Well written, well read
Arts editor HELEN MUSA meets the musical dad and daughter stars of ‘Wicked’
Health war puts fire in the election belly
MICHAEL MOORE Outer suburbs rule, OK?
JOHN GRIFFITHS Falling out of love with lawns
CEDRIC BRYANT
Andrew Barr MLA, Chief Minister
Canberra’s clubs traditionally don’t take sides; we work with all political parties to get the best outcomes, but your government – in coalition with ACT Green Shane Rattenbury – is killing this community’s clubs.
As a direct result of decisions by you and Minister Rattenbury, burdened by increased taxes, charges and levies, 10% of Canberra’s clubs have been forced to close over the last 4 years.
But now we face a grimmer future with your decision to support the foreign-owned casino’s demand for poker machines.
If this proposal goes ahead, it will be the last straw for many clubs.
We once again seek commitment from you and your party to recommit to the long-standing policy of support for the community club gaming model and to be seen to be proudly supporting Canberra’s not-for-profit clubs.
The same clubs that plough revenue back to the community and into sport and recreational infrastructure, and not be seen to be responsible for sending profits off-shore.
Yours sincerely,
Gwyn Rees Chief Executive ClubsACT
AINSLIE GROUP
• Ainslie Football and Social Club
• Gungahlin Lakes Golf and Community Club
EASTLAKE GROUP
• Calwell Club
• Eastlake Football Club
• Sports Club Kaleen
HELLENIC
• Hellenic Club of Canberra
• Hellenic Club in the City
MAGPIES GROUP
• Belconnen Magpies Golf Club
• Belconnen Magpies Sports Club
RAIDERS GROUP
• Raiders Belconnen
• Raiders Gungahlin
• Raiders Weston
SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB GROUP
• Southern Cross Club Jamison
• Southern Cross Club Tuggeranong
• Canberra Southern Cross Club
• Southern Cross Yacht Club
VIKINGS GROUP
• Vikings Chisholm
• Vikings Erindale
• Vikings Lanyon
• Vikings Town Centre
AUSTRIAN AUSTRALIAN CLUB
BELCONNEN BOWLING CLUB
CANBERRA BOWLING CLUB
CANBERRA DEAKIN FOOTBALL CLUB
CANBERRA IRISH CLUB
FEDERAL GOLF COURSE
HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB
ITALO AUSTRALIAN CLUB
MURRUMBIDGEE COUNTRY CLUB
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA
ROYAL CANBERRA GOLF CLUB
SPANISH AUSTRALIAN CLUB OF CANBERRA
THE MAWSON CLUB
THOROUGHBRED PARK
YOWANI COUNTRY CLUB
The community clubs of Canberra are a valuable resource for the diverse and multicultural nature of our population. The loss of financial and other support provided to the community by our clubs would be sorely missed and leave a void unlikely to be filled by the Government, regardless of their political affiliations.
Why would you support a foreign-owned casino and not back locally owned clubs?
Unfortunately Labor has been in far too long and got very cocky. “Don’t want to hear from anybody under 35!” said Mr Barr. Well too bad I think he will hear a lot he doesn’t want to hear then.
The Clubs are central to our family’s social life and to those who need to get out of their homes and meet others.
Keep up the good work you are doing with this important campaign. The ACT government and all political parties need to realise that the community comes first, not corporations, especially foreign owned ones.
As an age service pensioner, casinos don’t interest me. I enjoy the convenience of my local clubs and at the coming election I will support the government that gives priority to local clubs over foreign- owned casinos.
I acknowledge the wonderful community support that the Southern Cross Clubs in particular, and all ACT Clubs, provide to many community groups such as the Down Syndrome Association and various Church Groups. It defies understanding why the present Government cannot see how it is undermining its own community with the approach it is taking.
I don’t want to see the casino have poker machines as it would kill off local clubs. The casino owners purchase the casino with full knowledge of current policy and now are wanting this changed because they are motivated by profits and greed.
I am in favour of keeping poker machines out of our local casino. Government should support those who put their profits back into our community, and not casinos where their profits go overseas or into their own pockets. Surely, politicians realise that keeping profits local is better for our community!
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By Kathryn Vukovljak
WHEN Sue Owen was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and lost her hair through chemotherapy, she found it hard to find headwear she liked.
While going through her own treatment she came up with the idea for HeadsUp, a not-for-profit community shop in Kippax that sells a variety of wigs and hats, from secondhand headwear offered as a gift to “stunning, stylish” French hats and the softest bamboo headscarves.
Sue started HeadsUp at Calvary Hospital in early 2010, where she says she was able to use a shared office near the chapel.
“I approached Bosom Buddies and they seed funded me $2000 to buy my first headwear,” she says. “I started small but became selfsustaining.”
“For me, I was proactive about my hair loss and shaved it off a week before starting chemotherapy. I personally didn’t use wigs, as I had a knack for looking good with headscarves and turbans.
“However wigs give a sense of normalcy, although the wig will never look exactly like someone’s
own hair.
“Ladies like to look glamorous, and hair is a big part of that, but you can’t wear a wig 24/7. It’s also about soft, stylish, comfortable headwear.”
And it’s not all cancer, either, Sue says permanent alopecia is the forgotten group and doesn’t always get the same funding as cancer treatment.
“It’s an honour for me to do what I do,” she says. “It gives me the greatest joy to support ladies to feel better.
“One of my volunteers said she went home and cried with happiness because she felt she had made
such a difference in someone’s life.
“It’s hard when you know ladies that don’t have a good prognosis, but we need to be strong and give them a good time.”
Sue says the Kippax shop became the prototype for HeadsUp Australia, to help communities set up a not-for-profit HeadsUp in their town.
“Our aim now is to seed fund others in rural areas so that women need not feel isolated or that they need to travel to a city to get quality headwear,” she says.
Sue says that amazing children’s wigs are also available, though they don’t get asked a lot because children
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are generally treated in Sydney.
“But we are happy to help anyone who asks, and we recommend Freedom wigs where each hairpiece is tailored to its wearer and designed to sit perfectly with a suction cap,” she says.
“They’re great for children as they don’t move or slide at all, you can even swim in them and they look like real hair.”
Sue has been at Kippax for three years, and describes HeadsUp as more than just a shop.
“People drop in just to have a cup of tea and a chat, or to show us that their hair is starting to grow back. It’s not all about the wigs –it’s about support, empathy, feeling fully understood,” she says.
“We are all trained volunteers who work here, there are 12 of us and most of us have been through a cancer diagnosis and treatment, so we understand exactly what the women are going through.
“I’ll also do adjustments – it doesn’t matter where the wig was purchased, bring it in and I can alter the fit for you.
“It’s a safe place to come.”
HeadsUp, Shop 2, 12-16 Hardwick Crescent, Holt. Call 6254 4403 or Sue on 0416 227595.
THE Canberra-based Synergy Group Australia has made the finals of three awards in this year’s Australian Accounting Awards being shortlisted in the categories of Firm of the Year – less than $1 billion, Fast Growing Firm of the Year and Community Engagement Program of the Year. The national winners will be announced at an awards dinner on October 14 in Sydney.
THE Canberra Caravan Club is hosting almost 700 caravans, from all over Australia, for the 16th Caravan Club National Rally starting at EPIC from Monday, September 9. Held only once every four years, the appearance of singer John Williamson is expected to be a highlight at the Saturday, September 24, concert.
SHOUT (Self Help Organisations United Together) is hosting its second Self Help & Wellbeing Expo, featuring more than 50 stalls and displays, at the Hellenic Club, Woden, 10am-3pm, Wednesday, September 21. The expo brings Canberra’s self-help groups, support services and community initiatives together to share knowledge, resources and understanding of the support services that are on offer. Entry is free.
THE Dragon Flyers, a masters age (40 plus) dragon boat club that competes in local, regional, national and international regattas, is hosting a “come-and-try” day at Lotus Bay, Mariner Place, Yarralumla (next to the Southern Cross Yacht Club) from 11.15am on Saturday, September 24. Equipment is provided, but training times, what to wear and a map are at dragonflyers.net.au
Anyone craving a new hospital, and don’t we all, from the Barr government will need to be cheerfully voting for a 24-year Labor government in 2020.
THE 16-year-old Labor government has gone into election mode panting with promises and wheezing under the weight of its pork barrelling with a sudden $650 million hospital redevelopment and a second-stage tram line mirage to Woden, but all beyond the next term of government.
Which means anyone craving a new hospital, and don’t we all, from the Barr government will need to be cheerfully voting for a 24-year Labor government in 2020.
Unfazed at being gazumped, the Libs leader Jeremy Hanson is steadfast on building ASAP the $395 million hospital (let
tram the Liberals won’t be building. Hanson said: “ACT Labor has released a completely cynical furphy on health, pretending to support a system that it has left struggling for years. Just days ago ACT Labor dismissed any need to rebuild the Canberra Hospital.”
They did, too. There must be some voter research spooking the Labor campaign bunker.
SURPRISINGLY, unattracted by the phallic nature of the Telstra Tower, the publicity deprived Sex Party candidates in the upcoming ACT election posed hilariously po-faced in front of the offending erection calling it “ugly”, an “awful eyesore” and a “complete embarrassment”. They want the 26-year-old Canberra landmark demolished or transformed.
NOTHING like a jailbreak during an election campaign to stir the law-andorder possum and, as if on cue, a couple of remandees managed to end the Alexander Maconochie Centre’s unblemished record of
no escapes since it opened in 2009. At press time, only one of the glum-looking inmates had been recaptured, but not before Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury had dragged out what former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope describes on Page 9 as the “well-worn wet lettuce leaf” and promised a full internal review into the incident.
MEANWHILE, it seems “Shanghai” Sam Dastyari’s week of contrition and eventual resignation from the shadow ministry hasn’t deflected the pressure from Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, with senior govern -
ment ministers lampooning the Opposition Leader’s judgement in standing by the errant, suddenly junior senator.
While wider Australia ponders the only question Dastyari didn’t answer – why did he let a Chinese-Australian donor pay for an overspend in his travel allowance? – the government taunted Shorten for not sacking the NSW senator, with the PM guffawing that Dastyari had to sack himself.
THE otherwise rampaging Raiders have dropped the ball after four years of community biffo, deciding to wind back its
Braddon plans for 156 apartments, offices and shops on Donaldson and Torres Street, overlooking the rugby league park.
Sensing an impending glut of apartments in the inner-north, CEO Simon Hawkins said the market had changed, the original $80 million proposal no longer stacked up and the club was now aiming for a “pretty prestigious type of townhouse” on the site. The new plan calls for 94 apartments and 48 townhouses – which is only 14 fewer than the original concept.
MYSTERY most certainly surrounds spy author Frederick Forsyth’s sudden disappearance from Goulburn’s plucky annual SPYfest. “Due to an unforeseen event that has prohibited him from travelling,” was the only clue we had to discovering the real reason for the headlining British author’s shock absence.
EMINENTLY sensible paediatrician and former Canberra Citizen of the Year Dr Sue Packer bemoaned to a local conference on raising children in the 21st century that parents were so spooked by the spectre of the roving paedophile that they wouldn’t give their child freedom to explore even their own neighbourhood.
“Kids are sexually abused by people they know. If they’re not family members, they’re trusted family friends. And yet we’ve totally reversed the society norms with these ogre paedophiles who mostly don’t exist,” she said.
Columnist Robert Macklin is on leave.
Richard Calver
By Freyla Ferguson
LOCAL initiative
Casting for Recovery
ACT is finding it hard to attract women recovering from breast cancer to attend its all-expenses-paid fly fishing retreat because many believe they aren’t worthy.
Casting for Recovery co-ordinator Nick van Weelden says many women are hesitant to sign up because they feel there may be more deserving women out there than themselves.
According to Casting for Recovery, which is an ACT Fly Fishers Inc initiative, fly fishing and the casting motion can provide a movement for joint and soft-tissue stretching. Casting of a rod opens up the chest area with both arms in use and provides a range of shoulder, back and hip movements.
November will be the second retreat run through the initiative – its first successful retreat was held in April. So far, only five of the 14 places have been filled.
At the retreat, not only do the women learn to fly fish but volunteer professionals provide pamper sessions in hairstyling, facials, nail care and podiatry. All accommodation, meals, transport and fishing equipment is provided.
Nick says it takes quite a lot of work to attract women to the program.
“It is the experience in the US and NZ that eligible women often think that someone else is more worthy than they
are or that they are committed to fishing afterwards,” he says.
“Neither is true. It really is all about women having a fun weekend away from daily bothers, focusing on something totally new, to be out in the open with some other women who have been on the same road to recovery. It also gives carers a break.
“In NZ, they found that about 20 per cent of the participants continued with the sport. Two of our participants of the first retreat have gone out and bought new fly fishing rods.”
Nick says any woman suffering from breast cancer, regardless of age or stage of recovery, and provided she lives in the ACT treatment catchment area (including
Goulburn, Wagga, the south coast etcetera) and has a clearance from her doctor that she is able to attend, can take part.
The next fly fishing retreat will be held on Friday, November 18 to Sunday, November 20. Accommodation will be at the Garden City Hotel in Narrabundah.
“CfR has bought some 30 large trout to supplement existing stock in the dams of Rainbow Springs Fly Fishing School, so women are likely to hook up,” Nick says.
“At the last retreat seven out of the 10 participants caught a fish.”
Register interest at castingforrecovery.org. au or contact Nick on info@castingforrecovery.org.au or 0430 450060.
THE Minister for Corrections, Shane Rattenbury, has issued an effusive media release full of praise for an award received by the AMC for completing the construction of a new cell block below budget and ahead of time.
The Minister’s relief at being able to say something (anything) positive about the AMC was palpable.
The Minister’s praise for the AMC came, coincidentally, on the same day that a massive police operation was underway to try and recapture two prisoners who had jumped the fence. The Minister has ordered a review. The well-worn wet lettuce leaf retained by the Minister for responding to all such reviews will no doubt be dragged out again in due course. More promotions of staff will likely follow.
The AMC has been regularly in the news in recent months for all the wrong reasons.
A young Aboriginal man, Steven Freeman, died in the prison in late May. Another black death in custody. Steven had been returned to the prison from the hospital after being beaten almost to death within an hour or two of having been detained. He suffered massive head and brain injury as a result. His return to the prison followed undertakings given to the Magistrates Court by ACT police and the AMC that he would be safe in the prison. The court had
Confirming the growing community disquiet about the management of the AMC are the recent reports of the auditor-general.. which contain excoriating criticism of the failings of the AMC to develop and implement meaningful or effective rehabilitation programs for detainees.
also received evidence from Steven’s mother, Ms Narelle King, that she believed he would die if he was forced to return to the prison. Tragically, Ms King was right and the police and AMC were wrong.
There have also been mindboggling revelations of a damaging split that has emerged at the AMC between the ACT Health forensic mental health team and the Corrective Services psychological and support services team. The reports were based on a briefing by highly respected psychologist Dr Dion Gee who advised that the breakdown in the relationship between the two ACT Government Directorates was hindering (ie compromising) the co-ordinated care of inmates with a mental health issue.
The seriousness of this situation was highlighted by the CEO of the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT, Mr Simon Viereck who said: “It is just not good enough that tensions between two government agencies put
some of the most vulnerable people in our community at risk.”
It is to be hoped that the respective reviews, by Phillip Moss and the coroner, into the death of Steven Freeman will assess whether this pathetic territorial contest, which has apparently been going on for five years, was relevant to the quality of care Steven received before his death.
Confirming the growing community disquiet about the management of the AMC are the recent reports of the auditor-general into the Rehabilitation of Male Detainees at the AMC (report no 2 of 2015) and the report of the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety into the Auditor-General’s report (August, 2016).
Each of these reports contains excoriating criticism of the failings of the AMC to develop and implement meaningful or effective rehabilitation programs for detainees in the AMC.
The auditor-general found that as a result of the lack of information on
the performance of rehabilitation programs at the AMC, most particularly the lack of comprehensive performance measures and cost information, that she could not begin to assess the effectiveness or efficiency of rehabilitation. To the extent that the auditor could make any comment on rehabilitation at the AMC, she found it to be ineffective.
The Standing Committee echoed the auditor-general’s concerns about the absence of effective rehabilitation at the AMC. However, it also made recommendations designed to address the breach of parliamentary privilege, which it believes may have been constituted by an aggressive and overbearing attack by the AMC on Prisoners Aid, a small, grantdependant community organisation concerned for the welfare of detainees in the AMC.
Prisoners Aid incurred the wrath of AMC management for daring to make a submission to the Standing Committee Inquiry into AMC failings in relation to rehabilitation and, it seems, in having the temerity to not first clear its submission with the AMC. You can read the offensive
letter in the committee’s report.
The Standing Committee rightly considered this a serious matter affecting the privileges of the Legislative Assembly and likely to interfere with its proper functioning. It made a number of recommendations about this. However, of perhaps even greater concern is the extent to which this sorry episode points to the possible existence of a culture within the ACT Public Service of bullying and intimidation of community organisations that don’t tow the line. That is, I think, a matter deserving of an inquiry of its own.
But let’s be gracious, credit where it is due. Congratulations to the AMC for ensuring the bricks were laid straight and on top of each other.
Jon Stanhope was Chief Minister from 2001 to 2011 and represented Ginninderra for the Labor Party from 1998. He is the only Chief Minister to have governed with a majority in the Assembly.
until October 31.
Don’t risk your family’s safety, have your tyres checked today.
MAYBE we’ll finally see some fire in the belly for the ACT election.
The light rail has dominated the debate until now with the Liberals’ Deputy Leader Alistair Coe spending years chipping away at Labor and Green credibility. The issue of rising rates has had some impact. Now health has become a bidding war.
On the day the ACT government went into caretaker mode, Labor announced, if re-elected, “it would spend $650 million on upgrading and expanding a number of different areas of the Canberra Hospital”.
A new $500 million building at the Canberra Hospital is included with an expanded women’s and children’s facility. Assistant Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris explained what this “means is if you’re scheduled to have knee replacement surgery, you will have it on that day and date”.
This announcement was designed to counter the Liberals’ hospital bid of $395 million.
Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson announced in August that using the money from cancelling the light rail project would “enhance critical care over the next decade” with a new building to provide a “92-bed, 21st century emergency department” along with a “new 48-bed intensive care unit” as well as a “new 25-bed emergency medical unit” and “capacity” for 20 new operating theatres.
Labor fired a significant volley in the bidding war to demonstrate Labor’s commitment to investment in health care. Health Minister Simon Corbell announced, as the Budget passed through the Assembly, that around $1.6 billion a year, a third of the entire Budget, is now committed to health services.
In the first attempt at countering the Liberals’ plan to use light rail money to build new hospitals, Labor announced capital works investments in the Budget of over “$100 million for improvements at Canberra Hospital, Calvary Hospital and other health buildings to ensure they meet the future health needs of our community”.
The Liberals have not given much quarter. Even before Labor announced the $650 million injection, they were promising two new hospitals in the electorates of Yerrabi (Gungahlin) and Brindabella (Tuggeranong).
With a month to go before the election, both sides are locked in a bidding war on health, but it should be about more than hospitals, doctors and nurses.
Described as “Local Public Hospitals” they are really enhanced emergency response facilities that can handle all but the most serious emergencies. Both hospitals are planned to have 10 beds in an operation/emergency department and 12 short-stay beds. Jeremy Hanson presented this idea within the frame of “Andrew Barr’s focus is a tram” and “my focus is health”.
Both sides have moved beyond buildings. The Liberals are offering 52 new nurses, increased funding for security at the Canberra and Calvary Hospitals and “Frontline Assaults” legislation to protect nurses, doctors, ED staff, police and other emergency services personnel. Labor has fired back with a proposed “Surgical Procedures, Interventional Radiology and Emergency (SPIRE) Centre that would feature a new emergency department, elective and day surgery spaces with more than 1200 staff”. The next bid ought to be on prevention. What are all candidates going to do to address diet-related disease, and the harm associated with misuse of alcohol and smoking? Both major parties have resisted lock-out laws with no reference to the evidence.
The recently released Chief Health Officer’s report states the rate of adults who are overweight or obese has increased from 40 per cent (in 1995) to 63 per cent (in 2014)”.
With a month to go before the election, both sides are locked in a bidding war on health, but it should be about more than hospitals, doctors and nurses. Who is going to demonstrate how to deliver a healthier society?
Michael Moore was an independ ent member of the ACT Legisla tive Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health. He is CEO of the Public Health Association of Australia.
The ACT election officially began last week. Independent candidates are now allowed to nominate; months after the party hacks started miserably trudging through the suburbs knocking on doors.
This year’s election is unlike anything we’ve seen since self government.
The 17-seat chamber is expanding to 25, elected proportionally from five seats.
The expansion means that whomever wins (and it looks closer than it has been in many years) will have a very large backbench of new members.
More importantly, we’re about to see a fundamental and possibly long overdue shift of power from the inner to the outer suburbs.
In the old Assembly the electorates based around Belconnen and Tuggeranong provided 10 members. Gungahlin and Woden/Weston were lumped in with the inner suburbs for a seven-member electorate that largely reflected the preferences of the inner north and south.
In particular, Gungahlin-based candidates had a miserable electoral showing, whereas in the new seat of Yerrabi it’s going to be all Gungahlin, all the time.
Similarly, the Woden/Weston-based electorate of Murrumbidgee is going to have a voice previously largely unheard.
In the new Assembly, the former 10 outersuburb, elected members are jumping to 20, and a mere five members will represent innercity concerns from the new seat of Kurrajong.
One wonders if the members of the new Assembly, from either side of politics, will share the enthusiasms of past Assemblies.
Inner-city life is very different to the outer suburbs. There are places to go within walking distance of home. Very little one could want (hardware stores aside) is more than a 20-minute cycle away.
On days when it rains, the buses are frequent and direct.
When work, childcare, afterschool activities and shopping are all 15 kilometres apart, there are no pluses to buses and the tram is a very cold comfort.
It doesn’t take a genius to realise this environment nurtures a very different set of priorities to living further out.
When your whole existence, and that of your dependents, revolves around the car, then things like free parking and the price of petrol become a lot more important.
When getting anywhere on the bus involves long ordeals lasting hours and very rigid planning, driving is a human right.
There’s an easy way to tell the life-long Canberran from someone who’s come here from a bigger city.
The Canberran will often get in their car at the time they are supposed to be somewhere.
For bonus true-Canberran points, they will message their friends, at the time they are supposed to be arriving: “What’s the address?”
Active travel strategies are all well and good for convincing the inner urbanite to figure out how to use their excellent buses and discover the many joys of the Sullivan’s Creek bike path.
But when work, childcare, after-school activities and shopping are all 15 kilometres apart, there are no pluses to buses and the tram is a very cold comfort.
Watching our political classes adapt to the new reality is going to be a bit of fun.
John Griffiths is the online editor of citynews.com.au
FOUR years in the making, four weeks to go, #ACTvotes 2016-style is on and why do I have the feeling we will see more stunts this time around than ever before? Certainly, the stunt can have a legitimate place in politics; it can be a great way to draw attention to an issue that needs attention.
Premier Don Dunstan was never averse to a stunt. His hot pink shorts helped step up the debate to decriminalise homosexuality in SA in the 1970s. And just after the turn of this century, before the Democrats died as a political force, the party born on the promise of “keeping the bastards honest”, tried to expand its portfolio to cleaning up politics – by staging a mudwrestling event during one of its final campaigns that concluded with a party official hosing the participants clean.
I appreciate a clever stunt that highlights a serious issue as much as the next person, but when a stunt is just an attention-seeking device with no real underlying agenda, all it does is distract the electorate from genuine issues. The Like Canberra Party turned up at 2CC after its candidate announcements brandishing bottles of window cleaner, rebranded “ACT ICAC”. It’s no mud-wrestling bout, but it was clever, simple and effective. The Liberals were almost dragged
kicking and screaming to it as leader Jeremy Hanson had previously announced a wishy-washy “integrity package” while Labor (at the time of writing) seems not to be listening.
Meanwhile, Labor’s chief spruiker Andrew Barr appeared on that hotbed of serious political analysis, FM breakfast radio, two days running to highlight an overwhelming need in the ACT. The need for a new slogan on our number plates!
Yep, just days after the ABC TV “Behind Closed Doors” report into the deaths of vulnerable kids in care, and 25 hours after one of his ministers had been carved up by Tim Shaw on 2CC breakfast on the subject, the most pressing stunt – sorry – item on his agenda was number plates.
Sure, social media went into overdrive about it and, yes, most media outlets had some fun – your humble correspondent included – but consider this for context: the debate Mr Barr and Mr Hanson will have live on 2CC has been allocated a grand total of 30 minutes. That was all Labor’s diary-minders could find for it. Half an hour. It could have been worse; they could have advocated knocking down Telstra Tower for no good reason in the absence of any other major policy announcements. I can’t imagine a serious political force taking that path.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t have stunts in politics, but we in the media – and more widely as a society –mustn’t allow ourselves to be hoodwinked by the style at the expense of the substance.
Chris Coleman is the drive
presenter on 2CC
10197NAT
CUA40513
HOME is where the heart is – so why not invest in that home improvement you’ve always wanted? Whether it’s to give your property a fresh look, improve its resale value, make it more energy efficient or just a simple spring clean, “CityNews” has a guide to the region’s best services to help you get going.
CREATING energy-efficient and sustainable homes is the passion of Solace Creations, which is on a mission to double glaze Canberra and has the largest double-glazing showroom in Canberra.
Business owner Karen Porter says: “I can’t understand why we have a code in place that says we must insulate our walls and ceiling, yet there is no rule to insulate our windows or doors.
“Windows and doors make up about 30 per cent of our wall space and putting in a single piece of glass does not provide any insulation value.”
“If you incorporate double glazing into your design, the investment you make upfront will be about $450 a year in mortgage repayments on a standard home.
“Your energy savings will be about $1400, which provides an annual savings of $950 from the first year.”
Solace Creations, 17 Townsville Street, Fyshwick. Call 6260 1621 or visit solacecreations.com.au
Builder strives for highest standards
STEVE Milutinovic started his cabinet-making business in 1983 and, 32 years on, the company has grown into specialising in home renovations, extensions and new homes.
Bordeaux specialises in commercial fitouts and joinery and is also a fully licensed builder in NSW and ACT.
“We pride ourselves in achieving the highest standard for our customers in design and workmanship,” Steve says.
“Our prices are competitive and we work with you to achieve your desired outcome.
“We offer full trade co-ordination and have our own experienced and reliable tradesmen and expert staff to assist you in your project. Our custom-built, cabinetmaking workshop can also build joinery items to suit your needs whether for home or office.
“We also recently received an MBA commendation award for a “Special Care” residence as we specialise in housing needs for the aged.”
Bordeaux Construction and Bordeaux Kitchens offer obligation-free quotes.
Bordeaux Construction, 8 Aurora Place, Queanbeyan, call 6299 4642. Visit bordeauxbcm.com.au or facebook.com/ BordeauxBCM
custom-built design and joinery
• Kitchens • Vanity and laundry units
Commercial Joinery
• Shop/office • Home office
• Experienced tradesmen and full trade co-ordination available
BORDEAUX BATHROOMS
• Designed with you with your budget in mind
• High standard of workmanship
Clean that quilt before storing
THERMA Quilts is a locally owned and family-run business that specialises in making and servicing quilts, eiderdowns, pillows and cushions and anything made from feather and down.
The company’s unique cleaning process, which involves the feather and down being cleaned separately from the product casing in a specialised steamer and washing machine, helps the feather and down regain its loft and thermal resistance.
Jennifer says the servicing of feather and down products are essential for keeping them in optimal condition for comfort.
“With time and usage, body proteins and lipids (natural oils and perspiration) are absorbed on to quilt casings and into the feather and down inside,” she says.
“Over time this build-up dampens the down, which causes it to lose its thermal resistance.
“However, regular servicing of your quilts would ensure that your down is fresh, fluffy and keeps you nice and warm during winter.
“In addition, if your quilt is not warm enough or too warm, we are able to adjust it to your requirements.”
Therma Quilts, Unit 9, 10-12 Kemble Court, Mitchell. Open 9am-4pm, Monday to Friday. Call 6241 6859 or visit thermaquilts.com.au
SPECIALISING in floor-heating products and services, P.A.P. Heating Solutions has the experience and expertise to provide the floor-heating system for any application Australia wide.
From commercial to domestic buildings, the company offers a full design, quotation and installation service for in-slab heating and under-tile heating. The company says: “No other heating system provides the all-round benefits of floor heating.
“It is efficient to install and run and is generally maintenance free as it doesn’t require cleaning or replacement of filters. Floor heating is absolutely silent and is also versatile, it can be incorporated into almost any building product.
“There are floor-heating systems perfect for carpeted, tiled and polished concrete floors and many timber floors.”
P.A.P. Heating Solutions is the Australian importer, distributor and designer for the premium-quality ELEKTRA Heating Cables.
According to the company, the ELEKTRA DM20 Twin In-Screed Heating Cable is an “in-floor heating cable” that is installed on top of an existing floor in a cement screed or self levelling compound of about 6-8mm thick and can be installed under many different floor surfaces which radiate heat easily, such as tiles, slate, stone, low-pile carpet and some wooden floor panels.
“The ELEKTRA DM20 is a ‘quick response’ heating system and if the room has effective thermal insulation it may be used as the primary heating system,” they say.
“Especially popular in bathrooms and toilets where it provides warmth underfoot and keeps your towels and floors dry and free of mould.”
ELEKTRA DM20 is silent and invisible, has no ducts or vents, no maintenance or cleaning, is efficient and cost effective, and has individual room thermostat controls.
P.A.P. Heating Solutions, 23 Winchcombe Court. Call 6242 9310 or visit papheatingsolutions.com.au
“MANY people feel unsure about spending money to employ a professional designer. They think it can’t be that hard and they have plenty of ideas themselves,” says Dinah Meagher, of Canberra Gardens.
“Then, when they do bring me in, they find I can use all my experience to pull the elements together more quickly and in ways they never could have thought of, which undoubtedly ends up adding more value to their property.”
Dinah, who holds a diploma in Landscape Architecture and has specialised in garden design for more than 25 years, offers a one-hour, on-site consultation with her service, which gives her the opportunity to get a feel for the garden, listen to what a client requests and exchange design options.
A landscape plan is drawn to scale and is presented with an estimate of the cost of installation and an option of staging the works if desired.
Dinah says if a client wishes to carry out the work themselves, a schedule of works and a planting plan is prepared to suit individual needs.
Otherwise reputable landscape contractors will be invited to submit an itemised quote for the construction of the design.
“Design briefs I’ve followed have included Mediterranean, Japanese and native-themed gardens,” Dinah says.
“Every site has its own challenges as well as clients their own visions. “After 20 years this keeps it fresh for me and seeing the client’s joy as the garden evolves is a real pleasure.”
Call Dinah on 0422 628190 or visit canberragardens.com.au
COPIWORLD is a reprographics business providing high-quality service and products to Kingston and the surrounding regions.
The business offers a large range of printing options in both full colour and black and white. These services include small and large format printing, copying and scanning, plan printing, binding and laminating.
Situated on Wentworth Avenue, Copiworld is a family run business which Mark Lawrie and his wife Julie have looked after for 10 years, with their children Jade and Travis running the store.
“Our customers range from architects, engineers, builders and lawyers to accountants, designers and consultants,” says Mark.
“We also have a lot of homeowners coming to us who are planning renovations. We help them to print plans and specifications in both black and white and colour. We can also scan all versions of plans or documents and combine paper and electronic copies into one electronic file,” says Mark.
“We have found that our customers are very loyal and tend to come back because of our quality products, reasonable prices, good service and up-to-date technology.”
Open Monday to Friday, Copiworld provides an instant, across-the-counter service for small jobs as well as an email or internet-based service.
Mark says: “Jade is customer service oriented and runs the store very efficiently. Most people come into the store to drop off or collect their product, but we can also receive their jobs electronically through a variety of systems and send it out by post or by courier.”
“Travis is very knowledgeable and the services we offer at Copiworld are IT intensive. The important thing to customers is that we provide a friendly service and try to help where we can. We do what we do and we do it well,” he says.
Copiworld, Unit 28, 47 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Call 6280 6799 or visit copiworld.com.au Enquiries at kingston@copiworld.com.au
Turn your passion into a career with CIT’s Certificate III in Companion Animal Services (AMC30410).
This program will give you training in the care of a variety of animals involving tasks such as feeding, maintaining hygiene, housing, and grooming.
Enrol now!
Visit cit.edu.au or call (02) 6207 3188
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.
BE it a fluffy kitten, a loyal dog or a talkative parrot, for many people pets can seem like family members.
And, while we always want the best for our loved ones, why not our furry, feathered or scaly friends?
Here are some people who really care for pets.
ANYONE looking at a career in animal services (or who just simply loves animals), might consider the courses and programs at the Canberra Institute of Technology.
More intensive study can be completed through a Certificate III in Companion Animal Services or a Certificate IV in veterinary nursing. For shorter courses, CIT offers basic first aid for dogs and basic dog grooming and styling.
Anne Brown, head of the CIT Animal, Environmental and Laboratory Science Department, says the courses have proven popular and aren’t just for people looking to get into a career in animal services, but also for those who love animals.
“These courses are always popular and we are known for delivering a quality education,” Anne says.
“Knowledge is power. Educate yourself if you love animals. There’s more to it than giving them a bowl of water and food.
“With knowledge you can give your animal the best life possible. Our courses are hands-on and very practical so that people can have the confidence to care for their animals.”
The Companion Animal Services course provides practical training involved in the care of a variety of animals involving tasks such as feeding, maintaining hygiene, maintaining housing, grooming and providing information to the public on products and services. CIT has a specialised animal facility, a doggy day care – where staff bring their dogs in to be cared for by students and a new veterinary surgery – where students can get their hands-on training. For younger people, CIT offers a Young Vets School Holiday program – which gives high-school-aged students an insight into working with animals and the chance to practise real industry techniques.
Canberra Institute of Technology – Animal Studies, visit cit.edu.au/courses/science_environment/animal_studies, email infoline@cit.edu.au or call 6207 3188.
Dr Jana wants to be a pet’s personal vet
PERSONAL service backed by highly-trained professionals is key at the Curtin Veterinary Clinic.
Offering a broad range of general veterinary services, including X-rays, blood tests, ultrasounds plus orthopedic and soft-tissue surgeries, the clinic is led by Dr Jana Stevenson, who has been in the field for more than 25 years.
Dr Jana says the clinic strives to be a pet’s personal vet and, wherever possible, they try to ensure that each pet sees the same vet in the same consult room every visit.
“It’s all about the personal touch, we really try and work very closely with people to get to know them and their pets,” she says.
“For most people, dogs and cats are part of their family. We don’t want people to ever feel like they’re just another number.”
Also part of the clinic’s team is vet Dr Erin Davis and vet nurses Tara, Leesa and Vanessa.
“We have a hand-picked team and I was very strict
to get the right people with the right knowledge,” Dr Jana says.
“We’re only small, but we really made a point to have the right experience in our staff.”
The Curtin Veterinary Clinic also runs a free dogwalking club every Saturday morning in Curtin, which attracts up to 30 dogs a session.
They also run a puppy preschool – led by Dr Jana and professional dog trainer Jesse McNamara from A.B.C.D.O.G. Training – who is one of only a few fullyqualified dog trainers in Canberra.
The course runs over four weeks and, in the small classes, it covers topics such as dog psychology and pack behaviour, socialisation, house training, discipline, obedience training, fleas, exercise requirements, grooming, what to do in emergencies and dentistry.
Curtin Veterinary Clinic, 31-35 Curtin Place. Visit curtinvet.com.au or call 6281 0990.
UNDERSTANDING the tax system and knowing how to lodge a return correctly can be confusing and difficult for some – and for business owners, in particular, it can be a stressful time. Here are some of Canberra’s experienced tax specialists who can help with every kind of tax issue.
One-stop-shop for all tax needs
FOR a one-stop-shop for all taxation and financial needs, Gail Freeman and Co Pty Ltd are the experts.
Gail, a chartered accountant with more than 35 years’ experience, is also a registered tax agent, qualified financial adviser and self-managed superfund specialist adviser – and is highly skilled to give accounting and financial advice.
“If you make an appointment with us we can advise you on the way forward no matter what your situation is,” Gail says. “You can see the one person for all the information you need for your business and finances.”
Gail Freeman and Co Pty Ltd, 9/71 Leichhardt Street, Kingston. Call 6295 2844 or visit gailfreeman. com.au, email enquiries to info@gailfreeman.com.au
PERSONAL income tax specialist
Lesley Henderson has recently joined long-standing boutique accountancy firm Business Innovations as a partner.
Lesley, a chartered accountant and registered tax agent who has more than 25 years of taxation and accounting experience, has managed the tax preparation for individuals (including investors and non-residents), partnerships, trusts, companies and superannuation funds. She can also manage business activity statements and install activity statement obligations.
“Our main focus is building a relationship of trust with our clients,” says Lesley.
“A client needs to trust you to come to you for advice, to seek help to achieve their goals and create wealth through investment or business.
“Clients do want that face-toface relationship and that’s really important to us.”
Business Innovations, G08/50 Eastlake Parade, Kingston. Visit facebook. com/BusinessInnovationsKingston, email lesley@businn.com.au or call 6232 6127.
PERSONAL service and open
communication is a priority at the business advisory and accountancy firm – PKF Canberra.
“The clients we do the best work for are the ones that open up to us,” says John Mihailaros, partner at PKF Canberra.
“There’s got to be a lot of trust and a sense that your business advisor/accountant has your best interests at heart and is there to listen.”
Led by partners George Diamond, Ross Di Bartolo and John Mihailaros, PKF Canberra is dedicated to offering trusted advice to their diverse range of clients – who range from individuals through to small-to-medium enterprises, including businesses in the construction industry.
It is also backed by the expertise of PKF International – the world’s 12th largest accountancy network.
John says that nearing the end of the financial year, it’s important for businesses to use sound tax planning to manage their total tax risk.
PKF Canberra, Level 7, 28 University Avenue, Canberra City. Visit pkfcanberra.com.au or call 6257 7500.
qualified as an SMSF specialist and a financial planner so she can also assist you with superannuation and investment as well as home loans and finance .
THE ACT election, the gift that keeps on giving; how CC wishes the caretaker period could go on and on (like a Federal election) and we didn’t have this date with destiny so soon on October 15.
Not that too many of the early nominated Labor candidates would think that. They’ve been pestering voters since February and before!
But slipping into caretaker mode (when the public service runs the place, as it used to be before self government) didn’t come without a maelstrom of last-minute announcements, stunts and sod turnings from the Labor government before it swapped those hard hats of progress for hand shaking and kissing unwitting babies for the month or so before we reach the ballot box.
Star of the silver shovel over recent weeks would have to be Mrs Gungahlin, Meegan Fitzharris, minister and probable Labor Opposition Leader if there’s a change in government next month.
She’s leading the red team’s ticket for the new, northern seat of Yerrabi and has had her ministerial face everywhere, sod turning every time someone put a spade in her hands.
ONE of Meegan’s chums on the Yerrabi ticket is the tireless “of-the-community, for-the-community” candidate Deepak-Raj Gupta, the highly popular political first timer, who is the victim of a costly affection from his electorate. It seems his fans can’t resist nicking the poster boy’s election signage.
Of his 400 corflutes, 50 have been stolen; curiously, always from supporters’ gardens, never from roadsides.
Deepak-Raj thinks he knows who’s souveniring his signage (and it isn’t the Libs), but if he’s wrong, he’d be happy to autograph them – after he’s elected, of course.
MEANWHILE, Shane Rattenbury, still nostalgically presenting himself to the voters of the new electorate of Kurrajong as the “ACT Greens Member for Molonglo” produced an “Invitation to meet” flyer announcing his presence at local shops around the inner south. We liked this venue: “Manuka Shops (Green Square)”. As a Canberra Grammar old boy, we can’t believe Ratters doesn’t know the difference between hanging out at the Manuka and the Kingston shops.
AND from Tuggeranong, this gloriously ambiguous sign from faceless Brindabella candidate Ed Cocks. The Libs promise it’s an election poster and not a policy.
HERE’S the creative “destination” thinking Visit Canberra must only dream about.
While we count the sleeps until November next year for the rebooted Abba musical “Mamma Mia” opens at Canberra Theatre, Destination NSW has exclusively bagged the Australian debut of the Rolling Stones’ first major exhibition “Exhibitionism”.
Drawing rave reviews for its London season, “Exhibitionism” is reported to be the largest touring experience of its kind ever to be staged, and the first time the band has unlocked its vast private archive.
There are more than 500 original items, spanning fashion, art, film and recordings. From cherished
instruments, on-stage and off-stage clothes, works of art and handwritten lyric books to diaries, recordings, unseen film and photos, a screening cinema and interactive recording studio, that culminate into an exciting and powerful backstage-toonstage 3D concert experience.
“It’s not going to be like walking into a museum. It’s going to be an event, an experience. It’s about a sense of the Rolling Stones – it’s something we want people to go away talking about it,” says singer Mick Jagger Alas, we won’t be talking about it until November 2018. It’s got a year in New York before us. Back to Abba in the meantime.
Helen Musa
WHEN Kirrah Amosa steps on stage at the Canberra Theatre in October to sing “The Wizard and I” in Shaun Rennie’s production of the musical, “Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz”, there’ll be more to it than meets the eye.
For not only will she be alternating with Loren Hunter in the pivotal role of the green-faced Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, but her dad, Steve, plays the not-so-Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
It’s a perfect match of talents and, as the convoluted plot of the musical play based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” takes even one more twist, it turns out the Wizard and Elphaba are even closer than you’d think.
Excitement is mounting for the Amosas with the announcement that Kirrah has been shortlisted from 250 young auditionees for the $20,000 Rob Guest Endowment Award, a fast-track to stage stardom. She’ll know the outcome by the time “Wicked” opens.
Music runs in the veins of the Amosas. Part of a very large musical family who left Samoa in the ‘70s, eventually moving to Canberra
when Steve was about 10.
Back in the villages of Samoa, singing in church had been a big part of community culture, with music forming a natural part of weddings and funerals.
“You could say I was musically born,”
Steve says.
Once in Canberra, he continued his involvement in church singing, joined his dad’s family band as a teenager, playing an average reggae gig at the old Gypsy Bar and performing more successfully at the Polish
and Italian clubs.
Steve started the bathroom renovation business that is still his day job, met and married his wife Cait and had six children, of whom Kirrah is the oldest. Raised in Fraser, she’s very much part of the family tradition that sees them as a family attending and singing in church every Sunday. And when, as a girl, she got a role in Stephen Pike’s production of “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”, her grandma came to rehearsals to feed her.
Meantime, Steve was on the fast track to singing fame, with corporate clients including the NRL, Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, the Brumbies and the Waratahs.
Last year he sang “Nessun Dorma” with the National Capital Orchestra and he performs with his band, TuchaSoul.
Through his ongoing studies with US voice teacher Seth Riggs, he won a big performance showcase in Hollywood during 2008 for his rendition of “The Prayer” and “Let Me Fall”.
Kirrah was born into music. Aged six or seven she suddenly started, unprompted, singing third harmony with her astonished family.
While at Radford College she joined in musicals and the jazz band and says: “I appreciate that more now than I did at the time”.
As an adult she’s performed with Free Rain Theatre, which is staging “Wicked”, as the lead singer of Tuchasoul and Kaleid, and as musical director of a cappella group Shades of Monday.
Playing a stage character is new for Steve, so he’s been delving deep into the psychology of his not-so-wonderful character.
“The Wizard is yearning to do good for this place, Oz, that he has adopted, but he’s dug himself into a deeper hole so he draws on experiences from his former life, using deceit,” he says.
“For his soft side, the song I best relate to is ‘A Sentimental Man’, but my next song, ‘Wonderful’, shows a cheeky side – to achieve power and influence in Oz, he has
A MOTLEY crew of Canberra actors and a musician on a bass ukulele are performing the comedy-improv show “Pirates”, presented by BnC Theatre, with the solo show “Much Ado About Ben” by Benjamin Crowley as a curtain raiser. At C Block Theatre, Gorman Arts Centre, September 15-19. Bookings to agac.com.au or tickets at the door.
A LOVE of all things Viking, developed while living in Iceland as an exchange student, has led to prizewinning Canberra author Craig Cormick’s latest children’s book, “Valdur the Viking and the Ghostly Goths”, to be launched at Harry Hartog’s bookshop in Woden at 11am on Saturday, September 24. All welcome.
CANBERRA Mandolin Orchestra and Worldly Goods Choir join forces again in “StringSing 2”. Compered by Moya Simpson, the varied concert will include new material and John Shortis arrangements, not least a tribute to musical notables who have died recently, such as David Bowie, Glenn Frey (The Eagles), Stevie Wright (The Easybeats) and Beatles producer Sir George Martin. Belconnen Arts Centre, 5pm, Sunday, September 18, bookings to eventbrite.com
SYDNEY Improvised Music Association and the ANU School of Music are showcasing the best of the 2016 Young Women’s Jazz Workshops Showcase, musos aged 13-30 years led by jazz artists including guitarist Jess Green and trumpeter Miroslav Bukovsky. At The Street Theatre, 4pm, Sunday, September 18. Bookings to thestreet.org. au or 6247 1223.
THE Canberra Bach Ensemble, directed by Andrew Koll, perform four Bach Cantatas at St Christopher’s Cathedral, Manuka, 8pm, on September 17 and 2.30pm, September 18. Bookings to canberrabachensemble.com
AUTHOR Graeme Simsion, famous for his two best-selling “Rosie Project” books, will talk at Manning Clark Lecture Theatre 2, 6.30pm, on Monday, September 19. Responding to the author’s request for a presentation by a “new writer”, the ANU has cleverly chosen Rosie Stevens, winner of its 2014 “Three Minutes Thesis”. Bookings to anu.edu.au/events or 6125 8415.
LUMINESCENCE Chamber Singers and the new Luminescence Children’s Choir, conducted by composer Gordon Hamilton, take a journey into “the depths of musical madness” in a concert featuring the world premiere of a new work by Alice Chance, as well as music by Gesualdo, Elliott Gyger, Katy Abbott and Rob Davidson. At Ainslie Arts Centre, 7.30pm, on Tuesday, September 20. Bookings to agac.com.au
“Pirates”... comedy show coming to Gorman Arts Centre.
PIANIST Kathryn Selby joins violinist Dene Folding and cellist Julian Smiles in celebrating Selby & Friends’ 10th Anniversary with a program of Beethoven chamber music. At James O. Fairfax Theatre, NGA, 7.30pm, on Monday, September 19, bookings to selbyandfriends. com.au or 1300 511099.
created this false person.”
The green-faced outsider Elphaba is without doubt the most interesting character in “Wicked”. Kirrah tells “CityNews” that the character’s witchy name actually stands for “L. Frank Baum”, who wrote “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in 1900. Say it out loud and you’ll get it.
“I relate personally to this character,” Kirrah says, “she’s shy, an undervalued girl who has so much more to offer.
“There is so much deception around her that she determines to right the wrongs without clearing her name.
“As well as ‘The Wizard and I’, I love singing the song ‘No Good Deed’ because it shows how she has become powerful.”
There’s a lot in store for Kirrah, now waiting to see what happens with the Rob Guest Award and also sporting a very large engagement ring. But for Canberra’s general public, it’s time to prepare for a revisionist journey down the Yellow Brick Road.
“Wicked”, Canberra Theatre, October 13-23. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.
COVER CREDITS
Make-up: Leanne Olsen & Cassandra Lee
Wigs: Jason Duvall
Costumes: Fiona Leach
Photo: Andrew Campbell
“It
By Helen Musa
AS spring flowers burst into bloom, the thoughts of artists turn to nature... but, as Canberra Glassworks found when conceiving a Floriadetime show about glass and flowers, curators with floral expertise don’t grow on trees.
Enter Narelle Phillips, best known as the visual arts program manager at Tuggeranong Arts Centre, but with a secret life as a florist, trained in both art and floristry.
Staff at the Glassworks were tickled pink when they heard about this serendipitous combination of talents, so Phillips was quickly hired to harness the energies of glass artists, including Amanda Dziedzic, Benjamin Edols and Kathy Elliott, Rose-Mary Faulkner, Amy Hick, Sui Jackson, Peter Nilsson, Harriet Schwarzrock, Belinda Toll and Jonathon Westacott.
They’ve been working with top floral artists (the current trend she says is to call the art “be -
spoke florals”) Moxom + Whitney, Shizuko Barber, Bloomin Mad Floral Designs, Lady Larissa, Nature Child Botanical Designs and Peking Spring.
Raised in the Blue Mountains, Phillips trained in interdisciplinary studies multimedia and installation art in the University of Western Sydney’s old Nepean art school, but quickly realised she might need a day job, so went on to florist studies at nearby Richmond TAFE.
Over many years Phillips combined work in florist shops with raising a family, but once in Canberra she worked as a freelancer from home until taking up the job at Tuggeranong.
There were many challenges presented by the Glassworks, eager to show the public how flowers and glass could go together. Phillips used her extensive networks to contact Canberra’s top floral experts who, in turn, were attracted by the prospect of working alongside those bravest and toughest of artists – “glassies”.
“The real thing in floral art is riding along with the seasons, so when the Glassworks approached me to curate the show I had to think about glass and flowers and spring,” says Phillips.
“The ‘florals’ have really enjoyed finding a
little corner in the Glassworks to install flowers,” she says, so there’ll be an unexpected stash of repurposed, cut-glass vessels, porcelain blooms sprouting from timber and some corners of “guerrilla gardening”.
Sure, there are sculptural glass works in the exhibition that are inspired by flowers, but there are none of those objects where flowers are embedded in glass.
The biggest challenge, she says, will be refreshing and maintaining the flowers through the exhibition’s run until October 30. Some are clever with plant materials, some use epiphytes and growing plants or succulents, while others created designs where plants dry and die.
Glass artists have their ideas, too. Edols and Elliot describe their work as “observing the colour and forms of leaves, pods, gourds and grass… trying to capture a fragment of the beauty evident in the natural world.”
“It’s all about glass and fresh flowers,” Phillips says, about bringing “the outdoors inside.”
“Fresh Glass”, at Canberra Glassworks, 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, September 15-October 30.
“Sully”
WHAT a filmmaker Clint Eastwood is, at age 86 still directing films that engage our attention and command our admiration.
This time Eastwood’s theme is aviation, not imaginary aviation but a re-creation of a real aviation incident on January 15, 2009, when Chesley Sullenberger safely landed an Airbus A320 carrying 155 people on the Hudson River when, two minutes after leaving LaGuardia airport, a bird-strike destroyed both engines. Everybody on board survived. That whole incident began and ended within 24 minutes.
The film operates in a relatively tight dramatic envelope, although inevitably it contains a scattering of human interest passages, some of which writer Tom Komarnicki may have confected to smooth its flow. Tom Hanks plays Sullenberger and Aaron Eckhart plays the second officer.
Much of the film involves the bureaucratic paranoia that followed the incident, when an Aviation Safety Bureau enquiry tried to nail Sullenberger to the wall for not having returned to LaGuardia or the nearby alternative airport at Teterboro. I was waiting for him to say: “I was there, you were not.”
At all cinemas
GRETA (Bethany Whitmore) fears the changes that turning 15 will bring to her comfortable lifestyle.
It’s comfortable, lower middle-class, intellectually and culturally unremarkable. Her relationship with carpet-salesman father Conrad (Matthew Whittet, who adapted his own stage play for director Rosemary Myers) is awkward, but less so than that with mother Janet (Amber McMahon).
The film opens with geeky Elliott (Harrison Feldman) striking up an awkward schoolyard friendship.
Greta is dreading her parents’ determination that she have a birthday party to remember. On the night, big mobs of kids turn up, Greta and Elliott exchange clothes and, in a dream-like sequence, Greta is persuaded that growing up does not mean the end of life as she knows it to that point.
I had difficulty determining what audience Whittet and Myers made “Girl Asleep” to attract.
The options were parents facing the task of guiding their offspring on that journey through puberty to adolescence or offspring coping with what they might perceive to be unfair parental manipulation of their lives.
“Captain Fantastic” (M)
NO, despite that title, writer/director Mark Ross’s film doesn’t portend a blockbuster full of aliens, outer-space manifestations, violence and destruction.
It’s a wondrous collection of elements, events and ideas – a family saga, a road movie, a study of contemporary American society from unexpected perspectives, a profound drama based on simple motivations, a homage to America the beautiful, a wickedly clever comedy built out of everyday events.
Ben (Viggo Mortensen) and his six children have carved out a lifestyle in the Pacific northwest wilderness. The drama flows from Ben’s wife’s suicide in hospital where she was being treated for an incurable condition.
Her father Jack (Frank Langella) has told Ben he is not welcome at the funeral and that he’ll tell the police to arrest them if they appear. The wife has made a will that rejects the traditional approach to what happens after death.
Ben and the children pack up and set off eastward in the big blue bus to defy Jack’s injunction. It’s a lovely story, frank in its rejection of modern modes and customs, made with great creative skill and affection for its themes.
At Palace Electric and Dendy
SOMETIMES when you walk into a café you instantly feel comfortable; like you’re at home. That’s what it’s like for me at Little Bird in Barton.
The café is bright and airy with healthy green plants thriving here and there. The wall of wood at the back, and the wood on the front of the long serving area at the front, adds warmth. The tables and chairs are nicely spaced and the outdoor area plenty big.
It was at the end of lunch, but Little Bird welcomed us with open arms and didn’t make us feel like we had to rush.
The menu isn’t large, but everything was appealing so it was challenging to choose.
We both eyed the house-made ricotta gnocchi ($18.50). My friend won, and big time. The dish was slow-cooked lamb and porcini mushroom ragout and had bags and bags and bags of flavour. The gnocchi were beautifully made – nice soft pillows that melted in the mouth. It was a super generous portion and tremendously soul satisfying.
Having lost out on the gnocchi, I ordered the gremolata-crumbed fish, with chips, a lovely, creamy tartare sauce and lemon ($18.90). Another generous serve (couldn’t finish it). The crumb was a fabulous texture and the fish nice and moist.
Salad lovers can opt for the slow-roasted pumpkin salad with caramelised beetroot, avo, lentils, feta, almonds and sumac yoghurt ($17.50).
If you’re not keen on a mainsized meal, Little Bird has a line-up
Staff double checked, as we paid the bill, that we had enjoyed our time with Little Bird – a simple, free and important customer-service touch. Not enough places do it.
of great toasted sandwiches, all $11.90. The roast pumpkin sandwich is loaded with field mushrooms, feta and basil pesto. My bet is that the café makes a great Reuben and the salami sandwich with roasted capsicum, baby spinach and Swiss cheese sounds inviting, too. It’s all-day breakfast on weekends at Little Bird, with lots of yummy options such as smoked speck cassoulet with cannellini beans, capsicum, fetta, basil and poached eggs ($17.50). The ham and potato croquettes with Sriracha fried eggs and smashed avocado ($17.50) is no doubt delicious. I haven’t been, but two foodie friends have raved about it. Staff double checked, as we paid the bill, that we had enjoyed our time with Little Bird – a simple, free and important customer-service touch. Not enough places do it. My only comment about our visit is that staff shouldn’t clean tables with spray bottles of strong-smelling product when diners are close by. It’s not pleasant. Little Bird is a great spot to enjoy good coffee, yummy food and good service. It’s BYO and the new grocery store around the corner sells wine.
Little Bird, corner Macquarie and Broughton Streets, Barton, open seven days for breakfast and lunch (from 7am during the week).
you like to watch those old family videos once again, or listen to your favourite records on CD?
FOR thousands of years magnificent gardens were created without a lawn and it wasn’t until the 17th and 18th centuries, in the grand estates in England, that they become fashionable. It was easy with regular rainfall and teams of gardeners to look after these huge gardens, but as the general public began to own homes and gardens, a lawn was considered essential.
In Australia, the standard quarter-acre block had the obligatory backyard lawn, which provided a safe playground with room to kick a football or play cricket.
But with our hot summers and high water costs, do we need to persist with the traditional lawn?
“Are we really looking at the true cost of maintaining a lawn?” asks
Dr Kenneth Brown, of Nimmitabel. He says it’s not only the capital cost of the new mower, the additional initial cost of irrigation and other tools to maintain the lawn, but also the ongoing costs of lawn fertilisers, weedkillers, lawn seed for patching, regular coring etcetera.
All this comes at an environmental cost, too. Look at the damage to the Great Barrier Reef from the runoff of chemical fertilisers and sprays from banana plantations.
THE main ingredients of lawn fertilisers are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Runoff from these into the stormwater system ends up in lakes around Canberra.
Phosphates lead to a reduction of oxygen and possible toxic blue-green algae blooms that force the closure of lakes for recreational purposes – a common occurrence in Canberra.
When chemical fertilisers are used regularly to promote a lush, green lawn, especially in periods of frequent and heavy rain, there is always the chance of run-off
before the chemicals are properly dissolved. We’ve had that sort of rain this winter.
Chemical runoff can also have a dramatic effect on native plants, almost all of which will not tolerate phosphorus.
While the use of these products may not be detrimental for an individual backyard lawn, when there are whole streets of front lawns where the chemicals can enter directly into storm water drains, it gets environmentally serious.
Chemical fertilisers will kill worms quicker, being applied more often than on garden beds to keep that lawn green.
So, what’s the true cost of maintaining a lawn? By the end of summer you will be horrified by the size of just your water bill alone!
AS the days warm and evaporation increases, it is time to mulch.
Canberra’s average annual rainfall is 620mm, but the annual evaporation rate is a staggering 1800mm!
Without mulching the soil dries out at an incredible rate.
With no mulching, shallowrooted plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons simply cook.
While any mulch is better than no mulch, not all mulches are equal. Some of the traditional ones, such as pine bark (or tan bark) take forever to break down and are of no benefit to the soil at all. Likewise pine chips, which now come in designer colours of rich red or charcoal. Fine eucalyptus chips are great for only one use in the garden and that’s making paths. It packs so tightly it prevents water reaching the plants’ roots. It stops almost all weed growth. Mulching keeps the ground moist and at a lower temperature and reduces run-off. In turn, by reducing the frequency of watering mulching reduces weed growth.
Keep in mind that with drip systems the lines are always placed on top of the soil and under the mulch.
If the mulch has been down for a couple of seasons, I recommend lifting all drip lines above the existing mulch before applying a new layer. If mulch has been down for a while and has become compacted, it’s a good idea to give it a light hoeing to allow rain to penetrate more easily.
• Use boiling water to kill weeds in paths.
• With regular rain there is no need to water bulbs.
• Plant parsley in groups to fill bare spots in the garden.
• Plant or sow peas, beetroot, lettuce and English spinach, asparagus and artichokes.
• Looking at rainfall figures since 1870 the lowest annual rainfall was 260mm in 1982. The highest annual rainfall was 1043.4 in 1887.
• The annual All Saints Floral Display and Art Show will be held at the church, on Cowper Street, Ainslie over the long weekend of September 24-26. (Saturday, 10am-4pm; Sunday, noon-4pm and Monday, 10-2pm).
Joanne Madeline Moore
Your week in the stars – September 19-25, 2016
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Monday is a terrific time to learn something new or share an adventure with someone special. Whereas Tuesday and Wednesday are the days to review your work and exercise routines, so you find which ones are still relevant and which ones need to be turfed from your timetable for good. Plus keep yourself mentally sharp and strong; then you can bounce back from inevitable delays and disappointments that come along. The weekend is wonderful for love, romance and intimacy.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)
Are you ready to jump out of a boring rut Bulls? Monday through until Wednesday is the perfect time to review your friendships. Some require extra nurturing – while others have passed their used-by date and need to be replaced with new pals who are creative, positive and proactive. Thursday onwards is the time to fraternise with friends who are going places. As self-help guru Anthony Robbins wrote: “People’s lives are a direct reflection on the expectations of their peer group.”
GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)
Things have been moving at a snail’s pace over the last three weeks but that’s about to change, as Mercury moves forwards. So make sure you are prepared to pounce when circumstances alter from Thursday onwards. Activities involving communication, cars, computers and travel should all improve as you gradually get your Gemini mojo back in spades! Use the weekend to get a jump start, as you plan the following week well in advance. The early bird catches the worm!
CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
On Monday, home and work are linked in extra enjoyable ways. Mercury finally moves forwards on Thursday, so all forms of communication should gradually improve (both in person and online). You’ll find the more honest and open you are with family members, the better the weekend will be. Plus, with Jupiter journeying through your home zone, there is much love and happiness to be gained from improved relations with your extended family over the coming year.
LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)
It’s a wonderful week to connect with family and friends from far and wide as you talk, text, tweet, publish or post up a storm. Others are expecting you to come up with some clever ideas and smart solutions so put on your thinking cap Cats. Don’t stick with outdated old ways of doing things. Be proactive about initiating exciting and adventurous new plans. You’ll also feel restless so travel is likely on the weekend – anything from a leisurely day trip to a sudden interstate sojourn.
VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
The last three weeks have been particularly tricky for Virgos as Mercury (your power planet) has been reversing through your sign (a real double-whammy). Thank goodness Mercury moves forwards this week so – from Thursday onwards things should start to run more smoothly. Particularly in the areas of your life involving cars, computers, communication and travel. Friday is a fantastic day to initiate a project, update your appearance or focus on a favourite hobby.
LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)
Brains and beauty are a winning combination this week as you come up with a clever idea, pamper yourself in style, beautify your living space or patch up a disagreement with a family member. Whereas the weekend is a wonderful time to boost your self-esteem, tap into your latent talents and believe in yourself – even when the going gets tough! Motto for the week is from birthday great Christopher Reeve (a real-life Superman): “Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. Don’t sell out.”
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)
From Monday through until Thursday, resist the temptation to retreat inwards (and be moody and mysterious) in order to cover up your emotional insecurities. Clear and honest communication (with yourself and loved ones) will get you a lot further than sulky Scorpio behaviour! And are you overdue for some creature comforts and a touch of luxe? From Friday onwards, Venus invites you to boost your spirits with a special restaurant meal or some indulgent body pampering.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
When it comes to a complicated career issue, it’s been one step forwards and two steps back. Get ready to take a giant leap forwards from Thursday onwards, when Mercury starts moving things in a positive new direction. So don’t waste precious time procrastinating! Strive to be upfront with work colleagues, clients or customers, and keep them up-to-date with your current plans. The more creative and proactive your approach with loved ones, the better the weekend will be.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
There is the tendency to become obsessed about an idea (or person) this week, as you focus with concentrated Capricorn tunnel-vision. You’re putting in 100% effort but don’t be disappointed if the results aren’t perfect. You’ll learn more from perceived ‘failures’ than you will from successes. Draw inspiration from film star Sophia Loren (born on September 20, 1934): “It’s better to explore and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.”
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
Monday is terrific for nifty networking, group projects and community connections. But, over the last three weeks, joint finances have been stretched, close relationships tested or loyalties questioned. Fortunately that’s all about to change, as Mercury moves forwards again. So (from Thursday onwards) it’s time to let go of grudges and forgive indiscretions (of the financial or romantic kind), as you get up-close-and-personal with loved ones in increasingly pleasant ways.
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
Have partnership problems been testing your limited patience? Calm is about to be restored to your relationship universe, as Mercury (planet of communication) moves forwards (from Thursday onwards) in your relating zone. Which means you’ve still got a few days when you can all-too-easily put your foot in your Piscean mouth and upset loved ones! The solution? Concentrate on connecting with friends and acquaintances from far-flung places (who are less easily offended).
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2016 Daily astrology updates at twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore
Across
1 Name a US singer and actor, Bette ...
7 Name the legendary treasure city of S America, sought by early Spanish explorers (2,6).
8 Who was one of Australia’s greatest golfers, Greg ...?
9 Which very large mammal is a native of Africa or India?
10 Which horse won the 1954 Melbourne cup, ... Fast?
11 Which term describes that which is conceptual, as opposed to actual?
14 What do we call those who hang people without authority or process of law?
18 That which consists of, or relates to, more than one, is called what?
19 Name a member of a renowned American Indian people.
21 What, colloquially, is a junior lifesaver called?
22 Which persons are held as security for the payment of ransom, etc?
23 To increase the length of something, is to do what?
Down
1 Name a well-known Canadian seaport in Southern Quebec.
2 Which term is applicable to that which is clear, or transparent, as of crystal, etc?
3 What is another expression for a traitor?
4 Name a heavy chisel-like steel tool, used to dress timber.
5 Name the horse that won the first two Melbourne cups.
6 Which term is descriptive of a state of perfect happiness?
12 What is a condition of mental uncertainty as in awaiting a decision or outcome?
13 That which is designed for a particular need or taste, is said to be what?
15 Name the brutes from Gulliver’s Travels.
16 Name a wild, wolf-like animal of North America.
17 From which platform does a preacher deliver a sermon?
20 What do we call old inferior horses?
As many of you know, I have married a man from the Shetland Islands, located in the far north of Britain.
It was with him that I first travelled to Shetland and ultimately found my second home. I could talk for days about all that is wonderful in Shetland; the incredible wildlife, the history, the strong Viking traditions, only to name a few.
What I want to talk to you about is the thing that fascinated me most; the buzz around the revitalised textile industry and the opportunity to join a tour on the Shetland Craft Trail. On the tours you will see the whole wool journey from the very beginning to the final process of producing wonderful wool products. In an organised and educational fashion you can learn about weaving, spinning, dyeing, Fair Isle and lace knitting as well as many other fascinating subject areas.
All craft makers and designers listed on the Shetland Craft Trail are full members of Shetland Arts & Crafts Association, an active group of 70 members, established in 1995 to develop and market contemporary Shetland crafts. Included in this list is a company called Burra Bears that skilfully make teddy bears from old woollen jumpers or cardigans. I was very lucky to receive such a bear made from my husband’s grandmother’s favourite cardigans! In fact, you may have seen my little bear called ‘Berrima’ as he graces the cover of the brochure for our textile tour to Scotland including Shetland, led by Valerie Kirk in September 2017. This tour is unique in that we will also have time to attend Shetland Wool Week which is celebrating its 8th year, every year brings more international acclamation with a huge selection of activities and workshops.
TOP TIP: Shetland is a great addition to any UK or European itinerary particularly for those who have already travelled to Britain a number of times and are looking for something new.
Shetland is a fabulous destination for textiles, birdlife and Viking history. For an obligation free quote, come and speak with the team at Active Travel who have first-hand experience of this spectacular collection of islands.
WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 11AM TO 1PM
Are you thinking about downsizing or looking at your retirement options?
Do you want to know more about your local property market and preparing your finances for retirement?
Lendlease is proud to present the ‘Making the Move’ event to be held at the Gungahlin Lakes Golf and Community Club with special host Andrew Winter from Selling Houses Australia.
Come along to this free information session and hear from a panel of local experts including a property expert, downsizing specialists and nancial advisor.
At the end of the Information session, you are welcome to get on board our complimentary shuttle bus and take a quick tour to The Grove Ngunnawal. See the new homes and future facilities currently being constructed.
So, whether you are actively looking at your options or would just like to come along to get some information, we would love to have you join us for a delicious complimentary light lunch and have the opportunity to have your questions answered by our local experts.
When: Wednesday 21 September
Time: 11am to 1pm
Where: Gungahlin Lakes Golf & Community Club 110 Gundaroo Dr, Nicholls
Complimentary shuttle bus tours will return to the Gungahlin Lakes Golf & Community Club.
