Join us for an exclusive presentation by Dr Alastair Taylor (MBBS, FRACS) to see how fat in Canberra is being Frosted Away. Dr Taylor’s Presentation / Live Demonstration / Personal Consultations / Wine & Cheese / PLUS Exclusive offers for attendees only.
RSVP for this FREE EVENT by 10th March. Numbers limited to 20 guests. Call 6282 1155 or email carly@capsclinic.com.au
For snapper Katie, the kids are alright
By Kate Meikle
“KIDS can be unpredictable and you don’t always know what you are going to get, but it is lots of fun!” says award-winning photographer Katie Kolenberg.
Late last year Katie was named the 2015 AIPP Australian Family Photographer of the Year at the Australian Professional Photography Awards, which is the highest national award in Australia in the genre of family photography.
“I have entered the awards every year for the past six years, I always worked hard and aimed high, but was so surprised when they called out my name!” she says.
Her winning entries included a beautiful portrait of a nine-month old baby girl, who Katie photographed in her studio in Crace.
“When she turned up, her mum apologised to me that her pigtails were uneven, but I told her it was perfect the way it is! It created a compellingly asymmetrical quality to the photograph,” she says.
Eight years ago, Katie was on a year’s maternity leave from her job as a graphic designer in the public service and it was this break from her previously busy lifestyle that gave her the opportunity to rediscover her passion
for photography.
“Having a baby and being at home started it all for me,” she says.
“I started taking photos of Toby and realised how beautiful it is to capture children and families, their special moments, and their wonderful expressions.”
So began Katie’s new career as a portrait photographer, starting her own business, Heartstory.
“It was a massive decision, especially considering I had no formal training in photography or small business, so of course I was scared it wouldn’t work out,” she admits.
“My big personality wasn’t always right for an office job, but it’s perfectly suited to having fun with families and
Journalists: Kate Meikle, kate@citynews.com.au; Kathryn Vukovljak, kathryn@citynews.com.au
Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764, helen@citynews.com.au
Photographer: Andrew Finch
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Ph 6262 9100 Fax 6262 9111
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by Ian Meikle, Level 1, 143 London Circuit, Canberra.
kids and bringing out the best in them.
“I grew up wanting to be my own boss and make my own rules. And I’ve always loved photography; I just didn’t think it had enough purpose until I started photographing my own family.”
Katie built the business into a fulltime job but it was not without challenges.
“All small business owners know how hard it is to switch off and maintain work/life balance, which is even harder when your work is your absolute passion!
“It’s taken me six years to figure out the right balance, and even now there are times when work takes over and I struggle,” she says.
In 2012, Katie went through a mar-
Since 1993: Volume 22, Number 5
Senior advertising account executive: David Cusack, 0435 380656
Distribution: Richard Watson, circulation@citynews.com.au
riage break-up, which meant that she was faced with the decision to step the business up another level or let it go.
“I love what I do so much. I felt I owed it to myself and my little boy to keep on swimming. Challenges make us stronger and more resilient,” she says.
Her partner, photographer Jeremy Byrnes, was also a finalist in the national awards, which made it a doubly happy occasion for Katie.
Katie and Jeremy have been shooting together for the past two years, which Katie says has been a wonderful combination of their skills and personalities.
“We have started to merge our styles! We have begun to emulate each other and, as life and business partners, complement each other.”
Dr Colwell is a caring GP and has two young children. She graduated from the University of Tasmania with honours and then went on to come first in her GP exams in Australia. She has been a Canberra GP for ten years. She has special interests in women’s, health, paediatrics, healthy lifestyle, travel medicine and education of junior doctors.
Dr O’Brien is very friendly and loves children. She is currently doing a diploma in paediatrics. She also has interests in aged care and women’s health. Dr O’Brien works four days per week across both YourGP@Lyneham and YourGP@Crace. She is a local graduate of the ANU and a longterm Canberran.
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Cover photo: Katie Kolenberg’s winning portrait of a local nine-month old baby girl, entitled “Kissy Lips”.
Dr Colwell and Dr O’Brien are accepting new patients and currently have excellent availability.
Australian Family Photographer of the Year Katie Kolenberg… “My big personality wasn’t always right for an office job, but it’s perfectly suited to having fun with families and kids.”
Canberra adrift in the world according to Barnaby
EASILY the biggest concern for Canberrans from PM Malcolm Turnbull’s reshuffle is the elevation of Nats leader Barnaby Joyce to Deputy Prime Minister. Barnaby seems to have a grudge against the national capital and for years he’s been advocating the removal of government agencies to the provinces. His decision last week to send part of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation to Wagga Wagga is only the latest in his attempts to lower the sensible centrality of the capital. And he’s quite unrepentant.
“Decentralisation is not just an abstract idea, but it is a real priority for this government,” he said. Happily the PM will always have the final say. And Turnbull’s enthusiastic occupation of the Lodge is a comfort. But Chief Minister Andrew Barr might consider a taskforce designed to convert Barnaby to the Canberra cause. For a bloke so open to flattery, that should be simple as pie.
THE reshuffle certainly provided Turnbull with the opportunity to take a new, fresh team to the election, now quite likely to occur shortly after the May Budget.
dose of dorin
Chief Minister Andrew Barr might consider a taskforce designed to convert Barnaby to the Canberra cause. For a bloke so open to flattery, that should be simple as pie.
EVEN closer to home, ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman is off to North America to look at light rail and associated urban villages designed to “stimulate economic activity”. The trip will take the 11-man team to Tucson, Seattle and Vancouver. But surely that’s putting the trolley before the horse. It should have been done long before they committed to the scheme.
JERRABOMBERRA wetlands committee member Dr Mike Braysher clearly has a soft spot for imported foxes who, he says, “like living with people”. Cute.
Indeed, the entire tax debate now seems to have been a precursor to an election Budget. And the big loser was undoubtedly Treasurer Scott Morrison whose preferred 50 per cent increase in the GST is now history.
OUR Aboriginal compatriots were suitably grateful for the PM’s promise to work with them in the quest to “close the gap”. Both he and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten gave nice speeches. But the Aboriginal leaders couldn’t disguise the fact that they’d heard it all before.
ROBERT MACKLIN
Truth is, there can be no major change until the outback colleagues can look forward to steady employment in meaningful jobs. Maybe that’s where Barnaby’s decentralisation policies should be directed.
ASTONISHING pay rises for the top public servants, who are now pocketing between $750,000 and $860,000 a year! The government says otherwise the best people would depart for private enterprise. Alas, when you take the “service” element out of the PS this is one of the consequences, like giving only the “advice” their ministers want to hear.
They can’t be poisoned because of risks to other animals and they shouldn’t be shot because “90 per cent of the fox population is waiting in reserve; take one out and there are many more young foxes to replace them”. Odd that. It certainly didn’t stop the “kangaroo cull” and there are millions of native boomers waiting to replace them, too.
ON a much happier note, what a thrill that in Environment Minister Greg Hunt we produced “the best minister in the world”. Makes you wonder who he beat for the crown. No names, no pack drill, but we hear Barnaby’s ropeable. robert@robertmacklin.com
WELCOME TO THE IDEAS BOOM
The Australian Government is committed to making this country a centre of innovation—where we turn ideas into successful products and services.
This will generate a new era of jobs and prosperity for all.
The National Innovation & Science Agenda includes initiatives that encourage ideas and create opportunities, including:
• making it easier for innovative businesses to find investors and access funding
• bringing research and business together to make ideas work
• helping prepare ideas for market with grants and specialist advice
• making it easier for people to take a risk and give their ideas a go
• ensuring young Australians have the skills they need in technology, maths and science for the jobs of tomorrow.
The Ideas Boom. Building an exciting future for every Australian.
innovation.gov.au
#ideasboom
Our best a reminder of the worst
THE National Multicultural Festival sees Canberra at its best. And is a reminder of the worst.
On the one hand, there is the Food and Dance Spectacular, Chinese New Year and Carnival in the City in “a celebration and sharing of culturally diverse traditions, dance, food, performances, exhibitions, concerts and information”.
On the other, is our extreme embarrassment about how “Canberra” treats refugees.
Most Canberrans cringe at hearing our city’s name used as an aka for the incumbent Federal Government. But for so many Australians they are synonymous.
The national capital at this time of year revels in diversity and cultural differences “from over 170 countries” and celebrates that it is “home to over 100 embassies”. At the same time refugees from war-torn Syria and other places in the Middle East and Africa are turned from our shores.
The National Multicultural Festival organisers let Canberrans know that: “In the lead up to the 2016 event, the festival team will be working with the many thousands of stallholders, performers, community organisation members, diplomatic corps and tireless volunteers to bring you an unforgettable experience”.
In the meantime the Federal government moves refugees to Manus Island and Nauru. For them, an unforgettable experience.
What is it that really frightens Australians
Most Canberrans cringe at hearing our city’s name used as an aka for the incumbent Federal Government. But for so many Australians they are synonymous.
about refugees? Are they so different? At the very time diversity is being celebrated by so many local people in Canberra, it seems the government is rejecting more of the same people who have brought about our vibrant communities.
Border protection politics (by both major political parties) are at a low ebb; a very low ebb. It is a political vice grip denying celebration of difference, of alternative music, dance and food. Compassion seems to have no place. It is not about a “fair go”. It is unAustralian.
One hundred and twelve children are in detention in Australia. How many thousand children (that look like them) were in Civic at the Multicultural Festival?
In a recent open letter from academics to the Prime Minister these concerns were set out graphically: “The serious deleterious effect this has on the physical and psychological welfare of children, who in effect are being punished in the absence of guilt on their part of any kind and outside the normal legal, child protection and welfare frameworks within which their situation
should more properly and appropriately be addressed”.
What has happened to Australian compassion? Consecutive governments have committed Australia to participate in wars that have, in part, helped to create refugees. This should mean accepting that there are consequences and shouldering Australia’s part of the responsibility. Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison did “stop the boats”. However, the world is still reeling from the magnitude of the problem as multitudes of refugees arrive on European shores.
There is plenty of research to show that refugees were reluctant to leave their work, their homes, their neighbourhoods or their broader families. But they are parents. They want a better life for their children. A life free of war, violence and fear. Perhaps rather than protecting their children from war, they dream of taking their children to a festival! This is not so hard to understand. And Australia is bound by international obligations to protect refugees – although with the
current policies of the government and the opposition, it seems hard to believe.
Canberra becomes a Mini-UN for the festival, yet at the same time the Federal government (aka Canberra) seems happy to ignore the real-life UN. There is strong evidence that immigration detention is harmful to children. The damaging effects of detention are well documented in many reports including the 2016 report on “The Health and Well-being of Children in Immigration Detention” by the Human Rights Commission. Now there are emerging, well-founded accusations about possible breaches to Australia’s commitment on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It should be no surprise that prolonged immigration detention continues to have a detrimental impact on the mental health of asylum seekers.
While Canberrans celebrate our multiculturalism it is time
Walking the talk
CANBERRANS are invited to the third UNESCOrecognised International Mother Language Day walk from the International Flag Display beside Lake Burley Griffin at 10.30am, Sunday, February 21, to Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park for a multicultural program of singing, rap, poetry and dance. The walk upholds the belief that people’s dignity, spirit and character are maintained through the use of mother languages.
Man of wills
GREGORY Burn, from the Office of the Public Trustee, is the guest speaker at the next dinner meeting of the Tuggeranong Evening VIEW Club, at the Tuggeranong Vikings Club, Greenway, on Wednesday, February 24. Interested ladies and guests should call 6291 7716 or email tuggeven@gmail.com
Energy for lunch
MEGAN Andrews will speak about the ACT Government’s Energy Efficiency Program over lunch at the Weston Creek VIEW Club’s next meeting at the Southern Cross Club, Corinna Street, Woden on Tuesday, March 1. Interested ladies and guests should call 6288 7625 by Thursday, February 25.
Rallyers to rally
THE Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club will celebrate its annual rally in the Canberra and Southern NSW region over the weekend of March 4-6. More than 250 vintage and classic Japanese motorcycles will be on display at a “Show and Shine” in the forecourt of the National Museum, midday to 3pm, on March 5. More information at vjmc-rally.info
Boys and girls entering Year 7 in 2017 are invited to submit scholarship applications now. Canberra Grammar School offers a variety of scholarships for music, boarding and tuition fees. Scholarship recipients can be given priority offers of places at the School (subject to satisfying the normal entry criteria and application procedures outlined in the School’s Admissions Policy).
Applications close – 6 March 2016
politics / federal election
Why I’ve set myself up to fail at poll
By Carly Saeedi
THE seat of Fraser (recently renamed Fenner) has been held by Labor forever. I say that in the literal sense, no other party has ever won it. Yet this year I will run as the Greens candidate for Fenner in the Federal election.
This announcement was met with many kind words from family, friends and acquaintances, but after the initial support inevitably passed they began to enquire as to why I would want to enter politics, why I chose to represent the Greens and why I would contest an “unwinnable” seat.
My candidacy is not the culmination of a lifelong career aspiration, but rather a natural progression.
At law school I developed an interest in government policy and, as associate to former Chief Justice Higgins, I knew I wanted to be an advocate and represent those without a voice. I was admitted as a lawyer and did just that.
Earlier this year, a young family came to see me. Their claims for protection had been refused and they were being deported. They had to choose between returning to Northern Iraq, where they feared death, or being taken into
I wear a black suit and heels and drive a car to work. I have never chained myself to a tree or bulldozer, I don’t drink lattes, I have never smoked marijuana and I am not a vegetarian.
immigration detention. They chose detention and I chose to find a new career.
I had become frustrated applying laws I fundamentally opposed and realised I needed to be part of making the law.
I wear a black suit and heels and drive a car to work. I have never chained myself to a tree or bulldozer, I don’t drink lattes, I have never smoked marijuana and I am not a vegetarian.
Instead, I was born in Canberra to two public servants and married a business owner. My political affiliation is not the result of my parents’ voting record, my occupation or income bracket, but represents my personal values, ideals and aspirations for the future.
For years I have written articles and spoken at conferences about an asylum-seeker policy that respects the rule of law and meets international legal standards, all the while expressing my frustration at the bipartisan support for
laws that do the very opposite. I have three children whose future is always at the forefront of my mind. I want them to have the same rights and freedoms that I have enjoyed. I want to teach them to be compassionate to those who ask for help, I want them to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, I want them to get a degree if they earn it not if they can afford it, I want them to see a dentist if a tooth aches and I want them to be able to buy a house if they work hard. To me, this is worth the fight, regardless of the odds.
I have been told my passion is “admirable” and then asked, “but why set yourself up to fail?”. Failure is not standing up against the two old parties and fighting for something better only to fall short on polling day, failure is sitting by and letting the current state of politics continue unchallenged.
Carly Saeedi is the Greens candidate for Fenner at the next Federal election
Greens candidate for Fenner Carly Saeedi… “Failure is not standing up against the two old parties and fighting for something better.”
Tippett takes charge
FORMER Minter Ellison partner Debra Tippett has been appointed to head law firm Henry Davis York to help spearhead its drive into the Commonwealth Government legal sector as it sets up offices in Canberra. Angie Freeman, also from Minter Ellison, will be joining HDY as a special counsel in the Canberra office.
Salon shines on
KINGSTON’S Bond Hair Religion salon, the reigning Australian Salon of the Year, has been nominated as a finalist in four categories (State Salon Business of the Year – NSW/ ACT, Business Director/Owner of the Year, Best Customer Care and Salon Manager/Co-ordinator of the Year) at this year’s awards, which will be announced in Brisbane on March 20.
Photographic fair
THE Canberra Photographic Collectors’ Society will hold its autumn fair at the Canberra Irish Club, Weston, 10.30am-1.30pm, on Sunday, February 28 featuring hundreds of antique and collectable cameras, useable film and digital cameras, photographic equipment and books. Admission is free.
We found the assessment report very useful and without Actsmart we would not have been able to afford this upgrade. It is a great initiative and we’re happy to be a part of it
Pictured:
Farewell to doomed flats that stayed too long
Henshaw
I RECENTLY took a stroll along Cooyong Street, Braddon, past the old Allawah and Bega flats. I wondered how the hell anyone could live there today.
My mind flashed back to 1968 when I moved into Allawah with my first wife and a two-year-old daughter – and a second daughter not far off. It was comfortable, clean and convenient – and far more affordable than the private rentals we’d been living in. Not quite in the same league as the towering, neighbouring Currong Apartments, of course.
I was a rookie announcer at 2CA, then situated just a hop, skip and a jump away at 64 Northbourne Avenue – or a pronounced stagger if the midnight-todawn announcer failed to show up for work. Of course, it wasn’t called Public Housing in those days; it was government housing.
While Currong is now vacant and awaiting demolition and sale, Allawah and Bega remain partly occupied.
The remaining tenants, along with about 1500 of their counterparts in other public housing precincts, are about to be relocated across Canberra, with existing public housing complexes destined for private sale and the wrecking ball. Alternative sites have been identified across the ACT, notably in Nicholls, Gungahlin and out to Tuggeranong.
Notwithstanding my fond memories, looking at the unmitigated eyesore that is now called Allawah Court (a somewhat generous elevation from “Flats”), that time is well overdue.
For the Public Housing Renewal
Taskforce, the next three years are going to be busy with the relocations, demolitions and eventual sales. Many of those relocations are earmarked for this year. The entire exercise must be completed by 2019, with money raised from sales going towards the funding of the controversial light rail link from Civic to Gungahlin. Currong and Allawah have already set the pace, going under the hammer recently for $47 million, with SHL Development the successful bidder.
According to Taskforce director David Collett there have only been pockets of resistance from tenants, with most of the concern being from people worried about being too far away from the surroundings they’ve lived in for many years.
“Housing is a sensitive issue. With tenants we are relocating, it’s a big change. We offer them support, both
physical and concrete, as well as support in terms of the government and non-government services they are accessing. We want to make sure they’re not moving into an area where they can’t access those services they’ve had historically,” he said.
Undoubtedly, the biggest sale and redevelopment project is the iconic eightstorey Currong Apartments block in Braddon. Bundled with Allawah and Bega, it represents a vast tract of prime land destined to see a mixture of non-retail space, community facilities and housing accommodation.
It’s a massive demolition exercise, delayed somewhat because of asbestos.
“That’s one of the challenges, and the time it’s taking to move from a vacated building to a demolished building is because the contractors need to do fairly extensive testing in order to define where all those issues are,”
said Mr Collett.
Many former Currong residents have precious memories of their time in the once-fashionable – and eagerly sought after – apartment complex.
Madeline Fleming came to Canberra in 1953 at the age of 18, living first at the long-demolished Mulwala House before upgrading across town to Barton House.
Then she was allocated an apartment at Currong, where she stayed for 10 years, during which time she married and had her first child before the young family moved to Woden Valley in 1970.
“Currong was magic. You went from having a little bar heater (at Mulwala), cold water in the basin, to wonderful flats, centrally heated and the biggest bathtub I’d seen in my life,” she said.
“(At Mulwala) the walls were so thin. It was cold. The manager was very strict. At 11 o’clock every night he was
outside the windows making sure there was no-one in your room. I had an awful habit of emptying the teapot out the window.
“It’s very sad to see this (demolition) happening to Currong. Had they maintained it properly, it would still be a great place to live.
“I used to love that place. I get a little bit sad.”
While Madeline’s happy memories of Currong are similar to mine of Allawah, we both agree that progress must happen and we know that whatever goes into that complex in the near future, can only be for a better good.
Vale Allawah and Currong. You served the city well, but perhaps for a little too long!
Rod Henshaw is a Canberra-based journalist and broadcaster, who can regularly be heard on 2CC.
Words, photos and memories by Rod
Madeline Fleming with her 1962 lease showing her weekly rent of five pounds and three shillings.
Allawah flats with Currong Apartments in the background… many former residents have precious memories of their time in the once-fashionable – and eagerly sought after – apartment complex.
Speed comes to the slopes
INTERNET at my place on the O’Connor slopes has been touch and go for the last year.
If no-one else is in the house and the neighbourhood kids have gone to bed, then it’s been fine.
But when the stars are inauspiciously aligned it’s a downright dog.
To make matters worse, in this day and age when everyone’s got four or five devices hanging off the network, and they’re all automatically upgrading themselves, it can be a delicate business tracking down who is hogging all the capacity and making “Game of Thrones” buffer, or the rugby downsample to blurry lumps.
For years I’d lived a smidge closer to the Braddon telephone exchange and ADSL2 over the old copper wire had worked pretty well.
But crossing Macarthur Avenue had us down to 2Mbps (barely adequate) dropping down on a hot day to borderline unusable speeds, where tethering to my mobile phone brought better speeds.
With the NBN apparently off in the never never for the Bolsheviks of the Inner North, there didn’t appear to be a solution on the horizon.
And then the ads started appearing for VDSL.
Do you remember the old Transact network? Kate Carnell’s white elephant of a fibre network that was doomed by a change of government and unfortunate shifts in the world technology landscape.
It was unceremoniously flogged to the internet service provider iiNet at a knockdown price a few years ago.
At the time it was slower, fiddlier and more expensive than simply running ADSL over the copper phone network.
But since acquiring it, iiNet
My internet speed is now literally 100,000 per cent better than it was 20 years ago. The improvement has mostly gone to streaming video and the convenience of multiple devices.
(since gobbled up by TPG) has upgraded the old network.
I was wary. VDSL (very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line) is technically worse than ADSL at coping with distance from an exchange.
On the other hand this network doesn’t use the old copper wire telephone exchanges in the same way.
I asked around and everyone who had tried it said it was a great improvement.
So I called iiNet. A nice person set a date when an installer would come to the house.
On the appointed day my phone rang, the installer was half an hour away. I toddled home.
The nice installation man slung a new cable from the power pole to the house, crawled around under the house for a while, drove off down the road to fiddle with a box, drove back and installed a new VDSL wifi modem.
Bang, there it was.
Speed testing showed that we’d gone from around 2Mbps (with fair skies and a following wind) to 40Mbps.
In the last week it’s been completely and unremarkably functional, which is how I like my technology.
So if you’re within the network footprint, out of contract with your ISP, or already with iiNet, and unhappy with your internet speeds I recommend it.
On the other hand, it’s worth pausing to consider how far we’ve come.
When I first ventured online in 2008 it was with a 32Kbps dialup modem. With that I could do… well mostly what I do with it now.
My internet speed is now literally 100,000 per cent better than it was 20 years ago.
The improvement has mostly gone to streaming video, the convenience of multiple devices and pervasive monitoring software installed into pretty much every web page you look at.
It seems like a lot of effort from our society for not a great deal of benefit.
But would I go back to 32Kpbs? How about 2Mbps? Not willingly.
John Griffiths is the online editor of citynews.com.au
JOHN GRIFFITHS
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Time to help homeless veterans
THE recent article by Robert Macklin (“Disgrace of homeless heroes”, CN, February 4) highlights the plight of former serving ADF personnel, who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Successive governments since World War II have not supported returned service personnel with regards to housing.
In 2009, it was estimated that there were in excess of 3000 veterans living rough on any given night in Australia.
Since that report, the Australian government of the day has committed in excess of 45,000 further ADF personnel on operations. That number will have escalated. Two ex-service organisations – Veterans Off The Streets Australia and V360 Australia Ltd – are the only two (not funded) supporting homeless or at-risk veterans.
Not one dollar from the Federal Government is spent on veteran homelessness in this country.
It’s time for the government of the day and the Defence chiefs to seriously take a look at this issue and assist with returning the dignity earned by these men and women back to them.
Mick Spring, founder, Veterans Off The Streets Australia (votsa.org.au)
Accept the lawful status quo
THE Mafia has a strong drug influence in Australia. However, worldwide for generations, and for better or worse, it has accepted passively the status quo of prohibition of illegal drugs by the world’s nations.
But the charters of some Australian drug elite organisations have, as their aim, unequivocal opposition to policies of prohibition with regards to illicit drugs of dependence and psychotropic substances.
One might ask why can’t these law-abiding organisations, perhaps for different reasons, accept the lawful status quo on illicit drug use – as we all do with drink-drug driving, speeding etcetera?
Colliss
Parrett, Barton
Leave carousel alone!
THE barmy ideas continue with this latest one of moving the merry-go-round to Glebe Park. It is perfect where it is for families and children. What families are going to traipse especially down to Glebe Park?
I thought the idea constantly promoted was to have
more life in the city centre? Many cities around the world have carousels and always located in the centre of towns. An example is in Avignon, France, where I visited last year. Its beautifully maintained merry-goround was located in the town square. I photographed it one evening and when I asked when they put the barriers up for the night, the answer was: “We don’t”.
I then asked would it not get vandalised? “Why would they do that?” was the answer.
The cost of moving our carousel would be substantial and we’d be better off doing some long-overdue maintenance on this heritage attraction and reduce the price so families with several children could afford it.
Cedric Bryant, Watson
Evidence is ‘overwhelming’
IN opposing calls for regulated prison-based needle and syringe programs, Colliss Parrett (letters, CN) claims that regulated needle and syringe programs (NSPs –providing sterile injecting equipment to people who inject drugs) in the community are responsible for the spread of blood-borne virus infections.
If Mr Parrett’s claim was accurate it would be devastating news to the very senior and very credible proponents of NSPs everywhere including the UN General Assembly, the World Health Organization, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Hepatitis Alliance, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, UNAIDS, countless foreign governments and health departments, a consensus of public health and research organisations, and blood-borne virus experts the world over. They know, however, that the raft of evidence overwhelmingly supporting the regulated provision of sterile injecting equipment lends no credibility to the claims of NSP prohibitionists.
In the decade to 2009, NSPs in the community prevented around 130,000 Australian cases of hepatitis C and HIV. NSPs are provided to reduce the harms and risks associated with drug use that will occur regardless. All available evidence demonstrates that NSPs are not associated with increased drug use.
The ACT NSP distributes enough sterile equipment in the community to account for an estimated 72 per cent of injecting episodes. In our prison, enough sterile equipment is distributed to account for zero per cent of injecting episodes.
It is not the provision of sterile equipment that transmits infection, but the gaps in access. Expert modellers have demonstrated that for every dollar invested in NSPs, some $27 are returned in cost savings. Furthermore, increased funding to and provision of NSPs would be associated with even greater costsavings in terms of health impacts prevented.
John Didlick, executive officer, Hepatitis ACT
The Avignon merry-go-round.
Stadium slips over the horizon
AS a 54 year-old sports commentator, I am starting to wonder whether I will get to call a game at the proposed indoor stadium to be built on the site of the Civic Olympic Pool.
The ACT government’s forecast for the building is now eight to 10 years away because of the costs associated with the Mr Fluffy buyback scheme.
Any fair-minded sports fan wouldn’t begrudge the Mr Fluffy spend as families struggle to rebuild their lives, but what I’m worried about is whether an ACT government of the future will have the courage to invest in a new stadium.
By the time it gets around to looking at the new stadium, costs will be far greater than they are now and there must be doubts over securing
What I’m worried about is whether an ACT government of the future will have the courage to invest in a new stadium?
The feats of Graf and Reid have been well documented, less so the role played by Dawson in development of cricket in Canberra.
Reid showed she was capable of making the tough decisions in football despite plenty who tried their utmost to pull her down. For that we should be grateful because, as it turned out, more often than not she made the right call.
She’s not washing her hands of sport though. She will still be on the scene for the time being as a consultant.
government must now spend money on keeping Canberra Stadium up to date and relevant. This means wifi, a prerequisite at most sporting grounds, needs to be established. Most modern venues have at least two big screens at either end of the stadium; Canberra has only one. It is all about creating the best possible experience for fans, who are paying a fair amount of money to go to the ground, with an expectation of being entertained. There must be something at the venue that surpasses the experience of staying home and watching it on television.
LITTLE Will Cummins adored cars and couldn’t wait to get his driver’s licence. It wasn’t meant to be.
Will was born premature with a complex chromosome syndrome. He passed away at the age of 12, after the heart defect he had since birth became too much for his body.
To mark his memory, big brother Daniel runs the annual HeartKids Hillclimb on the one-kilometre race track at Fairbairn. The 2016 event, on February 21, has a full complement of 45 race-car drivers who will compete in intense time-trial laps while raising awareness about, and funds for, those with childhood heart disease.
of the delay,
CANBERRA has been well served by outstanding leaders in sport. As such, there is pressure on those who are hired to replace the likes of Carrie Graf, Heather Reid and Andrew Dawson to ensure their legacy is preserved.
TIM GAVEL
Graf, with six WNBL titles in her reign as coach of the Capitals, has been incredible in her mentoring of young players on and off the court. What is not seen is the time spent in individual sessions with players and young women seeking clarity on their pathway through life. She is a tremendous role model and mentor.
Dawson for his part showed a commitment to the development of cricket in Canberra that ensured the ACT stayed relevant following the demise of the Canberra Comets.
Dawson played a major role in establishing the ACT as one of the key centres for developing young cricketers, resulting in the emergence of players such as Nathan Lyon and Alex Ross.
You only have to look at the number of ACT players in the Women’s Big Bash to realise the key role he has played in developing women cricketers in Canberra.
Andrew Dawson, Carrie Graf and Heather Reid will be hard to replace.
It’s a family day out with the drivers taking time between racing to secure kids in their cars and drive them (slowly) around the track.
HeartKids Hillclimb raised about $12,000 last year, bringing the total funds raised since the event started in 2009 to $55,000. It’s free to attend with funds raised through event fees, sponsorships and raffle tickets.
HeartKids Hillclimb, Fairbairn Park Hillclimb Track, Sutton Road, 9am-4pm, Sunday, February 21.
Andrew Dawson… played a major role in establishing the ACT as a centre for developing young cricketers.
Daniel Cummins.
Canberra Confidential
Hospital visit leads to sick car
A COUPLE of weeks ago in the “Grumpy” column reader Nasis Ellis wrote bemoaning the low height of the striped bollards around the place to keep cars out of the space needed for access to disabled car parking spaces. And of the toll it was taking on cars unwittingly reversing into them.
Reader Jude Matusiewicz has written to share her experience with similar sized bollards at John James Hospital carpark.
“Recently I got myself caught in an awkward blind end to a tight carpark when visiting a friend at John James Hospital.
“I backed out, fully aware of a wall behind me and was careful to avoid hitting it.
“I had no idea there were ‘helpful’ bollards between
the rear of my car and the wall – at no time were they visible in any of my rear-view mirrors. “The photos tell the story, you will note hardly any bend on the bollard, but look at what it did to my car even though I was backing very slowly and carefully.
“Perhaps if there are enough of us with this axe to grind, we should commence a class action with the ACT Government?
“Of course, the no-brainer solution would be to install longer posts that are more visible to all kinds of vehicles. Bent bollards are everywhere – I notice them now.”
Jason’s ups and downs
SEEMINGLY alone in the desert wilderness, CC wondered if the almost-depilous Jason, pictured, was dropping his strides or climbing into them with the arrival of a nosey snapper.
No matter, for we have a sense of which way his pants will be going when he and his fellow members of the male revue Manpower Australia get to the Erindale Vikings Club on March 9.
Direct from Las Vegas, where they perform to 13 sold-out shows a week, the promoters promise that “Australia’s Thunder from Down Under” is set to heat up the nation with more than 35 performances across the eastern states.
Their growing media attention has landed them a fun (and family-friendly) cameo appearance in Disney’s new movie – “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner
Never mind the dosh
WHO takes a job without knowing what the pay is? Apparently, Kate Lundy does. Chief Minister Andrew Barr has grandly unveiled the former ACT Labor senator as, sensibly, the ACT’s first Local Industry Advocate with the job of ensuring local businesses get every opportunity to participate in ACT government projects.
By the way, what’s the going rate for a Local Industry Advocate, citynews.com.au editor John Griffiths asked of the chief’s office?
The reply was that the salary will be determined by the Remuneration Tribunal and will depend on how many days she works. Fair enough, but shouldn’t this all be sorted before making the appointment?
Making light work of money
NOW, we know nothing of the dark arts of civil engineering, but CC does have an acute sense of money being wasted and we were slack jawed at seeing the new light pole arrangements along the widening of Gungahlin Drive, near the cemetery entrance to Mitchell. The old lights are not being moved back a little, as the photo shows; no, they’ve installed the new lights just behind them. One presumes the replaced lights will be recycled somewhere else.
Ouch! The damage to her cherry red Alfa.
Surprise! The bollards Jude Matusiewicz didn’t see.
Let there be lights… The old and the new, two by two.
At launch of the Canberra Demons, Manuka Oval
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The art of investment
A STRONGER and more certain financial future for you and your family means accessing advice from experts, as well as improving your financial knowledge so you are in the best position to get the most out of your money. “CityNews” has tracked down the experts in finance and financial training who can help...
The right time to refinance
WITH a focus on providing a caring, individualised service for her clients, Lydia Teodorowych, wealth manager and CEO at Smarter Financial Solutions, recommends that now is the right time to look at refinancing your home loan.
“If your interest rate doesn’t start with a ‘three’ it’s definitely time to refinance,” she says.
Predominantly a mortgage brokerage, financial advisory and wealth-creation business, Smarter Financial Solutions also provides a range of personal, commercial and business loans, as well as life, mortgage and home insurance.
“We are a one-stop-shop, we can help with financial planning, bookkeeping, invoice scanning services, as well as providing deposit bonds and debtor finance, all with quick turnaround times,” she says.
With interest rates as they are, Lydia says that her approach involves shopping around for her client, looking at their unique situation and finding the most suitable home loan for them.
Smarter Financial Solutions has access to the top tier lenders such as banks, but Lydia says that if clients doesn’t exactly fit within the top-tier guidelines, she can look at second-tier lenders which give her clients more options to find the right loan.
“Whatever we do, we have our clients top of mind,” she says.
Smarter Financial Solutions, 251 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan. Visit smarterfinancialsolutions.com.au, call Lydia on 0400 991871, or email lydiat@smarterfinancialsolutions.com.au
Flexible courses, skilled teachers
CIT says its courses are designed to be flexible – for those starting a new career, building their own business or looking for the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in business, management or accounting to move up the corporate business ladder.
CIT teachers have hands-on practical experience – some run their own business, others are managers, consultants or experts in the fields of marketing, project management, finance, business administration, legal services and accounting.
”Their experience and our links with industry and professional associations mean you get the skills you need to succeed,” says CIT.
“CIT Business also provides pathways into higher level (university) qualifications, offering recognition for your learning and workplace experience.”
Visit cit.edu.au for more information.
Black Opal for racing action and fashion
CANBERRA’S premier race day and one of the most important autumn race days on the racing calendar, the Mercedes Benz Canberra Black Opal Stakes Day promises plenty of racing action on Sunday, March 6.
Celebrating its 44th year, the Black Opal Stakes features the tab.com.au Canberra Cup, the XXXX Gold Canberra Guineas, the Affinity Constructions Australia National Sprint and four other supporting races that make up a full afternoon of racing.
The prize money is just under $1 million and “Capital Cash” has been introduced this year to see a further injection of prize money that will entice interstate trainers, jockeys and horses to take on the locals.
The action will take place on and off the track at the Myer Fashions on the Field stage. Ladies and gents are welcome to register for the competition with cash and prizes worth more than $8000. Competition categories are classic ladies’ race wear, classic men’s race wear and the millinery award.
This year the millinery competition will be a standalone category and will be held between the men’s and women’s heats throughout the afternoon with
Debbie has just the look
DEBBIE, from Debbie Maree’s Fashion Boutique, says she is enjoying helping her customers find their “new look” at her shop’s new premises on Crawford Street, Queanbeyan.
With an emphasis on understanding her customers’ needs and sourcing the best labels to suit their shapes and styles, Debbie says the Black Opal Stakes Day is a perfect reason to buy a fabulous new outfit!
Incorporating leading Australian and international labels, Debbie says she has recently welcomed new and exciting labels that beautifully complement the current collection.
registrations strictly between noon and 1.30pm.
Organisers say that the official Black Opal Stakes lapel flower is the pink rose, as an insider tip for hopeful fashionistas!
Sales and marketing manager, Briony Young, says Thoroughbred Park offers varied hospitality packages to experience the glamour and excitement of racing on any budget. She says that the corporate hospitality options for the Black Opal Stakes day are almost sold out.
“The Wolf Blass Deck Marquee has raised the bar in corporate entertainment and we have had to close bookings this year with just over 300 booked,” she says.
“Catbird Lane which is very popular still has spaces available for private and shared marquees.”
More information at thoroughbredpark.com.au
Autumn lunch
ON Thursday, March 3, the Canberra branch of the Thoroughbred Club of Australia is holding its annual autumn lunch in the lead up to Black Opal Stakes day.
In addition to a premium dining experience matched with Penfolds wines, the club will welcome founder and chairman of Harvey Norman, Gerry Harvey.
One long-standing label at the boutique is Rock Rose Designs, by milliner and felt maker, Robyn Toohey. Robyn specialises in designing bespoke millinery and vintage-inspired, hand-felted cloche hats made from quality merino or alpaca fleece.
“Come in and let us help dress you for the races – with a range of beautiful frocks and hats, you may find the perfect thing right here,” says Debbie.
• It’s run at Thoroughbred Park, 1 Randwick Road, Lyneham on Sunday, March 6.
• Gates open at 11.30am with the first race at 1.28pm. The big race is at 5.10pm.
• Online tickets are available through Ticketek. Seniors are $5 and children under 18 are free.
• Music by Canberra’s own Big Boss Groove and Guitar Cases will play throughout the day.
• Kids can enjoy free face painting and a jumping castle.
• Action Buses offer free bus travel from any service in Canberra to and from the course by showing your pre-purchased Black Opal Stakes ticket.
Millinery by Rock Rose Designs, available at Debbie Maree’s Fashion Boutique.
Bald Archies don’t miss a beat
By Helen Musa
THE Bald Archy is back, but it was a near thing.
Panic spread around rural Coolac, just this side of Gundagai, when Maude the sulphur-crested cockatoo flew the coop, but happily, as founder of the Bald Archy, Peter Batey told “CityNews”, she has flown back home to resume her duties as chief judge of the notorious satirical art award.
That and Batey’s unexpected fall in the cockatoo cage looked set to put a damper on an otherwise wonderful year in which he and artist Fran Henke published a pictorial history of this antidote-prize to the Archibald, under the title “In Yer Face”.
Malcolm Turnbull, Bronwyn Bishop and Clive Palmer are prominent as subjects, but not a single portrait of former prime minister Tony Abbott has been submitted to Maude. Artist James Brennan’s classically inspired portrait of Mr Turnbull and the Queen is likely to enrage many.
Apart from the politicians, the Archies feature the usual array of notable celebrities.
Maude won’t unveil her choice as winner until mid-July in Sydney, just after the Art Gallery of NSW announces who wins the venerable Archibald.
“The Archibald Prize appeared particularly pompous,” Batey wrote in his book, “with the fun theme in mind, I hit on the idea of lampooning that esteemed event.”
And even now he’s not above a swipe at the “staid” trustees of the gallery, describing Maude as having “similarly, little apparent qualification” to judge.
Canberrans have always held the Bald Archies close to their hearts, and our own local artists, painters such as Trevor Dunbar, Val Johnson and Margaret Heseltine, have been among the first to get their entries in over the years, so it’s no surprise that our journalists were the first to report on the 23-year-old award that now hits the high spots in even the big tabloids.
By Helen Musa
DAME Mary Gilmore is all the rage, all over again.
We already knew that a suburb of Canberra is named after her and her picture is on the $10 notes and on stamps. Late last year Canberra’s Griffyn Ensemble performed Vincent Plush’s song-cycle based on her Paraguayan poems. Then, in January, we published Gilmore’s seasonally appropriate poem “Canberra in Recess” in these pages.
Now, “All My Love”, a play by Sydney novelist and screenwriter Anne Brooksbank, unveils, through Gilmore’s own letters, a thwarted love relationship with poet Henry Lawson who, incidentally, was replaced by Gilmore when our $10 note moved from paper to polymer.
“CityNews” caught up with Brooksbank by phone at her Palm Beach home where she lives with her long-time husband, the writer and iconoclast Bob Ellis.
“It feels good for it all to be coming together like this after a number of years,” she says of a play she wrote in the ‘80s but which has now been brought to life in the production directed by Denny Lawrence with music composed by her son Jack Ellis.
“Kim Denman, who plays her, gets her strength very, very well. Kim also did a lot of research about the younger Mary in seeking to understand her,” she says.
The young Mary Cameron and Henry Lawson were brought together in the late 1890s by his terrifying mother, feminist and socialist editor Louisa Lawson, who encouraged Mary to move to Sydney, where Henry showed her the “dark spots” of Sydney life, until the mothers of both the young people fell out.
Louisa got in the way of the developing romance by one of the oldest maternal tricks in the book – intercepting their mail, a fact confirmed by Henry’s 12-year-old sister.
The end of Act I, Brooksbank explains, sees the beer-sodden Henry passed out at the docks in Sydney after trying unsuccessfully to stow away when Mary leaves for Paraguay to join the utopian colony Cosme. By this time Mary had rejected his proposal of marriage in favour of following the idealist William Lane.
Act II sees Mary and her (by now) husband William Gilmore with their small son Willy abandoning South America and travelling to England where Henry, his disturbed wife Bertha and their children were residing. Henry unwisely persuades Mary to take Bertha and the kids back to Australia in 1902, but this ends with Bertha accusing Mary of breaking up her marriage.
“All My Love” concludes with Mary’s efforts to have Henry Lawson publicly acknowledged, as he was, notably in the George Lambert statue in Sydney’s Domain.
Brooksbank’s admiration of Henry and Mary is palpable, as is her view of the manipulative Louisa Lawson. She admires Gilmore, describing her “as indeed a very strong person and kindly and generous as well… I still wish she and Henry had managed to stay together”.
“All My Love”, The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, February 24- 27, bookings to theq.net.au or 6285 6290.
“The Canberra Games”, by Val Johnson. “May the Remorse be with You”, by Judy Nadin. “St. Goodsey and the Boogan”, by Murray Grellis.
The Archies will enjoy a tour to Gundagai, Deniliquin, Corowa, Swan Pool, Temora, Coffs Harbour and, for the first time, Brisbane.
The 23rd Bald Archy prize exhibition, Watson Arts Centre, Aspinall Street, until March 14, 10am-4pm daily, entry $5/$4.
Dame Mary Gilmore.
“The Press Conference”, by Pat Hudson.
Brave struggle beyond the script
By Dougal Macdonald
“Trumbo” (M)
“HE was a Communist in the late ’30s and early ’40s, when that meant you were pro-labour and anti-Jim Crow, and you fought for civil rights for African-Americans. It had nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with how an already great country could improve itself.”
So wrote Niki Trumbo (quoted in the voluminous production notes for Jay Roach’s bio-pic about her father Dalton, the most successful screenwriter of his, and perhaps any, time.)
John McNamara’s screenplay is redolent of not only cinema in the era when Trumbo was writing but also of the man himself – “fiery, intelligent, self-righteous, charming, entertaining and funny” (quoting the same source).
Bryan Cranston replicates Trumbo as to both delivery of the dialogue and presentation of physical attributes. His Oscar nomination is thoroughly merited. His mastery of the role’s intense emotional pressures delivers nuances that are a joy to observe even when negotiating adversities that might destroy a less-robust character and clear perceptions of what powerfully-placed enemies were working to destroy in him. Its themes range over a wonderful gamut – freedom of speech and other public expression, the rule of law and the House Un-American Activities Committee, the tribulations of the Hollywood Ten and Trumbo’s circumvention of the blacklist, film-studio gossip, power plays and other politics, nostalgic archival visits to all sorts of Hollywood occasions and more.
The enormous cast list manifests a certain courage. After all, what modern actor could exactly replicate Edward G Robinson, Otto Preminger, Kirk Douglas, Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren being superbly bitchy), John Wayne and other great names from that era of cinematic magnificence?
At Palace Electric
“Zoolander 2” (MA)
THIS farrago of stupidity, noise, bad taste and dramatic ineptitude is the brainchild of writer/director/principal actor Ben Stiller who, in 2001, teamed with Owen Wilson to make the original “Zoolander” something of a cult movie.
Or so I understand. I never saw it. Was that wise? Or merely unfortunate? The omission wasn’t deliberate. In those days, I was writing for another publication whose arts editor told me what to cover.
It certainly deprived me of the back story, in which Zoolander (Stiller) apparently murdered his wife and got away with it. Since then he’s been searching for his son, now in his teens. His one-time colleague Hansel (Wilson) has received an invitation for the pair to resume their earlier careers as fashion models.
Real-estate mogul Mugatu (Will Ferrell) is up to no good in the fashion season. The head of Interpol’s Fashion Division (Penelope Cruz) wants Zoolander and Hansel to solve that problem. That’s the core of a very floppy plot.
Zoolander was never the child of a graphic novel. But this is a sequel. And a sequel seldom equals its predecessor. Certainly Stiller and Wilson don’t have the acting chops or other kind of creative clout to sustain this one. A gaggle of supporting cameos from guests with nothing to lose but their reputation for judging acceptance of roles wisely does nothing to fill the void. Identifying them creates this sequel’s few
challenges. The rest is over-ripe, undercooked balderdash of no perceptible merit.
At all cinemas
“Deadpool” (MA)
THE visual elements in Tim Miller’s directing debut include giant junk heaps, an aircraft carrier in the breaker’s yard, automotive mayhem, gunfire involving men who can’t shoot straight, varieties of brutal treatment from which no real human might get up and walk away and other improbabilities.
“Deadpool” is the nickname for a former soldier (Ryan Reynolds) who has acquired special powers during post-trauma recovery. He’s going to need them to survive the conflict against Warlord (Michael Benyaer). Deadpool has a small coterie of chums – particularly a giant Russian played by two people, one for voice, one for facial expression, and a small woman who morphs into a ball of fire when necessary.
The ideas underlying these shenanigans come from Marvel Comics, publishers of graphic novels for people who find reading tiresome but can get an idea of storyline from pictures.
Gentle Tim takes to being a gangster
By Helen Musa
“Oh the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jack-knife has old Macheath, babe
And he keeps it out of sight.”
IT’S a fair bet that you know the tune, but an equally fair one that you haven’t given much thought to the words.
Mac, Mackie, is the modern version of that dashing highwayman Macheath, filched by Bertolt Brecht from John Gay’s “The Beggar’s Opera” and turned into the antihero of his 1928 hit “The Threepenny Opera”, soon to be seen at Theatre 3 in a production by Aarne Neeme.
Busy Canberra actor Tim Sekuless gets to play the amoral, cynical gangland chief Macheath in a musical full of fabulous songs by Kurt Weill, many with lyrics snitched from François Villon and Rudyard Kipling, for Brecht was, like Shakespeare, the master of plagiarism.
It’s a far cry from Sekuless’ last role, Baby Bear in “Goldilocks” or even his most recent role for REP as Feste the clown in “Twelfth Night”, but armed with one of his favourite books, “Freakonomics”, he has embarked on one of the great roles of theatre.
and the apostle of the “Godfather” principle that everything is “just business”.
It would be hard to find a dirtier set of shysters anywhere in dramatic literature. Mr Peachum is running a profitable business putting beggars on to the street; his sweet, young daughter Lucy turns out to be a shrewd criminal businesswoman; Chief of Police Tiger Brown is in league with Mackie; Lucy, his daughter, might be Macheath’s wife and Mackie’s former girlfriend Jenny Diver is a sharp-eyed Marxist analyst of the world.
With theft, murder, corruption, domestic violence and unwanted pregnancies abounding – all of which seem amazingly contemporary – there’s also a withering attack on the celebrity cult that sees an unsavoury character like Mackie getting off scot-free. What, one asks, might Brecht have made of the Kardashian cult? As the narrator sings to the “Mac the Knife” tune, celebrities get a better deal than ordinary people like us – “Those you see are in the limelight, those in darkness you can’t see.”
Sekuless, mild-mannered Department of Health officer by day with a love of maths and data charts almost as great as his love of theatre, is over the moon at tackling the role of Macheath and even more at working with Neeme.
This is no dashing romantic Captain Macheath. Mackie is the King of the Crims, a cynic, a serial womaniser, not too clean behind the ears
“Macheath is Brecht’s mouthpiece,” Sekuless says, “and as a performer you want to love your character.”
Expanding graphic novels into moving images is not cheap. Marvel Comics knows that there is an audience out there prepared to pay production costs and profit. I’m sure Marvel Comics also understands the intellectual level of that audience. If you can read this review, yours is above it.
At all cinemas
But Macheath is an out and out swine and here’s where Neeme comes in.
“Aarne is such a wonderful director… he is totally ruthless if he sees me showing the slightest sympathetic interest in Macheath, he simply pulls it out, keeping to Brecht’s intentions,” says Seckuless.
in “Twelth Night”.
“The Threepenny Opera”, Theatre 3, Acton, February 26 to March 12. Bookings to canberrarep.org.au or 6257 1950.
Tim Sekuless
Bryan Cranston as Trumbo... his Oscar nomination is thoroughly merited.
arts in the city dining Investing
Boys in the band
By Helen Musa
DURING the late 1930s and 1940s the Andrews Sisters wowed the world with hits such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. Now performers Jon Jackson, Andrew Dessmann and Michael (“Dolly Diamond”) Dalton have frocked up to become The Bugle Boys in a cabaret of the same name coming to the Famous Spiegeltent, Civic Square, at 6.30pm on Thursday, February 25. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.
ANDREW Rumsey on piano and Matt Withers on guitar will perform “Concierto de Aranjuez” by Rodrigo and other works in the first of the 2016 concert series at Kangara Waters Retirement Village, 2 Joy Cummings Place, Belconnen, 2.15pm, Sunday, February 21. Bookings via trybooking.com or seats at the door.
CANBERRA Glassworks has been busy playing with marbles, and in its newest show, it’ll be showing off the responses to this humble yet technically demanding glass art form by nine artists from across Australia. “Collecting Nostalgia,” at Canberra Glassworks, February 18 to April 24.
COMPOSER Calvin Bowman is leaving town, but not before performing a farewell concert at Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, on Sunday, February 21. It will be a fundraiser for community outreach project The Verandah. Bookings via trybooking.com or at the door.
GALLERY@BCS in Belconnen Community Centre is seeking artwork donations from your garage or your studio for its annual gallery fundraiser from May 2-13, with an opening and silent auction on May 4 to support emerging artists, Aboriginal artists and people who use art as therapy. Inquiries to Ben Drysdale at ben.drysdale@bcsact.com.au
THE Song Company’s first program with Antony Pitts as the new artistic director will see the ensemble paying tribute to J.S Bach in “Bach & Forward” at Wesley Uniting Church, 6pm, Saturday, February 27, bookings to songcompany.com.au
PIANIST Kathryn Selby will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Selby & Friends with old friends, violist Andrew Haveron and cellist Timo-Veikko Valve, performing Beethoven, Schubert, Busoni and Arensky. “Varied Virtues”, James O. Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, 7.30pm, February 23. Bookings to selbyandfriends.com.au or 1300 511099.
“CABARET Now”, a showcase of new cabaret work, is seeking applications for a cabaret scholarship that pairs emerging artists between 16 and 26 years of age with industry mentors to develop their work and skills ahead of the showcase in Sydney, April 6-10. Applications close Monday, February 22. Visit atyp.com.au/cameo-cabaret-now
I put my hand on my heart and proclaim that this is one of the best banquet deals in town.
IT’S one of the best locations in Manuka and it’s exciting that a new restaurant has opened on the corner of Furneaux and Franklin Streets. Better still, a new restaurant that has invested in making this special spot its own and lifting the bar on the interior fitout and large outdoor dining area.
We’re talking Avesta. I’ve dined there twice and, so far, it’s pretty darn good.
Avesta celebrates Kurdish cuisine, which shares similar qualities with Turkish cuisine. The restaurant bills itself as a smokehouse specialising in charcoal-grilled food.
On my second visit – the subject of this review – a bunch of us descended on Avesta, opting for the “deluxe banquet”. I put my hand on my heart and proclaim that this is one of the best banquet deals in town. It’s $40 and enough food is dished up to feed a small army. When I read the menu I wondered about “quantity over quality” but needn’t have given this a second thought. The deluxe banquet is designed for a minimum of two people and vegetarian and gluten-free options are available.
We started off sharing generous serves of tasty hummus, carrot, beetroot and baba ganoush with bread (some of which seemed a bit stale to me, disappointing given the restaurant has its own wood-fired oven).
Next up was oven-baked, spiced mushroom topped with bits of goat’s cheese, and then the super-tasty, marinated king prawns. Who can go past these beauties when they’re simply and carefully pan fried in garlic and olive oil?
My favorite dish was chargrilled Atlantic salmon. While slightly overcooked for my liking, it wasn’t dry, and the flavours were fabulous. It was served with a Mediterranean-style salad –tomato, cucumber, olive and feta
cheese. Indeed, several dishes came with the salad, which I found tedious by the end of the meal.
LEFT: The signature dish at Avesta, the “Kurdish-style TKA” –skewered beef, lamb, chicken or kofta presented on long skewers, loaded with meat and veggies, hanging from a rather tall structure that looks splendid on the table.
Photo by Andrew Finch
The signature dish at Avesta is called the “Kurdish-style TKA” –skewered beef, lamb, chicken or kofta. The presentation is amazing. The long skewers, loaded with meat and veggies, hang from a rather tall structure that looks splendid on the table. And poking out the side are four brackets, each holding a bowl of fluffy rice. It’s fun and the meat is super tasty.
The service at Avesta is delightful and the staff couldn’t do enough to make us happy, even bringing out a gigantic silver bucket loaded with ice, in which we rested our wine. It was a lovely touch.
Avesta is BYO and working on securing a liquor licence. Breakfast (from 7am), lunch and dinner (till very late). I’m not sure the restaurant will be able to sustain such long hours, but hope they do.
At Paleo Café we serve only the freshest, seasonal produce prepared by our skilled chefs to create mouth-watering meals that will leave you feeling energised and fuelled to
Our entire menu is Paleo and 100% gluten free. No marketing gimmicks, just good clean and nutritious food prepared and served with love.
Bugle Boys… at the Famous Spiegeltent.
gardening
Plant now for winter flowers
NOW is the time to plant for a winter floral display; particularly after the soaking rain, the roots will become established before winter.
Some of the late-autumn flowering plants often continue into winter depending on the arrival of frost.
This doesn’t mean the garden is naked of colour in winter, so here are a few suggestions for perennial plants, all of which can be divided at the end of the season:
• Bergenia cordifolia is commonly called Elephant’s Ears due to the leaf size. Very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it has largely gone out of fashion. This remarkable plant, which comes from Siberia and Mongolia where temperatures drop to minus 50C, will tolerate our full sun and extreme frost. The large, heartshaped leaves are a feature in their own right and its flowers appear as panicles of rosy-red or pink flowers on long 30-40cm stems during winter and into the early spring.
• A favourite of mine is the winter-flowering iris with an unpronounceable name, Iris unguicularis (Syn. I stylosa). It is often not grown to its full potential as the flowers are usually lost amongst the massive grassy foliage.
a double pass to see “Pearl: The Janis Joplin Show” at The Street Theatre, Saturday, March 5. WIN...
To overcome this, remove all the foliage within 15cm of the ground (and it’s not too late to do this) to encourage sunlight into the plant. The plant is at home in full sun or shade and the delicate fragrance of the lavender-mauve flowers holds well for bringing indoors.
Always pull the flowers off from the base of the stem, rather than cutting.
• Helleborus is commonly called Winter Rose, although no relation to roses except the flowers are similar to old-fashioned roses. These are treated the same way as Winter Iris, by cutting back the leaves, although in this case to ground level in autumn. There is a magnificent range of Hellebores
with today’s breeding programs. For example, the stunning Helleborus “Anna’s Red” or H. “Ivory Prince” and H. “Penny’s Pink”. Hellebores will arrive at garden centres in the next few weeks.
• Most of us are familiar with Polyanthus, which is a cross between a primrose and cowslip. Renowned for a wide range of colours, they give a lift to gardens on a dull winter’s day.
Because of the variety of colours it’s easy to have a themed garden with, say, all white or all purple flowers to complement other plants.
The bane of Polyanthus is snail attack, particularly after rain. This list can be supplemented with winter-flowering annuals such as primulas, pansies and violas. Remember, from the time of planting, most annuals take about eight weeks to full flowering.
This will depend naturally on how well the soil is prepared and regular plant feeding.
It is essential to get the roots established by applying a liquid sea -
weed plant nutrient on a “weakly, weekly” basis; a weak solution once a week. Once established, this can be extended to every few weeks.
Jottings…
• After the recent rain, look out for weeds. Treat with glyphosate if they can’t be pulled or dug out.
• Keep dead heading dahlias to prolong displays.
• Once agapanthus have finished flowering remove the flowers to prevent seeding.
• Plant Nerine bulbs now for autumn/winter flowering, keeping the bulb neck above ground level.
• Continue to dead head and feed annuals such as petunias to encourage autumn flowering.
The toughest of the tough... Elephant’s Ears.
The deliciously fragrant flowers of the Winter Iris.
Joanne Madeline Moore
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Aries are very independent folk. You pride yourself on being able to do just about everything yourself. But that’s not always such a good idea. This week’s Full Moon urges you to be passionate and practical, as you learn to take on less, and delegate more. You’ll find the secret to being successful at the moment is social networking – both in person and online. Powerful and influential people are waiting to help and inspire you. All you have to do is summon up the confidence and ask!
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)
Be extra sensitive to the needs of your partner, children, teenagers or friends on Monday and Tuesday, when the Full Moon triggers misunderstandings or emotional meltdowns. Aim to be a calm and steadying Taurean tower of strength. With Mercury and Venus in your career zone, communicate closely with work colleagues, as you find creative new ways to get your professional message out loud and clear. If you are at school or college, find a study buddy you can pair up with.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)
The Full Moon’s in your domestic zone, so get your house in order and tackle Gemini jobs with gusto. But, if you spread gossip or jump to conclusions, you’ll end up in hot water. Avoid taking short cuts on Thursday. A slap-dash attitude will only mean you have to do things twice. With a more methodical approach, you can accomplish tasks and still have time to play. When it comes to fitness, leave room for plenty of variety in your exercise routine otherwise you’ll get bored and give up.
CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
Many Crabs will be in cranky and hyper-sensitive mode on Monday and Tuesday, when the Full Moon, Mars and Neptune cause chaos in your communication zone. So aim to be super selective about who you mix with, as you’re liable to misread signals, misunderstand motives and then overreact. You’re also keen to communicate via social media as you email, post, text or tweet. But be careful you’re not sending out half-baked messages with ambiguous meanings.
LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)
Lions love to live in the lap of luxury but avoid the temptation to blow the budget with some binge shopping. The Full Moon fires up your finance zones, and encourages your tendency to be hasty with cash and careless with credit – especially on Monday and Tuesday. Jupiter also inflates your extravagant streak, while nebulous Neptune confuses your understanding of your current financial situation. But big impulse buys now will just lead to major money headaches later on.
VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
Loved ones will demand your attention but the Full Moon urges you to take time out for yourself. If you indulge your interests and passions, then you’ll have more to offer those around you. On Thursday, Mercury and Saturn fine-tune your mercurial mind. Don’t be too studious and safe though. With Jupiter in your sign, be adventurous! Your motto for the moment is from birthday great Elizabeth Taylor: “There are so many doors to be opened, and I’m not afraid to look behind them.”
LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)
Your mental and physical health require some focused attention. Spend quiet quality time on your own on Monday or Tuesday, when the Full Moon illuminates your solitude zone. Activities like reading, meditation, contemplation, yoga and walking in nature would all suit. And shine a bright spotlight on your physical well-being as you give your daily diet and fitness routine some serious tweaking. As fellow Libran Olivia Newton-John says: “It is important to listen to your body.”
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)
You have ambitious plans and goals for the future but sometimes you hold yourself back for fear of making a mistake. Monday night’s Full Moon urges you to be passionate, practical and proactive as you reach for the stars! But when it comes to a child, teenager or close friend – all is not as it appears, so factor that into your approach. On the weekend, a loved one turns to you for some insightful words of wisdom. If you listen to your intuition, you’ll know what to say.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
The professional pressure is on this week, and family members will also demand plenty of your precious time. But if you promise more than you can realistically deliver, then everyone will just end up being disappointed. So how on earth will you keep all the plates spinning and get everything done? Communication and collaboration are the keys. If you persuade others to come on board and help, using your substantial Sagittarian charm, then you’ll accomplish tasks in half the time.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
Hey Capricorn – are you feeling uncharacteristically over-ready for a big adventure? Monday night’s Full Moon indicates travel is coming up over the next nine months, so start planning and researching ASAP. In between feeling restless, you’re also at your studious and astute best, as you accomplish tasks with precision and dig up information that others have missed. But a neighbour or family member may unsettle you by making a confusing move in a surprising direction.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
Don’t be discouraged if your ambitious goals seem unreachable. With planning and persistence, you can make your dreams come true but you must be in it for the long haul. So don’t expect instantly perfect results – sometimes messy mistakes lead you off in marvellous new directions. With Mercury and Venus in your sign, it’s a super week to be smart and stylish as you utilise your brain power and natural charm. With both assets working at full capacity, the world’s your oyster!
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
With Monday night’s Full Moon revving up your relationship zone, loved ones won’t take kindly to criticism, no matter how ‘constructive’ it is. So keep your Piscean opinions to yourself, and don’t offer advice when it’s not wanted! And with serious Saturn sauntering through your career zone, you’ll taste success involving your job, education or volunteer work if you daydream less and focus more. Having fabulous dreams is fine but there’s definitely no substitute for hard work!
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2016 Daily astrology updates at twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore
General knowledge crossword No. 536
Vicki is 58 and has received an inheritance of $300,000, which she wants to invest.
“My friends at work suggested that I should set up a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) and I want to know how to go about it,” she told me.
Across
3 Who, with George Bass, was the first to circumnavigate Australia, Matthew ...?
7 Which word indicates a relationship to the backbone?
8 Name the first telegraph line in Australia, connected between Darwin and Adelaide in 1872.
9 Which term describes a person who practises an art movement initiated in France in 1907?
10 What are fixed periodical payments for regular work?
11 What is a steady current of water, as in a river?
14 In which sport was Rod Laver an international champion?
17 What is a more common term for one’s forefather?
18 Which drinking vessel has a foot and a stem?
19 What is a generous bestowal of gifts?
20 Name the second sign of the zodiac.
21 In which movies did John Wayne excel? Down
1 What is an ornamental shoulder piece worn on uniforms?
2 Which term describes an object of art, etc, of a former period?
3 Name the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water.
4 To tell a story of events, etc, is to do what?
5 Which expression is descriptive of high spirits?
6 Which persons enjoy inflicting pain?
11 Name one of the numerous small, long-winged passerine birds.
12 What are degrees of attainment, surpassing all others?
13 To be harsh in manner, is to be what?
14 Which devices are aimed at in shooting practice?
15 Name a SE Queensland town near Maroochydore.
16 Which word relates to the nature of fire?
I told Vicki that I believed the minimum amount necessary to set up an SMSF was $250,000 because there were significant costs involved in setting it up and then in running the fund. Also the fund had to be audited every year and may also require an actuarial certificate. The costs could be prohibitive when the balance was less than $250,000.
Vicki said that all sounded fine to her, but what was the next step and where should she invest her money?
“First we set up an SMSF, which I can easily do for you and quickly,” I advised.
“There have been many changes in the superannuation area and anyone dealing with an accountant needs to make sure that the accountant is registered to provide advice on SMSFs.
“Each SMSF has to have either a company as trustee or individuals as trustees and every member of the fund has to be either a director of the trustee company or has to be an individual trustee. “If you are the only member of the fund and you do not set up a company as trustee then you would need another person to act as an additional trustee. I always prefer a company structure and I am happy to explain why if you need me to do so.
“I should also point out that the maximum number of members that you can have in the SMSF is four and there cannot be an employment relationship between the members other than with family members.”
Vicki elected to have a company as trustee of the fund.
“Okay, then after the SMSF is set up you’ll need an investment strategy to determine the structure of the SMSF’s investments,” I said.
“You can invest in shares, property, fixed interest and some funds even invest in collectables, but if you want to do that you will need further advice from me as this is more complex in an SMSF.” Vicki said she wanted to buy a house at the coast, rent it out and use it herself on occasional weekends.
“You certainly can buy a house at the coast, but unfortunately you cannot ever use it yourself or for your family,” I told her.
“From a tax perspective, investing in shares can be beneficial. If you own shares that are fully franked, the franking credits can satisfy part or all of your tax liability, but it all depends on your investment strategy.”
Vicki confirmed she was ready to set up the fund and start investing.
“Great, then we need to talk about maximum contributions, so let’s make another appointment to put this in train.”
If you need guidance on your SMSF contact the friendly team of specialists at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd.
