Carrick exposes Steel’s shonky budget ruses
MICHAEL MOORE
A book fell on my head, I’ve only my shelf to blame CLIVE WILLIAMS
Time to rework the herb garden
JACKIE WARBURTON The education minister leads a lesson to fiscally challenged teachers on budgeting – the cool way KEEPING UP THE ACT
A woman came into my clinic for a consultation about her hearing aids, telling me her hearing aids were 4 years old and she had never found them to be of much help. She said the salesperson quoted her $14,000 for a pair of hearing aids, however, the monthly special of 20% discount meant they cost her $11,200. So, she ‘only’ paid $11,200 for hearing aids that did not help her. Sadly, I hear this all too often.
Here are some things to do to avoid this type of problem:
1. Visit your GP. If you or someone you know has a problem with their hearing, visiting your GP to check for wax in the ears, and to get advice is a starting point.
2. Qualifications. Always check the qualifications of the person you are dealing with. A person without professional qualifications has no business advising you about your hearing. They need to belong to a professional association with a Code of Conduct, so you know they are acting in your best interests, not their own.
years. If you are not sure about their advice, then seek a second opinion. The wrong hearing aids can be an expensive waste and could lead you to stop wearing them. You should always have a trial of hearing aids to ensure that they are right for you.
6 Pensioners and eligible DVA card holders often have entitlement to free services. If you are covered by a government concession, then let the clinician know (even though your clinician should ask). Eligible clients may obtain free hearing tests, consultations, and free hearing aids (referred to as fully subsidized hearing aids).
“A person without professional qualifications has no business advising you about your hearing. They need to belong to a professional association with a Code of Conduct, so you know they are acting in your best interests, not their own.”
– Dr Vass
These hearing aids are appropriate for many people, however if you have great difficulty hearing in background noise (for example a restaurant), then you may want to consider partially subsidized hearing aids. This is when the government pays a certain amount, and you pay for additional features and benefits. Your decision should be based on the following:
you are dealing with a qualified clinician, then they belong to a professional association. The best contact is an independent complaints body referred to as Ethics Review Committee. You can email ethics@auderc.org.au and view the website www.auderc.org.au. You can make an anonymous complaint and your complaint will be handled in a confidential and professional manner. If you are in the ACT, contact the ACT Human Rights Commission email human rights@act.gov au and the website www.hrc.act.gov.au
3. Independent advice. You should get independent, professional advice.
4. There are a wide range of hearing aids out there. Finding the right hearing aids for your communication needs can be challenging. Hearing aids vary in price and performance. Bluetooth® connectivity and rechargeable hearing aids are available on most hearing aids, along with apps that allow you to control your hearing aids from your mobile device. Be aware that just because a hearing aid is more expensive, that doesn’t mean they are the best hearing aid for you.
5. Just as hearing aids vary in performance, clinicians may also vary in performance due to training, experience, and skills. Make sure that you are comfortable and confident in their advice. You are likely to be with this clinician for the life of your new hearing aids, typically 4 to 5
(a) Can you afford the more expensive hearing aids? Don’t go into financial stress if you can’t afford them. (b) Are you clear on the free vs partially subsidized features & benefits? Never believe someone who tells you the free hearings are not good or of poor performance, this is simply not true. (c) If you try the partially subsidized hearing aids and are not happy, then return them. Do not keep hearing aids because you think the failure is yours or that you will improve over time. If the hearing aids are not working for you in the trial period, then they will not work for you in a year or two.
7. If you have a complaint, then seek help. Your clinician should be able to help you through most of your needs. Sometimes, a problem may be beyond the expertise of even the best clinician. However, if you have a complaint there are things you can do. If
A parasite pandemic escape room will challenge visitors to solve a series of puzzles, crack codes and answer questions to “save humankind” during Science Week, reports THOMAS McCOY.
They can range in size from microscopic single-celled organisms to 30-metre tapeworms.
They are parasites and, for the first time, they will form a key part of National Science Week in Canberra, which features dozens of free events for all ages.
The parasite pandemic escape room will operate at the Australian National University and challenge visitors to solve a series of puzzles, crack codes and answer questions to save humankind from the pandemic.
Key organisers of the escape room, which is supported by the Australian Society for Parasitology, are Cecilia Nie and Lizzy Durban, who are both undertaking PhD studies at the ANU’s Research School of Biology.
“What we love about this project is that we’re able to make a topic that people may not have heard much about exciting, by offering a fun, hands-on experience that connects with the real world,” said Cecilia.
Parasites span a range of creatures, including fleas, ticks, leeches, bed bugs and head lice, and can cause serious injury and even death, with the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum,
having killed millions of humans.
They depend on a host for survival and can live either inside or outside their host.
“While they’re usually harmful, surprisingly, they can also do good,” said Lizzy.
“For example, as scary as it looks to see a leech attached to a human arm, its saliva can actually reduce blood clotting and inflammation in that person.”
However, for the parasite escape room, the focus is on using scientific knowledge and laboratory techniques to save humans from them.
When participating in this event, visitors will join a small group at a lab bench in the escape room, which is a fully equipped physical containment area that can be locked.
Using the materials contained in a box on the bench, visitors have just an hour to complete tasks that will give insights into how scientists tackle global health challenges and allow their group to “escape” from the room.
Wearing laboratory coats and safety goggles, visitors will operate microscopes to view preserved parasites on microscopy slides and use pipettes to dispense sample liquids with precision.
Each activity that’s successfully
completed will give a team part of the code needed to access the antidote that allows them to escape, save the world and also win prizes.
Three other parasite events will also be offered during Science Week.
Virtual Parasites will immerse visitors in the parasite universe using a virtual reality headset, Parasite Manga will introduce Japanese manga characters with parasitic infections and help to debunk social media claims about parasites, and Walk in the Shoes of a Parasitologist offers real-life stories from ANU
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scientists describing their motivation and passion for studying parasites.
Beyond parasites, National Science Week will feature many other free events for all ages, including tiny tot exploration, creative computing for seniors, science and disability empowerment, the space and science film festival, robot conversations, AI in agriculture, dance science, a science filmmaking workshop, transforming science into art, pub trivia, and pint of science.
Shopping centres will also participate through Science in the Centres,
and these include Westfield Belconnen and Woden, South Point Tuggeranong, Cooleman Court, Gungahlin Marketplace, Majura Park Shopping Centre and the Canberra Centre. There you will be able to discover the science behind reptiles, engineering, waterbugs, space, robotics and the environment.
Bookings are essential for all parasite events via the National Science Week website at scienceweek.net.au. Thomas McCoy is an ACT National Science Week Committee member.
Rallimax has the
By Elizabeth KOVACS
Ronald Jones was 17 when he enlisted in Australia’s part-time army after lying and adding a year to his age in 1941.
Ross Sayers was 20 when he also added a year to enlist in the Australian Imperial Forces, buoyed by the promise of adventure and seeing the world.
But both men ended up prisoners of war (POWs) in Serbia during World War II before separately escaping from German prison trains in Yugoslavia.
They never met, but their exploits as double agents, spies and guerilla fighters for British Intelligence are the subject of Canberra author and historian Edmund Goldrick’s upcoming first book Anzac Guerrillas.
Jones worked directly with Cetnik (a Yugoslav royalist group who opposed to the Germans) leader Draza Milhailovic in their efforts to garner Allied support against the Germans, however, his allegiance shifted as he became a double agent, alerting British Intelligence of Draza’s intentions to “cleanse the country” of anyone who did not descend from Serbian blood.
Nearby, Sayers had also joined the
Cetniks, however faced execution after entering a village thinking he was going to be liberating it from Axis (German, Italian and Japanese forces) control, finding it instead owned by partisan men who saved his life after he escaped the Germans. Ross was later employed by British Intelligence, earning a Military Medal for returning alone under fire to a Serbian village to rescue his British Intelligence command captain, Robert Wade. Neither man spoke much of their ordeal, outside of Ross saying: “I never should have broken off the bloody train.”
“Both Ross Sayers and Ronald Jones had fairly extensive intelligence reports, and they were also the two who showed up in other documents,” says Edmund.
“Ross became a key adviser to a British intelligence mission in southern Serbia, and Ronald turns up in a lot of ex-Yogoslav archival sources under a different name.”
Stumbling on to a reference of Sayers and Jones in early 2021, Edmund says it has been a “thread” he has been pulling on ever since.
Edmund’s deep dive into 1941 Yugoslavia began after he was asked to help co-write The Greatest Escape, a book following Aussie POWs in World War II, with Neil Churches in 2022.
“I’m really interested in fish-out-of-water, crosscultural stories,” he says.
“It’s a great way to see the world clearly through someone else’s eyes, and there was this extraordinary story which we were seeing through Australian eyes.”
For four years, Edmund has been travelling, piecing together information about the two men, using databases, letter archives, intelligence reports and German records. Now he works as a bookseller at the National Library of Australia, a convenient location to continue his research path.
Travelling to the National Archives in the UK, the Commonwealth Memorial in Belgrade and across Australia, Edmund says Anzac Guerrillas, has been carefully written to mesh factual records with obtained information
(such as the weather from German occupation army records).
By researching small details such as moon cycles, weather and landscapes, Edmund says he was able to fill out a scene in a way that is “both vivid and dramatic, but also truthful”.
“I don’t think that factual writing needs to be dry,” says Edmund.
“One of the more interesting things of [using] documents and records of the time, I got a much clearer sense of their motivations and what their driving feelings were.
“If I’d been going off a memoir, or an oral history after the fact, you do forget what you were feeling and what prompted you to do what.
“I think this helped establish moment-to-moment and look at the motivations and stakes of these Australians.”
Bringing German and South Slavic language knowledge as well as a deep interest in POW and British intelligence records, Edmund says he was in a position to tell the men’s story with the knowledge that he had the skills to do the topic justice.
An emotional journey, Edmund’s journey from research to writing was full of self doubt and anxiety.
“They didn’t really talk about [their experiences] and it does feel strange to posthumously overrule them and say: ‘No, your service really meant something and you did a good job’,” he says.
1 x major prize - $4,000 2 x highly commended works - $1,000 each
JUNIORS (under 18 years)
1 x major prize - $1,000 2 x highly commended works - $ 200 each
The ACT government’s Missing Middle Housing Reform involves “upzoning” (greatly increasing the potential housing densities) of all residential zones to reduce the need for the city to expand outwards as it grows.
It particularly affects the RZ1 Suburban Zone, which covers nearly 70 per cent of Canberra’s urban area. In figure 71 of the 134-page Draft Missing Middle Housing Design Guide shows what the government expects RZ1 streetscapes to look like – a curious mix of “dual or trioccupancies, townhouses and terrace homes and low-rise apartments”.
Proponents of these intentions point to the supposed success of a similar program in Auckland some years ago. The Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP), introduced in 2016, allowed urban “intensification” across “many established suburbs and some greenfields areas”.
This was said to have led to a substantial increase in “dwellings consented”. However, according to the Auckland Future Development Strategy Monitoring report December 2024, covering the five years 2019/20 to 2023/24, the “dwellings consented” per year were lower at the end of that period than at the
beginning, peaking in 2021/22.
The Auckland myth: there is no evidence that upzoning increased housing construction, by Murray & Helm in Fresh Economic Thinking, June, 2023, showed there was actually no real change in the upward trend of total dwelling consents in Auckland from about 2012/13 to 2020/21.
They said: “Auckland’s consent trend, like Wellington’s, looks a lot like a growth cycle spurred by an uptick in migration around 2014, and a normal cyclical boom, one also seen in Australia’s major cities following the post-GFC recovery period.”
Murray & Helm also noted that net additional dwellings completed and connected to electricity two years after approvals were only 69 per cent of consents since 2020.
They say: “We agree that more homes are better than fewer, but good planning matters too.
“Organising the location and types of dwellings can reduce total infrastructure costs and avoid social costs that cause a net loss of utility.
“The disorderly nature of where post-AUP development occurred is hated even by the most strident supporters of the policy now living through it.”
The Auckland Council’s monitoring report also noted, for 2023/24: “Consenting activity continuing to concentrate in the outer suburbs… with less occurring in the city centre and inner suburbs”.
No doubt this would be due to developers taking advantage of lower land values in outer suburbs, not necessarily where people wanted to live.
The greatest proportion of consents (around 60 per cent) since 2020/21 were townhouses, flats, units and other dwellings (rather than houses or apartment units) perhaps reflecting building costs as well as market demand.
Unlike the ACT government’s intentions, the AUP retained an H3: Residential – Single House Zone. Its purpose “is to maintain and enhance the amenity values of established residential
neighbourhoods in a number of locations.
“The particular amenity values of a neighbourhood may be based on special character informed by the past, spacious sites with some large trees, a coastal setting or other factors such as established neighbourhood character.
“To support the purpose of the zone, multi-unit development is not anticipated, with additional housing limited to the conversion of an existing dwelling into two dwellings and minor dwelling units. The zone is generally characterised by one to two-storey high buildings consistent with a suburban built character.”
In its submission on missing middle housing reform, the Inner South Canberra Community Council proposes that, rather than a one-size-fits-all planning policy for the entire RZ1 zone, a more sensitive and nuanced planned approach should be applied, including:
• Special Character Zones to protect particular high-quality residential areas, including heritage housing precincts, similar to
the Auckland Single House Zone.
• Consolidation of existing house blocks to encourage more efficient and higher quality redevelopment, with more dwellings in higher amenity settings including open space and trees – for example, a minimum of four adjoining blocks, with a development plan to be negotiated with stakeholders and potentially subject to a fast-tracked approval process. Block consolidation could be achieved in a number of ways: through a collaborative housing model involving the existing owners directly; by private developers; or by a government redevelopment agency charged with assembling and packaging projects in appropriate locations for on-sale to developers.
Richard Johnston is a former senior ACT government planner and a life fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia.
ACT politicians and bureaucrats are poised to spend close to a million dollars paying gunmen to harm and destroy our wildlife, our kangaroo families – on top of the $$ millions the ACT has already spent on the yearly brutal assault against defenceless family groups (of a national icon!) sheltering on nature reserves.
Destruction of kangaroos (and other native animals) has continued since colonial times. Why?
To take their ancestral grass and wooded lands
for sheep and cattle farms and for town developments, and to kill the wildlife for commercial trade.
Kangaroo families were
demonised with a ‘pest’ narrative, they were subjected to bounties. They became hunted fugitives in their own country...
Speak to your local assembly person, and to ACT Minister for the Environment
Suzanne Orr at: phone 02 6205 1439; email orr@act.gov.au
Tell Chief Minister Andrew Barr what you think of this bloody shame on the Bush Capital. barr@act.gov.au
(Tip: we believe it may still be the case that if you write a snail mail letter, they have to answer you)
Then they became an industry. After koala populations were blasted for an export fur trade, the wildlife traders ramped up killing kangaroos for their skins/leather and for meat – with the same never-ending abundance story that framed the koala hunt. Did you know that the industrial-scale ‘harvest’ of kangaroos today, together with deadly ‘management’ like Canberra’s, means Australia owns the world’s biggest landbased wildlife slaughter?
Do you agree it’s high time to drop expensive hired killers from the Territory budget? Spend the $$$ on positives for the community? Join with us and other Australians to say ENOUGH to the wildlife trade and cruel and deadly ‘management’ programs like Canberra’s.
Fiona Carrick has really hit her stride as an Independent MLA. She is really delivering on her electoral promises of pursuing transparency and accountability. Her responses to the appalling budget are insightful and telling.
The Murrumbidgee MLA has exposed the government’s failure to present a fair and accurate account of expenditure in the most basic area. Ms Carrick has exposed just how shonky is the diagrammatic representation of taxation expenditure as circulated on our rates notices.
That is not all. Her detailed analysis of the budget reveals an extraordinary effort to ensure the government is held accountable over the “structural challenges” that the current budget has failed to address. According to Ms Carrick: “It is a story of ongoing and larger deficits, increasing borrowings and increasing interest payments, accompanied by routinely unrealistic forecasts”.
Her perspective is that “the ACT government’s latest budget reveals deepening fiscal vulnerabilities that demand greater transparency and a strategy to reduce the increasing debt”.
I was incorrect in a previous column where I indicated that Ms Carrick was committed to supporting the government’s budget. She did
not make this commitment, and without it she has more room to move.
This is illustrated by willingness to push “the government to agree to a number of changes to how the budget is presented that will provide greater granularity and transparency”.
She has used her position as an independent at the Estimates Committee hearings to pursue the government on a range of issues – but particularly Treasurer Chris Steel on the overview of the budget.
She explained that “Treasury officials confirmed that interest payments on government debt are not included in the information on government spending presented on rates notices”.
Expenditure on interest is predicted in the outyears to account for 9 per cent of the budget. Hiding this from the public has infuriated the crossbench MLA.
Expenditure on interest is predicted in the outyears to account for 9 per cent of the budget. Hiding this from the public has infuriated the crossbench MLA.
Even more infuriating for her is the response from Treasurer Steel who argued in the Estimates Committee that “he had no plans to provide greater transparency about interest on rates notices”.
Even more exasperating was his further response. He thinks it is enough for all Canberrans to find it themselves, arguing “it’s in the budget papers”. Were it not for a thorough effort by MLAs in Estimates Committee hearings, most of us would remain ignorant of the
attempts of the government to hide this fiscal challenge.
As Ms Carrick points out: “By excluding the fastest growing item in the budget – interest payments on government debt – the government is not giving ratepayers the full picture”.
Clearly this attempt to hide the growing interest debt is intentional.
The government has already lost its Standard & Poor’s AAA+ credit rating, and is now on “negative watch”.
As part of her expose on the deteriorating budget situation, Fiona Carrick points out that the last time the ACT had a surplus budget was under Katy Gallagher.
From the time Andrew Barr became treasurer, the ACT budget situation has declined. This decline means that the government is always looking for more ways to raise money and to slug the residents of the ACT.
Looking beyond the current budget year provides even less confidence that the budget is likely to come into surplus in the foreseeable future with total borrowings forecast to reach $22 billion by 2028-29.
The challenge with that level of borrowing is the cost to the recurrent budget that, in turn, has a major
impact on delivery of services such as health and education.
The $22 billion will cost close to a billion dollars a year from the recurrent budget. This is the information that the government resists placing on rates notice.
In an insightful comment Ms Carrick explained why this matters: “These financial decisions have opportunity costs – things we miss out on because money is tied up elsewhere, like in paying interest:
• Less funding for services like schools, hospitals, and housing.
• Higher taxes or reduced services may be needed in the future.
• Limited flexibility to respond to emergencies or new priorities.
• Intergenerational equity – future generations pay for today’s spending which limits their options”.
While the Liberals are busy with their infighting, it is refreshing to have such an insightful, intelligent and in formative analysis of the single most important aspect of government –the budget.
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On July 19, the Winter in the City program, under the banner of the ACT Government City Renewal Authority, took place near the merry-go-round in Civic.
It featured a street food event, music and family entertainment. It also included bins spewing clouds of unhealthy wood smoke, which permeated City Walk and surrounding areas for many hours.
Wood smoke is a cocktail of carcinogens and very fine PM2.5 particulates linked to deaths and diseases, including from cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, strokes, cancers, dementia and greatly aggravating asthma.
Research consistently indicates that there is no safe level of exposure to PM2.5 particulates for human health.
A previous similar event in Civic included flames emitted from drums, but without smoke at all. In that case, gas as a fuel source was presumably used.
The July 19 event demonstrates very poor public health practice, with adults and children potentially breathing in this toxic brew for many hours.
In the ACT, smoking is prohibited in outdoor dining areas of cafes via health regulations under the Smoke-Free Public Places Act 2003. Yet these types of events and pop-up venues are allowed to strongly pollute the air and damage public health by other means.
Murray May, Cook
Driving fossil-fuelled vehicles pollutes and causes traffic congestion.
Canberra’s daily travel in 2022 included 8.2 million kilometres as car drivers, 2.9 million kilometres as car passengers, 645,000 kilometres by public transport, 266,700 kilometres on foot and 166,100 kilometres by bicycle.
Our 2004 Sustainable Transport Plan aimed to increase the commute mode shares of walking, cycling and public transport.
Walking was to increase from 4 per cent in 2001 to 7 per cent in 2026. By 2021 it had reached only 5 per cent.
Cycling was to increase from 2 per cent in 2001 to 7 per cent in 2026. By 2021 it had reached only 3 per cent.
Public transport was to increase from 7 per cent in 2001 to 9 per cent in 2011. In 2011 it was still 7 per cent.
In 2012, then-Chief Minister Katy Gallagher committed ACT Labor “to increasing the public transport share of all work trips to 10.5 per cent by 2016 and 16 per cent by 2026”. In 2021 it was still 7 per cent.
Car-as-driver commuting hit a high in 2016, and a new record high in 2021.
The government expects light rail stage 2 to increase car driving and reduce public transport travel.
Recently, I asked the transport minister what he would do to achieve the transport targets and to reduce traffic congestion.
His office replied that my question “relates to a City and Government Services matter,” and referred it to the Minister for City and Government Services.
Why do we have a transport minister?
Leon Arundell, Downer
I have read we need more supply of land to make more housing available, but new housing is so expensive I am not sure what is actually going on.
The ACT government talks about infill when many Mr Fluffy blocks still sit vacant and overgrown. And yet the government is destroying the environment with the development of new suburbs that don’t have trees or playing fields.
A large kangaroo hopping through the roadworks at Whitlam will be a short-lived sight when the kangaroo population along the river is driven out or killed on the roads.
Canberra is no longer the bush capital, take a drive around Jacka to see the rubbish, the overgrown blocks and the complete lack of trees – this is the future of Canberra. Not the garden city but the sad country town that wanted to be a city and got it wrong.
Mary Holmes, Melba
Earlier in July, Coalition leader Sussan Ley and colleagues Jane Hume, Michaela Cash, James Paterson and Bridget McKenzie regaled us with myopic criticisms of the length and content of the prime minister’s six-day work trip to China.
These hollow soundbites only serve to remind us that the federal opposition’s pursed-lip brigade is back in force with a load of spurious but “must use” directives in tow.
Also, that we should be grateful that the shadow minister for foreign affairs, Michaela Cash, is not representing us and our interests on the world stage.
Sue Dyer, Downe r
Re Ian De Landelles’ letter (CN July 24):
I agree that AUKUS should be renamed USUKA, which would be pronounced, “you sucker”.
Warren Cox, via email
The desperate proposals in response to the recent horrific abuse in Victorian childcare
centres make you wonder just how long the nation can survive by just plugging the latest leak when its ship is foundering. Cameras to discourage offenders, no male staff, more staff but another layer of regulations before federal parliament, no private operators, and on it goes, with the Weatherill inquiry report to come.
Violent abuse is the scourge of our society threatening every form of relationship. When looking for the reasons, our human nature does not change.
Children need parents whose relationship is durable, not disposable, but sexual liberalism encourages adults to focus on their own selfish desires, rather than prioritising the needs of their children.
Too many mothers must care for their children without a committed father. The humanity of the unborn has never been clearer yet one in four suffer the violence of abortion.
Most children stumble into the violent pornography laden internet from which the males emerge unable to form a lasting relationship with a female, with outliers capable of raping a child.
There are no quick fixes. No one has a choice about being human, so we have to come to grips with what it means to be human with its inherent dependencies. Personal abuse will continue to increase unless we jettison sexual liberalism in favour of family structure and stability.
John L Smith, Farrer
The ACT government’s code of practice for its kangaroo cull at least prohibits shooting a kangaroo under conditions where instant death from a heart or head shot is uncertain.
Yet, every year, kangaroos are shot during rain, high winds and sub-zero temperatures, all of which compromise shooter accuracy.
Not surprisingly, every year, wide, deep puddles of blood are left on the reserves still congealing the following afternoon.
Dead kangaroos don’t bleed because it takes a beating heart to pump blood out of a wound. Every blood puddle is proof that a wounded animal has died in agony.
Frankie Seymour, Queanbeyan
In regard to vehicle crashes with wildlife, kangaroos are not to blame. Poor planning and inadequate road infrastructure is.
Cost-effective approaches around reserves such as reduced speeds, road humps, better lighting and virtual fencing can reduce these accidents.
The ACT government is simply pushing the cost of their inaction back to Canberrans in the form of insurance claims and more importantly the death of our precious kangaroos.
Robyn
Soxsmith, Animal Protectors Alliance
Maybe, just maybe, it is Ray Peck who should be awarded the cherry picking (or is it pecking?) award he is so fond of.
In his letter (CN July 16) he really has tried to scrape the barrel to try and discredit me and prove his point.
In his argument he cites obscure and little known people like Amory Lovins, who I believe has never studied the environment or energy at a tertiary institution. He is also an anti-nuclear exponent, so what
would you expect? After failing to complete his initial degree, Lovins went to Oxford to study physics but never completed that degree either. But he still likes to call himself a physicist.
But wait there’s more… the other person he quotes is Fatih Birol, who has a tertiary degree in economics and engineering, none in science (of the climate and environmental kind), also said Australia’s obsession with renewables is affecting the poor and middle class, funny how Mr Peck left that out.
Then again, he thinks it is perfectly acceptable for supposed professional experts like the CSIRO and Tim Flannery who make so-called predictions based on science to get them wildly wrong. Would Mr Peck go to a doctor who kept getting his diagnosis wrong?
Ian Pilsner, Weston
“The Jewel in the South” could be our much-needed new, say, 18,000-seat, rectangular, super sight-lines, roofed, energy responsible/efficient stadium, for the popular rugby codes, soccer, and more year round.
Responding to Canberra’s famous dispersed town-centre plan, it would complement Bruce’s and Epic’s athletics and events, and Manuka’s Australian Football and cricket.
It would be fairly and squarely located in Greenway, on Athllon Drive, near the bus station, opposite the pool complex, on the planned tram line, in a picturesque lake, riparian and mountain setting. It’d be on currently vacant land, largely already purpose zoned, with plenty of parking, and synergies with existing sports facilities, clubs and accommodation nearby.
It would mutually complement the wide variety of dining, retail, business, employment and recreational facilities in Tuggeranong Town Centre, enhancing its viability and growth.
It would also be well connected to NSW’s expanding Queanbeyan, Googong, Tralee and Jerrabomberra. Jack Kershaw, Kambah
All the commentary about AUKUS is predicated on some kind of conflict with China over Taiwan. That is foolishness personified.
But there is another factor that is even more bewildering. Both sides of the argument appear to have forgotten the existence of the RAAF.
Three nuclear-powered American submarines, some built in Britain, to be delivered somewhere in the 2050s at some unknown, eye-watering cost is an exercise that only an unbalanced prime minister, who needed
For the first time in our history, we could fight a battle – by ourselves – a great distance from our shores. Without America. And without spending an additional dollar.
itself and its accompanying aircraft, it controls the electronic warfare over the entire battlefield, including naval adversaries.
• 6 Boeing Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft.
A full complement of support aircraft to refuel the attack force going and coming.
For the first time in our history, we could fight a battle – by ourselves – a great distance from our shores. We could give any attacker using conventional forces upgraded from World War II a very painful black eye. Without America. And without spending an additional dollar. China is our biggest trading partner. Without her, our economy doesn’t bear thinking about. So we are not going to provoke her as long
as an Albanese-Wong government is running the show. Should the baton pass to Richard Marles or Andrew Hastie that’s another matter. America provokes China (and vice versa) because both want to be top dog. Since the advent of Trump, there’s not much of a choice between them. Maybe Xi Jinping lusts for Taiwan; we’ll see. Maybe he knows how to swallow a golf ball.
If we do decide to free up those untold millions (billions) that leads naturally to the next question: what more could we do with them?
Well, as the big bubble of the postwar boomers moves to their eternal rest, we could begin to repay the young people of today who have copped the housing shortage we never knew, the productivity we’ve denied them and the notion that work is confined to some other place than home.
That’s if there’s anything left over from the horrors of the climate change that we bequeathed to them.
robert@robert macklin.com
The word “duck” is 75 per cent obscene.
– Lenny Bruce
When she saw the sign “Members only” she thought of him. – Spike Milligan
A pun is a form of wordplay that exploits multiple meanings of a word or similar-sounding words to create a humorous or rhetorical effect.
Puns rely on ambiguity, homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings), homonyms (words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings) and idiomatic expressions.
They are often used in jokes, literature, advertising and everyday conversation.
Puns are widely used in literature and have been a hallmark of clever wordplay in famous works. William Shakespeare frequently used puns in his plays. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio, after being mortally wounded, predicts: “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” The word “grave” meaning both “serious” and “a burial place”, making it a tragic yet witty pun.
The use of puns dates back to ancient civilisations. The earliest recorded puns appear in Sumerian
and Egyptian texts, suggesting that humans have long enjoyed playing with language. Puns were common in hieroglyphics, where visual and phonetic similarities were often used to encode multiple meanings in a single symbol.
In classical literature, Greek and Roman writers, including Aristophanes and Cicero, used puns for humour and persuasion. The Bible also contains puns, particularly in the Hebrew Old Testament, where wordplay is often used to emphasise religious or moral lessons. Do modern puns exist only in English? No, puns exist in nearly
every language. Since all languages have words with multiple meanings or similar sounds, punning is a universal linguistic phenomenon.
Chinese is particularly rich in puns due to its large number of homophones.
In Mandarin, the word for “fish” ( yú) sounds like the word for “abundance” ( yú) which is why fish are a common symbol of prosperity in Chinese New Year celebrations.
Japanese puns rely on the language’s many homophones. They are frequently used in advertising and comedy. French puns often rely on words with similar pronunciation but different meanings. For example, “Sans les mains” (without hands) sounds like “cent limains” (a hundred leeches), creating humorous misunderstandings.
Spanish also has a tradition of puns, often used in poetry and everyday jokes. An example is: “¿Cómo se llama el campeón de buceo japonés? Tokofondo.” (“What’s the name of the Japanese diving champion? Tokofondo.” / “Tocó fondo” means “he hit the bottom.”)
Here are more English examples
The fattest knight at King Arthur’s Round Table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
A rubber band pistol was confiscated from the algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.
No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.
Two silkworms had a race to escape; even so, they ended up in a tie.
A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
After cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste for religion.
Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak are feeling the cold, so they light a fire in the craft.
Unsurprisingly it sinks, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too.
Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says: “I’ve lost my electron.” The other says: “Are you sure?” The first replies: “Yes, I’m positive.”
He walked into the actress’s dressing room and tripped on a bra; it was a booby-trap.
A book just fell on my head; but I only have my shelf to blame.
Bakers trade bread recipes strictly on a knead-to-know basis.
On a lighter note
A Russian anecdote for a change: During the Cold War, the diversityconscious CIA trained one of its spies to speak perfect Siberian Russian then secretly inserted her into Siberia to establish deep cover. She made her way to a boarding house and asked for lodging in a perfect local accent and dialect and wearing local clothes. The receptionist looked up and asked, “Are you a spy?” The American was shocked. She said: “Of course not! I’m from Novosibirsk! Can’t you tell by my accent and clothes?” The receptionist replied: “You certainly look the part, but there aren’t any black people in Siberia.”
Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist. Correction: in the previous Whimsy column, an Australian ambassador to Washington Michael Cook was wrongly named John. This was an editing error.
By Helen MUSA
Lauded Canberra playwright Dylan Van Den Berg is styling his upcoming play at the Street Theatre, The Chosen Vessel, as Aboriginal Gothic.
That’s a twist on the term Australian Gothic, but it’s not the only twist in this reimagining of a short story written in 1896 by Barbara Baynton, a contemporary of Henry Lawson.
Unsettling, gripping, and Gothic are the adjectives he’d like to apply to the play.
Van Den Berg, familiar as a Palawa playwright with Tasmania ancestry who studied Indonesian and drama at the ANU, has snared a swag of premiers’ awards and AWGIES over recent years.
Nowadays he’s dividing his time between Canberra and Bali, and is completing a PhD at the University of Canberra on the very subject of Aboriginal Gothic.
The Chosen Vessel, initially commissioned by The Street, won the 2022 Rodney Seaborn Playwriting Award, but it takes a while to get a play on stage, so the August production will be a world premiere.
Like Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife, which reimagined Henry Lawson‘s famous short story through the eyes of an indigenous woman, The Chosen Vessel depicts a lone First Nations woman stuck in the bush with a little baby girl, “placing a black body in a white story,” he says.
While he is an admirer of Lawson and Baynton, Van Den Berg noticed that
Aboriginal Australians are all but absent in their work.
“So, I’ve used the framework of the story and populated it with new ideas,” he says. In the process of telling stories in different ways he finds himself once again connecting with his ancestors, particularly his greatgrandmother, born on the Bass Strait Islands,
a subject explored in his early play, Milk.
Briefly, he says, his play concerns a woman married to a white man, alone in the bush with a new baby. She dreams of heading home, but she can’t because the seasons are changing and she doesn’t have enough money. Then she’s visited by a stranger, a white swagman whom Van Den Berg has no hesitation in describing as “a monster.”
“There’s no letting the audience off the hook with this man,” he says, of a character who represents the colonial managerial regime and is split into eight different characters, all played by Street Theatre veteran Craig Alexander, who as an actor becomes a shapeshifter.
Whether young or old, they enjoy engaging in a power struggle with The Woman.
“They’re all bastards in different ways,” Van Den Berg says.
At this point, the story converges with Baynton’s and an act of violence takes place, but in his play the woman gets her own voice in an act of truth that lies at the heart of the drama.
Abbie-lee Lewis, the production’s livewire director-actor-writer who trained at the WA Academy of Performing Arts before going on to a dazzling career in directing, says that it’s a challenge to put together the story seamlessly while allowing the shifts in characters.
She says there are only two actors on
stage, The Woman, so named, and a ghostly figure, both played by Laila Thaker, with Alexander playing the eight men.
She’s at one with Van Den Berg in seeing the play as an exploration of Aboriginal Gothic, a device, she believes, that will separate the theme from individual experiences stylistically and allow a safety net for Aboriginal people watching.
Van Den Berg sees Aboriginal Gothic as defined by the representation of Country as character and the collapsing of past and present.
Visually, they’ve been looking at a colour spectrum – Lewis shows me pictures of indigo blues and ghost gums, images associated with white Australian Gothic, in which the horror of the natural landscape is stressed.
Lewis grew up in the desert around Alice Springs but says the production will be set in a Koori landscape – think gumtrees, stringybark and scrub. As well, they’re creating a sonic Gothic soundscape and costuming it to suggest the 1870s.
Australian Gothic suggests fear of the land, Van Den Berg says, whereas for First Nations, the horror is colonisation and invasion by the white ghosts of the land, a different way of looking.
“We’re mooshing them together,” he says.
The Chosen Vessel, The Street Theatre, August 9-24.
By Helen Musa
“Cecil B. DeMille might have been overwhelmed,” actor John Bell says of Chris Latham’s latest concert, Greater Love, which Latham has been likening to The Ten Commandments movie.
Bell was in town for a weekend to prepare for his role as narrator of Greater Love, the epic commemoration of the end of the World War II, and was seen busily marking up his script while observing a preview by Latham and actor Neil Pigot at the Australian War Memorial theatre.
“It’s a bit long,” Bell said, adding, “but how else could it be done?”
That’s because the three-hour concert, marking exactly 80 years since the end of hostilities on August 15, 1945, catalogues without reprieve the horrendous costs of war as World War II moved to its close.
Act I of the concert is titled Witnesses: Musical Responses to War, while Act II is called The Second World War Memorial: Greater Love.
The latest in Latham’s series of Flowers of Peace symphonies and requiems, which have previously recognised, among others, Gallipoli, prisoners of war, the Holocaust and Vietnam War, Greater Love is reconciliatory in tone.
Once again, there’ll be a mix of classical compositions by Bach, Prokofiev, Dvorak and Rachmaninov with wartime music and
newly commissioned works by composers such as Elena Kats-Chernin, Graeme Koehne, Andrew Schultz, Julian Yu, Cyrus
Meurant and Karen Tanaka.
The music will be performed by pianists Simon Tedeschi and Edward Neeman,
violinist Niki Vasilakis, harpist Alice Giles, didgeridoo artist William Barton and erhu player Dong Ma, with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and musicians from the Australian Defence Force, under the baton of Graeme Morton, Latham, Tobias Cole and AJ America.
Vocalists will be Andrew Goodwin and Rachel Mink, Luminescence Children’s Choir, Brisbane Chamber Choir, and Flowers of Peace chorus.
Each movement will be illustrated with texts, summaries of casualties, maps, graphics, projected images and paintings by artists including Stella Bowen, William Dargie, Geoffrey Mainwaring, Alan Moore and Nora Heysen, most from the War Memorial Official War Art Scheme.
I caught the second act, which draws attention to the Nazi invasion of Western Europe, Battles in Greece and Crete, the Desert War in North Africa, the bombing of Darwin, the fall of Singapore, the Burma Railway, tensions between allies in the Battle of Brisbane, and memorials to the Pacific and Asian wars, along with testimonies to the Royal Australian Navy and The Bomber Command.
Highlights of the second half include details about how German field marshal Erwin Rommel respected the Australian and NZ troops and the origins of names such as Rats of Tobruk and the Desert Fox, accompanied by dramatic slides of El Alamein.
Key musical commissions are Andrew Schultz‘s De Profundis for choir and orchestra, accompanying the section on
the Bombing of Darwin, matched by Elena Kats-Chernin’s work, Kokoda, which is accompanied by magnificent projections.
There’s no hiding it, the statistics in Latham’s script are daunting as the body count mounts and pictures are thrown up on screen of skeletal Australians being used as slaves.
But the Asian Memorial segment also gives sympathetic attention to ordinary Japanese people caught up in the conflict.
As mass violence against the Chinese is delineated, we hear Julian Yu’s commissioned work River of Sorrow for erhu and strings, while the concept of a sacred war is debunked and we learn how germ warfare backfires to kill even the Japanese using it.
Most unusually, in the Battle of Brisbane section Latham has rearranged Waltzing Matilda into a minor key and altered some of Banjo Paterson’s words.
The evening will conclude on a note of optimism, with the birth of the United Nations, perhaps something that audiences will view with a note of irony in light of present-day world events.
As is customary in Latham’s performances, the quiet ending presages the possibility of peace with Luminescence Children’s Choir, Alice Giles on harp and orchestra performing Karen Tanaka’s commissioned piece, The Birth of Peace.
The final piece in the concert is Kishi Kōichi’s 1934 work, Nirvana/Heaven.
The Flowers of Peace, Greater Love, Llewellyn Hall, August 15.
M’ap Boulé (Haitian Creole for “I’m on fire”) will be performed by creator Nancy Denis. Joined by musical director Victoria Falconer, muso Jarrad Payne and hip-hop artist Kween G, the show features Denis’ funny stories as she reveals her black, queer, Haitian and Australian identities. At The Q, Queanbeyan, August 8-9.
In the Company of Trees, paintings by former CityNews Artist of the Year Julie Bradley, join glass works based on overlooked plant forms by artist Akie Haga. At Australian National Botanic Gardens until August 24.
Comedians Trish Hurley, Tanya Losanno and Jacqui Richards present Underestimated, Courtyard Studio, August 8, followed by Sarah Stewart, who mixes life with her former profession, in Midwife Crisis on August 9.
Greenaway Studio’s hosts the Riverina’s Kurrajong Ensemble for a concert featuring music for flutes and guitar. At 164 Namatjira Drive, Chapman, August 3.
Pop culture takes over the capital with Oz ComicCon, featuring gaming, comics, collectibles and the Australian Championships of Cosplay. Exhibition Park, August 9-10.
Richard Tognetti directs the Australian Chamber Orchestra in a national tour featuring superstar Ukrainian-Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk in his ACO debut. Llewellyn Hall, August 9.
What did Henry VIII and his last wife, Catherine Parr, write in their books? Prof Micheline White will reveal all in a
Nancy Denis… The Q, August 8-9.
lecture titled, Gorgeous Books and Royal Annotations. National Library, August 7.
The Simon & Garfunkel Story chronicles the musical journey of the duo with a full band, video projections, original photos and film footage. Canberra Theatre, August 8.
Conversations Live with Sarah Kanowski and Richard Fidler, the ABC Radio National show which is now 20 years old, will see the pair sharing the untold stories from after the mic’s been turned off. Canberra Theatre, August 7.
So far as the Emmys go, this year’s line up of shows is perhaps the most entertaining and eclectic mix in a decade.
Apple TV Plus’ sci-fi thriller Severance is leading the pack with 27 nominations, Batman spin-off The Penguin on Max is in second place with 24 nominations and The White Lotus and The Studio have third place tied up with 23 nominations each.
Never thought the day would come that a Star Wars spin off show on Disney Plus could also be nominated for 14 awards, but the second and final season of Andor absolutely deserves it.
This series delivered a political war thriller that was dark and prescient yet didn’t lose the charming heart that Star Wars is known for.
However, it was disappointing to see no nomination for Genevieve O’Reilly, who played the embattled senator Mon Mothma fighting against the corrupt forces that encroach upon the galaxy.
One of her monologues in particular will be remembered as one of the most powerful TV moments of the year, regardless of an Emmy nod or not, but despite this snub it is great to see a big-franchise show step out and take some risks and then reap the rewards from it.
This year the Emmys also has its new youngest actor nominee in the form of Owen Cooper, the star of Netflix’s limited series Adolescence.
At just 15-years-old, Cooper gave a haunting performance as Jamie Miller, a young teen who is arrested for murdering a girl at his school. Cooper’s performance was compelling, emotional and most of all frightening. It makes him the clear winner here, a remarkable feat given he’s up against talent such as Javier Bardem.
With the enormous amount of buzz and conversations it generated, Adolescence is also likely to take out the prize for outstanding limited series and outstanding writing. It’d be a major upset for it not to.
Another young talent, Bella Ramsey, has scored a nod for her acting in season two of the post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us on Max, despite an exorbitant amount
of hate she’s got from people getting wound up about what they personally think the character should look like. It doesn’t matter. Ramsey has proven she has the emotional range to make it work, but this year’s prize should ultimately go to Kathy Bates for her entertaining performance as cunning septuagenarian and legal genius in Paramount Plus’ Matlock.
In what is likely no surprise to anyone who watches it, The Bear has scooped up its third consecutive nomination for best comedy series, having taken out the prize once before.
This sensational series on Disney Plus about the brutal game that is working in a kitchen is undeniably deserving of its recognition, but this year also stands alongside stiff competition including Hacks (on Stan), a hilarious dark comedy show about a failing stand up comedian that is also deserving of its second win in the category. This one’s a dead heat.
Best directing also has a heated line up this year, but my pick goes to Jessica Lee Gagné’s work on season two of Severance.
Until now she had led the cinematography for this trippy and existential thriller about office workers who separate their mind into two halves, one for work and one for play.
But in the show’s seventh episode Lee
Gagné jumped into the directing chair for her first time and delivered one of the most heart wrenching and mind bending hours of television of the last few years.
Packed with ingenious and original use of practical effects, the episode was a visual treat and the highlight of the show so far. A directorial debut that hopefully will be this year’s dark horse of the Emmys.
The best actor category is also packed with talent but Adam Scott’s performance in Severance is the standout.
He’s come from a comedy background and brings that charisma here while also creating a chilling portrait of a man who has willingly split his mind in half.
In one of the show’s climactic episodes, Scott sells the ideas of playing two characters at the same time, both halves of his mind competing and conversing with one another in a Jekyll and Hyde-like monologue that made for creepy and fascinating TV. That moment is what makes him deserving of the win.
All of this culminates to make Severance the best thing on TV since Twin Peaks, and for that it should take out the most coveted prize of best drama series.
BY NANCY DENIS
Friday 8 August
Bryce Courtenay (1933-2012), who lived the last years of his life in Canberra, was for two decades Australia’s best-selling author through a sequence of bestselling novels beginning with The Power of One (1989).
Bryce sold more than 20 million copies of his books worldwide before his death. A consummate publicist of his books and a charismatic speaker, Bryce could work a room as he demonstrated many times in Canberra.
Bryce once said that his books, along with socks and chocolates, had become regulars every year under Australian Christmas trees. It was reported that one in three Australian households had a Bryce Courtenay book on their bookshelves. Bryce did much to promote reading in Australia and many leading Australians, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard, attended his funeral in Sydney on December 5, 2012.
His son Adam’s memoir, My Father Bryce (Hachette, $34.99), reveals Bryce to be a very complex, driven man and an often absentee father. Born illegitimate, Bryce’s disrupted childhood and lack of family life in South Africa left undoubted personality traumas. Bryce often embellished the facts of his childhood and adolescence, once saying, “none of us get it wholly right. So why not select the version of the truth you like the most”.
For Adam, Bryce became “the greatest
fabulist of his age”, with Peekay in The Power of One being Bryce’s “avatar, his alter ego”.
After his traumatic childhood, Bryce met Benita Solomon in London in 1955. They migrated to Sydney in 1958, marrying in 1959, and had three sons, Brett, Adam and Damon. The marriage was often under strain, but especially in the 1970s, through Bryce’s “extensive drinking and womanising”. These were the “blood, brains and beer years” of the advertising industry in Sydney, when Bryce locked horns with John Singleton, and ultimately became famous for campaigns, such as “Louie the Fly” and “The Milkybar Kid”. The marriage with Benita ended in 2000.
many twists and turns in the development of my relationship with my father … Except for Damon, everyone had to live their lives on Bryce time, never their own.”
Bryce’s youngest son Damon, born with haemophilia and who died at age 24 from AIDS-related complications contracted through a blood transfusion, was always Bryce’s favourite. Adam, and his elder brother Brett, rarely lived up to Bryce’s expectations, both being deemed “second rate also-rans” .
Adam reflects whether Bryce was ever truly satisfied with the “traditional love of family and friends”, noting two of the threads woven throughout his book are “escape and reinvention”.
Bryce had had several long-term affairs before, one with the high-profile publisher Margaret Gee.
In a strange twist, Bryce was to marry Margaret’s identical twin sister, travel adventure expert Christine Gee in October 2011, Christine having been his partner since 2005.
Christine’s own memoir, Bryce Courtenay: Storyteller was published in 2022. Adam, when he learnt of the marriage wondered whether he would be “a stranger at a strange man’s wedding”.
Adam outlines his struggle to gain Bryce’s appreciation: “I wrote this book to show the
Bryce escapes from his childhood through reinvention to become “Australia’s most beloved author ”.
Adam’s memoir is not a hatchet job rather an attempt to show the real Bryce as seen through the prism of both the deprivations of his early childhood and the successes of his later life. Adam writes on the last page: “I do want to look at the bright side. I like to think when he embraced me on the day he
died, he did so because he realised the old team still meant something to him. Whatever it was, it was the rapprochement we both needed”.
Will Bryce’s books stand the test of time? Bryce was very pleased in 2010 when he appeared on a set of Australian stamps, “Legends of the Written Word” with Thomas Keneally, Tim Winton, Peter Carey, Colleen McCulloch and David Malouf, although he probably will not stand the test of literary time like some of the others.
Adam writes on several occasions of Bryce’s strong feelings against “the literati”. Bryce, once told me that he felt he never got the literary appreciation he deserved from the critics.
Renowned literary agent Jean Hickson, who did so much to get The Power of One published, tells Adam that Bryce desperately wanted to be Peter Carey. And to be recognised “as a real writer not a commercial one”.
Ironically, Peter Carey once told me he wished he had the book sales of Bryce! Can authors, even success ful ones, ever be satisfied?
Book review / Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication, by Ross Fitzgerald & Ian McFadyen (Hybrid, $24.99). Reviewed by MICHAEL BRIODY.
Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s powerful new novel, Chalk and Cheese:
A Fabrication features two octogenarian former rival radio stars, Bill and Ben, who detest each other – until they find themselves in the same nursing home.
The plot centres around these two men in the twilight of their lives who refuse, as Dylan Thomas wrote, to “go gentle into that good night”.
The novel sets the scene for the flood of baby boomers who will boost nursing home occupancy, followed by a golden era eagerly anticipated by funeral directors.
Though laced with humour, Chalk and Cheese is a serious exploration of ageing. With the help of their tech-savvy grandchildren, Lily and Carl, the irascible Bill and recalcitrant Ben form an unlikely alliance to champion the rights of the elderly. Together, they launch a national podcast aimed at exposing systemic failures in aged care.
Bill Bradley, a conservative with populist leanings, enters the Elysian Waters nursing home in northern NSW after a stroke. His first impression – feeling “like a refrigerator that had just been delivered” – sets the tone for his reluctant transition.
In contrast, Ben Curran is a lifelong socialist with a history of student radicalism and a Communist grandfather. Now struggling with emphysema after decades of smoking, Ben relies on snorting oxygen rather than the illicit substances of his youth.
Their paths cross during weekly visits from their grandchildren. When they learn of a woman denied her age pension by bureaucracy, they decide to act. Guided by Lily and Carl, they assume reptilian avatars and launch The Lizards of Oz podcast. To their surprise, it’s a hit – garnering hundreds of likes and five-star ratings. As they tackle topics such as elder financial abuse,
their mutual disdain begins to thaw. But when nursing home staff forcibly sedate Ben with Seroquel, Bill is outraged. He records a video of Ben’s condition and, with all the intrigue of an espionage thriller, hatches a plan – codenamed Benevac – to escape. With help from Carl, Lily, and Sophia (a Ukrainian nurse wrongfully dismissed for refusing to overmedicate Ben), the duo relocates to a remote cabin.
Two lawsuits follow: one for Sophia’s unfair dismissal, and another for Ben’s mistreatment. When Ben testifies, the court is stunned by the contrast between his lucid testimony and the video showing his sedated state.
The narrative that follows – a national geriatric rebellion – is a literary tour de force. Former foes, Bill and Ben unite to challenge Australia’s aged care system with wit, courage, and the power of modern communication. Their experiences highlight not only the injustices facing the elderly but also the vitality of their generation.
The novel also captures the complexity of aged care management – highlighting the difficulty of retaining staff amid cost-cutting directives from corporate bean-counters. Even so, it never loses sight of its main concern: preserving dignity and purpose in old age. Though they begin as opposites – chalk and cheese – Bill and Ben become two peas in a pod(cast).
The writing is superb. The dialogue sparkles, and the descriptions – of the nursing home and the rural hideaway – are vivid without being overwrought.
The humour is sympathetic, not mocking, and the characters are rendered with warmth and dignity. As a comic novel with serious intent, Chalk and Cheese is a rare gem – an intricate fabrication that is profoundly human. It is, without question, the best novel I have read this year.
Dr Michael Briody is a critic and criminologist based in Brisbane.
The light rail construction continues to take its toll on businesses in the city depending in part on walk-by trade.
With this in mind, we headed into the zone to visit Little Steamer, to throw our support behind one of the (struggling) restaurants in the area and to indulge in the chef’s masterfully created, authentic Beijing roast duck.
A delightful Chinese restaurant, Little Steamer was entirely fenced on our visit at the front entrance on London Circuit (the second entrance at the rear is in quiet Hobart Place, perfect when the weather suits).
Despite the chaos outside, we were greeted by welcoming staff and led to a table in a corner of the quiet, calm restaurant, admiring the light, bright interior and walls decorated with cultural artwork and charming wall displays of Chinese bowls and bamboo steam baskets.
Little Steamer was opened by chef Wei He and wife Kim Zhang, who are passionate about serving dishes that comfort the soul and super specialties that draw loyal fans back time and again.
The restaurant is renowned for its housespecialty duck. The chef visited our table and said the process for this incredible dish takes two full days. It involves marinating the meat overnight, placing it in boiling water, brushing it with a special mixture, leaving it overnight once more, and then finally whacking it into the oven, cooking it to perfection.
The meat from our half duck ($52.80) was skilfully carved and artfully plated with a fan of perfectly placed thin pancakes, as well as petite dishes of cucumber, spring onion and earthy Hoisin sauce.
So as not to waste any duck, the chef creates
several accompaniments. Included in the price is a choice of fried rice, duck soup, stir-fry noodle, or salt and pepper bone. It’s an inventive approach and adds value to the price charged.
The duck was to die for and is worth a visit to Little Steamer. The stir-fried noodles were not just good, they were amazing.
A first-try dish for all of us was honey golden potato. The mini mountain of finely grated potato is made with a delicious combo of honey, chilli and orange juice ($12.80). It looks sensational and is truly addicting.
Down the hatch went the sizzling beef tenderloin ($29.80). The beef with black pepper
sauce was melt-in-the-mouth. We balanced the flavours out with steamed veggies, including Chinese broccoli, bok choy and oyster sauce ($14.50).
Formally trained in Beijing, the chef has added to Little Steamer’s menu creative steamed chicken feet in homemade sauce ($16.80) and “golden sand” dishes (with the coating made from secret ingredients that create great flavour and a crumbly texture resembling sand). The “my style” sec tion of the menu is worth exploring.
It was wonderful that informed letter writer Ian Hone, of Watson, said I could relax about the risks of getting cancer from wine drinking (CN July 3).
Mr Hone pointed to a 2023 study, which I have now read: Luceron-Lucas-Torres et al “Association between wine consumption and cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis”.
The study findings reveal no association between wine consumption and the risk of developing any type of cancer. Moreover, wine drinking demonstrated a protective trend regarding the risk of developing pancreatic, skin, lung and brain cancer as well as cancer in general.
But that finding flies in the face of what the Cancer Council believes and is actively promoting.
The Cancer Council of SA is, in particular, in the midst of a campaign that features an especially confronting poster that shows a glass of red wine and the bold statement in black that “Alcohol causes cancer in seven sites of the body.”
The Cancer Council website is quite clear that:
“The type of alcohol you drink doesn’t make any difference. Beer, wine and
drinking alcohol.
The Cancer Council of NSW, on its website, states that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified alcohol and the chemicals in alcohol (ethanol) as Group 1 carcinogens, meaning they are proven to cause cancer in humans.
Daily Wine News on June 27, published an article that indicated some backlash to the campaign targeting red wine.
spirits all increase your risk of cancer.”
The Cancer Council SA started the campaign on June 2, publishing a finding that shows two in three (63 per cent) of South Australians don’t adequately perceive alcohol as being an important risk factor for cancer.
The statement launching the campaign said: “Evidence shows that alcohol is a Class 1 carcinogen and that it can cause seven different types of cancer including cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bowel, liver and breast (female).”
Cancer Council SA’s senior manager prevention Christine Morris says that with around 5800 new cancer cases diagnosed every year in Australia due to alcohol use, it’s concerning that South Australians aren’t aware of the health impacts of
The article quotes CEO of Australian Grape and Wine, Lee McLean, as saying: “Public health messaging should be rooted in nuance and context. Portraying red wine as something that spreads cancer throughout the body – particularly in the context of moderate consumption – can cause unnecessary fear and confusion.
“It does not reflect the nuanced advice provided in Australia’s national drinking guidelines. We believe Australians are best served by health information that empowers informed, responsible choices – not by alarmist portrayals that may inadvertently undermine trust in public messaging.”
I telephoned the Cancer Council of the ACT and spoke with the CEO, Verity Hawkins. She was clear that the Cancer Council would not move away from the message that any alcohol consumption can increase the risk of getting cancer.
There won’t be a similar campaign in the ACT, but Ms Hawkins made it clear that “when it comes to cancer risk, there is no safe level of drinking. The more you drink, the greater the risk.”
The Cancer Council also wants people to relax, but not over too many glasses of wine.
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No one plans to need a lawyer in their future, but when things go wrong, people look for a lawyer they can trust to get them through what can often be a difficult and emotional time.
Here are some of Canberra’s best…
With combined legal experience of more than 60 years, Mazengarb Arora Family Lawyers have been helping Canberrans since 2002.
Joining the team in 2020, Aarti Arora has recently moved from associate to principal at the firm.
Specialising in family law and family violence matters, Aarti says her new position, and the practice’s name change to Mazengarb Arora Family Lawyers, won’t change the firm’s commitment to helping families within the community.
“It’s still business as usual, but with a modern twist,” she says.
“The Mazengarb legacy will continue to help those around us.”
Aarti brings extensive experience from operating and managing a business to working her way up the ranks at various law firms.
“If you are in a family law dispute, you need experienced family lawyers to ensure your rights and those of your children are protected,” she says.
“We will help you understand your rights and assist you through the often complicated legal processes associated with family breakdowns.
“We try to be inventive in the way we approach any problem and the solution we propose,” she says.
Mazengarb Arora Family Lawyers, Level 3/10 Rudd Street, Civic. Call 6230 0199, or visit mfamilylawyers.com.au
Director of Commins Hendriks Solicitors Alison McNamara says the firm’s focus is on balancing empathy with fierce advocacy to obtain results for their clients.
“A good lawyer can hold your hand through the hardest moments of your life while also fighting fearlessly for your rights,” Alison says.
“Service to our clients is always our top priority and we take a caring approach to everything we do.”
Commins Hendriks Solicitors specialise in birth trauma claims, medical negligence, historical sexual abuse claims, public liability claims and workplace injuries.
Operating in law for more than 20 years, Alison says she’s still living her dream by being able to help people.
“When you work with us, you’re supported by directors who have been doing this for decades,” Alison says.
“We pride ourselves on helping our clients through a catastrophic situation to achieve a life-changing outcome for them and know a claim can be stressful.
“We care about your rights and will fight passionately for them.”
One of the oldest firms in the region, Commins Hendriks has been helping the community for more than 100 years.
“That history gives our clients confidence,” Alison says.
“They know we’ll guide them with care and fight for the best possible outcome every time.”
Commins Hendriks. AMP building, Suite 4, Level 4/1 Hobart Place, Canberra. Call 6191 7000 or visit comminshendriks.com.au
Now proudly Mazengarb Arora Family Lawyers, a new name, the same trusted care.
At Mazengarb Arora Family Lawyers, we understand that no two families, legal matters, are the same. For over two decades, we have helped Canberra families navigate life’s most challenging moments with clarity, empathy, and genuine care.
You are not just another case. You are our priority.
Need legal advice? Our areas of expertise include:
Parenting & Custody Matters
Property & Financial Settlements
Binding Financial Agreements Family Law Mediation Court Representation
Let’s talk about how we can help you move forward
Specialising in historical institutional abuse law, Turner Freeman counsel and lawyer Hassan Ehsan acts for survivors who have experienced abuse in institutional settings, such as schools, religious organisations or government run facilities.
“It’s rewarding to be able to help people through some of the most difficult moments in their lives and give them a voice when they may have felt silenced for years,” says Hassan.
“I enjoy the challenge of navigating complex legal issues while never losing sight of the human side of the work.
“For me, making a tangible difference in someone’s life, even beyond just the legal outcome, is what makes the job meaningful.”
Hassan also practices in broader areas of personal injury law, such as public liability, workers compensation and motor vehicle accident claims. This, he says, allows him to assist clients across a wide variety of matters where they have suffered harm or loss.
At Turner Freeman, Hassan says their approach is personal.
“We treat every case with the respect and attention it deserves, recognising that behind every file is a real person with a real story,” he says.
“What drew me to Turner Freeman was its legacy of standing up for individuals.”
Turner Freeman Lawyers. Suite 6B, Level 2/28 Ainslie Place, Canberra. Call 6152 9800 or visit turnerfreeman.com.au
Legal disputes between separated couples can be difficult and emotionally challenging, says co-director and family lawyer Anna Neilan.
“That’s why the lawyers involved must specialise in family law.”
Neilan Stramandinoli Family Law handles a range of disputes within family law, whether through a separation, negotiating parenting or financial arrangements, or preparing an agreement with a former partner.
Anna Neilan and Lucy Stramandinoli have more than 40 years of combined experience working exclusively in family law.
“It can be quite overwhelming for those who have never had to talk to a lawyer about what happens when you separate,” says co-director and family lawyer Lucy Stramandinoli.
“For parents, their top priority is the kids and couples without kids still have to grapple with that parting.
At Neilan Stramandinoli Family Law, we pride ourselves in our proven track record, our commitment to excellence, and expert knowledge of family law. We understand how difficult and emotional family law matters can be; we are compassionate and empathetic, guiding you towards the best possible solution.
For separating couples:
• Parenting arrangements
• Dividing property and superannuation
• Family violence matters
New or existing relationships:
• Best arrangements for your children
• Protecting assets and yourself
• Preserving entitlements
“First and foremost we are committed to helping our clients resolve disputes out of court and have strong relationships with mediators, accountants, counsellors and other experts to give holistic support for people going through difficult and vulnerable times.”
According to Anna, when the time calls, they are strong litigators, advocating for clients in court.
Giving back to the community remains at the forefront of the team’s mind.
“We regularly volunteer at advice clinics, undertake legal aid work and donate/fundraise to support causes helping vulnerable people”, says Lucy. The firm has been nominated in the ACT as a leading family law firm for nine years running by Doyle’s Guide, which makes recommendations based on peer review.
Neilan Stramandinoli Family Law. Suite 1, Ground Floor/5 Farrell Place, Canberra. Call 6152 0493 or visit nsfamilylaw.com.au
More than 4.2 million Australians are aged 65 and over. This is 16 per cent of the Australian population.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of people aged over 85 is expected to reach more than one million in 2042. That’s three per cent of the population, compared with 2017’s two per cent.
This feature meets some of the experts in care, compassion and health for seniors.
Ageing can be a lonely process, says Arthritis ACT CEO, Rebecca Davey.
“Not only do some new aches and pains arise, but there can sometimes be a level of distress to changes related to ageing,” she says.
“That’s the really nice thing about coming to group exercise therapy.”
With classes ranging from as little as $8, Rebecca says a lot of members treat the classes as a way to increase their social networks.
“In this cost-of-living crisis, it is our mission to ensure that Canberrans have the opportunity for quality health care that is affordable,” she says.
“We are giving them a new community where they don’t have to explain themselves, because they are surrounded by peers who are going through similar things.
“Many of the people in our class now meet up in the outside world for coffee and lunch. They’re creating friendships.”
Offering programs such as tai chi, chair yoga, pilates, hydrotherapy and strength/ balance classes, Rebecca says their services have steadily grown in response to the needs of the community.
With classes only requiring an appointment with an exercise physiologist to ensure participants aren’t pushing
themselves, Rebecca says they can get people enrolled within the week.
“Our classes aren’t only for those with a fatiguing condition or a doctor’s referral to access the services,” she says.
Arthritis ACT, Pain Support & ME/CFS ACT, 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce. Call 1800 011041 or visit arthritisact.org.au
The new and elegant Arcare Aranda is a “premium aged-care residence that brings together compassionate care, luxurious surroundings and a strong sense of community,” says head of marketing, Katrina Rigby.
Katrina says the new facility is part of the Arcare Aged Care group, one of Australia’s largest family-owned aged-care providers, and Arcare Aranda “represents the next step in the organisation’s commitment to delivering exceptional residential care.”
“With nearly 60 residences across the country, Arcare will continue to expand its presence in the ACT, with two more residences currently in development in Wright and Gold
Creek,” she says.
With private suites with ensuite bathrooms, landscaped gardens, a boutique cafe, hair salon, theatre and communal spaces, Katrina says beyond their state-of-the-art facilities, they are renowned for their “relationships-first approach”, ensuring each resident is “not only well cared for, but known and valued”.
“From our welcoming interiors to the dedication of our professional team, Arcare Aranda sets a new benchmark in aged care living in Canberra’s north,” she says.
Arcare Aranda. 1 Bindel Street, Aranda. Call 1300 292378 or visit arcare.com.au
Planning
Workplace
Car
Recently launching its comprehensive in-home nursing services, Goodwin Aged Care Services continues to enhance its home-care support for clients, says executive manager, Jamie Fillingham.
“For many, the thought of leaving the familiar comforts of home as you age can be daunting,” he says.
“Goodwin’s in-home nursing services offer a vital lifeline, delivering professional and compassionate clinical care.”
From medication management and wound care to post-operative support, Jamie says their care is delivered by qualified and dedicated nurses.
“This high level of personalised care ensures complex health needs are met without the disruption of moving to a residential facility, providing peace of mind for both seniors and their families,” he says.
Beyond specialised nursing, Goodwin also offers a variety of home care services designed to assist daily life.
From personal care assistance, meal preparation and transport, Jamie says their services are tailored to individual needs.
“We believe everyone deserves to age with dignity and comfort in their own home,” he says.
“Our in-home nursing and expanded home-care services in our retirement villages provide that crucial support, ensuring clients can continue to enjoy their independence within their familiar surroundings.”
Goodwin’s retirement living clients are offered the same services, which Jamie says gives their residents an added layer of support should their needs evolve.
“This integrated approach embodies our commitment to supporting seniors through their ageing journey, allowing them to ‘age in place’ with dignity,” he says.
Goodwin Aged Care. 35 Bonney Street, Ainslie. Call 6175 5650 or visit goodwin.org.au
David Luke Retirement Planning specialises in advising those coming up to, or already in retirement, says director David Luke.
“I can help maximise your Centrelink entitlement, minimise tax exposure, set up income streams and offer investment advice and implementation,” he says.
“I have been a financial planner in Canberra and surrounding regions for 23 years, exclusively advising on retirement,” he says, and has run his own business for the last five years.
David says financial rules are daunting when you look at them for the first time.
“I can lead you through the process of the ATO, Centrelink, and investment markets, to make them work for you and achieve the retirement you want,” he says.
“You don’t need any prior knowledge with the rules or with financial planning, just an idea of what you want to achieve.”
He says he will break down the issues so you understand how it all fits together.
“I have no relationship with any product providers – I am on your side and I’m a one-person operation so you will always deal directly with me,” says David.
“I’m more than happy to visit you at home, after hours or on weekends.
“Don’t let the complexity of the system make you think it’s all too hard. Make it work for you instead.”
David Luke Retirement Planning, Level 1, 33 Allara Street, Canberra City. Call 0404 857242, or visit davidlukeplanning.com.au Director David Luke.
•
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• Extensive experience in government super such as CSS and PSS.
• Centrelink advice and implementation.
• Is a redundancy right for you at this time?
G ood win A ged Care S er vices is p roac tively
Austr alia’s aged c are sec tor. Ef fec tive November 1 , 2025, the new A ged Care Ac t will commence, introducing the pivot al Supp or t at Home p rogr am for home c are ser vices S ays Jamie F illing ham,
G ood win E xecu tive M anager Home Care and Business Tr ansfor mation: ‘G ood win is commit ted to a seamless tr ansition, with all systems, p ro cesses, and st af f f ully equipp ed by this date ’
The New Suppor t at Home Program
G ood win’s core mission alig ns with the new A ged Care Ac t’s rig hts - based f r amewor k, which p rioritises individual needs and choices in c are T he Supp or t at Home p rogr am, replacing the cur rent Home Care Packages and Shor t-Ter m Restor ative Care p rogr ams, will of fer a more
nur sing ser vices and a broader r ange of allied health supp or t, desig ned to p romote sust ained health, ac tivit y, and so cial connec tions’, says F illing ham ‘Our trained nur se s are dedic ated to imp roving health conditions while encour aging clients to remain living at home T hey wor k in p ar t ner ship with clients’ G Ps and allied health teams, of fering a comp rehensive r ange of c are ’ T his supp or t ex tends f rom low to hig h levels of c are, assisting with needs such as injec tions, wound dressing, and continence requirements
Key Features of the Suppor t at Home Program
The new Suppor t at Home program, which will replace Home Care Packages (HCP) is designed
being able to access more funding levels to bet ter
match individual needs, Goodwin is commit ted to ensuring our clients receive truly person - centred care that evolves with them, empowering them to live full and independent lives at home, accessing Goodwin’s Clinical Care, Independence Suppor t and Ever yday Living ser vices ’
Under the Supp or t at Home p rogr am, G ood win will of fer an exp anded r ange of ser vices desig ned to p romote client indep endence and wellbeing T his includes ac cess to essential assistive
safet y and ease of living within the home
G ood win also supp or ts clients throug h targeted pathways
includes a Re storative Care Pathway, p roviding intensive allied health supp or t to help individuals regain f unc tion and indep endence F or those nearing the end of life, the dedic ated G ood win nur sing team supp or t clients’ end - of- life wishes with dig nit y and resp ec t T he E nd - of - Lif e Pathway ensures comp rehensive and comp assionate p alliative c are that c an be received in the comfor t of their ow n home
How Goodwin Will Suppor t It s Client s
G ood win is dedic ated to making this tr ansition seamless for all its clients T he or ganisation under st ands that change c an bring questions, and its team is f ully p rep ared to p rovide clarit y and supp or t ever y step of the way ‘ We have p roac tively been hosting Town Hall Inf ormation ses sions for our clients, p roviding them with the necessar y infor mation to tr ansition to the new Supp or t at Home p rogr am We are integr ating these new features into our ser vice deliver y to ensure our clients continue to receive p er sonalised, hig h - qualit y c are that tr uly meets their unique needs’, says F illing ham
Goo dwin Advance Care Your wishes, your way.
ex tends to ever y f acet of its op er ations T his unwavering dedic ation is f ur ther hig hlig hted by the up coming Streng thened Quality Standards, which will under pin all aged c are ser vices, f rom in - home supp or t to residential c are ‘T he new Streng thened Quality Standards, also ef fec tive as f rom November 1 , 2025, reinforces ac count abilit y and continuous imp rovement across the sec tor G ood win f ully embr aces these st andards, which alig n with our long - st anding dedic ation to exceptional c are Our goal is to emp ower our diver se client groups with greater choice and control, enabling them to live life
ow n homes or within G ood win’s residential communities’, comments John Penc a, G ener al M anager, Residential Care and S treng thened Q ualit y St andards Lead
‘The core principles of person - centred care, safet y, and respect have always been fundamental to Goodwin’s approach These new standards build upon an existing foundation of excellence, ensuring our clients feel safe, respected, and suppor ted, enabling them to live their best possible lives Our commitment’, Penca continues
T his unwavering dedic ation to p er son - centred c are, safet y, and resp ec t for ms the corner stone of all G ood win’s ser vices, ex tending seamlessly into how the or ganisation helps clients plan for their fu ture
Goodwin Advance Care: Planning Your Future, Your Way
Goodwin Advance Care empowers individuals to plan their future health and personal care This ser vice respects client choices and facilitates the documentation of preferences, ensuring wishes are honoured even if direct expression becomes challenging This ser vice underscores Goodwin’s person - centred philosophy, providing peace of mind
Penc a concludes: ‘G ood win is enthusiastic abou t the new A ged Care Ac t, anticip ating a fu ture where choice, control, and individual rig hts are p ar amount for older Austr alians We are p roud to lead the implement ation of these vit al refor ms, p ar t nering with clients to ensure t ailored supp or t for living life to the f ullest ’ ww w goodwin org au/home - c are
B ecause we are all individuals, Goodwin Advance Care helps you
your
By Jackie WARBURTON
It’s a good time to revamp the herb garden. Dividing herbs such as oregano, thyme and marjoram can refresh their growth with the bonus of creating new plants.
When dividing these herbs, dig the entire clump up, divide with a sharp spade and replant straight away.
Apple mint, chocolate mint and spearmint are interesting mint plants to try, but every garden should have common mint to use in a lamb roast or a sprig in a glass of water in summer.
Mint plants have vigorous root systems and should generally be confined to pots to prevent them from becoming rampant.
My favourite mint is Vietnamese mint, a persicaria, which is not of the mint family. It grows to a mounded dome shape that’s a feature in itself. The summer delicate pink flowers are attractive, while the foliage is lime green with light purple markings, which is also unusual.
Its pungent leaves are peppery to taste and something of an acquired taste if eaten raw.
Every few years, Vietnamese mint can be dug up and divided at the end of winter. It reshoots once the soil warms.
Seeds of dill, parsley and basil can be planted in seed-raising mix now and kept on bottom heat until there’s leaf growth and good roots can be seen at the bottom of the pot.
Seedlings can be potted to strengthen or planted out into lightly tilled soil with a sprinkle of diatomaceous earth in October, again when the soil has warmed.
Coriander prefers to grow in colder conditions and can be sown now for a quick crop, but it will bolt to flower and seed as soon as the weather warms.
Heirloom seeds can be collected and stored for planting in autumn because they grow better in the cooler months, right through the winter.
Top up all herb and vegetable gardens with compost and mulch ready for spring.
FLOWERS and potted colour in the herb and vegetable gardens encourage pollinators and bring the bees into the garden when early fruit trees are flowering, such as almonds, peaches and nectarines.
Some of the best, long-lasting potted colour to use are dianthus, calendulas, violas and alyssum.
Dianthuses are terrific oldfashioned plants that grow more as a biannual than an annual. They are a long-lasting flowering plant and in the second year can be divided to create new plants.
While the common flowering colour is pink, there are many
shades of pink and two-toned colours available, some with more frill on the petals than others. They will flower right through to summer and grow well under large shrubs and trees as a ground cover. The flower colours are endless, but readily available are white, red, purple and multi-colours.
The latest on my wishlist is a deep-red, double-flowering, compact dianthus called Passion. It has a spicy fragrance and is great for small gardens and spaces.
KEEP watering in cooler months because the frost draws moisture from the ground and, when the weather warms, the soil can become hydrophobic and compacted.
jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au
• Keep feeding bulbs that are flowering to keep them flowering longer.
• Plant grevilleas for winter colour and to attract the bees.
• Keep bird baths and ponds clear of autumn leaves.
• Continue to harvest broad beans to encourage new flowering.
By Joanne Madeline Moore
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Are you procrastinating about which project to pursue? A bored and unengaged Ram is a recipe for trouble. With Saturday’s Full Moon activating your hopesand-wishes zone, you want to act ASAP, with plenty of energy and enthusiasm. However – with Mercury reversing through your creativity zone – you’ll feel hamstrung in some way. This week is good for reviewing and rehearsing, before you spring into action after August 11, when Mercury finally moves forward.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)
This week the Full Moon’s stirring up your career zone and Mercury’s reversing through your domestic zone, so the work/life balance will be an extra tricky juggle. Your partner, family members or housemates will certainly let you know if you’re not pulling your weight at home! Be patient with a frustrating loved one. Draw inspiration from fellow Taurean, Audrey Hepburn: “People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed.”
GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)
Many Geminis have a wandering gypsy gene. This week your travel zones are activated by the Full Moon and retrograde Mercury, so a trip could be delayed or disrupted in some way. Communicating with others (in person, plus via texting and social media) could also prove to be confusing and frustrating. Things should start to settle down next week, after Mercury moves forward on August 11. Until then, try to be extra patient and double-check everything.
CANCER (June 22 – July 23)
Venus (the love planet) and Jupiter (the confidence planet) are visiting your sign. So – even though Mercury’s reversing through your self-esteem zone – it’s time to be your authentic self! If you don’t accept yourself (warts and all) then why should anyone else? If you don’t develop your talents and follow your dreams, then others won’t do it for you. As actress/producer (and birthday great) Lucille Ball said: “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.”
LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)
With the Sun (your ruler) and retrograde Mercury both visiting your sign, you’ll go to extremes as the planets press your ‘Let’s overdo everything’ button. So, your motto for the moment is from music icon Mick Jagger (who has four planets in Leo): “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” But resist the temptation to be a right royal bossy-boots – especially when you don’t get your way. Rather than being pushy, try being charmingly persuasive instead!
VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)
Many practical, sensible Virgos are set for a chaotic and challenging week. Mercury is reversing through your solitary zone until August 11 (hey – where did all my friends go?), while Mars, Saturn and Neptune complicate financial matters (hey – where did my savings go?). Clever Virgos will slow down, re-evaluate and reboot. Maximum tolerance will get you a lot further than constant criticising and stressed-out angst. Sunday favours relaxation and rejuvenation.
LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)
This week Mars (in your sign) opposes Saturn and Neptune (in your partnership zone). If you’re attached, the two of you will be under increased stress due to doubt, illness, money problems or career pressures. Don’t panic! Work on the relationship in a patient and compassionate way. If you are single, don’t expect much from the dating scene this week. If you do connect with someone special, there’ll be plenty of roadblocks before the romance takes off.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)
Expect professional problems or domestic dramas, as the Full Moon and retro Mercury stir up old grievances. Use your diplomatic talents to help find solutions. However, if you just sit back and let others make decisions, you’ll feel powerless. So, strive to be more self-sufficient, especially at home and work. Getting the ratio right between your public and private lives is challenging, but if anyone can juggle conflicting commitments, it’s a strategic Scorpio!
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)
Many Archers are restless for adventure. You’re keen to head off on an overseas trip, an interstate holiday, or a weekend getaway. But with Mercury still reversing through your travel zone (until August 11), be careful your fiery, impatient nature doesn’t land you in hot water! Smart Sagittarians will slow down and aim to get the balance right between hasty spontaneity and careful preparation. Saturday’s Full Moon highlights communication and education.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)
Retrograde Mercury and the Full Moon highlight financial matters, and Saturn (your ruling planet) opposes Mars (in your career zone). Which could push your predilection for criticism and perfectionism to the max, especially at work. Plus, a payment could be delayed or a project postponed. It’s a passing phase so calm down, Capricorn – and don’t take yourself too seriously. With Venus and Jupiter in your relationship zone, call up a friend and have some fun!
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)
This week there’s a Mars/Uranus trine, a Full Moon in Aquarius, and Mercury’s reversing through your relationship zone. So, you’ll be reliably unpredictable and consistently inconsistent! One half of you wants to snuggle up close with someone special – while the other half longs to be footloose and fancy-free. Try to find the sweet spot between cosy companionship and invigorating independence and resist the urge to be deliberately controversial.
PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)
Mercury is reversing through your daily routine zone, the Full Moon lights up your mystery/secrets zone and Neptune opposes Mars. So many Fish are set for a frustrating and confusing week. Some possible scenarios? Important phone calls may be missed, diets could be broken, or paperwork goes missing. The best way to handle the ensuing chaos? Slow down… relax… imagine… daydream… meditate… contemplate… ruminate… and escape!
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2025
Ever got a letter from the ATO that you were unable to understand? You're not alone.
The Tax Ombudsman has recently reviewed the ATO’s use of high-volume standard letters. The ombudsman examined six of the ATO's bulk-letter templates and made four key recommendations that the tax office has agreed to implement.
This means that in future you should be able to understand correspondence from the ATO.
The report confirms the ATO has a comprehensive framework for letter design, but the results are mixed because it is applied inconsistently. Also, the letters often focus on what the ATO wants to say, but not what you may need to know. The tax office also often assumes a knowledge level and language level that may not be appropriate.
3 What is a form of betting where bets are laid on the first and second place-getters in any order in the same race? (8)
7 Name a division of a government department. (6)
8 Which word describes transpositions of words or sentences†to form new words or sentences? (8)
9 What might we call one who acts injuriously towards another? (6)
10 What is a book or writing dealing with some particular subject? (8)
11 Who is responsible for the content of a newspaper? (6)
14 What are proverbs also known as? (6)
17 Which human being eats other human beings? (8)
18 Name the largest river in the world. (6)
19 Name another term for one’s brothers or sisters. (8)
20 What are some herons called? (6) 21 Which people clip sheep? (8)
1 Which term describes a man joined in marriage to a woman? (7)
2 Name the final course of a meal, including puddings. (7)
3 What, in the US, is a coin valued at 25 cents? (7)
4 Which term describes an excessively parsimonious person? (7)
5 What is a tendency or inclination? (7)
6 When one replies, one does what? (7)
11 What are inland taxes or duties? (7)
12 To be of low character, is to be what? (7)
13 Name a renowned English actor, producer and director, Laurence ... (7)
14 What are bound collections of maps? (7)
15 Name a US dancer and film actor, Fred ... (7)
16 What do we call commodities sent to other countries for sale? (7)
The ombudsman also commented that the letters often lack empathy and appear threatening or imply guilt by the taxpayer. Also, there is no separate process for writing to people with diverse needs.
Another finding was that the ATO requires better data to measure how clear its letters are; only 41 per cent of letter templates have an effectiveness measure.
Lastly, letters can be sent to the wrong person or to the wrong address. This can be frustrating, particularly when a reply is required by a certain time and the letter is received after that time.
So what are the recommendations?
Firstly, the ATO should review and clarify its processes and ensure consistency between all teams in the ATO. It should include standard information about support options for diverse taxpayers.
I know that we have had instances where taxpayers in the same family have received different correspondence and different treatment because different people dealt with the letters even though they went in on the same day at the same time.
The next recommendation is that the ATO should develop a consultation and testing protocol of all letter templates and include diverse and representative participants. I have served on a number of committees with the ATO and, more than 20 years ago, we were recommending that correspondence needed reviewing because it wasn’t clear to taxpayers what the correspondence meant.
The third recommendation is that the ATO should implement mechanisms to gather direct feedback and use data analytics to identify the types of letters that are causing problems. It should then adopt a structured approach to the periodic review of all its standard letters using people with appropriate skills to draft these letters.
As a tax professional, I would be happy to assist the ATO with reviewing standard letters to ensure that they are clear and concise and that taxpayers are not left with questions after reading them as currently is the case.
Lastly, the Tax Ombudsman recommended that the ATO should promote correct use of communication preferences and address fields and ensure that these preferences are followed.
We and many of our clients find the current process quite confusing; some letters go to MyGov, when clients are registered, some come to us as is their preference, some go by SMS and it is not clear what happens to others.
While some legislation does state that certain items must go in the mail, I also recently saw a request to provide documents to the ATO via fax. While we have a fax, I don’t think we've received anything on it for quite some years. It is time that the relevant legislation deals with these matters in a manner appropriate to the 21st century.
If you need any guidance on communications received from the ATO or any other tax related matter contact the experts at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd on 02 6295 2844.
Disclaimer
This column contains general advice, please do not rely on it. If you require specific advice on this topic please contact Gail Freeman or your professional adviser. Authorised Representative
Your journey to better health starts here.
At Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services, we stand with you on your journey to quit smoking — for yourself, for your family, and for future generations.
Smoking is one of the biggest health challenges in our community, but you are stronger than the smokes. Every cigarette not smoked is a step toward a longer, healthier life.
Winnunga offers culturally safe, free, and confidential support:
• Quit plans tailored for you
Why Quit?
Stronger lungs, stronger heart, stronger you
More money in your pocket — save thousands every year
Healthy bubbas — quitting before or during pregnancy helps babies grow strong
Be a role model for your kids, your mob, your community
It’s Never Too Late
Whether it’s your first time trying or your fifth, Winnunga is here to walk with you. Every day smoke-free is a win.
• Yarn with our friendly Aboriginal Health Workers
• Free nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum, sprays)
• Ongoing support and encouragement at every step
