Well written, well read
IS
He’s 12.
He has a rare spinal-cord cancer. For nine years he faced surgery that would doom him to a wheelchair. NOT NOW. The tumour has stopped growing.
HOW SWEET IT IS.
When the mates get the tax breaks
MICHAEL MOORE
All aboard, tram election is on its way
ROBERT MACKLIN
The changing need for cash
CHRIS COLEMAN Violence that stalks our roads
SONYA FLADUN Cracks, crumbles and questions
JOHN GRIFFITHS
WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 11AM TO 1PM
Are you thinking about downsizing or looking at your retirement options?
Do you want to know more about your local property market and preparing your finances for retirement?
Lendlease is proud to present the ‘Making the Move’ event to be held at the Gungahlin Lakes Golf and Community Club with special host Andrew Winter from Selling Houses Australia.
Come along to this free information session and hear from a panel of local experts including a property expert, downsizing specialists and nancial advisor.
At the end of the Information session, you are welcome to get on board our complimentary shuttle bus and take a quick tour to The Grove Ngunnawal. See the new homes and future facilities currently being constructed.
So, whether you are actively looking at your options or would just like to come along to get some information, we would love to have you join us for a delicious complimentary light lunch and have the opportunity to have your questions answered by our local experts.
When: Wednesday 21 September
Time: 11am to 1pm
Where: Gungahlin Lakes Golf & Community Club 110 Gundaroo Dr, Nicholls
Complimentary shuttle bus tours will return to the Gungahlin Lakes Golf & Community Club.
KARTIKA Medcraft has organised the Sweet ChariTea event for the past three years to raise funds for the paediatric unit at Canberra Hospital because PaTCH has done so much for her 12-year-old son Sebastian.
He was diagnosed with a rare spinal cord tumour when he was three.
However, this is the first year that she can breathe a sigh of relief.
“We usually do Sweet ChariTea earlier in the year, but Sebastian had a week of intense tests in Sydney hospital in July and I just had to focus on that,” she says.
Sebastian also suffers from PTSD and ADHD, and Kartika says that the support they have received around these issues, as well as the medications to support Sebastian with the ongoing problems of loss of sensation from surgery, have been invaluable.
“We have always been told that when Sebastian gets to his teens he would need surgery, which would leave him paraplegic,” she says.
“We have lived with that for nine years and prepared ourselves for it.
“But the results showed that the tumour hasn’t grown at all. There is still surgery to come and some ongoing associated post surgical issues he will have for life, but the
threat of life confined to a wheelchair is over.
“We thought we were heading for the worst but we got the best-case scenario.
“It’s a strange sense of relief. And now, it feels surreal. And having to retrain the way I think, as everything we do and plan has always been with Sebastian in a wheelchair. So now it’s just a matter of simply getting on with life and stop holding ourselves back almost.
“I almost can’t believe it in my heart. A part of me has that little niggling fear of ‘what if’, so it is this that I need to change and let go of the fear, pain, anxiety of the last nine years and learn to move on and enjoy what unexpected things life throw at us!
“We were blown away, but when we talked to Sebastian about how he wouldn’t be in a wheelchair, he just said, ‘oh, okay’!”
Salter
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HANDSOME princes, beautiful princesses, evil queens and rock kings are all invited to be treated like “RoyalTea” at this year’s Sweet ChariTea event, says organiser Kartika Medcraft.
“It’s not all princesses and knights though – some of the table stylists this year have interpreted the theme of RoyalTea in really out-of-the-box ways,” says Kartika.
“We’re having a ‘Labyrinth’themed table as an ode to the Goblin King, a table dedicated to Elvis and one called ‘I Want to Break Free’ inspired by Queen.”
Kartika says the afternoon hightea event will feature a fashion show by Rockstars and Royalty, as well as children modelling clothes from local label Little Monstas, with the youngest model only 10 months old. There will also be auctions, raffles, a candy bar and a nail spa pamper station.
“I’m trying to get Sebastian to model, and I’m hoping he will although it’s not high on his list of
priorities!” says Kartika.
“He does help me out though – he knows what the event is all about and understands why I do it.”
Kartika says she’s been asked if this will be the last Sweet ChariTea, but she says she wants to keep doing it.
“Last year’s event raised $23,462.78. The hospital purchased 30 new breastfeeding chairs for the neonatal and pediatric wards for mums with sick bubs and we were very happy to have the funds go towards purchasing them,” she says.
“I’m so grateful to PaTCH and I’ll keep on doing Sweet ChariTea for families who are going through tough times.”
Sweet ChariTea 2016, The Abbey, Gold Creek, 1pm-5pm, Sunday, September 18. Tickets via via eventbrite.com.au, more information at facebook.com/sweetcharitea
Major event sponsors: Diamond Boutique, Madura Tea, Timeless Creations, Belle Photography, Rockstars and Royalty, Swish Vintage Canberra and Kingswim Macgregor
The biggest election issue, it seems, is the cost of the Gungahlin light rail but whether that’s enough to secure the Libs the treasury benches remains to be seen.
ALL politics really is local this past week as the major parties gear up for the October election.
The Libs, we’re told, are already doorknocking in some of the better suburbs while both they, Labor and the Greens are haunting the shopping centres with their sandwich boards and flyers.
The biggest issue, it seems, is the cost of the Gungahlin light rail but whether that’s enough to secure the Libs the treasury benches remains to be seen. The Barr-Rattenbury government is pressing ahead anyway with detailed construction plans and plenty of actual spade work before polling day.
Andrew has scored well with
Canberra’s travellers – those direct Singapore Airlines flights are a real winner – but, of course, they’ll still be available no matter who wins.
Lib Leader Jeremy Hanson is running hard on health with promises to spend $10 million on more than 50 nurses and protection for “frontline” staff in the Canberra and Calvary hospitals. However, those 60 extra beds promised earlier will not be “operational”, he says, until 2019-20.
IF the Libs were hoping for a “bounce” from the victory of PM Malcolm Turnbull they can forget it. Even the habitually undecideds – your columnist among them – are dismayed by his performance to date. Sadly, he’s looking like the puppy that caught the car and now doesn’t know what to do with it.
THE Australia Day concert imbroglio was a smack in the eye for Canberrans and yet another indicator that the Feds have little regard for the symbolic nature of the
national capital.
And Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce’s attempt to move elements of his department to other provincial cities –starting with the Rural Industries Research
dose of dorin
and Development Organisation – is more grist to the anti-Canberra mill. Pleased to see the staffers have dug in their heels. WHEN will anybody do anything about the way we’re gouged by the oil companies with fuel prices way above the rest? This week ACCC chairman Rod Sims said they were adding an “unjustified” three to four cents a litre to our petrol. “The gross retail
margins in Canberra are really higher than I think you can justify by cost or any other difference,” he said. His solution? Drive to Queanbeyan to fill up. Gee, thanks Rod.
EVEN the wombats are taking up arms against us with the attack on Kerry Evans , of Banks. Poor Kerry suffered more than 20 bites from the marauding marsupial while on an evening walk with her dogs Murphy and Pirate.
While it doesn’t say much for the protective abilities of her “best friends”, according to local wombat expert Martin Lind it’s not just Canberrans in their sights: “When they start to mature and hit puberty, they hate everybody and everything”. Well, that’s something.
ON a much happier note, Canberra’s cultural community is showing what we’re really made of with the new locally produced movie “Joe Cinque’s Consolation” scoring a place in the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Sotiris Dounoukos , it will be showing in our own cinemas from October 13.
AND the first Canberra Writers’ Festival highlighted the splendid work of our own authors – not least Fred Smith’s memoir of his time in Afghanistan, “The Dust of Uruzgan”. It’s a fascinating read.
robert@robertmacklin.com
By Kathryn Vukovljak
A CROWDFUNDING campaign is underway to provide education for children in Cambodia, say Charlie Salter and Rose Kumar, treasurers of the Human and Hope Association (HHA).
Charlie says that Elephants for Education aims to raise $15,000 by September 7 through the sale of handmade stuffed elephants, which would fund next year’s education program for 150 schoolchildren.
“By purchasing an elephant, you’re providing an income to Cambodian women so they can support their families with shelter, education and healthcare,” he says.
“Both Rose and I believe in the power of education as an investment and a mechanism to improve social outcomes and wellbeing.
“This can be seen here in the ACT, which has both the highest tertiary education rate and also the highest average earnings in the country.
“What is particularly pleasing is the HHA’s focus on sustainability – the organisation’s projects aims to empower Cambodians, who between 1975 and 1979, lost most of their educated population through starvation, torture, execution, disease and overwork under the ruling of the Khmer Rouge, to build better lives for themselves.”
Charlie says that the HHA offers a range of education and training projects, such as schooling opportunities for younger children, and microloans to provide opportunities for adults to establish their own businesses.
He and Rose say the idea of selling the elephants came about when they were brainstorming how to expand their market for handicrafts (hopehandicrafts. com) made by Cambodian seamstresses.
“We knew that we had to fundraise for the 2017 school year education project, so putting those two factors together allows the women who make the elephants an opportunity to make an extra income, and their children and neighbours will directly benefit as they are educated with the remaining
proceeds,” he says.
Charlie says this directly benefits one of the HHA seamstresses Saney, from Siem Reap, near Angkor Wat, who with the assistance of HHA has developed a successful sewing business at her home.
“Our last assessment survey has put her almost out of the poverty bracket,” says Rose.
Charlie says that Elephants for Education is HHA’s third crowdfunding campaign and that they have some way to go to reach the target of $15,000.
“We currently have 24 children who will be able to receive education in 2017, however we have a very ambitious target of 150 children,” he says.
“Providing the community in Cambodia with education opportunities is incredibly important. Our local staff in Cambodia have a proven track record of improving the confidence, knowledge and behaviour of our students, which in turn will lead to them breaking the cycle of poverty as they grow older.
“This campaign has been great for us expanding outside of our immediate network; in the growth phase of the
organisation, our donations came from family and friends, but now most of our donations are from people that our board doesn’t personally know.”
The campaign has also brought enquiries about HHA’s broader range of products, which Charlie and Rose say is a positive sign for the future.
“It’s exciting to think of the continuing growth of the organisation,” Rose says.
“Going forward, we would like to establish business partnerships as a way of securing additional stable funding so that we can continue to help break the cycle of poverty in Cambodia.”
Elephants start at $25 and are available at chuffed.org/ project/elephantsforeducation; donations for smaller amounts can also be made.
AS the inquest rumbles on into the Martin Place siege, the NSW police facade of competence cracks and crumbles and raises important questions for how we run our society.
With individuals largely blameless (just doing their best in a difficult situation) systemic failures over many years and political administrations shine through. How did the incident response come to be working out of a room in a league club, with a single phone line, relying on bar staff to take down message and pass them on?
The answer is that years before a snazzy command vehicle had been purchased and rolled out for a media event. But there was only one of them, it had been crashed and never repaired before being sold off without replacement.
Millions of fridge magnets later and vast expansions of police and intelligence service powers, no-one had actually bothered to retain the capability to run a terror-related siege in central Sydney.
Furthermore, the British team reviewing the Martin Place response found the negotiators to have been hopelessly under-trained for the task at hand.
“One senior negotiator had never worked in a hostage situation before and had no counter-terrorism training. The chief negotiator was working on four other siege situations during the Lindt cafe negotiations,” according to “The Sydney Morning Herald”.
Millions of fridge magnets later and vast expansions of police and intelligence service powers, no-one had actually bothered to retain the capability to run a terror-related siege in central Sydney.
Buying a solitary command vehicle and taking it for a joyride loaded up with TV cameras is a great media strategy but it’s no substitute for real capability building.
Doing training exercises, particularly doing them on a regular basis does not make for compelling media.
Everyone who’s ever done a desk exercise knows that they can be deathly dull and, in terms of optics for the cameras, they look like nothing much except people talking on the phone.
Just because something isn’t much to look at doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.
A hostage siege in Martin Place is a terrible time to be figuring out who’s supposed to do what.
We the public, and particularly the media, need to be asking much harder questions from our leaders when they try and impress us with whizzy toys.
If a command vehicle is a good idea (and it almost certainly is) then how many does Sydney (for example) need? On the basis
that at any given time one might be in the shop for maintenance and repairs are, in fact, two needed?
If we’re preparing for a terror siege, should we be able to respond to more than one at the same time? So five command vehicles, perhaps?
Who is going to fill these vehicles?
Multiple teams are going to be needed. At any given time members of those teams are going to be on leave or in training. After eight hours in the field people start making terrible decisions, we’re going to need more teams to relieve them.
Rather than turning on the spotlights for the politicians waving in the one command vehicle we all need to be asking where the complete capability is, and what we’re paying for it.
John Griffiths is the online editor of citynews.com.au
KATRINA Marson is the 2016 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year. The award recognises the professional achievements and community involvement of outstanding young lawyers in the region.
She joined the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions as a prosecutor in 2012 and her most recent role there was as a family violence prosecutor. Katrina recently commenced a secondment to Legal Aid ACT’s criminal practice.
Katrina has spent most of her legal career as a prosecutor and more than a year of that time in the family violence unit.
“Success as a prosecutor must never be measured in number of matters ‘won’,” she says. “Rather, I believe my achievement as a family violence prosecutor was in giving a voice to those victims within the criminal justice system and adequately representing the community interest in stemming the epidemic of family violence.”
The ACT Law Society’s 2016 President’s Medal has been awarded to Michael Phelps, who has been in practice in Canberra for 40 years. He has been a panel solicitor for the Law Society for the past 20 years and served as its president from 1989 to 91. He was also president of the Law Council of Australia 1995-96.
LOCAL plant ecologist Michael Doherty is leading a Friends of Black Mountain walk among the wattles on Black Mountain, 9am-11.30am, on Saturday, September 10. The walk will look at identifying some of the common Acacias found on Black Mountain and how they cope with fire and drought.
The ground will mostly be flat to undulating, but with a few steeper
sections later on in the walk. Cost is a gold-coin donation and the walk meets at the Belconnen Way entry to Black Mountain Nature Reserve, just before Caswell Drive turnoff (look for the balloons).
Places are limited and intending participants should email their name and phone number to friendsofblackmountain@gmail.com or call 0437 298 711.
SARAH Saunders, chief advocate of National Seniors Australia, will talk about the organisation’s 40th anniversary at the Canberra North Branch’s annual meeting at the Canberra Southern Cross
Club, Jamison, 10am on Thursday, September 8.
The $3 admission covers the cost of morning tea and visitors are welcome. More information from 6241 9395.
The election for your ACT Legislative Assembly is on 15 October and, to vote, you need to be on the electoral roll by Friday 16 September. If you’re 18 or over, and an Australian citizen living in the ACT, enrolment and voting are compulsory. So if you’re not enrolled at your current address – or not enrolled at all – you can enrol online at the Elections ACT website or pick up a form at any ACT post office or electoral office.
Are you correctly enrolled? Visit www.elections.act.gov.au or call Elections ACT on (02) 6205 0033
Electoral rolls close on Friday, 16 September. 2016 – September 10 • November 5
WHILE Treasurer Scott Morrison takes delight in hitting out at the “taxed-nots”, he misses the real culprits – the under-taxed. But they are his party’s mates.
“There is a new divide: the taxed and the taxed-not,” says Morrison. There is also an old divide. The ultra and very wealthy who pay so little tax that it is laughable – particularly compared to long-term “pay as you earn” who for years have been shouldering the burden and paying more than a third of their earnings as taxes.
Rather than paying their fair share of the tax burden, many of the very wealthy prefer to invest in political parties, to ingratiate themselves and their ideologies with the political elite.
Most importantly, and credit on this aspect, Morrison has publicly recognised that a revenue shortfall does require a focus on revenue raising rather than the ideological quest for small government. This is the ideology that favours the relentless and inexorable focus on cuts, or “efficiency dividends” to the public service, to public services and across the board to departmental budgets.
The Census debacle is the most recent example of the impact of constantly slashing funding. The outcome on Census night reflects
It is time we had a Treasurer and a Prime Minister with the backbone to take on the ultra-wealthy, the extraordinary wealthy and the very wealthy.
much more on governments constantly cutting public services than it does on the public servants. These public servants had the responsibility to try to make things work in an environment dealing with cuts at the same time as facing pay rises, increasing costs of technology and increasing costs associated with consultancies that have promised and have not delivered. Constant cuts take their toll not just on the Australian Bureau of Statistics but across the board.
The poorer members of our community make much better scapegoats than the rich. They have much less influence, do not make donations to political parties and do not have the option of moving their earnings into tax havens overseas if they feel they are being penalised.
As Mark Kenny pointed out in “The Sydney Morning Herald”: “Indeed, recent studies have found the jobless, from whom another small cut will be extracted shortly in the case of future Newstart
recipients, now languish at around 30 per cent below the poverty line. Meanwhile, the wealth of Australia’s bottom 3.9 million is matched by the combined assets of the 10 richest Australian families.”
Something stinks. The smell increases when a person in a position of power aims down at more vulnerable members of society instead of looking up at the wealthiest, the most influential and the greediest. It is time we had a Treasurer and a Prime Minister with the backbone to take on the ultra-wealthy, the extraordinary wealthy and the very wealthy.
Look at Chevron as just one example. The company has been exposed by a Senate committee for moving money offshore to avoid tax. Dr Mark Zirnsak pointed out a couple of months ago that “it does look like further tax dodging by Chevron, loading itself up with debt from the
US tax haven of Delaware in order to avoid paying taxes here in Australia.” Zirnsak monitors wealthy tax minimisation as a spokesman for the Tax Justice Network. His description is soft compared to that of Senator Sam Dastyari, who told Leigh Sales on ABC’s “7.30” that the Chevron scheme is “a rort; this has always been a rort and it continues to be a rort. In Chevron, we have the godfather of Australian tax minimisation and, dare I say it, tax avoidance”. Pretty strong stuff from the then chair of Senate Economics References Committee. There are the “tax-nots”, Minister Morrison. However, their avoidance is but small change compared to the “under-taxed”. It is the “undertaxed” where you should be setting your sights.
Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health
THE first Diabetes Expo, for people living with, or at risk of, diabetes, will be held at the Canberra Convention Centre on Saturday, September 3. Hosted by Diabetes ACT, the “Live Your life” forum will include tips on how to live and eat well, the latest available resources and expert presenters. There will be separate and individually tailored programs for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. There are 22,000 people living with diabetes in the ACT region and another estimated 10,000 who may be undiagnosed. Every month 170 people are newly diagnosed. The expo opens at 10am and entry, morning tea and lunch is $20 (Diabetes ACT members, $15). Bookings to 1300 136588.
TWO Narrabundah College students are among the Australian team of four that won the 13th International Geography Olympiad held in Beijing. Australia beat 45 other countries to win the top prize. Claire Yung, pictured, won a gold medal and came second overall and Deepan Kumar was awarded a silver medal.
Despite his best attempts to win “Gowrie Father of the Year”, TAIMUS WERNER-GIBBINGS is grumpy that his kids know what they like and what they like is sugared.
I’VE got two children; boys, six and four. I am concerned they will get fat. Actually, not fat. Obese.
So I should be.
An article a year ago that suggested “about one quarter of Canberra children aged five to 17 years were overweight or obese” and said Canberra was experiencing a “growing childhood obesity crisis” with 19.4 per cent of Canberra’s kids in that age group overweight, compared to the Australian average of 17.4 per cent.
The Canberran obesity epidemic is a public-health crisis of proportions as large as those who are its most obvious victims. I don’t know the figures around the extra burden obese people place on the health system, but I bet it is BIG.
However, obesity is not a disease. It’s a symptom – of our food intake. We are what we eat. And what we eat these days is sugar.
What to do? If I was King of Canberra, I’d tax the amount of refined sugar in food and drink. Or the amount of sugar added to a product. I’d use the profits to subsidise apples and bananas – make them all 10c, while a Mars Bar was $4. Or something.
I realise I need to do a bit of work on this and may have to change the Constitution to allow the ACT to introduce a tax, but still, it has to happen. Mexico introduced a sugar tax in 2014 while taking over from the US as the world’s fattest country.
Research published in the “British Medical Journal” discovered that the 10 per cent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages cut sales by 12 per cent, or 4.2 fewer litres, in its first year and there was a four per cent rise in sales of untaxed drinks such as bottled plain water.
I have type-1 diabetes so I am hyper-aware of the amount of refined sugar in the products on the supermarket shelves. The stuff is everywhere. In almost everything.
Soft-drink consumption in Australia has risen from 65 litres per person in the 1970s to 100 litres today.
Australian kids get almost 30 per cent of their sugar from soft-drink cans, of which they suck back about 1.2 cans a day.
It is ridiculous, frustrating and frightening. Because despite my best attempts to win “Gowrie Father of the Year” by turning the boys on to veggies and quinoa, they know what they like and what they like is sugared.
We are what we eat. So let’s address the cause and the symptoms. Let’s tax sugar, eat better, save ourselves a fortune in public health funding and make ourselves a fortune – in tax revenue and quality of life – simultaneously.
Now, can someone hand me that Constitution? I have a referendum to write.
Taimus Werner-Gibbings is a Labor Party candidate for Brindabella in the ACT election. His website is taimus.org
Grumpy is an occasional column dedicated purely to things that get up your nose. Readers are invited to vent at editor@citynews.com.au
Cabbies carry change, right? Not this bloke. He checked everywhere; his fanny pack, his console, his wallet and his pockets.
IN Swedish shops, somewhere around 20 per cent of transactions last year were paid for in cash. They’re the world leader and Sweden will probably be the first country in the world to go to a purely electronic economy.
In Australia, we’re a bit behind the Swedes, we ticked over the 50 per cent mark sometime last year.
I had a night out last week, and while it wasn’t by design, it turned into an experiment where paying cash went up against cashless transactions. And I reckon that in the nation’s capital, cash is no longer king!
My wife and I decided to leave the car at home. Having used Uber extensively in the US, I decided a local trial was due.
I punched my home address into the app and eventually managed to tell it where I wanted to go. This was harder than I thought it should have been as I didn’t know the club’s street address and the app didn’t want to let me drop a pin on the digital map. A car was nearby and my phone buzzed almost immediately to suggest an impending arrival. This proved misleading, as the car decided to sit about 500 metres down the street for about five minutes while we waited in the cold. So, by the time we were in the car, the cashless society was behind the eight ball.
It quickly recovered on arrival with no mucking around finding cash, just a quick “thank you” from our driver and we were inside. A round of drinks (paid for in cash) and then we kicked back for some pre-dinner conversation. Subsequent rounds were
paid for electronically. No beer-soaked notes to put in my wallet, no picking up coins out of puddles on the bar. And even though one of the trips to the bar was for a single drink, no complaint about paying for it by card.
After dinner, which went straight on the plastic, we decided to have a quick hit on the pokies. Again, not something we do often, but this was an interesting experience, going from cash to cashless in a heartbeat. For once, this was not because I couldn’t spin up a win, I actually got a little in front and decided to cash out. Except that touching the collect button didn’t send a cascade of dollar coins, it ejected a voucher. While exchanging it for cash, I saw that the club even offered the option to collect larger payouts by bank transfer (I should be so lucky!).
Heading for home, there was a cab out the front, so we jumped in. This saved us some time at the beginning. But sadly not at the end. We pulled up at home, I rounded the fare up – about 25 per cent more than the equivalent Uber fare, by the way – to mean I only had to get $10 in change. This is usually a simple process.
A single blue note, maybe a couple of purples or maybe a few gold coins. Cabbies carry change, right?
Not this bloke. He checked everywhere; his fanny pack, his console, his wallet and his pockets. He offered me a tenner that had been torn clean into two pieces, before giving me a fiver and a heavy pile of silver coins. Sorry cash, you lost this round and your time is just about up.
Which makes me wonder, by the time my grandson is old enough to appreciate them, will he actually know what the coins I’m collecting for him from the Mint were actually designed for?
Chris Coleman is the weekday drive presenter on 2CC
PARKINSON’S ACT will mark its 30th anniversary at a “Living with Parkinson’s” seminar at the Canberra Irish Club, 6 Parkinson Street, Weston, 9.50am-2.30pm on Thursday, September 8. University of Sydney cognitive neuroscience professor Simon Lewis, pictured, will talk about current treatments and research. “This will be a great opportunity for the Canberra community to hear about the latest research from a world-renowned expert,” says Michael Dwyer, president of Parkinson’s ACT. Cost (including lunch and morning tea) is $60 (members $30) and bookings via parkinsons@shout.org.au or call 6290 1984.
KRITON Glenn will talk about Open Heart International, a charity program that performs open-heart surgery on children in Cambodia, at the next dinner meeting of the Canberra City Evening VIEW club at Yowani Country Club, Lyneham, 6.30pm, Wednesday, September 14. Dinner costs $35 and visitors and interested ladies welcome. RSVP by September 10 to 0418 480780 or brenda.v@hotmail.com.au
When: 6.30pm, 14th September • Where: Travel Makers Office 21 Eastlake Parade Kingston Foreshore. RSVP: Spaces are limited. Please RSVP by Wednesday, 7 September on 6223 2780 or email janet@travelmakers.com.au
We would love to share with you a snapshot of this beautiful unspoilt destination!
Get 4 Yokohama tyres for the price of 3 for selected models. (not to be used in conjunction with other 4 tyre offer). Available until October 31.
Get a FREE wheel alignment with every 4 tyres purchased or a double movie pass. Available until September 30. FREE tyre safety checks always available.
Don’t risk your family’s safety, have your tyres checked today.
The ACT election on 15 October is your chance to have your voice heard in Canberra’s Legislative Assembly.
Your Assembly is expanding at this election. For the first time, the ACT will be divided into 5 electorates each electing 5 Members to represent you.
The new electorates are:
Brindabella, including Tuggeranong (excluding Kambah), Tharwa and the southern remainder of the ACT;
Ginninderra, including Belconnen (excluding Evatt, Giralang, Kaleen, Lawson and McKellar);
Kurrajong, including Canberra Central, Jerrabomberra, Kowen and Majura;
Murrumbidgee, including Kambah, Molonglo Valley, Weston Creek, Woden Valley, Stromlo and Uriarra Village; and
Yerrabi, including Gungahlin, Hall and the Belconnen suburbs of Evatt, Giralang, Kaleen, Lawson and McKellar.
Which electorate are you in?
Need more information?
Visit www.elections.act.gov.au or call Elections ACT on 6205 0033
THE retirement of Simon Corbell and Brendan Smyth from the ACT Legislative Assembly ends a chapter in its history.
With Simon’s departure the Assembly loses the last Labor member to have served in Opposition and with Brendan’s move into the ACT Public Service the Liberals no longer have a member with experience in government.
The career, achievements and legacy of each needs to be considered from the perspective of the 15 straight years that Simon has enjoyed as a minister against the 15 years that Brendan has endured in opposition. To be fair, Brendan did serve as an enthusiastic and energetic minister in the second Carnell government.
They can also be further distinguished by the manner of their departures. With which neither of them would, I think, be particularly pleased.
If the Liberals win the coming election, I for one will be surprised if the position of Commissioner for International Engagement survives until Christmas.
the past, for instance, by Vince Gare, Terry Connolly and Bill Stefaniak.
However, neither Brendan and, to a lesser extent, Andrew Barr has emerged from the issue smelling of roses primarily because of the perception that the appointment was not to a real job.
PERHAPS, to honour Father’s Day, John Griffiths might make R U OK? phone calls to, and even visit, rude, old people who are lonely because their friends have died, their bodies ache from a lifetime of hard work and they are unable to participate in the activities that so enthral your columnist (“Why are old people so damn rude?”, CN, August 4).
Perhaps he might remember that rude, old people worked a 40-hour week with two weeks annual leave.
These same rude, old people paid tax at a marginal rate of over 60 per cent so that their oldies were well cared for and roads could be built (by some of the rude, old people themselves before modern machinery).
Simon has been a long-serving, capable, loyal and successful minister. He did not deserve the shabby betrayal he suffered at the hands of the Left faction and its union controllers who dropped him at preselection to an unwinnable position on the ticket. To his credit he has responded to the spite and discourtesy to which he was subjected with dignity and integrity.
There was not much dignity associated with the departure of Brendan Smyth from the Assembly. Brendan allowed himself to be seduced by a very attractive-looking offer from Chief Minister Andrew Barr. “Commissioner for International Engagement” no less. A job that none of us had heard of with a salary of $300,000 a year and no identified duty statement or key performance indicators. Add to this the allure of international travel and of being feted on the world stage and one can understand why Brendan succumbed to the temptation.
Brendan is, of course, not the first to be so seduced and will not be the last member of an opposition to receive an offer too hard to resist. It is a fairly well trodden path taken in
In addition, Brendan has had to combat a sense of betrayal, of both his colleagues and his party, by leaving in these circumstances and so close to an election. Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson emerged with his dignity intact. He maintained an air of grace, which it is hard to believe he felt and I for one will be surprised – if the Liberals win the coming election – if the position of Commissioner for International Engagement survives until Christmas.
Simon Corbell and Brendan Smyth have each given long and dedicated service, through the Legislative Assembly, to the territory and the people of Canberra. They have each worked hard and conscientiously for the community and deserve our thanks and appropriate recognition for the work they have done over almost 20 years.
Politics can be a hard and unforgiving business and takes a toll on those that engage in it, and also on their families. That said, being an elected member of the Assembly is also a great privilege and those lucky enough to be elected and to serve gain significantly from the experience and from the opportunities that being a member, in particular a Minister in a government, bring.
Simon Corbell has, from the time he first became a Minister in 2001, shown a
determination to ensure that he did not waste that opportunity. In each of the portfolios for which he has been responsible in the last 15 years, he actively pursued a progressive agenda of legal and policy reform. Simon is very much in the mould of a person who goes into politics with a very clear agenda and a determination to use the time that he would have in government to reform and change things for the better.
Perhaps best recognised for his work in relation to the environment and sustainability – he counts his work in putting Canberra on track for 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 – as his greatest achievement, he has also a very substantial record in other portfolios. Simon was also responsible, as Minister for Planning, for the widest-ranging reforms to the ACT planning regime since self-government and, as Australia’s currently longest-serving Attorney-General, has marshalled very significant law reform through the Assembly.
Of my ministers, Simon most shared my commitment to the importance, centrality and non-negotiability of human rights. He will be sorely missed. Not only was he a passionate reforming minister, his input into caucus and cabinet debate and discussion was always intelligent, balanced and relevant. His contributions to difficult and complex issues were invariably the best informed and most intellectual.
Simon Corbell has served Canberra well. He should be proud.
Jon Stanhope was Chief Minister from 2001 to 2011 and represented Ginninderra for the Labor Party from 1998. He is the only Chief Minister to have governed with a majority in the Assembly.
Very few rude, old people could attend university as uni fees were not subsidised by the government, so many attended lectures and tech classes after work in addition to visiting their own old folk and shopping for their elderly neighbours.
At school, their classes had over 40 children with chalk-andtalk teachers who had few aids except the cane.
Rude, old people were also taught about Australians who had worked hard, many with bangles round their legs, under primitive conditions, in order to make Australia the prosperous country which we enjoy today.
Many rude, old people had done without in order to give their children the education which had been denied to them.
Rewa Bate, Coombs
I HAVE been reading and enjoying Dougal MacDonald’s film reviews for many years. His writing is always clear, well-crafted and entertaining. So I was surprised to read in his review of “Truman” (CN, August 18) his use of the term “pass” instead of the eminently serviceable “die”.
Why is it that this new euphemism has crept into our way of speaking? Are people offended by the bald but straightforward concept of dying? Did we need to add a new euphemism to our language when a perfectly reasonable one (passing away) already existed?
Perhaps a young sub-editor got to work on Dougal’s review. Or perhaps everyone except me has accepted “passing” into their vocabulary.
Pam Garfoot, Brightwaters, NSW
IN this wonderful country we have been blessed in having freedom of speech.
Reading Helen Musa’s article (“Our Father, who art in Point Piper…” CN, August 18) on “The Chaser’s Australia” it’s just so unbelievable that Charles Firth would sink so low and dare to reinterpret the words of God Jesus Christ and belittle them so much! This is not the behaviour or attitude of Australians.
Such filth should not be given the privilege of being in your quality paper.
IT can be pretty scary being threatened with physical violence. Thank goodness I don’t have to worry about it in my daily life; well, that is apart from on Canberra roads.
There are some scary drivers out there – from those who try to hug your boot or roam across lanes aimlessly like Brown’s cow, to those who believe no one belongs in the right lane but them, even when you have to make a right turn!
We all make mistakes on the road. Distraction, forgetfulness and momentary confusion can all play a part in road errors, but on the whole most of us get from A to B alive and well.
What distresses me is the apparently increasing tendency for some people to go ballistic in response to the smallest of errors or even just hesitation from other drivers.
Abusing people, chasing them down, trying to scare them by flicking lights off while running right up their back, honking at them like an angry hornet long after the event, or following them in an effort to wait until they stop so you can have a go at them and maybe knock their block off – all that really is insane.
My better half recently inadvertently cut off another driver when he missed seeing the car in our blind spot. It was a simple error. There was no accident. There was no contact, let alone damage or injury.
But that prompted the other driver to follow us to our son’s school drop off, leap out of his car and abuse my husband. He kicked the door of our car, all the while standing in the way of oncoming traffic.
A female friend recently spent a terrifying 40 minutes chased by a creep who wanted to have a go at her. He had merged nearly into her and then turned violent, objecting to having someone toot him in warning. It wasn’t until she pulled out her phone and photographed his numberplate that he took off.
Other friends have recounted disturbing instances of road rage. Most seem to go unreported to the police.
We should take pride in how safely we drive and look to be defensive rather than offensive on our roads. We need to show our kids cool, calm and collected road behaviour that they can model, not how aggressively we out manoeuvre other cars.
When someone makes a mistake we should congratulate ourselves for being able to avoid an accident. Tooting someone is to warn them not abuse them. If you are threatened, don’t engage in any angry exchange. Keep the doors locked. If you can, photograph the other car’s numberplate and, if need be, call 000.
After all, driving involves decisions that can be ones of life and death. Competition, anger or rage should never be a part of the mix.
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“I DO believe you are correct. Canberra always does better under Labor. No argument here.” Oops! That was the recently endorsed Liberal candidate for Brindabella Mark Parton tweeting to former ACT ALP Branch secretary Elias Hallaj on May 19, 2014. In those days Parto’s claim to political fame was as an unelected independent candidate from the 2008 ACT election. But he tweeted on rather prophetically: “I note that U fave any left leaning tweets of mine. I’m assuming if I was ever back in ring again they’d be back to haunt me.” Too right, comrade.
THOSE strident critics of Labor’s tram plans, the Canberra Public Transport Alliance, have discovered they have a problem getting the message through.
“Most voters are going about their business and don’t have too much time to think deeply about politics and many avoid anything that smells like politics. They do a disservice to themselves and the rest of us by not investigating further,” bemoans spokesman Russ Morison
So how to get the bad-tram message across to diffident plebs? Corflute roadside signage, of course. Only problem is they have no dough for the stakes let alone the signs and are calling for donations.
“Our messages need to be short and sharp and not offensive, and above all strategically located,” says Russ.
“This current government have done their hardest to put a financial millstone around voters necks that will certainly mean higher rates. The Auditor-General has indicated the REAL WHOLE OF LIFE cost of Stage 1 Civic to Gungahlin link will cost $1.78billion or $65,000 per household.”
Russ’ll take your donations via dabblers2@iinet.net.au
ALSO on the anti-tram platform, but with enough funds to run to postcards, Deputy Opposition Leader and aspiring member for Yerrabi, Alastair Coe, has been busily letterboxing in tram-pampered Gungahlin a flyer that says the cost of operating one tram is equal to 28 buses. Given that only three per cent of Canberrans live within walking distance of a proposed light rail stop, Coe says we’re still going to depend on cars, buses and bicycles.
“RESORT-style living and completely off the grid with no water restrictions, no power bills thanks to your own standalone power system and a totally solar passive design,” trills the real estate agent’s blurb.
And all you need to be “off the grid” and free of those troublesome quarterly bills is a lazy $3.6 million and a love of country living.
The 125 hectare estate Millpost, just off the Monaro Highway is on the market with the eco-residence offering “arguably the best views in the Canberra region overlooking the Murrumbidgee River corridor allowing for absolutely breathtaking mountain views.”
All that and a house with three living zones including six bedrooms plus separate guest accommodation, a double size chef’s kitchen and two butler’s pantries. More drooling at millpost.net. Chris Churchill (0417 080460) is the agent. Tell him CC sent you!
AS ClubsNSW used the slogan “Won’t work. Will hurt” to resist the Gillard Labor government’s attack on pokies in 2011, it is curious to see the Labor-friendly UnionsACT unimaginatively recycling the very same slogan to attack the Canberra Liberals on jobs for the forthcoming ACT election. Imitation, as they say, is the highest form of flattery.
We
At the Property Council’s ‘Mad Hatter’s Ball’, National Arboretum
At the gala farewell for YMCA’s Jenny McCome, Gold Creek
Explore some of Australia’s national treasures at the Australian War Memorial’s Big Things in Store. See fascinating military objects – from aircraft and rockets to tanks and artillery
Entry is by donation with proceeds going to support the work of the Memorial.
Parking near the Treloar Technology Centre is extremely limited, and public transport is recommended. ACTION buses stop on Flemington Road and Lysaght Street, about a 10-minute walk.
Closed, flat footwear is recommended. No large bags are allowed. Feel free to bring your camera, but please note that tripods and selfie sticks are not permitted.
Treloar Technology Centre, 8 Callan Street, Mitchell, ACT It’s an experience for the whole family to enjoy.
Saturday 10 September 9 am – 3 pm (last entry at 2.30 pm)
At the Australia India Business Council lunch
Photos by ANDREW FINCH
WITH its long list of thriving businesses, Queanbeyan is proving to be a destination location for those searching for the best services and retailers in the region.
From quality beauty treatments, boutique retailers and top entertainment and dining, to longstanding auto, financial and health services – it’s all there with just a quick drive over the border.
“CityNews” has compiled its list of just some of the many businesses that call Queanbeyan home.
“ONE thing that’s missing from Canberra is a traditional pub, but The Royal Hotel, Queanbeyan, has it covered,” says general manager Damon Townsend.
The site was first built in 1850 then rebuilt and opened as the Royal Hotel in 1926. This historic pub has won awards (Best Redeveloped Country Hotel in NSW and Australia) after its refurbishment in 2012. It is renowned for its beautiful and comfortable fit-out, huge bar selection including cocktails and quality food.
“We offer that traditional pub scene, oriented towards families,” says Damon.
“We have live entertainment on Saturday nights, RnB on Friday nights and really easy-listening artists on Sunday afternoons.”
Every Thursday, the Royal has started running comedy nights, with no cover charge, featuring nationally acclaimed comedians.
“Our broad menu appeals to just about everyone, from kids to mums and dads, and often the grandparents, too,” says Damon.
“It was recently complimented by a local tour operator, that our hotel was easily the standard you would expect to find in Sydney or Melbourne!
“The kitchen, led by head chef Megan Williams, is committed to excellence in service, quality and value. Most of our meals’ ingredients are made from scratch by our team of chefs, ensuring delivery of the freshest and highest-quality meals.
“Our most recent new offering of the Sunday roast for two is a big hit for the traditionalists – only on Sundays, and specials are offered weekly, based on seasonal ingredients.”
The Royal’s outstanding “special” pizzas and pies are also proving popular with punters.
“The Royal kitchen is open every day from midday through to 9pm, but we are very excited to now be opening for weekend breakfasts from 9am on Saturday and Sunday, serving generous and delicious breakfasts, and great new coffee from Red Brick Espresso,” Damon says. Their latest gastronome addition is a monster Churrasco barbecue serving delectable meats, marinated and cooked over hot coals in Brazilian style for large group functions and special occasions.
The Royal Hotel Queanbeyan, 85 Monaro Street. Call 6297 1444 or visit theroyalqbn.com.au
WITH one of the biggest under-cover showrooms in Australia, Jayco Canberra has been servicing the Queanbeyan and Canberra region and surrounds for the past 35 years.
Featuring a range of camper trailers, expandas, pop tops, Sterling caravans, toy haulers and the new range of Starcraft poptops and caravans, Jayco Canberra also stocks workshop-tested, quality-used vans.
After their recent business restructure, co-owners Roy and John Lustri say they will continue to provide their great service to the ever-growing Jayco family of loyal past and present clientele as well as forging new relationships.
“Jayco Canberra has been prominent in supporting local charity events and schools in our region such as Mix 106.3 Special Children’s Christmas Party, The Shaun Mackay Life Ride and many more,” says John.
“With summer just around the corner, ‘Jayco’s Almost Summer Sale’ commences on September 8 running until September 17.
“We have over 45 new vans ready for immediate delivery as well as a selection of preloved vans.”
Jayco Canberra, new vans 92 Yass Road and used vans 43 Yass Road, Queanbeyan. Visit jaycocanberra.com.au or call 6297 3019.
STEVE Milutinovic started his cabinet-making business in 1983 and, 32 years on, the company has grown into specialising in home renovations, extensions and new homes.
Bordeaux specialises in commercial fitouts and joinery and are also fully licensed builders in NSW and ACT.
“We pride ourselves in achieving the highest standard for our customers in design and workmanship,” Steve says.
“Our prices are competitive and we work with you to achieve your desired outcome.
“We offer full trade co-ordination and have our own
experienced and reliable tradesmen and expert staff to assist you in your project. Our custom-built, cabinetmaking workshop can also build joinery items to suit your needs whether for home or office.
“We also recently received an MBA commendation award for ‘Special Care’ residence as we specialise in housing needs for the aged.”
Bordeaux Construction and Bordeaux Kitchens offer obligation-free quotes.
Bordeaux Construction, 8 Aurora Place, Queanbeyan, call 6299 4642. Visit bordeauxbcm.com.au or facebook.com/ BordeauxBCM
WITH 125 years of experience in arranging funerals in the Canberra and Queanbeyan area, MH O’Rourke branch manager, Jason Codey says they “always strive for simple, respectful and honest ways to honour the individual”.
Established in 1890 by Cornelius O’Rourke and relocated in 1929 to its current Queanbeyan location, MH O’Rourke Funeral Services has maintained the traditional values of service and caring for families in times of need.
MH O’Rourke provides pre-paid, pre-arranged and at-need funerals, offering full mortuary care, transport for the deceased and the family on the day of the funeral and liaising with government departments, venues, the crematorium, members of clergy and officiators.
“Our pre-paid funerals ensure
that everything is arranged exactly to your personal choice and takes the burden off your family. It’s peace of mind knowing that it’s all paid for and your wishes will be carried out,” says Jason. Not only do they connect families with all the people involved in arranging a funeral, depending on the person’s background, they can also arrange cultural services that include religious and cultural customs, rituals, extra services and viewings.
MH O’Rourke Funeral Services has a resident manager on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide quality after-hours support and assistance.
MH O’Rourke Funeral Services, 113 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan. Call 1800 386372 or visit orourkefunerals.com.au
Emma Strand and Jason Codey, of MH O’Rourke Funerals… always striving for simple, respectful and honest ways to honour the individuals, says Jason.
John Riley from AMS Conveyancing has over 40 years industry experience.
AMS Conveyancing is a small firm providing an upfront affordable price, a fixed fee and is able to provide flexibility with personal service all over New South Wales.
Call John for a quote on 1300 556 939
Email: service@amsconveyancing.com.au
251 Crawford St Queanbeyan
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www.bordeauxbcm.com.au
NEWLY established in Queanbeyan, AMS Conveyancing NSW is dedicated to providing affordable, flexible conveyancing with great service.
Led by proprietor John Riley, with brother-in-law and paralegal Kim, this family-owned business offers a fixed-fee on the legal conveyancing services involved in property sales or purchases – provided no additional services or work have been carried out.
“We’re a client-focused business and aim to provide good service and information to help clients through the process,” John says.
“We have well-developed systems in place, which means we don’t miss a thing.”
John says as a licensed conveyancing business, AMS are totally focused on conveyancing and clients are guaranteed a trained specialist is looking after their contracts the whole way through the process.
“We are focused on providing solutions to our client’s problems,” John says.
AMS earlier this month expanded to the Queanbeyan region from Brisbane.
“Queanbeyan is an expanding area and I have full confidence in the district,” John says.
“I am keen to get involved in the community here.”
AMS Conveyancing NSW, email service@amsconveyancing.com.au or call 1300 556939.
AIMED at people aged between 12 to 25, Headspace Queanbeyan is a mental health service that helps young people through tough times in a friendly, welcoming environment.
The service offers assessments, counselling and group programs aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
Since opening April 2015, 800 people have been through its doors – helping them to deal with anxiety, depression, problems with employment, friends and family, issues with school or education and those who need support with their alcohol or drug use.
Centre manager Nic Hubbard says Headspace Queanbeyan wants young people to know that it’s okay to seek help.
“Headspace is a friendly, welcoming environ -
“WE PRIDE ourselves in helping businesses grow and helping them get the assets that help them continue to grow,” says Andrew Barmin of Oatram Finance and Leasing – equipment finance brokers based in Queanbeyan.
Oatram Finance is run by father and son team, Det and Andrew Barmin, and has been operating in Queanbeyan for 30 years, specialising in equipment finance for cars, trucks, machinery and equipment for industries including earthmoving, mining and agriculture.
Andrew says they are Commonwealth Bank’s third largest broker in NSW and have clients not only in the Queanbeyan and Canberra region but all over NSW and Queensland.
“Clients keep coming back to us because we can obtain the best rates and get finances sorted quickly,” Andrew says.
“We can sort out insurance and in some cases source out equipment for clients.”
ment,” she says. “We help young people improve their mental health and wellbeing.
“It take a lot of courage to seek help. Some young people feel ready and willing and others feel apprehensive and need a bit of encouragement.”
Headspace Queanbeyan offers a range of programs including groups for anxiety, young men with anger issues and LGBTIQ young people. Other programs include a monthly “Dogspace” meetup that teaches participants the value of pets for people and an art workshop for young Aboriginal people.
Headspace Queanbeyan, 98 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan, headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/ queanbeyan, facebook.com/headspacequeanbeyan or call 6298 0300.
Andrew says their client base ranges from longestablished businesses to start-ups.
“We have a product for established businesses that have had their ABN for two years and are GST registered, where we can obtain loan approvals without financials,” he says.
“For trucks up to $100,000 we can get loan rates at 4.8 per cent and with new cars achieve a rate of 4.45 per cent – subject to approval.”
Andrew says they are a flexible business that can visit their clients on their worksites to finalise paper work, which means clients can spend more time getting on with their work instead of taking time out of their day to sign contracts.
“We try and make things happen as smooth as possible,” he says.
Oatram Finance and Leasing. Visit Shop 1, 78 Crawford St, Queanbeyan, oatram.com.au or call 6297 8588.
THE perfect smile is possible with the help of Karabar Private Dental Surgery.
Conveniently located on the ground floor of Karabar Shopping Mall, Queanbeyan, the surgery is open for emergency seven days and holidays (by appointment) to provide a full range of dentistry treatments – general and cosmetic – for adults and children.
Oral health therapist and hygienist Koco Clarke says: “We offer bleaching and whitening for $450, where the customer can come in, we clean and freshen their teeth and they go home with a kit, which is very easy to use. They can have perfect teeth in a non-harmful way and not spend a fortune”.
With 20 years’ experience, Karabar Private Dental Surgery has developed a friendly, approachable service that helps relieve the anxiety of visiting the dentist.
To add to the perfect smile, the surgery also offers anti-wrinkle injections that it says is “composed of natural, purified protein and when injected into specific facial muscles, wrinkle-causing muscles are relaxed to reduce dynamic lines and create a younger, softer and natural-looking appearance”.
Karabar Private Dental Surgery, Karabar Shopping Mall, Queanbeyan. Call 6297 3760 or visit karabarprivatedental.com.au
NESTLED among the niche retailers on the Crawford Street lifestyle precinct, Debbie Maree’s Fashion Boutique offers clothing and accessory ranges from some of the country’s best specialty labels.
Debbie Maree’s Fashion Boutique was established in Queanbeyan four years ago, formerly on Monaro Street.
Quality labels including ELK, LD & Co, Pingpong and Joseph Ribkoff make up the selection of hand-picked items for the boutique, which is Queanbeyan’s only independent ladies’ clothing boutique.
For the spring racing season, the boutique works with local milliners Robin Toohey and Sheridine Saunders, whose headwear is available in store or by customer request.
Owner Debbie Maree says all her items are quality and have a “point of difference”.
“Our pieces range from casual to formal wear,” she
says. “I’m the buyer for the store. I remember what a lot of people buy – and if next season’s stock comes in I can let them know what new pieces can go well with what they had bought previously.
“We listen to our customers’ needs and wants and work with them to find that perfect item.
“Sometimes we show them want they want, but sometimes it’s an opportunity to show them that piece they wouldn’t usually pick that could look really lovely.”
Debbie Maree says she also offers styling workshops for those looking for a new look.
“We want our customers to enjoy the boutique experience when they pop in to find that perfect piece,” she says.
Debbie Maree’s Fashion Boutique, 234 Crawford Street. Call 6299 3335.
TRANSTATE Tyres and Mechanical Services in Queanbeyan is the largest independent tyre outlet in the region, says owner Steve Rowland.
Since its return to operating as an independent company in 2014, Transtate Tyres and Mechanical Services, which has serviced Queanbeyan and surrounding regions for 22 years, has successfully branched out into mechanical services.
It’s now not only a retail outlet for tyres and mechanical and continues to provide wheel alignment and hydrogen inflation services, but also offers complete mechanical services with four fully-qualified mechanics.
“Customer service is paramount for me –that’s what it’s all about,” Steve says.
“We enjoy the rural side of Queanbeyan and like the country feel out here.
“We’re hell-bent on exceptional customer service and maintaining highly-competitive, good pricing.”
With nine staff members, Steve is proud of his team – many of whom have been on staff for about 10 years. He says they have 80 years of combined experience in tyres and 50 years of combined experience in mechanics.
“I’ve made a big investment in people,” he says. “We have a really good, knowledgeable team.”
Transtate Tyres and Mechanical Services, 141-143 Uriarra Road. Call 6299 6747.
FOR a range of quality, one-of-a-kind gifts for all occasions made in Australia and beyond, visit Beautiful Gifting in Queanbeyan.
Owner Deborah Keenan meticulously selects all the items in her store from a range of French glassware, ceramics to keepsake greeting cards and pottery by Robert Gordon.
Deborah says the latest spring/summer range of Louenhide handbags are a particular standout.
“I am really impressed. They come in a range of different colours from pinks to soft greys and stripes, too,” she says. Also new in store are dream catchers handmade in Peru.
“They are beautifully, hand-knitted dream catchers,” she says. “And would be suitable for a nursery or young child’s bedroom.”
Deborah says another new item are beautiful handpainted and handstitched cushions made in Scotland.
Beautiful Gifting, 84 Monaro Street. Call 0419 627210 or email beautifulgifting@gmail.com
NOW in its 14th year Elements Face and Body continues to offer its personalised and high-quality beauty treatments to the Queanbeyan region.
Originally starting from her home, owner Deborah Olde quickly developed a reputation for providing professional and community-oriented skincare and beauty services.
Offering a full suite of services including body treatments, waxing, IPL hair removal and nails, Deborah says their specialties are in eyebrows, facials, tans and exfoliation. They also do ear piercings, remedial massage (which can be claimed on Medicare) and reiki.
“At Elements Face and Beauty I have sourced the products to suit the Queanbeyan and Canberra environment by tailoring the product lines to cater for the harsh, dry local weather and its effects on a healthy skincare regime,” she says.
As part of their range of products they stock eco-friendly, Australian-made brands including INIKA make-up and iKOU Skin and Body care.
“People have asked for Australian-made and natural and that’s what we’ve given them,” Deborah says.
They have also just started stocking internationally renowned skin care range, Christina Cosmeceuticals.
Deborah says her team of therapists aim to make the relationship between client and therapist extra special. She says they are committed to educating clients on how best to look after their bodies.
“We try the best we can to listen to our clients and service their needs rather than what we think they need,” Deborah says.
Elements Face and Body, 9/251 Crawford Street, call 6298 1226 or visit elementsfaceandbody.com.au
BAYLDON Ag is dedicated to supplying the Queanbeyan and Canberra region with the very best in agricultural and commercial mowing machinery, says general manager Paul Nicholl.
“We take pride in the products we sell,” Paul says. “We’re very particular about what we sell – we want to get the right machinery for our customers’ needs.”
Bayldon Ag is the Toro commercial dealer for southern NSW, they are also dealers for Massey Ferguson and Kioti tractors for the Canberra region.
“Primarily we’re an agricultural machinery supplier,” Paul says.
“However in mowers we stock an entire range from push mowers through to the 16-foot wide mowers we supply to the ACT Government fleet.”
Paul says you get the full service at Bayldon Ag, with its fully equipped workshop, two mechanics and two mechanical apprentices.
It also has three mobile service vehicles that can carry out prompt and reliable on-site servicing and repairs.
“We have the abilities to do fabrications,” Paul says. “This includes adding extras to a Polaris – like a tool box holder or other accessories.”
Paul says very good customer service is the key.
“Customers always come first, we pride ourselves in our customer service and they always get preferential treatment.”
Bayldon Ag, 10 Bayldon Road, Queanbeyan, bayldonag.com.au or call 6297 2833.
FOR the past 32 years, John Res Mechanical Repairs has serviced the Queanbeyan and Canberra region maintaining its quality service with personalised care.
Led by husband and wife team John and Deb Res, John Res Mechanical Repairs specialises in automotive repairs, servicing, brakes, clutches, gear box work, air-conditioning repairs and servicing and auto electrical. They can also do log book services and NSW registration and gas registration checks.
“Most of our customers are from Queanbeyan, but some live and work in Canberra,” says Deb.
“Because we’re small – customers can talk directly to the owner – the person who owns and runs the business, as opposed to when you go to a dealership and you speak to the service manager.
“When people come here they don’t feel like they are just another number.”
Deb says they have knowledgeable and experienced staff with their head mechanic backed by 21 years experience and two others with about 10 years experience.
“It’s about quality not quantity,” she says. “We tell our staff to do the work that you would want done to your car for our customers.
“Being a family business makes a difference, it makes it more personal and we try to give a more personal service for clients.”
For customers getting their car serviced, they have a courtesy car available for those who live outside Queanbeyan and can do drop-offs within Queanbeyan.
John Res Mechanical Repairs. Visit 33 Kendall Ave, Queanbeyan West or call 6297 8557.
DEZINER Beauty in Queanbeyan provides beauty services and treatments with a clinical focus.
With 18 years in the beauty business, owner Louise McMahon says hers is the only local salon to have the Elizabeth Arden Pro Skin Care range and the Venus Swan Body Contouring and Facelift machine.
“We are welcoming, warm and, above all, knowledgeable on any skin type or condition,” she says.
“Our facials are our signature treatment and we love trans-
forming people’s faces, through facelifts, body contouring, make-up or waxing,” says Louise.
“We can take 10 years off your skin with all the amazing treatments and products we have, including a non-surgical facelift.”
Deziner Beauty also offers make-up, waxing, tinting and teeth-whitening services.
Deziner Beauty, Shop 18, Cassidy’s Arcade, 72 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan. Visit Deziner Beauty on Facebook or call 6299 5792.
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Located at Riverside Plaza the Commonwealth Bank Queanbeyan branch offers the full range of Commonwealth Bank Group products and services that cater to all customer needs. From transactional accounts, to buying their first home or investment property, managing their mortgage, preparing for retirement or organising Travel Money cards.
Finding the right way to help clients is of the utmost importance at the Queanbeyan branch, and Branch Manager Merryn Gardner says it’s a matter of matching the right product to an individual customer’s needs.
The Commonwealth Bank’s vision is to secure and enhance people’s financial wellbeing, and this is especially true at the Queanbeyan branch.
“Our banking specialists work hard each and every day to engage with our customers in quality conversations, understanding what’s important to each customer now and into the future,” Merryn said.
James Corbett, Regional General Manager NSW/ACT Region, believes
Merryn Gardner is a valuable asset to the Queanbeyan branch team.
“The Queanbeyan branch prides itself on having a CAN do attitude towards creating a better banking experience for its customers” James said.
You can find Merryn and her team at the Queanbeyan Branch at Shop 53-56 Riverside Plaza, Monara Street, Queanbeyan NSW 2620, or call them on (02) 6297 1133.
By Helen Musa
A CANBERRA play set in Mozambique may sound very odd, but when “CityNews” talks to playwright Tom Davis about “The Faithful Servant”, it all becomes clear.
Davis, though a seasoned stage writer with five scripts to his name including last year’s “The Chain Bridge”, is also a political scientist who has worked for the former AusAID (now DFAT) and for NGOs in places such as PNG, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste – and he has serious ethical and moral questions to explore.
Not, as he is quick to stress, that he ever confuses playwriting with anthropological research. “It’s a real play, not a thesis,” he assures us.
He’s been a Canberra resident for five years or so and these days mixes a writing career with overseas contracts. Curiously, Davis has never been to Mozambique, the partial setting of “The Faithful Servant”.
The play, developed through The Street Theatre’s “Hive” and “First Seen” programs, is coming to The Street soon in a production by Caroline Stacey featuring the acting talents of PJ Williams, Dorian Nkono and Tariro Mavondo.
Now it’s time for Davis to sit down and enjoy watching Stacey and her team at work. The traverse staging will turn the stage of Street One into a long, dusty road in Mozambique with her regulars, scenic/ costume designer Imogen Keen and sound designer Kimmo Vennonen and new lighting designer Linda Buck aiding and abetting that transformation.
It was Davis’ Timorese connections to former colonisers, the Portuguese, that got
“MISS BRONTË” is coming to The Q. Written by Mel Dodge, with a bit of help from Charlotte Brontë, it tells a story of ambition, forbidden love and the bond of family through Charlotte’s love letters to her married French professor. The Q, September 9-10. Bookings to theq.net.au or 6285 6290.
“ELEMENTAL” is the name chosen by owner Bob Stephens for Aarwun Gallery’s sculpture exhibition, which brings together sculptures from all over Australia and overseas in glass, ceramics, timber and bronze as well as recycled and repurposed materials. From 2pm, September 10.
CANBERRA composer Michael Dooley’s much-admired “musical Tardis” returns to Canberra in CD and performance form when he is joined by keyboard luminaries Aaron Chew, Andrew Rumsey, Sally Greenaway, Emily Leong and Stephen McIntyre for “Anachronisms – a composer’s journey through time”, at Wesley Music Centre, National Circuit, Forrest, 7.30pm, on September 10. Tickets at the door or trybooking.com
him thinking about Mozambique.
“I wanted my characters to be in a place where there’s a sense of ‘otherness’,” he explains.
The play has been through many drafts. “In the first version I wasn’t writing about aid, I was writing about goodness… a lot of theatre is about badness – look at “Richard III” – but what is it to be good?”
And he planned to make his main character a Canberra public servant, “but I was drawn to a slightly bigger model”.
Briefly, Dr Raymond Gerrard starts out an idealistic young Methodist medico in the 1960s, but his idealism and his world view views shrink. How did he get to that point?
Raymond and his offstage wife adopt a daughter at birth in Mozambique, call her Caroline (Stacey must find that intriguing) and raise her in Australia. The question is whether she will take up Raymond’s mantle at his Fred Hollows-type clinic in Mozam -
bique. Her view of goodness differs from his, her life is with her family in Australia and her own GP practice, but where does she really belong?
Then there’s the character Coetano, a local Mozambiqui who has assisted Raymond in the hospital for more than 50 years. Now he wants to transform the NGO into a faith-based organisation.
He’s good, yes, but also self-serving, status-conscious and manipulative. Coetano knows how to connect with both his own people and outsiders, but as Davis says: “He has to do this funny dance to get what is needed”.
It’s a triangle of characters who are all good people, but with clashing world views – and that makes for good theatre.
“The Faithful Servant”, The Street Theatre, September 6-18, bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.
By Helen Musa
THE National Gallery of Australia has been invaded by Big Bad Banksia Men, the kind immortalised by children’s author May Gibbs.
They’ll be momentarily coming to life soon in the Gandel Hall as sculptor Heather B. Swann presents “Nervous”, a live performance and art installation exploring intense emotional states.
Swann, a studio-holder at Australian National Capital Artists in Dickson, is known for her large installation pieces.
“BOLLYWOOD Fusion Dhamaka” will see students and instructors from Bollywood Dimensions Studio, in their fifth annual dance showcase, present a two-and-a-half-hour celebration of dance styles from around the globe fused with Bollywood. At ANU Arts Centre, 7pm, September 10. Bookings to trybooking.com
THE ACT Storytellers Guild will be presenting “September Stories”, an afternoon of stories suitable for adults and older children with music by Harrison Whalan, at Kangara Waters Community Centre, 2 Joy Cummings Place Belconnen, 2.30pm, on Sunday, September 4. Tickets at the door or inquiries to 6254 2349.
ENTRIES are open for the 9th Queanbeyan Art Society Charity Spring Art Show in City Walk, Civic, September 24-October 3. Entry forms from qarts.com.au
The full installation of sculptures – nine Banksia Men and seven other sculptures including pairs of terrifying swinging legs – are up until November in the NGA’s Contemporary Gallery, where they will be punctuated by occasional “pop-up” performances.
But the September 3-4 weekend performances will be unique and short-lived. Involving sculptures by Swann, poems by Kevin Brophy, score by Thomas Green and performed by music ensembles Plexus and Continuum Sax, and vocals by Astrid Connelly, Jack Swann, they will see the fearsome Banksia Men played by members of the Leichhardt Espresso Chorus Ristretto, led by Michelle Leonard.
The audience, the sculptures,
the performers, the musicians and the Banksia Men will all be on one level, close up and Swann says: “The audience will be inside this Mental [the performance space], inside the brain as it feels and experiences a range of emotions embodied in the sculptures, abstracted by the music, felt by all.”
“None of this is haphazard,” says senior curator Australian painting and sculpture Deborah Hart. “Swann has been at work for two years with her collaborators.
“I think that while the installation is for everyone, the performance is not the kind of thing you want to bring really young people to.
“The sculptures of Banksia Men are actually worn and the legs are worn by a six-foot man.”
It could be pretty scary and this writer, for one, still has nightmares about Banksia Men.
“The music by Brisbane composer Thomas Green is amazing,” Dr Hart reports and one of the performers, Connelly, has little sight, so Swan has created words for her with this in mind.
“It’s a really nice intersection that merges music and theatre and visual artist.”
Heather B Swann’s “Nervous” until November 20. World premiere of “Nervous”, Gandel Hall, NGA, 7.30pm, September 3 and 2pm, September 4. Bookings to nga.gov.au
by Michael Whittaker
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“Ben-Hur” (M)
THE many inaccuracies and anachronisms in the fifth version of Lew Wallace’s 1880 historical novel made for the big screen are irreversible sins of commission.
Here is a select short list:
• The bridles and other tack on the horses, both ridden and in the chariot race, are of modern, not antique, design.
• The sharp eye will discern machined seams in the trousers worn by a woman and a visible panty line.
• The screenplay by Keith Clarke and John Ridley is peppered with “okay”, a term originating in the US some 1800 years after the film’s period as a joke abbreviation for “Orl korrect”.
Hollywood in its early years was notorious for ignoring animal welfare considerations. In Timur Bekmambetov’s film, crashes, somersaults and other equestrian misfortunes are frequent. The end credits assure us that everything about the animals during filming was orl korrect
The thematic backbone of Clarke and Ridley’s screenplay is forgiveness rather than revenge.
toilet brushes, sees himself as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He’s taking three weeks off work to tour with a four-man group (who really do know how to play), a sound guy and a roadie who doubles as backing singer and rapper.
The tour starts at Slough. That’s a British in-joke. Only Slough residents don’t enjoy it.
David’s picking up the whole tab, from the camera crew he’s engaged to make the documentary about the tour to the bus from which the other members of the group have found a reason to ban him, to paying the team musos’ rates to sit with him in the bar after the show.
And through it all, David’s optimism is unbreakable. It is impossible to like him. It is impossible to pity him. Yet it’s also impossible to hate him or not to have some sympathy for his complete lack of self-awareness. While watching his movie is undoubtedly a painful experience, it offers an interesting view of a little bloke with an idiotic giggle and an impossible dream.
At all cinemas
“Free State of Jones” (MA)
CADA is a registered training organisation, RTO 40859
This 123-minute film is an expensive-looking, sword-and-sandal adventure based on a conflict between occupying Roman legions and followers of a man whom the prefect of Judea in 36AD ordered to be crucified. As its most rewarding element, you might rate Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of a Bedouin chief. But in that I wear my prejudice on my sleeve – Freeman’s vocal timbre enhances any film in which he plays.
At Hoyts, Capital 6, Palace Electric and Limelight
“David Brent – Life on the Road” (MA) WRITTEN by Ricky Gervais. Produced by Ricky Gervais. Directed by Ricky Gervais. Starring Ricky Gervais. Looks like a Ricky Gervais vanity, wouldn’t you think? But there’s more to “David Brent – Life on the Road” than Ricky Gervais’ need to be loved, respected and admired.
The lead character from TV’s
“The Office”, now a sales rep for a company making bathroom products, from tampons to
WRITER (with Leonard Hartman) and director Gary Ross has made a 145-minute film illuminating a little-known corner of America’s Civil War.
In 1863, Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) deserted from the Confederate army and became a figurehead for a small group of white and black men and women for whom the attitudes of the slave-owning southern states were abhorrent. Not unlike the original 13 States in 1796, those folk declared themselves independent and, from a base in four Louisiana counties, proved themselves a thorn in the Confederate side.
The Civil War ended in 1865. The film doesn’t end there. Aided by a team of academic historical consultants, it continues in a series of vignettes to the reconstruction era, the brutality of the KKK and their Strange Fruit, archaic racial legislation still on some state statute books. But whatever the screenplay’s historical peccadilloes, its general credibility seems authentic where it matters. It’s effective cinema that might find itself competing for future honours and awards.
At Palace Electric and Hoyts
AN urban legend or myth is usually a humorous story told as though true, especially one purporting to involve someone vaguely related or known to the teller.
“In vino veritas” is an expression that essentially translates to: drunken people tell the truth; the wine’s in and the truth is out. It can be difficult to distinguish the truth from a good story, with or without wine. But even where the story strays to what you might view as urban legend, it can be worth recording.
Is it the truth to record a conversation second hand?
To lawyers, the answer is no: that’s branded hearsay, tittle-tattle. But to a writer recording what was said in the aid of truth or perhaps amusement seems paramount. The reader can decide. And this is a story where the truth is assisted by the reader’s favourite tipple.
A picnic is a meal eaten outdoors usually when you are on an excursion. And, in the pleasant relationshipconfirming way that you do, I said to my neighbour: “With the weather becoming warmer the mind turns to
things picnic and getting back to being in the outdoors.”
Well, she said, would I like a coffee, perhaps a glass of wine, there was a most interesting picnic story that she had to share. That’s when she told me the story of a friend who was desperate and dateless but in the end got her man… and got him good.
The neighbour’s friend, an older woman now on her own, had complained of a Canberra man-drought and had used this rationalisation to sign up for internet dating. She had coffee with a man who had responded to her internet presence and they arranged a date. It was to be at Tidbinbilla and he would supply the picnic and the wine if she supplied the transport. This was so he could drink the wine without offending the road rules. It was all set.
She collected him from a local shopping centre, he with picnic basket in hand. The couple arrived at the nature reserve in her car and the weather was passable, although not ideal. They ate. They drank. The man’s
The batter-fried spinach leaves were topped with crushed, crispy papdis and the dish came with potatoes and some sweet chutney. It was to die for.
WHILE I always seize the chance to dine at a Michelin-star restaurant, I also seize every opportunity to dig into pack-a-punch street food.
Binnys Kathitto dishes up some pretty yummy Indian street food from the country’s southern region. I’ve only been once (so far) but have dreamt about my visit ever since. Do yourself a favour and share, share, share, so you experience as much as possible.
Established in 2015, Binnys introduced the first Indian street food van to Canberra (at The Hamlet). It’s now opened a decent-sized restaurant further down Lonsdale Street, next to Hopscotch and The Schnitzelhaus, with its outdoor dining area soaking up sun during the day.
We knew we were on a good wicket when the vegetarian Palak Pappadi Chaat arrived ($11.90). It’s a super snack to share. The batterfried spinach leaves were topped with crushed, crispy papdis and the
dish came with potatoes and some sweet chutney. It was to die for.
Next we headed to the street specials section of the menu and, after much consideration, selected the Idiyappam and Stew ($18.90).
Again, sharing was the go. The spring hopper pancakes were made of fine ground raw rice and grated coconut and the stew slow-cooked goat with a rich coconut-milk gravy. The meat melted in the mouth. It couldn’t have been more tender.
We both love paneer and are fascinated by the gazillion ways to spice up this fresh cheese. At Binnys, the cheese is cooked in a creamy tomato onion base with butter and spices ($16.90). At first we wondered if the dish would be too creamy, but it wasn’t. It was full of flavour, looked gorgeous, and another winner.
Also on the curry line up is a duck option cooked in tomato, ginger and spiced coconut paste marinade and a pork belly marinated in
handmade vindaloo masala. Fish, chicken and beef are also available.
Binnys is Canberra’s first and only Indian restaurant (that I know of) that serves nothing but 100 per cent gluten-free food. The restaurant serves Kathitto wraps, dosa, seven street specials and as many curries. Desserts include deep-fried dumplings soaked in cardamom and saffron-flavoured sugar syrup and a cardamom-flavoured ice cream (both $6.90).
The restaurant is licensed, with whites and reds starting at $28 and topping off at $49. Sweet mango lassi and other Indian drinks are also served ($5.90).
We left Binnys excited and knowing we’ll return – time and time again.
Binnys Kathitto, 5 Lonsdale Street, Braddon. Call 5100 2055. Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Saturday.
confidence grew as he splashed most of the wine into his glass and into his system.
In fact he became a bit too confident. Their discussions had moved to matters romance. He stared long and hard into his wine glass and rather unsportingly confessed that he was married and that whilst fat, the woman was sufficiently attractive to, uh, and here I’m being nice, become involved with at a superficial level, but not in any ongoing relationship. Now this is the point at which the urgency of my neighbour’s telling became evident:
“Oh, it’s a scream what then happened,” she tells me.
“Well, my friend, she was so annoyed but she hid it, see, to just make sure that he didn’t know how very much he had offended her.”
She kept her cool. The woman spoke softly to the man, saying: “I understand.” After a long pause she then said:
“Excuse me, I’ve just got to get something from my car.”
She went to her car, got in and drove away, leaving the intoxicated erstwhile lover in the bush without transport and, most likely, without mobile phone reception. This amused my neighbour and, I do confess, I also fell about laughing, holding tight to my own glass of wine.
In retrospect though, I must say this story has rather blunted my appetite for eating outdoors that, in the circumstances my neighbour so eagerly communicated, would be no picnic.
WATTLES, bursting out all over, are heralding the arrival of spring.
And it’s an ideal time to wander the wattles at the Botanic Gardens. Be sure to call at the visitor information centre and collect the all-important “In Flower This Week” leaflet.
Possibly our most important wattle is Acacia pycnantha, declared Australia’s national flower in the bicentenary year, 1988. It was first recorded by explorer Thomas Mitchell, who collected specimens in northern Victoria. George Bentham wrote the first species description in 1842.
While our national flower, it’s considered a weed in many other countries including Italy, South Africa, Portugal, Indonesia and NZ. Other wattles in flower at the gardens include Acacia amoena, which is covered in small golden balls of yellow flowers. It is native to NSW and Victoria.
A. blayana has similar flowers, being found only in the Wadbilliga National Park near Bega.
A. boormanii, or Snowy River Wattle, has different foliage to most wattles with fine, needle-like foliage growing into a multi-stemmed copse. There are at least a dozen other varieties in flower at the gardens.
In containers near the visitor’s centre is Crowea exalata, a perfect pot specimen for a sunny balcony, which forms a mounded bush of fine green foliage with distinctive red stems and a profusion of pink, star-like flowers.
IT’S important to tidy the developing new shoots as perennials come out of their winter hibernation.
One example, shown here, is a firm favourite in British and European gardens and becoming equally so here – Sedum “Autumn Joy”.
It’s so easy to grow and, at the end of its flowering time, in autumn can be divided to fill in bare spots in garden beds. The bright-pink flowers finish about April/May, but I leave the dried flower heads on the end of its long stalks for winter interest. They are also perfect for floral arrangements.
The stalks now need to be cut to ground level as the new, brightgreen shoots are clearly visible. I would expect, after dividing, to get at least 10 extra plants. However, they can be tough to divide; use a sharp knife. In some cases, I’ve resorted to using a tomahawk!
Other perennials that need trimming to ground level at this time include Echinacea, Salvia, Asters (Michaelmas daisies) and Gaura.
Many perennials are putting on
huge spurts of growth, which means it is feeding time. Remember to feed the plants, not the soil. Don’t waste plant food by scattering it far and wide on bare ground and keeping the plant food from the stems of plants.
Always use certified organic fertilisers that won’t kill other inhabitants of the soil, especially earthworms, whose importance in the garden is so vital. Here’s a thought: “In any hectare of land, the weight of earthworms will be greater than the cattle or sheep grazing above it”, reports the University of California.
• While gardens haven’t needed to be watered for months, potted plants dry out quite quickly, especially those under eaves for frost protection. Keep up the
watering for them.
• Start mulching the whole garden now. I recommend Canberra Sand and Gravel’s Organic Mulch to 100mm deep.
• Mulch may have compacted with rain over winter. Lightly fluff it up with a hoe while weeding at the same time.
• The Bowral Home and Garden Show, with more than 150 exhibitors, will be held at the Bong Bong Racecourse, 10am-4pm, September 10-11. Admission is $10. More information at homeandgardenshow.com.au
Joanne Madeline Moore
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
The celestial message this week is to get the balance right between being feisty and being fair. With mighty Mars charging through Sagittarius (a fellow fire sign) until September 27, there’s a fine line between being proactive and just plain pushy. And with Jupiter jumping into your partnership zone (from Friday until October 2017) it’s time to view close relationships from a more philosophical perspective, as you strive to be more compassionate and generous towards loved ones.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)
When it comes to a joint financial arrangement, you need to be proactive and practical. Mars encourages taking action, while Saturn cautions you to do your homework thoroughly first. Jupiter jumps into your well-being zone on Friday, which is good news for your physical and emotional health over the next 13 months. There’s one proviso though – you must be disciplined about diet and exercise. As fellow Taurean Katharine Hepburn said: “Without discipline, there’s no life at all.”
GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)
Over the next 13 months many gung-ho Geminis will take up a sport, hobby or creative project; start a hot romance; go on holiday; or welcome a new addition to the family. But with Mercury still reversing through your domestic zone, you need to do more to create harmony and happiness at home. And there may be confusion between relationship responsibilities and work issues on the weekend. So make sure you maintain strict boundaries between what is personal and what is professional.
CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
Be especially diplomatic with a recalcitrant relative or neighbour. Perhaps 100 per cent honesty isn’t the best policy, and communication will improve with some creative sugar-coating? From Friday onwards, Jupiter is set to expand your domestic horizons. So over the next 13 months you could buy or sell real estate, move house, get a new housemate, or renovate. But, when it comes to education or travel plans, Saturn could bring you down to earth with an unwelcome reality check on the weekend.
LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)
From Friday onwards, Jupiter blesses all forms of communication as your social media profile really takes off. So the next 13 months is a terrific time to start a blog, launch an online business or expand a current business. One of your products, campaigns or posts could go viral, so make sure you have plenty of interesting things to say or sell. On the weekend your larger-than-life Leo imagination is firing but, if you get too carried away, then you’ll blur the boundaries between fact and fantasy.
VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
Mercury is reversing through Virgo which encourages you to re-evaluate a personal project. Don’t make any major changes until after September 22 though. You’re also in the mood to offer advice. Your intentions are well-meant, but people will be extra sensitive so choose your words wisely. And have you been worrying about money? Jupiter journeys through your money zone for the next 13 months, so make the most of the lucky financial opportunities that come your way.
LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)
With Jupiter (planet of confidence and positive thinking) charging into your sign from Friday until October 2017, it’s time to leave the past behind and live in the here and now. Learn from the mistakes you’ve made, and then move forwards into a bold and brave new world where challenges are welcome and adventure is compulsory. This week draw inspiration from writer D. H. Lawrence (born on September 11, 1885): “I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets.”
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)
On Wednesday (courtesy of Pluto) you’ll feel powerful, passionate and perceptive. From Friday onwards, Jupiter broadens your spiritual perspective and many deepthinking Scorpios will take up meditation, yoga or some other form of metaphysical study over the next 13 months. But a close relationship with a loved one becomes very confusing on the weekend, when neither of you are sure where you stand. In order to sort this one out, you’ll need to be practical and compassionate.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
On Friday Jupiter (your patron planet) shifts into Libra. So – over the next 13 months – do your best to bring more balance and harmony into your stressful Sagittarian life. It’s also a period when the power of the group is on your side. You’ll attract good luck and achieve great success if you work cooperatively with others to find win-win solutions to problems. It takes extra time but is well worth the effort, and will result in creative cross-pollination and positive outcomes for everyone.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
This week Jupiter (planet of good fortune and prosperity) moves into your career zone. Which bodes well for a promotion, big new job or lucky professional break coming your way over the next 13 months. But your ruler Saturn squares nebulous Neptune on Saturday, so expect a weekend of unsettling uncertainty. The less organised you are, the more confusing things will be. Cut to the chase Capricorn, as you strive to differentiate between what is essential and what is superfluous.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
With Jupiter moving into your travel zone, foreign shores beckon over the next 13 months. So start planning your itinerary now. It’s also important to keep up-to-date with your international contacts. But money matters look complicated, as extra expenses surface or cracks appear in a financial partnership. And don’t let a friend or business acquaintance take you for a fiscal ride. Check the cold hard facts before you make promises or sign agreements. If you’re still in doubt, get a second opinion.
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
The Saturn/Neptune square highlights the discrepancy between fact and fantasy. Are you seeing things clearly? Are you blurring the boundaries between truth and fiction? Are you avoiding challenges by burying your head in the sand? It’s time for a reality check as you reassess your life and where you are going. Pisceans are trusting folk, but don’t let a dubious acquaintance lead you up the primrose path to trouble (especially on the weekend). Keep your bulldust detector set on high!
Joanne Madeline Moore
When will I get a final hearing in Canberra?
1 What is a derived noun form of a verb?
8 What is another name for a dingo?
9 Name a representation of a person, carved in stone or wood.
10 Name a Gallipoli area of special significance to WWI Anzacs (4,4).
11 That which is not substantial is said to be what?
13 What describes infirm or sickly people?
16 Which term relates to one who gathers harvest grapes?
19 Lodestone is a natural what?
22 Where was Napoleon decisively defeated by the British?
24 Which acronym describes an organisation created to assist child health, nutrition and welfare?
25 What do we call one who is skilled in artful management?
26 That which is the largest in scope is the what?
Down
2 Name a British rock singer, composer and pianist , ... John
3 To loosen something is to do what to it?
4 What is another term for a place of residence?
5 Which metallic element has the symbol Fe?
6 To drive off in various directions is to do what?
7 To have deposited something as security for money borrowed, is to have done what?
12 Name a more readily known term for precipitation.
14 Which aromatised wine is steeped with herbs, bitters, and other flavourings?
15 What is a picture on a computer VDU screen, representing a menu item
17 What do we call natives of Baghdad?
18 Name the highest range of a singer, or instrument.
20 To be in operation, is said to be what?
21 What are pitchers with wide spouts?
23 Which term describes an arm or a leg?
If you have already commenced family law proceedings and are waiting for your day in Court, you may be surprised to know that the Federal Circuit Court in Canberra is now setting matters down for final hearing in early 2018. If you have not started the Court process yet, your wait may be even longer.
Why is there a delay?
The Courts are being put under immense pressure to resolve an ever-increasing number of applications with less and less funding and judicial resources. This means that unless something changes, the existing delay is likely to get worse. This is a frustrating situation if you are trying to resolve a pressing issue like where your children will live, whether you can stay in your home or whether you can move interstate for a new job.
What can I do about it?
We often talk to our clients about other dispute resolution methods which will still protect their interests, so they can avoid the costly and lengthy process of litigation if possible. Some of the ways that we can assist you to resolve your family law matters without going to Court are through Round Table Discussions (lawyers and clients), Lawyer Assisted Mediation, Arbitration and Collaboration.
If your matter is unable to be resolved through alternative dispute resolution you should not wait until the last minute to file any applications with the Court, noting that you may not achieve a resolution for a lengthy period of time.
And of course, if you feel the current Court delays are unacceptable, you can contact your Federal member to let them know your views.
Yeend & Associates Family Lawyers is a specialist Family Law Firm located in Gungahlin and Canberra City. If you would like to discuss court alternatives or filing an application, please contact us for an initial no obligation appointment with a Family Lawyer on 02 6154 5090 or www.yeendassociates.com.au
