresh seafood

dining

Wendy Johnson

A FRESH seafood feast. That’s how I describe our dining experience at the new Pelagic Bar and Dining, Bailey’s Arcade (where Antigo’s used to be).

“Fresh” is the operative word. I know, I know, many think it’s impossible to get fresh seafood in landlocked Canberra, but what a passé view. Pelagic’s fish are caught the day they’re picked up at the airport, which means the quality is as close to best in class it can be. “No frozen allowed,” I’m told.

Schumann’s

“CityNews” has three, double, show-only tickets for the February 25 show at the Southern Cross Club, Tuggeranong. Full entry details are at citynews.com.au/win

The word “Pelagic” comes from the Greek pélagos – “open sea”. When you enter, you see the raw bar, serving up sashimi, tasting plates and serious cocktails.

Thankfully, soggy fish and chips, deep fried, rubbery calamari and seafood smothered in sauce aren’t on the menu. This is fresh food served simply – dishes that allow the seafood to shine.

We started by sharing entrées. The meltin-your-mouth Merimbula oysters were a

stunning start. Next was the sugar-cured ocean trout with horseradish mayo served “on toast”. Not my favourite dish in either presentation or flavour. The super, thinly sliced trout was lost on the dusty toast. I felt sorry for it. However, the Queensland scallop tartare was exquisite and the crab omelet, with oyster chilli sauce a delight. We carried on for another couple of dishes and would never have stopped – all of us loving this way of dining – but we had promised to give the mains a go (all $30).

My seared kingfish served with caramelised white whitlof, parsley and a Cabernet reduction was beautiful with the strong, dense fish holding its own against the rich reduction.

The roasted barramundi is for those who love this prized fish. It’s served with salsa verde, fun potato crisps, caramelised garlic and pancetta, with the pancetta really adding to the dish. The char-grilled salmon is for those who adore braised fennel. It was served with crunchy toasted almonds and pucker-power orange and eschallot vinaigrette.

The dessert menu makes you drool (most $12). The rich and creamy cinnamon pannacotta came with macerated strawberries, candied orange zest and mint. The Pina Colada was another winner – pineapple and lime sorbet, coconut ice cream, meringue and spiced rum gelé. A highlight was the decadent Truffled Alexander – truffle infused St Agnes VSOP, crème de cacao blanc and shaved chocolate (dangerous!) and the Orange Sorbert Negroni, with

orange segments and exotic caramelised orange oils, a lovely sweet ending.

Pelagic has a large wine cellar and a private dining room. The interior has been overhauled and now features a smart bar, interesting lighting, polished concrete floors and industrial tubing on the ceiling. And as for service? Impeccable.

Pelagic, Bailey’s Corner, open lunch and dinner Monday-Friday and dinner Saturday. Cocktails from 5pm. Closed Sunday. Call 6162 0752.

Stylish look at a homespun romance

“OKLAHOMA” tells a homespun story of the developing relationship of neighbours, Laurey and Curly. When Laurey attracts the unwelcome attentions of surly farmhand, Jud Fry, Curly is provoked into a fight which results in Jud’s death.

Rogers and Hammerstein’s first musical, premiered in 1943, has been hailed as the singlemost influential work in American musical theatre, and remains enduringly popular over the years. Free Rain Theatre’s stylish new production is a timely reminder of why.

Director, Anne Somes, has drawn excellent performances from her large cast, headed by Jenna Roberts as Laurey, and curly-headed Dave Evans as Curly, both delightfully engaging, and David Spence, arrestingly malevolent as Jud Fry.

Playing peddler Ali Hakim, Tony Falla almost steals the show, although he has some stiff competition from Amy Dunham, pert and perky as Ado Annie, and Mathew Chardon O’Dea, an

MuSICAL THEATRE

“Oklahoma”

Free Rain Theatre at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre until February 27.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

enthusiastic and impulsive Will Parker. Barbara Denham, though looking too young and too pretty, is warm and lovable as Aunt Eller. Particularly noteworthy is the fine orchestra, assembled by musical director Leisa Keen and conducted by Sally Greenaway, which does justice to Rogers and Hammerstein’s exquisite flowing melodies, the energetic dance routines fashioned by choreographer, Lisa Buckley, and Wayne Shepherd’s simple uncluttered setting. Despite disconcerting over-amplification and distracting lighting glitches on opening night, this production offers a welcome opportunity to renew acquaintances with a music theatre classic.

all about home&garden

Out of court and into veggies

KATHRYN VUKOVLJAK

visits a thriving community garden grown from a derelict tennis court

A THRIVING 1000sqm community garden in O’Connor full of organically grown veggies, herbs, flowers and berries will open to the public on the weekend of February 26-27, as part of the Australian Open Garden Scheme.

Until it was re-purposed in 2006, the space on Jarrah Street was a derelict tennis court on land belonging to the Uniting Church in O’Connor.

“The church wanted to use the land for something worthwhile, so they arranged for it to be a community garden through the Canberra Organic Growers Society,” says COGS member Kathy Richards, who was instrumental in creating the garden and has had a plot there from the start.

“It works well for our family – we live in an apartment with no backyard, but we still wanted a veggie garden,” she says. “We came to it not knowing anything about gardening, but the beauty of being involved in a community garden is the wealth of knowledge we’ve gained from more experienced growers. They’re such holders of wisdom. Everyone is happy to share advice.”

Activities planned for the open weekend include organic veggies (grown in the garden), and vegetable and herb seedlings for sale, music

and entertainment including juggling and Tongan dancing and singing, Devonshire teas served by members of the church, Tongan food and talks on organic gardening at 11am and 2pm each day.

Everything in the garden, which is one of 12 COGS community gardens across Canberra, is grown without the use of fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides, and it’s all for personal use only, Kathy says.

Divided into 15 plots of 45sqm each, there’s also a communal strip around the perimeter for fruit trees, berry canes, herbs, climbing annuals such as peas and beans, and perennials such as asparagus and rhubarb.

“Everyone uses their plots differently, but we try to keep it low-key,” says Kathy. “We brought in soil and created raised beds. Now we’ve got tomatoes, which have been a bit battered by the rain lately, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, capsicums, onions, strawberries and cucumber. We try new things, sometimes they work and sometimes not,

Kathy Richards with two-year-old daughter Coco… “It works really well for our family – we live in an apartment with no backyard, but we still wanted a veggie garden.”

but that’s the nature of it.

“We come here a couple of times a week. It’s a secure, family-oriented garden and the kids love to come and garden with us, and they bring their trikes, run around, play in the sandpit.

“It’s not a bad use of an old tennis court.”

The COGS O’Connor Community Garden, Jarrah St, O’Connor, open Saturday, February 26 and Sunday, February 27, 10am-4.30pm. Adults $6, children under 18 free. Funds raised will go to the Open Garden Scheme, the Uniting Church and COGS. More information at www.opengarden.org. au. To find out more about community gardens or plot vacancies, visit www.cogs.asn.au.

A little help for the humble loo

IT’S often a fairly neglected room in the house decor-wise, but it’s one of the most important and, according to Crystal Bishop, brand manager at Raymor, the humble loo is a room which needs more attention.

“The basic toilet, a must-have for each and every one of us, has been somewhat neglected in terms of design and aesthetics recently, with little changing since the introduction of the water-saving dual flush in the 1980s,” she says.

It’s an extension of the evolution of the bathroom into a “spa” experience, which Crystal says has made us “a lot more savvy in terms of design and

aesthetics”.

“Consumers are now taking a much keener interest in everything from taps and basins to toilets and bidets,” she says.

“Two of the key criteria for homeowners looking to replace bathroom ware are looks and water efficiency.”

Noise is also important, she says – not just in flushing, but in toilet seats built to be quiet when raised or put down.

Daisies promise colour for a drab winter

ALTHOUGH I missed Australia Day on this page, it is a good time to look at some of our wonderful Aussie plants starting with Xerochrysum bracteatum (syn. Branctantha bracteata), commonly known as Everlasting Daisy, Paper Daisy or Straw Flower. This is not only a favourite in Aussie gardens, but is known far and wide. For instance, I understand in Finland and other Scandinavian countries that experience almost six months of winter and no sun, the dried flowers are used extensively in homes to bring colour to the winter drabness.

The colours last almost indefinitely as dried flowers.

The photo was taken in the front garden at Majura Primary School in Watson. They converted a dried dead lawn area into a garden featuring Aussie plants to great effect. Do drive past and it may inspire you and provide ideas for your own garden.

gardening

cedric Bryant

I NEVER tire of our National Botanic Gardens and a great place to start is the Visitor’s Centre to collect the “In Flower This Week” information sheet. The inimitable gardens volunteer Barbara Daly has seemingly been compiling this guide every week forever! See the great range of Anigozanthes “Bush Babies” or Kangaroo Paw with deep yellow or rusty-red flowers.

When looking at a close-up of the flowers it is obvious where the common name came from. These are growing near the Rock Garden, a favourite place for children, especially for watching the lizards and water dragons lazing in the sun. It is not only the trees and shrubs in flower, as the ornithologists love the variety of birds. Do take

your overseas visitors for a leisurely stroll through these unique bush gardens.

ALSO this week can be seen Rhododendron viriosum with its mass of bright-red, funnelshaped flowers. And you possibly only thought all rhododendrons were exotic plants from the Himalayan region of China? Correa “Canberra Bells” with its bright, tubular, red and yellow flowers is in flower, providing a preview of this compact, small shrub, which has been selected to commemorate Canberra’s Centenary in 2013. However, it is not for sale at garden centres until closer to 2013.

LAST week I mentioned the Mediterranean Hibiscus syriacus, however not-so-well-known as it should be is our own Aussie Hibiscus heterophylus commonly called Native Rosella, with white flowers up to 10cm across with a deep purple centre. This is growing in a relatively sheltered position beside the path bordering the Botanical Gardens’ rain forest.

I would suggest that you only grow this in an older established garden.

Wrigley and Fagg’s “Australian Native Plants” notes there are an unbelievable 300 tropical and sub-tropical species of hibiscus from Australia. There are more than 25 varieties of other plants in flower in the gardens this week, so with limited space I have only selected a few to tempt you. Keeping in mind the volunteers have a great plant sale twice a year if you cannot find them in your favourite garden centre. I’ll keep you posted for the next sale date.

IF you are taking young children to the gardens

Cooking up a kitchen revolution

By Megan Haggan

THE foodie revolution isn’t going away any time soon, according to new research, which shows that 52 per cent of Australians have increased their interest in cooking over the last two to three years.

The survey, commissioned by Hostplus (the national superannuation fund for the hospitality, tourism, recreation and sport industries) also showed that 60 per cent of respondents think their cooking skills have improved over the last few years.

A third of Australians are passionate about cooking, and half of Australian families use food as an integral part of family bonding, the survey found.

And according to Smeg, foodie shows such as “MasterChef” have spurred the trend towards gourmet cooking at home, with demand for new-generation appliances that more closely replicate the performance and professional results of their commercial counterparts.

take a book of “Snugglepot and Cuddlepie” with you, sit on the lawns and read the stories to them. Then show your children the gumnuts and tell them them about the Gumnut Babies and their battle with the evil Banksia Men. These stories, first written by May Gibbs in 1918, will continue to enthral children for many generations to come.

RETIRED? Why not think about a rewarding pastime by becoming a volunteer at the gardens? Check out their great website at www.friendsanbg.org.au

I WOULD like to thank the many, many readers and members of the gardening business who have extended enthusiastic good wishes for my new column. Designing gardens and the wants and needs of clients is all about listening. It is no different with what I write and I would welcome suggestions on subjects you’d like included and if you have any gardening questions, I will try and answer them.

Contact me directly at cedricbryant@grapevine. com.au

Win ‘A Year at Kew’

WIN one of five, just-released, double-disc DVDs of the acclaimed BBC television series “A Year at Kew”. Full entry details are at citynews.com.au/win

health&fitness

Bald and the beautiful

Many people, especially men, expect to lose at least some of their hair over their lifetime – but for five-year-old Caitlin O’Hehir, the loss of her hair came as a sudden surprise, reports MEGAN HAGGAN

“I WAS brushing her hair and, all of a sudden, a massive clump fell out on to my hand,” says five-year-old Caitlin O’Hehir’s mum, Megan.

“The more I brushed, the more fell out. Soon, if she ran her fingers through her hair or even touched it, it would fall out in handfuls.”

A trip to the doctor led to a diagnosis of alopecia areata, a disease which causes the sufferer, who may be either gender and of any age, to lose their hair. There are four kinds, ranging in severity from partial hair loss on the scalp, to the loss of all body hair.

Megan is launching an alopecia areata support group for the ACT in March. Alopecia is an immune disease that disrupts the normal behaviour of the hair follicle, but doesn’t render it incapable of regrowing hair; while there’s no drugs approved for treatment and no cure, hair may begin regrowing of its own accord – or not.

According to Chel Campbell, president of the Australian Alopecia Areata Foundation, a diagnosis of alopecia areata can be devastating for some people.

“Alopecia areata’s sudden onset, recurring episodes and unpredictable course have a very real psychological impact on those whose lives are disrupted by the disease,” says Chel.

“The level of impact is magnified according to what age the sufferer is hit by the disease. For example, a 13-year-old struggling with pubescent changes is usually having a hard enough time, but to go through losing all hair, eyebrows, eyelashes and scalp hair in a six-week period is devastating.

“Hair loss is not an easy thing to deal with, especially for women and adolescents. Living with hair loss can be hard, especially in a culture that views hair as a sign of youth and good health, so when hair is lost, the sufferer grieves, and they

can have long bouts of depression.”

As well as raising funds and awareness, the AAAF also supports sufferers, and this includes helping them afford wigs, should they choose to use them.

“The foundation takes hair donations with no permanent colour, and 30cm or greater in length,” says Chel. “This hair is then donated to wig makers to be made into wigs for Australians. The hair donations also decrease the retail cost to the recipient of the wig.”

Megan will launch the Canberra support group on Friday, March 25, where MLA Joy Burch is set to open it with a hair-cutting ceremony. She’s also working with the Princess Charlotte Alopecia Foundation to encourage hairdressers and their customers to get involved in donating suitable hair to its “Tresses for Princesses” program.

In the meantime, little Caitlin’s taking it all in her stride, says Megan – “She has not stopped smiling at all, in fact she smiles more each day.

Five-year-old alopecia sufferer

Caitlin O’Hehir... “I’m not sick, I have alopecia.”

Photo by Andrew Finch

“We told her exactly what alopecia areata was, and what it meant, and got some brochures from the AAAF. She took them to school and told everyone what she had; the children were great and the teachers and school were fantastic.

“The issue was some of the parents. We had a couple of people call us and ask did she have cancer, because she’d gone bald, and why was I sending her to school!

“And the reaction we get in public is similar. People have said: ‘I’m so sorry’, to which my very brave and strong daughter’s reply is, ‘I’m not sick, I have alopecia’.”

More information at www.princesscharlottealopecia.com, www.aaaf.org.au or email meg@aaaf.org.au

Don’t drink after sport

GOING for a few beers after a game of football can slow down muscle recovery, according to a new study in “The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport”.

The study tested recreational sportsmen’s muscle performance after a bout of strenuous exercise, followed by either a moderate amount of alcohol in juice or the same energy content in juice alone. Performance was measured 36 hours and 60 hours later.

Author of the study, Matthew Barnes, from Massey University in NZ, says the results indicate that alcohol detrimentally affects the rate of recovery.

“Performance was measured two and three mornings after the session,” he says.

“Results showed that when alcohol was consumed the loss of muscle performance was far greater – nearly twice as much.

“Normally you would expect to see weakness or loss in performance after this type of exercise but the alcohol greatly exacerbated it.

“This shows that if you drink, even moderate levels of alcohol, after you use your muscles, you are impairing your ability to recover and I would say if you are serious about your sport, you shouldn’t be drinking alcohol in the post-match or recovery period.”

A further recent study highlighted that alcohol impairs the normal recovery processes

in already damaged muscle, not systemically weakening all skeletal muscles. Alcohol does not affect performance of the unexercised muscle.

“The study provides evidence that the management of alcohol use after strenuous exercise is as important, if not more important, than popular recovery modes if optimal recovery of performance is desired,” he says.

Nello Marino, CEO of “Journal” publisher Sports Medicine Australia, says both studies should be a wake-up call to sports clubs whose post-game routine includes the consumption of alcohol.

“These studies represent the drinking patterns of some sportspeople,” he says. “That is, sports people are far more likely to consume large volumes of alcohol after undertaking strenuous exercise or competition than ever before.

“Sports clubs should understand that if they want players to perform and recover well, then they should be encouraged to avoid alcohol intake after training or competition to ensure optimal recovery.”

Participants for the study were recruited to comply with ethical guidelines, and adhered to what is considered at the high end of safe drinking levels for men of this size, around six to seven standard drinks over two to three hours.

your week in the stars

With Joanne Madeline Moore February 21 - 27

ARIES (Mar  – Apr 0)

Rash words will cause problems (especially early in the week) so strive to be extra diplomatic, otherwise you’ll say the wrong thing at the wrong time – to the wrong person. Mighty Mars cruises into Pisces mid-week (until April 2) so it’s time to morph from raging Ram to gentle lamb, as you show the world your caring, compassionate side.

TAURUS (Apr  – May 0)

You’re in the mood to be a blunt Bull but avoid blurting out things that you later regret. With four planets in your hopes and wishes zone, dream big dreams for the future. Be inspired by birthday great Steve Irwin: “Whatever you want to do in this world, it is achievable.” Thursday is your pick of the week as you mix and mingle with friends.

GEMINI (May  – June )

You can muster an enormous amount of mental energy this week, which will be useful for Twins who are writing, studying or teaching. When it comes to professional projects, the early bird catches the worm. If you are disorganised or drag your heels, you’ll miss opportunities when they come along. Saturday is the day to solve a sticky problem.

CANCER (June  – July )

All forms of travel and study are favoured, as you take a trip or learn something new. Relationships become extra complicated on Saturday, and you’ll need to keep others up-to-date with your plans otherwise there’ll be dramas and misunderstandings. You think you know a loved one well but you’re about to discover a hidden part of their personality.

LEO (July  – Aug )

Avoid jumping to conclusions Cats! Close relationships will be complicated and confusing. What others say won’t necessarily be what they mean so don’t take things too literally – and don’t blur the lines between fact and fiction. Jupiter and Pluto are at odds on Saturday so make sure you follow through on any extravagant promises you make.

VIRGO (Aug  – Sept )

Is a current partnership going nowhere? Avoid making any drastic decisions just yet. Allow time for reflection – maybe the relationship can be resuscitated and renewed? As Mercury and Mars move into your love zone, you’ll tap into fresh ideas and enthusiasm. Smart Virgos will stop criticising others and start handing out compliments instead!

LIBRA (Sept  – Oct )

Choose your companions wisely. True friends will bring love and lucky opportunities into your life, whereas fair-weather friends will lead you up the primrose path to trouble. Saturn is urging you to distinguish between the serious and the superfluous – don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked from what’s really important. Keep your eyes on the prize.

SCORPIO (Oct  – Nov )

Your detective skills are sharp mid-week as you put a lover, child or friend under the forensic microscope. Jupiter and Pluto are at odds on Saturday so the more obsessive you are, the more difficult the day will be. Thinking you have all the answers will just put people offside. Sunday is also super intense – take a chill pill Scorpio, and try to relax.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov  – Dec )

Your sunny Sagittarian smile and sense of humour will take you far this week as you lavish time, attention (and money) on loved ones. Problems that weren’t resolved last July or August could return and demand to be addressed, as Jupiter and Pluto square up again on Saturday. A lot less hubris and a lot more humility is a good place to start!

CAPRICORN (Dec  – Jan )

Careful Capricorns are usually financially frugal but impulse buys and extravagant spending are a danger early in the week (as are unrealistic expectations). So, when it comes to cash and credit, try to keep a cool head. Your communication skills get a boost mid-week, as Mercury and Mars help you combine logical thinking with intuitive action.

AQUARIUS (Jan 0 – Feb 8)

Mercury, Mars and Neptune all hook up in your sign so many Aquarians will feel curious, confident and confused – all at the same time! Others are paying close attention to what you’re doing but don’t put all your cards on the table just yet. Keep a few surprises up your sleeve, so you can really wow them when the time is right.

PISCES (Feb  – Mar 0)

Mercury and Mars move into your sign this week, so it’s time for passive Pisceans to be passionate, proactive, bold and brave, as you embrace challenges and communicate creatively. Your quote for the next seven days is from Elizabeth Taylor (born on Feb 27): “There are so many doors to be opened, and I’m not afraid to look behind them.”

COPYRIGHT Joanne Madeline Moore 2011

Kaleen 0416 087 834 3BR A

BELCONNEN

Canberra Region Property Summary

BONNER

BRUCE

CALWELL

CRACE

Canberra Region Property Summary

CURTIN

FRANKLIN

HARRISON

Canberra Region Property Summary

HAWKER

LATHAM

NICHOLLS

Canberra Region Property Summary

QUEANBEYAN EAST

Canberra Region Property Summary

TORRENS

TURNER

Department renews in Woden

By t im Humphrey

THE Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has renewed an 1800sqm office lease in Woden.

Having occupied the two-level building at 32 Corinna Street for a number of years, FaHCSIA has recently taken on a new two-year lease over these premises backdated to July.

The organisation achieved a rental of $360sqm (gross + GST) and the deal did not involve an incentive.

FaHCSIA’s latest transaction was brokered without the involvement of a tenant advocate, while Michael Ceacis, associate director of government services at Colliers International,

acted for the building owner.

Ceacis believes it is a fair rental reflective of current market conditions in the area.

“It was a win for FaHCSIA not having to relocate from these premises and go through the cost of what would have been an expensive fit out process,” he says.

“It also gives the tenant adequate time to consider its longer term space needs in Woden.”

Other office tenants which have been considering their longer-term needs in Canberra include BAE Systems (around 3000sqm), the Australian Customs & Border Protection Agency (28,000sqm) and the Community & Public Sector Union (1500sqm).

Tim Humphrey is editor of Property Daily, a market news and intelligence service focused on commercial property markets nationally. www. propertydaily.com.au

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