170309 citynews

How the bosses ‘game’ workers

MICHAEL MOORE

Beware, the Brumbies are under attack

TIM GAVEL

Less volumes sounds like more stupidity

CHRIS COLEMAN

Caring for fragile tree ferns

CEDRIC BRYANT

Ladies’ MAN ‘

Why TIM FINN wrote a musical

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Pip’s on site to get guys to open up

By Kathryn Vukovljak

TRADIE yoga, mindfulness and a focus on nutrition and mental health are being brought to construction sites by construction project manager and nutrition coach Pip Seldon.

“We always see such a strong focus on safety on site, but it’s my belief that safety is influenced by the overall health of tradies,” Pip says.

Pip lost her older brother Dale, a carpenter, to suicide in 2009 when he was 35 and says it became her motivator for change.

“As I’m often on site, I’ve seen first hand what the guys go through – the physical work, the long hours, the poor job security – so for me it was important to be able to give back,” she says.

“As a project manager we couldn’t do our job without these guys.

“My experience in losing Dale has motivated me to do this. He put on a facade that he was happy and enjoying life, and we had no idea how he really felt. There was never any time that he opened up or asked for help or support.”

Pip says that the construction industry is embedded in macho culture but that she is starting to see a shift.

“There’s definitely a push to encour-

age guys to open up,” she says.

“We need to let go of the macho element, to allow them to be honest about their feelings without the fear of being judged.

“Guys typically take on pressures and stress and particularly tradies who are on the bottom of a chain from client to builder to contractor, and they’re wearing all this stress on their shoulders to deliver a job on time and to certain standards.

“We need to give them the tools to

help themselves.”

Pip started the Healthy Tradie Project last year, running healthy eating workshops on construction sites, including a 30-minute workshop of mindfulness and yoga.

“The guys have been very receptive to it – I’ve been astounded by the participation, and the appreciation that their health and wellbeing was valued.

“It’s breaking new ground I think, it’s not something that’s typically seen and it’s a real culture shift. It’s new

Since 1993: Volume 23, Number 8

Arts & Entertainment 14-16

Cinema 16

Dining 16

Crossword 17

Gardening 18-19

Horoscopes 17

Letters 6

News 3-10

Politics 9

Socials 12-13

Sport 10

Cover: Singersongwriter Tim Finn. Story Page 14.

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and different, but it’s so important that we take a proactive approach to safety and mental health.”

Pip says that taking the time to talk is important, too.

“We have become very process driven but we need to come back to the basics of communication and taking the time to talk and listen,” she says.

“And be prepared to not always have the answers – it’s enough to be a sounding board.”

Pip says she is planning to launch Tradie Yoga this year, following her yoga teacher training in Arizona with Baron Baptiste.

“The yoga classes will be just for tradies, so they don’t need to go to a studio, they can feel comfortable, turn up in their high-vis, hard hats and boots,” she says.

“We noticed last year that they all felt the benefits and started to recognise that stopping, slowing down and moving their bodies in a different way when they’re continually doing the same movement over and over the body is a way to bring in the stretching to keep it supple.

“It doesn’t mean you have to sit on a cushion and meditate, it’s about bringing mindfulness into their everyday activities. Whatever they’re doing, being mindful and present in the work.

“It’s guaranteed to improve safety and reduce incidents on site.”

Radio to the rescue

THE sixth annual 2CC, 12-hour radio appeal for Ronald McDonald House raised around $44,000 in cash and services for the house at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children.

Michelle McCormack, executive officer for RMH, says she continues to be amazed by the generosity of the local community. Tax-deductible donations are still being accepted via 2cc.net.au

Volunteer awards

NOMINATIONS close on Wednesday, March 29, for the Canberra region’s annual Volunteering Awards. The nine category winners will be announced during National Volunteer Week (May 8-12). The ACT has the highest volunteering rate nationally and volunteers contribute more than $1.5 billion annually to the local economy. Anyone can nominate at volunteeringact.org.au/awards

Talking harmony

FAMILIES raising children in more than one language are invited to bring favourite foods and recipes to share a “potluck” lunch to celebrate Harmony Day and the many languages and cultures of the ACT. All welcome to this free event at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, Civic Square, 11am-1pm, Sunday, March 19. Bookings to actbilingual.weebly.com/events or call 0408 089235.

Hell’s bells, Hetty wants the archbishop gone

Innocently standing behind the PM in the ‘noddy’ position at a press conference, suggests Zed Seselja is hoping to go from ‘Deplorable’ to ‘Adorable’.

BRAVEHEARTS’ founder Hetty Johnston is relentless in exposing child sexual abuse perpetrators and outing those who cover up the sinister crime. And she was fired up again, after the alarming admission by Canberra-Goulburn Catholic Archbishop Christopher Prowse that it was “a mistake” to house a retired priest accused of sexual abuse close to two Canberra schools.

The child-protection advocate labelled Prowse’s comments “a pathetic excuse” and called for his immediate resignation.

She said: “There are many Catholics who do massively good work in the community… Archbishop Prowse is not one of them”.

CANBERRANS starved of “old school” Town Hall political rallies turned out in their hundreds on Thursday to hear

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten at the Albert Hall.

The Labor leader cast off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and took questions from the largely left and mostly grey gathering on topics from refugees to dangerous gum trees in ACT schools. Shorten scored the biggest cheer when he gave Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce a slap for attempting to cleanse the capital of public servants.

Shorten said that of all the Q&As he’d conducted the Canberra event, his first, attracted the largest crowd. That boast may prove costly should he win the next election because Chief Minister Andrew Barr will certainly come knocking, cap-in-hand for a bigger town hall.

ON that issue the CM has made it clear if there is to be a National Convention Centre in Canberra, the nation will have to pay for some of it.

Apparently, the ACT has the oldest convention centre of any state or territory capital but Barr is adamant that, without federal assis-

tance, there will be no new centre, saying he hasn’t been able to get any love on the project from the prime ministers and treasurers he’s spoken to over the past six years.

CATS freely roaming Canberra suburbs could be further curtailed. Executive director of the Conservation Council ACT, Larry O’Loughlin, says laws introduced in 2005 designating a dozen suburbs including Bonner, Crace and Coombs as cat-containment areas to limit the impact on local wildlife,

should now be expanded to cover the entire city, slating 2025 as a target for total containment.

ONLY time will tell if ACT Senator Zed Seselja scored political “cred” or “lost bark” after being outed as a “Deplorable”. The group of conservatives, which included Senator Eric Abetz and Senator Cory Bernardi, was formed after the last election with the aim of refloating the career of Tony Abbott by white anting PM Malcolm Turnbull

But, innocently standing behind the PM in the “noddy” position at a press conference, suggests Zed is hoping to go from “Deplorable” to “Adorable”, by-passing the damaging political tags of “lamentable and expendable”.

A NATIONAL online education campaign – Let Kids Be Kids – aimed at eliminating “ugly-parent” behaviour at junior sports events was launched in Canberra amid claims by local administrators the problem is not a major concern here and that governments don’t need to interfere.

Research shows comments and actions of “ugly” parents on the sidelines, including abuse of young players and match officials, forces many kids out of sport.

Tuggeranong Vikings’ junior rugby president Andrew Henderson said that while parents need to be reminded to watch their language, he didn’t see the need for extra government involvement.

NEW figures released by the ACT government for the period since a shake up of the 1961 Vienna Convention, which protected diplomats who broke the road rules in the ACT from penalties, have given authorities confidence a change in driver behaviour is possible. The government stats show fines totalling $191,780 from more than 700 infringements by diplomats and embassy staff since last September.

Road safety minister Shane Rattenbury is cautiously optimistic the penalties will bring about the desired change.

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ACCC puts hearing-aid industry on notice

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have just released its findings into an investigation undertaken within the hearing aid industry. The primary focus of the report is on consumer protection issues around the sale of hearing aids. Dr Vass is a long-standing advocate for an increase in regulation and transparency within the hearing industry. He has welcomed this investigation and its findings. An important finding of the ACCC report revealed that ‘Sales may be driven by commissions and other incentives rather than consumer need.’ Dr Vass says that this is an industry-wide issue and he believes strongly that the patient’s needs come first, not sales commissions.

consideration the wellbeing and best interest of the consumers they are consulting.’ Dr Vass feels this is exactly the point and strongly recommends independent advice before anyone considers purchasing a hearing aid. ‘The industry needs to regain its integrity and back away from a sales based model, ‘ideally commissions should be abolished, but at the very least clear disclosure needs to be provided to all clients looking to purchase hearing aids’ declares Dr Vass.

My philosophy is simple, ‘treat everyone as you would like to be treated’

Having established his own practice on honesty, integrity and ethical standards, Dr Vass is the first to admit that this approach doesn’t result in large profits but, he says ‘that’s not why I became an audiologist. I entered the profession over 30 years ago to help people with hearing loss and my patient-centred approach has always remained my focus. My philosophy is simple, ‘treat everyone as you would like to be treated.’ This ‘golden rule’ of Dr Vass’ helps to make his practice unique and assures patients of the highest professional and ethical standards.

- Dr Vass

Another part of the ACCC report talks about vulnerable consumers such as recent case Dr Vass had involving a 94 year-old-year old woman who was told she needed to spend $12,500 on hearing aids by a clinician working for a large retail chain. After a consultation with the woman, Dr Vass fitted her with hearing aids that were almost 50% less expensive. She was very happy with her new hearing aids and the services Dr Vass provided, but was confused as to why she had been quoted such a high amount for hearing aids? Perhaps the need of higher commissions could be the answer to her question.

The ACCC report states that some clinics are paying their clinicians up to 15% commission on hearing aid sales; along with setting sales targets. These practices shift the focus from helping clients to selling a product. To quote the report ‘as with other healthcare professionals, consumers expect that these clinicians will provide independent and impartial advice and have as their primary

When seeking advice for hearing loss there are a few things to consider Dr Vass explains ‘have an assessment with an independent, locally owned clinic and look for a clinician who is well qualified to look after you’.

If you are looking to have a full hearing assessment or just in need of a second opinion you can contact Dr Vass’ clinic on 6282 2717, to view the full ACCC report you can visit www. hearingclinic.com.au and follow the link.

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Puzzled by Jensen column

I WAS puzzled and dismayed by Nick Jensen’s opinion piece (CN, March 2,”Parents lose power to ‘rainbow ideology’”). My children have benefitted from the Safe Schools program in the ACT public education system. I’m very glad Andrew Barr has ensured the program will continue in Canberra.

Mr Jensen is clearly not so happy. He’s, of course, entitled to that opinion. However, there are many factual errors in Jensen’s piece. He has also been disingenuous about his association with the Australian Christian Lobby, a conservative group who oppose marriage equality as well as the Safe Schools program. The only other source he quotes, by Prof Patrick Parkinson, has also been commissioned by the ACL.

A quick Google helped me recall Mr Jensen’s personal association with the marriage debate: he is the man who infamously promised to divorce his wife if same-sex marriage was legalised (CN, June 10, 2015).

Unfortunately, his remarks about Safe Schools are equally silly. No one refers to a “rainbow ideology” except the ACL director, Lyle Shelton. While I’m not really sure what this means, the only “ideology” I can find on the education department’s website refers to “creating safe and supportive school environments for same-sex attracted, intersex and gender-diverse people by reducing homophobic and transphobic bullying and discrimination in schools.”

The Safe Schools program does not run classes in primary schools, and Mr Jensen has no need for concern for his preschool children. I suspect he already knows this and is scaremongering.

Safe Schools does offer support for gender diverse and intersex primary aged children. I’m very grateful to them for this support and thank the ACT government’s continued promotion of a kinder, better informed and more accepting school community.

Rachel Cunneen, via email

Barr’s rainbow warriors

THANK you for publishing the article on “rainbow ideology” by Nick Jensen (CN, March 2).

It’s about time there was serious exposure to this insidious, misnamed Safe Schools policy being prosecuted by the ACT government to satisfy a small but very vocal minority of rainbow warriors.

I agree with other commentators that it is a pernicious “Trojan Horse” by those who would want us to be multi-hued like them. I dare the Chief Minister to conduct an unbiased survey as to public support for this minority policy.

He may have been returned to power last October, but I do not recall him campaigning for the right to pursue this policy in our public schools, let alone plaster rainbow flags around town at taxpayer expense.

M. Flint, Erindale

Flags of support

NICK Jensen, you may see the rainbow flags that were recently displayed on Commonwealth Avenue as some sort of sign that the ACT government is committed to the deconstruction of gender (“Parents lose power to ‘rainbow ideology’”, CN, March 2), but I see support for a community that has historically been attacked, on every level.

Don’t lose sight of the fact that the Safe Schools program is about supporting LGBT students. As a former student of Marist College, a school that was rife with homophobia and paedophilia, I can only wish that we had such a program back then.

Danny Corvini, Deakin

That tree still stands!

AFTER years of complaining and campaigning about a mature street tree dangerously overhanging my home, in November I finally got a letter from City Services acting director-general Ben Ponton saying: “After reconsidering your situation and in light of the fact that the tree is not part of the formal streetscape, [we] will schedule the removal of the tree later this year or early 2017.”

The government came about the tree on February 22. Unfortunately, I was having a nap and my wife didn’t wake me or show the worker the letter of authorisation.

He refused to cut the tree down, so they’ve reneged on the promise. He was presumably supplied with no paperwork. The government should know what the tree looks like, given “CityNews” published the photo of it. If these people ever cared to visit sites, they might learn something.

John Wright, Chisholm

There’s the Velonias’ case...

I ACKNOWLEDGE that columnist Nichole Overall’s account of the 1953 “death sentence” passed on rapist Vincent George Dixon is very interesting (CN, February 23) but it is certainly not the only death sentence ever passed in the ACT.

Twelve years later, in the Canberra law courts, a disturbed man named Stefanos (Steve) Velonias admitted to killing his brother Harry, as well as Harry’s wife Sophia, in Narrabundah, in January, 1965. He pleaded not guilty on the grounds of insanity.

While Harry and Sophia were enjoying the John Wayne movie “Hatari” at Canberra’s only drive-in cinema, Steve had been lying underneath their bed for hours, armed with a loaded rifle. It was a longanticipated, premeditated attack, based on Steve’s jealousy of his brother and his desire to have Sophia for himself.

After the murders, Steve made elaborate plans to escape to Europe, hardly the actions of a man who didn’t really know what he was doing.

The judge wasn’t buying his defence, and the jury didn’t buy it either, finding him guilty of the double murder on June 2, 1965. He was sentenced to death.

A month later, the case was heard again, this time in the High Court in Sydney.

Velonias and his barrister, Mr Kevin Murray, were seeking leave to appeal against the death sentence on “points of law and the question of his legal sanity”. Murray argued that medical evidence showed an “abnormal degree of resentment” by Steve when Harry had thrown his brother out of the house. He said that the evidence showed that Velonias had “a disease of the mind before and during the murder”. On Tuesday, July 6, the High Court refused the appeal.

Regardless of the failure of the appeal, the ACT Supreme Court commuted the death sentence the following month and Stefanos Velonias was sentenced to 30 years in Goulburn Gaol.

On the morning of Thursday, September 16, 1965, warders found Velonias dead, suspended from the window of his cell. Having been given a reprieve from hanging by the legal system, he had probably decided that his death was the only way to end the shame and misery that he had brought upon the Velonias family.

Ged Fitzsimmons, via email

Yes, but what’s the cost?

THANK you Clinton McAlister, of ActewAGL, for your letter on helicopter patrols (CN, March 2), even if it didn’t address my concerns directly. I never said that patrols from the air were not “essential” or that it was less efficient or cost effective than ground-based patrols. What I did say was that there were perhaps much cheaper options for inspecting powerlines from the air, options that many other authorities and businesses have used for years. And there is no information to suggest that perhaps the LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system could not be employed from light aircraft or by an equivalent camera-based system.

As an economist trained in cost/benefit analysis, I simply wanted to know how much your annual helicopter inspections were costing ratepayers so that some calculation could be made as to how efficient they actually were compared with other possible alternatives. Unfortunately, your letter provided no costings on the use of the helicopter or the personnel it carried.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

‘Saved’ by being hit by a bus

By Danielle Nohra

AFTER being hit by a bus at the age of 28, Kerry Howard (or “Ms Pink Herself”) developed PTSD and secondary depression, which soon saw the psychology student and mother of two with little desire to live.

Looking back on that time, the now confident 48-year-old psychologist says that bus saved her life.

Kerry describes this in her new semiautobiographical, self-help book, “Define Your Inner Diva: How to turn your midlife crisis into a mid-life revolution”.

“I became aware of my own limiting beliefs when I was hit by a bus as a pedestrian as a young mum,” Kerry says.

“My sense of self up until that time had been built on a false ‘ego’, an outer shell that I used to believe was me.

“I was forced to re-examine myself, understand who I truly was and determine that I really liked her, my true ‘authentic’ self.

“I spent about nine months working with a psychologist and working through all of the issues that had impacted my life to that point and was amazed at how that therapy (EMDR Therapy) allowed me to really change my sense of self.”

Currently sporting bright magenta hair, Kerry aims to support others to find

Ms Pink Herself, Kerry Howard… “I was forced to re-examine myself, understand who I truly was and determine that I really liked her, my true ‘authentic’ self.”

their own diva that, she emphasises, refers to its original meaning, “female deity”.

The book covers six areas; self, relationship, career, finances, health and well being, and spirit.

“Primarily, I wrote the book for women like me; 40 plus, with kids, divorced and

professional,” Kerry says.

She says it’s okay to be a strong, driven and independent woman and it’s also okay to have the relationship you secretly desire.

“It’s about being unique and accepting of your uniqueness but also empowered and understand that, as a woman, you can look after yourself,” Kerry says.

“People often don’t understand the importance of loving themselves.

“It’s natural to want to drop everything and spend all this time with the one person.

“But the key to having a healthy relationship is maintaining some level of individuality.”

The book acts as a roadmap and can be used in combination with resources from the “Ms Pink Herself” website.

Readers from around the world who finish the book and would like to help themselves further can then take their notes to a psychologist of their choice.

Kerry’s ultimate goal is for different groups within the world to stop using judgement to justify how they treat each other.

“I would love it if we lived in a world where we could just accept people for who they were, how they wanted to live and we are not trying to change them, but just embrace their difference,” she says.

For more information visit mspinkherself.com

• Experience Bruce Munro’s Art Installation ‘Field of Light’ at Uluru

• Experience a spectacular Red Centre sunrise

• Discover Aboriginal rock art at Uluru

• Learn about Uluru’s sacred sights

• Dine ‘Under a Desert Moon’ at Kings Canyon Resort

• Hike to the top of Kings Canyon for magnificent views

• Visit Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve

Through cakes, support rises

By Danielle Nohra

LOCAL charity, PANDSI, continues to raise awareness for post and ante-natal depression by re-creating edible Canberra icons for an ACT-themed cookbook.

Inspired by a children’s birthday cake book, PANDSI is again inviting the community to enter Canberra-inspired cakes to its prepublication cake off on May 13.

This time PANDSI is encouraging businesses to get involved and apply for a “corporate position” which, if they raise enough money, could see the business’ cake on the front cover.

up to $25,000 of money raised.

“The additional funds will mean PANDSI can offer more evidencebased programs, more support workers and more dads’ information sessions,” Christine says.

“We are also required to move premises this year, which will result in a higher rent payment. The additional fundraising money will ensure there is no interruption or reduction of services offered because of this.”

7.30pm Friday, February 26

This year there will be two auctions, a silent one for the home bakers and a live vote for the corporate professional cakes.

one man’s canberra Less volumes sounds like more stupidity

By Chris Coleman

“LOOK it up in your Funk and Wagnalls!” It was a line that brought great merriment to children who thought they were being clever and slightly dirty at the same time.

Sadly, the Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia is no more. Killed by the internet, along with the printed version of “Encyclopedia Britannica” and several other similar repositories of information.

It’s possible that I’m being a little over-critical here as, at the time of writing, I am still awaiting the final piece of the puzzle that will connect my home to the web. A saga that has gone on for far longer than it should have (readers may recall my column of February 9), but a saga that has made me much more discerning in my use of my limited and expensive mobile internet data.

I’m sure anyone who is old enough to remember the days of hunting through 20-plus heavy books of information to find something useful for a school project doesn’t have any great sympathy for these now-defunct volumes, but have you realised what has happened to us as a species since then? It’s either making us stupid or lazy or perhaps both.

You may think I’m referring to the quality of the information on the web (that’s a conversation for another day), but today let’s focus on quantity.

There’s an increasing trend for people to use the internet to get other people to find other information that’s already on the internet.

The woman who came up with the idea, PANDSI president Christine Spicer, says: “If last year’s PANDSI Cake Off is anything to go by, Canberrans are going to happily roll up their sleeves and get baking and creating.”

The ACT government is even on board and has committed to match

“The Canberra Cake Cookbook” will be published during the 2017 PNDA Awareness Week with a special foreword written by Women’s Weekly food editor and PANDSI patron Pamela Clark. Entry for the PANDSI Cake Off costs $5 and $10 for two adults and children.

PANDSI Cake Off, Hyatt Hotel, call 6288 1936, email services@ pandsi.org or visit pandsi.org

The internet does make more information available to more people than ever before. And, for a while, it seemed this was increasing learning, but (stay with me here) there’s an increasing trend for people to use the internet to get other people to find other information that’s already on the internet.

If you’re a social media user, you may have already noticed this trend on your Facebook or Twitter. People asking other people what time a movie starts. Or whether a particular sporting event is being shown on TV. Not in a conversational sense, not as an “okay, we’ve decided what movie we’re going to, anyone know when it starts?”, but as a genuine enquiry, often from out of nowhere, which would have been more quickly and directly solved by typing the exact same question into Google.

The other thing we have lost is the additional information you’d glean from an encyclopedia while searching for your actual information.

For example, while looking up “Carolina” in a multi-volume set, you may have glimpsed articles en route about Camouflage “discussed by Aristotle in ancient Greece” and Carob, “often a replacement for chocolate”. It was being easily distracted by stuff like this that made me far better at trivia nights than in school exams.

to help run its overnight shelters in three inner-north church halls this winter.

Staffed by teams of trained volunteers, male or female, aged over 18. Guests and volunteers sleep on the floor. Six twoevening induction courses will run in March and April for potential new volunteers to choose from, with further courses during winter.

For details about volunteering e-mail safeshelteract@gmail.com

Maybe the world needs a cyber equivalent of “Look it up in your Funk and Wagnalls”? Could one of the second-tier search engines hidden in Google’s shadow (Bing, Ask.com or Yahoo!) revive the defunct encyclopedia’s catchphrase for just such a purpose.* Or maybe we could all take the time before asking something on the internet, if the internet actually has what we’re after somewhere else...

*Those search engines still exist. I’ve saved you the effort of looking them up. Don’t thank me. Or feel the need to point out the irony.

Chris Coleman presents Drive on 2CC.

How the bosses ‘game’ workers

WHEN was the last time we heard someone talking about economic sustainability?

When was the last time an economist was heard talking about equitable sharing of the economic growth?

Australia “averted a recession” with 1.1 per cent growth in the December quarter. Let’s celebrate! Good news. Well, good for some. Not so good for others.

The good news: company profits are “at record levels”. In the December quarter company profits rose by a whopping 20.1 per cent. One of the big winners is mining. Mining! Those same companies who were crying doom and gloom a few years ago when they defeated the government’s attempt to apply some level of taxation on their “super profits”.

The bad news: well, that is for wage earners. While profits grew by 20 per cent, average wages dropped.

Tom Kennedy, of JP Morgan, explained to the ABC: “Some of the support for profits in the non-mining economy seems to be from weaker wage payments, which fell 0.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter (annual run rate slowed further to 1 per cent year-on-year) on the precarious combination of weaker wage growth, fewer hours and elevated underemployment.”

In simple language Kennedy could have said: business increased profits by cutting workers’ wages, reducing hours and by employing less people.

Any number of economic inquiries or reports suggest good ideas about taxation,

briefly

Specimens in paint

THE botanic art groups at the Australian National Botanic Gardens are holding their 10th annual exhibition of work in the visitor centre gallery, March 18-April 17. All work features native plants, many of which were chosen as specimens by the garden’s horticulturalists. Open every day, entry is free.

… and for sale

Growing Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens is holding its Australian Native Plant sale, in the carpark behind the Crosbie Morrison Building, 8.30am-11am, Saturday, March 25. Plants are propagated by the Friends from material sourced from the Gardens. All proceeds support the Gardens. A plant list is available a week before the sale at anbg.gov.au/friends

A

young

view

ACT 2016 Young Australian of the Year, Nipuni Wijewickrema, is the speaker at the Tuggeranong Evening VIEW Club’s meeting at the Vikings Town Centre Club, Greenway, from 6pm on Wednesday, March 22. The two-course dinner is $27. Bookings to 6291 7716 or email tuggeven@gmail.com

In Australia, the bottom 3.9 million people share the same level of wealth as the top 10 individuals. And the gap is growing.

employment and economic growth. A much smaller number examines what is equitable sharing of wealth.

Even in the current climate, where the government is constantly bombarding the community about living within our means, Turnbull’s government is determined to deliver a $50 billion tax break for the corporate sector. They have a good return on investment for political party donations.

In Australia, the bottom 3.9 million people share the same level of wealth as the top 10 individuals. And the gap is growing.

Sensible taxation measures are just one method of reducing the disparity by applying straightforward rules that are not subject to exemptions.

In a globalised environment, corporations avoid current tax measures by moving money around the world at a touch of a button. One alternative, to provide a fair way to levy the corporate sector and one that is difficult to “game”, is a tax on gross turnover within a country. Such a tax is simple. It is hard to avoid. Big business would pay their share and contribute to community infrastructure from which they draw significant advantage.

Personal income is also “gamed”. American tycoon Warren Buffett noted his secretary paid a higher percentage of income tax than him simply because he could afford better accounting advice.

The answer is to apply a “floor level” for high-income earners. It would catch the 77 individuals, identified by the Australian Tax Office in 2015, who earned over $1 million and paid NO tax.

With the “Buffett Rule”, this group of selfish leeches would not have been able to avoid their fair contribution to the education, health and infrastructure that they all use. The Australia Institute identifies an injection of $2.5 billion if a 35 per cent “Buffet Rule” level was applied to just the top 1 per cent of salary earners. Surely good government means finding ways to reduce disparity. Inequality is fodder for populist movements around the world. A dispar ity index is one way to remind our politicians of their responsibilities.

sport Beware, Brumbies under attack

I AM at a loss to understand why the ARU is not more vocal in its support of the Brumbies with the sport’s governing body SANZAR looking at rationalisation of the 18-team competition.

The hope is that, behind closed doors, the ARU is working to ensure the Brumbies and the other four Australian teams are safe from any planned cull. The belief among some is that fewer Australian teams will lead to a more successful Wallaby side and ensure the financial viability of the code.

For the record, the Brumbies have never sought financial assistance outside the normal funding provided by the ARU, which is in stark contrast to some of the other Australian teams. The other factor in the reasoning behind considering dropping teams is the nature of the competition.

It doesn’t require the wisdom of Solomon to see that Australian teams playing each other on a home-and-away basis should be standard. Instead, this year for instance, the Brumbies don’t play the Waratahs in Canberra.

The theory is that NSW and Queensland are safe while the other three are vulnerable if there is to be a reduction in the number of teams. Why the Brumbies are even in the same sentence as the Western Force and the Melbourne Rebels is beyond comprehension.

The Brumbies are the most successful Australian side in the history of Super Rugby. Sure, there have been off-field dramas, but the team still made the finals

Why the Brumbies are even in the same sentence as the Western Force and the Melbourne Rebels is beyond comprehension.

last year and who knows how far they would have gone had it not been for a questionable refereeing decision in the final against the Highlanders.

I humbly suggest we need to be more pro-active as a community to ensure the survival of the Brumbies.

We have been complacent in the past with Canberra sporting teams, thinking that all will be fine only to see the rug pulled from underneath. The Canberra Kookaburras and the Comets come readily to mind.

Let’s make the most of the Masters’ A NUMBER of sports in Canberra have been sounded out in the past month seeking expressions of interest in staging a Masters’ games in the ACT every two years from 2018.

It makes sense, with an ageing population, Masters’ sports continue to grow in popularity.

It makes even more sense to stage a major Masters’ event every two years in Canberra with the city boasting the highest participation rate for activity in the country.

The proposal would see up to 35

sports ranging from hockey to squash being contested. The games would essentially be run by the individual sports themselves using volunteers.

Money raised by hosting the games would be channelled back into the individual sports.

My understanding is that it would cost around $250,000 to stage the event in the first year. This would effectively be seed funding with the games generating their own funds from the first event.

The expectation is that it could attract more than 2500 competitors in the first year in 2018.

The seed funding though needs to come from somewhere. Given Masters’ participants are usually cashed up and don’t mind spending on accommodation and restaurants, it might be worth the ACT government investing some tourist dollars into this project.

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arts & entertainment

‘Ladies’ man: how Tim Finn wrote a musical

MADELEINE St John’s 1993 novel “The Women in Black” seems just about as inappropriate as Dickens when you’re in the steamy tropics, but that’s where Tim Finn first read it.

It was 2012 and Finn, best known to the general public as the singer/songwriter from Split Enz and Crowded House, was heading for Bougainville to work on “Mister Pip”, based on Lloyd Jones’ novel dealing with the Bougainville Civil War. Set in a Sydney ladies’ department store in the 1950s, “The Women in Black” centres on Lisa, who joins the sales staff at the fictional store, FG Goode’s, on a holiday job.

“It has to be DJ’s,” Finn tells “CityNews”.

“Although Madeleine denies it… we have something like that in Auckland, Smith & Caughey’s.”

The improbable premise for a musical saw the intrigued Finn writing 20 songs. After consulting Bruce Beresford, who owned the rights to the novel, he hooked up with director Simon Phillips and Aussie screenwriter Carolyn Burns to come up with “Ladies in Black”, coming soon to The Playhouse in the Queensland Theatre production.

It’s been good news all the way for the QT, which laughed all the way to the bank when the show premiered during 2013, but its decision to embark on a national tour has been what artistic director Sam Strong calls “a big gamble that represents the past and also the future of the QT”, although the glamorous costumes by Gabriela Tylesova draw in a new crowd altogether.

“Ladies in Black” is set in an eccentric department store closely resembling David Jones, where black-clad ladies served from behind the counters in a bygone era.

Finn came up with a song list of memorable numbers, such as the catchy “Bastard Song”, that had audiences roaring with laughter and the Hungarian refugee’s song, “I Was a Bureaucrat in Budapest”.

By arts editor HELEN MUSA

“Madeleine’s novel was full of excuses for song titles… I read the word ‘pandemonium’, I had to write a song with that title,” he says.

“And then the character Rudi said he just wanted to meet a nice Australian girl and that was another song, of course –the characters were so alive, it was easy.”

Veteran director Simon Phillips, whose forays into musicals include “Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical”, predicts that the show will be “the mouse that roared, a humble enough show about small hopes and dreams of small people with none of the usual brouhaha”.

“CityNews” caught up with Finn in Sydney right after he’d been singing the stage character Magda’s paean to model gowns.

Magda is a true believer in fashion but Finn, who grew up in small-town NZ, says he knows much less about the subject although he has enjoyed the musical and its verbal challenges.

One challenge was how to rhyme with the name Yves St Laurent. At first, he said, he rhymed it with “elegante”, but as he got deeper into the mysteries of fashion, he realised that that’s exactly what the famous couturier was dead against, what he wanted to achieve was not elegance but seduction.

Aha, that was the right rhyme for the song: “There’s no such thing as ordinary” – “séduisante”, French for “seduction”. But Dior, Finn says, was a piece of cake – “adore”.

It turns out that Finn’s a huge fan of Stephen Sondheim and caught a US production of “Sweeney Todd” a few years back that he says “just blew my mind”.

He doesn’t think there’s any rule about what comes first, the music or the book, suspecting that even with giants such as Bernstein, Sondheim, Rodgers, Hart and Hammerstein, saying: “It depends on circumstances… I write songs, I wrote two thirds of the songs before there was any idea of the musical”.

His musical gives the actors plenty of scope, he says. It’s not sung-through like an opera and luckily, he says, Phillips is “masterful at weaving the threads together”. But he finds that the mix of spoken word and song can create difficulties.

Talking of which, Finn is busy working on an opera called “Star Navigators,” set in the vast Pacific Ocean.

Finn’s been living in Auckland for 17 years after having been away for 35 years in Australia, the West End and around the world, so is now in a good place to do research into the Polynesian geniuses who navigated the oceanic routes of the Pacific. It’s not fictional, he tells me.

To research the story he went as far as Tahiti to follow the story of two navigators who couldn’t get on.

The work has been commissioned by NZ Opera, Victorian Opera and WA Opera, but he prefers to think of it as “music theatre”.

“It’s a hybrid of opera and it’s a great thrill to hear them sing my melodies,” he says.

“Ladies in Black”, The Playhouse, March 27-April 2. Bookings to 6275 2700 or canberratheatrecentre.com.au

arts & entertainment

Festival Sam plans to give us all the creeps

By Helen Musa

BY day, Sam Dignand is a mild-mannered technical officer at the National Film and Sound Archive who works on public programs and managing the cinemas, but after hours he’s the film curator for the 2017 one-day festival, “Art, Not Apart”.

He’s one of a strong team turning the NewActon precinct into a hot bed of arts on March 18 – the other curators are Chenoeh Miller, Frank Madrid, David Caffery, Michael Liu, David Williams and Anna Trundle – and he’s come up with a wild idea.

This is the first time the NFSA is seriously engaged with “Art, Not Apart”, Dignand tells “CityNews”.

“I’m the moving-image curator for the festival and the NFSA has got a state-ofthe-art cinema and a beautiful gallery space that they would like to see activated more.”

Bearing in mind that Canberra is home to many heavy duty cinephiles, to say nothing of many desperately keen fans of horror and zombie movies, Dignand is pulling all stops out to screen the classic cult film “Nosferatu”.

It’ll be a screening with a difference, as an “incredible pair of musicians” – Rasa

Daukus and Will Larsen of the duo Tess Said So – play piano, vibraphone and tubular bells and interact with the on-screen action, live in concert, to bring the 1922 cult movie into 21st-century Canberra. It’s been a smash at the Melbourne and Adelaide fringes.

For those not in the know, “Nosferatu:

A Symphony of Horror” is FW Murnau’s German Expressionist horror film, an unauthorised riff on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”.

Stoker’s heirs obtained a court order that all copies of the film be destroyed, but a few prints survived and it is now regarded as a masterpiece.

Dignand, a composer who believes that sound design and music can create a new dimension to the moving image, trained as a classical pianist before taking out a Bachelor of Music in jazz composition and arranging at the ANU.

He tells us that musicians overseas have had a go at backing “Nosferatu”, but the performance we will see “is stripped back, minimalist, very, very dynamic and a real tonal piece”.

He calculates that it will go down well in Canberra where audiences are growing for these “live scorings” and, in particular, he has spotted a likely audience emerging from the School of Music’s composition students and the ANU’s experimental music group.

“Nosferatu” is the centrepiece, but Dignand has planned other cinematic

arts in the city

delights, kicking off with the recentlylaunched doco “Monsieur Mayonnaise”, which touches on the lives of Melbourne émigré identities Georges and Mirka Mora.

As well, keeping with Art Not Apart’s aim to give light “to the lesser heard, lesser seen”, Dignand has commissioned an interactive mapping project from experimenter John Carolan where the audience can engage with projected imagery via Microsoft technology. From 1pm to 7pm, the public can try it out in the NFSA theatrette, but during the late-night shindig called “F…k arts, let’s party”, they’ll be projecting Carolan’s work on to the huge concrete walls of a warehouse.

Another commissioned piece is “Sirens”, by emerging film director and former Daramalan boy Oliver Levi-Malouf. In 2015 we reported on the Silver Remi award he won at Worldfest Houston for his seven-minute film “Magic Man”, which starred his drama teacher and “CityNews” theatre critic Joe Woodward, but now he is advancing his career in Sydney – and that’s just the kind of thing Art, Not Apart wants to encourage.

“Nosferatu”, Arc Cinema, NFSA, 3pm, March 18. Art, Not Apart 2017, NewActon precinct and surroundings, 1pm-7pm, March 18, followed by after-parties. Program details at artnotapart.com

Sit back and let the evening go...

By Helen Musa

SHORTIS and Simpson will mark the 50th anniversary of the “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album in a show that tells the story of the Beatles’ recording and the songs set against the political and social climate of the time. Joining them for the fun will be Worldly Goods Choir and a band made up of Dave O’Neill, Jon Jones, Ian Blake, Bob Rodgers, and Andrew Purdam. At the Queanbeyan Bicentennial Hall, next to The Q, 8pm, Saturday, March 18. Bookings to theq.net. au or 6285 6290. Seating is tables and chairs, so bring a picnic. Bar facilities available.

MODERN Flamenco ensemble, Bandaluzia Flamenco, led by guitarist Damian Wright and singer and Naike Ponce from Spain, combine traditions of the art form combined with a contemporary approach. They’ll be joined by dancer Jessica Statham and Freedman Fellowship winner Ben Hauptmann on mandolin for a performance at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre Theatre, 7pm, Friday, March 17. Bookings to trybooking.com

GOULBURN Mulwaree Library is presenting “Goulburn Comic Con 2017”, with more than 20 market stalls, “cosplay” competitions, box wars, superhero rock and roll wrestling, comic art workshops,

Getting the band back together… Shortis and Simpson playing “Sgt Peppers” on March 18.

pop art make-up demonstrations, a mobile gaming theatre and a “Star Wars vs Star Trek” debate. The ANU Owls Quidditch team will play a real-world adaptation of Harry Potter’s favourite sport. At the Veolia Arena, 45 Braidwood Road, Goulburn, 11am-5pm, on Saturday, March 18. Entry is free and pre-registration for cosplay entrants and workshop participants is at 4823 4435.

JAZZ master Vince Jones has invited a selection of jazz/rock musicians to join him in Canberra for a homage to Irish vocalist Van Morrison. At The Playhouse, 8pm, Saturday, March 18. Bookings to

canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

CABARET starlet Sophie DeLightful is bringing her new show, “Power Pussies”, to Canberra. It features local and interstate performers “dishing out their most sassy, fierce and empowering burlesque, cabaret and circus acts”. At Polit Bar, 8 Franklin Street, Manuka, 9pm-11pm, on Friday, March 17. Bookings to eventbrite.com.au

CANADIAN-American singersongwriter Martha Wainwright will be at Canberra Theatre on Wednesday, March 15. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

When the mayor’s daughter goes missing

“Jasper Jones” (M)

CRAIG Silvey’s first novel to become a feature film had box office potential and Rachel Perkins’ direction of it is competent enough.

But Shaun Grant’s adaptation of its story about the community’s reaction in the small town of Corrigin in WA, when the Mayor’s older daughter goes missing, is clunky.

Some of Mark Wareham’s cinematography falls short of expectations, particularly night sequences filmed in daylight through a filter showing clear demarcation of shadows and light.

Jasper, a part-Aboriginal boy not greatly admired in Corrigin, knocks on Charlie Bucktin’s bedroom window and persuades Charlie to accompany him to see something dreadful. It’s Laura’s corpse hanging from a tree. Shock horror indeed. Only the two boys know where they’ve hidden it. Charlie’s mother Ruth, clearly dissatisfied with insufficient connubial comfort from her teacher husband, who retires after the evening meal to work on his novel, is over-protective of the lad. Laura’s sister Eliza asks Charlie to keep her copy of “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” with a do-not-read note inside.

There’s a bit of mystery about an old bloke living alone in a farmhouse. At the town’s New Year’s Eve fireworks Charlie catches Ruth in the back of her car making hanky panky with the police sergeant. His dad asks him to read the finished novel. Jasper’s forebears get revealed. Laura’s body doesn’t get found but the backstory to her death gets told.

Jasper’s involvement in telling the story is less than Charlie’s, which makes me wonder why the story is named for Jasper. They’re played by, respectively, Aaron McGrath and Levi Miller. Toni Collette’s Ruth makes a meal of what some might call schizophrenia. Dan

Wyllie is Charlie’s stolid dad. Angourie Rice is Eliza. Hugo Weaving is the old bloke in the farmhouse. The actors do their best, but the translation of book to screen is short of what they deserve.

At Dendy, Palace Electric, Capitol 6 and Limelight

“Alone in Berlin” (M)

ON April 8, 1943, in Plotzensee Prison, Otto and Elise Hampel were beheaded for having distributed around Berlin handwritten cards denigrating Hitler and his war. Why had they done it? The film says it was because their soldier son was killed in action. In fact it was Elise’s brother. The film calls them Otto and Anna Quangel. Neither fictionalisation matters. The film’s basis is the book “Every Man Dies

Alone”, which in turn is based on a Gestapo file handed to Hans Fallada in 1947. It’s a story of quiet resistance that remained in hiding until it was translated into a best-selling title in English in 2009.

Buying the rights to Fallada’s novel influenced writer/ director Vincent Perez’s decision to film the story six decades after its events. Perez’s family lost several men to fascist and Nazi brutality. The film reminds generations born after World War II finished about why it was fought and the revolting influences it had on the German people. In telling it without embroidery, Perez travels a path of realism trodden by few filmmakers. Why should we see it after few people now alive remember how it had been? For memorable performances by Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson as Anna and Otto, and Daniel Bruhl as the dogged police investigator. For a visual, cultural and behavioural re-creation of Germany in 1943 that by all accounts is close to verity. And above all, to remind us of philosopher Edmund Burke’s words – “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

It’s probable that the Hampels never heard of Burke much less read him. But what they did exemplifies that epigram.

At Dendy, Palace Electric and Capitol 6

“Miss Sloane” (M)

ELIZABETH Sloane, a loner who runs on pills and pays a rent-a-boy to satisfy her carnal urges, has a fierce reputation as a Washington lobbyist.

Jonathan Perera’s debut screenplay is a far cry from English director John Madden’s previous work – think “Shakespeare in Love” or “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”.

“Miss Sloane” is a thriller without car chases, punchups, blazing gunfire or dead bodies – well, only one shooter brought down by a right-minded citizen with a gun. Sloane’s employer is committed to run a campaign to kill a Bill soon to come before Congress to modify America’s gun laws. A rival firm hires her to rally enough support to block a filibuster when the Bill comes in.

Jessica Chastain is spectacular as Elizabeth. English actor Mark Strong breaks with his traditional heavy style to play Schmidt, her new boss. John Lithgow sits as chairman of the House committee hearing that will decide the fate of the Bill. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is the lawyer whom Elizabeth poaches as she leaves the firm run by Dupont (Sam Waterston).

Perera has captured the procedural, juridical and political elements of the US legislative environment in entertaining detail. In its first month there, it took only about 25 per cent of its reported budget. It was shot in Toronto, suggesting that its producers wished to avoid recriminations on its home turf. It was earlier reported that Steven Spielberg had his eye on the script before John Madden got the gig. If true, that says much in favour of its 132 minutes of narrative tension of the best kind.

At Dendy, Palace Electric and Capitol 6

Aching for an authentic pizza

The best part is that the owner’s nonna makes the ravioli fresh, with love. No wonder it’s amazing and I’d return for it time and again.

SOMETIMES I crave authentic and comforting pizza. Not pizza loaded with pineapple or other ingredients that would have Italians screaming “mamma mia” at the top of their lungs. Rather, pizza made with traditional ingredients and in the traditional way.

So what did I get when I wandered into Briscola Pizzeria in the city with two friends I hadn’t seen in yonks? Just what I wanted.

Twenty-three pizzas are on offer, but it took only a nanosecond for me to choose the funghi with bocconcini, mushrooms and truffle oil.

I applaud Briscola for offering three pizza sizes – small (9” from $13.50), medium (11” from $18) or large (15” from $25). You can also build on your pizza by adding additional ingredients for an extra cost (chilli sauce is free).

My pizza had plenty on top and the combo of flavours was heavenly. The crust wasn’t thin, but not overly thick. I ordered the small so I could “think green” and enjoy a side salad. It was a generous serve for a side dish, but I found the dressing a bit heavy on the balsamic for my liking.

The house-made egg pap -

pardelle featured a rich, three-meat ragu ($24) spiced up with chianti, fresh basil and grana Padano ($24). The meat was tender and the dish went down a treat.

The star dish of the evening was the roast pumpkin and ricotta ravioli with a beautiful burnt sage butter (how can you beat that decadent addition?). It was stunning and the ravioli made all the more special with crunchy bits of amaretti biscuits. The amaretto liqueur flavour came through but wasn’t overpowering. The best part, and one that makes my heart pitter patter, is that the owner’s nonna makes the ravioli fresh, with love. No wonder it’s amazing and I’d return for it time and again.

Briscola is proud of its local suppliers. Gelato is locally churned (check out the gelato bar), coffee locally roasted, meat sourced from a local butcher, and some beers and many wines are sourced regionally, including from our top wineries.

and

The décor at Briscola is basic and you can dine indoors or outdoors. Staff are knowledgeable, friendly and efficient. While we appreciated the attention, we felt slightly over serviced (not that I get to say that in every review!).

With takeaway you can create your own calzone ($10) or pizza ($12) or grab a bit of pasta to fuel you through the afternoon (from $13). It’s no wonder Briscola has

won Best Italian Restaurant, ACT Restaurant and Catering Awards.

Briscola, 60 Alinga Street, Civic. Call 6248 5444. Open Tuesday to Saturday for lunch (noon to 2pm) and dinner (5.30pm to 9pm).

Joanne Madeline Moore

Your week in the stars – March 13-19,

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

With Mercury moving into your sign, it’s a wonderful week to rethink your approach to a personal problem. Talking things over with a trusted friend will also help you view the situation from a totally fresh perspective. And don’t underestimate the power of your intuition to point you in the right direction. On the weekend you’re impatient to say exactly what’s on your mind. But your words could inflame a sensitive situation, so press pause and think things through before you speak!

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Procrastination is out and being passionately proactive is in, as you make the most of Mars charging through your sign. So get motivated; initiate ideas; take action; and walk your talk! Of course, with Venus (your ruling planet) in retrograde motion, there will be plenty of problems and frustrations along the way. Especially involving your partner, a friend or a cherished dream. Or you may just lack energy. But there are no excuses for inaction. Nothing ventured; nothing gained.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

Saturn pushes you to fulfil your relationship responsibilities, both at work and at home. Attached Twins – are you pulling your weight? Or are you leaving all the serious decision-making up to your partner? Singles – look for lasting love with someone who is dependable and emotionally mature. All Geminis need to avoid over-reacting on the weekend. Blurting out the first thing that comes into your mind is a recipe for trouble. So bite your tongue, sit tight, and bide your time.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

This week will run more smoothly if you roll up your sleeves and be a disciplined and conscientious Crab as you re-organise your daily routine, plus prioritise and streamline tasks. Resist the temptation to be a cream-bun-eating couch potato! The more responsible you are about regular exercise and smart food choices, the healthier and happier you’ll be. Heed the wise words from fellow Cancer, actor Tom Hanks: “When you live a life with no boundaries, there’s less joy.”

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Lions love to live it up, as you constantly press the ‘let’s overdo everything’ button. But this week Saturn puts the brakes on, and reminds you of all your current responsibilities and the long list of jobs you haven’t yet completed. Plus something (or someone) may stop you from expressing yourself in the fun and carefree way you’d like to. You’ll find the more you resist these restrictions, the more difficult the week will be. So get real Leo, put your head down, and get to work!

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

You don’t usually shirk your professional and family responsibilities but this week you’ll be so busy and stressed, that you may inadvertently overlook an important matter. If you don’t pull your weight (for whatever reason) then expect a major reality check. You could be at the receiving end of some stern words from a loved one or work colleague. Whatever happens, don’t take it too personally Virgo. Accept the criticism with good grace, and then quickly move on.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

You’re keen to catch up socially with friends and workmates. Creativity is also highlighted but (with your ruler Venus in retrograde mode) don’t be deterred by ongoing challenges. Hard work and calm consultation will take you far! When it comes to a professional matter, a study project or a social media campaign, you’ll need to put in some long hours this week. You have the potential to achieve success, but it won’t come without plenty of elbow grease on your part.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

This week, strive to be firm yet flexible with a stressed family member and avoid getting drawn into frustrating arguments (which will get you nowhere fast). A parent or close friend has some sensible advice that you may not want to hear. Listen up Scorpio and don’t be so defensive! When it comes to money matters, Saturn sends a reality check your way, in the form of a large bill or an unexpected expense. Which just reinforces the importance of having a smart savings plan.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Are you viewing a personal project, a domestic situation or a family member through ridiculously rose-coloured glasses? This week Saturn urges you to be more realistic about what’s going on. Smart Sagittarians will slow down and do the research required. If you rush into a complicated situation without some forward planning, then you could end up with a real mess on your hands. The weekend is wonderful for socialising but some plans could fall through at the last minute.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

This week’s Sun/Saturn square boosts your ambitious side, your perfectionist streak, and your incredibly close attention to detail. But do your best to get the balance right between being conscientious and being creative. Hard work without some divine inspiration is ultimately meaningless. And if you are too demanding and business-like with family and close friends, then the road to success will be a lonely one. So keep things in perspective and don’t lose the personal touch!

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Are your dreams achievable? Or are you being unrealistic about a project that’s due to be completed? Perhaps you need to get others on board and delegate more? If you think creatively, work hard and capitalise on your group connections, then you’ll eventually taste success. Communication is emphasised on the weekend (especially with family members and neighbours) so expect plenty of phone calls, texts, tweets and emails. But avoid saying something rash to a stressed relative.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Creativity is high and your imagination and intuition are firing. But the lines between fact and fantasy could become blurred so it’s not a good time to make important decisions (especially involving work or money). Be a flexible Fish and wait. Avoid brooding over your mistakes and worrying about the past. Regrets will get you nowhere. So your motto for the moment is from fellow Piscean, writer and illustrator Dr Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2017

General knowledge crossword No. 584

India is a land of magic, spice, colour and tradition. For years it has fascinated people and drawn travellers from all corners of the globe. For me, when the opportunity arose to travel to India I was both nervous and excited; I was anxious about what this country would offer me and what I would discover.

Across

3 Which name is applicable to a male presiding officer? (8)

7 What is a trite, stereotyped expression? (6)

8 Name the elemental particles of atomic nuclei, neither positive nor negative. (8)

9 What is another term for handwriting? (6)

10 Name the “best seats in the house”, especially at a boxing match. (8)

11 Which expression refers to a trying experience? (6)

14 To be quick-witted or intelligent, is to be what? (6)

17 What object is worn as an amulet or charm? (8)

18 What is a type of long, narrow pasta? (6)

19 Which loose garment is worn in going to and from a shower? (8)

20 What is a long, narrow excavation in the ground? (6)

21 Which term applies to a person who dwells in a place? (8)

Sudoku medium No. 192

Down

1 What is an extended mass of slowly moving ice? (7)

2 When the moon is partially or wholly within the earth’s shadow, it is called a lunar what? (7)

3 The CIA is an abbreviation of which US intelligence agency? (7)

4 What is a whole number, as distinguished from a fraction? (7)

5 What is the act of securing a ship in a particular place? (7)

6 That which is beginning to exist or develop is said to be what? (7)

11 Name the eighth month of the early Roman year. (7)

12 When one expunges something, what does one do? (7)

13 To be given confidence, is to be what? (7)

14 Name a renowned Australian soldier serving in WWI and WWII, Gordon ... (7)

15 What are the inner soles of shoes or boots? (7)

16 Which poisonous drink was Socrates forced to take, as capital punishment? (7)

My journey entailed a two-week itinerary of the south, starting in the state of Kerala, a state made famous for the houseboats on the backwaters, but, as I quickly learnt, there was so much more to see. I landed in Cochin, a city on the Arabian Sea, which has been attracting traders and explorers for centuries, all of whom have left their mark on the city to make it incredibly diverse. I then continued further to visit Periyar National Park in search for wild tigers and elephants. Whilst I didn’t find any, I did get to visit a tea and spice plantation. I attended a festival in Madurai, which with the backdrop of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, was nothing short of intense! There was music, animals, fire breathers and sword swallowers. It was so exhilarating to witness but even now I am not sure what was being celebrated, I just think, well, it was India!

The thing that surprised me most about my time in Southern India was how lush the land was and how well the people lived. All of my preconceptions about India were not at all how it was, it was so surprising and I cannot wait to go back!

Top Tip: Northern India is much busier than the south so why not consider a river cruise in the north to visit famous cities like Kolkata, Agra, Varanasi and Delhi before travelling south for a relaxed finish to your journey.

The team at Active Travel are passionate about the Indian subcontinent, so speak with us today about how we can help you to experience your own amazing Indian adventure.

open garden / Theodore

Butterflies, birds and beauty in a small space

A SMALL garden can create a visual impact, feed a family and be beautiful and relaxing at the same time, says garden owner and marriage celebrant Sandra Norris of her Theodore garden.

“I like to work out how best to utilise small spaces with creative, clever design,” she says.

“Play is important to me, too – I have four grandchildren and they have fun out here for hours. The garden is designed in a butterfly shape with soft edges and I use a lot of pots to create height and interest and little places with fairies, birds, toys, bridges, artificial grass, mini gardens and tree houses for the little ones to enjoy.

“I’ve hosted weddings here, too.”

The quirky, playful garden will be open to the public for the first time through Open Gardens Canberra on the weekend of March 18-19.

With 48 varieties of fruit, much of it espaliered and including peach, kiwi, passionfruit, figs, grapes, kumquat and pomegranate, as well as veggies, herbs and flowers, the garden is also self sufficient for water with a 14,000-litre water tank.

Sandra says she loves to create hidden nooks for sitting, playing and observing.

“There are little ‘rooms’ beneath the deck and

Words: Kathryn Vukovljak

Photos: Andrew Finch

under the stairs for relaxing and hiding away, including the butterfly room for the kids to play in and a tool area where I can find everything I need,” she says.

“There’s a fish pond, a fountain and a fernery under there, too, and lots of cosy places to explore.”

Around every corner in Sandra’s garden is a small sitting area and recycled or repurposed items, and she says she also tries to include two of everything wherever she can.

“It’s a symmetry thing or my own personal feng shui that works for me!” she says.

“I love to potter around in the garden, though I especially like the spot where I can sit, look over the garden and then reach up and pick a kiwi fruit.”

“Ysadora”, 7 Cochrane Crescent, Theodore, open 10am-4pm, on Saturday, March 18, and Sunday, March 19. Admission $8; free to under-18s and Open Gardens Canberra members. It costs $25 to join Open Gardens Canberra and gain free entry to all open gardens until August 31. More information at opengardenscanberra.org.au/join

Caring for fragile tree ferns

UP to 80 per cent of tree ferns die due to lack of information about siting and watering requirements.

Tree ferns, or Dicksonia antarctica, are sold in increasing numbers. Sometimes they are taken illegally, but more typically, tree ferns are removed from the bush by qualified horticulturists and sold only under strict licensing regulations by the various state park and wildlife services and the Commonwealth government.

All retail tree ferns are tagged with a serial number issued by the particular government authority and markets are regularly checked for ferns being sold illegally.

Some of the healthiest tree ferns are from Tasmania, almost their natural home where, when sold, have a solid fern stem more than 30cm.

I saw one large unit development, not far from where I live, where ferns had been planted exposed to full sun plus the reflected heat from the white building. They lasted a couple of months and only because it was cooler!

If you have no natural shade plant on the south side of the home, use a 90 per cent shadecloth. Have a look at tree ferns growing in the Rainforest Gully at the National Botanic Gardens or on Clyde Mountain. Here are the main pointers to

• Buying: Always select healthy ferns free from physical or insect damage. Always buy from a registered garden centre and make sure the fern has the authorised tag.

• Siting: Tree ferns require shade, ample moisture and good drainage. They must be protected from severe frost. In their natural environment they are shaded by overhead evergreen trees.

• Planting: In heavy soils dig in plenty of rotted organic matter such as cow manure (not chook), decomposed leaves with some washed river sand. In their natural state they continually benefit from falling leaves. The use of Multicrop liquid Ground Breaker will be beneficial in clay soils rather than gypsum. When planting, place one third of the trunk in the ground and fill in with soil with the added organic matter. Make a small bank around the trunk to hold a minimum of a bucket of water to which has been added liquid seaweed plant food. This will hormonal activity and new root growth.

• Watering: Tree ferns should be watered in the crown as well as the base. With drip irrigation, it’s ideal to connect a 13mm line to the top of the fronds making a circle. Deep water around the base once a week, keeping in mind tree ferns come from high rainfall areas.

• Feeding: Only use certified organic fertilisers and, ideally, apply on a three-month cycle. I recommend the liquid variety rather than the pellets to

penetrate the roots faster.

• Pests: The only real pests are scale insects, usually indicated by ants. These in themselves don’t damage the fronds; they merely feed on the sugars sucked out of the scale insects. If in doubt, take a sample in a plastic bag to your nearest garden centre for identification. Multicrop certified organic EcoPest will fix scale, mites and other sucking insects.

Jottings…

• If the leaves on deciduous trees are suddenly turning yellow, it’s not autumn arriving early. At this stage they are almost certainly suffering from lack of water. A good, really deep water is essential. Silver birch, Golden Elm and Ash are particularly vulnerable.

• It’s vital not to let lemon trees dry out and, as the fruit is developing, feed very regularly. Yates Liquid Dynamic Lifter, Neutrog Seamungus or Maxicrop seaweed plant food are all ideal.

• Resist pruning shrubs until the hot weather has gone, but deadhead perennial plants after flowering.