CityNews 20730

MICHAEL MOORE

SURGERY SHAME

“The backlog in elective surgery has very little to do with COVID-19 and almost everything to do with savage cuts to the ACT health budget by the ALP and the Greens over the last six years.”

JON STANHOPE

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A second opinion on hearing loss

An elderly woman with hearing loss came to my clinic for a second opinion, after she had recently been to a hearing aid sales person. I found the cause of her hearing loss was simply the fact that she had build-up of wax in her ears, the salesperson had failed to inspect them. You might be surprised how often this happens!

Here are some things to do to avoid getting ripped off:

1. A visit to the GP may save you from being ‘sold’ something when your only problem is wax in your ears.

Recently I was told by two different patients that they were quoted $16,000 for a pair of hearing aids. This seems a ridiculous amount of money to pay and is most likely not appropriate for the majority of people (or possibly anyone).

5. If you are a pensioner or partpensioner, or a DVA gold or white card holder, you should carefully consider if you want to use the free-to-client government hearing aids or if you’d like to top-up to a different hearing aid.

“In an unregulated market there is a lot of opportunity to take advantage of people. Yes you have read correctly, there is no licensing of people who sell hearing aids.”

2. Look for someone who is independent and can offer you unbiased advice, not just give you a sales pitch.

– Dr Vass

3. There are a range of hearing aid prices. Finding the right hearing aid might save you money and it will also give you the best chance of success.

4. Hearing aids can be expensive.

The free-to-client hearing aids are appropriate for many people, however if you have great difficulty hearing background noise (for example in restaurants) then you might trial the top-up hearing aids, but only if you can afford them. There are a range of top up options and prices, if you are disappointed after a trial, you should return them and trial the free-toclient hearing aids.

If you get the feeling the person you’re dealing with is just trying to sell you something, then take a step back and get a second opinion.

COVER STORY /

Cuts deliver longest surgery waits in Australia

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith recently announced a funding boost of $30 million to tackle what she characterised as the backlog in elective surgery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elective surgery was paused for just on four weeks from the end of March to the end of April.

Health CEO Bernadette McDonald was also quoted as saying that there would, by July 1, be about 2250 surgeries that had been planned but that would not be performed.

Ms McDonald identified these as “planned” surgeries so one assumes that ACT Health had been fully funded to carry them out.

It follows, therefore, that since these “planned” surgeries were not performed that most of the allocated funding should still be in the bank waiting to be spent.

The reality is, of course, as we all know but out of an apparent surfeit of politeness or because we really don’t care, are loath to say, the backlog in elective surgery in the ACT has very little to do with the COVID-19 pandemic and almost everything to do with a series of savage cuts to the ACT health budget by the ALP and the Greens over the last six years.

My colleague Dr Khalid Ahmed and I have recently looked again at the waiting times for elective surgery in public hospitals in Australia.

While it is true that waiting times have increased across Australia over the last six years, the increase in the ACT has outstripped all other jurisdictions and is significantly higher than the national average.

We have outlined in detail the findings of our latest review of elective surgery in a blog posted to the University of Canberra Policy Space.

A summary of some of our findings are:

• A comparison of the median waiting time in the number of days for half of all patients from 2014-15 to 2018-19 reveals that in aggregate ACT patients waited 17 per cent to 62 per cent longer than patients at the national average.

• In relation to orthopaedic surgery the median wait time in the ACT was 55 per cent longer than the average in like (peer) hospitals across Australia. The number of Canberra residents who waited longer than 365 days for orthopaedic surgery in a public hospital was proportionately four times higher than the national average.

• In relation to gynaecological surgery the ACT’s performance was much worse than its peer group of public hospitals and in fact the second worst in Australia. The median wait time for

The backlog in elective surgery has very little to do with the COVID-19 pandemic and almost everything to do with savage cuts to the ACT health budget by the ALP and the Greens over the last six years.

a Canberra woman, without private health insurance, requiring surgery for a gynaecological issue was 32 per cent higher than the peer average. The number of Canberra women who waited longer than 365 days for such surgery, in a public hospital, was proportionately a staggering 425 per cent of the Australian average.

The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare has reported that between 2014-15 and 2018-19 admissions for elective surgery in the ACT increased at an annual rate of 4.2 per cent. This was driven by annual growth of 2.2 per cent in admissions per 1000 population, with the remainder attributable to population growth.

There are a number of acknowledged drivers of demand for health care such as the ageing of the population, changes in technology and inflation in the cost of wages and medicines.

The Productivity Commission has indicated that the impact of these factors on the rate of utilisation growth in the ACT is 3.2 per cent.

Despite the incremental increase in per person demand for health care the ACT government has for a number of years reduced funding for health by 1 per cent per annum in real terms. A reduction of 1 per cent equates to more than $100 million a year.

These cuts are unavoidably reflected in the funding allocated for elective surgery. If the demand growth parameters referred to above were accounted for, then Dr Ahmed and I calculate that there would, conservatively, have been an additional 1400 admissions for elective surgery in the last three years, exclusive of the backlog that existed before that.

To be blunt the $30 million, one off, sugar hit announced by Minister Stephen-Smith will have no impact on elective surgery waiting times beyond this (election) year.

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Public hospitals are responsible for about one third of elective surgery performed in Australia. Patients on the public waiting list typically have no health insurance with hospital cover, or if they do have such cover, they are unable to afford out-of-pocket costs in a private hospital. Those of us who can afford private health insurance have guaranteed timely access to health care. Those Canberrans who cannot afford to pay, most typically pensioners, the working poor and people otherwise from low-income households must wait – often in pain, misery and uncertainty. Access to health care in Canberra is increasingly determined by capacity to pay rather than need.

Dr Ahmed and I have previously written about the extent to which the extent of the rationing of health services by the ACT government inevitably leads to the entrenching of major distributional inequities in associated service delivery systems. The chart above, which compares by Aboriginal status, the percentage of people in Australia who waited longer than 365 days for elective surgery, in 2018-19, validates our concerns.

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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SEVEN DAYS

So Mick, what’s the going rate to hire a firie?

IT’S a simple question: how much does it cost to hire a firie?

Worryingly, it seems, the ACT government, which has had 19 years of experience, can’t tell you.

Here’s the background: on June 25 Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman virtuously announced that we were to have, among other things, 99 new firefighters over four years in a new deal he’d struck with the United Firefighters Union.

Given the tenacity of the UFU to push a cause, one can only marvel at the happy timing in Mick getting some signatures sorted this close to the October election. We wondered how much that was going to cost; it would have to be known before Mick agreed to sign, right?

So my colleague, the equally tenacious Danielle Nohra, sent the minister’s office a polite enquiry: “Can you please share the cost of how much it will be to employ 99 firefighters over the four-year term in the new deal between ACT government and the UFU?”

No reply.

On a second enquiry, communications adviser Ryan Curran, unhelpfully wrote: “The total cost of the new enterprise bargaining agreement is subject to standard budget processes.”

The suspicious Ms Nohra grimaced and alerted him that his obtuse response and avoidance of a simple question was becoming part of the story.

Clearly, poor Ryan was getting a departmental runaround.

“I’ve chased it up,” he sighed, ”but looks like we’re unable to provide more specific information at this stage.

“Sorry I can’t be of more help, if you have any further questions let me know.”

Just the one, Ryan: how much will the 99 firefighters cost the ACT taxpayer?

WITH hundreds of travelling Canberrans grounded by quarantine, it came as no surprise that chief health officer Kerryn Coleman refused to ease any more restrictions in the ACT right now.

The housebound hordes have been caught by the interstate hotspot caution despite there being (as I write) no new covid cases in the ACT.

She’s going to review things – like letting the community clubs turn on their pokie

dose of dorin

machines again – on a weekly basis.

ClubsACT chief executive Gwyn Rees has been banging his head against the Health bureaucracy for months now as other states open their clubs.

He wants to understand why ACT clubs can’t open in the same way that they are open in NSW, QLD, NT, WA, SA and Tasmania.

Via a freedom-of-information application, he asked to see the gambling advice ACT Health had been provided by the all knowing Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

Back came 275 pages with more than 200 of them redacted.

“In our democracy, transparency is absent during COVID-19,” he sniffed on Twitter.

In an open letter to Dr Coleman he wrote: “ACT residents are travelling to Queanbeyan

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to attend activities not allowed here e.g. poker machines. They can also enjoy these services by travelling to Batemans Bay or any other surrounding town. So the current policy is not avoiding the risks you identify but simply forcing an alternative way for Canberrans to enjoy them.

“By ‘encouraging’ travel outside the ACT, the current policy is if anything increasing risks, not reducing them, compared with keeping people in the territory.”

Prophetic words given the letter was published in “CityNews” on June 18, weeks before the Batemans Bay covid cluster sent an estimated 400 holidaying Canberrans back to their spare bedrooms.

“IT would be ludicrous for a 13-year-old to be able to murder someone, knowing full well it was wrong and not be able to be prosecuted for it,” harrumphed lawyer Bill Stefaniak at the suggestion of raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 in the ACT.

The Belco Party candidate for Ginninderra should know because he’s also the former ACT opposition leader, attorney-general, police minister, juvenile corrections minister and a former crown prosecutor.

“I have prosecuted, defended and known a number of 11, 12 and 13-year-old offenders who were well aware of the wrongfulness of what they were doing,” he says.

Belco Bill blames the ACT government, saying it’s failed a generation of juvenile and adult detainees while blithely chanting empty words about human rights.

“The appalling record of the ACT government over the last decades with record high recidivism rates in our detention centres and jail is something Barr and Rattenbury should hang their heads in shame.”

AND while they’re doing that, they might like to wash their hands because shadow attorney-general Jeremy Hanson reckons the ACT government has blood on its hands over its failure to implement anti-consorting laws in the territory.

Speaking in the Assembly, the optimistic Mr H said he would make introducing the laws his number one priority... subject to the Liberals winning the October poll.

The issue has arisen again after Comanchero bikie-gang boss Pitasoni Tali Ulavalu was killed in a bar brawl in Civic.

Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay wasn’t for turning and hurtfully accused the poor Liberals of searching for a media headline.

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Ah, the loneliness of the long-distance Victorian

Expat Victorian EDDIE WILLIAMS finds himself in a strange kind of purgatory; family and friends are but an hour’s flight away and yet they may as well be at the North Pole...

ONLY a few weeks ago, I was making plans to travel down the south coast, through Gippsland and eventually into Melbourne to visit my parents while I’m on annual leave.

As you can imagine, those plans are now well and truly on the backburner.

I was planning to enter Victoria on Sunday, July 5, spend a night in Gippsland, and reach Melbourne the next day. I would’ve been at home for mum’s birthday, bearing gifts from the coast.

But with the state’s coronavirus caseload surging, I scrapped the trip a week or two earlier, deciding to travel only as far as Narooma. Sadly, my decision was vindicated when – on the day I would’ve reached Melbourne – Victoria recorded another spike and NSW announced it would shut the border.

It’s a strange time being an expat Victorian. There are quite a few of us in Canberra, as you’d expect in a city with so many interstate migrants. If you go all the way back to the movement of federal parliament from Melbourne to Canberra in 1927 and the transfer of the federal

public service over subsequent years, it’s not surprising that many Melburnians came here.

And they’ve continued to come, lured by work in the public service, the embassies and the media, and perhaps responsible for the proliferation of Aussie Rules goalposts and a general “Melbourne vibe” in places such as Manuka and the inner north.

Hundreds of thousands of families around the world have lost loved ones during this pandemic, while millions of others are unable to see their loved ones.

For those living in Canberra, but with ties to Victoria, it’s a strange kind of purgatory. Our family and friends are merely an hour’s flight or a day’s drive away. And yet they may as well be at the North Pole.

If I’m being optimistic, perhaps I’ll be able to visit Melbourne safely on the Labour Day long weekend in October. Christmas is probably more realistic. But who knows what the situation will be next week, let alone in December.

Change is difficult at the best of times. Right now, though, we don’t know what

will change or when. We can’t plan that next birthday or Father’s Day or Christmas lunch. And it’s the uncertainty that’s leaving so many people on edge.

So if you know an expat Victorian living in Canberra, keep an eye on them. We wouldn’t mind a potato cake to cheer us up.

[Editor’s note: The term “potato cake” is the curious description preferred by Victorians (and Tasmanians), even though it is not a cake. It is what we, NSW, Queensland and WA would know better as a “potato scallop”.]

Eddie Williams is an award-winning producer at 2CC.

New serve for centre

By Kate MEIKLE

AN upgrade of the ACT Table Tennis Centre has revitalised the old weatherboard building that accommodates five tables and facilities for its 400 Canberra players.

Board member Pat McGinn, who plays in the seniors competition, says the age ing Kingston facility received a new floor, paintwork, security system, air condi tioning and the opening up of its kitchen and walkway areas as part of a $34,000 covid sport-sector support funding grant from the ACT government.

together in the past, but were drawn to table tennis about 10 years ago after Pat had knee surgery and found that the low impact of table tennis suited her.

Members also chipped in time and energy to help with pulling up old carpet and painting to make the renovation a reality.

Pat says the building can’t be expanded, so they use facilities at the Tuggeranong archery centre for larger competitions.

Table tennis had been big among social clubs, much before rugby became established as a popular sport.

“But it has seen a decline in importance, which is connected to the fact that ACT was never able to establish a bigger venue,” she says.

She says the centre is now more accessible and open, creating more space for members to socially distance while enjoying the sport and the company of others.

“It is a very multicultural sport with

Pat says that the recent three-month closure of the centre due to covid restrictions highlighted for some members how much table tennis adds to their social lives, with many members living alone saying they missed their regular games.

“Table Tennis ACT has been very active in the development of a group of athletes with a disability,” says Pat.

“There is also a thriving junior group, small groups within schools plus an elite group who receive extra training and play with great success interstate and nationally,” she says.

Table Tennis ACT, corner of Canberra Avenue and Dawes Street, Griffith. Visit tabletennisact.org.au

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Krishna gains a lot from giving back

By Danielle NOHRA

AS a teenager, struggling with acne, feeling uncomfortable in her own skin, it was a beauty pageant during a visit to India that gave ANU student Krishna Shukla the confidence she was lacking.

“At that point I was of the mindset that pageants are superficial and was very judgmental of the whole system,” says Krishna, who, six years later, has been shortlisted for Miss World Australia.

“But, when I took part in it, I learnt it’s about so much more than what you look like. It’s also about the views you have and what you want to do for your community.”

The 22-year-old is one of two state finalists from the ACT, who are vying for a spot in the national round of the pageant.

Brisbane-raised but born in India, Krishna hasn’t entered many pageants, but, with her degree finishing up this year, she says she’s got more time to give it a real shot.

“I strongly believe in representing the multicultural aspect of Australia on a global level and I also want to take part because I believe in giving back to

my community,” she says.

“My parents have always instilled in me the importance of giving back.”

Krishna’s parents moved to Aus tralia when she was six, without any friends or family support.

“The community supported them, al lowing them to go out with confidence,” she says.

“We came with very little and all of this is possible because we had this sup portive community and government.”

It’s this reason that’s inspired Krish na to study a degree in economics and political science, with a goal to work in government.

“But regardless of the pageant, I’m constantly giving back,” says Krishna, who’s also been inspired to volunteer as a way to say thank you to the com munity that supported her family, and now her.

“I’m very driven because this is ac tually how I’ve seen my mum behaving as I was growing up.”

Her parents have returned to India where her mother runs her own NGO helping to prevent child sexual abuse in India.

“I’d rather volunteer and be busy rather than sit at home and have noth ing to do,” she says.

For Krishna, the pageant is giving her a platform to represent her culture and to highlight certain fundraisers.

Oustanding education that lasts a lifetime NEWS / Miss World Australia

She usually chooses one a year to raise money for and in the past she’s

skin and my body but nobody cared about that, they cared about what I next round, which has been pushed back because of COVID-19.

THE ACT Law Society has reaffirmed its opposition to anti-consorting laws after the Canberra Liberals renewed its calls to implement them in the ACT.

The Liberals’ push for the laws come after the Canberra Comancheros bikie gang leader, Pitasoni Ulavalu, 48, was stabbed to death at a Civic bar.

“Such laws are a disproportionate response to a perceived threat, and are inconsistent with basic human rights principles,” says Law Society president Chris Donohue.

“This type of law is also open to misuse, and serves to further marginalise vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our community.”

According to the ACT Law Society, an independent review commissioned by the ACT government was released in December and showed that less than 1 per cent of ACT crimes are associated with outlaw motorcycle gangs.

“The ACT’s existing laws already provide police with effective tools to fight serious and organised crime. Where anti-consorting laws have been introduced in other jurisdictions, they have proven to be largely ineffective,” Mr Donohoe says.

The Canberra Liberals disagree and shadow attorney-general Jeremy Hanson blamed the ACT government for a fourfold increase in bikie gangs over the past decade and “as a result a bikie war has unfolded across Canberra”.

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Don’t surrender West Basin to the developers

PLANNING is set to be an election issue yet again with one of the key issues for the October election being the protection of the foreshores of our lakes, and particularly the West Basin of Lake Burley Griffin.

One of the great joys of our beaches and rivers in Australia is the broad access by all people. Beach and riverfront ownership is now rare as successive governments have largely retained beaches and riverfronts in public hands.

What could be in the minds of the ACT and National Capital Authority planners and our governments that they even consider moving Lake Burley Griffin foreshore into private hands.

“Water’s-edge projects such as that proposed for West Basin will destroy the current habitat, remove access for ordinary Canberrans and concentrate the benefits in the hands of a few. UnAustralian!

The Kingston Foreshore is illustrative of how a lakefront changes with intense development. Buildings push out into the lake and, where there

Water’s-edge projects, such as that proposed for West Basin, will destroy the current habitat, remove access for ordinary Canberrans and concentrate the benefits in the hands of a few. UnAustralian!

was beachfront, the character is lost.

Kingston Foreshore provides Canberrans with a clear understanding of the sort of changes that will transform West Basin and Acton Park if the city crosses Parkes Way. Developers and governments will invariably argue “vibrancy”.

Such developments invariably bring a swathe of coffee shops and restaurants. However, these can also be developed on the foreshore for community good without destroying the longest piece of beach left on Lake Burley Griffin.

The recently developed Henry Rolland Park, just to the west of Commonwealth Avenue, illustrates how lake foreshore developments can be done in the community interest. West Basin can be improved and restaurants and cafes added. It can be made more attractive to encourage greater use by Canberrans as well as visitors from Australia and internationally.

Well, when our country opens again!

There is a community group “committed to safeguarding one of Canberra’s greatest treasures, the open space of Lake Burley Griffin and its lakeshore landscape setting”. The Lake Burley Griffin Guardians were formed in 2015 and are supported by other organisations such as the North Canberra Community Council, the Walter Burley Griffin Society and Canberra Planning Action Group.

As the October election for the ACT approaches, the group is becoming more active. A “call-to-action” brochure, authorised by Penny Moyes on behalf of the association, has been dropped in letterboxes. It is political, pointing out that the Community Action Party does oppose the West Basin development while “independents and other parties have yet to state their policies”.

Juliet Ramsay is the current convenor of the Lake Burley Griffin Guardians and was featured in a “must-read” article by my colleague Paul Costigan in “CityNews” in May. The article reviewed Ms Ramsay’s presentation to the Australian

bed to create a lake edge.

International Council on Monuments and Sites arguing for lake protection.

Although COVID-19 has played havoc with the electioneering, now is the time for the group to be political.

The Canberra Liberals’ shadow minister for planning, Mark Parton, indicated a cautious approach by his party arguing they will not be rushed into premature development. The most important thing for the Liberals is maintaining appropriate access to the West Basin Foreshore for the community.

Independent candidate for Murrumbidgee Fiona Carrick recognised the importance of Lake Burley Griffin to all Canberrans.

She said: “If development does go ahead, there must be a really

LETTERS

significant setback from the lake”. Ms Carrick explained that all members of our community must be able to enjoy the amenity of the lake and our city. Canberra does not have to be handed over to the developers. We can learn from international experience. The lake foreshore in Geneva provides a great example of a city that has protected its foreshore and is enjoyed not only by people of that city but by visitors from all over the world. Canberra could emulate that thinking as was done with the water spout!

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.

Isn’t two decades of this enough?

WE are now getting close to crunch time when Canberrans need to decide on how to vote at the coming election.

As one with tertiary qualifications in political science and experience in working with various Commonwealth ministers and of setting up a political party myself, I would like voters to take the situation seriously.

Our long-term Labor government has become even more arrogant and sustained by ever increasing rate rises and the bidding of developers.

The Liberal Party has been missing in action and so conservative that it has left most of its constituency on the sidelines.

And there is a plethora of independents and small parties that have failed to try and find common ground, present a united front and which will become irrelevant as a result of the vote being split.

Canberra badly needs an independent, communityfocused party that will promote good policy and ride shotgun over the Labor/Greens party (yes, it is a single party to my mind) and the lazy Liberals whose representatives are really being paid for doing just about nothing at all. Unfortunately, history looks as though it will be Groundhog Day once again. Isn’t two decades of this enough?

Ric Hingee, Duffy

More letters – Page 14

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CANBERRA MATTERS

Exploring the aisles for the gems of diversity

GOING to a supermarket has always been enjoyable to me. During the covid times, this means doing so less often and at times when fewer people are around.

But it hasn’t put a stop to exploring the aisles to see what could be new. I often check out a suburban supermarket. The pleasure is spotting those little gems that others don’t have.

The business of supermarkets is a contentious topic because of the practice of the major players’ ability to dominate at the cost of smaller and local businesses.

In Australia Woolies and Coles dominate, with Aldi not far behind. There are others such as The Friendly Grocer, IGA, Supabarn and a cohort of Asian, Indian and Middle East specialty supermarkets. The supermarket in Cook bears the name The Cook Grocer –couldn’t get more

local than that.

About a decade ago the then-chief minister, Jon Stanhope, tried to do something about the dominance of the Big Supermarkets. There was a review with 15 recommendations.

Despite determined efforts to undermine his initiative, things were all set to promote diversity for ACT consumers. He left the job in May 2011. As with several of his significant policy initiatives, this one faded away.

One suspects that the current government’s approach is to not have a bar of interfering with the big super markets. Despite this, some tempting options have made their way on to the shelves. Take the deli and cheese selections at Ainslie IGA. They are so successful that a product manager looks after all those amazing cheeses.

The rare event of a community resisting one of the big ones has been known to be successful. The Bungen dore community pushed hard against Woolworths setting up in the town. In the end the community won and they now have a wonderful IGA.

It is big! They have a great deli. Each time I’ve been there the staff have been very helpful. Came home

many do not know about the magic buttery mix and most cannot resist adding some goo on top.

My luck turned when I came across a new line in Coles at Jamison. A few moments in the microwave – and it was nearly as good as the ones I remembered in Paris. In fact, mysteriously the packaging says it

brand – usually found in Woolworths. Originally it was established on the NSW south coast by a Frenchman. Not sure who owns it now, but it is still high on my list of preferred cheeses. A more recent find is Aldi’s own brand. Australian made and definitely the favourite for now.

Many local bakeries supply our

supermarkets with a great range. A recent find was a German rye loaf at the Bungendore IGA. Now to find a

There are several complex supermarket stories in Canberra. The Giralang supermarket has been a long time in coming. The Dickson second supermarket story is yet to finish. The Coombs supermarket appeared in 2015 but is yet to open with anything besides a small (and very welcomed) outlet. Up at Denman Prospect, the suburb’s developer wanted to attract buyers to the suburb and so put in place a large IGA very early. It is a great supermarket, having been there several times and enjoyed some of their specialities. And Aldi caused some upset with plans for a store next to the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets (I often

This city has a fairly good range of supermarkets. It would be good if there was real competition for the big players and if more smaller ones could survive with more local/ regional food on offer. But that level of diversity continues to be too hard for the moment.

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

Tardy government ‘decimating’ community clubs

EXCUSING its failure to support the safe reopening of Canberra’s clubs, the Chief Minister has declared he is in “no hurry” to see gaming machines switched back on.

Yet the ACT government is reaping huge returns from gambling operators who provide little or no community contribution.

ClubsACT has argued that no scientific evidence has been provided to prove that allowing clubs to reopen with gaming facilities operational would increase the risk of COVID-19 cases. Instead, the ACT government seems to have made a discretionary decision, which it has cloaked as a principled ruling.

Yet this decision seems to be having the opposite effect to that being touted. It is actually costing funds for harm minimisation and leaving Canberrans to fend for themselves.

In 2018, the ACT government introduced the Betting Operators Tax or more broadly understood Point of Consumption Tax on online betting services and estimated this would raise around $2 million annually. In the last financial year this tax actually brought in more than $10.1 million.

Unfortunately, none of this money goes towards helping people struggling with gambling or directly to those in our community in need.

From their gaming revenue, clubs contribute to two problem gambling funds and the Chief Minister’s Charity Fund, in addition to community contributions and

gaming taxes.

Online operators can opt to contribute to the Gambling Harm Fund, but very few do and certainly not at the same proportion of income as our clubs do.

When the Point of Consumption Tax was introduced we recommended diverting nearly half, if not all, of this windfall to problem gambling and community purposes. Instead the ACT government seems happy to reap returns from gambling so long as it is online and essentially hidden away.

Canberrans are betting, but instead of profits helping those impacted and our community organisations, they are instead being eaten up by interstate and international companies and the government itself.

Even more alarming is the fact that funds earmarked for gambling harm and mitigation are sitting idle. In answer to a Question on Notice, the government revealed that as at March 2020, there was $2.4 million still sitting in the fund.

The ACT government is decimating our club sector on a purported gaming harm platform, yet is failing to spend funds raised to help Canberrans impacted by gambling.

It has been reported that about 25 per cent of local grassroot sporting organisations fear they will be insolvent due to covid.

Our local clubs are a major supporter of grassroot sports. The majority of clubs cannot reopen without opening their

gaming venues and are therefore losing money every day. If our clubs have no money they cannot help keep these teams going. It is time for the hypocrisy to end and for our community clubs to be allowed to fully reopen with appropriate safety and hygiene measures in place.

We call on the ACT government to introduce a “ClubKeeper” program derived from its unallocated taxes, to assist clubs to continue to support community groups, in addition to assisting them to maintain their assets.

Gwyn Rees, chief executive, ClubsACT

Macklin treated well!

COLUMNIST Robert Macklin’s left-wing, antiBritish and anti-Australian rantings suggest Australia has failed him.

But Australia has served and treated him well; our English language and Westminster system of government have equally served Australia well and in these troubled times are widely valued and deeply appreciated. Had it not been for British settlement Australia was destined to have become a French, Spanish or Dutch colony, perhaps even a Russian, German or Japanese state.

Macklin’s selective approach to history once more arose in his swipe at our politicians for not paying more heed to the matter of the failed British experiment with shoddy, high-rise accommodation tower blocks (CN, July 16). Indeed, there have been some high-rise tower failures but not all. The iconic Greenway flats at North Sydney appear to have survived

remarkably and served the community and tenants well and there are no doubt many other fine examples.

French architect Le Corbusier perhaps has something to answer for as he is credited with the accommodation-tower concept adopted around the world, not the British. The Whitlam government’s Melba Flats complex in the 1970s was also a failure and they were ultimately demolished.

Colin Dennett, Canberra

Ashamed of ‘dingy’ city

AS a Canberran living in the city for a long time, I feel ashamed at the dingy appearance of Garema Place in Civic. All this complacent government seems to be doing is installing new towers all over the city so it can get more and more revenue.

Years ago I used to love going to this spot that so well represented the centre of Civic. It was vibrant, had interesting shops, cafes and restaurants. Something akin to what Braddon is now.

Wouldn’t it be a welcome development to plant nice gardens and open more quality dining?

No wonder drug dealers and addicts find the area a suitable meeting place.

Frank Atkinson, Dunlop

Trying to get sympathy

DR Kirrily Jordan’s article titled, “From Manus to a ‘hostage’ year in a hotel room” (CN, July

23) discusses the recent plight of two illegal asylum seekers, named as Aran and Nico. She informs us that Nico has a wife and son back home but nothing about Aran, “the dreamer”.

However, she fails to inform us where these two people came from and why, let alone as to why these people have refused to accept the Australian government’s offer of repatriation. Instead she is tacitly trying to capture our sympathies; and I do not think this is satisfactory.

If she had properly and comprehensively informed us, we may choose to be sympathetic to these two particular people.

Vic Vorobieff, via email

Manuka’s lane of shame

SOME Canberra suburbs are beginning to look like moonscapes. Fewer people, less business and some walkways, such as Palmerston Lane, Manuka, that have hundreds of cigarette butts crushed into what were attractive ground tiles. As a daily passer-by, I can report they have been there for nearly 12 months. They are accompanied by pieces of old rags, bits of toilet paper, other disgusting droppings, open rubbish bins and offensive odours. All this within metres of shops selling food that are trying to maintain the anti-virus rules. The area demands immediate action.

Colliss Parrett, Barton Letters to: editor@citynews.com.au

Dr Karen mines goldfield stories for good fiction

By Kathryn VUKOVLJAK

A NEW series of eight short stories capturing the lucky strikes, greed, passion and crime of Australia’s gold rush era has been released by local publisher Obiter.

“Tom Morison’s Golden Christmas and Other Lost Australian Goldmining Stories” is the third in a series of books of stories that were originally serialised in the Australian press in the mid-1800s.

Publisher, co-curator and historian Dr Karen Downing says the books came about because of a project led by ANU associate professor Dr Katherine Bode, working with bibliographer Carol Hetherington.

The project “To Be Continued” used new methods to search the National Library of Australia’s Trove database and found a vast archive of more than 21,000 short stories that had been published in Australian newspapers from 1803 to 1955.

“These would have been one of the main sources of fiction during that time, with some authors new or anonymous, or well-known authors whose work was reproduced in serial form over a number of editions,” says Karen.

“There was usually one per week,

and we know people liked them – in a story called ‘The Widow Blane’, a miner asks if the newspapers have come in, as his wife is waiting for the next instalment!”

As the stories had never been published outside the press, Karen approached Katherine and suggested printing them in book form.

“The format appeals to readers but also makes it easy for literary scholars to access the text,” says Karen.

“We read close to 200 stories and whittled them down to 20, with an in troduction written by an academic to contextualise the story.”

Karen says Obiter has published one “To Be Continued” book a year since 2018, starting with “How I Pawned My Opals”, short stories by author Cath erine Martin featuring feisty hero ines in a “sort of chick lit” style, and “Christmas Eve in a Gum Tree”, where the festive season was marked by isolation, fire, flood, cyclones and drought.

“Many stories were set at Christmas, and I suspect it was a quieter time when people would read,” she says.

“There are descriptions of the Australian environment and accounts of natural disasters – it was always a harsh place.

“For Europeans it was such a different environment, but so many of the authors found real beauty in the animals, birds, vegetation and landscapes and the stories capture that.”

Historian Dr Karen Downing… “It’s not the truth so much that’s fascinating. It’s the conditions, the relationships… and imagining what readers were getting from it.”

Karen says that, as a historian, she sees the books as another way into the past, an artefact that gives a sense of how people lived, what they felt and thought.

“You can’t take the stories as fact but fiction is always a reflection of the world. It’s not completely made up,” she says.

“We know some authors had worked on the goldfields and were writing from

Photo: Holly Treadaway

first-hand experience. Some lay claim to a ‘true story’, but that might mean they’d heard it on the fields. We don’t know how much truth there is in that.

“But it’s not the truth so much that’s fascinating. It’s the conditions, the relationships, what was of importance at that time and imagining what readers were getting from it.”

Karen says the stories were chosen for both their literary and entertain-

ment value, while trying to cover all Australian states and feature female authors where possible.

“I like the female characters in ‘How I Pawned my Opals’. Catherine Martin’s stories feature wilful women who, like her, would make their own way in life, earn their own income and make their own decisions,” she says.

Many stories also show the diversity of people on the goldfields, from colonial white Australians, Chinese, other migrants and women to indigenous Australians.

“The texts are not unproblematic, with many terrible stereotypes, but not all,” she says.

“‘Tom Morison’s Golden Christmas’ features a story called ‘Gold Thirst’ where everyone behaves appallingly in their quest for gold, except the main character Lizzie, who is described by the term ‘half-caste’. She has the most integrity and honesty and I liked that, and the ambiguity of the characters that weren’t stereotypes.

“We’re seeing very complex characters and just the fact that they’re all there gives a different perspective of the goldfields to the popular imaginings of the hero diggers and mateship.”

“Tom Morison’s Golden Christmas and Other Lost Australian Goldmining Stories” and the books in the “To Be Continued” series are available at obiterpublishing.com, $25 each.

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When Tennant Street was an intelligence station

WITH an enormous range of different businesses that call Fyshwick home, the busy commercial hub has played a role in Australia’s history since it was gazetted in the 1920s.

In 1942, what is now Tennant Street, was a naval auxiliary wireless station, which operated during part of World War II (until 1946), under petty officer Marion Stevens, who was the only woman in charge of a transmitting station at the time.

Over its five years, 14 women from the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) operated the receivers for the strategic fixed radio links to Australia for Whitehall, Halifax and Bombay Fort.

Part of the Harman radio network, they used teleprinters when the reception was good, but during poorer radio propagation periods, morse code radiotelegraphy had to be used.

After the war the Molonglo station became a dog training school before the buildings were demolished in the early ‘80s.

Frank’s got a deal for sought-after webcams

WITH more than 20 years’ experience supporting the local community’s computer needs, Hi-Micro Computers focuses on everything IT for home users as well as small and medium businesses.

Owner Frank Fanayan says Hi-Micro Computer’s main focus is servicing all brands of laptop and desktop computers, offering both on-site and in-house support.

It also supplies a range of desktop and laptop com puters, printers and scanners as part of the business.

He says Hi-Micro Computers is also Canberra’s only Toshiba service agent, being responsible for the repair of every Toshiba laptop in the region.

“Our technicians can attend the client’s place of business or support remotely if customers aren’t able to travel,” says Frank.

“Customer service is at the top of the list for us. Our customers are treated as friends, and we work hard to establish trust and focus on getting results, with a high quality of work done fast, with no short cuts.”

Frank says while webcams have been in demand since the start of COVID-19 restrictions, Hi-Micro has Logitech webcams in store.

“They’re hard to get hold of at the moment, but we’re offering a deal for ‘CityNews’ readers from now until stocks run out of Logitech webcams for $45, which is almost 50 per cent off the usual price,” he says.

Hi-Micro Computer Systems, 6/18 Whyalla Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 7520.

developments and progress within the area,” he says.

While Ex-Government Furniture has many items that are perfect for setting up the home office, including a range of ergonomic desks and chairs, James says they also have pieces that can cross over into general interiors.

Right now, James says they have a range of high-quality designer furniture, including items by international designer Sean Dix, Melbourne-based furniture designer Ross Didier and the brand

Barber Steve only offers the best

WHETHER it’s a modern or classic cut, a relaxing hot towel shave or a beard trim, The Elite Barbershop offers traditional barber services, says owner Steve Carbone. Steve has been a barber for more than 25 years and says he prides himself on offering the best haircuts

“No gimmicks, nothing more than the best service and grooming,” he

The Elite Barbershop also offers a wedding service for the groom and groomsmen, by appointment only.

Thinking Works, including height-adjusta ble workstations and seating solutions.

In the store, James says there’s a bit of a “human corral” set up, where staff take customers through the store to fit with social distancing restrictions.

“It’s about limiting the numbers, but we look at it as a very attentive, personal service,” James says.

Ex-Government Furniture, 6 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 6490 or visit exgovfurniture.com or facebook.com/exgovfurniture

“We open the barber shop Monday to Friday and keep Saturday for weddings,” he says. Steve says he also enjoys meeting the different people he gets to connect with in the chair.

“It’s a place for men to come and chat as much as for grooming,” he says.

“It’s like a pub without alcohol and you can get cleaned up for the week ahead at the same time.”

The Elite Barbershop, Unit 9, 64 Wollongong Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 9501.

Dog treats that are fun and healthy

WITH a big love for the cheeky doggos in their lives, long-time friends and co-founders of Rascals Treats, Susie and Ben Hanns and Clare Guest naturally wanted to feed their pups the most delicious, nutritious food they could.

Amid fears of pet-food contamination and unhealthy, unregulated dog food, plus their desire to feed their dogs what they preferred to eat themselves – whole, healthy, cruelty-free food with a low environmental impact – the Rascals team started experimenting a few years ago with making their own dog treats at home.

“We started making homemade treats, just for fun as a healthier option and for something different,” says Susie.

Ben, Susie and Clare all follow a plant-based diet and share a passion for animals and the

environment, promoting positive animal welfare. Because of this, they’ve made sure that all treats are available in compostable packaging.

“We all know the time is now to be aware of the environment, to consider what we’re creating in the world and to waste as little as possible in the process,” says Ben.

“We’re proud to be part of a smart, sustainable business.”

Clare says: “We have also started a blog on our website this year to share stories about our business and our interests; ranging from sustainability, nutrition, dogs and more.”

Rascals Treats. Visit rascalstreats.com.au or find them on Instagram @rascals_treats or Facebook @rascalsdogtreats

Mechanic Damian tackles all car repairs

LOCATED on Townsville Street, Latin Motors owner Damian Jones has all car owners covered, no matter how minor or major their car repairs are.

The family-owned, long-established workshop opened its doors in 1979 and specialises in European makes and models.

But, Damian says the repair centre is equipped with professional-grade autorepair tools and equipment, which enables Latin Motors to service all vehicle makes and

“We always put our customers first, making sure they are notified and assured if there is any extra work found on their car,” he says. Damian, who did an apprenticeship in European cars, says he appreciates their fine engineering.

“I am factory-trained in Audi and SAAB and have more than 13 years of experience in all European vehicles,” he says.

“I pride myself on providing and delivering reliable, honest and efficient customer service and information to my customers, notifying of any additional work required prior to it being carried out.”

And, Damian says, when it comes to Latin Motors, customers can feel comfortable knowing they’ll be liaising directly with the mechanic who is working on their vehicle.

“It creates a directness between me and the customers. I am able to provide a personalised service,” he says.

Latin Motors, 56 Townsville Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 5586 or visit latinmotors.com.au

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrating sounds of ordinary stories

By Helen Musa

WHEN the National Film and Sound Archive throws open its doors again on Saturday, August 1, a new, more people-friendly permanent space will also open.

Tagged with that all-purpose arts title “Hive”, the new space will be free, offering visitors an opportunity to explore stories about the treasures in the NFSA’s formidable collection.

The centrepiece will be a new interac tive display called “Storywall”, produced by the NFSA and SBS Digital Creative Labs, but there will also be other interactive displays, such as a trivia game to test visitors on their knowledge of Australian culture and history and highlights from the Sounds of Australia registry, with all sections to be refreshed regularly.

I caught up with curator Tamara Osicka, one of the six NFSA experts “waiting” for visitors to interact with them in “Storywall” where life-size projections of themselves, accessible using mobile devices, will be seen digitally, showcasing items from the collection and chatting about their work.

Osicka’s favourite object is a 1930s aluminium record made by a woman in London wishing her granddaughter in Birmingham a happy birthday.

“The disc was recorded in 1935 and was a

message to her granddaughter Melda saying happy birthday from her grandma, who couldn’t come to her birthday party,” she says, explaining that the disc, never played at the time, was first played to Melda as an 84-year-old when the NFSA digitised it after her family, who had migrated to Australia in the 1950s, donated it to the archive.

“Music and speeches, environmental sounds, any sort of format, everything from wax cylinders to vinyl or technology like the MP3,” says Osicka.

“Recorded sound evokes emotion and memories of the sound of someone’s voice… it’s able to take you back to a particular

period. This has always been an important part of the archive and remains so.”

She’s particularly interested in Australia’s early sound-recording systems, including the wax cylinder, which was, she says, mostly for elitist people and very expensive. But it was an important technology. In 1899, for instance, Aboriginal Tasmanian woman Fanny Cochrane Smith was recorded in English speaking her own language. And in Adelaide, around the same time, a wealthy doctor held parties and invited friends to make recordings, now priceless for the insight they offer into an earlier Australia.

But, she says, the aluminium disc is a whole different story.

“The object I feature in ‘Storywall’ is a disc made at a booth in London. They were a bit like our passport photo cubicles, you’d step in, insert your money and make a 60-second recording which would come out on an aluminium disc… you’d be provided with wooden needles and a brown paper envelope to send it to the person your message was intended for.”

Automatic booths, she says, were installed in the 1930s in railway stations or tourist destinations. The NFSA has a disc made on Brighton Pier where a woman complains about getting blisters from exposure to the sun.

“Our project is called ‘Storywall’ because curators talk about a favourite object and the work we do,” she says.

The subject matter, she adds, is diverse. Documents and artefacts conservator Shingo Ishikawa, has chosen the platform shoes worn by Hugo Weaving in “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, and indigenous connections manager Tasha James focuses on the hat worn by Justine Saunders in the 1986 Bruce Beresford film “The Fringe Dwellers”. The stories are available in English, Arabic, French, Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.

“Hive”, NFSA, McCoy Circuit, Acton. Free, no bookings required.

Richard rocks on at an Epic scale

CANBERRA’S Shakespeare-specific theatre company, Lakespeare, is having fun with the Bard with a slimmed down version of “Richard III” it promises will be “like no other play ever produced in the national capital”.

Founded by Taimus Werner-Gibbings, Paul Leverenz and actors Lexi Sekuless and Duncan Driver, Lakespeare is already the expert in the “like-no-other” category, having staged rambunctious waterside productions of “Much Ado About Nothing”, “Twelfth Night” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to thousands of eager Canberrans over the past three years in their Shakespeare by the Lakes venture.

“Rockspeare Richard III” will be performed live (COVID-19 restrictions permitting) before a ticketed studio audience at EPIC. It will also be available through live streaming.

Sekuless herself takes on the directorial role for a 90-minute version of the play, with an all-star cast of 10, including Dene Kermond, Lainie Hart, Heidi Silberman, Damon Baudin and Duncan Driver. The Mallee Pavilion has been converted into a television studio, where eight cameras will document performances, using a mix of stage and audio-visual skills to give a contemporary twist to an old theatrical warhorse.

“Rockspeare Richard III”, Mallee Pavilion, EPIC, August 7 and 8. Bookings for both live and streamed experiences via eventbrite.com.au – Helen Musa

In painting, this ‘Orange’ is the new bleak

By Dougal MACDONALD

“The Burnt Orange Heresy” (MA)

THIS is the second dramatic feature from Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi whose provenance elsewise is a short list of TV series and short videos.

The tensions delivered from a screenplay by Scott B Smith adapting a novel by Charles Willeford begin slowly enough in an art gallery in Milan, where James (Danish actor Claes Bang) is delivering a lecture to an awestruck audience about a painting by a newly notable artist.

James is credible. But he’s also a joker, and the joke’s on both his audiences – those on the screen as well as us watching them.

With one exception. She’s tall, slim, noticeable eye candy Berenice who’s the only one to see through James’ deception. Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki plays her deftly as she starts the relationship with James in a delicately filmed nude sequence in which two handsome human animals get to know each other better.

The drama develops when gallery director Joseph (Mick Jagger) invites the pair to his palazzo to discuss a meeting with famous but reclusive octogenarian painter Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland).

Jerome might open up to James about his work. Jerome may be beyond pleasuring Berenice but he’s wily enough to court her innocently.

We’ve now met the four people on whom the story

depends. What remains is a dramatic development in the best tradition not of film noir as classically defined by pessimism, fatalism, and menace but of murder, greed and other varieties of dishonesty.

It’s entertaining enough right to the last sequence at which a gentle old man, four years after his death, gets his revenge over a scoundrel. Subtle, clever, blink and you’ll miss it. Roll closing credits.

The film’s title gets explained in restrained dramatic moments. It’s the name Jerome has given to a colour-field painting after stretching the canvas but before uncapping any tube of paint. That dramatic kicker underpins James’ reason for all that has preceded the film. Is he about to make big bucks by selling the only painting not destroyed by the fire in Jerome’s studio?

At Dendy and Palace Electric

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“Babyteeth” (M)

THERE’S not a kangaroo or koala to be seen in this Australian film that might have been made anywhere. It’s about people and events, designated on recognisable terms in a dramatic framework that people in any country or culture could readily recognise.

The principal character, early adolescent Milla (a lovely performance by Eliza Scanlen who barely out of her teens played Beth in Greta Gerwig’s production of “Little Women”) will not survive lymphatic cancer. She is the only child of psychiatrist Henry (Ben Mendelsohn) and concert pianist Anna (Essie Davis).

Henry and Anna get an unwelcome shock when Milla brings Moses (Toby Wallace) into the family circle. They have met on a suburban railway platform after he staunches a nose bleed resulting from a sudden contact. Moses’ life is blighted from other causes. He’s into drugs. He’s unwelcome in a household already coping with the certain prospect of losing a daughter sooner than later.

“Babyteeth” offers a generous sprinkling of comedy to moderate our awareness of the inevitability of its underlying sadness.

The four principal characters all give beautiful performances. There’s not much published information about writer Rita Kalnejais. She graduated from Victoria College of the Arts in 2001. Her plays have been produced on stage in the UK and the US. It seems that “Babyteeth” is her first screenplay. Hopefully, we will see more of her work.

Kalnejais’ screenplay needed all her skills to accommodate its episodic structure. “The Guardian” describes it as “a lovely, achey coming-of-age story that bursts with rare respect for its characters while tragedy peeks in through the curtains.” I wish I’d written that.

At Dendy and Palace Electric

WATCH IT! / streaming and stuff

Hot news in the

By Nick OVERALL

WHERE once we counted tickets sold for insight into how hot a new movie might be, it’s now about how many views it can rack up on a streaming service.

Netflix’s newest original film “The Old Guard” has become a quick hit, rising to join the ranks of the site’s most streamed, self-produced films.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it falls into the unstoppable Goliath of the superhero genre. You only need to have a squiz at the premise to see why it’s getting clicks. My best attempt to summarise is: a covert team of “super immortal mercenaries” who can heal themselves are at threat of exposure to the world and must combine their powers in order to protect their identities and freedom.

Pod People get theatre doors open

ARTS IN THE CITY By Helen Musa

CANBERRA Theatre Centre will open the doors for its first ticketed event since March, with a strictly limited-capacity gig opening with performances by metal legends and pioneers of Australian doom metal, Pod People, sludge rock duo Lucifungus and grindcore band Wretch. Link Bar, 8pm, August 8. Bookings canberratheatrecentre. com.au or 6275 2700.

YOUNG organ virtuoso, Linus Lee, will be performing music on the Wesley Church organ which was originally composed by JS Bach, Joseph Haydn, Beethoven, Grieg and Lefébure-Wély for other instruments. Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, 12.40-1.20pm, Wednesday, August 5. Bookings essential at trybooking. com/BKNFH or 6232 7248.

CANBERRA’S legendary Guitar Trek, led by Tim Kain, has just released a new album, “Bluetongue”, on the Naxos label, featuring all-Aussie works for guitar. Kain has been working with producer Norbert Kraft in St Paul’s Church Newmarket, Canada, just outside of Toronto. To purchase visit naxos.com

views

big screen or streamed at home, still remains such a draw card for viewership. You’ve got Sandra Bullock in “Bird Box”, Mark Wahlberg in “Spenser Confidential” (#3 on the list), Ryan Reynolds in “6 Underground” (#4), Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in “Murder Mystery” at #5, and on it goes.

FURTHER to our recent news that playwright Dylan Van Den Berg had won the Griffin Award, The Street Theatre has announced a work-inprogress online showing of his play “Milk” at 5pm on Friday, August 7, directed by Gin Savage. Spanning two centuries, the play tracks a conversation between three Aboriginal ancestors stranded together on a metaphysical Flinders Island off the coast of Tasmania. Limited places, book at thestreet.org.au

TUGGERANONG Arts Centre has a new multi-disciplinary project, “First Response”, in which artists Martin Ollman, Marissa McDowell, Anna Georgia and Shannon Hanrahan use photography, video, film, drawing and dance to document Canberra’s role in responding to the COVID-19 crisis and the effect on individuals and communities. At Tuggeranong Arts Centre, July 28-September 19.

Sound a bit familiar? It’s “X-Men” cross “The Avengers” cross “The Expendables” cross “The Umbrella Academy” cross “Watchmen” cross “Titans” cross... you no doubt see what I’m getting at.

What Marvel studios pulled off with its cinematic universe and “The Avengers” is incredible. Although hard to avoid the dreaded “derivative” word, what “The Old Guard” seems to demonstrate is that production companies are cooking up an almost perfect, what I’m going to call “marvelesque” formula, in order to get people watching and it’s working.

On the current hype of “The Old Guard”, Netflix has backed itself by releasing its top 10 most streamed original films.

The Chris Hemsworth military fuelled blockbuster “Extraction” that I covered earlier this year was revealed as number 1 with a whopping 99 million views. The 2018 hit “Bird Box”, the horror movie about monsters you can’t look at, closely follows at 89 million views.

Now breaking 70 million, “The Old Guard” has just jumped to the number 6 spot, moving past Martin Scorsese’s 2019 masterpiece “The Irishman”, and it

I’m not pointing out much by saying that with few exceptions, the films on this list don’t really fit the bill of “original” in the truest sense. Not that it makes them any less enjoyable but I’m sure I’m not alone in being excited to see “The Platform”, a unique Spanish science fiction film, make it to the list in the #9 spot.

SPEAKING of something new, over on Apple TV+ they’ve got a big new film trying to give Netflix a run for its money.

Tom Hanks stars as a World War II US Navy commander in “Greyhound”. His job is to lead an allied convoy through what’s now known as one of the largest naval battles in history: The Battle of the Atlantic.

“Greyhound” isn’t based on a true story per se, but is rather an action-packed, 90-minute window into what the battle could have looked like for many, seen through the eyes of fictional characters.

Hanks also wrote the screenplay for this one and its fast pace seems a ride worth taking. While “Greyhound” and “The Old Guard” are on opposite ends of the genre spectrum, I reckon Tom Hanks is almost a real-life, all-healing superhero, don’t you?

CANBERRA’S Art in Miniature (AIM) painting group is travelling south to Cooma to exhibit miniature art works, an art form that has existed since the 8th century. Founded in 2001, this is AIM’s 20th exhibition. The tiny, jewel-like art works depict everything from the landscape to kitchen benches to flora and fauna. Raglan Gallery, 9-11 Lambie Street, Cooma, Wednesday to Sunday, 10.30am-3.30pm, August 5-September 27.

THE 2020-21 Seniors Grant Program and 2020-21 Veterans Grant Program have opened for applications of up to $10,000 that pursue innovative ideas for projects, activities and initiatives that support Canberra seniors. In the previous round, two arts organisations, ArtSound radio and Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres featured, so it’s time to get thinking. Applications to communityservices. act.gov.au/home/grants close at 5pm, October 30.

Set menus with bold flavours

By Wendy JOHNSON

IT was our first visit to Lanterne Rooms’ new location in the Iskia Building on Constitution Avenue in Campbell. The fitout of the new premises (both indoors and out) is elegant, well thought-out, warm and inviting.

We love the smaller rooms inside and made a note to return one day to dine outside before our party of three quickly settled in to check out the menu.

Like many restaurants dealing with the continual challenges COVID-19 creates, Lanterne Rooms is operating with set menus at the moment – a banquet menu at $65 per person and the chef’s tasting menu at $85 per person (selection of options applies to the whole table). Two sittings are being offered per night, with a limited number of guests per sitting.

Our culinary experience took us through the six dishes of the chef’s tasting menu and it was a wonderful starter. For our second starter we selected the tom yum infused prawns, plump and juicy and a bit on the sweet side. The accompany-

moist and we appreciated the fresh, lively cucumber salad with ginger and shallot, which helped cut through the richness of the spatchcock.

A star dish of the evening was the last main, the slow-cooked Angus beef curry ‘Kampung style’ (Kampung means ‘village’ so this is comforting home-style cooking at its best). The vibrant colours were inspiring and curry leaves danced about the dish. The flavours were sensational although some pieces of the beef could have been cooked a tad longer so they could fall apart. Still, it was an impressive, great-looking dish and typical of the bold Nyonya flavours with soul the Lanterne Rooms is famous for.

Our only comment on the menu design was that a vegetarian dish would have rounded matters for our liking and balanced the heavier emphasis on protein.

We agreed some dishes rolled out too quickly, so some were lukewarm by the time we got to them and we did feel a bit rushed (unusual for a member of The Chairman Group) towards the end. We may have been part of the problem arriving a little late for our booking (heaps of trouble getting a taxi). That might have been an influencing factor for the kitchen, which is fair enough.

Lanterne Rooms’ sister restaurant in Canberra, Chairman and Yip, is also offering diners a set menu during these crazy COVID times.

Go early, go cheap is the mantra

By Richard CALVER

COVID-19 is the abomination we live with, inclusive of the government edicts that invade our minds.

The Victorian slogan “Staying Apart Keeps Us Together” for example is the epitome of Orwellian doublespeak that makes me grit my teeth with loathing every time these words appear in the background when Premier Andrews or his chief health officer dish up the latest admonition on television.

Orwell knew that totalitarian states had to nurture within their populations doublethink, which is the ability to hold two completely contradictory thoughts simultaneously while believing both of them to be true.

But we must reluctantly admit that this virulent stranger, this oppressive unseen vacationer of death and pestilence has changed our lives, including damaging the incomes of many. The wine industry has not been immune.

Licensed venues closed on March 22 and those suppliers who depend on supplying that market have been hard hit. But in the so-called “off-trade” channel, to adopt the marketers’ jargon, there was a spike in sales because of panic buying in March and April. Wine Australia reports that the value of wine sales increased by 1.4 per cent in the four weeks to March 8, yet they increased by 17.4 per cent in the next four weeks.

This surge seems to have ameliorated if you view self-reporting with any statistical significance; the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics’ survey of household impacts of COVID-19 shows that 72 per cent of Australians reported drinking

alcohol at the same levels as previously with a fine balance between the rest of the population: 15 per cent reported drinking less, 14 per cent drinking more. Hmmm, oops, that’s me in the last corner, losing my religion – to slightly misquote REM.

The other notable issue is that the cheaper end of the market has boomed. Wine Australia says that all price points benefitted from the surge in sales “with the notable exception of wines above $50 per bottle”. Go early, go cheap seems to be the mantra that people have adopted: Wine Australia says that the fastest growing segment of the wine market was the $6-$9.99 a bottle market with the

value of sales in that segment growing 31 per cent in the month to early April.

I Googled wines under $3 a bottle and found that at Aldi they have a wine at $2.99 a bottle called Precious Earth shiraz. First Choice has a Hidden Gem cabernet merlot at $2.85 across any six. Dan Murphy’s has a McGuigan Black Label merlot for $2.85 in any six. I have not tried any of these wines but they exist. They are out there and prospering.

On the other hand, I have chosen to give the other end of the market a boost. I purchased a case of the 2015 Voyager Estate Margaret River 2015 shiraz. It retails at around $39 a bottle and has helped me ride out this current COVID storm. It is medium bodied, fresh yet full of depth and quality tannins. It goes very well with rare meat.

This is a Halliday five-star-rated vineyard known for its cabernet sauvignons.

But the good cab savs are over $100 per bottle so I settled. And I prefer shiraz. Forty dollars a bottle is my limit and, in the opposite of losing my religion, I thank the gods I can afford that quality.

The point is that we are consciously thinking about the way we purchase wine, just as we have to rethink the way we live and work.

So many meetings have been held online. Face-to-face has almost disappeared. Similarly, Wine Australia says “the biggest channel winner for wine purchases is online, driven by younger male, wine engaged urbanites”. Wow, when I mentioned this to Chris Mac on 2CC recently he hiccoughed with laughter and said: “Don’t mention the latte set.” But I must.

The final message is that almost half of all consumers told Wine Australia that for the future they will be placing a higher priority on saving money. The virus has eaten into our lives and into our wallets. In doublespeak: we will get more for less money.

Chris’ Trees

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GARDENING

SOME weeks ago, I cut to ground level a miniature chrysanthemum, which only grows to 20 centimetres tall. The subsequent spread now forms a perfect grey-leafed ground cover.

Each patch was about 30 centimetres round and has now increased to twice that area. This makes it perfect for digging up sections and dividing to fill gaps in the garden.

From a patch the size of the palm of my hand I can easily get 10-15 rooted cuttings. Which brings me to the point, if chrysanths haven’t already been cut back to ground level, do so now without delay and divide.

Likewise, prune hydrangeas now as the new buds will be starting to appear. Despite advice that they will not tolerate full sun and must have regular and deep watering, I have found the opposite in numerous gardens.

A classic example is in front of the Parish Hall of All Saints Church in Ainslie, where the hydrangeas receive the full summer sun and seem never to be watered.

They were pruned back to just one metre last winter and are more than two metres tall now – and about to get their winter prune. From the base, I count three leaf buds and then chop, at the same time removing any obvious dead stems and thinning where overcrowding is obvious.

The same for wisteria; from the main branches count three buds and then chop, cutting back those long wispy shoots. It’s also advisable to give this superb climber a similar prune in summer after flowering.

A few interesting items about wisteria:

• The spelling: the genus was named by Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) after Caspar Wistar (16961752), a German glassmaker and one of the earliest colonists of Pennsylvania, US. Nuttall spelt it wisteria, as it is today.

• Wisteria has been cultivated as a garden plant in Chinese gardens for more than 1500 years.

The most widely grown Wisteria sinensis or Chinese wisteria with various shades of mauve blossoms. Wisteria are unique in that the Chinese

cut back to ground level, do so now without delay.

wisteria twines around its supports in an anticlockwise fashion whereas the less popular Wisteria floribunda or Japanese wisteria twines in a clockwise direction.

• The seeds, leaves and flowers of the Chinese wisteria are all used in Chinese medicine and the parboiled flowers are eaten fried or made into sweet cakes.

A POINT on feeding plants, the optimum time is early spring and autumn when the flowers and fruit are forming.

When plants have already started flowering it is of no real benefit except for perhaps annuals with their relatively long flowering period, polyanthus, pansies etcetera and veggies.

The best indicator is when one sees the buds forming on all varieties of plants including bulbs with buds forming soon after the appearance of the leaves. Once they start to flower it may make you feel good, but you are wasting plant fertiliser.

coming to the end of their long flowering period giving us flowers all winter. The Camellia japonica is covered in buds.

If ours are anything to go by, the mild winter and few severe frosts mean they will be flowering early, possibly by a few weeks. No, it’s not climate change!

With this in mind, now’s a good time to check out garden centres for shrubs showing lots of buds. This will be indicative of a good flowering plant.

LEON DELANEY

PUZZLES PAGE

Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

FREE PUZZLES EVERY DAY AT citynews.com.au

Are you procrastinating about which project to pursue? A bored and unengaged Ram is a recipe for trouble. With the Full Moon activating your aspirations zone, focus intently on your goals for the future. However – with your ruler Mars racing through your sign (and squaring Jupiter) – too much haste could land you in hot water. So do your best to get the balance right between thinking things through and taking action. On the weekend it’s time to hunker down at home.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

The focus is on Home Sweet Home as the Sun, Mercury and Venus visit your domestic and neighbourhood zones. So it’s a good week to patch up problems with a relative, spruce up your living space or make improvements in your local community. The Full Moon also urges you to display your true capabilities, as you discover your individual groove and assert your independence at work. Avoid being too stubborn though. If you experiment and explore, then you’ll really shine.

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

Courtesy of the Covid crisis, times are tough, travel is limited and many places around the world are still in lockdown. This week the Full Moon encourages you to explore and experiment as you study, travel locally or venture into brave new personal territory. It’s also important to capitalise on your current international contacts. With careful nurturing, who knows where they will lead in the future? The period from August 5-20 is the perfect time to tap into your creative side.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

Expect a tempestuous week, as Monday night’s Full Moon magnifies your mood swings and the Mars-Jupiter square cranks up your crabby side. Pace yourself and try to keep things in perspective! On Friday, Venus shifts into your sign (until September 6). So your motto for the moment is from actor, producer, comedy icon and birthday great Lucille Ball: “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

This week the Sun and Mercury move through Leo, so your dynamic nature is on display for all to see. But the Mars-Jupiter square turbo-charges your tendency to overdo things. So there’s a predilection to promise the Moon and then underdeliver or blow your budget with a spontaneous spending spree. Clever Cats will rein in extravagance with a healthy dollop of discipline. As birthday great Martha Stewart observes: “Life is too complicated not to be disciplined and orderly.”

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Prepare for a colourful and chaotic week! Mercury (your patron planet) moves through fiery Leo, from Wednesday until August 20. So creative ideas and persuasive arguments will keep your mercurial mind well stimulated. But the Mars-Jupiter square looks rather disruptive, as it takes your usual routine and turns it upside down. Plus avoid the tendency to criticise yourself… and others. With a focused and flexible attitude, you’ll navigate your way through any temporary turbulence.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Monday night’s Full Moon stimulates your peer group and aspirations zones. So make sure you surround yourself with family and close friends who encourage your talents and support your dreams. Then Venus (your power planet) visits your career zone from August 7-September 6, which will help you approach professional tasks with more diplomacy and creativity. And it should also lead to improved relationships with work colleagues, clients and/or customers.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

You have ambitious professional plans and goals for the future but sometimes you hold yourself back for fear of looking foolish. This week’s stars encourage you to be confident and proactive as you reach for the stars! You’re in the mood to fix something around the house or repair a problematic relationship with a stressed relative. A family member could also turn to you for some insightful words of wisdom. If you listen to your intuition, then you’ll know just what to say.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Courtesy of the Mars-Jupiter square, you could blow your budget with a spontaneous spending spree. Or commit yourself to an ambitious project that you really don’t have the time or enthusiasm for. Short-term big talk is no good if it doesn’t translate into long-term action. Patience and persistence are the keys. So your motto is from birthday great Barack Obama: “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

This week it’s all about money honey, as the Full Moon stirs up trouble and you need to find a fast and innovative solution to a cash flow problem. If you’re a clever Capricorn, then you’ll pal up with a financially astute person who helps you find ways to develop a second stream of income. The more proactive, creative and collaborative you are, the more positive your financial future will be! It’s also a good time to get closer to loved ones who you can trust and rely on.

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

This week’s stars (including the Full Moon in Aquarius) could make you much more stubborn and reckless than usual. So proceed carefully with all forms of communication, especially social media. Otherwise you could provoke a negative response from a cranky ex, a hidden enemy or a known frenemy! It’s time to forgive and forget; let go and move on. As entrepreneur and birthday great Martha Stewart observes: “Without an open mind, you can never be a great success.”

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

On Monday night you’ll feel compelled to connect with your inner world or help someone in need, as the Full Moon fires up your spiritual and humanitarian zone. With the Sun and Mercury visiting your job zone, dynamic and decisive action is required at work. But don’t waste your numerous talents with constant daydreaming that leads nowhere! If you procrastinate and dither around, then promising opportunities and important connections will promptly pass you by.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2020

General knowledge crossword No. 744

4 What do we call a person who is completely dependent on something? (6)

7 Which AFL team won the 2008 premiership? (8)

8 What are persons employed to tend horses? (6)

9 Who are the commanders-in-chief of navies? (8)

11 Which sloping styles of printing types are used for emphasis? (7)

13 Which term is descriptive of a gun? (7)

15 What is a large building of imposing appearance? (7)

17 What was the profession of Doc Holliday? (7)

20 Name a fibrous amphibole used for making fireproof articles. (8)

23 What is a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of water? (6)

24 What are either ends of yards of square sails? (8)

25 Which device holds boats, vessels and the like, in place? (6)

Down

1 What is a division of a hospital called? (4)

2 What is Australian English, humorously and affectionately called? (6)

3 Name a robe of office, or a professional gown. (4)

4 What is a feeling of dread, fear, etc? (5)

5 To draw figures while preoccupied, is to do what? (6)

6 Which term describes a humorist? (5)

9 Who was the King of England, known as “the Great”? (6)

10 Name some of the marine gastropod molluscs found adhering to rocks. (7)

12 Which term applies to women of violent temper and speech? (6)

14 To fasten or join, is to do what? (6)

16 Which term relates to financial matters in general? (6)

18 What was the first stage name of Reginald Dwight? (5)

19 In classical mythology, which woodland deity is represented as part human, and part goat? (5)

21 To weary by tedious repetition, is to do what? (4)

22 What are the units of electrical resistance called? (4)

SHARP PENALTIES FOR MESSING WITH SUPER CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT

As part of the COVID-19 stimulus package, eligible individuals could take $10,000 from their superannuation funds before June, 2020. And a second opportunity to withdraw another $10,000 can be made in the 2021 financial year subject to meeting the relevant criteria.

For the first round, applicants had to log on to MyGov, fill in the application and sign the declaration confirming eligibility.

The second round of applications for the current financial year have to be made by December 31 using the same process. These amounts are not taxable in either year.

To be eligible, applicants must be either a citizen or permanent resident of Australia or NZ and need the funds as the result of "adverse economic effects caused by COVID-19".

The second part of these criteria is that applicants must also either be unemployed or receiving government benefits or have been made redundant or had work hours reduced by 20 per cent or more after January 1, 2020.

One of the comments made to me was: “The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) won’t know how much I have earned anyway”. Just to confirm all large and most small employers now have to report their payroll every pay period to the ATO using single touch payroll. So it is very easy for the ATO to see if your pay has reduced and ask you for the proof of your reduced work hours.

Because we are in an environment of self-assessment, whatever you put on your MyGov application is taken at face value and deemed to be correct in the first instance without checks or balances.

The ATO then checks after the event. So you need to be able to produce evidence to justify the claim that you made. What if you can’t? This is where it can get nasty.

The tax-free $10,000 would be included in your assessable income and becomes taxed. This could result in tax payable of between $2000 and $5000 depending on other income.

In addition if the ATO thinks that you've made a false or misleading statement, penalties of up to $12,600 could be applied.

So you could have to pay between $14,600 and $17,600 because you applied for early release of super when you weren’t entitled to do so.

Also, earlier in the year, it was suggested in the media that individuals could take the $10,000 and recontribute it as a taxdeductible, personal contribution, which would give them an extra refund of between $2000 and $5000 depending on taxable income.

So $10,000 is tax free and you get an extra refund resulting from the tax deduction.

Be assured, the ATO is looking out for this and will be examining every case so you really need to be careful if you employed this strategy. Then there are the penalties you will be charged which could be substantial because the ATO will use the anti-avoidance provisions of Part IVA to arrive at any penalty figure.

So what do you do if you realise that you have claimed your super and were not eligible?

Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd can help you with this. It's best to take action before the ATO commences audit action against you because that will certainly result in penalties.

If you have any questions about early release of superannuation, or any other tax matter call the friendly team at Gail Freeman & Co.

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.