CityNews 210121

Well written, well read

The stacked boards killing Canberra

PAUL COSTIGAN

Time captain Tim declared his innings

ROBERT MACKLIN Why seafood beats meat next Christmas

CLIVE WILLIAMS

BUILDING, A FUTURE

JO FARRELL wants more women to take up the tools

NEWS / confessions of a snake catcher

Stay calm, brown snakes are scared of you, too

By Nick OVERALL

THE Eastern Brown Snake is one of the most feared creatures in Australian wildlife. It can grow to 2.5 metres and strike at a metre a second. And Gavin Smith can’t get enough of them.

An associate professor of social science at the ANU and owner and operator of ACT Snake Removal, Gavin wants to foster a safer relationship between people and snakes.

“I’m fascinated by snakes and their behaviour, as I am our response to the animal. I want to really help people understand snakes better,” he says.

It might seem improbable that Gavin’s two passions, sociology and snake catching, would overlap, but he’s fascinated by the social relationship people have with the serpents.

“Part of why snakes are so terrifying to us is their complete disregard for the societal structures that we ourselves place so much importance on,” he says.

“I’ve had to remove snakes from embassies, places we as people very much understand to stay away from. For snakes, there’s no respect, no awareness of our constructed boundaries. It’s this collision of wildlife and social life that really makes us terrified.”

INDEX

Gavin also thinks it’s how our cultural representations of snakes throughout history have further contributed to our fear of the reptiles.

“We’ve seen them represented as evil in history as far back as the book of ‘Genesis’ with the snake that manipulated Adam and Eve. There’s also examples like the serpents that make up the hair of Medusa,” he says.

Gavin’s had to remove snakes not only from backyards, but car parks, a soccer team’s kit bag, a weapons bunker and even multiple major shopping centres.

“The Eastern Brown is the most common type found here in the ACT, but there’s still plenty of other snakes around that we also deal with when needed,” says Gavin.

While he’s had a slightly quieter summer, he says people still need to be conscious of snake activity.

“We’ve had a wet summer and so we’ve seen a lot of growth of tall grass and plant life. I think that the snakes might be using that as camouflage and so might be being seen less. People should be very cautious around tall grass,” he says.

After catching the snakes, he relocates them to a more suitable, non-residential environment.

He says brown snakes play a crucial ecological role by eating vermin, such as mice and rats, help with the control of numbers of other native species and provide a food source for other animals.

Gavin is part of a team of researchers conducting a study that will soon track the movements of 12 brown snakes in the

Since 1993: Volume 27, Number 3

Arts & Entertainment 19-21

Canberra Matters 9

Cinema & Streaming 20

Crossword 23

Dining 21

Garden 18

Horoscopes 23

Jumbo Crossword 22

Letters 14

News 3-15

Seven Days 4 Cover: Determined Jo Farrell’s spent her life building a future. Photo by Holly Treadaway. Story Page 10.

Ph 02 6189 0777

Managing Director: James Anderson, 0404 077605, james@citynews.com.au

Canberra area.

The study aims to understand how far the snakes travel, the time of day and tempera tures at which they are active, and where they go dormant in the colder months.

“We are hoping the study will help edu cate the public about how snakes operate in the suburbs and inform translocation poli cies and conservation efforts,” says Gavin.

He also wants to teach as many people as possible how to be more safe around snakes.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to present them as cute and cuddly. These are dangerous creatures,” he says.

“But what a lot of people forget is that they’re terrified of us, too. If you have a snake in your house or if there’s conflict with pets of course give us a call, but at many times when seeing a snake the most important thing to do is remain calm and leave it alone.”

Gavin thinks that slowly but surely peo ple are becoming more aware of the impor tance of protecting these creatures.

“During the devastating bushfires last year Australians saw our beautiful wildlife so tragically destroyed,” he says.

“I think that event might have made peo ple a little more conscious of caring for our wildlife.”

Ultimately Gavin loves what he does as a snake catcher because it means he gets to serve his community.

“It’s knowledge that breeds greater tolerance,” he says.

“The better we understand snakes, the less we might fear them.”

Director: Kate Meikle, kate@citynews.com.au

Senior advertising account executives: David Cusack, 0435 380656

Tracey Avery, 0477 939999

Advertising account executives: Damien Klemke, 0439 139001

Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au

Digital news editor: Danielle Nohra, danielle@citynews.com.au

Journalists: Andrew Mathieson, andrew@citynews.com.au

Nick Overall, nick@citynews.com.au

Belinda Strahorn, belinda@citynews.com.au; Nathan Schmidt, nathan@citynews.com.au

Kathryn Vukovljak, kathryn@citynews.com.au

Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764, helen@citynews.com.au

Production manager: Janet Ewen

Proof reader: Glenda Anderson

LORRAINE WHITE, PARTNER

Highly

Please

SEVEN DAYS

Deflowering, definitions and diare… diarrhoea!

SO, how was the break? Mine was highlighted by not one, not two but three enforced COVID-19 up-yer-nose tests, for no particular reason.

I was deflowered, so to speak, in a shipping container at a roadside testing facility at Tailem Bend on the way to Adelaide where a charming young woman took a retchworthy throat swab then inserted the same cotton tip deep into the nasal caverns of my cranium, where she spun the lot for three insanely itchy seconds.

Too much TV, but I thought they used two ends of a swab separately. However, on enquiry I have discovered mucus mixing is definitely de rigueur in the ACT, Victoria, NSW and Queensland… and SA.

Driving untroubled across a veritable garden of green zones from Canberra and armed with the requisite “passport” that promised “unrestricted access to South Australia” whistling through the Pinnaroo checkpoint was going to be a breeze. Except it wasn’t.

Under questioning by a plump policeman, I was told I was required to take a covid test on days one, five and 12. Why, the borders are open? “Because we don’t know where you’ve been,” he said. There was no direction to isolate until the inevitable negative results came back, just compliance would do.

“The coppers will be checking on you,” Constable Plod brightly threatened. No one did and I sullenly presented myself for the

subsequent swabbing at drive-through testing points and complied with this abundance of not caution, but wasteful obsession. There seemed to be no point to it, an observation confirmed by my never receiving results for tests two and three. Roll on the vaccine.

ON a (much) lighter note, once again “The Washington Post” has published the winning submissions to its yearly “neologism” contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words. I can’t resist sharing the 16 winners:

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how

Kerstin Glomb Estate Planning Special Counsel

much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, olive-flavoured mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.), emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon, a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), the belief that, when you die, your soul flies up on to the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

AND while on words, Google’s most com -

monly misspelled word has been revealed as “diarrhoea”. Some people just can’t work it out, for which I have some sympathy; the word’s five vowels and a double “rr” stumped 122,000 Google users in the last month. Next was a personal favourite (that I can spell), “separate” (eluding 90,000 people) and in third place, “zucchini” (57,500).

Depressingly, the research found that only 28 per cent of people own a dictionary and 64 per cent of participants relied on technology such as Siri and Alexa to help them spell words.

The rest of the words on the list are: “Potato” (46,000 times wrong), “Questionnaire” (31,500), “Definitely” (13,100), “Embarrass” (13,000), “Conscience” (12,600), “Unnecessary” (9270), “Bureaucracy” (4770) and finally, another five-vowel challenger, “Manoeuvre” (750).

Ian Meikle is the “CityNews” editor and can be heard weekly on the “CityNews Sunday Roast” on 2CC, 9am-noon.

YES WE ARE OPEN HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR CHRONIC PAIN?

DAILY GRADED MOVEMENT THERAPY

Movement is medicine. Supervised and graded exercise/movement therapy is important in order to increase activity levels and improve fitness. At Capital Hydrotherapy we focus on hydrotherapy treatment, as the water is taking 70% of the load off the joints (depending on depth), which allows for quicker recovery and increased tolerance.

SCHEDULED PACING

Understanding pacing techniques encourages behavioural change. The aim of pacing is to gradually increase over time the level of routine functioning. If you can function within your individual limits you may then try to gradually increase your activity levels while maintaining pacing methods.

A ‘Doing Diary’ may help you – which allows you to take control of your daily routines and start a management strategy plan. Set manageable daily activities and exercise goals to balance the activity with rest and avoid a possible flare-up.

COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION

If you understand the complexity of your condition, recovery is much more likely. Communication involves having the diagnosis and causes explained to you by a professional, and educating you about self-management strategies.

SLEEP HYGIENE

Sleep and full relaxation allows your internal system to recover. Your muscles repair, your nerves, tendons, and ligaments ease, and your organs restore. Restoration is essential.

STRESS MANAGEMENT, MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS

Having a daily scheduled 10-15 minute meditation or mindfulness practice (or visualisation) has helped many of our chronic pain patients.

NEWS / Global School Partners

Schools charity turns to soap and hand sanitiser

By Kathryn VUKOVLJAK

AS part of its support for remote schools in Kenya, Global School Partners has been raising money for hand-washing stations, face masks, thermometers, soap and hand sanitiser so that schools forced to close by covid can safely reopen, says CEO Simon Carroll.

“While we’re usually looking at ways to improve the learning environment in schools, now we are supporting them to reopen, with covid precautions in place,” he says.

Simon says they were aiming to send $1500 a school to start them off in terms of the PPE that’s needed, and have mostly met that goal.

“All the schools we support have water tanks in place now, so installing hand-washing stations is relatively straightforward, but we are very aware that they’ll need more supplies soon,” he says.

While Global School Partners hasn’t been able to host its usual fundraisers because of covid, Simon says they have done a raffle that raised “a lot, not enough, but it helped”.

“Of the money we’ve been able to send so far, eight or nine schools here

in Australia have done fundraising, and we make sure 100 per cent of that goes to the partner school,” he says.

“We also appeal to private donors and corporate sponsorships.”

The schools supported by Global School Partners have been closed since March, and Simon says that most students, except year 8, will have to repeat the year as they weren’t able to do school work at home.

“The families live in remote vil lages, without electricity or internet, so they couldn’t go online to study like we did here,” he says.

“We initially sent photocopies of lesson plans, but then it was decided by the government that they would repeat.”

Over the past 10 years, Zimbabweborn Simon and his wife, Dr Jann Carroll, who’s from South Africa, have supported 27 schools through creat ing partnerships between primary schools in Africa and Australia, con necting thousands of students from Canberra, Sydney and SA with about 17,000 students in Kenya.

The couple started Global School Partners in 2010 after Jann, while working as a volunteer teacher in Soweto, was shocked that some children were not attending school because they didn’t have shoes.

“Three children had stopped com ing to class, and when I found out why, I bought them the $20 shoes,” she says.

Co-founders of Global School Partners, Dr Jann Carroll and Simon Carroll… “While we’re usually looking at ways to improve the learning environment in schools, now we are supporting them to reopen.”

Photo: Kathryn Vukovljak

schools supported by Global School Partners look likely to close, one of which has been part of the program almost since the beginning.

“It’s a rip to the heart to potentially lose two of our schools, and there are so many in need,” he says.

“There are thousands of schools that don’t have access to water, and there’s a very real danger that many will never reopen.

“There might be other schools out of the area that they could access, but it’s a fear that many children won’t realistically be able to get to a school.”

Pre-covid, Global School Partners would visit and vet each school to ensure eligibility and sustainability.

Simon hasn’t been able to visit Kenya since January last year, but says while he was there he lined up three more schools that are awaiting partnership, as well as building a list of 10 to 12 more eligible schools in desperate need.

“We’re always looking for more school partners in Australia,” he says.

“We want to be able to maintain the one-to-one school partnerships, so it stays a personal, ongoing relationship that benefits both sides, rather than a

“The schools in Kenya are going to need more PPE very soon, in order to be sustainable and safe, and stay open.”

Get involved or donate at globalschoolpartners.org.au

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.

THE GADFLY / cricket

It’s time captain Tim declared

TIM Paine, the Australian cricket captain has done his country a great service and should feature prominently in the next honours list. But cricket is essentially a game about timing; and the time has come for Tim to declare his innings closed. His career has been a kind of poetry in motion. At 16, he was the youngest ever to score a $10,000 Cricket Australia contract in 2000. At the time he said: “These new contracts are a great idea. It’s good to give young players something to show them that they’re in the back of the minds of the administrators and the coaches.”

His good “cricket brain” and steady hand on the field suggested “foreman material” and he captained most of his young teams as he rose through the ranks. He first played for Tasmania in 2005 and not only impressed behind the stumps, he peeled off a one-day century followed by a double-century in his next innings.

However, at the Test level, Queanbeyan’s Brad Haddin was firmly ensconced as a

At 36, Tim Paine has two options: to soldier on until the selectors have no real choice but to drop him or to make a gracious exit to the applause of a grateful nation.

wicket-keeper who could score muchneeded quick runs in the middle order. It was not until he was injured in 2010 that Tim had his chance to show his wares in a series against Pakistan and then India before Haddin resumed his place for the 2010-11 Ashes series.

But he had tasted life among the elites and for the next six years, despite injuries he struggled on until at 33 in 2017 he’d pretty much decided to retire. That was when the Tasmanian fast bowler turned State coach, Adam Griffith talked him out of it and in a surprise move the Test selectors chose him over the better credentialed Matthew Wade. Nevertheless, when the team set out for South Africa under captain Steve Smith he had still not proved himself as a settled member of the elite fraternity.

Then came disaster. To the astonishment and horror of the cricketing world TV cameras picked up the images of young Australian opener

Cameron Bancroft rubbing sandpaper (kept in his underpants) on the ball to assist its swing in flight. Smith confessed that he and “the leadership group” were party to the cheating. He stood down and along with vice-captain David Warner (and Bancroft) he was subsequently banned for a year.

Tim Paine took the mantle and with it the anguish of Australian fans and international followers of the great game. With the support of a new, respected coach in Justin Langer and the brilliant Pat Cummins as vice-captain he set about restoring the team and the country’s pride on and off the field.

Australian cricket captain Tim Paine… he should be invited to join the ranks of Cricket Australia as an administrator.

It was a long, hard road. Australia lost an ODI series to England 5-0 followed by Test losses to Pakistan and India. But then came the slow turnaround with wins against Sri

★

★ Preparing children for formal schooling by introducing

Ashes in a series in England, the first captain to do so since Steve Waugh in 2001. Back in the winning circle, he led the team to more victories against Pakistan and NZ, now ranked the top Test team in the world.

By then he welded Smith and Warner back into one of the better Australian teams of recent cricketing history. More importantly, he had

established an on-field cordiality between his players and the opposition not seen for a generation.

But while he had scored his 150th dismissal – in his 33rd Test, the fastest ever – with a brilliant catch of Indian batsman Pujara, the strain had begun to tell. He dropped two others in the third match; his batting was inconsistent and at one stage he not only “sledged” the ageing Ravi Ashwin, but swore at an umpire.

Indeed, he admitted he “was made to look a fool” and was “bitterly disappointed” at his own performance.

At 36, he has two options: to soldier on until the selectors have no real choice but to drop him or to make a gracious exit to the applause of a grateful nation.

In his wake, Smith should return to the captaincy, the brilliant Alex Carey (a true captain in the making) should take the gloves and be part of the rebuilding with Cameron Green and Will Pucovski at its core.

Unlike some of his colleagues, Tim’s game didn’t attract the million-dollar bids from the 20/20 game – but that simply means he should be invited to join the ranks of Cricket Australia as an administrator with the best possible experience of the game and all its wild ups and downs.

We should be so lucky.

robert@robertmacklin.com

★

CANBERRA MATTERS

The stacked boards that are killing off Canberra

THE sad but unsurprising news is that the aspirations of local residents are being trashed by the collective membership of the boards of three agencies.

Collectively, the boards of the City Renewal Authority, the National Capital Authority and the Suburban Land Agency have little connection to the everyday life of residents.

Yet their presence is very relevant to the future of the bush capital. They occupy paid positions that significantly influence the shape of this city and the wellbeing of residents.

These boards are appointed from well-established business networks and mates’ clubs. There is little about these appointments that points to a commitment to and having a background in this city’s urban planning or heritage.

A couple of the appointments

seem to be specialists at being on corporate boards. What a life! They must work hard each day to remember which board they are attending while munching on the daily corporate lunch and morning tea. I haven’t included afternoon tea, as it is more likely that, having a paid ride to Canberra, the afternoon is devoted to taking in the latest at the National Gallery before zipping home on a late flight.

Some have experience and qualifications in planning and development – and/or sit on other cities’ development boards or similar agencies. Several are from Sydney. Given how badly development and planning is happening in Sydney, with the city being killed off due to inappropriate over-development, anyone with such experiences should be listed as coming from a toxic environment and banned from entering this city, let alone be allowed to influence Canberra’s urban character.

These boards have been stacked. There would be no-one invited to join who had a reputation for representing the well documented aspirations of Canberra residents.

Anyone who had served success fully on a local community council would be automatically excluded. These are not boards that the residents of Canberra could say are working to benefit the city we love. These agencies and board members have other agendas (and who knows what that is). At times their incompetence is obvious. Take something as simple as influencing public art – in par ticular statues honouring people. The latest in Civic is of another white male who helped out with something important. But why was he considered ahead of the long list of women, indigenous peoples and people of other back grounds (not Anglo-Celtic)? These agencies do not understand how equity works. It is not only who is appointed today but about taking every opportunity to correct the rewriting of history that has white men still being the figures to be recognised today.

These bobble-headed boards have given enthusiastic nods to projects that are destined to be listed as examples of how to get community engagements wrong (think North Curtin Horse Paddock land swap), how to deliver urban follies and mistakes (think West Basin) and when is the Kingston Arts Precinct to appear?

commentator and consultant on

visual arts, photography, urban design, environmental issues and everyday matters.

Set amongst landscaped grounds, Adria Care is a warm and welcoming community of people from all around the world. We pride ourselves on cultural diversity and celebration, and offer a wide range of activities to cater for all interests. We provide care for Croatian and all other nationalities.

Adria Care fosters individuality and independence, providing support and assistance to enable residents to live in a comfortable and secure environment. Adria Care in Stirling offers residential care for 42 residents, incorporating 2 respite rooms, and Special Care. The village also contains 36 independent living villas. All villas have 2 bedrooms, a courtyard and a garden, and residents enjoy a peaceful and welcoming community lifestyle.

Our aim is to provide a caring, safe, home-like atmosphere, reflecting your rights to dignity, respect, privacy, safety and the best quality of life.

Contact our friendly staff today to arrange a personal tour.

Determined Jo’s spent her life building a future

By Belinda STRAHORN

JO Farrell, 42, always wanted to be a builder.

At school when most girls were scribbling boys’ names on their books, Jo was drawing buildings and bridges, dreaming up designs to make in the back shed of her parents’ Wollongong home.

More than two decades later, Jo’s a titan of the Canberra building industry, spending most of her time managing building sites and encouraging girls to take on a trade. What’s more, she’s worked her way up from unpaid lackey, to general manager of a multi-million-dollar construction company.

Jo is part of a new generation of lady tradies hard at work across Australia, who have got the tools to reshape traditionally male-dominated trades.

But her journey hasn’t been easy.

“I started my carpentry/ building apprenticeship in 1996, but found it very hard to break into the industry and get an apprenticeship,” she recalls.

“When I left school all the

boys would go and work for BHP in Wollongong and all the girls would get jobs as hairdressers, I knew I always wanted to be a builder but found it really difficult to get in.

“Eventually I wore down a builder who offered me a threemonth trial, if I was willing to work for free; free doesn’t pay the bills, but finally I had been given an opportunity and so I ran with it.”

Female construction workers are often seen as an anomaly – on her journey to secure an apprenticeship, Jo says she lost count of the times people said: “We don’t employ girls”, “You’re not strong enough”, “Girls are a distraction”, “It’s a man’s job, not a woman’s job”, “If you want an apprenticeship, go and be a hairdresser”.

In response, she’s set up Build Like A Girl, a program for women who want to become tradies, and to champion other women who want to work in trades. The not-for-profit organisation, to be launched soon, matches 22 females with pre-apprenticeship and entry level training, with the aim of securing them an actual job in the construction industry and mentoring them along the way.

organisation is designed to “give girls a go”.

“There’s been many times I’ve walked in a room full of men and they think I’m the coffee girl,” she says.

“Sadly, young women are still faced with the same challenges I was faced with 24 years ago, which is just horrendous.

“There are so many industry bodies out there trying to create initiatives for women and they are all doing well, but it’s just not collaborative enough to capture everything we need

port network there that young women need in the industry.

“The difference with Build Like A Girl is we stick with our candidates right through their training and apprenticeship; what I have found is the first six months is the hardest and there’s a big drop-out rate during that time, so supporting the candidate right through their apprenticeship is really important.”

Despite changing social attitudes, women still account for fewer than two per cent of tradespeople in Australia. But, there are signs of positive growth; nearly a quarter of the 266,565 apprentices and trainees in training across the country are female, according to data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

And if COVID-19 has been good for one thing, it’s been boosting the number of women taking up trades.

“There’s been a lot of women who have come from other sectors that have been affected by covid financially who always wanted to try a trade and this was a catalyst for them to step outside their comfort zone,” says Jo.

“We are seeing more female painters on building sites, we have six female apprentices on

electricians to carpenters and we have women returning to the workforce once their kids are at school.”

Jo is currently the general manager of Kane Constructions ACT. Along with operations manager Philippa Seldon, the pair are the only female duo at the helm of a Canberra construction company.

Jo says social attitudes towards females in trades are changing, albeit slowly.

“We are moving, but at a glacial pace, the changes are only very minute and very incremental,” says Jo.

“Sometimes, some employers have never had a female apprentice before and so they don’t understand how to cater for a female, there might be something specific that that young lady might need and that’s where we can support and give guidance around what employers might need to cater for women on their site.

“A lot of building sites around Canberra don’t have female amenities so a lot of young girls have to trek around the corner to the local shops to go to the toilet or they have to run the risk of sharing a bathroom with men, and that’s not okay in 2021.”

Despite a challenging start,

Jo has enjoyed a rewarding career, filling her resume with roles as a qualified carpenter, licenced builder and certified building designer. She’s worked on iconic landmarks, such as Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall, Sydney Airport, the cross-city tunnel and, more recently, the ACT’s light rail project.

In 2009, Jo was the only female employee in a construction-based role to work on a European nuclear decommissioning facility in Lithuania.

“Here I was, a girl from Wollongong who had not really travelled much, ending up over there in the middle of winter. I had to learn to speak Russian to communicate with the guys on site and to learn what they were saying about me... that was a big learning curve for them and me,” she says. In 2013, Jo moved back to Australia with a mission to see more women flourish in trades. In her role as general manager of Kane Constructions ACT she’s increased the female workforce by 48 per cent, a number she hopes will climb even further.

“By June 30, 2021, we want 50/50 male and female representation within the company,” she says.

A tall order, maybe, but this lady certainly knows how to stand up to the big boys.

“We cop plenty of flack from people saying we are just employing women for the sake of it; I say, no we are not, we are employing talented females and giving them the opportunities they are overlooked for in other companies,” says Jo.

And this building industry leader has some last-minute advice for budding female builders.

“Never take no for an answer, keep striving for what you want, love what you do and never give up.”

To participate in the program visit buildlikeagirl.org

CANBERRA’S LOCAL WHEEL STRAIGHTENING SERVICE

Rallimax has the latest wheel and rim straightening lathe, enabling us to successfully realign most damaged alloy wheels.

Cricket star has grounds for a whole new career

By Belinda STRAHORN

NOW summer heat has arrived, it’s time to ensure the windows at home are well insulated with curtains, say Roz and Lew Rebbeck, owners of Alexanders Furnishings.

it’s returned we spray it with disinfectant.”

When it comes to curtain systems, Roz and Lew recommend “EVO”, a curtain-heading system which they say is extremely effective at preventing loss of heat or cooling, whatever the time of year.

“You can choose any fabric you like, as the key is the EVO tracking system,” Roz says.

In the lead-up to each year’s new season, soon after footy posts are pulled out and replaced by sight screens, the work begins on the wicket.

HE may have pulled up stumps on his longstanding career in the public service, but Queanbeyan and ACT cricket legend Peter Solway is embarking on a new innings.

Solway, renowned as a swashbuckling batsman, has turned his hand to rolling out wickets as curator of Queanbeyan’s Brad Haddin Oval.

“I’m no expert at this, but it’s a lot of fun… it sure beats sitting behind a desk all day,” Solway says, midway through preparing the wicket for the under-19’s NSW country championships.

It’s Solway’s first season tending the turf at Brad Haddin Oval, after recently retiring from a 35-year career pushing papers around a desk. With a bat in his hand, Solway was all but a Canberra Comets master. But with a roller in both hands, he is a self-confessed curating “rookie”.

But for one of the region’s greatest ever cricketers, clocking up nearly 10,000 club runs in his four-decade long career, it’s all part of a new challenge.

“I’ve played on a lot of pitches, but to actually prepare them is a challenge. But it’s really rewarding and I’m finding it a lot of fun.” Solway’s impressive cricket career features 270 first-grade games for Queanbeyan, ANU and Eastlake and 183 matches in ACT colours. He’s probably won more grand finals and scored more runs than any other cricketer in ACT first-grade history and his astonishing high score of 339 is testament to his reputation as a master of his true love.

Perhaps his biggest claim to fame was playing in the 1993 Prime Minister’s XI clash against South Africa, exchanging high fives and pats with the likes of Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.

“The top order was Hayden, Langer and Ponting, but that was when they weren’t established players – they were up and coming at that stage,” says Solway.

“To be honest, the day was a blur, I batted sixth, I think – it was pretty cool.”

Despite the great memories he has created in the middle, Solway prefers to keep his head to the ground.

Solway rolls, paints the lines on the pitch, and manages the under-soil drainage, ensuring the multi-use ground remains at its peak.

The man who was born in Coffs Harbour and raised in Queanbeyan says it didn’t take long to get hooked on the job.

“I love it,” he says.

“The idea is to try and make it hard, so the ball can bounce evenly, you want a nice cover of grass, there is a knack to it, but it’s not rocket science.

“The Manuka curator Brad is awesome at this stuff, he’s probably sick of my calls, and Ron Bates up at Freebody Oval, he’s been good too and is helping me out.”

Solway, who still plays grade cricket, has watched the career progression of many famous ACT-raised and adopted cricketers such as Brad Haddin, Michael Bevan and Nathan Lyon.

In fact, it was Solway who helped give Lyon, a groundsman himself, his first big break into cricket.

“The selectors from Canberra changed his career because we picked him from SA to play for the Comets, and he had a good game in that Comets game and so we take full credit for Nathan.”

Family plays a big role in Solway’s life.

His sons Dean, 27, and Mark, 25, made their cricket debut playing together for the ACT recently and daughter Abby, 17, is playing basketball in the US – and wife Julie is a constant support.

“I’ve been really lucky to play in an era where ACT cricket was moving forward all the time –we had country championships as a young fella and the Mercantile Cup, which I was involved in for three years.

“It’s a shame Canberra is not in that anymore.”

In recent years, Solway captained the winning Australian team at the over-50s World Cup, beating Pakistan in the final. He was also selected for another World Cup to be played in South Africa, but the tournament was cancelled because of COVID-19.

But for now, Solway is enjoying the challenging task of creating a pitch.

“I hope to do this for as long as I can – I’m loving it.”

“With the Canberra region warming up now, and with the February heat just around the corner, cooling systems will be working hard and also bumping up household summer bills,” Roz says.

“Quality window curtains are the most energyefficient way to keep the house cool and comfortable in summer, and come winter can save up to a third on heating bills.”

Operating at full hours — 8.30am-5pm, weekdays, and 8.30am-1pm, Saturdays, Alexanders Furnishings has been open throughout the coronavirus crisis, while observing all the required safety measures, Roz says.

“Throughout the crisis we have continued to still hang curtains and blinds in peoples’ homes and maintain strict hygiene measures while ensuring we stay the correct distance apart,” she says.

“People can still borrow fabric from us, too, and when

“It creates a track close to the window which helps keep warm or cool air inside and allows for a smaller stack when open, which lets in more valuable winter sunlight.” Roz says EVO has developed new track sections that incorporate a sleek and “invisible” pelmet system, which means there’s no need to install a traditional bulky timber pelmet over the top of the curtains.

“It can also be used as curtains with sheers behind for added privacy,” she says.

Alexanders Furnishings, which has been in business for more than 50 years, provides a free measure and quote. Roz says they also offer other curtain systems to suit personal preferences, and a wide range of blinds and accessories.

Furnishings, Shop 5, Paul’s Centre, Hindmarsh Drive, Phillip. Call 6281 1611.

OPINION / decriminalising hard-drug possession

Going soft on drug possession won’t fix problem

BILL STEFANIAK lost a son to the effects of drug abuse. He finds it painfully hard to see any virtue in a move in the Legislative Assembly to decriminalise hard-drug possession...

NO parent expects to have to bury their child, but three years ago, on January 2, 2018, my 24-year-old son Jozef said what were to be his last goodbyes to my wife and me when we left for a holiday near Pambula.

At about 6.10 the next morning, Joe’s older brother John appeared in our bedroom doorway to tell us Joe had been killed in a car accident about 12 hours earlier.

His mate’s girlfriend had driven the car while high on the drug ice. At about 137kp/h on Yarra Glen, she lost control of the car. Joe and his mate were the other passengers in the car.

She was jailed for culpable driving and leaving the scene of an accident, and is due to be released on parole soon. Her time in prison has hopefully cured her drug addiction.

There are no safe drugs. Even basic cannabis can cause mental health problems and is far more likely to give the user lung cancer than cigarettes. Hydroponic cannabis is 20 times as strong as basic cannabis and causes significant mental health problems, as does heroin, cocaine, ice and other hard drugs.

Cannabis – thanks to MLA Michael Pettersson, the proponent of the new Bill decriminalising ice and other hard drug possession – is already legal to possess in small quantities. It is inconsistent with Commonwealth law.

Mr Pettersson’s proposed new Bill will make it a basic infringement notice offence to possess small quantities of hard drugs. For example, a person can possess up to half a gram of ice and still only get an infringement notice of one penalty unit – less than a parking ticket.

Naturally, all the local mayors and the Police Association (AFPA) are ropeable about this Bill. It also appears no-one appears to have been consulted. One might think the Labor backbencher would at least have consulted fully with the AFPA and the ACT branch of the AMA.

Naturally, ACT Labor and the Greens did not take this Bill to the local election, but it would have to have been ticked off in cabinet to have got this far.

The main rationale behind the Bill seems to be to stop anyone convicted of possession of a small

quantity of these hard drugs to avoid the “stigma” of a conviction and also to direct the user to seek help from health professionals – a noble aim that can be achieved at present by a court – as regularly happens with drug offenders.

Young Mr Pettersson seems to think that there are hundreds of users out there who have gone to court (and possibly jail) for possession of small quantities of hard drugs. As a former prosecutor, defence counsel, ACT Attorney-General and Police minister who still occasionally goes to court these days as a solicitor, I can say this simply is not the case.

Indeed, I struggle to think of anyone in the last 20 years in Canberra who would have been jailed just for possessing a small quantity of hard drugs alone. Maybe Mr Pettersson should supply court figures for the last 10 years on this point.

I also presided between 2009 and 2016 over many mental-health cases as a presidential member of ACAT and, sadly, a good many of our clients had their mental-health problems worsened by taking hard drugs such as heroin and ice. I’d say probably as many as half the people who appeared before me fitted into this category.

Ice especially is a particularly nasty drug. The AFPA said on radio

2CC recently that under Mr Pettersson’s Bill possession of even half a gram is enough for 10 hits which would put the average user into a bender for several days.

It’s the police, ambos and first responders who will bear the brunt of Mr Pettersson’s folly. He and his government colleagues will not be the ones who have their faces punched in by ice users on benders.

Any benefits from his Bill can and do already happen (the rehab etcetera). All Bills like this do is tell vulnerable young people it’s okay to use hard drugs. Bills like this trivialise the problem.

We in the ACT and in Australia have not tried the one potential solution that should be obvious to us.

The extensive national advertising that accompanied the campaign against AIDS in the 1980s and the successful blanket campaigns against smoking over the years (including the great indigenous messages by Winnunga that are currently streaming ) should be tried.

Blanket advertisements showing how dumb it is using hard drugs and messages in our schools may well

have a great effect in turning young people off usage. A potential answer is staring us in the face.

Maybe if young Michael changed tack and withdrew this stupid Bill and replaced it with a well thought out blitz advertising campaign led by the ACT we would most likely gain a lot of support and respect from our local region and be seen as leaders and not a bunch of decadent trendies living in a Canberra dream world introducing schemes that stuff up further the lives of our fellow Australians across the border

Nothing will bring my son Joe back, but my wife Shirley, his brother and sisters and I would love to see fewer people take hard drugs so more parents can be spared the pain we have felt at losing our son.

Bill Stefaniak is a former Liberal ACT opposition leader.

wellbeing and quality of life with

that is safe, functional, boosts your immune system and provides social connection.

Tailored exercise that strengthens your independence and ability to move with confidence in every day activities.

Personal and Group Training in BungyPump-Nordic Walking available across Canberra. Over 50’s Community Group Exercise classes available NOW in Scullin and Curtin, ACT.

Why can’t they just get the ‘forest of weeds’ cut?

FOR many months, the strip of land between Athllon Drive and the rear of homes in Pridham Street, Farrer, has not seen a grass-cutter.

The grass on the slope beside Athllon Drive has been cut as has the strip right along the back fences of the properties in that street. Between them is a thick, tall forest of weeds that could prove to be a fire hazard in the summer and also a haven for snakes.

I understand that the areas concerned are the responsibility of different cutters and this untended area is the responsibility of Forestry. Well, they are certainly not doing their job. Is it that what you don’t see from the road doesn’t matter?

It is ludicrous to have two different organisations undertaking this work. Why can’t one group cut the lot? I certainly do not wish a fire hazard left at my back door nor do I wish to be confronted by a snake slithering out to sun itself on the cleared area or coming into my backyard.

It would be appreciated if those responsible for this fiasco could get their act together and get this grass cut.

Daphne Harding,

Farrer

‘Scary’ skin-cancer rise

THE information that ACT hospital admissions for skin cancer have risen by 300 per

cent in just the last five years (“Skin-cancer numbers on the rise... or are they?”, CN January 7) is scary.

It’s certainly cause for extreme caution about sun exposure by me and my family, which seems particularly susceptible to skin cancers, including the most malignant of all: melanoma.

I have had four identified and one suspected basal-cell carcinoma (BCC) excised – fortunately from my thighs rather than my face or other very visible areas of my body – but never a melanoma.

I know it sounds strange, but I count myself very lucky: both my brother and my sister have had serious melanomas operated on in recent years. The last was just last week, on top of my brother’s head. The message is clear: if you have skin with a Celtic connection, like mine, keep it covered as much as possible. Whenever you do expose your skin to the sun use a broad spectrum (UVA and UVB) sunscreen with an SPF of at least 50+.

Douglas

Mackenzie, Deakin

Send Parto over border

ARE there lessons that the ACT government, and its planning, environment and city services directorates in particular, might learn from the Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council (“Queanbeyan parks still rate the best“ and “Council nabs ‘most progressive’ prize” (CN January 7)?

Perhaps Mark Parton MLA could lead a bi-partisan, fact-finding trip over the border after he returns from losing track of his New Year border-hopping in NSW and WA.

Sue Dyer, Downer

Phill fixes Manly fans

FURTHER to Belinda Strahorn’s story about the Queanbeyan swimming pool (“Big birthday looms for the pool full of memories”, CN January 14) that quotes local history buff Phill Hawke. During the ‘60s, Phill had an early morning job cleaning the Queanbeyan pool.

My young brother and I often swam laps at this time. We supported the unpopular Manly rugby league team and had bought Manly jerseys, which we wore to the pool to Phill’s chagrin.

After our swim, as I struggled to get into a Manly jersey, I noticed my (smaller) brother was wearing one several sizes too big for him. While we swam, Phill had swapped the positions of the two jerseys!

Russell Wenholz, Holt

Brothers’ amazing story

I READ with interest, and enjoyment, the piece by Belinda Strahorn about the Alrajab brothers (“Escaping a broken world for hope in Canberra”, CN January 14).

I have met both Mohamad and Ali at Big Barber in Jamison and Mohamad has cut my hair more than once.

They have an amazing story, which should be recognised and celebrated. Also, well done to the owners of Big Barber for providing these two lads with the opportunity to work and learn a trade.

I have no doubt that given their work ethic and appreciation of their adopted city, they will both be contributors to Canberra for many years to come.

Ben Jones, Dickson

Cost of closing Civic?

FOR four days, a quarter of Civic’s roads were closed off for a one-minute-37-second clip of a film featuring a well-known actor. No doubt this blockbuster will be seen by thousands worldwide who will be irresistibly drawn to visit Civic and make us money. Meanwhile, could an Assembly member be bothered to ask the cost of closing the centre down and the yellow and orange workforce guarding the closures?

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla

Why seafood beats meat next Christmas

OUR family’s New Year’s resolution is to have a less extravagant Christmas lunch in 2021. It will have no poultry or red meat and instead just have Australian and NZ seafood.

Years ago, we also stopped giving presents at Christmas for a considerable economy in unwanted gifts.

This year we started our Christmas lunch with a few Sydney rock oysters, then (for the first time) had gravlax (raw salmon – ours was from NZ – marinated in vermouth, with garlic salt, sugar, and dill), followed by Australian cooked prawns with sourdough and butter, and a selection of salads.

After that we had pretty much run out of appetite for ham and turkey and could have had a nap and gone straight on to Christmas pud and brandy butter.

There are, of course, more basic reasons why many people don’t ever eat poultry or red meat

– including ethical, moral, environmental and health reasons. Some simply don’t like the taste of meat.

An ethicist would say that raising an animal for slaughter is a clear violation of an animal’s right to live its life in a natural way.

A moralist’s argument is that raising and killing animals for human consump tion is morally wrong.

An environmentalist will argue that land clearing for farm animals is causing devastating damage to the environment. Animal agriculture is said to be responsible for more greenhouse gas than all the world’s transportation systems combined.

is not very logical. It’s considered acceptable to eat cattle, sheep, goats, deer and kangaroos, but not dogs, cats, horses, wallabies, wombats, possums or most wild animals.

of cuisines and recipes. Whether you’re whipping up a pasta sauce or dumpling filling, v2mince is a seamless and delicious choice.”

Quorn is another meat-substitute. It originated in the UK, and again is sold by Woolworths and Coles.

All Quorn foods contain mycoprotein as an ingredient that is derived from the fusarium venenatum fungus. The fungus is fermented in order to grow the mycoprotein, which is then made into various Quorn products, including quite tasty “meat” mince and sausages.

Committee faces the members

MEMBERSHIP of the Gungahlin Day View Club committee will be resolved at its next lunch-time meeting at the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club, from 11.30am, on Wednesday, January 27. RSVP to 0458 012402 before 9pm, Sunday, January 24. Cost is $35 and interested ladies are welcome to attend.

New View for Gungahlin

On the health front, medical research shows that people who eat red meat are at increased risk of death from heart disease, strokes and diabetes. Processed meats further increase the risk of death from these diseases.

One would assume that butchers eat a lot of meat – and when did you last see a healthy-looking butcher?

Which animals Australians eat

For those who like meat but are bothered about eating our wild or domesticated animals there are meat-substitute alternatives. Most supermarkets stock them.

In Australia, in 2019, CSIRO in partnership with fast-food chain Hungry Jacks launched v2food, a plant-based meat alternative. Both Woolworths and Coles carry it.

The manufacturer notes: “v2mince is our most versatile product yet. Designed to look, cook and taste like beef mince, v2mince delivers on the flavour you know and love, in a format that lets you experiment with a range

JUMBO CROSSWORD SOLUTION

The next development could be lab-grown meat, or “clean” meat. It’s produced by taking a small sample of animal cells and then replicating them in a lab. Clean meat is healthier, produces far fewer greenhouse gas emissions and has many advantages over conventional meat, including less saturated fats, no antibiotics, no bacterial or viral contamination and no growth hormones.

The main challenge will be reducing the cost of clean meat to be competitive with conventional meat and meat-substitute products. For health reasons alone, clean meat could change the way we eat meat in the future. Perhaps “Star Trek’s” food replicator is not so distant a possibility after all.

Williams is a Canberra columnist.

MEANWHILE, a new View Club is planned for the Gungahlin area. View clubs offer a network for women to connect with each other, while supporting the work of The Smith Family. More information on the new club from june3@iinet.net.au

Budding speaker...

FLORIST Nip Wijewickrema is the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Weston Creek View Club at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden, from 11.30am on Tuesday, February 2. RSVP to 6286 4626 by 5pm, Thursday, January 28. The cost is $30 and the meeting is open to visitors and interested ladies.

Sieving for sapphires

VISITORS can sieve for sapphires and pan for gold at the Canberra Lapidary Club’s next “Rock Swap” gem show to be held outdoors at EPIC on March 13-14. The show will feature minerals, fossils, opals, rough and cut gemstones, beads, jewellery, lapidary equipment and supplies for sale. Entry is free.

Beginner World Dance Classes

DANCING TO WONDERFUL MUSIC FROM COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD!

Evening and day classes starting from 3 FEBRUARY 2021

Wednesday nights, 7.30 – 9.00 PM

Thursday mornings, 10.30 AM – 12 NOON

Call Today (Lesley) 6286 6401

Folk Dance Canberra Hall, 114 Maitland Street, Hackett 2602 www.folkdancecanberra.org.au folkdancecanberra@gmail.com

Passionate experts with skills ‘CITYNEWS’ SHOWCASE

OVER the years, many expert Canberra businesses have chosen “CityNews” to get their story out to the community. And now they’re telling them again. From dance to IT, to property specialists, here are some Canberra locals with skills to share...

Developing kids’ confidence and creativity

LEARNING dance can help nurture children’s natural creativity and give them the physical skills to enhance their abilities and develop their confidence, says QL2 Dance artistic director Ruth Osborne.

QL2 Dance runs innovative, challenging, diverse and rigorous dance and artist development programs for young people, with a staged progression over several years of their lives, she says.

“We develop the next generation of dance makers, supporting, nurturing, mentoring and coaching them through their critical early years and as they emerge as professionals, beyond and alongside other learning they gain from universities and elsewhere,” Ruth says.

“In our core programs, we provide and support an ever-changing balance of taught skills, rigorous challenge, creative practice, disciplined activity, and provocative guidance.”

Ruth says the company offers training programs for young dancers who will eventually participate in its performance projects.

QL2 Dance has been offering programs from ages eight to 26 but next year, a new program called “Creative Moves” for ages three to five and five to seven, will be offered.

Ruth says QL2 prioritises choreographic literacy, intellectual engagement, and the discipline of creative process.

“We enable growth and development for young dance artists, emerging choreographers and our audiences, producing thoughtful and challenging dance works,” she says.

“We present immersive, creative and demanding performances by emerging and established artists.”

QL2 Dance, Gorman Arts Centre, 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon. Call 6247 3103 or visit ql2.org.au

Exploring the world through dance

CANBERRANS can experience the world through dance, in the safety of Hackett Community Centre, at Folk Dance Canberra, says the dance hall’s publicity officer Lynette Aitchison.

Operating for more than 26 years, Folk Dance Canberra offers classes to all ages and skill types in dance styles that span the globe, from Russia and the Balkans, to Israel and Turkey, and even Samoa.

While the classes can vary in complexity, Lynette says they’re all fun and good for physical fitness.

“Some of the dances are quite easy, some are more complicated. Some are like village dances, others are more choreographed,” she says.

“The music is really interesting and different, and often has inspiring stories behind it because it’s related to an event that’s happened in that country, or it’s part of the culture.

“A lot of us are travellers. It takes you to another world.”

Personally, Lynette, who joins in on the classes, too, is a fan of Balkan dance and has even travelled to Bulgaria to participate in a dance workshop there.

“I think I like dancing from the Balkans region more, but I do everything, even dances from the Samoa islands,” she says.

Folk Dance Canberra, Hackett Community Centre, 114 Maitland Street, Hackett. Call 6286 6401 or visit folkdancecanberra.org.au

worth sharing twice

Growing house values are predicted to stay

KIM Persson, co-director of Your Property Profits, believes now is the best time for home owners to sell.

“The Canberra property market is actually a quiet achiever,” Kim says.

“With the majority of the territory’s population employed at a state or federal level, Canberra’s property market hasn’t been as affected by the [coronavirus pandemic] as the rest of Australia.”

Kim adds that housing values have grown more than 4.7 per cent in Canberra over the past year and experts are predicting this high will hold, even if the country is hit by an economic downturn.

“Now is the time to invest in your property by renovating in order to sell for more and sell faster,” says Kim.

“Buyers are returning to the market and they’re looking for value for money, so the need to have your property looking its absolute best and stand out has never been greater.”

Kim and her business partner, Sophie McLean, make renovating accessible to everyone through their company, Your Property Profits.

They say they can cover all the upfront costs of the renovation for their clients so they can sell their home faster and for a higher price, though conditions apply.

Your Property Profits. Call 1800 225597 or visit yourpropertyprofits.com.au for a free consultation.

businesses the most out of IT

A LEADING provider of professional IT support services, OmniIT has been serving businesses across Canberra, Queanbeyan and surrounds for more than 20 years, says partner Michael Warnock.

As well as making IT security simple, Michael says helping clients with their IT policies and procedures adds additional value to the IT support role that OmniIT offers to their business clients.

OmniIT helps their clients with day-to-day IT issues, too, and IT solutions are tailored to the clients’ requirements as each client needs something different, he says.

It’s about making the most of their IT environment and helping their staff be more productive and the business more profitable, he says.

Michael and the team of nine are based in Mitchell and provide fixed price IT support services to their many business clients.

“We monitor the clients’ IT environment 24/7 looking for issues and fixing them before they go wrong,” he says.

Michael and OmniIT have been in business for more than 23 years and have changed their skills as the IT industry has changed.

“We started when the internet connected PC was a stand-alone computer sitting in the corner of the office. It was not connected to the rest of the network – how things have changed!” he says.

“It’s a great time to be in the IT industry.”

OmniIT, unit 8, 12 Sandford Street, Mitchell. Call 6230 3839 email support@omniit.com.au or visit omniIT.com.au

STAY CONNECTED WITH TEAMS

can we help you? • Make your staff more productive • Effective strategies for office and remote workers • Safeguard against security issues

Teams include features like one-on-one chats, Instant Group Messages, Video & Voice calls and document sharing.

Collaboration is made easy - your Team can edit documents and work on the same project at the same time, making them more efficient. Let us help you – we are your IT department.

& 8

• Tree pruning

•

•

•

GARDENING

AUSTRALIA Day is a great time to grow an Aussie plant as part of the celebrations.

Aussies are indebted to famous botanists, including Joseph Banks and Robert Brown, for introducing our plants to the Western world. Since then, a tremendous amount of work has gone on behind the scenes with plant breeding in developing and promoting new varieties. Some of this activity is quietly happening just outside Canberra; in the Bywong Nursery started by Peter and Jennifer Ollerenshaw in 1984.

Previously, Peter worked at the Australian National Botanic Gardens for 20 years and during that time collected Australian plant specimens for future plant breeding. Bywong Nursery isn’t open to the public, but is a wholesale nursery

specialising in the breeding of new plants. One of the most important plants bred there was Correa “Canberra Bells” to celebrate Canberra’s centenary in 2013. Its red and cream flowers appear in profusion in autumn, growing to about 70mm x 50mm.

Another plant bred at Bywong Nursery is Grevillea “Lady O”, a cross between G. victoriae and G. rhyolitica and named for Ollerenshaw’s mother. This is only a selection of natives that are bred locally and available from garden centres to celebrate Australia Day.

The Botanic Gardens is a living museum of Australian plants; the largest collection in the world. Many of its plants are rare and not available in garden centres.

It was unfortunate that the Yarralumla retail nursery, the main local source for native plants, closed to the public some years ago. Fortunately, Cool Climate Natives in Pialligo is a specialist native plant nursery where they grow most of the plants for sale, so they are perfectly acclimatised

for this area. I highly recommend the nursery, which also has an extensive range of unusual grafted native plants.

Buxus, or box hedging, originated in the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and has been popular since Roman times. However, for those developing an all-native garden, there is an alternative, Baeckea imbricata, also known as heath myrtle. This was first described by German botanist Joseph Gaertner back in 1788, based on a specimen in Joseph Banks’ herbarium. Growing to just one metre with tiny leaves and white flowers from spring, it is the perfect alternative; seen here at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens at Batemans Bay. Several other varieties grow in this region. For more information on local native plants, read “Australian Plants for the Canberra Region”, published by the Society for Growing of Australian Plants [Canberra Region]. For the serious native plant buff, “Australian Native Plants” by Wrigley and Fagg is a more comprehensive tome and considered the bible of native plants.

Visit the Botanic Gardens website and click on the “Flowers, Fruits and Foliage” section for a pictorial list and descriptions of plants of interest, week by week. There are always exhibitions at the Visitors Centre, too.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Free film fest features women in the reel world

By Helen MUSA

THE second annual, free Kambri Film Fest at the ANU has been curated to celebrate creative women in the film industry.

While the 12-day festival is not entirely family-friendly, the titles of some kids’ films, such as “Frozen II”, “Moana”, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold”, “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” and “Little Women”, suggest that the children’s movie sector has moved faster than its adult counterparts. But fear not boys, “Scoob!” (Scooby-Doo) and “Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon” will also be on the list.

Kids’ films start from 3pm, while the evening sessions begin at 7pm and are geared towards adults.

Thursday nights will highlight the work of Australian women in film, including directors Catherine Dwyer (“Brazen Hussies”), Gillian Armstrong (“Starstruck”) and Jocelyn Moorhouse (“Proof”).

Nolan, and the Australian

starring Sam Neill and Michael Caton.

Friday and Sunday nights will offer femaledirected films from very recent years, including Golden Globe winner “The Farewell”, written and directed by American Lulu Wang.

Saturday nights are more blokey and reserved for blockbusters, like sci-fi time-travel adventure “Tenet”, written and directed by Christopher

Best news of all, it’s free and everyone who attends will get a complimentary popcorn and soft drink.

2021 Kambri Film Fest, Kambri Cinema at ANU, January 21-February 7. Free but registrations essential at eventbrite.com.au

Come along and see the friendly free-flying birds that can be photographed and fed. Walk amongst over 500 birds from 50 species from Australia and around the world! COME OUT TO THE CANBERRA WALK-IN AVIARY THESE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Open 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm with the last admission 4.30pm

CINEMA / reviews

An unexpected love leads to unexpected things

“Ammonite” (M)

“AMMONITE” is the second feature by English writer/director Francis Lee. His first was “God’s Own Country” (three stars in 2017). Their shared attribute is finding unexpected love with somebody of the same sex.

You might expect that a period film (its principal character died in 1847) about two women finding love would have the cheap-thrill market as its target. Especially if the writer and director is a man.

Behind its enigmatic title, “Ammonite” does unexpected things for its viewers. More later about its one explicit love sequence. Getting there and discovering its aftermath is a film-watching experience that for delicacy and perceptiveness has few equals.

The West Dorset coast near Lyme Regis has yielded a wealth of ammonites, which are fossilised relatives of extinct sea creatures of phylum Mollusca, class Cephalopoda such as the modern Nautilus that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, a time interval of about 140 million years.

So what does same-sex loving have to do with fossils? Francis Lee’s film centres around Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) and Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan). Mary’s ground-breaking paleontology was real; rather less so was Charlotte’s. The two certainly knew each other. But their becoming lovers is perhaps a dramatic invention.

The power of “Ammonite” movie comes from the intensity of that invention. Lee tells how it developed in unhurried close-ups

responsibility) had learned various tales about barrows and their contents. And she engaged local self-taught archaeologist and astronomer Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to lead a group of men to excavate one of the largest.

Basil and his team unearthed a complete buried ship.

And visitors to the British Museum today can see its contents.

Which didn’t get there without a measure of friction between Edith and Basil and Charles Phillips (Ken Stott), who has gone down in mainstream archaeological history as leader of the 1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo burial ship, an intact collection of Anglo-Saxon grave-goods, possibly that of the 7th-century East Anglian king Raedwald.

novel about the New York book-publication community in the late 1990s.

This is a pleasant enough coming-of-age film telling how Joanna, fresh out of university, took a job at New York literary agency Harold Ober Associates, one of whose clients was novelist JD Salinger. Most of her job involved answering fan letters with a generic explanation that Salinger did not read fan mail.

“My Salinger Year” offers a view of a craft that seldom exposes what goes on between writing a book and its appearance on a retailer’s shelves. Much of that is a closed book. We must assume that the film’s autobiographical flavour comes from the writer’s personal experience and her scarcelyconcealed reasons for telling.

showing the growth of the relationship.

Roderick Murchison (James McArdle) comes to Lyme Regis to engage Mary to care for Charlotte while he swans off to the continent after their recent loss of a child. Our first glimpse of the marriage is one-sided, portending a significant change when Mary is freed of her husband’s dominating control.

The film’s dramatic power focuses on how the two women interact after a less-than-promising first meeting. Winslet portrays Mary’s dominance with sympathetic strength. Charlotte yearns to be free not of her wealthy husband but of his confining control of her life. The film treats the sexual resolution to their separate yearnings with gentle respect, great visual beauty and unchallengeable credibility.

ROAST

At Palace Electric and Dendy

“The Dig” (PG)

“THE Dig” was filmed around the place in the south of England where in 1938 a story that began more than a millennium ago, rose from the grave.

Edith Pretty, the widow of a battalion commander in the Suffolk Regiment, lived on an estate at Sutton Hoo where there was a small number of barrows (burial mounds, usually of somebody important, for example, a king).

Edith (a lovely portrayal by actress Carey Mulligan of a disabled woman with a strong sense of public

Australian director Simon Stone’s filming of Moira Buffini’s screenplay, based on a novel by John Preston, seeks to set the record of that achievement straight. A series of titles in the closing credits explains why and how.

“The Dig” is a very pleasant little movie that tells an important story. I liked it.

At Dendy

“My Salinger Year” (M)

DIRECTED by Canadian Philippe Falardeau, who also co-wrote the screenplay in conjunction with Joanna Smith Rakoff, who wrote a

WATCH IT! / streaming and stuff

Playing Joanna, Margaret Qualley is credible enough. But the character best symbolising the film’s conflict elements is Margaret who takes the newbie on and turns her loose to navigate company politics and acquire industry know-how with the option of sinking or swimming. Just like life, really. Playing that Margaret, Sigourney Weaver, now in her 70s, in her 88th acting role, delivers a subtle portrayal of a woman skilled in all the tricks of the publishing trade.

At Palace Electric

Witty and the weird and wonderful

STREAMING news certainly took no holiday break.

Over Christmas, Netflix released a doco comedy hybrid called “Death To 2020” that’s seen it in the spotlight of entertainment news for the last few weeks.

It’s a little tricky to describe what it actually is. Think along the lines of a theatre revue except in TV format. It’s a sketch comedy satirising the year that was, wrapped up in a 100-minute run-time stacked with as much star power as possible –Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow and Samuel L Jackson to name drop just a few.

The production was led by British television writer Charlie Brooker, best known for creating another of Netflix’s hits, “Black Mirror”– an anthology series about the dangers of the technology we see rapidly evolving in front of us.

The originality of “Black Mirror” carries over to the writing he’s done for this new production. Brooker has earned a reputation for the way he’s trying to change how we interact with entertainment, particularly his work on “Bandersnatch”, an episode of “Black Mirror” that allows the audience to respond to the story of the show by mashing buttons on their remotes.

What’s more interesting about the film is the uniqueness of its concept. With a little more finesse, productions like this could be a new way that streamers come to engage with current affairs with roll outs of comedies or commentaries focused on newsworthy events.

While not quite as interactive, “Death To 2020” certainly has its own original edge that’s seen it popular with “Netflixers” around the world.

Despite the film’s high level of viewership, it’s also borne the brunt of backlash with much of its audience believing the satire isn’t as “politically impartial” as the writers would like to make out.

The question is, does it successfully offer the comedic catharsis from the crazy year that it claims it does? Despite its ambition, I don’t think it quite hits the bullseye of witty relevance, though it does land somewhere near the target.

SPEAKING of unique ways to watch television, the strange and surreal new show from American production giant HBO landed in Australia on Foxtel Group’s Binge over the break. It’s called “The Third Day”, and stars Jude Law of streaming fame for his role in “The Young Pope” (currently on SBS On Demand). Law plays Sam, a man who visits a strange

island to participate in a ritual to help him with the grief he faces over the loss of his son who was murdered nine years earlier.

The events that play out of course get weird, with Sam becoming entwined with the strange and mysterious characters of the island and $90,000 that’s gone missing from him and his wife… or so he thinks.

“The Third Day” is six episodes broken up into three parts: Summer, Autumn and Winter, each crafted by a different director.

Part two was what the producers called a “live

An all-day religious festival plays out on the island he visits. The festival itself was actually filmed and streamed live as it was performed. All of it done in one continuous take for a mind-

I’m doubtful anyone would sit through the entire thing, it’s more of a “drop into for a moment” kind of deal, but the level of world-building it achieves nonetheless is a remarkable thing.

Similar to what’s seen in Brooker’s work as mentioned above, “The Third Day” represents another example of how streaming tech is bringing audience immersion to a new level.

More of Nick Overall on Twitter @nick_overall

MUSIC

Love at all costs heralds opera’s grand return

By Helen Musa

WHEN Opera Australia emerged recently from a year of closures and lockdown, it did so in a grand manner.

Earlier this month was a revival of Graeme Murphy’s glitzy “Merry Widow”, which saw patrons flocking back to the Joan Sutherland Theatre and now, in a collabora tion with La Scala in Milan, it’s presenting one of the most extravagant swashbucklers ever created by Verdi.

“Ernani” is based on a play by Victor Hugo (think “Les Miserables”) which caused literary riots in Paris when the classicists fought it out against the romanticists, for whom Hugo was the apostle.

Honour, duty, vengeance, love at all costs – these were the themes of the romantics, picked up by Verdi in 1844 for his fifth opera, hugely popular then but now rarely performed and scorned in operatic circles for its improbable plot, although in 1904, it became the first complete opera ever recorded.

It was Verdi’s first collaboration with librettist Francesco Maria Piave, who would go on to write the libretto for works such as “La Traviata” and “Rigoletto”. Oddly, the Teatro La Fenice, where it opened, wanted a woman to sing the role of Ernani but Verdi insisted on a tenor.

Years ago, I saw “Ernani” on stage at Sadler’s Wells in London with the Australian

operas.

Very briefly, bandit-hero Ernani is caught in a four-way tussle with Don Carlo, King of Spain, the conniving Don Ruy Gomez

ARTS IN THE CITY

Armenian-Australian soprano Natalie Aroyan has scored the plum role of Elvira for the coming OA production, and I caught up with her as she was deep in rehearsals with

Light work with a message

By Helen Musa

A LIGHT installation created for the National Portrait Gallery by artist Jonathan Jones reflects on the importance of community and, with a 1.5-metre diameter, acts as a prompt to maintain social distancing. “Bogong Cluster” is projected in high-traffic areas throughout the gallery. Jones’ design, inspired by his Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi heritage, draws on the phenomenon of the annual bogong moth migration to Ngambri country.

AFTER five years of running the incredibly successful Mother Tongue Multilingual Poetry, founder Jacqui Malins is planning to step back later this year, arguing that it’s time for fresh energy and ideas. There will be a meeting in January to discuss Mother Tongue’s future, and anyone wishing to get involved should email mothertonguemic@gmail.com

GALLERY Bodalla has re-opened following a year of struggle through fire and pandemic, with a collection of portraits, landscapes and works inspired by the theatre by NZ-born artist Justin Pearson. “Bitter Sweet Melody”, at Gallery Bodalla, Old PO Building, Bodalla, until February 14, Thursday to Sunday, 11am-4pm and by appointment to 0421 238174.

REJOICING in the “civilised pleasure and mindexpanding challenges” of running the ANU Drill Hall Gallery, director Terence Maloon has announced that the position of curator of the University Art Collection, vacated by David Boon last January, was filled by Oscar Capezio, who has already adorned the new Research School of Social Sciences Building with artworks.

“BRAVE-Bottomed Wombat” is the wonderful title of a new children’s book by author, food stylist and recipe writer Jody Vassallo from Tilba, who experienced the black summer fires not just as a resident but also

Tilba-based author Jody Vassallo with “BraveBottomed Wombat”.

as an RFS volunteer. “Kids would always ask me about the animals,” Vassallo says. “The only animals I’d seen were so badly affected by the fires, I didn’t know how to answer positively.” The book, her 41st but her first children’s book, is illustrated by Cara King and will help raise funds for the Firesticks organisation. Available at chuffed.org/project/bravewombat, rrp $30.

FROM the Canberra light rail schedule to eclipse cycles, Anna Madeleine Raupach’s exhibition “Unequal Hours” intends to appeal to the broader community. It’s a kinetic installation which uses altered clocks to physically represent multiple different timescales and aims to realign our technology-driven sense of time. CMAG, January 23-May 15.

Laura Galmarini, the revival director sent out from Italy by La Scala.

It’s a great role and may partly compensate for the cancellation in early 2020 of Verdi’s “Attila”, in which she was playing the lead, after just two shows. A rising star, she will also be performing the title role of Aida for OA and Opera Queensland later

Aroyan knows all about the problems with the storyline of “Ernani” and, as a modern woman, says: “There’s a lot we can’t relate to in the 21st century… Elvira is betrothed to her uncle, the man in her life chooses his honour over his love for her and kills himself on his wedding day and Elvira is a damsel in distress, who needs to be watched over”.

It’s because of the storyline, not the music, that it’s not done very often, she

“That’s why the original director [SvenEric Bechtolf] makes it a play within a play, it’s a clever way to approach the story,” she

“The stage will initially be set in the 19th century when the cast come out ready to put on a play, ‘Ernani’. A lot of stage hands are fixing things and dropping things and then we go back in time.”

It’s an excuse, OA is saying, to embrace the melodrama, and allows for lavish period costumes, masks and headdresses which mix in the 16th century setting of the tale. Pulling out all the stops, OA has engaged Verdi expert Renato Palumbo to conduct.

The play within a play allows the

director to intertwine the themes of love, honour and vengeance with contemporary observations of those emotions.

“It’s a case of playing the role but feeling the emotions,” Aroyan says.

“It will be clear once it’s on stage.”

So, what is the attraction in playing Elvira? Aroyan says it’s very simply because the vocal range of this central character, which veers into dramatic coloratura, “is extraordinary enough to get me very excited”.

It fascinates her, because as one of Verdi’s early operas, he’s made it very hard to sing.

“It’s a bit of an adventure,” she says.

“For the soprano there are a lot of low notes while the tenor is singing high – a lot of ups and then down to your chest. It’s a marathon.”

Playing Ernani is long-time OA colleague, Mexican tenor Diego Torre, familiar to Canberra audiences from “Voices in the Forest”.

“In the rehearsal we realised how some of our duets start off very quietly then we are joined by the orchestra, it’s very personal and unique,” she says.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for me, very rewarding, very similar to my role in ‘Attila’, where I came in all guns blazing and jumped two octaves – this kind of singing is great. I love that… I keep going for the music.”

“Ernani”, Sydney Opera House, February 2-13, bookings to opera.org.au

JUMBO CROSSWORD

PUZZLES PAGE

Your week in the stars

By Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Tuesday looks rather chaotic, as unpredictable aspects upset your previous plans. So expect the unexpected – especially involving finances and/or friends. It’s time to banish boredom and extend yourself in challenging (and covid safe) new directions. With the Full Moon, adventurous Jupiter and restless Uranus activating your aspirations zone, your mantra for the moment is from birthday great Oprah Winfrey: “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

With the Full Moon heating up your home zone, tread carefully with a fragile family member. It will be easy to say the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time, so try to be a super tactful Taurus! Karma and transformation play an important role in proceedings this week. The more generous you are, the more the Universe will bless you in return. A friend or lover from the past could also re-enter your life… but do you really want to travel down that bumpy road again?

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

The Full Moon fires up your brain power so it’s a good week to focus your mind, research a subject that has always fascinated you or enrol in a course of study for 2021. Jupiter and Saturn also push you to consider more adventurous options. So your motto for the moment is from birthday great, writer Lewis Carroll: “Sometimes I’ve believed six impossible things before breakfast.” But expect a rather wobbly weekend, as Mercury turns retrograde and plans stall (or even go backwards).

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

Thursday night’s Full Moon shines a bright spotlight on self-esteem, finances, core values and trust issues. It’s also time to don your Crab detective cap and turn on your x-ray vision, as you zero in on the cause of a problem and come up with a satisfactory solution. With Venus and Pluto pairing up in your relationship zone, make it a priority to do more for your nearest and dearest. As birthday great Lewis Carroll wrote: “All that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.”

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Lions love to hog the limelight and be the centre of attention – especially when the Full Moon’s in Leo. But this week, the focus shifts from you onto the significant people in your life. Perhaps it’s time for your partner or your best friend to shine? Putting others first puts a spring in your step and a smile on your dial. But be extra clear in the way you communicate on the weekend. If you are petulant, pretentious or impulsive, then relations with other people will be strained and unpredictable.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Your days are often organised with military precision as you try to get everything 100% right. But this week there’s a fiery Full Moon, plus Mercury (your ruling planet) slows down, stations and then starts moving backwards through your daily routine zone. So strive to be more spontaneous as you toss your usual timetable out the window and stretch your adaptability muscles in unfamiliar directions. Whatever happens… expect the unexpected and prepare to pivot!

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Librans possess a natural talent for procrastination. But this week Venus (your patron planet) pairs up with powerful Pluto, so it’s time to be strategic and focused. If you have a passion that you want to pursue (or a decision that needs to be made) then resist being distracted by other people’s agendas. And make sure deep contemplation is closely followed by decisive action. As birthday great Oprah Winfrey observes: “Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Thursday’s Full Moon sees you swing between being sexy and secretive; and being passionate and possessive. You could also be thrust into the public spotlight, so make sure you’re putting on a good show. But are you stuck in a career slump? If you resist changes at work, then you’ll just be left behind in the backwash. Look for creative ways to adopt fresh ideas and pivot in your professional life. And make sure you consult with colleagues and include them in your plans.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

The fiery Full Moon heats up your adventure zone so your hasty Sagittarian side will be switched to full throttle as you power ahead at top speed. But expect a frustrating slowdown on the weekend, when Mercury starts reversing through your communication and travel zone. Don’t worry if your spontaneous approach results in some messy mistakes along the way. In the words of French writer Colette (born on January 28, 1873): “You will do foolish things but do them with enthusiasm.”

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

You’ve got so many serious responsibilities, commitments and must-do-tasks that the last thing you need is a financial drama. But that’s what you could end up with, as the fiery Full Moon and retrograde Mercury shake up your money zones. Saturn (your patron planet) encourages you to be cautious and conservative in the way you spend cash and communicate with other people. So – when it comes to finances and business matters – slow and steady wins the race this week!

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Prepare for a wild week as the Sun sashays through avant-garde Aquarius and squares disruptive Uranus. Plus Mercury slows down, stations and then starts reversing through your sign. So it’s the perfect time to tap into your Gypsy Soul and channel your Inner Bohemian! You’re also impatient to make some snappy decisions but resist the urge to be too blunt. With the Full Moon revving up your relationship zone, consider the effects your words and actions will have on those around you.

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

If you are responsible and well-informed, then it will pay off further down the track. But don’t put your head in the sand and avoid facing problems Pisces! The Full Moon urges you to be physically fit, focused and fabulous. It’s also time to reach out to influential friends and positive colleagues who are going places, as you network up a storm. Your motto for the moment is from birthday great Oprah Winfrey: “Surround yourself with people who are going to lift you higher.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2021

1 Name the early Christian theologian, writer, and teacher, at Alexandria. (6)

8 What is an ulster, or a raglan? (8)

9 To be entombed, is to be what? (6)

10 Which term describes a thorough, violent, disturbance? (8)

11 Name a world-renowned tower, situated in Paris. (6)

12 Who is Australia’s self-styled Dame? (4)

13 Name an obsolete Australian copper coin. (5)

16 Which plant, similar to the waterlily, is considered sacred in India? (5)

19 What is a set of six bowls known as? (4)

21 Which animals have eight sucker-bearing arms? (6)

22 To which animal class does a spider belong? (8)

23 What do we call the smouldering remains of a fire? (6)

24 Which term describes a company of male singers? (8)

25 To separate the wheat from the chaff, is to do what? (6)

Down

2 What, in poker, is a straight flush? (7)

3 Which mythical monster has the head and wings of an eagle, and the body of a lion? (7)

4 What is a small rounded mass, or lump? (6)

5 Which team won the 2005 English FA Cup? (7)

6 Name a community of nuns devoted to religious life under a superior. (7)

7 Name the printing type in which the letters usually slope to the right. (7)

13 What is voluntary self-punishment to atone for a sin, etc? (7)

14 Name the Native Americans found in New Mexico and Arizona, now constituting the largest tribal group in the US. (7)

15 Which prepared food of custard-like consistency is made from curdled milk? (7)

17 During which month does the zodiac sign Libra mostly lie? (7)

18 Which is an alternative term for referee? (7)

20 To which animal kingdom does the beaver belong? (6)

Annual Community & Family Festival

Celebrating the Lunar Year of the Ox 6pm – Late, Thu 11 February 2021

Program:

Courtesy NYE dinner served to ALL visitors between 6.30pm - 7.30pm

Tasty, delicious foods stalls (raising funds for temple constructions)

All healthy dishes & herbal/cold drinks

Buddhism books for free collection

Folk music/dance performances

VIP guests Lunar New Year speeches

Professional Lion Troupe dancing + cracker performance: 9pm & mid-night shows

Friendly & family atmosphere & peaceful temple scenario

This is the first/largest among a dozen of Buddhist monasteries built/offered to the ACT with lots of rare/most beautiful oriental artworks to be seen to be believed

Contact: 0412 224 553 thichquangba@gmail.com

Buddha Blessings & Best Wishes to you/your family. Admission Free - All Welcome

Now is the time to trade-in

Drinking tap water is good for you and helps reduce plastic waste.

With Refill Canberra, you can fill your bottle for free at any participating café or business.

With over 130 businesses on board, find out where to go

health.act.gov.au/refillcanberra