160908 citynews

The arrogance of the unwilling MICHAEL MOORE

Fun for all as Libs torn apart

JOHN GRIFFITHS

Vitriol in 140 characters or less

TIM GAVEL

Soprano SUMI JO on Callas, Dame Joan and her love of designer dresses

DON’T LET ACT LABOR DESTROY YOUR CLUB

BARR & ACT LABOR’S DEAL WITH THE FOREIGN-OWNED CASINO  MEANS FUNDING FOR LOCAL SPORTING CLUBS WILL DRY UP.

ACT LABOR IS CLOSING CLUBS.

Over the last 4 years, 10% of ACT Clubs have been forced to close. This is a direct result of Barr and ACT Labor’s actions.

These decisions have increased operating costs by imposing unsustainable taxes and levies on our not for profit clubs.

Rate Increases UP over 300% in four years for some clubs.

Liquor fee increases UP and now the most expensive in Australia.

Tap water costs UP by over 400% and double the price of Sydney Water.

Gaming tax increases UP twice in ten years.

NOW ACT LABOR HAVE BROKEN ANOTHER PROMISE

WHICH HARMS OUR CLUBS.

Barr and ACT Labor have made a decision to support the foreign-owned Canberra Casino over your local club.

This will be the last straw for many clubs, which will be forced to shut down if the proposal goes ahead.

The effect will be felt by our entire community.

BARR AND ACT LABOR, YOU PROMISED TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY.

Barr and ACT Labor’s decision to back the foreignowned Canberra Casino will cost ACT Clubs millions in revenue. It means they will no longer be able to fund local community groups and charities and will cost many people their jobs.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

Our ACT clubs provide extensive support for our local community. Barr and ACT Labor is putting all of it at risk.

AT RISK: Over $11m in donations to sporting groups and charities every year.

AT RISK: Funding to over 1,000 community groups which rely on Clubs to operate.

AT RISK: The maintenance of over 400 hectares of urban green space for community and sporting use.

AT RISK: Over 2,300 local jobs

IF LABOR GETS ITS WAY MORE CLUBS WILL CLOSE.

WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 11AM TO 1PM

MAKING THE MOVE

WITH ANDREW WINTER

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.

Seafarer Bob’s the very model major builder

By Kathryn Vukovljak

A LIFELONG seafaring career

for Bob Evans, president of the Canberra Model Shipwrights Society, has become a model shipbuilding hobby in his retirement.

Bob says that while living on 1.2 hectares in Murrumbateman also keeps him occupied, he loves building model ships in his spare time.

“I had a seafaring career and I suppose that has had an effect on my interests at this stage in my life,” says Bob.

“When I was a child my elder brother was into Airfix models and I think it probably rubbed off on me – I remember being about seven years old, and making my first aircraft model with about 20-30 bagged parts, creating a bit of a mess and thinking, ‘gee this is good’.”

Bob says he likes the satisfaction in seeing something through, and that he enjoys the results.

“There are lots of things you can build... my kids call it the inheritance,” he jokes.

“At any one time I’ve got about half a dozen models on the go, and when one of them starts to bore me I’ll set it aside and pick up another one. I’m not at all keen on rigging so sometimes that’s a reason to move along.

Bob Evans... “At any one time I’ve got about half a dozen models on the go, and when one of them starts to bore me I’ll set it aside and pick up another one.”

“I’m by no means a professional, but I’m happy with what I do.”

Bob estimates it can take around a year to 18 months to build a ship, but says he’s got one at home that took him 27 years to complete.

“I kept putting it away until my wife said that she wanted it finished,” he says. “Eventually, they all get done.”

Bob says he sailed merchant ships

Photo by Andrew Finch

in the 1950s and 1960s, and became the master of a gas tanker during that time. He came ashore to work in the mid 1980s, though he stayed within the maritime industry.

“My career has definitely had an influence on what I choose to make now, though I do have some aircraft, trams and buses, I’m probably more attracted to ships,” he says.

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“I’m doing a series of ships I’ve sailed on, about 20 or so, some are kits or modified kids and others are entirely scratch built.

“Building something when you create all the parts yourself gives you more freedom, but of course it’s more time-consuming.”

Having been a member of the Canberra Model Shipwrights Society since 2000 when he moved to the Canberra region, Bob says he likes being involved.

“I’ve been president now for about six years, and I enjoy the expo, which will run this year on September 17-18, with a display of various types, eras

and sizes of ship models, generally around 120, and this year we will also have a small display of maritime art and artefacts,” he says.

“We also regularly go out to Mount Rogers Primary School on a Tuesday morning for a couple of hours, it’s enjoyable to have a chat to the kids about what we do and maybe even get some new members out of it.”

The Canberra Model Shipwrights Society Expo, September 17-18 (10am5pm Saturday, 10am-3.30pm Sunday), Mount Rogers Primary School, Alfred Hill Drive, Melba. Cost $3 adults, $7 family.

Strike up the band, the boys and girls are back

ACT Lib Leader Jeremy Hanson has pledged to support 100 per cent clean power by 2020. Happily, this takes climate change out of the political arena and shows how good politics should be conducted.

AT last, the boys and girls of the Class of 2016 arrived to run the country from the House on the hill… and immediately revved up the band for the Mid-Winter Ball.

Head Boy Malcolm Turnbull looked a bit crestfallen at the Newspoll that saw his popularity dive to a mere 34 per cent. But it did put a gleam in the eye of leadership hopeful Scott Morrison

Bill Shorten continued to pretend that he’d won the election, despite the voters deserting his Labor Party in droves for a bunch of ragtag independents. Nevertheless, he did embarrass the government with three defeats in the House; while behind the scenes

Anthony Albanese was patiently gathering his forces for a challenge.

Ah yes, boys will be boys.

LABOR’S Sam Dastyari embarrassed himself by having a Chinese company pay his travel costs; but that only highlighted the millions of dollars both major parties accept from various foreign sources. Why, why, why!?

THE more sensible action was closer to home as ACT Lib Leader Jeremy Hanson pledged to support 100 per cent clean power by 2020. Happily, this takes climate change out of the political arena and shows how good politics should be conducted. Then he promised two new hospitals by cancelling the Gungahlin tram.

CM Andrew Barr finally released his own government’s report to justify the tram’s business case. A rapid transit bus lane, it says, would cost much less and provide a good financial return. For the tram to be

dose of dorin

financially comparable, the land for 1000 metres each side of Northbourne Avenue must become vastly more expensive so its taxes would help pay for the operation. He then announced the sale of a block on the light rail corridor for a massive $40 million

ROBERT MACKLIN

to prove his point. Point taken. But here’s the rub: if all these huge investments are made in the glittering Dickson-Braddon area, will the rest of us be left with the Manuka Oval/football club developers? Oh, and guess whose electorate – Molonglo – covers Dickson-Braddon?

MEANWHILE, the junior partner in the

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.

Labor-Greens government announced plans for testing pills and other drugs at local music festivals. Both Labor and the Libs officially demurred, once again revealing the whole country’s cockeyed “war on drugs” policy that makes alcohol legal and other mind-benders illicit.

GOOD to see local businesses like Poachers Pantry supplying the new Singapore Airlines flights. However, we reckon that’s a mere bagatelle compared to what’s in store when some Chinese airlines expand their operations to direct Canberra flights.

HOW terrific it’s been to watch the Canberra Raiders as giant-killers all season. It’s been a long time between premierships, but this year we might just be a show. Pity the Brumbies have lost their way. But in the AFL our adopted GWS (well, sort of) are also providing a thrilling September for all us Aussie Rules fans.

SHOCKING photos in the local media of the dead kangaroos beside the Monaro Highway. In the other direction it’s wombats that sadly litter the verges of the Kings Highway. However, on the bright side, on our last trip to the wonderful Tuross Head, we spotted a Spotted Quoll just out of Nelligen. And it was alive!

robert@robertmacklin.com

Saturday 10 September 9 am – 3 pm (last entry at 2.30 pm)

How arrogance of the unwilling holds us back

“SHENANIGANS” was the description used by

WA Liberal MP Ken Wyatt regarding the conclusion of the first week of the Federal Parliamentary sittings of the Turnbull government.

For the Liberals this is very much the pot calling the kettle black. The week certainly ended with a totally incompetent performance by the government, but such tactics are hardly new.

Labor understands well what it is like to work with minority governments. It takes respect, discussion and compromise. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, with the backing of competent performers and political tacticians such as Anthony Albanese, managed minorities in both houses of the Parliament.

The ability to manage also provides the knowledge and understanding to disrupt and to undermine. This was clearly demonstrated and, unless the Turnbull government changes its approach, we can expect to see much more of the same.

Christopher Pyne, the manager of government business, could learn a great deal if it was not below him to consult with the current and past Chief Ministers of the ACT to ask how they dealt with minority government. With only one exception, the ACT has operated since self-government with minority power. At different times there have been quite eclectic mixes of crossbench members, ranging philosophically from the ultra-conservative to the left-leaning Greens.

It would not hurt Mr Pyne to sit down with Andrew Barr, Jon Stanhope or his Liberal colleague Kate Carnell to improve understanding, to take a few hints and to adopt some of the practices that have made the Assembly work relatively smoothly for a quarter of a century.

It is understandable that he not talk to the very successful retired Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, as she is now a Senator and is, no doubt, providing her own insights to Albanese and Labor.

As Otto von Bismarck identified: “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable... the art of the next best”. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has demonstrated his understanding of this concept keeping the balance between the conservatives within his party and the liberals. However, the conservatives have

It would not hurt Christopher Pyne to take a few hints and to adopt some of the practices that have made the ACT Assembly work relatively smoothly for a quarter of a century.

largely had it all their own way. They have not yet really learnt how to compromise beyond their own party. This is the nub of the problem.

Peter Dutton, Michael Keenan and Christian Porter may have been the immediate problem on the Thursday evening. However, the problem runs deeper. The arrogance and the unwillingness to compromise, and the strident approach on the part of conservatives such as ACT Senator Zed Seselja and Cory Bernardi is where the real problem lies.

The proposed plebiscite on marriage equality is illustrative. A plebiscite is not appropriate. Why hold a plebiscite when some conservative MPs (for whom the plebiscite deal was done) have made it clear that they will not be bound by the outcome. Labor knows they are on an electoral winner with the marriage equality debate. Not only do they regularly poll but the issue fits comfortably within the thinking of a social democratic party. The Liberal and National parties are conflicted.

The plebiscite compromise held the disparate elements within the parties together in the election context giving them the narrowest of margins for a majority government. In the post-election environment, the Turnbull government can show real leadership. It can set the standards of engagement by offering a sensible compromise that respects the view of the majority of members of both houses of Parliament.

All that is needed is for the Prime Minister to allow a conscience vote on mar riage equality. If the con servatives cannot manage this simple action, they can expect continuing shenanigans.

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ESTATE OF RONALD SQUIRE

Rural Oaks Estate ACT Via Queanbeyan

Outstanding lifetime collection of Art, Furniture & Collectables

Saturday 17th September 2016 • Commencing 11am

Follow the signage from Railway Street, Oaks Estate

ITEMS OF INTEREST INCLUDE: Collection of Cedar Furniture by Norman Turner & Nottage of South Australia, Chesterfield 3 Piece Lounge Suite, Rosewood Display Cases, English Oak Tudor Style Dinning Suite w/- Side Board and more.

Outstanding Bronze and Lladro Collection, Tiffany Lamps, Jewellery and many collectables.

ORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN ARTWORKS BY: Ainslie Roberts, Norman Lindsay, Gladstone Ayre, Sydney Long, Billy Wilder, John Allcot OBE, Trevor Jones, Fred Elliott, Michael Taylor, Charles Billich, Jeffrey Proud, Salavatore Zofrea, S Preece, Stan Johns, Arnold Jarvis, E Warner, Dingwall, L Maggiore, Peter Browne, Doris Scott, Lee Miller, Arnold Jarvis, Marie Szeremet, AE Jacobs, Pro Hart, Sydney Cocks and many more.

ABORIGINAL ART BY: Margorie Brown, Minnie Pwerle, Gloria Petyarre, Violet Petyarre, Michael Nelson Jagamarra, Barbara Weir, Barney Ellega, Linda Tommy Watson, Polly Ngale, Barbarra Reid Napangardi, George Ward Tjungurrayi, Alan Pitjara Syddick Napaltjarri, Kudditji Kngwarreye, Sarrita King, Willy Tjungurrayi, Abie Loy Kenmarre, Gracie Morton Pwerle, Mary Dixon, Josie Petrick Kemarre, Christopher Churchill, Yilpi Atira Atira Marks, Melissa Martin, Lily Campbell Napangardi, Charlie Tjapaltjarri, Billy Stockton and Joy Pitjara.

EUROPEAN ART BY: Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Henri Matisee and Marc Chagall.

INSPECTION: Friday 16th September, 12noon till 5pm and morning of Auction from 8am Under Cover Seated Auction, Refreshments Available, 18.5% Buyers Premium Applicable Full details go to – johncooperauctioneer.com.au or phone John – 0417 777 890

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Aloha to high-speed internet grumpy

MY wife and I are just back from a two-week holiday in two of Hawaii’s beautiful islands, Oahu, home of Honolulu, and Maui – and we couldn’t believe the astonishing on-line speeds we enjoyed on our iPads.

Newspaper downloads of 30 megs in just a few seconds, virtual real-time connections when talking on social media and emails were a wonderful enhancement to our holiday experience.

Why? Well the resorts where we stayed provided download speeds of 100Mb/s. Compared to the 2.9Mb/s we have on our ADSL2+ connection at home, this was a revelation.

As a radio presenter, one of the regular issues that is raised with me on air is the quality of our online lives, in particular, the performance, or arrival of, the much-vaunted National Broadband Network (NBN).

And as we saw the news from home that executives from NBN Co had admitted that the possibility of such high-speed connections here are but a pipedream, we did a little homework.

What on-line speeds are available to the average American punter? Here are two examples:

• Hawaiian Telcom offers 50 Mb/s for $US24.95 ($33.09) a month on a 12-month contract.

• Oceanic Time Warner Cable went further, offering a 300 Mb/s monthly package that could allow for the provision of one landline, two mobiles and all TV (free-to-air and cable) for $US89.99 ($119.33).

Both plans offered this with unlimited downloads. In Canberra, our monthly phone and 2.9 Mb/s broadband package with download limits is more than $100.

Even allowing for the economies of scale (more than 300 million people compared to our

Home from Hawaii, radio presenter CHRIS MAC is grumpy about Australia’s slow internet speed, with or without NBN

24 million or so in a land almost as large as the continental US), the likelihood that we will NEVER see anything like these speeds, NBN or no NBN, leaves us all in a very desolate, digital landscape.

We have just re-elected a government that has overseen the majority of the NBN build. Whoever is at fault is not the point; we will not prosper as a nation unless we can compete internationally with at least half the broadband speeds as our major trading partners. Trying to buy shares or do business? Good luck! Never mind not having sufficient digital grunt to watch a movie without repeated buffering!

So there you have it. While not so naïve as to expect the blame game to finish anytime soon, any suggestions to our political leaders to improve our online situation would be greatly appreciated!

Chris Mac is a presenter on 2CC and 2CA.

CHRIS MAC

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Confluence – the Festival of India in Australia takes place over twelve weeks through August – November in Australia this year, showcasing rich and diverse dance, music, theatre and visual arts from India. It also includes conferences and workshops that share insights into traditional and contemporary Indian culture and its confluence with Australia’s curious and congenial populace.

The seven-city festival is the most significant exhibition of Indian arts and culture ever to be staged in Australia, involving world-class performers well beyond Bollywood alone. From the classical to the contemporary, Confluence is a showcase of the stunning and vibrant variety of India’s artistic cultures and traditions.

The Australian base of diplomatic and business ties with India is a fitting backdrop for a rich and diverse range of Indian arts and culture, showcasing the mutual benefits of the bilateral relationship and possibilities for future collaboration.

The home of Australian politics will host an exhibition of cartoons by one of India’s most well-known political cartoonists, Ajit Ninan in collaboration with David Pope, political cartoonist, Canberra Times.

For the more musically inclined, the infectious, happy tones of India’s most popular folk-rock band, the Raghu Dixit Project, and a vocal blend of Sufism and gospel

by Sonam Kalra are both on show.

Canberra will also host a Bollywood dance workshop, a performance of India’s most ancient dance form – Odissi, the myology based dance-dramas of The Kalakshetra Foundation, as well as the energetic, acrobatic dance of Pung Cholom.

Finally, the Ishara International Puppet Trust, one of India’s leading contemporary puppet theatres, will showcase the multifaceted traditions and techniques of puppetry in India and the world.

Confluence – the Festival of India in Australia will have a strong and positive impact on the bilateral relationship, fostering mutual cultural connections, promoting tourism and migration and highlighting business opportunities between Australia and India.

For more information, visit the Confluence – Festival of India website.

The Bollywood Dance Workshop • Gilles Chuyen

The Raghu Dixit Project • Indian Folk Rock Music *

September

Exhibition & Talk on Cartoons • By cartoonist Ajit Ninan in conversation with David Pope # 22nd September

Sonam Kalra & The Sufi Gospel Project *

‘Sriyah’ • Odissi dance performance by The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble *

Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre

‘Pung Cholam’ • Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy 2nd & 3rd October 1:40pm, 2:40pm Floriade, Commonwealth Ave, Parkes.

‘Transposition’ • A dance & Puppet Theatre Show by Ishara International Puppet Trust *

‘Jatayu Moksham’ • Bharatnatyam Dance performance by the Kalakshetra Foundation * 8th

Goldies off to battle in Norway

By Freyla Ferguson

THEY can cartwheel, tumble, juggle and swing from ropes – and some of them are in their 70s.

And now the Woden Valley Gymnastics Club’s Groove and Move performance team – who are aged from 60s to early 70s – are gymnastic champions after recently taking home gold at the Gymnastics Australia Gym4Life Challenge on the Gold Coast where they competed against gymnasts of all ages.

And the win has qualified the team to represent Australia at the International Gym4Life Challenge in Vestfold, Norway, in July.

Naomi Nye, Gymnastics For All program manager at the Woden Valley Gymnastics Club, says the winning team is an extension of Woden Valley Gymnastics Club’s Groove and Move program, which is aimed at people aged 50 plus.

“The program incorporates all the benefits of basic gymnastics into a movement program for older adults, which is achievable fun and provides ongoing physical and psychological stimulation,” she says.

“Participants serve to benefit from this multi-faceted program by developing flexibility, strength balance

and co-ordination. It is presented in a stimulating gymnastics club environment by highly qualified coaches.”

She says program participants then have the opportunity to participate in the performance team, which performs at public events as well as travels to national and international competitions, such as the National and International Gym For Life events and Gymnaestrada.

For team members Sharon, 70, and Bob Jackson, 72, their journey into gymnastics started two years ago when they spotted a notice for a new over-50s gymnastics group while dropping their grandchildren off to the gymnastics club for practice.

“We went there feeling tentative,” Sharon says.

“But Naomi is a marvelous coach she made us feel like we would get the benefits.

“We just wish we started years earlier. What surprised me was that we haven’t reached our limits yet, we’re always learning new skills.

“We’re learning things that never crossed my mind; learning to juggle or taking part in a competition.”

The Gym4Life Challenge is categorised by group size, not age.

Naomi says the team performed a five-minute routine to music that incorporated basic dance, juggling,

Fun for all as Libs get torn apart

CITIZENS of all stripes can chortle in amusement at the chaos of the 45th parliament.

Conservatives, Greens, Labor, nutbags of the lunar extremes in all directions can all barely restrain their glee as the centrist Turnbull, with no real constituency of his own, gets torn apart trying to ride too many horses at the same time.

Cabinet ministers now consider themselves such Olympian creatures that they’re beyond simple protocols like not leaving the meeting until it has adjourned.

On the Labor side, Sam Dastyari would rather have foreign companies pay his personal expenses than put his own hand in his pocket, and he is far from alone in considering himself above bearing any cost.

Cabinet ministers now consider themselves such Olympian creatures that they’re beyond simple protocols like not leaving the meeting until it has adjourned.

distribution of an artistic work; or

(b) in the course of any statement, publication, discussion or debate made or held for any genuine academic, artistic or scientific purpose or any other genuine purpose in the public interest; or

gymnastics skills and skipping.

“The participants help create the performance, from music, outfits and choreography through to presentation of the finished product,” she says.

“Many hours of practice go into creating the performance as well as a large financial commitment.

“The participants gain an immense amount of personal development from being part of the performance team – social, physical, psychological and cultural.

“The sense of achievement and pride in what they have achieved is palpable and is a joy to witness.”

Sharon says the team entered the Gym4Life Challenge hoping to qualify for the Australian team but never expecting to take home a gold.

“Naomi had told us we needed a gold or silver to qualify and we were hoping to get one of those,” she says.

“Our goal was to do our best and have fun.”

As part of the the International Gym for Life Challenge in Norway, teams from around the world will compete in the contest, take part in show performances and a gala performance.

Woden Valley Gymnastics Club, 27 Mulley Street, Holder. Email office@wodenvalley.net or call 6287 4121.

In the Greens, Sarah Hanson-Young appears to believe her party is beneath her, throwing tantrums on marriage equality and her recently removed asylum-seekers’ portfolio.

Parliament gets grislier still when you look at the Senate cross-benches where Pauline Hanson has brought the worst of Saturday night at the bowls club to the national stage.

The quietest of the disturbing One Nationers, Brian Burston, last week made it clear that he was offended by the Family Court’s bias in favour of the welfare of the child.

It takes a very special human being to be opposed to the interests of children.

At the same time a peculiar alliance is concerned that free speech will disappear if Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is not amended. At the same time these warriors of freedom ignore the protections afforded to them by Section 18D:

Section 18C does not render unlawful anything said or done reasonably and in good faith:

(a) in the performance, exhibition or

(c) in making or publishing:

(i) a fair and accurate report of any event or matter of public interest; or

(ii) a fair comment on any event or matter of public interest if the comment is an expression of a genuine belief held by the person making the comment.

Free speech would appear to be just fine, but those same warriors of freedom don’t appear to have a problem silencing doctors trying to report abuse in offshore detention centres. It’s almost as if the issues have nothing to do with free speech at all. If all this must pass, and it’s hard to not sincerely hope it passes sooner rather than later, what comes after?

Little of the alternatives on the ballot box inspires much confidence. Last week the Arts Party tried to put a brave face on its vote in the 2016 election: “At the last Federal Election, Arts Party senate candidates received a top six preference vote from almost 1.4 million Australians (1,372,827 to be exact), that’s more than 10 per cent of all voters.”

On a ballot paper stuffed with dangerous weirdos to be worthy of a “six” vote by 10 per cent of the population is not something I’d be writing home to mum about.

If Australian democracy, the idea that ordinary people should be allowed to decide who governs, were to fail, one has to ask who benefits?

JOHN GRIFFITHS

briefly Italians rally for quake victims

CANBERRA’S Italian community is launching a local appeal to assist victims of the devastating earthquake in central Italy, which destroyed several towns and villages, killing 300 people and leaving thousands homeless on August 24. As part of a national move by Italian communities in state capital cities, the local Com.It.Es

(Committee of Italians Abroad) has established an appeal committee to co-ordinate the Canberra region’s three-month, fund-raising activities. A mass in memory of the victims will be held on Sunday, September 11.

More information through info@comitescanberra.org

Griffin lecture goes to the US

PEGGY Bang will give the seventh annual Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture at the National Archives of Australia, 7.30pm, on Wednesday, September 14. The retired visual arts professor from the US will give an illustrated talk entitled “The Melson House Revealed: An Owner’s Perspective”, which will detail the history of this unusual house designed by Griffin and built in Mason City, US, in 1912. Entry is $10 ($5 for members, students and concessions). Bookings via eventbrite.com

Community garden open day

THE Kambah Community Garden will hold an open day to promote organic gardening practices and raise funds to assist refugees and asylum seekers in Canberra. Locally propagated vegetable and herb seedlings will be on sale. Visitors can get advice and inspiration from local gardeners and talks and demonstrations on basic organic gardening processes including composting, soil building and pest management. The garden is at the corner of Springbett Street and O’Halloran Circuit, Kambah, and open 11am4pm on Saturday, October 8.

Breakfast with Rosie Batty

FORMER Australian of the Year

Rosie Batty is the guest speaker at a breakfast organised by local Soroptimist International groups at the QT Hotel, London Circuit, Civic, from 6.30am on Friday, October 14. The breakfast will also raise funds for the Women’s Legal Centre ACT, which provides legal advice to women who have experienced domestic and family violence. The cost is $70 and bookings via eventbrite.com.au

Are you enrolled to vote for your ACT Legislative Assembly election?

Electoral rolls close 16 September

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.

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SPORTSPEOPLE have never received as much free advice as they are currently being forced to entertain.

Everybody, it seems, has an opinion on everything to do with sport and some people seem empowered by their experience with social media feeling they can vent their spleen instantly without any filter.

We are seeing it in full flight with the return of Australia’s Olympians.

The suggestion the team failed because it won “only” eight gold medals is a line that people seem to want to push, with many on social media questioning the amount of money spent and whether it represents value for money. Some, it would seem, are trying to outdo one another to see who can express the most vitriol in 140 characters or less!

Surely, we should have enormous pride in the performance of our team; to make the team is an achievement in itself. Additionally, the Olympic stage is a world stage and some of the feats remind us of our human spirit.

If there’s a lesson, it’s been that we need to be watchful of our expectations, particularly if success is only seen in terms of Australian gold. Think of that moment when NZ’s Nikki Hamblin and US runner Abbey D’Agostino both fell in the 5000-metre heat. D’Agostino, with a torn ACL and other injuries, helped Hamblin to her feet, only to fall again in agony. Hamblin showed her spirit by helping D’Agostino over the line where they embraced. What about Yusra Mardini, the 18-year-old representing the first Olympic refugee team? She won the first heat of the 100-metres butterfly, but wasn’t fast enough to make it into the finals. Only

last year she had escaped from Syria aboard a leaky boat that sank leaving her to swim to Lesbos with her sister. There are many other great stories – Bolt; Van Niekerk, who broke Michael Johnson’s 1999, 400-metre track time; Farah, who won back-to-back 5000 and 10,000metre runs in London and Rio; the Fijian Rugby 7s side; Phelps and Elaine Thompson. And how can we forget Kimia Alizadeh, Iran’s first female medalist?

WALLABIES’ and Brumbies’ captain Stephen Moore told me about an experience he had this year while shopping in Curtin. He was getting his groceries a couple of days after a test and was approached by a man who proceeded to give him some free advice. It was a good, old-fashioned spray in the supermarket.

It is not as if Moore hadn’t been trying in the test. Stephen Larkham has described him as one of the most whole-hearted, passionate players that he has played with or coached.

What prompts somebody to walk up to a footballer and provide him with an outpouring of his vast knowledge of rugby union? It’s the equivalent of sporting road rage!

Of all people, Moore does not deserve this from the Canberra community. Not only has he led the Brumbies with distinction and integrity; he has thrown himself into giving a hand through a variety of local charities, using his profile to promote community causes. He heads to Queensland for the next three years; he will be missed and the hope from many is that he will return to live in Canberra one day.

So it’s worth having a bit of a think before handing out advice either face-to-face or through social media. Contemplate your own performance as a member of the community before telling others what they should or shouldn’t do.

TIM GAVEL

TRAVELLING for work or pleasure doesn’t have to be synonymous with eating poorly or with gaining weight.

While traveling does make it harder to follow routine eating habits, there are lots of ways to eat well when you’re on the road

Having something available to eat between meals reduces the risk of becoming overly hungry, which often results in choosing a high-calorie meal, like fast food.

Before leaving for travel, throw a piece of fruit, a wholegrain muesli bar or some trail mix in the bag and plan for when you will need a proper meal.

Pack a knife

While travelling through Europe, I recently found myself buying a lot of pre-made sandwiches from supermarkets that mostly contained ham and cheese. It was really handy to have a knife so I could also slice tomato, cucumber and capsicum to fill out the sandwiches. It also came in handy for cutting fruit for snacks.

Make a super meal

When travelling it can be easy to eat every meal at cafés and restaurants. Despite being expensive, it can mean that you’re consuming more fat, sugar and salt because a chef is mostly interested in making the food taste good.

A lot of main meals in restaurants are largely meat, with only a small amount of vegetable. In these situations, try to order a side of steamed vegetables or green salad to make be sure of getting enough vitamins and minerals to support your immune system.

Buying a few meals from the supermarket can save coins and calories. Try:

• Buying some fruit and yoghurt for breakfast the next day.

• Grabbing a pre-made salad.

• Swing by the bakery section for a roll, the deli for some meat and cheese and then the salads for some veg.

Take a water bottle

It’s easy to forget to drink when out exploring a new place. It’s also particularly important to stay hydrated when flying for many health reasons. I take a drink bottle with me everywhere and find it prevents me from spending money on bottled water. Having water on hand also stops me buying soft drinks and snack foods.

Listen to your body

One of the best ways to eat well while travelling is to loosen the reins and let your body guide your food choices, not the clock. If you’re hungry, eat! If you’re not, don’t. Eat slowly and listen to when your body says that it’s satisfied. This takes real honesty with yourself, but it is a very useful skill to practise.

Clare Wolski is a dietitian at The Healthy Eating Hub, call 6174 4663.

CLARE WOLSKI

ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year

Jacob Keed Certificate IV in Alcohol and Other Drugs

Jacob is currently working in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Bus team and is undertaking two VET qualifications. Jacob works closely with the community to identify vulnerable people and connect them with services that improve their lives. Jacob also works in the community to reconnect those who are displaced from their culture, history and connection to the land.

ACT Australian Apprentice of the Year Shane Dealy Certificate III in Carpentry

Shane studied engineering for 18 months at university but was not convinced this was the career path for him. Instead, Shane opted to study a Certificate III in Carpentry, and was impressed by the ‘student first’ approach the VET sector offers. Shane has since completed a Diploma in Building and Construction with the hope to one day become a building certifier.

ACT Australian Apprentice (Trainee) of the Year

Chloe Handley Certificate IV in Government

Chloe aspired to become an events manager and turned down a place at university in favour of studying an Advanced Diploma of Event Management. Chloe then moved into a government traineeship where she was given hands on experience managing events and understanding the workings of government. Since completing her traineeship, Chloe is now working in a full-time events role at the National Portrait Gallery.

ACT Australian School-based Apprentice of the Year

Madeline Wallace Certificate III in Business

In 2015, Madeline completed an Australian School-based Apprenticeship (ASBA) while working at the Weston Creek Veterinary Hospital. Madeline then transitioned into a second ASBA, studying a Certificate III in Business and working as a receptionist with the same employer. Madeline aims to complete a Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing to support her dream to travel overseas and work with animals.

The ACT Training Awards are an annual celebration of the efforts and achievements of those involved in vocational education and training (VET) in the ACT. This year’s event was bigger than ever, attracting double the nominations from 2015, a clear reflection of the impressive numbers of approximately 84,000 students that participated in VET in the ACT in 2015.

Meegan Fitzharris, Minister for Higher Education, Training

Indigenous Australian Government Development Program (IAGDP) ActewAGL

National Mailing and Marketing Pty Ltd

Canberra Institute of Technology

CCCares @ Canberra College

Ann Goleby

and Research presented awards on the evening and said “It is important to celebrate the VET sector. Students in VET are the future of our industries, and the ACT Government is committed to further building on our already strong VET sector that prepares people for the jobs of the future.” Winners from aligned categories will go on to represent the ACT as VET ambassadors at the Australian Training Awards in Darwin, in November 2016.

from the Night

ACT

ACT

of the

ACT Large Training Provider of the Year

ACT School Pathways to VET Award

Norm Fisher Award

ACT VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year

Daniel McNamara

Subject Area: Outdoor Education

Dan lives and breathes his passion for teaching Outdoor Education. His skills, qualifications and experience make him highly sought after in his industry. Dan’s leadership in the Outdoor Education Program at UCSSC Lake Ginninderra College, has led to outstanding outcomes for his students. Dan is also working closely with the ACT Education Directorate to train the next generation of teachers in his subject area.

ACT Small Employer of the Year

Bond Hair Religion

Bond Hair Religion is a multi-award winning salon in Kingston. Their vision is to be a passionate, innovative, creative, consistent organisation, well known for excellence. Over 11 years of trading, the team has grown to 12 team members including five apprentices. Bond Hair Religion engages in regular training activities to enhance the team’s professional skills, creativity and personal development.

ACT Vocational Student of the Year

Kerrie Brewer Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development

Kerrie’s VET journey started with an interest in photography but after being a full-time Mum for 12 years, studying was a big change for her. Kerrie enrolled in various courses before transitioning into the Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development once she realised she could turn her passion into a career. Kerrie now runs her own freelance photography business.

ACT Small Training Provider of the Year Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE)

AIE is Australia’s most awarded 3D animation, game design and visual FX educator. Created as a non-profit organisation to grow the creative digital sector, AIE pioneered the development of specialist game qualifications and continues to innovate through industry partnerships and dynamic teaching. AIE prides itself on leading the tertiary education sector in the training of highly skilled 3D artists, game programmers and game designers.

spring charity lunch, Woden

Stay in touch with the names making news on Sundays from 10am as 2CC and “CityNews” present Canberra’s only local weekend news and current affairs program. It’s a revolving panel show that brings to the microphone great “CityNews” commentators and 2CC personalities.

Be part of the conversation and call 6255 1206 between 10am and noon.

Life isn’t perfect, but your hair can be

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10% OFF spring colour service, when you bring in this advert

We are the Virtue Crew, the virtuosos in hair!

We pride ourselves in offering:

• Excellence in customer service

• Colour and perming specialists

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• Formal and bridal hair design

For a perfect appointment call 6286 2778 Unit 3, 46 Heard Street, Southlands, Mawson

Meet me in Mawson Centre buzzes with the

There’s much to see in Mawson! The buzzing Woden Valley suburb is named after the Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson and features a range of shops and cafes to cater for everything from authentic middle-European cuisine to dentistry to hair styling. Here are some great reasons to meet at Mawson...

Jackie makes a Virtue of expert hair care

WALKING into Virtue Hair is like coming home, says Jackie Dyer, who is just one of the friendly stylists at the Mawson hair salon.

Jackie and the rest of Virtue Hair’s senior staff are each backed with more than 30 years experience in the hair industry.

Offering a full range of hair services including cutting, colour, perming, styling and formal up-styling, the highly skilled team at Virtue Hair are dedicated to excellent customer service.

“We all care for our clients,” Jackie says.

“And we treat them all like they are family. The staff here don’t just specialise in one area – when you come into the salon you know that the one person will look after their client from start to finish.”

IT PAYS TO TALK TO A LOCAL.

Looking for the best financial products and services? Your local Commonwealth Bank branch can help you with all your financial needs.

® Home loans and investment home loans

® Personal loans

® Credit cards

® Foreign exchange

® Business loans and equipment finance

® Transaction and savings accounts

® Home insurance

® Car insurance

® Superannuation, managed funds and wealth creation

® Life insurance and income protection

Simply drop into the Mawson branch and speak to one of our friendly staff, or call us on (02) 6286 2840

Jackie says the salon has just introduced two new products by Affinage to their list of services, the Essential Oils range of shampoos, conditioners and treatments and

the Essential Blends Multipermanent Colour range.

She says the Essential Oils range is sulphate, silicone and paraben free and the Essential Blends Multipermanent Colour range is ammonia, paraben, alcohol and SLES free.

And most importantly, Jackie says, both ranges are cruelty-free.

“Hair health is absolutely

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and you really get to know what’s good and what products will make changes to a

All financial services under one roof!

Located at Southland Shopping Centre the Commonwealth Bank Mawson 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 Mawson branch, and Branch Manager Jennifer Timms 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 Mawson 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,” Jennifer said.

James Corbett, Regional General Manager NSW/ACT Region, believes Jennifer Timms is a valuable asset to the

Mawson branch team.

“The Mawson branch prides itself on having a CAN do attitude towards creating a better banking experience for its customers” James said.

You can find Jennifer and her team at the Mawson Branch at Shop 6/7, Southland Shopping Centre on Heard Street, Mawson ACT 2607, or call them on (02) 6286 2840.

Commonwealth Bank Mawson branch is open five days a week for staff assistance: Monday – Thursday: 9:30am – 4:00pm Friday: 9:30am – 5:00pm

advertising feature promise of choice and expertise

CANBERRA Christian School at Mawson is part of the Adventist independent education system, which welcomes families from all religious and cultural backgrounds.

Principal Bree Hills says the primary school maintains small classes and challenges each student to discover his or her particular gifts and talents.

“At Canberra Christian School we provide a safe and happy environment for children to learn within a supportive community,” she says.

“Our enthusiastic, highly professional teachers focus on nurturing the strengths of our students and work together with parents to bring continuity between school and home; we even have a smartphone app that keeps you up to date.”

Ms Hills says that Canberra Christian School’s differentiated curriculum is designed to recognise

each child’s individuality and offer a learning program to maximise their potential in all areas of learning.

“Our school has implemented the governmentdeveloped Australian Curriculum, however, children are placed on levels of work based on achievement outcomes rather than chronological age,” she says.

“This results in satisfaction and challenge being an integral part of every child’s learning program. Children at an early age see themselves as individuals in their learning and the overall result is children feeling positive about their achievements in their academic areas.”

Canberra Christian School, 64a Ainsworth Street. Call 6286 3989 or principal@ccs.act.edu.au

More information at ccs.act.edu.au

FOR more than 25 years, Gleam Dentistry has been offering its dental services to the Mawson area.

Headed by principal dentist Dr Haifa Amin, who has more than 25 years in the dental industry, Gleam Dentistry is a small, family-oriented practice that prides itself on its personal, caring service.

“We treat everybody the way we would like to be treated if we were patients,” says Sheridan MacGrath, practice manager.

“We try to make patients as happy and comfortable as we can.”

Gleam offers a wide range of services in preventative cosmetic and general dentistry, including cleans and examinations, restorations, extractions, crowns and bridges, root-canal treatment, veneers, tooth whitening, dentures and dental implants.

Its small team consists of two dentists, two dental nurses and the practice manager.

“We offer quite personal care and know our patients well,” says Sheridan.

“It’s just that extra bit of personal care.”

Free two-hour parking is also available on site.

Gleam Dentistry, Suite 4/43 Heard Street, Mawson, open Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. Visit gleamdentistry.com.au or call 6290 2299.

Showcase of Austrian culture, cuisine and more

FOR an authentic taste of middle-European food, then there’s no looking past the latest restaurant offering based in the Austrian Australian Club in Mawson.

Headed by father-and-son chef team, John and Morgan Neveceral, Karsbad Keller serves up a range of middle-European dishes from traditional Austrian pork knuckle, which is slow-cooked for six hours, Hungarian goulash and chicken paprika to regular pub meals including schnitzel and steak.

John, who has a Czech background, has been a chef for 30 years while son Morgan is an award-winning chef having competed in Nestle Chef Challenges.

Karsbad Keller, is just one of the many offerings out of the Austrian Australian Club.

“The Austrian Australian Club showcases Austrian culture,” says Mark Robertson, the club’s manager.

• Father and Son team • Award-winning Chef

• Best Schnitzel and Greatest Pork Knuckles

• Open Tuesday to Saturday: • Lunch from 12pm – 2pm

• Special Lunch • 2 courses for only $ 14.50

• Dinner from 6pm – 9pm

• Contact us for your next function.

• Karlsbad Keller can cater for any number and any budget.

• Contact John on 0417 669 823 or (02) 6286 6999

“We can also host weddings and parties and have a function hall and two meeting rooms available to hire.

“Depending on what the community group is, we can offer the spaces free of charge.”

The function hall can cater for a group of 30 to 200 people while the meeting rooms can cater for up to 30 people.

It serves as a regular meeting place for many community groups including the Austrian Choir, the Hungarian Dance Group and country line dancing.

It also hosts a number of events – its next big event is the Austrian Choir’s Spring Concert on September 11 at 2pm.

Austrian Australian Club, Heard Street, Mawson. Visit austrianclubcanberra.com or call 6286 5793.

Austrian Australian Club

• Serving Mawson for over 40 years

Great selection of Australian and European beers and wines • Large (200 seat) Hall

Private function rooms • Book your wedding, party or group

• Open from 11am – 7 days a week • (02) 62865793

ACT Property Council of Australia 2016 awards Airport and new hotel take award-night honours

CANBERRA Airport and the Doma Group’s new, innovative hotel were the leading winners in the ACT division of the Property Council of Australia’s excellence awards, which were announced at its annual gala dinner, this year at the National Arboretum.

Airport rewarded for vision and ambition

THE Capital Property Group has been crowned ACT Business of the Year for its seminal work developing the Canberra Airport precinct.

Its vision and ambition has elevated Canberra Airport to one of the best small airports in the world. With a $2 billion investment, Capital Property Group has transformed what were rudimentary facilities into a world-class aviation, commercial and infrastructure hub that showcases leading-edge master planning and design. The new terminal, civil infrastructure (including runway extensions), business park precincts and recently launched 4.5 star Vibe Hotel have opened up countless growth opportunities for the nation’s capital.

A key criterion in judging this award, sponsored by GHD, was how the project supports the Canberra community.

That community support was clearly reciprocated as the project also won this year’s People’s Choice Award. Capital Property Group is also a contributor to the

Canberra community supporting charitable projects such as Common Ground and Project Independence.

“Capital Property Group’s vision and ambition has elevated Canberra Airport to one of the best small airports in the world,” says the Property Council.

“Canberrans benefit not only from having a world-class airport on their doorstep, but also from the countless growth opportunities the new terminal, civil infrastructure, business park precincts and recently launched 4.5 star Vibe

Hotel open up for the nation’s capital.

“With the commencement of Singapore Airlines flights, the new airport provides a launch pad for our city to go from strength to strength.

“The airport is not only practical but a source of pride for the Canberra community.

“This aviation, commercial and infrastructure hub showcases leading-edge master planning and design. It is unlike any other transport infrastructure in the country.”

… and the people like the airport, too

THE Capital Property Group has also won the People’s Choice Award for Canberra Airport.

Described by users as an architectural showcase featuring innovative environmental measures and ground-breaking customer comforts, Canberra Airport’s $480m terminal is unlike any other transport infrastructure in the country.

With its focus on art and aesthetics, along with practicality such as a climate-controlled, indoor taxi rank lounge and environmental systems that allow it to fully operate off-grid, the terminal provides a fitting gateway for the national capital of a modern, sophisticated and innovative nation. It is a critical piece of Canberra infrastructure and a source of pride to the community.

We are thrilled to achieve this recognition. Since inception almost 20 years ago, we’ve built a world-class airport, exceptional business parks and a thriving retail hub. Now we are using our business philosophy to deliver our trademark quality to the residential property sector at Denman Prospect.

Big thinking behind Little National Hotel

DOMA Group’s Little National Hotel became a Canberra icon from the moment it opened.

The four-star hotel is at the leading edge of a new and growing global category of accommodation known as affordable budget luxury hotels. It won the ACT Innovation Award

Little National Hotel is the first of its kind to be constructed in the shadow of the Parliament House flag. It is conceived for the business, conference and leisure guest who demands smart luxury and high amenity in a super-prime location but at a nightly rate that allows for greater enjoyment of the other facilities offered by the thriving heart of the ever-expanding Realm precinct. Doma Group is already implementing plans to take this innovative concept further afield.

“Doma Group’s Little National Hotel typifies the forward thinking we need to keep Canberra competitive in the business, leisure and tourism markets,” the Property Council says.

“This project is at the forefront of a potential global revolution in hotel accommodation that could redefine Australia’s hospitality industry.

“Little National Hotel is an important addition to the growing Realm Precinct and a great example of how to achieve the trifecta of high amenity, affordability and a super-prime location.

“This is Doma Group’s second Property Council ACT award in as many years and highlights the dedication of this local business to bringing the best the world has to offer back home to the nation’s capital.”

From intern to director

Prize for business park

THIS year’s Allan Wylucki ACT Property Professional of the Year Award posthumously recognises the long and illustrious career of Prof Alastair Swayn, pictured, an esteemed architect whose work shaped and enriched Canberra over almost four decades.

As the inaugural ACT government architect, he helped set the course for Canberra’s future, particularly in plans for the city centre, the Northbourne Avenue renewal and design development for the new University of Canberra Public Hospital. Alastair was involved with a number of iconic government buildings and fitouts, including DFAT, Defence and CSIRO, to name but a few, as well as the ANU’s campus.

of hotels of this brand. At its opening in October last year, Doma Group managing director Jure Domazet said: “We wanted to create a beautiful place where people can stay, with everything they need and nothing they don’t.”

NATIONAL director for Colliers International, 33-year-old Tim Mutton won the ACT Future Leader of the Year Award proving the maxim that, in the property industry, if you are good enough, you are old enough. In just 13 years he has risen through the ranks of the company from the starting point of a student intern.

EQUINOX Business Park, by Evri Group (part of the NDH Group of Companies) and AMC Architecture, has won the ACT Development of the Year Award for its 11-year transformation of a derelict site in Deakin to a modern A-grade business park precinct.

As a director of Darryl Jackson Alastair Swayn (DJAS), Alastair’s brilliance as a practicing architect was evident, with the firm becoming one of the most awarded in Australia. DJAS played a key role over many years in the Canberra Airport Precinct, which has also been honoured in this year’s awards winning the ACT Business of the Year and People’s Choice awards.

Alastair also sought to pass on his knowledge and expertise, and to inspire the next generation of architects in his role as Professorial Fellow at UC.

Canberra Confidential

Karl launches from next door

IN faraway, unloved Tuggeranong, untroubled by government promises of squillion-dollar trams, Labor candidate Karl Maftoum, pictured, battles impossible odds to get elected to the southern seat of Brindabella.

In what seemed like a delightful gesture of detente, he announced his campaign launch was to be at the Town Centre Vikings Club on September 17, clearly prepared to walk the gauntlet of the ClubsACT anti-government campaign posters festooning the foyer.

But, no. He lost his nerve and, rather oddly, will launch his bid to be elected in Brindabella at the unaligned Kambah Burns Club (of which he is a director) across the electoral boundary in the new seat of Murrumbidgee.

Ponytail tale or two

Public School.

“I thought the girl, Stef, who has alopecia and was reporting about it, was really brave and so confident. I decided to get my hair cut especially.

“I told the hairdresser and they thought it was very sweet. They braided my hair and I was very excited. Mum was very proud of me.”

Bungendore salon Cuts on Gibraltar senior stylist Britt Godfrey said on average the salon collected about three such donations a week.

“We are a member of Sustainable Salon Australia, which recovers and reuses salon specific waste, such as hair, paper, plastics,” Ms Godfrey said.

August 18) bemoaned the lyrics (“For we are young and free”) were ageist.

She declared her interest in that Scotsman Peter Dodds McCormick , who wrote the anthem, was married to a relative of hers.

“The anthem’s words are about a beautiful country written by a man who migrated to Australia in 1855 and loved the country so much he brought the rest of his family to settle here,” Jennifer coos.

“While some think the words are old style, it fades in respect of Japan’s national anthem, which has words written in 794AD and set to music about the time our anthem was written.”

But “girt by sea”, Jennifer?

Billable trills from Becky

Campbell snout (and aspiring Liberal candidate for Kurrajong) Brooke Curtin bemoans that on the Mt Ainslie bushwalking track behind the Australian War Memorial there are plastic bags of dog excrement hanging from the trees.

“Thank you, to the owners for collecting it,” says sardonic Brooke, offering to help owners dispose of it thoughtfully.

Then there’s the, ahem, problem of walkers caught short because there’s not a public toilet within “coo wee of the track or the barbecue area at the base obliging many a walker to have to relieve themselves kangaroo style”. We’re not sure what style that is, but concur there’s a need for a toilet and a garbage bin. Come on Brooke, make the pre-election promise.

Poor Karl had no choice if he were to host the embattled Chief Minister, given there isn’t a club venue in all of Tuggeranong that isn’t supporting the “Don’t Let ACT Labor Destroy Your Club” campaign that targets directly Andrew Barr.

ADMIRATION for a young woman with the hair-loss disorder alopecia has inspired Harmony Carroll, 10, to donate some of her long hair.

The children’s charity, Variety’s Princess Charlotte Alopecia Program, takes donations of hair to be made into wigs to help instil confidence, independence and self-esteem for children with alopecia.

“From watching ‘BTN’ [‘Behind The News’ on ABC3], I learned about alopecia and how it can affect girls and boys and it made me think about what it would be like if I had no hair,” said Harmony, a Year 5 student at Bungendore

“Hair lengths from 10cm long can be used for wig making and even the cut hair on the ground is collected and used.”

Meanwhile, Harmony’s younger sister Isabella , nine, has also donated a braided length of hair.

Both girls said they encouraged their friends and other children to consider helping out when they next get haircuts.

Girt by Jennifer

JENNIFER Burgess , who is visiting relatives in Downer, has sprung to the defence of the national anthem after a letter writer (CN,

THE Groundhog Day that is Floriade has something new; a Sydney publicist.

Clearly the government thinks the work is beyond the barkers in Canberra in an election year and sent the contract off to faraway Surry Hills, where Magnum & Co’s account manager and “culture specialist” (no, really) Rebecca Clark trills across the border that “the final countdown is on – with something for everyone”. Everyone except a Canberra publicist.

Dog-poo trees

HERE’S the strangest of Canberra’s urban rituals – bagged dog poo hanging from trees.

Blaming the big bottleos

HAVING backflipped on reducing opening hours or licence times for clubs and pubs, or increases to licence fees above inflation in his war on alcohol-related harm, Chief Minister Andrew Barr is now singling out big-barn bottle shops for a bigger lick of licence fees. Writing to the industry, he accuses largescale, very high turnover, big-discount offlicences of contributing “most directly” to the problems of binge drinking and pre-loading. How he comes to this startling conclusion is not entirely explained, but he promises to write again “shortly with the changes I will propose at the ACT election”.

Sumi Jo just loves dressing to thrill

COVER STORY

Helen Musa

“I have three favourite creatures in the world – my three dogs,” Sumi Jo tells “CityNews” by phone from Frascati, on the edge of Rome, where the celebrated Korean-born soprano lives.

“If you met me on the street when I run with my dogs, I don’t think you’d recognise me, I wear a baseball hat – that’s me, that’s Sumi… but on stage I’m a diva, I’m a prima donna, I feel like a queen.”

She’s a super-busy diva, but she’ll be here during November to perform with a full orchestra for the second time at “Voices in the Forest”.

This time Jo has carefully prepared a musical tribute to the great Greek-American soprano Maria Callas, saying: “I have to find something for my own voice and my own personality” and predicting that the highlight will be “Casta diva” from Bellini’s “Norma”.

After a wounding experience earlier this year when she was sidelined from singing her Academy Award-nominated song “Simple Song” at the Oscars ceremony, Jo declares herself delighted to be coming back to appreciative Australia.

Artistic director of “Voices”, Chris Latham, describes Jo’s singing as “transcendent perfection” and the diva herself as “very gorgeous”, but what endeared her to him most was that when last she was in Canberra, she

asked to visit the RSPCA.

Dogs aside, Jo is a noted ambassador for peace and, like stars Gong Li and Celine Dion, she travels the world on UNESCO’s behalf.

“What I do is music, but the music is fundamentally not for personal pleasure but for my mission,” she says.

“I’m using music as a powerful weapon to tell people that we can be nice, that we can talk the united language that is music.”

Jo keeps up with the Korean musical diaspora and knows all about Australian Korean-born “Eurovision” star Dami Im.

“My story’s sort of contrary to hers, I started out as a popstar when I was very young and then I became an opera star,” she says.

“I’m still so interested in all kinds of music, so I’m following Dami’s career. I call her a true musician; she plays the piano, she is a complete artist and a very fine young Australian. You must be so proud.”

In her 2016 visit to Australia, the spotlight may be on Callas, but it was in fact Australia’s Joan Sutherland who had the greatest influence on her.

“I loved Joan Sutherland from a very early age,” she says.

“You know, I personally met her. I visited her in her house on Lake Geneva and she cooked for me.”

Callas, she says, “is the one and only, she is a legend, nobody can touch her.”

“Maria Callas’ story is fascinating to me as an artist,” Jo continues, as we reflect on her long, sad affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

“I’ve seen a lot of prima donnas and loneliness is

a part of being a perfectionist. Once, because she wanted to be a perfect artist, Callas lost 30 kilograms so that she could wear designer dresses… she was far more famous than a movie star, but in the end she suffered, because she died alone – it’s an incredible story.

“Just compare the story of Callas with Joan – she had a beautiful career and a beautiful husband and a son, she tried to live life as normally as possible. Personally, I’d like to follow the Joan Sutherland model – a prima donna who enjoyed the simple things.”

But in one respect – the designer dresses – Sumi Jo does follow Callas.

“My dresses are very heavy and prepared by the very best designers,” she says. “Some of them weigh 20 kilograms. They’re very heavy… so when I travel it’s usually with three or four dresses, I have to pay extra for the flight.”

With the UNESCO visits, if it’s a VIP recital, she wears very serious designs. “But when I go to visit kids, as I did in the Philippines, I like to be with them, I sing with them, I become a child with them,” she says.

“The wigs, the make-up, the jewellery – it’s a whole performance with me.

“Actually, I own 250 dresses. For me it’s very important to wear the best dress so the audience can listen to the beautiful music – it’s a whole package.”

“Voices in the Forest 2016”, National Arboretum Canberra, Saturday, November 19, 6.30-9.30pm. Gates open at 3.30pm. Bookings to trybooking.com and information at voicesintheforest.com.au

Wharf Revue comes back to bite us

By Helen Musa

“THIS year we’re covering both sides of politics, the Malcolm Turnbull side and the Tony Abbott side,” Wharf Revue actor and co-creator Drew Forsythe tells “CityNews.”

After last year’s “coup de theatre” when the Canberra edition of The Wharf coincided with Turnbull’s ascent to the prime ministerial ranks, Forsythe will reprise his role as our nation’s leader, but he’s been fine-tuning that part for a while, having previously played “Malcolm in Exile”, as Napoleon.

This time the cultural inspiration is neither Canberra nor Elba but Ancient Rome. The set is a large piece of fake marble suggesting the Forum and the focus gives the creative team – Forsythe, Jonathan Biggins and Phil Scott – a chance to portray a great deal of plotting as a cavalcade of characters such as Ericus Abettus, Kevinus Andrusis, Clulus Kattus and Giuliana of the Vacillating Virgins ply their political trade.

“In Roman times people stabbed each other in the back, we do it metaphorically,” he says.

This year Katrina Retallick succeeds Amanda Bishop in the female roles, played over the years by actors as diverse as Jacki Weaver, Genevieve Lemon, Valerie Bader and Helen Dallimore. Biggins, who is very tall, gets the prize part of Donald Trump and it occurs to Forsythe that so

many political leaders have been tall – Bill Clinton, Obama, Paul Keating – “Although Bob Hawke, John Howard and Kevin Rudd were all quite small,” he says.

Forsythe reports that musical director and the third part of the creative team, Phil Scott, is surviving well in the post-Rudd era – Kevin was his favourite stage character. Not to worry, he shines in the characters of Pompus Brandis, Hinchus the Gladiator and Sinodinus the Greek, as well as singing a menacingly light-hearted song about how to be a terrorist.

Forsythe himself, one of the writers, is known for his dark scripts.

This year he has created a tribute to the late Bob Ellis, a great supporter of the Wharf Revue who would bring friends and pollies along 10-12 times a year. In the skit, which he describes as “sentimental”, Ellis gets to heaven and find out it’s not just for ordinary believers, they must be True Believers.

Elsewhere, the team does a movie segment on Brexit called “Carry on up the Exit”, Jacqui Lambie gives Pauline Hanson tips on how to do politics and the Democrats consider a comeback, noting that almost anyone can get into the Senate.

In short, it’s business as usual for The Wharf.

Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Revue, “Back to Bite You”, The Playhouse, September 13-24. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or call the Box Office on 6275 2700.

Playing blind man’s deadly bluff

“Don’t Breathe” (MA)

IT cost less than $US10 million to make. It made three times that in its opening fortnight in America!

Three young adults believe there’s $300,000 in a rustbelt house in Detroit (where the film’s exteriors were filmed). The occupant is blind. Stealing the cash should be a doddle. And a three-way split will set each of them up.

Jane Levy plays single mom Rocky, desperate to break free from living with her junkie alcoholic mother. She’s no rocket scientist, emotionally vulnerable yet a willing accomplice to the gig at the behest of the morally bankrupt Money (Daniel Zovatto) and her boyfriend Alex (Dylan Minnette).

The opposing team consists of the blind man (his name is never given) and his big black dog of unexplained breed and assertive demeanour, played by Athos, Astor and Nomad.

The plot really takes off once the three thieves get into the

house. It spends the rest of its time getting down and violent as they slowly realise that blind doesn’t necessarily mean that a former special forces infantryman with special skills and, as explained in an unheralded sub-plot revealed in mid-film, a strong motive for showing no mercy is defenceless.

The interiors were filmed in Hungary using a skilled Hungarian crew. The house is pretty-well trashed by film’s end and the body count is what you might expect. Each side of the dramatic argument sort of deserves both forgiveness and condemnation and the ending is more formulaic than what precedes it merits. The film’s overall effect is of admiration for skilled cinematic craft delivering an ethically-questionable product.

At Dendy, Hoyts, Capitol 6 and Limelight

“Blood Father” (MA) IN 2008, Sylvester Stallone planned to make an actioner based on Peter Craig’s novel about a 17-year-old daughter who ran away from her mother, got into trouble with a

bunch of hard men and turned to her recovered alcoholic tattooist father, on parole from a longish prison sentence, for succour in her predicament.

After Stallone’s project fell through, French director JeanFrançois Richet picked it up and, using a screenplay by Craig (who better for the task?), filmed it in New Mexico. The result is not an influential piece of cinema, but more than a mere potboiler nevertheless with well-crafted dramatic values, vigorous, violent, compassionate, morally ambiguous, emotionally oscillating between intense and restrained.

The film’s driving force is Mel Gibson, in his 61st year projecting as much vigour and chutzpah in the role of John Link as he offered in many of his earlier films. Coming from a mainly TV series career, Erin Moriarty is, at 22, already perhaps a tad too mature to play 17-year-old Lydia, in danger of descending into the grim kind of life that might well overtake an attractive teenager unrestrained by caring parental guidance. That reliable supporting actor William H Macy plays Link’s mentor in the caravan-park com -

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munity where he is trying to honour his parole if only the bad guys from south of the border would stop trying to derail him.

At Dendy, Palace Electric and Limelight

“Sunset Song” (M)

THIS beautiful, emotionally powerful film spends 132 minutes telling the story of Chris (Agyness Deyn) whom we meet as a teenager in the second decade of last century and farewell as the 25-year-old widow of a loving husband who became one of the small group of soldiers commemorated only by posts in Britain’s main military cemetery.

Chris wants to become a teacher. In the Scottish farmhouse where her father John (Peter Mullan) rules with an iron fist, her mother after delivering twin boys born in awful pain again becomes pregnant. The prospect is more than she can bear. Death is the only escape for the three of them. Chris must take her place as cook, cleaner, farm-hand, caring for the two beautiful Clydesdales who provide the farm’s only power that is not human.

Ewen (Kevin Guthrie) courts Chris and before she is 19, she is a wife and mother, managing the farm after a stroke fells John and in a way contriving his death in a manner no better than he deserves.

The Aberdeenshire countryside is very much one of the film’s stars, in all seasons, whatever the event. In a community where only the land is eternal, life ebbs and flows – the farming folk, the villagers, the dominie and the doctor who comes in all weathers.

Terence Davies’ filming of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s novel, published in 1933 two years before his death aged 35, does great honour to not only the land and its people but also to the novel’s powerful narrative inspiration.

At Palace Electric

Conway’s ‘Begging’ to be seen and heard

By Helen Musa

THE name Deborah Conway sounds quintessentially Irish, so you’d think the dark-eyed, dramatic good looks of the famous rock singer, ARIAwinning songwriter, festival director and actor are very much a case of “when Irish eyes are smiling”.

But there’s not a drop of Hibernian blood running in her veins. Her mother is of mixed Sephardi-Ashkenazi-Portuguese extraction and her dad is descended from Russian Jews.

“My father changed his Jewish name from ‘Cohen’ when he was in a Melbourne law practice during the 1950s and found racism everywhere,” Conway tells “CityNews”.

“I wanted to change my name a long time ago but my agent wasn’t happy,” she adds.

Conway has, since the ‘80s, become known as a pop and rock singer with a social, feminist conscience, performing everything from her own work to the songs of Patsy Cline, but recent years have seen a change in direction.

This change began after she and her partner Willy Zygier found themselves performing at a Jewish music festival in 2012. Afterwards, when laying down their 2013 album

“Stories of Ghosts”, they added Jewish elements, including lines taken from the Haggadah, recited at the Jewish Passover.

“This music meant something to us, it was really cathartic, and we had lost a lot of people close to us at that time and felt we needed to work through that with something deep,” she says.

Their new album is “Everybody’s Begging”, which is “a little bit more toe-tapping and more accessible”. In it they “comment” on other singers such as Joni Mitchell, Paul Kelly, Leonard Cohen, Louis Armstrong, Nick Cave and David Bowie. Canberra audiences will soon have the chance to enjoy a concert, backed by a full band, comprising Niko Schauble, Clio Renner and Simon Starr, to help launch the new album.

Conway and Zygier plan to perform all the songs from “Everybody’s Begging” and her seminal 1991 album “String of Pearls”.

They used always to perform at Tilley’s, “but now that they don’t do musical shows, we looked around and the Film and Sound Archive leapt at it.” You can bet many Canberrans will do the same.

“Conway and Zygier: the Beginning and the Begging”, Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, 7pm, September 16, bookings to nfsa.gov.au

arts in the city

Moonshadows

DARREN Coggan, the boy from Wagga Wagga who sold out Sydney Opera House Concert Hall with his music portrait of Cat Stevens, is back at The Q, Queanbeyan, on Saturday, September 17 with “Bidgee to the Big Smoke”, reminiscences, old songs and new ones from his most recent album. Bookings to theq.net.au or 6285 6290.

THE Italian Film Festival offers 30 films from, by and about Italy. The opening night film is “Perfect Strangers” and the closing night features a digitally restored classic, “Roman Holiday”, where Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck whiz around the eternal city on a motor scooter. Palace Electric cinemas, September 20-October 12, bookings to palacecinemas.com.au

GUNGAHLIN College presents “Les Miserables”, an epic undertaking with a cast of 60 and 14 musicians, which has

Enjoying the buzz of Griffith’s jovial hot spot

The line-up includes a Sunday roast… Not sure how that works, especially on non-Sundays, but those who love a roast would no doubt see this as a top pick.

THE Barker Street scene at the Griffith shops is full of foodie options – fine dining (including Rubicon Restaurant which has always been a fave, although I haven’t been there in yonks), a few cheap and cheerful, and the Gryphons Caffe Bar.

Gryphons is large inside, with a big bar at the front, timber floors and large, north-facing windows at the back, overlooking a decent-sized sundeck and a park – an inviting place during the warmer weather.

It’s no surprise that Gryphons is a hot spot for locals, who can meander down for a bite to eat or a drink or two.

Gryphons has a range of burgers ($20 each), including a fish and veggie option. It also offers a decent range of pizzas, which I’ve heard are pretty tasty (regular and large, from $17 to $25).

The line-up includes a Sunday roast, with lamb, kumara and potato chunks, green peas and mint sauce and jus. Not sure how that works, especially on non-Sundays, but those who love a roast would no doubt see this as a top pick.

We were a group of seven dining at dinner during the week. The steaks on the grill are accompanied by the choice of sauce or mustard ($30 for a 200g eye fillet and $36 for a 350g Scotch fillet). Two of our party dug into the fillets and loved every bite. The meat was tender and the dish a little decadent with beer-battered chips.

Two of us opted for the lamb shanks in a rich tomato sauce and were impressed that Gryphons offers one shank ($23) or two ($28). It’s a smart move and attractive for those who can’t handle (or aren’t in the mood for) two mammoth shanks. The lamb fell off the bone. The asparagus spears didn’t look terribly perky on the plate and my bed of garlic mash wasn’t hot. Still,

the flavours were there.

The Atlantic salmon ($28) was tender, but not the medium rare ordered. It was cajun spiced with a citrus hollandaise sauce drizzled on top and came with veggies and garlic butter. It wasn’t a bad dish, but certainly wasn’t memorable.

At Gryphons drinks and food are ordered at the bar. There are 12 domestic and international beers on tap and there’s a nifty wine dispenser offering a glass of premium wine without the need to order a bottle. The places buzzes after work and has a jovial atmosphere. The staff are keen to please.

Gryphons Caffe Bar, Griffith shops. Call 6260 8848. Open seven days, breakfast through dinner.

By Helen Musa

and memories from Darren

been abridged in an authorised “school edition” to a running time of just over two hours. At the College Theatre, 23 Gozzard Street, Gungahlin, September 13-17. Bookings to stagecenta.com.au

COMPOSER and pianist Andrew Harrison, a PhD student at the ANU School of Music, has teamed up with American poet Jamaal May to create “Hum”, which premieres in Detroit, Michigan, on September 17. It is made up of five separate poems intertwined with ensemble music from six instruments including the clarinet, saxophone and violin.

THE Canberra Bach Ensemble is relaunching with four Bach Cantatas, BWV 119, 131, 138, and 34, at St Christopher’s Cathedral, Manuka, on September 17-18. Bookings to trybooking.com

CANBERRA U3A Brindabella Orchestra is performing music from Bartok to The Beatles in “Spring Medley”, at the North Belconnen Uniting Church, Conley Street, Melba, 2pm, Sunday, September 11. Entry by donation covers program and afternoon tea.

GEORGE Huitker and his band Junk Sculpture are performing a sort of valedictory Midnight Oil concert at Teatro Vivaldi on Saturday, September 17. “It’ll be the last for now as the real McOils seem to be re-forming,” he tells us. Bookings to vivaldirestaurant.com or 6257 2718.

THE 40-piece Canberra Wind Symphony, conducted by Geoff Grey, presents an evening of music and fun as part of its 2016 beyondblue concert series. It will play works by everyone from Percy Grainger to Richard L. Saucedo. At the National Museum, Wednesday, September 14. Bookings to eventbrite.com

gardening Shadow over mighty magnolias

MAGNOLIAS present a magnificent floral display in spring, particularly in the older southside suburbs, yet it’s hard to imagine that in the wild they are in danger of dying out.

“The Red List of Magnoliaceae” (published by Botanic Gardens Conservation International) assesses 304 of the main species of magnolia.

Using criteria from the International Union for Conservation and Nature, there are 121 are endangered or critically endangered. This includes the ever popular Magnolia stellata or Star magnolia shown here just starting to emerge from its winter coat. For more details on plant species endangered by climate change go to bgci.org

Many new varieties of magnolias come from the Jury family of NZ. First Felix Jury, now followed by his son Mark, who raises hundreds of seedlings, of which only the finest are used. The expression “second best” does not exist in their breeding program. Examples of their magnolias include Magnolia “Black Tulip” with purple-black blooms up to 15cm across. Burmese political leader Aung San Suu Kyi planted one with the Prince of Wales in Clarence House, London.

M. “Burgundy Star” is a real showpiece with an abundance of claret-red flowers, it is a compact magnolia (to three metres tall x one metre wide), ideally suited for the smaller garden.

The M. “Honey Tulip” is a new

addition to the range, also growing to three metres. This early flowering magnolia has golden honey coloured, goblet-shaped flowers 15cm across. All these were bred in NZ and are ideal for Canberra’s climate and available from most garden centres.

WORMS along with frogs are the most important indicators of climate change. They are vital for the health of soil. If it is too wet or, even more so, too dry they will not survive.

According to the English “Country Life” magazine: “Along with all the

teeming thousands of creatures in the soil, they outnumber us; consider this, a single teaspoon of soil contains more life than there are people on the planet.

“The worm’s unseen contribution to soil structure could help us overcome some highly apparent 21st century problems.”

Over the centuries, farmers have deep ploughed their fields with mould-board ploughs. Indeed, my father and his father before him all prepared the ground this way for the next crop.

However, little did they realise

the detrimental effects on the worm population and health of the soil. Deep digging destroys not only the earthworms and others in the soil, it can in many instances bring the clay to the surface. Deep digging is unnecessary; the worm population in a healthy soil will do this, unless the worms have been destroyed by chemical fertilisers. Obviously, in planting trees and shrubs some deep digging is necessary. For trees, always make the hole square, rather than round and when planting hedges always prepare a trench.

Jottings…

• Remove mulch from the top of iris rhizomes. Native to Spain, they love all the heat they can get for good flowering.

• Winter-flowering camellia sasanqua can be given a light prune now that flowering has finished.

• Finish planting summer flowering bulbs.

• Look for early movement of snails. Dr Harry Cooper’s recommendation for pet safety is Multicrop Slug and Snail Killer.

• Feed rhodos, azaleas, daphne and pieris.

• The Horticultural Society of Canberra’s Spring Bulb and Camellia Show will be at the Wesley Church Centre, National Circuit Forrest, noon-5pm, Saturday, September 17 and 11.30am-3.45pm, Sunday, September 18. Refreshments available and there’s a plant stall. Entry by donation.

Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Hasty remarks or sudden actions could land you in a heap of hot water, especially at work, school or while travelling. Words have the ability to hurt or heal, so choose your comments and conversations wisely. And avoid making a rash decision, as you don’t have all the relevant information yet. The weekend stars boost your independent streak, and fire up your desire for freedom and adventure. But they also stir up your blunt and bossy side. So strive to be a diplomatic daredevil!

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Bulls are usually slow, steady and considered. Not this week, when Uranus revs up your latent impulsive streak (especially when it comes to love). The Lunar Eclipse and retro Mercury also shine a bright spotlight on how well you communicate with others – specifically a child, teenager, parent, lover or friend. Inspiration for the week comes from actress Jada Pinkett Smith (born on September 18): “My belief is that communication is the best way to create strong relationships.”

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

When it comes to controversial conversations, keep your cool and avoid the temptation to over-talk and over-react (especially on Monday and Tuesday). You can’t control what others say but you can control your response. So state your point of view calmly and clearly, and then move on. There could also be some tension between shining brightly at work and fulfilling all of your responsibilities at home. Remember, if anyone can juggle and multi-task, it’s a versatile and nimble Gemini!

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

This week you may experience mood swings and emotional dramas, as a relationship with a relative or friend flares up. If you keep the lines of communication open, then the storm in a tea cup will soon blow over. When it comes to work and business matters, don’t play it too safe. Taking a calculated risk could turn out surprisingly well. However, if you hesitate for too long, then you’ll miss lucky opportunities when they come along – often from the most unexpected places.

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Lively Lions are in the mood to be rash! Making a snappy decision may seem like a good idea but it could also backfire badly. And impulsive actions could even lead to an accident so pace yourself. It will also be very easy to say the wrong thing to the wrong person (especially involving money matters). So think twice before you blurt out something that you later regret. You need to be a clever and cautious Cat, as you consider situations carefully before you pounce.

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Virgos are such perfectionists but (with retrograde Mercury squaring Mars, and a loopy Lunar Eclipse) things won’t run smoothly this week, especially involving relationships. If you adapt to changing circumstances, and accept mistakes and misunderstandings with good grace, then you’ll manage just fine. And you might even learn something of great value! As Beyonce (a fellow Virgo) says: “If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.”

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

The Lunar Eclipse lights up your daily routine zone, and Uranus revs up your experimental side. So look for the joy in the everyday; and the magical in the mundane. And the celestial message is to favour imagination over pure logic; and a sense of wonder over comfortable complacency. Your motto for the moment is from birthday great, writer Roald Dahl: “The greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Early in the week you’re in the mood for a spontaneous spending spree – as long as you can afford it. Getting yourself further into debt is a just recipe for disaster. By all means have fun shopping but don’t break the bank! You can also expect a chaotic time as you attempt to make plans with a parent, child, teenager or friend. You’re keen to draw up a to-do list of essential tasks that need to be done. But you need to be flexible enough to change and tweak the list as the week develops.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

If you expect work matters to proceed at a cracking pace then you’ll be disappointed. Everything will take longer than expected, as retrograde Mercury muddles proceedings and the Lunar Eclipse provides distracting detours along the way. A pressing domestic problem could also demand your time and attention. With your ruler Jupiter in your hopes and wishes zone, have you drawn up a list of your goals for the future? Remember – you can’t hit a target if you haven’t got one!

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Have you been burning the midnight oil and now you’re suffering from burnout? Or have you been running around on auto-pilot, making regrettable remarks and careless slip-ups? With Mars and Saturn hibernating in your solitude zone (and an unsettling Lunar Eclipse) it’s the perfect week to go AWOL as you slip into hermit mode, down-size your social life, or organise a digital detox. Spending quality time on your own (for some overdue R & R) is absolutely essential at the moment.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

This week Neptune, retrograde Mercury and the Lunar Eclipse scramble your financial antennae. So it’s not a good time to go on a shopping spree or lend money to others as you’re liable to make financial decisions based on your emotions, which are fluctuating under the full moonbeams. Study, education or social networking will expand your world on the weekend. All types of travel are also favoured, as you extend your usual horizons and venture into wildly wonderful new territory.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Don’t expect everyone to sing your praises at work Pisces. Some colleagues just want to know you can get the job done competently and on time. Friday night’s Lunar Eclipse increases your creative, spiritual and compassionate side. But it can also contribute to feelings of confusion and self-doubt. So do your best to stay grounded.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2016 Daily astrology updates at twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore

4 Which NRLteam played its inaugural match

7 Name one who makes or sells hats for women.

8 To stand with hand on hip, and elbow bent outwards, is to stand how?

9 To have umpired a football or boxing match is to have done what?

11 What, in law, are persons to whom things are sold?

13 Which part of a spacecraft is detachable?

15 What shipping hazard was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic?

17 Sir Robert Menzies was affectionately known as ... Bob (3,4).

20 Which term is applied to plant sciences dealing with crops?

23 What is an alternative word for proverbs?

24 What is a payment for the use of money borrowed?

25 Name the houses occupied by Presbyterian ministers.

Down

1 Name a high-pitched flute, much used in

military music.

2 What do we call extraterrestrial beings?

3 Which joint in humans lies between the thigh and the lower part of the leg?

4 What is some line of skilled mechanical work?

5 Name members of a Chinese secret organisation.

6 To be imposing in appearance, is to be what?

9 To regain or recover something is to do what?

10 What do we call the period from sunset to bedtime?

12 To be unkempt is to appear what?

14 What are funeral songs known as?

16 Which code is used in computers?

18 Which S Asian federal republic is often called the subcontinent?

19 What is a fertile place in a desert region?

21 What is a particular form of ceremonial practice ?

22 Name a popular TV hospital show featuring Alan Alda.

Clayton and Julia came into my office concerned about their partnership income tax return. Their accounts showed a loss of $35,000 and they needed help with meeting the special rules around losses.

I looked at the accounts and said: “You haven’t made a loss, which I will explain and I will advise you of the loss carry forward rules.

“When your partnership makes a loss, there are four tests but you have to satisfy one of these to be able to offset the partnership loss against other income. “The first test is the assessable income test. To satisfy this test the partnership’s income, which could be subject to tax, must be greater than $20,000. This is clearly the case for your partnership.

This requires that you have made a taxable profit in at least three of the last five years. Looking at your accounts, this applies to your partnership so you would satisfy this test.

“The next test is the real property test. To satisfy this test the cost base of the property used in the business must exceed $500,000. There is no evidence of this applying to your business.

“If you don’t satisfy this test, the next test to consider is the profits test. This requires that you have made a taxable profit in at least three of the last five years. Looking at your accounts, this applies to your partnership so you would also satisfy this test.

“The final one is the other assets test. The requirement here is that the value of all assets used in the business must be worth at least $100,000. Again, I cannot see this from your accounts.

“So if you do not satisfy any of these tests, you then have what is known as a ‘deferred non-commercial loss’. If this is the position you carry forward the loss until you can claim it against your income at some stage in the future. It is obviously preferable that you claim your losses in the year they are incurred and there is even a discretion of the Income Tax Commissioner to allow a non-commercial loss to be offset against other income in special circumstances.”

Julia was curious that I didn’t think they’d made a loss and asked me to explain.

“Sure, the calculated loss is $35,000, but there is a deduction for superannuation of $50,000, I assume that to be $25,000 each,” I said.

“Superannuation is not included in the partnership tax return but the claim for superannuation is made in the return of each partner. So to calculate the taxable income of the partnership, the $50,000 is added back to the loss of $35,000 leaving a profit of $15,000. So you each show $7500 net income from the partnership with a deduction of $25,000 for superannuation. As you have other income, you can claim your superannuation but if you did not have that income you would not be able to claim a loss created by superannuation deductions.”

Clayton confessed to finding this all very complex and asked me to prepare the partnership tax return as well as all future returns.

If you require assistance with your partnership, tax returns or accounts, contact the friendly team at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd.