CityNews 181018

The complete planning mess that is Coombs PAUL COSTIGAN

Labor’s planning plague and relentless rates rises MICHAEL MOORE

Policy seesaw sends money over the border GWYN REES

Film festival looks forward to looking back HELEN MUSA

GROUND CONTROL TO

Major Tom

PROF JAN PROVIS discovers bird brains aren’t as simple as they seem

WAREHOUSE LOF TS & APARTMENTS COMING SOON TO WODEN

Opening this Spring Register Now to be among the first to inspect 35 & 45 Furzer Street Woden

Built in 1968, Alexander & Albemarle are undergoing a rebirth. Repurposing much of the existing structure, the office towers are set to be transformed into residential apartments like no other — A&A.

With a European industrial warehouse aesthetic, A&A will offer a 3.4 metre ceiling height of raw concrete with exposed soffits, premium finishes of wool carpets, timber floors and double glazed windows. The ground floor will be activated by a brewery, gym, restaurants, cafés and other retail spaces making A&A a truly unique place to live.

Local quilts fit for the Royal bedchamber

By Kate MEIKLE

CANBERRA quilter Ann-Maree Jacobs has been busy over recent months making quilts for Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

Ann-Maree is one of a group of Can berra quilters who have been sewing patchwork quilts, laundry bags and crocheted poppies for the upcoming Invictus Games in Sydney.

The games are an international, multi-sport event, created by Prince Harry, in which wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and veterans compete. He will open the Sydney games.

“Quilts give comfort and warmth and that also goes into the quilting com munity. There is a lot of joy in it,” says Ann-Maree, who has been co-ordinating the work of Canberra Quilters at their weekly meet-up at Cook Community Hub.

When “CityNews” visited, the quilters were putting the final touches on the two last quilts to be sent to Sydney in time for the Invictus Games opening on Saturday, October 20.

The quilting group has been working for a year on creating quilts as part of

a nationwide effort by the RSL Auxiliaries to give handmade, Australianthemed mementos to the competitors, their families and dignitaries.

Having been a “Navy wife”, AnnMaree says she knows first hand the importance of giving support to veterans.

“Several of our members are also

ex-military, so when we were asked to participate in the project, it had extra meaning to us. It was a big group effort,” she says.

“Our servicemen and servicewomen give so much and get so little. It’s important that they know people care. My husband served in Vietnam and never

Since 1993: Volume 24, Number 39

received a medal until 20 years afterwards. I don’t want that to ever happen again.”

One-hundred laundry bags, 29 Australian-themed quilts and 600 crocheted yellow poppies have been made by Canberra quilters and sewers.

“All the quilts have their own story to tell and will go to places all over the world,” says Ann-Maree.

“Everyone has volunteered their time and donated the cost of materials. With material costing on average $24 a metre, it costs around $200-300 to make a quilt,” says Ann-Maree.

The materials are all Australian themed and include indigenous material sourced from the NT for the laundry bags along with scenes on the quilts representing Australian animals and sites.

The laundry bags are practical gifts for the service personnel. Each bag is unique and colourful and helps differentiate from others and not get lost when on tour.

Having travelled around the world and moved house 50 times during her husband’s military career, Ann-Maree says that she turned to quilting 35 years ago as a way to make friends.

“Quilting has been a door to a community for me, it’s a great way to meet and for sharing and caring,” she says.

canberraquilters.org.au

Hackett rocks the shops

MUSIC looms large at the Hackett Community Association’s upcoming “Party at the Hackett Shops” with performances from school bands, local musos and the John Agnew Big Band, plus dancing by Merici College and Folk Dance Canberra. There will be a Gecko Gang Jumping Castle and face painting for the kids. It all starts at 11am on Saturday, October 27, and at 1.30pm the book, “Hackett – 50 years plus: Story of a north Canberra suburb” will be launched. More information at hackettcommunity.com.au/

Dinner with Glover

RADIO personality Richard Glover will talk about his new book, “The Land of the Avocado”, at the Eat, Drink and Be Literary dinner at University House, Saturday, October 27. Book at anu. edu.au/events or 6125 4144.

‘Treasures’ needed

THE Canberra Seniors Centre is looking for Christmas fete “treasures” to sell at its Turner centre, 9am-2pm, on Saturday, November 17. They’re looking for a wide range of goods to sell and anything in clean, good condition from clothes to toys, games, books, jewellery, plants and all will be gratefully accepted at 10 Watson Street, Turner, on weekdays. More information at 6248 9509 or cseniors@bigpond.com

Arts & Entertainment 17-21

Cinema 18

Crossword 23

Dining & Wine 21

Gardening 22

Horoscopes 23

Letters 6

News 3-10

Politics 8

Social photos 16

Jan Provis and her female, Major Mitchell cockatoo named Tom. Photo by Heike Hahner. Story Page 9.

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SEVEN DAYS

Barr rolls up Shane’s pill-testing welcome mat

ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury’s brash invitation to a controversial dance music festival to pitch its tent in the capital, without consulting his colleagues, has been swiftly scuttled.

The Greens’ spokesperson on drugs policy argued a ban by the NSW government of the hardcore Defqon.1 festival – where two people died of overdoses in September – is an “economic opportunity” that could bring “life to the city”. Chief Minister Andrew Barr says while his government supports pill testing it would not use the sentiment to “attract events to Canberra”.

MEANWHILE, a pill-testing rally in Garema Place, organised by the newly formed

Movement

Collective staged what it called a “surreal and powerful” demonstration featuring five near-naked young women splattered with “blood” lying in human meat trays. Participants urged passersby to “recognise the animals on their plates as living, breathing individuals”.

Reason Party (formerly the Sex Party), failed to attract the anticipated thousands of supporters. The SAM has among its myriad of philosophical objectives, “to reduce apathy and promote engagement within communities around progressive values, issues and solutions”. A gathering of about 60 heard of the grief families suffered after losing a member to a drug overdose.

UNAWARE of the pill-testing demo another group of activists, keen to shock the public out of its apathy, set up nearby. The Anti-Speciesist Action

AS the war of words raged around the issue of advertising on the Opera House sails, the Aussie sense of humour quickly kicked in online with waves of memes ridiculing the issue. Suggestions included a raft of large, white, iconic spaces that could also be utilised as advertising mediums, but Kate Auty’s tweet cleverly ticked all of the culturally inappropriate boxes...“How about #SummerNats advertised on the #WarMemorial?”

STILL at the AWM, and to commemorate the centenary of the 2018 Armistice a lush field of poppies has sprung up on the Western grounds, drawing large numbers of visitors. The brilliant display featuring 62,000 handmade red poppies representing Australian lives lost in World War I, is the work of award-winning landscape designer Phillip Johnson

THE normally uneventful precinct at the city end of Constitution Avenue was rudely interrupted just before lunch by a squadron of AFP officers invading number 2, the Canberra home of the

Australian Border Force. The raid was linked to leaked information that sparked the au pair saga and exposed dealings between Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and AFL supremo Gil McLachlan . An investigation is reportedly ongoing, however any official direction on the correct or acceptable pronunciation of a French babysitter is unlikely. Either “O” or “OR” is okay.

LOCALLY based construction giant Geocon is not only playing in the major league but also bringing class and attitude to some “beige” Canberra precincts. The property developer, established by Canberra born and raised Nick Georgalis in 2007 with just six workers, is now number four nationally despite the company’s projects being based in the local region. The developer also deserves recognition for the creative branding of its, by Canberra standards, skyscrapers. Rising from the rubble of the unsophisticated ABC (Allawah, Bega, Currong) flats in Civic is the aspirational Metropol and the naughty and afterdarkish Tryst.

Out in the Belco precinct, the Republic, High Society and Dusk make up the fashionable skyline. The Woden precinct is in for sleepless Big-Apple nights when the Grand Central is completed and out at the Gungahlin precinct, limitless possibilities are on offer with Infinity.

CANBERRA MATTERS

The complete planning mess that’s Coombs

EVER noticed politicians at your shopping centre doing their “mobile office” thing to get your attention?

There is one Canberra shopping centre where you can be sure that this does not happen. It is a case study in how our planning minister continues to live up to his reputation of doing very little.

A couple of weeks ago I parked in front of the Coombs Community Local Shopping Centre and wondered how such a stupid thing has been allowed to happen.

The building was built a couple of years ago but the developer has not brought in tenants. There is no shopping centre yet for the neighbouring suburb of Wright. This means that people in these suburbs (about 4000 plus residents and growing) travel three-to-four kilometres to Cooleman Court for the nearest supermarket.

If you do not drive and want to buy basics such as milk or bread, then best of luck with that!

The minister has been asked to intervene. The response so

A couple of weeks ago I parked in front of the Coombs Community Local Shopping Centre and wondered how such a stupid thing has been allowed to happen.

far has been that there is nothing he can do. Locals have asked for some master planning to see some community facilities provided. No response.

So we have a Chief Minister pushing development, a planning minister (doing something), an urban renewal minister (don’t know what she does) plus the local in-government politician, now a minister for something, yet Coombs residents cannot get a shopping centre opened. Who pays these people?

But it gets worse. Locals circulated information about an outrageous development application (DA). The apartment development proposed is on the corner of Terry Connolly Street and John Gorton Drive. Concerns include that the block was sold for a maximum of 44 dwellings – the DA lists 212 apartments; it is an eight-storey thing in amongst others that are six storeys maximum; the DA diagrams show that there will be substantial overshadowing of nearby low rise townhouses – and

the residents point to a host of other errors and false claims.

Many of us are used to dealing with DAs that contain many obvious flaws and are flicked out to the community for them to unpack the planning mess. So yet again, the planning directorate and its planning bureaucrats have failed in their prime task – to ensure developers stick to the rules within the DAs.

Most of us have busy lives and have come to enjoy our cherished suburbs. My sympathies go out to these Coombs residents who have been confronted with a package of 69 documents.

The difference here is that while they also have busy lives, unlike the rest of us in settled suburbs these people have little chance of getting a community group together as their suburb is so new. That means that most residents are still engaged in the basics of setting up and getting their homes sorted – where to buy a vacuum cleaner? What curtains to get? When is that furniture to arrive? Etcetera.

Canberra community groups keep hearing wonderfully reassur-

ing statements from the various ministers listed above as well as the chief planner about how changes are being made to improve the planning and development processes. We wish they meant it. Listening to the people of Weston and Molonglo, one has to assume that these improvements are happening somewhere else – because they are suffering the same as all of us – with inappropriate planning decisions, no master planning, few if any community facilities and little support on planning matters that cause huge stresses for residents. Canberra is promoted as a planned city and as the “bush capital”. As I

LETTERS

toured around Coombs, I wondered if the residents of Molonglo identify with these optimistic descriptions. There are some nice green spaces, but not a lot of trees in these suburbs. Even the Charles Weston School looks sort of interesting architecturally –but for a school named after a famous horticulturist who was responsible for the afforestation of Canberra – we could have done better.

Paul Costigan is an independent commentator and consultant on the visual arts, photography, urban design, environmental issues and everyday matters.

Rolfe is right on rate rises

DAVID Rolfe is completely right (“Rising rates park misery on Melrose Drive” CN, October 11), no business should see these massive cost increases with nothing to show for it; we are certainly not getting better government services.

Islanders can’t afford self rule

Regain the freedom of your home

I AGREE with columnist Jon Stanhope (“The hypocritical tale of two territories”, CN, October 7) that the lack of consultation with the people of Norfolk Island was very unfair, but I would like to add the following.

My husband and I spent a holiday on Norfolk Island, during which we talked to a lot of the locals who said while they didn’t want to be governed by Australia and would like to stay under self-rule, they had to be realistic – they could not afford it.

These types of rate increases are driven by the current government’s determination to extract every dollar out of property owners that they can. They are happy to throw out the long-established unimproved capital value that has been the bedrock of land taxes and rates because the increases are not rapid enough for them.

• For straight or curved staircases

• Indoor and outdoor lifts

• Fast installation

This government uses the excuse of getting rid of stamp duty and hiking rates as a methodology to replace stamp duty with a promise of no net tax gain for the government. The blatant lie is exposed in the latest ACT accounts, stamp duty revenue has actually increased despite the promise to get rid of it. Rates in the forward estimates have increased by over 650 per cent so we get shafted with both rates and stamp duty. This chief minister can’t add up or at least thinks that ACT ratepayers can’t. His stock answer is that every tax review in the country over the last 20 years has applauded the economic wisdom of what the ACT is doing. But how come we are the only jurisdiction in Australia to actually do this madness?

How about Mr Barr running a business and learning first hand how difficult it is to cope with raging tax increases that cannot be passed on and completely disregard any relationship to profit? Socialism at its best.

Gary Green, via citynews.com.au

CORRECTION: In his opinion piece, David Rolfe reports that he probably overestimated next year’s rate rise, which on a revised number, gives him an expected rate rise over three years of 92 per cent, not the 100 per cent he had originally guesstimated.

The roads need a lot of repair (potholes basically everywhere) and yes, the health system and schooling need help. There are no major shops and residents have to travel to NZ or Australia for major shopping and health care (particularly giving birth), which does get expensive.

My concern is that under Australian rule they will be caught up in all the bureaucracy of the government and the island will lose its charm and uniqueness, and this will be a great shame. Vi Evans via email

The cost of deception

WITH an immigration background, I am a staunch supporter of our border policies, but one area is a waste of taxpayers’ money. Daily we see transparent attempts by arrivals to deceive customs/immigration/quarantine officials. Thousands in any year consciously make false statements on their inwards passenger card either in English or their own language – most frequently about food and drugs.

I believe we have all seen a compliance officer ask why they did not disclose numerous large packages containing food, with some giving the incredible answer “But it’s not food”. Then can follow up to two hours of verbal interchange, ending with the arrival finally agreeing that if he puts it in his mouth, it’s food!

Even longer hours are wasted by those claiming, without proof, they have a job – or no, I am not here to work – when they have only $100 in their pocket for a three-month stay! Time for a review!

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Labor’s planning plague and relentless rate rises

HOW are the political parties matching up halfway to the October 2020 ACT election? The Liberals seem to grow even more conservative. Labor wrestles with complacency. The Greens attempt to prove their agenda is broader than the environment.

Energy and enthusiasm are hallmarks of successful progressive governments. Outstanding support for gay rights (and especially gay marriage), pill testing, restructuring health and building active urban transport are all indications of a government with a progressive agenda. However, it is hard to find further demonstrations. And there are some clangers.

Planning continues to plague the Barr government. Constant community complaints are simply dismissed. The Chief Minister has no time for the opinions or aspirations of baby boomers and Canberra’s unique characteristics are being traded off for an attempt at a poor copy of inner-city Melbourne.

New residential and business buildings envelop the footpaths. The long-term Canberra policy of no front fences seems to have disappeared. New suburbs have smaller and smaller blocks and are overwhelmed by large apartment complexes.

Rate rises are an achilles heel for Labor. The latest rates notices are designed to trick people into paying a full year instead of making quarterly payments. Much too tricky by half! Although average salaries remain steady, rates go up and up. Relentlessly. The argument of phasing out inefficient taxation systems such as stamp duty and insurance taxes is wearing thin. Rates have gone up exponentially while many other taxes are yet to be abolished.

In August this year the Greens’ Caroline Le Couteur proposed a radical rethink of ACT rates. Her proposal was to base the taxation system on the full value of the property rather than on the unimproved value of the land. At the time of the proposal Ms Le Couteur argued: “The ACT has been leading the nation in tax reform since 2012. This tax reform has been successful so far and the ACT Greens have supported these reforms.

“Because we are the first jurisdiction in Australia to deliver this tax reform, we are also the first to uncover some of the downsides.”

In a discussion paper she suggested an improved capital value (ICV) system would mean higher rates for people with expensive homes and lower for people with less expensive ones.

The Liberals have been successful in calling the government out on bullying and poor management of the hospital sector. Unfortunately, the drive came well after Health Minister

BRIEFLY

The Chief Minister has no time for the opinions or aspirations of baby boomers and Canberra’s unique characteristics are being traded off for an attempt at a poor copy of inner-city Melbourne.

Meegan Fitzharris had moved to restructure health and to introduce more control through a purchaser/provider system.

The bigger challenge for the Canberra Liberals is to distance themselves from the reactionary element of the federal Liberal Party. The close relationship between the ACT opposition leader and ACT senator Zed Seselja makes this challenging, especially in the light of Senator Seselja’s support for Peter Dutton in the coup on Malcolm Turnbull.

The Canberra Liberals made good headway during the 2012 election on the issue of rates and then lost out in pursuing the light rail issue in the 2016 election two years ago. Rates will be back on the agenda unless there is a radical change by Labor. It is hard to believe this will happen under the current leadership of Andrew Barr.

Unhappy with the progress on an issue that all parties supported at the last election, opposition leader Alistair Coe, tabled his own legislation – an Independent Anti-corruption and Integrity Commission Bill 2018. The Select Committee examining the issue now has this piece of legislation along with the government’s exposure draft to establish an Independent Integrity Commission.

It is already two years since the promises by all current parties in the Assembly were tested in an election. Two years is too long to fulfil such an important commitment.

Mid-term is an opportunity for all members of the Assembly to reflect on the last two years. It is also a chance to refresh their thinking for the next two. It is time to re-read their own inaugural speeches and to get on with their original intentions as well as the job of improving our territory.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.

Remembering drug victims

ACT attorney-general Gordon Ramsay will lead the speakers at the 23rd Annual Remembrance Ceremony for those who lost their lives to illicit drugs at the memo rial site (pictured), Weston Park Road, Weston Park, Yarralumla, from 12.30pm, on Monday, October 29. Anyone who would like a loved one remembered at the ceremony should email mcconnell@ ffdlr.org.au or call 6169 7678. Refresh ments will be served after the ceremony.

HYMNS and organ music from royal weddings from 1947 (Elizabeth and Philip) to 2018 (Harry and Meghan) will feature in the Royal School of Church Music (ACT) “Hymn Fest” at the Wesley Uniting Church, National Circuit, Forrest, from 2.30pm, on Sunday, October 21.

Admission is $10 and includes a “royal” afternoon tea.

Cockatoo reveals a mind of its own

By Heike HAHNER

FORMER medical researcher Jan Provis believes animals share similar mental experiences with humans.

Prof Provis was professor of anatomy and associate dean in the ANU Medical School, as well as the associate director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science.

While over the last couple of decades the sciences have started to accept that animals feel emotions such as fear, anger and love in the same way humans do, doubts still exist that “higher” functioning such as self-consciousness and reasoning exist in animals, especially those that lack cerebral cortices.

Yet Jan is happy to go one step further and accept that animals are self-conscious and in possession of a mind, very much like ours, even if they are simpler-structured brains.

Among Jan’s many research interests were comparing the structural and functional differences and similarities of the brain of different species, with a focus on bird brains.

The term “bird brain” is synonymous with being simple-minded and incapable of complex thought and reasoning.

This assumption of birds being simple-minded animals was primarily based on the fact that their brains are small and are lacking a cerebral cortex.

The cerebral cortex in mammals is believed to be dedicated to higher-functioning tasks such as reasoning. Animals that possess highly developed cortices include

humans, apes, dolphins, as well as dogs, horses and cats.

Jan argues that, although birds lack a cortex, they appear to be anything but simple-minded. She doesn’t believe that size matters when it comes to complex mental functioning, but agrees with theories that suggest that birds’ brains may actually be more efficient than complex mammalian brains.

Jan’s “pet project” to help her understand the mind of a bird was a female, Major Mitchell cockatoo named Tom, which lives as part of the family with Jan, her husband and their two poodles.

Allowing Tom to participate in the daily activities in the house has allowed Jan a unique view into the complexities of a cockatoo’s mind.

Tom has demonstrated that there is more to its tiny brain then we are led to believe. One evening, when Tom was supposed to return to its cage for the night, the cockatoo spread its wings blocking the entrance to the cage and refused to go inside. Tom decided to sleep on the shower partition instead.

Tom also received daily lessons from Jan to help their bonding and to provide mental and physical stimulation. To Jan’s surprise, Tom started to reject invitations to the lessons by flying up to a high window ledge and refusing to come down even though its favourite treats were on offer.

In driving a hard bargain with the former ANU professor, is the cockatoo in possession of a “bird” brain? Absolutely. However, is it simple-minded? Apparently not!

Heike Hahner is a dog and pet training and psychology consultant, hhahner@bigpond.com

Colourful birds

“FEATHERS in Colour: an insight into bird diversity in Sri Lanka”, is a free, interactive session presented by Rahula Perera and hosted by the Sri Lankan High Commission, 61 Hampton Circuit, Yarralumla, 5.30pm-7.30pm, on Wednesday, October 24. Seats are limited, but prior registration is suggested to admin@slhcaust.org

Free dragon boating

THE Dragon Flyers, a 40+ masters dragon boating club, is hosting a free “Come and Try Day” at the yacht club, Lotus Bay, Yarralumla, from 11am on Saturday, October 27. More at dragonflyers.net.au or email info@dragonflyers.net.au

‘Bargains galore’

THE organisers of the fete at Kangara Waters Retirement are promising “bargains galore” for adults and kids plus fun and food. The fete is to raise funds to enhance the lives of residents and provide amenities in the Aged Care Centre and Dementia Unit. It’s at 2 Joy Cummings Place (off Aikman Drive), Belconnen, 9am-2pm, on Saturday, October 27.

Mosque open day

THE newly built Gungahlin Mosque, at 140 The Valley Avenue, is holding an open day, 11am-3pm, on Saturday, October 27. Aligned with the National Mosque Open Day, the general public, regardless of religious faith and cultural and ethnic background, is invited to experience a congregation and interaction with multicultural and multiethnic people. There will be something for everybody – a barbecue, sweets, food, children’s activities and, say the organisers, somebody will be there to answer any hard questions.

Policy seesaw sends money over the border

ACT clubs’ revenue has experienced a decline of more than 13 per cent from 2006 to 2017… while Queanbeyan’s have increased by 33 per cent!

ANTI-gambling advocates seeking to force the ACT government’s hand on substantial and harmful industry change, will do nothing other than to contentedly create an environment that pushes club members across the border to Queanbeyan.

If we follow the money, we can see that each time the ACT government has introduced new policy, there has been a notable gain for Queanbeyan clubs.

Data obtained from the NSW Office of Liquor and Gaming reveals that over the past 14 years as ACT gaming revenue has fallen by nearly $20 million, a similar amount of revenue has moved over the border to Queanbeyan.

The largest peaks have corresponded with changes in regulation. In the year following the introduction of the $50 and $100-note bans in 2004 the ACT experienced a downturn of $5.3 million or 3 per cent, while Queanbeyan saw a corresponding

As the ACT clubs’ gaming revenue decreases, it rises in Queanbeyan, according to these ClubsACT graphs.

increase of 4 per cent.

Clubs in Queanbeyan have no restrictions on how members can access their own money via ATMs. Patrons of Queanbeyan clubs can use notes of any denomination in the gaming machines.

When the smoking ban was introduced in late 2006 there was another decrease in the ACT of $16.2 million or 8 per cent, compared with Queanbeyan, up $3.8 million or 12 per cent.

From that point on, the ACT has experienced a decline of more than 13 per cent from 2006 to 2017 in addition to not achieving any CPI increases in any year, while Queanbeyan has experienced an increase of 33 per cent!

To make matters worse, clubs in

NSW enjoy lower tax burdens. And, as clubs have continued to earn less revenue, the ACT government has sought to increase or introduce a multitude of taxes, fees and charges.

The ACT is an island within NSW. The regulatory regime that clubs in the ACT face is distinctly different to the one that clubs in NSW operate under.

We are not in competition with clubs in Victoria or SA for that matter, but we now have irrefutable proof that policy decisions have simply resulted in Canberrans choosing to spend money across the border in NSW – leading to lower revenues for ACT clubs, lower taxes for the ACT government and less contributions to the ACT community.

Over this same period, nearly a dozen ACT clubs have closed, resulting in the loss of nearly 600 local jobs.

The real tragedy is that ACT clubs and the government are committed to offering support to people struggling with gambling addiction, yet we are potentially letting some problem gamblers fall through the gaps. We may actually be driving those who most need help away from the assistance we can provide here in the ACT.

In 2015, the Public Accounts Committee recommended the ACT government fund a study into the

cross-border leakage of ACT gamblers into NSW – the ACT government chose to dismiss this advice. These numbers should be carefully considered by government before implementing policy that will further disadvantage Canberra’s clubs and the community.

Gwyn Rees is the CEO of ClubsACT

GWYN REES

YOUNG & RESTLESS / city lanes

Heritage needs leadership

PROBABLY every Canberran has had an experience with our heritage “centre point”, the Sydney and Melbourne Buildings.

Whether stumbling out of a nightclub or just walking past, I’m sure everyone’s noticed the buildings’ elegance as well as their apparent flaws.

Construction began on the buildings in 1926 and wasn’t completed until 20 years later in 1946. So, what are the problems? There are three central issues.

Firstly, the buildings are separately titled and owned by multiple individuals. Without a body corporate this separation makes the maintenance of the external and common areas more troublesome and highly inconsistent (this is shown by the use of different shades of paint as well as varying levels of work to floor tiles, lights and facades).

While the City Renewal Authority has already suggested some changes to Verity and Odgers Lanes, JOHN-PAUL ROMANO believes a more radical approach is needed.

The second issue is the service laneways, generally, crowded with trade vehicles, oily, smelly and full of waste from the nearby businesses, not to mention the fact that they are dark and visually unappealing.

Thirdly, many units in these buildings are empty and shops with no lights or activity are not a pretty sight for those visiting our great city.

So what’s to be done with this heritage gem?

I believe the government, through the City Renewal Authority, must take control of all external maintenance which will allow a consistent and heritage-friendly caretaker of the facades, pavements, roofs and laneways.

While the City Renewal Authority has already suggested some changes to Verity and Odgers Lanes, I believe a more radical approach is needed; internal buildings should be knocked down, and vibrant,

bright and open laneways should be constructed; businesses should face into the laneways and the large trees should be pruned appropriately. Some in the community even suggest closing the laneways to vehicular traffic.

To reduce smell and litter, the government has proposed to store all garbage hoppers, in each building, within a single enclosure. While logical, I don’t believe this is the best solution. Recently, while travelling through Europe, I noticed an ingenious solution to above-ground hoppers that hasn’t caught on here yet; “underground garbage lifts”.

But how do you encourage tenants to rent a generally older unit when there are similarly priced newer units close by?

I believe that celebrating the heritage values of our “centre point” will offer the most significant potential and opportunities to prospective lessees. By making slight planning changes, these once vibrant and currently downcast areas of our CBD may have a much brighter future.

John-Paul Romano (@johnpauldromano) is the founder of The PURE Network (thepurenetwork.com)

SPRING FITNESS advertising feature

Warm to the idea of being fit

AS the weather starts to heat up, often so does the motivation to get outdoors and get moving!

But there still can be some things to overcome, such as hay fever and pain.

“CityNews” has spoken to experts in the ACT region, who have the skills to help Canberrans get fit this spring.

SPRING brings new beginnings so why not start the season by taking a little time for reflection and rejuvena tion, says Chenzen Wellness Centre owner Chen, which recently opened in Kingston.

Overlooking Kingston’s Green Square, Chen says the centre is a calm and welcoming space featuring a unique loft zen garden.

Passionate about healing people from the inside out, Chen has more than 25 years’ experience as an acupuncturist and has written a book to help his clients overcome fatigue and restore energy in their lives.

“During the course of my career I have treated so many clients and began to notice a pattern,” he says.

“In our fast-paced world, so many of them were highly stressed, fatigued and lacking energy, so I began to take a holistic approach in my treatments and the

New treatment for injury... and hay fever

CARM Therapies is excited to tell people about its new therapy, neuropuncture, says acupuncturist Kingsley Avery.

Kingsley says neuropuncture could have people springing back into action, back from an injury or if the spring weather has them blocked up it can help people with hay fever, too.

“Neuropuncture is an evidence-based neurophysiology acupuncture system [and] a neuropuncturist is an acupuncturist that uses the system,” he says.

“Using the system creates evidence-based neuroscience acupuncture protocols that target and rehabilitate the pathological nervous system structures back into health.”

On top of CARM Therapies’ new therapy,

it also offers services such as acupuncture, remedial massage, as well as yoga and meditation classes.

Founder Emily Avery says CARM Therapies is dedicated to offering its clients treatments for chronic pain, pregnancy and general wellbeing.

“All of our staff are highly trained, dedi cated to further education, and motivated to provide every person that comes into our clinic with the best possible care and treat ments to suit their individual needs,” she says.

CARM Therapies, Shop 5, Higgins Shops, Higgins. Call 6278 7302 or visit carmtherapies.com.au

and out, so don’t put off making an appointment, choose to take control

THE inviting weather of spring and summer can inspire people to become a lot more active, which could lead to aches and pains, says Hands-On Physiotherapy’s practice manager Liz Kell.

With the team’s “hands-on” approach, Liz says they’re committed to helping people manage acute and chronic occupational, musculoskeletal and sports injuries.

But, being one of Canberra’s original hand specialists, the practice also offers hand therapy following injury or surgery as well as management of Occupational Overuse Syndrome (RSI) and chronic conditions, including pain, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

“We can treat or manage injuries including sports injuries, wrist and finger fractures,

elbow fractures, carpal tunnel syndrome, joint replacements in the hand, wrist or elbow, nerve entrapment syndromes and osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory arthritic conditions,” she says.

“We also fabricate static and dynamic splints for our clients as required by their treating surgeons or condition management.

“We have experience with Graded Motor Imagery in the management of phantom pain, chronic pain, CRPS and post trauma.”

Hands-On Physiotherapy, 1/43 Mawson Place, Mawson. Call 6286 6467, email admin@ hands-onphysiotherapy.com.au or visit hands-onphysiotherapy.com.au

Caring about physical, mental and social wellbeing

BASED in Kingston, Morris Wellness has been asked if it’s a medical practice or a wellness centre, says Frederique Morris.

Transformational coach and personal development facilitator Frederique and her husband Andrew Morris, a fully qualified general practitioner, established Morris Wellness in 1996 as a practice that cares about the physi cal, mental and social wellbeing of its clients.

“It is sad that people are dissociating medical and wellness as if wellness was an antonym to medical,” Frederique says.

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, which is why Andrew is continually studying and updating his medical skills and knowledge in skin-cancer medicine, nutrition and lifestyle medicine.

Andrew holds a bachelor of medicine, an honours degree, a diploma in obstetrics and is an accredited skin-cancer doctor with an advanced clinical certificate of dermoscopy.

But, Frederique says, he could see that conventional medicine was not meeting the demand for the increasing number of people suffering from chronic diseases, so he also studied nutrition.

“At Morris Wellness we believe health is more than the absence of disease,” she says.

“Our mission has always been to go beyond supporting our client through their ill challenges by studying what boosts our immune system, what changes people need in their lifestyle to improve their health.”

Morris Wellness, 1/6 Kennedy Street, Kingston. Call 6239 5881, or visit morriswellness.com.au or facebook.com/morriswellness1

A full-body Computer Assisted Skin Cancer and Melanoma Screening is available at Morris Wellness Kingston.

Dr Andrew Morris photographs and maps your skin lesions and moles, to track any new or changing lesions in the future.

• Most advanced technology in skin cancer and melanoma computer screening

• Your skin is examined up to 120 times magnification & viewed on a crystal clear 27-inch iMac screen

• A precise diagnosis and earlier treatment of skin cancers is the result

• Full body Skin Cancer Computer Screening is only $120. (No referral necessary)

• Medicare rebates available on all medical consultations

• Private health fund rebates available. (Depending on your policy)

&

• Limited Memberships • Top Tier Personal Training

• Signature Classes

• Yoga, Boxing and Mobility Sessions

• Complimentary Parking

• Heated Indoor Pool 25 metres

• Steam Room, Spa and Sauna • Strength Floor • Cardio Zone

• Mudd The Spa

Mudd The Spa offers five private relaxation suites, including a couples room, a custom-designed Vichy Shower wet room and relaxation lounge.

Exclusive spa treatments and rituals for both men and women including facial, massage, hot stone massage, vichy shower, performance body treatment wraps, manicure, pedicure, organic spray tanning and waxing and tinting therapies.

To book your experience phone 6162 0909 • www.mudd.com.au

Monday

Time: 6pm – 8pm

Date: 22 October 2018

Venue: Southern Cross Club (Tuggeranong)

Address: Pitman Street & Holwell Street, Greenway, ACT

Wednesday

Time: 9.30am – 12pm

Date: 24 October 2018

Venue: Ainslie Football and Social Club 52 Wakefield Avenue, Ainslie, ACT

Address: Lucky door prizes

• Free PTG Will voucher for all attendees appointing PTG as an executor

• Light refreshments provided

Bookings essential – call 6207 9800

WILLS • ESTATES • TRUSTS • GUARDIANSHIP FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT • POWERS OF ATTORNEY

Where there’s a will, there will

A WILL is an important legal document that all adults should have to protect the assets they have worked hard to accumulate.

Making a will is a specialised task, often requiring consideration of complex financial, legal and tax issues to ensure a person’s estate is distributed in accordance with their wishes.

During Wills Week, which begins on October 22, law firms around Canberra will be raising awareness of the importance of a will.

Everyone needs legal ‘insurances’, says Barbara

JUST as people wouldn’t ignore a regular medical check-up, Barbara Campbell, of Campbell & Co Lawyers, says everyone should have legal ‘insurances’ in place to avoid later trauma, cost and heartache for loved ones.

She says these insurances include; a valid will, which should be reviewed every three to five years: an enduring power of attorney, which covers financial, personal, health and end-of-life decisions: a non-lapsing, binding death benefit nomination indicating where superannuation benefits will go: and, a binding financial agreement especially for those in a second or later relationship.

“We are aware that lawyers are not the first port of call until there is a problem,” Barbara says.

But, she says, by using Campbell & Co Lawyers’ experienced team clients can avoid many unwanted scenarios.

“Our firm punches above its weight, we encourage ongoing study, [and] our lawyers include those with masters of law in family law, masters of law estate law, a specialist in self-managed super funds, a university medal winner and we access a team of support specialists for all our matters,” she says.

“Moreover, our costs are very competitive as we would rather ensure everyone has a valid will and their other legal insurances in place.”

Campbell & Co Lawyers, suite 1, 1 Phipps Close, Deakin. Call 6288 8852, email mail@campbellco.com.au or visit campbellco.com.au

Trustee to host two forums

DURING Wills Week, the Public Trustee and Guardian will present two free forums on the importance of having a valid, up-to-date will and an enduring power of attorney.

“A valid, up-to-date and professionally prepared will is essential to protect your interests in the event of your death,” says Andrew Taylor of the Public Trustee and Guardian.

The first forum will be held at the Southern Cross Club in Tuggeranong from 6pm-8pm, October 22, and the second will be at Ainslie Football and Social Club from 9.30am-12pm, October 24.

Andrew says everyone over 18, with legal capacity, should have a will.

“Failure to do so may result in extra costs and undesirable or unforeseen outcomes,” he says.

“A will should be reviewed to reflect changes in your circumstances such as marriage, birth of a child or divorce.

“Marriage revokes a will unless the will was made in contemplation of the marriage.

“Entering a civil union or civil partnership will also revoke a will unless it includes a specific expression of contemplation of the union.

“Upon divorce, the spouse or civil partner will be treated as though they had predeceased the person making the will and will not participate as beneficiary or executor.”

Public Trustee and Guardian, ground floor, 221 London Circuit, Civic. Call 6207 9800 or visit ptg.act.gov.au

you in a dispute with your former partner about property or

be peace of mind

Experienced lawyers in estate planning

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.

“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 also provides services such as conveyancing, commercial law, litigation and dispute processing, property and planning law, and agency matters.

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

Beware of changing legislation, says Ashilpa

CURRENTLY there are changes that might affect a person when drawing up a will or making estate planning arrangements, says Ashilpa Khanna, of Capon & Hubert Lawyers & Mediators.

Ashilpa says there have been changes to several things such as superannuation arrangements and tax implications for beneficiaries under the different types of trusts in a will.

“It is very important to consult with someone with whom you are able to ask questions [about these changes],” she says.

“This helps in being well informed when drawing up your will or making estate planning arrangements.”

With its personalised approach, Ashilpa says Capon & Hubert Lawyers & Mediators spend time with its clients to find the best possible solution that fits their particular situation at a reasonable cost – including wills and estate planning.

“Wills and estate planning are important because they ensure that your loved ones are looked after when you are gone,” she says.

“Having your affairs in order saves time and money or the need to prove something before the court.

“It also ensures that your lifetime’s assets are disposed of in the manner that you would have intended.

“If your circumstances have changed since you last made your will, it is best to seek advice and make an informed decision as to whether your will needs updating.”

Capon & Hubert Lawyers & Mediators, First Floor, 32-38 Townshend Street, Phillip. Email enquiries@chsol.com.au, call 6152 9203 or visit chsol.com.au

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Airs, graces and decanting RICHARD CALVER

Pike’s festival looks forward to looking back

By Helen Musa

THERE’S a glint of missionary zeal in the eyes of Canberra International Film Festival director Andrew Pike when he talks about cinema.

That’s a description he is proud to own. For not only is Pike one of Canberra‘s leading film professionals but he is quite literally the grandson of missionaries, who once spread the word in south-west China – “it’s in the DNA,” he says.

As part of the recovery process from an event that almost collapsed under a succession of managements unable to compete with competition from other “big” film festivals, the mission at hand is to give Canberra a unique festival, one matching the sophistication and intellectual strength of the city’s audiences, and Pike thinks he knows how to go about it.

He is determined to make the festival zoom in on Australia’s often-unacknowledged cinema geniuses, beginning with Robert Krasker.

Robert who?

Known as one of the great cameramen of cinema’s “Golden Age”, he was the first Aussie ever to win an Oscar for his moody expressionist cinematography in the 1949 film “The Third Man”, which will open the festival.

STOP PRESS

With at least 50 films to his credit, Krasker shot for the elite Italian director Luchino Visconti, also filming Joe Losey’s 1960 film, “The Criminal”, where actor Stanley Baker plays the lone wolf trying to outwit a large crime syndicate.

The closing film in the festival will be the 1961 colour blockbuster “El Cid”, starring Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston,

RAGTIME MEMORIES

Adam is now doing a Morning Melodies on Friday morning 2 November at 10:30am. This will be a shorter 60 minute show. Tickets $25.00 includes morning tea.

Adam is rapidly becoming known as one of the world’s foremost performers and historians of ragtime and early American popular music. He has been a featured performer and lecturer at ragtime and jazz festivals across the USA.

The Entertainers

celebrated for Krasker’s long shot of the dead hero riding away, tied upright to his horse. His vistas of dark and light made him famous, but not in his own country. That’s about to change with present National Film and Sound Archive chief Jan Müller keen to set up a Krasker collection.

Money is very much on Pike’s mind. He is paid a tiny fee, “effectively pro bono”, but

works with a team of loyal volunteers. Box office receipts jumped by 30 per cent last year and as part of “a careful restructuring” the event has been downsized from 10 to three days.

“We hope to do a longer festival next year with five or six days and more strands,” he says.

Official funding in the ACT system, Pike explains, is chancy – on again, off again – and they get nothing from the Australia Council, but happily, Screen Australia has provided some funding to bridge the process of transition.

“The trouble with government funding is that the funding authorities aren’t really engaged and while occasionally they give us support, it’s an unreliable source,” Pike says.

“I want our supporters to feel involved.”

In-kind support with no strings attached has come from the Motion Picture Association, which helps them source films.

“Studios have massive back catalogues of films they want to re-introduce and they need an audience,” he says.

Pike believes there is a demand in Australian audiences for quality films.

“So we’ve decided to become a ‘retro’ festival and we will be the only one of any substance here… the big national festivals have one or two retrospective films, but ours will be curated,” he says.

“I’m originally a historian and I believe we need informed historians to locate the films

for audiences, we must have Q&As at the end of each film and I want festivals with strands.

“The subject matter is so interesting, it’s the work of Australians who built careers in cinema when there were no openings for them here.”

He reflects that names such as Peter Finch and Errol Flynn are unknown to young filmgoers now, to say nothing of Australian artist John Farrow who won an Oscar and directed almost 50 movies – now the only thing he’s famous for is having been Mia Farrow’s dad.

“What I’m trying to do is to give our cinema a past,” Pike says, “I’m never interested in following fashion, it’s my job to make films meaningful.”

The 1965 Australian drama, “Sunday Too Far Away”, has been restored by the NFSA and will be screened, but international cinema will get a look-in, too, with Margarethe von Trotta’s film “Searching for Ingmar Bergman” and Tatiana Brandrup’s “Cinema: A Public Affair”, about the destruction by bureaucracy of the Moscow Film Museum, a cautionary tale for Australian film lovers.

Pike is already looking ahead to 2019 when he’s planning a close-up look at a true movie superstar who grew up in Canberra –Jackie Chan.

Canberra International Film Festival, Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, October 26-28. Bookings to ciff.com.au

PIANO PARTY

Adam Swanson fell in love with ragtime after hearing Fig Leaf Rag and a few Jelly Roll Morton tunes on his grandparents’ Web TV. He is now is the foremost young ragtime enthusiast in the United States. Adam has been performing since he was ten years old and is the youngest-ever pianist to win the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest.

“ Adam has accomplished more feats in his young musical career than many artists dream of achieving in a lifetimes work. The Davis Enterprise

Thursday 1st November • Harmonie German Club

Legendary Australian band STARS are “Back Again” to Canberra for the first time in 40 years! Celebrating their classic albums “Paradise”, “Land of Fortune” ,”1157” and of course the “Andrew Durant Memorial Concert”.

CINEMA

SATURDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2018 - 6.45pm - 11.00pm

Early Bird tickets $120 before 12th October $130 per ticket. Bookings by phone contact MARILYN GRAY 0407 512 296, online @ capo.org.au/tickets

Good news in the bad times at the El Royale

“Bad

Times at the El Royale” (MA)

THIS is high-grade movie craftsmanship telling a confronting, violent story evoking the Hollywood era when memories of the great depression, prohibition and World War II were active in America’s mind.

This brainchild of producer/writer/director Drew Goddard mingles robbery and murder in a package taking 141 minutes to deliver contents going beyond what’s there on the screen. Within the parameters of its genre, it’s credible, complex, clever in its to-ing and fro-ing among places and times, and morally defensible (although for most of its length it deals with characters and situations not what they seem).

Jeff Bridges heads a relatively small principal cast. After parking a beautiful example of the Studebaker that changed car design forever by abandoning the running boards on which pursuing cops had stood shooting at fleeing crooks in so many crime movies, Father Flynn takes a room in the El Royale, a quiet, rundown motel where the boundary between California and Arizona runs through the lobby.

Darlene (Cynthia Erivo), an attractive black woman, needs undisturbed quiet to practise the numbers she plans to audition for a gig in California. Father Flynn offers to help carry her chattels to the lobby where Miles (Lewis Pullman), who appears to be the hotel’s only employee, invites her to decide in which state she would like to sleep.

Next arrival is Emily (Dakota Johnson) who signs the register using a word a family newspaper won’t print followed by “off”. After dark, in the rain, Emily carries in a young woman bound and gagged and ties her in a chair.

Fundamentalist preacher Billy (Chris Hemsworth) is grooming teenager Ruth a.k.a. Boots (Cailee Spaeny) whose relationship with Emily is yet to be disclosed. Billy is a sadist whose time in the story is spattered with the blood of almost all the other principal characters.

These people have secrets that emerge as the night goes on. The hotel also has a secret, one-way mirrors for paying voyeurs to watch illicit couples cavorting erotically in short-rent rooms.

“Bad Night at the El Royale” offers satisfying rewards for people willing not to be mollycoddled by having been exposed to other films offering modern conventions of its genre. I enjoyed its surprises, production values, writing of both dialogue and situations and delivery of sheer entertainment. So can you.

At all cinemas

“First Man” (M)

DAMIEN Chazelle’s second film as director (after “La La Land”) begins with the 1947 flight on which Chuck Yeager flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1. Fast forward to 1962 when the US felt it needed to surpass the space achievements of the USSR and Neil and Janet Armstrong (Claire Foy) buried their two-year-old daughter Karen, an event that Chazelle’s screenplay revisits briefly on several occasions in the next eight years leading to and during Armstrong’s moon walk on July 20, 1969.

‘‘First Man” tells the story of US space activity alongside the domestic lives of several astronauts, most particularly neighbour Pat White whose husband Ed (Jason Clarke) wasn’t on Apollo 11 when it landed on the moon, but was a close associate of Armstrong.

The film works hard to tell about the highs and lows of political and technical events on the ground and in the air leading to Apollo 11. Some of the last of those are likely to be of great interest to space exploration aficionados.

Ryan Gosling makes a light meal of playing Armstrong including passages involving testing of some of the modules built for the flight and the landing. Apparently Armstrong was unfazed by one machine that rotated him on three axes at increasing speeds. We must assume that Gosling’s middle ears withstood the test, but you might be forgiven for wondering whether you were watching a stand-in or a dummy.

“First Man” is workmanlike cinema, Hollywood soberly and affectionately recreating events that the media wallowed in at the time and others that were not made public. Some might consider it fiction playing as documentary. Or vice versa. It’s both.

At all cinemas

REVUE Wharf reviews panto of power

By Helen Musa

PANTOMIME is a pretty apt metaphor for what’s been going on in Canberra in the last 12 months – and the Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Revue has been quick to seize on it.

Jonathan Biggins who, with Drew Forsythe, co-wrote the show, has titled this year’s performance “Déjà Revue” because of the ever-revolving doors in our corridors of power.

He is the only one of the Wharf’s original creators left standing; For sythe was carried off to hospital for an operation days into their season at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre and musical maestro/satirist Phillip Scott retired from the team last year. Not to worry, the show must go on and as Biggins proudly boasts to “CityNews” when we catch up with him: “We’ve never ever cancelled even one show”.

Jonathan Biggins… “There was some pretty quick re-writing to transform Scott Morrison from Treasurer to PM.”

present state of Australian politics.

“We certainly still have a pantomime where we see the rise and fall and rise and fall of Malcolm.”

That’s a nice parallel to their Gillard-era number, “Rudd Never

“It’s always the same thing happening over and over again,” Biggins says and that’s why we’ve called it “Déjà Review”.

So what will Canberrans relate to? Canberrans always get more of the jokes than anybody else, Biggins says, but here goes: Beck will play Malcolm Turnbull as the panto Principal Boy and Stormy Daniels as well as Michaelia and Hansell will do a country number as Barnaby Joyce, Kevin Andrews as an ugly sister and Peter Dutton as Prince Charmless; Burke will be the other ugly sister, Christopher Pyne is the Fairy Godfather;

Not even in 2015, when there was a change of prime minister the day before they opened in Canberra.

Simon Burke steps in for the Canberra season, Andrew Worboys is musical director, seasoned musical theatre star Rachael Beck plays delicious female roles such as Michaelia Cash and Melania Trump, and Doug

Hansell, who’s been with the Wharf once before in the show “Open For Business”, plays our latest PM. So how are they coping with our latest change in prime minister?

“That happened in the second week of rehearsals, so there was some pretty quick re-writing to transform Scott Morrison from Treasurer to PM,” he says.

“But I think we’ll be fairly safe for the rest of the season, unless Alan Jones gets to him [Morrison] I can’t see them going to an early election, can you?” he says.

Biggins reminds us that Turnbull has a history in rolling a PM, too, so they’ve had to add “a bit of a coda about that” and he will do a Paul Keating monologue reflecting on the

• and Biggins, apart from playing Keating, Trump and Bob Brown, will open the show as “Buttons”, “the world’s angriest panto character”.

In short, Biggins says, “it’s business as usual.”

“Déjà Revue”, The Playhouse, October 23-November 3. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

Many Canberra suburbs are home to the distinctive concrete bus shelters designed by architect Clem Cummings in 1975.

Artist Trevor Dickinson has selected over fifty of the most striking examples to draw and develop into digital prints. His collection reveals that every shelter has its own beauty and personality; and explores how these shelters shape Canberra’s unique suburban landscape.

Leaping ballet boys in the pink of their careers

By Helen Musa

DIRECT from New York, as they say in showbiz, Les Ballets Eloelle’s male comedy ballet show, “Men in Pink Tights”, is about to seize the limelight in Canberra.

It should play into Australian audiences’ penchant for seeing blokes dress up, but artistic director Victor Trevino, speaking to “CityNews” from West Palm Beach, Florida, stresses that “Men in Pink Tights” is not a drag show but rather “a dance show that has a drag element”.

His artists, though heavily made and dressed up, are classically trained dancers and that is the focus of the show, he says.

“We’re doing choreography that you see in a normal company, our dancers are recognised for what they are and the dance tradition that they come from,” he says.

The successor to the company’s hit “Men In Tutus”, the show features solos, duets and ensemble pieces selected from its extensive repertoire, which includes at any time parts of “Spartacus”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Le Corsaire”, “Harlequinade”, “Swan Lake”, George Balanchine’s “Go For Barocco” and dozens more.

A send-up of ballet, it combines real ballet technique, temperamental outbursts, deliberately conceived mistakes performed by men who sometimes look like women and sometimes like men with pancake make-up but all danced to perfection.

Trevino, who danced with the all-male Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (‘the Trocks’) for 10 years, says: “I’ve pretty much done all these big roles myself”. He’s also been Giselle, Aurora, Sugar Plum Fairy, Juliet and Carmen.

“Men in Pink Tights”... not a drag show but rather “a dance show that has a drag element,” says artistic director Victor Trevino.

Now the artistic advisor for the New England Ballet and the performance co-ordinator and liaison for Palm Beach Atlantic University, Trevino says: “We are serious about dance, but we are also having fun with it”.

So how did he come up with the concept of men in tights? Inspired by the 1993 Mel Brooks movie

“Robin Hood: Men in Tights”, he says he thought that people would respond to a parody of that title. And he was right.

“We’ve got a strong touring track record in Australia, NZ, the US, China and Europe and we have been very lucky,” he says.

“I’ve learnt a lot about comedy over the years, but I’ve also learnt how to express my own ideas… I wanted to stretch my dancers beyond the laughs and because I was producer and director, I was able to

‘CityNews’ is looking for a flexible, reliable, responsive, well-presented, freelance snapper to take social photos. Apply via editor@citynews.com.au

present it the way I wanted to.”

Regarding current gender perspectives he says: “I don’t discriminate, we have all kinds of people in the company and we’re multicultural.”

Among his dancers from 13 countries there is a Japanese dancer, married with two kids, playing the main female roles.

“I like to bring people of many backgrounds together, that’s truly the most important thing,” he says.

Above all, he says the show brings people from everywhere together who want to sit down and have a good laugh.

“But it’s different when it’s in pink,” he says.

“Men in Pink Tights”, Canberra Theatre, Wednesday, October 24.

ARTS IN THE CITY

Tempo calls in the ‘Vicar’ for Christmas

By Helen MUSA

MURDER is out and faith is in with Tempo Theatre’s new instalment of “A Vicar of Dibley Christmas”. Opera singer Karyn Tisdell plays Vicar, Geraldine and all the characters from the British TV series are there on stage. At Belconnen Community Theatre, October 26-November 3. Book at canberraticketing.com.au or 6275 2700.

THE one-man comedy drama

“Shell Shock” was a highlight at the 2018 Adelaide Fringe, the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe and the 2017 New York Fringe. Performed by British comedian Tim Marriott, it presents one person’s story of coping with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the National Portrait Gallery, 2pm and 7pm, Monday, October 22, and 2pm, Tuesday, October 23. Book at eventbrite.com.au

Aussie rocker Jon Stevens will sing all his hits from Noiseworks, INXS, “Jesus Christ Superstar” and The Dead Daisies with a full band at Canberra Theatre, Thursday, October 25.

A new iteration of “Menopause the Musical”, directed by Alli

“A Vicar of Dibley Christmas”... Belconnen Community Theatre, October 26-November 3. Jon Stevens… Canberra Theatre, October 25.

Pope-Bailey and subtitled “Women on Fire!”, is coming to The Q, Queanbeyan on Tuesday, October 23-27. Book at theq.net.au or 6285 6290.

CANBERRA Symphony Orchestra’s 2018 Australian Series finale will see bassoonist Matthew Kneale, harpist Meriel Owen and clarinettist David Rowden, accompanied by the Omega Ensemble, perform new works by Holly Harrison, Stuart Greenbaum and Cyrus Meurant.

At the National Portrait Gallery, 6.30pm, Thursday, October 25.

Private out-of-hours viewing of the current exhibition is included. Book at cso.org.au or 6262 6772.

CANBERRA Sinfonia presents Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances and the Haydn Symphony No. 63 in C Major, soprano Louise Page will sing Mozart arias and all will be conducted by Leonard Weiss. At Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, 3pm, Saturday, October 27. Book at trybooking.com

IN “The Degenerate and the Fop”, Art Song Canberra’s next concert,

soprano Sarahlouise Owens and pianist Colleen Rae-Gerrard will perform music by Poulenc, Hahn, Satie, Argento, Eisler, Weill and Casey. At Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, Sunday, October 21. Tickets at the door or trybooking.com

VOCAL quartet Il Divo – Switzerland’s Urs Bühler, Spaniard Carlos Marín, American David Miller and Sébastien Izambard, of France, with conductor John Foreman – will be joined by Marina Prior in a concert at the AIS Arena, Wednesday, October 24.

The airs and graces in the art of decanting

FOR my September birthday, I was given a spectacular gift: a Waterford crystal decanter shaped like a tortured swan. It evokes the tale of Leda and the Swan and that stirring WB Yeats poem of the same name with its extraordinary ending lines: So mastered by the brute blood of the air, Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

I stifled these thoughts when expressing gratitude for the gift; it’s not particularly PC to celebrate art inspired by the rape of a human by the God of Gods who has come down to the earth in animal form.

The friend who gave me the gift said: “Not sure when you are supposed to decant wine but I think you’ll use it, won’t you?”

“To be frank, I’m

You decant for two basic reasons: to give wine a chance to breathe and to see off any deposits that might clag up the taste. It’s reds you decant. You could decant whites but they would rarely benefit.

not sure that I will use it other than as a decoration,” I replied.

And to confirm this stance my son, on a later visit, indicated that he wasn’t sure he liked the new glass sculpture that now dominates the dining room table. “Ahh,” I said. “It’s a decanter.”

“Oh,” he said, “I thought it was an art work.”

“I think it is. But there are sound reasons to use it, over and above its elegant presence on the dining table,” I explained. “Even if I never take that step…

“You decant for two basic reasons: to give wine a chance to breathe and to see off any deposits that might clag up the taste. It’s

reds you decant. You could decant whites but they would rarely benefit.

“The younger more tannic red wines need longer to breathe and the term that is used when they have reacted to the air is that they become more ‘expressive’.

“Yes, here in this book that I love to read ‘The Art and Science of Wine’ it says: ‘The bouquet of a young wine will be powerful, still dominated by the smell of its fruit. It reacts positively to air and hence to decanting. Normally its bouquet will increase in the decanter for three to four hours in a short burst of polymerization and esterification.’”

“What?” he says.

“Fancy words for the creation of chemical compounds,” I say.

DINING / pho phu quoc, dickson

counter-intuitive, but older wines need less breathing time. That’s because hopefully in the bottle the aroma of fruit and the esters that have been produced will already be intense and not in need of air.

“But those older wines need decanting to get rid of the sediment that forms. It’s a crust that forms in the bottle and also may be floating at the bottom of the bottle.

“The particles are yeast cells, left over grape solids, you know stems, seeds, bits of skin. You also get tartrates or tartaric acid crystals, especially in white wine. Then there are other solids left over from the winemaking process, including from the fining process – when you check the label of some wines you’ll see ‘may have traces of egg white’ as a disclosure because they use egg whites to force the particles to the bottom of the vats before they pump out the wine.

Did I see a yawn from my offspring? He has his phone out…

“Anyway”, I harrumph, “It’s

“Anyway, decanting leaves behind the sediment. That’s why it’s best to have a light behind the decanter so you can see the flow of liquid and leave behind any sediment as you pour the wine out of the bottle.”

“Hmm” he said,” I still don’t like it.”

“Well, it’s just like wine: we all don’t like

sundayROAST

Fast service, focus on food

IT’S been seven years since I first popped into Pho Phu Quoc in Dickson. They were the days when this Vietnamese restaurant was in a tiny space at the bottom end of the Dickson strip, with very little fancy about the place.

Today, Pho Phu Quoc is still in Dickson, but now in bigger, brighter accommodation with a more lively decor. Massive, coloured lanterns hang from the front window and lots of buddhas and Vietnamese decorations are scattered about the place.

One thing’s for sure, food remains the focus and Pho Phu Quoc remains a strong draw card for those enamoured with the wonders of authentic (and inexpensive) Vietnamese cuisine.

Service is lightning-bolt quick. The aim here is to turn tables as often as possible, but without rushing customers.

Other entrees that intrigued us were the jellyfish salad (next time; $13.90) and the fun, do-it-yourself campfire beef, which comes to the table in a clay pot over flames. You roll the beef in rice paper and salad and dip it into salty fish sauce ($25).

The house specials caught my eye on my first visit as they did on this visit.

The chilli mussels ($18.90), served in open half shells were superb. They were massive but tender and we delighted in squirting fresh lemon over them. The chilli made its presence known without overpowering the mussels. If you want extra kick, the dish came with fresh, chopped red chilli on the side in a small bowl.

Roast duck is a true specialty of this restaurant and it was just as sensational as the mussels and an incredibly generous serve for $19.90. The skin was crunchy crispy, the meat succulent and the sweet

We started by sharing the fresh and lively pawpaw salad with plump prawns and thin strips of pork ($13.90). The dish had all the elements Vietnamese food is so famous for – sweet, sour, salty, crunchy.

chilli sauce a special addition. Honestly, do not go past this dish if you adore duck.

Other house specialties include salted squid ($17.90), garlic prawns in a clay pot ($22), pepper fish in a clay pot ($21.90) and curry chicken with lemongrass and chilli ($16.90).

We needed some greens and so ordered the good old Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce. We would have preferred just the broccoli… the dish was also fairly loaded with chopped carrot ($13).

Other great regular dishes on the menu include soups, rice and noodle dishes, vegetarian options and main courses of beef, chicken, pork, lamb, prawns and fish. Pho Phu Quoc is licensed and also sells heaps of fresh juices and shakes.

Pho Phu Quoc, 5 Badham Street, Dickson, open seven days lunch and dinner.

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 call 6255 1206 between 10am and noon

GARDENING Gardeners want to have fun!

GARDENS shouldn’t be solely focused on plants, but should be fun places for adults and children alike.

Today I’m illustrating a couple of fun ideas; one that costs serious money and space to build, and the other, simplicity itself.

Some gardeners certainly get carried away after seeing an idea overseas and think: “I could do that in our garden at home”.

With a Spanish influence, this structure was only new when I photographed it despite having the appearance of being a few hundred years old. I understand this was built by the owner who obviously has some building expertise.

The second idea is simplicity in itself; it’s an old picture frame on a couple of supports at the end of a path featuring a conifer. A living work of art? I found a couple of old frames at the Green Shed in Mitchell and intend to copy this idea.

The Shed is a great source of material for the garden, from old pots to metal that could be turned into a sculpture with a bit of imagination. Most of the timber at the Green Shed has come from the demolition of old houses and businesses. This means that any hardwood is well

open days I’m often asked if they are for sale! The answer is a definite, yes.

I JUST love perennials because they are more or less in the garden for many years as opposed to annuals, such as petunias or pansies, which need to be replanted at least twice or more every change of season.

be dug up and divided or increased naturally with dispersal of seed. One can never have too many perennials.

FLORIADE is over for another year. What did you think of it in regard to the flower displays (disregarding the NightFest in your comments, as this has nothing to do with the flowers)? For example, did you think there were fewer bulbs but more annual plants such as pansies as fillers between the bulbs? Or that the beds were larger or smaller than in previous years? Email me at cedric@citynews.com.au

Jottings...

• Fuchsias that lost their leaves in winter can now be trimmed as the new shoots start to appear.

• Geraniums in pots can have all the dead stalks removed and given a feed.

• As bulbs finish flowering you don’t have to wait until all the unsightly leaves die back. Leaves can be cut back to ground level

WARDROBE DESIGN

Frame your favourite plant.

feeding with a certified organic plant nutrient every four weeks.

• Start filling in gaps in the garden with perennial plants for summerthrough-toautumn colour.

BATHROOM RENOVATIONS

Full renovation or simple update. We help you get the bathroom that you desire.

A room designed especially for you. We also provide custom entertainment units. •

Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Expect some dizzying highs and some annoying lows this week! Wednesday night’s Full Moon highlights hiccups in your financial management. So, strive to be less impulsive and extravagant, and much more cautious and thrifty. Retrograde Venus could also send a reality check your way in the form of a large bill, an unexpected expense or a retrospective tax debt. Which just reinforces the importance of having a smart savings plan and a well-stocked emergency fund.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

When it comes to a romance, friendship or business partnership, avoid being stuck in the past and making the same mistakes over (and over) again. Looking for lasting love? With Venus retrograde, expect some romantic hiccups over the next few weeks. Wednesday night’s Full Moon (in your sign) emphasises your practical side, as a problem comes to a head or a project is finally completed. Do your best to handle current challenges in a suitably sensible and stylish fashion.

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

Don’t let your enthusiasm for an exciting joint venture or work project overtake your ability to knuckle down and get the job done. If you promise more than you can deliver, then others will just end up feeling disappointed. With the help of Wednesday night’s Full Moon, use the power of your fertile imagination to get to the bottom of a problem that’s been bothering you. Plus listen to the wisdom of your inner voice. It will point you in the direction that’s right for you.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

Someone could question your aspirations for the future. So it’s time to ask yourself “Am I full of fabulous dreams but short on practical details?” Crabs are often over-emotional around the time of the Full Moon but this one’s in earthy Taurus, so you’ll feel more emotionally grounded than usual. That doesn’t mean there won’t be some surprises along the way though! Singles – with Venus reversing through your romance zone, expect a few setbacks along the road to true love.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

With the Full Moon illuminating your career zone, find creative ways to inspire others and shine more brightly at work. You’re feeling positive about a current challenge but sometimes there’s a fine line between being optimistic and being unrealistic. Inspiration for the week is from birthday great, painter Pablo Picasso: “Our goals can only be reached through the vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act.”

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Wednesday night’s Full Moon stimulates your adventure and study zones, so it’s a good time to plan a trip or learn something new. The planets are pushing you to travel and learn and grow, even when it is difficult. As birthday great Pablo Picasso declared: “I am always doing what I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” When communicating with others, choose your words wisely. If you’re unsure how a comment will be received, then it’s better to say nothing!

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Expect a week of topsy-turvy extremes. Saturn helps to stabilise a rocky relationship but retrograde Venus will continue to cause problems until November 16. In the meantime, do your diplomatic best to find some mutually agreeable middle ground. Then Wednesday night’s Full Moon stimulates your spending gene. But – before you start splashing cash around – make sure you consult with your romantic or business partner, so you know you’re both on the same financial page.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Venus is still reversing through your sign so a personal project or a close relationship could suddenly stall – or even go backwards! Don’t waste precious time worrying about it or expend too much energy trying to fix it. Instead, be a patient Scorpio as you reflect, revise, re-evaluate and re-calibrate. Wednesday night’s Full Moon shines a spotlight on your relationship skills as you turn up your charm and sex appeal – and turn down your jealous and possessive streak.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

You’re keen to be in charge but are you being the boss – or just plain bossy? This week the celestial patterns encourage you to utilise your leadership skills in more subtle, disciplined and diplomatic ways that result in cooperation rather than consternation! On Wednesday and Thursday your creativity and compassion are sparked by the Full Moon, as you connect with your inner muse or help a friend in need. Yoga, meditation, contemplation and relaxation are also favoured.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Promising career, business or financial opportunities are around you, and clever Capricorns will examine all possibilities in a sensible and realistic light. With Venus reversing through your hopes and wishes zone, it’s important to have a long-term goal that you’re working towards. You’ll have to be patient though, as you focus on bringing your dreams down to earth via a practical plan. Then – when everything is firmly in place – you’ll know the perfect time to pounce.

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

The Full Moon heralds a house move, home renovation, family fiasco, uninvited guests or some other kind of domestic drama. And some Aquarians could become entangled in a work-place misunderstanding. Whatever happens, strive to get the balance right between your public life and your private responsibilities. The planets also push you to reinvent a close relationship. But is that a good idea? Just be careful you don’t get carried away and throw the baby out with the bathwater!

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

Are your aspirations for the future ambitious enough? The current planetary patterns favour ruminating over big-picture ideas. And there’s no room for false modesty or passive procrastination as you enjoy talking, texting, posting, promoting, socialising and circulating. Wednesday night’s Full Moon also stimulates your thought processes and encourages you to come up with a cracking plan, and then pursue it. An unwelcome surprise could unsettle you though.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2018

2 Which North American dog is known as the prairie wolf? (6)

3 Name a renowned Australian landscape painter, Sir Arthur ... (8)

(6)

9 Name the capital of Alberta, Canada. (8)

10 Name a child's toy that gives out short sharp sounds. (6)

11 To pass across, or through, is to do what? (8)

14 Which other term describes absurdity? (8)

18 What is a glass bottle for water, wine, etc? (6)

19 To have become smaller and smaller, is to have done what? (8)

21 Which colour lies between red and yellow in the spectrum? (6)

22 What is the extinguishing of light, as in a power failure? (8)

23 To caution earnestly, is to do what? (6) Down

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4 Name the officiating priest of a mosque. (4)

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6 What are substances composed of two or more metals? (6)

12 What is a short narrative of a particular incident? (8)

13 Name the right held by one person to make use of the land of another. (8)

15 Name the prolific English novelist, author of Animal Farm and 1984, George ... (6)

16 Name the largest tribe of the Five Nations of North American Indians. (6)

17 What is a circular band of flowers left at a grave? (6)

20 What is a machine for weaving yarn? (4)

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