Well written, well read
Blind author shares the healing power of tears
KATHRYN VUKOVLJAK
Emma Alberici hits Turnbull’s tax nerve
MICHAEL MOORE
Big Bash Jono Dean plays the waiting game
TIM GAVEL
Risky business, this gardening!
CEDRIC BRYANT
The
Admission: $12 Accompanied children under 16 free.
By Kathryn Vukovljak
DESPITE progressively losing her sight, author Leonie Pye has written a second children’s book, which she says has become the next stage of her grieving and healing process.
“The Broken Shell” follows on from Leonie’s debut book “The Little Shell”, and is the story of how a seagull breaks the shell and the characters heal through allowing sadness and forgiveness.
“The book shows us it’s okay to cry, because tears help our heart to heal,” she says.
“So many people wear a mask these days, and we can end up comparing ourselves to others and thinking we’re the only ones with difficulties. Tears for me are very healing.”
Leonie, a former accountant, says the shell that inspired the first book was accidentally broken by her sister.
“I was just totally destroyed when it happened, I was a mess,” she says.
“It was at that point I realised that I wasn’t just the blind woman in the story, I was also the little shell.
“When that shell broke, it was like my heart had been broken, too.”
Leonie says a series of people encouraged her to write the incident into a sequel.
“I talked to a very perceptive school librarian, while I was doing a book reading, who said she felt it was part of my healing. A few days later a friend told me she thought it was spiritual, and then during a school visit, a class of grade 2 students said my next book would be about the broken shell,” she says.
“It took a while before I wrote it, but when I did, I sat at the computer and the words came from my heart.”
Leonie, 55, has been legally blind for almost 30 years, having been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when she was 19. The condition initially affected her peripheral vision and she now has minimal functional vision, relying on her guide dog Franklin.
“Each time I lose more of my sight I grieve. It’s scary and emotional,” she says.
“I never intended to write another book, because for someone who can’t see it’s quite a difficult process.”
“The Broken Shell” has been illustrated by local artist Susan Hey, and although Leonie says she can’t fully see the illustrations, she has had them described to her in detail.
“I’ve been told that Sammy the seagull looks very cheeky,” she says.
“It’s hard for me to read anything now, and that’s been stressful because I couldn’t look at the book by sight and say, that’s how it’s meant to be.
“I had to trust and have a real sense
of faith in those friends who helped bring the book to the place where it was ready to go to print.”
Leonie says the books mean a lot to her because they represent so much of who she is.
“They’re both very personal, the first book is about my journey through depression, and the second looks at how we all have an element of broken ness, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“We can grow and learn through life events that leave us feeling broken.”
Leonie has raised more than $2000 for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT through sales of “The Little Shell”.
“The Broken Shell” costs $15. Leonie will read the story at a book launch on Wednesday, February 28, at Rocksalt Restaurant, Hawker Shops, from 3.30pm-4.30pm. It’s free and tickets can be reserved at the-broken-shell.eventbrite.com. au or call 0428 330073 by Sunday, February 25, for catering purposes.
The original watercolour artworks from “The Broken Shell” are for sale and will be on display at Rocksalt. Proceeds from the sale of paintings and $3 from the sale of each book will be donated to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.
Since 1993: Volume 24, Number 5
Arts & Entertainment 18-21
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Crossword 23
Dining 21
Gardening 22
Horoscopes 23
Letters 14
News 3-14
Politics 8
Sport 12
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MY Valentine’s Day dawned awkwardly with a text from a local panel beater wishing me “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mike” and alerting me to the troubling fact that, “many of our clients have had issues choosing their repairer of choice ...”
But by mid-morning romance emerged in the form of a free National Condom Day, long-stemmed (plastic), red rose with a pack of condoms with the attached message: “You know where to put it”. Sadly, by late afternoon scores of the roses had been discarded across the city, prophylactics intact. I kept mine. Nostalgia, I guess.
STILL on wistful yearnings of yesteryear, what does CM Andrew Barr have against older Canberrans?
The man who allegedly told a public meeting in 2016 that he wasn’t “interested in the views of people over 40”, has bagged the “small-town, backwards, 1940’s mindset” resistance to high-rise development across the city.
Barr said a “nostalgic” attitude existed “among a certain generation of Canberrans”, which he conceded would “remain for the rest of their lives”. Are Barr’s ageist comments those of someone not planning to seek re-election?
THE 10th anniversary of Kevin Rudd’s apology to the stolen generation drew thousands of visitors to Canberra, among them Nimbin activist Gerhard Weihermann. Up early for a solo smoking ceremony at the front doors of Parliament House, Weihermann arrived at 6.30, but was quickly moved on by three friendly AFP officers to the lawns where he was able to conduct his ceremony.
MEANTIME, while the atrium at Parliament House resembles a Mr Fluffy house (triple glazing ahead of the predicted stones of hypocrisy?), down on the ground is the bizarre story of rogue security bollards. Apparently, in five incidents the undersides of Comcars ferrying politicians have been pierced by the pneumatically powered poles randomly rising as the vehicles pass over, resulting in several reportedly being written off. Fault is aimed squarely at the controversial multi-million dollar security upgrade of the site.
HOW many car parking spaces does a public car park have to offer to the public to qualify as a public car park?
Trying to score a spot in the Bailey’s Corner park lately is akin to a lottery and is creating a hostile environment. With ACT MLAs and their staff taking over a large chunk and the Northbourne Avenue end closed for construction, frustrated motorists could be forgiven for thinking they are not welcome in the city.
After 20 minutes of circling they are forced out to try their luck at the nearby Magistrates Court facility where they must compete with even more drivers circling for a spot that
dose of dorin
Fischer labelled the failure to appoint an ambassador as “bordering on a diplomatic insult” with the role remaining vacant since September, 2016.
Good news is that the highly decorated son of a US Marine and Japanese mother, Harris has been described as “down-to-earth, direct” and “not afraid to be undiplomatic”, which makes him potentially an entertaining and colourful addition to our diplomatic community.
AND the final word (for now) on the Barnaby Joyce scandal is one which has barely been uttered over the past few weeks. While archaic words such as mistress and affair have annoyed the PC police, adultery doesn’t get a look in.
just doesn’t exist. Tensions are running high and a potential car park rage incident is just waiting to erupt.
THE Trump administration’s announcement that Admiral Harry Binkley Harris Jr is to be dispatched to Canberra to take up duties as US ambassador may have diverted an awkward diplomatic slap.
Last month former Deputy PM Tim
Guest speaker at last October’s National Prayer Breakfast in the Great Hall, Christian author and theologian, Dr John Dickson, tweeted: “Don’t get the ‘righteous outrage’ about the imbalance of power in Barnaby’s relationship, surely, what most undermines high office is adultery: the deepest betrayal of the most solemn promise to one’s deepest love”.
Every year children under five drown in backyard pools – accidents we can help prevent. As a pool owner it is important to ensure your pool barriers meet the current minimum standards and are as safe as possible for young children.
Remember, while a vital safety measure, a pool barrier is not a substitute for supervision. Always watch kids in and around pools and know how to perform CPR.
Are you in a time of your life where hobbies are more important than mowing the lawn or maintaining a large garden?
With a mix of 2 and 3 bedroom brand new villas ready to move into now and currently under construction, this exclusive over 55’s community provides ease and comfort of living with a brand new clubhouse and facilities with cafes and shops just moments away.
I’ve been an audiologist for a long time, and it’s been my experience that audiology used to be about the patient, not sales. A recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed just 20 companies sell up to 84% of all hearing aids in Australia, and this is alarming not just because of the corporate domination, but also because of the focus on “sell”.
There is no doubt large corporations are taking advantage of the rising hearing aid market, and patients are increasingly suffering for it. The Global Outlook and Forecast Report 2018-2023 expects the global hearing aids market to cross $9 billion USD by 2023, projecting it to be a profitable industry. This means corporations have an increasing incentive to interfere with clinical decision-making if it means more sales and greater profits. Audiologists are bound by a code of conduct to not let financial considerations drive their decisions regarding patients’ needs, but management interference is exponentially forcing the upselling of hearing aids.
door to sell you an expensive hearing aid. As I call it, it is “Greed ahead of need.” As hearing loss patients you are increasingly at risk of putting your trust into the hands of someone with a financial motivesomeone who takes thousands of dollars from an unsuspecting patient, a patient who trusts them because they believe they are dealing with a professional, not a salesperson.
“As hearing loss patients you are increasingly at risk of putting your trust into the hands of someone with a financial motive…”
– Dr Vass
The bottom line is this: beware of what someone is telling you when it comes to your hearing. Always seek a second opinion, and keep in mind it is always best to seek the advice of an independent audiologist who can give you professional advice without the pressure of sales commissions or bullying tactics from management.
This is why I am offering free second opinion consultations to those who are concerned about the assessment they have received. If you have a copy of your audiogram and would like a second opinion, visit drvasshearing.com.au or call 6282 2717 to book a second opinion consultation with me, free of charge.
Too often it begins with a ‘Free Hearing Test’. There is no such thing. A free hearing test is a means to get you through the
Dr William Vass has been a part of the hearing health industry in Canberra for over 20 years and is the only independent Doctor of Audiology in the ACT.
By Kathryn Vukovljak
A COMMUNITY project that encourages locals to grow more fruit and veg at home is looking for backyard gardeners interested in arranging harvest swaps, says Elizabeth Goodfellow, founder of 100kilos.org.
Elizabeth started the initiative in 2014 as a way to encourage people to grow 100kg of food a year, bringing communities together to swap and share the results.
She says the most successful element of 100kilos.org has been the harvest swaps, where people bring their home-grown goodies to swap for other produce.
“We would really love to see more swaps be ing organised from now until May,” she says.
“It’s been a learning curve and over the years we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t.
“It seems to help if the swaps are held in plac es that are already on the beaten track, where people are going anyway. The swaps are usually open for an hour or two with people coming and going as they please.
“People bring their home-grown fruit, veggies or herbs, including seeds or plants, to make a fair swap for something else.
“If someone’s there to chat to, that works well as otherwise people seem unaccustomed to sharing and are a bit tentative as to what it’s all about.”
Elizabeth’s website 100kilos.org provides a place to share veggie patch photos, knowledge and tips online, as well as to join the initiative and be supported to start their own local harvest swaps.
“We want more people to get involved, whether it’s at schools, workplaces, shops, farmers’ markets or community centres, and we can help to promote them through our social media platforms.”
Elizabeth says harvest swaps are currently
hosted in Yass on Saturdays and Charnwood on Thursdays, but that she would love to see them around the region and all through the week.
“I get a real sense of community from the harvest swaps, and I love to see how food brings communities together,” she says.
“It’s been far beyond what I expected and we’ve had so much positive feedback from the events and the website.
“It’s a rewarding thing to do, and I especially love it when I see people constructing a meal in their heads from what’s available!”
A Virtual Veg Out will be held online on March 1, where anyone interested can talk with volunteers about how to host a harvest swap. More information at the events page at 100kilos.org
I MUST relate a recent meeting I had with a City Services official, an absolute gentleman and understanding of my concerns, and two Parks and Conservation officials about the overgrown state of the Dunlop Reserve.
After five months writing to my five local members (of which three bothered to reply) my correspondence was somehow handballed to the City Services gentleman, who then contacted Parks and Conservation and an on-site meeting was arranged with two of their grass and burning scientists.
Well, it turns out that I am a dill as even though the grasses are more than a metre tall they are mown to a point 30 metres from my home, which makes it all fine and dandy as that is what is quoted in the “ACT Bushfire
Reader MICHAEL ATWELL, of Dunlop, is grumpy about the fire risk of his overgrown local reserve
Management Standards, ACT Strategic Bushfire Management Plan Version 3 of 2014”. Phew!
When I then asked about the cluster of grass accumulated where the tractor/mower turns less than 12 metres from my home, they said that was alright because if there was an outbreak, the homes 40 metres diagonally opposite me would probably be caught up first. Good to know.
I then suggested, as I had to the local Assembly members, putting cattle back on the reserve as was done several years ago and worked a treat. I was told that was a possibility later this year, but lo and behold, shock and
horror, I was then advised by another scientist we now have a problem with the probability of the Golden Sun Moth taking up digs somewhere in the reserve region. At this point I suggested I had wasted enough of these fellas’ time and retired to my home for a strong coffee and thought to my good self, any wonder the ACT Greens/ Labor government has the once-pristine ACT looking like an absolute dump.
Grumpy is an occasional column dedicated purely to things that get up your nose. Readers are invited to vent (no more than 300 words, please) at editor@citynews.com.au
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THE squealing of Malcolm Turnbull to being challenged by an ABC economics journalist over the validity of corporate tax cuts illustrates his vulnerability.
The Turnbull government’s failed “trickle down” economic theories have come under challenge once again. This time the credibility of the Prime Minis ter’s corporate tax cuts were exposed by the ABC’s chief economics correspondent and former “Lateline” anchor, Emma Alberici.
The yelps of the Prime Minister revealed the raw nerve and the ABC pulled the analysis from its website with director of programs Gaven Morris argu ing it is opinion rather than analysis. Poppycock!
Attempts to remove the article have failed. A “webcached” version is still cir culating and can be found here: https:// goo.gl/GuA4dV. Judge for yourself.
Local Labor MP Andrew Leigh (formerly an ANU professor of econom ics) lent his support to Alberici in a tweet: “Two observations on ABC tax reporting: 1. @albericie is a Walkley finalist for her work on tax dodging. 2. The Liberals’ own analysis says household benefit of a big biz tax cut funded by higher personal taxes is 0.1 per cent, in the 2030s”.
CEO Alan Joyce is paid close to $100,000 a day while Qantas has paid no corporate tax for around a decade.
No wonder Malcolm Turnbull is screaming. Caught out! Again!
The core of the Alberici argument was twofold.
Firstly: “There is no compelling evidence that giving the country’s biggest companies a tax cut sees that money passed on to workers in the form of higher wages”. And second: “Profit margins have risen to levels not seen since the early 2000s but wages growth has been slower than at any time since the 1960s”.
In question time the Prime Minister railed against the article exposing his own sensitivity and accusing the Opposition of busily
ABC chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici… “Tax rates don’t matter if you’re not paying tax.”
retweeting the article – “One of the most confused and poorly researched articles I’ve seen on this topic on the ABC’s website.” In a further attempt at ridicule he added: “The ABC has the same understanding of the commercial world as does the Opposition.”
The reality is that neither the Opposition nor Emma Alberici are fooled by the Coalition façade of “trickle down” economics. These arguments are simply used to provide tax breaks to those who make big donations to their own political parties.
What has really hit the raw nerve is the methodical way that Alberici exposes the tax-cut arguments as fraudulent.
Beyond the core of her argument she added: “Tax rates don’t matter if you’re not paying tax” and identified that “one in five of our biggest companies haven’t paid any corporate tax at all in at least three
years”. No tax! In three years! How far will this go up the nose of almost every salary earner in Canberra and across Australia when they are paying between a third and a half of their salaries in
The article also analysed the “headline rate” of 30 per cent corporate tax. Instead, it argued, the “effective rate” provides a much clearer picture. In this case, “according to a report published last year by the US Congressional Budget Office, Australia’s effective tax rate, at 10.4 per cent, is among the lowest in the world”. Alberici acknowledged that Treasury does not accept the figure preferring alternative evidence.
These concepts are not new. “Crikey” political editor Bernard Keane argued in September: “Despite Scott Morrison’s insistence, there’s no link between company profits and higher wages. In fact, if there is a link, it may be a negative one”. He pulled no punches arguing the idea that “corporate profits will lift wages is
Another issue relied on the Australian Services Union identifying average pay rises at less than three per cent a year while at Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is paid close to $100,000 a day. As pointed out in another story by the same author, Qantas has paid no corporate tax for around a decade while “not one of Australia’s major airlines has paid corporate tax since at least 2013, including Virgin and its subsidiary Tigerair”.
Needling a raw nerve with appropriate analysis should be the hallmark of the media. Having the ABC respond to government pressure, tests the credibility of both the government and the national broadcaster.
Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health in the Carnell government. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.
By Tulitha King
CERAMICIST Georgie Bryant
says food has gone from being something we eat, to something we also talk about, look at and photograph.
“It seems to be everywhere and – I would say this as a potter,” she laughs, “but it seems that the natu ral progression is to ask: ‘If we care about what we’re eating, what are we eating it off?’
Georgie creates bespoke tableware for individuals, cafes and restau rants with a focus on “providing functional, domestic ware that is contemporary, earthy and honest”.
Her pieces can be found in Bar Rochford, Doughnut Department and Highroad. Georgie is currently mak ing tableware for The Cupping Room for its new menu in April.
“It’s sheer delight when I wander past one of the restaurants where my plates are and see people having a nice time, maybe not everyone is thinking about the plates, but it’s all part of the picture,” she says.
She works with chefs and restaurant owners.
“They’re usually very passionate and I’m passionate, too. They want something special and I want something special as well. I like working with them to develop something
that’s unique.
“I’ve stood in cool rooms with chefs, looking at pork knuckles, to understand what is going to go on the plate. They are all about the food being right
and I’m all about the plate being right and then we have an overlap where we have to be right together, which is not just technical, it’s got to be affordable, I’ve got to be able to reproduce it, it’s
got to be attractive and it has to make sense with the food.
“I quite enjoy getting the detail right, the size and the form, which you need to do if you’re going to do production pottery,” she says, saying the process of making dozens of repeat items becomes a rhythm.”
For Georgie, turning her ceramics practice into a business, under her label Linburn Handmade, has been an organic process.
After moving to Canberra for work she took up a pottery class at the Watson Arts Centre, developing a passion for pottery which soon saw her working with a production potter before embarking on her own business venture.
The name, Linburn, is a nod to her childhood home near Mudgee, NSW, where she was surrounded by her mother’s cherished porcelain and learned to make things with her
“My dad is probably at the root of all this, unknowingly. He’s a really clever guy who can manufacture anything. He’s a farmer and learned to build all sorts of buildings around NSW with his father when he was a young man.
“I couldn’t help but learn from them that I wanted to make beautiful and useful things.”
linburnhandmade.com
MARK Redenbach will talk about visiting south India at the next monthly meeting of the Canberra South Branch of the National Seniors Australia at the Weston Creek Labor Club, Teesdale Close, Stirling, from 10.30am, on Wednesday, February 28. Non-members welcome. There’s a $3 contribution to morning tea.
THERE will be a seminar for families and others interested in bilingualism and bilingual education at Law Theatre, ANU College of Law,1.30pm-4pm, on Sunday, March 4. Discussion will be led by a panel of parents, older children who have grown up bilingually and an educator/academic involved in bilingual education. Free entry but RSVP required via eventbrite.com.au. Enquiries to canberrabilingual@gmail.com or 0408 089235.
CANBERRA 1 MAR - 28 MAR
OPENING NIGHT 1ST MARCH - C’EST
Game Night.
“GAME Night”, the new comedy about a group of friends who meet regularly for game nights and find themselves trying to solve a murder mystery, is the featured movie for the Orangutan Project’s fundraiser at Hoyts Belconnen, 6pm, on March 7. All proceeds go towards a $2000 target to fund a wildlife protection unit to patrol and protect critically endangered orangutans, tigers and elephants in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. Tickets at $25 from eventbrite.com.au (search for “orangutan”).
IN Fay Maddison’s hot hometown of Darwin, nestled against a backdrop of rainbow-coloured cliffs, a little, tin-roofed, bush theatre was the creative escape from her self-medicating father, who was suffering from what she now knows is PTSD.
As a child, she was too young to understand what her father, a World War II veteran, was going through and says the label PTSD didn’t even exist back then.
It was later in life, when the phrase “posttraumatic stress disorder” started being used more commonly, that Fay felt inspired to start a conversation about PTSD creatively.
Now she lives in Canberra with her husband, Paul Maddison, the High Commissioner of Canada, and wants to extend the conversation here.
She met Paul on a blind date in Hong Kong after moving there to model and act in her 20s. Once married, Fay gave up her career to become a “navy wife” and stepped into a world where she saw more people affected by war.
During that time she often thought back to the small bush theatre in Darwin and one night decided to draw on something a teacher had said to her when she was young: “You should be a writer.”
The Afghan war had started and she witnessed many friends coming back with PTSD.
“I saw a lot of families being torn apart, a lot of hurt and pain,” she says.
“In the US there were 22 suicides a day from people who had served. By the time they came back their bodies were exhausted.
“You cannot go into a theatre of war and not
come back changed in some way.”
While watching these families, Fay continued to ask herself: “How does a 10-year-old feel when their mum or dad is a firefighter and in the middle of the night they hear sirens going down the road?”
And from that, she wrote an early reader book about a little girl, Natasha, whose dad is in the navy and her best friend’s dad is a firefighter.
In the book these friends come together and start a magical, musical theatre, just like the one that Fay was in when she was a child.
But Fay believed this was bigger than a story and started the Natasha’s Wood Foundation, which meant that no matter where families were, they could access everything online. It also meant that people weren’t making money from other people’s pain.
“Now that it’s in place and cannot be taken away, 100 per cent of the proceeds from the book will always go back to help children’s programs in the mental health and wellbeing field,” she says.
“I had to do it ethically, from what I had experienced seeing my father with PTSD and what it did to our family.
In Canada, Fay has directed all proceeds of the book “Twiglet’s First Birthday”, which is based in Natasha’s Wood, towards the mental wellness of children in first-responder and military families.
She also ran an art campaign there, letting children, from these families, illustrate the book.
In Canberra, Fay is running another art campaign with all proceeds of the printed picture book gifted back to the youth programs at the
National Arboretum.
Fay believes it’s fitting to partner with the Friends of the National Arboretum after hearing that the Arboretum symbolises the community’s process of healing and recovery from the catastrophic Canberra fires.
The children’s original art will be posted up
on
Ages 5-18 can submit artworks until September via arboretumcanberra.org.au
Located in one of Canberra’s most desirable areas, Marian Manuka gives you the freedom to completely focus on your lifestyle. On your doorstep are an abundance of restaurants, cafés, boutiques, a cinema complex and a sporting ground, with Lake Burley Griffin, Kingston Foreshore and Canberra’s cultural institutions just a short drive away. And at the end of a busy day, you can retreat into the serenity of your beautiful architecturally designed apartment, with like-minded people as your neighbours.
CANBERRA cricketer Jono Dean vividly remembers the phone call that changed his life. Admittedly, it was only five years ago, but plenty has happened since then.
It was the day after the PM’s XI in 2013. Still on a high after hitting 51 off 35 balls against the West Indies at Manuka, the coach of the Adelaide Strikers Big Bash team, Darren Berry, made that life-changing call.
Berry invited Dean to join the Strikers’ squad for the third season of the T20 competition, which had, in its first two years, taken the cricket world by storm.
Five seasons later Dean and his Adelaide teammates have emerged as the Big Bash champions for the first time. He didn’t get to bat in the final, but that means little in the context of team sport.
At 33, Jono Dean is now wondering if his role with the Strikers will evolve into a sixth season and, if it’s not Adelaide, could he be picked up by another team?
“It’s a waiting game, I have some people doing some work for me, we’ll see what happens. I am still keen to contribute in the Big Bash but I can’t do that unless I am part of a franchise,” he says.
To a certain extent it’s out of his hands, but he has the belief that age is
not a factor.
“I do things smarter these days,” he says in reference to his fitness and recovery.
For the time being though, it is back to the reality of family life with wife Kimberley and his two kids and work at the Department of Agriculture.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. It could be likened to emerging from a reality television program after two months,
back into the real world.
Jono probably describes it best: “It’s been two months in a bubble with some really good people having a really good time. All of a sudden you go from waking up at 10 in the morning before heading to the gym, to waking up at seven to go to work.”
Not that he begrudges his job at the Department of Agriculture, far from it. From what I can gather, he likens it to being part of a sporting team; strong in team spirit, culture and work ethic, with everybody making a contribution.
In the past he has gone back to work almost the day after the Big Bash has finished. This time around, after learning from past experience, he took a break before returning fulltilt into reality. He spent quality time with his family, after constantly being on the road with the competition for five weeks. It’s a time that he missed being with his wife and two boys.
“It was tough to adjust. I was away for two months. It’s playing in a competition, which a lot of people around Australia are keenly watching on television, so I have to be able to answer questions from people who are keen to interact and discuss cricket.
“Once it’s over I get to see people I haven’t seen for a while.”
In the past he says he came back to earth with a bit of a thud.
“In the first couple of years I struggled with the contrast, but I think I have learnt from experience, taking that little bit extra time to return to routine and spend some time with the kids at home and then ease back into work a week or so later rather than diving back into reality. It can be quite a shock.”
So to the future and the waiting game continues: “I would never have dreamt of playing five seasons in the Big Bash so to tick it off this year has been fantastic.”
You get the impression he would be keen to keep playing well beyond next season if remotely possible. But for the time being, life continues as part of two other important teams at home and work.
THE seventh annual Melanoma March will start from the Play Station Café carpark, Weston Park, Yarralumla, from 9am, on Sunday, March 18. An initiative of Melanoma Institute Australia, the march aims to raise awareness and funds for melanoma research. “With one of the highest rates in the world, melanoma continues to be the most common cancer affecting 15-to-39year-olds and kills more young Australians aged 20-39 than any other cancer,” said institute CEO Carole Renouf. More information, registrations or sponsorship at melanomamarch.org.au
Women of all ages are invited to attend a free pelvic-floor workshop presented by ACT Health, which will offer information, education and self help strategies for women who are experiencing continence problems or wishing to prevent them. At the Tuggeranong Community Health Centre, 1pm-4pm, Tuesday, March 13. Bookings to 6207 9977.
THE Pakistan Students’ Association at
By Kathryn Vukovljak
WHEN people start dating, they’re often caught up in the romance of it all and money can be a daunting topic to bring up, says founder of financial-education business Women with Cents Natasha Janssens.
She says a recent Relationships Australia report cites financial stress as a leading cause for divorce.
“Couples need to have regular conversations about money,” Natasha says.
“My husband Simon and I started dating in our early 20s and it was our first serious rela tionship for us both.
“We’ve changed and evolved over the years, and learned a lot! At the start, like many mod ern, independent women I wanted to keep the finances separate and felt it was great. He could buy a Playstation and I could buy a new dress without any arguments or asking permission from each other.
“But over time we realised that keeping the finances in isolation to each other meant we didn’t have a joint goal to work towards.”
Natasha says that without a joint goal, prob lems can occur down the track, with the possi bility of creating a lack of communication.
“Couples need to be mindful of taking that step and having regular communication about their joint goals,” Natasha says.
“It’s about daydreaming together, what do the next two, three, five years look like and where do we want to be? And then taking steps to achieve it.”
Natasha says that while we all have different values, particularly around money, a success
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I HAVE some admiration for Jon Stanhope – both as a former chief minister and his Arboretum legacy, which will serve Canberra for a very long time. But I must take issue with his opinion that “Middle-class values smother our compassion” (CN, December 28).
I’m okay; I’m white, an Anglo/Celtic, fourth-generation Australian, sitting somewhere within Jon Stanhope’s “middle-class values”, happy in my place and living a good, reasonably healthy life in semi-retirement but I am troubled by what I see around me.
I see that we spend billions (about $25 billion annually) but still can’t get the social and health aspects of our indigenous population more advanced than some of the overseas countries to which we provide aid.
I listened to a discussion on the radio the other day that came to the conclusion that “the government needs to do more to reduce the incarceration rate of the Aboriginal population”. I have listened to the ongoing debate about Australia Day/ Invasion Day and hear the arguments that drive individuals to take particular positions.
The government will not devise a solution to reducing incarceration rates without creating another generation of equally disaffected individuals. I also believe that while the protestations of urban “first people” may lead to a change to the
I think that the portion of the indigenous population intent on turning every circumstance into a battle cry of dispossession and disadvantage do themselves a disservice.
present Australia Day date that will not change attitudes nor contribute to the betterment of the indigenous population living “in country”.
And the solutions are not a matter of money. To reduce incarceration rates, two primary intervention circuit breakers need to be in place: parental intervention and ambition.
Cartoonist Bill Leak was right inasmuch as there is a significant portion of indigenous parents who cannot or will not guide, mentor or properly bring up their children, not all but a significant number. And before the screams of outrage, let me explain.
Parental intervention means taking responsibility for the kids brought into this world, for imbuing them with a sense of worth, ambition and the rule of law – whatever law that is – tribal or common; ambition means a belief that, at the very least, modest accomplishment is a worthwhile pursuit.
So let’s really examine the circumstances:
The indigenous population of Australia is some 700,000 (about 3 per cent of the population) and not vastly different from estimates at the time of European settlement. While
there is evidence of aquaculture and agriculture, the indigenous population practiced subsistence living for 50,000 years. With some exceptions no permanent villages evolved and trade was that which could be accomplished within walking or sailing distance.
Ambition was survival driven through the rule of tribal law, the role of elders and a history recorded through storytelling, dance and art.
So what happened? Yes, for the indigenous population colonisation was the end of their known life, pretty much the same as for the North American Indian population.
Did my forebears contribute to indigenous dispossession? They almost certainly did. Do I feel guilty about it? I don’t, it happened long before my time, but that does not stop me expecting the indigenous population to be given “a fair go”, but that has limitations when there is no reciprocity, an attitude of resentment, an expectation that “the government” will continue to pay for the original sin and a disdain for “whitey”.
For my own part my forebears came to this country
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in the 1830s, listed on ships’ manifests as servants and labourers but with sufficient ambition to read and write and a determination to find a new and better life in this country. That this occurred to the disadvantage of the resident population is regrettable but a not unusual circumstance 200-300 years ago.
What the dispossessed indigenous population should be working on is not how to avoid integration into the wider community, but how they can integrate the Aboriginal culture within the wider community.
This has started with Welcome to Country and smoking ceremonies, but it needs to go much further through storytelling, dance, bushcraft, Aboriginal tribal law, language and developing a sense of urgency with every indigenous kid that they have a personal obligation to evolve and express their culture and take pride in their history and place on this earth.
This may take another 100 years, but the journey will be well worth it.
For while ever there is a sense of hopelessness, despair, anger, total disregard for community norms and an abrogation of parental or community responsibility, we will continue to see the rate of indigenous
incarceration increase.
There are limits to the tolerance levels of even the most charitable individuals, and I think that the portion of the indigenous population intent on turning every circumstance into a battle cry of dispossession and disadvantage do themselves a disservice. Let’s focus our energies on the really serious issues that can only be rectified by a hell of a lot of good will and a unified commitment by everyone It will not be achieved by governments or legislation without another cycle of children “taken into State care” or sent to “boarding school” in order to resolve the problem. One would think, given the mistakes of the past, this option is to be avoided. There is a better way, but that must be generated internally, within the indigenous community.
Brian Franklin is a Canberra-based writer and project management consultant. This is an abridged version of his original article.
We, the residents of the Naas Valley, at Tharwa, wish to register our deep concerns regarding the upcoming Psyfari Festival that is to be held at Caloola Farm, Top Naas Road, on the weekend of February 23-25. The festival expects upwards of 2000 patrons.
This event, which is open to the public, will see thousands of festival goers camping at Caloola Farm.
The Naas residents are concerned that the current high fire danger and the long, dry fire season, may cause a serious situation for patrons attending the festival along with rural residents in Tharwa and the neighbouring areas.
Access to Caloola Farm is on a single lane, eight kilometres of dirt road, with only one way in and one way out. Should a fire or unforeseen catastrophe occur, the patrons and residents of the valley would be put in grave danger due to the access to Caloola Farm. The high numbers of patrons attending who would need to be evacuated would more than likely prohibit any incoming emergency service units.
Drugs and alcohol are reported to be prolific at these types of events. This raises another safety factor for all people on Canberra’s rural and suburban roads.
Recent and similar events held at Caloola Farm provided evidence of pollution from human faecal, urine matter and toilet paper. This pollution occurred on the water’s edge of the pristine Naas River. Litter was also left behind on the sides of both the Top Naas and Bobeyan Roads.
If the ACT government upheld rural lease policies and signed agreements, events such as these would not be occurring. Holding events such as these at Caloola Farm is in breach of the rural lease agreement.
Naas Valley Residents
TWENTY-nine people were fined for speeding in front of Narrabundah College on the first day back at school.
For many, I guess, not realising it was the beginning
of the school year would have been a reasonable excuse. And, no, I wasn’t one of the 29.
Narrabundah College caters for years 11 and 12, and students range in age from 16 to 18. Many of them have a licence and drive to college each day.
I find it sad that the reduced-speed sign outside the college tells the world that students at the college haven’t yet understood road rules and cannot be trusted to cross the road.
I am all for reduced speed outside primary and high schools, but why do we have to treat our 16 to 18-year-olds like children and have reduced speed outside colleges?
Surely these students would have learned by now what is expected of them in regards to staying safe on the road, especially those who already have a driver’s licence? Maybe we, as supposed adults, need to re-assess when we allow our children to be considered responsible citizens.
Julie Finch-Scally, Narrabundah
I’M with columnist Michael Moore (“Labor hell-bent on the high life”, CN, February 15) and then some. To move as many Canberrans as possible into apartments the ACT government is taking over car parks for more high-rise, thus forcing us on to public transport.
Parts of Civic look like bomb sites – we avoid it –there are vacant shops everywhere and the number of beggars seems to have increased.
Apart from lunch hour, the streets are empty except for the army of yellow and orange-dressed workers.
When the unions and their government are finished they will have the territory they want.
Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla
STANDING on the former site of Erindale Homestead, Erindale Centre was developed in 1985. South-west of Canberra, Erindale serves as a shopping hub for surrounding suburbs such as Wanniassa, Gowrie, Fadden and Oxley, and greater Canberra.
Gym club readies
for all sports
REGARDLESS of experience or ability, Southern Canberra Gymnastics Club says it’s a facility where girls and boys can be challenged as well as have fun.
Based in Wanniassa, it first opened its doors in 1983 to give gymnasts a space in the Tuggeranong community.
Today it continues to provide this space, offering programs such as men’s artistic gymnastics, women’s artistic gymnastics, general gymnastics, kindergym and trampoline sports.
The club says gymnastics is especially beneficial for children because it physically and mentally prepares them for all sports.
It develops co-ordination, strength, flexibility and quickness, while it promotes concentration skills and self discipline.
The club says many former Southern Canberra kids have gone on to excel in other sports and in the academic world.
Southern Canberra Gymnastics Club, Gartside Street, Wanniassa. Call 6296 3331, email gymclub@ southerncanberra.net or visit southerncanberra.gymnastics.org.au
DIRECTOR Kristen O’Connor often hears parents say they wished they knew about the programs at Kidstart Education and Activity Centre sooner.
“We are finding that children have not developed a love of learning or the skills to embrace the learning opportunities presented to thrive in the structured classroom environment of school,” she says.
To change this, Kristen says they’ve developed age-appropriate programs to prepare children socially, physically, emotionally and intellectually for school.
“I felt that the right program could provide children with the academic and social skills required for formal schooling by introducing structure and routines in a play-based fun and creative way,” she says.
Children from five months to five
years can benefit from programs at Kidstart.
“From the ages of five months to three years children attend with a parent or carer for a one-sessiona-week educational playgroup program,” Kristen says.
As for the three-year-old prepreschool program, Kristen says it’s one of the only ones in Canberra that has a combined letter recognition and letterland phonics based literacy program.
“This program kickstarts each child’s lifelong educational journey by providing a fun, structured, positive, empowering program that gives children the head start they deserve.”
Kidstart Education, 65-67 Sternberg Crescent, Wanniassa, call 0422 406622 or visit at kidstart.com.au
BOYS & GIRLS....be
Enthusiastic motivated coaching staff
TWENTY years ago St Mary MacKillop College opened its doors following the amalgamation of Padua High School and St Peter’s College.
Principal Michael Lee says that since then it’s gone from strength to strength and is now Canberra’s largest secondary school, providing a Catholic pathway for Year 7-12 students who have a range of talents, interests, and backgrounds.
As a large school, Michael says it has many advantages, such as a wide range of curriculum options, extensive facilities, great teachers and plenty of sports and co-curricular choices.
He also believes its two-campus structure means students enjoy a learning environment where they are known, understood, and can navigate their way through the adolescent years with encouragement and support.
Michael says this is again seen in the Canberra community which MacKillop, through its students and their families, has integrated into over the past 20 years.
“Anyone in the area who has ac-
cessed a local business, been served coffee or food, shopped, gone to the movies, attended a place of worship, visited a doctor, dentist, lawyer, or been happy with the service of a tradesperson, has probably had a brush with the MacKillop community,” he says.
“The willing and open disposition of our students, their individual personalities, their integrity and
capacity to respond to teachers of high quality reflects the best of young people in the Tuggeranong Valley and the wider Canberra community.”
St Mary MacKillop College. Wanniassa Campus (Years 7-9), MacKinnon Street and Isabella Plains Campus (Years 1012), Ellerston Avenue. Call 6209 0100 or email info@mackillop.act.edu.au
GUARDIAN Early Learning Centre Wanniassa opened its doors in August 2015, with the aim to respect each child for their individual abilities, strengths and interests.
Centre manager Michelle McCabe, who has worked in childcare for 19 years, says by focusing on each child
as an individual the centre is able to create a tailored, play-based, learning experience that challenges and stimulates children’s minds.
The centre also has open-plan learning spaces that, she says, enable children to learn and challenge themselves at a variety of levels.
Starting from as early as six-weeks, the centre understands that parents are the first teachers in a child’s life and work to partner with them.
“Children are encouraged to take part in sustainable practices at the centre that they can then share with their families and incorporate not only while at the centre but also in their own homes,” she says.
“We have a member of our indigenous community come in once a month and teach both the children and the educators about Australia’s Aboriginal history.
“Children deserve the best start in their early learning and that is what I believe Guardian offers.”
Guardian Early Learning Centre Wanniassa, 8 Ricardo Street, Wanniassa. Call 9194 1500 or visit guardian.edu.au
WITH age-related hearing loss affecting three out of four Australians over the age of 70, Brindabella Hearing and Speech Centre in Erindale, like its other Canberra locations, emphasises the importance of early intervention.
“[The longer it’s avoided] the auditory processing parts of the brain can ‘forget’ how to hear and auditory retraining becomes more difficult, not to mention lifestyle and dexterity impacts,” practice manager Mandy Nyhof says.
Established in 2004, Mandy says the Brindabella Hearing and Speech Centre is the largest independent provider of audiology and speech-language pathology services in Canberra, and the only organisation that offers services covering both sides of the communication spectrum.
“A number of the diagnostic services we offer were
previously available only by travelling to Sydney,” Mandy says.
The team at Brindabella Hearing and Speech Centre take a diagnostic, client-centred approach to rehabilitation.
“Most importantly, unlike much of the hearing-aid industry and at least parts of the speech pathology industry, we refuse to pay commissions or set sales targets for our audiologists or speech-language pathologists, as we strongly believe such incentives can lead to advice that is not always in the best interests of the client,” Mandy says.
Brindabella Hearing and Speech Centre. Erindale clinic. Unit 1/43 Comrie Street, Wanniassa. Contact 6281 2311 or visit hearingandspeech.com.au for more locations.
COVER STORY
By Helen Musa
CANCER sufferers have a lot more to contend with than their illness – there’s also the reaction of their friends.
Lara Veitch knows all about it. Diagnosed with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, a rare mutation that predisposes her towards cancer, she has already survived six forms of cancer and is now coming from the UK to Australia – her first time here – in “A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer”.
Featuring six women performers, including real cancer patients, it was written by Bryony Kimmings and Brian Lobel and, initially a musical, has been reworked by director Kirsty Housley as a play with songs by Tom Parkinson for touring.
Billed as “a rip-roaring, heartbreaking celebra tion,” the show has seen Veitch gradually become the media face for the play since she produced a practical seven-point guide to being a good friend to someone who has cancer, some of which is in the show.
An example? Her first bit of advice is: “Try not to say ‘What can I do?’ or ‘How can I help?’… What you can say is: ‘I’m coming over and I’m going to make dinner and I’m going to clean your kitchen, is that okay?’”
“CityNews” caught up with Veitch by phone to London, where she describes how she was approached by playwright Bryony Kimmings, who had been commissioned by the theatre company Complicité to write a play on cancer.
“I have known Bryony for about four years. She’s great and she’s my friend,” Veitch says.
“But my role is different, I’m not an actor or performer, I was of interest to Bryony just because my role is different.
Lara’s guide to being a good friend to someone who has cancer:
Try not to say “What can I do?” or “How can I help?” say, “I’m coming over and I’m going to make dinner and I’m going to clean your kitchen, is that okay?”
Understand that the person who is ill is going to react in unexpected ways, your support might be thrown in your face.
Send cards with lots of writing and stories and things relating to you (not generic
Ask the person what they want to eat before you come.
It’s nice to have the offer to accompany your sick friend to appointments but they should never be forced to take people
When visiting, don’t douse yourself in
“The genetic angle, that’s what makes me unusual, I suffer from a rare genetic cancer syndrome, a mutation that makes my risk of cancer very high… my mum died of cancer when she was very young so it was likely she had it and her mum died of cancer so probably she had it, but we don’t know that for sure.”
Kimmings, she says, had interviewed countless sufferers, so had to select from a huge amount of material. She wanted to pick the stories that hadn’t been told, the “non-predictable narratives… my story is less usual”.
“It’s the way Bryony has always done her work… it’s very simple, very straightforward, people say: ‘This is what happened to me and this is what I did’,” Veitch says.
“The work is about how the world around you treats you. It’s very non-theatrical in the way that it is told. I think with an important subject like cancer you can make it too theatrical,” says Veitch.
Veitch came up trumps with her “practical guide”, but says: “I also have a rant about things that bother me… cancer makes people so uncomfortable, each illness has its own kind of language code but with cancer it’s more extreme.”
One of the things that really gets up the noses of cancer sufferers is what the cast calls “the cancer face”, so in one hilarious scene, the actors have fun making faces expressing “sympathy” and “understanding”.
“It wouldn’t be right to make a show about cancer that is entirely sad, because that’s not what life is like, even when you have cancer,” Veitch says.
Would you like to watch those old family videos once again, or listen to your favourite records on CD?
We can take your vinyl records or cassette tapes and put them onto CD and we transfer VHS tapes onto DVD.
things, like treatment cycles, hairlessness and scars.”
Veitch is now in recovery. It’s about a year since her last illness and she says: “I’m quite well and I’m not on any active treatment, I feel like I’m recovering… although I still do have medication and it can be tiring.”
In her now-famous “guide”, widely distributed on YouTube, a poignant moment sees Veitch, still without hair from her chemotherapy, advising fellow cancer patients to simply breathe.
“All you need to do is just keep breathing, that’s what I try to do,” she confirms.
“A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer,” at the Playhouse, February 28 to March 3, bookings to canberrtheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.
By Helen Musa
LANGUAGE can be a touchy subject in these days of elastic borders and fluid nationalism, but to Danilo Jankovic, his language is a matter of personal pride.
Born and bred in Canberra and sounding like just about any other Aussie, he nonetheless confidently claims Serbian as his mother tongue.
Until about the age of six he spoke Serbian and learnt the Cyrillic alphabet from his grandparents, later picking up English and the Latin alphabet from his chess master when he got to school.
Jankovic will be the MC at the start of this year’s annual Mother Language Walk across Kings Avenue Bridge, marking the UNESCOproclaimed Mother Language Day to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
Although he considers himself a true-blue Aussie, Jankovic believes that the reason he still holds such strong cultural and family values can be traced back to what was going on in 1992 when his parents migrated from Bosnia. All parties in the Bosnian conflict were fiercely passionate about their identity and he says: “I was brought up in that mentality.”
He celebrated Orthodox Christmas, plunged into Serbian Orthodox Church games and friendships, and was a member of a dance group until he was 18.
All the while, Jankovic was well aware that that “the beauty of Australia is the multiculturalism,” saying: “I love Australia with all my heart but my culture is Serbian.”
Now at 21, he is ambassador for a Canadianbased NGO called “28 June”, which has raised millions of dollars to help communities in Kosovo.
He’ll be there with hundreds of others on Sunday, February 25 (the UNESCO date is actually February 21, but the weekend is more convenient). The walk across Kings Avenue Bridge will start from 3pm under the international flag display near the National Library on Lake Burley Griffin.
Participants are invited to celebrate their family languages and the many others spoken in the ACT area by wearing something traditional or colourful, bringing banners and singing in their family languages. It’s a free event and everyone’s welcome to bring a picnic and meet other multilingual Canberrans at the end of the walk in Kings Park near the Police Memorial. More information from imlm.21feb@gmail.com
By Helen Musa
IN a four-cornered triumph for Canberra, Goulburn, Sydney and Melbourne talent, The Street Theatre and Goulburn Regional Conservatorium are about to stage an original song-cycle that tackles the devastating psychological effects war can have on young men.
“The Weight of Light” was commissioned by the conservatorium’s director Paul Scott-Williams from Goulburn-based, former Canberra writer Nigel Featherstone and Sydney composer James Humberstone.
Now, in a production by The Street’s Caroline Stacey, it premieres in Canberra and Goulburn, with plans to tour towns such as Yass, Crookwell and Braidwood.
Former head of voice at the ANU School of Music Alan Hicks will play piano, while the central character, a young Australian soldier home from a tour in Afghanistan, is to be played by Melbourne baritone
Michael Lampard.
Formerly the chief spokesperson for Canberra’s Childers Group, Featherstone now prefers to hide from public view to write. His war novel, “Bodies of Men”, will be published next year and he is also contracted to run the national Hardcopy program at the ACT Writers Centre
“Paul Scott-Williams approached me around the end of 2013, and said he had an idea to commission a song cycle,” Featherstone says.
“He wanted a work related to Goulburn and the Southern Tablelands region – not the Southern Highlands.
“Paul’s idea was to make a contribution to contemporary art song that could also tour around the conservatorium’s catchment area, so we decided to explore this in a composition workshop.”
Initially Featherstone defined, as he’d never written a libretto before, but ScottWilliams convinced him to reconsider and, partly because he now lives in Goulburn and has “a lifelong obsession with music”, he agreed.
He and Humberstone, who lectures at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, had
dinner and clicked immediately in terms of their politics and concerns.
In researching his coming novel, Featherstone had found Goulburn to be full of diversity, with wealth, youth unemployment, the jail and rural communities on the periphery.
“So different from the cities…I thought it would be interesting to create a work around this,” he says.
Despite his eclectic musical tastes – from Radiohead and Edith Piaf to Arvo Pärt – art song conventions were new to him and, primarily a prose writer, he was a bit daunted.
But he remembered what his friend and mentor, writer John Clanchy, had once told him: “If you’re feeling uncomfortable about it you should do it.”
He started writing the text at the beginning of 2014 with three initial concepts which were narrowed to one. He then consulted a psychologist who works with Soldier On.
Lampard’s deep baritone seemed perfect for “The Soldier”, whom Featherstone describes as “quite blokey, from a rural background, epitomising that Aussie
belief in nation and family… you get that sense of maleness and masculinity in the baritone register,” undercut by the fact that the work criticises military and masculine stereotypes.
“The Weight of Light” refers in part to the Southern Tablelands.
“We have 45C° summers and -10°C winters, but even then the light is beautiful… a beautiful light, but with a heaviness to it. Also there’s an element of grey area implied in the story.”
Briefly, a soldier who has been serving in Afghanistan returns home to his family, but they have a secret and he has a secret. Different expressions of masculinity and gender emerge in a kind of road trip starting at an army base in Sydney, going down the Hume, through towns and eventually to Crookwell.
“To me, ‘The Weight of Light’ is a family drama where the might of war meets the force of family secrets.”
“The Weight of Light”, Street Theatre, March 3-4 and Goulburn Regional Conservatorium, March 10. Bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223; for Goulburn, visit trybooking.com
By arts editor Helen Musa
FIFTY-one performers, contributers and organisations were singled out from all around the Canberra region in this year’s glamorous CAT Awards held for the first time in a long time at the Canberra Theatre.
The winner of the ICON Water Gold CAT Award, was Sam Lloyd, artistic director of Bay Theatre Players in Bateman’s Bay, for her achievements in the areas of set design, costume design, direction and performance with the company.
The ActewAGL Silver CAT Award went to Canberra theatre stalwart Fiona Leach for achievements in costume design for numerous companies and across a range of styles, and for her contribution to the community through the Cook Collective.
The $2500 Mary Porter Scholarship for professional development went to Jesse Challis, of Albury, to assist with his studies of musical theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts this year.
The full list of winners is at citynews.com.au
“Lady Bird” (MA)
IN her directorial debut (she also wrote the screenplay, not her first), actress Greta Gerwig tells the story of Christine’s (Saoirse Ronan) final year at a Catholic High School in Sacramento.
There are strong grounds for assuming that much of the screenplay is autobio graphical. Naturally, there are invented bits. But the film comes with a strong implication that its plot is fair dinkum and from the author’s heart.
The opening credits include a quotation from noted writer Joan Didion: “Anybody who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento.” Gerwig is a fan of Ms Didion, who also lives in Sacramento.
It’s 2002. The title is the name that Christine has given herself. Lady Bird’s father Larry (Tracy Letts) has just been laid off. Her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf) is the family’s sole support. Their house is what Lady Bird calls the wrong side of the tracks. At school, she’s not popular. Sweet, overweight Julie (Beanie Feldstein) is her best chum.
The plot accompanies Lady Bird through a romance that collapses, a second crush that disappoints her for the disillusionment it brings to the loss of her virginity, trying out for the school play, the suspense of applying for university entrance, confrontations with Marion about domestic issues, etcetera, etcetera. The pace may be slow. The depth of the screenplay’s dealing with issues more than compensates.
The three women most involved in “Lady
MARVEL Pictures has become a major player in the movie game, targeting the audience segment that would prefer not to have to think about intelligent ideas or issues. But this one is perhaps a little different. Like every super-hero film telling hackneyed fibs – vigorous, implausible, violent, noisy – “Black Panther” is a big-budget fantasy in the best tradition of good guys versus bad guys, heroes and heroines with superhuman attributes, and repeal of any natural law that threatens to obstruct the plot?
technologically advanced African kingdom that owes its benison to a long-ago collision with a meteorite built out of a marvellous element called Vibranium on which Wakanda built its superior new world. Vibranium isn’t in the periodic table. Marvel Productions invented it to build Captain America’s shield! Ho hum. What’s new about that lese majeste? Not a lot in Hollywood parlance. Meanwhile, the movie itself is typical of its genre.
With a reported estimated budget of $US200 million, its escapist fantasy action delivers a message. In “National Review”, on February 14, Kyle Smith wrote: “‘Black Panther’ stands for much the opposite of what its namesake political movement advocated… takes the side of sober, wise elites patiently enacting incremental change rather than of charismatic mob leaders fanning the flames of rage and revolution. Its most compelling character may be an analogue to Malcolm X, but it’s very much a Martin Luther King Jr kind of film.”
That’s worth thinking about.
SCREENING locally late at night in only one cinema and possibly getting withdrawn by the time this review appears in print, “Pad Man” deals with a theme seldom explored in feature films – sanitary pads.
It’s a dramatisation of how Tamil activist and metal worker Arunachalam Muruganantham designed simple machinery costing 90,000 rupees for a cottage industry that could manufacture pads for two rupees each. A far cry from the million-dollar machines used to make pads retailing at 55 rupees for five, a month’s supply that many of India’s 500 million women could not afford. What had they been
using throughout the ages? All manner of uncomfortable unhygienic stuff – old cloth needing daily washing, leaves, even grass. Worse even than the hygiene aspects were the social stigma and shunning imposed on women during menstruation. That’s why Muruganantham, renamed Lakshmi by writer/director R. Balki and winningly played by Akshay Kumar, felt compelled to do something about the reason for his bride Gayatri’s (Radhika Apte) embarrassment shortly after the wedding.
The villagers, men and women alike, berate Lakshmi for his interest in an unclean matter and expel him. Lakshmi borrows money, builds his machinery and through a fortuitous happenstance meets winsome Pari (Sonam Kapoor) who plays in a musical trio by night and has nearly completed an MBA by day. Pari teaches Lakshmi the rudiments of business. The business becomes a strong cottage industry with a large captive market when the price is right! And what about Gayatri back in the home village?
The film’s highlight is Lakshmi’s address at UN headquarters to an audience mainly of women, an acting tour de force, funny, charming, sincere, warm-hearted, not easy to forget.
At Hoyts Belconnen
IN MARCH 2008, THE DOORS OPENED ON THE Q IN THE HEART OF QUEANBEYAN.
To mark the venue’s Tenth Anniversary Shortis and Simpson are creating a performance that celebrates the history and range of performances so far. Shortis and Simpson will be joined by the likes of Dave Evans, Jenna Roberts, Jordan Best, Christine Forbes, Gordon Nicholson, Peter J Casey, The Queanbeyan Players, Free Rain, The Worldly Goods Choir, and musicians Dave O’Neil, Jonathan Jones and Ian Blake. The production will also feature excerpts from some of the many shows Shortis & Simpson have performed at The Q. This unique variety show celebrates a decade of Performing Arts in the vibrant cultural heart of Queanbeyan.
By Helen Musa
IN a huge art coup, Tuggeranong Arts Centre has secured Campbelltown Arts Centre’s touring exhibition “Another Day in Paradise”, which features paintings by executed Bali Nine drug smuggler and artist Myuran Sukumaran, along with provocative works by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Megan Cope, Jagath Dheerasekara, Khaled Sabsabi and Matthew Sleeth. As well, stencil artist Luke Cornish (ELK), will preview new works focused on the streets of Syria in “No Place like Home”. Both at the centre, March 2 to April 29.
LEGENDARY Aussie comedy duo Lano & Woodley (Colin Lane and Frank Woodley) are back together after a decade, with a new show called “FLY!” At Canberra Theatre, March 2-4. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.
IT will be “Happy Birthday, dear Frédéric” when the Friends of Chopin Australia mark the Polish composer’s 208th
birthday on the actual day, complete with cake and music. Pianist Kotaro Nagano will perform music of 1810 in the Larry Sitsky Recital Room from 6pm, on Thursday, March 1. Bookings to friendsofchopin.org. au or tickets (cash only) at the door.
THE London Klezmer Quartet, a group of performers whose deep understanding of klezmer (the celebratory and soulful music of Eastern European Jews), is reflected in exuberant, passionate and accomplished performances that captivate audiences of all ages and backgrounds. At the Canberra Irish Club, 7pm, Sunday, March 4. Bookings to irishclub.com.au
CANBERRA Theatre Centre will stream live two of the headline sessions from “All About Women”, direct from the Sydney Opera House on Sunday, March 4, at 1pm and 2.30pm. Then, at 4pm, Virginia Haussegger will host a discussion at The Playhouse between Jane Caro, Genevieve Jacobs and others. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.
“OH, What a Lovely War!” revolutionised the London theatre scene in 1963. Now Chris Baldock is reviving the satirical stage musical for Canberra REP as a sort of World War I commemoration. At Theatre 3, Acton, February 22 (preview) to March 10. Bookings to canberrarep.org.au or 6257 1950.
LUMINESCENCE Chamber Choir pays tribute to the art of renowned Parisian teacher and composer Nadia Boulanger in a recital at the Drill Hall Gallery, Acton, 6pm, Sunday, February 25. Bookings to eventbrite.com.au
SOPRANO Ayse Göknur Shanal and pianist Alan Hicks will perform “A Journey from East to West” for Art Song Canberra, at Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest, 3pm, on Sunday, February 25. No bookings, tickets only at the door.
Right: Myuran Sukumaran’s oil-on-canvas self portrait titled “Time is Ticking”... at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
Le Très Bon is a labour of love by master chef Christophe Gregoire, born and raised in France’s Les Vosges region.
I HAD been dying to dine at Le Très Bon and so screamed “parfait!” when a friend suggested that four of us head to Bungendore to celebrate a birthday.
Le Très Bon is a labour of love by master chef Christophe Gregoire, born and raised in France’s Les Vosges region. After cooking and teaching around the world, Christophe landed in New Caledonia where he met his wife Josephine, a delightful woman who served us at lunch.
Now the couple are living, working and raising their family in tiny Bungendore, operating out of an historic building. The story is wonderfully perfect and so is the traditional French cuisine that emerges from the kitchen.
When you first walk in, you discover a table of goodies you can buy, created by Christophe, including magnificent meringues, jars of duck fat, truffled salt and organic rhubarb and cumquat confiture (made with produce from his garden).
We settled in with a classic French pre-dinner drink, a Kir Royale champagne, which we enjoyed with complimentary housemade olive tapenade.
We went for gold with entrees, mains and desserts, made with local produce and specialty ingredients from France. So much food and so little space to cover it all, so shall celebrate a few highlights.
barigoule.
The snails were superb ($18 for six). They were prepared in butter, shallots, parsley, garlic and star-anise flavoured Pastis from Provence. The snails were tender and not too garlicky or buttery.
The chicken galantine and mango, served on a wooden board with cornichons and salad, was beautifully spiced with nutmeg, bay leaves and thyme. It was a generous serve so we all got to taste ($22).
Duck lovers will delight in the confit with griottes cherry sauce, which Le Très Bon says is a “classic and prestigious French dish” ($38).
The cherries, slightly sour, cut through the duck, and who can go wrong with perfectly cooked Dauphinoise potatoes?
Another winning dish was the braised pork belly ($38), slow cooked in almond milk and spices. The dish featured a whole-grain French mustard sauce and came with a light and tasty
salad mixing celeriac, fennel and apple.
For a sweet ending, “The Colonel” is out of this world – house-made sorbet, made with local organic lemons and doused with French vodka. Such a fresh ending to a fine meal. The French chocolate tart was equally divine, created with 70 per cent dark chocolate from France and beautiful berries from the garden.
Christophe and Josephine host food and wine tours to New Caledonia, one for 12 days and one for a weekend. Check out letresbon.com.au/ tours/ for details.
Le Très Bon, open WednesdaySaturday, lunch and dinner, and Sunday lunch, 40 Malbon Street, Bungen dore, call 6238 0662.
Creations’ double-glazed windows and doors, made and tested in Australia.
MY original Swiss-made Felco secateurs are the best in the world. They are more than 40 years old with the original, high-grade steel blades that I can sharpen to shave the hairs off my arm.
So much so that just after sharpening them recently I pricked my arm on them and, being on blood thinners, bled profusely.
Just after this I read a timely article by Sally Nex in the Royal Horticultural Society’s journal “The Garden”. It offers an important lesson for all gardeners:
“Gardening is a risky business. I recently scratched myself on a rose thorn. So far, my arms are pockmarked with punctures from brambles, gooseberries and roses, the daily tally of gardening.
“I thought nothing of it until my reddened knuckles started to swell. A day later the swelling covered the back of my hand and was edging towards my wrist.
“I knew something was up when the nurse at the minor-injuries clinic took one look and ran for the doctor. In fact it was the early stages of sepsis or blood poisoning, to which rose thorns are apparently notorious. I do not want to appear over dramatic, but had I left it until I was feeling ill, I might not be writing this now.”
The message is clear, wear thick gloves and take being pricked by any bush or tree seriously.
One tree, Robinia pseudoacacia, has wicked thorns, and when small pieces fall to the ground the thorns can puncture thongs. This tree is
used as the root stock for Mop Top Robinias. While the top part of the Mop does not have thorns, the roots of the trunk sucker like mad if the ground is disturbed, with the resulting suckers having a mass of thorns.
At our granddaughter’s home we removed these trees and ground the stump. Six months later the suckers are still appearing en masse, growing to half a metre in a few weeks complete with thorns. Cutting them off at ground level and painting immediately with glyphosate is the only answer and eventually we will win. For this reason I do not recommend nor plant Mop Top Robinias.
MANY readers have asked me about the bright-orange creeper growing behind the medical centre at Dickson and facing on to Antill Street. This is Campsis tecoma radicans with a variety of common names such as Trumpet Vine, Hellvine and, the most interesting,
Devil’s Shoestring.
Native to the northern US, this vigorous climber presents a stunning picture. However, I don’t recommend it unless it has a very large area to grow, such as on a rural property to cover a shed or a water tank. It clings to brickwork and I have been called to properties where it’s coming into a garden from the neighbour’s place.
HYDRANGEAS should be fed in autumn and spring with certified organic fertilisers, preferably a liquid feed that can be absorbed down to the roots quickly. For pruning, remove spent flowers progressively and then wait until early spring when the new shoots start to appear. Then remove all old wood and cut back the stems to three leaf joints from the base. To change colours, apply the chemicals every six weeks from mid-July to early December, following the manufacturer’s direc-
tions. The only real pests are aphids and they can be sprayed with pyrethrum.
• Bulbs can be dug and relocated any time now.
• Dead-head perennials and save seeds for sowing in spring.
• Don’t plant citrus trees yet as young trees will be susceptible to frost.
• If your lawn is looking sad, think about coring and/or dethatching and give it the last feed before winter.
• Continue feeding all plants with certified organic plant foods, preferably in liquid form just after rain.
• The Horticultural Society of Canberra’s “Great Autumn Show” is at the Wesley Church Centre, National Circuit, Forrest, noon-5pm, Saturday, March 3 and 11.30am3.15pm, on March 4. The show features a magnificent display of dahlias plus a huge range of other flowers. Entry by donation.
Joanne Madeline Moore
Your week in the stars – February 26-March 4, 2018
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Aries are such independent folk. You pride yourself on being able to do just about everything yourself. But that’s not always such a good idea. This week’s Full Moon urges you to be passionate and practical, as you learn to take on less and delegate more. You’ll find the secret to being successful at the moment is working creatively and collaboratively with others. Influential people are waiting to help and inspire you. All you have to do is sum up the confidence and ask!
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)
Bulls can sometimes blunder around being (unintentionally) insensitive. But you’ll need to be extra sensitive to the needs of children, teenagers or your peer group. Otherwise the Full Moon could trigger a misunderstanding or an emotional meltdown. So aim to be a calm and steadying Taurean tower of strength. Thursday’s Venus/Jupiter connection brings good fortune in the form of a close friend, a joint venture, a dream date, a wise mentor or a cherished wish coming true.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)
The Full Moon falls in your domestic zone, so get your house in order and tackle jobs with extra gusto. But, if you spread gossip or jump to conclusions, then you’ll end up in hot water. And avoid taking short cuts. A slap-dash attitude will only mean you have to do things twice. With a more methodical approach, you can accomplish tasks and still have time to play. Thursday is fabulous for professional projects, workplace relations and receiving plenty of positive feedback.
CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
Many Crabs will be in cranky and hyper-sensitive mode, as the Full Moon stirs up chaos in your communication zone. So be super selective about whom you mix with, as you’re liable to misread signals and then overreact. You’re also keen to communicate via social media as you publish, post, text or tweet. But be careful you’re not sending out half-baked messages with ambiguous meanings. Some lucky Cancers can expect good news (or a great opportunity) from a generous friend.
LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)
Lions love to live in the lap of luxury but avoid the temptation to blow the budget with some binge shopping. The Full Moon fires up your finance zones, and encourages your tendency to be hasty with cash and careless with credit. Venus and Jupiter also inflate your extravagant streak, while nebulous Neptune confuses your understanding of your current financial situation. But big impulse buys now will just lead to major money headaches later on. So try to shop prudently.
VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
On Thursday night the Full Moon fires up your sign. And then disruptive Mars squares your ruler Mercury. Which will rattle your composure, crank up your critical side, and amplify the plethora of problems you’re facing at the moment. But don’t waste your time (and everyone else’s) with endless complaining and ‘woe-is-me’ behaviour. Instead, be inspired by movie legend (and birthday great) Elizabeth Taylor: “Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.”
LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)
Your mental and physical health require some focused attention. So spend quiet quality time on your own this week, as the Full Moon illuminates your solitude zone. Activities like reading, meditation, contemplation, yoga and walking in nature would all suit. And shine a bright spotlight on your physical well-being as you give your daily diet and fitness routine some serious tweaking. Thursday’s Venus/Jupiter trine is terrific for matters involving money, business and work.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)
Family and friends will demand your attention but the Full Moon urges you to take some time out for yourself. If you indulge in your special Scorpio interests and passions, then you’ll have more to offer those around you. Don’t be too safe and sensible though. With Jupiter jumping through your sign, strive to be much more adventurous! So your motto for the moment is from birthday great Elizabeth Taylor: “There are so many doors to be opened, and I’m not afraid to look behind them.”
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
The professional pressure is on, and family members will also demand plenty of your precious time. But if you promise more than you can realistically deliver, then everyone will just end up being disappointed. So how on earth will you keep all the plates spinning and get everything done? Enthusiasm and persuasion are the keys. If you can convince others (with your substantial Sagittarian charm!) to come on board and collaborate, then you’ll accomplish tasks in half the time.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
This week good fortune comes via social networking, in person and/or online. But are you brooding on the past, and kicking yourself for romantic or career opportunities you’ve missed along the way? It’s time to learn from your mistakes, as you transform your present world and then move on to a bright new future. So your motto for the moment is from birthday great Johnny Cash: “Close the door on the past. You don’t forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on them.”
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
Money matters loom large as the Full Moon fires up your finance zones. Plus Venus and Jupiter send a confidence boost your way, especially involving your career, public reputation or inner self-esteem. So be on the look-out for a lucky opportunity when it comes along. If you blink or hesitate or procrastinate, then you could miss the boat. When it comes to fulfilling your goals and dreams, fortune definitely favours the astute Aquarian who is bold and brave and proactive!
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
With the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Neptune all meandering through your sign, you’re the quintessential Piscean at the moment. Which can be positive and negative. It’s a terrific time to express your creative, compassionate and spiritual sides. But – if you spend too much time in fantasy land – you could miss early warning signals about a relationship problem you need to address (especially around the time of the Full Moon on Thursday night). Keep your wits about you.
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore
2018
Across
1 Name the Australian grey, furry marsupials, often called bears. (6)
8 What do we call one who sends goods to other countries for sale? (8)
9 Annie Mae Bullock is more commonly known as Tina ... (6)
10 What are whole numbers, as distinguished from fractions? (8)
11 Name another term for a trilby. (6)
12 Which common fish is also called a beardie? (4)
13 Gordon Sumner, the British pop singer, is called what? (5)
16 Reginald Dwight is more readily known as Sir ... John (5)
19 Name an alternative term for water. (4)
21 Which performances are done to attract publicity? (6)
22 What do we call the widows of kings, dukes, or their like? (8)
23 Which colour lies between blue and violet in the spectrum? (6)
24 What describes persons of antiquity? (8)
25 Name the chair occupied by a sovereign. (6) Down
2 To be wealthy, is to be what? (7)
3 Name the first actor to play the part of Tarzan, in 1917, Elmo ... (7)
4 What is a story appearing in successive issues of a magazine? (6)
5 What is a medicated confection of sugar? (7)
6 Which term describes one who denies the existence of God? (7)
7 Name the process of disintegration. (7)
13 Who is said to put children to sleep? (7)
14 Name a Queensland city to the west of the Brisbane metropolitan area. (7)
15 What are flocks of geese called? (7)
17 To wash and iron clothes, etc, is to do what? (7)
18 Which figure has eight sides and eight angles? (7)
20 To give support, is to do what? (6)
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