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St John Paul II College

Year 7-12 Catholic Co-educational College

17

May 2023

St John Paul II College (JPC) is a welcoming and inclusive learning community where diversity is embraced and learning outcomes are maximised for each individual. The college is a flagship in education and provides a unique, innovative educational environment where all students can flourish. The college’s core principles of Justice, Peace and Courage support the holistic development of students as they navigate an ever changing world.

We invite students and their families in years 9 to 12 to attend the JPC Senior College Expo

Schedule:

4.30 – 7.00 pm: Expo and faculty information

4.30 – 4.50 pm: Australian School Based Apprenticeship Information Session

5:30 – 6: 15 pm: Principal Welcome and Panel discussion

7:00 pm: Close

During the evening, students and families will have the opportunity to:

• explore the ‘Careers Expo’ where Universities and Training Organisations will be showcasing their courses - see website for complete list of exhibitors

• discover JPCs student leadership and co-curricular opportunities

• meet with teachers and discuss information about senior subjects that JPC is offering for 2024 and beyond. Tours will be available during the evening for families new to JPC . Or book a small group tour during the month of May. For more information and bookings visit our website www.jpc.act.edu.au

Be active… Be creative… Be inspired…

Relay team clocks up $600,000 for cancer charity

By Lily PASS

IN 2000, when early childhood educators gathered in Narrabundah for regular staff meetings, and payslips came on a piece of paper, a team called the Bold Bandannas was created and it’s never stopped since.

Team captain, Rosemary Drabsch, says down the bottom of her payslip was a call from the Cancer Council, asking for people to form a team and join Relay For Life.

“I stood up in front of the staff meet ing and said I had read this call, and 12 people raised their hands to join in, too,” says Rosemary, 75.

“In 2000, we raised $1600, which wasn’t bad for a few weeks of fundrais ing.”

In preparation for their second relay, the team decided to wear trousers made from bandannas, which were “quite bold”, along with their brightly coloured wigs, the name the “Bold Bandannas” was confirmed.

“A member from our team made a banner, and it’s all made out of bandannas, and we get every team member who has walked in Relay with us since

hold it and walk. If we go somewhere we put it up,” Rosemary says.

“We have grown from a humble beginning to something quite impressive.

In the lead up to Relay For Life 2023, the Bold Bandannas raised $77,293.

“In 2004, we won for being the highest fundraisers with only $9870. I was a bit embarrassed to think that was the highest amount, so then we started

Rosemary says once she makes a commitment to something, she gives it her all, and she especially loves a challenge.

“It’s all about how many people we can help with the money we raise, and the more money we raise the more people we can help, so that is the challenge. In most years we’ve raised more than we did the year prior,” she says.

“My grandmother had cancer, I’ve lost a couple of cousins to cancer. I don’t think there is anybody who can say they haven’t been touched personally, or through family, work colleagues, neighbours or friends. Everybody knows at least one person who has had cancer, and if it’s only one they are pretty lucky. I guess I’m lucky, I haven’t personally been touched.”

Since their beginning, The Bold Bandannas have raised $604,500 through their fundraising and market stalls.

“We don’t take out any costs for things we cook or sew to sell,” she says.

“Many things are donated by friends, work colleagues, and knitting groups, as well as individuals, and supplies are coming from all over Canberra due to the exposure we receive from market stalls, radio stations and in the local free papers – thank you,

Every three weeks, the Bold Bandannas alternate between stalls at Belconnen Fresh Food Markets and

“We sell homemade or handcrafted jams, pickles, chutney, relish, lemon butters and we also have a sugarreduced line for those who are diabetic or who are watching their sugar intake,” she says.

“We also have knitted coathangers, hand towels with crocheted tops, kids’ booties. In the winter we make scarves, beanies and mittens. We have

rugs and patchwork quilts, library bags and shopping bags. We also sell plants in a small section.

“We never have any trouble selling anything, and our stall is always busy because everyone is happy to support the Cancer Council. Many people come along and tell you their story. Everyone has a story, and sometimes we even run out of stock.

“There’s usually two or three of us working a table stall, and it takes one person all of their time just to keep restocking.”

With her preschool teaching experience still a strong memory, Rosemary knows how to cater for kids, too.

“I know what three, four and fiveyear-olds like, so I also make fairy wings, dinosaur tails, skirts, dancing ribbons with bells, capes and fluffy tails,” she says.

“A lot of hard work and love goes into everything that is produced. We are a team and, after working together for so many years, feel we are providing a service to the community, which in turn is benefitting the community.

“I am 75 now. When I started I was 52, so things are a bit different. We’ve lost a few members to cancer; we’ve got a lot of survivors in the team, and this year we won the ‘Highly Commended Volunteer Team of the Year’ award.” relayforlife.org.au/fundraisers/boldbandannas/act-2023

Bold Bandannas team captain Rosemary Drabsch and the banner signed by every team member who has walked in Relay For Life.

Photo: Lily Pass

Failed planners thumb a nose at the community

THERE are many comments circulating about the 400 submissions received by the planning directorate on what the community thinks of the ACT government’s attempt to reform planning.

That’s a lot of unpaid volunteer work. There are always interesting perspectives and new thoughts on such matters.

Unfortunately, for reasons only known to themselves, the planning directorate has not followed the former practice of listing the submissions so that it is possible to see each submission and who submitted it.

This time there are about 20 bundles of 20 community submissions joined together as large pdfs with another 40 or so more individual industry submissions. There is no way to find particular submissions without trawling through the whole lot.

To see this planning bureaucratic lack of respect for the many who spent huge amounts of volunteer time on their feedback (Google “your say ACT Planning Reform”).

Residents would have carried out this work in the good faith that their feedback and suggestions would be treated seriously. This is the serious disconnect.

Those who receive them have

another agenda as set by the chief minister. Anything submitted that contradicts their interpretation of his ideology, is presumably treated as not-so-serious or irrelevant.

The signs are not good, judging by the regular placement of media articles highlighting what the government is looking to introduce. None of their desired concepts, missing middle, less parking etcetera, are based on the majority of submissions received. That’s the way this planning bureaucracy operates. It looks to please the chief minister, not the well-informed but pesky residents – no matter how many submissions they lodge.

There is one remarkable submission. Google “Combined Community

Councils ACT, CCCACT” and scroll down to their joint submission on these reforms. It says it all.

The ACT planning bureaucracy, which is running this reform circus, has failed its own criteria as set in November 2020 – a month after the 2020 ACT elections. Convenient!

This joint submission is outstanding because of the variations in interests across the eight community councils and their memberships they represent.

The submission reflects the level of concerns by each community council. Their members have witnessed nothing good about how this reform carnival was conducted.

There has been little respect shown by Greenslabor politicians whenever

they were confronted with the anxiety within the community sector about the obnoxious stuff that was being proposed.

The joint submission reflects what is being raised in other submissions. There’s no room here to list all the common issues (there are many) or to expand on the levels of distrust of those who mismanaged the reforms –the planning bureaucrats.

The bureaucracy will have its own “listening report” that will downplay the residents’ concerns and cherrypick the items that suit the agenda, as set by the chief minister – the real person running this charade to deregulate the city’s planning.

The real summary of the residents’ submissions would be that this badly managed planning reform is:

• about to undo the cherished character of the established suburbs,

• the new set of complex documentation is disconnected from each other and is harder to fathom than the previous,

• will do nothing to improve compliance,

• is based on vague statements that when used as assessment tools will be a loose set of deregulated guides

that developers will choose whether to be serious about or not…

And the list goes on. These reforms pay minimal attention to heritage, neighbourhood character, climate issues, biodiversity, aesthetics and are totally disrespectful of the sense of place that neighbourhoods have about their immediate streets, parks and suburban areas.

If ACT government politicians had any respect for residents and have managed to retain a skerrick of humane values, then there is only one set of actions to be taken.

This is a complete failure of the planning bureaucracy to deliver anything resembling an innovative 21st century planning system. Surely if a cohort of bureaucrats have messed up and failed so badly, there must be consequences and someone must go. Read the Combined Community Councils’ submission – it is all there.

Paul Costigan is a commentator on cultural and urban matters.

There are more of his columns at citynews.com.au

This is a complete failure of the planning bureaucracy to deliver anything resembling an innovative 21st century planning system. Surely there must be consequences and someone must go.

The planning directorate… looks to please the chief minister, not the well-informed but pesky residents.

Pity the Romans weren’t rebuilding the hospital

IT took the Romans a little more than six years to build a wall from coast to coast in England. It is taking the ACT government 20 years to rebuild The Canberra Hospital.

The Romans had six legions to do the job. At around 5000 men in a legion that is roughly 30,000 workers. The machinery they had was minimal and primitive by today’s standards. And yet, even at that time they were able to build a wall that was five metres high, about three metres across and close enough to 140 kilometres long.

The ACT Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith’s recent media statement includes “new state-of-the art facilities under the Canberra Hospital Master Plan that will transform the Hospital over the next 20 years”.

Imagine Emperor Hadrian being told “we will get around to doing it in due time – say 20 years”.

The barbarians (from modern-day Scotland) would have seized the opportunity to overrun the garrisons. When Emperor Hadrian personally inspected his wall, he saw not only a defensive wall, but then state-of-theart facilities including garrisons, hot baths for the soldiers and medical facilities in the middle of the camps.

Granted, the Romans’ facilities were updated and modified over the

next three centuries.

Perhaps the Health Minister drew her inspiration from something like this when she stated “the ACT government is continuing to transform the Canberra Hospital campus to support the ACT community into the future”. Then someone added a time frame of two decades.

Lessons have been learnt from the pandemic. In setting an “early priority” the minister identified “a new Pathology and Clinical Support Building”. One of the challenges of the “invasion” of the covid virus was ensuring appropriate surveillance and testing. The establishment of such facilities is an attempt akin to building a defensive wall. It is an investment in prevention.

The ACT government has awarded to EY a contract “to support continued planning for three new buildings for the campus”. Their job will be to work with the architects “to prepare functional designs, models of care and a business case for the new Pathology and Clinical Support Building as well as future inpatient buildings”.

By comparison, the Romans, with little machinery, did have the expertise to build a wall that remained in place for many centuries.

Emperor Hadrian was not an elected representative serving a fouryear term. However, he did rule for 21 years. Labor has already served five terms of four years each. It is clear that there is an expectation that they will serve the ACT for another five

terms while they complete their plans on the hospital.

I can almost hear Emperor Hadrian arguing that he put the lives of the soldiers first, ensuring they would be able to live in an environment safe from those pesky Scottish barbarians. He was building the appropriate infrastructure for the future needs of Rome and for the surrounding areas.

In a similar way the health minister boasted that she “puts patients first, creates a safe environment for our staff with more opportunities for professional development, and

provides the right facilities to meet the future health needs of the ACT and surrounding region”.

The legacy of Emperor Hadrian remains to create wonder for historians and archaeologists some two millennia later. Although, it might be observed, the wall is not in good enough condition to serve its original purpose to keep those pesky Scots to themselves!

The ACT Labor government has already served more than 21 years. It is highly unlikely that historians and archaeologists in another two millennia will be digging up the hospital and looking in wonder.

However, they might find about 30 kilometres of tram line stretching all the way from Gungahlin to Woden and wonder at the achievement. No doubt, by then, they will stand in wonder and acknowledge that, despite the primitive tools, just how long it took to build such an edifice.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legisla tive Assembly and an independent minister for health.

The ACT Labor government has already served more than 21 years. It is highly unlikely that historians and archaeologists in another two millennia will be digging up the hospital and looking in wonder.

Hadrian’s Wall… six years to build 140 kilometres.

Artist’s impression of the new Canberra Hospital.

Shopping Carts by Lisa Pollock

Picnic Table by Lisa Pollock

How light rail drove ACT economy off the rails

AMID the “needs analysis” in the business case for stage one of light rail is a list of the ACT’s economic woes that would be addressed by the project.

Notably, the business case was prepared well after the political and policy commitments to the project had already been made.

Identified in the sub-section

“Evidence of the Problem” were the “challenges” facing the ACT economy:

• Below-trend growth in the national economy, with real GDP estimated to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2014-15 and with unemployment forecast at 6.25 per cent in 2014-15;

• 16,500 federal government public service job losses leading to an easing jobs growth rate and increasing overall unemployment in the ACT;

• The impact of the federal government’s 2014-15 budget.

According to the ACT 2014-15

budget papers “[m]assive cuts in general Commonwealth Government spending, and in payments to the ACT, will cause job losses and challenging economic circumstances for us”; and

• Forecast decreasing levels of commercial and residential construction.

“ACT government is projecting economic growth in the ACT to grow by 1.75 per cent next financial year. This represents growth below the forecast national average,” the analysis says.

It is generally accepted that long-term projects should seek to address long-term structural problems.

However, it is surely drawing a very long bow to expect that below-trend growth in the national economy, federal government public service job losses and cuts in Commonwealth spending could or would be ameliorated by construction of a 12-kilometre tram line.

The Commonwealth

Government job cuts, which some readers may recall were presented as a crisis, were in any event short lived.

In fact, the Commonwealth Government’s share of the economy, as measured by State Final Demand, has increased over time.

In 2015-16, its share including its consumption and invest-

ment, comprised 43.3 per cent of the ACT’s economy.

This share remained flat (although Commonwealth expenditure increased) until 2019. In 2022, the Commonwealth’s share of the economy had increased to 45.4 per cent.

Similarly, the ACT government’s share increased from 9.9 per cent in 2016 to 10.3 per cent in 2022. The private sector’s share comprising household consumption, dwelling investment and investment by private business (in commercial construction and machinery and equipment) decreased commensurately, from 46.8 per cent in 2016 to 44.3 per cent in 2022.

The increase in the Commonwealth Government’s share of the economy, while obviously ameliorating concerns about cuts and job losses on the one hand, exacerbated the “problem” of diversification or the reliance of the ACT economy on government.

With Canberra being the seat of national government, the ACT’s economy, unlike other jurisdictions, receives a significant boost from federal government activities.

Successive territory governments have sought to diversify the ACT economy and to decrease its reliance on

provides a certainty and stability to the economy that is not enjoyed by other jurisdictions. During national economic downturns or shocks, the ACT’s economy remains largely immune or generally fares better than the states or the NT due to countercyclical Commonwealth spending. The rating agencies always refer to the Commonwealth presence as a factor in their considerations and assessment of ACT’s credit worthiness.

We do not understate the importance of the private sector. Household consumption and private investment are the engine room of an economy and should be considered as such for the ACT.

ACT government consumption and investment comprise merely 10 per cent of total economic activity.

Commonwealth government activity, but with little success.

In fact, the ACT economy has experienced a long-term trend of an increasing share going to the Commonwealth Government, and a commensurately decreased share going to the private sector (households and businesses) as illustrated in Chart 1

Any strategy that seeks to boost the economy through increased territory government spending (whether recurrent or capital), or to compensate for a slowdown in Commonwealth spending, will be ineffective and is misconceived. In reality, its taxation, land supply and service delivery policies will have a far larger impact on the growth of the private sector.

Over the last decade, the ACT’s economy has grown well below trend, with average annual growth at 2.9 per cent compared to 4.9 per cent in the previous decade.

It is relevant to note that a significant contributor to this below-trend growth is the performance of the private sector, as highlighted in Chart 2

Typically, reliance of a business on a single customer, or of an economy on one particular sector (for example, mining), has risks.

However, in the case of the ACT there are significant benefits that outweigh such risks.

The Commonwealth Government will not close shop and leave. Its presence

Average annual growth in household consumption (2.2 per cent) and private investment (2.8 per cent) are significantly lower in the last decade compared to the previous two decades (1990s and 2000s).

On the other hand, ACT government consumption tripled from 1.3 per cent in the second decade to 3.9 per cent in the last decade.

It is notable that even excluding the pandemic years has no impact on the ACT government’s consumption growth rate, and makes only a marginal difference to household consumption and private investment growth rates.

The inter-decade variations in growth are, therefore, structural in nature and unrelated to the recent economic shock.

In summary, it is difficult to see how Light Rail – Stage 1 could be envisaged as diversifying the economy. ACT government spending fuelled by deficits and debt, and uneconomic projects such as this have, in fact, a deleterious effect on household consumption and business confidence.

Source: ABS Cat. No. 5220.0 Australian National Accounts: State Accounts; Table 9; Current Prices.

Source: ABS Cat. No. 5220.0 Australian National Accounts: State Accounts; Table 9; Chain Volume Measure.

JON STANHOPE and KHALID AHMED break down the ACT government’s economic arguments in support of the tram and reveal how they proved to be disastrously wrong.

Chart 1: Trends in Relative Shares of the Economy in the ACT

Chart 2: Average Annual Growth in ACT Government Consumption, Household Consumption and Private Investment

It is drawing a very long bow to expect that belowtrend growth, federal government public service job losses and cuts in Commonwealth spending could or would be ameliorated by construction of a 12-kilometre tram line.

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

BRIEFLY Mother’s Day stall for charity

THE Relay for Life Team, the Bold Bandannas, will be fundraising for cancer research with a Mother’s Day stall at Bunnings, Majura Park, 9am-4pm, on May 13. They’ll be selling a range of gifts for mum including homemade jams, pickles, marmalades, lemon butter and sugar-reduced items plus hand knitted and lace-covered coat hangers, and hand-crafted bookmarks.

Big cuppa at Creek

WESTON Creek Community Centre is hosting a Cancer Council Australia’s “Biggest Morning Tea” event with the invitation to “get together to enjoy a cuppa so we can support those impacted by cancer”. In the WCCC Hall, 11am-1pm, on May 19.

Fiery talk from Barbie

BARBIE Robinson, author of a book about the Canberra firestorm, is the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Gungahlin Day View Club, at the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club Nicholls, from 11.45am on May 26.

Lunch costs $35 and interested ladies and guests are welcome. Call 0422 505771 by 9pm, May 21 to confirm.

Barbie Robinson.

Hey Siri, change your sexism and bigotry

ON the big TV screen, the naughty boy from an episode of the cartoon series “South Park” was ordering around a servile Amazon “Alexa”.

At home, an 11-year-old boy said: “Mum, I want a robot slave.”

These were the six words uttered by her son that sparked an epiphany for Walkley award-winning journalist Tracey Spicer. She realised her life’s work fighting inequality seemed futile.

It began a quest to uncover who is ultimately responsible for the technology that embeds past biases. It took seven years of interviews and research to get to the launch of her latest book, “Man-Made”.

“I’ve rallied against it over the decades – all of the sexism and racism and bigotry is being embedded into the machines that will run our futures,” she told me at her Canberra book launch at the ANU’s Kambri Cultural Centre.

“This whole idea that women are there to serve people… the chatbots for the home have female voices, the chatbots for business and finance companies have male voices.

“So that’s a classic example of the di chotomy.”

Within 24 hours of the launch, “Man-Made” became the top-selling book on Amazon.

The book has been reviewed by former governor-general Dame Quentin Bryce, who described “Man-Made” as “exhilarating” and “a book we need as we grapple with how AI [artificial intelligence] will change our lives and our world”.

As an ordinary Canberran who loves modern technology and ChatGPT, insights into the book made me open my eyes to the bias embedded within the AI-generated world that often did not go questioned nor answered.

Spicer said a key insight came from interviewing Dr Joan Palmiter Bajorek, who runs an organisation called “Women in Force”, which is within voice technology.

According to Dr Bajorek, big tech was often thought of as “being big”, but most of the companies making the innovations were very small.

“They’re testing out the innovations on their friends who are usually young, white men in Silicon Valley,” said Tracey.

She could see “life-and-death” danger in the technology. There was an automated soap dispenser that’s programmed to work only for white hands. The same technology was being “embedded into self-driving cars”.

“So if [the self-driving car] came up to a pedestrian crossing, they might recognise a white person, but they won’t recognise anyone else, and they could run them over,” she said.

Spicer encouraged people to “talk to their friends, their children, their family about where AI was embedded in their own homes and workplaces” and then try to do what they can to “reduce the bias”.

“For example, you can change the voice of Siri and Alexa to male, more gender neutral.

Exhibition

Supporting tech companies that were femaleled and run by people of colour could bring more diversity and inclusion in technology.

Beyond the work individuals can do, the author is calling on the Australian government to institute the world’s first AI Safety Commissioner.

It follows an idea proposed by the Australian Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow in 2021, after a three-year study into new technologies.

Spicer said Australia had historically been a testing ground for technology companies and there needed to be boundaries or a “regulatory sandpit” established.

“The responsibility ultimately rests with tech companies,” she said.

“They’ve got to elevate the importance of ethics, instead of just thinking about the almighty dollar because they have people’s lives in their hands.”

Spicer said there was a significance to launching in Canberra, because “this is the heart of Australia”.

“This is where politics happens. This is where decisions are made,” she said.

“As citizens, we have power to make it clear to government members and politicians. So we want them to do something about this.”

The “Man-Made” author said she wasn’t suggesting anything radical or “any kind of revolution”.

“These tech goals are actually setting fire to money by not having more women involved at the get-go.

“Because they will actually end up developing greater things that more people will want – that creates a better society.

“That’s human made, not man made.”

MOTHERS DAY

We will be celebrating all the wonderful Mum’s on the night. Pop this date in your diary to take Mum out for a roast dinner and some action packed harness racing

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Have

“Sexism and racism and bigotry is being embedded into the machines that will run our futures,” author

Tracey Spicer tells reporter

Author Tracey Spicer with her new book…. “You can change the voice of Siri and Alexa to male, more gender neutral.”

Managing perks of ‘public office’ appointments

“FOLLOW the money” is good advice for investigators chasing drug traffickers and shady land deals.

It’s also useful to look at how our governments use “public office” jobs, how many there are and whether there should be some improvements to the openness and accountability of these appointments.

The Australian Government Organisations Register classifies all the various bodies to which people may be appointed for the Commonwealth. Some are well known, such as NBN Co Ltd, but others not so well, such as the National Measurement Institute.

The Remuneration Tribunal publishes “determinations”, which set out the details of salary and benefits to be paid to holders of public office.

An example is the 2022 “Remuneration and Allowances for Holders of Full-Time Public Office”. This contains a long list of offices, from highest to lowest paid.

Accepting that there will be a good explanation for these salaries, both as to dollar amounts and the differentials between the work value associated with one job and another, it is fascinating that the solicitorgeneral gets $800,000, the spook chiefs get $685,000, but the chiefs of each of Navy, Army and Airforce get $600,000.

The head of the new National Anti-Corruption Commission will get $730,000, but the Commonwealth DPP gets $570,000.

States and territories also have “public offices”. Examples are Director of Public Prosecutions, Ombudsman, Crime and Integrity Commissioners, and Trade Commissioners.

These offices are not covered by the Public Service Act or its equivalent.

Typically, the statute creating the office will specify the length of term, whether it is renewable and that removal may follow proven misbehaviour, mental incapacity or bankruptcy.

Governments and parliaments should be grateful that “transgressors” are likely to fall on their swords. Examples include state DPPs who have resigned following drink driving and driving causing death.

Rather than use the parliament’s formal “removal” procedures, governments have found it much easier to pass a short piece of legislation that abolishes the office.

The out-of-work, former office holder has no right to compensation, nor to fair dealing – a matter decided almost a century ago.

Late last year, the Albanese government announced the abolition of the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal, a once credible body made a farce by successive jobs-for-ourboys-and-girls by LNP governments.

Other examples – from the ‘80s – include the abolition of the NSW Magistrates Court, replaced by the Local Court, with more than a half dozen magistrates not re-appointed; Prime Minister Bob Hawke removing Jim Staples, who was a deputy president of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, by creating the Industrial Relations Commission and not appointing Jim to that new body; and my removal by Victorian Premier John Cain, during the Bicentennial year, as the independent Police Complaints Authority in response to Vicpol pressure to get me off their backs.

One of the attractions of such public offices is that appointees should serve their term and then depart. This approach ensures that the leadership is being “refreshed”.

Recognising that politicians are always looking for taxpayer-funded ways to give tangible, but lawful, rewards and inducements to colleagues

and mates, the use of “public office” appointments will always be with us.

However, we can make the process more accountable by having a standing parliamentary committee (this is both at ACT and Commonwealth level) responsible for vetting and reporting upon all such appointments each year.

Where a government has been in power for years – as with the last LNP Commonwealth Government and the Barr ACT government – the various ministers have had many opportunities to appoint and re-appoint their own.

Because the appointments are made by various ministers, and at any time during a year, there seems to be no publicly available list of who is appointed to what office, for what period and whether for a single or repeated term.

The attraction of such a committee approach is that those in opposition will be eagerly looking for opportunities to appoint to this and that office once they are in government. Selfinterest will promote active engagement on such a committee, starting with an up-to-date list of all public office positions, contributing to more accountability and transparency.

What we don’t want are repeats of

the 2021/2022 Barilaro debacle – who, it would seem, was to get the plum NSW government trade post in New York City?

In that case, a merit-based process had led to a person being offered the job. That offer was rescinded with the intention that former politician Barilaro could take up the post.

The aftermath was not pretty: Barilaro did not go to New York, a departmental head left and a minister lost his portfolio.

I feel a smidgen of pity for Barilaro. Others have not been unmasked. They enjoy the fruits of unchecked, unremarked political largesse.

Hugh Selby is the “CityNews” legal affairs commentator. His free podcasts on “Witness Essentials” and “Advocacy in court: preparation and performance” can be heard on the best known podcast sites.

Hugh Selby is a recently retired barrister who enjoyed appearing in criminal jury trials and teaching. about them.

One of the attractions of such public offices is that appointees should serve their term and then depart. This approach ensures that the leadership is being “refreshed”.

Don’t leave us in the dark as the city moves on

CRAIG WALLACE welcomes the new world of allelectricity, but warns that newer products come with touch screens that blind people can’t use or confusing functions that create barriers for people with disabilities.

CANBERRA is on the precipice of an electrifying transition. Quite literally. By 2045, the goal is to achieve net zero emissions from fossil fuel gas and instead realise 100 per cent electrification across the city.

The ACT government’s Pathway to Electrification strategy expounds the environmental, health, and economic advantages that come with the shift. And there are advantages, but the key challenge is ensuring everyone has the chance to enjoy them without unacceptable damage on the way through, especially to people with disabilities.

As you read this you might wonder why we would be talking about energy transition. Yet as we finally feel the chill of an oncoming Canberra winter, some issues are clear. High unstable prices for gas and electricity can be a savage blow to the budgets of people with disabilities on fixed low and modest incomes, unlike high-income earners or those who can absorb them

or the able-bodied thrifty who can try and defray them.

Some impairments, such as quadriplegia, have medical issues with temperature regulation and potentially life-threatening implications when things go awry. Throwing on an extra jumper to save on bills doesn’t cut it.

Investing in solar panels and switching to renewable household sources offer relief from costs and bill shock. Yet these investments represent a large upfront cost and are generally dependent on a person owning their home. Unfortunately, this remains out of reach for people with disability often stuck struggling in the private rental market or in public housing.

This lack of control – coupled with the inability to “act early” – poses real risks to gas consumers. As gas is phased out, those unable to make an early transition to electricity will face higher gas network costs as they are spread across a declining customer base.

An all-electric future offers op -

portunities to improve quality of life for all of us. Not only are electrical kitchen appliances and household heating more efficient and modern, but they are also considered safer. But the lack of regulation and user support surrounding newer electrically designed household products creates accessibility and usability issues. For instance, some newer products come with touch screens that blind people can’t use, or confusing programmable functions that create barriers for people with disabilities, as well as older people. As people are “moved” across to electricity and new devices, the government has a role in tandem with industry, in ensuring that they are accessible and people are supported to use them.

The current expansion of the electric vehicle (EV) market also highlights these issues.

The ACT has the fastest growing fleet of EVs. In March, almost 19 per cent of newly registered vehicles were battery EVs. Despite high levels of EVs, public charging facilities throughout the ACT are sparse and often inaccessible.

A lack of public stations means that people rely on home or work-based charging: again out of reach for those who rent. These newer vehicles are also being built with features that make them incompatible with disabled driver modifications.

As the EV market share continues to expand, these issues must be taken seriously and sorted.

Reliability is an elephant in the room and we need to face its social dimensions. While occasional outages might be a (serious) inconvenience to most people and an acceptable cost within a transition with enormous benefits, they risk serious harm to people with disability.

This includes those on home ventilation or oxygen, using CPAP (sleep apnea) machines, car-dependent people being unable to access vehicles in electric garages or people being unable to charge electric mobility scooters or other assistive devices.

Planning for the transition must include public provision for emergency supply by people with medical devices, existential heating and cooling needs and other issues requiring

a reliable affordable supply of power and backups such as home batteries. Issues like these are why Advocacy for Inclusion’s recent submission to the ACT government’s consultation on preventing new fossil-fuel gas network connections urges close attention to cost, accessibility and universal design considerations in mandating the take-up of electric products. The market should be closely monitored to negate price fluctuations and bill shock and firm up reliability.

If signs in the planning space – where the government recently rejected long-standing calls from within the ACT community sector for a greater focus on universal design and social planning – are any indication, vulnerable Canberrans may struggle to get the ACT government to take these issues seriously in the journey to an all-electric future.

People with disabilities are among the first affected by failures to consider social needs in transitions across infrastructure, transport, housing, and utilities. This involves foresight but also demands a conversation around the kind of city we are building, and more importantly, for whom. A failure to do so will see many of us left in the dark.

Craig Wallace is the A/g CEO for Advocacy for Inclusion

Touchscreen... a modern problem for blind people.

May is ME/CFS Month

ME/CFS and other fatiguing illnesses are very poorly understood, hard to diagnose, and even harder to live with disease.

ME/CFS has been known of for decades now, there is even evidence of historical figures including Florence Nightingale having lived with this condition. Long COVID is of course a very recent disease with a very unknown pathway. It doesn’t matter what your debilitating fatiguing condition is, the effect on the person living with it is devastating.

Whilst there is a clinic at the UC hospital that may assist some living with Long COVID, there are no dedicated health services other ME/CFS ACT, a part of Arthritis, Pain Support and ME/CFS ACT, to assist people living with the multitude of long term, devastating fatiguing illnesses.

We offer many services including self-help programs, programs to help you link up with others who are in a similar situation as you, as well as a full suite of Allied Health supports for those of you who need assistance.

We also have a program for teens and young adults who are living with fatiguing illnesses and a parallel program for their carers. We offer many of our services online for those that cannot leave the home, we have practitioners that can visit you at home, and if you are feeling good,we have programs at both our Bruce and Pearce offices that you can attend.

If you are living with ME/CFS or other fatiguing illness, struggling to get a diagnosis, are a carer or friend of someone with a fatiguing illness, or would just like to know more about what we do, or speak to one of our peer support workers or Allied Health staff, call us, email us, or drop in and say hello.

Living with or supporting someone with ME/ CFS is hard. We are there to help. Likewise if you are someone who would like to financially support the work that supports people living with fatiguing illness, please also call us on 6251 2055 to help us continue this work.

(Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)

To mark International ME/CFS Day on 12 May - Arthritis, Pain Support & ME/CFS ACT are holding a symposium on living better with debilitating fatigue and chronic pain.

Topics will include:

• How to apply for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

• Where to find energy saving devices to make life more comfortable

• National ME/CFS Day program from Emerge Australia

• Stories from people living with ME/CFS and what helps to bring them joy

This program will run for 6 weeks with one hour sessions 2-3 days a week, hopefully helping you to conserve your energy whilst also receiving some great information to help improve your life!

We welcome all members of the ACT to join us free of charge for these events.

All presentations will be held on Zoom and details of the exact program can be gained by contacting Arthritis, Pain Support & ME/CFS ACT on 1800 011 041 or by emailing info@arthritisact.org.au

In Australia hundreds of thousands of people disappear from their lives due to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/CFS and other debilitating fatiguing illnesses including Long COVID

ACT government continues to insult Ngambris

SO the courts have dragged the ACT government kicking and screaming to apologise to the Ngambri people for failing, over the past two decades, to acknowledge their role in the history of Canberra and the region.

Other institutions, such as the Commonwealth Parliament and the ANU have, so why not the ACT government?

Even so, the ACT government still kicks and screams while continuing to fail the Ngambri people. Its “interim Indigenous Protocol” does not even name the Ngambri people, merely calling them “other people or families with connection to the ACT and region”.

Why even have an “interim” one, when the courts have so roundly scolded the wayward ACT government?

Not good enough, Mr Barr! What an insult!

Clinton White, Parrearra, Queensland

Chief minister tests the ‘Peter Principle’

REGARDING the “Keeping up the ACT” cartoon depicting Andrew Barr big-noting himself around the world (CN April 27). I was unaware that he was doing this, but it reminded me of the “Peter Principle”, that people are promoted to their level of incompetence.

I can’t imagine him rising in the world to any higher level than that of chief minister of a minor city in a minor country.

Stewart Bath, via email

Rethink the tram and fix failing services

MAX Flint (Letters, CN April 27) points out that the Liberal Party in Canberra is opposed to the proposed Stage 2B of light rail from Commonwealth Park to Woden.

According to shadow transport minister Jeremy Hanson, the problems of Stage 2B light rail to Woden are:

1. It will cost $3 billion to build.

2. It would cause traffic chaos to Woden.

3. It will take twice as long (compared to the current bus route to Woden).

4. R4 bus services to Woden from the city will be cancelled.

5. High rise apartments along the route will be built.

6. $400 million from health was cut to help pay for the tram.

The government needs to rethink its investment and fix ailing services across Canberra such as spending more on hospital beds, frontline police and fixing roads.

Anton Rusanov, via

Kangaroos not the problem, never were

other species like the golden sun moth and perunga grasshopper.

Kangaroos are not the problem and never were. Never-ending development, unchecked weeds and grazing livestock all impact far more on the environment and endangered grasslands than soft-footed natives.

I agree with the current environment minister who has said: “We are in the middle of an extinction crisis and we have a responsibility to protect our ecosystem and the native wildlife that we’re so lucky to have here in Canberra.”

Never a truer word spoken, but that logic has to apply equally to protect all native wildlife intertwined in the ecosystem. Instead of killing kangaroos in the name of conservation, perhaps we could do the right thing and protect nature by adopting a preservation philosophy instead.

Chris Doyle, Gordon

Give the bureaucrats some shovels

email

‘Undemocratic’ road to the referendum

AMONG a great deal of factual information and opinion about the Voice and coming referendum, I have read Noel Pearson’s recent submission to the Joint Select Committee of the referendum for the Voice.

Like virtually all cases one reads for the “Yes” vote on the Voice, it boils down to being “the right thing to do”.

The Referendum Working Group and Mr Pearson have made it abundantly clear to the prime minister and Labor government, that the goal all along for the Voice has been to make representation to both parliament and the executive on any matter affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) peoples and not just on matters affecting only them – and they would not be denied.

Unspecified claims and no specifics

CONGRATULATIONS to ACT federal member, Andrew Leigh for an excellent Voice opinion (CN May 3).

However, I have much less faith in several letters in the same edition, namely from Frank Reade, Vi Evans and Mario Stivala. I’ll point to just a couple of instances.

I’d like to know how anyone makes an argument that “threats and deceits” are being put by “Yes” supporters when all the evidence (Google it, mate) points to misinformation and scare tactics being the campaign themes of the “No” side from the opposition down.

WITH Canberra’s grassland earless dragon now classified as critically endangered, it’s time to stop the annual territory sanctioned slaughter in the name of conservation.

For the last 15 years, kangaroos have been persecuted on the reserves, in part to protect the grassland earless dragon and

MY fantasy is that the bureaucrats working for the ACT’s Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate are non-literate, thereby replacing their keyboards with shovels and doing some much needed weeding in the southside’s totally neglected nature reserves.

At the same time, while weeding, they could also get a more accurate count of the number of kangaroos.

Julie Lindner, Farrer

The PM has even said it would be a brave government to deny the Voice. Then one must consider the cringeworthy, secretive and undemocratic approach to the referendum by the PM, in depending on the “vibe” of it all and ask oneself, “Why?”

For a detailed up-to-date paper, discussing both the “Yes” and “No” cases for the referendum, see “Uluru Statement from the Heart–Update April 2023” on my website alogstyudcentre.com.au/media

Max Flint, principal, Australian Logistics Study Centre

There are unspecified claims the “expert” opposition is just as widespread and credible, eg, an “equally impressive list”, as the expert supporters. These broad brush assertions are matched with, “both the legal fraternity and the indigenous community are hopelessly divided” (sic). Once again, no specifics, especially concerning the pejorative adjective.

Finally, yet another niggle over the dollar costs of the referendum (again, largely speculation). I’m eagerly awaiting similar outcries from the same sources when we find out how much federal taxpayers will be up for with the new Tasmanian football stadium.

Eric Hunter, Cook

Barry needed Edna for more than income

himself said, it’s a “spooky thing”.

There’s a lofty roll call of superstars whose greatness seems to have its roots in something more complicated and more profound than merely “playing a part”.

But it was one sentence in particular that made my spine tingle, when Humphries was reported as saying: “When Edna’s on stage I sometimes get that rather spooky thing where Edna speaks something that I couldn’t have written”.

This insight made me revisit my undergraduate study of psychology, and the potentially (and speculatively) complex ecosystem of stardom, alter egos and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

Now I am not suggesting Barry – or anyone else mentioned – met the diagnostic criteria for DID; but I will suggest there are fleeting, jarring, and inexplicably brilliant creative moments when it becomes plausible to ponder that deeply inhabiting a showbiz alter ego has the strong whiff of actual dissociation about it.

The “character” at such times is no longer an affectation of theatrical whimsy, but has now taken charge as a durable and resourceful person. As Humphries

The Little Tramp (Chaplin), Ziggy Stardust (Bowie), The Gloved One (Michael Jackson), and Dame Edna; these were not “roles” being played as much as they were the psychological vehicles that took the performer very far from themselves.

It’s not at all surprising that some viewers actually thought Dame Edna was “real”; so authentic and consistent was the performance. Not for one second was there ever a risk of Humphries breaking out of character. And it was the Edna performances that gave us the Himalayan heights of Barry’s artistry.

Edna had to be an alter ego; having emerged nearly 65 years ago from the young actor as arguably a necessary outlet for his flamboyance, sharp intellect and frustrated disdain for society’s manners and ordinariness.

I think Humphries needed Edna for more than just an income. And that worked out well for us, too.

Ross Kelly, Monash

Barry Humphries and his alter ego Dame Edna…”It’s not at all surprising that some viewers actually thought Dame Edna was ‘real’; so authentic and consistent was the performance.”

THE GADFLY

You tried to get a taxi lately? Grubby money’s democratic threat

HAS anyone tried getting a taxi lately?

Recently, after I’d done my food shopping at Woden Plaza, I phoned for a taxi from a rank in Weston and waited.

I was not issued with a reference number. I turned around and a man with a white cane proceeded to call for a ride for himself. A taxi appeared for me after 20 minutes, and said he couldn’t take my fare. He had another job, but said he would return. I waited. The man’s taxi arrived but not after he had called again.

I was relieved to see “my” taxi return after another 20 minutes. No other taxis appeared. Interestingly, the taxi driver told me that there were three cars in the area all waiting for a job to go to the airport!

Jenny Holmes, Weston

Kicking the nuclear can down the road

IAN Pilsner (Letters, CN April 27) and others assert the necessity of nuclear energy for Australia’s future while the majority – in my view, at least – assert that renewable resources will be more than sufficient. Much is made by those opposed to nuclear power at the cost of nuclear power stations and not the least being enormous blow-outs in their construction cost and time.

However, perhaps none of this really matters if we come at the issues from a different angle. I take here a hypothetical as follows:

Assume a prime minister was to announce tomorrow that Australia would construct one large Nuclear Power Station (NPS) but without any costings or any other details.

Public debate on the issue should be good for a minimum of 12 months along with the drafting and passing (if possible) of enabling legislation to cover financing, operational issues, and the like. Call it three years, so far.

Then we have to find a site with features of maybe 10,000 hectares (safety margin); away from the coast (no Fukushima possibility); reliable water supply (ie near a river); and close to a major city (dormitory purposes for the many thousands of construction workers).

This step would require a formally appointed inquiry to investigate potential sites placed somewhere between Brisbane and Melbourne.

An Inquiry has to take submissions from

By Robert MACKLIN

ASK any Australian and they’ll tell you we have the best electoral system in the world – compulsory voting, preferential choice, and speedy, impartial vote counting.

Kim Beazley says we’re widely seen as “democracy’s poster child”.

I agree but with one proviso: Our system is corrupt and becoming more so with every passing poll.

influence-peddling” is now quite legal and even “ethical”. The peril is upon us.

In some states or territories, so-called “developers” are banned from making contributions. But if you believe they and their former political recipients abide by the spirit (if not the letter) of the law, then roll up – I have a Harbour Bridge going cheap.

the public and industry and eventually to make a recommendation. This recommendation then has to be adopted by the Commonwealth and the relevant state after further debate.

I may be cynical, but while a majority may well be in favour of nuclear energy no-one will want to be next to a NPS and indeed all will have compelling reasons why it should be constructed elsewhere.

Then occurs much vigorous debate in Parliament and with the public ignoring a possible change in government along the way.

However, kicking the can down the road – standard practice – would require a new inquiry to be conducted with an outcome I would not foretell.

But all up I would say eight years have passed without a shovel of soil being turned.

Now, to doubters for the propensity of delay in regard to nuclear matters: there is still no agreement as to disposal arrangements even for low-level radioactive waste produced in Australia.

This continuous storage of waste without resolution as to location has been going on for perhaps 60 years or more. For example, as happens with waste from the Lucas Heights nuclear medicine facility south of Sydney. Indeed, if the Lucas Heights facility did not exist there is no way it could be built today.

Last, the ambitious nuclear submarine program will likely absorb all qualified personnel in Australia leaving no-one

for the NPS construction or operation. But that’s another issue.

Stephen Yorke, Yarralumla

The problem is it’s a matter of pride

IN response to Michael Moore’s column “God save their gracious king – he’s not ours” (CN April 27).

Like it or not, we are not yet a “republic” so King Charles lll is still our king. When the people in the UK asked what do Australians think of King Charles lll, they were more than likely asking a general rhetorical question on the feelings of people in general.

For Michael to believe they were expecting him to answer for all Australians is a little far-fetched.

If Australia needs to separate itself from the UK because it is mature enough to stand on its own feet, then we have a problem. Likewise, when people have said leaving the Commonwealth would give us more pride in ourselves.

I believe if we cannot have pride in ourselves whilst being part of the Commonwealth, we have a major problem.

Vi Evans via email

Across all three levels of government, we have allowed – indeed encouraged – the mighty dollar to destroy the integrity of our democracy. And the gutless wonders of the major parties – recently joined by the so-called Teals – have revelled in it.

We are now heading for the American abomination where huge sums are donated by billionaires to hopeful candidates to direct their votes in Congress and across the judiciary. What’s left is an ugly, hateful shadow of humanity’s best hope to survive and prosper in this increasingly perilous world.

We passed the latest milestone recently with the ABC report of a massive undeclared donation of funds from Hancock Prospecting to the Liberal Party via the Sydney Mining Club. It was followed by the so-called “gambling companies” – the casinos and Sportsbet among others – having contributed more than $9 million to the major parties in the past two decades. This was obviously designed to avoid regulations to diminish their profits from poker machine addicts and money launderers.

Sportsbet, we’re told, paid $19,000 last year to the federal campaign of Labor’s Michelle Rowland, now the Communications Minister with a key role in gambling policy. To calls for her resignation, Minister Rowland responded – correctly – that she had abided by the electoral laws and “the ministerial code of ethics”.

So the Parliament has decided that what you and I might call “blatant

We like to think that it’s the greedy money-loving conservatives who take the lead with their shady business mates. But while they certainly skate close to the legal limits, the truth is the Labor Party is up to its neck in the same dirty game.

They used to say the party was the political instrument of the trade unions with the moral right to union funds to elect their members. But today the unions are small beer; and they can run their own campaigns anyway.

But here’s the thing: the vast spending on both sides cancels each other out. The only winners are the con men from advertising agencies who play on the fears of the pollies. The loser is our tenuous hold on democracy.

I don’t claim the perfect solution, but surely it must begin with banning all payments to political parties. Then we could use the magic of television, which provides a remarkably accurate X-ray to the participant’s character.

One channel of the TV spectrum could be used exclusively for political interviews via unseen questioners, perhaps AI generated? And before all set election dates, prospective members – having personally collected 200 unique signed supporters – would be questioned for 30 minutes. Meantime, all government advertising would be banned unless publicly endorsed – in the advertisement – by the opposition leader.

I’m not suggesting any change to the usual operations of our news media, except that all paid advertising is banned; so with nothing to spend it on, political “donations” instantly become a thing of the past.

Now that’s what I call a “poster child”.

Luke Clews

Cartoon: Paul Dorin

An enigmatic smile or was Lisa wearing braces?

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?

Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?

–“Mona Lisa” sung by Nat King Cole SINCE watching “Glass Onion’’, a “Knives Out” mystery on Netflix, I have become more interested in the “Mona Lisa”, so I had a look at the background to the world’s most famous and valuable painting.

While its value is hard to calculate, a ballpark figure would be around $US900 million. It’s housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris and is one of the museum’s most visited artworks.

The “Mona Lisa” is painted in oil on a poplar wood panel, and is relatively small in size, measuring just 50 by 76 centimetres.

It was painted by the Italian genius Leonardo da Vinci. The subject is believed to be Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo, a wealthy Italian merchant.

Leonardo da Vinci began painting the “Mona Lisa” in about 1503, and it was in his studio when he died in 1519. He had worked on it intermittently over several years, adding multiple layers of thin oil glazes at different times.

Small cracks in the paint, called craquelure, appear throughout the whole piece, but they are finer on the hands, where the thinner glazes correspond to Leonardo’s late period.

Leonardo spent the last years of his life at the court of the French King Francis I. The king acquired the work after the artist’s death, and it became part of the royal collection.

For centuries the portrait was secluded in French palaces, until revolutionaries claimed the royal collection as the property of the people during the French Revolution of 1787–99. Following a period hanging in Napoleon’s bedroom, the “Mona Lisa” was installed in the Louvre Museum at the turn of the 19th century.

Some art historians believe the “Mona Lisa’s” smile represents the mysterious nature of womanhood, while others see it as a symbol of Leonardo’s own enigmatic personality. Some have suggested that the smile represents the sitter’s inner thoughts and feelings, others possibly what she had for breakfast.

In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia. He and two others stowed themselves away in a closet of the Louvre, waited until the museum closed, then escaped with the painting on a train out of Paris.

A little over two years later, Peruggia tried to sell the work to a dealer in Florence. The dealer called the director of the Uffizi Galleries, who obtained the work and called the police. Peruggia spent six months in prison. The painting was returned to the Louvre.

During World War II, the “Mona Lisa” was removed from the Louvre and hidden to prevent the Nazi art

theft division from stealing it. The painting officially resurfaced on June 16, 1945.

Since then, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to vandalise the “Mona Lisa”. In 1956, the painting was attacked twice. First, an unnamed vandal attempted to take a razor blade to the painting. Then, a Bolivian man, Hugo Villegas, tossed a rock at the painting.

In 1974 the “Mona Lisa” was on show at the National Museum in Tokyo when a 25-year-old Japanese woman, Tomoko Yonezu, tried to spray it with red paint. In 2009, a Russian woman went to the Louvre and smashed a teacup against the painting. In 2022, the “Mona Lisa” was smeared with cake in what seems to have been a protest against climate change.

The “Mona Lisa” has been protected by heavy-duty glass since the 1950s. In 2019 the glass was upgraded to bulletproof glass.

Leonardo da Vinci and his students painted at least four different versions of the “Mona Lisa”; the most famous being the Louvre version. The others are at the Prado Museum and in private collections.

On a lighter note. Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci and Marco Polo are walking in heaven and decide to have a conversation with Jesus.

Galileo says: “Jesus, I’ve been thinking about my past life on Earth, and want to know what I’m remembered for all these years later.”

Jesus pauses and replies: “Galileo, you are remembered as the father of modern physics.”

Galileo smiles with joy and walks away. Leonardo, intrigued, asks the same question. Jesus pauses and replies: “Your paintings of the ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘The Last Supper’ are considered to be the most miraculous works of art of all time.”

Leonardo walks away gratified. By this stage, Marco Polo can’t contain himself and eagerly asks the same question. Jesus thinks hard and says: “Okay, so a bunch of kids get into a swimming pool...”

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.

The Louvre’s “Mona Lisa”... painted in oil on a poplar wood panel, and is relatively small in size, measuring just 50cm x 76cm.

ROSE EXPERIMENT MAY HOLD CURE TO NASTY VIRUS

Environmentalist MICHAEL CALKOVICS believes he may have a cure for the debilitating Mosaic Virus.

MOSAIC Virus is known to cause serious diseases in stone fruits, apples and roses.

According to the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: “There is no cure or treatment in landscapes for eliminating the viruses that cause Rose Mosaic Disease”.

I want to write about my experiences with this serious virus in an Heirloom Rose.

The Rose Mosaic Virus is caused by Prunus Necrotic Ringspot Virus, Apple Mosaic Virus and Arabis Mosaic Virus. They are found worldwide and have been located in rose bushes either separately or even together.

Hygienic practices are vital in stopping the virus, as Mosaic Virus can survive eight years on a bench and 50 years as dried material.

I don’t know which version(s) of Mosaic Virus is in my 60-year-old Heirloom

Rose. Over the decades, I had undertaken trials with cuttings to find a cure. No success, until maybe now.

The possible cure or treatment is surprisingly simple and relatively safe. As many horticulturists know, most Australian soils lack certain vital trace elements. And one of them is even added to our table salt. It’s iodine.

I decided to experiment with hospitalgrade “Betadine”, which is an antiseptic solution containing Povidone-Iodine 10 per cent w/v, equivalent to 1 per cent w/v available iodine.

I mixed 100ml Iodine to 200ml tap water into a single, hand-held sprayer and, in the cool of the day, used it to wet the entire upper foliage of a two-year-old rose clone.

It was applied twice in total, at a twoweek interval.

The application burnt any and all young, new growth. The plant then sat dormant and I thought it wouldn’t reshoot. But it did, and to my surprise all new growth including flowers (in photo, as proof) now visually appeared to be Mosaic Virus-free.

The application seems to be systemic in

that it soaks through the plant. I will now apply to the old, large, parent plant.

If this method works, then it’s a major breakthrough for the horticultural industry in both food and floral production.

I’m giving out this information so that horticultural facilities etcetera can further pursue it as I haven’t the resources to scientifically undertake such a task.

My questions are: Is this method a one off? Is it a short-term treatment or a cure? Or both? Or is something else at play? Anyway, happy gardening.

DON’T BULLDOZE BLUETTS BLOCK

BLUETTS Block is located in the Molonglo Valley development area, adjacent to or part of Denman Prospect. The bushland area is beautiful and in stark contrast to the vast concrete jungle being built next to it.

Bluetts Block is a vital ecological community for many species including the nationally listed and threatened Pink Tail Worm Lizard.

However, I read with dismay that the ACT Labor/Greens government

is planning to bulldoze more than a hectare of vital habitat containing this threatened reptile.

Bluetts Block needs a buffer zone and a link to other bushland.

And I’m asking as to why isn’t this area a declared nature reserve?

The Greens are in government and this government owns the land and has the power and legal obligation to protect nationally threatened species. Or are the Greens only green when wearing green shirts outside polling booths at election time?

But thank you to Senator David Pocock for offering support to protect the area.

If Bluetts Block or any part of it is to be trashed, then maybe some of us should collect this threatened species and other reptiles to translocate them elsewhere on the planet. Better that than they get crushed and scraped under bulldozers!

THANK YOU…

To Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and our federal government regarding the much needed vital funding to save our national cultural institutions and heritage.

1) The distinct Mosaic Virus infected Heirloom Rose. Since treatment, the obvious new growth including flowers are visually free of this virus. The old flower on the right is or was virus affected.

Photo: Michael Calkovics

2) This photo was taken at the same time as photo 1 and shows the untreated parent Heirloom Rose. It shows new growth that is infected with Mosaic Virus. If my treatment is a cure for this virus, will it also work on other plant viruses?

Photo: Michael Calkovics

3) Construction equipment near Bluetts Block, which is now under threat by the ACT Labor/Greens government. “There is plenty of land for housing, so leave Bluetts Block as a Nature Reserve,” says Michael Calkovics.

Photo: Michael Calkovics

EDUCATION & TRAINING

It’s never, ever too late to learn something new

IT’S never too late to learn. And with so many training and education centres in and around Canberra, what better time to start than now?

Whether it’s learning in a new school, finding the confidence to perform on stage or better your existing knowledge – “CityNews” is showcasing some of the best education and training providers Canberra has to offer.

CGS students are ‘ready for the world’

CANBERRA Grammar School (CGS) was established in 1929 and is a co-educational independent Anglican school from preschool to year 12, says acting head of school David Smart.

“Canberra Grammar School offers outstanding academic education, co-curricular opportunities and pastoral care to day and boarding students of all backgrounds and faiths within a community guided by Christian values,” he says.

“At CGS, we take a student-centred and globally minded approach to all learning. We are an International Baccalaureate World School and the only school in the ACT to offer the NSW Higher School Certificate.

“We stand out as an exceptional educational institution, offering a stimulating curriculum

Knowledgeable staff ensure quality student performance

ST Thomas Aquinas is a co-educational school offering a high-quality education for students from preschool to year six, says principal Leah Taylor.

“We are a community inspired by St Thomas Aquinas to deepen our faith, to seek knowledge and to flourish. Students are encouraged to be compassionate, resilient, inclusive and engaged,” she says.

“We offer opportunities for students of all abilities. We have an extensive interven tion program for students who need a boost in literacy and numeracy, as well as opportunities for gifted students.

David says CGS emphasises character develop ment and global citizenship, fostering a caring, inclusive community that values diversity, respect and empathy.

“The school offers a wide range of co-curricular activities, including traditional sports and lesscommon pursuits like taekwondo and sustainability groups, encouraging students to pursue their interests and develop new skills,” he says.

“We invite everyone to our whole-school open days on May 11, August 17 and October 19.”

Canberra Grammar School, 40 Monaro Crescent, Red Hill. Call 6260 9700, or visit cgs.act.edu.au

“This year, year five and six students are participating in a project run by the Australian Space Agency to promote STEM in primary schools.”

Leah says in 2020, staff embarked on a journey to introduce teaching practices based on the Science of Learning.

“Staff use this knowledge to inform their planning and resources,” she says.

“As a result, we have seen a significant improvement in student academic performance.”

Leah has been principal at St Thomas Aquinas since 2020.

“During more than 20 years working in

primary schools, I have become committed to ensuring that all students exiting primary school are able to read, as this is ultimately the gateway to all knowledge.” Tours may be arranged by phoning the school office.

St Thomas Aquinas, 25 Lhotsky Street, Charnwood. Call 6258 4077, or visit staquinas.act.edu.au

EDUCATION & TRAINING advertising feature

College sees a decade of student growth

ST John Paul II College (JPC) began in 2013 with a single cohort of year seven students, and has since grown to a school of about 1000 students, says assistant principal – development, Jacob Knowles.

“Together with Good Shepherd Amaroo, Holy Spirit Nicholls and Mother Teresa Harrison, we are very proud to be offering a preschool to year 12 Catholic pathway in Gungahlin,” he says.

“JPC offers a unique, innovative educational environment where every student can flourish. Diversity is embraced and learning outcomes are optimised for each individual.

“This is achieved through a pedagogical

Giving children the opportunity to do things for themselves

CAPITAL Region Community Services provides more than child care, and creates a nurturing and community oriented early education environment, says director of Bruce Early Childhood Centre Stella Shin.

“Over the months of May and June you can visit our centre open days across the Belconnen region,” she says. “See first hand our natural outdoor spaces, convenient locations to CIT, Calvary Hospital and Westfield Belconnen and our exceptional in-house chefs who cater to meet the dietary needs of all children.

“I am looking forward to welcoming families to the first of our open days on May 13.”

Stella says her early education and care philosophy is

rooted in the rights and agency of the child.

“I believe in being a safe and trustworthy person so that the child trusts you enough to come to you, not the other way around,” she says.

“It is also important to adjust your approach to fit the needs of the child, and give children the opportunity to do things for themselves.

“I also believe an early education and care centre should be a place where a child can build their social competence.”

Capital Region Community Services, call 6264 0200, or visit crcs.com.au

secure environment. We aim to assist each student to develop all aspects of themselves, growing emotionally, socially, intellectually, spiritually and physically, supported by strong values and the principles of the Catholic faith.”

During May JPC is offering school tours, which can be booked through the school’s website.

“We also have a senior college expo on May 17,” he says.

“An essential part of our life as a Christian community is working together for the common good whilst fostering in each individual a feeling of belonging and of self-worth.

“At St John Paul II College, we work together –

Tutoring for students, by students

AFTER graduating from Narrabundah College with a 99.85 ATAR, Sreeya Das officially began Excel Academics in March 2022.

Now, a little more than a year later, Sreeya says Excel Academics has grown to 90+ tutors and more than a thousand students, offering year five to 12 students private online tuition for maths, science and English subjects.

Learning through fun in theatre

CHILD Players ACT is a community theatre group with a focus on being educational, fun and accessible, says production manager Angela Fewtrell.

“We were established 18 years ago, and this year we’re looking forward to launching our new play in the July school holidays, ‘The Mayor of Munchkin Land’,” she says.

“It’s pre-’Wizard of Oz’, written in an educational way to teach four to eight-year-olds how elections work.

“The audience gets to vote during an interval. Glinda the Good Witch teaches people how to vote, but the Wicked Witch tries to mess things up.

“The performers are between eight and 12 years old,

with adult support.”

Angela says Child Players ACT are also running a musical training program in the September school holidays.

“The production is ‘Pirates of Penzance’, especially designed by Dr Georgia Pike-Rowney and Dr Susan West, for participants aged between 12 and 20,” she says. “Enrolments are now open.

“Georgia and Susan bring a wealth of knowledge; both have degrees in musical education. No audition is required to participate.”

Child Players ACT. Visit childplayersact.net

Child Players ACT

Presents this July

Wed

Showing

For

“Excel Academics chooses the top five per cent of tutors from thousands of applications each year, with our team consisting of student doc tors, prestigious scholarship recipients, olympiad final ists and more,” she says.

“Students also receive access to topic notes, summary sheets and mock exams made by 99.85 to 99.95 ATAR scorers during their time in years 11 and 12.

“Most importantly, we make every lesson personalised to the student’s goals, school curriculum, and schedule.

“Our team has walked the exact same path as our students, graduating from the same curriculums and dealing with

Wanna perform?

the same obstacles. With our experience and knowledge, we are motivated to help students achieve their academic goals as we have a strong sense of relatability and empathy for their journey.”

Sreeya says Excel Academics offers a free 15-minute consultation to all new students who want to see if Excel Academics tutoring

Musical Theatre Training Program

PiratesofPenzance

For people aged 12 to 20 who want to develop their musical theatre skills. Classes focus on singing, acting, dance, and movement.

The program concludes with students performing, with a live orchestra, in a musical production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.

Class Dates & Times

Rehearsals during term 3, 2023. Performance in Sep/Oct School Holidays

Visit our website by for more information and enrolments!

Visit us online!

www.childplayersact.net

is for them.

“Excel Academics was started by a student for students, we will always strive towards the highest-quality learning experience, supporting students through challenges and helping them achieve their academic potential.” Excel Academics. Call 0483 905377, or visit excelacademics.com.au

Child Players ACT performing “The Mayor of Munchkin Land”.

Excel Academics founder Sreeya Das.

Catholic schools transform teaching and learning

STUDENTS in Canberra’s Catholic schools have reported positive change in classroom behaviour as the result of teachers using high-impact teaching practices (HITP).

“In a recent survey of more than 1100 secondary students in these Catholic schools, more than 700 respondents recognised a change in behaviour with teaching based on the science of learning,” said a Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn spokesperson.

“The report by TeachWell asked students to reflect on how their teachers had changed since they had participated in HITP professional learning as part of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn’s ‘Catalyst’ program.

“’Catalyst’ has translated the science of learning into classroom practice through HITP, with almost 80 per cent of students reporting a distinct change in the way their teacher was engaging them in learning, following their participation in HITP professional learning.

A year 12 student responded:“Class is very engaging, and I feel comfortable contributing to class discussions because of the environment in the classroom and the teaching style,”

Catholic Education said the 90 teachers who participated in the survey confirmed their commitment to consistently incorporate HITP in their classroom because they observed the positive impact it had on students’ behaviour and learning ability. Almost all teachers said they would recommend HITP to their peers.

“Thank you for strengthening our teaching practices. The reason why we teach is to make an impact on student learning and sharing the successes in the classroom,” one teacher said.

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn. Call 6234 5455, or visit cg.catholic.edu.au/parents/enrolment/

St Anthony’s Parish Primary School principal Erin Marmont with students.

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Nurtured and appreciated students

ST Benedict’s Primary School opened in 1955, and is a strong part of the impressive history of Catholic education in Canberra, says assistant principal Karen Haines.

“We have a close, supportive community of students, staff, parents and the St Benedict’s parish,” she says.

“Through our mission, we believe we are the face of Christ to all who come through our doors, with a strong foundation on the charism of St Benedict.

“Staff are passionate about connecting with every student, improving student outcomes, achieving measurable academic growth for all students and developing each individual to reach their full

teachers use data effectively to inform their high impact teaching practices.

“Our small school allows for each child to be uniquely known, appreciated and nurtured,” she says.

“We give explicit instruction in core curriculum areas with a specific focus on English and mathematics, and specialist lessons in library, music, Japanese, gymnastics, dance and a variety of sporting clinics.

“We are a place of welcome and belonging for all, and we celebrate our diversity.”

Karen says St Benedict’s is running an open morning on May 12, 9am to 11am, and an open evening on May 18, 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

of each other,” he says.

“Unlike some other schools in the same area, we are well established. With that comes tradition, wisdom and an openness to purposeful growth in everything we do.

“We are a high-quality, community-oriented Catholic educational environment, where students thrive, staff are happy and parents are engaged.”

Cameron says the St Jude’s community believes in educating spirit, mind and body to embrace today and meet the challenges of the future.

In 2023, St Jude’s became the only Catholic school

to a whole new world. As educators, we use them when

St Jude’s has an education support dog, named Judy, to help with student anxiety.

“She is calm, caring and loving, a fantastic addition to our school community,” he says.

Cameron says with Molonglo continuing to grow, they are always open for new enrolments with school tours, every Tuesday in May, 9.30am-11am. Contact the office to book a tour.

St Jude’s Primary School, Mulley Street, Holder. Call 6288 7688, or visit stjudesps.act.edu.au

St Jude’s Primary School and Early Learning Centre (Preschool)

At St Jude’s we want to create an innovative and collaborative community where all children are encouraged to grow to their full potential

Enrolling now for families in Holder, Duffy, Weston and Molonglo! Places are available in 2023 for Years 2 – 6 and in 2024 for ELC, Kindergarten – Year 6

St Jude’s Primary School

Mulley Street, Holder ACT

Ph 62887688

www.stjudesps.act.edu.au

St Jude’s Primary School students with cavoodle, Judy.

“The Open Day will provide opportunities to explore the early learning centre, junior school and senior school, and discover a school community that celebrates diversity, academic excellence and independence,” she says.

Carsten Knorr has a daughter who attends Canberra Girls Grammar School, and he says she is in very good and safe educational hands.

“This is her fourth school she has attended, and she thinks it’s the best,” he says.

“She started at the school last year, and the staff and students helped her to join in and feel comfortable very efficiently.

into a senior phase of learning as she finishes year 10 this year.”

Carsten says as long as his daughter likes the school, then his wife likes the school and he likes the school.

“The teachers are also very dedicated to their work and to helping us,” he says.

“Their way of communicating with parents is very quick, efficient, and personal, which makes us feel acknowledged.

“They have been very welcoming, and down to earth.”

Canberra Girls Grammar School, 48 Melbourne Avenue, Deakin. Call 6202 6420, or visit cggs.act.edu.au

We are a connected community, guiding students to be independent and creative thinkers for a future world.

A school community where every student builds confidence, character, independence and leadership.

OUR SCHOOL PROVIDES…

A balance of inquiry focused, student centred learning and explicit instruction.

A BYOD program and mobile technologies integrated throughout the curriculum.

Student leadership opportunities.

• A Wellbeing Focus for all students.

• Availability of excellent before and after school and holiday care programs.

Keeping your workplace safe, adhering to industry standards, and saving lives in the event of emergency is our passion at FERST.

In the last decade we have proven ourselves to be the emergency response specialists, having worked with corporate, community and government.

Call the Experts in Safety today: 1300 333 778

Clubs Community Groups Corporate Government

Healthcare Hospitality Retail

DANCE WITH US.

EDUCATION & TRAINING advertising feature

Developing the next generation of dancers

QL2 DANCE’S innovative, challenging and diverse programs help shape the next generation of dance artists, says artistic director Ruth Osborne.

“We’re a contemporary organisation with an extensive training program tailored for ages five to 26,” says Ruth.

“We value creative input and collaboration in a non-competitive environment where each dancer is supported in their individuality.”

Ruth says QL2 dancers are always sharing their talents with the community through a wide variety of performances.

“Every year our Quantum Leap ensemble presents a new work at the Playhouse choreographed by professional choreographers in collaboration with the Quantum Leap ensemble dancers.

“Our ‘Chaos Project’ for younger dancers aged 8-18, also presents every year with a new work, and we also present works in festivals every year in Canberra and nationally.”

Ruth says that it’s QL2’s “holistic” approach to dance that makes them unique.

“Our programs allow creativity, confidence, collaboration and true leadership to flourish,” she says.

QL2 Dance, Gorman Arts Centre, 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon. Call 6247 3103 or visit ql2.org.au

Major Performances with professional dance artists

Creative Development Programs

Training Programs

More info: QL2.ORG.AU

Creative Development Programs

Young Choreographers Programs

• Giant Steps (9-12 yrs-old) - create your own work with support from QL2 mentors. Rehearse and perform in June in our QL2 Theatre to family & friends.

• Stepping Up (11-14yrs-old) - create your own work with support from QL2 mentors. Rehearse and perform in August in our QL2 Theatre.

• Hot to Trot (Quantum Leapers) - Quantum Leapers create their own work with support from experienced mentors. Rehearsals Sept-Nov. Public performance season in our QL2 Theatre.

• On Course (Tertiary dance students) - Tertiary dance students return to create and perform their own work over 2 intensive weeks in Dec.

Training Programs

Our training programs are tailored to prepare our young artists physically and creatively for our performance projects and for tertiary study in dance should they wish to follow that path. Each program has a set schedule, from one to six classes per week, that includes some or all of the following classes depending on the number of classes per week in each program: Contemporary, Classical, Stretch & Conditioning and Yoga. Plus several workshops and masterclasses each year.

DANCE WITH US. Major Performance Projects

• Quantum Leap Youth Ensemble (14-26 yrs-old) - create a new dance work, contribute your ideas, add your voice, work with industry leaders and choreographers from around Australia, perform on the Canberra Theatre Playhouse stage. Auditions in November each year. Rehearsals Jan-May. Performance season in May.

• Chaos Project (8-18 yrs-old) - create a new dance work, connect and share with other young people, work with professional choreographers, perform at the Canberra College Theatre. Auditions in August. Rehearsals SeptOct. Performance season Term 4 week 1

• YGen to IGen - an intergenerational project in partnership with Australian Dance Party

• Festivals & Touring - Australian Youth Dance Festival, Meet Up, DaCI. Touring within Australia and overseas each year.

In our classes you will work on your technique as well as develop your creativity and collaboration skills in a caring and non-competitive environment. Our teachers are experienced working professional dance artists. Training programs for ages 5-26.

Youth Dance Ensemble

Lorna Sim Photography

QL2 Dance “Chaos Project”.

We protect your most important asset, people

Keeping cars looking good and running well

A course for driving inspector skills and safety

EVER thought of being a driving instructor? Ascent Training Services offers a 16-day course that enables people to complete their Certificate IV in Motor Vehicle Driver Training (TLI41222), says CEO Steve Lake.

He says that it’s a very satisfying experience to be a driving instructor and help students, predominantly young people, become safe drivers.

“It’s an important and responsible role in our community, as well as a flexible job where you can choose your own hours.”

Steve says that the industry is calling out for more instruc tors, particularly female instructors. Anyone who has had their full license for at least 12 months can start their training.

He says that the course is about ensuring that instructors are safe drivers themselves and have the skills to teach others in a one-on-one setting, according to the ACT’s regulations.

driven car was developed in 1901 by Harley Tarrant. By the 1950s, one in 10 Australian households had a car, and by 1962, one million Holden vehicles had been sold in Australia.

As of 2022, the top selling

the Toyota HiLux, followed by Ford Ranger, Toyota RAV4, Mitsubishi Triton and Mazda CX-5.

“CityNews” has compiled a list of motoring experts to help keep cars running and looking their best.

“Ascent is a premier road safety training company, which has designed and delivered training since 2000.

“We offer four courses a year for instructor training which includes a mix of classroom and on the road training.

“In the future we will be bringing some of the units online so students can complete these in their own time and pace.

“It’s a nationally recognised qualification, which once com pleted, gives students the opportunity in the future to add a motorcycle and heavy vehicle qualification, by just completing these vehicle specific units, with an RTO that offers them.”

Ascent Training Services (RTO No. 88096), visit ascenttrainingservices.com.au or call 6210 8765.

To become a driving instructor in the ACT you need to complete the Certificate IV in Motor vehicle driver training (National code TLI41222).

Harley Tarrant in the first petrol car in 1901.

Mechanical team win national award

CAR Mechanical Services in Fisher has been named Champion Automotive Mechanical Repairs at the small business champion awards.

“The team has been working very hard and the award made up for times lost,” says director Raffy Sgroi.

“We think it’s because of the amount of work we do and how we look after our customers.

“We work hard, we’re truthful and understanding with the customers and we work to help a lot of communities.”

Raffy attributes the honesty of the team and the quality of the service to their win.

“Our most common feedback is about our honesty and reliability,” she says.

Team-dedicated protection and enhancement services

THE team at Enzo Auto Detailing are leading experts in paint protection film (PPF) installation, ceramic coating paint protection, window tinting, vinyl wrap and chrome delete, says owner Albert Tang.

“We regard our reputation and our clients’ satisfaction as the priority. With passion and professionalism, our experienced team guarantees the best possible clean as well as the durable protection your vehicle deserves.”

Albert says Enzo is a certified installer for STEK, Avery Dennison, SunTek, Opti-Coat, Onyx and Gtechniq. By using cutting-edge technology they can make a car look like it did the day it left the showroom.

Car Mechanical Services always helping you go further.

“We use STEK Dynoshield paint protection film, which is scientifically formulated to help maintain the beauty and integrity of vehicle finishes for many years, in all kinds of weather, and SunTek ceramic darkest legal tints provide much better UV protection and heat resistance than traditional carbon tints,” he says.

“If you enjoy driving your car the way it was meant to be driven, PPF must be your superior choice,” says Albert.

Enzo Auto Detailing, Unit 7/15 Darling Street, Mitchell. Call 0481 174589, or visit enzoautodetailing.com

We are committed to being honest and reliable, providing you with a cost effective alternative to dealerships.

At Car Mechanical Services, we have been providing the very best in auto repair and maintenance.

Charlie has over 40 years first-hand experience in the motor vehicle industry. At our family owned and operated car centre, we believe our work is a reflection of our character. We always strive to uphold our reputation as a personable and reliable service.

Our factory-grade diagnostic tools and honest answers provided by our knowledgeable technicians, we are your cost-effective alternative to dealerships.

Providing the best auto repair, means that our technicians understand that you want to preserve the quality of your car as much as possible. Properly maintaining your vehicle will help you prevent complicated repairs and damage in the future. We offer a variety of services to keep your car looking and running like new. If you are in need of general auto service, our expert technicians fix all makes and models of vehicles. Charlie, Raffy and the Car Mechanical Services team would like to thank all our loyal clients that voted for us again in the 2022 Canberra Regional Local Business Awards. Now also having been awarded National Small business Champion 2023.

So whether you need a complicated brake repair or just an oil change, you can count on us to get you back on the road quickly and efficiently!

Car Mechanic Services is committed to leading the industry in minimising the impact of its activities on the environment.

Car Mechanic Services has been working to achieve a sustainable future and to improve the social, economic and environmental well being of the community.

Our staff is committed to making the workshop cleaner and greener, with an updated environmental strategy. Establishing and implementing sound

“Even when we are flat out, we bend over backwards for our loyal customers who bring uncles, aunties and friends to us; we look after customers like family,” he says.

Charlie has worked in mechanics for more than 42 years, with “three or four years’” experience beforehand, in helping his dad repair their tractor, where his passion began.

“I’ve done it all my life; never had another job,” he says, and enjoys working alongside family still.

“My wife knows I know how to run a workshop and I know she knows how to do office work.”

Car Mechanical Services, Unit 2,

environmental management policies and promotion of best practice in all areas of our business.

Car Service Canberra is now a Platinum member of Green Business Bureau 2023 and an ACT Government, Every Day Climate Choices Accredited Recycler. Ensuring that environmental risks are properly identified, prioritised and managed in an appropriate way. Sourcing and promoting a product range (where applicable) to minimise the environmental impact of vehicles. We’ve gone less black more green.

Charlie and Raffy Sgroi of Car Mechanical Services.

Success drives recruitment agency to new horizons

experience across all divisions of the business.

With a focus on tailored recruitment and HR consulting, Whitefox Recruitment provided businesses with a variety of services to support their growth.

STRONG business values, strategies and philosophies have pushed Whitefox Recruitment through three years of rapid growth to the forefront of the industry.

After growing its database to more than 7000 candidates, Whitefox had helped to expand businesses all around it, said managing director Luke Hemmings.

Since its inception in 2019 as a one-person team, the group was now the fastest growing recruitment agency in Canberra and NSW, and was recently recognised as the Most Efficient Recruitment Agency – ACT at this year’s Australian Enterprise Awards.

The ACT was home to a colourful mix of businesses covering tourism, hospitality, construction, government, IT and technology, international and skilled migration, and many more.

“We’re guided by our passion for providing clients and candidates with tailored services to match them with the right opportunities and help them achieve their goals,” Luke said.

“Ultimately, it is this compassion towards people that we need more of in the world, and Whitefox is leading the movement for the ACT – and beyond!

“At Whitefox, we put people first. We believe in honesty, transparency, and good communication. And when you’re honest with your clients, candidates and employees, they trust you more.

“We believe that when our clients, candidates and employees feel involved every

step of the way, they feel more confident in their decisions. That confidence leads to successful outcomes in everything we do.

“We take the time to find out where people are coming from and what they want out of life and work. And then help them get there – not just because it’s our job, but because it feels good.

“We believe that when you take the time to understand someone’s needs, goals, and vision for their future, you can change their life. We do this by engaging with people on a personal level and taking the time to really get to know them.

“Our team is made up of like-minded individuals who strive to grow other businesses by helping them to recruit talent – talent that is unrivalled, invaluable, and unmissable.”

Luke said Whitefox was “committed to creating a safe space where everyone feels heard, valued, and seen for who they truly are,” and the team was able to flourish under its management.

“This positive atmosphere helps Whitefox improve other people’s businesses on a daily basis, ensuring that only the best matches are found for their job roles,” he said.

“We’ve been connecting candidates with the best opportunities since we started, and we’re not stopping now.”

Whitefox provided a lifeline for businesses looking to do more than survive – it guaranteed new staff that could generate growth, expansion, and success.

“Finding someone who fits the description, and delivers everything that they promise, can be difficult. However Whitefox matches candidates and businesses with the right opportunities to reach their growth goals,” he said.

Whitefox Recruitment would be expanding its skills into the Sydney recruitment market later this year, he said.

values locally,” Luke said.

“Having recruited the best in the business to service the area, the group is looking forward to growing the team further in Sydney and continuing our local approach.

“The growth into the Sydney area is a natural progression and not a new area for us in terms of our existing reach.

“We believe there is a need in the Sydney area for an innovative and fresh recruitment approach. The expansion will

“With our main focus on developing our people by providing them with a supportive culture, structured training programs and the best career opportunities in the industry, the move aligns with the core values of the business that all staff share –family, community and giving back.”

He said that by bringing a dynamic and innovative approach to recruitment, the team was always looking for new ways to create the best client and candidate

Offering its outsources and virtual HR services, Whitefox helped to “develop, implement and optimise business’s HR strategy with actionable, commercially focused guidance.”

Whitefox had a multitude of skills for strategic and workforce planning, elevating every business it touches.

“It is an expert in all areas of recruitment and HR, with full knowledge of employment law, and it shares its knowledge so that every business it works with can feel confident, fulfilled and supported,” Luke said.

“Whitefox offers businesses dedicated, on-call advice and business HR strategy without the costs, stress and hassle of a full-time team member or department.

“We listen to and understand business leaders’ long-term objectives and create bespoke solutions to suit their needs.”

In November, Whitefox rebranded from Coceptive Recruitment to Whitefox Recruitment to echo its evolution.

“The name Whitefox is derived from the Greek word ‘skotos’ meaning dark or obscure. It refers to both the colour of the fox but also its stealthy nature – two qualities that are important in recruitment,” said Luke.

“By rebranding, Whitefox has become more aligned with itself, ensuring the nature of the team is reflected in the very thing that clients see first, its name.

“We value the heritage of our brand. The reputation in the marketplace absolutely speaks for itself.”

Whitefox was a finalist in the Canberra Local Business Awards in 2020, 2021 and 2022, Australian Small Business Champion Awards as Best Recruitment Agency (Australia) 2021, 2022 and 2023 , and TIARA Recruitment Awards as Agency Rising Star (Global) 2020 and 2021.

Luke said: “Whitefox Recruitment has now won the title of Most Efficient Recruitment Agency – ACT. It has gained recognition due to its incredible passion, commitment and, of course, efficiency in the invaluable realm of recruitment.”

Contact

Luke Hemmings, Whitefox Recruitment, at whitefoxrecruitment.com.au

We take the time to find out where people are coming from and what they want out of life and work. And then help them get there – not just because it’s our job, but because it feels good.

‘At Whitefox, we put people first. We believe in honesty, transparency, and good communication’ Whitefox Recruitment provides services and solutions for recruitment across a myriad of industries and sectors that has been rewarded recently with the title Most Efficient Recruitment Agency – ACT in the Australian Enterprise Awards. But they’re not stopping there…

Whitefox managing director Luke Hemmings… “We are looking forward

“Realising Business Potential, The Right Way with Toc Toc – Australia’s Premium Marketing Agency”

Helping You Succeed In Today’s Competitive Digital Environment

In today’s fast-paced and digital world, having an online presence is crucial for businesses of all sizes. That’s where Toc Toc comes in – Australia’s fastestgrowing digital marketing agency that helps you find your online customer base immediately. With over a decade’s experience in the online digital era, Toc Toc has successfully navigated through many niches and industries around the globe, providing fast and simple digital solutions.

Meet Ben Fullarton, the start-up business guru passionate about launching fresh businesses and helping existing ones find their online client base. Ben’s expertise in digital marketing has helped businesses of all sizes reach their full potential in the online world. He understands the importance of staying ahead of the game and keeping up with the ever-changing digital landscape. This is the cornerstone of Toc Toc, a company that focuses on your growth and helps you realise your potential to the fullest. At Toc Toc, the team assigned to you is focused on providing simple and fast digital solutions that are tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. Each individual takes a strategic approach to every project, ensuring that you get a high ROI and are able to meet your projected goals within your

time and resource budget. Whether it’s building a brand, increasing online visibility, generating more leads and sales, or complete development solutions, Toc Toc has got you covered.

Ben’s packages are designed to give businesses everything they need to succeed in the digital world. From website design and development to search engine optimisation and social media marketing, Toc Toc’s services are comprehensive and results-driven. With a proven track record of success and a growing list of satisfied clients, Toc Toc is quickly becoming the go-to digital marketing agency for businesses in Canberra and beyond.

In addition to his successful business ventures, Ben has received numerous awards and accolades for his contributions to the industry. He is also an active commentator on Australia’s start-up and business growth scene, providing valuable insights and advice to those looking to make their mark in the digital world. Most recently, he steered Toc Toc to win the 2023 Best Digital Marketing Agency (South West NSW) award in the Australian Enterprise Awards ceremony.

Ben Fullarton, CEO, TocToc Digital Marketing

Low-risk solution to help people move to better life

YOUR Property Profits has won the Best Regional Strategic Renovation Company award at the APAC Insider Australian Enterprise Awards for 2023.

Established in 2016, the local renovation company’s founder and renovation specialist, Sophie McLean, noticed there were many people desperate to sell their properties, but unable to afford a pre-sale renovation.

“These people were forced to sell their homes for less than they were worth simply because they couldn’t afford the renovations they needed to get top dollar” she says.

“I wanted to find a way to support those in a financial need in an ethical and low-risk way, that would ultimately help them move on to a better life.

“Your Property Profits has a unique business model, unlike any other company in Australia, in which myself and a skilled team of tradespeople, stylists, and real estate experts, organise and manage a renovation, style and prepare a home inside and out, ready for sale.”

Sophie says they take all the hard work for their clients and pay for all the up-front costs, with a proven ability to make strategic improvements to a home that will increase the sale result.

“Our business model is especially attractive to clients as they don’t need to find money upfront for the renovation, as the costs aren’t required until the settlement date,” she says.

“My clients do nothing, they pay nothing up front and they walk away with more money in their pockets. Homes might be outdated, needing repairs, a complete reconfiguration or a big clean up.

“We have a highly skilled team of tradespeople, including a builder, joiner, plumber, and tiler, as well as a stylist and real estate agent to manage the sale.

“We are in it with them and invested in our clients’ success. We are there every step of the way – down to holding their hands at auctions.”

Your Property Profits, Sophie says, ensures that every step is taken to better the financial wellbeing of its many clients.

“It aids people in receiving the best offer on their properties when selling and does so by undertaking and paying for strategic renovations that are designed to maximise profits for the owners,” she says.

“We also offer assistance for those in financial distress, helping them into a new home, get the banks off their backs and buying the time they need to get top dollar for their home.

“Clients need to do nothing, pay for nothing and make money, and there isn’t anyone who can’t use our services, no matter how dire their situation.”

“We are committed to continuing to provide innovative, ethical and low-risk solutions for our clients and to help people move on to a better life, no matter what their circumstances. We love changing lives, one house at a time.

“We‘re proud that our unique approach to property renovation is gaining recognition in the industry not only for our amazing results, quality product and services but also for our ethical, sustainable and humanitarian efforts, helping people sell their homes for the best possible price and enabling them to have the best possible future.”

Your Property Profits. Call 1800 225597, or visit yourpropertyprofits.com.au

“The transformation of the house inside and out was amazing and extensive renovations were completed within a very short time frame. It was a joy to work with Sophie and her team and we highly recommend her excellent services and her vision.” – Richard and Barbara ~ homeowners, Calwell ACT

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Time to repair or replace lawn

laying turf and fast establishment of the seed is necessary to get the turf to grow in the shortest time, preventing weeds getting into the soil and causing erosion.

100mm-200mm depth and add turf soil or compost from the landscape suppliers. Add sand if there is already good fertility in the soil.

such as bark and rocks to ensure there is good aeration for deep root growth.

be used to increase the strike rate of the seed and to stimulate root growth, but overall the germination of the seed is determined by the environmental conditions, temperature and seed viability.

grass or warm-season grass will determine the correct preparations.

or rye and warm-season grasses are couches, kikuyus and buffalo.

tages and factors of shade, traffic and moisture requirements need to be considered when choosing the right turf for the right spot. If you want to try native grasses, where water is minimal and foot traffic is light, I recommend weeping grass, wallaby grass or kangaroo grass or a mixture of them all.

Once any of these grasses are established the

effective, evergreen ground cover.

NOW is the last chance to get cabbages into the ground and have them growing through the winter. There are many different types to grow, such as green/red, savoy, bok choy, Napa, kale and, of course, the ever-so-delicious brussels sprout.

It needs lots of compost and needs to grow

through the winter is that the cold weather keeps

Jottings…

• Plant seedlings of peas, lettuce, garlic and onions.

• Pull out all sunflowers and spring annuals.

• Prune crepe myrtles once the leaves have fallen.

• Spray stone fruit with copper for shot hole, fruit rot and leaf curl.

Dichondra repens… a native that doesn’t need any mowing.

Photos: Jackie Warburton

Cabbage… last chance to get them into the ground for winter growth.

Ukraine ballet dances ‘Forest Song’ for peace ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

By Helen MUSA

THE Grand Kyiv Ballet of Ukraine is coming to The Playhouse soon with an enticing double-bill that includes a classic Ukraine folktale that carries a poignant message about peace in the world.

The Ukrainian showpiece is a one-hour version of the ballet “Forest Song”, described as “a fairytale for adults and children”, to be followed by the last part of the popular comic ballet, “Don Quixote”, complete with gypsies, bullfighters, lavish costumes and dazzling leaps and bounds.

When I catch up by phone with the founder-director and principal dancer of the company, Oleksandr Stoianov, he is in Wellington, in NZ, on tour.

Named People’s Artist of Ukraine in 2019, he is known for his virtuosic high jumps and energy and has even been tagged the “Nureyev” of Ukraine.

As director, he’s now running a pretty tight ship, touring here, he tells me, with 35 dancers instead of the usual 70, one sound operator, one lighting person and three stage-hands, although his ultimate aim is to have two such companies on tour simultaneously.

Sometimes he performs himself, but isn’t sure whether we’ll see him in Canberra –they have three couples dancing and they will change nightly.

Normally his dancing partner is his wife, prima ballerina Ekaterina Kukhar, but after the war in Ukraine broke out while they were on tour in France, things changed dramatically overnight.

“When war broke on February 24 [2022]

my wife and I were touring in France… the kids got on the phone, crying and saying the war had started and rockets were flying,” he says.

“We couldn’t get home, so they came by car with a friend to the border with Poland where we went to meet them.

“It took us eight hours to get there but three days for the kids, as there was a huge panic…we found the children sleeping in a

refugee camp.”

Stoianov says he has never seen his wife cry so much. Her only objective was to collect their two children, Anastasia, 8, and Timur, 14, and settle them in a friendly, safe place.

They’re with her now in the US while Stoianov continues with the company, which is now making a new home to live and rehearse in a town not far from the border between Poland and Ukraine.

In such circumstances, the company will take the opportunity to showcase Ukrainian national dance by highlighting the first part, “Forest Song”, a shortened, 50-minute version of a ballet which, Stoianov tells me, is rich in costume, folklore and music.

A magical love story that has a truly weird ending, “Forest Song” looks at the conflict between the human world and nature in a tale of love between a man, Lukash, and a fantastical forest creature, Mavka, who longs for peace in her country, “just as in Ukraine today”, Stoianov adds.

Based on a dramatic fairytale of the same name written by Lesya Ukrainka in 1911, the tale was turned into a ballet by Ukrainian composer Mykhailo Skorulskyi in 1936 and first staged in 1946 in Kyiv, but never before, he says, seen outside Ukraine.

Audiences can expect to be treated to difficult duets, jumps, rotations and virtuosic fouettés.

So, what is the future of the Grand Kyiv Ballet?

According to Stoianov, the plan is to tour around the world. They already have engagements in Europe, in Germany, Poland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and are looking for support to bring a full production of “Forest Song” down under at a later date.

The Grand Kyiv Ballet of Ukraine, The Playhouse, May 21-23.

By Matt Cox

Principal dancer Oleksandr Stoianov… called the “Nureyev” of Ukraine.

The Grand Kyiv Ballet of Ukraine in a scene from “Forest Song”... never before seen outside Ukraine.

When ‘angry’ teens put the adults in the dock

By Helen Musa

“IT’S ‘Twelve Angry Men’ – with teenagers,” Canberra Youth Theatre director Luke Rogers says of Dawn King’s “The Trials”, the hot-topic play to which he’s just snared the Australian performing rights.

King’s new play, first staged last year at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in Germany, is a debate about the climate crisis and Rogers also sees parallels in the Nuremberg trials, where people said things like, it was fine then. “The play shows how complicit we all are, and nobody gets off scot-free,” he says.

Rogers’ comparison is, of course, to Reginald Rose’s famous play “Twelve Angry Men”, made into an even more famous film in 1958 starring Henry Fonda and like the film set in a stiflingly hot room, the result of global warming.

My curiosity piqued, when I meet two of the 12 very angry teenagers (think Greta Thunberg) in the cast, I ask whether, as in Rose’s play, each of the jurors has a different personality.

Actors Matthew Hogan and Tara Saxena are quick to confirm what Rogers says.

“It’s like a jury room” Tara says, “but a bit apocalyptic, so an apocalyptic jury room somewhere in the near future.”

Set about 20 years from now, the three defendants on trial for their part in climate

change, are played by adult actors Elaine Noon, Zsuzsi Soboslay and Michael Sparks. They’ve been charged under a law where anyone born before October 8, 2018, can be selected for trial based on an economic threshold and carbon footprint. Down-atheels derelicts are unlikely to be tried.

There’s no judge, but the three defendants are allowed their speeches of justification.

“But it’s very stylised; it’s not at all legalistic… It’s very basic English and I’d say it’s how we’re talking now,” Tara says.

“The end of the play is a bit up in the air as the defendants walk out sadly.”

Sadly, because if found guilty of the heinous global crimes of which they are accused, the punishment is death.

“Our characters definitely have different personalities,” Tara says.

“I play the Henry Fonda character. [Juror 8, supporting the “not guilty” case]. I think my character Maia is the voice of reason. I’ve got strong opinions that they’re all not guilty, but I’d say that I’m a difficult character… I put too much pressure on the other jurors and I cross the line.”

Matt plays Tomaz, of whom he says: “I couldn’t care less what happens, I’m pretty much lazy. I want to mess around and I just don’t want to be there. The others are in constant tension, but not me.”

But, he says, his polar opposite is Noah, who thinks everybody is guilty – he’s very aggressive to Maia.

It’s not all black and white though, Matt says. One of the best-drawn characters, he says, is Gabi. She’s on the side that believes they’re all guilty and backs Noah, showing no sympathy for the adults and also crosses the line.

“Remember, all the characters are young people and what Gabi says can happen with kids,” Tara says. “Kids can’t hold their tongues in the way that adults can.”

“The Trials” is a tightly scripted play, divided into three parts or “deliberations”, with lunch in between.

It’s a long day, it’s crushingly humid and a lot happens, Matt and Tara say, so that will challenge audiences.

“We’ve been asking ourselves which

character the audience will hate the most,” Tara says.

“One person who came to a reading told us that they hated everyone.

“But it’s great the way it’s been written, just like real people talking and not too complicated.

“It’s such an acceptable way to reflect on questions of global warming… it’s a bit of an eye-opener and it certainly changed my opinions about climate change.”

The target audience is 13+ and it might not be good for little kids, but for teenagers, fine, they say. But above all, it’s for the guilty ones, the adults.

“The Trials”, The Courtyard Studio, May 19-28.

Cast members rehearse “The Trials”... from left, Imogen Bigsby-Chamberlin, Genevieve Bradley, Tara Saxena, Aadhya Karthik and Edith Baggoley.

The cast of Canberra Youth Theatre’s production of “The Trials”.

Twist of fate sets up the sizzling anxiety of ‘Beef’

IN an age where there’s an infinite number of TV shows to choose from, there’s nothing better than one that cuts the fat.

That’s exactly what “Beef” does. A new Netflix series, it gets its plot into gear in the opening minutes and refuses to slow it down.

Made up of 10 episodes that run at a swift 30 minutes(ish) apiece, “Beef” tells an amusing and anxiety-inducing tale of two strangers whose lives intertwine and subse quently plunge into chaos after a road-rage incident at their local hardware store.

It’s a cynical, sliding-doors moment, a chance encounter that, rather than being romanticised like they so often are, changes these characters’ lives for the worse and forever. An improbable but definitely pos sible twist of fate that’s rather frightening when one thinks too much about it.

If the premise sounds odd, that’s because it most certainly is.

The show comes from production studio A24, which was also behind this year’s bizarrely brilliant best picture winner “Everything, Everywhere All At Once” (streamable on Binge).

The strange setup of “Beef” wouldn’t work without two very solid performances holding it all together,

One of those comes from Steven Yeun, best known as fan-favourite Glen in “The Walking Dead”, while the other is from Ali Wong, famous for the 2019 Netflix rom-com

“Always Be My Maybe”.

In both of their most famous roles these actors play likeable types, but in “Beef” they’re the opposite. An obsessive, vindictive and neurotic duo who go further and further in their attempts to ruin each other’s lives, all escalating from that first tiff in a car park.

What keeps the pace kicking along so well is the constant back and forth between these two characters. One is only ever on screen for a few minutes before the camera cuts back to the other, a sly method of keeping things fresh.

ARTS IN THE CITY

Doing it by the ‘Book’

By Helen Musa

THERE’LL be no Agatha Christie this time round for Tempo Theatre but instead a ‘50s English comedy, “Book of the Month” by Basil Thomas, in which teenager Betty Halliday has written her first novel, a steamy tale of love and lust which features characters obviously based on her family and neighbours. Will it end well? No answer from director Jon Elphick, who just says: “With all that’s going on in the world, we feel we all need a good laugh.” Belconnen Community Theatre, May 26-June 3.

THE Royal Military College Band, under the baton of Major Matt O’Keeffe, returns to Llewellyn Hall with masterworks for wind ensemble penned by composers Gustav Holst, Frank Ticheli, Robert Russell Bennett, Kimberley Archer

THERE are three local names among the Canberra Glassworks’ 18 recipients of its 2023 residency program – Ros Lemoh, Lisa Sammut and Rose-Mary Faulkner.

THE Australian String Quartet will perform a concert featuring Thomas Adès’ “Arcadiana”, Mozart’s String Quartet No.15 in D minor and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.9 in E-flat Major. Gandel Hall, National Gallery, 2pm, May 14.

NEXT up for The Q’s company of young actors, Echo Youth, pictured below, is Matt Cox’s comedy “Puffs”, the story of Wayne Hopkins, a regular boy who finds out he’s a wizard and goes to school in England where he makes two best friends and has adventures. Sounds familiar? The Q hastens to assure us that “Puffs” is not authorised, sanctioned, licensed or endorsed by JK Rowling, Warner

“Book

Who are we rooting for? You never really know, but it’s no less enjoyable watching these two become mortal enemies.

PRODUCERS run a risk setting a story in the world of academia.

When done well, we can get classics such as “Good Will Hunting”, but it’s also easy for the setting to fall into dreary territory.

Enter “Lucky Hank”, a new comedy drama that ensconces itself in the world of college life, telling the story of an English professor suffering a midlife crisis.

At the same time his wife Lily also begins to question her career choices, having taken up a position as the vice principal of the local high school.

Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning book “Straight Man”, this new series on Stan was inspired by author Richard Russo’s own college teaching career, promising an authentic

and amusing look at the world of education. So does the show fall into that rare sub-genre of stories about school that can

The only thing giving “Lucky Hank” an inch of hype is its lead Bob Odenkirk, who’s famous for playing the slimy lawyer in “Breaking Bad” and its spin-off “Better Call Saul” (the latter of which this columnist pronounced as the best television series of This new show starring Odenkirk tries with all its might to cash in on the hype of “Saul” and, admittedly, it was enough to

Don’t get me wrong, Odenkirk’s performance here is committed and finely crafted, as is the cinematography, production value and all that film jargon hoo-ha, but the story of “Lucky Hank” is so esoteric that it will only appeal to a very small audience. That formula may work in the world of books but not in the world of television, and certainly not in the world of streaming.

I wanted to like “Lucky Hank” but unfortunately it had me feeling like I was nodding off in class again.

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Ali Wong and Steven Yeun in “Beef”... an obsessive, vindictive and neurotic duo who go further and further in their attempts to ruin each other’s lives.

Bob Odenkirk in “Lucky Hank”.

of the Month”... Betty’s parents get to see her steamy novel.

When a cool, Young wine starts at the winery

LET’S face it, deep breath, wine

isn’t a necessity of

life. It’s

something that we enjoy and it’s paid for out of discretionary income.

Hence, just as with other items that are good to have rather than essential to meet our needs, wine is subject to the vagaries of fashion.

My daughter introduced me to what she believes is a winery that has hit the mark on the fashion front in that these wines appeal to her generation. This is reflected in two wines that I have enjoyed despite them being fashionable rather than because of that factor.

The Mada 2022 Nebbiolo Rosé was on offer at the Parberry Lane bar and restau rant that’s nestled away in a cosmopolitan development in Kingston.

This is a funky, urban site more reminiscent of Melbourne inner city than a Canberra venue.

The rosé was $14 a glass and had a complex flavour of spice and pears and a rich mouth feel. Roses can often be bland, but this one has complexity.

“Nebbiolo is a great variety for rosé because of the fine tannins. This element ensures you have a beautiful structural rose as you can build the palate around those tannins,” says Hamish Young, the winemaker and owner at Mada.

Hamish told me that he works with an incredible number of good people and “cutting out the crap” that people often put up with in daily life is one of his goals to ensure he has freedom to produce his wines.

“My focus is working with good people throughout the whole process,” he says.

“From the talented viticulturalists, right through to amazing bars, bottle shops and restaurants that represent our wines, I’m not about butting heads with anyone.”

The second wine

is a blend of three whites, gewurztraminer heavy (60-70 per cent) with pinot gris and riesling. It’s marketed under the name Blanc and costs around $30 a bottle. I found it to be different from the Alsatian style of white blends that are often pinotgris dominant.

The Blanc is sweet yet spicy with a ginger back palate. It is a good food wine and went well with salmon that was cooked with citrus.

I asked Hamish how he had come up with this blend and he said it was through patience working the gewurztraminer berries so as to soften the aromatics slightly to produce a vibrant wine with texture that, at one level, could just be enjoyed, drinking in the sun, but when peeled back could be examined as a multi-layered wine.

Hamish is, like me, a refugee from NZ. He was born in and worked in Gisborne and moved to Australia in 2006. He learned the art of winemaking in the cool climate area of Gisborne and did his studies

DINING / Yum Cha @ CBD

Chaotic service made eating a waiting game

YUM Cha @ CBD was pumping when we arrived. We were whisked to a table for two and within seconds were slowly sipping on gorgeous cups of Jasmine tea. It was the most relaxing part of the meal (read on).

of the signature dishes, beef shank with fivespice herbs, but it wasn’t available so we went for the roast duck ($16.80). The dish lacked flavour overall. Some slices of meat were dry, some stringy and some tough. Sigh.

through the Eastern Institute of Technology in Napier, home to NZ’s best art-deco architecture.

Hamish moved to Australia to get more experience and he and his now wife, Rebecca, moved to the Barossa where he worked for Eden Road Wines that now has a base in Canberra.

He came here to continue working for Eden Road. He told me he settled here because he loves making the cool-climate style of wines that Canberra, Hilltops and Tumbarumba is renowned for.

He started Mada in 2016 and now has a half interest in a riesling vineyard, which he leases jointly with his good friend Nick O’Leary.

“It’s out towards Gundaroo and is three hectares or so. The harvest from there came off in early April and the bulk of that crop will go into a straight riesling,” he says.

I can’t wait to taste the latest vintage, as the 2021 riesling has been sold out, such is the demand for this wine. Fashionable or not, Mada has hit the mark.

“Style is something each of us already has, all we need to do is find it.” –

Diane von Furstenberg

The menu is extensive and Yum Cha @ CBD has a wide range of dumplings, steamed and fried.

We began with the steamed prawn and chive dumplings which were amazing ($8.80 for three). The ingredients, finely chopped, were heaven in a parcel – a soft, silky parcel.

While it was challenging to choose, we were thrilled we selected the lobster dumplings (same price), fried but not overly so and, once more, loaded with flavour.

Also from the fried dish section of the menu, we chose squid tentacles with salt and pepper ($9.80). They were piping hot and the squid soft and tender. The dish lacked seasoning, however.

Wanting a veggie vitamin hit, we ordered the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce ($9.80). This vibrant green dish was a feast for the eyes and the broccoli cooked to perfection.

We craved one

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The service was chaotic from start to finish. We couldn’t get anyone’s attention once tea was served and so got up to enquire at the bar. Staff at the bar took our order but it somehow got lost in the system. A serious waiting game began.

When ordering food at the bar we also placed an order for wine. After testing our patience to the max, we got up to visit the bar again and asked where the wine was. It eventually arrived and wasn’t a bad drop for $42 (Pennon Hill Pinot Gris 2021, Montalto, Mornington Peninsula).

While we continued to wait, two tables around us arrived, were served, paid and departed. We got up to enquire, and then enquire again and once more before our food began to slowly show up. We ordered at 12.45pm and only one set of dumplings had arrived by 1.20pm. By now we were starving.

It was great to see the food arrive but we had to get up to flag someone down to ask for bowls so we could eat.

Yum Cha @ CBD has dining outside on the street front, a large dining area in the main part of the restaurant and another section out the back. Yes, it was busy, but the service was truly disappointing and totally detracted from the experience. Am not sure what else to say…

Winemaker Hamish Young… “I’m not about butting heads with anyone.”

Squid tentacles with salt and pepper.

Photo: Wendy Johnson

HOROSCOPE PUZZLES

Your week in the stars

By Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Your financial future looks rosier this week, as the planets activate your money zone in positive ways. Mercury moves forwards; prosperous Jupiter moves in; and the New Moon signals a promising fresh chapter of fiscal activity. Whether you get a pay rise, take on a second job, organise a garage sale or sell an important asset, it’s time to make hay while the Sun shines! But cool down on the weekend when the Mars/Pluto opposition could stir up conflict.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

There’s a lot happening in your sign – Mercury moves forwards; Jupiter transits into Taurus; and the New Moon lights up your sign. So, avoid getting stuck in a static way of thinking and a routine way of behaving. A current situation (or problem) has more flexible options than you previously thought. Your motto is from fellow-Taurean, singer and activist Bono: “The world is more malleable than you think, and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.”

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

This week your patron planet Mercury moves forwards, and then the Sun transits into your sign. Which boosts your confidence and personal magnetism. So gung-ho Geminis are keen to power ahead. But if you gossip or make fast moves or hasty pronouncements, then you could end up in a mess. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that you’re not aware of. So do some detective work (and check the facts thoroughly) before you proceed with your plans.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

Mercury, Jupiter and the New Moon are stimulating your aspirations zone. So, divert your attention away from current problems and draw up a wish-list for 2023 and beyond. Don’t waste the opportunity to escape into your imagination, set intentions and dream ambitious dreams for the future. Saturn and Neptune are visiting your travel and education zones, so it’s important to keep in touch with your schoolmates, college friends and international contacts.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Your career is about to get a welcome shot in the arm as Mercury, Jupiter and the New Moon all barnstorm through your work zone. So, it’s time to show your boss, colleagues and competitors what you are truly capable of. And with dynamic Mars charging through your sign (until July 10) it’s definitely time to be brave, bold and beautiful. As writer (and birthday great) Nora Ephron reminds us: “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Mercury moves forwards, plus the Sun transits into your career/reputation zone. So don’t listen to your inner critic! Be inspired by singer-actress Cher, who turns 77 on Saturday: “If you’re waiting for someone to believe in you, you’ll be waiting forever. You must believe in yourself.” Travel is likely over the coming year, as the planets activate your adventure zone. If you nurture your foreign friendships and cross-cultural connections, then the possibilities are endless.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Creative ideas and proactive projects bring professional benefits as Venus and Mars ignite your imagination and propel you into action (while you’re wearing something gorgeous). Mercury, Jupiter and the New Moon are also visiting your ‘money-from-others’ zone. So, some lucky Librans will benefit from an inheritance, gift, bonus, divorce settlement, insurance claim, bumper tax return or superannuation payout. Make sure you spend any windfall wisely.

General knowledge crossword No. 880

15-21 May, 2023 Sudoku

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Pluto opposes Mars, which can magnify your control-freak tendencies. You’re determined to win an argument or solve a problem but don’t step on other people’s toes – especially at home or work. And with seven planets in fixed signs, don’t get stuck in a stultifying rut! Your motto is from birthday great, philosopher Bertrand Russell: “In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Sagittarians can be very scattered, but this week Jupiter (your power planet) jumps into the earthy, steady sign of Taurus (where it stays for a year). So, you will feel more grounded and focused than usual. The New Moon also suggests a fresh start involving work or health as you commence a new job, devise a more nutritious diet or reboot your fitness routine. Be inspired by birthday great, comedian Tina Fey: “Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.”

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Mercury makes a positive connection with your ruler, Saturn, so concentration is high, your attention to detail is even better than usual, and any work you do will be of an extremely high standard. Coupled Capricorn – it’s a wonderful week to work on deepening the love and commitment between the two of you. If you are looking for lasting love, don’t accept second best. Be discriminating, as you patiently wait for the right person to come along.

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

With Mercury, Jupiter and the New Moon visiting your domestic zone, Home Sweet Home is the place to be this week! And, over the coming year – courtesy of prosperous, restless Jupiter – you could buy or sell real estate, move house, get a new housemate, welcome a new family member or renovate your present place so you have more space. Mars also charges into your relationship zone. So – if you’re looking for love – you’ll have to be proactive.

PISCES

(Feb

20 – Mar 20)

Mercury, Jupiter and the New Moon encourage you to be incredibly creative and organised, learn more and worry less. And don’t be too timid, Pisces! Remember: mistakes can be fixed, contracts can be cancelled, and agreements can be broken. Inspiration for the week comes from journalist, novelist, screenwriter and film director Nora Ephron: “Don’t be frightened: you can always change your mind. I know – I’ve had four careers and three husbands.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2023

DIVORCED COUPLE FACE CAPITAL GAINS PAIN

DIVORCED couple Paul and Lei came to see me, spooked at the prospect of having to pay capital gains tax on their joint property settlement.

“We finalised our property settlement recently and there is now some suggestion we may have to pay capital gains tax on our homes. Please tell us this is not correct,” said Paul.

I asked them to tell me about their properties and then I'd explain how the tax worked.

Across

4 Name the official printed reports of the debates and proceedings of parliament in Australia. (7)

8 Which colourless, pungent gas is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen? (7)

9 To be fully developed in body and mind is to have become what? (7)

10 Name a unit of sound intensity. (7)

11 What describes the obscuration of the light of a satellite by intervention? (7)

12 What are organisations of persons with common cultural interests? (6)

14 Name the art of painting on fresh lime plaster. (6)

18 Which musical direction suggests moderately slowly and evenly? (7)

21 What are shades of colour, expression, meaning, etc? (7)

22 Name the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II. (7)

23 To be pompous or bombastic in speech, is to be what? (7)

24 Who brings a racehorse up to scratch? (7)

Solution next edition Down

1 Which soft material is used for stuffing, packing, etc? (7)

2 Name the loose overgarment used by an artist. (5)

3 To have treated someone with disdain, is to have done what? (7)

4 Which Shakespearean character was the Prince of Denmark? (6)

5 Name a former province in eastern South Africa. (5)

6 Which term means pertinent or by the way? (7)

7 To use evasive methods, is to do what? (5)

13 Name a state in the Central United States. (7)

15 What might we call that which turns round, as on an axis? (7)

16 To be illegally between the ball and the opposing team’s goal line, is to be what? (7)

17 Which person supervises the morality of others? (6)

18 Name a WA racecourse. (5)

19 Name a particular synthetic polyamide. (5)

20 What in rugby is an alternative term for a scrimmage? (5)

Lei said: “I live in the house, which is in joint names that we bought when we got married. Paul left there about five years ago. He has since lived in another home, which we both own” I asked them to clarify why Paul's house was in joint names.

Lei said: “The bank told us to do that as I had the money for the deposit and because the original house was in joint names.”

I said: “Okay, now this is how capital gains tax works: while you are married, you can both own half a house. It doesn't need to be the same house, but in your case it was.

"So that house is your main residence and is subject to the main residence exemption, but only while you both live there."

When the marriage broke up and the house passed to Lei, Paul's share of that house rolled over to Lei (as stated in the consent orders) and the capital gains tax liability, if any, passed to Lei as if Paul had never owned it. So, as Lei’s principal place of residence, it would be 100 per cent capital gains tax free.

“However, in the case of the second property, while it is 100 per cent your main residence, Paul, you own 50 per cent of it and Lei owns the other half," I said.

"Accordingly, Paul, your 50 per cent is capital gains tax free from the date of purchase to the date of sale, but the half of this property owned by Lei appears to be subject to capital gains tax from the date of purchase to the date of transfer to Paul.

"After that date, that 50 per cent becomes Paul’s and is capital gains tax free.

"There will be some reduction in the capital gains tax payable for holding costs, which include 50 per cent of the rates, 50 per cent of the interest, 50 per cent of the insurance, 50 per cent of the body corporate fees and 50 per cent of the water rates for that period pre-transfer. As to any other costs that you incurred during this period just check with me if they are claimable.

"Also remember that you can claim 50 per cent of the stamp duty and legal fees on purchase.”

Paul expressed dismay at this outcome, saying they couldn't work out what the capital gains tax was likely to be as they didn't know what his house would sell for in the future.

I agreed, saying: “You're right, Paul, but the tax will be reduced because of the expenses that can be claimed and added to the cost base of Lei’s share.

"It is just a shame that the bank advised you to do this because if you had put the property in your name solely there would be no capital gains tax at all for either of you.”

If you need guidance on any tax matters contact the experts at Gail Freeman & Co on 6295 2844.

Disclaimer

This column contains general advice, please do not rely on it. If you require specific advice on this topic please contact Gail Freeman or your professional adviser.

Authorised Representative of Lifespan Financial Planning Pty Ltd AFS Lic No. 229892.