HOW LABOR SKATES AROUND FAILED PROMISES ‘The ACT Government is the master of delay, and then one further step to shelve ideas or promises. There are always excuses,’ writes MICHAEL MOORE
KEEPING UP THE ACT SEPTEMBER 17, 2026
Well written, well read
They’re rebranding Albo and here’s why…
ANDREW HUGHES
Sex claims: what’s the need to name schools?
NOEL BEDDOE
Footy play celebrates Aussie female grit
HELEN MUSA
Step into a local native treasure
BILL HANDKE
ALL ABOUT ME In The Story of Me, singer JESSICA MAUBOY shares her journey through song
NEWS / Siobhan Engeler
Powerlifter Siobhan takes on weights of the world Powerlifter Siobhan Engeler’s nails and singlet will be green and gold when she steps on to the international platform, but her trademark purple hair is staying put. She speaks to DHWANI PATHAK from Canada. Powerlifter Siobhan Engeler and her mum, Fiona, will be in Canada, but the family back in Canberra plans to be up before dawn on September 22 to watch Siobhan compete for Australia. The 2026 Commonwealth Classic & Equipped Powerlifting & Bench Press Championships in Winnipeg are a long way, in every sense, from a gym in Harrison in 2016. Siobhan, now 27, lives with a mild intellectual disability and drugresistant epilepsy, diagnosed when she was three. Her training is built around that: short, tightly structured sessions, clear repetition, and support to manage medication and fatigue. None of it, she says, has stopped her doing what she loves. “There’s not a lot I can do, like I can’t drive, I can’t drink,” she says. “But that doesn’t stop me from hanging out with friends, doing powerlifting, and going to the gym.” She’s also candid about the parts that are harder.
“I used to be ashamed of it,” she says of her epilepsy. “I still cry sometimes. I was always ashamed, and I’d say to mum, I wish I didn’t have this. But there’s not a lot we can do, really, to be honest.” Powerlifting wasn’t her idea, at least not at first. She still tells the story of how she got there with a laugh. “I was just being kidnapped by my mother,” she says. “I thought we were just going shopping. I was getting a birthday gift, and then all of a sudden mum turned into our gym in Harrison. I thought, what are we doing here?” She met the trainers at Elements for Life Team Training Centre that day and chose a female coach, Erin Wells, because she felt more comfortable with her. It grew into far more than a coaching relationship. “She’s like a second mum to me, basically. But very, very strict.” A gym visit turned into a first competition in 2018, a Ladies of Lifting event entered alongside gym friends, raising money for domestic
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violence services along the way. She was hooked, and kept competing for six years, building steadily from lighter loads to deadlifts over 100 kilograms. In Aug 2024, Siobhan decided to raise the stakes, starting with powerlifting and strength coach Athanasia McDonald, at The Strength Syndicate in Weetangera, while keeping her functional training going with Erin. The jump paid off fast. At her first Australian Powerlifting Alliancesanctioned local competition in Canberra, she won her division and was named overall Best Female Lifter in the Special Olympics category. At the MegaNationals in Sydney in
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April, her first Nationals, she went nine for nine on her lifts, set personal bests of a 112.5kg squat and a 125kg deadlift, and took Best Female Lifter honours again. Winnipeg will be her fourth major competition, and her third with Athanasia in under three years. On the platform, Siobhan is focused. Off it, she is cheering for everyone else. And that community matters to her mum, Fiona. “Powerlifting may look like an individual sport, but the atmosphere around competition is one of the things that keeps bringing Siobhan back,” says Fiona.
“You will be on a stage in front of hundreds, but you don’t know them,” she says. “Everybody in that room is cheering for you.” For Siobhan, there are two clear targets in Winnipeg. A medal would be nice. A new personal best would be even better. Siobhan’s purple hair, nails and singlets have been her trademark since her epilepsy diagnosis, supporting the Epilepsy Association. In Winnipeg, two of the three are changing. “The nails and singlet will be green and gold,” Siobhan says. “The hair is staying purple.” The trip is entirely self-funded. “There’s not a lot of money in powerlifting,” Fiona says. But when the invitation to Canada arrived, the family didn’t hesitate. “Canada was somewhere we always wanted to come to.” For Siobhan, the result is only part of what matters. Her advice to anyone reading her story is simple. “Do the best you can,” she says. “Push yourself to your full potential, but you don’t always have to be the best.” Ten years after being “kidnapped” into a gym she didn’t want to visit, Siobhan is about to step on to an international platform wearing green and gold. Everything except her hair.
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POLITICS / Anthony Albanese
They’re rebranding Albanese and here’s why… While “Melongate” was an unmitigated disaster for the PM, one of the more interesting responses by Labor has been the very subtle but substantial change in brand strategy.
Going for three or more election wins is difficult. Very, very few can maintain that level of resonance across an entire nation of voters in a compulsory voting system for anyone aged over 18.
And that is the need to rebrand Anthony Albanese. This thought was likely there before the disastrous Bush Deep podcast appearance, but the responses to it and increasing dissatisfaction with his leadership made Labor believe it was time to move the PM to the longevity statesman stage of the prime ministerial brand cycle. We haven’t seen this stage reached by too many prime ministers this century – John Howard being the only other one. Bush Deep was perhaps the wake up call that Labor needed. The concern for Albanese long term was always that larrikin leaders, or even a modern-era Chalmer’s branded brawler statesmen like Keating, don’t scream longevity. For most leaders in the modern era it is usually two (election wins) and done. Basically, that’s five years. Be that here or other Western democracies, the curse of the speed of information consumption in the digital age is that we hit the fatigue factor with our leaders sooner as there is little break
minus 20s. The PM, post-Bondi, has not seen a net positive approval rating. For another contrast Labor strategists would be aware of, Donald Trump is in the negative mid-teens on net approval, while the PM has had one poll at Anthony Albanese… all Australian flags, lecterns and minus 26 net approval. leader images. Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP Labor’s primary vote from political news. has fluctuated this year, but notably Going for three or more election since the acceleration in the negative wins is difficult. Very, very few can net approval has rarely gone above maintain that level of resonance 30 – a fall of 13 per cent in lost voters across an entire nation of voters in a in real terms in a bit over 12 months compulsory voting system for anyone since the last federal election. aged over 18. Normally numbers like these would Back to the PM. The idea for be cause for some factional leaders rebrand was likely already there to get out calculators for a leadership because two key metrics were startchange, but Labor’s rules post the ing to move from a maybe to a trend. Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era mean that That is, Labor’s primary vote and the unless the leader wants to go, then PM’s net approval rating. change is too hard and the only option Labor would have known that they is Albanese remaining PM until the needed to turn these figures around, next election. which started to accelerate post So then how can Labor turn around Budget and are now stubbornly in the these figures?
The slow and subtle overall strategy is the right choice. One, this makes past dramas appear to be more anomalies. After all, what right minded PM would actually publicly talk about his sex life with his wife to maybe get a few votes from the 18-34 year old cohort? Second, sudden and rapid change in this current political climate could scare voters or make them more cynical about any changes. That means integrating and using the opportunities of the job, especially on the world stage, to act as a statesman leader with wisdom, intelligence and respect. Hello Pacific Islands Forum. Third, and integrated with the second, is minimising appearances domestically unless consistent with the second. That means avoiding anything confrontational unless he can control the outcome or it reinforces that image of an elder,
wise, safe leader. Fourth is the comms front. All comms where possible need to reinforce the other three points. The social media feed of the PM in recent months has moved away from trying to fit into younger demographics, and instead it’s Australian flags, lecterns and leader images. Further to this is how the PM handles parliament and pressers – very, very much Howard of the early 2000s. Firm, taking opportunities when presented on issues consistent with the brand, and low-risk, high-certainty on full display. I’m in command, basically. So will this work? It is a balancing act: go too fast, and we notice, become more cynical, and lose trust. Go too slow, and we’ll be the ones bush deep in what his government and his own brand stand for. Dr Andrew Hughes lectures at the ANU Research School of Management, where he specialises in political marketing.
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PROFILE / sexual assault allegations
Sex claims: what’s the need to name schools? Even given the worst possible outcomes for the accused, what possible significance could their schools be in investigations to allegations of events in a suburban alley and a private home, asks former school principal NOEL BEDDOE. Recently, there have been allegations of sexual assault, unconnected, by two groups of male teenagers. Both cases have attracted widespread media coverage and comment. In both cases the schools attended by the accused have been named, images of their entrances published. In the case of one, Scots College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, the principal has been named, his picture published as have calls for his resignation. The federal education minister has expressed concern about what schools teach about sexual consent and the NSW education minister has been pictured chairing a meeting about sexual education in the schools of her state. I protest! My CityNews legal colleague Hugh Selby no doubt would counsel us that we have, so far, allegations, maybe
6 CityNews September 17-23, 2026
charges, that it is for the courts to establish what happened and that all accused are entitled to the (vitally important) assumption of innocence. Anyway, even given the worst possible outcomes for the accused, Are those linking schools with sexual assault what possible significance could their schools allegations seriously trying to suggest that in matters of morality the responsibility for failures rests with the be in investigations to education process, asks Noel Beddoe. allegations of events in a suburban alley and a ful; believing the matter not a part of private home? the school’s role. An anecdote: I was a member of a Some members of the executive school executive when the Board of believed that the importance of Secondary Studies (as then it was) in responsibility in that significant area NSW invited schools to be involved in of human behaviour, its potential to the trialling of a potential addition to enhance or damage lives certainly the curriculum of the state, includcould be reinforced. ing aspects of discussion of sexual The question was discussed at a behaviour. meeting of the Parents and Citizens The principal, a highly respected Association; those folk were of the view member of the Catholic community of the area should be covered in guidance that quiet country town, was doubtand example at the family level, but ad-
dressing it at school could do no harm. We proceeded. The matter went into the school’s offering taught by our very experienced and respected physical education staff – that faculty took on the title of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Personal Development. That was in 1971. Since then the area has been retained and developed as part of mandatory curriculum A further anecdote: I was principal of a complex high school – 63 languages spoken in the homes, the highest level of adult unemployment of any urban area in Australia – in 1993 when one of our senior girls complained to a staff member she had been raped by a fellow student in a school lavatory in class time. The issue proceeded to charges, a court case, massive coverage in local print media and on TV news. Educational Regional Director Steve Buckley publicly stated that all curriculum and organisational offerings at the school were exemplary. Nowhere were there any complaints about our operation. I was not asked to testify at the trial and nowhere was I named or criticised. Our community stated their support of what we were doing. These things all were a great help in a difficult time. So perhaps before people begin to imply criticism of the performance of schools on the basis of the alleged
behaviour of a few individuals, it would be better if they demonstrated a bit of knowledge (and, hopefully, respect) for what schools actually do. Are those who linked schools with these allegations seriously trying to suggest that our community so accepts the leadership of our local schools in matters of morality that the responsibility for failures rests with the education process? I was a high school principal for 20 years in the public education system of NSW. The vast majority of my contact with students, teachers, parents, and other community members was overwhelmingly delightful. In some of those few cases where the school must insist on appropriate standards of behaviour, I experienced professional and personal attacks by parents and resistance to the school’s authority. So who were the parents most likely to try to use contacts and power to try to overthrow the standards and requirements of the school when their children had offended? Members of the white middle class. But those who were almost unfailingly co-operative were members of the Islamic community. Noel Beddoe was principal of three NSW high schools that between them won three Director General’s Awards for Excellent Performance.
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POLITICS / the masters of delay
Skating rink: Labor puts more promises on ice The beloved Big Announcement ploy by the ACT Government that hits top spot in news outlets is beginning to sour. A new stadium for Canberra to be built in Bruce is a terrific example. Great pictures, brilliant headlines and then… might be delivered… maybe…. sometime… never! Although politics is often framed in the news as agree or disagree, the tactic used most regularly is delay. The current government is the master of delay, and then one further step to shelve ideas or promises. There are always excuses. Often the excuse is not enough consultation. Sometimes the argument is negotiating with the National Capital Authority. But the safest bets are the “cost blowout” or “fiscal constraint”. The latest delay-then-shelve project is the decade-long promised ice facility to move the ice-skating from the ageing Phillip rink to Tuggeranong. The promise of an international standard rink for the ACT proved exciting for the increasing crowds who cheer the success of the Canberra Brave, which has claimed three Goodall Cup championships and four H Newman Reid Trophy premierships in the Australian Ice Hockey League. There are also a range of other ice sports such as figure skating,
Concept image of the now abandoned Tuggeranong Ice Sports Facility. broomball, speed skating and curling that would thrive in a new venue. For me, the broken promises on the ice-rink are personal. It runs in my family. My Canadian grandfather, George Alfred Meagher, was inducted into the Canadian Skating Hall of Fame as a world champion figure skater. The citation attributed to him the introduction of ice-hockey to Europe. For many years I played casual icehockey at the Phillip rink, and more recently I have been teaching my grandchildren to skate. It is personal! More importantly, it is just another example of political promises that are not kept. And the technique so often used is delay, delay, delay. Eventually, it comes as no surprise that the
Although politics is often framed in the news as agree or disagree, the tactic used most regularly is delay. The Labor government is the master of delay, and then one further step to shelve ideas or promises. government’s glacial pace means another broken promise. The swimming pool on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin. Oh dear! No, there will not be a diving pool (even though we originally promised to move all the facilities). What… you want a diving pool? Okay, I guess we can go back to another three years of consultation to see if it is appropriate to include a diving pool in the new facility. Actually, the pool has to be moved to allow the development of the new (much flagged) convention centre to bring big conferences to Canberra. What? Further delay on that, too? The Bruce precinct promises include a new football stadium and
a new Northside Hospital. The cost of the hospital is projected at $1.5 billion. The ACT Government has secured federal government support to develop a mixed-use urban renewal precinct, with housing, commercial and retail opportunities to support sport, health and education infrastructure projects. Here is the surprise! When the governments released the Master Plan for 25 hectares of land at Bruce to house the new facilities – there was no timeline, and no costings. No timeline! No costings! If ever there was a built-in tool for delay – the timeline has to be the Ace of Spades. And the costings the Ace of Clubs. The headlines have been delivered. There will be support from the federal government for funding. All looking good. Just one small issue… there might be a delay in delivery. The people of Casey in Gungahlin now understand the issue of fiscal constraint. Savings of $700 million in the current budget mean they will “wait longer for the promised new Emergency Services station, health centre and indoor sports facility”. Why promise something and build expectations and then argue
fiscal constraint? Of course, the bold headline and fancy pictures of capital works projects are more important than integrity. Chief Minister Andrew Barr was keen to explain the serious fiscal challenges since covid and the impact of increasing fuel prices, arguing “those projects will still go ahead; we just can’t start them this year”. Delay! He added: “People can expect that, over the two budgets that remain in this term, we will proceed with those projects. It’s just we can’t do them all at once.” Another announcement launch can be expected within the next two years – prior to the October 2028 election. Don’t hold your breath! In the words of Darryl Kerrigan in the Rob Sitch movie The Castle: “Tell ‘em they’re dreamin.” Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.
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SCRIBBLES
The cupboard can wait, squeeze it into the fridge “My preferred method of food storage has a tendency to completely overfill the fridge… If something can go in the fridge, why wouldn’t you put it in the fridge?” PAUL DORIN has some confessions when it comes to clearing the table... It’s the age-old question that has divided households, friendships and, quite possibly, entire families: what belongs in the fridge, and what belongs in the cupboard? There are probably experts who can tell us exactly how food should be stored. There are guidelines, recommendations and people who appear on television wearing serious expressions while explaining the correct temperature for a jar of something I’ve never heard of. But there will always be differences of opinion. So, I think it’s time I came clean. I’m prepared to be judged. I’ve accepted that some people may never look at me, or my refrigerator, in quite the same way again. This confession has come about because my friends have developed a very effective system whenever I help clear the table. They no longer ask me to put anything away. Instead, I’m kindly told: “Just put everything on the bench.”
Apparently, this is because my preferred method of food storage has a tendency to completely overfill the fridge. And, in my defence, I don’t see the problem. If something can go in the fridge, why wouldn’t you put it in the fridge? So here, with no further excuses, some my highly questionable list of what you’ll find inside my refrigerator: • Tomato and barbecue sauce • Mustard • Soy sauce • Butter • Bread after two days • Peanut butter • Honey • Cereal • Snack chips • Biscuits • Crackers • Rolled oats • Eggs • Pickles • Most fruits and tomatoes At least in my mind, there is method behind my madness. I like things fresh. If I open a packet of chips, have a few handfuls and don’t
Cartoon: Paul Dorin touch them again for a week, I want them to be just as fresh and crunchy when the next craving hits. It’s the same with biscuits and cereal. Why risk them going stale? At least that’s my justification. At this point, you may be wondering whether I actually own a cupboard. I do. It’s just mostly decorative. The downside of my system is that fridge space becomes a highly valuable commodity. Every time I open the door, it’s like playing Tetris. Move the milk, shift the jam, squeeze in the cheese. Eventually something has to
come out, and it’s usually the person standing in front of the fridge. Then there’s Vegemite. If you open my fridge, you will find a jar of Vegemite. But this is strictly for emergencies, such as when visitors ask for it. For me, handling Vegemite is less about making toast and more about managing a potential contamination incident. The Hazmat suit goes on. The gloves are fitted. The knife and plate must be decontaminated to perfection. And once the Vegemite has been safely returned to the fridge, the entire
operation is considered complete. Then there’s butter. Butter belongs in the fridge. Absolutely. The problem is that eventually someone wants to spread it on bread. And that’s when you discover you’ve created your own domestic crisis. You take the butter out of the fridge, attack it with a knife and attempt to spread a block of something with the structural integrity of a house brick across a perfectly innocent slice of bread. The bread doesn’t stand a chance. It tears. It folds. It develops emotional scars. Meanwhile, the butter remains completely unmoved. And then there’s chocolate. The only chocolate you’ll find in my fridge is a KitKat. Every other chocolate belongs in a dark, cool spot in the cupboard. I’m not completely unreasonable. Interestingly, having this discussion with my aunty, she told me she has even stored non-food items such as lipstick and nail polish in her fridge. I’m all for keeping things cool, but my fridge is crowded enough without having to make room for a make-up department. If you’re ever invited to my house and I ask you to put something away, just remember one thing: When in doubt, put it in the fridge. If it doesn’t fit, we’ll make room. The cupboard can wait.
Paul Dorin is the CityNews cartoonist.
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NEWS / slow recovery
The cabinet in the gallery after the Lismore flooding had receded in March 2022. Photo: Brian Henry
Restorer Greg Peters (left) uses a heat lamp and vacuum on the Hannah Cabinet, watched by Geoff Hannah centre and Wayne Creaser.
Amazing restoration of the feted Hannah Cabinet Craft writer MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE traces the laborious renovation of the feted, though fated, Hanna Cabinet and the role a Canberra company had in saving it after extensive damage from floodwater. Many readers will remember the Hannah Cabinet that filled the front gallery at Bungendore Wood Works a few years ago, a six-year labour of love for its maker Geoff Hannah. The Cabinet was returned to Hannah’s home town Lismore where, after major fund raising and with assistance from the maker, it became the centrepiece of the regional gallery. But on February 28, 2022, after heavy rain, the Lismore river reached its highest on record (14.4 metres) and caused catastrophic damage all over the district. The cabinet had been placed on the third floor, the highest position. But the water reached it and knocked it over completely. The cabinet had originally been made in Lismore by Hannah and after major fund raising and with assistance from the maker, it became
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the centrepiece of the gallery’s collection. Five days after the flood, International Art Services brought the pieces in climate-controlled trucks to Patinations Furniture Conservation Services in Canberra, where it was held at 2°C for several weeks to stop the mould. Nevertheless, there were marks from mould which spread over the timber pieces. Greg Peters from Patinations in Fyshwick explained that it was full of silt, sewage, tan bark, mud and other rubbish. The drawers – and there were many – acted as wine barrels, holding the water. The gilding and veneers were peeling off while most of the stone in the door fronts and on the drawer fronts survived. Fortunately, Hannah had listened to Peters give a talk at Bungendore Wood Works, where he encouraged furniture makers to use animal glue and French polishing, rather than PVC and polyurethane and had
Hannah Cabinet when unveiled in 2009. followed this advice, so the joints and finishes could all be replaced. Everything was taken apart and rebuilt. The cabinet had been made to break into six parts, and this has made the conservation and restoration a little easier.
Photo: Flawless Imaging Hannah, now living out of Armidale, NSW, is overseeing the process of conservation and recovery. The timber is being re-French polished, and re-gilded. Peters expects that less than 5 per cent will ultimately remain unsaved,
but that the average viewer will not notice this. “The final piece will reflect the flood,” he tells me. When I visited Patinations, the centre top section of the cabinet was undergoing the transformation process. Once finished, it will go back to Lismore where the time-consuming French polishing will begin. “The process of conservation is a mix of traditional 18th and 19th century techniques and state-of-theart conservation,” Peters says. “Vacuuming will suck the moisture out and heat lamps dry the timber. There is considerable staining around all the holes where screws were used, and we are removing all the marks, too.” It has been a massive and expensive undertaking to return it to its original state. There has been insurance money, but also conservators have made a huge contribution. Staff at Patinations have worked on it almost solely since the parts arrived in Canberra in March 2022. While they will be finished soon, Peters anticipates work will not be completed in Lismore until late next year.
CityNews September 17-23, 2026 11
FEATURE / mind blanking
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Behind that convenience is an established business with operational systems, work health and safety procedures, insurance and compliance processes. Careful recruitment and staff vetting support an approach built around the responsibility of working in someone else’s home. The size of Leopard’s team also provides continuity. When a staff member is sick or on annual leave, the business has other employees available to provide cover, helping maintain the service owners have arranged. “We know we’re being trusted with someone’s home while they may be hours away in Canberra,” Tarn says. “We take that responsibility seriously.” That professional approach is also relevant to Canberra-based organisations and advisers seeking a South Coast cleaning provider for their clients, properties or operations. For second-home owners, the benefit is practical: an organised cleaning service, a team behind it and less of their coastal break spent on household chores. Whether the next visit is a weekend or a stay, Leopard’s focus is on helping owners spend their time enjoying their home and the South Coast, with the cleaning taken care of.
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Servicing Batemans Bay, Moruya & the wider Eurobodalla region 12 CityNews September 17-23, 2026
Mind blanking can happen when we intend to retrieve a memory, and find it gone.
What? Sorry, my mind went completely blank Brain ageing researcher SOPHIE ANDREWS looks at the science behind our minds going blank sometimes. We’ve all been there. Whether it’s at a crucial moment of an exam, walking into a room for a specific purpose, or making an impromptu speech, your mind goes blank. It can be frustrating, stressful or worrying. But what’s really going on in your brain? And when should you go to your GP for a check-up? One of the earliest observations in psychology is that our thoughts usually produce a stream of consciousness, flowing almost constantly. Often our attention and thoughts are focused. Other times, our mind wanders. But less often (perhaps about 15 per cent of the time) our mind goes completely blank. So in recent years, researchers have begun trying to find out why. Mind blanking can happen when we intend to retrieve a memory, and find it gone. This could be completely forgetting the answers to questions in an exam, or forgetting why we walked into a room. It can also happen when we are not aware of thinking at all. Someone might ask us a question, and we realise we had “zoned out”. Sometimes this zoning out is due to our mind wandering, and we are aware of our thoughts. However, at other times, when we’re not sure where our mind went, this is mind blanking. Some people are much more likely than others to say their mind goes blank. These include people with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or anxiety. Mind blanking is also more common in certain kinds of dementia, such as Lewy body dementia, and in people who are sleep deprived, or after intense physical exercise. To understand what causes our mind to go blank, we need to start with how our brain usually pays attention and learns new memories. A key brain network involved in these processes is the executive attention network. This is a network of interconnected brain regions that’s important for being alert, paying attention and feeling motivated. These brain areas are connected to regions in the outer layer of the brain, the frontal and parietal cortex, which support our planning, decision-making and sensory integration. This executive attention network is used both for passing information to our memory systems for storage, and then later retrieving those memories when we need them. One of the key brain chemicals that supports this network is noradrenaline, also known as norepinephrine. This controls our alertness and readiness for action.
Disruption in any part of the executive attention network can impact the brain’s ability to pay attention and retrieve memories, leading to a blank mind. Fatigue caused by sleep deprivation or sleep disorders can impact the alerting part of the network. When we are very tired, we can experience “local sleep”. This is where the activity in parts of our brains is sleep-like even if we are awake. This can cause the attention system to temporarily shut off, which researchers think may lead to mind blanks. Neuroimaging research shows parts of the executive attention network are “deactivated” during mind blanking. This likely explains what causes the “zoning out” kind of mind blank. High levels of stress or anxiety, such as what we might experience in an exam room, can result in high levels of noradrenaline. This puts the body in “fight or flight mode”. This focuses our attention on immediate threats, reducing its ability to retrieve what it sees as non-essential memories, such as information you’ve been revising the day before. If the executive attention network doesn’t encode a memory efficiently in the first place – because for example, we were multi-tasking or distracted – then it might not be easily retrieved later on. This can also lead to a mind blank. While mind blanking is common and usually no cause for concern, frequent mind blanking can be a sign of a medical condition. Some conditions that affect these attention network systems include depression, anxiety, dementia or stroke. A condition that affects the memory systems themselves, such as Alzheimer’s disease, can also look like mind blanking, as can some kinds of seizures. So, generally speaking, if you’ve noticed mind blanking becoming more common, if there has been a sudden onset of symptoms, or if your friends or family have raised concerns, see your GP for a check-up. If you’ve noticed any changes to your ability to undertake your daily activities, or you find yourself confused or disorientated, you should also see your GP. They may also refer you for neuropsychological or neurological assessment, or request a brain scan (like a CT or MRI scan) to check for any brain changes caused by stroke or dementia. Sophie Andrews, associate professor and lead, Healthy Brain Ageing Research Program, Thompson Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast. Republished from The Conversation. citynews.com.au
LETTERS / well written, well read
Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au
Inadequacy of planning processes in Curtin plan The Plan for North Curtin Residential Area, released by the National Capital Authority (NCA), identifies some 1200 to 1300 dwellings primarily in six-to eightstorey apartment buildings. The plan provides site-specific design and planning conditions for the precinct. The approval did not consider social infrastructure needs or the traffic impacts of the development with the NCA saying such analysis would be undertaken as part of the strategic assessment for the Southern Gateway Corridor and addressed in a later DA undertaken after the land is released by the Suburban Land Agency. The NCA position highlights the inadequacy of planning processes in the ACT. In a rational planning system the environmental, traffic and social impacts of a development would be considered holistically. The inadequacy of the dual planning regime was apparent in the approval of the Amberfield retirement village for 55 single-storey villas and 260 apartments on the Cotter Road, an 80 km/h arterial road. As residents moved in, significant road safety and public transport access issues emerged that were not considered in the DA approved by the NCA. The issues remain unresolved with the ACT arguing the developer should pay the costs required to remedy the issues. No land release at North Curtin should occur until a detailed evaluation of the Southern Gateway Corridor, including assessment of a range of residential and employment scenarios, transport strategies and associated infrastructure costs, is undertaken. Mike Quirk, Garran
dose of dorin
or community service for 18-30 year olds? Like the ongoing focus and noise about flags and statues of Captain Cook, such ideas have been kicked around by blinkered conservative politicians when searching for relevance and attention in the past. Sue Dyer, Downer
What would One Nation cut and abandon?
Gardening as an act of hope and love
Flagging the same old chestnuts
I appreciated Jackie Warburton’s suggestions for preparing our gardens for summer (“Get veggies ready for summer”, CN September 10). With a hot, dry summer predicted as climate change combines with El Niño conditions, we need to make our gardens as resilient as possible. Although it is not an indigenous species, the suggestion to use plants like phlomis in hot, dry parts of the garden is an excellent one. In my experience, bees love phlomis, too. A thriving garden brings joy, but it can also provide shade, support pollinators, offer habitat for wildlife and help us cope with the challenges of a warming climate. I view gardening as an act of hope and love in a challenging world. Amy Hiller, Kew, Victoria
Surely the Coalition could deliver a far more “important policy for protecting Australia’s way of life” by getting serious about the need for more significant climate change and emissions reduction action at the federal level. And advocate strongly for this, preferably in multi-partisan ways (“Liberals deny mooted flag burning ban a One Nation ploy”, citynews.com.au September 6). But given Angus Taylor’s thoroughly stale and unimaginative approach to policy making so far, will his grab bag of nationalistic and security pronouncements in future include a ballot style conscription call-up to boost the numbers in the ADF, or some other form of national
Hugh Selby’s portrait of One Nation is amusing (“Whinge, be selfish and put our trust in One Nation”, CN September 3). However, the real concerns are what One Nation would cut, dismantle and abandon. One Nation proposes to slash Commonwealth spending by $90 billion a year. Its approach to childcare is particularly revealing. Pauline Hanson has described government childcare spending as “completely out of control”, questioned the need for qualified early-childhood educators and suggested shifting support from childcare centres to parents. She has also indicated she would consider winding back paid parental leave, while Barnaby Joyce says the party is prepared to cut worker entitlements. Most alarming is climate policy. One Nation’s website declares “Climate Change is a Hoax”, rejects the scientific evidence underpinning the IPCC’s conclusions, wants to scrap emissions targets, abolish the Renewable Energy Target, withdraw from the Paris Agreement and shut the federal Department of Climate Change. These are not amusing eccentricities. They would have profound consequences for families, workers, the economy and environment. Christine Cook, Essendon, Victoria
Happy with hospital treatment I had a need to present at North Canberra Hospital emergency department on September 6. I cannot speak too highly of the treatment I received. Dr Yasith was determined to find the underlying issues rather than just treat the symptoms. Nurse Sojana could not have done more. Both were thoroughly professional. Herman van de Brug, Holt
Come along and make your views known Michael Moore’s column (“We need more local politicians, and here’s why”, CN August 27) and subsequent letters (CN September 11) discuss options for improving governance in the ACT. As Moore’s piece and the letters suggest, this is a contentious and complex matter. Readers might be interested to know that the Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy and Active Democracy Bean are running an event series: Re-imagining Governance for the ACT. Coming up is a look at this issue of increasing the number of MLAs (October 19) and whether a Citizens’ Assembly would help (November 16). There are pros and cons of all options. The key point, as Moore stresses, is that Canberrans decide. We invite Canberrans to be part of the conversations. Come along and make your views known. Peter Tait, convener, Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy
The danger we may be inviting home I refer to Mike Quirk’s letter (“Whose interests is One Nation serving?”, CN September 10). He questions One Nation’s motives, but Australians should ask: whose safety are we risking by repatriating terrorists and their enablers? These women married into ISIS, supported a genocidal ideology, and now expect to return as if their actions had no consequence. In 2022, Peter Dutton, acting on advice from ASIO, the AFP and Defence, made the right call: they should not come back. The National Security Committee agreed. That decision must stand. It’s 25 years since 9/11 – a day that still weighs on us all. And now we’re asked to welcome back those aligned with the very terror that caused it? Real refugees – people who fled ISIS – lost everything: homes burned, families murdered. Where is their priority? Meanwhile, thousands of Australians wait for public housing, with little government empathy. Now we’re to accept returning terrorists, too? The federal government, Labor, the Greens, and independents voted down One Nation’s Protecting Australians from Foreign Terrorist Fighters Bill 2026. Given our rising crime rates and a justice system that fails the public, what do they know that we don’t? The promise of family reunion must not blind us to the danger we may be inviting home. Russ Morison, Theodore citynews.com.au
CityNews September 17-23, 2026 13
Disability Support Services
A safe and empowering place to call home Are you or someone you support looking for a safe, welcoming and empowering long term home? For more than 60 years, Hartley Lifecare has delivered trusted disability support across the ACT. As an NDIS registered provider since the scheme began, Hartley combines experience with a strong focus on quality, safety and person centred support. Supported Independent Living is about more than accommodation. It is about creating a stable home where a person with disability can live as independently as possible, with the right supports in place. Hartley works closely with each person and their family to understand what matters most, building support around individual goals, daily living skills and connection to community. Hartley currently has vacancies in a small number
of Supported Independent Living homes across Canberra. These homes provide shared living with 24 hour support from professional, compassionate staff. Every enquiry is assessed individually to ensure the right fit for both the person and the household. Families want confidence that their loved one is supported by a secure, well governed and values led organisation. Hartley’s long standing presence in the ACT provides that reassurance. For adults with disability seeking long term accommodation with tailored support, Hartley offers a safe and supportive place to call home. Hartley Lifecare Call 02 6282 4411 or visit hartley.org.au
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Support that’s all about you For many people living with disability, genuine independence is not simply about receiving support – it is about having the freedom, confidence and choice to shape a life that feels uniquely their own. That is the philosophy behind About You – It’s Your Life, an NDIS support provider focused on putting people at the centre of their own journey. More than a support agency, About You positions itself as a partner in creating a life designed by the individual. Its person-centred approach ensures each participant’s voice, goals and independence remain central to planning and decision-making. From assistance with daily living and personal care to supported independent living, community participation, capacity building and support coordination, services are tailored to individual needs and aspirations.
About You also emphasises compassionate care, flexible scheduling and a holistic approach that recognises the physical, emotional and social dimensions of wellbeing. A key part of the About You philosophy is matching participants with support workers who understand their personality, preferences and goals – helping create relationships built on trust and consistency. With a strong understanding of the evolving NDIS landscape, About You combines experience with compassion and empowerment, supporting participants to build skills, confidence and greater independence. Ultimately, it is about one simple principle: your life, your choices, your future. About You – It’s Your Life To learn more, contact hello@aboutyoucompany.com.au
Accommodation Vacancies for People with Disability SUPPORTED INDEPENDENT LIVING (SIL) Are you or someone you support looking for a safe, welcoming, and empowering long‑term home? Hartley has been an NDIS-registered provider in the ACT since the scheme began, building on more than 60 years’ experience in disability support. We work with each person and their family to understand what matters to them and provide support that builds skills, confidence and connection to community. Hartley Lifecare currently has openings in a selection of our Supported Independent Living (SIL) homes. These vacancies may be suitable for adults with disability seeking a supportive shared living environment with 24-hour support. Each enquiry is considered individually to ensure the right fit for the person and the household. Enquiries and expressions of interest: Kathy Le Mesurier, Senior Manager – NDIS and Service Development E: Reception@Hartley.org.au • Ph: (02) 6282 4411 • W: www.hartley.org.au 14 CityNews September 17-23, 2026
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Support That’s All About You At About You – It’s Your Life, we are more than just a support agency, we are your partners in creating a life for you, designed by you. Our team works from a person centred approach to ensure your independence and voice are at the centre of all decisions and planning. We lead with compassion, empowerment and have the knowledge and experience to understand the new and forever changing NDIS landscape. Our support staff matching system ensures that the person you see everyday or every week is chosen with you and your personal goals in mind.
How can we support you? Contact us: hello@aboutyoucompany.com.au
Disability Support Services
Haven Care Australia: Supporting Independence, Choice and Everyday Living At Haven Care Australia, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to live with dignity, choice and greater independence. As a registered NDIS provider offering Supported Independent Living (SIL) services, we are committed to creating supportive environments where participants can develop their skills, build confidence and live life on their own terms. Our SIL services are designed around the individual needs, goals and preferences of each participant. We understand that no two people are the same, which is why our approach focuses on personalised support rather than a one-size-fits-all model. From assistance with daily routines and personal care to household tasks, community participation and developing independent living skills, our experienced support team works alongside participants every step of the way. At Haven Care Australia, support is about more than meeting day-to-day needs. We aim to empower
participants to make informed choices, strengthen their connections with their community and work towards their personal goals. Whether someone is developing new life skills, increasing their confidence or simply looking for a safe and welcoming place to call home, our team is there to provide encouragement and practical assistance. We are proud to promote a culture built on respect, inclusion, choice and individual wellbeing. By listening to participants and working collaboratively with their families, support networks and other professionals, we strive to deliver quality support that makes a meaningful difference. Haven Care Australia – supporting people to live with greater choice, confidence and independence. Haven Care Australia Visit havencare.com.au
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Making life brighter through meaningful support The name Fluro Life Care carries a simple but meaningful message. “Fluro” represents brightness, while “Life” represents the individual journey of each person. Together, they reflect our purpose – making life brighter through genuine care and personalised support. For Managing Director Anish Sabastian, good disability support begins with listening, understanding and respecting each person as an individual. “We believe every participant should have choice and control in their own life. Our role is to listen, understand what matters to them and provide support that respects their goals, preferences and everyday routines,” Anish says. Fluro Life Care is a registered NDIS provider supporting participants and families across Canberra and surrounding areas. As a small and growing local provider, the organisation places a strong emphasis on building genuine relationships with participants, families and their support networks.
The team provides Supported Independent Living (SIL), assistance with daily living, community participation and access, personal care, transport and other individualised NDIS supports. “For us, support is more than completing daily tasks. It’s about helping people feel respected, included and confident in making their own choices,” Anish says. This approach is reflected in Fluro Life Care’s message: “Your choice, your life, our support.” For Anish and the Fluro Life Care team, the goal is simple – to provide reliable, respectful and person-centred support while helping participants work towards greater independence and meaningful connections within their community. Fluro Life Care Call 0460 844 546 or visit flurolifecare.com.au
Your choice, your life, our support. Fluro Life Care is a registered NDIS provider proudly supporting participants and families across Canberra and surrounding areas.
Looking for disability support
As a small and growing local provider, we believe good support starts with listening. We take time to understand each participant’s individual needs, goals, preferences and routines. Our focus is on providing reliable, respectful and person-centred support.
for yourself or someone you love?
Our Services Include
HAVEN CARE AUSTRALIA
Explore support for daily life, a place to live and opportunities to connect.
• Supported Independent Living (SIL)
• Transport
• Assistance with Daily Living
• Community Participation and Access
• Personal Care
• Other Individualised NDIS Supports
Fluro Life Care
• Day Programs • Medication Support • Supported Independent Living • Specialist Disability Accommodation
• Outreach/ Community Participation • Short- and Medium-Term Accommodation • Group Programs
Come with questions. Meet us at Booth 45.
Supporting Canberra’s NDIS Community
Visit us at the Canberra Disability Expo 25-26 September 2026
| Booth No. SB12
Come and meet our friendly team. We’d love to chat and answer your questions.
Fluro Life Care Spring Promotion Scan to explore our services
Until 30 October 2026, eligible participants or guardians who attend a meetand-greet with our team may receive a small spring promotional gift, subject to eligibility and availability. There is no obligation to commence services with Fluro Life Care. Terms and conditions apply. 0460 844 546
Let’s talk: Ann Joson | 0452 132 805 | havencare.com.au | Chapman, ACT 16 CityNews September 17-23, 2026
admin@flurolifecare.com.au www.flurolifecare.com.au citynews.com.au
Good business starts with inclusion ADVERTISEMENT
For more than seven decades, Koomarri has been helping people with intellectual disability pursue their goals, build connections and create lives filled with purpose, opportunity and belonging. Established in Canberra in 1952, Koomarri began as a small community movement led by families determined to create educational opportunities for children with disability at a time when very few existed. What started as a response to a significant gap in the community has grown into one of the ACT’s leading disability support organisations, while never losing sight of its original vision: a community where everyone can participate, contribute and thrive. Today, Koomarri supports people through a diverse range of services including Supported Independent Living, skills development and employment. While much has changed since the 1950s, the heart of the organisation remains the same, helping people turn their aspirations into reality and live lives of dignity, confidence and connection. One of Koomarri’s most exciting and innovative programs is Customised Employment. Rather than trying to fit people into existing jobs, the program starts with the person. By identifying an individual’s strengths, interests and talents, Koomarri works alongside employers to create opportunities that are genuinely meaningful and sustainable. It’s an approach that has transformed lives and one that makes Koomarri one of only a handful of providers
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Geoff and the team at Hotel Realm in Australia delivering this evidence-based model specifically for people with intellectual disability. Employment has actually been part of Koomarri’s story almost from the very beginning. In 1959, Koomarri supported one of its participants into full-time employment in the Canberra community and was among the first organisations in Australia to pay an allowance to people with disability undertaking employment-related activities. More than 70 years later, that same spirit of innovation continues to drive the organisation forward. Today, Koomarri participants can be found working in workplaces across Canberra, from Australian Government departments
and local businesses to universities, hotels and major employers including Services Australia, the Department of Treasury, the University of Canberra and DOMA Hotels. Through these partnerships, people with disability are demonstrating every day that talent, commitment and contribution come in many forms. One of those success stories is Geoff, who works in the Food and Beverage team at Hotel Realm, supporting large-scale events and functions. According to his employer, Geoff has become much more than a valued team member. “Geoff is dependable on high-pressure event days when every team member needs to pull their weight. His friendly and sociable
approach with colleagues and guests helps set the tone for the whole team.” DOMA says Geoff’s impact extends beyond his role and has helped strengthen the hotel’s culture of inclusion. “The team genuinely gets a buzz out of working with Geoff. He brings energy, positivity and consistency to event days, while his presence has helped us build greater awareness and understanding of disability among our staff. We’re proud that inclusion isn’t just a policy for us, it’s part of how our team actually works.” And for businesses wondering whether employing people with disability is right for them, DOMA’s advice is refreshingly simple: “Don’t overthink it. Focus on the person’s strengths, communicate openly and you’ll likely find, as we have, that it strengthens your team rather than complicating it.” At Koomarri, stories like Geoff’s are a powerful reminder that when people are given the right opportunities and support, everyone benefits, individuals, businesses and the broader community alike. Koomarri CEO Nadine Stephen is calling on Canberra businesses to open their doors and discover the difference inclusive employment can make. My message to Canberra businesses is simple “Inclusive employment isn’t charity, it’s good business. People with disability bring valuable skills, reliability and diversity to the workforce, and we need more employers willing to look beyond traditional recruitment and embrace that opportunity.”
CityNews September 17-23, 2026 17
School Holiday fun
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Over 650 birds and a school holiday adventure to remember These school holidays, swap screens for feathers at Canberra Walk-in Aviary, where the birds are not behind glass. They are flying around you, watching you and, if you are lucky, landing close enough to eat from your hand. Tucked inside Gold Creek Village at Nicholls, the nearly 1000-square-metre planted aviary is home to around 650 birds representing almost 60 species from Australia and around the world. Rainbow lorikeets and cockatiels are among the most numerous, alongside finches, parrots, doves, quail, pheasants and partridges. Every admission includes a small plate of apple and a tub of mealworms, giving children the chance to interact with some of the aviary’s friendly free-flying residents. It is the kind of hands-on experience that turns a simple family outing into a story children can take back to school.
Owner and manager Mick Logan says the appeal is being able to observe birds at close range, whether visitors are feeding them, taking photographs or simply slowing down to watch them. Families can spend as long as they like inside, although most visits take around 30 to 45 minutes. The pathway is stroller and wheelchair friendly, making it an easy outing for grandparents joining the family too. For an even bigger Gold Creek day out, families can also explore the Gold Creek Adventure Four-in-One Attractions Pass. It is especially popular with curious young bird lovers and families. Canberra Walk-In Aviary Unit 13 Federation Square, O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls. Call 02 6230 2044 or visit canberrawalkinaviary.com.au
History of Australia through correctional eyes Opened in 2005, the Cooma Correctional Museum offers the history of Australia through correctional eyes, says statewide museum manager Andrew Weglarz. “We show the history of corrections in Australia starting from the First Fleet, up until today,” he says. “On November 1 2023, we celebrated our 150th anniversary, we’re the oldest working jail in Australia.” Andrew says people should think of them as a big-city museum in a rural setting. “We have a working gallows, people can use a real trap-door, but we also have fire trucks and tractors from history,” he says. “We also have a show of Aboriginal history.” Andrew says they have serving, minimum-security prisoners working as guides. “We have done risk assessments with them, and they are coming to the end of serving their time,” he says.
THIS FLORIADE AND SCHOOL HOLIDAYS COME OUT TO THE CANBERRA WALK-IN AVIARY. Come along and see the friendly free-flying birds that can be photographed and fed. Walk amongst over 650 birds from 65 species from Australia and around the world!
Open 7 days a week 10am to 4pm with the last admission at 3.30pm
He says the museum has been named the TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award Winner for 2024, and has previously received a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, alongside some fantastic reviews. Andrew has been doing this work for eight years, having previously worked as a senior prison officer in the UK and in Canberra. “My passion is the privilege I have been given to tell Australia’s history,” he says. “I also set up displays in the reception areas of some other correctional facilities, too.” Cooma Correctional Museum 2 Vagg Street, Cooma. Open every day, 8.30am-3.15pm. Call 6452 5974. correctiveservices.dcj.nsw.gov.au
FREE ADMISSION FOR KIDS UNDER 4
When accompanied by a full paying adult
STUDENT CONCESSION CARD & SENIORS CARD DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE
COME OUT & VISIT THE WALK-IN AVIARY & THEN ENJOY THE GOLD CREEK VARIETY SHOPS & ATTRACTIONS Unit 13 Federation Square, O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls canberrawalkinaviary.com.au 18 CityNews September 17-23, 2026
Phone
6230 2044 citynews.com.au
VISIT THE STATE CORRECTIONAL MUSEUM
Young riders take the reins these holidays
COOMA
School holidays are a chance to try something different, and at Gooromon Park that means getting outdoors, spending time with horses and developing skills that can build confidence well beyond the arena. The Canberra riding school’s holiday program gives young riders the opportunity to learn in a fun and supportive environment, with programs catering to different ages and levels of experience. For Gooromon Park, however, the holidays are about more than simply getting children into the saddle. Riders are encouraged to develop their horsemanship, independence and understanding of the animals they work with, while progressing their riding skills under experienced coaches. That expertise continues to grow. Gooromon Park’s Chief Instructor recently achieved accreditation as a Level 2 Coach Educator with Equestrian Australia, strengthening the level of coaching and development available through the school. There is also an exciting opportunity for riders participating in cross-country week, with coach Hannah Klep helping young equestrians develop their skills. Hannah recently returned from an international campaign where she represented Australia, bringing valuable competition experience back to Gooromon Park’s young riders. Whether a child is discovering horses for the first time or looking to take their riding to another level, the holiday program offers an active alternative to spending the break indoors.
Floggings. Gallows. Escapes. Free guided tours. Bring the kids – they’ll love it! 8.30am to 3.00pm, every day (except Christmas) 2 Vagg St, COOMA (next to the jail)
Plenty of parking.
Gooromon Park Riding School 214 Gooromon Ponds Road, Hall NSW. Call 02 6230 2230, email info@gooromonpark.com.au bookings – gooromonpark.com.au COOMA print ad 145x129mm 291123.indd 1
29/11/2023 3:08:37 PM
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BYO Lunch, Morning & Afternoon tea
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(02) 6230 2230 | info@gooromonpark.com.au | www.gooromonpark.com.au citynews.com.au
CityNews September 17-23, 2026 19
School Holiday fun
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Spring into art at Lavender Art Studios
FREE PUZZLES EVERY SINGLE DAY! only at… citynews.com.au
Spring is a wonderful time for children to get creative, and Lavender Art Studios is preparing for another colourful Spring School Holiday Art Program at its Phillip studio. Established in Canberra in 1999, Lavender Art Studios believes art gives young people the opportunity to explore ideas, develop new skills and build creative confidence. This spring, the studio’s popular 3½-hour holiday art workshops for children aged 5–12 years will explore Animals of the World, with young artists creating artworks inspired by wildlife. Workshops offer a variety of creative experiences across painting, drawing and sculpture, using quality art materials in a professional studio environment. The extended workshop format gives children time to learn new techniques, develop their artwork and, importantly, enjoy the creative process. All levels of experience are welcome. Lavender Art Studios also offers ongoing term art programs, including Little Lavenders for ages 5–7, the Young People’s Art Program for ages 8–19, and established Adult Art Programs. Whether discovering art for
Discover spring adventures at the Temora Aviation Museum Kate, a long-term art student and current Studio Assistant, working on her large oil painting at Lavender Art Studios. the first time during the holidays or developing skills through regular term classes, the studio’s focus remains on encouraging creativity, artistic development and confidence. Teenage School Holiday Art Workshops will also be offered in January 2027, providing further creative opportunities for older students. Spring School Holiday and Term 4 bookings are now available. Lavender Art Studios First Floor, 42 Townshend Street, Phillip. Call 0413 966 299.
Spring holidays are the perfect time to take flight at the Temora Aviation Museum, just a short drive from Canberra. Located on the site of No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School, the Museum preserves Australia’s rich military aviation history through world-class displays, flying aircraft and immersive visitor experiences. This season, families can step into the cockpit of our state-of-the-art flight simulators, offering 30-minute and 1-hour sessions in some of Australia’s most iconic warbirds. “Our simulators give visitors the chance to feel the thrill of flight in a safe, accessible way,” says CEO Peter Harper. Visitors can enjoy a volunteer lead or self-guided audio tour, bringing stories of pilots, engineers and aircraft to life. After exploring,
relax at the Guardhouse Café, serving fresh meals, sweet treats and great coffee. The Museum now features EV chargers, making it easier than ever to plan a sustainable day trip. “These holidays are the perfect opportunity to reconnect with history,” Peter adds. “There’s something for every age, from aviation enthusiasts to families looking for a memorable day out.” Take off into spring at the Temora Aviation Museum! Open 7 days a week from 10am-4pm (excluding Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day). Temora Aviation Museum 1-9 Tom Moon Avenue, Temora. Call 6977 1088 or visit aviationmuseum.com.au
LOOKING FOR SOME SCHOOL HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES?
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TEMORA AVIATION MUSEUM FULL MOTION SIMULATORS
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0419 014 540 20 CityNews September 17-23, 2026
GIFT SHOP & PLAYGROUND
MUSEUM TOURS
GUARDHOUSE CAFE
OPEN 7 DAYS | MUSEUM 10AM - 4PM | CAFE 8AM - 2PM For more info and bookings: www.aviationmuseum.com.au 1 TOM MOON AVE TEMORA NSW 2666 | (02) 6977 1088
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
INSIDE
‘Odd’ king’s tale explores who creates history and why
ANNA CREER
Mauboy’s deep dive into her journey through song COVER STORY By Helen Musa
Jessica Mauboy has been very busy. She’s been in Hobart working on one project, then spending time at Universal Studios in Hollywood writing her next record. And she’s been preparing for a new concert, The Story of Me: A Musical Journey Through My Career, coming to the Canberra Theatre in early October. “This show is going to be quite different from what I usually do,” she tells me. “Of course it’s going to have beautiful music, but I’m going to create a space for all kinds of people. I’m starting with my story, but I hope it will mirror their experiences. I’m going into depth in the story of my life.” And what a life. Brought up in multicultural Darwin, her mother, Therese, is a First Nations woman of the Kuku Yalanji people, and her West Timorese father, Ferdy, is a leading figure in the Karama Indonesian Uniting Church in Darwin, where she started singing. Mauboy is now one of Australia’s most successful female artists, with six top-10 albums, including two number-one releases, and 16 top-20 singles. She has won two ARIA Awards, toured with Beyoncé
Singer Jessica Mauboy… “There’s a deeper hope behind my songs, something that not everybody gets to see unless I share it.” and Chris Brown, performed for Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Barack Obama, represented Australia at Eurovision in 2018 and, from 2021 to 2023, served as a coach on The Voice Australia. In 2025 she was inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame. But behind the achievements, she says,
there is a profounder story. “There’s a deeper hope behind my songs, something that not everybody gets to see unless I share it,” she says. “I’ll be talking about taking control in my life, about the changes that are needed for that and the courage.” The concert will see her reflecting on her
life and struggles through intimate arrangements featuring piano and strings. One of the emotional high points will be a personal favourite, Brooks & Dunn’s Neon Moon; another, ABBA’s Thank You For The Music, will be sung as a tribute to her late music mentor, choir teacher Judy Weepers from Wulagi Primary School in Darwin. “She was a proper lady, who dressed stylishly,” Mauboy recalls. “Sing up and out, Jessica,” Weepers would tell her. And she did. Although often characterised as an R&B singer, Mauboy’s musical roots lie elsewhere. Like so many singers, she started in church, yet it was country music, beloved by the older generation on her mum’s side as an expression of hardship and resilience, that first captured her imagination. “I’ll tell the audience about my first recording with Warren H Williams when I was about 11 years old ,” she says. “He understood that songs were storytelling. I got to sing Let It Rain. It never came out, but it was my first experience of hearing my own voice.” “There’s such a difference between singing country music and when you get into those powerful international music machines,” she says, looking back to that very experience of the singing sisters in The Sapphires, for her role in which she won an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award.
Uproarious black humour and dad jokes By Helen Musa
Hawker College is in the throes of staging its big annual show, Peter and the Starcatcher. An enterprising student recently invited me along to watch a rehearsal where they were blocking the last scene. I’d not seen a production of this play, a prequel to JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, and when I got there, drama teacher Sian Harrington was busy putting a double cast of 26 actors through their paces while a crew of 15 sorted out the technicalities. It proved to be an uproarious afternoon of black humour and dad jokes, which the cast thought their dads would definitely enjoy, as the energetic actors worked out how to walk like a pirate, how to upstage your mates and in one scary scene, how to seem to have your arm chopped off on stage. Of that, when bosun Smee declares that he is the pirate captain‘s right hand man, his boss’s response is, “not any more.” “Oh captain, my captain,” Smee laments. This kind of verbal horseplay is calculated to keep all ages amused and to tickle the intellect of senior students. Briefly, the incredibly complicated plot takes us to the point where the lonely protagonist, Boy, is given his name Peter. Peter and the Starcatcher, adapted citynews.com.au
“In my show I get to remix a lot of soul music, jazz and country. It’s a wonderful feeling to translate it.” The exercise of building a show around her own life, remarkable given she is still only 37, has prompted her to think about legacy, empowerment and what really matters. Still a person of faith who grew up in the Uniting Church, she says those values remain central. “It taught me the value of being a kind person. That gave me a lot of strength and hope, small-town dreaming and believing. “It makes me so proud to have that belief and I personally believe we human beings can be good.” Away from music, Mauboy has also shown herself to be a resourceful businesswoman. Alongside launching her own record label, Jamally, she has recently launched a SPF 50+ hydrating sun-care brand called Desert Road. She says the idea grew from frustration with misconceptions about darker skin and from learning about traditional remedies used by older generations. “As I’ve got older, although in my industry I get to wear a lot of make-up, I want to wear less,” she says. “I want to have that conversation about how to make yourself feel beautiful, to feel special, and to educate people about it.” Jessica Mauboy: The Story of Me, Canberra Theatre, October 3.
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TREASURE YOUR FAMILY MEMORIES Walking like pirates… cast members rehearsing Hawker College’s big annual show, this year Peter and the Starcatcher. Photo: Tenzin Dolma by Rick Elice from the 2004 novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, follows Boy and three orphan boys, on a ship called the Never Land. On board, they cross paths with Lord Aster’s daughter Molly, who is guarding a trunk of magical “starstuff”, protected by Starcatchers from the evil pirate Black Stache. Just as the play is a prequel, so are some of the characters. An exception is the bumbling person First Mate, Smee, but Captain Hook is still in the making and this play’s wisecracking smarty-pants pirate
is called Black Stache, who proudly boasts: “I can still win Wimbledon with one hand.“ As in the old pantomime, the main stand-off is between Peter and Black Stache, although in an affectionate moment, the villain says to Boy/Peter: “You’re the yin to my yang; the semi to my colon” and suggests, “what say we merge a forger?” [forge a merger]. All this fun presents a lot of challenges for Harrington and her cast. Most of the actors have to play up to five different roles, and the nasty
captain Bill Slank doubles as Mollusk Island’s chief, Fighting Prawn. The double casting ensures that there are always understudies on hand. Campbell and his team handle sound effects, but also music to help with scene transitions, although it is most definitely not a musical. As for the significance of the magical starstuff and the Starcatchers, you’ll just have to be there to find out. Peter and the Starcatcher, Murranji Theatre, Hawker, September 25-26.
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THEATRE / Strong Is The New Pretty
ARTS IN THE CITY
Steve heads off for three years By Helen
MUSA The National Gallery is sending Richard Lewer’s multimedia work Steve on a three-year national tour, beginning in SA. Acquired in 2024, the moving work combines thousands of paintings, photographs and film fragments to tell the story of a family confronting dementia. The highlight of Canberra Choral Society’s Wanderlust concert will be the premiere of Arboretum, a new work for choir, flute and piano by music director Dan Walker, performed by the CCS choir alongside flautist Sally Walker and pianist Anthony Smith. Wesley Uniting Church, September 26. Canberra bandoneon player Rodolfo Caivano hosts the Australian tour Summit: 50 Years of Piazzolla & Mulligan, featuring Argentine saxophonist Jorge Retamoza, with Canberra Tango Quintet, at The Street Theatre, September 26.
“In Strong Is The New Pretty I like to think we can celebrate… the way women get things done,” says playwright Susie Miller. Photo: Morgan Roberts
Budding Entertainment is staging The Hunger Games Parody, a spoof packed with absurd twists, exaggerated characters, awkward interviews and survival mishaps. Overture Hall, Weston, September 20.
Richard Lewer’s multimedia work Steve… touring Australia for three years. Artist Julie Bradley and ceramicist Susan Buret unite in Chroma, a springtime exhibition in which Bradley’s vividly coloured works on paper respond to Buret’s ceramic vessels, while Buret draws on the lines and textures of Bradley’s gouaches for inspiration. Q Gallery, Ainslie shops, September 25-October 8. Art Song Canberra has bass baritone Jeremy Kleeman and pianist Jack Symonds presenting Michelangelo Visions, an exploration of Hugo Wolf’s Michelangelo-Lieder, Jack Symonds’s work In Stone and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Suite on Verses of Michelangelo, Op. 145. Wesley Music Centre, September 20.
will be revealed through a new commissioned portrait by Ronnie van Hout and Brainstorm, alongside an immersive display of quirky objects that inspired Griffiths’ books. National Portrait Gallery, on view from September 26. Richard Tognetti directs the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Mozart’s Last Symphonies, bringing together the composer’s final three symphonic masterpieces, including the celebrated Jupiter. Llewellyn Hall, September 25. Moving In: Birdhouses by Al Phemister transforms Connect@ Gunning Station into an outdoor village of imaginative birdhouses crafted from recycled copper and brass vessels. Until September 25.
New footy play celebrates great Aussie female grit BOOK REVIEWS / historical fiction By Helen Musa
Australian lawyer-turned-playwright Suzie Miller has been the toast of the theatrical town for some time now. She is celebrated for works such as Prima Facie and her Ruth Bader Ginsburg play, RBG: Of Many, One. Now she has turned her attention to the unlikely subject of Australian Rules football, in particular the Australian Women’s Football League, in a new play, Strong Is The New Pretty. She’s also about to release her new book, Inter Alia, in which Jessica Parks, an eminent Crown Court judge, is forced to reckon with her professional life and her role as wife, mother, friend and feminist when a devastating crisis hits home. So new is Strong Is The New Pretty that when I catch up with Miller by phone to Brisbane, she’s preparing for the first preview that night. The show fields eight star players – Lucy Bell, Amy Hack, Amy Ingram, Edyll, Amber McMahon, Tara Morice, Nyasha Ogden and Contessa Treffone, all under the watchful eye of director Sarah Giles. It premieres as part of the Brisbane Festival before moving to Canberra. From afar, it sounds like a radical change of direction for Miller, whose chart-topping plays so far, with even a film version of Prima Facie in the mix, have focused on legal issues, albeit from their human side. In 2010, a report into the state of Australian rules football recommended the creation of a national women’s league, but it wasn’t until 2017 that the AFLW was born. Miller’s forebears in Melbourne were all welded-on Swans fans who were horrified when the team moved to Sydney in 1982, with only Suzie and her mother standing on the sidelines, indifferent. But somehow she fronted up to an AFLW game in 2017 and found herself drawn in by watching all the young girls watching what was happening on the field. It 22 CityNews September 17-23, 2026
was true drama. “It was a metaphor of what happens, about how women get things done, about how they imagined this into being,” Miller tells me. “I found it a great metaphor for how we can change the world. “In my play, I like to think we can celebrate them for their great Aussie female grit, for the way women get things done, how they work their way through the cracks, how they blow it up into something miraculous.” And that’s even if progress is slow and hard at the beginning. “It’s not a hero’s journey. Men always have the hierarchy and the person who’s the hero, and that’s not how women operate.” And it wasn’t just the women Miller found herself watching. “I was watching the men who believe in the women watching a dream come true, which was great... and if, as Australians, we want to believe in a fair go, we have to renovate that concept for the 21st century.” After that visit in 2017, Miller started interviewing women left, right and centre, gathering material for her play. But she is adamant that this is not verbatim theatre. “There’s plenty of drama in Strong Is The New Pretty,” she says. “I made up a story based on what they told me and wove it together.” Within the play are characters from different levels of society. There are believers in equal opportunity and there are those who just want to play football. Another character wants to coach professional football. Miller looks at where people have missed out and shows characters pushing themselves out from the sidelines. Miller declares herself a natural optimist who really does believe in a fair go for all, even if she admits there are “a million obstacles”. “I like to believe in the better side of humanity.” Strong Is The New Pretty, The Playhouse, September 24-26. Suzie Miller will talk about her new book, Inter Alia, for ANU Meet the Author, Kambri Cinema, October 8.
The world of bestselling children’s author Andy Griffiths
‘Odd’ king’s tale explores who ANNA CREER reviews two new novels of historical fiction, one set in present and medieval times, the other in World War I. The debut novel of awardwinning poet Rebecca Perry, set in both the past and the present, won Waterstone’s Debut Fiction Prize and was long listed for this year’s Booker Prize. In May we Feed the King (Granta), a woman who has been curating scenes in medieval history for 22 years, is commissioned to create an installation to commemorate the 750th anniversary of a former palace, now an historic house open to the public. She is told to focus on six areas: the King’s chambers, the Queen’s parlour, an attendant’s quarters, the room of a physician and a feast scene in the Great Hall. She has only “one guiding rule” in creating scenes. “It must appear as if the person or persons have just left the room. The viewer must feel as if the air is alive with their energy, that they only just missed them, that they will be back at any moment. If this isn’t the case, the scene is no more than an arrangement of objects.The scene is dead.” To achieve this she must under-
Cover of Rebecca Perry’s novel May we Feed the King. stand the King and Queen whose lives she is recreating. Fortunately the palace archive of “detailed ledgers of the Kings and Queens… and accounts of the habits and customs of the court” is housed on site. However, her research uncovers the unexpected – a reluctant King who had only inherited the crown after the deaths of his two older brothers. A King described as “odd”. At this point, the narrative shifts to the past and the court of the king who “moves through the first days of his rule in wild turns – he
is stunned, horrified, disbelieving, resigned, aghast, furious”. He resents his advisers who try to persuade him to hunt; to go to war against rebels in a distant island; to eat like a King; to provide his kingdom with an heir. But this is a King who accepts that his wife has a lover. The Booker Prize judges praised a novel “laced with desire and longing. May We Feed the King is a playful, stirring meditation on history and storytelling: on what makes a King ‘Great’, and a life meaningful”. It is also a fascinating exploration of the nature of history, who creates it and why. It challenges the accepted norms with a story of a past with as many unanswered as answered questions about the nature of kingship. It is a triumph. PIP Williams discovered the inspiration for her latest novel The German Ward (Affirm Press) in the archives of the Australian War Memorial. She was looking at the art of Iso Rae for information on the army base at Etaples during World War I because her drawings, to Williams, were “perfect for this purpose – detailed, precise and usefully annotated”. On the back of a drawing of men suffering from trauma and shell shock, Williams found a drawing of citynews.com.au
STREAMING
Creepy tale of a serial killer who kills the cops What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted? That’s the question at the centre of Netflix’s new Swedish-crime thriller Blood Sacrifice, which has become an immediate hit. Set in Stockholm, it tells the creepy tale of a serial killer who doesn’t target vulnerable civilians, but rather police officers. Anyone on patrol on Friday night becomes a potential victim of this elusive figure whose motive remains as hidden as his identity. Stockholm needs police on the beat, but how do you protect the people whose job it is to protect others? Detective Thomas Berg (Jakob Oftebro) is assigned the task of catching this killer, but as the secrets of the case unravel he soon discovers he may have to reach deep into his own past to find the answers. Berg enlists the help of his father Alfred (Peter Anderson), a former cop with a shadowy background of his own. Regular readers of this column will know a different setting for a crime series is always a big green tick in an age where these shows are so common. Sweden certainly gives this one a much needed vibe that helps set it apart. Blood Sacrifice comes from George Kay, whose work audiences may be familiar with in shows such as Lupin (also on Netflix) and Hijack (Apple TV Plus). These shows both do a stellar job of
Jakob Oftebro as Detective Thomas Berg in the Swedish crime thriller Blood Sacrifice. making time a major point of tension. Blood Sacrifice’s similar ticking clock is what keeps the story engaging. In this story each murder happens at precisely the same time every week, making each minute feel like a nail-biting countdown before the killer strikes again. The writing doesn’t always hit the heights it wants to, but capped at just five episodes the plot moves along at an addictive pace that makes this one easy to recommend.
Domhnall Gleeson as the struggling The Toledo Truthteller’s editor Ned Sampson in The Paper.
RETURNING for a second season this month is the loose spin-off to The Office (US version) which has managed to muster up quite a remarkable following. Many expected The Paper, streaming on Binge, to be relegated to the failed spin-off bin soon after its premiere last year, but the show has managed to prove a hit. Whereas The Office was set inside a branch of a failing paper company, this follow up series takes a look at a workplace
that actually uses paper. The Toledo Truthteller is a struggling local news outlet in Ohio trying to stay afloat in a rapidly digitising world. This series introduces us to the dysfunctional journos and editors trying to keep
their outlet alive. The plot kicks off when timid editor Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) gets a gig at the paper and becomes the last chance at turning their struggling reputation around. Plot wise, its tether to The Office comes in the form of Oscar Martinez, an accountant from the previous show who has now moved his smarts towards a more journalistic pursuit. Beyond that though there isn’t actually much linking the two series. They share more in structure and writing than anything, a mockumentary style set up that fixates on the mundane yet hilarious antics of the workplace. After getting off to a very shaky start, by the end of the season many viewers felt The Paper had found some kind of footing, almost mirroring the story of the show itself. It’s a lot like the show that inspired it. The Office (US) in its first season struggled to carve out a voice in the comedy world. It was only once it got to season two that it really took off. Does the same fate await The Paper? This season will prove the real test.
creates history – and why
Cover of Pip Williams’ novel The German Ward.
Author Rebecca Perry… the Booker Prize judges praised her novel as “laced with desire and longing”. a woman. Although there was no description of time and place, her dress placed her in the war and, says Williams, “that is where the fiction started.” The novel imagines Rae capturing images at the Red Cross hospital near Etaples in 1916 and adds a fictional friend, Tilda. Tilda Taylor, an actress and a suffragette, has already appeared in both of Williams previous awardwinning novels, The Dictionary of Lost Words (2020) and The Bookbinder of Jericho (2023). citynews.com.au
Tilda has been selected for the German Ward at the hospital because she is older than most of the VADs and because her disdain for rules has meant she’s been moved around various wards. Tilda therefore has “a breadth of experience uncommon for a VAD” and as a consequence is considered a “good fit” for the German Ward, which takes “allcomers”. There she meets and falls in love with a German doctor, a POW, something forbidden and eventually disastrous.
In the present Eva, an historical researcher discovers Iso Rae’s drawings of the German Ward and discovers evidence of a growing intimacy between a nurse and a doctor. She wants to solve the puzzle of who they were and what became of them. At the same time Williams is challenging the traditional male dominance of history by telling a story of war from the perspective of three very different women: the nurse, the artist and the researcher. Like Perry, Williams challenges the reader to question how the past is recorded, for whom and for what purpose. The German Ward will be available in bookshops on September 29. CityNews September 17-23, 2026 23
DINING / Such and Such, Civic
A funky spot with special food Next to Canberra Theatre, in Constitution Place, is a funky restaurant with groovy artwork, pretty special food and knowledgeable staff. Such and Such was our destination on a warm wintery day, so we dined outdoors, quickly agreeing we would order anything from the interesting, compact lunch menu. All dishes shouted, “pick me”. A great beginning was the hash brown prawn toast, golden and crunchy on the outside and flavoursome and moist on the inside ($12 each and worth every bite). We dipped the toast into a refreshing ginger and shallot sauce. Another small share dish was the tortilla de patatas, a Spanish omelette with paprika and dollops of cooling sour cream. Artfully plated, the dish featured crunchy almonds and thinly sliced shallots ($16). Delish. Next was the radish cake with mushroom XO, intriguing but unexpectedly super spicy – more than anticipated ($18). The “medium” section of the menu features three dishes. The vibrant looking and tasting chicken and prawn noodle salad won us over with its wonderful chilli and chopped-up nuts for crunch ($39). Such and Such loads this dish with chunks of chicken and big pieces of prawn. A feast for the eyes was the Berkshire pork belly with mustard and wasabi sauce, from the large section of the menu ($50). Square slices of pork formed a perfect circle on the plate and the sauce poured into the middle. We weren’t entirely enamoured with the dish. Although the pork was moist and tender, we would have preferred the exterior to be crispy.
You spring-clean, we’ll spring-cater.
Hash brown prawn toast… crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.
Chicken and prawn noodle salad… with its chilli and chopped-up nuts. Photos: W Johnson
Our green salad with roasted cashew, fermented celery and Greek yoghurt ($16) was a lovely change of pace and a unique side. Such and Such has plenty of offers available, including half-price Merimbula Appellation oysters and drink specials for happy hour (3pm5pm, Tuesday to Saturday) and an “In and Out” offer for those looking for a quick lunch (one hour and $55 per person). The wine list features more than 500 bottles featuring Such and Such’s favourite producers from near and far and styles it promises range from “wacky and wild to restrained and elegant”. The Vinden Estate Chardonnay (Hunter Valley) is a top drop ($80 a bottle).
To celebrate Floriade’s Feast of Flowers’, head chef Malcome Hanslow will demonstrate at Such and Such how seasonal flowers can be transformed into spring-inspired desserts (September 22 and October 6). Other chef demonstrations and culinary experiences are being held at Les Bistronomes (September 25) and Lunetta Trattoria (October 11). Our only suggestion to Such and Such is to make the menu slightly more specific in describing dishes with “kick” so diners can better balance their selection.
WINE / Beechworth
Of beer and wine and bushwalking One of my favourite places for bushwalking is around Beechworth in northeast Victoria.
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On a recent three-day stay there, a friend and I walked trails in Beechworth and Bright. We ate and drank well, staying in the heart of the Beechworth village that has more than 30 National Trust-listed buildings, providing a glimpse of what life would have been like in the mid-to-late 19th century. The first night in town, we went to Tanswells Hotel for dinner, a pub that started in the 1850s and which has been well maintained architecturally. On offer was a wild-venison schnitzel served with a wombok (Chinese cabbage) and pickled ginger slaw. Having had venison in a number of forms before and enjoyed the rich, gamy meat, I chose this special, as did my friend. When the
Beechworth… a glimpse of what life would have been like in the mid-to-late 19th century. saucer-sized schnitzels arrived my friend remarked: “Must have been a bloody big deer.” Neither of us could finish the meal. And we didn’t even get a buck off. Venison is a leaner meat than beef and so we looked to order a Giaconda Nantua Shiraz with its full fruit characteristics and many pinot noir elements, ideal for gamy meat. Alas the pub was out of stock of this wine. Instead the server suggested a 2017 Madman’s Gully Syrah, also a local wine. It was cheaper than the Giaconda and a good complement to the venison. It was a light shiraz, almost translucent in the glass but with a lovely hint of cherry on the nose and
in the finish. It was delicate but mouth filling and didn’t overwhelm the flavour of the venison. Top marks. I called the mobile number listed on the Madman’s Gully website, but there was no response. It seems the winery has been sold. Following the next day’s bushwalking, we didn’t feel like wine. A refreshing beer was the better choice. We headed to the Beechworth brewery, Bridge Road Brewers, that serves mostly pizzas but has a range of other Italian food on offer as well as a large range of beers. We ordered a pale ale and gnocchi. The next day we had a chance to compare the Bridge Road pale ale with the same beer made by Bright Brewery. After walking two trails that followed
the swollen Ovens River, we were again thinking more along the lines of a beer than a glass of wine. The Bright regular IPA was hoppier than the same brew from Beechworth and not to our taste. But the MIA IPA was very, very pleasant after exercise. with bright citrus, and with a hoppy flavour but not as overwhelming as in some IPAs. We sat on the brewery’s expansive verandah and enjoyed the end of the Indian summer day. The journey between Beechworth and Bright, fraught because of the number of potholes. My friend said that this had become an election issue, given the poor condition of Victorian roads, including along the Hume Highway. We passed the Gapstead Estate winery entrance with a prominent “for sale” sign. Many wineries seem to be closing or removing their vines, which is a pity. I recall, during a cycling trip more than a decade ago, sitting at a table at Gapstead enjoying a lunch platter with a glass of dry High Country prosecco and enjoying the feeling that just one glass brings after hard physical work. “No matter how deeply you come to know a place, you can keep coming back to know it more.” –Rebecca Solnit, author. citynews.com.au
HOROSCOPE Your week in the stars By Joanne Madeline Moore
September 21-27, 2026
PUZZLES General knowledge crossword No. 1080 1
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ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Mercury and Jupiter energise your leisure and friendship zones so it’s a wonderful week to host a party, attend a concert, take up a new hobby or make a new friend. But then, on the weekend, the Sun/Neptune opposition and Full Moon (in Aries) could stir up problems with a loved one. Patience, understanding and some deft diplomacy will see you through. Your mantra is from birthday great, writer F Scott Fitzgerald: “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”
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TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)
Expect a rather intense week, Taurus, as the fiery Full Moon stirs vivid dreams, hidden compulsions or submerged secrets. You could also become confused about someone (or something) from your complicated past. If you’re a bright Bull, you’ll learn from your mistakes, let go and move on. Saturday’s Sun/Pluto trine is terrific for professional connections, health matters and pet projects. Make use of any lucky opportunities that come your way.
GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)
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CANCER (June 22 – July 23)
It’s a good week to increase your public profile, complete a professional challenge, give a speech or be proactive about tackling a DIY project at home. But make sure you are organised and have a strategic plan. If you leave things to chance, then the Sun/Neptune opposition could result in confusion and misunderstandings. Saturday’s Sun/Pluto trine is terrific for practical renovation projects as well as personal reflection and rejuvenation, especially in nature.
LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)
Jupiter is jumping through your sign and there’s a fiery Full Moon! Time to connect with colleagues, family and friends from within your local community and overseas, as you talk, text, tweet, publish, podcast or post up a storm. And don’t persist with outdated old ways of doing things. Be proactive about initiating exciting, adventurous and creative new strategies. But things could become confusing with a sibling, friend or neighbour on the weekend.
VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)
The fiery Full Moon shines a bright spotlight on trust issues and long-forgotten secrets. Plus, carefully laid plans may veer off in an uncertain direction – which could be wonderful or stressful, depending on the circumstances. Whatever happens, drop the perfectly planned schedule, and go with the flow. When it comes to money matters, joint finances, taxes or trust issues, avoid being uncharacteristically rash. Slow down, Virgo, and take a second look.
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Solution next edition
Across
Down
1 What is a blossom of a plant? (6) 8 To be turned upside down, is to be what? (8) 9 Name a raving lunatic. (6) 10 What is an official stamp, indicating a standard of purity? (8) 11 To recover, is to do what? (6) 13 To be infatuated, is to be what? (8) 16 What is something that jogs one’s memory? (8) 19 To be away, is to be what? (6) 22 To verify again, is to do what? (8) 24 What are living things? (6) 25 Which term implies a relationship to the clergy? (8) 26 What do we call things that happen? (6)
2 To go away, is to do what? (5) 3 To whinge, is to do what? (5) 4 Name the capital of Virginia, USA. (8) 5 What is a flat area on which sporting activities can take place? (4) 6 What are grave offences? (6) 7 Name a funeral vehicle. (6) 12 Which instrument is beaten? (4) 14 To strive rudely with others, is to do what? (8) 15 Name an item of footwear. (4) 17 Which term means smoothly? (6) 18 To impart knowledge, is to do what? (6) 20 What is the backbone known as? (5) 21 What do we call the hours of darkness? (5) 23 To tickle, is to do what? (4)
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LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)
This week is all about bringing more balance and harmony into your hectic world, as we celebrate the Equinox (when the Sun transits into Libra, and day and night are of equal length). With Mercury also visiting your sign, it’s time to tap into your personal creativity. So, your motto for the moment is from fellow Libran, legendary stage actress Sarah Bernhardt: “Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.”
LATIN MOTORS
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This week Mercury (your ruling planet) and the Full Moon focus on friendships. How to nurture them, keep them… and let them go, if you have outgrown each other. You’ll find mutual interests are essential to long-term platonic relationships. There’s a Sun/Neptune opposition on the weekend, so avoid being scatterbrained and superficial. The more mentally disciplined you are, and the more you focus on a problem, the more solutions you’ll come up with.
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Sudoku medium No. 427
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SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)
The Full Moon fires up your wellbeing zone, so it’s a good week to exercise, hit the gym, play sport, participate in a Fun Run or enjoy bushwalking. But there’s also a Sun/Neptune opposition, which could increase confusion and procrastination, especially involving work projects and your daily routine. Saturday’s terrific Sun/ Pluto trine encourages you to rejuvenate from within as you put aside time to relax with family and close friends.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)
The week starts with a lucky aspect, when Jupiter (your power planet) forms a fabulous link with Mercury. Which boosts your Sagittarian charisma and is particularly good for matters involving writing, teaching, performing, publishing, public relations and all sorts of communication and education. Throw in a fiery Full Moon on the weekend and you’re set for an action-packed, stimulating week! If you want to last the distance, then slow down and pace yourself!
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CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)
The Sun and Mercury are in your career zone, which boosts your capacity for hard work and your ability to lead others. But don’t do so at the expense of home and family life. The Equinox and the Full Moon both highlight the importance of getting the balance right between professional success and domestic harmony. Be inspired by fellow Capricorn, writer AA Milne: “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
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AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2026 citynews.com.au
Solutions – September 10 edition M E D M B E E R S A
A D D A M A G E S A E E I F I C E S N T H I N N E R D E G L I E V E E T R E S E R V E T S A B R E S A D D L E D A S E I S L V D E L I G H T A R R E C L I N E E E O R B A N D A G E C V A W N I N G S U D S E T H E B E A K
Sudoku hard No. 426
PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)
Neptune and the Full Moon activate your money zones, as you start to see your current financial situation in a revealing new light. And – for some financially challenged Fish – money matters could become very confusing. Maybe it’s time to curb spending, boost savings and/or redesign your dreams? Are you unhappily single? Love and travel are linked, so you could meet your soulmate while on holiday, or they could work in the tourism industry.
Solution next edition
Crossword No. 1079
The Full Moon activates your communication zone, so it’s time to be bold, brave, inventive and adventurous! You’ll also feel like displaying your bohemian nature and expressing your eccentric views – but don’t expect everyone to appreciate your quirky and rather chaotic ways. Your motto is from Superman actor (and birthday great) Christopher Reeve: “Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool, or you go out in the ocean.”
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CityNews September 17-23, 2026 25
While grasses may look much the same at first glance, the different species have distinct flowers and seed heads.
Follow the paths or take a rest at the She-oak Nook, Kurrajong Rock Rest or one of the other quiet spots.
GARDENING / Southern Tablelands Ecosystem Park
Stepping into a local native treasure Forest 20 at the National Arboretum offers a colourful showcase of Southern Tablelands plants, wildlife and landscapes, writes BILL HANDKE.
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For a colourful display of native plants from the region, Forest 20 at the National Arboretum is well worth a visit. STEP, the Southern Tablelands Ecosystem Park, is a treasure within a treasure and during the next few months will be at its springtime peak. Walk down the path into STEP and the first welcome is a bright yellow display of wattles, followed by the “wow” factor of the Parade of Peas planted in front of the main information sign. Follow the paths or take a rest at the She-oak Nook, Kurrajong Rock Rest or
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one of the other quiet spots. Along the way there may be kangaroos, birds, small lizards and frogs that have made STEP their home. Created and managed by volunteers, STEP reflects the diverse plants found across the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the ACT, effectively creating a regional botanic garden. Among the dozens of public botanic gardens in Australia, STEP is unusual because it contains only plants from its region. While the Arboretum displays trees of the world and the Australian National Botanic Garden collects and displays plants from across Australia, there was no clear focus on the plants of the region in which we live. STEP was formed 25 years ago by two prominent local community groups, the Australian Native Plants Society Canberra Region and Friends of Grasslands. Their principal aim was to promote knowledge about the plants and ecosystems of the local region, many of which are uncommon or threatened with extinction. The first trees were planted in
Forest 20 in March 2009 at the inaugural National Arboretum Canberra’s Festival of the Forests. Those taking part included then chief minister Jon Stanhope, then commissioner for the environment Dr Maxine Cooper, members of the Legislative Assembly Planning Committee, teachers and children from Evatt Primary School, plus enthusiastic community members. Forest 20 is quite different from the Arboretum’s other forests because it contains a large diversity of trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses. At the foundation of STEP are 16 eucalypt species planted in bands across the site to reflect their natural place in the landscape. A Central Garden, bordered by easy-access gravel paths, runs through the bands of trees and features understorey plants associated with nearby eucalypts. Plantings also reflect the topography of the local landscape, including dry forest, dry woodland, wet forest, grassland and wetland communities. There are plenty of special features to explore. The Wattle Walk represents nearly all species of Southern Tablelands wattles, with some flowering at any time of the year. The Clearing provides an outdoor gathering and teaching site, while the Bush Tucker Garden contains many plants used by First Nations people for food, fibre and tools. The Ephemeral Wetland comes and goes as rainfall permits but provides a
permanent habitat for several species of frog. There is also the She-oak Nook, a quiet place featuring most of the regional she-oaks, along with the Kurrajong Rock Rest, Gallery of Grasses and Parade of Peas. The Gallery of Grasses is particularly worth visiting in late spring and summer. While grasses may look much the same at first glance, the different species have distinct flowers and seed heads. The Parade of Peas is another special sight during spring and summer. Native peas, some known as “egg and bacon” plants, provide a huge variety of shapes, sizes and colourful flowers in reds, whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, purples and blue. STEP is more than a beautiful place for a quiet walk. People and local organisations also visit to help with their own planting programs by seeing how particular native plants from the region grow in the Canberra district. The volunteers who maintain the garden meet for regular Thursday working bees, with the on-site morning teas helping to create a strong community network. For beauty, tranquillity and an insight into native plants of the ACT region, STEP offers plenty to discover. Volunteers meet on Thursdays from 8am to 10am, adjacent to the lower carpark at the National Arboretum Canberra. Contact secretary@step.asn.au Bill Handke is the STEP president.
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GARDENING
Floral impact of blooming lupins By Jackie
WARBURTON Now the weather has warmed, there are blooms everywhere. My favourites for floral impact in a spring Canberra garden are Russell lupins, foxgloves and hollyhocks. All three are biennial growers, meaning they develop roots and foliage in the first year, then flower and set seed in the second. Russell lupins are legumes that add nitrogen to the soil where they grow. They die down in summer, reappearing when the weather cools. Flower colours range from blues and whites to pinks and reds. The flower spikes form large spires that can grow at least a metre tall. Given the right growing conditions, with protection from winds, they can grow even taller. Russell lupins can self-seed, but the resulting flowers are ordinary,
so it is worthwhile replacing plants every two years and cutting off the flowers before they go to seed. Foxgloves sit well in a cottage garden, flowering right through spring. They give a dramatic look to any garden, providing height in a small space. Interplanting them with hollyhocks creates the full picture of a cottage garden. They may be a little old-fashioned, but when gardens are on the dry side, they stand up well. All three can be raised from seed. They take a long time to sow, germinate and grow, but the effort is worthwhile for the cost savings. AN experiment I am doing this year is a small crevice garden. This style of garden is formed by placing rocks horizontally, creating crevices where plants can successfully grow. It is not a rockery, but is instead built with 50 per cent or more parallel rocks and stone slabs placed well into the soil. This rock formation protects plant roots from extreme temperatures while encouraging their root systems to grow deep
Russell lupins… die down in the summer and reappear when the weather cools. into the soil. Most plants suitable for these landscapes are alpines, including many species that grow well from 600 to 900 metres above sea level. Many succulents and small alpine plants also flourish in these conditions. If you do not have space for a crevice garden, a good-sized pot will be fine. Use more potting soil than you think you need, creating a mound in some way. Place thin stone slabs or recycled concrete into the soil, then add plants. Remember to keep the size of the materials consistent, along with the spaces
available for plants to grow. With a little research, a crevice garden can be low maintenance. Many Australian natives are suitable for crevice and gravel gardens. Among the easiest to grow are Kunzeas, Myoporum and one of my favourites, Chrysocephalum apiculatum, commonly known as yellow buttons. Native alpines will also flourish. jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au
7th & 8th November 2026 9.30am - 4.00pm 9 beautiful gardens located in & around Crookwell: including ‘Markdale’, an Edna Walling designed garden, acknowledged as one of the great country gardens of Australia.
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Crevice garden… a rock formation that protects plant roots from extreme temperatures. Photos: Jackie Warburton
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CityNews September 17-23, 2026 27