151029 citynews

JOHN GRIFFITHS / INTERNET STREAMING CHANGES THE

Jostling for a shot at the polls

MICHAEL MOORE

What is it about blokes and feelings?

SONYA FLADUN

Whispering sweet nothings

MARK PARTON

TOP POPSof the

Broker PETER CHAMBERLAIN leads his firm to a national prize

A new era of living for Canberra’s South.

OPEN DAY

MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2015

9:30am – 11:30am

Wasp fears as queens start to stir

WASP queens are coming out of hibernation and actively seeking suitable nesting sites to establish their colonies following the recent warm weather.

“European wasp queens must be treated with caution, as they can sting multiple times,” says pest and weeds officer Jenny Conolly.

“The best treatment method is to spray them with an aerosol insecticide. Residents who discover a European wasp nest should call a professional pest controller rather than attempt to treat it themselves.”

The government is asking local residents to report any European wasp sightings.

“There were 928 European wasp nests reported last season through the ACT government’s European wasp hotline, but with many nests not reported, a new generation of European wasps will soon begin to be seen across the ACT,” says Jenny.

“After one of the wettest and coldest winters on record, it is too early to say if Canberra will have the high number of wasp sightings like last season,” Jenny says.

“In Europe, where this species

The European wasp… same size as the honey bee, approximately 10 to 15 millimetres long, but it is less hairy and folds its wings back at rest.

European wasp queens awake from hibernation

of wasp originates, nests are often destroyed by the cold winter temperatures.

“Up to 10 per cent of nests survive

the warmer Australian winters and many queens find a sheltered hibernation site.

“The European wasp is the same

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Peter Chamberlain and Allinsure’s

size as the honey bee, approximately 10 to 15 millimetres long, but it is less hairy and folds its wings back at rest.

“European wasp queens have identical markings and colouring as the worker wasp, but are larger, up to 20 millimetres in length, with a very large abdomen.”

Jenny says wasp nests can be found in wall cavities, roof and subfloor voids, sheds and in the garden. In the garden, they tend to make a hole in the ground.

“Wasp numbers will be low for now as the queens establish their nests, but as the spring progresses into summer, nests will grow to tens of thousands of wasps per nest,” Jenny says.

“Last summer a few gardeners were unfortunate enough to be stung, including Mike Bayly from Gardens by Mike, who was stung 12 times and hospitalised as a result of accidentally disturbing a European wasp nest while doing landscaping work.

“In order to reduce European wasp numbers, we ask the public to report all European wasp nests sightings to the hotline.”

Wasp reporting and insect identification to ewasp.com.au or call the European Wasp Hotline on 6258 5551.

Feel Italian for a day

FOR the first time, the grounds of the Italian ambassador’s Deakin residence will be open to the public for a festival of Italian culture.

On Sunday, November 8, Italian ambassador Pier Francesco Zazo and his wife Svitlana are inviting people to come along and “feel Italian” for a day.

Funds raised will be donated to the bilingual Yarralumla Primary School to purchase Italian educational resources and for aged care at Villaggio Sant’ Antonio.

There will be a variety of Italian food and drinks for sale including degustation plates, pizza, pasta, gelato, pastries, biscotti, sausages, olive oil, coffee and wine.

Musical performers include the Dante Musica Viva Italian choir, the Canberra Mandolin Orchestra, Joe Sorrentino, Livio and Virginia’s duet and Mario Rosi on the piano accordion. Yarralumla Primary School students will also sing. Italian luxury cars and scooters will be on display just inside the ambassador’s residence grounds.

There will also be a lucky-dip tree and entertainment for the little children; a treasure trove and a great raffle with prizes including vouchers from Carla Zampatti, Bulgari, Armani and Max Mara.

Italian ambassador’s residence, 78 National Circuit, Deakin, 11am-4 pm, Sunday, November 8.

Popular Malcolm’s bandwagon just rolls on

Labor faces an exquisite dilemma: under Shorten they risk a Turnbull landslide; but if they turn to Albo and he loses big, they will have sacrificed two leaders in vain.

THE Turnbull bandwagon rolled on through the week sweeping all before it. First he zipped across the ditch and charmed the Kiwi PM John Key He returned to a poll showing the Coalition ahead 53/47 with the PM so far in front of Labor’s Bill Shorten that you could barely see Bill for dust. Then his Health Minister Sussan Ley promised to legalise medical cannabis; and in Parliament, Malcolm foreshadowed legislation to secure marriage equality if it won a plebiscite much to the chagrin of the conservative rump led by Senator Eric Abetz and our own Zed Seselja And to top it off, his Minister Michaelia Cash raised the public service pay offer to 2 per cent a year while Labor waved the China Free Trade Agreement through the Parliament.

LITTLE wonder there’s talk of leadership unrest in the Opposition. They are facing an exquisite dilemma: under Shorten they risk a Turnbull landslide; but if they turn to Albo to save the furniture and he loses big, they will have

sacrificed two leaders in vain.

THE usual bathetic effusions from friend and foe accompanied the departure of Joe Hockey from the Parliament for a soft landing in Washington DC. And his partner in politics might soon be joining him. To hoots from the social media Tony Abbott has signed with the Washington Speakers Bureau. For $40,000 he’s happy to talk on anything from China to the global economy but especially, they say, “with a profound depth of experience, he is keenly positioned to offer unparalleled insight on leadership”. Honestly.

IN our own little 2016 election campaign, Lib leader Jeremy Hanson is desperately trying to make it a referendum on light rail. Polling suggests the community is fairly evenly split. So the real test will be whether Jeremy can sell himself as an engaging alternative to affable Andrew Barr. While it’s still early days, at present he seems more in the Tony than the Malcolm mould.

SPEAKING of image-making, southside voters were this week treated to a “special community edition” of MP Gai Brodtmann’s regular “Bulletin”, a six-page, full-colour folder keeping them up to date with her activities. It featured no fewer than 20 colour photos of Gai in a dazzling variety of costumes, from Sikh to Muslim scarf

ROBERT MACKLIN

dose of dorin

to hard hat to friend of the aged and to passionate lecturer on “our precious democracy”. There was even a competition on “the best way for [me] to communicate with you” in 100 words or less. The lucky winner receives “a lunch for four with me in the Members’ Dining Room at Parliament House”. She’ll be deluged.

AND on a happy sporting note, when the world’s two best rugby teams decide the fate of the World Cup next

weekend, the All Blacks will be favourites, but we reckon the difference might just be Canberra’s David Pocock . If he’s fit, our money’s on Australia. It would be a nice riposte to the Kiwis, whose cricket captain Brendon McCullum got a laugh at the reception for the PM’s XI when he addressed Turnbull as “Sir Malcolm”; but he brought the house down when he said, “John Key told me to”. Cheeky buggers. robert@robertmacklin.com

Whispering, well, sweet nothings

GLENN Druery is a political genius. He’s managed to help a number of individuals into Federal parliament who would not have otherwise been there.

I’m not sure that he’s improved democracy in any way, in fact in my opinion he’s set it back somewhat. With all respect to Ricky Muir, the bloke shouldn’t be in the Senate. This was not what the electorate wanted.

Druery is coming to town in December to impart his wisdom to minor parties and independents. The gist of it is that he can weave the Ricky Muir magic and get them elected, too.

To quote Darryl Kerrigan from “The Castle”: “Tell him he’s dreaming.”

The only way you can win a seat in the Legislative Assembly outside of a major party is to win a lot of primary votes. That’s it.

in the Legislative Assembly outside of a major party is to win a lot of primary votes. That’s it.

So, by all means, go along and see what Glenn Druery has to say. His event is on at the Pavilion Hotel on December 3. It’s called “How to be Heard” and it will provide a lot more than advice on how to strike Senate preference deals.

Offended by slur against elderly

I DON’T usually write in to newspapers; in fact I doubt that I have ever done it before. However, what caught my eye was John Griffiths’ column “Civic doesn’t need saving by flowers” (CN, October 22).

It appeared to be fairly light-hearted and ended with the reasonable idea of Floriade being hosted at the Arboretum.

What caught my attention was the statement: “There is a lot of low-hanging fruit before we ‘save’ Civic by fencing it off for months of the year to grow tulips for the amusement of geriatric interstate tourists.”

No doubt intended to be a light-hearted, amusing throwaway line, but it appears to insinuate that older people are, in Griffiths’ opinion, a blight and the root cause of the problem the article is focused on.

I do take exception to the use of “geriatric” and do not find it in the least amusing. As “CityNews” is read by all ages, Griffiths has no doubt offended a number of them.

Sue Fallon, via email

I’m sure he’ll have some worthwhile advice for those intending to contest the 2016 poll, but none of the preference-whisperer stuff works here.

When you vote above the line in the Senate you allow the parties and people like Glenn Druery to determine how your preferences flow. Those complex deals have allowed some candidates with a very small primary vote to ride a convoluted train of preferences to achieve their objective.

Although our ballot papers are so full of candidates that they can rival those for the Senate, there is no above-the-line voting. It’s impossible to do a preference deal in the ACT.

Furthermore, because of the Robson Rotation of candidates’ names on the ballot paper, how-tovote cards are also a waste of time.

My advice, as a failed ACT candidate in 2008, is “get out there”. Make yourself known to as many people as you possibly can between now and then. Do the shopping centres, knock on doors and go to the forums. Irrespective of what you stand for, if the punters know you, they’re a much better chance of voting for you.

When we were sifting through the rubble of my failed campaign in 2008, it was very clear that I did a lot better in areas where I’d done serious door knocking. It’s a labourintensive slog, but it’s worth it.

And, yes, I failed in 2008 but I did get more primary votes than Mary Porter and Chris Bourke.

Needles needs leadership

A RECENT “Medical Journal of Australia” essay by Prof Mark Stoové and others says: “Salvaging a prison needle and syringe program trial in Australia requires leadership and respect for evidence”.

The essay describes a lack of prison-needle programs as a breach of human rights and international law. It echoes widespread disappointment with the curious decision to place the likelihood of an important health intervention in the hands of a union opposing the very thing it has agreed to design, eg I once had my wallet stolen by a person who hung around afterwards to help me look for it.

It could go a couple of ways. Alexander Maconochie Centre staff might depart from the CPSU’s historical resistance to instead embrace evidence-based policy, public health and human rights. Or it might strike an immovable wall of philosophical objection fuelled by rhetoric and misinformation.

Additionally, the “anti-heckler” exclusion zone around our polling places means that Canberrans are able to vote for whoever they want to without someone in their face.

The only way you can win a seat

Mark Parton is the breakfast announcer on 2CC.

Fitness expo for a good cause

SELF-defence gym Synergy is hosting a Self Defence, Health and Fitness Expo at 76 Sheppard Street, Hume, 9am-1pm, on Sunday, November 1, with the aim of raising more than $5000 for beyondblue to help raise awareness for depression and anxiety. The day will feature a five-hour endurance challenge from 7am, a kids’ martial arts demonstration at 11am, a self-defence demonstration by the Combat Chicks and an ambulance on site teaching CPR. There will be a jumping castle and sausage sizzle.

A third path is a model that mitigates staff fears, while providing means for detainees to prevent infection. A pragmatic compromise could balance genuine concerns of prison staff with the public health imperative and government duty of care to prevent the spread of disease. In Spanish prison Pereiro de Aguiar, 10 years of regulated NSP reduced hep C infection from 40 per cent to 26 per cent and reduced HIV infection from 21 per cent to 9 per cent.

John Didlick, executive officer, Hepatitis ACT

The fight for our children

SYDNEY’S Asian gangs are importing and producing tonnes of ice into Australia. It was encouraging therefore to witness, in Singapore, 18 countries forming the first Asia Pacific Forum Against Drugs on August 27 with the theme – a drug-free Asia-Pacific for our children.

A very senior Singaporean official pulled no punches by saying: “Arguments to legalise the drug trade are cunningly couched in eloquent socio-economic and health-related, cost-benefit arguments. One major motive is profit, clearly seen in the excited Wall Street talk by financial interests about the cannabis dividend. The profits will be squeezed out from the millions more drug users that the pro-drug lobby is seeking to ensnare… our children.”

Colliss Parrett, Drug Advisory Council Australia, Barton

Write to us

Letters are invited from “CityNews” readers. Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au or write to the editor at GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601.

dose of dorin

lowbrow Streaming changes the game for sport

UNTIL recently, I’d thought broadcast television might have some future with sport.

Scripted productions have already pretty much sailed for everyone under 40 and many over.

Who wants to tune in each week for another episode of a partially remembered series when you can settle in for the night to watch three or four (or more) episodes back to back?

This move started with DVD box sets but the rise of Streaming Video On Demand (SVOD) services has totally kicked it over the cliff.

You might like Stan, or Presto, or Quickflicks, but for most of us it’s Netflix and there’s no going back.

I fire up the tuner on my TV for news and sport now. Even news is of increasingly dubious value except when something really big is breaking.

But something happened a few weeks ago that increasingly has me thinking sport will be no safe harbour for the TV broadcasters.

A publicist for the NFL in the US tweeted at me that she’d like to send me some stuff and I should email her. Very warily I said “hi” and she asked for an address to send a package to.

Even more warily, I gave her the address for the palatial “CityNews” suites and promptly forgot about it.

In due course, a courier clomped up to the front desk and deposited a great big box full of American football merchandise.

A few things are clear.

With the interest in Jarryd Hayne the NFL had decided the time was right for a charm offensive in Australia.

I’m guessing they rounded up every Australian journo with more than 1000 Twitter followers to send the package to.

What they were really pushing was the “NFL Network”. For a bit over $100 you can sign up to watch, via streaming video, every one of your chosen team’s games in the regular season.

For around $250 you can watch every team’s games. Compare this with the cost of Foxtel over the whole

How many rugby fans in Canberra would shell out $100 to be able to watch every Brumbies game of a season and cut out the rest of the Foxtel crap?

season and, if American Football is your sport of choice, it becomes pretty compelling.

How many rugby fans in Canberra would shell out $100 to be able to watch every Brumbies game of a season and cut out the rest of the Foxtel crap?

How about the Raiders fans forever bellyaching that their team can’t get on the broadcast?

The TV broadcast model in general has been built on a network paying a sport for the rights, selling a bunch of advertising and having that ad money support the rest of their bloated organisations.

Sports, not wanting to get down in the weeds of managing subscriptions or owning broadcast facilities, thought this was a pretty good deal.

But dis-intermediation is the real driver of digital disruption and turnkey platforms are pretty much here for the sports.

The fans have money they’re very willing to pay to see their teams play. The cost of delivering directly to them has come down hugely.

It’s a very exciting time for everyone, except the broadcast networks.

Infomercials and reality TV served to the ageing audience who don’t know how to make the stream play on the TV is going to be a pale shadow of these former cultural juggernauts.

John Griffiths is the online editor of citynews.com.au

Date: 7 Nov 2015

Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm

Venue: Great Hall, University House 1 Balmain Cres, Acton

Entry:

$45 including canapés & drinks discount applies for students and pensioners

Bookings & information: www.dechallie.com.au enquiries@dechallie.com.au

An evening of exquisite fashion by Canberra couturier Hajar Malek Gala, presenting her latest designs and some of her timeless creations, awarded nationally and featured in international couture events. Woven into the catwalk are dance performances to classical masterpieces from Azerbaijan, followed by classical piano performance and a cocktail.

Inauguration by: Minister Yvette Berry MLA

Dance performances by: Canberra Land of Fire, Performing Arts Group

Piano performance by: Tannaz Rafiee

SPONSORS:

What is it about blokes and feelings?

OVER the years, I’ve written a few times about the importance of women, and particularly mothers who burn the candle at both ends, to take some time for themselves and not ignore their health.

However, this time I’d like to send a call to all those blokes out there who would rather do just about anything else but focus on their medical and emotional needs.

Although it’s easy to talk in terms of stereotypes, Aussie blokes aren’t very good with this stuff. By and large they don’t tend to talk about health problems, physical or mental, unless of course it’s some type of sporting injury, then they talk about nothing else, parading their wounds as badges of honour.

I know this from personal experience because, at least in this respect, my spouse is nothing if not a classic Aussie male. He’s always calm, always composed and rarely gives away any indication of whatever worries and troubles he might have. He’s great at talking about all sorts of things – politics, the weather, our kids, friends, obscure facts about history and science – all sorts of things but never himself.

In recent times he’s encountered more than a few difficulties and frustrations, but even then, in

My bloke is just a typical bloke who would run a million miles before admitting any weakness or internal trouble.

what is a pretty tough phase of life, he doesn’t give away much.

He’s hugely resilient, but by and large he bottles everything up. He’s very much a member of the stiff-upper-lip brigade. What doesn’t kill you makes you strong is one of his more hackneyed catchphrases.

That’s not to say my bloke doesn’t find some outlets to relieve stress and achieve a peace of mind. He’s a bit of a scholar and burying himself in historical research and writing is one peculiar form of relaxation.

No one can bother me at the National Archives, he says with a wry grin on his face. Another source of relaxation is the companionship of our adoring cocker spaniel who follows his every move with rapt attention and is always ready for a smooch.

I don’t underestimate the power

of pooch therapy when things are stressful. But sometimes telling the dog about how stuffed up things are isn’t going to yield much more benefit than a sympathetic lick.

As for me, I’m always talking about things. I’m a great believer in trying to talk things through, rather than toughing them out. But my bloke is just that, a typical bloke who would run a million miles before admitting any weakness or internal trouble. Although he agrees our family doctor is absolutely wonderful, he’s happy for everyone else in our family to pay her a visit, just not him.

I don’t think my bloke’s unique – beyondblue says that, on average, one in eight men will have depression and one in five will experience anxiety at some stage of their lives. While women are more likely to experience depression and anxiety,

men are much less likely to talk about it and that increases the risk of their depression or anxiety going unrecognised and untreated.

In the case of my spouse, I’m telling him to grab the bull by the horns. I know he reads this column. Quite a few other blokes also read “CityNews”, so maybe they should have a think, too.

And maybe us girls should be a bit more proactive in gently encouraging spouses and partners to be more open in talking about health issues, physical or mental. You can probably be a bit more subtle than me, but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.

beyondblue’s Man Therapy website is a good place to look –mantherapy.org.au

Say cheese!

ANYONE interested in the value of their old camera should take it to the Canberra Photographic Collectors Society’s Spring Photographic Fiesta and a society member will offer an idea of what it’s worth. The photographic market will be held at the Irish Club, in Weston, 10.30am-1.30pm, on Sunday, November 1. Admission is free and there will be hundreds of antique and collectable cameras, useable film and digital cameras, photographic equipment and books for sale.

Charity card shop

THE Tuggeranong Charity Christmas Card Shop opens at Wanniassa Shopping Centre, Sangster Place, from Monday, November 2, to Saturday, December 19 (Mondays to Saturdays 10am-3.30pm). Seven local charities – ACT Rescue & Foster, Cancer Council, Cystic Fibrosis, Sharing Places, Heart Foundation, Canberra Legacy and Pegasus – are selling cards and calendars.

Buttering up

ARTISAN cheesemaker Gürkan Yeniçeri will be teaching how to make butter at home at the Canberra Environment Centre, 6pm-8pm, Tuesday, November 3. Gürkan has self-published books about cheese making and also is an avid gardener and beekeeper. The cost is $20 and bookings via ecoaction.com.au

Christmas fete

THE Canberra Seniors Centre is holding its Christmas Fete at 10 Watson Street, Turner, 9am-3pm, on Saturday, November 7. On offer will be multicultural food, craft, cakes and jams, books, plants, clothes, toys and games. Funds raised will help to run programs for seniors. More information from 6248 9509 or email cseniors@bigpond

Jostling starts for a shot at the polls

PRESELECTION time within political parties is in full flight. With the Federal and ACT elections due in roughly a year, candidates are jostling for their chance at representation.

For the Federal election, the main contest in the ACT will be to win the middle ground in the Senate. For the ACT Assembly, the door is wide open for the October election – and recently opened even further with the announcement that MLA Mary Porter will not run for a further term.

Porter has been a long-term Labor member who was certainly a shoe-in were she to have stood again in her electorate of Ginninderra. And deservedly so!

The electorate of Ginninderra provides a good case study. Having Porter stepping down leaves serving Labor members Yvette Berry and Chris Bourke likely, with the chance for a third member for Labor in that electorate. Other candidates have already been announced, including Kim Fischer, whose advocacy has played a key role in sending the Department of Immigration back to the drawing boards to ensure planning in Canberra is more orderly.

An opinion piece in “The Canberra Times” will have assisted in lifting her profile in the electorate. It is part of the reason that there is now a mandate for consideration of local

Building a personal profile through such methods as door knocking, media, social media and community involvement are key to success.

impacts if a move affects more than 10 per cent of the employment in a local area. This is simply good grassroots politics focusing on the local area.

Even with 25 seats available in the next Assembly, there will still be considerable arm wrestling to secure a place on the ticket.

In the ACT Hare-Clark voting system there is no priority order on the ticket. Liberal or Labor Party voters who simply vote for the party by numbering one to five effectively have their vote evenly distributed amongst candidates.

When voters prioritise, a candidate gets a serious advantage. This is why community profile is so important.

Reaching out to the people and building a personal profile through such methods as door knocking, media, social media and community involvement are key to success.

Federally, the voting system in the Senate still favours the order parties prefer and the preference deals that they have done. A joint parliamentary committee has recommended sensible changes but legislation has not yet been

enacted. There is still time.

With Labor’s Katy Gallagher certain of re-election, the Greens have just announced their key candidate to challenge incumbent Liberal Senator, Zed Seselja, for the ACT’s second Senate seat. With a background well understood in Canberra as an economist with experience in UN humanitarian work, the Greens have chosen a sensible candidate in Christina Hobbs.

The challenge for Hobbs will be to win the middle ground. The new leader, Richard di Natale, just might provide her with the opportunity.

The new face of the Greens is timely. With the advent of a whole new Malcolm Turnbull atmosphere (discarding the fire and brimstone of Tony Abbott) is a more thoughtful and engaging dialogue.

The task for Hobbs is to frame Seselja as part of the discredited, ultraconservative Abbott camp. Photos and footage of Seselja standing, smiling

next to Tony Abbott abound.

As the Greens’ Leader identified, it is, his conservative views on climate change, same-sex marriage and racial discrimination laws that make him vulnerable in Canberra. However, a Senate seat for the Greens in the ACT is still a big ask.

While it’s appropriate for the Greens to run candidates in the House of Representatives, neither Andrew Leigh nor Gai Brodtmann are really vulnerable to challenge from either the Liberals or Green candidates, Carly Anne Saeedi and Patricia Cahill respectively.

Our democracy works on people putting their hands up and their contribution should be acknowledged – whether they have a small chance to be elected or not. And while a year to the polls may

Sparkling show

JEWELLERY, crystals, minerals, gemstones, opals, fossils, beads and lapidary supplies will all be available at the Canberra Lapidary Club’s Spring Gemcraft and Mineral Show at EPIC, 10am-5pm, on the weekend of November 7-8. Entry is $5 adults, $10 family, $2 children/concession.

Come all ye faithful

CHRISTMAS cakes, cookies, Tongan savoury and sweets, spring rolls, pavlovas, Devonshire teas, garden, craft, treasures, country kitchen, white elephant, children’s activities and face painting await visitors to this year’s fete at St Ninian’s Uniting Church, corner of Mouat and Brigalow Streets, Lyneham, 9am-1pm, on Saturday, November 7.

Girls’ night in

SPARKE Helmore Lawyers is hosting a Girls’ Night In on the “gorgeous terrace” of its Childers Street, Civic, building, 5.30pm7.30pm on Thursday, November 12. Tickets are $30 and group of four, $100. Bookings to 6263 6302 or simone.hijazi@sparke.com.au by Friday, November 6.

Aloha, summer

THE Cancer Support Group is celebrating the return of the warmer months with its annual Hawaiian Beach Party fundraiser at the Southern Cross Club, Woden, on Friday, November 13. Dress is Hawaiian and tickets are $120 (tables of 10, $1200). Bookings via thecancersupportgroup.org.au or call 62971261.

This year Remembrance Day marks the 97th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. The ceremony will be attended by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall.

To book, email ticketing@awm.gov.au or phone (02) 6243 4227 Bookings close 30 October. Limited seating is available

10.30 am National Ceremony

Dr Jackie Huggins AM will deliver the Commemorative Address.

4.55

pm Last Post Ceremony

The eulogy for the Unknown Australian Soldier will be read at the ceremony, commemorating those Australians who lost their lives in war.

Attend the ceremony or watch it live on the Memorial’s website at www.awm.gov.au.

www.awm.gov.au

Allinsure

‘To think that the number one in Australia would come out of Canberra… people don’t expect that.’

Local brokers awarded top national title

LOCAL insurance firm Allinsure has been awarded the 2015 Australian Insurance Brokerage of the year by the publication “Insurance Business”.

“Last year we were equal seventh, which was a pleasant surprise,” says director Peter Chamberlain.

“This year we thought we may have had a chance of making the top 10. But when I got the late-night call that we had come first while I was on holiday in New York, I thought the team were pulling my leg,” he says.

“Then when I realised it wasn’t a joke, I felt very humbled, and proud. There has never been anyone from Canberra in the top 10 before.

“To think you can come number one in Australia out of Canberra… people don’t think that.”

Peter says that Allinsure topped the rankings on new revenue, clients and policies per broker, which along with its client retention record, pushed the firm over the line.

“To be named top of the industry by this publication is a massive recognition of what we’ve built, with the staff, clients, insurance partners and everyone involved in the business,” says Peter.

Peter credits the culture he’s created at the firm for its success.

“We work incredibly hard to build and maintain a winning culture and that’s evidenced

by this ranking – Allinsure is a great place to work,” he says.

Allinsure was founded in 2007 by Peter, after having worked in businesses where he learned best practice from past employers and also what they could potentially do better.

“My wife Cristy pushed me to take the plunge and at the time it was scary, with a mortgage and young children,” he says.

“The IAA network has been a great support with training, systems, relationships and providing us with the buying power to compete.”

Allinsure started out with two people, but soon grew to five.

“We’ve grown very rapidly and it has been a steep learning curve,” Peter says.

“Initially we had a bit of a scattergun approach, just plugging holes, and then we decided to get more strategic. About three years ago we looked at our systems and what we needed, and began to focus on building a quality team.

“We hired people with the right traits and cultural fit for our business, then heavily invested in training and development to ensure our clients received the best service and advice.

“We’ve also changed our focus away from selling off-the-shelf products to offering high-end strategic advice, face-to-face personalised service and tailoring insurance programs to our clients’ specific needs.

“For us, it is important to gain a clear view and understanding of a client’s business, their expectations and what drives them.

“We surround ourselves with key business partners who are all specialists in their respective fields, enabling us to focus on what we do best.”

With a current staff of eight, including new general manager Pete Davey, senior account executive Tate Harris, account executives Tim Hardy and Carla Taylor, administration manager Kristina Maricic, administrator Angela Riley and the incoming addition of client services manager Kirby Medhurst, Peter says the company runs like a well-oiled machine.

“We’re thrilled now to have Pete Davey on board as general manager, who has great ability and more than 10 years’ experience through senior roles at both global and boutique brokerages,” says Peter.

Allinsure operates mainly on referrals from existing clients, but Peter says they won’t move a client just for the sake of it.

“If they already have the right covers, price and service in place, we tell them to give their current insurers or broker a pat on the back and stay with them,” he says.

Peter says that Allinsure works with business of all sizes from a range of industries, including construction, professional services, hospitality and property development.

“We take the approach that a start-up tradie’s insurance is just as important as a business with a $750m property portfolio,” he says.

Allinsure, 18/2 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick. Call 6131 9700.

Peter Chamberlain... “We work incredibly hard to build and maintain a winning culture and that’s evidenced by this ranking – Allinsure is a great place to work.”

New foundation plans to give back

PETER has recently launched the Chamberlain Foundation, which he says brings all his community work together.

PETER has recently launched the Chamberlain Foundation, which he says brings all his community work together.

“We have well-established partnerships across sport and the not-for-profit sector, including the Queanbeyan Tigers football club, CBR Brave Ice Hockey, Ruiz Brothers Racing, the Starlight Foundation, Raize the Roof, IGA East Row House, Soldier On, Mates for Mates and the GWS Territorians,” he says.

“Financial assistance is always good, but we feel it’s especially important to give our time; all our staff volunteer at events and there’s a great culture of that here.

“I think our commitment in this area is central to who we are.”

He says he would like the new Chamberlain Foundation, which he has launched with his brothers Brian and Ray, to be his legacy.

Peter says the foundation will host three fundraising events a year, with the Brothers Lunch, a six-day cycle challenge Razor Ride and a hiking Chambo Challenge planned for early 2016.

“Our aim is to provide both financial and material support with direct outcomes to organisations that are working to address the issues of mental health, the challenges faced by returned servicemen and women and educational opportunities for disadvantaged Australians,” he says.

“Canberra is a great place to live and do business, it has a fantastic, supportive business community and we’re proud to be a part of that.”

chamberlainfoundation.org

Who thinks the best can get even better? Pete does.

As allinsure’s new General Manager, Pete Davey brings more than 10 years of global experience to Australia’s top insurance broker.

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Teaching children at the right pace Calm learning environment

SINCE 1972, Canberra Christian School has been educating children from early learning years up to grade six.

Principal Bree Hills says that what sets the school apart is its commitment to teaching the curriculum through a differentiated learning approach, which allows students to learn at their pace and ability level.

“We find this tailored approach gives our children greater confidence,” says Bree.

“We pride ourselves on our family-based culture. We know the children, we know their goals but

we also know their family.

“Parents play a big role in the school, including at our annual, full-school excursions. We’ll have a busload of kids and a busload of parents coming, too!”

On November 2 the school will host an open day.

“Interested families are welcome to come for the first half of the day, meet the teachers who would be teaching your child, experience the classrooms and stay for lunch,” says Bree.

Visit ccs.act.edu.au or call 6286 3989 to book a tour or meeting with Bree.

George knows heavy vehicles

GEORGE Madigan, principal of Driver Training Plus, has assessed more than 2000 drivers of heavy vehicles since 1996.

He holds the necessary qualifications in ACT and NSW to assist people aiming to gain their heavy vehicle licence and start work in the road-transport industry or to assess and train current drivers.

George says that he has had many years of local, interstate and overseas driver training experience of providing drivers with a “job

readiness” standard that they can immediately apply to their work.

“We offer employers or individuals driver-training services in their own vehicle if preferred, and come to your location at a time that suits your business,” says George.

“I provide friendly feedback and mentoring to get the best out of the individual, teaching them within their comfort zone.”

Contact George via drivertrainingplus.com.au or call 0419 416365.

MANTRA Training and Development is a registered community adult education provider, based at Federation Square, Nicholls.

CEO and founder Donna Moulds has operated Mantra for eight years and is passionate about the positive, supportive and reassuring environment she has created to give students a traditional face-to-face learning experience, especially for those who have been out of the workforce a long time, have a disability or are nervous to start training.

“We provide a calm environment with lots of support from our trainers who work with students to identify their learning needs. Not everyone is suited to online learning,” says Donna. Mantra offers training courses and traineeships in business, financial services, IT and workplace training and assessment.

“Our students tell us that we are their ‘Mantra family’ and I’m proud that so many of our students move on to complete further training courses or find full-time work.”

5 Federation Square, 2 O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls. Call 1300 898872 or visit mantratraining.com.au

TRY OUR SCHOOL AND PRE-K FOR HALF A DAY

Because we love what we do and love teaching, we really want to show off our school to you. What better way to do that than to experience it first hand. Don’t miss this opportunity to get to know us

advertising feature

for the young and the ambitious

Small classes aimed at effective individual learning experience

UNITY College Australia is a vocational education and training college and registered training organisation (RTO6330) based at Belconnen. It has been teaching for 20 years and principal Jillian Pryor says that Unity College has grown over this time from a small, local college to a fully accredited, government-approved VET FEE-HELP provider offering 35 courses and part of a national network of close to 30 colleges.

Courses offered at the Canberra Campus include English as a Second Language, Information Technology, (TAE40110) Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Ministry, Theology, Pastoral Care and Music.

“We provide a supportive, friendly learning environment which is hands on, interactive and gives students a practical application. We keep classes small to help facilitate individual learning as well as

co-operative team-based learning,” says Jillian. “All our trainers are qualified, industry experienced, with many also bringing international experience. We have a rich multicultural cohort with students coming to us from 12 countries.”

Unity College Australia, Level 1, Belconnen Churches Centre, 54 Benjamin Way, Belconnen. Call 6161 0050, visit unity.edu.au or Unity College’s facebook page.

Hands-on, practical security industry training

FOUNDED in 2003, Australian Security Education & Consulting Pty Ltd (ASEC) is a Canberra-based Nationally Registered Training Organisation specialising in the security industry.

Based at Mitchell, ASEC’s classroom environment gives students state-of-the-art equipment and hands-on training by experienced teachers.

Managing director Carl Rees says the security industry isn’t just about being big and strong.

“It’s an industry about communication,” he says.

“I teach students how to manage complex situations, present themselves, talk to people and write reports correctly.

“Students have real live training with hand-held metal

detectors, two-way radios, self-defence, baton and firearms training.”

Courses include Certificate II & III in Security Operation, Certificate IV or Diploma in Security and Risk Management. First aid and responsible service of alcohol courses are also available through ASEC.

“We have courses running continuously so it’s easy and flexible to start training,” says Carl.

“ASEC is the security trainer for many major security companies in the ACT and our goal is to lift the educational standards of the security industry.”

Australian Security Education & Consulting, 8A/160 Lysaght Street, Mitchell. Call 6134 6631 or visit www.asec.com.au

FREEBOTT is a road-safety training company that has been operating for 15 years and runs road-ready centres, company training, training for pre-learner, learner and P-plate drivers and for people who have been charged with drink or drug driving.

CEO Stephen Lake says that through his experience of training people who have been charged with drink driving, he discovered that many of his students worked in the hospitality industry. This realisation prompted Stephen to create a new Responsible Service of Alcohol course through his new venture, Ascent Training Services.

“We developed in consultation with ACT Policing a unique approach to help improve the standards of hospitality staff by focusing on the human side of the issue and the consequences for individuals and the community when staff do not serve alcohol responsibly,” says Stephen.

The four-hour course complies with national standards and includes written assessments, role plays and interaction. Students will receive their certificate on completion of the course.

“If you want your business to do well, you need well-trained staff,” says Stephen.

Call 6162 5158 or email admin@freebott.com.au

We

explain the legislation, but engage participants to understand the importance of responsible service to your business, themselves and the wider community. The 4 hour course includes: • A range of interactive activities that challenge participants

Role plays

Written assessments • Certificate issued on the day For inquiries or bookings contact us at: www.freebott.com.au

Ph: 02 6162 5158

Email: admin@freebott.com.au

It’s time to book your Christmas Lunch with us here at The Conservatory. Bookings are essential $59 per person

Please call 02 6273 4366 or email info@gingercatering.com.au We are delighted to offer you a joyful 3 course set menu. Monday to Sunday 12–2pm.

Christmas venues advertising feature

’Tis the season to be planning

YES, it’s that time of year again. Christmas is barely eight weeks away, so it’s time to plan your best Christmas… ever! First step, book a fun and relaxing Christmas gathering for work colleagues or friends. Second, make sure your Christmas visitors have comfortable and convenient accommodation.

Contact us on 6251 4530 or  events@potbellybar.com.au www.potbellybar.com.au

Festive restaurant with a view

WHETHER it’s a festive-fuelled networking lunch, the company Christmas party or a seasonal family and friends gathering, Ginger Catering and the Conservatory Restaurant will make it a truly wonderful occasion, says general manager, Lissa Keogh.

Bookings are open for their popular Christmas lunches with tables for two to 40 guests available from November 30 until Christmas Eve.

The Christmas lunches will be held in the festivelydecorated Conservatory Restaurant, featuring views overlooking the Arboretum and a three-course set-menu by renowned chef Janet Jeffs.

Lissa and her team can also accommodate larger corporate Christmas parties and dinners at the Village Centre or Margaret Whitlam Pavilion.

“Come and enjoy the best venue in Canberra, relax and celebrate the perfect Christmas event,” says Lissa.

The Conservatory Restaurant, National Arboretum Canberra, Forest Drive, Weston Creek. For bookings call 6273 4366 or visit gingercatering.com.au

Party fun with a different taste

THE Pot Belly Bar in Belconnen is a boutique venue with an old English pub feel, says owner Joel Baines. Christmas party options include the sunny beer garden that seats up to 20, a cocktail party event at the bar or a sit-down event for up to 50 people.

“We have the flexibility to work with customers on their needs and tastes to their budget, we can customise the menu or provide set-menu options to keep it easy,” says Joel.

Pot Belly Bar opened earlier this year and has a focus on offering non-mainstream wines, spirits and beers that are sourced from smaller distilleries, craft breweries and local

wineries. Their drinks menu is updated regularly to feature new brewers and give patrons the chance to experience and learn about the products. As president of Canberra Brewers Association Joel says: “I am obsessed with craft beer! We know what we are talking about – from the flavours to the taste and styles – and want to give people the opportunity to experience these lovely products that they wouldn’t normally see at their local drinking hole.”

Pot Belly Boutique Bar, 5/26 Weedon Close, Belconnen. Visit potbellybar.com. au or call 6251 4530.

Making holiday visitors welcome

MAKE sure Christmas visitors enjoy their time in town by booking a one or two-bedroom apartment for the holiday season, says Manuka Park Serviced Apartments manager, Joel Smith.

“We have 40 spacious, serviced apartments featuring full kitchens and laundry facilities in each apartment, which is convenient for corporate travellers and so handy for families over the Christmas break,” he says.

Manuka Park Apartments is located just outside the parliamentary triangle and a five-minute walk to Manuka and Kingston’s dining and shopping precincts.

Manuka Park Serviced Apartments, corner of Manuka Circle and Oxley Street, Manuka, call 1800 688227 or visit manukapark.com.au

Social event of the week / Narrabundah High School Class of ‘65 Reunion

NARRABUNDAH High School was the brash new high school for the expanding suburban sprawl of Canberra’s ‘60s ‘burbs.

The choice of high school before that was either Canberra High or Telopea Park, with the two grammar schools if you wanted to spend up big.

These were the “good old days” for the Narrabundah class of ’65, returning to Canberra to celebrate their 50-year reunion at Manuka Oval’s Bradman Room.

They were among the first students and the last group to graduate after five years of high school under the NSW Leaving Certificate. Those days were when kids rode their bikes to school, wore a school uniform and bought Vegemite crusts from the tuckshop to take away the taste of the warm milk at recess.

But it was also the time of The Beatles and the generosity of Bill James giving his tickets to the Sydney show to two girls is still talked about. Margaret Hanson remembers all the girls complaining about doing gymnastics in the quadrangle where they could be easily observed by most classes and muso Bernie reminisced with Peta about his musician days with one band Casual Set well remembered by these former students. They learnt the Pride of Erin but danced the twist instead.

Stay in touch with the names making news on Sundays from 10am as 2CC and “CityNews” present Canberra’s only local weekend news and current affairs program.

It’s a revolving panel show that brings to the microphone great “CityNews” commentators and 2CC personalities. Be part of the conversation and call 6255 1206 between 10am and noon.

At Business After Business, Acton

At opening of Sabrina Baker’s ANCA exhibition

Canberra Confidential

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

WHOEVER’S living at 83 Dominion Circuit, in leafy Deakin, is giving the locals the heebie-jeebies.

CC’s inner-south snout says there are guards in camouflage vests patrolling the footpath outside the gates, just around the corner from a primary school.

“It gives me the heebies that we’re inspected as we drive in our own street,” she sniffs.

“Is it unsafe for the children to play in the street? Do we need to wear bulletproof gear to walk past that house?

“Is it legal for me to stop and take their photo? Not that I think I’d be game, even for ‘Canberra Confidential’.” Wimp!

Barr’s last laugh

LATE to give a lecture to journalism students at UC last week, Buzzfeed Australia’s press gallery reporter and former ABC Darwin journo Mark Di Stefano took to Twitter to berate Chief Minister Andrew Barr about the difficulty of getting a taxi.

“Taxis in your town are an absolute joke,” Di Stefano fumed. “What’s going on?”

With a withering one-line response, Barr reminded the reporter, who must have missed the national and international attention, that “Uber starts up later next week”.

How time slips away...

“SERIOUSLY, 2001? I have T-shirts in my cupboard older than that,” sniffed a comment on citynews.com.au to the news that the Belconnen Community Centre had cracked open its time capsule that had been buried in Margaret Timpson Park since, oh, the turn of the century. Buried to commemorate the Centenary of Federation in 2001, it was intended to be unearthed in 2011. So four years late a team from TAMS did the honours and uncovered a concrete manhole that contained two PVC pipe

cylinders.

The first was water damaged and the soggy remnants of disintegrating photos, papers and video tapes were all that remained. The second cylinder was intact. It contained T-shirts, photos, video tape and a large colourful banner, which appeared to have been painted by school children of those days.

Contents of the time capsule will be displayed in the Belconnen Community Centre, as part of BCS’s 40th birthday celebrations, on Tuesday, November 10.

‘Imelda’ Luton

REAL estate identity Richard Luton was terribly excited on Facebook by the “chemical test lady” who unzipped his bag at Canberra Airport security and “called me Imelda Marcos with six pairs of shoes for a day trip”. He went on to express love for his shoeshine men in Strand Arcade, which suggests to CC he was flying his footwear to Sydney for a polish.

A butterfly confesses

“CITYNEWS” social writer Lyn Mills is stepping into the limelight at the National Film and Sound Archive this week with a presentation to the Archives’ Friends group titled: “A Social Butterfly in Bogong Territory”. It’s at the NFSA theatrette, 5.30-7pm, on Friday, October 30. Friends of the NFSA free, others gold-coin donation.

Long life to death feast

THE ancient Mexican feast day, “The Day of the Dead”, will soon be upon us and Canberra’s Mexican Embassy is determined to do it in style with a celebration on November 2 involving Mexican artist Joaquin Garcia-Quintana and actress Karina Salgado. Embassy staff have sent out a comforting notice headed: “Long life to Mexican Death”!

Fourth win from a row

THE Burley Griffin Canoe Club’s flatwater marathon racing contingent left all in its wake with its fourth successive club points win in

the NSW marathon series.

The win was secured at Burrill Lake, on the NSW south coast, in the last of the season’s 10-race series. BGCC first won the series in 2012 in a comefrom-behind, final-race win.

So confident was the organising committee that the trophy would be won by the then-leading Sydney club that it was already engraved before BGCC’s last-race upset.

More information on BGCC paddling activities at bgcc.org.au

Tones sports a shiner

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• Re-upholstery of dining chairs, sofas, chairs and ottomans

• Window seat cushions, outdoor cushions and scatter cushions

• Upholstered wall panels for warmth, peace & quiet

• Free consultation with an experienced designer in store

• A local business that has been in Canberra for 30 years

6 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick Phone: 6280 4464 www.dreamdesignfurniture.com.au

FOR the past few years Real Big Tony has been making some sort of statement around town and last week citynews.com. au editor John Griffiths spotted him dancing on a coffee table in Northbourne Avenue. Since his reallife persona’s fall from the prime ministerial pedestal, CC can only imagine RBT won’t be getting out as much, something he seems to have acknowledged by the big black eye he was sporting.

Film festival goes looking for love

By Helen Musa

“IT’S a Canberra festival for Canberra audiences and with Canberra filmmakers in it,” says Andrew Pike, manager of the thinking person’s film festival.

Along with local film experts Oliver Krischner, Alice Taylor and Cris Kennedy, Pike has stepped in to resuscitate the ailing Canberra International Film Festival.

Ever the optimist, he won’t dwell on the past, except to say that the “old model” film festival simply wasn’t a goer any more in a climate where we see yet another nationally-themed film festival coming to town every week.

This will be a festival of 30 films featuring only a couple of European and American offerings, with the rest coming from Australia, the Middle East and Asia. Pike for one wants the community “to again fall in love with this festival” and feel

that they truly own it”.

Collaborator on the festival, National Film and Sound Archive director Michael Loebenstein, wants it to “benefit from intellectual dispute”.

Those who like to combine enjoyment with thinking will breathe a sigh of relief.

“I’ve been programming cinema for 27 years in Canberra, so I should know what Canberrans like,” Pike says.

The festival’s opening film will be “Neon”, in which filmmaker Lawrence Johnson and Canberra’s WildBear Entertainment chronicle a simpler time through the artisans who helped light used-car yards, casinos and caravan parks. That will screen with a short film from Canberra’s Numbskull Productions, “Girl+Ghost”. Both films signal what Pike sees as our “burgeoning film industry”.

Having the event at Arc Cinema, with access to the NFSA’s archival classics, has allowed them to stage a Peter Finch focus this year with “The Shiralee”, “Network” and a surprising children’s film, “The Day”,

directed by Finch in 1960.

Documentaries are to the fore, but the lines are so blurred these days that often you can’t distinguish them from fictional movies. Take Golden Bear award-winner “Tehran Taxi”, where the director Jafar Panahi pretended to be a taxi driver and recorded conversations as he drove around the Iranian capital. His part is fiction but the rest is fact.

In “No Burqas Behind Bars”, directors Nima Sarvestani and Maryam Ebrahimi look behind closed doors in Afghanistan’s Takhar Prison, transformed into a refuge where the women can safely express their longings, desires and hopes. Wishful thinking or reality?

And in “Timbuktu”, where Mauritanian writer-director Abderrahmane Sissako says he has created “a fable” showing citizens of Timbuktu living under a Jihadi regime where music, laughter, cigarettes and soccer have been banned. Sounds like fact rather than fable.

Pike and the programmers have deliberately sought out Canberra connections. The

animation, “25 April”, that tells the Gallipoli story, is produced by the prominent NZ film identity Matthew Metcalfe, who grew up in Canberra. He’ll be here with director Leanne Pooley for the Australian premiere on November 11.

“The Tentmakers of Cairo” by another Canberran, Kim Beamish, takes the camera inside the Cairo souk as the Arab Spring develops. The age-old art of tentmaking continues as a new society unfolds, not always for the better. Here the focus is on people, but Beamish tells a wider story.

Recently, at the neon-sign launch, ABC broadcaster Philip Clark threw up the age-old question: “Is cinema dead?”

Immediately answering in the negative, he asserted: “Film is the most important form of our time in telling stories.”

Pike and his team plainly agree with that.

Canberra International Film Festival, at Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, November 5-15, bookings and program at ciff.com.au

Turner puts on a turn

By Helen Musa

“I’M an okay raconteur,” cabaret and musical theatre star Geraldine Turner tells “CityNews” in the understatement of the season.

“I tell a lot of funny stories from my career, which audiences seem to enjoy.”

Her show, “Turner’s Turn”, is coming to the Street Theatre soon and the star of everything from “Anything Goes” to “Sweeney Todd” lets us into her most public secrets, sings a song written for her by Tim Minchin and generally raises eyebrows.

“It’s not Turner’s turn because I haven’t had a turn before,” she says. “It’s more Turner doing a turn.”

As well it’s a joke around the famous song “Rose’s Turn” from “Gypsy”, a show for which she’s been engaged often but never appeared.

“I talk about that, too,” she says.

Turner is a familiar face at The Street, zipping up and down the Hume Highway from her home in the Southern Highlands, which she shares with her opera conductor husband Brian Castles-Onion. They’ve both known The Street’s artistic director Caroline Stacey from way back, including during a stint in NZ. Turner has worked with her on “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living In Paris,” and Alana Valentine’s political play “MP”.

As well, she’s been part of The Street’s dramaturgical programs The Hive and First Seen. A kind of theatrical polymath who can play straight theatre, musicals, TV and film, Turner also writes and she is hoping for her own show “Drama Queen” to be staged next year. She’s also written a play for five women and is now deep in a new play.

Canberra audiences will be especially interested in “Turner’s Turn” because Stacey is the director. It’s already been seen interstate, but not by Stacey, who is always too busy to get away from Canberra. But Turner’s here rehearsing for another play, “The Chain Bridge”, and thought: “Now that I’m in Canberra, Caroline can tweak the cabaret show again”. Years ago at the School of Arts Cafe in Queanbeyan, Turner discovered that the audience absolutely loved her accompanist and musical director Michael Tyack.

“I’ll have to get rid of him,” she used to joke. She didn’t and the good news is he’ll be at The Street to accompany her in a show likely to be the showbiz event of November.

“Turner’s Turn”, The Street Theatre, 4pm, Sunday, November 1, bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

arts in the city music Strings head to Canberra

a long

of time

Dennis walks right back

FOUNDING lead vocalist Dennis Locorriere will front a reformed Dr Hook at Canberra Theatre on Saturday.

The singer disbanded the original band in 1985. Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, Dr Hook had enjoyed global success with six singles each selling a million copies, huge album sales, sold-out world tours and a little controversy.

Following the recent Top 10 success of the Dr Hook retrospective album “Timeless” in the UK, Dennis embarked on a world tour to celebrate the band’s legacy.

“There was quite a long period of time when I shied away from performing many of the classic Hook songs,” he says.

“Although the band and our music was popular all around the world, those days weren’t always the happiest of times for us and I felt I needed to put some distance

between my past and the present.

“Now the years have flown by and several of the original band members have sadly passed away. I’ve since come to understand and appreciate just how much these songs still mean to so many people.”

After Dr Hook, Dennis lived in Nashville and carved out a career as a much sought after songwriter, penning songs for performers including Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Helen Reddy, Crystal Gayle and Southside Johnny. He has released three studio albums and, after moving to the UK in 2008, toured the UK as a member of Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.

In Australia, Dr Hook achieved two number one singles (“Sylvia’s Mother” and “Walk Right In”) amongst eight Top 10 singles including “Girls Can Get It”, “Wild Colonial Boy” and “Only Sixteen”.

Dr Hook, Canberra Theatre, Saturday, October 31. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Rollicking night of ‘Pirates’

TRADITIONALISTS may raise eyebrows, but those simply seeking a nice night’s entertainment will find much to entertain in the Canberra Philharmonic Society’s rollicking new production “The Pirates of Penzance”, based on the EssGee version devised by Simon Gallaher for a hugely successful national tour in 1994. The convoluted story remains the same. The music remains largely intact, though rearranged with updated instrumentation. Director McManus has added refinements of her own, including bringing political correctness to the police force.

Marcus Hurley, in fine voice, is a dashing Frederick, the young apprentice pirate who, on reaching his 21st birthday, discovers that because he was born in a leap year, he is really only five. Almost persuaded to marry his delightfully buxom nurse Ruth (Kate Tricks), Frederick discovers the beauteous Mabel (Madison Lynn), which results in all sorts of complications. It is Gilbert and Sullivan, remember.

musical theatre

“The Pirates of Penzance” Director Kelda McManus At Erindale Theatre until November 7. Reviewed by Bill Stephens.

Dave Cannell steals the show as the Major General. His superb articulation and assured comic timing ensures that every word of the difficult patter songs is heard. Shane Horsburgh however, as the flamboyant Pirate King, took some time to hit his stride on opening night.

The drabness of Peter Carmel’s imposing set works against the light mood of the show and Jennie Norberry’s costumes for the pirates are surprisingly scrappy. More attention to detail in the direction might have curbed the over-enthusiastic ensemble interpolations that too often distract from the central action. But if energetic pirate action is your bag, you’ll find it aplenty in this engaging production.

By Helen Musa

THE Australian String Quartet, in which Canberra violist Stephen King plays, will start bringing its national season tours to Canberra from 2016, but in the meantime it’ll be at the NGA with Schubert’s string quartet, “Death and the Maiden”, Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga’s third quartet, and the Australian premiere of Brett Dean’s “And Once I played Ophelia”. At Gandel Hall, NGA, 2pm, Sunday, November 1. Bookings to nga.gov.au or 6240 6701.

ARTSOUND FM’s popular book and music fair, part of the station/studio’s open day at Manuka Arts Centre (next to Manuka Pool), will be held 9am-4pm on Sunday, November 8. Its annual Radiothon runs from October 31 to November 8, details at artsound.fm

RUGBY star David Pocock grew up in central Zimbabwe, escaping with his family when white farmers were evicted from their properties. He and his friend Luke O’Keefe have since founded the NGO Eighty Twenty Vision, aimed at supporting health and education in the town of Nkayi. Local pianist Grant Roberts is organising a fundraising dinner at which Pocock will speak and musicians perform folk, classical and show tunes between courses. At Teatro Vivaldi Restaurant, ANU Arts Centre, November 4, bookings to vivaldirestaurant.com.au or 6257 2718.

THE Studio Gallery in Duffy will reopen for one weekend only to raise funds to support Animals Asia. The exhibition will include works on paper and canvas, textiles, glass, ceramics and hand-made cards. Sue Fallon will have a selection of Moon Bear cards and her book, “Vegetarian Recipes you can Bear”. At 57 Warragamba Avenue, Duffy, 11am-4pm, on Saturday, November 7 and 11am-4pm Sunday, November 8. Entry by gold coin donation.

GIRLS Rock! Canberra is a week-long mentorship program at Ainslie Arts Centre from January 11-15, spearheaded by local musician Chiara Grassia. It’s open to participants with any level of music experience, including none. Bookings by November 22 to girlsrockaustralia.com

dining Vegetarian with flavour and flair

WHEN I first read Au Lac’s menu I couldn’t get my head around the idea of Vietnamese cannelloni.

But when the dish arrived I “got it” and was delighted with the presentation and result. But let me start at the beginning of our Au Lac journey.

A friend recommended Au Lac as one of her fave restaurants in Canberra. It bills itself as a fine maker of “Royal Vegetarian Cuisine”. The restaurant – on the Dickson dining scene since 2000 – is known to be packed out regularly, so it’s doing something delicious on the food front.

Au Lac prepares authentic Vietnamese vegetarian dishes, all without eggs, wine or MSG. When I initially scanned the menu online before visiting, I noticed meat dishes, which I thought strange. On

closer inspection I realised these are vegetarian imitation-meat dishes made of soybean proteins.

Au Lac dishes up healthy and low-fat food, but could it prove itself on taste?

It certainly did. Everything is prepared fresh daily with the chefs chopping, slicing, dicing, measuring and making from early in the day.

The shredded tofu rolls with a tangy sauce were delicious. Two

rolls cost $5.50 but our switched-on waiter, realising we were a party of three, automatically asked if we wanted an additional roll. Such a simple offer; wish all restaurants followed suit.

Next up were eggplant fritters ($6.90 for five pieces), equally sensational. They were light, not greasy and the eggplant, relatively thinly sliced, just the right texture.

The cannelloni, made of rice flour,

came with a side of chili sauce ($13.90). One of us didn’t fancy the texture. The cannelloni itself was subtle but the dried mushrooms shredded on top and inviting side salad rounded out the dish well. It’s no wonder this is a chef’s recommendation.

At first, the paw paw salad ($11) seemed bland but as the flavours settled in the interest level ramped up. The dressing ended up offering a nice bite.

The soy chicken on hot plate ($15.90) had chunks of “meat” and was loaded with vegetables quickly stir fried to retain their colour and crunch. Two of us felt the sauce, meant to replicate a peanut sauce we believed, wasn’t the best flavour of the night.

The braised snow peas were bright green and contrasted beautifully with the delicately flavoured, softer, abalone mushrooms ($15.90). The dishes at Au Lac are extremely reasonably priced and the portions generous (we ordered too much but will know better next time).

Au Lac, by the way, is considered the ancestral kingdom of the Vietnamese people (about 35 kilometres from Hanoi). For Buddhists, it’s a peaceful and treasured place.

Au Lac, open seven days, lunch and dinner. BYO. 4/35-39 Woolley Street, Dickson, call 6262 8922.

Comedy’s furious message

“Alex and Eve” (M)

“ALEX and Eve” tells what can happen when a high school maths teacher from a Greek immigrant family and a lawyer from a Lebanese Muslim family fall heavily for each other, to the fury of their respective families.

Director Peter Andrikidis has been making TV series episodes since 1977 and he knows his craft. “Alex and Eve” is not his feature debut. So we may expect an agreeable hour and a half of Aussie comedy and indeed that’s what we get. It’s not without clichés, nor without predictability, but eventually restores our faith in families’ letting young lovers choose partners, however much their religious faiths may be in opposition.

Richard Brancatisano plays Adam, a decent enough young fellow more under his Greek father’s thumb than is comfortable. As a Muslim girl who refuses to wear the hijab or to stand up against a domineering mother, Andrea Demetriades delivers a performance more sweet than forceful.

Resolution of the plot’s obstacles to true love and harmony comes slowly from directions that wait until their optimum moments to burst forth to best dramatic effect.

At Palace Electric

“Bridge of Spies” (M)

STEVEN Spielberg’s film “Bridge Of Spies” tells the story of unassuming New York insurance lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks), engaged in 1957 to defend English-born Soviet agent Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) on espionage charges then, in 1962, to negotiate the exchange for Abel of Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) whose U2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down while photographing the USSR from 70,000 feet. At Abel’s trial, the bias of Judge Byers (Dakin Matthews) forms the basis for a gentle polemic about the constitution of the US and the principle of every man’s right to a fair trial (although Abel’s guilt was undeniable, Byers ignored the FBI’s failure to follow due process).

The East German regime smarted at its subordination to the Kremlin when Donovan insisted that he would not exchange Abel unless he also got not only Powers but also Frederick Pryor, an American student unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall at the moment of its final closure.

Spielberg tells these events stolidly yet with conviction. Half a century later, who are we to quibble about the finer points?

At all cinemas

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Romance planet Venus and sex planet Mars link up in your wellbeing zone so the fitter and healthier you are, the more you’ll be able to capitalise on this lucky love connection. Best aphrodisiacs? Foods like figs, avocados, oysters and chocolate. This fabulous cosmic conjunction also encourages you to utilise your fiery personal power in positive ways. You’re not bossy – you’re bold; you’re not impatient – you’re inspiring; and you’re not pushy – you’re persuasive!

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

This week love planet Venus and sex planet Mars make beautiful music together in your romance zone. Attached Bulls – plan something extra special with your partner. Singles – a platonic relationship could suddenly take a surprisingly passionate detour! Mercury moves through your relationship zone (from November 2-21) so it’s time to keep the channels of communication open with your nearest and dearest, as you make it a priority to talk through any problems.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

Home is where the heart is, as Venus and Mars hook up in your domestic zone. Attached Twins – a delicious home-cooked meal will be all the foreplay you need to get your libido going! Singles – you could meet your soul mate through an introduction from a family member. Mercury (your ruling planet) moves through Scorpio (from November 2-21) which favours study, reading, writing and researching. So find novel new ways to stimulate your marvellous Gemini mind.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

The secret to capitalising on the Venus/Mars connection is online. Singles – get your dating profile updated ASAP! Coupled Crabs – on Monday or Tuesday, make sure you send your lover a sexy text or an erotic email. Mercury moves through your self-expression zone (from November 2-21) so it’s the perfect time to tackle a creative project as you write, draw, dance, perform, paint or sing up a storm. Clear communication is the key to having a positive weekend.

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Attached Lions – it’s time to nurture your self-esteem and make your lover feel extra special as well. Single Cats – if you develop your own feelings of self-worth, then you’ll attract a more confident and caring partner. Transformation is in the air on Friday, when the Sun (your ruling planet) forms a fabulous aspect with powerful Pluto. You’ll have the energy and perception to clear up problems with loved ones, or resolve a domestic situation that’s been getting you down.

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Love and lust are on the menu as Venus and Mars link up in your sign and boost your earthy charisma and sexual magnetism. Attached Virgos – your lover will find your sensual charms hard to resist. Singles – it’s time to cast your net wide and flirt up a storm! The other focus this week is on conversation, as Mercury moves into your communication zone and gives you the confidence to speak up and say what’s really on your mind – personally and professionally.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

You’ll certainly be surrounded by intrigue this week, when Venus and Mars hook up in your mystery zone and secrets that were previously hidden rise to the surface. So make sure you handle any sensitive information as discreetly as possible. Attached Librans – dig deep, as you uncover your partner’s secret desires. Singles – romantic feelings and sexual attraction could be reignited with a mysterious lover from your past. But do you really want to do that dance again?

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Prepare for a special celestial connection, as love planet Venus and passion planet Mars highlight your hopes and wishes zone. Attached Scorpios – it’s a week when your romantic dreams really could come true. Singles – draw up a wish-list of all the qualities you are looking for in the perfect partner. Then go out there and get them! Mercury also moves into your sign, which boosts your ability to talk about business strategies, and your powers of persuasion are particularly high.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Don’t underestimate the positive effect an influential colleague can have on your career. You’ll find the more you promote your special Sagittarian talents (in person and online) the more successful you’ll be. Attached Archers – it’s the perfect time to declare your passion for your partner in a demonstrative and very public way. Single Sagittarians – love, lust and work are linked, and you could find yourself drawn to a cuddly colleague, a classy client or a charismatic customer.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Venus and Mars meet up in your adventure zone. If you’re attached, make plans to whisk your lover away for a heavenly holiday or an overnight getaway. Singles –love and travel are linked in luscious ways, and you could be attracted to someone from another country or culture. But don’t waste precious time worrying about the future. Your motto for the moment is from birthday great, actress Sally Field: “You have to be here, you have to be now, you have to be present.”

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

With Mercury moving into your career zone, it’s time to communicate more clearly with colleagues, clients and customers. If you’re looking for employment, spread the word far and wide and search out job vacancies before they are advertised. The Venus/Mars conjunction stimulates your sexuality zone, so your libido will be turbo-charged! Attached Aquarians – enjoy an exquisitely erotic night with your lover. Singles – romantic sparks could fly with a sexy stranger.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Venus and Mars hook up in your relationship zone. Singles – you’ll feel a deep longing to find the perfect partner. If you experience a mutual attraction with someone special this week, then it’s an auspicious sign that you are starting a long-term relationship with a soul mate. Already attached? Turn up the romance factor, as you tap into your partner’s most passionate desires. You’ll also want to spend more quality time with your lover, sharing activities that are mutually enjoyable.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2015 Daily astrology updates at twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore

Across

3 Name the capital of Sudan.

7 Which term relates to a landed property?

8 In which month is the Melbourne Cup run?

9 Which public building is used for the confinement of criminals, etc?

10 Name a town in northern Queensland, south of Cairns.

11 Which spirit is distilled from the fermented juice of grapes?

14 Which four-stringed instruments of the violin family are rested on the floor, between the player’s knees?

17 Name a small alcoholic drink, often taken as an appetiser.

18 What is an obsession, usually expressed in ritualistic behaviour?

19 What serves for binding, such as a bandage or cord?

20 To repeat something from memory, is to do what?

21 Which very thin sheets of pastry are spread with fillings, and baked?

Down

1 What do we call one who seizes and holds what belongs to another, without legal right?

2 Name a double-reed woodwind instrument of the oboe class.

3 Name a renowned Australian TV compere, actor and entertainer, Graham ...

4 To, for the second time, run away to marry, is to do what?

5 Perth-born Ralph Sarich invented which type of engine?

6 Which varieties of sheep originated in Spain?

11 Which hounds are often used as sniffer dogs?

12 What do we call a person who exacts satisfaction for something?

13 To have wandered aimlessly, is to have done what?

14 Which term describes the treasury

15 Name another word for a trellis.

16 What is a different expression for corpulence?

HEALTHY LIVING Kirra Rankin with

Stand up for your SELF

Do you stand with proper alignment – feet placed hip width apart with toes pointing forward?

Everything you do throughout the day affects the way your body recovers. There’s no point in attending Hydrotherapy (or any other therapy) if you undo the good it has done for your body throughout the rest of the day by slouching, sitting poorly, or standing with pressure on one leg. When you practice correct posture, your body is in alignment with itself. This can alleviate common problems such as back, hip, sciatic or neck pain, headaches & fatigue.

What does good STANDING posture look like?

Straight back.

Chin up and in.

Chest up.

Stomach in.

Feet in line with each other.

Feet hip width apart.

EVEN DISTRIBUTION OF WEIGHT ON EACH FOOT.

A recent study found those who sat down for between 5-9 hours a day were around 4% more likely to develop nonalcoholic fatty liver disease than those who sat for less than 5 hours, while those who sat down for more than 10 hours were around 9% more likely to develop the condition.

HOW do you get better standing posture?

• Imagine a colourful string is coming from the top of your head is pulling you gently up towards the ceiling.

• Practice “perfect standing posture” in the ad breaks while you’re watching the evening news (you’ll get 12 minutes of perfect posture every 30 minutes!)

• Get a mirror, align your body and PRACTICE standing, sitting and walking in front of the mirror. Feedback is crucial.

• Practice makes perfect.

• Train YOUR muscles to do the work - with specific postural exercises in the water and on land (see your local Exercise Physiologist or Physiotherapist).

• Stretch daily. Hold your stretches for 2-3 minutes. You need to release your connective tissue in order to change your bad postural habits. Connective Tissue releases after approximately 2 minutes, if your muscles are warm and pliable.

Let me know how you go –stand up for your SELF. I’m happy to answer any questions.

Informal garden rich in nostalgia

WHEN Fiona MacGregor moved into the house next door to her daughter and two grandchildren, the first thing they did was remove the boundary fence to create one large, cottage-style garden.

“The two gardens are now separated only by the veggie patch, with leeks, tomatoes, herbs, beans, peas, beetroot and herbs, and a chook run with our two little red hens,” she says.

With a large frog pond, tightly planted natives in the front and cold-climate perennials including foxgloves, aquilegias, hollyhocks and salvias, Fiona says the garden reminds her of her childhood in Scotland.

“I’ve found that cowslips and snowdrops grow really well here and they are very nostalgic for me,” she says.

“I like natives, too, but my husband is really keen on them.”

Fiona’s informal garden in Oaks Estate will be open to the public on November 1 to raise money for breast cancer supporters Bosom Buddies.

“Bosom Buddies is a charity that I think is very

Words: Kathryn Vukovljak

Photos: Andrew Finch

important and, of course, breast cancer affects so many women,” says Fiona.

Fiona says that she and her husband are both keen gardeners and work together on the garden, having brought plants with them from their previous established garden in Griffith and propagating from plants in her daughter’s garden.

“When we moved in, back in 2008, there was nothing much here except a dilapidated old banksia rose, so I took some long-service leave and made the garden beds over winter, and started from there,” she says.

She says that much of the garden now self sows and grows by itself.

“I love the garden, and all the seasonal changes that we get throughout the year,” she says.

35 Williams Street, Oaks Estate, open 11am-4pm, on Sunday, November 1. Admission $5. Refreshments available and a small plants stall. All proceeds go to Bosom Buddies. For more information at 0406 376500.

And Christine’s garden...

CHRISTINE’S delightful and inspirational garden, at 48 Weathers Street, Gowrie, will be open to the public as part of Open Gardens Canberra on the weekend of November 7-8.

Christine says the garden was essentially a “barren BMX track” in 2005 when she moved in, but having brought pot plants and rooted cuttings from her previous garden, she was able to create an amazing space on a very low budget. Paths edged by perennials lead to different rooms of the garden where hidden treasures abound, and large mirrors strategically placed on boundary fences make the garden seem endless.

48 Weathers Street, Gowrie, open 10am-4pm, on Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8. Admission $8; free to under-18s and Open Gardens Canberra members. It costs $25 to join for free entry to all open gardens until August 31. More information at opengardenscanberra.org.au/join

SUMMER and autumn “flowering bulbs”, which include corms, tubers and rhizomes, need to be planted without delay to keep the colour going in the garden.

Incidentally, once spring bulbs have finished, there’s no need to wait until the leaves have died before removing them, just wait six weeks after flowering and the leaves can be cut to ground level.

Summer flowering bulbs include Belladonna lilies or Amaryllis. Once the Amaryllis family included hippeastrums, crinum and nerine. Now Amaryllis belladonna is considered to be the only true Amaryllis.

The common, easy-to-grow pink Amaryllis will grow anywhere, even under large trees. Always plant it with the neck above the ground. These are gross feeders, so mulch with rotted-down leaves mixed with cow manure.

Canna lilies provide height and bright colours for a backdrop to any garden bed. Liliums are a florist-shop favourite as a cut flower because they take a while to open into full flower.

Liliums have been grown in Europe for centuries and are synonymous with St. Anthony. Lilium candidum, with its pure-white flowers, is commonly called the Madonna lily. Many religious paintings show the Madonna holding a bunch of them. This variety is possibly the oldest cottage garden lily grown. With today’s plant breeding, they come in a multiplicity of colours. Liliums flower from December to March.

Every garden should have at least a few groups of Tuberose, which flower from February to April. Some garden books and catalogues list it as Polianthes, its correct name. It was introduced from Mexico and loves the heat. It was first introduced to England in 1629 and has been popular ever since. Although I have listed it here among bulb suggestions, in fact it is a perennial. Many catalogues list it as a bulb. Continue to plant a few Gladioli

each week between now and the first week in December, they will then progressively flower over a long period of time.

A true autumn bulb is Nerine Bowdenii or pink spider flower, and there is a white variety. They have a subtle fragrance and last an incredibly long time in a vase. Finally, two other bulbs certainly worth having in the garden are Acidanthera bicolor or peacock orchid and Eucomis punctata or pineapple lily

Most of the listed “bulbs” will all grow well in containers, although many have vigorous roots and need containers not less than 30cm-40cm across. Place a layer of charcoal (available from most garden centres) in the bottom to act as drainage and to keep the soil sweet.

Don’t be niggly, plant in bold groups and mix with perennials also planted in bold groups. Combined, they can then make a continuous

floral display all the way to the end of autumn.

NOW is a good time to re-pot indoor plants, especially if they have been in the same potting mix for years.

Shake as much of the old potting mix off the roots. In the bottom of the pot put a layer of charcoal (as mentioned earlier for potting up bulbs). Use only a top-grade potting mix, such as the Debco brand.

Eighty per cent of indoor plants die due to poor drainage, invariably with water sitting in the saucer, which inhibits the potting mix to drain and the result is root rot.

Overcome this by filling the saucer with small pebbles and place the container on top of the pebbles. Decorative, coloured pebbles that suit the colour of the container can be found in pet shops for the bottom of aquariums.

Jottings...

• Check garden taps for dripping. They may need new washers.

• Remove spent flowers on roses and feed with Seamungus, a combination of seaweed and chook poo.

• Try growing climbing roses up through trees, especially the thornless “Zephirine Drouhin”.

• Be sure to keep whipper snippers well away from the trunks of trees and shrubs.

MELBOURNE CUP MELBOURNE CUP 2015