Canberra CityNews August 4-10, 2011

The new world

world of news

Manuka ‘speed cushions’ anger motorists

By Freyla Ferguson

THEIR purpose is to calm traffic, but the series of new “speed cushions” on 60kph Flinders Way near Manuka seem to do anything but calm drivers.

“CityNews” has received calls of outrage from south-side residents about the seven 20kph speed bumps, which were installed in May as part of the Residential Streets Improvements Program.

The program targets collector roads within the ACT and ranks them based on crash history, speed and volume, and land use information, according to Territory and Municipal Services.

“The installed speed cushions on Flinders Way and associated intersections were implemented to slow the speed of vehicles approaching with the aim of reducing crash incidents,” a TAMS spokesperson said.

“The project will be evaluated six months from the date of installation.”

When asked about the effect of drivers avoiding the speed humps by taking alternative routes, “rat running” through residential streets of Forrest, Red Hill and Griffith the spokesperson said: “The evaluation of the project will take into account speed and volume surveys on adjoining streets.

INDEX

August 4-10, 2011

Since 1993: Volume 17, Number 29

Arts&Entertainment 23-25

Canberra Confidential 18-19

Cinema 24

Crossword 22

Dining 26

Fashion 29

Home&Garden 30-31

Horoscope 22

Letters 16

News 5-17

Property 32-48

Social Scene 20-21

Sport 14

Sudoku 22

“Adjustments may be made pending the outcome of this evaluation.

“The evaluation will include comparison of speed and volume information pre and post-installation and examination of crash data.”

However, the consultation of directly affected residents was undertaken over a three-week period in November.

Residents and businesses on Flinders Way, Monaro Crescent, La

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Perouse Street and Murray Crescent were only contacted by a letterbox drop.

“Flinders Way is not an arterial road,” the spokesperson said. “It is a road where people live and the aim of

this project is to address their concerns and improve their amenity…

“The signposted speed limit on roads such as Flinders Way is a guide and is a maximum limit. Road users need to adjust their speed to suit the conditions.

“The Flinders Way project is primarily aimed at managing crash incidence.”

The evaluation will be made by Roads ACT around October/November and will include a comparison of speed and volume information pre and postinstallation and crash data.

Public comment will be invited over a minimum three-week period.

“Follow up speed and volume surveys will be undertaken over a minimum seven-day period at locations that were surveyed pre-installation,” the spokesperson said.

“This includes Flinders Way and side streets. Crash data for the period post installation will be compared against similar periods in previous years.”

The spokesperson said directly affected residences will be letterbox dropped and information will be also available on the ACT Government website and feedback can be submitted online or in writing.

Results of the evaluation will be available on the ACT Government website.

Speed cushions are also proposed for Spofforth Street in Holt.

Free signs, a gift from the Government

With Canberra so besotted by “user pays”, FREYLA FERGUSON reveals a world of free advertising that basks in a rare burst of bureaucratic benevolence

IN a city so controlling of public billboards, it is startling to discover that the ACT Government is providing free, endless street advertising, it would seem, to just about any business that cares to apply.

And plenty do, cluttering and confusing the poles of street signs all across the town.

There are signs attached to poles everywhere pointing to all kinds of businesses, including at least one that has closed. Late last year the Maternity Fashion Outlet, more commonly known as Mama Wear, moved from Fyshwick to operate an internet retail site from Melbourne, but at least two of its old signs remain, vigilantly pointing expectant motorists to nowhere on street poles in Fyshwick.

According to Territory and Municipal Services, the criteria to apply for a sign is: “Community services and businesses where the particular service would not normally be anticipated.

“Businesses within town centres, shopping malls, local shopping centres and industrial areas are not individually signposted. The priority

is given to community services.”

Given the number of signs – and there are plenty of complying ones to clubs and churches –spotted around Manuka, Kingston and Fyshwick it is clear the commercial policy is a mockery.

For instance, there is a signpost advertisement in Giles Street for L’unico Ristorante, a Kingston eatery that sits amid a flank of other restaurants on the Kennedy Street strip. What makes this one particularly meritorious of public signage?

Equally, on Canberra Avenue there is a signpost to Carlovers car wash, hardly a business “where the particular service would not normally be anticipated” in Fyshwick. And what a surprise it must be to find Battery World in Phillip. Luckily, they have had the wherewithal to organise a sign, too.

“CityNews” has spotted numerous signs, particularly in Fyshwick, Kingston and Weston Creek area, advertising businesses that include McDonalds (replete with its golden arches logo), Hotel Realm, Rosey’s Bridal Wear, Gerhard’s Quality Cars and an especially colourful and commercial one for Canberra Tile House.

Applying for this free advertising service appears not particularly onerous or costly.

To get up to three signs to your business placed on public street poles for an unlimited period at no annual cost there is no application form to complete.

A letter, says TAMS, is all that’s needed, outlining what the business is, whether it addresses the criteria and what the wording and design of

the sign will look like. The design can include colour and logos.

Community groups aren’t charged for the signs. Private businesses, if approved, have to arrange their own installation at their own costs. There is no fee for being on the pole, nor it seems any time limit to how long the sign can remain.

Depending on the post, the signs cost $200 to $500 to produce and there seems to be no hierarchy regarding where the sign is placed on the pole, with examples of commercial signs appearing above the street sign, making quick reference while driving more difficult and arguably undermining the the whole purpose of the pole in the first place.

A TAMS spokesperson said the Government made no revenue from the production of these signs and, depending on the location, one organi-

Calm help replaces lone distress

By Freyla Ferguson

EXERCISE, music and psychotherapy are being used to calm patients suffering from aggressive outbursts at the Canberra Hospital’s psychiatric services unit, making it a “significantly safer place”.

The traditional approach of locking people suffering an acute episode in a room alone causes trauma, according to new research.

Executive director for mental health, justice health and alcohol and drug services Katrina Bracher said the new method is based on “treatment in the least-restricted way possible”.

“When we listened to our consumers they have found the seclusion practice very traumatic,” she said.

The hospital, one of 11 to adopt the national Beacon project, has reduced seclusion rates from 37.93 per cent in 2008-2009 to 2.27 per cent in 2010-2011.

Bracher... “when we listened to our consumers they have found the seclusion practice very traumatic.”

As part of the new method, the PSU has developed a collaborative meeting between consumer representatives and members of a multidisciplinary team, to review and examine all seclusion episodes.

An early support team is also being implemented with ward services to develop further ways to respond to consumer distress in a

positive manner.

ACT Mental Health Consumer Network member and former patient Bradley Fox Lewin is a consumer consultant to the seclusion review and restraint meeting.

He said there’s still patient distress in the PSU, but it’s now a significantly safer place.

“Two or three years ago there

‘Chuffed’ Ann a top speaker

By Kathryn Vukovljak

CANBERRA’S guru of selection criteria and getting that government job, Dr Ann Villiers CSP, has some new letters after her name – she’s received the accolade of Certified Speaking Professional from the National Speakers Association of Australia.

“It’s the highest designation that a professional speaker can attain,” she says. “There are 97 people who have the award in Australia, and only 37 women. And I’m the only person in Canberra. So I’m rather chuffed!”

With more than 10 years in

the speaking industry and a background in teaching and management, author Ann has created “Mental Nutrition”, a way of thinking and speaking that can help avoid misunderstandings and build confidence. And, she says, it all feeds in to her knowledge about applying for government jobs.

“Our thinking and speaking can support or limit us – we have a choice,” she says. “What’s going on in people’s heads can sabotage them when applying for jobs.”

“For me, the best thing about what I do is when someone comes up to me and says, ‘I remember a

seminar you gave and it helped me’, or ‘I read your book and it changed how I feel’. That’s what it’s all about.”

Ann says her next focus will be on pre-retirees, “probably because that’s where I’m at, too”.

“The meaning of retirement has changed,” she says. “People are starting to think about how they plan to live the next phase of their lives in a rewarding, engaging way.

“It’s about more than money, lifestyle and travel – you could have another 30 or more years ahead of you and no one can play golf every day for 30 years.”

were more occasions of verbal abuse and threats to property and as a result would end in seclusion,” he said.

“Now every single possible thing is done to reduce the damage.

“Even in the hardest situation staff are now questioning, even if there’s a perceived danger, what else can they do other than seclude?”

“Some people say elimination [of seclusion] is possible.

“I think it should remain part of the discussion. I think it’s possible for seclusion to be 99.9 per cent elimination. It’s a goal.”

Mr Fox Lewin said communication between PSU staff, wards people and consumers had been vital in overcoming seclusion.

The Canberra Hospital’s work in reducing seclusion has been presented at a National Seclusion Conference and at a national mental health conference. A consumerled research project is under way and a paper has been accepted at an international safety conference in Hong Kong.

A new 40 bed PSU unit is under construction at Canberra Hospital and will include 10 beds for high dependency and 30 beds for low dependency patients. The unit will also include recreational and spiritual spaces.

Ann Villiers... “Our thinking and speaking can support or limit us – we have a choice.”

Appeal seeks hospital haven for families

AS early as next year, Canberra could be home to a new Ronald McDonald House thanks to current fundraising efforts, says LIBBY

ROLFE

THE Ronald McDonald House Canberra Building Appeal has been set up to raise funds to help build a Ronald McDonald House at the New Women’s and Children’s Building at Canberra Hospital. It will have 11 rooms with ensuites, kitchen, lounge, dining, playroom and laundry facilities. Craig Coleman is the owner of five McDonald’s restaurants in the ACT and says the house will provide a home-away-from home for families whose seriously ill child is being treated at the hospital.

“This support allows these families to be with their children at the most important and critical time of their life, rather than spend the night or precious time in the waiting room,” he says.

“It’s basically a free-of-charge service for those who need it.”

The project will rely heavily on funds raised in the community.

“Our aim is to provide a place of comfort, hope and love for seriously ill children and their families within the Canberra Hospital.”

Next March, a Ronald McDonald House Charity Ball will be held to raise money for the new facility. For information go to www.rmhcfundraising. org.au/event/rmhccanberra

THE Ronald McDonald House Canberra Building Appeal is one of three charities benefiting from this year’s Majura Park $10,000 Charity Challenge. The other two are Sids and Kids ACT and PatCH (Paediatrics at the Canberra Hospital).

The challenge is supported with the “Big Book of Kids’ Savings”, which has been delivered into households in Canberra and Queanbeyan. It contains six weeks’ of coupon deals from stores at Majura Park, Canberra Airport, and a “donation slip”.

The charity with the most donation slips by Sunday, August 14, will receive a $5000 donation from Majura Park, with $3000 and $2000 donations for the other charities according to the number of donation slips submitted. Donation slips can be placed in collection boxes at any participating store, including Toys”R”Us, Babies”R”Us, Lollipop’s Playland, Chemist Outlet, Trade Secret, 3 Seeds and McDonald’s Majura Park.

An additional donation slip is published in this week’s “CityNews”.

Why dashing Abbott’s on a downhill slide

Tony Abbott looks terrific while he’s raging against the Labor Government and its PR disasters, but it has a limited lifespan as a political tactic, says ROBERT MACKLIN

TONY Abbott’s supporters should crack open the champagne right now. Because this is as good as it gets. From here on it’s all down hill.

And that’s even with Julia Gillard as PM.

How can I be so sure? Well, it’s not rocket science.

Tony Abbott has a simple message. He’s agin everything; and while that has worked really well in public opinion polling over the last few months it has a limited lifespan as a political tactic. And I am happy to report that we have arrived at that fateful date. The carbon pollution tax was the circuit breaker.

Abbott’s problem is a little like a mirror version of Kevin Rudd’s career as Prime Minister. While the road ahead was free of traffic, he could rise to the heights without changing gear, but the moment some impediment blocked the road – such as Copenhagen in Rudd’s case – he fell to pieces.

Abbott looks terrific while he’s raging against the Labor Government and its PR disasters such as the pink batts and Gillard’s premature declarations about the carbon tax and the East Timor solution. But when you unravel the politics from the policy, it’s Abbott and the Coalition who are revealed as the naked emperors. It’s the Labor policies and achievements that will count with the voters. And the signs are already clear.

The beginning of the turn for Abbott came with his call for a plebiscite on the carbon tax that he would ignore if it didn’t go his way. The electorate was getting suspicious that he was all opposition and no leader – his unbridled ambition was suddenly on

A census beyond the Jedi

MICHAEL MOORE

looks at the political consequences of religion in the forthcoming census

CENSUS 2001 and 2006 saw many people claiming that their religion was “Jedi”.

It was on a par with the Sun Ripened Warm Tomato Party of the first ACT election as a great way to poke fun at the only voluntary question in the census.

However, people who are not currently practising a religion can contribute to a better understanding of our country if they answer the question in this year’s census (on Tuesday, August 9) by identifying as having “no religion”.

Many people who have a deep spirituality, but are not part of organised religion should also identify as “no religion”. The “no-religion” box should be ticked by all those Australians who have Christian morals, but are not practising a specific religion. In this way, sensible decisions will be made by governments who need to understand the numbers of Australians who respect other people’s rights to believe in structured religion but expect respect for their right to not believe and not have decisions made on their behalf that are based on someone else’s religious beliefs.

display to the world. His hysterical attacks on the Government’s climate change plans began to ring increasingly hollow.

Now the Government has brought in the full package with all its compensatory elements he’s faced with reality as opposed to the straw men he’s been beating up around the country.

Is he really going to reverse the Government’s tax cuts to the lower and middle-income families? Is he really going to turn back the clock on cleaning up the atmosphere? His promise of a tax cut without the carbon price rings very hollow indeed. His opposition to the NBN is even more ridiculous. And without quite saying so, Malcolm Turnbull has made it plain that Abbott’s position is simply untenable. Is he really going to rip up the fibre at a cost of millions and re-lay the copper wire? Is he really going to reinstate the Telstra monopoly?

When the Government “stops the boats” with that awful Malaysian deal, is he really going to get into bed with the crooks who run Nauru?

What about the mining tax? Is he really going to scrap it and give all that money back to the multi-nationals and those obese, home-grown billionaires?

His only positive policy is on maternity leave where he’ll tax Australia’s biggest companies to pay for it. Trouble is, his own party won’t wear it and by next election the Government’s plan will be bedded down (and very popular).

Doesn’t look good for Tony, does it? Enjoy the champers while you can.

robert@robertmacklin.com

The census is an important tool that assists governments make accurate decisions. However, something is wrong about this question on religion. More than 60 per cent of Australians chose civil marriage ceremonies and an even higher percentage chose civil funerals. Church lands are being sold, congregations are shrinking and religious days are simply seen as holidays.

In 1991, 12.9 per cent of Australians who answered the census religion question identified as having no religious beliefs. The numbers increased to 16.6 per cent in 1996, dropped in 2001 (the year of the Jedi) to 15.5 per cent and, at the last census, in 2006 hit an all-time high at 18.7 per cent.

The ABS explained why people should not use “Jedi” before the 2001 census, pointing out that the organisation “recognises that people have a wide range of belief systems”. The explanation continued: “If your belief system is ‘Jedi’ then answer as such on the census form. But if you would normally answer Anglican or Jewish or Buddhist or something else to the question ‘what is your religion?’ and for the census you answer ‘Jedi’ then this may impact on social services provision if enough people do the same.”

This response explains the importance of ticking the “no-religion” box if you are not a practising religious person.

Politicians, governments and those with a barrow to push use this statistic to justify the argument that Australia is a Christian country and therefore our laws should be based on the Bible and the teachings of Christ.

This is the sort of information that allows governments to boost by $220million the ludicrous spending on the schools chaplaincy program in government schools.

According to an ABS media release in 2001 around 70,000 people identified as “Jedi” – competing in numbers with religions such as the Salvation Army and the Seventh Day Adventists.

It is now time to have sensible decisions made on what people really believe. On census night, make it clear that religion and philosophy are about personal choice.

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

Movie Monica’s shooting for the stars

Canberra has a movie industry? It sure does! FREYLA FERGUSON discovers the quiet successes of ScreenACT

TWO years ago, film producer Monica Penders was living in New York when she was offered a job at one of America’s most successful television companies HBO.

But she turned the opportunity down to come back to Australia to take up the position of ScreenACT director.

“People say New York to Canberra, what a difference,” Monica says. “It’s like chalk and cheese, you can’t compare them.

“I love it here, two years have gone so quickly and there’s so much I still want to do in this job.”

ScreenACT, supports the growth of the local screen industry, through funding and advice on development and production.

“It’s about building an industry – getting good product out there,” Monica says. “Because if we get good product out there, then there is more work coming to the ACT. My job is to develop people, to develop product.

“The Australian government is really working towards building a sustainable industry.

“We want to look at films that can get into Sundance or Cannes.”

Monica’s love for film began as child watching the Road Runner.

But it wasn’t until she moved to New York in 1998, that she became actively involved in the independent film scene.

Furthering her film studies at New York University and the New School, Monica worked on

such films as “I’ll Take You There” and numerous student films at Columbia University and the university’s film festivals.

In 2003, she became a founding partner of Forgan-Smith Entertainment, under which she

produced the $US27million film “The Secret of Moonacre”, starring Tim Curry (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”), Ioan Gruffudd (“Fantastic Four”) and Natascha McElhone (“Californicaton”).

At ScreenACT, Ms Penders has been involved in the development of numerous locally produced projects including “Resistance” – a highend science fiction children’s TV series that has been picked up by ABC3, “Into the Shadow” – a documentary that received theatrical distribution, “Memoirs of a Plague”, that was shown at the Canadian international documentary festival HotDocs and low-budget feature film “The Dinner Party”.

Last year, Monica launched ScreenACT’s Project Pod, which saw local film makers work with an international script consultant on story and narrative that resulted in five projects receiving grants.

This year, ScreenACT has launched Producer Pod – a series of workshops and projects for local screen producers focusing on film development, finance, marketing and distribution.

Producer Pod featured industry experts including the New York producer Mary Jane Skalski, who produced the Oscar-nominated feature “The Visitor”.

Despite the intense job at ScreenACT, Monica continues to develop her own projects. Currently she is developing a new film, thanks to a grant from ArtsACT, based on the book “Jays Fly to Barbmo” set in Norway during World War II. The grant saw her fly to the Norwegian Lapland for research into the film.

“To entertain and take an audience out of their world for two hours is a really powerful tool,” Monica says.

Although she’s an American citizen and still owns her apartment in New York, Monica is calling Canberra home for now.

“Canberra is the perfect place for me,” she says. “I feel it’s the right place at the right time.”

In schools, nobody does it like chaplains

THERE are not many professions in western civilisation that are allowed to see every extreme of human experience. I’m talking wars and weddings, prisons and politics, hostels and hospitals, fates and funerals.

Not many have the privilege of weeping in times of absolute horror and brokenness, and rejoicing as new lives begin. However, there is one that has been performing this service for millennia now... chaplains.

For the past three years, I had the great privilege of working as a chaplain. I had the permission of being allowed to walk alongside people in their pain, to listen to others learn and grow, and to share moments of absolute joy and relief. It is not always an easy job, but it truly is an honour.

In a recent column, ‘CityNews’ political commentator Michael Moore argued for the removal of chaplains from public schools. Here NICK JENSEN turns the other cheek and begs to differ...

Therefore, I am surprised as to how much opposition to chaplains I hear in the media. There have been calls for them to be removed from any public space – which includes schools, hospitals, jails and even defence. Usually these calls are backed up by the ambiguous catch cry of “separate church and state”, and chaplains themselves treated with suspicion and disdain.

I worked in a school for most of my time as a chaplain. I walked with and listened to people

Sports broadcaster TIM GAVEL says there’s a place to acknowledge the Tour de France champion in Canberra

Campaign Cadel starts here, now!

AT first glance, my campaign to have Stromlo Forest Park renamed the Cadel Evans Park was a failure lasting less than a week.

It started with an e-mail from a listener after Cadel had ridden his way into history as the first Australian to win the Tour de France. I enthusiastically threw my support behind the name change; after all Cadel started his career as a mountain bike champion before focusing on road cycling.

The Stromlo Forest Park facility accommodates both disciplines, but the fact it’s a multi-purpose facility with a cross-country running course and equestrian trails, blew my campaign out of the water.

At first, this seemed to make sense, but let’s consider the naming of other sports complexes.

The newly opened Heather McKay Indoor Sports Centre in Queanbeyan boasts facilities for indoor cricket, indoor soccer and netball. But hang on, didn’t Heather make her mark as a hockey player then went on to win 16 British Open squash titles before success in veterans tennis?

I completely support the naming of a sports facility in honour of Heather, but the centre doesn’t

cater for any of the sports in which she excelled. Good on the Queanbeyan City Council!

Another objection to my campaign was that Cadel is not a Canberra athlete and, therefore, naming the facility in his honour is hard to justify.

No so; Canberra is the national capital and the symbolism of naming a facility in the here in honour of Australia’s first winner in the Tour de France should not be summarily dismissed.

Also, there are plenty of streets in Canberra named in honour of people who had little association with the ACT, but had an impact on Australia during their lives.

Now, I concede that streets are not named after people until 12 months after their death. Along with this same theme, I was challenged by somebody who said that you couldn’t name a sporting facility after somebody until they had died.

It is different with sporting facilities; there is the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre and the list goes on.

If there is a problem with the name, the Cadel Evans Park because it includes running and equestrian as well as cycling, why not name it the Cadel Evans Multi-Sport Facility?

Sometimes I think we are too quick to dismiss ideas because they don’t slot neatly into a category. My campaign has just started again...

from a variety of faith backgrounds, beliefs, family situations, and even sexual orientations.

My role was not to preach, but rather to support, encourage, and work as part of the wider pastoral care team. I was well supervised and there were many times I realised situations were beyond my training and expertise, and was quick to refer them on to professional psychologists and counsellors.

In a recent consultation with an ACT public

school, the question was asked regarding satisfaction with the chaplaincy service. Ninety per cent of families, 95 per cent of students and 100 per cent of staff supported the program.

It seems clear to me, that most objections that people have to this time-honoured position are not based on experience and evidence, but rather on misconceptions.

To have someone with the focused role of supporting and building community is one that is so valuable and important in this often challenging world. Let us therefore, like the chaplain, seek to focus on the individual rather than the ideology.

Nick Jensen is the ACT director of the Australian Christian Lobby

It’s time to have a go

A

TOWN that depends on one industry faces grave risks if that industry suffers a downturn.

So it is with Canberra. Half of all employment in the ACT is in the public service, either Commonwealth or Territory. Both governments acknowledge they have been spending beyond their means and can’t afford any more “stimulus packages”. At the same time they are facing the prospect of declining revenue growth, but are still committed to returning their budgets to surplus – which is code for cutting expenditure and public service jobs. Canberra is in for a hard time.

Many public servants can see this coming, which is why, quite sensibly, they are cutting back spending and saving more. This prudent response to the expectation of a downturn is already having a devastating impact on the retail sector.

A new report highlighted the fundamental problem confronting the people of Canberra. The report by Deloitte Access Economics warns us about the dangers of being a one-company town when that company ceases employment.

If Canberra is going to be a preferred place to live, do business and provide gainful employment the ACT Government must reduce its high risk reliance on greater Commonwealth spending and instead do what former Treasurer Ted Quinlan advised in 2003 and adopt policies which are “unashamedly pro-business”. That doesn’t mean subsidies or special programs; it simply means freeing up business from excessive rules and regulations and getting rid of punitive taxes such as the new lease variation charge.

The only hope for Canberra in the longer term is in productivity growth from individuals and groups innovating and taking risks with new and better ways of doing things. Being smarter will not come from government departments, but from individuals “having a go”, provided the rewards from taking a risk are not taxed away.

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

Last week, political commentator Michael Moore criticised the ACT Greens for not taking a stand against the behaviour of Greenpeace protesters who destroyed CSIRO genetically modified crops in Gunghalin. Here, MLA SHANE RATTENBURY explains his support of civil disobedience

Why I support unlawful protest

THERE is no doubt that over the past few weeks I have taken some heat about my statements in regard to the Greenpeace action, including Michael Moore’s article in last week’s “CityNews”.

At the heart of those concerns appears to be the notion that, as a politician, I should no longer support the right of citizens to participate in peaceful, and even unlawful, protest.

Michael Moore essentially argued that because I have become a politician, I should suddenly not believe in something that I clearly believed in three years ago before being elected to office – that is, the right of citizens to engage in peaceful direct protest or civil disobedience.

He says that it is untenable for anyone who is involved in the process of making laws to not condemn those who break the law.

However, Michael has misunderstood my position on the role of peaceful civil disobedience and the rule of law. As such, I think his conclusions about the role of the Greens in the Assembly are also incorrect.

Whether I am a legislator or an activist or a citizen, I continue to hold firm views that there is a valid role for civil disobedience in our society. History gives us many examples of where civil disobedience has been used to highlight an issue where the community holds the view that the Government, and even the law, is wrong, from the civil rights movement in the US to the global

letters

suffragette movement to, more recently, climate change.

Governments can be influenced by vested interests and don’t always make decisions that are in the best interest of the community, and civil disobedience has been a powerful way to challenge Governments to rethink when other more “legitimate” forms of protest have failed.

However, my commitment to the rule of law is also strong, and not at all inconsistent with my support for the right of citizens to engage in protest.

The rule of law should be upheld. The Greenpeace activists who were arrested will come before the courts and the courts will apply the law. That is as it should be, and I don’t know anyone who engages in peaceful civil disobedience who thinks otherwise. It is for the courts to review the context of what took place and administer a penalty consistent with the community’s values. It might have been politically expedient for me to condemn Greenpeace, but it would also have been hypocritical and arrogant for me to ditch my beliefs in regard to this which are deeply held and well known.

If the people of Molonglo, who vote for me wish to register their disapproval at the next election, then that is their right. However, I’d rather be honest about my values and beliefs, and take that chance.

Personal above country’s interests

IT is an interesting point Michael Moore brings up about the Greens, as represented by Shane Rattenbury, failing to condemn the Greenpeace attack on the genetically modified CSIRO wheat fields (“Greens thumb nose at the law”, CN July 28). However, I honestly cannot see much difference between this and the way Eric Abetz, in July 25’s “Q&A” program from Hobart, failed to condemn Allan Jones’ comments enticing his listeners to criminal behaviour (but I bet my hat that you aren’t going to write “The Liberals have really stuffed up!” because of what Eric Abetz said).

In the movie “The Hunt for Red October”, the national security adviser Jeffrey Pelt states: “I am a politician, which means I am a cheat and a liar, and when I’m not kissing babies, I’m stealing their lollipops.” I honestly thought most people agreed with this sentiment, especially since the Howard reign – but maybe, actually, both these politicians are, in fact, attempting to raise themselves above this stereotyped version of a politician, putting their personal beliefs about what is right and good for our country above what is the “proper” way to “play” their part.

steenus von steensen, Phillip

Law abiding, Michael?

MICHAEL Moore is a fine one to be lecturing the Greens on disrespect for the law, not that the Greens have engaged in any illegal activity (“Greens thumb nose at the law”, CN July 28).

Some years ago, at an anti-nuclear testing rally outside the French embassy, then-MLA Michael Moore suddenly saw a photo opportunity and rushed through the police cordon on to the

embassy lawn, thereby ensuring that his photo, scuffling with police, appeared on the front page of “The Canberra Times” and, in the process, hijacked for his own political ends, what had been a peaceful protest by hundreds of Canberrans. Law abiding, Michael?

Patricia s aunders, c hapman Editor’s note: Michael Moore says he was not the person who broke through the cordon and taken away by police. He denies breaking the law. He was there with small children, was not arrested, but for the media was a recognisable face at the front of the crowd.

Dangerous Green credo

I THINK Michael Moore understated the nature of the Green outlook (“Greens thumb nose at law”, CN July 28).

When Greens support the destruction of scientific research (specifically GM crops) for quasireligious reasons their lack of respect for the law logically follows.

Whilst a friend labelled them “greenshirts” and I felt uncomfortable at first, on reflection it actually encapsulated their world which is one of “right versus wrong” (no shades of grey, or compromise or bargaining) and it reflected what the Green credo is and how dangerous it is. Martin Gordon, Flynn

Letters are invited from “CityNews” readers. Let loose to editor@citynews.com.au or write to the editor at GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601. Letters of 200 words or less stand a better chance of publication.

Canberra Canberra

ice skate in the heart of the city, but that’s exactly what’s been on offer in Garema Place last month. And, according to the figures, Skate in the City has been a huge success. More than 18,000 people have enjoyed the first open-air rink in Canberra making organisers very happy. Stephen Gregory, CEO of Canberra CBD Limited, has confirmed the event will be back even bigger and better next year. So how do you top that kind of success? I’ve been told not to be surprised if you see a rollerskating rink in the city in January!

Brave Olivia’s in remission

AFTER extensive treatment in Germany, Olivia Lambert is back in Canberra and in remission!

The seven-year-old has been fighting a rare and aggressive cancer known as Neuroblastoma for almost five years. And while Olivia is enjoying being back at school with all her friends, she’s constantly travelling back and forth to Sydney for chemo.

Olivia’s mum Kirsty says her daughter has doctors stumped. “Olivia’s case is very rare,” she says. “One doctor told us he’d never seen a child survive this long after a relapse.”

The Canberra community has raised more than $400,000 for the Olivia Lambert Foundation, which provides money and support to Olivia as well as other Australian children diagnosed with the disease.

More information at www.olivialambertfoundation.org.au

Rollering into summer?

WHO’D have thought you’d ever be able to

Get ready to Wiggle

THE hottest tickets in town went on sale Monday and if you’re keen to get your hands on some you might need to be quick. The Wiggles are on their way to Canberra for their Big Birthday in the Big Tent and it’s sure to be a sell-out.

It’s been 20 years this year since The Wiggles first formed and Blue Wiggle Anthony Field says he’s excited about coming to Canberra more than ever before. “We’re really looking forward to coming back to Canberra. The last time we were in our nation’s capital was for the Australia Day Concert on January 25. We had a great time then and can’t wait to see the families of Canberra again,” he says.

Word has it The Big Tent will give audiences a very different experience with a 360-degree view of the stage. “The tent gives us an opportunity to get up close and personal with our wiggly audience,” Anthony says.

I’m just not sure who will be more excited about that – the kids or the mums!

November 26 and 27, Epic Park, Tickets through Ticketek.

Confidential Confidential

Wolves love big-kicking Joel

DIGRACED Canberra Raiders player Joel Monaghan seems to have landed on his feet in the UK. The former NRL star’s career ended after a photograph featuring a sex act with a dog was leaked in November last year.

“It hasn’t been easy but he’s put the past behind him and he’s getting on with life,” an insider says.

Monaghan joined his brother Michael in Manchester this season where the pair play for the Warrington Wolves in the UK Super League; just one of the teams known for throwing Aussie bad boys a lifeline.

“He needed an income and England was really the only place he could go,” says the insider. The 29-year-old winger is now one of the League’s top try scorers for the 2011 season.

Duck! Here’s a magpie

BEING attacked by magpies can be a terrifying ordeal, but it is one most of us have experienced at least once in our lives. I was on my way back from the shops the other day completely unaware I was being stalked, when down they came.

My grocery bags became my only defence as I flailed about trying to fend them off. It was quite the scene and I’ve no doubt plenty of commuters had a chuckle at my expense.

Environmentalist Bruce Thornton says it’s not too early for attacks. “August is nesting time, so people need to start being aware now, especially cyclists because it’s so easy to have an accident when you come under attack.”

Apparently, the best way to keep them at bay is to thread cable ties though your helmet. Alternatively draw or glue plastic eyes on to an ice-cream bucket. “You might look silly, but at least you’ll protect your head,” Thornton says.

Lisa welcomes your feedback, thoughts and item ideas at lisa@citynews.com.au

At 2CC’s

At museums and galleries director Peter Haynes’ farewell bash, CMAG, Civic

At the opening night of ‘Untrained’, Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic

your week in the stars

With Joanne Madeline Moore August

8–14

ARIES

(Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Does it feel as if your personal and professional lives are at war? Pressure is building at work, but don’t be so busy that you neglect loved ones. Singles – with retro Mercury and Saturn in your romance zones, a new relationship will be a stop/start kind of affair. Find physical outlets for fiery, pentup energy otherwise an Aries argument (or accident) is likely.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

This week’s Full Moon lights up your Brilliant Career zone, so you’re keen to display your talents and shine professionally, as you roll up your sleeves and get to work. You’ll need tones of Taurean tact and patience, as retro Mercury stirs up family members who are already feeling frazzled. Venus will help you find the right words to say at the right time.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

You’re running around multi-tasking all over the place but are you actually getting anything done? Slow down Twins! If you rush money matters, you could end up with a monumental mess on your hands. Communication and travel will be chaotic (courtesy of retro Mercury) so double-check all arrangements and don’t overlook important minor details.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

Trust is a big issue in a romantic or platonic relationship. Avoid the temptation to brood and hold onto grudges. Instead, find room in your heart to forgive and forget. And there’s no escaping money pressures at the moment. Try to organise your life so you have two streams of income coming in – and don’t put all your financial eggs in the one basket!

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Mercury reverses through your sign plus the Full Moon stirs up your relationship zone, so communication will be difficult, as loved ones tell you things you’d rather not hear. They are acting as a mirror so you can learn more about yourself. As fellow Leo Carl Jung explained: “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Virgos are usually rational folk but you may feel mentally confused this week as retrograde Mercury opposes Neptune, and you struggle to separate fact from fiction. Avoid making important decisions that require logical thinking, and doublecheck all appointments. And put aside time for rest and relaxation, otherwise your stress levels will soar.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

Ambitious Mars is marching through your career zone so it’s time to be brazenly bold at work. If you’re not confident about your talents and abilities, why should anyone else be? When it comes to your goals and aspirations for the future, it will feel like one step forwards and two steps back as Mercury reverses through your hopes, dreams and wishes zone.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

The Full Moon stimulates your home zone, so expect the unexpected from loved ones. You’ll also feel unsettled at work, as mischievous Mercury reverses through your career zone. Thursday is danger day, when an angry outburst could put you in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Others will try to push your buttons but think carefully before you react.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Children and teenagers will test the boundaries, even more than usual. If you are firm and flexible (a tricky balance) then you can guide them through the multitude of changes that are happening. Friendships are in a state of flux and some will end suddenly, while others develop in unexpected ways. Travel arrangements or legal matters may be delayed – yet again.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Is there a tug-of-war between you and your partner? Do they want more freedom, while you yearn for more commitment? The only solution is to meet them somewhere in the middle. With the Full Moon, retro Mercury and nebulous Neptune all causing mischief in your finance zones, avoid making important money moves. Wait for a more auspicious time.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Full Moon madness sees you at your eccentric best (and rebellious worst) and you may surprise others with your wild and wacky ways – or shock them and do the complete opposite. You’re impatient for change, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater! It’s time to be proactive about fitness, as mighty Mars encourages you to be an active Aquarian.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

It’s a fabulous week for creative Piscean projects and spiritual exploration, as the Full Moon activates your intuition and imagination zone. But don’t be a gullible Fish and believe everything you hear, especially at work. Misunderstandings are likely with colleagues, unless you get the facts straight. Friday favours friendship and group activities.

Daily astrology updates at www.twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore

all about living Juliet’s knitting up a storm

By Kathryn Vukovljak

AUSTRALIA’S been slow to pick up on the knitting revolution, says designer and knitter Juliet Moody, but she’s helping it along by sharing her know-how and sparking a new generation of Canberran knitters.

“It’s not easier or cheaper to knit a sweater than to go and buy one,” she says. “But when you knit, you make every single stitch yourself, with love.”

With her Etsy store taking off, and a book of knitting patterns in the pipeline, Juliet posts free patterns on her blog joolsywoolsy.com and also hosts Knit 1, Sip 1, a fortnightly, Sunday morning knitting group over a cuppa at Adore Tea in Gold Creek.

“Everyone’s welcome – we have uni students who’ve never knitted, people who vaguely remember learning from their nana years ago and a 70-year-old lady who shows people how to knit socks,” she says.

“I love that – it’s all about sharing skills. I think it’s amazing that such an old handicraft is still going strong.”

And not only going strong, but connecting people all over the world, according to Juliet.

“There’s a Facebook-style website for knitters – ravelry.com,” she says. “Knitting has the power to connect people, through a common passion for it. There’s an amazing online community out there offering endless support and inspiration.”

Having discovered her passion for designing and knitting when she was nine and made an AFL jumper for one of her dolls, Juliet says she loves creating stylish garments with “a bit of a quirk”.

“I’m interested in the ‘What Not To Wear’ style of dressing, that we should all dress for our own particular shape,” she says. “Traditional knitting patterns can be boxy and don’t allow for curves.” Off-the-shoulder summer knits, sweater vests in delicate pastels and cute cardis are all in Juliet’s repertoire, and she designs them to fit and flatter women of all shapes and sizes.

“I try to ‘knit brave’ – that’s what I call it anyway! I like to make trendy items, so I get ideas from clothes I like in shops, and make them in wool, trying new things like knitting in different directions to get a new look or texture,” she says.

“I also use lighter fibres, like yarn that contains cashmere, for warmth without the weight.”

As much as she loves knitting, Juliet says she

would get frustrated making the same thing over and over.

“For me, designing patterns to sell is a great way to combine my passion for creating unique items while moving my ideas forward and keeping things fresh,” she says.

“Ultimately, I’d like to sell skeleton patterns that people can adapt, like by changing the neckline or adding a waist – whatever will work for them.

“I still get excited when I cast-on and I never quite know how something is going to end up.

“There is so much potential in a pair of sticks and a ball of wool.”

With lots to sing about

By Helen Musa

ADULT choral singing will be a lively affair in the Australian National Eisteddfod Society’s Choirs Division this year.

The Gay and Lesbian Qwire and the Canberra Men’s Choir will participate for the first time, joining other popular ACT groups such as the Canberra Chordsmen and the always-colourful Brindabella Chorus in a musical battle for $20,000 in total prize money.

Last year’s Open Championship winner, Victoria’s Concordis Chamber Choir, will be back to defend its title, but it’s the happy faces of the youthful choristers that will prevail as Canberra groups compete with the hundreds of young singers being bussed in from far afield.

With tough decisions to make, it’s good news that the chief adjudicator is Michael Griffin, a classical pianistturned music educator now based in Dubai. He’ll be joined for the Open Championships by Debra Shearer-Dirie, a former director of the International Vocal Ensemble at Indiana University and the Northwest Girlchoir in Seattle, who now lectures in music at the University of Queensland.

It’s a two-day marathon. On August 13 there are the 12-years and under (9.30am-2.30pm) and the 19-years and under (6pm) championships, followed on August 14 by the Open Contemporary, Open Sacred, Australia-Britain (noon-3pm) and the Open Popular and Australian Open (6pm) sections.

The Eisteddfod’s Choirs Division is at Llewellyn Hall on August 12-13. Bookings to 132 849 or tickets at the door.

A distressing trial of historical tribulation

“THE CONSPIRATOR” (M)

ROBERT Redford’s film telling the story of Mary Surratt’s trial and eventual execution has some resonance with 21st century proposals for the trial of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay by a military commission, because the Surratt case – in time – led to a US Supreme Court decision that such commissions may not try US civilians.

Abraham Lincoln’s murderers had lodged in Mrs Surratt’s house.

Her son was among the conspirators. Following the assassination, un-elected men holding the reins of government sought revenge to calm public anger. The film is a sere, bleak account of the contrived political means by which they got it, railroading an innocent woman to the gallows by interference with witnesses, denial of proper representation, threats to her legal counsel.

James McAvoy plays Frederick Aiken, a Union officer wounded in the Civil War, engaged by lawyer Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to defend Mrs Surratt (Robin Wright). Colm Meany plays MajGen Hunter, chairman of the military commission, allowing politically-powerful but unelected Secretary of War Stanton (Kevin Kline) to pull strings that destroyed Mary’s defence.

“The Conspirator” works hard to achieve

cinema

Dougal Macdonald

historical verity. It’s a distressing story, a film to respect, even admire, but hardly one to enjoy.

When the box-office person hands you your ticket with a smile and a cheery “Enjoy the movie”, be charitable and just smile back.

At Greater Union and Dendy

I’LL never know nor care how director Franco di Chiera and co-writer Frank Lotito brought their little one-gag Aussie movie to its end. It’s their first feature debut after well-paid day

jobs directing and producing TV documentaries. With TV, you can change channels or even switch off. I stuck with it for an hour then voted with my feet.

Lotito plays real-estate salesman Rocco (Frank), at 35 still living with his mother (Carmelina Di Guglielmo), who packs his lunch every day, spends the day ironing his shirts and makes his favourite lasagna for his evening meal. Can Rocco escape from her obsessive control and move out? Will he make a relationship with Katie (Holly Vallance) the busty, hot-shot, blonde new salesperson or the tall brunette second cousin whom Mamma arranges with her brother back in Sicily to escort to Melbourne to keep it in the family.

The film is full of brief sequences that, to its makers, might seem funny but are merely awkward. A mother with steel apron strings provides a worthwhile idea, but it needs a cleverer writer than Lotito to turn it into a screenplay with wit.

At Greater Union and Dendy

FOR director Joe Wright, writers Seth Lochhead and David Farr have confected a screenplay combining scientific fantasy, a teenaged secret

agent, a bunch of real nasty US Government field persons and a chase movie from the European Arctic to Morocco and Germany where it terminates in a derelict amusement park.

16-year-old Hanna (Saiorse Ronan) has grown up in a log house in the Arctic where her father Erik (Eric Bana) has educated her to be fluent in numerous useful languages, a crack shot with rifle, pistol and bow, deadly in unarmed combat, a brilliant scholar in a constricted curriculum and a brilliant athlete unhindered by fear.

Hanna is unaware that she is the only surviving evidence of a genetic modification experiment initiated by the CIA whose deputy director Marissa (Cate Blanchett having visible fun wearing a ginger wig and overplaying sinisterness) is determined to obliterate.

Hanna’s innocence is an ongoing reason to fear for her welfare in a world where lights appear at the touch of a button and food comes in a packet, where men are not automatically protective of her, where nothing is as she understands from a tough but idyllic childhood.

A teenaged girl achieving so much secret agent stuff with so few resources is a refreshing change from gadget-crammed action movies with bloke heroes needing help to survive.

At all cinemas

Iranian films debut at Arc festival

AFTER the absolutely up-to-date Arab film festival, the Arc Cinema now gets the first Iranian film festival from August 11-21 and, as film buffs know, that country’s cinema is considered among the world’s best. The program features Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation”, which just won the Sydney Film Prize. Full program at www.filmink. com.au/filmbiz/notice/4200/ and bookings to 6248 2000.

THAT indefatigable curator Helen Maxwell is staging a mysterious-sounding exhibition called “A Gleam of Light” at M16 Gallery until August 21. You’ll know how good it’s likely to be when you hear that the artists are Micky Allan, GW Bot, Dörte Conroy, Nicola Dickson, Janenne Eaton, Annie Franklin, Pamela Lofts, Derek O’Connor, Kim Mahood, Patsy Payne, Jenny Taylor, Paul Uhlmann, Peter Vandermark, Ruth Waller, Gosia Wlodarczak.

CANBERRA’S QL2 Dance has just won two out of the 10 Australian Dance Awards announced at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. QL2’s director Ruth Osborne won the 2011 Award for Services to Dance, while the company’s 2010 junior youth dance project “Hard Yards,” staged at Yarralumla

arts in the city

Woolshed, won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth or Community Dance.

YOUNG hoofers from Canberra Dance Development Centre have just taken off to be part of the Shanghai International Children’s Cultural and Art Festival. Director Jackie Hallahan says they’ll get to perform at Shanghai’s Grand Theatre.

THE Gallery of Australian Design at Commonwealth Place has an unusual project, called “Urban AU. Street/Art/Architecture,” that looks at the role of artists and architects in the design of contemporary cities by linking street art activities, modern planning and contemporary architecture.

“Urban AU,” which runs until September 3, features work by photographer Tanja Milbourne, drawing expert Russell IsaacCole and street artists Zap and Jumbo. YOU’VE only got until Sunday (August 7) to catch Datsun Tran’s solo exhibition “Flight” at Paintbox Fine Art, 32 Lonsdale Street, Braddon. Described as “a menag -

erie”, it features paintings of birds and primates.

I SEE that Musica da Camera Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Charlotte Winslade, will be performing Bruch, Brahms, Meyer and Albinoni at the Holy Covenant Anglican Church in Cook on August 13 at 2.30pm then at the Shire Hall in Gunning on August 14 at 2pm. Tickets at the door.

arts&entertainment

The many emerging faces of Fred

By Helen Musa

“I’M going to paint the gum tree,” Fred Williams told his artist friend John Brack on returning to Australia from London in 1956.

“You can’t do that,” Brack replied, but Williams did, over and over again, bringing a contemporary look to the familiar eucalypt.

Deborah Hart, the National Gallery of Australia’s senior curator of Australian painting and sculpture, says that repeating and refining the same image was one of William’s hallmarks as an artist. Even so, of all our painters, he was the one who most frequently reinvented himself. Hart is putting together what she calls “a big show” for the gallery. Comprising 85 oils and 45 gouaches, it’s a retrospective taking in the late 1940s to 1981. Partly because the National Gallery of Victoria is planning an exhibition of Williams’

“Lightning storm, Waratah Bay” 1971–72.

prints, this show focuses on his work as a painter. Williams died of lung cancer in Melbourne in 1982 at the age of 55.

Largely made up of works from public and private collections in Australia and the Tate in London, the exhibition, “Infinite Horizons”, will start with a small selection of early works. The first room features some works he did from 1943 to 1947 when he studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, as well as works executed in London during the 1950s.

“I don’t know whether many people know that Fred Williams started out as a figurative painter,” Hart says, explaining that there will be portraiture in the show and William’s impressions of contemporary London life – music-hall performers, acrobats and one from the Tate, “Coal Delivery.”

The 1950s saw Williams moving firmly into landscape painting. His first Australian landscape series was based on the Nattai River, painted around Colo Vale near Mittagong – a Canberra-region touch. These early landscapes used a restricted, more tonal palette, replaced at the end of the ‘60s by a bolder approach to colour.

Playing with horizon lines and almost tilting the perspective, he extended during the 1960s into using flat-horizon, horizontal strips presenting different views of the landscape. Williams, Hart says, abstracted from the landscape, “feeling the essence of it… suddenly people started to see the landscape as he saw it”. He also picked up on the randomness and flatness of the very un-European Australian landscape and daringly produced an almost aerial perspective.

Williams has remained popular over a very long period and lately his works have been selling for well over $1 million. And yet, Hart says, there

Stamina meets passion

PUT a public servant, with a flair for the dramatic, and a bread merchandiser who’s only ever danced in nightclubs, on stage with two local, professionally trained dancers and there you have “Untrained”, conceptualised and choreographed by Lucy Guerin.

With a moderate chance of embarrassment and or injury, two Canberra men, Richard Merzian and Allan Raeyers, untrained in any dance discipline performed with dancers Dean Cross and James Shannon.

They hurled themselves across the stage, improvising and imitating each other, and undertook several short choreographed routines in an attempt to compare how dancers and nondancers approach choreography and set “tasks” and indeed a performance.

DANCE

“Untrained”

Conceived and directed by Lucy Guerin, The Playhouse, season Closed.

Reviewed by Samara Purnell

The “untrained” (dancers) displayed impressive levels of stamina and flexibility and their technique was surprisingly good. Merzian possessed great comedic timing and confidence, and Raeyers, a little shy about performing, but happy to “have a crack” also did a good job of remembering the choreography.

The differences between the trained and untrained showed how years of passion for and training in dance affects everything from movement, performing and physical appearance.

are many people who haven’t heard of him. She remembers 25 years ago at the previous Williams retrospective at the gallery, a young intern exclaiming of his era, “you realise I wasn’t born yet?”

“I want to introduce a new generation to Fred’s work” she says.

Fred Williams, “Infinite Horizons,” August 12 to November 6 at the National Gallery of Australia.

Good words for a library cafe

dining

Wendy Johnson

IT’S a wonderful play on words for a café inside a library, but then Bookplate is playful in many ways beyond its “perfect-fit” name.

It’s lovely to eat at our esteemed National Library, surrounded by famous Leonard French stained-glass windows. If the weather suits, you can move outside to Ex Libras on the veranda and take in pretty views of the lake and hills.

Dining at the National Library isn’t a “tourist trap” as some may think. There’s no gouging on prices and you get a million-dollar view thrown in for free. It’s easy going and interesting to watch the eclectic group of business people, mums with prams, those walking around the lake and avid readers who are inevitably visiting – a group as eclectic as the books on the shelves of the library itself.

At Bookplate/Ex Libras you order, grab a number and your meal is brought to you. There are quick gourmet sandwiches, creative salads and other meals pre-made daily, as well as an express service for takeaway coffees and food.

Bookplate has a full range of coffee and

the quality is good. The specials board always features something interesting and so it was that I ordered the fusilli and roasted pumpkin, with caramelised onion, ricotta, olive oil, radicchio and shaved Parmesan, a generous serve for $17. While it was far more subtle than I had imagined and the presentation could have been refined (we do feast with our eyes), the pasta still went down quite well. My friend found the frittata delicious ($16.90) and enjoyed the combo of leek, goat’s cheese, potato and onion. The side salad was lovely and fresh.

On our visit, the specials board also included pork and red wine sausages ($18) and a ploughman’s lunch ($16.60).

Although technically a “café”, the staff wear proper serving attire. Thankfully there are no sloppy pants sweeping the floor, bellies popping out from under short T-shirts or hair hanging in the face while

being served at the National Library. And no one calls customers “guys”. FYI, Ex Libras seats around 100, under brilliant white, broad canapés, and has smart, brown, comfortable wicker chairs. Bookplate and Ex Libras are fully licensed with local and imported beers and several wines by the glass, including some tasty top drops from the Canberra region. Both places embrace their environment very well indeed. So, too, does Paperplate on the lower-ground-floor level of the library. It’s a brightly furnished space with free wi-fi and power access where you can also get good food and coffee (eat-in or takeaway).

Bookplate, National Library of Australia, Parkes Place. Open Monday to Thursday, 8.30am-6pm; Friday, 8.30am-4pm and weekends 10am-3pm. Call 6262 1154.

Language and process of painting

VISUAL ART

“Images from the Cage of Time: the paintings and drawings of Geoffery De Groen”

At the Drill Hall Gallery until August 14.

Reviewed by Johnny Milner

ROOTED in abstract and formalist traditions, the work of seminal artist Geoffrey De Groen is concerned with the language and process of painting and drawing – focusing on the power that can be achieved through tonal shift, colour, scale and the materiality of the medium. Although the

imagery is non-referential and often void of subject matter, it contains deep and powerful meaning – especially concerning complementary and dichotomised states e.g. emptiness and presence, control and the irrational.

Although the works encompass

varying thicknesses and splashes of colour, very few visible brush strokes can be located – the eye skims across without hindrance.

Many of the pieces are named simply by a day of the year e.g. “May 5” and “October 12”, considering the title of the exhibition one would assume that these were created on the days they are named after. And yet this is unlikely – because of the rigorous and timely layering and colouring processes that many of them require.

Gallery One holds largescale canvases and pigment on linen works, Gallery Three features a cleverly curated black and white series of landscapes and still lifes.

“Images from the Cage of Time” is a prolific investigation through abstraction, and a fascinating exhibition that showcases much of the simple, subtle, and sophisticated work that De Groen has produced over the last 10 years.

Wear it loud and proud!

By Libby Rolfe

SPRING is on the horizon and with warmer weather comes less covering up. Get your body ready for spring and get active in new workout gear that’s all about colour and functionality. Wear it loud and proud!

briefly

Running Bare ‘peace.love.bare’ action singlet in fanta, $35

Market expands

FASH n Treasure fashion market, at the Kingston Old Bus Depot Building, is expanding to include new stalls, food and twice as many market days.

Spring hat parade

SPRING will be celebrated with a Cynthia Bryson Millinary hat parade on Thursday, September 1 at her Melrose showroom. There will be canapes and champagne on offer as well as the chance to view the spring 2011 collection headwear. Tickets are $35 with proceeds going to the Red Cross. Information at stickytickets.com.au or 0432 928065.

Natural Beauty

AVAILABLE in stores from August is the stunning Laura Ashley Natural Beauty fashion collection that continues the trend for safariinspired prints and textures. The smart but casual look focuses on clean, simple shapes with a colour

palette of chocolate, taupe and ecru. Featuring cable knits, classic blazers, dresses and scarves, the animal print dress (pictured) is a “CityNews” favourite. laura-ashley. com.au

Hot, new hipsters

BONDS has released the new Microfibre and mesh hispters with pops of bright colour, stripes and tribal prints. LA-based Aussie actress Rachael Taylor is the face of the new range. Super soft and a little more feminine – the Boyleg costs $12.95 and the Bikini $10.95. Complementing the range, is the microfibre superscoop and tube bras. Microfibre hipsters have an extra-smooth finish, while mesh hipsters are fun and feminine in a Bonds-branded lace.

New owner Janice Bannerman says the market, which offers a variety of local and interstate designers mixed in with vintage finds and stylish wardrobe clear-outs, will be expanded to include pre-loved and collectable books, old magazines, records and comics.

“The market already showcases so many great designers and fashion collectors, but taking it into this new phase is going to mean that more and more people will be able to come along and find something to treasure,” she says.

“The next market day on Saturday, August 13, will feature a local young menswear designer and a vintage menswear seller and we are really aiming to encourage this trend.”

Starting in February, Fash n Treasure will take place on the first Saturday of every month.

Designer’s peaceful ‘resort’ in Yarralumla

Wo RDs: Kathryn Vukovljak

PH otos: s ilas Brown

PEACE and tranquillity is the order of the day at interior designer Jennifer Forestier’s classic Yarralumla home.

“I see so much pattern and colour in my job that I like to come home to peace,” she says.

A natural colour palette, with warm browns and caramels, is Jen’s idea of heaven, and it’s also a look that has stood the test of time.

“I like neutral shades that are warm, not clinical,” she says. “A good way to add interest is with texture, often more so than colour and pattern.”

Jennifer says that when she bought the house 11 years ago, everything was “depressingly heavy”.

“The house had great bones, and didn’t need extending but I changed the orientation to maximise the north-facing walls, adding in windows and doors to change the access to the garden,” she says.

“It was basically rebuilt from the inside.”

Connectivity between interior and exterior is important in a home, says Jennifer, and the layout of her home wraps around the pool and terrace with sliding doors for access on every side.

“It’s a very good inside-outside house, which I love, and it’s a great house to be in, both summer and winter,” she says. “I can close the blinds

at the front of the house in summer and it feels like being in a resort.”

Although the renovation was done 11 years ago, the home still looks as modern and fresh as if it was just completed.

“That’s because it was done with a classic modern eye,” says Jennifer. “I believe that doing your home is a long-term thing, and that it should stand the test of time.

“It’s a big investment and you need to love both its functionality and form for years to come. I try and steer clear of fads.”

With bathrooms and kitchens, the big-ticket items, it’s particularly important that the design is something you love, something classic, says Jennifer, because it has to survive the inevitable taste shift.

“I like a classic style, a little antique mixed with modern,” she says. “But it’s all about longevity and quality. I’m more interested in value for money over getting the best price. It has to last.

“For me, I only get things that I really love, and if they break or wear out I take time to replace them.”

Storage is key for a tidy home, and Jennifer says she uses custom joinery as much as possible.

“If you can’t store things away then you’ll never have a clutter-free, tidy home,” she says.

“Whenever my clients ask about feng shui, I explain that it’s built on the principle of no clutter; unless you can achieve that there’s little point thinking about it.

“It does take effort to keep it that way, but it’s worth it.”

It’s all berry good news

gardening

cedric Bryant

SINCE mankind’s earliest time on earth, survival was largely as hunters and gatherers, particularly gathering berries.

Our love of berries continues to this day, with this time of the year being planting time for all berries.

Berries prefer an open, sunny place in the garden with good friable soil, to which has been added plenty of organic material. Cow manure is great, for as the cows chew the cud, all weed seeds are destroyed and it also breaks down better than most other manures.

The range of berries increases every year and this one is no exception with the prospect of bigger and better fruit and they are sooo easy to grow. Consideration needs to be given how to protect the crop from birds. I have illustrated here a simple cage for also keeping the possums at bay that I constructed out of recycled material for the strawberries and blueberries .

Strawberries are possibly the number one fruit in the popularity stakes. I can think of numerous ways of eating fresh strawberries dipped in hot chocolate, or with shaved chocolate sprinkled over them. Is your mouth watering yet? Alternatively, dropped into a glass of champagne or perhaps just eaten with fresh double cream.

One of the best varieties is “Red Gauntlet” closely followed by “Hokowase”. The latter is of Japanese origin and is an early cropper. I understand that the fruit is sweet enough to eat before it is fully red. It is vitally important to only buy “virus free” strawberries that have been certified by the Department of Agriculture from your local garden centre. One is always at risk receiving strawberry runners from well-meaning

friends that may transfer strawberry virus into your soil and plants.

Then there’s Jostaberry, an interesting cross between a blackcurrant and a gooseberry producing a most deliciously tasting fruit. Or perhaps you may just like the taste of the traditional English gooseberry?

Some berry fruit have thorns aplenty, mainly historically to keep animals and birds from getting at the fruit. However, this has now been overcome with modern breeding methods producing the thornless and non-invasive blackberry and loganberry. The latter is a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry.

My research indicates the summer fruiting blackberry “Chester” is the tastiest. At boarding school, the fare was pretty boring except in summer when a group of us boys went blackberry picking, a favourite pastime in England. Somehow we persuaded the chef to make us a blackberry pie, much to the envy of 300 or so other boys!

Raspberries with their soft sumptuous fruit will always be amongst the most popular of berry fruits.

Raspberry “Chilcotin” fruits from

relatively early in summer followed by R. “Heritage” from February onwards. Planting both will provide a continuity of fruit over several months.

Youngberries are becoming increasingly popular for one very good reason, they can be trained in a very confined space on a lattice or training pyramid either metal or simply strong wooden poles.

Let us not forget black, red or white currants. Personally, I always think the black currant tastes the best, maybe just because of its rich good looks, with “Magnus” highly recommended.

And finally, one berry with a very high vitamin C content is the blueberry, so overpriced at the supermarket when they are so easy to grow. Early varieties include “Denise”, followed by early to mid-season “Annie” and “Blue Rose” with “Brigitta” the last to fruit.

Despite this not being a cookery column, I do say all the berries make excellent jam. I got so excited about berries I have not left room for prompts to keep you busy in the garden this week, except to go forth and plant berries!

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