High tea with a helping hand

He did have a point there, since there doesn’t seem to be any natural follow-up, unlike the activism of Grace Tame, for example, who got things moving on the vile creatures preying on vulnerable kids.

My only concern is one of health. Obesity is a serious condition, and there’s a danger that Taryn Brumfitt’s elevation might encourage some people to “love” a body that’s actually killing them. This was brought home recently with the TV coverage of Beyonce’s triumph at the Grammy Awards, where she and especially her female friends, seemed to be glorying in their obesity. And woe betide any person who dares to raise a hand of caution.

I’m not suggesting the judges erred in selecting Ms Brumfitt for the high honour and the exposure it usually brings to the award winner. But I do hope they have planned her year thoughtfully.

robert@ robertmacklin. com

THE local branch of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is hosting a fundraising high tea at Gold Creek Station, Hall from 1pm on March 19. Tickets are $75 (early bird tickets $65) and include a glass of bubbly. There’ll be a lucky door prize, raffle and silent auction. Book before March 15 at trybooking.com/CDSVX

A view to the future

THE Gungahlin VIEW Club is holding its AGM at the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club, Nicholls, from 11.45am on February 22. Lunch is $35 and RSVP to 0407 556460 by 9pm, February 17.

RSI group to meet

THE RSI & Overuse Injury Association is holding a coffee group at 10.30am on February 17 at 20 Genge Street, Civic. More from 6262 5011 or email admin@rsi.org.au

Rock swappers

THE Canberra Lapidary Club is hosting the free “Canberra Rock Swap”, at Exhibition Park, Mitchell. 8.30am-5pm, March 18-19. The club says dealers and fossickers will be selling jewellery, gemstones, fossils, rocks, mineral specimens and lapidary supplies.

Superb parrots.

Parrots caught in housing crisis

JUST half a per cent of the available tree hollows in Canberra’s woodlands are suitable nests for superb parrots, according to a new study.

Researchers at the ANU and the ACT government have found the search for a suitable nesting site can have a big impact on how many offspring the superb parrots are able to produce.

Superb parrots are a listed vulnerable species with a small resident population in Canberra.

Previously, research has shown that these sleek green birds depend on tree hollows for nesting, but that their preferred nest sites are extremely rare.

This prompted the researchers to ask whether pairs of parrots that monopolise nesting sites have an advantage when it comes to breeding success.

The study, published in “Animal Conservation”, shows that breeding pairs of superb parrots that successfully defended a suitable nesting site over multiple years produce more than double the offspring of unsuccessful pairs.