Canberra CityNews June 16-22, 2011

‘Lucky’ victim leads the charge

By Libby Rolfe JULEEN Cavanaugh

considers herself lucky to be alive.

The 58-year-old academic is a heart-attack survivor on a mission to fight the leading killer of Australian women – heart disease.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Juleen says.

“When I had my heart attack, I was lucky to be in a room with people who were sensible enough to recognise the signs.

“If I had been at home, I would have gone to bed and died.”

It is this experience with heart disease that has motivated Juleen to change her lifestyle and the Heart Foundation’s Healthy Heart Challenge is a part of that change.

Her commitment, as part of the 10-week Healthy Heart Challenge, is to exercise every day, covering four kilometres on the treadmill and fitting in a yoga session daily.

“I’ve lost 17 kilograms (since the heart attack in 2009) and I’d like to lose more,” she says.

“But the Healthy Heart Challenge is not about losing weight. For all women, it’s about being healthy.”

Juleen says community can play a big part in maintaining the motivation to be healthy and urges women to form exercise groups.

“We’re walking at lunchtime every week and anybody can do that.”

The Heart Foundation urges people to start or join walking groups, which are happening all across Canberra.

While Juleen wants women to improve their health, she also urges people to be aware of the signs of heart attack, saying she did not have the symptoms typical to men such as pain in one arm or pressure on the chest.

“You hear male heart attack survivors talk about feeling a lot of weight on the chest, but I had pain radiating from my chest – it was like something was trying to get out! I also had pain in both arms.”

Warning signs can include discomfort in the centre of your chest, discomfort in the upper body: arms, shoulders, neck, jaw or back as well as shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness or a cold-sweat.

Participants in the Healthy Heart Challenge choose to complete one of six goals. In turn, they will be supported by the Heart Foundation with an online tool to track progress during the challenge, a weekly eNewsletter with tips and information to stay motivated, and a range of healthy recipes to try at home.

For information or to find a walking group near you go to www.goredforwomen.org.au

Heart-attack survivor Juleen Cavanaugh... exercising every day, covering four kilometres on the treadmill and fitting in a yoga session daily. Photo by Silas

New writers at ‘CityNews’

FRE y LA Ferguson has joined “CityNews” as its political reporter. An experienced and inquisitive journalist, Freyla will principally be covering all the political twists and turns in the Legislative Assembly in the run up to the next ACT election in October, 2012. She will also contribute to our general news coverage.

A N d we welcome also Libby Rolfe, an experienced editor and colourful feature writer, who has returned to journalism to take on the role of editing our health, beauty and fashion sections, as well as contributing to our general news pages.

Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au

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Letters 6

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‘Affordable’ market cruels first buyers

LOANS to first-home buyers have slumped despite the ACT remaining the most affordable State or Territory to own a home, according to the latest housing affordability report from the Real Estate Institute of Australia.

For the past five years, the ACT has held the top spot, with the March quarter recording the proportion of income to meet home loan repayments increase 0.1 per cent to 18.6 per cent.

However, new loans to first-home buyers in the March quarter in the ACT recorded the nation’s biggest slump of 25.5 per cent.

REIA CEO Amanda Lynch said the ACT remains the country’s most affordable place to own a home because average income in the Territory is higher.

“This does not mean that buying a home is affordable for all first-home buyers,” Ms Lynch said.

“The number of loans to first-home buyers decreased in all States and Territories over the quarter, except for the NT.”

The ACT also recorded the biggest decline in the total number of new loans this quarter – a decrease of 21.2 per cent to 1833.

In the past year, the total number of loans declined 8.7 per cent.

However, ACT and Victoria were the places to record an increase in the average loan size this quarter – an increase of 1.2 per cent to $296,180.

In the past year, the increase of average loan size was 0.04 per cent.

NSW remains the least affordable State or territory to live – a position it has held for the past 15 years.

–Freyla Ferguson

‘Vision of Italy’ DVD winners

Winners of the “Vision of Italy – Northern Style” DVDs are: Frank Kerin, of Holder; Cedar Cram, Cook; Caitlin Geranium, Kaleen; Christine Crosswell, Banks; and Theresa Barbaro, Watson.

Photo by Silas

Burmese refugee Shin Thu Gay... “Life in a refugee camp is very difficult. That is where a lot of people die and I thought I will die like them and so will my children.”

From horror camps to Canberra

FREYLA

FERGUSON looks at a reality and a documentary of refugee life

IN comfortable Canberra, it’s hard to imagine a life torn apart by political unrest and war. But for Burmese refugee Shin Thu Gay, 57, it was a reality for more than 30 years.

On World Refugee Day – June 20 – Shin Thu and her family will celebrate five years of living in Australia.

She tells “CityNews” about fleeing a refugee camp with her sleeping, newborn son, through leech-infested jungle to hide from gunfire, and of stories of soldiers kicking pregnant women with their steelcapped boots.

She speaks of a constant fear of rape and torture from Burmese and Thai soldiers.

Shin Thu was forced from her village at 20-years-old due to the political unrest in her country under the Myanmar military Government.

From 1974 to 2006, Shin Thu moved four times between Burmese refugee camps and in that time she married husband Eh Tar, gave birth to five sons and adopted a son and daughter from within the camps.

“I did not look to come to Australia because in my culture we are happy to live in our village,” Shin Thu explains. “It was

our last choice to live in a refugee camp because life in a refugee camp is very difficult. That is where a lot of people die and I thought I will die like them and so will my children.”

However, in the Mae La Camp she decided she would leave Burma thanks to a niece living in Australia who helped her apply for UN High Commissioner for Refugees status.

Now, with the support of the government and local organisations such as notfor-profit Companion House, Shin Thu, her husband, seven children and seven grandchildren are all living in Canberra.

One son is planning to attend university.

Her work with other Burmese refugees last year earned her a CIT award for achievement in “Leadership for Diversity – building respect and strong links”.

On Tuesday, June 21, during Refugee Week, SBS will air the first episode of a three-part documentary series called “Go Back To Where You Came From.”

The program follows six ordinary Australians as they travel to Malaysia, Kenya, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq to experience what it means to be an asylum seeker and a refugee.

Companion House counsellor advocate Elizabeth Price says she hopes a documentary like “Go Back to Where You Came From” gives Australians a better

understanding of refugees.

“Everybody has the right to seek asylum,” Ms Price says. “I ask myself would I have the strength to be a survivor or would I just go under after facing the sorts of experiences that the people we meet have faced?

“The fact you are starving a lot of the time and there might not be water and what water there might be is filthy.

“These places are very dangerous. In camps on the Thai-Burma border, which Shin Thu would be familiar with, there’s a very high risk of rape for women on the Thai side and generally. The Burmese army can attack refugee camps and burn them down. Then there’s violence within the camp.”

Former refugee and now Australian citizen and Companion House counsellor advocate Ina Susljik knows first-hand what it’s like to live as a refugee and every day deals with clients with the post-traumatic stress of fleeing a war-torn country.

“The popular perception is that refugees come to Australia to bludge,” she says. “But they come to Australia for a chance of life.”

“Go Back to Where You Came From”, SBS One, 8.30pm, Tuesday June 21.

Companion House will hold its 7th World Refugee Day Soccer Tournament at Cook Oval, 10am-3pm, Saturday, June 18.

How do you weigh carbon?

CAN somebody please explain to me how we are going to weigh carbon as we move to being charged for it by the tonne? I presume that as a business owner I will have to fill in a form similar to the GST-imposed Business Activity Statement quarterly declaring my output of carbon and claiming my compensation.

Is the carbon to be weighed as in a pencil or carbon paper or the invisible carbon dioxide gas we breathe out? In my old shop at Tharwa I have at least seven sets of scales ranging from platform scales to weigh bales of wool, bags of wheat, chaff, bran and pollard etcetera to small ones to weigh letters and lollies. In my past trucking days I weighed bulk super phosphate, wheat, oats etcetera, and virtually everything on weigh bridges spanning the country at railway stations and on main roads including the “scaleys” looking for my over loading.

However, I absolutely can’t see how I am going to be able to weigh a tonne of some sort of carbon gas or carbon object to complete the quarterly “CAS” (Carbon Abatement Statement)!

Are we going to get a new term to cover a quantity of carbon such as we had with a “bushel” of wheat or a “quarter” of potatoes etcetera? Maybe a “trustme” of carbon!

Val Jeffery, t harwa

Ban kids, control parents

INTERESTING article by Tim Gavel on abusive parents in sport (CN, June 9). Most organisations I know of can and should access the “Play by the Rules” guidelines issued by the Sports Commission, and refer to it as one of their foundation policy documents.

It is a very handy document to which all members should be made to subscribe as part of enrolling their children or themselves in the sport.

Of course, while it might prove a bit hard to carry the rules on the sideline, options available to organisations might include removing the abusive parent from the area of competition, or barring the child from further participation in the competition until their parent’s behaviour has ceased and the said parent provides written undertaking to that effect.

Michael Doyle, Fraser

Humanity on back burner

THANK you, John Cleland for your letter on “compassion” (CN, June 9), having just heard a radio interview with a lady who makes street swags, and heard her remark that there are

thousands living on the streets of Brisbane. Currently, 16,000 street swags have been made with the help of some prison inmates, but the program is entirely funded by voluntary contributions (visit www.streetswags.org).

In response to a question from the interviewer about “falling through the cracks”, her amused reply was that the crack looked more like the Grand Canyon.

It’s time for us to consider whether our fixation with our own business (busy-ness?), “lifestyle choices” and our own agenda is placing our humanity on the back burner.

Mary adams, a inslie

If you can’t beat them...

IT seems to me that our PM’s refugee-swap deal with Malaysia is no more than a glorified people-trafficking exercise.

When did our Federal Government decide that if you can’t beat them, you must join them? And who said that our Julia wasn’t a “people person”?

tony Farrell, Reid

Contractions in policies?

CANBERRANS are faced with a Rubik-cube drug policy situation. The Police Minister Simon Corbell has rightly pointed out that the reason why there must be a zero tolerance for illegal drug use on our roads is that there is no safe level of ingestion of these drugs.

However, as Attorney-General, he is wanting to supply our jail with needles which can only help inmates use illegal drugs again, for which there is no safe level of use!

The clear contradiction becomes stark against the background of The Illicit Drug Reporting System (2010). It indicates that more than half of the survey participants reported they injected drugs daily and 80 per cent had sought help for a mental-health problem over the past year. Apparently, more than 95 per cent of ACT heroin users said the drug was easy or very easy to obtain.

It is not possible to justify these contradictory policy positions.

colliss Parrett, Barton

Amazing Josh learns to shine on ice

By Megan Haggan

HE’S just 1, became a gold-winning ice-skater in a matter of months, and his dream is to be part of “Disney on Ice”: Harrison’s Joshua Gordon is about to wow spectators at the Australian Winter Festival.

When work commitments led Randall and Anita Gordon to move to Canberra in 2007, their son found the move difficult. Diagnosed 11 years ago with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, intellectual impairment and Level 6 speechlanguage impairment, Joshua had to leave behind his special school in Queensland and the friends he’d made, and try to settle into a different environment – not easy for somebody who thrives on familiarity and stability.

“He was apart from his friends, who were special like him, and he wouldn’t associate or mix with new people,” says Anita.

Looking for something to pique her son’s interest, Anita took him to Phillip ice rink, where he at first showed an interest in ice hockey. He was told he’d need to learn to skate first, so he set about doing so, passing 10 Aussie Skate Badges in six weeks’ of lessons.

Seven months later, Joshua represented Australia at the NZ National Figure Skating Championships, and brought home a gold medal in the Special Olympics section, the first Australian to do so.

In 2008, he won first prize in the Technical Preliminary division in the mainstream competition at the Summer Trophy in Brisbane; he’s now attained senior level in dance and has performed in humorous artistics. The ACT Ice Skating Association has called his achievements “amazing”.

“I want to be able to perform, be in shows, be in ‘Disney on Ice’,” says Josh, who adds that his favourite Disney film is the movie starring Goofy: “I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid, and still do.”

He says he loves his ability to make people smile when skating, and “acting, being funny”.

There’s even talk of his competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics – “If I’m ready for it, I’ll go for it,” Josh says.

“Part of the reason he progresses

so quickly, they say, is because of his autism,” Anita told “CityNews”. “He just has no fear: He doesn’t hesitate, he just jumps into it. He’s a perfectionist.”

Joshua’s just been given a big break: He’s performing in the Australian Winter Festival, which has just begun its Brisbane leg, and which will then move on to Bondi, Sydney and Melbourne.

“It’s the most fabulous opportunity for a kid with a disability; he’s doing the opening and closing solo. And he’s starting in broken-down boots tied together with tape – he needs to have them custom-made because he’s got an unusual foot.”

This puts Josh at greater risk of injury when he comes down from a jump, but he’s not perturbed, says Anita: “He said: ‘If I get accepted into “Disney on Ice” I’d still have to do the show no matter what,’ and this is the same.”

His parents recently held an appeal to help fund Joshua’s training, as Disability ACT ended its financial support in January.

“Mum and dad are going bankrupt slowly, but it’s full steam ahead anyway,” Anita laughs. “What else do you do? Do you say no when you’ve found that your child, who five years ago you wondered what was going to happen to him in life, all of a sudden just shines?”

Dangerous politics: Gambling with people at risk

PROBLEM gambling is not a new phenomenon. Nor is it a problem which is getting worse in Australia.

In fact, quite the reverse, with every measure of problem gambling showing a halving of national prevalence rates in the past 10 years to roughly 0.4 per cent of the adult population (it is 0.5 per cent in the ACT).

However, there is more focus on problem gambling than ever been before and while attention to this issue is no bad thing, the political nature of the debate is helping no-one, least of all those with the problem.

Trying to achieve positive and effective outcomes on any public policy issue through a highly charged political process where pointscoring and the 10-second grab reigns supreme, is not only ineffective but dangerous.

The greatest shame of Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie’s approach to the issue of problem gambling is that it has essentially been destructive.

By turning the issue into a political one to the point of threatening the very existence of the Federal Labor Government, he has un -

Trying to achieve positive and effective outcomes on any public policy issue through a highly charged political process where point-scoring and the 10-second grab reigns supreme, is not only ineffective but dangerous, writes JEFF HOUSE, chief executive of ClubsACT

dermined the constructive approach that was established by the Productivity Commission review; he has shattered any hope of issue consensus among Labor and the Coalition; he has ruined any prospect of the States and Territories willingly participating in reform; he has wrecked the considered and agreed pathway to further reductions of problem gambling and destroyed the strong support industry had for that pathway.

Wilkie’s passion for this issue does not mean he is right. Nor does it infer that he is right in how he advances that issue.

Wilkie’s focus on pre-commitment, an ineffective technological solution to a complex human problem is a narrow “my-way-or-the-highway” approach. He leaves no room for the possibility

that he may be wrong or there may be other, better solutions.

Professor Alex Blaszczynksi, the chair in Psychology at the University of Sydney and an expert in problem gambling warned that “…significant funding and attention to a costly [pre-commitment] system that is likely to have minimal impacts, deflects attention and directs funding from other initiatives that are more cost-effective and have greater impacts on harm minimisation and reducing the social costs of gambling”.

The recent announcement that Mission Australia will be contracted to undertake problem gambling services through more than $1m worth of funding provided by Canberra’s clubs is welcome news.

Whan returning to politics just a few months after losing his seat in a general election illustrates an archaic system with inappropriate influence of party politics in that State.

Why nice-guy Whan’s appointment stinks “ ”

THE launch of Steve Whan back into politics might be great for Labor, Monaro and for country NSW, but the electoral system used for a political party to appoint one of its own simply stinks.

This is not a criticism of Whan personally. On the contrary, when he lost his seat of Monaro in the recent NSW election his personal performance in his electorate, as a member and as a minister was almost enough for him to resist the tidal wave of sentiment to get rid of the old, tired Labor government. Indeed, following the landslide victory by the Liberals in NSW, I described him as a man who “has worked extraordinarily hard in his electorate and although he has a considerable swing against him, it pales into insignificance compared to the statewide swing against Labor. Hard work does pay off for elected members”.

Whan’s elevation to the NSW upper house, the Legislative Council, at the behest of the NSW Labor Party follows the retirement of veteran politician Tony Kelly after 14 years in the Parliament.

Whan returning to politics just a few months after losing his seat in a general election illustrates an archaic system with inappropriate influence of party politics in that State. He did not even stand as a member of the upper house.

politics

Michael Moore

It is in stark contrast to the recent election of Chris Bourke to the ACT Legislative Assembly by count-back. In the case of Bourke, it was the voters who elevated him to elected office. In the case of Steve Whan, rather than having been elected by the people he has been appointed by a political party.

Instead of being under constant threat of losing his most marginal of seats, Whan will now not need to contest an election for eight years – the equivalent of two lower-house terms.

The election of the 42 members to the Legislative Council is done on proportional representation in a manner similar to the Australian Senate.

Half of the members, 21 at a time, are elected at each general election and are elected by proportional representation.

At the risk of being seen as a conspiracy theorist, it is hard not to imagine the politicking going on within the Labor ranks for Mr Kelly to stand down less than three months after he stood for an upper house seat and was elected for a full eight-year term.

He was Labor’s leader in the upper house and on his resignation he gave his reason for stepping down as “it was time to pass the baton to a younger generation”.

This is the third such resignation since the devastating loss by Labor on March 26.

Walt Secord and Adam Searle were appointed

Steve Whan... will now not need to contest an election for eight years.

by the party to fill vacancies left by the resignations of John Hatzistergos and Eddie Obeid.

The appointment of someone of Steve Whan’s calibre might be good for NSW, but the system that appointed him needs review.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health.

This will represent a comprehensive approach to dealing with a complex issue and will build on the solid base of harm minimisation measures that clubs have had in place for years, such as the ACT-wide exclusion system, which ensures those who have been identified as having a problem are excluded from all club venues in the ACT.

Contrast this to Wilkie’s approach, which will see problem gamblers be given a card that will enable them to continue playing poker machines so long as they set their own limit and does nothing to encourage people to seek help.

Commonsense dictates this is no solution for people battling an addiction.

We clearly need to continue to work hard to ensure the rates of problem gambling keep falling. The measures that will have the most success in achieving that aim are those which are based on sound evidence, recognising that problem gamblers are human beings for whom addiction to gambling is sometimes a symptom of a deeper problem.

Commonsense, compassion and research should dictate how we proceed. Not political point scoring.

Warm, cosy and costly

The effect of a carbon price on Canberra worries MARK PARTON

AT some stage between now and the next Federal election, there will be some sort of complex bureaucracy in place that forces somebody to pay for emitting carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere.

The Greens are worried that we’ll set the carbon price way too low to achieve any tangible shift from fossil fuels.

I’m worried, too. Worried about my energy costs. And I’m mindful that we in Canberra will pay a disproportionate amount for this climate action than will most other Australians. The carbon tax will hit Canberrans more than the rest of the country. Why? Because it gets bloody cold here! Heating homes in Canberra is not optional.

There are places in Australia with more moderate climates where you don’t really have to heat the home. Now, there are those who would argue that this is balanced out by the need to cool the home, but unless you’re in Darwin or Marble Bar you won’t have to cool to the same extent that we have to heat.

Kiki Korpinen, the acting director of the ACT Council of Social Service agrees. While pointing out that the council supports positive action on climate change, Kiki said that “because of our climate, any increase in energy prices has a major effect in Canberra”.

Kiki fears that when the carbon tax hits, there will be some ACT households that cannot afford to use heating, which could have dire consequences. Canberrans will be penalised more for the carbon tax than other Australians and we’ll be compensated less. Now, admittedly that’s because our average income here is quite high, but you can’t get away from the effect that will have on the local economy because it will translate to substantially less disposable income.

Chris Peters, from the ACT Chamber of Commerce, fears the effect that this impost may have on our economy.

He suggested that anecdotal evidence was telling him that retail has picked up in Canberra since April, but that this would the sort of thing that could plunge us back down into the doldrums.

Are you worried about the carbon tax? Me, too. Mark Parton is the breakfast announcer at 2CC

If it’s goodbye service; it’s goodbye to me!

SHOPPING just hasn’t been the same without Betty.

Betty, or “Satan’s Little Helper” as my husband liked to call her, was one of my favourite partners in crime. Working at a major department store in Woden, Betty practised old-fashioned customer service. I was one of Betty’s regulars and she always knew what I wanted, often before I did!

Whenever I’d turn up at her counter, Betty would have some special item tucked away that I just had to see – maybe a lovely new necklace that was a total steal or some gorgeous rose-gold sunnies, because rose gold is so hard to find and she knew how much I loved rose gold.

On another day, it might be a handbag that was just a bit different and appealed to my taste.

My more frugal husband said Betty was “just plain dangerous” and, indeed, whenever I needed a little shopping therapy, I would head to her counter like a moth to the flame.

Of course Betty wasn’t my only conspirator. There was a wonderful woman in the children’s department who was an unbeatable fount of wisdom when it came to baby related purchases and a whiz at settling the concerns of anxious, first-time mothers.

Of course, I had an excellent relationship with a lady in the shoe department, too.

But these exemplars of the sales assistant’s art are all now gone. Betty retired years ago and there are fewer and fewer of her ilk. Customer

by sonya Fladun

service just isn’t what it used to be. That’s not the fault of today’s shop assistants. Many are casuals and part-timers and there’s just too few of them spread too thinly over more and more areas of today’s department stores.

These days, I find shopping a much less satisfying and often much more frustrating experience than I once did. Venturing out to recent department store sales, I’ve found long queues of people trying to find someone to serve them, no-one who can provide any advice or information, and frequently – to my annoyance – finding items that appeared to be on sale just weren’t.

Other times, it’s the tiny, almost-impossibleto-read fine print at the bottom of the “50 per cent off” sign that explains that really, virtually nothing is actually on sale at all.

Recently, I heard the major retailers complaining about the loss of sales to the internet. These days, I don’t frequent the big shops so much; I have a few small retailers I favour and, otherwise, I shop on line so I can compare prices and avoid the stress.

The big retailers ought to have a long and hard think about returning to some former standards of personal customer service. Maybe then they would win back some of their lost business.

There is something wrong with this picture

THE editor has waited a lifetime to write that heading, but did you spot the mistake? Snapper SILAS BROWN nearly did a double take as he loped along by The Street Theatre on assignment recently. He thought he was seeing things

briefly

Mandolin recital

THE Canberra Mandolin Orchestra will give a recital in aid of Autism Asperger at the Uniting Church, Denman Street, yarralumla, at 2pm on Saturday, June 18 (doors open at 1.20pm). Tickets are $15 each and children under 12 are free.

Queen’s Birthday honours

– the shadow didn’t match the profile of the planter box above. Since then, he’s been noticing fake shadows around the town and reports that fire hydrants have become another favourite of this graffiti illusionist.

Stories and songs

THE ACT Storytellers Guild Inc. and the yarralumla Singers for Pleasure are holding an evening of story and song at the Curtin Uniting Church Hall, Gillies Street, from 7.30pm on Saturday, June 25. The $10 entry includes homemade supper. Bookings not necessary but for enquiries call Mary on 6254 2349.

Canberrans honoured with awards

Here is a list of Canberrans honoured by the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday awards:

OFFICER (AO) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA

Marie Yvonne COLEMAN, Dickson, for distinguished service to the advancement of women, particularly through the National Foundation for Australian Women and the Australian Women’s Archives project.

Michael Joseph KEELTY, yarralumla, former AFP commissioner, for distinguished service to national and international law enforcement, particularly through the establishment of bilateral agreements with corresponding overseas agencies and the integration of intelligence and law-enforcement efforts within Australia.

Lisa Marian PAUL, secretary, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, for distinguished service to public sector leadership in key policy and program implementation, particularly through driving reform in education, employment and workplace relations.

Nicholas Peter (Nick) WARNER PSM, Barton, director-general, Australian Secret Intelligence Service, for distinguished service to public sector leadership through the development of policy, administration and reform in the areas of intelligence, defence and international relations.

MEMBER (AM) IN THE MILITARY DIVISION

Air Commodore Peter David BRENNAN, for exceptional performance of duty in the field of Defence Logistics and as the director-general Logistics Assurance, Joint Logistics Command. Commodore David James LETTS, for exceptional service as director-general Navy People

and as head Navy People and Reputation. Capt Charles Neville McHARDIE, for exceptional service in the field of naval warfare.

WO John Joseph MILLAR, for exceptional service in the field of senior-level managerial and representational duties as WO disciplinary on deployment and as WO of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Col. Simon Andrew STUART, for exceptional service as the commander Joint Task Force 631 on Operation ASTUTE in East Timor from February to October 2010.

Brig Philip Douglas WINTER, for exceptional service as the commander, Australian Defence Force Counter Improvised Explosive Device Task Force.

MEDAL (OAM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION

Dr Naren CHELLAPPAH, Chapman, for service to the international community as a volunteer dental surgeon.

Michelle Gaye McGRATH, Gungahlin, for service to community health through Alzheimer’s Australia in the Canberra region.

Helen Elizabeth MAXWELL, for service to the museum and galleries sector.

Dorothy Elaine (Dot) MILLS, Curtin, for service to athletics.

Mr Edward Charles PLUNKETT, deceased, late of Macgregor, for service to the community of the Canberra region through a range of organisations.

Mr John Crawford SKENE, Dickson, for service to swimming in the Canberra region through technical and administrative roles.

PUBLIC SERVICE MEDAL (PSM)

Ms Liza CARROLL, Barton; Mr John Anton KOVACIC, O’Connor; Mr Robert John (Bob) NASH, Ngunnawal; Mr Stuart Robert THORN, Barton; Mr Andrew Keith TONGUE, Chapman; Mr John William WADESON, Farrer.

Tapping in to talkative Lachie

Lachie McOmish has made the Wig and Pen a Canberra institution, but he is something of an institution himself as ELERI HARRIS discovers

CRAFT beers on tap, dried hops hanging from the bar, brewing tanks behind steamy glass windows, dart board, pork-pie pub fare and faux wood interior: The Old English-style Wig and Pen micro-brewery in Alinga Street appeals to a regular and rather diverse crowd of varying ages and professions in the city centre.

At the heart of the malted daily mayhem is the man who built the barrels of beer: Silver-haired and skinny-clad in knitted sweaters and black hospitality shirts, the publican will talk your ear off if you let him, but he’s well worth a listen.

In 1975, Lachie McOmish was a science graduate from Melbourne University looking to take up Chinese at ANU, more than 35 years later the would-be neuroscientist has traversed the sub-editors’ desk at “The Canberra Times”, the offices of the Senate, the world with the Department of Foreign Affairs and, from 1993, the wilds of ACT liquor licensing to bring the capital the best of beers from stout to pilsners and anything else that took his fancy.

“It’s an interesting mix of tradition and science,” Lachie says of brewing.

“I never wanted particularly to run a pub, but it’s been part and parcel of having a brewery.”

“The Wig and Pen came about as part of a collaboration between myself and another gentleman, Richard Pass. We were both keen on the idea of making beer.

“I like making beer, not because it’s cheap, but by the time I’d spent all the money on equipment it probably cost more than just buying beer outright. But back in those days [the early 1990s] you simply couldn’t get premium beer, it didn’t exist in Australia.

“And so for the last 18 years, many of them with Richard Watkins at the helm in the brewery, we established the Wig and Pen as a very high-quality experimental brewery, testing the lim-

its of both the palates of the citizens of the ACT and the limits of styles of beer which exist.

“I’d like to think there are three things that make the Wig and Pen special, it’s the picture of a traditional pub, the beer is staggeringly good, but it’s the people that make it what it is – and that’s people on both sides of the bar.”

With more than 2000 batches brewed on site, in 2011 McOmish is selling the Wig and Pen and heading down to the coast for a retirement of scuba-diving and cheese-making with his wife Janie.

“I’ve got one more chance at 60 to do something else,” McOmish says, describing a life so full of chapters he’d fill volumes, at least one entirely dedicated to life in the ACT.

“I came to Canberra to do Chinese at the ANU,” McOmish says.

“I finished science and I had an idea

it would be nice to do something relating to Asia, because I always had an interest in Asia.

“Then ended up thinking ‘no, I’ll ditch Chinese, there’s got to be somewhere in the system for someone with an interest in science and Asia’.

“I was working at the ‘Canberra Times’ when a job came up for the Senate in Jim Roger’s office and so I proof-read the job advertisement and then applied for it.

“I was lucky enough to be in the Senate when the Whitlam double dissolution took place. There was a sense then that Canberra was a very exciting place to be, which is true now.

“Some years later when we were living in India there was a series made called ‘The Dismissal’ and it turns to live footage at the end and my wife looked at the live footage and she said: ‘Oh, there you are, you’ve still got that suit’. She went straight to the cupboard

and took it out and gave it to the cook.”

The publican’s daughter, New York-based neuroscientist Dr Caitlin McOmish says he can bring politics, science and beer to the table in equal proportion.

“We were raised on politics, and to this day most phone conversations involve some monologue on his behalf regarding whatever his issue ‘du jour’ is.

“Dad knows something about everything and can talk without interruption for an impressively long amount of time.”

Caitlin says she will miss the pub, which is like her family home and that it will be hard to separate her father from the brewery.

“He has always had very fixed ideas and specific strategies about the pub and he never sold out on them, like the ‘no TVs’ rule! He makes friends so easily, and several of the pub regulars have become regulars at our family Christmas.”

Capital grandeur clogged by cars

By c atherine c arter

d O visitors miss some of the grandeur of the national capital as they drive around looking for a space in the visitor-parking areas, among all the office-workers’ cars, that are there for the whole day?

Perhaps they could see the beauty of Griffin’s parliamentary triangle design past the sea of illegally parked cars on the undeveloped side of york Park across Brisbane Avenue. But probably not. Free parking in the triangle is not a bad thing, but workers are parking in spots intended for visitors. They take up short-term spaces and avoid tickets by leaving their workplaces every couple of hours to re-park. It causes extreme parking congestion in the very areas that should be national showcases for visitors from the rest of the world as well as other parts of Australia.

The fact is the free parkers have shut out visitors to the national institutions. But the parking was made free, supposedly because it would be bad form to charge visitors from outside of Canberra. Why do we do this? you have to pay to park in inner cities all over the country. you pay to park in National Parks. you pay to park in the major airports. you pay to park at urban beaches all over the country. Then you come to Canberra to see the very encapsulation of our national heritage and you face the irony of free parking that isn’t available to you.

The NCA is conducting an enquiry into paid parking in Commonwealth areas, but meanwhile every festival, every holiday, every national event, held without resolution of this issue reflects badly on Canberra and Australia.

Surely we can organise a system that charges small amounts for visitors, but discourages commuters from using visitors’ spots all day?

Catherine Carter is ACT executive director of the Property Council of Australia

At Turkish Delight restaurant’s 30th birthday celebration, Belconnen

all about the arts

Star ‘Turns’ from Reg and Nancye

By arts editor Helen Musa

DIRECTOR Tom Healey may have directed more than 00 plays in the past 0 years, but when producer Christine Dunstan asked him to direct Nancye Hayes and Reg Livermore in “Turns”, a script of Livermore’s devising, he was petrified.

This pair, after all, are showbiz legends – Hayes, as the hoofer who became queen of Australian musicals and Livermore, as the classical actor, one-time star of “Hair”, Australia’s first Dr Frank’n’Furter, musical luminary and perhaps above all, Betty Blokk Buster, his eccentric creation of an earlier era. But not to worry, the Canberraraised Healey, brought up in a family of theatre writers and producers, was equal to the task. Besides, the play “Turns”, billed as “a pantomime with

a twist,” was about the very world Healey knew and the pair proved to be “consummate professionals.”

While the title “Turns” comes from vaudeville, an art form both Hayes and Livermore experienced, the script is actually a play divided into two “turns” – one for 95-year-old Marjory Joy (Hayes) and the other for her son Alistair (Livermore).

In “Turns”, Healey perceives a deeper

human side to Livermore than the veneer of showbiz, a plea for “a little understanding,” in which a 70+year-old man cares for a 90+year-old woman – “it’s the life a lot of us are living,” he says. Healey does not shy away from the

fact that many reviews for “Turns” have been caustic. Although he swears he has “not yet been in an audience that didn’t like it in terms of laughing and clapping”, he argues that it is neither a cabaret like “Betty Blokk Buster Follies” nor a musical like “The Producers”, to

which fans may have flocked hoping to see the Livermore of yesteryear. “Reg is a unique talent... when you’ve mastered a big role, people say ‘I want to see that again.’ ”

But “Turns” is rather Livermore’s personal response to growing old, just as “Betty” was “an explosion of rage” of a man soon to face middle-age. Perhaps, Healey speculates, some Betty fans forget that Livermore has constantly reinvented himself, leaving showbiz several times and even becoming a TV house and garden guru. He likes to keep his fans and himself guessing.

And, yes, Hayes and Livermore, who act, sing, dance and play theatrical games young artists can only dream of, do require different “handling”. Hayes is very much the vaudeville and panto dame, while Livermore is “more naturalistic, quieter and more intimate”. It makes for an exciting mix, and Healey is never surprised to observe the little changes made as the show tours the country.

“Turns” is at The Playhouse from June 22 to 25. Free Q&A with Nancye Hayes and Reg Livermore, June 21 at 6pm. Bookings to 6275 2700 or visit canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Ensemble with strings attached

By Helen Musa

THE new Australian Violin Ensemble is about to launch itself on the region with a concert tour titled “Musical Mozaika”, beginning in Canberra. I spoke to its artistic director, the Russian-born violinist Alexandra Loukianova, about her “long-time dream”; a group of nine professional female musicians.

The Russian-born violinist, with a masters from the Tchaikovsky Conservatorium in Moscow, came here via Bogota, Colombia, where she met her husband, the Colombian conductor Carlos Alvarado.

The couple moved to Australia in 2002, where, after working in Sydney, they moved south, discovered a community of music-lovers with “amazing views for the future”, and co-founded the Wollongong Symphony Orchestra, which performed a spectacular concert of Latin American music at Llewellyn Hall several months ago.

Now, though the larger orchestra has been experiencing organisational problems, Loukianova has decided to fulfil a vision she says she first had at age 15. With eight talented violinists and a pianist, she has embarked upon

a fresh repertoire with arrangements by Alvarado – a lot of Russian music, some jazz, some Latin American music and, naturally, some Bach. The idea is to play what she calls “violin miniatures”, not heavy symphonies. “Mozaika”, the Russian word for “mosaic”, signals a kaleidoscope of music sounds and colours. Optimism is in the air: “It will be bedazzling,” she says.

“Musical Mozaika”, The Street Theatre, 3pm, Sunday, June 19. Bookings to 6247 1223 or www.thestreet. org.au

An almost faultless emotional squeeze

AND

DID “The Roundup” grip you by the viscera? Jim Loach’s film about how Nottingham social worker Margaret Humphries made a career change in the mid-1960s covers similar ground – adults’ shameful treatment of children.

Rona Munro’s literate, comprehensive, dramatically economical adaptation of Margaret’s book about the deporting of 130,000 English children to Australia in the early post-war years for no better reason than that their mothers had abandoned them or given them up for adoption, deals with not only Margaret’s commitment four decades later to finding those mothers, but also the strains it made on her own family and marriage.

“The Roundup” sent whole families into captivity and death. In a way, “Oranges and Sunshine” is even more cruel. The British and Australian governments lied and stole the identities of children, who found themselves working as virtual slaves

cinema

Dougal Macdonald

in Australia for charitable and religious organisations supposed to protect and nourish them

Among many virtuoso moments, Emily Watson’s impeccable portrayal of Margaret shows how the tiniest raising of an eyebrow can speak volumes.

As Jack, who came to Australia believing his mother to be dead and found his sister here, but never knew his mother’s fate until too late, Hugo Weaving gives a memorable performance.

Some of Australia’s most accomplished actors in supporting roles tell gently-harrowing stories of betrayal and abuse.

Margaret’s work generated great anger among people who felt it threatened their inexcusable lack of basic humanity and compassion. In one

Lost art of apartheid

DURING South Africa’s apartheid years artistic expression was heavily suppressed, to the extent that little retaliatory art made its way into the public domain.

The Drill Hall Gallery is presenting two collections that provide different perspectives on South Africa’s struggle towards equal rights.

Gallery One features “Art Against Apartheid” – a collection created by international artists expressing their support for (and solidarity with) oppressed South Africans.

Exhibiting in Gallery Three is the If Lethu Foundation – a collection comprising works by persecuted black artists in the townships of South Africa during the ‘60s and ‘70s.

“These works were largely ignored by institutional and corporate collections, art by black artists was somehow seen inferior,” says curator Carol Brown.

Fortunately, some of the pieces made

VISuAL ART

“Home and Away: A Return to the South” At Drill Hall Gallery until July 3. Reviewed by Johnny Milner

their way into private collections and are now being returned back to South Africa in an attempt to restore lost artistic statements.

A common theme throughout the exhibition is the juxtaposed use of black and white colours. In “Boere Wapons”, Victor Gordon depicts a hazy vision, framed within Zebra skin stripes, of armed soldiers.

However, there is less-than-clear colour division. When inspected carefully, one notices that the stripes are not quite white and not quite black; the distinction is blurred.

“Melodious Journey Through Cosmos”, by Fikile Magadlela, features a man torn

powerful sequence, Len (David Wenham) takes Margaret to the monastery where he spent his childhood. The monks are at breakfast. None of them speaks. The most junior of them conveys subtle insults by bringing her tea in a chipped cup, then in a teapot containing only water.

“Oranges and Sunshine” is cinema of the highest professional quality, with direction, screenplay and performances close to faultless, telling a story that really happened with power to squeeze your emotions until they bleed.

At Greater Union and Dendy

THE screenplay for this fantasy, beginning with small-town high-school kids witnessing a train smash while shooting a sequence for an amateur movie-makers’ competition, gives a strong impression of having been written by a team of primary-school kids whose only encounters with literature and drama have been so-called action

Fikile Magadlela’s “Melodious Journey Through Cosmos”, 1974, chalk and charcoal on paper, 98cmx150cm.

between two worlds: The weight of a piano runs through his backbone and grasps his neck; the white ivory keys clearly outnumber the black, but to create beautiful music both black and white keys must be used together and in harmony. Like the pivotal role sport played in the liberation of South Africa, art was an instrumental form of activism. “Home and Away: A Return to the South” is a powerful exhibition that ventures deep into the understanding of the apartheid struggle.

comic books, which are neither comical nor books.

The film offers some spectacular visuals as its drama unfolds to reveal a reason for the US Air Force to take over the town without explanation to the inhabitants. But while it may be okay to use US ‘70s paranoia about Soviet ambitions to keep the audience in the dark as the story develops, that dramatic device fails to sustain an essentially juvenile plot in which an extra-terrestrial waits until nearly the end to appear.

This is no place to conjecture about a possible creative symbiosis between Abrams and Steven Spielberg underlying “Super 8”. Strongly reflective of the former’s career in making TV drama series and the latter’s in making big-screen blockbusters, its expensive production values struggle unsuccessfully to overcome its dramatic immaturity.

Its bottom line is a flashy no-brainer made for grown-ups in which the kids outshine the adults.

At all cinemas

Battle of the intellect

THIS mixture of swashbuckling adventure, lampooning and true romance marked a change from the large-cast holiday kids’ shows of Ickle Pickle Productions.

Scripted and directed by Canberra writer Rachel Hogan, it was staged on a shoestring, but helped along by atmospheric live blues guitar from Bart Black and Paul Wong.

It’s a fantasy love story of the simple-minded Myshkin’s (like Dostoevsky’s idiot) quest for a beautiful princess. The play masquerades as a piece for young teenagers, but in fact Hogan’s concerns are much more complex – the battle of intellect and emotion, deviousness and honesty, love and hate.

Given that, the playwright’s efforts to lighten the tone with arch quotations from Shakespeare,

THEATRE

“The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship”

Written and directed by Rachel Hogan, at Belconnen Theatre, season closed.

Reviewed by Helen Musa

Keats and Confucius and a reference to Amnesty International seemed forced.

The first half moved slowly, with some of the acting staccato and awkward, though this changed for the better in the second half. At three hours, the play took far too long to wind down.

Throughout, there were confident, smooth performances from Tony Cheshire as the palace spook and Peter Doherty as the eccentric Sanjeev, two distinctive characters that showed Hogan’s considerable potential.

Broadway comes to The Street

THE Street Theatre is hot. Broadway legend Chita Rivera (Barack Obama gave her a Presidential Medal of Freedom) will appear in “My Broadway” (what else?) on June 24. Bookings to 6247 1223.

GREAT news from Ausdance that the shortlist for this year’s Australian Dance Awards include three Canberra nominations – director Ruth Osborne for services to dance, QL2’s “Hard yards” for outstanding achievement in youth or community dance and veteran dance teacher Valda Craig for services to dance education.

THE National Capital Orchestra’s next concert is at The Q, the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre at 2pm on June 19. The program will include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 4 and the Elgar Cello Concerto, with our “CityNews” Artist of the year David Pereira as soloist. Bookings to 6285 6290 or www.theq.net.au

CANBERRA Southern Cross Club is striking out with “Momma Don’t Allow”, performances dedicated to the history of a major jazz instrument. Featuring, among others, Bob Barnard and Bob Henderson on trumpet, Paul Furness, Jack Wiard and Peter Buckland on jazz clarinet, and trombonist and singer Dan Barnett, the next concert is June 30 followed by July 14 and August 5. Bookings to 6283 7288.

QUEANBE yAN City Council is setting up a new

public art advisory panel. Interest is invited to Georgina Perri or Ros Hales at cultural.services@ qcc.nsw.gov.au

CAPITAL Voices will present madrigals, part songs and other musical treats on June 19 at 3pm in Holy Cross Anglican Church, Antill Street, Hackett. Oliver Raymond, with Marjorie Lindenmayer at the piano, will sing Shakespeare songs from Gerald Finzi’s “Let Us Garlands Bring” and songs by Flanders and Swann. Tickets at the door. THE Belconnen Community Service is looking for donations of unused (but working) 35mm film cameras for use in a cultural development project with children. Photographer, Lee Grant will work with children aged between 8 and 12 in the new West Belconnen Child and Family Centre. For details of drop-off (by July 1), contact Simone Penkethman, on 62640271 or simone.penkethman@bcsact.com.au

IT’S grant time. The 2012 ACT Festival Fund funding round closes on July 4. The Special Events Unit is keen for applicants to meet with festival fund staff before submitting an application. Visit www.events.act.gov.au/?/event/ view/147

Room with a (sweeping) view

THERE’S scope to enjoy sweeping views of the Brindabella Ranges from on top of Mount Stromlo.

It can be super windy, but you’re protected if you settle into the Scope Café situated on the grounds of the observatory – a building with a new lease on life since the devastating 2003 bushfires.

The café’s bold-blue walls represent the sky, the yellow and green chairs the sun and the trees and the plum poles the colour of the hills at sunset. But it’s the 180-degree view, through floor-to-ceiling windows, that is amazing.

The regular menu has got a lot going for it, but we decided on specials. The fetta and spinach stuffed-chicken Maryland with creamy, classic French daphonoise potatoes and wilted spinach and creamy sauce ($17.50) was the fav of two of our party. After some deliberation, I selected the tender Morrocan spiced lamb cutlets with tomato kasundi relish ($19.50). The flavours were great and the dishes well plated.

Breakfast is served till 11.30am and features a cranberry and bran house-made

dining

Wendy Johnson

muesli with yoghurt and grated Granny Smith apple ($11.50) for those who like it healthy and a bushman’s breakfast with scrambled eggs, pork and lemon myrtle sausage, bush tomato chutney and more ($19.50) for those with a bigger appetite.

The regular lunch options all sounded yummy and included a wagyu beef sandwich ($13.50), lamb burger with olive tapenade ($16.90) and a warm smoked trout salad with kipfler potatoes, shaved fennel and sauce maltaise, a version of Hollandaise ($19.50).

The issue with Mount Stromlo Scope Café on our visit was certainly not the view, food or wine (which includes some locals). It was the service; although we learned when paying that there had been two power outages. When ordering, we weren’t told the chicken Maryland takes at least 20 minutes (better communication upfront with customers is definitely needed). This wouldn’t have been a problem except the time blew out to around 40 minutes and it all became a bit awkward. At least, by then,

my second glass of wine had arrived. We ended with coffee (on the house) and dessert. The cakes and slices are locally made and gluten free. I loved the decadent, gooey (but not too sweet) chocolate pear and ginger classic brownie (only $4.90) and then tasted the individual New york cheesecake. I’ve had better, although my friend didn’t leave a crumb.

I was disappointed to see the staff cleaning tables next to us with strongsmelling spray – as we still ate. And I was disappointed watching a cyclist change his shoes, socks and top while sitting at an adjacent table (a gentle word from management for him to use the toilet would have been nice). But most of all, I was disappointed when the owner wouldn’t allow the “CityNews” photographer to visit the café to take photos, stating they are “not yet ready to be reviewed”. I agree there is scope for improvement with service but, surely, if you’re open for business, and taking money from customers (our bill was just over $80), you’re ready to be reviewed?

Scope Café. Tuesday-Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturday-Sunday, 8am to 5pm. Open some nights late for sunset viewing.

Bewildering play spells disappointment

THEATRE

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” Phoenix Players, ANU Arts centre until June 25

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

WATCHING the efforts of a group of young students competing in a small county spelling bee is initially quite diverting.

There are some good laughs in the moderator’s attempts to provide word definitions, and to use them in sentences. William Finn’s unmemorable songs are tightly choreographed and energetically performed by the cast, and well played by the small band. The simple single setting is appropriate and serviceable.

yet, on opening night, some patrons left the theatre wondering why they had not enjoyed this production more.

Was it the over-exaggerated acting style of most of the cast, which robbed them of charm and prevented the audience from engaging with them as characters?

Was it that the numbers, in which each

The cast of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”... over-exaggerated acting.

individual character tells their story, were so over-choreographed that the all-important lyrics were lost? Though despite this, Blake Appelqvist with “Magic Foot” and Jenny Lu with “I Speak Six Languages” provided highlights.

Did the device of having four members of the audience also compete in the spelling bee distract from the storyline and

The best cup in town!

simply serve to slow the pace of show? Was it the disconcerting lighting changes that often left members of the cast in gloom for no apparent reason?

Whatever the reason, after the long interval, the show struggled to recapture momentum or credibility and by the end there was little audience interest in learning who ultimately won.

2011 ACT Chief Minister’s Export Awards

advertising feature

Reach out for the best-of-breed awards

THE ACT Chief Minister’s Export Awards are the Territory’s most prestigious business awards; they acknowledge the innovation, hard work and success of businesses, large and small, in reaching new markets.

By celebrating the achievements of the Canberra region’s strong exporting community, the awards encourage aspiring and new exporters by showcasing successful exporters.

They also provide an opportunity to give a business a health check. Applications for the 2011 ACT Chief Minister’s Awards close on July 29 and preparing an application will help identify the strengths and weaknesses of a business, assess export strategies, and progress and note areas where further work may need to be done.

This year sees changes in the awards: There’s a new Chief Minister, a new local awards category, a new user-friendly online application form, and a new ACT sponsor, the Commonwealth Bank.

The ACT and region has a dynamic and successful exporting community and continues to excel in exporting goods and services to more than 30 countries.

The Territory’s trade is services dominated, accounting for 99.6 per cent of exports and increasing 8.8 per cent to $1.1 billion in 2009-10.

There was signi  cant growth in the “Other Business Services” category, which increased 32.8 per cent to $166 million, compared to $119 million in 2008-09.

The ACT award categories offer an opportunity for exporting businesses of any size and in any industry to enter, with a range of categories to suit all businesses.

The Government has introduced a new ACT-speci  c category this year, the Microbusiness Award, to recognise the large number of successful microbusinesses operating in the ACT that employ less than  ve people.

So even if an entrant isn’t ready to compete at the national level, they can use the awards as an opportunity to showcase an export business

locally and prepare for entry into national categories in the future.

New sponsor, Commonwealth Bank, was quick off the mark to sponsor the microbusiness and the small business categories. Executive manager local business banking Andrew Kubenk said:

“The Commonwealth Bank is very pleased to sponsor the ACT Chief Minister’s Export Awards and support small and emerging businesses in the ACT region. We look forward to continuing our support of local businesses taking great local products and services into the global arena.”

The way to a winning entry

THE key to winning is to make an application stand out from the others. So what makes a good application?

The experienced local and national judges look for organisations that use the application to market their business by highlighting key strengths, illustrating innovative and distinctive achievements, and demonstrating an ability to turn a vision into a viable, sustainable reality. You don’t have to be the biggest or the most  nancially successful exporter to win.

To help you to impress the judges, here are a few tips to writing that stand-out entry: Tell your export success story – what makes you stand out from your competitors, what your export success milestones have been.

Pay attention to the word limit – keep your answers concise.

Don’t get too technical – avoid going into too much detail about a product or services. Keep it simple and clear, use plain English, don’t use jargon and acronyms and watch out for overuse of capitals, italics, bold text.

Make sure your numbers add up – the  nancials are checked, so make sure you haven’t added any extra zeros, or mixed up  nancial year data.

Proofread – show the  rst draft to staff members who work in different areas of the company. And check the  nal draft for spelling and grammar.

Pick strong photos to illustrate your story – think about how a photo can capture the essence of what you do. There is a world of difference between images copied and pasted from your website and professionally shot photos. Try and use action shots of your product, factory site or team.

Start today – give yourself enough time to write the entry; don’t leave it until the last minute. A rushed application won’t show off your company at its best.

Avoid repetition – check your application to make sure you’ve answered the questions without repeating the same material. If you’ve entered the awards before, don’t copy your last application form. The judges read them all, and remember. It’s important to clearly demonstrate the progress you’ve made, in export terms, over the past year(s).

enter

APPLICATIONS for the 2011 ACT Chief Minister’s Awards close on July 29. Chief Minister Katy Gallagher will present the 2011 ACT Exporter of the Year Award at the presentation lunch on September 29. ACT winners progress as  nalists to the 49th Australian Export Awards, with winners announced at the national awards ceremony in Brisbane on December 8.

For more information or assistance visit www.business.act.gov. au/exportawards or contact Cathy Atkins at cathy.atkins@communicationtoolbox.com.au or Michael Cliff at michael. cliff@cliffassoc.com.au It’s time to

Distinction, National Recognition, International Success

2011 CALL FOR ENTRIES

If you are a successful exporter with a business registered in the ACT, then you should enter the 2011 ACT Chief Minister’s Export Awards. The Awards can help you to achieve ACT distinction and national recognition and can lead to further international success.

Entries close on 29 July 2011 and assistance is available to help you to plan and complete your application. So don’t wait until the last few days to write and lodge your application, start putting it together now.

For more information, visit www.business.act.gov.au/exportawards or contact Cathy Atkins on 0403 488 478 or Michael Cliff on 0433 018 390

The 2011 ACT Chief Minister’s Export Awards are an initiative of the ACT Government, managed and delivered by the Canberra Business Council

Sponsored by:

Winter goes back to the classics

Chic minimalism meets feminine elegance in a polished look that is perfect for taking on Canberra’s winter, writes fashion editor LIBBY ROLFE.

THIS season think tailoring reminiscent of the 1950s – hourglass silhouettes teamed with pretty ruffles to soften the look.

On-trend items include the camel coat, pencil skirts and anything featuring lace.

The animal print trend is not going

anywhere and is a great way to make a statement, but remember, a little bit goes a long way.

It’s a return to the classic tailoring this winter in neutral tones, vibrant reds and elegant black.

Lisa loves dressing up in winter

PERSONALIT y Lisa Ridgley, who agreed to model a new-season winter look for “CityNews”, loves winter in Canberra and relishes the chance to get rugged up in the season’s fashions.

“I love the idea of getting dressed up,” Lisa says.

Originally from Queensland, she had never owned a pair of boots before moving to the ACT.

“I remember when I first arrived in Canberra, I was freezing and brought my first pair of boots at Westfield Belconnen. I was so excited that I called my friends in Brisbane to tell them about my purchase!

“The best thing about Canberra is that we experience four distinct seasons – go for a run around the lake in winter and you really know you’re alive.”

winter fashion Red zone

A splash of red can brighten up the most bleak winter day.

Black out

Always in style and effortlessly chic, when it comes to dressing up, black is a girl’s best friend.

Neutral territory

This season’s nude tones are simply beautiful and anything but boring.

all about home&garden

HOuSE TOuR

Words: Kathryn Vukovljak

Photos: silas Brown

VAST, high-angled ceilings and clerestory windows make architect Peter Adamson’s sustainable Lyneham home feel huge but, as he says, it’s actually got a modest footprint and has been designed to touch as lightly on the environment as possible.

“Thanks to design features such as doubleglazed windows, polystyrene cladding, pergolas, eaves, a grey water system and carefully considered ceiling heights and placement of windows, the house costs barely anything to run,” he says.

The 7.5-star home, designed by Peter and entered into the Australian Institute of Architects awards, uses the slab-on-ground as the primary mass, so that it doesn’t require air-conditioning in summer and very little heating in winter.

“The slab is insulated on all sides and, as the ground is constantly putting out a temperature of 13 degrees, in summer the slab absorbs heat and keeps the home cool,” he says.

“In winter, the sun is the main source of heating using charcoal tiles, and we have hydronic heating, which is designed to turn itself on when required. It’s very energy-efficient.”

Peter, who shares the home with his wife Jacqueline and son Jack, 14, has also designed the house with accessibility in mind, with the help of a special consultant.

“This is the last building I hope to design for myself, so I have designed it to be accessible in case I’m ever forced to live in a wheelchair,” he says. “All the doors are wider than standard, which is cheaper to do from scratch than altering later. The bathroom is designed with plywood walls so bars can be screwed in later if needed.

“We want everything in the house to be low-maintenance and inexpensive, but to last the distance,” he says. “It doesn’t need any upkeep now, which is the best thing about it – I don’t want to be thinking about fixing up my home as I get older!

“We love it; it’s a fantastic place to live. We feel we can grow old here.”

Growing old, inexpensively

Bright colours of winter gardens by the coast

gardening

cedric Bryant

WHERE else in Australia, or indeed the world, can one go snow skiing on Saturday and the beach on Sunday, both within a couple of hours drive from Canberra?

Our doctor always prescribed for my father to get the “sea air” when he had a rare holiday break from the demands as a dairy farmer. Gerdina and I certainly find a brisk walk along the beach an exhilarating experience combined with walking past winter gardens and their bright flowers.

Take Bougainvilleas, sometimes referred to as “boogies”, with their stunning colours. Bougainvillea spectabilis was not named after the island of Bougainville as many would surmise, but after Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811) on his legendary circumnavigation of the world from 1766-9 and discoverer of many Pacific Islands, including Bougainville.

The plant is indigenous to Brazil and introduced to the West by de Bougainville on his travels. It comes in numerous bright, almost iridescent colours, although when pruning one should be aware of its sharp thorns.

Come and see my garden...

A QUOTABLE quote from Christopher Lloyd, gardener extraordinaire: “This garden is a work in progress and without experimentation one is never going to learn”.

This sums up my philosophy on gardening, which can be seen this weekend (June 18-19) when we welcome garden enthusiasts to our garden.

The garden, at 5 Burnside Street, Watson, will be open from 10am to 4.30pm. Entry is $5 with children under 16 free.

I still make mistakes and plant things in the wrong place, such as Michelia figo or Port Wine magnolia. It rapidly grew from about 20cm to 1.5 metres in a relatively short period and obviously in the wrong spot. So out it came and relocated to another spot.

are a favourite coastal climber.

We can grow the deciduous Mediterranean Hibiscus syriacus in Canberra with its flowers in autumn, but not the true, large-flowered Hawaiian hibiscus. There are many varieties of hibiscus from across the globe, mainly in areas that do not experience frost. Wrigley and Fagg’s “Australian Native Plants” list nine varieties of Australian hibiscus including Hibiscus heterophylla, that can be seen growing in the Botanic Gardens. But our subject pictured here is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, which I photographed at Malua Bay last week. A brilliant splash of colour for the coastal winter garden. It is indigenous right across the tropics, Asia and India.

Another favourite in coastal gardens is Aloes for their winter flowers and tall, structured leaves. There are more than 400 varieties of Aloes, so it is impossible to go into any detail here. Search the internet for

Garden book winner

CHRISTA Cully, of Chifley, is the winner of the new book on garden ideas “Best Australian Gardens and Landscapes” edited by Gary Tackle (Think Publishing rrp $39.95).

“Landscape Aloes for Australian Conditions” for a comprehensive range of aloes. They are some of the most drought-tolerant plants on earth.

Next time you head for the beach, take a moment to enjoy the winter plants that we cannot grow in Canberra.

THE next meeting of the Horticultural Society of Canberra is at the Wesley Church Centre, National Circuit, Forrest, at 7.30pm on Monday, June 20. Guest speaker will be Les Baxter of the Australian Section of International Agricultural Research. As with all meetings, it is free with all welcome and supper is included.

JUST think, the shortest day of the year is nearly here. The winter solstice is on Wednesday, June 22 in the southern hemisphere this year.

This wintry week in the garden:

ON the compost heap, now rapidly filling with leaves, add about 2kg of garden lime to every few wheelbarrows of material plus a good handful of blood and bone. This accelerates the decomposition process.

A GOOD, organic way to kill weeds is to pour boiling water over them. PRUNE raspberries only in summer by cutting out the previous season’s old canes.

TRy espaliering fruit trees on a fence. See next week’s garden page for hints.

WHAT to grow in the winter vegie garden? See Cedfact Garden Information Sheet “Growing Vegies for a Healthy Life” at www.cedricbryant.com

Rugging up

OVER-using the ducted heating in winter can cause energy bills to skyrocket, says Bunnings flooring buyer Brad Lawrence, and something as simple as the right flooring choice can help insulate a home.

“June, July and August are the coldest months of the year and this is when we’re tempted to turn heaters on the maximum setting to keep our homes warm,” he says.

“However, in an effort to reduce energy bills and household emissions, people need to consider other methods to keep their homes warm.”

He says rugs and mats are stylish and useful all year round and during the winter they help to insulate the house as well.

“Rugs made out of nylon or wool are best as they have similar materials to carpet and are available in different shapes, sizes and colours, allowing you to choose one that suits your home,” he says.

Wall-to-wall carpet will maximise insulation, save energy and retain warmth in homes, according to Brad.

“By turning on the heater for a few minutes, the fibres found in carpet will trap the hot air and increase thermal insulation in your home, allowing you to turn off your heater and let your carpet continue heating your home for you,” he says. “Carpets also help reduce interior and exterior noise, giving you a quieter home.”

your week in the stars

With Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 1 – Apr 0)

June 20 – 26

you’re keen to call the shots this week but domineering behaviour will only lead to dramas, so slip on your humility hat instead. Attached Aries – listen (carefully) to what your partner is saying. Jumping to conclusions is definitely not recommended. Single Rams – you might be bitten by the love bug while studying or traveling. What a way to go!

TAURUS (Apr 1 – May 0)

Money matters are on your mind as you weigh up the pros and cons of spending verses saving. Bulls appreciate the finer things in life but, in the current economic climate, it would be wise to reign in your love of luxury. Sunday is your lucky day, as Jupiter joins up with the Moon in your sign, and you’ll feel more generous and gregarious than usual.

GEMINI (May 1 – June 1)

With Venus and Mars both moving through your sign this week, Twins are in the mood for love and lust. you’re also double the trouble – and twice as much fun. But too much happy hilarity (and no action) could annoy others (who are doing all the work) so try to walk your talk. Tread carefully with fragile friends and troubled teenagers on Friday.

CANCER

(June  – July )

The Sun joins Mercury in your sign so you’re at your intuitive, compassionate best. If you combine head and heart, then you’ll have a winning formula. Be inspired by birthday great Meryl Streep: “The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” Focus on your nightly dreams and use them as a springboard for future success.

LEO (July  – Aug )

you’ll be given the chance to heal an old emotional wound or patch up a relationship problem. Accept the opportunity gratefully, with outstretched hands and an open heart. Don’t let false pride stop you from taking a leap forward when it comes to love and forgiveness. On Sunday, aim to be friendly and fabulous – rather than demanding and disruptive.

VIRGO (Aug  – Sept )

It’s time to combine diplomacy and dynamism in the workplace, as Venus and Mars both move through your career zone. We all know you’re a diligent hard worker but, this week, make sure you lift your head from the grindstone and actually enjoy what you are doing. All work and no play can make virtuous Virgos very boring – and very lonely!

LIBRA (Sept  – Oct )

Don’t allow a loved one to manipulate you on Friday, as they try to persuade you to do something against your better judgment. Have the strength (and common sense) to stand your ground and say no. With dynamic Mars dashing into your travel/adventure zone, many Librans are longing for foreign lands, sunny shores and wide open spaces.

SCORPIO (Oct  – Nov 1)

With Mercury and Pluto at odds, your obsessive/compulsive side is likely to take over. If you sweat the small stuff, you’ll end up feeling tired, emotional – and exhausted – by the end of the week. (Perhaps it’s time for stressed Scorpios to sample a session of meditation or a spot of yoga?) Pay attention to your dreams. Are they trying to tell you something?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov  – Dec 1)

Spontaneous Sagittarians – if you are careless with your cash, you’ll pay the price further down the track. When it comes to money matters, the devil is definitely in the detail. Sunday is your fun day of the week, as the Sun and Moon make positive connections with Jupiter. So it’s the perfect time to play sport, socialise, study, travel or party like a pro.

CAPRICORN (Dec  – Jan 1)

Other people are acting as a mirror, and reflecting back personal traits that you may have been avoiding. Use these experiences to work on your weaknesses – and build on your strengths. Domestic dramas are likely on Friday, unless you can slip out of Capricorn control-freak mode, and try the gentle art of compromise. Cool co-operation is the key.

AQUARIUS (Jan 0 – Feb 1)

It’s time to look for a new love or reboot an old relationship, as Venus and Mars rev up your romance zone The more you co-operate with others, the more affection and abundance you’ll attract. Don’t let fair-weather friends lead you astray (especially when it comes to finances). Sunday’s Sun/Uranus square stirs up your restless, rebellious side.

PISCES (Feb 1 – Mar 0)

Home and hearth are emphasised as you enjoy the company of family and friends, and attend to DI y projects around the house. The Sun/Neptune trine accents your altruistic streak so you’re also in the mood to help others. Be inspired by birthday boy Prince William: “My guiding principles in life are to be honest, genuine, thoughtful and caring.”

Top-end rentals firm

by t im Humphrey

CANBERRA’S A-grade office leasing market segment is seeing fewer signs of weakness compared to that for lowergrade stock.

Nicola Cooper, director of office leasing at Knight Frank, believes that tenants interested in space in some of the ACT’s best buildings have plenty of choice at the moment, but need to be mindful there is less room for a bargain deal than in lesser-quality buildings.

“While leasing Incentives for B-grade stock are hovering around 12 per cent, those for the A-grade market are significantly lower – at around 8 per cent,” she said.

Ms Cooper has recently brokered a number of sizeable deals in the newly built 121 Marcus Clarke Street totalling about 5000sqm of space – with the bulk of this leased by Ernst & young (2806sqm), ISIS (1405sqm), ARIA (1427sqm) and the ANU (1930sqm).

Other good-quality buildings are leasing well. One example is 53 Wentworth Avenue,

Kingston, which has a total of 3873sqm of office space currently available.

The building offers floor plates ranging between 450-945sqm and, according to Ms Cooper, there are genuine deals on the table and she is confident a number will come across the line soon.

“53 Wentworth Avenue is a good example of a building which is well positioned within the inner south and suits tenants in the 250-1000sqm range,” she said.

The owner will sub-divide the ground floor to give prospec-

tive tenants seeking 200sqm and upwards space within the building.

In other news, Jones Lang LaSalle has recently secured the outsourced property services contract for Customs & Border Security. The three year contract incorporates management of a national property portfolio of more than 270,000sqm.

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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