Government stumps up for ice sports hub

THE ACT government will commit $16 million towards the development of a new $45-50 million ice sports facility –the Canberra Arena – in Tuggeranong by 2025. “The new facility will feature two international standard ice sheets that will support the needs of figure skating, broomball, speed skating and ice hockey, as well as dedicated curling sheets – the first of its kind in Australia –and capacity for up to 3600 spectators,” said Sport Minister Yvette Berry.

Senator Molan dies

NSW Liberal senator Jim Molan has died at the age of 72, nearly two years after being diagnosed with cancer. Senator Molan served four decades in the Australian Army, reaching the rank of major general, before entering politics in 2012 and being re-elected to the Senate at the 2022 federal election. He and wife Anne lived on a rural property in Royalla, just outside the ACT border.

Failures in aged care

MORE than half the aged-care homes in the ACT aren’t meeting their nursingcare minutes, with one provider missing their 38-minute minimum benchmark by 22 minutes. That’s according to the analysis by ACT senator David Pocock of the star ratings of the ACT’s 23 residential aged-care facilities, under a new federal government framework. “Despite recent reforms, big improvements are still needed to lift the standard of care being provided,” he says.