CityNews 210506

ROBERT MACKLIN / ASTRAZENECA… WHY I CAN’T WAIT FOR MY SECOND SHOT How the planners are failing Canberra

PAUL COSTIGAN

Can the Libs shake off the conservative tag?

MICHAEL MOORE

Clock runs against confession clues in old murder case

NICHOLE OVERALL MAY 6, 2021

Better together

What happens when orthopedic surgeon DAMIAN SMITH and physiotherapist KRISTEN STEELE share the care

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NEWS / Modified Rugby Program

Rugby puts the ball into new and excited hands

By Belinda

STRAHORN EACH weekend, scores of children flock to ovals to play sport, but spare a thought for those who find joining a team challenging.

However, in the ACT, a modified version of rugby union is going from strength to strength, with kids with learning and perceptual disabilities participating in a national pastime.

For 24-year-old Nick Townsend, playing modified rugby on Saturday morning is the highlight of his week.

Nick’s dad, Vince, never thought he would see his son, who has a rare genetic disorder, don a jersey, and play in a team.

“You can’t wipe the smile off his face,” Vince said.

“It’s been great for Nick, he’s very social, he doesn’t talk much but he communicates in his own way and he understands everything you say to him.”

Two years ago, Nick was diagnosed with Skraban-Deardorff syndrome, an intellectual disability affecting a small number of people worldwide.

A true rugby tragic, you’ll find Nick at every Queanbeyan Whites game

INDEX

cheering from the sideline.

Being able to get involved in a game he’d only ever been able to watch before has made a huge difference.

“It’s a great environment, Nick is very much accepted here, and it’s good for the parents to get together, too,” said Vince.

The Modified Rugby Program (MRP) was founded in 2014 by Brisbane-based GingerCloud Foundation.

The world-first concept is a form of touch rugby with shorter games, little tackling and a reduced field size.

GingerCloud managing director Megan Elliott, co-founded MRP with her husband Anthony, to give their son Max, who has autism, the opportunity to play sport.

The couple understands how much it means for children and their families to be included and play rugby just like everyone else.

“My husband Anthony would drive past our local rugby club in Brisbane each weekend in winter and see the kids in our neighbourhood playing rugby and we weren’t a part of that,” said Megan.

Starting with one team, MPR has developed to include 14 clubs in four different cities, including Canberra, with hundreds of players and mentors.

“It’s been life changing for Max,” Megan said.

“This is a child who at one point, be-

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Modified Rugby Program mentors and participants at a training session at Viking Park, from left, Jonty Godfrey, Nathan Hackett, Nick Townsend and, front, Lillie Ferris.

Photo: Belinda Strahorn cause of his disability, had never been able to participate in a team sport.

“Now his confidence and ability to communicate with others is amazing.”

Vikings Rugby is running the Canberra-based MRP, which pairs players with mentors who support the boys and girls on the field, giving them tips on where to throw and run.

Vikings’ player Nathan Hackett, 19, is one of the mentors.

“I have a brother who is disabled

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so it comes naturally to me to want to help out,” Nathan said.

“It warms your heart seeing the kids having a go, laughing and enjoying themselves.”

Jonty Godfrey, 18, has been playing rugby since he was eight years old. He said being a mentor feels good.

“It makes your day when you see the kids smile,” Jonty said.

“Knowing they are getting the same opportunities to play rugby as we do,

makes you feel really good.”

The rules of rugby have been adjusted to suit the needs of kids with disabilities, who until now found playing rugby too hard.

“We show the kids how to pass and kick a footy and get a better understanding of the game,” Nathan said.

Ten-year-old Lillie Ferris has Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, a condition that affects her hearing, eyesight and ability to communicate.

Lillie’s nanna and full-time carer Karen Syphers sums up how special the program is for her granddaughter.

“Lillie absolutely loves it,” Karen said.

“It’s helping her fine motor skills and with muscle development, too.”

Friendships have been forged, Karen said, and everyone bonds over a shared passion for rugby.

“A lot of people think rugby is rough, but it’s not like that, the game has been modified for these kids to make it fun,” said Karen.

“We are like one big happy family here and it doesn’t matter if your kid has a meltdown, everyone is accepted, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Rugby Australia has endorsed the MRP as a new division of rugby in Australia.

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SEVEN DAYS

Lee ruffles Ratters as Libs’ sap starts to rise IT was great sport to see Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee ruffle the feathers of Greens leader, government minister and antigas man Shane Rattenbury in the Assembly the other day.

Ratters had been nudged to admit that the spanking new $300 million Civic office block, built to house 1100 ACT public servants, is powered by… (oh, no; oh, yes) gas!

Despite contradicting his own government’s (subsequent) policy on smart energy, the ACT has signed a 20-year lease with an additional option of a further five years that could lock in the power source for up to 2046.

Given he’ll be 76 when the lease expires, there’s a bleakly amusing irony that the Greens leader will see out his political career in an office heated in winter and cooled in summer by reviled gas. Only losing an election, it seems, will save him.

Ratters accused the opposition leader of, imagine, trying to make nothing but a “political point” on the floor of the Assembly.

“The Liberal Party have done things like say that, ‘Mr Rattenbury is going to come to your house and rip out your gas heating system’ – they have actually said that,” he complained.

“That is not government policy. What we are saying to people is when your gas reaches the end of its useful life, which it will, replace it with an all-electric system.

“It’s better for the planet and it’s actually

better for your bills.”

We could feel his pain when he bemoaned: “That is a source of frustration for me”, especially given his own party’s policy states: “This government leadership will make it easier for private developers to transition to gas-free developments by ensuring that all newly leased government buildings are electric”. It’s not easy being Green.

BUT Ms Lee sparked another thought that there’s a political story unfolding in front of us, one headline at a time. The short version is: Political shock – Canberra Libs behave like an opposition.

There’s conventional wisdom that says oppositions can’t win government in the first two years of a four-year term, but they can lose it.

I get the sense that leader Lee is setting out to turn that theory on its head and not give the Labor/Greens coalition time to get cosily back to indifferent business as usual.

And won’t our local democracy be the better for it?

She is modelling herself as a voice of reason, but directing her team to keep prodding the government on issues that drive the community insane.

This past week she released a 600-response survey from the electorate that suggested e-scooters were welcome, but in the absence of any leadership or interest from the government, were being ridden too fast.

Before that she sought an inquiry into

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It’s me, isn’t it? Never mind the plastic bags, I’m waiting for our progressive government to save us from those pesky barcode stickers supermarkets seem to delight at putting on fruit, especially apples. Millions must get eaten every year. They’re made of coated paper, oil-based ink and glue.

There’s got to be a health hazard in there somewhere. systemic racism at the AMC and, more recently, presented a Bill to the ACT Legislative Assembly to explicitly outlaw stealthing – the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex.

The post-election Liberal activism seemed to start during summer when new member Leanne Castley, a self-described “political human wrecking ball”, started smashing it for the people of Yerrabi by championing repairs to Gungahlin’s problem-plagued pool.

It hasn’t stopped. Mark Parton (Brindabella) has been pushing the government on maintenance of public housing; Jeremy Hanson (Murrumbidgee) has accused the Education Directorate of hiding the extent of issues with lead contamination and asbestos in schools; Peter Cain (Ginninderra) has stood up for unaddressed community concerns around the upgrades to Kippax Fair shopping centre, promised by the ACT government in 2014; Giulia Jones (Murrumbidgee) took on the government over increasing burnout rates among hospital doctors and Elizabeth Kikkert (Ginninderra) has been highlighting the ACT’s shameful incarceration ratio for indigenous prisoners at the AMC. “CITYNEWS” columnist and author Robert Macklin has written an unusual piece this week extolling the virtues of the controversial AstraZeneca vaccine. Since having the first jab, he says he’s enjoying a very welcome side effect.

Rob has a polite version of emphysema, a respiratory blight caused by smoking, which he quit 30 years ago. He is disciplined in keeping fit and taking “preventer” puffers to keep the discomfort at bay.

I hate to scoop him, but since having the jab he’s breathing better. He explains what’s happening on Page 10, but since writing the

column he’s emailed to say: “We’re down the coast now where I take my morning walk, only a kilometre, but up a very sharp hill.

“It had been a struggle in the past, but today was much easier than I expected.

“I realise the human mind is a precision instrument of self-delusion, but the positive side-effect does appear to be continuing.”

Here’s a man who can’t wait for the second jab!

AND in another burst of covid quirkiness: as the world is convulsed by sickness and dying, a funeral director of my fond acquaintance was mournfully telling me the Australian death rate was currently down 2.5 per cent.

Happily, that’s a number only an undertaker could bemoan. For the rest of us, lockdowns, hand washing and staying home has kept us away from viruses, off the roads and out of misadventure.

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

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May is ME/CFS Month ME/CFS is a very poorly understood, hard to diagnose, and harder to live with disease.

ME/CFS ACT has recently amalgamated with Arthritis ACT and Pain Support ACT to form ‘Build a Better Me’ – although we’re really happy to be ME/CFS ACT to you. We amalgamated so that we could provide better services to people with, and people caring for those with ME/CFS in the ACT and region.

We offer many services including self-help programs, programs to help you link up with others who are in a similar situation as you, as well as a full suite of Allied Health supports for those of you who need assistance. We also have a program for teens and young adults who are living with fatiguing illnesses and a parallel program for their carers.

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NEWS

Belco Party plans to keep more bastards honest

By Belinda

STRAHORN UNDETERRED by the party’s less-than-spectacular result at October’s territory election, in which it failed to get a single candidate elected, the Belco Party is heading east and south with new branches.

Intent on building on its slim electoral support across the community, it will form branches in the Gungahlinbased electorate of Yerrabi and the Tuggeranong-based seat of Brindabella, adding to its already established branch in the Belconnen-based electorate of Ginninderra.

Former Canberra Liberal leader Bill Stefaniak has confirmed he won’t be re-contesting as a Belco Party candidate for the next ACT election, but will remain as convenor of the expanded Belco Party (ACT).

Retaining its recent campaign catchcry, “keep the bastards honest”, lifted from Don Chipp’s Democrats, the Belco Party aims to drive a wedge between Labor and the Greens and smash what convenor Stefaniak sees as an unholy alliance between the two.

The former lawyer argues that a Greens-influenced Labor government

8 CityNews May 6-12, 2021

is not in the territory’s best interests and more independents need to offer themselves up as candidates.

“We now have a monopoly of a Labor/Greens coalition, which is as rock solid as the Liberal Nationals are federally,” Mr Stefaniak said.

“How are you going to break that in this town unless you get some good independents?

“If nothing changes, we may never see a change of government for the next 20 years.”

In a bold move some three-and-ahalf years out from the next ACT election, a party that received only 9.4 per cent of total votes cast in Ginninderra at the election, is already looking to field candidates across the three electorates of Ginninderra, Yerrabi and Brindabella.

Mr Stefaniak has not entirely ruled out fielding candidates in the remaining two electorates of Murrumbidgee and Kurrajong.

Referring to the newly formed subbranches as the “Gunners” branch and the “Tuggers” branch, the party has made two unusual choices for branch presidents.

The Tuggeranong branch president is Jason Potter, a former ACT Federation Party candidate for Brindabella.

Mr Potter, a school counsellor, is motivated to improve mental health resources across the territory.

“It’s cheaper to drive to Sydney and

From left, Greg Burke, Bill Stefaniak and Jason Potter at the Tuggeranong town centre.

Photo: Belinda Strahorn back again to see a psychiatrist, than it is to attend a one-hour $750 session with a psychiatrist in Canberra,” Mr Potter said.

“It’s the same story with paediatric psychiatry in Canberra. It’s an incredibly under-resourced service, there is one registered paediatric psychiatrist at the hospital in Belconnen whose books are closed.”

Beyond advocating for mental health services, Mr Potter is passionate about grassroots issues in Tuggeranong, such as heavy traffic on

roads around schools.

The Gungahlin branch president is Greg Burke, a former jockey, who fears for the future of the thoroughbred racing industry in the ACT, claiming it will fold if steps are not taken to reinvigorate the sport.

“Racing is the third biggest industry and the fourth and fifth biggest employer in Australia,” Mr Burke said.

“In Canberra, the industry employs some 500 people, but with the Greens’ power, we don’t know what’s going to happen to the industry.

“There’s no racing minister, they have taken it off the portfolio,” he said.

“Shane Rattenbury is the gaming minister and the attorney-general, which is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house, so I don’t know what is going to happen.”

Canberra blues singer Angela Lount, who ran on the Belco Party’s ticket at the last ACT election, is president of the Belconnen branch.

While the party was criticised for taking votes away from the Liberal Party, it seems the Belco Party is targeting old-fashioned, socially conservative Labor voters, whom Mr Stefaniak believes are uncomfortable with a left-leaning progressive government that seems to be promoting further radical policies.

“We are a party that takes in good, old, solid, right-wing Labor conservative values, which they have ditched for inner-city trendies,” said Mr Stefaniak.

“Obviously people like myself have more of a Liberal conservative bent, but essentially we represent mainstream ACT people in the suburbs.”

Notwithstanding a stronger showing at the next election, the Belco Party would still be relying on a stable flow of preferences to secure any seats in the Assembly.

“We will be making sure we sort out our preferences much better than last time, because that was all over the shop,” Mr Stefaniak said.

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THE GADFLY

AstraZeneca… I can’t wait for my second shot ON March 29 I had my first AstraZeneca shot, a little ahead of schedule because for the last three years I’ve been engaged in a rear-guard action against Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – COPD – a polite version of emphysema.

It’s caused by smoking. I quit 30 years ago, but them’s the breaks.

Since the onset, I’ve kept it stabilised through the regular use of a couple of “preventer” puffers and a commitment to exercise – daily laps of our 10-metre pool and 15 minutes on the rowing machine for almost eight months a year and lots of walking in winter.

The condition has its natural ups and downs. That’s when I take medically prescribed steroid pills or antibiotics for a few days to return to COPD normality. My GP is pleased that we’ve held it reasonably in check.

In the few days immediately after my AstraZeneca shot, I was suddenly aware that my lungs felt much more expansive. The 50 laps in the pool – previously a bit of a struggle towards the end – were easy as pie.

However, in the few days immediately after my AstraZeneca shot, I was suddenly aware that my lungs felt much more expansive. The 50 laps in the pool – previously a bit of a struggle towards the end – were easy as pie.

I kept going and only stopped at 65 because I thought I should stay with the regime. My condition remained like this for more than a week before gradually beginning to taper, though I’m still doing the 50 with absolute ease.

On April 8, with some hesitation I made a Facebook post to discover if any other COPD sufferer might have

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Line them up… columnist Robert Macklin can’t wait for his next shot of AstraZeneca. had a similar experience. I have only about 250 active FB “friends” and only one reported the same effect publicly while another did so privately.

However, a third one – a longtime friend in the real world – had a cousin in the UK who also had COPD and she told her of my experience.

The cousin and I began in journalism together all those years ago and she decided to report it to the UK Lung Foundation “chat line” there to see if it was worth following up.

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And here’s the good news: she had 41 replies, which included no fewer than eight positives. Two typical samples: 1. “I had a choice and chose AstraZeneca. I don’t know why but I’m great and breathing definitely improved.

Could be a coincidence but I’ll take that… I have bronchiectasis, which has also been amazingly good. I told my consultant thinking she would laugh at me, but she said that she and her colleagues had several patients with different lung conditions reporting the same.”

2. “I have received both AstraZeneca jabs. When I went for my first vaccination I struggled into the vaccination centre and was really breathless.

Second time I strolled in and out no problem. My respiratory team said they have noticed a change in me and I am out and about and not needing oxygen as much. Long may it continue.

I had my second jab on a Thursday and on the weekend I was flying. I even did garden work without my oxygen pack. But I struggled again on Monday. Although I’m not that good I’ve noticed my oxygen levels are higher and haven’t used the oxygen very much.”

These reports are, of course, totally unscientific. As I said in the initial post, I only mentioned it because I saw a news item about a bloke who had long-term covid and reported similar effects from his vaccination. And I guess it makes some kind of sense since the vaccine targets the respiratory system.

But since AstraZeneca has been blamed for blood clots affecting less than 1 in 250,000, it’s probably worth a larger, scientific review to see if these reports have a wider – and this time beneficial – application. COPD sufferers around the world would certainly breathe easier.

Can’t wait for my second shot! robert@robertmacklin.com

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A second opinion on hearing loss – you need professional advice, not a sales pitch An elderly woman with hearing loss came to my clinic for a second opinion, after she had recently been to a hearing aid sales person.

I found the cause of her hearing loss was simply the fact that she had build-up of wax in her ears, the salesperson had failed to inspect them. You might be surprised how often this happens!

Recently I was told by two different patients that they were quoted $16,000 for a pair of hearing aids.

This seems a ridiculous amount of money to pay and is most likely not appropriate for the majority of people (or possibly anyone).

5. If you are a pensioner or partpensioner, or a DVA gold or white card holder, you should carefully consider if you want to use the Here are some things to free-to-client government do to avoid getting hearing aids or if you’d ripped off: “In an like to top-up to a unregulated market different hearing aid.

1. A visit to the GP may save you there is a lot of opportunity The free-to-client from being ‘sold’ to take advantage of people. hearing aids are something appropriate for many when your only Yes you have read correctly, problem is wax there is no licensing of people people, however if you have great in your ears. who sell hearing aids.” difficulty hearing background noise (for 2. Look for – Dr Vass example in restaurants) someone who is then you might trial the independent and top-up hearing aids, but only can offer you unbiased if you can afford them. There are advice, not just give you a a range of top up options and prices, sales pitch. if you are disappointed after a trial, you should return them and trial the free-to3. There are a range of hearing aid client hearing aids. prices. Finding the right hearing aid might save you money and it will If you get the feeling the person also give you the best chance of you’re dealing with is just trying to success. sell you something, then take a step back and get a second opinion.

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NEWS / chronic fatigue syndrome

Fatigue has Cath ‘wading through concrete’

By Nick

OVERALL CATH Lawrence was once a full-time statistical programmer, a choir singer and a yoga enthusiast, but a chronic fatigue diagnosis seven years ago means that now even taking a shower can leave her exhausted.

“It feels like you’re wading through concrete,” says Cath, 59.

“I have to spend most of my day laying down. I’ve had to cut my hair because it can be too exhausting to brush.

“On particularly bad days I can be really thirsty and I’m unable to physically lift a glass of water.”

For decades chronic fatigue was called the “yuppie flu”, with some believing it’s merely a case of feeling tired or burned out.

“There can be a misunderstanding that it’s being lazy, there’s a level of dismissal that sets things back a long way,” says Cath.

But this May 12 will see the annual Chronic Fatigue Syndrome International Awareness Day take place, an event that aims to bring understanding to how life altering the condition can really be.

“I was working and was active so-

Cath Lawrence... “I miss being able to work. That loss of independence is a very sad thing.”

Robyn Harris… “There’s no silver bullet but there are strategies to help manage.”

cially and musically, and you really define yourself by these things, you define yourself by what you do,” says Cath.

“When you lose that you can feel like nothing. It’s mentally hard to try to find value in yourself that isn’t about your jobs or activities.”

The condition is estimated to affect around one per cent of the Australian population, with onset often following a trigger.

For Cath, the trigger was a respiratory illness.

“The acute symptoms of the respiratory illness faded but that intense fatigue stayed,” she says.

“I was working as a public servant

chronic fatigue, Robyn developed a program that she runs here in Canberra with Arthritis ACT, a non-profit organisation that helps improve people’s quality of life.

“There’s no silver bullet but there are strategies to help manage it,” says Robyn.

“The key symptom of chronic fatigue is called post exertional malaise and it happens whenever you do something outside what they call your energy envelope – what’s outside your capability because of the condition.

“An example could be walking up a set of stairs, and then having to lay in bed for days afterwards.

full time, then as my condition worsened it became part time, then partpart time and it got to a point I couldn’t do it anymore.

“I’ve now become dependent on my wonderful husband who helps me and my superannuation, but I miss being able to work. That loss of independence is a very sad thing.”

The wide misunderstanding of chronic fatigue inspired Robyn Harris, a woman who herself lives with the condition, to become a support officer to help those suffering.

After doing an online support course from America that was huge for helping in her own struggle with

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“The course is about learning how to pace yourself, you have to divide your energy into little pieces.”

Cath is just one of the patients who has taken Robyn’s course, and she says it’s been “brilliant” for her.

“To be able to meet other people with the same symptoms when so many people tell you it’s all in your head, there’s a real validation in that,” says Cath.

“Before doing the course, I’d crash a lot more regularly, but it’s helped teach me how to balance my energy use a lot more and stay within that energy envelope.”

For sufferers of chronic fatigue, resources like this are a small saving grace, especially when Robyn says not even the National Disability Insurance Scheme considers the condition a full-time disability.

It’s something she and Cath agree needs to change moving forward, so those who are dealing with chronic fatigue can start to see more conversation around treatment for their ordeal.

“Changing people’s perception is hard to do, but it’s worth doing,” says Robyn.

“We need to believe those who have the condition so that more expert support can start to come through, support which can make a major difference to quality of life.”

More on chronic fatigue at arthritisact. org.au or email info@arthritisact.org.au

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Inner South Canberra Community Council Welcome to our Inner South Canberra Community Council column.

We have now been operating for 11 years and are thinking hard about what our priorities should be for our second decade. In addition to our current work in planning, transport and the environment, we are hoping to become more active in other important areas such as health, education, and heritage, and on behalf of the more vulnerable members of the community.

If you are interested in joining us, please contact me on 0419 854 211 or write to us on info@isccc.org.au The ACT Government is currently conducting a comprehensive review of Canberra’s planning system. The ISCCC will be engaging closely with this process to ensure that the future needs and amenity of the inner south are taken into account.

Best wishes,

Gary Kent Chair

ISCCC Public meeting, Tuesday, 11 May

Griffith Narrabundah Community Association

Yarralumla Residents Association

Our next meeting will be at the Eastlake Club in Griffith, 7pm on Tuesday 11 May. Come along or join on-line via Zoom for updates on important local issues, such as the Canberra Hospital redevelopment, the Kingston Arts Precinct and a new not for profit funeral home.

Also, reports from our local members of parliament and inner south residents’ groups.

Details here: www.isccc.org.au/events/ category/meetings

More than 470 objections have been made to the ACT Government’s plans to change the Territory Plan so that one 4-unit 2-storey Manor House with 9 car parks can be built in Griffith on a block, where the housing is low rise, predominantly single dwelling and low density in character (RZ1). This is being done under the umbrella of the ‘Demonstration Housing Project’.

We again co-ordinated Yarralumla residents and local students to person four drink stations during the recent Canberra Times Running Festival. We handed out drinks and snacks to the runners and cheered them on.

Kingston And Barton Residents Group Progress on the Kingston Arts Precinct remains unclear. We are still waiting for the advice the Heritage Council gave to the developers and their response.

We would have appreciated communication from the ACT Government about two significant projects - a wombat crossing on NSW Crescent and clearing of silt and vegetation on Bowen Park creek. The former is worrying as it could cause significant traffic problems.

The commercial serviced apartments operating on a residential lease in Leichhardt Street have had their crown lease changed so they can operate as a ‘guest house’. We wonder if the guest house will bear a striking similarity to serviced apartments (which are prohibited in residential zones).

Forrest Residents Group

There is no need to test a Manor House in the ACT, as they have already been built in NSW. The largest investment for most families is the purchase of a home.

They need to know what could be built next to them. If a 4-unit Manor House can be built on this site, they can be built anywhere throughout the suburbs.

Old Narrabundah Community Council Located off Goyder and Matina streets in old Narrabundah, the Narrabundah Wetlands have transformed a section of Jerrabomberra Creek into a haven for wildlife, with a water management process to keep our waterways flushed and clean.

Originally co-funded by the Federal and ACT governments, the Wetlands have become a popular walking area for inner south residents. In cooperation with ONCC a Friends of Narrabundah Wetlands group has been formed, which you can contact through: info@narrabundah.org.au

Our current focus is on: • restoration/maintenance of historic Fire Hydrants. We are working with groups such as the Kingston Barton Residents Group, and the Yarralumla Residents Association on grants/ support available to assist with these items.

• future plans for the former Allawah Private Hospital (more recently the former Sri Lankan High Commission) • issues/activities impacting the nature and condition of Forrest as an historic part of our National Capital.

We recently completed the restoration of 1920s heritage street signs on the corners respectively of Banks and Hooker Streets, and Banks and Bentham Streets. The project was funded by a grant from ACT Heritage and Roads ACT, plus a YRA contribution.

As part of the Canberra Heritage Festival, we organised a short walk with about 70 participants around Yarralumla, stopping at several heritage locations including the Forestry School (1927), Forestry House (1952) and three 1920s cottages.

Deakin Residents Association DRA has established a sub-group to look at bikeways, or rather the lack of them across Deakin. We would like to encourage participation in our discussions and consultation on this important matter. In a survey we conducted last year the following cycling issues were seen as important: • Cycling routes through the suburb, • Facilitating cycling routes to schools • Improving safety for cyclists Yet, there are no published cycle maps in Deakin. You can find more details of our aspirations at https://deakinresidents.asn. au/bikeways-across-deakin/

Heritage The heritage characteristics of the inner south, part of original Canberra, are highly valued. However, there is increasing concern about the loss of heritage fabric and the apparent irrelevance of the Heritage Register. If you concerned please make your concerns known to your local residents’ groups in order to inform the ISCCC. Anne Forrest, ISCCC Committee member

The Inner South Canberra Community Council receives support and funding from the ACT Government Inner South Canberra Community Council (ABN 49 382 179 224) Authorised by Gary Kent, Public Officer, PO Box 3310, Manuka ACT 2603

www.isccc.org.au

CANBERRA MATTERS

How the planning directorate is failing Canberra THE ACT Government’s planning directorate has an impenetrable structure that reminds me of the “Star Wars” concept – the Borg Hive – called The Collective.

Anyone who is assimilated into this collective is transformed from being a thinking individual to being a drone – they no longer speak plain English, instead they mutter the spin of the day.

The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate has an organisational chart that says so much about what is wrong with this city’s planning and development (Google “ACT Government EPSDD organisational chart”).

The directorate should be functioning as an agency of the ACT Labor/ Greens government looking after the interests of the people who live here.

This chart says otherwise.

For a government that brands itself as being progressive, it should be wondering how equity is practised within this secretive directorate. Eight of the 10 faces of the chiefs of the directorate are male. There is no-one with an obvious ethnic background outside of the usual white-European brand.

This is a circle of senior bureaucrats talking to each other and making decisions on urban issues with little possibility of identifying with Canberra’s diverse communities – those aliens who must be resisted.

The archaic bureaucracy collective that forms the planning directorate is overdue to be broken up for the sake of Canberra’s lifestyle and the city’s contribution to the future of the planet.

One of the biggest myths of this government’s governance practices is that there are independent bodies within the bureaucracy. Mysteriously, these independent bodies, such as the City Renewal Authority, the Suburban Land Agency and the Heritage Council are independent while part of the directorate – answerable to the Head Borgs – Ben Ponton and the ACT Planning Minister (whoever that is).

In 2012 it was announced on the directorate site that the independent Planning Authority (ACTPLA) had been assimilated into the directorate.

Yet the myth abounds still about it being independent (whatever that means in bureaucratic terms).

Within this directorate sits another so-called independent authority – the ACT Heritage Council. It does not get a mention on the organisational chart.

A clear sign of its standing within

Another world… inside the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate’s new Northbourne Avenue offices at Dickson. the collective. Another oddity is that within the current legislation, its powers can be devolved to the Planning Directorate chief. So much for even pretending to be independent.

Heritage has such a low profile that when the directorate moved house recently, some of the stored heritage items went to an auction house (only to be recalled), some were hastily lent out for safekeeping while rumours abound about what went into the bin.

The Heritage Council is now being packed with outsiders to Canberra – possibly because any real local experts like this city and can’t resist looking after its heritage landscapes and views.

Surely, anything to do with green

infrastructure, heritage and climate should not be a subset of planning.

Along with many other units within this directorate, they should be separate to the directorate so that they can demand that their planet/ people-oriented agendas are not compromised daily to the needs of development and profit.

The governance of key urban units needs to be changed so that they have a chance of achieving something real in our lifetime.

The people of Canberra should not have to wait for the chief planner’s snail-paced planning review that has been plodding along for four or more years. Don’t be surprised if the chief or that planning minister soon announce again how they are working to one day make the planning system simpler for someone – but not you and me.

The problems of this government’s planning and development agenda and its approach to climate change stem from the top.

The archaic bureaucracy collective that forms the planning directorate is overdue to be broken up for the sake of Canberra’s lifestyle and the city’s contribution to the future of the planet. This directorate is working as if climate change has been paused. It has not.

Paul Costigan is an independent commentator and consultant on the visual arts, photography, urban design, environmental issues and everyday matters.

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NEWS

Taking a stand on the fears of toxic-waste fires

By Danielle

NOHRA WITH high temperatures and fires said to become a new normal in Australia, concerned local Beatrice Bodart-Bailey is worried about whether it will cause an increase in the amount of potentially deadly, toxic-waste fires in the ACT. A national issue, the federal government published a report in 2016, stating that waste fires pose a serious risk to people, the environment and the economy.

Titled “Waste Fires in Australia: Cause for Concern?”, it reveals that, depending on the type of landfill fire and its contents, fires can often smoulder for weeks, producing odorous and noxious smoke that poses a risk to public health and safety.

In Canberra alone, ACT firefighters – according to ACT Fire and Rescue data – have attended about 25 waste fires, including garbage dump or sanitary landfill fires, and construction or demolition landfill fires, in the past six years.

While the data does not reveal an increase year-by-year, Beatrice, an

inner-south resident, says: “Canberra has had a bad record of fires in waste facilities producing not only extremely poisonous smoke, but also resisting efforts to extinguish the blaze.”

Beatrice points to the waste fire at the Canberra Concrete Pialligo site that began on July 4, 2015, and took six days to extinguish, saying it’s an example of how, with high temperatures, large piles of waste ignite from the inside and then resist efforts of firefighters.

Battling a waste fire also comes at the cost of taxpayers, with ACT Fire and Rescue revealing that any costs associated with their response to fires, including waste fires on commercially-owned land, is covered by funding provisioned by the ACT government for ACT Fire and Rescue’s operations.

But, according to a report produced for the federal Department of the Environment by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, at University of Technology Sydney, the cost of preventing waste fires is far less than that of fighting the fires and the clean-up costs afterwards.

Prevention, the report argues, is the best defence against risk of injury and death as well as environmental degradation and economic loss.

“Since on top of the damage the fires cause to the health of the population, as taxpayers they also have to fund

Historian Beatrice Bodart-Bailey… “I am well aware of how decisions made by a society and often a small group of people or even a single individual impact upon the life of generations to come.”

Photo: Danielle Nohra extinguishing the fires, a process which can take several days incurring considerable cost, any government claiming to benefit the people must surely give this matter high priority,” Beatrice says.

“As a historian I am well aware of how decisions made by a society and often a small group of people or even a single individual impact upon the life of generations to come.”

When it comes to waste fires, Sotiris Vardoulakis, a professor in global

environmental health at ANU, says it’s plausible that higher average temperatures, and more frequent and prolonged drought conditions as a result of climate change, could contribute to more toxic fires in the ACT. “Smoke from toxic-waste fires contains dangerous chemical compounds that can aggravate respiratory symptoms, particularly in people with preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis,” he says.

“Some of these chemicals can be carcinogenic, which means that repeated exposure over long periods of time (ie several years) may increase the risk of developing certain types of cancer.”

When it comes to preventing toxic waste fires, the professor says it’s important to reduce waste and recycle as much of it as possible.

He points to ways that the everyday Canberran can help reduce the risk of waste fires such as avoiding burning any type of waste and particularly plastic or other chemical waste that produces toxic smoke.

“Waste should be sent to landfill or to a recycling facility,” he says.

“Effective waste transport and storage, and waste-site management are crucial for the prevention of toxic waste fires.

“Suitable fire-fighting equipment, fire breaks and training will also reduce the risk of fires spreading in these facilities.”

But, he says the key message is to reduce waste and avoid burning any type of domestic or chemical waste.

“Treated wood should not be burnt and natural wood, for example fallen trees, should be as dry as possible if burnt to reduce the amount of smoke,” he says.

“Smoke even from natural wood burning can trigger respiratory symptoms in sensitive individuals.”

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POLITICS / Elizabeth Lee’s leadership

Can the Libs shake off the conservative tag?

THE poor showing of the Canberra Liberals six months ago in the ACT election is, at least in part, due to the very conservative image that was portrayed under former leader Alistair Coe. The Liberals are being watched closely to see if they can shake that image.

Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee has taken action not only to protect people when they are at their most vulnerable, but to also let the community know that the Liberal Party is ready to move on true liberal issues.

Her “stealth” legislation deals with “non-consensual removal of a condom during sex”. She says her legislation “is about making our laws clearer, our community safer, and making our voice loud and clear that yes means yes and no means no”.

The law has been motivated by a case in NZ where a man was convicted of

Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee has taken action not only to protect people when they are at their most vulnerable, but to also let the community know that the Liberal Party is ready to move on true liberal issues. rape after “stealthing” a sex worker.

In the ACT this issue has been specifically covered in the Sex Work Act since 1992. Section 27 makes it illegal to “receive commercial sexual services… unless a prophylactic is used”.

As the Liberals seek to present a less conservative image, Lee has now put her toe in the water with the support of her party room. She says: “This is an opportunity for the ACT to be at the forefront of these reforms and legislate proactively, instead of allowing more women and men to fall victim to such a heinous act”.

What a contrast to the noises echoed again and again from the Canberra Liberals who, since the first Assembly, regularly argued that the ACT should not be a “social laboratory”!

In political terms, a key element

of this legislation is about respect.

Over the last few months the issue of respect has plagued the federal parliament and has rubbed off on other jurisdictions. Ms Lee has astutely stepped into this area with a very specific piece of legislation.

However, the motivation for the legislation goes beyond politics. Ms Lee explained: “Stealthing risks both physical and psychological health, including the transmission of sexually transmitted infections and disease, unplanned pregnancies, depression, anxiety and in some cases post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It is an appalling thing to do to any woman; any man; any person.

Stealthing completely erodes the trust that a person can put in someone during the most vulnerable of moments. It is a violation of dignity and autonomy”.

The evidence Ms Lee cited was from a joint study by the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and Monash University. This study “highlighted the prevalence of stealthing in our

Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee… “It is an appalling thing to do to any woman.” community. The report found that, of the thousands of respondents, a staggering one in three women and nearly one in five men, who have sex with other men, reported being victims of stealthing.

As with Section 27 of the Sex Work Act, gaining a conviction under this legislation may prove very difficult.

As one wag once challenged “does it

require a ‘condomstabulary’?” That original legislation, like the stealthing one introduced by Ms Lee, is not so much about conviction as about empowerment.

She explained in her introductory speech that the role of this legislation is “to empower all Canberrans to be able to come forward to police and to feel that they will be genuinely heard and to break down the fear and stigma of such violation and assure the community that the law is on their side”.

There is one case of stealthing remaining before the courts in Melbourne, according to Ms Lee, and apart from the case in NZ, there have been cases in places such as Canada, Switzerland and Germany.

Although she acknowledges that the Bar Society believes the issue may be covered under current legislation, her amendments are about “transparency, clarity and certainty”.

With the issue of respect so clearly in the minds of thinking Australians, this Crimes (Stealthing) Amendment Bill 2021 is not only timely but also politically astute.

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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POLITICS / state rights

Hypocrisy trumps rights in territories’ struggle It is not just absurd but wrong that the residents of Australian territories do not have the same democratic right as those of states to decide whether euthanasia should be legally available.

Regardless of my views, which I acknowledge are in the minority, it is not just absurd but wrong that the residents of Australian territories do not have the same democratic right as those of states to decide whether euthanasia should be legally available.

Therefore, I support the strong stance taken by ACT Minister for Human Rights Tara Cheyne and applaud her willingness to work with the NT government to seek to have this antidemocratic limitation on the rights of territory residents overturned.

Ms Cheyne says she’s prepared to go as far as lodging a formal complaint with the UN about the denial of human rights, which the ban on Australian territories legislating on euthanasia represents. I encourage her, if the ban is not overturned, to carry through with that threat.

However, it’s important that we remember the ban on legislating on euthanasia also extends to the other

three inhabited Australian territories, namely Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and I would urge the ACT and NT governments to work with those territories to ensure they also have the right to legislate on euthanasia.

In fact, to include those territories in an appeal to the UN would undoubtedly strengthen the position of the ACT and the NT because not only do the residents of those three territories not have the right to vote on euthanasia, they don’t have any state-type legislative rights at all. The fact is that Norfolk Island had the same democratic rights as the ACT and the NT until five years ago, when Labor, the Liberals and the Greens joined forces in the federal parliament to repeal the Norfolk Island Self Government Act and to annul its parliament.

A gratuitous suggestion has just occurred to me and one Ms Cheyne might wish to consider, noting the current undeclared war between China and the rest of the world, is that it will almost certainly assist any potential appeal if we inform the UN that the people of Hong Kong have greater democratic rights than Australian citizens living on Norfolk Island and in the Indian Ocean territories.

In this regard it may also help, but even if it doesn’t it would be a real hoot,

were she to invite the Chinese ambassador to visit Norfolk Island as well as Christmas and the Cocos Islands in order to inspect their democratic institutions for the purpose of comparing them with those of Hong Kong.

Coincidentally, I am writing this on Anzac Day. Did you know that more men from Norfolk Island, as a proportion of the resident population, enlisted and fought in both World Wars than any other Australian state or territory?

Not only that but, proportionately, more men from Norfolk Island, who fought in World War I, were killed in action or injured than from any other state or territory.

From a total island population of less than 700, a staggering 82 men (representing more than half of the adult male population) and two women enlisted in World War I. This was a higher rate of enlistment per capita than that of any country in the British Empire. Seventeen of the Norfolk Island men served at Gallipoli, five of whom went ashore on April 25, 1915, of whom two, John Buffett and Edmund Quintal, were wounded.

A total of 13 Norfolk Islanders were killed in action during the war.

On Anzac Day we stop to remember, reflect on and honour the sacrifice, most particularly the death of more than 100,000 Australians, in defence of our freedom, our values and democracy.

It is ironic, is it not, that the people of Norfolk Island, who made a greater relative contribution and have paid a higher price in protecting those values, freedoms and democracy than anywhere else in Australia are, more than 100 years after the end of World War I, denied by the Australian government the most basic democratic right, the right to have a say and be involved, through elected representatives, in the day-to-day governance of their community.

Our capacity for hypocrisy apparently has no limits.

Jon Stanhope was chief minister from 2001 to 2011 and represented Ginninderra for the Labor Party from 1998. He is the only chief minister to have governed with a majority in the Assembly.

SE

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IT was pleasing to see the Legislative Assembly achieve consensus on the question of the right of the ACT to legislate on euthanasia.

My views on euthanasia are equivocal. For some years, I was president of the ACT Palliative Care Society and my wife, Robyn, was a palliative care specialist nurse for just on 15 years.

My close involvement with palliative care has undoubtedly influenced my thinking. Not just because of the insights it provided into the impact that palliative care can have on quality of life, but also as a window into the depravity that some (mercifully only a few) people are capable of, including those ostensibly “caring for” an incapacitated or terminally ill family member.

Cynical as it may seem, I believe where euthanasia is legalised there will be instances of people agreeing to euthanasia because of overt pressure from a carer or as a result of unconscionably being made to feel, often by a family member, that they are a burden and it would be better if they were dead.

It was the famed English jurist Blackstone who coined the maxim that it is better that 10 guilty men go free than that one innocent man be imprisoned or suffer. My view on euthanasia might be summarised as: It is better that one person who wishes to live not die than that 10 people who wish to die should live.

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Dr Smith, who grew up in Canberra, is a highly trained orthopaedic surgeon with a medical degree from the University of Sydney.

After residency he embarked on the orthopaedic surgical program before returning to Canberra in 2008 as a consultant surgeon.

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Dr Smith says he was instrumental in the introduction of this technology to the Canberra region in October, 2017.

Since that first robotic-assisted operation was performed, hundreds of successful joint replacements have used this technology and Canberra now has three orthopaedic robots.

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Dr Damian Smith and in.motion team members, from left, Maree Bryant, physiotherapist Kristen Steele and Ursula Slane McCann.

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YESTERDAYS / The Keren Rowland mystery

Clock runs against confession clues in old murder NEW information has come to light on a potential 1973 confession in the five-decadesold, unsolved Canberra cold-case murder of Keren Rowland.

As May 13 approaches, marking 50 years ago since the skeletal remains of the 20-year-old were stumbled across in the Fairbairn pine plantation in 1971, the revelation has emerged as part of the ongoing exploration for my Capital Crime Files podcast.

A convicted killer serving a life sentence in Goulburn, who was living in Canberra in 1971, is said to have made the startling admissions.

Neither a name nor an arrest were then forthcoming but sources involved have confirmed there were a variety of elements that warrant closer scrutiny in a modern investigation.

What was described as a “new lead” had become public in June, 1972, close to a year-and-a-half after the almost five-month pregnant Keren’s disappearance on February 26. Her body was found nearly 11 weeks later in the forested area next to the Canberra airport.

ACT police said they’d spoken with a local woman who could potentially assist in establishng the identity of a man possibly involved.

In the absence of anything more, as the year drew to a close, a small front-page article made mention that the reward for anything leading to a conviction was raised from $2000 to $10,000.

It would be almost another year before any of it was again addressed.

In October 1973, “The Canberra Times” reported that the head of the Canberra Criminal Investigation Division, Det-Insp Reg Kennedy, attested he’d twice questioned a man “aged about 30…

An Air Disaster Memorial site photo c1970s provided by the AFP. thought to be involved in the death of Miss Rowland”.

He’s also reported as saying: “There is a distinct possibility we’ve found our man.”

According to Insp Kennedy: “Police are reasonably satisfied the person we have interviewed has some very definite knowledge of the girl’s disappearance and subsequent death.

“But there is insufficient evidence at this stage, and because of certain circumstances, no charges are being proffered.”

Nothing further eventuated, at least in the public domain. What gave the appearance of one of the most concrete leads in the saga seemed to vanish into yet another black hole.

Now it’s been acknowledged by the AFP and others close to the investigation that the party in question – or someone known to him – may have crossed paths with Keren either when she was at the Canberra Show on the evening she went missing or when she was stranded on Parkes Way after her car ran out of fuel.

Just over a year later, the alleged informant was charged with beating another man to death with a log and found guilty in 1973. On asking if he had anything to say before his sentence was handed down, the labourer claimed: “I didn’t mean to

kill him, your honour”.

In accordance with Insp Kennedy’s statements of the time, the details said to have been offered in relation to Keren’s unexplained death were seemingly quite in-depth. In addition, it appeared to include particulars not previously made public.

Unpicking the finer points remains frustrating with a reliance predominantly on ageing memories and often inexact media coverage from the day, but there’s also a suggestion a second person-of-interest connected to the prisoner might similarly be deserving of follow-up.

All of this also comes in the wake of a recent television presentation on the prospect of serial-killer Ivan Milat’s involvement in unsolved disappearances and murders in the capital region.

The fresh information continuing to emerge potentially throws a whole tool kit in the spokes of that everturning wheel.

Certainly many, both those with a general interest and professionals in the field, believe it’s a “long bow to draw” in trying to link Milat to various local cases, particularly Keren Rowland. And in the 1973 instance, Milat has definitely been ruled out as the person in the spotlight.

Keren’s is one of the investigations currently under review by the AFP. When questioned about these earlier happenings, the response is that preliminary re-examinations of all related material suggest that at

A portrait of Keren Rowland commissioned by her family. least one of the persons-of-interest to feature in this development had “two pretty strong alibis”.

The only revealed specifics at this juncture is that they involved others who “stuck to it saying we were with him all night”.

It’s also suggested that the man at the centre of it may have wanted nothing more than “a few days out of prison” – sources state he’d been released to the custody of Canberra police to allow for formal interviews to be conducted.

Nonetheless, AFP detectives have confirmed that despite being unable to produce anything that could be acted upon back then, given the chance of involvement of someone who “ticks quite a few boxes”, current

enquiries are underway and he remains on the “list of people we would like to speak with in time”.

On my following up with many of those well acquainted with proceedings, it’s felt there’s more than enough gaps in relation to this aspect of the case to be deserving of a longer and harder look.

It may also be a last opportunity to do so given that “time is running out” for real answers to be uncovered in this ongoing mystery.

For more on this and other informed details on Keren Rowland’s case, see capitalcrimefiles.com.au.

If you have any information or knowledge please contact Crime Stoppers or reach out to me directly.

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WAVES / and how to pick them

The long and short wavelength of making waves I’VE spent a lot of time either in or on water, particularly the ocean, so my interest in waves of the watery kind is perhaps not surprising.

Many Canberrans spend time on the coast or visit the south coast (when not being made unwelcome by covid fears), so I assume they would also be interested in waves.

People who fish from rock shelves should definitely take an interest in waves, if only for survival reasons.

Waves are most commonly caused by wind. When wind blows across the surface of the ocean (or lake), it creates waves. Locally generated “short wavelength waves” have an interval between crests of less than 20 seconds. They carry less energy and dissipate faster than “long wavelength waves”.

Long wavelength waves or “swell waves” with wave crest intervals of more than 20 seconds are usually

Waves can be great fun – but can also be powerful and dangerous and should be treated with respect. created by weather conditions far from shore in deep water. They become larger as they move closer to shallow water and the shoreline.

The further they travel from their source, the more likely they are to fall into a relatively predictable sequence.

According to Fabrice Veron, director of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware, swell waves will commonly arrive in groups of 12 to 16 waves.

The first wave in a group or set will be small, the next one bigger, and so on, with the biggest wave being in the middle of the group. If there are 14 waves in a group, the seventh wave is going to be the biggest.

The speed of waves coming to shore is usually around 12-16 kp/h.

As a wave reaches the shore, the lower part slows down due to friction with the shallowing bottom, and the

Surfing a three-metre swell wave at Manly, NSW. top of the wave “breaks”. It usually does so in a water depth 1.3 times the wave height. A steep shoreline will result in “dumping” waves. A more gradual slope – as at low tide – will create long running waves that are good for bodyboarding.

The size of swell waves may also be

Photo: Clive Williams

affected by underwater topography.

Nazaré in Portugal is the home of bigwave surfing because the underwater Nazaré Canyon dramatically enlarges incoming wave heights to around 35 metres (the height of a nine-storey building).

Large swell waves can also be

generated by underwater seismic disturbances. The most dangerous are “tsunamis” that can travel at up to 760 kp/h and build vertically on reaching a shoreline to as high as 30 metres. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused more than 200,000 deaths. The largest tsunami wave ever recorded was 525 metres high.

“Rogue waves” are unusually large surface waves occurring at sea. They can be extremely dangerous because they are rare, unpredictable, and can strike a ship with tremendous force.

Rogue waves occur where physical factors such as high winds and strong currents cause big waves to merge.

In 2004, US Naval Research Laboratory ocean-floor pressure sensors detected a rogue wave caused by Hurricane Ivan in the Gulf of Mexico that was 27.7 metres high from peak to trough, and around 200 metres long.

Mariners have long reported rogue waves 25 plus metres high.

Fishing off rocks is said to be the most dangerous sport in Australia, with an average 13 deaths a year. The main threat is a large wave sweeping across a slippery rock shelf.

Waves can be great fun – but can also be powerful and dangerous and should be treated with respect. And never bodysurf a dumping wave!

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.

CityNews May 6-12, 2021 21

LETTERS

Falling foot traffic starves old heart of Canberra dose of dorin

COLUMNIST Paul Costigan is on the mark again in “Canberra Matters” on April 22 (“Time for leadership in good landscape design”) with his remarks about poor retail sales outside the Canberra Centre.

One major reason for this was passed over, namely, car parking. You park in the multi-storey car parks, walk directly into the centre, shop then go home.

There’s no foot traffic through the old heart of Canberra, through places such as Garema Place.

These desolate areas and closing shops will increase if and when the current government surrenders the current car parks outside the Magistrates Courts and the Canberra Museum and Gallery to apartment builders. Farewell Sydney and Melbourne Buildings’ restaurants and shops. We do not all ride push bikes or catch the tram .

Paul O’Connor, Hawker

Stop and listen to the music, Paul I WAS disappointed, but not surprised, to read Paul Costigan’s negative comments about the City Walk upgrades in Civic.

While he describes the “chairs, planter boxes, grassed area and other adornments” as “leftovers cobbled together to do

Børge Bakken, Belconnen something modern”, he completely misses the point of the area as a casual and relaxed space for hosting free music performances from a wide range of genres: jazz, folk, blues, indie, classical, pop and different ethnicities and styles.

For those of us working in the city this has been a really pleasant lunchtime experience even if the surroundings don’t quite meet the refined tastes of Mr Costigan. Perhaps he should get out a bit more and listen to the music.

Bronwyn Shirley, Narrabundah

Vaccine choice at any age I AM the exact opposite of an anti-vaxxer, but my family has been haunted by blood

clots in the brain, taking the lives of many relatives, most recently my brother.

European scientific data about the AstraZeneca vaccine seems often ignored in Australia. Norwegian scientists recognised vaccine-induced blood clots as a deadly side-effect, documenting six cases among 133,870 vaccinations, one per 22,300 cases, before banning the vaccine.

Four women aged 37 to 54, or one in 33,500 died, none had previous serious health issues, according to the “New England Journal of Medicine”.

It is an encouraging sign that Australia is now funding the national production of mRNA-based vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna.

However, I am still banned from taking any of the mRNA vaccines since I am over 50.

In most European countries I would have a

MEIKLE 22 CityNews May 6-12, 2021

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choice of vaccines.

The Australian 50-year cut-off age is internationally very low, although the UK practices 30. The EU mostly applies from 55 to 65. South Africa, Norway and Denmark have put AZ on hold or banned it permanently.

People should be given the chance to evaluate the risks based on accurate information. Denying inconvenient science exists among those who minimise the dangers.

National production of mRNA vaccines Pfizer and Moderna is welcome and when the alternatives arrive, let us have a choice of vaccines at any age.

Hint of urban design hope THERE’S a faint but welcome hint of due consideration being given to urban design and architecture.

The recently announced proposed release by the ACT government of nationally significant land at City Hill, across London Circuit from the Melbourne Building, suggests possible commonwealth office space and other suitable uses.

Actually, that consideration needs to be paramount; and the approving authority, the National Capital Authority, must ignore the posturing of the City Renewal Authority, real estate agents and financiers, and insist that the sole determinant as to who gets to develop the site, out of the list of pre-quali-

fied bidders, will be the one that submits the winning entry in a properly constituted and binding design competition for the site’s development – including consideration of “the people’s vote”.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

Ramsay’s loss was ‘unambiguous’ I AGREE with the views of Peter Bradbury (“Letters”, CN March 25) regarding Gordon Ramsay. The decision by Ginninderra voters to dump him was unambiguous.

Voters realised that Mr Ramsay had no concern for the needs of the community he was supposed to represent. His lack of rapport with people and his neglect of his electorate are the main reasons voters sent him packing at the first opportunity.

That Chief Minister Andrew Barr then quietly gives him a no doubt well-paid position, is a disgrace and demonstrates the contempt that they both have for the voters of Ginninderra and the Canberra community.

Was Ramsay’s new job advertised? Merit selected? Or was it yet another job for the boys to be paid for by ACT taxpayers? I think the Canberra community knows the answers to these questions.

Anthony Noakes, Florey

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WINTER WARMERS

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Time to prepare for the long, cold months ahead A CANBERRA winter may be a beautiful sight, with the capital’s famous trees and parklands putting on crisp, spectacular displays of colour, but they’re also well known for being one of the coldest in the country.

That’s no exception this year, with the mercury already hitting less than zero even before Anzac Day. So while Canberrans rug up, boil the kettle, and turn on the heater, “CityNews” speaks with businesses that are passionate about keeping people toasty this winter.

Heating systems tailored to each home MASTER Gasfitters has anything people need to keep comfortable in winter, says owner Steve Leifheit.

Independently operated for more than 30 years, the business specialises in heating, cooling, hot water, services, installs and repairs for the home that Steve says are cost-effective and energy efficient.

He also says that where Master Gasfitters differ from others, is in customising their services to each customer.

“We find out how customers use their home and have tailor-made packages,” he says.

“There are often certain rooms they use more and others they use less. We work with that and can install multiple controllers – so they can heat certain sections of the house individually or heat

them to different temperatures.”

The team also offers general maintenance services to ensure home systems are working properly.

“We carry a wide range of parts, especially the ones that most commonly fail, and try to provide customers with same-day service,” says Steve.

“We also do check-ups, like if someone’s had expensive bills recently, we can make sure there are no issues going unchecked that might be causing that.”

And, Steve says for those wanting to get off gas, they also install airconditioning and solar-powered energy.

Master Gasfitters. Call 6280 4669, email office@mastergas.com.au or visit mastergas.com.au

Offering a large range of quality flooring ENDEAVOUR Carpets offers the largest range of top-quality floor coverings in Canberra and Queanbeyan, with options that help keep the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, says co-owner Taylor O’Brien.

Established in 1970, Taylor says the business has maintained its original objective of displaying exceptional choices of carpet, bamboo, timber, laminate, cork floating floors, vinyl, vinyl planks and rugs.

Taylor describes their Fyshwick-based showroom as Canberra’s “greatest floor show” with thousands of samples on display, and an experienced team of flooring specialists to make the customer’s experience as easy as possible.

“Our showroom is so great other retailers send their customers to view our huge range of top-quality floor coverings,” she says.

As a member of the Independent Carpets group, Taylor says it means Endeavour Carpets

can offer customers greater choice and the best available prices.

“As a family business, Endeavour Carpets appreciates that customers are spoilt for choice in a competitive market place, and so maintain an objective to offer the best service and products available and for the best possible price,” she says.

When customers visit Endeavour Carpets, Taylor says they experience a good, oldfashioned service from a long-standing, local family business.

“This is what really sets Endeavour Carpets apart from any regular carpet store,” she says.

“At Endeavour Carpets, we don’t just endeavour, we do.”

Endeavour Carpets, 33 Isa Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 6132, email info@endeavourcarpets.com.au or visit endeavourcarpets.com.au

HEATER INSTALLATION SERVICE + REPAIRS GAS HEATING SYSTEMS

Gas heating systems are the ideal solution to canberra’s harsh winters. They provide a reliable source of warmth all year round, and are quick to heat, easy to control as well as ideal for even heat distribution.

Ducted gas heating offers zone control options, allowing you to centralise heating in one part of your home while reducing waste in areas you’re not using.

Our ducted gas heating systems make it easy to turn zones on or off, choose the same or different temperatures for each zone, and set automatic timers for convenience.

Manage your entire system at the click of a button, and enjoy complete control of your climate at your fingertips.

SERVICE & MAINTENANCE

Got a problem with your heating system or hot water? We can help!

We provide both maintenance as well as emergency service options.

CALL 02 6280 4669 | EMAIL THEOFFICE@MASTERGAS.COM.AU CityNews May 6-12, 2021 23

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FRESH AIR AND A WARM HOME G U I L T

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WINTER WARMERS Aaron’s got a special on heating THERE are more options than ever when it comes to heating and cooling, with modern electric heaters that leave old gas systems behind, according to Clark Electrical and Air Conditioning owner Aaron Clark.

“Our air-conditioning department can meet all your heating and cooling needs, especially if you’re looking to upgrade your gas system to electric, which is cheaper to run and can incorporate with solar,” Aaron says.

For more than three years, Clark Electrical and Air Conditioning has been providing the Canberra region with quality and reliable electrical services, says Aaron, who has been an electrician for about 30 years.

His team of nine experienced tradespeople Aaron Clark. service the whole Canberra region, helping with problems such as phone and power points, ceiling fans, LED lighting, or switchboard upgrades.

Their Mitchell showroom is open for people to visit, he says, allowing homeowners to see products on display such as wifi air conditioning systems, which can be operated remotely.

“It’s a great feature for people wanting to turn on their air conditioning before they get home, or switch it off if they forget to,” says Aaron.

Right now, Aaron says he has a special promotion on Fujitsu heating and cooling systems, including reverse-cycle split-systems and ducted heating, with clients able to receive up to $250 cashback.

Solar heating that’s designed for the region ECOHEAT’S solar heaters, designed for the snowy alpine region in NSW, are the perfect solution for keeping warm this winter in Canberra, says director Monica Knight.

Using north-facing solar panels, Ecoheat’s solar, Australian-made systems warm the house by heating outside air that’s pumped continuously throughout the home, says Monica.

Their systems bring a continuous flow of warm, fresh air into the house without having to run any traditional heating, she says.

“You’re not having the environmental damage of running a traditional heater [because the heaters are] utilising what’s already there in Canberra and southern NSW: beautiful blue sky days,” she says.

“It’s also a very low-maintenance system. There’s not a lot that can go wrong with it, and that tends to be quite beneficial for customers as well.”

Even in hot Canberra summers, Monica says the system continues to ventilate the house by bringing in fresh nighttime air and has been improved upon since Ecoheat first began, more than a decade ago.

“We’ve refined the technology with the Sustainable Building Research Centre at the University of Wollongong,” she says.

Consultations can be booked online at the Ecoheat website.

Clark Electrical and Air Conditioning, 5/12 Sandford Street, Mitchell. Call 1300 230462 or email aaronclarkelectrical@gmail.com

Ecoheat, email info@ecoheartaustralia.com.au or visit ecoheat.com.au

Restaurants more than authentic Thai food THAI Chiang Rai in Belconnen is the perfect place for a warm meal this winter and for an authentic Thai cuisine experience, says owner Joe Prego.

“For those wanting to stay out of the cold at home we offer delivery and take away services as well,” he says.

Now in operation for more than two decades, Joe says Thai Chiang Rai strives to provide an experience for guests that extends past the food itself and into customer service, all with a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.

“Some of our signature dishes include the slow-cooked roast duck, sizzling beef, scallops with macadamias and snow peas, flathead fillet and our most popular are our classic beef massaman curry and the pad Thai,” he says.

Although the restaurant is usually closed on Sundays, Joe says this Mother’s Day (May 9) they’ll be open for a

special treat.

“Bring mum in for lunch or dinner and she’ll get a complimentary glass of sparkling wine on us,” he says.

Thai Chiang Rai, 102 Emu Bank, Belconnen.

Call 6253 4999 or visit thaichiangrai.com

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102 Emu Bank Belconnen | Ph: 6253 4999 | www.thaichiangrai.com 24 CityNews May 6-12, 2021

advertising feature Now’s time to get a winter quilt

Getting the home pleasantly warm for winter

SPECIALISING in making and servicing feather and down products since the ‘80s, Therma Quilts recommends not waiting until it’s too late to pick up a new winter quilt.

Using quality textiles, a Therma Quilts spokeswoman says the seamstresses hand-make every item suited to the customer’s needs and provide a top-up service when quilts and pillows show signs of wear or loss of warmth and fluffiness.

“Servicing of feather and down products is essential for keeping them in optimal condition for comfort,” she says.

“With time and usage, body proteins and lipids (natural oils and perspiration) are absorbed onto quilt casings and into the feather and down inside.

“Over time, this build-up dampens the down, which causes it to lose its thermal resistance.

However, regular servicing of your quilts would ensure that your down is fresh and fluffy.

“With time and usage, the fabrics on quilts wear out and get thin, but once holes appear there is no need to throw away your quilt.

“Therma Quilts is able to re-case your quilts in addition to other services such as extending them into a larger size or reducing them to a smaller size according to your needs.”

With its eco-friendly cleaning process, Therma Quilts services feather and down products such as sleeping bags and down clothing as well as other textiles such as silk, polyester, cotton and wool quilt underlays.

“Whether you’re wanting to rejuvenate your quilt, customise it or buy a new custom-made one we can look after you,” she says.

BY providing an even heat distribution, in-floor heating is popular for getting the home pleasantly warm for winter, says P.A.P. Heating Solutions managing director Peter Heaney.

Specialising in floor-heating products and services, Peter says in-floor heating is also popular in greenhouses, outdoor access areas, sports stadiums and factories.

When it comes to in-floor heating, Peter says warmth is distributed wall-to-wall, thanks to the heating cable being evenly embedded within the floor.

“The even heat distribution means no hot or cold spots, so it’s ideal for children,” he says.

“Being unobtrusively embedded within the floor allows for furniture to be located anywhere, without having to consider duct outlets or other equipment. “[And], floor surfaces that are normally cold to touch, such as slate or tiles, become a pleasant source of warmth.”

P.A.P. Heating Solutions says in-floor heating is especially recommended for people suffering allergy or respiratory complaints such as asthma, caused by moving air or dust particles.

The system runs on off-peak electricity, which is comparable to gas, and no building modifications are required for installation in a new home with a slab floor, as there are no moving air draughts, rooms can be adequately heated at lower temperatures, Peter says.

Peter says a combination of radiant and convective heat provides excellent comfort with little vertical temperature variation, making slab heating suitable for homes with high ceilings.

“It’s also quiet, clean and safe to run, with no maintenance required,” he says.

Therma Quilts, unit 9, 10-12 Kemble Court, Mitchell.

Call 6241 6859 or visit thermaquilts.com.au

P.A.P. Heating Solutions, 23 Winchcombe Court, Mitchell.

Call 6242 9310 or visit papheatingsolutions.com.au

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The feather and down experts for over 30 years SERVICE FOR YOUR QUILTS, PILLOWS & CUSHIONS

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Custom made products to your specifications: • repairing, resizing and re-casing services • add extra feather and down to your quilts, pillows or sleeping bags Monday – Friday: 9am – 3:45pm

Unit 9, 10-12 Kemble Court, Mitchell • www.thermaquilts.com.au Phone: 6241 6859 • Email: shop@thermaquilts.com.au

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(02) 6280 6132 | 33 Isa Street, Fyshwick | endeavourcarpets.com.au CityNews May 6-12, 2021 25

ACT LAW WEEK / May 10-15

advertising feature

Raising awareness to the role of law in society Team offer a variety of legal services

ACT Law Society is encouraging everyone with an interest in legal issues to attend any of the events during ACT Law Week (May 10-15).

“The people who attend law week are not just lawyers,” says ACT Law Society president Elizabeth Carroll.

Annually held in Canberra since 1997, ACT Law Week, run by the ACT Law Society, promotes public understanding of the law and its role in society, with events such as its formal dinner, a comedy speaking competition, a quiz night, and a range of forums and seminars.

During this year’s event, there will be a focus on Aboriginal land rights, elder abuse, youth law, raising the age of criminal responsibility, human rights and climate change.

One of ACT Law Week’s showcase events is the annual Blackburn Lecture, which has been hosted by the law society since 1986, says Elizabeth.

“This year, ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) president Graeme Neate AM is delivering the lecture,” she says.

“His topic on Tuesday, May 11 is ‘50 years after the Gove land rights judgment: Sir Richard Blackburn and Aboriginal land rights’ – exploring the context of the original Gove case, and the legislation that ultimately overcame the effect of that decision.”

There will be about 14 events – most are free to register to and all are open to the public – held over the week.

Every year the week also raises money for a local Can-

ACAT president Graeme Neate will be delivering the annual Blackburn Lecture on May 11.

berra charity, and this year, will be supporting Raw Potential Canberra, a charity which empowers disadvantaged youth by providing non-judgemental support and opportunities for a bright future.

The society encourages anyone to contribute a donation if they can.

ACT Law Week, May 10-15. Information at actlawsociety.asn.au or call 6274 0300.

AFTER more than 34 years in Canberra, Capon and Hubert Lawyers and Mediators now host a team of experts to suit a variety of legal needs, says owner Ken Hubert.

The well-established general firm handles everything from property and commercial law, to wills and estate planning, family law and general dispute resolution, says Ken. Each section of the firm connects with the others at Capon and Hubert, he says.

“For example, if you’ve got a family law matter, conveyancing issues can occur as well,” says Ken. “On the commercial side, the property market became extremely busy at the end of last year, and early this year, partly due to people not travelling and spending money.”

For Ken, it’s long-term relationships with clients and their families that matter. He says he has helped some clients for decades, including organising wills and estate arrangements, as well as probates.

Capon and Hubert Lawyers and Mediators, first floor, 32-38 Townshend Street, Phillip. Call 6152 9203 or visit chsol.com.au

Capon and Hubert Lawyers and Mediators owner Ken Hubert.

Working with you for the best result Ken Hubert Family Law and Mediation

Ashilpa Khanna Wills and Estate Planning Lawyer

Daryn Griffiths Property and Commercial Solicitor

Experienced in all areas of Family Law, including adoptions. Ken is an accredited business and family mediator.

YES WE ARE OPEN FOR APPOINTMENTS For all client meetings COVID-19 adherence applies

A valid and up-to-date Will can help reduce stress for your family & friends, limit administration costs, and lessen the possibility for dispute over your estate.

Let us help to navigate the complexity of conveyancing laws in the ACT & NSW including stamp duty, identity verification, and tenancy laws.

For the best outcome when it matters how it’s done call Capon & Hubert on 6152 9203 Over 30 years serving Canberra 26 CityNews May 6-12, 2021

First Floor, 32-38, Townshend Street, Phillip ACT

chsol.com.au | enquiries@chsol.com.au

If you’re injured in a motor vehicle accident or at work, you could face time off work, loss of income and mounting medical costs.

Maliganis Edwards Johnson help families protect their rights and get fair compensation.

And if you don’t win you don’t pay.

Don’t delay. Call MEJ. Personal Injury Lawyers

02 6257 2999 | mej.com.au

ACT LAW WEEK / May 10-15 Act quick for fair compensation

Help to navigate complex family law

MALIGANIS Edwards Johnson has been protecting the rights of injured Canberrans since 1985, says partner Craig Edwards.

Legal specialists in personal injury, Craig says MEJ understand the complexity of the laws that govern compensation in the ACT. “The experienced team knows that without the right legal advice and representation you can miss out on fair compensation and incur unnecessary costs,” he says.

“Being injured can have a traumatic effect on your life and on your family [but] MEJ’s philosophy is simple – if you’ve been injured through someone else’s fault then you deserve fair compensation.

“However, it’s important that you act quickly to achieve the best possible result.”

MEJ offers a free initial consultation and work on a ”no win”, no fee basis.

FAMILY law can be complex and overwhelming, which is why Infinity Legal aims to help people navigate the legal and emotional minefields that can arise, says director Julia Heinze.

Specialising in areas such as divorce, property settlement, parenting matters, adoption and personal protection orders, Julia says Infinity Legal prides itself on being approachable and ensuring clients have the most favourable experience possible during periods of high tension and stress.

“In events like divorce there are so many flow-on effects [to matters such as] inheritances, superannuations, wills.

“All of this means there are real benefits in getting a consultation to help negotiate what can become a really difficult situation.”

Due to covid, Julia says there’s also been a sad increase in family violence, another area that Infinity Legal assists people with.

“Something really important to us is not only offering legal support but also knowing where our clients can get support in terms of housing, emergency funding and other important needs,” she says.

“We can steer them towards services or organisations that can help them with what they’re going through.”

Maliganis Edwards Johnson, level 1, 60 Marcus Clarke Street, Civic. Call 6257 2999, email mail@mej.com.au or visit mej.com.au

Right: Maliganis Edwards Johnson partner Craig Edwards.

Infinity Legal, suite 2, ground floor, 24 Marcus Clarke Street, Civic. Call 6230 1839 or visit infinityfamilylawyers.com.au

Infinity Legal director Julia Heinze.

Do you need family law advice?

Infinity legal can help you protect yourself, your children and your property • • • • • • • • •

Divorce Separation Parenting Arrangements Property Settlement Adoption Consent Orders Domestic Violence Orders Personal Protection Orders Care and protection work To view our affordable and effective services please go to our website

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To book an appointment phone us on Suite 2, Ground Floor, 24 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra City 28 CityNews May 6-12, 2021

02 6230 1839

advertising feature

ACT Law Week

Firm puts listening to clients first KJB Law is a firm with an ethos of genuine care for clients, says principal Jo Twible.

Spanning many fields of law such as family law, commercial law, conveyancing and wills and estate planning, Jo says that apart from criminal and administrative law, the team at KJB is experienced and ready to help their clients.

This wide range of specialisations means that many areas of law can overlap, and as such Jo says the team can assist in navigating all kinds of legal issues.

“When a client comes in with a commercial law matter that might touch on other areas of law, or where decisions regarding the commercial matter might impact, for example, their estate planning, we can also work through those matters with them,” says Jo. She also says that closely listening is a core part of their services.

“We’re a firm that cares for its staff and its clients,” she says.

“We are here to help find solutions for clients, and we listen to them to ensure we get to the heart of the matter.”

And certainly tying into that ethos of care, KJB Law’s specialist solicitors also offer to meet via Skype or Zoom if clients are unable to attend face-to-face meetings.

KJB Law, 10 Corinna Street, Woden.

Call 6281 0999, email kjblaw@kjblaw.com.au or visit kjblaw.com.au

10–15 May 2021

Law Week aims to promote public understanding of the law and its role in society with free public events including lectures, tours, and information sessions.

Come and hear Graeme Neate AM discuss Aboriginal land rights legislation at the Annual Blackburn Lecture on Tuesday 11 May. On Wednesday 12 May, join a community forum on Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility; or hear from an expert panel reflecting on the challenges and opportunities of Scaling up Human Rights Protections in the ACT. KJB Law principal Jo Twible.

Learn about the new Climate Change Bill at a seminar on Thursday 13 May. On Friday 14 May, learn about Youth Law in the ACT; or listen to a panel of experts discussing New Pathways to Address Elder Abuse in the ACT. You can even get a tour of the ACT Supreme Court at a family open day on Saturday 15 May. All events are open to the public. Entry is by free registration with an optional contribution. All proceeds go to Raw Potential Canberra, a charity helping disadvantaged youth.

ACT Law Week is proudly sponsored by Lawcover.

For more information, call 6274 0300 or visit www.actlawsociety.asn.au

Over 40 years of professional service and excellence The KJB Law team has built a reputation in Canberra for sound legal advice, simplifying the complexity of the law by explaining it to you in plain English, and then working towards the best possible solution.

Our legal services include: • • • •

Family Law Business and Corporate Law Estate Planning – Wills and Powers of Attorney Commercial & Residential Conveyancing • Personal Injury and Workers Compensation • Business Succession Planning • General Litigation, Police Matters and Court

6281 0999

For successful results in a cost effective manner call Email kjblaw@kjblaw.com.au | Ground Floor, 10 Corinna Street, Woden | kjblaw.com.au CityNews May 6-12, 2021 29

PUZZLES PAGE

FREE PUZZLES EVERY DAY AT citynews.com.au General knowledge crossword No. 780

Your week in the stars

call us now

By Joanne Madeline Moore

May 10-16, 2021

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Rambunctious Rams – you find it difficult to be on your best behaviour and toe the line for a long time. Expect the unexpected this week, as Mars and Uranus stir up your restless (and reckless) side. You’ll balk at restrictions being placed on you (especially at home) but resist the urge to be a disruptive influence. Put your personal wishes aside, and make sure you stay well-informed and fulfil your responsibilities to the wider community for the greater good.

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TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

Avoid getting stuck in a static way of thinking and a routine way of behaving. The New Moon and Uranus activate your sign, which shakes up preconceived ideas and you’ll find a current situation (or problem) has more flexible options than you had previously thought. Your mantra for the week is from birthday great, singer and activist Bono: “The world is more malleable than you think, and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.” So get busy Bulls!

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

Gung-ho Geminis are keen to power ahead at lightning speed but if you make fast moves and hasty pronouncements (or engage in garrulous gossip) then you could end up making things worse. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that you’re not aware of, so do some detective work (and check the facts thoroughly) before you proceed with your plans. Venus is vamping through your sign (until June 2) so charm, diplomacy and compassion will take you far.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

This week the New Moon and Jupiter activate your aspirations zones. So divert your attention from current problems and draw up your wish-list for 2022 and beyond. Don’t waste the opportunity to escape into your imagination, set intentions and dream big, beautiful dreams for the future. With Jupiter transiting into your travel and education zone, it’s important to keep up-to-date with your school friends, college pals and international contacts.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

The New Moon and Uranus activate your career zone, so innovative thinking and creative brainstorming will bring professional benefits. This week has the potential to boost your intuition, ignite your imagination and stretch your work muscles.

Jupiter also jumps into your ‘money-from-others zone’. So – some time over the next 18 months – you could benefit from an inheritance, loan, divorce settlement, insurance claim, bumper tax return or superannuation pay-out.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Virgos are the worrywarts of the zodiac and you can become obsessed with the minutiae of daily life. By all means keep up-to-date with current affairs but aim to limit your exposure (and news notifications) otherwise you’ll just become more stressed. Focus on situations where you can contribute your expertise and influence the outcome. With Jupiter transiting into your partnership zone, try to view a troubled relationship from a more philosophical perspective.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

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This week Saturn amplifies your perfectionist streak, which could lead to a lot of unnecessary angst when you discover that 100% satisfaction is hard to find.

So your motto is from Spanish surrealist painter (and birthday great) Salvador Dali: “Have no fear of perfection… you’ll never reach it.” Then Jupiter jumps into your job and wellbeing zone, which is good news for your physical health and emotional wellbeing. Improved work conditions are also likely.

Solution next edition

Across

Down

4 Name the Australian wheat breeder who pioneered scientific breeding of wheats resistant to rust, William ... (6) 7 What is an arboreal, bushy-tailed rodent? (8) 8 What is a doll, or crude representation of a person? (6) 9 Which tall piece of furniture is used for holding clothes? (8) 11 What do we call one who denies the existence of God? (7) 13 Which colloquial term describes the entertainment industry? (4,3) 15 The South American rhea most resembles which bird? (7) 17 What was Tiger Woods’ first given name, which he legally changed? (7) 20 What do we call those who follow left-wing political principles? (8) 23 Craig Williams rode Ista Kareem on April 25, 2009 to win which cup? (6) 24 What are apparitions, or spectres? (8) 25 Which term implies the ability to speak or write readily? (6)

1 What is another name for water? (4) 2 Which plant disease is usually characterised by a whitish surface coating? (6) 3 What is a company of three singers? (4) 4 The First what brought white settlers to Australia in 1788? (5) 5 Name an Australian champion tennis player, Patrick ...

(6) 6 What are borders or margins called? (5) 9 What, colloquially, might we call someone from the western suburbs of Sydney? (6) 10 Which infantry weapon is used to destroy tanks and other armoured military vehicles? (7) 12 Name an acute infectious disease. (6) 14 Which alloy consists essentially of copper and tin? (6) 16 To repeat a piece of poetry or prose to an audience, is to do what? (6) 18 To be faithful to one’s oath or obligations, is to be what?

(5) 19 What is a subterranean chamber or vault? (5) 21 In their 1977 grand finals, the NRL and the VFL each ended in a what? (4) 22 Name the British essayist and writer, Charles ... (4)

FREE SUDOKU EVERY DAY AT citynews.com.au

Sudoku hard No. 290

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Watch out for stubbornly holding a fixed position: you’re probably not seeing the full picture. If you listen to family, friends and work colleagues (from home and away) then you’ll gain a much wider perspective. Plus pay special attention to a loved one who is feeling down and needs a shoulder to cry on. If you are attached – the New Moon helps you re-connect with your partner. For some Scorpios – a secret relationship takes a decidedly unexpected turn!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Tuesday night’s New Moon suggests a fresh start involving work or health as you commence a new job, devise a more nutritious diet or reboot your fitness routine.

And Jupiter (your patron planet) is set to expand your domestic horizons. So Home Sweet Home is the place to be! Over the next 18 months you could buy or sell real estate, move house, get a new housemate, welcome a new family member or renovate your present place so you have more space.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

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30 CityNews May 6-12, 2021

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

News bulletins and notifications can be depressing, so steer clear of negative influences that just bring you down. Jupiter jumps into your sign, so make sure the people around you are impacting your life in positive ways. Tuesday night’s New Moon encourages you to reach out and help others, in your circle of family and friends and within your local neighbourhood. You’ll find the close community connections you foster now will prove beneficial in the future.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2021

Solution next edition

Solutions – April 29 edition Sudoku medium No. 290

Advance Jewellers

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

The week starts off with a mad rush as the New Moon, Mars and Uranus boost your busy side and you’re desperate to do everything ASAP. Slow down or you’ll come a cropper! Saturn (which is still moving through your sign) has a valuable lesson to teach you. If you really want to succeed, then enthusiasm must be backed up with hard work. As Hollywood icon (and birthday great) Katharine Hepburn wisely observed: “Without discipline, there’s no life at all.”

Crossword No. 779

Restorations - Repairs - Remakes - Re-Setting Ring Re-sizing - 48hr Service Custom Design - for something Special Pearl and Bead Re-Threading and Knotting

This week the planets activate your creativity and work zones, which encourages you to innovate and collaborate. Then the creative cream will really rise to the top!

Other suitable outlets for your earthy energy are sporting pursuits or a challenging personal project. Venus and Jupiter could also send a fabulous opportunity in your direction. Make sure you reach out and grab it though (with plenty of enthusiasm) otherwise it will just pass you by.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

INSIDE

Hot pizza beside the snowy slopes

WENDY JOHNSON

Sell-out play turns on the irony of denial and evil

By Helen

MUSA ACTOR Robyn Nevin agreed that “Brunhilde” suggested an Amazonian kind of image, but the character she’s about to perform in Canberra was in fact small and quite forgettable in appearance.

Nevin is talking of Brunhilde Pomsel, Joseph Goebbels’ secretary and the subject she portrays in Christopher Hampton’s play, “A German Life”, so potentially nervetouching that it rates a warning from the theatre that it contains graphic historical footage distressing for some patrons.

Directed by Neil Armfield, the one-hander comes to Canberra after a sell-out season at the Adelaide Festival.

“Brunhilde was unassuming and diffident but very smart though, much more so than her opportunities allowed her to realise,” Nevin says.

Her story was typical of her generation, small in scale and not ambitious, and Nevin’s initial reaction to her words: “I always wanted to work in an office… bliss”, was amused incredulity.

“But she was also tough, she was in

survival mode,” Nevin says, noting that after emerging from the rubble near Hitler’s bunker waving a white pillowcase to the approaching troops in April, 1945, she spent five years imprisoned by the Russians.

Hampton, in Nevin’s view, was the perfect person to take on this adaptation for the stage from a film documentary of the same name made by a group of Austrian filmmakers not long before Brunhilde’s death in January, 2017 at age 106.

“Hampton’s done a lot of translations and adaptations but he’s also been a big success in commercial shows like ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ – he’s a stalwart of the British theatre,” Nevin says.

It is a choice piece for her and it’s only been done once before at the Bridge Theatre, London in 2019, with Maggie Smith in the role.

Armfield was in on it with her from the time Nevin showed him the script and they picked through the text, considering how much they could believe Brunhilde’s testimony and how resonant many of the things she described were today.

Covid restrictions saw the pair zipping around from Adelaide, where Armfield was working, to Patonga, where he lives, and the southern highlands, where Nevin resides.

“It was a different way of rehearsing, but because it was just Neil and me, it was possible,” she tells me, suggesting that the intensity may have enhanced the perfor-

Robyn Nevin as Brunhilde Pomsel in “A German Life”... “Doing this has been very rewarding, if dark.”

Photo: Andrew Beveridge mance – “it’s in my muscle memory now”.

As an actor, she is well aware of the different ways audiences will take the story of Brunhilde’s life, her closeness to the Nazi leadership and her failure to admit guilt.

Herein lies the ambiguity of Hampton’s

play. She died maintaining that she didn’t know what was going on, telling her Austrian interlocutors: “I had no idea what was going on. Or very little. No more than most people.

So, you can’t make me feel guilty.”

But on the other hand, her jobs with

the German Broadcasting Corporation and Joseph Goebbels would suggest she knew a great deal.

“She’s a human being and you can sense another level in her character,” Nevin says.

“Such an Inconsequential life, but Hampton has elevated it to be full of contradictions and ironies.

“There’s something so banal about this woman, when she talks about her life in retrospect, she talks of it as if it was a perfectly normal life and yet you know that it wasn’t.”

Inevitably, we note, Brunhilde’s life brings to mind Hannah Arendt’s famous statement about “the banality of evil” and Adolf Eichmann.

But Nevin can’t let that get in the way of her portrayal.

“If one is to play people with such a past, it just means you have to do them, bring them to life,” says.

“Sometimes as an actor you can’t avoid judgement, but I try to avoid those kinds of judgements – they are not useful and not relevant.

“It’s the purest type of storytelling when you have one person tell her life story, doing this has been very rewarding, if dark.”

In the end, as Nevin puts it: “The play’s the thing – I’m just the delivery girl.”

“A German Life”, The Playhouse, May 11-16.

Book at canberratheatrecentre.com.au

18-23 MAY |

Book now!

A SLIGHTLY ISOLATED DOG

CityNews May 6-12, 2021 31

WATCH IT! / streaming and stuff

Listen to this, there are no actors to be seen...

A SHOW with actors that don’t ever actually appear on screen?

It might seem like a hard sell, but “Calls”, now streaming on Apple TV+, pulls off its ambitious premise with flying colours.

Quite literally flying colours. The only thing on screen the audience gets to visually play with is abstract and surreal lighting that’s paired with the real core of the story: the audio.

Nine episodes, between 12 and 20 minutes in length, each feature a phone call between two people we get to listen in on.

Through each, a compelling plot quickly comes to light, often with a shocking twist.

Famous actors have been cast for their voice talents to bring the stories to life: Pedro Pascal, Aubrey Plaza and Nick Jonas to name a few, but it’s easy to forget that these phone calls are indeed fictional.

There’s a strange realism to it all. The show has an aura of eerie surrounding it. In a way it feels like these phone calls shouldn’t be listened to, like the viewer has stumbled across some strange relic of another world.

What are these calls about?

Well with such an outside-the-box premise, I personally found going in with no idea was the best way to commit to the already “out-there” experience that’s promised.

Orson Welles… his infamous radio broadcast of 1938, terrified Americans into believing Martians were invading.

But to describe it in a word or two: “Twilight Zoney”, though you probably won’t find that in the “Oxford Dictionary”.

It’s bite-sized entertainment. The slim run time means the gimmick doesn’t wear itself out and it’s perfect for streamers who want to give their imagination some exercise.

“Calls” may indeed represent a very

different way of digesting television, but it’s not necessarily a unique type of storytelling. Fictional storytelling entirely listened to has become ever more popular through podcasting. One of the most prominent is “Welcome to Nightvale”, streamable on Spotify or other podcasting services.

It’s a series about a town where creepy conspiracy theories run rife.

It’s fascinating that the most popular schooler camping around a fire with friends type of this storytelling revolves around in the pitch black night of the Northern Terpremises meant to spook an audience, ritory, projecting that thin teenage veneer perhaps because it so of fearlessness as we told heavily relies on the one another stories to try In a way there’s to scare each other. activation of the listener’s imagination. a memory I’m sure an even older edge I’mIt’s More than that, the connot alone in having, cept harks back to another to all this that might give or take a few details, era of entertainment well but that experience of explain why the before the streaming age, simply hearing another creepy concepts one where audiences were story by word of mouth engaged with a different is such a fundamental, have proven most kind of “wireless” device. universal way of doing so popular here: Perhaps the most that these days it’s easy famous example is to forget how powerful it storytelling by word Orson Welles’ infamous can actually be. of mouth. radio broadcast of 1938, An anecdote told to me terrifying Americans into by a colleague recently believing Martians were invading. highlights this more than anything. On a car You can listen to Welles’ entire broadcast trip, she had put on an audio book for her of “The War of the Worlds” on YouTube, and four-year-old daughter to listen to, but was there’s fascinating parallels between it and soon asked: “Where’s the screen, mum?” these more modern attempts to freak out an audience through audible means.

Going further down this rabbit hole, in a way there’s an even older edge to all this that might explain why the creepy concepts have proven most popular here: storytelling by word of mouth.

I have a vivid memory of being a high

CINEMA / reviews

Why, oh, why is Edee all alone?

“Land” (M) THIS is a “nice” movie. What’s nice about it? Its dramatic structure is simple. It’s credible. It doesn’t demand more of the filmgoer than the filmgoer might be prepared to give.

It doesn’t emblazon the screen with over-the-top, adrenalin-stimulating, look-at-me moments. And its run-time including closing credits is a comfy 89 minutes.

Edee (producer/director Robin Wright) has bought herself a remote Wyoming bush block (it’s actually in Alberta, Canada). She wants to be alone.

The screenplay by Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam is in no hurry to tell us why. Instead, it obliges us to wonder why a woman from an urban environment wants to escape friends and live alone well clear of 21st century comforts (but not a couple of cases of canned food).

She can’t handle an axe so can’t split the firewood she will need when bitter winter comes (nor the saw she must use to cut logs into billets before even thinking about splitting them.)

For long passages, “Land” observes Edee’s hermit lifestyle and from time to time, flashes of memory provide fragments of explanation for the quick-eyed and eared viewer to build a picture.

Then a visitor from the outside world arrives to disturb her solitude. Miguel (Demián Bichir) has heard about this crazy woman. He’s a competent outdoors man who’s prepared to teach her survival stuff and provides a dog to keep her company while he’s away dealing

32 CityNews May 6-12, 2021

with his own issues.

The tenor of the narrative seldom rises above even.

Neither of them is looking for romance. But the film avoids exaggerating a strong current of friendship.

I came away from “Land” feeling well satisfied.

At Dendy and Palace Electric

“Wrath of Man” (MA) WHAT we have here is 122 minutes (including a very long list of closing credits) of secrets, suspicions and selfish suppositions wrapped in a blanket of bashings, blood and bullets.

A man – let’s simply call him “H” – satisfies the selection criteria for employment at a Los Angeles company that carries cash from businesses to banks.

“H” is very competent. None of his colleagues knows much about him.

Neither do we as we settle down to watch director Guy Ritchie’s remake of a 2004 French revenge thriller, to which it cleaves reasonably closely (same writers, aided and abetted by a trio of Anglophones including Ritchie).

We are there to watch Jason Statham avoid smiling much as “H” punches, stabs, shoots and lies about himself en route to victory over bad guys who botched an earlier heist by accidentally killing “H’s” son.

It’s not a bad movie – just a single-minded actioner using an appropriately single-minded musical score to underpin a single-minded conflict without needing application of high intellect to sustain viewers’ attention.

If that shoe fits …

At all cinemas

POETRY & MUSIC

ARTS IN THE CITY

Sarah puts the power into poetry

Vet cries for help 30 years after the war

By Helen Musa

POET-artist-philosopher-academic Sarah Rice is one of the true chameleons of the Canberra arts scene – and she sings, too.

A former soprano with Canberra’s long-running Oriana Chorale, she’s returning to the choir armed with an ArtsACT grant for an ambitious project that puts all her talents to work.

The multi-arts project inspired by Rice’s poetry about to take the stage at Llewellyn Hall under the title “Text/ure,” was made easier by the fact that Oriana’s newish conductor, Dan Walker, was keen to attract new audiences and new choristers, so was on board from the start.

World premieres by Canberra-connected composers Phil Batterham, David Cassat, Judith Clingan, Sally Greenaway, Quin Thomson and Dan Walker, as well as music by Eric Whitacre, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Joe Twist and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi will be performed without accompaniment and Rice will be returning to sing with her old choir.

The concluding poems along with the entire creative process will be documented in a book to be published by Recent Work Press.

Luckily, from Rice’s poetic perspective, Walker, as well as being a composer, singer and conductor, has a poetic streak too, sometimes encouraging choristers to imagine themselves being “like a fleet-footed racehorse” or to “sing like new-baked bread”.

“None of the ‘allegro, andante’ technical kind of stuff,” Rice says.

“My brain thinks visually, in colour,” Rice tells me. “My orange Afghan rug is an act of poetry.”

While Walker worked with around 36 choristers preparing them for the demanding task of singing a whole concert a cappella, Rice got into the studio and down to drawing and painting.

She’s created 35 images for PowerPoint presentation, saying, “a poem is not an end in itself.”

“Visual images can put power into poetry and music – they can make a poem feel real,” she says.

All of her colourful drawings, she says, have been created on reflective surfaces to give a sense of layering or translucency.

Walker and Rice view the project as very much a community initiative, with Walker arguing: “The choral landscape of this country has been shaped largely by projects such as the one you’re Sarah Rice… “Visual images can put power undertaking: that is, new works written specifiinto poetry and music – they can make a cally for amateur community ensembles.” poem feel real.”

Photo: Helen Musa Rice, too, has a strong sense of community, That’s not surprising. She has a first-class painting on tiles when she feels under duress, honours degree in drawing and printmaking teaching drawing in the Downer Community from the ANU, a PhD in philosophy UNSW and a Centre and holding workshops on how to write long track record in projects where she exhibits artist statements, a skill she honed when for her own visual work inspired by her own poetry, many years she worked as a lecturer at the then putting verse and art together in what literary ANU School of Art. insiders call “ekphrastic” poetry – which simply She draws a bold line between her more acameans the poet engages with a painting, drawdemic type of writing and her poetry, saying: “I ing, sculpture, and/or, as in this case, music. can feel the gearshift in my brain and sometimes After Rice wrote an initial poem, she and it’s hard to switch back… I might have to draw Walker sent it to six contemporary Australian first before I write.” composers to get their take on it. The results are But “Text/ure”, she says, is unique and it’s a subtly different. kind of ekphrastic loop. “We start with poetry One such composer was the legendary Judith and return to it, traversing two other art-forms on Clingan, who says she tried to capture things the way – music and visual art.” such as “the warmth of simple pleasures, like a cup of tea with a friend, a cat purring on one’s “Text/ure”, Canberra Girls Grammar School Senior lap, contrasted with the sudden intake of breath Hall, Deakin, 3pm, Sunday, May 16. Book at caused by contemplation of the ‘blue hour’.” trybooking.com

DINING / Vertikal, Dairy Road Precinct Hot pizza beside the snowy slopes

By Wendy

By Helen Musa NEW play “Foxholes of the Mind” looks into the lives of Vietnam veteran Frank, suffering from PTSD, and his wife Trish, 30 years after the war. It’s written by Bernard Clancy, author of the Vietnam war novel “Best We Forget” and directed by Wolf Heidecker, producing on behalf of the Geelong sub-branch of the Vietnam Veterans’ Association. At Courtyard Studio, May 12-14. Book at canberratheatrecentre.com.au THE Art Gallery of NSW celebrates 100 years of Australia’s portrait award with a new major exhibition, “Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize”.

The show will unearth the stories behind more than 100 carefully selected artworks. The good news is that it’s coming to the National Portrait Gallery, October 21-January 28.

THE Headland Writers Festival, a new literature event for the far south coast, has an extraordinary line-up of writers including Canberra’s Geoff Page and Irma Gold, as well as local talent such as Yuin man Gary Lonesborough, whose novel “Boy from the Mish” talks about being young, black and queer while growing up in a coastal regional town. Held across five days in venues

such as the Tathra Hall, Tathra Hotel and the historic Tathra Wharf Museum, where actors will perform “Tales from the Sea”, it will feature conversations with authors, forums, workshops, performances and live music. Tathra, NSW, May 14-16. Book at headlandfestival.com.au THE CSO’s “Llewellyn Two: Longing and Desire” features works

by Rachmaninov, Richard Meale and selections from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Jessica Cottis will conduct, while the piano soloist will be Andrea Lam. At Llewellyn Hall, May 12-13. Book at cso.org.au “RAPE & Other Acceptable Practices” is Daniel Widdowson’s three-person, minimalist play about rape, gaslighting, silencing victims, and victimising perpetrators. The production premiered at the Art House Wyong and is directed by central coast theatre identity Sylvia Marie Keays. At Canberra Dance Theatre, Acton, 8pm, May 15. Book at eventbrite.com.au KATHRYN Selby will be joined

by Dene Olding on violin and Julian Smiles on cello for Selby & Friends’ May tour, “Patriot Games”.

At Llewellyn Hall, May 14. Book at selbyandfriends.com.au

usic, M e r o M un...

More F

JOHNSON HAVING pizza by the open fire while watching skiers slide down snowy slopes in Canberra is deliciously entertaining. In Canberra?

Vertikal offers the Alpine experience right here in the capital.

An indoor snow sports venture, Vertikal’s philosophy is ski, drink, pizza, repeat.

It all started with a visit to an exhibition at the relatively new Grainger Gallery in the Dairy Road Precinct (well worth a visit). Feeling a bit peckish, we visited Vertikal next door. We popped in to see what it was all about and that was when the aroma of freshly cooked, woodfired pizzas convinced us that this was where we were going to have lunch.

We didn’t hit the slopes but watched eager adrenaline junkies do so on Vertikal’s simulated terrain, thrilled at watching themselves ski in real time (mirrors are at the base of the slopes).

Vertikal’s décor creates a perfect “apres ski environment”. Big, bulky, comfy, brown leather couches surround a massive open fire. The fitout replicates a ski chalet, complete with big wood logs, ski gear and artwork featuring mountains.

There’s beer on tap, wines and

The diavola pizza… Calabrese salami, complemented by smokey chargrilled capsicum, melted mozzarella and a kick of chilli.

Photo: Wendy Johnson hot drinks to keep you toasty warm.

If you need an energy boost, hit the milkshakes. If you’re craving some sun, head to one of Vertikal’s outdoor picnic tables, positioned in a garden area and around a water feature.

Fifteen styles of authentic, wood-fired pizza are on the menu, some with tomato bases and some with white bases. They’re served on attractive, round, wooden boards with handles.

Tomato base options start with a clean Margherita ($15), which we always enjoy, but we were looking for hearty pizzas and both selected tomato bases.

The tre carni ($25) delivered. It was loaded with chunks of salty Italian sausage, a generous serve of spicy Calabrese salami and quality leg ham. The tomato sauce was rich and the melted mozzarella brought the dish together beautifully. The crust wasn’t too thick or thin.

Also generous with ingredients was the diavola ($22), which had a substantial kick of chilli.

It, too, had Calabrese salami, complemented by smokey chargrilled capsicum and melted mozzarella.

White-base pizzas are all vegetarian including a rosemary and potato, a pumpkin and a quattro formaggio (all $22).

House-made soup of the day created with seasonal veggies and served with freshly baked bread is also available ($15) and so is a gooey, nutty Nutella calzone ($15).

For something lighter, there’s the house-made focaccia drizzled with cold-pressed olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt ($12).

Staff were super friendly, but the service was hit and miss. You order at the cash register, but there seemed to be the need for more training so orders and payments could be processed more efficiently.

THE CLASSIC BREAKFAST with Holmsey & Jen

5.30AM TO 9AM WEEKDAYS How to listen: 1053 AM DAB Radio • www.2ca.com.au Smart speakers (just say “Play 2CA”) CityNews May 6-12, 2021 33

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Dogwood flowers… and fruit.

First frosts warn what’s ahead THE first frosts have arrived, gently at first and increasing in intensity.

It’s like an air-raid siren, warning what’s ahead.

Place any frost-sensitive plants in pots under the eaves of the home, though it may not be feasible with citrus in large containers. If the house doesn’t have wide enough overhanging eaves, and if the plants are not too tall, place four tomato stakes around the pot and cover with hessian or a dense shade cloth.

Now is the time to disconnect any plastic watering timers. When turned off, they usually still have some water in them and with a decent frost they will literally split open. Likewise, take off any sprinklers or garden watering wands on the end of hoses. Then disconnect garden hoses and put them under cover at night. Move indoor plants away from cold, draughty windows and also from ducted heating vents. These extremes can have a dramatic effect on your plant’s survival. Also reduce the frequency of watering, without letting the soil completely dry out.

It’s a good time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs once they have lost their leaves. But do not prune spring flowering blossom trees or shrubs as you will cut off all the blossom buds.

Prune deciduous ornamental trees now, as opposed to spring when many will bleed profusely as the sap is rising at that time. The main reason for pruning is

to remove obvious dead branches and crossing branches. Betula pendula, or silver birch, is a real bleeder when pruned in spring. Deciduous trees should never be pruned between the first week in September and the last week in October. Also a no-no is the use of pruning paint on tree wounds.

This is usually bituminous based and will inhibit the natural healing of the wound.

I DON’T recommend planting citrus at this time of the year, as we just don’t know how cold the winter is going to be. Wait until middle or late spring. In days gone by, when virtually every home had a Rayburn wood heater with the accompanying brick chimney, folk planted citrus alongside the chimney; the bricks would put out heat all night keeping frosts at bay!

On the subject of citrus; lemons, limes and kumquats all grow well in Canberra. The exception is oranges. Some readers tell me their oranges grow well, but in my experience owning a nursery in Yass for many years, and after more than 30 years involved with gardens in Canberra, I’ve found that they will grow and develop fruit, but never juice up. Oranges need a longer, hotter climate than here, such as in the Riverina.

FALLING leaves can cause real problems on small plants and in particular dwarf hedges such as buxus and hebe. The weight of leaves when wet is considerable and can cause dead patches in the hedge.

I MUST mention one very interesting small evergreen tree, Cornus capitata, a variety of

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Consider pruning deciduous trees now. dogwood. Found originally in the Himalaya by plant hunters back in 1822. In 1922 the Royal Horticultural Society gave it the prestigious Award of Garden Merit for its flowers and again in 1974 for its distinctive fruit. This time of year it’s covered with strawberry-like berries, not edible, and a magnificent display of flowers which start off pale lemon yellow fading to a beautiful pink.

A NOTE on planting hedges of all sizes. Always dig a trench rather than individual holes. This way the roots will spread sideways considerably faster.

OPEN GARDEN / Kambah

Leonie’s wending garden of ‘enchanted’ surprises THE skill of being a talented potter, mosaiker and gardener is evident in Leonie Lucey’s “enchanted” garden, where little winding paths reveal sculptures and surprises at every turn.

“I like the surprises the best, when things pop up that I’d forgotten about. I’ll go to plant something and there’ll be a bulb in there already,” she says.

“The garden isn’t planned and is constantly evolving. I have natives and exotics alongside things from school fetes, bits and pieces from friends, and plants I like.”

Leonie’s garden will be open on Mother’s Day weekend, May 8-9, and will include basketry and string-bag making demos, as well as a list of all the art hidden around for visitors to find.

Leonie says she’s made gardens all over Australia, but loves Canberra for its deciduous trees and changing seasons.

“I like how the garden looks different all the time,

Words: Kathryn Vukovljak Photos: Holly Treadaway and the forest pansy and crabapple that provide shade in summer and sun in winter,” she says.

Leonie does all the work in the garden herself, having started creating the space more than 20 years ago.

As well as photinia hedges, a weeping elm, viburnum, albizia, lilac and a grapevine, Leonie inherited a filled-in, grassed over swimming pool, and upon digging to build a pond, discovered it was full of discarded junk and plastic bags of rubbish.

“The soil under there must be toxic, as any trees I’ve planted in that area will only grow for a few years then die,” she says.

It’s impossible to tell what’s underneath.

Wattle, grevillea, callistemon, hakea and correa are mixed in with salvia, buddleia, camellia and peonies.

Gaudi-inspired ceramic mosaic walls line the paths and garden beds, all Leonie’s own freehand

designs and many made from her own pots.

“The walls edge the garden and are great at helping with retaining water, as the garden beds are higher than my neighbours’, thanks to the soil that was originally dug out of the pool,” she says.

It’s a waterwise garden, and as Leonie hates throwing anything away, she creates her own mulch and compost “nests” can be found all around the garden, containing chipped prunings that break down and improve the surrounding soil.

“I love working in the garden. I feel that every leaf regrown and recycled helps cut the carbon dioxide and add to the oxygen levels for the planet,” she says.

“I’m out here for probably four hours a day – I can’t sit still, but I do love wandering around.”

4 Paull Place, Kambah, will be open on Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9, 10am-4pm. Entry is $10, children under 18 are free. Bookings essential on Eventbrite. There will be no ticket sales or memberships available at the gate. Join Open Gardens Canberra for $30 and all gardens are free for a year.

Leonie Lucey… “The garden isn’t planned and is constantly evolving.”

Photo: Holly Treadaway

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Wall Rocks

corkhillbros.com.au CityNews May 6-12, 2021 35

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PROPERTY AND THE PERFECT STORM Come and find out how to ride the wave

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What you will learn •

Are we heading into the ‘perfect storm’ for property investing?

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How to ride the wave of the biggest nationwide property boom in 20 years?

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Has the pandemic changed the real estate market forever?

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Over 30 factors affecting the property market right now?

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How to pay off your mortgage 20 years sooner?

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How to build wealth by saving tax?

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How to retire with a portfolio of investment properties?

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Do you want to be in the 5% of Australians who retire wealthy?

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How to buy positive cash flow properties that are predicted to increase in value by 20% in two years?

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How to buy property in an SMSF?

LAST DAYS TO BOOK LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE

RSVP Essential Event Thursday, May 13th Ainslie Football Club 6:00pm BOOK NOW – Call: 6162 4546 wholisticfinancialsolutions.com.au reception@wfscanberra.com.au

All attendees will receive •

Go in the draw to WIN one of five $200 gift cards

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Catherine Smith’s Book - ‘Wholistic Wealth through Property’

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A FREE valuation of your current properties

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A FREE mortgage review and a $500 cashback on re-finance of your mortgage to a better rate

A local Canberra company for over 20 years 6162 4546 | Unit 4/6 Pelle Street, Mitchell www.wholisticfinancialsolutions.com.au