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Foul play as Labor attacks men’s sport

I HAVE been a long-time advocate of the need to address discrimination and inequality in society. I abhor discrimination, and if asked what I am most proud of in my time as Chief Minister I answer, the passage of the Human Rights Act and my unremitting commitment to it and to equality.

This leads me to the latest chapter of how the Labor Party/Greens war on community clubs and their members and supporters is playing out.

As anyone in Canberra who follows local politics is aware, Andrew Barr’s government, since the last election, has engaged in an almost ceaseless and I believe politically motivated, campaign against the clubs. Well, at least, against some of the clubs, namely those that dared to express the clearly treasonous view that perhaps it was time for a change of government.

Clubs provide significant funding and other assistance to sporting groups for men and women, young and old. The latest attack by the government has been to direct that payments or support by community clubs towards men’s professional sport can no longer be counted as a community contribution.

The relevant change to the ACT’s contribution scheme is obscure, complex and unique when compared with the approach taken by other states and territories to the contribution of clubs to sport.

The clubs most affected by this change are those established for the sole purpose of supporting sport, including in some cases semi-professional or professional sporting teams. Precluding the support these clubs provide to men’s sport from being counted as a community contribution has potentially serious consequences for the viability of some teams and undermines the reason for which the club was established. The issue of viability is real, as evidenced by the actions of the government. The Minister for Gaming, Gordon Ramsay, has already needed to intervene in one case, providing an exemption to the new rules in the case of the Canberra Demons, who presumably would otherwise cease to be funded.

the taxpayer for funding but happens to play against the Greater Western Sydney team in the NEAFL.

GWS, as many in our community would be aware, receives $2.3 million annually, compliments of the ACT taxpayer. What the ACT government thinks is good use of taxpayers’ money – ie, funding professional men’s sport at the highest level – it rather bizarrely, and hypocritically won’t accept as being a good use of money by clubs.

Clubs notably affected by this new ban include the Raiders, Vikings, Eastlake and Ainslie, clubs that between them are the mainstay in the ACT for all levels of Rugby League, Rugby Union and Australian rules and a large range of other sports.

Andrew Barr’s government has engaged in an almost ceaseless and politically motivated, campaign since the last election against the clubs that dared express the clearly treasonous view that perhaps it was time for a change of government.

While refusing to accept that payments to professional male sporting groups are a community benefit (unless it is funded by the ACT government) payments in support for women’s professional sporting teams are exempted from the ban. Clubs may still count as a community contribution, funding for professional women’s sport. On first blush, in light of the historic discrimination endured by women’s sport, one might think, fair enough.

In creating the distinction between men’s and women’s sport the government has unsurprisingly but cynically attempted to take the high moral ground and insists that it is driven only by a determination to better support women’s sport. This is clearly not only drivel but it ignores and trivialises the stunning levels of support which the clubs already provide to sporting groups across Canberra.

of the payments made to the affiliates have not been claimed through the contribution scheme.

This participation rate mirrors official data available from Sports Australia, which demonstrates that the ACT has the highest participation of women in the country in sport and recreation. More women are participating in sport than men, and no small part of this is because of the generous contribution of our community clubs. This is something the government should be celebrating. In fact the Vikings Group probably deserve to be Canberra Citizen of the Year.

The new arrangements in relation to community contributions also clearly discriminate on the basis of sex. Sex discrimination is generally understood to occur when you are treated differently because of your sex and in a range of now generally accepted situations it is unlawful to be so treated.

There are of course, quite reasonably, some circumstances when being treated differently due to sex is lawful but I do not think this is one of them. The government would be very hard pressed to convince an objective observer that this new scheme was designed only to enhance opportunities for the participation of women in sport, and that the same outcomes could not have been achieved without actively discriminating against men.

I have always believed that any attempt to address discrimination faced by any group in society, for example women in sport, will never succeed if it involves blatant and gratuitous discrimination against another group in society, in this case, men in sport.

The decision by Andrew Barr and his Labor and Greens colleagues to discriminate against Canberra men playing Rugby League, Rugby Union and Australian Rules or indeed any other sport only does not pass the sex discrimination test it also, perhaps more importantly, does not pass the pub test.

Jon Stanhope was chief minister 2001-2011 and represented Ginninderra for Labor from 1998. He is the only chief minister to have governed with a majority in the Assembly.

This decision is not without irony, because this is a team not reliant on the government or

Take a look for example at the record of the Vikings Group. It supports roughly 50 affiliate sporting groups, which have more than 50 per cent female participation, and incidentally most

SEVEN DAYS

Tim, a T-shirt and the topless Brazilian

THE late Tim Fischer left a mark on all who encountered him during an impressive political career.

Deputising for a holidaying PM John Howard in the ‘90s, Tim was in Port Macquarie. At local Flynns Beach, down to his budgie smugglers, ready for a dip, Tim noticed an attractive young Brazilian woman who happened to be topless. He quickly grabbed a T-shirt bearing the message “Vote 1 Rob Oakeshott” and gave it to her.

As Fischer jogged to the surf the young tourist asked minders: “Who was that strange man?” She was flabbergasted when told: “That was our acting Prime Minister”. RIP Tim Fischer.

STILL on the Nats and the NSW member for Monaro continues to grow in political confidence. Deputy Premier and state National Party Leader, John Barilaro has strongly rebuked former Federal leader Barnaby Joyce over his activism in the divisive NSW abortion debate. Despite Federal leader Michael McCormack defending the member for New England’s right to campaign against the controversial Bill, Barilaro has objected to Joyce’s robocalling constituents in Queanbeyan, saying those who received a robocall were “upset and they think it’s not proper.”

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison’s sermon on the mount to Canberra-based public service heads may have only served to ignite a fresh round of Canberra bashing. Within

hours of the Messiah from the Shire’s “blessed are the quiet Australians” lesson, Donald Trump’s “drain the swamp” dog whistle could be heard loud and clear on AM talkback radio.

MELBOURNE-based 2GB commentator Rita Panahi took Canberra bashing to a new low by boldly suggesting, without any qualification, that Canberrans “live in a fairly pampered existence ”. Her stupidity didn’t stop there. Ignoring co-host Steve Price (who is punching out some of the best talk radio I’ve heard in a decade in Canberra) she ignorantly pushed on claiming that in Canberra “every meal is paid for by the taxpayer”.

Even a call from proud local Gino, who found the bagging “absolutely disgusting”, inviting the pair to spend “more than one night here’’, failed to bring Panahi down from her high horse. She ranted: “I don’t like the place at all, I could not wait to get out of the place anytime I’m there, it’s soulless”. I had a golden rule during my long, poorly remunerated and spectacularly mediocre media career, that if you’re prepared to use the mic or pen to slag someone or something off, which I did often, be prepared to own it. If Ms Panahi has any credibility she would take up Gino’s offer.

A BUNCH of high school students was left angry after the automatic doors of an afternoon light rail tram to Gungahlin failed to open at Phillip Avenue, Watson. With no obvious means of alerting the driver they were taken an extra stop to Epic/Racecourse. Small problem, I know, but if some of the students had decided to walk back instead of boarding the next city-bound tram it would have become dangerous as the area is not yet pedestrian friendly.

FURTHER up the line any pedestrian consideration completely evaporates. Clearly there was never an option for Mitchell-bound travellers unless you are prepared to catch an Uber for the final leg of your trip. Alighting at Wells Station

Drive stop and walking back to the heart of Mitchell, where there should have been a station from the start, you are forced to walk on the cycle lane, centimetres from traffic, due to a complete lack of any walking track.

IT’S no secret Manuka is in dire need of a major makeover. And it isn’t just the once fashionable shopping strip or famous restaurants that are struggling. I spotted a paparazzi stalking a quarry dining al fresco in Franklin Street. When I took a closer look I couldn’t see anyone instantly recognisable or remotely famous. Nothing says low rent more than when local paps are forced to loiter in hopes of a fading or C-level star out in public.

ARTS editor Helen Musa went to the closing ceremony of the Ta Moko exhibition at the NGA on Friday where gallery director Nick Mitzevich managed to introduce the NZ High Commissioner, Dame Annette King, as “Dame Annita Keating”. But then a Kiwi attending told Helen that, at the Christchurch Memorial earlier this year, Dame Annette had introduced Andrew Barr as “Andrew Bolt”.

Considering Dental Implants

16-17

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CANBERRA MATTERS / west basin

Griffin impugned for West Basin’s awful future

Griffin had a vision, but bureaucrats from the early 20th century through to the present have used his name to justify their inappropriate and ill-informed planning decisions.

WITH the ACT election 12 months away, alternative facts are already appearing in articles whenever media can be manipulated to put a positive spin on the awful development and planning stuff perpetrated by the ACT Labor/Greens government. Actually, I had better correct that. The ACT government no longer does planning. It is a developer pretending to be a government.

Here’s the catalyst for this opinion piece. A story appeared in “The Canberra Times” last month based on an article from the online site “Inside Story”. The article set out to deal with the misconception that Walter Burley Griffin was responsible for the mess made with Canberra’s development.

Yes, Griffin had a vision, but bureaucrats from the early 20th century through to the present have used his name to justify their inappropriate and ill-informed planning decisions.

The author, Tom Greenwell, made some well-argued points.

Then Greenwell changes tone and commits the same crime. He uses Walter Burley Griffin’s name and a few people he talks to, to justify the barbarous acts planned for West Basin by the ACT government and its City Renewal Authority. Numerous myths and alternative facts used by this developer-friendly government and its

bureaucrats are taken by the author as

Lake Burley Griffin’s foreshore.

The twists of facts are many. Here are just a few.

First is the use of the NCA’s 2004 “Griffin Legacy” document to justify building on West Basin – as if this was somehow linked to Walter Burley Griffin. The “Griffin Legacy” was a

Quality Landscape Supplies

large glossy that was essentially a developer blueprint sanctioned by the NCA. It set out the concept of joining Civic to the lake –whereas the reality is that the government now wants to sell land to build a new suburb on the foreshore.

Civic will not be linked to the lake through this rubbish development.

Then there’s that now overused suggestion that West Basin is largely a car park and we all know that car parks are bad (except if you’re a pollie or a senior bureaucrat and have them provided for you in Civic).

As for the misguided notion, again

unchallenged, that no one will miss this natural foreshore as there is so much more. So much for understanding the biodiversity that was built into the lake through having soft edges. Climate change, anyone?

The author finishes by repeating the disingenuous spin from the government and the City Renewal Authority that destroying the future opportunities for a better parkland along West Basin is “in the spirit” of Griffin.

Griffin wanted the city to be by the lake – between Commonwealth and Kings Avenue – not along West Basin.

Keeping up with the Labor/Greens Government’s relentless propaganda is very unsettling. The alternative facts regurgitated within Greenwell’s article do not justify the trashing of West Basin. It is unfortunate to have to criticise this writer, but the article has to be called out as his words are now part of the government’s propaganda.

Since 1954

POLITICS / ACT Integrity Commission

Developers come before people in Canberra

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison has slipped into the habit of referring to other countries as “economies”. Not “nations”, not “countries”, not “people” – just “economies”. The focus for Australia is very clear. The prime concern is money rather than people.

The ACT Legislative Assembly is in a similar bind. Big development corporations are being given priority over people. The pages of “CityNews” have exposed the way our planning systems have been favouring industry rather than people. Columns by Paul Costigan and Jon Stanhope have again and again identified shortcomings of the ACT government.

The common factor is a focus on money rather than on people. In 1979 while travelling in the US and Canada one of our acquaintances pointed out: “We used to value people and use money – but now we value money and use people”.

At the time, I felt lucky to be an Australian. Forty years later Australia has followed the same path.

Of course it’s not all black and white. There are plenty of parliamentarians who understand the impact of greed and the role, for example, that climate change will have on the planet and on the health of the people.

However, those who have resisted, who have supported expansion of the coal industry, simply put profits ahead of people.

Wasn’t former Justice Dennis Cowdroy’s appointment announced in May? The ACT government has constantly used delaying tactics to ensure the Integrity Commission is not able to undermine it at the next election.

The safety and quality of apartment buildings constructed across Australia in the last few decades are now being scrutinised. One of the co-authors of a report into repairing the building industry in Australia stated: “If I was going to be investing in an apartment, I’d buy an older one... it’s just logical”.

Bronwyn Weir on ABC’s “Four Corners” program was not pulling punches as she exposed the way rorts work within the building industry in our country with profits before people.

The emergence of widespread defects in the building industry happens to coincide with the widespread adoption of private certification across jurisdictions.

The temptation to corruption was in place when the government employed certifiers. However, there were checks and balances, a focus on community interest and protections in place for public-servant certifiers. These all played a role in putting people before corporations, which was largely lost with the advent of private certification.

The ACT government has argued that expansion of apartments in Canberra is important to meet the growing population of the city and

to provide affordable housing. At the same time, development companies such as Geocon, who have been part of the massive expansion in Canberra, have been using Chinese-language advertising in China to sell the apartments overseas.

With a Foreign Investment Review Board exemption certificate, developers are able to sell 50 per cent of their apartments to overseas interests.

Nowhere is the priority for business clearer than in the system of political donations that undermine our parliamentary democracy. Large donors, in particular, do have better access to government and decision makers than ordinary folk.

The building industry should be the first cab off the rank for the new ACT Integrity Commission.

But wait. Wasn’t former Justice Dennis Cowdroy’s appointment announced in May? The ACT government has constantly used delaying tactics to

ensure such a commission is not able to undermine it at the next election.

When will the Commission seriously start its work? The government’s own website states: ”The ACT Integrity Commission will be an independent body that will have the power to investigate corruption in public administration and strengthen public confidence in government integrity”.

There is another question. Will political donations, along with building and development, be at least some of the first areas of investigation? Let’s hope so. However, it is appropriate that the commissioner determines his own areas of investigation. The independence of the Integrity Commissioner is critical, which is why the reports go to the ACT parliament rather than to the government.

The Integrity Commission is just one body that can help turn around the tide of profits over people. It is up to us. All members of our community should understand the downsides of being lured in to voting for greed.

Go fly a kite

Mythical creatures and giant cartoon characters will come to life as hundreds of colourful kites float over Googong from 11am on Father’s Day, Sunday, September 1. Once dad has shown off his kite-flying prowess, he can be treated to lunch from one of the gourmet food trucks.

What works with kids?

THE Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing wants to understand potential gaps in its service and is asking the public to report what they have found that promotes good mental health and prevents mental illness in children and young people. The feedback, at yoursay.act.gov.au, is open until October 18.

Choirs come to town

THE Canberra Gay and Lesbian Qwire is hosting the 2019 Out & Loud choral festival, October 24-28. The festival, which has occurred every three years since 2001, celebrates pride in the LGBTIQ+ community through music and attracts choirs from most Australian capital cities and Auckland. All of the choirs will unite at the ticketed gala concert at Llewellyn Hall on October 27. More information at outandloudcbr.org.au

THE GADFLY NEWS

Start of a long, hard slog of selling

I’M guessing that one image of an author is that of a bespectacled woman, with a half smile, tapping away on an old computer, having just decided who the murderer will be.

Or if it’s a man, when he’s done his morning quota of 1000 words, he’s off to a restaurant for lunch with a friend.

No one ever thinks of that other horrible, terrifying part of the business – the selling game. Or if they do, it’s a reflection of the movies with glamorous hotels and adoring audiences.

Ho, ho, ho. Do I have a surprise for you.

Right now I’ve just finished the first week of the tour promoting my 29th book, “Castaway”, the story of Narcisse Pelletier, the French cabin boy who in 1858

In this case they’d put their best publicist on the job and the interviews and events stretched ahead like an endless obstacle course.”

abandoned by his shipmates on a far-north Queensland beach. He lived with the Night Island Aboriginal people for the next 17 years before he was ripped away by passing British sailors who probably thought they were doing him a favour.

The other half of the book tells of the Frontier War that was then taking place in Queensland as the squatters and the Native Mounted Police did their best to destroy Aboriginal society throughout the state.

I finished it about a year ago and it’s taken all this time for the publisher to decide when and how to bring it to the world; and they chose the middle of winter so that by Christmas it will have been so exposed to readers that they’ll rush out and plonk down their $32.50 for a present to a close family member (that way they’ll get to read it after

– or even before – the recipient).

In this case they’d put their best publicist on the job and the interviews and events stretched ahead like an endless obstacle course. It was terrifying, not just because I knew the awful pitfalls from earlier books but in the interim I’d actually written another totally engaging book and “Castaway” seemed like a distant memory.

And when I read it again, like all authors, half the time I think it’s utterly brilliant, and the other half I envisage critics who would attack my endeavours.

I was terrified that during an interview I’d forget some vital fact or look like a complete idiot. That had certainly happened before.

And first on the agenda was “Conversations” with Richard Fidler – an entire hour on the ABC with the biggest podcast audience in the country.

“Don’t worry, mate,” said my friend and author Paul Daley who was going to launch it in Canberra. “You’ll have no problem – great book, great interviewer.”

It didn’t help. For two nights beforehand I barely slept and by the time I reached Aunty’s Sydney HQ I’d forgotten every word I’d written. In fact, I carried a big list of vital names from the story, quite sure I’d never remember them at the time.

Then suddenly we were in the studio, Richard was doing the intro and saying: “So, Robert, tell us what it’s all about”. And in a flash it all came flooding back and I was off and soaring.

Days later the phone was running hot with friends who had heard the show.

Next day with John Laws it was almost the same – one question and I was flying. So, too, with the launch at Harry Hartog bookshop at the ANU.

“This is great,” I told myself and my dear wife who’d come along for the ride. “No worries! Bring on the next one”.

Oh dear, the next one… what was that saying about “pride” and a “fall”.

Next week… disaster!

robert@robertmacklin.com

Ramble amid the wattles

LOCAL plant ecologist, Michael Doherty, will lead a Wattle Day ramble to explain fascinating things about some of the common acacias found on Black Mountain, including Acacia dealbata and Acacia buxifolia

During his career at CSIRO and with more recent research at ANU, Michael did in-depth research about how acacias (also known as wattles) and eucalypts grew and recovered from drought and fire.

The walk, hosted by the friends of Black Mountain, is open to the public and will mostly be flat to undulating, but with a few steeper sections later on in the walk.

Participants should provide a name and contact number to friendsofblackmountain@gmail.com, or call 0437 298711. Registering assists with light refreshments and to stay in touch in the event of bad weather.

Meet at Belconnen Way entry to Black Mountain Nature Reserve, just before Caswell Drive turnoff (look for the banners) before 9.30am, Saturday, September 14. There’s a gold-coin donation.

YESTERDAYS

When the dam falls, Queanbeyan has 34 minutes

THE sound of the public emergency sirens hadn’t been heard in Queanbeyan since 1976.

As the rain continued to fall that December day in 2010, the vast body of water behind the 66-metre-high Googong dam wall surged ever closer to its top.

Three hours on and not only had the concrete barrier been crested, but more than four times the amount that goes over Niagara Falls was gushing down the generally sedate Queanbeyan River.

Quickly submerging the lower-lying eastern ground, it grew higher until reaching the elevated CBD area to the west.

With rumours swirling nearly as fast as the debris-laden waters, local authorities issued a call that there was no chance the Googong Dam wall would be breached.

Those who’d lived in the region long enough though, recalled a similar situation 34 years earlier that saw the evacuation of 5000 residents.

QueanbeyanPalerang

Regional Council has just released the latest version of its flood mitigation plan. In light of the local history of such disastrous events, it’s something that’s regularly updated for good reason.

As many as 19 floods have been recorded in Queanbeyan since European inhabitation. The first was as early as 1827; the most recent, 2016.

In 2010, it was a “perfect storm” – 100 millimetres of rainfall in the space of a few hours overwhelming a dam already at capacity. With a spillway rather than gates to control the flow of water over Googong Dam, the deluge saw the river peak at 8.4 metres (27.5 feet).

Only a few months previously, the area had been approaching the worst drought in close to a century. With the city cut in half, a natural disaster zone was declared.

While a testing time, it wasn’t its worst emergency of this nature.

That distinction came in 1925 when 350 millimetres of rain fell during May alone. At midnight on Tuesday, May 26, the river had swelled to an almost inconceivable 11 metres (around 35 feet).

Lapping at the very edges of the Queanbeyan Bridge, the CBD was submerged as far as the Town Park.

The cellar of the Royal Hotel was completely waterlogged, while the graceful Suspension Bridge of 1901 was left a “twisted wreckage”. Trinculo Place, running along the eastern bank, lost a “substantial brick structure” which was cast adrift.

Other severe – and more infamous –floods were visited on the town in 1974 and again two years later.

The former reached almost 9 metres and saw a great swathe of the Riverside Cemetery washed away –and anywhere up to 100 graves. The place of final repose had also suffered the fate in ‘25, apparently disrupting a similar number of gravesites.

The urban legends from 1974 still abound: the fellow boating on Lake Burley Griffin going to the aid of someone he thought was drowning, only to realise it was a corpse; to others suggesting bones are to be found embedded in the mud of that ornamental centrepiece. The reality is that some 60-odd bodies and/or body parts were recovered and reburied.

In 1976, the river rose just over 7 metres, causing consternation for different reasons. In October of that year, Googong Dam was under construction. It stood only 17 metres tall, “the water behind it about 32 metres deep” (105 feet). To qualify, the capital’s lake has an average depth of 15 feet, and is 65 feet at its deepest.

Heavy rain generated real fears it was at risk of collapse and that Queanbeyan would literally be swept away. Just the week before a confidential report released in “The Canberra Times” declared the chances of a weather pattern that could engender such an outcome were “infinitesimal”.

Almost three-and-a-half decades later, those earlier concerns were revisited. Days after the completion of additional works to its spillway, Googong was discharging a massive 10,500 cubic metres of water a second during what the head of ACTEW labelled a “one-in-a-million event”.

It’s sobering to note that the wall that stands almost directly above the regional city holds back the equivalent of around 50,000 Olympic-size swim-

Welcome to 15 London Circuit

ming pools. Emergency procedures suggest that should it ever fail, residents would have about 34 minutes before their town became a modernday Atlantis.

Given the position it enjoys, Queanbeyan will inevitably face natural emergencies into the future, but continued efforts are being made to mitigate the effects. QPRC, ACTEW and the National Capital Authority have short, medium and longer-term strategies including the more controlled management of water levels in Googong and Scrivener Dams. Such are the ebbs and flows of living on a vast and ancient floodplain. For more, including historic flood photos, see anoverallview.wixsite.com/blog

Sandran would officially like to take this opportunity to welcome the following tenants to the landmark and recently refurbished AON Building at 15 London Circuit in the City.

Congratulations and a big welcome to:

An unparalleled opportunity stands tall in the heart of the city, If you are looking to move and join other quality tenants in this refurbished landmark building then there has never been a better opportunity than now!

Suites from 114 sqm to whole floors of 585 sqm, fitted out & refurbished opts. available

Excellent natural light and outlook + 3 Star NABERS Energy rating

Ample on-site parking options from $2,900 pa plus GST

Refurbished lobby and new End of Trip Facilities Rents from $390 psqm pa plus GST

LETTERS

Government fines rather than fixes the problem

I MUST be one of the “cynical Canberrans” who “are still scratching their heads over a police crackdown on jaywalking” (Mike Welsh, Seven Days, CN, August 22).

Canberrans have learned from experience that it’s quite safe to cross against a red signal when either:

(a) the road is empty of approaching vehicles for half a kilometre, or (b) vehicles in the lane/s you are crossing are stopped at a red signal.

Ten years ago I proposed that pedestrian signals along Northbourne Avenue should be allowed to show green when the adjacent and parallel vehicle signals were green. The change reduced wait times by up to two minutes. It also reduced the proportion of illegalcrossings-against-red from 42 per cent to 30 per cent and reduced numbers of legal-but-risky crossings away from the traffic signals.

Pedestrian signals along the light rail line are programmed so that most of their red phases occur when there are no trams approaching, and it is actually safe to cross. In March I raised this issue with the former transport minister.

Since then another pedestrian has been hit by a light rail vehicle, while crossing against a red signal that happened to occur when a light rail vehicle was actually approaching.

Instead of fixing the pedestrian signal problem, the government has responded by fining pedestrians.

How many pedestrians have been fined for safely crossing the light rail

when no trams were approaching?

Leon Arundell, via citynews.com.au

Minister ruining Gungahlin

MINISTER Mick Gentleman is ruining Gungahlin employment by not building business parks and not utilising vacant land in Gungahlin.

Light rail is a failure and trams from Civic to Gungahlin are empty as there are no offices and business parks in Gungahlin resulting in a loss of $1.2 billion to ACT ratepayers.

Woden has Health and IP Australia, Tug geranong has DHS and DSS, Belconnen has Home Affairs, but there are no big Federal departments in Gungahlin.

Gungahlin needs more commercial land releases and the Draft Variation to the Gungahlin Territory Plan must be approved immediately so that business parks can be built.

Michael Clarke, via email

Environment ‘loaded’ with radiation

“CITYNEWS” readers may be interested to learn that Swiss parliamentarians have recently called for a moratorium on the rollout of 5G technologies.

MPs have voted in favour of asking

the World Health Organization to conduct independent scientific studies on the effects of radiation from 5G frequencies.

“The environment will be increasingly loaded with magnetic waves, and no one knows if their accumulation is harmful to health,’’ said signatory Bertrand Buchs. Other European countries such as Belgium are following suit.

Swiss Re, a leading provider of insurance, has released a report that identifies potential risks of digital and radiation-emitting technologies.

Published in May, “SONAR, New Emerging Risk Insights”, identifies new and not-yet-

envisioned risks that the insurance industry needs to have on its radar, including fifth generation (5G) technologies that will allow high-speed, internet access with higher capacity. In addition to devices used by people, it will be used to connect machines to each other, known as the Internet of Things (IoT).

According to the report, the rollout of 5G networks will require more antennas and this will involve more exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) than ever before.

The current 4G technology operates at 4GHz levels. It should be noted that the “5G”

you see in today’s WiFi routers means “5GHz”. This is NOT the same as the 5G rollout which means “5th Generation” infrastructure. Actual 5G (“5th Generation”) is planned to operate at 25-90+GHz frequencies, use beam-forming/ targeting systems, and be integrated with thousands of satellites to blanket the earth. The wireless industry has purposefully obfuscated this, in an attempt to normalise and gain acceptance of the term “5G”.

Lisa (surname withheld), via email

Bus changes ‘unacceptable’

TWO days after the ACT Liberal and Greens MLAs helped to engineer an ACT government agreement to an “urgent action plan” that would address aspects of the worsening weekend public transport service, the government, which includes the Greens, has announced that local weekend hourly bus services will soon be cut to “up to every two hours” (“ACT Labor cuts weekend bus services” citynews. com.au, August 16).

ACT Greens Transport spokesperson Caroline Le Couteur’s shocked response about the announced changes being “unacceptable” is a gross understatement.

The resulting inefficiencies linked to individuals’ journey planning from September 28 will see many having to give up work, and formal and informal social, cultural and sporting commitments at weekends.

Sue Dyer, Downer dose of dorin

‘We

Steve’s team is driven to being second to none

SEPTEMBER 1 marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of Transtate Tyres and Mechanical Repairs, Queanbeyan.

In a world in which it’s an achievement for a small business to last just one year, owner Steve Rowland says their silver anniversary is all about saying “thank you”.

“It’s our chance to say thanks to our customers and community,” says Steve.

“Thank you for helping us grow and become a successful business, employing local staff.”

Being an independent business is beneficial for customers, according to Steve, who says he has the ability to personally choose the products he sells and is able to source whatever products his clients want, at a good price.

“Our slogan is ‘yes we do’,” says Steve.

“We do our best to look after people [and] providing a great service is a big part of what we do.”

Starting as an apprentice mechanic at Commonwealth Motors, Kingston, in the 1970s, Steve’s been involved with the Transtate brand for 35 years, managing a number of stores across the ACT before opening the Queanbeyan store in 1994.

“When we started out, the locals told me they were so happy to have a tyre shop on ‘the other side of town’,” he says.

“Over the years we have built up a great

look after their grandkids’ cars.

“People come to us from all over Queanbeyan and the ACT. The growth of areas such as Jerrabomberra, as well as new areas such as Googong and the nearby industrial centre, has also given our business a boost.”

Transtate Tyres and Mechanical Repairs Queanbeyan is a one-stop automotive shop for all car repairs and servicing; nothing is a problem for Steve and his experienced team.

istration checks, Steve says they have invested in the latest technology and equipment to ensure they offer the best quality work.

Steve’s team comprises nine staff, including five fully qualified mechanics, two tyre technicians and one wheel aligner.

Daniel, the store manager, has been with Transtate for eight years and Steve says he’s a driving force of the business.

Other long-serving team members are

tyre-fitter Aaron and head mechanic Ian, who have been at Transtate for 13 and eight years respectively. Wheel aligner Darcy has worked with Steve for seven years.

Steve believes his loyal, trustworthy team contributes to a positive work environment.

And regular customers will also be good mates with Steffie, the four-legged team member, who has never missed a day’s work with Steve for the past 13 years.

“We have innovated and invested in new, state-of-the-art equipment and technology,

but the quality of our personal service to customers will never be lost,” he says.

“Being fair and honest has been important to our success. We have showed our customers loyalty as they have showed us and helped us to deliver what the locals need and want.”

Transtate Tyres and Mechanical Repairs Queanbeyan, 141-143 Uriarra Road, Queanbeyan, NSW. Call 6299 6747 or visit transtate.com.au

SCENE / around canberra

TAMARA & JASON / caring for teenagers

Jason, a correctional officer and social worker, and Tamara are married with children and stepchildren of their own. They are also foster carers to teenagers.

Q: Why do you foster teenagers?

Tamara: Providing care to teenagers has meant we are mentors or role models for the young people who have come into our home. We have had to be flexible in what type of care we provide them, based on the individual people.

Jason: The biggest thing for me has been being a mentor and showing them that there’s a good side to life and the sky is not going to fall down every day.

Q: Is it too late to foster teens?

Jason: I don’t think it’s ever too late to give someone care, respect and understanding. It’s never too late to change someone’s life. I think it’s great to provide a level of respect where they feel safe to talk.

Q: Why do you foster?

Tamara: The initial reasons for us to become foster carers were very different to the reasons why we are carers now. We see our role – as providing care to teenagers – as invaluable. It also gives us so many rewards in our day-today lives.

JENNIFER / caring for kids in crisis

Jennifer has fostered children in different types of care arrangements – from weekend respite to long term. She has cared for her 21-month old foster child in a long-term arrangement since she was a newborn and continues to provide crisis care for other children.

Q: What has foster caring given to you?

Jennifer: It has given me a family. As a single person, all I really wanted was a family of my own, but I had limited options. Through fostering I got my family but it also enabled me to help the community as well.

Q: What was the application process like? Not as daunting as I thought it would be! It was a lot easier than I imagined. I went to an informa-

tion session and then stepped through the paperwork and checks. I attended a training course and continue to receive support from my carer-support person.

Q: Do you think perceptions about fostering are changing?

I hear people say that they couldn’t foster as they would get too attached to the children. But you are meant to! Family is a fluid concept in this day and age, I think we need to challenge our personal views on what family is. If you are single, or can’t have children naturally, fostering is another way for you to have a family. Think about what you want and what you can offer – as you can change someone’s world and give a child a future.

‘Every child is one adult away from being

Power of that one, strong,

AS ACT Together celebrates Foster Care Week (September 8-14), and the invaluable support of foster carers in our community, regional manager Rebecca Jeffrey appeals to others who might consider becoming a foster carer.

“Every child is one adult away from being a success story. Could you be the one?” she asks.

“There is a growing body of evidence that suggests every child who winds up doing well has had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive adult.

“The power of that one, strong, adult relationship is a key ingredient in resilience, according to the Harvard Centre on the Developing Child.

“I think it’s a question we all should consider –whether we could be the one and give in this way to support our community’s most vulnerable.”

Rebecca admits that recruiting carers for Canberra’s most vulnerable children is a big challenge and the need for carers is great.

“We need more people to be the protectors, the nurturers, the ‘for now’ or the ‘forever’ mums and dads,” she says.

“ACT Together is a consortium of agencies established in 2006, that has been created to provide quality services for children and young people in outof-home care... [It] is led by Barnardos Australia and

we work with the Australian Childhood Foundation and Ozchild,” says Rebecca.

In the ACT there are more than 800 children living in out-of-home care due to issues of abuse or neglect. Rebecca says this shows that as a community we are vigilant and responsive to the needs of children and ensuring they are safe.

“From littlies to adolescents, we see great outcomes for children thanks to our foster carers,” says Rebecca.

Rebecca says that the options of fostering give carers more flexibility and choice.

“We work with people around their work and life commitments,” she says.

Many new foster carers will start out by providing respite care by caring for a child over a weekend, once a month for 12 months. Respite care gives kinship carers, who are usually grandparents caring long term for their grandchild, a weekend break.

Short term or crisis carers can care for children anywhere from one night to two years. These types of carers are crucial at the time of emergency action so need to be prepared on short notice to look after children and might even get a call in the middle of the night to help a vulnerable baby, toddler or teen. Concurrent care is where you are supporting restoration while also being committed to caring for a child permanently if restoration is not successful.

“However, when all options have been explored, and there is no alternative for restoration to their birth family, long-term foster care is a ‘forever’ commitment to a child,” she says.

being a success story. Could you be the one?’

strong, adult relationship

There are currently around 60 children in the ACT needing long term foster carers.

Rebecca says carers tell her that fostering is life-changing.

“They tell me they wish they had fostered when they were younger. They say that they aren’t saints or superheroes, just people able to give a child a childhood experience and let them just be kids,” she says.

The application process to become a foster carer involves a three-day training course where carers are given information on trauma, and the impact it has on children, as well as parenting. There is also a series of interviews and compliance checks. Rebecca says the process can be as fast or slow as the carers want it to be.

“We work with the applicants on what type of care and the age group they want to foster, to fit into their family and circumstances,” she says.

Carers are eligible for a subsidy to support the cost of fostering a child. ACT Together has a carer support team and holds regular events and training sessions.

“Often people have thought about fostering but hadn’t given it the time to really think it through, or ruled it out as they think you have to only be avail able for crisis care, or you have to be in a relation ship. That’s not the case, and I encourage people to get in touch with us to discuss,” says Rebecca.

Call 13 WEFOSTER to discuss foster care or find more information at acttogether.org.au

LYNN / caring for a child with a disability

Lynn is currently providing foster care to a child with a disability.

Q: What made you decide to foster?

Lynn: I was over 50 when I started and had four grown children of my own. I had always wanted to give back to the community, I knew there were kids out there who needed loving homes and I was confident enough, even as a single mum, to think that I could provide that. I get such a buzz out of seeing the kids and young people feel more confident in themselves. It’s one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.

Q: Do you have to foster lots of children?

Don’t think as I did that you’ve got to have a dozen, 20 or 30 children. You only have to make a difference in one child’s life – one child at a time.

So don’t let the fear of having hordes of children in your home put you off becoming a carer. You only need to think about that one child that’s out there, looking for a loving home. And maybe it’s you.

Q: What’s your message to those considering becoming a foster carer?

Never think you don’t have what it takes to become a foster carer. Because if I can do it, trust me, so can you.

STACEY & SARAH / caring for a baby girl

Community-sector shift worker Stacey and social worker

Sarah are married and currently providing long-term care for a baby girl. In the past they have also been concurrent foster carers, working alongside the birth families to best support the children they have cared for.

Q: What is concurrency care?

Concurrency care is essentially when you are asked to love a child as restoration is explored and if not successful, provide a family and a home for that child forever.

Sarah: It’s really tough when kids leave, when you’ve been asked to make a commitment forever to the child, and you have to trust the system and you have to trust that that’s the right decision for the child.

Q: Why do you foster?

Stacey: We foster because we had reached a time in our life, we were married and we were thinking

about a family and we thought about all the different options. Obviously the natural options aren’t quite as easy for us.

Q: What’s an important part of fostering?

Sarah: I think it’s so important to be open minded. Essentially, you’re opening your whole life to a family that you’ve never met, to a child that will be placed with you with maybe ten minutes’ notice, with no preparation, and you just have to roll with it. I think it’s tough, so you have to be committed and you have to be ready to do it.

Stacey: It actually doesn’t matter what background you’re from. It’s your commitment to the child, and if you want to be a foster carer, try it!

KINGSTON & MANUKA

Two inner-south suburbs with history to protect

RICH in history and stories from the early days of Canberra, the prestigious, innersouth centres of Kingston and Manuka have a lot to protect.

Residents of the two suburbs commonly share a passion for the conservation of buildings as well as other long-term, loved community icons, such as a mature London Plane tree on Franklin Street, Manuka, which was taken down in late July after years of debate.

But, many historic icons still remain in both suburbs, such as Manuka Oval and the Caretaker’s Cottage, which was completed in 1930.

The ACT Heritage Council considers it to be “an important component of the body of ‘Federal Capital’ style public buildings associated with the establishment of Canberra as the national capital”.

Over in Kingston, one of the oldest, most densely populated suburbs in Canberra, there are multiple buildings on the heritage list, too, such as the Kingston Powerhouse Historic Precinct.

Built in 1915, the powerhouse was the first permanent public building in Canberra. It was closed in 1929, but reactivated for periods between 1936 and 1942 and between 1948 and 1957. The Fitters’ Workshop, the second permanent public building, is also in the precinct. The siren and whistle, which signalled times to government outdoor workers in south Canberra for many years, is included in the listing, too.

Family business supporting all things local

PROHIBITION: The Bottle Shop on Eastlake Parade stocks a wide range of wines, craft beers and premium spirits, says Michelle Cains who owns it with her husband Paul.

“As a family business we are always seeking to meet the needs of the people who live, work and play in Kingston Foreshore,” Michelle says.

“We pride ourselves on sourcing products that people might not always be able to find. We stock a wide range of local and international gins and whiskeys.”

At the moment, Michelle says Japanese

“We also strive to have a good range of local wines, beers and spirits to support the local wine makers, brewers and distillers of the region,” she says. Across the street is Kingston Corner Store, which was opened by Michelle and Paul after local demand for a convenience store.

“We aim to always have things that people need, as well as items that make them stop and say ‘wow, I didn’t know you had this!’ People come in for milk and leave with fancy ice cream,” says Michelle.

At Kingston Corner Store Michelle says they go beyond all the essentials.

OPENING HOURS

& Tue: 11am - 9pm

& Thurs: 11am - 10pm

11am - 11pm

10am - 11pm

10am - 9pm

“We expanded our range of local produce to include small goods from Pialligo Estate, Poachers Pantry and Balzanelli,” says Michelle.

With olive oils and vinegars from Homeleigh Grove, Blackhorse jams and pickles and sweet treats from Fudge Nation and Jasper and Myrtle, Michelle says that local produce plays a starring role at Kingston Corner

Prohibition: The Bottle Shop, 148 Eastlake Parade, call 6295 0864. Kingston Corner Store, 6/81 Giles Street, call 6262 8102.

his nature-inspired photographs in real life.

“Now people can come in and see the prints in person and get a sense of the size, detail and quality,” says Scott, who recently celebrated Scott Leggo Gallery’s first year.

He’s been a photographer for much longer though (about 13 years) and says he was inspired to start a career in photography because of his love for the outdoors.

“I saw photography as an excuse to get outdoors and travel on my terms,” he says.

“It’s an opportunity to reconnect

photography and has a collection of photographs from across Australia.

“Every photo has its own unique style and it’s often of a place that people can’t get to,” he says. Open seven days a week, Scott says there’s plenty of time for people to come in and find a print for their home or work spaces.

The gallery also sells wall art and gifts, which Scott says are affordable and make a perfect present for any occasion.

Scott Leggo Gallery, 45 Jardine Street, Kingston. Contact 6179 7422 or visit scottleggo.com

Boutique solutions for property law matters

PROPERTY impacts everyone, says Susan Proctor, which is why she established the specialist property practice law firm, Proctor Legal in 2017.

“I wanted to build a specialist boutique property firm based on my significant expertise and experience in property matters,” she says.

Legal director Susan Proctor.

Having practised exclusively as a commercial property lawyer for more than 20 years, Susan says she’s a specialist in ACT property matters.

She’s also a NSW Law Society Accredited Specialist in Property Law.

“Property impacts everyone, be it a home, investment, business premises or commercial enterprise,” she says.

“The complexities that can arise need to be communicated and addressed in an effective and pragmatic fashion, which is what I do.”

The team is growing with Mili Dukic and Pei Chow joining Eliza Carter and Susan in July. Susan says she is pleased to work with such dynamic, strategic and intelligent women who all share a passion to assist people with their property matters.

“We continually enhance our skill set by understanding the current trends in the marketplace,” she says.

“We challenge both our own views and traditional views when necessary to provide innovative and appropriate legal solutions for our clients.

“Our clients get a personal, focused and experienced response to their property issues.”

Proctor Legal, Unit 2, 35 Murray Crescent, Manuka. Call 5104 0750, email susan@proctorlegal.com.au or visit proctorlegal.com.au

Well-travelled team to get you on the right cruise

Capital Travel Manuka is a boutique agency established in Manuka in 1987 and is located in a heritage terrace building opposite the lawns in Manuka. Owner Lisa Calabria says that their team of experienced staff has an average of 25 years’ experience in the industry and are well-travelled, friendly and knowledgeable.

“People might ask ‘why use a travel agent?’ I tell them that the personal one-on-one service, experience and knowledge across all brands and destinations that we give our clients helps build a memorable travel experience,” says Lisa.

“I have found that the industry is always changing and once someone has dealt with an experienced travel agent, they can see the value this brings and are more than happy to return for future travel.”

Capital Travel are a proud Cruise Co. member and able to offer clients the unique cruising holidays and special packages that are exclusive to Cruise Co.

Themed music cruises and other cruises to destinations such as Asia, Scandinavia, or European river cruises are available through Cruise Co. and Capital Travel.

“One-way cruising through Asia such as Singapore to Japan are becoming very popular,” says Lisa.

“Our team are able to assist with group travel, generational travel, cruises, tours, private travel built to suit the client and their needs,” she says.

Capital Travel Manuka, 24 Bougainville Street, Manuka. Visit capitaltravel.com.au or call 6295 2733.

Physio Greg has a passion to help

WITH a passion to work in a caring profession, Greg Nash has been helping Canberrans through physiotherapy out of Manuka for about 16 years.

His experience goes back 35 years though, and now, as the principle of Manuka Woden Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic, which has a location in Manuka and Woden, Greg specialises in musculoskeletal physiotherapy.

“This covers the areas of sports physiotherapy, orthopaedics and occupational health and safety,” he says.

But he also sees patients who are experiencing pain from past and recent operations, such as orthopaedic procedures.

“We see clients who injure themselves through sport, work and car accidents, too,” he says.

“My job is to help people get back to normal and increase their exercise tolerance.”

To help support as many people as possible

through physiotherapy, Greg says the Manuka Woden Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic is open long hours, from 8am-6pm on Monday to Friday, and by appointment on weekends and public holidays, to accommodate workers and students.

“We have a 24-hour number people can call for urgent requests or if they need to change an appointment,” he says.

“We want to try and accommodate people so it’s not a burden to get to your physiotherapy appointment.

“We’re also very central and are in close proximity to a large number of government departments and other businesses.”

Manuka Woden Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic, 2/26 Bougainville Street, Manuka. Call 6295 6896, email manukawodenphysio@outlook.com or visit manukawodenphysio.com.au

As a Law Society Accredited Specialist in Property Law, Susan Proctor and her team can assist with;

• Complex property issues;

• Commercial Leases for both Landlords and Tenants;

• Titling and easement matters for developments over rural, mixed use and standalone titles;

• Commercial transactions involving property;

• Development, building and construction matters;

• Owners Corporation Governance Issues in ACT and NSW;

• Strata Management issues in ACT and NSW; and

• Sales and purchases in ACT and NSW. Phone

www.proctorlegal.com.au

Let's turn your dreams into reality

Clover Master Jewellery is a family run business with over 30 years experience.

Our company values are to deliver what you desire. We aim to realise your ideas and design a custom made piece to your satisfaction.

KINGSTON & MANUKA

Jeweller with a unique approach

CLOVER Jewellery has an on-site jeweller and designer so anyone looking for something uniquely beautiful can have it tailor-made, says jeweller James Oh.

We specialise in engagement rings, wedding bands, handmade custom design pieces, repairs and laser engraving.

Clover Master Jewellery

Unit 2/16 Bougainville Street, Griffith ACT 0262958545 | clover.manuka@gmail.com

Clover Jewellery is a family-run business that has been in Canberra for more than three years after it was in Japan for more than 25 years.

“We provide a range of high-end and unique handmade jewellery as well as fancy and beautiful silver jewellery,” James says.

“We have lots of samples for customers to try or they can bring in their own design and we can make it on-site by our fully qualified jeweller. We have wedding rings and engagement rings for customers to try on, too.

“We are a handcraft and platinum specialist and we offer a laser-engraving and laser-soldering service, you can put a message in the ring along with a birthstone. It makes it very special and one of a kind.”

Based in Manuka, Clover Jewellery makes custom and unique pieces and also offers a free quote for its design services.

Clover Jewellery, 16 Bougainville Street, Griffith. Call 6295 8545, email clover.manuka@gmail.com or visit @cloverjewellerycanberra on Facebook.

her passion for hair

CLIENTS love the chilled and friendly environment at A Flick of Hares hair salon, located at the Cusack Centre in Kingston, says owner Elizabeth McKeane.

“Our clients keep coming back and love what we do with their hair, be it colour, cuts or styles,” she says.

With eight years’ experience as a hairstylist, Elizabeth says she took over the ownership of the business in March, after working at the salon for many years. A Flick of Hares has been designed with an industrial Nordic feel and has a series of hairdressing suites and common areas that are comfortable and inviting.

“Each client has a private cubicle and can sit back and relax in privacy, receiving personalised service from our hairstylists,” says Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s team includes apprentice, Genevieve and hair stylists Kelly and Sarah. There are also freelance hair stylists who operate out of the salon.

For Elizabeth, the passion she has for her clients is her driving force: “Every day is different and it’s great to build relationships with my clients. I love taking my clients on a journey and work with them about what they want for their hair,” says Elizabeth.

Elizbeth says the team have a lot of fun with their Instagram profile and encourages people to check it out instagram. com/a_flick_of_hares/

A Flick of Hares, Unit 7, Level 1, Cusack Centre, 27 Eyre Street, Kingston. Phone 6260 8906 or book online at aflickofhares.com

Luxury shoe shop stands the test of time

LUXURY shoe shop, Escala, located On the Lawns has become a Manuka icon over the many years it has been there, bringing a curated selection of shoes and accessories from the most exciting and in-demand designers.

Owner Gail Lubbock says that Escala has been at its current location in Manuka for the past 10 years, and alongside other long-standing boutique retailers they have stood the test of time and help make Manuka the special destination that it is.

Gail attributes the longevity of Escala to their passion for beautiful design and commitment to quality and excellence.

“We aren’t slaves to fashion, we are slaves to uniqueness in design,” says Gail who personally travels to Europe to source top-quality shoes and accessories.

Gail says she stocks a range of shoes for all occasions including comfortable travel shoes and summer-essential sandals.

“We are seeing some lovely colours coming in the new season such as yellow, orange and green. Our accessories are always beautiful with a range of bags in colours to complement the season.”

Escala, Shop 1, 21 Bougainville Street, On the Lawns, Manuka. Phone 6232 7666 or visit escala-shoes.com.au

A unique hairdressing space providing private suites with a relaxed atmosphere.

Our team of experienced stylists will be with you from start to finish to ensure all your hair goals are met.

lets start your hair journey today!

• expert colourists

• specialised cutters

• high quality products

• sustainable salon

• online bookings available

RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY TREATMENT WITH YOUR NEXT SERVICE

• event and education space follow us on @a_flick_of_hares

Phone 6260 8906 | www.aflickofhares.com Level 1 Cusack Centre, 27 Eyre Street, Kingston

The dentists ‘people trust’

AS the longeststanding practice in Kingston, the team at Maven Dental Kingston offers quality general, preventative and cosmetic dentistry.

Located on Kennedy Street, Dr Alex Parragi, Dr Anne Henchman and Dr Rami Hussain are dedicated to providing the best possible dental care for all age groups.

Dr Alex Parragi.

“We understand that patients’ needs vary, so the service is suited to the individual,” Alex says.

“We are a well-known practice with a high level of combined experience and have been practising in Canberra for 30 years or more.

“We provide a professional experience and high quality of care. We have built up loyalty and respect, people know and trust us.”

Focusing on all aspects of dentistry, the practice provides general services such as evaluation, prevention, diagnosis and cosmetic services such as whitening, crowns, bridges and restorative work.

“You need to look after your mouth and keep it healthy as you get older,” Alex says.

“We always do the right thing by our patients. We sit down with the patients, discuss the options and decide on the best treatment for them.”

Maven Dental Kingston, 6/10 Kennedy Street. Call 6295 6190.

Dr Alex Parragi

BDS (Syd) &

Dr Anne Henchman

BDS Hons (Syd) & Dr Rami Hussain

BDS (Adelaide) Unit 6, Kingston Manor, 10 Kennedy St, Kingston

“We believe that this is essential for achieving outstanding results for our clients.”

To this day, Maria is still energetic and passionate about real estate and says Maria Selleck Properties provides a one-stopshop for any real estate needs.

“[We do it all], from presenting homes for the market including styling, project management for repairs and maintenance, garden makeovers, to high-quality marketing and photography,” she says.

“We have our own exclusive tradesperson, stylist and photographer readily available and we can organise to have a property placed on the market within a week to two weeks.

“In addition to sales, we also have a property management department.”

Maria Selleck Properties, 30 Bougainville Street, Manuka. Call 6162 1234 or visit mariaselleck.com.au

WOMEN’S HEALTH WEEK / September 2-6

Only half of women ‘believe they’re healthy’

ONLY half of Australian women describe their overall health as very good or excellent, according to the Jean Hailes for Women’s Health annual national Women’s Health Survey.

The survey also highlighted a lack of time as being a major barrier for women to try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, as well as guilt, particularly those in the “sandwich generation” caring for both elderly parents and children.

From Monday, September 2 to Friday, Septem ber 6, the not-for-profit organisation Jean Hailes for Women’s Health is attempting to break down these barriers through its annual week-long initiative, Women’s Health Week.

Women around Australia are being invited to unlock their powers for good health through the five health themes for the week, which include moving, gut health, reproductive health, chest health and mental health.

The Women’s Health Week campaign manager Brenda Jones says the week is the time to do something for your health and start making positive changes that can last a lifetime.

“Women are leading busier lives than ever before,” Ms Jones says.

“Sometimes they need to be reminded to put themselves on their own to-do lists.”

Ebony’s wellness treatments empower women

“WOMEN need to take the time to take care of ourselves – to take time and connect with ourselves,” says owner of Wellness Empowerment Collective in Lyneham, Ebony Anderson.

A popular treatment at the Wellness Empowerment Collective for women wanting to restore wellbeing and drain excess body fluid is through lymphatic drainage, says

Ebony. The Ballancer Pro system provides a wave-like massage to help the body release toxins and fluids from the lymphatic system.

“The Ballancer Pro is like a pair of highwaisted pants that you put on and it fills with air to sequentially compress and massage the lymph nodes,” says Ebony.

“People get up from the treatment and their pants slip down! It really works even after one session.”

More information about the week at womenshealthweek.com.au

After moving from California to Canberra and noticing a lack of diverse health and wellbeing services, Ebony founded the Wellness Empowerment Collective in Lyneham last year.

Backed with qualifications in nursing, yoga, fitness and healing, the Wellness Empowerment Collective offers services such as fitness sessions, yoga, cryotherapy, salt therapy, massages and float tanks.

Ebony says whole-body or localised cryotherapy can have positive impacts upon inflammation and she has benefited personally from it in managing her pain associated with endometriosis.

Wellness Empowerment Collective, 2 Rigall Place, National Hockey Centre, Level 1, Lyneham. Call 0450 585569, email info@ wellnessempowerment.com.au or visit wellnessempowerment.com.au

Located at Hotel Realm in Barton, Evo Health Club is equipped with leading-edge technogym equipment and offers a range of facilities and services, from a pool and sauna to six-week health challenges to help members get the results they want.

“The challenges include a food guide by a dietitian, extra classes and body scans to track progress over the six weeks. It’s a great way to get into

helps track fitness and goals. New members at Evo Health Club begin with an assessment, which touches on physical, mental and life strengths and needs, before a program is implemented.

EVO Health Club, Hotel Realm, 18 National Circuit, Barton. Call 6162 0808, email workout@evohealthclub.com.au or visit evohealthclub.com.au

Cryotherapy reduces pain and inflammation, increases collagen, improves sleep, detoxifies, soothes skin conditions, and lifts the mood--all whilst burning 500 - 800 calories per session! CRYOTHERAPY

FLOAT TANKS

500kg of Epsom salt in each tank draws pain and toxins out of the body. Lying at zero gravity for 1 hour gives unparalleled rest--1 hour in the tank equals 4 hours of sleep! Don't like the idea of sensory deprivation? You can choose one of our guided meditations for your float.

The Sauna uses infrared light waves to stimulate body heat internally. This process detoxifies, enhances healing, reduces pain, stimulates energy flow, nourishes vital organs, and rejuvenates the skin.

SALT ROOM

Our salt room relieves symptoms of respiratory issues and skin condition like hay fever, asthma, allergies, eczema and psoriasis. Safe for all ages and good for anyone trying to cut back on use of medications!

Uses thermal shock (varying intervals of time and temps from -18 to 40) to reduce pain, decrease wrinkles and cellulite, and destroy fat cells. This is a great alternative to botox, liposuction and cool-sculpting as you achieve outstanding results with no downtime!

Uses sequential compression in a circumferential massaging action to flush out waste products like excess fluids and toxins from the Lymphatic system. It also improves blood circulation, reduces cellulite, makes you firmer, and younger looking.

Canberra’s Pelvic Floor & Women’s Health Specialists

Her Physio is a specialised physiotherapy service for women of all ages

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Health challenges can arise at any stage of life - during pregnancy, as a new mum, when juggling the demands of work and raising a family, or easing into retirement

Did you know?

• 1 in 3 women who have ever had a baby, experience urinary incontinence

• 1 in 5 suffer from poor bladder and bowel control

• 1 in 2 experience symptoms of vaginal prolapse

• 1 in 5 experience pelvic or sexual pain

At Her Physio we treat and help manage bladder and bowel problems, prolapse and pelvic pain.

B App Sci (Ex

WOMEN’S HEALTH WEEK

Help for the pelvic floor

RESEARCH shows that 65 per cent of women in a general practice waiting room report incontinence, yet only 31 per cent seek help, says Marita O’Shea of Her Physio.

With many women experiencing difficulty with their pelvic-floor health, Marita, who is a pelvic floor and continence physiotherapist, says now’s the best time for women to address their pelvic-floor health.

“My patients tell me their pelvic-floor health is always in the back of their mind and once they take the first step and get a pelvic-floor assessment, they feel relieved,” she says.

“Problems such as pelvic floor muscle weakness, urinary incontinence, bowel problems, vaginal prolapse and pelvic pain are very common but also can be very difficult to talk about.

“Working with a pelvic-floor physiotherapist to improve your pelvic floor strength, bladder and bowel habits can significantly improve your quality of life.

“I provide specialist physiotherapy services to assess and help women manage these problems.

“I also do postnatal checks for new mums to assess

Float away the stress and anxiety

UNWINDING in the tranquility of a Pure Zen Flotation tank provides women in need of a stress release a unique relaxation experience like no other, says manager Karen Bennett.

pelvic floor strength and abdominal separation and provide guidelines for returning to their prebaby exercise routine.”

Marita now works out of Deakin, after Her Physio moved to the Spe cialist Services Medical Group, working alongside specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists Dr Elizabeth Gallagher and Dr Omar Adham, as well as Dr Tween Low, specialist obstetrician, gynaecologist and fertility specialist. Marita also continues to practice at the Ochre Health Medical Centre at Bruce.

Her Physio, Specialist Services Medical Group, 12 Napier Close, Deakin, call 6282 2033. Ochre Health Medical Centre, corner Allawoona Street & Ginninderra Drive, Bruce, call 6180 8500 or visit herphysio.com.au

Just opened, an infrared sauna studio

Karen says the dedicated float-tank facility can help people with pain relief, stress, meditation, anxiety and depression.

“People who try floating absolutely love it and they take advantage of our package deals to become regulars,” says Karen.

“Some people wonder how they will go floating for one whole hour. But afterwards they tell me that the time went so quickly and they didn’t want to get out, they felt so relaxed.”

Customers can experience Pure Zen Flotation’s “Dream Pod”, a cocoon-like pod which is larger than other pods and is filled with 600 litres of water and 500kg of epsom salts, creating a mixture so buoyant it’s impossible to sink.

Each pod is in a separate sound-proofed room with its own shower and complimentary towels and toiletries.

Pure Zen is offering two special deals.

“Customers can buy two floats and receive a third float for free, as well as a special deal on our float packages where a free float is included in any package that is bought,” says Karen.

Pure Zen Flotation, Unit 2, 10–12 Dundas Court, Phillip. Call 6281 0259, email contact@purezen.com.au or visit purezen.com.au

WOMEN can restore their mind and body by relaxing at Eliven, Canberra’s first and only dedicated infrared sauna studio. Owner Jill Gray recently moved back to in Canberra after living in Melbourne for a few years. During that time, Jill discovered the benefits of infrared saunas.

“I saw a gap in the market in Canberra, there wasn’t a dedicated place to go for an infrared sauna until now,” says Jill who opened Eliven last month. Jill says the benefits of infrared sauna include detox, weight loss and pain relief.

“People tell me how their muscle tension and joint issues feel so much better after a session. It gives people with arthritis or inflammation relief as well,” she says.

“Studies have also shown that people’s sleep quality improves after a sauna, it is great for relaxation.” Jill says that infrared saunas use infrared rays to penetrate the skin on a cellular level, and unlike traditional steam saunas, infrared doesn’t feel uncomfortably hot.

“It’s a warm environment and not overbearing. People feel so relaxed and de-stressed after a 45-minute session,” says Jill.

Eliven offers three sauna sizes to choose from and Jill says many women enjoy going together for a chat and relax together inside the two or three-person sauna.

“In September we are offering a deal in which you can bring a friend with you for free,” says Jill.

“It’s the perfect way for women to take time for themselves, which is so important.”

Eliven Infrared Saunas, Unit 3/61 Dundas Court, Phillip. Visit enlivensaunas.com.au or call 0404 073618.

Practice dedicated to orthopaedic health

THE main health conditions affecting women’s orthopaedic health are osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, says practice manager of Orthopaedics ACT Deborah Henry.

“After the age of 60, one in two women will have a fracture related to osteoporosis and women are more likely to develop osteoarthritis,” says Deborah.

“Prevention such as a healthy diet and weight-bearing exercises is important. People are living more active lives in their older years and we can provide surgical and non-surgical options to work with patients to keep them as healthy as we can.”

Orthopaedics ACT is the single largest group of orthopaedic surgeons in the ACT, based at Woden, covering all orthopaedic subspecialty areas including management of trauma.

Bringing together the expertise of seven orthopaedic surgeons based at the practice, working with sports and exercise physician, Dr Lari Trease, they are committed to providing surgical excellence and care.

Deborah says that due to the unpredictable timing of trauma and fractures and the need to treat with some expediency, Orthopaedics ACT offers a Fast Track Fracture and Trauma Clinic. Their trauma phone line is open between 9am and 5pm every day of the week to manage trauma injuries that don’t require a visit to the emergency department.

Orthopaedics ACT, Woden Specialist Medical Centre, Level 2, 90 Corinna Street, Woden. Call 6221 9320 or visit orthoact.com.au

Network and help for women with autoimmune diseases

WITH women more likely to suffer from autoimmune diseases, Arthritis ACT CEO Rebecca Davey says that women also tend to face longer waiting times to receive answers from the medical system than men.

“Men tend to get pushed through the drug and pathology system quicker than women. It’s a widespread issue that women’s complaints are not considered to be as important as men’s, creating a lot more social and emotional distress for women,” she says.

In addition to living with chronic health conditions, Rebecca says that women’s caring responsibilities can cause them to put their pain or health to the side while they look after family members.

“Women also tend to develop autoimmune diseases earlier in their life, which affects their child-bearing and rearing years as well as their careers,” she says.

“Many women have to drop out of work at a younger age which leads to social disadvantage.”

Arthritis ACT supports women dealing with these issues through a number of initiatives including a weekly mumsand-bubs hydrotherapy class in Calwell, support groups for younger women as well as a playground for women with small children.

“Our nurse also concentrates on supporting mums with younger-aged children,” says Rebecca.

“We find that women depend on each other to give advice and support. By giving them a network it helps make life a little easier for them.”

Arthritis ACT, SHOUT Offices, Collett Place, Pearce, and Building 18, 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce. Call 1800 011041, email info@arthritisact.org.au or visit arthritisact.org.au

WOMEN’S HEALTH WEEK

ORTHOPAEDICS ACT IS PASSIONATE ABOUT THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF ALL OF OUR PATIENTS. IN WOMEN’S HEALTH WEEK WE ARE FOCUSSED ON TWO CONDITIONS THAT AFFECT MORE WOMEN THAN MEN

After the age of 60, 1 in 2 Australian women will have a fracture related to osteoporosis, a gradual thinning and weakening of the bones. Together with safe sun exposure and sometimes medications, we encourage healthy natural prevention of osteoporosis with diet and exercise. Our goal is always to help prevent the pain, suffering and long term consequences of osteoporosis related fractures. Osteoarthritis is the wearing of cartilage within the joints and this affects more women than men in Australia. Again, a non-surgical approach is always the first treatment course to trial, and often this begins with a safe and effective exercise program. As osteoarthritis worsens, a surgical approach often becomes necessary, and today there are some great options for alleviating pain and returning people to a very active lifestyle.

We offer a

chronic pain.

• Hydrotherapy at locations across Canberra

• Exercise Physiology group classes and individual consultations

• GLA:D Physiotherapy program for hip and knee osteoarthritis

• Dietitian consultations for weight loss/gain and pain relief

• Occupational therapy to improve daily living challenges

• Individual counselling and health education

• Pain Support programs, seminars and support groups

• All programs can be incorporated into NDIS, DVA and My Aged Care

• We accept GP Referrals for Medicare funded allied health services

• Most chronic pain conditions respond to exercise and weight loss

• Hydrotherapy is proven to lead to reduction in many kinds of chronic pain

• People living with pain often suffer from being isolated – we have programs that will lessen this impact

• Mild depression and anxiety will significantly increase perceptions of pain – our counselling, support groups and exercise groups will help reduce this impact.

• Extensive range of shoes for Runners, Joggers, Walkers and Gym enthusiasts of all ages

• Brands include Asics, Brooks, Nike, New Balance, Mizuno, Saucony, Hoka and On

• Great range of technical running apparel which breathes (wicks moisture) all year round

Entrance between the Central Café & Gloria Jeans Café Hibberson St, Gungahlin 6241 7054

• Extensive range of nutrition products from Endura, GU, Hammer and Tailwind

• Come in and speak to our staff of Runners, Triathletes and Orienteers with a passion and a first-hand knowledge of our entire product range!

FAST NEWS FREE

WOMEN’S HEALTH WEEK

Shoes get women running for health

FOR women looking for a way to improve their health physically and mentally, The Runners Shop owner Nick Walshe says running is a fantastic and affordable exercise for good health.

Based in Gungahlin and Phillip, Nick says The Runners Shop has a great range of running shoes for new and experienced runners.

“We’re always happy to help people get started for the first time and have a good range of shoes with friendly staff to help,” he says. “For people just getting started, they often need to make sure they have a well-cushioned pair of running shoes, which will help the body cope with an increase in exercise and will make it easier on your knees, back and joints.”

According to Nick, running can also be a social activity and he says if people find a group to go running with, it can be a lot of fun.

With more daylight hours as spring begins, Nick says it’s a good time to get running outdoors, too.

“If people need help or advice, The Runners Shop has a team who are backed with all running levels, from elite to back-ofthe-pack,” he says.

“We also have a great variety of shoes in different colours, but it’s important to pick the right type of shoe before picking one that looks good.”

The Runners Shop, 76 Dundas Court, Phillip, call 6285 3508 and upstairs at 46-50 Hibberson Street, Gungahlin, call 6241 7054 or visit therunnersshop.com.au

Proven long lasting results with MonaLisa Touch

Mona Lisa Touch is a non-surgical, non-hormonal alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the treatment of symptoms related to vaginal atrophy such as-vaginal itching & burning, vaginal dryness, loss of lubrication, vaginal laxity, some incontinence symptoms and painful sexual intercourse.

It is a five minute, pain-free procedure.

The benefits are:

Specialist group helping women of all ages

THE multidisciplinary team operating out of Specialist Services Medical Group in Deakin offers conservative and surgical treatment options for women of all ages, says specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Elizabeth Gallagher.

Dr Gallagher says the team is made up of obstetrician, gynaecologist and laparoscopic surgeon Dr Omar Adham, obstetrician, gynaecologist and fertility specialist Dr Tween Low, physiotherapist Marita O’Shea and psychologist Lia Bain. Gynaecologist, Dr Ivy Tan and paediatrician Nahal Payman have also recently joined the group.

“Dr Tween Low offers a full range of fertility services and Dr Ivy Tan is taking on a general gynaecology role. Dr Omar Adham also offers comprehensive gynaecology and obstetric services including advanced laparoscopic procedures,” she says.

Dr Gallagher treats women with problems such as prolapse, incontinence, abnormal bleeding, vaginal pain, abnormal pap smears and other general gynaecologist needs.

Dr Elizabeth Gallagher and Dr Omar

might need to investigate further,” she says. Located one block from the Mint, Dr Gallagher says the newly renovated rooms are light and airy.

“We have easy access to disabled parking and other parking that’s close by and free,” she says.

Specialist Services Medical Group, Lidia Perin Building, 12/12 Napier Close, Deakin. Call 6282 2033, 6162 1649 or email deakin@specialistservices.com.au

Dedicated to fitting the perfect pair of shoes

Women searching for that perfect pair of comfortable shoes or sandals will find the largest range of orthotic-friendly NAOT footwear at NAOT of Canberra.

Located in Dickson, the experienced team of podiatrists and qualified footwear fitters will ensure the right fit and support, especially for people who wear orthotics.

Podiatrist and owner, Mark Clayton, says that often women can’t find sandals that accommodate their orthotics.

“We stock sandals all year round, as people who are travelling overseas during winter come to us to get a comfortable pair of travel shoes,” he says.

Made from handmade Italian leather and designed to be lightweight but durable, Mark says that NAOT shoes come in a wide range of styles including boots, mary janes and court shoes.

“We offer wider shoe sizes and can give advice on the fit and how your orthotic works inside the shoes,” he says.

“People find our shoes very comfortable and keep coming back to us to find the right shoes for their feet.”

NAOT of Canberra, unit 1/151 Cowper Street, Dickson. Visit naotofcanberra.com.au or call 6262 8383.

Dr Elizabeth Gallagher (Obstetrician/Gynaecologist) and Dr Omar Adham (Obstetrician/Gynaecologist) with the MonaLisa Touch System.

• Low Risk with little or no side effects

• Long lasting improvements

• No recovery time, normal activities can be resumed

• Suitable for Breast Cancer patients (not suited to HRT)

For consultations regarding the MonaLisa Touch Phone 6282 2033 or 6162 1649

Email deakin@specialistservices.com.au

Lidia Perin Building, 12/12 Napier Close, Deakin

Canberra’s most luxurious day spa

Hale Spa provides a full complement of day spa treatments. Immerse yourself in the cave-like spa pool, or dissolve away your stress in the steam rooms and infrared saunas. Take a seat in the Scandi-style lounge in front of the fireplace with views onto a landscaped courtyard and water feature while you prepare for your facial or body treatment in one of the nine private treatment rooms.

WOMEN’S HEALTH WEEK

Sanctuary for the body and mind

CREATED to be Canberra’s most sought-after wellness destination, there’s nothing else like Hale Gym & Spa, says the hotel manager of Brassey Hotel, Kathryn Carling.

Whether people want to work on their fitness in the gym or relax in the spa, Kathryn says Hale provides a sanctuary for the body and mind.

When it comes to the mind, Kathryn says Hale Spa is a place of complete indulgence and relaxation where people can escape to.

“[There’s a] full suite of spa treatments across nine luxurious rooms including a couple’s suite with a bath and dual shower,” she says.

“Our cave-like plunge pool provides total solace in a tranquil place [and] our infrared saunas and steam rooms are geared towards extracting impurities, whilst relaxing muscles and promoting recovery.

“Our Scandi-inspired client lounge with fireplace provides the perfect place to relax pre and post treatment and our luxurious change rooms include personal lockers, plush towels, premium amenities and finishing

Feel good, get a massage

SPECIALISING in remedial, pregnancy and sports massage, Massage Essentials in Tuggeranong helps women (and men) feel good, says owner and remedial massage therapist Yvette Croft.

“When you feel good, you actually get out and exercise,” she says. “Remedial massage helps you feel good, it keeps people going and it helps them de-stress, especially if you’re an office worker who’s stuck in a chair.”

Or if women are pregnant, says Yvette, she works on their lower-back pain, sciatic pain and helps them get through their pregnancy.

“Our bodies change so much during pregnancy, so it’s important to make sure we’re looking after ourselves and our baby as well,” she says.

stations complete with Dyson hair dryers and Cloud 9 straightening irons.”

Kathryn says Hale Spa is always blown away with positive feedback, with one saying: “Hale is by far the best day spa I have been to in Canberra! The massages are absolutely amazing and the facilities are gorgeous.”

Hale Gym & Spa, 10–14 Macquarie Street, Barton. Call 6188 3299 or visit halehealth.com.au

Yvette also sees a lot of active students, elite sports people such as the Canberra Raiders and office workers who are stuck at a desk all day.

She can do myofascial dry needling, which works on trigger points and relieves tension from the muscles, and is a level two sports trainer so can help with injury prevention and recovery.

She’s a big believer in the healthy effects of massage, however, warns people to make sure they’re getting treatments from someone who is qualified.

Massage Essentials, 5 McKenzie Street, Kambah. Call 0408 860486, email massageessentials@bigpond.com or visit massage-essentials.com.au

Bite-size tips on making the most of moderation

IT’S all about moderation, right? Nothing is good or bad if you have it in moderation. The problem is – what the does moderation look like?

Memories can be warped by our emotions and state of mind and we are notorious for unintentionally underestimating and over exaggerating. And this is why the idea of “moderation” becomes problematic. It usually follows a pattern something like this:

• Monday 9pm: “I ate really well today. I can afford to have a bit of dark chocolate with a cuppa. I haven’t had chocolate in a week and it’s good to include things in moderation.”

• Tuesday 10.30am: “Oh, someone has bought in cakes for Deborah’s birthday. How nice! I’ll have a cake. I never have cake these days.”

• Tuesday 5pm: “There’s some marshmallows left in the cupboard from the weekend. I’ll finish off the packet. That way they are out of the house.”

• Wednesday 7pm: “I’m going to have a couple glasses of wine with dinner. I haven’t had anything to drink all week.”

• Thursday 1pm: “This is going to be a long meeting. I’m going to need a big coffee. I might grab a muffin with that. I never buy muffins from this café anymore.”

• Thursday 6pm: “Will get a dessert when out to dinner because I rarely have dessert

Our brains compartmentalise each event of “unhealthy” eating and we struggle to see the big patterns of eating which are undermining our progress.

up some chips as a treat for the end of the week. I haven’t had chips all week. I’ll stop in at the bottle shop as well, I really feel like a cider. I can’t remember the last time I had cider.”

• Looking back on the week: “I think I was a little better on the junk food this week. I didn’t buy any lollies and only had chips on Friday night. I can relax my efforts over the weekend and have some treats.”

I am not exaggerating; this is what happens. I know, because this is what happens to me! I am not trying to find a loophole or avoid the truth, it’s just that my brain can be selective about what it remembers. Our brains compartmentalise each event of “unhealthy” eating and we struggle to see the big patterns of eating which are undermining our progress. We just don’t see the bigger picture. So how do we really get moderation?

• Friday 5pm: “I’ll grab something for dinner on the way home. I’ll pick

Moderation is a flexible term because it is determined by context. If you are in the habit of having something sweet after dinner every night, moderating might mean moving to five days a week.

Moderation comes down to being fully aware of what you are currently doing and deciding if you are happy with that.

Clare Wolski is a practising dietitian at The Healthy Eating Hub, call 6174 4663.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO MODERATION

1. What do I want to change?

We know from all of the health information that we want to reduce processed food, junk foods and “treat” foods. Thes” ‘discretionary” foods are foods that are not necessary to a healthy diet and contain large amount of sugar, saturated or trans fats and salt. Think lollies, chocolate, cake, biscuits, donuts, soft drink, chips. But what about alcohol? What about homemade muffins? What about crackers? It all becomes very grey.

It doesn’t really matter what it is, as long as you clearly define it from the beginning so that you aren’t accidentally finding loopholes. Saying that I am going to reduce dessert and then I start having a hot chocolate instead. Is that a reduction or a deferral? That’s up to you and your nutritionist.

2. What’s my current average?

Honestly tracking your current patterns, without judgment is the key to making change. You need to understand what triggers a food decision and when food choices are happening unconsciously.

3. Create a goal and strategy

There is no right or wrong with how frequently you enjoy a discretionary food. Once you have determined how often you currently have something, the aim of moderation is just to reduce it a bit. So:

• make sure your goal or target is realistic. There’s no point saying you will cut something out if it is going to be a personal form of torture.

• plan for how you will achieve it. What are you going to do when someone offers you biscuits at work? How will you prevent yourself getting ravenously hungry at 3pm and the buy the chocolate?

• be kind to yourself. If you don’t meet your goal one day or one week it’s okay! It’s all about progress not perfection.

4. Track your progress

We need feedback on how we are progressing. So we say: “I think I am doing better” or “I feel like I am eating well more often”. But as we saw before, our memory is not an accurate tool. You need some concrete data to really be able to tell if things are improving.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Decent

Waters sings Dylan, but no Bob impersonations

By Helen MUSA

“I WANT to disabuse people of the idea that I’m ‘doing’ Bob Dylan,” actor, rocker and screen identity John Waters says of his coming show, “Dylan Revisited”.

“It won’t look anything like ‘Lennon: Looking Through A Glass Onion’,” he stresses.

“I’m not doing any impersonations. It’s purely myself and a six-piece band going out on the stage doing Dylan songs.”

“Glass Onion”, of course, is Waters’ long-running tribute show to John Lennon, co-written with his muso friend Stewart D’Arrietta. Since 1992 it has toured widely, several times to Canberra. It also played in London’s West End and at the Union Square Theatre in Manhattan.

Even in that show, Waters didn’t go very far in making up as John Lennon, but he did adopt his persona and his accent, as he did in his tribute to Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel.

“This time I’m not wearing any kind of a straitjacket, but on the other hand, I must say I’m never tired of ‘Glass Onion’,” he adds. “But that is a quintessentially theatre

piece, extremely tight, whereas now we have freedom and we are enjoying it.

“It’s our version… we would listen to other versions of the songs and then chat and do our own, we are really looking forward to it.”

Waters, a household name in Australia from his many screen roles and his 19721991 stint as a presenter on ABC TV’s “Play School”, began as a muso in his native England.

Like so many singers, he started out in church but, at age 16, a boy in the same school who had a band was looking for a bass player and Waters stepped in.

Soon he was playing in a rock-blues band called The Riots in south-west London.

After three years, he was alerted to Harry M Miller’s audition call-out for the production of “Hair” in Sydney, so headed south. He scored a role in the ensemble and soon replaced Wayne Matthews as the main character, Claude.

“What a year 1969 was,” he says, “the Moon landing, Woodstock and in Australia, ‘Hair’.”

Luckily, he says, he soon caught the eye of talent scout and super-agent Gloria Payton, who found him roles on stage and screen, notably as Sgt Robert McKellar in the 1974-76 television series “Rush”.

Waters enjoyed a prolific career on screen, earning him a satirical quip from critic David Stratton to the effect that he’d

been in “more bad films than most other actors”. He’s still everywhere, most recently on “Rake” and “Mystery Road”. But music has always been Waters’ first

Explore stories of activism that have taken place in Canberra over the last century. Canberra has a special relationship with activism. As the national capital of Australia, it is not only the location of protest on local issues, but also the site of national and international protest. No matter whether it’s big and dramatic, or quiet and slow, these are stories of people working for change in the Canberra community.

love and his choice of subjects, Lennon, Brel and now Dylan, reveals a penchant for the acoustic and lyrical end of the music spectrum, often just him and his guitar.

That simplicity surfaced in Waters’ rendition of the song “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” written for Lennon’s son, Sean. It was a moment, Waters says, of tranquillity amid the turbulence.

“Dylan Revisited” offers moral turbulence in swags as he and his band perform celebrated numbers such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone”.

But the number that affects him most in the show, he says, is the 1975 protest song “Hurricane”.

Co-written with Jacques Levy, about what the Nobel Laureate-to-be depicted as the false trial and imprisonment of middleweight boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter for a triple murder in New Jersey, its lyrics were contested in court by people directly named in the song.

“It’s a political song, a great dynamic song that hit hard, ” Waters says.

“Carter wasn’t released until the 1990s. It was a very tragic story and it’s still got resonance.”

The song also presents an excuse for one of his electric guitarists to put down his instrument, pick up a fiddle and break out into gypsy violin.

“It’s an amazing moment,” says Waters. “Dylan Revisited”, Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden, Wednesday, September 4. Book at cscc.com.au

CINEMA MUSICAL THEATRE Musical brings US killers to life

By Dougal MACDONALD

“Overcomer” (PG)

THE title of writer/director (and Baptist preacher) Alex Kendrick’s film doesn’t give much forewarning about its comfortable combination of narrative and message.

The plot follows Hannah (Aryn WrightThompson) who, after her mother’s death when she was a baby, has lived with her grandmother (Denise Armstrong) in a small midwest city. In her 15th year, Hannah has learned to conceal her feelings. She’s become a kleptomaniac. She’s not popular at school. Her best attribute is her running ability.

Alex Kendrick also plays John Harrison, history teacher at the local high school; who has coached the high school basketball team which has just lost the final match by a small margin. School attendances are down, funding is low. Principal Brooks (Priscilla Shirer) asks him to coach the school’s distance-running team. Hannah is the only kid who turns up to try out.

In the local hospital, Thomas (Cameron Arnett) lies in a palliative care bed. John happens to pass his room and stops to talk. The pair strike up a friendship, made more valuable because Thomas, a type 2 diabetic who has lost his vision to the disease, is articulate and intelligent.

In a rock-solid marriage, John’s teacher wife Amy (Shari Rigby), also manages the family home (they have two adolescent sons). Ms Rigby, a multiskilled dishy lady who comes to movies from a career in network TV, deserves to be more widely known.

The screenplay is clever enough to engage its audience as it follows Hannah’s negotiation of life’s vicissitudes and John’s preparation of her to compete in the championships next spring. The film gets well into that issue before it reveals its real purpose. It’s a commercial for participating in Christianity. The restrained delivery of the message stops short of demanding that the viewer sign up to join the flock. So that’s the “Overcomer” package – a

well-crafted piece of cinema blessed with impressive performances and agreeable credibility.

At Capitol 6

“Angel Has Fallen” (MA)

ONCE again, Gerard Butler answers the call to arms as US Secret Service agent Mike Banning.

If that holds any significance, you have probably formed an attachment to the character and his profession from the two previous films in the franchise. All three films have titles containing the words “has fallen”. In 2013 it was Olympus, about a terrorist kidnapping attempt in the White House, in 2016 it was London, where POTUS was at the funeral of Britain’s PM.

They’re actioners pure and simple, following Mike’s upwardly-mobile career in the agency of the US Treasury Department that’s responsible for protecting POTUS from miscreants who think America has screwed up the election process by choosing the wrong man.

In the Banning movies, another common element is the great actor Morgan Freeman, again playing Trumbull, who’s risen from Vice President in 2013 to POTUS this year. This time, there’s a plot afoot to privatise the Secret Service by assassinating Trumbull and framing Banning for it.

No prizes for predicting how this little lot will turn out after spending an estimated $US80 million staging scads of small-arms fire, road wreckage, bodies, blowings up and FBI insistence that the initial faked evidence is genuine. Desperately in need of a friend, Mike meets an eccentric hermit who turns out to be his dad (Nick Nolte, unrecognisable

behind a forest of unkempt whiskers).

What might be the future for this franchise? It doesn’t need thinking about; just go with the flow of its mildly exciting action uncluttered with space invaders or destructive monsters.

At Dendy, Capitol 6 and Limelight

“The

Australian Dream” (MA)

DANIEL Gordon’s documentary illuminating AFL star and 2014 Australian of the Year Adam Goodes is the most difficult film it was my job to review in more than half a century.

I respect and admire Adam Goodes, although I don’t give a fig for which team wins the Grand Final. And I have compassion for the plight of Australia’s indigenous population and shame for how four of my six generations of Australian forebears have treated them.

Some of us whose forebears came from across the sea exhibit a prejudice against indigenous Australians that 231 years of European presence and economic development haven’t eradicated. That prejudice diminishes my respect for fellow Australians.

So all I can tell readers about “The Australian Dream” is that we should all see it and afterward think very carefully not about an us-and-a-them but about an all-embracing us, regardless of race, skin colour, place of birth or ancestry. The film offers mind food to help us in that process.

Nor am I telling what the film tells us. You must discover that for yourself.

At Palace Electric, Dendy, Limelight and Hoyts Belconnen

By Helen Musa

DIRECTOR and teacher Kelly Roberts is, by her own admission, “a musical theatre nerd” who has put her love of major Broadway and West End musicals into practice by performing in shows such as “Evita”, “Les Miserables” and “Into The Woods”.

But these days, together with fellow nerd Grant Pegg, she’s been focusing on musicals that haven’t been seen before in Canberra, as will be the case in the new production for Everyman Theatre of “Assassins”.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman, it’s based on the idea of a repetitive carnival game, “You Wanna kill a President?”, and is a sideshow alley portrayal of men and women who attempted, successfully and otherwise, to assassinate US presidents.

So the big successes include John Wilkes Booth (who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln), Charles Guiteau (James A Garfield), Leon Czolgosz (William McKinley) and Lee Harvey Oswald (John F Kennedy), while the also-rans include Samuel Byck (Richard Nixon) and John Hinckley Jr. (Ronald Reagan).

“It’s very resonant for Americans at the moment because of the strong interest in politics and gun culture, but it’s not restricted to the US,” Roberts says.

“I believe educated Canberrans will be interested in the subject matter, too.”

She and Pegg have created an ensemble from Everyman’s versatile actors, dividing the acting load fairly evenly between Jim

Rush, Jarrad West and Pippin Carroll.

While notionally headed up by the most famous assassin of all, actor Booth, who gunned down Lincoln, he’s not the lynchpin of the play.

That honour belongs to Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of JFK, who gives a kind of shape and conclusion to the plot of the play, even though the audience might not initially recognise where it’s going.

“The show is totally open to interpretation, which is really exciting and unusual for a musical,” Roberts says.

The script alludes to a shooting gallery so they’ve set it as a side show, part of a carnival, thus allowing the characters to become actors in an old-school travelling show, playing out their assassinations over and over again.

“Grant and I have tried to get a sense of purgatory for these people, doomed to relive their actions,” she says.

“We’re drawn to smaller, more obscure shows that don’t necessarily have a broad musical theatre appeal, but we like the music in them.”

With that in mind, they’ve signed up Xander Unikowski as musical director to race through a range of American musical traditions from the 1860s to the 1980s –marches, spirituals, folk and rock.

Roberts comes from the home of musical theatre, the US. Raised in California and trained in drama and music at a school in Stockton, she came to Canberra 12 years ago to study drama and psychology at the ANU and simply never left.

Now a dance and drama teacher at Dickson College, which she describes as “a great school”, she finds time to stage shows such as “Spring Awakening” and “Heathers” with Pegg.

Her busy schedule is somewhat compromised by the fact that she’s on maternity leave at the moment, but she’s wasting no time working out how to combine directing with being a mum.

Husband Chris Zuber, another Canberra drama teacher who recently played Macbeth at Rep, is designing the set for “Assassins” and that for Jordan Best’s production of “Belfast Girls”.

It’s a busy life.

“Assassins”, Belconnen Theatre, September 7-21. Book at 6275 2700 or canberraticketing.com.au

Decent Japanese at very decent prices

IT was a crisp Sunday and four of us were off to Ogawa in Gungahlin.

We hopped on the tram in Civic, wandered around the Marketplace area and then settled in to Ogawa for some casual Japanese dining.

Ogawa is a compact restaurant – black and red décor, warmed up with a wooden feature wall along one entire side. The kitchen is open although the dividing wall means you can’t really see the action.

It was our first visit and we weren’t disappointed. This is decent Japanese at very decent prices. Think sushi, sashimi and izakaya.

The salmon sashimi was beautifully presented, the pinkish flesh contrasting with a black, interesting-shaped plate. It melted in the mouth ($14.90 for eight pieces). Also mouthwatering was the snapper carpaccio, which also looked delightful on a blue and white patterned plate. It was translucent and the white soy sauce it was plated in was memorable ($16.90).

One of our party is an “age-dashi tofu fan” and this dish was a must ($8.90). She gave it a thumb’s up, enjoying every bite of the deep-fried silken tofu that was swimming in dash soy.

The assorted vegetable tempura ($12.90) didn’t disappoint. The batter was light (one of our party thought it could have been just a tad lighter) and the vegetables not overcooked.

Besides the carpaccio, our next fave dish was the deep-fried chicken katsu ($16.90). The chicken thigh was exceptionally moist and the crumbed coating exception -

King

Valley brings a

JUST before I got hit by the winter cold virus, which felt like someone had taken to me with a baseball bat, I had an outing where the King Valley came to town.

East Hotel in Kingston had a weekend of showcasing Dal Zotto wines and a mate and I went to the Friday night tasting where the array of Dal Zotto wines was on offer alongside the pizza that features in the popular East Hotel restaurant Agostinis. At this point you might expect me to make a joke about pizza but I’m tired of being cheesy.

The King Valley, part of the Victorian high country, has become a “Little Italy” with its climate characteristics similar to the Piedmont area in north-west Italy where it borders Switzerland and France. Grapes are grown there at the base of the Italian Alps and have a distinctive character similar to that of the Victorian high country.

Up to the time of the Dal Zotto wines

coming to town, I was familiar with the Pizzini Winery, also based in Whitfield in the King Valley, as I had followed Alfredo’s success since meeting him in the ’80s. So, if we couldn’t get to the King Valley, it came to us.

The Dal Zotto wine range was new to me and there were three Proseccos on taste. They were pleasant enough although the vintage varietal was head and shoulders above the other two non-vintage wines. I later checked their website to find that the day-to-day drinking Prosecco was $20, the non-vintage Pucino Prosecco. But the L’Immigrante Prosecco 2017 sells for $36 a bottle and reflects much more refinement and a cleaner finish than its cousins, as we had discerned on the night.

But I didn’t think that the Prosecco style of wine was a match with pizza. And so when I had a taste of the Barbera 2017 (which sells for $25 a bottle) I knew that the style better matched the food on offer.

ally crunchy. The fresh slaw salad on the side was a generous serve and the dressing not overpowering. The dish is served with fluffy rice and earthy miso.

Ogawa is fully licensed and BYO ($5 corkage per person). Off the menu, you can select a house red/white by the glass ($7). Plum and rice wines also feature, as do a small selection of sake, Japanese bottled beers and playful Soju.

The dishes came out randomly. We would have preferred to build flavours and start with the carpaccio but it came out last. Certainly not the end of the world…

The service could be smartened up. We had trouble communicating with the person who served us (she had to keep calling someone out from the kitchen for help) and we had to ask for some basics, such as plates and cutlery, after the first dish came out of the kitchen.

Still, if in the area, we would definitely return.

Ogawa, 54-56 Ernest Cavanagh Street, Gungahlin. Open seven days for lunch, dinner and izakaya (times vary).

taste of Italy to town

Barbera is not just half the name of a cartooning empire but a popular Piedmont grape that was introduced into Australia in the 1960s. One website tells me that Barbera is the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano).

In Australia, it is grown in the King and Hunter Valleys and in the McLaren Vale but the best grapes are from the coolerclimate regions. It is a variety that is only becoming popular recently. I think that’s because it is an easy drinking, moderate style of wine that has high natural acidity that cuts through fatty foods and certainly matched perfectly with pizza.

It has soft tannins and therefore is the antithesis of the big, bold style of Australian wines that are, sadly, becoming less popular. The other good thing about Barbera that seems to add to its popularity is that it is made to be consumed while

young and fruity.

The Dal Zotto was not the best Barbera I have ever tasted but was pleasant with the pizza in the warmth of a popular place: we were all crowded into the lobby of the hotel. Christian Del Zotto was an enthusias tic and knowledgeable host and there was plenty of laughter and hand shaking as he made himself known to the patrons.

These sorts of events enliven Canberra and I take my hat off to Danilo Acioli, the food and beverage operations manager at East Hotel for making it a great night out. It gave me something good to remember as I was flat on my back recovering from my winter affliction.

“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature affects the cure.” –Voltaire

Anu rewinds Aretha’s great songs

ARTS IN THE CITY

By Helen Musa

CHRISTINE Anu is back in Canberra to celebrate the life and legacy of soul diva Aretha Franklin with her show, “Rewind – The Aretha Franklin Songbook”. At Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden, September 12. Book at cscc.com.au

IN “Collision”, Canberra artist Fatima Killeen has created an exhibition of works inspired by Islamic art to overcome the negative stereotypes surrounding Arab and Muslim communities in Australia. At Belconnen Arts Centre, September 6-October 27.

ADHOC Baroque’s spring concert, “Handel and his Rivals”, will feature works by Handel, Porpora, Pepusch and Bononcini. At St Paul’s Anglican Church, Manuka, 3pm, Sunday, September 1. Book at trybooking.com

CROATIAN pianist Dejan Lazić reunites with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in a celebration of Mozart’s concertos and symphonies, directed by the ACO’s Richard Tognetti. The concert also features two of Lazić’s own works and Tognetti will feature as soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3. At Llewellyn Hall, Saturday, September 7. Book at aco.com.au

SYDNEY performer Christine Firkin will appear in a musical cabaret, “The Roads I Didn’t Take”, with musical direction by Canberra’s Nicholas Griffin. Interspersed with songs from musical theatre, the show tackles big life decisions, with a bit of help from the audience. Polit Bar, Manuka, 8pm, September 4, tickets at the door.

IN “The Game Changers”, Selby & Friends, Susie Park on violin and Julian Smiles on cello, will perform Elena Kats-Chernin’s “Blue Silence” for piano trio, Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major, M. 77, Britten’s Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 65 and Dvořák’s Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65. At Llewellyn Hall, Tuesday, September 3. Book at selbyandfriends.com.au

VETERAN photographer Heide Smith was recently made a fellow of the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers at a Sydney convention. “To be praised by your peers is something special to me,” she says.

AUSTRALIAN composer Nigel Westlake’s “Sacred Sky” will be premiered by the Australian String Quartet alongside works by Charles Ives and Claude Debussy. It was commissioned by the ASQ and written as a homage to his late sister, the actor, singer, visual artist and event producer Kate Westlake. At Gandel Hall, NGA, 2pm, Sunday, September 8. Book at asq.com.au

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8

GARDENING To

PERHAPS it’s time to remove some plants from your garden and multiply others.

I’m starting with our nature strip and Scilla peruviana, which grew from half a dozen bulbs planted 10 years ago to about 100. The young bright green shoots of Sedum, Autumn Joy, grow by the day, although they will not flower until autumn. Hebe, Inspiration, was planted about 10 years ago; but its days were numbered with a mass of old wood and a few pathetic leaves.

Decision time: do I remove or revitalise? I decided on the latter in mid-winter, cutting out all the dead wood and reducing the whole plant from 40cm to 20cm high. Then fed with certified organic Maxicrop Seaweed to which I added epsom salts (one heaped tablespoon in a nine-litre watering can) a few weeks ago. The result is amazing.

A STAND of Euryops pectinatus rewarded us with bright yellow daisy-like flowers for many years. However, their heyday was over, so out they came to be replaced with Euphorbia, Ascot Rainbow. This is a firm favourite in our garden with the variegated yellow and green leaves giving a lift to the area. This is my type of plant, worried by neither heat nor cold.

Rosmarinus, Blue Lagoon, had served us well for many years, both for its flowers and culinary uses, but its time had come, so out they came this winter. As this is such an outstanding and rewarding plant I replaced these with the same.

Lining our drive the leaves of the rich blue Dutch Iris planted some years ago have seemingly emerged from the ground to 30cm in a few short weeks. The jonquils and snowdrops just beating the early daffodils now in flower.

EVERY year after they flower, I heavily prune a stand of five crepe myrtles, grown as standards. This pruning is important, as they only flower on new wood. However, this year I have run out of time with the new buds well established; I will see if they flower this Under these Lavandula angustifolia, English lavender is planted. After 10 years, this year will be their last before

replacing. They don’t respond to cutting heavily into the old wood. Most importantly, it is too late to prune spring flowering shrubs; this is done after flowering.

Jottings...

• A last reminder to check dripper systems. I suggest you raise the lines above the ground to inspect, but still under mulch. Most probably, mulch will need to be renewed before the heat arrives.

• It is time to remove the primulas, violas and pansies to replace with petunias.

• When planting, whether it is shrubs or perennials, think in groups of threes, fives or sevens for the best effect.

PUZZLES PAGE

Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Energy and enthusiasm are high but don’t say or do something unintentionally hurtful. Hasty words can cut like a knife so think before you speak and self-edit along the way. The planets also activate your health and wellbeing zone. So find time in your busy life to prepare nutritious meals and follow a regular fitness routine. Avoid being a flash-in-the-pan though! Make sure your noble promises and good intentions can last the distance, so that you actually finish what you begin.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

When it comes to a child, teenager or friend, you’ll have to dig deep if you want to decipher what’s really going on. Make sure you focus on verified facts, rather than vague hearsay. It is a good time to concentrate on your goals for the future. The more adventurous and outlandish they are, the better. Be inspired by Beyoncé (who turns 38 on Wednesday): “I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal.”

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

Have you got a long list of domestic chores that you’ve been avoiding? With the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars in your home zone, tackle the to-do list with extra energy and enthusiasm. But it would be wise to handle a feisty family member with a double dose of diplomacy. And don’t fall into the trap of being side-tracked (or persuaded) into pursuing someone else’s agenda. Have the courage, conviction and fortitude to forge your own path and follow your own dreams.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

The stars favour communicating, social networking and multi-tasking to the max! You crave your comfortable Crab routines, but you need to shake them up with some creative thinking and adventurous dreaming. And are you stuck in worry wart mode? Seek advice from an older friend or family member… someone whose wisdom and experience you respect. A problem shared is a problem halved. For some lucky singles, love lies waiting within your local neighbourhood.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Don’t hide your Leo light under a bushel! The Sun (your power planet) links up with Mars, Mercury and Saturn. So it’s time to communicate creatively, move mountains and make a real difference. Public speaking and performing are favoured, as you display your leadership skills (and unique talents) for all to see. Be inspired by birthday great, the flamboyant performer Freddie Mercury: “I always knew I was a star, and now the rest of the world seems to agree with me.”

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

With the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars visiting your sign you’ll be at your versatile Virgo best as you impress others with your methodical mind, broad general knowledge, multi-tasking skills and meticulous attention to detail. So Monday to Friday is the time to analyse evidence, power through paperwork, do research, edit work, revise projects or problem-solve. But avoid making important decisions on Saturday, when your mind will be muddled and communication confused.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Don’t be deceived by glossy, glamorous appearances. You can be dazzled by obvious outer beauty but this week you need to look beneath the surface to evaluate a person’s true worth. You’re also keen to take a break from the harsh realities of daily life with some pure escapism as you read a fantasy novel, listen to uplifting music, watch a romantic movie or daydream the hours away. Just make sure you can differentiate between solid fact and pure fiction.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

It’s a wonderful week to connect, network, negotiate and socialise with likeminded souls within your sphere of influence. At the moment, it’s not what you know but who you know! You could also be approached to contribute your talents to a group dynamic like a class or club. But nebulous Neptune is stirring up your creativity and friendship zone, so projects and people will be hard to pin down. You’ll find the more patient and flexible you are, the better the week will be.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

With so many planets (including diplomatic Venus) stimulating your career zone, patching up problems with students, superiors, colleagues, clients or customers will be easier now than at other times. Your communication skills are firing, so make sure you’re using them well. Friday’s Sun/Saturn trine is particularly fortuitous for work, business and financial matters but avoid putting your foot firmly in your mouth. Strive to be smart, savvy and (unusually) sensible!

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

This week’s stars encourage nurturing a long-term relationship or starting a new romance that has the potential to last the distance. But with Saturn moving slowly through your sign (until 2020) avoid the tendency to be a super critical Capricorn who’s a nit-picking perfectionist. And don’t be afraid of making messy mistakes… and learning from them. As birthday great Beyoncé observes: “If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.”

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Aquarians can appear absent-minded and distracted, as you dream about saving the world and then neglect matters closer to home. The Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars are all visiting the practical and productive sign of Virgo, which will help focus your mind and settle your restlessness. So use the earthy energy to power through projects and clear the to-do list. Your motto is from Virgo birthday great, actor Keanu Reeves: “The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.”

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

You have a natural ability to calm, console and help others. But promising more than you can deliver is a danger this week. If you pace yourself and take practical baby steps, then you’ll get things done without too much confusion and chaos. Romance is also highlighted, as Venus and Mars amplify your partnership zone. For singles – make sure you can you distinguish between a soul mate connection and a dating disaster. If in doubt, let your intuition be your guide.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2019

Across

4 What, in wartime, are flights over enemy territories? (7)

8 Name the title of ancient Egyptian kings. (7)

9 What do we call one who gives a professional opinion? (7)

10 Which elementary particle is a constituent of all atomic nuclei, except normal hydrogen? (7)

11 What is a more common term for the patella? (7)

12 Name the cavity at the upper end of the human windpipe. (6)

14 In Alexandre Dumas’ novel, Edmond Dantes was the Count of Monte ... (6)

18 What is another name for an hereditary sovereign? (7)

21 Which term describes personal property? (7)

22 Name a tube that enables a person swimming face downwards to breathe. (7)

23 What do we call that which is put forward to conceal a true purpose? (7)

24 What are people who experience morbid enjoyment from inflicting pain? (7)

Down

1 Name a dog with a long, silky coat, and drooping ears. (7)

2 What is an item of information? (5)

3 What do buzzards and their like eat? (7)

4 Which parts of human legs lie between the knees and ankles? (6)

5 In which form of theatrical entertainment are recent events, etc, parodied? (5)

6 What are spiders, ticks, centipedes etc, called? (7)

7 Name the piece of leather used for sharpening razors. (5)

13 Name an Australian long-distance swimmer, Des ... (7)

15 Who founded Singapore in 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford ...? (7)

16 What is another term for corpulence? (7)

17 What do we call the young of dogs, wolves, and such? (6)

18 Who were the nine sister goddesses of classical mythology? (5)

19 Which term describes profligate or dissolute men? (5)

20 What is a company of eight singers? (5)

About 10 years ago, after repeated blocked pipes, we completely redid the pipes to the house. This bill was under $10,000 and we believed we had a good plumber. We went to/from work – and left him to it over a number of days.

The front verge was also dug up, and I was told then ACTEWAGL didn’t pay for that part to be fixed. After all, the size of “your land” goes to the street, so it made sense. I paid my bill, but later phoned to query things. It was then I was told my plumber was reimbursed $2400. I understood I had employed a Version 2 plumber – one that will rip you off and not tell you they’re getting reimbursed for part of the invoice. Double dipping! I thought the surname of the plumber meant integrity – I had referred him to everyone. Then I am told that the owner gets no notification, no CC into any correspondence; no counter-signing to prove work happened at their home, no copy of any reimbursement notice to the plumber. According to then ACTEWAGL, it had “nothing to do” with the owner. I went to the Minister and to the Master Plumbers Assoc. All I wanted was one sheet of paper to the owner letting them know about this transaction concerning their property.

Every year, when clients/friends have issues with blocked pipes, I warn them to watch out. I’ve personally known of others who have had this happen to them – and like me, they paid promptly and could never recover the funds from the Version 2 plumber. Now I find out this has yet again happened – to relatives in Canberra.

10 years later it’s time to make some noise! This is bureaucratic stupidity to not issue one email or letter, and to keep the owner out of the loop. It doesn’t matter if it happens once a year or not. If there’s hidden money to be made, and no accountability, good people get ripped off. ICON Water needs to close the gap on this double-dipping, irrespective of how many times it happens per year.

I have spoken with Leigh Watson from the Master Plumbers Association, who is now across this issue.

I’m going to shut down this loophole so others aren’t ripped off.

If you have a Version 1 plumber, you’re safe –honourable and ethical.

But watch out – as you may be caught out like me, and others, with a Version 2 plumber.