141016 citynews

Well written, well read

SHOCK! HORROR! FUN!

MORE TO BEING A ZOMBIE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Floating surprises of the public pool

SONYA FLADUN

Pokie debate falls into the predictable spin

JEFF HOUSE

Gai pricks our cafe latte bubble

IAN MEIKLE Hard job to kick summer goals

TIM GAVEL

Floating horrors of the pool

WE spent much of a holiday afternoon at one of Canberra’s public pools.

Our boy and girl swam and contentedly splashed while their parents sat poolside, working on their laptops, browsing social media and drinking coffee.

Suddenly, however, there was a flurry of activity.

The lifeguards were peering intently into the water.

One raced off and returned carrying a net on a long pole. He waded in and attempted to scoop up something that appeared to have spread widely in the crowded pool.

Our kids emerged from the water to report that another child had vomited copiously into the pool.

“There were lots of chunky bits,” my 12-year-old son told us.

“I could see bits of carrot, it went everywhere,” his eight-year-old sister added while pulling a face at the horror of it all.

This didn’t come as a great surprise. However, what did surprise me was the response of the pool staff. After ineffectually trying to scoop up some of the semi-solid material, they quickly gave up and contented themselves with noting the details on an incident report form that they locked away in the swimming centre office.

What they didn’t do was clear everyone out of the pool.

It took me only a few minutes to confirm that’s what needed to be done. Thanks to the internet I was able to quickly check the ACT Government’s code of practice for public pools and the relevant NSW health guidelines.

For good measure I also read the US Centre for Disease Control’s comprehensive guidance on how to deal with vomit and faecal “incidents” at swimming pools.

There’s no shortage of advice about what to do, and it’s all pretty consistent: everyone should leave the pool and it

what did surprise me was the response of the pool staff. After ineffectually trying to scoop up some of the semi-solid material, they quickly gave up… what they didn’t do was clear the pool.

should remain closed until the chlorine and filtration cycle has dealt with the problem.

Contrary to popular belief, chlorine doesn’t kill all germs and parasites instantly. Some are very tolerant to chlorine and it takes time to kill them.

Depending on the nature of the incident and the level of chlorination, this can vary from 20 minutes to an hour for a serious case of vomiting or what the CDC describes as a “formed stool incident”; to a full day for a case of diarrhoea in the pool.

The health risk is significant as giardia or cryptosporidium parasites can cause serious gastrointestinal illnesses. There was a significant crypto outbreak linked to several Canberra public pools in 1998. More than 360 people were infected.

Some Canberra pools are rigorous in dealing with these incidents. However, some appear pretty lax.

Over a decade of visiting Canberra’s pools, mainly in spring and summer, we’ve just about seen it all: from parents happily allowing their kids to pee in the pool to toddlers in the water with overloaded, leaking nappies.

Although it’s not common, we’ve seen evidence of projectile vomiting and diarrhoea.

Often the toilets look like they haven’t been cleaned for a long time. A visit to a crowded public pool in summer can sometimes be pretty disgusting.

I don’t want to put people off going to public pools, but I do think parents need to be a bit more responsible when it comes to what their children are doing in the water.

Swim nappies aren’t a catch all and you still need to take your child to the

SONYA FLADUN

toilet regularly even if they are toilet trained.

Kids with diarrhoea shouldn’t be at the pool at all.

As the CDC’s guidelines observe: “Those who swim when ill with diarrhoea place other swimmers at significant risk of getting sick… It is important that all pool managers stress to patrons that swimming when ill with diarrhoea is an unhealthy swimming behaviour.”

Some of Canberra’s pool operators ought to be more vigilant in implementing ACT Health’s code of practice. It might be inconvenient to close a pool, especially when it’s packed with swimmers on a hot summer day but from time to time that’s just what has to be done.

Summer is coming and it would be timely for the ACT Government to launch a new public health campaign about pool hygiene. Then we might be confident it’s safe to go into the water.

since 1993: Volume 20, Number 38

Arts & entertainment 26-28

Canberra Confidential 22

Cinema 27

dining 28

Garden 30-31

Horoscope 29

News 3-16

Politics 14

Puzzles 29

socials 17-19

sport 10

contacts

Cover: Haus

Ceo: Greg Jones, 0419 418196, greg@citynews.com.au

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

Journalists: Kathryn Vukovljak, kathryn@citynews.com.au

Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764, helen@citynews.com.au

senior advertising executive: Ernie Nichols, 0421 077999

Advertising sales executives: Graham Spencer, 6262 9100; Rebecca Dann, 0431 042087; Charlotte Cuttle, 6262 9100

Advertising sales co-ordinator: ad@citynews.com.au

sydney advertising sales: Ad Sales Connect, 02 9420 1777

Production manager / graphic designer: Janet Ewen

Graphic designer: Paulette Leo

Photographers: Gary Schafer and Andrew Finch

Proof reader: Glenda Anderson

Accounts manager: Bethany Freeman-Chandler accounts@citynews.com.au

distribution: Richard Watson, circulation@citynews.com.au

Phone 6262 9100 fax 6262 9111 GPO Box 2448, Civic 2601

Gai pricks our cafe latte bubble

AS we smugly purred at being recognised internationally as living in the best city on the entire earth, forgetting for the moment the public service slicing and the feeble retail sales figures, that insensitive member for Canberra couldn’t help but prick our cafe latte bubble.

Gai Brodtmann was out spruiking that while we “enjoy a fantastic lifestyle, a wonderful sense of community and a beautiful environment” it could all be so easily taken away. No, Gai, no!

“The Abbott government’s plans to slash 16,500 public service jobs will hit our city hard. This is a government that has contempt for Canberra and contempt for the public service.”

MEANWHILE, across the border there was dancing in the streets for the 800 Queanbeyan ratepayers being menaced by the council for rates arrears totalling $3.7 million. On the comfort of legal advice from Sydney, the council sensibly withdrew the backdated supplementary rates bills, inspiring Tim Overall with mayoral understatement to declare it a “pleasing outcome”. Ruffle his hair someone!

FIRST the house, now possessions are under threat as part of the Mr Fluffy

despite Gallagher nipping their heels, the glacial decision-making from the federal government on Mr fluffy is shameful.

clean-up nightmare with suggestions that some belongings will be treated as contaminated waste. Chief Minister Katy Gallagher could offer little solace as affected owners worry about what possessions and furniture they will be allowed to keep if their house is demolished. Nor was the Chief able to say when a decision would be made on the future of the affected 1000 homes, other than the hope it would be “this side of Christmas”.

“How is it OK for us to live in the houses with these items but they can’t be given away?” asks one owner, not unreasonably, on the Facebook page of the Fluffy Owners and Residents’ Action Group. Despite Gallagher nipping their heels, the glacial decision-making from the federal government is shameful.

THE “Monopoly” money being thrown at executives going from and coming to our Toy Town water instrumentality is eye watering.

Outgoing Actew Water CEO Mark Sullivan trousered a consoling $690,000 when he slipped away in February, followed by his deputy Ian Carmody,

who scored a $419,000 termination payout, chief financial officer Simon Wallace, $241,000 and company secretary Michele Norris, $324,000. The subsequent public hand wringing then flushed out Actew Water to confirm that the salary for new MD John Knox is $693,000, reassuringly the same as Sullivan’s, which will warm the hearts of ratepayers.

ALL of which was small comfort for Actew Water customers in Macarthur, Fadden, Gilmore, Wanniassa and Chisholm who started the week deprived of being able to shower, bathe or wash clothes or dishes for a couple of days after a water main burst.

An Actew spokeswoman, with a straight face, helpfully recommended that affected residents avoid drinking water if it appeared, tasted or smelled objectionable.

AS PUP senator Jacqui Lambie might observe, the Greens cabinet cuckoo

IAN MEIKLE

It starts with listening.

Shane Rattenbury appears to be growing a pair and taken umbrage with the Chief Minister, criticising her calls for a national or state-based clinical trial of medical marijuana. He says it means years more delay for sick Canberrans and overseas evidence was adequate for the ACT to allow cannabis for pain relief.

CANBERRA’S remarkable paralympian skier and cyclist Michael Milton has been inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in Melbourne.

“Michael Milton not only defies limits, he destroys them!,” says selection committee chair Robert de Castella

Regular columnist Robert Macklin is on

Ron Friesen | 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.

TRAVEL TIME IS OLD NEWS

Traffic and lengthy travel time to all major Canberra town centres is a thing of the past when you live at Newtown, no matter what mode of transportation you choose.

With less time spent on travel, you can spend your days doing more of the fun things!

Newtown is close by to the booming Gungahlin shopping precinct, the Belconnen town centre and Canberra city, presenting everything you need for your weekend adventures on a platter. Not to mention, the supermarket, café, medical centre and more, just around the corner at Crace Central retail centre. From $309,900

• Gentle & Caring

• Children in Health Funds –No Gap clean & check ups

• Children eligible for the Medicare Dental Benefits Scheme – Bulk Billing

• Quality Cosmetic & General Dentistry

• Orthodontics

• Easy parking

• Open Saturdays!

3/25 Mustang Avenue Majura Park Medical Centre, Majura (find us between Costco and Trade Secret)

Phone: 6247 1999 Email: info@airportsmilelounge.com.au www.airportsmilelounge.com.au

ALSO IN CANBERRA CITY

The Smile Lounge, Suite 5, 88-96 Bunda Street. Phone: 6247 5100

COURSE PRESENTER: AMELIA STARR

Executive Director, Livable Housing Australia

Who should attend: Residential developers and builders, building surveyors, certifiers, access consultants and architects.

9am – 4pm Monday, 27 October 2014

The Brassey in Barton Member: $250 inc. GST Non Member: $400 inc. GST

To register, contact rscott@propertyoz.com.au

Lapping up parking freedom

THE school holidays proved the perfect opportunity for a “stay-cation”; Floriade was in full bloom, the weather was beautiful and, for the first time, there was no pressure to get a parking spot outside our national attractions.

A visit to the National Library – once a daunting task due to its notoriously-full car park – was a breeze and circling the National Museum car park was a thing of the past – a prime spot at the front door gave us more time to visit the fabulous “Spirited” exhibition.

Interstate visitors to the National Portrait Gallery were impressed by more than the art – they were also impressed by the ease with which they were able to get in and out for the price of some loose change.

There have been noticeably more cyclists around the parliamentary triangle in the last few weeks – something that is good for wallets and waistlines.

ACTION has reported an increase of more than 500 people catching the bus to and from work in the parliamentary zone each day – and as the services increase, so too will the convenience of bus transport.

Driving to work has an environmental cost – and 22 per cent of the ACT’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transport. If a third of us embrace sustainable public transport options – buses, bikes, walking and car pooling – our emissions will drop by an estimated 14 per cent.

there have been noticeably more cyclists around the parliamentary triangle in the last few weeks – something that is good for wallets and waistlines.

Paid parking in the triangle also rebalances the inequity that has commuters pay for all-day parking elsewhere in Canberra, including Civic and the town centres.

In a geographically dispersed city such as Canberra, there will always be a need for cars. But that doesn’t mean cars should be king, and the new paid-parking regime will help us build a more welcoming, more sustainable city.

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

CATHERINE CARTER

• Pre-nuptial agreements

•

•

• Separation and Divorce

Hard job to kick summer goals

I AM often wrong about these things, but next year’s Asian Soccer Cup and the Cricket World Cup are shaping as a tough sell to the Canberra market.

For a start: none of the games involve Australia; the timing for the Asian Cup isn’t great with most Canberrans down the coast when the seven games are scheduled during January; and some of the teams have little following in Canberra.

The Asian Cup has the potential to be one of the biggest sporting events Canberra has been involved in. Canberra Stadium will host six pool matches and a quarter final with the first game featuring Korea and Oman.

Canberra’s participation will start on January 10 and finish with the quarter final on January 23.

Manuka Oval will host three games in the Cricket World Cup starting with Bangladesh against Afghanistan on February 18, followed by the West Indies versus Zimbabwe and South Africa versus Ireland on March 3.

The marketing campaign for both events is in full swing with organisers doing all they can to get people in Canberra interested, with plenty of promotion and reasonable ticket prices.

Sometimes when the expectation isn’t great, as it may be for Bangladesh taking on Afghanistan in the cricket or UAE versus Qatar in the soccer, the experience turns out to be far more enjoyable. Let’s hope Canberra takes this on!

This was the case during events such as the 2003 Rugby World Cup where Australia wasn’t involved in games at Canberra Stadium but the crowds turned out to be part of the experience.

Canberra has shown that it will support major events in the past so the hope is that it will continue in January and February next year.

the timing for the Asian Cup isn’t great with most Canberrans down the coast when the seven games are scheduled during January.

when sheens faced the chop

TIM Sheens’ revelations that he faced the sack early in the 1989 season before the Raiders went on to win the Grand Final simply adds to the folklore surrounding Canberra’s first rugby league premiership.

As Tim explained, there was a faction on the board that didn’t want him as coach. Some on the board believed the 1988 season was a failure with the side eliminated by Balmain in the semi-finals after the Raiders had made the final the year before.

Some on the board told him that he only had five games to prove himself after the 1989 season started with a loss to the Sharks. Club founder, Les McIntyre, then stepped in and quashed any move to sack the coach and the team went on a winning run with Mal Meninga replacing Dean Lance as captain.

John McIntyre was the Raiders’ chief executive back in those days. He says some on the board wanted to pursue Warren Ryan or Brian Smith as a replacement for Sheens.

Ryan was still contracted to Balmain and McIntyre says he threatened to quit his post if

TIM GAVEL

available at ticketek.com.au or at the gate For more information visit thoroughbredpark.com.au or call on 02 6204 0000

Smith was appointed. It was a board room at times divided; yet when I was reporting on the Raiders at that time there were no leaks about the disharmony.

In fact, it has taken 25 years for this to be revealed. Perhaps some on the board wanted it to remain hidden given the Raiders’ premiership success in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

It is hard to imagine that such information could remain hidden in the current world of sport with everything in the public domain through social media and increased scrutiny. Yet it provides an interesting

Debate falls into a predictable spin

MICHAEL Moore’s column (“Conflicted Labor can’t get snout out of pokies’, CN, October 9) on Labor and pokies was the latest in a series of all-too-predictable responses to the reforms announced recently by Gaming Minister Joy Burch.

Much of these ill-informed responses featured in three separate articles spread across two days in “The Canberra Times”, the result of the standard practice of trawling for comment in an era where the media runs angles as well as any paid political spin doctor.

The first of three “Canberra Times” response pieces led with Tim Costello’s familiar “dracula in charge of the blood bank” claim that governments are reliant on gaming taxes and therefore conflicted. I doubt Tim Costello knows that gaming tax in the ACT comprises only 0.79 per cent of total revenue and is falling mainly as a result of government imposing tighter restrictions on all clubs, including those aligned with political parties.

The Australian Christian Lobby chided the government for giving into the clubs. A sentiment echoed by Maj. Kelvin Alley from the Salvation Army, who was deeply concerned about the impact of poker machines on the community.

Now, I think the Salvos do great work but their comments on the ills of gambling would

if you can’t be bothered to respond to consultation, that doesn’t mean the consultation was inadequate. it means your response to that consultation was inadequate.

have more credibility if I didn’t see Salvation Army members soliciting donations from punters at Rosehill on a major race day.

Maj. Alley went on to call for the creation of an independent body to regulate poker machines in the ACT. This was a call repeated by Michael Moore, which I will come back to.

The second response piece was the reaction from the Australian Hotels Association which ran as an entirely separate article in the same edition of “The Canberra Times” that contained the first.

The theme for the third response piece was lack of consultation and an example of cabinet solidarity, Shane Rattenbury style!

ACTCOSS complained about a lack of consultation. The government wrote to ACTCOSS along with The Salvation Army, the ACT Churches Council and many more organisations, inviting a response to the discussion paper. There was also an advertisement in “The Canberra Times” inviting comment. Most, including ACTCOSS, chose not to respond.

Again, these are great organisations but if you can’t be bothered to respond to consultation, that doesn’t mean the consultation was inadequate. It means your response to that consultation was inadequate.

Rattenbury’s contribution was to call for $1 maximum bets and clubs to develop business models less reliant on poker machines. Given Mr Rattenbury has already spoken against clubs better utilising land to reduce their reliance on gaming, I look forward to his ideas on how clubs can meaningfully diversify.

I’d be very surprised if Mr Rattenbury did his cabinet colleague Minister Burch the courtesy of letting her know what he was going to say and I can only speculate on whether Mr Rattenbury raised any issues in cabinet when the reforms were discussed. Cabinet solidarity prevents his colleagues from discussing that point publicly.

Notwithstanding that, I find it challenging to reconcile Mr Rattenbury’s position on poker machines given the Greens’ track record on accepting political donations linked to gaming.

Columnist Michael Moore concludes his piece by repeating the call to establish an independent arms-length body to regulate poker machines.

A quick google search would’ve revealed the website for the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission, an independent statutory authority charged with the responsibility of regulating poker machines and all other forms of gaming. Moore was a member of the Legislative Assembly when the legislation creating this independent commission was passed in 1999.

I respect Michael Moore and he was correct when he said the politics of pokies in the ACT are quite challenging. Uninformed, biased, superficial shoot-from-the-hip commentary with more than enough hypocrisy to go around adds to the challenge.

Surely our collective responsibility is to ensure there is informed debate and not just debate.

Jeff House is the CEO of ClubsACT.

JEFF HOUSE

REID THE annual St John’s Anglican Church fair is being held at Reid, 9.30am-1.30pm, on Saturday, October 18. As well as produce stalls, this year’s fair will feature a jumping castle, patting paddock, kids’ craft and a giant inflatable obstacle course.

WANNIASSA A TWILIGHT Fair will be held at Wanniassa Hills Primary School, Langdon Avenue, 3pm-7pm on Friday, October 24. It will feature games, rides, a book stall, an art show, trash and treasure and a petting zoo.

DEAKIN THE Canberra Girls’ Grammar School’s annual P&F fete will be held, 10am-3pm on Saturday, October 25. Spread over 1.2 hectares, it’s reckoned to be the biggest school fete in Canberra. Entry is free.

HOLDER The Montessori “Village Fair” will be held at Mulley Street, 9am-2pm, on October 26. There is a craft stall of work made by Montessori families, plants for sale and a secondhand children’s clothing stall.

LYNEHAM “THE fete with pleasures and passion” is the promise for St Ninian’s Uniting Church fete at the corner of Mouat and Brigalow Streets, Lyneham, 9am-1pm, on Saturday, November 1. Among the attractions are Christmas cakes, Tongan savouries and sweets, Devonshire teas, garden, craft, a country kitchen and a white elephant stall.

CALWELL ST Mary in the Valley in Calwell is holding its Community Fair, 9am-1pm, on Saturday, November 15.

Open for trade from Thursday October 16th at the Canberra Outlet Centre.

How the Libs interfere in freedom

WHERE do the Liberals stand on freedom of speech? Where do they stand on our basic freedoms?

ACT Opposition Arts spokesman Brendan Smyth screams about the funding of a group that runs the headline “Kill Climate Deniers”; earlier this year his federal colleague Attorney-General, George Brandis, was forced to back down in his attempt to remove racial vilification laws in the name of freedom of speech and, more recently, there’s political agreement on a 10-year jail sentence for naughty journalists.

The Liberal Party doesn’t have a consistent, well thought out, shared view on how freedom is achieved. Instead, political opportunism drives an inconsistent approach.

David Marr, writing in “The Monthly”, quoted PM Tony Abbott telling the Australia Institute that he had taken up the cudgels for freedom.

“We stand for the freedoms which Australians have a right to expect and which governments have a duty to uphold. We stand for freedom and will be freedom’s bulwark against the encroachments of an unworthy and dishonourable government”.

On the one hand the Liberals would love to think freedom means there should be no interference, especially when it comes to business. On the other hand, its more conservative elements have

the Liberal Party doesn’t have a consistent, well thought out, shared view on how freedom is achieved. instead, political opportunism drives an inconsistent approach.

no hesitation interfering with freedom when it comes to protecting government secrets, the freedom of women to control their own bodies, the right of people to choose to end their own lives or the right of same-sex couples who are in love to be able to marry.

When Smyth attacked “embattled Arts Minister Joy Burch” in a press release saying she “has presided over yet another example of bad judgement and appalling taste by granting over $18,000 to a theatre group to develop a work with the completely inappropriate title of ‘Kill Climate Deniers’” he raised a fundamental question about the role of government. He went further, complaining about using “taxpayers’ money to fund a work entitled ‘kill’ anyone is clearly both stupid and irresponsible”.

Perhaps the real stupidity is in not having a consistent approach on the question of freedom.

Burch was in a lose-lose situation. A

very similar attack would have been mounted by Smyth if she had interfered. The Abbott concepts would have been brought to the fore with accusations of “political correctness” and interfering with the role of the public service.

In reality, the role of the minister is to make sure the process is open, fair and consistent. Perhaps the more important area of debate was around whether the minister had put the right processes in place.

Tony Abbott highlighted the issue: “If we are going to maintain that great spirit of inquiry, which is the spark that has made our civilisation so strong, then we’ve got to allow people to say things that are unsayable in polite company. We’ve got to allow people to think things that are unthinkable in polite company and take their chances in open debate”. Where is this more important than in the arts?

It is time the Liberals looked seriously

for consistency on the notion of freedom. They would do well to learn from political philosopher Philip Pettit who provided a brilliant insight into freedom. In his book, “Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government”, he challenged the popular notion of freedom as meaning no interference and explained: “My aim in this book is to try to identify the main features of freedom as non-domination”. The ideal of freedom as non-domination provides a very different appreciation from interference in our lives. It provides the tools to regulate against monopolies, or harmful industries such as tobacco and to ensure a fairer society. Unlike the Liberals’ politically opportunistic approach to freedom, it provides a principled stance.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the

Time to play

THE ACT Playgroups annual PlayFEST will be held at Cook Community Hub, 41 Templeton Street, 10am-1pm, on Tuesday, October 21. Community organisations will offer information for parents and arts or sporting organisations will facilitate “come and try” sessions. There will be free face painting, a merry-go-round, storytelling, music, dance and craft. More information at 1800 171882 or playgroupaustralia.com.au/act

History lesson

CAROL Haslem is the guest speaker at the next Woden View Club lunch meeting where she will trace the club’s history. It’s at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden, from midday, Tuesday, October 28. The cost is $24 and interested ladies are welcome to call 6281 2022 by October 22.

MEANWHILE the Weston Creek View Club’s lunchtime meeting will feature a quiz when it meets at the Southern Cross Club, Woden, on Tuesday, November 4. Visitors welcome, lunch is $24 and RSVP to 6281 3110 by October 31.

Fun for children

THE ACT Bilingual Education Alliance is promising games and fun activities for children in a range of languages during its Children’s Week family event at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, Civic Square, 2pm-4pm, on Sunday, October 26. Meet families raising children in more than one language and others interested in language teaching and learning. More information from canberrabilingual@gmail.com or call 0408 089235.

Historical correction

THE Canberra District Historical Society is hosting “A Quiz about Curtin” to mark Curtin’s 50th at the St James Uniting Church Hall, 2pm-5pm on Saturday, October 25, not Sunday as published previously.

Cat exclusive five star boarding. Purrsonalised care for cats of all ages. Fully furnished temperature controlled units, veterinary recommended diet, daily playtime and outdoor enclosures.

15 years of cat boarding experience.

Rise and rise of the walking zombies

Zombies will soon invade Canberra, but not to scare the living hell out of those living in the capital. they’ll be limping, shuffling and slithering through city streets to raise awareness and money for an important cause, writes weNdy JoHNsoN

THE Zombie Walk 2014 is being held for the Brain Foundation, a national charity that funds world-class research into neurological disorders, brain disease and brain injuries.

Depending on the myth you choose, a zombie is a human that comes back from the dead. They don’t have a beating heart but can still perform human functions.

Zombie Walk organiser, Jae Burns, says last year’s inaugural event exceeded expectations.

“We hoped for 150 zombies and ended up with around 600,” says Jae. “This year we’re expecting at least 800 and want to raise well over the $6000 we donated to the Brain Foundation in 2013. All donations go direct to research conducted by neurologists and neurosurgeons.”

If it all sounds too scary, do not fear.

The Saturday, November 1, Zombie Walk is a free, family-friendly event, designed around having a lot of fun, so ankle-biter zombies are welcome. All organisers ask for is a gold coin donation.

The Zombie Walk started in Toron-

to, Canada, with the infection quickly spreading to other countries. It operates in every major city in Australia, with funds raised going to different causes. Jae says Canberra chose the Brain Foundation for its important work in a range of disorders affecting more than 2.5 million Australians, including those with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, head injuries and brain tumours.

Several Haus Models will participate in the Zombie Walk for the first time, including 180-cm tall Illana Davies who has appeared in Italian “Vogue” online and at Fashfest.

The models will be transformed from gorgeous creatures into gruesome creatures by a team of make-up artists from CMA (Canberra Make-up Academy).

Two senior make-up artists, Jacquie Scott and Dove Hamilton, will lead the way, having recently returned from a workshop in Sydney at the Australian College of Make-up and Special Effects. The “blood and guts workshop” was held by award-winning special effects and prosthetic make-up artist

Illana was dead keen to “get into character” during a practice session at CMA’s Mitchell studio and sat for close to three hours watching two make-up artists apply lacerations, bite marks, growths and decaying flesh prosthetics to her face, chest and arms.

Dove managed the make-up trial –combining zombie with high fashion – supported by Taylor Perrin, who recently graduated with a diploma of specialist make-up services.

The prosthetics were made by filling a “wound mould” with a thin coating of silicon. Once applied, the make-up artists painstakingly blended the

prosthetics on to Illana’s skin. The wounds were filled with yellow tattoo colouring (the colour of flesh) and eventually with fake blood.

Two colours of veins were airbrushed on to Illana’s neck and arms and special make-up applied under one eye for a bruising effect. Her chestnut hair was then teased and conditioner and silicon applied to make it look limp. On the total effect? Even Illana said she felt a bit queasy looking at her face in the mirror.

The Zombie Walk will shuffle off at 3.30pm from Regatta Point along Allara Street and City Walk and resting at Garema Place where there will be live music.

Aside from gold coin donations, organisers raise funds through “Zombie Invasion 2014”, the official after party, which will be held at the Magpies City Club from 5pm. Prizes for best-dressed zombies will be donated by Dee’s Books and Comics. Register at canberrazombiewalk.com

CREDITS

Photo by Gary schafer

Make-up artists dove Hamilton and taylor Perrin

Hair by deb Pobjie Venue, CMA studio, Mitchell

lowbrow

Tories and Whigs once more

WATCHING the dismal activities of the Legislative Assembly has had me thinking (as opposed to the Commonwealth Parliament which terrifies me).

Wednesday 22nd October 7.00 –8.30 pm Apollo Room, Hellenic Club Matilda Street, Phillip ACT 2606

Enjoy an informative and eventful evening, talk to health professionals and gain practical tips about lifestyle modification to prevent Osteoporosis. Learn how to improve your health, fitness and diet. To help us plan, please RSVP. Please call 6288 4244 or email: info@arthritisact.org.au

There will be a range of Health Professional Guest Speakers on the evening. For specific details call 02 6288 4244 or email info@arthritisact.org.au

It wasn’t so long ago that there was some ideology, some meaning, to the major parties. Now the Liberals just howl that they’d be better managers, based on no particular available evidence they’ve got any management capabilities at all outside of Jeremy Hanson’s stint in the army.

Party memberships have hollowed out though. Twenty five years ago given a choice of watching “Kingswood Country” on the TV or going down to the club, getting a feed, a beer and having a good-natured political debate it’s easy to see party membership as the preferable alternative.

Now the internet brings the sum total of human entertainment to our fingertips and who has time to finish “Orange is the New Black”, before the next season of “Game of Thrones” starts, while racking up the levels in “Destiny”, listening to Frank Turner and stalking their exes on Facebook?

Intriguingly, from the same era a major change reshaped the political landscape in the country in ways very few people have remarked on.

Faced with sharply declining union memberships Paul Keating created compulsory superannuation.

Suddenly nine per cent of the income of all the nation was flowing into super funds and the union movement controlled about half of them via the industry funds (remember there was no choice of funds back then). The Labor movement suddenly became the party of finance with $165 billion under management.

To be fair, they give their members a far better deal than most of the rest of the sector,

The Liberals are now a party for the gentry on their landholdings, and Labor a party of industry and finance.

but in terms of letting the financial markets garnishee the wages of the entire country in fees to the benefit of the union movement, it was a masterstroke.

Meanwhile, the Liberals have been undergoing a transformation from the membership-based party of the middle classes it was founded as.

Pastoralists and the mining lease holders, once we called them landed gentry now we call them “primary producers”, never ceased their need for political representation commensurate with their wealth, so they chipped away at Menzies’ party and, with the collapse in membership, their time has come.

We end up with the ancient battle between the Tories and the Whigs on Australian shores!

The Liberals are now a party for the gentry on their landholdings, and Labor a party of industry and finance. The hopes, needs and wants of the wider electorate are mostly unimportant to them because there’s not much a red-hot ad campaign and some security theatre can’t achieve when the media thunders in harness.

Whigs and Tories are reborn more than a century after letting women and the poor vote wipe them out. All they had to do was kill off mainstream political engagement under a weight of well-earned cynicism.

Aside from the obvious problem of being

governed by parties with minimal interest in the wellbeing of the wider population there’s a bigger issue to worry about.

You might have noticed that the future is bearing down on us like a runaway truck.

Industries are being torn apart by disruptive technologies and jobs are about to start haemorrhaging.

We’re going to need a political system ready to change the established order very quickly or we could all end up roadkill.

The new crop of Whigs and Tories show little sign of being up to the challenges of 1850, let alone 2020.

We might be facing the grisly reality that to save our world, our countries, and our lives, we’re going to need to get down to the club for a subbranch meeting, eat a schnitzel, drink some beer, and engage in a political debate.

It seems like a small price to pay.

John Griffiths is the online editor of the daily news service citynews.com.au

JOHN GRIFFITHS

Social event of the week / ‘An Evening of Italian Opera and Song’ scene / around canberra

witH style and grace Svetlana Sharapa Zazo, wife of the italian ambassador, Pier francesco Zazo, hosted solo for long-planned the “evening of italian opera and song” that didn’t count on plane delays from the solomon islands where Mr Zazo was on a diplomatic visit.

But it was a team effort with opera lover and able organiser

Teresa Zarlenga joining Svetlana and Anne-Sophie Hermann whose organisation, Buk bilong Pikinini, was the beneficiary of this fundraiser.

Buk bilong Pikinini was established in 2007 to provide dedicated libraries for children to help improve the estimated 50 per cent literacy rate in Papua New Guinea with targeted programs for early childhood learning. The latest library, number 16, was opened on Manus Island in June.

The evening’s musical menu was a delicious selection of favourites from Puccini, Rossini and Verdi

Alan Hicks at the piano, his lovely wife mezzo soprano

Christina Wilson, soprano

Karen Fitz-Gibbon and tenor

Christopher Lincoln Bogg performing, and a perfect evening to enjoy supper in the courtyard of this beautiful embassy.

Sunday Roast

Sundays from 10am, 2CC Talking Canberra presents an exciting new concept on Canberra radio – the CityNews Sunday Roast.

It’s a program that will trigger conversation and debate with news, views and background to issues that affect the great city in which we live. And it’s a revolving panel show that brings to the microphone great “CityNews” writers and 2CC’s local personalities.

Be a part of the discussion and call 6255 1206 between 10am and noon

At the opening of ‘Modulations’, CCAS, Braddon

A CRAFTE d PRO j ECT

PROPOSAL TO UPGRADE MOBILE PHONE BASE STATION AT CANBERRA

As part of a national infrastructure sharing project Optus and Vodafone plan to upgrade an existing telecommunications facility at 161 London Circuit, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601.

The works will include:

1. Removal of nine panel antennas and the installation of six panel antennas (each measuring no more than 2.8 metres in length); installation of twenty-one remote radio units; and associated ancillary works.

2. Optus and Vodafone regard the proposed installation as exempt development under Schedule 1 of the Planning and Development Regulations of 2008, Division 1.3.2.1 (Exempt Structures) Subdivision 1.60 Masts and Antennas.

3. Further information can be obtained from Ben Davies, (02) 9300 1716, bend@cpsglobal.com, and at www.rfnsa.com.au, RFNSA reference number 2601002.

4. Written submissions should be sent to: Vodafone c/o CPS Global, Level 5, 55 Grafton Street, Bondi Junction, New South Wales, 2022 by 5pm, Wednesday, 29th October 2014.

Start planning that towards the coast

escaping towards the coast is pretty much part of living in Canberra... whether it’s batemans bay, picturesque Kangaroo Valley, or exploring the wilds of the region’s

KANGAROO VALLEY

For the love of pies

SOUTHERN Pies is the newest bakery in Kangaroo Valley, with the guiding ethos to always do it for the love of pie.

“Our deep-dish gourmet pies are extremely popular, with a very generous amount of filling in a full, round shape,” says owner John.

Located right in the heart of the village, Southern Pies offers a new special pie every week, on top of its standard range of 12 different savoury varieties, including everything from the classic beef pie, which you can have with buttery mash, mushy peas and gravy, right through to the more unusual flavours such as lentil and chickpea dhal, or green Thai chicken.

Southern Pies haven’t forsaken the sweet side of piemaking either, with favourites such as old-fashioned cherry pie and newer tastes such as salted chai caramel slice.

“You can wash it all down with one of our retro milkshakes, complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top,” says John.

Southern Pies, 1/146 Moss Vale Road, Kangaroo Valley. Call 4465 2778 or go to southernpies.com.au

BATEMANS BAY

Resort style relaxation

THE Coachhouse Marina Resort is a beautiful, relaxing waterfront property located in Batemans Bay on the banks of the Clyde River and the Pacific Ocean, says general manager Clayton Birss.

Just a short two hour drive from Canberra, the resort is an easy walk to the town centre, but is set in 6.6 hectares of lush landscaped gardens.

“We have 89 fully self-contained villas, which are perfect for accommodating families, single travellers, groups, conferences, weddings and special events,” says Clayton.

“For those looking for extra luxury, the resort also has available a range of villas with waterfront views and spas.”

The Coachhouse Marina Resort is also a premier

national parks, there’s something for everyone.

Now that spring’s in the air, it’s time to start thinking about planning those trips to the coast for summer!

southern Pies… the newest bakery in Kangaroo Valley.

waterfront wedding venue, offering exceptional service and hospitality, as well as purpose-built conference venues complemented by magnificent scenery and professional staff. The venue can cater for between 10 and 250 delegates.

There is a 20-metre swimming pool, full-sized tennis court, children’s playground and barbeque areas on site, and with only a 10-minute walk to Corrigan’s swimming beach and boat ramp, the resort has something to offer everyone.

The Coachhouse Marina Resort, 49 Beach Road, Batemans Bay. Call 4472 4392, email bookings@coachhouse.com.au or visit coachhouse.com.au

advertising feature trip to the coast

BATEMANS BAY

THE Mariners Waterfront Hotel and Motel offers rooms for any budget, with a series of recently renovated water-view rooms available, as well as craft beers carefully matched to meals in the bar and bistro.

“We have more craft beers on tap than anywhere else on the south coast,” says licensee Heath Bailey. “The food we offer is predominantly gastropub-style with a strong focus on seafood, as we’re right on the coast here.

“We have the famous Clyde River oysters that the region is known for, and we use as much produce from the local area as we can.

“Our aim is to provide a food and beer experience,

with the craft beers matched to dishes on the menu, and we’re well known for it.” Heath says the convenient location is a big draw for holidaymakers.

“We have amazing views of the harbour and the water, and the bistro and bar conveniently on site, so it’s a great place to stay,” he says. “But we’re also centrally located, right in the middle of Batemans Bay, so visitors can experience other restaurants too and make the most of what’s on offer in town.”

Mariners Waterfront Hotel, 31 Orient Street, Batemans Bay. Call 4472 6222 or go to marinerswaterfront.com.au

Close to nature by the lagoon

the Sapphire Coast, surrounded by the Mimosa Rocks National Park and resting on the shores of the peaceful Middle Lake (once called Tanja Lagoon).

It’s the perfect antidote to “nature deficit disorder”, say owners and former wilderness guides Loz Hunt and Sam Bright, with accommodation in luxury safari tents designed to get people closer to the great outdoors. “You can be completely protected if you choose to be, but the canvas is still only a minimal separation from the sounds of the ocean and various birds,” says Loz. “Some people choose to open all the windows, and kids sleep in luxury swags, out on the deck if they wish.”

With a mob of kangaroos and wallabies grazing near the tents, and a huge array of bird life, from parrots and spoonbills to black swans, herons and egrets, the camp is bursting with wildlife.

“It’s one of the really beautiful things about this place,” says Loz. “The wildlife is getting used to us being here now, and we’re getting bandicoots, echidnas and sugar gliders, as well as the multitude of fish in the lagoon – there is so much to see here.”

It’s the main reason people come, Loz says, and many don’t veer far from the camp, preferring to soak up the atmosphere from the deck, take a canoe out on the lagoon or explore the walking tracks to the beach.

“You don’t have to drive anywhere, although we are also a great launch point for exploring the area and the little villages along the coast,” she says.

“It’s the place to come when you need a complete break, to sleep deeply and to reconnect with nature.”

Tanja Lagoon Camp, 142 Haighs Road, Tanja. Call 6494 0123 or visit tanjalagooncamp.com.au

• Tanja Lagoon Camp is a perfect haven to immerse yourself in nature.

• Nestled between Middle/Tanja Lagoon and Mimosa Rocks National Park are 3 luxurious safari tents, each resting on it’s own spacious deck with magnificent lagoon views.

Mariners Waterfront Hotel & Motel has waterfront accommodation including:

• Each tent has a handcrafted Queen size bed, a lounge area with sofa and writing desk, an en-suite bathroom and a fully equipped kitchen.

• Tarifs range from $215 - $250 per night (2 night minimum) and include a light breakfast and free use of canoes.

• Enjoy world class birdwatching, abundant wildlife and magnificent local beaches.

Standard Water View

NEWLY RENOVATED Superior Water View Rooms

The Bar and Bistro offer amazing views of the Clyde River and ocean in comfortable modern surroundings.

The bar carries largest number of craft beers on tap on the South Coast.

The bistro serves fresh local seafood and modern Australian cuisine. Sit back on the deck with a glass of wine or ale accompanied with fresh local Clyde River oysters and enjoy life.

Canberra Confidential

Blessed are they who pay to park

PUBLIC servants performing the unnatural act of putting coins in a parliamentary triangle parking machine should feel truly blessed at paying only $12 a day.

Pictured is an example of parking in New York sent from one of CC’s roving local snouts Chris Emery. Despite the eye-catching prospect of an all-day special of $14.36, a closer look reveals that’s for 30 minutes. Which makes the cost of a Government working day (say, 9am to 4.50pm) $US244.88, about $257.40 in our money and that’s before we get to the issue of tax!

The Strolling Bones

HEY, hey, we’re the Grumpies… The Tuggers Arts Centre is calling out for arthritically untroubled musical codgers to form The Silver Rockers, a new rock ‘n’ roll outfit for seniors (“Think a highschool rock ‘n’ roll band for retirees,” they suggested, tongues firmly becheeked).

Tutor and professional musician Col Bernau, will help group members develop a small repertoire of popular rock ‘n’ roll pieces during the nine-week term, starting October 20. BYO groupies. Bookings to 6293 1443.

Elvis lives?

ELVIS lives and was spotted at the drivethrough at Maccas at Dickson? Naw, it’s the Irish pub King O’Malley’s ute.

The sexy ‘spooktacular’

“EERIE ecdysia” is the promise from Canberra’s burlesque and cabaretinspired Sass and Tease Collective, who are putting together a sexy halloween “spooktacular” at Teatro Vivaldi in the ANU on October 31. Ecdysia? Nude dancing – and the night’s stars include local burlesquers Ivy Ambrosia, Ursula Wolfe and Şeker Pare, Tiffany Blue

and Abel Fox and the Canberra winner of “Burlesque Idol”, Peppa Mint

And from Brisbane, “the Sparkling Sweetheart”, Lila Luxx, who “steals audiences’ hearts and then breaks them”.

Unlike the aforementioned, for anyone inclined to dressing up there will be a costume parade with prizes for best dressed. Tickets through eventbrite.

WHO says classified advertising is a lost art? This from the “Bungendore Mirror”.

WHILE on newspapers, here’s some news for “The Australian”: “Multimedia and breaking news out of Canberra from the website of Australia’s national daily newspaper, The Canberra Times,” says the pompous local fishwrappers’s Twitter bio.

ACT Liberals’ press release heading: “Govt. stiffles discussion with call-in”. Someone should stiffle their spell-check.

SEEN on a sandwich board in Civic.

spring fitness advertising feature

It’s time to put your fitness plan to work

the sun’s out and there’s no excuse for not wanting to feel fit and happy for the warmer months. this feature has all the options for anyone with a fitness plan, whether you want to set up a gym at home or attend an individually targeted gym workout to keep you motivated. if it’s been a while since you exercised, start out slow with stretching classes or Pilates, or dive straight in with dynamic self-defence or highenergy trampolining. it all starts here…

Smart way to getting fit

GYMGOER Judith Barnes says that a year ago she was unfit, overweight, size 16 and approaching 60, with the firm belief that gyms gave her hives!

A year on, after joining Curves, Judith says she’s a slimmer, fitter version of herself.

“I’ve lost more than 10kg, I’ve dropped to a size 9/10 and best of all, I achieved my goal to have a healthy BMI. It’s now 24.35 – healthy!”

Judith says she was invited by a Curves staff member to give the gym a go.

“I well recall, when I entered the gym that first morning, feeling aghast by the circle of exercise machines and vowing to myself I wouldn’t sign up,” she says.

“Within a few sentences though, one of the wonderful Curves staff had me keen to try it out.

“I was asked what my motivation for joining was. As it happens, I had that

TRY OUR CLASSES

very morning commenced a healthy eating plan because I wanted to be a slimmer version of myself for my birthday. I signed up; loved it and within a few weeks (and no hives!) I signed up for Curves Smart.”

Curves Smart is a state-of-the-art personal coaching system that has been incorporated into the Curves 30-minute circuit workout, automatically computing your workout data to produce detailed progress reports.

“I’ve never looked back,” says Judith. “I try to work out three mornings per week. I confess to waking on several wintry mornings and not particularly feeling like going to Curves, but I’ve always gone and have never ever, not once, regretted doing so.

“I love Curves; with the welcoming and helpful staff who have a great sense of humour and being among other members whose goals are similar and who are all invariably smiley and friendly.”

For information about the best Curves membership to suit you, and to find your nearest Curves, call 1300 287837.

Bouncing a way to fitness

THE Bounce House Indoor Trampoline Arena is an exciting and affordable sports and recreational facility owned and operated by a local Canberra family, says owner Sally Tait.

As well as trampolines, a foam pit and velcro wall, The Bounce House also offers Bouncercise exercise classes three days a week, and dodgeball competitions.

“Our goal is to facilitate positive health and wellbeing opportunities for all, providing families and individuals with an exciting fitness centre where they can enjoy getting healthy knowing they are in a safe and friendly environment,” says Sally.

The Bounce House caters for all ages, although children under 13 must be supervised by an adult.

“Our aim is to be the place every child wants to celebrate their next birthday and where every

Range of solutions for a range of people

AS well as supplying exercise equipment for private home and commercial use, all staff members at Summit Fitness are qualified personal trainers, says store manager Michael Saad.

“We can recommend equipment depending on the customer’s needs, budget and fitness levels,” he says.

“But we can also advise people about how to improve their workouts and help them to reach their goals.”

Summit Fitness stocks treadmills, elliptical trainers, rowing machines, stationary bikes, home gyms, free weights and yoga equipment, says Michael.

“Treadmills are popular for home use, and we have a wide range, with seven varieties on the shop floor at the moment,” he says.

Pilates for: Falls prevention/arthritis/osteoporosis

Tuesday 11.45am-12.30pm

Pilates Circuit

Tuesday 6.45-7.30pm Thursday 11.45am-12.30pm Thursday 6.45-7.30pm

“It really depends on the customer’s physical condition though – some people just love to run, and that’s great, but if there is a knee or ankle injury, I’d recommend an elliptical trainer or a rowing machine as they are lower impact on the joints.

“An elliptical is great for fat-burning and increasing heart rate, and it gives a better calorie burn if that’s the goal, because it uses the arms and so more muscles are engaged.

“We have a range of solutions for a range of people.”

Summit Fitness Equipment Canberra, Shop 12, Majura Park Shopping Centre, 18-26 Spitfire Ave, Majura. Call 6230 0594 or visit summitfit.com.au

Place, Belconnen 2614

business wants to have their next corporate event,” says Sally.

“We pride ourselves on delivering a clean, fun and safe environment for the community to enjoy, and we are dedicated to making safety our number one priority.”

As a family, we’ve been in Canberra a long time and we’re pleased and proud to say that we’re not affiliated with any national or nationwide trampolining franchise or business, says Sally.

“We are also community focused and are working on ways we can help Canberra-based charities and special needs organisations,” she says.

The Bounce House Indoor Trampoline Arena, ”The Wetlands”, Building 2, 1 Dairy Road, Fyshwick. Call 6280 9546.

spring fitness

An exciting new affordable LOCAL family owned,family entertainment/fun/fitness centre

We offer: • BOUNCERCISE Fitness Classes • Dodgeball

• Birthday parties

•Team training session

• Mums and bubs sessions • Bouncey Beans children’s program’s •Team buildings  • The cube • Cafe • Corporate events • Christmas parties

Dynamic self-defence

MARTIAL arts are not only a great way to get fit, but also a lot more enjoyable than working out on your own, says Reece Cummings, director of the Centre for Martial Arts & Human Development in Mitchell.

Bouncercise the newest,funnest & best way to get in shape for summer! By yourself or with a group of mates bouncercise is for you!

“TheWetlands”Building 2, 1 Dairy Road,Fyshwick, Australian CapitalTerritory Phone: (02) 6280 9546 Opening Hours Mon -Thurs: 12pm - 8pm Fri: 12pm - 9pm Sat: 10am - 9pm Sun: 10am - 6pm

The centre offers martial arts programs that focus on developing fitness, confidence, co-ordination and reflexes, self discipline, respect and effective self-defence skills.

“All programs are suitable for beginners and those with experience, and use a systematic approach to learning to ensure everyone can learn at their own pace,” he says.

The centre offers programs in Matsubayashi-ryu karate, Yoshinkan Aikido and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Matsubayashi-ryu karate is characterised by natural and whip-like techniques that use the body to deliver and block blows. It is a form and drill-based system with

a focus on practical and realistic self-defence training. Yoshinkan Aikido is noted for its non-aggressive approach to self-defence and it is taught exclusively to the Tokyo Metropolitan Riot Police. Aikido’s aim is to seek control rather than damaging the opponent by using submission throws, locks and holds and is suitable for men and women of all ages.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) is a modern martial art that is descended from judo, and made famous by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. BJJ is primarily a grappling style with the core concept being that good technique and the proper application of leverage allow even the smallest person to effectively defend themselves – and it’s a lot of fun to learn.

Centre for Martial Arts & Human Development, off Dacre Street, Mitchell. Call 0429 392785 or 6100 4148.

Stretch for wellbeing

STRETCHING is so important for improving strength and flexibility, and creating a general awareness of the body, says Emily Worsnop, owner of CARM Therapies.

The clinic offers twice-weekly stretching classes run by massage therapist Christine Webster, which are good for stretching novices or people who haven’t done a lot of exercise for a while.

“The stretching classes are not designed for rehabilitation or for yoga fanatics either, but they are great for promoting improved general health and wellbeing as part of a healthy lifestyle,” says Emily.

Rehabilitation and recovery

PILATES instructor Deb Carroll came to Pilates for rehabilitation from injury, and now offers Pilates-based rehabilitation, fascial fitness and remedial massage from two locations – Emu Bank and Scullin Place.

Deb’s initial training and interest in the rehabilitation process led to a natural progression into somatic movement therapy, which re-educates the neuromuscular system toward greater health and wellbeing.

Deb says she has valuable experience in allied modalities and managing chronic illness and injury.

“I have an increasing client list with lumbo-pelvic and shoulder injuries and a keen interest in the management of fatigue-based pathology, falls prevention, osteoporosis, breast cancer recovery programs and stroke recovery,” she says.

With more than 20 years of personal Pilates practice and teaching, Deb offers a diverse approach to the

feature

“We keep the classes small, at just six people, so that we are able to really focus on clients and offer alternative stretches if they have an injury or any other issues.”

CARM Therapies also offers remedial, relaxation, pregnancy, sports and deep-tissue massage, as well as dry needling and kinesio taping.

“We have two qualified remedial massage therapists available at the practice from Monday to Saturday,” says Emily.

CARM Therapies, Scullin Place, Scullin. Call 6162 1800 or visit carmtherapies.com.au

delivery of rehabilitation, blending Pilates and somatic therapies to provide a holistic yet focused approach for injury rehabilitation, injury prevention and general conditioning.

Contact Deb Carroll on 0414 865430 or email pilates.deb@live.com.au

Boot Camp starts 3rd November

arts & entertainment

Schumann in the fast lane

by Helen Musa

foR a man who wrote the song “i’ve been to bali too”, John schumann is exceedingly unimpressed by the “island of the gods” nowadays.

“I am very disappointed and distressed to say that Bali is tragically overcrowded and commercially-oriented,” Schumann tells me by phone as we talk about his coming visit to the Southern Cross Club.

“In fact I wouldn’t go there again if it wasn’t for the fact that there’s a guy there who’s probably the closest thing I have to a brother other than [fellow musician] Hugh McDonald,” he continues.

That friend, artist Tjokorda Krishna Sudharsana, now runs Klub Kokos, a blissful retreat outside Ubud, where Schumann has been taking a break and composing new songs.

Back at home, he’s in discussion with the Australian War Memorial about a big commemorative performance for the ongoing World War I commemorations, to be set against a backdrop from the memorial’s collection of war images.

There’s always something on the boil with Schumann, the contemporary

folk singer who, with his band Redgum, captured the plight of Australia’s Vietnam vets in “I Was Only 19”, long before the term post-traumatic stress disorder had entered our public vocabulary.

Schumann has become, de facto, one of this country’s greatest experts on PTSD.

“Life is very busy,” he tells “CityNews”.

“I do a lot of work with the Australian Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, I spend a lot of time out in indigenous communities and I’m involved in the ‘Minds in Mines’ mental health program designed around the ‘fly-in-fly-out’ lifestyle, speaking to miners above and below ground.”

Schumann is also very much involved with the agricultural sector, where mental health and depression problems have been observed for decades.

In short, while never trained for it, the former high school teacher has become one of Australia’s best advocate/counsellors for mental health issues.

“When I wrote ‘I Was Only 19’ I was simply telling a story, but it put PTSD on the national conversation table and it became a passion, so I learnt more and more about it,” he says.

In late 2009 he was approached by the Mental Health Directorate of the Army to work on a “quite effective” program

Imogen’s keen to please

by Helen Musa it’s a happy 21st for prize-winning Canberra stage designer, imogen Keen – her 21st production for the street theatre, that is.

When “CityNews” snapper Gary Schafer caught up with Keen at The Street, she was busy perfecting space-age costumes for Cathy Petocz’s space-age detective play, “Where I End & You Begin” and playing with bits of potential space detritus in the form of hard, yellow foam.

Since she was first invited to come on board regularly by artistic director Caroline Stacey, Keen has been delighting audiences and winning critical notice with her inventive use of unexpected materials, textures and colours. Her sets sometimes envelope the actors, at other times ironically commenting on the stage action.

encouraging soldiers to put their hands up if they had psychological issues. Then he was approached by Dr Jennifer Bowers, at the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, and that saw him and McDonald, guitarist and violinist with Redgum, playing at remote mine sites.

He’s pleased to come back to Canberra.

“Canberra has been a really hot spot for me and Redgum,” he reports, with his friend “Frog” Harris’ Songland Music store at Cooleman Court selling an extraordinary number of their albums.

“I sometimes idly wonder what it is about people in Canberra that they react so well to my stuff.”

In his Southern Cross Club concert, Schumann plans to do some of the old Redgum songs “because that’s what people want to hear”.

There will be songs from his Henry Lawson album, from the Vagabond Crew albums, and from his own two solo albums.

“They’ll be interspersed with stories and banter and acerbic remarks about the conduct of the nation,” he promises.

John Schumann, with Hugh McDonald and Alex Black in “Up Close and Acoustic”, at Canberra Southern Cross Club, October 23, bookings to premier.ticketek.com.au

Keen has been around our theatres for a long time. She took a year off from her degree at the Canberra (now ANU) School of Art to help a cousin make costumes professionally, she created costumes and props for the late David Branson’s “Mysteries”, later designing for Jigsaw Theatre’s Greg Lissaman. During a six-year stint in Melbourne with her artist/ academic partner, she designed costumes for the Fur Ball and other events.

Since her return to Canberra and joining The Street, she’s been happily combining motherhood with a full-on career designing costumes and sets.

It is this marriage of two design aspects that most excites Keen.

“I love doing both, it makes sense,” she says.

“It means you can sculpt what you are making.” she says “Where I End & You Begin,” poses particular challenges. Developed through The Street’s “Hive” and “First Seen” projects it is, well, different.

“I found this one difficult visually,” Keen tells me as she explains how she met Stacey’s brief to design an anti-gravity tank.

“This play is disembodied and the sounds of the words dominate over the meaning… yet it deals with real human concerns and there is beauty and joy in the written text… it’s like a concrete poem.”

It’s Petocz’s first full-length piece so, Keen says, “it is essential to listen carefully to the writer… it comes down to a lot of conversation.”

Petocz is constantly playing with the idea of “observing and being observed” so the audience will all sit on the main stage of The Street in a transverse arrangement, facing each other – that was Stacey’s idea. Keen’s idea has been to cover the stage floor with white faux fur giving a sense of outer space and allowing the audience to “feel” the setting.

Few of her designs have been naturalistic and this one less than most. Her process is “a little bit experimental,” based in discussion and practical problem-solving, but her imaginative ideas are “sparked by visual culture generally – it all gets filed away I suppose.”

“I love the potential of spatial composition,” Keen says.

“Where I End & You Begin” at The Street, October 18-26. Bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

arts & entertainment / cinema rep season

Black but beautiful

“siddharth” (M)

HURRAH! A feature set only one level above the nadir of Indian society.

Why hurrah? Writer/director Richie Mehta spurns Bollywood’s shams to tell it like it is among one-man micro-businesses supporting families for whom any tiny scrap of fiscal independence beats working in somebody else’s sweatshop.

Meet chain-wallah Mahendra (Rajesh Tailang), who walks along narrow streets choking in indescribable filth looking for folk needing a zipper repaired. His wife Suman (Tannishtha Chatterjee) cares for their daughter in the single room where the family sleeps, sits, and cooks on the floor with only a mattress and a cupboard in the wall for furniture and no visible sanitation arrangements.

The fourth member of the Saini family, 12-yearold Siddharth, has gone to work in a city eight hours away by bus. A message comes. Siddharth is missing, believed abducted. The main body of the film is Mahendra’s odyssey searching for him.

Mahendra has only one faint clue – a location called Dongri where it is said that charities care for street children. Nobody he asks in Delhi knows where it is. Without even a photo to help such a charity to locate the boy, he takes the overnight train from Delhi to Mumbai.

I sat alone at the first Canberra screening of “Siddharth”. I hoped to find in it a remembrance of things past, when Indian films told stories about real people without Bollywood’s modern pollution. I was not disappointed. It is indeed bleak, but it’s also beautiful and rewarding in unexpected ways.

At Palace Electric

“ the Judge” (M)

FOR several decades Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) has dispensed justice in a small Indiana community where local attitudes carry weight with a jury.

His son Hank (Robert Downey Jr) is a high-priced New York criminal lawyer. Father and son have had no contact for many years. But as Hank, his marriage at implosion point, is about to defend a major criminal case, his mother’s death calls him home.

The morning after Joe goes alone to get groceries, Hank and his older brother Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio) discover marks on Joe’s Cadillac suggesting it has been in an accident. Here is the genesis of a forensic drama that will see Hank defending Joe against the polished courtroom skills of the Attorney Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton) after police investigations establish that the marks resulted from a collision with the pushbike ridden by a man whom Joe had sentenced to 20 years for murdering a teenage girl. There’s more to that than those few words convey.

The performances by Duvall, Downey and Thornton are right on the mark, as you might expect.

So is Vera Farmiga as tavern-owner Samantha, who has a history with Hank and a daughter who might be his (which Hank doesn’t learn about until after he’s been intimate with her). Jeremy Strong plays Hank’s intellectually-handicapped younger brother with sweet conviction.

Vigorous legal stoushes make for good drama. More procedural and evidentiary detail might not have detracted from the courtroom scenes. But the film contains enough material to sustain its effectiveness and credibility. One could hardly ask for more.

At all cinemas

DOUGAL MACDONALD

Aiming to entice

by Helen Musa

CANBERRA Repertory Society’s 83rd season is an enticing mix of audiencepleasers covering a pleasantlypredictable range of genres.

Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, directed by Jordan Best, is wellcalculated to provide meaty roles for Rep’s actor-members, while Patrick Hamilton’s Victorian thriller “Gaslight”, to be staged by barb barnett, promises a nerve-wracking night out. It’s a stage favourite, perhaps more famous from George Cukor’s film that starred Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.

In recent years, Rep has made a point of introducing “first-time” (to Rep, that is) directors, Best and barnett among them.

This year’s choice is no novice in the wider Canberra scene – Jarrad West – who will stage “Casanova”, adapted from Russell T Davies’ BBC series by Mark Kilmurry. One critic has described it as “’Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’s’ George and Martha crossed with the Brit sitcom ‘George and Mildred’”.

“Much Ado about Nothing”, Rep’s Shakespearean offering for 2015, will be done by regular Rep director, Cate Clelland.

Of course there’s a farce, this time round Marc Camoletti’s “Don’t Dress for Dinner”, for which one of Rep’s favourite former members, Canadian director Walter Learning, will return to Australia.

Another favourite Rep visitor, Aarne Neeme, will be back to finish off the year with “The Threepenny Opera”, not seen on our main stages since the late David Branson staged it with Chrissie Shaw playing Mrs Peachum.

Canberra REP Season 2015-16, eight different packages available, bookings to 6257 1950 or canberrarep.org.au

Attentive Monster with a tasty touch

Bagna caudu. Salsify. Katsuobushi. Moghrabieh. These are some elements in the dishes being whipped up by chef Sean McConnell in the kitchen at Monster.

Is it enough to make some diners feel they must cart in the famous “Larousse Gastronomique” (1100 pages plus) to interpret the menu? Do not fear, the staff at Hotel Hotel explain all dishes with finesse and confidence.

Sean, formerly from Mocan and Green Grout, has designed a menu that pushes the boundaries but don’t new food experiences make dining out intriguing?

Monster is open from crack of dawn until the wee hours of the morning.

The wine list salutes the best from local vineyards, with Michael Gray, front of house, spending serious time developing serious relationships with regional winemakers. Behind the expansive bar is Chester Mok, who regularly sources rare ingredients for his creations and even makes some from scratch.

The bar menu features plates such as the cured hiramasa kingfish, with smoked avocado and jalapeno. This stunning looking dish – very delicate in taste – is spring on a plate. The yabby jaffle, with crème fraiche and horseradish ($16), which friends recommended, was delicious and fun and we recommended to staff that it would also sit well on the breakfast menu.

The specials sounded divine and we couldn’t pass by the trout from the pristine

Tumut region, cooked only on one side in a very hot pan, served with the core of a lettucebraised, salmon roe and wasabi leaves. Overall the flavours were once more subtle, despite the salty contribution of the roe.

The selection of shared plates ranges from $17 to $29 and includes the twice-cooked WA octopus, chorizo, smoked potato and nettle (a powerful source of iron). The octopus was as tender as, the

chorizo not overly strong and the potato an interesting twist. Perhaps it was just us but we expected a bit more pizazz with the flavours.

The eggplant with smoked goat’s curd, katsuobushi (dried, fermented and smoked tuna) and sesame was a treat, with the eggplant sliced like mini steaks and just the right texture.

La Scala Italian Restaurant

The pulled lamb shoulder, with pistachio, yoghurt, vine leaf, pomegranate and brik was big on flavour – who can go wrong with a beautifully cooked, super tender lamb shoulder? And we worshipped the Clonakilla Shiraz 2012 that worked so perfectly with the rich reduction of the lamb ($75 a bottle).

Monster is an open-concept dining space near reception at Hotel Hotel (the kitchen is open concept, too). If you’re looking for a private dining space enquire after the Mosaic Room, featuring a wall of hand-crafted ceramic tiles made by Australian artist Gerard Havekes.

Open 6.30am-1am every day. Hotel Hotel, NewActon, licensed. No BYO. Call 6287 6287.

Sullivan shines in ‘Sunset Boulevard’

THIS production by the Queanbeyan City Council provides a welcome opportunity to experience one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s more rarely staged musicals.

Exploring the relationship between an ageing, silent-movie star teetering on the edge of insanity and an ambitious young writer, this intriguing, gothic musical presents significant staging challenges, not all of which have been overcome with this production, however, there is still much to enjoy.

Focusing on the characters

Trout at twilight

by Helen Musa

TUGGERANONG Arts Centre goes classical on Sunday, October 16. “Trout at Twilight” features top musicians Andrew Lorenz on violin, Robert Harris on viola, David Pereira on cello, Dorit Herskovits on double bass and Wendy Lorenz on piano performing Schubert’s “Trout Quintet”. At interval lakeside champagne and seafood will be served, fitting the theme. Bookings to trybookings or 6293 1443.

WOULD-be teenage comedy stars should be signing up now to become “Australia’s Funniest Teen” at the Class Clowns National Grand Final in Melbourne next April. Students in years 9 to 12 or aged 14 to 18 years old can access free professional workshops. The ACT heat and State final are at Canberra Theatre Centre, 11am, on March 16. Registrations to comedyfestival.com.au/2014/ classclowns/competition

DIANNA Nixon’s Wild Voices Music Theatre reports a busy spring season, with work on an interactive multi-arts project, “The Game”, a new music theatre work, “Camile” written by Ian Batterham and an entry for Tropfest involving lots of local talent in music, acting, cinematography and make-up.

musical theatre

“sunset boulevard”

directed by stephen Pike; musical director, sharon tree

At the Q, Queanbeyan until october 25.

Reviewed by bill stephens

rather than the spectacle, director Stephen Pike has assembled a strong cast headed by Bronwyn Sullivan as the troubled movie star, Norma Desmond. Sullivan gives a vocally and physically striking performance, particularly in the closing scenes as she descends into madness.

As her young lover, Joe Gillis, Daniel Wells impresses with his excellent singing but could afford to bring more intensity to his characterisation. Peter Dark successfully captures the brooding austereness of Norma’s mysterious butler, Max von Mayerling and Vanessa De Jager is outstanding as Joe’s well-meaning girlfriend Betty Schaefer.

A curious decision to position the conductor of the excellent on-stage orchestra immediately behind the actors also provided an unwelcome distraction, which destroyed the dramatic impact of several scenes.

TRACY Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning black comedy/ drama, “August: Osage County”, runs at The Courtyard Studio from October 17 to November 2. Local theatre luminaries Andrea Close, Karen Vickery, Lainie Hart and Liz Bradley head the cast. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

Andrea Close… in the cast of “August: osage County”.

THE National Capital Orchestra’s next concert “Passion and Power” features the premiere of Canberra composer Sally Greenaway’s “The Blue Mountains”, Tchaikovsky’s “The Tempest” and “Nutcracker Suite”, and Dvorak’s Symphony no 7. At Albert Hall, 3pm, on Sunday, October 26. Bookings to nco.org.au or tickets at the door.

puzzles page

Joanne Madeline Moore

your week in the stars – o ctober 20-26, 2014

ARies (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

With so many planets powering through your partnership zone, the buzz words for this week are cooperation, consultation and companionship as you do your best to concentrate on the needs of loved ones for a change! The Solar Eclipse indicates a major turnaround to do with money matters or an intimate relationship. So it’s time to initiate positive changes, and inspire others to do the same.

tAuRus (Apr 21 – May 20)

If you accept things at face value (especially at work) you may find later that you were way off the mark. And double-check all appointments, as misunderstandings are likely. Are you stuck in a relationship slump or have partnerships become boring? The Solar Eclipse and Venus urge you to re-connect with your nearest and dearest in creative new ways. Saturday is super for lashings of love and romance.

GeMiNi (May 21 – June 21)

The week gets off to a positive start with the Mercury/Jupiter sextile (which favours business, education, friendship, travel and convivial conversation). But remember that Mercury is still in retrograde mode (until the weekend) so it won’t all be smooth sailing! Jupiter (planet of generosity and abundance) encourages you to contribute more of your time and talents to your local community.

CANCeR (June 22 – July 22)

Casa Cancer is the place to be but, with Mercury retrograding through your domestic zone (until the weekend) there’s a backlog of chores to do around the house. So get your cleaning and de-cluttering skates on Crabs! The Solar Eclipse promises a period of nurturing old friendships and establishing new ones. And it’s a wonderful weekend to focus on family, friends and having fun.

Leo (July 23 – Aug 22)

What you do and say will be closely scrutinised by others, which suits you just fine. You don’t mind if people are clapping or criticising – as long as you are being noticed, you’re happy! Saturday’s Sun/Venus conjunction helps you pump up the charm at work and at home. Colleagues or loved ones are looking to you to come up with some dazzling creative concepts, so dig deep and don’t disappoint.

ViRGo (Aug 23 – sept 22)

Mercury is retrograde from Monday through until Friday, so it’s a good time to revise and revisit as you plough through paperwork, research projects and tie up loose ends. Then Mercury finally moves forwards on the weekend, so Sunday is the day to release the brakes and take action. Be inspired by Pablo Picasso (born on October 25, 1881): “One must act in painting as in life, directly.”

LibRA (sept 23 – oct 23)

Keep an open mind, as you absorb new financial information. Venus and the Solar Eclipse promise an increase in cash flow, but you may cancel that out by indulging in a Libran shopping spree. With Mercury moving forwards in your sign (and the Sun hooking up with Venus) it’s a wonderful weekend to converse, socialise, create and collaborate. Jump in and make the most of it!

sCoRPio (oct 24 – Nov 21)

If you want to win someone over; start a project; apply for a job; pitch an idea or clinch a deal, then the weekend is the time to do it as the Solar Eclipse, Venus (transiting into your sign) and Mercury (turning direct) all propel you forward with stacks of magnetic Scorpio style. And if you communicate clearly and creatively with others (plus dress to impress) then you’ll make spectacular progress.

sAGittARius (Nov 22 – dec 21)

Mighty Mars is charging through your sign for one more week so don’t hesitate to grab lucky opportunities when they appear. If you set ambitious goals, maintain motivation and are passionately proactive, then your life will start to move in dynamic new directions. So your motto for the moment is from birthday great, painter Pablo Picasso: “Action is the foundational key to all success.”

CAPRiCoRN (dec 22 – Jan 19)

When it comes to your ambitious goals for the future, are you kidding yourself Goats? With the Solar Eclipse and Venus both activating your hopes and wishes zone, it’s time to re-imagine your Capricorn aspirations. In order to sustain success, creative passions must be transformed into practical projects. And remember there’s a fine line between divine dreams and disappointing delusions.

AQuARius (Jan 20 – feb 18)

The Solar Eclipse stimulates your career zone so strive to create work opportunities and maximise your professional potential. But you may have to ditch a struggling project and start from scratch. Getting in touch with your considerate side sees you being extra cooperative on Saturday. If you approach others with charm and tact, then your efforts will be generously rewarded.

PisCes (feb 19 – Mar 20)

It’s a great week to research a project or do some serious revision. Don’t skim over the surface – whether at home, work, school or university, the devil is definitely in the detail. Many restless Pisceans are keen to travel, and the best time to take a heavenly holiday is from October 27 through until November 16. So start saving, planning, booking (and packing) as soon as possible!

Daily astrology updates at www.twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore

General

Across

4 Name a heavy fabric, for covering floors (6)

7 What is a strainer for draining off liquids in cookery? (8)

8 Which term describes an international agreement? (6)

9 What is a local government elected representative called? (8)

11 The Old World panther is which carnivore of the cat family? (7)

13 Which military officer is of the highest rank? (7)

15 Name the NRL great, known as “Puff the Magic Dragon”, Reg ...? (7)

17 What do we call a person who resells tickets at an exorbitant price? (7)

20 Name the French philosopher, historian, dramatist and essayist (1694-1778), Francois ...? (8)

23 What, colloquially, describes a smash?

24 What is another term for a radio or TV bulletin? (8)

25 To devise something new, as by ingenuity, is to do what? (6)

sudoku medium No. 137

Solution next week down

1 What is a metallic substance formed into very thin sheets? (4)

2 What do we call those who are undergoing training, such as police or reporters? (6)

3 Name the Biblical first man (4)

4 Which device is used for moving heavy weights? (5)

5 What is a formula for preparing a dish in cookery? (6)

6 What is a more familiar term for a deviation from accuracy? (5)

9 What are military forces of a nation? (6)

10 Which musical direction suggests a movement in rapid tempo? (7)

12 What is an edict promulgated by civil authority? (6)

14 Name an epidemic disease of high mortality (6)

16 What is a shade of colour, expression, meaning, etc? (6)

18 What is a heap of stones set up as a landmark, etc? (5)

19 Which term describes an item in a sports program? (5)

21 Name a stretch of manicured grass-covered land (4)

22 Who, in 1883 discovered silver in Broken Hill, Charles ...? (4)

“Grant, there is no special legislation concerning Christmas parties,” I told him.

“The general rules on entertainment apply to both FBT and income tax deductions on Christmas parties.

“The most important thing for you is that FBT applies only to employees, past, present or future, and does not apply to your clients. So if any FBT is payable on your Christmas party then it should be tax deductible to the extent that it is subject to FBT.

“The good news is that any benefit under $300 per head is regarded as what is called a minor benefit and is not subject to FBT and the cost is not tax deductible to your business.

“If the Christmas party is held on your business premises, the situation is slightly different. If you invite only your staff and their associates then no FBT will be paid for your staff regardless of the cost.

“However, if the cost for each associate exceeds $300 then the whole payment for that person is subject to FBT, it should also be tax deductible. If clients are invited the cost per client is not subject to FBT nor is it tax deductible.

Grant said he was planning the party to be at a restaurant.

“If you do go to a restaurant away from your business premises, it will be a little different,” I said.

“Should the cost exceed $300 per person, the total amount will be subject to FBT as it will be for their associates. It will also be tax deductible. You should also remember that if you provide taxis for the staff that cost is included in the $300 limit.”

As some of your staff work in other states and will come to Canberra for the party, the $300 minor benefit limit will include their travel and accommodation if they come solely to attend the party.

“If they are here for another work purpose, their travel does not need to be counted for the $300 limit but if they bring a partner or other associate that person’s travel and accommodation is included in the $300 calculation.

Grant wanted to know about gifts to staff.

“The cost of any Christmas gift is regarded as a separate benefit and is also subject to a $300 minor benefit exemption,” I advised him.

“This means that you can provide each staff member with a meal costing less than $300 and a gift costing less than $300 and you can also provide the same for their associates.”

If you need guidance on FBT or any other tax-related matter, please contact the friendly team at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd.

open garden

Native challenge in a ‘rainforest gully’

witH an abundance of moistureloving plants in a “rainforest gully” microclimate protected by mature eucalypts, brad Pillans’ Jerrabomberra garden features a range of natives that don’t usually grow in Canberra.

“I love to try plants that people say will never survive here – I like the challenge of bringing a rainforest plant to frosty Canberra,” says Brad.

Thriving plants include several lilly pillys, two-veined hickory, gymea lily, Illawarra flame tree, Queensland firewheel tree, and a screw pine and bat’s wing coral tree that are still in their pots.

“In many cases, these plants can adapt to different settings and while winter can be tough, by and large everything has come through well,” says Brad.

The steep, semi-rural garden blends into the bushland that surrounds it on two sides, and will be open to the public on the weekend of October 25-26, with more than 70 acacias and grevilleas in a stunning spring display.

Austrian sculptor Andreas Buisman has also installed more than 50 of his rock sculptures in the space for the open garden, many of which will be for sale.

When Brad and his wife Sue first started the garden in 2003, he says it was a “skeleton block with scattered large eucalypts and not much understory”.

It now features more than 900 individual native species, and Brad says it’s still growing all the time.

words: Kathryn Vukovljak

Photos: Gary schafer

“When we get to 1000, we’ll stop – before it turns into a botanic garden!” he says.

Brad attributes his success to allowing the block to evolve over time, and watering via drip irrigation and hand-watering.

“We have 9000 and 2000-litre rainwater tanks and use water retention methods, like channelling runoff along drainage lines into swales and ponds – we think it’s worth investing in the cost of water to create an environment we love,” he says.

As the garden develops, Brad says the number of bird species that visit is also increasing, including magpies, noisy friarbirds and red wattlebirds. “The kangaroos visit often too, and they come quite close, especially in the summer when their minds are focused on cooling down and finding a drink,” says Brad.

“It’s cool and shady down in the gully in the summer, so it’s a favourite spot of mine, too, and I enjoy seeing the plants that don’t normally work, and think, yes! We did that.”

Brad Pillans’ garden at 30 Aspen Rise, Jerrabomberra, will be open on Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26, 10am-4.30pm. Adults $8, children under 18 are free. Funds raised will go to the National Rock Garden and Open Gardens Australia. More information at www.opengarden.org.au.

gardening Hardy hydrangeas full of flowers

i knew of one lady who sprayed the hydrangea dead flower heads with blue paint to give the appearance of them being in flower in winter!

THE real beauty of hydrangeas is the long flowering period from spring to late autumn.

Celebrity gardener Don Burke says they would have to be included in the top 10 best flowering plants in the world.

Hydrangeas are often seen growing in old gardens. While they prefer semi-shade, they are much hardier than most folk think and I have seen them growing in full sun. I remember seeing an old garden in Yass where the hydrangeas were facing east and received full sun a good part of the day. They are popular with flower arrangers not only for the blooms but for the dried flower heads. I knew of one lady who sprayed the dead flower heads with blue paint to give the appearance of them being in flower in winter!

Hydrangeas are a genus of about 70 species originating in most Eastern countries with the exception of the wonderful oak leaf hydrangea, H. quercifolia from the US. The most common types are the mop-heads (resembling pom-poms) and lacecaps (with round, flat flower heads).

It is tempting on a really hot day to race out and give them more water when you see the leaves wilting. However, if left alone they will

almost certainly be sitting up perky as ever by the following morning. Hydrangeas will not tolerate wet feet and good drainage is essential. If the ground is well prepared and the plants mulched with organic mulch, a good, deep soaking once a week is sufficient.

White hydrangeas will stay white and the colour will not change. The coloured varieties, Hydrangea macrophylla, can change according to the soil. An acidic soil (with a pH below 7) with the presence of aluminium or iron will produce blue flowers. An alkaline soil (above a pH of 7) will produce pink flowers. If you want to change the colour of hydrangeas (though why I don’t know) there are products available from local garden centres. They need to be applied regularly over the next few weeks while the buds are forming.

FOR a brilliant splash of colour from spring to autumn it’s hard to go past South African daisies, Osteospermum ecklonis

The range of colours is extraordinary, as seen here at the Heritage Nursery in Yarralumla. The daisies are extremely drought hardy and should not be over watered; although they should be

Creating Sustainable Gardens

Glenbog Nursery and Landscaping

The Canberra region’s largest range of locally-grown plants – grown on site for local conditions.

• growers of drought tolerant and frost resistant plants

• new garden creations and garden makeovers

• sustainable garden design and advice

• providing a value for money solution

NURSERY OPEN: 9am to 5pm Wednesday to Friday 10am to 4pm Weekends

We grow them

watered regularly.

Interestingly, in Victoria and WA they are considered an environmental weed even though they do not set seed readily.

In Canberra they are mainly treated as an annual although with a mild winter they will continue into the next season.

MAJOR’S Mulch, 100 per cent lucerne mulching pellets (resembling pellets of chook poo), is a new organic product available at garden centres.

It is perfect for small areas such as courtyard gardens or veggie beds or pots.

It adds nutrients to soil, moisture retention and is a great worm food. A 10-kilogram bag will cover seven square metres. More information at majorsmulch.com.au

Jottings…

• Look out for Bacopa (Sutera cordata) from South Africa. Not a plant I was familiar with, but it looks perfect for hanging gardens.

• Bulbs’ leaves can be cut to ground level 4-6 weeks after flowering. It is unnecessary to wait until the leaves die completely.

• Feed roses with Neutrog Seamungus, a certified organic combination of seaweed and chook poo.

• Mulch under strawberries to discourage snails.

• Steve Falcioni, of Organic Crop Protectants, will discuss the latest organic products at the Horticultural Society’s meeting at the Wesley Church Centre, Forrest, 7.30pm on Monday, October 20. All welcome.

Secure your new apartment at Chelsea in O’Connor or Observatory in Wright and receive $12.5k off the price of your home! Don’t forget, if you’re a first homebuyer, that’s another $12.5k grant from the government, which means $25k off your home!*

Whilst you have the extra time to pay off your home, you can organise the fun things like furniture, artwork, crockery and cutlery and other necessities that come with purchasing a new home.

Buying off the plan with GEOCON means paying just $1000 as your deposit and we will work with you to develop a personal payment plan to give you the time you need to save the rest of the cash for your brand new apartment.

GEOCON has a range of fantastic apartments that accommodate for all size, price range and personal preferences that are perfect for first homebuyers!

YOUR NEW APARTMENT WITH GEOCON TODAY AND RECEIVE