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A second opinion on hearing loss

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!

Here are some things to do to avoid getting ripped off:

1. A visit to the GP may save you from being ‘sold’ something when your only problem is wax in your ears.

2. Look for someone who is independent and can offer you unbiased advice, not just give you a sales pitch.

3. There are a range of hearing aid prices. Finding the right hearing aid might save you money and it will also give you the best chance of success.

4. Hearing aids can be expensive.

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 free-to-client government hearing aids or if you’d like to top-up to a different hearing aid.

The free-to-client hearing aids are appropriate for many people, however if you have great difficulty hearing background noise (for example in restaurants) then you might trial the top-up hearing aids, but only if you can afford them. There are a range of top up options and prices, if you are disappointed after a trial, you should return them and trial the free-toclient hearing aids.

If you get the feeling the person you’re dealing with is just trying to sell you something, then take a step back and get a second opinion.

“In an unregulated market there is a lot of opportunity to take advantage of people. Yes you have read correctly, there is no licensing of people who sell hearing aids.”

– Dr Vass

– you need professional advice, not a sales pitch

Where the unusual is usual and the exotic welcome

By Lily PASS

REMOVING tumours from cockatoos and curing rabbits of ear infections are all in a day’s work for Dr Daniella Hsu, a vet who thrives on treating unusual clients.

She is the head veterinarian and onsite director at The Unusual Pet Vets clinic, which opened in Fyshwick in November.

Daniella says their service was defi nitely required.

“There wasn’t an exotics-only clinic in Canberra until this one. Now we cater for the slightly unusual animals with some patients getting referred to us from two hours away,” she says, with The Unusual Pet Vets excluding dogs and cats.

Having grown up in China, Daniella says her family used to breed finches and budgies, they used to own a lot of rabbits and, in her early childhood, her family had silkworms.

“I’ve also had turtles and chickens,” she says.

Her passion for animals led her to become a vet and since graduating, in 2012, Daniella has worked exclusively in a bird and exotics clinic in Sydney,

ment. I really wasn’t sure that was something I wanted to get into, but I loved every minute of it,” she says.

“I was not afraid of birds too, which is apparently a common thing, so I

my passion started.”

Now Daniella, 36, says she has downsized the numbers of pets in her home because she doesn’t have as much time to dedicate to their care,

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but she still gets her fix through work.

“Right now, I’ve got an English cocker spaniel named Mr Darcy, an Alexandrine parrot named Megatron and a carpet python, Sir William

“In Canberra the most unusual animals I have treated are different

“In Sydney, not myself, my colleagues had treated seahorses and stingrays, which is very unique.”

Most of the patients that come through the Unusual Pet Vets are prey species, which makes handling them

“Besides ferrets, our patients are prey species, which means we shouldn’t be hospitalising them in the same facility as a dog or cat as the smells and noises can be quite stress -

“Even when we handle these animals they become stressed quite easily, so we need to be aware of those signs and we need to be very gentle.”

In a time-sensitive emergency, Daniella says they still do all the basics first, just with an extra level of caution.

“Things like heating, stopping any bleeding, oxygenation, and then we give them five minutes to recover,” she says.

“We do everything in stages with the most important things first, whether that is checking for wounds or a heart rate.

“We see emergencies all the time. Recently we’ve had The Mate, a cockatoo, and Penelope, a rabbit. Penelope was a referral from about two hours away and she’s had ongoing alternate ear issues. We’ve taken over her primary care now.

“The Mate had a tumour growth and it is quite an intricate procedure, but we’ve done two procedures on him now and he’s recovering well.”

“The main challenge is sometimes the animals are just too little for us to do tests on. Some are between 20 grams and 40 grams, so we have to use our expertise and figure out a way to nurse the condition. Most of the time we’re able to perform necessary tests and treatments.”

Daniella says on top of emergency work, the Unusual Pet Vets offer all routine procedures from vaccinations to preventative care, microchipping to desexing.

The clinic has been fantastic for many reasons, she says, but especially because unusual pets don’t traditionally cost as much to buy as dogs or cats.

“So people tend to put a monetary value on them and don’t want to follow through with basic veterinary care, but we’re seeing clients actually treating animals like a pet and as part of the family, and they are often living a lot longer than dogs and cats do, so it’s really good to see exotic species being valued.”

Dr Daniella Hsu, of Unusual Pet Vets… “In Canberra the most unusual animals I have treated are different species of frogs.” Photo: Lily Pass

It’s time, but fireman Des hates saying goodbye

By Lily PASS

STATION officer Des Falconer has described his 40-year firefighting career as one he’s “been so lucky to be a part of” and “not all beer and skittles”.

“It’s impossible to predict what will happen on your shift – from a child with his leg stuck in his push bike through to hazardous material spills, fully involved fires, car accidents or medical assists,” he says as he pre pares to retire this week.

Since joining the ACT Fire Brigade in March, 1983, Des has worked across all of Canberra’s nine fire stations, where he specialised in technical rescue. His specialisation saw him work during the Thredbo disaster, fight the 2003 bushfires, be first attending of ficer at more than 4500 incidents and be awarded a Churchill Fellowship.

“It’s a job where camaraderie is important, a true team environment where we live and eat together, shar ing the good and not-so-good times,” he says.

Des, 64, was an electrician in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, with no plans to become a firefighter.

But, when interest rates went up,

through Duffy just after the fires went through. To see the despair was horrible, and it was emotional. It was our job to protect these people and four people died, 400 houses were lost.

“Sometimes there are some jobs you wish you hadn’t seen.”

Fortunately, Des says, he’s got strong support systems behind him.

“You have to remind yourself that it’s not your fault, and you’re there to do the best you can. We have a very good critical-incident stress structure, which has been in place for over 25 years, and it’s about looking after each other as fellow firefighters, and I have a good, strong family support system as well,” he says.

“The satisfying parts of the job are going to a car accident and extricating people who are not hurt, or going to fires where you can contain the fire to one room and save people’s belongings

“I just really love coming to work. I am struggling to retire, but I have enjoyed every day and I know I’m leaving it in good hands. The young firefighters are fun to work with; they’re so keen and everything is an adventure – even getting lunch.

“I’m jealous of the young guys and girls now, I wish I was starting again,” he says, and to sum it all up… “a retired firefighter friend summed it up nicely when he said ‘I won’t miss the circus, but I’ll miss the clowns’.”

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Plan of platitudes that crushes choice

THE joy of Canberra has always been that it is different from other cities.

This is what makes Canberrans proud of where they live. In contrast, our governments seem to constantly strive to copy the worst features of other cities. Who wants to be a follower rather than a leader?

The intent of the Draft Territory Plan, according to the ACT government is that it, “outlines what development can take place where. It guides developers”.

There is an attempt to win over Greens supporters and neighbourhood groups with a series of platitudes. The language refers to looking through the “lens of wellbeing, health, recreation, employment, housing, and environmental factors”. Who could argue with this intention? Platitudes!

However, the fundamental problem with the document is that it does not look through the lens of choice. Ordinary people make choices about where they want to live and how they wish to live.

For some, high-density living as found in inner Melbourne and many cities worldwide fits this choice. For many others – they simply do not have the choice to live in the way that the vast majority of Canberrans already choose.

Current Canberrans overwhelmingly choose to live in a single house, in a diverse suburb with small shopping centres and access to local schools. The

Y-plan of half a century ago delivered on these preferences and choices. At the time higher-density living was also facilitated. It was not forced.

The notion of choice means understanding what people really want for their living conditions. As columnist

Paul Costigan pointed out in last week’s “CityNews”, the values of inner-south residents included:

“streetscapes, open spaces, neighbourhood character, their suburban environment, being located in their suburb, as well as respect for heritage, trees, domestic scale housing, good footpaths…”.

The platitudes of the proposed plan do not adequately address such issues. The real fear is that the plan is designed simply to encourage high-density living. This will be most intense in the inner-north, but will be inflicted on all suburban areas. The Molonglo Valley has examples of overdoing high-density living. In the meantime, releases of small suburban blocks are pathetically inadequate.

It doesn’t matter how much consultation takes place. Canberrans are unlikely to believe that the government will be prepared to take a different path from their intended approach.

The intention is to severely limit single dwellings on their own land and to continue forcing those who can least afford the choice into high-density living.

Of course, there are good examples of how high-density living can work. The relatively recent development of C5 in Campbell with adequate green space, distance from the original dwellings, shops and cafes illustrates what can be done with good design and appropriate controls. It allows choice.

The planners argue that the intention of the current plan is to “describe the desired results of planning rather than only prescribe how things are to be done”. In other words, they are attempting to focus on an outcome rather than a process. I would have thought this is simply what planning should be!

The reality is very different. Even reading the Draft Territory Plan section “at a glance” focuses on how density can be increased. For example, “increasing the number of dwellings permitted in a multi-unit development in the RZ2 zone”, “plot ratio change to

BRIEFLY

A six-course Enlighten dinner

be a set 50 per cent for multi-unit in RZ1 and RZ2”, and “allowing multiunit developments in RZ2 dwellings to be in the form of an apartment”.

“Amended vehicle parking requirements to encourage and support active travel, while requiring provision of infrastructure for electric vehicle charging facilities”. This really means less parking places for people in high-density living! The plan will seek to force people on to public transport by reducing requirements for parking spaces. The outcome of this approach in big cities – that the planning authority is attempting to emulate – is just more on-street parking. At least there will be more charging stations for electric vehicles!

If Canberra is to continue to grow there will be a need for a wide range of housing types. Although it claims to plan for how much development and where, the real challenge for a plan like this is to illustrate how it will deliver an out come that genuinely reflects the sort of choices that people would like to be able to make.

DAVID Learmonth, executive chef at Parliament House, is hosting a six-course celebration of Australian master producers, featuring expert cheesemakers and Australia’s finest sustainable produce at a special Enlighten Festival dinner in the exclusive Members and Guests Dining Room on March 10. Tickets via premier.ticketek.com.au

Youth group reunion

PATRICIA O’Keefe is co-organising a 50-year reunion of the Coffee House youth group from St Christopher’s, Manuka, on Saturday, March 25. Starting at 3pm, it includes a 5pm mass in the cathedral with music by the original folk group members and a social gathering in Haydon Hall. She’s looking for an RSVP by March 11 to 0414 672267 or email oktricia0@gmail.com

Clothing sale

ST Ninian’s at Lyneham is having a pre-loved clothing sale offering end-of-season men’s and women’s clothing, plus linen, bags, footwear and children’s clothing. There’s also the promise of morning tea with scones cooked on the premises. In the church hall, at the corner of Mouat and Brigalow streets, 9am-1pm, March 10 and 11. Community notices to: editor@citynews.com.au

The intention is to severely limit single dwellings on their own land and to continue forcing those who can least afford the choice into high-density living.

How ‘Lady’ Maud found a great Australian apple

By Susan Broomhall

ON Boronia Farm, just outside Donnybrook in WA, stands an 80-something-year-old apple tree (Malus domestica) that’s at the heart of a global industry.

This tree produced an apple no one had seen or tasted before, now called the Lady Williams. Without the Lady Williams, there could be no Sun downer, no Pink Lady, no Bravo – apple varieties that, along with the Lady Williams, have made an enormous con tribution to the global apple industry.

Boronia Farm’s apple tree is now listed in the register of the National Trust, but the woman behind the Lady Williams is not well known. Yet, as her son Bob remembered, Maud Williams was crucial to the story of this tree and the apple it produced.

From the ‘30s, Maud, her husband Arthur and their two boys Bob and Ron worked their five hectares of or chard, with its apples and stone fruit, and 40 cows.

Maud collected ideas for plants to grow, from catalogues and women’s magazines, experimenting with her taste for the unusual, remembers her son Ron. Not content with roses and petunias, Maud was instead growing feijoas and hydrangeas.

With her eye for horticultural nov-

the family propagated new trees from the original one.

This tree was a chance seedling, a spontaneous creation whose likely parent cultivars were Granny Smith and Rokewood.

Some of our most common apple

hearing

varieties began as chance seedlings. But chance seedlings do not reach our supermarkets as a matter of course.

Apples frequently produce chance seedlings. But for a chance seedling to be put into production and become known as a variety, many factors are involved, not least people who recognise distinctive apples that will have value in their contemporary context.

Only a select few chance seedlings are ever turned into varieties with impact in the orchard industry. For that to happen, there need to be people who make the necessary investment of care, time or funding – just as Maud did.

In its inconvenient location, the unfamiliar apple tree was almost cut down

many a time, but it survived thanks to Maud’s protection and care. On one occasion when he almost destroyed it, Bob recalled getting a severe telling-off from his mum, who “stood it up again, bandaged it up and it took off again”.

Reflecting Maud’s importance in the creation of this new variety, the apple was given the name Lady Williams. This was the name that the little girl, Lynette Green, who lived on a neighbouring farm, used for Maud.

Maud’s recognition of the qualities of the fruit from this tree, and her initiatives to protect it, were about to enable a remarkable new phase of the Australian apple industry.

Lady Williams apples were intro -

duced commercially in 1968, the same year Maud died. By the early ‘70s, the Lady Williams was the subject of attention at the WA Department of Agriculture and its new apple-breeding program. There, a team led by the horticulturalist John Cripps was experimenting with combinations of Lady Williams and Golden Delicious.

In an interview conducted as part of the Apples and Pears Oral History Project in 2010, Cripps reflected that the cross-breeding process involved intensive manual labour, high degrees of dexterity and immense patience, a set of qualities Cripps identified in women technicians.

In 1984, one of the more than 100,000 experimental seedlings produced an attractive fruit; it was bright pink, crisp, flavoursome and long-storing. Cripps had a hand in both its names: the Cripps Pink, and its commercial name, Pink Lady. It was the first apple variety ever to be trademarked. From the same breeding program emerged the Sundowner and more recently, in 1992, the Bravo.

All the world’s Lady Williams, Pink Lady, Sundowner and Bravo trees share DNA with the original tree Maud Williams had nurtured many years before.

Susan Broomhall, is director, Gender and Women’s History Research Centre, Australian Catholic University. Republished from The Conversation.

Lady Williams apples would not have become a popular variety without Maud Williams’ keen eye for the unusual.

The original Lady Williams apple tree at Boronia Farm, Donnybrook. Photo: State Library of WA

The Pink Lady apple, a variant of the Lady Williams, was the first apple variety to be trademarked. Photo: Zozza

Urgent reform needed to save city’s urban future

IN the past 12 months, many in community councils have had to spend too much time reading through fairly dense planningreform documents.

They have devoted weeks trying to figure out what is going on, attending meetings and responding to calls for submissions – most of which disappear into the chief planner’s basket for things that he finds unpleasant to read.

When planning reform was first talked about, people asked that the discussions include the governance of the system. The answer from the chief planner was a big, fat NO.

Last year planning reform documentation was drip-fed to the community with short timeframes attached for responses.

What was quickly obvious was that key decisions on the new planning (development) system had already been made behind closed doors.

Residents were asked to comment but nothing would change. This non-accountable way of doing business is the norm within the planning directorate.

No matter whatever the current pretence at planning reform delivers, there remains the urgent need for a comprehensive shake-up of the governance around planning and development. The major problem with planning under this government is

that the planning chief is also the head of the planning directorate and key functions are buried within this complex and hierarchical directorate.

The current planning directorate lacks climate focus, lacks relevance to the 21st century, lacks a design and landscape focus and is devoid of empathy for the city’s residents.

The focus of the current planning reform is about shifting to a system that reflects the chief minister’s naive interpretation of old-school, trickledown economics. This older-world approach to market-driven development is what the current federal treasurer listed as being a failure. That outmoded and failed approach to the future does not take account of basic values that underpin what we hope would be the basis for this country.

If the changes as now proposed

are accepted, the operations of the ACT’s planning directorate will be based on this failed set of regressive, market-driven requirements as set out by the ACT’s not-so-progressive chief minister.

When community leaders asked to discuss governance, they knew that what is required is a restructuring of the planning directorate and the establishment of a new planning authority.

Unless there are substantial changes to how this bureaucracy operates and what functions they are to perform, then planning reform will not deliver real change that is climate and people focused and relevant to the 21st century.

There needs to be a new and separate urban-development directorate led by a visionary with a reputation for

delivering on design, landscape, climate, biodiversity and people-focused values. Planning should be a subset of this new directorate with equal footing with heritage, climate, water, urban design, landscape, architecture, engineering and a few more.

This directorate should oversee the development of and implementation of the full suite of policies for urban development, design, landscape, biodiversity and planning (and a few more).

The ACT’s planning authority should be overseen by an independent body of planning specialists and community representatives. I have serious doubts about how such bodies can be truly independent while there is also the need that such a planning authority should be subservient to all government policies. There must be better models. This needs to be discussed a lot more.

One thing is for certain based on recent experiences, the ACT’s planning authority should not be one bloke, the planning chief, with total autocratic power to do whatever he wishes with the permission of the chief minister. A new leadership style is required for the city’s planning future.

As with the best of local government

planning committees, the authority should allow for presentations by relevant parties on more contentious and complex development proposals. The underlying principle of decision making by the planning authority must be to be transparent and when appropriate, open to the public to view how decisions are made on important development applications.

The governance trick would be to have the planning authority responsive to the government’s urban development policies as overseen by the new urban development directorate. The planning authority must be accountable to the elected government of the day. The governance for that to be successful is complex and needs a lot more discussions. These are the discussions and conversations that were denied by the present chief planner and the chief minister. How is this possible?

Paul Costigan is a commentator on cultural and urban matters. There are more of his columns at citynews.com.au

The planning authority should not be one bloke, with total autocratic power to do whatever he wishes with the permission of the chief minister. A new leadership style is required for the city’s planning future.

The planning directorate building in Dickson… time for change.

Photo: Paul Costigan

OPINION / public transport

As the world changes, the tram pushes blindly on

POLITICIANS need to be flexible. Earlier, Labor’s Simon Corbell had called the light rail proposal “a load of rubbish”, but by 2014 he had advanced to Capital Metro Minister. He responded to criticism of the expense of the light rail with the remarkable statement: “City building is about more than simply economic logarithms, it’s also about making sure we deliver the best design outcome for the Nation’s Capital.”

And added: “Northbourne Avenue is a key approach route, building more roads for more buses is not befitting for a national avenue like Northbourne.”

They say, you can’t argue about taste, but calling the massive square, utilitarian boxes lining Northbourne Avenue “the best design outcome for the National Capital” is taking it a bit far.

As to the mess of overhead wires along the route of the tram permanently marring the view – neither London, Paris nor Berlin would permit this late 19th century invention run along their “national avenues”,

that is, their grand boulevards, and at great expense moved the newly invented electric train underground. Above ground, buses were used; they could disappear from view on state and other important occasions. For Corbell, the buses might not have been “befitting for a national avenue like Northbourne’’, but in London the red double deckers have become iconic, decorating the postcards of the metropole’s most important sights.

Not that I envisage the necessity of clearing Canberra’s national avenues for government parades: our chief and other ministers seem to be quite content with a photo op in front of a tram. However, we are facing climate change with more bushfires, heatwaves, floods, heavy storms and, according to Prof Rick McRae, even fire tornado events.

His research has shown that the latter occurred in the disastrous 2003 Canberra fire, and he warns: “We Canberrans… are facing unimaginable climate impacts and we must get on to the front foot to adapt to this.”

(CN January 26).

The two inquiries into the 2003 bushfire identified shortcomings in the speed of the emergency response. A pre-condition for a fast response is wide, unobstructed roads for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles in one direction and cars evacuating people and their possessions in the other.

Yet the all-encompassing transport net for Canberra envisaged by our local government is to be a slow tram occupying a significant part of the road, inaccessible to other means of transport. In contrast, “bus only” lanes speed up public transport in normal times and expand the space for emergency vehicles when speed saves lives.

The fiasco of the Spilt Milk festival has shown: trams are ineffective at evacuating large numbers of people. If the line is blocked, be it by people or fallen branches and trees in a storm, the whole operation comes to a halt.

The same occurs when heavy weather tears down the tram’s overhead wires or causes an electricity black-out. Buses can avoid roads

that are blocked, be directed to where people need to be evacuated, and be brought in from unaffected parts of town with loaded batteries.

In normal times, buses, unlike the tram, pick up commuters where they live, reducing the use of private cars and CO2, and when the need arises are able to assist with an accelerated emergency response.

In 2016, the world’s first governmental climate change declaration was sponsored by the Greens councillor Trent McCarthy, of the City of Darebin, in Melbourne. In Canberra, however, the chief minister was touting the importance of the non-climatechange-resilient tram.

In his “Statement of Ambition” he claimed that a light rail network is “a key urban renewal task” and essential “to developing the compact urban centres Canberra needs to attract the best people.”

This was based on the belief that the “quality of life and place, the amenities, ambience and facilities of cities become a critical competitive tool in attracting knowledge workers, who are themselves the magnets for external corporate investment and local expansion.”

Chief Minister Andrew Barr was convinced that the “world’s population is flocking to cities, as the global era is an urban era”.

Four years later, in 2020, the world

fell under the spell of COVID-19. The population was no longer “flocking to cities”. Quite the opposite. In February 2021, the Regional Australia Institute documented that one in five city dwellers wanted to move to the country.

In even the best of city apartments, the lockdown confining people to small spaces was not just psychologically painful, but also increased infections as lifts and corridors were shared when emergency food shopping and walks were permitted.

With covid came the work-fromhome-revolution and rapid development of easy digital communication by Zoom and similar systems. Many office workers are no longer required to commute daily as companies are cashing in on savings in office rentals with employees working four days a week at home and using the company’s offices one day a week in rotation.

Public transport boardings are on the decline, yet our Greens/ Labor government is still pursuing its dream of a comprehensive tram network for Canberra, even though it is not resilient to climate change, useless except for those living close to a stop, and producing a heavy financial burden for generations to come.

Historian Beatrice Bodart-Bailey is an honorary professor at the ANU School of Culture, History and Language.

“The fiasco of the Spilt Milk festival has shown: trams are ineffective at evacuating large numbers of people. If the line is blocked, be it by people or fallen branches and trees in a storm, the whole operation comes to a halt,” writes BEATRICE BODART-BAILEY.

Simon Corbell.

WHIMSY / lithium-ion batteries

Battery power to the people, in all sorts of ways

POWER doesn’t only come from the barrel of a gun (with apologies to Mao Zedong). I refer, of course, to batteries.

Tesla drivers might be surprised to learn that electric vehicles (EVs) have been around for nearly two centuries, with the first basic EV developed in 1832.

However, it’s only in recent years that sales of EVs have started to take off – mainly due to concerns about climate change and the impact and cost of fossil fuels. It’s estimated that globally there could be more than 300 million EVs by 2030, with EVs accounting for 60 per cent of new-car sales. In the past, battery life and weight have been limiting factors. The demand for better performance, safety, and sustainability of batteries has been driven not only by EVs but also by the increasing demand for portable and cordless devices (such as power tools, irons, vacuum cleaners, torches, etcetera) and renewable energy storage systems.

I bought my wife a cordless Sokany steam iron last year.

Now she swears by it. A major development in battery technology has been the improvement of lithium-ion batteries. These batteries, widely used in portable electronic devices and EVs, have a high energy density and a long lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable, of course, and can provide sustained power for longer. In recent years, researchers have been able to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries by using new materials for the electrodes and developing more efficient charging and discharging methods.

Last autumn I bought myself a Ryobi electric lawn mower with mulching capability. Brilliant, because I no longer have to buy fuel and mix it or collect the grass clippings. The mower also mulches fallen leaves. It can be a bit tedious recharging the batteries, but two lithium 9.0Ah rechargeable batteries will do several cuttings of a large lawn or nature strip.

Then there’s the convenience of our battery-powered Dyson vacuum cleaner. Ideal I’ve found for hunting flies in the dwelling. Trying to vacuum them in mid-flight improves your balance, dexterity

and reaction time, so it has significant health benefits. A skilled operator at the peak of his (or her) powers can even achieve capture without using maximum suction. A humane option is to release the fly outside after capture.

Another significant development in battery technology has been the emergence of solid-state batteries. These batteries use solid electrodes and electrolytes, which make them safer and more stable than traditional lithium-ion batteries. They also

have a higher energy density, which means they can store more energy in a smaller space. Solid-state batteries are still in the early stages of development but have the potential to revolutionise the way we store and use energy.

Researchers are also working on developing batteries that use materials that are more abundant and less toxic, such as zinc or magnesium. These batteries could potentially be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than batteries that use rare and expensive materials. Additionally, there is a growing interest in recycling used batteries to reduce waste and conserve resources.

Despite these advances, one of the main challenges facing battery technology is the cost of production. Many of the materials used in batteries, such as lithium and cobalt, are expensive and their prices can fluctuate significantly. This makes it difficult for battery manufacturers to predict the

cost of production and affects the price of products that use batteries.

In particular, the cost of batteries is a significant factor in the overall cost of an EV. Battery costs will decrease over time, making the cost of EVs more affordable for consumers. I have always wanted an Aston Martin Vantage and the company plans to offer hybrid and electric versions of all its models by 2025. I expect to buy the tyres and work up.

I should perhaps add the disclaimer that I am not gaining any financial advantage from naming the products above.

A final thought – should time-expired batteries at Bunnings be free of charge?

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.

Luke Clews

Thomas Edison with an electric car in 1913.

Photo: National Museum of American History

A 1974 Italian Zagato Zele electric car with a fibreglass body and a 100-kilometre range.

Mazda first peep: now you see it, now you don’t!

ROD HENSHAW was at the first Canberra peep of the new, luxurious Mazda CX-60. “Even someone of my deficient, mechanicallychallenged disposition can’t help being blown away by the sheer style and finish,” he writes…

THEY snuck it into town and snuck it out again a day later. Not that Mazda didn’t want anyone to see it. Quite the contrary.

The soon-to-be released Mazda CX-60 Azami (top-of-the-range model, of course) is on a whirlwind tour of Mazda dealers along the eastern seaboard ahead of its full release, probably in May. In other words, a “sneak preview”.

Phillip Mazda, on Melrose Drive, was the chosen venue for the ACT viewing, attended by personnel from sister dealership Belconnen Mazda, invited and prospective customers and a sprinkling of other brand dealers who naturally wanted to have a sticky beak.

There was no iconic Mazda Zoom Zoom sound effect involved here. The “show off” vehicle is transported everywhere on the back of a truck. Nobody – and that means absolutely nobody – gets to drive it. Not even into the showroom – it’s pushed in and positioned for the brief one-day display. Very carefully. No “let’s take it for a spin around the block” happening here. No, sir! Personally, I’m more a tyre kicker than a motoring reviewer, but even someone of my deficient, mechanically-challenged disposition can’t help being blown away by the sheer style and finish, not to mention the choice of CX-60 models, soon to hit the Australian market.

Up close and personal, you don’t need to pore through the glossy brochures to realise immediately it is one hell of a beast.

Phillip Mazda joint sales manager Michael Rolfe sums it up more eloquently.

“The essential Mazda elements of design, performance and technology have still been incorporated, but have been elevated to a new level of luxury and sophistication,” he says.

Mazda has covered all consumer and demographic bases with its three CX-60 models, ranging from the 3.31L petrol turbo Evolve, through to the sporty to the luxurious Azami.

All three models are hybrid, with the Evolve and the GT available with petrol turbo, 3.31L diesel turbo or the 2.5L PHEV (Mazda’s first plug-In hybrid).

Doubtless the Evolve and the to be as popular as the earlier CX models, but for pure salivation purposes the really in a class of its own, without detract ing too much from the quality and available options offered by its other two siblings.

“The mid-sized SUV market is a popular one for growing families and Mazda has of fered another attractive option on top of the ground-breaking CX-5,” Michael Rolfe says. Ultimately, it comes down to personal tastes and requirements ranging from whether you want to hog it to yourself – or share it with the family.

On all three models, Mazda invites you to “build your CX-60” and there’s a lot of leeway to do so. Those choices are too numerous to list here, but again, personal preferences are the name of the game and, needless to say, the size of your wallet.

But to single out a few notable features, Mazda has gone out of its way to place a heavy focus on safety with its Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM), which includes vehicle exit warning. That’s standard in the Evolve and the GT models, with a new generation 360-degree view monitor with see-through view, a particular attraction in the luxurious Azami

Michael Rolfe reckons those driver aids will prove to be as attractive as they will be practical.

“The driver assistance systems of seethrough view and the 360-degree monitor

with an extended field at low speeds and vehicle exit warning for rear approaching road users, will be very well received.” For those who understand such technicalities, myself excluded, I’ll defer to Mazda’s specs to fill you in on the three sexy engine thingys.

• 2.5L PLUG-IN HYBRID (PHEV) featuring a 2.5-litre inline four-cylinder Skyactiv-G engine, mated to a 129-kW electric motor, for an impressive 241 kW

and 500 Nm of torque.

• 3.3L MILD HYBRID TURBO PETROL – high-powered turbocharged petrol, delivering 209 kW and 450 Nm of torque.

• 3.3L MILD HYBRID TURBO DIESEL –Mazda’s first e-Skyactiv-D turbo diesel, producing 187 kW and a substantial 550 Nm of morgue. Did someone mention prices? It’s a wide range covering a multitude of options,

but for the Evolve 3.31L petrol turbo you’re looking at $63,744 through to the mouth-watering Azami 2.5L PHEV coming in at $92,004. For the sporty GT, the starting price is $71,904.

My conclusion is based purely on my love of comfortable driving and a gratuitous passion for good looks and can be summed up in three words: I want one. For sales enquiries, call 6208 4444.

The first local look at Mazda’s new luxury Azami CX-60… “The essential Mazda elements of design, performance and technology have still been incorporated, but have been elevated to a new level of luxury and sophistication,” says Michael Rolfe.

Photos: Rod Henshaw

The luxury leather interior of the CX-60 Azami.

In the driver’s seat of the new Mazda CX-60.

Barr draws long bow on ‘better’ Budget boasts

WHEN releasing the 2022-23 ACT Budget Review, Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr advised that the budget bottom line had improved by $21.5 million compared to the original Budget estimate for the year.

He also advised, via press release, that the “deficit is forecast to be lower in every year of the forward estimates and over four years this is a cumulative improvement of $261.3 million”.

Mr Barr further advised: “A key factor in the improving Budget outlook and health of the Territory’s fiscal position is our nation-leading employment and wage outcomes.

“The government is systematically reducing debt over the long term, while also strategically investing in infrastructure that is built for Canberra to ensure that our city continues to be one of the most liveable in the world.”

While these assertions are clearly problematic, what is perhaps more remarkable about the chief minister’s media release is the absence of any serious attempt at explaining the basis of the change in the Budget estimates from those published some months earlier.

There is, indeed, an improvement of $261.5 million in the Headline Net Operating Balance (HNOB) over the four years from 2022-23 to 2025-26.

As we have noted previously, Mr Barr is the only treasurer in Australia to utilise this measure when reporting on the Budget bottom line.

The improvement in the Net Operating Balance (NOB) under the nationally accepted and more rigorous standard is in fact $355.4 million, with the $93.9 million difference reflecting a decrease in the returns on superannuation investments from those forecast in the original budget.

However, even allowing for this improvement, it is drawing an extremely long bow to claim that the ACT’s fiscal position has improved by any meaningful measure.

Table 1 provides the original Budget forecasts and Budget Review updates for key fiscal metrics.

It is notable that the operating budget, notwithstanding the improvement, and even accepting that the revised forward estimates will hold, remains in deep deficit.

The NOB deficits in the original Budget averaged 7.9 per cent every year, over the four years. With the revised forecasts, NOB deficits average 6.5 per cent per annum. The forecast deficit for 2025-26 is 5.1 per cent, which is almost the same as the deficit in 2018-19, before the pandemic.

To put the ACT Budget in perspective, every jurisdiction in Australia, other than the ACT, is forecast to be in surplus by 2025-26.

Cash deficits are forecast in the Budget Review totalling $3.868 billion over the four years of the Budget and forward estimates period compared to $3.905 billion forecast in the original Budget, a marginal improvement of $37 million.

Net debt is now forecast to reach $9.651 billion in 2025-26 compared to the forecast of $9.882 billion in the original Budget. However, interest costs on the debt are forecast to increase to $518 million in 2025-26 compared to the $502 million forecast in the original Budget.

These measures hardly suggest improvement in the health of the ACT’s fiscal position as claimed by the chief minister.

The blunt fact is that the operating Budget is now forecast to return to the pre-pandemic level of deficit, in excess of 5 per cent of the Budget, ie about $400 million, by the last year of the forward estimates. Compounding the deterioration in the overall fiscal position is the planned annual increase in debt of about $1 billion every year.

It is revealing to examine the changes in revenue and expenses that underpin the changes in the fiscal aggregates. Table 2 provides changes in the aggregate revenue and expenses and key revenue sources, namely, own source taxation and revenue from the Commonwealth.

Remarkably, revenue is forecast to increase by $319 million in the current year and $970 million over the four-year forecast period. Expenses increase by $258 million in the current year, and $614 million over the forward estimates period.

The Treasurer’s media release attributed the improvement in the Budget position to “our nation-leading employment and wage outcomes”. However, the Budget papers disclose that of the key drivers of revenue, own source taxation, contributed $357 million (37 per cent) to the forecast increase in revenue, while GST payments and Commonwealth grants comprise $295 million (30 per cent) of the increase.

Examination of the changes in individual tax receipts reveal facts that we believe should

be of embarrassment to the government.

The most significant contribution to the increase in taxation revenue is from taxes that were meant to be abolished and/or have adverse impacts on low-to-moderate income Canberrans.

Conveyance (stamp) duty – a tax that was meant to be abolished but has in fact almost doubled under the government’s taxation “reform” – will increase by $56 million from the Budget estimate, delivering $417 million in 2022-23.

The government will also pocket an extra $17.4 million in the current year from land tax on rental properties, all of which is almost certain to be passed on to the tenants who are already paying the highest rents in Australia.

Land tax will increase to $214.8 million in 2023-24, an extra $32.2 million compared to the previous forecast, and triple the amount collected in 2012-13 when the government first agreed in principle to abolish it.

The combined effect of interest rate rises and increases in land tax are certain to exacerbate the financial stress already experienced by thousands of rental households.

The assertion in the treasurer’s media release regarding Canberra being the most liveable city may be true for some people.

However, with the worst public hospital system in the country, the worst outcomes for the most disadvantaged groups, the highest rents in the country, a degraded public transport system and declining public housing, many people will not only disagree but will find such a claim reflective of their government having forgotten them.

BRADDON GUNGAHLIN MANUKA

BRADDON GUNGAHLIN MANUKA

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“The most significant contribution to the increase in taxation revenue is from stamp duties that were meant to be abolished and/or have adverse impacts on low-to-moderate income Canberrans,” say JON STANHOPE and KHALID AHMED

Jon Stanhope is a former chief minister of the ACT and Dr Khalid Ahmed a former senior ACT Treasury official.

All these facts have got to stop, we’re

I HAVE grown tired of the relentless factual allegations levelled at the ACT health system by so-called “experts”, such as the Productivity Commission and medical professionals.

This endless stream of empirical evidence and damning statistics needs to stop.

That’s not to say things can’t be improved. But when I’m not getting flustered trying to avoid people, what Canberrans are really yelling at me, is how tired they are of the current branding of Canberra Health Services. That is why I am pleased to announce an $800,000 distractionary contract to rebrand health services in the ACT.

This will mean much-needed logos and letterheads will soon become available to all chronic health sufferers across Canberra and that ACT Health staff will have yet another government manoeuvre to roll their eyes at.

It will also mean the introduction of new meaningless catchphrases to counter public criticism and some inscrutable logo that patients can

squint at in painful incomprehension as they lay dying on a hospital gurney in Emergency. But more importantly, it will mean more jobs for marketing wankers in Melbourne.

Now, the negative nellies out there might ask how we came up with such a pointless waste of public money. Well, it wasn’t just Canberra Health Services CEO, Dave Peffer, freestyl ing, like one of his raps (a glorious sight to see on the CHS Feel Good Videos Facebook group). No, it was much less rigorous than that.

Dave was inspired by the recent CIT contracts, where millions of ACT money was given to a mountain climber in exchange for some management gobbledygook.

Dave quite rightly thought: “Instead of fixing the myriad of problems with ACT Health, let’s hire a team of overpaid consultants to help us navel gaze for the next nine months.”

I know I’m not alone in being excited about the amazing lint we might find in Dave’s belly-buttoning excursion.

Internally, the rebranding is known as Operation Band-Aid, and we are hoping it will plaster over the many festering sores that riddle our bloody terrible health system. For, as many will know, we will shortly be entering the period that traditionally puts the most pressure on ACT services – the lead-up to an ACT election.

Obviously, in order for us to be re-elected, we will need to bombard Canberrans with lots of feel-good “public service” advertisements that reinforce how good the ACT government is in spinning the truth. Readers would appreciate that the alternative is to stare forlornly into the haggard face of reality and be deeply ashamed by our failings. As I

those people, I say: “Take your facts elsewhere, this is the ACT!”

So, the next time you’re waiting five hours in Canberra Hospital with a life-threatening condition, have a thought for the incredible spin-work that goes on behind the scenes in Canberra Health Services. It may not save your life, but it will make for a better letterhead on your death certificate.

*Not really.

“What Canberrans are really yelling at me, is how tired they are of the current branding of Canberra Health Services. Much-needed logos and letterheads will soon be available to all chronic health sufferers,” writes ACT Minister for Declining Health Services RACHEL STEPHEN-SMITH*.

Canberra Health Services CEO Dave Peffer shares a new logo with a critically-ill patient.

Is there risk of the Voice being a political forum?

for more voices on the Voice

CONTROVERSY is swirling around the proposal for an Aboriginal Voice to parliament with positions becoming entrenched.

The impacts of constitutional amendment are profound in their effect for the nation. The Voice is no exception. Therefore, Australians deserve to be reliably informed of what and why they are being asked to endorse the Voice. The questions I should like to see explained are described below. What are the terms of reference that authorise the Voice’s advice and recommendations to parliament?

Most Australians want to see the developmental gap between Aborigines and mainstream society bridged, but this is complicated by the gradual realisation that the violence and associated problems in outback communities require generational change, and it is not obvious how the Voice will contribute to this repair. Proponents claim that its intervention will be dramatically effective. Why will it be so: what is the evidence given the past litany of failure? What lessons have been learnt from those failures and how are they to be prevented from recurring?

There is argument over whether the Voice is justiciable before the High Court that ultimately will decide disputes over interpretation. Is this not the primary purpose of the court established by the Constitution?

Many Australians believe that enshrining the Voice in the constitution provides the Aborigines with Con stitutional recognition and guarantees the integrity of the outcomes.

The matter of Aboriginal constitutional recognition can be addressed separately from the Voice. Given the multi-racial nature of Australian society with its blend of cultures, is it not fitting to think that all those races that are now Australian citizens and who have contributed substantially to Australia’s prosperity, socio-political stability and national security should receive formal recognition in the Constitution? Would this not be an effective counter to allegations of racism to the detriment of the current debate?

My impression is that there is not a single Aboriginal community or a federation of tribes, but a very diverse range of peoples spread across the whole of Australia living in widely different environments with some

dose of dorin

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Aboriginal communities, individuals, institutions and businesses proved inadequate or failed for some reason?

The question of who is perceived as an Aborigine appears increasingly vexed. Many Aborigines have or are in the process of becoming mainstream Australians with the ambitions, achievements and security that make them indistinguishable from their neighbours. In education and wealth they have achieved an advantage compared with their bush counterparts: should this be a consideration in how the Voice is to be developed?

range of differing circumstances with variations of culture.

The idea of bringing their representatives together to identify and resolve problems has appeal, but its success depends on the practicality of the steps necessary to achieve this. A failure to get this right raises the spectre of past failures. Why has there been so little revealed on how the government intends to proceed in this regard?

People ignore administrative detail and the problems of bureaucracy. Recent Australian history demonstrates what happens when insufficient attention is paid to how well-intentioned projects are underfunded,

accountability. There is a range of activities that need to be recognised but may be summarised as what is being proposed to ensure communication, co-operation and co-ordination between the participants to encourage compromise, consensus, prevent corruption and resolve friction.

The Commonwealth parliament is intended to function as a reliable representative of all Australians and give due consideration to the interests and arguments of all Australian citizens, so why has it failed in the case of Aborigines who are an identifiable group of Australian citizens?

Have all the possibilities available to parliament to communicate with

LETTERS / The Voice Yes but, where’s

I ACCEPT that some correspondents (CN February 23) may have doubts about the Voice, but it is disappointing that, thus far, I’ve seen no objection that can be backed by any authoritative evidence.

There’s no space to go through each item of misinformation, especially those that simply rehash old mythologies, like blaming the demise of ATSIC solely on local Indigenous workers (there is documented evidence detailing considerable blame also falling on other, white-controlled areas).

The prime minister’s draft amendment released at Garma refers only to the Voice and its limited power, so where does Max Flint get the idea that the Makarrata will also be enshrined and that the Voice will interfere in all aspects of Australian life?

Then there’s Noel Beddoe’s unsubstantiated statement about creating two classes of voters. I don’t get his ensuing argument, because the premise is completely wrong. All eligible Australians have the right to vote in a referendum and that’s the only vote we’ll have to consider. The operational details of the Voice, Makarrata and Treaty will fall to the parliament.

Warren Mundine and Jacinta Price are also cited favourably, but what significant national good have either of them brought to the table? Both delight in uttering catchphrases and buzzwords but, dare I ask, where are their details?

Nothing is perfect, but the Voice does point to constitutionally-backed processes for us all to work in close collaboration with indigenous communities, to make more harmonious progress than we’ve seen to date.

Eric Hunter, Cook

Politics are now part of the debate. Is it considered that political ideology, party loyalty, resources and support may be an aspect of processes of the “Voice,” acceptable in the selection of candidates, the formulation of policies and the recommendations to parliament? If so, does this not mean that the Voice will risk becoming a political forum little different from today’s parliament?

What will be the situation for Aborigines who disagree with the views of the Voice? Will they get a hearing in parliament? This raises a question regarding whether the Voice as currently conceived might not intrude upon the rights of Australian Aborigines to use access to parliament and its members in a manner they regard as most appropriate in meeting their interests.

the evidence?

Little for the wellbeing of indigenous people

IN his speech before the resumption of parliament, Prime Minister Albanese said that the Voice referendum is “for the simple principles of recognition and consultation enshrined in the constitution”.

There are two questions in the referendum, as described:

1. Do you agree to this (specify) clause acknowledging the indigenous people as the first inhabitants?

2. Do you agree to this (specify) clause for the Voice?

Question 1 would have almost unanimous acceptance. Question 2 should not be put for the following reasons: The people should be treated equally in the constitution.

• A consultative body (Voice) comprising representatives of the indigenous people can be established by legislation.

• Once question 1 is approved, then enshrining the Voice in the constitution does little for the wellbeing of the indigenous people and could be an impediment to further change.

John L Smith, Farrer

Doomed to failure as voters are not mugs

PRO-Voice advocates are getting desperate as momentum has ceased, and are now clutching at straws by saying that conservatives are out to confuse voters. They don’t have to, as Voice advocates are doing an excellent job in that regard all by themselves!

The indigenous community, the people that count, are hopelessly divided on its capacity to give them an effective voice in Parliament, which is indicative that the proposal is flawed.

Until such time as the government presents the Voice proposal in a concise, informative manner to enable voters to make an informed decision, it will be doomed to failure as voters are not mugs and will not vote for the unknown.

Mario Stivala, Belconnen

Reader MICHAEL BOYLE , of Chapman, has responded to the “CityNews” invitation

Angst and frustration at corruption of consultation

THE lack of truth, transparency and evidence of real commitment to physical and visual improvements as key pillars for the ACT government’s future planning regime is definitely not winning over the hearts and minds of those who care about future liveability in this city (“Furtive planning reforms offer truth as an option”, CN February 23).

There is so much angst, aggravation and frustration out in the community, especially among those who can follow some of the utter complexity of the new ACT planning bill, territory plan and district strategies concept documentation, all of which is served up with minimalist education and “engagement” processes, opportunities and support.

Too many others have given up on it all completely – in disgust. It is hard for yet others to know where to start.

The ACT government’s organisation, handling and content of this significant reform package, and the current consultation round, on top of dumping masses of more complex documentation on government websites, continue to be deficient and off-putting.

Inadequate notification for too few consultation “pop ups” and ‘listening centre” arrangements are still the norm. Searching around the bowels of a website for ad hoc updates on these highlights insufficient

timing options.

In December a polite formal request for attendance of an expert planner at an inner-north suburban meeting of interested residents was rebuffed, despite the suburb being peppered with many “future investigation areas” on the new planning maps.

Either insufficient resources are available to ensure that a comprehensive, quality job occurs on all this reform at the community level, or executive decisions have been made to fund only the bare minimum, regardless of community need or even government interest in helping to restore much eroded faith and trust in these key governance processes.

This does not bode at all well for the vast range of new planning operations that will be implemented under the new system, including its much-reduced public consultation timeframes.

Bulldozing rapid finalisation of the new set up into permanency seems to be the key objective, given that the planning minister wants full implementation to start mid-year.

Sue Dyer, Downer

Thank goodness for Taryn Brumfitt!

I THINK columnist Robert Macklin made Taryn Brumfitt’s point for her when he referred to Beyonce as “obese” (“The Gadfly”, CN February 16).

In what world is Beyonce obese? I saw the pictures of her at the Grammys, and if only all of us could be in such great shape.

Perhaps Macklin has confused Lizzo for Beyonce? If that is the case, he has bigger problems than health concerns. Interesting, also, to point out the singer’s “female friends”, almost as if primarily women are targeted for being overweight. Thank goodness for Taryn Brumfitt.

Brigit Perry, Giralang

Are poplars wrong in the first place?

COULD it be that planting poplars in front of the National Library was a poor choice in the first place? Replacing them with another imported species, also seems culturally cringy. My suggestion at the time of the public consultation on this, was Brachychiton Populneus (Kurrajong), a joyfully attractive flowering native tree, with a deep green foliage, and a form that suits formal locations.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

Massive failure of the corrections system

THE comments of Jon Stanhope (“ACT holds its lock up record for indigenous people”, CN February 16) reveals some deeply disturbing statistics.

Worst is the recidivism figure for Aboriginal males in our jail – a staggering 96 per cent. What this means is that life for some is an unending cycle of serious offending, arrest, court, jail, release, repeat. There are

two sides to this cycle – most serious crimes have victims.

On these figures there must be families dreading the release of a family member, confident that soon that person will again fall into the habit of abuse of alcohol or other drugs and, maybe, repeat a habit of attack and physical and sexual assault.

Our inability to break that cycle represents a massive failure of the system. When last I visited the Oberon facility for young offenders in NSW, for example, very successful programs were in place that saw a recidivism rate of 10 per cent.

I haven’t for many years visited the facility designed particularly for Aboriginal inmates outside Ivanhoe in NSW but my memory is that, there too, targeted programs also met with a degree of success.

Change doesn’t happen by chance and rates of recidivism are linked to educational and welfare programs in a jail. Clearly our government needs to create a taskforce urgently to examine the current structures and consider alternatives.

Noel Beddoe, Belconnen

Bank governor needs more levers

I AGREE with Michael Moore (“Sharing the pain of fighting inflation”, CN February 23).

Dr Philip Lowe, the governor of the Reserve Bank, should have the power to vary the rate and modify the targets of the GST. He should also be able to impose a small levy on

the banks, most notably the “Big Four’” with their gigantic profits.

For example, a levy of 0.01 per cent on $5.15 billion (the 2022 second half-year profit of the Commonwealth Bank) would be $51.5 million. CBA executives and shareholders would barely notice it, but it would provide an appreciable boost to the federal government’s budget.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Dougal says, in case you wondered…

PERHAPS some readers may wonder why I decided to retire when I did (“A fond farewell to our fearless film reviewer”, CN February 16). The reason is simple. I have a condition that the doctors call cognitive impairment. We mere English speakers would call it bad memory.

After writing skill, memory is a cinema reviewer’s second most important tool. That’s why I felt I had to stop kidding myself. I would dearly have loved to continue reviewing until that day when I don’t wake up.

The condition is apparently age-driven. In my case, it has had nearly 89 years to manifest itself. And nobody has yet worked out how to perform a functional brain transplant. Anyway, I like to think that mine was a bit out of the ordinary and thus more difficult to replace!

Dougal Macdonald, Bungendore

Wealth of services dedicated to empowering seniors

ALMOST a quarter of Canberra’s population is people aged 55 and over, and throughout the capital there is a wealth of services that specialise in helping seniors make the most of their lives. From looking after health to looking after home, there are plenty of businesses throughout Canberra that help make this possible.

To empower seniors, “CityNews” speaks to some of the local experts who are dedicated to improving the lives of older residents.

Exercise options to suit all abilities

ARTHRITIS ACT can support people no matter what type of chronic pain condition they have, says CEO, Rebecca Davey.

“It’s important to remain active at all ages, to condition muscles that protect against injury”, and Arthritis ACT has solutions for people of varying abilities.

“We have Nordic Walking classes. We’re teaching people how to walk with poles, which is a great, low-impact aerobic activity for everyone.”

Rebecca says it’s also important to build strength in different areas of the body.

“We now run Pilates from both locations, Pearce and Bruce,” and, as an added benefit for Arthritis ACT members, “we have free, online exercise classes every week from Tuesday to Thursday.”

That’s only the start, Rebecca says, with Arthritis ACT also offering services such as exercise physiology, disability support and meal planning to help people in managing their pain.

“People come to us because we know the condition. About 50 per cent of

Client needs ‘exceeded’ at Burrangiri Respite Centre

BURRANGIRI Aged Care Respite Centre is an ACT Health site operated by the Salvation Army Aged Care, says day centre coordinator Courtenay Trinder.

Ken, who has been a client at Burrangiri since 2019, says he enjoys having different things to do.

“There is always something to do and the food is good,” he says.

“I play the drums and Matthew, a singer, comes in. When various groups come in I bring the drums and play them,” he says.

“My advice would be if people enjoy company, talking to people and want a smaller environment, and once you know all the staff, you’re in business, I reckon.”

Another client, Erma, has special dietary requests, which she says have been met and exceeded.

understand how chronic pain can affect all parts of a person’s life,” she says. “No task or question is too big or small for us.”

Arthritis ACT, Pain Support & ME/CFS ACT, 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce. Call 1800 011041 or visit arthritisact.org.au

“I have been in respite in Burrangiri several times this year and cannot fault the care I have been given,” she says.

Beyond this, Courtenay says Burrangiri is launching a pen pals program with a local primary school.

“It’s literally a supported environment so that older Canberrans can socialise and connect with others and have an enhanced quality of life,” she says.

“We enjoy activities such as bingo and balloon volleyball, as well as armchair soccer, which has a Burrangiri-twist on it.” Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre, 1/7 Rivett Place, Rivett. Call 6288 1488 or visit agedcare.salvos.org.au

CEO Rebecca Davey.

Ken, a client at Burrangiri since 2019.

Sciatica is caused by nerve pain that originates from the lower back and can cause pain from the point, right down through your bottom and down one leg to your calf.

Not the entire area may be causing you pain at any one time, but what the pain will certainly do is cause you frequent extreme discomfort that is often not relieved by pain medication. Exercise is a key to dealing with sciatica. People who have lived with sciatica for some time will generally have some weakness of the

muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding the joints and bones that support the sciatic nerve. This is largely due to not having used their body to the fullest extent due to the sciatic pain.

Sciatic pain will generally respond well to rebuilding the support structures surrounding the sciatic nerve. For some people surgery may be the only solution, but in most cases, even if surgery is required, building up the support structures either prior to or following surgery will still be necessary.

Arthritis ACT has a team of exercise physiologists that can improve your quality of life in relation to your sciatica. Both hydrotherapy and land based exercise techniques are useful, and for those who do not like water exercise, land based exercise is just as effective.

Do you want to solve your sciatica?

MEET OUR EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGISTS & EXERCISE SCIENTIST

Blake Dean Holly Hazelwood

Sophie Bullock

Natasha Perry

Dorothy Johnston

Information sessions in a social environment

NORTHSIDE Community Service is a not-for-profit, community-based organisation that has been supporting the community in north Canberra and beyond since 1976, says manager of activities and events Kate Malone.

“We’re a progressive and modern community organisation that embraces diversity, social justice and advocacy for those in our community whose voices are often unheard,” she says.

“Northside supports young children through our high-quality early education services, children and young people through our youth programs and family support services, older citizens through our aged-care services and support programs, and the wider community through our housing, community development, outreach, and volunteer programs.

“Our social group has already been quite busy this year with many exciting outings around Canberra and

surrounds as well as multiple information sessions at our Majura Hall in Dickson, these have included presentations on the Care Finder Program, estate planning, advocacy as well as financial advice.”

Kate says they also had the team from Open Mobility come along to conduct a demonstration and information session with mobility aids, and Enhance Hearing who were able to provide free hearing screenings to our social group.

“In the coming months we will have visits from Diabetes Australia, Breast Screen ACT, Health Care Consumers as well as a fantastic singer/entertainer,” she says.

The Northside team will be at the Seniors Expo at Exhibition Park on March 15.

Northside Community Service, 2 Rosevear Place, Dickson. Call 6171 8000, or visit northside.asn.au

Respite help to give carers a break

RESPITE care supports carers and the people they care for, giving both a break for a short period of time, says Carers ACT CEO Lisa Kelly.

“It can give you both time and space to do things independently, or help carers attend to commitments of work or travel, by ensuring the person they care for is in good hands,” she says.

Carers ACT offers several respite services to ensure carers can continue to support their loved one longer, in a way that is positive, balanced and sustainable.

“Planned respite care can help you plan for breaks to rest and recharge,” she says.

“Two of these services are cottage respite and a

from-home environment for the person you care for when things get complicated, difficult or a carer encounters something unexpected.

“We are also excited to now offer a Frail Aged Respite Booking Service which takes the stress out of finding a short-term respite bed for people with an aged care respite code.

“The booking service provides you with a single point of contact for aged care facilities across Canberra and Queanbeyan. We can also connect you with support for at-home care after a respite stay.

Lisa says you can take a break knowing Carers ACT is looking after the person you care for.

Carers ACT Naragunawali Cottage, Isaacs.

years and loves connecting with her clients.

“Personal law is just that: personal. All the expertise in the world doesn’t mean anything if you don’t also have the emotional IQ to truly put yourself in someone else’s shoes,” she says.

them to work out a path forward.

The MV Law team from left, Taylor Hewen, partner Tanya Herbertson, Jane Carey and Ankita Saini.

Celebrating SENIORS advertising feature

Nordic Walk to total body fitness

NORDIC Walking is one of the most affordable and fun ways to get moving and stay active and healthy, so seniors can keep doing all the things they love, says Kristen Pratt, of Capital Nordic Walking.

“Exercise, when done properly, is proven to boost health,” she says.

“Even a few minutes every day can strengthen the immune system, improve brain function, reverse the effects of ageing, and may even improve your memory. Exercise can also be a boon to mental health.

“Nordic Walking is an incredible fitness activity –

Finding a beautiful resting place for loved ones

CANBERRA Memorial Parks staff will be operating a stall on March 15 at Exhibition Park for the 2023 Autumn Seniors Festival.

CEO Kerry McMurray says his friendly staff will be on hand to answer questions on products and services including cremation, burials and memorialisation options.

“Canberra Memorial Parks offers a wide range of cremation, traditional burial, natural burial and memorialisation options to honour and celebrate community members across three beautiful parks at Woden, Gungahlin and Hall,” he says.

“We also assist those who would like the remains of loved ones to be buried or scattered elsewhere, in a place of personal significance.

“We strive to help the whole community in planning for their end of life or to honour the life of a loved one in a way that reflects their personal needs and wishes.”

Featuring a private viewing room accommodating up to 25 people, Kerry says the new Gungahlin crematorium incorporates features which meet the diverse needs of Canberra’s communities.

“The Gungahlin cemetery offers natural burials in a beautiful bushland environment, which let people’s remains decompose sustainably and return to nature,” he says.

Canberra Memorial Parks. Call 6207 0000 or visit canberramemorialparks.act.gov.au

Parkinson’s, arthritis, or balance problems.”

Kristen says the low-impact, total-body workout is as gentle as walking but delivers results that are proven to be more effective than walking, jogging or cycling.

“It doubles the number of muscles being worked to over 90 per cent, can blast as many calories as running, strengthens your upper body and core, improves your posture, and takes a huge amount of strain off your legs, hips and back,” she says.

“Best of all it’s fun to do with friends and family.”

Canberra Memorial Parks Gungahlin cemetery.

Capital Nordic Walking’s

Kristen Pratt, right, teaching clients.

Celebrating SENIORS

Working together to make retirement work

DAVID Luke Retirement Planning specialises in advising those coming up to, or already in retirement, says director David Luke.

“I can help maximise your Centrelink entitlement, minimise tax exposure, set up income streams and offer investment advice and implementation,” he says.

“I have been a financial planner in Canberra and surrounding regions for 23 years, exclusively advising on retirement,” he says and has run his own business for the last five years.

Professional, fun tuition in Ballroom Dancing

• MEDAL CLASSES

Thursday from 5.30pm

Phone:

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David says financial rules are daunting when you look at them for the first time.

“I can lead you through the process of the ATO, Centrelink, and investment markets, to make them work for you and achieve the retirement you want,” he says.

“You don’t need any prior knowledge with the rules or with financial planning, just an idea of what you want to achieve. He says he will break down the issues so you understand how it all fits together.

Fun way to get fit and socialise

TEACHING a range of classic dance styles, Dale’s Ballroom Dancing offers a fun way to get fit and socialise in a friendly environment, says owner Dale Harris.

With social classes on every Monday from 7pm, Dale says she loves to welcome anyone to come and learn regardless of age or experience.

“We have people of all ages coming in for the classes,” she says.

“One of the great things about it is the fitness. You don’t realise how much exercise you’re doing. You’re constantly on the move.

“From 7pm on Mondays to 7.30pm I teach a dance lesson, and it’s a new dance each week. Then

“I have no relationship with any product providers – I am on your side and I’m a one-person operation so you will always deal directly with me.

“I’m more than happy to visit you at home, after hours or on weekends.

“Don’t let the complexity of the system make you think it’s all too hard. Make it work for you instead.”

David Luke Retirement Planning, Level 1, 33 Allara Street, Canberra City. Call 0404 857242, or visit davidlukeplanning.com.au

experience teaching dance, she started dancing at the age of six, when she developed an interest in ballroom dancing.

“Anyone can join. You can just rock up on the night and we can get you caught up in the course as we need,” she says.

“People come along to practice dances they’ve learned themselves, or to learn new steps and meet new people.

“It’s a safe and fun environment, with a tea and coffee station, too.”

fun mix of dance and socialising.

Backed by more than 25 years’

Dale’s Ballroom Dancing, 6/38 Reed Street North, Greenway. Call 0407 066110 or visit dalesballroomdancing.com

Director David Luke.

Owner Dale Harris.

within the community and can help you by producing successful results in a cost-effective manner,” she says.

“KJB’s goal is to serve the people and business community.

“We look forward to our future commitment with assurance and enthusiasm, feeling confident that we are providing a successful service for our clients.”

Sue says Jo Twible and Des Moore joined Andrew Freer as principals of KJB Law in 2011.

Solicitor Jo Twible says KJB has a really good process to help people enter a retirement village.

“It gives them some control and we offer clear

“I’ve been doing retirement village entry work since 2008 and I find this area to be quite rewarding, helping people through a big transition in their lives.

“People need really good advice, and help to understand such complex documents.”

Jo says KJB Law prides itself on being there for its clients and working as one, collaborative team.

“We are here for our clients throughout their life journey.”

KJB Law, ground floor, 10 Corinna Street, Woden. Call 6281 0999 or visit kjblaw.com.au

KJB Law principals, from left, Andrew Freer, Jo Twible and Des Moore.

LOOKING TO LIVE, LEARN AND ENJOY THE RETIRED LIFE?

THIRD AGE ACT HAS THE ANSWER!

Celebrating

Keeping retired minds stimulated

UNIVERSITY of the 3rd Age (U3A) is a community organisation that represents the retired community, and provides ongoing intellectual stimulation, says vice president Alex Gosman.

“I have been a member for six years now, since my retirement, I joined because I wanted to keep busy and engaged,” he says.

“I have run classes on rock and roll music, politics and I run a class called ‘Conversations’ where I speak with notable Canberrans about their life.”

Alex says he’s spoken to many people, including Kim Rubenstein, Gary Humphries and Don Watson.

“There are music classes too,

University of the Third Age ACT members have access to nearly 300 courses and activities which are delivered by our members using the skills and knowledge acquired over their lifetimes.

You can attend a lecture, discuss a book or current affairs, learn to play an instrument or join a choir, improve your computer skills, work on drawing your first masterpiece, and so much more.

If you can’t see a course that inspires you, you can always start a course yourself.

“Anyone who stops learning is old whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young”

– Henry Ford

Working with you for the best result

“We have more than 4000 members here in Canberra. I get 80 people attending my ‘Conversations’

And, he says, it’s continuing to

“We’re in our 40th year now, and we’re bouncing back really strongly after COVID-19,” he says.

“What I think people really enjoy is learning new things, but also making friends and being social in a highly engaging environment.”

U3A Canberra, Hughes Community Centre, Wisdom Street, Hughes. Call 6281 6998, or visit u3acanberra.org.au

Aged care living with a multicultural focus

A SPOKESPERSON for Villaggio Sant’ Antonio says the aged-care facility has a focus on multicultural residents, and says “mixing with other cultures is a good thing.”

“It’s good for a lot of the residents to mix, and they are better able to understand each other.”

Villaggio has provided aged-care services and accommodation since 1992, and the spokesperson says the staff focus on promoting and providing activities and entertainment for the residents.

“We have coffee days, we have themed days, we do a lot of things to make them happy. It’s a really homely feeling.

The spokesperson says Villaggio treats residents as if they were “our own family.”

“Villaggio tries to give more of a closeness in looking after people and in personal care, and we try to make

“We also try to cater for as much as we can that helps residents enjoy their lives, even if they’re restricted by age or illness.”

Villaggio Sant’ Antonio, 35 Burkitt Street, Page. Call 6255 1794, or visit villaggio.com.au

Villaggio Sant’ Antonio Independent Living and Aged Care Hostel

For all enquires please contact us on 62551794 or reception@villaggio.com.au

U3A president Lindsay Rae, left, and vice president Alex Gosman.

A team of compassion, empathy and efficiency

FINANCE director Rhonda Hubert says the staff at Capon and Hubert take pride in knowing that respect and courtesy always takes priority.

Together, lawyers Ken Hubert, Ashilpa Khanna and Daryn Griffiths cover family law, wills and estates and conveyancing.

“Ken is experienced in all areas of family law,” says Rhonda.

“He is an accredited mediator and has been practicing in Canberra for 40 years.

“He helps people with their legal issues with confidence and compassion.”

conveyancing team, buying and selling property, both residential and commercial.”

He can also help with advice regarding contracts for retirement village accommodation, says Rhonda: “He is professional, efficient and a tireless worker for his clients.

“The Capon and Hubert team has been operating for many years in Canberra and enjoys working together.

“Many of our clients have been coming to us for a long time and much of our client base comes through referral, which speaks to Capon and

“Carers ACT offers social support, wellbeing education, flexible respite, counselling and coaching, along with tangible support services to help with day-to-day workloads.”

Lisa says the first people you are likely to talk to at Carers ACT are care planners.

“Our team of care planners have a deep understanding of what it’s like to be a carer, because many of our care planners have taken on a caring role themselves,” she says.

support you.”

Lisa says she understands that circumstances and needs change over time.

“Working with a care planner is a flexible, unique process, directed by your needs and outcomes, but whatever that looks like, we are in your corner.”

Carers ACT, 2/80 Beaurepaire Crescent, Holt. Call the Carer Gateway team on 1800 422737, or visit carersgateway.gov.au

The Carers ACT care planning team… “Working with a care planner is a flexible, unique process,” says CEO Lisa Kelly.

Capon and Hubert Lawyers and Mediators director and family lawyer Ken Hubert and wills and estate lawyer Ashilpa Khanna.

Goodwin understands how life changes

GOODWIN Aged Care has been caring for Canberra and the surrounding NSW region since 1954, says CEO Stephen Holmes.

“We are ACT’s largest aged-care provider, and we’re proud of our reputation as an industry leader,” he says.

“We at Goodwin understand how life changes, and we’re here to guide you through it.

“From fully independent retirement communities through to 24/7 roundthe-clock care.

Stephen says Goodwin offers a wide range of high-quality services to meet

and grow with a person’s needs.

“We’re not-for-profit and owned by our members, most of whom are Goodwin residents,” he says.

“We’re not affiliated with any other business, property developer, political or religious body. We’re just here to offer the best services possible.

“We believe that every person should have quality of life and the opportunity to stay productive in their community.”

Goodwin Aged Care. Call 6175 5100 or visit goodwin.org.au Goodwin CEO Stephen Holmes.

Why it’s best to check for diabetes

DIABETES Australia’s opera tions manager for NSW and ACT Natalie Smith says that as people get older their risks of diabetes increases.

“Unfortunately, as we get older the pancreas produces less insulin which can lead to type 2 diabetes,” she says.

“That’s why it’s so important people have a conversation with their GP or healthcare provider and get checked every year.”

Natalie says that the earlier diabetes is detected, the more effective treatments and lifestyle changes are at delaying or preventing diabetes-related complications such as heart disease and amputations.

She encouraged people to use the Diabetes

Australia AusDrisk tool, an online risk calculator that will show people their level of risk of developing type

“It calculates a person’s risk based on the cultural, genetic and lifestyle factors that contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes and we encourage all Australians aged 40 and over to know their risk,” says

It’s just one of the many services Diabetes Australia provides to support people living with all types of diabetes, including a membership support package that allows people to learn from others living with

“If you’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes, or if you’ve been living with it for a number of years, call us. We’re here to help,” says Natalie.

Diabetes Australia, visit diabetesaustralia.com.au/ risk-calculator/ or call 1800 177055.

Operations manager Natalie Smith.

Helping hands to retirement village living

DIRECTOR Margaret Warren says Inspired Outcomes has identified a need amongst seniors in their retirement years.

“That need is a single place they can contact to get assistance with all matters of living arrangements, from moving to a better environment to everyday requirements,” she says.

“Inspired Outcomes was started in 2006 as a project management consultancy, but changed paths on July 1, 2014, to specialise in senior relocation and advocacy services.”

Margaret says every effort is made to reduce the stress for the client, allowing them to enjoy the experience of finding and moving into a new home.

“The most important thing for seniors is the kind of assistance we offer, as many do not have children or family living close by,” she says.

“We can help with the many issues, big and small,

that seniors will come across when they move to retirement living.

“Inspired Outcomes enables seniors to travel around and individually look at retirement sites so they get the right feel about the place they are considering moving into. Once satisfied we then take care of the rest, assisting to complete the numerous details of purchasing and moving.”

Margaret says Inspired Outcomes – when people do move – prides itself on having the beds made and the boxes gone.

“Have peace of mind with a team guiding you through the downsizing of your home and onto your retirement village path… it’s that simple.”

Inspired Outcomes. Call 0448 201884, or visit inspiredoutcomes.com.au

The suite life calls in Queanbeyan

WARRIGAL has launched its five Executive Suites into the market, offering a premium service to Queanbeyan residents, or those looking to relocate to the area, says Warrigal CEO, Jenni Hutchins.

“The Executive Suites were developed to combine luxury with support, in an innovative approach to aged care,” she says.

“The suites enjoy both privacy and comfort right at the doorstep of Warrigal’s Queanbeyan services, allowing residents to feel supported right at home.”

Jenni says each premium offering features its own separate bedroom, private ensuite, and own living room, including a private kitchenette with appliances and ample storage.

“In addition to the features in the suites, residents also have access to a number of community spaces within easy reach at the Warrigal Queanbeyan care

home,” says Jenni.

“A variety of sitting nooks, lounges, cafes, wellness centres, and a hairdressing salon are a stone’s throw away from the Executive Suites, providing an all-inclusive luxury lifestyle.

“These Executive Suites in Warrigal Queanbeyan are so much more than just apartment living. Buyers will be part of an intentional community where customer choice is enabled through exceptional customer service. It includes residents-only amenities that support the enhancement of customers’ lifestyle, choice and wellness.

Jenni says Warrigal also offers obligation-free tours, every Friday at 10am.

Warrigal Aged Care, 50 Canberra Avenue, Queanbeyan. Call 0436 864803, or visit warrigal.com.au

Ita Buttrose with Inspired Outcomes director Margaret Warren.

Seniors Centre, the positive meeting place

CANBERRA Seniors Centre offers an inclusive and positive meeting place for over 50s, says manager Andrea Dean.

“Our focus is on people thriving; aging well, engaging with community and fostering their wellbeing,” she says.

“The club provides great social connections and a wide range of activities for people to enjoy. We’ve got a very positive and inclusive culture.”

Whether it’s getting exercise, playing cards or engaging in another of the club’s activities, Andrea says members can spend an hour at the club or make a whole day of their visit.

“On June 3, we are having another one of our fantastic fetes. Standby for the old favourites and for some new stalls,” she says.

“We’re still celebrating the new year and welcoming new people into our range of activities.”

Helping seniors manage hearing loss

FOR more than 35 years, the ACT Deafness Resource Centre has been advising seniors on how best to manage their hearing loss, says communications officer Joe Symons.

“I’ve been working at the centre for two years now,” he says.

“I have had moderate/ severe hearing loss since birth, which allows me to bring lived experience to the centre. There’s no course you can do that will teach you that.”

Joe says the centre offers important education, information, guidance and referrals.

“We’re a not-for-profit so our services are free,” he says.

“One in six Australians has some form of hearing loss, and for people aged over 65 it’s one in four, so it’s important to have the necessary information.”

Joe says the ACT Deafness Resource Centre can help with alert systems in the house, such as fire alarms or notifications when someone is at the door.

“We also offer free talks to retirement homes or independent living villages,” he says.

“My top tip when it comes to communication is get the person to face you, and to speak clearly and concisely, that can make a world of difference to a person with a hearing loss.”

He says the centre is also expanding to Queanbeyan and the regional NSW coast, offering hearing support groups.

ACT Deafness Resource Centre, 1b/27 Mulley Street, Holder. Call 6287 4393, email hearinghelp@actdrc.org.au or visit actdrc.org.au

Communications officer Joe Symons.

Time to plan spring bulb planting

WITH the change of season, springbulb planting is very important in the next month or so as the soils begin to cool.

Now’s the time to turn over the soil where bulbs are intended to grow. If you hit clay in the garden bed, try raising it to increase drainage for the roots and ensure the bulbs are not sitting and rotting in water.

Bulbs to grow through winter include daffodils, jonquils, tulips and hyacinths.

Though not true bulbs, other popular spring flowers to try, if space is at a premium, are anemones and ranunculus. They’re both considered a corm and deliver bang for your buck with flower size and colour. They’re fantastic for pots, courtyards and rooftop gardens.

Corms are a little different from bulbs and when the seasons change, they can put on a delightful display. Confusingly, the autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) is not a true crocus. A member of the Liliaceae family, it has completely different flower parts to crocus blooms.

If you want to ditch the daffodils, then a local, native lily that grows well in our region is Bulbine Lily or Golden Lily (Bulbine bulbosa) with the added bonus of fragrance and butter-yellow flowers on a stunning flower spike. It multiplies quite quickly and is suitable for rockery gardens as well.

BULBS that flowered poorly last spring or are in too much shade can be lifted and divided now. Dig the clump of bulbs with a fork gently out of the ground and tease with hands to pull apart. If they’re resisting, a blast with the garden hose will help separate them.

Replant them in a sunny spot with a little compost in the hole and water in. As a general rule, bulbs should be planted double their depth. Most spring bulbs will be dormant so no need to fertilise as nutrients won’t be taken up now. Only fertilise bulbs when they’re growing.

RUE (Ruta graveolens) is a tough, small plant that can be grown as a hedge to about 60 centimetres tall. It’s not bothered by the frosts and can be pruned in late winter or early spring. It likes full sun and a dry location. Once established they need little to no water. They like nutrients-poor, lime-rich soil and a pH of six or more will keep them happy.

SUNDAY ROAST

Talking to the names making news.

Sundays, 9am-noon. IAN MEIKLE ROD

Their fern-like leaves are blueish to green and the foliage contrasts well in the garden. Although considered an old-fashioned plant once grown for medicinal reasons, its strong smell acts as a natural insecticide in the garden and makes a great repellent for cats, rats and insects (such as mosquitoes). It can be planted close to roses or fruiting plants such as raspberries to keep the insects away, with the added bonus of the flowers being beneficial plants for pollinators. Sprigs can be brought indoors and used as an insect repellent for ants and flies. jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au

Jottings…

• Feed vegetables with seaweed solution or liquid fertiliser to keep them growing fast and keep the water to fruiting crops.

• Have all stone fruit pruned before cold weather comes next month and when most of the leaves have fallen, spray with copper.

• Plant evergreen shrubs now and prepare soils for winter deciduous tree planting.

• Prepare soil for planting sweet peas on St Patrick’s Day (March 17).

• The 2023 Autumn Flower Show, Fitzroy Pavilion, EPIC, from 10am, March 4-5.

• ANBG Autumn Native Plant Sale, Banksia Centre car park, 8.30am-11am, March 4.

Autumn crocus… not a true crocus, a member of the Liliaceae family, it has completely different flower parts to crocus blooms.

Rue… a tough, small plant that can be grown as a hedge to about 60 centimetres tall. Photos: Jackie Warburton

The cream of Canberra’s ‘best-of-business’ crop

THE ACT winners of the 2023 Telstra Best of Business Awards are part of a national awards program that celebrates and recognises small and mediumsized businesses moving Australia forward.

Telstra Retail and Regional executive Amanda Hutton said Telstra’s long legacy of awards programs had recognised exceptional businesses for more than 25 years, providing a platform to further their success and inspire others.

“To be recognised as a state winner in the Telstra Best of Business Awards is an incredible achievement, and we hope this provides each business with a well-deserved moment of celebration for the amazing work they are doing in their community”, she said.

Selected from more than 20,000 nominations of businesses nationwide, “CityNews” spoke with some of the local winners.

Telstra Best of Business Awards as the Indigenous Excellence winner.

Evolve CEO Amy Castro said that from starting out as a team of two only five years ago, she was incredibly proud of Evolve FM’s growth, to now more than 60 employees, with a third of them indigenous.

“Evolve is Australia’s first, and only, majority indigenous-owned, full-service facilities and property management company,” said Amy.

She said the business manages more than 3.6 billion sqm (including land) of space, across 669 sites, for more than 30 clients. It offers services covering tenant representation, leasing and transaction, BI and analytics, procurement, finance, facilities management, asset management, environmental and sustainability services, and project and development services.

“This is an incredible achievement which recognises the efforts of the Evolve FM team, but also

with our valued clients and business partners.

“Through these partnerships and over the last five years, Evolve FM has directed a $60 million Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) spend to Australian indigenous businesses, and $250 million IPP spend on The Sleeping Giant – a Supply Nation endorsed report on social, economic multipliers in indigenous communities.”

Amy said it was exciting to be creating equity through opportunity, breaking down intergenerational barriers and supporting staff.

“Directing this spend to indigenous business enables the realisation of social initiatives, granting self-determination, pride, independence and empowerment within indigenous communities and bringing us closer to our vision,” she said.

Visit evolvefm.com.au or call 6247 0229.

Winning nursing agency puts its clients first

NATIONAL Nursing Agency has been awarded the Championing Health award at the 2023 Telstra Best of Business Awards, with co-owner Lisa Walker “absolutely thrilled to have our amazing team recognised.”

“For us, it’s the focus we bring to the quality of the work we do, and the dedicated and talented team we attract. We are so honoured and proud,” she says.

Lisa says she started in aged care at 16 helping her parents in the business and now owns the business with her husband, Matthew.

“We fulfil a niche market, contracting an amazing, quality team of nurses and carers in the Canberra region.

“We are not owned by the government, we help people at a number of facilities in Canberra. The business has been in my family for 25 years.

“Our team’s ability to put our clients’ and patients’ needs first is one of our greatest assets.

Lisa says that over the past eight years she and Matthew have worked exceedingly hard to build up the business.

“This award means so much,” she says.

“We have amazing community spirit in Canberra and our team love to give back to the community by providing outstanding care.”

National Nursing Agency, 3/85 Hoskins Street, Mitchell. Call 6241 3525 or visit nationalhealthcare.com.au

As Australia’s first, and only, majority Australian Indigenous owned full-service Corporate Real Estate, Evolve FM brings a truly unique service offering. Evolve FM continues to be a radical new player in the Facilities Management industry, with over 25% Indigenous employee representation –13 times higher than indigenous representation in the Australian population.

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•

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WE INVITE YOU TO START A PROJECT WITH US TODAY!

Lisa Walker.

Evolve FM CEO Amy Castro, left, and COO Rajesh Pansara.

Escape reality with an award-winning experience

GOBOAT Australia’s founder and managing director Nick Tyrell said while he was hoping for the best at the ACT 2023 Telstra Best of Business Awards, he planned for the worst.

“I didn’t have a speech written, but in the end I was really proud to accept the award of Outstanding Growth on behalf of the GoBoat team,” he said.

The business opened in Canberra in 2017 with only four boats, says Nick.

“Our fifth birthday was in October, and we now have 70 boats,” he said, offering Australia’s “favourite electric picnic boat experience.”

“It is a nice way for people to escape daily life and spend more quality time with people they care about.

“I think there’s a real disconnect, being out on the water, from the world around you and from daily life, and I’m more and more excited about being able to offer that to more and more people.”

Nick said GoBoat continued to grow throughout COVID-19.

“We are also proud to now be making our boats right here in Australia, securing future growth pathways and creating more jobs,” he said.

The fleet of more than 70 eco-friendly electric boats operates at six locations across Australia – Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Geelong and the Gold Coast.

GoBoat Australia, 8 Trevillian Quay, Kingston. Call 1300 993208, or visit goboat.com.au

ELECTRIC. ICONIC.

FishCo

HOROSCOPE PUZZLES

By Joanne Madeline Moore

6-12 March, 2023

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

With the Full Moon in your daily routine zone, it’s time to prioritise, organise and stabilise. And avoid being too impulsive about a complicated issue – especially involving money, values, morals, or possessions. The Sun, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn encourage you to dream ambitious dreams for the future. Be inspired by fellow-Aries, pioneering feminist Gloria Steinem: “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.”

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

Bulls can blunder around being (unintentionally) insensitive. This week you need to be extra responsive to the needs of children, teenagers and close friends, otherwise Tuesday’s Full Moon could trigger a misunderstanding or an emotional meltdown. With Saturn leaving your career zone, professional matters are set to improve – as long as you aren’t ridiculously stubborn. The more flexible and understanding you are, the quicker things will improve.

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

Mercury (your ruler) and the Sun link up with Uranus, which amplifies your changeable qualities, and your talent for being what you think other people want you to be. But Mars is charging through your sign, which encourages you to shine your authentic light for the world to see. Inspiring quote for International Women’s Day comes from Gemini entertainer Judy Garland: “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

On the weekend, compassionate Venus links up with dynamic Mars, which is in your humanitarian zone. So it’s time to roll up your sleeves and be proactive about helping others. Can you do some volunteer work, start a fundraiser, or organise a working bee? Inspiring quote for International Women’s Day is from actress Audrey Hepburn: “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

870

A

10am to 4pm

Open: Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri. 0408 310 063

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Regal Lions love to live in the lap of luxury! Tuesday’s Full Moon activates your finance zone and encourages your tendency to be hasty with cash and careless with credit. Then penny-pinching Saturn shifts into one of your money zones. So, clever Cats will resist the temptation to blow the budget with an impulsive, extravagant spending spree. Big binge buys now will just lead to major money headaches later on. So slow down, budget carefully and shop prudently.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

The Full Moon in earthy, practical Virgo (on Tuesday) sets the stage for a powerful and productive International Women’s Day (on Wednesday). So it’s a good week to bring an ambitious goal to a successful conclusion. Be inspired by Virgo entertainer Beyoncé: “As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am.” The Mercury/Uranus link (on the weekend) is wonderful for creative ideas and innovative solutions.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Librans can be too laidback and lackadaisical. But this week the universe gives you a brisk kick up the backside as dynamic Mars links up with Venus (your patron planet), which makes you more proactive than usual. So it’s time to initiate, instigate, negotiate, collaborate and create. Your quote for International Women’s Day is from Libran actress and activist Susan Sarandon: “I take responsibility for the ups and downs of my life, and that is very liberating.”

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 colleagues then you’ll gain a much wider perspective. If you are at the receiving end of some stern words from a loved one, accept the criticism with good grace and then move on. Your quote for International Women’s Day is from fellow-Scorpio, Vogue editor Anna Wintour: “I try to remain very open to what others have to say.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

When it comes to your work and professional prospects, the Full Moon’s in efficient, no-nonsense Virgo. So people don’t care how fabulous, funny and friendly you are – they just want to know you can do your job promptly and competently. With the Sun, Mercury, Neptune and then Saturn transiting through your family zone, don’t neglect the needs of your home and loved ones. Accept your domestic responsibilities with a sunny Sagittarian smile!

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Steer clear of negative influences that bring you down. Surround yourself with positive people in your family/friendship circle and within your local community. The close connections you foster now will prove beneficial in the future. Inspiring quote for International Women’s Day is from Capricorn great Dolly Parton: “Love too often gets buried in a world of hurt and fear. And we have to dig it out so we can share it with our family, friends, and neighbours.”

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Taskmaster Saturn finally leaves your sign from Wednesday onwards. So don’t get side-tracked and lose sight of where you are heading. The earthy Virgo Full Moon encourages you to make plans and put them into daily practice with discipline and dedication. Your inspiring quote for International Women’s Day is from Aquarian talk-show host, author and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey: “Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

Pisces folk are inspirational people. This week there are four planets visiting your sign – the Sun, Mercury, Neptune and then Saturn. So you’ll feel like daydreaming, visualising and creating even more than usual as you perform, paint, draw, dance, write, sing or play music. It’s time to make your dreams a reality! Your quote for International Women’s Day is from Piscean entertainer Liza Minnelli: “Don’t listen to anyone who doesn’t know how to dream.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2023

4 Name an Australian surgeon noted for his heroic service to fellow POWs in WWII, “Weary” ... (6)

7 What was the profession of Beethoven? (8)

8 To be ingenious, is to be what? (6)

9 Which term describes a complete standstill? (8)

11 What might we call a corpse? (7)

13 What is a meatball commonly known as? (7)

15 What is made by a coroner? (7)

17 Which small particles of wood are produced by carpenters? (7)

20 Name the large, often destructive sea waves caused by underwater earthquakes. (8)

23 What is a pair of equal and opposite electric charges? (6)

24 Name an item that comes down in a shower. (8)

25 Which Viscount was killed at the battle of Trafalgar? (6)

Solution next edition Down

1 What is a debauchee or rake? (4)

2 Name a particular suit of cards. (6)

3 Name the capital of Norway. (4)

4 Which English buccaneer circumnavigated the globe, Sir Frances ...? (5)

5 Who is known as The Great White Shark, Greg ...? (6)

6 Name a constellation near Canis Major. (5)

9 What are funeral songs known as? (6)

10 Name the list, appearing at the beginning or end of a film. (7)

12 What are sluggish arboreal creatures? (6)

14 What is another term for dialects? (6)

16 Kampala is the capital of which republic in eastern Africa? (6)

18 To be in the land of the living, one must be what? (5)

19 Name a renowned US violinist, born in Russia, Isaac ... (5)

21 Which term describes a single thing? (4)

22 What is a false god, as of a heathen people? (4)

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Sudoku hard No. 335

Solution next edition

Solutions – February 23 edition

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

INSIDE

New cafe has Red Hill sorted WENDY JOHNSON

Film festival to bring out the French in everyone

By Helen MUSA

THE looming French Film Festival is less “toujours l’amour” and more “cherchez la femme” this year with a formidable line-up of female directors among its 39 films.

There’s Céline Devaux, Rebecca Zlotowski, Mia Hansen-Løve and Virginie Efira, to name a few.

I caught up with British-French national Hortense de Pelleport, culture and communications manager at the Alliance Française de Canberra and, for this year, festival co-ordinator for Canberra.

The event is the largest celebration of French film outside of France with more than 153,000 attendees in 2022 and she enthuses, “a lot of people are waiting each year, the French community, Francophiles, students wanting to practice their French and people in the wider community… it’s so diverse that everyone can go”.

Proof of the public interest is seen in the packed parking lots and classrooms at Maison de France in Turner as first-term students arrive. The Australian infatuation with France does not seem to have abated.

“France is very attractive to Australians,

and a huge variety of people want to travel,” de Pelleport says. “But many Australians can’t afford to travel there and the festival is a pretty cheap way of doing so… many people go to films three or four times a week.”

The whole country, de Pelleport believes, is a prime destination, with mountains, volcanoes, vineyards and beaches, some of the best in her family’s native Normandy.

In fact, Normandy is the setting for the touching family movie “Ride Above”, where

young Zoé dreams of becoming a great jockey just like her father, filmed right near the de Pelleport family beach on the coastline. It pleases her that while there are many glamorous pictures set in Paris or the Côte d’Azur, there are also more modest films such as “Ride Above” and “Country Cabaret”, where failing farmer David and a cast of outrageous performers transform a tired barn house into a dazzling hub of showbiz.

And yet the opening night film, “Masquer-

ade”, is indeed set on the Côte d’Azur, full of glamour, sex, money and manipulation as Adrien relies on his beauty to seduce older, wealthy women to support his lifestyle even as trouble begins to brew. It’s a sure crowd-pleaser.

Another showstopper, “November”, is set in the capital and reflects the experience of the lead investigators of the French anti-terrorism services, working against the clock in the aftermath of the 2015 attacks across Paris.

Each year the festival has a number of focus nights and there’s always a ladies’ night, which this time will feature “Two Tickets to Greece”, with Laure Calamy, Olivia Côte and Kristin Scott Thomas playing estranged childhood friends who tentatively reunite for a trip to the Greek Islands.

“A Taste of France” is another regular feature, with this year’s choice the Australian premiere of “Sugar and Stars” based on champion pastry chef Yazid Ichemrahem’s

A human rights night presented by the ANU will feature “Annie’s Fire”, directed by Blandine Lenoir, where Laure Calamy surfaces again as a mild-mannered, workingclass mother of two who gets mixed up in an abortion and family planning network.

But with 39 films to choose from, there’s a lot more.

Another favourite is Rebecca Zlotowski’s new romantic drama, “Other People’s Children”, a “tender and modern” movie where a childless woman forms a deep bond with her boyfriend’s young daughter.

And, de Pelleport says, it would be hard to go past “Final Cut”, an opening-night hit at Cannes Festival last year. But, she warns, zombie-haters will have to endure the first weird 39 minutes, which turn out to be a fake zombie movie. “It’s hilarious,” she says.

The 34th Alliance Française French Film Festival, Palace Electric, March 9-April 5.

“Country Cabaret”... where failing farmer David and a cast of outrageous performers transform a tired barn house into a dazzling hub of showbiz.

“Two Tickets to Greece”... estranged childhood friends tentatively reunite for a trip to the Greek Islands.

Getting physical gets macabre

By Nick OVERALL

WHAT if we did “Squid Game”, but in real life?

One can just imagine the dollar signs in the Netflix executive’s eyes when they heard the idea.

It’s pretty much what “Physical 100” is – a new South Korean reality show where 100 people compete in gruelling physical and mental challenges in order to be the last one standing and claim a huge cash prize.

And no, unlike the show that inspired it, the sin bin is not in a coffin.

For latecomers, “Squid Game” was the South-Korean series that came storming on to the streaming market in late 2021 and quickly became the world’s most popular show.

The bizarre premise saw the story’s characters plucked off the streets by mysterious figures and pitted against each other in increasingly macabre children’s games on a remote island.

Win, and the cash-strapped contestants kept their chance alive at taking home millions of dollars; lose, however, and the penalty was death.

Fast forward 17 months, and “Physical 100” hits Netflix, a show that takes the same general idea of a

single victor who outlasts 99 others in a series of extreme challenges.

They know it, too. In the first episode, two of the contestants themselves say they feel like they’re in “Squid Game”.

It’s proven a hit. In its first three weeks of streaming the show has already clocked up more than 100 million hours of watch time.

It’s a bizarre, but admittedly addictive watch. The coterie of ripped athletes all take the competition they’ve signed up for incredibly seriously.

In one game, they fiercely wrestle one another for control of a ball. In another, they hang for as long as they can on metal bars suspended above a gigantic pool of water.

We’ve seen this premise prove popular before. Think all 44 seasons of “Survivor” – and that’s just the American product.

Netflix has taken this winning formula and packaged it in a bingeable format that’s not interrupted by ads (for now, anyway). It’s also worth noting that the competition is actually a whole lot more sportsmanlike

than the show that inspired it.

For those who want their television darker though, season two of “Squid Game” is rumoured to be getting a release date soon.

Like many, I was surprised by just how compelling season one was. Though I was a little disappointed when I discovered it wasn’t about sporting cephalopods.

JUMPING over to the side of streaming that doesn’t ask for your credit card, SBS On Demand has a new true-crime thriller this month well worth checking out.

Across five expertly crafted episodes, “The Walk-In” tells the true story of a neo-nazi plot to assassinate a British MP in 2018. For those who didn’t catch it at the time, 23-year-old Jack Renshaw made headlines around the world when he disturbingly bought a machete with the intent to murder Labour politician Rosie Collins. It came at the height of tensions that were supercharged by a looming Brexit vote – a moment which deeply fractured the British political landscape.

The show stars Stephen Graham as Matthew Collins, an activist who gathers intelligence for anti-fascism organisation Hope Not Hate. The series charts his trials to take down the far-right extremist group National Action, who at the time were feared to be devising terrorist activities.

Needless to say, “The Walk-In” doesn’t exactly make for easy viewing, but if a contemporary and political true-crime thriller raises your eyebrows this is one not to miss.

TOUCHING down at home, Australia’s newest streaming drama show is turning some heads. Streaming on Stan, “Bad Behaviour” takes viewers to the horrifying world that is an all-girls boarding school.

Based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Starford, the coming-of-age tale follows 15-year-old Jo and her attempts to navigate the politics of her dormitory.

As many will know first hand, it’s no easy feat. The show is unflinching in its exploration of the cruelty of high school.

From “The Getting of Wisdom” to “Puberty Blues”, the Aussie teen drama has had plenty of screen time but “Bad Behaviour” still manages to carve itself out as a poignant coming-of-age tale that makes for an uncomfortable but addictive piece of streaming.

These teenage girls are frightening enough to give the monsters in “The Last Of Us” a run for their money.

DINING / Fox & Bow, Red Hill

Popular cafe makes new fans in Red Hill

By Wendy JOHNSON

FANS of Farrer’s Fox & Bow have been flocking to this breakfast and lunch eatery for yonks. And now a new fan base is developing, at Fox & Bow’s recently opened location at Red Hill shops.

It was pumping when we arrived for a leisurely brunch. The new location has loads of room outdoors with plenty of shade and the space inside is large also. Note to self, to avoid all risk: book ahead online.

The “breakfasty brunch things”, which is what Fox & Bow calls one section of its all-day menu, feature the usual suspects, which means the execution was going to be key.

After ordering and settling in with coffee, our food arrived efficiently.

My omelette was wonderfully moreish (making you want to eat more). It was piping hot and loaded with flavour ($20.90). The mixed local mushrooms were earthy, the Swiss-style Gruyère cheese was sweet and slightly salty, and the Mozzarella chewy. The wood-fired, roughly chopped tomato piperade was colourful on top of the omelette and zingy.

Pasture-raised eggs on toast was the order of the day for my friend, scrambled and also on toast. The eggs weren’t overcooked but presented with a lovely texture.

Extras for $5 each include confit

tomato, avo, sautéed mushrooms and hash browns. Meat sides hover around $6. The streaky bacon was great quality and the side serve extremely generous (would like mine to be crispier, which is what I ordered).

Other delicious dishes to dive into are the brûlée French toast ($17.90) with chia and chai spiced porridge, poached quince, berries, walnut crumble and Pepe Saya Mascarpone. On my next visit I’ll likely order the Spanish eggs, chilli and scrambled with chorizo, avo and Guindilla peppers to fire up my day ($25.90).

Fox & Bow offers toasties, rolls and burgers. Also, favourites such as fish and chips. Small meals are available for the “cubs” (little ones) ($12 or $13) and a special offer is on tap for the many tradies working on developments around the shops.

Note that the kitchen is small, so no menu changes are allowed at Fox & Bow.

We dined indoors because there was no room outside and found the noise volume right up there, which might not make some diners so happy. Perhaps a longer-term plan is to add some sound proofing?

After breakfast or lunch, take a wander through the Red Hill shops. The Supa Express is a great place, with wonderful produce, loads of gourmet and artisan products, and an impressive wine selection. The Butcher Shop is a real find – try a premium, 42-day dry-aged beef steak. This shop has been providing locals with quality meats since 1964 and also has a small selection of artisan goods. Friendly staff, too.

“Physical 100”... One hundred people compete in gruelling physical and mental challenges in order to be the last one standing and claim a huge cash prize.

Scrambled eggs… pasture-raised eggs presented with a lovely texture. Photos: Wendy Johnson

The Fox & Bow omelette… earthy mixed local mushrooms with Swiss-style Gruyère cheese.

EXHIBITION / Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages

Fearful feminine power, not for the fainthearted

COVER STORY

By Helen Musa

WITH voluptuous sex goddesses and female

deities ready to tear their male victims apart, the “Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages” exhibition is not for the fainthearted.

It makes a change, for when the British Museum blockbuster “Ancient Greeks” came to the National Museum of Australia last year, there was considerable grumbling about the excessive masculinity of the show, subtitled “Athletes, Warriors and Heroes”.

This year the two museums go a distance towards addressing that problem.

Retitled from the British Museum’s initial name, “Feminine power: the divine to the demonic”, the show canvasses the potency of the feminine principle in the West, in Africa, the Pacific Islands, South America and most notably in India, where the fearsome side of the female is personified in the “terrible” goddess Kali.

“Mother of the universe, mistress of all elements,” one of the huge labels reads, as we embark on a trip through various aspects of the feminine – creation and nature, passion and desire, magic and malice, justice and defence and compassion and salvation.

The titles reveal the complexity of this exhibition, for it’s not all black and white, as the fearsome Kali and the lioness-headed goddess Sekhmet, are also revered as mothers.

Visiting British Museum curator

Belinda Crerar told me it wasn’t specifically the macho “Greeks” that inspired them to embark on this show, but more the fact that most museums and art galleries were male-focused – “we wanted to redress that”.

If you were looking for redress, you could hardly go past the “Magic and Malice” section of the exhibition, where the ancient Indian concept of Shakti – energy, ability, strength and power – are seen in the persons of divine warrior-goddesses such as Kali and Durga.

In this section, Crerar says, we see many outsider women who were labelled as demons and witches, showing how much female authority was feared, which has come into prominence lately as the parliament of Scotland starts on a public apology for historical executions of “witches”. For a bit of light relief, the gorgon Medusa, with her petrifying stare, is used for a touchscreen colouring-in game.

A truly scary modern artwork by Bengali artist Kaushik Ghosh, Kali is shown dancing on top of her supine consort Siva as she uses her Shakti to bring things back into balance.

“That’s a true portrait of female power,” Crerar says, adding that it’s not a simple matter, for Siva is both the god of destruction and creation while Kali is both the destroyer of men and, as a mother, the creator of them.

Among the most striking exhibits are two statues of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet who, with a head of a lioness, symbolises terrifying power but who was also called the “mistress of life” so is often shown holding an “Ankh”, the hieroglyphic sign for life.

In nature, Crerar notes, it’s the lioness, the female of the species, who does the hunting in the killing and the awe of Sekhmet relates to

the real world in North Africa of the time.

A straightforward feminist narrative, then, will not do to summarise this exhibition of 160 objects dating back to 2800 BCE.

The “Passion and Desire” section features ancient goddesses Inanna and Ishtar alongside Eve, Radha and Venus and prominently, a Roman statue of Venus seen emerging from her bath in a moment of sheer beauty, but Aphrodite’s bloody revenge was legendary among those who disobeyed her commands.

A completely contrasting aspect of the female is seen in the final chapter, “Compassion and Salvation”, which features Isis, Mary “Queen of Heaven” and the Chinese Guanyin (Kannon in Japan) goddess of mercy and compassion.

There’s even a fascinating porcelain figure named in it in which Guanyin is seen holding a baby in the manner of the Madonna holding the Christ child, but that association, Crerar says,

ARTS IN THE CITY Miss Havisham’s off to London

By Helen Musa PERFORMER

and drama tutor Lily Welling, of Budding Entertain ment, will take the classical acting program at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art between September to December. Welling recently played Miss Havisham in “Great Expectations”.

Lily Welling.

NLA Publishing is producing a hardback 10th anniversary edition of a favourite title, “Have You Seen My Egg?”, which has been continuously in print since 2013. With words by Penny Olsen and illustrations by Rhonda N Garward, the story follows Eddy Emu, who has lost one of his eggs and travels far and wide, looking for it.

THE famous feline musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Cats” is being staged by Canberra Philharmonic. Erindale Theatre, March 2-18.

THE Australian Chamber Orchestra will bring together two of Australia’s most awarded musicians, ACO artistic director Richard Tognetti and oud player Joseph Tawadros, to perform the most popular piece of music ever written, Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”. At Llewellyn Hall, March 11.

CANBERRA Rep’s Studio is gearing up for a big year, open for anyone and everyone to join. Apart from offering opportunities to get involved behind-thescenes, there are studio events such as the “Logues”, a playwriting competition for 10-minute monologues or duologues. An info session will be held at Canberra Rep Theatre from 1pm on March 5.

CANBERRA Symphony Orchestra goes south with the first of three twilight soirees, this one featuring concertmaster Kirsten Williams and pianist Edward “Teddy” Neeman performing Debussy and Fauré. Tuggeranong Arts Centre, March 9.

“HAUNTING”, at the National Museum, is a photographic and video exhibition by Vic McEwan that animates museum objects with fog, mist, smoke and water. Gallery mezzanine until April 30.

is perhaps one we make from a western point of view.

This exhibition may not have as much white marble as its predecessors “Rome: City and Empire” and “Ancient Greeks”, for some of the striking exhibits such as the statues of Sekhmet, made of the igneous rock granodiorite, are made of many substances and media.

But they are worth a good look and some serious rethinking.

“Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages,” National Museum, until August 27.

“Queen of the Night” relief, Iraq, about 1750 BCE. 2800 BCE.

Statue of Venus, Rome, Italy, 100150 CE.

Photo: George Serras Statue of Sekhmet, Egypt.

Photo: George Serras