170316 citynews

Airport chief takes off over safety rumours

Do we need to have another conversation about Belconnen’s $400,000 owl statue?

CANBERRA airport boss Stephen Byron hit the airwaves over recent days to correct “unfounded and unacceptable” speculation on the potential for a major disaster at the airport.

An angry Byron told 2CC that the “scaremongering”, “insinuating that adjacent buildings were making flying in and out of Canberra Airport unsafe”, had begun after a small charter plane crashed into the DFO warehouse at Essendon Airport last month, killing all five people on board. Byron went hard on the issue suggesting that if Canberra Airport was heading for a similar tragedy, the assumption is a deadly rampage of the calibre of the Bourke Street Mall event, in which six people died in January, could happen in Garema Place.

ALSO on the front foot, after weeks of attack, was CanberraGoulburn’s

Archbishop

Christopher Prowse. The archbishop was defending the church’s right to exercise its social conscience, citing the arrest of pro-life supporters for praying within an exclusion zone set up around a Moore Street abortion clinic.

But a spectre of retired, “of-concern” priests living in houses near primary schools continues to dog the archdiocese with a fourth priest being removed from a residence near Ainslie Primary School last week.

DO we need to have another conversation about Belconnen’s $400,000 owl statue?

Melbourne sculptor Bruce Armstrong’s eight-metre tall fibreglass work, which apparently resembles a penis, has again been the target of vandals who’ve daubed it with yet another male reproductive organ, albeit a smaller depiction than that which was scrubbed off last year.

Unveiling the sculpture (which has its own Facebook page) in 2011, then ACT CM Jon Stanhope lamented: “All the great cities of the world are identified by their public art. We still need to have a conversation in Canberra about this”.

dose of dorin

A COUPLE of local MLAs are promoting old and new-school technologies to slow the city’s movers down.

The Libs’ Mark Parton is peddling the cycling app Strava to track cyclists’ speeds on shared paths and Road Safety Minister Shane Rattenbury has doubled mobile speed-detection vans’ operational hours and added new sites.

While Parto’s brainwave may help by revealing dangerous cyclist speed stats, the minister will only hear a cacophony of revenue raising. Which is, of course, totally

unfair as the vans are all about road safety by creating a deterrent.

IT’S been a big week for the local ABC women on the wireless. On Wednesday listeners woke to Genevieve Jacobs launching the all-female, on-air lineup to celebrate International Women’s Day.

However, the mood in the station was clouded in doubt over just how savagely the national broadcaster’s restructuring axe might fall in Canberra. Managing director Michelle Guthrie had just announced 200

jobs, including those of one-in-five managers, would be cut to create 80 new jobs in regional markets. But by Friday celebrations broke out again with former long-time presenter Alex Sloan named 2017 Canberra Citizen of the Year.

FOUR ANU students have been disciplined by John XXIII College after chanting sexual rhymes during O Week about “nailing” women.

Students’ Association officer Holly Hayoi Zhang said the behaviour was “typical of the kinds of sexist attitudes and behaviours which constitute the pervasive rape culture on the ANU campus, which normalises the disrespect and objectification of women”.

But the uni did have some positive and exciting news to share. The ABC TV program “Stargazing”, featuring the pop star(gazing) Prof Brian Cox , will be filmed at the Siding Spring Observatory early next month.

CALVARY Hospital has joined six other Australian hospitals participating in an alcohol-related violence study.

All patients presenting to the hospital’s ED will be surveyed on the amount of alcohol they have consumed, where it was sourced and if they’ve taken illicit drugs.

The survey, to identify alcohol-fuelled violence hotspots, is based on the Cardiff Model of violence prevention initiated in 2002 and which now operates in 80 per cent of the UK’s EDs.

Mary wants a better deal for dogs

By Danielle Nohra

FORMER MLA Mary Porter is still passionate about making a difference in the Canberra community, even from her Lake Macquarie home where she has retired with husband Ian and dog Lola.

As patron for the community committee Pets and Positive Ageing, Mary will return to Canberra on April 26 to chair the event titled “And my dog comes too… new approaches to living with our pets”.

“We wanted to do something about the fact that when an older person goes into aged-care facilities they often can’t take a dog or cat with them,” Mary says.

“When a person goes into an agedcare facility two things happen.”

Firstly, Mary says, a pet is either put down or given to somebody.

And secondly, the owner and the pet grieve, which is detrimental to an old person’s health.

“Owning a pet on the other hand is very beneficial,” Mary says.

“Research even shows that they lower blood pressure, so having to break that relationship is not good.”

Since the committee started in 2014, the conversation has expanded

and focuses on bringing pets into many public spaces, such as hospitals, public buses, galleries, offices and cafes.

“We’re working towards educating people about the need to have a pet friendly society,” Mary says.

“In Europe you go into a shop and there’s a dog. Everyone seems to think it’s quite normal.”

Mary isn’t expecting support from the whole community, but believes that’s more reason to start a conversation about pets in public spaces.

“When you open up a discussion

like this, people are more likely to listen,” she says.

“This way you get all the different views, how people feel and their fears. Then we can adjust plans taking into account these fears.”

As a person in her seventies, Mary has experienced the many benefits of having Lola, her Irish Wolfhound cross.

“Lola gets me out of the house twice a day to walk her, even when it rains,” she says.

“But also I get to meet people because of her.”

Since 1993: Volume 23, Number 9

CEO: Greg Jones, 0419 418196, greg@citynews.com.au

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When the couple first moved to Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, they didn’t know anyone in their immediate community.

“People will stop and talk to you about your dog,” she says.

“It was amusing when we first got here, people would forget to tell you their names.”

But Mary’s experience as a pet owner isn’t always positive.

“Whenever we travel it’s been difficult because we can’t always find places that are pet friendly.”

Even one of Mary’s sons, as a young person, had issues finding a rental that accommodated for pets while he and his partner were building.

“It will be good for young people to have these opportunities, too, it’s not separate.

“If we had regulations in the ACT and NSW that said you are required to have an outdoor area for a dog (in a cafe, for example), that would be really good.

“But it would be very hard to police those sorts of things.

“It’s really up to the local community and, as places become more aware, I think they’ll do it.”

Book by email for “And my dog comes too… new approaches to living with our pets” to secretary@petsandpositiveageing.com or via eventbrite.com.au

The Bay’s

calling all paddlers

THE inaugural Batemans Bay Paddle Challenge will be held on the Clyde River on May 6, the highlight of a weekend of paddle events and activities aimed at serious competitors, casual paddlers and families. The main event is the 26-kilometre paddle marathon between the Batemans Bay and Nelligen bridges and back with a cash prize pool for the top three male and female competitors.

Beyond the marathon, there are four other different races and paddle events for competitive paddlers, masters, youth and families as well as on-shore entertainment for race spectators.

The Batemans Bay Paddle Challenge kicks off with a launch at Korners Park, next to the Batemans Bay Bridge, from 5.30pm on Friday, May 5 with family friendly activities, music and entertainment, food stalls and a bonfire. Races start the next morning with the open marathon away at 10am. Spectators will enjoy music and entertainment, food, face painting and other onshore activities during the day.

Race details, including prizes, registration fees and the course, are at batemansbaypaddlechallenge.com.au including registrations for the:

• Open Marathon (26km)

• Open Masters Marathon for people over 50 (26km)

• Open Half Marathon (13km)

• Youth Race (8km)

• Paddle Run for single or multi-person vessels, max three per vessel (8km)

• Family Double Kayak Run (2km)

The man who never let go of Lego

By Danielle Nohra

OBSESSED with using tiny plastic

“bricks” to build Parliament House as a kid to making it his day job as an adult, local man Andrew Harper is yet to grow out of Lego.

And why would he?

“Everyone loves Lego,” Andrew says.

“Kids often ask, is this your job? You get to build Lego every day!”

And after entering this new career path around a year ago he nearly does.

“My wife’s a teacher and with some of the catalogues that come through there was one from Lego Education in Melbourne,” Andrew says.

Lego Education works with teachers and educational specialists to deliver playful learning experiences.

“They were going through applications asking if anyone would get involved, outside of Melbourne,” he says.

So Andrew, under the name of Systemic Innovations, did just that.

Systemic Innovations goes to schools in the ACT and Southern NSW running hands-on workshops that align with national curriculum areas such as science, maths, technology and engineering.

The workshops are a combination

Students Harry Roberts, left, and Alex McKimmie team up to program a Lego robot with the help of program facilitator Andrew Harper… “Kids often ask, is this your job? You get to build Lego every day!”

of using a computer coding program and Lego.

“It’s very popular and it’s very hard to get them to pack up after they finish,” he says.

“We can come in for a lesson and take the stress off a teacher.

“Teachers get in contact with me, then we can sit down and liaise with the school and then go through and

do a consultation.

“I also service the sets and make sure all the pieces are there.”

After the consultation it’s about bringing the enjoyment into the classroom as well as practical knowledge.

“It’s actually getting kids to look around their environment to see what can be done with certain parts,” he says.

As a panel beater/carpenter/Lego man, Andrew can see how these programs help kids analyse real-life objects.

“It teaches kids good visualisation,” he says.

“They learn about the coding and the mechanics of it, then together we try to work out, how does it turn?

How does it work?

“It’s good for collaboration between the students, it’s problem solving as well. They bounce around different ideas off each other.

“Teachers are often amazed to see that some people can work so well together.”

Andrew says once you see a student overcome an issue it makes it really worthwhile and rewarding for me and the teachers.

Now that Andrew’s life is revolved around Lego he has less time to experiment with his own pile at home, a pile that sits well out of reach from his eight-year-old daughter and sixyear-old son, who have their own separate collections.

Andrew admits that, like most people, he has watched “The Lego Movie” and jokes that he hasn’t used “The Kragle” (Krazy Glue) yet.

Systemic Innovations is at 0425 364662, email admin@systemicinnovations. com.au

THE Canberra Lego User Group and BrickExpo will volunteer their time over the weekend of March 18-19 to work and display their Lego models to the public in the third annual Bricks @ the Woden School fundraiser. The Woden School offers supported high school and/or college programs for students who have a mild to moderate intellectual disability.

Beyond the displays the Woden School P&C Association is organising Lego free play, face painting, raffles and a sausage sizzle. At 127 Denison Street, Deakin, 9am- 4pm. Entry is $5, children $3 and families $10.

Photographic fiesta

ANTIQUE and collectable cameras, usable film, digital cameras and accessories will be available for sale at the Canberra Photographic Collectors Society’s Autumn Photographic Fiesta. Individuals with photographic items they’d like to sell are invited to bring them along for the club table. The photographic market is at the Canberra Irish Club, 6 Parkinson Street, Weston, 10.30am-1.30pm, Sunday, March 19. Admission and parking are free.

Scams over lunch

LINA Webber, of the Australian Federal Police, will be regaling the ladies of the Gungahlin Day VIEW Club with stories of scams over lunch at the Versatile Restaurant, Gold Creek Village, from 11.30am, on Wednesday, March 22. The two course lunch is $35 and visitors and interested ladies are welcome to attend. Bookings to 6166 2874 before noon on Monday, March 20.

CELEBRATE

THURSDAY 16th MARCH

FRIDAY 17th MARCH

FRIDAY 17 MARCH

Dr Kim’s new way of looking at networking

AFTER a series of traumas, including caring for her dying mum, a scary diagnosis of her own and then a car crash, life coach Dr Kim Vella says she knew she needed a new direction, one of connection and meaning.

She started the Network of Possibility in November to bring together women who want to give back.

The Network hosts quarterly cocktail events with guest speakers, ask-me-anything sessions –and no sales pitches.

“I left my work in the public service to care for my mum, and after 16 weeks when she passed away, I thought: ‘How can I find a job that would have the same importance and meaning as caring for her’,” she says.

“I was later diagnosed with an unruptured brain aneurysm and I was lying in the hospital thinking: ‘I could actually die and my big claim to fame was that I worked anonymously in the public service’.”

Kim says she went on to become a life coach and that while she appreciates the freedom of being her own boss, she was missing being a part of a network.

“The public service is all of 200,000 people strong, a brilliant network, as well as the external stakeholders who are in abundance, so when I left I thought, I really need my own tribe,” she says.

“While I cherish working out of the office envi-

ronment and being able to work wherever I want, that feeling of connection to a group of people was missing. People who have a similar purpose and passion in life to me.”

Kim says the networks she found were focused on “this is what I can sell you”, and she wasn’t a fan.

“I hated it, and I thought it was short-sighted as well because, if anything, we should be help -

Does your business want to save money and be environmentally responsible?

ing each other grow, as business people and as a community,” she says.

“It took a good eight months for the idea of the Network of Possibility to grow in my mind and one night I got the idea as I was going to bed.

“I have this big thing about sleep and how important it is, and I knew that staying up all night working wasn’t the thing to be doing. But I also knew I had to!”

Kim says she now has gathered together a group of women she finds inspiring and who she’s drawn to.

“We have all ages involved, from high school students to retirees, and that’s been my goal, to bring together as much diversity as we can,” Kim says.

“I’m fascinated by women whose story speaks to closing the gap between finding personal success, but still not having that meaning and purpose in your work or life.

“The element of meaning is underestimated, and I knew that for myself a while ago.”

Kim says she has also teamed up with the local Global Shapers’ hub, a group with a focus on improving communities, to introduce people to new ideas and ways of working.

“The Network of Possibility is almost an anti network, as it doesn’t follow the traditional networking model where you talk for 30 seconds about yourself and your business,” Kim says.

“It’s about coming together because you’ve got your purpose and passion, but you’re seeking meaning. Any business opportunities that flow from it are incidental.

“People have come up to me afterwards and said they’ve realised they need to think about what they’re doing in their job, because they don’t have that alignment – the heart, soul and mind alignment,” says Kim.

“I’m interested in bringing together people who have that or are seeking that.”

The Network of Possibility’s next event is about fashion and creative arts. More information at kimvella.com.au

Actsmart offers a range of free programs for ACT businesses including:

• support to implement efficient recycling and waste management practices

• obligation free onsite energy and water assessments

• rebates of up to $5,000 (on a cost share basis) to upgrade inefficient equipment

More than 1000 ACT businesses have already signed up to Actsmart programs.

Politicians need more respect, really

IN a despondent interview, Labor shadow minister Kate Ellis announced she is stepping down at the next election.

The tension of managing her small child and the demands of politics have simply become too much. Looking into the tunnel of her political future with 20 weeks a year away from a child of school age is just too much.

It is easy to laugh at politicians and to be critical. However, this sort of announcement highlights the commitment and the level of pressure under which so many of our elected representatives operate. The pressure is not just on the politician. There are also many stresses on those close to them – whether immediate or extended family.

Senator Katy Gallagher, when Chief Minister of the ACT, managed a young family. It is also true that plenty of working families manage work that makes travel demands and have to share parenting with their partners. The immediate assumption is that politics is no different. However, public life adds a wide range of additional stresses. And it is not just about being a woman or a mother. There are plenty of men, as well as women, who either do not enter politics or who leave prematurely because of the demands made on family and private lives.

The pressures are also real for partners, children and close relatives who are associated with someone

Family members didn’t choose to go into politics. But they still wear the flack. Such is the lot of any politician’s family.

in public life. Particularly if the politician is standing up for something controversial – but in which they believe. The family members didn’t choose to go into politics. They did not choose the issue. But they still wear the flack. Such is the lot of any politician’s family.

Australians love to have a political conversation. How much better is it when engaging with someone close to the action? Children and partners regularly wind up trying to defend a position taken by the elected member as their classmates or colleagues use the opportunity to discuss and challenge ideas or actions.

Over the decade of writing this column I have occasionally taken time to make this point. The argument was that the role of family in politics is really a raw deal not only for the spouse but for the children. The same is true for siblings. At a time when the elected member is at the height of influence, making a difference in the community, relishing power relationships and making decisions that will have long-term impact; the rest of the family is just trying to get on with their own private lives.

However, in most cases public life spills into the family’s private domain and partners and children have no choice but to deal with the backwash. The issue is much broader than the likelihood that the person is working long hours, travelling or will be attending many evening meetings in the electorate. The most difficult thing for family is the disempowerment.

When a public figure is being criticised, the politician has the tools available to deal with the comments. They can reinforce their own ideas, generate and flick out a press release, hit social media with a tweet or a Facebook comment, stand up in parliament or before a committee and, with the protection of parliamentary privilege, justify their actions. Most commonly they may create a diversion by raising another issue (often more controversial) that does not impact in such a personal way. They can also choose to ignore disparaging remarks and to lie low until the matter passes.

Throughout the process they have staff and political colleagues who can provide advice and reassurance.

It is not the same for family members who are invariably in a quandary attempting to choose between supporting the public figure and the public stance and attempting to distance themselves. Even when they disagree with the partner, sibling or parent on a specific matter, the choice has to be made either to be seen as disloyal or to attempt to justify the standpoint.

For family members it is a Hobson’s choice!

All political families feel these pressures. When someone says “enough” the community should not be surprised. Either way, there should be a greater respect for the contribution our politicians make to the community.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health.

Dear Quentin…

EAT, drink and be literary with former Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce in conversation about her new book “Dear Quentin: letters of a GovernorGeneral” at University House, ANU, from 6.15pm on Friday, April 7. Tickets are $69 for a two-course meal and a glass of wine. Bookings to anu.edu.au/ events or call 6125 4144.

Student off to Serbia!

CANBERRA Grammar School student Christian Flynn, pictured, will represent Australia at the 2017 International Geography Olympiad in Belgrade, Serbia, August 2-8. He is one of four senior geography students chosen from 16 high-performing, national senior students participating in last year’s intensive residential program, Geography’s Big Week Out, held on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland.

Help for families

SHARON Tuffin, CEO of Karralika, will give a public address at St Ninian’s Uniting Church, Lyneham, about the programs available at her organisation that support individuals and families experiencing alcohol and other drug dependence. Hosted by the Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform, it starts at 8pm, on Thursday, March 23. There will be a time for questions. Enquiries to 6169 7678 or mcconnell@ffdlr.org.au. Everyone welcome.

LOOKING FOR MELANIE JANE PIRINEN

Born 1971 in Sydney to Lynette Turner and John Pirinen. Any information please contact Anna Pirinen 0490 452 789

sundayROAST

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

Dangers of identity politics

RACHEL Cunneen wrote (Letters, CN, March 9) that Nick Jensen has “been disingenuous about his association with the Australian Christian Lobby”.

Regular readers will know that he does not hide his affiliations, though one would sympathise with him if he did so, in order to protect his family from hate mail. What are Ms Cunneen’s undisclosed interests?

What’s really dishonest is passing off as “antibullying” a program intended primarily to indoctrinate children in queer ideology. This insidious campaign reaches into all organisations. For example, ACT Policing flies the “rainbow” flag and has uniformed members attend the Sydney Mardi Gras. Thus they destroy their credibility when investigating the bombing of the ACL headquarters.

By participating in identity politics they fail to act in a disinterested way and damage trust.

This is dangerous to society.

Pam Lai, via email

Ring the alarm bells

I REFER to letters supporting the Safe Schools Coalition program (SSCP) in ACT schools (CN, March 9). It is not enough reason that some children benefit from a program to adopt it school wide. Schools have a duty of care for all students.

Many Canberra parents from different cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds are uneasy with the promotional aspects of the SSCP. Programs need to be based in bona fide research and, where a program is controversial, the right to hold an alternative view respected. The SSCP is controversial, and does not meet either of these requirements.

In any case, alarms bells should be ringing about what social transitioning of gender at school may mean under the program, simply because of the wishes of the student, without regard to parental or professional opinion.

Arthur Connor, Weston

Lucky to be in Australia

AS a single woman who dates, I am acutely aware of the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). My recent experience of meeting a man who had genital herpes enhanced my fear of catching an STD. Motivated by fear of getting sick, I went to the doctor and had a free STD test. While waiting for my results I realised how lucky I was to be in Australia, a country with a good-quality, public health system, which is free for Australians to access.

I realised that people in developing countries would have a different experience engaging with STDs and health; 340 million cases of STDs occur around the world each year, with the greatest number in developing countries where STDs are the most common diseases treated by healthcare professionals other than

malaria and diarrhoeal problems. Within the poverty stricken continent of Africa, 25 out of 100 people will be infected with an STD each year compared to only 9 out of 100 people in Australia. Even though the majority of STDs are preventable through public health measures such as vaccines, antibiotics or condom usage, the sad reality is that developing countries lack the resources to fund this, resulting in larger numbers of people experiencing poor health and early death.

When the doctor informed me that my STD test results detected no infection I felt incredibly relieved and I realised having access to public health measures shouldn’t be contingent on where you live.

Viewed in this light, the Turnbull government should re-evaluate whether cutting $220 million from the AusAid budget was immoral. Australia should recheck its priorities because all people have the right to live free from disease. Our AusAid program is not a “cost”, but rather an “investment” into people’s health. When will the Turnbull government re-invest?

Elisha McMurray, via email

Acton’s the place

OF course the Commonwealth should contribute the bulk of the cost of the national convention centre. And it should be on national land, prominently sited in the central national area, near Civic, with lines of sight to and from Capital Hill and City Hill.

Acton Peninsula is the logical place for that complex, where associated hotel towers can replicate Griffin’s planned building massing. Of course, the sadly ephemeral National Museum of Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies should have been built at, and now should go to, Yarramundi Reach, as recommended by Australia’s best experts in those fields, in an evocative “tract” format, allowing incremental growth over time. The “commercial visibility” demanded for the museum by those who tragically blasted the Royal Canberra Hospital off Acton Peninsula can be achieved by close proximity to the successful and popular National Arboretum. That is the plan that the two governments here should be working on.

Jack Kershaw (formerly, President, Canberra Community Action on Acton Inc.), Kambah

Letters are invited from “CityNews” readers. Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au or write to the editor at: 9b / 189 Flemington Road, Mitchell 2911. Write

Dark about failed lights

CLINTON McAlister, the ActewAGL Works Delivery manager, argues the case for helicopters being essential to minimise the risk of prolonged blackouts and fires (CN, March 2).

One can only assume that the helicopter does not operate at night as it has fallen to myself and others to continually report street light outages in this area.

The street lighting to Section 99 Narrabundah was out between March and June 2016 and, more recently, the entire section of Jerrabomberra Avenue between Captain Cook Crescent and Hindmarsh Drive since March 2.

This includes the lights atop of the communications tower at the Goyder Street roundabout, which were also out of commission for

months some time ago. ActewAGL have informed me that the ACT government owns the street lights and that they, ActewAGL, are contracted to maintain them.

Regrettably ActewAGL has shortchanged the government in not cleaning up after replacing the light pole located just past the entrance to the Capital Golf Club, where a mass of of broken concrete has to be negotiated in darkness by pedestrians heading to the bus stop at night.

The situation was reported to Access Canberra some time ago, which so far has only resulted in an automated reply suggesting one can revisit the site after 60 days if the matter is unresolved.

Des Peace, Narrabundah

mum in the city

In the grip of slime time

I LOVE horror films, especially old classics made when special effects weren’t quite as graphic and grisly as they are now and the boundary between horror and comedy was often thin.

One of my favourites is the science fiction horror movie, “The Blob”, a 1988 remake of a 1958 film of the same name. The Blob is an alien, acidic amoeba-like organism that eats and dissolves anything in its path. The victims are overwhelmed and eaten alive by a mass of pink goo.

Nearly three decades later The Blob is lurking in my kitchen. It’s not that scary, but it’s still pretty gross. At one end of the kitchen bench is a mad scientist’s lab with numerous plastic containers filled with pink, green, purple and grey goo or, more correctly, slime.

My 10-year-old daughter has fallen heavily into the slime craze. If you are lucky, you haven’t heard of this, but amongst friends and family the creation of slime is big, really big.

I don’t know where it came from or when it started, but homemade slime is the in thing amongst pre-teen kids who like science and chemistry. Download limits are being tested by crazed, slime-making children watching DIY slime-making videos.

Food colouring, shaving cream and glue have all suddenly gone into short supply in our house. Great efforts have been made to track down a reliable supply of “Elmer’s glue” – apparently, a vital ingredient for top-grade slime.

Every available plastic container at home seems to be brimming with every possible variety of slime – all carefully labelled with descriptions such as “fluffy grey slime”, “pink, stretchy slime” and “glow-in-the-dark slime”.

I don’t know where it came from or when it started, but homemade slime is the in thing amongst pre-teen kids who like science and chemistry.

I do understand the attraction. A good batch of slime is a wonder to behold. Kids love experimenting and stuff that has a distinct “yuk” factor is a bonus.

I’ve also discovered it’s a global phenomenon. When I recently did some of my own slime research on the internet, I found there was a whole cottage industry of DIY slime production with kitchen chemists seeking to outdo each other in the creation of the best, most slimy, stretchy, slippery or just plain creepy slime possible.

There are more than 600,000 #slime posts on Instagram and a vast array of videos on YouTube and elsewhere. Interestingly, it’s overwhelmingly young girls who are pushing new boundaries in polyvinyl alcohol/sodium tetraborate decahydrate chemistry.

Notwithstanding the horrors now lurking at the end of the kitchen bench, I’m pretty happy. Anything that has got my girl positively engaged with science is great and worth encouraging. And you always have to consider the alternatives. After all, thank God, she’s not into taxidermy.

SONYA FLADUN

Secrets of Queanbeyan Traders make a trip to Queanbeyan easy to enjoy

JUST a hop and a skip over the border into NSW, Queanbeyan is a prospering river city – and the largest in south-east NSW. The word Queanbeyan is the anglicised form of Quinbean – an Aboriginal word meaning “clear waters”.

Home to more than 42,000 residents, Queanbeyan is also home to a great range of retailers and services that make a visit to Queanbeyan an easy and enjoyable one.

Practice offers plenty to smile about

THE perfect smile is possible with the help of Karabar Private Dental Surgery.

Conveniently located on the ground floor of Karabar Shopping Mall, Queanbeyan, the surgery is open for emergencies seven days and holidays (by appointment) to provide a full range of dentistry treatments – general and cosmetic – for adults and children.

Oral health therapist and hygienist Koco Clarke says:

“We offer bleaching and whitening for $450, where the customer can come in, we clean and freshen their teeth and they go home with a kit, which is very easy to use. They can have perfect teeth in a non-harmful way and not spend a fortune”.

With 20 years’ experience, Karabar Private Dental Surgery has developed a friendly, approachable service that helps relieve the anxiety of visiting the dentist.

To add to the perfect smile, the surgery also offers anti-wrinkle injections that it says are “composed of natural, purified protein and when injected into specific facial muscles, wrinkle-causing muscles are relaxed to reduce dynamic lines and create a younger, softer and natural-looking appearance”.

Karabar Private Dental Surgery, Karabar Shopping Mall, Queanbeyan. Call 6297 3760 or visit karabarprivatedental.com.au

Treasure trove of beautiful gifts

BEAUTIFUL Gifting is all about unique and different gifts that are Australian made, says owner Deborah Keenan.

“I’m always looking for different things that are of good quality and I try to get most things Australian made,” she says.

“Australian-made stuff can be a bit more expensive at times, but if the quality is there, it’s worth it.”

Deborah describes the store as having a happy atmosphere that always smells nice.

For the past four years her passion has been to serve her customers in the best possible way she can.

Beautiful Gifting, 84 Monaro Street. Call 0419 627210 or email beautifulgifting@gmail.com

Beauty with a clinical focus

WITH 18 years in the beauty business, owner Louise McMahon says Deziner Beauty provides beauty services and treatments with a clinical focus combined with a welcoming and warm atmosphere.

“We are welcoming, warm and, above all, knowledgeable on any skin type or condition,” she says.

“Our facials are our signature treatment and we love transforming people’s faces, through face lifts, body contouring, make-up or waxing,” says Louise.

“We can take 10 years off your skin with all the amazing treatments and products we have, including a non-surgical face lift.”

Deziner Beauty now has an active booking system online with sales and last-minute discounts.

Deziner Beauty also offers make-up, waxing, tinting and teeth-whitening services, and is the only local salon to have the Elizabeth Arden Pro Skin Care range.

Deziner Beauty, Shop 18, Cassidy’s Arcade, 72 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan. Visit Deziner Beauty on Facebook or call 6299 5792.

Traditional values of service and caring

WITH 125 years of experience in arranging funerals in the Canberra and Queanbeyan area, M.H.

O’Rourke branch manager Jason says the company “always strives for simple, respectful and honest ways to honour the individual”.

Established in 1890 by Cornelius O’Rourke and relocated in 1929 to its current Queanbeyan location, M.H. O’Rourke Funeral Services has maintained the traditional values of service and caring for families in times of need.

M.H. O’Rourke provides pre-paid, pre-arranged and at-need funerals, offering full mortuary care, transport for the deceased and the family on the day of the funeral and liaising with government departments, venues, the crematorium, members of clergy and officiators.

“Our pre-paid funerals ensure that everything

is arranged exactly to your personal choice and takes the burden off your family. It’s peace of mind knowing that it’s all paid for and your wishes will be carried out,” says Jason.

Not only do they connect families with all the people involved in arranging a funeral, depending on the person’s background, they can also arrange cultural services that include religious and cultural customs, rituals, extra services and viewings.

M.H. O’Rourke Funeral Services has a resident manager on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide quality after-hours support and assistance.

M.H. O’Rourke Funeral Services, 113 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan. Call 1800 386372 or visit orourkefunerals.com.au

Queanbeyan’s hidden gem

PREVIOUSLY known as Copper Cafe, Hotch Potch Cafe prides itself on good, old-fashioned service with a smile, according to its owner Dianne Murphy.

Dianne gave up her nursing career two years ago to run the cafe, which she describes as a “real passion”.

“It’s a really rewarding experience to interact with lots of local, regular customers, it’s lovely,” she says.

“We go the extra miles for our customers, if they ask for something special, we do it.

“We have friendly staff with wonderful customer-service skills.

“Somebody on TripAdvisor even wrote a comment describing Hotch Potch as a ‘hidden gem’.” Dianne says the Hotch Potch Cafe focuses on homemade cooking, including, cakes, slices, biscuits and hot soups in the winter.

6152 1737.

Leaving customers with a smile

THE team at Comprehensive Dental Care aims to provide quality dental care centred on prevention, restoration and cosmetic dentistry.

Comprehensive Dental Care utilises modern techniques to provide an efficient service in a relaxed and friendly environment. The team focuses on cosmetic dentistry that offers various procedures that are designed to improve the appearance, function and health of your smile, including; porcelain veneers, bridgework, implants and crowns to name a few.

“Our practice believes in keeping our patients informed about any treatment they receive,” says the Comprehensive Dental Care team.

“We hope to provide you with an informative overview of our practice in order to give you some insight into the quality of dental care we provide. “We look forward to welcoming you and making your visits as pleasant and comfortable as possible.”

Comprehensive Dental Care. 32 Lowe Street, Queanbeyan. Call 6297 1303 or visit comprehensivedentistry.com.au

Keeping your skin rejuvenated

IT’S never too late for people to do something about their skin, says Elements Face and Body owner Deborah Olde.

“People need to keep looking after their skin,” Deborah says.

“We are eating a lot of processed foods and it’s coming out of our skin.

“You can’t turn back time but you can slow down the process and rejuvenate.”

And with all that Elements Face and Body offers there’s really no excuses, she says.

Available is an extensive range of services and treatments including specialised facials, make-up, waxing, hot rock massage, microdermabrasion, permanent hair reduction and skin rejuvenation using cutting-edge technologies such as Energist Ultra VPL and Dermacell microdermabrasion.

“You will be a valued guest from the moment you book your appointment, right through to the end of your treatment and beyond,” she says.

“I offer you a high standard of service and care that everyone should have the opportunity to experience.”

Elements Face and Body, 9/251 Crawford Street, call 6298 1226 or visit elementsfaceandbody.com.au

advertising feature

Building a flair for special care

STEVE Milutinovic started his cabinetmaking business in 1983 and, 32 years on, the company has grown into specialising in home renovations, extensions and new homes.

Bordeaux specialises in commercial fit-outs and joinery and are also fully licensed builders in NSW and ACT.

“We pride ourselves in achieving the highest standard for our customers in design and workmanship,” Steve says.

“Our prices are competitive and we work with you to achieve your desired outcome.

“We offer full trade co-ordination and have our own experienced and reliable tradesmen and expert staff to

assist you in your project. Our custom-built, cabinetmaking workshop can also build joinery items to suit your needs whether for home or office.

“We also recently received an MBA commendation award for a ‘Special Care’ residence as we specialise in housing needs for the aged. Come talk to us about alternative living such as granny flats or self contained units,” says Steve.

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

General

says: “Our comprehensive service provides a great knowledge of tiles, we have the latest products sourced from overseas. We are conscious of the ever-changing styles”.

“We keep up to date with trends and fashion, and can access pretty much anything,” he says With an experienced, reliable team, Rivoland Tiles also provides fixing materials, tools and technical advice to achieve the best-possible outcome, whether it be for a project home, boutique development or a large-scale development. Rivoland Tiles, 24-26 Aurora Avenue, Queanbeyan. Call 6297 9930 or visit rivoland.com.au

BORDEAUX KITCHENS

(Associated with Capital Cabinetmaking)

Specialise in 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

• High quality finish

• Completed on time, every time

BORDEAUX CONSTRUCTION & MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Total design consultancy • Home

• Extend or Renovate existing homes

• Build your new dream home

At the You Are Here launch, Haig Park At an evening with Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, Portrait Gallery

At the Mother’s Day Classic launch breakfast, National Library

At the 2017 Fulbright Gala Presentation dinner, Parliament House

At Allinsure’s 10th anniversary, Acton

ASK A PLASTIC SURGEON

‘I’m tired of people telling me I look tired!’ This is a statement I hear from my patients all the time. In younger patients this is generally a hereditary issue, but also aging causes the eyelids to become heavy and start to droop giving the perception you are tired all the time. The skin around your eyes may stretch and the muscles weaken, which makes the eyes look tired and lessens the overall attractiveness of the eye. Upper Blepharoplasty combined with Browlift surgery can lift the heaviness from the face, opening the eyes giving a more positive and optimistic appearance.

What are the bene ts of eyelid surgery?

There are many reasons, both functional and cosmetic why people require facial surgery to remove the ‘tired’ look. Your eyes are the focal point of your face and majorly contribute to your overall facial appearance. Both an Upper Blepharoplasty and Browlift will dramatically enhance the eye area, particularly when performed together. Eyelid surgery will remove those winkles from around your eyes and eliminate the excess layers of skin above the eyelids to give you a refreshed look.

Is the procedure covered by Medicare?

If your eyelids are resting on your eyelashes or if the excess skin above the eye is falling low enough to obstruct your vision, a Medicare and therefore a Health Fund rebate is usually granted for an Upper Blepharoplasty. Browlift surgery is considered Cosmetic and therefore does not attract a Medicare or Health Fund rebate.

What is involved?

An Upper Blepharoplasty is performed by simply removing the sagging eyelid skin, giving the eye more exposure and taking away that ‘drooping look’. However, in many cases, this procedure does not provide a long term solution as the heaviness is a result of general aging across the forehead. This results in the decent of the eyebrows onto the eyelid which can sometimes obscure the upper lids either partially or fully. A Browlift gently pulls the brow up to its natural youthful position. This repositioning of the eyebrows restores balance to the face, improves lateral crows feet lines and produces a more attractive upper eyelid contour.

Will I need to stay overnight in hospital?

Browlifts are performed under a general anaesthetic and patients remain as a guest in our hospital overnight, where our nursing team can monitor them in recovery and provide the appropriate medical support. No matter what type of surgery you end up undertaking the recovery from facial surgery is the same, as the main issue is bruising and swelling.

If you are considering facial surgery or are feeling you have that permanent ‘tired’ look, but do not want the cost and down time involved with a facelift, arrange a non-committal consultation with a FRACS surgeon to discuss the optimal treatment solutions. Your surgeon is there to guide and advise of all aspects of the surgery to enable you to make an informed choice.

“Upper Blepharoplasty combined with Browlift surgery can lift the heaviness from the face, opening the eyes giving a more positive and optimistic appearance.”

Allinsure 10th anniversary

‘Our clients benefit from access to IA’s unrivalled financial strength, business efficiencies and buying power spanning every

Birthday broking team looks keenly to

CELEBRATING 10 years in business is a significant milestone for local insurance advisers Allinsure, says managing director and founder Peter Chamberlain.

“I’m very proud of how far we’ve come,” he says.

“We have seen so many businesses grow from small new ventures to some of Canberra’s, if not Australia’s, most influential players in their respective industries, and we’re proud to be a part of that.

“We partner with our clients as their trusted insurance advisers, managing all of their insurance needs from quote to claim.

Peter says that Allinsure has always understood that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work in insurance, so the company is dedicated providing its clients with tailored, proactive and strategic-risk solutions suited to their specific needs.

He believes that Allinsure’s award-winning team has been crucial to the company’s success and being named as Insurance Business Australia’s Brokerage of the Year in 2015 is testament to that.

“I believe that we have one the best teams in the region. They’re experienced, dedicated, hardworking and have created a fantastic culture – Allinsure is a great place to work,” he says.

Peter says that while the past 10 years have been “fantastic”, the team is looking to the future and to the next 10 years, with a recent expansion to Melbourne and a renewed focus on its long-standing partnership with insurance broking network, Insurance Advisernet (IA).

“We have two senior advisers in Melbourne now, Pete Davey and Brett Gniel, and we are extending our

community work down there as well, by supporting Dingley Football and Netball Club, and Banyule Football Club,” he says.

Allinsure’s partnership and long-standing relationship with IA and its insurer partners has been instrumental in Allinsure’s success and achievements to date, Peter says.

“Our clients benefit from access to IA’s unrivalled financial strength, business efficiencies and buying power spanning every major insurer in Australia and NZ, as well as access to major overseas insurers if and when

required,” he says.

Ian Carr, founder and chairman of IA, says that his company works from four main pillars of trust, advice, choice and value.

“IA allows insurance advisers and their clients to enjoy the benefits of locally based understanding and services, while also being able to tap into the tremendous value and choice of a national buying group,” says Ian.

“The national power of Insurance Advisernet has helped us to grow – they give us the strength, size and

national presence we need to succeed,” says Peter.

Shaun Standfield, managing director of IA, says that Allinsure and Insurance Advisernet “exceed our customers’ expectations through a balance of great people with great technology to give great advice.”

Allinsure’s success over the past 10 years has given the company the opportunity to give back to the local community.

Peter founded the Chamberlain Foundation with his brothers Brian and Ray in 2015, with a view to combining

major insurer in Australia and NZ.’

the future

his community work and fundraising into one. The foundation has raised more than $100,000 towards mental health and suicide prevention in the past year.

He says that Allinsure proudly supports a number of local community and sporting organisations including the Queanbeyan Tigers Football Club, CBR Brave Ice Hockey, The Insurance Advisernet Foundation, Raize the Roof, GWS Territorians, Angels Softball Canberra, the Starlight Foundation and IGA East Row House.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s so important to be able to give back and I see it as very important and a privilege to be able to do,” he says.

Allinsure now has three active partners, with Tate Harris stepping up 12 months ago and Pete Davey heading up the new branch in Melbourne.

“I’m still excited to walk into the office every day, meet with clients and to help them grow their business and ours,” says Peter. 'We take phone calls 24/7, and see clients on weekends where required – but it’s a pleasure to do so, it’s not like work. We’ve developed long-lasting friendships with clients and it’s these relationships that are the foundation of our work.”

Tate says the decision to become a partner in the business was an easy one, recognising that Allinsure has always been dedicated to investing in the development of the team and going above and beyond to achieve the best outcomes for clients.

“I’m excited to be a part of something that’s growing and flourishing, and that has such a strong community focus,” he says.

Peter says: “We’ve done some amazing things in the past 10 years, and there are many more amazing things to come.”

Allinsure, 18/2 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick, allinsure.com.au Call 6131 9700.

MANAGING DIRECTOR PARTNER PARTNER

Peter Chamberlain Tate Harris

With more than 16 years’ experience in the insurance industry as both a broker and underwriter, Peter’s knowledge and passion for insurance has seen him implement and manage programs for clients across a vast portfolio. In 2007, he set out to create a full-service brokerage which focused on the importance of strategic advice and client service.

His dedication to quality advice, trusting relationships, client service and retention has seen him mentor an award-winning team of young, passionate and talented advisers; leading Allinsure to take out the title of Insurance Business Australia’s Top Brokerage for 2015.

A specialist in policy analysis, risk and claims management, Peter has continuously achieved outstanding results.

Pete Davey

Pete joined the Allinsure team as general manager in August 2015, bringing more than 10 years’ industry experience attained through senior roles at global and boutique brokerages in Melbourne and Canberra.

Throughout his career, Pete’s contribution to the insurance industry has been formally recognised by insurers, highlighted in 2015 when he was one of 25 brokers nationally invited to participate in “Equip”, an annual program facilitated by QBE for elite members of the insurance industry.

More recently, Pete has become a partner at Allinsure and relocated to Victoria with his family where he has successfully established the Allinsure second office, located in Braeside in Melbourne’s south east.

A specialist in small and medium-sized enterprises, construction and propertyrelated risks with more than eight years of insurance broking experience, Tate personally manages some of Allinsure’s larger and more intricate accounts.

As an adviser with strategic technical knowledge and a hands-on approach to claims, Tate has developed a reputation as one of the industry’s leading young advisers. His recent recognition and accolades include acceptance into IA’s inaugural IA Academy for elite brokers, as well as being named as one of Insurance Business Australia’s Top 10 Elite Brokers & Young Guns for two years running.

ACT Seniors Week The week to motivate, salute

FREE events, organised by COTA ACT, will run across Canberra between March 18 and 26 to educate, motivate and just simply acknowledge older people.

And Transport Canberra is recognaising older Canberrans by providing free travel for all Seniors Card holders to events during this time.

Get more out of walking

THE BungyPump is the only walking pole with in-built resistance in Australia, says ACT representative, Duncan Craig.

Swedish-made BungyPump, designed to boost the benefits and reduce the impacts of walking, arrived in Australia in September, 2014.

“BungyPump boosts the benefits of walking, activating 90 per cent of your muscles and burns 77 per cent more calories than walking without poles,” says Duncan.

“It’s a case of ‘no pain, more gain’ as the poles’ in-built suspension eliminates hard shocks; this means that elbows and shoulders are not over-exerted and the pressure is relieved on knees and hips giving your body a low-impact exercise.”

Duncan says that many of his customers who suffered from knee, hip or back injuries now sing the praises of BungyPump.

Available in four types of poles; the “Number One”, “The Energy”, “The Power” or the newest available, the “Walkathlon”, BungyPump is suitable for all ages and fitness levels.

Duncan organises the Canberra Walkers Group that meets at Lake Burley Griffin on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to come and try our new multi-functional fitness pole, ‘Walkathlon’,” he says.

“Walking is such a social activity, BungyPump allows you to get active and get more out of your walk.”

Duncan will be demonstrating BungyPumps at the Seniors Expo.

“If you can’t make it to the expo, give me a call and come for a walk with me so I can introduce you to BungyPump and you can experience it for yourself, obligation free,” he says.

Duncan will also be at the Connect and Participate Expo at the Old Bus Depot Building, Kingston.

Call Duncan on 0404 373157 or visit bungypump.com.au

Legal

services backed by experience

PROVIDING strong and personalised legal advice and services for more than 50 years Nelson & Co is a small, well-established legal practice within the ACT.

Allan Nelson started the practice in the early ‘60s and since has trained many of Canberra’s top lawyers and set a number of precedents within the ACT.

In 2012, James Colquhoun joined the firm as special counsel. He has more than 45 years of litigation experience and is a well sought after commercial law specialist.

In 2014, Peter Hohnen also joined the firm as special counsel. He helped

pioneer defamation law in the ACT and is a specialist in the field of litigation and dispute resolution.

“For more than 50 years our firm has provided sound services in estate planning for the Canberra community,” says Allan.

“These services include preparation of wills, preparation of trust documents, estate planning advice, preparation of powers of attorney and estate administration.”

Nelson & Co, Level 1, Savings House. 8 Petrie Plaza, Civic. Call 6248 8544, email info@nelcolaw.com or visit nelcolaw.com

Taking care of people at home

FOUNDED in 1992 KinCare has the belief that making lives easier and more fulfilling requires an understanding of the customer.

For more than 25 years this family owned and operated organisation has been providing in-home support to older people, people with a disability, people with health needs and their carers.

KinCare helps older people maintain their independence, remain at home longer and gives customers the freedom to enjoy the things people are passionate about in life.

KinCare. Call 1300 733510 or visit kincare.com.au

BungyPumps are a unique fitness walking pole with built in suspension offering 4, 6 or 10kg of pressure resistance. The poles activate 90% of your body’s muscles, burning up to 77% more kilojoules whilst you walk. Bungypump poles offer stability and pain relief, with the suspension absorbing the pressure on your joints bringing back the joy of walking!

Come and experience BungyPump walking Sunday 19th March at 3pm, Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st & Friday 24th at 12.30pm – meet at the corner of Albert Street & Barrine Drive, Parkes.

Walks

March 18-26 advertising feature and educate older people

The new gym generation

GYMS have come a long way from the lycra-clad days of the ‘80s, just ask 92-year-old Bette Green, who has been a member of Fernwood Fitness for the last six years.

“I really wasn’t fussed about going to the gym but the fact that Fernwood was a women’s gym and it didn’t matter whether you were fat, skinny, young or old and you didn’t have to pose, made me comfortable,” Bette says.

“The personal trainers made me feel welcome, I didn’t just feel like an old lady going to the gym,” Bette says.

“My personal trainer is really thoughtful and respectful of my age. She is very helpful and makes sure we do the right exercises and programs.”

Now you’ll find Bette at the gym three or four times a week, boxing, lifting weights and cross training.

Lisa O’Brien, from Fernwood Fitness, says Bette is just one of an increasing number of seniors who are making regular exercise part of their everyday lives and enjoying the myriad benefits it provides.

“Not only does exercise guard against weight gain as we age, but it has also been proven to prevent muscle loss, increase memory function, lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and improve sleep and digestion,” Lisa says.

“Just as our bodies change as we age so, too, do our health and fitness needs, which is why it’s important to find a gym that caters to your specific requirements.”

Visit any Fernwood Club or go to fernwoodfitness.com.au

Providing centre-based day respite according to the needs of clients regardless of race, language, culture, religion or other diversity.

• We are a small, welcoming and friendly group.

• We provide engaging mental, physical and social activities.

• We enjoy an ‘at home’ atmosphere in the Sunroom.

• We will help you maintain your wellness, enablement and independence.

• We keep you in touch with the community.

• Our activities include craft, music, reminiscing, games and regular outings.

Can we help you or someone you know?

Hours are: 10am-2pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

We are situated in the Uniting Church Building, 30 Conley Drive, Melba.

Phone: 02 6258 5784 Email: nbdc@iimetro.com.au www.nbdc.org.au

Day care with lots to do

NORTH Belconnen Day

Care centre is a groovy and innovative centre that provides activities according to the needs of clients or their carers says program co-ordinator Robyn Rutherford.

At the centre, there is something for everyone, regardless of race, language, culture, religion or other diversity.

The Day Centre has many facilities for members and visitors, such as a well-equipped kitchen, a disabled toilet, a spacious air-conditioned room with comfortable chairs as well as friendly staff and volunteers.

“For our aged-care people and younger people with disabilities, they enjoy coming here for social engagement, friendship, to learn new things and be challenged,” Robyn says.

“We do quizzes, word puzzles, craft, we go on outings and on Thursdays we run a music and poetry group.

“Ring up or come in and we can help people with the process of joining.”

North Belconnen Day Care. 30 Conley Drive, Melba. Call 0481 185205 or 6258 5784, email nbdc@org.au or visit nbdc.org.au

Independent optician offers personal service

OWNER of Curtin Optical, Corey Nicholls, says that their independence from large chains gives customers “personalised service, quality, we go that extra step to be helpful and provide excellent product knowledge”.

Having been a part of the Curtin community for 20 years, Curtin Optical has three experienced optometrists – Renita Chou, Susan Hallissy and Margaret McCreath – available for appointments from Tuesdays to Saturdays. Corey and his team stock a wide range of eyewear, contact lenses and accessories.

“We cater to all tastes – from budget to well-known brands,” says Corey.

Curtin Optical are providers to the ACT pension scheme and also DVA. It offers mobile optical dispensing services – spectacle selections and deliveries to the elderly or people unable to come into store due to disability.

Curtin Optical. Shop 1B, Curtin Place, Curtin. Call 6281 1220 or email looking@curtinoptical.com.au

ACT Seniors Week

18–26 March 2017

Love later life

DON’T MISS THESE FEATURED EVENTS

ACT CHIEF MINISTER’S CONCERT

TueSDAY 21 March,10:30am

FREE EVENT

The ACT Chief Minister’s concert at Albert Hall, Yarralumla. With the band of the Royal Military College and the Australian Rugby Choir in one big free show!

Free – bookings required

Phone COTA ACT on 6282 3777 to reserve your space.

SENIORS WEEK EXPO

ThursDAY 23 March, 10am-3pm

FREE EVENT

The Senior Seniors Week Expo at Exhibition Park in Canberra. Featuring Canberra’s own Phil Major live on stage at 1pm. Plus info on health, community services, finance, legal and MORE.

Positive Ageing Awards

Friday 24 March, 12:30pm-2:30pm

The Seniors Week Positive Ageing Awards ceremony will recognise and celebrate the groups and individuals that contribute to the older Canberra community.

For more information contact COTA ACT on 6282 3777 or visit www.cotaact.org.au

Connecting older people with the community

IT started off as a small event in a hall but now, 10 years down the track, the Seniors Week Expo has become the highlight of Seniors Week and attracts more than 2000 people.

The expo, organised by COTA ACT, connects older people with more than 150 exhibitors.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to help contribute to the community and provide seniors with inspiration and entertainment,” says COTA ACT communications manager Catherine Adcock.

COTA ACT is an independent organisation that works to protect and promote the well-being, rights and interests of older people in the ACT.

“COTA ACT connects older people with their community and provides them with information all year round,” Catherine says.

“At the expo there will be people with financial advice,

Caring about complex issues

Navigating the path forward when parents or spouses are ageing can be confusing and overwhelming. There are financial issues, care issues and legal issues that need to be understood, considered and addressed. Carers ACT is here to help and is offering free seminars on:

u Wills, Power of Attorney, Trust Accounts u Planning for Future Care Needs

If you’re already caring for your parents, Carers ACT can help with aged care information and referrals. RSVP: RSVP@carersact.org.au

legal advice and planning, you name it, it will be there.

“Recent retirees might be looking for travel options or older retirees might be looking to go into aged-care facilities or people might just be looking for activities to fill their days.

“Everything is in the one place, there’s enough things to spend the whole day visiting.”

Catherine emphasises that COTA ACT is a not-forprofit and it appreciates the support from Goodwin and other organisations that make the expo possible.

“The main goal is to connect and inspire older people with services in the community,” she says.

The Seniors Expo will be held at Exhibition Park on March 23.

COTA ACT. Hughes Community Centre. Call 6282 3777 or visit cotaact.org.au

Protect your interests, make a will

EVERYONE over the age of 18 should hold a valid and up-to-date will says Public Trustee and Guardian Andrew Taylor.

“A will is essential to protect your interests in the event of your death,” he says.

“Despite this, many people need encouragement to prepare a will.”

Andrew believes that Seniors Week is an excellent time to consider your will.

“Not doing so can result in extra cost and potentially undesirable or unforeseen outcomes,” Andrew says.

“Your will should be reviewed in the event of a change of circumstances such as marriage, a birth or divorce.”

Andrew says people should carefully appoint a person (executor) to administer the will, to collect and deal with assets, to pay debts and to account to your beneficiaries in keeping with your instructions.

Public Trustee and Guardian. Call 6207 9800 or visit ptg.act.gov.au

THROUGH a series of seminars Carers ACT is highlighting a continuously ageing population and the need to plan for the future and help ageing parents to get their legal and financial issues sorted.

The series, “Future Planning”, will help carers of the elderly deal with these complex and confusing issues.

Two seminars will be held over the next couple of months.

The first, titled “Wills, Power of Attorney, Trusts Info” is a free seminar run by the Public Trustee and Guardian to help carers understand wills, making decisions on their parents’ behalf, and how to safeguard money. It’s at Chifley Health & Wellbeing Hub on March 17.

The second, “Planning for Future Care Needs”, will look at personal beliefs and how to have those difficult talks with loved ones about the future.

It provides an opportunity for people over 18 to plan and record their health care preferences in case they become ill or injured and unable to express these wishes.

Carers ACT. 2/80 Beaurepaire Crescent, Holt. Call 6296 9900, email carers@ carersact.org.au or visit carersact.org.au

Cruising holiday, ahoy!

WHAT better time to travel than after retirement says Capital Travel Manuka director Trish Smith.

“We have a large number of clients who have retired and want us to help them plan their dream holiday,” Trish says.

“The children have all left home and they have time to travel and are not tied down to a deadline.”

But also there’s a trend of multi-generational travel, Trish says, where the grand kids and the kids come along, too.

According to Trish cruising is very popular amongst older Canberrans, as well as walking tours, group travel, garden, gourmet, wine and art appreciation and historical lecture tours.

“The consultants are well travelled and they take time to listen to the clients and help them realise their dreams,” she says.

“We also offer ongoing support when travelling.”

Capital Travel Manuka. 24

Live longer with exercise

WITH a Curves in Weston, Wanniassa, Queanbeyan, Harrison and Belconnen, women of all ages have more reason to maintain their health.

Weston Curves owner Julie says: “As you grow older, an active lifestyle becomes more important than ever to your health.”

“Exercise and getting moving can help boost energy, protect your heart and manage symptoms of pain or illness,” she says.

“A recent Swedish study found that physical activity was the number one contributor to longevity, adding extra years to your life—even if you don’t start exercising until your senior years.”

At Curves, clients have a coach at all times on the circuit who ensure that form and technique is accurate.

“The beauty of Curves is you can work at your own pace no matter what your age is,” Julie says.

“Our oldest member is 88 and our youngest is 16.”

Curves. Visit curves.com.au or call 1300 287837.

advertising feature

Keeping socially healthy

BELCONNEN Community Service (BCS) believes that getting out of the house and having a good time can be the best medicine for older people.

BCS says that loneliness is a well-documented health risk, but they provide ways for older people to see something new and form friendships.

Every month the BCS Community Bus service offers two excursions to visit local attractions or enjoy lunch together.

In addition, BCS also offers four trips a year where seniors can travel to interesting destinations around NSW.

The BCS Community Bus recently visited the National Museum of Australia and the Royal Canberra Show.

Last year, the BCS “out of town” bus trips included a journey to the Sydney Opera House to see “My Fair Lady” and a three-day trip to Dubbo, which included the Western Plains Zoo and the Old Dubbo Jail.

BCS volunteer Caroline White says: “I particularly loved the otters – whom we watched being fed.

“Dubbo Jail, which is no longer in use, was fascinating and quite spooky, but we all had a very good laugh.”

In addition to these two services, BCS also offers a “Go Social” Saturday shopper shuttle in a wheelchair-accessible commuter.

Go Social visits the National Capital Farmers Market, Belconnen Fresh Food Markets and other shopping destinations that may be hard for older people to access.

Belconnen Community Service. Call 6264 0200 or visit bcsact.com.au

CAPITAL TRAVEL MANUKA

Transforming bland into stylish

CO-FOUNDERS of The Caring Factor

Margarete de Jong and Marianne Van Luyken are replacing the term “adult bibs” with “spillwear”, a trendier alternative.

“We believe that just because you are ill, have a disability or are of an advanced age, you should not have to suffer the indignity of wearing these often bland generic garments,” the co-founders say.

“Our aim is to change the way everyone thinks about this sometimes necessary garment so that it might be viewed more as an accessory.”

Margarete and Marianne have

designed the garments called “spillwear” with one eye on function and the other on style and colour.

“Our product is made from the highest-quality materials. The fabric we use is specially milled for us and our patterns are unique to our product,” they say.

“At this time we offer one style in three distinctive patterns.

Margarete and Marianne will be stand 58 at the Seniors Expo and would love to meet people.

The Caring Factor. Call 0450 868363, or 0450 855373, visit thecaringfactor.com

PHILATELIC SOCIETY OF CANBERRA

• Cheap stamps for your collection

• Society meetings and Stamp Fairs

• Lower cost on accessories

• Information on all aspects of the hobby

• Learn from experienced stamp collectors

• Great library and Journal Capital Philately INFORMATION AFTERNOON

SUNDAY 9 APRIL 2017 • 2pm Room 2.05, Level 2, Griffin Centre Genge Street, Canberra canberrastamps.org

In the company of active collectors

ESTABLISHED in 1932 the Philatelic Society of Canberra is one of Australia’s most active stamp-collecting societies.

The society says stamp collecting is one of the world’s most popular hobbies, satisfying our collector instincts as well as providing an insight into the history, geography and culture of the countries whose stamps we collect.

“It’s a hobby suitable for all ages, from youngsters of six or seven to adults in their nineties,” the society says.

Stamp collecting is a hobby that offers tremendous scope from casual collecting of stamps from the mail to detailed studies of printing methods and postal and social history.

The society’s membership includes people from a wide range of backgrounds who are interested in stamp collecting.

It provides members with the opportunity to meet like-minded people and to share information about their hobby.

It also offers displays, visiting speakers, newsletters, a society journal, “Capital Philately”, an extensive library and purchasing schemes for books and accessories.

If you would like to learn more about the society and stamp collecting it is holding an information afternoon on Sunday, April 9, at its Clubroom (Room 2.05, Level 2) in the Griffin Centre, Genge Crescent, Civic.

Philatelic Society of Canberra. Email psc@luckhurst.com.au or visit canberrastamps.org

Independent owner Dr William Vass.

Dr Vass thrives on being heard

DR Vass, from Dr Vass Hearing, has a simple philosophy: “Treat everyone as you would like to be treated.”

This is why Dr Vass is a long-standing advocate for an increase in regulation and transparency within the hearing industry.

Having established his own practice on honesty, integrity and ethical standards, Dr Vass admits 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.”

Dr Vass makes sure that he works extensively with all patients, private clients, office hearing services and NDIS providers as well (when guided through the NDIS process with Dr Vass Hearing).

Dr Vass is an independent owner and highly ethical practitioner who is not bound by any hearing-aid companies.

Dr William Vass, Suite 14, John James Medical Centre, 175 Strickland Crescent, Deakin. Call 6282 2717, email williamvass@bigpond.com or visit hearingclinic.com.au

Dedicated to caring for the aged

FAMILY run for 26 years Villaggio Sant’ Antonio is a multicultural retirement village dedicated to the care of the aged in the Canberra region.

The overall concept of Villaggio is to provide excellent care in a home-like environment.

“It’s all about the residents, everything we do is based on their needs,” says general manager Michael Giugni.

“We have qualified staff, we’ve got great grounds and it’s very homely.

Accommodation is available to all aged people regardless of financial, ethnic, religious or racial status.

People can choose from self-care villas, respite and day care, and the hostel and lodge.

The Villaggio vision is to provide the highest quality of care to ageing members of Canberra’s culturally diverse community.

“Our nurturing environment will enable older people who use our services to remain well, active and independent for as long as possible,” Michael says.

Villaggio Sant’ Antonio. 35 Burkitt Street, Page. Call 6254 0766, email reception@villaggio.com.au or visit villaggio.com.au

• Over 20 years of service to the Canberra region

• Dr Vass is Canberra’s only independent Doctor of Audiology

• His clinical experience and knowledge make him uniquely qualified to advise you regarding solutions to your hearing problem

At Capon and Hubert Lawyers we ensure that your estate goes to family or friends of your choice. Having a valid and up-to-date Will can help reduce stress for your family and friends, limit administration costs, and lessen the possibility for dispute over your estate. We understand your situation is different and may require a unique specialist approach.

For the best outcome when it matters how it’s done call Capon & Hubert on 6152 9203

www.chsol.com.au Phone 6152 9203 First Floor, 32-38 Townshend St, Phillip ACT 2606

ACT Seniors Week, March 18-26

Why wills are important

“MAKING a will provides for those you care about and can save your family unnecessary stress, costs and delays after you pass away,” says Capon & Hubert solicitor Lee Usher-Clarke.

“If you die without a will, there are some automatic provisions that determine how your estate is divided and these may not be in accordance with your wishes,” she warns.

“It may even be possible that, if you have no family, your estate could be forfeited to the Crown! Putting a valid will in place means you are able to ensure that those you care about are provided for and that you have appointed someone that you trust as your executor, whose job it is to put your wishes into effect.”

Lee says there are some technical requirements for a will to be valid. “Sometimes these can be fixed but

this can increase costs and cause difficulties for your executor”, she says.

“Wills can also be challenged and so it is better and safer to have your will completed by a solicitor.

“In addition to a will, everyone should have an Enduring Power of Attorney. “This is a document that allows you to select a person that you trust to look after your interests and make important decisions (financial, lifestyle and medical) on your behalf if you become unable to do so due to accident, illness or advancing age.

“You should always obtain legal advice and guidance if you propose to make a will or Power of Attorney.”

Call 6152 9203 to make an appointment

Safe and relaxed communities

CALVARY Retirement Communities provides a safe, secure and relaxed community through residential aged care, respite accommodation and retirement villages. Surrounded by nature, Calvary Haydon Retirement Community is a fully accredited residential aged-care facility providing quality aged-care accommodation (including palliative and dementia care), independent living apartments and villas in South Bruce.

Each room has been finished with interior designer co-ordinated furnishings and is surrounded by fully landscaped gardens. Spacious dining areas and separate lounge rooms are located throughout for residents and families to relax in.

Calvary Haydon offers:

• Qualified care staff, guided by its 125-year history of caring.

• Access to medical coverage when required.

• Dedicated physiotherapy assistants who facilitate specialised physiotherapy care designed to maintain mobility.

• Recreational activity officers who design individual and group activity programs aimed at encouraging enjoyment, rehabilitation and promotion of self-esteem.

• Qualified pastoral care staff who care for residents’ spiritual and emotional needs.

• Catholic Mass and Ecumenical church services.

• Ministers of various denominations who can visit on request and minister to residents’ particular spiritual needs.

• Hairdressing salon plus a qualified hairdresser who is available by appointment.

• Indoor/outdoor cafe.

• Specialised menu catering to varied tastes and offering a wide choice of meals.

• Secure building.

CALVARY Retirement Communities will be stall 61 at the Seniors Expo.

Calvary Retirement Communities, 2 Jaeger Circuit, Bruce. Call 6264 7400, email retirement@calvarycare.org.au or visit calvarycare.org.au

Calvary Haydon Retirement Community enables you to enjoy safe, secure and relaxed community living through our residential aged care, respite accommodation and independent living village.

Located within the beautiful surrounds of South Bruce, Calvary Haydon prides itself on offering an array of care and accommodation options to suit most needs.

For more information on our services visit us at 2 Jaegar Circuit, call 02 6264 7407 or log onto www.calvarycare.org.au

Where every week is Seniors Week

IT’S Seniors Day every day at Chemist Outlet Dickson and pharmacist Rhonda Warne says during Seniors Week her pharmacy will offer its usual array of pharmaceuticals and vitamins at discounted prices.

“Not all seniors have access to concessions and in fact pay full price for their medication,” Rhonda says.

“Here at Chemist Outlet we are able to offer savings of up to 60 per cent or more on prescription medicines and over-the-counter products as well.

“On top of already discounted items, we offer a further 10 per cent discount to seniors.”

While Chemist Outlet offers these discounted products, Rhonda says there is no compromise to services and encourages seniors to come in and talk to one of the three highly qualified pharmacists.

“We offer a professional, personalised service and pay particular attention to our senior clientele, as often

their regimes can be complicated and confusing,” Rhonda says.

“We are living longer and, in some cases, taking more and more medication, which can be hard to keep track of.

“That is why we offer free dose administration packing such as Webster and easyblist packing on a weekly basis.

“We also offer seniors medication reviews and blood-pressure monitoring, flu vaccination and many more related programs.”

For those in need of a bit of help to get moving Rhonda says she also stocks an array of aids for everyday living such as walkers and wheelchairs.

arts & entertainment

Nomad Jessica flies home on a high note

By Helen Musa

FLYING high is all in a day’s work for conductor Jessica Cottis, due to jet into her former hometown next week to conduct the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

Describing herself as “a bit of a nomad”, she flies around the world conducting in many countries. Although for some years she was based in Glasgow where she was the principal conductor of the Glasgow New Music Expedition.

She has now moved to London because that’s where the work is.

Last year she made her conducting debut at the Royal Albert Hall for the 2016 BBC Proms and she’s a regular with London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, to say nothing of orchestras in Australia and NZ. She’s also a regular on BBC radio programs.

Unusually for a conductor, she was originally trained as an organist, and indeed took out firsts from the ANU in organ, piano and musicology before continuing her studies as an organist with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris. An injury to her wrist put a stop to that so, after doing the conducting course at the Royal Academy of Music, she embarked on a formidable career.

“As a teenager I played trumpet, but when you’re playing the organ, you effectively have an entire orchestra,” she says.

“I studied in Paris and some of the organs there are so enormous, it’s like having four orchestras in front of you… it trains the ear, it gives you practice in improvisation and also the kind of intellectual capacity to play what is essentially an historic instrument.”

She spoke to “CityNews” by phone from Turkey where she was conducting the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra in what she called “a really nice program” that includes Mozart’s “Magic Flute” overture, his “Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds” and a rarely performed Richard Strauss work.

In August, 2015, she conducted the “Gallipoli Symphony” in Istanbul, the brainchild of Canberra music

director Chris Latham.

“The orchestra and I got on really well, so they asked me back,” she says.

Cottis describes conducting “The Gallipoli Symphony” as: “Hugely significant to me, it was something that really

made me think that one of the reasons I’m a musician is just how powerful music can be – this made us look back to the past with fresh eyes and stand alongside people we had previously been at war with.” Although it was Latham who curated the symphony,

it was the Queensland Symphony Orchestra that nominated Cottis for the conducting job, she says.

Cottis is strongly opposed to the idea of the “god-conductor”, noting that the very word “conductor” relates to the word “conduit”, a carrier.

“It is not acceptable for any leader to be dominant,” she says.

“As leaders, we have the responsibility for people who are sharing our vision, music is a shared experience. I always have a strong musical vision and a strong intellectual vision, but it still needs to be collective, there’s a lot of give-and-take.”

Cottis is excited about coming to Canberra and conducting the CSO in Llewellyn Hall for the first time in a concert also featuring the talents of Canberra-raised pianist Daniel de Borah playing Shostakovich’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor.”

All of her four siblings live here – and what’s the chance of that? Canberra was always the home her family came back to in between Defence postings and now, as a self-described nomad, it’s even more so for her.

The CSO has given her the chance to conduct works close to her heart, including Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, “The Pastoral”, of which she says: “I find it so exciting, every time I do it, it feels like walking into a new river, a new forest, a new thunderstorm”.

“I wanted to pair it with another piece which would complement it in its core vision of nature in music.”

“Cantus Arcticus” (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra) by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, was her choice.

“It’s essentially a concert for birds and orchestra from the early 1970s, and Rautavaara died last year, so it’s a lovely remembrance… he taped birds from the Arctic Circle and the orchestra kind of communicates with birds – it doesn’t require any knowledge of music to enjoy it,” she says.

As a girl, Cottis remembers that every time her family would come back to Canberra after postings, they’d go to hear the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

“This is the kind of relationship that makes my work even more special… it’s great to come back to one’s roots.”

Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Llewellyn Hall, March 29-30. Bookings to cso.org.au

Albert’s heirs come together in Trust

By Helen Musa

THE heirs of Australia’s most famous Aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira, are approaching the future with a good sense of humour.

During a visit to Canberra to sign the deeds setting in motion the new Namatjira Legacy Trust, three Namatjira family members and prominent artists from the Hermannsburg (Ntaria) community, 120 kilometres west of Alice Springs, found time to sit down at Tilley’s for a cuppa and a good laugh.

On hand were artist-trustees Lenie Namatjira and Gloria Pannka, both granddaughters of Albert, celebrated Hermannsburg Potter Clara Inkamala, the great-niece of Albert’s sister, with trustee Sophia Marinos from the social change arts company Big hART and Ellé Misios, the relatively new director of the Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre.

Albert Namatjira was, as most Australians of a certain age know, the first Aboriginal person to be granted citizenship and a household name throughout the country, where countless reproductions of his delicately coloured watercolours abounded.

But in a curious administrative bungle, or perhaps something much worse, the many descendants of the artist have received nothing in royalties from his work since 1983, when the

Gloria, the daughter of original Hermannsburg School painter Claude Pannka, was suffering from laryngitis brought on by too many media appearances and the coolness of Canberra – but as the chief spokesperson for the ladies, asserted that all three artists strictly adhered to the great Hermannsburg watercolour tradition of the more senior artists.

Not entirely true, Ellé Misios cut in, they all have different styles – Gloria’s style is soft, a composition is full of detail whereas Lenie’s art is more expansive, as if she’s sitting on high looking down on the landscape, and Clara’s painting, just like her work on the pots, is brighter and more opaque.

Public Trustee sold off the Namatjira rights to a private company for a mere $8000. In 2012 alone, the national wholesale earnings for his works was more than $10 million.

The new trust, spearheaded by Big hART, is aimed firmly towards a future in which the heirs can live and produce art untroubled by the problems of illness, schooling, housing and day-to-day living.

The Namatjira family ladies haven’t allowed these problems to keep them back. Clara, the youngest, was a well-known broadcaster with Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association Radio for 20 years before turning to art, first to the brilliantly painted terracotta pots for which she is famous and now, under the tutelage of more senior artists such as Gloria and Lenie, to the watercolour landscapes she now paints at Many Hands.

“People told me that this old man was my father’s father,” Gloria says of Albert. “I saw him with my own eyes when I was about age eight.”

She was also told how her grandfather developed his technique in the 1930s under the eye of Melbourne painter Rex Battarbee, who taught him how to mix the watercolours.

Sophia says the chief aim of the trust will be to restore justice by returning the copyright to Namatjira’s descendants.

“The trust is not just about copyright, but about future generations… it’s about allowing the Namatjira family to continue to exist and to paint on country,” she says.

The Namatjira Legacy Trust is a charitable trust with deductible gift recipient status. To donate and find out more visit Namatjiratrust.org

Anyone

To

arts in the city

‘Piglet’ show that brings home the bacon

By Helen Musa

LOVERS of Jacobean Theatre are familiar with John Ford’s dark tragedy “‘Tis a Pity She’s a Whore”, but now comedian Paul Foot, known as Professor Ketchup, is coming to The Street, as part of the Canberra Comedy Festival, with “‘Tis a Pity She’s a Piglet”, to delve into more serious issues such as “terrorism, Kim Jong-un Kardashian, immigration, ‘XFactor’ and breakfast”. At The Street, 8.30pm, March 21. Bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

FORMER Canberra soprano Lorina Gore has borrowed five Victorian-era gowns weighing 32 kilo-

grams from Opera Australia’s wardrobe department to play the title role in “Ode to Nellie Melba”, which is touring the Apple Isle with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra this month. No hint of a Melba-type retirement for the youthful Gore, though.

THE venerable Llewellyn Choir is working towards a production of Verdi’s “Requiem” at Llewellyn Hall on May 20. One of its staunchest members, Michael Braund, has embarked on a 2500-kilometre cycle ride to raise funds for the performance. He’s being sponsored by choir members and members of the public at the rate of one cent a kilometre, or $25. To chip in, email mandolin@

webone.com.au or phone 0405 257802.

THE Song Company will be back in town again soon, this time revoicing the stories of exile in the Levant and beyond with the Palestinian singer Oday Al Khatib as guest artist, performing in Australia for the first time.

THE Monaro Folk Society aided by bush band the Tin Mugs will be teaching children and their elders how to dance the “Brown Snake” and the “Caterpillar” at the coming Kids’ Bush Dance in the Yarralumla Woolshed, 2.30pm-4.30pm, on Saturday, March 25. Free and no bookings required.

A NEW online poetry journal for women to be called “Not Very Quiet” (not-veryquiet.com) will be launched by Canberra poet Melinda Smith at Smith’s Alternative, 76 Alinga Street, Civic, 7pm-8pm, on Monday, March 20. Free admission.

“JAZZ at the Gallery” is coming up again with Canberra guitarist and teacher Lachlan Coventry and Elle Osborne & Friends as featured musicians. At Canberra Grammar School Gallery, 40 Monaro Crescent, Red Hill, 7.30pm, on Tuesday, March 21. Bookings to trybooking.com or tickets at the door.

When uncomfortable truths come calling

By Dougal Macdonald

“The Salesman” (PG) IRANIAN filmmakers have a justifiable reputation for beautiful storytelling that looks at corners of the human condition.

I remember fondly films such as “The Runner”, “The Olive Tree”, “The White Balloon” and others.

Times change. Iran’s filmmakers are taking themes from a wider landscape in a changed political environment. Writer/director Asghar Farhadi, an Oscar nominee in 2011 for “A Separation”, earlier this month won the Foreign Language Oscar for “The Salesman”.

Married couple Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti), while rehearsing an

amateur production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”, become obliged to move to a new apartment, where the previous tenant, a sex worker, received clients. One evening, Emad arriving home late finds Rana lying on the bathroom floor bleeding from a head wound.

Those passages are the platform from which the film’s latter half tells what happens when Rana’s attacker is revealed. He’s a man in late middle age, a visitor to the previous tenant, with a plump wife whose physical appeal has surrendered to age and domesticity, thereby providing an understandable, however indefensible, motive for his infidelity.

Emad wants to beat him up.

Rana wants merely to send him away and forget the whole awful experience in her own way. But the old fellow collapses and it becomes necessary to summon both his family and an ambulance.

In these passages, occupying about the final quarter of the film, Farhadi examines issues confronting people who have done nothing wrong and need protecting from uncomfortable truths.

“The Salesman” is intense, not over-burdened with light-heartedness or humour. Which does not detract from its emotional strength and essential humanity. By any measure, it does honour to Iran’s cinematic tradition.

At Palace Electric and Capital 6

“Kong: Skull Island” (PG)

Weekdays 9:00am – 3:30pm (Drop-off from 8:30am, Pick-up 3:30pm or until 5:30pm for additional fees) www.youngmusicsociety.org.au ph: (02) 6251 8017

DIRECTOR Jordan Vogt-Roberts’s 118 minutes of in-your-face fantasy purports to tell the backstory to all those cinema and TV incarnations since Merian C Cooper first put the great ape on the big screen in 1933, making him the monstrousest villain of every monster movie before and since then.

The IMDb tells me that the closing credits for Vogt-Roberts’s film are followed by a homage featuring movie monsters Godzilla, Rodan, King Ghidorah, and Mothra. I didn’t see them. One can only stand so much.

I give it two stars for special visual effects. And because I couldn’t avoid sensing that, no matter how damned stupid and nationalistically hubristic the whole thing was, Samuel L Jackson knew he was getting well paid to over-play Col. Packard commanding the helicopter squadron carrying a military team assigned to protect and support a research team examining this hitherto unknown Pacific island. It’s 1973. America has not lost the Vietnam war, merely disengaged itself. Its military machine needs a new deployment.

Entrepreneur Randa (John Goodman) persuades the Pentagon that the newly discovered Pacific island needs studying to see what goodies await discovery there.

Writers Dan Gilroy and Max Borenstein have had fun devising clichés for a large team of off-screen technicians to inflict on those unfortunate chaps doomed to succumb to everything from giant spiders to giant prehistoric birds and cephalopods before Lt Hank Marlow of the US Air Force, who has spent 27 years on the island since his World War II plane crashed there, comes to their aid.

As Hank, John C Reilly gives the film’s most satisfying performance. Sweating it out in the gorilla suit, Toby Kebbell uses his eyes to tell what the big fellow might be thinking.

With a reported budget of a trifling $US190 million, “Kong: Skull Island” was partly shot south of Brisbane at Oxenford and on Mt Tamborine. As I write, the internet doesn’t yet show how it’s performing at the box office. In an otherwise empty cinema were me and two young guys. Make what you will of that information.

At all cinemas

Beautiful berries and the promise of a good vintage

IT’S March. Harvest commences. Picking begins in early March and continues until about mid-April.

Harvest timing is a big decision for winemakers because grapes don’t continue to ripen once picked and flavour therefore stops developing. The weather plays an even more important role in the life of a grape grower than it does for the rest of us. Frost and, perhaps, rain can be an enemy.

Even though the leaves of deciduous plants are starting to turn and an occasional autumn breeze chills, thoughts of bounty and ritual start to rise. The plump grape bunches are ready to pluck. Prayers are said to the weather gods, as Bacchus awaits his lusty play (I live in hope, obviously).

You drive past the plastic-wrapped lines of vines out at Murrumbateman and just think that bird scarers would remind you so much less of condoms. And each day the winemakers cross their fingers that there is not a dangerous amount of precipitation. A rain of terror is one that is significant and interferes with the harvest timing.

Robert Geddes, author of “The Art of Wine from the Vine to the Table”, explains why in March vintners’ eyes are often aimed skyward: “As grapes ripen their sugar levels rise while the acidity falls and the flavours kick in.

The

plump grape bunches are

ready

to pluck.

Prayers are said to the weather gods, as Bacchus awaits his lusty play (I live in hope, obviously).

“Weather conditions often play a vital role in this, especially rain, which can leave the grapes vulnerable to rot or the water being picked up by the vines’ roots and going into the bunches and diluting the juice.”

But John Leyshon, president of the Canberra District Wine Industry Association, holds no fears for the 2017 vintage. All is steady-as-shegoes for another good year.

“There have been no reports of disease anywhere in the district,” he says.

“As the weather moves into autumn mode, with warm, sunny days and cool nights, the berries are developing beautifully.

“Just because we have had a wet period doesn’t mean the vines have been affected. Some reports are just not accurate.”

“Yes, it’s been wet. Well-above-average winter and spring rainfall established an excellent water profile in the soils of the district, resulting in strong canopy development after budburst and delayed the need to irrigate until much later in the season.

“The rain abated during flowering to produce good fruit set in most areas and good rainfall in January kept the canopies strong and able to cope with the periods of very high temperatures that occurred at times during the summer.”

Predictions are that 2017 will continue the good run of vintages since 2015. The celebrations are between March 31 and April 9 when Canberra District Wine Week is scheduled. It culminates with the Wine Harvest Festival on April 8-9. Local wineries will offer a variety of tasting adventures, music, artwork, food, and the opportunity for a great day (or days) out in the country. They’re going to celebrate even if it rains.

RICHARD CALVER

Coming home to quality meat

I’VE cut back on meat, choosing quality over quantity. It’s not just for my health and the environment. It’s because I’m not keen on eating chemicals. And I want taste and experience with my food.

So when I stumbled across Urban Meat Co I wondered if the lad behind this new Canberra, online, home-delivery service – a blue-blood carnivore – was true to his word that he was bringing some of Australia’s most premium meat to the capital, delivered straight to the doorstep. The answer is “yes”.

Director Patrick Madden says Urban Meat Co is the first local business providing direct service of this grade of product to Canberra’s domestic market. Patrick sources chemical and hormonefree meat from those who supply internationally renowned restaurants such as Aria in Sydney. Suppliers include Jack’s Creek, a two-time winner of the World’s Best Steak, and Rangers Valley, both from NSW.

“We have exclusive access to some of the country’s best wholesalers and producers, which means we can curate selections of premium Australian meat,” says Patrick. “Our meat is for the discerning buyer.”

Patrick has cooked professionally for close to two decades. His passion for premium meat was ignited in London, in the kitchen of “Smiths” of Smithfield, where he worked with

I’ve barbecued two cuts from the third series and while I won’t say the meat is cheap, I will say it’s worth every bite.

Australian celebrity chef John Torode. Patrick has also operated his own high-end catering company, Sydney-based Urban Food Design. Meat is individually vacuum sealed and delivered in custom-made, environmentally friendly packaging in refrigerated vans. Each insulated box contains a medical-grade gel pack that stays frozen in ambient temperatures for up to four hours (they can be reused).

Cuts change regularly, based on supply. Urban Meat Co launched its third series just last week, including dry-aged ribeye; dry-aged bone-in-sirloins; wagyu and dry-aged black Angus products.

I’ve barbecued two cuts from the third series and while I won’t say the meat is cheap, I will say it’s worth every bite.

The sirloin on the bone is from Pinnacle by Great Southern in Tasmania (6 x 300g for $118). Great Southern cattle are grass-fed and enjoy a

free-range life. The cut had been dry aged for six weeks, producing a unique and intense flavour –absolutely heavenly.

Then there was the Rangers Valley score 5 Wagyu scotch fillet, one of my all-time favourite cuts (4 x 300g for $139). The meat was exceptionally tender, delicious and moist – no surprise given that Rangers Valley is one of the world’s most respected premium marbled-eat producers. I dined on half of the 300-gram fillet for dinner, dreamt about the experience all night and enjoyed the other half the next day for lunch.

Urban Meat Co delivers twice a week through trading partner Bayldon Meats, a meat-packing plant in Queanbeyan (set times Wednesdays and Saturdays).

More information at urbanmeatco.com.au

as one of the world’s

gardening Joyous perfection of plants

THE intricacy of flowers never ceases to amaze me. We can land men on the moon or make mobile phone calls to anyone anywhere in the world, but we can’t replicate the perfection of plants.

Just look at the intricacy of Echinacea, with the added uses of its medicinal properties – perfection personified. Equally, the minute detail of the pictured Banksia ericifolia flower

Echinacea self-seed easily, which brings me to the point of collecting seed from our summer and autumn flowers now finished.

Many flower seed heads can provide an interesting autumnal display in their own right and can be left for a while.

The only way to collect seed is to place a brown paper bag (never plastic bags) over the seed head when the flowers are dead and just before the seed heads are totally dry. Write the name of the plant on the bag with a waterproof marker pen and tie it round the stalk of the plant. Store in a cool, dry place until the next sowing time.

LAST month marked my 31st anniversary of writing garden columns in Canberra. Starting in 1986 in “The Chronicle” with my “Let’s Go Gardening” column when we owned our nursery in Yass. We moved to Canberra and I then wrote for the “Sunday Canberra Times” from 1997 to 2005 when they terminated my services along with many other contributors.

Fortunately for garden lovers, “Canberra CityNews” decided they definitely needed a garden page and within a week I was writing for “CityNews” with the added advantage for readers of my garden column being readily available online. [Congratulations and thank you, Cedric – ed]

MANY gardeners wouldn’t realise

that garden centres have already selected their roses for the coming winter season. Orders need to be placed from the wholesale rose growers in October at the latest, even though roses are not offered for sale until June/July. This is when they are dormant and can be lifted from the ground.

Most, but not all, new roses are developed overseas, especially in Europe and grown on through commercial rose nurseries in Australia.

However, are they suitable for our climate? Well, this is determined by being grown for two years in the National Rose Trial Garden of Australia in Adelaide. Here they are independently assessed no less than 14 times by professional nurserymen, garden designers and rose society experts from the various states. The charter of the rose-trial garden is to promote roses best suited to Australian conditions.

Here’s a fact; more people garden on a weekend than play sport in Aus-

tralia. Garden tourism research has identified that 300 million tourists travel the world each year to visit garden attractions and events. It’s a market Australia has barely tapped. Ecotourism is the fastest-growing tourism sector in the world. Yet here our Floriade is shrinking both in size and budget, while our town council is promoting Civic events with our Chief Minister suggesting it could be bigger than Floriade.

TOOWOOMBA is stealing the march on us with its annual, 10-day Carnival of Flowers each September, which attracts more than 200,000 visitors.

The star attraction is the street parade of floral floats with more than 100,000 people lining the streets. Our shrinking-budget Floriade, about to disappear if a new site is not found, takes a month to get 400,000 visitors. Maybe our town councillors should take a trip to Toowoomba, with a population of just more than 95,000, to see how it is done.

Jottings…

• Plant spring bulbs without delay.

• If your lemon tree is in a container and not too large, move it to a frost-free location or cover with shadecloth.

• The Melbourne International Garden and Flower Show, the biggest garden show in the southern hemisphere, is on from March 29 to April 2.

• Remove dead wood from

while it is easy to see before leaf fall.

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

With the Sun charging into your sign (where it stays until April 20), Rams are full of extra energy and enthusiasm. You’ll feel fiery, restless and rather rebellious but pace yourself or you’re likely to blow a fuse! This week is a wonderful time to initiate a personal project but there’s a danger you’ll overdo things; get carried away with big ideas; and overlook important details. Remember it’s Equinox week, so slow down and try to keep a sense of balance and perspective.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Have you been burning the candle at both ends? You’ve got a lot of commitments on your plate but try to put aside some special ‘me time’ this week. Solitude is soul food for you at the moment. When it comes to a frustrating personal matter, avoid quick fixes. You’ll find a solution if you are patient and look for crucial information that is hidden deep beneath the surface. Then you will truly understand the current complexities, and the path ahead will be much clearer.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

With four planets stimulating your hopes and wishes zone, your motto for the week is from birthday great, writer Gloria Steinem: “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” There’s a tendency to jump in and say things you don’t really mean though, especially with family and friends. So think before you speak, otherwise you’ll just end up offending others – and upsetting yourself.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

Cautious Crabs have a tendency to side-step problems (or just put your head in the sand). With four planets in Aries, it’s time to try a direct approach as you face challenges head on – especially at work. And a tricky relationship with a colleague may require some out-of-hours attention. You have more in common than you realise. Be a confident Crab, and communicate your ideas in positive and proactive ways. As birthday belle Reese Witherspoon observes: “Confidence is everything.”

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Don’t fence Lions in! The Sun, Mercury, Uranus and retro Venus are all activating your adventure zone. So it’s time to experiment and explore, as you make the most of every minute of the day. You’re also keen to communicate with friends from far away. But be extra careful when it comes to social media. If you post a rushed message on the run, you may regret it later on. And, if you find yourself getting drawn into a heated exchange, then strive to be balanced and fair-minded.

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

When it comes to a complicated situation with a financial matter, a family member or a close friend, all is not as it seems. So make sure you look a lot deeper so you can discover what’s really going on. Life isn’t just about what you can see, study and dissect. There are many things that are hidden from the eye at the moment (or just plain mysterious). With patience and intuition, you’ll uncover an important truth. The weekend is a wonderful time to research, revise or revisit.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

If you expect loved ones to be cooperative then you’ll be disappointed, when they continue to surprise you. A family problem is brewing so do all you can to diffuse it diplomatically, as you discuss a subject you may not necessarily feel comfortable with. It’s Equinox week so try to be fair and balanced, and see things from differing viewpoints. When it comes to a romantic relationship, make sure you’re not doing all the giving, and your partner all the taking!

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Scorpio is the sign of intense extremes, and you can have trouble de-stressing and winding down. As we celebrate the Equinox on Monday (when day and night are of equal length) strive to bring more balance and relaxation into your busy world. And avoid arguing, obsessing or worrying about an issue on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Smart Scorpios will swap sulking, sarcasm or tempestuous behaviour for clever cooperation and cool compromise.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

You’ll be hard to ignore as you ruffle a few feathers with your impulsive ideas and spontaneous shenanigans. With the Sun shifting into your entertainment zone, curiosity and enthusiasm are high. It’s Equinox week so try not to overdo things! Jumping to hasty conclusions could land you in hot water – especially when it comes to friends and/or finances. Smart Sagittarians will calm down, cool down and recalibrate to a slower, steadier and more sustainable pace.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

It’s Equinox week, so look for ways to achieve more balance in your busy life. And is your home the peaceful haven you’d like it to be? With Venus reversing through your domestic zone, it’s time to clean, de-clutter and beautify your living space. But how will you decide what to keep and what to discard? Draw inspiration from designer, writer and birthday great William Morris: “Have nothing in your house which you know not to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

The planets rev up your travel and adventure zones, so you’ve got a need for speed (which makes you more accident-prone than usual). Slow down Aquarius! Less haste and more concentration will ensure you arrive at your various destinations safe and sound. Think things through and try to keep a cool head and a sense of perspective. This week’s Equinox stars also favour some quiet meditation (or contemplation) as you strive to gain more equilibrium in your hectic world.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Money tends to run through Fish fingers like water – especially this week. So do your best to be disciplined and reign in extravagant spending. Plus make sure your plans are financially realistic. And don’t let fear of the future paralyse you, and sap your Piscean confidence. You can make your dreams come true! Be inspired by actress Reese Witherspoon (who turns 41 on March 22): “With determination and the right kind of coaching, you can accomplish anything.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2017

1 Name the capital of the Czech republic. (6)

8 What is a more readily known name for hemicrania? (8)

9 Which imaginary creature is said to haunt billabongs, etc? (6)

10 Name a member of the Indian confederacy, the Five Nations. (8)

11 What is an occupation, etc, followed as one’s lifework? (6)

12 Name the southernmost of the five Great Lakes. (4)

13 What is a bottomless gulf called? (5)

16 What is another name for a prickle? (5)

19 What else do we call a mountain lion? (4)

21 Name the second largest country in the world. (6)

22 Which person asserts the uncertainty of all knowledge? (8)

23 To tie up one’s shoes, is to do what? (6)

24 What was the nationality of Jesse Owens? (8)

25 Which term implies the act of forcibly pushing? (6)

Down

2 Name a garden plant with edible leafstalks. (7)

3 Which hot springs intermittently send up jets of water and steam into the air? (7)

4 The Commonwealth Games were once known as which Games? (6)

5 Name an outdoor game played by knocking wooden balls through iron arches. (7)

6 Which Italian rice dish is flavoured with Parmesan cheese? (7)

7 Omar Khayyam was of which nationality? (7)

13 Which horse won the 1986 Melbourne cup? (2,5)

14 To be not as old as another person, is to be what? (7)

15 Which term applies to one who has cerebral palsy? (7)

17 Name an Australian pioneer aviator, Bert ... (7)

18 When one diets successfully, one does what? (7)

20 What is a characteristic style of pronunciation? (6)

Kevin and Cynthia were in for a financial health check when Cynthia said: "All our friends are talking about negative gearing, but we're not sure what that means.

"We think that we're doing reasonably well financially and our super seems to be good, so we thought it might be time to buy an investment property. What do you think, Gail?"

I told them that negative gearing is a reasonably simple concept, but we needed to talk about how it might impact on them both.

"By way of example, when you have an investment property, to arrive at the amount that is included in your assessable income you take the amount of income received subtract the total allowable deductions and if the deductions exceed the income you have made a loss," I said.

"That's how negative gearing is calculated. This contrasts with the situation where you make a profit on the rental and this is known as positive gearing.

"The reason negative gearing is so popular is that it reduces your tax payable. When you make a rental loss, you receive the tax back on the amount of the loss. So, for example, if you make a rental loss of $10,000, the amount of tax that you get back will probably be between $3500 and $5000. In this example you have made a rental loss of $10,000 but you may only have paid out $3000 so, after the tax refund, you could be about $2000 ahead. This is because with a new property one of the largest deductions is for depreciation and capital allowances.

"Under general circumstances, you can't deduct capital expenditure immediately. You write off the cost of the asset over time and this reflects the asset's decline in value.

"You also get 2.5 per cent capital allowance on the cost of the building not including the land. No cash changes hands in these transactions, which is why you can make a loss for tax purposes but a profit from a cashflow perspective."

Kevin said he found this interesting and hadn't realised how negative gearing all fits together.

He was keen to know if they could claim all their expenses as deductions because the stamp duty would be expensive.

"In most states of Australia the stamp duty and legal fees on purchase are not deductible," I told them.

"They form part of the cost base for capital gains tax purposes when you sell. However, if you buy a property in the ACT or leasehold property in any other State, then these costs will be deductible on purchase. You can claim most other expenses in relation to renting such as rates, land tax, water rates, agent's fees, insurance and the interest on your loan.

"Repairs and maintenance may not always be deductible. If you incur costs in setting up a mortgage these are written off over five years."

Cynthia said that now she, too, had an understanding of negative gearing, but wanted to know if I thought it was a good option for them.

"Based on your incomes and superannuation position, it looks good," I said.

"However, I must point out that an investment property is a five-toseven-year investment. It may take you that time to make a good return on your investment."

There could also be changes to negative gearing in the May budget so please take this into account.

If you want advice on

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