CityNews 191128

THE ALEXANDER MACONOCHIE CENTRE

Will surprised Shane Rattenbury forgive the secret prisoner’s costs?

ROBERT MACKLIN

Minister’s ‘Dad’s Army’ diversion belies prison incompetence

JON STANHOPE

BREAKING BAD NEWS

Why doctors do it tough performing their most dreaded task

Well written, well read

SOCIALS FAMILIAR FACES 225

Suburb where common sense took 32 years PAUL COSTIGAN How the Greens failed climate change

MICHAEL MOORE Mammaries, arts and whinging old farts

MIKE WELSH

Don’t let your family end up in a financial scrapyard.

Florey flourishes as neighbours talk

One brave Florey local wrote a hundred letters to residents seeking to restore the northern suburb’s community spirit. reports on what happened…

AFTER a spate of burglaries left the community of Florey unsettled last year, one brave local decided to write one hundred letters to one hundred residents in a bid to restore the northern suburb’s community spirit. And it worked.

“It all started when a lady named Rachel wrote to her neighbours because of what was happening and asked everyone to meet up,” longtime Florey resident and Florey Neighbourhood Watch convener Sharon Leigh-Hazel said.

“Everyone was meeting for the first time because of this note. We met and discovered that there were 25 homes in the neighbourhood that were burgled; but what we really uncovered was that no one knew each other. No one knew their neighbours. We all wanted that to change and to revive the sense of community that was lacking in Florey.”

The newfound neighbours, hungry for connection, formed a Neighbourhood Watch group. The rest is history.

“It just took off,” Sharon said.

“We haven’t had to do much for this to catch on.

“People are starved for connection. People want their communities back.”

One hundred and thirty members later, two successful “Clean up Florey” days, a coffee catch-up group, communi-

INDEX

Arts & Entertainment 27-29

Canberra Matters 12

Cinema 29

Crossword 31

Dining 29

Gardening 30

Horoscopes 31

Letters 15

News 5-15

Politics 14

ty forums, newsletters and an upcoming community fair; Sharon says Florey is well on its way to becoming the friendli est suburb in Canberra.

said.

are not quite there yet but we want to be known as the friendliest and safest sub urb in Canberra.”

operation in Australia since 1983, with a primary focus on reducing burglary.

Although its effectiveness has been questioned over the years, groups such as the Florey Neighbourhood Watch are leading the way in how it interacts with its residents.

Policing, said Neighbourhood Watch played an important role in the commu nity.

ship that exists between ACT Policing and Neighbourhood Watch ACT,” he said.

“It’s a relationship that allows us to forge closer ties with the community and increase community confidence in police.

“Neighbourhood Watch is our ears and eyes in the community and plays a vital role in preventing community-based crime in the ACT.”

Socials 15-18 Cover: Prof Imogen Mitchell. Photo: Stuart Hay, ANU. Story Page 11.

NEWS Puzzle books banned for bored inmates

THE ACT prison has returned puzzle books to an inmate’s mother with a warning the books were prohibited at the Alexander Maconochie Centre and effectively constituted contraband.

“CityNews” columnist Jon Stanhope makes the revelation in a swingeing column critical of the prison’s recent prolonged “state of emergency” that saw inmates locked in their cells for 16 hours a day.

He writes that the mother, “concerned about the mindnumbing and debilitating effect the absence of structured activity or rehabilitation has on inmates” including the “very real fear that it drives them to use drugs”, posted a few books of word puzzles to her son to give him something to do and hopefully assist him with his writing and spelling.

The Florey Neighbourhood Watch group will hold the “Fabulous Florey Community Fair” on Saturday, November 30, 10am-2pm, at Florey Primary School.

“We have 40 stalls signed up plus food, entertainment, face painting and a jumping castle.

“Everyone is welcome to come… Florey has its community spirit back.”

“We are collaborating with the local primary school to promote government, community, health and sports services that can be used by residents and other neighbouring suburbs,” said Sharon.

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WHEN IT MATTERS

The AMC refused to accept the puzzle books and sent them back to the mother by return mail with a strong admonition the books were prohibited at the AMC and effectively constituted contraband.

‘Dad’s Army’ diversion belies prison incompetence – Page 10

SEVEN DAYS

Of mammaries, arts and whinging old farts

MULTI-mammaried, hot-air balloons and iconic artwork dominated the news, eclipsing even the unveiling of the $500 million expansion of the Australian War Memorial.

over 50 in this town looking for a job interview is already screwed”.

Gaye Crispin may have nailed the government’s ignorance and total lack of empathy: “Not enough jobs for Australia’s young people who want to work, buy a home, raise a family, so let’s make the over-60s retrain and send them out to compete against their grandchildren for work and watch it for sport!”

“Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That is More Star Trek Than Terminator”, co-authored by member for Fenner Andrew Leigh might be worth a read.

talkback radio genre along the way.

Farewelling the multi-award-winning Thompson on Friday, Hadley said: “He took a job at 2CC and the rest is history”.

Modesty prevents me from revealing from whom Thompson gained the rare skills and exceptional insights necessary to achieve such success.

IT might imagination or cynicism but the latest “Our CBR” (Belconnen edition), pictured, looks more like hard election advertising material than fluffy community flyer. Featuring a smiling Chief Minister Andrew Barr on the cover, the glossy publication is filled with headlines such as: “We’re building a new emergency, surgical and critical care facility”, “The ACT government continues to invest in policing to ensure the capital remains one of the safest places in the country” and “The ACT Emergency Services Agency is strengthening its firefighting services by hiring new firefighters”.

ers Union has used the catastrophic early start to the fire season to launch a social media campaign to “rescue Canberra’s

Under the banner “ACT on FIRE”, the union says: “We need more firefighters in the ACT to keep us safe. Help us tell the Barr government it needs a long-term plan to resource Canberra’s fire services”.

The union urges locals to “Stand Up For ACT Firefighters and Take Action Now” and calls on the government to “invest in fire and rescue support over the next four

AND the overshare of the week comes from the member for Brindabella Mark . On a trip back to the city of churches, Parto shared: “The sun’s setting on another day in Adelaide. I went for a stroll & dropped in on a pub I used to drink at 30 years ago. I have memories of getting drunk with the late David Hookes at the Earl of Aberdeen and of long boozy lunches with the late Vincent Smith They were good days”.

ago but I can’t forget sobering words from an HR expert on my radio program: “Anyone

But for boomers keen to upskill and remain in the workforce, a new book,

IN 2006 I took a punt on a radio rookie straight out of uni with nothing more than a NSW UAI of 99.86 per cent. In the years since, Michael Thompson has climbed to the top of his craft, establishing the “Ray Hadley Show” (networked to 2CC) as the standard in the fiercely competitive

THE ACT branch of the United Firefight-

‘Witness J’ trips on the question of court costs

THE last thing a journalist wants is to become part of the story he or she is writing. Once that happens you lose the authority that derives from the role of impartial observer. Indeed, you can easily find yourself becoming an advocate for one side of an issue, activity or person caught in the media headlights.

So it is with my story of Witness J (“Who is Canberra’s mysterious ‘secret prisoner’?” CN, November 14), the former defender of Australia’s interests in uniform and who ran afoul of the Intelligence Services Act 2001.

As we now know, he was tried in secret in Canberra’s Supreme Court and sentenced to 15 months in the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC). And though there was never GM took over and shortly afterward had written 29 books (most recently

Robert Macklin’s nationally acknowledged story in “CityNews”, November 14. Read it at citynews.com.au

That night I wrote the story and editor Ian Meikle published it in “CityNews” a few days later. But there is one important detail I left out. Justice Burns also awarded costs against him. Witness J, now a free man but without a job or the prospect of one, was required to pay what would be a very substantial amount

for the government’s legal bills.

In the body of the court, Witness J appealed against the ruling but Burns J quite properly ruled that he’d have to approach the ACT lawyers to see if they would waive the costs.

And here, alas, is where I become an advocate: I truly believe it’s the very least they could do.

They bowed to the Feds and tried him in secret, sentenced him in secret and penned him secretly with some of the most abhorrent members of the human race. And now he’s back in the world wondering where to turn. So, please, Minister Shane Rattenbury,

NB: There is, however, a hopeful note. I understand that the inspectorgeneral of Intelligence and Security, Margaret Stone, has instituted an official inquiry into the larger matter. We do live in Australia after all.

robert@robertmacklin.com

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OPINION / puzzles of the prison ‘Dad’s Army’ diversion belies prison incompetence

THE Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) has once again attracted national attention for all the wrong reasons.

The AMC – notoriously the most violent, underfunded and poorly run prison in Australia with prisoners routinely locked in their cells for 16 hours a day and rehabilitation an airy illusion – was recently placed under a “state of emergency” for almost a week.

The “state of emergency” was declared after a member of the public strolled nonchalantly up to the AMC’s perimeter fence, casually cut a hole to allow comfortable entry and left an early Christmas present for a sorely missed friend or loved one.

The incursion, when eventually discovered, resulted in a mixture of panic, grandstanding, fear mongering and poppycock with the authorities adamant firearms had been smuggled into the prison.

A press conference featuring the executive director of the AMC, Jon Peach, and the Minister for Corrections, Shane Rattenbury, brought to mind an episode of “Dad’s Army” featuring Captain Mainwaring and Corporal Jones in which Corporal Jones, having mistaken a truck backfiring for the beginning of the German invasion of England, fixes

The fevered announcement about the prospect of firearms in the prison diverted attention from the breathtaking incompetence of authorities in not having systems to prevent people casually breaking into the prison. Surely, a head or two should roll.

his bayonet to his rifle and runs wildly in circles crying: “Don’t panic, don’t panic”.

The declaration of the state of emergency resulted in all prisoners being summarily confined to cells for a minimum 23 hours a day, supply of prescribed medication was disrupted, all visits were cancelled, even more sniffer dogs were imported and armed AFP officers were recruited.

After the detainees had endured six days of being locked all day in their cells, strip searches and sniffing dogs, the Minister for Corrections (and lapsed civil libertarian), Shane Rattenbury, lamely declared that it was a false alarm – the feared firearms existed only, it seems, in the minds of a horribly embarrassed and inept management.

The six-day search did yield a few mobile phones, a PlayStation and an assortment of illicit drugs.

Replacement phones and drugs will by now have been reacquired and life inside the prison will have returned to its established routine

of daily lockdown and confinement to cells, boredom, tedium, violence and drug taking. It may take a little longer to obtain a replacement PlayStation.

I am not by nature a conspiracy theorist, but I do understand the political process and political thinking. I have been there and done that. When in government and faced with a stuff up or preparing for the release of a critical report or another increase in rates, create a diversion.

The declaration of the state of emergency at the AMC and the fevered announcement about the prospect of firearms having been introduced into the prison very conveniently diverted attention from the breath-taking incompetence of prison authorities in not having systems to prevent people casually breaking into the prison. Surely, a head or two should roll.

However, once declared, the state of emergency provided perfect cover to conduct a trawl of the entire prison in pursuit of drugs. I have observed

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previously that Corrections Minister Rattenbury and senior management at the prison are obsessed by the existence and use of illicit drugs inside the AMC.

If the Minister and management devoted as much time, effort and resources to drug rehabilitation and responding to the causes of illicit drug use by detainees as they did to their punitive war on drugs inside the prison everyone would be far better off.

Rattenbury’s war on drugs in the AMC is futile. It is unwinnable and he should apply the philosophy he espouses on drug use in the community to drug use in the AMC. To not do so is hypocritical and weak.

Be that as it may, the question that continues to haunt senior management at the AMC, as they wipe the egg from their faces is: “If it wasn’t a gun, what was it that was wrapped up in the errant parcel?”

I think I may have the answer. I am aware of a loving mother with a son incarcerated in the AMC who, being concerned about the mind-numbing and debilitating effect the absence of structured activity or rehabilitation has on inmates who are locked in

their cells for 16 hours a day, including the very real fear that it drives them to use drugs, posted a few books of word puzzles to him to give him something to do and hopefully assist him with his writing and spelling.

The AMC refused to accept the puzzle books and sent them back to the mother by return mail with a strong admonition the books were prohibited at the AMC and effectively constituted contraband.

There’s your answer. The mystery article in the smuggled parcel was quite possibly a book of word puzzles that a stubborn and loving mother was determined to get to her son by hook or by crook.

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

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Breaking bad news can be bad news for

How can doctors be helped to perform their most dreaded task?

TABITHA CARVAN reports

“YOU don’t ever want to go in that room,” Prof Imogen Mitchell says, pointing at a doorway as we walk through the corridors of the Canberra Hospital.

It seems perfectly innocuous; a small meeting room in the intensive care unit (ICU) with pastel-coloured chairs.

“That’s where you get the difficult news,” says Mitchell, the director of the ANU Medical School.

This is where families meet with doctors in the ICU who must then tell them that, despite all the medical interventions, they are not able to help their loved one. If I ever went in that room, it would be one of the worst moments

can find the task really, really stressful and anxiety provoking.”

Photo: Stuart Hay, ANU

But, what if you have to go into that room over and over again, sometimes multiple times in one day, in the course of your working week? This is what intensive care specialists like

Prof Mitchell do and, while delivering bad news is obviously not as bad as re ceiving it, it still comes at a cost.

Clinical practice guidelines for how doctors should break bad news have traditionally focused on reducing the impact on patients and their families.

However, according to Associate Prof Rhonda Brown, of the ANU Re search School of Psychology, a more holistic approach is required.

“From the other point of view, the doctor can find the task really, really stressful and anxiety provoking,” she says.

“Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news or deal with another per son’s emotional response after the fact, but the impact can be even worse for doctors. They are often chronically stressed, clinically burnt-out and emotionally exhausted, so the thought of embracing an experience like that and sitting down with an emotional patient can be especially confronting.”

In studies measuring stress responses in doctors who are delivering bad news in simulated consultations with (very convincing) actors, Brown’s research group has been able to identify ways to potentially minimise the negative impacts. Counter-intuitively, it’s by embracing this upsetting experience – rather than avoiding it or trying to hurry it – that doctors can reduce their own anxiety.

One of her PhD students found that,

While emotional distance can often benefit doctors in some situations, especially in an emergency, it can be harmful in interactions such as breaking bad news.

“It’s pretty clear that, although it’s a difficult task for doctors, if they just jump in there and engage with the patient and deal with the news as best as they can, even if they cry themselves, the better off they are psychologically,” says Brown.

When Prof Mitchell describes how she feels when she’s telling families bad news, she says: “I don’t ever visibly cry, but I knock my head back

can get quite emotional.

“I give them my heart. I genuinely speak from the inner core; the human me.”

This sounds like a personal sacrifice that would come at a great cost, but it’s actually to her gain. By leaning in to the emotion and the humanity of the encounter, Prof Mitchell is not only providing compassionate support to the patient’s family, but also bolstering her own protections against stress-induced burnout.

Linguists from the ANU Institute for Communication in Health Care have started recording, with consent,

the bad news interactions of Prof Mitchell and five of her colleagues at the ICU so they can study them closely and make recommendations for endof-life communication that benefit all of the people involved.

“These recordings are so important,” Prof Mitchell says.

“It’s such a difficult time for patients and their families, so it’s otherwise very hard to get data on their reactions and perspectives on what is happening in those conversations.”

She says in addition to improved clinical training in breaking bad news, doctors need better support structures. In a recent survey of 2500 healthcare professionals, 18 per cent reported having had a negative experience resulting from end-of-life care of a patient, she says.

“I think that’s a high number of people to be traumatised, and yet rarely have we put formal support mechanisms in place,” she says.

“If a police officer has worked on a horrific accident, they will get time off and support. The difficulty is for doctors you’re on the frontline the whole time and there’s no downtime.

“There are lessons we must learn from other disciplines. The ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude we have of doctors is changing, but not fast enough.”

This story was first published in the spring edition of the “ANU Reporter”.

CANBERRA MATTERS

The suburb where common sense took 32 years

THE Yarralumla Residents Association (YRA) is 32 years old. The association was formed because of the first proposals to redevelop the Brickworks site on the western edge of the suburb.

On October 29 the YRA held a public meeting (attended by about 180 people) to discuss the latest proposals for the Yarralumla Brickworks.

This debate has taken 32 years and many hours of the residents’ time. The latest 2019 proposal is the first that has come close to being acceptable.

In the 1980s the Brickworks was home to artists, creative commercial outlets as well as the occasional markets. Somewhere around the 1990s these creatives were shown off the site as it was slated for redevelopment. Over the decades there has been a lot of talk, several proposals but in reality, nothing much happened.

People had started to be concerned about the heritage values and whether these may be overridden with a hasty proposal to sell and allow

On the night there was a degree of acceptance that Doma’s concepts were looking not too bad, especially when people knew what bad things were proposed previously.

private developers to do their thing.

Then along came the Land Development Authority (LDA) overseen by the then Urban Redevelopment Minister, Andrew Barr. In 2014/2015 the LDA brazenly proposed that the site be sold so that a developer could build 1800 units with stuff being plonked on to any available land.

The agenda was clear. Sell, sell, sell! Nothing about this proposal was about aesthetics, neighbourhood character and any sensible urban planning.

The YRA under the leadership of Marea Fatseas had to put in an enormous amount of energy and time to oppose all this stupidity. It was a real uphill battle with all the usual suspects being sent out to hurl that not-so-nice stuff at the residents.

Eventually the government took on board that just maybe the LDA’s proposal was not quite right. That is, instead of lobbying an outrageous development proposal in the direction

of the beautiful suburb of Yarralumla, someone worked out that it may be a good idea to sit down with these intelligent people and talk.

This was not exactly rocket science. A new community panel was established to work through what could happen on the site – with all eyes on the heritage values.

As a result of many hours of work, in late 2015 the community panel agreed on a set of project objectives.

To keep this short, those objectives were incorporated into the tender documents that resulted in the Doma Group signing up in 2019 to develop the site. It was the Doma Group’s concept plans that were presented to the October Yarralumla meeting. There is no doubt that the community panel with two YRA past presidents on it, being Marea Fatseas and David Harvey, achieved great changes and have given the proposal a chance to be accepted. The work continues.

On the night there was a degree of acceptance that Doma’s concepts were looking not too bad, especially when people knew what bad things were proposed previously. Instead of the

former mega development, there are to be 380 residences.

The presentation was along the lines of a good glossy presentation – mature, shady trees everywhere with many happy people wandering about doing “vibrant” things. One attendee obviously thougt it was good as the question asked was driven by the thought they would be buying into one of the stand-alone houses.

Traffic issues are still being worked through and this will not be easy given the way that the ACT government makes a mess with traffic usually based on very questionable data. We can only cross our fingers on that matter.

Are we there yet? Nope. As with any major development, residents are wary the concepts will be reworked and compromises work their way into the final build. The community panel’s work is not yet complete. The next presentation will be in May. Meanwhile, enjoy the optimism and join with other residents at the Yarralumla Does Christmas BYO Picnic and free concert at Weston Park, 5pm-7pm, Saturday, December 7.

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

CANBERRA TREES Firestorms won’t form from urban plantings

CRIS BRACK , co-author of a report that informed the ACT government’s recent announcement of tree species selected for suburban planting, says we shouldn’t fear firestorms from urban trees.

PHOTOGRAPHS of native forests in NSW and Queensland on fire, with awful images of fires crowning in native eucalypt trees, are dominating our news this month.

Fires that reach into the crown of tall eucalypts are very destructive and terrify fire fighters and others who come face to face with them. The impact of these burning native forests has been so great that some people have developed an opinion that trees should be banned from being planted in cities.

Paul Costigan’s “Canberra Matters” column (CN, November 12) for example, criticised the ACT government and Minister Shane Rattenbury specifically, for including eucalypts in the list of species that could be planted within the urban areas of Canberra.

Mr Costigan suggested that the possible impact of climate change on fire weather had been forgotten in the decisions about selecting trees to plant. As a co-author of the study that Minister Rattenbury relied upon in his decision-making, I am happy to state that all aspects of climate change, including the potential for fires threatening the city, were considered.

There is no doubt that an increasingly harsh climate can make fires in natural forests harder to control and more dangerous. There is also no doubt that increasing the canopy cover of trees in urban environments is increasingly important for health and climate extreme mitigation. Having access to a diversity of species that are likely to survive our increasingly harsh climate enables planters to choose trees to meet specific circumstances and optimise local values and ecosystem services. Eucalypts as a whole are resilient and the 700+ species occupy a wide range of harsh environments and produce a wide range of goods and services. To ignore them all because some trees burn would be a poor decision for Canberra.

Fires need more than just extreme weather conditions to reach a tree’s crown. Specifically, a fire needs a minimum quantity of dry and fine material on or near the ground (called fine fuel) and a “ladder” (via shrubs and mid-story plants) up into the canopy. These conditions apply in natural forests, and indeed the management of these fine fuels is one of the most important fire-mitigation exercises in native forests.

Hazard reduction burning, grazing and more recently even harvesting the fuel for biochar, can be used to reduce the fine fuel levels in native forests below the level where any fire, yet alone a crown fire, is likely. Climate change has been reducing the opportunities for hazard reduction burning as the fire season expands. However, the ACT government is still managing fuel in “asset protection” zones outside the urban area to help ensure fires from the surrounding native forests do not enter the urban zones. Research has concluded that managing the fuel quantity and its distribution within about 40-50 metres of residences is the most important factor in protecting houses from catastrophic native forest fires.

These adverse fuel and ladder conditions do not occur in the streetscapes and mown parks that are the destination of the trees recommended in our report.

allow free movement of pedestrians and trucks, which removes any potential fire ladder. The street verges and mown parks are maintained by residents and government to minimise the dry grasses or dead sticks and twigs to levels well below that required to carry a crown fire.

Thus, within the urban area, it is very unlikely that conditions could allow the development of a crown fire regardless of which species was planted from the recommended list. Nevertheless, some of the species that were generally appropriate for urban planting were excluded from lists that related to asset protection zones or other potential hazardous public areas.

Our species planting study also recommends a number of features to further minimise fire and other threats. We recommended that no more than 5 per cent of the planted trees should be any single species.

As well as making the forest more resilient to insect or pest attack, the species diversity will also lead to a diversity of tree canopy conditions.

Fire cannot “leap from crown to crown” when these crowns are not touching or are discontinuous. While it is true that “eucalypts” do make up a lot of the forests in Australia and, indeed, the forests currently burning in NSW and Queensland, there are more than 700 species of “eucalypt” with very different crowns, bark and leaf type.

Contrary to Mr Costigan’s claims, these 700 species also have different levels of resistance to fire and are not “mostly highly flammable”. Our report recommends only 17 eucalyptus species in the top 50, and even half that number is removed for asset-protection zones.

Of course, only recommending species that are mostly likely to be growing and alive in the harsher weather also means that our streets and parks will not be populated with dead trees. Fires have to drive the water out of living wood before it can burn, which is why putting “green” wood on a fire can actually put that fire out.

Trees – even eucalypts – in mown streets and parks, are not a significant fire hazard in Canberra’s urban areas despite the dramatic and horrific fires that burn through natural forests. The benefits of having living trees in our urban surroundings – including improved mental health, biodiversity, reductions in crime, better air quality and mitigation of climate extremes –far outweigh the costs.

Cris Brack is an associate

ADVERTISMENT

WHAT GARDENING TEACHES ABOUT HEALTHY LIVING

DR WANG HAI DONG, of Bring Health, a specialist service of the Capital Health Centre of Traditional Chinese Medicine, discusses parallels between the habits of good gardeners and personal wellbeing.

WITH summer just around the corner, many of us are preparing our garden plants for its heat and dryness. It’s also a good time to think about taking care of ourselves.

While it is well known that gardening offers benefits in healing and health, there are other lessons we can learn from it to improve our own wellbeing.

1. Garden soil types vs our body types

AS we all know, soil provides the base for growing plants and is the storehouse for nutrients. It may vary in depth, texture and quality from one place to another and even from one time to another. Experienced gardeners regularly test the soil types and make adjustments accordingly. However, has it ever occurred to you that, to some extent, our body is our own soil? How much do you know about your own body type? Wouldn’t you want to make adjustments when your body needs them?

2. Different plant needs vs different human needs

PLANTS are kind of like people, or vice versa; each type of plant has a unique “personality” and may thrive on different kinds and amounts of intake (water, sunlight, nutrients, etcetera). Therefore, a best practice for gardening is to cultivate a “lifestyle” that suits the plant you are caring for. For instance, sunflowers love sunlight so much that they prefer to be planted in a spot that has six or more hours of sunlight each day.

In contrast, shade-favoring plants, such as ferns mostly prefer a cool and shady habitat.

Likewise, our human body differs in preferences, too. One example, which is probably not yet well known, is that some body types welcome green tea while some others cannot tolerate it. Another example is swimming –it can help some people get healthier and feel good while it can also make others feel sick. Such kinds of differing preferences, when combined, form different lifestyles. Do you know what kind of lifestyle suits you best?

3. Weeds and pests vs diseases

WHEN it comes to weeds and pests, it is true that prevention is better than Some gardeners may install weed matting while others may use mulch.

Although, of course, if they are already popping up in the garden, we must get tough and get them out. Still, the best time is when the weeds or pests are in their early stage of growth.

Similarly, do you have any minor problems that have been bugging you but have not yet brought you to a GP? If the answer is “yes”, then – to draw lessons from gardening – why don’t you nip them in the bud when you easily can?

IN essence, the above lessons boil down to three points: one, each human being is unique in their health setting, or “constitution”; two, people fare better through lifestyles that suit them and, three, prevention should be the rule of thumb when it comes to any unpleasant but preventable situation.

Based on this philosophy, a team of healthcare practitioners from Capital Health Centre of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a renowned and busy clinic that has been serving Canberrans for 20 years, established Bring Health this year to help people improve their wellbeing and to stay healthy all year round.

At Bring Health, we take on the roles of “gardeners” to look after you in the way you take care of your garden.

We operate by membership, and we take a holistic approach. We analyse and monitor each member’s body constitution, we help members adopt lifestyles that suit them best and we make sure that each individual member thrives through personalised healthcare.

Aside from professional health assessments and treatments, we also provide frequent activities, such as tai chi, table tennis, modern dance, calligraphy and healthy diet dinners (to name just a few) that all aim to help our members to enrich their lives, exercise their bodies and clear their minds.

Additionally, one of our members’ favorites is the “VIP tea” tailored to their personal conditions inside and the weather conditions outside!

We are primarily based in Woden, but information is available in all the three clinics – Belconnen, Woden and Civic. You are welcome to drop by to have a chat. We hope you will have your very own “cup of tea” with us soon.

How the Greens failed climate change

AT least it is clear where the coalition government stands on climate change. If only the same were true for the Greens.

While the coalition buries its head in the sand, the track record of the Greens is one of failure. Failure not in what they believe, but in what they deliver.

The clearest attempt for action on climate change was when Malcolm Turnbull worked with the Rudd government and Greens to implement a price on carbon. The whole parliament was attempting to address Rudd’s “greatest moral, economic and social challenge of our time”. It seemed politicians were prepared to put the interests of the community above partisan politics.

Then came Tony (“Sherman tank”) Abbott, crushing nonpartisanship in his way. And the Greens, under the leadership of Christine Milne, supported him.

Australia has been in a state of climate inertia ever since. It is ironic that in October the Greens spokesperson on Climate, Adam Bandt, tweeted: “When Greens, ALP and indeps worked together before, we got a carbon price and started cutting pollution”.

Even in Britain, the climate issue seems to have been nonpartisan with politicians understanding the importance of taking appropriate action.

In their unwillingness to compromise, the Greens destroyed Australia’s best chance to establish an emissions trading scheme and to seek later improvements.

In that country, emissions trading regulations came into action on January 1, 2013. Not so in Australia. Not since the rise of Abbott.

As climate shadow minister Mark Butler pointed out in his book on climate change, the three major parties in the UK agreed on an approach before the 2015 election. They agreed “to accelerate the transition to a competitive, energy-efficient, low-carbon economy and to end the use of unabated coal for power generation”.

As Butler pointed out, the impact would be that the last coal-fired power station will be closed in the UK in 2025 at the latest.

Similarly, Labor’s Penny Wong and the Coalition’s Ian Macfarlane were able to reach a compromise in 2009 on a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Unfortunately, it was enough to facilitate the coup of the hard right and Tony Abbott. Unfortunately, the hard left of the Greens also gained ascendancy so that their party joined forces to obliterate the scheme.

There has been no going back. The coalition continues to prioritise the interests of the fossil-fuel industry.

At the time, the Greens did not accept the old adage of “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. In their unwillingness to compromise they destroyed Australia’s best chance to establish an emissions trading scheme and to seek later improvements.

Arguments put by the Greens at the time included: “The emissions trading scheme is weak and badly designed”. They also argued: “There comes a point when action becomes so weak that it is useless”. An analogy they presented to “prescribing and locking in the wrong treatment to a seriously ill patient can hasten death rather than prevent it” simply made no sense.

They went further arguing “it would actually point Australia in the wrong direction” suggesting “it would undermine global action with its weak target, a target which,

once set, would be impossible to lift without paying more billions in compensation”.

Even more stridently: “It is not just a failure, but it locks in failure”.

The irony is that the Greens locked in failure on climate action by siding with the Abbott-led coalition in a pincer movement of the hard right and the hard left of their respective parties.

The evidence of catastrophic impacts of climate change are more obvious every day. It is no wonder that the next generation is up in arms to protect the world they will inherit. The young can see it, and they are seriously concerned! When will we see the same concern from our political leaders?

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

A top gong for brilliant Prof Brian

CANBERRA’S Prof Brian Anderson has been awarded Australia’s most distinguished engineering medal.

The internationally-re nowned expert in control engineering has been awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal, Engineers Australia’s most prestigious award. It is presented annually to an honorary fellow of Engineers Australia who represents the highest technical, professional and community service standards of the profession.

The former ANU professor’s skills and experience have seen him provide advice to government, serve on the board of Cochlear Limited, lead the International Federation of Automatic Control and spearhead the National ICT Australia (now Data61) at CSIRO.

Engineers Australia cited Anderson’s “remarkable intellect coupled with his lively spirit” as reasons for his success.

“Professor Brian Anderson AC is globally recognised as a legend of control engineering and has strongly influenced the practice of engineering in a broad range of industries, inspiring generations of engineers and addressing an array of applied problems,” they said.

The dangers of delivering rushed election promises

THE ongoing SPIRE (Garran) and the Section 72 (Dickson) planning sagas share many similarities, unfortunately.

Columnist Paul Costigan’s careful analysis of the past three years of SPIRE planning (“The changing hospital promise hurts the locals”, CN, November 21) reveals another hurried attempt to drop a large building and servicing complex onto an inappropriate site.

The current locations for both major building projects call out for far different treatment that is more in keeping with the adjacent surroundings, and recognises the value of many well-expressed, thought-through inputs from the community about alternative approaches to meeting a range of needs.

Both areas also lack an overall master plan. But it seems both projects are being pushed so that two rushed and sparsely-detailed 2016 ALP election promises can be “delivered” to the point of no return by October 2020.

Ticking the “promise” boxes in this way will only add to mounting community concern and disappointment as the ACT election creeps closer.

Many will also be suspicious of any party’s worthysounding or hard-to-find promises that are thrust into the public arena at the last minute next October, with either vague locational detail attached or site commitments that could be easily changed in the future, to the disadvantage of other important objectives.

The risks are now too high for accepting many promises at face value. Giving a personal mental tick to what seems a good idea at election time for a necessary service or facility now seems foolhardy when the subsequent planning and implementation processes can no longer be trusted to lead to sound, sensible and beneficial outcomes for both the proposed service users and the broader community area.

Many in Dickson and the surrounding suburbs would no doubt wish the newly-formed Garran Residents Association all the best for their endeavours to have their community’s views heeded from now on.

Sue

Dyer, Downer

I’m with Costigan

I TOTALLY agree with “Canberra Matters” columnist Paul Costigan’s article about the unsuitability of gum trees in urban areas (“Has Rattenbury picked the right trees?” CN, November 14).

We have a row of large gums on government land close to the western side of our house in Flynn. On windy days our property is showered with leaves and bark from these trees.

When I was younger, I was able to climb up on the roof to blow the offending rubbish out of the roof valleys and gutters. Now I have to pay someone to do it. Unlike the leaves from many deciduous trees, the bark and leaves from gum trees don’t break down and have the capacity to prevent water draining away which may enter the ceiling.

Also the limbs of gum trees are relatively brittle and can fall without warning. I witnessed the 2003 catastrophe and now the television images of the fires in California, NSW and Queensland and am looking into installing protective metal mesh against embers entering our roof.

John House, Flynn

Bill’s living in the past

BILL Stefaniak (CN, Letters, November 14) and his extreme conservative ilk never acknowledge or even seem to understand that things change. Quite dramatically in recent years, especially when it comes to renewable energy technology and unfortunately, environmental degradation.

His claim that developing Adani and other mines will lift 300 million Indians out of poverty is blatantly insincere and totally misleading. He fails to mention

the terrible air pollution that is now a regular feature of many Indian cities or the corrupt links that Gautam Adani has with the Modi government.

Regardless of apparent electoral vindication, the Adani project will be a costly disaster for Australia in all respects. To mention just two; tax revenues may never eventuate and there are increased risks of coal-laden ships travelling through the Great Barrier Reef.

He is plainly wrong about the solar and wind technology and when he starts raving on about uranium and thorium, he sounds like a lobbyist rather than a former politician living in the past.

SCENE / around canberra

At the ‘Canberra CityNews’ Artist of the Year Award

John Sherborne, Torrens

Truth the first casualty

AS in war, truth is the first casualty in global warming. During the week ending November 9, large sections of the left-wing media reported 11,000 scientists had declared a climate emergency.

Following some in-depth research, I discovered the declaration is essentially the product of five people –none being a climate scientist. And it wasn’t signed by 11,000 scientists because one signatory was “Micky [sic] Mouse”. About 1000 identified themselves as students. One must ask that if some people misrepresent, if not deceive, the community on this matter, what else have they done and will do?

The International Disasters Database reports that deaths from natural disasters have seen a large decline over the past century, from in some years millions, to an average of 60,000 deaths and, in the most recent decade, often less than 10,000. Do these fear mongers know the difference between whether and weather?

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Sprinklers the answer

WITH regard to illegal flammable panels on building facades (“ACT government moribund on cladding fears”, CN, November 14); to prevent fire spread, to avoid wall-replacement disruption and for economy, external sprinklers could be retrofitted on the subject facades.

Sprinklers extinguish virtually all fires they detect and, on facades, pipework could be concealed where required.

Such life (and property) saving work cannot be delayed, and approving authorities must pay for it in the first instance.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

Move out or harden up

PAUL Costigan’s column “The changing hospital promise hurts the locals” (CN, November 21) mentions children, parents and traffic, but also hurt residents. How tragic that they have to endure helicopters and sirens from ambulances and all that racket around!

Well, why don’t they move the hell out, surely the real estate elsewhere will compensate, and they won’t lose too much equity, will they?

On the other hand, we need a hospital and the services it provides us, those kids at school need the hospital, so do their parents and the inconvenienced residents need the hospital, so harden up because lots of people overseas don’t have our luck.

Ricardo Castro, via email

SCENE / around canberra

sundayROAST

Stay in touch with the names making news on Sundays from 10am as 2CC and “CityNews” present Canberra’s only local weekend news and current affairs program. It’s a revolving panel show that brings to the microphone great “CityNews” commentators and 2CC personalities.

Be part of the conversation and call 6255 1206 between 10am and noon.

At the ‘Founders Lane’ open day, Braddon

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Health experts with a strong focus on wellness

WHETHER it’s increasing core strength, reducing pain, learning to relax, getting fit or protecting skin, Canberrans can all benefit from taking steps towards a healthier lifestyle.

Health and fitness extends to mind as well as body, as more experts are seeing the benefits that exercising can have on mental health.

With wellness in mind, “CityNews” speaks to local businesses who can help Canberrans reach their goals, look after themselves and become the fittest and healthiest they can be.

Ebony empowers clients to

WELLNESS is about prevention and maintaining a healthy body and mind in the long term, says owner of Wellness Empowerment Collective in Lyneham, Ebony Anderson.

“It’s about paying attention to what the body needs, not listening to what has worked for other people, and this is where empowerment comes in too,” she says.

“We need to listen to our own needs and tune into ourselves.

At the Wellness Empowerment Collective, we assist people in taking charge of their own health, and encouraging them to make decisions

for themselves.”

live well

Ebony founded the Wellness Empowerment Collective last year, and offers a range of treatments including fitness sessions, yoga, cryotherapy, salt therapy, massages and float tanks.

“Toxic work or home lives can affect health, so we help people look at ways they can support themselves,” she says.

Ebony says she loves the cryotherapy treatment they offer because it helps with her pain associated with endometriosis.

“It leaves you feeling refreshed, it clears brain fog, and reduces inflammation and toxins in the muscles,”

“A lot of my older clients are so grateful for it and tell me it has reduced their arthritis pain, allowing for more movement in the hands. I love hearing this from my clients.”

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

manager Cindy Hansen.

“It’s something we can and should make time for,” says Cindy.

“We live in a busy world and it’s so important to take the time to look after ourselves.”

Bodies are made to move, according to Cindy, who says going to the gym should bring people life satisfaction beyond fitness goals, extending into an active life and a sharper, fitter mind.

Located at Hotel Realm, EVO Health Club takes a different approach to fitness, using sound methods and the latest technology, to help people reach their goals, Cindy says.

“We use Technogym equipment, have a

“We also have five personal trainers who can help clients meet their fitness goals.”

Clients can receive a 360-degree assessment of their physical, mental and life strengths and needs, before implementing a training program.

“Our expert personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches are engaged, knowledgeable and ready to guide you along,” the club says.

“More than anything we want to train your body so you have the strength to sustain your busy life.”

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

CRYOTHERAPY

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!

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!

time and temps from -18 to 40) to reduce

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.

circumferential massaging action to flush

their health can make an impact, says owner of Capital Chemist Kingston, Sandra Ferrington.

“With a positive mindset and sense of purpose, much can be achieved and we can all move towards a healthier lifestyle,” she says

Sandra has been in the pharmacy industry for more than 30 years and says her key passion is assisting customers to have the best health outcomes possible.

“All our staff are well trained to provide information and services that are individualised for each customer,” she says.

“We have an efficient and modern dispensary for regular medication supply that uses a state-of-the-art robot.

“[And] our pharmacists are always available to advise on medication profiles and reviews.”

Sandra says the new pharmacy in Green Square is designed to make it easy for customers to chat with pharmacists.

She says private consult rooms are available to ensure the privacy of conversations and to facilitate the provision of professional services

sessments, cholesterol and diabetes screening and vaccinations.

“Regular health promotions on topics relevant to the Kingston community, such as heart health, dementia, asthma management and diabetes management, are a feature of the daily life of the pharmacy,” she says.

The Kingston pharmacy also regularly supports community groups and charities with fundraising and education campaigns.

“You will often see our staff promoting activities such as healthy eating, heart and lung health awareness and supporting an active lifestyle with morning walking groups,” Sandra says.

Backed by a friendly team of knowledgeable pharmacists, including Fiona, Gayanie, Yuh-Lin, Syndia and Maja, Sandra says they all work together to provide customers with an outstanding health outcome.

Capital Chemist, 62 Jardine Street, Kingston. Call 6295 9146.

Sunscreen’s key for healthy skin

AFTER damaging her skin growing up, INSKINCare owner Tracey Newell is now on a mission to educate her clients on the dangers of sun damage, saying sunscreen is the most important product for everyone.

“I recommend sunscreen to everyone. It’s not just for the face, we need to use it on the decolletage, hands, arms, legs and the tops of our feet,” Tracey says.

“It’s so important to educate about the dangers of sun damage. Thirty years ago the education wasn’t there, or perhaps we just didn’t care! It was all about slathering on oil and getting as brown as a berry.

“I now have sun-damaged skin but I’m looking after it moving forward.”

Tracey opened the salon three years ago and believes it’s important not to take life too seriously.

“We want our clients to feel comfortable with being naturally who they are, while also feeling the best they can,” she says.

“We’ll often greet you bare-faced and in our true skin [because] our aim is to help clients feel comfortable. We certainly don’t look perfect and it’s more about feeling as good as we can.”

The salon uses Dermalogica products and offers waxing, lash and brow treatments, facials, spray tans, manicures and pedicures. Part-time therapist Ann-Marie and student Roath make up the team.

“We don’t categorise our facials, instead we individualise and look at our clients’ skin on the day. It’s about them and their needs,” Tracey says.

INSKINCare, 4/21 Heydon Place, Evatt. Call 6258 5818 or visit inskincare.com.au

customers are well looked after.

“Truly an amazing family feeling is experienced at every single session. The Define Fitness staff really look after the ‘whole’ you, not just fitness.”

David Newman

Your Personal Trainer in Canberra HEALTH AND FITNESS

Nathan trains his business to success

FOLLOWING a decade of hard work and dedication, Define Fitness, founded by personal trainer Nathan Hitchcock, was recognised as a finalist in the Telstra Business Awards, says Nathan.

“Being a finalist in the ‘Small and Succeeding’ category has been affirming for us as a team and community,” says Nathan. “It’s a celebration of all the hard work, strategy and dedication over the past 10 years.”

Define Fitness is an ‘inclusive and mindfully active community.’

We work with people from all backgrounds including those with disabilities and mental health.

We have been in business for 10 years this year.

Ph 0402 290 371 definefitness.com.au Nathan, Personal Trainer, Teacher and Founder of Define Fitness

Physical exertion, work demands and stresses can impact your ability to find balance and happiness in your busy life.

Incorporating infrared sauna therapy into your weekly health routine will help you relax, rejuvenate and unwind.

Nathan started Define Fitness in 2009 and says its aim is to help clients become the fittest and healthiest they can be.

“Our workouts are designed to suit individual needs and get results,” he says.

“Personal training has to be personal [and] adopting this focus as a fitness professional results in retention and trust being built. We then build capacity in people and make a difference to our community.”

Offering personal training sessions, partner sessions,

bootcamps and corpo rate programs, Nathan says Define Fitness prefers to exercise in the great outdoors for fresh air and a connection with nature.

Define Fitness has an inclusive approach and works with the local community’s health and wellbeing services to assist people with mental, intellectual and physical challenges.

“This is why we have a focus on giving back to the community and importantly altruistic perspectives,” he says.

Define Fitness, 71/27 Wiseman Street, Macquarie. Call 0402 290371 or visit definefitness.com.au

Sweat ‘enlivens’ the body and mind

LOCATED in Phillip, Enliven Infrared Saunas is Canberra’s first and only dedicated infrared sauna studio, says owner Jill Gray, who opened in August and has already developed a tribe of health-conscious “sweaters”.

Jill discovered infrared saunas while living in Melbourne and says there are many health benefits of using infrared saunas including detoxification, weight loss, pain relief, skin rejuvenation and sleep benefits.

“People tell me how their muscle tension and joint issues feel so much better as soon as they come out of a session,” says Jill.

“Clients suffering from arthritis and inflammation also experience instant relief and walk out pain free.”

Physical exertion, work demands and stresses can impact the ability to find balance and happi -

ness in busy lives, according to Jill, who says incorporating infrared sauna therapy into weekly health routines can help restore body and mind.

“Infrared saunas are completely different from traditional steam saunas,” she says.

“They use infrared rays to penetrate the skin on a cellular level. The heat is warm and relaxing, like walking past a window the sun is shining through, it’s not uncomfortable or overbearing at all.”

Clinical studies have shown that people’s sleep quality improves after a sauna, too, she says.

“People feel so relaxed and de-stressed after a 45-minute session. Many clients tell me how much better they sleep after they visit the studio,” says Jill.

Enliven Infrared Saunas offers three sauna sizes to choose from, including Canberra’s only lie-down infrared sauna bed.

“We also have a range of gift vouchers available which will make the perfect Christmas gift,” Jill says.

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

Pilates classes build confident movers

PILATES can be considered a cross-partner with any body conditioning modality, says Felicia DarbyshirePirie of Pilates Centre Canberra.

“It can support any other exercises, makes people feel good and gets the body working, whether they are fit already or deconditioned from lack of exercise,” Felicia says.

Felicia has been teaching Pilates for 12 years and discovered a love for it at a point in her life when she was fit and keen to have a go at any new exercise.

“I discovered that when you have a properly trained instructor you get very skilful teaching, backed with reasons why you are doing a particular exercise.

“With Pilates, you should always be able to ask your instructor why and learn the reasons.”

Felicia says she loves the sense of achievement she gets when meeting the physical challenges.

“It’s physically hard, so when you get it right it’s a huge personal accomplishment,” she says. “Being able to use movement to get out of pain is incredible.”

Felicia says it’s the thinking person’s meditation and her clients say they leave feeling mentally and physically cared for.

“Often the true gains of Pilates aren’t seen until they realise they can reach further, feel stronger and their pain has lessened,” she says. “It gives people confidence in how they move, which affects every part of their lives.”

The Pilates Centre Canberra, 58 Colbee Court, Phillip. Call 6162 1793.

THERE is strong evidence to support the effectiveness of acupuncture in helping with people’s health, according to Stephan Skerra, an acupuncturist at CARM Therapies.

“It can be used to treat allergic rhinitis (seasonal hay fever), chronic low back pain, tension and chronic headaches, knee osteoarthritis, migraine, post-operative pain, nausea and vomiting,” Stephan says.

As well as acupuncture, CARM Therapies offers remedial massage for pregnancy, chronic pain management, post acute injuries, muscular aches and pains, and general wellbeing.

CARM Therapies, an allied health

clinic which has been focused on helping the community create better health and wellbeing for more than 12 years, has two acupuncturists, three remedial massage therapists and a pilates practitioner.

Stephan says they enjoy helping people overcome pain and educating and explaining acupuncture and how it works in a way that is easy for people to understand.

“We use a modern approach to a traditional therapy, using the latest methods based on anatomy and neuroscience,” he says.

“We focus a lot on acupuncture for chronic pain management,

Acupuncturist Stephan Skerra of CARM Therapies.

orthopaedic sports acupuncture.

“We are also helping a lot of people with their hayfever this season, especially with all this dust in the atmosphere.”

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

Greg gets to the core of long-lasting health

The many benefits of acupuncture Strengthening health from all angles

Greg owns Manuka Woden Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic and says he loves to help people maintain and recover their health and mobility, whether it’s following an injury or surgery, or it’s helping someone with musculoskeletal issues.

“I always look at where the patient is at, assess the problem and suggest treatment,” he says.

“Staying active and having good core strength is so important.”

Greg says he sees patients who are injured through sport, car accidents, work or are recovering after surgery.

“We encourage movement, though people do need to modify what they do if they have sustained an injury,” he says.

“It’s important to be realistic about how things have changed and what they can actually do.”

With more than 35 years’ experience in the industry, Greg says he enjoys helping people get back to normal and seeing them get stronger.

“It takes time though, and I find that people think it’s going to be a much faster process,” he says.

“With manual therapy, exercise and electrotherapy like Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) or ultrasound, we can help them take baby steps towards recovery.”

Manuka Woden Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic, 3/48 Corinna Street, Woden. Call 6281 1382 or visit manukawodenphysio.com.au

CANBERRA’S largest ortho paedic practice, Orthopaedics ACT, has been helping people live an active life since 2013, says practice manager Deborah Henry.

One excellent way which will help people maintain strength and mobility is resist ance training, says Deborah.

“It’s helpful to do resistance or strength-based exercises twice a week, like circuit or balance classes,” she says.

“The Australian movement guidelines include ideally moving for 30 minutes, five days a week, but this can be in efforts as short as 10 minutes at a time. It doesn’t have to be sport but could be gardening, housework, taking the stairs instead of the lift or getting off the bus one stop early.”

According to Deborah, Orthopaedics ACT brings together the skills and expertise of seven surgeons, one sport and exercise physician as well as a clinical nurse who work as a team with a number of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy providers to keep patients as active as possible.

For people with early arthritis, Deborah says Orthopaedics ACT’s surgeons and sports physicians recommend an exercise program called GLA:D, which is run by physiotherapists and strengthens the knees and hips, and can reduce pain and medication requirements.

When necessary, whether due to age, trauma or sporting injuries, Deborah says that Orthopaedics ACT can improve quality of life through surgical intervention.

“Whether minor or major surgery, it’s aimed at allowing our patients to resume a healthy, active lifestyle,” she says.

“Having seven surgeons means we have all parts of the body covered, head to toe. [But] we don’t just fix bones, we fix people.”

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

www.orthoACT.com.au

FINANCE

Finance help to get the most out of your money

FROM creating weekly budgets to complex investments, there’s no escaping managing money, so why not do it well?

Whether it’s property investment, navigating wills and estates, support with running a business or increasing personal wealth, Canberra’s financial experts know exactly how to help locals get the most out of their money…

Gail helps with all things finance

CHARTERED accountant, financial planner and self-managed superannuation fund specialist Gail Freeman of Gail Freeman & Co says her clients always come first.

“We’ve got the capacity to help our clients with financial advice, tax and super all at once, which can be helpful, as often the issues can be interlinked,” says Gail.

“We’re a one-stop shop for all financial matters, which makes things easier for our clients – we can get everything done in one

Gail says the company’s focus is on staying up-to-date across any and all regulatory changes involved in running a business. Her team provides prac tical, targeted, considered advice to businesses of all sizes and helps them increase profits, she says.

Having been in business for more than 30 years, Gail has a strong, stable, well-established team based on the south side of Canberra in Kingston.

Gail Freeman & Co, 9/71

Leichhardt Street, Kingston. Call 6295 2844, email info@ gailfreeman.com.au or visit gailfreeman.com.au

real estate agent, mortgage broker as well as a life and financial coach.

“We offer solutions that cover the whole of a client’s financial life, including their tax affairs, financial planning, mortgages, properties, superannuation and insurances,” she says.

Having worked in the financial industry for 30 years,

no matter where a client is up to on the journey, we are able to assist.”

Wholistic Financial Solutions, Unit 4/6 Pelle Street, Mitchell. Call 6162 4546, email reception@wfscanberra.com.au or visit wfscanberra.com.au

“

Experience our Experience

”

Centrally located in Kingston for 30 years, Gail Freeman and Co have the capability and knowledge to cater for all your financial affairs. The experienced team members pride themselves in keeping up to date with changes in legislation in order to provide practical, up to date advice to individuals and businesses.

Specialising in Accounting, Taxation, Financial Planning and SMSF’s Gail Freeman & Co welcomes you to ‘Experience our Experience.” For practical, up to date advice for your financial affairs call TODAY on:

‘Canberra’s most Awarded Accounting and Financial Services Firm’

Our clients are average Australian’s who want to create and protect wealth for themselves and their families. We Base our advice on assessing clients goals, needs and wants and the financial feasibility of the goals both now and in the future.

Based on these goals, and the clients own preferences we devise individual wealth creation, tax planning, debt reduction and superannuation strategies to assist clients create, build and protect wealth for their family and their next generation. We believe in partnering with clients to advise, educate and guide them to make the right financial choices.

Our motto is It’s all about YOU. The client is the fundamental focus of our firm and our aim is to always put the client’s needs and goals first. All advice given is only given if it is truly in the best interests of the client. People before Profit.

“Who will benefit from your Will?”

At Capon and Hubert Lawyers we ensure that your estate goes to family or friends of your choice.

Having a valid and up-to-date Will can help reduce stress for your family and friends, limit administration costs, and lessen the possibility for dispute over your estate. We understand your situation is different and may require a unique specialist approach.

EXPERTS OF FINANCE advertising feature

Ashilpa protects assets through wills

WHEN it comes to wills and estates, people might own assets in a complicated arrangement, which is why it’s important to get advice, says Ashilpa Khanna, of Capon & Hubert Lawyers & Mediators.

Dedicated to making the legal process easier, Ashilpa, who is the wills and estate planning lawyer, says she can give thorough advice relating to estate assets and superan nuation.

Wills and estate planning lawyer

“It’s important to get that advice because a will, for example, has to be tailored to each individual and some clients might own assets that may be in a complicated arrangement,” she says.

Ashilpa Khanna of Capon & Hubert Lawyers & Mediators.

“It’s best to go through the assets and then tailor a will according to that.”

But if they don’t, Ashilpa says their wishes won’t come into effect.

“When it’s a non-government entity, a super fund is not part of their estate, under the will, and a lot of people don’t realise that,” she says.

“I go through the assets and super to see if they’d like to sign a binding debt nomination form, which ensures your super forms part of your estate, therefore is governed by a will.

“Similarly, with enduring power of attorney I advise my clients in relation to property matters.”

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

Passionate Jane’s strategic approach to finance

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Founded by Jane Hadrill 13 years ago, the Hadrill Accounting team takes a strategic approach to their clients’ financial circumstances, taking into account personal goals, wider family relationships and attitudes towards money.

“We can get you on the right track and accompany you on your financial journey by looking past the numbers to create wealth,” Jane says.

Jane says she can advise on everything property, including negative gearing, ownership options, when to sell and using property as a vehicle for wealth creation.

“We can also keep you safe from the Australian Tax Office, by staying on top of the changes to tax legislation to maximise your refund while reducing the chance of an audit,” she says.

For small businesses, Hadrill Accounting offers a “business essentials” package, consisting of business budgeting, mid-year review and end-of-year tax planning.

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Hadrill Accounting, 3/6 Dacre Street, Mitchell. Call 6154 7792 or visit hadrillaccounting.com.au

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Violin soloist with the passion to play… and play

By Helen MUSA

CANBERRA Youth Orchestra is pulling out all the stops with a concert jointly conducted by Rowan Harvey-Martin and Max McBride that features 12-year-old violin soloist Christian Li playing the Bruch “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor” with it.

The youngest ever winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Geneva last year, he is a rising star on the music scene, having also won first prize in the violin category of the Young Artist Semper Music International Competition in Italy during 2017 and was later selected to perform at Carnegie Hall in the American Protégé Showcase 10-year anniversary concert.

Christian, who began learning the violin at the age of five and first entered an eisteddfod at age six, has studied since age seven under Robin Wilson at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, made his solo debut at the age of nine with the Australian Orchestra and his professional solo concerto debut at 10, performing the Mendelssohn violin concerto with Orchestra Victoria.

After sharing the first-place honours in the junior finals in the Menuhin competition with Chloe Chua from Singapore, he travelled to the UK to perform concerts at the Gower Festival, the Harrogate International Festival and the Cheltenham Music Festival.

From the outset, Christian says, he has enjoyed

Twelve-year-old violin soloist Christian Li… “His ability to communicate through music is absolutely incredible,” says Stephanie Neeman.

playing in front of people and that while he observes a punishing schedule of four to five hours a day practising, for him the secret is to actually enjoy playing the violin

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– for himself.

By phone from Melbourne Robin Wilson said: “Christian is passionate about the violin and passionate about

music, everything he brings to it comes from a personal volition to play – he’s not being forced – actually it’s not possible to play at his level if you don’t love it.

“Occasionally he’s a bit nervous, which is absolutely normal but he really enjoys performing in front of an audience, for him it’s a big part of his music to share it with others on the concert platform.”

Wilson says Christian has only just learnt the Bruch concerto and has played it once in Melbourne.

“I think he brings a youthful, passionate virtuosity to the work and a great sense of celebration in the Hungarian last movement, it’s exciting,” he says.

Describing him as “a lively, happy kind of personality,” Wilson says Christian enjoys meeting people and having new experiences, especially through travelling.

Retiring CEO and artistic director for Music For Canberra Stephanie Neeman says: “It’s important for young people to be inspired by musicianship like Christian’s and not just be able to be technically proficient.

“His ability to communicate through music is absolutely incredible.

“We did not simply invite him because he was young and brilliant but because his understanding of musicmaking is admirable.”

The orchestra, which has enjoyed a busy year collaborating with groups such as the James McCusker Orchestra, the Canberra Choral Society and at the ANU School of Music, will also perform Delius’ “Walk to the Paradise Garden”, Enescu’s “Romanian Rhapsody No. 2” and Holst’s “The Perfect Fool” in what will be its final concert for the year.

Canberra Youth Orchestra with Christian Li, Llewellyn Hall, Saturday, December 7. Book at ticketek.com.au

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Mother of them all… “Skywhale”.

Papa whale and the kids head to gallery

By Helen Musa

THE secret Skywhale has been clutching to her capacious bosom for years is out –she’s a wife and mother.

Skywhale creator, the Canberra-raised artist Patricia Piccinini, was on hand at the National Gallery of Australia with director Nick Mitzevich to explain “Skywhalepapa”, a new hyper-real sculpture intended as a companion piece to “Skywhale”, commissioned as part of the Balnaves Contemporary Series.

“Together,” Mitzevich said, “they form a Skywhale family, which will be reunited over Canberra in 2020, before floating across the skies of Australia as a National Gallery travelling exhibition called ‘Skywhales: Every Heart Sings’.”

Seven years after the Skywhale appeared in our skies for the 2013 Centenary of Canberra, Skywhale would soon be “joined by another of her kind,” he said, echoing the plea of Mary Shelley’s creature from “Frankenstein.”

According to Patricia Piccinini, one of the questions she had been fielding over the years about the enormous sculptural air balloon, was whether the maternal-looking Skywhale had babies. Her artist’s sketch of “Skywhalepapa” gives the answer.

“This is an opportunity to complete the project, to take the next step” she said, praising the Balnaves Foundation for making it possible.

She explained that with “Skywhalepapa” she was creating “a powerful masculine figure, but a caring man whose massive arms protect a litter of babies.”

Aside from the fun, there was an important message behind it, that caring was not limited to gender.

“‘Skywhalepapa celebrates both shared parenting and engaged fatherhood – this is what caring looks like,” Piccinini said.

Both “Skywhale” and “Skywhalepapa”, she said, could be viewed as performance more than sculpture, “bringing people together as we see these wonderful creatures take flight…it’s going to be a great journey.”

Determined to have visitors to the national institution rethinking water art in the 21st-century, Mitzevich announced not just the Skywhalepapa initiative but a bold program for 2020.

The visual centrepiece for the announcements was a floral arrangement featuring the humble sunflower, the significance of which being that in a first, Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” 1888 would be coming to the NGA in a show called “Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London.”

Confirming this, Gabriele Finaldi, the director of the London gallery, spoke by video from the UK, outlining some of the treasures to be seen, from Florentine Renaissance works to treasures of more recent times.

Apart from the Van Gogh, there’ll be more than 60 works by some of Europe’s most revered artists, including Rembrandt’s “Self-portrait at the age of 34” and Vermeer’s “A young woman seated at a virginal”.

As part of what Mitzevich called “re-visioning and re-thinking what art is all about”, he would be embarking on an “outdoor campaigning” program

in which huge billboards presenting works by artists such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye would be seen at airports, along freeways and in any of 1300 sites around the country, where the large advertisements for the NGA would be installed.

Opening before the end of this year will be “Belonging: Stories of Australian Art”, works by more than 170 artists highlighting the resilience of indigenous cultures and the impact of colonisation.

Central to 2020 will be exhibitions and events aimed at elevating Australian women artists, “Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now”, “The Body Electric” (artists on the subjects of sex, pleasure and desire) and a large-scale installation by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, whose sculptural works are made of grasses, raffia and found materials.

For “Enlighten” 2020, Club Ate’s digital project “In Muva We Trust” would be a monumental video projection of water and bodies on the gallery’s façade, while in March, Mitzevich said the first solo exhibition to be seen in Australia by Xu Zhen, one of China’s most significant artist-activists, will go on display with sculptural installations, video and performance works that challenge cultural assumptions and question social taboos.

Marking the 40th anniversary of Robert Hughes’ influential TV program, “Shock of the New”, a new exhibition of the same name will fill in the now-obvious gaps in Hughes’ coverage – women and artists from outside the Anglo-American lens.

In September, “First Peoples’ Art of Australia: from the Wesfarmers Collection and the National Gallery of Australia” will go on display at the National Gallery of Singapore before beginning a tour of China the following year.

All the while, the NGA’s own collection will be the source of many free exhibitions, satisfying Mitzevich’s wish to make the gallery home to “an inclusive view of the world through the work of artists”.

Coastal contrasts from Heide and Wendy

ARTS IN THE CITY

By Helen Musa

PHOTOGRAPHER Heide Smith and painter Wendy Macklin are holding a joint, contrasting exhibition featuring the south coast, especially around Tuross Head. The Smiths moved there last year and Heide now has a ground-floor display space, while the Macklins are just down the road. The launch is at 18 Monash Avenue, Tuross Head, 2pm-4pm, December 7. Visitors welcome throughout the holidays, Sundays and by appointment. RSVP 0415 382905 or fotoheide@gmail.com

THE Canberra Knife Show is giving pride of place to a Damascus steel bread knife with a gidgee handle and a rivergum saya sheath, handmade by visiting US artist Delany Bal at Cuppacumbalong Homestead, Tharwa, on Sunday December 1.

FOR 10 days, a dozen artists from the ACT, NSW and Queensland roamed the outlying Greek island of Leros with Canberra artist and citizen of Leros, Michael Winters, capturing the mood and vistas of its ancient places. Now they’re exhibiting 60 paintings at The Q Gallery, Queanbeyan, until December 13.

CANBERRA Community Chorale, directed by Dan Walker, presents “An die Musik”, an evening of German Romantic music by composers including Franz Schubert, Robert and Clara Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Hensel, Johannes Brahms and Josef Rheinberger. Radford College chapel, 7pm, Saturday, December 7. Book at canberracommunitychorale. com or tickets at the door (cash only).

LEGENDARY Canberra artist, eX de Medici, is exhibiting her own six-metre work “The Wreckers”, a sprawling scene of violence and destruction, and a landscape painting “Farmer and Foreigner”, created with Chinese-Australian artist Wei Rong Wu. At Sullivan+Strumpf gallery, 799 Elizabeth Street, Zetland, Sydney, November 30-December 21.

THE National Capital Orchestra, conducted by Lizzy Collier, is collaborating with The Vegetable Plot, a happy bunch of musicians led by Aspara Gus (Luke Escombe). They have recently been signed to ABC Music and their songs, jokes and banter have delighted young audiences around the country. The Magic Garden is at Albert Hall, 1pm and 3pm, Sunday, December 1. Book at trybooking.com.au

BRINDABELLA Orchestra’s final 2019 concert is light classical music by Borodin, Grieg, Chabrier, Schubert and others. It’s at Weston Community Hub Neighbourhood Hall, corner of Hilder and Gritten Streets, 2pm, Sunday, December 1. Entry by donation.

Thrills come as the ‘official’ secrets are leaked

“Official Secrets” (M)

DIRECTOR Gavin Hood’s film “Official Secrets” delineates the stages in a 2003 official cock-up that threatened Britain’s bureaucracy from two directions.

The first resulted from a diplomatic cable transmitting a top-secret NSA memo proposing that Britain and the US should run an illegal joint spying operation against members of the UN Security Council to blackmail smaller, undecided Council members into voting for a Middle Eastern war.

In the event, the Security Council was outraged and any chance of a UN resolution in favour of war collapsed. But George Bush went to war anyway – leading to the end of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and the embarrassing failure to discover any weapons of mass destruction.

The second was the responses of British security and law-enforcement agencies when GCHQ worker Katharine Gun leaked the cable to somebody who in turn leaked it to the London “Observer” which assigned Martin Bright to write a story about it.

The leak was traced to Katharine who was put through the mangle of investigation, personal anguish when British authorities decided to deport her immigrant husband, political turmoil, legal cover-ups on both sides and Katharine’s day in court when her freedom was under very savage threat.

“Official Secrets” (screenplay by Gregory and Sara Bernstein) is a thriller. The tensions build as the opposing sides gather their options, the accusers obfuscate and put a lot

of people under clandestine observation and the defenders call in favours and apply some great forensic minds to the weak points in the accusers’ case. The key to the last of those is what Katharine did was for the best of all possible intentions – to expose illegal official behaviour.

The cast of “Official Secrets” is a showcase for some great British actors. Keira Knightley is nothing short of splendid as Katharine. It’s really her film; the people playing the other characters make sure that she gets the support that Katharine deserves. The tensions rise and ease, the conflicts ebb and flow. This is what movies should be about, whatever the subject of the story. Top stuff.

At Dendy, Palace Electric and Capitol 6

DINING / bar rochford, civic

BRAVO, Mirrah Foulkes, for her feature film debut writing and directing this amusing, challenging and mildly didactic compendium of comedy, drama, social and cultural prejudices and reflections on what passed for public entertainment in Britain since 16th-century Italian commedia dell’arte arrived there in 1663, packaged in enough violence, cruelty and social division to satisfy moviegoers’ most bizarre enthusiasms. And for presenting its Australian locations looking like 17th century England.

Judy (Mia Wasikowska) has gone off to do the week’s marketing in the inland village of

Seaside, leaving her husband Punch (Damon Herriman) to care for their infant daughter. The family’s profession is puppetry. And Punch is the master.

Before leaving, Judy has made Punch swear to take care of the little one and forswear strong drink in any form during her absence. Poor trusting girl. By the time she gets home with the shopping, the baby’s been tossed out of an upstairs window and Punch is close to paralytic drunk. And before much longer, Judy has been given a terrible walloping by Punch’s walking stick, to be dragged off into the forest and buried beneath last autumn’s fallen leaves.

Everything turns out well for Judy in the end. Punch’s come-uppance is no less than he deserves.

At Dendy

“Fisherman’s Friends” (M)

I LOOKED up a small collection of British media reviews of director Chris Foggin’s realisation of Nick Moorcroft. Piers Ashworth and Meg Leonard’s screenplay telling how 10 lobster fishermen from Port Isaacs in Cornwall would sing a capella a repertoire of sea shanties just for pleasure and at one time were ranked nine in the BBC’s Top 40.

Many of those reviews were less than enthusiastic. But here on the other side of the

Top bar offers some top dining

BAR Rochford is no ordinary wine and cocktail bar. It’s picked up a hat in the “Good Food Guide” and has been ranked as one of Australia’s top bars –all with good reason.

This funky and vibey establishment, tucked upstairs in the historic Melbourne Building, in Civic, has a unique offering and is determined to keep it that way.

Four of us hit the bar for food and wine and our tastebuds are still thanking us.

Sharing is the go at Bar Rochford. The menu is compact but there wasn’t an item we wouldn’t have ordered. We toured our way through several exciting dishes – too many to pack into this review!

First up was the Gruyere gougeres ($12). They were divine – baked savoury choux pastry featuring sweet but slightly salty cheese. This is a we-must-return-just-for-this-dish dish.

Bar Rochford’s specials board included prawn wontons with lap cheong and black vinegar (five for $28). They looked elegant on the plate and the flavour combo was pure perfection.

We were curious about the padrons with smoked labneh and chicken salt ($12). It’s a must-try dish and fun to eat. The Spanish chili peppers were blistered with each varying in heat and the labneh smokey and creamy.

planet, this reviewer feels differently. Nowadays, there’s not enough singing of songs with folksy populist lyrics, ribald or otherwise. In this relatively low-budget comedy/ romantic drama, the singing has a warm, affectionate timbre and the lyrics are about people, places and events resonating as much for their content as for their simple musicality. The plot follows talent scout Danny (Daniel Mays) whose colleagues abandon him in Port Isaacs with instructions to sign the group and get back to London quick smart if not sooner. The best laid plans of mice and men. Romance blooms with the lead singer’s daughter.

It’s performed by a cast of good men and women who make a somewhat fictionalised plot credible if sometimes more polished than life lived pretty much the same way as it has done for several centuries. The rugged locations, where the exteriors for “Doc Martin” also get filmed, are beautiful.

The story has its roots in real events. Several British films in recent decades have done that in various narrative and geographic situations on that sceptred isle set in the silver sea. Such familiarity doesn’t breed contempt in this case.

At all cinemas

The presentation of the steak tartare was fabulous and macadamia and blackberry. Last, but not least, were perfect cubes of French onion galette – a real treat ($12).

The wine list is sensational, extensive (pages and pages presented in a little binder) and carefully curated. It features many international drops, but district wines aren’t forgotten, such

WENDY JOHNSON

Rochford is packed (and it quickly became packed on our visit). This isn’t the type of place you want to head for a quiet chat with friends; you need to speak loudly to be heard. Despite the noise levels, Bar Rochford lives up to its promise – fine food, exciting wine producers, fancy cocktails, sharp spirits, great music and attentive, knowledgeable service.

Bar Rochford, first floor, 65 London Circuit, Civic. Open Tuesday-Thursday 5pm-late; Friday, 3pm1am and Saturday, 5pm-1am.

Aged Composted Horse Manure

GARDENING

Flowering feijoa simply the best

Feijoa makes an excellent evergreen hedge and when in flower, is possibly one of the best flowering hedges in existence! The bright red and white flowers are simply stunning.

Its proper name is Feijoa sellowiana but is known as pineapple guava, a fascinating name for a plant that has no relationship to guavas. The green fluffy skin of the feijoa fruit belies the delicious flesh inside, which can be scooped out and eaten as is, or added as a topping to ice cream. It’s good for us too, providing 40 per cent of the daily requirement of vitamin C when eaten fresh.

There are 25 varieties of feijoa, which originates from Brazil and other South American countries and can also be grown as a stand-alone shrub. I simply cannot understand why this super, multi-purpose plant is not more widely grown.

CITRUS planting time is now and for those with a sunny balcony, I suggest growing cumquats, sometimes spelled kumquats. They have a rather tart flavour but are delicious as brandied cum quats, the liqueur making a perfect drink on a cold winter’s night. The fruit also makes a superb marmalade. Two of the best-known varieties are “Nagami” and “Marumi”. I love growing cumquats in a large terracotta pot, for the appearance alone of the bright orange fruit against the dark green leaves, appearing mainly in winter to spring. I would suggest a pot of at least 45-50 centimetres in diameter. Alternatively, they can be grown in the ground, as long as they’re planted in a sunny spot with good drainage.

WITH the tragic bushfires still burning in some areas, I recommend the book “Essential Bushfire Safety Tips” for every household. Written by journalist Joan Webster, who was awarded bushfire safety, and with a foreword by Phil Cheney, former director of CSIRO National Bushfire Research Unit, the book provides accurate information in a clear, accessible way. In addition, the ACT government’s booklet “Bushfire Survival Plan – Prepare Your Home, Prepare Your Family” should be distributed to every household in Canberra. As we know from our fires, every town and country area is bushfire prone.

Euphorbia wulfenii of the Spurge family, which has a highly irritant sap. Make sure to wear leather or rubber gloves when pruning or handling the plant – not cotton, as the sap will just go through. It can cause severe skin problems, as an acquaintance of mine, Ernie, found out when he was clearing his garden of these plants. He was wearing gloves and thought he had thoroughly washed his hands, but then scratched an itchy eye, which started to swell so much that he could not see out of it. It eventually settled down after Euphorbia wulfenii seeds profusely and can take over a garden, but there are

Feijoa fruit may not look appetising, but the inside is delicious!

DON’T overwater your tomatoes – once a week is plenty! Make an earthen dam around the plant big enough to hold a nine-litre bucket of water. Add Maxicrop organic liquid seaweed to the water to promote strong root growth. As an aside, I recently planted my Roma, Apollo and cherry tomatoes, and the very next morning it was minus-one! We just never know in Canberra.

LOOKING for a small flowering hedge as an alternative to box? Check out Polygala Little Bibi, with its purple, pea-like flowers all spring and summer. It’s heat and frost hardy, grow ing into a natural rounded shape to about one metre by one metre.

PUZZLES PAGE

Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

This week Jupiter (planet of good fortune and prosperity) charges into your career zone, which bodes well for a promotion, new job or lucky break sometime over the next 12 months. But there is no room for false modesty! In order to truly flourish you must be passionately proactive as you promote your capabilities and trumpet your talents far and wide. If you tap into the Jupiterian reservoir of confidence and abundance, then professional success and accolades will follow.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

Hey Bulls… are you stuck in a boring rut? With Jupiter transiting through your travel zone, foreign shores beckon over the next 12 months. So start planning your itinerary now. It’s also important to keep up-to-date with your international contacts. Who knows where they may lead? With bountiful Jupiter on your side, the sky’s the limit! Tuesday and Wednesday are potentially lucky days, so make sure you capitalise on any fortuitous opportunities that come your way.

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

This week prosperity planet Jupiter jumps into your ‘money-from-others’ zone. So (over the next year) you could benefit from a pay rise, inheritance, loan, bonus, divorce settlement, insurance claim, bumper tax return or superannuation pay-out. Just make sure you spend any windfall wisely. With Mars visiting your daily routine zone, it’s also time to put plans into action. Inspiration is from birthday great Walt Disney: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

A difficult relationship should gradually improve, as Jupiter journeys through your love zone for the next 12 months. Love and travel are connected, so you could go on a special holiday with your partner or start a hot romance with a sexy foreigner. You’ll find the more positive energy and enthusiastic effort you pour into partnerships, the better the results will be. Single Crabs – look for a long-term partner who has a good sense of humour but is also reliable and mature.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Jupiter wanders into your wellbeing zone, which is good news for your physical and emotional health over the next 12 months. There’s one proviso though – you must be disciplined. So aim to find a deliciously nutritious diet, a fun exercise program and a relaxation routine that you really enjoy. Lions adore positive feedback and are very susceptible to flattery. But don’t let a dubious charmer lead you astray on the weekend. Keep your trusty Truth Detector set on high!

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Over the next year (courtesy of Jupiter) you’ll take up a sport or hobby, start a romance, go on a holiday or welcome a new addition to the family. Plus expect a plethora of big celebrations (like engagements, weddings and milestone birthday parties). It’s also time to foster new friendships as you preference mates who understand your particular Virgo peccadilloes. Your motto is from birthday great Jim Morrison: “A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.”

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Positivity planet Jupiter is set to expand your domestic horizons. Over the coming year, you could redecorate, build an extension, housesit, buy or sell real estate, move house, get a new housemate, start a business from home or renovate your present place so you have more space. But there will also be extra domestic duties and family responsibilities that you’ll have to deal with. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Venus and Mars rev up your sociable side and your romantic nature.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Tuesday is good for scrutinising facts and solving problems. Your public profile could really take off over the next 12 months, as Jupiter blesses all forms of communication. So it’s a terrific time to start a blog, launch a website or promote your current business. One of your social media posts could even go viral, so make sure you have plenty of topical and shareable things to say. You’ll also feel inclined to become more involved with a worthy cause in your local community.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Do you truly believe in yourself? And do you have the courage to pursue your chosen destiny? This week Jupiter commences a 12 month journey through your self-esteem zone. So make sure you take advantage of this fortuitous transit, which will fire up your inner fortitude and boost your core confidence. Your special motto for the week (and the next year) is from Sagittarian birthday great Walt Disney: “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

It’s time to celebrate! Jupiter (planet of luck, happiness and prosperity) is moving through your sign until December 19, 2020 and this only happens every 12 years. So make sure you are passionately proactive as you capitalise on the energy boost, positive mood and good fortune it potentially provides. Clever Capricorns will seize the moment, day and year, as you grab opportunities when they appear. You’ll find confidence is the rocket fuel that will really take you places.

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

It’s an opportune time for restless Aquarians to slow down and become much more philosophical, as Jupiter moves through your contemplation zone for the next 12 months. So it’s a fabulous year to take up meditation or yoga (or some sort of metaphysical study) as Jupiter broadens your spiritual perspective. There’s always something new to learn! A money matter looks confusing on the weekend though, so avoid making any important decisions until the financial fog lifts.

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

It’s time for proactive Pisceans to make exciting plans and set solid goals for the future. And don’t make them too safe and sensible! Go for gold, as Jupiter helps you envision (and pursue) ambitious dreams and creative schemes over the coming year. But keep a firm grip on reality on the weekend, otherwise you’ll delude yourself about a person or situation. In order to avoid disappointing yourself (and others) do your best to stay on top of facts and leave fantasy for the movies.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2019

General knowledge crossword No. 713

Across

1 Name a noxious shrub, once used as a hedge. (6)

8 To hearten or buoy up, is to do what? (8)

9 What is a group of lines of verse? (6)

10 Which Israeli town was the childhood home of Jesus? (8)

11 Name the attendants who escort persons to theatre seats. (6)

13 Which telegraph line connected Darwin to Adelaide in 1872? (8)

16 Name an alternative term for pharmacists. (8)

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

22 On which day did Solomon Grundy die? (8)

24 To be paradoxical, is to be what? (6)

25 What do we call errands or missions, as in shopping? (8)

26 Which vehicle is designed to carry oil in bulk? (6) Down

2 What are council charges known as? (5)

3 Name the scene of any action or event such as a hall for a concert, etc. (5)

4 Which crossbars divide windows horizontally? (8)

5 Which type of popular music sprang up in and around New Orleans? (4)

6 Which term implies that something is starshaped? (6)

7 Name the positive elementary particle present in every atomic nucleus. (6)

12 What is the gemfish also known as? (4)

14 Name the profession of Charles Lamb. (8)

15 What is a heavy chisel-like steel tool used to dress timber? (4)

17 Name a more common term for Valhalla. (6)

18 Name a flavoured preparation of whipped cream, beaten eggs, gelatine, etc. (6)

20 Which jester or buffoon is found in a circus? (5)

21 To be unsophisticated, is to be what? (5)

23 What is a colloquial term for living quarters? (4)

Greg received a letter from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) telling him that he'd paid $25,000 excess non-concessional contributions and as a result was facing a large slug of extra tax. He came to see me "totally confused”.

I told him the issue was quite complex but I'd do my best to explain it simply to him.

"First of all, I note that the receipt from your super fund shows that it is a non-concessional payment," I said.

"I also note that the record of advice from your financial adviser recommends you make a concessional contribution of $25,000.

“To explain the difference between concessional and nonconcessional contributions and what options are available to you I need to go back a step and look at various caps available to you. At this time, you have a superannuation balance cap of $1.6 million available to you and, as you are drawing a CSS pension valued at $1.2 million, you only have $400,000 of your cap left.

"However, you also have $600,000 in an accumulation fund so your total superannuation balance exceeds $1.6 million.

“Once your total superannuation balance exceeds $1.4 million different rules for making superannuation contributions apply under the current superannuation legislation.”

Greg said: “Wow! I had no idea of this. How did my concessional contributions become non-concessional and what does that mean?” I told him that when he made a contribution to super initially that contribution is assumed to be non-concessional.

"To clarify, a non-concessional contribution is one that is not tax deductible and they are also subject to caps," I said.

"In your case, you cannot make further non-concessional contributions as you have more than $1.6 million in superannuation. However, you can make concessional contributions up to $25,000 each year until you are age 65.

"That cap also includes employer contributions, but as you have retired there are none so you can make personal contributions up to $25,000. This is what the advice received from the fund recommended that you do.

“However, there is a further requirement and that is that you complete a form called a ‘Notice of Intent to claim a Tax Deduction’ and this form has to be acknowledged by the fund so that you can claim the amount in your tax return.

"What seems to have happened here is that you did not complete the form and send it to the fund and, despite you having received a record of advice from the fund’s financial adviser, there seems to have been no follow up. You also did not make a claim for a personal superannuation deduction on your tax return.”

Greg said he wasn't advised to do any of those things.

I replied: “Yes, that's a shame, but we can rectify all this. I recommend you go back to your fund and provide a completed notice of intent to claim a tax deduction and request that they acknowledge this and notify the ATO accordingly.

"In the meantime, I'll contact the ATO and request that they take no further action. Then I will object against the notice and your income tax assessment so that you get your tax deduction for the contribution.”

Greg left my office relieved and happy that he now understood what was going on.

If you need help with your superannuation contact the friendly team at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd on 6295 2844.

Disclaimer

This column contains general advice, please do not rely on it. If you require specific advice on this topic please contact Gail Freeman or your professional adviser.

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