140605 citynews

Triangle parking, just suck it up! MARK PARTON

Why we must bear witness to abuse

JOHN GRIFFITHS

Rewards loom for a likely murderer

ROBERT MACKLIN

There’s plenty to hate about Henry HELEN MUSA

From Russia, with leaves CEDRIC BRYANT

Barr plays THE crEdiT card

opinion news

Triangle parking, just suck it up!

WOrKErs in the parliamentary triangle breathed a sigh of relief with news that their impending date with parking police destiny had been delayed.

P-Day had been set down for July 1, but the National Capital Authority says they’re not ready to go by then. According to Malcolm Snow, from the NCA, they underestimated the work required to get this system up and running.

I’ve lost friends over my position on parking in the triangle.

I just want someone to give me a reason as to why this sacred part of Australia should remain a free parking haven other than “well, it’s always been free”. The lack of retail services in the triangle doesn’t really cut it for me, either.

I get sick of the public service components of our country existing in a bubble, seemingly untouched by commercial reality. In the mainly private sector town centres, you must pay to park your car, so why shouldn’t you have to pay just because you happen to be in the shadow of Parliament House.

I’m not attacking public servants because I think those who are left are hard-working individuals who are just trying to do their jobs well and pay their mortgages. I understand that some will face a new financial impost through no fault of their own, but I think they

should feel lucky for the grace they’ve had up until now. For me, the biggest reason for its introduction is that it’s nigh on impossible to find casual parking in the triangle. That will instantly change when the parking inspectors appear.

I’ve spoken to triangle workers on my radio program who tell me it’s going to change their lives because they can’t afford the new charges and they’ll have to park kilometres away and walk. Welcome to the real world.

I’m worried about two things.

I don’t know that Action buses has the capacity to respond to the changes in a way that will accommodate potentially hundreds of new commuters. And I worry about those residents on the fringe of the triangle who, despite some new restrictions announced last month, will surely feel the curse of office workers parked at the front of their homes.

MARK PARTON

Save my cello, urges Pereira

By Helen musa

sTar cellist david pereira is about to lose the use of his borrowed 18th century italian guidantus.

Pereira says the Guidantus is a cultural asset that should be retained in the Yass region, which has become something of a mecca for cello-playing with Pereira, the 2010 “CityNews” Canberra Artist of the Year, and the celebrated Israeli cellist Uzi Wiesel living in the district.

Pereira has been playing the instrument on loan from the family of its late owner Dr Roland Adrian Glennie “Rag” Holmes.

“Rag’s” son Nick has decided to sell the instrument and share the proceeds with his siblings. With a price tag likely to be in the vicinity of $500,000, the 1730 instrument might go to another part of the country or, worse, overseas.

It’s not as if Pereira will be left cello-less. He has a perfectly respectable $50,000 cello purchased some years ago, but it simply isn’t in the same league as this one – and it doesn’t have its history.

Pereira says the differences are “very, very great for the

player” – and, he hopes, the listener too.

It was brought to Yass by Dr Holmes, who had played it at Sydney Conservatorium, at an outback campsite and in the Opera House.

A veteran of New Guinea and Borneo, after World War II the doctor became a living treasure of Yass district who, by repute, delivered half the local population into the world. He was once chairman of Yass Sorry Day and, incidentally, also Gough and Margaret Whitlam’s best man. There’s a street named after him in Macgregor. He died in 2007.

The founder in 1953 of the

Yass Music Club, “Rag” was also a fine cello player who, his widow Ann Holmes has told “CityNews, treated her to “a concert a day” during their 26 years of marriage.

The cello first came into his life when the young “Rag” was about to turn 18. He spotted the instrument in the window of A. E. Smith’s music shop in Hunter Street, Sydney, and became besotted with it, so that his normally reserved mother bought it for him as a birthday present for what Ann Holmes estimates to have been a few hundred pounds.

That was, Pereira comments, long before “the significance

now given to old instruments – a relatively recent phenomenon”. Values have shot up. Ann Holmes, who sings praises for the rich artistic life of Yass to “CityNews”, says that when his first wife died in 1972, “Rag” gifted the instrument to their cello-playing son Nick, but that “no one in the family plays the cello now.” Pereira does though. “Is there anyone out there who would find the money to keep his cello in the region?” he asks.

Anyone interested in the cello may contact Pereira at onewithyoursound@hotmail. com or 0404 499348.

Budget 6-7

canberra confidential 12

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cinema 18

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Horoscope 23 letters 8

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socials 9-11

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Rewards loom for a likely murderer

SO let me get this straight: Judge Brian Martin is “fairly certain that [Eastman] is guilty of the murder”. He’s clearly unbalanced. He has been in jail for 19 years without meaningful psychiatric treatment. So now he should be released into the community and paid a king’s ransom in compensation.

Have I got that right?

ALREADY the “debt and deficit” boys are in full cry over Andrew Barr’s Budget. Makes you wonder whether they’d prefer their national capital fell into recession.

The stamp duty relief should help the first home buyers and the Abbott/Hockey Budget will probably push prices down too – good for the youngsters, but not so great for those hundreds of retrenched public servants who want to relocate to Tuross.

PITY it’s taking so long to get international services into our nice little airport. Seems Katy and Andrew have been wooing Singapore and NZ which are really small beer. Truth is, China is the big growth area and as I learned this week, the Chinese are attracted by the prospect of a visit to the national capital

The chinese are attracted by the prospect of a visit to the national capital rather than those less prestigious other cities. cop that, sydney!

rather than those less prestigious other cities. Cop that, Sydney!

AMAZING scenes this week in the tottering Abbott Government with Education Minister, “Prissy Chrissie” Pyne and Treasurer Joe Hockey demanding that students pay their HECS fees from the grave… only to discover half an hour later that their Oxford boxing blue boss had thrown in the towel.

However, the National Tertiary Education Union revealed that among the living, it is women who will suffer most from the HECS reforms. An accountancy degree, for example, with an initial cost of $30,000 would mean repayments of $120,000 for graduates who take time off to have children and then work part time.

AND this from Joseph Benedict Hockey, named by his dad, the longtime treasurer of the ALP’s Willoughby

branch, after his hero Joseph Benedict Chifley. No wonder the young Joe was at the barricades protesting a $250 administration fee as being “suicidal for student welfare”. Oh Joe, you’re all class.

GOOD to see Senator Kate Lundy taking the Turnbull trashing of the NBN to task in Senate Estimates this week. It will now, it seems, be confined to small sections of our city. And Katy Gallagher’s admirable wi-fi network for the town centres announced this week simply highlights the whole dog’s breakfast.

THE light rail debate hotted up with Lib Deputy Leader Alistair Coe warning it will cost megabucks and Simon Corbell berating critics for thinking “what’s in it for me?”

“The challenge is to say what’s in it for Canberra,” he thundered. Too true, Simon… and the answer is?

ROBERT MACKLIN

SO, the Norfolk Islanders – who vote in the seat of Canberra – have once again bluffed the Feds. The law requires them to pay their taxes and accept the High Court ruling that they’re Australian. Instead, the Abbott Government went to water, doled out another $7.5 million to save the 2300 islanders from total bankruptcy… while the tourists stay away in droves.

THEN there was the pensioner who paid her $7 and said: “Doctor, help me. I keep thinking I’m getting smaller.” The GP smiled. “Well,” he said, “you’ll just have to be a little patient.”

robertmacklin.com

ACT Budget 2014

nice little earners... rates +10%

Build now, pay later: Barr plays credit card

stephen Easton reports

WHy wait when you can have your tramline to gungahlin and your epic lakeside gentrification project so much sooner on a finance plan?

As expected, the 2014-15 ACT Budget is all about increased borrowing to keep the government’s massive $2.5 billion, four-year infrastructure program going full steam ahead with $735 million this financial year towards projects to “transform” the city and keep the construction industry ticking over.

This year’s Budget represents the peak of spending on that infrastructure program, as well as the lowest point in the Territory’s finances for the foreseeable future, according to the outlook presented by Treasurer Andrew Barr.

“We are not choosing the austerity path taken by conservative governments around Australia, who cut services and harm their community,” Barr said in his Budget speech. “We will not add to the pain caused by the

Commonwealth. We will not sacrifice essential services for the sake of the Budget bottom line.”

Following what the Treasurer called “a fairly significant rewriting” of the Territory’s financial plans in

light of the Federal Budget, the ACT’s deficit is now forecast at $332.8 million for 2014-15, almost tripling from the $109.5m deficit forecast in February’s Budget Review.

An optimistic looking graph now

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Water Views And Classic Luxury

This home was lovingly built by a craftsman and features not just a brilliant water view and a location opposite the entry to Lilli Pilli Beach, but inclusions that you do not normally find. The main loungeroom is huge with lovely views out to the beach and this room flows through to another slightly cosier lounge area with an open fireplace. Great for entertaining and big families and it gets better because the back decking ensures that you will have enough space to really enjoy get togethers. Downstairs you have another fully self contained area that features a large bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, loungeroom and an open fireplace as well as an enormous ‘teenage’ retreat next door that has its own bathroom! Set on a 575m2 block with fully fenced and private backyard this home is sure to please.

shows the ACT’s net Budget position leaping back up to a $117m deficit in 2015-16 and more or less breaking even in 2016-17, a year later than Barr was forecasting back in February, prior to the Federal Budget, which he blames for a $375 million revenue write down this year.

Growth in terms of Gross State Product will continue, but is expected to drop to 1.75 per cent, dipping below the national average, which the Treasurer attributes to slower growth in the public sector and household spending.

“We only borrow for infrastructure,” Mr Barr stressed to the media, explaining that the Government runs operating surpluses for its recurrent, or “day-to-day” expenditure this year and into the forward estimates.

Some of the big-ticket infrastructure items in this year’s Budget are the expansion of the Alexander Maconochie Centre ($54.1m), building Coombs Primary School ($47.3m), a new secure mental health unit at Symonston ($43.5m), health infrastructure including the new sub-acute hospital at the University of Canberra ($27.7m), the Canberra Hospital re -

Labor is ‘out

laBOr ’s spending is out of control, says Opposition leader Jeremy Hanson in response to the ac T Budget.

“The government should be ashamed that under this Budget the cost of living for Canberrans will rise significantly well above CPI and it will hurt. Families will be hit for hundreds of extra dollars every year,” Mr Hanson said.

“Canberrans will foot the bill as the government continues its $614 million plan to build a light rail network that is not viable.

“This is a government running on the belief it can keep on spending without a plan to pay the money back. It is a government emptying the pockets of Canberrans then charging them extra to get their money back. The government is spending more and you will pay,”

He said:

• Rates will rise 13 per cent.

• Transport costs for families will increase by

development ($24.3m), a multi-storey car park for Calvary Hospital ($19m), new fire and ambulance station at Aranda ($18.9m) and infrastructure in the new suburb of Molonglo ($17m).

Gungahlin gets some love with $20m for “Civic to Gungahlin corridor improvements” and $17.3m on fitting out a new ACT Government office building.

Health spending is $1.4 billion, including $34m on more elective surgery operations and about $40m to cover a reduced contribution from the Commonwealth, while education gets $961m, a rise of 6 per cent from last year.

With the new Commonwealth Government’s lack of support for the Territory, including its refusal to provide any assistance package to soften the blow to the local economy from massive cuts to the public service, Mr Barr said the ACT would have to rely on growing its export economy, pointing out that Canberra now accounts for 2.5 per cent of Australia’s service exports.

“The bottom line is we’re on our own and we’re going to have to make our own luck in coming years,” he said.

of control’

an average of 8.5 per cent.

• Utilities will rise up to 8.5 per cent.

• Parking will increase up to 30 per cent.

“This year’s ACT Budget will see government debt rise to more than $4.5 billion over the forward estimates, while interest to be paid on that debt will reach nearly $1 billion. Furthermore, total revenue is increasing by a billion dollars. It shows ACT Labor’s spending is out of control,” he said.

“With the interest alone, the government could build another much needed hospital and dozens of schools.”

The Budget’s ups and downs

caTcHing a bus, getting a driver’s licence or registering a car are rising through indexation and on top of that, water charges go up by 5 per cent and higher parking fees will hit, too.

Drivers will be charged a $34 Lifetime Care and Support Levy from this year.

Rates will go up by 10 per cent on average, to offset the continuing tax reform agenda. Stamp duty drops slightly to 2 per cent on the cheapest homes, 3.5 per cent on those worth $200,001$300,000, and 4.15 per cent for those between

$300,001 and $500,000.

Properties worth $1.455 million or more, which are mainly commercial, and will now pay a flat 5.25 per cent forevermore, bringing forward the lower rate that was originally planned for 2017-18.

In a special initiative for older Canberrans, people aged over 60 will only pay $20 in stamp duty when they downsize to a smaller home. On July 1, tax on general insurance will drop from 6 per cent to 4 per cent and duty on life insurance will drop from 3 per cent to 2 per cent. There are also cuts to payroll tax for companies, with higher thresholds. – stephen Easton

When left is the right move

WHaT a contrast? Borrow and spend! The ac T Budget, reeling from attacks and cost shifting by the federal government, has taken a pragmatic approach to protect canberrans.

The holy grail of a budget surplus, so much the bailiwick of conservative governments, has been postponed until 2017-18 with the Treasurer stating: “We will use our low debt and strong credit rating to invest infrastructure and create thousands of jobs”. That debt will be to the tune of $332.8 million for the coming financial year.

Borrowings are short term and are not enough. More revenue is needed. Treasurer Andrew Barr has slammed on a rates hike of 10 per cent. At the same time there are concessions for business including lifting the threshold on payroll tax and yet again reducing the tax on insurance with the aim of removing it altogether.

The goal is to make Canberra an attractive place to conduct small to medium-size businesses. Countering the job losses from the Federal public service is a key goal for the ACT Government. It is akin to Kevin Rudd using the Federal surplus to ensure Australians suffered as little as possible during the Global Financial Crisis.

The Abbott government has pushed the ACT into a corner. A cost shift from the States and Territories has been orchestrated to make have their own Budget head in a mad trajectory for their holy grail: a surplus. And this at a time when they pretend there is a national Budget crisis. Ha! A triple-A credit rating, borrowings the equivalent of a $15,000 mortgage on the house of an average salary earner – these are not a budget crisis.

The Commonwealth will effectively extract more than $370 million from the ACT over four years. Despite this, the ACT must retain its own triple-A credit rating. This local Budget does not put the rating at risk. Despite the size of the borrowings, the ACT will still have the lowest proportion of debt of all States and Territories other than resource rich WA. However, this will not stop the right wing screaming about “committing the surplus to the never-never”. They will point to a sharp increase to bring the Budget back into surplus in two years. It certainly does look very, very hopeful!

The Federal Budget called for a major shift

in approach. Andrew Barr said: “I was going to deliver a modest deficit followed by two surplus Budgets in the following year” until he was forced to react to Commonwealth decisions.

He was quick to point out that the borrowings are for capital infrastructure and “will not be used for recurrent spending”. By comparison to an average household, the borrowings are for renovations and improvements to the home rather than using equity in the home to pay for holidays, food, clothes and education.

While the right wing Federal government is charging the poor to go to the doctor, the ACT Treasurer has chosen an alternative path by bor rowing to make up the expected shortfall from the Commonwealth. In health alone the loss is close to a quarter of a billion dollars over the next four years. This cost shift could have a devastat ing impact on our hospital and health system.

Preventive health was another Federal target. Federal governments of both colours have failed to seriously grapple with the prevention of obesity. Instead of getting serious, the national agreement on preventive health has been scrapped by the Hockey Budget. Early indications of the impact are shown in this Budget with more than a million dollars dedicated to bariatric surgery and the funding of the Healthy Weight action plan.

The ACT Budget attempts to appeal to

MICHAEL MOORE

the wider community. Borrowings, yes! But their answer is “investing in Canberra – we are investing in our economy, investing in our people and investing in jobs”.

And this ACT Budget is replete with actions that will appeal to the left with such goodies as the over-60s home bonus, reductions in stamp duties on homes, “transforming disability services”, over $9 million for housing and the homeless and action on family and sexual violence.

In the end Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have done what they think is right. And it certainly is to the political right! The ACT has to deal with what is left. And by contrast it is a

Government sees light, but sells lamp posts

streetlights for sale? reflections on the Budget from micHaEl mOOrE

WHO will buy the street lights? They are up for sale and the Treasurer tells us that this is the only jurisdiction that owns its streetlight infrastructure. It will be another two years before they are sold. Don’t worry. They will not be taken away to light up Wollongong, Newcastle or Cairns – apparently there are businesses that will own them and charge the government to look after them.

ACCORDING to Chief Minister Katy Gallagher: “We have never been shy in taking the hard decisions.” This includes tax reform and she rails against the Liberals’ campaign at last election that rates will triple. They certainly haven’t. Just gone up 10 per cent this year.

SAVINGS have been the hallmark of Australian Budgets over the last two decades. The ACT Budget has practically no savings identified for the coming financial year. The out years of the Budget show savings from the improved use of information technology. According to Treasurer Andrew Barr, face-to-face contact costs around $10 per interaction. Shifting people to using IT with more user friendly systems will mean each contact costs the government around 10 cents.

THE Budget papers also reveal that long-term liability of superannuation for the ACT government is set to increase to the order of $8.7 billion dollars by 2033, before declining to no liability in 2078. And some argue that governments only look to the next election.

THANKS to all those who receive traffic fines, overstay their parking meters or park illegally in some other ways. Over $10 million will be contributed to the ACT coffers over the four years of the Budget. In the first year the expectation is $1.1 million, doubling in the second year to $2.23 million. And this on an indexation of 6 per cent. Looks like hiring parking inspectors is winner; they seem to more than pay for themselves!

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

Why we must bear witness to abuse

THE Royal Commission into Child Abuse is coming to Canberra to rake over the coals of the abuse perpetrated here in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Most normal people won’t want to hear about it, or think about it. But for the sake of the children who suffered then, and for the sake of our children today, it’s important we bear witness to the testimony of the victims.

Now, I am a great admirer of the Catholic education system; for comparatively little cost, it provides an excellent education and the opportunities that flow from that.

However, no-one should allow their admiration of the many works of an institution to blind themselves to the horror of child sex abuse; that’s the kind of thinking the abusers like to foster.

As a teenager here in Canberra at that time I knew something horrible was happening in the Catholic schools.

Everyone in Canberra knew. We would make jokes about it. We would laugh that the reason Marist boys were so good at rugby was the

The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice. – richard K morgan

practice they’d had running away from the brothers.

And yet, despite it being no secret, it would take long years and the victims reaching mature adulthood before their complaints could no longer be ignored.

This from a school that was sending young boys daily into the very bedroom of the monstrous John Chute on the basis that he didn’t like being woken by electrical alarm clocks.

Sarah Dingle worked for the ABC here in Canberra and has been covering the Royal Commission for Radio National. She talked to me about how hard it is to stay focused.

“Often it’s not a single story that gets to you, it’s the sheer accumulation of listening to so many horrible things in such a concentrated space of time,” Sarah said.

“You do become quite bleak so it’s important to keep an eye on how you’re going.”

I asked how she felt about the possibility that normal people will

switch off the radio leaving a residual audience of predators taking notes on how not to get caught.

“It feels quite dispiriting to lis ten to horrible stuff, take on that weight, and then know that some people might not listen to the result ing product anyway,” she said.

“So you try to find an angle which people haven’t heard before, rather than just simply horror.

“It’s also important to note that although people may switch off when you say ‘child abuse’, journal ism is also about the public record.

“You are adding to the public record of these events and that is worthwhile.

“This Royal Commission is a remarkable event and it deserves coverage.”

Which is why we all need to listen to the testimony of the abused from yesteryear,

and to stand ready to hear it from the children of today.

And once we have borne witness?

Sarah has some advice for that, too: “Do something dissociative after, like exercise, take a bath, etcetera.”

John Griffiths is online editor for citynews.com.au

JOHN GRIFFITHS

property Breakthrough on Brickworks plan

By catherine carter

THE yarralumla Brickworks offers exciting urban infill opportunities as the pressure continues for government to release new land for housing in canberra.

Filling in suburban blanks makes the best use of our excellent infrastructure – our roads, storm water and sewer and electricity connections – and taps into established community amenities.

The brickworks hold an important place in Canberra’s history – producing the “Canberra red” bricks for most of our early public buildings including around four million bricks for old Parliament House.

Later the old kilns were used for antiques sales and markets until safety issues closed the site in the late 1990s. Nearly 20 years later, the old kilns and surrounds have stood largely disused and inaccessible – despite sensible efforts by the ACT Government to reuse the site for residential development.

The most recent Government plan to rejuvenate the surrounds of the site and give a new lease of life to the area has been released. The strategy will facilitate restoration of the brickworks, establishing three new parks, including one on the site of the old quarry that looks set to become a spectacular facility for the community, and another in the Yarralumla railway remnants area. Next to the parks will be around 1600 dwellings, commercial opportunities and a public space for community and cultural events.

This exciting re-development proposal responsibly respects the heritage value of the site and amenity of existing residents, and provides new housing, open space and business opportunity in the inner-south.

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

Tom’s okay about kiss

I READ the article on “Gai slipping away” (Canberra Confidential, May 15) with interest given that I was the other party mentioned. I thought that it was a lovely article and is a measure of how sincere she is as our local member for Canberra.

Gai Brodtmann had flown in from Norfolk Island (part of her electorate) that day and had come to our meeting specifically to hear about the proposal for a second petrol station – something that she had played a vital role in obtaining – and we had spoken privately after this as she wanted to hear what the “issues were” for Weston Creek.

She did say that she wouldn’t be able to stay for the whole meeting and during that time I mentioned that I would be away for a period as our daughter was getting married in Beijing at the end of May.

So when it came time for her to leave, she came forward to say goodbye. No, I wasn’t embarrassed by her action, rather I was pleasantly surprised by her kiss and welcomed her best wishes for our daughter’s wedding. Yes, it is unusual to say goodbye this way in public but what a wonderful community we live in when this does happen. I think it reflects very positively on our society.

Tom Anderson, chair, Weston Creek Community Council

Hitting vulnerable

TONY Abbott says his unfair budget, which disproportionately hits the most vulnerable, is about balancing the budget and paying back the debt. But it doesn’t even do that.

They’re still promising a return to surplus at about the same time Labor was. It’s all just moving money around to suit their own agenda. For example, of the $7 GP tax, $2 goes to the GP and the remaining $5 goes to the new medical research fund. Not a single dollar goes towards paying off debt or Medicare costs. This budget isn’t about “fixing” the deficit, it’s all about ideology.

Jason Chappel, Turner

Hurting the sick

THE budget attack on Medicare is an attack on the poor, the young, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses who do not deserve to be punished for getting sick.

Almost 50 per cent of GP visits in Canberra are bulk billed. The attack on Medicare will force bulk-billing patients in Canberra to cough up an extra five million dollars every year.

Medicare is about fairness. It’s about making sure that the size of your wallet doesn’t determine the quality of healthcare you receive. This attack on Medicare is an attack on our Australian values and our communities.

Australians care deeply about this issue and the hurt the Abbott budget will bring to the community.

Revelly Robinson, via email

Going to water

AMONG the numerous ways our local government dreams up to waste ratepayers’ money, the recycling of sewage as drinking water was one of the more absurd and pointless.

When Prof Peter Collignon and others pointed out the risks to public health, the safety of London’s recycled water supply was cited.

Now it has been reported that “despite intensive water purification” contamination by metabolised cocaine and other drugs expelled in human urine is detectable in that city’s water. Rainfall held in dams has been naturally recycled at no cost by the only safe method – evaporation and condensation. We are lucky to have it.

scene / around canberra

Social event of the week / launch of ‘The Australian Women’s Weekly Fashion: The First Fifty Years’

FASHION is an integral part of our lives. Study it and you can see that stock market ups and downs parallel hemlines. Marvel at the developments in fabrics and industrial machinery that brought women out of the laundry and into easy care fabrics and trace the significant events in our lives where what we wore was so important.

It is a retrospective of the ridiculous, the glamorous, the chic; and the ever-changing face of Australian fashion.

The launch of “The Australian Women’s Weekly Fashion: we’ve thought chic at some time is a charming and beautifully researched book from the pages of the magazine that was our fashion bible. Deborah Thomas , with Kirstie Clements , has created a collectible fashion classic.

It is a retrospective of the ridiculous, the glamorous, the chic; and the everchanging face of Australian fashion with clothes you could copy, knit, crochet or covet, matched at the launch by a parade of fashions through the decades from Charlotte Smith’s extensive private fashion collection. Some to make you weep for the ones you threw out, some that make you laugh because you wore them, but the guests gamely wore antiques and vintage and obviously enjoyed the opportunity.

LYN MILLS

It starts with listening.

Pam Lyndon | Partner

Family Law is complex and you need an experienced law firm to guide you.

But what you need most is someone to listen to you. To hear your story.

At Watts McCray, we understand that.

Canberra Confidential

Throwing in the Towell

“CANBERRA Times” reporter Noel Towell got an uncomfortable mention in a Federal Estimates hearing last week when Labor Senator Kim Carr questioned Australian Customs CEO Michael Pezzullo

“I have a ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ article here dated 9 May, 2014, ‘Customs told to read newspaper for merger details’,” said Carr. “It purports to say that you told 5000 workers from the Australian Customs agency that they should read a newspaper opinion piece by the Minister for Immigration, Scott Morrison, for details of the merger of their agency with the immigration department. Is that an accurate report of your remarks?”

Mr Pezzullo: “No, not even remotely so. I would not treat my people like imbeciles. If the journalist had bothered to make a relevant enquiry, he would have seen that my staff message alerted all of my staff to the fact that a major announcement was going to be made that morning...”

Carr: “Have you put these views to the journalist, Mr Noel Towell?”

Pezzullo: “I would not bother. I do not want to personalise it, but you get people who just have to be bottom feeders. That is what they do in life. If someone like that wants to have a discussion with me about how I manage communications with my staff, I am very happy to have it.”

Social media yawn

DESPITE the hype, last week’s “Social Media Revolution” conference at the Canberra Business Event Centre turned out to be “yawn-worthy”, according to CC’s digital snout on the ground, who is no slouch on the social media front herself.

“A couple of the panellists even admitted they weren’t social media experts and wondered why they were chosen,” she bemoans.

“I went along and found it to be very boring! It wasn’t suitable for ‘communications

professionals’ as it claimed. It was more like social media 101.

“I think the not-for-profits got something out of it, but for the other groups who are all over social media (and who have already invested a lot of time and training into their own strategies) it was pretty yawn-worthy. And the tickets were around $100.”

Panellist and Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr was there, offering “unintentional” segues to the government’s impending Wi-Fi roll-out. But he would, wouldn’t he?

Having fun yet?

ODD or what? Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation puffing its colossally successful Gold Week fundraiser sends out an email with the subject line: “Fun ways to help sick and injured children”. Fun ways?

AND what’s with the National Gallery’s Artonline missive promising a look-see at its new “NGA Summer Calendar”. Alas, a click on and an excited CC was depressingly sent back to winter. They got their seasons wrong, quite an achievement in Canberra.

Queen gets bricked

LOYALISTS and Lego lovers are summonsed to King’s Hall in Old Parliament House on the Queen’s Birthday holiday on Monday, June 9.

OPH and the Canberra Lego User Group are inviting everyone to help build a mega mosaic three metres high and two metres wide of the Queen with 92,000 Lego bricks. They haven’t confirmed it, but CC imagines republicans will be invited to the break up session.

More information at moadoph.gov.au/ visiting/events/

Springing into winter

IT’S spring in winter as local Vespa dealer Motorini, in Phillip, starts showing off the iconic scooter brand’s sexy new model, Primavera (Italian for the season “spring”). Motorini principal Nico Wright says that with a fuel consumption of 47 kilometres a litre and a price that starts at a smidge over $6000, it’s an irresistible option for embattled public servants facing parking imposts in the next few months.

Don’t mess with these gals

“DON’T be misled by the mild mannered appearance of some of its members – they are fearsome warriors,” is the warning not to mess with the ACT branch of the National Council of Women of Australia, which held its annual lunch at Yarralumla Yacht Club recently. NCWACT began in Canberra in 1939 championing issues such as sealed roads, provision of telephones (a luxury), adequate bus services, public housing, shopping hours, pedestrian crossings, child care, welfare services and women’s health, and never stopped. The branch recently ran a seminar on “Homelessness and Older Women”.

Great success story honours Griffin vision

THE massive gentrification project that is the Kingston foreshore has become one of canberra’s great success stories, based on the design work of architect colin stewart and fulfilling Walter Burley griffin’s vision of a vibrant lakefront promenade.

The foreshore’s main drag, Eastlake parade, is a nod to the original name of the suburb, where the workers who built much of canberra resided. renamed Kingston in 1922, its history as an industrial area and present role as a vibrant, affluent place can be seen in some of its attractions; the Old Bus depot markets and the adjoining fitters’ Workshop, where art exhibitions and concerts are now held, and the old powerhouse that is now the glassworks.

down on the water’s edge, with the newly completed bridges and walkways around the harbour and Trevillian Quay, there’s the sense that Kingston foreshore has come of age. new apartments are being snapped up and the place is a buzzing hive of business activity. Here’s the “citynews” guide to some of the best the foreshore has to offer:

A passion for original Thai food Glassworks developing the arts scene

MORKS is a contemporary Thai restaurant that moved to Kingston Foreshore last September, bringing a sterling reputation all the way across town from Florey, where it opened in 2008.

The name on the sign belongs to head chef Mork Ratanakosol and his brother Benn runs the show up front. Both grew up in the restaurant trade, with their parents running Sukothai in Yarralumla for 19 years.

“Our mission is to create original, passionate and delicious Thai food, but most importantly bring back the unpredictability and excitement that so many Thai restaurants are missing,” says Benn.

A search online reveals a lot of very satisfied customers on the rating websites and a staggering amount of positivity from the bloggers and food

reviewers, including “CityNews” dining reviewer Wendy Johnson, who was rather impressed when she dropped into the new location last October.

“Whatever you do, order the pan seared scallops and pig’s ear terrine, which might not sound attractive but it’s divine,” Wendy advised at the time. Our experienced assessor of eateries also loved the entrée of seared king prawns with pork and prawn wontons and she found the braised pork belly with English spinach and boiled quail eggs “sensational”.

Morks is open for lunch from noon, Tuesday to Sunday, and dinner from 6pm, Tuesday to Saturday.

Morks, 18/19 Eastlake Parade, Kingston. Call 6295 0112 or go to morks.com.au

IN 2007 Canberra Glassworks opened in the old Kingston Powerhouse, breathing new life into a historic building that had lain dormant since 1957.

As well as enchanting droves of visitors, it provides artists with studios and state-of-the-art equipment, intensive workshops taught by leading glass artists, mentorship programs, and a unique context to explore, develop and realise new work.

“Canberra Glassworks is Australia’s only cultural centre wholly dedicated to contemporary glass art,” says general manager Beverly Growden, adding that the new Kingston Arts Precinct Strategy has already led to the collaboration with the Canberra International Music Festival that will see concerts staged at the venue and next door at the Fitters’ Workshop.

A collaborative glass and print project with the neighbouring Megalo Print Studio will culminate in the GLINT exhibition, opening on July 2, featuring the collaborative work of four printmakers and four glass artists – Annika Romeyn, Annie Trevillian, Melinda Willis, Dionisia Salas, Emilie Patteson, Mark Thiele, Scott Chaseling and Ben Rak.

Canberra Glassworks Board member eX de Medici expects the outcomes of the GLINT project to be “most fascinating”.

“The challenge of learning and teaching new practices with peers will push the boundaries of each artist within the project,” she says. “I look forward to seeing the outcomes of GLINT, as it will reflect the at times uncomfortable processes of collaboration and the participating artists’ expansion into new artistic territories.”

Canberra Glassworks, 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Call 6260 7005 or go to canberraglassworks.com

GLINT

Curated by Alison Alder

25 June to 3 August

Scott Chaseling, Emilie Patteson, Ben Rak, Annika Romeyn, Dionisia Salas, Mark Thiele, Annie Trevillian and Melinda Willis 8 artists (4 glass and 4 print) have been involved in a unique opportunity to explore the connections between printmaking and glass. This exhibition is the result a 2 month residency where they collaborated and learned from each other to create new work.

Opening – Wednesday, 25 June at 6pm Gallery Talk – Saturday, 2 July at 2pm

@CBRGlassworks

Discover Kingston Foreshore

Restaurant ‘ups the ante’ in new location

LA Rustica is another restaurant whose owners saw the opportunity presented by the flash new Foreshore development and seized it, moving down to the lake’s edge from a few streets away at the older Kingston shopping centre.

“We’re really happy with the move; it’s a beautiful location with water views and lovely surroundings, we’ve got a bit more room and a totally new fit-out with a nice, open kitchen,” says Katrina Spadafora, who manages the family owned Italian eatery which has fed people from all walks of life for more than 20 years.

“We’ve upped the ante from the old place, I guess you could say.”

She’s referring to the new menu, which includes a lot of old favourites such as the grilled beef tenderloins

layered with spinach and crisp prosciutto, but adds new dishes such as a squid-ink pasta and a radicchio salad, as well as the addition of weekend breakfast and lunch since the move.

La Rustica is quite famous for its pizzas and Katrina says the place still gets “swamped” by MPs whenever Parliament’s in session, and it seems the restaurant’s reputation has made it across the aisle.

“We were a bit of a Labor party hangout, but now we get a lot of Liberal Party people, too,” says Katrina. La Rustica serves dinner Tuesday to Friday, lunch Tuesday to Sunday and breakfast on weekends.

La Rustica, 17 Eastlake Parade, Kingston. Call 6295 1917.

Fitness any time on the Foreshore

ALL year, all day and all night, the weights are waiting, the treadmills turned on and the resistance machines ready for busy people to drop in for a workout at Anytime Fitness on the Foreshore.

Of course the lakeside location is convenient for inner south residents, but members can use any of the company’s 357 fitness centres around Australia, and going on holiday overseas doesn’t have to derail the training program either.

With a waterfront location in the heart of Canberra, C DINE BAR creates an experience by captivating both the palate and the eye with a strong emphasis on local seasonal produce, exceptional prime cuts and perfectly prepared seafood. Presenting a delectable wine list and food menu to suit everyone, C DINE BAR is the perfect venue for any occasion. (02) 6239 5299 bookings@cdinebar.com.au 17/19

“You get an electronic key and that gives you access to all our fitness centres, and there are over 2000 internationally, so for example you could go over to Europe and just walk on in whenever you want,” says personal trainer Samantha, general manager of Anytime Fitness at Kingston Foreshore.

“It’s nice and accessible to the lake, which is good if you wanted to combine strength training with a jog, and of course our location is very convenient for all the residents

Surf and turf

C DINE Bar has been making a massive contribution to Kingston Foreshore’s status as a paradise for foodies by offering the ultimate in surf and turf experiences.

Owners Shann Howman and Daniel Keogh have a lip-smacking lineup of high quality cuts from premium meat producers and “C-food” fresh from the coast with a fantastic wine list to match.

C DINE’s oyster bar is stacked with big, juicy molluscs and every Friday afternoon from 4-6pm, you can celebrate the end of the week with 10kg of chicken wings for $10 and $5 tap beers. When summer rolls back around the popular buck-ashuck Fridays will be back with $1 oysters.

On Tuesdays the Fresh Catch Basket – a big steaming bowl of prawns, mussels, squid, clams, scampi and

in the apartments around here; you could come and train in your pajamas at four o’clock in the morning if you wanted.”

Signing up is very affordable and if you move to a different town or city after becoming a member, chances are there’s an Anytime Fitness near you. If there isn’t within 15km, there’s no charge to end your membership contract.

Anytime Fitness Kingston Foreshore, Unit 71, 71 Giles Street, Kingston. Call 6295 9952 or go to anytimefitness.com.au

crab – is half price. The spacious interior of C DINE is filled with intriguing features, such as ever-changing works by local artists, meat ageing in glass cabinets and, of course, magnificent views of the water. It was recently voted the ACT’s best Modern Australian restaurant in the I Love Food Awards, and is open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Sunday.

C Dine Bar, 17/19 East Lake Parade, Kingston Foreshore, call 6239 5299 or go to cdinebar.com.au

Whole world in his hands

PHIL Dalley established Travelmakers in 1998 and set about creating his own unique holiday packages to give travellers something different to the standard “brochure tours”.

After 15 years in Bailey’s Corner in Civic, he and wife Janet moved their travel agency to the Kingston Foreshore.

“We specialise in cruises and trips worldwide – from Asia, to Europe, South America, North America, Antarctica or even around Australia – but we also specialise in devising our own small group tours which are quite unique,” Phil explains.

“On each trip there’s generally a maximum of 16 people, local people from Canberra and the surrounding area.”

Next year Travelmakers are sending groups off on adventures to fascinating places such as Sri Lanka and the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which has only started relaxing tight restrictions on foreign visitors in recent years and is famous for inventing the Gross National Happiness Index.

“Also next year we’re running quite a few unique trips around France, including cycling and luxury barge cruises, as well as to Turkey and the US,” says Phil.

“For example, we have a tour that explores the music scene around Nashville and Memphis, the home of the blues, and also incorporates a cruise down the Mississippi River to New Orleans.”

To receive information ahead of time about exclusive trips Travelmakers are planning, email janet@travelmakers. com.au

Travelmakers, 21 Eastlake Parade, Kingston. Call 6223 2780 or go to travelmakers.com.au

Discovering everything Italian advertising feature

SHARING an office with Travelmakers is the Italian Travel Bureau, run by Michael Perrone, who uses his personal knowledge and contacts in his homeland to organise very special Italian experiences.

“We build some tours that are quite unique and different,” Michael says. “For example, we run a cycling tour and that is combined with learning Italian at the same

time, and one for small groups to have organic cooking classes at a villa in Tuscany and do yoga on the same trip.”

The ITB can also send you sailing around the Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily in a Gulet, a beautiful wooden sailing ship with large and comfortable cabins for both couples and families, each with their own bathroom, shower and air conditioning.

“People can join one of our tours or if a group wants the whole boat just for themselves, we can do that as well,” Michael says, adding that he also arranges river cruises on luxurious hotel barges starting and ending in Venice.

Whether it’s bicycles, boats or just about any other mode of transport under the sun, the ITB can arrange it all. Drive a hire car – even a Ferrari – through the amazing scenery, ride a segway through the city or just walk from place to place.

The Italian Travel Bureau, 21 Eastlake Parade, Kingston. Call 6223 2780 or go to italianbureau.com.au

Travelmakers was established 16 years ago in June 1998 and has grown into one of Canberra’s leading independent Travel Companies, with a staff of 8 and a combined Travel Knowledge of over 55 years with the whole world covered from cruising to Specialist holidays, walking and cycling tours to name a few. Travel Makers also has a specialist French Company online at Frenchtravelbureau.com.au

A growing feature over the past few years are the small escorted Group Tours. A Travelmakers staff member escorts the small group tours to exotic and unusual destinations these prove to be very popular and sell quickly after release.The typical number of guests on tour is 16. The new progam of Tours for 2015 is being finalised and is set for release in mid to late June.

Destinations for 2015 include, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Japan, Spain & Morocco, A Cycling Tour in South West France, River Cruise on the Danube, Blues and Musical Tour to Nashville, Memphis and a cruise down the Mississippi River to New Orleans to name just a few.

If you would like to be informed of our special tours please email janet@travelmakers.com.au to be put on our mailing list.

Winner “Gold Category” 2013 Choice Awards

Winner “Qantas 2013 Top Performing Agent”

Winner “Etihad 2013 Top Performing Agent”

We’ll help you travel the world

Travelmakers Pty Ltd

21 Eastlake Parade, Kingston Foreshore

Ph: (02) 6223 2780 • Fax: (02) 6257 6452 www.travelmakers.com.au

Through growth and travel experiences, the ITB designs holiday dreams for Italy and other destinations around the world.

Michael Perrone, ITB General Manager, consults by appointment only, in order to dedicate the time to offer the specialised services needed. The ITB website is continuously updated with new and exciting travel products. For over 10 years the ITB, together with Travelmakers,has been publishing its own annual independent catalogue. It is the perfect reference for accommodation and transport in Italy.

Some of the unique tours ITB offers include:

Hidden Secrets tour of Sicily

duration 8 days/7 nights

This comprehensive tour starts and ends in Catania and will take you through its picturesque villages, well-preserved archaeological sites and splendid scenery, including local delicacies, mouth-watering cuisine and world-renowned wines. Priced from A$1750 per person.

Cruise among the Volcanoes on a Gulet for 7 nights/8 days

A Gulet is a a beautiful wooden sailing ship with large and comfortable spaces for both couples and families. Each cabin has a bathroom, shower and air-conditioning . Discover the treasures of the Aeolian Islands from A$1750 per person.

Tours Experience and drive the Italian legend. Experience Maranellowith Ferrari test drive and Formula 1 tours. Duration - 1 & 2 days or Modena Racing Tour  - Test Drive ...and more !!!

Italian Travel Bureau

21 Eastlake Parade, Kingston Foreshore Ph: (02) 6223 2780 • Fax: (02) 6257 6452 Email: info@italianbureau.com.au • www.italianbureau.com.au

The best advice in the world of computers

cOmpuTErs are complicated, so it pays to ask the experts what to invest in, and when, to make sure your iT strategy has the biggest possible impact. Huge gains can be made simply through improving efficiency, and the right software package can revitalise a business in lots of other ways, too.

in this special section, “citynews” finds out what some leading firms can do for canberra businesses.

CONNEXXION has been providing IT solutions since 2003, having started out as the IT arm of a business consultancy and grown into a standalone company.

“We offer IT consultancy services and bespoke software development, centred around the Microsoft platform, and have partnered with international organisations to provide best-ofbreed COTS [commercial off-the-shelf] products to meet business needs now and into the future,” says Connexxion’s CFO, Charmaine Daniel.

“Our two main COTS products are Concept Evolution, for Facilities Management, and Unit4 Agresso, an Enterprise Resource Planning solution for businesses living in change.”

Concept Evolution, by Facilities Software International, makes sure the right information is always available to the right people.

“It offers a single, holistic view of all facilities and maintenance activities, and can easily track every location, asset and person; analyse the processes, costs and efforts required for optimal operations; and understand the impact of acquisitions, utilisation, maintenance, improvements, service provision and expenditures,” its developers say.

Agresso helps organisations successfully operate in a near-constant state of rapid change and growth. Its core functions include: financial management; HR and payroll; procurement; project costing and billing; reporting and analytics; and business process automation.

“Part of the installation process is around teaching you what to do,” says Charmaine. “Agresso provides the flexibility to change and update the system yourself long after implementation.”

Connexxion, Level 5, 28 University Avenue, Civic. Call 6262 6288 or go to connexxion.com.au

ANTHONY Cataldo from All IT Solutions has been in the IT support game since 2007 and is still full of the enthusiasm and passion he started with.

“A lot of people see IT as a boring, mundane field, but what you can do with it has always been exciting to me, so one thing that I try to do is make it a bit more exciting for our clients and show them what technology can do for them,” he says.

All IT Solutions provides solution support and maintenance, selecting the right products to suit each client’s goals and needs, installing them and providing the ongoing support to keep it all running smoothly.

“That could be anything from a simple desktop system to a full blown server; anything to do with business IT infrastructure, to get a new business up and running or sharpen things up in an existing business,” Anthony explains.

At the moment, that means helping a lot of clients get into cloud computing, giving them reliable access to all their information from any device, anywhere, any time.

“We give people shortcuts to run things more efficiently, get jobs done quicker and improve workflow; the end goal, of course, is to make financial savings and generate higher profits,” he adds.

“We’re also proactive, not reactive, so we show our clients how to take the steps now that are necessary for the future; we’re thinking two or three years ahead.”

All IT Solutions, 28-36 Ainslie Avenue (Ethos House), Civic. Call 6247 3222 or go to allitsolutions.com.au

We have proven that strong partnerships lead to more effective solutions that help your business grow.

With over 10 years’ experience, we are experts in developing and implementing innovative and proven technologies. We offer a range of tailored ICT services & solutions and can provide best-in-field consultants to match your needs.

We can assist you with your strategy and work with you to operationalise your plans.

There’s plenty to hate about Henry

Was Henry V the ideal king?

Handsome, eloquent, steel-nerved and a military strategist still held in awe, he seems to be presented by shakespeare as close to the perfect man.

Or not, as actor Eloise Winestock intimates when I talk to her about her forthcoming role in Bell Shakespeare’s post-modern “Henry V”, directed by Damien Ryan.

In getting into her role as Princess Katharine of France, affianced to Henry in a political deal to help reconcile the two nations, Winestock has taken note that Henry is also a take-no-prisoners kind of king who betrayed his best friend Sir John Falstaff, lurks around the army camps at night eavesdropping on his soldiers (“a little touch of Harry in the night”) and kills off half her relatives.

“Henry V” is the Shakespeare play the French love to hate, so you can imagine Princess Kate might have felt much the same way.

Winestock is astute, an articulate graduate of Ryan’s drama classes at Knox Grammar, the WA Academy of Performing Arts and Ryan’s company Sport by Jove, so imagining that she “is” Kate, how might she have felt about being married off to the young macho English king?

“Why would she have any desire for him?” Winestock replies, “I would have loathed to be married off to him… he invaded her country, killed her countrymen and is using her as a political pawn… she would probably

Helen musa arts editor

hate him.”

And yet the scene between Henry and Kate is often played as a delightful bit of comedy.

“Some people,” she continues, “play it as if Katharine and Henry fall in love, but I think it’s more the intention to show that this is a political union.

“In that scene where he is trying to get to her, he has a really hard time.

“Maybe because he uses words so beautifully, because his rhetoric is quite stunning, that works for him – just a little.”

But at least the comedy in this scene comes at just the perfect time – “it is a little bubble of light”.

But maybe we are both being too negative, Winestock considers.

“It wouldn’t do to underestimate Henry, he won the Battle of Agincourt when his troops were totally outnumbered… nobody thought the English had a chance of winning,” she says.

Though Shakespeare doesn’t glorify militarism and director Damien Ryan likes exploring the grey areas of war, you can fairly bet the audience will be crying, along with the soldiers, “God for Harry, England, and Saint George!”

Bell Shakespeare’s “Henry V”, The Playhouse, June 13–28. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre. com.au or 6275 2700.

arts & entertainment / cinema

Grimm things happen when fairies get cranky

“maleficent” (pg)

CHARLES Perrault’s 17th century, twopart literary tale, later melded into one by the brothers Grimm, of a curse laid on a beautiful princess by a fairy peeved by not getting invited to her christening, has endured time’s ravages well.

Linda Woolverton’s adaptation of it for Robert Stromberg’s debut as director after an impressive career in special effects picks up the principal elements of Perrault’s first part, leaving room to pick up the other one if its economic possibilities show promise.

Angelina Jolie wears a kooky set of horns throughout her performance in the title role. Elle Fanning is pretty rather than beautiful as Aurora approaching her 16th birthday which Maleficent has programmed to initiate the sleeping curse until someone who really loves her comes along and kisses her. Stromberg and his crew have created spectacular sets and effects. It all looks good and the drama holds our attention as it should. It’s a production from Disney which makes its own rules about depicting fantasy objects and characters. The cutesy-poo inhabitants of the peaceful land that the ageing king covets are familiar. The trees that become warriors against the king’s army are scary. The inept fairies Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton), Thistletwit (Juno Temple) and Flittle (Lesley Manville) assigned to rear the newborn Aurora to adoles-

angelina Jolie in “maleficent”... she wears a kooky set of horns throughout her performance in the title role.

cence provide a leavening of slapstick comedy.

Sharlto Copley snarls a lot as ambitious Lord Stefan who steals the teenaged Maleficent’s wings as she lies in post-coital languor, thereby earning her enduring hatred. Sam Riley plays Maleficent’s familiar Diavel, who can transform himself from a crow into a wolf or a dragon as the situation demands.

Is this suitable fare for kiddiewids?

Based on a sample comprising one small girl sitting in front of me, yes, it is. Would Perrault and the Grimms have endorsed it? I think they might have. At all cinemas

“a million Ways to die in the West” (ma)

THIS is a Seth MacFarlane vanity – writing, directing and playing principal character Albert, farming sheep on hard-scrabble country near a small frontier town where dollar bills are seen as often as Halley’s Comet.

MacFarlane vests Albert’s persona as the epitome of clean-cut American youth. Well, mostly. The characters – the warm-hearted whore Ruth (Sarah Silverman) who takes bookings for selected misbehaviours, and her virgin fiancée Edward (Giovanni Ribisi); Albert’s love, the meretricious Louise (Amanda Seyfried), who has dismissed him in favour of the moustache-enhancement products’ retailer

Foy (Neil Patrick Harris); delicious Anna (Charlize Theron) married to all-round nasty gunslinger Clinch (Liam Neeson) but charmed by Albert’s gentleness and suppressed courage – all revel in the freedom to use vocabulary that as recently as not many years ago would have blunted the censor’s scissors! Some may find the many crude moments amusing.

The Western was once a staple Hollywood genre with its own cultural climate and clichés.

MacFarlane’s screenplay parodies as many of those as he can fit in. It’s good fun in a cheerfully mindless way. The film’s publicity describes Albert as a coward. Not so. He just doesn’t choose to indulge in fisticuffs. And he’s lucky that delectable Anna is willing to teach him how to use a six-shooter.

At Hoyts, Limelight, Dendy, Palace Electric

“under The skin” (ma) ??? and ?

IT’S hard to encapsulate an accurate description of co-writer (with Walter Campbell, adapting a novel by Michael Faber) and director Jonathan Glazer’s second big-screen film, in which Scarlett Johansson plays a being from an unspecified world, seeking sexual fulfilment on earth while driving around Edinburgh and environs.

Cinema staff told me that a friend reviewing for another paper after seeing it earlier summed it up as “kinky”. As you may infer from the question

marks evaluating its merits, my summation is “enigma”.

The alien has a trio of acolytes who fang around the city and surrounding countryside on motorcycles for purposes never made quite clear but inviting us to interpret as dealing with her lees. The film conveys a bleak view of a Scottish winter, sometimes breathtakingly beautiful in its harshness, and a populace concerned only for its own comfort, which is not unreasonable. When the alien trips on a kerb, passers-by pause briefly then keep going.

The dialogue is sparse. Ms Johansson copes admirably with a challenging physical workload in a demanding environment. Much of it happens at night, filmed in available light. Landscape shots rural and urban extend a guarded invitation to the filmgoer to ponder what Glazer in particular wants to tell us.

I apologise for not giving more information about this one, but there’s not all that much to offer. Over to you.

At Palace Electric

DOUGAL MACDONALD

TEXTURES OF LIGHT: THE PASTORAL VISIONS OF AUSTRALIAN CINEMA Sat 7 June: 2–4pm, Sat 14 June: 2–4pm, Fri 20 June: 6–7pm

To accompany the exhibition, Elioth Gruner: the texture of light , the National Film and Sound Archive’s Arc Cinema is focusing on Australian cinema’s own ‘vision splendid’; local and regional feature, short and documentary films where sunlight, landscape and European agricultural settlement have played a key aesthetic and narrative role. Presented in collaboration with the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

$6 all tickets. Screening at Arc Cinema, McCoy Cct, Acton. Bookings via 6248 2000. Full program details www.nfsa.gov.au/arc

For exhibition details and program information: www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au

a shleigh cummings… “Very, very different in ‘galore’,” says director rhys g raham.

Fires spark a story of summer in the city

By Helen musa

summEr in canberra when you’re a teenager – sex, a dip in the Kambah pool, more sex and, oh, yes, bushfires.

The 2003 Canberra bushfires have fuelled sculptures, paintings, an opera, novels, stories, and now in his take on the Long Hot Summer phenomenon, a feature movie written and directed by Canberra-raised filmmaker Rhys Graham.

In “Galore”, Graham uses the quintessential “comingof-age” movie scenario, so that the fires are seen through the eyes of young people in Tuggeranong and Weston finding out who they are. He wrote the original years ago and kept coming back to it, meanwhile honing his craft in documentaries that told “small human dramas, but ones that hopefully have a little complexity”.

With a swag of short films behind him, including “Murundak: Songs of Freedom” and “Love This Time”, which scored a Special Jury Mention at the Berlin Film Festival, he is no novice.

To Graham, the setting of “Galore” is real.

“It’s a big-car culture and there’s nothing much to do, so kids are usually doing a lot of dumb stuff whether it’s getting loaded, or getting into fights,” he says.

“But it’s a very beautiful landscape, with low horizons.”

Briefly, it’s a sweltering summer with bushfires hovering. Seventeen-year-olds, Billie (Ashleigh Cummings from “The Miss Fisher Mysteries”) and Laura (Lily Sullivan from “Rake”), share every secret except for the fact that Billie is sleeping with Laura’s boyfriend, Danny (Toby Wallace from “Lucky Country”). When Billie’s mum (Maya Stange) takes in troubled teenager Isaac, (Aliki Matangi from “Jonah from Tonga”) things heat up.

Graham is an unabashed fan of the alluring Cummings, seen here for the first time as a subtly complex “bad” girl, sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend.

“I was blown away by her audition,” he tells me.

“Ashleigh is very, very different in ‘Galore’; the parts she played in ‘Puberty Blues’ and ‘Phryne Fisher’ were very gentle, upstanding, and she’s a gorgeous sweet person… but she’s been wanting to play a different kind of role.”

A film graduate from Sydney’s URS and Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts, Graham grew up in Kambah and still comes home to visit his parents.

In preparing for the film, with funding from Screen Australia, Film Camp and Screen ACT, he set up headquarters in empty offices in Tuggeranong, then, looking for credible locations in his old haunts around Mt Arawang and the Murrumbidgee Corridor, was shocked by how different the post-fire landscape had become.

Cinematographer Stefan Duscio and leading cast (Canberra actors play character roles) were brought from Melbourne where Graham and producer-collaborator Philippa Campey now live, but mostly local crew were recruited and the score was co-composed by Canberra’s Flynn Wheeler and features tracks from Canberra bands such as Brisk, Kempsey and Never in Doubt.

“Galore”,

“Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography is astonishingly good. This is some of the best theatre I’ve seen in 2014….an absolute must-see.” AUSTRALIAN STAGE

arts & entertainment / dining

At home, in all seasons

TEMPORADA means “seasonal” and the team in the kitchen at a new eatery by the same name, tucked away in a somewhat unlikely spot on Moore Street, is about celebrating the wonders of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

This is a destination for those who love to share food and enjoy good wine. The venture is brought to you by chef Ben Willis and sous chef Chris Darragh, from Aubergine, but fine dining is off the menu. Instead you’re presented with oodles of options of food that packs a punch with flavour and truly makes you want more and more… and more.

You can start with amazing south coast oysters, natural or wood grilled, and then move on to small items, plates, sides, cheeses and, of course, dessert.

The marinated sardines on toast ($4.50 each) are a must-have in my books. They’re salty and designed to get your taste buds ready to tango. Next up were the mini rolls ($9 to $12 each). It was challenging to pick a favourite but, if forced to, it would likely be the tender beef short rib, with fermented cucumber and horseradish. Or would it be the soft shell crab with sprout salad? Or perhaps the confit duck roll with kimchi (traditional fermented Korean

with sprout salad and chilli

beef short rib roll with fermented cucumber horseradish and mayo, a venison scotch egg and sauce gribiche, and natural oysters.

side dish of vegetables and seasonings) and red cabbage coleslaw? They were all so delish.

The larger plates are also perfect for sharing. For a quail of a time, go for the mouth-watering Jurassic. This is hailed to be the heaviest table quail sold worldwide and only has dark meat and intense flavours. It was delightful with grilled polenta, which I love when prepared well, royal purple radicchio, sweet pear and a fig vincotto ($25).

Other plates include sweet, hormone and antibiotic-free Bangalow pork cutlet with smoked bacon, cabbage and mustard sauce ($30) and a Wagyu rump ($34). For those who favour fish, the raw Hiramasa Kingfish was tempting ($21) as was the roasted flounder with broccolini, almonds, capers and beurre noisette ($34). Sides feature a fennel, orange and hazelnut salad, spice roasted

pumpkin, lentils and goat curd, and other veggie options.

We didn’t indulge in dessert, but the line-up stars vanilla custard, salted caramel donuts, chocolate and chestnut brownie, and a quince cigar (all $16).

The Temporada team has invested as much in the fitout as they have the food line-up. It’s a warm interior with raw timber wall panels, patterned floor tiles, a long bar, pressed-tin tiles (on the bar and bulkhead), and dark-fabric bench seating extending from one end of the restaurant to another. It’s all very comfortable and makes you feel right at home.

Temporada, 15 Moore Street, Civic. Monday to Saturday, noon till late. Call 6249 6683.

WENDY JOHNSON

arts in the city

Melinda’s show will be, will be

“QUE Sera, Sera”, “Everybody Loves a Lover” and “Secret Love” –they’re all songs by Doris Day, whose 90th birthday this year is being marked by artist Melinda Schneider, who’ll be performing her show “Doris” at the Canberra Theatre, 7.30pm, Friday June 13. Bookings to

canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

WHEN it comes to quirky exhibition titles, I’m tossing up between The Q Exhibition Space’s last one, “Warped and Twisted” (from Canberra Spinners and Weavers), and its current one, “Rapt in Felt”, from Canberra Region Feltmakers, running until Saturday, June 14, with a fashion parade at 11am on the last day.

Music Scholar) performing Kunda’s arrangement of Maurice Ravel’s “Five Greek Folksongs”. Tickets at the door.

WE can only speculate on what will be in “The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry”, a new book of verse co-edited by local poet, P.S. Cottier. Locals Lizz Murphy, Paul Hetherington and Alan Gould have work included and Canberra horror fiction novelist, Kaaron Warren, will launch the book at 7pm on June 12 in Manning Clark House, 11 Tasmania Circuit, Forrest.

CLASSICAL guitarist Bradley Kunda is celebrating the launch of his debut solo CD, “In the Woods”, with a concert at Wesley Music Centre on June 14 at 7.30pm. Supported by John Gould on viola, he’ll be joined by his talented soprano wife, Rebecca MacCallion (like him, a former Wesley

THAT remarkable pianist and voice teacher, Alan Hicks, is directing the University of Canberra Chorale in “Songs of Peace and War,” with soloists Jessica Harper, Christina Wilson, David Yardley and Rohan Thatcher, at Belconnen Arts Centre, 2.30pm, Saturday, June 14. Bookings to canberra.edu.au/music or tickets at the door.

PRO Musica is looking for donors willing to make a minimum tax-deductible contribution of $100 to help top up its commissioning program, which has recently seen original works composed and/or rearranged for the festival by Calvin Bowman, Elena Kats-Chernin and others. Phone 6230 5880, or email info@cimf.org.au

AS part of its ongoing “Respect” series, gallery@bcs has “Cultural landscaping”, a photographic exhibition by Tyronne Bell, director of Thunderstone and Buru

Ngunnawal Aboriginal Corporations, running 9am-4.30pm, MondayFriday, June 11-20, with the official opening at 6pm on Thursday, June 12 at Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court. All welcome.

ENTRIES are open until July 7 for the Australian Catholic University’s annual Literature Prize, with prizemoney totalling $10,000 and the 2014 theme of “The Language of Compassion”. The winners will be announced during the Melbourne Writers Festival. Applications to acu.edu.au

HELEN MUSA

Creating Sustainable Gardens

Glenbog Nursery and Landscaping

gardening

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Nursery open 9am to 5pm Wed to Fri 10am to 4pm Weekends.

Rd, Burra NSW 2620 (20 minutes from Queanbeyan) Ph. 0402 024 204 – 0408 119 160

Bergenia or Elephant’s Ears… amazing that this plant with its huge, soft succulent leaves can survive extreme cold to minus 50 c

From Russia, with leaves

IN 1618 the English gardener, naturalist and collector John Tradescant set out for the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery in Arctic Russia to collect rare plants not known in the western world.

Then on to the Levant and Algeria, finally returning, via the Low Countries, to England with a remarkable collection of plants.

Tradescant was the first official plant hunter to go into Russia and most of the plants he introduced into English gardens are still available.

June 12 is Russia Day, the day the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Federation was formally announced.

Elephant’s Ears, would survive extreme cold to minus 50C. The flowers of various shades of pink to white appear in winter here.

It is really surprising the number of seemingly delicate plants that came from Russia’s harsh and extreme climate. Other examples include Delphinium grandiflorum or Larkspurs, Trollius asiaticus, and the delicate flowering Gypsophila paniculata with its soft pink flowers used extensively by florists.

Gardens, founded in 1714 by Peter the Great.

In 1937, in a book about these gardens, V.I. Lipsky listed more than 1500 species introduced from Russia into western horticulture. We owe a great deal to those early plant hunters and especially those plants from Russia.

So let us look at some of the plants introduced by Tradescant, the first from his initial trip to Siberia, namely Bergenia crassifolia. It is amazing that this plant, with its huge, soft succulent leaves, commonly called

Lychnis chalcedonica, also known as the Maltese Cross or Jerusalem Cross plant, so called with its fourpetalled blooms resembling the holy cross, was adopted by the Crusaders and grew extensively in the Middle East, although it originally came from Russia.

Later, the majority of ornamental plants introduced into Britain came from the St Petersburg Botanic

TWO quotes from Ric Glenn, son of David Glenn, of Lambley Nursery in Victoria, and head gardener of the Cadogan Estate Gardens in central London: “I don’t do favourite plants; it’s not fair on the others” and “I don’t use pesticides and never have; if a plant struggles with pests consider another plant”.

Jottings...

• Use egg cartons filled with seedraising mix to start germinating seedlings.

• Start a garden diary of what you planted when and where purchased.

• Remove runners from strawberries and apply Healthy Earth fertiliser with its high potassium content (ideal for all flowering plants). The only stockist in Canberra is Heritage Nursery Yarralumla.

• Prune crepe myrtles by at least one third.

Win a book about veggies

SEED company Yates says that the sales of vegetable seeds have out-grown flower seeds by two to one. So it is timely for a brilliantly simple new book called “Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg” by Alan Buckingham (Dorling Kindersley/ Penguin, rrp $39.95) to arrive.

Hard prune

flowering

It covers every aspect from where, when and how to plant followed by harvesting and, I like this, what can go wrong! Extensively illustrated, I recommend this book. And I have a copy to give away. Simply write your name, suburb and a contact number on the back of an envelope and send it to Cedric’s Book Prize, “CityNews”, GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601. Competition closes at midday, Monday, June 16. The winner will be announced in my column of June 19.

CEDRIC BRYANT

Joanne madeline moore

your week in the stars – June 9-15, 2014

ariEs (mar 21 – apr 20)

Express your individuality! Friday’s Full Moon aspects put an extra bounce in your step and a glint in your eye, as you initiate projects with passion and enthusiasm. Be inspired by birthday great Judy Garland: “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” But Saturday’s Mars/Pluto square amps up your bossy, assertive side.

Taurus (apr 21 – may 20)

Issues involving your finances could come to a head over the coming week. If your money is tied up with someone else, either personally or professionally, then make sure you adopt a conservative approach and keep the lines of communication open. Friday’s Venus/Saturn opposition pours cold water on a close relationship, and it will take patience to warm things up again.

gEmini (may 21 – June 21)

Geminis are the grand masters of distraction, but avoiding responsibilities won’t work this week – it will only delay the inevitable. And with your ruling planet Mercury in retrograde mode until July 1, you need to apply the brain brakes and think carefully before you speak. Otherwise you’ll say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and unintentionally upset others.

cancEr (June 22 – July 22)

This week’s stars shine a bright spotlight on power issues within a major relationship. You both need to cool down and compromise, otherwise the emotional tug-of-war will just continue. Single Crabs – have you been looking for love in all the obvious places? Pluto encourages you to be more subtle and strategic. Sunday is super for group activities and creative joint ventures.

lEO (July 23 – aug 22)

Lions can be very vain creatures. There’s nothing wrong with looking good, but don’t make it your main focus. Look a lot deeper in yourself and others to find the real beauty within. Reflect on the wise words of Michael J. Fox (born on June 9, 1961): “One of the things I’ve learned is that vanity is worthless. Whatever you look like is such a complete and utter waste of time.”

VirgO (aug 23 – sept 22)

Retrograde Mercury continues to regurgitate unresolved issues, and it will take patience and persistence to work your way through the long list. Friday’s Full Moon fires up your home zone, so it’s not the ideal time to get the long lost relatives together for a reunion, or to bring up sensitive issues with fractious family members. Plus be extra careful when talking, texting and tweeting.

liBra (sept 23 – Oct 23)

You have a strong desire to communicate via activities like teaching, public speaking, serious study, intense discussions or neighbourhood negotiations. But (with Mercury retrograde, and Venus opposing Saturn) don’t be dismayed if people misinterpret the message you are trying to convey. Be patient Libra! Others will eventually come to appreciate your point-of-view.

scOrpiO (Oct 24 – nov 21)

You’re set for a tricky week, as Venus opposes Saturn (in your sign) and Mars squares Pluto (your ruling planet). When it comes to close relationships, expect anything from fiery confrontations to stony silences. Friday’s Full Moon magnifies money matters and self-esteem issues. Have confidence in your inner worth, and avoid being too attached to material possessions.

sagiTTarius (nov 22 – dec 21)

With Friday’s Full Moon falling in your sign, your positive Sagittarian traits are amplified – and so are your negative ones. Aim to be generous, gregarious and optimistic (rather than bossy, belligerent and impatient). Attached Archers – Saturn favours stability in relationships, as you focus on solving problems, rather than running away! Singles – love and work are linked.

capricOrn (dec 22 – Jan 19)

In your desire to get ahead this week, you’re likely to arouse intense opposition. Avoid the temptation to boss others around, as it will only make matters worse. Take a chill pill Capricorn! Instead, try channelling your excess energy into regular physical exercise. Activities like golf, jogging, biking, hiking, bush walking and rock climbing suit your down-to-earth, disciplined style.

aQuarius (Jan 20 – feb 18)

Ambitious Aquarius – do you fantasise about upsizing your lifestyle? Friday’s Full Moon stimulates your hopes and wishes zone, but make sure you have the cold, hard cash to finance your super-sized dreams. In the current economic climate, small and sustainable is the sensible way to live. And expect some family problems or workplace friction, as stress levels rise.

piscEs (feb 19 – mar 20)

Have you been procrastinating Pisces? With this week’s Full Moon lighting up your work zone, you need to shake up your daily routine and be bold and brave as you plan your future career path. If you have the confidence to listen to your intuition, you’ll be one step ahead of the professional pack! It’s also time to tackle DIY projects you’ve been putting off around the home.

across

1 Name another term for a weighing machine

8 What is an introductory part of a discourse, poem, or novel?

9 Pele was renowned for his prowess in which sport?

10 To supply land with water to promote vegetation, is to do what?

11 What, colloquially, do we call a person who endures pain bravely?

13 What do we call an article or substance used in dressing, such as soap, shaving lotion, deodorant, etc?

16 One who has practised legerdemain has done what?

19 Name another term for layabouts

22 What is a close-fitting covering for the foot and leg?

24 Which herons bear long plumes in the breeding season?

25 What describes a fixed period of holidays?

26 What do we call a person whose name is thought to be the source of the name of a city, country, etc?

down

2 What is a company of singers called?

3 That which is lawful is said to be what?

4 Which racer runs at full speed for a short distance?

5 Which number does the Roman numeral IV refer to?

6 Name the place in which the bodies of persons found dead are exposed for identification

7 Upon which river is Newcastle, NSW situated?

12 Which metallic element has the symbol Fe?

14 Which term is descriptive of a native?

15 What is a volume, especially a ponderous one?

17 Which term describes a habitual criminal?

18 Name a species of wild dog of Asia and Africa

20 Which musical direction dictates “in a slow and solemn manner”?

21 To be (colloquially) luxurious or elegant, is to be what?

23 Name the sacred bird, venerated by the ancient Egyptians Solution next week

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• Elevated north facing block

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Venue On Site

Andrew Smith 0409 600 471 raywhitecommercial.com.au

Property ID 1142935

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