CityNews 230803

MAXIMISE YOUR PROFIT WHEN SELLING

Fix Up – Profit – Pay Later

BEFORE AFTER

AN expert in home renovation, Kim Persson, director and founder of Renovation Matters, knows the power of strategic renovations when it comes to selling your home.

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No job is too big or too small for Kim and her team, and she can also help refresh, repair, renovate and even extend homes for people who want to stay and enjoy their current property, bringing better functionality, style and comfort to her clients’ homes.

“I am delighted to welcome Amy Gannon to the Renovation Matters team as our operations manager. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the Canberra real estate market as well as exceptional organisational and project management skills.” *conditions apply

Renovation Matters operation manager Amy Gannon, left, with owner Kim Persson.

Shy migrants urged to step up for free screening

By Lily PASS

SHIAMALA Suntharalinga, Julie Solway and Anushe Khan have teamed up for an important cause – to increase the number of migrant and refugee women undergoing breast screening in the ACT.

Dr Suntharalinga says cultural and language barriers stop the at-risk communities from reaching out.

“They may not understand or be aware of the fact that there is a screen ing program in Australia,” she says.

“So, language can be an issue, and as a migrant woman and a woman from the Tamil community, culturally I think they can be shy about exposing their breasts.”

Shiamala travelled to the UK from Sri Lanka when she was three, and then came to the ACT in 2012.

Now 50, Shiamala is a doctor at Er indale Healthcare in Wanniassa.

“Many years ago I organised with Julie, who is with BreastScreen ACT, a Canberra Tamil Women’s Associa tion,” says Shiamala.

“We had a meeting with 25 women, and we spoke about self-breast check

gram at Women’s Health Matters, and says there are more practical barriers that need to be addressed, too.

“When women, particularly from refugee or migrant backgrounds, come to the ACT they can find transport is a huge barrier, as is the cost of seeing the GP, or even awareness of where to go,” says Anushe.

“Going to see the doctor on top of trying to get steady employment, looking after their education, and/or putting kids in school in a completely new place can mean that health will become a very low priority.

“In particular, breast screening or cervical screening, that’s a lower rung because it’s a preventative thing. In some communities it’s only spoken about when it’s really bad, so the idea of preventative checks is not something that is widely thought about.”

Anushe moved to the ACT from Melbourne two and a half years ago, and said she found the ACT’s health system complicated.

“For many, another barrier could be that they’ve had bad experiences previously with doctors or tests,” she says.

Shiamala says: “The other thing about refugee women is they may have come from war zones, or areas that have had very severe hardships, so they may have been sexually assaulted, and that may be another barrier.”

Anushe, Julie and Shiamala are working together to create a safe and

easily understood way to encourage women to come forward.

Julie says BreastScreen ACT makes it free, only has female technicians, allows group bookings and offers leaflets or interpreters.

“A lot of us are working together, because it’s such an important thing,” she says.

“I think the idea of group bookings is really good too; if you can come with someone that you have a positive relationship with, it further embeds this as a safe experience, which can build confidence.”

Anushe says she has attended sessions run by Julie.

“You can just see the importance of health information being shared. Even just showing what a mammogram looks like helps create a safe space where people can better understand what the process looks like,” she says.

Julie says the importance of breast screening is finding cancer before it can be seen or felt, and educating people on what to look for.

Shiamala lists pain, lumps, any discharge or any symptoms or concerns.

“We are urging women to come and see us, so that we can examine properly and investigate,” she says.

Anushe says beautiful faces and personalities like Shiamala and Julie bring warmth into the subject matter, “which creates a big difference and that’s what we’re hoping to do”.

From left, Anushe Khan, Julie Solway and Shiamala Suntharalinga… “We are urging women to come and see us, so that we can examine properly and investigate,” says Dr Suntharalinga. Photo: Lily Pass

Decision made, just the ‘consultation’ box to tick

MAKING decisions and then doing the consultation is par for the course across the ACT government. It does not interfere with the decisions that have already been made. And Canberrans are subjected to retrospective consultation again and again.

The most recent example of retrospective consultation is a letter distributed to local residents regarding installation of traffic lights on Limestone Avenue near Campbell High School. The letter was distributed on July 22 and stated that work “commenced on Wednesday 19 July”.

The letter used past tense! There was no map included regarding the format of the intersection and no attempt to understand if the proposed works suited the locals or those using the road as through traffic.

Even more telling is the Your Say website that boasts you can provide feedback “as we plan, develop and consult”. In fact, there is a standing invitation to be a panel member “and share your views on multiple issues and topics affecting the ACT via quick and easy surveys”.

There are a range of issues currently subject of consultation. Safety of home swimming pools is the first

example. The government is already planning to take further action to ensure safety for swimming pools in suburban areas.

The Your Say site reveals that “among pool owners, there was strong interest in these reforms and an appetite for further information to be provided”. However, they did identify in the survey that was conducted April 3-10 of this year, there were “barriers which would make it difficult for pool owners to comply with the new requirements, including potential financial costs and timeframes”.

Swimming pool safety will remain an important issue for Canberrans. But why pretend that the outcome will be anything other than upgrading

barriers to meet the latest nationwide safety standards? “The survey results will be used to inform future communications and engagement with the community on this topic”. However, the decision was already made – retrospective consultation. The alternative was to seek consultation on implementation of the decisions.

From 2018 the government banned wood heaters in the Molonglo Valley – except for those installed in houses in Wright. The clear intention of the government is to continue to find ways to ban them across Canberra. As far back as 2018 Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury stated: “We need to take action on wood smoke in all parts of Canberra, not just in the new Molonglo developments”.

Despite clear intention from half a decade ago, the Your Say site has run a panel seeking views of Canberrans. Nearly 2000 people participated

with just 27 per cent supporting the phasing out of wood heaters. The alternative view of some 72 per cent was that “wood heaters provide a unique source of warmth”.

The issue of Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) fits into a similar category. The government has made it clear that it intends to introduce legislation to permit VAD. Almost 3000 selfselected “panel members” took part in the survey with a strong awareness (85 per cent) of the government plans to introduce such legislation. The survey was conducted between February 7 and 21.

In this case, the issue of implementation is fundamental. However, the government’s track record on retrospective consultation on swimming pool safety, planning issues, night-life, and gender equity, for example, begs the question: “can Canberrans really believe that there is a genuine attempt to understand what the community is thinking on these issues”?

This survey was not an attempt to assess support or otherwise for VAD but rather the level of interest in details about such legislation. For example, “there was high interest in

understanding the criteria for a person to be eligible (84 per cent), and the process for requesting and accessing voluntary assisted dying (76 per cent). Interest in the safeguards required to protect patient safety (64 per cent) and the role of family, friends or carers (63 per cent) also rated highly”.

The advantage of this sort of survey for the government on a range of issues is that it can be used within the Legislative Assembly to support arguments without asking if those taking part in the survey support or oppose the intention of the government.

Retrospective consultation is alive and well in the ACT government. I am sure our readers have many other examples. It is simply a façade for genuine attempts to understand what people are thinking.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.

Wood fireplaces… 72 per cent of people in the Your Say survey said “wood heaters provide a unique source of warmth”.

Retrospective consultation is alive and well in the ACT government. I am sure our readers have many other examples. It is simply a façade for genuine attempts to understand what people are thinking.

Century on, Legacy shows the torch still shines

Australians were killed and in excess of 150,000 returned home forever wounded.

“LOOK after the missus and kids,” were a dying Aussie Digger’s last words to his mate on the World War I battlefields of the Western Front.

Having grown “out of the ashes” of the Great War, a Torch Relay to mark the 100th anniversary of Legacy, the organisation supporting veterans and their families began in Pozieres, France, on April 23 this year.

On August 9, the symbolic torch – “the undying flame of service and sacrifice handed to us by our comrades in war”, adopted as the official emblem in 1926 – is set to arrive in Queanbeyan.

Over a 10-kilometre route through the city, it will be borne aloft by a host of residents from students to former mayor, Tim Overall.

It’s part of a six-month, 50,000-odd kilometre journey that took in the Menin Gate – the memorial to the missing in Belgian Flanders – and London, before arriving in WA. Travelling through every state and territory, visiting each of the 44 Australian Legacy Clubs, the relay returns to Canberra on August 28.

The torch’s flame will ultimately be

rejoined with the Eternal Flame at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance on October 13.

I was delighted, given our long-time family connec tions with Legacy, to also be selected as a torch bearer for this once-in-a-lifetime event. With the untimely passing of Maj-Gen, Senator Jim Molan in January this year, it was with some sadness that I accepted the honour to act as the Queanbeyan-Eden-Monaro Legacy Centenary Torch Relay Ambassador.

Other locals to hold the torch high will include former and serving Defence members, QPRC Councillor Mareeta Grundy, representatives of Cooma-Bombala Legacy and the first female president of Queanbeyan Legacy, Suzanne McInnes.

The relay will travel past various Queanbeyan schools with wreathlayings at both the Lowe Street Cenotaph and the Memorial Rose Garden (Campbell St) – which I also had the great pleasure to open for the 2015 Anzac and Red Cross Centenar-

ies. The unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the Legacy Village will conclude proceedings.

For Queanbeyan, September 13 marks 90 years since a group of local ex-servicemen, led by the headmaster of Queanbeyan High School, Francis Gallagher, and grazier and Military Cross recipient J Carragh Gorman, of “Googong”, enthusiastically agreed to form a Legacy Club.

It was a decade after the formation of what started as the Remembrance Club of Hobart in 1923, the commitment of Maj-Gen Sir John Gellibrand four years on from the end of a conflict in which more than 60,000

Stanley Savige, an officer of the 24th Battalion, furthered the movement in Melbourne – the inaugural meeting in Anzac House – and within three years, the Legacy Club of NSW was operational.

Canberra’s club was inaugurated on Anzac Day, 1928 (more recently incorporating Yass and Boorowa).

For Queanbeyan’s first 38 Legatees, theirs similarly was a promise to “help veterans’ families carry on with their lives after the loss or injury of their loved one”.

It would be noted in the “History of the Legacy Club of Sydney” that “Legacy was further advanced in NSW… by the formation of a club at Queanbeyan”.

Unsurprisingly, the demand for local support was considerable and the Queanbeyan branch extended its operations across Monaro in 1948. Five years on, the Cooma-Bombala Legacy came into being. In 1997, with the addition of Far South Coast Legacy, they individually came under the banner of the Legacy Club of Queanbeyan-Eden-Monaro.

Always progressive, Queanbeyan also constructed its Legacy Village, providing homes for some of their most high-need wards, the first stage opened in 1974 by NSW Governor Sir

Roden Cutler VC.

From the local Legacy Club Balls in St Gregory’s Hall back in the day – regularly “the social event of the year” – more recently you’ve hopefully purchased a badge, a pen or even a teddy bear (I’ll have my World War I Digger and Army Nurse with me on the day) in support of Legacy Week, originally the War Orphans Appeal started on the outbreak of World War II.

Fundraising remains a critical element of Legacy’s ongoing efforts and the torch relay also offers the chance to make a contribution.

After 100 years, the underlying principle of this unique organisation remains strong, evident in this historic and remarkable journey: “The spirit of Legacy is service and sacrifice”.

“Fear not that you have died for naught;

The torch you threw to us we caught! And now our hands will hold it high, Its glorious light shall never die. We’ll not break faith with you who lie On many a field”.

Lest we forget.

The Queanbeyan leg of the torch relay begins at the Queanbeyan West Public School, 10am, August 9, progressing to the Queanbeyan Legacy Village, on Bungendore Road, at about 2.30pm, legacy.com.au/centenary/

Local historian NICHOLE OVERALL previews the arrival of Legacy’s centenary torch relay and remembers Queanbeyan’s long contribution to the cause.

Canberra Legacy Club’s Pool of Remembrance at Cotter River refreshment rooms, circa 1940s.

Photo: RC Strangman

KEEPING UP THE ACT / poking fun at ACT politics

Gosh, snouting out the rotters is a rum old game

inter-thingy using some spiffo Gutenberg device.

OH, dearest reader, this corruption caper is a rum game. It grieves me terribly, that after five years of seeking out knaves and ne’er-do-wells in the ACT, we have received little in the way of gratitude for our lengthy legal labours.

Nary a firm handshake in acknowledgement nor a confettied parade down Northbourne Avenue in recognition of our exhaustive examination of every codicil, annexure, enumerated clause and subsection of the Integrity Commission Act 2018 (The Act).

Some, with sharper tongues and less legal training, have beseeched us to, “stop looking inwards” and to, “get out there and expose the crooks”. But as anyone who has spent an evening poring over “The Australian Guide to Legal Citation” (fourth edition) while pouring a fine cellared red would know, it’s much easier to get things done than to spend time properly fussbudgeting over them.

Take, for instance, the case with the Canberra Institute of Technology. It was a brisk afternoon some winters ago and Jenkins, one of our juniors, was stoking the fire in the drawing room as we sat in our chesterfields peering over our reading monocles at Part 5.2, Subsection 257 of the act. Before you could say interlocutory application, there was a rap on the windowpane. It had a brusque cadence to it, almost bordering on impertinence. We looked up to see an unkempt post-officejohnny waving a telegram.

Taking delivery of this infelicitous telegram, we found that it tasked us to investigate an arrangement the CIT had entered into with a mountaineering gentleman. Much discussion ensued and “Corky” Cuthbert suggested we could crack the case with a bit of high-tech malarky he called the “inter-ama-net”. Luckily for us, Corky’s sister’s boffin son, Byron, was a whiz with the blighter and was able to roneograph us the whole

Well, where to start? Naturally, before we could ascertain any improper shenanigans, we needed to put together a comprehensive legal dictionary of the terms the said mountaineer was using.

For instance, what was a “dampened signal interpolation nexus?” Was it worth three million or five million dollars and what was its relevance to a popular hairstyling course? Reaching a legal understanding of these terms proved difficult and eventually required us to hire a dedicated team of systems and complexity thinkers.

Once we had cracked the CIT code, we then needed to ponder. And then ponder some more. Pondering corruption usually takes us a year or two depending on whether one of the chaps finds a hitherto hidden codicil in the act and we have to stop and ponder that instead.

Then someone, usually a politician, snaps their fingers and we rouse from our pondering. It’s time for hearings! Hearings are where we all get to dress up in our wigs and gowns. It’s great pantomime, with cries of “I put it to you” and “the witness will

answer the question”. Of course, after all of that excitement, we often need to have a good lie down. This can take time and may involve wistful reminiscences over cucumber sandwiches.

Before long, it’s the old snappety-snap of the fingers again and it’s time to write reports! First, an interim report, then a preliminary report, a final report and then a supplementary report. These reports must be long and arduous to read, lest anyone think the matter was looked at pragmatically with an eye to swift justice.

Once our reports are tabled, it is time to seriously wag the finger. Yes, indeed, and if we find a cove who has behaved in a particularly unsporting manner, they may even receive a stern letter from Bertie “Basher” Barron, written with his angry quill.

Satisfied that justice has finally been wrestled to the ground, we then retire to the club for celebratory brandy-cobblers.

So, there it is dear reader, in the proverbial nutshell – a peek behind the French-pleated curtain at how we pursue malfeasance here in Canberra. Now, you’ll excuse me, it’s time for elevenses and my Hansom cab is waiting.

takes us a year or two depending on whether one of the chaps finds a hitherto hidden codicil in the act and we have to stop and ponder that instead.”

The Honourable Sir Garfield Garlick-Barlick KC, LLB, OAM, ACT Commissioner for the Legal Pondering into Bad-uns, gives us a peek behind the French-pleated curtain at how malfeasance is pursued in Canberra.

Tricks to get you to spend more Tax on spirits set to take another big leap

Supermarkets are being accused of using mind tricks to coax customers into jumping for impulse purchases and buying more than they want, reports

SHOPPERS are being lured into spending more every time they walk through the supermarket doors as the cost-of-living crisis bites harder.

Supermarkets are using mind tricks to coax customers into jumping for impulse purchases, University of NSW professor Nitika Garg says.

The bright red labels under items showing a capped price until a specific date impart a sense of urgency making customers believe buying the item before the deadline offers the best deal.

Often, Prof Garg says, those lockedin prices are the same as the original price.

She warns shoppers to be wary of store deals such as “buy two, get one free”, which on face value seem like a cost-effective way to save money.

Some deals can mislead, including promotions involving buying multiples of a product when they are actually priced at the same rate as buying the item on its own.

Sometimes it’s not even about the money, Prof Garg says.

Supermarkets have learned playing calming music creates a relaxed atmosphere and encourages customers to stay longer, resulting in more

purchases.

Store designs are also purposely thought out to put staple foods far from each other to make customers spend more time walking through the store.

And with more ground to cover, shopping carts and trolleys have supersized, tricking shoppers into thinking their baskets are missing items.

Shoppers can get a bet ter bang for their buck by visiting multiple stores after researching where the best deals are.

Supermarkets use a number of tactics to keep people shopping longer – and buying more.

But not everyone will have the opportunity to do this and Prof Garg says shoppers generally find processing information in stores difficult and go on autopilot while shopping.

That’s where the supermarket tactics enter via cues that appeal to customers.

“A lot of the tactics are based on getting the consumer in, because once they’re in, they will likely end up

By Robyn Wuth

DRINKERS

for the first

time.

Already paying some of the highest taxes on spirits in the world, Australians are being warned to expect further cost increases.

Distillers and spirits manufacturers are calling for a freeze on alcohol excise rises as the price peaks at a milestone it had not been expected to hit before 2029.

The excise tax on spirits increases twice yearly in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

ises producers to invest in and grow their businesses,” he said.

The tax hike compounded industrywide challenges, he said.

“Unfortunately, we have already witnessed a few insolvencies this year, and this latest spirits tax increase will be extremely difficult for distillers to stomach,” Mr McLeay said.

Australia already has the third-highest spirits tax in the world, Spirits and Cocktails’ chief executive Greg Holland said.

“Approaching the $100 per litre threshold six years earlier than previously forecast must surely give the federal government pause to reconsider this handbrake on the spirits industry.

buying a lot more than they expected,” Prof Garg says.

Supermarkets will also lure unsuspecting customers in through the loss-leader concept with an attractive deal and bet on customers doing the rest of the shop there.

“They know that once you come in, you are likely to buy everything from them or at least, a lot more from them than planned,” she says.

–AAP

The latest excise increase follows hikes of 4.1 per cent last year and another 3.7 per cent in February.

Australian Distillers Association chief executive Paul McLeay said the increases were unsustainable and it was crucial to support the industry comprising more than 600 distilleries – primarily small family-owned businesses in regional areas.

“If the government is serious about building a broader, deeper industrial base and the creation of manufacturing jobs in the regions, it must reconsider this punitive excise regime that disincentiv-

“Australia already has the thirdhighest spirits tax in the world. These automatic excise increases can’t continue unchecked. If not now, when will it stop?” Mr Holland said.

Diageo Australia, the company behind Queensland’s iconic Bundaberg Rum Distillery, said the current tax regime was becoming “unbearable”.

“We know our loyal Bundy consumers love our product, but many of them don’t know that more than 60 per cent of the money they already pay for a bottle of Bundaberg Rum UP goes straight to the taxman in Canberra, and that tax keeps growing and growing,” managing director Angus McPherson said. –AAP

WILLIAM TON

Photo: Sam Mooy/AAP

are facing another hike in the cost of liquor with Australia’s tax on spirits set to tip over the $100 per litre mark

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Artificial sweeteners: are diet soft drinks safe?

Does the artificial sweetener aspartame really cause cancer?

EVANGELINE MANTZIORIS looks at what the WHO listing might mean for diet soft drink consumers.

THE International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is the specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organization, has declared aspartame may be a possible carcinogenic hazard to humans.

Another branch of the WHO, the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization’s Expert Committee on Food Additives has assessed the risk and developed recommendations on how much aspartame is safe to consume. They have recommended the acceptable daily intake be 0 to 40mg per kilo of body weight, as we currently have in Australia. A hazard is different to a risk. The hazard rating means it’s an agent that is capable of causing cancer; a risk measures the likelihood it could cause cancer.

So what does this hazard assessment mean for you?

Firstly, what is aspartame?

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar, but without any kilojoules.

It’s used in a variety of products

including carbonated drinks such as Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Pepsi Max and some home brand offerings. You can identify aspartame in drinks and foods by looking for additive number 951.

Food products such as yoghurt and confectionery may also contain aspartame, but it’s not stable at warm temperatures and thus not used in baked goods.

Commercial names of aspartame include Equal, Nutrasweet, Canderel and Sugar Twin. In Australia the acceptable daily intake is 40mg per kilo of body weight per day, which is about 60 sachets.

In America the acceptable daily intake has been set at 75 sachets.

What’s the evidence?

IARC looked closely at the evidence base from around the world – using data from observational studies, experimental studies and animal studies.

They found there was some limited evidence in human studies linking aspartame and cancer (specifically liver cancer) and limited evidence from animal studies as well.

They also considered the biological mechanism studies that showed how

cancer may develop from the consumption of aspartame. Usually these are lab-based studies which show exactly how exposure to the agent may lead to a cancer. In this case they found there was limited evidence for how aspartame might cause cancer. There were only three human studies that looked at cancer and aspartame intake. These large observational studies used the intake of soft drinks as an indicator of aspartame intake.

All three found a positive association between artificially sweetened beverages and liver cancer in either all of the population they were studying or sub-groups within them. But these studies could not rule out other factors that may have been responsible for the findings.

A study conducted in Europe followed 475,000 people for 11 years and found that each additional serve of diet soft drink consumed per week was linked to a 6 per cent increased risk of liver cancer.

However the scientists did conclude that due to the rarity of liver cancer they still had small numbers of people

In a study from the US, increased risk of liver cancer was seen in people with diabetes who drank more than two or more cans of a diet soda a week.

The third study, also from the US, found an increase in liver cancer risk in men who never smoked and drank two or more artificially sweetened drinks a day.

From this they have decided to declare aspartame as a “possible carcinogen”. But they have also said more and better research is needed to further understand the relationship between aspartame and cancer.

Do I have to give up diet

soft drinks?

For a 70kg person you would need

to consume about 14 cans (more than five litres) of soft drink sweetened with aspartame a day to reach the acceptable daily intake.

But we need to remember there may also be aspartame added in other foods consumed. So this is an unrealistic amount to consume, but not impossible.

We also need to consider all the evidence on aspartame together. The foods we typically see aspartame in are processed or ultra-processed, which have recently also been shown to be detrimental to health.

And artificial sweeteners (including aspartame) can make people crave more sugar, making them want to eat more food, potentially causing them to gain more weight.

All together, this indicates we should be more careful about the amount of artificial sweeteners we consume, since they do not provide any health benefits, and have possible adverse effects.

But overall, from this evidence, drinking the occasional or even daily can of a diet drink is safe and probably not a cancer risk.

Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, University of South Australia. This article is republished from The Conversation.

(Online

about 14 cans (more than five litres) of soft drink sweetened with aspartame a day to reach the acceptable daily intake.

Linda Clee – Physiotherapist

Linda is an experienced physiotherapist having worked clinically in private practice for over 20 years, in rehabilitation settings and in community based aged care. Having owned and operated her own clinic for over 10 years, Linda offered a range of different therapy options, and has refined her skills and service offerings to ensure a functional focus to therapy; that is holistic and promotes overall wellness. A dancer in a past life, Linda loves to add a bit of fun in her programs, often throwing in rhythm and co-ordination challenges that are good for the body and the mind.

Sophie Bullock – Exercise Physiologist

Sophie has post graduate qualifications in hydrotherapy, and as a non-sports centred Exercise Physiologist, helps clients who struggle with engaging in exercise due to a lack of sports participation. Sophie’s goal is to improve clients health via our hydrotherapy program, gym instruction and in-home visits. Sophie also is known for her passion for working with children.

Natasha Perry – Exercise Scientist

Tash takes a wholistic view of all her clients, considering their mental wellbeing as much as their physical needs. Tash delivers our Nordic Walking, Pilates and Tai Chi programs, all of which have a mental as well as physical component.

Tash also leads our strength and balance program, supporting those with lower levels of mobility or have concerns over falls to regain their confidence, whilst also meeting a great bunch of fellow exercise class participants.

Dorothy Johnston – Exercise Physiologist

Dorothy is our newest graduate Exercise Physiologist who we employed because she was such an outstanding student. Dorothy excells with us, having a soft spot for both older persons with pain, but also a long history of working in disability services with children. Dorothy loves working with people to improve their pain and function, and always has a bright smile for everyone in her care.

Blake Dean – Exercise Physiologist

Blake has expertise in improving clients mobility and decreasing their pain through appropriate exercise. Blake delivers our ‘My Exercise’ program, targeting the relief of lower back and sciatic pain, shoulder and upper body concerns as well as leg, hip and ankle interventions – for those who do not qualify for physiotherapy-led GLAD programs.

Blake provides individual & group exercise for younger people with a disability. Blake treats clients in-clinic or via our hydrotherapy program as well as attending your gym with you.

Jacqui Couldrick – Physiotherapist

Jacqui has a particular interest in hip and knee osteoarthritis. Jacqui delivers the GLAD program designed to reduce the need for joint replacements, or if a joint replacement is unavoidable, to prepare you thoroughly for surgery and recovery for day to day tasks. Jacqui is studying towards a PhD in the outcomes of the GLAD program.

Holly Hazelwood – Exercise Physiologist

Holly is a former sports journalist who believed so strongly in the power of exercise to heal and nurture that she undertook her 4 year degree in Exercise Physiology. Holly is be able to work with people directly to support them through their pain journey and regain independence and a joy for living again. Holly provides one on one and group exercise classes both on land and at our hydrotherapy centres to support people to gain freedom from chronic pain.

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In the grip of soccer’s invisible kinetic energy

THE headline was emblazoned across two columns last week in “The Sydney Morning Herald”:

“WOMEN’S GAME MORE EXCITING TO WATCH THAN MEN’S”

I couldn’t believe it.

The “game” in question is, of course, soccer, or as the purists prefer, “football”. Had it not been so boldly headlined in the oldest living newspaper in the nation, I would have laughed it to scorn. But they have the statistics to prove it.

“It’s almost like the men are playing a game of chess and the women are playing something a bit more interesting than chess,” said Matthew Penn, a statistics expert from the University of Oxford.

I readily admit that my soccer viewing is limited. I’ve been an Aussie Rules fanatic ever since schooldays, but I have seen a men’s soccer match. And talk about excitement! Forget chess, it was absolutely off the chart!

I was tuning in a TV set during covid when it stopped on SBS and there it stayed. I’m pretty sure the teams were from Milan and the Real Madrid (as opposed to the virtual one, I guess). Anyway, the game was just starting.

The ref blew his whistle and the

Spaniards began kicking the ball to their teammates. So far pretty standard stuff. But here’s the thing – every time a Milanese teamster attempted to wrest the ball from a Spaniard, Newton’s laws of motion were suddenly suspended!

I kid you not. Right there in front of millions, a Milan chap in his pretty red, white and black uniform flung himself in the general direction of a Spaniard with the ball and a gust of invisible kinetic energy arrived from nowhere.

Down went Real Mr Madrid in a

screaming heap. “He’s a goner,” I thought. “His back’s broken. They’ll probably call the whole thing off. What a shocker.”

By now I had the remote under control and I replayed it. I was right. Mr Milan was physically at least half a metre from Spain’s finest when his kinetic power struck the poor chap a fierce blow in the gluteus maximus. The victim staggered, fell and writhed pathetically on the turf.

The ref obviously felt the kinetic bolt from the blue himself because he blew his whistle and started fumbling

in his back pocket for a message to show everyone what he thought of it.

“Yellow for cowardly conduct”. I said: “I’m with you, ref.”

But then, to my astonishment, another magical moment followed. The ref ordered a free kick to Spain and instantaneously the broken warrior leapt to his feet.

Somehow, the little nerves and muscles around his coccyx knitted themselves back together and he was up and running like a whippet off the leash. And that was just the first two minutes.

Thereafter I simply sat there entranced as the magic moments mounted like clips from the entire DC movie franchise with everyone on the

field crashing out and zipping back up like cats counting to nine.

So, you imagine my anticipation when I heard that we had a team of women players including Sam Kerr who had so much kinetic energy she could somersault backwards. And they were playing Ireland’s colleens whose only helpers would be tiny leprechauns whose invisible kinetic energy wouldn’t blow out a birthday candle.

Alas, I missed the match – I was still waiting to be treated in the emergency department of Canberra Hospital. But a friend told me: “Sam did her calf in and didn’t play.” So it wasn’t really a fair comparison with the men’s game. And he couldn’t have been paying close attention either because he missed the invisible kinetic energy altogether.

robert@robertmacklin.com

Somehow, the little nerves and muscles around his coccyx knitted themselves back together and he was up and running like a whippet off the leash. And that was just the first two minutes.

Matildas striker Sam Kerr sidelined with injury. Photo: Mark Evans/AAP

Verbal sledging in sport is cruel, slippery slope

SLEDGING in sport refers to the use of verbal taunts, insults or provocative comments to unsettle an opponent and gain a psychological advantage.

I should say at the outset I don’t approve of sledging; it would certainly not be tolerated in most modern work environments.

Most sledging never gets reported, but there have been some wellpublicised cases.

Most international cricket teams sledge to some extent, with the Australian cricket team and some players being especially well-known for it.

Sledging in cricket can be merely a fielding player “chirping” constantly to a batsman to try to put him or her off their game, but may include fielding players questioning a batsman’s background, sexual prowess, sporting ability etcetera.

During the 1999 Test series between Australia and South Africa, bowler Shane Warne sledged South African batsman Daryll Cullinan, mockingly commenting: “I’ve been waiting two years for another chance to humiliate you”. Cullinan replied disparagingly: “Looks like you spent it eating”. Even so, Warne’s taunts seem to have disrupted Cullinan’s focus, leading him to have low scores when Warne was bowling.

During the 2005 Ashes series between England and Australia, England fast bowler Andrew Flintoff taunted Australian fast bowler Brett Lee (who was batting) saying: “It’s not easy out here, mate”. Flintoff’s comment aimed to remind Lee of the pressure he was under to get a good batting score, and undermine his self-confidence.

A memorable sledging incident involved Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds (who was of West Indian origin) during a 2008 Sydney Test match. Harbhajan allegedly made a racial slur, leading to a heated exchange between the players of both sides. It nearly led to an Indian walkout and cancellation of the series.

Rugby, a sport renowned for its physicality, is no stranger to sledging.

In a Six Nations clash between Eng-

land and Wales in 2015, English rugby player James Haskell attempted to distract Welsh kicker Dan Biggar by repeatedly questioning his kicking ability and composure. That seems a bit mild for rugby, but as Oscar Wilde observed, it’s a barbarian’s game played by gentlemen.

Basketball, with its close proximity between players, provides ample opportunities for up-close and personal sledging. The on-court battles between basketball legends Larry Bird and Magic Johnson included relentless verbal jabs, with each player attempting to unsettle the other. In 2010, during a basketball playoff game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, Kevin Garnett, a Celtics player, cruelly told Miami’s Charlie Villanueva that he looked like a cancer patient due to Villanueva’s alopecia condition (an alopecia victim’s im-

mune system attacks hair follicles and causes hair loss).

Soccer has had its share of sledging episodes. Before the 2006 FIFA World Cup final between Italy and France, French captain Zinedine Zidane was taunted by Italian defender Marco Materazzi. The exchanges between the two escalated, resulting in Zidane head-butting Materazzi. This incident led to Zidane’s expulsion from the match. (France then lost 3-5 to Italy in a penalty shoot-out.)

In 2015, Australian tennis icon Nick Kyrgios attracted adverse attention when he sledged his opponent and World No 5, Stan Wawrinka, during a Rogers Cup match in Montreal, reportedly saying: “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that mate”. Wawrinka retired with a back problem midway through the third set, at 4-0 down, and Kyrgios progressed to the third round of the tournament.

In the short term, sledging can destabilise an opponent, leading to decreased performance, emotional outbursts, or retaliation. Sledging’s long-term consequences are less wellknown. Athletes subjected to intense sledging may experience psychological trauma, lowered self-esteem, lack

of confidence, and reduced enjoyment of their sport.

Sometimes sledging can backfire on the sledger – as was the case with Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath to Zimbabwean cricketer Eddo Brandes:

McGrath: “Oi Brandes, why are you so fat?”

Brandes: “Because every time I make love to your wife, she gives me a biscuit.”

And with Australian cricketer Rod Marsh to English cricketer Ian Botham:

Marsh: “So how’s your wife and my kids?”

Botham: “Wife’s fine; kids are retarded.” Nevertheless, sledging can undermine the spirit of sportsmanship and tarnish the reputation of those involved. I believe that sports bodies should do their best to crack down on sledging – after all, there can be little real satisfaction in winning by undermining an opponent’s mental health.

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.

Bowler Shane Warne to batsman Daryll Cullinan: “I’ve been waiting two years for another chance to humiliate you.” Cullinan: ”Looks like you spent it eating.”

There can be little real satisfaction in winning by undermining an opponent’s mental health.

Who’s for a diesel-fume-infused blueberry muffin!

MY partner and I recently headed out to Fyshwick Markets for our weekly fruit and veggie supplies.

While there, we thought we would take advantage of the many lovely and inviting eateries to avail us of our mid-morning pangs.

After finding a spot in the lovely winter sunshine and with our beverages and tasty treats, we were just about to tuck in when this inconsiderate, ignoramus turd in their dirty exhaust-choofing 4WD decides to reverse park right into the very car space adjacent to where we (and others) were sitting!

So much for enjoying our lovely sunshine and morning tea! Nothing like a diesel-fume-infused blueberry muffin!

Are our fellow Canberrans really this inconsiderate?

Come on, people; the parking requirements are quite clearly signposted throughout the main car parking area for this exact reason; to inform drivers to park “Front End Only”.

Maybe someone from the market authority could pop a reminder of the parking rules on these people’s windscreens, as it surely must affect some of the adjacent businesses as well.

John Bone, via email

There are other ways to manage mynas

THE article “Bill’s petition to spark action on myna birds” (CN July 20) may be, in my opinion, a bit one sided.

Instead of us trying to destroy every living creature that we cannot control, we should look at alternatives.

There are more humane ways to reduce Indian Mynas’ numbers by local government. Instead of trapping and euthanising them, a more compassionate approach could be implementing non-lethal methods such as:

• Providing nesting alternatives: Encourage the installation of nesting boxes for native birds, diverting Indian Mynas away from their preferred nesting sites.

• Public awareness and education:

Educate the public about the impact of Indian Mynas on local ecosystems and how they can discourage their presence through responsible waste

management and not feeding them.

• Habitat modification: Create or enhance habitats that support native bird species, making it less attractive for Indian Mynas to establish themselves.

• Encouraging natural predators: Promote natural predators of Indian Mynas, such as birds of prey, to help control their population.

• Trapping and relocation: If trapping is necessary, consider capturing and relocating Indian Mynas to areas where their presence may be less disruptive to native wildlife.

By focusing on these humane approaches, local governments can strike a balance between managing invasive species and respecting the principles of kindness and compassion towards all living creatures.

Errol Good, Macgregor

The minister’s performance was ‘pitiful’

RECENTLY Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti appeared before the Select Committee on Estimates, where Liberal Mark Parton posed questions regarding the treatment of kangaroos during the annual kangaroo cull.

The minister’s performance was pitiful. She deferred answering questions to the conservator and refused to take any respon -

sibility for the ongoing killing of kangaroos.

The minister claims that the cull is humane, respectful and accords with the national code of practice for the shooting of kangaroos and wallabies.

Her claim is disingenuous. The minister is aware of instances in the 2022 cull where two fully furred joeys were found decapitated. This is in breach of the code.

One joey was discarded in a bush, the other on the side of the road. This is not a respectful end to an animal’s life.

The minister admitted joeys may be hit on the head with a mallet as part of normal culling practice.

The majority of culls are not supervised, as claimed by the minister.

There is no vet present to protect the welfare of the animals. A vet/supervisor may attend on one or two occasions only.

Minister Vassarotti is abdicating responsibility to protect the safety of kangaroos to the shooters, turning a blind eye to rate payer funded cruelty.

Rebecca Marks, Palmerston

Government arrogance is ‘mind-blowing’

SO, the ACT government has published its usual misleading information for public digestion.

The supposed 1041 kangaroos to be

culled and now claimed to have been achieved, was in fact 1403. But as usual, the 362 unfortunate joeys hauled out of pouches and bludgeoned to death do not count.

And the fact that 68 per cent of the 533 females killed were carrying those 362 joeys, puts lie to the fact that the minister says the cull is carried out at a time of the year when there are fewer joeys in pouches!

And we know for a fact that a large number of those joeys killed were not tiny “pinkies”, but in fact furred joeys, making their death even more appalling and cruel.

As most Canberrans will now observe, the nature reserves are now denuded of most of their macropod populations, and the appalling state of the reserves with fencehigh dead grass is a potentially disastrous situation, not only for homes, but for all those creatures the minister says the cull is designed to help protect.

When will this government listen to the science that seriously challenges the very bases of the supposed conservation cull, and listen to concerned citizens whose properties are now at enormous risk in any conflagration in the coming summer.

As for the small endangered species, their fate will be sealed as well.

The sheer arrogance and lack of accountability of this Labor Greens government is mind-blowing.

Jennifer Macdougall, via email

Make this the last kill Minister Vassarotti

THE 2023 kangaroo killing season has ended and people who actually care for our wildlife will be mourning those that have had their lives brutally cut short.

The alpha males who were killed and now their mobs are left in disarray. The mums who were shot and their little joeys ripped from the pouch and also killed.

The now orphaned at-foot joeys who will be searching for their dead mothers’ comfort and love and will never find it again.

We will remember them, and we will not stop fighting for them. Make this the last kill, Minister Vassarotti.

Aisha Bottrill, via email

It took a while to work Vegemite out

RE “Love it or hate it, Vegemite is here to stay” (CN July 20), in 1948, when still overseas and receiving food parcels from

relatives in Oz, amongst the tins of Golden Churn (canned butter), fruit, jam and a fancy school blazer was a jar of Vegemite. It took my mother a while to work out that it was an extract. Once that was clear, it was mixed in sauces when leftovers were reheated and some was added to soups.

I landed in Oz in 1951 already as a Vegemite Kid!

Ben Gershon, via email

Without details, Voice doomed to fail

WILL someone please inform “Airbus Albo” that unless he makes the minutiae of the Voice proposal available to the public, instead of insisting that they will be laid out by the parliament should the referendum succeed, he is effectively dooming an already moribund Voice to fail.

Is there a “Plan B” in case the referendum fails?

Without a plan, surely the quickest, cheapest and most practical fall-back option would be to simply legislate, give the Voice a “test run“, then if it works it can be enshrined in the constitution by referendum. If it doesn’t, it can be removed. I believe this is what should have been done in the first place, instead of wasting an estimated $82 million on a referendum that has little to no chance of succeeding.

Mario Stivala, Belconnen

It is ‘Thy will be done on earth’!

I REFER to the letter from Paul Myers, of Karabar (CN July 20).

Paul is bothered by the wording of the “Lord’s Prayer” which, he says, is “Thy will be done ‘in’ earth.”

I find this confusing, as an internet search will clearly show: “Thy will be done ‘on’ earth.”

This is aside from my view on daily prayers in parliament, which I’d prefer a brief period of reflection, suitable for all faiths or none.

Patricia Roberts via email

Luke Clews

Home is where the heart is, make the most of it

WHILE improving the home can be incredibly exciting, it can also become expensive, tiring and time consuming.

But there are lots of experts in the ACT and surrounds with a passion for helping to make homes better.

Whether it’s new furniture, a total renovation or just some help with moving to a new place, here are the people who love to lend a hand with home improvement.

Niche flooring with a strong reputation

CHAPMAN Floor Coverings (CFC) has been operating since 1985 by David Chapman, who says he has been passionate about the flooring industry since completing his apprenticeship.

“CFC is a family-based business with a strong reputation that is continuously growing,” he says.

“We cater to residential, commercial and hospitality industries, and we aim to maintain our commitment to providing excellent customer service.

“No job is too big or too small, or too far.”

David says Chapman Floor Coverings showroom and shop opened seven years ago in Queanbeyan, offering customers a variety of different flooring options, with friendly staff to give advice.

“We offer hybrid cork, cork tiles and planks, hybrid vinyl, engineered timber, a variety of different carpets, sheet vinyl and many more,” he says.

“My extensive training and background in cork products gives me the passion and expertise in CFC, as a leader in the world’s most eco-friendly product.

“CFC specialises in all cork ranges, including tiles, planks and a new hybrid cork.

“The hybrid cork is a very exciting and new, niche option that sets us apart from other companies.”

David says CFC is one of only two flooring shops in Queanbeyan.

“Our location allows our building signage to be seen from a great distance, and we’re in a great location, residents know where we are,” he says.

Chapman Floor Coverings, 5 Gregory Street. Call 1300 711351, or visit chapmanfloorcoverings.com.au

Introducing Solid Cork Core

The ultimate flooring technology - Solid Cork Core consists of an engineered, highly compressed cork core, offering extremely high stability allowing the product to be installed in any residential or commercial project.

It comes with an incorporated high performance cork underlay membrane which enhances comfort and sound insulation.

Here are some patio ideas to save on summer cooling costs

AFTER a long cold winter, the people at National Patios say it’s important to be able to enjoy the outdoors in summer.

“Our products not only keep you cool in summer but protect your home from harsh heat and therefore save on cooling costs,” says a spokeswoman.

Established in Canberra in 2003, National Patios is a one-stop-shop for design, council approvals (if needed), right through to the build.

“We design and build anything from a small patio or deck to large home extensions, rooms and entertainment areas,” she says.

“During the build, you are looked after by the owner of the business, not a manager.

“He cares and is passionate about people, and attention to detail.

“We pride ourselves on our free design-and-quote service that offers time to transfer your unique needs and concepts into a reality.

“We have a manufacturer’s discount for the whole of August, and we can

find solutions for all areas.”

As National Patios is local and well established, it’s a long-term member of the Housing Industry Association and Masters Builders Association.

“We can cater to all levels of budgets due to our extensive product range,” she says.

“[And] we have a beautiful showroom in Fyshwick, where folks can come and relax, and have a hands-on experience with product options.”

National Patios, Unit 1/289 Canberra Avenue, Fyshwick. Call 6147 0844 or 62573952, or visit nationalpatios.com.au

CURRENTLY ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH CHAPMAN FLOOR COVERINGS!

• Waterproof

• Engineered cork composite, PVC free

• Heavy density

• Ideal for residential and large commercial areas

5 Gregory street, Queanbeyan East, NSW | 1300 711 351

David Chapman… “No job is too big or too small, or too far.”

banksias in my own garden, and we have some brand new grevilleas in stock.

“The garden is something you can do yourself. It’s very satisfying to choose your own plants and personalise it to what you like, and it’s looking to be a great spring just around the corner.”

Karen’s team of knowledgeable staff say they’re happy to talk to customers and help with any queries.

200mm, plus a growing range of advanced stock.

“Shoppers can find groundcovers, grasses, ferns, climbers and small-to-large shrubs and trees.

“We know how it grows and what it requires.”

Cool Country Natives, 5A Beltana Road, Pialligo. Call 6257 6666, or visit coolcountrynatives.com.au

MEGASEALED has been servicing the Canberra region for 20 years, says director Graham Evans.

“Megasealed was first developed in 1988, opened its first franchise store in 2014, with a constant emphasis on connecting specialised leak-repair services to local communities,” he says.

“Now we are a nationwide service that offers local support.

“Megasealed repairs leaks in show ers without removing tiles, we do all waterproofing jobs big and small, we repair leaking balconies, and we can do bathroom renewals or complete retiling.”

Graham says Canberra’s Megasealed has recently moved to Queanbeyan.

“It was three months ago we moved, just because we had completely outgrown our previous premises,” he says.

“I worked in real estate for five years and I used Megasealed as a customer, and I just loved the service, and then last year we purchased the Canberra branch, and we employ 12 Canberra locals.”

Graham says he’s got big plans for the near future, too.

“We are wanting to expand into more regional areas, which we have already started doing a little bit,” he says.

“We’ve got you covered for quick, convenient and cost effective results.”

Megasealed, 1/134 Gilmore Road, Queanbeyan. Call 6182 4753, or visit megasealed.com.au

Megasealed director Graham Evans.

Proudly Stocking the Largest Range of Australian Native Plants in Canberra and Surrounds

We specialise in local species as well as hardy, cold and frost tolerant natives, carrying a large range of native plant varieties, ranging in size from tubestock to 200mm, plus a growing range of advanced stock.

Come out and see us at Pialligo and we will show you a range of plants that will be suitable for your garden soil type, to grow and enjoy an abundance of Australian Native plants!

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Big believers in transforming kitchens with passion

THE Kitchen Company was started by Adam Batley’s father, Peter, in 1981, but Adam has been working there for 25 years, says wife and general manager Charlotte Batley.

“He’s been running it for 15 years now, and I’ve been here for 10,” she says.

“We are very much a Canberrafocused family business, and we are all about the homeowner.

“We offer custom kitchens in forever homes, we have dedicated interior designers who will work with clients for months or even years to achieve their dream, and a fabulous team who can do it all, from start to finish.”

Charlotte says the next step doesn’t start until the client is happy.

“The kitchen is such a big part of the home, so really we feel like we’re transforming people’s lives,” she says.

“We are big believers in Canberra, we love it here and we love the community, some clients are repeat clients or spread the word about how pleased they are with us, and seeing them so happy keeps us passionate.

“People really get a personal, lovely and different experience when they come through us.”

The Kitchen Company, Unit 1/4 Wiluna Street, Fyshwick. Call 6239 2944, or visit thekitchenco.com.au

ENDEAVOUR Carpets offers the largest range of topquality floor coverings in Canberra and Queanbeyan, with options that will help keep the home warm this winter, says co-owner Taylor O’Brien.

Established in 1970, Endeavour is a family-run business and is proud of its personalised service.

“We’re having a never before seen sale running until the end of August, offering $10 to $50 per lineal metre off selected suppliers,” she says.

Taylor says carpet is the cheapest floor covering option for your home, and the business has exceptional choices of carpet from the top brands in the industry.

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

“Our showroom is so great that other retailers send their customers to view our huge range of top-quality

floor coverings,” she says.

As a member of the Independent Carpets group, Taylor says Endeavour Carpets can offer customers greater choice and the best available prices.

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

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

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

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

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

we do!

General manager Charlotte with owner husband Adam Batley.

co-owner James Fullerton.

He says the business, which has been operating for more than three decades, has become a well recognised part of Fyshwick, offering a wide range of dining and comfort options, as well as outdoor tables and wall accessories for any home improver.

“Now most people are working from home at least a few days a week, we have plenty of options for you,” he says.

“We have sit-stand desks, or home-style office furniture in a variety of bright and colourful options, everything to get your home office going, including

“With ongoing shipments, we are inundated with new items every week, and they are one-off, unique pieces of high-end furniture.”

James says Ex-Government Furniture is a staple of Fyshwick, with interesting items and objects spanning a wide variety of time periods, budgets and designer styles.

“We provide furniture and accessories to help personalise any space. There’s a huge range and we can work with customers to their budget.”

Ex-Government Furniture, 6 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 6490 or visit exgovfurniture.com

Garden Designer

Using the philosophy that gardens can be beautifully designed, and re-designed, without necessarily resorting to expensive hard-landscaping.

Soft-landscaping can create an oasis of cool greenery, productive kitchen gardens, or bird attracting plantings. Whatever your goal for your garden is, soft landscaping can get you there.

Within your existing garden footprint, we’ll work with you to ensure your garden thrives in a changing climate and increasing temperature extremes.

• Fully qualified Garden Designer and Horticulturist.

• Designs can either be hand-drawn as an A3 scaled plan or as a 3D computer model.

• All designs are informed by Joel’s horticultural expertise, tailored to Canberra’s climate and your particular site conditions.

Bringing garden value to family and property

GARDEN designer and horticulturist, Joel Black says a well laid-out garden adds to the enjoyment and value of a property.

“But a well laid out garden doesn’t always need expensive landscaping,” he says.

“There is so much that can be achieved with good advice, well selected plants and a little

“I focus specifically on soft landscaping because it is so flexible and adaptable, and can be implemented right away.”

Joel says autumn and winter are the perfect times to revitalise a garden.

“It gives us time to design and plan before everything starts growing in the springtime,” he

“I do this work because I know how much pleasure a garden can bring to a home and a family.

“Whether you are setting up to teach the kids about growing vegetables, or you want to sit with your morning coffee watching the birds in the trees, or you just want to hide from the neighbours behind a beautiful wall of green.”

Joel says he has structured the business to allow him to help people, from a simple one-off consultation to a full property garden design.

“I can help with establishing and maintaining plants, too,” he says.

“Sometimes this last step is missed by garden designers and landscapers, leaving a beautiful plan, but a client that is overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to care for the plants that then struggle and die.”

• We also provide one-off consultancies, with a walk through of your garden, providing onsite advice on your current set up and options for re-design. You can then decide whether you take the ideas and run with them yourself, or we can help to create and implement a design.

Joelstidygardens.com.au 0409 832 056

joelsgardens@gmail.com

Joel Black Horticulture and Garden Design. Call 0409 832056, or visit joelstidygardens.com.au

Ex-Government Furniture owners James Fullerton, left, and Taylor Radnell.

Canberra’s trusted repaint specialists

WHAT the team at C&C Painting Group love most about their work is transforming their clients’ homes and spaces into something they love and can really enjoy for years to come, says co-owner Tanya Chamberlain.

“Having years of local industry experience, C&C Painting’s four owners saw an opportunity in 2018 to bring their vast range of skills and experience together to provide a top-quality painting and decorating service,” she says.

“Every member of our team is extremely pas sionate about what we do and all work together to create the very best experience for our clients.”

Tanya says C&C Painting specialises in full interior and exterior home repaints and can also manage some roofing, render and plaster repairs “for your convenience”.

“Our aim is to make the entire process seamless so that you can continue on with your usual daily activities, and enjoy the benefits of your newly painted home,” she says.

“We have the perfect mix of experience and knowledge combined with modern flair, which means we are up to date with current trends and best practices.

“We employ local staff including apprentices, and we are invested in their continuous growth and training. We even have a dedicated training area in our new office space in Mitchell.

“Nothing is too hard for us. We are very particular about leaving the house clean, tidy and a job well done.”

C&C Painting Group, 1b/GF 118 Lysaght Street, Mitchell. Call 6221 3466, or visit ccpaintinggroup.com.au

Helping to plan a timeless, forever home

NADINE Neilson is an interior designer and decorator, and the “big boss” of Journey Home Interiors.

“I want to help people achieve their timeless, classic forever home dreams,” she says.

“My passion started from a love of clas sic interiors, and I’ve been in the industry since 2004.

“I saw the design world shifting to modern style, and I thought… Where’s the timeless elegance and comfort? Where’s the character and quality?”

Nadine says she has created a planner to help people who want to design their interior themselves.

“It’s a design template, a resource organiser that acts as a prompt,” she says.

“When people are renovating or build ing, they have a lot of decisions to make, so this planner helps them by acting as an extensive guide.

“For tiles, for example, it makes sure you don’t miss anything by asking what size, what colour, what grout and what layout you want, and then you can give it to your builder for an accurate quote.”

She says it’s $99, and is meant to be used for people who are building or renovating, not just decorating.

“It covers all the bits you need, and makes the process easier,” she says.

Journey Home Interiors, Shop 8, Manuka Village, 33 Bougainville Street, Griffith. Call 6170 2176, or visit journey-home.com.au

C&C Painting Group founders, from left, Tanya Chamberlain, Daniel Carrick, Matthew Chamberlain and Luke Chamberlain.

Two of C&C Painting Group’s founders Tanya and Luke Chamberlain. Interior designer Nadine Neilson.

Delivering quality windows, fast

MORE than 15 years ago, in a small factory, with a staff of five, Skyview Windows was created with the vision to supply quality products in the shortest possible lead times, says managing director Neil Thompson.

“The company mantra from day one was ‘quality windows, fast’,” says Neil.

Since then, Skyview has grown and about 12 years ago expanded to a 2500sqm factory in High Street, Queanbeyan.

Neil says part of Skyview’s success is being able to work closely with customers and suppliers to ensure consistency in quality and supply is maintained.

Using dedicated, local people, Neil says all windows and doors are manufactured to Australian standards.

“All windows and doors are manufactured from a mixture of local and imported raw materials to ensure

cost competitiveness and, unlike the major window companies, all the profits stay right here,” he says.

“Skyview is the only window company able to supply any powdercoat colour with no cost premium involved.

“This allows our customers to mix and match colour schemes for their houses without having to stick to the six standard colours our competitors offer.”

Last year Skyview launched the “Texturer” colour range. Starting with “black” and “monument”, the range significantly reduces marks and blemishes on the powder-coat finish.

Skyview Windows, 77 High Street, Queanbeyan. Call 6232 9977.

Gardening with a positive impact

BFG & Sun is a small landscaping business offering gardening mainte nance and design, says Big Friendly (head) Gardener, Marty Moss.

“Our gardeners value the positive impact on people, communities and our environment that organic gardening provides,” he says.

“We offer everything from lawn mowing and clearing, to garden mentoring, design and gardening projects, and maintenance.”

Helen is the senior horticulturist and garden mentor. She has qualifications in horticulture and permaculture backed up with health education.

she is a horticulturist and designer,” he says.

“Cecilija loves to emphasise the natural beauty of plants through a thoughtful, collaborative design process.

“Helen and Cecilija can work with you to create a garden design that works for your lifestyle.”

Marty says BFG & Sun is an inclusive employer, and an LGBTQI+ ally, with neurodiverse staff.

“We have 13 staff, two trucks and three trailers,” he says.

“Social justice is what we’re passionate about.

“As well as looking after people’s gardens and giving people selfconfidence, or helping to look after their mental health, so they are better able to look after their own gardens.

BFG & Sun. Call 0438 338552, or visit bfgandsun.com.au

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Hold those secateurs, roses can wait

PRUNE roses too early in winter and all the new growth will be burnt by frosts, which sets them back for their first flush of flowers in spring. So, the later the better.

Techniques of pruning roses depend on the variety. There are two main types of roses – old roses and modern roses. Old roses are one-time bloomers and modern roses are multi-bloomers.

In 1867, Frenchman Andre Guillot bred the first hybrid tea rose called “La France”. While there is debate as to its parentage – it could be perpetual “Madame Victor Verdier” and tea rose “Madame Bravy” or a chance seedling – it is generally accepted as the first hybrid tea rose.

Hybrid tea roses have large flowers, high flower buds above the shrub and tall, straight stems with pointed buds that unfurl slowly. One stem, one blossom and correct pruning in the growing season will keep them flowering repeatedly.

Hybrid tea roses are the most popular rose in the world by far

then chop in half to a bud.

Of course, there is more technique to pruning roses, but do this and you won’t go wrong.

For a rose with a difference, I’d recommend Rosa chinensis “Viridiflora”, or the Green Rose, an

old rose from the 1800s that grows well in Canberra. Its petals have been replaced with small leaves to form a green rose. It’s excellent for flower arranging.

A NATIVE lilly pilly I’ve seen growing in pockets of Canberra is Acmena smithii. In spring, it grows small, white flowers and in late winter produces bright pink/purple edible berries that can be used for

Jottings…

Feed spring bulbs that are starting to grow.

Look at mail-order seed catalogues for spring sowing.

Top up mulch on all garden beds.

Check that all irrigation is working and make repairs in winter.

cordials and preserves.

Terrific for attracting birdlife to the garden, it can grow to at least eight metres tall and one I’ve seen growing successfully in Canberra was on a west-facing wall outside a fireplace shaft.

There’s also a dwarf variety that grows in Canberra called Lilly Pilly Minor and is hardy, fast growing and great for a dense shrub. Its coppery, new growth and small, shiny, summer green leaves grow three metres tall and two metres wide. Feed it native fertiliser in spring. It’s drought tolerant when established.

jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au

Native lilly pilly… in late winter produces bright pink/purple edible berries that can be used for cordials and preserves.

The Green Rose… an old rose from the 1800s, excellent for flower arranging. Photos: Jackie Warburton

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Jazz giant plans to stir up a storm in Canberra

he asserts.

“FOR an hour or so of jazz, people will see the truth of what we do,” legendary trumpeter and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis says ahead of his planned visit to Canberra later this month.

Few musicians on the world stage occupy a position of such responsibility as Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the first jazz composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music and still the only musician to have won a Grammy Award in both jazz and classical categories in the same year – he was just 22 at the time.

With a foot in the two camps of jazz and classical music and a giant reputation, he’s long been in a position to take on the great issues of our time in music and culture.

He was even bold enough to question the role of hip-hop in creating a negative stereotype of African-Americans, although when I catch up with him by Zoom to Verbier in Switzerland, where he’s performing at the town’s 30-year-old music festival, he admits that battle was fought and lost decades ago.

Regarded by some at the more avantgarde end of the jazz spectrum as a musical

conservative, even his detractors concede that he has made jazz respectable beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Now 61 and keeping up a cracking pace as a working musician, Marsalis is also a noted educator who, in the ‘90s, hosted the educational program “Marsalis on Music” on public television, and will make himself avail able in practical sessions for a masterclass and jazz workshop while he and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra are in residence at the new Snow Concert Hall at Canberra Grammar School.

But it’s not just him. As he says: “All our orchestra members are excellent educators who run jazz programs.”

Marsalis is not just a jobbing trumpeter who takes his place in the line-up with the other members of the band, but he is a significant contemporary composer who uses his broad-ranging knowledge to incorporate classical symphonic elements into his compositions.

In Australia, he’ll perform his 1999 composition “All Rise” with both Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras and a 100-voice choir, telling me how it blends the sounds of jazz, blues, classical and indigenous music and adding, “I wanted to

get the choir to sound like a didgeridoo”.

On Zoom we both try twisting our mouths to see if we can produce the desired effect, with hilarious results.

Raised in a family of jazz musicians in New Orleans, Marsalis was always going to be a musician, but for a long time the question

was whether that would be jazz or classical, and indeed he studied trumpet performance for several years at the Juilliard School in New York, where now heads up the Jazz Studies program.

“I love jazz but I also love and play classical music – they are not mutually exclusive,”

Over the years, he’s been a regular visitor to the metropolitan cities of Australia, is an avowed fan of Brisbane’s Quigley family who have taught a lot of eminent Australia’s jazz musicians, and his latest recording of his fourth symphony, “The Jungle”, was done in “a quality, collegiate way” with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

But he thinks he hasn’t been to the nation’s capital since the late ‘80s and says, “I remember its futuristic buildings”.

Canberra will get the 15-musician line-up of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performing full blast – “that’s why we call it a big band,” he quips – as they cruise through the great jazz masters, from Jelly Roll Morton to Duke Ellington, while performing compositions by band members and Marsalis himself.

They plan to run the gamut of the 100+ year old art form, but it definitely won’t be museum music, for as he says, “improvisation means you can take an old piece and make it new”.

“Improvisation is at the heart of jazz,” he says in an almost pedagogical moment as he defines its component elements – blues, swing and improvisation. All will be on show as he and the band, hellbent on having a fun time in all their concerts – stir up a storm with Canberra audiences.

Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Snow Concert Hall, August 17-18.

Wynton Marsalis… “I love jazz but I also love and play classical music – they are not mutually exclusive.”

Photo: Frank Stewart

The ‘new frontier’ runs hot and cold WENDY JOHNSON

Arts editor HELEN MUSA talks jazz with legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis ahead of his Canberra performances this month.

It’s a play where you can’t tell anyone, can you?

By Helen MUSA

IF Joanna Richards is to be categorised as an “emerging” playwright, then the coming production of her debut, “You Can’t Tell Anyone”, will see her fully surfacing.

Directed by another “emerging” veteran, Caitlin Baker, the philosophical thriller is a development from a script shown last year in development by Canberra Youth Theatre and is the result of the company’s 2021 Emerging Playwright Commission.

Richards, who divides her time between Canberra and New York, has been seen acting in “Venus in Furs” and “20 Minutes with the Devil” at The Street Theatre.

Both playwright and director have been amply supported by the company, in Richards’ case with a nationwide professional commission awarded annually to an emerging Australian playwright and Baker as part of Youth Theatre’s pre-professional Emerge Company and as assistant director on several productions.

It’s the end of year 12 somewhere not very far away, and Gwen, whose parents are out of town, is throwing a party where the idea is to spend the night drinking, playing games and arguing. What could possibly go wrong?

It’s cast with actors aged 18 to 22, which

Radio School, believes we often underestimate the depth and complexity of teenagers’ minds, so what was most important to her was that her play “spoke the language of young adults”. She detects elements of theatre of the absurd in her script, especially when the characters are all talking at once.

“It’s actually natural dialogue – people are always talking over each other,” she says, and that’s pretty well what we do in the interview.

“You Can’t Tell Anyone”, The Courtyard Studio, August 10-20.

In rehearsal… from left, Ella Buckley, Breanna Kelly and Isaiah Prichard.

Photo: Christopher Carroll

/ Roy Jr, Civic

The ‘new frontier’ runs hot and cold

Roy Jr. has hit the Canberra dining scene flagging that it’s ”a new frontier in inner-city hospitality”. It’s a claim as big as the space at the bottom of 7 London Circuit, with a whopping 150 able to sit inside.

Roy Jr. serves Duke’s coffee made on an uber cool, custom La Marzocco coffee machine, Italian made of course.

No doubt coffees walk out the door to the hundreds who work in the area and uni students, who are only a stone’s throw away. Small sweets to enjoy include raw cacao bars, caramel slices, cookies and danishes. Pre-made sandwiches are also available.

Brunch and lunch are compact. We were lunching and several dishes piqued my interest. The grilled barramundi with coconut curry sauce and black sesame rice ($26.50) and the beef croquettes with slow-cooked beef brisket, sweet potato hummus, chilli jam, herb salad and poached eggs ($24.90) among others.

I flipped a coin in my head between the Good Life Bowl ($23.90) – loaded with too many nutritional ingredients to describe in one review – and the roasted cauliflower ($22.90), which won.

The ingredients were gorgeous looking in a contemporary bowl, a wonderful mix of vibrant col-

ours, a whole lot of textures, and layers of flavour. Loved the labneh, pickled eschalots and the florets of cauliflower roasted and dusted with dukkah. The cranberries shared sweetness and the pistachio lent a lovely nutty, earthy element. Delish.

My friend opted for the steak frites, a lovely portion of sliced beef and a chunk of charred cos lettuce ($34.90). The 200 grams of grass-fed Hanger steaks (sometimes known as butcher’s steak) was tender and accompanied by a small dish of béarnaise sauce and a generous serve of crunchy fries.

Roy Jr’s wine list is surprisingly tiny. Only a sauv blanc and a riesling in the white category, a pinot noir and shiraz in the red and one prosecco, but all reasonably priced ($11 a glass/$38 bottle to $14 a glass/$56 a bottle).

Then there’s a $98/bottle Mumm Champagne, obviously for celebrations and not necessarily to be consumed with dishes such as the beef or chicken burger (both $23.90).

The two cocktails are an espresso martini ($19) and Bellini ($15). Beer from Capital Brewing Co. is $11 – always great to see local support. Also on the drink side is a decent line-up of smoothies and freshly squeezed juices.

We faced a few service issues. The steak and frites arrived cold and had to be returned. On the second attempt, the steak was hot but the frites remained cold. We were only asked at the cash register, when leaving, if we enjoyed our meals and I explained the circumstances. Apologies all round.

drinks is loud and clear

BEER is the drink of choice at the cricket. My son and I attended day one of the third Ashes test at Headingley and it was noticeable that the beer stalls were doing a roaring trade from the get-go.

One newspaper report said that 100,000 pounds worth of booze had been sold by 2pm on that day even though the temperature was mild.

At lunch time the crowd was thick and lines for food and drink moved slowly: I queued for a beer and a cider and a fellow pushed in front of me.

Instead of getting angry, I shrugged and he turned round and apologised, buying my round of drinks, with a smile and a handshake offered up.

Despite the hostility on the field there was a great feeling of celebration and camaraderie in those who were lucky enough to get a ticket to the spectacle.

Australia had Mitch Marsh as a hero with his flashy 118 and the English had Mark Wood as a counterfoil, with his pace, bounce and exceptional wicket count: five wickets

for a mere 34 runs.

These memories were cemented when a recent “Daily Wine News” top story was “Can ‘2005 Ashes villain’ Ricky Ponting sell wine to the English?”

Ponting has launched a wine range in England. Ponting Wines is a collaboration between the cricketer and winemaker Ben Riggs, with wines made from fruit sourced in Ponting’s home state of Tasmania and vineyards in SA, where Riggs is located.

Ponting was a villain in English eyes because during the fourth test of the 2005 Ashes he batted extraordinarily well, producing a draw. His seven-hour, 156-run innings at Old Trafford derailed England’s chances of going two-one up in that series.

Whether his name as a legendary cricketer, now commentator, will be enough for his product to successfully penetrate the English market is an open question but is a good marketing angle, given the experience of other cricketers.

Ponting’s not the only cricketer to use the power of their cricket persona to flog alcoholic drinks. Joe Root promotes Centurion IPA and it is admirable that all profits from the sale of this beer are donated to the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, of which Root is the patron.

Stuart Broad, David Warner’s nemesis throughout the current Ashes series,

runs pubs, has a Castle Rock ale named after him and was previously an “ambassador” for Australian Hardys Wines.

England captain Ben Stokes sells United Breweries’ London Pilsner beer.

Perhaps overshadowing all of these endeavours is the work and promotion of Sir Ian “Beefy” Botham, arguably England’s most successful cricketer ever. Botham Wines sell Australian wines to the British. On his website he declares: “Although it’s no secret which team I side for in the cricket, I’m the first to admit that when it comes to winemaking, Australia is world-class.”

The website also tells us about the research that Botham commissioned before he launched his range of wines. Projecting from the research findings, 13 million consumers claim they find it difficult to choose a wine and over 19 million say they just look for a name that they recognise. So, for any new wine/beer brand to be successful, it seems that there must be reassurance provided to consumers and that Sir Ian has done so through a name they recognise and trust.

Celebrity marketing works: in a study conducted in 2019, the US had 14-19 per cent of advertisements featuring celebrities endorsing products and brands. As Botham Wines planned, celebrities attract customers.

Did you hear about the crushed chickpea? It gained fame posthummusly.

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Steak frites… 200 grams sliced beef with béarnaise sauce and a serve of crunchy fries.

Roasted cauliflower… florets of cauliflower dusted with dukkah. Photos: Wendy Johnson

A waiter in full black tie serves drinks to the English side during the 5th Test at The Oval in August 1926.

Diving documentary gets deep and meaningful

who climbed one of the tallest and most infamous cliff faces in the world without any But if “Free Solo” was about going up, “The Deepest Breath” is about going down. The shots of the ocean and its depths here are head-spinning and awe-inspiring, the surface increasingly elusive with each metre – Zecchini herself at one point describing it

Coming just weeks after the OceanGate submarine disaster, which transfixed the world, the stunning cinematography is also likely to stir interest with deep-sea dread at a renewed high (some Netflix subscribers may have noticed “Titanic” has recently been back in the trending charts in recent weeks

“The Deepest Breath” represents one of the platform’s finest documentaries and makes for a stunning watch on the small screen. For those who don’t know the full story of what happened to Zecchini and Keenan, it’s worth watching without researching first to truly take in the full extent of this astonishing tale. Either way,

ARTS IN THE CITY

Blues music in for a big day out

CANBERRA Blues Society will celebrate International Blues Music Day with seven hours of live blues music from nine acts, including winners of the 2023 Sydney Blues Society “Favourite Emerging Act” award, Bonnie Kay & the Sweet Patooties and headliners the Ray Beadle Band and Frank Sultana, who took out first place in the Solo/Duo category of the 2023 International Blues Challenge Final in Memphis. Harmonie German Club, Narrabundah. Stalls from 1pm, music 3pm-10pm. Saturday, August 5. Book at Humanitix.

“COIL” by the re:group performance collective, will create a live cinema experience set in a ‘90s video rental store. Combining verbatim interview material and real-time filmmaking, it uses bespoke video DJing technology to create an entire cast from a solo performer, Steve WilsonAlexander. The Q, Queanbeyan, August 8-9.

SUPER-active Canberra conductor Leonard Weiss will join the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as assistant conductor for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, assisting all programs with chief conductor Jaime Martín and principal conductor-in-residence Benjamin Northey. Also next month he’ll be at the MSO’s Australian Conducting Academy with Northey, then in September will be assistant conductor for Xian Zhang with soloists Esther Yoo and Joyce Yang.

Alipoor’s production, “Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran”, is an immersive digital play blending theatre on a big screen with interactive content on mobile phones. The Street Theatre, August 12.

NEW Canberra company, Itazura Co, is staging the premiere of “Kiku” (“listen” in Japanese), a short dance film directed by Natsuko Yonezawa that brings together six, over-50 women who express individual journeys of ageing. Its original choral soundtrack, composed by Rebecca Hilliard, is sung by members of the ANU Chamber Choir and the Luminescence Children’s Choir. Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, August 11.

THE 18th Latin American Film Festival returns to the ANU Film Group with 15 films screening over two weeks

Kambri Cinema at ANU on August 9 with “Los Ajenos Fútbol Club” from Colombian director, Juan Camilo Pinzón. All screenings are free and open to the public.

AUSTRALIAN dance company Burn the Floor, collaborating with First Nations star Mitch Tambo, his vocalist wife Lea Firth and dancer Albert David, will be at Canberra Theatre, August 9. FRANKIE’S Guys and their live band, promise to transport audiences back to the golden era of live music, with more than 20 classics, including “Big Girls Don’t Cry” to “Walk Like A Man”. The Playhouse, August 9.

DIRECT from Dublin, “The Rhythms Of Ireland”, choreographed by Irish dance champion Michael Donnelan makes a journey through the history of Ireland in music and dance. Canberra Theatre, August 7.

“The Deepest Breath”... one of Netflix’s finest documentaries.

Burn the Floor… Canberra Theatre, August 9.

HOROSCOPE PUZZLES

Your week in the stars

By Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Rambunctious Rams are in the mood for fun, festivities, action and entertainment! However – in order to capitalise on the Mercury/Jupiter and Sun/Venus maximum enjoyment vibes – some forethought and planning are required. Otherwise (with disruptive Uranus squaring retrograde Venus) you could make a foolish financial move or say something you instantly regret. So – for astute Aries – hasty criticism is out, and thoughtful positivity is in.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

Venus is still in retrograde mode, so plans will proceed slowly. And Wednesday looks particularly stressful when the Venus/Uranus square highlights problems at home. On Thursday, Mercury and Jupiter stimulate your friendship zone, so it’s a good time to network with your peer group and catch up with close friends. Be inspired by birthday great, actress Gillian Anderson: “I believe people are in our lives for a reason. We’re here to learn from each other.”

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

With retrograde Venus and the Sun in your neighbourhood zone, find more meaningful ways to connect with people and contribute to your local community. Education and short trips are highlighted, plus expect plenty of phone calls, snail mail, texts, tweets and emails. But you’ll also have to handle stress, frustration and challenges along the way. The secret to a successful week is getting the balance right between being spontaneous and being responsible.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

Are you a Crab who’s living in financial fairyland? With Venus (planet of money and indulgence) reversing through your financial zone, you’re in the mood to spend up a storm. But make sure your personal finances are rock-solid before you commit to a major purchase. And – if you can – delay making any big-ticket buys (and signing contracts) until after Venus moves forwards on September 4. Your motto for the week? Spend in haste, repent at leisure!

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

The Sun (your ruler) squares Jupiter, and retro Venus (in your sign) squares Uranus, which boosts your inclination to jealous, possessive or disruptive behaviour. It’s time to loosen your intense grip on a loved one or work colleague! Otherwise, you’ll just drive them away with your demanding Drama Queen antics. You’re in the mood to text and tweet, socialise and circulate. But are you sending mixed messages? Strive to be more discriminating and diplomatic.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Vigilant Virgos to the rescue! The Sun and retro Venus increase your interest in assisting those who are sick, in trouble or in need. You’ll find the more you lend a hand to others, the better you’ll feel and the more useful you’ll be. A personal matter should also improve, as Jupiter helps you put a positive spin on a previously frustrating situation. Rest and relaxation are important, so make sure you set aside some quality time with a very special person… you.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Venus is still in retrograde mode (until September 4) so be careful how you treat other people, in person and online. Self-indulgent behaviour, unrealistic expectations and unfair criticism will just boomerang back on you! So, your mantra is from birthday model and actress Cara Delevingne: “The energy you give off is the energy you receive.” Some quiet meditation or soulful contemplation will help you get through the week in a more relaxed state.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

With Venus reversing through your career zone, proceed carefully with a complicated professional project. If you are too hasty (or too stubborn) then you’ll experience communication problems with a work colleague, client or customer. Plus, retro Venus squares Uranus, so unpredictable feelings could re-surface, as loved ones push your emotional buttons. Simmer down, Scorpio, otherwise you run the risk of turning a minor matter into a major obsession.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Jupiter (your ruler), Uranus and retrograde Venus disturb your job and daily routine zones, so expect communication chaos, relationship rumbles or work frustrations. It’s also a week when unresolved issues from the past could be dredged up all over again. Do your best to release pent-up frustrations via a chat with a trusted family member or a compassionate colleague. Spending quality time with your favourite four-legged friend will also lift your spirits.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Mercury and Mars are both visiting fellow-earth sign Virgo, which activates your conscientious side. But Venus (planet of harmony and perfection) is in retrograde mode, so things won’t run according to plan! Do your best to sort things out promptly and professionally in your capable Capricorn way. Inspiration for the week comes from famous Wild West sharpshooter (and birthday great) Annie Oakley: “Aim at a high mark and you will hit it.”

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Are you feeling hemmed in at home? Uranus squares retro Venus, which could cramp your free-wheeling style. Try cleaning, decluttering, renovating and/ or extending your present living space so it’s more open and spacious. You need room to breathe! Expect some domestic confusion and family drama, as impatience and uncertainty overtake commonsense. If you try to escape from your current commitments, then loved ones won’t be impressed.

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

Thursday favours education, social media and local community connections, as Jupiter boosts communication and confidence. With Neptune and Saturn both transiting through your sign, it’s time to set inspirational long-term goals and then work hard to turn them into concrete reality. No procrastinating, Pisces! And no lame excuses! Be inspired by model and actress Cara Delevingne (who turns 31 on Saturday): “Believe in yourself. Make yourself proud.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2023

General knowledge crossword No. 892

STEERING ERROL IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Keen for an answer, Errol wasted no time in asking:

"Why can't I get a tax deduction for the $150,000 I spent on cattle for my new primary production business?”

It was a good question, but a hard one to answer simply.

"You do claim the cost of your cattle purchases, but then you have to write back the stock on hand," I said.

"So, in your case, the cattle cost $150,000 and a calculation is done to allow for the sales, natural increase and deaths which results in a valuation of the stock on hand at $143,000. So in relation to the money spent on cattle your deduction is $7000 and you have assessable income arising from the value of the cattle you sold.

Across

1 Who flew so close to the sun that the wax fastening his artificial wings melted and he fell into the Aegian Sea and drowned? (6)

8 To be not fully grown or developed, is to be what? (8)

9 Name another term for stupid, senseless talk. (6)

10 Which Queen of Great Britain reigned from 1837 to 1901? (8)

11 Name the unit of electric current. (6)

12 Which Nevada city is noted for the ease in which a divorce may be obtained? (4)

13 What is a strong but ill-defined feeling of anxiety? (5)

16 Who was the lady friend of Mandrake the magician? (5)

19 Name a US frontier figure involved in the gunfight at the OK Corral, Wyatt ... (4)

21 Which term implies self-confidence, poise or assurance? (6)

22 To interpret something ambiguous, is to do what (8)

23 What is a sudden irruption? (6)

24 What is the curved upper surface of a stationary liquid in a container? (8)

Solution next edition

25 Newcastle lies at the mouth of which NSW river? (6)

Down

2 What is earwax also known as? (7)

3 Which term describes retrospective surveys? (7)

4 Which metal has the highest electrical conductivity? (6)

5 What is a drawing, often accompanied by a humorous caption? (7)

6 One who deals in furs is called a what? (7)

7 Name a series of boat races. (7)

13 What is a school for special instruction? (7)

14 What are waiters called? (7)

15 Name a violent storm of wind frequently accompanied by rain, snow, or hail. (7)

17 Name the movable control surface on the trailing edge of an aircraft wing. (7)

18 What, in law, is the possession and use of one’s own land? (7)

20 What is an administrative part of a diocese that has its own church? (6)

“After you allow for the other deductions, you have made a net loss on your primary production venture. However, as your other income exceeds $40,000 and you have made a loss on your primary production venture, there is a special process that you need to go through in order to be able to claim that loss.

"It is always best to get advice before you enter into such big transactions rather than after, so that you are clear on the tax consequences.”

His partner Cassie said: “I had no idea that this was the case, no wonder Errol’s tax bill is so high.”

I said: “Yes, that's the case. The requirement is that you have to apply for the tax commissioner’s discretion to offset your primary production loss against your other income.

"You apply on a special form called ‘Application for a private ruling on the Commissioner’s discretion for non-commercial business losses’.

"You need to set out details of what your venture is, including the area of the land and how you plan to use it.

"It is prudent to attach your business plan which assists the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to confirm that you have actually spent time examining the viability of your business.

"You also need to provide evidence of having consulted with an expert in the field of developing a cattle stud. You need to produce cash flows to explain when the business will become profitable and you can then claim your losses for the years requested once the Commissioner has approved it.”

I told them the business plan needed to be detailed and to include photos where relevant.

"You need to explain how you will market your cattle and if you propose to use the land for any other purpose," I said.

"You need to explain what equipment you will use, its purpose in this venture and how you will finance the purchase. You also need to explain in the body of the ruling how you will do the relevant work in view of your hours spent in employment. This all needs to be very carefully thought out.

"The ATO will then examine your information and come up with their queries before providing their ruling. The ATO advises that it should take 28 days to receive the reply to your ruling, but it can take longer.”

Errol said: “Thank you, Gail. Now I am clear on what I need to do. I appreciate your guidance.”

If you need assistance with your primary production business or any other tax related matter, contact the friendly team at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd on 02 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.