Canberra CityNews May 13 - 19, 2010

CityNews May 13-19

news

Teachers cry poor on pay The ACT Budget does nothing to close the salary gap between the ACT and NSW – and the local chalkies are getting very fed up, ELERI HARRIS reports THE NAPLAN testing ceasefire drew attention to the ongoing face-off between ACT teachers and the Government last week, but if the Territory Budget is anything to go by, the war is far from over.

Australian Education Union ACT branch secretary Penny Gilmour told the “CityNews” the Teacher Quality Institute and performance-based pay structure announced in the 2010-11 Budget will not close the salary gap between Canberra’s teachers and their NSW counterparts.

The restructure of the capital’s education salary system to a bell curve for performance based pay is set to take place over the next two years, including enterprise bargain agreement negotiations in June 2011, but Gilmour says it’s just not enough, soon enough.

“How are they going to address these problems when they’re too big to ignore?” Gilmour asks.

“Those negotiations will be interesting when they take place and, of course, we support good pay and recognition of teaching excellence, but the introduction of these salaries will not fill the gap.

“The AEU can’t have standards-based categories and then have a quota.”

Gilmour is critical of set numbers for percentages of over-performing and under-performing

INDEX May 13-19, 2010

Since 1993: Volume 16, Number 19

Arts&Entertainment Crossword Dining Environment Fashion Home Horoscope Health&Fitness Letters Movie reviews News Politics Property Social Scene Sudoku

19-22 27 22 11 23 26 27 25 10 21 3-12 8 28-32 13-14 27

FRONT COVER: Dutch soprano Simone Riksman. Story page 19.

Photo by Silas

Education Minister Andrew Barr... “some of the costs will be offset by the fact that other teachers will not be advanced.”

Education Union secretary Penny Gilmore... “how are they going to address these problems when they’re too big to ignore?”

teachers within the ACT school system.

“We’re very pleased to have a commitment in a substantional salary for teachers linked to national standards, but the introduction of those categories will be subject to negotiation and agreement.

“As you go up the classroom teacher scale the salaries are not competitive.”

But ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr is enthusiastic about the changes, arguing that the performance based pay model put forward by the Government is the most fair.

“We have some serious intiatives for on-going reform, the most significant of which in the long term is the ACT Teacher Quality Institute combined with national standards – these will combine to a performance-based pay for teachers.

“Previously, performance-based pay didn’t

have a proper mechanism and was dependent on the popularity votes of students and parents rewarding teachers. We rejected that approach.

“A robust approach to teacher quality requirements for registration will for the first time enable a proper performance-based pay, it will enable the best and brightest teachers to fairer pay.

“Advancement by exhaustion, where teachers get promoted for doing time, we will do away with that model and have a series of hard barriers for advancement based on national standards.”

“We want to see a cultural shift – six figures [salary] within the classroom.

“Of course, there will be new money to achieve this, and this will be accompanied by a financial injection in the next Budget. But some of the costs will be offset by the fact that other teachers will not be advanced.”

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ACTION fails the value test

THE Government’s Budget promise of a “genuinely sustainable transport system for Canberra” faces its first hurdle with independent benchmarking revealing that the city’s bus system costs more than $31 million a year above the efficient benchmark.

“In the context of that challenge, benchmarking data such as this is extremely valuable to the Government because it identifies areas in which improvements might be pursued,” Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said.

The benchmarking commissioned by ACTION and undertaken by Indec Consulting compared ACTION’s 2008-09 operating costs against the weighted average efficient benchmark of private bus operators in other jurisdictions. It shows that ACTION drivers are paid well above the efficient benchmark – costing the bus service $8.5 million more a year. And the service employs more and better-paid mechanics, cleaners and refuellers per bus.

The study found that while buses get to their destination faster than the average bus (travelling at 25.74km/h, compared to 21.48km/h for the efficient benchmark), drivers spend 14 per cent of their time not driving (signing on/off, taking meal breaks, etc), compared to the efficient benchmark of 9.5 per cent – costing $2.19 million more a year.

While ACTION had a strong customer service focus and provided longer hours of service out of peak periods and on weekends than the efficient benchmark, there was significant room for greater efficiency.

Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au Political reporter: Eleri Harris, 0414 618493 eleri@citynews.com.au Lifestyle editor: Kathryn Vukovljak, 6262 9100 lifestyle@citynews.com.au Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764 helen@citynews.com.au Design and photography: Silas Brown, 0412 718086 Designer: Joran Dilucian Accounts manager: Bethany Freeman-Chandler accounts@citynews.com.au Distribution and circulation: Richard Watson, 6262 9100 circulation@citynews.com.au

42,001 copies a week Six-month audit to September 30, 2009

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Ian Meikle, of Suite 1, Level 1, 143 London Circuit, Canberra.

CityNews May 13-19

news

Mum in the city

By Sonya Fladun

ELERI HARRIS discovers an improbable success story behind the latest radio ratings.

WHEN the latest radio ratings were laid on the table last month, the 2CC drive program rejoiced, with a share of 5.1 per cent, up 1.7 per cent.

With the station share remaining steady at 6.3 per cent, veteran presenter Mike Welsh attributes his program’s rise to his new producer, recent University of Canberra graduate, Monica Masters.

“It’s the best increase we’ve had in the Drive Show for seven years,” Welsh said.

“It’s Canberra’s dirty little secret – people listen, but they don’t want to admit that.”

“It’s a jump of 1.7, which is a lot when you’ve only got five and a lot of that’s due to Monica and the way we’ve changed the program around.”

“She’s made the difference.

She’s tightened the program up, picked up a couple of negatives and brought that news in. You really need someone who thinks on their feet; really gets the angles and gets people on the air and she’s really good at that.

“She’s got a good news sense and she’s relentless in tracking people down and putting them on air. It gives us a real edge.”

Masters said while she brings a new perspective to the program, the reality is she and Welsh are simply a good team.

“I’m a little bit more liberal, talk-back’s quite conservative and I think things outside of the box – something that people really wouldn’t consider before. We try to get unique angles and always try to keep it local.

“I just try to keep thinking out-

CityNews May 13-19

Food allergies – the new health issue

Radio duo, producer Monica Masters and presenter Mike Welsh... “It’s the best increase we’ve had in the Drive Show for seven years,” Welsh said.

Photo by Silas

Radio’s Mike and Monica make waves side the square and I keep my eyes and ears open for all sorts of stuff. “[But] The main thing is we really work together well as a team, that’s the difference everyone else has told me as well.

“There’s definitely a lot of pres-

sure, I mean Mike’s won eight ACRAs, one of his last producers has won an ACRA. “We’ve just got to maintain the quality of the show and I’ve come in with some different ideas and because I haven’t got that much ex-

perience I’m not really sure what works. But it looks like it’s sort of paid off, I guess!

“I’ve passed the first step, the next lot of surveys come out at the end of the year, that’s always above your head.”

GENEVIEVE was my friend in grade four and the first person I knew with severe food allergies.

She was allergic or intolerant to anything that contained certain food colours, nuts, lactose, egg, strawberries and anything with wheat, sesame or yeast. The list seemed endless. While the rest of us were happily sucking on our Sunnyboys or downing our peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches, she was drinking water and picking at her garden salad, limp from spending the warm morning in her lunch box.

At the time we really didn’t understand and neither did she. Genevieve thought her mum was just being mean. So even though she would swell up before your eyes, she still wanted desperately what all the other kids ate; and being good friends we regularly gave in, causing her to be raced off to the doctors on a too-regular basis.

My children, aged four and seven, are food-allergy free. But they have had many friends with food allergies and there seems to be something of a food allergy epidemic.

The most common explanations blame our society’s obsession with cleanliness, our overuse of antibiotics and not exposing our children to enough bugs leaving their immune systems to turn inwards. Other explanations blame our exposure to more and more varied exotic foods and maybe combinations of environmental toxins. But no one really knows.

One Canberra-based study published in 2009 estimated that at least 1.15 per cent of children develop a serious peanut allergy by age six, but this was considered a “very conservative” estimate.

Canberra allergy specialist, Dr Raymond Mullins, makes the point that food allergies have joined the ranks of other allergic conditions such as asthma, eczema and hay fever as a significant health problem, “yet we have more information on what has NOT contributed to the increase than a clear explanation as to why.’’

According to Dr Mullins: “Allergic disease is a major public health issue in Australia, and one that government has ignored for too long. ‘Generation A’ – the ‘allergy generation’, has already been born. A failure to act now means that future generations will have an even higher price to pay.”

Food Allergy Awareness Week runs May 16-22.

CityNews May 13-19

news

MARK PARTON loves rising before 3am on winter mornings to go to work. Is he mad?

By Kathryn Vukovljak

NOT many women would be keen to go through pregnancy and childbirth without getting a baby at the end of it, but 42-year-old mother of three and surrogate Sue phillips says it’s just a matter of paying it forward.

“How are you supposed to make the world a better place if you don’t put yourself out there a little bit?” she tells me during a tears-of-joy interview at her home.

“I believe in doing tiny, nice things every day; random acts of kindness.”

Sue, author of a new book “Someone Else’s Child”, dismisses suggestions that what she did for her friends is a pretty big act of kindness.

“I can’t bear the thought of someone being afraid, alone, or without,” she says. “Part of that is the Christian in me and part of that is just who I am.

“And I look at my children and think: ‘How can someone not have this?’.”

Sue, the manager of a community services division at a church, has three children of her own.

She offered to act as a surrogate two years ago for her best friend’s brother and his wife. Ben and Lily were unable to have a child because because Lily had an illness that led to a hysterectomy.

“I think one of the reasons I got involved, apart from simply wanting to help, is because the child wouldn’t genetically be mine,” she says. “I felt it would make it easier to separate myself from the child.

“All they needed was a uterus, and I had one I wasn’t using.”

In her compelling and emotional book, Sue details the whole journey, from the decision to offer her “spare” uterus to the final confusing legal aftermath.

She says her main concern was the effect it might have on her children Jane, Bree and Liam.

“I can honestly say that it hasn’t affected our family at all,” she says. Her husband, Benn, “has been amazingly supportive, as he always is of me, and the kids totally got it, that I was just ‘babysitting’ Ben and Lily’s child. It’s never been an issue.”

She says that the thought of keeping the baby never entered her mind.

“I could no more want to keep that child than I would steal a baby in a pram at the supermarket,” she says. “The baby was genetically Lily and Ben’s, I just grew it for them.

“I could absolutely not donate an egg. I know women who will happily donate eggs but baulk at the idea of surrogacy. I suppose that’s why it worked for us – this sat well with me.”

Sue admits there was a moment when the pregnancy was drawing to a close when she wondered how she would cope.

“How do you do this Herculean physical thing of

CityNews May 13-19

Hooray, it’s cold again!

Sue Gore Phillips... “All they needed was a uterus, and I had one I wasn’t using.”

Photo by Silas

Saying goodbye to someone else’s baby giving birth, and then follow it up with a massive emotional thing, too?” she says. “It wasn’t that I ever wanted to keep the baby, but I did wonder how I’d do it. It just seemed huge, all of a sudden.”

But Sue says the “handing over” was fine.

“The baby was given to me first – I was very specific about that,” she says. “It was important to me not to feel disposable, and I did what I wanted to do – physically hand the baby to her parents.

“I’m not sure if I kept hold of Sophie for too long, but hey, that was my moment!”

Sophie is two now, and while Sue’s relationship

with the family is good, they don’t see each other regularly.

“I love getting photos and updates, but I don’t need any more than that,” she says. “I’m so happy Sophie’s in the world, and I’m proud of how my family coped with my decision to do this thing.

“It’s all worked out just as we wanted. Lily and Ben are parents, without us looking over their shoulders, and we are free to go on with our lives.

“It’s exactly the way it should be.”

“Someone Else’s Child – A surrogate’s story”, UQP, $32.95

CANBERRA is a transient city and most of us are “blow-ins”. Can you remember your first winter in Canberra? I can remember mine vividly.

Unless you’re here from Finland, Alaska or Salt Lake City, that first winter seems the coldest.

You’re spooked by remembering the national weather on the telly and seeing horrendous minus figures for Canberra.

And when it starts go get cold at the end of April, you realise what you’re in for.

Then come the first of the frosts and the horror of finding the car windscreen covered in ice.

In my first winter here, I figured I could get the ice off the windscreen by using the water-spraying window washer component of my wipers. Don’t try this at home: The water freezes on impact with the windscreen, so you end up with the thick sheet of it!

Yet over my 12 years here, I’ve become a huge fan of winter. I love the fresh, cool mountain air and, I know it sounds a bit girly, I adore getting those big coats out of the back wardrobe and draping scarves around my neck.

We’ve experienced a rather civilised descent into winter temperatures this year, but I can’t wait for the first snow on the “Brindies” and the prospect of some snowflakes in the suburbs.

When we do get the odd flurry, it’ll revive the talk of that amazing snow day in 2000 watching people skiing in Macgregor – and nobody will forget that Raiders game on a white field at Canberra Stadium People often say to me that “breakfast radio must be tough in the dead of a Canberra winter” (my alarm goes off before 3am every day). They’re wrong. It’s the summer that’s hard. An early rise means early to bed, and I’ve gotta tell you, it’s tough going to bed at eight o’clock on a hot January night with the sun still up and kids still playing cricket in the cul-de-sac. At eight o’clock on a July evening, under the covers seems like a pretty good place to be.

Mark Parton cheerfully hosts the breakfast show on 2CC whatever the temperature

profile

The bomb that saved James’ marriage For James Greenshields it took nearly being blown up in Iraq to realise his life priorities. He talks to KATHRYN VUKOVLJAK EX-army commander James Greenshields admits it took a bomb to go off before he realised his priorities in life.

“Being posted in Iraq had been a good experience up until that point,” he says. “It was the pinnacle of my career, everything I’d been training for.

“However, I realised it had been at the expense of my family, and I’d been unable to balance the military with my home life.”

After a 17-year career, James resigned from the military this year with the aim of helping soldiers recover from active duty as well as transition out of the military. As an accredited personal development coach with Beyond Success, and running his own life-coaching business, Turiya, with his wife Kirsty, James also runs a workshop specifically for military personnel.

He will also teach at Canberra’s first three-day Mental Toolbox workshop, which is open to anyone, to be held at the Rex Hotel on Northbourne Avenue on June 25-27, and with an information night on May 25 from 7pm-9pm.

Kirsty says that things were rocky between her and James before he left for Iraq.

“Abby was three months old when James found out about his posting,” she says. “In the lead-up to his departure he was training so much, he

James and Kirsty Greenshields... “I suddenly saw the relationship from her side,” says James.

Photo by Silas could go for days without seeing us. When he left, I was relieved.”

James admits that the bomb going off wasn’t the worst thing that happened in Iraq – it was

realising that he was losing his best friend.

“I suddenly saw the relationship from her side,” he says. “I tried to explain that I’d changed, but I couldn’t communicate that to her.”

When James came home, although he’d been treated for physical injuries, he says he hadn’t been helped with the emotional trauma.

“I was very angry, impatient with Abby, then 18 months old, and I did a lot of brooding and yelling,” he says.

Kirsty eventually dragged James along to a Mental Toolbox workshop run by personal development coach Paul Blackburn from Dicksonbased Beyond Success.

“I didn’t think I needed to go, but it was like a breath of fresh air,” he says. “When Paul talked about emotions I didn’t know what they were – I’d bottled them up for so long.”

With the tools he learnt, James says he began healing and now has a great relationship with his wife and daughters.

The father of two believes a lot of soldiers are in the same boat struggling to balance family and military life.

“The military is a lifestyle as well as a career, and when you step out and leave that behind you feel an urge to drop back into the old you, into what you used to do, even if you didn’t like it,” he says.

“We can bring awareness to that emotional turbulence and help people prepare for how they’ll feel and how to cope.

“I’m so grateful to be where I am now. Three years to the day when I was hit by that bomb, I was standing there teaching.

“It was an emotional moment.”

To register for the Mental Toolbox, visit www. thementaltoolbox.com. Tickets cost $1970, but with the promotional code GREENSHIELDS, the price is $197.

CityNews May 13-19

politics

Katy puts brakes on the developers’ gravy train

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CityNews May 13-19

TREASURER Katy Gallagher was a little on the back foot at the ACT Budget Breakfast as she defended her Government’s strengthening of property revenue. Opposition Leader Zed Seselja was pushing that the developers will simply pass the “change-of-use” charge on to the poor people seeking to buy their first property – a home unit in a suburb such a Braddon.

Katy was right to end the rip-off by some of our property developers. By virtue of s.125 of the Australian Constitution, all Australians are owners of the land in the ACT, with the ACT Government and its Treasurer managing most of the estate for and on behalf of the Commonwealth.

The arguments put by Sesleja are simply spurious.

When a change is made to a normal rented property there would be no landlord who would share the advantage with their tenant. Except in the ACT! Our leasehold system means we effectively rent land from the government for up to 99 years. There is one significant difference from the usual landlord-tenant relationship. Since 1971, our rent has been paid in an upfront lump sum, or premium, creating the impression that the lease is “sold” to a leaseholder. Even so, each lease is sold with very specific conditions. In the vast majority of cases, the lease allows a single residence and a right to ‘quiet enjoyment’ plus the value of any improvements.

These conditions can be compared to someone renting a dwelling for residential use. Most tenancies would not allow a tenant to use the premises for purposes other than as a dwelling, nor to sublet the premises without the landlord’s prior approval. If permission were to be granted by the landlord, then the landlord would usually increase the rent to reflect the higher use value or to reflect the commercial value.

Similarly, in the ACT each lease has been “leased” or “sold” for a very specific purpose. However, in Braddon for example, leaseholders know they can make a greater return if the land can be used for apartments. Therefore, leaseholders (often developers) apply to the Government for a “change of lease purpose” to allow for an enhanced use. If the Government

It’s baloney to Zed Seselja and well done Katy Gallagher for starting to enforce the controversial “change-of-use” charge. Political columnist MICHAEL MOORE explains why the taxpayer is missing out

Katy Gallagher... right to end the rip-off by some of our property developers.

Photo by Silas agrees, the land suddenly becomes much more valuable.

Compare the value of a lease for a bicycle shop to a lease of the same area of land that is able to be used for multi-story residential apartments. It is simple: the citizens of the city and the Government, on our behalf, are entitled to all of this increase in the value of the lease. Developers have been pocketing a large part of the change-in-use value for decades so that every other citizen in the Territory has been ripped off – having to pay other taxes to make up the shortfall in lost income.

Of course, the developers and their representatives are going to scream about this rectification. Katy is putting the brakes on their gravy train. The large political donations developers have been making for decades are largely about protecting this very privilege. Even with the modest changes proposed in this budget, there will be an immediate tripling of the

revenue expanding to a fivefold increase by 2014.

Zed argues that the increase in costs will be passed on to first home buyers.

Baloney! All homes are sold on a supply and demand basis. If a unit in Braddon can be priced at $350,000 that is what the developer will ask. If they can get $400,000 for the same unit, there will be no thought for who the purchaser may be. Whether a purchaser is a first-home buyer or not is of no real interest to the seller. The profit motive is what drives the sale.

Well done, Katy. It is high time to apply the brakes on the way the citizens of Canberra (and indeed, Australia) have been ripped off by some of our developers. The latest changes are entirely consistent with the original design of the system over 70 years ago.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health in the Carnell government.

opinion

Positives about maintaining negative gearing ACCORDING to demographer Bernard Salt, the dream of the quarter-acre block with a house on is not for much of generation Y, the generation now reaching adulthood.

They know houses are hugely expensive – beyond the means of those on starting wages, paying off university fees – so they choose lifestyle over home ownership, says Salt.

They are a potent argument for diversity in housing, including inner-urban options. And

Property

By Catherine Carter they provide a strong reason why a recent Federal Government decision was the right one.

There has been debate and commentary about the social value of negative gearing on residential property. The current regime allows an investor to buy a property, offsetting the mortgage repayments against all income (including rent, of course, but also wages). This ensures that rents don’t become too high to afford and allows owners to keep rents reasonable despite interest

rate fluctuations and Australia’s world-beating housing unaffordability levels.

Allowing the offset costs just a small fraction of the money raised annually from property taxes and is helpful to other generations, too, because around half of the negatively geared investments are owned by low and middle-income Australians who have a second property as a nest egg for their retirement.

Thankfully, the Government has chosen to retain negative gearing on housing, the only intelligent decision in today’s economic climate.

The Government has also retained capital gains tax concessions – another good move.

These concessions might not look fair because

they don’t apply to shares, but investors in shares escape a number of upfront and ongoing taxes and levies which apply to property owners.

Stamp duty is a classic example and typically involves thousands of dollars for every home purchased. If it isn’t offset at some stage, investors might as well avoid housing as an asset class and stick to shares. And that, in turn would reduce the number of homes available for rent and raise rents. The two concessions work well together and the Government was wise to leave them unchanged.

Catherine Carter is the executive director of the Property Council of Australia (ACT)

We need net filters When it comes to internet filtering, NICK JENSEN says many parents simply do not have the time or technical ability to make sure their children are safe I WORK two jobs, one of them as a chaplain at a small school in Canberra. As such I pay close attention to many of the issues in society that affect our youth. One of the most shocking pieces of information that I have come across is the fact that 70 per cent of boys and 50 per cent of girls under the age of 12 have now viewed hardcore pornography (Sauers survey).

This means that many of our children are not learning the “facts of life” from their parents or schools, but rather from some sleazy and degrading internet site. This is why I believe we need some form of internet filtering.

The Government’s recent attempts to bring in ISP level filtering have met with some stiff opposition.

Some people argue that it is solely the parent’s responsibility to control what their children are exposed to. They would say that if you want to stop unwanted material in your home, then you should install your own filters.

However, the only problem with this is that I knew more about computers and the internet than my parents did when I was 12, and I’m certain it is still the case for most kids today.

Many parents find they simply do not have the time or technical ability to make sure their children are safe and, when measured, a Newspoll survey showed that 93 per cent of parents supported the idea of ISP-level filtering of internet pornography.

Other concerns raised about the Government’s filter, particularly from the more libertarian inclined, have been that ISP filtering

would be a threat to the internet freedoms we cherish and enjoy.

This is a reasonable argument, but if taken to its logical conclusion would also mean that books, magazines and movies should not have restrictions on child pornography and other illegal material either.

What I believe is an appropriate balance is an opt-out internet filtering system for “adult” or harmful material. This would mean that material would be automatically filtered from the ISP level unless specifically requested by the user (not including the restricted illegal content which would be filtered for everyone, of course).

This to me strikes a good line between ensuring the freedom of adults to view the legal material they desire, but in the same way protecting our children from the obvious damage that early exposure to this objectifying material would ensue.

The proposed ISP filter appears to be a good step towards this kind of balanced solution and goes a long way towards keeping the Government’s 2007 election promise to offer a “clean feed”.

Provided the filter actually works (and Government tests conducted with major ISPs suggest it will), and provided there is good accountability in place for the filtered material, I cannot see any good reason why there is such an opposition to filtering.

Nick Jensen is ACT territory director, Australian Christian Lobby

CityNews May 13-19

letters

briefly

precinct a dose of dorin Policy THE Federal Government will contribute $111.7 million

Ban domination of women

to establish a new Australian National Institute for Public Policy at the ANU. Vice-chancellor Prof Ian Chubb said: “The importance of teaching and research as a foundation for future policy will be highlighted by the development of a public policy ‘precinct’ based around the new JG Crawford building.” He said the ‘precinct’ would be a place where public servants and others working on policy for the nation could engage with leading researchers and educators from a wide range of disciplines.

LIBERAL Senator Bernardi proposes banning the burka because it’s a “repressive domination of men over women.”

Using that reasoning, we should ban Orthodox Jewish women from shaving their heads and wearing wigs and covering their flesh in long, dark dresses or skirts, as demanded by their repressive, male-dominating religion.

We should require men and women walk alongside each other versus women following the proverbial “10 paces behind,” as demanded by several repressive, male-dominating cultures.

We should ban prostitution entirely – the clearest example of repressive domination of men over women.

And we should legislate that men contribute equally to rearing their children and performing household chores – breaking our own culture of male repression and domination of women.

New partner

BUILDER-turned-lawyer Jayson Hinder (pictured) has been appointed a partner at law firm Watts McCray McGuinness Eley.

Canberra-born, Mr Hinder managed a group of companies engaged in civil engineering, property construction, multi-unit developments and greenfields residential subdivision before his admission in 2002. His legal expertise includes land and planning issues including consolidation and change of use, wills and probate, and criminal, civil and tribunal matters.

Hand crafted

Judy Bamberger, O’Connor ACT

Power of the shed

I WRITE to welcome the Federal Government’s announcement of the first National Male Health Policy with funding to support improving men’s health Australia wide.

Of the $16.7 million funding commitment as part of the new Men’s Health Policy, beyondblue is particularly pleased to see $3 million being provided to the Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA).

Community-based men’s sheds are social venues where men can gather in a safe and supported environment that encourages discussion and the sharing of information.

By providing a beyondblue Men’s Shed Kit and depression awareness training programs, beyondblue and AMSA have provided an effective means to promote healthy living, access information and reduce isolation and loneliness – key risk factors for depression.

There are currently around 400 member sheds throughout Australia representing an estimated 40,000 men – making AMSA the largest men’s support organisation in Australia and we’re pleased to be an active partner.

The Federal Government’s welcome funding announcement means these sheds can continue to provide a vital service to men across the country.

Leonie Young, CEO, beyondblue

Letter to Robert

DEAR Mr Macklin, I don’t know where to begin with your article/diatribe/attack (“Goodbye, the bush capital”, CN, April 15).

Of course Canberra can no longer continue

10 CityNews May 13-19

its urban sprawl, we do have a finite amount of land within our borders.

As for your third paragraph. It is more like an attack on Mr Rake and the NCA, rather than an informed unbiased piece, as journalism should be, about the way you think the NCA is being run. Is it possible that you believe they are ruining YOUR vision of Canberra, circa 1950, or are they in fact trying to plan the future growth of our city?

As for this whole notion of being able to work from home, most of us live in the real world, Mr Macklin. Companies like to be able to see staff in their seats working.

There is only one part of your attack that I can agree with. The bus system in Canberra is appalling. But mini buses, please: Bring on light rail! Although you probably don’t like that idea either, even though it was part of the original plan.

Mark Rowley (via email)

Editor’s note: Robert Macklin writes as a commentator and his pieces are, necessarily, opinionated and unconstrained by this paper’s guiding news-gathering principal of being fair, accurate and balanced – as, indeed, this letter writer is, too.

Calling the clan FOR Scottish Week in Sydney at the end of June, the clan chief Donald MacLaren, of MacLaren, will be the attending the events.

I would like this opportunity to welcome any of the MacLaren, MacLaurins and descendants to get in contact with me. Even if it’s

not possible to attend any of the events in Sydney, I would still be pleased to hear from any descendants, particularly if they had any family tree information to collate a history of our clan for the archives.

There are quite a few surnames that are linked to the MacLaren clan, I would be very happy to hear from anyone with these surnames: Faed, Lair, Larnach, Laurence, Laurensen, Laurie, Law, Lawrence, Lawson, Low, Lowrie, Lowson, MacFade, MacClarence, MacCrorie, MacFait, MacFater, MacFead, MacFeat, MacGrory, MacLeran, MacPatrick, MacPetrie, MacPhait, MacPhater, MacRorie, Pat(t)erson, Patrick, Peterkin, Peters, Rorie and Rorison.

We are trying to build up a huge database with all the family lines to keep for history and also to contact a great many long-lost relatives, their are many thousands of MacLarens and descendants in Australia and it would be great to get together and meet the chief during his visit and collate the clan’s history. Any information, please send to trevor@australianscottishheritage.com

Trevor Smurthwaite, 122 Goldmark Crecent, Cranebrook, NSW 2749

Letters are invited from “CityNews” readers. Let loose to ed@citynews.com. au or write to the editor at GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601. Letters of 200 words or less stand a better chance of publication.

AUSTRALIAN creators and designers will exhibit and sell hand-crafted jewellery, wool, cashmere, alpaca, silk and cotton clothes, homewares, pottery, ceramics, woodwork, artwork, metalwork, etchings and glassware at the Australian Designers & Creators Expo at Old Parliament House on May 28-30. The official opening will start from 6pm on Friday May 28.

Visit www.blackcastleevents.com.au or call 4572 6260.

Dinner for SIDS

A SIDS and Kids charity wine dinner will be held at The Hermitage restaurant, London Circuit, city, on Tuesday, May 18. There will be a three-course meal plus wines by Affleck Vineyard, McKellar Ridge Wines and Jeir Creek Wines. Tickets are $100 each ($85 each for group bookings of four or more people) and include a copy of the book “Wine of the Canberra District – Undiscovered Treasures”.

Bookings or enquiries to bridey_oconnor1@yahoo.com.au or call 0468 945247.

Reviewing reviewed

FREELANCE historian and cultural commentator Humphrey McQueen will speak about evaluation and the practicalities of reviewing for the ACT Writers Centre and the Canberra Critics’ Circle at the Fireplace Room, Gorman House Arts Centre, Ainslie Avenue, Braddon at 5.30pm on Tuesday, May 25. Cost: $10 non-members, $5 ACT Writers Centre and Canberra Critics’ Circle members, payable at the door.

Bookings to admin@actwriters.org.au or 6262 9191.

Taxi review

Describing the community’s contribution as “critical”, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has extended the period for community input until May 21 into a comprehensive review of ACT taxi services. He said the Government wanted to ensure that Canberrans and visitors had access to safe, responsive and efficient taxi services. Written comments should be addressed to the Project Officer, ACT Taxi Industry Review, GPO Box 158, Canberra ACT or emailed to taxiservices@act.gov.au. More information at www.tams. act.gov.au/move/public_transport/taxi_industry_review

news

Jacqui’s charity with dignity environment

By Tanya Davies

THE Retro Rack in Weston is not your typical vintage shop, but it’s not your typical charity shop either.

The Retro Rack is part of Canberra Community Care, a registered charity whose aim is to provide “charity with dignity”.

Former MLA, Jacqui Burke’s doing this in a number of ways that come together to create an exciting store of secondhand clothes – including designer items – community help and life skills lessons. The proceeds of the shop are also right there on the premises in the form of food parcels for members of the community.

Jacqui Burke... “It can be especially hard to ask for help in Canberra because it is so affluent.”

The food comes from a Sydney food bank, with the travel sponsored by Capital Chemist, and Jacqui has secured new sponsors so that clothing donations are now dry-cleaned by Canberra Dry Cleaners, re-usable bags are provided by “The Canberra Times” and Supabarn, and they were the first charity to become part of the Privileges card.

She has also made use of an innovative marketing tool, Taste Vouchers, designed by local businessman Robert Leticq. Anyone who brings in four or more high-quality items for donation is entered into a monthly draw for Taste Vouchers, and the chance to win a free meal at a local restaurant.

The former Shadow Minister for Housing speaks of her clients with the dignity she proclaims.

“It can be especially hard to ask for help in Canberra because it is so affluent,” she says.

“But some of these people need help because they have lost their job. Others need help because they are going to Sydney a lot for medical attention and their income is just being sucked up by large medical expenses. Others are grandparents raising grandchildren.”

Canberra Community Care also oversees Slipstream, a youth development program for disadvantaged young people who are at risk of losing out on after-school sports and programs. For the cost of a cup of coffee a day, says Jacqui, sponsors can contribute to assisting a young person keep up their passion for swimming, gymnastics, football and more.

Jacqui has great enthusiasm and offers her warmth to everyone, immediately, and regardless of who they are. She fell into the job as manager of The Retro Rack while looking for work after she lost her seat as MLA. But what began as an interim position has become a project she is excelling in.

“I grew up in a council house in England. I’ve been a single mum. I’ve had a lot, and I’ve had very little, so I know what it’s like,” she says.

With a team of around 30 volunteers, she assists in serving over 800 clients in the community.

Send your environment stories to Tanya at environment@live.com.au

1980’s-style “wedding guests” Chauntell and Leilah from Marymead, either side of “bride” Marika Franklin show off their wedding attire.

Photo by Silas

Ball for old belles GOT a hideous old 1980s bridesmaid’s dress lurking in the back of your wardrobe? Or perhaps your wedding dress still fits? Then put it on and get down to the Marymead Bride & Groom Ball.

The fundraising “wedding event of the century” will take place at the Southern Cross Club, Woden, from 6.30pm on Friday, May 28.

“The theme for the night is a second wedding,” says one of the organisers, Leilah Ayton.

“We want guests to show off their finest wedding attire; be it traditional bride or groom or classic mother-of-the-bride.”

As well as prizes, auction

items and other activities, guests can renew their vows with local celebrant Joelene Washington-King and have professional photos taken

by Ryan Evans of Two Creek Photography.

Annie & the Armadillos will perform live and entertainer Greg Page will host.

Guests are requested to bring along a wedding gift that, along with all profits raised, will be used to support the Marymead Adolescent Support Program and the Marymead Disability Support Program.

Bookings to Leilah Ayton on 0410 993429 or Jeff Griffiths on 6162 5824.

CityNews May 13-19 11

bugs

Beware of bloodsuckers in the sofa PARASITIC, bloodsucking and prolific breeders, fleas and ticks can cause untold grief to pets – and can also infest warm, carpeted homes, says Robert Short, owner-operator of Amalgamated Pest Control Canberra.

“For every flea living on your cat, there’ll most likely be hundreds more hatching in your carpet,” he says.

They’ll happily bite us too, Robert says. “You’ll get a little nip along the sock line as you walk through your home and it will be really itchy. And if fleas get in your sofa, you could be in for a very unpleasant time!”

While fleas and ticks can’t use us as hosts as they do with our pets (we’re just not hairy enough, says Robert), they will hitch a ride indoors on your cat or dog and get comfortable in the carpet, seams of sofas and between floorboards – wherever your pet spends most of its time.

“Fleas will lay eggs in your soft furnishings and you won’t even know about it until months later when they hatch and infest the house,” he says. “They can survive a long time, and flea populations can become large infestations very quickly.

“That’s why it’s so important to be extra vigilant.

Unfortunately, if you try to vacuum up the eggs it can cause hatching – the vibrations set them off. You’ll need to use a chemical treatment as well, and treat your vacuum bag to avoid re-infestation.”

Robert says mosquitoes are a problem for dogs, as they’re carriers of potentially fatal heartworm larvae.

“The disease is not spread directly from dog to dog; the mosquito acts as the intermediate host and is responsible for transmission,” he says.

“The larvae enter the dog’s system through the bite wound, which develop into adult heartworms and can cause severe heart inflammation that can be fatal.”

Keep a close eye on your pets, Robert advises. Ex-

12 CityNews May 13-19

Worry, worry, it’s wasp time

Fleas… “For every flea living on your cat, there’ll most likely be hundreds more hatching in your carpet.” cessive scratching could mean fleas. Ticks, however, inject a toxin into your pet which makes it feel quite ill. When engorged with blood, ticks look like small warts – check around the head and neck for these if your pet seems unwell. Both can cause serious health problems for your pets.

A chemical treatment for your pet isn’t enough to get rid of them entirely – you’ll need to treat your house as well, he says.

Remove all excess garden waste, keep the grass around fence lines short; wash throw rugs and pets’ bedding regularly and remove any stagnant water – this will help to make conditions less conducive for pests.

EUROPEAN wasps like Canberra because of the clearly defined seasons, the temperatures allow the wasps to survive and the queen to lay eggs over winter, says Robert Short.

“By the end of summer and early autumn, a hive can contain several thousand wasps,” says Robert, senior pest technician for Amalgamated Pest Control.

The European wasp is entering its nesting period, which means more wasps are in the hive than any other time of the year.

“The real danger emerges if a wasp nest is disturbed, causing them to swarm and attack. Unlike a bee, a wasp can sting multiple times and cause severe pain and swelling.”

European wasps are generally between 12-15 mm long and are bright yellow with black markings, bright yellow legs and long and transparent wings. The queen is slightly longer, about 20mm. Nests can usually be found underground or protected from the elements in places such as rockeries, compost heaps, tree trunks, wall cavities or in unused sheds.

“If a nest goes undetected or is not treated properly before winter hibernation, the pest can return the next breeding season in larger numbers,” he says.

“It’s important to ensure the queen of the nest has been killed and eggs

removed to ensure they don’t start up again in summer.”

“Wasps prefer to nest around human habitation where they can scavenge food and sweet liquids. They are often spotted around homes, picnic areas and schoolyards.”

If stung by a wasp, Robert advises to immediately apply an ice pack and seek medical advice if necessary.

A European wasp nest... important to ensure the queen of the nest has been killed.

scene

invite us at silas@citynews.com.au

At the Europe Day reception, Old Parliament House

Head of Delegation of the European Union David Daly and wife Aideen with John and Anne Richards

At the ‘We Unfold’ opening night, Canberra Theatre

Shannon Avalos and Mils Achi

Eleni Stratton, Stuart Bryson, Olivia John and Brock Landers

Dulam Gombo, Dilrukshi Walgampaya and Jasmin Masud

Susan Hope, Philip Dalley and Carole Minne

Richard Cilli, Juliette Barton and Trish Cilli

Erin Scott and Lisa Mosley

Cameron McMillan, Amy Hollingsworth and choreographer Rafael Bonachela

Tim Jordan, Megan Edwards and David Fredericks

Tania Goodacre, Jacqui Britton, Bruna Barisic and Gerry Rossiter

Bria and Lynne Sydney

CityNews May 13-19 13

scene

invite us at silas@citynews.com.au

At the Venezuelan Cuisine evening, Rydges Capital Hill

Elvira Fernandez, Venezuelan Ambassador Nelson Davila, Miryam Navarro, Rob Macklin and Sophia Rojas

Bec Nichols and Caterina Giugovas

Karyn Talty and Jennine Jones

14  CityNews May 13-19

Trudy Frainey, Greg Chalker and Jo Knight

Walter Trejo and Sarah Rogers with John and Brooke Austin

At the Rolfe Classic BMW Golf Cup, Royal Canberra Golf Club

Jan Doyle, Christine Dobson, Kim Osmond and Margaret Luff

Geoff Applebee, Ian Hanson, Mick Keelty and Andrew Pickering

Shan Trethewey, Kate Cush, Lyn Armstrong and Sue O'Connor

Maree Hourigan with Kim and Chris Donaghue

At Rider Levett Bucknall cocktail party, Old Parliament House

Matthew Blair, Andrew Wilson, Matt Richard, Mark Chappe and Keith Harmsworth

Ian Warwick, Michael Sullivan and Ferdi Mangeruca

Marcelo Solar, Marcia Bowden and Fabio Cajina

Patrick Doyle and Gillian Chappe

Kevin Earle and Ian McKay

law week

Truly national, says law chief FOR the first time in many years, this year’s Law Week will be a truly national event.

Running from May 16-22 in all States and Territories, National Law Week aims to promote greater understanding within the community of the law, the legal system and the legal profession.

National Law Week activities will give the public the opportunity of a closer look at the law and its importance in society.

“People may not realise it at first, but the law is everywhere and it influences our daily lives. Law Week is a great opportunity for the general public to learn more about the legal system,” Law Council of Australia president Glenn Ferguson said.

Revolving around the theme of “Law and Justice in Your Community”, Law Week activities in most States and Territories will focus on community education.

“Law Week activities will provide the public with ready access to the legal profession, the courts, police, government service providers and numerous law-related industries,” Mr Ferguson said.

“Whether you live in a metropolitan centre or a small regional area, court tours, police open days, legal information sessions and school visits will be happening near you

special feature program Monday, May 17, 12.30pm Law Week Launch: ACT AttorneyGeneral Simon Corbell to launch Law Week at The Boat House by the Lake followed by inaugural Law Week Debate highlighting speakers from the Canberra community while raising funds to support Galilee. The topic is: “The Law is the True Embodiment of Everything that’s Excellent” Tuesday, May 18, 12.30pm Blackburn Lecture: Pilgrim House, Northbourne Avenue; Julian Burnside QC on “Injustice Within the Law – an Update” Wednesday, May 19, 12.30pm Women & Justice Forum: Speaker: Megan Davis, Venue: Yarramundi Reach, Lady Denman Drive, Acton

Law Council of Australia president Glenn Ferguson... “the law is everywhere and it influences our daily lives.” throughout Law Week.

“Activities being undertaken around the nation include information sessions, mock court trials, legal debates, quiz nights, sporting events and dinners.

More information at www.lawweek.com.au

Thursday, May 20, 6.30pm Quiz Night: Canberra Club; Young Lawyers’ Fundraiser 2010, charity – Galilee Friday, May 21, 12.30pm-2pm Mixed Soccer Finals: ANU Ovals Friday, May 21, 5.30pm Law Week Cocktail Party: Uni Pub Saturday, May 22, 10am Mock Trial: Supreme Court

Pro bono takes its toll THIS year’s Law Week theme – “Law and Justice in the Community” – was especially significant because the proportion of Commonwealth funding to programs that improve access to justice for the community, such as Legal Aid, had fallen sharply compared to funding levels in 1996-97, said ACT Law Society President Athol Opes.

“This is despite recent evidence that there is increasing demand in the community for services provided by organisations such as Legal Aid ACT, the community legal centres and the Law Society’s own Legal Advice Bureau and Pro Bono Clearing House, he said.

“Indeed, the number of people

seeking advice through the society’s Legal Advice Bureau has steadily increased over the last three years from 908 in 2007 to 1110 in 2009. Similarly, the Law Society’s Pro Bono Clearing House has continued to receive a steady increase in applications.

“Australia’s population and the body and complexity of its laws continue to expand at the same time as funds committed to legal aid continue to decline.

“This has created an unmet legal need which the nation’s pro bono resources cannot match unless the Commonwealth increases its contribution to legal aid funding.”

ACT Law Society President Athol Opes.

CityNews May 13-19 15

law week

Inspired by human rights

Mark MacCormack and Craig Lynch... “there’s a certain attraction for people who participate in sports taking up law,” says Craig.

Photo by Silas

Sports and the law Winners of a taste of two regions

16 CityNews May 13-19

Winners of one of six double passes, worth $50 each, to the day-long “Tastes of Two Regions”, showcasing the wines and produce from Rutherglen and the King Valley at Rydges Lakeside Hotel on Sunday, May 16 are Cristina Arganese, from Bruce, Karin Berrysmith of Belconnen, Mary Ridley from Gungahlin, Annette Sharpe, Wanniassa, Belinda Izzard, Macgregor and Bree Murphy from Campbell

“IT may sound like a cliché, but I think that there’s a lot of cross-over between being involved in sport on a competitive level and practising law,” says Mark McCormack.

“Certainly there is a level of competition in the adversarial world of litigation – whether it be civil or criminal litigation.”

Mr McCormack, of Craig Lynch & Associates, is a former schoolboy athletic champion and between 1995 and 2002 competed in professional sprint racing with the Victorian Athletic League.

Craig Lynch, the principal of Craig Lynch

& Associates, turned to practising law having started out as a professional golfer.

“I think that there’s a certain attraction for people who participate in sports taking up law,” he says.

“They attract similar qualities in a person: dedication, a preparedness to learn, recognition of the importance of preparation and perseverance.

“I think it’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle – especially in a profession such as law, which can at times be all-consuming and stressful.”

OUTSIDE of the courtroom and office, Gayatri Nair and Anna Haynes put their lawyering skills to use promoting human rights issues.

As co-convenors of the ACT chapter of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR), they organise events such as film nights to showcase documentaries and engage experts on human rights issues.

ALHR also works closely with other non-governmental organisations and community groups, drawing on the broader human rights community to promote events and gather momentum for law-reform submissions.

Gayatri and Anna are also busy coordinating a team of volunteers to run the 2010 Human Rights Arts and Film Festival in Canberra this month. The festival is a Melbourne-based, national initiative that is dedicated to raising awareness, generating discussion and inspiring people to actively engage with human rights issues.

The festival has a domestic and international focus, and conveys its message through film, music, art, poetry, speakers, forums and educational campaigns.

More information at www.hraff.org. au and www.alhr.asn.au/.

Gayatri Nair recently joined the Attorney-General’s Department after working with Legal Aid ACT and Anna Haynes is a corporate lawyer at Clayton Utz.

special feature

Not for faint-hearted ACT Young Lawyer of the Year NICK TEBBEY discovers that dealing with client expectations and the high-stress situations of legal disputes and big-dollar deals are not for the fainthearted!

BEING a lawyer has certainly had its ups and downs, and I wouldn’t for a second say it’s all smooth sailing.

I have discovered that competing time commitments, dealing with client expectations and, of course, the high-stress situations of legal disputes and big-dollar deals are not for the faint-hearted!

Nevertheless, in my relatively short career, it has become plainly obvious that the benefits and opportunities of practising law are bountiful.

Snedden Hall & Gallop has been an excellent firm to work for, enabling me to find my feet, supporting and encouraging me. Without them, I would not have had a chance at

winning last year’s ACT Young Lawyer of the Year award.

The firm has a strong commitment to community values, being Canberra’s oldest independent law firm, and this is instilled in all staff members, from clerk to director, from day one.

This has made me realise that there is so much more to being a lawyer than just practising law. There’s a strong desire to “give back”: from working pro bono, to roles on community boards and consistent support for local charities.

I have had the pleasure of holding a role on the ACT Conservation Council’s board, where I have been able to apply my legal knowledge for a great cause, and have met some fantastic people along the way.

I’ve also had fun, with a team of lawyers from my office, organising a charity trivia night for Marymead. Being lawyers for local Canberra businesses, we had direct access to numerous clients who were only too happy to help out such a worthwhile cause.

I suppose that is the real lesson I have learned since I started practising law in Canberra: we are a vibrant business community – from florist to restaurant, and from builder to lawyer. So long as we all maintain our commitment to success and helping those in need, there’s no reason why everyone can’t enjoy a prosperous and enjoyable business life here in Canberra, even in tumultuous economic times!

Nick Tebbey is in his fourth year practising with Snedden Hall & Gallop in Deakin

CityNews May 13-19 17

news Fashion prize winner Cassandra Matthews... “I honestly didn’t think my design was the best. It was the first garment I’ve ever made.”

Photo by Silas

Fashion winner urges other teens to follow

By Kathryn Vukovljak BUDDING teenage fashion designers are being encouraged to enter the Apex Australia Teenage Fashion Awards by Canberra teenager Cassandra Matthews.

The 16-year-old was last year’s local and national winner, and says the experience was invaluable in terms of how much she learned.

“I gained self-confidence and made so many friends, and won an amazing sewing-machine overlocker,” she says. “Plus, it’s a real eyeopener to what it’s like working in the fashion industry.

“I was really surprised when I won, though. I honestly didn’t think my design was the best. It was the first garment I’ve ever made.”

The 16-year-old designed and modelled a neon-blue halterneck playsuit that she describes as “different, girly, and a bit out there. It had black and light-blue horizontal pinstripes, bright neon-blue cuffs and collar and a silver zip on the bodice.”

18 CityNews May 13-19

The awards are open to designers aged 13-19 who are required to design, manufacture and showcase their garment.

Troy Robbs, the National AATFA spokesperson, says that success in these awards can be a golden ticket to help students get their foot in the door of fashion houses.

“The awards are unique because they’re only open to secondary school students, which allows them to compete on a level playing field.”

Entries close on July 31, with the State finals on September 11. National finals will be held in Sydney on October 1-3.

“For me fashion is all about creativity,” says Cassandra. “It’s an easy way to express yourself and become an individual.

“I’ll be entering the awards again this year.

I’m learning so much about fabrics and what works with what.

“I’ve got nothing to lose and so much to gain.”

Enter at http://aatfa.apex.org.au/

all about living

arts | cinema | dining | fashion | health&fitness | home | puzzles

Singing from the heart COVER STORY

By Helen Musa “THE Laramie Project” is a celebrated documentary-drama originally created by Moises Kaufman, which conjures up the 1998 bashing-murder in Wyoming of 22-year-old gay student Matthew Shepherd. Now Canberra is about to see this searching look at “hate crime” for the first time.

The play is a documentary in the sense that it is made up entirely of transcripts from people in real-life Laramie.

“There are 55 different characters, though sometimes a character will have only one line,” Everyman Theatre’s Jarrad West tells me.

If there is a flaw in documentary theatre, it is that characters are often whitewashed after the event. Here the main character is the already dead Shepherd. He’s depicted by some witnesses as a wonderful human being but, West explains: “Others say he was a messed-up little boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and reacted stupidly… you get opinions from all people in the township.”

One of those witnesses is the character Jedadiah Schultz, a 19-year-old freshman theatre major at the University of Wyoming at the time of the murder, who wavers in his views in the play.

West took his cast on a Google Earth tour of Laramie and found it to be an absolute hole – “a depressing town, a railway town”.

Even the cosy-sounding Fireside Lounge, where Shepherd met his murderers Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson,

Arts editor HELEN MUSA talks to glamorous Dutch soprano Simone Riksman, who is going to be singing all around town during the Canberra International Music Festival.

WHEN I caught up with glamorous Dutch soprano Simone Riksman recently, she was just off a flight from Amsterdam.

She’s here to perform at the Canberra International Music Festival and the organisers were taking full advantage of the young star’s glowing presence by presenting her with a daunting run of performances.

After a Chopin concert at Tuggeranong Arts Centre on May 14, she will share the limelight at the National Portrait Gallery on May 17 with Therese Rein and Andrew Sayers. She will sing; they will be reading excerpts from Robert and Clara Schumanns’ creative diary.

Then on May 18 at the Kingston Fitter’s Workshop, known for its near-perfect acoustics, she will perform songs in “Chopin – Polish Heart.” That one’s giving her the jitters. “Polish is the hardest language I have had to tackle,” she says.

Perhaps Riksman’s musical piece de resistance will be the performance on May 22 of Gustav Mahler’s 4th Symphony.

She is an acknowledged Mahler expert, having sung with orchestras in Vienna, Prague and Holland.

You’d think that would be enough, but on May 23 Riksman will appear in “The Spirit of Water,” a program with a Dutch connection in the form of a composition

by Alphons Diepenbrock. “It’s a wonderful program about rivers,” she tells me, and, patriotism aside, it’s “Tyalgum Mantras” by Australia’s Ross Edwards that really captures her – “I totally adore his work…it’s very vocal.”

At 27, Riksman is coming into her maturity age as a singer. She completed postgraduate studies in 2007 at the Dutch National Opera Academy in Amsterdam

No romance in this wild west

Contiued page 21 Dutch soprano Simone Riksman... “I’m in the all-round business: Opera is the one choice that can pay the bills,” but “to sing in front of an audience in a recital is wonderful. You take the work you can get.”

Photo by Silas and now specialises in light lyric “ina” roles in Mozart, such as Despina and Zerlina, but she’s also having a go at “a powerful role,” Micaela from “Carmen”.

She has also been singing with the Dorset Opera and with the opera company in Switzerland’s ancient city of St Gallen, a career opportunity she describes as “great.”

“I’m in the all-round business,” Riksman tells me. “Opera is the one choice that can pay the bills,” but then again, “to sing in front of an audience in a recital is wonderful. You take the work you can get.”

As for the body of our music festival, artistic director of the event Chris Latham is thinking big. He describes his 2010 program as “a festival of Golden Music”.

Of the concert relating to water, he says “we aim to show, through music, how

golden a resource water truly is.”

Latham has scored several stunning programming coups, such as getting Rein and Sayers on-stage, securing China’s New Purple Forbidden City Orchestra and persuading Peter Sculthorpe to be the festival’s Composer Laureate. But do read the program carefully, as Latham’s mind runs ahead of most. A concert called “Myrrh,” for instance, turns out to feature works by Ross Edwards and John Tavener, and another called “Frankincense” involves compositions by Arvo Paert, Sculthorpe and Elena Kats-Chernin.

And just in case you didn’t get it, both Myrrh and Frankincense have a certain historical connection with Gold.

Full program at www.cimf.org.au/

CityNews May 13-19 19

arts&entertainment

Bicentenary tribute to Argentinean composer HERE’S something big. In Llewellyn Hall at 7.30pm on May 25, the Embassy of Argentina, the Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies and the ANU Canberra School of Music, are celebrating the Bicentenary of Argentina with a concert tribute to the eminent Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera. Musicians will include conductor Gary France, soprano Justine Anderson and virtuoso Argentine pianist Marcela Fiorillo. Bookings to 132849.

MORE Latin magic. ANCLAS is joining business and diplomatic partners to host a free film festival in Canberra at Manning Clarke Centre Theatre 4 at 6pm on each Monday and Wednesday during

bits. The exhibition presents a glimpse of the private lives of Australian couples and families through rare portrait photographs and paintings ARTS IN THE CITY from the 19th century.

By Helen Musa JIGSAW Theatre Company, 36 years old, is coping with its loss of ACT Department of Education May. All films have English subtitles, and wine and funding and the departure of former director food are provided after each screening.

Kate Shearer by setting up an artistic directorate.

THE National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibiExpressions of interest for appointment to tion “Husbands & Wives” runs until July 11. In the directorate are open until May 21 at 5pm. a cunning move, they’ve managed to program Email general manager, Rohan Shearn, rohan@ a lovely concert of music by husband and wife jigsawtheatre.com.au.

Robert and Clara Schumann for May 17, with a “BLUE” is an exhibition at Tuggeranong Arts well-known wife, Therese Rein, reading the Clara Centre until May 23 by two Canberra mums and

a mum-to-be. Karen Green, Gosia Orzechowska, and Roslyn McAlary say they’re showcasing their ideas of blue as a multi-dimensional colour evocative of emotion, environment, and identity. I wonder if it means one is expecting a boy? Open 10am-5pm Tuesday to Friday and 1pm-4pm weekends.

ON May 19, soprano Alexandra Dolman, of Bungendore, and School of Music graduate pianist Kylie Loveland, will perform Berg, Mahler, Strauss, Puccini, Offenbach and Skryabin in the Wesley Music Centre from 12.40pm to 1.20pm. Gosh, there’s even some Andrew Lloyd Webber thrown in. $2 with $1 for refreshments.

Romp hits the bullseye SUPA Productions have hit the bullseye with this first Canberra production of “Monty Python’s Spamalot”, a wonderfully silly romp about King Arthur’s search for the Holy Grail, which the creators, Eric Idle and John Du Prez, freely admit to having “lovingly ripped off from the motion picture”.

Ron Dowd’s bright, breezy production captures the raffish zaniness of the Monty Python style with colourful and cartoonish sets, witty, often outrageous costumes, and a loud and cheeky band under the direction of Rose Shorney.

Surrounded by stupidity, Max Gambale brings fine presence, an excellent baritone voice, and an endearing air of kingly confusion to his role as King Arthur. Will Huang steals almost every scene he is in, as Patsy, Arthur’s loyal and longsuffering manservant, and Louiza Blomfeld

COMEDY

“Monty Python’s Spamalot” Directed by Ron Dowd, musical direction by Rose Shorney. ANU Arts Centre until May 22.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens proves she’s every bit the Broadway diva, singing up a storm in a succession of striking outfits as the formidable Lady of the Lake.

The rest of the cast revel in multiple roles, with particularly memorable moments created

by Josef McGrail-Bateup as Sir Robin, leading the energetic ensemble through “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway”, Dave Smith as the argumentative Dennis, Michael Jordan as the French Taunter, and Darren Cullerne as Not Dead Fred.

Be warned: You could crack a rib laughing at this show.

Unfolding a beautiful dance IT is hard to imagine a more perfect vehicle than “We Unfold” for Sydney Dance Company’s new artistic director, Rafael Bonachela, to introduce his artistic vision, and the 16 stunning dancers who now make up the newly constituted company.

Danced to “Oceans”, an impressive, accessible and as-yet unpublished symphony by Italian composer Ezio Bosso, “We Unfold” is an hour-long abstract work which commences with all the dancers on stage, apparently nude, in silhouette against a video backdrop of shooting meteors.

The dancers clear the stage to be replaced by a single, tall, elegant dancer, who executes a series of dazzling motifs which set the style and mood for what is to follow. One by one other dancers, equally as elegant and athletic, repeat the motif or execute breath-taking variations, until the

20 CityNews May 13-19

DANCE

“We Unfold” Sydney Dance Company.

Canberra Playhouse, season ended Reviewed by Bill Stephens. stage is filled with leaping, tumbling bodies reminiscent of the shooting meteors behind them.

In different light, it is clear that the dancers are clad in Jordan Askill’s flesh-coloured costumes, those for the girls’ sprinkled with diamante. As the work continues, floaty smocks are added for the girls, shorts, trousers and shirts for the boys, creating an effect that is elegant, chic and sexy.

“We Unfold” is beautiful, and with his inventive choreography, Bonachela has set the bar high and whet the appetite for his future creations.

arts&entertainment CINEMA

By Dougal Macdonald

Unhappy but rewarding

“The White Band” (M)

MICHAEL Haneke’s much-awarded (Palme d’Or, Cannes 2009; Golden Globe 2009) study of a small rural German community in 1913/14 describes the social baseline of the population which Hitler later seduced into accepting his monstrous leadership.

Inexplicable events are claiming lives. The pastor denies affection to his family, punishing his two oldest children by making them wear white ribbons symbolising the purity he expects them to achieve. The doctor hates the midwife, who before his wife’s death bore him an intellectually impaired son. In the Schloss, the Baroness no longer loves her remote, unimaginative husband.

The schoolmaster, courting the governess to the Baron’s children and from old age providing the film’s narration, while essentially compassionate, is careful not to disturb the established order.

Black and white images deliver convincing characterisations of impoverished, uneducated labouring people little removed from feudal serfdom, still strongly influenced by custom, obeying community decision makers without question. The narrative develops slowly, ponderously, until two of the film’s important women move to make changes.

Extrapolating the origins of terrorism from careful observations of time and place, Haneke is deeply aware of the human condition among the villagers. “The White Ribbon” is not a happy film but people of good conscience and compassion should find it rewarding.

At Dendy

“Soul Kitchen” (MA)

“The Laramie Project”... documentary in the sense that it is made up entirely of transcripts from people in real-life Laramie.

From page 19 proved to be in reality to be a nasty ‘60s-style grey building.

There is no romance in this western.

West is plainly relieved that he’s got such experienced actors on stage, with Tony Turner, Duncan Ley and Dave Evans in the male line-up and very experienced female performers such as Fiona Atkins, Jessica Brent, Micky Beckett and Steph Roberts.

“The Laramie Project”, The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre, May 20-29. Bookings to 6275 2700.

WINNERS

Three weekend double passes to the Canberra International Music Festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 14-16 have been won by Jacqui Britton of Isabella Plains, Margaret Wylks, Holder and Cindy Zhan of Braddon.

EARNING a modest income serving junk-food to regular customers in a converted shed beside an abandoned railway line in Hamburg’s port district, Zinos (Adam Bousdoukos, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Fatih Akin) agrees to employ his no-good brother Ilias during day release from prison. Zinos wants to waft off to China with Nadine, but there are problems.

This energetic comedy by unfolds among the city’s hedonistic young. Threatened with closure by the health department and in debt to the city tax office, Zinos engages qualified chef Shayn. Business picks up. Neumann wants to buy the property for development. Zinos after a fall takes his sore back to the beauteous chiropractor Anna for adjustment.

Young Cinema Award winner at the 2009 Venice Film Festival “Soul Kitchen” is frenetic, often funny, sometimes tense. If its screenplay was always logical, there would be nothing left. Its restaurant setting is reticent about food, enthusiastic about liquor. A dessert overloaded with nutmeg leads to an orgy. The music is loud and hot. Enough said!

At Dendy

“I Love You Too” (M) DIRECTOR Daina Reid and writer Peter Helliar both come from careers in network TV which may explain why this little Aussie rom-com lacks grip in its structure and execution.

Nevertheless, it’s worth a view because of a dwarf. Peter Dinklage, by any measure a genuine star of whom you’ve probably never heard, plays Charlie, owner of the car in which drunken, unhappy Jim (Brendan Cowell) dosses down.

Why is Jim unhappy? Because Alice (Yvonne Strahovski) is about to return to Britain after waiting 3½ years to hear him say “Yes, I love you”.

Jim’s worst problem is rampant ocker Blake (Peter Helliar wearing another hat), a best mate whom Jim, not the sharpest pencil in the box, hasn’t yet realised would be better kept at arm’s length.

Two characters bring rationality to a screenplay thrashing around in search of a more convincing raison d’etre. Jim’s sister (Bridie Carter) still does his laundry but intends to stop when the baby arrives. And his new-found good friend Charlie is a powerful guiding light as Jim grapples with his emotional issues.

All the players do well, Dinklage more than the rest. So it’s unfortunate that the material and the staging don’t measure up.

At Dendy, Greater Union and Hoyts Woden CityNews May 13-19 21

dining

Café meal with a view THERE is no doubt that the view is one of the prettiest in Canberra. I am talking about the Deck at Regatta Point, which overlooks the lake, the Captain Cook Memorial jet fountain, the High Court, the National Carillion, Mount Pleasant and beyond.

It is no surprise that the café has an enormous deck so customers can soak up the view – Canberrans and tourists alike. Big umbrellas protect you

22 CityNews May 13-19

DINING

By Wendy Johnson from the sun and a glass barrier protects you somewhat from the wind.

But on to the food: This is definitely a café, which serves breakfast and lunch all day, with a menu that appears to be designed around catering to the masses. We did not find unique or highly creative dishes as a result.

On the menu were basic pizzas, pastas, burgers, a chicken Caesar salad, an open steak sandwich and more.

The kids’ menu is for those under 12 and all dishes are $9.50 – mini pancakes, chicken nuggets and fish and chips.

My friend went for the

The Deck at Regatta Point... diners can soak up the view.

Photo by Silas crumbed chicken topped with Both the fish and accompanysmoked ham, cheese and a ing chips were beer battered, napoli sauce, served with beer- which was a bit much for my battered chips ($24.50). It was preference, especially for lunch a massive piece of chicken, but ($24.50). The fish was fine my friend thought it was tasty and I have to say the potatoes and managed to work her way used to make the chips must through most of the meal. have been gigantic since some I ordered the deep-fried were as long as the fillets flathead fish with tartare sauce. themselves.

Both meals came with a garden salad and we agreed the balsamic dressing was too generous and strong, drowning out the flavour of the vegetables and resulting in limp lettuce.

I wouldn’t write home about the wine list – either whites or reds, which start at $6.50 a glass and top off at $9.50. The selection of Aussie beers is better and two imported beers are on offer also.

The Deck at Regatta Point is a popular spot for weddings and functions, with its spacious interior transforming itself for almost any occasion.

To help fend off the coming winter chills, the Deck is offering a special cocktail party menu (the two-hour event is $45 a person based on a minimum of 60 guests).

Another winter special is a three-course diner menu ($75 a person). And, finally, there’s a breakfast seminar special for business functions.

The Deck at Regatta Point is on Barrine Drive, Parkes.

Open 7 days, 9am to 5pm.

6230 7234.

fashion

Etic Gallotti leather jacket, $1680, Escala.

The look is all about leather WHO cares what you wear underneath when all eyes will be on outerwear this season? Top off your outfit with a beautiful leather coat and fabulous boots and you can’t go wrong.

Luxuriate and stay snug in buttery-soft leather, accent with co-ordinating accessories and add a touch of fierce leopard print to instantly update your look.

–Kathryn Vukovljak Achille Pinto leopard print scarf, $169, Escala.

Amneris boots, $695, Furla.

Medea bag, $990, Furla.

Leopard print hat, $35, Sybil’s Closet by Danielle.

Crochetta gloves, $169, Escala.

CityNews May 13-19 23

24 CityNews May 13-19

health&fitness

Weight loss is about lifestyle change LOSING weight is a process, a lifestyle change, according to Body Basics personal trainer Matthew Quixley – and it doesn’t happen overnight.

Personal trainer Matthew Quixley... “I see so many people to tell me they eat well and exercise... but they’re not losing weight.”

MD0637-V3

“I see so many people to tell me they eat well and exercise… but they’re not losing weight,” he says.

“They try this workout off that website, and that diet from this book, and yet their waistline is the same week to week. They become unmotivated, and put the reason that they tried to lose weight at the back of their minds.”

So how do you make sure your weight-loss strategies last in the long-term?

“There are always going to be days when you might want to eat fast food or skip a training session,” says Matthew. “It’s these days that are the hardest, and if you can get through them, the others will seem like a breeze.”

According to Matthew, once you realise that the process is a lifestyle change, not just a weight change, it will fall into place.

“It can be a daunting process that takes time, patience and persistence,” he says. “There can be numerous physical, mental and emotional barriers that might be hard to overcome, but once you push through the results will be great and you will find yourself stronger in all aspects of your life.”

Re-evaluate your goals or set goals if you haven’t, he suggests.

“Taking the 30 minutes to sit down and set long and shortterm health and fitness goals with a personal trainer, and making yourself accountable to them, can make a huge difference to what you achieve and how quickly you achieve it,” he says.

Don’t forget you have already done the hardest part, Matthew says, which is starting the weight-loss journey.

“Now you just have to work on it! Once you find some exercises or sports that you enjoy, and an eating plan that you can actually follow that doesn’t make you feel guilty, the unbelievable impact it makes will speak for itself,” he says.

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Win a collagen facial pack “CityNews” has one LonVitalite Collagen Protein Wrinkle-Removing Mask pack and one Collagen Protein Firming Mask pack, valued at $200 each, to give away.

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The first application will be done in the Innovative Hair and Body salon on Northbourne Avenue, and the remaining four treatments can be done at home.

Details and entry instructions are at www.citynews.com.au/competitions

CityNews May 13-19 25

home

Gorgeous gloss… “Some people feel it can be hard to keep clean, although most are willing to sacrifice the extra time because they love the look so much!”

Island in the heart of the kitchen

By Kathryn Vukovljak IF the kitchen is the heart of the home, then the island bench is the heart of the kitchen, according to Lorraine Brigdale, Laminex Design Centre manager.

“Island benches are a popular addition to a kitchen,” she says. “Our lifestyle these days lends itself to having a central space around which people can gather.”

It’s a place where guests can sit on a bar stool and chat while you work, where kids do their homework, where family members grab a snack, according to Lorraine. It also provides a visual function as well – and this is where layout design comes in.

With the trend for open-plan living, the island bench can act as a full-stop, delineating where the kitchen stops and the living or

dining room starts, Lorraine says.

If the main pieces of furniture are in the kitchen and family room, then this will need to be taken into consideration, too.

“Colour selection for kitchen cupboards and bench tops will have to co-ordinate with the rest of the room,” she says. “The bench top can either be an accent piece or work in synergy with the rest of the kitchen.”

The current trend is for layering scale, colour and texture, says Lorraine. “Layering can create an interesting interior landscape.”

Lorraine says that any colour goes – “Just choose what you love” – but gloss is currently the most popular style.

“Some people feel it can be hard to keep clean, although most are willing to sacrifice the extra time because they love the look so much!” she says.

Inspiration in online shop

26 CityNews May 13-19

Whether trying to track down French provincial style, antique, contemporary or designer furniture, buyers can now search online from the collections of over 1,000 furniture retailers all on one website, www.connectfurniture.com.au, according to “Domestic Blitz” interior designer, Chontelle Samios (pictured).

“ConnectFurniture will take away the arduous process of trekking from store to store to find the perfect piece, and not always finding exactly what you’re looking for,” says Chontell, who launched the site.

“With Australian furniture retailers visible in the one place, buyers will be able to enter their exact criteria including size, shape, colour, style and price, and find retailers based on products they stock and their location.”

your week in the stars

With Joanne Madeline Moore May 17-23

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Avoid the temptation to fly off the handle this week – especially with testing teenagers and fractious friends. Steer clear of controversial topics, as you’ll have trouble hiding your true feelings. The weekend favours tackling practical DIY projects as you make your home a more cozy, comfortable and creative place to be.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Taureans are a tenacious lot – but you can also be incredibly intractable, as your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes become set in stone. With Mercury in your sign (until June 10) you’re even more stubborn than usual. Take on board the wise words of Edward de Bono (born on May 19): “If you never change your mind, why have one?”

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

Twins are fabulous talkers, but you’re not so good at listening.

This week’s stars encourage you to slow down and observe what’s going on around you, as you pay close attention to what other people are saying. As the Sun shimmies into your sign, it’s your time to shine and show the world how talented and versatile you really are.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

Voluptuous Venus sashays into your sign (until June 14) so prepare to be at your flirtatious best as you dazzle others with your ample Cancerian charms. Attached Crabs – if you try to control or manipulate your partner, you’re in for a tumultuous week. Singles – now’s the perfect time to jump into the pool of love. The water’s just fine!

general knowledge crossword No. 261 Across

Down

1 To reach one's maturity is to do what (4,2)?

8 To which animal class does the cow belong?

9 Which word means "oxlike"?

10 What is a non-commissioned army officer?

11 What does it mean, to be exacting in requirements, etc?

12 What was the first name of the Persian poet, ... Khayyam?

13 Which word is used for ships' prisons?

16 Name another term for vassals.

19 What describes any of the large brown seaweeds?

21 Informally, what does it mean to be self-assertive?

22 Name an alternative word for an actor.

23 To be of little breadth is to be what?

24 Which rich sweet white table wine is produced near Bordeaux, France?

25 To separate the grain from a cereal plant by heating is to what?

2 Name the male of the domestic fowl.

3 Which species of estuarine and surf fishes is prized for sport and table?

4 In music, what describes "in quick tempo"?

5 What is a special name given to returned soldiers?

6 Which alternative term is used for a dead body?

7 What do we call representations of persons or animals carved in stone, wood or the like?

13 Name a member of a particular Christian faith.

14 To be of the nature of fire is to be what?

15 What is another term for the captain of a ship?

17 Which different word describes a supreme ruler?

18 Name the imperial units of depth, equal to six feet.

20 What is a small container for strawberries?

1

2

3

4

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

No one will be able to live up to your incredibly high standards this week, and loved ones won’t appreciate you pointing out their shortcomings (at regular intervals!) Try to keep criticism – no matter how ‘constructive’ – to yourself. Some Virgos will enjoy planning a future holiday, or communicating with a loved one from overseas.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

6

7

9 10 11 12 13

14

15 19

16

17

18

20 21

22

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

Librans love luxury, but do you really need a lot of material glitz and glamour to make you happy? Perhaps it’s time to downsize your lifestyle? For the sake of your stretched bank balance – and the environment. Be inspired by birthday great Bertrand Russell: “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”

5

8

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Don’t accept things at face value – or be seduced by false flattery – this week. Look beneath the surface gloss (and sugarcoated words) to discover what’s really going on. Mighty Mars is charging you up with extra energy so make sure you utilise the power surge constructively. Friday favours independent projects, freedom and adventure.

Solution next week

23 24 25

Sudoku hard No.31

Solution next week

“Keep moving forward and don’t look back” should be your current mantra. With proactive Mars in your career zone (until June 7) you’re full of initiative as you take the lead at work. If you are looking for employment you need to be one step ahead of the pack, which means searching out jobs before they are advertised.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Sassy Sagittarians are in a sunny mood this week, but what’s wrong with everyone else? It will take a lot of effort and enthusiasm to get others going (especially on the weekend) so perhaps it would be best to stick to solo projects. If you combine passion with persistence, then you’ll have a wonderful week.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Saturn (your ruling planet) and Jupiter are at odds this week so it will be difficult to get the ratio right between work and play.

Being a workaholic is not the answer! Make sure you set aside plenty of time for rest and relaxation – especially on Sunday.

Balance is the key. Single Goats – don’t spoil your romantic chances by being too business-like.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

You’ll feel super idealistic this week, as you strive to make the world a better place. Don’t get so carried away that you forget your nearest and dearest though. Sometimes it’s best to start your charitable work in your own backyard! Love at first sight is likely for some singles – but is it really love, or just a brief and thrilling fantasy?

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Expect your creativity and intuition to go through the roof, which is good news for artistic and spiritual souls. But don’t overdo it, otherwise you’ll slip into fantasy-land where problems are avoided; nothing gets done; and you could be taken for a ride. Sometimes there’s a fine line between being romantic and Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2010. being unrealistic!

Solutions

Sudoku medium No.31

Crossword No.260 W L G S H R I N E I Q N A T T U N E T E R L U I F E R R I C A A N N A M E S A A A H T I D E O V I A R C E N O T A

R A P A E U R E O E N T U S N K E A B E R T R P H

P L A O S A T G N H E E X A C G O W N

E R I I S I E N G R S E Q U S I E L M

CityNews May 13-19 27

property

Green ways to avoid office issues CANBERRA’S latest wave of office buildings will largely avoid the difficulties that the overall office market is set to suffer over the next 12 months.

With ACT vacancy rates expected to reach 11 per cent during 2011, landlords of older office towers are increasingly nervous about their tenants being lured to newer, more environmentally friendly stock.

Many Commonwealth organisations are still in office facilities that have average, and in some cases, poor energy efficiency credentials. As a result there will be continued pressure to move to better accommodation over the coming two to three years.

According to Michael Ceacis, associate director, government services at Colliers International, this market dynamic presents new opportunities for enterprising landlords.

“Property owners which are acting now to improve the NABERS rating of their office buildings will be in a considerably better position to deal with leasing market changes ahead,” he says.

The ‘60s office tower at 221 London Circuit, formerly known as Actew AGL House, is one example that is being transformed to meet new tenant expectations.

Local property developer Molonglo Group is planning a significant base building upgrade and expecting to obtain energy savings of 45 per cent on completion. By incorporating a number of measures including replacement of the building’s air-conditioning system, window modifications

28 CityNews May 13-19

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

By Tim Humphrey

and solar panels, it should achieve a 4.5 star National Australian Built Environment Rating System rating.

The redevelopment will be targeted primarily at the private sector as well as small government users. it will offer floor plates of 740sqm over 11 floors and asking rentals range from $385 to $430 per sqm.

Current occupier ActewAGL is planning to relocate to its own new premises at 6 Mort Street in June and will itself be looking to achieve a five-star NABERS rating.

Paul Wheatley, group manager, facilities and services at ActewAGL is planning his organisation’s upcoming relocation. He agrees that the environmental credentials of its new building were definitely a factor in the building-selection process.

“Our new premises will offer a five-star NABERS rating both in terms of the fit out and the base building itself. ActewAGL’s own HQ energy savings will be considerable.”

Tim Humphrey is editor of “Property Daily”, a market news and intelligence service focused on commercial property markets nationally. www.propertydaily.com.au

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