CityNews 211125

PLANNING

The nightmare of a ‘Better Normal’ PAUL COSTIGAN

NEW / SPORT

Why cricket’s Katie Mack wouldn’t change a thing SIMON ANDERSON WHIMSY

WOMEN IN BUSINESS 9BIGPAGES

What colour is the White House? CLIVE WILLIAMS

IT’S ALL GREEK!

DIONYSUS, the god of wine and ecstasy, joins the heroes and warriors of Ancient Greece for a season at the museum

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NEWS / cemetery upset Cemetery shock as landscaping lost to expansion

By Belinda STRAHORN

A GIRALANG woman says she’s devastated by the “war zone” like state of a cemetery as it undergoes an expansion in north Canberra.

Ange McNeilly, 68, who visits the Gungahlin cemetery regularly to tend to her parents’ graves, was “shocked” by the cemetery’s appearance when she visited with her sister recently.

Expecting to see a normally wellmanicured cemetery, Ms McNeilly found a graveyard that looked like “a bomb had hit it” with previously landscaped areas adjacent to her parents’ graves being cleared for further burial plots.

“All the trees and hedges gone, there are piles of dirt and channels of water everywhere, and railings ripped up and left in a heap,” Ms McNeilly says.

“What was once a quiet, secluded and intimate spot is now open to the elements, to the road and to vandalism with none of the seclusion and ambience that had attracted the choice of the spot in the first place.

“It’s gut wrenching.”

The site that Ms McNeilly confronted is part of the ACT government’s

burial sites would need to be identified for future use.

But Ms McNeilly expressed her disappointment at the lack of clear information and adequate signage advising cemetery visitors of the changes underway.

“We don’t know what the plan is, we weren’t given any warning about it, and I don’t know if it was even advertised anywhere,” Ms McNeilly says.

“It’s very disrespectful that people who have loved ones there weren’t given an opportunity of knowing

we chose for them and now it’s com pletely open,” Ms McNeilly says.

“We always set up beautiful flowers on their grave, but when we got there the other day most of the flowers had blown away, everything was dishevelled and messy, and now that the area is more open we are worried things will go missing.”

A City Services spokesperson told

UPCOMING

told “CityNews”, but conceded that Canberra Memorial Parks will update existing signs to be “more visible”.

The spokesperson acknowledged that works occurring in close proximity to Section 12 were creating a “temporary disruption” to those visiting loved ones.

“However, we assure the community we are working as quickly as

and you have to get out of the car to read it,” Ms McNeilly says.

“The water taps nearby have also been turned off so we had to get water from a channel to put in a vase of flowers for my parents’ graves.

“The disruption will no doubt make many people who have loved ones buried in this particular area very upset indeed.”

Arty Gordon’s trip from minister to yes, minister

By Ian MEIKLE

“THE ACT arts community is likely to welcome the return of the enormously popular and trusted former minister to the arts sector,” waxed arts editor Helen Musa at the news that Gordon Ramsay had triumphed over a national field of 20 applicants to be appointed CEO of the Cultural Facilities Corporation.

As the higher-profile attorney-general, his was a big scalp lost by Labor at the last ACT election. The former church minister has seemed like a lost soul since losing his Ginninderra seat last year by 167 votes to Liberal Peter Cain

Since then he’s been a contractor in the Chief Minister’s office, the principal of Gordon Ramsay Consulting and, more recently, CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform. But it’s back to the boards for Gordon as he replaces long-time inaugural CEO Harriet Elvin and takes up his new role on December 13 (apropos of nothing, at 57, were he to stay

Telstra cabling pits near Fadden Pines.

“Even though she reported that the rough attempts to fill in around the pits were not really acceptable she should be grateful that she managed to get some work done to address the problem,” Mac says.

On March 18 he reported a similar problem of an open inspection pit in Blaxland Park, Griffith, to the “Municipal Services Team, Access Canberra”, via Fix My Street. He warned them that the pit was “deep and dangerous”.

On April 13, he wrote again bemoaning he’d heard nothing, despite the usual empty promise of a response in 10 working days, and reminding them the open pit was “quite dangerous”.

“On July 6, I received a response advising that it was a Telstra issue and there was nothing they could do apart from putting a temporary fence around it to make it safe.

“I contacted Telstra as suggested and a couple of days later a Telstra technician inspected the pit and said it would be fixed.

“The photo shows the state of the pit eight months after the matter was first reported.

“Nothing apart from the erection of a temporary fence has happened so congratulations to Marion for at least getting some action to address her problem.”

POLITICAL columnist and former ACT Health Minister Michael Moore is sharing the good news that Vladimir Golobokov has finally had a successful operation.

Vladimir was the subject of a column in mid-August in which Michael thundered: “Mr Golobokov has waited since mid-2017 for surgery to remove nasal polyps. He has waited more than 12 times what is clinically indicated while the condition has got worse and worse.”

“Despite the Canberra Hospital having constant updates from his GP regarding a deteriorating condition, he has still not been given a time. Serious

failure to deliver elective surgery within any kind of sensible time frame.”

Since the publicity and following an assessment by the appropriate specialists, he waited less than the required 90 days for his operation.

“No doubt he will be counted as an operation that was completed within the appropriate time frame for statistical and reporting purposes,” Michael says.

“Considering his condition, waiting four and half years is simply unacceptable.” AND right on cue comes a comment on citynews.com.au from “someonesmother”, who writes: “Five and a half years and still waiting for an appointment with a hand surgeon. When I called earlier in 2021, I was told I was second on the list.

“Wow! So what do I expect, another five-and-a-half-year wait?”

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

The Causeway Community Hall… “A much-loved community asset,” says Tara Cheyne.

NEWS Causeway Hall gets a new lease of life

By Helen Musa

AS reported on citynews. com.au on November 12, Causeway Hall in Kingston will be converted into a new home for independent theatre in Canberra, to be called ACT Hub.

In making the formal announcement Arts Minister Tara Cheyne described the proposal as “an exciting and well thought out plan to make use of one of Canberra’s oldest, heritage-listed facilities”.

The proposal, presented to the ACT government, brings together Mockingbird Theatre Company, Free-Rain Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre Company and Chaika Theatre Company.

ACT Hub partners Chris Baldock, Karen Vickery, Jarrad West and Anne Somes joined in promising stewardship of this historic building, thought-provoking plays, a haven for theatre goers and, as Baldock put it, “exciting stories from Australia and around the world”.

The Minister said: “Causeway Hall is a much-loved com-

munity asset that – through the investment of its resident theatre companies – will be transformed within heritage requirements to a multifunctional performing space, with a semi-permanent stage, seating and lighting, enabling theatre companies to showcase their works within the heart of the Causeway precinct.”

The facility, which is managed by the ACT Property Group, will be leased to ACT Hub under an initial two-year agreement.

Consultation was undertaken with the local community from June to October, Ms Cheyne said, so that while ACT Hub would have priority use of the hall, it would still be available for community events and use by casual hirers.

The plan is for an eight-show season, classes, workshops and other theatrical events throughout the year, with an additional focus on providing development opportunities for emerging directors and designers.

ACT Hub will hold an official launch to the community in mid-December.

Visitor restrictions ease at hospitals

VISITOR restrictions have eased at all ACT hospitals, community health centres and walk-in centres to now allow for two visitors per patient, per day during visiting hours, says ACT Health.

All COVID-19 safe principles and behaviours will continue to apply to all visitors.

ACT Health, in a media statement, says: “The decision to restrict visitors to our health facilities is always a difficult one, but it ensures we can protect the health and safety of everyone. This is especially necessary for our most vulnerable, particularly patients whose health is already compromised.”

More at health.act.gov.au/news/ visitor-restrictions

A taste of German Christmas

THE Harmonie German Club is holding a Christmas Market Day with German band music, dancing, arts and crafts at its Narrabundah clubrooms, 9am-

1pm on Sunday, December 5. There’s the promise of German cakes, breads, deli, schnitzels, pretzels and wurst (sausage).

Paula finds homes for animals used in research

By Lily PASS

GUINEA pigs Hamish and Angus found a home with Jane White, of Aranda, eight months ago. She says they were a little stressed when they arrived, but settled in pretty quickly and are happy to be handled; “they are very sweet”.

Hamish and Angus were rehomed by the Liberty Foundations an organisation that, since 2017, has been releasing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals used in Australian research facilities to adopters in the ACT and NSW.

Liberty Foundation founder Paula Wallace says some research facilities in Australia have licences to use animals as part of their work. The licences cover all species in a variety of different testing and research-based activities.

“Up until now the vast majority of the animals have been euthanised, but many of them are young enough and healthy enough to move out into the community and live out the course of their natural lives,” says Paula.

The Liberty Foundation focuses on rehoming a full range of animals, including dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rats, fish, mice, rabbits and reptiles.

“We’ve got six research establishments signed up with us. We have

agreements in place with the estab lishments to ensure the process is done correctly and we have risk-based measures in place to ensure the welfare of the animals and to protect the confidentiality of the research establishments,” she says.

The foundation has successfully rehomed every animal that’s come into its care, that’s 100 to 120 animals a year.

The measures Paula has in place mean that the research facilities have to disclose any information or conditions relevant to the animals’ ongoing care. The adopters are made aware of

Left: Guinea pigs Hamish (white) and Angus… rehomed and happy.

Photo: Jane White

us time to do that,” says Paula.

“We don’t shy away from where the animals come from, but we focus on the outcomes that we are getting for them. You know that if you are taking them, then they’re not getting euthanised, which is fantastic.”

She says the most common question is, what’s wrong with the animal?

People imagine that it is somehow disabled or unwell or presents risks, but that’s not the case.

“I explain to people that this is what happened at the facility and explain how the animal may have been involved and it usually relieves them,” says Paula.

She says some of the research conducted is basic science, using animals to investigate aspects of human disease or using animals to test animal products such as flea and tick treatments.

“The research facilities give us a lot of information on the individual animals so that we can match them to their best suited home, and they give

“The Australian regulations are very clear and very strict, no genetically modified animal can ever leave a facility,” she says.

Animals crave affection and want to form a bond with someone, and Paula says most of the animals they rehome are unusually affectionate.

“They really take to their new life, they acclimatise really quickly and they realise the adopter is there for them and they really lap it up, they love every minute of it,” says Paula.

Jane White says: “I got in touch with Paula and she was very thor-

ough. She didn’t just give them away, she wanted to be sure that I wasn’t adopting them as an impulse thing.”

Paula sent her information about bedding and housing and once Jane had their new home set up, she sent photos to Paula for approval.

“She was really helpful and obviously very interested in the welfare of the animals. We still keep in touch and she’s always there as a resource,” says Jane.

“The laboratory wouldn’t release them if they weren’t healthy and normal. They’re not traumatised or diseased, nothing is wrong with them and I would rather get them out of that situation. This is a much kinder and better, more responsible way of doing it,” says Jane.

Belco Pets’ owner Alexis Kilby has a charity box in store for the Liberty Foundation.

“A lot of people ask us for rabbits, guinea pigs or mice and rats so it made sense to find a rescue outlet that we can refer people towards,” says Alexis. A customer mentioned the Liberty Foundation to Alexis and it seemed a perfect fit.

“They’re among the smaller rescue groups in Canberra that people haven’t heard about so that was the reason that we wanted to support them,” says Alexis.

More at libertyfoundation.org.au

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CANBERRA MATTERS

Welcome to the nightmare of a ‘Better Normal’

THIS was to be the year the ACT government was to deliver the muchvaunted reforms to make planning simpler and more accessible.

Looks like another deadline missed. Usually, when real reform is forecast, there would be a willingness to work towards such aspirations. Not this lot! They have carried on with inconsistent and ingenuous actions while showing little respect for the people who live in the city.

In April, 2017, the CEO of the Planning Directorate said (to paraphrase) under his direction the planning system would be citizen focused, have the customer experience at the forefront of the bureaucracy’s thinking – and will provide high quality public spaces and improved environmental management.

Meanwhile, the ACT Greens have said that they have been working hard on the planning reforms to make the best of this once-in-a-decade opportunity to improve the way the government does planning. Who said it was a once-in-a-decade opportunity?

All the worthy announcements have not provided comfort to those who struggle with questionable developments that keep being ticked off by the bureaucracy. Within Canberra’s inner south there’s a huge range of issues being dealt with by residents. The list is long – apologies to locals if your hot issue is not included.

The Kingston Arts Precinct has

Changes to the southern suburbs are being advanced with little detail available to the residents in the firing line. Rest assured, when the deals have been done, the residents will be told – sorry, consulted.

been 15 years of announcements. Earlier this month the developer departed and so it is on hold, again.

Residents are waiting for the next surprise announcement. The Manuka Oval saga remains in the background.

Residents wonder what are the plans for development around the former services club site. The Planning Directorate continues to botch the Liangis Manuka Cinema development.

The Yarralumla Brickworks development continues with the former CSIRO Forestry site out for redevelopment.

Two other development proposals demonstrate that when pushed, the Planning Directorate allows anything through. With the latest Geocon application for the Giles Street site in Kingston, the developers are applying to be exempt from the rules.

They wish to extend the limit on two or three storeys by proposing four and using the maximum amount of the

plot. Forget any greenery.

The DA has appeared for the former Italian Club site and spells out the developer’s intentions to push for more than allowed. Is this how planning adds to the ambience of the neighbourhood?

Let’s not forget the ongoing issues of the DA-exempt demolish and rebuild – that usually results in modest homes with gardens being replaced with supersized buildings with little greenery.

Add to this, the proposal for the disingenuously titled Demonstration House in Griffith, that along with others from the same program across Canberra, are trojan horses for undoing the basic residential zoning – RZ1. The current approach to development within residential areas is to use every trick available to make it easier to override rules to build to the maximum – being up to the boundaries. Bigger is better with little

care for maintaining previous levels of biodiversity and greenery.

One of the more frightening events was the publication of planning chief Ben Ponton’s plans for urban densification on both sides of the tram going south. These changes to the southern suburbs are being advanced with little detail available to the residents in the firing line. Rest assured, when the deals have been done, the residents will be told – sorry, consulted. What is happening across the innersouth matches what is happening elsewhere within established suburbs. New developments and redevelopments are not aligned with the climate changes being experienced let alone with what will be the new normal

towards the end of the 21st century.

Any talk by the ACT Greens that they take the climate crisis as serious is rubbish when you look at how they ignore the planning and development mess being created by the planning bureaucracy and its ministers – Rebecca Vassarotti, Andrew Barr, Mick Gentleman and Yvette Berry.

The government’s planning reforms are being conducted largely behind closed doors. So much for the Greens’ worthy statements about open government, democracy and working with residents. Who knows what this sham reform will deliver and when!

When it comes to planning reform, is this ACT Labor/Greens government carrying out a big con in plain sight? Welcome to the nightmare of the ACT Greens’ “Building A Better Normal”.

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Multicultural festival cancelled for a year

FEBRUARY’S National Multicultural Festival has been abandoned with the ACT government announcing it would be back in 2023. The government says that given the lead time to deliver such a large-scale event, alongside the redeployment of staff to support the ACT’s multicultural community through the COVID-19 outbreak, planning and implementing a 2022 festival ultimately became unfeasible.

Multicultural Affairs Minister Tara Cheyne said the decision to reschedule the festival allows for the delivery of a celebration on a scale the 25th anniversary deserves.

New fire chief

CANBERRA has a new fire and rescue chief officer with the appointment of Matthew Mavity. The former Kambah fire station chief has been acting as chief officer since the departure last year of Mark Brown. Chief officer Mavity brings 25 years of experience to the job, both as a firefighter and in management positions.

Pelvic workshop

WOMEN of all ages are invited to attend a free pelvic floor workshop presented by a physiotherapist from Canberra Health Services, who will provide information, education and self-help strategies for women experiencing continence problems or wishing to prevent them. At the Gungahlin Community Health Centre, 1pm-4pm, Tuesday, December 7. Book at 5124 9977. Community events to editor@citynews.com.au

By Nick OVERALL

ACCORDING to new research, the average Australian has five pairs of shoes they don’t wear.

Lara Vest, of Amaroo, has 35.

The passionate 22-year-old collector owns and displays rare and branded shoes, some costing thousands of dollars.

“I’ve got about 15 pairs of sneakers and then I’ve got flats, boots and heels, too,” she says

“I love the way they look and feel, particularly the Nike Air Jordan Turbos.

“I probably use around five pairs of shoes regularly.”

While Lara has made a hobby of collecting them, she’s not alone in owning more shoes than she actually wears.

According to the research from the Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA), Australian women hold on to an average of seven pairs of shoes they don’t use while men keep an average of three.

Nearly a quarter of respondents to the survey (24 per cent) said they hold on to old shoes, with many admitting they’re kept for sentimental reasons.

Half of respondents confessed to simply throwing their unwanted shoes

recycler Save our Soles called “TreadLightly” is encouraging Australians to donate their unused sports and active lifestyle shoes in an effort to reduce the millions which go to landfill each year.

More than 400 collection boxes at footwear retailers around Australia have been set up for people to drop their old shoes into, which are then recycled into mats and flooring for stores, gyms and playgrounds.

“Over 110 million shoes make their

Setting unwanted sports shoes on to a new path

hoped by 2023 that number will reach one million as more stores join the

“As someone with a family with two young kids I certainly know from my own experience – we all go through shoes, we all have those runners or old thongs sitting in the corner,” says

“The program works because it’s easy, you’re gonna go to a shopping centre eventually for some new shoes and as you get new ones you can drop off your old ones.”

According to Shaun, around 100 million shoes are currently at risk of going to landfill, many of which would take around 1000 years to break down.

“Those shoes that would have been sent to landfill are now being used in new products for the community,” he says.

way to Australian shores each year of which 25 million are sporting and athletic lifestyle footwear,” says ASGA executive director Shaun Bajada.

“The wider industry, as well as consumers, want to do more to reduce their environmental impact and ‘TreadLightly’ makes it easy for everyone to do their bit for the planet.”

Industry brands such as Asics, Nike, Adidas, Rebel Sport, Converse, New Balance, The Athlete’s Foot and many more have joined the cause, with six stores currently serving as collection points in Canberra.

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While Lara’s prized collection of Air Jordans may not quite be candidates for recycling, she says she’d absolutely be willing to donate her unused shoes lying around the house to the program.

“I try to donate unused shoes to Vinnies, but this is something I’d be very happy to donate to as well,” she says.

Lara’s not alone either, with the research revealing that 78 per cent of people would be willing to recycle their old shoes if there was a program available in their area.

Since June nearly 40,000 pairs of shoes have been donated and it’s

“The other great thing is that any of these floors when they’re no longer needed can be torn up and remade into new floors again.”

While Shaun says it’s always okay to buy shoes, by having major brands working together the program is solving a very real industry issue.

“The great thing is that it all starts in Australia, it’s recycled in Australia and it goes back into Australia,” he says.

More info and participating stores at treadlightly.asga.com.au

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Suite 2, Level 2, Equinox 1, 70 Kent Street, Deakin ACT

earlier every year, you are spot on. The sum mer game is a year-round prospect nowadays with our local players heading abroad to play in numerous competitions across the globe.

ACT Meteors batter Katie Mack knows this life all too well. Mack spoke to “CityNews” from Adelaide where she has been playing with the Strikers in the WBBL – the latest stop in a long stint away from Canberra.

“I’ve been on the road for five months, so life as a professional athlete isn’t easy at the moment with border closures,” said Mack, who travelled to the UK to join the Birmingham Phoenix for the inaugural season of The Hundred before coming back to Australia and heading straight into WBBL camp.

While the time away from friends and family is difficult, Mack says it has been worth it.

“Living on the road and out of a suitcase for that long has been tough, but I wouldn’t change anything,” she said.

“It has been the best experience of my cricket career – being able to go over to England – I would do it again for even longer if I could, those are the sacrifices you make.”

It hasn’t always been this busy during the winter months for Katie, who started her career in NSW before making the move to Canberra to play with the Meteors.

The 28-year-old has seen the changing landscape of the game during her career, going from part-time worker and semi-professional cricketer, to playing the game she loves full time both here and overseas.

Weeks ago, Queensland Rugby League announced they would give equal match payments to men’s and women’s State of Origin representatives. Some critics said the move was premature, citing lower ratings and revenue than the men’s game.

It is a well-worn argument that has been heard for years in women’s sport, but cricket is a good example of how the investment can pay off.

“Professionalising the game has been huge for women’s cricket and I think the Big Bash

THE Q, QUEANBEYAN advertising feature

We’re small, local and big on quality, says director Jordan

“WE are small, we are local and we are quality,” says the artistic director of The Q, Jordan Best, who says she’s excited to present The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre’s 2022 season.

Jordan and her team promise to deliver a diversity of bold, exciting live performances that feature comedy, music, theatre, and children’s shows, across two stateof-the-art venues.

“As The Q enters our ‘teenage’ years, we see our role to bring quality performances with a focus on showcasing local creators and performers. The 2022 season will be more than 50 per cent local,” she says.

There will be three in-house productions by Echo Theatre as well as some of the best touring shows from around Australia including “The Year of Magical Thinking”, “Mother & Son” and “Sunshine Super Girl”, coming to Queanbeyan just before it travels to Melbourne.

Jordan says that 2022 heralds a new era for the centre. The completion of the refurbishment of the next-door Bicentennial Hall into a 570-person performance space has given The Q’s 2022 season even more room and opportunities to present larger-scale, musical events, says Jordan.

“The B” will host several tribute bands throughout the year such as Fleetwood Mac, Abba and a Johnny Cash show.

time,” she says.

ones, The Q will present science experiments, singing robots and dancing bears! Comedy in the form of open-mic nights as well as full-length comedy shows will also feature in the season.

that across the two venues, more often than not there will be something fantastic happening at The Q or The B in 2022.

are your theatre, so come and get to know us.”

Subscriptions are now available, and with new, tiered subscription packages, people can save up to 25 per cent off season tickets and under 30s can access a $30 ticket price with a subscription to four or more shows. Jordan says that young people can get the chance to see quality performances at an affordable price.

“We are your theatre, so come and get to know us. Get a subscription for this cracker of a season!” says Jordan.

“I think the footballers are at that point now where they are going to get a lot better if you invest and allow the girls to train as much as they want and can live a professional lifestyle.”

The women’s game has come along in leaps and bounds on and off the field since the inception of the WBBL in 2015.

Mack has noticed the shift, starting with the Melbourne Stars for the first four seasons of the competition before taking an opportunity with the Strikers in 2019.

“People are more interested and that comes from how much more exposure there is,” said Mack.

“We’re playing more games on TV, which is enabling people to watch more and that comes down to that investment.”

The exposure has certainly worked, with a new cohort of women across the country taking up the game in the seven years since the competition started.

That trend can be seen here in Canberra, where Cricket ACT has established two grades of women’s cricket this season. The 2021/22 Lynne O’Meara Cup will feature four teams in first grade, and eight teams in second grade.

It’s a pathway that wasn’t available for Mack during the early stages of her cricket journey, but one she’s glad to see for Canberra’s women.

“I’ve played men’s cricket for a long time, and this year my teammates and I will be playing in the women’s competition,” she said.

“We know how important it is to have a good foundation and cricket quality that girls can play that we can use to select for Meteors squads in the following years.

“It will be really good for the development of cricket in the ACT, and hopefully we will get a few people from other states to come and play to try and get a game with the Meteors.”

“There’s nothing quite like 500 people all rocking out to their favourite tribute band and having a fantastic

Visit theq.net.au

SMOKESCREEN | 26 JAN - 5 FEB

RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL | 24 FEB - 12 MAR

KING OF PIGS | 24 - 26 MAR

MOTHER & SON | 29 MAR - 3 APR

21 FORSTER ST | 26 MAY - 4 JUN

THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING | 7 - 9 JUL

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING | 22 - 30 JUL

DEMENTED | 11 - 20 AUG

SUNSHINE SUPER GIRL | 2 - 5 NOV

GOD OF CARNAGE | 23 NOV - 3 DEC

THE ALPHABET OF AWESOME | 5 - 6 APR

ROBOT SONG | 9 - 11 JUN

GOLDILOCKS & THE THREE BEARS | 15 - 18 DEC 2

Is it fair to campaign with taxpayers’ money?

ELECTIONS in Australia are vulnerable to exploitation that will seriously undermine our democracy. This type of corruption often starts with the smallest things and grows to an expectation and a “right”. It cannot be left unchecked.

Government use of taxpayers’ money to support their own party’s re-election is a case in point. There is a fine line between the government putting its best forward and celebrating achievements on the one hand, and simply electioneering on the other.

Just before the last ACT election, the government flooded the streets of Canberra with signs. These signs warned of pedestrians and cyclists in suburbs and drew motorists’ attention to their responsibilities as a driver. No doubt the government could argue that this was part of the “Safe Systems” approach and consistent with their “Vision Zero by 2050”.

However, when a plethora of corflute signs that are zip-tied to poles appear just before an election, it is fair to ask how much was this in the community interest and how much was this an election strategy. It is also fair to ask how much taxpayers’ money was spent in the process.

Promises, promises… These sorts of signs stand as monuments to election promises that have not been delivered.

Similar strategies were used to celebrate what the government wanted to promote such as commitments that it had made, for example, in the capital works program.

Campaigning with our money on an expectation of what a returned government will deliver crosses the threshold between what is in the interest of the party compared to what is in the interest of the community. Take the street signs that were erected over a year ago letting the community know that particular intersections would be signalised. Well over a year later the same signs are starting to fade with the intensity

When a plethora of corflute signs appear just before an election, it is fair to ask how much was this in the community interest and how much was it an election strategy. It is also fair to ask how much taxpayers’ money was spent in the process.

of the sun and the frustration of waiting motorists.

It is three years before the next election. However, these signs stand as a monument to an election promise that has not been delivered. They are also evidence of a commitment to a capital-works system that is not delivering on government promises.

The use of taxpayers’ money to boost an incumbent government’s chances at the next election is not restricted to the ACT. Paul Karp, writing in “The Guardian” recently, identified $59 million set aside by the Morrison government to run advertisements enhancing its chances of returning to government at the upcoming election.

The insight came from government tenders that have seen the light of day thanks to a Senate Estimates Committee examining the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. The government has already spent $12.9 million on a “Positive Energy” campaign between September and the COP26 Climate

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Conference in Glasgow.

No doubt, it takes a great deal of (taxpayers’) money to explain its backflip on climate change and to market the pathetically weak policy with minimal real government commitments to reach “net zero by 2050”.

As explained by Paul Karp: “That spending included $488,000 on market research, $10.7m on ad buys, $1.8m on creative work, $1m on public relations, $138,000 on a website and $190,000 on evaluation”. And this is chicken feed compared to another $50 million or so that is to be spent on a range of other activities designed to market the best aspects of the government.

This is the problem. On the one hand is the pretence of selling the government’s ideas and achievements in the interest of the public. On the other, is the reality of selling the

successes of a particular party in government. It is the latter that relies on a completely unacceptable use of public money.

Had the federal government finally been prepared to support an effective anti-corruption commission with teeth and the power to investigate politicians, including government ministers, such matters could be independently assessed for integrity or lack of integrity. However, it appears that the current government just has too much to lose.

Democracy is challenged and weakened when self-interest, including of political parties, trumps the community interest. Using taxpayers’ money in the interest of political advantage is simply corrupt and undermines democracy.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. For the past fifteen years he has been a political columnist with “CityNews”.

How ‘blameless’ Berry keeps people out of homes

In the first of a three-part critical analysis of the housing market, JON STANHOPE and Dr KHALID AHMED trace how the ACT government’s monopolistic land-release policy deliberately drives up house prices.

A RECENT release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals that the median price of a house in the ACT increased from $830,000 in the March quarter to $920,000 in the June quarter of 2021 – an increase of $90,000 in three months.

Over the year (June 2020 to June 2021) the increase in median price was a stagger ing 26.4 per cent. Since that release, market reports indicate further price increases with suburb after suburb breaking through the million-dollar mark.

desperation and anger.

While seeking to shift responsibility for the ACT’s severely unaffordable housing, Ms Berry claimed that the government is getting on with the job and providing housing choices to Canberrans. We find this perplexing.

While the price increase in 2020-21 was particularly large, it continues a trend increase since 2011-12 outstripping income growth.

Apart from a few notable observers who propose supply or demand side solutions, most media commentary falls into two well-established and predictable patterns with:

(a) Sweeping generalisations, such as that housing (un)affordability is a national problem and that state and territory governments do not have the levers to improve affordability. Some observers take even a broader perspective to paint it as a global problem. Policy solutions then, if any, rest with the federal government. Households need to change their expectations, abandon their unrealistic dreams, and adjust to the “new normal”. Home ownership is not for everyone; or

(b) Professed fresh insights that the housing market either defies or is not subject to the fundamental law of supply and demand.

We consider the former approach at the

very least simplistic and reductionist. Interestingly, in a recent debate in the Legislative Assembly on a motion by Liberal Mark Parton, for an enquiry into housing unaffordability in the ACT, Housing Minister Yvette Berry resorted to both the above lines of argument, insisting record low interest rates and Commonwealth government tax incentives are the drivers of surging property prices in Canberra. The motion was, regrettably, amended by the government to require only that the Commonwealth government be lobbied about housing affordability and asked to develop a national housing and homelessness strategy.

For those already owning a house, an increase in family wealth at the rate of a thousand dollars a day provides a sense of increased financial security and an affirmation of the Australian dream.

For those, especially from lower-income households, seeking to buy a house, there is exasperation, feelings of inadequacy,

She is also reported as saying that “to suggest that it is just a matter of government supply of land, as a primary cause of house-price increases, ignores everything that has occurred over the last 18 months”, thereby suggesting that the ACT housing market has somehow broken free of the shackles of the law of supply and demand. Incidentally, we are yet to encounter any peer-reviewed research that concludes as

The housing choices of Canberrans was revealed in a survey commissioned by the government in 2015, and undertaken by Winton Sustainable Research, in which 91 per cent of households advised that their preferred housing choice was a standalone dwelling. The government’s land-release policy over the last decade reflects the opposite of the findings from that research.

The Minister also recently released a report card on the government’s current housing strategy claiming success in implementing key actions. The strategy warrants a detailed assessment. However, we note that the ACT’s current housing market and affordability outcomes speak for themselves and are an appropriate measure of the effectiveness of the government’s housing strategy. Notably, the charts published here highlight the reverse trend before 2011-12, when the supply increased, profit margin decreased and the median multiple also decreased with a lag of just one year.

Next week: Public housing and community housing.

The median multiple

IN 2011-12, a household on median income

needed to pay 3.9 times its annual income to purchase a median-priced house. The ratio called “median multiple” is a standard measure of affordability.

In June 2021, the median multiple had increased to around 7.7. A housing market with

a median multiple in excess of 5 is considered “severely unaffordable”. In the ACT, the median multiple has been higher than 5 since 2014-15. Many households seeking to enter home ownership face the initial hurdle of saving enough for an increasingly large deposit, let alone a growing burden of mortgage.

The Chief Minister and Treasurer regularly promote the abolition of conveyance duty as the government’s key policy in improving housing affordability. In reality, a household purchasing a median-priced home today will pay more in conveyance duty than was payable 10 years ago when the government embarked on this alleged reform.

Profit margins on land

During this period, the government’s monopoly supply arm, the then Land Development Agency and now the Suburban Land Agency, posted an abnormal growth in its profits, increasing from $53 million in 2010-11 to $317

million in 2016-17. Gross profit margin increased from 25 per cent in 2010-11 to 84 per cent in 2017-18. In 2019-20, while activity ceased for part of the year, the gross profit margin was nevertheless 67 per cent.

Note: In recent years, the government has not published figures for standalone dwelling sites released. Data from 2017-18 onwards is based on the stated government policy on the percentage share.

Detached dwellings

IT is true that state governments in Australia have limited levers to curb price pressures in the housing market. However, the ACT government is an exception – unlike all other states and territories, the ACT has both a single tier of government and hence one planning system, and a total monopoly on the

supply of land. What is occurring in the ACT’s housing market is the culmination of ACT government policies on land supply over almost a decade. Overall land supply for both attached and detached housing decreased from 5048 dwelling sites in 2010-11 to an

average of around 3700 sites over the following 10 years, dropping to less than half at 2466 sites in 2011-12. Supply of detached housing sites was particularly constrained, with supply dropping from more than 3500 blocks in 2010-11 to a mere 329 blocks of land in 2014-15.

LETTERS

Let’s hear voices of the Great War’s real heroes

ON Remembrance Day at 11am I tuned into ABC Classic FM and was once again moved by the recitation of the prayer, the Last Post and the two minutes’ silence.

I think it was the Sydney ceremony that was transmitted. The prayer was quite competently read by an Air Vice Marshall. But ahead of the reading we were treated to a lengthy recitation of the AVM’s entire military career. In fact this detailed bio reading lasted longer than the prayer itself.

I thought that was strangely inappropriate. By all means let’s have the reader identified by name, rank and current position held, but let’s leave it there and not totally upend the balance of the occasion with what sounded like a job application.

And is a two-star general the appropriate level for this reading?

The ceremony remembers the Great War, in which the performance of Australia’s senior military was uneven. How much better it would be to hear the voice of an NCO, even a private, representing the real heroes of that awful conflict.

Paul Varsanyi, Kambah

Respect and recognition is needed

I THINK columnist Paul Costigan (“The inequality of women to be seen in public art”, CN November 11) is somewhat naive by suggesting that more public art representation of women in and around Canberra will inspire more women into public life; he uses the statues of Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney as examples.

Noting the overall inequities in the social, corporate, leadership and political arenas of women, he argues that having a predominance of “blokes, animals and other stuff does not encourage young women to take significant roles in society”.

I disagree. Admiring “bricks and mortar” as works of art is one thing. However, what would inspire young women to be engaged more in public life would be a significant improvement in the culture, integrity, organisation and practices of our governments, parliaments, judiciary and society in general in the way women should be treated, that is, with respect and recognition for their enormous contribution in both the public and private arena.

Angela Kueter-Luks, Bruce

Remembering Marion’s role

THANKS to Paul Costigan for his timely remembrance of Marion Mahony Griffin (“The

inequality of women to be seen in public art”, CN November 11). The National Capital Authority can be congratulated for highlighting this, the 150th year of Marion’s birth and the 60th of her death.

It’s timely to recall the motion passed by the ACT Assembly in February, 2020, including this: “Acknowledge the significant contribution to our capital and consider naming future public places, for example, street names after Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin”.

The government’s response was to name a street in Taylor “Knitlock”. This was a construction system invented by Walter and only used interstate – otherwise unknown in Canberra.

In her own right, Marion Mahony Griffin warrants wider acknowledgement as an architect, artist and partner in the winning design of our nation’s capital.

Peter Graves, chair, Canberra Chapter, Walter Burley Griffin Society

Here we have a real main street

LETTER writer Greg Cornwell (CN November 11) has hit at least one nail on the head: life in Queanbeyan is generally less costly than in Canberra – and not only because there are fewer things to spend money on in Queanbeyan than in Canberra.

For instance, in the four years I have lived here, I have not had to pay one cent to park my car wherever I liked; nor have I had to buy a ticket to the local cinema.

I lived quite happily in Canberra for about 40

years but reckon I have saved more and spent less in my last four years in the Quean Bush Capital of the Southern Tablelands than I was able to in any of those 40 Canberra years.

And whenever I feel the need to flash my credit cards, I can always slip across the border and head down Canberra Avenue to the fleshpots of Fyshwick, the markets of Kingston and the (ugh!) Kingston Foreshore, the swanky shops of Manuka; or pass through the only real bush in the Bush Capital – Oaks Estate, en route to make a retail hit in Pialligo or at Ikea.

Here in Queanbeyan we have a real main street, with no light rails, but free parallel parking right in front of real shop-worn shops, cafes, restaurants, barbers, hairdressers and pubs – out in the open air, for God’s sake!

And in the suburbs (yes, we have them, too), with their fabulous heritage-listed potholes, you might find the occasional corner butcher or convenience shop, with lollies and ice creams galore, and lamppostsHere in Queanbeyan we have a real main street, openly carrying power lines for all those birds to sit on and for passing pooches to leave their own messages.

But other nails Greg might like to have a go at include the variety of urban textures we have here, compared to the modern predictability of the Bushless Capital.

Squeezed among the encroaching mid-rise apartment blocks for impoverished refugees from Canberra, there is still an endless variety of domestic architecture, dating back to colonial, federation and ‘50s styles; the snug cottages with fragrant wisps of smoke from chimneys, their weatherboard or fibro

cladding topped by rusty-red CGI roofs, with their own verandahs and sleepouts, backyards and front gardens. Forget the film-set facades of Gold Creek “village” – how many verandahs have you seen in the streets of Red Hill lately?

And we have our own real river, today with its own reedy floodplain and its ducks and black swans showing by elegant example their fluffy cygnets what true deportment is; and, of course, the platypuses – not many of them to be seen in the shopping malls of Woden, Tuggers, or (ugh!#2) Gungahlin.

So, whenever you hear the coo-ee call of nostalgia, Greg, you’ll be welcome to spend a day or two in the Quean-City of the Bush over the border. But leave your Dryasabone and Akubra at home.

Phillip Mackenzie, Queanbeyan

Trees felled in the ‘climate emergency’

I’M writing in response to the article “Who Benefits from the Trojan Tram going south?” (CN November 4) by Paul Costigan.

Mr Costigan is totally correct. As I write, there is large-scale tree felling of mature trees along Callam Street in Woden. And also Launceston Street.

So what happened to the Labor Party and the Greens claiming and stating that we have a “climate emergency”?

To me, it’s obvious that Stage 2 of light rail will become an environmental disaster and, therefore, will create and justify the term “climate emergency”.

MORE LETTERS

Also why the destruction of the forest of massive eucalyptus and other species adjacent to Phillip Oval?

So if we have a so-called “climate emergency’, then those who say it need to practice what they preach.

Otherwise, I will ask the question: “Is climate change real, or just an urban greenie myth?”

Michael Calkovics, Lyons

Listen to the ‘prophets of doom’

I HAVE been observing the weather daily for more than half a century, 30 years here in Canberra.

Letter writer John L Smith (“Climate models are incomprehensible”, CN November 11) fails to realise that “one swallow does not a summer make”.

While we are indeed experiencing a very wet period at present, drought always remains a threat to the “bush capital” and surrounds, with attendant heat waves and bushfires as 2019/20 illustrated so graphically. Global warming of around 1.1C has powered up and energised the earth’s weather/climate system since the advent of the Industrial Revolution as CO2 increased in the atmosphere, particularly since the 1950s.

The atmospheric scientists from around the world, who contributed to the latest “Code Red” warning report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, unlike politicians, are not the least interested professionally what the general population thinks of the numerous models now being used and improved to understand the complex physics of the Earth’s atmosphere/ ocean/land system, which produce weather

and long-term climate.

Mr Smith is likely to correctly state that the average citizen is not too concerned with the models we use in our observations and research.

They are mathematically complex, requiring masses of computer power to process. However, when weather disasters of the severity we are witnessing around the globe and in Australia continue to occur more frequently and start to impact people directly with increasing food prices, scarcity of goods and lifestyle disruptions, just maybe members of the public will sit up and take notice of the warnings of those of us burdened with being the prophets of doom.

Gavin A O’Brien, Climate Watch Australia, Gilmore

We are being dudded big time!

EVERY “CityNews” reader should take time to peruse the ACT government’s submission to the National Capital Authority for the raising of London Circuit, the sole purpose of which is to accommodate Stage 2A of light rail. See nca.gov.au/consultations/rlc

Of particular note are the following facts taken from Appendix F to the submission: The amount of dirt fill required is not 60,000 tonnes, as reported in the media, but 124,200 tonnes, plus 250 tonnes of waste material. From the executive summary: “Total emissions generated by the project are estimated

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cent of ACT’s total emissions of 0.00035 per cent of Australia’s total emissions, based on reported 2019 values.”

In 2019, Australia’s GHG emissions were only 1.06 per cent of world emissions, meaning that ACT’s emissions at 0.00035 per cent of that are meaningless.

Yet, according to my latest Rates Instalment Notice, the ACT government spends 4 per cent of its Budget ($274 million) on Environment Sustainable Development and Climate Change. Why?

Does this not say how ludicrous the Greens’ enforced policies are on Canberran taxpayers? Millions every year for absolutely zero effect on global warming let alone on climate change. We are being dudded big time!

Max Flint, co-ordinator, Smart Canberra Transport

‘Inbred ted’ deserves a new long-term home

GIVEN the original donor’s sense of humour and the recipient‘s ability to link up events, connections and deliver pertinent political story-lines to the public, it is hoped that one day the CN editor’s two-headed teddy-bear and its current write up will end up being offered to – and accepted by – the National Museum of Australia (“Of chairs and bears… and one happy ‘family’”, “Seven Days”, CN November 18).

This particular bear and its story deserve to move on from the privacy of “the pool room”, since such an inclusion in the Museum’s political and cultural history collection would help show “how things happened” in early twenty-first century Australia.

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Let’s

see

what the future holds for Kim

I WOULD like to congratulate Prof Kim Rubenstein on her quest to run as an independent senator for the ACT at the forthcoming federal election.

As a cover story (CN November 4), it is highly important for Canberra people to see a fresh approach of having four ACT senators instead of two which are always linked to the Labor and the Liberal parties.

In my opinion a title such as “Kim’s for Canberra, but will Canberra be for Kim?” is on one hand supportive, but on the other hand negative and inappropriate since it is doubting her by questioning the readiness of the public to see a change and accept her as a candidate.

A better title might be ”Kim for Canberra, but let’s see what the future can hold”.

Barak Zelig, Wanniassa

Excited by an independent candidate

I WAS very excited to read about the independent ACT Senate candidate Kim Rubenstein, who feels strongly about territory rights (“Kim’s for Canberra”, CN November 4).

Let’s hope that after the next election we can say: “Welcome Kim and farewell Zed”.

Carol Carlyon, Mawson

Write to us

Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au

Sue Dyer,

Downer

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THE GADFLY Scott’s net-zero target has no bow nor arrow

WHAT’S the point of a target if you have no bow and arrow?

The thought occurred as we drove past the archery course beside Streeton Drive, Weston, shortly after Scott Morrison delivered his latest announcement on climate change.

We were heading to the coast after the Canberra lockdown was lifted so there was plenty of time to chat about this latest manoeuvre from the Prime Minister to remain in power.

And like all the others, it was bereft of substance, responsibility and morality. In other words, it was a con trick.

He has built quite a list of such devices since he shoved the hapless Malcolm Turnbull out of The Lodge. Remember that gawky arm around Malcolm’s shoulders as he said: “This is my leader,” while his own supporters were counting the numbers.

Then, in short order, came the “sports rorts” and the even bigger car park grants to Coalition and marginal seats in the lead up to his “miracle”

This latest manoeuvre from the Prime Minister to remain in power, like all the others, was bereft of substance, responsibility and morality. In other words, it was a con trick.

election. The revelations of Brittany Higgins brought us the endless Phil Gaetjens investigation into who knew what in the PMO; and the plethora of inquiries into workplace harassment, which will never result in meaningful action.

Next came the opening scene of the Christian Porter saga with his vigorous denial of a sexual encounter with a young debating partner; Morrison’s refusal to call a real inquiry to sort the matter out; and Porter’s final departure from the ministry (though not the parliament) with the revelation that an anonymous slush fund had been set up to pay his legal fees. Even then, Morrison used his numbers to prevent a referral to a parliamentary committee to inquire into it.

But the most telling con job has been the pretence that his government is fair dinkum about establishing an anti-corruption commission that actually exposes corruption among politicians.

Publicly, the flim-flam operation initially proposed by Christian Porter when he was attorney-general has been laughed out of court.

The distinguished former judge of

the Victorian Court of Appeal and a director of the Centre for Public Integrity, Stephen Charles QC, said: “It would hide corruption, not expose it.”

But it’s hollow laughter since the very idea of a corrupt government is the stuff of nightmares. Literally.

I still vividly recall exactly that from the early 1990s when I was trapped in Belgrade during the war that marked the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

I was sending reports to my newspaper that angered the Serbian government of the day; and was suddenly in a world where a knock at my 12th floor hotel door could have had the most unhappy consequences. There was no appeal to the kind of justice we have taken for granted in Australia.

Until now. Just ask Bernard Collaery, Witness K or Witness J.

Of course, Morrison is not Milosevic (despite their physical resemblance) and Australia isn’t Serbia then. Even Serbia now isn’t Serbia then.

But corruption is a disease like covid. It enters through the mouth and is transmitted the same way; it spreads exponentially and if unchecked can create new variants fatal to the entire body politic.

The only viable weapon is the truth serum we call science. But today’s clamouring media outlets can overwhelm resistance with the jabber of the crowd.

And the Morrisons, with their announcements from the seat of power, hold sway.

They talk of net-zero targets and it sounds as though they’re serious… until you notice that there’s no bow and not a single new arrow in the quiver.

www.robertmacklin.com

Go on, guess: what colour is the White House?

WHAT colour is the White House?

It’s a trick question because technically white is not a colour.

When I was at school we learned an acronym for the colour spectrum – ROYGBIV (for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) – and were told that white and black are not colours. But it’s not quite that simple.

The full range of colours – based on wavelength, frequency, and energy of light – should include infrared (before red), cyan (between green and blue) and ultraviolet (after violet).

Some consider white to be a colour, because white light comprises all hues on the visible light spectrum but, technically, black and white are not colours. Black is the absence of light. Unlike white and other hues, pure black can exist in nature without any light at all.

Human perception of colour begins with specialised retinal cells known as cone cells. They contain different forms of opsin – a pigment protein –that have different spectral sensitivities. Human eyes contain three cone types, resulting in trichromatic (three channel) colour vision. Our cones turn light and colour information into three separate signals: red, green, and blue.

The colours we see also depend on light absorption, reflection, and emission characteristics of what we

are looking at. Our colour vision is poor in low light and peripherally.

In the animal world, some animals see very little colour, while creatures such as bees and butterflies can see more colours than humans.

Dogs possess only two types of cones that signal primary colours blue and yellow – this limited colour perception is called dichromatic (two channel) vision. Some scientists believe that cats only see blue and grey, while others think they also see yellow, like dogs.

What about birds and fish? Birds have additional cones in their retina that are sensitive to the ultraviolet range, so they can see colours that are invisible to humans.

The majority of fish have eyes

that can detect the colours typical of their environment. For example, inshore fish have colour vision, whereas offshore pelagic fish have limited colour vision and can detect only a few if any colours. Sharks are colour blind and are thought to be confused and deterred by black and white stripes. A cuttlefish is colour blind but can change its colour for concealment. Whales and seals are also colour blind.

Why do bulls in bullfights hate red? Actually, they don’t. Bulls and other cattle are dichromatic and cannot see red. Bulls are irritated in a bullfight by the movement of the red muleta wielded by the bullfighter.

Why do some humans suffer from colour blindness? It’s commonly

A friend recently learned she was colour blind. She was quite surprised. In fact, the diagnosis came completely out of the black.

caused by a genetic fault – some colour-sensitive cones are either missing or do not work properly. (A friend recently learned she was colour blind. She was quite surprised. In fact, the diagnosis came completely out of the black).

Colour-blind people see normally in other ways and can still drive vehicles. At traffic signals they see them changing and know that red is at the top and green is at the bottom. Blacker than black “Vantablack” (Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Array Black) is a unique, carbon nanotubebased pigment produced by British company NanoSystem. Vantablack was developed in 2014 for specialised military and space applications. It absorbs 99.965 per cent of light. Against a deep black background

objects coated in Vantablack seem to disappear. This is because the human eye perceives shapes coated in Vantablack as two-dimensional. Vantablack is used for stealth aircraft and weaponry and sensitive telescopes that can detect the faintest of faraway stars. In 2019 engineers at MIT revealed a new, even darker black coating that is capable of absorbing 99.995 per cent of visible light.

To close with a colourful anecdote: A handsome American walks into an Australian pub with a big, beautiful, red, blue and green parrot on his shoulder.

The bartender says: “Wow! He’s awesome, where’d you get him?” “California” the parrot replies.

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist

* To refer back to the heading, the entire White House exterior is painted with Duron’s “Whisper White” exterior paint.

Women who are leading the way in business

FROM pain specialists to lawyers, financial advisers to Nordic walkers, Canberra is home to many diverse and experienced businesswomen passionate about sharing their expertise with the community.

This week, “CityNews” speaks with some of these women, who offer stories and insights from their respective fields. Catherine has all the

“MY passion has always been to help clients improve their overall wealth,” says Catherine Smith, CEO of Wholistic Financial Solutions.

Catherine says Wholistic Financial Solutions has everything her clients need, with a team of 20 including tax accountants, financial advisors, SMSF specialists, real estate agents, mortgage brokers as well as a life and financial coach.

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

try for 30 years, Catherine says she loves seeing clients’ overall financial position improve year after year through the wholistic advice that her firm offers.

“Many clients come to us with no idea where to start or a feeling that they are lost or stuck in the financial maze,” she says.

“Because we offer advice across all financial industries, no matter where a client is up to on the journey, we are able to assist.”

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

Our clients are average Australian’s who want to create and protect wealth for themselves and their families. We base our advice on assessing clients goals, needs and wants and the financial feasibility of the goals both now and in the future. Based on these goals, and the clients own preferences we devise individual wealth creation, tax planning, debt reduction and superannuation strategies to assist clients create, build and protect wealth for their family and their next generation. We believe in partnering with clients to advise, educate and guide them to make the right financial choices.

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

The dedicated doctor who likes to listen

FOLLOWING years of career experience and training in Nigeria and South Africa, Dr Taiye Oguns emigrated to Australia in 2011 and now works as a doctor at Kenolta Medical Centre.

Taiye says she enjoys the constant diversity of patient presentations in general practice and has special interests in women’s health, antenatal and postnatal care, children’s health, and obesity management.

“In my teenage years, my dad noticed in me what I hadn’t seen in myself at the time –he saw that I was compassionate, caring and empathic,” says Dr Oguns.

“Although I was at the time happy solving mathematical problems and considered becoming an engineer, in hindsight, the advice to study medicine was perfect for me as solving people’s health concerns now gives me such rewarding joy.”

On top of her medical training, Dr Oguns holds the Royal Australian and NZ College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists Certificate in Women’s Health.

She’s also an experienced fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and, over the years, says she has contributed significantly to the training and mentoring of GP registrars and several doctors on various pathways.

“I really want to help my patients get the best health outcome,” she says.

“I believe anyone who leaves their home or work to come to see a GP really wants to be listened to –listening ears are critical to identifying and helping resolve many health issues.”

Kenolta Medical Centre, 38 O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls. Call 5104 3966, email reception@kenolta.com.au or visit kenolta.com.au

LOOKING FOR A CONVENIENTLY LOCATED MEDICAL CENTRE?

At KENOLTA Medical Centre Gold Creek, we are committed to providing you with a personalised, holistic care delivered with empathy and excellence. We aim to optimise your experience as we partner with you towards achieving the best possible health outcome for you.

OUR SERVICES INCLUDE

Conveniently located:

• Immediately off Barton highway

• 7km from Gungahlin Town Centre

• 9km from Belconnen Town Centre

• 10km from Civic

Bus route with bus stop nearby Next door to drive-through Discount Pharmacy

120 free car parking spaces available on-site

SAM PAYNE

Physiotherapist and Exercise Physiologist. Special interest in Back and Neck Pain, Lumbo-Pelvic Pain, Sports Injuries and Migraine/ Headaches

DR JOE OGUNS

Special interest in Family medicine, Men’s health, Geriatrics/Seniors, Minor surgical procedures and Occupational health

GERIATRICS/ CARE OF THE ELDERLY CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT

SKIN CHECKS

MINOR SURGICAL PROCEDURES

DRIVING MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS CHILDREN’S HEALTH INCLUDING IMMUNISATIONS

PHYSIOTHERAPY

WOMEN’S HEALTH

ANTENATAL/ OBSTETRICS/ POSTNATAL CARE

HEALTH ASSESSMENTS

DR DORA SHIRIN

EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY

MEN’S HEALTH

TRAVEL VACCINATIONS & INSURANCE CLAIMS

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Special interest in Women’s Health, Antenatal Care/Obstetrics, Children’s Health, Diabetes Management, Chronic Disease Management and Sexual & Reproductive Health

DR TAIYE OGUNS

Special interest in Women’s health, Antenatal and Postnatal care, Contraceptives ( including IUDS ), Children’s health, and Obesity management

38 O’Hanlon Place Nicholls ( Opposite McDonald’s Gold Creek ) For appointments phone 02 5104 3966 reception@kenolta.com.au

– Fri 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

WILLS and estate lawyer Ashilpa Khanna, from Capon and Hubert Lawyers and Mediators, says she’s proud to represent a law firm with a work culture that’s both professional and supportive.

“Capon and Hubert is one of the very few firms in Canberra which works like a tight knit family,” says Ashilpa.

“Most of our staff have been working here for over four years including myself and some for as long as eight to 14 years.”

“I think that speaks volumes in terms of the management and directors we have – a very sup -

portive work culture which can be rare in this competitive industry.

Having always had an interest in law growing up, Ashilpa’s career has seen her work as a paralegal as well as practicing in areas of civil litigation and migration law, but wills and estate law holds a “particular place in her work life.”

“Wills and estate law is a vast area which can involve anything from drafting documents to running contentious claims in the court so you get a feel of all sides of the practice,” she says,

“There’s also superannuation, an area of law which is evolving

Lanette’s inspired by health and fitness

DIRECTOR of Speedlift Kingston and Pilates

Canberra, Lanette Helene has taught pilates for 26 years.

“Every day that I wake up, I am grateful that I have a job that I’m passionate about and fully engaged in,” she says.

Lanette says she’s always been involved in movement, was an elite dancer when she was young and retired at 20. Then she took up powerlifting and during her pregnancy she continued to train physically.

“I was inspired to become a fitness instructor and was one of the first three personal trainers in Canberra in the early 1990s,” she says.

Fortunately, she had been developing

an online platform for pilates when the first lockdown hit.

“The online studio was up and running within four days offering live online sessions and prerecorded classes for clients,” says Lanette.

Speedlift is an electro-muscle-stimulation franchise that will be opening in December on the Kingston Foreshore.

“I am excited to be able to have two complementary health and fitness businesses that will benefit the people of Canberra,” she says.

Pilates Canberra, 14a Macquarie Street, Barton. Call 0412 022917, email barton@pilatescanberra.com.au or visit pilatescanberra.com.au

Rebecca walks the talk when it comes to helping people with arthritis

ARTHRITIS ACT CEO Rebecca

Davey is proud to lead a team of specialists who help Canber rans deal with all different types of pain and chronic conditions.

Diagnosed with arthritis when she was young, Rebecca was told by many she’d never be able to do nursing as a result – something she was passion ate about pursuing.

“I spent a lot of time in hospital in my teen years and I loved and was inspired by what the staff did,” she says.

“I wanted to do what they did and I wanted to show those people who said I can’t that I could.”

Now with a degree in nurs ing, midwifery and business, Rebecca passionately combines her skills as head of Arthritis ACT.

Since she took on the role of CEO seven years ago the organisation has grown exponentially, having gone from a team of only three to 25.

Now, whether it’s chronic or neuropathic pain, the effects of osteoporosis, or anything else people may be suffering from, she says there’s no pain too little or too big for them to help with.

“Support is what we do and even if

then we’re definitely here,” she says. “All of our programs and classes have the option of being women-only so that we can make clients feel as comfortable as possible.”

Arthritis ACT, building 1, Colette Place, Pearce, and building 18, 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce. Call 1800 011041, email info@arthritisact.org.au or visit arthritisact.org.au

MEET OUR WOMEN WHO ARE EXPERTS IN PAIN MANAGEMENT

Gwen Estigoy Exercise Physiologist

Gwen Estigoy has a passion for working for people from diverse backgrounds.

Gwen instructs Tai Chi for our Falls Prevention program as well as regularly supporting people to meet their exercise goals in our hydrotherapy program and within our own gyms.

Gwen works with individuals, groups, and also leads our LGBTI program.

As with all our Exercise Physiologists

Gwen has a four-year university degree as well as extensive industry experience working with people with chronic pain conditions.

Sophie Bullock Exercise Physiologist

Sophie Bullock has post graduate qualifications in hydrotherapy, making her unique in Canberra.

Full of enthusaism, Sophie is a non-sports centred Exercise Physiologist, meaning she does not have an intensive sports background herself, so she understands those who struggle with engaging in exercise due to a lack of participation in organised sport.

Sophie works with anyone needing to improve their health, whether one on one or in group exercise.

Sophie works with clients in our popular hydrotherapy program, in our gyms and through home visits, and has a passion for working with children.

Jacqui Couldrick Physiotherapist

Jacqui has a particular interest in hip and knee osteoarthritis.

Jacqui delivers the GLAD program designed to reduce the need for joint replacements, or if a joint replacement is unavoidable, to prepare you thoroughly for surgery and recovery for day to day tasks.

Jacqui is studying towards a PhD in the outcomes of the GLAD program.

HYDROTHERAPY AND GROUP CLASSES OPERATING AGAIN

• Occupational Therapy - Assistance with the planning and modification of your home, workplace or car. Applications for NDIS, the Disability and Housing Support Pension, and also driving assessments.

• Physiotherapy – including the GLAD program for knee and hip osteoarthritis, sports injury prevention and rehabilitation, and pain condition support.

• Exercise Physiology – Individual exercise prescriptions, small group classes to increase strength and improve rehabilitation, strength and balance classes, hydrotherapy support.

• Dietetics – meal planning, weight management support, food intolerance support.

“You do not need to have any particular condition to utilise our services, just a desire to ‘Build a Better You.’

Professional, fun tuition in Ballroom Dancing

•

MARIA Selleck, director of Maria Selleck Properties, started her business in 2009 to combine a love of real estate and a love of helping people.

“My prime focus has never been about making money,” says Maria.

“My motivation is to make a positive contribution, to raise the bar and to make a difference and this driving force has been squarely focused on my providing the best possible service to my clients.”

Maria says establishing her brand and a reputation in what was then a male dominated real estate industry was no easy feat – taking time as well as both hard and “smart work”.

“As with many new businesses, I have to confess that I have had my share of heartaches and disappointments, and it was a steep learning curve especially in

The right agent can make a life-changing difference

the early years,” she says.

“With the help of my wonderful team, I did get through all of this, but I have learnt a lot during the last 12 years since starting my own business.”

Now, Maria says 95 per cent of her business comprises repeat business and referrals by happy clients, something she’s incredibly proud of.

“Many of my clients have not only become clients for life but also very good friends,” she says.

“Me and my business strive to achieve the best possible outcome with the least possible stress for them.”

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

Dancing classes for all ages

WITH more than 40 years of experience in the industry, Dale Harris, of Dale’s Ballroom Dancing, says she is one of Canberra’s most highly-qualified and experienced studio proprietors and dance coaches.

“I am especially keen on introducing people into ballroom dance, commencing with beginner classes for all ages,” she says.

“We have all ages from juniors to adults to seniors.”

A qualified championship coach and adjudicator, Dale is registered and recognised with the governing body, Dancesport Australia, and through her classes she says pathways exist to undertake technical assessments and to enter into the competitive arena.

Gail just keeps on learning

“I have been running classes at the Tuggeranong Community Centre since 1997 and have enjoyed every minute of it!” she says.

Dale’s Ballroom Dancing, Tuggeranong Community Centre, Cowlishaw Street, Tuggeranong. Call 6296 4009, email dale_harris@bigpond.com or visit dalesballroomdancing.com

GAIL Freeman and Co is a family business and a firm of chartered accountants that specialise in taxation, superannuation and financial planning.

Gail Freeman, the director, started Gail Freeman and Co in 1987.

“I took a job and I was an assistant accountant and before long the accountant became my assistant, so it was fairly obvious that accounting was the thing for me,” she says.

Her daughter, Bethany Freeman-Chandler is a senior accountant at the firm, and helps to make up a “team of amazing people”.

“At this point in time, all of my staff are women, which is really exciting. I find working with a team who are really special makes life so much easier” says Gail.

She says she’s just bought an 800-page book called “Understanding Taxation Law” and beside her bed you’ll find more books about tax.

“It’s ever changing and I’m always learning, and both of those things work for me, I love change and I love to learn,” says Gail.

Gail Freeman and Co, 9/71 Leichhardt Street, Kingston. Call 6295 2844, email info@gailfreeman.com.au or visit gailfreeman.com.au

• General strength and conditioning • Rehabilitation from injuries

• Pre and post-natal strengthening programs • Larger Pilates equipment sessions: Reformer, Mat, Barre, Fusion Pilates and Cardio classes

from expert tuition phone

022 917

email barton@pilatescanberra.com.au 14 Macquarie Street, Barton (part of the Hale Health Club at the Brassey Hotel) www.pilatescanberra.com.au

CANBERRA’S FASTEST GROWING FITNESS MOVEMENT!

Join thousands of Canberran’s taking advantage of the fitness activity that has been keeping the Nordics and Scandis strong and healthy for hundreds of years

Nordic Walking is way more effective than regular walking, jogging, cycling or swimming. Much easier on joints, provides stability, strengthens core, improves posture, and fantastic cardio workout.

Suitable for all ages and fitness levels - the super fit and those with health conditions like arthritis, back and neck pain, Parkinson’s, and MS.

www.capitalnordicwalking.com.au hello@capitalnordicwalking.com.au Call Kristen Pratt on 0499 993 215

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

degrees and you create beads, all entirely handcrafted,” she says.

“With these beads you can make necklaces,

The Artists Shed, unit 1-3, 88 Wollongong Street. Call 0418 237766, email hadfieldgallery@gmail.com or visit artistsshed.com.au

Improving lives through ‘walking’

CAPITAL Nordic Walking’s community partnership co-ordinator Lynn Bloomfield has seen first-hand the benefits that the unique form of exercise can bring to people’s lives.

With a technique similar to cross country skiing, Nordic Walking involves poles that are planted behind the user to propel them along using the power of the upper body as well as the legs, making for great exercise at low exertion.

Lynn works behind the scenes running the business’ outreach program, a job she says is incredibly reward ing and one where she gets to help build a strong community.

“We have a range of volunteers we call our angels and what they do is walk with people who need that bit of extra support,” says Lynn.

“That might be someone who struggles with mobil ity, someone with an injury or illness, or maybe even neurological conditions that make walking difficult.

“We make sure they’re okay, kept safe, and just provide them with some friendship.”

With a mix of young and old, Lynn says anyone is welcome to come try Nordic walking, which she also says provides as many social benefits as it does physical ones.

“All of our walks end in a coffee at a nearby cafe and you just get to meet some great people,” she says.

“That’s the great thing about Nordic walking, you get to have those fascinating conversations at the same time you’re exercising.”

Capital Nordic Walking, call 0499 993215, visit capitalnordicwalking.com.au or email Kristen@capitalnordicwalking.com.au

com.au or visit bridgestrata.com.au

We’ll get it sorted

Your financial affairs and tax may seem complex to you, however for us it’s all too easy, because we’ve been helping people with their tax for over 20 years.

We keep up to date with tax changes and are currently assisting those affected by the lockdown.

Our services include Individual & Company returns

Trusts & Partnerships

New business setup & guidence

Bookkeeping IAS and BAS

Get your tax affairs sorted Call Wanda on 0400 083 938 Red Hill, Canberra

For

Bridge Strata has over 80 years combined experience specialising in Strata and Community Association Management.

We are the bridge to assist you in overcoming the complex issues of legislation, maintenance, finances and other obligations.

We take the time to listen to your needs and work with you to develop tailored solutions for your circumstances.

Principals Jan Browne (Queanbeyan office) and Craig Bowditch (Dickson office) actively work in the business, applying their extensive industry knowledge to day to day client management.

WANDA Wojciechowska and her daughter Aimee Kohler manage WW Accounting, a small accounting business in Red Hill.

Wanda started WW Accounting in 2013, but has been in the industry for more than 20 years.

“Aimee has stuck with me in the job for five or six years now, she’s great and amazing,” says Wanda.

Wanda says that family is always number one. “When I started, I had a family and young kids and sometimes it was hard. I felt like it was hard because I was a woman.”

She branched out on her own because she found in previous jobs, the client wasn’t receiving a very personal service.

Wanda says her meetings with clients are a friendly get together and the clients leave smiling and satisfied.

“We help them with the issues that they have. It’s like doing a puzzle and usually we can solve everything. I love helping people and seeing them happy and I get the satisfaction of knowing I helped them.”

WW Accounting, PO Box 42, Red Hill 2603. Call 0400 083938 or email wanda@wwaccounting.com.au or visit wwaccounting.com.au

Spiritual knowledge and ceremonial necessities

THE Crystal Chalice is a shop in Gold Creek with a focus on wicca, paganism and witchcraft.

The owner, Lilitu Babalon opened the shop 17 years ago to sell crystals, wands, jewellery, ceremo nial items, books and herbal tea.

“There’s a really big growth in people interested in paganism, wicca and witchcraft in Canberra and there really isn’t another place they can go. The people in my shop have over 50 years’ experience between them, that’s what we offer,” says Lilitu.

She says if people need help or support, they can visit The Crys tal Chalice because she has a lot of knowledge, and it’s a place people can go to feel safe.

“It’s really nice to have a job that I’m interested in. I like it and that’s the main thing for me,” says Lilitu.

The Crystal Chalice, Shop 1, Ginninderra Village, 7 O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls. Call 6241 0799 or visit thecrystalchalice.com.au

The Crystal Chalice

Lilitu Babalon

Ford and Associates principal Julie Ford.

PRINCIPAL of Ford and Associates Julie Ford is passionate about creating a genuine sense of trust with her clients.

An insurance and financial adviser, Julie is known for helping small business owners, tradies, builders, construction workers and more to protect their wealth and assets – now and into the future – through tailored financial plans inclusive of appropriate risk insurance.

“In this line of work being genuinely interested in people and getting to know them is very important,” says Julie.

“I really try to build a rapport with my clients and get to know them and their goals – whether that’s for retirement, holidays, family, or anything else.

“Those sorts of things come up naturally through conversation and

play a big part in helping people find confidence in their future.”

With more than 25 years of industry experience, Julie says she’s worked with clients spanning generations and to this day finds her work as rewarding as ever.

“The last few years have been tough in business, especially with covid, and being able to maintain trust with clients is something I’ve really strived for,” she says.

“To me risk is risk. Whether you’re insuring a building or insuring a life, it’s all about understanding what that risk means to someone.”

Ford and Associates, 25 Wakelin Circuit, Weston. Call 6288 3683, visit fordandford. com or email admin@fordandford.com

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Here come the holidays with lots of fun in store

FROM theatre shows to virtual-reality experiences, there’s heaps of activities running these school holidays that the whole family can enjoy. In this sponsored post, “CityNews” has compiled a guide on how to keep the kids entertained in Canberra during the holiday break.

CHILDREN can get up close and personal with some of the world’s most amazing creatures at the National Zoo and Aquarium, says zoo manager Jemma Walsh.

“Visitors can come face-to-face with a dangerous carnivore on our ‘Awesome Roarsome Tour’ or stand in awe of our gentle giants on the ‘African Savannah Safari’,” says Jemma.

“And for an all-day experience, check out our ‘Wonders of Wildlife Tour’, which takes you behind the scenes to check out all that a working zoo has to offer!”

Jemma says children can also enjoy the “adventure land playground” these school holidays.

The playground is one of the newest additions to the zoo and features 55 activities such as slides and raised walkways, as well as the miniature

menagerie of replica animals, such as bears and hippos.

“There is something for everyone in the playground, from the little ones to about 14 years of age,” says Jemma.

Jemma says parents are also taking advantage of the 12-month membership program to make weekly visits.

“We have lots of kids that love coming in and visiting their favourite animals, whether that’s one of our beautiful big giraffes, our lion family or tigers,” she says.

“Penguins are also another big favourite of the kids.”

And for those rainy days, Jemma says the aquarium is a favourite.

National Zoo and Aquarium, 999 Lady Denman Drive, Yarralumla. Call 6287 8400, email frontdesk@nationalzoo.com.au or visit nationalzoo.com.au

Travel the universe, here in Canberra

METAPHYSICA offers virtual-reality escape rooms that present an opportunity to travel to far away places without ever leaving Canberra.

CEO and co-founder, Shannon Pickles, says young people, a group of friends or family groups are welcome to come along during these school holidays, to be transported to a completely new world.

“You can play with things like gravity, physics and fire and have to solve puzzles and challenges to escape, you need to do that as part of a team, work together to try and overcome the challenges,” says Shannon.

The recommended age is 10+ and Metaphysica offers a diverse range of experiences, themes and difficulty levels, as well as birthday party experiences.

“Recently, being stressed with covid and isolated, being able to stay here and stay in a covid safe environment but still travel to distant worlds and locations, it’s something that’s really cool for people to do.”

Metaphysica, 30 Kemble Court, Mitchell. Call 6108 4516, email contact@metaphysica. com.au or visit metaphysica.com.au

Actors wanted for Christmas shows

SINCE 2014, Budding Theatre’s annual Christmas shows have been a local highlight, providing opportunities for performers of all ages to get involved in local theatre during the silly season, says founder Kirsty Zane.

Enrolling now, one of this year’s productions is “Cinderella Christmas Pantomime”, which involves an intensive course with one show for kids ages six to 12 and another for teens aged 13 to 18.

Performers will rehearse for just two weeks before performing at Belconnen Theatre over the weekend of December 18 and 19.

“I chose pantomime because I wanted to offer something light-hearted, feel-good and funny,” says Kirsty.

“Pantomime is also interactive so family and friends can join in, and young performers gain confidence from that audience interaction.

“We’ve had to cancel several shows due to the pandemic or perform on Zoom, so I’m looking forward to finally welcoming performers back to the theatre.”

Budding Entertainment is also running “A Very Musical Christmas” on Thursday December 16 – a night of musical theatre and Christmas songs, with proceeds donated to Little Oak Sanctuary.

And for the adults, on Friday, December 17, Kirsty is running “Christmas Comedy Crash Test Drama”.

“It’s a great opportunity for adults to try acting, have a glass of wine and meet new people,” she says.

Budding Theatre, email hello@buddingentertainment.com, visit buddingentertainment.com or call 6153 0007.

FAMILY SPACE MEMORY(PLAY)SPACE

This school holidays, remember to drop into the free Memory (play) space to explore the sights, smells and sounds that bring back your special memories! Through creative activity, children, their friends and families are welcome to share the stories that shaped them.

Daily from Friday 24 December 2021 until Thursday 20 January 2022

Made possible with funds donated by Tim Fairfax AC

info? portrait.gov.au or portrait.gov.au/calendar

NATIONAL

P □ RTRAIT GALLERY

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Fun, free activities to engage the

kids

THIS school holidays there’s plenty of inspiring and creative events happening at the National Portrait Gallery, says learning program manager Krysia Kitch.

“Families can drop into the free memory play space to explore the sights, smells and sounds that bring back your special memories,” she says.

“Through creative activity, children, their friends and families are welcome to share the stories that shaped them.”

Krysia says the Gallery will also be hosting a series of free workshops and programs.

“Join us online for a magical workshop with illustrator and author, Cheryl Orsini, as she guides you to weave words and pictures to tell a story,” says Krysia.

“Children’s author Sally Yule will also join us onsite for a special reading of her book: ‘Dancing With Memories’.

“After Sally waltzes us with words, Philip Piggin will lead some good-time grooves for everybody, and we’ll warm down with a stretch of our imaginations by getting crafty and creative.”

And for those out of town these holidays, Krysia says that both of these programs will also be running online too, with people able to attend via Zoom.

The National Portrait Gallery, King Edward Terrace, Parkes. Visit portrait.gov.au or call 6102 7000.

Actors wanted for Christmas shows

SINCE 2014, Budding Theatre’s annual Christmas shows have been a local highlight, providing opportunities for performers of all ages to get involved in local theatre during the silly season, says founder Kirsty Zane.

Enrolling now, one of this year’s productions is “Cinderella Christmas Pantomime”, which involves an intensive course with one show for kids ages six to 12 and another for teens aged 13 to 18.

Performers will rehearse for just two weeks before performing at Belconnen Theatre over the weekend of December 18 and 19.

“I chose pantomime because I wanted to offer something light-hearted, feel-good and funny,” says Kirsty.

“Pantomime is also interactive so family and friends can join in, and young performers gain confidence from that audience interaction.

“We’ve had to cancel several shows due to the pandemic or perform on Zoom, so I’m looking forward to finally welcoming performers back to the theatre.”

Budding Entertainment is also running “A Very Musical Christmas” on Thursday December 16 – a night of musical theatre and Christmas songs, with proceeds donated to Little Oak Sanctuary. And for the adults, on Friday, December 17, Kirsty is running “Christmas Comedy Crash Test Drama”.

“It’s a great opportunity for adults to try acting, have a glass of wine and meet new people,” she says.

Budding Theatre, email hello@buddingentertainment.com, visit buddingentertainment.com or call 6153 0007.

advertising feature

Happiness is… a big, bright yard card

YARD Card is a new way to celebrate and spread joy for all special occasions, says owner Geoff Lang.

Geoff says he was inspired to bring Yard Card to Canberra after seeing its popularity in the US grow online.

“The recent lockdown inspired me to launch the business, to bring fun, creativity and joy to people,” says Geoff.

With large, corflute “cards” available for all types of occasions from birthdays to graduations, anniversaries to new babies, Geoff works with customers to customise the wording and colour schemes and then deliver and set it up in a customer’s front yard at the time of their choosing.

in Canberra for Christmas

Geoff says Yard Cards work well as a surprise, bringing fun and happiness to the recipient.

“I had one customer tell me it was the best birthday surprise he had ever received!” says Geoff.

Geoff says that his website offers great inspirational ideas for the designs and he enjoys working with his customers to create the perfect yard card.

“You can choose how many days you want the card to be in your yard for and we will collect it when the celebration is over. We do

THE Sesame Street Circus Spectacular – Christmas Edition will make its world debut in Canberra next month and Santa will be welcoming guests on arrival.

It’s a Christmas festival with dozens of decorated trees, Christmas-themed games, a “Sesame Street” jumping castle and opportunities to meet Santa.

Managing Director of Showtime Attractions Keith Brown says the show is not just for little kids, it’s for anyone who loves the circus, Santa or Christmas.

“We’ve been in Canberra for a long time and can’t thank everyone enough for their support over some challenging times. It makes this Sesame Street Circus Spectacular even more satisfying and we look forward to all the smiling faces of our guests,” says Keith.

The show runs for 90 minutes and has “exciting and jawdropping” circus acts alongside “Sesame Street” favourites including Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie and Super Grover.

“Sesame Street Circus Spectacular – Christmas Edition”, 18 Spitfire Avenue, Majura Park, December 1-23. Tickets at sesamestreetcircus.com.au

HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Inside look at ACT’s ‘highest-quality’ architecture

EACH year the Housing Industry Association (HIA) awards bring together the top builders and designers in new-home construction.

In 2021, a stunning property by Manteena, architects Ring & Associates and The Dept. of Design took out the coveted Home of the Year prize.

“The 2021 Home of the Year highlights the extremely high standards of this year’s entries, with modern architecture and workmanship of the highest quality,” said ACT and Southern NSW executive director Greg Weller.

“The builders and designers vie for the chance to win awards across a range of categories that are judged by a panel of industry experts, and some will ultimately go on to represent our region at the Australian Housing Awards, which will be held on the Gold Coast in May.

To celebrate this year’s HIA awards, “CityNews” spoke to some of the winners, who shared an inside perspective of how they designed and built their prize homes.

Bathroom design feels spacious and intimate

FOLLOWING their success at the Master Builders Awards this year, Archertec Interiors have followed it up with another four HIA award wins with their unique house in Griffith.

Taking out the award for Best Bathroom Design, Best New Bathroom and Bathroom of the Year, as well as for the award for Best Residential Interior Design, director Sonja McAuliffe said she and the team were “rapt” with the outcome.

“It’s an amazing house, and the team’s attention to detail is what made the difference,” she says.

“The bathroom is a master ensuite that joins into a beautiful walk-in robe and bedroom area but what made it quite unique was the fireplace dividing the ensuite to the bedroom.

“It’s a double-sided fireplace so you can see through and it created a really nice feature next to a free standing bath.”

Sonja says they tried to focus on making a large space feel intimate.

“It can be quite challenging, making the space still feel in proportion and intimate when you’ve got a lot of space to work with,” she says.

“But by creating the fireplace and having the free-standing bath and a slight angle, it helped us to fill it out without overcrowding and complicating it.

“As a result it still had that spacious feeling but at the same time, it felt comfortable and intimate.”

Archertec Interiors, 2/59 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Call 6239 7177 or 0416 172431, or visit archertecinteriors.com.au

Airport-themed house wins more awards

DANNY Agnello, residential operations manager at Manteena, says it’s “just so rewarding” to be recognised for all the effort that was put into the build and design of the ACT and Southern NSW Home of the Year.

The combined effort from Manteena, Ring and Associates and The Dept. of Design won the team five Housing Industry Association awards including Custom Built Home over $1.5 million, New Kitchen over $35,000, Kitchen of the Year, Custom Built Home of the Year and ACT and Southern NSW Home of the Year.

“We’ve done quite a lot of projects together in the past so we’ve got quite a

good working relationship and it’s very collaborative so we’re able to achieve the best outcome for everyone,” says Danny. He says the “airport” design was a desire from the client.

“The wings allow for the creation of zones within the house and provide opportunity for solar penetration, cross-flow ventilation and views from all rooms,” says Danny.

Manteena, 84 Barrier Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 7033 or visit manteena.com.au.

Architects Ring & Associates call 6239 7177 or visit araa.com.au. Dept of Design call 6176 0330 or visit deptofdesign.com.au

Residental Interior Design of the Year

HOME OF THE YEAR 2021

“It was an amazing opportunity and challenge to work on such a complex house and on such a large scale. I can certainly call it a career highlight. These opportunities rarely come along and it’s even rarer that such a wide range of building professionals are assembled on the one project. Thank you to the MBA and the team, Scott, Danny & Louise”.

Terry Ring, Architect Ring & Associates

“This project was a wonderful opportunity to showcase some complex design solutions from our team, with the meticulous execution by the Manteena team—we are delighted with the outcome”.

Louise Kichenside, Dept. of Design

“We are extremely honoured and proud to have delivered this amazing high-quality home. A huge thanks to all our trades, suppliers and subcontractors who worked tirelessly with us to achieve this remarkable award winning home”.

Danny Agnello, Manteena Residential

HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION AWARDS

360 Building Solutions have won the HIA awards for Custom Built Home over $900,000 in Watson and HIA GreenSmart Sustainable Home in Denman Prospect.

“We are very happy with the result and we are glad that the judges awarded the houses,” says managing director Dean Struys.

He says both of the builds took about 10 months to complete.

“We have had tremendous feedback on these homes, including from the owners, their family and friends, passer-bys, other clients, photographers and members of the construction industry,” says Dean.

“These are projects that we are collectively very

proud of, a genuine team effort.

“I think the judges awarded these houses because of the level of detail and inclusions that went into the builds.”

Owners of the Watson home, Vik Sundar and Pip Blackwood, said: “We were always excited about building our new family home, but what we underestimated at the time is the positive impact that a well-considered and beautiful design would have on our lives.”

360 Building Solutions, Unit 7/12 Cheney Place, Mitchell. Call 0415 493912, email info@360building.com.au or visit 360building.com.au

SUSTAINABLY BUILT FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

lously planned property in Taylor.

“Here at Sunny Homes we micro plan our projects to track and monitor every step of execution,” says director Navleen Malhotra.

“Once our interiors team completed the plans and customised selections, we moved to commencement of the project.

“One of the major challenges was to design and deliver the specific design requirements including but not limited to providing a gas fireplace and incorporating maximum natural light in the spacious living and dining room areas.

“This became easier because our design team and the client communicated early and locked in everything at the planning stage itself.”

We specialise in building sustainable homes in Canberra and the surrounding region. With ten plus years of industry experience, our passion for quality and sustainability continues to grow.

A: 7/12 Cheney Place Mitchell, Ph: 0415 493 912 | Ph: 0406 218 279 E: info@360building.com.au

advertising feature

they found out they had won.

“I couldn’t believe it at first. We were all so happy, we had a team group hug,” he said.

But of most importance Navleen says was the feedback they received from their client.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to conduct business with Sunny Homes and congratulate them for their professionalism, integrity, and workmanship throughout the process,” said one of the new dream home owners.

“There is no doubt in our minds that we would build with Sunny Homes again in the future.”

Sunny Homes, 24 McGlashan Street, Taylor. Call 0490 028513, visit sunnyhomes.com.au or email sales@sunnyhomes.com.au

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

It’s all Greek at the museum

COVER STORY

By Helen MUSA

WITH as much marble as any sculpture lover could ask for, a colourful exhibition design and the full-on involvement of the Canberra Greek community, the National Museum’s “Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes” seems like a perfect summer blockbuster.

It is the fourth in a series of British Museum exhibitions featured at the NMA. This one will explore the theme of competition through sports, politics, drama, music and warfare through more than 170 objects, including black and red figured ceramics, marble and terracotta statues and reliefs, including fine nudes, bronze figurines, weapons and armour, toys and games, gold jewellery and coins.

The capricious and partisan Greek gods have become a byword for human psychological characteristics.

There’s Dionysos, the god of drama and wine but also of the darker human instincts, of ancient Greece’s most tantalising gods – one impression of him is on the cover of “CityNews”.

by the National Museum of Australia.

There’s the voluptuous Aphrodite, goddess of love and the nemesis of all the heroes and heroines who disobey her injunctions.

There are the great sporting champions, forefathers (for they were male) of our modernday Olympic Games.

And throughout the exhibition the goddess Nike – the goddess of victory, the one you need to have on your side – features on objects and in the museum’s promotional images.

The sophisticated artisans of Greece who wrought the jewellery and created the vases which were later illustrated by artists are there, giving us an insight into the life of the ancient world.

I caught up with Lily Withycombe, the National Museum’s curator, who has, along with her design and curatorial colleagues, overseen the installation for Canberra.

She believes there is something immediately recognisable and fundamental to our own culture in the ancient Greeks.

It needs to be said that the original British Museum curator, Dr Peter Higgs, selected all the objects we’ll see but two, which were requested

“We had some room for negotiation with the British Museum because of our good relationship,” she says.

Those two objects were a vase by Greek vase painter and potter Exekias and a marble relief from Halicarnassus, now in Bodrum in Turkey, a Greek city famed for the tomb of the emperor Mausolus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is the source of many objects in the exhibition.

Beyond the large marble sculptures, Withycombe is keen to highlight the rich array of objects, including coins, terracotta and everyday items such as diecast voting tickets and metal tools, the strigil to scrape off the oil and dirt before entering the baths.

The Canberra exhibition will look like no other, whether in London, Perth or Tokyo, and the labels will be specific to Canberra, too.

“The interpretive content came to us from the British Museum,” she says.

“But audiences are different in Australia from those in London and so we have edited it quite heavily to be consistent with our own… For instance, we use the expressions BCE and CE instead of BC and AD.”

Probably the most dramatic change will be in

the exhibition space created by designer Wendy Osmond, collaborating with graphic designer Virginia Buckingham.

Osmond has translated the British Museum’s vision into 3-D and the whole show has a contemporary look, which picks up on the red and orange of the ceramics to give it a quintessentially Greek look.

It’s well known that after Thessalonica and Athens, Melbourne is the third largest Greek city in the world and there is a very strong Greek presence in the ACT’s history and contemporary life.

Withycombe says the Canberra Greek community has been deeply involved in preparations.

“We will be emphasising the exhibition is a celebration of Greek culture in Australia’s significant diaspora,” she says.

Local Greek community members were shown early proofs of the exhibition design and are getting behind big cultural events and performances, with a load of support from the Hellenic Club and Johnathan Efkarpidis, at Molonglo Group. The arts organisation consulting to them is called Dionysus Cultural Development Enterprises.

“Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes”, National Museum of Australia, December 17-May 1. Timed ticketing at onlinesales.centaman.net/NMA

ARTS IN THE CITY Struggling to live the ideal life

By Helen Musa

CANBERRA Youth Theatre’s next play, the satirical comedy “Two Twenty Somethings” by Michael Costi, shows a young couple worried about everything as they make desperate attempts to live the ideal millennial lifestyle. At The Courtyard Studio, December 9-14. Book at canberratheatrecentre.com.au

THE National Film and Sound Archive says its coming show, “Australians & Hollywood: A Tale of Craft, Talent and Ambition” is its most ambitious to date. Exclusive to Canberra, it celebrates Australia’s contemporary cinematic successes and features objects, costumes, original documents and footage from the NFSA collection. As well, there are exclusive loans from the private collections of some of Australia’s most celebrated actors, cinematographers and filmmakers, including Baz Luhrmann and Nicole Kidman. December 4-April 25. Details at nfsa.gov.au/hollywood

CANBERRA’S Australian Dance Party is about to present “LESS” at the huge concrete installation in the Dairy Road, Fyshwick, precinct. The short dance performance,

directed by Alison Plevey, with dancers Ryan Stone, Ashlee Bye, Levente Szabo, Jake Silvestro and Patricia Hayes-Cavanagh, will be backed with music by Alex Voorhoeve on cello and John Mackey on sax. December 10-17, book at events.humanitix.com/less

“ABUNDANCE: Impressions of Nature” is the long-postponed landscape art exhibition by Canberra artists Lucy Bastecky, Katherine Buchanan, Marijke Gilchrist and Caroline Reid, who share their interpretations of local tablelands, coastal, alpine and semi-alpine landscapes and native botanicals in acrylic, encaustic, pastel, and pencil. At Fyre Gallery, 84 Wallace Street, Braidwood, December 2-12. Opening and artists’ talk, 2pm, Saturday, December 4. All welcome.

“MATISSE: Life & Spirit Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris” is the Art Gallery of NSW’s big summer exhibition running until March 13. It is billed as the largest exhibition of Matisse’s masterworks ever to be seen in Sydney, featuring more than 100 paintings, drawings, sculptures and a presentation of the artist’s late “cut-outs”.

On the Trail of Ginninderry’s unique art experience

A COLLECTION of 50 artworks by renowned local and regional artists forms the GX Art Trail, giving visitors to the display village at Ginninderry a unique way to enjoy the works on display which include paintings, photography, ceramics and glass.

Tom Gray, arts and cultural planning adviser for Ginninderry says visitors are invited to come and enjoy beautiful artworks in a “gallery that’s not a gallery” environment as they wander through 15 state-of-the-art display homes in the “up-and-coming” suburb of Ginninderry.

“It’s all part of making an experience of your visit to Ginninderry. It’s not just a display village.” he says.

Tom says that he is proud to support local artists and help present their work

to a wider audience.

“We wanted to engage with local artists and all the works are for sale, ranging in price from under $300 to into the thousands of dollars that some of the pieces demand,” says Tom.

He says that local digital artist Paul Summerfield has several vibrant works on display and the exhibition also features glassworks by Debra Jurss and Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello.

Tom says the GX Art Trail is further complemented by a range of public art installations at Ginninderry as well as the nearby Strathnairn Arts Association.

“People will find that the area has changed a lot over the past couple of years. We have a growing community, a new walking trail, cafe, a popular park, public art as well as all the great experi ences that Strathnairn Arts Association brings,” he says.

The last stop on the Art Trail is at The Link, Ginninderry’s Community and

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WATCH IT! / streaming and stuff

Bearded, barbaric and barking

By Nick OVERALL

IT’S rare an actor transforms themselves to the point of unrecognisable in a role.

Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” or Charlize Theron in “Monster” come to mind as some of the most striking examples of the last two decades.

But late into the first episode of “The North Water”, a chilling new nautical tale on streaming platform Binge, a thought occurred to me about the show’s lead I had spent the past 40 minutes captivated by: “Is that Colin Farrell?”

Indeed, it was.

He plays the bearded, barbaric and barking mad Henry Drax – a wandering criminal unpredictable to the point of unnerving, almost impossible to see as the charming Irish actor.

The show doesn’t hesitate in introducing viewers to this strange figure as they’re dunked into the sea soaked back alleys of 1850s England.

Drax is in search of a shilling, unrestrained in his attempts to get it, and he sees opportunity in “Volunteer” – a whaling ship doomed to sink in a plan by its owners to reap an insurance claim.

But although Farrell’s enigmatic felon is the first thing the audience lays eyes on, he’s certainly not the main character. Quite the opposite.

That’s Patrick Sumner – an upright, civilised 19th century chap who also boards “Volunteer” as its surgeon.

In other words, a walking paradox to Drax.

Sumner, played by Jack O’Connell, is fascinated by the atavistic existence of his shipmate and the crossing of their paths sets up the plot to unfold over the five episode miniseries.

Squeamish viewers need beware of “The North Water”, the show is unrestrained in its brutality.

Like Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian”

CINEMA / reviews

plucked from the Wild West and dropped into the Arctic, “The North Water” unflinchingly builds its world through hyper-masculine violence amid awe-inspiring landscapes.

While it gets off to a slow start, the atmosphere is worth basking in – the show wants viewers to feel its icy-cold world.

That’s certainly made easier by the actors themselves having had to endure freezing cold conditions in order to film in some of the beautiful and frightening scenery they did.

Indeed, the effect is vivid enough that watching these frozen sailors step into the warm glow of a candle-lit inn almost makes one feel a little less chilly while watching.

“The North Water” is another show in a line of sea-swept tales of a doomed ship crew.

Take 2018’s “The Terror” on Amazon Prime Video or “Master and Commander” (Disney Plus) with Australia’s own Russell Crowe.

The success of productions such as these show there’s fair room for the ocean-going tale in modern entertainment.

But, of course, “The North Water” borrows heavily from the ultimate tale of men doomed at sea.

That’s “Moby-Dick” – Herman Melville’s 700page goliath of a book that’ll tell you everything you ever needed to know about whale guts.

This dense masterpiece’s lingering influence on culture is more ingrained than many might realise.

Ever had a coffee from Starbucks? If so you’ve tasted what might be the most prolific Moby-Dick reference there is. The chain is named after first mate Starbuck aboard the whaling ship in the novel.

Countless TV shows have also produced love letters to the book, from “Futurama” to “The X-Files” to “Phineas and Ferb”.

But if it is as lasting as this, where’s the epic TV adaptation of the novel itself?

While the 1959 film, which saw Gregory Peck play the doomed Captain Ahab, is considered a classic, it’s Ron Howard who made the closest thing to a modern “Moby-Dick” with 2015’s “In The Heart of the Sea” (Netflix).

Here, Howard took inspiration from the true story of “The Essex” – a ship in 1820 that was sunk by a sperm whale and which formed the inspiration for Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” published 30 years later.

Despite both Chris Hemsworth and Tom Holland being plonked front and centre, the film couldn’t realise its ambitions.

It pulled in a lame sum at the box office and although the visual effects were praised, the consensus seemed to be that the film couldn’t capture the magnitude to be found in its source material.

If Ron Howard can’t bring “Moby-Dick” to the modern screen, who can?

A question yet to be answered, but Melville’s novel for the time being is best enjoyed via its more subtly entrenched influence in entertainment such as “The North Water”.

Perhaps a modern “Moby-Dick” adaptation is one whale that can’t quite be harpooned.

Zola shows the risks in choosing a boyfriend

By Dougal MACDONALD

WHATEVER female body parts a woman exposes publicly, but society regards as private, that’s her business.

When Janicza Bravo made the jump from directing short films and TV series episodes, the topic of her feature debut, as both director and writer, was a magazine article by David Kushner entitled “Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted”.

On the big screen, it turns out to be 86 minutes of unabashed observation of a weekend when African-American Zola (Taylour Paige) and her white boyfriend Derrek (Nick Braun) join blonde Stefani (Riley Keough) and her African-American boyfriend Johnathan (Nasir Rahim), to drive for 20 hours from their mid-western hometown to Tampa (Florida) in a black Mercedes station sedan.

The film takes perhaps 10 minutes to segue from its opening images to those four main characters’ arrival at that destination. It’s time spent making their acquaintances and forming an expectation that they’re celebrating the end of the academic year. Well, in one way, they were. But the reality was different.

As the real objective of the trip develops, we learn that Johnathan had brought Zola and

Stefani on the trip there to make money. By renting their bodies to whatever men he or they could find willing to spend $500 a pop.

We’ve already learned that Zola is sexually active, with limitations. She’ll happily display her body as a pole dancer hiding her nipples behind pasties and her genitals behind minimal wisps of cloth. But she doesn’t let men use her sexually.

Janicza reverses a filmic convention by confining the film’s full frontal nudity to gum-chewing and voluble Stefani’s short-stay clients.

“Zola” is a message movie that pulls no punches in its caution to young women about the risks confronting them in choosing boyfriends – some but, fortunately, not all.

At Dendy and Palace Electric

“When Pomegranates Howl” (M)

THIS Australian/Afghanistan co-production, financed with assistance from the Adelaide Film Festival and the SA Film Corporation, with postproduction by Adelaide’s Artisan Post Group, pulls no punches telling a warm-hearted, affectionate story.

Here, with my abridgements, is what “Variety” says about it: “With his father dead, nine-year-old Hewad has been prematurely thrust into the role of family breadwinner, hauling a produce-laden street cart through the center of Kabul all day for a pittance.

“It’s no life for a pre-teen boy, but Hewad endures it steadfastly, believing eventual movie stardom will be his reward. Played by first-timer Arafat Faiz, you just about believe him.

“The non-professional actor’s quick grin and darting onscreen energy are the animating forces of Iranian-Australian filmmaker Granaz Moussavi’s conventional but effective heart-tugger, which filters the bone-weary experience of the Afghan population under wartime through Hewad’s hopeful perspective – only to undercut his optimism at key, cruel points.”

It’s Australia’s nomination for Best Picture at the next Oscars. Makes me proud to be Australian. I hope lots of you will see it. And wait till the end of the credits to learn why. Which makes me sad that it’s Australian, for reasons that happened nearly a decade ago.

At Dendy

NEW SEASONS / at the Q

By Helen Musa

ARTISTIC director of The

Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, Jordan Best, can hardly suppress her excitement as she announces her 2022 season.

Sure, she started in the job on December 14, 2020, replacing founding director Stephen Pike and inheriting from him a fully developed season, but it was one that would be savagely eroded by covid.

Now, just a fortnight short of her first 12 months there, she’s putting her stamp on the theatre’s program for 2022.

It’s divided into three sections – mainstage, locally devised or written shows and kids’ theatre and, as Best tells me: “Having more than half the season by locals is just tremendous.”

Before she was appointed to her present position, Best had founded Echo Theatre under the aegis of The Q and the Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council, and she makes no bones about her interest in theatre by and about women – although not exclusively, as the program shows.

First up, staged by Echo, is the dark Joe Paley-Marvin Laird musical, “Ruthless!” in which Tina, a scary, precocious little girl,

tries out for the lead in the school play, with deadly results. That’s billed as “a cross between ‘The Bad Seed’ and ‘Gypsy’ with ‘All About Eve’”.

Next, in March, is Steve Rodgers’ play “King of Pigs”, a raw look at domestic abuse in a production directed by Best’s sister Blazey, which played to sell-out seasons in Sydney and is now toured by Critical Stages.

“Mother & Son”, directed by Aarne Neeme for Jally Entertainment, will be at The Q from March to April. The original scriptwriter for the TV series, Geoffrey

Atherden, has adapted his comedy for the stage and fans can enjoy speculating on questions such as whether Robert is having an affair with his hygienist or if Maggie will get to go on a trip of her own.

In July we’ll see another Critical Stages touring production, Joan Didion’s memoir “The Year of Magical Thinking”, one woman’s story of the journey to find acceptance and the lessons learnt in letting go.

Echo Youth takes the stage in late July with Joel Horwood’s play “This Changes Everything”, in which a group of disillusioned young people have disappeared. But on a platform out at sea, they have formed “The Community” – a new type of society – or is it?

Best’s warmest enthusiasm is reserved for the November mainstage production, “Sunshine Super Girl”, the quintessentially Australian story of Evonne Goolagong, the girl from the bush who dared to dream, by indigenous playwright Andrea James and toured by Performing Lines.

The final mainstage production for 2022 by Echo Theatre is “God of Carnage”, by celebrated French playwright Yasmina Reza, in a translation by Christopher Hampton.

Described as “a comedy of manners… without the manners”, it shows what happens when two sets of parents meet

/ Betty’s Burgers & Concrete Co, Civic

up to deal with an incident between their children and the middle-class veneer of respectability is stripped off.

The “Q The Locals” strand featuring Queanbeyan region artists, starts with “Smokescreen,” written and directed by Christopher Samuel Carroll, a look at the marketing techniques of the tobacco industry and just how profitable death can be.

“21 Forster St,” conceived and directed by Bungendore’s Kate Walder, combines original music by John Shortis and text by novelist Inga Simpson traversing different time periods in a Bungendore heritage home, while “Demented”, by ACT theatre maker and puppeteer Ruth Pieloor, takes a poignant look at the illness suggested by the title.

Finally, the ”Q The Kids” strand features “The Alphabet of Awesome Science” for ages 5+ where professors Lexi Con and Noel Edge make a thrilling voyage through the alphabet, “Robot Song” for ages 8-12, where the parents of unpopular 11-year-old Juniper turn to a giant singing robot and Best’s own musical production, “Goldilocks & the Three Bears” for ages 0-8, with music by film composer, Peter Best, and the chance for young audiences to meet the bears after the show.

Book for the season at theq.net.au

Eclectic mix heralds Rep’s new season

By Helen Musa CANBERRA Repertory Society

Theatre has launched its 2022 season, celebrating 90 years of operation, with an eclectic mix of conundrums, family dynamics, love stories, shenanigans and visits into history.

Themed “Canberra is Our Heart”, there are six plays in the season, with three of them, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead”, “Hotel Sorrento” and “Sense and Sensibility”, moved from the 2021 season because of covid.

First up is Cate Clelland’s staging of Tom Stoppard’s sardonic slant on “Hamlet”, “R & G are Dead”, where the story is seen through the eyes of Hamlet’s two obsequious uni mates.

The second play is “Hotel Sorrento” by Hannie Rayson, a family reunion play where three sisters, reunited after 10 years in different worlds to be staged in her Rep directorial debut by Alexandra Pelvin, “Romeo and Juliet” follows in a co-production by Kelly Roberts and Christopher Zuber, “the most impassioned of stories ever told,” Rep says.

Balancing the romantic tragedy is that old warhorse, “Arsenic and Old Lace”, as funny as it was in 1941 when it burst on to Broadway and the West End, and directed by an old hand at Rep, Ian Hart.

By Wendy JOHNSON

ESTABLISHED in Noosa some time ago, Betty’s Burgers and Concrete Co is a franchise operation that now also holds a place in Civic on Bunda Street.

The décor is bright, fresh, beachy and fun – very much a Noosa vibe. It’s quick to order (buzzer system) and Betty’s promises food will be delivered quick sharp, between five and 10 minutes, which ours was. Because turnover is so efficient, customers are pretty well guaranteed to grab a seat.

order the “Noosa Classic Surf” ($17).

A massive poster out front advertises the limited-time “lobster luxe burger with chive mayo” ($19). I was tempted. Very tempted. However, the food fairy made me

I’m not into greasy, massive burgers and this version made me happy. The Angus beef patty wasn’t too thick or too thin or overly greasy. The prawns perched on top of the patty were lightly battered and tasty.

The Betty’s special sauce (recipe not to be

divulged) was a great match and the burger came loaded, but not overly loaded, with crispy lettuce, ripe tomato, thin slices of onion and sharp melted cheese.

My friend was as happy with her “Betty’s Deluxe” ($15.50), which featured the same ingredients as mine but bacon instead of prawns. We were impressed that the bacon was super crispy.

The burger line-up includes a classic vegan ($14) and mushroom ($14.50).

At Betty’s, fries and additional sauces are all extras. Thin fries are $5 and thick cut $7 (generous serves). Our fries arrived cold, so we took them back to the kitchen. Big apologies all round and piping hot, crispy ones were delivered pronto. Betty’s also has beer-battered onion rings for $6.

We ordered a side of Sriracha mayo to dip our fries in and it was full-on flavour ($2). Other sauces include tomato ($1), Betty’s special sauce and spicy vegan plus

garlic mayo ($2).

Nippers are taken care of with burgers ($8), chicken strips ($7.50) and ice cream ($5).

The “concrete” part of the name relates to Betty’s house-made, frozen-custard ice cream desserts. Concretes are vanilla or chocolate frozen-custard ice cream made on site daily and blended at high speed with different flavours and ingredients. Lemon raspberry cheesecake, cookie butter and chocolate hazelnut donut concretes are all $6.

Betty’s has a small selection of beers ($8 to $9), a cider ($9) and one of each sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, rose and shiraz ($9).

We sat outdoors on a freezing November day, but the powerful heaters kept us toasty and warm.

Ordering ahead is possible through Betty’s Burgers’ app or website and there’s a 15 per cent surcharge on public holidays.

An unusual choice for Rep is the fifth play of the season, “Our Country’s Good” by Timberlake Wertenbaker, to be directed by Karen Vickery. Based on Thomas Keneally’s novel “The Playmaker”, and set in 1789 Sydney, a young lieutenant works with convicts to stage Farquhar’s “The Recruiting Officer” – that really happened.

The sixth and final play of the 2022 season is “Sense and Sensibility” by Kate Hamill, to be directed by Liz Bradley, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel presented, Rep says, “with a fresh female voice”.

Canberra Rep’s 2022 Season, subscription packages at canberrarep.org.au or 6257 1950.

At a glance:

• “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” February 17-March 5

• “Hotel Sorrento,” April 28-May 14

• “Romeo & Juliet,” June 9-25

• “Arsenic & Old Lace,” July 28-August 13

• “Our Country’s Good,” September 8-24

• “Sense and Sensibility,” November 17September 3.

GARDENING

By Jackie WARBURTON

THE heat of summer is just around the corner, so keep the water up to the garden and remember, it’s harder to rewet soil and easier to keep moist.

Summer’s an interesting time in the garden where watering is the main chore. Hopefully, the current moisture in the ground stays around and dragging hoses about the garden is not needed for a little while yet.

NOW’S the time to remove summer annuals that have passed their use-by dates and prepare the area for new ones such as petunias, sunflowers, cosmos and begonias, to name a few. The choice of colours is endless and a simple display of bright flowers can be grown for the garden or the Christmas table.

MY Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is flowering now and has been a great little indoor plant for a bright window. A teaspoon of water once a week makes it a good beginner’s plant for kids.

A MULTI-purpose plant for the

all over it.

Another cat-loving plant that grows in Canberra is catnip (Nepeta cataria). Cat grass (dactylis glomerata) is also particularly beneficial for indoor cats and planting it in the cat run is useful.

OUR gardens have had prolific growth and now the garden is getting ready for summer heat.

As tomatoes and beans are growing fast, staking and tying up is a must to keep them off the ground. There is very little that should not be

and mulch.

STRAWBERRIES should be planted in acid soil, kept moist at all times and mulched with pine needles. They need plenty of sun and water to fruit well, the more sun, the more fruit and one plant can live for around four or five years, but their yield reduces after the second year.

Strawberries like blood and bone, which is a good all-round organic fertiliser. Keep the leaves off the ground to prevent any fungal issues and mulch well.

Blueberry bushes are easily grown in pots and can get quite large. A bush two metres tall can produce up to three kilograms of fruit. The only pests are birds and the bushes should be netted when fruit is ripening in summer and kept moist.

FEIJOA sellowiana is a terrific plant to grow and is flowering now. In Canberra it can be used as an evergreen hedge or medium-sized shrub. It yields delicious fruit that ripens in autumn. One bush will bear fruit, but having a second bush means they will bear fruit better.

Keep the water up to them when flowering and fruit is forming. Plant feijoas in full sun. Its flowers are delicate and very pretty.

AS spring growth of hedges now

begins to slow, pruning should still be done in the next few weeks before the hot weather arrives. Clean out all old leaves under the hedges to promote good airflow. Some hedges such as photinias and viburnums are susceptible to insect issues, more so with the rain we’ve received. Put diseased leaves in the green bin for disposal and not in the compost bin.

AS each season ends, I try to ensure I’m up to date with seasonal jobs in the garden, such as making sure all dahlias are in the ground, all veggie seedlings are in and mulch is spread ready for the heat.

jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au

PUZZLES PAGE FREE PUZZLES EVERY DAY AT citynews.com.au

By Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

The Solar Eclipse encourages you to make decisions about your hopes and dreams for the future. The more ambitious your aspirations, the better! You’ll shun superficial encounters with others, preferring philosophical conversations with family, friends and colleagues. As Louisa May Alcott (this week’s birthday great) wrote: “We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.”

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

This week Mercury and the Solar Eclipse shine a bright spotlight on personal and shared finances, plus power and trust issues. You are pragmatic and have a good business brain – just make sure you’re using it! Ignorance is no excuse. Do all you can to improve your financial literacy ASAP. The Mars/Neptune trine is good news for a romantic relationship, a group project or helping a charitable cause. You’ll find creativity, compassion and kindness will take you far.

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

Prepare for a relationship renaissance as Mercury (your power planet) and the Solar Eclipse kick-start your love life. Attached Twins will shift into an important new phase of an established partnership, while some singles will go on a first date. With Saturn and Jupiter jumping through your travel and learning zone, 2022 looks promising for a local, interstate or overseas trip. Somewhere adventurous, exciting and covid-safe. A fresh education cycle is also on the cards.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

With Saturn and the Solar Eclipse activating your wellbeing zone, it’s time to improve your diet and get your body moving via a gym membership, a new exercise program or a vigorous workout in the great outdoors. A disciplined daily routine is the key to improved health outcomes. Having fun with a four-legged friend is also favoured. Your motto is from writer Mark Twain (who was born on November 30, 1835): “The human race has one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

The Solar Eclipse encourages you to tap into your inner muse and be the creative Cat you were born to be. As Madonna (a fellow Lion) sings, it’s time to “Express Yourself”. But don’t let imaginative daydreams turn into escapist delusions (especially on Monday and Tuesday). Do your best to separate fact from fiction, in your personal and professional lives. Cast off the misguided misconceptions of others, express the authentic you, and shine your Leo light for all to see!

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

A close relationship could end up in a confusing mess if you misread each other’s words, actions and motives. So avoid jumping to conclusions and (when in doubt) don’t hesitate to ask for clarification. On Tuesday, your ruling planet Mercury connects with conscientious Saturn, so make it a priority to listen carefully, finetune details and complete practical projects. Saturday’s Solar Eclipse is all about re-connecting with family members and enjoying home sweet home.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Saturday’s Solar Eclipse signals a fresh start involving a neighbour or a family member. Mercury and Venus also encourage you to hold out the olive branch of peace as you crank up your diplomatic skills, sympathise and compromise. Creative communication and smart negotiation are the secrets to smooth partnerships, as you take the time to talk things through. You could also make plans to study, teach, travel or undertake community service in the coming year.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Mercury and the Solar Eclipse are moving through your money and self-esteem zone. So they encourage you to take a good, long look at your bank balance, basic values, life philosophy and future aspirations. And how much do you truly value your authentic self, Scorpio? Remember, there is just no substitute for healthy, core self-esteem. Your mantra for the week is from entertainer Bette Midler (who turns 76 on December 1): “Cherish forever what makes you unique.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

This week you’re ready to sparkle and shine, flirt and have fun, as Mercury and the Solar Eclipse light up your sign! With Saturn and Jupiter in your education and communication zone, you could find yourself studying, teaching, publishing or podcasting over the next few weeks. Your online presence could also take off, as Jupiter (your patron planet) boosts your social media profile until December 29. So make sure you have plenty of topical and interesting things to say.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

The planets send a media or educational opportunity your way but don’t sit on the sidelines and limit yourself, Capricorn! And don’t let negative self-talk stymie your upward trajectory. You are far better at what you do than you think you are. This week the Sun and Saturn (your patron planet) push you to shine like the inspiring professional you were born to be. So your motto for the moment is from writer CS Lewis (who was born on November 29, 1898): “We are what we believe we are.”

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Do you know where you’re heading? With the Solar Eclipse stimulating your hopes and wishes zone, you need to have a long, hard think about creative adjustments that could improve your life in 2022. Have the courage to listen to your intuition and follow your dreams. Saturn encourages you to set goals, make plans and pay close attention to details. As writer (and Sagittarian birthday great) Mark Twain reminds us: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

Don’t procrastinate, Pisces! The Solar Eclipse ignites your ambition, and the Mars/ Neptune trine stirs your restless wanderlust. So it’s time to expand your mind, spread your wings and plan an adventurous trip. Be inspired by this week’s birthday great, writer Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did… Sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2021

9 What is an opinion offered as worthy to

followed? (6)

10 Name an alternative term for calcium magnesium carbonate. (8)

11 What is the practice of growing very small examples of trees? (6)

13 Which person works for another person or a firm, for pay? (8)

16 Name another expression for a kidnapper. (8)

19 What do we call someone who deliberately destroys property, etc? (6)

22 Which type of creature is an oryx? (8)

24 What are rough fragments of broken stone? (6)

25 What are small guns known as? (8)

26 To engage for military or naval service, is to do what? (6)

Down

2 What designates electronic apparatus using hearing frequencies? (5)

3 Name the ships’ compartments where prisoners are confined. (5)

4 To be submissive to authority, is to be what? (8)

5 What is another name for a bucket? (4)

6 To stand with hand on hip and elbow bent outwards, is to stand how? (6)

7 Which portable vessel is used for holding liquids? (6)

12 What is a colloquial term for a fool? (4)

14 To be wilfully determined to go counter to what is expected, is to be what? (8)

15 Name a unit of imperial linear measure equal to three feet. (4)

17 What is another term for an outlaw? (6)

18 To be irregular or rugged, is to be what? (6)

20 Who invented dynamite, Alfred ...? (5)

21 What is a bound collection of maps? (5)

23 Which monster is commonly represented as a hideous giant? (4)

Buying Before Auction

You’ve found the home, the Auction is three weeks away and you’re working out your finances of what to bid on the day. A week later, the agent sends a text saying there are pre-Auction offers and the property may sell prior to Auction. You’re told you need to advise the best amount you’d offer plus confirmation you can provide a ‘Section 17’, and all this is needed by 4pm the same day.

In our current active market, this scenario could play out quite often. It isn’t just the finance you need to get pre-organised for an Auction. You need to have a chat with your Solicitor early in your search to see if they can sign a Section 17 on your behalf, if called upon with short notice.

The Section 17 in ACT (and Section 66W in NSW) is a Certificate that can only be provided by your Solicitor. In effect, it waives the cooling off period so unconditional exchange can take place. It certifies that your solicitor has given you legal advice about the contract and explained the financial responsibility of entering into such a contract. It is exactly like Auction Conditions – unconditional –there is nothing “subject to ...” once a Section 17 exchange occurs.

It is not automatic that your Solicitor will sign a Section 17/Section 66W. Buyers need to be very sure they are able to get the funds to complete settlement. If a buyer hasn’t worked out their finances, or has a lapsed pre-approval, some Solicitors will not sign. I’ve heard that one Solicitor would not sign as a buyer was borrowing 95% and the Solicitor felt they needed the letter from the bank saying they had unconditional approval. That buyer could only proceed with the private treaty (for sale) process, not auction. Every Solicitor is different, so never presume.

The best scenario for all buyers is to speak with your Solicitor very early to see if they would sign this certificate for you.

For noting: Pre-Auction offers are usually timelimited to the day they’re lodged – that’s why you have to have all those discussions early. Some agents get back to everyone who has enquired, some to just those that have asked for a contract. While onsite, if you’re interested in the property, tell the agent you want the contract and put them on notice you want to know about any pre-auction offers.

Good to Go plan.

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